Ctlmmt uf
IWlwllUJ
>Tv
S> vve.e."t~ TumcL
A SELECT LIBRARY
OF
NICENE AND POST-NICENE FATHERS
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Second Series*.
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH WITH PROLEGOMENA AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION 01
HENRY WACE, D.D.. and PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D.,
Principal of King's College, Professor of Church History in the Union Theological
London. Seminary, New York.
IN CONNECTION WITH A NUMBER OF PATRISTIC SCHOLARS OF EUROPE
AND AMERICA.
VOLUME VI.
ST. JEROME:
LETTERS AND SELECT WORKS:
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
1912.
Copyright, 1893,
Bv THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE COMPANY
353G2.
(fib
mo
I*
THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF ST. JEROME.
TRANSLATED BY
THE HON. W. H. FREMANTLE, M.A.,
Canon of Canterbury Cathedral and Felloiu and Tutor of Balliol College, Oxford,
WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
THE REV. G. LEWIS, M.A.,
Of Balliol College, Oxford, Vicar of Dodder kill near Droitwicli,
THE REV. W. G. HARTLEY, M.A.,
of Balliol College, Oxford.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The grounds on which certain works of Jerome have been selected, as most important,
for translation in this edition, while others have been omitted, are given in the Prolegomena
(p. xvii-xviii).
The first draught of the translation was prepared by my coadjutors and former pupils,
Mr. G. Lewis and Mr. W. G. Martley, who also added most of the notes ; but I have gone
minutely through every part, correcting, adding, and at times re-writing, both in the MS. and
in the proof, and I have composed the Prolegomena and Indices.
I have endeavoured to make the work useful not to the theologian alone, but also to the
historical student. The general reader will find interest and even entertainment in the parts of
the work referred to in the Index under such headings as " Pictures of Contemporary Life,"
" Proverbs," "Stories" and " Quotations," or by looking at the Letters to which special atten-
tion is called in the Prolegomena at p. xviii. The Table of Contents also, in which a short
description is given of the purport of each Letter, will help each class of readers to select the
parts suitable to them. Finally, the Life of Jerome included in the Prolegomena, though
closely compressed, has been furnished with copious references, which will make it a key to
the whole work. It is only to be regretted that, through the impossibility of including
Jerome's work on Illustrious Men and his controversy with Rufinus in the present volume,
it is necessary to send the reader for a few of the most important facts to Vol. iii of this
Series.
I can hardly expect that, in a work which has been carried through amidst many pressing
engagements, which has been printed three thousand miles away, and of which I have had only
a single proof to correct, I have been able to avoid all mistakes. But I hope that no inaccu-
racies have crept in of sufficient magnitude to mar the usefulness of the work. I have felt
the responsibility of making the first translation of Jerome into English, especially as a trans-
lation once made acts as a hindrance to those who might wish to attempt the same task. But
I trust that the present work may be found to be not altogether an unworthy presentment of
the great Latin church-writer to the English-speaking world.
W. H. FREMANTLE.
Canterbury, November, 1892.
CONTENTS.
PROLEGOMENA, pp. xi— xxxiii.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES, pp. xxxiv, xxxv.
LETTERS.
«2.
»3-
4-
5-
6.
7-
8.
9-
io.
ii.
12.
13-
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
23.
24-
25-
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31-
32.
33
34-
35-
36.
37-
33.
39-
40.
41.
42.
43-
44-
45-
46.
47
48.
To Innocentius concerning the woman 49.
seven times stricken with the axe 1
To Theodosius and the rest of the Ancho- 50.
rites, asking for admission among them . . 4
To Rufinus, the Monk 4 5*-
To Florentius 6
To the same 7 S2-
To Julianus 8 53.
To Chromatius Jovinus, and Eusebius 8 54.
To Niceas, the Sub-Deacon 10
To Chrysogonus 10 55.
To Paulus of Concordia « 11
To the Virgins of yEmona 12
To Antonius, the Monk 12 56.
To Castorina, his Aunt 13
To Heliodorus, on the praises of the Desert 13 57.
To Pope Damasus, concerning the hyposta-
ses., . 18 58.
To the same 20 59.
To Marcus, the Elder, on quilting the
Desert 20 60.
To Damasus, on the Seraphim. . 22
Damasus to Jerome, on Hosanna 22 61.
To Damasus, on Hosanna 22 62.
To the same. A comment on the prodigal 63.
son 22
To Eustochium, on the preservation of Vir- J 64.
ginity 22 65.
To Marcella, on the death of Lea 41
To the same, in praise of the ascetic lady 66.
Asella 42
To the same, on the twelve names of God. . 43 \ 67.
To the same, on certain Hebrew names. ... 43 ;
To the same, against his detractors 43 |
To the same, on Diapsalma 44 : 68.
To the same, on the Ephod and the Teraphim 45 | 69.
To Paula, on the alphabet 45 I
To Eustochium, about some little gifts. ... 45 70.
To Marcella, a short letter on the Greek ver- 71
sions of the Old Testament 45 I
To Paula, part of a letter on Origen's works 46 72.
To Marcella, on Psalm cxxvi 47 i
Damasus to Jerome, laying before him five i 73.
questions 47 74.
To Damasus, concerning his five questions. . 47 |
To Marcella, concerning the Commentaries [ 75,
of Rheticius 47
To Marcella, concerning the sickness of Ble- 76.
silla 47
To Paula, concerning the death of Blesilla. . 49
To Marcella, concerning Onasus 54 77
To the same, on the doctrines of Montanus.. 55 78.
To the same, against the Novatians 56
To the same, concerning the praise of the 79,
country 57
To the same, concerning her little gifts to
him 58
To Asella, on his leaving Rome 58 81
Paula and Eustochium to Marcella, inviting 82
her to the Holy Land 60 83
To Desiderius, inviting him to Bethlehem. . 65
To Pammachius in support of the books 84
against Jovinianus 66
PAGE
To the same, on his position at Rome, and on
the new translation of the Old Testament. 79
To Domnio, on the books against Jovini-
anus 80
Epiphanius to John of Jerusalem, on Pau-
linian's ordination and on Origen 83
To Nepotian, on clerical life 89
To Paulinus, on the study of Scripture 96
To Furia, on the preservation of the estate
of widowhood 102
To Amandus, a reply to his three questions,
and the subjoined question of " a certain
sister " 109
Augustin to Jerome, on a passage in his Com-
mentary on Galatians 112
To Pammachius, on the best method of
translation 112
To Paulinus, on the study of Scripture. ... 119
To Marcella, on questions about the New
Testament 123
To Heliodorus. The Memorial of his
nephew Nepotian 123
To Vigilantius, on imputations of Origenism 131
To Tranquillinus, on the reading of Origen 133
To Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, a
letter of submission and conciliation .... 134
To Fabiola, on the priestly garments 134
To the virgin Principia, an explanation of
Psalm xlv 134
To Pammachius, on the death of his wife
Paulina 134
From Augustin, on the book, " On Il-
lustrious Men," the passage in Galatians,
and heresies 140
To Castrutius, on his blindness 140
To Oceanus, on the case of a Bishop who
was twice married 141
To Magnus, on the reading of pagan books. . 149.
To Lucinius, recommending ascetic prac-
tices, and sending books 151
To the presbyter Vitalis, on Solomon and
Ahaz 154
To the presbyter Evangelus, on Melchizedek 154
To the presbyter Rufinus (of Rome), on the
judgment of Solomon 154
To Theodora, on the death of her husband
Lucinius 154
To the presbyter Abigaus, consoling him
for his blindness, and commending Theo-
dora to him 156
To Oceanus, on the death of Fabiola 157
To Fabiola, after her death, on the stations
of the Israelites in the desert 163
To Salvina, on the death of her husband
Nebridius 163
Rufinus' Preface to his translation of Origen's
Jlepl 'Apx&v 163
To Rufinus of Aquileia, a friendly letter. ... 170
To Theophilus, against John of Jerusalem. . 170
From Pammachius and Oceanus, sending
Rufinus' translation of the He pi 'Apx&v ... 175
To Pammachius and Oceanus, in answer to
Rufinus' Preface 175
Vlll
CONTENTS.
85. To Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, on the reading
of Origen
86. To Theophilus, praising his zeal against
Origenism
87. From Theophilus, describing his measures
against Origenism
88. To Theophilus, on the adhesion of Rome
and Italy to his measures
89. From Theophilus, on the Origenistic refugees
in Palestine
90. From Theophilus to Epiphanius, urging him
to summon a synod against Origenism..
91. From Epiphanius, exhorting Jeiome to write
against Origenism
92. Translation of Theophilus' Synodical Letter
of a.d. 400 to the Bishops of Palestine and
Cyprus against Origenism
93. Translation of the answer of the Synod of
Jerusalem to Theophilus
94. Translation of the Letter of Dionysius,
Bishop of Lydda, to Theophilus
95. From Pope Anastasius to Simplicianus,
Bishop of Milan
96. Translation of Theophilus' Synodal of 401,
against Apollinarianism and Origenism. .
97. To Pammachius and Marcella, sending the
Synodical Letters of Theophilus
98. Translation of Theophilus' Paschal Letter
for 402
99. To Theophilus, describing ciicumstances
which had delayed the translation of his
Paschal Letter
100. Translation of Theophilus' Paschal Letter
for 404
101. From Augustin, asking for an answer to bis
letters
102. To Augustin, refusing to reply till he receives
Augustin's letters direct from him
103. To Augustin, introducing Prassidius
104. From Augustin, asking for answers, and on
translations of Scripture
105. To Augustin, asking for authorised copies of
his letters
106. To Sunniasand Fretela, Getic presbyters, on
questions in the Psalms. . . . ,
107. To Laeta, wife of Toxotius, Paula's son, on
the education of her daughter
108. To Eustochium, memorials of her mother
Paula. . .
109. To the presbyter Riparius in Spain, on the
doctrines of Vigilantius
1 10. From Augustin, sending the letters, and
speaking of Rufinus
ill. From Augustin to Prsesidius, asking him to
take the letters
112. To Augustin, answering the letters
113. From Theophilus, on the fall of Chrysostom
114. To Theophilus, with the translation of his
work against Chrysostom
115. To Augustin, introducing his friend Firmus
I'AGE
1S1
182
116.
117.
118.
183 ! 119.
I
183 120.
183 ' 121.
184 ''■ 122.
184 123.
124.
125.
185 126
186 - 127.
186 128.
186 I 129.
: 130'
186
131-
l86 I32.
I T33-
18S 134.
135.
136.
189 ! 137.
138.
139-
140.
141.
142.
143-
195 144-
212
214
145.
146.
147.
214
214 148.
214 I
I !49-
214 150.
215 l
1 AGE
From Augustin in reply to 112 215
To a Mother and Daughter in Gaul, on the
life of widows and virgins 215
To Julianus, an exhortation to voluntary
poverty 220"
To Minervius and Alexander, presbyters of
Toulouse, on I Cor. xv. 51 224
To Hedibia, a lady of Bayeux, on twelve
Scriptural questions 224
To Algasia, a lady of Gaul, on eleven Scrip-
tural questions 224
To Rusticus, an exhortation to repentance
and continence 225
To Ageruchia, against second marriages. . . . 230
To Avitus, on Origen's Ilepl 'Apx^v 238
To the Monk Rusticus, on the solitary life. . 244
To Marcellinus and Anapsychias, officers in
Africa, on the origin of souls 252
To the virgin Principia, a memorial of Mar-
cella 253
To Gaudentius, on the education of the
child Pacatula 258
To Dardanus, on the land of promise 260
To the noble virgin Demetrias, on the duties
of a virgin's profession 260
From Augustin, on the origin of souls 272
From Augustin, on James ii. 10 272
To Ctesiphon, on Pelagianism 272
To Augustin, a letter of friendship and def-
erence 280
From Pope Innocent to Aurelius, Bishop of
Carthage, inclosing a letter for Jerome. . . 280
From Pope Innocent, sympathising with
Jerome's losses from the violence of the
adherents of Pelagius 280
From Pope Innocent to John, Bishop of Je-
rusalem, on the same subject 281
To Riparius (see 109), on the struggle with
Pelagius 281
To Apronius (unknown), encouraging him
to steadfastness in the faith 282
To the presbyter Cyprian, on Psalm xc. . . . 282
To Augustin, praising his stand against
heresy 2S2
To Augustin, on Pelagian influences in Pal-
estine 282
To Alypius and Augustin, on the book of
the deacon Annianus 282
From Augustin to Optatus, Bishop of Mil-
evis, on Jerome and the origin of souls. . . 283
To Exuperantius, a Roman soldier, inviting
him to Bethlehem 287
To Evangelus, on the orders of the ministry. 288
To the deacon Sabinianus, on his attempt to
seduce a nun of Bethlehem 289
Spurious. To the matron Celantia, on holy
living 295
Spurious. On the Jewish Festivals 295
From Procopius of Gaza, written a century
after the time of Jerome 295
TREATISES.
Life of Paul the First Hermit . . 299
St. Hilarion 303
Malchus, the Captive Monk 315
Dialogue against the Luciferians 319
Treatise against Helvidius. The perpetual virginity
of the blessed Mary 334
against Jovinianus.
Book I 346
Book II 387
Treatise against Vigilantius 417
Letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem . 424
Dialogue against the Pelagians.
Book I 447
Book II 466
Book III 472
CONTENTS.
IX
PREFACES.
PAGE
Prefaces to Jerome's early Works 483
the Chronicle of Eusebius, addressed to Vin-
centius and Gallienus 483
the Translation of Origen's Homilies on the
Song of Songs, addressed to Pope Damasus 485
the Book on Hebrew Names 485
the Book on Sites and Names of Hebrew
Places 485
the Book of Hebrew Questions on Genesis . 4S6
the Commentary on Ecclesiastes, addressed
to Paula and Eustochium 487
Prefaces to the Vulgate 487
Note on the Vulgate version of the New Testament 487
Preface to the Four Gospels, addressed to Pope
Damasus 487
Note on the Vulgate version of the Old Testament 488
Preface to Genesis, addressed to Desiderius 4S8
Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, addressed to
Eustochium 4S9
the Books of Samuel and Kings, addressed
to Paula and Eustochium 489
the Books of Chronicles, addressed to Chro-
matins 490
Ezra and Nehemiah, addressed to Domnio
and Rogatianus 490
Esther, addressed to Paula and Eustochium. 491
Job 491
the Psalms, addressed to Sophronius 492
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs,
addressed to Chromatius and Heliodorus. . 492
Isaiah, addressed to Paula and Eustochium . . 492
Jeremiah, addressed to Paula and Eu-
stochium 492
Ezekiel, addressed to Paula and Eustochium 492
Daniel, addressed to Paula and Eustochium 492
the Twelve Minor Prophets, addressed to
Paula and Eustochium 493
Prefaces to Translations from the LXX. and
Chaldee 494
Preface to the Books of Chronicles, addressed to
Domnio and Rogatianus 494
Job, addressed to Paula and Eustochium. . 494
the Psalms, addressed to Paula and Eu-
stochium 494
the Books of Solomon, addressed to Paula
and Eustochium 494
Tobit, addressed to Chromatius and Helio-
dorus 494
Judith, addressed to Chromatius and Helio-
dorus 494
Prefaces to the Commentaries 495
Note on Jerome's Commentaries 495
Preface to Commentary on S. Matthew, addressed
to Eusebius of Cremona 495
Translation of Origen on S. Luke, addressed
to Paula and Eustochium 496
Preface to Commentary on Galatians 496
Book I. (i.-iii. 9), addressed to Paula and
Eustochium 496
Book II. (iii. 10-v. 6), addressed to Paula
and Eustochium 497
Book III. (v. 7-vi.), addressed to Paula and
Eustochium 497
Preface to Commentary on Ephesians, Book I.
(i. ii.), addressed to Paula and Eustochium 498
Book II. (iii. iv.), addressed to Paula and
Eustochium 498
Book III. (v. vi.), addressed to Paula and
Eustochium 49S
Preface to Commentary on Philemon, addressed
to Paula and Eustochium 498
VOL VI. . 1
Preface to Commentary on Titus, addressed to
Paula and Eustochium 498
Preface to Commentary on Isaiah, Book I. (c. i. ii.),
addressed to Eustochium 498
Book II. (iii. -v.), addressed to Eustochium.. 498
Book I II. (vi.-ix. 7), addressed lo Eustochium 498
Book IV. (ix. 8-xii.), addressed to Eusto-
chium 498
Book V. (xiii. i-xxiii. , direct exposition),
addressed to Eustochium 498
Book VI. (the same allegorical), addressed
to Eustochium 498
Book VII., addressed to Eustochium (direct,
the same allegorical) 498
Book VIII. (xxiv.-xxvii.), addressed to Eu-
stochium 498
Book IX. (xxviii.-xxx. 26), addressed to
Eustochium 498
Book X. (xxx. 27-xxxv.), addressed to
Eustochium 498
Book XI. (xxxvi.-xl. 26), addressed to
Eustochium 498
Book XII. (xl. 27-xliv.), addressed to
Eustochium 498
Book XIII. (xlv.-l. 3), addressed to Eusto-
chium 499
Book XIV. (1. 4-liii.), addressed to Eusto-
chium 499
Book XV. (liv.-lvii. 2), addressed to Eusto-
chium , 499
Book XVI. (lvii. 3-lix.), addressed to Eusto-
chium 499
Book XVII. (Ix.-lxiv.), addressed to Eusto-
chium 499
Book XVIII. (lxv.-lxvi.), addressed to Eu-
stochium 499
Preface to Commentary on Jeremiah, Book I. (ch.
1-5), addressed to Eusebius of Cremona . . 499
Book II. (ch. 6-1 1), addressed to Eusebius
of Cremona 499
Book III. (ch. 12-17), addressed to Euse-
bius of Cremona 499
Book IV. (ch. 18-23), addressed to Euse-
bius of Cremona 499
Book V. (ch. 24-29), addressed to Euse-
bius of Cremona 499
Book VI. (ch. 30-32), addressed to Euse-
bius of Cremona 499
Preface to Commentary on Ezekiel, Book I.
(ch. 1-4), addressed to Eustochium 499
Book II. (ch. 5-7), addressed to Eustochium 500
Book III. (ch. 8-12), addressed to Eusto-
chium 500
Book IV. (ch. 13-16, v. 19), addressed to
Eustochium 500
Book V. (ch. 16, v. 20-17), addressed to
Eustochium 500
Book VI. (ch. 18-20, v. 43), addressed to
Eustochium 5°°
Book VII. (ch. 20, v. 44-24), addressed to
Eustochium 500
Book VIII. (ch. 25-27), addressed to Eu-
stochium 500
Book IX. (ch. 28-30), addressed to Eu-
stochium 50°
Preface to Commentary on Ezekiel, Book X. (ch.
3I-33). addressed to Eustochium 500
Book XI. (ch. 34-39), addressed to Eusto-
chium 500^
Book XII. (ch. 40-41), addressed to Eusto-
chium 5°°
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface to Commentary on Ezekiel, Book XIII.
(ch. 41-45). addressed to Eustochium 500
Book XIV. (ch. 45, v. 10-48), addressed to
Eustochium 5°°
Preface to Commentary on Daniel, addressed to
Pammachius and Marcella 5°°
Preface to Commentary on Hosea, Book I. (ch.1-5,
v. 7), addressed to Pammachius 5GI
Bjok II. (ch. 5, v. 8-IO, v. 4), addressed
to Pammachius 5QI
Book III. (ch. x. 5-xiv.), addressed to Pam-
machius 5QI
Preface to Commentary on Joel, addressed to
Pammachius / • :.: " $01
Preface toCommentary on Amos, Book I. (i.-iii.),
addressed to Pammachius 501
Book II. (iv.-vi. 1), addressed to Pammachius 501
Book III. (vi. 2-ix.), addressed to Pam-
machius 501
Preface to Commentary on Obadiah, addressed to
Pammachius 501
Preface to Commentary on Jonah, addressed to
Panim? *hius 501
INDEX OF SUBTECTS. 5°5
PAGE
Prefaceto Commentaryon Micah, Book I. (i.-iv. 7),
addressed to Paula and Eustochium 501
Book II. (iv. 8-vii), addressed to Paula and
Eustochium 501
Preface to Commentary on Nahum, addressed to
Paula and Eustochium 501
Preface to Commentary on Habakkuk, Book I.
(i. ii.), addressed to Chromatius 501
Book II. (iii.), addressed to Chromatius. ... 501
Preface lo Commentary on Zephaniah. addressed
to Paula and Eustochium 502
Preface to Commentary on Haggai, addressed to
Paula and Eustochium 502
Preface to Commentary on Zechariah, Book I.
(i.-vi. 8), addressed to Exsuperius, Bishop
of Toulouse 502
Book II. (vi. 9-x.), addressed to Exsuperius,
Bishop of Toulouse 502
Book III. (xi.-xiv.), addressed to Exsuperius,
Bishop of Toulouse 502
Preface to Commentary on Malachi, addressed to
Minervius and Alexander, presbyters of
Toulouse 502
INDEX OF TEXTS 513
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xi
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
I. INTRODUCTORY.
St. Jerome's importance lies in the facts : (i) That he was the author of the Vulgate
Translation-of the Bible lnto~TJatin, (2~T"~Tharhe bore the chief part in introducing the ascetic
life into Western Europe, (3) That his writings more than those of any of the Fathers bring
before us the general as well as the ecclesiastical life of his time. It was a time of special inter-
est, the last age of the old Greco-Roman civilization, the beginning of an altered world. It
included the reigns of Julian (361-63), Valens (364-78), Valentinian (364-75), Gratian (375—
83), Theodosius (379-95) and his sons, the definitive establishment of orthodox Christianity in
the Empire, and the sack of Rome by Alaric (410). It was the age of the great Fathers, of
Ambrose and Augustine in the West, of Basil, the Gregories, and Chrysostom in the East.
With several of these Jerome was brought into personal contact ; of Ambrose he often speaks
in his writings (Apol. i. 2, iii. 14, in this series Vol. iii., pp. 484 and 526 ; also this Vol., pp.
74 and 496, Pref. to Origen and S. Luke ; and the Pref. to Didymus on the Holy Spirit,
quoted in Rufinus' Apology, ii. 24, 43, Vol. iii. of this series, pp. 470 and 480 ; also On
Illust. Men, c. 124, Vol. iii. 383 ; see also Index — Ambrose) ; with Augustin he carried on
an important correspondence (see Table of Contents) ; he studied under Gregory Nazianzen
(80, 93 ; see also Illust. Men, c. 117, Vol. iii. 382) at the time of the Council at Constantinople,
381 ; he was acquainted with Gregory of Nyssa (Illust. Men, c. 128, Vol. iii. ^^8) ; he trans-
lated the diatribe of Theophilus of Alexandria against Chrysostom (214, 215). He ranks as
one of the four Doctors of the Latin Church, and his influence was the most lasting ; for,
though he was not a great original thinker like Augustin, nor a champion like Ambrose, nor
an organiser and spreader of Christianity like Gregory, his influence outlasted theirs. Their
influence in the Middle Ages was confined to a comparatively small circle ; but the monastic
institutions which he introduced, the value for relics and sacred places which he defended,
the deference which he showed for Episcopal authority, especially that of the Roman Pontiff,
were the chief features of the Christian system for a thousand years ; his Vulgate was the
Bible of Western Christendom till the Reformation. To the theologian he is interesting
rather for what he records than for any contribution of his own to the science ; but to the
historjan his vivid descriptions__of persons and things at an important though melancholy
epoch oTtrle Wofld-are Of inestimable value.
II. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY.
The references in this Section, where numbers alone are given, are to the date A. D.
It seems desirable to prefix to this Introduction some account of the times of St. Jerome.
General and ecclesiastical history must not be kept too far apart.
Jerome was born in the troubled times which followed the death of Constantine (337),
and before Constantius became sole Emperor (353). He was still a schoolboy during the
reign of Julian (361-63), and when he heard of his death. During his student life at Rome,
Jovian and Valentinian were Emperors, and at Treves, where he next sojourned, the latter
Emperor held his court. His-ftrst letter refers to a scene in which Ambrose, then Prefect of
Liguria, seems to have taken part (370), and his settlement at Aquileia synchronises with the
law of Valentinian restraining legacies to the clergy (370). He went to the East in the year
of the death of Athanasius (373), and during his stay in the desert and at Antioch (374-80)
occurred the death of Valentinian, the defeat andaeath of his brother Valens in the battle
of Adrianople, the elevation of Theodosius to the purple, and the call of Gregory Nazianzen
to Constantinople. He was ordained by Paulinus, one of the three Bishops of Antioch, and
studied under Apollinaris, thus touching on both the chief points for which the Council of
Constantinople was called (381). At that Council he was probably present, being, as stated
above, a disciple of its president, Gregory Nazianzen. He was present also at the Western
Council held the next year in Rome under Pope Damasus, whose trusted counsellor he became
(pp. 233, 255). His later life, spent at Bethlehem (386-420), witnessed the division of the
b 2
xii PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
Empire between the sons of Theodosius, the fall of the Prefect Rufinus (p. 174), to whom
Jerome had been denounced, the triumph of Stilicho and his death (at which he weakly
rejoiced, p. 237), Alaric's sack of Rome (410) and his death, the revolt of Heraclian, the
marriage of Alaric's successor, Adolphus, with the Emperor's sister, Galla Placidia, and the
death of Arcadius (408) ; in ecclesiastical matters, it witnessed the rise of Chrysostom (398)
and his exile (403) and death (407), the condemnation of Origenism (400), and the Pelagian
controversy (415). It is of this period that we are now to give a sketch.
The Emperor Constantius " may be dismissed," says Gibbon, " with the remark that he
inherited the defects without the abilities of his father." He died in Cilicia on November 3,
361 ; he had been stained in his youth by the blood of nine of his near relatives ; he had
fallen early under the dominion of the eunuchs of his palace ; and he had done little for the
defence of the empire. In ecclesiastical matters he had favoured the Arian cause, and had
banished the orthodox Bishops of the principal sees, and had visited Athanasius of Alexandria
with his especial displeasure. His jealousy of his cousin Julian, who had risen to fame by
his just and vigorous administration and by his victories over the Germans, led him into acts
which provoked the legions of Gaul, and caused them to hail Julian as their Emperor. Julian's
overtures of peace were rejected by Constantius ; he marched rapidly toward Constantinople,
and Constantius, leaving the Persian war in which he was engaged, turned westward to meet
him. The death of Constantius saved the world from civil war.
Julian's accession was hailed by all who felt the need of a strong ruler; and his first
measures were just and tolerant. He recalled from exile the Bishops whom Constantius had
banished ; his private life was virtuous, and his love of learning endeared him to some of the
best of his subjects. But his contempt of Christianity made him first impatient and then a
persecutor. He forbade Christians, or Galileans as he called them, to teach in the schools,
or to follow the learned professions ; he restored Paganism, though it was observed that the
Paganism he introduced was in many ways modified by Christian influence ; and he favoured
the Jews and wished them to rebuild their temple at Jerusalem. What the result of his retro-
gressive policy would have been it is hard to say. He died in a skirmish in the Persian war,
on June 26, 363.
Jovian, who succeeded him, was a Christian ; and his election showed that the anti-
Christian policy of Julian had been without effect. He proclaimed a complete toleration, but
died before reaching Constantinople, only six months after his election.
Valentinian, his successor, was an orthodox Christian, his brother Valens, whom he asso-
ciated with himself, an Arian. Valentinian established his court at Treves, and successfully
kept back the barbarians. Thither in 366^Jerome went for a time, and he describes the curi-
ous customs of the tribes whom he saw there (Against Jovinian, ii. 7, p. 394). The Empe-
rors proclaimed toleration, which extended even to the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries.
But their inquisitorial and cruel treatment of all suspected of magic arts had a repressive
effect upon learning. Their foundation of schools and endowment of physicians for the
poorer citizens show that the hopes of social improvement were not extinguished. Yet the
state of society in Rome and in other large cities, as given at this time by Ammianus Marcel-
linus (cxiv. 6, xxviii. 4; See Gibbon, iv. 77. Ed. Milman & Smith), reveals to us the causes
of the fall of Rome.
In the reign of Valentinian many ecclesiastical events of great importance took place.
The election of Damasus to the Popedom in 366, when the rival factions of Damasus and
Ursinus filled the whole city with their conflict, and churches were stormed and strewed with
the slain, showed how important the Bishopric of Rome had become. " If you would make
me Pope, perhaps I might become a Christian," said Praetextatus, the worshipper of the old
gods, to Damasus, who wished to convert him (see p. 428). The law of Valentinian forbid-
ding legacies to be made to the clergy shows also their wealth and deterioration (p. 92). But
this reign produced some of the greatest Bishops and leaders whom the Church has known.
Athanasius died in ^y^. Ambrose became Bishop of Milan in 374. Basil was Bishop of
Csesarea in Cappadocia from 370 to 379.
Meanwhile, the reign of Valens in the East was unsuccessful, and ended in a great dis-
aster. The Visigoths, and Ostrogoths or Gruthungi, pressed by the Huns, implored permis-
sion to cross the Danube from their settlements in Dacia and to be allowed to cultivate the
waste lands of Thrace and Asia Minor. This was conceded to them ; but they were ill
treated and cajoled, and at last asserted their rights by force ; and the Emperor, who attacked
them near Adrianople, was defeated and slain, and his army destroyed (378). The Goths
were now a formidable force within the Empire. It was in the year before the death of
Valens (377) that Stridon, the birth-place of Jerome, was destroyed.
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xiii
Valentinian had died in 375, leaving two sons, Gratiaji, an accomplished youth of eigh-
teen, who became Emperor of Gaul and the West, ancTValentinian II., then a child, who was
nominal Emperor of Italy and the central provinces, and who, with his mother Justina, had
his residence at Milan. Gratian distinguished himself by his conduct of several expeditions
against the German tribes beyond the Rhine, and, upon the death of his uncle Valens, nom-
inated Theodosius to be Emperor of the East. But he afterwards yielded to idleness-and
frivolous pleasure, and in 383 was murdered by the agents of the usurper Maximus.
Theodosius, the son of the elder Theodosius, who had recovered Britain and Africa for
the "Empire, but had on a false accusation been put to death at Carthage, was called to the
Empire from his retirement in Spain. He showed himself a great and capable ruler. He
took the Goths in detail and gradually dispossessed them. He^puTdown the usurper Max-
imus (383), and on the death of the young Valentinian (392) fought against the usurper
Eugenius, and became sole Emperor (394) in the year before his death. He reformed the
laws, enacting the Theodosian Code. In his reign Paganism was finally suppressed. He
caused a vote to be taken in the Roman Senate for the establishment of Christian worship
and the suppression of Paganism. He destroyed the temples — the destruction of the Sera-
peum at Alexandria in 389 being the most notable instance of this — and supported Ambrose
in his vehement efforts for the extirpation of Paganism. Though he loyally befriended the
Empress Justina, who was an Arian, and her young son Valentinian II., he did not support
their demand for the toleration of Arian worship at Milan which Ambrose had denied to
them, and he suppressed Arianism throughout the Empire. To settle the doctrinal disputes
raised by the teaching of Apollinaris, Bishop of the Syrian Laodicsea, who held that the
Logos in Christ supplied the place of the human soul, and the disputed succession at Antioch,
where the Episcopal throne was claimed by the Arian Vitalis, the Trinitarian but Arian-
ordained Meletius, and Paulinus the champion of the uncompromising orthodoxy of the West,
he summoned the Council of Constantinople, which met in 381. The President of the Coun-
cil was Gregory Nazianzen, who had come to Constantinople in 379, and, partly through his
own eloquence and other great powers, partly through the influence of Theodosius, had won
his way from the position of minister of a single church, the Anastasis, to the Episcopal
throne. The Egyptian Bishops opposed him and vainly endeavoured to foist in the Cynic
Maximus into his place. The Council did not succeed in settling the dispute at Antioch, but
they maintained the Nicene creed, and added fb it all the articles after " I believe in the Holy
Ghost." The Council held at Rome in the^following year (382), to which Jerome went with
Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, and Paulinus of Antioch (p. 255), contradicted that of Con-
stantinople on the subject of the succession at Antioch, but agreed with it on the creed.
Gregory Nazianzen soon after the Council resigned the Bishopric of Constantinople, and
Damasus, Bishop of Rome, died in 384.
TJheodosius.^was, like Henry II. of England, liable to violent accesses of passion. When
the people of Antioch rose in insurrection in 387, and destroyed the busts of the Emperor, he
gave an order that the city should be razed and reduced to the rank of a village, from which
sentence he was only deterred by the entreaties of the Governor of the city and its Bishop,
John Chrysostom. When a similar rising took place at Thessalonica in 390, he was not
similarly appeased, but ordered that the people when summoned to the theatre should be mas-
sacred by his soldiers, and seven thousand men, women and children were thus put to death.
Ambrose, on Theodosius' coming to Milan, refused to admit him to the communicTrrof the
Church till he had undergone five months of penance and showed his repentance for his crime.
On the death of the young Valentinian in 391, Eugenius the rhetorician usurped the
throne of the West. Justina fled to the court of Theodosius, who, after long preparations,
marched against Eugenius, and defeated him at Aquileia in 394. Theodosius, however, did
not long survive his rival. After this last success he gave himself up to ease and self-indul-
gence, and died 395.
The Empire _was- divided-between the sons of Theodosius. Arcadius, who became
Emperor oT the East, was eighteen years of age, and Honorius, fourteen. Both were weak
characters, ill suited to cope with the growing dangers of the Empire. Arcadius married
Eudoxia, a woman of a worldly and violent disposition. Honorius married the daughter of
Stilicho, the great semi-barbarian general, who was his cousin, having married Serena, the
daughter of Honorius, brother to the great Theodosius. Arcadius' minister, Rufinus, became
so unbearable in his rapacity (see Jerome's allusion to him, p. 447) that a tumult was raised
against him and he was put to death (395). Honorius removed his court to Ravenna, among
the pine forests of which he was more secure from invasion ; and, so long as he was under the
guidance of Stilicho, was able to live in security.
xiv PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
John Chrysostom became Bishop of Constantinople in 398, and by his sermons and
ascetic discipline exerted a large influence. But intrigues were raised against him by
Theophilus of Alexandria on account of his reception of the Long Monks, whom Theophilus
had banished in his zeal against Origenism. And the Empress Eudoxia, whom his plain
speaking had offended, endeavoured to work his ruin. He was banished, after having been
once brought back to the capital by the entreaties of the people, in 404, and died in 407,
having continued to exercise his influence over the Church generally from his exile at Comana
in Pontus. His remains were brought to Constantinople thirty years later, and were welcomed
by Theodosius II. and his consort Eudocia with tears of repentance for the fault of their
predecessors. Arcadius died in 408, leaving as his heir the young Theodosius, then but seven
years old. His daughter Pulcheria and the Prefect Anthemius administered the Empire
successfully ; the Huns, who had entered the Roman territory and encamped in Thrace, were
persuaded to withdraw, and the Eastern Empire enjoyed peace during the remainder of the
reign of Theodosius II.
Turning to ecclesiastical affairs, we find a certain calm settling down upon the Church
after the Council of Constantinople, and an unwillingness to reopen the subjects of strife.
Men used the name of heretic rather as something to frighten their opponents, and sought to
identify opinions which they disliked with the Arianism of the past, which all alike condemned.
There were much fewer Councils of Bishops and no General Council for fifty years (Ephesus,
431). But other subjects of dispute arose, the Christian community being saturated with
Greek contentiousness. The first of these related to Origenism. The works of the great
and original church teacher of Alexandria of the third century (^254) had been little studied
for above a hundred years, when a new interest in them arose both in the East and the West.
The earnest study of Scripture which led to the formation of the Vulgate, or translation from
the original into the vulgar tongue of the Latin world, led to a wish to consult the greatest
textual writer and interpreter of Scripture who had as yet appeared ; and those who learned"
from his Bible work to admire him were led also to study his doctrinal views. It happened
to Origen, as to many modern teachers, that his name came to be identified with one or two
prominent doctrines ; and, as men speak of Calvinism or Erastianism or Hegelianism, so they
spoke of Origenism. The doctrines which they connected with Origen were taken from his
most important work, the Ilepl Apx&v, "on First Principles." They were mainly (1) his
expressions relating to the subordination of the Son to the Father, and (2) his eschatology.
As to the first of these, they took isolated expressions, such as, " The Son does not see the
Father," or, "the Son is darkness in comparison with the Father," and they spoke of him as
the father of Arius ; as to the second, they fastened upon his speculative ideas, that the com-
ing of men's souls into this world was a fall from a previous state of being ; that men may
rise into an angelic state ; that the material body is destined to pass away ; and that in the
consummation of all things all spiritual beings, including the fallen angels, will be schooled
into obedience, so that the universe may be brought back into harmony. Men were incapable
of entering into the general system of Origen, and still more of understanding his historical
position; [The Pope Anastasius who condemned him in 404 says plainly that he knows neither
who Origen was nor when he lived (see Vol. iii. 433)] ; and they consequently took his tenets
in an absolute sense, and thought of him as denying the divinity of Christ, or the condemna-
tion of the wicked, or the resurrection of the body. His views were most widely spread in
Egypt, where the contrary tendency of Anthropomorphism, that is, the conception of God as
the subject of human properties and passions, was also widely prevalent. Theophilus, Bishop
of Alexandria, at first was generally favourable to Origen, as was also Jerome ; but, through
various causes, not unmixed with personal feeling, he turnecTagainst Origenism in a fanatical
and persecuting temper. He procured the condemnation of Origenism by the Bishops of
Egypt, Syria, and Cyprus, and also by those of Rome and Italy ; and he pursued those who
had fled from his persecution to Constantinople, and branded Chrysostom, who had received
them, as a heretic. In all this he was aided by Jerome, who translated his missives into Latin
(see Letters 86 to 100, 113 and 114). But the whole matter was transacted without any
Council being called ; the Bishops were taken as speaking the general sentiment, and their
decisions were reinforced by a decree of the Emperors (400).
The second controversy (which also was disposed of without any General Council) was
that of Pelagianism. Pelagius and Caelestius, monks of Britain, had come to Rome in 409,
and maintained the doctrine of Free Will and the possibility of a man living without sin,
against the Augustinian doctrine of Grace, which asserted the helplessness of man and issued
in absolute predestinarianism. They passed into Africa with the crowds who were escaping
from Alaric's invasion, and there confronted the influence of Augustin. Condemned by a Coun-
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xv
cil at Carthage in 413, they passed into Palestine, and procured recognition from Councils
held at Jerusalem and Diospolis in 415, notwithstanding the presence of Orosius, Augustin's
friend, and the accusations of the Gaulish Bishops, Heros and Lazarus. Jerome was invited
to write against them (pp. 272, 279), and their followers rose against him and burnt his mon-
asteries (p. 280, Augustin De Gest. Pel. c. 66), after which they visited Ephesus and Rome,
and were at first received by the Pope Zosimus ; and several Bishops, of whom the chief was
Julian of Eclana, espoused their cause. But Augustin's influence prevailed in the West, while
in the East little interest was taken in a controversy which was humanistic rather than strictly
theological, and men's minds were being drawn to the questions of Christology, which led to
the Nestorian controversy and the Council of Ephesus (431).
The forces of the barbarians, which in the reign of Valens had threatened Constantinople,
were diverted to the West in the reign of the sons of Theodosius. Those who remained
within the boundaries of the Empire imbibed something of Roman civilisation, and, in many
cases, became servants of Rome ; and, as the subjects of the Empire withdrew through love
of luxury from military duties, the power of the barbarians enlisted as mercenaries increased.
Alaric, who now rose to power, occupied an ambiguous position. He marched with his Gothic
army into Greece (396), and, being a Christian, thought himself justified in plundering the
historic fanes of the old religion. He was attacked by Stilicho near the Isthmus of Corinth,
and defeated, but he contrived to transport his army across the gulf and to take possession of
Epirus (397), and the ministers of Arcadius thought it prudent to make peace with him. In
398 he became at once Master-General of Illyricum and King of the Visigoths ; and, his rights
not being respected by the Emperor of the West, he invaded the North of Italy. He was
vanquished by Stilicho in the battles of Pollentia and Verona (403) ; but the conqueror, who
well knew the increasing weakness of Rome, made peace with Alaric and acknowledged his
official position. Alaric retreated for a time, but another barbarian invader, Radagaisus or
Radaghast, with a mixed host of Vandals, Suevi, and Burgundians, forced his way to Florence.
He was there met by Stilicho who gained over him his last great victory on the heights of
Fiesole (406). The policy of conciliation adopted by Stilicho might have converted Alaric
and his Goths into the guards of the Empire ; but his action was disowned, and he was treated
as a traitor and put to death in 408. Then Alaric advanced to the attack upon Rome. He
was induced by fair promises to raise the siege ; but, finding that no faith could be placed in
the court of Ravenna, he renewed the siege, and took the city on August 26, 410. The only
redeeming feature in the terrible destruction which ensued was the respect of the Goths for
the Christian religion. They spared the clergy and the churches and those who had taken
refuge in them ; and even the rich plate and ornaments of divine worship were held sacred
from their rapacity. But the knell of Roman greatness had been sounded, and the end of the
Empire was near at hand. Alaric on leaving Rome ravaged Italy. He marched to Rhegium,
the flames of which Rufinus saw from the opposite coast while he wrote his Commentary on
the Book of Numbers (Vol. iii. p. 568) ; but his attempt to cross into Sicily was frustrated by
a storm, and he himself died before the year of the sack of Rome had closed. His successor,
Adolphus, made peace with Rome, and dared to ask for the hand of Galla Placidia, the sister
of Honorius. The King of the Goths was accepted as the brother-in-law of the Roman
Emperor.
The Empire of the West might now be compared to a ship heaving to and fro in a troubled
sea, encompassed by enemies and without captain or rudder. Britain had revolted in 409.
From 409 to 413 Gaul was a prey to revolutions, and the usurper Constantine was with diffi-
culty overcome by the Roman General Constantius, only to be followed by fresh usurpers,
Jovinus, Sebastian, and Attalus. The Count Heraclian dared to invade Rome itself in 413,
though defeat and death were the penalty. One by one the provinces of the Empire passed
into the hands of the barbarians. The Goths settled in Aquitaine and in Spain ; the Vandals
turned down into Africa ; the Burgundians settled in the East and North of France, and the
Franks in the centre. The ruin of the Empire of the West was practically consummated at
the time of Jerome's death in 420, though sixty years of disaster and disgrace intervened
before its final extinction.
Meanwhile the distressed condition of Italy had driven large numbers of persons, espe-
cially of the clergy and the upper classes of society, to take refuge in the East, so as almost
to justify Thierry's designation of the movement as an emigration to the Holy Land. Jerome
and his friends received this tide of fugitives at Bethlehem, and corresponded with those left
behind ; and thus the evils of the time made the Solitary of the East the chief Doctor of the
West.
xvi PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
III. LIFE OF JEROME.
2'he figures in parentheses, when not otherwise indicated, refer to the pages in litis volume.
For a full account of the Life, the translator must refer to an article (HlERONYMUS) written by him in
Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography. A shorter statement may suffice here, since the chief
sources of information are contained in this volume, and to these reference will be continually made.
Childhood and Youth. Jerome was born at Stridon, near Aquileia, but in Pannonia, a
place which was partially destroyed in the Gothic invasion of 377 (On Illustrious Men, 135,
Vol. iii. p. 304). Jerome's own .property, however, remained, though in a ruinous
A.r>. 345 state, in 397 (140). His father Eusebius- (111. Men, as above) and his mother were
Catholic Christians (492), but he was not baptised in infancy. The family was
moderately wealthy, possessingjioj.isesYij;o)^nd slayes^Apol. i. 30, Vol. iii. p. 498). and was
intimate with the richer family from which sprang Bonosus, Jerome's foster brother and
friend (6). The parents were living in 373 when Jerome first went to the East (35), but
probably died at the destruction of Stridon. He had a brother, Paulinian, twenty years his
junior (140, 173), and we read of a sister (8, 9), and an aunt named Castorina (13).
He received a good education, but declares that he was an idle boy (Vol. iii. 498). He
was at a grammar school when the Emperor Julian died (Comm. on Habakkuk iii. 14) and
soon after went to Rome with his friend Bonosus (6), where he studied rhetoric (at that
time the all-embracing pursuit) under ^Elius Donatus (Vol. iii. 491), and frequented
363 the law-courts (Comm. on Gal., ii. 13). He fell into sin (9, 15, 78), but was drawn
into the company of young Christians who on Sundays visited the tombs of the
366 martyrs in the Catacombs (Com. on Ezek., ch. 40, v. 5), and is believed to have
been baptised by the Pope Liberius in 366 (20). He was already a keen student,
though as yet having little knowledge of Greek (Rufinus Apol. ii. 9, Vol. iii. p. 464)', and had
begun the acquisition of a library (35).
From Rome Jerome went with Bonosus to Gaul, passing, however, through Northern
Italy, where they made acquaintance with Rufinus, probably at his native place,
366-70. Concordia (Ep. v. 2, comp. with iii. 3, pp. 7, 11). He stayed at Treves (7), and
travelled in its neighbourhood. (394), and copied MSS., and wrote a mystical Com-
mentary on Obadiah (401).
Aquileia. Returning probably by Vercellas (1) to Italy he was for three years at Aqui-
leia, where he entered definitively upon the twin pursuits of his life, Scriptural study
and the fostering of asceticism. A society of congenial minds gathered round him, com-
prising Rufinus, Bonosus, Heliodorus (afterwards Bishop of Altinum), Chromatius (after-
wards Bishop of Aquileia), and his brother Eusebius, and the Archdeacon Jovinus, the
monk Chrysogonus, the sub-deacon Niceas, Innocentius, and Hylas, the freedman
37°— 73- °f the wealthy but ascetic Roman lady, Melania, together with Evagrius (after-
wards Bishop of Antioch), who had come to Italy with Eusebius, Bishop of
Vercellre, on his return from exile. For the mention of these in various parts of Jerome's
works, the Index must be consulted. These ascetics did not form a monastery. There were
as yet no Orders or Rules. The vow was merely a " purpose " (propositum) which each pri-
vately took on himself and the terms of which each man freely prescribed. The Greek word
Monaehus (Monk) was used, but only implied living a single or separate life. Some were
hermits (5, 9, 247), some lived in cities (121, 250). Jovinian was a monk, though antiascetic
(378) ; Heliodorus (91) and John of Jerusalem (174) were monks, though Bishops. Some
members of the ascetic society at Aquileia may have resided in the same house ; but there was
no cenobitic discipline. Jerome visited Stridon and the neighbouring town of vEmona (12),
and perhaps resided at his native place for a time, but he complains of the worldliness of the
people of his native town and of the opposition of their Bishop, Lupicinus (8 n. 10). The
friends at Aquileia were united in the closest friendship. Rufinus' baptism (7, Ruf.
373 Ap. i. 4, Vol. iii. 436) and the writing of Jerome's first letter on "the woman seven
times struck with the axe" are the only incidents which have come down to us of
this period. We only know that the society was broken up by some event which Jerome
speaks of as "a sudden storm," and "a monstrous rending asunder" (5).
Jerome determined on going to the East with Evagrius and Heliodorus ; Innocentius,
Niceas, and Hylas accompanied him (1, 5, 6, 10). Chromatius, Eusebius, and Jovinus
remained in Italy. Bonosus retired to an island in the Adriatic, where he lived the life of a
hermit (5, 9). Rufinus went to Egypt and subsequently to Palestine in the company of
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xvii
Melania (6, 7). Jerome and his companions travelled through Thrace, Pontus, Bithynia,
Galatia, at the capital of which (Ancyra) he appears to have stayed (497)> Cappadocia, and
Cilicia, to Antioch, their haven of rest (5). But they did not long remain together. Helio-
dorus made a journey to Jerusalem, where he was the guest of Florentius (6).
374. Jerome was in ill health, and at length, in the middle of Lent (36), fell into a
fever of which he nearly died. To this illness belongs his anti-Ciceronian dream
(36, Apol. ii. 6, Vol. iii. 462), which finally determined him to abandon secular learning and
devote himself to sacred studies. The successive deaths of Innocentius and Hylas left
Jerome alone with Evagrius, at whose country house he fell in with the ancient hermit
Malchus (315), and was encouraged by him in the ascetic tendency. He hoped to see Rufinus,
and wrote to him through Florentius (4, 6), but he did not come ; and he determined to
embrace the life of solitude. Heliodorus had some thought of accompanying him, but, to
Jerome's great chagrin, felt the call to pastoral work to be the stronger, and returned to
Italy (8, 13, 123).
The Desert. Jerome spent the next five years in the Desert of Chalcis, to the east of .
Antioch (7). It was peopled by hermits who, though living apart for most purposes, were
under some kind of authority (4, 21). Jerome wrote to their head, Theodosius,
374-79. begging to be admitted into their company (4). His life while in the desert was
one of rigorous penance, of tears and groans alternating with spiritual ecstasy, and
of temptations from the haunting memories of Roman life (24, 25) ; he lived in a cell or
cavern ; he earned his daily bread, and was clad in sackcloth (21, 24), but he was not wholly
cut off from converse with men. He saw Evagrius frequently (7, 8) ; he wrote and received
letters and books (7, 11) ; he learned Hebrew from a converted Jew (Ep. xviii. 10), and
copied and translated the Gospel according to the Hebrews (111. Men, 2, 3, Vol. iii. 362), and
his brother solitaries he found only too accessible (Ep. xvii. 3). Towards the close of his
sojourn he became involved in the controversies then agitating the Church at Antioch, where
the Arian Vitalis, the orthodox but Arian-ordained Meletius, and the Western Paulinus
disputed the possession of the bishopric (20). Jerome found himself beset with demands for
a confession of faith in terms strange to his Western education (19, 20). He appealed to
Pope Damasus for advice (19, 20) ; but he and his friends found his position intolerable.
They would rather, he says, live among wild beasts than among Christians such as those
about them. In the autumn of 378 he wrote to Marcus, then head of the eremite community,
to say that he only begged for the " hospitality of the desert " for a few months : in the
spring he would be gone (21).
Accordingly, in the spring of 379 he came to Antioch and attached himself to the party
of Paulinus, the Western and orthodox Bishop, who ordained him presbyter,
379. though he then and always afterwards declined the active ministry (446). He
pursued his studies under the celebrated Apollinarius of Laodicaea, though not
accepting his views (176), and wrote his " Dialogue against the Luciferians " (319-334)-
Constantinople. The next year Jerome went, with his Bishop, Paulinus, to Constantinople,
and was there during the Second General Council, at which the views of his
380. teacher, Apollinarius, were condemned, and sentence was passed in the cause of
his Bishop. He placed himself under the teaching of Gregory Nazianzen (80, 93,
357; 111. Men, 117), and became acquainted with Gregory of Nyssa (111. Men, 128); he
translated the Chronicle of Eusebius and dedicated it to Vincentius and Gallienus, the former
of whom became henceforward his companion (483, 444-446) ; he imbibed his admiration for
Origen, translating his Homilies on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and writing to Damasus on the
meaning given by Origen to the Seraphim in Is. vi. (22). These literary labours
381. were carried on under the disadvantage of a weakness of the eyes, from which he
henceforward constantly suffered. But there is in his writings not a single refer-
ence to the Council of Constantinople, and only cursory references to that held the next year
at Rome, in which he was certainly called to take part (233 ; Ruf. Epil. to Pamph., Vol.
iii. 426, 513).
Rome. He went to Rome with his Bishop, Paulinus, and with Epiphanius, Bishop ot
Salamis in Cyprus. At the Council which was there held he was present as a learned man
whose help the Pope required. There is no ground for the notion that he became
382-5. his official secretary. But for the two main objects of Jerome's life his sojourn in
Rome presented great opportunities. Damasus thoroughly appreciated his emi-
nence as a biblical scholar. He constantly sent him questions, the replies to which form
short exegetical treatises, such as those reckoned among Jerome's letters on the word
Hosanna and the Prodigal Son. It was also for Pope Damasus that he undertook a revised
xviii PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
version of the Psalms, a version which was used in the Roman Church for more than eleven
centuries (492, 494), and also a revised version of the New Testament, the preface to which
is of much critical value (487, 488 ; see also p. 357, where a whole clause in 1 Cor. vii. 35 is
said to have been omitted in the old version because of the difficulty of translation). He fur-
ther began the collation of the various texts of the LXX. and the other Greek versions of the
Old Testament, and began to form the convictions which afterwards led to his translation
direct from the Hebrew (484). These biblical studies made him acquainted with the works
of Origen,and he conceived a great and almost passionate admiration for that "brazen-hearted "
(Chalchenterus) worker and teacher of the Church (46), and he permitted himself to use
expressions too indiscriminate in praise of him and too contemptuous towards his adversaries,
which were afterwards thrown in his teeth (Ruf. Ap. ii. 14, Vol. iii. 467).
For the promotion of asceticism he found in Rome a congenial soil. Epiphanius, him-
self the pupil of the hermits Hesychias and Hilarion (Sozom. vi. 32, Vol. ii. 369, 370), was the
guest of the noble and wealthy lady Paula, the heiress of the ^Emilian race (196), who was
already disposed to the ascetic life. To the circle of her family and friends Jerome was soon
admitted, and she became his devoted disciple and friend during the remainder of her life
(Letter cviii.). Her son, Toxotius, and her daughters, Blesilla, the young widow (47-49),
Paulina, the wife of Jerome's friend, the ascetic Senator Pammachius (135), and Julia Eus-
tochium (196), each in special ways affected the life of Jerome. Her friends, Marcella and
Principia (253), Asella (42, 58), Lea (42), Furia and Titiana, Marcellina and Felicitas (60)
and Fabiola, all of them belonging to the highest Roman families, formed a circle of renun-
tiants who sought refuge in the ascetic life from the wastefulness and immorality of those
of their own quality. Marcella's house on the Aventine was their meeting place (41, 58).
There they prayed and sang psalms in the Hebrew, which they had learned for the pur-
pose (210), and read the Scriptures under the guidance of their teacher (41, 255), who
wrote for them many of his expository letters, whose ascetic writings they committed to
memory, and whose private letters to them (Letters xxiii.-xlvi.) reveal the various phases of
the new Roman and Christian life. These are concentrated in the Treatise on the Preserva-
tion of Virginity which he addressed to Eustochium (Letter xxii.). This period also pro-
duced the first of Jerome's controversial treatises, that against Helvidius on the perpetual
virginity of Mary (334~346)-
This congenial scene of activity and friendship was broken up by the death of Damasus.
The new Pope, Siricius, to whom many had thought of Jerome as a rival (59), was with-
out sympathy for him : he had offended almost every class of the community by
384. his unrestrained satire (Letters xxii., xl., liv., etc.) : he had awakened suspicion
byTnsTbver praise of Origen (46) ; and at the funeral of Blesilla, whose end was
385. believed to have been hastened by the hard life enjoined upon her, the fury of the
people v/as excited against Jerome and the cry was raised " The monks to the
Tiber ! " (53). He felt that he was vainly trying to "sing the Lord's song in a strange land "
(60) and he resolved to leave Rome for ever and to seek a retreat in Palestine. His departure
in August and the feelings excited by it are described in a passage in his Apology against
Rufinus (Ap. iii. 22, Vol. iii. 530) and in his letter to Asella (Letter xlv.) written at the moment
of his embarkation at Ostia.
Jerome sailed with Vincentius and with his brother Paulinian (Vol. iii. 530 as above)
direct to Antioch. Paula and Eustochium, leaving the other members of their family, went
to Cyprus to see Epiphanius ; and the two parties united at Antioch (198). Thence they
passed through Palestine and Jerusalem, on to Egypt, where they visited the
385-86. abode of the monks of Nitria (202) and became acquainted with Didymus, "the
blind seer " of Alexandria (176); and they returned to Palestine in the autumn of
386, and settled at Bethlehem for the remainder of their lives.
Bethlehem, First Period. Jerome's life at Bethlehem lasted thirty-four years. A monas-
tery was built, of which he was the head, and a convent for women over which Paula and
Eustochium successively presided (206), a church where all assembled (206, 292),
386-420. and a hospice for pilgrims who came to visit the holy places from all parts of the
world (140). These institutions were supported by the wealth of Paula until,
through the profusion of her charities, she was so impoverished that she rather depended on
Jerome and his brother, who sold the remains of their family property for their support (140).
He lived in a cell, surrounded by his library, to which he constantly made additions (Ruf. Ap.
ii. 8 (2), Vol. iii. 464). He lived on bread and vegetables (165), and speaks of his life as
one of repentance and prayer (446), but no special austerities are mentioned in his writings,
and he did not think piety increased by the absence of cleanliness (33, 34). He never offici-
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xix
ated in the services (83), but was much absorbed in the cares (140) and discipline (Letter
cxlvii.) of the monastery, and by the crowds of monks who came from all parts of the world
(64, 65, 500). Sulpicius Severus (Dial. i. 8) tells us that when he was with him towards the
close of his life, he had the charge of the parish of Bethlehem ; and the presbyters associated
with him certainly prepared candidates for baptism (446) ; but his call, as he often confesses,
was not to the pastorate, but to the study (Letter cxii.). He had youths to whom he taught
the Latin clal^TcsTRuT Apbl. TTIT^-^V-ol. iii. 465) ; and he expounded the Scriptures daily
to the brethren in the monastery (Apol. ii. 124, Vol. iii. 515). Sulpicius speaks of him as always
reading or writing, never resting day or night. Translations, commentaries, controversial
works, letters dealing with important subjects, flowed constantly from his pen, while the notes
passing between him and Paula and Eustochium were without number (111. Men, 135, Vol. iii.
384), and every thing that he wrote was caught up by friends or by enemies and published
(79). _He__w_c^keo^amidst great distractions, not merely from the cares of the monasteries
and the hospice, but from the need of entertaining persons of distinction, like Fabiola (161),
from all parts of the world (153, 287, 161) ; from the need of replying to the letters brought
by messengers from the most distant countries for those who sought advice of the renowned
teacher (Letters cxvi.-cxxx.) ; from prolonged illnesses (188, 215) ; at times from poverty
(214) ; from the panic of barbarian invasions (161, 252), and from the attacks of his enemies
who in the year 417 burned his monasteries (281, 282).
He spared no pains nor expense in the production of his works. He perfected his know-
ledge of Hebrew by the aid of a Jew who came to him like Nicodemus by night (176) ; he
also learned Chaldee (493) ; and for special parts of his Bible work he obtained special aid
from a distance (491, 494), obtaining funds, when his own had failed, from his old friends
Chromatius and Heliodorus (492).
The list of his works during the first six years of his residence at Bethlehem comprises
the completion of the Commentary on Ecclesiastes, and the translation of Didymus on the
Holy Spirit ; the Commentaries on Ephesians and Galatians, Titus and Philemon
386-92. (498) ; a revision of the version of the New Testament begun in Rome ; a Treatise
on Psalms x.-xvi., and Translation of Origen on St. Luke and the Psalms ; the
Book on the Names of Hebrew Places, mainly translated from Eusebius ; the Book of Hebrew
Proper Names and that of Hebrew Questions on Genesis ; the revision of his translation of
the LXX., involving a comparison of Origen's Hexapla ; a considerable part of the Vulgate ;
the Lives of the hermits Malchus and Hilarion ; and the Catalogue of Illustrious Church
Writers. The only letter preserved to us of this period is that written in the name of Paula
and Eustochium to invite Marcella to come to Palestine (60).
Bethlehem, Second Period. The second period of Jerome's stay at Bethlehem
392-405. is the period of his most conspicuous activity, which was partly employed in the
salutary work of finishing the Vulgate and in writing letters which rank among
the finest of his compositions, but largely also in controversies, in which the worst parts of
his character and influence are brought into prominence. There were also great
395. external hindrances to his work : the panic arising from the invasion of the Huns,
398 and on account of which the inmates of the monasteries had to leave their homes and
404-5. prepare to embark at Joppa (161) ; there were long periods of ill health ; and
394-97. there was the quarrel with the Bishop of Jerusalem which led to a kind of excom-
munication of the monks of Bethlehem (446, 447).
The letters of this second period are those numbered 47 to 116. They comprise those
to Nepotianus, nephew of Heliodorus, on the duties of the pastorate (89-96) ; that to
Heliodorus, on the death of his nephew (123-131) ; that to Paulinus, the Roman Senator,
afterwards Bishop of Nola, on his poem in praise of Theodosius, and on the study of
Scripture (96-102) ; that to Furia, on the maintenance of widowhood (102-109) \ ^at to
the Spanish noble Lucinius, who had sent scribes to copy Jerome's works (151-154), and
to his widow Theodora (154, 155) ; those to Abigaus, a blind Spanish presbyter (156, 157),
and to Salvina, widow of Nebridius, and closely connected with the Emperor Theodosius
(163-168) ; that to Amandus, the Roman presbyter, on a difficult case of conscience (149-
151) ; the letter to Oceanus, defending the second marriage of a Spanish Bishop (141-146) ;
the letter to Lseta, wife of Toxotius, son of Paula, on the education of her infant daughter
(189-195) ; and those gems of his writings, the sketches of the lives (Epitaphia) of Fabiola
(157-163) and of Paula (195-212).
391-403. The Vulgate. The work of Jerome's life, the Vulgate version of the Scrip-
tures, was completed in this period. The version which bore the name of Vul-
gate, the popular or vernacular version, in his day (44, 487-488) was a loose translation of
xx PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
the LXX., of which almost every copy varied from every [other. His first effort, therefore,
was to translate, or to revise the existing translations, from a correct version of the LXX.
And this revised version he used in his familiar expositions, in the monastery (Apol. ii. 24,
Vol. iii. 515), though a great part of it was lost even in his lifetime (280), and all that now
remains of it is Job, the Psalms, and the Preface to the Books of Solomon (494). But even
the most correct text of the LXX., as he saw at once, was insufficient. In Origen's Hexapla
the versions of Theodotion, Aquila, and Symmachus were given, together with two others
called Quinta and Sexta, in parallel columns with the LXX. These constantly differed ; and
the only mode of deciding between them was by going back to the Hebrew — " Hebraica Ver-
itas," as he constantly terms it (80, 486, 494). Accordingly, he set himself at once, in his set-
tlement at Bethlehem, to the preliminary labours required for this task ; and in the
392. sketch of his works in the Catalogue (Vol. iii. 384 ; On 111. Men, 135) he says :
" The New Testament I have restored according to the Greek original ; the Old, I
393. have translated in accordance with the Hebrew." But no portion was as yet pub-
lished. In the following year he published the prophets (80) and sent other por-
tions of his Old Testament version to Marcella at Rome, keeping the rest shut up in his closet
(80), and awaiting the judgment of his friends on the portions submitted to them. He pur-
posed from the first to publish the whole, as we see from what he calls his " helmeted preface "
to the Books of Samuel and of Kings (489). But it was published in fragments, according as
he had leisure to give it a final revision, or according as other circumstances were favourable.
The series of Prefaces (487-494) shows that some parts were written or revised in great haste
(492, 494), some parts extorted from him by the importunity of his friends (488 ; see Apol.
ii. 25, in Vol. iii. 515) ; that he was subjected to severe censures and misunderstanding, as to
which he was extremely sensitive ; that at times he so shrank from publicity that he wished
his friends only to read it privately ; that he was often, especially in the later portions, depend-
ent on his friends for the provision of the copyists (492, 494). The order of publication can
be traced. The Books of Samuel and of the Kings came first, then Job and the Prophets,
Erza and Nehemiah, and the Book of Genesis. Thus far he had proceeded in the year 393,
when a break of three years occurred through external hindrances, of which the
395. panic of the invasion of the Huns was the chief. He then, at the entreaty of Chro-
matius and Heliodorus (492), completed the Books of Solomon, intending to pro-
398. ceed systematically to the end. But illness intervened, after which he states that
the first eight books were still wanting in the copies made for the Spaniard Lucinius
4°3- (I53) » nor was tne publication resumed till five years later, when the remaining
books from Exodus to Ruth and the Book of Esther were brought out (489, 491).
404. The whole was then collected, by others rather than by himself, and gradually
superseded all other Latin versions, and, coupled with the version of the New
Testament previously made, became the received, or Vulgate, edition of the Bible.
The second period of Jerome's stay at Bethlehem is the period of his great controversies.
These are no less than six in number, (t) That with Jovinian on ascetic prac-
393-404. tices. (2) That with the Origenists, in which he worked with Theophilus of Alex-
andria and the Western Bishops. (3) That with John, Bishop of Jerusalem. (4)
That with Rufinus. (5) That with Vigilantius. (6) That with Augustin. These may be
described somewhat cursorily, the reader being referred for a more detailed statement of them
to the Letters and Treatises themselves and to the notices prefixed to them.
(1) Jomnian. Jovinian was a Roman monk or, rather, solitary (for many took private
monastic vows without entering any order or monastery) who had perceived the danger of
degrading the ordinary Christian life which lurked in the profession of asceticism. He was
not, to judge by Jerome's quotations from him (347), a man of superior ability ; but there are
no apparent grounds for the imputations which Jerome throws upon his character. He put
off the monastic dress, and lived like other men ; and, though he refused to marry, maintained
his right as a Christian to do so. He argued that the conditions of virginity, marriage, and
widowhood were equal in God's sight, provided men lived in faith and piety ; and that eating
and fasting were indifferent if men gave God thanks. He seems to have had some influence,
and it is stated that some who had made vows of virginity were led through his teaching to
marry. Certainly his views were condemned by the Pope Siricius, by Ambrose, and by
Augustin. He published a book in Rome, maintaining these opinions, and others
393. of a more speculative character, which was sent to Jerome, and was at once
answered by him in his treatise " Against Jovinian " (346-416). The more specu-
lative matters he deals with calmly ; but the anti-ascetic views he treats with violence and
contempt. " These are the hissings of the old serpent ; by these the dragon expelled man
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
from Paradise." His jntemrjejrateness, which threw contempt upon marriage, was severely
blamed by his friendlTat Rome, who tried to stop the publication (79 ; see also Ruf. Apol. ii.
44, Vol. iii. 480) ; but he only replied by renewed expressions of derision, and, several years
later, when he has occasion to refer to Jovinian, he says, "This man, after being condemned
by the authority of the Roman Church, amidst his feasts of pheasants and swine's flesh, I will
not say gave up, but belched out, his life " (417).
393-403. (2) Origcnism. The second great controversy in which Jerome was engaged
at this period relates to Origenism, about which a great controversy had arisen at
Alexandria, leading to its condemnation by the Bishops of Palestine and Cyprus in the East,
and by the Pope and the Bishop of Milan and others in the West.
The great church teacher of Alexandria in the third century was but little known in the
West. Anastasius the Pope, in the year 399, declared that he neither knew who he was nor
what he had written (Vol. iii. 433). Jerome^-who had made acquaintance with his writings
during his first sojourn in the East, conceived a strong admiration for him ; he did not,
indeed, accept all his views, as may be seen from the first letter in which he alludes to him
(22) ; but on his coming to Rome he did all in his power to make him known. He was
invited by Damasus to translate some of his works (485) ; and when he found ignorant con-
demnations passed upon him he praised him with his usual vehemence and without discrim-
ination, even eulogizing the Ilepi 'Apx&v on which the subsequent controversy mainly turned
(46 ; Ruf. Ap. ii. 13, Vol. iii. 467). He had also quoted without blame in his Commentary
on the Ephesians statements such as those relating to the pre-existence of human souls and
the possible restoration of Satan (Ruf. Apol. i. 448, 454). But it was rather a literary enthu-
siasm and an admiration of original genius than an express consent to Origen's system. His
calm judgment in later years was, that his literary services to the Church were inestimable,
but that his doctrinal views were to be read with the greatest caution, and that those specially
impugned were heretical (176, 177, 238, 244). It must be allowed, however, that he appears
in his earlier stage as the vehement panegyrist of Origen (46, 48), and in his later stage as
his equally vehement condemner ; and also that this change seems less the effect of convic-
tion than of a fear of the imputation of heresy (Apol. iii. ^^, Vol. iii. 535).
The monks in the deserts near Alexandria were divided, some holding Origenistic views,
and some those of an opposite tendency and verging upon Anthropomorphism. Theophilus,
the Bishop of Alexandria, at first sided with the Origenists, but afterwards turned against
them, and became their relentless persecutor. During his former phase he was appealed to
by John, Bishop of Jerusalem, in his controversy with Epiphanius and Jerome (427), and took
his part so vehemently that he sent his confidant Isidore to Jerusalem, nominally to inquire,
but really to crush out all opposition, as he stated in a letter to John (444). This letter fell
into the hands of Jerome and his friends, and the intentions of Theophilus were frustrated.
A period of suspicious silence followed (134) ; but when Theophilus had undergone his
change he found a ready instrument in Jerome, who threw himself eagerly into the conflict
(182-184), translated the encyclicals of Theophilus (185, 186, 189) which led to the condem-
nation of Origen in the East, and even his diatribe against St. John Chrysostom for receiving
Isidore and his brethren, whom Theophilus now treated as his enemies (214). Jerome also,
through his friends Pammachius, Marcella, and Eusebius (186, 256), procured the condem-
nation of Origen in the West.
(3) John of Jerusalem. The controversy with John of Jerusalem forms an episode in
the more general controversy. John had been trained among the Origenistic ascetics,
Epiphanius among the anti-Origenists. Jerome appears to have undergone no change in his
sentiments as to Origen during the first period of his stay at Bethlehem [see his Preface to
the Book of Hebrew Questions (486, 487) written in 388], and was on good terms with the
Bishop of Jerusalem and with Rufinus, who was then living on the Mount of
393. Olives. But at the beginning of the second period a certain Aterbius came to
Jerusalem and spread suspicion and alarm of heresy. Jerome, herhaps weakly,
" gave him satisfaction " as to his faith (Apol. iii. 33, Vol. iii. 535), while by John and Rufinus
he was treated as a busybody (id.). This produced the first estrangement, which was
394. greatly increased by the visit of Epiphanius in the following year. The scenes which
followed may be read in Jerome's treatise " Against John of Jerusalem " (430) and in
Epiphanius' letter translated by Jerome (83-85). Epiphanius was popular at Jerusalem, and
after a scene in the church, in which he preached against Origenism and John against Anthropo-
morphism, a breach was made between the two prelates. Epiphanius came to stay at Bethle-
hem, and spoke of John as well nigh a heretic. John spoke of Epiphanius as " that old
dotard " (430). The monks of Bethlehem took part with Epiphanius ; and he, to prevent their
xxii PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
being deprived of clerical ministration by Bishop John, ordained Jerome's brother Paulinian
at his monastery of Ad in the diocese of Eleutheropolis. Paulinian was only thirty years old,
and was ordained against his will, and with the employment of force and even gagging (83).
Epiphanius, returning to Cyprus, wrote to John a letter explaining his conduct (83-89),
which was translated by Jerome, but which did little to allay the strife. John placed the monas-
teries, at least partially, under an interdict (446-447), and appealed to Rome and to Alex-
andria, and afterwards to Rufinus, the Pretorian Prefect at Constantinople (174, 447).
Theophilus at first took John's side vehemently ; but the mission of his confidant Isidore
miscarried (444, 445), and after some time his views of the situation changed and he made
peace with Jerome and his friends. John also was appeased ; and Jerome, who
397 or 398. had written a long and bitter account of the controversy in his treatise to Pamma-
chius "Against John of Jerusalem" (424-447.), seems suddenly to have let the
whole matter drop ; the treatise was not finished and was not published, and we read of the
strife no more.
(4) Rufinus. The quarrel with Jerome's early friend Rufinus did not, like that with John,
pass away. Jerome had deeply loved Rufinus (4) and highly respected Melania
398-404. in early days (5, 7, 53). He had spoken of Rufinus in his Chronicle for the year
378 as " insignis monachus " (Ruf. Ap. ii. 25, 26, Vol. iii. 471) ; we do not read
of any estrangement till some years after his return to Palestine. We do not, indeed, find the
warm affection which we should expect in two intimate friends who meet after a
392. long separation ; and it is possible that Jerome's omission of Rufinus' name from
his Catalogue of Church Writers may indicate a coolness on one side which was
resented on the other. But they admit that their friendship remained (Ruf. Ap. ii. 8 (2), Vol.
iii. 465), and that there was frequent intercourse between the monks of Bethlehem
393-94. and those of the Mount of Olives {id.). The visit of Aterbius (Ap. iii. 33, Vol. iii.
535) and that of Epiphanius mark the time of estrangement. Rufinus was with
Bishop John in the scenes in the Church of the Resurrection, and is mentioned in Epiphanius'
letter as a presbyter as to whose views he is paternally anxious (84-87). In the quarrel
between John and Jerome Rufinus took decidedly the Bishop's side (84, 430, compared with
250). Jerome's mind grew full of suspicion, so that he even imputed to him that he had
bribed some one in the monastery at Bethlehem to steal from the lodgings of Fabiola his.
translation of the letter of Epiphanius to John (Ap. iii. 4, Vol. iii. 521). But when Rufinus
was leaving Palestine, friendship was restored. They partook together of the
397. Eucharist, and joined hands (Ap. iii. ^^, Vol. iii. 535), and Jerome accompanied
his friend some way upon his journey ; but the reconciliation was short-lived. When
in Rome, Rufinus prefixed to a translation of Origen's lis pi 'Apxc5v a preface (168-170)
which referred in laudatory terms to Jerome as his forerunner in this work, thus seeming to
expose Jerome to the suspicions and condemnation which might be expected to fall on one
who undertook such a work. This work was sent to Jerome by his friends Pammachius and
Oceanus (175), together with a Preface written by Rufinus to a translation of the Apology for
Origen by Pamphilus the Martyr. They spoke of the alarm excited at Rome by the transla-
tion of the TIspi 'ApxGov, an^ their suspicions that the translation was so made as to veil the
heresies contained in the original work ; they begged that Jerome would translate the work as
it stood in the original, and pointed out that his own reputation for orthodoxy was at stake
(175). Jerome at once complied. He sent to them a literal translation of Origen's work,
together with a letter describing the relation in which he had stood and still stood to Origen :
he admired him as a biblical scholar, but had never accepted him as a dogmatic teacher (176,
177). He at the same time wrote a letter to Rufinus, couched in friendly terms, but remonstrat-
ing with him for the use he had made of his name (170). This letter, having been sent to
Jerome's friends at Rome, was kept back by them (Ap. i. 12, Vol. iii. 489) and not delivered
to Rufinus, and thus the quarrel, which might have been allayed, became irreparable.
401-404, The further progress of the dispute is described in the notice prefixed to the Apolo-
gies of Jerome and Rufinus (Vol. iii. 434-5, 482, 518). It may suffice here to say
that this disgraceful and unseemly wrangle between two well-known Christian teachers, con-
ducted publicly before the whole Church, and breeding a hatred which Jerome continued to
express even after Rufinus' death (498, 500), has only one redeeming feature to the historian,
namely, that it brings to our knowledge many instructive facts which would otherwise have
lain hid.
396. (5) Vigilantius. The controversy with Vigilantius consists only of Jerome's
letter to him (131-133) and the treatise "against Vigilantius" (417-423). He
had been originally introduced to Jerome by Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, who spoke of him
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xxiii
in high terms (123). No questions arose between them during his stay at Bethlehem. He
even spoke of Jerome at times with extravagant praise (132). But he appears to have had
some connection with Rufinus (Ap. iii. 19, Vol. iii. 529), and Jerome accused him afterwards
of having conveyed some MSS. into the monastery at Bethlehem, probably from that on the
Mount of Olives (Apol. iii. 5, 19, Vol. iii. 521, 529). Jerome afterwards heard a report that
Vigilantius had written and spoken against him in various places (131), and had accused him L-
of Origenism. To this his letter is a reply. The anti-ascetic writings of Vigilantius to which
Jerome's treatise is a reply have not come down to us. Gennadius (de Script. Eccl. 35) says
that he was an ignorant man, but polished in words. But, whatever his ability or literary
power, he was one of the few who were able to judge rightly of the ascetic and superstitious
practices by which Christianity was being overlaid ; and it is on this point that Jerome is most
violent and contemptuous in his treatment of him. The notices prefixed to the Letter (131)
and Treatise (417) will complete this statement.
394-404. (6) Augustin. The remaining controversy of this period is that with St. Augus-
tin. The two men had at an earlier time had some friendly relations, and Alypius,
Augustin's friend, had stayed with Jerome at Bethlehem. But Augustin, then coadjutor Bishop
of Hippo, in a letter to Jerome (112), found fault with some of his statements in his
393. Commentary on the Galatians, to which, no doubt, his attention had been called
by Alypius. Jerome had maintained that the scene in Gal. ii., in which St. Paul
rebukes St. Peter for inconsistent compliances with Judaism, was a merely feigned dispute,
arranged between the two Apostles in order to make the truth clear to the members of the
Church. Augustin objects that this is practically imputing falsehood to the Apostles. He
touched upon other points, such as the translation of Scripture and the doctrine of marriage,
in a manner savouring of assumption, considering the high position of Jerome, who was also
eight years his senior. Through a strange series of misadventures, which illustrate the diffi-
culty of communications at that epoch, this letter was never delivered to Jerome till nine years
after it was written. It fell into the hands of persons who copied it, and became known in the
West. Jerome heard casually that it had been seen among his works in an island in the Adri-
atic. It appeared as if Augustin had wished to gain credit by attacking a well-known man
behind his back. And this suspicion was hardly allayed by a second letter from Augustin,
which partially explained what had occurred (140), or by a third, in which, in answer to a
letter from Jerome sending some of his works and warning his correspondent that, if it came
to blows, the result might be like that described in Virgil, where the old Entellus strikes down
the young Dares, Augustin criticises both severely and ignorantly Jerome's great work of
translating the Hebrew Scriptures. Jerome's patience begins to fail (189). "Send me
your original letter," he says, " signed by your own hand, or else cease to attack me." And
he comments in his turn somewhat sharply on some of Augustin's interpretations of the
Psalms. It was only on the receipt of Augustin's reply to this letter (214), couched in terms
of deep respect, and deprecating any ill feeling between Christian friends, such as had arisen
in the case of Rufinus, that Jerome finally answered the original letter, written ten years
before, and received a letter which completely restored friendship. Henceforward they are
at one. Letters pass freely between them ; Augustin consults Jerome on the difficult ques-
tion of the origin of souls (272, 283), and foregoes the expression of Traducianism, to which
he is inclined, in deference to Jerome's objections ; and he consults him on the Pelagian
question, and sends 'Orosius to sit at his feet. Jerome recognises that each has his proper
gift, and gives a plenary adherence to all that Augustin teaches. Alypius, their original link,
is joined with Augustin in the address of Jerome's last letter to him (282) ; Paula, the grand-
daughter of Jerome's chief friend, is called by him the granddaughter of Augustin ; and
through this unity the families of Paula and Melania, which had been severed by the adher-
ence of the one to Jerome and the other to Rufinus, are reunited by the coming of Pinianus
and his wife, the younger Melania, from the church of Hippo to the convent at Bethlehem.
The letters from which this episode is drawn are incorporated into the volume containing
the works of Augustin, and are not reprinted here. But no life of Jerome, however limited or
unpretending, would be satisfactory without some account of the relations of the two great
doctors of Latin Christianity.
Bethlehem, Third Period. The last period of Jerome's life was passed in the midst of
privations, the loss of friends, and frequent illnesses. Paula had died. Jerome
405-20. was poor (500, 214, 215) and often weak (498, 500). His eyesight failed (id.).
He had enemies around him (261, 262) and in the high places of the Empire (237,
499). The barbarians were sweeping across the Empire (237, 500), some, like the Isaurians,
threatening the North of Palestine (214) and even penetrating at one time to Southern Syria
xxiv PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
and Egypt (id.), while the main stream, after devastating Jerome's native Dalmatia, passed
on under Alaric to the sack of Rome. Fugitives from Rome and Italy crowded
410. to Bethlehem, adding greatly to Jerome's labours (499, 500;. It seemed as if
the end of the world were at hand (260). In the sack of Rome Pammachius
and Marcella died (257, 500). Eustochium followed them eight years later. The controversy
with the Pelagians led to the burning of the monasteries at Bethlehem, probably also to a
renewed estrangement from Jerome of his Bishop, John of Jerusalem, and his successor Praylus.
But he continued his work with no abatement of ardour or vigour, as may be seen
"*'7' from the Prefaces to his later Commentaries (500, 501). He had still friends
about him, Pinianus, Albina, Melania, and the younger Paula (Ep. cxliii. ) ; a few survivors
even in Rome, Oceanus and the younger Fabiola (252, 253) ; and men in many lands who
honoured and consulted him, as is seen by his letters ; and, above all, the friendship of
Augustin.
The letters of this period take a wider range than those going before, Jerome's fame
being now world-wide; their addresses embrace Dalmatia (220), Gaul (2 15), Rome (21^
253), and Africa (260, 261). Their contents will be best estimated from the notices prefixed
to them ; but we may mark as specially important the ascetic letter to Rusticus, on the soli-
tary life (244), to Ageruchia, and those on perseverance in widowhood (230), and to Demetrias,
on the preservation of virginity (260-272), which contain vivid pictures of the life (233) and
events (236, 237) of the time, and of the sack of Rome (237, 257) ; the Memoir, addressed
to Principia, of Marcella, who died from her ill treatment in that great day of doom (253) ;
the letter to Evangelus (288) containing Jerome's view of the origin and mutual relations
of the three orders of the Ministry ; and that to Sabinianus, the lapsed Deacon, who had
introduced disorder into the monasteries at Bethlehem (289-295).
Pelagianism. The only great controversy of this period is the Pelagian, in which Jerome
seems to have engaged rather at the instance of others than on his own initiative. He shows
some mildness in dealing with the Pelagians, and wishes more to win than to condemn
them (449, 499) ; his temperament was not such as to incline him, like Augustin,
414-18. to take an attitude of vehement hostility to the Pelagian tenets. But Orosius came
from North Africa, where the Council of Carthage had lately been held ; and when,
the next year, Pelagius and Cselestius came to Palestine, and Councils were held, first
at Jerusalem under Bishop John, who was favourable to the reception of Pelagius, and subse-
quently at Diospolis, Palestine became the centre of the controversy. Augustin
416. from Africa and Ctesiphon from Rome appealed to him (272, 280); both Orosius and
Pelagius quoted his words as making for them ; and at length Jerome himself felt
compelled to take the pen. He resorted in this his last controversial work, as in his first
against the Luciferians, to the form of dialogue. The argument must be praised for its
moderation, though it must be confessed that this is gained at the expense of liveliness ; it
was impossible for Jerome, as a "Synergist," or believer in the co-operation of the human
will with the divine, to throw himself into the fray with the eagerness of a convinced Predes-
tinarian. But he does not scruple to brand Pelagius as a heretic ; and to a heretic he would
show no mercy (449). His treatise, notwithstanding its fine drawn argument, made him at
once the leader of the orthodox party in the East, and the target for the enmity
416. of their adversaries. A crowd of Pelagian monks attacked the monasteries, slew
some of their inmates, and burned or threw down the buildings, the tower in which
Jerome had taken refuge alone escaping (Aug. de Gestis Pelag. 66). This violence, however,
was checked by a strong letter from Pope Innocentius (280, 281) to Bishop John, who died
soon after ; and Jerome, to whom the Pope wrote at the same time (280), speaks of
417. Augustin's cause as triumphant (282), and of Pelagius, like another Catiline,
having left the country, though Jerusalem remains in the hands of some hostile
power which he speaks of under the name of Nebuchadnezzar (282). It cannot be said, how-
ever, that Jerome's arguments produced much effect in the East. He was withstood by
Theodore of Mopsuestia (see Migne's Jerome, ii. 807-14) as "saying that men sin by nature,
not by will " ; and from the West also a treatise opposing his views was sent to him (282) by
Annianus, a deacon of Celeda, to which he was never able to reply.
\ His Bible work during these last fifteen years consisted entirely of Commentaries on the
Prophets. Those on the Minor Prophets were finished in 406 ; that on Daniel in 407 ; that
on Isaiah in 408-10 ; that on Ezekiel in 410-14. That on Jeremiah up to ch. xxxii. occupied
the remaining years. The Prefaces to these Commentaries (499-501) are full of mterest,
recording the sack of Rome (499, 500), the death of Rufinus (498, 500), and the rise of Pela-
gianism, while the Commentary on Ezekiel itself (Book ix.) speaks of the occupation of Rome
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xxv
by Heraclian. His failing health and eyesight (498, 500), the Pelagian Controversy, the other
trials above mentioned (499) and the care of the monasteries and pilgrims (500, 501), increased
by the death of Eustochium in 418, shortened his time for work, and his Commentary on
Jeremiah was cut short at ch. xxxii. by his last illness. Yet his last work is full of energy
and of his old controversial vigour.
The last year of his life is believed to have been occupied by a long illness, in which
he was tended by the younger Paula and Melania. The Chronicle of Prosper of Aqui-
taine gives September 20, 420, as the day of his death. Many legends sprung up around his
memory. His remains are said to have been transferred from the place where they were
buried beside those of Paula and Eustochium. near the grotto of the Nativity, to the Church
of Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, and miracles to have been wrought at his tomb. His
descriptions of hermit life in the desert no doubt gave rise to the tradition that he was always
attended by a lion, as represented in painting and sculpture, especially in the well-known
etching of Albert Diirer. With such traditions a historical work must not be burdened.
IV. THE WRITINGS OF JEROME.
The following is a list of the writings arranged under various heads, and showing the date
of composition and the place held by each in the Edition of Vallarsi, the eleven volumes of
which will be found in Migne's Patrologia, vols. xxii. to xxx. The references are to the
volumes of Jerome's works (i.-xi.) in that edition.
I. Bible translations :
(1) From the Hebrew. — The Vulgate of the Old Testament, written at Bethlehem,
begun 391, finished 404, vol. ix.
(2) From the Septuagint. — The Psalms as used at Rome, written in Rome, 383, and
the Psalms as used in Gaul, written at Bethlehem about 388. These two are in
parallel columns in vol. x. The Gallican Psaltery is collated with the Hebrew,
and shows by obeli ( -?— ) the parts which are in the LXX. and not in the Hebrew,
and by asterisks (*) the parts which are in the Hebrew and not in the Greek.
The Book of Job, forming a part of the translation of the LXX. made between 386
and 392 at Bethlehem, the rest of which was lost (Ep. 134), vol. x.
(3) From the Chaldee. — The Books of Tobit and Judith, Bethlehem, 398, vol. x.
(4) From the Greek. — The Vulgate version of the New Testament made at Rome
between 382 and 385. The preface is only to the Gospels, but Jerome speaks of
and quotes from his version of the other part also (De Vir. 111. 135 ; Ep. 71 and 27),
vol. x.
II. Commentaries :
(1) Original. — Ecclesiastes, vol. iii., Bethlehem, 388 ; Isaiah, vol. iv., Bethlehem,
410; Jeremiah i. -xxxii., 41, vol. iv., Bethlehem, 419 ; Ezekiel, vol. v., Bethlehem,
410-14 ; Daniel, vol. v., Bethlehem, 407 ; the Minor Prophets, vol. vi., Bethlehem,
at various times between 391 and 406 ; Matthew, vol. vii., Bethlehem, 398 ; Gala-
tians, Ephesians, Titus, Philemon, vol. vii., Bethlehem, 388.
(2) Translated from Origen. — Homilies on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, vol. v., Bethlehem,
381 ; on Luke, vol. vii., Bethlehem, 389 ; Canticles, vol. iii., Rome and Bethlehem,
385-87.
There is also a Commentary on Job, and a specimen of one on the Psalms, attrib-
uted to Jerome, vol. vii., and the translation of Origen's Homilies on Isaiah, also
attributed to him, vol. iv.
III. Books illustrative of Scripture :
(1) Book of Hebrew names, or Glossary of Proper Names in the Old Testament,
Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 1.
(2} Book of Questions on Genesis, Bethlehem, 388, vol. iii. 301.
(3) A translation of Eusebius' book on the sites and names of Hebrew places, Beth-
lehem, 388, vol. iii. 321.
(4) Translation of Didymus on the Holy Spirit, Rome and Bethlehem, 385-87, vol.
ii. 105.
IV. Books on Church History and Controversy (all in vol. ii.) :
(1) Book of Illustrious Men, or Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers, Bethlehem, 392.
(2) Dialogue with a Luciferian, Antioch, 379.
(3) Lives of the Hermits : Paulus, Desert, 374 ; Malchus and Hilarion, Bethlehem, 390.
vol.. vr. c
xxvi PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
(4) Translation of the Rule of Pachomius, Bethlehem, 404.
(5) Books of ascetic controversy, against Helvidius, Rome, 304 ; against Jovinian,
Bethlehem, 393 ; against Vigilantius, Bethlehem, 406.
(6) Books of personal controversy, against John, Bishop of Jerusalem, Bethlehem,
397 or 398 5 against Rufinus, i. and ii. 402, iii. 404.
(7) Dialogue with a Pelagian, Bethlehem, 416.
V. General History :
Translation of the Chronicle of Eusebius, with Jerome's additions, vol. viii., Con-
stantinople, 382.
VI. Personal :
The series of letters, vol. i., Ep. 1, Aquileia, 371 ; 2-4, Antioch, 374; 5-17, Desert,
374-79; 18, Constantinople, 381; 19-45, Rome, 382-85; 46-148, Bethlehem,
386-418.
The works attributed to Jerome, but not genuine, which are given in Vallarsi's edition
are : A breviary, commentary, and preface on the Psalms, vol. vii. ; some Greek fragments
and a lexicon of Hebrew names ; the names of places in the Acts ; the ten names of God ;
the benedictions of the patriarchs ; the ten temptations in the desert ; a commentary on the
Song of Deborah ; Hebrew Questions in Kings and Chronicles ; an exposition of Job, vol.
iii. ; three letters in vol. i., and fifty-one in vol. xi., together with several miscellaneous writ-
ings in vol. xi. most of which are by Pelagius.
Bibliography. — The writings of Jerome were, on the whole, well preserved, owing to the
great honour in which he was held, in the Middle Ages. Considering the number of the
MSS., the variations are not numerous. The Editio Princeps of the Letters and a few of
the Treatises appeared in Rome in 1470, and another almost contemporaneous with this in
Maintz (Schoffer), after which they were reprinted in Venice (1476), Rome (1479), Parma
(1480), Niirenberg (1485), and in several other places. The Editio Princeps of the Com-
mentaries appeared in Niirenberg in 1477, and was several times reprinted in other places ;
that of the Translation of Origen's Homilies on St. Luke, etc., in Basle, 1475 '■> triat °f the
Lives of the Hermits in Niirenberg, 1476, and of the Chronicle at Milan in 1475.
But the true Editio Princeps, containing Jerome's works as a whole, is that of Erasmus
(Basle, 1516-20), who bestowed on it his great critical power, aided by his strong admiration
for Jerome. He was assisted by (Ecolampadius and other scholars. This held its ground till
1560, when an edition appeared by Marianus Victorius, afterwards Bishop of Rieti (Rome,
Paulus Manutius), which enlarged the notes and corrected the text of Erasmus, but, like him,
included many spurious writings. This edition was dedicated to Pius V. and Gregory XIII.,
and was the favourite edition of the Roman Church. In 1684 appeared the edition of Trib-
bechovius of Gotha (Frankfort and Leipzig) which embodied the emendations of critics up to
that date, and was published at the expense of the Protestant Frederick, Duke of Saxony.
In 1693 came the Benedictine edition of Martianay and Pouget (Paris), which gave the
original text of the Vulgate and a new, though still very imperfect arrangement of the Letters
and Treatises. But all previous editions were thrown into the shade by that of Dominic
Vallarsi the learned priest of Verona (folio ed., Verona, 1734-42 ; quarto, Venice, 1766-72).
In this edition the Treatises are separated from the Letters, and both Letters and Treatises
are arranged in order of time, the dates and the process by which they are arrived at being
clearly given. I have only in one or two instances found reason to alter Vallarsi's dates.
The explanatory notes, however, are not as complete as might be wished, and the references
are often wrong or imperfect. This edition is reprinted by Migne, who marks the pages of
it in large print in the text, and most modern writers refer to it alone, as has been done in
this volume.
Literature. — Three short Lives of Jerome, composed in the Middle Ages by unknown
authors (one of which was falsely attributed to Gennadius), are given by Vallarsi in his Pro-
legomena (vol. i. 175-214) ; one of these is said by Zockler to be by Sebastian of Monte Cas-
sino. Another, written in the fourteenth century by John Andreas of Bologna, was printed at
Basle in 15 14 ; and a work by Lasserre was published at Paris in 1530, with a curious title,
"La Vie de Monseigneur Sainct Hierome," with "La Vie de Madame Saincte Paule " ; and
later works belonging to the uncritical region of thought were published later in Madrid by
Bonadies in 1595, and by Cermellus in Ferrara (1648), the latter entirely made up of quota-
tions from Jerome's writings.
Meanwhile the critical faculty had been aroused. Erasmus and Marianus Victorius pre-
fixed Lives of Jerome to their editions of his works in 15 16 and 1565 ; and Baronius in his
Annals and Du Pin in his Bibliotheque des An tears Ecclesiastiques (1686) brought to light
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME. xxvii
additional facts. Martianay at the close of his edition of Jerome's works published a Life,
embodying many records of Jerome from the Fathers, but with many mistakes of chronology'
some of which were rectified by Tillemont in his painstaking Me'moires (Paris, 1707) and by
Ceillier in his Histoire des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques (Paris, 1742). The work of Sebastiano
Dolci (Ancona, 1750) is entirely taken from Jerome's own writings.
But in reference to the Life as to the Writings of Jerome a new epoch was made by Val-
larsi in the Preface and the Life prefixed to his Edition of Jerome. Though somewhat dry, it
is thoroughly trustworthy, and in Migne's edition more accessible than any other to those
who read Latin. The Bollandist Stilling (Acta Sanctorum, vol. viii., Antwerp, 1762), is less
occupied with additions to our knowledge of the man and his works than with the honouring
of the Saint. The work of the learned Dane, Engelstoft (1797), gives a more comprehensive
estimate of Jerome's historical position than any of his predecessors. The account of Jerome
in Schrokh's Ecclesiastical History (1786) and the articles of Colin in Ersch and Gruber's
Encyclopadie and of Hagenbach in Herzog's Real-Encyclopadie are excellent. In French
we have the account of Jerome's ascetic influence in Montalembert's Monks of the West
(Paris, 1 861) ; and the Histoire de St. Jerome by Collombet (Paris, 1844) is useful in the
appreciation, of the personal and archaeological part of the subject, though accepting with
uncritical partisanship the polemical attitude of Jerome. We may add for English readers the
articles Hieronymus in the Dictionaries of Greek and Roman Biography and of Christian
Biography.
Our own generation has produced two excellent works : that of Dr. Otto Zockler, Hiero-
nymus, Sein Leben und Werken (Gotha, Perthes, 1865), and that of Amedee Thierry, Saint
Jerome, la Socie'te' chre'tienne a Rome et V emigration romaine en terre sainte (Paris, 1867, origin-
ally published in the Revue des Deux Mondes). The former is a lucid, impartial, and com-
prehensive account of Jerome's Life and Writings ; the latter, a series of very vivid and
interesting sketches of Jerome himself, his friends and his times, which, though generally
accurate, is occasionally swayed from truth by imagination, and at times is betrayed by
sympathy with the modern Roman Catholic system into mistakes of judgment. Both these
writers give copious and enlightening extracts from Jerome's writings in the original ; but the
value of those of Thierry is lessened by the references being to the ill-arranged edition of
Martianay instead of that of Vallarsi.
It will be sufficiently obvious why it has been impossible to include all the works of
Jerome in the present translation, but a few explanations may be desirable.
An exact translation of the Vulgate would serve no good purpose ; and, if made, would
naturally form part of a series designed to illustrate the criticism of the Scriptures.
The Commentaries and works illustrative of the Scriptures would by themselves form two
volumes of equal size with the present. Though they contain much that is interesting — the
opinions of various writers, such as Origen, Apollinarius, Gregory Nazianzen, or Didymus, a
few celebrated passages, such as that which caused the controversy between Jerome and
Augustin, and a few remarkable allusions to historical events, such as the capture of Rome
by Heraclian— the general tenour of them is hardly of sufficient importance to justify the
labour of translation or the bulk and expense of the additional volumes. An exception might
be made in favour of the Book on the Site and Names of Hebrew Places ; but this is a work
of Eusebius rather than Jerome (see pp. 485, 486 and Prolegomena to Eusebius, Vol. i. of
this series) ; and it was necessary to confine the Translation of Jerome to a single volume, with
the exception of the Book On Illustrious Men and the Apology against Rufinus, which will be
found in Vol. iii. of this Series.
The Chronicle of Eusebius would, if translated at all, find its place in the works of
Eusebius.
The Books on Church History and Controversy are given in full.
Of the Letters, which, excepting the Vulgate, form the most important legacy of Jerome
to posterity, all those which have a personal or a historical interest have been translated. The
only omissions are (1) the exegetical letters, to which what has been said of the Commentaries
applies ; (2) the letters to Augustin, which will be found in Vol. i. of the first series of this
Library, annexed to the letters of Augustin to which they are replies ; and (3) the encyclicals
and letters of Theophilus, which have been summarised.
For a separate statement of the works which are given in this volume the reader will
naturally consult the table of contents ; and, for a more detailed account of the books them-
selves, the introductions prefixed to each.
c i
xxviii PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
V. ESTIMATE OF THE SCOPE AND VALUE OF JEROME'S WRITINGS.
General. The writings of Jerome must be estimated not merely by their intrinsic merits,
but by his historical position and influence. It has already been pointed out that he stands
at the close of the old Graeco-Roman civilisation : the last Roman poet of any repute, Claudian,
and the last Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, died before him. Augustin survived
him, but the other great Fathers, both in the East and in the West, had passed away before
him. The sack of Rome by Alaric (410) and its capture by Heraclian (413) took place in his
lifetime, and the Empire of the West fell in the next thirty years. Communication between
East and West had become rarer and mutual knowledge less. Eusebius knew no Latin,
Ambrose no Greek ; Rufinus, though a second-rate scholar, was welcomed in Italy on his
return from the East in 397 as capable of imparting to the Latins the treasures of the Greek
Church writers. The general enfeeblement of the human mind, which remains one of the
problems of history, had set in. The new age of Christendom which was struggling to the
birth was subject to the influence of Jerome more than to that of any of the Fathers.
Secular Learning. As regards general learning, indeed, it was impossible that any legacy
should descend from him. He had systematically disparaged it (35-36, 498), though making
use and even a parade of it (101, 114, 149, 178) ; and had defended himself by disingenuous
pleas from the charge of acquiring it after his mature convictions were formed (Apol. i. 30,
31, Vol. iii. 498-499). His influence, therefore, would but increase the deep ignorance of
literature which now settled upon mankind till the times of the Renaissance. His style,
indeed, is excellent, correct, and well balanced, full of animation and of happy phrases (see
Index — Proverbs), and passing from one subject to another with great versatility. It is
contrasted by Erasmus with the barbarisms of the Schoolmen, as that of the Christian Cicero.
But it has also Cicero's faults, especially his diffuseness. His Latinity is remarkably pure, and,
with the exception of the frequent use of the infinitive to express a purpose, and of a few words
of late-Latin like confortare, we are hardly aware in reading him that we are 400 years away
from the Augustan Age. His mastery of style is the more remarkable because he wrote
nothing but a few letters and a very poor Commentary till about his thirty-fifth year.
Letters. His letters gain their special charm from being so personal. He himself, his
correspondents, and the scenes in which they moved, are made to live before our eyes. See
especially his descriptions of Roman life in the Epistles to Eustochium (Ep. xxiu), to Paula
on the death of Blesilla (Ep. xxxix.), to Laeta (Ep. cvii.) on the education of her child, and
Ageruchia (Ep. cxxiii.) ; his account of the lives of Fabiola (Ep. lxxvii.),of Paula (Ep. cviii.),
and of Marcella (Ep. cxxvii.) ; his description of the clerical life in his letter to Nepotian
(Ep. Iii.), and of the monastic life in his letters to Rusticus (Ep. cxxv.) and to Sabinian (Ep.
cxlvii.) ; his letters of spiritual counsel to a mother and daughter (Ep. cxvii.), to Juiianus
(Ep. cxviii.), and to Rusticus (Ep. cxxii.), and of hermit life in his letter to Eustochium (Ep.
xxii., pp. 24-25) ; his satirical description of Onasus (Ep. xl.), Rufinus (p. 250), and Vigi-
lantius,(p. 417) ; his enthusiastic delight in the Holy Land in the letter written by him for
Paula and Eustochium inviting Marcella to join them (Ep. xlvi.). Other characteristic and
celebrated letters are those to Asella (xlv.) on his leaving Rome ; to Pammachius (lvii.) on the
best method of translation, which shows the liberties taken by translators in his time ; to Oce-
anus (lxix.) in defence of a second marriage contracted by a Spanish Bishop, the first having
been before baptism; to Magnus (lxx.), indicating his use of secular literature, and showing
the great range of his knowledge ; to Lucinius (lxxi.) on the copying of his works ; to Avitus
(cxxiv.) on the book of Origen, TIspi 'Apx&v ; to Demetrias (cxxx.) on the maintenance of
virginity; to Ctesiphon (cxxxiii.) on the Pelagian controversy. (See also Index, words
Stories and Pictures of Contemporary Life.)
Publication. Two circumstances conduced to the vividness and importance of this series
of letters. One of these is the fact that no distinct line separated private documents from
those designed for publication. In the Catalogue of his works (De Vir. 111. 135), he says :
" Of the Letters to Paula and Eustochium, the number is infinite : I write them every day."
And, when he became celebrated, he says (79) that whatever he wrote was at once laid hold
of and published, alike by friends and enemies. We have therefore frequently his most
confidential utterances ; while on the other hand his letters frequently pass into treatises, and
he turns to address others than those to whom he is writing (59, 273, 274). But the process of
publication was precarious ; so that between Letters xlvi. and xlvii. there is a gap of seven
years (386-93) without any letter. The other circumstance is the difficulty of communica-
tion, which made letters rare and induced greater care in their composition. Both these
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
circumstances are well illustrated by the early correspondence of Jerome with Augustin.
Augustin wrote from Hippo in Africa a long and important letter to Jerome (Ep. lvi.) in the
year 394, which did not reach Jerome at Bethlehem for nearly ten years. It was committed
to a presbyter named Profuturus to carry to Jerome ; but he, being elected to a bishopric
before he started, turned back, and soon afterwards died. The letter was neither forwarded
to Jerome nor returned to Augustin ; but it was copied by others and became known in the
West, while its somewhat severe criticisms were unknown to Jerome himself. After a time
Augustin became aware by a short letter of introduction written by Jerome to a friend that
his first letter had miscarried, and he wrote a second (Ep. lxvii.) much in the same strain ;
but Paulus, to whom it was entrusted, alleging his fear of the sea, failed to go to Bethlehem ;
and a copy of the letter was found a year or two afterwards by a friend of Jerome's bound
up with some of Augustin's treatises in an island of the Adriatic. Jerome on hearing of this
was naturally incensed ; and it was not till the year 404 that he received an authentic copy
of both letters direct from Augustin, and was able to return an answer. His answer,
however, and our knowledge of his views are fuller than they might have been had personal
communication been easier.
Knoivledge. His knowledge was vast and many-sided [See especially the enumeration of
Christian writers who used Pagan literature (149-15 1), the curious stories about marriage
gathered from all ages (383-386), the descriptions of various kinds of food and medicines
(392-394), and the account of Pythagoras and his doctrines (Apol. iii., 39, 40, in this Series,
Vol. iii. 538)], but it was rather the curiosity of the monks of a later day than the temper of
the philosopher or the historian. He was well acquainted with the history and literature of
Rome and of Greece ; he translated the Chronicle of Eusebius ; he speaks of the various
-routes to India (245), of the Brahmans (97, 193, 397), of the custom of Suttee (381), and of
Buddha (380). But he is quite uncritical ; he makes no correction of the faults of the Chron-
icle, and his own additions to it reveal his credulity. He was deeply affected by the sack of
Rome, and recurs to it again and again ; but his reflections upon this and similar events
hardly go beyond those of a mediaeval chronicler. He is a recluse, and has no thought of the
general interests of mankind.
Church History. This lack of criticism and of general interests combined with lack of
time to prevent his making any considerable contribution to church history. That he had
some faculties for this is shown by several passages in his Dialogue with a Luciferian (328-
331) and his Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers (On Illustrious Men, Vol. iii. 361-384). But
his conception of church history is shown by his declaration (315) that he intended the Lives
of Malchus and Hilarion as part of a series, which when completed would have formed an
ecclesiastical history. Such a history would have been nothing more than a prolix edition of
Rufinus' History of the Monks. Jerome's value to the church historian is quite of another
kind ; it lies in the illustration of contemporary life furnished by his own life and letters and
by the controversies in which he was engaged.
Theology. These controversies bring us to consider Jerome's position as a theologian.
Here he is admittedly weak. He had no real interest in the subject. The first of his letters
which deals with theology, that written from the Desert to Pope Damasus, points out clearly
the difficulty raised by the difference of phraseology of East and West, the Eastern speaking
of one Essence and three Substances, the Western, of one Substance and three Persons. But
he makes no attempt to grasp the reality lying behind these expressions, and merely asks not
to have the Eastern terms forced on his acceptance, while he professes in the most absolute
terms his submission to the decision of the Bishop of Rome. This lack of genuine theolog-
ical interest best explains his conduct in relation to Origen, his extravagant laudation of him
at one time (46), his violent condemnation at another (187). He was carried away by Ori-
getvs genius and Industry irr the department of biblical criticism and exegesis in which he was
himself absorbed, and though in his earlier discussion of the Vision of Isaiah (22), which
touched the doctrine of the Trinity, he had put aside Origen's view that the Seraphim were
the Son and the Spirit as wrongly expressing their relation to the Father, the doctrinal ques-
tion was feebly present to his thoughts, and he repeated Origen's exposition without blame as
to the pre-existence of souls and the restoration of Satan (Ruf. Apol. ii. 13, Vol. iii. 467)-
When the subject of Origen's orthodoxy was raised at a later time, he was unaware of any
inconsistency when he fell in with the general condemnation of his doctrine. So with regard
to Eusebius of Csesarea. In the Preface to the translation of his Book on the Site and Names
of Hebrew Places (485), he is "vir admirabilis " ; in his controversy with Rufinus, Eusebius
is nothing but a heretic. In his controversy with Augustin as to the quarrel between St.
Peter and St. Paul in Gal. ii., which he interpreted as fictitious and pre-arranged with a view
xxx PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
to bring out St. Paul's solution of the question about the Gentile converts, he was manifestly
in the wrong, and eventually seems to have felt this, yet as one who was silenced rather
than convinced. At a later period he says to Augustin (Ep. cxxxiv.), "If the heretics see
that we hold divergent opinions they will say calumniously that this is a result of hatred,
whereas it is my firm resolution to love you, to look up to you, to defer to you with admira-
tion, and to defend your opinions as my own." His dread of heresy may be gathered from a
passage in the Anti-Pelagian Dialogue (i. 28) in which he expressly declares that, while sins
can be forgiven, heresy, as being impiety, is subject to the threat : " They that forsake the
Lord shall be consumed." It is true that in his Catalogue he shows wider sympathies, and
defends himself in writing to Augustin for the admission into it of men like Philo Judaeus,
and Seneca. But this, though it might have led him to the larger views of the heathen world
held by Origen and Clement, did not prevent his condemning to eternal torments even the
most virtuous of the heathen. He tells Marcella, a Roman lady (41-42), that one object he
has in writing to her is to instruct her that the consul-elect Vettius Agorius Prsetextatus, who
was known as a model of public and domestic virtue, and who had then recently died, is in
Tartarus, while their friend Lea, who had died the same day, is in heaven.
The lack of deep theological conviction is shown in his Dialogue against the Pelagians,
where it is evident that he is far from that original and deep view of human corruption which
Augustin maintained ; indeed, he appears at times to be arguing against his own side, as
when he says (471) that, " Till the end we are subject to sin ; not," (as the opponent falsely
imputes to him) " through the fault of our nature and constitution, but through frailty and
the mutability of the human will, which varies from moment to moment " — a sentence which
might be taken as expressing the doctrine of Pelagius himself. It is evident that in these
cases he is swayed not so much by the force of truth as by the authority of certain powerful
Bishops and the wish to maintain his orthodox reputation. In his other controversies, with
Helvidius, Jovinian, John Bishop of Jerusalem, Vigilantius, and Rufinus, his method is to
take for granted the opinion current among the Christians of his day, and to support it by
copious (sometimes excessive) quotations from Scripture, and by arguments sometimes well
chosen and acutely maintained, as in the book against Helvidius (339), sometimes of the most
frivolous character, as in that against Vigilantius (422). In the three last of these con-
troversies the opposition is embittered by personal feeling, and Jerome hardly places any
restraint on the contempt and hatred which it engenders.
In his criticisms on Scripture, however, he has a freer judgment, as when he says (337):
" Whether you think that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, or that Ezra re-edited it, in either case
I make no objection ; " or (349) that it was the Book of Deuteronomy which was found in
the Temple in the reign of Josiah ; or contrasts " the flickering flame of the Apostles " with
" the brightness of the lamp of Christ " (468). There are three points especially on which
Jerome reached an independent conviction, and maintained it courageously. (1) He made
a clear distinction between the Old Testament Canon and the Apocrypha (194, 491, 492, 493)
and this although he records the fact that the Nicene Council had placed the Book of Judith
in the Canon (494). For this he is justly commemorated in the Articles of the Church of
England (Art. 6). (2) He maintains the essential identity of Bishops and Presbyters (288)
and the development of the Episcopal out of the Presbyteral office (288, 289), in the face of
the rapid tendency to the extreme exaltation of the Episcopate (92). (3) In the greatest
work of his life, the composition of the Vulgate, he showed a clear and matured conviction,
and a noble tenacity, unshaken either by popular clamour (490) or authority like that of
Augustin (189).
A few words may here be said on the asceticism which Jerome so eagerly promoted. If
we ask how it was that he embraced it so fervently as to read it into almost every line of the
Scriptures, we can only answer that it was part of the spirit of the time. Jerome had not the
elevation of mind which might have enabled him to exercise a judgment upon the current
which was bearing him away, or the higher critical power which would distinguish between
what was in the Scriptures and what he brought to them. His habit of mind was to accept
his general principles from some kind of church authority, which was partly that of the
Bishops, partly the general drift of the sentiment of the Christians of his day ; and having
accepted them, to advocate them vehemently and without discrimination. Jerome could
indeed exercise a certain moderation, even in matters of asceticism (246, 267). But his gen-
eral attitude is that which disdained the common joys of life, which thought of eating, drink-
ing, clothing or lodging, and most of all marriage, as physical indulgences which should be
suppressed as far as possible, rather than as the means of a noble social intercourse ; and his
dread of impurity haunts him to such an extent as to entirely vitiate his view of society, and
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
to cause him to disparage, and all but forbid, the married relation (29, 384, etc.). His view
of monasticism in its inner principles is seen in his treatises against Helvidius, Jovinian, and
Vigilantius. The reader may be specially referred to a passage in the last-named treatise^
p. 423. If we ask the further question, how the tendency arose which so completely swayed
him, we can only attribute it to the state of Roman society in the fourth and fifth centuries,
which laid earnest men open to influences already working in other parts of the world.
Jerome knew of the Brahmans and the Gymnosophists of India (97, 193, 397), and he several
times mentions Buddha (380) as an example of asceticism. But students of Buddhism have
failed to trace any direct filiation between the asceticism of the East and the West.* The
existence of Essenes in Palestine and the Therapeutae in Egypt, and the unquestionable fact
that Christian asceticism originated in Egypt, make some connection with the East probable ;
and the system of Manes, though at once repudiated, may have exerted some subtle influence.
Certain states of the human mind seem all-pervasive, like the causes of diseases which spring
up at once in many different places ; and principles like those of asceticism maybe communi-
cated through chance conversations or commercial intercourse when the soil is prepared for
their reception.
But it seems better to look to the social and political state of the world as the predispos-
ing cause of monasticism. Even in the East it is thought that the miserable conditions of
practical life have been the main cause of a religion of despair ; and the decline and fall
of the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries offered similar causes in abundance.
The grace which is completely absent from the great Christian writers of that epoch is hope.
Such hope as is found even in the Civitas Dei of Augustin is entirely that of the world
to come. The world before them seemed hopelessly corrupt. The descriptions of private
morals given by Jerome are borne out by Ammianus Marcellinus ; the failure of public spirit
and military valour was equally conspicuous ; and Gratian and Stilicho appear on the scene
only to be murdered. When the crash of Alaric's sack of Rome shook the existing world, no
one realised that a new Christian world was coming, and the flight which Jerome witnessed
of thousands of citizens from the sinking city to the mountains of Palestine was but one
symptom of the despair which made them, to use Jerome's words, " quit the most frequented
cities so that in the fields and solitude they might mourn for sin and draw down on them-
selves the compassion of Christ" (446).
As an illustrator of Scripture, Jerome did much, and in some respects excellent work.
The Book of Hebrew Names was no doubt of much use in the ages in which men were igno-
rant of Hebrew, although it has the clumsy arrangement of a separate glossary for each book
of the Bible ; it is very faulty and uncritical ; there is no explanation, for instance, of Lehi
in Judges, or of Engedi or Ichabod in 1 Samuel, or of Bethabara or Bethany in John, and
the meanings given to words are extremely uncritical and sometimes absurd. Cherubim is
said to mean a multitude of knowledge ; Jezebel, " flowing with blood, a litter, a dung
heap" ; and Laodicaea, "the tribe beloved of the Lord, or, they have been in vomiting." It
is worthless now except as showing the state of knowledge of the fourth century a. d., and
that of the author of the Vulgate.
The Book of the Site and Names of Hebrew Places belongs rather to Eusebius than to
Jerome, being translated from Eusebius, though with some additions. An account of it is
given in the Prolegomena to Eusebius. The arrangement of this book is, like the former,
very inconvenient, the names under each letter being placed in separate groups in the order
of the books of Scripture in which they occur : for instance, under the letter A we have first
the names in Genesis, then those in Exodus, and so on. But there is less room here for
what is fanciful, and the testimony of men who lived in Palestine in the fourth and fifth
centuries is of great value still to the student of sacred topography. When the places are
outside the writer's knowledge, credulity is apt to creep in, as when the author tells us that
on Ararat portions of the ark are still to be found.
The Book of Hebrew Questions on Genesis is simply a set of notes on passages where the
reference to the Hebrew text gives a different reading from that of the LXX., which was
received as authoritative up to Jerome's day. For instance, in Gen. xlvi. 26, the LXX. says
that Joseph's descendants born in Egypt were nine, the Hebrew, two. Jerome accounts
for the discrepancy by the supposition that the LXX. added in the sons of Ephraim and
Manasseh, who were subsequently born in Egypt, and who in the LXX. are enumerated just
before. Jerome states in the preface his intention to compose a similar set of notes to each
* See a remarkable article on " The New Testament and Buddhism,'' by Professor Estlin Carpenter, in the Nineteenth Century
for July, 1879.
PROLEGOMENA TO JEROME.
book of the Old Testament, but he was never able to go beyond Genesis. What he gives us
is of considerable interest and value, so that it is a matter of regret that he could not go
further.
As a commentator, Jerome's fault is a lack of independence ; his merit lies in giving fully
the opinions of others which we might otherwise not have known. This he considers, as seen
in his controversy with Rufinus, the principal task of a commentator (Apol. i. 16, Vol. iii. 491).
In the passages there at issue, he states the most incongruous interpretations without criticis-
ing them, and Rufinus can hardly be blamed for suggesting that he is sometimes expressing
his own opinion under that of "another." In matters of ordinary interpretation his judgment
is good. But fanciful ideas are apt to intrude, as when, in the Commentary on Ecclesiastes,
the city delivered by the poor wise man is made to mean the individual delivered from Satan
by the better man within him, or the Church delivered from the hosts of darkness by Christ.
When an occasion for the introduction of asceticism occurs, Jerome never hesitates at any
process, however absurd, which will draw the passage to a sanction of his peculiar views
(Against Jovin. i. 30, p. 368). We should have been glad, had space permitted, to have given
a specimen of his better style of exposition, but it was found necessary to suppress this.
It is as a translator of Scripture that Jerome is best known. His Vulgate was made at
the right moment and by the right man. The Latin language was still living, although Latin
civilisation was dying ; and Jerome was a master of it. It is only to be regretted that he did
not give fuller scope to his literary power in his translation of Scripture. In his letter to
Pammachius on the best method of translation (114), he advocates great freedom of treat-
ment, even such as amounts to paraphrase, and even to the insertion of sentences congruous
to the sense of the author. He takes the fact that the quotations in the New Testament from
the Old often present discrepancies in words and sense as justifying similar discrepancies in a
translation. He does not, however, appear in dealing with ordinary books to have used this
license in any extreme way ; and his translations, without departing from correctness, read as
good literary composition. But from the operation of his rules of translation he expressly
excepts the Scriptures. "In other books," he says (113), "my effort is not to express word
by word, but meaning by meaning ; but in the Holy Scriptures even the order of the words
has a secret meaning" (et ordo verborum mysterium est). He even says (80) : "A version
made for the use of the Church, even though it may possess a literary charm, ought to dis-
guise and avoid it as far as possible." This belief in a secret meaning in the words and their
order as apart from the sense goes far to injure the Vulgate translation. His principles,
indeed, are excellent, namely, (1) never to swerve needlessly from the original ; (2) to avoid
solecisms ; (3) even by the admission of solecisms, to give the true sense. But it is evident
that they must be vitiated by the supposition of a hidden sense in the arrangement of the
words ; and the result is a style which frequently deprives a passage of its proper elegance,
and the pleasure which it should give to the reader, and a too frequent introduction of sole-
cisms and abandonment of the attempt to make sense of a passage. It also gives an air of
saintly unreality to many parts of the Scriptures and thus to produce confusion. The merits
of the translation are also very various, as was the time which Jerome bestowed on the differ-
ent parts. The Books of Solomon, for instance, he translated very rapidly (492), the Book of
Tobit in a single day (494). For some parts he trusted to his own knowledge, for others he
obtained aid at great cost of money and trouble (Preface to Job and to Tobit, 491, 494).
But, while we thus go behind the scenes, we must not fail to look at the completed work as a
whole. It was wrought out with noble perseverance and unflinching purpose amidst many
discouragements. It was highly prized even in Jerome's lifetime, so that he is able to record
that a large part of the Old Testament was translated into Greek from his version by his
friend Sophronius, and was read in the Eastern Churches (492). After his death it won its way
to become the Vulgate or common version of Western Christendom ; it was the Bible of the
Middle Ages ; and in the year 1546 (eleven centuries after its author's death) was pronounced
by the Council of Trent to be the only true version, and alone authorised to be printed.
A few personal details must be given to illustrate his method of composition and his sur-
roundings. Nothing is known of his personal appearance. His health was weak, and he
had several long illnesses, especially in the years 398, 404, and in the last year of his life.
His eyes began to fail during his stay at Constantinople in 380-382, and he usually employed
an amanuensis ; but he still wrote at times, and what he wrote was more polished than what he
dictated. " In the one case I constantly turn the stylus ; in the other, whatever words come
into my mouth I heap together in my rapid utterance " (Ep. lxxiv. 6). He composed with great
rapidity, and dictated at times as much as one thousand lines in a day (Comm. on Ephes., Book
ii. Preface). He often, especially when in weak health, lay on a couch (Ep. lxxiv. 6), taking
PROLEGOMENA TO JE«ROME. xxxiii
down one volume after another to aid in the composition of his Commentaries. And he often
sat late into the night [his book against Vigilantius was " the lucubration of a single night "
(423)], the days being occupied in business of various kinds, as stated above — the monasteries,
the entertainment of strangers, the teaching of boys, the exposition of Scripture to his brethren
in the monastery, and, according to Sulpicius Severus, the charge of the parish of Bethlehem.
As has been mentioned above, he was interrupted again and again by illness, and on several
occasions was in alarm from the threatened invasions of the Huns and Isaurians, and at the
end of his life from the violent adherents of Pelagius. He also suffered from poverty, and
his friends one by one were taken from him. But he persevered against all obstacles ; and
his latest works, the Anti-Pelagian Dialogue and the Commentary on Jeremiah, show little if
any diminution of power.
VI. CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF JEROME.
This Introduction must be concluded with a few words on the character and influence of
Jerome, which are taken from the article upon him in the Dictionary of Christian Biography.
He was vain and unable to bear rivals, extremely sensitive as to the estimation in which he was
held by his contemporaries, and especially by the Bishops ; passionate and resentful, but at times
becoming suddenly placable ; scornful and violent in controversy ; kind to the weak and the
poor ; respectful in his dealings with women ; entirely without avarice ; extraordinarily dili-
gent in work, and nobly tenacious of the main objects to which he devoted his life. There
was, however, something of monkish cowardice in his asceticism, and his influence was not
felt by the strong.
His influence grew through his life and increased after his death. If we may use a scrip-
tural phrase which has sometimes been applied to such influence, " He lived and reigned for
a thousand years." His writings contain the whole spirit of the Church of the Middle Ages,
its monasticism, its contrast of sacred things with profane, its credulity and superstition, its
value for relics, its subjection to hierarchical authority, its dread of heresy, its passion for
pilgrimages. To the society which was thus in a great measure formed by him, his Bible was
the greatest boon which could have been given. But he founded no school and had no
inspiring power ; there was no courage or width of view in his spiritual legacy such as could
break through the fatal circle of bondage to received authority which was closing round
mankind. As Thierry says in the last words of his work on St. Jerome, " There is no con-
tinuation of his work ; a few more letters of Augustin and Paulinus, and night falls over
the West."
XXXIV
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES OF THE LIFE
PERSONAL.
345. Jerome born at Stridon (Pannonia or Dalmatia).
360. Jerome at school.
363. To study at Rome. Baptism.
366. To Treves.
37°-
373»
To Aquileia.
Leaves Aquileia for the East.
374. Illness at Antioch. Anti-Ciceronian dream
374-79. In Desert of Chalcis
379-80. At Antioch.
379. Ordination by Paulinus.
380. To Constantinople.
382-85. At Rome.
385. Leaves Rome (August) ; to Antioch (December).
ji*». Through Palestine to Egypt, and settlement at Bethlehem.
392. Aterbius at Jerusalem.
392. Epiphanius visits Jerusalem. Schism between Jerome and
John of Jerusalem, till 397.
394. Beginning of controversy with Augustin.
395. Jerome denounced to the Emperor.
395. The Huns invade Northern Syria.
395. Oceanus and Fabiola at Bethlehem.
397. Theophilus of Alexandria turns against Origenism.
Rufinus reconciled to Jerome and returns to Italy.
398. Jerome suffers from a long illness.
401-4. Controversy between Jerome and Rufinus.
404. Death of Paula.
404. Close of controversy with Augustin.
404-5. Jerome ill for several months.
405. Northern Palestine invaded by Isaurians.
410. Death of Rufinus.
412. Coelestius condemned at Carthage.
413. Pelagius in Palestine.
414. Orosius sent by Augustin to Jerome.
414. Pinianus and Melania at Jerusalem.
415. Synod at Jerusalem admits Pelagius.
417. Monasteries of Bethlehem burnt by adherents of Pelagius.
418. Death of Eustochium.
420. Jerome dies (September 20) at Bethlehem.
LITERARY.
366-69. Jerome copies works of Hilary.
369. Jerome writes a mystical Commentary on Obadiah.
370. First letter — On the woman seven times struck with the axe.
374. Life of Paulus, the first hermit.
374-79. Jerome copies Gospel of the Hebrews and other books.
379. Dialogue against the Luciferians.
381. Translation of Eusebius' Chronicle.
381. Translation of Origen's Homilies on Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
383,
383-
Translation of Psalms from LXX. and of New Testament.
Book against Helvidius (Perp. Virg. of B. M. V.).
385-87. Translation of Origen on Canticles.
386-90. Translation of LXX. into Latin.
387. Revision of version of New Testament.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes.
Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Titus, Philemon.
Book of Hebrew Names.
Questions on Genesis.
Translation of Eusebius on Sites and Names of Hebrew
Places.
Translation of Didymus on the Holy Spirit.
389. Translation of Origen on St. Luke.
390. Lives of Malchus and Hilarion, hermits.
391. Vulgate version of Old Testament begun.
392. Book of Illustrious Men.
392. Commentary on Nahum, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Hat-
akkuk.
393. Books against Jovinian
397. Commentary on Jonah.
397. Book against John, Bishop of Jerusalem.
398. Commentary on St. Matthew.
402. Against Rufinus, Books i. and ii.
403. Commentary on Obadiah.
404. Translation of the ascetic rule of Pachomius.
404. Against Rufinus, Book iii.
406, Commentary on Zachariah, Malachi. Hosea, Joel, Amos-
concluding Minor Prophets.
406. Book against Vigilantius.
407. Commentary on Daniel.
410. Commentary on Isaiah.
414. Commentary on Ezekie'..
416. Dialogue against the Pelagianf.
418-19. Commentary on Jeremiah.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.
XXXV
AND TIMES OF ST. JEROME, A.D. 345-420.
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY.
337. Death of Constantine.
353. Constantius sole Emperor.
360. Julian Emperor.
361. Death of Constantius.
363. Death of Julian. Jovian Emperor.
364. Death of Jovian. Valentinian and Valens.
366. Invasion of the Alemanni repelled by Valentinian
367-69. Gothic war.
367-70. Britain restored by the elder Theodosius.
375. Death of Valentinian. Valens and Gratian Emperors.
376. Theodosius, after restoring Africa, executed at Carthage.
377-80. Persian war.
378. Battle of Adrianople. Valens killed. Gregory Nazianz
at Constantinople.
379; Theodosius Emperor.
Death of Gratian. Maximus Emperor
Treaty with Persia.
3S7. Sedition of Antioch.
388. Death of Maximus. Valentinian II. Emperor.
390. Massacre of Thessalonica. Penance of Theodosius.
391. Death of Valentinian II. Eugenius usurper.
394. Defeat of Eugenius. Theodosius sole Emperor.
395. Death of Theodosius. Arcadius (set. 18) Emperor of the
East ; Honorius (aet. 14) of the West. Stilicho Minister
and General in the West. Death of Rufinus the Prefect
at Constantinople.
396. Alaric invades Greece.
397. Alaric conquered by Stilicho in Arcadia.
398. Death of Gildo in Africa. Alaric Master-General of
Illyricum and King of the Visigoths.
399. Fall of Eutropius.
400. Gainas. conspirator, defeated and slain.
402. Imperial Court transferred to Ravenna.
403. Stilicho defeats Alaric at Pollentia and Verona.
404. Triumph of Honorius. Last gladiatorial shows.
404. Emperor's court at Ravenna.
404. Death of the Empress Eudoxia.
406. Stilicho defeats Radagaisus at Fassulae, and negotiates with
Alaric.
407. Gaul overrun by barbarians.
407. Constantine usurps power in Britain and Gaul.
408. Rome besieged by Alaric, and ransomed.
408. Disgrace and death of Stilicho.
408. Death of Arcadius. Theodosius II. Emperor. Pulchcria
Regent.
409. Revolt of Britain.
410. Sack of Rome by Alaric. Death of Alaric.
4ro. Egypt, Phoenicia, etc. threatened by barbarians (Ep. cxxvi.).
411. Death of Constantine and other usurpers. Victories of
Roman General Constantius.
413. Expedition and death of Heraclian, Count of Africa.
414. Adolphus, successor of Alaric, marries Galla Placidia
415. Goths established in Aquitaine and Spain.
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY (ECCLESIASTICAL).
341. Athanasius at Rome.
352. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem.
356. Eusebius of Vercellae, and other orthodox Bishops banished
by Constantius.
356. Death of Antony.
359. Councils of Ariminutn and Seleucia.
362. Eusebius of Vercella and other Bishops recalled from exile
409.
411.
411.
Apollinarius, Bishop of Laodicsea.
Damasus Pope.
Edict of Valens against the Homoousians.
Law of Valentinian against clerical legacies.
Death of Eusebius of Vercellae and of Lucifer.
Death of Athanasius. Peter and Lucius, rival Bishops,
Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
Melania and Rufinus leave Rome for the East.
378. Gregory Nazianzen at Constantinople.
380. Baptism of Theodosius.
381. Council of Constantinople.
381. Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, succeeded by his brothel
Timothy.
382. Council at Rome.
382. Altar of Victory in Roman Senate removed.
384. Death of Damasus (December).
385. Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, succeeds Timothy.
385. Siricius Pope.
386. John succeeds Cyril as Bishop of Jerusalem.
386. Execution of Priscillian for heresy at Treves.
386. Conversion of Augustin.
389. Temple of Serapis destroyed.
390. Death of Gregory Nazianzen.
392. Laws of Theodosius against Paganism.
395. Augustin, Bishop of Hippo.
397. Death of Ambrose. Simplicianus, Bishop of Milan.
398. Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople.
398. Pope Siricius dies. Anastasius Pope.
400. Origenism condemned by Bishops of Alexandria, Rome,
and Milan, and by the Emperors.
400. (August 15). Simplicianus dies. Venerius, Bishop of Millan.
402. Pope Anastasius dies. Innocentius Pope.
403. Death of Epiphanius.
404. Exile of Chrysostom to Cucusus.
404. Gladiatorial shows at Rome ended by the sacrifice of Te>
lemachus, the monk.
407. Death of Chrysostom at Comans.
Pelagius at Rome.
Pelagius and Ccelestius in Africa.
Dispute between Catholic and Donatist Bishops at Carthage.
Persecution of Donatists by the Civil Power.
Death of Theophilus. Cyril Bishop of Alexandria.
Schism at Antioch healed. Alexander sole Bishop.
Council of Diospolis (Lydda) accepts Pelagius.
Pope Innocentius dies. Zosimus Pope.
Death of John, Bishop of Jerusalem. Succeeded bv
Praylus.
THE LETTERS OF ST. JEROME.
LETTER I.
TO INNOCENT.
Not only the first of the letters but probably the
earliest extant composition of Jerome (e. 370 A.D.).
Innocent, to whom it is addressed, was one of the little
band of enthusiasts whom Jerome gathered round him
n Aquileia. He followed his friend to Syria, where he
died in 374 A.D. (See Letter III., 3.)
1. You have frequently asked me, dearest
Innocent, not to pass over in silence the
marvellous event which has happened in
our own day. I have declined the task
from modesty and, as I now feel, with jus-
tice, believing myself to be incapable of it,
at once because human language is inade-
quate to the divine praise, and because in-
activity, acting like rust upon the intellect,
has dried up any little power of expression
that I have ever had. You in reply urge
that in the things of God we must look not
at the work which we are able to accom-
plish, but at the spirit in which it is under-
taken, and that he can never be at a loss
for words who has believed on the Word.
2. What, then, must I do? The task is
beyond me, and yet I dare not decline it. I
am a mere unskilled passenger, and I find
myself placed in charge of a freighted ship.
I have not so much as handled a rowboat
on a lake, and now I have to trust myself to
the noise and turmoil of the Euxine. I see
the shores sinking beneath the horizon, " sky
and sea on every side" ;' darkness lowers
over the water, the clouds are black as
night, the waves only are white with foam.
You urge me to hoist the swelling sails,
to loosen the sheets, and to take the helm.
At last I obey your commands, and as char-
ity can do all things, I will trust in the Holy
Ghost to guide my course, and I shall con-
sole myself, whatever the event. For, if
our ship is wafted by the surf into the
wished-for haven, I shall be content to be
told that the pilotage was poor. But, if
1 Virg. A. iii. 193.
through my unpolished diction we run
aground amid the rough cross-currents of
language, you may blame my lack of power,
but you will at least recognize my good in-
tentions.
3. To begin, then: Vercellae is a Ligurian
town, situated not far from the base of the
Alps, once important, but now sparsely peo-
pled and fallen into decay. When the con-
sular1 was holding his visitation there, a poor
woman and her paramour were brought be-
fore him — the charge of adultery had been
fastened upon them by the husband — and
were both consigned to the penal horrors of
a prison. Shortly after an attempt was made
to elicit the truth by torture, and when the
blood-stained hook smote the young man's
livid flesh and tore furrows in his side, the
unhappy wretch sought to avoid prolonged
pain by a speedy death. Falsely accusing
his own passions, he involved another in the
charge; and it appeared that he was of all
men the most miserable, and that his execu-
tion was just inasmuch as he had left to an
innocent woman no means of self-defence.
But the woman, stronger in virtue if weaker
in sex, though her frame was stretched
upon the rack, and though her hands,
stained with the filth of the prison, were
tied behind her, looked up to heaven with
her eyes, which alone the torturer had
been unable to bind, and while the tears
rolled down her face, said: "Thou art
witness, Lord Jesus, to whom nothing is
hid, who triest the reins and the heart.;
Thou art witness that it is not to save my
life that I deny this charge. I refuse to lie
because to lie is sin. And as for you, un-
happy man, if you are bent on hastening
your death, why must you destroy not one
innocent person, but two? I also, myself,
desire to die. I desire to put off this hated
body, but not as an adulteress. I offer my
neck; I welcome the shining sword without
fear; yet I will take my innocence with me.
1 I.e. the governor of the province.
» Ps. vii. 9.
JEROME.
He does not die who is slain while purpos-
ing so to live."
4. The consular, who had been feasting
his eyes upon the bloody spectacle, now,
like a wild beast, which after once tasting
blood always thirsts for it, ordered the tor-
ture to be doubled, and cruelly gnashing his
teeth, threatened the executioner with like
punishment if he failed to extort from the
weaker sex a confession which a man's
strength had not been able to keep back.
5. Send help, Lord Jesus. For this one
creature of Thine every species of torture
is devised. She is bound by the hair to a
stake, her whole body is fixed more firmly
than ever on the rack; fire is brought and
applied to her feet; her sides quiver beneath
the executioner's probe; even her breasts do
not escape. Still the woman remains un-
shaken; and, triumphing in spirit over the
pain of the body, enjoys the happiness of
a good conscience, round which the tortures
rage in vain.1 The cruel judge rises, over-
come with passion. She still prays to God.
Her limbs are wrenched from their sockets;
she only turns her eyes to heaven. An-
other confesses what is thought their com-
mon guilt. She, for the confessor's sake,
denies the confession, and, in peril of her
own life, clears one who is in peril of his.
6. Meantime she has but one thing to say :
"Beat me, burn me, tear me, if you will;
I have not done it. If you will not believe
my words, a day will come when this charge
shall be carefully sifted. I have One who
will judge me." Wearied out at last, the
torturer sighed in response to her groans;
nor could he find a spot on which to inflict
a fresh wound. His cruelty overcome, he
shuddered to see the body he had torn.
Immediately the consular cried, in a fit of
passion, "Why does it surprise you, by-
standers, that a woman prefers torture to
death ? It takes two people, most assuredly,
to commit adultery; and I think it more
credible that a guilty woman should deny a
sin than that an innocent young man should
confess one."
7. Like sentence, accordingly, was passed
on both, and the condemned pair were
dragged to execution. The entire people
poured out to see the sight ; indeed, so
closely were the gates thronged by the out-
rushing crowd, that you might have fancied
the city itself to be migrating. At the very
first stroke of the sword the head of the hap-
less youth was cut off, and the headless trunk
rolled over in its blood. Then came the
1 Text corrupt.
woman's turn. She knelt down upon the
ground, and the shining sword was lifted
over her quivering neck. But though the
headsman summoned all his strength into
his bared arm, the moment it touched her
flesh the fatal blade stopped short, and, light-
ly glancing over the skin, merely grazed it
sufficiently to draw blood. The striker saw,
with terror,' his hand unnerved, and, amazed
at his defeated skill and at his drooping
sword, he whirled it aloft for another stroke.
Again the blade fell forceless on the woman,
sinking harmlessly on her neck, as though
the steel feared to touch her. The enraged
and panting officer, who had thrown open his
cloak at the neck to give his full strength
to the blow, shook to the ground the brooch
which clasped the edges of his mantle, and
not noticing this, began to poise his sword
for a fresh stroke. " See," cried the woman,
" a jewel has fallen from your shoulder. Pick
up what you have earned by hard toil, that
you may not lose it."
8. What, I ask, is the secret of such confi-
dence as this? Death draws near, but it has
no terrors for her. When smitten she ex-
ults, and the executioner turns pale. Her
eyes see the brooch, they fail to see the
sword. And, as if intrepidity in the presence
of death were not enough, she confers a favor
upon her cruel foe. And now the mysterious
Power of the Trinity rendered even a third
blow vain. The terrified soldier, no longer
trusting the blade, proceeded to apply the
point to her throat, in the idea that though
it might not cut, the pressure of his hand
might plunge it into her flesh. Marvel un-
heard of through all the ages! The sword
bent back to the hilt, and in its defeat
looked to its master, as if confessing its in-
ability to slay.
9. Let me call to my aid the example of
the three children,1 who, amid the cool, en-
circling fire, sang hymns,2 instead of weep-
ing, and around whose turbans and holy
hair the flames played harmlessly. Let me
recall, too, the story of the blessed Daniel,3
in whose presence, though he was their nat-
ural prey, the lions crouched, with fawning
tails and frightened mouths. Let Susannah
also rise in the nobility of her faith before
the thoughts of all; who, after she had been
condemned by an unjust sentence, was saved
through a youth inspired by the Holy Ghost.4
In both cases the Lord's mercy was alike
shewn; for while Susannah was set free by
1 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
a Song of the Three Holy Children.
4 Susannah 45; the youth spoken of is Daniel.
3 Dan. vi.
LETTER I.
the judge, so as not to die by the sword,
this woman, though condemned by the judge,
was acquitted by the sword.
10. Now at length the populace rise in
arms to defend the woman. Men and
women of every age join in driving away
the executioner, shouting round him in a
surging crowd. Hardly a man dares trust
his own eyes. The disquieting news reaches
the city close at hand, and the entire force
of constables is mustered. The officer who is
responsible for the execution of criminals
bursts from among his men, and
Staining his hoary hair with soiling dust,1
exclaims: "What! citizens, do you mean to
seek my life? Do you intend»to make me a
substitute for her? However much your
minds are set on mercy, and however much
you wish to save a condemned woman, yet
assuredly I — I who am innocent — ought not
to perish." His tearful appeal tells upon
the crowd, they are all benumbed by the in-
fluence of sorrow, and an extraordinary
change of feeling is manifested. Before it
had seemed a duty to plead for the woman's
life, now it seemed a duty to allow her to
be executed.
ii. Accordingly a new sword is fetched,
a new headsman appointed. The victim
takes her place, once more strengthened
only with the favor of Christ. The first
blow makes her quiver, beneath the second
she sways to and fro, by the third she falls
wounded to the ground. Oh, majesty of the
divine power highly to be extolled! She
who previously had received four strokes
without injury, now, a few moments later,
seems to die that an innocent man may
not perish in her stead.
12. Those of the clergy whose duty it is
to wrap the blood-stained corpse in a wind-
ing-sheet, dig out the earth and, heaping
together stones, form the customary tomb.
The sunset comes on quickly, and by God's
mercy the night of nature arrives more
swiftly than is its wont. Suddenly the
woman's bosom heaves, her eyes seek the
light, her body is quickened into new life.
A moment after she sighs, she looks round,
she gets up and speaks. At last she is able
to cry : " The Lord is on my side ; I will not
fear. What can man do unto me?" 2
13. Meantime an aged woman, supported
out of the funds of the church, gave back
her spirit to heaven from which it came.3 It
seemed as if the course of events had been
thus purposely ordered, for her body took
1 Virg. A. xii. 611.
3 Cf. Eccles. xii. 7.
a Ps. cxviii. 6.
the place of the other beneath the mound.
In the gray dawn the devil comes on the
scene in the form of a constable, ' asks for
the corpse of her who had been slain, and
desires to have her grave pointed out to him.
Surprised that she could have died, he
fancies her to be still alive. The clergy
show him the fresh turf, and meet his de-
mands by pointing to the earth lately heaped
up, taunting him with such words as these:
" Yes, of course, tear up the bones which
have been buried ! Declare war anew
against the tomb, and if even that does not
satisfy you, pluck her limb from limb for
birds and beasts to mangle! Mere dying is
too good for one whom it took seven
strokes to kill."
14. Before such opprobrious words the
executioner retires in confusion, while the
woman is secretly revived at home. Then,
lest the frequency of the doctor's visits to
the church might give occasion for suspicion,
they cut her hair short and send her in the
company of some virgins to a sequestered
country house. There she changes her
dress for that of a man, and scars form over
her wounds. Yet even after the great
miracles worked on her behalf, the laws
still rage against her. So true is it that,
where there is most law, there, there is also
most injustice.2
15. But now see whither the progress of
my story has brought me ; we come upon the
name of our friend Evagrius.3 So great
have his exertions been in the cause of
Christ that, were I to suppose it possible
adequately to describe them, I should only
show my own folly; and were I minded de-
liberately to pass them by, I still could not
prevent my voice from breaking out into
cries of joy. Who can fittingly praise the
vigilance which enabled him to bury, if I
may so say, before his death Auxentius4 of
Milan, that curse brooding over the church?
Or who can sufficiently extol the discretion
with which he rescued the Roman bishop6
from the toils of the net in which he was
fairly entangled, and showed him the means
at once of overcoming his opponents and of
sparing them in their discomfiture? But
Such topics I must leave to other bards,
Shut out by envious straits of time and space.6
I am satisfied now to record the conclusion of
1 Lictor. 2 An allusion to the well-known proverb, summum
jus, summa injuria.
3 A presbyter of Antioch and bishop, 388 a.d. He is mentioned
again in Letters III., IV., V., XV. See Jerome De Vir. iii. 125.
* The predecessor of Ambrose and an Arian. He was still liv-
ing when Jerome wrote, but died 374.
5 Damasus, who having successfully made good his claim to the
papacy, in 369 condemned Auxentius in a council held at Rome.
6 Virg. G. lv. 147, 148.
JEROME.
my tale. Evagrius seeks a special audience
of the Emperor;1 importunes him with his
entreaties, wins his favor by his services, and
finally gains his cause through his earnest-
ness. The Emperor restored to liberty the
woman whom God had restored to life.
LETTER II.
TO THEODOSIUS AND THE REST OF THE
ANCHORITES.
Written from Antioch, 374 a.d., while Jerome was
still in doubt as to his future course. Theodosius ap-
pears to have been the head of the solitaries in the
Syrian Desert.
How I long to be a member of your com-
pany, and with uplifting of all my powers
to embrace your admirable community!
Though, indeed, these poor eyes are not
worthy to look upon it. Oh! that I could
behold the desert, lovelier to me than any
city! Oh! that I could see those lonely
spots made into a paradise by the saints that
throng them! But since my sins prevent me
from thrusting into your blessed company a
head laden with every transgression, I ad-
jure you (and I know that you can do it) by
your prayers to deliver me from the darkness
of this world. I spoke of this when I was
with you, and now in writing to you I repeat
anew the same request; for all the energy of
my mind is devoted to this one object. It
rests with you to give effect to my resolve.
I have the will but not the power; this last
can only come in answer to your prayers.
For my part, I am like a sick sheep astray
from the flock. Unless the good Shepherd
shall place me on his shoulders and carry me
back to the fold,2 my steps will totter, and in
the very effort of rising I shall find my feet
give way. I am the prodigal son 3 who,
although I have squandered all the portion
entrusted to me by my father, have not yet
bowed the knee in submission to him; not
yet have I commenced to put away from me
the allurements of my former excesses. And
because it is only a little while since I have
begun not so much to abandon my vices as
to desire to abandon them, the devil now
ensnares me in new toils, he puts new stum-
bling-blocks in my path, he encompasses me
on every side.
The seas around, and all around the main. 4
I find myself in mid-ocean, unwilling to
retreat and unable to advance. It only re-
mains that your prayers should win for me
the gale of the Holy Spirit to waft me to the
haven upon the desired shore.
1 Valentinian I.
8 Luke xv, 11-32.
a Luke xv. ^-5.
4 Virg, A. v. 9.
LETTER III.
TO RUFINUS THE" MONK.'
Written from Antioch, 374 a.d., to Rufinus in
Egypt. Jerome narrates his travels and the events
which have taken place since his arrival in Syria, par-
ticularly the deaths of Innocent and IIylas(^3). He
also describes the life of Bonosus, who was now a hermit
on an island in the Adriatic (§ 4). The main object of
the letter is to induce Rufinus to come to Syria.
1. That God gives more than we ask Him
for,2 and that He often grants us things
which " eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have Uiey entered into the heart of
man," 3 1 knew indeed before from the mystic
declaration of the sacred volumes; but now,
dearest Rufinus, I have had proof of it in my
own case. For I who fancied it too bold a
wish to be allowed by an exchange of letters
to counterfeit to myself your presence in the
flesh, hear that you are penetrating the re-
motest parts of Egypt, visiting the monks
and going round God's family upon earth.
Oh, if only the Lord Jesus Christ would sud-
denly transport me to you as Philip was
transported to the eunuch,4 and Habakkuk to
Daniel,0 with what a close embrace would I
clasp your neck, how fondly would I press
kisses upon that mouth which has so often
joined with me of old in error or in wisdom.
But as I am unworthy (not that you should
so come to me but) that I should so come to
you, and because my poor body, weak even
when well, has been shattered by frequent
illnesses; 1 send this letter to meet you in-
stead of coming myself, in the hope that it
may bring you hither to me caught in the
meshes of love's net.
2. My first joy at such unexpected good
tidings was due to our brother, Heliodorus.
I desired to be sure of it, but did not dare to
feel sure, especially as he told me that he
had only heard it from some one else, and as
the strangeness of the news impaired the
credit of the story. Once more my wishes
hovered in uncertainty and my mind wav-
ered, till an Alexandrian monk who had some
time previously been sent over by the dutiful
zeal of the people to the Egyptian confessors
(in will already martyrs'1), impelled me by
his presence to believe the tidings. Even-
then, I must admit I still hesitated. For on
1 In Jerome's day this term included all — whether hermits or
coenobites — who forsook the world and embraced an ascetic life,
2 Cf. Eph. iii. 20. 3 1 Cor. ii. 9.
4 Acts, viii. 26-30. 5 Bel, 33-36.
" Priests, monks, and others who, because they would not de-
clare themselves Arians, were banished by order of Valens to
Heliopolis in Phenicia.
LETTERS I. -III.
5
the one hand he knew nothing either of your
name or country: yet on the other what he
said seemed likely to be true, agreeing as it
did with the hint which had already reached
me. At last the truth broke upon me in all
its fulness, for a constant stream of persons
passing through brought the report : " Rufinus
is at Nitria, and has reached the abode of
the blessed Macarius. "' At this point I
cast away all that restrained my belief, and
then first really grieved to find myself ill.
Had it not been that my wasted and enfeebled
frame fettered my movements, neither the
summer heat nor the dangerous voyage
should have had power to retard the rapid
steps of affection. Believe me, brother, I
look forward to seeing you more than the
storm-tossed mariner looks for his haven,
more than the thirsty fields long for the
showers, more than the anxious mother sit-
ting on the curving shore expects her son.
3. After that sudden whirlwind2 dragged
me from your side, severing with its impious
wrench the bonds of affection in which we
were knit together,
The dark blue raincloud lowered o'er my head :
On all sides were the seas, on all the sky. 3
I wandered about, uncertain where to go.
Thrace, Pontus, Bithynia, the whole of Gal-
atia and Cappadocia, Cilicia also with its
burning heat, one after another shattered my
energies. At last Syria presented itself to
me as a most secure harbor to a shipwrecked
man. Here, after undergoing every possible
kind of sickness, I lost one of my two eyes;
for Innocent,4 the half of my soul,5 was taken
away from me by a sudden attack of fever.
The one eye which I now enjoy, and which
is all in all to me, is our Evagrius," upon
whom I with my constant infirmities have
come as an additional burden. We had with
us also Hylas, 7 the servant of the holy Me-
lanium,8 who by his stainless conduct had
wiped out the taint of his previous servitude.
His death opened afresh the wound which had
not yet healed. But as the apostle's words
forbid us to mourn for those who sleep,9 and
as my excess of grief has been tempered by
the joyful news that has since come to me, I
recount this last, that, if you have not heard it,
1 There were two hermits of this name in Egypt, and it is not
certain which is meant. One of them was a disciple of Antony.
2 The ascetic community at Aquileia, of which Jerome and
Rufinus were the leaders, had been broken up, perhaps through
the efforts of Lupicinus, the bishop of Stridon.
3 Virg. A. iii. 193, 194 : v. g. 4 See Letter I.
o Hor. C. i. 3, 8. 6 See Letter I. § 15.
7 A freedman of Melanium.
8 A young Roman widow who had given up the world that she
might adopt the ascetic life. She accompanied Rufinus to the
East and settled with him on the Mount of Olives. She is men-
tioned again in Letters IV., XXXIX., XLV., and others.
8 1 Thess. iv. 13.
VOL. VI.
you may learn it; and that, if you know it
already, you may rejoice over it with me.
4. Bonosus, ' your friend, or, to speak
more truly, mine as well as yours, is now
climbing the ladder foreshown in Jacob's
dream.2 He is bearing his cross, neither
taking thought for the morrow 3 nor looking
back at what he has left." He is sowing in
tears that he may reap in joy.5 As Moses
in a type so he in reality is lifting up the
serpent in the wilderness.6 This is a true
story, and it may well put to shame the lying
marvels described by Greek and Roman
pens. For here you have a youth educated
with us in the refining accomplishments of
the world, with abundance of wealth, and in
rank inferior to none of his associates; yet
he forsakes his mother, his sisters, and his
dearly loved brother, and settles like a new
tiller of Eden on a dangerous island, with
the sea roaring round its reefs; while its
rough crags, bare rocks, and desolate aspect
make it more terrible still. No peasant or
monk is to be found there. Even the little
Onesimus7 you know of, in whose kisses he
used to rejoice as in those of a brother, in
this tremendous solitude no longer remains
at his side. Alone upon the island — or
rather not alone, for Christ is with him —
he sees the glory of God, which even the
apostles saw not save in the desert. He be-
holds, it is true, no embattled towns, but he
has enrolled his name in the new city.8
Garments of sackcloth disfigure his limbs,
yet so clad he will be the sooner caught up
to meet Christ in the clouds.9 No water-
course pleasant to the view supplies his
wants, but from the Lord's side he drinks
the water of life.10 Place all this before
your eyes, clear friend, and with all the fac-
ulties of your mind picture to yourself the
scene. When you realize the effort of the
fighter then you will be able to praise his
victory. Round the entire island roars the
frenzied sea, while the beetling crags along
its winding shores resound as the billows
beat against them. No grass makes the
ground green; there are no shady copses
and no fertile fields. Precipitous cliffs sur-
round his dreadful abode as if it were a
prison. But he, careless, fearless, and
armed from head to foot with the apostle's
armor,11 now listens to God by reading the
1 Jerome's foster-brother who had accompanied him on his first
visit to Rome. He was now living as a hermit on a small island
in the neighborhood of Aquileia. See Letter VII. § 3.
2 Gen. xxviii. 12. 3 Matt. vi. 34. 4 Luke ix. 62.
6 Ps. cxxvi. 5. 6 Nu. xxi. 9.
7 Of this child nothing is known.
" I.e. the new Jerusalem. Rev. xxi. 2. Is. iv. 3.
» 1 Thess. iv. 17. lu Job. iv. 14: xix. 34. " Eph. vi. 13-17.
JEROME.
Scriptures, now speaks to God as he prays
to the Lord; and it may be that, while he
lingers in the island, he sees some vision
such as that once seen by John. '
5. What snares, think you, is the devil
now weaving ? What stratagems is he pre-
paring? Perchance, mindful of his old
trick,2 he will try to tempt Bonosus with
hunger. But he has been answered already :
" Man shall not live by bread alone." 8 Per-
chance he will lay before him wealth and
fame. But it shall be said to him: "They
that desire to be rich fall into a trap4 and
temptations," 5 and "For me all glorying is
in Christ."6 He will come, it may be, when
the limbs are weary with fasting, and rack
them with the pangs of disease ; but the cry
of the apostle will repel him: "When I am
weak, then am I strong," and "My strength
is made perfect in weakness."7 He will
hold out threats of death; but the reply will
be: "I desire to depart and to be with
Christ." He will brandish his fiery darts,
but they will be received on the shield of
faith.9 In a word, Satan will assail him,
but Christ will defend. Thanks be to
Thee, Lord Jesus, that in Thy day I have
one able to pray to Thee for me. To Thee
all hearts are open, Thou searchest the
secrets of the heart,10 Thou seest the prophet
shut up in the fish's belly in the midst of the
sea.11 Thou knowest then how he and I grew
up together from tender infancy to vigorous
manhood, how we were fostered in the bos-
oms of the same nurses, and carried in the
arms of the same bearers; and how after
studying together at Rome we lodged in the
same house and shared the same food by
the half savage banks of the Rhine. Thou
knowest, too, that it was I who first began
to seek to serve Thee. Remember, I be-
seech Thee, that this warrior of Thine was
once a raw recruit with me. I have before
me the declaration of Thy majesty: " Who-
soever shall teach and not do shall be called
least in the kingdom of heaven."12 May he
enjoy the crown of virtue, and in return for
his daily martyrdoms may he follow the
Lamb robed in white raiment! 13 For " in my
Father's house are many mansions, " 14 and
" one star differeth from another star in
glory. " 15 Give me strength to raise my head
to a level with the saints' heels! 1C I willed,
but he performed. Do Thou therefore pardon
1 Rev. i. 9, 10. 2 Gen. iii. 1-6 : Matt. iv. 1-4. 3 Matt. iv. 4.
4 Literally "mousetrap." This variant is peculiar to Cyprian
and Jerome. 5 1 Tim. vi. 9. 6 1 Cor. i. 31.
7 2 Cor. xii. 10, 9. 8 Philip, i. 23. 9 Eph. vi. 16.
10 Acts i. 24: Rev. ii. 23. ]1 Jon. ii. 1, 2. 12 Matt. v. 19.
13 Rev. xiv. 4. I* John xiv. 2. 15 1 Cor, xv, 41.
»« Quoted from Tert. de C. F. ii. 7.
me that I failed to keep my resolve, and re-
ward him with the guerdon of his deserts.
I may perhaps have been tedious, and
have said more than the short compass of a
letter usually allows; but this, I find, is
always the case with me when I have to say
anything in praise of our dear Bonosus.
6. However, to return to the point from
which I set out, I beseech you do not let me
pass wholly out of sight and out of mind.
A friend is long sought, hardly found, and
with difficulty kept. Let those who will,
allow gold to dazzle them and be borne
along in splendor, their very baggage glit-
tering with gold and silver. Love is not to
be purchased, and affection has no price.
The friendship which can cease has never
been real. Farewell in Christ.
LETTER IV.
TO FLORENTIUS.
Sent to Florentius along with the preceding letter,
which Jerome requests him to deliver to Rufinus.
This Florentius was a rich Italian who had retired to
Jerusalem to pursue the monastic life. Jerome subse-
quently speaks of him as "a distinguished monk so
pitiful to the needy that he was generally known as the
father of the poor." (Chron. ad a.d. 381.)
1. How much your name and sanctity are
on the lips of the most different peoples you
may gather from the fact that I commence
to love you before I know you. For as, ac-
cording to the apostle, "Some men's sins
are evident going before unto judgment,"1
so contrariwise the report of your charity is
so widespread that it is considered not so
much praiseworthy to love you as criminal
to refuse to do so. I pass over the countless
instances in which you have supported
Christ,2 fed, clothed, and visited Him. The
aid you rendered to our brother Heliodorus3
in his need may well loose the utterance of
the dumb. With what gratitude, with what
commendation, does he speak of the kindness
with which you smoothed a pilgrim's path.
I am, it is true, the most sluggish of men,
consumed by an unendurable sickness; yet
keen affection and desire have winged my
feet, and I have come forward to salute and
embrace you. I wish you every good thing,
and pray that the Lord may establish our
nascent friendship.
2. Our brother, Rufinus, is said to have
come from Egypt to Jerusalem with the de-
1 1 Tim. v. 24, R. V. 2 Matt. xxv. 34-40.
3 See introduction to Letter XIV.
LETTERS III.-V.
vout lady, Melanium. He is inseparably
bound to me in brotherly love; and I
beg you to oblige me by delivering to him
the annexed letter. You must not, however,
judge of me by the virtues that you find in
him. For in him you will see the clearest
tokens of holiness, whilst I am but dust and
vile dirt, and even now, while still living,
nothing but ashes. It is enough for me
if my weak eyes can bear the brightness
of his excellence. He has but now washed
himself1 and is clean, yea, is made white as
snow;2 whilst I, stained with every sin, wait
day and night with trembling to pay the
uttermost farthing.3 But since "the Lord
looseth the prisoners,"4 and resteth upon
him who is of a contrite spirit, and that
trembleth at His words,5 perchance he may
say even to me who lie in the grave of sin:
"Jerome, come forth. "°
The reverend presbyter, Evagrius, warmly
salutes you. We both with united respect
salute the brother, Martinianus. 7 I desire
much to see him, but I am impeded by the
-chain of sickness. Farewell in Christ.
LETTER V.
TO FLORENTIUS.
Written a few months after the preceding (about the
end of 374 A.D.) from the Syrian Desert. After
dilating on his friendship for Florentius, and making
a passing allusion to Rufinus, Jerome mentions certain
books copies of which he desires to be sent to him.
He also speaks of a runaway slave about whom Flor-
entius had written to him.
i. Your letter, dear friend, finds me dwell-
ing in that quarter of the desert which is
nearest to Syria and the Saracens. And the
reading of it rekindles in my mind so keen
a desire to set out for Jerusalem that I am
almost ready to violate my monastic vow in
order to gratify my affection. Wishing to do
the best I can, as I cannot come in person I
send you a letter instead; and thus, though
absent in the body, I come to you in love
and in spirit.8 For my earnest prayer is
that our infant friendship, firmly cemented
as it is in Christ, may never be rent asunder
by time or distance. We ought rather to
strengthen the bond by an interchange of
letters. Let these pass between us, meet
each other on the way, and converse with us.
Affection will not lose much if it keeps up
an intercourse of this kind.
2. You write that our brother, Rufinus,
1 Rufinus had been baptized at Aquileia about three years
previously (371 a.d.).
2 Cf. Ps. li. 7. 3 Matt. y. 26. « Ps. cxlvi. 7.
6 Isa. lxvi. 2. 6 Joh. xi. 43.
7 Ace. to Vallarsi a hermit, who at this time lived near Caesarea.
* Cf. Col. ii. 5.
has not yet come to you. Even if he does
come it will do little to satisfy my longing,
for I shall not now be able to see him. He
is too far away to come hither, and the con-
ditions of the lonely life that I have adopted
forbid me to go to him. For I am no longer
free to follow my own wishes. I entreat
you, therefore, to ask him to allow you to
have the commentaries of the reverend Rhe-
titius, ' bishop of Augustodunum,2 copied, in
which he has so eloquently explained the
Song of Songs. A countryman of the afore-
said brother Rufinus, the old man Paul,3
writes that Rufinus has his copy of Tertul-
lian, and urgently requests that this may be
returned. Next I have to ask you to get
written on paper by a copyist certain books
which the subjoined list4 will show you that
I do not possess. I beg also that you will
send me the explanation of the Psalms of
David, and the copious work on Synods of
the reverend Hilary,5 which I copied for
him 6 at Treves with my own hand. Such
books, you know, must be the food of the
Christian soul if it is to meditate in the law
of the Lord day and night. 7
Others you welcome beneath your roof,
you cherish and comfort, you help out of
your own purse; but so far as I am con-
cerned, you have given me everything when
once you have granted my request. And
since, through the Lord's bounty, I am rich
in volumes of the sacred library,8 you may
command me in turn. I will send you what
you please; and do not suppose that an order
from you will give me trouble. I have
pupils devoted to the art of copying. Nor
do I merely promise a favor because I am
asking one. Our brother, Heliodorus,9 tells
me that there are many parts of the Scrip-
tures which you seek and cannot find. But
even if you have them all, affection is sure
to assert its rights and to seek for itself
more than it already has.
3. As regards the present master of your
slave — of whom you have done me the honor
to write — I have no doubt but that he is his
kidnapper. While I was still at Antioch
the presbyter, Evagrius, often reproved him
in my presence. To whom he made this
answer: "I have nothing to fear." _ He
declares that his master has dismissed
him. If you want him, he is here ; send
1 A man of some note, as he was one of the commissioners ap-
pointed by Constantine in 313 a.d. to settle the points of issue
between the Catholics and the Donatists. Jerome criticises his
commentary on the Song of Songs in Letter XXXV 1 1.
2 Autun. 3 See the introd. to Letter X.
4 This list has perished. 5 /.*. Hilary of Poitiers.
» Rufinus. 7 Ps. i. 2. B I.e. the Scriptures.
9 See the introd. to Letter XIV,
C 2
JEROME.
him whither you will. I think I am not
wrong in refusing to allow a runaway to
stray farther. Here in the wilderness I can-
not myself execute your orders; and there-
fore I have asked my dear friend Evagrius
to push the affair vigorously, both for your
sake and for mine. I desire your welfare in
Christ.
LETTER VI.
TO JULIAN, A DEACON OF ANTIOCH.
This letter, written in 374 A. P., is chiefly interest-
ing for its mention of Jerome's sister. It would seem
that she had fallen into sin and had been restored to
a life of virtue by the deacon, Julian. Jerome speaks
of her again in the next letter (§ 4).
It is an old saying, " Liars are disbe-
lieved even when they speak the truth."1
And from the way in which you reproach me
for not having written, I perceive that this
has been my lot with you. Shall I say, "I
wrote often, but the bearers of my letters
were negligent"? You will reply, "Your
excuse is the old one of all who fail to
write." Shall I say, "I could not find any
one to take my letters"? You will say that
numbers of persons have gone from my part
of the world to yours. Shall I contend that
I have actually given them letters? They
not having delivered them, will deny ^hat
they have received them. Moreover, so
great a distance separates us that it will be
hard to come at the truth. What shall I do
then? Though really not to blame, I ask
your forgiveness, for I think it better to fall
back and make overtures for peace than to
keep my ground and offer battle. The truth
is that constant sickness of body and vexa-
tion of mind have so weakened me that with
death so close at hand I have not been as
collected as usual. And lest you should ac-
count this plea a false one, now that I have
stated my case, I shall, like a pleader, call
witnesses to prove it. Our reverend brother,
Heliodorus, has been here; but in spite of
his wish to dwell in the desert with me, he
has been frightened away by my crimes.
But my present wordiness will atone for
my past remissness; for, as Horace says in
his satire: 2
All singers have one fault among their friends :
They never sing when asked, unasked they never cease.
Henceforth I shall overwhelm you with
such bundles of letters that you will take the
opposite line and beg me not to write.
. > Aristotle is the author of this remark. 2 Hor. S. i. 3, 1-3.
I rejoice that my sister ' — to you a daughter
in Christ — remains steadfast in her purpose,
a piece of news which I owe in the first in-
stance to you. For here where I now am I
am ignorant not only as to what goes on in
my native land, but even as to its continued
existence. Even though the Iberian viper2
shall rend me with his baneful fangs, I will
not fear men's judgment, seeing that I shall
have God to judge me. As one puts it;
Shatter the world to fragments if you will :
'Twill fall upon a head which knows not fear.3
Bear in mind, then, I pray you, the apos-
tle's precept4 that we should make our work
abiding; prepare for yourself a reward from
the Lord in my sister's salvation; and by
frequent letters increase my joy in that glory
in Christ which we share together.
LETTER VII.
TO CHROMATIUS, JOVINUS, AND EUSEBIUS. 6
This letter (written like the preceding in 374 A.D.)
is addressed by Jerome to three of his former com-
panions in the religious life. It commends Bonosus
(§ 3), asks guidance for the writer's sister (§ 4), and
attacks the conduct of Lupicinus, Bishop of Stri-
don (§ 5).
1. Those whom mutual affection has
joined together, a written page ought not to
sunder. I must not, therefore, distribute
my words some to one and some to another.
For so strong is the love that binds you to-
gether that affection unites all three of you
in a bond no less close than that which
naturally connects two of your number. ' In-
deed, if the conditir is of writing would
only admit of it, I should amalgamate your
names and express them under a single sym-
bol. The very letter which I have received
from you challenges me in each of you to see
all three, and in all three to recognize each.
When the reverend Evagrius transmitted
it to me in the corner of the desert which
stretches between the Syrians and the Sara-
cens, my joy was intense. It wholly sur-
passed the rejoicings felt at Rome when the
defeat of Cannoe was retrieved, and Marcel-
lus at Nola cut to pieces the forces of Han-
nibal. Evagrius frequently comes to see
me, and cherishes me in Christ as his own
bowels.7 Yet as he is separated from me
by a long distance, his departure has gener-
1 Mentioned again in Letter VII., § 4.
2 The person meant is uncertain. Probably it was Lupicinus,
bishop of Stridon, for whom see the next letter.
3 Horace, C iii. 3, 7, 8. 4 1 Cor. iii. 14.
6 Jovinus was archdeacon of Aquileia. All three became
bishops— Chromatius of Aquileia, the others of unknown sees.
6 Chromatins and Eusebius were brothers. 7 Philem. 12.
LETTERS V.-VII.
ally left me as much regret as his arrival has
brought me joy.
2. I converse with your letter, I embrace
it, it talks to me; it alone of those here
speaks Latin. For hereabout you must
either learn a barbarous jargon or else hold
your tongue. As often as the lines — traced
in a well-known hand — bring back to me the
faces which I hold so dear, either I am no
longer here, or else you are here with me.
If you will credit the sincerity of affection,
I seem to see you all as I write this.
Now at the outset I should like to ask you
one petulant question. Why is it that, when
we are separated by so great an interval of
land and sea, you have sent me so short a
letter? Is it that I have deserved no better
treatment, not having first written to you?
I cannot believe that paper can have failed
you while Egypt continues to supply its
wares. Even if a Ptolemy had closed the
seas, King Attalus would still have sent you
parchments from Pergamum, and so by his
skins you could have made up for the want
of paper. The very name parchment is de-
rived from a historical incident of the kind
which occurred generations ago.1 What
then ? Am I to suppose the messenger to
have been in haste? No matter how long a
letter may be, it can be written in the course
of a night. Or had you some business to
attend to which prevented you from writing?
No claim is prior to that of affection. Two
suppositions remain, either that you felt dis-
inclined to write or else that I did not de-
serve a letter. Of the two I prefer to charge
you with sloth than to condemn myself as
undeserving. For it is easier to mend neglect
than to quicken love.
3. You tell me that Bonosus, like a true
son of the Fish, has taken to the water.2
As for me who am still foul with my old
stains, like the basilisk and the scorpion I
haunt the dry places.3 Bonosus has his heel
already on the serpent's head, whilst I am
still as food to the same serpent which by
divine appointment devours the earth.4 He
can scale already that ladder of which the
psalms of degrees 5 are a type; whilst I, still
weeping on its first step, hardly know
whether I shall ever be able to say: "I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence
1 See Pliny, H. N. xiii. 21.
2 The Greek word IX0Y2 represented to the early Christians
the sentence 'Ir)<roCs Xpioros &eov 'Yids 2eoT/;'p. Hence the
fish became a favorite emblem of Christ. Tertullian connects the
symbol with the water of baptism, saying : " We little fishes are
born by our Fish, Jesus Christ, in water and can thrive only by
continuing in the water." The allusion in the text is to the bap-
tism of Bonosus. See Schaff, "Ante-Nicene Christianity," p. 279.
3 Deut. viii. 15. * Gen. iii. 14.
6 Viz., Pss. cxx.-cxxxiv.
cometh my help."1 Amid the threatening
billows of the world he is sitting in the safe
shelter of his island,2 that is, of the church's
pale, and it may be that even now, like
John, he is being called to eat God's book;3
whilst I, still lying in the sepulchre of my
sins and bound with the chains of my in-
iquities, wait for the Lord's command in the
Gospel: " Jerome, come forth. " 4 But Bono-
sus has done more than this. Like the
prophet5 he has carried his girdle across the
Euphrates (for all the devil's strength is in
the loins8), and has hidden it there in a hole
of the rock. Then, afterwards finding it
rent, he has sung: "O Lord, thou hast
possessed my reins.7 Thou hast broken my
bonds in sunder. I will offer to thee the
sacrifice of thanksgiving." 8 But as for me,
Nebuchadnezzar has brought me in chains
to Babylon, to the babel that is of a dis-
tracted mind. There he has laid upon me
the yoke of captivity; there inserting in my
nostrils a ring of iron,0 he has commanded
me to sing one of the songs of Zion. To
whom I have said, " The Lord looseth the
prisoners; the Lord openeth the eyes of the
blind."10 To complete my contrast in a
single sentence, whilst I pray for mercy
Bonosus looks for a crown.
4. My sister's conversion is the fruit of
the efforts of the saintly Julian. He has
planted, it is for you to water, and the Lord
will give the increase.11 Jesus Christ has
given her to me to console me for the wound
which the devil has inflicted on her. He
has restored her from death to life. But in
the words of the pagan poet, for her
There is no safety that I do not fear.1'2
You know yourselves how slippery is the
path of youth — a path on which I have my-
self fallen,13 and which you are now travers-
ing not without fear. She, as she enters
upon it, must have the advice and the en-
couragement of all, she must be aided by
frequent letters from you, my reverend
brothers. And — for "charity endureth all
things,"14 — I beg you to get from Pope15
Valerian 16 a letter to confirm her resolution.
A girl's courage, as you know, is strength-
I Ps. cxxi. 1. a See Letter III.
3 Rev. x. 9, 10. 4 John xi. 43. 5 Jer. xiii. 4, 5.
6 Job xl. 16 (said of Behemoth); cf. Letter XXII. § 11.
7 Ps. cxxxix. 13. 8 Ps. cxvi. 14, 15, P.B.V.
9 Cf. 2 K. xix. 28. 10 Pss. cxxxvii. 3 : cxlvi. 7, 8.
II 1 Cor. iii. 6. 12 Virg. A. iv. 298.
13 Jerome again refers to his own frailty in Letters XIV. § 6,
XVIII. § n, and XLVIII. § 20. 14 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
13 Papa. The word "pope" was at this time used as a naiiK- of
respect (" father in God ") for bishops generally. Only by degrees
did it come to be restricted to the bishop of Rome. Similarly
the word " imperator" originally applied to any Roman general,
came to be used of the Emperor alone.
19 Bishop of Aquileia.
\
10
JEROME.
ened when she realizes that persons in high
place are interested in her.
5. The fact is that my native land is a
prey to barbarism, that in it men's only God
is their belly,1 that they live only for the
present, and that the richer a man is the
holier he is held to be. Moreover, to use a
well-worn proverb, the dish has a cover
worthy of it; for Lupicinus is their priest. 2
Like lips like lettuce, as the saying goes —
the only one, as Lucilius tells us,3 at which
Crassus ever laughed — the reference being
to a donkey eating thistles. What I mean
is that an unstable pilot steers a leaking
ship, and that the blind is leading the blind
straight to the pit. The ruler is like the
ruled.
6. I salute your mother and mine with the
respect which, as you know, I feel towards
her. Associated with you as she is in a holy
life, she has the start of you, her holy chil-
dren, in that she is your mother. Her womb
may thus be truly called golden. With her
I salute your sisters, who ought all to be
welcomed wherever they go, for they have
triumphed over their sex and the world,
and await the Bridegroom's coming,4 their
lamps replenished with oil. O happy the
house which is a home of a widowed
Anna, of virgins that are prophetesses,
and of twin Samuels bred in the Tem-
ple!6 Fortunate the roof which shelters the
martyr-mother of the Maccabees, with her
sons around her, each and all wearing the
martyr's crown!8 For although you confess
Christ every day by keeping His command-
ments, yet to this private glory you have
added the public one of an open confession;
for it was through you that the poison of the
Arian heresy was formerly banished from
your city.
You are surprised perhaps at my thus mak-
ing a fresh beginning quite at the close of
my letter. But what am I to do ? I cannot
refuse expression to my feelings. The brief
limits of a letter compel me to be silent; my
affection for you urges me to speak. I write
in haste, my language is confused and ill-
arranged; but love knows nothing of order.
LETTER VIII.
TO NtCEAS, SUB-DEACON OF AQUILEIA.
Niceas, the sub-deacon, had accompanied Jerome to
the East but had now returned home. In after-years
1 Phi. iii. 19.
2 Sacerdos. In the letters this word generally denotes a bishop.
Lupicinus held the see of Stridon. 3 Cic. de Fin. v. 30.
4 Matt. xxv. 4. « Luke ii. 36 : Acts xxi. 9 : 1 Sam. ii, 1S.
6 2 Mace. vii.
he became bishop of Aquileia in succession to Chro-
matius. The date of the letter is 374 a.d.
The comic poet Turpilius1 says of the ex-
change of letters that it alone makes the ab-
sent present. The remark, though occurring
in a work of fiction, is not untrue. For
what more real presence — if I may so speak —
can there be between absent friends than
speaking to those whom they love in letters,
and in letters hearing their reply? Even
those Italian savages, the Cascans of Ennius,
who — as Cicero tells us in his books on rhet-
oric— hunted their food like beasts of prey,
were wont, before paper and parchment came
into use, to exchange letters written on tablets
of wood roughly planed, or on strips of bark
torn from the trees. For this reason men
called letter-carriers tablet-bearers,2 and let-
ter-writers bark-users,3 because they used
the bark of trees. How much more then are
we, who live in a civilized age, bound not
to omit a social duty performed by men who
lived in a state of gross savagery, and were
in some respects entirely ignorant of the
refinements of life. The saintly Chroma-
tins, look you, and the reverend Eusebius,
brothers as much by compatibility of dispo-
sition as by the ties of nature, have chal-
lenged me to diligence by the letters which
they have showered upon me. You, how-
ever, who have but just left me, have not
merely unknit our new-made friendship; you
have torn it asunder — a process which Lae-
lius, in Cicero's treatise,4 wisely forbids.
Can it be that the East is so hateful to you
that you dread the thought of even your let-
ters coming hither? Wake up, wake up,
arouse yourself from sleep, give to affection
at least one sheet of paper. Amid the pleas-
ures of life at home sometimes heave a sigh
over the journeys which we have made to-
gether. If you love me, write in answer to
my prayer. If you are angry with me,
though angry still write. I find my longing
soul much comforted when I receive a letter
from a friend, even though that friend be
out of temper with me.
LETTER IX.
TO CHRYS0G0NUS, A MONK OF AQUILEIA.
A bantering letter to an indifferent correspondent.
Of the same date as the preceding.
Heliodorus,6 who is so dear to us both,
and who loves you with an affection no less
1 Turpilius, who appears to have been a dramatist of some
note, died in 101 B.C. He is mentioned by Jerome in his edition
of tin- Eusebian Chronicle.
- Tubellarii, from tabella, a small tablet.
3 Librarii, from liber, bark.
4 Cic. Lwlius, 76. 6 See introd. to Letter XIV.
LETTERS VII. -X.
n
deep than my own, may have given you a
faithful account of my feelings towards you;
how your name is always on my lips, and
how in every conversation which I have with
him I begin by recalling my pleasant inter-
course with you, and go on to marvel at
your lowliness, to extol your virtue, and to
proclaim your holy love.
Lynxes, they say, when they look behind
them, forget what they have just seen, and
lose all thought of what their eyes have
ceased to behold. And so it seems to be
with you. For so entirely have you forgot-
ten our joint attachment that you have not
merely blurred but erased the writing of
that epistle which, as the apostle tells us,1 is
written in the hearts of Christians. The
creatures that I have mentioned lurk on
branches of leafy trees and pounce on fleet
roes or frightened stags. In vain their vic-
tims fly, for they carry their tormentors with
them, and these rend their flesh as they run.
Lynxes, however, only hunt when an empty
belly makes their mouths dry. When they
have satisfied their thirst for blood, and
have filled their stomachs with food, satiety
induces forgetfulness, and they bestow no
thought on future prey till hunger recalls
them to a sense of their need.
Now in your case it cannot be that you
have already had enough of me. Why then do
you bring to a premature close a friendship
which is but just begun? Why do you let
slip what you have hardly as yet fully
grasped? But as such remissness as yours
is never at a loss for an excuse, you will
perhaps declare that you had nothing to
write. Had this been so, you should still
have written to inform me of the fact.
LETTER X.
TO PAUL, AN OLD MAN OF CONCORDIA.
Jerome writes to Paul of Concordia, a centenarian
(§ 2), and the owner of a good theological library (§ 3),
to lend him some commentaries. In return he sends
him his life (newly written) of Paul the hermit.2 The
date of the letter is 374 a.d.
1. The shortness of man's life is the pun-
ishment for man's sin; and the fact that
even on the very threshold of the light death
constantly overtakes the new-born child
proves that the times are continually sinking
into deeper depravity. For when the first
tiller of paradise had been entangled by the
serpent in his snaky coils, and had been
1 2 Cor. iii. 2.
8 See the Life of Paul in this volume.
forced in consequence to migrate earthwards,
although his deathless state was changed for
a mortal one, yet the sentence1 of man's
curse was put off for nine hundred years, or
even more, a period so long that it may be
called a second immortality. Afterwards
sin gradually grew more and more virulent,
till the ungodliness of the giants2 brought in
its train the shipwreck of the whole world.
Then when the world had been cleansed by
the baptism — if I may so call it — of the
deluge, human life was contracted to a
short span. Yet even this we have almost
altogether wasted, so continually do our
iniquities fight against the divine purposes.
For how few there are, either who go beyond
their hundredth year, or who, going beyond
it, do not regret that they have done so; ac-
cording to that which the Scripture wit-
nesses in the book of Psalms: "the days of
our years are threescore years and ten; and
if by reason of strength they be fourscore
years, yet is their strength labor and
sorrow." 3
2. Why, say you, these opening reflections
so remote and so far fetched that one might
use against them the Horatian witticism:
Back to the eggs which Leda laid for Zeus,
The bard is fain to trace the war of Troy ? 4
Simply that I may describe in fitting terms
your great age and hoary head as white as
Christ's.5 For see, the hundredth circling
year is already passing over you, and yet,
always keeping the commandments of the
Lord, amid the circumstances of your present
life you think over the blessedness of that
which is to come. Your eyes are bright and
keen, your steps steady, your hearing good,
your teeth are white, your voice musical,
your flesh firm and full of sap; your ruddy
cheeks belie your white hairs, your strength
is not that of your age. Advancing years
have not, as we too often see them do, im-
paired the tenacity of your memory; the
coldness of your blood has not blunted an
intellect at once warm and wary.6 Your
face is not wrinkled nor your brow furrowed.
Lastly, no tremors palsy your hand or cause
it to travel in crooked pathways over the
wax on which you write. The Lord shows
us in you the bloom of the resurrection that
is to be ours; so that whereas in others who
die by inches whilst yet living, we recognize
the results of sin, in your case we ascribe it
1 Elogiuift. 2 Gen. vi. 4. a Ps. xc. 10.
4 Hor. A. P. 147. Zeus having visited Leda in the form of a
swan, she produced two eggs, from one of which came Castor
and Pollux, and from the other Helen, who was the cause of the
Trojan war. .
5 Rev. i. 14. 6 A play on words: callidus, " wary, is indis*
tinguishable in sound from calidus, " warm."
12
JEROME.
to righteousness that you still simulate
youth at an age to which it is foreign. And
although we see the like haleness of body in
many even of those who are sinners, in their
case it is a grant of the devil to lead them
into sin, whilst in yours it is a gift of God
to make you rejoice.
3. Tully in his brilliant speech on behalf
of Flaccus1 describes the learning of the
Greeks as" innate frivolity and accomplished
vanity."
Certainly their ablest literary men used to
receive money for pronouncing eulogies upon
their kings or princes. Following their ex-
ample, I set a price upon my praise. Nor
must you suppose my demand a small one.
You are asked to give me the pearl of the
Gospel,2 "the words of the Lord," "pure
words, even as the silver which from the
earth is tried, and purified seven times in
the fire," 3 I mean the commentaries of Fortu-
natian 4 and — for its account of the persecu-
tors— the History of Aurelius Victor,5 and
with these the Letters of Novatian;6 so that,
learning the poison set forth by this schis-
matic, we may the more gladly drink of the
antidote supplied by the holy martyr Cyp-
rian. In the mean time I have sent to you,
that is to say, to Paul the aged, a Paul that
is older still.7 I have taken great pains to
bring my language down to the level of the
simpler sort. But, somehow or other, though
you fill it with water, the jar retains the odor
which it acquired when first used.8 If my
little gift should please you, I have others
also in store which (if the Holy Spirit shall
breathe favorably), shall sail across the sea
to you with all kinds of eastern merchandise.
LETTER XL
TO THE VIRGINS OF ^MONA,
y^mona was a Roman colony not far from Striclon,
Jerome's birthplace. The virgins to whom the note is
addressed had omitted to answer his letters, and he now
writes to upbraid them for their remissness. The date
of the letter is 374 A.D.
This scanty sheet of paper shows in what
a wilderness I live, and because of it I
have to say much in few words. For, de-
sirous though I am to speak to you more
fully, this miserable scrap compels me to
1 The words quoted do not occur in the extant portion of
Cicero's speech. '2 Matt. xiii. 46. 3 Ps. xii. 7, P. B. V.
4 For some account of this writer see Jerome, De V. 111. c.
xcvii.
6 A Roman annalist some of whose works are still extant. He
was contemporary with but probably older than Jerome.
6 A puritan of the third century who seceded from the Roman
church because of the laxity of its discipline.
7 I.e. the life of Paul the Hermit, translated in this vol.
8 Hor. Ep. I. ii. 69 ; cf. T. Moore :
" Vou may break, you may shatter the vase if you will ;
The scent of Uie (Q5G5 will hang round it still."
leave much unsaid. Still ingenuity makes
up for lack of means, and by writing small I
can say a great deal. Observe, I beseech
you, how I love you, even in the midst of
my difficulties, since even the want of ma-
terials does not stop me from writing to you.
Pardon, I beseech you, an aggrieved man:
if I speak in tears and in anger it is because
I have been injured. For in return for my
regular letters you have not sent me a single
syllable. Light, I know, has no communion
with darkness,1 and God's handmaidens no
fellowship with a sinner, yet a harlot was
allowed to wash the Lord's feet with her
tears,2 and dogs are permitted to eat of their
masters' crumbs.3 It was the Saviour's mis-
sion to call sinners and not the righteous;
for, as He said Himself, " they that be
whole need not a physician.4 He wills the
repentance of a sinner rather than his
death,5 and carries home the poor stray
sheep on His own shoulders.6 So, too, when
the prodigal son returns, his father receives
him with joy.7 Nay more, the apostle says:
"Judge nothing before the time."8 For
"who art thou that judgest another man's
servant? To his own master he standeth
or falleth."9 And " let him that standeth
take heed lest he fall."10 "Bear ye one
another's burdens." "
Dear sisters, man's envy judges in one
way, Christ in another; and the whisper of
a corner is not the same as the sentence of
His tribunal. Many ways seem right to
men which are afterwards found to be
wrong.12 And a treasure is often stowed in
earthen vessels.13 Peter thrice denied his
Lord, yet his bitter tears restored him to
his place. "To whom much is forgiven,
the same loveth much."14 No word is said
of the flock as a whole, yet the angels joy
in heaven over the safety of one sick ewe.15
And if any one demurs to this reasoning, the
Lord Himself has said: "Friend, is thine
eye evil because I am good?" 10
LETTER XII.
TO ANTONY, MONK.
The subject of this letter is similar to that of the
preceding. Of Antony nothing is known except that
some MSS. describe him as "of /Emona." The date
of the letter is 374 A.D.
While the disciples were disputing con-
cerning precedence our Lord, the teacher of
1 2 Cor. vi. 14. • Luke vii. 37 sqq.
4 Matt. ix. 12, 13. 6 Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
7 Luke xv. 20. e 1 Cor. iv. 5.
10 1 Cor. x. 12. ll Gal. vi. 2.
13 2 Cor. iv. 7. l4 Luke vii. 47.
is Matt. x.\. 15.
3 Matt. xv. 27.
6 Luke xv. 5.
9 Rom. xiv. 4.
12 Cf. Prov. xiv. 12
15 Luke xv. 7, io.
LETTERS X.-XIV.
13
humility, took a little child and said: " Ex-
cept ye be converted and become as little
children ye cannot enter the kingdom of
heaven."1 And lest He should seem to
preach more than he practised, He fulfilled
His own precept in His life. For He
washed His disciples' feet,2 he received the
traitor with a kiss,3 He conversed with the
woman of Samaria,4 He spoke of the king-
dom of heaven with Mary at His feet,5 and
when He rose again from the dead He showed
Himself first to some poor women.6 Pride
is opposed to humility, and through it Satan
lost his eminence as an archangel. The
Jewish people perished in their pride, for
while they claimed the chief seats and salu-
tations in the market place,7 they were super-
seded by the Gentiles, who had before been
counted as "a drop of a bucket."8 Two
poor fishermen, Peter and James, were sent
to confute the sophists and the wise men of
the world. As the Scripture says: "God
resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the
humble."9 Think, brother, what a sin it
must be which has God for its opponent.
In the Gospel the Pharisee is rejected be-
cause of his pride, and the publican is ac-
cepted because of his humility.10
Now, unless I am mistaken, I have al-
ready sent you ten letters, affectionate and
earnest, whilst you have not deigned to
give me even a single line. The Lord
speaks to His servants, but you, my brother
servant, refuse to speak to me. Believe
me, if reserve did not check my pen, I could
show my annoyance in such invective that
you would have to reply — even though it
might be in anger. But since anger is
human, and a Christian must not act injuri-
ously, I fall back once more on entreaty,
and beg you to love one who loves you,
and to write to him as a servant should to
his fellow-servant. Farewell in the Lord.
LETTER XIII.
TO CASTORINA, HIS MATERNAL AUNT.
An interesting letter, as throwing some light on
Jerome's family relations. Castorina, his maternal
aunt, had, for some reason, become estranged from him,
and he now writes to her to effect a reconciliation.
Whether he succeeded in doing so, we do not know.
The date of the letter is 374 A.D.
The apostle and evangelist John rightly
says, in his first epistle, that " whosoever
1 Matt, xviii. 3. 2 Joh. xiii. 5.
3 Luke xxii. 47. 4 Joh. iv. 7.
6 Luke vii. 40 sqq.: the heroine of this story is identified by
Jerome with Mary Magdalene.
6 Matt, xxviii. 1, 9. 7 Matt, xxiii. 6, 7. 8 Isa. xl. 15.
9 1 Pet. v. 5. 10 Luke xviii. 9 sqq.
hateth his brother is a murderer."1 For,
since murder often springs from hate, the
hater, even though he has not yet slain his
victim, is at heart a murderer. Why, you
ask, do I begin in this style? Simply that
you and I may both lay aside past ill feel-
ing and cleanse our hearts to be a habitation
for God. " Be ye angry," David says, " and
sin not," or, as the apostle more fully ex-
presses it, " let not the sun go down upon
your wrath." 2 What then shall we do in the
day of judgmei.c, upon whose wrath the sun
has gone down not one day but many years ?
The Lord says in the Gospel : " If thou bring
thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest
that thy brother hath aught against thee;
leave there thy gift before the altar, and go
thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come and offer thy gift." 3 Woe to
me, wretch that I am; woe, I had almost
said, to you also. This long time past we
have either offered no gift at the altar
or have offered it whilst cherishing anger
" without a cause." How have we been able
in our daily prayers to say " Forgive us our
debts as we forgive our debtors,"4 whilst
our feelings have been at variance with our
words, and our petition inconsistent with
our conduct ? Therefore I renew the prayer
which I made a year ago in a previous let-
ter,5 that the Lord's legacy of peace6 may be
indeed ours, and that my desires and your
feelings may find favor in His sight. Soon
we shall stand before His judgment seat to
receive the reward of harmony restored or to
pay the penalty for harmony broken. In
case you shall prove unwilling — I hope that
it may not be so — to accept my advances, I
for my part shall be free. For this letter,
when it is read, will insure my acquittal.
LETTER XIV.
TO HELIODORUS, MONK.
Heliodorus, originally a soldier, but now a presbyter
of the Church, had accompanied Jerome to the East,
but, not feeling called to the solitary life of the desert,
had returned to Aquileia. Here he resumed his clerical
duties, and in course of time was raised to the episcopate
as bishop of Altinum.
The letter was written in the first bitterness of sepa-
ration and reproaches Heliodorus for having gone back
from the perfect way of the ascetic life. The descrip-
tion given of this is highly colored and seems to have
produced a great impression in the West. Fabiola was
so much enchanted by it that she learned the letter by
heart.7 The date is 373 or 374 A.D.
1. So conscious are you of the affection
which exists between us that you cannot but
1 1 Joh. iii. 15. 2 Ps. iv. 4, LXX.: Eph. iv. 26.
3 Matt. v. 23, 24. * Matt. vi. 12. 5 This is no longer extant.
6 John xiv. 27. 7 See Ep. lxxvii. 9.
H
JEROME.
recognize the love and passion with which I
strove to prolong our common sojourn in the
desert. This very letter — blotted, as you
see, with tears — gives evidence of the lamen-
tation and weeping with which I accom-
panied your departure. With the pretty
ways of a child you then softened your re-
fusal by soothing words, and I, being off my
guard, knew not what to do. Was I to hold
my peace? I could not conceal my eager-
ness by a show of indifference. Or was I to
entreat you yet more earnestly ? You would
have refused to listen, for your love was not
like mine. Despised affection has taken the
one course open to it. Unable to keep you
when present, it goes in search of you when
absent.- You asked me yourself, when you
were going away, to invite you to the desert
when I took up my quarters there, and I for
my part promised to do so. Accordingly I
invite you now; come, and come quickly.
Do not call to mind old ties; the desert is
for those who have left all. Nor let the
hardships of our former travels deter you.
You believe in Christ, believe also in His
words: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God
and all these things shall be added unto
you." ' Take neither scrip nor staff. He is
rich enough who is poor — with Christ.
- 2. But what is this, and why do I fool-
ishly importune you again? Away with en-
treaties, an end to coaxing words. Offended
love does well to be angry. You have
spurned my petition; perhaps you will lis-
ten to my remonstrance. What keeps you,
effeminate soldier, in your father's house?
Where are your ramparts and trenches?
When have you spent a winter in the field?
Lo, the trumpet sounds from heaven! Lo,
the Leader comes with clouds!2 He is
armed to subdue the world, and out of His
mouth proceeds a two-edged sword 3 to mow
down all that encounters it. But as for you,
what will you do? Pass straight from your
chamber to the battle-field, and from the
cool shade into the burning sun? Nay, a
body used to a tunic cannot endure a buck-
ler; ahead that has worn a cap refuses a
helmet; a hand made tender by disuse is
galled by a sword-hilt.4 Hear the procla-
mation of your King: " He that is not with
me is against me, and he that gathereth not
with me scattereth." 5 Remember the day
on which you enlisted, when, buried with
Christ in baptism, you swore fealty to Him,
declaring that for His sake you would spare
neither father nor mother. Lo, the enemy
» Matt. vi. 33. 2 Rev. i. 7. « Rev. i. 16.
4 A reminiscence of Tertullian. 6 Matt. xii. 30.
is striving to slay Christ in your breast.
Lo, the ranks of the foe sigh over that
bounty which you received when you entered
His service. Should your little nephew1
hang on your neck, pay no regard to him;
should your mother with ashes on her hair
and garments rent show you the breasts at
which she nursed you, heed her not; should
your father prostrate himself on the thresh-
old, trample him under foot and go your
way. With dry eyes fly to the standard of
the cross. In such cases cruelty is the only
true affection.
3. Hereafter there shall come — yes, there
shall come — a day when you will return a
victor to your true country, and will walk
through the heavenly Jerusalem crowned
with the crown of valor. Then will you
receive the citizenship thereof with Paul.2
Then will you seek the like privilege for
your parents. Then will you intercede for
me who have urged you forward on the path
of victory.
I am not ignorant of the fetters which you
may plead as hindrances. My breast is not
of iron nor my heart of stone. I was not
born of flint or suckled by a tigress.3 I have
passed through troubles like yours myself.
Now it is a widowed sister who throws her
caressing arms around you. Now it is the
slaves, your foster-brothers, who cry, " To
what master are you leaving us?" Now it
is a nurse bowed with age, and a body-ser-
vant loved only less than a father, who ex-
claim: " Only wait till we die and follow us
to our graves." Perhaps, too, an aged
mother, with sunken bosom and furrowed
brow, recalling the lullaby4 with which she
once soothed you, adds her entreaties to
theirs. The learned may call you, if they
please,
The sole support and pillar of your house.5
The love of God and the fear of hell will
easily break such bonds.
Scripture, you will argue, bids us obey our
parents.6 Yes, but whoso loves them more
than Christ loses his own soul.7 The enemy
takes sword in hand to slay me, and shall I
think of a mother's tears? Or shall I desert
the service of Christ for the sake of a father
to whom, if I am Christ's servant, I owe no
rites of burial/ albeit if I am Christ's true
servant I owe these to all ? Peter with his
cowardly advice was an offence to the Lord
on the eve of His passion;9 and to the breth-
1 Nepotian, afterwards famous as the recipient of Letter LII.,
and the subject of Letter LX.
2 Phi. iii. 20, R.V. 3 Virg. A. iv. 367. * Pers. iii. 18.
5 Virg. A. xii. 59. ° Eph. vi. 1. 7 Matt, x. 37.
8 Luke ix, 59, 60. 9 Matt, xvi, 23. .
LETTER XIV.
15
i'en who strove to restrain him from going
up to Jerusalem, Paul's one answer was:
" What mean ye to weep and to break my
heart? For I am ready not to be bound
only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the
name of the Lord Jesus."1 The battering-
ram of natural affection which so often
shatters faith must recoil powerless from the
wall of the Gospel. " My mother and my
brethren are these whosoever do the will of
my Father which is in heaven."2 If they
believe in Christ let them bid me God-speed,
for I go to fight in His name. And if they
do not believe, " let the dead bury their
dead."3
4. But all this, you argue, only touches
the case of martyrs. Ah ! my brother, you
are mistaken, you are mistaken, if you sup-
pose that there is ever a time when the
Christian does not suffer persecution. Then
are you most hardly beset when you know
not that you are beset at all. "Our adver-
sary as a roaring lion walketh about seeking
whom he may devour," 4 and do you think of
peace? "He sitteth in the lurking-places
of the villages: in the secret places doth he
murder the innocent; his eyes are privily set
against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly
as a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to
catch the poor;" 6 and do you slumber under
a shady tree, so as to fall an easy prey? On
one side self-indulgence presses me hard ; on
another covetousness strives to make an in-
road; my belly wishes to be a God to me, in
place of Christ,6 and lust would fain drive
away the Holy Spirit that dwells in me and
defile His temple.7 I am pursued, I say, by
an enemy
Whose name is Legion and his wiles untold ; 8
and, hapless wretch that I am, how shall I
hold myself a victor when I am being led
away a captive ?
5. My dear brother, weigh well the vari-
ous forms of transgression, and think not
that the sins which I have mentioned are
less flagrant than that of idolatry. Nay,
hear the apostle's view of the matter. " For
this ye know," he writes, "that no whore-
monger or unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is an idolater, hath any inherit-
ance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." °
In a general way all that is of the devil
savors of enmity to God, and what is of the
devil is idolatry, since all idols are subject
to him. Yet Paul elsewhere lays down the
1 Acts xxi. 13.
3 Matt. viii. 22.
6 Phi. iii. 19.
8 Virg. A. vii. 337.
2 Luke viii. 21 : Matt. xii. 50.
4 1 Pet. v. 8. 6 Ps. x. 8, 9.
7 1 Cor. iii. 17.
8 Eph. v. 5.
law in express and unmistakable terms, say-
ing: " Mortify your members, which are upon
the earth, laying aside fornication, unclean-
ness, evil concupiscence and covetousness,
which are ' idolatry, for which things' sake
the wrath of God cometh." 2
Idolatry is not confined to casting incense
upon an altar with finger and thumb, or to
pouring libations of wine out of a cup into a
bowl. Covetousness is idolatry, or else the
selling of the Lord for thirty pieces of silver
was a righteous act.3 Lust involves profan-
ation, or else men may defile with common
harlots4 those members of Christ which
should be "a living sacrifice acceptable to
God."5 Fraud is idolatry, or else they are
worthy of imitation who, in the Acts of the
Apostles, sold their inheritance, and because
they kept back part of the price, perished
by an instant doom.6 Consider well, my
brother; nothing is yours to keep. "Who-
soever he be of you," the Lord says, "that
forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be
my disciple."7 Why are you such a half-
hearted Christian?
6. See how Peter left his net;8 see how the
publican rose from the receipt of custom. J
In a moment he became an apostle. "The
Son of man hath not where to lay his head, "10
and do you plan wide porticos and spacious
halls? If you look to inherit the good
things of the world you can no longer be
a joint-heir with Christ.11 You are called
a monk, and has the name no meaning?
What brings you, a solitary, into the throng
of men ? The advice that I give is that of
no inexperienced mariner who has never lost
either ship or cargo, and has never known a
gale. Lately shipwrecked as I have been
myself, my warnings to other voyagers
spring from my own fears. On one side,
like Charybdis, self:indulgence sucks into
its vortex the soul's salvation. On the
other, like Scylla, lust, with a smile on her
girl's face, lures it on to wreck its chastity.
The coast is savage, and the devil with a
crew of pirates carries irons to fetter his
captives. Be not credulous, be not over-
confident. The sea may be as smooth
and smiling as a pond, its quiet surface may
be scarcely ruffled by a breath of air, yet
sometimes its waves are as high as moun-
tains. There is danger in its depths, the foe
is lurking there. Ease your sheets, spread
1 So Jerome, although the Vulg. has " is."
2 Col. iii. 5, 6. ■ Matt. xxvi. 15.
4 Publicarum libidinum victims ; words borrowed from Ter-
tullian, de C. F. II. 12. 8 Rom. xii. 1.
6 Acts v., Ananias and Sapphira. 7 Luke xiv. 33.
e Matt. iv. 18-20. ' Matt. ix. 9.
i« Matt. viii. 20. ,l Rom, viii. 17.
i6
JEROME.
your sails, fasten the cross as an ensign on
your prow. The calm that you speak of is
itself a tempest. "Why so?" you will per-
haps argue; "are not all my fellow-towns-
men Christians?" Your case, I reply, is
not that of others. Listen to the words of
the Lord: "If thou wilt be perfect go and
sell that thou hast, and give to the poor,
and come and follow me."1 You have
already promised to be perfect. For when
you forsook the army and made yourself an
eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake,2
you did so that you might follow the perfect
life. Now the perfect servant of Christ has
nothing beside Christ. Or if he have any-
thing beside Christ he is not perfect. And
if he be not perfect when he has promised
God to be so, his profession is a lie. But
"the mouth that lieth slayeth the soul."
To conclude, then, if you are perfect you
will not set your heart on your father's
goods; and if you are not perfect you have
deceived the Lord. The Gospel thunders
forth its divine warning: "Ye cannot serve
two masters,"4 and does any one dare to
make Christ a liar by serving at once both
God and Mammon ? Repeatedly does He
proclaim, " If any one will come after me let
him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me."5 If I load myself with gold
can I think that I am following Christ?
Surely not. " He that saith he abideth in
Him ought himself also so to walk even as
He walked."6
7. I know you will rejoin that you possess
nothing. Why, then, if you are so well pre-
pared for battle, do you not take the field?
Perhaps you think that you can wage war in
your own country, although the Lord could
do no signs in His?1 Why not? you ask.
Take the answer which comes to you with
his authority: "No prophet is accepted in
his own country."8 But, you will say, I do
not seek honor; the approval of my con-
science is enough for me. Neither did the
Lord seek it; for when the multitudes would
have made Him a king he fled from them.9
But where there is no honor there is con-
tempt; and where there is contempt there is
frequent rudeness; and where there is rude-
ness there is vexation; and where there is
vexation there is no rest; and where there
is no rest the mind is apt to be diverted
from its purpose. Again, where, through
restlessness, earnestness loses any of its force,
it is lessened by what it loses, and that
1 Matt. xix. 21.
4 Luke xvi. 13.
7 Matt. xiii. s8.
2 Matt. xix. 12.
5 Luke ix. 23.
* Luke iv. 24.
1 Wisd. i. 11.
1 Joh. ii. 6.
Joh. vi. 15.
which is lessened cannot be called perfect. /
The upshot of all which is that a monk can- v
not be perfect in his own country. Now, not
to aim at perfection is itself a sin.
8. Driven from this line of defence you will
appeal to the example of the clergy. These,
you will say, remain in their cities, and yet
they are surely above criticism. Far be it
from me to censure the successors of the
apostles, who with holy words consecrate
the body of Christ, and who make us Chris-
tians.' Having the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, they judge men to some extent before
the day of judgment, and guard the chastity
of the bride of Christ. But, as I have before
hinted, the case of monks is different from
that of the clergy. The clergy feed Christ's
sheep ; I as a monk am fed by them. They
live of the altar:2 I, if I bring no gift to it,
have the axe laid to my root as to that of a
barren tree.3 Nor can I plead poverty as an
excuse, for the Lord in the gospel has praised
an aged widow for casting into the treasury
the last two coins that she had.4 I may not
sit in the presence of a presbyter;5 he, if I
sin, may deliver me to Satan, "for the de-
struction of the flesh that the spirit may be
saved."1 Under the old law he who dis-
obeyed the priests was put outside the camp
and stoned by the people, or else he was
beheaded and expiated his contempt with
his blood.7 But now the disobedient person
is cut down with the spiritual sword, or he is
expelled from the church and torn to pieces
by ravening demons. Should the entreaties
of your brethren induce you to take orders,
I shall rejoice that you are lifted up, and
fear lest you may be cast down. You will
say: " If a man desire the office of a bishop,
he desireth a good work."8 I know that;
but you should add what follows: such an
one " must be blameless, the husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, chaste, of good be-
havior, given to hospitality, apt to teach,
not given to wine, no striker but patient."8
x\fter fully explaining the qualifications of a
bishop the apostle speaks of ministers of the
third degree with equal care. " Likewise
must the deacons be grave," he writes, "not
double-tongued, not given to much wine, not
greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery
of the faith in a pure conscience. And let
these also first be proved; then, let them
minister, being found blameless." l0 Woe to
the man who goes in to the supper without a
wedding garment. Nothing remains for
1 In the sacrament of baptism.
2 1 Cor. ix. 13, 14. 3 Matt. iii. 10. 4 Luke xxi. 1-4.
5 Cf. Letter CXLVI. § 2. 6 1 Cor. v. 5. ~ Deut. xvii. 5, 12.
6 1 Tim. iii, 1. * 1 Tim, iii. 2, 3. lu i Tim, iii. S-10.
LETTER XIV.
17
him but the stern question, " Friend, how
earnest thou in hither?" And when he is
speechless the order will be given, "Bind
him hand and foot, and take him away, and
cast him into outer darkness; there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth."1 Woe to
him who, when he has received a talent, has
bound it in a napkin; and, whilst others
make profits, only preserves what he has re-
ceived. His angry lord shall rebuke him in
a moment. "Thou wicked servant," he will
say, " wherefore gavest thou not my money
into the bank that at my coming I might
have required mine own with usury ?" 2 That
is to say, you should have laid before the
altar what you were not able to bear. For
whilst you, a slothful trader, keep a penny
in your hands, you occupy the place of an-
other who might double the money. Where-
fore, as he who ministers well purchases to
himself a good degree,3 so he who ap-
proaches the cup of the Lord unworthily
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord.4
9. Not all bishops are bishops indeed.
You consider Peter; mark Judas as well.
You notice Stephen; look also on Nicolas,
sentenced in the Apocalypse by the Lord's
own lips, 6 whose shameful imaginations gave
rise to the heresy of the Nicolaitans. " Let
a man examine himself and so let him
come."6 For it is not ecclesiastical rank
that makes a man a Christian. The centu-
rion Cornelius was still a heathen when he
was cleansed by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Daniel was but a child when he judged
the elders.7 Amos was stripping mulberry
bushes when, in a moment, he was made a
prophet.8 David was only a shepherd when
he was chosen to be king.9 And the least
of His disciples was the one whom Jesus
loved the most. My brother, sit down in
the lower room, that when one less honor-
able comes you may be bidden to go up
higher.10 Upon whom does the Lord rest
but upon him that is lowly and of a contrite
spirit, and that trembleth at His word?11
To whom God has committed much, of him
He will ask the more.12 " Mighty men shall
be mightily tormented."13 No man need
pride himself in the day of judgment on
merely physical chastity, for then shall men
give account for every idle word,14 and the
reviling of a brother shall be counted as the
sin of murder.13 Paul and Peter now reign
1 Matt. xxii. 11-13. 2 Luke xix. 23. 3 1 Tim. iii. 13.
4 1 Cor. xi. 27. 5 Rev. ii. 6. 6 1 Cor. xi. 28.
7 Susannah 45 sgg. e Amos vii. 14. 9 1 Sam. xvi. iT-13.
10 Luke xiv. 10. n Isa. lxvi. 2. ,2 Luke xii. 48.
13 Wisd. vi. 6. 14 Matt. xii. 36. >5 Matt, v, 21, 22,
with Christ, and it is not easy to take the
place of the one or to hold the office of the
other. There may come an angel to rend
the veil of your temple,1 and to remove your
candlestick out of its place.2 If you intend
to build the tower, first count the cost.3
Salt that has lost its savor is good for
nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden
under foot of swine.4 If a monk fall, a
priest shall intercede for him; but who shall
intercede for a fallen priest?
10. At last my discourse is clear of the
reefs; at last this frail bark has passed from
the breakers into deep water. I may now
spread my sails to the breeze; and, as I
leave the rocks of controversy astern, my
epilogue will be like the joyful shout of
mariners. O desert, bright with the flowers
of Christ! O solitude whence come the
stones of which, in the Apocalypse, the city
of the great king is built!5 O wilderness,
gladdened with God's especial presence!
What keeps you in the world, my brother,
you who are above the world ? e How long
shall gloomy roofs oppress you? How long
shall smoky cities immure you? Believe
me, I have more light than you. Sweet it
is to lay aside the weight of the body and to
soar into the pure bright ether. Do you
dread poverty? Christ calls the poor
blessed.7 Does toil frighten you? No ath-
lete is crowned but in the sweat of his brow.
Are you anxious as regards food? Faith
fears no famine. Do you dread the bare
ground for limbs wasted with fasting? The
Lord lies there beside you. Do you recoil
from an unwashed head and uncombed hair?
Christ is your true head.8 Does the bound-
less solitude of the desert terrify you? In
the spirit you may walk always in paradise.
Do but turn your thoughts thither and you
will be no more in the desert. Is your skin
rough and scaly because you no longer
bathe? He that is once washed in Christ
needeth not to wash again.9 To all your
objections the apostle gives this one brief
answer: "The sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the
glory" which shall come after them, "which
shall be revealed in us."10 You are too
greedy of enjoyment, my brother, if you
wish to rejoice with the world here, and
to reign with Christ hereafter.
11. It shall come, it shall come, that day
when this corruptible shall put on incorrup-
1 Matt, xxvii. 51. 2 Rev. ii. 5. 3 Luke xiv. 28.
4 Matt. v. 13. 5 Rev. xxi. 19, 20.
6 From Cyprian, Letter I. 14 (to Donatus). 7 Luke vi. 20.
B Fn.m Cyprian, Letter LXXVII. 2 (to Nemesianus).
9 Joh. xiii. 10. 10 Rom. viii. 18.
i:
JEROME.
tion, and this mortal shall put on immortal-
ity.1 Then shall that servant be blessed
whom the Lord shall find watching.2 Then
at the sound of the trumpet 'J the earth and
its peoples shall tremble, but you shall re-
joice. The world shall howl at the Lord
who comes to judge it, and the tribes of the
earth shall smite the breast. Once mighty
kings shall tremble in their nakedness.
Venus shall be exposed, and her son too.
Jupiter with his fiery bolts will be brought
to trial; and Plato, with his disciples, will
be but a fool. Aristotle's arguments shall be
of no avail. You may seem a poor man and
country bred, but then you shall exult and
laugh, and say: Behold my crucified Lord,
behold my judge. This is He who was once
an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and
crying in a manger.4 This is He whose
parents were a workingman and a working-
woman.5 This is He, who, carried into
Egypt in His mother's bosom, though He
was God, fled before the face of man. This
is He who was clothed in a scarlet robe and
crowned with thorns.6 This is He who was
called a sorcerer and a man with a devil and
a Samaritan.7 Jew, behold the hands which
you nailed to the cross. Roman, behold the
side which you pierced with the spear. See
both of you whether it was this body that
the disciples stole secretly and by night."
For this you profess to believe.
My brother, it is affection which has urged
me to speak thus; that you who now find the
Christian life so hard may have your reward
in that day.
LETTER XV.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
This letter, written in 376 or 377 A.D., illustrates Jer-
ome's attitude towards the see of Rome at this time held
by Damasus, afterwards his warm friend and admirer.
Referring to Rome as the scene of his own baptism
and as a church where the true faith has remained un-
impaired (§ 1), and laying down the strict doctrine of
salvation only within the pale of the church (^ 2),
Jerome asks "the successor of the fisherman" two
questions, viz.: (1) who is the true bishop of the three
claimants of the see of Antioch, and (2) which is the
correct terminology, to speak of three "hypostases" in
the Godhead, or of one? On the latter question he
expresses fully his own opinion.
1. Since the East, shattered as it is by
the long-standing feuds, subsisting between
its peoples, is bit by bit tearing into shreds
the seamless vest of the Lord, " woven from
1 1 Cor. xv. 53.
4 Luke ii. 7.
« Matt, xxvii. 28, 29.
2 Matt. xxiv. 46. 3 1 Thess. iv. 16.
5 From Tertullian, de Spect. xxx.
7 Joh. viii. 48. 8 Matt, xxvii. 64.
the top throughout," ' since the foxes are de-
stroying the vineyard of Christ,2 and since
among the broken cisterns that hold no
water it is hard to discover "the sealed
fountain" and " the garden inclosed,"0 1 think
it my duty to consult the chair of Peter, and
to turn to a church whose faith has been
praised by Paul.4 I appeal for spiritual
food to the church whence I have received
the garb of Christ.5 The wide space of sea
and land that lies between us cannot deter
me from searching for " the pearl of great
price."6 "Wheresoever the body is, there
will the eagles be gathered together."7
Evil children have squandered their patri-
mony; you alone keep your heritage intact.
The fruitful soil of Rome, when it receives
the pure seed of the Lord, bears fruit an
hundredfold; but here the seed corn is
choked in the furrows and nothing grows
but darnel or oats.8 In the West the Sun of
righteousness ,J is even now rising; in the
East, Lucifer, who fell from heaven,10 has
once more set his throne above the stars.11
"Ye are the light of the world,"12 "ye are
the salt of the earth,"13 ye are "vessels of
gold and of silver." Here are vessels of
wood or of earth,14 which wait for the rod
of iron,15 and eternal fire.
2. Yet, though your greatness terrifies me,
your kindness attracts me. From the priest
I demand the safe-keeping of the victim,
from the shepherd the protection due to the
sheep. Away with all that is overweening;
let the state of Roman majesty withdraw.
My words are spoken to the successor of the
fisherman, to the disciple of the cross. As
I follow no leader save Christ, so I communi-
cate with none but your blessedness, that is
with the chair of Peter. For this, I know,
is the rock on which the church is built!16
This is the house where alone the paschal
lamb can be rightly eaten.17 This is the ark
of Noah, and he who is not found in it shalk
perish when the flood prevails.18 But since
by reason of my sins I have betaken myself
to this desert which lies between Syria and
the uncivilized waste, I cannot, owing to the
great distance between us, always ask of your
sanctity the holy thing of the Lord.19 Con-
1 Joh. xix. 23. 2 Cant. ii. 15. 3 Cant. iv. 12.
4 Rom. i. 8: I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all
that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
6 I.e. holy baptism ; cf. Gal. iii. 27. 6 Matt. xiii. 46.
7 Matt. xxiv. 28. 8 Matt. xiii. 22, 23. 9 Mai. iv. 2.
i° Luke x. 18. ll Isa. xiv. 12. 12 Matt. v. 14.
13 Matt. v. 13. 14 2 Tim. ii. 20. 15 Rev. ii. 27.
18 Matt. xvi. 18. 17 Ex. xii. 22. 18 Gen. vii. 23.
19 I.e. the bread of the Eucharist, at this time sent by one
bishop to another in token of communion; or possibly the allusion
is different, and what Jerome means to say is: " You are the
oracle of God, but owing to my present situation I cannot consult
you."
LETTERS XIV.-XV.
19
sequently I here follow the Egyptian confes-
sors 1 who share your faith, and anchor my
frail craft under the shadow of their great
argosies. I know nothing of Vitalis; I re-
ject Meletius; I have nothing to do with
Paulinus.2 He that gathers not with you
scatters;3 he that is not of Christ is of
Antichrist.
3. Just now, I am sorry to say, those
Arians, the Campenses,4 are trying to extort
from me, a Roman Christian, their unheard-
of formula of three hypostases.5 And this,
too, after the definition of Nicaea6 and the
decree of Alexandria,7 in which the West
has joined. Where, I should like to know,
are the apostles of these doctrines? Where
is their Paul, their new doctor of the Gen-
tiles? I ask them what three hypostases are
supposed to mean. They reply three per-
sons subsisting. I rejoin that this is my
belief. They are not satisfied with the mean-
ing, they demand the term. Surely some
secret venom lurks in the words. " If any
man refuse," I cry, "to acknowledge three
hypostases in the sense of three things hy-
postatized, that is three persons subsisting,
let him be anathema." Yet, because I do
not learn their words, I am counted a heretic.
" But, if any one, understanding by hypostasis
essence,8 deny that in the three persons there
is one hypostasis, he has no part in Christ."
Because this is my confession I, like you, am
branded with the stigma of Sabellianism.9
4. If you think fit enact a decree; and
then I shall not hesitate to speak of three
hypostases. Order a new creed to supersede
the Nicene; and then, whether we are Arians
or orthodox, one confession will do for us
all. In the whole range of secular learning
hypostasis never means anything but essence.
And can any one, I ask, be so profane as to
1 Certain bishops banished from their sees by Valens. See Let-
ter III. § 2.
2 The three rival claimants of the see of Antioch. See note on
Letter XVI. § 2. 3 Matt. xii. 30.
4 I.e. the field party. The Meletians were so called because,
denied access to the churches of the city, they had to worship in
the open air outside the walls.
5 viroo-Tao-is =substantia. It is the word used in Heb. i. 3,
"The express image of his person [R. V. substance]." Except at
Alexandria it was usual to speak of one hypostasis as of one
onsia in the Divine Nature. But at Alexandria from Origen
downwards three hypostases had been ascribed to the Deity. Two
explanations are given of the latter formula : (1) That at Alexan-
dria vrrooTatn.? was taken in the sense of Trpoaoinov, so that
by "three hypostases" was meant only "three persons."
(2) That " three hypostases" was an inexact expression standing
for "three hypostatic persons" or "a threefold hypostasis."
This latter seems to be the true account of the matter. See an
interesting note in Newman, Arians of the Fourth Century, Ap-
pendix IV.
6 In the Nicene Creed the Son is declared to be " of one sub-
stance [ovcria] with the Father."
7 This decree allowed the formula of " three hypostases " to be
susceptible of an orthodox interpretation. It did not, however,
encourage its use. 8 ouVia.
s Cauterio unionis inurimur. Sabellius recognized three " as-
pects " in the Godhead but denied "three persons," at least in
the Catholic sense.
speak of three essences or substances in the
Godhead ? There is one nature of God and
one only; and this, and this alone, truly is.
For absolute being is derived from no other
source but is all its own. All things besides,
that is all things created, although they ap-
pear to be, are not. For there was a time
when they were not, and that which once
was not may again cease to be. God alone
who is eternal, that is to say, who has no
beginning, really deserves to be called an
essence. Therefore also He says to Moses
from the bush, " I am that I am," and Moses
says of Him, "I am hath sent me."1 As
the angels, the sky, the earth, the seas, all
existed at the time, it must have been as the
absolute being that God claimed for himself
that name of essence, which apparently was
common to all. But because His nature
alone is perfect, and because in the three
persons there subsists but one Godhead,
which truly is and is one nature; whosoever
in the name of religion declares that there
are in the Godhead three elements, three
hypostases, that is, or essences, is striving
really to predicate three natures of God.
And if this is true, why are we severed by
walls from Arius, when in dishonesty we are
one with him? Let Ursicinus be made the
colleague of your blessedness; let Auxentius
be associated with Ambrose.2 But may the
faith of Rome never come to such a pass!
May the devout hearts of your people never
be infected with such unholy doctrines!
Let us be satisfied to speak of one substance
and of three subsisting persons — perfect,
equal, coeternal. Let us keep to one hypo-
stasis, if such be your pleasure, and say
nothing of three. It is a bad sign when
those who mean the same thing use different
words. Let us be satisfied with the form of
creed which we have hitherto used. Or, if
you think it right that I should speak of
three hypostases, explaining what I mean by
them, I am ready to submit. But, believe
me, there is poison hidden under their
honey ; the angel of Satan has transformed
himself into an angel of light.3 They give
a plausible explanation of the term hyposta-
sis; yet when I profess to hold it in the
same sense they count me a heretic. Why
are they so tenacious of a word ? Why do
they shelter themselves under ambiguous
language? If their belief corresponds to
their explanation of it, I do not condemn
them for keeping it. On the other hand, if
1 Ex. iii. 14.
2 Ursicinus, at this time anti-pope; Auxentius, Arian bishop of
Milan. 3 2 Cor. xi. 14.
20
JEROME.
my belief corresponds to their expressed
opinions, they should allow me to set forth
their meaning in my own words.
5. I implore your blessedness, therefore,
by the crucified Saviour of the world, and by
the consubstantial trinity, to authorize me
by letter either to use or to refuse this form-
ula of three hypostases. And lest the ob-
scurity of my present abode may baffle the
bearers of your letter, I pray you to address
it to Evagrius, the presbyter, with whom
you are well acquainted. I beg you also to
signify with whom I am to communicate at
Antioch. Not, I hope, with the Campenses;1
for they — with their allies the heretics of
Tarsus 2 — only desire communion with you to
preach with greater authority their tradi-
tional doctrine of three hypostases,
LETTER XVI.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
This letter, written a few months after the preceding,
is another appeal to Damasus to solve the writer's
doubts. Jerome once more refers to his baptism at
Rome, and declares that his one answer to the factions
at Antioch is, " He who clings to the chair of Peter is
accepted by me." Written from the desert in the
year 377 or 378.
1. By her importunity the widow in the
gospel at last gained a hearing,3 and by the
same means one friend induced another to
give him bread at midnight, when his door
was shut and his servants were in bed.4
The publican's prayers overcame God,6
although God is invincible. Nineveh was
saved by its tears from the impending ruin
caused by its sin.6 To what end, you ask,
these far-fetched references ? To this end,
I make answer; that you in your greatness
should look upon me in my littleness; that
you, the rich shepherd, should not despise
me, the ailing sheep. Christ Himself brought
the robber from the cross to paradise,7 and,
to show that repentance is never too late,
He turned a murderer's death into a martyr-
dom. Gladly does Christ embrace the prod-
igal son when he returns to Him ;8 and, leav-
ing the ninety and nine, the good shepherd
carries home on His shoulders the one poor
sheep that is left.9 From a persecutor Paul
becomes a preacher. His bodily eyes are
blinded to clear the eyes of his soul, 10 and he
who once haled Christ's servants in chains
1 I.e. the followers of the orthodox Bishop Meletius, who, as
they had no church in Antioch, were compelled to meet for wor-
ship outside the city.
2 These appear to have been semi-Arians or Macedonians. Sil-
vanus of Tarsus was their recognized leader.
3 Matt. xv. 28. 4 Luke xi. 7, 8. 5 Luke xviii. 10-14.
6 Ton. iii. 5, 10. 7 Luke xxiii. 43. 8 Luke xv. 20.
u Lu'
ake xv. 5.
lu Acts ix. 8.
before the council of the Jews,1 lives after-
wards to glory in the bonds of Christ.2
2. As I have already written to you,3 I,
who have received Christ's garb in Rome,
am now detained in the waste that borders
Syria. No sentence of banishment, how-
ever, has been passed upon me; the rjunish-
ment which I am undergoing is self-inflicted.
But, as the heathen poet says:
They change not mind but shy who cross the sea.4
The untiring foe follows me closely, and
the assaults that I suffer in the desert are
severer than ever. For the Arian frenzy
raves, and the powers of the world support
it. The church is rent into three factions,
and each of these is eager to seize me for its
own. The influence of the monks is of long
standing, and it is directed against me. I
meantime keep crying: "He who clings to
the chair of Peter is accepted by me." Me-
letius, Vitalis, and Paulinus°all profess to
cleave to you, and I could believe the asser-
tion if it were made by one of them only.
As it is, either two of them or else all three
are guilty of falsehood. Therefore I im-
plore your blessedness, by our Lord's cross
and passion, those necessary glories of our
faith, as you hold an apostolic office, to
give an apostolic decision. Only tell me by
letter with whom I am to communicate in
Syria, and I will pray for you that you may
sit in judgment enthroned with the twelve;0
that when you grow old, like Peter, you may
be girded not by yourself but by another,7
and that, like Paul, you may be made a citi-
zen of the heavenly kingdom.8 Do not de-
spise a soul for which Christ died.
LETTER XVII.
TO THE PRESBYTER MARCUS.
In this letter, addressed to one who seems to have
had some pre-eminence among the monks of the Chal-
cidian desert, Jerome complains of the hard treatment
meted out to him because of his refusal to take any part
in the great theological dispute then raging in Syria.
He protests his own orthodoxy, and begs permission to
remain where he is until the return of spring, when he
will retire from "the inhospitable desert." Written in
a.d. 378 or 379.
1. I had made up my mind to use the
words of the psalmist: "While the wicked
1 Acts viii. 3. 2 2 Cor. xii. 10.
3 See Letter XV. 4 Hor. Epist. i. n, 27.
6 The three rival claimants of the see of Antioch. Paulinus
and Meletius were both orthodox, but Meletius derived his orders
from the Arians and was consequently not recognized in the
West. In the East, however, he was so highly esteemed that
some years after this he was chosen to preside over the Council of
Constantinople (a.d. 391). Vitalis, the remaining claimant, was
a follower of Apollinaris, but much respected by the orthodox on
account of his high character.
« Matt. xix. 28. * Joh, xxi, 18. e Phi. iii. 20, R.V.
LETTERS XV.-XVII.
21
was** before me I was dumb with silence; I
was humbled, and I held my peace even
from good:" ' and " I, as a deaf man, heard
not ; and I was as a dumb man that openeth
not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that
heareth not."2 But charity overcomes all
things,3 and my regard for you defeats my
determination. I am, indeed, less careful
to retaliate upon my assailants than to
comply with your request. For among
Christians, as one has said,4 not he who en-
dures an outrage is unhappy, but he who com-
mits it.
2. And first, before I speak to you of my
belief (which you know full well), I am
forced to cry out against the inhumanity of
this country. A hackneyed quotation best
expresses my meaning:
What savages are these who will not grant
A rest to strangers, even on their sands !
They threaten war and drive us from their coasts.5
I take this from a Gentile poet that one who
disregards the peace of Christ may at least
learn its meaning from a heathen. I am
called a heretic, although I preach the con-
substantial trinity. I am accused of the
Sabellian impiety, although I proclaim with
unwearied voice that in the Godhead there
are three distinct,6 real, whole, and perfect
persons. The Arians do right to accuse me,
but the orthodox forfeit their orthodoxy
when they assail a faith like mine. They
may, if they like, condemn me as a heretic;
but if they do they must also condemn
Egypt and the West, Damasus and Peter.7
Why do they fasten the guilt on one and
leave his companions uncensured? If there
is but little water in the stream, it is the
fault, not of the channel, but of the source.
I blush to say it, but from the caves which
serve us for cells we monks of the desert
condemn the world. Rolling in sack-cloth
and ashes,8 we pass sentence on bishops.
What use is the robe of a penitent if it cov-
ers the pride of a king? Chains, squalor,
and long hair are by right tokens of sorrow,
and not ensigns of royalty. I merely ask
leave to remain silent. Why do they tor-
ment a man who does not deserve their ill-
will? I am a heretic, you say. What is it
to you if I am? Stay quiet, and all is said.
You are afraid, I suppose, that, with my
1 Ps. xxxix. i, 2, Vulg. 2 Ps. xxxviii. 13, 14.
3 Cf. 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
4 Cyprian, Letter LV. Cf. Cic. T. Q. v. accipere quam facere
praestat injuriam.
6 Virg. A. i. 539-541. * Subsistentes.
7 The contemporary bishops of Rome and Alexandria.
8 Tert. Apol. 40, s. f.
VOL. VL <
fluent knowledge of Syriac and Greek, I
shall make a tour of the churches, lead the
people into error, and form a schism ! I have
robbed no man of anything; neither have I
taken what I have not earned. With my
own hand ' daily and in the sweat of my brow 2
I labor for my food, knowing that it is writ-
ten by the apostle: "If any will not work,
neither shall he eat."3
3. Reverend and holy father, Jesus is my
witness with what groans and tears I have
written all this. " I have kept silence, saith
the Lord, but shall I always keep silence?
Surely not. " 4 I cannot have so much as a cor-
ner of the desert. Every day I am asked
for my confession of faith, as though when I
was regenerated in baptism I had made none.
I accept their formulas, but they are still
dissatisfied. I sign my name to them, but
they still refuse to believe me. One thing
only will content them, that I should leave
the country. I am on the point of depar-
ture. They have already torn away from
me my dear brothers, who are a part of my
very life. They are, as you see, anxious to
depart — nay, they are actually departing; it
is preferable, they say, to live among wild
beasts rather than with Christians such as
these. I myself, too, would be at this
moment a fugitive were I not withheld by
physical infirmity and by the severity of the
winter. I ask to be allowed the shelter of
the desert for a few months till spring re-
turns; or if this seems too long a delay, I
am ready to depart now. " The earth is the
Lord's and the fulness thereof. " 5 Let them
climb up to heaven alone;" for them alone
Christ died; they possess all things and
glory in all. Be it so. "But God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me and I unto the world." 7
4. As regards the questions which you
have thought fit to put to me concerning the
faith, I have given to the reverend Cyril 8 a
written confession which sufficiently answers
them. He who does not so believe has no
part in Christ. My faith is attested both
by your ears and by those of your blessed
brother, Zenobius, to whom, as well as to
yourself, we all of us here send our best
greeting.
1 1 Cor. iv. 12. 2 Gen. iii. 19.
3 2 Thess. iii. 10. 4 Isa. xlii. 14, LXX.
5 Ps. xxiv. 1.
6 Was Jerome thinking of Constantino's rebuke to the Novatian
bishop at Nicsea, " Plant a ladder for thyself, Acesius, and
mount alone to heaven " ?
7 Gal. vi. 14.
B Who this was is unknown. The extant document purporting
to contain this confession is not genuine.
22
JEROME.
LETTER XVIII.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
This (written from Constantinople in A.D. 381) is the
earliest of Jerome's expository letters. In it he ex-
plains at length the vision recorded in the sixth chapter
of Isaiah, and enlarges upon its mystical meaning.
"Some of my predecessors," he writes, "make 'the
Lord sitting upon a throne' God the Father, and sup-
pose the seraphim to represent the Son and the Holy
Spirit. I do not agree with them, for John expressly
tells us 'that it was Christ and not the Father whom the
prophet saw." And again, " The word seraphim means
either 'glow' or 'beginning of speech,' and the two
seraphim thus stand for the Old and New Testaments.2
' Did not our heart burn within us,' said the disciples,
'while he opened to us the Scriptures?'3 Moreover,
the Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and this un-
questionably was man's original language." Jerome
then speaks of the unity of the sacred books. " What-
ever," he asserts, " we read in the Old Testament we
find also in the Gospel ; and what we read in the Gospel
is deduced from the Old Testament.4 There is no
discord between them, no disagreement. In both Testa-
ments the Trinity is preached."
The letter is noticeable for the evidence it affords of
the thoroughness of Jerome's studies. Not only does
he cite the several Greek versions of Isaiah in support
of his argument, but he also reverts to the Hebrew
original. So far as the West was concerned he may be
said to have discovered this anew. Even educated men
like Augustine had ceased to look beyond the LXX.,
and were more or less aghast at the boldness with which
Jerome rejected its time-honored but inaccurate
renderings,"
The letter also shows that independence of judgment
which always marked Jerome's work. At the time
when he wrote it he was much under the sway of Origen.
But great as was his admiration for the master, he was
not afraid to discard his exegesis when, as in the case
of the seraphim, he believed it to be erroneous.
LETTER XIX.
FROM POPE DAMASUS.
A letter from Damasus to Jerome, in which he asks
for an explanation of the word " Hosanna" (A.D. 383).
LETTER XX.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing. Exposing the error
of Hilary of Poitiers, who supposed the expression to
signify " redemption of the house of David," he goes
on to show that in the gospels it is a quotation from
Ps. cxviii. 25 and that its true meaning is " save
now " (so A. V.). " Let us," he writes, " leave the
streamlets of conjecture and return to the fountain-head.
It is from the Hebrew writings that the truth is to be
drawn." Written at Rome A.D. 383.
LETTER XXL
TO DAMASUS.
In this letter Jerome, at the request of Damasus,
gives a minutely detailed explanation of the parable
of the prodigal son.
1 John xii. 41.
9 Jerome greatly prides himself on this explanation, and fre-
quently reverts to it.
3 Luke xxiv. 32.
4 Cf. Augustine's dictum: "The New Testament is latent in
the Old; the Old Testament is patent in the New."
6 See Augustine's letters to Jerome, passim.
LETTER XXII.
TO EUSTOCHIUM.
Perhaps the most famous of all the letters. In it
Jerome lays down at great length (1) the motives which
ought to actuate those who devote themselves to a life
of virginity, and (2) the rules by which they ought to
regulate their daily conduct. The letter contains a
vivid picture of Roman society as it then was — ihe
luxury, profligacy, and hypocrisy prevalent among both
men and women, besides some graphic autobiographical
details (§§ 7, 30), and concludes with a full account of
the three kinds of monasticism then practised in Egypt
(§§ 34_30)- Thirty years later Jerome wrote a similar
letter to Demetrias (CXXX.), with which this ought to
be compared. Written at Rome 384 a.d.
1. "Hear, O daughter, and consider, and
incline thine ear; forget also thine own peo-
ple and thy father's house, and the king
shall desire thy beauty."1 In this forty-
fourth 2 psalm God speaks to the human soul
that, following the example of Abraham,9 it
should go out from its own land and from its
kindred, and should leave the Chaldeans,
that is the demons, and should dwell in the
country of the living, for which elsewhere
the prophet sighs: "I think to see the good
things of the Lord in the land of the living. " *
But it is not enough for you to go out from
your own land unless you forget your people
and your father's house; unless you scorn
the flesh and cling to the bridegroom in a
close embrace. " Look not behind thee," he
says, "neither stay thou in all the plain;
escape to the mountain lest thou be con-
sumed."5 He who has grasped the plough
must not look behind him e or return home
from the field, or having Christ's garment,
descend from the roof to fetch other rai-
ment.7 Truly a marvellous thing, a father
charges his daughter. not to remember her
father. "Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father it is your will to
do." 8 So it was said to the Jews. And in
another place, " He that committeth sin is
of the devil." D Born, in the first instance, of
such parentage we are naturally black, and
even when we have repented, so long as we
have not scaled the heights of virtue, we
may still say: "I am black but comely, O
ye daughters of Jerusalem." 10 But you will
say to me, " I have left the home of my
childhood; I have forgotten my father, I am
born anew in Christ. What reward do I re-
ceive for this?" The context shows — "The
king shall desire thy beauty. " This, then,
is the great mystery. " For this cause shall
1 Ps. xlv. 10, n. 2 According to the Vulgate.
3 Gen. xi. 31 ; xii. 1. 4 Ps. xxvii. 13. 6 Gen. xix. 17.
0 Luke ix. 62. ' Matt. xxiv. 17, 18. 8 Joh. viii. 44, R. V •
9 1 Joh. iii. 8. 10 Cant. i. 5.
LETTERS XVIII.-XXII.
23
a man leave his father and his mother and
shall be joined unto his wife, and they two
shall be" not as is there said, "of one
flesh,"1 but "of one spirit." Your bride-
groom is not haughty or disdainful ; He has
"married an Ethiopian woman."2 When
once you desire the wisdom of the true Solo-
mon and come to Him, He will avow all His
knowledge to you; He will lead you into
His chamber with His royal hand;3 He will
miraculously change your complexion so
that it shall be said of you, "Who is this
that goeth up and hath been made white ? " 4
2. I write to you thus, Lady Eustochium
(I am bound to call my Lord's bride " lady") ,
to show you by my opening words that my
object is not to praise the virginity which
you follow, and of which you have proved
the value, or yet to recount the drawbacks
of marriage, such as pregnancy, the crying
of infants, the torture caused by a rival, the
cares of household management, and all
those fancied blessings which death at last
cuts short. Not that married women are as
such outside the pale; they have their own
place, the marriage that is honorable and
the bed undefiled. 6 My purpose is to show
you that you are fleeing from Sodom and
should take warning by Lot's wife.0 There
is no flattery, I can tell you, in these pages.
A flatterer's words are fair, but for all that
he is an enemy. You need expect no rhetor-
ical flourishes setting you among the angels,
and while they extol virginity as blessed,
putting the world at your feet.
3. I would have you draw from your monas-
tic vow not pride but fear. * You walk laden
with gold; you must keep out of the robber's
way. To us men this life is a race-course:
we contend here, we are crowned elsewhere.
No man can lay aside fear while serpents
and scorpions beset his path. The Lord
says: "My sword hath drunk its fill in
heaven," 8 and do you expect to find peace
on the earth ? No, the earth yields only
thorns and thistles, and its dust is food for
the serpent." "For our wrestling is not
against flesh and blood, but against the prin-
cipalities, against the powers, against the
world-rulers of this darkness, against the
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places."10 We are hemmed in by hosts of
foes, our enemies are upon every side. The
weak flesh will soon be ashes: one against
many, it fights against tremendous odds.
Not till it has been dissolved, not till the
1 Eph. v. 31, 32.
* Cant. viii. 5, LXX.
7 Rom. xi. 20.
9 Gen. iii. 14, 18.
a Nu. xii. 1. 3 Cant. i. 4.
6 Heb. xiii. 4. 6 Gen. xix. 26.
6 Isa. xxxiv. 5, R.V.
>o Eph. vi. 12, R.V.
Prince of this world has come and found no
sin therein,1 not till then may you safely lis-
ten to the prophet's words: "Thou shalt not
be afraid for the terror by night nor for the
arrow that flieth by day; nor for the trouble
which haunteth thee in darkness; nor for
the demon and his attacks at noonday. A
thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thou-
sand at thy right hand ; but it shall not come
nigh thee."2 When the hosts of the enemy
distress you, when your frame is fevered and
your passions roused, when you say in your
heart, "What shall I do?" Elisha's words
shall give you your answer, " Fear not, for
they that be with us are more than they that
be with them. " 3 He shall pray, " Lord, open
the eyes of thine handmaid that she may
see." And then when your eyes have been
opened you shall see a fiery chariot like
Elijah's waiting to carry you to heaven,4
and shall joyfully sing: " Our soul is escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the
snare is broken and we are escaped." 6
4. So long as we are held down by this
frail body, so long as we have our treasure
in earthen vessels;6 so long as the flesh lust-
eth against the spirit and the spirit against
the flesh,7 there can be no sure victory.
"Our adversary the devil goeth about as a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."
"Thou makest darkness," David says, "and
it is night: wherein all the beasts of the
forest do creep forth. The young lions roar
after their prey and seek their meat from
God."9 The devil looks not for unbeliev-
ers, for those who are without, whose flesh
the Assyrian king roasted in the furnace.10
It is the church of Christ that he " makes
haste to spoil." " According to Habakkuk,
"His food is of the choicest."12 A Job is
the victim of his machinations, and after
devouring Judas he seeks power to sift the
[other] apostles.13 The Saviour came not to
send peace upon the earth but a sword.14
Lucifer fell, Lucifer who used to rise at
dawn;15 and he who was bred up in a para-
dise of delight had the well-earned sentence
passed upon him, " Though thou exalt thy-
self as the eagle, and though thou set thy
nest among the stars, thence will I bring
thee down, saith the Lord. " 10 For he had
said in his heart, "I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God," and " I will be like
the Most High."17 Wherefore God says
1 Joh xiv. 30. The variant is difficult to explain and may be
only a slip. 2 Ps. xci. 5-7, Vulg. 3 2 K. vi. 16.
* 2 K. ii. 11; vi. 17. 5 Ps. cxxiv. 7. • 2 Cor. IV. 7.
7 Gal. v. 17. 8 1 Pet. v. 8. 9 Ps. civ. 20. 21. 10 Jer. xxix. 22.
11 An allusion to "Maher-shalal-hash-baz, ' Isa. viii. 1.
>a Hab. i. 16, LXX. >3 Luke xxii. 31. I4 Matt. x. 34.
»s Isa xiv. 12. J0 Obad. 4. 17 Isa. xiv. 13, 14,
C 2
24
JEROME.
every day to the angels, as they descend the
ladder that Jacob saw in his dream,1 " I have
said ye are Gods and all of you are children
of the Most High. But ye shall die like
men and fall like one of the princes. " 2 The
devil fell first, and since " God standeth in
the congregation of the Gods and judgeth
among the Gods,"3 the apostle writes to
those who are ceasing to be Gods — " Whereas
there is among you envying and strife, are
ye not carnal and walk as men ? " 4
5. If, then, the apostle, who was a chosen
vessel6 separated unto the gospel of Christ,6
by reason of the pricks of the flesh and the
allurements of vice keeps under his body and
brings it into subjection, lest when he has
preached to others he may himself be a cast-
away;7 and yet, for all that, sees another law
in his members warring against the law of
his mind, and bringing him into captivity to
the law of sin;8 if after nakedness, fasting,
hunger, imprisonment, scourging and other
torments, he turns back to himself and cries:
"Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall de-
liver me from the body of this death ? " 9 do
you fancy that you ought to lay aside appre-
hension ? See to it that God say not some
day of you: "The virgin of Israel is fallen
and there is none to raise her up." 10 I will
say it boldly, though God can do all things
He cannot raise up a virgin when once she
has fallen. He may indeed relieve one who
is defiled from the penalty of her sin, but He
will not give her a crown. Let us fear lest
in us also the prophecy be fulfilled, " Good
virgins shall faint. " " Notice that it is good
virgins who are spoken of, for there are bad
ones as well. "Whosoever looketh on a
woman," the Lord says, "to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart."12 So that virginity maybe
lost even by a thought. Such are evil vir-
gins, virgins in the flesh, not in the spirit;
foolish virgins, who, having no oil, are shut
out by the Bridegroom.13
6. But if even real virgins, when they have
other failings, are not saved by their physical
virginity, what shall become of those who
have prostituted the members of Christ, and
have changed the temple of the Holy Ghost
into a brothel ? Straightway shall they hear
the words: " Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the
ground; there is no throne, O daughter of
the Chaldreans: for thou shalt no more be
called tender and delicate. Take the mill-
1 Gen. xxviii. 12. 2 Ps. lxxxii. 6, 7. 3 Ps. lxxxii. 1.
4 1 Cor. iii. 3. 6 Acts ix. 15. » Gal. i. 15. 7 1 Cor. ix. 27.
8 Rom. vii. 23. 8 Rom. vii. 24. 10 Am. v. 2.
U Am. viii. 13. 12 Matt. v. 28. >3 Matt. xxv. 3, 10.
stone and grind meal; uncover thy locks,
make bare the legs, pass over the rivers; thy
nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame
shall be seen." 1 And shall she come to this
after the bridal-chamber of God the Son,
after the kisses of Him who is to her both
kinsman and spouse?2 Yes, she of whom
the prophetic utterance once sang, " Upon
thy right hand did stand the queen in a vest-
ure of gold wrought about with divers col-
ours,"3 shall be made naked, and her skirts
shall be discovered upon her face.4 She
shall sit by the waters of loneliness, her
pitcher laid aside; and shall open her feet
to every one that passeth by, and shall be
polluted to the crown of her head.5 Better
had it been for her to have submitted to the
yoke of marriage, to have walked in level
places, than thus, aspiring to loftier heights,
to fall into the deep of hell. I pray you, let
not Zion the faithful city become a harlot:8
let it not be that where the Trinity has been
entertained, there demons shall dance and
owls make their nests, and jackals build.7
Let us not loose the belt that binds the
breast. When lust tickles the sense and the
soft fire of sensual pleasure sheds over us
its pleasing glow, let us immediately break
forth and cr-y: "The Lord is on my side: I
will not fear what the flesh can do unto
me." 8 When the inner man shows signs for
a time of wavering between vice and virtue,
say: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul,
and why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him
who is the health of my countenance and my
God."9 You must never let suggestions of
evil grow on you, or a babel of disorder win
strength in your breast. Slay the enemy
while he is small; and, that you may not
have a crop of tares, nip the evil in the bud.
Bear in mind the warning words of the
Psalmist: "Hapless daughter of Babylon,
happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as
thou hast served us. Happy shall he be that
taketh and dasheth thy little ones against
the stones."10 Because natural heat inevita-
bly kindles in a man sensual passion, he is
praised and accounted happy who, when foul
suggestions arise in his mind, gives them no
quarter, but dashes them instantly against
the rock. " Now the Rock is Christ." 1!
7. How often, when I was living in the
desert, in the vast solitude which gives to
hermits a savage dwelling-place, parched by
a burning sun, how often did I fancy myself
1 Isa. xlvii. 1-3. « Cant. v. 2, LXX. 3 Ps. xlv. 10, P.B.V.
4 Jer. xiii. 26. 6 Ezek. xvi. 25. 6 Isa. i. 21.
7 Isa. xxxiv. 15 ; xiii. 22, R.V. 8 Pss. cxviii. 6 ; lvi. 4.
9 Ps, xiii. 11, I0 Ps. exxxvii. 9. u 1 Cor, x. 4.
LETTER XXII.
25
*
among the pleasures of Rome! I used to sit
alone because I was filled with bitterness.
Sackcloth disfigured my unshapely limbs and
my skin from long neglect had become as
black as an Ethiopian's. Tears and groans
were every day my portion; and if drowsi-
ness chanced to overcome my struggles
against it, my bare bones, which hardly held
together, clashed against the ground. Of
my food and drink I say nothing: for, even in
sickness, the solitaries have nothing but cold
water, and to eat one's food cooked is looked
upon as self-indulgence. Now, although in
my fear of hell I had consigned myself to
this prison, where I had no companions but
scorpions and wild beasts, I often found my-
self amid bevies of girls. My face was pale
and my frame chilled with fasting; yet my
mind was burning with desire, and the fires
of lust kept bubbling up before me when my
flesh was as good as dead. Helpless, I cast
myself at the feet of Jesus, I watered them
with my tears, I wiped them with my hair:
and then I subdued my rebellious body with
weeks of abstinence. I do not blush to avow
my abject misery; rather I lament that I am
not now what once I was. I remember how
I often cried aloud all night till the break
of day and ceased not from beating my
breast till tranquillity returned at the chid-
ing of the Lord. I used to dread my very
cell as though it knew my thoughts; and,
stern and angry with myself, I used to make
my way alone into the desert. Wherever I
saw hollow valleys, craggy mountains, steep
cliffs, there I made my oratory, there the
house of correction for my unhappy flesh.
There, also — the Lord Himself is my witness
— when I had shed copious tears and had
strained my eyes towards heaven, I some-
times felt myself among angelic hosts, and
for joy and gladness sang: "because of the
savour of thy good ointments we will run
after thee." '
8. Now, if such are the temptations of men
who, since their bodies are emaciated with
fasting, have only evil thoughts to fear, how
must it fare with a girl whose surroundings
are those of luxury and ease? Surely, to
use the apostle's words, " She is dead while*
she liveth. "2 Therefore, if experience gives
me a right to advise, or clothes my words
with credit, I would begin by urging you
and warning you as Christ's spouse to avoid
wine as you would avoid poison. For wine
is the first weapon used by demons against
the young. Greed does not shake, nor
pride puff up, nor ambition infatuate so
J Cant. i. 3, 4. 2 1 Tim, v. 6.
much as this. - Other vices we easily escape,
but this enemy is shut up within us, and
wherever we go we carry him with us. Wine
and youth between them kindle the fire of
sensual pleasure. Why do we throw oil on
the flame — why do we add fresh fuel to a
miserable body which is already ablaze.
Paul, it is true, says to Timothy " drink no
longer water, but use a little wine for thy
stomach's sake, and for thine often infirmi-
ties."1 But notice the reasons for which
the permission is given, to cure an aching
stomach and a frequent infirmity. And lest
we should indulge ourselves too much on the
score of our ailments, he commands that but
little shall be taken; advising rather as a
physician than as an apostle (though, indeed,
an apostle is a spiritual physician). He
evidently feared that Timothy might suc-
cumb to weakness, and might prove unequal
to the constant moving to and fro involved
in preaching the Gospel. Besides, he re-
membered that he had spoken of " wine
wherein is excess,"2 and had said, "it is
good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine." 3
Noah drank wine and became intoxicated;
but living as he did in the rude age after the
flood, when the vine was first planted, per-
haps he did not know its power of inebria-
tion. And to let you see the hidden mean-
ing of Scripture in all its fulness (for the
word of God is a pearl and may be pierced
on every side) after his drunkenness came
the uncovering of his body; self-indulgence
culminated in lust.4 First the belly is
crammed ; then the other members are
roused. Similarly, at a later period, "The
people sat down to eat and to drink and rose
up to play."5 Lot also, God's friend, whom
He saved upon the mountain, who was the
only one found righteous out of so many
thousands, was intoxicated by his daughters.
And, although they may have acted as they
did more from a desire of offspring than
from love of sinful pleasure — for the human
race seemed in danger of extinction — yet
they were well aware that the righteous man
would not abet their design unless intoxi-
cated. In fact he did not know what he was
doing, and his sin was not wilful. Still his
error was a grave one, for it made him the
father of Moab and Ammon,6 Israel's ene-
mies, of whom it is said: " Even to the four-
teenth generation they shall not enter into
the congregation of the Lord forever."
9. When Elijah, in his flight from Jezebel,
1 1 Tim. v. 23. 2 Kph. v. 18. 3 Rom. xiv. 21.
4 Gen. ix. 20, 21. 5 Ex. xxxii. 6. 6 Gen. xix. 30-38.
7 Deut, xxiii, 3: Jerome substitutes "fourteenth'' fgr "tenth,"
26
JEROME.
lay weary and desolate beneath the oak,
there came an angel who raised him up and
said, "Arise and eat." And he looked, and
behold there was a cake and a cruse of water
at his head.1 Had God willed it, might He
not have sent His prophet spiced wines and
dainty dishes and flesh basted into tender-
ness? When Elisha invited the sons of the
prophets to dinner, he only gave them field-
herbs to eat; and when all cried out with
one voice: "There is death in the pot," the
man of God did not storm at the cooks (for
he was not used to very sumptuous fare) , but
caused meal to be brought, and casting it
in, sweetened the bitter mess2 with spiritual
strength as Moses had once sweetened the
waters of Mara. 3 Again, when men were
sent to arrest the prophet, and were smitten
with physical and mental blindness, that he
might bring them without their own knowl-
edge to Samaria, notice the food with which
Elisha ordered them to be refreshed. "Set
bread and water," he said, "before them,
that they may eat and drink and go to their
master." 4 And Daniel, who might have had
rich food from the king's table,6 preferred
the mower's breakfast, brought to him by
Habakkuk," which must have been but coun-
try fare. He was called " a man of desires, " '
because he would not eat the bread of desire
or drink the wine of concupiscence.
10. There are, in the Scriptures, countless
divine answers condemning gluttony and
approving simple food. But as fasting is
not my present theme and an adequate dis-
cussion of it would require a treatise to it-
self, these few observations must suffice of
the many which the subject suggests. By
them you will understand why the first man,
obeying his belly and not God, was cast
down from paradise into this vale of tears;8
and why Satan used hunger to tempt the
Lord Himself in the wilderness;" and why
the apostle cries: "Meats for the belly and
the belly for meats, but God shall destroy
both it and them;" 10 and why he speaks of
the self-indulgent as men " whose God is
their belly." " For men invariably worship
what they like best. Care must be taken,
therefore, that abstinence may bring back to
Paradise those whom satiety once drove out.
ii. You will tell me, perhaps, that, high-
born as you are, reared in luxury and used
to lie softly, you cannot do without wine and
dainties, and would find a stricter rule of life
unendurable. If so, I can only say: ." Live,
1 i K. xix. 4-6. 2 2 K. iv. 38-41. 3 Exod. xv. 23-25.
4 2 K. vi. 18-23. 6 Dan- »■ 8- 6 I5el- 33-39-
7 Dan. ix. 23, A.V. marg. 8 Ps. lxxxiv. 6, R.V.
» Matt. jv. 2, 3. 10 1 Cor. vi. 13. ll Phil. iii. jg.
then, by your own rule, since God's rule is
too hard for you." Not that the Creator and
Lord of all takes pleasure in a rumbling and
empty stomach, or in fevered lungs; but that
these are indispensable as means to the pre-
servation of chastity. Job was dear to God, y
perfect and upright before Him ; ' yet hear
what he says of the devil : " His strength is
in the loins, and his force is in the navel."3
The terms are chosen for decency's sake,
but the reproductive organs of the two sexes
are meant. • Thus, the descendant of David,
who, according to the promise is to sit upon
his throne, is said to come from his loins.3
And the seventy-five souls descended from
Jacob who entered Egypt are said to come
out of his thigh.4 So, also, when his thigh
shrank after the Lord had wrestled with him,8
he ceased to beget children. The Israelites,
again, are told to celebrate the passover with
loins girded and mortified." God says to
Job: "Gird up thy loins as a man."7 John
wears a leathern girdle. 8 The apostles must
gird their loins to carry the lamps of the
Gospel.9 When Ezekiel tells us how Jeru-
salem is found in the plain of wandering,
covered with blood, he uses the words : " Thy
navel has not been cut. " 10 In his assaults on
men, therefore, the devil's strength is in the
loins; in his attacks on women his force is
in the navel.
12. Do you wish for proof of my assertions ?
Take examples. Samson was braver than
a lion and tougher than a rock; alone and
unprotected he pursued a thousand armed
men; and yet, in Delilah's embrace, his reso-
lution melted away. David was a man after
God's own heart, and his lips had often sung
of the Holy One, the future Christ; and yet
as he walked upon his housetop he was
fascinated by Bathsheba's nudity, and added
murder to adultery. " Notice here how, even
in his own house, a man cannot use his eyes
without danger. Then repenting, he says to
the Lord: "Against thee, thee only, have I
sinned and done this evil in Thy sight."13
Being a king he feared no one else. So,
too, with Solomon. Wisdom used him to
sing her praise,13 and he treated of all plants
"from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon
even unto the hyssop that springeth out of
the wall;" " and yet he went back from God
because he was a lover of women.15 And, as
if to show that near relationship is no safe-
1 Job ii. 3. 2 Job xl. 16, of behemoth. 3 Ps. cxxxii. Ix,
4 Gen. xlvi. 26. 6 Gen. xxxii. 24, 25. * Exod. xii. 11.
7 Job. xxxviii. 3. 8 Matt. iii. 4. » Luke xii. 35.
10 Ezek. xvi. 4-6. » 2 Sam. xi. 12 Ps. Ii. 4.
13 Solomon was the reputed author of the Book of Wisdom.
14 1 K. iv. 33. 15 j K. xi 1-4.
Letter xxii.
27
1 guard, Amnon burned with illicit passion for
his sister Tamar. '
13. I cannot bring myself to speak of the
many virgins who daily fall and are lost to
the bosom of the church, their mother: stars
over which the proud foe sets up his throne,2
and rocks hollowed by the serpent that
he may dwell in their fissures. You may see
many women widows before wedded, who
try to conceal their miserable fall by a lying
garb. Unless they are betrayed by swelling
wombs or by the crying of their infants, they
walk abroad with tripping feet and heads in
the air. Some go so far as to take potions,
• that they may insure barrenness, and thus
murder human beings almost before their
conception. Some, when they find themselves
with child through their sin, use drugs to
procure abortion, and when (as often hap-
pens) they die with their offspring, they
enter the lower world laden with the guilt
not only of adultery against Christ but also
of suicide and child murder. Yet it is these
who say: "'Unto the pure all things are
-2>pure;' 3 my conscience is sufficient guide for
^me. A pure heart is what God looks for.
' Why should I abstain from meats which God
has created to be received with thanksgiv-
ing?"4 And when they wish to appear
agreeable and entertaining they first drench
themselves with wine, and then joining the
grossest profanity to intoxication, they say :
" Far be it from me to abstain from the
blood of Christ." And when they see
another pale or sad they call her "wretch'
or ' ' manichaean ;" B quite logically, indeed, for
on their principles fasting involves heresy.
When they go out they do their best to attract
notice, and with nods and winks encourage
troops of young fellows to follow them. Of
each and all of these the prophet's words are
true: "Thou hast a whore's forehead; thou
refusest to be ashamed. "6 Their robes have
but a narrow purple stripe,7 it is true; and
their head-dress is somewhat loose, so as to
leave the hair free. From their shoulders
flutters the lilac mantle which they call " ma-
forte;" they have their feet in cheap slippers
and their arms bound in tight-fitting sleeves.
Add to these marks of their profession an easy
gait, and you have all the virginity that they
possess. Such may have eulogizers of their
own, and may fetch a higher price in the
market of perdition, merely because they
are called virgins. But to such virgins as
these I prefer to be displeasing.
1 2 Sam. xiii. 2 Isa. xiv. 13. 3 Tit. i. 15. 4 1 Tim. iv. 3.
6 The Manicha;ans believed evil to be inseparable from matter.
Hence they inculcated a rigid asceticism. e Jer. iii. 3.
7 Plebeians wore a narrow stripe, patricians a broad one.
14. I blush to speak of it, it is so shock-
ing; yet though sad, it is true. How comes
this plague of the agapeta?1 to be in the
church ? Whence come these unwedded
wives, these novel concubines, these harlots,
so I will call them, though they cling to a
single partner ? One house holds them and
one chamber. They often occupy the same
bed, and yet they call us suspicious if we
fancy anything amiss. A brother leaves his
virgin sister; a virgin, slighting her unmar-
ried brother, seeks a brother in a stranger.
Both alike profess to have but one object,
to find spiritual consolation from those not
of their kin; but their real aim is to indulge
in sexual intercourse. It is on such that
Solomon in the book of proverbs heaps his
scorn. " Can a man take fire in his bosom,"
he says, "and his clothes not be burned?
Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not
be burned?" 2
15. We cast out, then, and banish from
our sight those who only wish to seem and
not to be virgins. Henceforward I may;,,
bring all my speech to bear upon you who,'
as it is your lot to be the first virgin of
noble birth in Rome, have to labor the
more diligently not to lose good things to
come, as well as those that are present. You
have at least learned from a case in your
own family the troubles of wedded life and
the uncertainties of marriage. Your sister,
Blaesilla, before you in age but behind you
in declining the vow of virginity, has become
a widow but seven months after she has taken
a husband. Hapless plight of us mortals who
know not what is before us! She has lost, at
once, the crown of virginity and the pleasures^
of wedlock. And, although, as a widow, the
second degree of chastity is hers, still can you
not imagine the continual crosses which she
has to bear, daily seeing in her sister what she
has lost herself; and, while she finds it hard
to go without the pleasures of wedlock, hav-
ing a less reward for her present conti-
nence? Still she, too, may take heart and
rejoice. The fruit which is an hundredfold
and that which is sixtyfold both spring from
one seed, and that seed is chastity.3
16. Do not court the company of married -
ladies or visit the houses of the high-born. Z~
Do not look too often on the life which you
despised to become a virgin. Women of the
world, you know, plume themselves because
their husbands are on the bench or in other
1 Beloved ones, viz. , women who lived with the unmarried clergy
professedly as spiritual sisters, but really (in too many cases) as
mistresses. The evil custom was widely prevalent and called forth
many protests. The councils of Elvira, Ancyra, and Nica:a passed
canons against it. a Prov. vi. 27, 28, 3 Matt, xiii, 8,
28
JEROME.
high positions. And the wife of the emperor
always has an eager throng of visitors at her
door. Why do you, then, wrong your hus-
band ? . Why do you, God's bride, hasten to
visit the wife of a mere man? I, earn in this
respect a holy pride; know that you are bet-
ter than they. And not only must you avoid
intercourse with those who are puffed up by
their husbands' honors, who are hedged in
with troops of eunuchs, and who wear robes
inwrought with threads of gold. You must
also shun those who are widows from neces-
sity and not from choice. Not that they
ought to have desired the death of their hus-
bands; but that they have not welcomed the
opportunity of continence when it has come.
->>As it is, they only change their garb; their
old self-seeking remains unchanged. To see
them in their capacious litters, with red
cloaks and plump bodies, a row of eunuchs
walking in front of them, you would fancy
them not to have lost husbands but to be
seeking them. Their houses are filled with
flatterers and with guests. The very clergy,
who ought to inspire them with respect by
their teaching and authority, kiss these
ladies on the forehead, and putting forth
their hands (so that, if you knew no better,
you might suppose them in the act of bless-
ing), take wages for their visits. They,
meanwhile, seeing that priests cannot do
without them, are lifted up into pride; and
as, having had experience of both, they pre-
fer the license of widowhood to the re-
straints of marriage, they call themselves
chaste livers and nuns. After an immoder-
ate supper they retire to rest to dream of the
apostles.1
^17. Let your companions be women pale
and thin with fasting, and approved by their
years and conduct; such as daily sing in
their hearts: "Tell me where thou feedest
thy flock, where thou makest it to rest at
noon,"2 and say, with true earnestness, "I
have a desire to depart and to be with
Christ."3 Be subject to your parents,
imitating the example of your spouse.4
Rarely go abroad, and if you wish to seek
the aid of the martyrs seek it in your own
chamber. For you will never need a pretext
for going out if you always go out when
there is need. Take food in moderation,
and never overload your stomach. For many
women, while temperate as regards wine, are
intemperate in the use of food. When you
-rise at night to pray, let your breath be that
of an empty and not that of an overfull
1 Cena dubia. The allusion is to Terence, Phormio, 342.
a Cant. i. 7, R.V. s Phil, i, 23. * Luke ii. 51.
stomach. Read often, learn all that yc
can. Let sleep overcome you, the roll sti
in your hands; when your head falls, let it*^_
be on the sacred page. Let your fasts be of t
daily occurrence and your refreshment such
as avoids satiety. It is idle to carry an
empty stomach if, in two or three days'
time, the fast is to be made up for by reple-
tion. When cloyed the mind immediately
grows sluggish, and when the ground is
watered it puts forth the thorns of lust. If
ever you feel the outward man sighing for
the flower of youth, and if, as you lie on
your couch after a meal, you are excited by
the alluring train of sensual desires; then <^— «
seize the shield of faith, for it alone can
quench the fiery darts of the devil.1 " They
are all adulterers," says the prophet; "they
have made ready their heart like an oven." 2
But do you keep close to the footsteps of
Christ, and, intent upon His words, say:'
" Did not our heart burn within us by the
way while Jesus opened to us the Scrip-
tures?"3 and again: "Thy word is tried to
the uttermost, and thy servant loveth it."4
It is hard for the human soul to avoid lov-
ing something, and our mind must of neces-
sity give way to affection of one kind or
another. The love of the flesh is overcome
by the love of the spirit. Desire is quenched
by desire. What is taken from the one in-
creases the other. Therefore, as you lie on
your couch, say again and again: "By night
have I sought Him whom my soul loveth." s
" Mortify, therefore," says the apostle, " your
members which are upon the earth."6 Be-
cause he himself did so, he could afterwards
say with confidence: "I live, yet not I, but
Christ, liveth in me."7 He who mortifies
his members, and feels that he is walking
in a vain show,8 is not afraid to say:
"I am become like a bottle in the frost.0
Whatever there was in me of the moisture of
lust has been dried out of me." And again:
" My knees are weak through fasting; I for-
get to eat my bread. By reason of the voice
of my groaning my bones cleave to my
skin."10
18. Be like the grasshopper and make
night musical. Nightly wash your bed and
water your couch with your tears.11 Watch
and be like the sparrow alone upon the
housetop.12 Sing with the spirit, but sing
with the understanding also.13 And let your
song be that of the psalmist: "Bless the
1 Eph. vi. 16. 2 Hos. vii. 4, 6, R.V. 3 Luke xxiv. 32.
4 Ps. cxix. 140, P.B.V. 6 Cant. iii. 1. 6 Col. iii. 5.
7 Gal. ii. 20. 8 Ps. xxxix. 6, Vulg. That is, who knows that the
world is vanity. 8 Ps. cxix. 83, Vulg. 10 Ps. cix. 24; cii. 5.
i» Ps. vi. 6, P.B.V. " Ps, cii. 7. >3 1 Cor. xiv. 15,
LETTER XXII.
' , th
Lord, O my soul ; and forget not all his ben-
efits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who
healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy
life from destruction." ' Can we, any of us,
honestly make his words our own : " I have
eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink
with weeping?"2 Yet, should we not weep
and groan when the serpent invites us, as he
invited our first parents, to eat forbidden
fruit, and when after expelling us from the
paradise of virginity he desires to clothe us
with mantles of skins such as that which
Elijah, on his return to paradise, left behind
him on earth?3 Say to yourself : "What have
I to do with the pleasures of sense that so
soon come to an end ? What have I to do
with the song of the sirens so sweet and so
fatal to those who hear it ?" I would not have
you subject to that sentence whereby con-
demnation has been passed upon mankind.
When God says to Eve, " In pain and in sor-
row thou shalt bring forth children," say to
yourself, " That is a law for a married woman,
not for me." And when He continues, " Thy
desire shall be to thy husband,"4 say again:
" Let her desire be to her husband who has not
Christ for her spouse." And when, last of
all, He says, " Thou shalt surely die," 5 once
more, say, " Marriage indeed must end in
death; but the life on which I have resolved
is independent of sex. Let those who are
wives keep the place and the time that
properly belong to them. For me, virginity
is consecrated in the persons of Mary and
of Christ."
19. Some one may say, " Do you dare de-
tract from wedlock, which is a state blessed
by God ?" I do not detract from wedlock
when I set virginity before, it. No one com-
pares a bad thing with a good. Wedded
women may congratulate themselves that
they come next to virgins. "Be fruitful,"
God says, " and multiply, and replenish the
earth. " 6 He who desires to replenish the earth
ay increase and multiply if he will. But
the train to which you belong is not on earth,
but in heaven. The command to increase
and multiply first finds fulfilment after the
expulsion from paradise, after the nakedness
and the fig-leaves which speak of sexual
passion. Let them marry and be given in
marriage who eat their bread in the sweat of
their brow; whose land brings forth to them
thorns and thistles,7 and whose crops are
choked with briars. My seed produces fruit
a hundredfold.8 "All men cannot receive
1 Ps. ciii. 2-4.
* Gen. iii. 16.
7 Gen. iii, 18, 19.
2 Ps. cii. 9. 3 2 K. ii. 13.
5 Gen. ii. 17. 6 Gen. i. 28.
s See Letter XLVIII. §§ 2, 3.
God's saying, but they to whom it is
given."
Some people may be eunuchs from neces-
sity ; I am one of free will. ' " There is a time
to embrace and a time to refrain from em-
bracing. There is a time to cast away stones,
and a time to gather stones together. " 2 Now
that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles
God has raised up children unto Abraham,3
they begin to be " holy stones rolling upon
the earth."4 They pass through the whirl-
winds of the world, and roll on in God's
chariot on rapid wheels. Let those stitch
coats to themselves who have lost the coat
woven from the top throughout ;5 who delight
in the cries of infants which, as soon as they
see the light, lament that they are born. In
paradise Eve was a virgin, and it was only
after the coats of skins that she began her
married life. Now paradise is your home
too. Keep therefore your birthright and say :
" Return unto thy rest, O my soul. " 6 To show
that virginity is natural while wedlock only
follows guilt, what is born of wedlock is
virgin flesh, and it gives back in fruit what in
root it has lost. " There shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a flower
shall grow out of his roots."7 The rod8 is
the mother of the Lord — simple, pure, unsul-
lied; drawing no germ of life from without
but fruitful in singleness like God Himself.
The flower of the rod is Christ, who says of
Himself: " I am the rose of Sharon and the
lily of the valleys."9 In another place He
is foretold to be " a stone cut out of the
mountain without hands, " 10 a figure by which
the prophet signifies that He is to be born a
virgin of a virgin. For the hands are here
a figure of wedlock as in the passage: " His
left hand is under my head and his right
hand doth embrace me."11 It agrees, also,
with this interpretation that the unclean ani-
mals are led into Noah's ark in pairs, while
of the clean an uneven number is taken.12
Similarly, when Moses and Joshua were bid-
den to remove their shoes because the ground
on which they stood was holy,13 the command
had a mystical meaning. So, too, when the
disciples were appointed to preach the gospel
they were told to take with them neither shoe
nor shoe-latchet;14 and when the soldiers came
to cast lots for the garments of Jesus15 they
found no boots that they could take away.
I Matt. xix. 11, 12. 3 Eccles. iii. 5. 3 Matt. 111. 9.
* Zech. ix. 16, LXX. 5 Joh. xix. 23.
6 Ps. cxvi. 7. 7 Isa. xi. 1, LXX.
8 In the Latin there is a play on words here between virga and
virgo. * Cant. ii. 1. 10 Dan. ii. 45.
II Cant. ii. 6. ia Gen. vii. 2. 13 Ex. iii. 5 : Josh. v. 15.
14 Matt. x. 10. According to Letter XXIII. § 4, these typify
dead works. ' a J"h. xix. 23, 24.
28
JEROME.
For the Lord could not Himself possess
what He had forbidden to His servants.
20. I praise wedlock, I praise marriage, but
it is because they give me virgins. I gather
the rose from the thorns, the gold from the
earth, the pearl from the shell. " Doth the
plowman plow all day to sow?"1 Shall he
not also enjoy the fruit of his labor? Wed-
lock is the more honored, the more what is
born of it is loved. Why, mother, do you
grudge your daughter her virginity? She
has been reared on your milk, she has come
from your womb, she has grown up in your
bosom. Your watchful affection has kept
her a virgin. Are you angry with her be-
cause she chooses to be a king's wife and not
a soldier's ? She has conferred on you a high
privilege; you are now the mother-in-law of
God. " Concerning virgins," says the apos-
tle, " I have no commandment of the Lord. " 2
Why was this? Because his own virginity
was due, not to a command, but to his free
choice. For they are not to be heard who
feign him to have had a wife; for, when he
is discussing continence and commending
perpetual chastity, he uses the words, " I
would that all men were even as I myself."
And farther on, " I say, therefore, to the un-
married and widows, it is good for them if
they abide even as I."3 And in another
place, " have we not power to lead about wives
even as the rest of the apostles ?" 4 Why then
has he no commandment from the Lord con-
cerning virginity? Because what is freely
offered is worth more than what is extorted
by force, and to command virginity would
have been to abrogate wedlock. It would
have been a hard enactment to compel op-
position to nature and to extort from men the
angelic life; and not only so, it would have
been to condemn what is a divine ordinance.
21. The old law had a different ideal of
blessedness, for therein it is said: "Blessed
is he who hath seed in Zion and a family in
Jerusalem :" 6 and " Cursed is the barren who
beareth not:"6 and "Thy children shall be
like olive-plants round about thy table."
Riches too are promised to the faithful and
we are told that " there was not one feeble
person among their tribes." But now even
to eunuchs it is said, " Say not, behold I am
a dry tree," 9 for instead of sons and daugh-
ters you have a place forever in heaven. Now
the poor are blessed, now Lazarus is set be-
fore Dives in his purple.10 Now he who is
weak is counted strong. But in those days
1 Isa. xxviii. 24. 2 1 Cor. vii. 25.
3 1 Cor. vii. 7, 8. 4 1 Cor. ix. 5. 6 Isa. xxxi. 9, LXX.
* Isa. liv. 1, LXX. (?) 7 Ps. cxxviii. 3. * Ps. cv. 37.
9 Isa, lvi. 3. 10 Cf. Luke xvi. 19 sqq.
the world was still unpeopled: accordingly,
to pass over instances of childlessness meant
only to serve as types, those only were con-
sidered happy who could boast of children.
It was for this reason that Abraham in his
old age married Keturah;1 that Leah hired
Jacob with her son's mandrakes,2 and that
fair Rachel — a type of the church — com-
plained of the closing of her womb.3 But
gradually the crop grew up and then the
reaper was sent forth with his sickle. Eli-
jah lived a virgin life, so also did Elisha
and many of the sons of the prophets. To
Jeremiah the command came: "Thou shalt
not take thee a wife."4 He had been sanc-
tified in his mother's womb,5 and now he
was forbidden to take a wife because the
captivity was near. The apostle gives the
same counsel in different words. " I think,
therefore, that this is good by reason of the
present distress, namely that it is good for
a man to be as he is." 6 What is this dis-
tress which does away with the joys of
wedlock? The apostle tells us, in a later
verse: "The time is short: it remaineth that
those who have wives be as though they had
none."7 Nebuchadnezzar is hard at hand.
The lion is bestirring himself from his lair.
What good will marriage be to me if it is to
end in slavery to the haughtiest of kings?
What good will little ones be to me if their
lot is to be that which the prophet sadly de-
scribes: "The tongue of the sucking child
cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst;
the young children ask for bread and no man
breaketh it unto them " ? 8 In those days, as
I have said, the virtue of continence was
found only in men: Eve still continued to
travail with children. But now that a vir-
gin has conceived 9 in the womb and has
borne to us a child of which the prophet says
that "Government shall be upon his shoul-
der, and his name shall be called the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, " 10 now the chain
of the curse is broken. Death came through ,
Eve, but life has come through Mary. And
thus the gift of virginity has been bestowed
most richly upon women, seeing that it has
had its beginning from a woman. As soon
as the Son of God set foot upon the earth,
He formed for Himself a new household
there; that, as He was adored by angels in
heaven, angels might serve Him also on
earth. Then chaste Judith once more cut
off the head of Holoferne^. n Then Haman
— whose name means iniquity — was once
1 Gen. xxv. 1. 2 Gen. xxx. 14-16.
3 Gen. xxx. 1, 2. 4 Jer. xvi. 2.
6 Jer. i. 5. • 1 Cor. vii. 26, R.V. ' 1 Cor. vii. 29.
B Lam. iv. 4. 8 Isa. vii. 14. 10 Isa. ix. 6. ll Judith xik
LETTER XXII.
31
>
more burned in fire of his own kindling.1
Then James and John forsook father and net
and ship and followed the Saviour: neither
kinship nor the world's ties, nor the care of
their home could hold them back. Then
were the words heard: "Whosoever will
come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me." 2 For no
soldier goes with a wife to battle. Even
when a disciple would have buried his father,
the Lord forbade him, and said: "Foxes
have holes and the birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to
lay His head." 3 So you must not complain
if you have but scanty house-room. In the
same strain, the apostle writes: "He that is
unmarried eareth for the things that belong
to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
but he that is married eareth for the things
that are of the world how he may please his
wife. There is difference also between a
wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman
eareth for the things of the Lord that she
may be holy both in body and in spirit.
But she that is married eareth for the things
of the world how she may please her hus-
band."4
22. How great inconveniences are in-
volved in wedlock and how many anxieties
encompass it I have, I think, described shortly
in my treatise — published against Helvid-
ius6 — on the perpetual virginity of the
blessed Mary. It would be tedious to go
over the same ground now; and any one
who pleases may draw from that fountain.
But lest I should seem wholly to have passed
over the matter, I will just say now that the
apostle bids us pray without ceasing,6 and
that he who in the married state renders his
wife her due7 cannot so pray. Either we
pfay always and are virgins, or we cease to
pray that we may fulfil the claims of mar-
riage. Still he says: " If a virgin marry she
hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall
have trouble in the flesh." 8 At the outset I
promised that I should say little or nothing
of the embarrassments of wedlock, and now I
give you notice to the same effect. If you
want to know from how many vexations a
virgin is free and by how many a wife is
fettered you should read Tertullian "to a
philosophic friend,"0 and his other treatises
on virginity, the blessed Cyprian's noble
volume, the writings of Pope Damasus 10 in
prose and verse, and the treatises recently
1 Esther vii. 10. 2 Mark viii. 34. 3 Matt. viii. 20-22.
* 1 Cor. vii. 32-34. 5 See the treatise "Against Helvidius," in
this volume. 8 1 Thess. v. 17. » 1 Cor. vii. 3, R.V. e 1 Cor. vii. 28.
9 Not extant. Jerome alludes to it again in his treatise against
Jovinian. 10 See Migne's "Patrologia," xiii., col. 347-418.
written for his sister by our own Ambrose.1
In these he has poured forth his soul with
such a flood of eloquence that he has sought
out, set forth, and put in order all that bears
on the praise of virgins.
23. We must proceed by a different path,
for our purpose is not the praise of virginity
but its preservation. To know that it is a
good thing is not enough: when we have
chosen it we must guard it with jealous care.
The first only requires judgment, and we
share it with many; the second calls for
toil, and few compete with us in it. "He
that shall endure unto the end," the Lord
says, "the same shall be saved,"2 and
"many are called but few are chosen."3
Therefore I conjure you before God and
Jesus Christ and His elect angels to guard
that which you have received, not readily
exposing to the public gaze the vessels of
the Lord's temple (which only the priests
are by right allowed to see), that no profane
person may look upon God's sanctuary.
Uzzah, when he touched the ark which it was
not lawful to touch, was struck down sud-
denly by death.4 And assuredly no gold or
silver vessel was ever so dear to God as is
the temple of a virgin's body. The shadow
went before, but now the reality is come.
You indeed may speak in all simplicity, and
from motives of amiability may treat with
courtesy the veriest strangers, but unchaste
eyes see nothing aright. They fail to appre-
ciate the beauty of the soul, and only value
that of the body. Hezekiah showed God's
treasure to the Assyrians, 5 who ought never
to have seen what they were sure to covet.
The consequence was that Judaea was torn
by continual wars, and that the very first
things carried away to Babylon were these
vessels of the Lord. We find Belshazzar at
his feast and among his concubines (vice
always glories in defiling what is noble)
drinking out of these sacred cups.6
24. Never incline your ear to words of
mischief. For men often say an improper
word to make trial of a virgin's steadfast-
ness, to see if she hears it with pleasure,
and if she is ready to unbend at every silly
jest. Such persons applaud whatever you
affirm and deny whatever you deny; they
speak of you as not only holy but accom-
plished, and say that in you there is no
guile. "Behold," say they, "a true hand-
maid of Christ; behold entire singleness of
heart. How different from that rough, un-
1 Ambrose de Virg. Migne's "Patrologia," xvi., col. 187.
2 Matt. xxiv. 13. 3 Matt. xx. 16 ; xxii. 14. 4 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7,
1 2 Kings xx. 12, 13
8 Dan. v. 1-3.
32
JEROME.
sightly, countrified fright, who most likely
never married because she could never find
a husband." Our natural weakness induces
us readily to listen to such flatterers; but,
though we may blush and reply that such
praise is more than our due, the soul within
us rejoices to hear itself praised.
Like the ark of the covenant Christ's
spouse should be overlaid with gold within
and without;1 she should be the guardian of
the law of the Lord. Just as the ark con-
tained nothing but the tables of the cove-
nant,2 so in you there should be no thought
of anything that is outside. For it pleases
the Lord to sit in your mind as He once sat
on the mercy-seat and the cherubims. 3 As
He sent His disciples to loose Him the foal
of an ass that he might ride on it, so He
sends them to release you from the cares of
the world, that leaving the bricks and straw
of Egypt, you may follow Him, the true
Moses, through the wilderness and may enter
the land of promise. Let no one dare to
forbid you, neither mother nor sister nor
kinswoman nor brother: "The Lord hath
need of you."4 Should they seek to hinder
you, let them fear the scourges that fell on
Pharaoh, who, because he would not let God's
people go that they might serve Him,5 suf-
fered the plagues described in Scripture.
Jesus entering into the temple cast out
those things which belonged not to the tem-
ple. For God is jealous and will not allow
the father's house to be made a den of
robbers.6 Where money is counted, where
doves are sold, where simplicity is stifled,
where, that is, a virgin's breast glows with
cares of this world; straightway the veil of
the temple is rent,7 the bridegroom rises in
anger, he says: "Your house is left unto
you desolate."8 Read the gospel and see
how Mary sitting at the feet of the Lord is
set before the zealous Martha. In her anx-
iety to be hospitable Martha was preparing
a meal for the Lord and His disciples; yet
Jesus said to her: "Martha, Martha, thou
art careful and troubled about many things.
But few things are needful or one." And
Mary hath chosen that good part which shall
not be taken away from her. " I0 Be then like
Mary; prefer the food of the soul to that of
the body. Leave it to your sisters to run to
and fro and to seek how they may fitly wel-
come Christ. But do you, having once for
all cast away the burden of the world, sit at
the Lord's feet and say: " I have found him
1 Ex. xxv. ii. ' iK. viii. 9.
3 Ex. xxv. 22. 4 Matt. xxi. 1-3.
6 Ex. vii. 16. * Matt. xxi. 12, 13, R.V. 7 Matt, xxvii. 51.
" Matt, xxiii. 38. " R.V. marg. i« Luke x. 41, 42.
whom my soul loveth; I will hold him, I
will not let him go."1 And He will answer:
"My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is
the only one of her mother, she is the choice
one of her that bare her. " 2 Now the mother
of whom this is said is the heavenly Jeru-
salem.3
25. Ever let the privacy of your chamber .
guard you; ever let the Bridegroom sport
with you within.4 Do you pray? You
speak to the Bridegroom. Do you read?
He speaks -to you. When sleep overtakes
you He will come behind and put His hand
through the hole of the door, and your
heart5 shall be moved for Him; and you will
awake and rise up and say: "I am sick of
love."0 Then He will reply: "A garden
inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring
shut up, a fountain sealed." T
Go not from home nor visit the daughters
of a strange land, though you have patri-
archs for brothers and Israel for a father.
Dinah went out and was seduced.8 Do not
seek the Bridegroom in the streets; do not
go round the corners of the city. For though
you may say: " I will rise now and go about
the city: in the streets and in the broad
ways I will seek Him whom my soul loveth,"
and though you may ask the watchmen :
"Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth?"9 no
one will deign to answer you. The Bride-
groom cannot be found in the streets:
" Strait and narrow is the way which leadeth
unto life. " 10 So the Song goes on : "I sought
him but I could not find him: I called him
but he gave me no answer."" And would
that failure to find Him were all. You will
be wounded and stripped, you will lament
and say: "The watchmen that went about
the city found me: they smote me, they
wounded me, they took away my veil from
me." 12 Now if one who could say: " I sleep
but my heart waketh," 13 and "A bundle of
myrrh is my well beloved unto me; he shall
lie all night betwixt my breasts" ;14 if one who
could speak thus suffered so much because she
went abroad, what shall become of us who are
but young girls; of us who, when the bride
goes in with the Bridegroom, still remain
without? Jesus is jealous. He does not
choose that your face should be seen of
others. You may excuse yourself and say:
" I have drawn close my veil, I have covered
my face and I have sought Thee there and
have said: 'Tell me, O Thou whom my soul
./
V
1 Cant. iii. 4.
4 Cf. Gen. xxvi. 8.
7 Cant. iv. 12.
10 Matt. vii. 14.
13 Cant, v. z.
2 Cant. vi. g.
6 R.V.
8 Gen. xxxiv.
11 Cant. iii. 2 ; v.
" Cant. i. 13.
3 Gal. iv. 26.
6 Cant. v. 2, 4, 8.
9 Cant. iii. 2, 3.
6. " Cant. v. 7.
LETTER XXII.
33
loveth, where Thou feedest Thy flock, where
Thou makest it to rest at noon. For why
should I be as one that is veiled beside the
flocks of Thy companions ? ' " ' Yet in spite
of your excuses He will be wroth, He will
swell with anger and say: "If thou know
not thyself, O thou fairest among women, go
thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock
and feed thy goats beside the shepherd's
tents." 2 You may be fair, and of all faces
yours may be the dearest to the Bridegroom ;
yet, unless you know yourself, and keep your
heart with all diligence,3 unless also you
avoid the eyes of the young men, you will be
turned out of My bride-chamber to feed the
goats, which shall be set on the left hand.4
26. These things being so, my Eusto-
\ chium, daughter, lady, fellow-servant, sister
— these names refer the first to your age, the
second to your rank, the third to your relig-
(ious vocation, the last to the place which
you hold in my affection — hear the words of
Isaiah : " Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee :
hide thyself as it were for a little moment,
until the indignation" of the Lord " be over-
past. "5 Let foolish virgins stray abroad,
but for your part stay at home with the
Bridegroom; for if you shut your door, and,
according to the precept of the Gospel,6
pray to your Father in secret, He will come
and knock, saying: "Behold, I stand at the
door and knock; if any man . . . open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup
with him, and he with me." 7 Then straight-
way you will eagerly reply: " It is the voice
of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open
to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my un-
defiled. " It is impossible that you should
refuse, and say : " I have put off my coat ;
how shall I put it on? I have washed my
feet; how shall I defile them ? " s Arise
forthwith and open. Otherwise while you
linger He may pass on and you may have
mournfully to say: "I opened to my be-
loved, but my beloved was gone. "a Why
need the doors of your heart be closed to the
Bridegroom? Let them be open to Christ
but closed to the devil according to the say-
ing: "If the spirit of him who hath power
rise up against thee, leave not thy place."20
Daniel, in that upper story to which he with-
drew when he could no longer continue be-
low, had his windows open toward Jerusa-
lem.11 Do you too keep your windows open,
I
1 Cant. i. 7, R.V. 2 Cant. i. 8, LXX. 3 Prov. iv. 23.
4 Matt. xxv. 33. E Isa. xxvi. 20. c Matt. vi. 6.
7 Rev. iii. 20. 8 Cant. v. 2, 3. 9 Cant. v. 6.
10 Eccles. x. 4, A. V., "the spirit of the ruler,"
« Dan. vi. 10, LXX.
but only on the side where 1 ight may enter and
whence you may see the eye of the Lord. Open
not those other windows of which the prophet
says: " Death is come up into our windows."1
27. You must also be careful to avoid the
snare of a passion for vainglory. "How,"
Jesus says, "can ye believe which receive
glory one from another?"2 What an evil
that must be the victim of which cannot be-
lieve! Let us rather say: "Thou art my
glorying," 3 and " He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord,"4 and "If I yet pleased
men I should not be the servant of Christ," 5
and " Far be it from me to glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom the world hath been crucified unto me
and I unto the world ;" 6 and once more : " In
God we boast all the day long; my soul
shall make her boast in the Lord." 7 When
you do alms, let God alone see you. When
you fast, be of a cheerful countenance.8
Let your dress be neither too neat nor too
slovenly; neither let it be so remarkable as
to draw the attention of passers-by, and to
make men point their fingers at you. Is a
brother dead ? Has the body of a sister to
be carried to its burial ? Take care lest in
too often performing such offices you die
yourself. Do not wish to seem very devout
nor more humble than need be, lest you
seek glory by shunning it. For many, who
screen from all men's sight their poverty,
charity, and fasting, desire to excite ad-
miration by their very disdain of it, and
strangely seek for praise while they profess
to keep out of its way. From the other dis-
turbing influences which make men rejoice,
despond, hope, and fear I find many free;
but this is a defect which few are without,
and he is best whose character, like a fair
skin, is disfigured by the fewest blemishes.
I do not think it necessary to warn you
against boasting of your riches, or against
priding yourself on your birth, or against
setting yourself up as superior to others. I
know your humility; I know that you can
say with sincerity: "Lord, my heart is not
haughty nor mine eyes lofty; " 9 I know that
in your breast as in that of your mother the
pride through which the devil fell has no
place. It would be time wasted to write to
you about it; for there is no greater folly
than to teach a pupil what he knows already.
But now that you have despised the boast-
fulness of the world, do not let the fact in-
spire you with new boastfulness. Harbor
1 Jer. be. 21. 2 Joh. v. 44, R.V.
3 Jer. ix. 24. 4 1 Cor. i. 31. 6 Gal. i. 10.
0 Gal. vi. 14, R.V. marg. 7 Pss. xliv. 8 ; xxxiv. 2.
e Matt. vi. 3, 16-18. » Ps. exxxi. i.
»»
34
JEROME.
not the secret thought that having ceased to
court attention in garments of gold you may
begin to do so in mean attire. And when
you come into a room full of brothers and
sisters, do not sit in too low a place or plead
that you are unworthy of a footstool. Do
not deliberately lower your voice as though
worn out with fasting; nor, leaning on the
shoulder of another, mimic the tottering gait
of one who is faint. Some women, it is
true, disfigure their faces, that they may ap-
pear unto men to fast.1 As soon as they
catch sight of any one they groan, they look
down; they cover up their faces, all but one
eye, which they keep free to see with. Their
dress is sombre, their girdles are of sack-
cloth, their hands and feet are dirty; only
their stomachs — which cannot be seen — are
hot with food. Of these the psalm is sung
daily: "The Lord will scatter the bones of
them that please themselves. "2 Others change
their garb and assume the mien of men,
being ashamed of being what they were born
to be — women. They cut off their hair and
are not ashamed to look like eunuchs. Some
clothe themselves in goat's hair, and, putting
on hoods, think to become children again by
making themselves look like so many owls.3
28. But I will not speak only of women.
Avoid men, also, when you see them loaded
with chains and wearing their hair long like
women, contrary to the apostle's precept,4
not to speak of beards like those of goats,
black cloaks, and bare feet braving the cold.
All these things are tokens of the devil.
Such an one Rome groaned over some time
back in Antimus; and Sophronius is a still
more recent instance. Such persons, when
they have once gained admission to the
houses of the high-born, and have deceived
"silly women laden with sins, ever learning
and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth," 6 feign a sad mien and pretend to
make long fasts while at night they feast in
secret. Shame forbids me to say more, for
my language might appear more like invec-
tive than admonition. There are others— I
speak of those of my own order — who seek
the presbyterate and the diaconate simply
that they may be able to see women with
less restraint. Such men think of nothing
but their dress; they use perfumes freely,
and see that there are no creases in their
leather shoes. Their curling hair shows
traces of the tongs; their fingers glisten with
rings; they walk on tiptoe across a damp
1 Matt. vi. 16. 2 Ps. liii. 5, according to the Roman Psalter.
3 Cucullis fabrefactis, ut ad infantiam redeant, imitantur noc-
tuas et bubones. 4 1 Cor, xi. 14. 6 2 Tim, iii, 6, 7,
road, not to splash their feet. When you
see men acting in this way, think of them
rather as bridegrooms than as clergymen.
Certain persons have devoted the whole of
their energies and life to the single object
of knowing the names, houses, and characters
of married ladies. I will here briefly de-
scribe the head of the profession, that from
the master's likeness you may recognize the
disciples. He rises and goes forth with the
sun; he has the order of his visits duly ar-
ranged; he takes the shortest road; and,
troublesome old man. that he is, forces his
way almost into the bedchambers of ladies
yet asleep. If he sees a pillow that takes
his fancy or an elegant table-cover — or in-
deed any article of household furniture — he
praises it, looks admiringly at it, takes it
into his hand, and, complaining that he. has
nothing of the kind, begs or rather extorts
it from the owner. All the women, in fact,
fear to cross the news-carrier of the town.
Chastity and fasting are alike distasteful to
him. What he likes is a savory breakfast —
say off a plump young crane such as is
commonly called a cheeper. In speech he
is rude and forward, and is always ready to
bandy reproaches. Wherever you turn he
is the first man that you see before you.
Whatever news is noised abroad he is either
the originator of the rumor or its magnifier.
He changes his horses every hour; and they
are so sleek and spirited that you would take
him for a brother of the Thracian king.1
29. Many are the stratagems which the
wily enemy employs against us. "The ser-
pent," we are told, "was more subtile than
any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made. "2 And the apostle says: "We
are not ignorant of his devices."3 Neither^
an affected shabbiness nor a stylish smart-/
ness becomes a Christian. If there is any-
thing of which you are ignorant, if you have
any doubt about Scripture, ask one whose
life commends him, whose age puts him
above suspicion, whose reputation does not
belie him; one who 'may be able to say:
" I have espoused you to one husband that I
may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ." Or if there should be none such
able to explain, it is better to avoid danger
at the price of ignorance than to court it for
the sake of learning. Remember that you
walk in the midst of snares, and that many
veteran virgins, of a chastity never called
in question, have, on the very threshold of,
death, let their crowns fall from their hands.
1 Diomede. See Lucretius, v. 31, and Virgil, A. i. 752.
2 Gen, iii. 1. 3 2 Cor, ii. ii.
LETTER XXII.
35
If any of your handmaids share your vo-
cation, do not lift up yourself against them
or pride yourself because you are their mis-
tress. You have all chosen one Bridegroom ;
you all sing the same psalms; together you
receive the Body of Christ. Why then
should your thoughts be different?1 You
must try to win others, and that you may at-
tract the more readily you must treat the
f virgins in your train with the greatest re-
, spect. If you find one of them weak in the
1 faith, be attentive to her, comfort her, caress
' her, and make her chastity your treasure.
But if a girl pretends to have a vocation
simply because she desires to escape from
service, read aloud to her the words of the
apostle : " It is better to marry than to burn. " s
Idle persons and busybodies, whether vir-
gins or widows; such as go from house to
house calling on married women and dis-
playing an unblushing effrontery greater
than that of a stage parasite, cast from you
.as you would the plague. For "evil com-
munications corrupt good manners,"3 and
I women like these care for nothing but their
lowest appetites. They will often urge you,
saying, " My dear creature, make the best
of your advantages, and live while life is
yours," and " Surely you are not laying up
money for your children." Given to wine
and wantonness, they instill all manner of
mischief into people's minds, and induce
even the most austere to indulge in enervat-
ing pleasures. And " when they have begun
to wax wanton against Christ they will
marry, having condemnation because they
have rejected their first faith." *
\^ Do not seek to appear over-eloquent, nor
trifle with verse, nor make yourself gay with
lyric songs. And do not, out of affectation,
follow the sickly taste6 of married ladies
who, now pressing their teeth together, now
keeping their lips wide apart, speak with a
lisp, and purposely clip their words, because
they fancy that to pronounce them naturally
is a mark of country 'breeding. Accord-
ingly they find pleasure in what I may call
an. adultery of the tongue. For " what com-
^e nion hath light with darkness? And
^\\ at concord hath Christ with Belial?"6
we* w can Horace go with the psalter, Virgil
fet-h the gospels, Cicero with the apostle?7
L^--Aot a brother made to stumble if he sees
kjp. , sitting at meat in an idol's temple?^
thfveN'ough "unto the pure all things are
Ktf«
1 P &=.r mens diversa sit. The ordinary text has " menda."
s i \«.or. vii. g. 3 i Cor. xv. 33. 4 1 Tim. v. 11, 12.
6 Celsius i. 104.
• Mai.., the epistles of St. Paul,
ailed David.
3a
or. vi. 14, 15.
In like manner the Psalter was
8 I Cor, viii. 10,
pure,"1 and "nothing is to be refused if it
be received with thanksgiving,"2 still we
ought not to drink the cup of Christ, and, at
the same time, the cup of devils.3 Let me
relate to you the story of my own miserable
experience.
30. Many years ago, when for the king-
dom of heaven's sake I had cut myself off
from home, parents, sister, relations, and —
harder still — from the dainty food to which
I had been accustomed ; and when I was on
my way to Jerusalem to wage my warfare, I
still could not bring myself to forego the
library which I had formed for myself at
Rome with great care and toil. And so,
miserable man that I was, I would fast only
that I might afterwards read Cicero. After
many nights spent in vigil, after floods of
tears called from my inmost heart, after the
recollection of my past sins, I would once
more take up Plautus. And when at times
I returned to my right mind, and began to
read the prophets, their style seemed rude
and repellent. I failed to see the light with
my blinded eyes; but 1" attributed the fault
not to them, but to the sun. While the old
serpent was thus making me his plaything,
about the middle of Lent a deep-seated fever
fell upon my weakened body, and while it
destroyed my rest completely — the story
seems hardly credible — it so wasted my un-
happy frame that scarcely anything was left
of me but skin and bone. Meantime prepa-
rations for my funeral went on; my body
grew gradually colder, and the warmth of
life lingered only in my throbbing breast.
Suddenly I was caught up in the spirit and
dragged before the judgment seat of the
Judge; and here the light was so bright, and
those who stood around were so radiant, that
I cast myself upon the ground and did not
dare to look up. Asked who and what I
was I replied: "I am a Christian." But
He who presided said : " Thou liest, thou art
a follower of Cicero and not of Christ. For
'where thy treasure is, there will thy heart
be also. ' " " Instantly I became dumb, and
amid the strokes of the lash — for He had
ordered me to be scourged — I was tortured
more severely still by the fire of conscience,
considering with myself that verse, "In the
grave who shall give thee thanks?" Yet
for all that I began to cry and to bewail my-
self, saying: "Have mercy upon me, O
Lord: have mercy upon me." Amid the
sound of the scourges this cry still made
itself heard. At last the bystanders, falling
i Tit. i. 15.
4 Matt. vi. 2i.
1 Tim. iv. 4.
Ps. vi. 5.
3 i Cor. x. 2i,
36
JEROME.
down before the knees of Him who presided,
prayed that He would have pity on my youth,
and that He would give me space to repent
of my error. He might still, they urged,
inflict torture on me, should I ever again
read the works of the Gentiles. Under the
stress of that awful moment I should have
been ready to make even still larger prom-
ises than these. Accordingly I made oath
and called upon His name, saying: "Lord,
if ever again I possess worldly books, or if
ever again I read such, I have denied Thee."
Dismissed, then, on taking this oath, I re-
turned to the upper world, and, to the sur-
prise of all, I opened upon them eyes so
drenched with tears that my distress served
to convince even the incredulous. And that
this was no sleep nor idle dream, such as
those by which we are often mocked, I call
to witness the tribunal before which I lay,
and the terrible judgment which I feared.
May it never, hereafter, be my lot to fall
under such an inquisition! I profess that
my shoulders were black and blue, that I
felt the bruises long after I awoke from my
sleep, and that thenceforth I read the books
of God with a zeal greater than I had previ-
ously given to the books of men.
-.w\ 31. You must also avoid the sin of covet-
ousness, and this not merely by refusing to
seize upon what belongs to others, for that
is punished by the laws of the state, but also
by not keeping your own property, which
has now become no longer yours. " If ye
have not been faithful," the Lord says, " in
that which is another man's, who shall give
you that which is your own?"1 "That
which is another man's " is a quantity of gold
or of silver, while "that which is our own"
is the spiritual heritage of which it is else-
where said: " The ransom of a man's life is
his riches." 2 " No man can serve two mas-
ters, for either he will hate the one and love
the other; or else he will hold to the one
and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and Mammon." 3 Riches, that is; for in the
heathen tongue of the Syrians riches are
called mammon. The " thorns " which choke
our faith4 are the taking thought for our
life.5 Care for the things which the Gen-
tiles seek after6 is the root of covetousness
But you will say: "I am a girl delicately
reared, and I cannot labor with my hands.
Suppose that I live to old age and then fall
sick, who will take pity on me?" Hear
Jesus speaking to the apostles: "Take no
thought what ye shall eat; nor yet for your
1 Luke xvi. 12. 2 Prow xiii. 8, R.V. 3 Matt. vi. 24.
4 Matt. xiii. 7, 22. o Matt. vi. 25. 6 Matt, vi. 32.
body what ye shall put on. Is not the life
more than meat, and the body than raiment ?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow
not, neither do they reap nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them."1 Should clothing fail you, set the
lilies before your eyes. Should hunger
seize you, think of the words in which theC
poor and hungry are blessed. Should pain V
afflict you, read " Therefore I take pleasure
in infirmities," and "There was given to me
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above ■
measure."2 Rejoice in all God's judg-
ments; for does not the psalmist say: "The
daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy
judgments, O Lord " ? 3 Let the words be ever
on your 1 ips : " Naked came I out of my moth-
er's womb, and naked shall I return thither;"4'
and "We brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out." 6
< 32. To-day you may see women cramming
their wardrobes with dresses, changing their
gowns from day to day, and for all that
unable to vanquish the moths. Now and
then one more scrupulous wears out a single
dress; yet, while she appears in rags, her
boxes are full. Parchments are dyed purple,
gold is melted into lettering, manuscripts
are decked with jewels, while Christ lies at
the door naked and dying. When they hold
out a hand to the needy they sound a trum-
pet ;° when they invite to a love-feast7 they
engage a crier. I lately saw the noblest
lady in Rome — I suppress her name, for I
am no satirist — with a band of eunuchs be-
fore her in the basilica of the blessed Peter.
She was giving money to the poor, a coin
apiece; and this with her own hand, that she
might be accounted more religious. Here-
upon a by no means uncommon incident oc-
curred. An old woman, "full of years and
rags," 8 ran forward to get a second coin, but
when her turn came she received not a
penny but a blow hard enough to draw blood
from her guilty veins.
" The love of money is the root of all
evil," ° and the apostle speaks of covetous
.ness as being idolatry.10, ij^eek ye first the
Tcmgdom of God and all these things shall
be added unto you." n The Lord will never
allow a righteous soul to perish of hunger.
1 Matt. vi. 25, 26. 2 2 Cor. xii. 10, 7. 3 Ps. xcvii. 3.
4 Job i. 21. 6 1 Tim. vi. 7. 6 Matt. vi. 2. sTerence, Eui. 236.
7 The eucharist was at first preceded, but at a later dae was
more usually followed, by the agape or love-feast. The m.-terials
of this were contributed by the members of the congregatQn, all
of whatever station sat down to it as equals, and the meal wis con-
cluded with psalmody and prayer." (Robertson, C. H., i. (. 235.)
Scandals arose in connection with the practice, and it gradually
fell into disuse, though even at a later date allusions to it re not
infrequent, 8 1 Tim, vi. to. 10 Col. iii. 5. H Mattvi. 33.
\i
LETTER XXII.
37
"I have been young," the psalmist says,
" and now am old, yet have I not seen the
righteous forsaken nor his seed begging
bread."1 Elijah is fed by ministering ra-
vens.2 The widow of Zarephath, who with
her sons expected to die the same night, went
without food herself that she might feed the
prophet. He who had come to be fed then
turned feeder, for, by a miracle, he filled the
empty barrel. 3 The apostle Peter says : " Sil-
ver and gold have I none, but such as I have
give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ
rise up and walk."4 But now many, while
they do not say it in words, by their deeds
declare: "Faith and pity have I none; but
such as I have, silver and gold, these I will
not give thee." " Having food and raiment
let us be therewith content."6 Hear the
prayer of Jacob: "If God will be with me
and will keep me in this way that I go, and
will give me bread to eat and raiment to
put on, then shall the Lord be my God. "6
He prayed only for things necessary; yet,
twenty years afterwards, he returned to the
land of Canaan rich in substance and richer
still in children.7 Numberless are the in-
stances in Scripture which teach men to
" Beware of covetousness. " 8
33. As I have been led to touch on the
subject — it shall have a treatise to itself if
Christ permit — I will relate what took place
not very many years ago at Nitria. A
brother more thrifty than covetous, and ig-
norant that the Lord had been sold for
thirty pieces of silver,0 left behind him at
his death a hundred pieces of money which
he had earned by weaving linen. • As there
were about five thousand monks in the
neighborhood, living in as many separate
cells, a council was held as to what should
be done. Some said that the coins should
be distributed among the poor; others that
they should be given to the church, while
others were for sending them back to the
relatives of the deceased. However, Maca-
rius, Pambo, Isidore and the rest of those
called fathers, speaking by the Spirit, de-
cided that they should be interred with their
owner, with the words: "Thy money perish
with thee." 10 Nor was this too harsh a de-
cision; for so great fear has fallen upon all
throughout Egypt, that it is now a crime to
leave after one a single shilling.
34. As I have mentioned the monks, and
know that you like to hear about holy
things, lend an ear to me for a few moments.
1 Ps. xxxvii. 25.
3 1 Kings xvii. 9-16.
6 Gen. xxviii. 20, 21.
9 Matt. xxvi. 15.
VOL. VI.
2 1 Kings xvii. 4, 6.
* Acts iii. 6.
7 Gen. xxxii. 5, 10.
10 Acts viii. 20.
5 1 Tim. vi. 8.
8 Luke xii. 15.
There are in Egypt three classes of monks.
First, there are the coenobites,1 called in their
Gentile language Sauses,3 or, as we should
say, men living in a community.3 Secondly,
there are the anchorites,4 who live in the
desert, each man by himself, and are so
called because they have withdrawn from
human society. Thirdly, there is the class
called Remoboth, 6 a very inferior and little
regarded type, though in my own province 6
it is the chief if not the only sort. These
live together in twos and threes, but seldom
in larger numbers, and are bound by no rule,
but do exactly as they choose. A portion of
their earnings they contribute to a common
fund, out of which food is provided for all.
In most cases they reside in cities and
strongholds; and, as though it were their
workmanship which is holy, and not their
life, all that they sell is extremely dear.
They often quarrel because they are unwill-
ing, while supplying their own food, to be
subordinate to others. It is true that they
compete with each other in fasting ; they make
what should be a private concern an occasion
for a triumph. In everything they study ef-
fect : their sleeves are loose, their boots bulge,
their garb is of the coarsest. They are always
sighing, or visiting virgins, or sneering at
the clergy; yet when a holiday comes, they
make themselves sick — they eat so much.
35. Having then rid ourselves of these as
of so many plagues, let us come to that more •
numerous class who live together, and who
are, as we have said, called Coenobites.
Among these the first principle of union is
to obey superiors and to do whatever they
command. They are divided into bodies of
ten and of a hundred, so that each tenth
man has_^uthority over nine others, while
the hundredth has ten of these officers under
him. They live apart from each other, in
separate cells. According to their rule, no
monk may visit another before the ninth
hour;7 except the deans 8 above mentioned,
whose office is to comfort, with soothing
words, those whose thoughts disquiet them.
After the ninth hour they meet together to
sing psalms and read the Scriptures accord-
ing to usage. Then when the prayers have
ended and all have sat down, one called the
5U
1 From kolvvs /3ios (koinos bios), a common life.
2 Apparently an Egyptian word. It does not occur elsewhere.
3 In commune viventes.
4 From dvaxiapelv (anachorein), to withdraw.
6 These were monks who lived under no settled rule, but col-
lected in little groups of two and three, generally in some popu-
lous place. They seem to have practised all the arts whereby a
reputation for sanctity may be won, while they disparaged those
who led more regular lives. Cassian (Collat. xviii. 7) draws an
unfavorable picture of them. See Bingham, Antiquities, vii. ii. 4,
and Diet. Xt. Ant., s. v. Sarabaitae. 6 Pannonia, or possibly
Syria. 7 I.e. three o'clock. 8 Decani, " leaders of ten."
38
JEROME.
father stands up among them and begins to
expound the portion of the day. While he
is speaking the silence is profound; no man
ventures to look at his neighbor or to clear
his throat. The speaker's praise is in the
weeping of. his hearers.1 Silent tears roll
down their cheeks, but not a sob escapes
from their lips. Yet when he begins to
speak of Christ's kingdom, and of future
bliss, and of the glory which is to come,
every one may be noticed saying to himself,
with a gentle sigh and uplifted eyes: "Oh,
that I had wings like a dove! For then
would I fly away and be at rest."2 After
this the meeting breaks up and each com-
pany of ten goes with its father to its own
table. This they take in turns to serve,
each for a week at a time. No noise is
made over the food; no one talks while eat-
ing. Bread, pulse and greens form their
fare, and the only seasoning that they use is
salt. Wine is given only to the old, who
with the children often have a special meal
prepared for them to repair the ravages of
age and to save the young from premature
decay. When the meal is over they all rise
together, and, after singing a hymn, return
to their dwellings. There each one talks
till evening with his comrade thus: "Have
you noticed so-and-so? What grace he has!
How silent he is! How soberly he walks!"
If any one is weak they comfort him; or if
° he is fervent in love to God, they encourage
him to fresh earnestness. And because at
night, besides the public prayers, each man
keeps vigil in his own chamber, they go
round all the cells one by one, and putting
their ears to the doors, carefully ascertain
what their occupants are doing. If they
find a monk slothful, they do not scold him;
but, dissembling what they know, they visit
him more frequently, and at first exhort
rather than compel him to pray more. Each
day has its allotted task, and this being
given in to the dean, is by him brought to
the steward. This latter, once a month,
gives a scrupulous account to their common
father. He also tastes the dishes when they
are cooked, and, as no one is allowed to
say, " I am without a tunic or a cloak or a
couch of rushes," he so arranges that no one
need ask for or go without what he wants.
In case a monk falls ill, he is moved to a
more spacious chamber, and there so atten-
tively nursed by the old men, that he misses
neither the luxury of cities nor a mother's
kindness. Every Lord's day they spend
their whole time in prayer and reading; in-
i Cf. Letter LIT. § 8.
2 Ps, lv. 6.
deed, when they have finished their tasks,
these are their usual occupations. Every
day they learn by heart a portion of Scrip-
ture. They keep the same fasts all the year
round, but in Lent they are allowed to live
more strictly. After Whitsuntide they ex-
change their evening meal for a midday
one; both to satisfy the tradition of the
church and to avoid overloading their
stomachs with a double supply of food.
A similar description is given of the
Essenes by-Philo,1 Plato's imitator; also by
Josephus,2 the Greek Livy, in his narrative
of the Jewish captivity.
36. As my present subject is virgins, I
have said rather too much about monks. I
will pass on, therefore, to the third class,
called anchorites, who go from the monas-
teries into the deserts, with nothing but
bread and salt. Paul3 introduced this way
of life; Antony made it famous, and — to go -
farther back still — John the Baptist set the
first example of it. The prophet Jeremiah
describes one such in the words: " It is good
for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, be-
cause he hath borne it upon him. He giv-
eth his cheek to him that smiteth him, he is
filled full with reproach. For the Lord will
not cast off forever."4 The struggle of the
anchorites and their life — in the flesh, yet
not of the flesh — I will, if you wish, explain
to you at some other time. I must now re-
turn to the subject of covetousness, which I
left to speak of the monks. With them be-
fore your eyes you will despise, not only gold
and silver in general, but earth itself and
heaven. United to Christ, you will sing,
" The Lord is my portion." 6
37. Farther, although the apostle bids us
to "pray without ceasing," " and although to
the saints their very sleep is a supplication,
we ought to have fixed hours of prayer, i^aL— -^
if we are detained by work, the time maWe-
mind us of our duty. Prayers, as every one
knows, ought to be said at the third, sixth
and ninth hours, at dawn and at evening.7
No meal should be begun without prayer,
and before leaving table thanks should be
returned to the Creator. We should rise
two or three times in the night, and go over
the parts of Scripture which we know by
heart. When we leave the roof which shel-
ters us, prayer should be our armor; and
1 See Letter LXX. § 3, De Vir. 111. xi.
2 Josephus, Thejewish War, ii. 8. 3 I.e. the hermit
of that name. See his Life in vol. iii. of this series.
4 Lam. iii. 27, 28, 30, 31. 6 Lam. iii. 24. 6 1 Thess. v. 17.
7 In Jerome s time the seven canonical hours of prayer had not
yet been finally fixed. He mentions, however, six which corre-
spond to the later, Mattins, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Noc-
turns. Cp. Letters CVII. § g, CVIII. § 20, and CXXX. § 15.
LETTER XXII.
39
when we return from the street we should
pray before we sit down, and not give the
frail body rest until the soul is fed. In
every act we do, in every step we take, let
our hand trace the Lord's cross. Speak
aga-inst nobody, and do not slander your
mother's son.1 "Who art thou that judgest
the servant of another? To his own lord
he standeth or falleth; yea, he shall be
made to stand, for the Lord hath power to
make him stand." 2 If you have fasted two
or three days, do not think yourself better
than others who do not fast. You fast and
are angry; another eats and wears a smiling
face. You work off your irritation and hun-
ger in quarrels. He uses food in modera-
tion and gives God thanks.3 Daily Isaiah
cries: " Is it such a fast that I have chosen,
saith the Lord ?" 4 and again : "In the day
of your fast ye find your own pleasure, and
oppress all your laborers. Behold ye fast
for strife and contention, and to smite with
the fist of wickedness. How fast ye unto
me?"5 What kind of fast can his be whose
wrath is such that not only does the night
go down upon it, but that even the moon's
changes leave it unchanged ?
38. Look to yourself and glory in your
own success and not in others' failure.
Some women care for the flesh and reckon
J up their income and daily expenditure: such
' are no fit models for you. Judas was a trai-
tor, but the eleven apostles did not waver.
Phygellus and Alexander made shipwreck;
but the rest continued to run the race of
faith." Say not: "So-and-so enjoys her own
property, she is honored of men, her
brothers and sisters come to see her. Has
she then ceased to be a virgin?" In the
first place, it is doubtful if she is a virgin.
For " the Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for
man looketh upon the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart."7
Again, she may be a virgin in body and not
in spirit. According to the apostle, a true
virgin is " holy both in body and in spirit." 6
Lastly, let her glory in her own way. Let
her override Paul's opinion and live in the
enjoyment of her good things But you and
I must follow better examples.
Set before you the blessed Mary, whose
surpassing purity made her meet to be the
mother of the Lord. When the angel Ga-
briel came down to her, in the form of a
man, and said: "Hail, thou that art highly
favored; the Lord is with thee,"9 she was
1 Ps. 1. 20. 2 Rom. xiv. 4, R.V. 3 Rom. xiv. 6, R.V.
4 Isa. lviii. 5. B Isaiah lviii. 3, 4, R.V. marg.
6 1 Tim. i. 19, 20 ; 2 Tim. i. 15. 7 1 Sam. xvi. 7.
8 1 Cor. vii. 34. » Luke i. 28,
D
terror-stricken and unable to reply, for she
had never been saluted by a man before.
But, on learning who he was, she spoke, and
one who had been afraid of a man conversed
fearlessly with an angel. Now you, too, may
be the Lord's mother. "Take thee a great
roll and write in it with a man's pen
Maher-shalal-hash-baz." ' And when you
have gone to the prophetess, and have con-
ceived in the womb, and have brought forth
a son,2 say: " Lord, we have been with child
by thy fear, we have been in pain, we have
brought forth the spirit of thy salvation,
which We have wrought upon the earth."3
Then shall your Son reply: "Behold my
mother and my brethren."4 And He whose
name you have so recently inscribed upon
the table of your heart, and have written
with a pen upon its renewed surface5 — He,
after He has recovered the spoil from the
enemy, and has spoiled principalities and
powers, nailing them to His cross6 — having
been miraculously conceived, grows up to
manhood; and, as He becomes older, re-
gards you no longer as His mother, but as
His bride. To be as the martyrs, or as the
apostles, or as Christ, involves a hard strug-
gle, but brings with it a great reward.
All such efforts are only of use when they
are made within the church's pale;7 we
must celebrate the passover in the one l
house,8 we must enter the ark with Noah,9!/'
we must take refuge from the fall of Jericho*""
with the justified harlot, Rahab.10 Such vir-
gins as there are said to be among the here-
tics and among the followers of the infamous
Manes11 must be considered, not virgins, but
prostitutes. For if — as they allege — the
devil is. the author of the body, how can
they honor that which is fashioned by their
foe? No; it is because they know that the
namo»virgin brings glory with it, that they
gd atjout as wolves in sheep's clothing. 12 As
antichrist pretends to be Christ, such virgins
assume an honorable name, that they may
the better cloak a discreditable life. Re-
joice, my sister; rejoice, my daughter; re-
joice, my virgin; for you have resolved to
be, in reality, that which others insincerely
feign.
1 Isa. viii. 1, i.e. "the spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth ; " or,
in Jerome's rendering, " quickly carry away the spoils."
2 Isa. viii. 3. Jerome should have substituted " prophet " for
" prophetess. As it stands the quotation is meaningless.
3 Isa. xxvi. 18, Vulg. 4 Matt. xii. 49.
5 Prov. vii. 3 ; Jer. xxxi. ^3. 6 Col. ii. 14, 15.
7 Cp. the maxim of Cyprian : Extra ecclesiam nulla salus,
" Outside the church there is no salvation."
8 Exod. xii. 46. 8 1 Peter iii. 20, 21. 10 James ii. 25.
11 Founder of the widely prevalent sect of Manichgeans, which
at one time numbered Augustine among its adherents. One of
its leading tenets was that matter as such was essentially evil.
!» Matt. vii. 15.
40
JEROME.
39. The things that I have here set forth
will seem hard to her who loves not Christ.
But one who has come to regard all the
splendor of the world as off-scourings, and
to hold all things under the sun as vain,
that he may win Christ;1 one who has died
with his Lord and risen again, and has cru-
cified the flesh with its affections and lusts;2
he will boldly cry out: "Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribula-
tion, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" and
again: "I am persuaded that neither death
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." 3
For our salvation the Son of God is made
the Son of Man." Nine months He awaits
His birth in the womb, undergoes the most
revolting conditions,6 and comes forth cov-
ered with blood, to be swathed in rags and
covered with caresses. He who shuts up the
world in His fist6 is contained in the narrow
limits of a manger. I say nothing of the
thirty years during which he lives in obscur-
ity, satisfied with the poverty of his parents.7
AVhen He is scourged He holds His peace;
when He is crucified, He prays for His cru-
cifiers. "What shall I render unto the Lord
for all His benefits towards me? I will take
the cup of salvation and call upon the name
of the Lord. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints. " ' The only
fitting return that we can make to Him is to
give blood for blood; and, as we are re-
deemed by the blood of Christ, gladly to lay
down our lives for our Redeemer. What
saint has ever won his crown without first
contending for it? Righteous Abel is mur-
dered. Abraham is in danger of losing his
wife. And, as I must not enlarge my book
unduly, seek for yourself: you will find that
all holy men have suffered adversity. Sol-
omon alone lived in luxury and perhaps it
was for this reason that he fell. For " whom
the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourg-
eth every son whom He receiveth. " 9 Which
is best — for a short time to do battle, to carry
stakes for the palisades, to bear arms, to faint
under heavy bucklers, that ever afterwards
we may rejoice as victors? or to become
slaves forever, just because we cannot endure
for a single hour?10
« Phil. iii. 8.
3 Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39.
6 Cp. Virgil, Eel. iv, 61.
7 Luke ii. 51, 52.
» Heb. xii. 6.
2 Rom. vi. 4 ; Gal. v. 24.
4 An echo of the Nicene Creed.
6 Cp. Ps. xcv. 4, 5 ; Isa. xl. 12.
6 Ps. cxvi. 12, 13, 15.
>° Cp. Matt. xxvi. 40.
40. Love finds nothing hard; no task is
difficult to the eager. Think of all that Jacob
bore for Rachel, the wife who had been
promised to him. "Jacob," the Scripture
says, " served seven years for Rachel. And
they seemed unto him but a few days for the
love he had to her. " 1 Afterwards he himself
tells us what he had to undergo. "In the
day the drought consumed me and the frost
by night."2 So we must love Christ and
always seek His embraces. Then everything
difficult will seem easy; all things long we
shall account short; and smitten withTiis
arrows,3 we shall say every moment: "Woe
is me that I have prolonged my pilgrimage. " 4
For " the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us. " 6 For " tribu-
lation worketh patience, and patience experi-
ence, and experience hope; and hope maketh
not ashamed." 6 When your lot seems hard
to bear read Paul's second epistle to the Co-
rinthians: "In labors more abundant; in
stripes above measure; in prisons more fre-
quent; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times
received I forty stripes save one; thrice was
I beaten with rods; once was I stoned ; thrice
I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I
have been in the deep; in journeyings often,
in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in
perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by
the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren, in weariness and pain-
fulness, in watchings often, in hunger and
thirst, in fastings often, in cold and naked-
ness."7 Which of us can claim the veriest
fraction of the virtues here enumerated ? Yet
it was these which afterwards made him bold
to say: "I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at
that day."8
But we, if our food is less appetizing than
usual, get sullen, and fancy that we do God
a favor by drinking watered wine. And if
the water brought to us is a trifle too warm,
we break the cup and overturn the table and
scourge theservant in fault until blood comes.
" The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
and the violent take it by force."9 Still,
unless you use force you will never seize the
kingdom of heaven. Unless you knock im- 5
portunately you will never receive the sacra-
mental bread.10 Is it not truly violence,
1 Gen. xxix. 20. 2 Gen. xxxi. 40.
3 Ps. xxxviii. 2. 4 Ps. cxx. 5, Vulg.
6 Rom. viii. 18. 6 Rom. v. 3-5. 7 2 Cor. xi. 23-27.
0 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. » Matt, xi, 12. >» Luke xi. 5-8.
LETTERS XXII.-XXHI.
41
think you, when the flesh desires to be as
God and ascends to the place whence angels
have fallen ' to judge angels?
41. Emerge, I pray you, for a while from
your prison-house, and paint before your eyes
the reward of your present toil, a reward
which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither hath it entered into the heart of man."2
What will be the glory of that day when
> Mary, the mother of the Lord, shall come to
meet you, accompanied by her virgin choirs!
When, the Red Sea past and Pharaoh drowned
with his host, Miriam, Aaron's sister, her
timbrel in her hand, shall chant to the an-
swering women : " Sing ye unto the Lord, for
he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and
his rider hath he thrown into the sea. " 3 Then
shall Thecla4 fly with joy to embrace you.
Then shall your Spouse himself come for-
ward and say: "Rise up, my love, my fair
one, and come away, for lo ! the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone." 5 Then shall the
angels say with wonder: "Who is she that
looketh forth as the morning, fair as the
moon, clear as the sun ? " 6 " The daughters
shall see you and bless you; yea, the queens
shall proclaim and the concubines shall
praise you."7 And, after these, yet another
company of chaste women will meet you.
Sarah will come with the wedded; Anna, the
daughter of Phanuel, with the widows. In
the one band you will find your natural
mother and in the other your spiritual.8
The one will rejoice in having borne, the
other will exult in having taught you. Then
truly will the Lord ride upon his ass,9 and
thus enter the heavenly Jerusalem. Then
the little ones (of whom, in Isaiah, the Sav-
iour says: " Behold, I and the children whom
the Lord hath given me" I0) shall lift up palms
of victory and shall sing with one voice:
" Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord, hosanna in
the highest. " ll Then shall the " hundred and
forty and four thousand " hold their harps be-
fore the throne and before the elders and
shall sing the new song. And no man shall
have power to learn that song save those for
whom it is appointed. " These are they
which were not defiled with women; for they
are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth."12 As often
as this life's idle show tries to charm you;
as often as you see in the world some vain
1 Is. xiv. 12, 13. 3 1 Cor. ii. 9. 3 Ex. xv. 20, 21.
4 A legendary virgin of Iconium said to have been converted by-
Paul. 5 Cant. ii. 10, n. 8 Cant. vi. 10. 7 Cant. vi. o.
8 Viz. Paula, for whom see Letter CV1II., and Marcella, for
whom see Letter CXXVII.
9 Matt. xxi. 1-9, literally " she-ass."
1° Isa. viii. 18. >» Matt. xxi. 9. 12 Rev. xiv. 1-4.
pomp, transport yourself in mind to Paradise,
essay to be now what you will be hereafter,
and you will hear your Spouse say: "Set
me as a sunshade in thine heart and as a
seal upon thine arm." ' And then, strength-
ened in body as well as in mind, you, too,
will cry aloud and say: "Many waters can-
not quench love, neither can the floods drown
it."8
LETTER XXIII.
TO MARCELLA.
Jerome writes to Marcella to console her for the loss
of a friend who, like herself, was the head of a relig-
ious society at Rome. The news of Lea's death had
first reached Marcella when she was engaged with
Jerome in the study of the 73d psalm. Later in the
day he writes this letter in which, after extolling Lea,
he contrasts her end with that of the consul-elect,
Vettius Agorius Proetextatus, a man of great ability
and integrity, whom he declares to be now " in Tar-
tarus." Written at Rome in 384 A.D.
1. To-day, about the third hour, just as I
was beginning to read with you the seventy-
second psalm3 — the first, that is, of the third
book — and to explain that its title belonged
partly to the second book and partly to the
third — the previous book, I mean, conclud-
ing with the words " the prayers of David
the son of Jesse are ended,"4 and the next
commencing with the words " a psalm of
Asaph" 5 — and just as I had come on the pas-
sage in which the righteous man declares*.
"If I say, I will speak thus; behold I should
offend against the generation of thy chil-
dren," 6 a verse which is differently rendered
in our Latin version:7 — suddenly the news
came that our most saintly friend Lea had
departed from the body. As was only nat-
ural, you turned deadly pale; for there are
few persons, if any, who do not burst into tears
when the earthen vessel breaks.8 But if you
wept it was not from doubt as to her future
lot, but only because you had not rendered to
her the last sad offices which are due to
the dead. Finally, as we were still convers-
ing together, a second message informed us
that her remains had been already conveyed
to Ostia.
2. You may ask what is the use of re-
peating all this. I will reply in the apos-
tle's words, "much every way."9 First, it
shows that all must hail with joy the release
of a soul which has trampled Satan under
foot, and won for itself, at last, a crown of
1 Cant. viii. 6 ; the variant is peculiar to Jerome.
2 Cant. viii. 7. 3 In the English Version Ps. lxxiii.
4 Ps. lxxii. 20. 5 Ps. lxxiii. title. 6 Ps. lxxiii. 15.
7 I.e. the Old Latin Version superseded by Jerome's Vulgate.
8 2 Cor. iv. 7.
9 Rom, iii. 2.
42
JEROME.
tranquillity. Secondly, it gives me an oppor-
tunity of briefly describing her life. Thirdly,
it enables me to assure you that the consul-
elect,1 that detractor of his age,2 is now in
Tartarus.3
Who can sufficiently eulogize our dear
Lea's mode of living ? So complete was her
conversion to the Lord that she led the way
in taking the monastic vow and became a
mother of virgins, that she wore coarse sack-
cloth instead of soft raiment, passed sleep-
less nights in prayer, and instructed her com-
panions even more by example than by pre-
cept. So great was her humility that she,
who had once been the mistress of many, was
accounted the servant of all; and certainly,
the less she was reckoned an earthly mistress
the more she became a servant of Christ.
She was careless of her dress, neglected her
hair, and ate only the coarsest food. Still,
in all that she did, she avoided ostentation
that she might not have her reward in this
world.5
3. Now, therefore, in return for her short
toil, Lea enjoys everlasting felicity; she is
welcomed into the choirs of the angels; she
is comforted in Abraham's bosom. And, as
once the beggar Lazarus saw the rich man,
for all his purple, lying in torment, so does
Lea see the consul, not now in his triumphal
robe but clothed in mourning, and asking for
a drop of water from her little finger. 6 How
great a change have we here! A few days
ago the highest dignitaries of the city walked
before him as he ascended the ramparts of
the capitol like a general celebrating a tri-
umph ; the Roman people leapt up to welcome
and applaud him, and at the news of his
death the whole city was moved. Now he is
desolate and naked, a prisoner in the foulest
darkness, and not, as his unhappy wife7 falsely
asserts, set in the royal abode of the milky
way.8 On the other hand Lea, who was al-
ways shut up in her one closet, who seemed
poor and of little worth, and whose life was
accounted madness,9 now follows Christ and
sings, " Like as we have heard, so have we
seen in the city of our God." 10
4. And now for the moral of all this, which,
with tears and groans, I conjure you to re-
1 One of the most distinguished men of his day, Praetextatus
had filled the high position of Prefect of Rome. As such he
ironically assured Damasus that, if he could hope to obtain the
papacy, he would immediately embrace the Christian religion
(Jerome, "Against John of Jerusalem," § 8).
2 De suis sa;culis detrahentem. The text is clearly corrupt,
a«d no satisfactory emendation has yet been suggested.
3 So the author of II. Peter speaks of God " tartar izing the
angels that sinned " (ii. 4).
* I.e. her conduct justified her official title. 6 Cf. Matt. vi. 2.
6 Luke xvi. 19-24. 7 Paulina, chief priestess of Ceres.
8 In the Roman mythology the abode of gods and heroes. Cf.
Ovid, M. i. 175, 176. » Wisd. v, 4. 10 Ps. xlviii. 8.
member. While we run the way of this world,
we must not clothe ourselves with two coats,
that is, with a twofold faith, or burthen our-
selves with leathern shoes, that is, with dead
works; we must not allow scrips filled with
money to weigh us down, or lean upon the
staff of worldly power.1 We must not seek
to possess both Christ and the world. No;
things eternal must take the place of things
transitory;2 and since, physically speaking,
we daily anticipate death, if we wish for im-
mortality we must realize that we are but
mortal.
LETTER XXIV.
TO MARCELLA.
Concerning the virgin Asella. Dedicated to God
before her birth, Marcella's sister had been made a
church-virgin at the age of ten. From that time she
had lived a life of the severest asceticism, first as a
member and then as the head of Marcella's com-
munity upon the Aventine. Jerome, who subse-
quently wrote her a letter (XLV.) on his departure
from Rome, now holds her up as a model to be ad-
mired and imitated. Written at Rome A.D. 384.
1. Let no one blame my letters for the eu- ♦
logies and censures which are contained in ;
them. To arraign sinners is to admonish
those in like case, and to praise the^virtuous
is to quicken the zeal of those who wish to
do right. The day before yesterday I spoke
to you concerning Lea of blessed memory,3
and I had hardly done so, when I was pricked
in my conscience. It would be wrong for me,
I thought, to ignore a virgin after speaking
of one who, as a widow, held a lower place.
Accordingly, in my present letter, I mean to
give you a brief sketch of the life of our dear
Asella. Please do not read it to her; for she
is sure to be displeased with eulogies of
which she is herself the object. Show it
rather to the young girls of your acquaint-
ance, that they may guide themselves by her
example, and may take her behavior as the
pattern of a perfect life.
2. I pass over the facts that, before her
birth, she was blessed while still in her
mother's womb, and that, virgin-like, she was
delivered to her father in a dream in a bowl
of shining glass brighter than a mirror. And
I say nothing of her consecration to the
blessed life of virginity, a ceremony which
took place when she was hardly more than ten
years old, a mere babe still wrapped in swad-
dling clothes. For all that comes before works
should be counted of grace ;4 although, doubt-
less, God foreknew the future when He sanc-
1 Matt. x. 10.
8 Vide the preceding Letter.
' 2 Cor. iv. 18.
4 Rom. xi. 6.
LETTERS XXIII.-XXVII.
43
lir
I an
Tl
m m<
H
Lc
tified Jeremiah as yet unborn,1 when He made
John to leap in his mother's womb,2 and
when, before the foundation of the world,
He set apart Paul to preach the gospel of
His son.3
3. I come now to the life which after her
twelfth year she, by her own exertion, chose,
laid hold of, held fast to, entered upon, and
fulfilled. Shut up in her narrow cell she
roamed through paradise. Fasting was her
recreation and hunger her refreshment. If
she took food it was not from love of eating,
but because of bodily exhaustion; and the
bread and salt and cold water to which she
restricted herself sharpened her appetite more
than they appeased it.
But I have almost forgotten to mention
that of which I should have spoken first.
When her resolution was still fresh she took
her gold necklace made in the lamprey pat-
tern (so called because bars of metal are
linked together so as to form a flexible chain) ,
and sold it without her parents' knowledge.
Then putting on a dark dress such as her
mother had never been willing that she
hould wear, she concluded her pious enter-
ise by consecrating herself forthwith to the
ord. She thus showed her relatives that
they need hope to wring no farther conces-
sions from one who, by her very dress, had
condemned the world.
4. To go on with my story, her ways were
quiet and she lived in great privacy. In fact,
she rarely went abroad or spoke to a man.
More wonderful still, much as she loved her
virgin sister,4 she did not care to see her.
She worked with her own hands, for she knew
that it was written: " If any will not work
neither shall he eat."5 To the Bridegroom
she spoke constantly in prayer and psalmody.
She hurried to the martyrs' shrines unnoticed.
Such visits gave her pleasure, and the more
so because she was never recognized. All
the year round she observed a continual fast,
remaining without food for two or three days
at a time; but when Lent came she hoisted —
if I may so speak — every stitch of canvas and
fasted well-nigh from week's end to week's
end with " a cheerful countenance." ° What
would perhaps be incredible, were it not that
"with God all things are possible," 7 is that
she lived this life until her fiftieth year with-
out weakening her digestion or bringing on
herself the pain of colic. Lying on the dry
ground did not affect her limbs, and the rough
sackcloth that she wore failed to make her
1 Jer. i. 5. 2 Luke i. 41. 3 Eph. i. 4.
* Probably Marcella before she was married.
• 2 Thess. iii. 10. 6 Matt. vi. 17. ' Matt. xix. 26.
skin either foul or rough. With a sound body
and a still sounder soul1 she sought all her
delight in solitude, and found for herself a
monkish hermitage in the centre of busy
Rome.
5. You are better acquainted with all this
than I am, and the few details that I have
given I have learned from you. So intimate
are you with Asella that you have seen, with
your own eyes, her holy kn^es hardened like
those of a camel from ttyf frequency of her
prayers. I merely set £prth what I can glean
from you. She is alilj?e pleasant in her seri-
ous moods and serious in her pleasant ones:
her manner, while winning, is always grave,
and while grave is always winning. Her
pale face indicates continence but does not
betoken ostentation. Her speech is silent
and her silence is speech. Her pace is neither
too fast nor too slow. Her demeanor is al-
ways the same. She disregards refinement
and is careless about her dress. When she
does attend to it it is without attending. So
entirely consistent has her life been that here
in Rome, the centre of vain shows, wanton
license, and idle pleasure, where to be hum-
ble is to be held spiritless, the good praise
her conduct and the bad do not venture to
impugn it. Let widows and virgins imitate
her, let wedded wives make much of her, let
sinful women fear her, and let bishops2 look
up to her.
LETTER XXV.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of the ten names g^ven to God in
the Hebrew Scriptures. The ten names are El,
Elohim, Sabaoth, Elion, Asher yeheyeh (Ex. iii. 14),
Adonai, Jah, the tetragram J1IVH, and Shaddai.
Written at Rome 3S4 a.d.
LETTER XXVI.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of certain Hebrew wo»ds which have
been left untranslated in the versions. The words are
Alleluia, Amen, Maran atha. Written at Rome 384
A.D.
LETTER XXVII.
•cV TO MARCELLA.
In this letter Jerome defends himself against the
charge of having altered the text of Scripture, and
shows that he has merely brought the Latin Version of
the N.T. into agreement with the Greek original.
Written at Rome 384 A.D.
1. After I had written my former letter,3
containing a few remarks on some Hebrew
words, a report suddenly reached me that
• Cf. Juvenal, Sat. x. 356. a Sacerdotes. 3 XXVI.
44
JEROME.
certain contemptible creatures were deliber-
ately assailing me with the charge that I
had endeavored to correct passages in the
gospels, against the authority of the ancients
and the opinion of the whole world. Now,
though I might — as far as strict right goes —
treat these persons with contempt (it is idle to
play the lyre for an ass1), yet, lest they should
follow their usual habit and reproach me
with superciliousness, let them take my an-
swer as follows: I am not so dull-witted nor
so coarsely ignorant (qualities which they
take for holiness, calling themselves the dis-
ciples of fishermen as if men were made holy
by knowing nothing) — I am not, I repeat,
so ignorant as to suppose that any of the
Lord's words is either in need of correction
or is not divinely inspired; but the Latin
manuscripts of the Scriptures are proved to
be faulty by the variations which all of them
exhibit, and my object has been to restore
them to the form of the Greek original, from
which my detractors do not deny that they
have been translated. If they dislike water
drawn from the clear spring, let them drink
of the muddy streamlet, and when they come
to read the Scriptures let them lay aside2
the keen eye which they turn on woods fre-
quented by game-birds and waters abounding
in shellfish. Easily satisfied in this instance
alone, let them, if they will, regard the words
of Christ as rude sayings, albeit that over
these so many great intellects have labored
for so many ages rather to divine than to ex-
pound the meaning of each single word. Let
them charge the great apostle with want of
literary skill, although it is said of him that
much learning made him mad.3
2. I know that as you read these words
you will knit your brows, and fear that my
freedom of speech is sowing the seeds of fresh
quarrels; and that, if you could, you would
gladly put your finger on my mouth to pre-
vent me from even speaking of things which
others do not blush to do. But, I ask you,
wherein have I used too great license ? Have
I ever embellished my dinner plates with
engravings of idols ? Have I ever, at a Chris-
tian banquet, set before the eyes of virgins
the polluting spectacle of Satyrs embracing
bacchanals? or have I ever assailed any one
in too bitter terms ? Have I ever complained
of beggars turned millionaires? Havel ever
censured heirs for the funerals which they
have given to their benefactors?4 The one
thing that I have unfortunately said has been
1 'Ova> Kvpa was a Greek proverb.
2 Reading nee diligentiam instead of et.
9 Atfs x.wi. 24, * Hsereditarias sepulturas,
that virgins ought to live more in the com-
pany of women than of men,1 and by this I
have made the whole city look scandalized
and caused every one to point at me the fin-
ger of scorn. " They that hate me without a
cause are more than the hairs of mine head," 2
and I am become " a proverb to them. " 3 Do
you suppose after this that I will now say
anything rash?
3. But "when I set the wheel rolling I be-
gan to form a wine flagon; how comes it that
a waterpot 'is the result?"4 Lest Horace
laugh at me I come back to my two-legged
asses, and din into their ears, not the music
of the lute, but the blare of the trumpet.5
They may say if they will, "rejoicing in
hope; serving the time" but we will say " re-
joicing in hope; serving the Lord." 6 They
may see fit to receive an accusation against
a presbyter unconditionally; but Ave will say
in the words of Scripture, " Against an elder7
receive not an accusation, but before two or
three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before
all."8 They may choose to read, "It is a
man' s saying, and worthy of all acceptation ;"
we are content to err with the Greeks, thati
is to say with the apostle himself, who spokl
Greek. Our version, therefore, is, it is " a
faithful saying, and worthy of all accepta-
tion. " 9 Lastly, let them take as much pleas-
ure as they please in their Gallican "geld-
ings;" 10 we will be satisfied with the simple
" ass" of Zechariah, loosed from its halter
and made ready for the Saviour's service,
which received the Lord on its back, and so
fulfilled Isaiah's prediction: "Blessed is he
that soweth beside all waters, where the ox
and the ass tread under foot." "
LETTER XXVIII.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of the Hebrew word Selah. This
word, rendered by the LXX. SidipaAjuoc and by
Aquila asi, was as much a crux in Jerome's day as
it is in ours. "Some," he writes, " make it a 'change
of metre,' others 'a pause for breath,' others 'the be-
ginning of a new subject.' According to yet others it
has something to do with rhythm or marks a burst of
instrumental music." Jerome himself inclines to follow
Aquila and Origen, who make the word mean " for-
ever," and suggests that it betokens completion, like
the "explicit" or " feliciter " in contemporary Latin
MSS. Written at Rome a.d. 384.
1 The reference is to Letter XXII. 2 Ps. Ixix. 4. s Ps. Ixix. n.
4 Hor. A. P. 21, 22. 6 Perhaps an allusion to the Greek
proverb, di/os Aupas rJKOwe kcu cra'An-iyyos vs. " The ass listened
to the lyre, and the pig to the trumpet."
6 Rom. xii. 11, 12. The reading xvpiw " Lord" is probably cor-
rect. The R.V. says, " Some ancient authorities read the oppor-
tunity," (icaipw).
7 I.e. a " presbyter." 8 1 Tim. v. 19, 20. s 1 Tim. i. 15.
10 Jerome's detractors suggested this word instead of the simpler
"ass" in Zech. ix. 9 and Matt. xxi. 2-5. The phrase "Gallican
geldings " appears to be a quotation from Plaut. Aul. iii. 5, 21.
11 Isa. xxxii. ao, LXX,
LETTERS XXVII.-XXXII.
45
LETTER XXIX.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of the Hebrew words Ephod bad (i
Sam. ii. 18) and Tcraphim (Judges xvii. 5). Written
at Rome to Marcella, also at Rome A.D. 384.
LETTER XXX.
TO PAULA.
Some account of the so-called alphabetical psalms
(XXXVII., CXI., CXII., CXIX., CXLV.). After ex-
plaining the mystical meaning of the alphabet, Jerome
goes on thus: "What honey is sweeter than to know
the wisdom of God? others, if they will, may possess
riches, drink from a jewelled cup, shine in silks, and
try in vain to exhaust their wealth in the most varied
pleasures. Our riches are to meditate in the law of the
Lord day and night,1 to knock at the closed door,'2 to
receive the 'three loaves' of the Trinity,3 and, when
the Lord goes before us, to walk upon the water of the
world." i Written at Rome a.d. 384,
LETTER XXXI.
TO EUSTOCHIUM.
Jerome writes to thank Eustochium for some pres-
ents sent to him by her on the festival of St. Peter.
He also moralizes on the mystical meaning of the
articles sent. The letter should be compared with
Letter XLIV., of which the theme is similar. Written
at Rome in 384 a.d. (on St. Peter's Day).
1. Doves, bracelets, and a letter are out-
wardly but small gifts to receive from a vir-
gin, but the action which has prompted them
enhances their value. And since honey may
not be offered in sacrifice to God,5 you have
shown skill in taking off their overmuch
sweetness and making them pungent — if I
may so say — with a dash of pepper. For
nothing that is simply pleasurable or merely
sweet can please God. Everything must
have in it a sharp seasoning of truth.
Christ's passover must be eaten with bitter
herbs.6
2. It is true that a festival such as the
birthday7 of Saint Peter should be seasoned
with more gladness than usual ; still our mer-
riment must not forget the limit set by Scrip-
ture, and we must not stray too far from the
boundary of our wrestling-ground. Your
presents, indeed, remind me of the sacred vol-
ume, for in it Ezekiel decks Jerusalem with
bracelets,8 Baruch receives letters from Jer-
emiah,9 and the Holy Spirit descends in the
form of a dove at the baptism of Christ. 10 But
to give you, too, a sprinkling of pepper and
to remind you of my former letter,11 I send
1 Ps. i. 2.
2 Matt. vii. 7.
4 Matt. xiv. 25-33. 5 Lev. ...
7 Le. the day of his martyrdom, his heavenly nativity.
3 Luke xi. 3-8.
6 Ex. xii. 8.
e Ezek. xvi. 11.
i° Matt. iii. 16.
9 Jer. xxxvi.; Baruch vi.
« Letter XXII.
you to-day this three-fold warning. Cease
not to adorn yourself with good works — the
true bracelets of a Christian woman. ' Rend
not the letter written on your heart2 as the
profane king cut with his penknife that de-
livered to him by Baruch.3 Let not Hosea
say to you as to Ephraim, " Thou art like a
silly dove." 4
My words are too harsh, you will say, and
hardly suitable to a festival like the present.
If so, you have provoked me to it by the na-
ture of your own gifts. So long as you put
bitter with sweet, you must expect the same
from me, sharp words that is, as well as
praise.
3. However, I do not wish to make light
of your gifts, least of all the basket of fine
cherries, blushing with such a virgin modesty
that I can fancy them freshly gathered by
Lucullus5 himself. For it was he who first
introduced the fruit at Rome after his con-
quest of Pontus and Armenia; and the
cherry tree is so called because he brought
it from Cerasus. Now as the Scriptures do
not mention cherries, but do speak of a bas-
ket of figs,6 I will use these instead to point
my moral. May you be made of fruits such
as those which grow before God's temple
and of which He says, " Behold they are good,
very good. " 7 The Saviour likes nothing that
is half and half, and, while he welcomes
the hot and does not shun the cold, he tells
us in the Apocalypse that he will spew
the lukewarm out of his mouth.8 Wherefore
we must be careful to celebrate our holy day
not so much with abundance of food as with
exultation of spirit. For it is altogether un-
reasonable to wish to honor a martyr by ex-
cess who himself, as you know, pleased God
by fasting. When you take food always
recollect that eating should be followed by
reading,and also by prayer. And if,by taking
this course, you displease some, repeat to
yourself the words of the Apostle: "If I yet
pleased men I should not be the servant of
Christ"9
LETTER XXXII.
TO MARCELLA.
Jerome writes that he is busy collating Aquila's
Greek version of the Old Testament with the Hebrew,
inquires after Marcella's mother, and forwards the two
preceding letters (XXX., XXXI.). Written at Rome
in 384 a.d.
1. There are two reasons for the shortness
of this letter, one that its bearer is impatient
1 iTim. ii. 10. 2 2 Cor. iii. 2. 3 Jer. xxxvi. 23. 4 Hos. vii. 11.
6 Celebrated for his campaigns against Mithridates, and also as
a prince of epicures.
6 Jer. xxiv. 1-3. 7 Jer. xxiv. 3.
8 Rev. iii. 15, 16. 9 Gal. i, 10.
46
JEROME.
to start, and the other that I am too busy to
waste time on trifles. You ask what business
can be so urgent as to stop me from a chat on
paper. Let me tell you, then, that for some
time past I have been comparing Aquila's
version1 of the Old Testament with the scrolls
of the Hebrew, to see if from hatred to
Christ the synagogue has changed the text;
and — to speak frankly to a friend — I have
found several variations which confirm our
faith. After having exactly revised the
prophets, Solomon,2 the psalter, and the books
of Kings, I am now engaged on Exodus
(called by the Jews, from its opening words,
Eleh shemoth3), and when I have finished
this I shall go on to Leviticus. Now you
see why I can let no claim for a letter with-
draw me from my work. However, as I do
not wish my friend Currentius4 to run alto-
gether in vain, I have tacked on to this lit-
tle talk two letters6 which I am sending to
your sister Paula, and to her dear child
Eustochium. Read these, and if you find
them instructive or pleasant, take what I
have said to them as meant for you also.
2. I hope that Albina, your mother and
mine, is well. In bodily health, I mean,
for I doubt not of her spiritual welfare.
Pray salute her for me, and cherish her with
double affection, both as a Christian and as
a mother.
LETTER XXXIII.
TO PAULA.
A fragment of a letter in which Jerome institutes a
comparison between the industry as writers of M. T.
Varro and Origen. It is noteworthy as passing an
unqualified eulogium upon Origen, which contrasts
strongly with the tone adopted by the writer in subse-
quent years (see, e.g., Letter LXXXIV.). Its date is
probably 384 a.d.
1. Antiquity marvels at Marcus Teren-
tius Varro,6 because of the countless books
which he wrote for Latin readers; and Greek
writers are extravagant in their praise of
their man of brass,7 because he has written
more works than one of us could so much as
copy. But since Latin ears would find a list
of Greek writings tiresome, I shall confine
1 This version, made in the reign of Hadrian by a Jewish
proselyte who is said by some to have been a renegade Christian,
was marked by an exaggerated literalism and a close following of
the Hebrew original. By the Church it was regarded with sus-
picion as being designedly anti-Christian. Jerome, however,
here acquits Aquila of the charge brought against him.
' f.e. all the sapiential books, viz. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom.
3 Exod. i. 1, niO£> iT>K, A. V., " these are the names."
* The name means runner. Hence the allusion to Gal. ii. 2.
- XXX., XXXI.
6 Of the 490 books composed by this voluminous writer only
two are extant, a treatise on husbandry and an essay on the Latin
language.
7 The epithet xaAiceVrtpos, "heart of brass," is applied by Suidas
to the grammarian Didymus, who, according to Athena;us, wrote
3,500 books. Of these not one is extant.
myself to the Latin Varro. I shall try to
show that we of to-day are sleeping the slec
of Epimenides, ] and devoting to the amass-
ing of riches the energy which our prede-
cessors gave to sound, if secular, learning.
2. Varro's writings include forty-five
books of antiquities, four concerning the
life of the Roman people.
3. But why, you ask me, have I thus men-
tioned Varro and the man of brass? Simply
to bring to your notice our Christian man of
brass, or, rather, man of adamant2 — Origen,
I mean — whose zeal for the study of Scripture
has fairly earned for him this latter name.
Would you learn what monuments of his
genius he has left us? The following list
exhibits them. His writings comprise thir-
teen books on Genesis, two books of Mysti-
cal Homilies, notes on Exodus, notes on Le-
viticus, * * * * also single books,3 four
books on First Principles, two books on the
Resurrection, two dialogues on the same
subject.4
4. So, you see, the labors of this one
man have surpassed those of all previous
writers, Greek and Latin. Who has ever
managed to read all that he has written?
Yet what reward have his exertions brought
him ? He stands condemned by his bishop,
Demetrius,6 only the bishops of Palestine,
Arabia, Phenicia, and Achaia dissenting.
Imperial Rome consents to his condemna-
tion, she convenes her senate to censure
him,c not — as the rabid hounds who now pur-
sue him cry — because of the novelty or hete-
rodoxy of his doctrines, but because men
could not tolerate the incomparable elo-
quence and knowledge which, when once he
opened his lips, made others seem dumb.
5. I have written the above quickly and
incautiously, by the light of a poor lantern.
You will see why, if you think of those who
to-day represent Epicurus and Aristippus. 7
1 Which lasted 57 years.
2 'ASapovTios — Origen is so called by Eusebius (H. E. vi. 14,
10). It appears to have been his proper name.
3 " They may have been detached essays on particular sub-
jects."— Westcott.
4 All the works mentioned have perished except the treatise on
First Principles, and this in its completeness is extant only in the
Latin version of Rufinus. The version made by Jerome has
perished.
6 Origen left Alexandria for good in 231 a.d., and it was in
that or the following year that Demetrius convoked the synod
which condemned not so much his writings as his conduct. He
appears to have been excommunicated as a heretic.
■ That is, All the great people of Rome unite in this. No formal
Church censure is implied. Jerome uses the word Senate for the
society of high-placed persons. He calls his adversaries in Rome,
The Senate of the Pharisees (Pref. to Did. on H.Sp. in Ruf. Ap. i. 24,
Vol. iii. 470). See also," The Senate of Matrons "(Letter XLIII. 3).
7 Both these philosophers were hedonists, and the latter was a
sensualist as well. Jerome is probably satirizing the worldly
clergy of Rome, just as in after-years he nicknames his op-
ponent Jovinian the Christian Epicurus."
LETTERS XXXII.-XXXVIII.
47
LETTER XXXIV.
TO MARCELLA.
In reply to a request from Marcella for information
concerning two phrases in Ps. cxxvii. ("bread of sor-
row," v. 2, and "children of the shaken off," A.V. "of
the youth," v. 4). Jerome, after lamenting that Ori-
gen's notes on the psalm are no longer extant, gives
the following explanations:
The Hebrew phrase " bread of sorrow " is rendered
by the LXX. " bread of idols"; by Aquila, " bread of
troubles"; by Symmachus, "bread of misery." Theo-
dotion follows the LXX. So does Origen's Fifth
Version. The Sixth renders "bread of error." In
support of the LXX. the word used here is in Ps. cxv.
4, translated "idols." Either the troubles of life are
meant or else the tenets of heresy.
With the second phrase he deals at greater length.
After showing that Hilary of Poitiers's view (viz. that
the persons meant are the apostles, who were told to
shake the dust off their feet, Matt. x. 14) is untenable
and would require "shakers off " to be substituted for
"shaken off," Jerome reverts to the Hebrew as before
and declares that the true rendering is that of Sym-
machus and Theodotion, viz. "children of youth."
He points out that the LXX. (by whom the Latin
translators had been misled) fall into the same mistake
at Neh. iv. 16. Finally he corrects a slip of Hilary as
to Ps. cxxviii. 2, where, through a misunderstanding of
the LXX., the latter had substituted "the labors of
thy fruits " for " the labors of thy hands." He
speaks throughout with high respect of Hilary, and
says that it was not the bishop's fault that he was
ignorant of Hebrew. The date of the letter is prob-
ably a.d. 384.
LETTER XXXV.
FROM POPE DAMASUS.
Damasus addresses five questions to Jerome with a
request for information concerning them. They are:
1. What is the meaning of the words "Whosoever
slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him seven-
fold"? (Gen. iv. 15.)
2. If God has made all things good, how comes it
that He gives charge to Noah concerning unclean
animals, and says to Peter, "What God hath cleansed
that call not thou common"? (Acts x. 15.)
3. How is Gen. xv. 16, " in the fourth generation
they shall come hither again," to be reconciled with
Ex. xiii. 18, LXX., " in the fifth generation the chil-
dren of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt"?
•4. Why did Abraham receive circumcision as a seal
of his faith? (Rom. iv. 11.)
5. Why was Isaac, a righteous man and dear to
God, allowed by God to become the dupe of Jacob?
(Gen. xxvii.) Written at Rome 3S4 A.D.
LETTER XXXVI.
TO POPE DAMASUS,
Jerome's reply to the foregoing. For the second
and fourth questions he refers Damasus to the writings
of Tertullian, Novatian, and Origen. The remaining
three he deals with in detail.
Gen. iv. 15, he understands to mean "the slayer of
Cain shall complete the sevenfold vengeance which is
to be wreaked upon him."
Exodus xiii. 18, he proposes to reconcile with Gen.
xv. 16, by supposing that in the one place the tribe of
Levi is referred to, in the other the tribe of Judah.
He suggests, however, that the words rendered by the
LXX. "in the fifth generation" more probably mean
"harnessed" (so A.V.) or "laden." In reply to the
question about Isaac he says: "No man save Him who
for our salvation has deigned to put on flesh has full
knowledge and a complete grasp of the truth. Paul,
Samuel, David, Elisha, all make mistakes, and holy
men only know what God reveals to them." He then
goes on to give a mystical interpretation of the passage
suggested by the martyr Hippolytus. Written the
day after the previous letter.
LETTER XXXVII.
TO MARCELLA.
Marcella had asked Jerome to lend her a copy of a
commentary by Rhetitius, bishop of Augustodunum
(Autun), on the Song of Songs. He now refuses to do
so on the ground that the work abounds with errors,
of which the two following are samples: (1) Rhetitius
identifies Tharshish with Tarsus, and (2) he supposes
that Uphaz (in the phrase "gold of Uphaz") is the
same as Cephas. Written at Rome A.D. 384.
LETTER XXXVIII.
TO MARCELLA.
Blaesilla, the daughter of Paula and sister of Eusto-
chium, had lost her husband seven months after her
marriage. A dangerous illness had then led to her
conversion, and she was now famous throughout Rome
for the length to which she carried her austerities.
Many censured her for what they deemed her fanat-
icism, and Jerome, as her spiritual adviser, came in
for some of the blame. In the present letter he defends
her conduct, and declares that persons who cavil at
lives like hers have no claim to be considered Chris-
tians. Written at Rome in 385 a.d.
1. When Abraham is tempted to slay his
son the trial only serves to strengthen his
faith.1 When Joseph is sold into Egypt,
his sojourn there enables him to support his
father and his brothers.2 When Hezekiah
is panic-stricken at the near approach of
death, his tears and prayers obtain for him
a respite of fifteen years.3 If the faith of
the apostle, Peter, is shaken by his Lord's
passion, it is that, weeping bitterly, he may
hear the soothing words : " Feed my sheep. " 4
If Paul, that ravening wolf,6 that little Ben-
jamin," is blinded in a trance, it is that he
may receive his sight, and may be led, by
the sudden horror of surrounding darkness,
to call Him Lord Whom before he perse-
cuted as man.7
2. So is it now, my dear Marcella, with
our beloved Blaesilla. The burning fever
from which we have seen her suffering un-
ceasingly for nearly thirty days has been
1 Gen. xxii. 2 Gen. xxxvii., xlvi. 3 2 K xx.; Isa. xxxviii,
* Luke xxii. 54-62 ; Jon. xxi. 16. 5 Gen. xlix. 27.
6 Ps. lxviii. 27. 7 Acts ix. 3-18.
48
JEROME.
sent to teach her to renounce her over-great
attention to that body which the worms must
shortly devour. The Lord Jesus has come
to her in her sickness, and has taken her by
the hand, and behold, she arises and minis-
ters unto Him.1 Formerly her life savored
somewhat of carelessness; and, fast bound
in the bands of wealth, she lay as one dead
in the tomb of the world. But Jesus was
moved with indignation,2 and was troubled
in spirit, and cried aloud and said, Blaesilla,
come forth.3 She, at His call, has arisen
and has come forth, and sits at meat with
the Lord.4 The Jews, if they will, may
threaten her in their wrath; they may seek
to slay her, because Christ has raised her
up.5 It is enough that the apostles give
God the glory. Blaesilla knows that her
life is due to Him who has given it back to
her. She knows that now she can clasp the
feet of Him whom but a little while ago she
dreaded as her judge.6 Then life had all but
forsaken her body, and the approach of
death made her gasp and shiver. What suc-
cour did she obtain in that hour from her
kinsfolk ? What comfort was there in their
words lighter than smoke? She owes no
debt to you, ye unkindly kindred, now that
she is dead to the world and alive unto
Christ.7 The Christian must rejoice that it
is so, and he that is vexed must admit that
he has no claim to be called a Christian.
3. A widow who is " loosed from the law
of her husband " 8 has, for her one duty, to
continue a widow. But, you will say, a
sombre dress. vexes the world. In that case,
John the Baptist would vex it, too; and yet,
among those that are born of women, there
has not been a greater than he.9 He was
called an angel;10 he baptized the Lord
Himself, and yet he was clothed in raiment
of camel's hair, and girded with a leathern
girdle.11 Is the world displeased because a
widow's food is coarse? Nothing can be
coarser than locusts, and yet these were the
food of John. The women who ought to
scandalize Christians are those who paint
their eyes and lips with rouge and cosmet-
ics; whose chalked faces, unnaturally white,
are like those of idols; upon whose cheeks
every chance tear leaves a furrow; who fail
to realize that years make them old; who
heap their heads with hair not their own;
who smooth their faces, and rub out the
1 Cf. Mark i. 30, 31. 2 John xi. 38, R.V. marg.
3 Joh. xi. 38-44. •> Joh. xii. 2.
B Joh. xii. 10. * Luke vii. 38. ' Rom. vi. 11.
e Rom. vii. 2. » Luke vii. 28.
10 Luke vii. 27. The word " angel " means " messenger."
»' Matt. iii. 4.
wrinkles of age; and who, in the presence
of their grandsons, behave like trembling
school-girls. A Christian woman should
blush to do violence to nature, or to
stimulate desire by bestowing care upon
the flesh. "They that are in the flesh,"
the apostle tells us, "cannot please God." '
4. In days gone by our dear widow was
extremely fastidious in her dress, and spent
whole days before her mirror to correct its
deficiencies. Now she boldly says: "We
all with unveiled face, beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into
the same image, from glory to glory, even
as by the spirit of the Lord."2 In those
days maids arranged her hair, and her head,
which had done no harm, was forced into a
waving head-dress. Now she leaves her
hair alone, and her only head-dress is a veil.
In those days the softest feather-bed seemed
hard to her, and she could scarcely find rest
on a pile of mattresses. Now she rises
eager for prayer, her shrill voice cries Alle-
luia before every other, she is the first to
praise her Lord. She kneels upon the bare
ground, and with frequent tears cleanses a
face once defiled with white lead. After
prayer comes the singing of psalms, and it
is only when her neck aches and her, knees
totter, and her eyes begin to close with
weariness, that she gives them leave reluc-
tantly to rest. As her dress is dark, lying
on the ground does not soil it. Cheap shoes
permit her to give to the poor the price of
gilded ones. No gold and jewels adorn
her girdle; it is made of wool, plain and
scrupulously clean. It is intended to keep
her clothes right, and not to cut her waist in
two. Therefore, if the scorpion looks as-
kance upon her purpose, and with alluring
words tempts her once more to eat of the
forbidden tree, she must crush him beneath
her feet with a curse, and say, as he lies
dying in his allotted dust:3 "Get thee be-
hind me, Satan."4 Satan means adversary,5
and one who dislikes Christ's command-
ments, is more than Christ's adversary; he
is anti-christ.
5. But what, I ask you, have we ever
done that men should be offended at us?
Have we ever imitated the apostles? We
are told of the first disciples that they for-
sook their boat and their nets, and even
their aged father.6 The publican stood up
from the receipt of custom and followed the
Saviour once for all.7 And when a disciple
1 Rom. viii. 8.
3 Gen. iii. 14.
• Matt. iv. <8-22,
2 2 Cor. iii. 18, R.V.
* Matt. xvi. 23. s
7 Matt. ix. 9.
1 Pet. v. 8.
\
LETTERS XXXVIII.-XXXIX.
49
wished to return home, that he might take
leave of his kinsfolk, the Master's voice re-
fused consent.1 A son was even forbidden
to bury his father,2 as if to show that it is
sometimes a religious duty to be undutiful
for the Lord's sake.3 With us it is differ-
ent. We are held to be monks if we refuse
to dress in silk. We are called sour and
severe if we keep sober and refrain from ex-
cessive laughter. The mob salutes us as
Greeks and impostors4 if our tunics are
fresh and clean. They may deal in still
severer witticisms if they please; they may
parade every fat paunch5 they can lay hold
of, to turn us into ridicule. Our Blaesilla
will laugh at their efforts, and will bear with
patience the taunts of all such croaking
frogs, for she will remember that men called
her Lord, Beelzebub.6
LETTER XXXIX.
TO PAULA.
Blaesilla died within three months of her conversion,
and Jerome now writes to Paula to offer her his sym-
pathy and, if possible, to moderate her grief. He
asks her to remember that Blaesilla is now in paradise,
and so far to control herself as to prevent enemies of
the faith from cavilling at her conduct. Then he
concludes with the prophecy (since more than fulfilled)
that in his writings Blaesilla's name shall never die.
Written at Rome in 389 a.d.
1. "Oh that my head were waters and
mine eyes a fountain of tears: that I might
weep," not as Jeremiah says, " For the slain
of my people," 7 nor as Jesus, for the miser-
able fate of Jerusalem,8 but for holiness,
mercy, innocence, chastity, and all the vir-
tues, for all are gone now that Blaesilla is
dead. For her sake I do not grieve, but for
myself I must; my loss is too great to be
borne with resignation. Who can recall
with dry eyes the glowing faith which in-
duced a girl of twenty to raise the standard
of the Cross, and to mourn the loss of her
virginity more than the death of her hus-
band ? Who can recall without a sigh the
earnestness of her prayers, the brilliancy of
her conversation, the tenacity of her mem-
ory, and the quickness of her intellect?
Had you heard her speak Greek you would
have deemed her ignorant of Latin; yet
when she used the tongue of Rome her words
were free from a foreign accent. She even
rivalled the great Origen in those acquire-
ments which won for him the admiration of
Greece. For in a few months, or rather
1 Luke ix. 61, 62. 2 Matt. viii. 21.
3 Luke xiv. 26. « Cf. Letter LIV. § 5.
6 Pinguis aqualiculus — Pers. i. 57. 6 Matt. x. 25.
7 Jer. ix. 1. e Luke xix. 41.
days, she so completely mastered the difficul-
ties of Hebrew as to emulate her mother's
zeal in learning and singing the psai'ms.
Her attire was plain, but this plainness was
not, as it often is, a mark of pride. Indeed,
her self-abasement was so perfect that she
dressed no better than her maids, and was
only distinguished from them by the greater
ease of her walk. Her steps tottered with
weakness, her face was pale and quivering,
her slender neck scarcely upheld her head.
Still she always had in her hand a prophet
or a gospel. As I think of her my eyes fill
with tears, sobs impede my voice, and such
is my emotion that my tongue cleaves to the
roof of my mouth. As she lay there dying,
her poor frame parched with burning fever,
and her relatives gathered round her bed,
her last words were: "Pray to the Lord
Jesus, that He may pardon me, because
what I would have done I have not been
able to do." Be at peace, dear Blaesilla, in
full assurance that your garments are always
white.1 For yours is the purity of an ever-
lasting virginity. I feel confident that my
words are true: conversion can never be too
late. The words to the dying robber are a
pledge of this: "Verily I say unto thee, to-
day shalt thou be with me in paradise."2
When at last her spirit was delivered from
the burden of the flesh, and had returned to
Him who gave it;3 when, too, after her long
pilgrimage, she had ascended up into her
ancient heritage, her obsequies were cele-
brated with customary splendor. People
of rank headed the procession, a pall made
of cloth of gold covered her bier. But I
seemed to hear a voice from heaven, say-
ing: "I do not recognize these trappings;
such is not the garb I used to wear; this
magnificence is strange to me."
2. But what is this? I wish to check a
mother's weeping, and I groan myself. I
make no secret of my feelings; this entire
letter is written in tears. Even Jesus wept
for Lazarjas because He loved him.4 But he
is a poof comforter who is overcome by his
own srghs, and from whose afflicted heart
tears are wrung as well as words. Dear
Paula, my agony is as great as yours. Jesus
knows it, whom Blaesilla now follows; the
holy angels know it, whose company she
now enjoys. I was her father in the spirit,
her foster-father in affection. Sometimes I
say : " Let the day perish wherein I was
born," 5 and again, "Woe is me, my mother,
1 Eccles. ix. 8.
3 Cf. Eccles. xii. 7.
5 Job iii. 3 : cf. Jer. xx. 14.
2 Luke xxiii. 43.
* John xi. 35, 36.
50
JEROME.
that th'ou hast borne me a man of strife and
a ma.h of contention to the whole earth." '
I cry :" Righteous art thou, O Lord . . . yet
let; me talk with thee of thy judgments.
Wherefore doth the way of the wicked pros-
'per ? " 2 and " as for me, my feet were almost
gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped. For
/ I was envious at the foolish when I saw the
prosperity of the wicked, and I said: How
doth God know? and is there knowledge in
the most high? Behold these are the un-
godly who prosper in the world; they in-
crease in riches. "3 But again I recall other
words, "If I say I will speak thus, behold I
should offend against the generation of thy
children."4 Do not great waves of doubt
surge up over my soul as over yours? How
comes it, I ask, that godless men live to old
age in the enjoyment of this world's riches?
How comes it that untutored youth and in-
nocent childhood are cut down while still in
the bud? Why is it that children three
years old or two, and even unweaned in-
fants, are possessed with devils, covered
with leprosy, and eaten up with jaundice,
while godless men and profane, adulterers
and murderers, have health and strength to
blaspheme God ? Are we not told that the
unrighteousness of the father does not fall
upon the son,5 and that " the soul that sinneth
it shall die ? " 6 Or if the old doctrine holds
good that the sins of the fathers must be
visited upon the children,7 an old man's
countless sins cannot fairly be avenged upon
a harmless infant. And I have said: "Ver-
ily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and
washed my hands in innocency. For all the
day long have I been plagued." 8 Yet when
I have thought of these things, like the
prophet I have learned to say: "When I
thought to know this, it was too painful for
me; until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then understood I their end."3 Truly the
judgments of the Lord are a great deep.10
" O the depth of the riches both of the wis-
| dom and knowledge of God! How un-
searchable are His judgments, and His ways
past finding out! " " God is good, and all
that He does must be good also. Does He
decree that I must lose my husband? I
mourn my loss, but because it is His will I
bear it with resignation. Is an only son
snatched from me? The blow is hard, yet
it can be borne, for He who has taken away
is He who gave." If I become blind a
i lei
3 "1'S
I or. xv. io. 2 Jer_ xii j
Ps. lxxiii. 2, 3, it, 12, Vulg. * Ps. lxxiii. 15.
0 Kzek. xviii. 20. • F.zek. xviii. 4.
7 Ex. xx. 5. B Ps. lxxiii. *3, 14. • Ps. lxxiii. 16, 17.
10 Ps. xxxvi. 6. 11 Rom, xi. 33. 12 Job i. 21.
friend's reading will console me. If I be-
come deaf I shall escape from sinful words,
and my thoughts shall be of God alone.
And if, besides such trials as these, poverty,
cold, sickness, and nakedness oppress me, I
shall wait for death, and regard them as
passing evils, soon to give way to a better
issue. Let us reflect on the words of the
sapiential psalm: "Righteous art thou, O
Lord, and upright are thy judgments."1
Only he can. speak thus who in all his
troubles magnifies the Lord, and, putting
down his sufferings to his sins, thanks God
for his clemency.
The daughters of Judah, we are told, re-
joiced, because of all the judgments of the
Lord.2 Therefore, since Judah means con-
fession, and since every believing soul con-
fesses its faith,3 he who claims to believe in
Christ must rejoice in all Christ's judg-
ments. Am I in health ? I thank my Cre-
ator. Am I sick ? In this case, too, I
praise God's will. For "when I am weak,
then am I strong;" and the strength of the
spirit is made perfect in the weakness of the
flesh. Even an apostle must bear what he
dislikes, that ailment for the removal of
which he besought the Lord thrice. God's
reply was: " My grace is sufficient for'thee;
for my strength is made perfect in weak-
ness." 4 Lest he should be unduly elated by
his revelations, a reminder of his human
weakness was given to him, just as in the
triumphal car of the victorious general there
was always a slave to whisper constantly,
amid the cheerings of the multitude, " Re-
member that thou art but man." 5
3. But why should that be hard to bear
which we must one day ourselves endure?
And why do we grieve for the dead ? We are
not born to live forever. Abraham, Moses,
and Isaiah, Peter, James, and John, Paul,
the "chosen vessel,"0 and even the Son of
God Himself have all died ; and are we vexed
when a soul leaves its earthly tenement ?
Perhaps he is taken away, " lest that wicked-
ness should alter his understanding ... for
his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted
he to take him away from the people " 7
— lest in life's long journey he should lose
his way in some trackless maze. We should
indeed mourn for the dead, but only for him
whom Gehenna receives, whom Tartarus de-
vours, and for whose punishment the eternal
fire burns. But we who, in departing, are ac-
companied by an escort of angels, and met
1 Ps. cxix. 137. 3 Ps. xcvii. 8. s Rom. x. 10.
4 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9, 10. " Cf. Tertullian, Apol. 33.
6 Acts ix. 15. 7 Wisd. iv. 11, 14.
LETTER XXXIX.
51
by Christ Himself, should rather grieve that
we have to tarry yet longer in this tabernacle
of death.1 For "whilst we are at home in
the body, we are absent from the Lord."2
Our one longing should be that expressed by
the psalmist: "Woe is me that my pilgrim-
age is prolonged, that I have dwelt with
them that dwell in Kedar, that my soul hath
made a far pilgrimage."3 Kedar means
darkness, and darkness stands for this pres-
ent world (for, we are told, "the light
shineth in darkness; and the darkness com-
prehendeth it not"4). Therefore we should
congratulate our dear Blaesilla that she has
passed from darkness to light,5 and has in
the first flush of her dawning faith received
the crown of her completed work. Had she
been cut off (as I pray that none may be)
while her thoughts were full of worldly de-
sires and passing pleasures, then mourning
would indeed have been her due, and no
tears shed for her would have been too many.
As it is, by the mercy of Christ she, four
months ago, renewed her baptism in her vow
of widowhood, and for the rest of her days
spurned the world, and thought only of the
religious life. Have you no fear, then, lest
the Saviour may say to you: "Are you
angry, Paula, that your daughter has become/
my daughter? Are you vexed at my decree,*
and do you, with rebellious tears, grudge
me the possession of Blaesilla? You ought
to know what my purpose is both for you and
for yours. You deny yourself food, not to
fast but to gratify your grief; and such ab-
stinence is displeasing to me. Such fasts
are my enemies. I receive no soul which
forsakes the body against my will. A fool-
ish philosophy may boast of martyrs of this
kind; it may boast of a Zeno,6 a Cleombro-
tus,7 or a Cato.8 My spirit rests only upon
him " that is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and that trembleth at my word.0 Is this
the meaning of your vow to me that you
would lead a religious life? Is it for this
that you dress yourself differently from other
matrons, and array yourself in the garb of a
nun? Mourning is for those who wear silk
dresses. In the midst of your tears the call
will come, and you, too, must die; yet you
flee from me as from a cruel judge, and
fancy that you can avoid falling into my
hands. Jonah, that headstrong prophet,
1 2 Cor. v. 4. 2 2 Cor. v. 6. 3 Ps. cxx. 5, 6, Vulg.
* Joh. i. 5. 5 Eph. v. 8.
8 A famous stoic who committed suicide in extreme old age.
See Diogenes Laertius (vii. 1) for an account of his death.
' An academic philosopher of Ambracia, who is said to have
killed himself after reading the Phsedo of Plato.
8 Cato of Utica, who, after the battle of Thapsus (46 B.C.),
committed suicide to avoid falling into the hands of Caesar.
9 Isa. lxvi. 2.
once fled from me, yet in the depths of the
sea he was still mine.1 If you really be-
lieved your daughter to be alive, you would |
not grieve that she had passed to a better
world. This is the commandment that I
have given you through my apostle, that you
sorrow not for them that sleep, even as the
Gentiles, which have no hope.2 Blush, for
you are put to shame by the example of a
heathen. The devil's handmaid3 is better
than mine. For, while she imagines that
her unbelieving husband has been translated
to heaven, you either do not or will not be-
lieve that your daughter is at rest with me."
3 (a). Why should I not mourn, you say ?
Jacob put on sackcloth for Joseph, and when
all his family gathered round him, refused
to be comforted. " I will go down," he said,
"into the grave unto my son mourning.'"1
David also mourned for Absalom, covering
his face, and crying: "O my son, Absa-
lom . . . my son, Absalom ! Would God I
had died for thee, O Absalom, my son!"5
Moses,6 too, and Aaron,7 and the rest of the
saints were mourned for with a solemn
mourning. The answer to your reasoning is
simple. Jacob, it is true, mourned for Joseph,
whom he fancied slain, and thought to
meet only in the grave (his words were: " I
will go down into the grave unto my son
mourning"), but he only did so because
Christ had not yet broken open the door of
paradise, nor quenched with his blood the
flaming sword and the whirling of the guar-
dian cherubim.8 (Hence in the story of
Dives and Lazarus, Abraham and the beg-
gar, though really in a place of refreshment,
are described as being in hell.9) And
David, who, after interceding in vain for the
life of his infant child, refused to weep for
it, knowing that it had not sinned, did well
to weep for a son who had been a parricide
— in will, if not indeed.10 And when we
read that, for Moses and Aaron, lamentation
was made after ancient custom, this ought
not to surprise us, for even in the Acts of the
Apostles, in the full blaze of the gospel, we
see that the brethren at Jerusalem made
great lamentation for Stephen. " This great
lamentation, however, refers not to the
mourners, but to the funeral procession and
to the crowds which accompanied it. This
1 Jon. ii. 2-7. 2 1 Thess. iv. 13.
3 Viz. Paulina, wife of Praetextatus and priestess of Ceres. See
Letter XXIII. § 3. 4 Gen. xxxvii. 35.
5 2 Sam. xviii. 33. " Deut. xxxiv. 8. 7 Nu. xx. 29.
8 Gen. iii. 24 : cf. Ezek. i. 15-20. Here as in his Comm. on
Eccles. iii. 16-22, Jerome follows Origen, who, in his homily dc
EngUstrzmytAo, lays down that until Christ came to set them free
the patriarchs, prophets, and saints of the Old Testament were
all in hell. 9 Apud inferos— Luke xvi. 23.
i° 2 Sam. xvii. 1-4. n Acts viii. 2.
52
JEROME.
is what the Scripture says of Jacob:
"Joseph went up to bury his father: and
with him went up all the servants of Pha-
raoh, the elders of his house, and all the
elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house
of Joseph and his brethren"; and a few
lines farther on: "And there went up with
him both chariots and horsemen : and it was
a great company." Finally, " they mourned
with a great and very sore lamentation."1
This solemn lamentation does not impose
prolonged weeping upon the Egyptians, but
simply describes the funeral ceremony. In
like manner, when we read of weeping made
for Moses and Aaron,2 this is all that is meant.
I cannot adequately extol the mysteries of
Scripture, nor sufficiently admire the spirit-
ual meaning conveyed in its most simple
words. We are told, for instance, that
lamentation was made for Moses; yet when
the funeral of Joshua is described 3 no men-
tion at all is made of weeping. The reason,
of course, is that under Moses — that is under
the old Law — all men were bound by the
sentence passed on Adam's sin, and when
they descended into hell 4 were rightly ac-
companied with tears. Tor, as the apostle
says, " death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned." 5 But
under Jesus,6 that is, under the Gospel of
Christ, who has unlocked for us the gate of
paradise, death is accompanied, not with
sorrow, but with joy. The Jews go on
weeping to this day; they make bare their
feet, they crouch in sackcloth, they roll in
ashes. And to make their superstition com-
plete, they follow a foolish custom of the
Pharisees, and eat lentils,7 to show, it would
seem, for what poor fare they have lost their
birthright.8 Of course they are right to
weep, for as they do not believe in the
Lord's resurrection they are being made
ready for the advent of antichrist. But we
, who have put on Christ9 and according to
/ the apostle are a royal and priestly race,10 we
ought not to grieve for the dead. " Moses,i>,
the Scripture tells us, "said unto Aaron and
unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his sons
that were left: Uncover not your heads,
neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and
lest wrath come upon all the people."11
Rend not your clothes, he says, neither
mourn as pagans, lest you die. For, for us
1 Gen. 1. 7-10.
2 Nu. xx. 29; Deut. xxxiv. 6-8. s Josh. xxiv. 30.
4 Ad inferos. Hades is meant, not Gehenna. 6 Rom. v. 14.
6 The Greek form of Joshua. Cf. Acts vii. 45, A. V.
7 I learn from Dr. Neubauer, of Oxford, that this is still a prac-
tice during mourning among the Jews of the East. He refers to
Tur Joreh Deah. § 378. 8 Gen. xxv. 34. " Gal. iii, 27.
10 1 Pet. ii. 9. H Lev. x. 6.
sin is death. In this same book, Leviticus,
there is a provision which may perhaps
strike some as cruel, yet is necessary to
faith: the high priest is forbidden to ap-
proach the dead bodies of his father and
mother, of his brothers and of his children; '
to the end, that no grief may distract a soul
engaged in offering sacrifice to God, and
wholly devoted to the Divine mysteries.
Are we not taught the same lesson in the
Gospel in other words? Is not the disciple
forbidden to say farewell to his home or to
bury his dead father?2 Of the high priest,
again, it is said: "He shall not go out of
the sanctuary, and the sanctification of his
God shall not be contaminated, for the
anointing oil of his God is upon him."3
Certainly, now that we have believed in
Christ, and bear Him within us, by reason
of the oil of His anointing which we have
received,4 we ought not to depart from His
temple — that is, from our Christian profes-
sion— we ought not to go forth to mingle
with the unbelieving Gentiles, but always to
remain within, as servants obedient to the
will of the Lord.
4. I have spoken plainly, lest you might
ignorantly suppose that Scripture sanctions
your grief; and that, if you err, yoli have
reason on your side. And, so far, my words
have been addressed to the average Chris-
tian woman. But now it will not be so.
For in your case, as I well know, renuncia-
tion of the world has been complete; you
have rejected and trampled on the delights
of life, and you give yourself daily to fast-
ing, to reading, and to prayer. Like Abra-
ham,5 you desire to leave your country and
kindred, to forsake Mesopotamia and the
Chaldseans, to enter into the promised land.
Dead to the world before your death, you
have spent all your mere worldly substance
upon the poor, or have bestowed it upon your
children. I am the more surprised, therefore,
that you should act in a manner which
in others would justly call for reprehen-
sion. You call to mind Blaesilla's com-
panionship, her conversation, and her en-
dearing ways; and you cannot endure the
thought that you have lost them all. I par-
don you the tears of a mother, but I ask
you to restrain your grief. When I think of
the parent I cannot blame you for weeping;
but when I think of the Christian and the
recluse, the mother disappears from my
view. Your wound is still fresh, and any
touch of mine, however gentle, is more
1 Lev. xxi. 10-12.
3 Lev. xxi. 12, Vulg.
2 Luke ix. 59-62.
4 1 Joh. ii. 27. 6 Gen. xii. 1-4.
LETTER XXXIX.
53
likely to inflame than to heal it. Yet why-
do you not try to overcome by reason a grief
which time must inevitably assuage? Na-
omi, fleeing because of famine to the land
of Moab, there lost her husband and her
sons. Yet when she was thus deprived of
her natural protectors, Ruth, a stranger,
never left her side.1 And see what a great
thing it is to comfort a lonely woman!
Ruth, for her reward, is made an ancestress
of Christ.2 Consider the great trials which
Job endured, and you will see that you are
over-delicate. Amid the ruins of his house,
the pains of his sores, his countless bereave-
ments, and, last of all, the snares laid for
him by his wife, he still lifted up his eyes
to heaven, and maintained his patience un-
broken. I know what you are going to say:
"All this befell him as a righteous man, to
try his righteousness." Well, choose which
alternative you please. Either you are holy,
in which case God is putting your holiness
to the proof; or else you are a sinner, in
which case you have no right to complain.
For if so, you endure far less than your deserts.
Why should I repeat old stories? Listen
to a modern instance. The holy Melanium,3
eminent among Christians for her true nobil-
ity (may the Lord grant that you and I may
have part with her in His day!), while the
dead body of her husband was still unburied,
still warm, had the misfortune to lose at
one stroke two of her sons. The sequel
seems incredible, but Christ is my witness
that my words are true. Would you not
suppose that in her frenzy she would have
unbound her hair, and rent her clothes, and
torn her breast? Yet not a tear fell from
her eyes. Motionless she stood there; then
casting herself at the feet of Christ, she
smiled, as though she held Him with her
hands. "Henceforth, Lord," she said, "I
will serve Thee more readily, for Thou hast
freed me from a great burden." But per-
haps her remaining children overcame her
determination. No, indeed; she set so little
store by them that she gave up all that she had
to her only son, and then, in spite of the
approaching winter, took ship for Jerusalem.
( 5. Spare yourself, I beseech you, spare
Blaesilla, who now reigns with Christ; at
least spare Eustochium, whose tender years
and inexperience depend on you for guid-
ance and instruction. Now does the devil
rage and complain that he is set at naught,
because he sees one of your children exalted
1 Ruth i. 2 Matt. i. 5. 3 Or Melania. She went with Rufinus
to the East, and settled with him on the Mt. of Olives; and incurred
Jerome's resentment as Rufinus' friend. See Ep. cxxxiii. 3. "She
whose name of blackness attests the darkness of her perfidy."
VOL. VI. ]
in triumph. The victory which he failed to
win over her that is gone he hopes to obtain
over her who still remains. Too great
affection towards one's children is disaffec-
tion towards God. Abraham gladly pre-
pares to slay his only son, and do you com-
plain if one child out of several has received
her crown? I cannot say what I am going
to say without a groan. When you were
carried fainting out of the funeral proces-
sion, whispers such as these were audible in
the crowd. " Is not this what we have often
said. She weeps for her daughter, killed
with fasting. She wanted her to marry
again, that she might have grandchildren.
How long must we refrain from driving
these detestable monks out of Rome? Why
do we not stone them or hurl them into the
Tiber? They have misled this unhappy
lady ; that she is not a nun from choice is
clear. No heathen mother ever wept for her
children as she does for Blaesilla." What
sorrow, think you, must not Christ have en-
dured when He listened to such words as
these! And how triumphantly must Satan
have exulted, eager as he is to snatch your
soul ! Luring you with the claims of a
grief which seems natural and right, and
always keeping before you the image of
Blaesilla, his aim is to slay the mother of
the victress, and then to fall upon her for-
saken sister. I do not speak thus to terrify
you. The Lord is my witness that I address
you now as though I were standing at His
judgment seat. Tears which have no mean-
ing are an object of abhorrence. Yours are
detestable tears, sacrilegious tears, unbe-
lieving tears; for they know no limits, and
bring you to the verge of death. You shriek
and cry out as though on fire within, and do
your best to put an end to yourself. I But to
you and others like you Jesus comes in His
mercy and says: "Why weepest thou? the
damsel is not dead but sleepeth. " ' The by-
standers may laugh him to scorn; such un-
belief is worthy of the Jews. If you prostrate
yourself in grief at your daughter's tomb you
too will hear the chiding of the angel, "Why
seek ye the living among the dead ?" 2 It was
because Mary Magdalene had done this that
when she recognized the Lord's voice calling
her and fell at His feet, He said to her:
" Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to
my Father;"3 that is to say, you are not
worthy to touch, as risen, one whom you sup-
pose still in the tomb.
6. What crosses and tortures, think you,
must not our Blaesilla endure to see Christ
1 Mark v. 39.
2 Luke xxiv. 5.
3 Joh. xx. 17.
54
JEROME.
angry with you, though it be but a little!
At this moment she cries to you as you weep:
" If ever you loved me, mother, if I was nour-
ished at your breast, if I was taught by
your precepts, do not grudge me my exalta-
tion, do not so act that we shall be separated
forever. Do you fancy that I am alone ? In
place of you I now have Mary the mother of
the Lord". Here I see many whom before
I have not known. My companions are in-
finitely better than any that I had on earth.
Here I have the company of Anna, the pro-
phetess of the Gospel;1 and — what should
kindle in you more fervent joy — I have
gained in three short months what cost
her the labor of many years to win. Both
of us widows indeed, we have been both re-
warded with the palm of chastity. Do you
pity me because I have left the world behind
me? It is I who should, and do, pity you
who, still immured in its prison, daily fight
with anger, with covetousness, with lust,
with this or that temptation leading the soul
to ruin. If you wish to be indeed my
mother, you must please Christ. She is not
my mother who displeases my Lord." Many
other things does she say which here I pass
over; she prays also to God for you. For
me, too, I feel sure, she makes intercession,
and asks God to pardon my sins in return
for the warnings and advice that I bestowed
on her, when to secure her salvation I
braved the ill will of her family.
7. Therefore, so long as breath animates
my body, so long as I continue in the enjoy-
ment of life, I engage, declare, and promise
that Blaesilla's name shall be forever on my
tongue, that my labors shall be dedicated to
her honor, and that my talents shall be
devoted to her praise. No page will I
write in which Blaesilla's name shall not
occur. Wherever the records of my utter-
ance shall find their way, thither she, too,
will travel with my poor writings. Virgins,
widows, monks and priests, as they read, will
see how deeply her image is impressed upon
my mind. Everlasting remembrance will
make up for the shortness of her life. Liv-
ing as she does with Christ in heaven, she
will live also on the lips of men. The pres-
ent will soon pass away and give place to
the future, and that future will judge her
without partiality and without prejudice.
As a childless widow she will occupy a mid-
dle place between Paula, the mother of chil-
dren, and Eustochium the virgin. In my
writings she will never die. She will hear
1 Luke ii. 36, 37.
me conversing of her always, either with her
sister or with her mother.
LETTER XL.
TO MARCELLA.
Onasus, of Segesta, the subject of this letter, was
among Jerome's Roman opponents. He is here held
up to ridicule in a manner which reflects little credit on
the writer's urbanity. The date of the letter is 385
A.D.
1. The medical men called surgeons pass
for being cruel, but really deserve pity.
For is it not pitiful to cut away the dead
flesh of another man with merciless knives
without being moved by his pangs? Is it
not pitiful that the man who is curing the
patient is callous to his sufferings, and has to
appear as his enemy? Yet such is the order
of nature. While truth is always bitter, pleas-
antness waits upon evil-doing. Isaiah goes
naked without blushing as a type of captivity
to come.1 Jeremiah is sent from Jerusalem
to the Euphrates (a river in Mesopotamia),
and. leaves his girdle to be marred in the
Chaldean camp, among the Assyrians hos-
tile to his people.2 Ezekiel is told to eat
bread made of mingled seeds and sprinkled
with the dung of men and cattle.3 ' He has
to see his wife die without shedding a tear.4
Amos is driven from Samaria.5 Why is he
driven from it? Surely in this case as in
the others, because he was a spiritual sur-
geon, who cut away the parts diseased by
sin and urged men to repentance. The
apostle Paul says: "Am I therefore become
your enemy because I tell you the truth?"6
And so the Saviour Himself found it, from
whom many of the disciples went back be-
cause His sayings seemed hard.7
2. It is not surprising, then, that by expos-
ing their faults I have offended many. I
have arranged to operate on a cancerous
nose ;s let him who suffers from wens tremble.
I wish to rebuke a chattering daw; let the
crow realize that she is offensive.9 Yet,
after all, is there but one person in Rome
" Whose nostrils are disfigured by a scar ? " 10
Is Onasus of Segesta alone in puffing out
his cheeks like bladders and balancing hol-
low phrases on his tongue?
I say that certain persons have, by crime,
perjury, and false pretences, attained to this
or that high position. How does it hurt
you who know that the charge does not touch
you? I laugh at a pleader who has no
1 Isa. xx. 2. 2 Jer. xiii. 6, 7. 3 Ezek. iv. 9-16.
4 Ezek. xxiv. 15-18. 5 Amos vii. 12, 13. 6 Gal. iv. 16.
7 John vi. 60, 66. 8 Nasus. A play on the name Onasus.
9 Cf. Persius, 1. 33. Iu Virg. A. vi. 497.
LETTERS XXXIX.-XLT.
55
clients, and sneer at a penny-a-liner's elo-
quence. What does it matter to you who
are such a refined speaker? It is my whim
to inveigh against mercenary priests. You
are rich already, why should you be angry?
I wish to shut up Vulcan and burn him in
his own flames. Are you his guest or his
neighbor that you try to save an idol's shrine
from the fire ? I choose to make merry over
ghosts and owls and monsters of the Nile;
and whatever I say, you take it as aimed at
you. At whatever fault I point my pen, you
cry out that you are meant. You collar me
and drag me into court and absurdly charge
me with writing satires when I only write
plain prose!
So you really think yourself a pretty fel-
low just because you have a lucky name!1
Why it does not follow at all. A brake is
called a brake just because the light does
not break through it.2 The Fates are
called "sparers,"3 just because they never
spare. The Furies are spoken of as
gracious,4 because they show no grace. And
in common speech Ethiopians go by the
name of silverlings. Still, if the showing
up of faults always angers you, I will soothe
you now with the words of Persius: "May
you be a catch for my lord and lady's daugh-
ter! May the pretty ladies scramble for
you ! May the ground you walk on turn to
a rose-bed!" 5
3. All the same, I will give you a hint
what features to hide if you want to look
your best. Show no nose upon your face
and keep your mouth shut. You will then
stand some chance of being counted both
handsome and eloquent.
LETTER XLI.
TO MARCELLA.
An effort having been made to convert Marcella to
Montanism,6 Jerome here summarizes for her its leading
doctrines, which he contrasts with those of the Church.
Written at Rome in 385 A.D.
1 . As regards the passages brought together
from the gospel of John with which a certain
votary of Montanus has assailed you, pas-
sages in which our Saviour promises that He
will go to the Father, and that He will send
the Paraclete7 — as regards these, the Acts of
the Apostles inform us both for what time
the promises were made, and at what time
1 Onasus means " lucky " or " profitable ; " it is another form
of Onesimus.
2 Quoted from Quintilian i. 6, 34 (lucus a non lucendo).
3 Parcae, from parcere, to spare.
4 Eumenides, the Greek name for the Furies. 3 Pers. ii. 37, 38.
6 Montanus lived at Ardaban, in Phrygia, in the second half of
the second century, and founded a sect of prophetic enthusiasts
and ascetics, which was afterward joined by Tertullian.
7 Joh. xiv. 28 ; xv. 26,
they were actually fulfilled. Ten days had
elapsed, we are told, from the Lord's ascen-
sion and fifty from His resurrection, when
the Holy Spirit came down, and the tongues
of the believers were cloven, so that each
spoke every language. Then it was that,
when certain persons of those who as yet
believed not declared that the disciples were
drunk with new wine, Peter standing in the
midst of the apostles, and of all the con-
course said: "Ye men of Judaea and all ye
that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto
you and hearken to my words: for these are
not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the
third hour of the day. But this is that which
was spoken of by the prophet Joel. And it
shall come to pass in the last days, saith
God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all
flesh: and your sons and daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams: and on my servants, and on my
handmaidens I will pour out ... of my
spirit." l
2. If, then, the apostle Peter, upon whom
the Lord has founded the Church,2 has ex-
pressly said that the prophecy and promise
of the Lord were then and there fulfilled,
how can we claim another fulfilment for our-
selves ? If the Montanists reply that Philip's
four daughters prophesied 3 at a later date,
and that a prophet is mentioned named Aga-
bus,4 and that in the partition of the spirit,
prophets are spoken of as well as apostles,
teachers and others,5 and that Paul himself
prophesied many things concerning heresies
still future, and the end of the world; we tell
them that we do not so much reject prophecy
— for this is attested by the passion of the
Lord — as refuse to receive prophets whose
utterances fail to accord with the Scriptures
old and new.
3. In the first place we differ from the
Montanists regarding the rule of faith. We :
distinguish the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit as three persons, but unite them as one
substance. They, on the other hand, fol-
lowing the doctrine of Sabellius,6 force the
Trinity into the narrow limits of a single
personality. We, while we do not encourage
them, yet allow second marriages, since
Paul bids the younger widows to marry.7
They suppose a repetition of marriage a sin
so awful that he who has committed it is to
be regarded as an adulterer. We, according
1 Acts ii. 14-18. 2 Matt. .xvi. 18. 3 Acts xxi. o.
* Acts xi. 28 ; xxi. 10, n. 6 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; cf. Eph. iv. 11.
6 A presbyter of the Libyan Pentapolis who taught at Rome in
the early years of the third century. He "confounded the per-
sons " of the Trinity and was subsequently accounted a heretic.
Cf. Letter XV. ' 1 Tim. v. 14.
E 2
56
JEROME.
to the apostolic tradition (in which the whole
world is at one with us), fast through one
Lent yearly; whereas they keep three in the
year as though three saviours had suffered.
I do not mean, of course, that it is unlawful
to fast at other times through the year —
always excepting Pentecost1 — only that while
in Lent it is a duty of obligation, at other
seasons it is a matter of choice. With us,
again, the bishops occupy the place of the
apostles, but with them a bishop ranks not
first but third. For while they put first the
patriarchs of Pepusa2 in Phrygia, and place
next to these the ministers called stewards,3
the bishops are relegated to the third or
almost the lowest rank. No doubt their
object is to make their religion more pre-
tentious by putting that last which we put
first. Again they close the doors of the
Church to almost every fault, whilst we read
daily, "I desire the repentance of a sinner
rather than his death," " and " Shall they fall
and not arise, saith the Lord,"5 and once
more " Return ye backsliding children and
I will heal your backslidings. " * Their
strictness does not prevent them from them-
selves committing grave sins, far from it;
but there is this difference between us and
them, that, whereas they in their self-right-
eousness blush to confess their faults, we do
penance for ours, and so more readily gain
pardon for them.
4. I pass over their sacraments' of sin, made
up as they are said to be, of sucking chil-
dren subjected to a triumphant martyrdom.8
I prefer, I say, not to credit these ; accusa-
tions of blood-shedding may well be false.
But I must confute the open blasphemy of
men who say that God first determined in the
Old Testament to save the world by Moses
and the prophets, but that finding Himself
unable to fulfil His purpose He took to Him-
self a body of the Virgin, and preaching
under the form of the Son in Christ, under-
went death for our salvation. Moreover that,
when by these two steps He was unable to
save the world, He last of all descended by
the Holy Spirit upon Montanus and those
demented women Prisca and Maximilla; and
that thus the mutilated and emasculate9
Montanus possessed a fulness of knowledge
such as was never claimed by Paul ; for he
was content to say, " We know in part, and
1 Viz. the period between Easter Day and Whitsunday.
2 Called by the Montanists the New Jerusalem.
3 Oeconomos — according to a probable emendation. The text
has cenonas. 4 Ezek. xviii. 23. 6 Jer. viii. 4.
6 Jer. iii. 22. 7 Mysteria.
8 Victuro martyre confarrata. The precise meaning of the words
is obscure.
9 Some suppose him to have been a priest of Cybele, but it
Wpuld be a mistake to lay too much stress on Jerome's words.
we prophesy in part," and again, "Now we
see through a glass darkly." '
These are statements which require no
refutation. To expose the infidelity of the
Montanists is to triumph over it. Nor is it
necessary that in so short a letter as this
I should overthrow the several absurdities
which they bring forward. You are well
acquainted with the Scriptures; and, as I
take it, you have written, not because you
have been disturbed by their cavils, but only
to learn my opinion about them.
LETTER XLII.
TO MARCELLA.
At Marcella's request Jerome explains to her what is
"the sin against the Holy Ghost" spoken of by Christ,
and shows Novatian's '2 explanation of it to be unten-
able. Written at Rome in 385 a.d.
1. The question you send is short and the
answer is clear. There is this passage in the
gospel : " Whosoever speaketh a word against
the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him;
but whosoever speaketh against the Holy
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither
in this world nor in the world to come."3
Now if Novatian affirms that none but Chris-
tian renegades can sin against the Holy
Ghost, it is plain that the Jews who blas-
phemed Christ were not guilty of this sin.
Yet they were wicked husbandmen, they had
slain the prophets, they were then compass-
ing the death of the Lord ;4 and so utterly
lost were they that the Son of God told them
that it was they whom he had come to save. 5
It must be proved to Novatian, therefore,
that the sin which shall never be forgiven is
not the blasphemy of men disembowelled by
torture who in their agony deny their Lord,
but is the captious clamor of those who,
while they see that God's works are the fruit
of virtue, ascribe the virtue to a demon and
declare the signs wrought to belong not to
the divine excellence but to the devil. And
this is the whole gist of our Saviour's argu-
ment, when He teaches that Satan cannot be
cast out by Satan, and that his kingdom is
not divided against itself.0 If it is the
devil's object to injure God's creation, how
can he wish to cure the sick and to expel him-
self from the bodies possessed by him? Let
Novatian prove that of those who have been
compelled to sacrifice before a judge's tribu-
1 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 12.
2 Novatian, a Roman presbyter in the middle of the third cent-
ury, held that the " lapsed," who had failed during the persecu-
tions, could not be readmitted to the church. His sect upheld an
extreme moral puritanism, as is shown in the speech of Constan-
tine to their bishop at the Council of Nicaea: "Acesius, you should
set up a ladder to heaven, and go up by yourself alone."
3 Matt. xii. 32. * Matt. xxi. 33.
6 Matt, xviii. u. • Matt. xii. 25, 26.
LETTERS XLI.-XLIII.
57
nal any has declared of the things written
in the gospel that they were wrought not by
the Son of God but by Beelzebub, the prince
of the devils;1 and then he will be able to
make good his contention that this2 is the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which
shall never be forgiven.
2. But to put a more searching question
Still: let Novatian tell us how he distin-
guishes speaking against the Son of Man
from blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
For I maintain that on his principles men
who have denied Christ under persecution
have only spoken against the Son of Man,
and have not blasphemed the Holy Ghost.
For when a man is asked if he is a Christian,
and declares that he is not; obviously in
denying Christ, that is the Son of Man, he
does no despite to the Holy Ghost. But if
his denial of Christ involves a denial of the
Holy Ghost, this heretic can perhaps tell us
how the Son of Man can be denied without
sinning against the Holy Ghost. If he
thinks that we are here intended by the term
Holy Ghost to understand the Father, no
mention at all of the Father is made by the
denier in his denial. When the apostle
Peter, taken aback by a maid's question,
denied the Lord, did he sin against the Son
of Man or against the Holy Ghost ? If No-
vatian absurdly twists Peter's words, "I
know not the man,"3 to mean a denial not
of Christ's Messiahshipbut of His humanity,
he will make the Saviour a liar, for He fore-
told4 that He Himself, that is His divine
Sonship, must be denied. Now, when Peter
denied the Son of God, he wept bitterly and
effaced his threefold denial by a threefold
confession.5 His sin, therefore, was not the
sin against the Holy Ghost which can never
be forgiven. It is obvious, then, that this
sin involves blasphemy, calling one Beelze-
bub for his actions, whose virtues prove him
to be God. If Novatian can bring an instance
of a renegade who has called Christ Beelze-
bub, I will at once give up my position and
admit that after such a fall the denier can
win no forgiveness. To give way under
torture and to deny oneself to be a Christian
is one thing, to say that Christ is the devil
is another. And this you will yourself see if
you read the passage6 attentively.
3. I ought to have discussed the matter
more fully, but some friends have visited my
humble abode, and I cannot refuse to give
myself up to them. Still, as it might seem
arrogant not to answer you at once, I have
1 Matt. xii. 24. * Viz. denial of Christ by Christians.
3 Matt. xxvi. 74. 4 Matt. xxvi. 33-35 ; Joh. xiii. 38.
5 Joh, xxi, 15-17. 6 Viz. Matt. xii. 32, quoted above.
compressed a wide subject into a few words,
and have sent you not a letter but an ex-
planatory note.1
LETTER XLIII.
TO MARCELLA.
Jerome draws a contrast between his daily life and
that of Origen, and sorrowfully admits his own short-
comings. He then suggests to Marcella the advan-
tages which life in the country offers over life in town,
and hints that he is himself disposed to make trial of
it. Written at Rome in 385 A.D.
1. Ambrose who supplied Origen, true man
of adamant and of brass,2 with money, ma-
terials and amanuenses to bring out his count-
less books — Ambrose, in a letter to his friend
from Athens, states that they never took a
meal together without something being read,
and never went to bed till some portion of
Scripture had been brought home to them by
a brother's voice. Night and day, in fact,
were so ordered that prayer only gave place
to reading and reading to prayer.
2. Have we, brute beasts that we are, ever
done the like? Why, we yawn if we read
for over an hour; we rub our foreheads and
vainly try to suppress our languor. And
then, after this great feat, we plunge for
relief into worldly business once more.
I say nothing of the meals with which we
dull our faculties, and I would rather not
estimate the time that we spend in paying
and receiving visits. Next we fall into
conversation; we waste our words, we attack
people behind their backs, we detail their
way of living, we carp at them and are
carped at by them in turn. Such is the fare
that engages our attention at dinner and
afterwards. Then, when our guests have
retired, we make up our accounts, and these
are sure to cause us either anger or anxiety.
The first makes us like raging lions, and the
second seeks vainly to make provision for
years to come. We do not recollect the words
of the Gospel : " Thou fool, this night thy
soul shall be required of thee: then whose
shall those things be which thou hast pro-
vided?"3 The clothing which we buy is de-
signed not merely for use but for display.
Where there is a chance of saving money we
quicken our pace, speak promptly, and keep
our ears open. If we hear of household
losses — such as often occur — our looks be-
come dejected and gloomy. The gain of a
penny4 fills us with joy; the loss of a half-
penny5 plunges us into sorrow. One man
1 Commentariolum.
2 For the meaning of these epithets as applied to Origen see Let-
ter XXXIII. § 1. 3 Luke xii. 20.
* Nurnmus. Sc. Sestertius = 4 cents = 2 pence.
5 Obolus = 3 1-2 cents = 1 penny 3 farthings.
58
JEROME.
is of so many minds that the prophet's prayer
is: " Lord, in thy city scatter their image." '
For created as we are in the image of God
and after His likeness,2 it is our own wicked-
ness which makes us assume masks.3 Just
as on the stage the same actor now figures
as a brawny Hercules, now softens into a
tender Venus, now shivers in the role of
Cybele; so we — who, if we were not of the
world, would be hated by the world 4 — for
every sin that we commit have a correspond-
ing mask.
3. Wherefore, seeing that we have jour-
neyed for much of our life through a troubled
sea, and that our vessel has been in turn
shaken by raging blasts and shattered upon
treacherous reefs, let us, as soon as may be,
make for the haven of rural quietude.
There such country dainties as milk and
household bread, and greens watered by our
own hands, will supply us with coarse but
harmless fare. So living, sleep will not call
us away from prayer, nor satiety from read-
ing. In summer the shade of a tree will
afford us privacy. In autumn the quality of
the air and the leaves strewn under foot will
invite us to stop and rest. In springtime
the fields will be bright with flowers, and
our psalms will sound the sweeter for the
twittering of the birds. When winter comes,
with its frost and snow, I shall not have to
buy fuel, and, whether I sleep or keep vigil,
shall be warmer than in town. At least, so
far as I know, I shall keep off the cold at
less expense. Let Rome keep to itself its
noise and bustle, let the cruel shows of the
arena go on, let the crowd rave at the circus,
let the playgoers revel in the theatres and —
for I must not altogether pass over our
Christian friends — let the House of Ladies 5
hold its daily sittings. It is good for us to
cleave to the Lord,6 and to put our hope in
the Lord God, so that when we have ex-
changed our present poverty for the kingdom
of heaven, we may be able to exclaim:
" Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and
there is none upon earth that I desire beside
thee." Surely if we can find such blessed-
ness in heaven we may well grieve to have
sought after pleasures poor and passing here
upon earth. Farewell.
LETTER XLIV.
TO MARCELLA.
Marcella had sent some small articles as a present
(probably to Paula and Eustochium) and Jerome now
' Ps lxxiii. 30, Vulg. a Gen. i. 26. a These were
worn by both Greek and Roman actors. * Joh xv 19 6 Ps
Ix.nih. 28. «Senatus Matronarum. Comp. Letter XXXIII. 4:
Koine calls together its senate to condemn him." » Ps. lxxiii. 25.
writes in their name to thank her for them. He
notices the appropriateness of the gifts, not only to the
ladies, but also to himself. Written at Rome in 385
A.D.
When absent in body we are wont to con-
verse together in spirit.1 Each of us does
what he or she can. You send us gifts, we
send you back letters of thanks. And as we
are virgins who have taken the veil,2 it is
our duty to show that hidden meanings lurk
under your nice presents. Sackcloth, then,
is a token of 'prayer and fasting, the chairs
remind us that a virgin should never stir
abroad, and the wax tapers that we should
look for the bridegroom's coming with our
lights burning.3 The cups also warn us to
mortify the flesh and always to be ready
for martyrdom. "How bright," says the
psalmist," is the cup of the Lord, intoxicating
them that drink it!"4 Moreover, when you
offer to matrons little fly-flaps to brush away
mosquitoes, it is a charming way of hinting
that they should at once check voluptuous
feelings, for " dying flies, " we are told, " spoil
sweet ointment."5 In such presents, then,
as these, virgins can find a model, and ma-
trons a pattern. To me, too, your gifts
convey a lesson, although one of an opposite
kind. For chairs suit idlers, sackcloth does
for penitents, and cups are wanted for the
thirsty. And I shall be glad to light your
tapers, if only to banish the terrors of the
night and the fears of an evil conscience.
LETTER XLV.
TO ASELLA.
After leaving Rome for the East, Jerome writes to
Asella to refute the calumnies by which he had been
assailed, especially as regards his intimacy with Paula
and Eustochium. Written on board ship at Ostia, in
August, 385 A.D.
1. Were I to think myself able to requite
your kindness I should be foolish. God is
able in my stead to reward asoul which is con-
secrated to Him. So unworthy, indeed, am
I of your regard that I have never ventured
to estimate its value or even to wish that it
might be given me for Christ's sake. Some
consider me a wicked man, laden with in-
iquity ; and such language is more than justi-
fied by my actual sins. Yet in dealing with
the bad you do well to account them good. It
is dangerous to judge another man's servant ;°
and to speak evil of the righteous is a sin not
easily pardoned. The day will surely come
1 Cf. Col. ii. 5. a Cf. Letter CXXX. § 2.
3 Matt. xxv. 1.
4 Ps. xxiii. 5, according to the Gallican psalter.
s Eccles. x. 1, Vulg. 6 Rom. xiv. 4.
LETTERS XLIII.-XLV.
50
when you and I shall mourn for others; for
not a few will be in the flames.
2. I am said to be an infamous turncoat,
"a slippery knave, one who lies and deceives
others by Satanic arts. Which is the safer
course, I should like to know, to invent or
credit these charges against innocent persons,
or to refuse to believe them, even of the
guilty ? Some kissed my hands, yet attacked
me with the tongues of vipers; sympathy
was on their lips, but malignant joy in their
hearts. The Lord saw them and had them
in derision,1 reserving my poor self and them
for judgment to come. One would attack
my gait or my way of laughing; another
would find something amiss in my looks;
another would suspect the simplicity of my
manner. Such is the company in which I
have lived for almost three years.
It often happened that I found myself sur-
rounded with virgins, and to some of these I
expounded the divine books as best I could.
Our studies brought about constant inter-
course, this soon ripened into intimacy, and
this, in turn, produced mutual confidence. If
they have ever seen anything in my conduct
unbecoming a Christian let them say so.
Have I taken any one's money? Have I not
disdained all gifts, whether small or great?
Has the chink of any one's coin been heard
in my hand ? 2 Has my language been equiv-
ocal, or my eye wanton? No; my sex is my
one crime, and even on this score I am not
assailed, save when there is a talk of Paula
going to Jerusalem. Very well, then.
They believed my accuser when he lied ; why
do they not believe him when he retracts ?
He is the same man now that he was then,
A and yet he who before declared me guilty now
confesses that I am innocent. Surely a man's
words under torture are more trustworthy
than in moments of gaiety, except, indeed,
that people are prone to believe falsehoods
designed to gratify their ears, or, worse still,
stories which, till then uninvented, they have
urged others to invent.
3. Before I became acquainted with the
family of the saintly Paula, all Rome re-
sounded with my praises. Almost every one
concurred in judging me worthy of the epis-
copate. Damasus, of blessed memory, spoke
no words but mine.3 Men called me holy,
humble, eloquent.
Did I ever cross the threshold of a light
woman ? Was I ever fascinated by silk
dresses, or glowing gems, or rouged faces, or
display of gold ? Of all the ladies In Rome
1 Ps. ii. 4. 2 Cf. 1 Sam. xii. 3.
8 Damasus meus sermo erat, or " spoke of none but me."
but one had power to subdue me, and that
one was Paula. She mourned and fasted, she
was squalid with dirt, her eyes were dim from
weeping. For whole nights she would pray
to the Lord for mercy, and often the rising
sun found her still at her prayers. The
psalms were her only songs, the Gospel her
whole speech, continence her one indulgence,
fasting the staple of her life. The only
woman who took my fancy was one whom I
had not so much as seen at table. But when I
began to revere, respect, and venerate her as
her conspicuous chastity deserved, all my
former virtues forsook me on the spot.
4. Oh! envy, that dost begin by tearing
thyself! Oh! cunning malignity of Satan,
that dost always persecute things holy! Of
all the ladies in Rome, the only ones that
caused scandal were Paula and Melanium,
who, despising their wealth and deserting
their children, uplifted the cross of the Lord
as a standard of religion. Had they fre-
quented the baths, or chosen to use perfumes, '
or taken advantage of their wealth and posi-
tion as widows to enjoy life and to be inde-
pendent, they would have been saluted as
ladies of high rank and saintliness. As it is,
of course, it is in order to appear beautiful
that they put on sackcloth and ashes, and
they endure fasting and filth merely to go
down into the Gehenna of fire! As if they
could not perish with the crowd whom themob
applauds! ' If it were Gentiles or Jews who
thus assailed their mode of life, they would at
least have the consolation of failing to please
only those whom Christ Himself has failed to
please. But, shameful to say, it is Christians
who thus neglect the care of their own house-
holds, and, disregarding the beams in their
own eyes, look for motes in those of their
neighbors.2 They pull to pieces every pro-
fession of religion, and think that they have
found a remedy for their own doom, if they
can disprove the holiness of others, if they
can detract from every one, if they can show
that those who perish are many, and sinners,
a great multitude.
5. You bathe daily; another regards such
over-niceness as defilement. You surfeit
yourself on wild fowl and pride yourself on
eating sturgeon; I, on the contrary, fill my
belly with beans. You find pleasure in troops
of laughing girls; I prefer Paula and Me-
lanium who weep. You covet what belongs
to others; they disdain what is their own.
You like wines flavored with honey; they
drink cold water, more delicious still. You
count as lost what you cannot have, eat up,
1 Ironical.
2 Matt. vii. 3.
6o
JEROME.
and devour on the moment; they believe in
the Scriptures, and look for good things to
come. And if they are wrong, and if the resur-
rection of the body on which they rely is a
foolish delusion, what does it matter to you?
We, on our side, look with disfavor on such
a life as yours. You can fatten yourself on
your good things as much as you please; I
for my part prefer paleness and emaciation.
You suppose that men like me are unhappy;
we regard you as more unhappy still. Thus
we reciprocate each other's thoughts, and
appear to each other mutually insane.
6. I write this in haste, dear Lady Asella,
as I go on board, overwhelmed with grief and
tears ; yet I thank my God that I am counted
worthy of the world's hatred.1 Pray for me
that, after Babylon, I may see Jerusalem once
more; that Joshua, the son of Josedech, may
have dominion over me,2 and not Nebuchad-
nezzar, that Ezra, whose name means helper,
may come and restore me to my own country.
I was a fool in wishing to sing the Lord's
song in a strange land,3 and in leaving
Mount Sinai, to seek the help of Egypt.
I forgot that the Gospel warns us4 that he
who goes down from Jerusalem immediately
falls among robbers, is spoiled, is wounded,
is left for dead. But, although priest and
Levite may disregard me, there is still the
good Samaritan who, when men said to him,
"Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil," 5
disclaimed having a devil, but did not dis-
claim being a Samaritan,6 this being the He-
brew equivalent for our word guardian. Men
call me a mischief-maker, and I take the
title as a recognition of my faith. For I am
but a servant, and the Jews still call my mas-
ter a magician. The apostle,7 likewise, is
spoken of as a deceiver. There hath no
temptation taken me but such as is common
to man. 8 How few distresses have I endured,
I who am yet a soldier of the cross! Men
have laid to my charge a crime of which I
am not guilty;9 but I know that I must enter
the kingdom of heaven through evil report as
well as through good.10
7. Salute Paula and Eustochium, who, what-
ever the world may think, are always mine
in Christ. Salute Albina, your mother, and
Marcella, your sister; Marcellina also, and
the holy Felicitas; and say to them all : " We
must all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ,11 and there shall be revealed the prin-|
ciple by which each has lived."
And now, illustrious model of chastity and
virginity, remember me, I beseech you, in
your prayers, and by your intercessions calm
the waves of the sea.
1 Joh. X
4 Luke
2 Haggai i. 1. 3 Ps. cxxxvii. 4.
; x- 30-35- 6 Joh. viii. 48. 6 Joh. viii. 49.
' I.e. Paul. Soe 2. Cor. vi. 9. » 1 Cor. x. 13.
" He means the sin of incontinence. i° z Cor, vi. 8,
>' Rom. xiv. 10.
LETTER XLVI.
PAULA AND EUSTOCHIUM TO MARCELLA.
Jerome writes to Marcella in the name of Paula and
Eustochium, describing the charms of the Holy Land,
and urging her to leave Rome and to join her old
companions at Bethlehem. Much of the letter is de-
voted to disposing of the objection that since the Pas-
sion of Christ the Holy Land has been under a curse.
The date of the letter is A. D. 386. It is written from
Bethlehem, which now becomes Jerome's home for the
remainder of his life.
1. Love cannot be measured, impatience
knows no bounds, and eagerness can brook
no delay. Wherefore we, oblivious of our
weakness, and relying more on our will than
our capacity, desire — pupils though we be —
to instruct our mistress. We are like the sow
in the proverb,1 which sets up to teach the
goddess of invention. You were the first to
set our tinder alight ; the first, by precept and
example, to urge us to adopt ouf present life.
As a hen gathers her chickens, so did you take
us under your wing.2 And will you now let
us fly about at random with no mother near
us? Will you leave us to dread the swoop
of the hawk and the shadow of each passing
bird of prey ? Separated from you, we do
what we can : we utter our mournful plaint,
and more by sobs than by tears we adjure
you to give back to us the Marcella whom
we love. She is mild, she is suave, she is
sweeter than the sweetest honey. She must
not, therefore, be stern and morose to us,
whom her winning ways have roused to adopt
a life like her own.
2. Assuming that what we ask is for the
best, our eagerness to obtain it is nothing to
be ashamed of. And if all the Scriptures
agree with our view, we are not too bold in
urging you to a course to which you have
yourself often urged us.
What are God's first words to Abraham?
" Get thee out of thy country and from thy
kindred unto a land that I will show thee." 3
The patriarch — the first to receive a promise
of Christ — is here told to leave the Chaldees,
to leave the city of confusion4 and its reho-
bothb or broad places; to leave also the plain
of Shinar, where the tower of pride had been
raised to heaven.6 He has to pass through
the waves of this world, and to ford its rivers ;
1 Sus Minervam.
3 Gen. xii. 1.
9 Gen. x, 11,
• ■• 3° ;
.1— Gen.
4 I.e. Babel — Uen. xi. 9.
« Gen. xi. 2, 4.
LETTERS XLV.-XLVI.
61
those by which the saints sat down and wept
when they remembered Zion,1 and Chebar's
flood, whence Ezekiel was carried to Jeru-
salem by the hair of his head.2 All this
Abraham undergoes that he may dwell in a
land of promise watered from above, and
not like Egypt, from below,3 no producer of
herbs for the weak and ailing,4 but a land
that looks for the early and the latter rain
from heaven.5 It is a land of hills and val-
leys,6 and stands high above the sea. The
attractions of the world it entirely wants,
but its spiritual attractions are for this all
the greater. Mary, the mother of the Lord,
left the lowlands and made her way to the
hill country, when, after receiving the an-
gel's message, she realized that she bore
within her womb the Son of God.7 When of
old the Philistines had been overcome, when
their devilish audacity had been smitten,
when their champion had fallen on his face
to the earth,8 it was from this city that there
went forth a procession of jubilant souls, a
harmonious choir to sing our David's victory
over tens of thousands.0 Here, too, it was
that the angel grasped his sword, and while
he laid waste the whole of the ungodly city,
marked out the temple of the Lord in the
threshing floor of Oman, king of the Jebus-
ites. 10 Thus early was it made plain that
Christ's church would grow up, not in Israel,
but among the Gentiles. Turn back to Gen-
esis,11 and you will find that this was the city
over which Melchizedek held sway, that
king of Salem who, as a type of Christ,
offered to Abraham bread and wine, and even
then consecrated the mystery which Chris-
tians consecrate in the body and blood of the
Saviour.12
3. Perhaps you will tacitly reprove us for
deserting the order of Scripture, and letting
our confused account ramble this way and
that, as one thing or another strikes us. If
so, we say once more what we said at the
outset: love has no logic, and impatience
knows no rule. In the Song of Songs the
precept is given as a hard one: "Regulate
your love towards me." 13 And so we plead
that, if we err, we do so not from ignorance
but from feeling. '
Well, then, to bring forward something
still more out of place, we must go back to
yet remoter times. Tradition has it that in
this city, nay, more, on this very spot, Adam
lived and died. The -place where our Lord
was crucified is called Calvary,1 because the
skull of the primitive man was buried there.
So it came to pass that the second Adam,
that is the blood2 of Christ, as it dropped
from the cross, washed away the sins of the
buried protoplast,3 the first Adam, and thus
the words of the apostle were fulfilled:
" Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."4
It would be tedious to enumerate all the
prophets and holy men who have been sent
forth from this place. All that is strange
and mysterious to us is familiar and natural
to this city and country. By its very names,
three in number, it proves the doctrine of the
trinity. For it is called first Jebus, then
Salem, then Jerusalem : names of which the
first means "down-trodden," the second
"peace," and the third "vision of peace."5
For it is only by slow stages that we reach
our goal ; it is only after we have been trod-
den down that we are lifted up to see the
vision of peace. Because of this peace Sol-
omon,6 the man of peace, was born there, and
"in peace was his place made."7 King of
kings, and lord of lords, his name and that
of the city show him to be a type of Christ.
Need we speak of David and his descendants,
all of whom reigned here? As Judasa is
exalted above all other provinces, so is this
city exalted above all Judaea. To speak
more tersely, the glory of the province is
derived from its capital; and whatever fame
the members possess is in every case due to
the head.
4. You have long been anxious to break
forth into speech; the very letters we have
formed perceive it, and our paper already un-
derstands the question you are going to put.
You will reply to us by saying: it was so of
old, when " the Lord loved the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob," and
when her foundations were in the holy moun-
tains.8 . Even these verses, however, are sus-
ceptible of a deeper interpretation. But
things are changed since then. The risen
Lord has proclaimed intones of thunder:
" Your house is left unto you desolate. " With
tears He has prophesied its downfall: "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets, and stonest them which are sent un-
1 Ps. cxxxvii. 1. 2 Ezek. viii. 3.
8 Deut. xi. 10. * Rom. xiv. 2. ° Deut. xi. 14.
6 Dt. xi. 11. 7 Luke i. 26-31, 39. 8 1 Sam. xvii. 49.
9 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7. 10 1 Chron. xxi. 15, 18 ; 2 Chron. iii. 1.
11 Gen. xiv. 18.
18 Mysterium christianum in salvatoris sanguine et corpore
dedicavit. « Cant. ii. 4 b, Vulg. Hebrew = A.V.
1 I.e. the place of a skull (Latin, Calvaria). Luke xxiii. 33, Vulg.
8 One of Jerome's fanciful ideas. Haddam D"7i~l is the
Hebrew for " the blood."
3 o 7rp<uTo'7rAa<rTos = " the first-formed." The word is ap-
plied to Adam in Wisd. vii. 1. _ 4 Kph. v. 14.
5 Cf. Hymns Ancient and Modern, Xo. 235.
" Truly Jerusalem name we that shore
Vision of peace that brings joy evermore."
6 Hebrew, Shelomoh, connected with shale m, peace.
7 Ps. lxxvi. 2, LXX. B Ps. Ixxxvii. 1, a.
62
JEROME.
to thee ; how often would I have gathered thy
children together even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not.
Behold your house is left unto you desolate. " 2
The veil of the temple has been rent;2 an
army has encompassed Jerusalem, it has
been stained by the blood of the Lord. Now,
therefore, its guardian angels have forsaken
it and the grace of Christ has been withdrawn.
Josephus, himself a Jewish writer, asserts3
that at the Lord's crucifixion there broke
from the temple voices of heavenly powers,
saying: " Let us depart hence." These and
other considerations show that where grace
abounded there did sin much more abound.4
Again, when the apostles received the
command: " Go ye and teach all nations,"
and when they said themselves: "It was
necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put
it from you . . . lo we turn to the Gentiles," °
then all the spiritual importance7 of Judaea
and its old intimacy with God were trans-
ferred by the apostles to the nations.
5. The difficulty is strongly stated, and
may well puzzle even those proficient in
Scripture; but for all that, it admits of an
easy solution. The Lord wept for the fall
of Jerusalem,8 and He would not have done
so if He did not love it. He wept for Laz-
arus because He loved him.9 The truth is
that it was the people who sinned and not
the place. The capture of a city is involved
in the slaying of its inhabitants. If Jeru-
salem was destroyed, it was that its people
might be punished; if the temple was over-
thrown, it was that its figurative sacrifices
might be abolished. As regards its site,
lapse of time has but invested it with fresh
grandeur. The Jews of old reverenced the
Holy of Holies, because of the things con-
tained in it — the cherubim, the mercy-seat,
the ark of the covenant, the manna, Aaron's
rod, and the golden altar.10 Does the Lord's
sepulchre seem less worthy of veneration?
As often as we enter it we see the Saviour in
His grave clothes, and if we linger we see
again the angel sitting at His feet, and the
napkin folded at His head.11 Long before
this sepulchre was hewn out by Joseph,12 its
glory was foretold in Isaiah's prediction,
"his rest shall be glorious," 13 meaning that
the place of the Lord's burial should be
held in universal honor.
6. How, then, you will say, do we read in
1 Matt, xxiii. 37. 38. i Matt, xxvii. 51.
3 Helium Judaicum, vi. 5. * Rom. v. 20.
6 Matt, xxviii. 19. « Acts xiii. 46. ? Sacramentum.
8 Luke xix. 41. » Joh. xi. 35, 36. 10 Heb. ix. 3-5.
11 John xx. 6, 7, 12.
>a I.e. Joseph of Arimathaea.— Joh. xix. 38 tqq. 13 Isa, xi. 10.
the apocalypse written by John: "The beast
that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit
shall . . . kill them [that is, obviously, the
prophets], and their dead bodies shall lie in
the street of the great city which spirit-
ually is called Sodom and Egypt, where
also their Lord was crucified?"1 If the
great city where the Lord was crucified is
Jerusalem, and if the place of His cruci-
fixion is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt ;
then as the Lord was crucified at Jerusalem,
Jerusalem must be Sodom and Egypt. Holy
Scripture, I reply first of all, cannot contra-
dict itself. One book cannot invalidate the
drift of the whole. A single verse cannot
annul the meaning of a book. Ten lines
earlier in the apocalypse it is written: " Rise
and measure the temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship therein. But
the court which is without the temple leave
out and measure it not; for it is given unto
the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they
tread under foot forty and two months."2
The apocalypse was written by John long
after the Lord's passion, yet in it he speaks
of Jerusalem as the holy city. But if so,
how can he spiritually call it Sodom and
Egypt ? It is no answer to say that the Jeru-
salem which is called holy is the heavenly
one which is to be, while that which is called
Sodom is the earthly one tottering to its
downfall. For it is the Jerusalem to come
that is referred to in the description of the
beast, " which shall ascend out of the bottom-
less pit, and shall make war against the two
prophets, and shall overcome them and kill
them, and their dead bodies shall lie in the
street of the great city."3 At the close of
the book it is farther described thus: "And
the city lieth four-square, and the length of
it and the breadth are the same as the height ;
and he measured the city with the golden
reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length
and the breadth and the height of it are
equal. And he measured the walls thereof,
an hundred and forty and four cubits, accord-
ing to the measure of a man, that is, of the
angel. And the building of the wall of it
was of jasper; and the city was pure gold " 4
— and so on. Now where' there is a square
there can be neither length nor breadth. And
what kind of measurement is that which
makes length and breadth equal to height?
And how can there be walls of jasper, or a
whole city of pure gold; its foundations and
its streets of precious stones, and its twelve
gates each glowing with pearls?
1 Rev. xi. 7, 8, R.V.
3 Rev. xi. 7, 8.
2 Rev. xi. 2.
4 Rev. xxi. 16-18.
LETTER XLVI.
63
7. Evidently this description cannot be
taken literally (in fact, it is absurd to sup-
pose a city the length, breadth and height of
which are all twelve thousand furlongs), and
therefore the details of it must be mystically
understood. The great city which Cain first
built and called after his son1 must be tak-
en to represent this world, which the devil,
that accuser of his brethren, that fratricide
who is doomed to perish, has built of vice,
cemented with crime, and filled with in-
iquity. Therefore it is spiritually called
Sodom and Egypt. Thus it is written,
"Sodom shall return to her former estate," 2
that is to say, the world must be restored
as it has been before. For we cannot be-
lieve that Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman
and Zeboim3 are to be built again: they
must be left to lie in ashes forever. We
never read of Egypt as put for Jerusalem :
it always stands for this world. To collect
from Scripture the countless proofs of this
would be tedious: I shall adduce but one
passage, a passage in which this world is
most clearly called Egypt. The apostle Jude,
the brother of James, writes thus in his
catholic epistle: "I will, therefore, put you
in remembrance, though ye once knew this,
how that Jesus,4 having saved the people out
of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed
them that believed not."5 And, lest you
should fancy Joshua the son of Nun to be
meant, the passage goes on thus : " And the
angels which kept not their first estate, but
left their own habitation, he hath reserved
in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto
the judgment of the great day. " 6 Moreover,
to convince you that in every place where
Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah are named to-
gether it is not these spots, but the present
world, which is meant, he mentions them
immediately in this sense. "Even as Sodom
and Gomorrah," he writes, "and the cities
about them, in like manner giving themselves
over to fornication and going after strange
flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering
the vengeance of eternal fire."7 But what
need is there to collect more proofs when,
after the passion and the resurrection of the
Lord, the evangelist Matthew tells us: "The
rocks rent, and the graves were opened ; and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose
and came out of the graves after his resur-
rection, and went into the holy city and ap-
peared unto many " ? b We must not interpret
this passage straight off, as many people"
1 Gen. iv. 17. 2 Ezek. xvi. 55.
3 Deut. xxix. 23. * A.V. " the Lord."
8 Jude 6. 7 Jude 7. " Matt, xxvii. 51,
9 E.g. Origen in his commentary on the passage.
' Jude 5.
absurdly do, of the heavenly Jerusalem : the
apparition there of the bodies of the saints
could be no sign to men of the Lord's rising.
Since, therefore, the evangelists and all the
Scriptures speak of Jerusalem as the holy
city, and since the psalmist commands us to
worship the Lord "at his footstool ;" ' allow
no one to call it Sodom and Egypt, for by it
the Lord forbids men to swear because " it is
the city of the great king." 2
8. The land is accursed, you say, because
it has drunk in the blood of the Lord. On
what grounds, then, do men regard as blessed
those spots where Peter and Paul, the leaders
of the Christian host, have shed their blood
for Christ ? If the confession of men and
servants is glorious, must there not be glory
likewise in the confession of their Lord and
God ? Everywhere we venerate the tombs of
the martyrs; we apply their holy ashes to
our eyes; we even touch them, if we may,
with our lips. And yet some think that we
should neglect the tomb in which the Lord
Himself is buried. If we refuse to believe
human testimony, let us at least credit the
devil and his angels.3 For when in front of
the Holy Sepulchre they are driven out of
those bodies which they have possessed, they
moan and tremble as if they stood before
Christ's judgment-seat, and grieve, too late
that they have crucified Him in whose pres-
ence they now cower. If — as a wicked the-
ory maintains — this holy place has, since the
Lord's passion, become an abomination, why
was Paul in such haste to reach Jerusalem to
keep Pentecost in it ? 4 Yet to those who held
him back he said : " What mean ye to weep
and to break my heart? For lam ready not
to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusa-
lem, for the name of the Lord Jesus. " ' Need
I speak of those other holy and illustrious
men who, after the preaching of Christ,
brought their votive gifts and offerings to
the brethren who were at Jerusalem ?
9. Time forbids me to survey the period
which has passed since the Lord's ascension,
or to recount the bishops, the martyrs, the
divines, who have come to Jerusalem from a
feeling that their devotion and knowledge
would be incomplete and their virtue with-
out the finishing touch, unless they adored
Christ in the very spot where the gospel first
flashed from the gibbet. If a famous orator6
blames a man for having learned Greek at
Lilybseum instead of at Athens, and Latin
in Sicily instead of at Rome (on the ground,
1 Ps. cxxxii. 7. 2 Matt. v. 35.
4 Acts xx. 16. 6 Acts xxi. :
6 Cicero of Cheilitis (in Q. Cax, xii.).
3 Matt. xxv. 41.
64
JEROME.
obviously, that each province has its own
characteristics), can we suppose a Christian's
education complete who has not visited the
Christian Athens?
10. In speaking thus we do not mean to
deny that the kingdom of God is within us,1
or to say that there are no holy men else-
where; we merely assert in the strongest
manner that those who stand first throughout
the world are here gathered side by side.
We ourselves are among the last, not the
first; yet we have come hither to see the first
of all nations. Of all the ornaments of the
Church our company of monks and virgins is
one of the finest; it is like a fair flower or
a priceless gem. Every man of note in Gaul
hastens hither. The Briton, " sundered from
our world," 2 no sooner makes progress in re-
ligion than he leaves the setting sun in quest
of a spot of which he knows only through
Scripture and common report. Need we re-
call the Armenians, the Persians, the peo-
ples of India and Arabia ? Or those of our
neighbor, Egypt, so rich in monks; of Pontus
and Cappadocia; of Csele-Syria and Meso-
potamia and the teeming east? In fulfilment
of the Saviour's words, " Wherever the body
is, thither will the eagles be gathered to-
gether," 3 they all assemble here and exhibit
in this one city the most varied virtues.
Differing in speech, they are one in religion,
and almost every nation has a choir of its
own. Yet amid this great concourse there is
no arrogance, no disdain of self-restraint;
all strive after humility, that greatest of
Christian virtues. Whosoever is last is here
regarded as first.4 Their dress neither pro-
vokes remark nor calls for admiration. In
whatever guise a man shows himself he is
neither censured nor flattered. Long fasts
help no one here. Starvation wins no defer-
ence, and the taking of food in moderation
is not condemned. "To his own master"
each one " standeth or falletli. "5 No man
judges another lest he be judged of the
Lord.6 Backbiting, so common in other
parts, is wholly unknown here. Sensuality
and excess are far removed from us. And in
the city there are so many places of prayer
that a day would not be sufficient to go
round them all.
ii. But, as every one praises most what
is within his reach, let us pass now to
the cottage-inn which sheltered Christ and
Mary.7 With what expressions and what
language can we set before you the cave of
the Saviour? The stall where he cried as a
babe can be best honored by silence; for
words are inadequate to speak its praise.
Where are the spacious porticoes? Where
are the gilded ceilings ? Where are the man-
sions furnished by the miserable toil of
doomed wretches? Where are the costly
halls raised by untitled opulence for man's
vile body to walk in ? Where are the roofs
that intercept the sky, as if anything could
be finer than the expanse of heaven? Be-
hold, in this poor crevice of the earth the
Creator of the heavens was born; here He
was wrapped in swaddling clothes; here He
was seen by the shepherds; here He was
pointed out by the star; here He was adored
by the wise men. This spot is holier, me-
thinks, than that Tarpeian rock ' which has
shown itself displeasing to God by the fre-
quency with which it has been struck by
lightning.
12. Read the apocalypse of John, and
consider what is sung therein of the woman
arrayed in purple, and of the blasphemy
written upon her brow, of the seven moun-
tains, of the many waters, and of the end of
Babylon.2 " Come out of her, my people,"
so the Lord says, " that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues. " 3 Turn back also to Jeremiah and
pay heed to what he has written of like im-
port : " Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and
deliver every man his soul."4 For " Baby-
lon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become
the habitation of devils, and the hold of every
foul spirit."5 It is true that Rome has a
holy church, trophies of apostles and martyrs,
a true confession of Christ. The faith has
been preached there by an apostle, heathen-^
ism has been trodden down, the name of
Christian is daily exalted higher and higher.
But the display, power, and size of the city,
the seeing and the being seen, the paying
and the receiving of visits, the alternate
flattery and detraction, talking and listening,
as well as the necessity of facing so great
a throng even when one is least in the mood
to do so — all these things are alike foreign
to the principles and fatal to the repose of
the monastic life. For when people come
in our way we either see them coming and
are compelled to speak, or we do not see them
and lay ourselves open to the charge of
haughtiness. Sometimes, also, in returning
visits we are obliged to pass through proud
portals and gilded doors and to face the
clamor of carping lackeys. But, as we have
1 Luke xvii. 21.
* Cf. Matt. xix.
2 Virgil, E. i. 67. 3 Luke xvii. 37.
6 Rom. xiv, 4. 6 Matt, vii, 1. 7 Luke ii. 7.
1 Otherwise called the capitol. Here stood the great temple of
Jupiter, which was to the religion of Rome what the Parthenon
was to that of Athens. 2 Rev. xvii. 4, 5, 9 ; i. 15 ; xvii.; xviii.
6 Rev. xviii, 2.
3 Rev, xviii. 4,
* Jer. Ii. 6,
LETTERS XLVI.-XLVII.
65
said above, in the cottage of Christ all is
simple and rustic: and except for the chant-
ing of psalms there is complete silence.
Wherever one turns the laborer at his plough
sings alleluia, the toiling mower cheers him-
self with psalms, and the vine-dresser while
he prunes his vine sings one of the lays of
David. These are the songs of the country;
these, in popular phrase, its love ditties;
these the shepherd whistles; these the tiller
uses to aid his toil.
13. But what are we doing? Forgetting
what is required of us, we are taken up with
what we wish. Will the time never come
when a breathless messenger shall bring the
news that our dear Marcella has reached the
shores of Palestine, and when every band of
monks and every troop of virgins shall unite
in a song of welcome? In our excitement
we are already hurrying to meet you: with-
out waiting for a vehicle, we hasten off at
once on foot. We shall clasp you by the
hand, we shall look upon your face; and
when, after long waiting, we at last embrace
you, we shall find it hard to tear ourselves
away. Will the day never come when we
shall together enter the Saviour's cave, and
together weep in the sepulchre of the Lord
with His sister and with His mother ? ' Then
shall we touch with our lips the wood of the
cross, and rise in prayer and resolve upon the
Mount of Olives with the ascending Lord.2
We shall see Lazarus come forth bound with
grave clothes,3 we shall look upon the waters
of Jordan purified for the washing of the
Lord.4 Thence we shall pass to the folds of
the shepherds,5 we shall pray together in the
mausoleum of David.6 We shall see the
prophet Amos 7 upon his crag blowing his
shepherd's horn. We shall hasten, if not to
the tents, to the monuments of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and of their three illustri-
ous wives.8 We shall see the fountain in
which the eunuch was immersed by Philip.9
We shall make a pilgrimage to Samaria, and
side by side venerate the ashes of John the
Baptist, of Elisha,'°and of Obadiah. We
shall enter the very caves where in the time
of persecution and famine the companies of
the prophets were fed. n If only you will
come, we shall go to see Nazareth, as its
name denotes, the flower" of Galilee. Not
far off Cana will be visible, where the water
was turned into wine.13 We shall make our
way to Tabor,14 and see the tabernacles there
1 Joh. xix. 25. 2 Acts i. 9, 12. 3 Joh. xi. 43, 44. 4 Matt. iii. 13.
5 Luke ii. 8. 6 1 K. ii. 10. 7 " Who was among the herdsmen
of Tekoa" — Am. i. 1. 8 Sarah, Rebekah, Leah — Gen. xlix. 31.
9 Acts viii. 36. 10 2 K. xiii. 21. n 1 K. xviii. 3, 4.
12 Lit. " sprout." In Isa. xi. 1 it is rendered by A.V. "branch."
13 Joh. ii. 1-11, 1* Matt, xvii. 1-9,
which the Saviour shares, not, as Peter once
wished, with Moses and Elijah, but with
the Father and with the Holy Ghost. Thence
we shall come to the Sea of Gennesaret, and
when there we shall see the spots where the
five thousand were filled with five loaves,1 and
the four thousand with seven.2 The town of
Nain will meet our eyes, at the gate of which
the widow's son was raised to life.3 Her-
mon too will be visible, and the torrent of
Endor, at which Sisera was vanquished.4
Our eyes will look also on Capernaum, the
scene of so many of our Lord's signs — yes,
and on all Galilee besides. And when, ac-
companied by Christ, we shall have made our
way back to our cave through Shiloh and
Bethel, and those other places where churches
are set up like standards to commemorate
the Lord's victories, then we shall sing
heartily, we shall weep copiously, we shall
pray unceasingly. Wounded with the Sav-
iour's shaft, we shall say one to another: "I
have found Him whom my soul loveth; I
will hold Him and will not let Him go." 5
LETTER XLVII.
TO DESIDERIUS.
Jerome invites two of his old friends at Rome,
Desiderius and his sister (or wife) Serenilla, to join
him at Bethlehem. It is possible but not probable that
this Desiderius is the same with Desiderius of Aqui-
taine, who afterwards induced Jerome to write against
Vigilantius.
An interval of seven years separates this letter (of
which the date is 393 A.D.) from the preceding, and all
the letters written during this period have wholly
perished.
1. Surprised as I have been, my excellent
friend, to read the language which your
kindness has prompted you to hold concern-
ing me, I have rejoiced that I possess the
testimony of one both eloquent and sincere;
but when I turn from you to myself I feel
vexed that, owing to my unworthiness, your
words of praise and eulogy rather weigh me
down than lift me up. You know, of course,
that I make it a principle to raise the stand-
ard of humility, and to prepare for scaling
the heights by walking for the present in
the lowest places. For what am I or what is
my significance that I should have the voice
of learning raised to bear witness of me, or
that the palm of eloquence should be laid at
my feet by one whose style is so charming
that it has almost deterred me from writing
a letter at all? I must, however, make the
attempt in order that charity which seeks not
1 Matt. xiv. 15, sqq. 2 Matt. xv. 32, sqq. 3 Luke vii. n, sqq.
6 Cant. :"
4 Ps. lxxxiii. 9, 10.
iii. 4, Vulg.
66
JEROME.
her own ' but always her neighbor's good,
may at least return a compliment, since it
cannot convey a lesson.
2. I offer my congratulations to you and
to your holy and revered sister,2 Serenilla,
who, true to her name,3 has trodden down
the troubled waves of the world, and has
passed to Christ's calm haven: a happiness
which — if we may trust the augury of your
name — is in store for you also. For we
read that the holy Daniel was called "a man
of desires," * and the friend of God, because
he desired to know His mysteries. There-
fore, I do with pleasure what the revered
Paula has asked of me. I urge and implore
you both by the charity of the Lord that you
will give your presence to us, and that a
visit to the holy places may induce you to
enrich us with this great gift. Even sup-
posing that you do not care for our society,
it is still your duty as believers to worship
on the spot where the Lord's feet once stood,
and to see for yourselves the still fresh traces
of His birth, His cross, and His passion.
3. Several of my little pieces have flown
away out of their nest, and have rashly
sought for themselves the honor of publi-
cation. I have not sent you any lest I
should send works which you already have.
But if you care to borrow copies of them,
you can do so either from our holy sister,
Marcella, who has her abode upon the Aven-
tine, or from that holy man, Domnio, who
is the Lot of our times.5 Meantime, I look
for your arrival, and will give you all I have
when you once come; or, if any hindrances
prevent you from joining us, I will gladly
send you such treatises as you shall desire.
Following the example of Tranquillus6 and
of Apollonius the Greek,7 I have written a
book concerning illustrious men8 from the
apostles' time to our own; and after enu-
merating a great number I have put myself
down on the last page as one born out of due
time, and the least of all Christians.9 Here
I have found it necessary to give a short ac-
count of my writings down to the fourteenth
year 10 of the Emperor Theodosius. If you
find, on procuring this treatise from the per-
sons mentioned above, that there are any
pieces mentioned which you have not already
got, I will have them copied for you by de-
grees, if you wish it.
1 1 Cor. xiii. 5. 2 I.e. his wife. Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 5.
3 Serenilla, " calm."
4 Dan. ix. 23, A.V. marg. Desiderius means "one who is an
object of desire." *> Cf. 2 Peter ii. 7, 8.
8 I.e. the historian Suetonius.
7 I'robably Apollonius of Tyre, who appears to have written an
account of the principal philosophers who followed Zeno.
* See this work in Vol. III. of this series. 9 Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 8, 9.
10 A.D. 3Q2-3.
LETTER XLVIII.
TO PAMMACHIUS.
An "apology" for the two books "against Jo-
vinian " which Jerome had written a short time pre-
viously, and of which he had sent copies to Rome.
These Pammachius and his other friends had with-
held from publication, thinking that Jerome had un-
duly exalted virginity at the expense of marriage. He
now writes to make good his position, and to do this
makes copious extracts from the obnoxious treatise.
The date of the letter is 393 or 394 A.D.
1. Your own silence is my reason for not
having written hitherto. For I feared that,
if I were to write to you without first hear-
ing from you, you would consider me not so
much a conscientious as a troublesome cor-
respondent. But, now that I have been
challenged by your most delightful letter, a
letter which calls upon me to defend my
views by an appeal to first principles, I re-
ceive my old fellow-learner, companion, and
friend with open arms, as the saying goes;
and I look forward to having in you a cham-
pion of my poor writings; if, that is to say,
I can first conciliate your judgment to give
sentence in my favor, and can instruct my
advocate in all those points on which I am
assailed. For both your favorite, Cicero,
and before him — in his one short treatise —
Antonius,1 write to this effect, that the chief
requisite for victory is to acquaint one's self
carefully with the case which one has to plead.
2. Certain persons find fault with me be-
cause in the books which I have written
against Jovinian I have been excessive (so
they say) in praise of virginity and in de-
preciation of marriage; and they affirm that
to preach up chastity till no comparison is
left between a wife and a virgin is equiva-
lent to a condemnation of matrimony. If I
remember aright the point of the dispute,
the question at issue between myself and
Jovinian is that he puts marriage on a level
with virginity, while I make it inferior; he
declares that there is little or no difference
between the two states, I assert that there is
a great deal. Finally — a result due under
God to your agency — he has been condemned
because he has dared to set matrimony on
an equality with perpetual chastity. Or, if
a virgin and a wife are to be looked on as
the same, how comes it that Rome has re-
fused to listen to this impious doctrine? A
virgin owes her being to a man, but a man
does not owe his to a virgin. There can be
no middle course. Either my view of the
matter must be embraced, or else that of
Jovinian. If I am blamed for putting wed-
1 Marcus Antonius, a Roman orator spoken of by Cicero. Orator
c. s, De Oratore i. c. 21, 47, 48. His treatise " De ratione dicen-
di " is lost. See Quintal iii. 1, 192.
LETTERS XLVII.-XLVIII.
67
lock below virginity, he must be praised for
putting the two states on a level. If, on the
other hand, he is condemned for supposing
them equal, his condemnation must be taken
as testimony in favor of my treatise. If
men of the world chafe under the notion
that they occupy a position inferior to that
of virgins, I wonder that clergymen and
monks — who both live celibate lives — re-
frain from praising what they consistently
practise. They cut themselves off from
their wives to imitate the chastity of vir-
gins,and yet they will have it that married
women are as good as these. They should
either be joined again to their wives whom
they have renounced, or, if they persist in
living apart from them, they will have to
confess — by their lives if not by their words
— that, in preferring virginity to marriage,
they have chosen the better course. Am I
then a mere novice in the Scriptures, reading
the sacred volumes for the first time? And
is the line there drawn between virginity and
marriage so fine that I have been unable to
observe it ? I could know nothing, forsooth,
of the saying, " Be not righteous overmuch !" '
Thus, while I try to protect myself on one side,
I am wounded on the other; to speak more
plainly still, while I close with Jovinian in
hand-to-hand combat, Manichaeus stabs me in
the back. Have I not, I would ask, in the
very forefront of my work set the following
preface:2 "We are no disciples of Marcion3
or of Manichaeus,4 to detract from marriage.
Nor are we deceived by the error of Ta-
tian,6 the chief of the Encratites,0 into sup-
posing all cohabitation unclean. For he
condemns and reprobates not marriage only,
but foods also which God has created for us
to enjoy.7 We know that in a large house
there are vessels not only of silver and of
gold, but of wood also and of earth.8 We
know, too, that on the foundation of Christ
which Paul the master builder has laid,
some build up gold, silver, and precious
stones; others, on the contrary, hay, wood,
and stubble.9 We are not ignorant that
'marriage is honorable . . . and the bed
undefiled. ' 10 We have read the first decree
of God: 'Be fruitful and multiply and re-
plenish the earth.'11 But while we allow
marriage, we prefer the virginity which
1 Eccl. vii. 16 : see Ag. Jov. i. 14. 2 Against Jov. i. 3.
3 A Gnostic presbyter of the second century who rejected the Old
Testament.
4 An Eastern teacher of the third century, a.d., the main feat-
ure of whose system was its uncompromising dualism.
6 A Syrian rhetorician converted to Christianity by Justin Mar-
tyr. He wrote a harmony of the Gospels called Diatessaron.
8 I.e. " the abstainers," or " the continent," a Gnostic sect in
the second century. 7 1 Tim. iv. 3. 8 2 Tim. ii. 20.
0 1 Cor. iii. 10-12. 10 Heb, xiii. 4. H Gen. i. 28.
springs from it. Gold is more precious than
silver, but is silver on that account the less
silver? Is it an insult to a tree to prefer its
apples to its roots or its leaves? Is it an
injury to corn to put the ear before the stalk
and the blade? As apples come from the
tree and grain from the straw, so virginity
comes from wedlock. Yields of one hun-
dredfold, of sixtyfold, and of thirtyfold1
may all come from one soil and from one
sowing, yet they will differ widely in quan-
tity. The yield thirtyfold signifies wed-
lock, for the joining together of the fingers
to express that number, suggestive as it is
of a loving gentle kiss or embracing, aptly
represents the relation of husband and wife.
The yield sixtyfold refers to widows who
are placed in a position of distress and
tribulation. Accordingly, they are typified
by that finger which is placed under the
other to express the number sixty; for, as it
is extremely trying when one has once
tasted pleasure to abstain from its entice-
ments, so the reward of doing this is propor-
tionately great. Moreover, a hundred — I
ask the reader to give me his best attention
— necessitates a change from the left hand to
the right; but while the hand is different the
fingers are the same as those which on the
left hand signify married women and widows ;
only in this instance the circle formed by
them indicates the crown of virginity."2
3. Does a man who speaks thus, I would
ask you, condemn marriage ? If I have
called virginity gold, I have spoken of mar-
riage as silver. I have set forth that the
yields — an hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirty-
fold — all spring from one soil and from
one sowing, although in amount they differ
widely. Will any of my readers be so un-
fair as to judge me, not by my words, but
by his own opinion? At any rate, I have
dealt much more gently with marriage than
most Latin and Greek writers;3 who, by re-
ferring the hundredfold yield to martyrs, the
sixtyfold to virgins, and the thirtyfold to
widows, show that in their opinion married
persons are excluded from the good ground
and from the seed of the great Father.4
But, lest it might be supposed that, though
cautious at the outset, I was imprudent in
the remainder of my work, have I not, after
1 Matt. xiii. 8. 2 From this passage compared with Ep.
cxxiii. a, and Bede De Temporum Ratione, c. 1. (De Loquela
Digitorum), it appears that the number thirty was indicated by
joining the tips of the thumb and forefinger of the left hand,
sixty was indicated by curling up the forefinger of the same hand
and then doubling the thumb over it, while one hundred was ex-
pressed by joining the tips of the thumb and forefinger of the right
hand. See Prof.' Mayor's learned note on Juv. x. 249.
3 E.g. Cyprian and Origen (Horn. i. in Jos.).
* Paterfamilias. Vide Cypr. de Hab. Virg. 21.
68
JEROME.
marking out the divisions of it, on coming to
the actual questions immediately introduced
the following:1 "I ask all of you of both
sexes, at once those who are virgins and
continent and those who are married or
twice married, to aid my efforts with your
prayers." Jovinian is the foe of all indis-
criminately, but can I condemn as Mani-
chsean heretics persons whose prayers I need
and whose assistance I entreat to help me in
my work ?
4. As the brief compass of a letter does
not suffer us to delay too long on a single
point, let us now pass to those which re-
main. In explaining the testimony of the
apostle,- " The wife hath not power of her
own body, but the husband; and likewise,
also, the husband hath not power of his own
body, but the wife,"2 we have subjoined the
following:3 "The entire question relates to
those who are living in wedlock, whether it
is lawful for them to put away their wives,
a thing which the Lord also has forbidden
in the Gospel.4 Hence, also, the apostle
says: ' It is good for a man not to touch ' a
wife or ' a woman, ' 6 as if there were danger
in the contact which he who should so touch
one could not escape. Accordingly, when
the Egyptian woman desired to touch Joseph
he flung away his cloak and fled from her
hands." But as he who has once married a
wife cannot, except by consent, abstain from
intercourse with her or repudiate her, so long
as she does not sin, he must render unto his
wife her due,7 because he has of his own
free will bound himself to render it under
compulsion." Can one who declares that it
is a precept of the Lord that wives should
not be put away, and that what God has
joined together man must not, without con-
sent, put asunder8 — can such an one be said
to condemn marriage? Again, in the verses
which follow, the apostle says: "But every
man hath his proper gift of God, one after
this manner, and another after that."9 In
explanation of this saying we made the fol-
lowing remarks:10 "What I myself would
wish, he says, is clear. But since there are
diversities of gifts in the church," I allow
marriage as well, that I may not appear to
condemn nature. Reflect, too, that the gift
of virginity is one thing, that of marriage
another. For had there been one reward for
married women and for virgins he would
never, after giving the counsel of conti-
1 Ag. Jov. i. 4.
3 Ag. Jov. i. 7.
r' 1 Cor. vii. 1.
" Matt. xix. 6.
•° Ag. Jov. i. 8.
2 1 Cor. vii. 4.
4 Matt. xix. 9.
* Gen. xxxix. 12, 13. 7 1 Cor. vii. 3, R.V.
* 1 Cor. vii. 7.
11 1 Cor. xii. 4.
nence, have gone on to say: ' But every
man hath his proper gift of God, one after
this manner and another after that. ' Where
each class has its proper gift, there must be
some distinction between the classes. I al-
low that marriage, as well as virginity, is
the gift of God, but there is a great differ-
ence between gift and gift. Finally, the
apostle himself says of one who had lived in
incest and afterwards repented : ' Contrari-
wise ye ought rather to forgive him and
comfort him,'1 and ' To whom ye forgive
anything, I forgive also.'2 And, lest we
might suppose a man's gift to be but a small
thing, he has added: ' For if I forgave any-
thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes
forgave I it in the sight3 of Christ.' " The
gifts of Christ are different. Hence Joseph
as a type of Him had a coat of many col-
ors.5 So in the forty-fourth psalm" we read
of the Church: ' Upon thy right hand did
stand the queen in a vesture of gold,
wrought about with divers colors. ' 7 The
apostle Peter, too, speaks (of husbands and
wives) ' as being heirs together of the mani-
fold grace of God. ' 8 In Greek the ex-
pression is still more striking, the word used
being 7roiui\rj, that is, 'many-colored.' "
5. I ask, then, what is the meaning of
men's obstinate determination to shut their
eyes and to refuse to look on what is as
clear as day? I have said that there are
diversities of gifts in the Church, and that
virginity is one gift and wedlock another.
And shortly after I have used the words: " I
allow marriage also to be a gift of God, but
there is a great difference between gift and
gift." Can it be said that I condemn that
which in the clearest terms I declare to be
the gift of God? Moreover, if Joseph is
taken as a type of the Lord, his coat of
many colors is a type of virgins and widows,
celibates and wedded. Can any one who
has any part in Christ's tunic be regarded as
an alien? Have we not spoken of the very
queen herself — that is, the Church of the Sav-
iour— as wearing a vesture of gold wrought
about with divers colors? Moreover, when
I came to discuss marriage in connection
with the following verses,9 I still adhered to
the same view.10 "This passage," I said,
" has indeed no relation to the present con-
troversy; for, following the decision of the
Lord, the apostle teaches that a wife must
not be put away saving for fornication, and
1 2 Cor. ii. 7. 2 2 Cor. ii. 10.
3 A.V. marg. 4 2 Cor. ii. 10. 6 Gen. xxxvii. 23.
6 Ace. to the Vulgate. In A.V. it is the 45th.
7 Ps. xlv. 10, P.B.V. 8 1 Pet. iii. 7 ; iv. 10.
9 i Cor, vii. 8-10. l° Ag. Jov. i. 19.
LETTER XLVIII.
69
that, if she has been put away, she cannot
during the lifetime of her husband marry
another man, or, at any rate, that she ought,
if possible, to be reconciled to her husband.
In another verse he speaks to the same
effect: 'The wife is bound ... as long as
her husband liveth; but if her husband be
dead, she is loosed from the law of her hus-
band;1 she is at liberty to be married to
whom she will; only in the Lord,' 2 that is,
to a Christian. Thus the apostle, while he
allows a second or a third marriage in the
Lord, forbids even a first with a heathen."
6. I ask my detractors to open their ears
and to realize the fact that I have allowed
second and third marriages " in the Lord."
If, then, I have not condemned second and
third marriages, how can I have proscribed
a first? Moreover, in the passage where I
interpret the words of the apostle, " Is any
man called being circumcised ? Let him not
become uncircumcised. Is any called in un-
circumcision ? let him not be circumcised"3
(a passage, it is true, which some most care-
ful interpreters of Scripture refer to the cir-
cumcision and slavery of the Law), do I not
in the clearest terms stand up for the mar-
riage-tie? My words are these:4 "'If any
man is called in uncircumcision, let him
not be circumcised. ' You had a wife, the
apostle says, when you believed. Do not
fancy your faith in Christ to be a reason for
parting from her. For 'God hath called us
in peace.'5 'Circumcision is nothing and
uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping
of the commandments of God. ' ° Neither
celibacy nor wedlock is of the slightest use
without works, since even faith, the distin-
guishing mark of Christians, if it have not
works, is said to be dead,7 and on such
terms as these the virgins of Vesta or of Juno,
who was constant to one B husband, might
claim to be numbered among the saints.
And a little further on he says: 'Art thou
called being a servant, care not for it; but, if
thou mayest be made free, use it rather ;' 9 that
is to say, if you have a wife, and are bound
to her, and render her her due, and have not
power of your own body — or, to speak yet
more plainly — if you are the slave of a wife,
do not allow this to cause you sorrow, do not
sigh over the loss of your virginity. Even
if you can find pretexts for parting from her
to enjoy the freedom of chastity, do not seek
your own welfare at the price of another's
ruin. Keep your wife for a little, and do
1 Rom. vii. 2.
8 1 Cor. vii. 18
6 1 Cor, vii. 15
6 Univira.
VOL. VI.
R.V.
2 1 Cor. vii. 39.
4 Ag. Jov. i. 11.
6 1 Cur. vii. iy.
1 Cor, vii, 21.
Jas. ii. i7.
not try too hastily to overcome her reluc-
tance. Wait till she follows your example.
If you only have patience, your wife will
some day become your sister."
7. In another passage we have discussed
the reasons which led Paul to say: "Now
concerning virgins, I have no commandment
of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one
that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be
faithful."1 Here also, while we have ex-
tolled virginity, we have been careful to
give marriage its due.2 "Had the Lord
commanded virginity," we said, "He would
have seemed to condemn marriage and to do
away with that seed-plot of humanity from
which virginity itself springs. Had He cut
away the root how could He have looked for
fruit? Unless He had first laid the founda-
tions, how could He have built the edifice
or crowned it with a roof made to cover its
whole extent?" If we have spoken of mar-
riage as the root whose fruit is virginity,
and if we have made wedlock the foundation
on which the building or the roof of perpet-
ual chastity is raised, which of my detrac-
tors can be so captious or so blind as to
ignore the foundation on which the fabric
and its roof are built, while he has before
his eyes both the fabric and the roof them-
selves? Once more, in another place, we
have brought forward the testimony of the
apostle to this effect: "Art thou bound unto
a wife ? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou
loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife."3
To this we have appended the following re-
marks:1 "Each of us has his own sphere
allotted to him. Let me have mine, and do
you keep yours. If you are bound to a wife,
do not put her away. If I am loosed from a
wife, let me not seek a wife. Just as I do
not loose marriage-ties when they are once
made, so do you refrain from binding to-
gether what at present is loosed from such
ties." Yet another passage bears unmistak-
able testimony to the view which we have
taken of virginity and of wedlock:1 "The
apostle casts no snare upon us, e nor does he
compel us to be what we do not wish. He
only urges us to what is honorable and
seemly, inciting us earnestly to serve the
Lord, to be anxious always to please Him,
and to look for His will which He has pre-
pared for us to do. We are to be like alert
and armed soldiers, who immediately exe-
cute the orders given to them and perform
them without that travail of mind7 which,
1 1 Cor. vii. 23. 2 Ag. Jov. i. 12. 3 1 Cor. vii. 21.
4 Ag. Jov. i. 12. ° Ag. Jov. i. 13. * 1 Cor. \ii. ^5
1 Jerome here explains the word o7rep«rn-ao-Tws (A.V. "
out distraction ") in 1 Cor, vii, 35.
with-
;o
JEROME.
according to the preacher, is given to the
men of this world ' to be exercised there-
with.' " ' At the end, also, of our compari-
son of virgins and married women we have
summed up the discussion thus:-' "When
one thing is good and another thing is bet-
ter; when that which is good has a different
reward from that which is better; and when
there are more rewards than one, then, obvi-
ously, there exists a diversity of gifts. The
difference between marriage and virginity is
as great as that between not doing evil and
doing good— or, to speak more favorably
still, as that between what is good and what
is still better."
8. In the sequel we go on to speak thus:3
"The apostle, in concluding his discussion
of marriage and of virginity, is careful to
observe a mean course in discriminating be-
tween them, and, turning neither to the right
hand nor to the left, he keeps to the King's
highway,4 and thus fulfils the injunction, 'Be
not righteous overmuch.' ;' Moreover, when
he goes on to compare monogamy with dig-
amy, he puts digamy after monogamy, just as
before he subordinated marriage to virgin-
ity. " Do we not clearly show by this language
what is typified in the Holy Scriptures by
the terms right and left, and also what we
take to be the meaning of the words "Be
not righteous overmuch " ? We turn to the
left if, following the lust of Jews and Gen-
tiles, we burn for sexual intercourse; we
turn to the right if, following the error of the
Manichreans, we under a pretence of chas-
tity entangle ourselves in the meshes of
unchastity. But we keep to the King's high-
way if we aspire to virginity yet refrain
from condemning marriage. Can any one,
moreover, be so unfair in his criticism of my
poor treatise as to allege that I condemn
first marriages, when he reads my opinion
on second ones as follows :u "The apostle,
it is true, allows second marriages, but only
to such women as are bent upon them, to
such as cannot contain,7 lest 'when they
have begun to wax wanton against Christ
they marry, having condemnation because
they have rejected their first faith,' 8 and he
makes this concession because many 'are
turned aside after Satan. ' ,J But they will
be happier if they abide as widows. To
this he immediately adds his apostolical
authority, 'after my judgment.' Moreover,
lest any should consider that authority,
being human, to be of small weight, he goes
1 Eccles. i. i j ; iii. 10. - Ag. Jov. i. i ;.
* Nil \.\. 17. a Eccles. vii. 16.
7 1 Cur. \ii. 9. •" i Tim, v. n, 1 >, K'.Y,
s Ag. Jov. i. 14.
*'• Ag, Jov. i. 14.
a 1 Tim. v. is.
on to say, 'and I think also that I have the
spirit of God.' ' Thus, where he urges men
to continence he appeals not to human
authority, but to the Spirit of God; but when
he gives them permission to marry he does
not mention the Spirit of God, but allows
prudential considerations to turn the bal-
ance, relaxing the strictness of his code in
favor of individuals according to their sev-
eral needs." Having thus brought forward
proofs that second marriages are allowed by
the apostle," we at once added the remarks
which follow:" "As marriage is permitted
to virgins by reason of the danger of forni-
cation, and as what in itself is not desirable
is thus made excusable, so by reason of the
same danger widows are permitted to marry
a second time. For it is better that a woman
should know one man (though he should be
a second husband or a third) than that she
should know several. In other words, it is
preferable that she should prostitute herself
to one rather than to many." Calumny may
do its worst. We have spoken here not of
a first marriage, but of a second, of a third,
or (if you like) of a fourth. But lest any
one should apply my words (that it is better
for a woman to prostitute herself to one man
than to several) to a first marriage when my
whole argument dealt with digamy and trig-
amy, I marked my own view of these prac-
tices with the words:3 '"All things are
lawful, but all things are not expedient.' 4 I
do not condemn digamists nor yet triga-
mists, nor even, to put an extreme case,
octogamists. 1 will make a still greater con-
cession: I am ready to receive even a whore-
monger, if penitent. In every case where
fairness is possible, fair consideration must
be shown."
9. My calumniator should blush at his
assertion that I condemn first marriages when
he reads my words just now quoted: "I do
not condemn digamists or trigamists, or
even, to put an extreme case, octogamists."
Not to condemn is one thing, to commend is
another. I may concede a practice as allow-
able and yet not praise it as meritorious.
But if I seem severe in saying, " In every case
where fairness is possible, fair consideration
must be shown," no one, I fancy, will judge
me either cruel or stern who reads that the
places prepared for virgins and for wedded
persons are different from those prepared for
trigamists, octogamists, and penitents. That
Christ Himself, although in the flesh a
virgin, was in the spirit a monogamist,
1 Cor. vii. 40.
Ag. Jov. i. 15.
> Ag. Jov. i. 14.
■* j Cor, vi. 12,
LETTER XLVIiI.
7i
having one wife, even the Church,' I have
shown in the latter part of my argument.2
And yet I am supposed to condemn mar-
riage! I am said to condemn it, although I
use such words as these:3 "It is an un-
doubted fact that the levitical priests were
descended from the stock of Aaron, Eleazar,
and Phinehas; and, as all these were married
men, we might well be confronted with them
if, led away by the error of the Encratites,
we were to contend that marriage is in itself
deserving of condemnation." Here I blame
Tatian, the chief of the Encratites, for his
rejection of marriage, and yet I myself am
said to condemn it ! Once more, when 1
contrast virgins with widows, my own words
show what my view is concerning wedlock,
and set forth the threefold gradation which I
propose of virgins, widows — whether in prac-
tice or in fact4 — and wedded wives. " I do not
deny" — these are my words5 — "the blessed-
ness of widows who continue such after their
baptism, nor do I undervalue the merit of
wives who live in chastity with their hus-
bands; but, just as widows receive a greater
reward from God than wives obedient to
their husbands, they, too, must be content
to see virgins preferred before themselves."
10. Again, when explaining the witness
of the apostle to the Galatians, " By the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified,"
I have spoken to the following effect:
" Marriages also are works of the law. And
for this reason there is a curse upon such as
do not produce offspring. They are per-
mitted, it is true, even under the Gospel ;
but it is one thing to concede an indulgence
to what is a weakness and quite another to
promise a reward to what is a virtue." See
my express declaration that marriage is
allowed in the Gospel, yet that those who are
married cannot receive the rewards of chas-
tity so long as they render their due one to
another. If married men feel indignant at
this statement, let them vent their anger not
on me but on the Holy Scriptures; nay, more,
upon all bishops, presbyters, and deacons,
and the whole company of priests and
levites, who know that they cannot offer sacri-
fices if they fulfil the obligations of marriage.
Again, when I adduce evidence from the
Apocalypse," is it not clear what view I
take concerning virgins, widows, and wives?
"These are they who sing a new song7
which no man can sing except he be a vir-
gin. These are 'the first fruits unto God
1 Eph. v. 23, 24. - Ag. Jov. i. 9. 3 Ag. Jov. i.
4 Viduitas vel continentia. 6 Ag. Jov. i. 33.
6 Ag. Jov, i. 40. ' Rev. xiv. 3,
and unto the Lamb," and they are without
spot. If virgins are the first fruits unto
God, then widows and wives who live in
continence must come after the first fruits—
that is to say, in the second place and in the
third." We place widows, then, and wives
in the second place and in the third, and for
this we are charged by the frenzy of a here-
tic with condemning marriage altogether.
11. Throughout the book I have made
many remarks in a tone of great modera-
tion on virginity, widowhood, and marriage.
But for the sake of brevity, I will here ad-
duce but one passage, and that of such a
kind that no one, I think, will be found to
gainsay it save some one who wishes to
prove himself malicious or mad. In de-
scribing our Lord's visit to the marriage at
Cana in Galilee," after some other remarks
I have added these:8 "He who went but
once to a marriage has taught us that a
woman should marry but once; and this fact
might tell against virginity if we failed to
give marriage its due place — after virginity
that is, and chaste widowhood. But, as it
is only heretics who condemn marriage and
tread under foot the ordinance of God, we
listen with gladness to every word said by
our Lord in praise of marriage. For the
Church does not condemn marriage, but
only subordinates it. It does not reject it
altogether, but regulates it, knowing (as I
have said above) that 'in a great house
there are not only vessels of gold and of sil-
ver, but also of wood and of earth; and
some to honor and some to dishonor. If a
man, therefore, purge himself ... he shall
be a vessel unto honor meet . . . and pre-
pared unto every good work.'"4 1 listen
with gladness, I say here, to every word said
by the apostle in praise of marriage. Do
I listen with gladness to the praise of mar-
riage, and do I yet condemn marriage?
The Church, I say, does not condemn wed-
lock, but subordinates it. Whether you like
it or not, marriage is subordinated to vir-
ginity and widowhood. Even when mar-
riage continues to fulfil its function, the
Church does not condemn it, but only sub-
ordinates it; it does not reject it, but only
regulates it. It is in your power, if you
will, to mount the second step of chastity."
Why are you angry if, standing on the third
and lowest step, you will not make haste to
go up higher?
12. Since, then, I have so often reminded my
reader of my views; and since I have picked
1 Rev. xiv. 4. - Jnh. ii. i, 2. 3 Ag. Jov. i. 40.
1 2 Tim, ii. 20, 21. ■> Le. continence in marriage.
F 2
n
JEROME.
my way like a prudent traveller over every
inch of the road, stating repeatedly that,
while I receive marriage as a thing in itself
admissible, I yet prefer continence, widow-
hood, and virginity, the wise and generous
reader ought to have judged what seemed
hard sayings by my general drift, and not
to have charged me with putting forward
inconsistent opinions in one and the same
book. For who is so dull or so inexperi-
enced in writing as to praise and to condemn
one and the same object, as to destroy what
he has built up, and to build up what he
has destroyed; and when he has vanquished
his opponent, to turn his sword, last of all,
against himself? Were my detractors coun-
try bred or unacquainted with the arts of
rhetoric or of logic, I should pardon their
want of insight ; nor should I censure them
for accusing me if I saw that their ignorance
was in fault and not their will. As it is,
men of intellect who have enjoyed a liberal
education make it their object less to under-
stand me than to wound me, and for such I
have this short answer, that they should cor-
rect my faults and not merely censure me
for them. The lists are open, I cry; your
enemy has marshalled his forces, his posi-
tion is plain, and (if I may quote Virgil1) —
The foeman calls you: meet him face to face.
Such men should answer their opponent.
They ought to keep within the limits of de-
bate, and not to wield the schoolmaster's
rod. Their books should aim at showing in
what my statements have fallen short of the
truth, and in what they have exceeded it.
For, although I will not listen to fault-
finders, I will follow the advice of teachers.
To direct the fighter how to fight when you
yourself occupy a post of vantage on the
wall is a kind of teaching that does not
commend itself; and when you are yourself
bathed in perfumes, it is unworthy to charge
a bleeding soldier with cowardice. Nor in
saying this do I lay myself open to a charge
of boasting that while others have slept I
only have entered the lists. My meaning
simply is that men who have seen me
wounded in this warfare may possibly be a
little too cautious in their methods of fight-
ing. I would not have you engage in an en-
counter in which you will have nothing to do
but to protect yourself, your right hand re-
maining motionless while your left manages
your shield. You must either strike or fall.
I cannot account you a victor unless I see
your opponent put to the sword.
13. You are, no doubt, men of vast ac-
quirements; but we too have studied in the
schools, and, like you, we have learned from
the precepts of Aristotle — or, rather, from
those which he has derived from Gorgias —
that there are different ways of speaking; and
we know, among other things, that he who
writes for display uses one style, and he who
writes to convince, another.1 In the former
case the debate is desultory; to confute the
opposer, now this argument is adduced and
now that. One argues as one pleases, saying
one thing while one means another. To quote
the proverb, " With one hand one offers bread,
in the other one holds a stone."2 In the
latter case a certain frankness and openness
of countenance are necessary. For it is one
thing to start a problem and another to ex-
pound what is already proved. The first calls
for a disputant, the second for a teacher.
I stand in the .thick of the fray, my life in
constant danger: you who profess to teach
me are a man of books. " Do not," you say,
" attack unexpectedly or wound by a side-
thrust. Strike straight at your opponent.
You should be ashamed to resort to feints
instead of force." As if it were not the per-
fection of fighting to menace one part and
to strike another. Read, I beg of you,
Demosthenes or Cicero, or (if you do not
care for pleaders whose aim is to speak
plausibly rather than truly) read Plato,
Theophrastus, Xenophon, Aristotle, and the
rest of those who draw their respective rills
of wisdom from the Socratic fountain-head.
Do they show any openness ? Are they de-
void of artifice? Is not every word they say
filled with meaning? And does not this
meaning always make for victory? Origen,
Methodius, Eusebius, and Apollinaris3
write at great length against Celsus and
Porphyry.4 Consider how subtle are the
arguments, how insidious the engines with
which they overthrow what the spirit of the
devil has wrought. Sometimes, it is true,
they are compelled to say not what they
think but what is needful; and for this rea-
son they employ against their opponents the
assertions of the Gentiles themselves. I say
nothing of the Latin authors, of Tertullian,
Cyprian, Minutius, Victorinus, Lactantius,
Hilary, lest I should appear not so much
to be defending myself as to be assailing
1 Virg. A. xi. 374, 5.
1 Aliud esse vu/xvao-Tiicws scribere, aliud 607/u.a.TiKws. The
words do not appear to be used in this sense in the extant works
of Aristotle. 2 Plaut. Aul. ii. 2, 18.
3 The reply of Origen to Celsus is still extant ; those of Me-
thodius, Eusebius and Apollinaris to Porphyry have perished. Cf.
Letter LXX. § 3.
* Two philosophic opponents of Christianity who flourished,
the first in the second, the second in the third, century of our era.
LETTER XLVIII.
73
others. I will only mention the Apostle
Paul, whose words seem to me, as often as
I hear them, to be not words, but peals of
thunder. Read his epistles, and especially
those addressed to the Romans, to the Gala-
tians, and to the Ephesians, in all of which
he stands in the thick of the battle, and you
will see how skilful and how careful he is
in the proofs which he draws from the Old
Testament, and how warily he cloaks the
object which he has in view. His words
seem simplicity itself: the expressions of a
guileless and unsophisticated person — one
who has no skill either to plan a dilemma
or to avoid it. Still, whichever way you
look, they are thunderbolts. His pleading
halts, yet he carries every point which he
takes up. He turns his back upon his foe
only to overcome him; he simulates flight,
but only that he may slay. He, then, if any
one, ought to be calumniated; we should
speak thus to him: "The proofs which you
have used against the Jews or against other
heretics bear a different meaning in their
own contexts to that which they bear in
your epistles. We see passages taken cap-
tive by your pen and pressed into service to
win you a victory which in the volumes
from which they are taken have no contro-
versial bearing at all." May he not reply
to us in the words of the Saviour: "I have
one mode of speech for those that are without
and another for those that are within; the
crowds hear my parables, but their interpre-
tation is for my disciples alone " ? ' The
Lord puts questions to the Pharisees, but
does not elucidate them. To teach a dis-
ciple is one thing; to vanquish an opponent,
another. " My mystery is for me," says the
prophet ; " my mystery is for me and for
them that are mine."2
14. You are indignant with me because I
have merely silenced Jovinian and not in-
structed him. You, do I say? Nay, rather,
they who grieve to hear him anathematized,
and who impeach their own pretended ortho-
doxy by eulogizing in another the heresy
which they hold themselves. I should have
asked him, forsooth, to surrender peaceably !
I had no right to disregard his struggles and
to drag him against his will into the bonds
of truth! I might use such language had
the desire of victory induced me to say
anything counter to the rule laid down in
Scripture, and had I taken the line — so often
adopted by strong men in controversy — of
justifying the means by the result. As it is,
however, I have been an exponent of the
apostle rather than a dogmatist on my own
account; and my function has been simply
that of a commentator. Anything, there-
fore, which seems a hard saying should be
imputed to the writer expounded by me
rather than to me the expounder; unless,
indeed, he spoke otherwise than he is repre-
sented to have done, and I have by an unfair
interpretation wrested the plain meaning of
his words. If any one charges me with this
disingenuousness let him prove his charge
from the Scriptures themselves.
I have said in my book,1 "If 'it is good
for a man not to touch a woman, ' then it is
bad for him to touch one, for bad, and bad
only, is the opposite of good. But, if
though bad it is made venial, then it is al-
lowed to prevent something which would be
worse than bad," and so on down to the
commencement of the next chapter. The
above is my comment upon the apostle's
words: " It is good for a man not to touch a
woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication,
let every man have his own wife, and let
every woman have her own husband."'* In
what way does my meaning differ from that
intended by the apostle ? Except that where
he speaks decidedly I do so with hesitation.
He defines a dogma, I hazard an inquiry.
He openly says: " It is good for a man not
to touch a woman." I timidly ask if it is
good for a man not to touch one. If I thus
waver, I cannot be said to speak positively.
He says: " It is good not to touch." I add
what is a possible antithesis to "good."
And immediately afterwards I speak thus:3
" Notice the apostle's carefulness. He
does not say: 'It is good for a man not to
have a wife, ' but, 'It is good for a man not to
touch a woman' ; as if there is danger in the
very touching of one — danger which he who
touches cannot escape." You see, therefore,
that I am not expounding the law as to hus-
bands and wives, but simply discussing the
general question of sexual intercourse — how
in comparison with chastity and virginity,
the life of angels, " It is good for a man not
to touch a woman."
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher,
"all is vanity."4 But if all created things
are good,5 as being the handiwork of a good
Creator, how comes it that all things are
vanity ? If the earth is vanity, are the
heavens vanity too? — and the angels, the
thrones, the dominations, the powers, and the
rest of the virtues ? ' No ; if things which are
" Matt. xiii. 10-17.
2 Isa. xxiv. 16, Vulg.
1 Ag. Jov. i. 7. 2 1 Cor. vii. 1, 2. 3 Ag. Jov. i. 7.
* Eccles. i. 2. 5 Gen. i. 31 ; 1 Tim. iv. 4.
" Col. i. 16. Cf. Milton, P. L. v, 6»i.
74
JEROME.
good in themselves as being the handiwork
of a good Creator arc called vanity, it is be-
cause they are compared with things which
are better still. For example, compared
with a lamp, a lantern is good for nothing;
compared with a star, a lamp does not shine
at all; the brightest star pales before the
moon; put the moon beside the sun, and it
no longer looks bright; compare the sun
with Christ, and it is darkness. "I am that
I am," Cod says;' and if you compare all
created things with Him they have no exist-
ence. "Give not thy sceptre," says Esther,
"unto them that be nothing"2 — that is to
say, to idols and demons. And certainly
they were idols and demons to whom she
prayed that she and hers might not be given
over. In Job also we read how Bildad
says of the wicked man: "His confidence
shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and
destruction as a king shall trample upon
him. The companions also of him who is
not shall abide in his tabernacle."3 This
evidently relates to the devil, who must be
in existence, otherwise he could not be said
to have companions. Still, because he is
lost to God, he is said not to be.
Now it was in a similar sense that I de-
clared it to be a bad thing to touch a woman
— I did not say a wife — because it is a good
thing not to touch one. And I added:4 "I
call virginity wheat, wedlock barley, and
fornication cow-dung." Surely both wheat
and barley are creatures of God. But of the
two multitudes miraculously supplied in the
Gospel the larger was fed upon barley
loaves, and the smaller on wheaten bread.1'
" Thou, Lord," says the psalmist, " shalt save
both man and beast."0 I have myself said
the same thing in other words, when I have
spoken of virginity as gold and of wedlock as
silver.7 Again, in discussing8 the one hun-
dred and forty-four thousand sealed virgins
who were not defiled with women,9 I have
tried to show that all who have not remained
virgins are reckoned as defiled when com-
pared with the perfect chastity of the angels
and of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if any
one thinks it hard or reprehensible that I
have placed the same interval between vir-
ginity and wedlock as there is between fine
corn and barley, let him read the book of
the holy Ambrose "On Widows," and he
will find, among other statements concern-
ing virginity and marriage, the following:10
j Ex. in. i,. » Esth. xiv. ii. 3 job xviii. 14, 15, Vulg.
* Ag. Jov. 1. 7. 0 ^|alti xiv , xv 8 cf , h ;
• Ps. xxxvi. 7, P.B.V. ' Ag. Jov. i. 3. 5 J
" AK- Jov. 1. 4o. 0 Rev, xiv_ ly 4-
i» Ambrose, On \\ idowhood, xiji. 79 ; xiii, 8t ; xi. 69,
"The apostle has not expressed his prefer-
ence for marriage so unreservedly as to
quench in men the aspiration after virgin-
ity; he commences with a recommendation
of continence, and it is only subsequently
that he stoops to mention the remedies for
its opposite. And although to the strong he
has pointed out the prize of their high call-
ing,1 yet he suffers none to faint by the
way;2 whilst he applauds those who lead the
van, he does pot despise those who bring up
the rear. For he had himself learned that
the Lord Jesus gave to some barley bread,
lest they should faint by the way, but
offered to others His own body, that they
should strive to attain His kingdom ;"3 and
immediately afterwards: "The nuptial tie,
then, is not to be avoided as a crime, but to
be refused as a hard burden. For the law
binds the wife to bring forth children in
labor and in sorrow. Her desire is to be to
her husband that he should rule over her.4
It is not the widow, then, but the bride, who
is handed over to labor and sorrow in child-
bearing. It is not the virgin, but the mar-
ried woman, who is subjected to the sway of
a husband." And in another place, " Ye are
bought," says the apostle, " with a price;5 be
not therefore the servants of men."6 You
see how clearly he defines the servitude
which attends the married state. And a lit-
tle farther on: "If, then, even a good mar-
riage is servitude, what must a bad one be,
in which husband and wife cannot sanctify,
but only mutually destroy each other?"
What I have said about virginity and mar-
riage diffusely, Ambrose has stated tersely
and pointedly, compressing much meaning
into a few words. Virginity is described by
him as a means of recommending conti-
nence, marriage as a remedy for inconti-
nence.- And when he descends from broad
principles to particular details, he signifi-
cantly holds out to virgins the prize of the
high calling, yet comforts the married, that
they may not faint by the way. While eulo-
gizing the one class, he does not despise the
other. Marriage he compares to the barley
bread set before the multitude, virginity to
the body of Christ given to the disciples.
There is much less difference, it seems
to me, between barley and wheat than
between barley and the body of Christ.
Finally, he speaks of marriage as a hard
burden, to be avoided if possible, and as
a badge of the most unmistakable servi-
1 Phil. iii. 14.
3 Matt. a.xvL 26, 29.
6 1 Cor, vi, 20; vii. 23,
s Matt. xv. 32.
4 Gen. iii. 16.
• Cf. Eph. vi. 6.
LETTER XLVITL
'75
tude. He makes, also, many other state-
ments, which he has followed up at length in
his three books " On Virgins."
15. From all which considerations it is
clear that I have said nothing at all new
concerning virginity and marriage, but have
followed in all respects the judgment of
older writers — of Ambrose, that is to say,
and others who have discussed the doctrines
of the Church. " And I would sooner follow
them in their faults than copy the dull
pedantry of the writers of to-day." ' Let
married men, if they please, swell with rage
because I have said," " 1 ask you, what kind
of good thing is that which forbids a man
to pray, and which prevents him from re-
ceiving the body of Christ?" When I do my
duty as a husband, I cannot fulfil the re-
quirements of continence. The same apos-
tle, in another place, commands us to pray
always.3 "But if we are always to pray we
must never yield to the claims of wedlock,
for, as often as I render her due to my wife,
I incapacitate myself for prayer." When I
spoke thus it is clear that I relied on the
words of the apostle : " Defraud ye not one
the other, except it be with consent for a
time, that ye may give yourselves to . . .
prayer."4 The Apostle Paul tells us that
when we have intercourse with our wives we
cannot pray. If, then, sexual intercourse
prevents what is less important — that is,
prayer — how much more does it prevent
what is more important — that is, the recep-
tion of the body of Christ? Peter, too, ex-
horts us to continence, that our " prayers be
not hindered."6 How, I should like to
know, have I sinned in all this? What have
I done? How have I been in fault? If the
waters of a stream are thick and muddy, it
is not the river-bed which is to blame, but
the source. Am I attacked because I have
ventured to add to the words of the apostle
these words of my own : " What kind of good
thing is that which prevents a man from re-
ceiving the body of Christ?" If so, I will
make answer briefly thus: Which is the
more important, to pray or to receive Christ's
body? Surely to receive Christ's body. If,
then, sexual intercourse hinders the less im-
portant thing, much more does it hinder that
which is the more important.
I have said in the same treatise6 that
David and they that were with him could
not have lawfully eaten the shew-bread had
they not made answer that for three days
1 Ter. Andria Pro-1, 20, 21.
» 1 Th. v. 17.
6 1 Pet. iii. 7,
- Ag. Jot, i. 7.
* 1 Cor. vii. 5.
,; Ag. Jov. i. 20,
they had not been defded with women' —
not, of course, with harlots, intercourse with
whom was forbidden by the law, but with
their own wives, to whom they were lawfully
united. Moreover, when the people were
about to receive the law on Mount Sinai
they were commanded to keep away from
their wives for three days."' I know that at
Rome it is customary for the faithful always
to receive the body of Christ, a custom
which I neither censure nor indorse. " Let
every man be fully persuaded in his own
mind." But I appeal to the consciences of
those persons who after indulging in sexual
intercourse on the same day receive the
communion — having first, as Persius puts it,
" washed off the night in a flowing stream," *
and I ask such why they do not presume
to approach the martyrs or to enter the
churches." Is Christ of one mind abroad
and of another at home ? What is unlaw-
ful in church cannot be lawful at home.
Nothing is hidden from God. " The night
shineth as the day " before Him.'' Let each
man examine himself, and so let him ap-
proach the body of Christ.7 Not, of course,
that the deferring of communion for one
day or for two makes a Christian any the
holier or that what I have not deserved to-
day I shall deserve to-morrow or the day
after. But if I grieve that I have not shared
in Christ's body it does help me to avoid
for a little while my wife's embraces, and to
prefer to wedded love the love of Christ. A
hard discipline, you will say, and one not to
be borne. What man of the world could
bear it? He that can bear it, I reply, let
him bear it;" he that cannot must look to
himself. It is my business to say, not what
each man can do or will do, but what the
Scriptures inculcate.
16. Again, objection has been taken to
my comments on the apostle in the following
passage:" " But lest any should suppose from
the context of the words before quoted
(namely, 'that ye may give yourselves . . .
to prayer and come together again ') that
1 1 Sam. xxi. 4, 5. * Ex, xix. 15.
3 Rom. xiv. 5. * Pers. ii. 16.
;" Thai what is now known as reservation of the elements was
practised in the early ehurch there is abundant evidence to show.
Justin Martyr (Apol. I. 65) writes: "The deacons communicate
each of those present and carry away to the absent of the blest
bread and wine and water."' And those to whom the eucharist
was thus taken were not bound to consume it immediately, or all
at once, but might reserve a part or all for future occasions. Ac-
cording to Basil (Ep. 93), " in Egypt the laity for the most part
had every one the communion in their own houses " — and "all
those who dwell alone in the desert, when there is no priest, keep
the communion at home and receive it at their own hands." So
Jerome speaks (Letter CXXV. 20) of Exuperius as " carrying
the Lord's body in a wicker basket. His blood in a vessel of
glass." See the article " Reservation " in Smith and Cheetham's
Diet, of Christian Antiquities.
6 Ps. exxxix. 11, 12. 7 Cf. 1 Cor. xi. 28.
« Cf. Matt. six. 12. a Against Jov. i. S.
76
JEROME.
the apostle desires this consummation, and
does not merely concede it to obviate a
worse downfall, he immediately adds, 'that
Satan tempt you not for your inconti-
nency. '' 'And come together again.'
What a noble indulgence the words convey!
One which he blushes to speak of in plainer
words, which he prefers only to Satan's temp-
tation, and which has its root in inconti-
nence. Do we labor to expound this as a
dark saying when the writer has himself ex-
plained his meaning? 'I speak this,' he
says, 'by way of permission, and not as a
command. ' " Do we still hesitate to speak
of wedlock as a thing permitted instead of
as a thing enjoined? or are we afraid that
such permission will exclude second or third
marriages or some other case ? " What have
I said here which the apostle has not said?
The phrase, I suppose, " which he blushes to
speak of in plainer words." I imagine that
when he says "come together," and does not
mention for what, he takes a modest way of
indicating what he does not like to name
openly — that is, sexual intercourse. Or is
the objection to the words which follow —
"which he prefers only to Satan's tempta-
tion, and which has its root in inconti-
nence " ? Are they -not the very words of the
apostle, only differently arranged — ■" that
Satan tempt you not for your incontinency" ?
Or do people cavil because I said, "Do we
still hesitate to speak of wedlock as a thing
permitted instead of as a thing enjoined?"
If this seems a hard saying, it should be as-
cribed to the apostle, who says, " But I speak
this by way of permission, and not as a
command," and not to me, who, except that
I have rearranged their order, have changed
neither the words nor their meaning.
17. The shortness of a letter compels me
to hasten on. I pass, accordingly, to the
points which remain. " I say," remarks the
apostle, " to the unmarried and widows, It
is good for them if they abide even as I.
But if they cannot contain, let them marry;
for it is better to marry than to burn. " 3
This section I have interpreted thus:4
" When he has granted to those who are
married the use of wedlock, and has made
clear his own wishes and concessions, he
passes on to those who are unmarried or
widows, and sets before them his own ex-
ample. He calls them happy if they abide
even as he,6 but he goes on, 'if they cannot
contain, let them marry.' He thus repeats
his former language, 'but only to avoid
1 1 Cor. vii. 5.
* 1 Cor. vii, 8, <>.
2 1 Cor. vii. 6, Vulg,
1 Ag. Jov. i, 9,
a 1 Cor. vii. 8.
fornication,' and 'that Satan tempt you not
for your incontinence.' And when he says,
'If they cannot contain, let them marry,' he
gives as a reason for his words that 'it is
better to marry than to burn.' It is only
good to marry, because it is bad to burn. But
take away the fire of lust, and he will not say
'it is better to marry.' For a thing is said
to be better in antithesis to something
which is worse, and not simply in contrast
with what is admittedly good. It is as
though he said, 'It is better to have one eye
than none. ' ' Shortly afterwards, apostro-
phizing the apostle, I spoke thus:1 " If mar-
riage is good in itself, do not compare it
with a conflagration, but simply say, 'It is
good to marry. ' I must suspect the good-
ness of a thing which only becomes a lesser
evil in the presence of a greater one. I, for
my part, would have it not a lighter evil but
a downright good." The apostle wishes un-
married women and widows to abstain from
sexual intercourse, incites them to follow his
own example, and calls them happy if they
abide even as he. But if they cannot con-
tain, and are tempted to quench the fire of
lust by fornication rather than by conti-
nence, it is better, he tells them, to marry
than to burn. Upon which precept I have
made this comment : "It is good to marry,
simply because it is bad to burn," not put-
ting forward a view of my own, but only
explaining the apostle's precept, " It is bet-
ter to marry than to burn;" that is, it is
better to take a husband than to commit forni-
cation. If, then, you teach that burning or
fornication is good, the good will still be
surpassed by what is still better.2 But if
marriage is only a degree better than the
evil to which it is preferred, it cannot be of
that unblemished perfection and blessedness
which suggest a comparison with the life of
angels. Suppose I say, " It is better to be
a virgin than a married woman;" in this
case I have preferred to what is good what
is still better. But suppose I go a step
further and say, " It is better to marry than
to commit fornication;" in that case I have
preferred, not a better thing to a good thing,
but a good thing to a bad one. There is a
wide difference between the two cases; for,
while virginity is related to marriage as
better is to good, marriage is related to for-
nication as good is to bad. How, I should
like to know, have I sinned in this explana-
tion ? My fixed purpose was not to bend the
Scriptures to my own wishes, but simply to
J Ag. Jov. i. 9.
2 Fornication must still be subordinated to marriage,
LETTER XLVIIi.
77
say what I took to be their meaning. A
commentator has no business to dilate on his
own views; his duty is to make plain the
meaning of the author whom he professes to
interpret. For, if he contradicts the writer
whom he is trying to expound, he will prove
to be his opponent rather than his inter-
preter. When I am freely expressing my
own opinion, and not commenting upon the
Scriptures, then any one that pleases may
charge me with having spoken hardly of
marriage. But if he can find no ground for
such a charge, he should attribute such
passages in my commentaries as appear
severe or harsh to the author commented on,
and not to me, who am only his interpreter.
1 8. Another charge brought against me is
simply intolerable! It is urged that in ex-
plaining the apostle's words concerning hus-
bands and wives, "Such shall have trouble
in the flesh," I have said:1 "We in our igno-
rance had supposed that in the flesh at least
wedlock would have rejoicing. But if mar-
ried persons are to have trouble in the flesh,
the only thing in which they seemed likely
to have pleasure, what motive will be left to
make women marry? for, besides having
trouble in spirit and soul, they will also
have it even in the flesh."2 Do I condemn
marriage if I enumerate its troubles, such as
the crying of infants, the death of children,
the chance of abortion, domestic losses, and
so forth? Whilst Damasus of holy memory
was still living, I wrote a book against Hel-
vidius "On the Perpetual Virginity of the
Blessed Mary," in which, duly to extol the
bliss of virginity, I was forced to say much
of the troubles of marriage. Did that ex-
cellent man — versed in Scripture as he was,
and a virgin doctor of the virgin Church — ■
find anything to censure in my discourse?
Moreover, in the treatise which I addressed
to Eustochium3 I used much harsher lan-
guage regarding marriage, and yet no one
was offended at it. Nay, every lover of
chastity strained his ears to catch my eulogy
of continence. Read Tertullian, read Cy-
prian, read Ambrose, and either accuse me
with them or acquit me with them. My
critics resemble the characters of Plautus.
Their only wit lies in detraction; and they
try to make themselves out men of learning
by assailing all parties in turn. Thus they
bestow their censure impartially upon my-
self and upon my opponent, and maintain
that we are both beaten, although one or
other of us must have succeeded.
Moreover, when in discussing digamy and
trigamy I have said,1 "It is better for a
woman to know one man, even though he be
a second husband or a third, than several;
it is more tolerable for her to prostitute her-
self to one man than to many," have I not
immediately subjoined my reason for so say-
ing? "The Samaritan woman in the Gos-
pel, when she declares that her present hus-
band is her sixth, is rebuked by the Lord on
the ground that he is not her husband.'"2
For my own part, I now once more freely
proclaim that digamy is not condemned in
the Church— no, nor yet trigamy — and that
a woman may marry a fifth husband, or a
sixth, or a greater number still just as law-
fully as she may marry a second; but that,
while such marriages are not condemned,
neither are they commended. They are
meant as alleviations of an unhappy lot, and
in no way redound to the glory of conti-
nence. I have spoken to the same effect
elsewhere.3 "When a woman marries more
than once — whether she does so twice or
three times matters little — she ceases to be
a monogamist. 'All things are lawful . . .
but all things are not expedient. ' 4 I do not
condemn digamists or trigamists, or even,
to put an impossible case, octogamists. Let
a woman have an eighth husband if she must ;
only let her cease to prostitute herself."
19. I will come now to the passage in
which I am accused of saying that — at least
according to the true Hebrew text — the
words " God saw that it was good" a are
not inserted after the second day of the crea-
tion, as they are after the first, third, and
remaining ones, and of adding immediately
the following comment:" "We are meant
to understand that there is something "not
good in the number two, separating us as
it does from unity, and prefiguring the mar-
riage-tie. Just as in the account of Noah's
ark all the animals that enter by twos are
unclean, but those of which an uneven num-
ber is taken are clean." 7 In this statement
a passing objection is made to what I have
said concerning the second day, whether on
the ground that the words mentioned really
occur in the passage, although I say that
they do not occur, or because, assuming
them to occur, I have understood them in a
sense different from that which the context
evidently requires. As regards the non-
occurrence of the words in question (viz.,
" God saw that it was good "), let them take
not my evidence, but that of all the Jew-
1 Ag. Jov. i. 13.
2 1 Th. v. 23.
a Letter XXII.
1 Ag. Jov. i. 14.
a Joh. lv. 16-18. Jerome s version of the story is inaccurate,
3 Ag. Jov. i. 15. 4 1 Cor. vi. 12. 6 Cen. i, 10.
* Ag. Jov. i. 16. 7 Gen. vii. 2.
;s
JEROME.
ish and other translators — Aquila1 namely,
Symmachus,9 and Theodotion. ' But if the
words, although occurring in the account of
the other days, do not occur in the account
of this, either let them give a more plausible
reason than I have done for their non-occur-
rence, or, failing such, let them, whether
they like it or not, accept the suggestion
which I have made. Furthermore, if in
Noah's ark all the animals that enter by
twos are unclean, whilst those of which an
uneven number is taken are clean, and if
there is no dispute about the accuracy of the
text, let them explain if they can why it is
so written. But if they cannot explain it,
then, whether they will or not, they must
embrace my explanation of the matter.
Either produce better fare and ask me to be
your guest, or else rest content with the
meal that I offer vou, however poor it may
be.4
I must now mention the ecclesiastical
writers who have dealt with this question
of the odd number. They are, among the
Greeks, Clement, Hippolytus, Origen, Dio-
nysius, Eusebius, Didymus; and, among
ourselves, Tertullian, Cyprian, Victorinus,
Lactantius, Hilary. What Cyprian said to
Fortunatus about the number seven is clear
from the letter which he sent to him.6 Or
perhaps I ought to bring forward the reason-
ings of Pythagoras, Archytas of Tarentum,
and Publius Scipio in (Cicero's) sixth book
"Concerning the Common Weal." If my
detractors will not listen to any of these I
will make the grammar schools shout in
their ears the words of Virgil :
Uneven numbers are the joy of God. *
20. To say, as I have done, that virginity
is cleaner than wedlock, that the even num-
bers must give way to the odd, that the
types of the Old Testament establish the
truth of the Gospel: this, it appears, is a
great sin subversive of the churches and in-
tolerable to the world. The remaining
points which are censured in my treatise are,
I take it, of less importance, or else resolve
themselves into this. I have, therefore, re-
frained from answering them, both that I
may not exceed the limit at my disposal,
and that I may not seem to distrust your in-
telligence, knowing as I do that you are
ready to be my champion even before I ask
you. With my last breath, then, I protest
1 The author of a literal Greek version of the I >. T. made in the
second century.
'-' An ebionitic translator, free, not literal, in style.
J A careful reviser of the LXX. whose work was welcomed by
the Church. His version of Daniel completely superseded the
Older one. i cf. Hor. Ep. i. 6, 67, 68.
6 Cyprian, Letter to Fortunatus, xiii. u. 6 Virg. E. viii. 73.
that neither now nor at any former time
have I condemned marriage. I have merely
answered an opponent without any fear that
they of my own party would lay snares for
me. I extol virginity to the skies, not be-
cause I myself possess it, but because, not
possessing it, I admire it all the more.
Surely it is a modest and ingenuous confes-
sion to praise in others that which you lack
yourself. The weight of my body keeps me
fixed to the ground, but do I fail to admire
the flying birds or to praise the dove be-
cause, in the words of Virgil,1 it
Cilides on its liquid path with motionless swift wings ?
Let no man deceive himself, let no man,
giving ear to the voice of flattery, rush upon
ruin. The first virginity man derives from
his birth, the second from his second birth."
The words are not mine; it is an old saying,
" No man can serve two masters;'' 3 that is,
the flesh and the spirit. For " the flesh lust-
eth against the spirit, and the spirit against
the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to
the other," so that we cannot do the things
that we would.1 When, then, anything in
my little work seems to you harsh, have re-
gard not to my words, but to the Scripture,
whence they are taken.
21. Christ Himself is a virgin;" and His
mother is also a virgin; yea, though she
is His mother, she is a virgin still. For
Jesus has entered in through the closed
doors,'5 and in His sepulchre — a new one
hewn out of the hardest rock — no man
is laid either before Him or after Him.7
Mary is " a garden enclosed . . . a fountain
sealed,"8 and from that fountain flows, ac-
cording to Joel,9 the river which waters the
torrent bed either1" of cords or of thorns;11
the cords being those of the sins by which
we were beforetime bound,12 the thorns those
which choked the seed the goodman of the
house had sown.13 She is the east gate,
spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel,11 always
shut and always shining, and either conceal-
ing or revealing the Holy of Holies; and
through her "the Sun of Righteousness, " 1S
our "high priest after the order of Melchiz-
edek," 1C goes in and out. Let my critics
explain to me how Jesus can have entered
in through closed doors when He allowed
His hands and His side to be handled, and
showed that He had bones and flesh,17 thus
proving that His was a true body and no
1 Virg. A. v. 217. 'J Tert. de Exh. Cast. I.
3 Matt. vi. 24. 4 Gal. v. 17. B Ag, Jov. i. 31.
* Joh. xx. 19. T Joh. xix. 41. * Cant. iv. 12.
" Joel, iii. 18 ; according to the LXX. and Hebrew. A.V. ha3
"vale of Shittim " (thorns). »« LXX. " Hebrew.
la Cf. Prov. v. 22. '3 Matt. xiii. 7. " Ezek. xliv. 2, 3.
15 Mai. iv. ... i" Heb. v. 10. " Joh. xx. 19, ap
LETTERS XLVIII.-XLIX.
79
mere phantom of one, and I will explain
how the holy Mary can be at once a mother
and a virgin. A mother before she was
wedded, she remained a virgin after bearing
her son. Therefore, as I was going to say,
the virgin Christ and the virgin Mary have
dedicated in themselves the first fruits of
virginity for both sexes. ' The apostles have
either been virgins or, though married, have
lived celibate lives. Those persons who are
chosen to be bishops, priests, and deacons
are either virgins or widowers; or at least,
when once they have received the priest-
hood, are vowed to perpetual chastity. Why
do we delude ourselves and feel vexed if,
while we are continually straining after sex-
ual indulgence, we find the palm of chastity
denied to us? We wish to fare sumptuously,
and to enjoy the embraces of our wives, yet
at the same time we desire to reign with
Christ among virgins and widows. Shall
there be but one reward, then, for hunger
and for excess, for filth and for finery, for
sackcloth and for silk? Lazarus,2 in his
lifetime, received evil things, and the rich
man, clothed in purple, fat and sleek, while
he lived enjoyed the good things of the flesh ;
but, now that they are dead, they occupy
different positions. Misery has given place
to satisfaction, and satisfaction to misery.
And it rests with us whether we will follow
Lazarus or the rich man.
LETTER XL1X.
TO PAMMAUHTUS.
Jerome encloses the preceding letter, thanks Pam-
machius for his efforts to suppress his treatise " against
Tovinian," but declares these to be useless, and ex-
horts him, if he still has any hesitation in his mind, to
turn to the Scriptures and the commentaries made
upon them by Origen and others. Written at the
same time as the preceding letter.
i. Christian modesty sometimes requires
us to be- silent even to our friends, and to
nurse our humility in peace, where the re-
newal of an old friendship would expose us
to the charge of self-seeking. Thus, when
you have kept silence I have kept silence
too, and have not cared to remonstrate with
you, lest I should be thought more anxious
to conciliate a person of influence than to
cultivate a friend. But, now that it has be-
come a duty to reply to your letter, I will
endeavor always to be beforehand with you,
and not so much to answer your queries as
to write independently of them. Thus, if I
have shown my modesty hitherto by silence,
i Cf. Letter XXII, § i3.
8 Luke xv'u 19-25.
I will henceforth show it still more by com-
ing forward to speak.
2. I quite recognize the kindness and
forethought which have induced you to with-
draw from circulation some copies of my
work against Jovinian. Your diligence,
however, has been of no avail, for several
people coming from the city have repeatedly
read aloud to me passages which they have
come across in Rome. In this province,
also, the books have already been circulated;
and, as you have read yourself in Horace,
"Words once uttered cannot be recalled.'* '
I am not so fortunate as are most of the
writers of the day — able, that is, to correct
my trifles whenever I like. When once I
have written anything, either my admirers
or my ill-wishers — from different motives,
but with equal zeal — sow my work broad-
cast among the public; and their language,
whether it is that of eulogy or of criticism,
is apt to run to excess. 2 They are guided
not by the merits of the piece, but by their
own angry feelings. Accordingly, I have
done what I could. I have dedicated to you
a defence of the work in question, feeling
sure that when you have read it you will
yourself satisfy the doubts of others on my
behalf; or else, if you too turn up your nose
at the task, you will have to explain in some
new manner that section of the apostle3 in
which he discusses virginity and marriage.
3. I do not speak thus that I may provoke
you to write on the subject yourself —
although I know your zeal in the study of the
sacred writings to be greater than my own —
but that you may compel my tormentors to
do so. They are educated; in their own
eyes no mean scholars; competent not
merely to censure but to instruct me. If
they write on the subject, my view will be
the sooner neglected when it is compared
with theirs. Read, I pray you, and dili-
gently consider the words of the apostle,
and you will then see that — with a view to
avoid misrepresentation — 1 have been much
more gentle towards married persons than
he was disposed to be. Origen, Dionysius,
Pierius, Eusebius of Caesarea, Didymus,
Apollinaris, have used great latitude in the
interpretation of this epistle.4 When Pie-
rius, sifting and expounding the apostle's
meaning, comes to the words, " I would that
all men were even as I myself," '" he makes
this comment upon them: "In saying this
Paul plainly preaches abstinence from mar-
Hor. AP. 590.
See the Preface to Jerome's Comni. on Daniel
3 1 Cor. vii.
4 1 Corinthians.
1 Cor. vii. 7.
80
JEROME.
riage. " Is the fault here mine, or am I
responsible for harshness? Compared with
this sentence of Pierius,1 all that I have ever
written is mild indeed. Consult the com-
mentaries of the above-named writers and
take advantage of the Church libraries; you
will then more speedily finish as you would
wish the enterprise which you have so hap-
pily begun."
4. I hear that the hopes of the entire city
arc centred in you, and that bishop3 and
people are agreed in wishing for your exal-
tation. To be a bishop1 is much, to de-
serve to be one is more.
If you read the books of the sixteen
prophets5 which I have rendered into Latin
from the Hebrew; and if, when you have
done so, you express satisfaction with my
labors, the news will encourage me to take
out of my desk some other works now shut
up in it. I have lately translated Job into
our mother tongue: you will be able to bor-
row a copy of it from your cousin, the
saintly Marcella. Read it both in Greek
and in Latin, and compare the old version
with my rendering. You will then clearly
see that the difference between them is that
between truth and falsehood. Some of my
commentaries upon the twelve prophets I
have sent to the reverend father Uomnio,
also the four books of Kings — that is, the
two called Samuel and the two called Mala-
chim." If you care to read these you will
learn for yourself how difficult it is to un-
derstand the Holy Scriptures, and particu-
larly the prophets; and how through the
fault of the translators passages which for
the Jews flow clearly on for us abound with
mistakes. Once more, you must not in my
small writings look for any such eloquence
as that which for Christ's sake you disregard
in Cicero. A version made for the use of
the Church, even though it may possess a
literary charm, ought to disguise and avoid
it as far as possible; in order that it may
not speak to the idle schools and few dis-
ciples of the philosophers, but may address
itself rather to the entire human race.
LETTER L.
TO DOMNIO.
Domnio, a Roman (called in Letter XLV. " the
Lot of our time "), had written to Jerome to tell him
that an ignorant monk had been traducing his books
1 Master of the catechetical school of Alexandria, 265 A.D.
His writings have perished. His name occurs again in Letter
LXX. § 4. ■•* Ad optata cajptaque pervenies.
3 Pontifex. < Sacerdbs. & Thus including Daniel.
• The Hebrew word for " Kings."
" against Jovinian." Jerome, in reply, sharply re-
bukes the folly of his critic and comments on the want
of straightforwardness in his conduct. He concludes
the letter with an emphatic restatement of his original
position. Written in 394 A.u.
1. Your letter is full at once of affection
and of complaining. The affection is your
own, which prompts you unceasingly to
warn me of impending danger, and which
makes you on my behalf
Of safest things distrustful and afraid.'
The complaining is of those who have no
love for me, and seek an occasion against
me in my sins. They speak against their
brother, they slander their own mother's
son." You write to me of these — nay, of
one in particular — a lounger who is to be
seen in the streets, at crossings, and in pub-
lic places; a monk who is a noisy news-
monger, clever only in detraction, and eager,
in spite of the beam in his own eye, to re-
move the mote in his neighbor's.3 And you
tell me that he preaches publicly against
me, gnawing, rending, and tearing asunder
with his fangs the books that I have written
against Jovinian. You inform me, more-
over, that this home-grown dialectician, this
mainstay of the Plautine company, has read
neither the " Categories " of Aristotle nor
his treatise "On Interpretation," nor his
" Analytics, " nor yet the " Topics" of Cicero,
but that, moving as he does only in unedu-
cated circles, and frequenting no society but
that of weak women, he ventures to con-
struct illogical syllogisms and to unravel
by subtle arguments what he is pleased
to call my sophisms. How foolish I have
been to suppose that without philos-
ophy there can be no knowledge of these
subjects; and to account it a more important
part of composition to erase than to write!
In vain have I perused the commentaries of
Alexander; to no purpose has a skilled
teacher used the " Introduction " of Por-
phyry to instruct me in logic; and — to make
light of human learning — I have gained
nothing at all by having Gregory of Nazian-
zum and Didymus as my catechists in the
Holy Scriptures. My acquisition of Hebrew
has been wasted labor; and so also has been
the daily study which from my youth I have
bestowed upon the Law and the Prophets,
the Gospels and the Apostles.
2. Here we have a man who has reached
perfection without a teacher, so as to be a
vehicle of the spirit and a self-taught genius.
He surpasses Cicero in eloquence, Aristotle
in argument, Plato in discretion, Aristarchus
1 Virg. A. iv. 29
3 Ps. 1. 20.
3 Matt. vii. 3-3.
LETTERS XLIX.-L.
81
in learning, Didymus, that man of brass, in
the number of his books; and not only
Didymus, but all the writers of his time in
his knowledge of the Scriptures. It is re-
ported that you have only to give him a
theme and he is always ready — like Carnea-
des1 — to argue on this side or on that, for
justice or against it. The world escaped a
great danger, and civil actions and suits
concerning succession were saved from a
yawning gulf on the day when, despising
the bar, he transferred himself to the Church.
For, had he been unwilling, who could ever
have been proved innocent? And, if he
once began to reckon the points of the case
upon his fingers, and to spread his syllo-
gistic nets, what criminal would his plead-
ing have failed to save? Had he but
stamped his foot, or fixed his eyes, or
knitted his brow, or moved his hand, or
twirled his beard, he would at once have
thrown dust in the eyes of the jury. No
wonder that such a complete Latinist and so
profound a master of eloquence overcomes
poor me, who — as I have been some time2
away (from Rome), and without opportuni-
ties for speaking Latin — am half a Greek if
not altogether a barbarian. No wonder, I
say, that he overcomes me when his elo-
quence has crushed Jovinian in person.
Good Jesus! what! even Jovinian that great
and clever man! So clever, indeed, that no
one can understand his writings, and that
when he sings it is only for himself — and for
the muses!
3. Pray, my dear father, warn this man
not to hold language contrary to his profes-
sion, and not to undo with his words the
chastity which he professes by his garb.
Whether he elects to be a virgin or a mar-
ried celibate — and the choice must rest with
himself — he must not compare wives with
virgins, for that would be to have striven
in vain against Jovinian's eloquence. He
likes, I am told, to visit the cells of widows
and virgins, and to lecture them with his
brows knit on sacred literature. What is it
that he teaches these poor women in the
privacy of their own chambers? Is it to
feel assured that virgins are no better than
wives? Is it to make the most of the flower
of their age, to eat and drink, to frequent
the baths, to live in luxury, and not to dis-
dain the use of perfumes? Or does he
preach to them chastity, fasting, and neglect
of their persons? No doubt the precepts
that he inculcates are full of virtue. But
1 A philosopher of the
stoicism.
Academy noted for his opposition ti
> Kight years,
if so, let him admit publicly what he says
privately. Or, if his private teaching is the
same as his public, he should keep aloof
altogether from the society of girls. He is
a young man — a monk, and in his own eyes
an eloquent one (do not pearls fall from
his lips, and are not his elegant phrases
sprinkled with comic salt and humor?) — I
am surprised, therefore, that he can without
a blush frequent noblemen's houses, pay
constant visits to married ladies, make our
religion a subject of contention, distort the
faith of Christ by misapplying words, and —
in addition to all this — detract from one who
is his brother in the Lord. He may, how-
ever, have supposed me to be in error (for
" in many things we offend all," and " if any
man offend not in word he is a perfect
man" '). In that case he should have writ-
ten to convict me or to question me, the
course taken by Pammachius, a man of high
attainments and position. To this latter I
defended myself as best I could, and in a
lengthy letter explained the exact sense of
my words. He might at least have copied
the diffidence which led you to extract and
arrange such passages as seemed to give
offence; asking me for corrections or ex-
planations, and not supposing me so mad
that in one and the same book I should write
for marriage and against it.
4. Let him spare himself, let him spare
me, let him spare the Christian name. Let
him realize his position as a monk, not by
talking and arguing, but by holding his
peace and sitting still. Let him read the
words of Jeremiah: "It is good for a man
that he bear the yoke in his youth. He
sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he
hath borne it upon him."2 Or if he has
really the right to apply the censor's rod to
all writers, and fancies himself a man of
learning because he alone understands Jo-
vinian (you know the proverb : Balbus best
knows what Balbus means) ; yet, as Atilius3
reminds us, "we are not all writers."
Jovinian himself — an unlettered man of let-
ters if ever there was one — will with most
justice proclaim the fact to him. "That
the bishops condemn me," he says, "is not
reason but treason. I want no answers from
nobodies, who, while they have authority to
put me down, have not the wit to teach me.
Let one write against me who has a tongue
that I can understand, and whom to van-
quish will be to vanquish all.
1 Tas. iii. 2. 2 Lam. iii. 27, 28.
3 An early Roman dramatist of whose works only a few frag-
ments remain. He is said to have translated the Electra of Soph-
Wles, but for the most part tv Jjaye preferred comedy tg tragedy.
82
JEROME.
" ' I know full well : believe mc, I have fell
The hero's force when rising o'er his shield
He hurls his whizzing' spear.' '
He is strong in argument, intricate and
tenacious, one to fight with his head down.
Often has he cried out against me in the
streets from late one night till early the
next. He is a well-built man. and his
tlu-ws are those of an athlete. Secretly I
believe him to be a follower of my teaching.
He never blushes or stops to weigh his
words: his only aim is to speak as loud as
possible. So famous is he for his eloquence
that his sayings are held up as models to
our curly-headed youngsters." How often,
when I have met him at meetings, has he
aroused my wrath and put me into a passion!
How often has he spat upon me, and then
departed spat upon! But these are vulgar
methods, and any of my followers can use
them. I appeal to books, to those memori-
als which must be handed down to posterity.
Let us speak by our writings, that the silent
reader may judge between us; and that, as 1
have a flock of disciples, he may have one
also — flatterers and parasites worthy of the
Gnatho and Phormio3 who is their master."
5. It is no difficult matter, my dear Dom-
nio, to chatter at street corners or in apoth-
ecaries' shops and to pass judgment on the
world. " So-and-so has made a good speech,
so-and-so a bad one; this man knows the
Scriptures, that one is crazy; this man talks
glibly, that never says a word at all." But
who considers him worthy thus to judge
every one? To make an outcry against a
man in every street, and to heap, not definite
charges, but vague imputations, on his head,
is nothing. Any buffoon or litigiously dis-
posed person can do as much. Let him put
forth his hand, put pen to paper, and bestir
himself; let him write books and prove in
them all he can. Let him give me a chance
of replying to his eloquence. I can return
bite for bite, if I like; when hurt myself, I
can fix my teeth in my opponent. 1 too
have had a liberal education. As Juvenal
says, " I also have often withdrawn my hand
from the ferule."4 Of me, too, it may be
said in the words of Horace, "Flee from
him; he has hay on his horn.'" But I pre-
fer to be a disciple of Him who says, "I
gave my back to the srniters . . .' I hid
not my face from shame and spitting."0
When He was reviled He reviled not again.7
After the buffeting, the cross, the scourge,
the blasphemies, at the very last He prayed
1 Virgil, Mn. xi. -,,284. » Persius i. 29.
* Characters in the Kdnuchus and Phormio of Terence.
4 Juv, i, 13.. - II.., . S, i, iv. 34. » I?a, I, & ; 1 Pet. ii. 23
for His crucifiers, saying, "Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do." ' I,
too, pardon the error of a brother. He has
been deceived, I feel sure, by the art of the
devil. Among the women he was held
clever and eloquent; but, when my poor
writings reached Rome, dreading me as a
rival, he tried to rob me of my laurels. No
man on earth, he resolved, should please
his eloquent self, unless such as commanded
respect rather than sought it, and showed
themselves men to be feared more than
favored. A man of consummate address, he
desired, like an old soldier, with one stroke
of the sword to strike down both his ene-
mies,2 and to make clear to every one that,
whatever view he might take, Scripture was
always with him. Well, he must condescend
to send me his account of the matter, and to
correct my indiscreet language, not by cen-
sure but by instruction. If he tries to do
this, he will find that what seems forcible on
a lounge is not equally forcible in court;
and that it is one thing to discuss the doc-
trines of the divine law amid the spindles
and work-baskets of girls and another to
argue concerning them among men of edu-
cation. As it is, without hesitation or
shame, he raises again and again the noisy
shout, "Jerome condemns marriage," and,
whilst he constantly moves among women
with child, crying infants, and marriage-
beds, he suppresses the words of the apostle
just to cover me — poor me — with odium.
However, when he comes by and by to write
books and to grapple with me at close quar-
ters, then he will feel it, then he will stick
fast; Epicurus and Aristippus3 will not be
near him then; the swineherds4 will not
come to his aid ; the prolific sow " will not so
much as grunt. For I also may say. with
Turnus:
Father, I too can launch a forceful spear,
And when I strike blood follows from the wound.'''
But if he refuses to write, and fancies that
abuse is as effective as criticism, then, in
spite of all the lands and seas and peoples
which lie between us, he must hear at
least the echo of my cry, " I do not condemn
marriage," "I do not condemn wedlock."
Indeed — and this I say to make my mean-
ing quite clear to him — I should like
every one to take a wife who, because he gets
frightened in the night, cannot manage to
sleep alone. 7
1 Luke xxiii. 34. - Viz. Jerome and Jovinian.
3 According to both these philosophers pleasure is the highest
good.
4 The followers of Jovinian. B Jovinian himself.
* Virg, A. xii, 50, 51. 7 Cic. pro Cselio xv.
LETTERS L.-LL
*3
LETTER LI.
FROM EPIPHANIUS, BISHOP OF SALAMIS, IN
CYPRUS, TO JOHN, BISHOP OF JERUSALEM.
A coolness had arisen between these two bishops in
connection with the Origenistic controversy, which at
this time was at its height. Epiphanius had openly
charged fohn with being an Origenist, and had also
uncanonically conferred priests' orders on Jerome's
brother l'aulinian, in order that the monastery at Beth-
lehem might henceforth be entirely independent of John.
Naturally, John resented this conduct and showed his
resentment. The present letter is a kind of half-apology
made by Epiphanius for what he had done, and like all
such, it only seems to have made matters worse. The
controversy is fully detailed in the treatise " Against
John of Jerusalem " in this volume, esp. i; 11-14.
An interesting paragraph (>; 9) narrates how Epi-
phanius destroyed at Anablatha a church-curtain on
which was depicted "a likeness of Christ or of some
saint " — an early instance of the iconoclastic spirit.
Originally written in (ireek, the letter was (by the
writer's request) rendered into Latin by Jerome. Its
date is 394 A.n.
To the lord bishop and dearly beloved bro-
ther, John, Epiphanius sends greeting.
1. It surely becomes us, dearly beloved,
not to abuse our rank as clergy, so as to
make it an occasion of pride, but by dili-
gently keeping and observing God's com-
mandments, to be in reality what in name
we profess to be. For, if the Holy Script-
ures say, "Their lots shall not profit
them," ' what pride in our clerical position2
will be able to avail us who sin not only in
thought and feeling, but in speech? I have
heard, of course, that you are incensed
against me, that you are angry, and that you
threaten to write about me — not merely to
particular places and provinces, but to the
uttermost ends of the earth. Where is that
fear of God which should make us tremble
with the trembling spoken of by the Lord —
" Whosoever is angry with his brother with-
out a cause shall be in danger of the judg-
ment"?3 Not that I greatly care for your
writing what you please. For Isaiah tells
us4 of letters written on papyrus and cast
upon the waters — missives soon carried away
by time and tide. I have done you no
harm, I have inflicted no injury upon you, I
have extorted nothing from you by violence.
My action concerned a monastery whose in-
mates were foreigners in no way subject
to your provincial jurisdiction. Moreover,
their regard for my insignificance and for
the letters which I frequently addressed to
them had commenced to produce a feeling
of dislike to communion with you. Feel-
ing, therefore, that too great strictness or
scrupulosity on my part might have the
1 Jer. xii. 13, LXX. - A play on words. Clertcatus (" clerical
position ") is a derivative of clerus («A>/poO, the word used in llie
LXX, ior "tot,," ^ Man, y, 28, i Isa, xviii. 2, LXX.
effect of alienating them from the Church
with its ancient faith, I ordained one of the
brothers deacon, and after he had ministered
as such, admitted him to the priesthood.
You should, 1 think, have been grateful to
me for this, knowing, as you surely must,
that it is the fear of God which has com-
pelled me to act in this way, and particu-
larly when you recollect that God's priest-
hood is everywhere the same, and that I
have simply made provision for the wants of
the Church. For, although each individual
bishop of the Church has under him churches
which are placed in his charge, and although
no man may stretch himself beyond his
measure,1 yet the love of Christ, which is
without dissimulation,2 is set up as an ex-
ample to us all; and we must consider not
so much the thing done as the time and
place, the mode and motive, of doing it. I
saw that the monastery contained a large
number of reverend brothers, and that the
reverend presbyters, Jerome and Vincent,
through modesty and humility, were unwill-
ing to offer the sacrifices permitted to their
rank, and to labor in that part of their call-
ing which ministers more than any other to
the salvation of Christians. I knew, more-
over, that you could not find or lay hands
on this servant of God3 who had several
times fled from you simply because he was
reluctant to undertake the onerous duties of
the priesthood, and that no other bishop
could easily find him. Accordingly, I was a
good deal surprised when, by the ordering
of God, he came to me with the deacons of
the monastery and others of the brethren, to
make satisfaction to me for some grievance
or other which I had against them. While,
therefore, the Collect4 was being celebrated
in the church of the villa which adjoins our
monastery — he being quite ignorant and
wholly unsuspicious of my purpose — I gave
orders to a number of deacons to seize him
and to stop his mouth, lest in his eagerness
to free himself he might adjure me in the
name of Christ. First of all, then, I or-
dained him deacon, setting before him the
fear of God, and forcing him to minister;
for he made a hard struggle against it, cry-
ing out that he was unworthy, and protest-
ing that this heavy burden was beyond his
strength. It was with difficulty, then, that
I overcame his reluctance, persuading him
as well as I could with passages from Script-
ure, and setting before him the command-
1 Cf. 2 Cor. x. 14. 2 Rom. xii. o. a Paulinian, Jerome's
brother, at this time about 28 years of age. 4 i.e. the short service
which preceded the eucharist. the words might, however, be ren-
dered, " When the i-om;re«atioii was gathered together."
84
JEROME.
ments of God. And when he had ministered
in the offering of the holy sacrifices, once
more with great difficulty I closed his mouth
and ordained him presbyter. Then, using the
same arguments as before, I induced him to
sit in the place set apart for the presbyters.
After this I wrote to the reverend presbyters
and other brothers of the monastery, chiding
them for not having written to me about
him. For a year before I had heard many
of them complain that they had no one to
celebrate for them the sacraments of the
Lord. All then agreed in asking him to
undertake the duty, pointing out how great
his usefulness would be to the community of
the monastery. I blamed them for omitting
to write to me and to propose that I should
ordain him, when the opportunity was given
to them to do so.
2. All this 1 have done, as I said just
now, relying on that Christian love which
you, I feel sure, cherish towards my insig-
nificance; not to mention the fact that I
held the ordination in a monastery, and not
within the limits of your jurisdiction. How
truly blessed is the mildness and compla-
cency of the bishops of (my own) Cyprus, as
well as their simplicity, though to your re-
finement and discrimination it appears de-
serving only of God's pity! For many
bishops in communion with me have or-
dained presbyters in my province whom I
had been unable to capture, and have sent
to me deacons and subdeacons1 whom I have
been glad to receive. I myself, too, have
urged the bishop Philo of blessed memory,
and the reverend Theoprepus, to make pro-
vision for the Church of Christ by ordaining
presbyters in those churches of Cyprus
which, although they were accounted to be-
long to my see, happened to be close to
them, and this for the reason that my prov-
ince was large and straggling. But for my
part I have never ordained deaconesses nor
sent them into the provinces of others,2 nor
have I done anything to rend the Church.
Why, then, have you thought fit to be so
angry and indignant with me for that work
of God which I have wrought for the edifica-
tion of the brethren, and not for their de-
struction?" Moreover, I have been much
surprised at the assertion which you have
made to my clergy, that you sent me a mes-
sage by that reverend presbyter, the abbot
Gregory, that I was to ordain no one, and
that I promised to comply, saying, "Am I
' Subdeacons cannot be traced back earlier than the third cent-
ury. At lust their province seems to have been to keep the
church doors during divine service.
* Jt seems to be implied that John had done so, a 2 Cor. x. 8,
a stripling, or do I not know the canons?"
By God's word I am telling you the truth
when I say that I know and have heard
nothing of all this, and that I have not the
slightest recollection of using any language
of the sort. As, however, I have had mis-
givings, lest possibly, being only a man, I
may have forgotten this among so many
other matters, I have made inquiry of the
reverend Gregory, and of the presbyter
Zeno, who is, with him. Of these, the ab-
bot Gregory replies that he knows nothing
whatever about the matter, while Zeno says
that the presbyter Rufinus, in the course of
some desultory remarks, spoke these words,
"Will the reverend bishop, think you, vent-
ure to ordain any persons?" but that the
conversation went no further. I, Epipha-
nius, however, have never either received
the message or answered it. Do not, then,
dearly beloved, allow your anger to over-
come you or your indignation to get the
better of you, lest, you should disquiet your-
self in vain; and lest you should be thought
to be puttng forward this grievance only to
get scope for tendencies of another kind,1 and
thus to have sought out an occasion of sin-
ning. It is to avoid this that the prophet
prays to the Lord, saying: "Turn not aside
my heart to words of wickedness, to making
excuses for my sins."2
3. This also I have been surprised to hear,
that certain persons who are in the habit of
carrying tales backwards and forwards, and
of always adding something fresh to what
they have heard, to stir up grievances and
disputes between brothers, have succeeded
in disquieting you by saying that, when I
offer sacrifices to God, I am wont to say this
prayer on your behalf: "Grant, O Lord, to
John. grace to believe aright." Do not sup-
pose me so untutored as to be capable of
saying this so openly. To tell you the sim-
ple truth, my dearest brother, although I con-
tinually use this prayer mentally, I have never
confided it to the ears of others, lest I should
seem to dishonor you. But when I repeat the
prayers required by the ritual of the mys-
teries, then I say on behalf of all and of you as
well as others, "Guard him, that he may
preach the truth," or at least this, " Do Thou,
O Lord, grant him Thine aid, and guard him,
that he may preach the word of truth, "as occa-
sion offers itself for the words, and as the turn
comes for the particular prayer. Wherefore I
beseech you, dearly beloved, and, casting
myself down at your feet, I entreat you to
> That is, ( )rigenistic heresies, 8 Ps. cxli. 4, ace. to the Galli-
can Psalter,
LETTER LI.
85
grant to me and to yourself this one prayer,
that you would save yourself, as it is writ-
ten, "from an untoward generation."1
Withdraw, dearly beloved, from the heresy
of Origen and from all heresies. For I see
that all your indignation has been roused
against me simply because I have told you
that you ought not to eulogize one who is
the spiritual father of Arius, and the root
and parent of all heresies. And when I ap-
pealed to you not to go astray, and warned
you of the consequences, you traversed my
words, and reduced me to tears and sadness;
and not me only, but many other Catholics
who were present.2 This I take to be the
origin of your indignation and of your
passion on the present occasion. On this
account you threaten to send out letters
against me, and to circulate your version of
the matter in all directions;3 and thus, while
with a view to defending your heresy you
kindle men's passions against me, you break
through the charity which I have shown to-
wards you, and act with so little discretion
that you make me regret that I have held com-
munion with you, and that I have by so doing
upheld the erroneous opinions of Origen.
4. I speak plainly. To use the language
of Scripture, I do not spare to pluck out
my own eye if it cause me to offend, nor to
cut off my hand and my foot if they cause me
to do so.4 And you must be treated in the
same way whether you are my eyes, or my
hands, or my feet. For what Catholic,
what Christian who adorns his faith with
good works, can hear with calmness Origen's
teaching and counsel, or believe in his ex-
traordinary preaching? "The Son," he
tells us, "cannot see the Father, and the
Holy Spirit cannot see the Son." These
words occur in his book " On First Princi-
ples;" thus we read, and thus Origen has
spoken. " For as it is unsuitable to say
that the Son can see the Father, it is conse-
quently unsuitable to suppose that the Spirit
can see the Son." 5 Can any one, moreover,
brook Origen's assertion that men's souls
were once angels in heaven, and that having
sinned in the upper world, they have been
cast down into this, and have been confined
in bodies as in barrows or tombs, to pay the
penalty for their former sins; and that the
bodies of bel ievers are not temples of Christ, 6
but prisons of the condemned ? Again, he
1 Acts ii. 40.
2 Epiphanius, on a visit to Jerusalem, had preached against
Origenism in the presence of John. See " Ag. John of Jerus.," § 11.
3 John actually did write to Theophilus of Alexandria giving a
full account of the controversy from his (John's) point of view.
(Ag. J. of Jeius., § 37.) 4 Matt, xviii. 8, 9.
6 First Principles, 1. 1 ; ii. 4. * 1 Cor. vi. 15, 19.
VOL. VI.
tampers with the true meaning of the narra-
tive by a false use of allegory, multiplying
words without limit; and undermines the
faith of the simple by the most varied argu-
ments. Now he maintains that souls, in
Greek the " cool things," from a word mean-
ing to be cool,1 are so called because in
coming down from the heavenly places to
the lower world they have lost their former
heat;2 and now, that our bodies are called
by the Greeks chains, from a word meaning
chain,3 or else (on the analogy of our own
Latin word) "things fallen,"4 because our
souls have fallen from heaven; and that the
other word for body which the abundance of
the Greek idiom supplies5 is by many taken
to mean a funeral monument,6 because the
soul is shut up within it in the same way as
the corpses of the dead are shut up in tombs
and barrows. If this doctrine is true what
becomes of our faith ? Where is the preach-
ing of the resurrection? Where is the teach-
ing of the apostles, which lasts on to this
day in the churches of Christ ? Where is
the blessing to Adam, and to his seed, and
to Noah and his sons? "Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth."7 Ac-
cording to Origen, these words must be a
curse and not a blessing; for he turns angels
into human souls, compelling them to leave
the place of highest rank and to come down
lower, as though God were unable through
the action of His blessing to grant souls to
the human race, had the angels not sinned,
and as though for every birth on earth there
must be a fall in heaven. We are to give
up, then, the teaching of apostles and
prophets, of the law, and of our Lord and
Saviour Himself, in spite of His language
loud as thunder in the gospel. Origen, on
the other hand, commands and urges — not
to say binds — his disciples not to pray to
ascend into heaven, lest sinning once more
worse than they had sinned on earth they
should be hurled down into the world again.
Such foolish and insane notions he generally
confirms by distorting the sense of the Script-
ures and making them mean what they do not
mean at all. He quotes this passage from
the Psalms: "Before thou didst humble me
by reason of my wickedness, I went wrong;"8
and this, "Return unto thy rest, O my
soul;"9 this also, "Bring my soul out of
prison ;" 10 and this, " I will make confession
1 ijjvxou ano toO i//ux«<r0ai. The etymology is right, but the ex-
planation of it wrong. » First Principles ii. 8.
3 Se^as as if from 6e'co, " I bind.
* n-riuma, from win-reiv : cadaver, from cado.
5 a<Zna. 6 o-ijna. 7 Gen. i. 28 ; ix. 7.
B Ps. cxix. 67. From memory, or perhaps from the old Latin
version. 8 Ps. cxvi. 7. 10 Ps. cxlii. 7.
86
JEROME.
unto the Lord in the land of the living," '
although there can be no doubt that the
meaning of the divine Scripture is different
from the interpretation by which he unfairly
wrests it to the support of his own heresy.
This way of acting is common to the Mani-
choeans, the Gnostics, the Ebionites, the
Marcionites, and the votaries of the other
eighty heresies,2 all of whom draw their
proofs from the pure well of the Scriptures,
not, however, interpreting it in the sense in
which it is written, but trying to make the
simple language of the Church's writers
accord with their own wishes.
5. Of one position which he strives to
maintain I hardly know whether it calls for
my tears or my laughter. This wonderful
doctor presumes to teach that the devil will
once more be what he at one time was, that
he will return to his former dignity and rise
again to the kingdom of heaven. Oh
horror! that a man should be so frantic and
foolish as to hold that John the Baptist,
Peter, the apostle and evangelist John,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the
prophets, are made co-heirs of the devil in
the kingdom of heaven! I pass over his
idle explanation of the coats of skins,3 and
say nothing of the efforts and arguments he
has used to induce us to believe that these
coats of skins represent human bodies.
Among many other things, he says this:
" Was God a tanner or a saddler, that He
should prepare the hides of animals, and
should stitch from them coats of skins for
Adam and Eve ? " " It is clear, " he goes on,
"that he is speaking of human bodies. " If
this is so, how is it that before the coats of
skins, and the disobedience, and the fall
from paradise, Adam speaks not in an alle-
gory, but literally, thus: "This is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh;" 4 or what
is the ground of the divine narrative, " And
the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon Adam, and he slept ; and he took one
of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead
thereof; and the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man, made He a woman " s
for him? Or what bodies can Adam and
Eve have covered with fig-leaves after
eating of the forbidden tree?6 Who can
patiently listen to the perilous arguments of
Origen when he denies the resurrection of
this flesh, as he most clearly does in his
book of explanations of the first psalm and
in many other places? Or who can tolerate
1 Ps. cxvi. 9. This form of the verse is peculiar to Jerome.
* Epiphanius had written a book " against all the heresies."
8 In his note on Gen. iii. ax. * Gen. ii. 23
* Gen. ii. ax, 22. 6 Gen. iii. 7.
him when he gives us a paradise in the third
heaven, and transfers that which the Script-
ure mentions from earth to the heavenly
places, and when he explains allegorically
all the trees which are mentioned in Genesis,
saying in effect that the trees are angelic
potencies, a sense which the true drift of the
passage does not admit? For the divine
Scripture has not said, " God put down
Adam and Eve upon the earth," but "He
drove them put of the paradise, and made
them dwell over against the paradise." 1 He
does not say "under the paradise." "He
placed . . . cherubims and a flaming
sword ... to keep the way of2 the tree
of life." 3 He says nothing about an ascent
to it. "And a river went out of Eden."4
He does not say "went down from Eden."
" It was parted and became into four heads.
The name of the first is Pison . . . and the
name of the second is Gihon. " 5 I myself have
seen the waters of Gihon, have seen them
with my bodily eyes. It is this Gihon to
which Jeremiah points when he says, " What
hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink
the muddy water of Gihon?"6 I have
drunk also from the great river Euphrates,
not spiritual but actual water, such as you
can touch with your hand and imbibe with
your mouth. But where there are rivers
which admit of being seen and of being
drunk, it follows that there also there will be
fig-trees and other trees; and it is of these
that the Lord says, " Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat." They are
like other trees and timber, just as the
rivers are like other rivers and waters. But
if the water is visible and real, then the fig-
tree and the rest of the timber must be real
also, and Adam and Eve must have been
originally formed with real and not phan-
tasmal bodies, and not, as Origen would
have us believe, have afterwards received
them on account of their sin. But, you say,
" we read that Saint Paul was caught up to
the third heaven, into paradise."8 You ex-
plain the words rightly : " When he mentions
the third heaven, and then adds the word
paradise, he shows that heaven is in one
place and paradise in another." Must not
every one reject and despise such special
pleading as that by which Origen says of
the waters that are above the firmament9
that they are not waters, but heroic beings
of angelic power,10 and again of the waters
1 Gen. iii. 23, LXX. 2 Introitus. 3 Gen. iii. 24.
4 Gen. ii. 10. 6 Gen. ii. 10, 11, 13.
8 Jer. ii. 18, LXX. and Vulg. » Gen. ii. 16.
8 2 Cor. xii 2, 4. 9 In his note on Gen. i. 7.
10 Fortitudines angelica; potcstatis.
LETTER LI.
87
that are over the earth — that is, below the
firmament — that they are potencies1 of the
contrary sort — that is, demons ? If so, why
do we read in the account of the deluge
that the windows of heaven were opened,
and that the waters of the deluge prevailed?
in consequence of which the fountains of the
deep were opened, and the whole earth was
covered with the waters.2
6. Oh! the madness and folly of those
who have forsaken the teaching of the book
of Proverbs, " My son, keep thy father's
commandment, and forsake not the law of
thy mother," 3 and have turned to error, and
say to the fool that he shall be their leader,
and do not despise the foolish things which
are said by the foolish man, even as the
scripture bears witness, "The foolish man
speaketh foolishly, and his heart under-
standeth vanity."4 I beseech you, dearly
beloved, and by the love which I feel tow-
ards you, I implore you — as though it were
my own members on which I would have
pity6 — by word and letter to fulfil that which
is written, " Do not I hate them, O Lord, that
hate thee? and am not I grieved with those
that rise up against thee ?" 6 Origen's words
are the words of an enemy, hateful and
repugnant to God and to His saints; and not
only those which I have quoted, but count-
less others. For it is not now my intention
to argue against all his opinions. Origen
has not lived in my day, nor has he robbed
me. I have not conceived a dislike to him
nor quarrelled with him because of an inher-
itance or of any worldly matter; but — to
speak plainly — I grieve, and grieve bitterly,
to see numbers of my brothers, and of those
in particular who show the most promise,
and have reached the highest rank in the
sacred ministry,7 deceived by his persuasive
arguments, and made by his most perverse
teaching the food of the devil, whereby the
saying is fulfilled : " He derides every strong-
hold, and his fare is choice, and he hath
gathered captives as the sand."8 But may
God free you, my brother, and the holy
people of Christ which is intrusted to you,
and all the brothers who are with you, and
especially the presbyter Rufinus, from the
heresy of Origen, and other heresies, and
from the perdition to which they lead. For,
if for one word or for two opposed to the
faith many heresies have been rejected by
the Church, how much more shall he be held
a heretic who has contrived such perverse
1 Virtues. a Gen. vii. 11. 3 Prov. vi. 20.
4 Isa. xxxii. 6, Vulg, 5 Cf. Philera. 12. * Ps. cxxxix. 21.
1 Sacerdotium. 8 Hab. i. 10, 16, 9, LXX.
interpretations and such mischievous doc-
trines to destroy the faith, and has in fact
declared himself the enemy of the Church!
For, among other wicked things, he has pre-
sumed to say this, too, that Adam lost the
image of God, although Scripture nowhere
declares that he did. Were it so, never
would all the creatures in the world be sub-
ject to Adam's seed — that is, to the entire
human race; yet, in the words of the apos-
tle, everything " is tamed and hath been
tamed of mankind."1 For never would all
things be subjected to men if men had not —
together with their authority over all — the
image of God. But the divine Scripture
conjoins and associates with this the grace
of the blessing which was conferred upon
Adam and upon the generations which de-
scended from him. No one can by twisting
the meaning of words presume to say that
this grace of God was given to one only,
and that he alone was made in the image of
God (he and his wife, that is, for while he
was formed of clay she was made of one of
his ribs), but that those who were subse-
quently conceived in the womb and not born
as was Adam did not possess God's image,
for the Scripture immediately subjoins the
following statement: "And Adam lived two
hundred and thirty years,2 and knew Eve
his wife, and she bare him a son in his
image and after his likeness, and called his
name Seth."3 And again, in the tenth
generation, two thousand two hundred and
forty-two years afterwards,4 God, to vindi-
cate His own image and to show that the
grace which He had given to men still con-
tinued in them, gives the following com-
mandment: "Flesh . . . with the blood
thereof shall ye not eat. And surely your
blood will I require at the hand of every
man that sheddeth it; for in the image of
God have I made man."5 From Noah to
Abraham ten generations passed away,6 and
from Abraham's time to David's, fourteen
more,7 and these twenty-four generations
make up, taken together, two thousand one
hundred and seventeen years.8 Yet the
Holy Spirit in the thirty-ninth9 psalm,
while lamenting that all men walk in a vain
show, and that they are subject to sins,
speaks thus: " For all that every man walk-
2 LXX.'' The Heb. text which A.V. follows gives " an hundred
and thirty years." 3 Gen. iv. 25 ; v. 3 ; 1. 26.
* According to the LXX. The chronology of the Hebrew text
gives a period of 1656 years (Gen. v.).
6 Gen. ix. 4-6 ; substantially as in A.V.
« Gen. xi. 10-26. 7 Matt. i. i7
8 This calculation appears to be based on the LXX.
9 Ace. to the Vulg., which Jerome here follows, the thirty-
eighth.
G 2
JEROME.
eth in the image."1 Also after David's
time, in the reign of Solomon his son, we
read a somewhat similar reference to the
divine likeness. For in the book of Wis-
dom, which is inscribed with his name, Solo-
mon says: "God created man to be immor-
tal, and made him to be an image of His
own eternity."2 And again, about eleven
hundred and eleven years afterwards, we
read in the New Testament that men have
not lost the image of God. For James, an
apostle and brother of the Lord, whom I
have mentioned above — that we may not be
entangled in the snares of Origen — teaches
us that man does possess God's image and
likeness. For, after a somewhat discursive
account of the human tongue, he has gone
on to say of it: "It is an unruly evil . . .
therewith bless we God, even the Father;
and therewith curse we men, which are made
after the similitude of God."3 Paul, too,
the "chosen vessel,"4 who in his preaching
has fully maintained the doctrine of the
gospel, instructs us that man is made in the
image and after the likeness of God. "A
man," he says, "ought not to wear long
hair, forasmuch as he is the image and
glory of God. " 5 He speaks of " the image "
simply, but explains the nature of the like-
ness by the word "glory."
7. Instead of the three proofs from Holy
Scripture which you said would satisfy you
if I could produce them, behold I have
given you seven. Who, then, will put up
with the follies of Origen? I will not use
a severer word and so make myself like him
or his followers, who presume at the peril of
their soul to assert dogmatically whatever
first comes into their head, and to dictate to
God, whereas they ought either to pray to
Him or to learn the truth from Him. For
some of them say that the image of God
which Adam had previously received was
lost when he sinned. Others surmise that
the body which the Son of God was destined
to take of Mary was the image of the Cre-
ator. Some identify this image with the
soul, others with sensation, others with vir-
tue. These make it baptism, those assert
that it is in virtue of God's image that man
exercises universal sway. Like drunkards
in their cups, they ejaculate now this, now
that, when they ought rather to have avoided
so serious a risk, and to have obtained sal-
vation by simple faith, not denying the
words of God. To God they ought to have
left the sure and exact knowledge of His
1 Ps. 39, 6. " In a vain show," R.V. 2 Wisd. ii. 23.
3 Jas. lii, 8, 9. * Acts. ix. 15. s j Cor. xi. 7!
own gift, and of the particular way in which
He has created men in His image and after
His likeness. Forsaking this course, they
have involved themselves in many subtle
questions, and through these they have been
plunged into the mire of sin. But we, dearly
beloved, believe the words of the Lord, and
know that God's image remains in all men,
and we leave it to Him to know in what
respect man is created in His image. And
let no one be deceived by that passage in
the epistle of John, which some readers fail
to understand, where he says: "Now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that, when
He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for
we shall see Him as He is." 1 For this re-
fers to the glory which is then to be
revealed2 to His saints; just as also in
another place we read the words " from
glory to glory,"3 of which glory the saints
have even in this world received an earnest
and a small portion. At their head stands
Moses, whose face shone exceedingly, and
was bright with the brightness of the sun.4
Next to him comes Elijah, who was caught
up into heaven in a chariot of fire,5 and did
not feel the effects of the flame. Stephen,
too, when he was being stoned, had the face
of an angel visible to all.6 And this which
we have verified in a few cases is to be un-
derstood of all, that what is written may be
fulfilled. " Every one that sanctifieth him-
self shall be numbered among the blessed."
For, " blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God." 7
8. These things being so, dearly beloved,
keep watch over your own soul and cease to
murmur against me. For the divine Script-
ure says: "Neither murmur ye [one against
another9] as some of them also murmured,
and were destroyed of serpents."9 Rather
give way to the truth and love me who love
both you and the truth. And may the God
of peace, according to His mercy, grant to
us that Satan may be bruised under the feet
of Christians,10 and that every occasion of
evil may be shunned, so that the bond of
love and peace may not be rent asunder be-
tween us, or the preaching of the right faith
be anywise hindered.
9. Moreover, I have heard that certain
persons have this grievance against me:
When I accompanied you to the holy place
called Bethel, there to join you in cele-
brating the Collect,11 after the use of the
1 1 Joh. iii. 2. 2 1 Pet. v. 1. 9 2 Cor. iii. 18.
4 Exod. xxxiv. ■zqsqq.; 2 Cor. iii. 7. B 2 Kings ii. 11.
6 Acts vi. 15. 7 Matt. v. 8. 8 Words added by Epiphanius.
8 j Cor, x. 10, 10 Rom. xvi. 20. n See note on § 1 above.
LETTERS LI.-LII.
89
Church, I came to a villa called Anablatha,
and, as I was passing, saw a lamp burning
there. Asking what place it was, and learn-
ing it to be a church, I went in to pray,
and found there a curtain hanging on the
doors of the said church, dyed and embroi-
dered.1 It bore an image either of Christ
or of one of the saints; I do not rightly re-
member whose the image was. Seeing this,
and being loth that an image of a man
should be hung up in Christ's church con-
trary to the teaching of the Scriptures, I
tore it asunder and advised the custodians
of the place to use it as a winding sheet for
some poor person. They, however, mur-
mured, and said that if I made up my mind
to tear it, it was only fair that I should give
them another curtain in its place. As soon
as I heard this, I promised that I would
give one, and said that I would send it at
once. Since then there has been some little
delay, due to the fact that I have been seek-
ing a curtain of the best quality to give to
them instead of the former one, and thought
it right to send to Cyprus for one. I have
now sent the best that I could find, and I
beg that you will order the presbyter of the
place to take the curtain which I have sent
from the hands of the Reader, and that you
will afterwards give directions that curtains
of the other sort — opposed as they are to our
religion — shall not be hung up in any church
of Christ. A man of your uprightness
should be careful to remove an occasion of
offence2 unworthy alike of the Church of
Christ and of those Christians who are com-
mitted to your charge. Beware of Palladius
of Galatia — a man once dear to me, but
who now sorely needs God's pity — for he
preaches and teaches the heresy of Origen;
and see to it that he does not seduce any of
those who are intrusted to your keeping into
the perverse ways of his erroneous doctrine.
I pray that you may fare well in the Lord,
LETTER LII.
TO NEPOTIAN.
Nepotian, the nephew of Heliodorus (for whom see
Letter XIV.), had, like his uncle, abandoned the mili-
tary for the clerical calling, and was now a presbyter at
Altinum, where Heliodorus was bishop. The letter is
a systematic treatise on the duties of the clergy and on
the rule of life which they ought to adopt. It had a
great vogue, and called forth much indignation against
Jerome. Its date is 394 a.d.
1. Again and again you ask me, my dear
Nepotian, in your letters from over the sea,
1 Velum . . . tinctum atque depictum.
2 Scrupulositas.
to draw for you a few rules of life, showing
how one who has renounced the service of
the world to become a monk or a clergyman
may keep the straight path of Christ, and
not be drawn aside into the haunts of vice.
As a young man, or rather as a boy, and
while I was curbing by the hard life of the
desert the first onslaughts of youthful pas-
sion, I sent a letter of remonstrance1 to your
reverend uncle, Heliodorus, which, by the
tears and complainings with which it was
filled, showed him the feelings of the friend
whom he had deserted. In it I acted the
part suited to my age, and as I was still
aglow with the methods and maxims of the
rhetoricians, I decked it out a good deal
with the flourishes of the schools. Now,
however, my head is gray, my brow is fur-
rowed, a dewlap like that of an ox hangs
from my chin, and, as Virgil says,
The chilly blood stands still around my heart.2
Elsewhere he sings:
Old age bears all, even the mind, away.
And a little further on:
So many of my songs are gone from me,
And even my very voice has left me now.3
2. But that I may not seem to quote only
profane literature, listen to the mystical
teaching of the sacred writings. Once
David had been a man of war, but at sev-
enty age had chilled him so that nothing
would make him warm. A girl is accord-
ingly sought from the coasts of Israel —
Abishag the Shunamite — to sleep with the
king and warm his aged frame.4 Does it
not seem to you — if you keep to the letter
that killeth5 — like some farcical story or
some broad jest from an Atellan play?6 A
chilly old man is wrapped up in blankets,
and only grows warm in a giro's embrace.
Bathsheba was still living, Abigail was still
left, and the remainder of those wives and
concubines whose names the Scripture men-
tions. Yet they are all rejected as cold,
and only in the one young girl's embrace
does the old man become warm. Abraham
was far older than David; still, so long as
Sarah lived he sought no other wife. Isaac
counted twice the years of David, yet never
felt cold with Rebekah, old though she was.
I say nothing of the antediluvians, who, al-
though after nine hundred years their limbs
must have been not old merely, but decayed
with age, had no recourse to girls' embraces.
Moses, the leader of the Israelites, counted
1 Letter XIV. 9 v. 2 Virgil, G. ii. 484.
3 Virgil, Ec. ix. 51, 54, 55. 4 1 K. i. 1-4. 6 2 Cor. iii. 6.
6 So called because first devised in the Oscan town of Atella,
9o
JEROME.
one hundred and twenty years, yet sought
no change from Zipporah.
3. Who, then, is this Shunamite, this wife
and maid, so glowing as to warm the cold,
yet so holy as not to arouse passion in him
whom she warmed?1 Let Solomon, wisest
of men, tell us of his father's favorite; let
the man of peace2 recount to us the em-
braces of the man of war.3 " Get wisdom,"
he writes, "get understanding: forget it
not; neither decline from the words of my
mouth. Forsake her not and she shall pre-
serve thee: love her and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore
get wisdom, and with all thy getting get
understanding. Exalt her and she shall
promote thee. She shall bring thee to honor
when thou dost embrace her. She shall give
to thine head an ornament of grace : a crown
of glory shall she deliver to thee." 4
Almost all bodily excellences alter with
age, and while wisdom alone increases all
things else decay. Fasts and vigils and
almsdeeds become harder. So also do
sleeping on the ground, moving from place
to place, hospitality to travellers, plead-
ing for the poor, earnestness and steadfast-
ness in prayer, the visitation of the sick,
manual labor to supply money for alms-
giving. All acts, in short, of which the
body is the medium decrease with its decay.
Now, there are young men still full of life
and vigor who, by toil and burning zeal, as
well as by holiness of life and constant
prayer to the Lord Jesus, have obtained
knowledge. I do not speak of these, or say
that in them the love of wisdom is cold, for
this withers in many of the old by reason of
age. What I mean is that youth, as such,
has to cope with the assaults of passion,
and amid the allurements of vice and the
tinglings of the flesh is stifled like a fire
among green boughs, and cannot develop its
proper brightness. But when men have em-
ployed their youth in commendable pursuits
and have meditated on the law of the Lord
day and night,5 they learn with the lapse of
time, fresh experience and wisdom come as
the years go by, and so from the pursuits of
the past their old age reaps a harvest of de-
light. Hence that wise man of Greece,
Themistocles,6 perceiving, after the expira-
tion of one hundred and seven years, that he
was on the verge of the grave, is reported to
have said that he regretted extremely having
to leave life just when he was beginning to
1 ' ■»■ i. .). 2 The name Solomon means " man of peace."
* iChr. xxviii. 3. 4 prov# jV- s_„ 6 ps< j 2
9 A slip of the pen for Theophrastus.
grow wise. Plato died in his eighty-first
year, his pen still in his hand. Isocrates
completed ninety years and nine in the
midst of literary and scholastic work.1 I
say nothing of other philosophers, such as
Pythagoras, Democritus, Xenocrates, Zeno,
and Cleanthes, who in extreme old age dis-
played the vigor of youth in the pursuit of
wisdom. I pass on to the poets, Homer,
Hesiod, Simonides, Stesichorus, who all
lived to a great age, yet at the approach of
death sang each of them a swan song sweeter
than their wont.2 Sophocles, when charged
by his sons with dotage on account of his
advanced years and his neglect of his
property, read out to his judges his recently
composed play of CEdipus, and made so
great a display of wisdom — in spite of the
inroads of time — that he changed the deco-
rous silence of the law court into the ap-
plause of the theatre.3 And no wonder,
when Cato the censor, that most eloquent of
Romans, in his old age neither blushed at
the thought of learning Greek nor despaired
of succeeding.4 Homer, for his part, re-
lates that from the tongue of Nestor, even
when quite aged and helpless, there flowed
speech sweeter than honey. 5
Even the very name Abishag in its mystic
meaning points to the greater wisdom of old
men. For the translation of it is, " My
father is over and above," or "my father's
roaring." The term "over and above" is
obscure, but in this passage is indicative of
excellence, and implies that the old have a
larger stock of wisdom, and that it even
overflows by reason of its abundance. In
another passage " over and above" forms an
antithesis to " necessary. " Moreover, Abi-
shag, that is, "roaring," is properly used of
the sound which the waves make, and of the
murmur which we hear coming from the sea.
From which it is plain that the thunder of
the divine voice dwells in old men's ears
with a volume of sound beyond the voices
of men. Again, in our tongue Shunamite
means " scarlet," a hint that the love of wis-
dom becomes warm and glowing through re-
ligious study. For though the color may
point to the mystery of the Lord's blood, it
also sets forth the warm glow of wisdom.
Hence it is a scarlet thread that in Genesis
the midwife binds upon the hand of Pharez
— Pharez "the divider," so called because
he divided the partition which had before
separated two peoples.6 So, too, with a
1 Cicero, de Sen. v.
'■> Id. ibid.
6 Homer, II. i. 249 ; Cic. de Sen. x.
2 Cicero, de Sen. vii.
4 Cic. de Sen. viii.
9 Gen, xx.wiii, 28, 29.
LETTER LII.
91
mystic reference to the shedding of blood,
it was a scarlet cord which the harlot Ra-
hab (a type of the church) hung in her win-
dow to preserve her house in the destruction
of Jericho.1 Hence, in another place Script-
ure says of holy men : " These are they
which came from the warmth of the house
of the father of Rechab. " 2 And in the gos-
pel the Lord says: "I am come to cast fire
upon the earth, and fain am I to see it kin-
dled."3 This was the fire which, when it
was kindled in the disciples' hearts, con-
strained them to say : " Did not our heart
burn within us while He talked with us by
the way, and while He opened to us the
Scriptures?" 4
4. To what end, you ask, these recondite
references ? To show that you need not ex-
pect from me boyish declamation, flowery
sentiments, a meretricious style, and at the
close of every paragraph the terse and
pointed aphorisms which call forth approv-
ing shouts from those who hear them. Let
Wisdom alone embrace me; let her nestle in
my bosom, my Abishag who grows not old.
Undefiled truly is she, and a virgin forever;
for although she daily conceives and un-
ceasingly brings to the birth, like Mary she
remains undeflowered. When the apostle
says "be fervent in spirit," 5 he means "be
true to wisdom." And when our Lord in
the gospel declares that in the end of the
world — when the shepherd shall grow foolish,
according to the prophecy of Zechariah 6 —
"the love of many shall wax cold,"7 He
means that wisdom shall decay. Hear,
therefore — to quote the sainted Cyprian —
"words forcible rather than elegant."8
Hear one who, though he is your brother in
orders, is in years your father; who can
conduct you from the cradle of faith to
spiritual manhood ; and who, while he builds
up stage by stage the rules of holy living,
can instruct others in instructing you. I
know, of course, that from your reverend
uncle, Heliodorus, now a bishop of Christ,
you have learned and are daily learning all
that is holy; and that in him you have
before you a rule of life and a pattern of
virtue. Take, then, my suggestions for
what they are worth, and compare my pre-
cepts with his. He will teach you the per-
fection of a monk, and I shall show you the
whole duty of a clergyman.
5. A clergyman, then, as he serves Christ's
church, must first understand what his name
1 Josh. ii. 18. 2 1 Chron. ii. 55, Vulg. 3 Luke xii. 40.
4 Luke xxiv. 32. B Rom. xii. 11. ° Zech. xi. 15.
7 Matt. xxiv. 12. e Cyprian, Ep. ad Donatum.
means; and then, when he realizes this, must
endeavor to be that which he is called. For
since the Greek word xXfjpoS means "lot,"
or "inheritance," the clergy are so called
either because they are the lot of the Lord,
or else because the Lord Himself is their lot
and portion. Now, he who in his own per-
son is the Lord's portion, or has the Lord
for his portion, must so bear himself as to
possess the Lord and to be possessed by
Him. He who possesses the Lord, and who
says with the prophet, " The Lord is my
portion,"1 can hold to nothing beside the
Lord. For if he hold to something beside the
Lord, the Lord will not be his portion. Sup-
pose, for instance, that he holds to gold or
silver, or possessions or inlaid furniture;
with such portions as these the Lord will
not deign to be his portion. I, if I am the
portion of the Lord, and the line of His
heritage,2 receive no portion among the re-
maining tribes; but, like the Priest and the
Levite, I live on the tithe,3 and serving
the altar, am supported by its offerings.4
Having food and raiment, I shall be con-
tent with these,5 and as a disciple of the
Cross shall share its poverty. I beseech
you, therefore, and
Again and yet again admonish you ; 6
do not look to your military experience
for a standard of clerical obligation.
Under Christ's banner seek for no worldly
gain, lest having more than when you
first became a clergyman, you hear men
say, to your shame, "Their portion shall
not profit them."7 Welcome poor men and
strangers to your homely board, that with
them Christ may be your guest. A clergy-
man who engages in business, and who rises
from poverty to wealth, and from obscurity
to a high position, avoid as you would the
plague. For " evil communications corrupt
good manners."8 You despise gold; he
loves it. You spurn wealth; he eagerly
pursues it. You love silence, meekness,
privacy; he takes delight in talking and
effrontery, in squares, and streets, and
apothecaries' shops. What unity of feeling
can there be where there is so wide a diver-
gency of manners ?
A woman's foot should seldom, if ever,
cross the threshold of your home. To all
who are Christ's virgins show the same re-
gard or the same disregard. Do not linger
under the same roof with them, and do not
i Pss. xvi. 5 ; lxxiii. 26. 2 Ps. xvi. s, 6. 3 Nu. xvm. 24.
* 1 Cor. ix. 13. 5 1 Tim. vi. 8. 8 Virgil, ./En. iii. 436.
7 Jer. xii. 13, LXX. There is a play on the word (cAiipos, which
means (1) portion, (2) clergy. B 1 Cor., xv. 33.
92
JEROME.
rely on your past continence. You cannot
be holier than David or wiser than Solomon.
Always bear in mind that it was a woman who
expelled the tiller of paradise from his heri-
tage.1 In case you are sick one of the breth-
ren may attend you ; your sister also or your
mother or some woman whose faith is ap-
proved with all. But if you have no persons
so connected with you or so marked out by
chaste behaviour, the Church maintains many
elderly women who by their ministrations may
oblige you and benefit themselves so that
even your sickness may bear fruit in the shape
of almsdeeds. I know of cases where the re-
covery of the body has but preluded the sick-
ness of the soul. There is danger for you in
the service of one for whose face you con-
stantly watch. If in the course of your cleri-
cal duty you have to visit a widow or a virgin,
never enter the house alone. Let your com-
panions be persons association with whom will
not disgrace you. If you take a reader with
you or an acolyte or a psalm-singer, let their
character not their garb be their adornment ;
let them use no tongs to curl their hair ;
rather let their mien be an index of their
chastity. You must not sit alone with a
woman or see one without witnesses. If she
has anything confidential to disclose, she is
sure to have some nurse or housekeeper,2 some
virgin, some widow, some married woman.
She cannot be so friendless as to have none
save you to whom she can venture to confide
her secret. Beware of all that gives occasion
for suspicion ; and, to avoid scandal, shun
every act that may give colour to it. Fre-
quent gifts of handkerchiefs and garters, of
face-cloths and dishes first tasted by the giver
— to say nothing of notes full of fond expres-
sions— of such things as these a holy love
knows nothing. Such endearing and alluring
expressions as ' my honey ' and ' my darling,'
' you who are all my charm and my delight '
the ridiculous courtesies of lovers and their
foolish doings, we blush for on the stage and
abhor in men of the world. How much more
do we loathe them in monks and clergymen
who adorn the priesthood by their vows 3 while
their vows are adorned by the priesthood. I
speak thus not because I dread such evils for
you or for men of saintly life, but because in
all ranks and callings and among both men and
women there are found both good and bad and
in condemning the bad I commend the good.
6. Shameful to say, idol-priests, play-actors,
jockeys, and prostitutes can inherit property :
clergymen and monks alone lie under a legal
disability, a disability enacted not by perse-
1 Another allusion to the word /cAijpos. ' Major domus.
3 The vow of celibacy is probably intended,
cutors but by Christian emperors.1 I do not
complain of the law, but I grieve that we have
deserved a statute so harsh. Cauterizing is a
good thing, no doubt ; but how is it that I
have a wound which makes me need it ? The
law is strict and far-seeing, yet even so rapacity
goes on unchecked. By a fiction of trustee-
ship we set the statute at defiance ; and, as if
imperial decrees outweigh the mandates of
Christ, we fear the laws and despise the Gospels.
If heir there must be, the mother has first
claim upon her children, the Church upon her
flock — the members of which she has borne
and reared and nourished. Why do we thrust
ourselves in between mother and children ?
It is the glory of a bishop to make provi-
sion for the wants of the poor ; but it is the
shame of all priests to amass private fortunes.
I who was born (suppose) in a poor man's
house, in a country cottage, and who could
scarcely get of common millet and household
bread enough to fill an empty stomach, am now
come to disdain the finest wheat flour and
honey. I know the several kinds of fish by
name. I can tell unerringly on what coast
a mussel has been picked. I can distinguish
by the flavour the province from which a bird
comes. Dainty dishes delight me because
their ingredients are scarce and I end by find-
ing pleasure in their ruinous cost.
I hear also of servile attention shewn by
some towards old men and women when these
are childless. They fetch the basin, beset the
bed and perform with their own hands the
most revolting offices. They anxiously await
the advent of the doctor and with trembling
lips they ask whether the patient is better.
If for a little while the old fellow shews signs
of returning vigour, they are in agonies. They
pretend to be delighted, but their covetous
hearts undergo secret torture. For they are
afraid that their labours may go for nothing
and compare an old man with a clinging to life
to the patriarch Methuselah. How great a
reward might they have with God if their
hearts were not set on a temporal prize !
With what great exertions do they pursue an
empty heritage ! Less labour might have pur-
chased for them the pearl of Christ.
7. Read the divine scriptures constantly ;
never, indeed, let the sacred volume be out of
your hand. Learn what you have to teach.
" Hold fast the faithful word as you have
been taught that you may be able by sound
doctrine to exhort and convince the gainsay-
ers. Continue thou in the things that thou
hast learned and hast been assured of, know-
ing of whom thou hast learned them ; " 2 and
1 The disability alluded to was enacted by Valentinian.
* Titus, i. 9 ; a Tim. iii. 14.
LETTER LII.
93
" be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asketh you a reason of the hope
and faith that are in you." ' Do not let your
deeds belie your words ; lest when you speak
in church someone may mentally reply " Why
do you not practise what you profess ? Here
is a lover of dainties turned censor ! his stom-
ach is full and he reads us a homily on fast-
ing. As well might a robber accuse others of
covetousness." In a priest of Christ mouth,
mind, and hand should be at one.
Be obedient to your bishop and welcome
him as the parent of your soul. Sons love their
fathers and slaves fear their masters. " If I be
a father," He says, " where is mine honour ?
And if I am a master where is my fear ? " 2
In your case the bishop combines in himself
many titles to your respect. He is at once a
monk, a prelate, and an uncle who has before
now instructed you in all holy things. This
also I say that the bishops should know them-
selves to be priests not lords. Let them ren-
der to the clergy the honour which is their
due that the clergy may offer to them the re-
spect which belongs to bishops. There is a
witty saying of the orator Domitius which is
here to the point : " Why am I to recognize
you as leader of the Senate when you will not
recognize my rights as a private member ? " 3
We should realize that a bishop and his pres-
byters are like Aaron and his sons. As there
is but one Lord and one Temple ; so also
should there be but one ministry. Let us ever
bear in mind the charge which the apostle
Peter gives to priests : " feed the flock of God
which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof not by constraint but willingly as God
.would have you ; 4 not for filthy lucre but of
a ready mind ; neither as being lords over
God's heritage but being ensamples to the
flock," and that gladly ; that " when the chief-
shepherd shall appear ye may receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away." 5 It is a bad
custom which prevails in certain churches for
presbyters to be silent when bishops are pres-
ent on the ground that they would be jealous
or impatient hearers. " If anything," writes
the apostle Paul, " be revealed to another that
sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye
may all prophesy one by one that all may
learn and all may be comforted ; and the
spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets. For God is not the author of con-
fusion but of peace." 6 " A wise son maketh
a glad father ; " 7 and a bishop should rejoice
in the discrimination which has led him to
choose such for the priests of Christ.
8. When teaching in church seek to call
1 i Pet. iii. 15.
4 So the Vulgate.
7 Prov. x. 1.
» Mai. i. 6.
6 1 Pet. v. 4.
3 Cicero, de Orat. iii. 1.
* 1 Cor. xiv. 30-33.
forth not plaudits but groans. Let the tears
of your hearers be your glory. A presbyter's
words ought to be seasoned by his reading of
scripture. Be not a declaimer or a ranter,
one who gabbles without rhyme or reason;
but shew yourself skilled in the deep things
and versed in the mysteries of God. To
mouth your words and by your quickness of
utterance astonish the unlettered crowd is a
mark of ignorance. Assurance often explains
that of which it knows nothing ; and when it
has convinced others imposes on itself. My
teacher, Gregory of Nazianzus, when I once
asked him to explain Luke's phrase Ga.fi fiarov
d svr spent poor ov, that is "the second-first
Sabbath," playfully evaded my request say-
ing : " I will tell you about it in church, and
there, when all the people applaud me, you
will be forced against your will to know what
you do not know at all. For, if you alone
remain silent, every one will put you down for
a fool." There is nothing so easy as by sheer
volubility to deceive a common crowd or an
uneducated congregation : such most admire
what they fail to understand. Hear Marcus
Tullius, the subject of that noble eulogy:
" You would have been the first of orators but
for Demosthenes: he would have been the
only one but for you." Hear what in his
speech for Quintus Gallius ' he has to say
about unskilled speakers and popular applause
and then you will not be the sport of such
illusions. " What I am telling you," said he,
"is a recent experience of my own. One who
has the name of a poet and a man of culture
has written a book entitled Conversations of
Poets and Philosophers. In this he represents
Euripides as conversing with Menander and
Socrates with Epicurus — men whose lives we
know to be separated not by years but by
centuries. Nevertheless he calls forth limit-
less applause and endless acclamations. For
the theatre contains many who belong to the
same school as he: like him they have never
learned letters."
9. In dress avoid sombre colours as much
as bright ones. Showiness and slovenliness
are alike to be shunned ; for the one savours
of vanity and the other of pride. To go about
without a linen scarf on is nothing: what is
praiseworthy is to be without money to buy
one. It is disgraceful and absurd to boast of
having neither napkin nor handkerchief and
yet to carry a well-filled purse.
Some bestow a trifle on the poor to receive
a larger sum themselves and under the cloak
of almsgiving do but seek for riches. Such
are almshunters rather than almsgivers. Their
methods are those by which birds, beasts, and
1 This is not extant.
94
JEROME.
fishes are taken. A morsel of bait is put on
the hook— to land a married lady's purse !
The church is committed to the bishop; let
him take heed whom he appoints to be his
almoner. It is better for me to have no
money to give away than shamelessly to beg
what I mean to hoard. It is arrogance too to
wish to seem more liberal than he who is
Christ's bishop. "All things are not open to
us all." ' In the church one is the eye,
another is the tongue, another the hand,
another the foot, others ears, belly, and so on.
Read Paul's epistle to the Corinthians and
learn how the one body is made up of dif-
ferent members.2 The rude and simple
brother must not suppose himself a saint just
because he knows nothing ; and he who is
educated and eloquent must not measure his
saintliness merely by his fluency. Of two
imperfect things holy rusticity is better than
sinful eloquence.
10. Many build churches nowadays ; their
walls and pillars of glowing marble, their
ceilings glittering with gold, their altars studded
with jewels. Yet to the choice of Christ's
ministers no heed is paid. And let no one
allege against me the wealth of the temple in
Judaea, its table, its lamps, its censers, its
dishes, its cups, its spoons,3 and the rest of its
golden vessels. If these were approved by
the Lord it was at a time when the priests had
to offer victims and when the blood of sheep
was the redemption of sins. They were
figures typifying things still future and were
"written for our admonition upon whom the
ends of the world are come."4 But now our
Lord by His poverty has consecrated the
poverty of His house. Let us, therefore,
think of His cross and count riches to be but
dirt. Why do we admire what Christ calls
" the mammon of unrighteousness " ? 5 Why do
we cherish and love what it is Peter's boast
not to possess?6 Or if we insist on keeping
to the letter and find the mention of gold and
wealth so pleasing, let us keep to everything
else as well as the gold. Let the bishops of
Christ be bound to marry wives, who must be
virgins.7 Let the best-intentioned priest be
deprived of his office if he bear a scar and be
disfigured.8 Let bodily leprosy be counted
worse than spots upon the soul. Let us be
fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth,0
but let us slay no lamb and celebrate no
mystic passover, for where there is no temple,10
the law forbids these acts. Let us pitch tents
in the seventh month " and noise abroad a
solemn fast with the sound of a horn.12 But
I Virgil, Ec. viii. 63. 2 1 Cor. xii. 12-27.
8 Mortanola. See Nu. vii. 24, Vulg. *iCor. xii
• Luke xvi. 9. « Acts lii. 6. 7 Levit. xxi. 14.
• Levit. xxi. 17-23. » Gen. i. 28. 1° Deut. xvi. 5.
II Levit. xxiii. 40-42. ■ 13 Joel ii. 15.
if we compare all these things as spiritual
with things which are spiritual ; ] and if we
allow with Paul that "the Law is spiritual'"'
and call to mind David's words : " open thou
mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things
out of thy law ; " 3 and if on these grounds
we interpret it as our Lord interprets it — He
has explained the Sabbath in this way : 4 then,
rejecting the superstitions of the Jews, we
must also reject the gold ; or, approving the
gold, we must approve the Jews as well. For
we must either accept them with the gold or
condemn them with it.
n. Avoid entertaining men of the world,
especially those whose honours make them
swell with pride. You are the priest of Christ
— one poor and crucified who lived on the
bread of strangers. It is a disgrace to you if
the consul's lictors or soldiers keep watch be-
fore your door, and if the Judge of the prov-
ince has a better dinner with you than in his
own palace. If you plead as an excuse your
wish to intercede for the unhappy and the
oppressed, I reply that a worldly judge will
defer more to a clergyman who is self-denying
than to one who is rich ; he will pay more
regard to your holiness than to your wealth.
Or if he is a man who will not hear the clergy
on behalf of the distressed except over the
bowl, I will readily forego his aid and will ap-
peal to Christ who can help more effectively
and speedily than any judge. Truly " it is
better to trust in the Lord than to put confi-
dence in man. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in princes." 5
Let your breath never smell of wine lest the
philosopher's words be said to you : " instead
of offering me a kiss you are giving me a taste
of wine." Priests given to wine are both con-
demned by the apostle 6 and forbidden by the
old Law. Those who serve the altar, we are
told, must drink neither wine nor shechar?
Now every intoxicating drink is in Hebrew
called shechar whether it is made of corn or
of the juice of apples, whether you distil from
the honeycomb a rude kind of mead or make
a liquor by squeezing dates or strain a thick
syrup from a decoction of corn. Whatever
intoxicates and disturbs the balance of the
mind avoid as you would wine. I do not say
that we are to condemn what is a creature of
God. The Lord Himself was called a " wine-
bibber " and wine in moderation was allowed
to Timothy because of his weak stomach. I
only require that drinkers should observe that
limit which their age, their health, or their
constitution requires. But if without drink-
1 1 Cor. ii. 13. 2 Rom. vii. 14. 3 Ps. cxix. 18.
4 Matt. xii. 1-9. 6 Ps. cxviii. 8, 9. 6 1 Tim. iii. 3.
7 Levit. x. 9 ; the word shechar occurs in the Greek text of
Luke i. 15.
LETTER LIT.
95
ing wine at all I am aglow with youth and am
inflamed by the heat of my blood and am of a
strong and lusty habit of body, I will readily
forego the cup in which I cannot but suspect
poison. The Greeks have an excellent saying
which will perhaps bear translation,
Fat bellies have no sentiments refined.1
12. Lay upon yourself only as much fasting
as you can bear, and let your fasts be pure,
chaste, simple, moderate, and not superstitious.
What good is it to use no oil if you seek after
the most troublesome and out-of-the-way kinds
of food, dried figs, pepper, nuts, dates, fine
flour, honey, pistachios ? All the resources of
gardening are strained to save us from eating
household bread ; and to pursue dainties we
turn our backs on the kingdom of heaven.
There are some, I am told, who reverse the
laws of nature and the race ; for they neither
eat bread nor drink water but imbibe thin de-
coctions of crushed herbs and beet-juice — not
from a cup but from a shell. Shame on us
that we have no blushes for such follies and
that we feel no disgust at such superstition !
To crown all, in the midst of our dainties we
seek a reputation for abstinence. The strict-
est fast is bread and water. But because it
brings with it no glory and because we all of
us live on bread and water, it is reckoned no
fast at all but an ordinary and common mat-
ter.
13. Do not angle for compliments, lest,
while you win the popular applause, you do
despite to God. " If I yet pleased men," says
the apostle, " I should not be the servant of
Christ."2 He ceased to please men when
he became Christ's servant Christ's soldier
marches on through good report and evil
report,3 the one on the right hand and the
other on the left. No praise elates him, no
reproaches crush him. He is not puffed up
by riches, nor does he shrink into himself be-
cause of poverty. Joy and sorrow he alike
despises. The sun does not burn him by day
nor the moon by night. 4 Do not pray at the
corners of the streets,6 lest the applause of men
interrupt the straight course of your prayers.
Do not broaden your fringes and for show
wear phylacteries,6 or, despite of conscience,
wrap yourself in the self-seeking of the Phar-
isee.7 Would you know what mode of apparel
the Lord requires ? Have prudence, justice,
temperance, fortitude.8 Let these be the four
quarters of your horizon, let them be a four-
1 Cf. Shakespere :—
Fat paunches have lean pates, and dainty bits
Make rich the ribs, but bankrupt quite the wits.
» Gal. i. 10. 3 2 Cor. vi. 8.
4 Ps. cxxi. 6. 5 Matt. vi. 5. 8 Matt, xxiii. 5.
7 Some irrelevant sentences are found here in the ordinary
text which are obviously an interpolation.
8 Wisd. viii. 7, the cardinal virtues of Greek philosophy.
horse team to bear you, Christ's charioteer, at
full speed to your goal. No necklace can be
more precious than these ; no gems can form
a brighter galaxy. By them you are deco-
rated, you are girt about, you are protected on
every side. They are your defence as well as
your glory ; for every gem is turned into a
shield.
14. Beware also of a blabbing tongue and of
itching ears. Neither detract from others nor
listen to detractors. " Thou sittest," says the
psalmist, " and speakest against thy brother ;
thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These
things hast thou done and I kept silence ; thou
thoughtest wickedly that I was such an one as
thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them '
in order before thine eyes."2 Keep your
tongue from cavilling and watch over your
words. Know that in judging others you are
passing sentence on yourself and that you are
yourself guilty of the faults which you blame
in them. It is no excuse to say : " if others
tell me things I cannot be rude to them." No
one cares to speak to an unwilling listener.
An arrow never lodges in a stone : often it
recoils upon the shooter of it. Let the de-
tractor learn from your unwillingness to lis-
ten not to be so ready to detract. Solomon
says : — " meddle not with them that are given
to detraction : for their calamity shall rise
suddenly ; and who knoweth the destruction
of them both ? " 3 — of the detractor, that is,
and of the person who lends an ear to his
detraction.
15. It is your duty to visit the sick, to know
the homes and children of ladies who are mar-
ried, and to guard the secrets of noblemen.
Make it your object, therefore, to keep your
tongue chaste as well as your eyes. Never
discuss a woman's figure nor let one house
know what is going on in another. Hippoc-
rates,4 before he will teach his pupils, makes
them take an oath and compels them to swear
fealty to him. He binds them over to silence,
and prescribes for them their language, their
gait, their dress, their manners. How much
more reason have we to whom the medicine
of the soul has been committed to love the
houses of all Christians as our own homes.
Let them know us as comforters in sorrow
rather than as guests in time of mirth. That
clergyman soon becomes an object of con-
tempt who being often asked out to dinner
never refuses to go.
16. Let us never seek for presents and
rarely accept them when we are asked to do
so. For " it is more blessed to give than to
1 Viz. thy misdeeds. 2 Ps. 1. 20, 21.
a Prov. xxiv. 21, 22, Vulg. .... . c, ,
* The principal physician of this name flourished in the fiftn
century, B. C.
96
JEROME.
receive." ' Somehow or other the very man
who begs leave to offer you a gift holds you
the cheaper for your acceptance of it ; while,
i{ you refuse it, it is wonderful how much
more he will come to respect you. The
preacher of continence must not be a maker
of marriages. Why does he who reads the
apostle's words "it remaineth that they that
have wives be as though they had none"2 —
why does he press a virgin to marry ? Why does
a priest, who must be a monogamist,3 urge a
widow to marry again ? How can the clergy
be managers and stewards of other men's
households, when they are bidden to disre-
gard even their own interests ? To wrest a
thing from a friend is theft but to cheat the
Church is sacrilege. When you have received
money to be doled out to the poor, to be cau-
tious or to hesitate while crowds are starving
is to be worse than a robber ; and to subtract
a portion for yourself is to commit a crime of
the deepest dye. I am tortured with hunger
and are you to judge what will satisfy my
cravings ? Either divide immediately what
you have received, or, if you are a timid
almoner, send the donor to distribute his own
gifts. Your purse ought not to remain full
while I am in need. No one can look after
what is mine better than I can. He is the
best almoner who keeps nothing for him-
self.
17. You have compelled me, my dear Ne-
potian, in spite of the castigation which my
treatise on Virginity has had to endure — the
one which I wrote for the saintly Eustochium
at Rome : 4 — you have compelled me after ten
years have passed once more to open my
mouth at Bethlehem and to expose myself to
the stabs of every tongue. For I could only
escape from criticism by writing nothing — a
course made impossible by your request ; and
I knew when I took up my pen that the shafts
of all gainsayers would be launched against
me. I beg such to hold their peace and to
desist from gainsaying : for I have written to
them not as to opponents but as to friends. I
have not inveighed against those who sin : I
have but warned them to sin no more. My
judgment of myself has been as strict as my
judgment of them. When I have wished to re-
move the mote from my neighbour's eye, I have
first cast out the beam in my own.6 I have
calumniated no one. Not a name has been
hinted at. My words have not been aimed at
individuals and my criticism of shortcomings
has been quite general. If any one wishes to
be angry with me he will have first to own
that he himself suits my description.
> Acts xx. 35.
♦ Viz. Letter XXII.
5 1 Cor. vii. 29. 3 1 Tim. iii. 2.
6 Matt. vii. 3-5.
LETTER LIII.
TO PAULINUS.
Jerome urges Paulinus, bishop of Nola, (for whom
see Letter LVIII.) to make a diligent study of the
Scriptures and to this end reminds him of the zeal for
learning displayed not only by the wisest of the pagans
but also by the apostle Paul. Then going through the
two Testaments in detail he describes the contents of
the several books and the lessons which may be learned
from them. He concludes with an appeal to Paulinus
to divest himself wholly of his earthly wealth and to
devote himself altogether to God. Written in 394 A.D.
1. Our brother Ambrose along with your
little gifts has delivered to me a most charm-
ing letter which, though it comes at the be-
ginning of our friendship, gives assurance of
tried fidelity and of long continued attach-
ment. A true intimacy cemented by Christ
Himself is not one which depends upon ma-
terial considerations, or upon the presence of
the persons, or upon an insincere and exag-
gerated flattery ; but one such as ours,
wrought by a common fear of God and a joint
study of the divine scriptures.
We read in old tales that men traversed
provinces, crossed seas, and visited strange
peoples, simply to see face to face persons
whom they only knew from books. Thus
Pythagoras visited the prophets of Memphis ;
and Plato, besides visiting Egypt and Ar-
chytas of Tarentum, most carefully explored
that part of the coast of Italy which was
formerly called Great Greece. In this way
the influential Athenian master with whose
lessons the schools1 of the Academy resounded
became at once a pilgrim and a pupil choos-
ing modestly to learn what others had to
teach rather than over confidently to pro-
pound views of his own. Indeed his pursuit
of learning — which seemed to fly before him
all the world over — finally led to his capture
by pirates who sold him into slavery to a cruel
tyrant.2 Thus he became a prisoner, a bond-
man, and a slave ; yet, as he was always a
philosopher, he was greater still than the man
who purchased him. Again we read that
certain noblemen journeyed from the most
remote parts of Spain and Gaul to visit Titus
Livius,3 and listen to his eloquence which
flowed like a fountain of milk. Thus the
fame of an individual had more power to
draw men to Rome than the attractions of the
city itself ; and the age displayed an unheard
of and noteworthy portent in the shape of
men who, entering the great city, bestowed
their attention not upon it but upon something
else. Apollonius4 too was a traveller — the one
•Gymnasia. a Dionysius of Syracuse. 3 Cf. Quint. X. i. 32.
* Apollonius of Tyana. whose strange life and adventures
have been written for us by Philostratus.
LETTERS LIL, LIII.
97
I mean who is called the sorcerer1 by ordinary
people and the philosopher by such as follow
Pythagoras. He entered Persia, traversed
the Caucasus and made his way through the
Albanians, the Scythians, the Massagetse, and
the richest districts of India. At last, after
crossing that wide river the Pison,2 he came
to the Brahmans. There he saw Hiarcas3
sitting upon his golden throne and drinking
from his Tantalus-fountain, and heard him in-
structing a few disciples upon the nature,
motions, and orbits of the heavenly bodies.
After this he travelled among the Elamites,
the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, the Medes,
the Assyrians, the Parthians, the Syrians, the
Phenicians, the Arabians, and the Philistines."
Then returning to Alexandria he made his
way to Ethiopia to see the gymnosophists
and the famous table of the sun spread in
the sands of the desert.5 Everywhere he
found something to learn, and as he was
always going to new places, he became con-
stantly wiser and better. Philostratus has
written the story of his life at length in eight
books.
2. But why should I confine my allusions
to the men of this world, when the Apostle
Paul, the chosen vessel 6 the doctor 7 of the
Gentiles, who could boldly say : " Do ye seek
a proof of Christ speaking in me ? " " know-
ing that he really had within him that great-
est of guests — when even he after visiting
Damascus and Arabia "went up to Jerusalem
to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days." 9
For he who was to be a preacher to the Gen-
tiles had to be instructed in the mystical num-
bers seven and eight. And again fourteen
years after he took Barnabas and Titus and
communicated his gospel to the apostles lest
by any means he should have run or had run
in vain.10 Spoken words possess an indefinable
hidden power, and teaching that passed directly
from the mouth of the speaker into the ears
of the disciples is more impressive than any
other. When the speech of Demosthenes
against ^Eschines was recited before the latter
during his exile at Rhodes, amid all the ad-
miration and applause he sighed " if you could
but have heard the brute deliver his own
periods ! "
3. I do not adduce these instances because
I have anything in me from which you either
can or will learn a lesson, but to show you
that your zeal and eagerness to learn — even
though you cannot rely on help from me — are
in themselves worthy of praise. A mind willing
to learn deserves commendation even when it
I Magus. 2 Gen. ii. 11. 3 Philostratus iii. 7.
4 i. e. dwellers in Palestine. 6 Herod, iii. 17, 18. 6 Actsix. 15.
7 A favourite title for theologians in the Middle Ages.
8 2 Cor. xiii. 3. 9 Gal. 1. 17, 18. 10 Gal. ii. 1, 2.
II Cic. de Orat. iii. 56, the word brute ' is inserted by Jerome.
has no teacher. What is of importance to me
is not what you find but what you seek to find.
Wax is soft and easy to mould even where the
hands of craftsman and modeller are want-
ing to work it. It is already potentially all
that it can be made. The apostle Paul
learned the Law of Moses and the prophets
at the feet of Gamaliel and was glad that
he had done so, for armed with this spiritual
armour, he was able to say boldly " the weap-
ons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong-
holds ; " armed with these we war "casting
down imaginations and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to
the obedience of Christ ; and being in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience." ' He
writes to Timothy who had been trained in the
holy writings from a child exhorting him to
study them diligently2 and not to neglect the
gift which was given him with the laying on
of the hands of the presbytery.3 To Titus he
gives commandment that among a bishop's
other virtues (which he briefly describes) he
should be careful to seek a knowledge of the
scriptures : A bishop, he says, must hold fast
" the faithful word as he hath been taught
that he may be able by sound doctrine both
to exhort and to convince the gainsayers."4
In fact want of education in a clergyman5
prevents him from doing good to any one but
himself and much as the virtue of his life may
build up Christ's church, he does it an injury
as great by failing to resist those who are
trying to pull it down. The prophet Haggai
says — or rather the Lord says it by the mouth
of Haggai — "Ask now the priests concerning
the law." 6 For such is the important function
of the priesthood to give answers to those who
question them concerning the law. And in
Deuteronomy we read " Ask thy father and
he will shew thee ; thy elders and they will,
tell thee."7 Also in the one hundred and
nineteenth psalm " thy statutes have been my
songs in the house of my pilgrimage." '" David
too, in the description of the righteous man
whom he compares to the tree of life in para-
dise, amongst his other excellences speaks of
this, " His delight is in the law of the Lord ;
and in his law doth he meditate day and
night."9 In the close of his most solemn
vision Daniel declares that "the righteous
shall shine as the stars ; and the wise, that is
the learned, as the firmament." I0 You can see,
therefore, how great is the difference between
righteous ignorance and instructed righteous-
4-6.
1 2 Cor. x
« Tit. i. 9.
7 Deut. xxxii
8 Ps. i. 2.
a 2 Tim. iii. 14, 15. 3 1 Tim. iv. 14.
5 Sancta rusticitas. 6 Hag. ii. 11.
8 v. 54. In the Vulg. this psalm is the 118th.
10 Dan. xii. 3.
98
JEROME.
ness. Those who have the first are compared
with the stars, those who have the second with
the heavens. Yet, according to the exact
sense of the Hebrew, both statements may be
understood of the learned, for it is to be read
in this way : — " They that be wise shall shine
as the brightness of the firmament ; and they
that turn many to righteousness as the stars
forever and ever." Why is the apostle Paul
called a chosen vessel ? ' Assuredly because
he is a repertory of the Law and of the holy
scriptures. The learned teaching of our Lord
strikes the Pharisees dumb with amazement,
and they are filled with astonishment to find
that Peter and John know the Law although
they have not learned letters. For to these
the Holy Ghost immediately suggested what
comes to others by daily study and meditation ;
and, as it is written,2 they were " taught of
God." The Saviour had only accomplished
his twelfth year when the scene in the temple
took place ; 3 but when he interrogated the
elders concerning the Law His wise questions
conveyed rather than sought information.
4. But perhaps we ought to call Peter and
John ignorant, both of whom could say of
themselves, ''though I be rude in speech, yet
not in knowledge." 4 Was John a mere fish-
erman, rude and untaught? If so, whence
did he get the words "In the beginning was
the word, and the word was with God and the
word was God." B Logos in Greek has many
meanings. It signifies word and reason and
reckoning and the cause of individual things
by which those which are subsist. All of
which things we rightly predicate of Christ.
This truth Plato with all his learning did not
know, of this Demosthenes with all his elo-
quence was ignorant. " I will destroy," it is
said, "the wisdom of the wise, and will bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent." 6
The true wisdom must destroy the false, and,
although the foolishness of preaching 7 is in-
separable from the Cross, Paul speaks " wis-
dom among them that are perfect, yet not the
wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of
this world that come to nought," but he
speaks "the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained
before the world." e God's wisdom is Christ,
for Christ, we are told, is " the power of God
and the wisdom of God." 9 He is the wisdom
which is hidden in a mystery, of which also
we read in the heading of the ninth psalm
"for the hidden things of the son." 10 In Him
are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. He also who was hidden in a
> Acts ix. 15. 2 j Thess. iv. 9. s Luke ii. 46.
^2 Cor. xi. 6. 6Joh. i. 1. e 1 Cor. i. 19.
' \ C°r- •• "■ 8 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7. 8 1 Cor. i. 24.
»° Upon Muthlabbcn " AV, See Perowne on the words.
mystery is the same that was foreordained
before the world. Now it was in the Law
and in the Prophets that he was foreordained
and prefigured. For this reason too the
prophets were called seers,1 because they saw
Him whom others did not see. Abraham
saw His day and was glad.2 The heavens
which were sealed to a rebellious people were
opened to Ezekiel. " Open thou mine eyes,"
saith David, "that I may behold wonderful
things out of thy Law."3 For "the law is
spiritual " 4 and a revelation is needed to en-
able us to comprehend it and, when God
uncovers His face, to behold His glory.
5. In the apocalypse a book is shewn sealed
with seven seals,6 which if you deliver to one
that is learned saying, Read this, he will
answer you, I cannot, for it is sealed.6 How
many there are to-day who fancy themselves
learned, yet the scriptures are a sealed book
to them, and one which they cannot open save
through Him who has the key of David, " he
that openeth and no man shutteth ; and shut-
teth and no man openeth." 7 In the Acts of
the Apostles the holy eunuch (or rather
"man " for so the scripture calls him8) when
reading Isaiah he is asked by Philip " Under-
standest thou what thou readest?", makes
answer : — " How can I except some man should
guide me ? " 9 To digress for a moment to
myself, I am neither holier nor more diligent
than this eunuch, who came from Ethiopia,
that is from the ends of the world, to the
Temple leaving behind him a queen's palace,
and was so great a lover of the Law and of
divine knowledge that he read the holy scrip-
tures even in his chariot. Yet although he
had the book in his hand and took into his
mind the words of the Lord, nay even had
them on his tongue and uttered them with his
lips, he still knew not Him, whom — not know-
ing— he worshipped in the book. Then Philip
came and shewed him Jesus, who was con-
cealed beneath the letter. Wondrous excel-
lence of the teacher ! In the same hour the
eunuch believed and was baptized ; he became
one of the faithful and a saint. He was no
longer a pupil but a master ; and he found
more in the church's font there in the wilder-
ness than he had ever done in the gilded
temple of the synagogue.
6. These instances have been just touched
upon by me (the limits of a letter forbid a
more discursive treatment of them) to con-
vince you that in the holy scriptures you can
make no progress unless you have a guide to
shew you the way. I say nothing of the knowl-
edge of grammarians, rhetoricians, philoso-
1 1 Sam. ix. 9.
* Rom. vii. 14.
7 Rev. iii. 7.
2 Joh. viii. 56.
6 Rev. v. 1.
8 Acts viii. 27.
3 Ps. cxix. 18.
6 Isa. xxix. n.
9 Acts viii. 30, 31.
LETTER LIII.
99
phers, geometers, logicians, musicians, astrono-
mers, astrologers, physicians, whose several
kinds of skill are most useful to mankind, and
may be ranged under the three heads of
teaching, method, and proficiency. I will pass
to the less important crafts which require
manual dexterity more than mental ability.
Husbandmen, masons, carpenters, workers in
wood and metal, wool-dressers and fullers, as
well as those artisans who make furniture and
cheap utensils, cannot attain the ends they
seek without instruction from qualified per-
sons. As Horace says '
Doctors alone profess the healing art
And none but joiners ever try to join.
7. The art of interpreting the scriptures is
the only one of which all men everywhere
claim to be masters. To quote Horace again
Taught or untaught we all write poetry.2
The chatty old woman, the doting old man,
and the wordy sophist, one and all take in
hand the Scriptures, rend them in pieces and
teach them before they have learned them.
Some with brows knit and bombastic words,
balanced one against the other philosophize
concerning the sacred writings among weak
women. Others — I blush to say it — learn of
women what they are to teach men ; and as
if even this were not enough, they boldly ex-
plain to others what they themselves by no
means understand. I say nothing of persons
who, like myself have been familiar with secu-
lar literature before they have come to the
study of the holy scriptures. Such men
when they charm the popular ear by the finish
of their style suppose every word they say to
be a law of God. They do not deign to
notice what Prophets and apostles have in-
tended but they adapt conflicting passages to
suit their own meaning, as if it were a grand
way of teaching — and not rather the faultiest
of all — to misrepresent a writer's views and to
force the scriptures reluctantly to do their
will. They forget that we have read centos
from Homer and Virgil ; but we never think
of calling the Christless Maro3 a Christian be-
cause of his lines : —
Now comes the Virgin back and Saturn's reign,
Now from high heaven comes a Child newborn.4
Another line might be addressed by the
Father to the Son : —
Hail, only Son, my Might and Majesty.5
And yet another might follow the Saviour's
words on the cross : —
Such words he spake and there transfixed remained.6
But all this is puerile, and resembles the
sleight-of-hand of a mountebank. It is idle
to try to teach what you do not know, and —
if I may speak with some warmth — it is worse
still to be ignorant of your ignorance.
8. Genesis, we shall be told, needs no expla-
nation ; its topics are too simple — the birth
of the world, the origin of the human race,1
the division of the earth,2 the confusion of
tongues,3 and the descent of the Hebrews into
Egypt ! 4 Exodus, no doubt, is equally plain,
containing as it does merely an account of the
ten plagues,5 the decalogue,0 and sundry mys-
terious and divine precepts ! The meaning of
Leviticus is of course self-evident, although
every sacrifice that it describes, nay more
every word that it contains, the description
of Aaron's vestments,7 and all the regula-
tions connected with the Levites are symbols
of things heavenly ! The book of Numbers
too — are not its very figures,8 and Balaam's
prophecy," and the forty-two camping places
in the wilderness 10 so many mysteries ? Deut-
eronomy also, that is the second law or the
foreshadowing of the law of the gospel, — does
it not, while exhibiting things known before,
put old truths in a new light ? So far the
' five words ' of the Pentateuch, with which
the apostle boasts his wish to speak in the
Church.11 Then, as for Job,12 that pattern of
patience, what mysteries are there not con-
tained in his discourses ? Commencing in
prose the book soon glides into verse and at
the end once more reverts to prose. By the
way in which it lays down propositions, as-
sumes postulates, adduces proofs, and draws
inferences, it illustrates all the laws of logic.
Single words occurring in the book are full of
meaning. To say nothing of other topics, it
prophesies the resurrection of men's bodies at
once with more clearness and with more cau-
tion than any one has yet shewn. " I know,"
Job says, " that my redeemer liveth, and that
at the last day I shall rise again from the
earth ; and I shall be clothed again with my
skin, and in my flesh shall I see God. Whom
I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall be-
hold, and not another. This my hope is stored
up in my own bosom." 13 I will pass on to
Jesus the son of Nave 14 — a type of the Lord
in name as well as in deed — who crossed over
Jordan, subdued hostile kingdoms, divided
the land among the conquering people and
1 Hor. Ep. II. 1. us, "6. 2 Hor. Ep. II. i. 117.
3 Virgil's full name was Publius Vergilius Maro.
4 Virg. E. iv. 6, 7. 6 Virg. A. i. 664. 6 Virg. A. ii. 650.
1 Cc. 1-2. !C.x. 3 Cxi. 4 C. xlvi.
5 Cc. vii-xii. 6 C.xx. 7 C. viii. 8 C. xxvi.
9 Cc. xxiii., xxiv.
10 C. xxxiii. See Letter lxxviii.
n 1 Cor. xiv. 19.
12 The mention of Job at this point is curious : it would seem
that in Jerome's opinion he was coseval with or very little later
than Moses.
13 Job xix. 25-27, Vulg.
14 i.e., Joshua the son of Nun whose name is so rendered by the
LXX. Cf. Ecclus. xlvi. 1, AV.
TOO
JEROME.
who, in every city, village, mountain, river,
hill-torrent, and boundary which he dealt with,
marked out the spiritual realms of the heavenly
Jerusalem, that is, of the church.1 In the
book of Judges every one of the popular lead-
ers is a type. Ruth the Moabitess fulfils the
prophecy of Isaiah : — " Send thou a lamb, O
Lord, as ruler of the land from the rock of the
wilderness to the mount of the daughter of
Zion."2 Under the figures of Eli's death and
the slaying of Saul Samuel shews the abolition
of the old law. Again in Zadok and in David
he bears witness to the mysteries of the new
priesthood and of the new royalty. The third
and fourth books of Kings called in Hebrew
M aide him give the history of the kingdom of
Judah from Solomon to Jeconiah,3 and of that
of Israel from Jeroboam the son of Nebat to
Hoshea who was carried away into Assyria.
If you merely regard the narrative, the words
are simple enough, but if you look beneath
the surface at the hidden meaning of it, you
find a description of the small numbers of the
church and of the wars which the heretics
wage against it. The twelve prophets whose
writings are compressed within the narrow
limits of a single volume,4 have typical mean-
ings far different from their literal ones.
Hosea speaks many times of Ephraim, of
Samaria, of Joseph, of Jezreel, of a wife of
whoredoms and of children of whoredoms,5
of an adulteress shut up within the chamber
of her husband, sitting for a long time in
widowhood and in the garb of mourning,
awaiting the time when her husband will
return to her.6 Joel the son of Pethuel
describes the land of the twelve tribes as
spoiled and devastated by the palmerworm,
the canker-worm, the locust, and the blight,7
and predicts that after the overthrow of the
former people the Holy Spirit shall be poured
out upon God's servants and handmaids ;B the
same spirit, that is, which was to be poured
out in the upper chamber at Zion upon the
one hundred and twenty believers.9 These
believers rising by gradual and regular grada-
tions from one to fifteen form the steps to
which there is a mystical allusion in the
" psalms of degrees." "' Amos, although he is
only "an herdman " from the country, "a
gatherer of sycomore fruit,"11 cannot be ex-
plained in a few words. For who can ade-
quately speak of the three transgressions and
the four of Damascus, of Gaza, of Tyre, of
1 Gal. iv. 26.
2 Isa. xvi. i, Vulg. ' the rock of the wilderness '=Moab.
3 Also called Coniah and Jehoiachin.
* They are reckoned as forming one book in the Hebrew Bible.
« Hos. i. 2. « Hos. iii. 1, 3, 4. » Joel i. 4. 8 joel ii. 29.
* Acts 1. 13, 15.
10 The allusion is to Psalms cxx.— exxxiv. One hundred and
twenty is the sum of the numerals one to fifteen.
11 Amos vii. 14.
Idumsea, of Moab, of the children of Ammon,
and in the seventh and eighth place of Judah
and of Israel ? He speaks to the fat kine
that are in the mountain of Samaria,1 and
bears witness that the great house and the
little house shall fall.2 He sees now the
maker of the grasshopper,3 now the Lord,
standing upon a wall 4 daubed 5 or made of
adamant,6 now a basket of apples 7 that brings
doom to the transgressors, and now a famine
upon the earth, " not a famine of bread, nor
a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of
the Lord." " Obadiah, whose name means the
servant of God, thunders against Edom red
with blood and against the creature born of
earth.0 He smites him with the spear of the
spirit because of his continual rivalry with his
brother Jacob. Jonah, fairest of doves, whose
shipwreck shews in a figure the passion of the
Lord, recalls the world to penitence, and while
he preaches to Nineveh, announces salvation
to all the heathen. Micah the Morasthite
a joint heir with Christ10 announces the spoil-
ing of the daughter of the robber and lays
siege against her, because she has smitten the
jawbone of the judge of Israel.11 Nahum, the
consoler of the world, rebukes " the bloody
city " 12 and when it is overthrown cries : —
" Behold upon the mountains the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings." 13 Habakkuk, like
a strong and unyielding wrestler,14 stands upon
his watch and sets his foot upon the tower 15
that he may contemplate Christ upon the cross
and say " His glory covered the heavens and
the earth was full of his praise. And his
brightness was as the light ; he had horns
coming out of his hand : and there was the
hiding of his power. " 16 Zephaniah, that is
the bodyguard and knower of the secrets of
the Lord,17 hears "a cry from the fishgate, and
an howling from the second, and a great
crashing from the hills." 18 He proclaims
" howling to the inhabitants of the mortar ;19
for all the people of Canaan are undone ; all
they that were laden with silver are cut off." 20
Haggai, that is he who is glad or joyful, who
has sown in tears to reap in joy,21 is occupied
with the rebuilding of the temple. He repre-
sents the Lord (the Father, that is) as saying
" Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake
the heavens, and the earth, and the sea,
and the dry land ; and I will shake all nations
1 Amos iv. 1. 2 Amos vi. it. 3 Amos vii. 1. * Amos vii. 7.
5 So the Vulgate. 6SotheLXX. 7 Amos viii. 1.
8 Amos viii. 11.
9 'Edom 'means 'red' and is connected with ' AdSmah'=
' the earth.'
10 Jerome interprets the Hebrew word ' Morasthite' to mean
'my possession.' Micah i. 1. u Mic. v. 1, Vulg.
12 i.e., Nineveh — Nahum iii. 1. 13 Nahum i. 15.
14 The name strictly means ' embrace.' 15 Hab. ii. 1.
16 Hab. iii. 3, 4. 17 Strictly ' the Lord guards ' or ' hides.'
18 Zeph. i. 10. 19SoRV. marg. Probably a place in Jeru-
salem. ao Zeph. i. 11, RV. aI Ps. exxvi. 5.
LETTER LIII.
ior
and he who is desired ' of all nations
shall come " 2 Zechariah, he that is mindful
of his Lord,3 gives us many prophecies. He
sees Jesus,4 "clothed with filthy garments," 5
a stone with seven eyes,0 a candle-stick all of
gold with lamps as many as the eyes, and
two olivetrees on the right side of the bowl 7
and on the left. After he has described the
horses, red, black, white, and grisled,8 and
the cutting off of the chariot from Ephraim
and of the horse from Jerusalem 9 he goes
on to prophesy and predict a king who shall
be a poor man and who shall sit " upon a
colt the foal of an ass." 10 Malachi, the last
of all the prophets, speaks openly of the re-
jection of Israel and the calling of the na-
tions. "I. have no pleasure in you, saith the
Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offer-
ing at your hand. For from the rising of the
sun even unto the going down of the same,
my name is great among the Gentiles : and in
every place incense11 is offered unto my name,
and a pure offering." 12 As for Isaiah, Jere-
miah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, who can fully
understand or adequately explain them ? The
first of them seems to compose not a prophecy
but a gospel. The second speaks of a rod of
an almond tree 13 and of a seething pot with
its face toward the north,14 and of a leopard
which has changed its spots.15 He also goes
four times through the alphabet in different
metres.16 The beginning and ending of
Ezekiel, the third of the four, are involved in
so great obscurity that like the commence-
ment of Genesis they are not studied by the
Hebrews until they are thirty years old. Dan-
iel, the fourth and last of the four prophets,
having knowledge of the times and being
interested in the whole world, in clear lan-
guage proclaims the stone cut out of the
mountain without hands that overthrows all
kingdoms." David, who is our Simonides,
Pindar, and Alcseus, our Horace, our Catul-
lus, and our Serenus all in one, sings of Christ
to his lyre ; and on a psaltery with ten strings
calls him from the lower world to rise again.
Solomon, a lover of peace 18 and of the Lord,
corrects morals, teaches nature, unites Christ
and the church, and sings a sweet marriage
song 19 to celebrate that holy bridal. Esther,
a type of the church, frees her people from
danger and, after having slain Haman whose
name means iniquity, hands down to pos-
1 So Vulg. ' the desire ' AV.
3 Strictly ' the Lord is mindful.'
4 i.e., Joshua the High Priest.
6 Zech. iii. 9. 7 Zech. iv. 2, 3.
9 Zech. ix. 10.
1 ' This word is not in the Vulg.
13 Jer. i. 11. 14 Jer. i. 13.
3 Hag. ii. 6, 7.
5 Zech. iii. 3.
8 Zech. vi. 1-3.
10 Zech. ix. 9.
12 Mai. i. ic, 11, RV.
15 Jer. xiii. 23.
terity a memorable day and a great feast. '
The book of things omitted 2 or epitome of
the old dispensation3 is of such importance
and value that without it any one who should
claim to himself a knowledge of the scriptures
would make himself a laughing stock in his
own eyes. Every name used in it, nay even
the conjunction of the words, serves to throw
light on narratives passed over in the books
of Kings and upon questions suggested by
the gospel. Ezra and Nehemiah, that is the
Lord's helper and His consoler, are united
in a single book. They restore the Temple
and build up the walls of the city. In their
pages we see the throng of the Israelites
returning to their native land, we read of
priests and Levites, of Israel proper and of
proselytes ; and we are even told the several
families to which the task of building the
walls and towers was assigned. These refer-
ences convey one meaning upon the surface,
but another below it.
9. [In Migne, 8.] You see how, carried away
by my love of the scriptures, I have exceeded
the limits of a letter yet have not fully accom-
plished my object. We have heard only what
it is that we ought to know and to desire, so
that we too may be able to say with the psalm-
ist : — " My soul breaketh out for the very fer-
vent desire that it hath alway unto thy judg-
ments." 4 But the saying of Socrates about
himself — " this only I know that I know noth-
ing " 5 — is fulfilled in our case also. The New
Testament I will briefly deal with. Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John are the Lord's team of
four,6 the true cherubim or store of knowl-
edge.7 With them the whole body is full of
eyes,8 they glitter as sparks,9 they run and re-
turn like lightning,10 their feetare straight feet,11
and lifted up, their backs also are winged,
ready to fly in all directions. They hold to-
gether each by each and are interwoven one
with another : 12 like wheels within wheels they
roll along ,3 and go whithersoever the breath
of the Holy Spirit wafts them.14 The apostle
Paul writes to seven churches15 (for the eighth
epistle — that to the Hebrews — is not generally
counted in with the others). He instructs
Timothy and Titus ; he intercedes with Phile-
mon for his runaway slave.16 Of him I think
it better to say nothing than to write inade-
quately. The Acts of the Apostles seem to
relate a mere unvarnished narrative descrip-
16 Lamentations cc. I. — IV., each verse in which begins with a
different letter of the alphabet.
17 Dan. ii. 45.
18 See note on LII. 3, p. 19 The Song of Songs.
VOL. VI. II
1 i.e. the feast of Purim— Esth. ix. 20-32.
2 Paraleipomena, the name given in the LXX. to the books
of Chronicles. 3 Veteris instrumenti Wito^.
4 Ps. cxix. 20, PBV. 5 Plato, Ap. Soc. 21, 22.
* Quadriga, cf Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. III. ii. 8.
7 Clement of Alexandria, following Philo, makes cherub
mean wisdom. .
8 Ezek. i. 18, Vulg. 9 Ezek. i. 7. 10 Ezek. 1. 14.
"Ezek. i. 7. 12 Ezek. i. 11. 13 Ezek. i. 16. 14 Ezek. i. 20.
16 i.e. those of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi,
Colosse, Thessalonica, J6 Onesimus.
102
JEROME.
tive of the infancy of the newly born church ;
but when once we realize that their author is
Luke the physician whose praise is in the
gospel,1 we shall see that all his words are
medicine for the sick soul. The apostles
James, Peter, John, and Jude, have published
seven epistles at once spiritual and to the
point, short and long, short that is in words
but lengthy in substance so that there are
few indeed who do not find themselves in the
dark when they read them. The apocalypse
of John has as many mysteries as words. In
saying this I have said less than the book de-
serves. All praise of it is inadequate ; mani-
fold meanings lie hid in its every word.
10. [In Migne, 9.] I beg of you, my dear
brother, to live among these books, to meditate
upon them, to know nothing else, to seek noth-
ing else. Does not such a life seem to you a
foretaste of heaven here on earth ? Let not
the simplicity of the scripture or the poorness
of its vocabulary offend you; for these are
due either to the faults of translators or else to
deliberate purpose : for in this way it is better
fitted for the instruction of an unlettered con-
gregation as the educated person can take one
meaning and the uneducated another from
one and the same sentence. I am not so dull
or so forward as to profess that I myself know
it, or that I can pluck upon the earth the fruit
which has its root in heaven, but I confess that
I should like to do so. I put myself before
the man who sits idle and, while I lay no claim
to be a master, I readily pledge myself to be a
fellow-student. " Every one that asketh re-
ceiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to
him that knocketh it shall be opened." ~ Let
us learn upon earth that knowledge which will
continue with us in heaven.
11. [In Migne, 10.] I will receive you with
open hands and — if I may boast and speak fool-
ishly like Hermagoras 3 — I will strive to learn
with you whatever you desire to study. Euse-
bius who is here regards you with the affection
of a brother ; he 4 has made your letter twice
as precious by telling me of your sincerity of
character, your contempt for the world, your
constancy in friendship, and your love to
Christ. The letter bears on its face (without
any aid from him) your prudence and the
charm of your style. Make haste then, I be-
seech you, and cut instead of loosing the haw-
ser which prevents your vessel from moving
in the sea. The man who sells his goods be-
cause he despises them and means to renounce
the world can have no desire to sell them
• Col. iv. 14 ; 2 Cor. viii. 18. » Matt. vii. 8.
a A verbose rhetorician mentioned by Cic. de Inv. i. 6.
* Eusebius of Cremona, who for the next five years remained
with Jerome, and afterwards corresponded with him from Italy.
See Letter LVII. §2. Rufinus, Apol. i. 19. Jerome, Apol. iii.
+. 5» etc'
dear. Count as money gained the sum that
you must expend upon your outfit. There is
an old saying that a miser lacks as much what
he has as what he has not. The believer has
a whole world of wealth ; the unbeliever has
not a single farthing. Let us always live " as
having nothing and yet possessing all things." 1
Food and raiment, these are the Christian's
wealth.2 If your property is in your own
power,3 sell it : if not, cast it from you. " If
any man . . . will take away thy coat, let
him have thy cloke also. " " You are all for
delay, you wish to defer action : unless — so
you argue — unless I sell my goods piecemeal
and with caution, Christ will be at a loss to feed
his poor. Nay, he who has offered himself to
God, has given Him everything once for all.
The apostles did but forsake ships and nets.5
The widow cast but two brass coins into the
treasury ° and yet she shall be preferred before
Croesus 7 with all his wealth. He readily de-
spises all things who reflects always that he
must die.
LETTER LIV.
TO FURIA.
A letter of guidance to a widow on the best means
of preserving her widowhood (according to Jerome
' the second of the three degrees of chastity '). Furia
had at one time thought of marrying again but eventu-
ally abandoned her intention and devoted herself to
the care of her young children and her aged father.
Jerome draws a vivid picture of the dangers to which
she is exposed at Rome, lays down rules of conduct
for her guidance, and commends her to the care of
the presbyter Exuperius (afterwards bishop of Tou-
louse). The date of the letter is 394 A. D.
1. You beg and implore me in your letter
to write to you — or rather write back to you
— what mode of life you ought to adopt to
preserve the crown of widowhood and to keep
your reputation for chastity unsullied. My
mind rejoices, my reins exult, and my heart is
glad that you desire to be after marriage
what your mother Titiana of holy memory was
for a long time in marriage.8 Her prayers
and supplications are heard. She has suc-
ceeded in winning afresh in her only daughter
that which she herself when living possessed.
It is a high privilege of your family that from
the time of Camillus9 few or none of your
house are described as contracting second
marriages. Therefore it will not redound so
much to your praise if you continue a widow
as to your shame if being a Christian you fail
1 2 Cor. vi. 10. a 1 Tim. vi. 8. s Cf. Acts v. 4.
4 Matt. v. 40. 6 Matt. iv. 18-22. " Mark xii. 41-44.
7 The last king of Lydia, celebrated for his riches.
8 i.e. a celibate.
9 Lucius Furius Camillus, the hero who conquered Veii and
freed Rome from the Gauls.
LETTERS LIIL, LIV.
103
to keep what heathen women have jealously
guarded for so many centuries.
2. I say nothing of Paula and Eustochium,
the fairest flowers of your stock ; for, as my
object is to exhort you, I do not wish it to
appear that I am praising them. Blaesilla too
I pass over who following her husband — your
brother — to the grave, fulfilled in a short time
of life a long time of virtue.1 Would that
men would imitate the laudable examples of
women, and that wrinkled old age would pay
at last what youth gladly offers at first ! In
saying this I am putting my hand into the
fire deliberately and with my eyes open. Men
will knit their brows and shake their clenched
fists at me ;
In
swelling tones will angry Chremes
rave.2
The leaders will rise as one man against my
epistle ; the mob of patricians will thunder at
me. They will cry out that I am a sorcerer
and a seducer ; and that I should be trans-
ported to the ends of the earth. They may
add, if they will, the title of Samaritan ; for
in it I shall but recognize a name given to my
Lord. But one thing is certain. I do not
sever the daughter from the mother, I do not
use the words of the gospel : " let the dead
bury their dead." 3 For whosoever believes
in Christ is alive ; and he who believes in
Him " ought himself also so to walk even as
He walked." 4
3. A truce to the calumnies which the mal-
ice of backbiters continually fastens upon all
who call themselves Christians to keep them
through fear of shame from aspiring to virtue.
Except by letter we have no knowledge of
each other ; and where there is no knowledge
after the flesh, there can be no motive for in-
tercourse save a religious one. " Honour thy
father," s the commandment says, but only if
he does not separate you from your true
Father. Recognize the tie of blood but only
so long as your parent recognizes his Creator.
Should he fail to do so, David will sing to
you : " hearken, O daughter, and consider,
and incline thine ear ; forget also thine own
people and thy father's house. So shall the
king greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy
Lord." 6 Great is the prize offered for the
forgetting of a parent, " the king shall desire
thy beauty." You have heard, you have con-
sidered, you have inclined your ear, you have
forgotten your people and your father's house;
therefore the king shall desire your beauty
and shall say to you : — " thou art all fair, my
love ; there is no spot in thee." 7 What can
1 Wisdom iv. 13.
2 Horace, A. P. 94 : the allusion is to a scene in the Heauton
Timorumenus of Terence.
3 Matt. viii. 22. 4 1 Joh. ii. 6.
6 Ex. xx. 12. e Ps. xlv. 10, 11. * Cant. iv. 7.
be fairer than a soul which is called the
daughter of God,1 and which seeks for herself
no outward adorning.2 She believes in Christ,
and, dowered with this hope of greatness 3
makes her way to her spouse ; for Christ is at
once her bridegroom and her Lord.
4. What troubles matrimony involves you
have learned in the marriage state itself ; you-
have been surfeited with quails' flesh * even to
loathing ; your mouth has been filled with the
gall of bitterness ; you have expelled the in-
digestible and unwholesome food ; you have
relieved a heaving stomach. Why will you
again swallow what has disagreed with you ?
"The dog is turned to his own vomit again
and the sow that was washed to her wallowing
in the mire."5 Even brute beasts and flying
birds do not fall into the same snares twice.
Do you fear extinction for the line of Camil-
lus if you do not present your father with some
little fellow to crawl upon his breast and
slobber his neck ? As if all who marry have
children ! and as if when they do come, they
always resemble their forefathers ! Did Cice-
ro's son exhibit his father's eloquence ? Had
your own Cornelia,6 pattern at once of chas-
tity and of fruitfulness, cause to rejoice that she
was mother of her Gracchi ? It is ridiculous
to expect as certain the offspring which many,
as you can see, have not got, while others who
have had it have lost it again. To whom then
are you to leave your great riches? To Christ
who cannot die. Whom shall you make your
heir ? The same who is already your Lord.
Your father will be sorry but Christ will be
glad ; your family will grieve but the angels
will rejoice with you. Let your father do
what he likes with what is his own. You are
not his to whom you have been born, but His
to whom you have been born again, and who
has purchased you at a great price with His
own blood.7
5. Beware of nurses and waiting maids and
similar venomous creatures who try to satisfy
their greed by sucking your blood. They
advise you to do not what is best for you but
what is best for them. They are for ever
dinning into your ears Virgil's lines : —
Will you waste all your youth in lonely grief
And children sweet, the gifts of love, forswear ? B
Wherever there is holy chastity, there is also
frugal living ; and wherever there is frugal
living, servants lose by it. What they do not
get is in their minds so much taken from
them. The actual sum received is what they
look to, and not its relative amount. The
1 Ps. xlv. 10. 2 Cf. 1 Pet. iii. 3. a Hac ambitione ditata.
4 Numb. xi. 20, 31-4. 5 2 Pet. ii. 22.
6 Furia's sister-in-law Blaesilla was through her mother Paula
descended from the Gracchi. See Letter CVIII. § 33.
7 Acts xx. 28. e Virg. A. iv. 32.
H 2
104
JEROME.
moment they see a Christian they at once
repeat the hackneyed saying : — " The Greek !
The impostor ! " ' They spread the most scan-
dalous reports and, when any such emanates
from themselves, they pretend that they have
heard it from others, managing thus at once
to originate the story and to exaggerate it.
A lying rumour goes forth ; and this, when it
has reached the married ladies and has been
fanned by their tongues, spreads through the
provinces. You may see numbers of these —
their faces painted, their eyes like those of
vipers, their teeth rubbed with pumice-stone —
raving and carping at Christians with insane
fury. One of these ladies,
A violet mantle round her shoulders thrown,
Drawls out some mawkish stuff, speaks through her nose,
And minces half her words with tripping tongue.2
Hereupon the rest chime in and every bench
expresses hoarse approval. They are backed
up by men of my own order who, finding
themselves assailed, assail others. Always
fluent in attacking me, they are dumb in their
own defence ; just as though they were not
monks themselves, and as though every word
said against monks did not tell also against
their spiritual progenitors the clergy. Harm
done to the flock brings discredit on the
shepherd. On the other hand we cannot but
praise the life of a monk who holds up to
veneration the priests of Christ and refuses to
detract from that order to which he owes it
that he is a Christian.
6. I have spoken thus, my daughter in
Christ, not because I doubt that you will be
faithful to your vows,3 (you would never have
asked for a letter of advice had you been
uncertain as to the blessedness of monog-
amy): but that you may realize the wicked-
ness of servants who merely wish to sell you
for their own advantage, the snares which
relations may set for you and the well meant
but mistaken suggestions of a father. While
I allow that this latter feels love toward you,
I cannot admit that it is love according to
knowledge. I must say with the apostle :
" I bear them record that they have a zeal
of God, but not according to knowledge."4
Imitate rather — I cannot say it too often —
your holy mother5 whose zeal for Christ
comes into my mind as often as I remember
her, and not her zeal only but the paleness
induced in her by fasting, the alms given
by her to the poor, the courtesy shewn by
her to the servants of God, the lowliness of
her garb and heart, and the constant modera-
tion of her language. Of your father too I
i See Letter XXXVIII. § 5. 2 persius i. 32 sqq.
3 Propositum. The word was passing from the meaning of a
purpose into that of a formal vow.
■•Rom. x. 2, ^Titiana.
speak with respect, not because he is a patri-
cian and of consular rank but because he is a
Christian. Let him be true to his profession
as such. Let him rejoice that he has begotten
a daughter for Christ and not for the world.
Nay rather let him grieve that you have in
vain lost your virginity as the fruits of matri-
mony have not been yours. Where is the
husband whom he gave to you ? Even had
he been lovable and good, death would still
have snatched all away, and his decease would
have terminated the fleshly bond between you.
Seize the opportunity, I beg of you, and make
a virtue of necessity. In the lives of Christians
we look not to the beginnings but to the end-
ings. Paul began badly but ended well. The
start of Judas wins praise ; his end is con-
demned because of his treachery. Read
Ezekiel, " The righteousness of the righteous
shall not deliver him in the day of his trans-
gression ; as for the wickedness of the wicked
he shall not fall thereby in the day that he
turneth from his wickedness. " ' The Christian
life is the true Jacob's ladder on which the
angels ascend and descend,2 while the Lord
stands above it holding out His hand to those
who slip and sustaining by the vision of Him-
self the weary steps of those who ascend.
But while He does not wish the death of a
sinner, but only that he should be converted
and live, He hates the lukewarm3 and they
quickly cause him loathing. To whom much
is forgiven, the same loveth much.4
7. In the gospel a harlot wins salvation.
How ? She is baptized in her tears and wipes
the Lord's feet with that same hair with which
she had before deceived many. She does not
wear a waving headdress or creaking boots,
she does not darken her eyes with antimony.
Yet in her squalor she is lovelier than ever.
What place have rouge and white lead on the
face of a Christian woman ? The one simu-
lates the natural red of the cheeks and of the
lips ; the other the whiteness of the face and
of the neck. They serve only to inflame
young men's passions, to stimulate lust, and
to indicate an unchaste mind. How can a
woman weep for her sins whose tears lay bare
her true complexion and mark furrows on her
cheeks ? Such adorning is not of the Lord ;
a mask of this kind belongs to Antichrist.
With what confidence can a woman raise feat-
ures to heaven which her Creator must fail to
recognize ? It is idle to allege in excuse for
such practices girlishness and youthful vanity.
A widow who has ceased to have a husband
to please, and who in the apostle's language
is a widow indeed,5 needs nothing more but
1 Ezek. xxxiii.
4 Luke vii. 47.
2 Gen. xxviii. 12. 3 Rev. iii. 16.
5 1 Tim. v. 5.
LETTER LIV.
l<s\j
perseverance only. She is mindful of past
enjoyments, she knows what gave her pleasure
and what she has now lost. By rigid fast
and vigil she must quench the fiery darts of
the devil.1 If we are widows, we must either
speak as we are dressed, or else dress as we
speak. Why do we profess one thing, and
practise another ? The tongue talks of chas-
tity, but the rest of the body reveals incon-
tinence.
8. So much for dress and adornment. But
a widow " that liveth in pleasure " — the words
are not mine but those of the apostle — " is dead
while she liveth." a What does that mean
— " is dead while she liveth " ? To those who
know no better she seems to be alive and not,
as she is,. dead in sin; yes, and in another
sense dead to Christ, from whom no secrets
are hid. " The soul that sinneth it shall die." 3
" Some men's sins are open . . . going
before to judgment : and some they follow
after. Likewise also good works are manifest,
and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.4
The words mean this: — Certain persons sin so
deliberately and flagrantly that you no sooner
see them than you know them at once to
be sinners. But the defects of others are
so cunningly concealed that we only learn
them from subsequent information. Simi-
larly the good deeds of some people are public
property, while those of others we come to
know only through long intimacy with them.
Why then must we needs boast of our chas-
tity, a thing which cannot prove itself to be
genuine without its companions and atten-
dants, continence and plain living? The
apostle macerates his body and brings it into
subjection to the soul lest what he has
preached to others he should himself fail to
keep ; b and can a mere girl whose passions
are kindled by abundance of food, can a
mere girl afford to be confident of her own
chastity ?
9. In saying this, I do not of course con-
demn food which God created to be enjoyed
with thanksgiving,6 but I seek to remove from
youths and girls what are incentives to sen-
sual pleasure. Neither the fiery Etna nor the
country of Vulcan,7 nor Vesuvius, nor Olym-
pus, burns with such violent heat as the youth-
ful marrow of those who are flushed with wine
and filled with food. Many trample covetous-
ness under foot, and lay it down as readily as
they lay down their purse. An enforced silence
serves to make amends for a railing tongue.
The outward appearance and the mode of
dress can be changed in a single hour. All
other sins are external, and what is external
1 Eph. vi. 16. 2 1 Tim. v. 6. 3 Ezek. xviii. 20.
4 1 Tim. v. 24, 25. 6 1 Cor. ix. 27. 6 1 Tim. iv. 4.
7 The island of Lemnos in the ^Egean Sea.
can easily be cast away. Desire alone, im-
planted in men by God to lead them to pro-
create children, is internal ; and this, if it
once oversteps its own bounds, becomes a
sin, and by a law of nature cries out for
sexual intercourse. It is therefore a work
of great merit, and one which requires unre-
mitting diligence to overcome that which is
innate in you ; while living in the flesh not to
live after the flesh ; to strive with yourself day
by day and to watch the foe shut up within
you with the hundred eyes of the fabled Ar-
gus.1 This is what the apostle says in other
words : " Every sin that a man doeth is with-
out the body ; but he that committeth forni-
cation sinneth against his own body." 2 Physi-
cians and others who have written on the
nature of the human body, and particularly
Galen in his books entitled Oh matters of
health, say that the bodies of boys and of
young men and of full grown men and women
glow with an interior heat and consequently
that for persons of these ages all food is in-
jurious which tends to promote this heat : while
on the other hand it is highly conducive to
health in eating and in drinking to take things
cold and cooling. Contrariwise they tell us
that warm food and old wine are good for the
old who suffer from humours and from chilli-
ness. Hence it is that the Saviour says " Take
heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts
be overcharged with surfeiting and drunken-
ness, and cares of this life."3 So too speaks
the apostle : " Be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess."4 No wonder that the
potter spoke thus of the vessel which He had
made when even the comic poet whose only
object is to know and to describe the ways of
men tells us that
Where Ceres fails and Liber, Venus droops.6
10. In the first place then, till you have
passed the years of early womanhood, take
only water to drink, for this is by nature of all
drinks the most cooling. This, if your stom-
ach is strong enough to bear it ; but if your
digestion is weak, hear what the apostle says
to Timothy : " use a little wine for thy stom-
ach's sake and thine often infirmities." 6 Then
as regards your food you must avoid all heat-
ing dishes. I do not speak of flesh dishes
only (although of these the chosen vessel de-
clares his mind thus : " it is good neither to
eat flesh nor to drink wine " 7) but of vegeta-
bles as well. Everything provocative or indi-
gestible is to be refused. Be assured that
nothing is so good for young Christians as
1 The hundred-eyed son of Inachus appointed by Hera to be
the guardian of Io.
a 1 Cor. vi. 18. 3 Luke xxi. 34. 4 Eph. v. 18.
6 Ter. Enn. iv. 5, 6. • 1 Tim. v. 23. ' Rom. xiv. 21.
*o6
JEROME.
the eating of herbs. Accordingly in another
place he says : " another who is weak eateth
herbs." ' Thus the heat of the body must be
tempered with cold food. Daniel and the three
children lived on pulse.2 They were still boys
and had not come yet to that frying-pan on
which the King of Babylon fried the elders 3
who were judges. Moreover, by an express
privilege of God's own giving their bodily con-
dition was improved by their regimen. We
do not expect that it will be so with us, but
we look for increased vigour of soul which
becomes stronger as the flesh grows weaker.
Some persons who aspire to the life of chastity
fall midway in their journey from supposing
that they need only abstain from flesh. They
load their stomachs with vegetables which are
only harmless when taken sparingly and in
moderation. If I am to say what I think,
there is nothing which so much heats the
body and inflames the passions as undigested
food and breathing broken with hiccoughs.
As for you, my daughter, I would rather
wound your modesty than endanger my case
by understatement. Regard everything as
poison which bears within it the seeds of sen-
sual pleasure. A meagre diet which leaves
the appetite always unsatisfied is to be pre-
ferred to fasts three days long. It is much
better to take a little every day than some
days to abstain wholly and on others to surfeit
oneself. That rain is best which falls slowly to
the ground. Showers that come down sud-
denly and with violence wash away the soil.
ii. When you eat your meals, reflect that
you must immediately afterwards pray and
read. Have a fixed number of lines of holy
scripture, and render it as your task to your
Lord. On no account resign yourself to sleep
until you have filled the basket of your breast
with a woof of this weaving. After the holy
scriptures you should read the writings of
learned men ; of those at any rate whose faith
is well known. You need not go into the mire
to seek for gold ; you have many pearls, buy
the one pearl with these.4 Stand, as Jeremiah
says, in more ways than one that so you may
come on the true way that leads to the Father."
Exchange your love of necklaces and of gems
and of silk dresses for earnestness in study-
ing the scriptures. Enter the land of promise
that flows with milk and honey/ Eat fine
flour and oil. Let your clothing be, like
Joseph's, of many colors.7 Let your ears like
those of Jerusalem s be pierced by the word of
1 Rom. xiv. 2. a Dan. i. 16.
8 i.e. Ahab and Zedekiah whose fate is recorded Jer. xxix.
20-23. According to Jerome tradition identified them with the
elders who tempted Susannah, although these latter are said to
have been stoned and not burned. * Matt. xiii. 45, 46.
. 6T Jer- v}- l£; ' The ways.' Vulg. VA V. ' More than one '
is Jerome's Gloss.
» JSx. xxxiii. 3. T Gen. xxxvii. 23. 8 Ezek, xvi. 12.
God that the precious grains of new corn may
hang from them. In that reverend man Ex-
uperius ' you have a man of tried years and
faith ready to give you constant support with
his advice.
12. Make to yourself friends of the mam-
mon of unrighteousness that they may receive
you into everlasting habitations.2 Give your
riches not to those who feed on pheasants but
to those who have none but common bread to
eat, such as stays hunger while it does not
stimulate lust. Consider the poor and needy.3
•Give to everyone that asks of you,4 but espec-
ially unto them who are of the household of
faith.6 Clothe the naked, feed the hungry,
visit the sick.6 Every time that you hold out
your hand, think of Christ. See to it that you
do not, when the Lord your God asks an alms
of you, increase riches which are none of His.
13. Avoid the company of young men. Let
long haired youths dandified and wanton
never be seen under your roof. Repel a singer
as you would some bane. Hurry from your
house women who live by playing and sing-
ing, the devil's choir whose songs are the fatal
ones of sirens. Do not arrogate to yourself
a widow's license and appear in public pre-
ceded by a host of eunuchs. It is a most
mischievous thing for those who are weak
owing to their sex and youth to misuse their
own discretion and to suppose that things are
lawful because they are pleasant. " All
things are lawful, but all things are not ex-
pedient." 7 No frizzled steward nor shapely
foster brother nor fair and ruddy footman
must dangle at your heels. Sometimes the
tone of the mistress is inferred from the dress
of the maid. Seek the society of holy virgins
and widows ; and, if need arises for holding
converse with men, do not shun having wit-
nesses, and let your conversation be marked
with such confidence that the entry of a third
person shall neither startle you nor make
you blush. The face is the mirror of the
mind and a woman's eyes without a word be-
tray the secrets of her heart. I have lately
seen a most miserable scandal traverse the
entire East. The lady's age and style, her
dress and mien, the indiscriminate company
she kept, her dainty table and her regal ap-
pointments bespoke her the bride of a Nero
or of a Sardanapallus. The scars of others
should teach us caution. ' When he that
causeth trouble is scourged the fool will be
wiser.' 8 A holy love knows no impatience.
A false rumor is quickly crushed and the after
life passes judgment on that which has gone
1 Afterwards Bishop of Tolosa (Toulouse). He is mentioned
again in Letters CXXIII. and CXXV.
5 Luke xvi. 9. « Ps. xli. i, PBV. 4 Matt. v. 43.
6 Gal. vi. 10. 6 Cf. Matt. xxv. 35, 36.
7 1 Cor. vi. 13. " Prov. xix. as, Vulg.
LETTER LIV.
107
before. It is not indeed possible that any-
one should come to the end of life's race
without suffering from calumny ; the wicked
find it a consolation to carp at the good, sup-
posing the guilt of sin to be less, in propor-
tion as the number of those who commit it is
greater. Still a fire of straw quickly dies out
and a spreading flame soon expires if fuel to
it be wanting. Whether the report which
prevailed a year ago was true or false, when
once the sin ceases, the scandal also will cease.
I do not say this because I fear anything
wrong in your case but because, owing to my
deep affection for you, " there is no safety
that I do not fear." ' Oh ! that you could see
your sister ' and that it might be yours to hear
the eloquence of her holy lips and to behold
the mighty spirit which animates her diminu-
tive frame. You might hear the whole con-
tents of the old and new testaments come
bubbling up out of her heart. Fasting is her
sport, and prayer she makes her pastime.
Like Miriam after the drowning Pharaoh she
takes up her timbrel and sings to the virgin
choir, " Let us sing to the Lord for He hath
triumphed gloriously ; the horse and his rider
hath he thrown into the sea." 3 She teaches
her companions to be music girls but music
girls for Christ, to be luteplayers but lute-
players for the Saviour. In this occupation
she passes both day and night and with oil
ready to put in the lamps she waits the coming
of the Bridegroom.4 Do you therefore imi-
tate your kinswoman. Let Rome have in
you what a grander city than Rome, I mean
Bethlehem, has in her.
14. You have wealth and can easily there-
fore supply food to those who want it. Let
virtue consume what was provided for self-
indulgence ; one who means to despise matri-
mony need fear no degree of want. Have
about you troops of virgins whom you may
lead into the king's chamber. Support wid-
ows that you may mingle them as a kind
of violets with the virgins' lilies and the
martyrs' roses. Such are the garlands you
must weave for Christ in place of that crown
of thorns 5 in which he bore the sins of the
world. Let your most noble father thus find
in you his joy and support, let him learn
from his daughter the lessons he used to
learn from his wife. His hair is already
gray, his knees tremble, his teeth fall out,
his brow is furrowed through years, death
is nigh even at the doors, the pyre is all
but laid out hard by. Whether we like it
or not, we grow old. Let. him provide for
himself the provision which is needful for his
> Cf. Virg. A. iv. 298.
2 Her cousin Paula or Eustochium seems to be meant.
3 Ex. xv. 8i. « Matt. xxv. 4. 6 Matt, xxvii. 29.
long journey. Let him take with him what
otherwise he must unwillingly leave behind,
nay let him send before him to heaven what
if he declines it, will be appropriated by
earth.
15. Young widows, of whom some "are
already turned aside after Satan, when they
have begun to wax wanton against Christ " l
and wish to marry, generally make such
excuses as these. " My little patrimony is
daily decreasing, the property which I have
inherited is being squandered, a servant has
spoken insultingly to me, a maid has neglected
my orders. Who will appear for me before
the authorities ? Who will be responsible for
the rents of my estates ?2 Who will see to the
education of my children, and to the bringing
up of my slaves ? " Thus, shameful to say,
they put that forward as a reason for marrying
again, which alone should deter them from
doing so. For by marrying again a mother
places over her sons not a guardian but a
foe, not a father but a tyrant. Inflamed by
her passions she forgets the fruit of her womb,
and among the children who know nothing of
their sad fate the lately weeping widow dresses
herself once more as a bride. Why these
excuses about your property and the insolence
of slaves ? Confess the shameful truth. No
woman marries to avoid cohabiting with a
husband. At least, if passion is not your
motive, it is mere madness to play the harlot
just to increase wealth. You do but purchase
a paltry and passing gain at the price of a
grace which is precious and eternal ! If you
have children already, why do you want to
marry ? If you have none, why do you not
fear a recurrence of your former sterility ?
Why do you put an uncertain gain before a
certain loss of self-respect ?
A marriage-settlement is made in your
favour to-day but in a short time you will be
constrained to make your will. Your husband
will feign sickness and will do for you what
he wants you to do for him. Yet he is sure
to live and you are sure to die. Or if it
happens that you have sons by the second
husband, domestic strife is certain to result
and intestine disputes. You will not be
allowed to love your first children, nor. to look
kindly on those to whom you have yourself
given birth. You will have to give them
their food secretly ; yet even so your present
husband will bear a grudge against your pre-
vious one and, unless you hate your sons, he
will think that you still love their father. But
your husband have may issue by a former wife.
If so when he takes you to his home, though
you should be the kindest person in the world,
1 1 Tim. v. 1S1 «•
8 Agrorum tributa.
108
JEROME.
all the commonplaces of rhetoricians and dec-
lamations of comic poets and writers of mimes
will be hurled at you as a cruel stepmother.
If your stepson fall sick or have a headache
you will be calumniated as a poisoner. If you
refuse him food, you will be cruel, while if
you give it, you will be held to have bewitched
him. I ask you what benefit has a second
marriage to confer great enough to compen-
sate for these evils ?
1 6. Do we wish to know what widows
ought to be ? Let us read the gospel accord-
ing to Luke. "There was one Anna," he
says, " a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel
of the tribe of Aser." ' The meaning of the
name Anna is grace. Phanuel is in our
tongue the face of God. Aser may be trans-
lated either as blessedness or as wealth.
From her youth up to the age of fourscore
and four years she had borne the burden of
widowhood, not departing from the temple
and giving herself to fastings and prayers
night and day ; therefore she earned spiritual
grace, received the title ' daughter of the
face of God,'2 and obtained a share in the
' blessedness and wealth ' 3 which belonged to
her ancestry. Let us recall to mind the widow
of Zarephath 4 who thought more of satisfying
Elijah's hunger than of preserving her own life
and that of her son. Though she believed
that she and he must die that very night un-
less they had food, she determined that her
guest should survive. She preferred to sacri-
fice her life rather than to neglect the duty of
almsgiving. In her handful of meal she
found the seed from which she was to reap a
harvest sent her by the Lord. She sows her
meal and lo ! a cruse of oil comes from it. In
the land of Judah grain was scarce for the
corn of wheat had died there ; 5 but in the
house of a heathen widow oil flowed in
streams. In the book of Judith — if any one
is of opinion that it should be received as
canonical — we read of a widow wasted with
fasting and wearing the sombre garb of a
mourner, whose outward squalor indicated
not so much the regret which she felt for her
dead husband as the temper 6 in which she
looked forward to the coming of the Bride-
groom. I see her hand armed with the sword
and stained with blood. I recognize the head
of Holof ernes which she has carried away
from the camp of the enemy. Here a woman
vanquishes men, and chastity beheads lust.
Quickly changing her garb, she puts on once
more in the hour of victory her own mean dress
finer than all the splendours of the world.7
1 Luke ii. 36.
3 Penuel (AV. Phanuel) means ' face of God ' cf. Gen. xxxii.
30.
' Asher = ' blessedness or wealth.' • « 1 K. xvii. 9—16.
* Joh. xii. 34, « i.e,t that of penitence. 7 Judith xiii,
17. Some from a misapprehension number
Deborah among the widows, and suppose that
Barak the leader of the army is her son,
though the scripture tells a different story.
I will mention her here because she was a
prophetess and is reckoned among the judges,
and again because she might have said with
the psalmist : — " How sweet are thy words
unto my taste ! yea sweeter than honey to
my mouth." ' Well was she called the bee2
for she fed on the flowers of scripture, was
enveloped with the fragrance of the Holy
Spirit, and gathered into one with prophetic
lips the sweet juices of the nectar. Then
there is Naomi, in Greek 7tapaHSK\r]jj.sv7]z
or she who is consoled, who, when her hus-
band and her children died abroad, carried
her chastity back home and, being supported
on the road by its aid, kept with her her Moab-
itish daughter-in-law, that in her the proph-
ecy of Isaiah 4 might find a fulfilment. " Send
out the lamb, O Lord, to rule over the land
from the rock of the desert to the mount of
the daughter of Zion." 5 I pass on to the
widow in the gospel who, though she was but
a poor widow was yet richer than all the
people of Israel.6 She had but a grain of
mustard seed, but she put her leaven in three
measures of flour ; and, combining her con-
fession of the Father and of the Son with the
grace of the Holy Spirit, she cast her two
mites into the treasury. All the substance
that she had, her entire possessions, she
offered in the two testaments of her faith.
These are the two seraphim which glorify
the Trinity with threefold song 7 and are
stored among the treasures of the church.
They also form the legs of the tongs by
which the live coal is caught up to purge the
sinner's lips. 8
18. But why should I recall instances from
history and bring from books types of saintly
women, when in your own city you have many
before your eyes whose example you may well
imitate ? I shall not recount their merits here
lest I should seem to flatter them. It will
suffice to mention the saintly Marcella 9 who,
while she is true to the claims of her birth and
station, has set before us a life which is worthy
of the gospel. Anna " lived with an husband
seven years from her virginity " ; 10 Marcella
lived with one for seven months. Anna looked
for the coming of Christ ; Marcella holds fast
the Lord whom Anna received in her arms.
Anna sang His praise when He was still a
1 Ps. cxix. 103. a The meaning of Deborah.
8 Jerome appears to have read 'DflJ for ^D])2. The latter
means ' my pleasantness. '
4 Made long afterwards.
6 Isa. xvi. 1 Vulg. ' the rock of the desert' is a poetical name
for Moab. 6 Mark xii. 43.
7 Isa. vi. 2, 3. See Letter, XVIII. ante. 8 Isa. vi. 6.
• See Letters XXIII., LXXVIL, etc. » Luke ii. 36.
LETTERS LIV., LV.
109
wailing infant ; Marcella proclaims His glory
now that He has won His triumph. Anna
spoke of Him to all those who waited for the
redemption of Israel ; Marcella cries out
with the nations of the redeemed : " A brother
redeemeth not, yet a man shall redeem," ' and
from another psalm : " A man was born in her,
and the Highest Himself hath established
her." "
About two years ago, as I well remember, I
published a book against Jovinian in which
by the authority of scripture I crushed the
objections raised on the other side on account
of the apostle's concession of second mar-
riages. It is unnecessary that I should repeat
my arguments afresh here, as you can find
them all in this treatise. That I may not
exceed the limits of a letter, I will only give
you this one last piece of advice. Think
every day that you must die, and you will
then never think of marrying again.
LETTER LV.
TO AMANDUS.
A very interesting letter. Amandus a presbyter of
Burdigala (Bourdeaux) had written to Jerome for an
explanation of three passages of scripture, viz. Matt,
vi. 34, 1 Cor. vi. 18, 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26, and had in the
same letter on behalf of a ' sister' (supposed by Thierry
to have been Fabiola) put the following question :
1 Can a woman who has divorced her first husband on
account of his vices and who has during his lifetime
under compulsion married again, communicate with the
Church without first doing penance ? ' Jerome in his
reply gives the explanations asked for but answers the
farther question, that concerning the 'sister,' with an
emphatic negative. Written about the year 394 A. D.
i. A short letter does not admit of long
explanations ; compressing much matter into
a small space it can only give a few words to
topics which suggest many thoughts. You
ask me what is the meaning of the passage in
the gospel according to Matthew, " take no
thought for the morrow. Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof." 3 In the holy scrip-
tures " the morrow " signifies the time to come.
Thus in Genesis Jacob says : " So shall my
righteousness answer for me to-morrow." 4
Again when the two tribes of Reuben and
Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had built
an altar and when all Israel had sent to them
an embassy, they made answer to Phinehas the
high priest that they had built the altar lest
" to-morrow " it might be said to their chil-
dren, " ye have no part in the Lord." 5 You
may find many similar passages in the old
1 Ps. xlix. 7. Vulg. J Ps. lxxxvii., 5.
s Matt. vi. 34. * Gen. xxx. 33, AV. marg.
* Josh, xxii, 27 1 AV. and RV. have " in time to come."
instrument.1 While then Christ forbids us to
take thought for things future, He has allowed
us to do so for things present, knowing as He
does the frailty of our mortal condition. His
remaining words " sufficient unto the day is
the evil thereof" are to be understood as
meaning that it is sufficient for us to think of
the present troubles of this life. Why need
we extend our thoughts to contingencies, to
objects which we either cannot obtain or else
having obtained must soon relinquish ? The
Greek word uania rendered in the Latin
version " wickedness " has two distinct mean-
ings, wickedness and tribulation, which latter
the Greek call nanoofflv and in this passage
" tribulation " would be a better rendering
than " wickedness." But if any one demurs
to this and insists that the word nania must
mean " wickedness " and not " tribulation "
or " trouble," the meaning must be the same
as in the words "the whole world lieth in
wickedness " 2 and as in the Lord's prayer in
the clause, " deliver us from evil : " 3 the
purport of the passage will then be that our
present conflict with the wickedness of this
world should be enough for us.
2. Secondly, you ask me concerning the
passage in the first epistle of the blessed apos-
tle Paul to the Corinthians where he says :
' every sin that a man doeth is without the
body ; but he that committeth fornication sin-
neth against his own body." 4 Let us go back
a little farther and read on until we come to
these words, for we must not seek to learn the
whole meaning of the section, from the con-
cluding parts of it, or, if I may so say, from
the tail of the chapter.5 " The body is not for
fornication but for the Lord ; and the Lord
for the body. And God hath both raised up
the Lord and will also raise up us [with Him]
by his own power. Know ye not that your
bodies are the members of Christ ? Shall I
then take the members of Christ, and make
them the members of an harlot ? God forbid.
What ! Know ye not that he which is joined
to an harlot is one body ? For two, saith he,
shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto
the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication.
Every sin that a man doeth is without the
body ; but he that committeth fornication sin-
neth against his own body," a and so on. The
holy apostle has been arguing against excess
and has just before said " meats for the belly
and the belly for meats : but God shall destroy
1 Instrumentum— a legal term introduced by Tertullian. He
uses it both of the Christian dispensation and of its written
record.
2 1 Joh. v. iq. Where, however, the word is iv ra iror>jp<?.
3 Matt. vi. 13. o7ro toO TrofijpoG. * 1 Cor. vi. 18.
5 Capitulum, " Passage." The present division of the Bible
into chapters did not exist in Jerome's time. It is ascribed by
some to Abp. Stephen Langton and by others to Card. Hugh ds
St. Cher. * 1 Cor. vi. 13-18.
116
JEROME.
both it and them." ' Now he comes to treat of
fornication. For excess in eating is the mother
of lust ; a belly that is distended with food
and saturated with draughts of wine is sure
to lead to sensual passion. As has been else-
where said " the arrangement of man's organs
suggests the course of his vices." 2 Ac-
cordingly all such sins as theft, manslaugh-
ter, pillage, perjury, and the like can be
repented of after they have been committed ;
and, however much interest may tempt him,
conscience always smites the offender. It is
only lust and sensual pleasure that in the very
hour of penitence undergo once more the
temptations of the past, the itch of the flesh,
and the allurements of sin ; so that the very
thought which we bestow on the correction of
such transgressions becomes in itself a new
source of sin. Or to put the matter in a dif-
ferent light : other sins are outside of us ; and
whatever we do we do against others. But
fornication defiles the fornicator both in con-
science and body ; and in accordance with
the words of the Lord, " for this cause shall a
man leave father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife ; and they twain shall be one
flesh," 3 he too becomes one body with a
harlot and sins against his own body by making
what is the temple of Christ the body of a
harlot. Not to pass over any suggestion of
the Greek commentators, I shall give you one
more explanation. It is one thing, they say,
to sin with the body, and another to sin in the
body. Theft, manslaughter, and all other sins
except fornication we commit with our hands
outside ourselves. Fornication alone we com-
mit inside ourselves in our bodies and not
with our bodies upon others. The preposition
' with ' denotes the instrument used in sin-
ning, while the preposition ' in ' signifies the
sphere of the passion is ourselves. Some
again give this explanation that according to
the scripture a man's body is his wife and
that when a man commits fornication, he is
said to sin against his own body that is
against his wife inasmuch as he defiles her by
his own fornication and causes her though
herself free from sin to become a sinner
through her intercourse with him.
3. I find joined to your letter of inquiries a
short paper containing the following words :
" ask him, (that is me,) whether a woman who
has left her husband on the ground that he is
an adulterer and sodomite and has found
herself compelled to take another may in the
lifetime of him whom she first left be in com-
munion with the church without doing penance
for her fault." As I read the case put I recall
1 1 Cor. vi. 13. a Tertullian. on Fasting, I.
8 Matt. xix. 5 ; x Cor. vi. 16.
the verse " they make excuses for their sins." '
We are all human and all indulgent to our own
faults ; and what our own will leads us to do
we attribute to a necessity of nature. It is as
though a young man were to say, " I am over-
borne by my body, the glow of nature kindles
my passions, the structure of my frame and
its reproductive organs call for sexual inter-
course." Or again a murderer might say, " I
was in want, I stood in need of food, I had
nothing to cover me. If I shed the blood of
another, it was to save myself from dying of
cold and hunger." Tell the sister, therefore,
who thus enquires of me concerning her con-
dition, not my sentence but that of the apostle.
" Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to them
that know the law,) how that the law hath do-
minion over a man as long as he liveth ? For
the woman which hath an husband is bound
by the law to her husband, so long as he liv-
eth ; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed
from the law of her husband. So then, if,
while her husband liveth, she be married to
another man, she shall be called an adul-
teress."2 And in another place : "the wife is
bound by the law as long as her husband liv-
eth ; but if her husband be dead, she is at
liberty to be married to whom she will ; only
in the Lord." 3 The apostle has thus cut away
every plea and has clearly declared that, if a
woman marries again while her husband is
living, she is an adulteress. You must not
speak to me of the violence of a ravisher, a
mother's pleading, a father's bidding, the in-
fluence of relatives, the insolence and the
intrigues of servants, household losses. A
husband may be an adulterer or a sodomite,
he may be stained with every crime and may
have been left by his wife because of his sins ;
yet he is still her husband and, so long as he
lives, she may not marry another. The apos-
tle does not promulgate this decree on his own
authority but on that of Christ who speaks in
him. For he has followed the words of Christ
in the gospel : " whosoever shall put away his
wife, saving for the cause of fornication, caus-
eth her to commit adultery : and whosover
shall marry her that is divorced, committeth
adultery."4 Mark what he says : "whosoever
shall marry her that is divorced committeth
adultery." Whether she has put away her
husband or her husband her, the man who
marries her is still an adulterer. Wherefore
the apostles seeing how heavy the yoke of
marriage was thus made said to Him : " if the
case of the man be so with his wife, it is not
good to marry," and the Lord replied, "he
that is able to receive it, let him receive it."
1 Ps. cxli. 4, Vulg.
3 1 Cor. vii. 39.
2 Rom. vii. 1-3.
4 Matt. v. 32.
LETTER LV.
in
And immediately by the instance of the three
eunuchs he shows the blessedness of virginity
which is bound by no carnal tie.1
4. I have not been able quite to determine
what it is that she means by the words " has
found herself compelled " to marry again.
What is this compulsion of which she speaks ?
Was she overborne by a crowd and ravished
against her will ? If so, why has she not, thus
victimized, subsequently put away her rav-
isher ? Let her read the books of Moses and
she will find that if violence is offered to a be-
trothed virgin in a city and she does not cry
out, she is punished as an adulteress : but if
she is forced in the field, she is innocent of
sin and her ravisher alone is amenable to the
laws.2 Therefore if your sister, who, as she
says, has been forced into a second union,
wishes to receive the body of Christ and not
to be accounted an adulteress, let her do
penance ; so far at least as from the time she
begins to repent to have no farther intercourse
with that second husband who ought to be
called not a husband but an adulterer. If this
seems hard to her and if she cannot leave one
whom she has once loved and will not prefer
the Lord to sensual pleasure, let her hear the
declaration of the apostle : "ye cannot drink
the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils : ye
cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of
the table of devils," 3 and in another place :
" what communion hath light with darkness ?
and what concord hath Christ with Belial ? " 4
What I am about to say may sound novel but
after all it is not new but old for it is sup-
ported by the witness of the old testament.
If she leaves her second husband and desires
to be reconciled with her first, she cannot be
so now ; for it is written in Deuteronomy :
" When a man hath taken a wife, and married
her, and it come to pass that she find no
favour in his eyes, because he hath found
some uncleanness in her ; then let him write her
a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand,
and send her out of his house. And when she
is departed out of his house, she may go and
be another man's wife. And if the latter hus-
band hate her, and write her a bill of divorce-
ment and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth
her out of his house ; or if the latter husband
die which took her to be his wife ; her former
husband, which sent her away may not take
her again to be his wife, after that she is de-
filed ; for that is abomination before the Lord :
and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which
the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inherit-
ance." 6 Wherefore, I beseech you, do your
best to comfort her and to urge her to seek
1 Matt. xix. 10-12.
4 3 Cor. Vi. 14, 15.
3 Deut. xxii. 23-27. 3 1 Cor. x. 21.
6 Deut. xxiv. 2-4.
salvation. Diseased flesh calls for the knife
and the searing-iron. The wound is to blame
and not the healing art, if with a cruelty that is
really kindness a physician to spare does not
spare, and to be merciful is cruel.1
5. Your third and last question relates to
the passage in the same epistle where the
apostle in discussing the resurrection, comes
to the words : " for he must reign, till he
hath put all things under his feet. The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he
hath put all things under his feet. But when
he saith, all things are put under him, it is
manifest that he is excepted, which did put all
things under him. And when all things shall
be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also
himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him that God maybe all in all." 2 I am
surprised that you have resolved to question
me about this passage when that reverend
man, Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, has occupied
the eleventh book of his treatise against the
Arians with a full examination and explana-
tion of it. Yet I may at least say a few
words. The chief stumbling-block in the
passage is that the Son is said to be sub-
ject to the Father. Now which is the more
shameful and humiliating, to be subject to
the Father (often a mark of loving devotion
as in the psalm " truly my soul is subject
unto God " s) or to be crucified and made the
curse of the cross ? For " cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree."4 If Christ then for
our sakes was made a curse that He might de-
liver us from the curse of the law, are you
surprised that He is also for our sakes subject
to the Father to make us too subject to Him
as He says in the gospel : " No man cometh
unto the Father but by me," 6 and " I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me." 6 Christ then is subject to the
Father in the faithful ; for all believers, nay
the whole human race, are accounted mem-
bers of His body. But in unbelievers, that
is in Jews, heathens, and heretics, He is said
to be not subject ; for these members of His
body are not subject to the faith. But in
the end of the world when all His members
shall see Christ, that is their own body,
reigning, they also shall be made subject to
Christ, that is to their own body, that the
whole of Christ's body may be subject unto
God and the Father, and that God may be
all in all. He does not say " that the Father
may be all in all " but that " God " may be, a
title which properly belongs to the Trinity
and may be referred not only to the Father
but also to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
> Cf. Letter XL. $1. " 1 Cor. xv. 25-28. 3 Ps. lxii. 1, Vulg.
4 Gal. iii. 13. 6 Joh. xiv. 6. 6 Joh. xii. 3a.
112
JEROME.
His meaning therefore is "that humanity may
be subject to the Godhead." By humanity
we here intend not that gentleness and kind-
ness which the Greeks call philanthropy but
the whole human race. Moreover when he
says "that God may be all in all," it is to be
taken in this sense. At present our Lord and
Saviour is not all in all, but only a part in
each of us. For instance He is wisdom in
Solomon, generosity in David, patience in
Job, knowledge of things to come in Daniel,
faith in Peter, zeal in Phinehas and Paul, vir-
ginity in John, and other virtues in others.
But when the end of all things shall come,
then shall He be all in all, for then the saints
shall severally possess all the virtues and all
will possess Christ in His entirety.
LETTER LVI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
Augustine's first letter to Jerome (printed in his cor-
respondence in this Library as Letter XXVIII.) :
through a series of accidents it was not delivered until
nine years after it had been written. In it Augustine
comments on Jerome's new Latin version of the O. T.
and advises Lim in his future labours to adhere more
closely to the text of the LXX. He also discusses
Jerome's account (in his commentary on the epistle
to the Galatians) of the quarrel between Paul and
Peter at Antioch. This according to Jerome was not
a real misunderstanding but only one artificially ' got
up ' to put clearly before the Church the mischief of
Christians conforming to the now obsolete Mosaic
Law. Augustine strongly controverts this view and
maintains that it is fatal to the veracity and authority
claimed for scripture. Written from Hippo about the
year 394 A. D.
LETTER LVII.
TO PAMMACHIUS ON THE BEST METHOD OF
TRANSLATING.
Written to Pammachius (for whom see Letter LXVI.)
in A. D. 395. In the previous year Jerome had ren-
dered into Latin Letter LI. (from Epiphanius to John
of Jerusalem) under circumstances which he here de-
scribes (§2). His version soon became public and in-
curred severe criticism from some person not named by
Jerome but supposed by him to have been instigated
by Rufinus (§12). Charged with having falsified his
original he now repudiates the charge and defends his
method of translation ("to give sense for sense and
not word for word " §5) by an appeal to the practice of
classical (§5), ecclesiastical (§6), and N. T. (§§7-10)
writers.
When at a subsequent period Rufinus gave to the
world what was in Jerome's opinion a misleading ver-
sion of Origen's First Principles, he appealed to this
letter as giving him ample warranty for what he had
done. See Letters LXXX. and LXXXI, and Rufinus'
Preface to the nspi 'Apx&v in Vol. iii. of this series.
1. The apostle Paul when he appeared be-
fore King Agrippa to answer the charges
which were brought against him, wishing to
use language intelligible to his hearers and
confident of the success of his cause, began
by congratulating himself in these words : " I
think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I
shall answer for myself this day before thee
touching all the things whereof I am accused
by the Jews : especially because thou art ex-
pert in all customs and questions which are
among the Jews." : He had read the saying
of Jesus : 2 " Well is him that speaketh in the
ears of them that will hear ; " 3 and he knew
that a pleader only succeeds in proportion
as he impresses his judge. On this occasion
I too think myself happy that learned ears
will hear my defence. For a rash tongue
charges me with ignorance or falsehood ; it
alleges that in translating another man's letter
I have made mistakes through incapacity or
carelessness ; it convicts me of either an in-
voluntary error or a deliberate offence. And
lest it should happen that my accuser — en-
couraged by a volubility which stops at noth-
ing and by an impunity which arrogates to
itself an unlimited license — should accuse me
as he has already done our father (Pope) Epi-
phanius ; I send this letter to inform you—
and through you others who think me worthy
of their regard — of the true order of the facts.
2. About two years ago the aforesaid Pope
Epiphanius sent a letter4 to Bishop John,
first finding fault with him as regarded some
of his opinions and then mildly calling him to
penitence. Such was the repute of the writer
or else the elegance of the letter that all Pales-
tine fought for copies of it. Now there was in
our monastery a man of no small estimation
in his country, Eusebius of Cremona, who,
when he found that this letter was in every-
body's mouth and that the ignorant and the
educated alike admired it for its teaching and
for the purity of its style, set to work to beg
me to translate it for him into Latin and at the '
same time to simplify the argument so that
he might more readily understand it ; for
he was himself altogether unacquainted with
the Greek language. I consented to his re-
quest and calling to my aid a secretary speed-
ily dictated my version, briefly marking on
the side of the page the contents of the sev-
eral chapters. The fact is that he asked me
to do this merely for himself, and I requested
of him in return to keep his copy private and
not too readily to circulate it. A year and
six months went by, and then the aforesaid
translation found its way by a novel stratagem
from his desk to Jerusalem. For a pretended
monk — either bribed as there is much reason
to believe or actuated by malice of his own as
his tempter vainly tries to convince us —
shewed himself a second Judas by robbing
1 Acts xxvi. 2, 3.
3 Ecclus. xxv. 9.
3 i.e., the son of Sirach.
4 Letter LI. to John Bp. of Jerusalem.
LETTER LVII.
"3
Eusebius of his literary property and gave to
the adversary an occasion of railing ' against
me. They tell the unlearned that I have fal-
sified the original, that I have not rendered
word for word, that I have put 'dear friend '
in place of ' honourable sir,' and more shame-
ful still ! that I have cut down my translation
by omitting the words aideGi^iwrate Han 7ta""
These and similar trifles form the substance
of the charges brought against me.
3. At the outset before I defend my version
I wish to ask those persons who confound
wisdom with cunning, some few questions.
Where did you get your copy of the letter ?
Who gave it to you ? How have you the
effrontery to bring forward what you have
procured by fraud ? What place of safety
will be left us if we cannot conceal our secrets
even within our own walls and our own writ-
ing-desks ? Were I to press such a charge
against you before a legal tribunal, I could
make you amenable to the laws which even in
fiscal cases appoint penalties for meddlesome
informers and condemn the traitor even while*
they accept his treachery. For though they
welcome the profit which the information gives
them, they disapprove the motive which actu-
ates the informer. A little while ago a man of
consular rank named Hesychius (against whom
the patriarch Gamaliel waged an implacable
war) was condemned to death by the emperor
Theodosius simply because he had laid hold of
imperial papers through a secretary whom he
had tempted. We read also in old histories 3
that the schoolmaster who betrayed the chil-
dren of the Fali scans was sent back to his boys
and handed over to them in bonds, the Roman
people refusing to accept a dishonourable vic-
tory. When Pyrrhus king of Epirus was lying
in his camp ill from the effects of a wound, his
physician offered to poison him, but Fabricius
thinking it shame that the king should die by
treachery sent the traitor back in chains to his
master, refusing to sanction crime even when
its victim was an enemy.4 A principle which
the laws uphold, which is maintained by ene-
mies, which warfare and the sword fail to
violate, has hitherto been held unquestioned
among the monks and priests of Christ. And
can any one of them presume now, knitting his
brow and snapping his fingers,5 to spend his
breath in saying : " What if he did use bribes
or other inducements ! he did what suited his
purpose." A strange plea truly to defend a
1 Cf. Jude 9.
2 i.e., 'most reverend pope.' This title at first given to all
bishops was in Jerome's time becoming restricted to metropoli-
tans and patriarchs. Jerome, however, still uses it in the
wider sense. The omission of the title here may well have
seemed deliberate, as Jerome was known to entertain very
bitter feelings towards John of Jerusalem.
3 Livy v. 27. * Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus.
5 Jerome constantly speaks of Rufinus in this way. See Letter
CXXV. 18 and Apol. c. Ruf. I. 13, 32.
fraud as though robbers, thieves, and pirates
did not do the same. Certainly, when Annas
and Caiaphas led hapless Judas astray, they
only did what they believed to be expedient
for themselves.
4. Suppose that I wish to write down in my
note books this or that silly trifle, or to make
comments upon the scriptures, to retort upon
my calumniators, to digest my wrath, to prac-
tise myself in the use of commonplaces and to
stow away sharp shafts for the day of battle.
So long as I do not publish my thoughts, they
are only unkind words not matter for a charge
of libel ; in fact they are not even unkind
words for the public ear never hears them.
You ' may bribe my slaves and tamper with
my clients. You may, as the fable has it,
penetrate by means of your gold to the cham-
ber of Danae ; 3 and then, dissembling what
you have done, you may call me a falsifier ;
but, if you do so, you will have to plead guilty
yourself to a worse charge than any that you
can bring against me. One man inveighs
against you as a heretic, another as a pervert-
er of doctrine. You are silent yourself ; you
do not venture to answer ; you assail the trans-
lator ; you cavil about syllables and you fancy
your defence complete if your calumnies pro-
voke no reply. Suppose that I have made a
mistake or an omission in my rendering.
Your whole case turns upon this ; this is the
defence which you offer to your accusers.
Are you no heretic because I am a bad trans-
lator ? Mind, I do not say that I know you
to be a heretic ; I leave such knowledge to
your accuser, to him who wrote the letter : 3
what I do say is that it is the height of folly
for you when you are accused by one man to
attack another, and when you are covered with
wounds yourself to seek comfort by wound-
ing one who is still quiescent and unaggressive.
5. In the above remarks I have assumed
that I have made alterations in the letter and
that a simple translation may contain errors
though not wilful ones. As, however the let-
ter itself shews that no changes have been
made in the sense, that nothing has been add-
ed, and that no doctrine has been foisted into
it, " obviously their object is understanding to
understand nothing ; " 4 and while they desire
to arraign another's want of skill, they betray
their own. For I myself not only admit but
freely proclaim that in translating from the
Greek (except in the case of the holy script-
ures where even the order of the words is a
mystery) I render sense for sense and not
word for word. For this course I have the
1 Rufinus is meant.
2 Danae. the daughter of Acrisius, was confined by her father
in a brazen tower to which Zeus obtained access in the shape of
a shower of gold.
3 Epiphanius. 4 Ter. And. prol. 17.
H4
JEROME.
authority of Tully who has so translated the
Protagoras of Plato, the Oeconomicus of Xen-
ophon, and the two beautiful orations ' which
^Eschines and Demosthenes delivered one
against the other. What omissions, additions,
and alterations he has made substituting the
idioms of his own for those of another tongue,
this is not the time to say. I am satisfied to
quote the authority of the translator who has
spoken as follows in a prologue2 prefixed to
the orations. " I have thought it right to em-
brace a labour which though not necessary for
myself will prove useful to those who study.
I have translated the noblest speeches of the
two most eloquent of the Attic orators, the
speeches which ./Eschines and Demosthenes
delivered one against the other ; but I have
rendered them not as a translator but as an
orator, keeping the sense but altering the form
by adapting both the metaphors and the words
to suit our own idiom. I have not deemed it
necessary to render word for word but I have
reproduced the general style and emphasis.
I have not supposed myself bound to pay the
words out one by one to the reader but only
to give him an equivalent in value." Again
at the close of his task he says, " I shall be
well satisfied if my rendering is found, as I
trust it will be, true to this standard. In mak-
ing it I have utilized all the excellences of the
originals, I mean the sentiments, the forms of
expression and the arrangement of the topics,
while I have followed the actual wording only
so far as I could do so without offending our
notions of taste. If all that I have written is
not to be found in the Greek, I have at any
rate striven to make it correspond with it."
Horace too, an acute and learned writer, in his
Art of Poetry gives the same advice to the
skilled translator : —
And care not thou with over anxious thought
To render word for word.3
Terence has translated Menander ; Plautus
and Caecilius the old comic poets.4 Do they
ever stick at words ? Do they not rather in
their versions think first of preserving the
beauty and charm of their originals? What
men like you call fidelity in transcription, the
learned term pestilent minuteness.6 Such were
my teachers about twenty years ago ; and even
then ° I was the victim of a similar error to that
which is now imputed to me, though indeed I
never imagined that you would charge me with
it. In translating the Chronicle of Eusebius
of Caesarea into Latin, I made among others
the following prefatory observations : " It is
1 The two speeches on the Crown.
2 Only a small part of this is extant. ' Hor. A. P. 133.
4 i.e. the poets of the so called New Comedy. 6 K<xK.oC,r\\i.a.v .
6 Really fifteen years ago. Jerome translated the Chronicle of
Eusebius at Constantinople in 381-2.
difficult in following lines laid down by others
not sometimes to diverge from them, and it is
hard to preserve in a translation the charm of
expressions which in another language are
most felicitous. Each particular word con-
veys a meaning of its own, and possibly I have
no equivalent by which to render it, and if I
make a circuit to reach my goal, I have to go
many miles to cover a short distance.1 To
these difficulties must be added the windings
of hyperbata, differences in the use of cases,
divergencies of metaphor ; and last of all the
peculiar and if I may so call it, inbred charac-
ter of the language. If I render word for
word, the result will sound uncouth, and if
compelled by necessity I alter anything in the
order or wording, I shall seem to have depart-
ed from the function of a translator. " 2 And
after a long discussion which it would be te-
dious to follow out here, I added what follows :
— " If any one imagines that translation does
not impair the charm of style, let him render
Homer word for word into Latin, nay I will
go farther still and say, let him render it into
Latin prose, and the result will be that the
order of the words will seem ridiculous and the
most eloquent of poets scarcely articulate. " 3
6. In quoting my own writings my only ob-
ject has been to prove that from my youth up
I at least have always aimed at rendering
sense not words, but if such authority as they
supply is deemed insufficient, read and con-
sider the short preface dealing with this mat-
ter which occurs in a book narrating the life
of the blessed Antony.4 " A literal transla-
tion from one language into another obscures
the sense ; the exuberance of the growth
lessens the yield. For while one's diction is
enslaved to cases and metaphors, it has to
explain by tedious circumlocutions what a few
words would otherwise have sufficed to make
plain. I have tried to avoid this error in the
translation which at your request I have made
of the story of the blessed Antony. My ver-
sion always preserves the sense although it
does not invariably keep the words of the
original. Leave others to catch at syllables
and letters, do you for your part look for the
meaning." Time would fail me were I to un-
fold the testimonies of all who have translated
only according to the sense. It is sufficient
for the present to name Hilary the confessor 5
who has turned some homilies on Job and sev-
eral treatises on the Psalms from Greek fnto
Latin ; yet has not bound himself to the drow-
siness of the letter or fettered himself by the
1 Vix brevis vise spatia consummo.
2 Preface, translated in this Volume, § 1.. 3 Preface § 2.
4 This life long supposed to have been the work of Athanasius
was originally composed in Greek but had been rendered into
Latin by Evagrius bishop of Antioch.
' i.e., Hilary of Poitiers.
LETTER LVII.
"5
stale literalism of inadequate culture. Like a
conqueror he has led away captive into his
own tongue the meaning of his originals.
7. That secular and church writers should
have adopted this line need not surprise us when
we consider that the translators of the Septu-
agint,1 the evangelists, and the apostles, have
done the same in dealing with the sacred writ-
ings. We read in Mark 2 of the Lord saying
Talitha cutni and it is immediately added " which
is interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise."
The evangelist may be charged with falsehood
for having added the words " I say unto thee "
for the Hebrew is only " Damsel arise." To
emphasize this and to give the impression of
one calling and commanding he has added " I
say unto thee." Again in Matthew3 when the
thirty pieces of silver are returned by the
traitor Judas and the potter's field is purchased
with them, it is written : — " Then was fulfilled
that which was spoken of by Jeremy the
prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty
pieces of silver the price of him that was val-
ued which 4 they of the children of Israel did
value, and gave them for the potter's field, as
the Lord appointed me." This passage is not
found in Jeremiah at all but in Zechariah, in
quite different words and an altogether differ-
ent order. In fact the Vulgate renders it as
follows : — "And I will say unto them, If it is
good in your sight, give ye me a price or re-
fuse it : So they weighed for my price thirty
pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me,
Put them into the melting furnace and con-
sider if it is tried as I have been tried by
them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver
and cast them into the house of the Lord." 5
It is evident that the rendering of the Sep-
tuagint differs widely from the quotation of the
evangelist. In the Hebrew also, though the
sense is the same, the words are quite different
and differently arranged. It says : " And I
said unto them, If ye think good, give me my
price ; and, if not, forbear. So they weighed
for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the
Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter ; 6
a goodly price that I was priced at of them.
And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast
them to the potter in the house of the Lord." 7
They may accuse the apostle of falsifying his
version seeing that it agrees neither with the
Hebrew nor with the translators of the Septu-
agint : and worse than this, they may say that
he has mistaken the author's name putting
down Jeremiah when it should be Zechariah.
Far be it from us to speak thus of a follower 8
of Christ, who made it his care to formulate
1 Lit. the seventy translators.
3 xxvii. 9, 10.
6 Zech. xi. 12, 13, Vulg.
7 Zech. xi. 12, 13, AV.
2 Mark v. 41.
4 Quod. AV. has ' whom.'
6 Statuarius.
8 Pedissequus.
dogmas rather than to hunt for words and syl-
lables. To take another instance from Zecha-
riah, the evangelist John quotes from the
Hebrew, " They shall look on him whom they
pierced," ' for which we read in the Septua-
gint, " And they shall look upon me because
they have mocked me," and in the Latin ver-
sion, "And they shall look upon me for the
things which they have mocked or insulted."
Here the evangelist, the Septuagint, and our
own version 2 all differ ; yet the divergence of
language is atoned by oneness of spirit. In
Matthew again we read of the Lord preaching
flight to the apostles and confirming His coun-
sel with a passage from Zechariah. " It is
written," he says, "I will smite the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad." 3 But in the Septuagint and in the
Hebrew it reads differently, for it is not God
who speaks, as the evangelist makes out, but
the prophet who appeals to God the Father
saying : — " Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered." In this instance accord-
ing to my judgment — and I have some careful
critics with me — the evangelist is guilty of a
fault in presuming to ascribe to God what are
the words of the prophet. Again the same
evangelist writes that at the warning of an
angel Joseph took the young child and his
mother and went into Egypt and remained there
till the death of Herod ; " that it might be ful-
filled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet saying, Out of Egypt have I called
my son." i The Latin manuscripts do not so
give the passage, but in Hosea 5 the true He-
brew text has the following : — " When Israel
was a child then I loved him, and called my
son out of Egypt." Which the Septuagint
renders thus : — " When Israel was a child then
I loved him, and called his sons out of Egypt."
Are they 6 altogether to be rejected because
they have given another turn to a passage
which refers primarily to the mystery of Christ ?
Or should we not rather pardon the shortcom-
ings of the translators on the score of their
human frailty according to the saying of
James, "In many things we offend all. If
any man offend not in word the same is a per-
fect man and able also to bridle the whole
body." 7 Once more it is written in the pages
of the same evangelist, " And he came and
dwelt in a city called Nazareth : that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,
He shall be called a Nazarene." 8 Let these
word fanciers and nice critics of all composi-
tion tell us where they have read the words ;
1 Joh. xix. 37; Zech. xii. 10.
2 i.e., the Italic, for the Vulgate, which was not then pub-
lished, accurately represent1; the Hebrew.
3 Matt. xxvi. 31: Zech. xiii. 7. « Matt. ii. 13-15.
6 Hos. xi. 1. 6 i.e., the Septuagirt and Vulgate versions.
7 James iii. 2. " Matt. ii. 23.
Ii6
JEROME.
and if they cannot, let me tell them that they
are in Isaiah.1 For in the place where we read
and translate, " There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall
grow out of his roots,"2 in the Hebrew idiom
it is written thus, "There shall come forth
a rod out of the root of Jesse and a Naza-
rene shall grow from his root." How can the
Septuagint leave out the word 'Nazarene,'
if it is unlawful to substitute one word for an-
other? It is sacrilege either to conceal or to
set at naught a mystery.
8. Let us pass on to other passages, for the
brief limits of a letter do not suffer us to dwell
too long on any one point. The same Mat-
thew says : — " Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the
Lord by the prophet saying, Behold a virgin
shall be with child and shall bring forth a son
and they shall call his name Emmanuel." 3 The
rendering of the Septuagint is, " Behold a vir-
gin shall receive seed and shall bring forth a
son, and ye shall call his name Emmanuel."
If people cavil at words, obviously ' to receive
seed ' is not the exact equivalent of ' to be
with child,' and 'ye shall call' differs from
1 they shall call. ' Moreover in the Hebrew
we read thus, " Behold a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Im-
manuel." " Ahaz shall not call him so for he
was convicted of want of faith, nor the Jews
for they were destined to deny him, but she
who is to conceive him, and bear him, the vir-
gin herself. In the same evangelist we read
that Herod was troubled at the coming of the
Magi and that gathering together the scribes
and the priests he demanded of them where
Christ should be born and that they answered
him, " In Bethlehem of Judaea : for thus it is
written by the prophet ; And thou Bethlehem
in the land of Judah art not the least among
the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall
come a governour that shall rule my people
Israel."6 In the Vulgate6 this passage ap-
pears as follows : — " And thou Bethlehem, the
house of Ephratah, art small to be among the
thousands of Judah, yet one shall come out of
thee for me to be a prince in Israel." You
will be more surprised still at the difference
in words and order between Matthew and the
Septuagint if you look at the Hebrew which
runs thus : — " But thou Bethlehem Ephratah,
though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth
unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." 7 Con-
sider one by one the words of the evangelist : —
"And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah."
\ Isa. xi. i. 2 So AV. the Vulg. varies slightly.
3 Matt. i. m, 23 : Isa. vii. 14. 4 AV. 6 Ma«. ii. 5, 6.
i.e. the Versio Itala which was vulgata or l commonly used '
at this time as Jerome's Version was afterwards.
7 Mic. v. 2-
For "the land of Judah" the Hebrew has
"Ephratah" while the Septuagint gives "the
house of Ephratah." The evangelist writes,
"art not the least among the princes of Judah."
In the Septuagint this is, " art small to be
among the thousands of Judah," while the
Hebrew gives, " though thou be little among
the thousands of Judah." There is a con-
tradiction here — and that not merely verbal
— between the evangelist and the prophet ;
for in this place at any rate both Septuagint
and Hebrew agree. The evangelist says that
he is not little among the princes of Judah,
while the passage from which he quotes says
exactly the opposite of this, " Thou art small
indeed and little; but yet out of thee, small
and little as thou art, there shall come forth
for me a leader in Israel," a sentiment in
harmony with that of the apostle, " God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to con-
found the things which are mighty." ' More-
over the last clause " to rule " or " to feed my
people Israel " clearly runs differently in the
original.
9. I refer to these passages, not to convict
the evangelists of falsification — a charge
worthy only of impious men like Celsus,
Porphyry, and Julian — but to bring home to
my critics their own want of knowledge, and
to gain from them such consideration that
they may concede to me in the case of a
simple letter what, whether they like it or not,
they will have to concede to the Apostles in the
Holy Scriptures. Mark, the disciple of Peter,
begins his gospel thus : — " The beginning of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in
the prophet Isaiah : Behold I send my mes-
senger before thy face which shall prepare thy
way before thee. The voice of one crying in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight."2 This quotation is
made up from two prophets, Malachi that is
to say and Isaiah. For the first part : " Be-
hold I send my messenger before thy face
which shall prepare thy way before thee," oc-
curs at the close of Malachi.3 But the second
part: " The voice of one crying, etc.," we read
in Isaiah." On what grounds then has Mark
in the very beginning of his book set the
words : " As it is written in the prophet
Isaiah, Behold I send my messenger," when,
as we have said, it is not written in Isaiah at
all, but in Malachi the last of the twelve
prophets ? Let ignorant presumption solve
this nice question if it can, and I will ask
pardon for being in the wrong. The same
Mark brings before us the Saviour thus ad-
dressing the Pharisees : " Have ye never read
what David did when he had need and was an
1 1 Cor. i. 27.
3 Mai. iii. 1.
a Mark i. 1-3; see RV.
* Isa. xl. 3.
LETTER LVII.
117
hungred, he and they that were with him, how
he went into the house of God in the days of
Abiathar the highpriest, and did eat the shew-
bread which is not lawful to eat but for the
priests ? " ' Now let us turn to the books of
Samuel, or, as they are commonly called, of
Kings, and we shall find there that the high-
priest's name was not Abiathar but Ahimelech,"
the same that was afterwards put to death
with the rest of the priests by Doeg at the
command of Saul.3 Let us pass on now to the
apostle Paul who writes thus to the Corinth-
ians : " For had they known it, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is
written, Eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them
that love Him."4 Some writers on this pas-
sage betake themselves to the ravings of the
apocryphal books and assert that the quota-
tion comes from the Revelation of Elijah ; 5
whereas the truth is that it is found in Isaiah
according to the Hebrew text : " Since the
beginning of the world men have not heard
nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye
seen, O God, beside thee what thou hast pre-
pared for them that wait for thee."0 The
Septuagint has rendered the words quite dif-
ferently : " Since the beginning of the world
we have not heard, neither have our eyes seen
any God beside thee and thy true works, and
thou wilt shew mercy to them that wait for
thee." We see then from what place the quo-
tation is taken and yet the apostle has not
rendered his original word for word, but,
using a paraphrase, he has given the sense in
different terms. In his epistle to the Romans
the same apostle quotes these words from
Isaiah : " Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-
stone and rock of offence," 7 a rendering
which is at variance with the Greek version *
yet agrees with the original Hebrew. The
Septuagint gives an opposite meaning, l< that
you fall not on a stumblingstone nor on a
rock of offence." The apostle Peter agrees
with Paul and the Hebrew, writing : " but to
them that do not believe, a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offence." 9 From all these pas-
sages it is clear that the apostles and evan-
gelists in translating the old testament scrip-
tures have sought to give the meaning rather
than the words, and that they have not greatly
cared to preserve forms or constructions, so
long as they could make clear the subject to
the understanding.
1 Mark ii. 25, 26. 2 1 Sam. xxi. 1.
3 1 Sam. xxii. 16-18. 4 1 Cor. ii. 8, 9.
6 This book is no longer extant. It belonged to the same class
as the Book of Enoch.
6 Isa. lxiv. 4, lxx. AV. has ' what he hath prepared for him
that waiteth for him.'
T Rom. ix. 33. 8 Lit. 'with the old version.'
8 1 Pet. ii. 8. AV. is different.
VOL. VI. {
10. Luke the evangelist and companion of
apostles describes Christ's first martyr Stephen
as relating what follows in a Jewish assembly.
" With threescore and fifteen souls Jacob went
down into Egypt, and died himself, and our
fathers were carried over ' into Sychem, and
laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for
a sum of money of the sons of Emmor2 the
father of Sychem."3 In Genesis this passage
is quite differently given, for it is Abraham
that buys of Ephron the Hittite, the son of
Zohar, near Hebron, for four hundred
shekels4 of silver, a double cave,5 and the
field that is about it, and that buries in it
Sarah his wife. And in the same book we
read that, after his return from Mesopotamia
with his wives and his sons, Jacob pitched his
tent before Salem, a city of Shechem which
is in the land of Canaan, and that he dwelt
there and " bought a parcel of a field where
he had spread his tent at the hand of Hamor,
the father of Sychem, for an hundred lambs," "
and that " he erected there an altar and called
there upon the God of Israel."7 Abraham
does not buy the cave from Hamor the father
of Sychem, but from Ephron the son of
Zohar, and he is not buried in Sychem but in
Hebron which is corruptly called Arboch.
Whereas the twelve patriarchs are not buried
in Arboch but in Sychem, in the field pur-
chased not by Abraham but by Jacob. I
postpone the solution of this delicate problem
to enable those who cavil at me to search and
see that in dealing with the scriptures it is the
sense we have to look to and not the words.
In the Hebrew the twenty-second psalm be-
gins with the exact words which the Lord ut-
tered on the cross : Eli Eli lama azabthani,
which means, " My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me ? " 8 Let my critics tell me
why the Septuagint introduces here the words
" look thou upon me." For its rendering is
as follows : " My God, my God, look thou
upon me, why hast thou forsaken me ? "
They will answer no doubt that no harm
is done to the sense by the addition of a
couple of words. Let them acknowledge
then that, if in the haste of dictation I have
omitted a few, I have not by so doing endan-
gered the position of the churches.
11. It would be tedious now to enumerate,
what great additions and omissions the Sep-
tuagint has made, and all the passages which
in church-copies are marked with daggers and
asterisks. The Jews generally laugh when
they hear our version of this passage of Isaiah,
" Blessed is he that hath seed in Zion and ser-
vants in Jerusalem."9 In Amos also10 after a
1 So the Vulg.: AV. punctuates differently. 2 i.e. Hamor.
3 Ac:s vii. 15-16. * Drachmae. 6 Spelunca duplex.
6 AV. marg. * Gen. xxxiii. 18-20. AV. varies slightly.
8 Ps. xxii. 1. 9 Isa. xxxi. 9, LXX. 10 According to the LXX.
Ii8
JEROME.
description of self-indulgence ' there come
these words : " They have thought of these
things as halting and not likely to fly," a very
rhetorical sentence quite worthy of Tully. But
how shall we deal with the Hebrew originals
in which these passages and others like them
are omitted, passages so numerous that to
reproduce them all would require books with-
out number ? The number of the omissions
is shown alike by the asterisks mentioned
above and by my own version when compared
by a careful reader with the old translation."
Yet the Septuagint has rightly kept its place
in the churches, either because it is the first
of all the versions in time, made before the
coming of Christ, or else because it has been
used by the apostles (only however in places
where it does not disagree with the He-
brew3). On the other hand we do right to
reject Aquila, the proselyte and controversial
translator, who has striven to translate not
words only but their etymologies as well.
Who could accept as renderings of " corn
and wine and oil"4 such words as x£hlCY
b7rGopi(XjAO?, GTi\7tvoT7]S, or, as we might
say, ' pouring,' and ' fruitgathering,' and 'shin-
ing ' ? or, because Hebrew has in addition to
the article other prefixes 6 as well, he must
with an unhappy pedantry translate syllable
by^ syllable and letter by letter thus : gvv
rov ovpavov uai gvv rrjv yrjv, a construc-
tion which neither Greek nor Latin admits
of,6 as many passages in our own writers shew.
How many are the phrases charming in Greek
which, if rendered word for word, do not
sound well in Latin, and again how many
there are that are pleasing to us in Latin, but
which — assuming the order of the words not
to be altered — would not please in Greek.
12. But to pass by this limitless field of dis-
cussion and to shew you, most Christian of
nobles, and most noble of Christians,. what is
the kind of falsification which is censured in
my translation, I will set before you the open-
ing words of the letter in the Greek original
and as rendered by me, that from one count
in the indictment you may form an opinion
of all. The letter begins "Ed si tfjuds,
aya7t)]TS, fu'j tij oitjaei tgov itXypcov cpspe-
crdai which I remember to have rendered as
follows : " Dearly beloved, we ought not to
misuse our position as ministers to gratify our
pride." See there, they cry, what a number
of falsehoods in a single line ! In the first
1 Amos vi. 4-6.
2 Jerome's Vulgate version supplied from the Hebrew the
omissions and removed the redundancies of the old Latin ver-
sion. These were due to the uncertain text of the LXX.,on
which alone the old Latin version was founded.
3 This statement is not borne out by the facts.
a Cf. Deut. vii. 13. 6 npoap^pa.
Lit. ' with the heaven and with the earth ' (Gen. i. 1). In He
brew the preposition ' with ' is identical in form with the siRn
of the accus. Hence Aquila's rendering.
place aya7n]TO? means ' loved,' net 'dearly
beloved.' Then ou]Gii means 'estimate,' not
' pride,' for this and not oiSij/Aa is the word
used. OidijfAa signifies ' a swelling ' but
ol/'/ffi? means ' judgment.' All the rest, say
they : " not to misuse our position to gratify
our pride " is your own. What is this you
are saying, O pillar of learning ' and latter day
Aristarchus,2 who are so ready to pass judg-
ment upon all writers ? It is all for nothing
then that I have studied so long ; that, as
Juvenal says,3 " I have so often withdrawn my
hand from the ferule." The moment I leave
the harbour I run aground. Well, to err is
human and to confess one's error wise. Do
you therefore, who are so ready to criticise
and to instruct me, set me right and give me
a word for word rendering of the passage.
You tell me I should have said : " Beloved,
we ought not to be carried away by the esti-
mation of the clergy." Here, indeed we have
eloquence worthy of Plautus, here we have
Attic grace, the true style of the Muses. The
common proverb is true of me : " He who
trains an ox for athletics loses both oil and
money." ' Still he is not to blame who mere-
ly puts on the mask and plays the tragedy for
another : his teachers 6 are the real culprits ;
since they for a great price have taught him
— to know nothing. I do not think the worse
of any Christian because he lacks skill to ex-
press himself ; and I heartily wish that we
could all say with Socrates " I know that I
know nothing ; " c and carry out the precept
of another wise man, " Know thyself." 7 I
have always held in esteem a holy simplicity
but not a wordy rudeness. He who declares
that he imitates the style of apostles should
first imitate the virtue of their lives ; the great
holiness of which made up for much plainness
of speech. They confuted the syllogisms of /
Aristotle and the perverse ingenuities of Chry-
sippus by raising the dead. Still it would be
absurd for one of us — living as we do amid the
riches of Croesus and the luxuries of Sardan-
apalus — to make his boast of mere ignorance.
We might as well say that all robbers and
criminals would be men of culture if they were
to hide their blood-stained swords in books
of philosophy and not in trunks of trees.
13. I have exceeded the limits of a letter, but
I have not exceeded in the expression of my
chagrin. For, though I am called a falsifier, and
have my reputation torn to shreds, wherever
there are shuttles and looms and women to
1 Jerome apostrophises his critic.
2 The famous grammarian and critic of Homer.
3 Juv. i. 15.
4 Oleum perdit et impensas qui bovem mittit ad ceroma.
6 Rufinus and Melania, who were believed by Jerome to have
instigated the theft. Their names are inserted in some copies.
6 Plato, Apol. Soc. 21, 22.
7 This saying is variously attributed to Chilon and others of
the seven wise men of Greece.
LETTERS LVII., LVIII.
119
work them ; I am content to repudiate the
charge without retaliating in kind. I leave
everything to your discretion. You can read
the letter of Epiphanius both in Greek and
in Latin ; and, if you do so, you will see at
onee the value of my accusers' lamentations
and insulting complaints. For the rest, I am
satisfied to have instructed one of my dearest
friends and am content simply to stay quiet in
my cell and to wait for the day of judgment.
If it may be so, and if my enemies allow it, I
hope to write for you, not philippics like those
of Demosthenes or Tully, but commentaries
upon the scriptures.
LETTER LVIII.
TO PAULINUS.
In this his second letter to Paulinus of Nola Jerome
dissuades him from making a pilgrimage to the Holy
Places, and describes Jerusalem not as it ought to be
but as it is. He then gives his friend counsels for his
life similar to those which he has previously addressed
to Nepotian, praises Paulinus for his Panegyric (now
no longer extant) on the Emperor Theodosius, compares
his style with those of the great writers of the Latin
Church, and concludes with a commendation of his
messenger, that Vigilantius who was soon to become the
object of his bitterest contempt. Written about the
year 395 A.D.
1. " A good man out of the good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things," ' and
"every tree is known by his fruit."2 You
measure me by the scale of your own virtues
and because of your own greatness magnify
my littleness. You take the lowest room at
the banquet that the goodman of the house
may bid you to go up higher.3 For what is
there in me or what qualities do I possess that
I should merit praise from a man of learning?
that I, small and lowly as I am, should be
eulogized by lips which have pleaded on be-
behalf of our most religious sovereign ? Do
not, my dearest brother, estimate my worth
by the number of my years. Gray hairs
are not wisdom ; it is wisdom which is as
good as gray hairs. At least that is what
Solomon says : " wisdom is the gray hair unto
men." 4 Moses too in choosing the seventy
elders is told to take those whom he knows to
be elders indeed, and to select them not for
their years but for their discretion.5 And, as
a boy, Daniel judges old men and in the
flower of youth condemns the incontinence
of age.6 Do not, I repeat, weigh faith by
years, nor suppose me better than yourself
merely because I have enlisted under Christ's
banner earlier than you. The apostle Paul,
that chosen vessel framed out of a perse-
1 Matt. xii. 35.
4 Wisd. iv. 9.
2 Luke vi. 44. 3 Luke xiv. 10.
' Nu. xi. 16. 8 Story of Susannah.
cutor,1 though last in the apostolic order
is first in merit. For though last he has
laboured more than they all.'2 To Judas it
was once said : " thou art a man who didst
take sweet food with me, my guide and mine
acquaintance ; we walked in the house of
God with company : " 3 yet the Saviour ac-
cuses him of betraying his friend and master.
A line of Virgil well describes his end:
From a high beam he knots a hideous death.4
The dying robber, on the contrary, ex-
changes the cross for paradise and turns to
martyrdom the penalty of murder. How
many there are nowadays who have lived so
long that they bear corpses rather than bodies
and are like whited sepulchres filled with dead
men's bones ! 5 A newly kindled heat is more
effective than a long-continued lukewarmness.
2. As for you, when you hear the Saviour's
counsel : " if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell
that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come
follow me,"6 you translate his words into ac-
tion ; and baring yourself to follow the bare
cross7 you mount Jacob's ladder the easier for
carrying nothing. Your dress changes with
the change in your convictions, and you aim at
no showy shabbiness which leaves your purse
as full as before. No, with pure hands and a
clear conscience you make it your glory that
you are poor both in spirit and in deed. There
is nothing great in wearing a sad or a dis-
figured face, in simulating and in showing off
fasts, or in wearing a cheap cloak while you
retain a large income. When Crates the
Theban — a millionaire of days gone by — was
on his way to Athens to study philosophy, he
cast away untold gold in the belief that wealth
could not be compatible with virtue. What a
contrast he offers to us, the disciples of a poor
Christ, who cram our pockets with gold and
cling under pretext of almsgiving to our old
riches. How can we faithfully distribute what
belongs to another when we thus timidly keep
back what is our own ?8 When the stomach
is full, it is easy to talk of fasting. What is
praiseworthy is not to have been at Jerusalem
but to have lived a good life while there.9
The city which we are to praise and to seek
is not that which has slain the prophets 10 and
shed the blood of Christ, but that which is
made glad by the streams of the river,11 which
is set upon a mountain and so cannot be hid,12
which the apostle declares to be a mother of
the saints,13 and in which he rejoices to have
his citizenship with the righteous.14
1 Acts ix. 15. 2 1 Cor. xv. 10.
3 Ps. Iv. 13: Consessu substituted for consensu of the Vul-
gate. ,
* Virgil, JEn. xii. 603. B Matt, xxiii. 27. Matt. xix. 21.
•' Compare Letter LII. § 5. fc Cf. Luke av\. 12.
» Cicero, pro Murena, V. I0 Matt, xxiii. 37. • ' Ps. xlvi. 4.
" Matt. v. 14. 13 Gal. iv. 26. J4 Phil. iii. 20., RV.
I 3
120
JEROME.
3. In speaking thus I am not laying myself
open to a charge of inconsistency or con-
demning the course which I have myself taken.
It is not, I believe, for nothing that I, like
Abraham, have left my home and people. But
I do not presume to limit God's omnipotence
or to restrict to a narrow strip of earth Him
whom the heaven cannot contain. Each be-
liever is judged not by his residence in this
place or in that but according to the deserts
of his faith. The true worshippers worship
the Father neither at Jerusalem nor on mount
Gerizim ; for " God is a spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and
in truth."1 "Now the spirit bloweth where
it listeth,"2 and "the earth is the Lord's and
the fulness thereof."3 When the fleece of
Judaea was made dry although the whole
world was wet with the dew of heaven,4 and
when many came from the East and from the
West 5 and sat in Abraham's bosom : 6 then
God ceased to be known in Judah only and
His name to be great in Israel alone ; 7 the
sound of the apostles went out into all the
earth and their words into the ends of the
world.8 The Saviour Himself speaking to
His disciples in the temple 9 said : " arise, let
us go hence," 10 and to the Jews : " your
house is left unto you desolate." n If heaven
and earth must pass away,12 obviously all
things that are earthly must pass away also.
Therefore the spots which witnessed the cru-
cifixion and the resurrection profit those only
who bear their several crosses, who day by day
rise again with Christ, and who thus shew
themselves worthy of an abode so holy. Those
who say " the temple of the Lord, the temple
of the Lord," 13 should give ear to the words
of the apostle : " ye are the temple of the
Lord,"11 and the Holy Ghost " dwelleth in
you." 16 Access to the courts of heaven is as
easy from Britain as it is from Jerusalem ; for
" the kingdom of God is within you." 16 An-
tony and the hosts of monks who are in
Egypt, Mesopotamia, Pontus, Cappadocia,and
Armenia, have never seen Jerusalem : and the
door of Paradise is opened for them at a dis-
tance from it. The blessed Hilarion, though
a native of and a dweller in Palestine, only set
eyes on Jerusalem for a single day, not wish-
ing on the one hand when he was so near to
neglect the holy places, nor yet on the other
to appear to confine God within local limits.
From the. time of Hadrian to the reign of
Constantine — a period of about one hundred
I Joh. iv. 24. 2 Joh. iii. 8, RV. marg.
= Ps. xxiv. 1. 4 Judg. vi. 36-40. « Luke xiii. 29.
Luke xvi. 22. 1 Ps. lxxvi. 1. 8 ps. xjx. 4.
» Only the second sentence was spoken in the temple : the
first was uttered in the chamber of the last supper.
10 Joh. xiv. 31. 11 Matt, xxiii. 38. 12 Luke xxi. 33.
)* Jer. V11.4. J4 2 Cor. vi. 16.
16 Rom. vm. n. 18 LUke xvii. 2l.
and eighty years ' — the spot which had wit-
nessed the resurrection was occupied by a
figure of Jupiter ; while on the rock where the
cross had stood, a marble statue of Venus
was set up by the heathen and became an
object of worship. The original persecutors,
indeed, supposed that by polluting our holy
places they would deprive us of our faith
in the passion and in the resurrection. Even
my own Bethlehem, as it now is, that most
venerable spot in the whole world of which
the psalmist sings : " the truth hath sprung
out of the earth," 2 was overshadowed by a
grove of Tammuz,3 that is of Adonis ; and
in the very cave 4 where the infant Christ had
uttered His earliest cry lamentation was made
for the paramour of Venus.5
4. Why, you will say, do I make these re-
mote allusions ? To assure you that nothing
is lacking to your faith although you have
not seen Jerusalem and that I am none the
better for living where I do. Be assured that,
whether you dwell here or elsewhere, a like
recompense is in store for your good works
with our Lord. Indeed, if I am frankly to
express my own feelings, when I take into
consideration your vows and the earnestness
with which you have renounced the world, I
hold that as long as you live in the country
one place is as good as another. Forsake
cities and their crowds, live on a small patch
of ground, seek Christ in solitude, pray on the
mount alone with Jesus,6 keep near to holy
places : keep out of cities, I say, and you will
never lose your vocation. My advice con-
cerns not bishops, presbyters, or the clergy,
for these have a different duty. I am speak-
ing only to a monk who having been a man of
note in the world has laid the price of his pos-
sessions at the apostles' feet,7 to shew men
that they must trample on their money, and
has resolved to live a life of loneliness and
seclusion and always to continue to reject
what he has once rejected. Had the scenes
of the Passion and of the Resurrection been
elsewhere than in a populous city with court
and garrison, with prostitutes, playactors, and
buffoons, and with the medley of persons
usually found in such centres ; or had the
crowds which thronged it been composed of
monks ; then a city would be a desirable
abode for those who have embraced the mo-
nastic life. But, as things are, it would be the
height of folly first to renounce the world, to
1 Hadrian died in 138 A. D.; Constantine became Emperor
in 306 A. D.
2 Ps. lxxxv. 11, Vulg. 3 Ezek. viii. 14.
4 For the tradition that Christ was born in a cave Justin
Martyr is the earliest authority (dial. c. Try. 78).
6 Adonis, killed by a boar and spending half his time in the
upper, half in the lower world, is a type of summer overcom-
ing and overcome by winter.
« Cf. Luke, vi. 12. ' Acts iv. 37.
LETTER LVIII.
121
forswear one's country, to forsake cities, to
profess one's self a monk ; and then to live
among still greater numbers the same kind of
life that you would have lived in your own
country. Men rush here from all quarters of
the world, the city is filled with people of
every race, and so great is the throng of. men
and women that here you will have to tolerate
in its full dimensions an evil from which you
desired to flee when you found it partially de-
veloped elsewhere.
5. Since you ask me as a brother in what
path you should walk, I will be open with you.
If you wish to take duty as a presbyter, and
are attracted by the work or dignity which
falls to the. lot of a bishop, live in cities and
walled towns,1 and by so doing turn the salva-
tion of others into the profit of your own soul.
But if you desire to be in deed what you are
in name — a monk,2 that is, one who lives alone,
what have you to do with cities which are the
homes not of solitaries but of crowds ? Every
mode of life has its own exponents. For in-
stance, let Roman generals imitate men like
Camillus, Fabricius, Regulus, and Scipio. Let
philosophers take for models Pythagoras, Soc-
rates, Plato, and Aristotle. Let poets strive
to rival Homer, Virgil, Menander,and Terence.
Let writers of history follow Thucydides, Sal-
lust, Herodotus and Livy. Let orators find
masters in Lysias, the Gracchi, Demosthenes,
and Tully. And, to come to our own case, let
bishops and presbyters take for their examples
the apostles or their companions ; and as they
hold the rank which these once held, let them
endeavour to exhibit the same excellence.
And last of all let us monks take as the pat-
terns which we are to follow the lives of Paul,
of Antony, of Julian, of Hilarion, of the Ma-
carii. And to go back to the authority of
scripture, we have our masters in Elijah and
Elisha, and our leaders in the sons of the proph-
ets ; who lived in fields and solitary places
and made themselves tents by the waters of
Jordan.3 The sons of Rechab too are of the
number who drank neither wine nor strong
drink and who abode in tents ; men whom
God's voice praises through Jeremiah,4 and to
whom a promise is made that there shall never
be wanting a man of their stock to stand be-
fore God.5 This is probably what is meant by
the title of the seventy-first psalm : " of the
sons of Jonadab and of those who were first
led into captivity." f The person intended is
Jonadab the son of Rechab who is described
in the book of Kings ' as having gone up into
the chariot of Jehu. His sons having always
1 Castella.
2 Monachus, lit. "a solitary." Men frequently at this time
made vows, especially those of celibacy, without entering a
monastery. 3 2 Kings vi. 1, 2. 4 Jer. xxxv. 5 Jer. xxxv. 19.
e This title occurs only in the LXX. 7 2 Kings, x. 15, 16.
lived in tents until at last (owing to the inroads
made by the Chaldean army) they were forced
to come into Jerusalem, are described ' as be-
ing the first to undergo captivity ; because
after the freedom of their lonely life they found
confinement in a city as bad as imprisonment.
6. Since you are not wholly independent
but are bound to a wife who is your sister in
the Lord, I entreat you — whether here or there
— that you will avoid large gatherings, visits
official and complimentary, and social parties,
indulgences all of which tend to enchain the
soul. Let your food be coarse — say cabbage
and pulse — and do not take it until evening.
Sometimes as a great delicacy you may have
some small fish. He who longs for Christ and
feeds upon the true bread cares little for dain-
ties which must be transmuted into ordure.
Food that you cannot taste when once it has
passed your gullet might as well be — so far as
you are concerned — bread and pulse. You
have my books against Jovinian which speak
yet more largely of despising the appetite and
the palate. Let some holy volume be ever
in your hand. Pray constantly, and bowing
down your body lift up your mind to the Lord.
Keep frequent vigils and sleep often on an
empty stomach. Avoid tittle-tattle and all
self-laudation. Flee from wheedling flatterers
as from open enemies. Distribute with your
own hand provisions to alleviate the miseries
of the poor and of the brethren. With your
own hands, I say, for good faith is rare among
men. You do not believe what I say ? Think
of Judas and his bag. Seek not a lowly garb
for a swelling soul. Avoid the society of men
of the world, especially if they are in power.
Why need you look again on things contempt
for which has made you a monk ? Above all
let your sister2 hold aloof from married ladies.
And, if women round her wear silk dresses
and gems while she is meanly attired, let her
neither fret nor congratulate herself. For by
so doing she will either regret her resolution
or sow the seeds of pride. If you are already
famed as a faithful steward of your own sub-
stance, do not take other people's money to
give away. You understand what I mean, for
the Lord has given you understanding in all
things. Be simple as a dove and lay snares
for no man : but be cunning as a serpent and
let no man lay snares for you.3 For a Chris-
tian who allows others to deceive him is almost
at much at fault as one who tries to deceive
others. If a man talks to you always or nearly
always about money (except it be about alms-
giving, a topic which is open to all) treat him
as a broker rather than a monk. Besides
food and clothing and things manifestly neces-
1 Jer. xxxv. 11.
3 Matt. x. i6,
2 Therasia, the wife of Paulinus is meant.
122
JEROME.
sary give no man anything ; for dogs must not
eat the children's bread.1
7. The true temple of Christ is the be-
liever's soul ; adorn this, clothe it, offer gifts
to it, welcome -Christ in it. What use are
walls blazing with jewels when Christ in His
poor2 is in danger of perishing from hunger ?
Your possessions are no longer your own but
a stewardship is entrusted to you. Remember
Ananias and Sapphira who from fear of the
future kept what was their own, and be care-
ful for your part not rashly to squander what
is Christ's. Do not, that is, by an error of
judgment give the property of the poor to
those who are not poor ; lest, as a wise man
has told us,3 charity prove the death of char-
ity. Look not upon
Gay trappings or a Cato's empty name.'1
In the words of Persius, God says : —
I know thy thoughts and read thine inmost soul.5
To be a Christian is the great thing, not
merely to seem one. And somehow or other
those please the world most who please Christ
least. In speaking thus I am not like the sow
lecturing Minerva ; but, as a friend warns a
friend, so I warn you before you embark on
your new course. I would rather fail in ability
than in will to serve you ; for my wish is that
where I have fallen you may keep your
footing.
8. It is with much pleasure that I have read
the book which you have sent to me contain-
ing your wise and eloquent defence of the
emperor Theodosius ; and your arrangement
of the subject has particularly pleased me.
While in the earlier chapters you surpass
others, in the latter you surpass yourself.
Your style is terse and neat ; it has all the
purity of Tully, and yet it is packed with
meaning. For, as someone has said,6 that
speech is a failure of which men only praise
the diction. You have been successful in pre-
serving both sequence of subjects and logical
connexion. Whatever sentence one takes, it
is always a conclusion to what goes before or
an introduction to what follows. Theodosius
is fortunate in having a Christian orator like
you to plead his cause. You have made his
purple illustrious and have consecrated for
fut' re ages his useful laws. Go on and pros-
per, for, if such be your first ventures in the
field, what will you not do when you become
a trained soldier? Oh! that it were mine to
conduct a genius like you, not (as the poets
sing) through the Aonian mountains and the
1 Matt. xv. 26. 3 Matt. xxv. 40. » Cicero, de Off. II. xv.
4 Probably a quotation from memory incorrectly made up
from Lucan s ' Nomina vana Catonis ' (i. 313).
• Ptrsius. iii. 30. « Quintilian, Inst. Or. viii. Proem,
peaks of Helicon but through Zion and
Tabor and the high places of Sinai. If I
might teach you what I have learned myself
and might pass on to you the mystic rolls of
the prophets, then might we give birth to
something such as Greece with all her learn-
ing could not shew.
9. Hear me, therefore, my fellow-servant,
my friend, my brother ; give ear for a mo-
ment that I may tell you how you are to walk
in the holy scriptures. All that we read in
the divine bdoks, while glistening and shining
without, is yet far sweeter within. " He who
desires to eat the kernel must first break the
nut." ' "Open thou mine eyes," says David,
" that I may behold wondrous things out of
thy law." " Now, if so great a prophet con-
fesses that he is in the darkness of ignorance ;
how deep, think you, must be the night of
misapprehension with which we, mere babes
and unweaned infants, are enveloped ! Now
this veil rests not only on the face of Moses,3
but on the evangelists and the apostles as
well.4 To the multitudes the Saviour spoke
only in parables and, to make it clear that His
words had a mystical meaning, said : — " he
that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 5 Un-
less all things that are written are opened by
Him " who hath the key of David, who open-
eth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no
man openeth,"6 no one can undo the lock or
set them before you. If only you had the
foundation which He alone can give ; nay, if
even His fingers were but passed over your
work ; there would be nothing finer than your
volumes, nothing more learned, nothing more
attractive, nothing more Latin.
10. Tertullian is packed with meaning but
his style is rugged and uncouth. The blessed
Cyprian like a fountain of pure water flows
softly and sweetly but, as he is taken up with
exhortations to virtue and with the troubles
consequent on persecution, he has nowhere
discussed the divine scriptures. Victorinus,
although he has the glory of a martyr's crown,
yet cannot express what he knows. Lactan-
tius has a flow of eloquence worthy of Tully :
would that he had been as ready to teach our
doctrines as he was to pull down those of
others ! Arnobius is lengthy and unequal,
and often confused from not making a proper
division of his subject. That reverend man
Hilary gains in height from his Gallic buskin ;
yet, adorned as he is with the flowers of Greek
rhetoric, he sometimes entangles himself in
long periods and offers by no means easy
reading to the less learned brethren. I say
1 Plautus, Cure. I. i. 55. 2 Ps. cxix. 18. 3 2 Cor. iii. 14, 15.
the new testament as well as the old may have its true
meaning concealed from some.
6 Luke viii. 8, 10.
6 Rev. iii. 7.
LETTERS LVIII-LX.
123
nothing of other writers whether dead or liv-
ing ; others will hereafter judge them both
for good and for evil.1
11. I will come to yourself, my fellow-
mystic, my companion, and my friend ; my
friend, I say, though not yet personally
known : and I will ask you not to suspect a
flatterer in one so intimate. Better that you
should think me mistaken or led astray by
affection than that you should hold me capa-
ble of fawning on a friend. You have a great
intellect and an inexhaustible store of lan-
guage, your diction is fluent and pure, your
fluency and purity are mingled with wisdom.
Your head is clear and all your senses keen.
Were you to add to this wisdom and eloquence
a careful study and knowledge of scripture, I
should soon see you holding our citadel
against all comers ; you would go up with
Joab upon the roof of Zion,a and sing upon
the housetops what you had learned in the
secret chambers.3 Gird up, I pray you, gird
up your loins. As Horace says : —
Life hath no gifts for men except they toil.4
Shew yourself as much a man of note in the
church, as you were before in the senate.
Provide for yourself riches which you may
spend daily yet they will not fail. Provide
them while you are still strong and while as
yet your head has no gray hairs : before, in
the words of Virgil,
Diseases creep on you, and gloomy age,
And pain, and cruel death's inclemency.6
I am not content with mediocrity for you : I
desire all that you do to be of the highest
excellence.
How heartily I have welcomed the rever-
end presbyter Vigilantius,6 his own lips will
tell you better than this letter. Why he has
so soon left us and started afresh I cannot
say ; and, indeed, I do not wish to hurt any-
one's feelings.7 Still, mere passer-by as he
was, in haste to continue his journey, I man-
aged to keep him back until I had given him
a taste of my friendship for you. Thus you
can learn from him what you want to know
about me. Kindly salute your reverend sis-
ter 8 and fellow-servant, who with you fights
the good fight in the Lord.
1 Cf. Letter LXX. S.
2 1 Chron. xi. 5, 6.
3 Cf. Luke xii. 3.
4 Horace, Sat. I. ix. 50, 60.
6 Virgil, Georg. iii. 67, 68.
6 Afterwards noted as an assailant of Jerome's rscetic doc-
trines. See the introduction to Letter LXI.
7 The allusion seems to be to the behaviour of Vigilantius
during an earthquake which occurred when he was at Bethle-
hem. His fright on the occasion exposed hiui to the ridicule of
the community there. (Against Vig., i. 11.)
8 As before, Therasia, the wife of Paulinus is meant.
LETTER LIX.
TO MARCELLA.
An answer to five questions put to Jerome by Mar-
cella in a letter not preserved. The questions are as
follows. -
(1) What are the things which eye hath not seen nor
ear heard (1 Cor. ii. 9) ? Jerome answers that they are
spiritual things which as such can only be spiritually
discerned.
(2) Is it not a mistake to identify the sheep and the
goats of Christ's parable (Matt. xxv. 31 sqq.) with
Christians and heathens ? Are they not rather the
good and the bad ? For an answer to this question
Jerome refers Marcella to his treatise against Jovinian
(II. §§ 18-23).
(3) Paul says that some shall be " alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord ; " and that they shall be
"caught up to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thess. iv.
15, 17). Are we to suppose this assumption to be cor-
poreal and that those assumed will escape death ? Yes,
Jerome answers, but their bodies will be glorified.
(4) How is John xx. 17, " touch me not," to be
reconciled with Matt, xxviii. 9, " they came and held
him by the feet"? In the one case, Jerome replies,
Mary Magdalen failed to recognize the divinity of
Jesus ; in the other the women recognized it. Accord-
ingly they were admitted to a privilege which was de-
nied to her.
(5) Was the risen Christ before His ascension present
only with the disciples, or was He in heaven and else-
where as well ? The latter according to Jerome is the
true doctrine. " The Divine Nature," he writes, "ex-
ists everywhere in its entirety. Christ, therefore, was
at one and the same time with the apostles and with the
angels ; in the Father and in the uttermost parts of the
sea. So afterwards he was with Thomas in India, with
Peter at Rome, with Paul in Illyricum, with Titus in
Crete, with Andrew in Achaia." The date of the
letter is A. D. 395 or A. D. 396.
t
LETTER LX.
* TO^fcELIODORUS.
One of Jerome's finest letters, written to console his
old friend, Heliodorus, now Bp. of Altinum, for the
loss of his nephew Nepotian who had died of fever a
short time previously. Jerome tries to soothe his
friend's grief (1) by contrasting pagan despair or resig-
nation with Christian hope, (2) by an eulogy of the de-
parted both as man and presbyter, and (3) by a review
of the evils which then beset the Empire and from
which, as he contended, Nepotian bad been removed.
The letter is marked throughout with deep and sin-
cere feeling. Its date is 396 A. D.
i. Small wits cannot grapple large themes
but venturing beyond their strength fail in the
very attempt ; and, the greater a subject is, the
more completely is he overwhelmed who can-
not find words to unfold its grandeur. Nepo-
tian who was mine and yours and ours — or
rather who was Christ's and because Christ's
all the more ours — has forsaken us his elders
so that we are smitten with pangs of regret
and overcome with a grief which is past bear-
ing. "We supposed him our heir, yet now his
corpse is all that is ours. For whom shall my
intellect now labour ? Whom shall my poor
124
JEROME.
letters desire to please ? Where is he, the im-
peller of my work, whose voice was sweeter
than a swan's last song ? My mind is dazed,
my hand trembles, a mist covers my eyes,
stammering seizes my tongue. Whatever my
words, they seem as good as unspoken seeing
that he no longer hears them. My very pen
seems to feel his loss, my very wax tablet
looks dull and sad ; the one is covered with
rust, the other with mould. As often as I try
to express myself in words and to scatter the
flowers of this encomium upon his tomb, my
eyes fill with tears, my grief returns, and I
can think of nothing but his death. It was a
custom in former days for children over the
dead bodies of their parents publicly to pro-
claim their praises and (as when pathetic
songs are sung) to draw tears from the eyes
and sighs from the breasts of those who heard
them. But in our case, behold, the order of
things is changed : to deal us this blow
nature has forfeited her rights. For the re-
spect which the young man should have paid
to his elders, we his elders are paying to him.
2. What shall I do then ? Shall I join my
tears to yours ? The apostle forbids me for
he speaks of dead Christians as " them which
are asleep." ' So too in the gospel the Lord
says, " the damsel is not dead but sleepeth," 2
and Lazarus when he is raised from the dead
is said to have been asleep.3 No, I will be
glad and rejoice that "speedily he was taken
away lest that wickedness should alter his un-
derstanding " for " his soul pleased the Lord." 4
But though I am loth to give way and combat
my feelings, tears flow down my cheeks, and
in spite of the teachings of virtue and the
hope of the resurrection a passion of regret
crushes my too yielding mind. O death that
dividest brothers knit together in love, how
cruel, how ruthless thou art so to sunder
them ! " The Lord hath fetched a burning
wind that cometh up from the wilderness :
which hath dried thy veins and hath made thy
well spring desolate." 5 Thou didst swallow
up our Jonah, but even in thy belly He still
lived. Thou didst carry Him as one dead,
that the world's storm might be stilled and
our Nineveh saved by His preaching. He,
yes He, conquered thee, He slew thee, that
fugitive prophet who left His home, gave up
His inheritance and surrendered his dear life
into the hands of those who sought it. He it
was who of old threatened thee in Hosea :
" O death, I will be thy plagues ; O grave, I
will be thy destruction." 6 By His death thou
art dead ; by His death we live. Thou hast
swallowed up and thou art swallowed up.
Whilst thou art smitten with a longing for the
! 'Thess. iv. 13. * Mark v. 39. 3 Joh. xi. 11.
1 Wisd. iv. ii, 14. » Hos. xiii. 15, LXX. « Hos. xiii. 14.
body assumed by Him, and whilst thy greedy
jaws fancy it a prey, thy inward parts are
wounded with hooked fangs.
3. To Thee, O Saviour Christ, do we Thy
creatures offer thanks that, when Thou wast
slain, Thou didst slay our mighty adversary.
Before Thy coming was there any being more
miserable than man who cowering at the
dread prospect of eternal death did but re-
ceive life that he might perish ! For " death
reigned from Adam to Moses even over them
that had not sinned after the similitude of
Adam's transgression." : If Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob be in hell, who can be in the king-
dom of heaven ? If Thy friends — even those
who had not sinned themselves — were yet for
the sins of another liable to the punishment of
offending Adam, what must we think of those
who have said in their hearts " There is no
God ; " who " are corrupt and abominable " 2
in their self-will, and of whom it is said " they
are gone out of the way, they are become un-
profitable ; there is none that doeth good, no
not one " ? 3 Even if Lazarus is seen in Abra-
ham's bosom and in a place of refreshment,
still the lower regions cannot be compared
with the kingdom of heaven. Before Christ's
coming Abraham is in the lower regions : after
Christ's coming the robber is in paradise.
And therefore at His rising again " many
bodies of the saints which slept arose, and were
seen in the heavenly Jerusalem." 4 Then was
fulfilled the saying : " Awake thou that sleep-
est, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee light." 5 John the Baptist cries in
the desert : " repent ye ; for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand." G For " from the days of
John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suf-
fereth violence and the violent take it by
force."' The flaming sword that keeps the
way of paradise and the cherubim that are
stationed at its doors 8 are alike quenched and
unloosed by the blood of Christ.9 It is not
surprising that this should be promised us in
the resurrection : for as many of us as living in
the flesh do not live after the flesh,10 have our
citizenship in heaven,11 and while we are still
here on earth we are told that " the kingdom
of heaven is within us."12
4. Moreover before the resurrection of Christ
God was " known in Judah " only and " His
name was great in Israel " alone.13 And they
who knew Him were despite their knowledge
dragged down to hell. Where in those days
were the inhabitants of the globe from India
to Britain, from the frozen zone of the North
to the burning heat of the Atlantic ocean ?
I Rom. v. 14. a Ps. xiv. 1.
4 Matt, xxvii. 52, 53.
• Matt. iii. 2. 7 Matt. xi. 12.
"Cf. Letter XXXIX. §4.
II Phi. iii. ao. ia Luke xvii. 21.
s Rom. iii. 12.
6 Eph. v. 14.
8 Gen. iii. 24.
10 2 Cor. x3.
18 Ps. lxxvi. 1.
LETTER LX.
125
Where were the countless peoples of the
world ? Where the great multitudes
Unlike in tongue, unlike in dress and arms ? '
They were crushed like fishes and locusts, like
flies and gnats. For apart from knowledge of
his Creator every man is but a brute. But now
the voices and writings of all nations proclaim
the passion and the resurrection of Christ. I
say nothing of the Jews, the Greeks, and the
Romans, peoples which the Lord has dedicated
to His faith by the title written on His cross.2
The immortality of the soul and its continu-
ance after the dissolution of the body — truths
of which Pythagoras dreamed, which Democ-
ritus refused to believe, and which Socrates
discussed in prison to console himself for the
sentence passed upon him — are now the famil-
iar themes of Indian and of Persian, of Goth
and of Egyptian. The fierce Bessians3 and
the throng of skinclad savages who used to
offer human sacrifices in honour of the dead
have broken out of their harsh discord into the
sweet music of the cross and Christ is the one
cry of the whole world.
5. What can we do, my soul ? Whither
must we turn ? What must we take up first ?
What must we pass over ? Have you forgot-
ten the precepts of the rhetoricians ? Are you
so preoccupied with grief, so overcome with
tears, so hindered with sobs, that you forget all
logical sequence ? Where are the studies you
have pursued from your childhood ? Where
is that saying of Anaxagoras and Telamon
(which you have always commended) " I knew
myself to have begotten a mortal " ? 4 I have
read the books of Crantor which he wrote to
soothe his grief and which Cicero has imi-
tated.5 I have read the consolatory writings
of Plato, Diogenes, Clitomachus, Carneades,
Posidonius, who at different times strove by
book or letter to lessen the grief of various
persons. Consequently, were my own wit to
dry up, it could be watered anew from the
fountains which these have opened. They set
before us examples without number ; and par-
ticularly those of Pericles and of Socrates's pu-
pil Xenophon. The former of these after the
loss of his two sons put on a garland and deliv-
ered a harangue ; 6 while the latter, on hearing
when he was offering sacrifice that his son had
been slain in war, is said to have laid down his
garland ; and then, on learning that he had
fallen fighting bravely, is said to have put it
on his head again. What shall I say of those
1 Virg. A. viii. 723. 2 Luke xxiii. 38.
3 A Thracian tribe.
4 The words are quoted by Cicero (T. Q. iii. 13) apparently
from the Telamon of Ennius. They are ascribed to Anaxagoras
bv Diog. Laert.
"6 In his De consolatione of which only a few fragments re-
main.
9 Val. Max. v. 10.
Roman generals whose heroic virtues glitter
like stars on the pages of Latin history ? Pul-
villus was dedicating the capitol ' when re-
ceiving the news of his son's sudden death, he
gave orders that the funeral should take place
without him. Lucius Paullus " entered the city
in triumph in the week which intervened be-
tween the funerals of his two sons. I pass
over the Maximi, the Catos, the Galli, the
Pisos, the Bruti, the Scgevolas, the Metelli,
the Scauri, the Marii, the Crassi, the Marcelli,
the Aufidii, men who shewed equal fortitude
in sorrow and war, and whose bereavements
Tully has set forth in his book Of consolation.
I pass them over lest I should seem to have
chosen the words and woes of others \<\ prefer-
ence to my own. Yet even these instances may
suffice to ensure us mortification if our faith
fails to surpass the achievements of unbelief.
6. Let me come then to my proper sub-
ject. I will not beat my breast with Jacob
and with David for sons dying in the Law, but
I will receive them rising again with Christ in
the Gospel. The Jew's mourning is the Chris-
tian's joy. " Weeping may endure for a night
but joy cometh in the morning."3 "The
night is far spent, the day is at hand. " 4 Ac-
cordingly when Moses dies, mourning is made
for him,5 but when Joshua is buried, it is with-
out tears or funeral pomp.6 All that can be
drawn from scripture on the subject of lamen-
tation I have briefly set forth in the letter of
consolation which I addressed to Paula at
Rome.7 Now I must take another path to
arrive at the same goal. Otherwise I shall
seem to be walking anew in a track once
beaten but now long disused.
7. We know indeed thatour Nepotian is with
Christ and that he has joined the choirs of the
saints. What here with us he groped after on
earth afar off and sought for to the best of his
judgment, there he sees nigh at hand, so that
he can say : " as we have heard so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of
our God." e Still we cannot bear the feeling
of his absence, and grieve, if not for him, for
ourselves. The greater the happiness which
he enjoys, the deeper the sorrow in which the
loss of a blessing so great plunges us. The
sisters of Lazarus could not help weeping for
him, although they knew that he would rise
again. And the Saviour himself — to shew that
he possessed true human feeling — mourned for
him whom He was about to raise. 9 His apostle
also, though he says : " I desire to depart
and to be with Christ,"10 and elsewhere " to
1 In the first year of the Republic. Ace. to Livy (ii. 8) his
son was not really dead.
3 The conqueror of Macedonia. He celebrated his triumph
167 B.C.
3 Ps. xxx. 5. * Rom. xiii. 12. • Deut. xxxiv. 8.
• Josh. xxiv. 30. ' Letter XXXIX.
s Ps. xlviii. 8. ' Joh. xi. 35. l0 Phi. i. 23.
126
JEROME.
me to live is Christ and to die is gain," ' thanks
God that Epaphras2 (who had been "sick
nigh unto death ") has been given back to him
that he might not have sorrow upon sorrow.3
Words prompted not by the fear that springs
of unbelief but by the passionate regret that
comes of true affection. How much more
deeply must you who were to Nepotian both
uncle and bishop, (that is, a father both in the
flesh and in the spirit), deplore the loss of one
so dear, as though your heart were torn from
you. Set a limit, I pray you, to your sorrow
and remember the saying " in nothing over-
much."4 Bind up for a little while your
wound and listen to the praises of one in whose
virtue you have always delighted. Do not
grieve that you have lost such a paragon : re-
joice rather that he has once been yours. As
on a small tablet men depict the configuration
of the earth, so in this little scroll of mine you
may see his virtues if not fully depicted at
least sketched in outline. I beg that you will
take the will for the performance.
8. The advice of the rhetoricians in such
cases is that you should first search out the re-
mote ancestors of the person to be eulogized
and recount their exploits, and then come
gradually to your hero ; so as to make him
more illustrious by the virtues of his fore-
fathers, and to shew either that he is a worthy
successor of good men, or that he has conferred
lustre upon a lineage in itself obscure. But as
my duty is to sing the praises of the soul, I will
not dwell upon those fleshly advantages which
Nepotian for his part always despised. Nor
will I boast of his family, that is of the good
points belonging not to him but to others ;
for even those holy men Abraham and Isaac
had for sons the sinners Ishmael and Esau.
And on the other hand Jephthah who is
reckoned by the apostle in the roll of the
righteous5 is the son of a harlot.6 It is said
'' the soul that sinneth, it shall die. " 7 The
soul therefore that has not sinned shall live.
Neither the virtues nor the vices of parents are
imputed to their children. God takes account
of us only from the time when we are born
anew in Christ. Paul, the persecutor of the
church, who is in the morning the ravening
wolf of Benjamin,8 in the evening " gave
food,"9 that is yields himself up to the sheep
Ananias. 10 Let us likewise reckon our Nepo-
tian a crying babe and an untutored child
who has been born to us in a moment fresh
from the waters of Jordan.
9. Another would perhaps describe how for
1 Phj- i-.21- a i.e. Epaphroditus. 8 Phi. ii. 27.
* txr,&(u o>v ne quid nimis. A saying of one of the Seven
Wise Men of Greece, 6th cent. b.c. See Grote iv. 127.
. Heb. xi. 32. « Judg. xi. 1. ' Ezek. xviii. 4. » Gen. xlix. 27.
Dedit escam. This is the reading of the LXX. The Vul-
gate, like the A.V.,has "shall divide the spoil." Compare
Letter LXIX 6. r
'» Acts ix. 17. iCf. Letter LXIX. § 6.)
his salvation you left the east and the desert
and how you soothed me your dearest com-
rade by holding out hopes of a return ; and
all this that you might save, if possible, both
your sister, then a widow with one little child,
or, should she reject your counsels, at any
rate your sweet little nephew. It was of him
that 1 once used the prophetic words : " though
your little nephew cling to your neck."1 An-
other, I say, would relate how while Nepotian
was still in the service of the court, beneath
his uniform and his brilliantly white linen,2
his skin was chafed with sackcloth ; how, while
standing before the powers of this world, his
lips were discoloured with fasting; how still in
the uniform of one master he served another ;
and how he wore the sword-belt only that he
might succour widows and wards, the afflicted
and the unhappy. For my part I dislike men
to delay the complete dedication of themselves
to God. When I read of the centurion Cor-
nelius3 that he was a just man I immediately
hear of his baptism.
10. Still we may approve these things as
the swathing bands of an infant faith. He
who has been a loyal soldier under a strange
banner is sure to deserve the laurel when he
comes to serve his own king. When Nepo-
tian laid aside his baldrick and changed his
dress, he bestowed upon the poor all the pay
that he had received. For he had read the
words : " if thou wilt be perfect, sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor and follow me,"4
and again : " ye cannot serve two masters,
God and Mammon."5 He kept nothing for
himself but a common tunic and cloak to
cover him and to keep out the cold. Made in
the fashion of his province his attire was not
remarkable either for elegance or for squalor.
He burned daily to make his way to the
monasteries of Egypt, or to visit the com-
munities of Mesopotamia, or at least to live a
lonely life in the Dalmatian islands,6 separ-
ated from the mainland only by the strait of
Altinum. But he had not the heart to forsake
his episcopal uncle in whom he beheld a pat-
tern of many virtues and from whom he could
take lessons without going abroad. In one
and the same person he both found a monk to
imitate and a bishop to revere. What so often
happens did not happen here. Constant in-
timacy did not produce familiarity, nor did
familiarity breed contempt. He revered him
as a father and every day admired him for
some new virtue. To be brief, he became
a clergyman, and after passing through the
usual stages was ordained a presbyter. Good
» Letter XIV. § 2.
1 For other allusions to a Roman officer's uniform see Letters
LXXIX. § 2 and CXVIII. § t.
3 Actsx. 4 Matt.xix. 21. * Matt. vi. 24,
0 Like Bonosus (Letter III. 4).
LETTER LX.
127
Jesus ! how he sighed and groaned ! how he
fasted and fled the eyes of all ! For the
first and only time he was angry with his
uncle, complaining that the burthen laid upon
him was too heavy for him and that his youth
unfitted him for the priesthood. But the more
he struggled against it, the more he drew to
himself the hearts of all : his refusal did but
prove him worthy of an office which he was
reluctant to assume, and all the more worthy
because he declared himself unworthy. We
too in our day have our Timothy ; we too
have seen that wisdom which is as good as
gray hairs ; ' our Moses has chosen an elder
whom he has known to be an elder indeed.2
Nepotian regarded the clerical state less as an
honour than a burthen. He made it his first
care to silence envy by humility, and his next
to give no cause for scandal that such as as-
sailed his youth might marvel at his conti-
nence. He helped the poor, visited the sick,
stirred men up to hospitality, soothed them
with soft words, rejoiced with those who re-
joiced and wept with those who wept.3 He
was a staff to the blind, food to the hungry,
hope to the dejected, consolation to the be-
reaved. Each single virtue was as conspicuous
in him as if he possessed no other. Among his
fellow-presbyters while ever foremost in work,
he was ever satisfied with the lowest place. Any
good that he did he ascribed to his uncle : but
if the result did not correspond to his expec-
tations, he would say that his uncle knew
nothing of it, that it was his own mistake. In
public he recognized him as a bishop ; at home
he looked upon him as a father. The seri-
ousness of his disposition was mitigated by a
cheerful expression. But while his laughter
was joyous it was never loud. Christ's vir-
gins and widows he honoured as mothers and
exhorted as sisters " with all purity." 4 When
he returned home he used to leave the clergy-
man outside and to give himself over to the
hard rule of a monk. Frequent in supplica-
tion and watchful in prayer he would offer his
tears not to man but to God. His fasts he
regulated — as a driver does the pace of his
horses — according to the weariness or vigour
of his body. When at his uncle's table he
would just taste what was set before him, so as
to avoid superstition and yet to preserve self-
control. In conversing at entertainments his
habit was to propose some topic from scrip-
ture, to listen modestly, to answer diffidently,
to support the right, to refute the wrong, but
both without bitterness ; to instruct his op-
ponent rather than to vanquish him. Such
was the ingenuous modesty which adorned his
1 Wisd. iv. 9.
2 Nu. xi. 16. Presbyterum. This name (afterwards con-
tracted into Priest) is taken from that of the Elders of Israel.
9 Rom, xii. 15. 4 1 Tim. v. a.
youth that he would frankly confess from what
sources his several arguments came ; and in
this way, while disclaiming a reputation for
learning, he came to be held most learned.
This he would say is the opinion of Tertul-
lian, that of Cyprian ; this of Lactantius, that
of Hilary ; to this effect speaks Minucius
Felix, thus Victorinus, after this manner Ar-
nobius. Myself too he would sometimes quote,
for he loved me because of my intimacy with
his uncle. Indeed by constant reading and
long-continued meditation he had made his
breast a library of Christ.
n. How often in letters from beyond the
sea he urged me to write something to him!
How often he reminded me of the man in the
gospel who sought help by night ' and of the
widow who importuned the cruel judge ! 2 And
when I silently ignored his request and made
my petitioner blush by blushing to reply, he
put forward his uncle to enforce his suit, know-
ing that as the boon was for another he would
more readily ask it, and that as I held his
episcopal office in respect he would more
easily obtain it. Accordingly I did what he
wished and in a brief essay 3 dedicated our
mutual friendship to everlasting remembrance.
On receiving this Nepotian boasted that he
was richer than Croesus and wealthier than
Darius. He held it in his hands, devoured it
with his eyes, kept it in his bosom, repeated it
with his lips. And often when he unrolled
it upon his couch, he fell asleep with the
cherished page upon his breast. When a
stranger came or a friend, he rejoiced to let
them know my witness to him. The defi-
ciencies of my little book he made good by
careful punctuation and varied emphasis, so
that when it was read aloud it was always he
not I who seemed to please or to displease.
Whence came such zeal, if not from the love
of God ? Whence came such untiring study
of Christ's law, if not from a yearning
for Him who gave it ? Let others add coin
to coin till their purses are chock-full ; let
others demean themselves to sponge on
married ladies ; let them be richer as monks
than they were as men of the world ; let them
possess wealth in the service of a poor Christ
such as they never had in the service of a rich
devil ; let the church lose breath at the opu-
lence of men who in the world were beggars.
Our Nepotian spurns gold and begs only for
written books. But while he despises himself
in the flesh and walks abroad more splendid
than ever in his poverty, he still seeks out
everything that may adorn the church.
12. In comparison with what has gone before
what I am now about to say may appear trivial,
1 Luke xi. 5, 8.
1 Luke xviii. 1, 5.
' Letter HI.
128
JEROME.
but even in trifles the same spirit makes itself
manifest. For as we admire the Creator not
only as the framer of heaven and earth, of sun
and ocean, of elephants, camels, horses, oxen,
pards, bears, and lions ; but also as the maker
of the most tiny creatures, ants, gnats, flies,
worms, and the like, whose shapes we know
better than their names, and as in all alike we
revere the same creative skill; so the mind that
is given to Christ shews the same earnestness in
things of small as of great importance, know-
ing that it must render an account of every idle
word. ' Nepotian took pains to keep the altar
bright, the church walls free from soot and
the pavement duly swept. He saw that the
doorkeeper was constantly at his post, that the
doorhangings were in their places, the sanctu-
ary clean and the vessels shining. The care-
ful reverence that he shewed to every rite led
him to neglect no duty small or great. When-
ever you looked for him in church you found
him there.
In Quintus Fabius 2 antiquity admired a
nobleman and the author of a history of Rome,
yet his paintings gained him more renown
than his writings. Our own Bezaleel 3 also
and Hiram, the son of a Tyrian woman,4 are
spoken of in scripture as filled with wisdom
and the spirit of God because they framed,
the one the furniture of the tabernacle, the
other that of the temple. For, as it is with
fertile tillage-fields and rich plough-lands
which at times go out into redundant growths
of stalk or ear, so is it with distinguished
talents and a mind filled with virtue. They
are sure to overflow into elegant and varied
accomplishments. Accordingly among the
Greeks we hear of a philosopher b who used
to boast that everything he wore down to
his cloak and ring was made by himself. We
may pass the same eulogy on our friend, for
he adorned both the basilicas of the church
and the halls" of the martyrs with sketches
of flowers, foliage, and vine-tendrils, so that
everything attractive in the church, whether
made so by its position or by its appearance,
bore witness to the labour and zeal of the
presbyter set over it.
13. Go on blessed in thy goodness ! What
kind of ending should we expect after such a
beginning ! Ah ! hapless plight of mortal
men and vanity of all life that is not lived in
Christ ! Why, O my words, do you shrink
back ? Why do you shift and turn ? I fear to
come to the end, as if I could put off his death
or make his life longer. " All flesh is as grass
1 Matt. xii. 36.
3 Jerome here confounds two distinct persons : C. Fabius
Pictor was the painter ; his grandson Q. Fabius the historian.
3 Ex. xxxi. 2, 3.
4 1 K. vii. 14. A mistake of Jerome. It was Hiram's father
who was a Tyrian.
6 Hippias of Elis. See Cic. Or. iii. 32. • Conciliabula.
and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass." ' Where now are that handsome face
and dignified figure with which as with a fair
garment his beautiful soul was clothed ? The
lily began to wither, alas ! when the south
wind blew, and the purple violet slowly faded
into paleness. Yet while he burned with
fever and while the fire of sickness was drying
up the fountains of his veins, gasping and
weary he still tried to comfort his sorrowing
uncle. His countenance shone with gladness,
and while all around him wept he and he only
smiled. He flung aside his cloak, put out his
hand, saw what others failed to see, and
even tried to rise that he might welcome new
comers. You would have thought that he was
starting on a journey instead of dying and that
in place of leaving all his friends behind him
he was merely passing from some to others.2
Tears roll down my cheeks and, however
much I steel my mind, I cannot disguise the
grief that I feel. Who could suppose that at
such an hour he would remember his intimacy
with me, and that while he struggled for life
he would recall the sweetness of study ? Yet
grasping his uncle's hand he said to him :
" Send this tunic that I wore in the service of
Christ to my dear friend, my father in age, but
my brother in office, and transfer the affection
hitherto claimed by your nephew to one who
is as dear to you as he is to me." With these
words he passed away holding his uncle's
hand and with my name upon his lips.
14. I know how unwilling you were to prove
the affection of your people at such a cost,
and that you would have preferred to win your
countrymen's love while retaining your happi-
ness. Such expressions of feeling, pleasant as
they are when all goes well, are doubly wel-
come in time of sorrow. All Altinum, all
Italy mourned Nepotian. The earth received
his body ; his soul was given back to Christ.
You lost a nephew, the church a priest. He
who should have followed you went before
you. To the office which you held, he in the
judgment of all deserved to succeed. And so
one family has had the honour of producing
two bishops, the first to be congratulated be-
cause he has held the office, the second to be
lamented because he has been taken away too
soon to hold it. Plato thinks that a wise man's
whole life ought to be a meditation of death ; :'
and philosophers praise the sentiment and
extol it to the skies. But much more full of
power are the words of the apostle : " I die
daily through your glory." 4 For to have an
ideal is one thing, to realize it another. It is
one thing to live so as to die, another to die
1 1 Pet. i. 24.
2 A similar phrase occurs in Letter CXVIII. § 4.
3 Plato, Pha;do xii. Cic. T. Q. r. 31. * 1 Cor. xv. 31, Vulgate,
LETTER LX.
129
so as to live. The sage and Christian must
both of them die : but the one always dies
out of his glory, the other into it. Therefore
we also should consider beforehand the end
which must one day overtake us and which,
whether we wish it or not, cannot be very far
distant. For though we should live nine hun-
dred years or more, as men did before the
deluge, and though the days of Methuselah '
should be granted us, yet that long space of
time, when once it should have passed away
and come to an end, would be as nothing.
For to the man who has lived ten years and
to him who has lived a thousand, when once
the end of life comes and death's inexorable
doom, all the past whether long or short is
just the same ; except that the older a man
is, the heavier is the load of sin that he has
to take with him.
First hapless mortals lose from out their life
The fairest days : disease and age come next ;
And lastly cruel death doth claim his prey.2
The poet Nsevius too says that
Mortals must many woes perforce endure.
Accordingly antiquity has feigned that Niobe
because of her much weeping was turned to
stone and that other women were metamor-
phosed into beasts. Hesiod also bewails men's
birthdays and rejoices in their deaths, and
Ennius wisely says :
The mob has one advantage o'er its king :
For it may weep while tears for him are shame.
If a king may not weep, neither may a bishop ;
indeed a bishop has still less license than a
king. For the king rules over unwilling sub-
jects, the bishop over willing ones. The king
compels submission by terror ; the bishop ex-
ercises lordship by becoming a servant. The
king guards men's bodies till they die ; the
bishop saves their souls for life eternal. The
eyes of all are turned upon you. Your house
is set on a watchtower ; your life fixes for
others the limits of their self-control. What-
ever you do, all think that they may do the
same. Do not so commit yourself that those
who seek ground for cavil may be thought to
have rightly assailed you, or that those who
are eager to imitate you may be forced to do
wrong. Overcome as much as you can — nay
even more than you can — the sensitiveness
of your mind and check the copious flow of
your tears. Else your deep affection for your
nephew may be construed by unbelievers as
indicating despair of God. You must regret
him not as dead but as absent. You must seem
to be looking for him rather than have lost him.
15. But why do I try to heal a sorrow which
1 Gen. v. 27.
Virg. G. iii. £6-68.
has already, I suppose, been assuaged by time
and reason ? Why do I not rather unfold to
you — they are not far to seek — the miseries of
our rulers and the calamities of our time ? He
who has lost the light of life is not so much to
be pitied as he is to be congratulated who has
escaped from such great evils. Constantius,1 the
patron of the Arian heresy, was hurrying to do
battle with his enemy2 when he died at the vil-
lage of Mopsus and to his great vexation left
the empire to his foe. Julian3, the betrayer of
his own soul, the murderer of a Christian army,
felt in Media the hand of the Christ whom he
had previously denied in Gaul. Desiring to
annex new territories to Rome, he did but lose
annexations previously made. Jovian4 had but
just tasted the sweets of sovereignty when a
coal-fire suffocated him : a good instance of
the transitoriness of human power. Valentin-
ian5 died of a broken blood vessel, the land of
his birth laid waste, and his country un-
avenged. His brother Valens 6 defeated in
Thrace by the Goths, was buried where he died.
Gratian, betrayed by his army and refused
admittance by the cities on his line of march,
became the laughing-stock of his foe ; and
your walls, Lyons, still bear the marks of that
bloody hand.7 Valentinian was yet a youth —
I may say, a mere boy — when, after flight and
exile and the recovery of his power by blood-
shed, he was put to death8 not far from the
city which had witnessed his brother's end.
And not only so but his lifeless body was gib-
beted to do him shame. What shall I say of
Procopius, of Maximus, of Eugenius,9 who
while they held sovereign sway were a terror
to the nations, yet stood one and all as pris-
oners in the presence of their conquerors, and
—cruellest wound of all to the great and
powerful — felt the pang of an ignominious
slavery before they fell by the edge of the
sword.
16. Some one may say: such is the lot of
kings :
The lightning ever smites the mountain-tops.10
I will come therefore to persons of private
position, and in speaking of these I will not go
farther back than the last two years. In fact
I will content myself — omitting all others —
with recounting the respective fates of three
recent consulars. Abundantius is a beggared
exile at Pityus.11 The head of Rufinus has
> Died 361 A.D. s Julian. 3 Died 363 A.D.
* Died 364 A.D. 6 Died 375 A.D.
6 Burned to death in a hut after the battle of Adrianople, 378
A.D.
7 Died 383 A.D. by the hand of Andragathius.
8 Strangled by Arbogastes at Vienne, 392 A.D.
9 Aspirants to the purple who were put to death, the first by
Valens. the second and third by Theodosius.
10 Hor. C. II. x. 11, 12.
11 Banished by Eutropius who had owed his advancement to
him.
130
JEROME.
been carried on a pike to Constantinople, and
his severed hand has begged alms from door
to door to shame his insatiable greed.1 Ti-
masius,2 hurled suddenly from a position of the
highest rank thinks it an escape that he is
allowed to live in obscurity at Assa. I am
describing not the misfortunes of an unhappy
few but the thread upon which human fortunes
as a whole depend. I shudder when I think
of the catastrophes of our time. For twenty
years and more the blood of Romans has been
shed daily between Constantinople and the
Julian Alps. Scythia, Thrace, Macedonia,
Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly, Achaia, Epirus,
Dalmatia, the Pannonias — each and all of
these have been sacked and pillaged and plun-
dered by Goths and Sarmatians, Quades and
Alans, Huns and Vandals and Marchmen. How
many of God's matrons and virgins, virtuous
and noble ladies, have been made the sport of
these brutes ! Bishops have been made cap-
tive, priests and those in minor orders have been
put to death. Churches have been overthrown,
horses have been stalled by the altars of Christ,
the relics of martyrs have been dug up.
Mourning and fear abound on every side
And death appears in countless shapes and forms.9
The Roman world is falling : yet we hold up
our heads instead of bowing them. What
courage, think you, have the Corinthians now,
or the Athenians or the Lacedaemonians or
the Arcadians, or any of the Greeks over whom
the barbarians bear sway ? I have mentioned
only a few cities, but these once the capitals of
no mean states. The East, it is true, seemed
to be safe from all such evils : and if men
were panic-stricken here, it was only because
of bad news from other parts. But lo ! in the
year just gone by the wolves (no longer of
Arabia but of the whole N'orth4) were let loose
upon us from the remotest fastnesses of Cau-
casus and in a short time overran these great
provinces. What a number of monasteries
they captured ! What many rivers they caused
to run red with blood ! They laid siege to
Antioch and invested other cities on the
Halys, the Cydnus, the Orontes, and the Eu-
phrates. They carried off troops of captives.
Arabia, Phenicia, Palestine and Egypt, in their
terror fancied themselves already enslaved.
Had I a hundred tongues, a hundred lips,
A throat of iron and a chest of brass,
I could not tell men's countless sufferings.6
And indeed it is not my purpose to write a
'The prime minister of Theodosius I. Shortly after the ac-
cession of Arcadius Gainas the Goth procured his assassination.
2 One of the generals of Theodosius I., banished to the Oasis
at the instigation of Eutropius.
3 Virg. A. ii. 369.
4 i.e. the Huns have taken the place of the Chaldseans de-
scribed in Hab. i. 8. LXX. 6 Virg. A. vi. 625-7.
history : I only wish to shed a few tears
over your sorrows and mine. For the rest,
to treat such themes as they deserve, Thucy-
dides and Sallust would be as good as dumb.
17. Nepotian is happy who neither sees
these things nor hears them. We are unhappy,
for either we suffer ourselves or we see our
brethren suffer. Yet we desire to live, and
regard those beyond the reach of these evils
as miserable rather than blessed. We have
long felt that God is angry, yet we do not try
to appease Him. It is our sins which make the
barbarians strong, it is our vices which vanquish
Rome's soldiers : and, as if there were here
too little material for carnage, civil wars have
made almost greater havoc among us than the
swords of foreign foes. Miserable must those
Israelites have been compared with whom
Nebuchadnezzar was called God's servant.1
Unhappy too are we who are so displeasing to
God that He uses the fury of the barbarians
to execute His wrath against us. Still when
Hezekiah repented, one hundred and eighty-
five thousand Assyrians were destroyed in one
night by a single angel.2 When Jehosaphat
sang the praises of the Lord, the Lord gave
His worshipper the victory.3 Again when
Moses fought against Amalek, it was not with
the sword but with prayer that he prevailed.4
Therefore, if we wish to be lifted up, we
must first prostrate ourselves. Alas ! for our
shame and folly reaching even to unbelief !
Rome's army, once victor and lord of the
world, now trembles with terror at the sight of
the foe and accepts defeat from men who
cannot walk afoot and fancy themselves dead
if once they are unhorsed.6 We do not under-
stand the prophet's words : " One thousand
shall flee at the rebuke of one."6 We do not
cut away the causes of the disease, as we must
do to remove the disease itself. Else we should
soon see the enemies' arrows give way to our
javelins, their caps to our helmets, their pal-
freys to our chargers.
18. But I have gone beyond the office of a
consoler, and while forbidding you to weep
for one dead man I have myself mourned
the dead of the whole world. Xerxes the
mighty king who rased mountains and filled
up seas, looking from high ground upon the
untold host, the countless army before him,
is said ' to have wept at the thought that in a
hundred years not one of those whom he then
saw would be alive. Oh ! if we could but
get up into a watch-tower so high that from it
we might behold the whole earth spread out
under our feet, then I would shew you the
1 Jer. xxvii. 6. 2 2 K. xix. 35.
3 2 Chr. xx. 5-25. 4 Ex. xvii. 11.
6 Jornandes corroborates the account of the Huns here given
by Jerome.
6 Isa. xxx. 17. 7 Herod, vii, cc. 45, 46.
LETTER LX., LXI.
131
wreck of a world, nation warring against nation
and kingdom in collision with kingdom ; some
men tortured, others put to the sword, others
swallowed up by the waves, some dragged
away into slavery ; here a wedding, there a
funeral ; men born here, men dying there ;
some living in affluence, others begging their
bread ; and not the army of Xerxes, great as
that was, but all the inhabitants of the world,
alive now but destined soon to pass away. Lan-
guage is inadequate to a theme so vast and
all that I can say must fall short of the reality.
19. Let us return then to ourselves and
corning down from the skies let us look for a
few moments upon what more nearly concerns
us. Are you conscious, I would ask, of the
stages of your growth ? Can you fix the time
when you became a babe, a boy, a youth, an
adult, an old man ? Every day we are chang-
ing, every day we are dying, and yet we fancy
ourselves eternal. The very moments that I
spend in dictation, in writing, in reading over
what I write, and in correcting it, are so much
taken from my life. Every dot that my sec-
retary makes is so much gone from my allotted
time. We write letters and reply to those of
others, our missives cross the sea, and, as the
vessel ploughs its furrow through wave after
wave, the moments which we have to live
vanish one by one. Our only gain is that we
are thus knit together in the love of Christ.
" Charity suffereth long and is kind ; charity
envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not
puffed up ; beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth. " ' It lives always in the
heart, and thus our Nepotian though absent
is still present, and widely sundered though we
are has a hand to offer to each. Yes, in him
we have a hostage for mutual charity. Let us
then be joined together in spirit, let us bind
ourselves each to each in affection and let us
who have lost a son shew the same fortitude
with which the blessed pope Chromatius2 bore
the loss of a brother. Let every page that we
write echo his name, let all our letters ring
with it. If we can no longer clasp him to our
hearts, let us hold him fast in memory ; and if
we can no longer speak with him, let us never
cease to speak of him.
LETTER LXI.
TO VIGILANTIUS.
Vigilantius on his return to the West after his visit
to Jerusalem (whither he had gone as the bearer of
letters from Paulinus of Nola — see Letter LVIII. § 11.)
had openly accused Jerome of a leaning to the heresy of
Origen. Jerome now writes to him in the most severe
1 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 7, 8.
3 Bishop of Aquileia. His brother Eusebius was also a bishop.
tone repudiating the charge of Origenism and fasten-
ing upon his opponent those of ignorance and blas-
phemy. He singles out for especial reprobation Vigil-
antius's explanation of ' the stone cut out without hands '
in Daniel and urges him to repent of his sins in which
case he will have as much chance of forgiveness as the
devil has according to Origen ! The letter is often
referred to as showing Jerome's way of dealing with
Origen's works. Jerome subsequently wrote a refuta-
tion of Vigilantius's work, of all his controversial writ-
ings the most violent and the least reasonable. See the
translation of it in this volume. See also Letter CIX.
The date of this letter is 396 A.D.
1. Since you have refused to believe your
own ears, I might justly decline to satisfy you
by a letter ; for, if you have failed to credit
the living voice, it is not likely that you will
give way to a written paper. But, since Christ
has shewn us in Himself a pattern of perfect
humility, bestowing a kiss upon His betrayer
and receiving the robber's repentance upon
the cross, I tell you now when absent as I
have told you already when present, that I
read and have read Origen only as I read
Apollinaris, or other writers whose books in
some things the Church does not receive. I
by no means say that everything contained in
such books is to be condemned, but I admit
that there are things in them deserving of
censure. Still, as it is my task and study by
reading many authors to cull different flowers
from as large a number as possible, not so
much making it an object to prove all things
as to choose what are good, I take up many
writers that from the many I may learn many
things ; according to that which is written
" reading all things, holding fast those that
are good."1 Hence I am much surprised
that you have tried to fasten upon me the
doctrines of Origen, of whose mistaken teach-
ing on many points you are up to the present
altogether unaware. Am I a heretic ? Why
pray then do heretics dislike me so ? And
are you orthodox, you who either against your
convictions and the words of your own mouth
signed 2 unwillingly and are consequently a
prevaricator, or else signed deliberately and
are consequently a heretic ? You have taken
no account of Egypt ; you have relinquished
all those provinces where numbers plead freely
and openly for your sect ; and you have
singled out me for assault, me who not only
censure but publicly condemn all doctrines
that are contrary to the church.
2. Origen is a heretic, true ; but what does
that take from me who do not deny that on very
many points he is heretical ? He has erred
concerning the resurrection of the body, he has
erred concerning the condition of souls, he
1 1 Th. v 2*. " Prove all things," Vulg. and A. V.
2 Probabiy Aterbius (for whom see Jerome Apol. iii. 33, and
note on Letter LXXX VI.) had brought with him some test-form-
ula of orthodoxy which he called upon all anti-Ongenists to
sign.
132
JEROME.
has erred by supposing it possible that the
devil may repent, and — an error more important
than these — he has declared in his commentary
upon Isaiah that the Seraphim mentioned by
the prophet ' are the divine Son and the Holy
Ghost. If I did not allow that he has erred
or if I did not daily anathematize his errors,
I should be partaker of his fault. For while
we receive what is good in his writings we
must on no account bind ourselves to accept
also what is evil. Still in many passages he has
interpreted the scriptures well, has explained
obscure places in the prophets, and has brought
to light very great mysteries,2 both in the old
and in the new testament. If then I have
taken over what is good in him and have
either cut away or altered or ignored what is
evil, am I to be regarded as guilty on the score
that through my agency those who read Latin
receive the good in his writings without know-
ing anything of the bad ? If this be a crime
the confessor Hilary must be convicted ; for he
has rendered from Greek into Latin Origen's
Explanation of the Psalms and his Homilies
on Job. Eusebius of Vercellae, who witnessed
a like confession, must also be held in fault ;
for he has translated into our tongue the Com-
mentaries upon all the Psalms of his heretical
namesake, omitting however the unsound por-
tions and rendering only those parts which
are profitable. I say nothing of Victorinus
of Petavium and others who have merely fol-
lowed and expanded Origen in their explana-
tion of the scriptures. Were I to do so, I
might seem less anxious to defend myself
than to find for myself companions in guilt. I
will come to your own case : Why do you keep
copies of his treatises on Job ? In these, while
arguing against the devil and concerning the
stars and heavens, he has said certain things
which the Church does not receive. Is it for
you alone, with that very wise head of yours,3
to pass sentence upon all writers Greek and
Latin, with a wave of your censor's wand to
eject some from our libraries and to admit
others, and as the whim takes you to pro-
nounce me either a Catholic or a heretic ? And
am I to be forbidden to reject things which
are wrong and to condemn what I have often
condemned already ? Read what I have writ-
ten upon the epistle to the Ephesians, read my
other works, particularly my commentary upon
Ecclesiastes, and you will clearly see that from
my youth up I have never been terrified by
any man's influence into acquiescence in heret-
ical pravity.
3. It is no small gain to know your own
ignorance. It is a man's wisdom to know his
own measure, that he may not be led away at
• Isa. vi. 2. See Letter X VIII.
0 This expression is given in Greek.
8 Sacramenta.
the instigation of the devil to make the whole
world a witness of his incapacity. You are
bent, I suppose, on magnifying yourself and
boast in your own country that I found myself
unable to answer your eloquence and that I
dreaded in you the sharp satire of a Chrysip-
pus.1 Christian modesty holds me back and I
do not wish to lay open the retirement of my
poor cell with biting words. Otherwise I
should soon shew up all your bravery and
your parade of triumph.2 But these I leave to
others either to talk of or to laugh at ; while
for my own part as a Christian speaking to a
Christian I beseech you my brother not to
pretend to know more than you do, lest your
pen may proclaim your innocence and sim-
plicity, or at any rate those qualities of which
I say nothing but which, though you do not
see them in yourself others see in you. For
then you will give everyone reason to laugh at
your folly. From your earliest childhood you
have been taught other lessons and have been
used to a different kind of schooling. One and
the same person can hardly be a tester both
of gold coins on the counter and also of the
scriptures, or be a connoisseur of wines and an
adept in expounding prophets or apostles.3
As for me, you tear me limb from limb, our
reverend brother Oceanus you charge with
heresy, you dislike the judgment of the pres-
byters Vincent and Paulinian, and our brother
Eusebius also displeases you. You alone are
to be our Cato, the most eloquent of the
Roman race, and you wish us to accept what
you say as the words of prudence herself.
Pray call to mind the day when I preached
on the resurrection and on the reality of the
risen body, and when you jumped up be-
side me and clapped your hands and stamped
your feet and applauded my orthodoxy. Now,
however, that you have taken to sea travelling
the stench of the bilge water has affected your
head, and you have called me to mind only as
a heretic. What can I do for you ? I be-
lieved the letters of the reverend presbyter
Paulinus, and it did not occur to me that his
judgment concerning you could be wrong.
And although, the moment that you handed
me the letter, I noticed a certain incoherency
in your language, yet I fancied this due to want
of culture and knowledge in you and not to an
unsettled brain. I do not censure the rever-
end writer who preferred, no doubt, in writing
to me to keep back what he knew rather than
to accuse in his missive one who was both
under his patronage and entrusted with his let-
ter ; but I find fault with myself that I have
1 A disciple of Cleanthes and Zeno, and after them the leading
teacher of the Stoic school at Athens. He was born in 280 A.D.
a This expression is given in Greek.
3 The father of Vigilantius is said by Jerome to have been an
inn-keeper.
LETTERS LXL, LXII.
133
rested in another's judgment rather than my
own, and that, while my eyes saw one thing, I
believed on the evidence of a scrap of paper
something else than what I saw.
4. Wherefore cease to worry me and to over-
whelm me with your scrolls. Spare at least
your money with which you hire secretaries
and copyists, employing the same persons to
write for you and to applaud you. Possibly
their praise is due to the fact that they make
a profit out of writing for you. If you wish
to exercise your mind, hand yourself over to
the teachers of grammar and rhetoric, learn
logic, have yourself instructed in the schools
of the philosophers ; and when you have learned
all these things you will perhaps begin to hold
your tongue. And yet I am acting foolishly in
seeking teachers for one who is competent to
teach everyone, and in trying to limit the
utterance of one who does not know how to
speak yet cannot remain silent. The old Greek
proverb is quite true " A lyre is of no use to an
ass." ' For my part I imagine that even your
name was given you out of contrariety.2 For
your whole mind slumbers and you actually
snore, so piofound is the sleep — or rather the
lethargy — in which you are plunged. In fact
amongst the other blasphemies which with
sacrilegious lips you have uttered you have
dared to say that the mountain in Daniel 3 out
of which the stone was cut without hands is
the devil, and that the stone is Christ, who
having taken a body from Adam (whose sins
had before connected him with the devil) is
born of a virgin to separate mankind from
the mountain, that is, from the devil. Your
tongue deserves to be cut out and torn into
fragments. Can any true Christian explain
this image of the devil instead of referring it
to God the Father Almighty, or defile the ears
of the whole world with so frightful an enor-
mity ? If your explanation has ever been
accepted by any — I will not say Catholic but
— heretic or heathen, let your words be re-
garded as pious. If on the other hand the
Church of Christ has never yet heard of such
an impiety, and if yours has been the first
mouth through which he who once said " I
will be like the Most High " 4 has declared
that he is the mountain spoken of by Daniel,
then repent, put on sackcloth and ashes, and
with fast-flowing tears wash away your awful
guilt ; if so be that this impiety may be for-
given you, and, supposing Origen's heresy to
be true, that you may obtain pardon when the
devil himself shall obtain it, the devil who has
never been convicted of greater blasphemy
1 oVa) Avpa
2 Jerome subsequently (Letter CIX.) nicknamed his opponent
Dormitantius ('the Sleepy One'), his own name Vigiiantius
meaning ' the Wakeful.'
3 Dan. ii. 34, 45. 4 Isa. xiv. 14.
than that which he has uttered through you.
Your insult offered to myself I bear with
patience : your impiety towards God I cannot
bear. Accordingly I may seem to have been
somewhat more acrid in this latter part of my
letter than I declared I would be at the out-
set. Yet having once before repented and
asked pardon of me, it is extremely foolish in
you again to commit a sin for which you must
anew do penance. May Christ give you grace
to hear and to hold your peace, to understand
and so to speak.
LETTER LXII.
TO TRANQUILLINUS.
Tranquillinus, one of Jerome's Roman friends, had
written (1) to tell him of the stand that Oceanus was
making against the Origenists at Rome, and (2) to ask
whether any parts of Origen's works might be studied
with safety and profit. Jerome welcomes the tidings
about Oceanus and answers the question of Tranquilli-
nus in the affirmative. He classes Origen with Tertul-
lian, Apollinaris and others whose works continued to
be read in spite of their heresies. Written in 396 or
397 A. D.
1. Though I formerly doubted the fact, I
have now proved that the links which bind
spirit to spirit are stronger than any physical
bond. For you, my reverend friend, cling to
me with all your soul, and I am united to you
by the love of Christ. I speak simply and sin-
cerely to your spotless heart : the very paper
on which you write, the very letters which you
have formed — voiceless though they are — in-
spire in me a sense of your affection.
2. You tell me that many have been de-
ceived by the mistaken teaching of Origen,
and that that saintly man, my son Oceanus, is
doing battle with their madness. I grieve to
think that simple folk have been thrown off
their balance, but I am rejoiced to know that
one so learned as Oceanus is doing his best to
set them right again. Moreover you ask me,
insignificant though I am, for an opinion as to
the advisability of reading Origen's works.
Are we, you say, to reject him altogether with
our brother Faustinus, or are we, as others
tell us, to read him in part ? My opinion is
that we should sometimes read him for his
learning just as we read Tertullian, Novatus,
Arnobius, Apollinarius and some other church
writers both Greek and Latin, and that we
should select what is good and avoid what is
bad in their writings according to the words
of the Apostle, " Prove all things : hold fast
that which is good." ' Those, however, who
are led by some perversity in their dispositions
to conceive for him too much fondness or too
much aversion seem to me to lie under the
> 1 Th. v. 21.
VOL. VI.
K
134
JEROME.
curse of the Prophet : — " Woe unto them that
call evil good and good evil ; that put bitter
for sweet and sweet for bitter ! " ' For while
the ability of his teaching must not lead us to
embrace his wrong opinions, the wrongness of
his opinions should not cause us altogether to
reject the useful commentaries which he has
published on the holy scriptures. But if his
admirers and his detractors are bent on hav-
ing a tug of war one against the other, and if,
seeking no mean and observing no modera-
tion, they must either approve or disapprove
his works indiscriminately, I would choose
rather to be a pious boor than a learned blas-
phemer. Our reverend brother, Tatian the
deacon, heartily salutes you.
LETTER LXIII.
TO THEOPHILUS.
When the dispute arose between Jerome and Epi-
phanius on the one side and Rufinus and John of
Jerusalem on the other (see Letter LI.), Theophilus
bishop of Alexandria, being appealed to by the latter
sent the presbyter Isidore to report to him on the
matter. Isidore reported against Jerome and conse-
quently Theophilus refused to answer several of his
letters. Finally he wrote counselling him to obey
the canons of the church. Jerome replies that to do
this has always been his first object. He then remon-
strates with Theophilus on his too great leniency
towards the Origenists and declares it to be productive
of the worst results. The date of the letter is probably
397 A.D.
Jerome to the most blessed pope 2 The-
ophilus.
i. Your holiness will remember that at
the time when you kept silence towards me,
I never ceased to do my duty by writing to
you, not taking so much into account what
you in the exercise of your discretion were
then doing as what it became me to do. And
now that I have received a letter from your
grace, I see that my reading of the gospel
has not been without fruit. For if the fre-
quent prayers of a woman changed the deter-
mination of an unyielding judge,3 how much
more must my constant appeals have softened
a fatherly heart like yours ?
2. I thank you for your reminder concern-
ing the canons of the Church. Truly, " whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth."4 Still I
would assure you that nothing is more my
aim than to maintain the rights of Christ, to
keep to the lines laid down by the fathers,
and always to remember the faith of Rome ;
that faith which is praised by the lips of an
1 IS. V. 20.
8 Luke xviii.
a See note on Letter LVIII.
* Heb. xii. 6.
apostle,1 and of which the Alexandrian church
boasts to be a sharer.
3. Many religious persons are displeased
that you are so long-suffering in regard to
that shocking heresy,2 and that you suppose
yourself able by such lenity to amend those
who are attacking the Church's vitals. They
believe that, while you are waiting for the
penitence of a few, your action is fostering the
boldness of abandoned men and making their
party stronger. Farewell in Christ.
LETTER LXIV.
TO FABIOLA.
Fabiola's visit to Bethlehem had been shortened by
the threatened invasion of the Huns which compelled
Jerome and his friends to take refuge for a time on the
seaboard of Palestine. Fabiola here took leave of her
companions and set sail for Italy, but not until Jerome
had completed this letter for her use (§ 22). It contains
a mystical account of the vestments of the High Priest
worked out with Jerome's usual ingenuity and learning.
Similar treatises are ascribed to Tertullian and to Hosius
bishop of Cordova, but these have long since perished.
Its date is 396 or 397 A.D.
LETTER LX V.
TO PRINCIPIA.
A commentary on Ps. XLV. addressed to Marcel-
la's friend and companion Principia (see Letter
CXXVIL). Jerome prefaces what he has to say by a
defence of his practice of writing for women, a prac-
tice which had exposed him to many foolish sneers.
He deals with the same subject in his dedication of
the Commentary on Zephaniah. The date of the letter
is 397 A.D.
LETTER LXVI.
TO PAMMACHIUS.
Pammachius a Roman senator, had lost his wife
Paulina one of Paula's daughters, while she was still
in the flower of her youth. It was not till two years
had elapsed that Jerome ventured to write to him ; and
when he did so he dwelt but little on the life and vir-
tues of Paulina. Probably there was but little to tell.
The greater part of the letter is taken up with commen-
dation of Pammachius himself who, in spite of his high
rank and position, had become a monk and was now liv-
ing a life of severe self-denial. Jerome speaks approv-
ingly of the Hospice for Strangers which, in conjunc-
tion with Fabiola, Pammachius had set up at Portus, and
describes his own somewhat similar institutions at Beth-
lehem. He also mentions Paula, Eustochium, and the
dead Bloesilla, all in terms of the highest praise. The
date of the letter is 397 A.D.
1. Supposing a wound to be healed and a
scar to have been formed upon the skin, any
course of treatment designed to remove the
Rom. i. 8.
6 That of the Origenists.
LETTERS LXII.-LXVI.
135
mark must in its effort to improve the appear-
ance renew the smart of the original wound.
After two years of inopportune silence my
condolence now comes rather late ; yet even
so I am afraid that my present speech may be
still more inopportune. I fear lest in touching
the sore spot in your heart I may by my words
inflame afresh a wound which time and reflec-
tion have availed to cure. For who can have
ears so dull or hearts so flinty as to hear the
name of your Paulina without weeping ? Even
though reared on the milk of Hyrcanian
tigresses ' they must still shed tears. Who can
with dry eyes see thus untimely cut down and
withered an opening rose, an undeveloped
bud,2 which has not yet formed itself into a
cup nor spread forth the proud display of its
crimson petals ? In her a most priceless pearl
is broken. In her a vivid emerald is shattered.
Sickness alone shews us the blessedness of
health. We realize better what we have had
when we cease to have it.
2. The good ground of which we read in the
parable brought forth fruit, some an hundred-
fold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.3 In
this threefold yield I recognize an emblem of
the three different rewards of Christ which have
fallen to three women 4 closely united in blood
and moral excellence. Eustochium culls the
flowers of virginity. Paula sweeps the toil-
some threshing floor of widowhood. Paulina
keeps the bed undefiled of marriage. A
mother with such daughters wins for herself
on earth all that Christ has promised to give
in heaven. Then to complete the team — if I
may so call it — of four saints turned out by a
single family, and to match the women's virtues
by those of a man, the three have a fit com-
panion in Pammachius who is a cherub such as
Ezekiel describes,6 brother-in-law to the first,
son-in-law to the second, husband to the third.
Husband did I say ? Nay, rather a most de-
voted brother ; for the language of marriage is
inadequate to describe the holy bonds of the
Spirit. Of this team Jesus holds the reins,
and it is of steeds like these that Habakkuk
sings : " ride upon thy horses and let thy rid-
ing be salvation." 6 With like resolve if with
unlike speed they strain after the victor's palm.
Their colours are different ; their object is the
same. They are harnessed in one yoke, they
obey one driver, not waiting for the lash but
answering the call of his voice with fresh ef-
forts.
3. Let me use for a moment the language
of philosophy. According to the Stoics there
are four virtues so closely related and mutual-
Virgil, jEn. iv. 367.
Quoted from a poet in the Latin Anthology.
Matt. xiii. 8.
Paula and her two daughters, Paulina and Eustochium.
Ezek. x. 8-22. • Hab. iii. 8, LXX,
ly coherent that he who lacks one lacks all.
They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and tem-
perance.1 While all of you possess the four,
yet each is remarkable for one. You have
prudence, your mother has justice, your virgin
sister has fortitude, your wedded wife has
temperance. I speak of you as wise, for who
can be wiser than one who, despising the folly
of the world, has followed Christ " the power
of God and the wisdom of God " ?2 Or what
better instance can there be of justice than
your mother, who having divided her substance
among her offspring has taught them by her
own contempt of riches the true object on
which to fix their affections ? Who has set a
better example of courage than Eustochium,
who by resolving to be a virgin has breached
the gates of the nobility and broken down the
pride of a consular house ? The first of Ro-
man ladies, she has brought under the yoke
the first of Roman families. Has there ever
been temperance greater than that of Paulina,
who, reading the words of the apostle : " mar-
riage is honourable in all and the bed unde-
filed," 3 and not presuming to aspire to the
happiness of her virgin sister or the continence
of her widowed mother, has preferred to keep
to the safe track of a lower path rather than
treading on air to lose herself in the clouds ?
When once she had entered upon the married
state, her one thought day and night was that,
as soon as her union should be blessed with
offspring, she would live thenceforth in the
second degree of chastity,4 and
Though woman, foremost in the high emprise,6
would induce her husband to follow a like
course. She would not forsake him but looked
for the day when he would become a compan-
ion in salvation. Finding by several miscar-
riages that her womb was not barren, she could
not give up all hope of having children and had
to allow her own reluctance to give way to the
eagerness of her mother-in-law and the cha-
grin of her husband. Thus she suffered much
as Rachel suffered,6 although instead of bring-
ing forth like her a son of pangs and of the
right hand,7 the heir she had longed for was
no other than her husband. I have learned on
good authority that her wish in submitting her-
self to her husband was not to take advantage
of God's primitive command " Be faithful and
multiply and replenish the earth " 8 but that
she only desired children that she might bring
forth virgins to Christ.
4. We read that the wife of Phinehas the
priest, on hearing that the ark of the Lord
1 Cf. Wisdom, viii. 7. 2 1 Cor. i. 24.
3 Heb. xiii. 4, 9. * *.*•! continence in marriage.
6 Virg. A. i. 494. 6 Gen. xxxv. 16.
7 The respective meanings of Benoni and Benjamin.
8 Gen. i. 28,
K 2
136
JEROME.
had been taken, was seized suddenly with the
pains of travail and that she brought forth
a son Ichabod and died a mother in the
hands of the women who nursed her.1 Ra-
chel's son is called Benjamin, that is ' son of
excellence 'or 'of the right hand ' ; but the
son of the other, afterwards to be a distin-
guished priest of God, derives his name from
the ark.2 The same thing has come to pass
in our own day, for since Paulina fell asleep
the Church has posthumously borne the monk
Pammachius, a patrician by his parentage and
marriage, rich in alms, and lofty in lowliness.
The apostle writes to the Corinthians, " Ye
see your calling, brethren, how that not many
wise men, not many noble are called."3 The
conditions of the nascent church required this
to be so that the grain of mustard seed might
grow up little by little into a tree,4 and that
the leaven of the gospel might gradually raise
more and more the whole lump of the church.5
In our day Rome possesses what the world in
days gone by knew not of. Then few of the
wise or mighty or noble were Christians ; now
many wise powerful and noble are not Chris-
tians only but even monks. And among them
all my Pammachius is the wisest, the mighti-
est, and the noblest ; great among the great,
a leader among leaders, he is the commander
in chief of all monks. He and others like him
are the offspring which Paulina desired to
have in her life time and which she has
given us in her death. " Sing, O barren, thou
that didst not bear ; break forth into singing
and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with
child " ; ° for in a moment thou hast brought
forth as many sons as there are poor men in
Rome.
5. The glowing gems which in old days
adorned the neck and face of Paulina now
purchase food for the needy. Her silk dresses
and gold brocades are exchanged for soft
woollen garments intended to keep out the
cold and not to expose the body to vain
admiration. All that formerly ministered to
luxury is now at the service of virtue. That
blind man holding out his hand, and often
crying aloud when there is none to hear, is the
heir of Paulina, is co-heir with Pammachius.
That poor cripple who can scarcely drag him-
self along, owes his support to the help of a
tender girl. Those doors which of old poured
forth crowds of visitors, are now beset only by
the wretched. One suffers from a dropsy, big
with death ; another mute and without the
means of begging, begs the more appealingly
because he cannot beg ; another maimed
1 1 Sam. iv. 19-22.
a Ichabod means ' there is no glory ' ; glory being (apparently)
a synonym for the ark.
6SiiC.°r-'-"26- 4 Matt. xiii. 31.
6 Matt. juii. 33. 0 Isa. Uv> x> 3
from his childhood implores an alms which he
may not himself enjoy. Still another has his
limbs rotted with jaundice and lives on after
his body has become a corpse. To use the
language of Virgil :
Had I a hundred tongues, a hundred lips,
I could not tell men's countless sufferings.1
Such is the bodyguard which accompanies
Pammachius wherever he walks ; in the per-
sons of such he ministers to Christ Himself ;
and their squalor serves to whiten his soul.
Thus he speeds on his way to heaven, benefi-
cent as a giver of games to the poor, and
kind as a provider of shows for the needy.
Other husbands scatter on the graves of their
wives violets, roses, lilies, and purple flowers ;
and assuage the grief of their hearts by ful-
filling this tender duty. Our dear Pammachius
also waters the holy ashes and the revered
bones of Paulina, but it is with the balm of
almsgiving. These are the confections and
the perfumes with which he cherishes the dead
embers of his wife knowing that it is written :
" Water will quench a flaming fire ; and alms
maketh an atonement for sins."2 What great
power compassion has and what high rewards
it is destined to win, the blessed Cyprian sets
forth in an extensive work.3 It is proved also
by the counsel of Daniel who desired the most
impious of kings — had he been willing to hear
him — to be saved by shewing mercy to the
poor.4 Paulina's mother may well be glad of
Paulina's heir. She cannot regret that her
daughter's wealth has passed into new hands
when she sees it still spent upon the objects
she had at heart. Nay, rather she must con-
gratulate herself that without any exertion of
her own her wishes are being carried out.
The sum available for distribution is the same
as before : only the distributor is changed.
6. Who can credit the fact that one, who is
the glory of the Furian stock and whose
grandfathers and great grandfathers have been
consuls, moves amid the senators in their
purple clothed in sombre garb, and that, so far
from blushing when he meets the eyes of his
companions, he actually derides those who de-
ride him ! " There is a shame that leadeth
to death and there is a shame that leadeth to
life." 6 It is a monk's first virtue to despise
the judgments of men and always to remember
the apostle's words :— " If I yet pleased men,
I should not be the servant of Christ." 6 In
the same sense the Lord says to the prophets
that He has made their face a brazen city and
* Virg. A. vi. 625, 627. a Ecclus. iii. 30.
3 Viz. the treatise entitled Of 'Work and Alms.
4 Dan. iv. 27.
6 Ecclus. iv. 25. Est confusio adducens peccatum : et est
confusio adducens gloriam et gratiam, Vulg. Jerome probably
quotes from memory. AV. follows the Greek and the Vulg.
6 Gal. i. 10.
LETTER LXVI.
137
a stone of adamant and an iron pillar,1 to the
end that they shall not be afraid of the insults
of the people but shall by the. sternness of
their looks discompose the effrontery of those
who sneered at them. A finely strung mind
is more readily overcome by contumely than
by terror. And men whom no tortures can
overawe are sometimes prevailed over by the
fear of shame. Surely it is no small thing for
a man of birth, eloquence, and wealth to avoid
the company of the powerful in the streets, to
mingle with the crowd, to cleave to the poor,
to associate on equal terms with the untaught,
to cease to be a leader and to become one of
the people. The more he humbles himself,
the more he is exalted.2
7. A pearl will shine in the midst of squalor
and a gem of the first water will sparkle in the
mire. This is what the Lord promised when
He said : " Them that honour me I will
honour." 3 Others may understand this of the
future when sorrow shall be turned into joy
and when, although the world shall pass away,
the saints shall receive a crown which shall
never pass. But I for my part see that the
promises made to the saints are fulfilled even
in this present life. Before he began to serve
Christ with his whole heart, Pammachius was
a well known person in the senate. Still there
were many other senators who wore the
badges of proconsular rank. The whole
world is filled with similar decorations. He
was in the first rank it is true, but there were
others in it besides him. Whilst he took pre-
cedence of some, others took precedence of
him. The most distinguished privilege loses
its prestige when lavished on a crowd, and
dignities themselves become less dignified in
the eyes of good men when held by persons
who have no dignity. Thus Tully finely says
of Caesar, when he wished to advance some of
his adherents, " he did not so much honour
them as dishonour the honourable positions in
which he placed them." 4 To-day all the
churches of Christ are talking of Pammachius.
The whole world admires as a poor man one
whom heretofore it ignored as rich. Can any-
thing be more splendid than the consulate ?
Yet the honour lasts only for a year and when
another has succeeded to the post its former
occupant gives way. Each man's laurels are
lost in the crowd and sometimes triumphs
themselves are marred by the shortcomings of
those who celebrate them. An office which
was once handed down from patrician to patri-
cian, which only men of noble birth could
hold, of which the consul Marius — victor
1 Cf. Jer. i. 18. Ezek. iii. 8, 9.
2 Cf. Luke xiv. 11. 3 1 S. ii. 30.
4 Cf . the remark of .(Eneas Silvius that " men should be given
to places not places to men."
though he was over Numidia and the Teutons
and the Cimbri — was held unworthy on ac-
count of the obscurity of his family, and which
Scipio won before his time as the reward of
valour, — this great office is now obtained by
merely belonging to the army ; and the shin-
ing robe of victory ' now envelops men who
a little while ago were country boors. Thus
we have received more than we have given.
The things we have renounced are small ; the
things we possess are great. All that Christ
promises is duly performed and for what we
have given up we have received an hundred-
fold.2 This was the ground in which Isaac
sowed his seed,3 Isaac who in his readiness to
die4 bore the cross of the Gospel before the
Gospel came.
8. " If thou wilt be perfect," the Lord says,
" go and sell that thou hast and give to the
poor .... and come and follow me." 6
If thou wilt be perfect. Great enterprises are al-
ways left to the free choice of those who hear of
them. Thus the apostle refrains from making
virginity a positive duty, because the Lord in
speaking of eunuchs who had made themselves
such for the kingdom of heaven's sake finally
said : " He that is able to receive it, let him
receive it." 6 For, to quote the apostle, " it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that run-
neth, but of God that sheweth mercy." 7 If
thou wilt be perfect. There is no compulsion
laid upon you : if you are to win the prize it
must be by the exercise of your own free will.
If therefore you will to be perfect and desire
to be as the prophets, as the apostles, as
Christ Himself, sell not a part of your sub-
stance (lest the fear of want become an
occasion of unfaithfulness, and so you perish
with Ananias and Sapphira 8) but all that you
have. And when you have sold all, give the
proceeds not to the wealthy or to the high-
minded but to the poor. Give each man
enough for his immediate need but do not
give money to swell what a man has already.
" Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox
that treadeth out the corn," 9 and " the labourer
is worthy of his reward." 10 Again " they
which wait at the altar are partakers with the
altar."11 Remember also these words : "hav-
ing, food and raiment let us be therewith con-
tent." 12 Where you see smoking dishes, steam-
ing pheasants, massive silver plate, spirited
nags, long-haired boy-slaves, expensive cloth-
ing, and embroidered hangings, give nothing
there. For he to whom you would give is
richer than you the giver. It is moreover a
kind of sacrilege to give what belongs to the
poor to those who are not poor. Yet to be a
1 Palma, i.e. tunica palmata. 3 Cf. Matt. xix. 29.
3 Gen. xxvi. 12. * Gen. xxii. * Matt. xix. 21.
6 Matt. xix. 12. 7 Rom. ix. 16. 8 Acts v. • 1 Cor. ix. 9.
i° 1 Tim. v. 18. ,l 1 Cor. ix. 13. >» 1 Tim. vi. 8.
138
JEROME.
perfect and complete Christian it is not enough
to despise wealth or to squander and fling away
one's money, a thing which can be lost and
found in a single moment. Crates the Theban1
did this, so did Antisthenes and several others,
whose lives shew them to have had many
faults. The disciple of Christ must do more
for the attainment of spiritual glory than the
philosopher of the world, than the venal slave
of flying rumours and of the people's breath.
It is not enough for you to despise wealth
unless you follow Christ as well. And only
he follows Christ who forsakes his sins and
walks hand in hand with virtue. We know
that Christ is wisdom. He is the treasure
which in the scriptures a man finds in his
field.2 He is the peerless gem which is bought
by selling many pearls.3 But if you love a
captive woman, that is, worldly wisdom, and
if no beauty but hers attracts you, make her
bald and cut off her alluring hair, that is to
say, the graces of style, and pare away her
dead nails." Wash her with the nitre of which
the prophet speaks,6 and then take your ease
with her and say " Her left hand is under my
head, and her right hand doth embrace me." c
Then shall the captive bring to you many
children; from a Moabitess 7 she shall become
an Israelitish woman. Christ is that sanctifica-
tion without which no man shall see the face of
God. Christ is our redemption, for He is at
once our Redeemer and our Ransom.8 Christ
is all, that he who has left all for Christ may
find One in place of all, and may be able to
proclaim freely. " The Lord is my portion." 9
9, I see clearly that you have a warm
affection for divine learning and that far from
trying — like some rash persons — to teach that
of which you are yourself ignorant you make
it your first object to learn what you are going
to teach. Your letters in their simplicity are
redolent of the prophets and savour strongly
of the apostles. You do not affect a stilted
eloquence, nor boylike balance shallow sen-
tences in clauses neatly-turned. The quickly
frothing foam disappears with equal quick-
ness ; and a tumour though it enlarges the
size of the body is injurious to health. It
is moreover a shrewd maxim, this of Cato,
" Fast enough if well enough." Long ago,
when we were young, we laughed over this
dictum when we read it in the Exordium of
the perfect orator. 10 You remember, I dare
say, how a speaker in our Athenaeum fell into
the common mistake, and how the whole 100m
resounded with the cry taken up by the stu-
« Cf. Letter LVIII. § 2.
* Matt. xiii. 4=;.
2 Matt. xiii. 44.
4 Cf. Dt. xxi. 11, 12.
6 Jer. ii. 22. « Cant. ii. 6. AV."his' for 'her.'
7 Jerome is thinking of Ruth. 8 1 Cor. i. 30 : Heb. xii. 14.
• Ps. lxxiii. 26. i" Quintilian.
11 What was the mistake ? Did the orator say, " Well enough
U fast enough " ? The text seems obscure.
dents " Fast enough if well enough. " Accord-
ing to Fabius ] crafts would be sure to pros-
per if none but craftsmen were allowed to
criticise them. No man can adequately esti-
mate a poet unless he is competent himself
to write verse. No man can comprehend
philosophers, unless he is acquainted with the
various theories that they have held. Material
and visible products are best appraised by
those who make them. To what a cruel lot
we men of letters are exposed you may gather
from the fact, that we are forced to rely on
the judgment of the public ; and many a man is
in company a formidable opponent who would
certainly be despised could he be seen alone.
I have touched on this in passing to make you
content, if possible, with the ear of the learned.
Disregard the remarks which uneducated per-
sons make concerning your ability ; but day
by day imbibe the marrow of the prophets, that
you may know the mystery of Christ and share
this mystery with the patriarchs.
10. Whether you read or write, whether
you wake or sleep, let the herdsman's horn of
Amos'2 always ring in your ears. Let the
sound of the clarion arouse your soul, let the
divine love carry you out of yourself ; and
then seek upon your bed him whom your soul
loveth,3 and boldly say : " I sleep, but my
heart waketh." 4 And when you have found
him and taken hold of him, let him not go.
And if you fall asleep for a moment and He
escapes from your hands, do not forthwith
despair. Go out into the streets and charge
the daughters of Jerusalem : then shall you
find him lying down in the noontide weary
and drunk with passion, or wet with the dew
of night by the flocks of his companions, or
fragrant with many kinds of spices, amid the
apples of the garden.6 There give to him
your breasts, let him suck your learned bosom,
let him rest in the midst of his heritage,6 his
feathers as those of a dove overlaid with sil-
ver and his inward parts with the brightness
of gold. This young child, this mere boy, who
is fed on butter and honey,7 and who is reared
among cheese-bearing hills, 8 quickly grows up
to manhood, speedily spoils all 9 that is op-
posed to him in you, and when the time is ripe
plunders [the spiritual] Damascus and puts
in chains the king of [the spiritual] Assyria.
11. I hear that you have erected a hospice
for strangers at Portus and that you have
planted a twig from the tree of Abraham 10
1 Fabius Pietor. 2 Cf. Letter XLVI. § 12.
3 Cant. iii. 1. 4 Cant. v. 2. 5 Cf . Cant. i. 7, ii. 5, v. 2.
6 Ps. lxviii. 13, LXX. Inter medios cleros — the lot or inherit-
ance—with allusion to the word clergy formed from clerus.
7 Isa. vii. 14, 15.
8 Ps. lxviii. 15, Vulg. (ace. to some MSS.).
» Perhaps an allusion to Isa. viii. 1. Mahershalal-hash-baz
' Spoil speedeth, prey hasteth.'
10 i.e. the oak of Mamre under which he entertained the
three angels (Gen. xviii. 1-8).
LETTER LXVI.
139
upon the Ausonian shore. Like ^Eneas you
are tracing the outlines of anew encampment;
only that, whereas he, when he reached the
waters of the Tiber, under pressure of want
had to eat the square flat cakes which formed
the tables spoken of by the oracle,1 you are
able to build a house of bread to rival this
little village of Bethlehem 2 wherein I am
staying ; and here after their long privations
you propose to satisfy travellers with sudden
plenty. Well done. You have surpassed my
poor beginning.3 You have reached the
highest point. You have made your way
from the root to the top of the tree. You are
the first of monks in the first city of the world:
you do right therefore to follow the first of
the patriarchs. Let Lot, whose name means
' one who turns aside ' choose the plain 4 and
let him follow the left and easy branch of the
famous letter of Pythagoras.5 But do you
make ready for yourself a monument like
Sarah's ° on steep and rocky heights. Let the
City of Books be near ; 7 and when you have
destroyed the giants, the sons of Anak,8 make
over your heritage to joy and merriment.'J
Abraham was rich in gold and silver and
cattle, in substance and in raiment: his house-
hold was so large that on an emergency he
could bring a picked body of young men into
the field, and could pursue as far as Dan and
then slay four kings who had already put five
kings to flight.10 Frequently exercising hos-
pitality and never turning any man away from
his door, he was accounted worthy at last to
entertain God himself. He was not satisfied
with giving orders to his servants and hand-
maids to attend to his guests, nor did he lessen
the favour he conferred by leaving others to
care for them ; but as though he had found a
prize, he and Sarah his wife gave them-
selves to the duties of hospitality. With
his own hands he washed the feet of his
guests, upon his own shoulders he brought
home a fat calf from the herd. While the
strangers dined he stood by to serve them, and
set before them the dishes cooked by Sarah's
hands — though meaning to fast himself.
12. The regard which I feel for you, my
dear brother, makes me remind you of these
things; for you must offer to Christ not only
your money but yourself, to be a " living sac-
rifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service," " and you must imi-
tate the son of man who " came not to be
1 Virg. JEn. vii. 112-129.
2 Beth-lehem means ' house of bread.'
s v. § 14 below. 4 Gen. xiii. 5-11.
6 The letter Y. Cf. Pers. iii. 56, 57 and Conington's note.
6 Gen. xxiii. 19.
7 i.e. Kirjathsepher close to Hebron (Josh. xv. 13-15) where
Sarah was buried. e Cf. Jos. xv. 14.
9 An allusion to the name of Abraham's heir, Isaac or ' laugh-
ter' (Gen. xxi. 3,6).
10 Gen. xiv. 13-16. ll Rom. xii. 1.
ministered unto but to minister." ] What the
patriarch did for strangers that our Lord and
Master did for His servants and disciples.
" Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will
he give for his life. But," says the devil,
" touch his flesh and he will curse thee to thy
face." 2 The old enemy knows that the battle
with impurity is a harder one than that with
covetousness. It is easy to cast off what
clings to us from without, but a war within
our borders involves far greater peril. We
have to unfasten things joined together, we
have to sunder things firmly united. Zacchae-
us was rich while the apostles were poor.
He restored fourfold all that he had taken
and gave to the poor the half of his remain-
ing substance. He welcomed Christ as his
guest, and salvation came unto his house.3
And yet because he was little of stature and
could not reach the apostolic standard of
height, he was not numbered with the twelve
apostles. Now as regards wealth the apos-
tles gave up nothing at all, but as regards will
they one and all gave up the whole world. If
we offer to Christ our souls as well as our riches,
he will gladly receive our offering. But if we
give to God only those things which are with-
out while we give to the devil those things
which are within, the division is not fair, and the
divine voice says : " Hast thou not sinned in
offering aright, and yet not dividing aright ? " 4
13. That you, the leader of the patrician
order, first set the example of turning monk
should not be to you an occasion of boasting
but rather one of humility, knowing as you do
that the Son of God became the Son of man.
However low you may abase yourself, you
cannot be more lowly than Christ. Even
supposing that you walk barefooted, that you
dress in sombre garb, that you rank yourself
with the poor, that you condescend to enter
the tenements of the needy, that you are eyes
to the blind, hands to the weak, feet to the
lame, that you carry water and hew wood and
make fires — even supposing that you do all
this, where are the chains, the buffets, the
spittings, the scourgings, the gibbet, the death
which the Lord endured ? And even when you
have done all the things I have mentioned,
you are still surpassed by your sister Eusto-
chium as well as by Paula : for considering the
weakness of their sex they have done more
work relatively if less absolutely, than you. I
myself was not at Rome but in the desert —
would that I had continued there— at the time
when your father-in-law Toxotius was still
alive and his daughters were still given up to
the world. But I have heard that they were
too dainty to walk in the muddy streets, that
1 Matt. xx. 28.
3 Luke xix. 2-9.
a Job ii. 4, 5.
* Gen. iv. 7, LXX.
140
JEROME.
they were carried about in the arms of eunuchs,
that they disliked crossing uneven ground,
that they found a silk dress a burthen and felt
sunshine too scorching. But now, squalid
and sombre in their dress, they are positive
heroines in comparison with what they used
to be. They trim lamps, light fires, sweep
floors, clean vegetables, put heads of cabbage
in the pot to boil, lay tables, hand cups, help
dishes and run to and fro to wait on others.
And yet there is no lack of virgins under the
same roof with them. Is it then that they
have no servants upon whom they can lay
these duties ? Surely not. They are un-
willing that others should surpass them in
physical toil whom they themselves surpass
in vigour of mind. I say all this not because
I doubt your mental ardour but that I may
quicken the pace at which you are running,
and in the heat of battle may add warmth to
your warmth.
14. I for my part am building in this pro-
vince a monastery and a hospice close by ; so
that, if Joseph and Mary chance to come to
Bethlehem, they may not fail to find shelter
and welcome. Indeed, the number of monks
who flock here from all quarters of the world
is so overwhelming that I can neither desist
from my enterprise nor bear so great a bur-
then. The warning of the gospel has been
all but fulfilled in me, for I did not suffi-
ciently count the cost of the tower I was
about to build ;' accordingly I have been con-
strained to send my brother Paulinian2 to Italy
to sell some ruinous villas which have escaped
the hands of the barbarians, and also the prop-
erty inherited from our common parents.
For I am loth, now that I have begun it, to
give up ministering to the saints, lest I incur
the ridicule of carping and envious persons.
15. Now that I have come to the conclusion
of my letter I recall my metaphor of the four-
horse team, and recollect that Blaesilla would
have made a fifth, had she been spared to
share your resolve. I had almost forgotten to
mention her, the first of you all to go to meet
the Lord. You who once were five I now see
to be two and three. Blaesilla and her sister
Paulina rest in sweet sleep : you with the
two others on either side of you will fly up-
ward to Christ more easily.
LETTER LXVIL
FROM AUGUSTINE.
Jerome having written him a short letter (no longer
extant) Augustine now replies. He speaks with ap-
proval of Jerome's treatise On Famous Men, incorrectly
called the Epitaph (see Letter CXII. § 3). He also re-
» Luke xiv. 28.
» See Letter LXI § 31.
peals his objections to Jerome's account of the quarrel
between Paul and Peter at Antioch and then concludes
with a request that he will draw up a short notice of the
principal heresies condemned by the Church.
Like the preceding letter of Augustine (Letter LVI.)
this also failed to reach Jerome. It was however pub-
lished in the West, but without Augustine's knowledge
and by degrees its contents found their way to Bethle-
hem where they caused much annoyance and pain.
The date of the letter is 397 A.D. In Augustine's cor-
respondence in this Library it is printed in full as
Letter XL.
LETTER LXVIII.
TO CASTRUTIUS.
Castrutius, a blind man of Pannonia, had set out for
Bethlehem to visit Jerome. However, on reaching
Cissa (whether that in Thrace or that on the Adriatic is
uncertain) he was induced by his friends to turn back.
Jerome writes to thank him for his intention and to
console him for his inability to carry it out. He then
tries to comfort him in his blindness (1) by referring to
Christ's words concerning the man born blind (Joh. ix.
3) and (2) by telling him the story of Antony and Didy-
mus. The date of the letter is 397 A.D.
I. My reverend son Heraclius the deacon
has reported to me that in your eagerness to
see me you came as far as Cissa, and that,
though a Pannonian and consequently a land
animal, you did not quail before the surges of
the Adriatic and the dangers of the ^Egean
and Ionian seas. He tells me that you would
have actually accomplished your purpose, had
not our brethren with affectionate care held
you back. I thank you all the same and re-
gard it as a kindness shewn. For ;n the case
of friends one must accept the will for the
deed. Enemies often give us the latter, but
only sincere attachment can bring us the for-
mer. And now that I am writing to you I
beseech you do not regard the bodily affliction
which has befallen you as due to sin. When
the Apostles speculated concerning the man
that was born blind from the womb and asked
our Lord and Saviour : " Who did sin, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind ? "
they were told "Neither hath this man sinned
nor his parents, but that the works of God
should be made manifest in him."1 Do we
not see numbers of heathens, Jews, heretics
and men of various opinions rolling in the
mire of lust, bathed in blood, surpassing
wolves in ferocity and kites in rapacity, and
for all this the plague does not come nigh
their dwellings?2 They are not smitten as
other men, and accordingly they wax insolent
against God and lift up their faces even to
heaven. We know on the other hand that
holy men are afflicted with sicknesses, mis-
eries, and want, and perhaps they are tempted
1 Joh. ix. a, 3.
2 Ps. xci. 10.
LETTERS LXVII.-LXIX.
141
to say " Verily I have cleansed my heart in
vain, and washed my hands in innocency."
Yet immediately they go on to reprove them-
selves, " If I say, I will speak thus ; behold I
should offend against the generation of thy
children."1 If you suppose that your blind-
ness is caused by sin, and that a disease which
physicians are often able to cure is an evi-
dence of God's anger, you will think Isaac a
sinner because he was so wholly sightless that
he was deceived into blessing one whom he
did not mean to bless.2 You will charge Jacob
with sin, whose vision became so dim that he
could not see Ephraim and Manasseh, 3 al-
though with the inner eye and the prophetic
spirit he could foresee the distant future and
the Christ that was to come of his royal line.4
Were any of the kings holier than Josiah ?
Yet he was slain by the sword of the Egyp-
tians.5 Were there ever loftier saints than
Peter and Paul ? Yet their blood stained the
blade of Nero. And to say no more of men,
did not the Son of God endure the shame of
the cross ? And yet you fancy those blessed
who enjoy in this world happiness and pleas-
ure ? God's hottest anger against sinners is
when he shews no anger. Wherefore in Ezek-
iel he says to Jerusalem : " My jealousy will
depart from thee and I will be quiet and will
be no more angry."0 For "whom the Lord
loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom He receiveth." 7 The father does
not instruct his son unless he loves him. The
master does not correct his disciple unless he
sees in him signs of promise. When once the
doctor gives over caring for the patient, it is
a sign that he despairs. You should answer
thus : " as Lazarus in his lifetime 8 received
evil things so will I now gladly suffer torments
that future glory may be laid up for me."
For " affliction shall not rise up the second
time."9 If Job, a man holy and spotless and
righteous in his generation, suffered terrible
afflictions, his own book explains the reason
why.
2. That I may not make myself tedious or
exceed the due limits of a letter by repeating
old stories, I will briefly relate to you an
incident which happened in my childhood.
The saintly Athanasius bishop of Alexandria
had summoned the blessed Antony to that
city to confute the heretics there. Hereupon
Didymus, a man of great learning who had
lost his eyes, came to visit the hermit and, the
conversation turning upon the holy script-
ures, Antony could not help admiring his
ability and eulogizing his insight. At last he
1 Ps. lxxiii. 13, 15. 2 Gen. xxvii. ' Gen. xlviii. 10.
4 Gen. xlix. 10. 6 2 K. xxiii. 29.
• Ezek. xvi. 42. In the Vulgate the tenses are different, but
the sense is substantially the same.
7 Heb. xii. 6. e Luke xvi. 25. • Nahum i. 9.
said : You do not regret, do you, the loss of
your eyes ? At first Didymus was ashamed to
answer, but when the question had been
repeated a second time and a third, he frankly
confessed that his blindness was a great grief
to him. Whereupon Antony said : "lam sur-
prised that a wise man should grieve at the
loss of a faculty which he shares with ants
and flies and gnats, and not rejoice rather in
having one of which only saints and apostles
have been thought worthy." From this story
you may perceive how much better it is to
have spiritual than carnal vision and to pos-
sess eyes into which the mote of sin cannot
fall.1
Though you have failed to come this year,
I do not yet despair of your coming. If the
reverend deacon 2 who is the bearer of this
letter is again caught in the toils of your affec-
tion, and if you come hither in his company
I shall be delighted to welcome you and shall
readily acknowledge that the delay in payment
is made up for by the largeness of the interest.
LETTER LXIX.
TO OCEANUS.
Oceanus, a Roman nobleman zealous for the faith,
had asked Jerome to back him in a protest against Car-
terius a Spanish bishop who contrary to the apostolic
rule that a bishop is to be " the husband of one wife "
had married a second time. Jerome refuses to take the
line suggested on the ground that Carterius's first mar-
riage having preceded his baptism cannot be taken into
account. He therefore advises Oceanus to let the
matter drop. The date of the letter is 397 A.D.
1. I never supposed, son Oceanus, that the
clemency of the Emperor would be assailed by
criminals, or that persons just released from
prison would after their own experience of its
filth and fetteis complain of relaxations allowed
to others. In the gospel he who envies
another's salvation is thus addressed : "Friend,
is thine eye evil because I am good ? " 3 "God
hath concluded them all in sin 4 that he might
have mercy upon all." 5 " When sin abounded
grace did much more abound." 6 The first born
of Egypt are slain and not even a beast be-
longing to Israel is left behind in Egypt.7 The
heresy of the Cainites rises before me and the
once slain viper lifts up its shattered head,
destroying not partially as most often hitherto
but altogether the mystery of Christ.8 This
1 Luke vi. 42.
3 Heraclius, a deacon of Pannonia, who had been sent to
Bethlehem by his bishop Amabilis to procure from Jerome a
long promised commentary on the Visions of Isaiah. This,
which Jerome subsequently incorporated as book V. in his com-
plete work on the prophet, Heraclius succeeded in obtaining
from him. See the Preface to the Commentary.
3 Matt. xx. 15. 4 AV. 'unbelief.' s Rom. xi. 32.
6 Rom. v. 20. ' Ex. xii. 29, 30, 38.
8 The Cainites appear to have denied the efficacy of the
atonement.
142
JEROME.
heresy declares that there are some sins which
Christ cannot cleanse with His blood, and that
the scars left by old transgressions on the body
and the soul are sometimes so deep that they
cannot be effaced by the remedy which He
supplies. What else is this but to say that
Christ has died in vain ? He has indeed died
in vain if there are any whom He cannot make
alive. When John the Baptist points to Christ
and says : " Behold the lamb of God which
taketh away the sins ' of the world " a he utters
a falsehood if after all there are persons liv-
ing whose sins Christ has not taken away.
For either it must be shewn that they are
not of the world whom the grace of Christ
thus ignores : or, if it be admitted that they
are of the world, we have to choose between
the horns of a dilemma. Either they have
been delivered from their sins, in which case
the power of Christ to save all men is proved;
or they remain undelivered and as it were
still under the charge of misdoing, in which
case Christ is proved to be powerless. But
far be it from us to believe of the Almighty
that He is powerless in aught. For " what
things soever the Father doeth, these also
doeth the Son likewise." 3 To ascribe weak-
ness to the Son is to ascribe it to the Father
also. The shepherd carries the whole sheep
and not only this or that part of it : all the
epistles of the apostle 4 speak continually of
the grace of Christ. And, lest a single an-
nouncement of this grace might seem a little
thing, Peter says : " Grace unto you and peace
be multiplied."5 The Scripture promises
abundance ; yet we affirm scarcity.
2. To what does all this tend, you ask. I
reply; you remember the question that you
proposed. It was this. A Spanish bishop
named Carterius, old in years and in the
priesthood has married two wives, one be-
fore he was baptized, and, she having died,
another since he has passed through the
laver ; and you are of opinion that he has
violated the precept of the apostle, who in
his list of episcopal qualifications commands
that a bishop shall be " the husband of one
wife." 6 I am surprised that you have pilloried
an individual when the whole world is filled
with persons ordained in similar circumstances;
I do not mean presbyters or clergy of lower
rank, but speak only of bishops of whom if I
were to enumerate them all one by one I
should gather a sufficient number to surpass
the crowd which attended the synod of Arim-
inum.7 Still it does not become me to de-
l AV- ' sin.' a Joh. i. 29. 3 joh. v. ,
* '■'■. Paul. 5 1 Pet. i. 2. « 1 Tim. iii. 2.
1 This synod held in 359 A.D. was attended by about 450
bishops. It put forth an Arian formula which caused general
consternation. "The whole world," says Jerome," groaned
and was astonished to find itself Arian. "
fend one by incriminating many ; nor if reason
condemns a sin, to make the number of those
who commit it an excuse for it. At Rome an
eloquent pleader caught me, as the phrase
goes, between the horns of a dilemma : which-
ever way I turned I was held fast. Is it sin-
ful, said he, to marry a wife, or is it not sinful ?
I in my simplicity, not being wary enough to
avoid the snare laid for me, replied that it was
not sinful. Then he propounded another
question : Is it good deeds which are done
away with in. baptism or is it evil ? Here
again my simplicity induced me to say that it
was sins which were forgiven. At this point,
just as I began to fancy myself secure, the
horns of the dilemma commenced to close in
on me from this side and from that and their
points hidden before began to shew them-
selves. If, said he, to marry a wife is not
sinful, and if baptism forgives sins, all that is
not done away with is held over. On the
instant a dark mist rose before my eyes as
though I had been struck by a strong boxer.
Yet recalling the sophism attributed to Chry-
sippus : ' " Whether you lie or whether you
speak the truth, in either case you lie," I
came to myself again and turned upon my
opponent with a dilemma of my own. Pray
tell me, I said, does baptism make a new
man or does it not ? He grudgingly ad-
mitted that it did. I pursued my advantage
by saying, Does it make him wholly new or
only partially so ? He replied, Wholly. Then
I asked, Is there nothing then of the old man
held over in baptism? He assented. Here-
upon I propounded the argument ; If baptism
makes a man new and creates a Wholly new
being, and if there is nothing of the old man
held over in the new, that which once was in
the old cannot be imputed to the new. At
first my thorny friend held his tongue ; after-
wards however, making Piso's mistake,2 though
he had nothing to say he could not remain
silent. Sweat stood upon his brow, his cheeks
turned pale, his lips trembled, his tongue clove
to his mouth, his throat became dry ; and fear
(not age) made him cower. At last he broke
out in these words, Have you not read how
the apostle permits none to be ordained priest
save the husband of one wife, and that what
he lays stress upon is the fact of the marriage
and not the time at which it is contracted ?
Now as the fellow had challenged me with
syllogisms, and as I saw that he was feeling
his way towards some intricate and awkward
questions, I proceeded to turn his own weap-
ons against him. I said therefore, Whom
did the apostle select for the episcopate, bap-
tized persons or catechumens ? He refused
1 See note on Letter LXI. 3.
a Cf. Cic. In Pis. u
LETTER LXIX.
143
to reply. I however made a fresh onslaught
repeating my question a second time and a
third. You would have taken him for Niobe
changed to stone by excessive weeping. I
turned to the audience and said : It is all the
same to me, good people, whether I bind my
opponent awake or sleeping ; but it is easier
to fetter a man who offers no resistance. If
those whom the apostle admits into the ranks
of the clergy are not catechumens but the
faithful, and if he who is ordained bishop is
always one of the faithful, being one of the
faithful he cannot have the faults of a cate-
chumen imputed to him. Such were the darts
I hurled at my paralysed opponent. Such the
quivering spears I cast at him. At last his
mouth opened and he vomited forth the
contents of his mind. Certainly, he blurted
out, that is the doctrine of the apostle Paul.
3. Accordingly I bring out two epistles of the
apostle, the first to Timothy, and the second
to Titus. In the first is the following passage :
" If a man desire the office of a bishop he de-
sireth a good work. A bishop then must be
blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant,
sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker . . .
but patient, not a brawler, not covetous ; one
that ruleth well his own house, having his chil-
dren in subjection with all gravity. (For if a
man know not how to rule his own house, how
shall he take care of the church of God ?) Not
a novice lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover
he must have a good report of them which are
without ; lest he fall into reproach and the
snare of the devil." ' While immediately at
the commencement of the epistle to Titus the
following behests are laid down : " For this
cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest
set in order the things that are wanting, and
ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed
thee : if any be blameless, the husband of one
wife, having faithful children not accused of
riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blame-
less as the steward of God ; not self-willed,
not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker,
not given to filthy lucre ; but a lover of hospi-
tality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy,
temperate ; holding fast the faithful word as
he hath been taught, that he may be able by
sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince
the gainsayers.'' 2 In both epistles command-
ment is given that only monogamists should
be chosen for the clerical office whether as
bishops or as presbyters.3 Indeed with the
ancients these names were synonymous, one
alluding to the office, the other to the age of the
clergy. No one at any rate can doubt that
1 1 Tim. iii. 1-7.
3 Rendered ' elders ' in AV.
2 Tit. i. 5-9.
the apostle is speaking only of those who have
been baptized. If therefore it in no wise preju-
dices the case of one who is to be ordained
bishop that before his baptism he has not
possessed all the requisite qualifications (for
it is asked what he is and not what he has
been), why should a previous marriage — the
one thing which is in itself not sinful — prove
a hindrance to his ordination ? You argue that
as his marriage was not a sin it was not done
away with at his baptism. This is news to
me indeed, that what in itself was not a sin is
to be reckoned as such. All fornication and
contamination with open vice, impiety towards
God, parricide and incest, the change of the
natural use of the sexes into that which is
against nature ' and all extraordinary lusts are
washed away in the fountain of Christ. Can
it be possible that the stains of marriage are
indelible, and that harlotry is judged more
leniently than honourable wedlock ? I do not,
Carterius might say, hold you to blame for
the hosts of mistresses and the troops of fav-
ourites 2 that you have kept ; I do not charge
you with your bloodshedding and sow-like wal-
lowings in the mire of uncleanness : yet you are
ready to drag from her grave for my confusion
my poor wife, who has been dead long years,
and whom I married that I might be kept
from those sins into which you have fallen.
Tell this to the heathen who form the church's
harvest with which she stores her granaries ;
tell this to the catechumens who seek admis-
sion to the number of the faithful ; tell them,
I say, not to contract marriages before their
baptism, not to enter upon honourable wed-
lock, but like the Scots and the Atacotti 3 and
the people of Plato's republic 4 to have com-
munity of wives and no discrimination of
children, nay more, to beware of any sem-
blance even of matrimony ; lest, after they have
come to believe in Christ, He shall tell them
that those whom they have had have not been
concubines or mistresses but wedded wives.
4. Let every man examine his own con-
science and let him deplore the violence he
has done to it at every period of his life ; and
then when he has brought himself to deliver a
true judgment on his own former misdeeds,
let him give ear to the chiding of Jesus :
" Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out
of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see
clearly to cast out the mote out of thy broth-
er's eye."6 Truly like the scribes and phari-
sees we strain out the gnat and swallow the
camel, we pay tithe of mint and anise, and we
omit the just judgment which God requires.6
What parallel can be drawn between a wife
1 Cf . Rom. i. 26. 27. 3 Exoleti.
* A Scottish tribe, cannibals according to Jerome (Agair.st
Jov. ii. 7.)
* Bk. V. 457. 6 Matt. vii. 5. * Matt, xxiii. 23, 24, RV.
144
JEROME.
and a prostitute ? Is it fair to make a mar-
riage now dissolved by death a ground of
accusation, while dissolute living wins for itself
a garland of praise ? He, had his former wife
lived, would not have married another ; but
as for you, how can you defend the bestial
unions you indiscriminately make ? Perhaps
indeed you will say that you feared to con-
tract marriage lest by so doing you might
disqualify yourself for ordination. He took a
wife that he might have children by her ; you
by taking a harlot have lost the hope of
children. He withdrew into the privacy of
his own chamber when he sought to obey
nature and to win God's blessing : " Be fruit-
ful and multiply and replenish the earth." '
You on the contrary outraged public decency
in the hot eagerness of your lust. He covered
a lawful indulgence beneath a veil of modesty ;
you pursued an unlawful one shamelessly be-
fore the eyes of all. For him it is written
" Marriage is honourable . . . and the
bed undefiled," while to you the words are
read, " but whoremongers and adulterers God
will judge,"2 and "if any man destroyeth the
temple of God, him shall God destroy."3 All
iniquities, we are told, are forgiven us at our
baptism, and when once we have received
God's mercy we need not afterwards dread
from Him the severity of a judge. The
apostle says : — "And such were some of you :
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but
ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God." 4 All sins then
are forgiven ; it is an honest and faithful say-
ing. But I ask you, how comes it that, while
your uncleanness is washed away, my clean-
ness is made unclean ? You reply, " No, it is
not made unclean, it remains just what it was.
Had it been uncleanness, it would have been
washed away like mine." I want to know
what you mean by this shuffling. Your re-
marks seem to have no more point in them
than the round end of a pestle. Is a thing sin
because it is not sin ? or is a thing unclean
because it is not unclean ? The Lord, you
say, has not forgiven because He had nothing
to forgive ; yet because He has not forgiven,
that which has not been forgiven still remains.
5. What the true effect of baptism is, and
what is the real grace conveyed by water hal-
lowed in Christ, I will presently tell you ;
meantime I will deal with this argument as it
deserves. ' An ill knot,' says the common
proverb, 'requires but an ill wedge to split it.'
The text quoted by the objector, " a bishop
must be the husband of one wife," admits
of quite another explanation. The apostle
came of the Jews and the primitive Christian
1 Gen. i. 28.
8 x Cor. iii. 17, RV.
2 Heb. xiii. 4.
* 1 Cor. vi. 11,
church was gathered out of the remnants of
Israel. Paul knew that the Law allowed men
to have children by several wives,1 and was
aware that the example of the patriarchs had
made polygamy familiar to the people. Even
the very priests might at their own discretion
enjoy the same license.2 He gave command-
ment therefore that the priests of the church
should not claim this liberty, that they should
not take two wives or three together, but
that they should each have but one wife
at one time. , Perhaps you may say that this
explanation which I have given is disputed ;
in that case listen to another. You must not
have a monopoly of bending the Law to suit
your will instead of bending your will to suit
the Law. Some by a strained interpretation
say that wives are in this passage to be taken
for churches and husbands for their bishops.
A decree was made by the fathers assembled
at the council of Nicsea 3 that no bishop should
be translated from one church to another, lest
scorning the society of a poor yet virgin see
he should seek the embraces of a wealthy and
adulterous one. For as the word Xoyiffjuoi,
that is, " disputings," refers to the fault and
misdoing of sons in the faith,4 and as the pre-
cept concerning the management of a house
refers to the right direction of body and of
soul,5 so by the wives of the bishops we are to
understand their churches. Concerning whom
it is written in Isaiah, " Make haste ye women
and come from the show, for it is a people of
no understanding."6 And again " Rise up, ye
women that are wealthy,7 and hear my voice." 8
And in the Book of Proverbs, " Who can find
a virtuous woman ? for her price is far above
rubies. The heart of her husband doth
safely trust in her." ' In the same book too
it is written, " Every wise woman buildeth
her house : but the foolish plucketh it down
with her hands."10 Nor does this, say they,
derogate from the dignity of the episcopate ; for
the same figure is used in relation to God.
Jeremiah writes : "As a wife treacherously
departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt
treacherously with me, O house of Israel." "
And the apostle employs the same comparison :
" I have espoused you," he says to his con-
verts, " to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin to Christ. " I2 The word
woman is in the Greek ambiguous and should
in all these places be understood as meaning
wife. You will say that this interpretation is
harsh and does violence to the sense. In that
case give back to the scripture its simple
1 Ex. xxi. 10.
4Cf. Ph. ii. 14, 15.
• Isa. xxvii. 11, LXX.
7 AV. that are at ease
• Prov. xxxi. 10, n.
11 Jer. iii. 20.
a Lev. xxi.
7> J3-
• 1 Tim. in. 4.
AV. follows the Hebrew.
8 Isa. xxxii. 9
10 Prov. xiv. 1.
« a Cor. xi. 3.
3 Canon xv.
LETTER LXIX.
145
meaning and save me from the necessity of
fighting you on your own ground. ' I will
ask you the following question, Can a man
who before his baptism has kept a concubine,
and after her death has received baptism and
has taken a wife, become a clergyman or not ?
You will answer me that he can, because his
first partner was a concubine and not a wife.
What the apostle condemns then, it would
seem, is not mere sexual intercourse but mar-
riage contracts and conjugal rights. Many
persons, we see, because of narrow circum-
stances refuse to take upon them the burthen
of matrimony. Instead of taking wives they
live with their maid-servants and bring up as
their own the children which these bear to
them. Thus, if through the bounty of the
Emperor they gain for their mistresses the
right of wearing a matron's robes,2 they will
at once come beneath the yoke of the apostle
and sorely against their will will have to
receive their partners as their wedded wives.
But, if their poverty prevents them from
obtaining an imperial rescript such as I have
mentioned, the decrees of the Church will
vary with the laws of Rome. Be careful
therefore not to interpret the words " the
husband of one wife," that is, of one woman,
as approving indiscriminate intercourse and
condemning only contracts of marriage.
I bring forward all these explanations not
for the purpose of resisting the true and
simple sense of the words in question but to
shew you that you must take the holy script-
ures as they are written, and that you must not
empty of its efficacy the baptismal rite or-
dained by the Saviour, or render vain the whole
mystery of the cross.
6. Let me now fulfil the promise I made a
little while ago and with all the skill of a
rhetorician sing the praises of water and of
baptism. In the beginning the earth was
without form and void, there was no dazzling
sun or pale moon, there were no glittering
stars. There was nothing but matter in-
organic and invisible, and even this was lost in
abysmal depths and shrouded in a distorting
gloom. The Spirit of God above moved, as
a charioteer, over the face of the waters,3 and
produced from them the infant world, a type
of the Christian child that is drawn from the
laver of baptism. A firmament is constructed
between heaven and earth, and to this is
allotted the name heaven, — in the Hebrew Sha-
mayim or ' what comes out of the waters,' — 4
and the waters which are above the heavens
are parted from the others to the praise of
1 i.e. that of strained interpretations.
2 V. Diet. Ant. s. v. stola and cf. Cic. Phil. ii. 18, 44.
3 Gen. i. 2.
4 It is hardly necessary to remark that this derivation is
purely fanciful and has no foundation in fact.
God. Wherefore also in the vision of the
prophet Ezekiel there is seen above the cheru-
bim a crystal stretched forth,1 that is, the com-
pressed and denser waters. The first living
beings come out of the waters ; and believers
soar out of the laver with wings to heaven.
Man is formed out of clay2 and God holds the
mystic waters in the hollow of his hand.3 In
Eden a garden i is planted, and a fountain in
the midst of it parts into four heads.6 This
is the same fountain which Ezekiel later on de-
scribes as issuing out of the temple and flow-
ing towards the rising of the sun, until it heals
the bitter waters and quickens those that are
dead.6 When the world falls into sin nothing
but a flood of waters can cleanse it again.
But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is
driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit
comes to Noah7 as it came afterwards to Christ
in the Jordan,8 and, carrying in its beak a
branch betokening restoration and light, brings
tidings of peace to the whole world. Pha-
raoh and his host, loth to allow God's people
to leave Egypt, are overwhelmed in the Red
Sea figuring thereby our baptism. His de-
struction is thus described in the book of
Psalms : " Thou didst endow the sea with
virtue through thy power : thou brakest the
heads of the dragons in the waters : thou
brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces." 9
For this reason adders and scorpions haunt
dry places 10 and whenever they come near
water behave as if rabid or insane.11 As wood
sweetens Marah so that seventy palm-trees are
watered by its streams, so the cross makes the
waters of the law lifegiving to the seventy who
are Christ's apostles.12 It is Abraham and
Isaac who dig wells, the Philistines who try
to prevent them.13 Beersheba too, the city of
the oath,14 and [Gihon], the scene of Solomon's
coronation,16 derive their names from springs.
It is beside a well that Eliezer finds Rebekah.18
Rachel too is a drawer of water and wins a
kiss thereby 17 from the supplanter 18 Jacob.
When the daughters of the priests of Midian
are in a strait to reach the well, Moses opens
a way for them and delivers them from out-
rage.19 The Lord's forerunner at Salem (a
name which means peace or perfection) makes
ready the people for Christ with spring- water.20
The Saviour Himself does not preach the
kingdom of heaven until by His baptismal
immersion He has cleansed the Jordan."
1 Ezek. i. 22. 2 Gen. ii. 7.
3 Query a reference to Isa. xl. 12 : the Latin is obscure.
4 Paradisus.
9 Ezek. xlvii. 1, 8.
8 Matt. iii. 16.
10 Deut. viii. 15.
12 Exod. xv. 23-27 ;
14 Gen. xxi. 31.
16 Gen. xxiv. 15, 16.
18 Gen. xxvii. 36.
20 Joh. iii. 23.
6 Gen. ii. 8, 10.
7 Gen. viii. 8. 11.
9 Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14, LXX.
11 v8po<j>6pow; et lymphaticos faciunt.
Luke x. i. 13 Gen. xxvi. 15, 18.
18 1 Kings i. 38; 2 Chron. xxxii. 30.
17 Gen. xxix. 10, n.
19 Exod. ii. 16, 17.
81 Matt. iii. 13, 17.
146
JEROME.
Water is the matter of His first miracle ' and
it is from a well that the Samaritan woman is
bidden to slake her thirst.2 To Nicodemus
He secretly says : — " Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the Kingdom of God. " 3 As His earthly course
began with water, so it ended with it. His
side is pierced by the spear, and blood and
water flow forth, twin emblems of baptism and
of martyrdom.4 After His resurrection also,
when sending His apostles to the Gentiles, He
commands them to baptize these in the mys-
tery of the Trinity.5 The Jewish people
repenting of their misdoing are sent forthwith
by Peter to be baptized.6 Before Sion tra-
vails she brings forth children, and a nation is
born at once.7 Paul the persecutor of the
church, that ravening wolf out of Benjamin,8
bows his head before Ananias one of Christ's
sheep, and only recovers his sight when he ap-
plies the remedy of baptism.9 By the reading
of the prophet the eunuch of Candace the
queen of Ethiopia is made ready for the bap-
tism of Christ.10 Though it is against nature
the Ethiopian does change his skin and the
leopard his spots.'1 Those who have received
only John's baptism and have no knowledge
of the Holy Spirit are baptized again, lest any
should suppose that water unsanctified there-
by could suffice for the salvation of either
Jew or Gentile.12 " The voice of the Lord is
upon the waters . . . The Lord is upon
many waters . . . the Lord maketh the
flood to inhabit it." ,3 His "teeth are like a
flock of sheep that are even shorn which came
up from the washing ; whereof everyone bear
twins, and none is barren among them." 14 If
none is barren among them, all of them must
have udders filled with milk and be able to say
with the apostle : " Ye are my little children, of
whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you;" 15 and " I have fed you with
milk and not with meat." 1B And it is to
the grace of baptism that the prophecy of
Micah refers : " He will turn again, he will
have compassion upon us: he will subdue our
iniquities, and will cast all our sins17 into the
depths of the sea." 18
7. How then can you say that all sins are
drowned in the baptismal laver if a man's wife
is still to swim on the surface as evidence
against him ? The psalmist says : — " Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose
1 The turning of the water into wine at Cana (Joh. ii. 1, 11).
2 Joh. iv. 13, 14. a Joh. iii. 5.
4 Joh. xix. 34: Jerome here follows Tertullian and Cyril of
Jerusalem.
0 Acts ii. 38. Comp. Letter LX. 8.
9 Gen. xlix. 27. 9 Acts ix. 17, 18.
1 ' Jer. xiii. 23. n Acts xix. 1-7.
AV. 'the Lord sitteth upon the flood.'
16 Gal. iv. 19. i« 1 Cor. iii. 2.
Matt, xxviii. 19.
7 Isa. lxvi. 7, 8.
10 Acts viii. 27-38.
13 Ps. xxix. 3, 10.
14 Cant. iv.
"AV. "thou wilt cast all their sins."
18 Mic. vii. 19.
sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity."1 It would
seem that we must add something to this song
and say " Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not a wife." Let us hear also
the declaration which Ezekiel the so called
"son of man "2 makes concerning the virtue
of him who is to be the true son of man, the
Christian : " I will take you," he says, " from
among the heathen . . . then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean
from all your filthiness ... a new heart
also will I give you and a new spirit." 3 " From
all your filthiness," he says, " will I cleanse
you." If all is taken away nothing can be
left. If filthiness is cleansed, how much more
is cleanness kept from defilement. " A new
heart also will I give you and a new spirit."
Yes, for " in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new
nature." 4 Wherefore the song also which we
sing is a new song,5 and putting off the old
man 6 we walk not in the oldness of the letter
but in the newness of the spirit.7 This is the
new stone wherein the new name is written,
" which no man knoweth saving he that receiv-
eth it." 8 " Know ye not," says the apostle,
" that so many of us as were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death : that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life." 9
Do we read so often of newness and of making
new and yet can no renewing efface the stain
which the word wife brings with it ? We are
buried with Christ by baptism and we have
risen again by faith in the working of God
who hath called Him from the dead. And
" when we were dead in our sins and in the
uncircumcision of our flesh, God hath quick-
ened us together with Him, having forgiven us
all trespasses ; blotting out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way
nailing it to His cross."10 Can it be that when
our whole being is dead with Christ and when
all the sins noted down in the old " handwrit-
ing" are blotted out, the one word "wife"
alone lives on ? Time would fail me were I
to try to lay before you in order all the pas-
sages in the Holy Scriptures which relate to
the efficacy of baptism or to explain the mys-
terious doctrine of that second birth which
though it is our second is yet our first in
Christ.
8. Before I make an end of dictating (for I
1 Ps. xxxii. 12
2 Ezek. ii. 1.
* rs. .\x.\11. 12 - i^icii. 11. 1.
3 Ezek. xxxvi. 24-26. AV. punctuates differently.
4 Gal. vi. 15, 'nature ' for 'creature,' a slip of memory
6 Rev. xiv. -> 8 RnVi iv. oo. 7 Rom. vii
6 Rev. xiv. 3.
9 Rev. ii. 17
6 Eph. iv. 22.
8 Rom, vi. 3, 4.
Rom. vii. 6.
10 Col. ii. 13, 14.
LETTER LXIX.
U7
perceive that I have already exceeded the just
limits of a letter) I wish to give a brief ex-
planation of the previous verses of the epistle
in which the apostle describes the life of him
that is to be made a bishop. We shall thus
recognize him as Doctor of the Nations ' not
only for his praise of monogamy but also for
all his precepts. At the same time I beg that
no one will suppose that in what I write my de-
sign is to blacken the priests of the present day.
My one object is to promote the interest of
the church. Just as orators and philosophers
in giving their notions of the perfect orator
and the perfect philosopher do not detract
from Demosthenes and Plato but merely set
forth abstract ideals ; so, when I describe a
bishop and explain the qualifications laid down
for the episcopate, I am but supplying a mir-
ror for priests. Every man's conscience will
tell him that it rests with himself what image
he will see reflected there, whether one that
will grieve him by its deformity or one that
will gladden him by its beauty. I turn now
to the passage in question.2 " If a man desire
the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work." Work, you see, not rank ; toil not
pleasure ; work that he may increase in lowli-
ness, not grow proud by reason of elevation.
" A bishop then must be blameless." The
same thing that he says to Titus, " if any be
blameless." 3 All the virtues are compre-
hended in this one word ; thus he seems to
require an impossible perfection. For if every
sin, even every idle word, is deserving of
blame, who is there in this world that is sin-
less and blameless ? Still he who is chosen
to be shepherd of the church must be one
compared with whom other men are rightly
regarded as but a flock of sheep. Rhetoricians
define an orator as a good man able to speak.
To be worthy of so high an honour he must
be blameless in life and lip. For a teacher
loses all his influence whose words are ren-
dered null by his deeds. " The husband of
one wife. " Concerning this requirement 1 have
spoken above. I will now only warn you that
if monogamy is insisted on before baptism the
other conditions laid down must be insisted
on before baptism too. For it is impossible
to regard the remaining obligations as bind-
ing only on the baptized and this alone as
binding also on the unbaptized. "Vigilant
(or "temperate" for vi^cpakioi means both)
wise,4 of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach." The priests who minister in
God's temple are forbidden to drink wine and
strong drink,5 to keep their wits from being
stupefied with drunkenness and to enable their
understanding to do its duty in God's service.
1 Doctor Gentium.
* AV. ' sober.'
2 1 Tim. iii. 1-7.
6 Lev. x. 9.
3 Tit. i. 6.
By the word ' wise ' those are excluded who
plead simplicity as an excuse for a priest's
folly. For if the brain be not sound, all the
members will be amiss. The phrase " of good
behaviour " is an extension of the previous
epithet "blameless." One who has no faults
is called "blameless ; " one who is rich in vir-
tues is said to be "of good behaviour." Or
the words may be differently explained in ac-
cord with Tully's maxim,1 ' the main thing is
that what you do you should do gracefully.'
For some persons are so ignorant of their own
measure 2 and so stupid and foolish that they
make themselves laughing stocks to those who
see them because of their gesture or gait or
dress or conversation. Fancying that they
know what is and what is not good taste they
deck themselves out with finery and bodily
adornments and give banquets which profess
to be elegant : but all such attempts at dress
and display are nastier than a beggar's rags.
As regards the obligation of priests to be
teachers we have the precepts of the old Law 3
and the fuller instructions given on the sub-
ject to Titus.4 For an innocent and unobtru-
sive conversation does as much harm by its
silence as it does good by its example. If the
ravening wolves are to be frightened away it
must be by the barking of dogs and by the
staff of the shepherd. " Not given to wine,
no striker." With the virtues they are to aim
at he contrasts the vices they are to avoid.
9. We have learned what we ought to be :
let us now learn what priests ought not to be.
Indulgence in wine is the fault of diners out
and revellers. When the body is heated with
drink it soon boils over with lust. Wine drink-
ing means self-indulgence, self-indulgence
means sensual gratification, sensual gratifi-
cation means a breach of chastity. He that
lives in pleasure is dead while he lives,6 and he
that drinks himself drunk is not only dead but
buried. One hour's debauch makes Noah
uncover his nakedness which through sixty
years of sobriety he had kept covered. 6 Lot
in a fit of intoxication unwittingly adds incest
to incontinence, and wine overcomes the man
whom Sodom failed to conquer.7 A bishop
that is a striker is condemned by Him who
gave His back to the smiters,8 and when He
was reviled reviled not again.9 " But moder-
ate":10 one good thing is set over against two
evil things. Drunkenness and passion are to
be held in check by moderation. " Not a
brawler, not covetous." Nothing is more
overweening than the assurance of the ignorant
who fancy that incessant chatter will carry
1 Cic. de Or. i 29.
s Cf. Dt. xvii. 9-11.
6 Cf. iTim. v. 6.
» Isa. 1. 6.
2 Cf. 2 Cor. x. 14.
4 Tit. i. 9-14.
6 Gen. ix. 20, 21. 7 Gen. xix. 30-38.
• i Pet. ii. 23. 10 AV. ' patient.'
148
JEROME.
conviction with it and are always ready for a
dispute that they may thunder with turgid
eloquence against the flock committed to their
charge. That a priest must avoid covetous-
ness even Samuel teaches when he proves be-
fore all the people that he has taken nothing
from any man.1 And the same lesson is taught
by the poverty of the apostles who used to re-
ceive sustenance and refreshment from their
brethren and to boast that they neither had
nor wished to have anything besides food and
raiment.2 What the epistle to Timothy calls
covetousness, that to Titus openly censures as
the desire for filthy lucre.3 " One that ruleth
well his own house." Not by increasing riches,
not by providing regal banquets, not by having
a pile of finely-wrought plates, not by slowly
steaming pheasants so that the heat may reach
the bones without melting the flesh upon them ;
no, but by first requiring of his own house-
hold the conduct which he has to inculcate in
others. " Having his children in subjection
with all gravity." They must not, that is,
follow the example of the sons of Eli who lay
with the women in the vestibule of the Temple
and, supposing religion to consist in plunder,
diverted to the gratification of their own appe-
tites all the best parts of the victims.4 " Not
a novice lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil." I cannot
sufficiently express my amazement at the great
blindness which makes men discuss such
questions as that of marriage before baptism
and causes them to charge people with a trans-
action which is dead in baptism, nay even
quickened into a new life with Christ, while
no one regards a commandment so clear and
unmistakable as this about bishops not being
novices. One who was yesterday a catechumen
is to-day a bishop 6 ; one who was yesterday
in the amphitheatre is to-day in the church ;
one who spent the evening in the circus stands
in the morning at the altar : one who a little
while ago was a patron of actors is now a
dedicator of virgins. Was the apostle ignorant
of our shifts and subterfuges? did he know
nothing of our foolish arguments ? He not
only says that a bishop must be the husband
of one wife, but he has given commandment
that he must be blameless, vigilant, sober, of
good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to
teach, moderate,6 not given to wine, no
striker, not a brawler, not covetous, not a
novice. Yet to all these requirements we
shut our eyes and notice nothing but the
wives of the aspirants. Who cannot give in-
stances to shew the need of the warning':
" lest being lifted up with pride he fall into
1 i Sam. xii. 3-5. a Ci. 1 Tim. vi. 8. s Tit. i. 7.
« J Sam. 11. 12-17, 22. 6 The case of Ambrose.
6 AV. patient.'
the condemnation of the devil ? " A priest '
who is made such in a moment knows nothing
of the lowliness and meekness which mark the
meanest of the faithful, he knows nothing of
Christian courtesy, he is not wise enough to
think little of himself. He passes from one
dignity to another, yet he has not fasted, he
has not wept, he has not taken himself to task
for his life, he has not striven by constant
meditation to amend it, he has not given his
substance to the poor. Yet he is moved from
one see 2 to another, he passes, that is, from
pride to pride. There can be no doubt that
arrogance is what the Apostle means when he
speaks of the condemnation and downfall of
the devil. And all men fall into this who are
in a moment made masters, actually before
they are disciples. " Moreover he must have
a good report of them which are without."
The last requirement is like the first. One
who is really " blameless " obtains the unani-
mous approval not only of his own household
but of outsiders as well. By aliens and per-
sons outside the church we are to understand
Jews, heretics and Gentiles. A Christian
bishop then must be such that they who cavil
at his religion may not venture to cavil at his
life. At present however we see but too many
bishops who are willing, like the charioteers
in the horse races, to bid money for the popu-
lar applause ; while there are some so univer-
sally hated that they can wring no money
from their people, a feat which clowns accom-
plish by means of a few gestures.
10. Such are the conditions, son Oceanus,
which the master-teachers of the church
ought with anxiety and fear to require of
others and to observe themselves. Such too
are the canons which they should follow in
the choice of persons for the priesthood ; for
they must not interpret the law of Christ to
suit private animosities and feuds or to gratify
ill-feeling which is sure to recoil on the man
who cherishes it. Consider how unimpeach-
able is the character of Carterius in whose life
his ill-wishers can find nothing to censure ex-
cept a marriage contracted before baptism.
" He that said, Do not commit adultery, said
also, Do not kill. If we commit no adultery
yet if we kill, we are become transgressors of
the law."3 " Whosoever shall keep the whole
law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty
of all." " Accordingly when they cast in our
teeth a marriage entered into before baptism,
we must require of them compliance with all
the precepts which are given to the baptized.
For they pass over much that is not allowable
while they censure much that is allowed.
1 Sacerdos : as usual a bishop is meant
3 T it Vlnir ' 3 Toe ii •*
2 Lit. 'chair.
3 Jas. ii. 11.
4 Jas. ii. 10.
LETTERS LXIX., LXX.
149
LETTER LXX.
TO MAGNUS AN ORATOR OF ROME.
Jerome thanks Magnus, a Roman orator, for his ser-
vices in bringing a young man named Sebesius to apol-
ogize to him for some fault that he had committed. He
then replies to a criticism of Magnus on his fondness
for making quotations from profane writers, a prac-
tice which he defends by the example of the fathers
of the church and of the inspired penmen of scrip-
ture. He ends by hinting that the objection really
conies not from Magnus himself but from Rufinus (here
nicknamed Calpurnius Lanarius). The date of the
letter is 397 A.D.
i. That our friend Sebesius has profited by
your advice I have learned less from your
letter than from his own penitence. And
strange to say the pleasure which he has
given me since his rebuke is greater than the
pain he caused me from his previous wayward-
ness. There has been indeed a conflict be-
tween indulgence in the father, and affection
in the son ; while the former is anxious to
forget the past, the latter is eager to promise
dutiful behaviour in the future. Accordingly
you and I must equally rejoice, you because
you have successfully put a pupil to the test, I
because I have received a son again.
2. You ask me at the close of your letter
why it is that sometimes in my writings I
quote examples from secular literature and
thus defile the whiteness of the church with
the foulness of heathenism. I will now brief-
ly answer your question. You would never
have asked it, had not your mind been wholly
taken up with Tully ; you would never have
asked it had you made it a practice instead
of studying Volcatius ' to read the holy
scriptures and the commentators upon them.
For who is there who does not know that
both in Moses and in the prophets there are
passages cited from Gentile books and that
Solomon proposed questions to the philos-'*
ophers of Tyre and answered others put to
him by them.2 In the commencement of the
book of Proverbs he charges us to understand
prudent maxims and shrewd adages, parables
and obscure discourse, the words of the wise
and their dark sayings ; 3 all of which belong
by right to the sphere of the dialectician and
the philosopher. The Apostle Paul also, in
writing to Titus, has used a line of the poet
Epimenides : " The Cretians are always liars,
evil beasts, slow bellies." 4 Half of which line
was afterwards adopted by Callimachus. It is
not surprising that a literal rendering of the
words into Latin should fail to preserve the
metre, seeing that Homer when translated into
1 Either a teacher of civil law mentioned by Pliny (viii. 40),
or else one of the writers of the Augustan History.
2 The authority for this is Josephus.
3 Prov. i. 1-6. 4 Tit. i. 12.
VOL. VI.
the same language is scarcely intelligible even
in prose. In another epistle Paul quotes a
line of Menander : " Evil communications cor-
rupt good manners." ' And when he is arguing
with the Athenians upon the Areopagus he
calls Aratus as a witness citing from him the
words '• For we are also his offspring;"2 in
Greek rov yap xal yevo? sff/tsr, the close
of a heroic verse. And as if this were not
enough, that leader of the Christian army, that
unvanquished pleader for the cause of Christ,
skilfully turns a chance inscription into a proof
of the faith.3 For he had learned from the
true David to wrench the sword of the ene-
my out of his hand and with his own blade
to cut off the head of the arrogant Goliath.4
He had read in Deuteronomy the command
given by the voice of the Lord that when a
captive woman had had her head shaved, her
eyebrows and all her hair cut off, and her nails
pared, she might then be taken to wife.0 Is it
surprising that I too, admiring the fairness of
her form and the grace of her eloquence, de-
sire to make that secular wisdom which is my
captive and my handmaid, a matron of the
true Israel ? Or that shaving off and cutting
away all in her that is dead whether this be
idolatry, pleasure, error, or lust, I take her to
myself clean and pure and beget by her ser-
vants for the Lord of Sabaoth ? My efforts
promote the advantage of Christ's family, my
so-called defilement with an alien increases the
number of my fellow-servants. Hosea took a
wife of whoredoms, Gomer the daughter of
Diblaim, and this harlot bore him a son called
Jezreel or the seed of God.c Isaiah speaks of a
sharp razor which shaves " the head of sin-
ners and the hair of their feet ; " 7 and
Ezekiel shaves his head as a type of that
Jerusalem which has been an harlot," in sign
that whatever in her is devoid of sense and
life must be removed.
3. Cyprian, a man renowned both for his
eloquence and for his martyr's death, was as-
sailed— so Firmian tells us9 — for having used
in his treatise against Demetrius passages from
the Prophets and the Apostles which the latter
declared to be fabricated and made up, instead
of passages from the philosophers and poets
whose authority he, as a heathen, could not
well gainsay. Celsus 10 and Porphyry " have
written against us and have been ably an-
swered, the former by Origen, the latter by
Methodius, Eusebius, and Apollinaris.12 Origen
wrote a treatise in eight books, the work of
I 1 Cor. xv. 13. The line is also attributed to Euripides.
3 Acts xvii. 28. 3 Acts xvii. 22. * Cf. 1 Sam. xvii. 50. 51.
6 Deut. xxi. ic-13. ° Hos. i. 2-4. ' Isa. vn. 20.
8 Ezek. v. 1-5. 9 '■''■ Lactantius, vide Inst v. 4.
10 The author of a polemical treatise against Christianity, frag-
ments of which are still preserved in Origen's reply. He was
a Platonist. , .
II A neoplatonist writer who flourished in the third century.
"See note on Letter XLVIII. § 13.
150
JEROME.
Methodius ' extended to ten thousand lines,
while Eusebius2 and Apollinaris" composed
twenty-five and thirty volumes respectively.
Read these and you will find that compared
with them I am a mere tyro in learning, and
that, as my wits have long lain fallow, I can
barely recall as in a dream what I have learned
as a boy. The emperor Julian 4 found time
during his Parthian campaign to vomit forth
seven books against Christ and, as so often
happens in poetic legends, only wounded
himself with his own sword. Were I to try to
confute him with the doctrines of philosophers
and stoics you would doubtless forbid me to
strike a mad dog with the club of Hercules.
It is true that he presently felt in battle the
hand of our Nazarene or, as he used to call
him, the Galilaean,5 and that a spear-thrust in
the vitals paid him due recompense for his
foul calumnies. To prove the antiquity of the
Jewish people Josephus6 has written two
books against Appio a grammarian of Alex-
andria ; and in these he brings forward so
many quotations from secular writers as to
make me marvel how a Hebrew brought up
from his childhood to read the sacred script-
ures could also have perused the whole library
of the Greeks. Need I speak of Philo ' whom
critics call the second or the Jewish Plato ?
4. Let me now run through the list of our
own writers. Did not Quadratus 8 a disciple
of the apostles and bishop of the Athenian
church deliver to the Emperor Hadrian (on
the occasion of his visit to the Eleusinian
mysteries) a treatise in defence of our religion.
And so great was the admiration caused in
everyone by his eminent ability that it stilled
a most severe persecution. The philosopher
Aristides," a man of great eloquence, presented
to the same Emperor an apology for the Chris-
tians composed of extracts from philosophic
writers. His example was afterwards followed
by Justin 10 another philosopher who delivered
to Antoninus Pius and his sons1' and to the
senate a treatise Against the Gentiles, in which
1 Contemporary with Eusebius the historian. His Symposium
still extant proves him to have been a warm admirer of Plato.
> The learned bishop of Csesarea (A.D. 260-540). His Church
History and other works are translated or described in Vol. i. of
this series.
3 Probably the learned Bishop of Laodicea. whose views were
condemned at Constantinople in 381.
* Julian was emperor from A.D. 261 to A.D. 263. He reverted
from Christianity to paganism and did all in his power to harass
the Church.
'According to Theodoret (H. E. iii. 25) Julian's last words
were " Thou hast conquered, O Galilaean."
6 A Jew born at Jerusalem A.D. 37. His historical works,
still extant, are of great value.
' See note on Letter XXII. § 35.
6 The author of an apology for the Christians presented to the
Emperor Hadrian. Only small fragments of the work are now
extant. See for him and Aristides Jerome's Book on Famous
Men, in Vol. iii. of this series, c. xix. xx.
* Another Athenian apologist contemporary with Quadratus
His Apology has lately been published. Cambridge, Eng., 1891.
10 Commonly called Justin Martyr. Born in Samaria of Greek
parents, he is said to have undergone martyrdom at Rome. El.
A.D. 140-150.
»> Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
he defended the ignominy of the cross and
preached the resurrection of Christ with all
freedom. Need I speak of Melito ' bishop of
Sardis, of Apollinaris2 chief-priest of the
Church of Hierapolis, of Dionysius 3 bishop of
the Corinthians, of Tatian,4 of Bardesanes,"
of Irenaeus 6 successor to the martyr Pothi-
nus ; ' all of whom have in many volumes ex-
plained the uprisings of the several heresies
and tracked them back, each to the philosophic
source from which it flows. Pantaenus,8 a
philosopher of the Stoic school, was on account
of his great reputation for learning sent by
Demetrius bishop of Alexandria to India, to
preach Christ to the Brahmans and philoso-
phers there. Clement,3 a presbyter of Alex-
andria, in my judgment the most learned of
men, wrote eight books of Miscellanies 10 and
as many of Outline Sketches" a treatise against
the Gentiles, and three volumes called the
Pedagogue. Is there any want of learning in
these, or are they not rather drawn from the
very heart of philosophy? Imitating his ex-
ample Origen 19 wrote ten books of Miscellanies,
in which he compares together the opinions
held respectively by Christians and by philoso-
phers, and confirms all the dogmas of our
religion by quotations from Plato and Aristotle,
from Numenius !3 and Cornutus.14 Miltiades ,B
also wrote an excellent treatise against the
Gentiles. Moreover Hippolytus16 and a Ro-
man senator named Apollonius 17 have each
compiled apologetic works. The books of
Julius Africanus l8 who wrote a history of his
own times are still extant, as also are those of
Theodore who was afterwards called Gregory,"
1 Fl. A.D. 170. He composed an Apology addressed to the
Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
3 A highly esteemed writer, from 171 A.D. onwards, who wrote
many treatises, amongst which were an apology addressed
to Marcus Aurelius, and several works against Montanism.
3 Fl. A.D. 171, the writer of several pastoral letters to other
churches famous in their day but no longer extant.
4 See note on Letter XLVIII. § 3.
'- Born at Edessa c. 155 A.D. died 223 A.D. A mystical theo-
logian of a gnostic type who held a high position at the court of
the Abgars. His writings have perished.
6 Bishop of Lyons in the latter half of the second century.
He was a native of Asia Minor and in his younger days had
known Polycarp.
7 Bishop of Lyons, suffered martyrdom under Marcus Aurelius.
6 A convert from stoicism to Christianity in the latter part of
the second century who as the head of the catechetical school at
Alexandria was the instructor of Clement.
9 Head of the catechetical school at Alexandria A.D. 190-203.
10 crTpoj/xaTe'ty. J l vnorvnutGeis.
'■2 See Letter XXXIII. Of Origen's Miscellanies only a few
fragments remain. ' They appear to have discussed various top-
ics in the light of ancient philosophy and scripture.' — Westcott.
13 A neoplatonic and neopythagorean philosopher who flour-
ished in the age of the Antonines.
14 A Stoic philosopher, the friend and teacher of the poet
Persius. Having criticised Nero's literary style too freely he
was banished by that emperor.
16 An active Christian writer of the reign of Commodus.
16 Fl. A.D. 200-225, tne fifst antipope. His Refutation o/All
Heresies is of great interest and value.
17 Fl. A.D. 186. Accused of being a Christian, he delivered in
the senate an apology for the faith.
18 A writer of the third century who compiled a Chronicle of
the worid's history from the creation to his own day. It has
long since perished.
ls Surnamed Thaumaturgus or the Wonderworker. One of
Origen's pupils, he wrote a Panegyric (extant) on his master.
Fl, 233-270.
LETTERS LXX., LXXI.
15*
a man endowed with apostolic miracles as well
as with apostolic virtues. We still have the
works of Dionysius ' bishop of Alexandria,
of Anatolius " chief priest of the church
of Laodicea, of the presbyters Pamphilus,3
Pierius,4 Lucian,5 Malchion ; e of Eusebius 7
bishop of Caesarea, Eustathius* of Antioch
and Athanasius 9 of Alexandria ; of Euse-
bius 10 of Emisa, of Triphyllius " of Cyprus,
of Asterius '" of Scythopolis, of the confessor
Serapion,13 of Titus " bishop of Bostra ; and
of the Cappadocians Basil,10 Gregory,10 and
Amphilochius." All these writers so fre-
quently interweave in their books the doctrines
and maxims of the philosophers that you
might easily be at a loss which to admire
most, their secular erudition or their knowl-
edge of the scriptures.
5. I will pass on to Latin writers. Can any-
thing be more learned or more pointed than
the style of Tertullian ? 18 His Apology and
his books Against the Gentiles contain all the
wisdom of the world. Minucius Felix 19 a
pleader in the Roman courts has ransacked
all heathen literature to adorn the pages of
his Octavius and of his treatise Against the
astrologers (unless indeed this latter is falsely
ascribed to him). Arnobius 20 has published
seven books against the Gentiles, and his
pupil Lactantius " as many, besides two vol-
umes, one 011 Anger and the other on the
creative activity of God. If you read any of
these you will find in them an epitome of
1 Head of the catechetical school, and afterwards bishop, of
Alexandria. He died A.D. 265.
2 Trained in the school of Alexandria and praised by Euse-
bius for his great learning.
3 The intimate friend of Eusebius of Caesarea and founder of
the famous library in that city.
4 See note on Letter XLVIJI. § 3.
5 A presbyter of Antioch and apparently a pupil of Malchion.
He suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia A.D. 311.
6 A presbyter of Antioch in the reign of Aurelian. He took
part in the proceedings against Paul of Samosata.
7 See note on § 3 above.
8 Bishop of Antioch at the time of the Nicene Council. One
of the earliest and most vigorous opponents of Arianism.
u Bishop of Alexandria from A.D. 326 to A.D. 373. The
great champion of the divinity of Christ against Arius and his
followers.
10 Flor. A.D. 341-359. After studying at Alexandria he lived
for some time at Antioch where he took part in an Arian
council.
1 > A famous lawyer of Berytus converted to Christianity by
Spyridon a bishop in Cyprus.
™ Bishop of Amasea in Pontus, a constant student of Demos-
thenes and himself no mean orator.
13 An Egyptian bishop the friend of Antony and Athanasius.
Some of his wr'tings are still extant.
14 This bishop is best known through the Emperor Julian's
vain attempt to expel him from his see.
15 A.D. 329-379. Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia and a
strenuous champion of orthodoxy. His works are still extant.
16 Gregory of Nazianzus. Bishop of Sasima and for a short
time of Constantinople (A.D. 379-381).
17 Flor. A.D. 350-400. Archbishop of Iconium. A friend of
Basil and of Gregory Nazianzen.
'" An African writer who in his last days became a Mon-
tanist. Flor. A.D. 175-225.
19 A Roman lawyer of the second century. His Apology— a
Dialogue entitled Octavius -is extant.
50 Fl. A.D. 300. A professor of rhetoric at Sicca in Africa
and a heathen. He composed his apology to prove the reality of
his conversion.
ai An African rhetorician and apologist of the fourth cen-
tury. His works are extant.
L
Cicero's dialogues. The Martyr Victorinus1
though as a writer deficient in learning is not
deficient in the wish to use what learning he
has. Then there is Cyprian.2 With what
terseness, with what knowledge of all history,
with what splendid rhetoric and argument has
he touched the theme that idols are no Gods !
Hilary 3 too, a confessor and bishop of my
own day, has imitated Quintilian's twelve
books both in number and in style, and has
also shewn his ability as a writer in his short
treatise against Dioscorus the physician. In
the reign of Constantine the presbyter Juven-
cus ' set forth in verse the story of our Lord
and Saviour, and did not shrink from forcing
into metre the majestic phrases of the Gospel.
Of other writers dead and living I say noth-
ing. Their aim and their ability are evident
to all who read them.0
6. You must not adopt the mistaken opin-
ion, that while in dealing with the Gentiles
one may appeal to their literature in all other
discussions one ought to ignore it ; for almost
all the books of all these writers — except those
who like Epicurus ° are no scholars — are ex-
tremely full of erudition and philosophy. I
incline indeed to fancy — the thought comes
into my head as I dictate — that you yourself
know quite well what has always been the
practice of the learned in this matter. I be-
lieve that in putting this question to me you
are only the mouthpiece of another who by
reason of his love for the histories of Sallust
might well be called Calpurnius Lanarius.7
Please beg of him not to envy eaters their
teeth because he is toothless himself, and not
to make light of the eyes of gazelles because
he is himself a mole. Here as you see there
is abundant material for discussion, but I have
already filled the limits at my disposal.
LETTER LXXI.
TO LUCINIUS.
Lucinius was a wealthy Spaniard of Bcetica who
in conformity with the ascetic ideas of his time had
made a vow of continence with his wife Theodora.
Being much interested in the study of scripture he pro-
1 A celebrated man of letters at Rome in the middle of the
fourth century, the story of whose conversion is told in Augus-
tine's Confessions (viii. 2-5).
a Bishop of Carthage. ' He suffered martyrdom A.D. 358.
His works are extant.
3 Bishop of Poitiers (died A.D. 36S). A champion of the
orthodox faith against Arianism.
* A Spanish Christian of the fourth century. His " Story of
the Gospels," a life of Christ in hexameter verse, still exists.
5 For most of the writers mentioned in this section see also
Jerome's Book 0/ Famous Men translated in Vol. iii. 01 this series.
c For an account of Epicurus see Letter V. § 5. note. He
professed to have read but little.
7 That Rufinus is the person meant is plain from a reference
made to this passage in Apol. adv. Rutinum, i. 30 and also
from Letter ClI. § 3. Jerome is however mistaken in connec-
ting this Calpurnius with Sallust. He is mentioned by Plu-
tarch as a treacherous friend. Sallust does mention a certain
Calpurinus Bestia, and Jerome has probably confounded the
two.
152
JEROME.
posed to visit Bethlehem, and in A.I). 397 sent sev-
eral scribes thither to transcribe for him Jerome's prin-
cipal writings. To these on their return home Jerome
now entrusts the following letter. In it he encourages
Lucinius to fulfil his purpose of coming to Bethlehem,
describes the books which he is sending to him, and
answers two questions relating to ecclesiastical usage.
He also sends him some trifling presents.
Shortly after receiving the letter (written in 398 A.D.)
Lucinius died and Jerome wrote to Theodora to con-
sole her for her loss (Letter LXXV.).
i. Vour letter which has suddenly arrived
was not expected by me, and coming in an
unlooked for way it has helped to rouse me
from my torpor by the glad tidings which it
conveys. I hasten to embrace with the arms
of love one whom my eyes have never seen,
and silently say to myself : — ' " oh that I
had wings like a dove ! for then would I flee
away and be at rest." ' ' Then would I find
him " whom my soul loveth." 2 In you the
Lord's words are now truly fulfilled : " many
shall come from the east and west and shall
sit down with Abraham. " 3 In those days the
faith of my Lucinius was foreshadowed in Cor-
nelius, " centurion of the band called the Italian
band." 4 And when the apostle Paul writes to
the Romans : " whensoever I take my journey
into Spain I will come to you: for I trust to
see you in my journey, and to be brought on
my way thitherward by you ; " 6 he shews by the
tale of his previous successes what he looked
to gain from that province." Laying in a short
time the foundation of the gospel " from Jeru-
salem and round about unto Illyricum," "' he
enters Rome in bonds, that he may free those
who are in the bonds of error and superstition.
Two years he dwells in his own hired house 9
that he may give to us the house eternal which
is spoken of in both the testaments.0 The
apostle, the fisher of men,10 has cast forth his
net, and, among countless kinds of fish, has
landed you like a magnificent gilt-bream. You
have left behind you the bitter waves, the salt
tides, the mountain-fissures ; you have despised
Leviathan who reigns in the waters." Your
aim is to seek the wilderness with Jesus and to
sing the prophet's song : " my soul thirsteth
for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land where no water is ; to see thy
power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in
the sanctuary," ia or, as he sings in another
place, "lo, then would I wander far off and
remain in the wilderness. I. would hasten my
escape from the windy storm and tempest." 1J
1 Ps. lv. 6. PBV. 2 Cant. iii. 1. 3 Matt. viii. n.
* Acts x. 1. s Rom. xv. 24. • Italy.
* Rom. xv. ig. e Acts xxviii. 3a
v Utnusque instrumenti aeternam domum. The ' twofold rec-
ord ' is that of the old and new testaments both of which speak
of the church under the figure of a house. The legal term "instru-
ment " was introduced by Tertullian.
• '" Matt. iv. 19. 11 Cf. Ps. civ. 26.
18 Ps. lxiii. 1, 2. is ps, jVi 7 8|
Since you have left Sodom and are hastening
to the mountains, I beseech you with a father's
affection not to look behind you. Your hands
have grasped the handle of the plough,1 the
hem of the Saviour's garment,2 and His locks
wet with the dew of night ; '' do not let them
go. Do not come down from the housetop
of virtue to seek for the clothes which you
wore of old, nor return home from the field.4
Do not like Lot set your heart on the plain
or upon the pleasant gardens ; & for these are
watered not, as the holy land, from heaven but
by Jordan's muddy stream made salt by con-
tact with the Dead Sea.
2. Many begin but few persevere to the
end. " They which run in a race run all, but
one receiveth the crown." 6 But of us on the
other hand it is said : " So run that ye may
obtain." ' Our master of the games is not
grudging ; he does not give the palm to one
and disgrace another. His wish is that all
his athletes may alike win garlands. My soul
rejoices, yet the very greatness of my joy
makes me feel sad. Like Ruth 8 when I try to
speak I burst into tears. Zacchasus, the con-
vert of an hour, is accounted worthy to
receive the Saviour as his guest.9 Martha
and Mary make ready a feast and then wel-
come the Lord to it.10 A harlot washes His
feet with her tears and against His burial
anoints His body with the ointment of good
works.11 Simon the leper invites the Master
with His disciples and is not refused.12 To
Abraham it is said : " Get thee out of thy
country and from thy kindred and from thy
father's house, unto a land that I will shew
thee." 13 He leaves Chaldsea, he leaves Meso-
potamia ; he seeks what he knows not, not to
lose Him whom he has found. He does not
deem it possible to keep both his country and
his Lord ; even at that early day he is already
fulfilling the prophet David's words : " I am
a stranger with thee and a sojourner, as all
my fathers were." 14 He is called " a Hebrew,"
in Greek Ttepdrys, a passer-over, for not con-
tent with present excellence but forgetting
those things which are behind he reaches
forth to that which is before.15 He makes his
own the words of the psalmist : " they shall
go from strength to strength." 10 Thus his
name has a mystic meaning and he has
opened for you a way to seek not your own
things but those of another. You too must
leave your home as he did, and must take for
your parents, brothers, and relations only those
1 Luke ix. 62. 2 Matt. ix. 20. 3 Cant. v. 2.
4 Matt. xxiv. 17, 18. 6 Gen. xiii. 10.
6 Jerome quoting from memory substitutes' crown' for
' prize.'
7 1 Cor. ix. 24. 8 Ruth i. 14. » Luke xix. 5.
10Joh. xii. 2. "Markxiv. 8. »2 Matt. xxvi. 6.
13 Gen. xii. 1. i4 Ps. xxxix. 12.
16 Phil. iii. 13. '• Ps. lxxxiv. 7.
LETTER LXXf.
1*3
who are linked to you in Christ. " Whosoever,"
He says, " shall do the will of my father . . .
the same is my brother and sister and
mother." '
3. You have with you one who was once
your partner in the flesh but is now your
partner in the spirit ; once your wife but now
your sister ; once a woman but now a man ;
once an inferior but now an equal.'1 Under
the same yoke as you she hastens toward the
same heavenly kingdom.
A too careful management of one's income,
a too near calculation of one's expenses — these
are habits not easily laid aside. Yet to escape
the Egyptian woman Joseph had to leave his
garment with her.3 And the young man who
followed Jesus having a linen cloth cast about
him, when he was assailed by the servants had
to throw away his earthly covering and to flee
naked.4 Elijah also when he was carried up
in a chariot of fire to heaven left his mantle of
sheepskin on earth.5 Elisha used for sacrifice
the oxen and the yokes which hitherto he had
employed in his work.6 We read in Eccle-
siasticus : " he that toucheth pitch shall be
defiled therewith."7 As long as we are
occupied with the things of the world, as long
as our soul is fettered with possessions and
revenues, we cannot think freely of God.
"For what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness ? And what communion hath
light with darkness ? And what concord hath
Christ with Belial ? Or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel?"8 " Ye can-
not," the Lord says, " serve God and Mam-
mon." 9 Now the laying aside of money is for
those who are beginners in the way, not for
those who are made perfect. Heathens like
Antisthenes 10 and Crates " the Theban have
done as much before now. But to offer one's
self to God, this is the mark of Christians and
apostles. These like the widow out of their
penury cast their two mites into the treasury,
and giving all that they have to the Lord are
counted worthy to hear his words : "ye also
shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the
twelve tribes of Israel." "
4. You can see for yourself why I mention
these things ; without expressly saying it I
am inviting you to take up your abode at the
holy places. Your abundance has supported
the want of many that some day their riches
may abound to supply your want ; 13 you have
made to yourself " friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness that they may receive you
1 Matt. xii. 50. 3 His wife Theodora.
8 Gen. xxxix. 12. 4 Mark xiv. 51, 52.
6 2 Kings ii. 11, 13. 6 1 Kings xix. 21.
7 Ecclus. xiii. 1. e 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. 8 Matt. vi. 24.
10 A disciple of Socrates, subsequently the founder of the
Cynic School. Fl. 366 B. C.
» See note on Letter LXVI. § 8.
W Matt. xix. 28. ,3 2 Cor. viii. 14.
into everlasting habitations." ' Such conduct
deserves praise and merits to be compared with
the virtue of apostolic times. Then, as you
know, believers sold their possessions and
brought the prices of them and laid them down
at the apostles' feet : 2 a symbolic act designed
to shew that men must trample on covetous-
ness. But the Lord yearns for believers' souls
more than for their riches. We read in the
Proverbs : " the ransom of a man's soul are his
own riches."" We may, indeed, take a man's
own riches to be those which do not come
from some one else, or from plunder ; accord-
ing to the precept : " honour God with thy
just labours." ' But the sense is better if we
understand a man's " own riches " to be those
hidden treasures which no thief can steal and
no robber wrest from him.6
5. As for my poor works which from no
merits of theirs but simply from your own
kindness you say that you desire to have ; I
have given them to your servants to transcribe.
I have seen the paper-copies made by them,
and I have repeatedly ordered them to correct
them by a diligent comparison with the orig-
inals. For so many are the pilgrims passing
to and fro that I have been unable to read so
many volumes. They have found me also
troubled by a long illness from which this Lent
I am slowly recovering as they are leaving me.
If then you find errors or omissions which
interfere with the sense, these you must im-
pute not to me but to your own servants ; they
are due to the ignorance or carelessness of the
copyists, who write down not what they find
but what they take to be the meaning, and do
but expose their own mistakes when they try
to correct those of others. It is a false rumour
which has reached you to the effect that I have
translated the books of Josephus c and the vol-
umes of the holy men Papias 7 and Polycarp."
I have neither the leisure nor the ability to
preserve the charm of these masterpieces in
another tongue. Of Origen9 and Didymus lu
I have translated a few things, to set before
my countrymen some specimens of Greek
teaching. The canon of the Hebrew verity "
— except the octoteuch '" which I have at pres-
ent in hand — I have placed at the disposal of
your slaves and copyists. Doubtless you al-
ready possess the version from the septuagint 13
I Luke xvi. 9. ! Acts iv. 34, 35.
3 Prov. xiii. 8, LXX. 4 Prov. iii. 9, LXX.
6 Cf. Matt. vi. 20. 6 See note on Letter XXII. $ 35.
7 A writer of the sub-apostolic age who had been a disciple of
the apostle John. He was bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia.
8 Another sub-apostolic writer who was also a disciple of
John. He became bishop of Smyrna and underwent martyr-
dom at the age of 86.
» See note on Letter XXXIII.
10 The blind theologian of Alexandria by whose teaching
Jerome had himself profited. See Letter XXXIV. § 3.
I I The old testament as translated direct from the Hebrew.
>a The first eight books.
13 This work Jerome accomplished between the years 383 and
390 A.D. Only the Psalter and Job are extant.
154
JEROME.
which many years ago I diligently revised for
the use of students. The new testament I
have restored to the authoritative form of the
Greek original.1 For as the true text of the
old testament can only be tested by a refer-
ence to the Hebrew, so the true text of the
new requires for its decision an appeal to the
Greek.
6. You ask mc whether you ought to fast
on the Sabbath a and to receive the eucharist
daily according to the custom — as currently re-
ported— of the churches of Rome and Spain;'
Both these points have been treated by the
eloquent Hippolytus,1 and several writers have
collected passages from different authors bear-
ing upon them. The best advice that I can
give you is this. Church-traditions — especially
when they do not run counter to the faith —
are to be observed in the form in which pre-
vious generations have handed them down ;
and the use of one church is not to be annulled
because it is contrary to that of another.5 As
regards fasting, I wish that we could practise
it without intermission as — according to the
Acts of the Apostles 6 — Paul did and the be-
lievers with him even in the season of Pente-
cost and on the Lord's Day. They are not to
be accused of manichseism, for carnal food
ought not to be preferred before spiritual. As
regards the holy eucharist you may receive it
at all times7 without qualm of conscience or
disapproval from me. You may listen to the
psalmist's words : — " O taste and see that the
Lord is good ; " 8 you may sing as he does :
— " my heart poureth forth a good word." 9
But do not mistake my meaning. You are
not to fast on feast-days, neither are you to
abstain on the week days in Pentecost.10 In
such matters each province may follow its own
inclinations, and the traditions which have
been handed down should be regarded as
apostolic laws.
7. You send me two small cloaks and a
sheepskin mantle from your wardrobe and ask
me to wear them myself or to give them to
the poor. In return I send to you and your sis-
ter" in the Lord four small haircloths suitable
1 This task he undertook at the request of pope Damasus in
383 A.D. See Letter XXVII.
5 i.e. on Saturday.
8 At this time the communion was celebrated daily at Con-
stantinople, in Africa, and in Spain. At Rome it was celebrated
on every day of the week except Saturday (the Sabbath). See
Socrates, H. E. v. 22.
* A leading Roman churchman, bishop of Portus. In the early
part of the third century, the rival and enemy of pope Callistus
and author of many theological treatises, one of which— the
Refutation of all Heresies — has recently become famous.
6 Compare the similar advice given by Gregory the Great to
Aupustine of Canterbury (Bede, H. E. x. 27).
• Nothing in the book of Acts bears out this statement.
Fasting at the times mentioned was forbidden in Jerome's day.
Daily if you will and on fast days as well as on feast days.
» Ps. xxxiv. 8. » Ps. xlv. 1, Vulg.
"i.e. the period of fifty days between Easterday and Whit-
sunday. See Letter XLI. § 3.
i' i.t- his wife Theodora.
to your religious profession and to your daily
needs, for they are the mark of poverty and
the outward witness of a continual penitence.
To these I have added a manuscript contain-
ing Isaiah's ten most obscure visions which I
have lately elucidated with a critical com-
mentary. When you look upon these trifles
call to mind the friend in whom you delight
and hasten the voyage which you have for a
time deferred. And because " the way of man
is not in himself" but it is the Lord that
" directeth his steps ; " ' if any hindrance should
interfere — I hope none may — to prevent you
from coming, I pray that distance may not
sever those united in affection and that I may
find my Lucinius present in absence through
an interchange of letters.
LETTER LXXIL
TO VITALIS.
Vitalis had asked Jerome " Is Scripture credible when
it tells us that Solomon and Ahaz became fathers at the
age of eleven ? " The difficulty had previously occurred
to Jerome himself (Letter XXXVI. 10, whence perhaps
Vitalis took it) and in this letter he suggests several
ways in which it may be met. He is quite prepared, if
necessary, to accept the alleged fact on the grounds
that " there are many things in Scripture which sound
incredible and yet are true" and that "nature cannot
resist the Lord of nature " (§ 2). He is disposed, how-
ever, to regard the question as trivial and of no import-
ance. The date of the letter is 398 A.D.
LETTER LXXIII.
TO EVANGELUS.
Evangelus had sent Jerome an anonymous treatise in
which Melchisedek was identified with the Holy Ghost,
and had asked him what he thought of the theory.
Jerome in his reply repudiates the idea as absurd and
insists that Melchisedek was a real man, possibly, as the
Jews said, Shem the eldest son of Noah. The date of
the letter is 398 A.D.
LETTER LXXIV.
TO RUFINUS OF ROME.
Rufinus, a Roman Presbyter (to be carefully dis-
tinguished from Rufinus of Aquileia and Rufinus the
Syrian), had written to Jerome for an explanation of the
judgment of Solomon (1 Kings iii. 16-28). This
Jerome gives at length, treating the narrative as a para-
ble and making the false and true mothers types of the
Synagogue and the Church. The date of the letter is
398 A.D.
LETTER LXXV.
TO THEODORA.
Theodora the wife of the learned Spaniard Lucinius (for
whom see Letter LXXI.) had recently lost her husband,
1 Jer. x. 23.
LETTERS LXXI. LXXV.
155
,1 bereavement which suggested the present letter. In
it Jerome recounts the many virtues of Lucinius and
especially his zeal in resisting the gnostic heresy of
Marcus which during his life was prevalent in Spain.
The date of the letter is 399 A.D.
i. So overpowered am I by the sad intelli-
gence of the falling asleep of the holy and by
me deeply revered Lucinius that I am scarcely
able to dictate even a short letter. I do not,
it is true, lament his fate, for I know that he
has passed to better things : like Moses he
can say : " I will now turn aside and see this
great sight,"1 but I am tormented with regret
that I was not allowed to look upon the face
of one, who was likely, as I believed, in a short
time to come hither. True indeed is the pro-
phetic warning concerning the doom of death
that it divides brothers,2 and with harsh and
cruel hand sunders those whose names are
linked together in the bonds of love. But
we have this consolation that it is slain
by the word of the Lord. For it is said :
" O death, I will be thy plagues ; O grave,
I will be thy destruction," and in the next
verse : " An east wind shall come, the wind
of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness,
and his spring shall become dry, and his foun-
tain shall be dried up."3 For, as Isaiah says,
" there shall come forth a rod out of the stem
of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots " : ' and He says Himself in the Song of
Songs, " I am the rose of Sharon and the lily
of the valley." B Our rose is the destruction
of death, and died that death itself might die
in His dying. But, when it is said that He is
to be brought " from the wilderness," the vir-
gin's womb is indicated, which without sexual
intercourse or impregnation has given to us
God in the form of an infant able to quench
by the glow of the Holy Spirit the fountains
of lust and to sing in the words of the psalm :
" as in a dry and pathless and waterless land,
so have I appeared unto thee in the sanctu-
ary." 6 Thus when we have to face the hard
and cruel necessity of death, we are upheld by
this consolation, that we shall shortly see again
those whose absence we now mourn. For their
end is not called death but a slumber and a
falling asleep. Wherefore also the blessed
apostle forbids us to sorrow concerning them
which are asleep,7 telling us to believe that
those whom we know to sleep now may here-
after be roused from their sleep, and when
their slumber is ended may watch once more
with the saints and sing with the angels : —
" Glory to God in the highest and on earth
peace among men of good will." 8 In heaven
1 Exod. iii. 3.
2 Hos. xiii. 15, Vulg. Quia ipse inter fratres divtdet. AV.
follows the Hebrew.
s Hos. xiii. 14, 15. * Isa. xi. i. Vulg. 6 Cant. ii. 1.
8 Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, Vulg. > 1 Thess. iv. 13. e Luke ii. 14. Vulg.
where there is no sin, there is glory and per-
petual praise and unwearied singing ; but on
earth where sedition reigns, and war and dis-
cord hold sway, peace must be gained by
prayer, and it is to be found not among all
but only among men of good will, who pay
heed to the apostolic salutation : " Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ." ' For "His abode is in
peace and His dwelling place is in Zion," ''
that is, on a watch-tower,3 on a height of doc-
trines and of virtues, in the soul of the be-
liever ; for the angel of this latter daily beholds
the face of God,' and contemplates with un-
veiled face the glory of God.
2. Wherefore, though you are already run-
ning in the way, I urge a willing horse, as the
saying goes, and implore you, while you regret
in your Lucinius a true brother, to rejoice as
well that he now reigns with Christ. For, as
it is written in the book of Wisdom, he was
" taken away lest that wickedness should alter
his understanding . . . for his soul
pleased the Lord . . . and he . . .
in a short time fulfilled a long time." 5 We
may with more right weep for ourselves that
we stand daily in conflict with our sins, that
we are stained with vices, that we receive
wounds, and that we must give account for
every idle word." Victorious now and free
from care he looks down upon you from on
high and supports you in your struggle, nay
more, he prepares for you a place near to him-
self ; for his love and affection towards you are
still the same as when, disregarding his claim
on you as a husband, he resolved to treat you
even on earth as a sister, or indeed I may say
as a brother, for difference of sex while essen-
tial to marriage is not so to a continent tie.
And since even in the flesh, if we are born
again in Christ, we are no longer Greek and
Barbarian, bond and free, male and female,
but are all one in Him,7 how much more true
will this be when this corruptible has put on
incorruption and when this mortal has put on
immortality.8 "In the resurrection," the Lord
tells us, " they neither marry nor are given in
marriage but are as the angels ... in
heaven."9 Now when it is said that they
neither marry nor are given in marriage but
are as the angels in heaven, there is no taking
away of a natural and real body but only an
indication of the greatness of the glory to
come. For the words are not " they shall be
angels" but "they shall be as the angels " :
thus while likeness to the angels is promised
1 Rom. i. 7.
2 Ps. lxxvi. 2. 'Salem " (A.V>, the Hebrew word for peace.
3 See Jerome's Book 0/ Hebrew Nantes § 5. Cf . also Letter
CVIII. §9.
1 Matt, xviii. 10. ■ Wisd. iv. n-14. 9 Matt. xil. 36.
7 Gal. iii. 28. 8 1 Cor. xv, 53. • Matt. xxii. 30.
i$6
JEROME.
identity with them is refused. " They shall
be," Christ tells us, "as the angels," that is
like the angels ; therefore they will not cease
to be human. Glorious indeed they shall be,
and graced with angelic splendour, but they
will still be human ; the apostle Paul will still
be Paul, Mary will still be Mary. Then shall
confusion overtake that heresy ' which holds
out great but vague promises only that it may
take away hopes which are at once modest
and certain.
3. And now that I have once mentioned
the word " heresy," where can I find a trumpet
loud enough to proclaim the eloquence of our
dear Lucinius, who, when the filthy heresy of
Basilides " raged in Spain and like a pestilence
ravaged the provinces between the Pyrenees
and the ocean, upheld in all its purity the faith
of the church and altogether refused to em-
brace Armagil, Barbelon, Abraxas, Balsamum,
and the absurd Leusibora. Such are the por-
tentous names which, to excite the minds of un-
learned men and weak women, they pretend to
draw from Hebrew sources, terrifying the sim-
ple by barbarous combinations which they ad-
mire the more the less they understand them.3
The growth of this heresy is described for us
by Irenseus, bishop of the church of Lyons, a
man of the apostolic times, who was a disciple
of Papias the hearer of the evangelist John.
He informs us that a certain Mark,4 of the
stock of the gnostic Basilides, came in the
first instance to Gaul, that he contaminated
with his teaching those parts of the country
which are watered by the Rhone and the
Garonne, and that in particular he misled by
his errors high-born women ; to whom he
promised certain secret mysteries and whose
affection he enlisted by magic arts and hidden
indulgence in unlawful intercourse. Irena;us
goes on to say that subsequently Mark crossed
the Pyrenees and occupied Spain, making it
his object to seek out the houses of the wealthy,
and in these especially the women, concerning
whom we are told that they are " led away with
divers lusts, ever learning and never able to
come to the knowledge of the truth ." 5 All this
he wrote about three hundred years ago" in the
extremely learned and eloquent books which he
composed under the title Against all heresies.
4. From these facts you in your wisdom
will realize how worthy of praise our dear
Lucinius shewed himself when he shut his
ears that he might not have to hear the judge-
1 Origenism.
5 Probably as revived by Priscillian, who was put to death
385. See Jerome On Illustrious Men, c. 121.
.These terms, the meanings of which are very uncertain, are
either the names of aeons or magical formulas used by the Mar-
taught in the
... error when he
describes him as a disciple of Basilides.
8 2 Tim, iii. 6, 7. c An error for ' two hundred years ago.'
ment passed upon bloodshedders,1 and dis-
persed all his substance and gave to the poor
that his righteousness might endure for ever.2
And not satisfied with bestowing his bounty
upon his own country, he sent to the churches
of Jerusalem and Alexandria gold enough to
alleviate the want of large numbers. But
while many will admire and extol in him this
liberality, I for my part will rather praise him
for his zeal and diligence in the study of the
scriptures. With what eagerness he asked for
my poor works. ! He actually sent six copyists
(for in this province there is a dearth of scribes
who understand Latin) to copy for him all that
I have ever dictated from my youth until the
present time. The honour was not of course
paid to me who am but a little child, the least
of all Christians, living in the rocks near
Bethlehem because I know myself a sinner ;
but to Christ who is honoured in his servants 3
and who makes this promise to them, " He
that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that
receiveth me receiveth him that sent me."4
5. Therefore, my beloved daughter, regard
this letter as the epitaph which love prompts
me to write upon your husband, and if there is
any spiritual work of which you think me to
be capable, boldly command me to undertake
it : that so ages to come may know that He who
says of Himself in Isaiah, " He hath made me
a polished shaft ; in his quiver hath he hid
me," '* has with His sharp arrow so wounded
two men severed by an immense interval of
sea and land, that, although they know each
other not in the flesh, they are knit together
in love in the spirit.
May you be kept holy both in body and
spirit by the Samaritan — that is, saviour and
keeper — of whom it is said in the psalm, " He
that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
sleep."15 May the watcher and the holy one
who came down to Daniel 7 come also to you,
that you too may be able to say, " I sleep but
my heart waketh." 3
LETTER LXXVI.
TO ABIGAUS.
Abigails the recipient of this letter was a blind pres-
byter of Bpetica in Spain. He had asked the help of
Jerome's prayers in his struggles with evil and Jerome
now writes to cheer and to console him. He concludes
his remarks by commending to his especial care the
widow Theodora. The letter should be compared with
that addressed to Castrutius (LXVIII.). It was written
at the same time with the preceding.
1 Is. xxxiii. 15. Jerome's allusion may be to the execution of
Priscillian in 385. Lucinius may have snared the views of Am-
brose and Martin against the shedding of blood.
2 Ps. cxii. 9.
6 Isa. xlix. 2
7 Dan. iv/13.
Hebrew word.
8 Cant. v. 2.
3 Luke ix. 48. * Matt. x. 40.
• Ps. exxi. 4.
Lit. May //if, that is the watcher, Hir being the
LETTERS LXXV.-LXXVIl.
15;
1. Although I am conscious of many sins
and every day pray on bended knees, " Re-
member not the sins of my youth nor my
transgressions,1 yet because I know that it has
been said by the Apostle " let a man not be
lifted up with pride lest he fall into the con-
demnation of the devil,"2 and. that it is writ-
ten in another passage, " God resisteth the
proud but giveth grace to the humble," ;i there
is nothing I have striven so much to avoid
from my boyhood up as a swelling mind and a
stiff neck,4 things which always provoke against
themselves the wrath of God. For I know
that my master and Lord and God has said in
the lowliness of His flesh : " Learn of me ; for
I am meek and lowly in heart," 5 and that be-
fore this He has sung by the mouth of David :
" Lord, remember David and all his gentle-
ness.0 Again we read in another passage,
" Before destruction the heart of man is
haughty ; and before honour is humility." 7 Do
not, then, I implore you, suppose that I have
received your letter and have passed it over
in silence. Do not, I beseech you, lay to my
charge the dishonesty and negligence of which
others have been guilty. For why should
I, when called on to respond to your kind
advances, continue dumb and repel by my
silence the friendship which you offer ? I
who am always forward to seek intimate rela-
tions with the good and even to thrust myself
upon their affection. " Two," we read, " are
better than one .... for if they fall, the
one will lift up his fellow .... a three fold
cord is not quickly broken, and a brother that
helps his brother shall be exalted."* Write
to me, therefore, boldly, and overcome the
effect of absence by frequent colloquies.
2. You should not grieve that you are des-
titute of those bodily eyes which ants, flies,
and creeping things have as well as men ;
rather you should rejoice that you possess that
eye of which it is said in the Song of Songs,
" Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my
spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one
of thine eyes."9 This is the eye with which
God is seen and to which Moses refers when
he says : — " I will now turn aside and see this
great sight." 10 We even read of some philoso-
phers of this world " that they have plucked
out their eyes in order to turn all their thoughts
upon the pure depths of the mind. And a
prophet has said " Death has entered through
your windows." ,a Our Lord too tells the
I Ps. xxv. 7. • 1 Tim. iii. 6. AV. adapted.
8 James iv. 6. 4 Cf . Ps. lxxv. 5. » Matt. xi. 29.
6 Ps. cxxxii. 1, Vulg. AV. has ' afflictions.'
' Prov. xviii. 12.
8 Eccl. iv. 9-12. The last clause is Jerome's own.
s Cant, iv. 9. I0 Ex. iii. 3.
II Cicero ascribes this piece of fanaticism to Democritus and
Metrodorus.
M Jer. ix. 21. LXX.
Apostles : " Whosoever looketh upon a woman
to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart." ' Consequently they
are commanded to lift up their eyes and to
look on the fields, for these are white and
ready for harvest.2
3. You request me by my exhortations to
slay in you Nebuchadnezzar and Rabshakeh
and Nebuzar-adan and Holofernes.3 Were
they alive in you, you would never have
sought my aid. No, they are dead within you,
and you have begun to build up the ruins
of Jerusalem with the help of Zerubbabel and
of Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest,
of Ezra and of Nehemiah. You do not put
your wages into a bag with holes,4 but you
lay upfor yourselves treasures in heaven,5 and
if you seek my friendship, it is because you
believe me to be a servant of Christ.
I commend to you — although she needs
no commendation but her own — my holy
daughter Theodora, formerly the wife or
rather the sister of Lucinius of blessed mem-
ory. Tell her that she must not grow weary
of the path upon which she has entered, and
that she can only reach the Holy Land by
toiling through the wilderness. Warn her
against supposing that the work of virtue is
perfected when she has made her exodus from
Egypt. Remind her that she must pass
through snares innumerable to arrive at mount
Nebo and the River Jordan,0 that she must
receive circumcision anew at Gilgal,7 that
Jericho must fall before her, overthrown by the
blasts of priestly trumpets,8 that Adoni-zedec
must be slain,9 that Ai and Hazor, once fair-
est of cities, must both fall.1"
The brothers who are with me in the mon-
astery salute you, and I through you earnestly
salute those reverend persons who deign to
bestow upon me their regard.
LETTER LXXVII.
TO OCEANUS.
The eulogy of Fabiola whose restless life had come
to an end in 399 A.D. Jerome tells the story of her
sin and of her penitence (for which see Letter LV.), of
the hospital established by her at Portus, of her visit to
Bethlehem, and of her earnestness in the study of scrip-
ture. He relates how he wrote for her his account of
the vestments of the high priest (Letter I>XIV.) and how
at the time of her death he was at her request engaged
upon a commentary on the forty-two halting-places of
the Israelites in the wilderness (Letter LXXIX.). This
last he now sends along with this letter to Oceanus.
Jerome also bestows praise upon Pammachius as the
companion of all Fabiola's labours. The date of the
letter is 399 A.D.
1 Matt. v. 28. 3 Joh. iv. 35.
3 The legendary oppressor of the Jews, whose fate is described
in the Book of Judith.
* Hagg. i. 6. 6 Matt. vi. 20. 6 Nu. xxxiii. 47, 48.
7 Josh. v. 2, 9. 8 Josh. vi. 20.
9 Josh. x. 1, 26. »° Josh, viii., xi. 10,
JEROME.
i. Several years since I consoled the vener-
ated Paula, whilst her affliction was still recent,
for the falling asleep of Blaesilla.1 Four sum-
mers ago I wrote for the bishop Heliodorus
the epitaph of Nepotian, and expended what
ability I possessed in giving expression to my
grief at his loss.2 Only two years have elapsed
since I sent a brief letter to my dear Pamma-
chius on the sudden flitting of his Paulina.3 I
blushed to say more to one so learned or to
give him back his own thoughts : lest I should
seem less the consoler of a friend than the of-
ficious instructor of one already perfect. But
now, Oceanus my son, the duty that you lay
upon me is one that I gladly accept and would
even seek unasked. For when new virtues
have to be dealt with, an old subject itself be-
comes new. In previous cases I have had to
soften and restrain a mother's affection, an
uncle's grief, and a husband's yearning ; ac-
cording to the different requirements of each
I have had to apply from scripture different
remedies.
2. To-day you give me as my theme Fabi-
ola, the praise of the Christians, the marvel of
the gentiles, the sorrow of the poor, and the
consolation of the monks. Whatever point in
her character I choose to treat of first, pales
into insignificance compared with those which
follow after. Shall I praise her fasts ? Her
alms are greater still. Shall I commend her
lowliness ? The glow of her faith is yet
brighter. Shall I mention her studied plain-
ness in dress, her voluntary choice of plebeian
costume and the garb of a slave that she might
put to shame silken robes ? To change one's
disposition is a greater achievement than to
change one's dress. It is harder for us to part
with arrogance than with gold and gems. For,
even though we throw away these, we plume
ourselves sometimes on a meanness that is
really ostentatious, and we make a bid with a
saleable poverty for the popular applause.
But a virtue that seeks concealment and is
cherished in the inner consciousness appeals
to no judgement but that of God. Thus the
eulogies which I have to bestow upon Fabiola
will be altogether new : I must neglect the
order of the rhetoricians and begin all I have
to say only from the cradle of her conversion
and of her penitence. Another writer, mind-
ful of the school, would perhaps bring forward
Quintus Maximus, " the man who by delaying
rescued Rome," ' and the whole Fabian family ;
he would describe their struggles and battles
and would exult that Fabiola had come to us
through a line so noble, shewing that qualities
not apparent in the branch still existed in the
root. But as I am a lover of the inn at Beth-
' Letter XXXIX.
3 Letter LXVI.
3 Letter LX.
4 Ennius,
lehem and of the Lord's stable in which the
virgin travailed with and gave birth to an in-
fant God, I shall deduce the lineage of Christ's
handmaid not from a stock famous in history
but from the lowliness of the church.
3. And because at the very outset there is
a rock in the patft and she is overwhelmed by
a storm of censure, for having forsaken her
first husband and having taken a second, I
will not praise her for her conversion till I
have first cleared her of this charge. So ter-
rible then were the faults imputed to her for-
mer husband that not even a prostitute or a
common slave could have put up with them.
If I were to recount them, I should undo the
heroism of the wife who chose to bear the
blame of a separation rather than to blacken
the character and expose the stains of him
who was one body with her. I will only
urge this one plea which is sufficient to exon-
erate a chaste matron and a Christian woman.
The Lord has given commandment that a wife
must not be put away "except it be for forni-
cation, and that, if put away, she must remain
unmarried." ] Now a commandment which
is given to men logically applies to women
also. For it cannot be that, while an adulter-
ous wife is to be put away, an incontinent
husband is to be retained. The apostle says :
"he which is joined to an harlot is one body." 2
Therefore she also who is joined to a Avhore-
monger and unchaste person is made one body
with him. The laws of Caesar are different, it
is true, from the laws of Christ : Papinianus a
commands one thing ; our own Paul another.
Earthly laws give a free rein to the unchastity
of men, merely condemning seduction and
adultery ; lust is allowed to range unrestrained
among brothels and slave girls, as if the guilt
were constituted by the rank of the person
assailed and not by the purpose of the assail-
ant. But with us Christians what is unlawful
for women is equally unlawful for men, and
as both serve the same God both are bound
by the same obligations. Fabiola then has
put away — they are quite right — a husband
that was a sinner, guilty of this and that crime,
sins — I have almost mentioned their names —
with which the whole neighbourhood resounded
but which the wife alone refused to disclose.
If however it is made a charge against her
that after repudiating her husband she did
not continue unmarried, I readily admit this
to have been a fault, but at the same time de-
clare that it may have been a case of necessity.
" It is better," the apostle tells us, "to marry
than to burn." ' She was quite a young
1 Matt, xix. q. 1 Cor. vii. 11. 3 1 Cor. vi. 16.
3 A Roman jurist of great renown who held high legal office
first under Marcus Aurelius and afterwards under Severus. He
was put to death by Caracalla.
4 1 Cor, vii. 9.
LETTER LXXVIi.
159
woman, she was not able to continue in wid-
owhood. In the words of the apostle she
saw another law in her members warring
against the law of her mind ; ' she felt herself
dragged in chains as a captive towards the in-
dulgences of wedlock. Therefore she thought
it better openly to confess her weakness and
to accept the semblance of an unhappy mar-
riage than, with the name of a monogamist,
to ply the trade of a courtesan. The same
apostle wills that the younger widows should
marry, bear children, and give no occasion to
the adversary to speak reproachfully." And
he at once goes on to explain his wish : " for
some are already turned aside after Satan." 3
Fabiola therefore was fully persuaded in her
own mind : she thought she had acted legiti-
mately in putting away her husband, and that
when she had done so she was free to marry
again. She did not know that the rigour of
the gospel takes away from women all pre-
texts for re-marriage so long as their former
husbands are alive ; and not knowing this,
though she contrived to evade other assaults
of the devil, she at this point unwittingly
exposed herself to a wound from him.
4. But why do I linger over old and forgot-
ten matters, seeking to excuse a fault for which
Fabiola has herself confessed her penitence ?
Who would believe that, after the death of her
second husband at a time when most widows,
having shaken off the yoke of servitude, grow
careless and allow themselves more liberty
than ever, frequenting the baths; flitting
through the streets, shewing their harlot faces
everywhere ; that at this time Fabiola came to
herself ? Yet it was then that she put on sack-
cloth to make public confession of her error.
It was then that in the presence of all Rome (in
the basilica which formerly belonged to that
Lateranus who perished by the sword of Csesar 4)
she stood in the ranks of the penitents and ex-
posed before bishop, presbyters, and people —
all of whom wept when they saw her weep —
her dishevelled hair, pale features, soiled hands
and unwashed neck. What sins would such
a penance fail to purge away ? What in-
grained stains would such tears be unable to
wash out ? By a threefold confession Peter
blotted out his threefold denial/' If Aaron
committed sacrilege by fashioning molten
gold into the head of a calf, his brother's
prayers made amends for his transgressions.6
If holy David, meekest of men, committed
the double sin of murder and adultery, he
atoned for it by a fast of seven days. He
1 Rom. vii. 23. 2 1 Tim. v. 14. » 1 Tim. v. 15.
* A senator who having conspired against Nero was by that
emperor put to death. His palace on the .(Elian Hill was long
af terwards bestowed by Constantine upon pope Silvester who
made it a church which it has ever since remained.
6 Joh. xviii. 15-27 : xxi. 15-17. * Ex. xxxii. 30-35.
lay upon the earth, he rolled in the ashes,
he forgot his royal power, he sought for light
in the darkness.1 And then, turning his eyes
to that God whom he had so deeply offended,
he cried with a lamentable voice : " Against
thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this
evil in thy sight," and " Restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy
free spirit."2 He who by his virtues teaches
me how to stand and not to fall, by his peni-
tence teaches me how, if I fall, I may rise
again. Among the kings do we read of any
so wicked as Ahab, of whom the scripture
says : "there was none like unto Ahab which
did sell himself to work wickedness in the
sight of the Lord" ?3 For shedding Naboth's
blood Elijah rebuked him, and the prophet
denounced God's wrath against him : " Hast
thou killed and also taken possession ? . . .
behold I will bring evil upon thee and will
take away thy posterity " 4 and so on. Yet
when Ahab heard these words " he rent his
clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and
fasted ... in sackcloth, and went softly." b
Then came the word of God to Elijah the
Tishbite saying : " Seest thou how Ahab
humbleth himself before me ? Because he
humbleth himself before me, I will not bring
the evil in his days."0 O happy penitence
which has drawn down upon itself the eyes of
God, and which has by confessing its error
changed the sentence of God's anger ! The
same conduct is in the Chronicles 7 attributed
to Manasseh, and in the book of the prophet
Jonah ° to Nineveh, and in the gospel to the
publican.9 The first of these not only was al-
lowed to obtain forgiveness but also recovered
his kingdom, the second broke the force of
God's impending wrath, while the third, smit-
ing his breast with his hands, " would not lift
up so much as his eyes to heaven." Yet for
all that the publican with his humble confes-
sion of his faults went back justified far more
than the Pharisee with his arrogant boasting
of his virtues. This is not however the place
to preach penitence, neither am I writing
against Montanus and Novatus.10 Else would
I say of it that it is " a sacrifice . . . well pleas-
ing to God," n I would cite the words of the
psalmist : " the sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit," !2 and those of Ezekiel " I prefer the
repentance of a sinner rather than his death," "
and those of Baruch, " Arise, arise, O Jerusa-
lem," 14 and many other proclamations made
by the trumpets of the prophets.
« 2 Sam. xii. 16. 3 Ps. li. 4, 12. 3 1 Kings xxi. 25.
* i K. xxi. 19, 21. 6 1 K. xxi. 27.
• 1 K. xxi. 28, 29. T 2 Chr. xxxiii. 12, 13.
8 Jon. iii. 5-10. ' Luke xviii. 13.
10 Rigourists who denied the power of the Church to absolve
persons who had fallen into sin.
u Ph. iv. 18. '• Ps. li. 17.
13 Cf. Ezek. xviii. 23. li Bar. v. 5, cf. Isa. lx. 1,
100
JEROME.
5. But this one thing I will say, for it is at
once useful to my readers and pertinent to my
present theme. As Fabiola was not ashamed
of the Lord on earth, so He shall not be
ashamed of her in heaven.1 She laid bare
her wound to the gaze of all, and Rome beheld
with tears the disfiguring scar which marred
her beauty. She uncovered her limbs, bared
her head, and closed her mouth. She no
longer entered the church of God but, like
Miriam the sister of Moses," she sat apart with-
out the camp, till the priest who had cast her
out should himself call her back. She came
down like the daughter of Babylon from the
throne of her daintiness, she took the mill-
stones and ground meal, she passed bare-
footed through rivers of tears.3 She sat upon
the coals of fire, and these became her aid.4
That face by which she had once pleased her
second husband she now smote with blows ;
she hated jewels, shunned ornaments and
could not bear to look upon fine linen.0 In
fact she bewailed the sin she had committed as
bitterly as if it had been adultery, and went to
the expense of many remedies in her eager-
ness to cure her one wound.
6. Having found myself aground in the
shallows of Fabiola's sin, I have dwelt thus
long upon her penitence in order that I might
open up a larger and quite unimpeded space
for the description of her praises. Restored
to communion before the eyes of the whole
church, what did she do ? In the day of
prosperity she was not forgetful of affliction ; 6
and, having once suffered shipwreck she was
unwilling again to face the risks of the sea.
Instead therefore of re-embarking on her old
life, 'she broke up 7 and sold all that she could
lay hands on of her property (it was large and
suitable to her rank), and turning it into
money she laid out this for the benefit of the
poor. She was the first person to found a
hospital, into which she might gather suf-
ferers out of the streets, and where she might
nurse the unfortunate victims of sickness and
want. Need I now recount the various ailments
of human beings ? Need I speak of noses slit,
eyes put out, feet half burnt, hands covered
with sores ? Or of limbs dropsical and atro-
phied ? Or of diseased flesh alive with worms ?
Often did she carry on her own shoulders
persons infected with jaundice or with filth.
Often too did she wash away the matter dis-
charged from wounds which others, even
though men, could not bear to look -at. She
gave food to her patients with her own hand,
and moistened the scarce breathing lips of
the dying with sips of liquid. I know of
» Luke ix. 26. 2Nu.xii.t4. 3 Isa. xlvii. 1, 2.
4 lsa. xlvn. 14, Vulg. » Linteamina. « Ecclus. xi. 25.
7 pilapidare, vendre pierre a pierre— Goelzer.
many wealthy and devout persons who, un-
able to overcome their natural repugnance
to such sights, perform this work of mercy
by the agency of others, giving money in-
stead of personal aid. I do not blame them
and am far from construing their weakness of
resolution into a want of faith. While how-
ever I pardon such squeamishness, I extol to
the skies the enthusiastic zeal of a mind that
is above it. A great faith makes little of such
trifles. But I know how terrible was the
retribution which fell upon the proud mind
of the rich man clothed in purple for not
having helped Lazarus.1 The poor wretch
whom we despise, whom we cannot so much
as look at, and the very sight of whom turns
our stomachs, is human like ourselves, is made
of the same clay as we are, is formed out of
the same elements. All that he suffers we too
may suffer. Let us then regard his wounds
as though they were our own, and then all
our insensibility to another's suffering will
give way before our pity for ourselves.
Not with a hundred tongues or throat of bronze
Could I exhaust the forms of fell disease s
which Fabiola so wonderfully alleviated in
the suffering poor that many of the healthy
fell to envying the sick. However she showed
the same liberality towards the clergy and
monks and virgins. Was there a monastery
which was not supported by Fabiola's wealth ?
Was there a naked or bedridden person who
was not clothed with garments supplied by
her ? Were there ever any in want to whom
she failed to give a quick and unhesitating
supply ? Even Rome was not wide enough
for her pity. Either in her own person or else
through the agency of reverend and trust-
worthy men she went from island to island
and carried her bounty not only round the
Etruscan Sea, but throughout the district of
the Volscians, as it stands along those se-
cluded and winding shores where communi-
ties of monks are to be found.
7. Suddenly she made up her mind, against
the advice of all her friends, to take ship and
to come to Jerusalem. Here she was welcomed
by a large concourse of people and for a short
time took advantage of my hospitality. In-
deed, when I call to mind our meeting, I seem
to see her here now instead of in the past.
Blessed Jesus, what zeal, what earnestness
she bestowed upon the sacred volumes ! In
her eagerness to satisfy what was a veritable
craving she would run through Prophets,
Gospels, and Psalms : she would suggest
questions and treasure up the answers in the
desk of her own bosom. And yet this eager-
1 Luke xvi. 19-24.
3 Virg, JEn. vi. 625-627.
LETTER LXXVII.
161
r.css to hear did not bring with it any feeling
of satiety : increasing her knowledge she also
increased her sorrow,1 and by casting oil upon
the flame she did but supply fuel for a still
more burning zeal. One day we had before
us the book of Numbers written by Moses,
and she modestly questioned me as to the
meaning of the great mass of names there to be
found. Why was it, she inquired, that single
tribes were differently associated in this passage
and in that, how came it that the soothsayer
Balaam in prophesying of the future mysteries
of Christ" spoke more plainly of Him than al-
most any other prophet ? I replied as best I
could and tried to satisfy her enquiries. Then
unrolling the book still farther she came to the
passage s. in which is given the list of all the
halting-places by which the people after leav-
ing Egypt made its way to the waters of
Jordan. And when she asked me the meaning
and reason of each of these, I spoke doubt-
fully about some, dealt with others in a tone
of assurance, and in several instances simply
confessed my ignorance. Hereupon she be-
gan to press me harder still, expostulating
with me as though it were a thing unallowable
that I should be ignorant of what I did
not know, yet at the same time affirming. her
own unworthiness to understand mysteries so
deep. In a word I was ashamed to refuse
her request and allowed her to extort from me
a promise that I would devote a special work
to this subject for her use. Till the present
time I have had to defer the fulfilment of my
promise : as I now perceive, by the Will of
God in order that it should be consecrated to
her memory. As in a previous work 4 I clothed
her with the priestly vestments, so in the pages
of the present & she may rejoice that she has
passed through the wilderness of this world
and has come at last to the land of promise.
8. But let me continue the task which I
have begun. Whilst I was in search of a suit-
able dwelling for so great a lady, whose only
conception of the solitary life included a place
of resort like Mary's inn ; suddenly messen-
gers flew this way and that and the whole East
was terror-struck. For news came that the
hordes of the Huns had poured forth all the
way from Maeotis0 (they had their haunts
between the icy Tanais7 and the rude Massa-
getaj " where the gates of Alexander keep
back the wild peoples behind the Caucasus) ;
and that, speeding hither and thither on their
nimble-footed horses, they were filling all the
world with panic and bloodshed. The Ro-
man army was absent at the time, being de-
1 Eccl. i. 18 2 Nu. xxiv. 15-19.
3 Nu. xxxiii. 4 Letter LXIV.
6 Letter LXXVIII. on the Mansions or Halting-places of Is-
rael in the Desert.
0 The Sea of Azov. 7 The Don.
8 An Asiatic tribe to the East of the Caspian Sea.
tained in Italy on account of the civil wars.
Of these Huns Herodotus ' tells us that under
Darius King of the Medes they held the East
in bondage for twenty years and that from the
Egyptians and Ethiopians they exacted a
yearly tribute. May Jesus avert from the
Roman world the farther assaults of these
wild beasts ! Everywhere their approach was
unexpected, they outstripped rumour in speed,
and, when they came, they spared neither re-
ligion nor rank nor age, even for wailing in-
fants they had no pity. Children were forced
to die before it could be said that they had
begun to live ; and little ones not realizing
their miserable fate might be seen smiling in
the hands and at the weapons of their enemies.
It was generally agreed that the goal of the
invaders was Jerusalem and that it was their
excessive desire for gold which made them
hasten to this particular city. Its walls uncared
for in time of peace were accordingly put in
repair. Antioch was in a state of siege. Tyre,
desirous of cutting itself off from the land,
sought once more its ancient island. We too
were compelled to man our ships and to lie off
the shore as a precaution against the arrival of
our foes. No matter how hard the winds
might blow, we could not but dread the bar-
barians more than shipwreck. It was not,
however, so much for our own safety that we
were anxious as for the chastity of the virgins
who were with us. Just at that time also there
was dissension among us,2 and our intestine
struggles threw into the shade our battle with
the barbarians. I myself clung to my long-
settled abode in the East and gave way to my
deep-seated love for the holy places. Fabiola,
used as she was to moving from city to city
and having no other property but what her
baggage contained, returned to her native
land ; to live in poverty where she had once
been rich, to lodge in the house of another,
she who in old days had lodged many guests
in her own, and — not unduly to prolong my
account — to bestow upon the poor before the
eyes of Rome the proceeds of that property
which Rome knew her to have sold.
9. This only do I lament that in her the
holy places lost a necklace of the loveliest.
Rome recovered what it had previously parted
with, and the wanton and slanderous tongues
of the heathen were confuted by the testimony
of their own eyes. Others may commend her
pity, her humility, her faith : I will rather
praise her ardour of soul. The letter 3 in
which as a young man I once urged Helio-
dorus to the life of a hermit she knew by heart,
1 Hdt. i. 106. (of the Scythians).
2 The Origenistic controversy in which Jerome, Paula and
Epiphanius took one side, John bishop of JerusalemvRufinus,
and Melania the other.
s Letter XIV.
1 6:
JEROME.
and whenever she looked upon the walls of
Rome she complained that she was in a prison.
Forgetful of her sex, unmindful of her frailty,
and&only desiring to be alone she was in fact
there ' where her soul lingered. The counsels
of her friends could not hold her back ; so
eager was she to burst from the city as from a
place of bondage. Nor did she leave the
distribution of her alms to others ; she distrib-
uted them herself. Her wish was that, after
equitably dispensing her money to the poor,
she might herself find support from others for
the sake of Christ. In such haste was she and so
impatient of delay that you would fancy her on
the eve of her departure. As she was always
ready, death could not find her unprepared.
10. As I pen her praises, my dear Pamrna-
chius seems suddenly to rise before me. His
wife Paulina sleeps that he may keep vigil;
she has gone before her husband that he re-
maining behind may be Christ's servant. Al-
though he was his wife's heir, others — I
mean the poor — are now in possession of his
inheritance. He and Fabiola contended for
the privilege of setting up a tent like that
of Abraham2 at Portus. The contest which
arose between them was for the supremacy
in shewing kindness. Each conquered and
each was overcome. Both admitted them-
selves to be at once victors and vanquished ;
for what each had desired to effect alone
both accomplished together. They united
their resources and combined their plans that
harmony might forward what rivalry must
have brought to nought. No sooner was the
scheme broached than it was carried out. A
house was purchased to serve as a shelter,
and a crowd flocked into it. " There was no
more travail in Jacob nor distress in Israel." 3
The seas carried voyagers to find a welcome
here on landing. Travellers left Rome in haste
to take advantage of the mild coast before set-
ting sail. What Publius once did in the island
of Malta for one apostle and — not to leave
room for gainsaying — for a single ship's crew,4
Fabiola and Pammachius have done over and
over again for large numbers ; and not only
have they supplied the wants of the destitute,
but so universal has been their munificence
that they have provided additional means for
those who have something already. The
whole world knows that a home for strangers
has been established at Portus ; and Britain
has learned in the summer what Egypt and
Parthia knew in the spring.
ii. In the death of this noble lady we have
seen a fulfilment of the apostle's words : —
" All things work together for good to them
that fear God." ' Having a presentiment of
what would happen, she had written to several
monks to come and release her from the
burthen under which she laboured ;'"' for she
wished to make to herself friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness that they might
receive her into everlasting habitations.3 They
came to her and she made them her friends; she
fell asleep in the way that she had wished, and
having at last laid aside her burthen she
soared more lightly up to heaven. How great
a marvel Fabioka had been to Rome while she
lived came out in the behaviour of the people
now that she was dead. Hardly had she
breathed her last breath, hardly had she given
back her soul to Christ whose it was when
Flying Rumour heralding the woe4
gathered the entire city to attend her ob-
sequies. Psalms were chaunted and the gilded
ceilings of the temples were shaken with up-
lifted shouts of Alleluia.
The choirs of young and old extolled her deeds
And sang the praises of her holy soul."
Her triumph was more glorious far than those
won by Furius over the Gauls, by Papirius
oves the Samnites, by Scipio over Numantia,
by Pompey over Pontus. They had conquered
physical force, she had mastered spiritual in-
iquities." I seem to hear even now the squad-
rons which led the van of the procession,
and the sound of the feet of the multitude
which thronged in thousands to attend her
funeral. The streets, porches, and roofs from
which a view could be obtained were inade-
quate to accommodate the spectators. On
that day Rome saw all her peoples gathered
together in one, and each person present
flattered himself that he had some part in the
glory of her penitence. No wonder indeed
that men should thus exult in the salvation of
one at whose conversion there was joy among
the angels in heaven.7
12. I give you this, Fabiola,8 the best gift
of my aged powers, to be as it were a funeral
offering. Oftentimes have I praised virgins
and widows and married women who have
kept their garments always white ' and who
follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.10
Happy indeed is she in her encomium who
throughout her life has been stained by no
defilement. But let envy depart and cen-
soriousness be silent. If the father of the
house is good why should our eye be evil ? :1
The soul which fell among thieves has been
1 i.e. in the desert where many women lived as solitaries.
a Like that in which Abraham entertained the angels. See
Letter LX VI. ii.
sNum, xxiii. :i, LXX. <Actsxxviii, 7.
I Rom. viii. 28: note that Jerome substitutes l fear ' for ' love.'
- The remnant of her fortune. 3 Luke xvi. 9.
4 Virg. A. xi. 139. 6 Virg. A. viii. 287, 288.
II Eph. vi. 12. 7 Luke xv. 7, 10.
" i.e. Letter LXXVIII. q. v. « Eccl. ix. 8 ; Rev. iii. 4.
lu Rev, xiv. 4. " Matt. xx. 15.
LETTERS LXXVII.— LXXIX.
163
carried home upon the shoulders of Christ.'
In our father's house are many mansions.2
Where sin hath abounded, grace hath much
more abounded.3 To whom more is forgiven
the same loveth more.4
LETTER LXXVIII.
TO FABIOLA.
A treatise on the Forty-two Mansions or Halting-
places of the Israelites, originally intended for Fabiola
but not completed until after her death. Sent to Oceanus
along with the preceding letter. These Mansions are
made an emblem of the Christian's pilgrimage, the true
Hebrew hastening to pass from earth to heaven.
LETTER LXXIX.
TO SALVINA.
A letter of consolation addressed by Jerome to Sal-
vina (a lady of the imperial court) on the death of her
husband Nebridius. After excusing his temerity in
addressing a complete stranger Jerome eulogizes the
\irtues of Nebridius, particularly his chastity and his
bounty to the poor. He next warns Salvina (in no
courtier-like terms) of the dangers that will beset her
as a widow and recommends her to devote all her
energies to the careful training of the son and daughter
who are now her principal charge. The tone of the
letter is somewhat arrogant and it can hardly be re-
garded as one of Jerome's happiest efforts. Salvina, how-
ever, consecrated her life to deeds of piety, and became
one of Chrysostom's deaconesses. Its date is 400 A.D.
i. My desire to do my duty may, I fear,
expose me to a charge of self-seeking ; and
although I do but follow the example of Him
who said: "learn of me for I am meek and
lowly of heart," '" the course that I am taking
may be attributed to a desire for notoriety.
Men may say that I am not so much trying
to console a widow in affliction as endeavouring
to creep into the imperial court ; and that,
while I make a pretext of offering comfort, I
am really seeking the friendship of the great.
Clearly this will not be the opinion of any one
who knows the commandment: " thou shalt not
respect the person of the poor,"0 a precept given
lest under pretext of shewing pity we should
judge unjust judgment. For each individual
is to be judged not by his personal importance
but by the merits of his case. His wealth
need not stand in the way of the rich man, if
he makes a good use of it ; and poverty can
be no recommendation to the poor if in the
midst of squalor and want he fails to keep
clear of wrong doing. Proofs of these things
are not wanting either in scriptural times or
our own ; for Abraham, in spite of his im-
mense wealth, was " the friend of God " 7 and
poor men are daily arrested and punished for
their crimes by law. She whom I now ad-
1 Luke x. 30; xv. 5. 2 Joh. xiv. 2.
s Rom. v. 20. * Luke vii. 47. 6 Matt. xi. 29.
8 Lev. xix. 15. 7 Isa. xli. 8: Jas. ii. 23.
dress is both rich and poor so that she cannot
say what she actually has. For it is not of
her purse that I am speaking but of the pur-
ity of her soul. I do not know her face but
I am well acquainted with her virtues ; for
report speaks well of her and her youth makes
her chastity all the more commendable. By
her grief for her young husband she has set an
example to all wives ; and by her resignation
she has proved that she believes him not lost
but gone before. The greatness of her bereave-
ment has brought out the reality of her religion.
For while she forgets her lost Nebridius, she
knows that in Christ he is with her still.
But why do I write to one who is a stranger
to me ? For three reasons. First, because
(as a priest is bound to do) I love all Chris-
tians as my children and find my glory in pro-
moting their welfare. Secondly because the
father of Nebridius was bound to me by the
closest ties.1 Lastly — and this is a stronger
reason than the others — because I have failed
to say no to my son Avitus.2 With an impor-
tunacy surpassing that of the widow towards
the unjust judge 3 he wrote to me so frequently
and put before me so many instances in which
I had previously dealt with a similar theme,
that he overcame my modest reluctance and
made me resolve to do not what would best
become me but what would most nearly meet
his wishes.
2. As the mother of Nebridius was sister to
the empress 4 and as he was brought up in the
bosom of his aunt, another might perhaps praise
him for having so much endeared himself to the
unvanquished emperor. Theodosius, indeed,
procured him from Africa a wife of the highest
rank,5 who, as her native land at this time was
distracted by civil wars, became a kind of host-
age for its loyalty. I ought to say at the very
outset that Nebridius seems to have had a pre-
sentiment that he would die early. For amid
the splendour of the palace and in the high
positions to which his rank and not his years
entitled him he lived always as one who be-
lieved that he must soon go to meet Christ.
Of Cornelius, the centurion of the Italian band,
the sacred narrative tells us that God so fully
accepted him as to send to him an angel ; and
that this angel told him that to his merit was
due the mystery whereby Peter from the nar-
row limits of the circumcision was conveyed
to the wide field of the uncircumcision. He
was the first Gentile baptized by the apostle,
and in him the Gentiles were set apart to sal-
vation. Now of this man it is written : " there
1 Also named Nebridius, Prefect of Gaul, then of the East.
2 See letter CXXIV. 3 Luke xviii. 1-5.
* JEUa Flaccilla, the wife of Theodosius who is here called
" the unvanquished emperor."
6 Salvina was the daughter of Gildo who at the time was tnb>
utary king of Mauritania.
164
JEROME.
was a certain man in Csesarea called Cornelius,
a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
a devout man and one that feared God with
all his house, which gave much alms to the
people, and prayed to God alvvay." ' All this
that is said of him I claim — with a change of
name only — for my dear Nebridius. So " de-
vout " was this latter and so enamoured of
chastity that at his marriage he was still pure.
So truly did he " fear God with all his house "
that forgetting his high position he spent all
his time with monks and clergymen. So
profuse were the alms which he gave to the
people that his doors were continually beset
with swarms of sick and poor. And assuredly
he " prayed to God alvvay " that what was for
the best might happen to him. Therefore
" speedily was he taken away lest that wicked-
ness should alter his understanding . . .
for his soul pleased the Lord." a Thus I may
truthfully apply to him the apostle's words :
" Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons : but in every nation he that fear-
eth Him and worketh righteousness, is accepted
with Him."3 iVs a soldier Nebridius took no
harm from his cloak and sword-belt and troops
of orderlies ; for while he wore the uniform of
the emperor he was enlisted in the service of
God. On the other hand nothing is gained by
men who while they affect coarse mantles, som-
bre tunics, dirt, and poverty, belie by their deeds
their lofty pretensions. Of another centurion
we find in the gospel this testimony from our
Lord : — " I have not found so great faith, no
not in Israel." * And, to go back to earlier
times, we read of Joseph who gave proof of
his integrity both when he was in want and
when he was rich, and who inculcated freedom
of soul both as slave and as lord. He was
made next to Pharaoh and invested with the
emblems of royalty ; '' yet so dear was he to
God that, alone of all the patriarchs, he be-
came the father of two tribes.0 Daniel and
the three children were set over the affairs of
Babylon and were numbered among the princes
of the state ; yet although they wore the dress
of Nebuchadnezzar, in their hearts they served
God. Mordecai also and Esther amid purple
and silk and jewels overcame pride with hu-
mility ; and although captives were so highly
esteemed as to be able to impose commands
upon their conquerors.
3. These remarks are intended to shew that
the youth of whom I speak used his kinship
to the royal family, his abundant wealth, and
the outward tokens of power, as helps to vir-
tue. For, as the preacher says, " wisdom is a
defence and money is a defence " ' also. We
1 Acts x. 1, 2.
4 Mate. viii. 10.
6 Gen. xli. 50-52.
1 Wisdom iv. 11, 14. 3 Acts x. 34, 35.
a Gen. xli. 42-44.
7 Eccl. vii. 12.
must not hastily conclude that this statement
conflicts with that of the Lord : "verily I say
unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter
into the kingdom of heaven ; and again I say
unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to en-
ter into the kingdom of heaven." ' Were it so,
the salvation of Zacchaeus the publican, de-
scribed in scripture as a man of great wealth,
would contradict the Lord's declaration. But
that what is impossible with men is possible
with God " we are taught by the counsel of the
apostle who thus writes to Timothy : — " charge
them that are rich in this world that they be
not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God who giveth us richly all
things to enjoy, that they do good, that they
be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate, laying up in store for
themselves a good foundation against the time
to come that they may lay hold on the true
life." 3 We have learned how a camel can
pass through a needle's eye, how an animal
with a hump on its back/ when it has laid
down its packs, can take to itself the wings of
a dove ° and rest in the branches of the tree
which has grown from a grain of mustard
seed." In Isaiah we read of camels, the
dromedaries of Midian and Ephah and Sheba,
which carry gold and incense to the city of
the Lord.7 On like typical camels the Ish-
maelitish merchantmen e bring down to the
Egyptians perfume and incense and balm (of
the kind that grows in Gilead good for the
healing of wounds 9) ; and so fortunate are
they that in the purchase and sale of Joseph
they have for their merchandise the Saviour
of the world.10 And ^Esop's fable tells us of
a mouse which after eating its fill can no
longer creep out as before it crept in."
4. Daily did my dear Nebridius revolve the
words : "they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare " of the devil " and
into many lusts." 12 All the money that the
Emperor's bounty gave him or that his badges
of office procured him he laid out for the bene-
fit of the poor. For he knew the command-
ment of the Lord : " If thou wilt be perfect go
and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor,
and come and follow me." 13 And because he
could not literally fulfil these directions, hav-
ing a wife and little children and a large
household, he made to himself friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness that they might
receive him into everlasting habitations." He
I Matt. xix. 23, 24. 2 Mark x. 27.
3 1 Tim. vi. 17-19 : AV. has " eternal life " in the last verse.
4 Animal tortuosum. The epithet recurs in Letter CVII. § 3.
0 Ps. Iv. 6. ° Matt. xiii. 31, 32. 7 Isa. lx. 6.
B Gen. xxxvii. 25. 9 Jer. viii. 22.
10 So the Vulgate renders Zaphnath-Paaneah the name given
to Joseph by Pharaoh. (Gen. xli. 45).
II Horace, Epist. I. vii. 30. 31. ,2 1 Tim. vi. 9.
13 Matt, xjx ,21, 1* Luke xvi. 9.
LETTER LXXIX.
165
did not once for all cast away his brethren, as
did the apostles who forsook father and nets
and ship,1 but by an equality he ministered to
the want of others out of his own abundance
that afterwards their wealth might be a sup-
ply for his own want.2 The lady to whom this
letter is addressed knows that what I narrate
is only known to me by hearsay, but she is
aware also that I am no Greek writer repay-
ing with flattery some benefit conferred upon
me. Far be such an imputation from all Chris-
tians. Having food and raiment we are there-
with content.3 Where there is cheap cabbage
and household bread, a sufficiency to eat and
a sufficiency to drink, these riches are super-
fluous and no place is left for flattery with its
sordid calculations. You may conclude there-
fore that, where there is no motive to tell a
falsehood, the testimony given is true.
5. It must not, however, be supposed that I
praise Nebridius only for his liberality in alms-
giving, although we are taught the great im-
portance of this in the words : " water will
quench a flaming fire ; and alms maketh an
atonement for sins." 4 I will pass on now to
his other virtues each one of which is to be
found but in few men. Who ever entered the
furnace of the King of Babylon without being
burned ? 6 Was there ever a young man whose
garment his Egyptian mistress did not seize ? c
Was there ever a eunuch's 7 wife contented
with a childless marriage bed ? Is there any
man who is not appalled by the struggle of
which the apostle says : " I see another law
in my members warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members ? " 8
But wonderful to say Nebridius, though bred
up in a palace as a companion and fellow
pupil of the Augusti9 (whose table is supplied
by the whole world and ministered to by land
and sea) ; Nebridius, I say, though in the midst
of abundance and in the flower of his age,
shewed himself more modest than a girl and
never gave occasion, even the slightest, for
scandalous rumours. Again though he was
the friend, companion, and cousin of princes
and had been educated along with them — a
thing which makes even strangers intimate —
he did not allow pride to inflate him or frown
with contempt upon others who were less for-
tunate than he : no, he was kind to all, and
while he loved the princes as brothers he re-
vered them as sovereigns. He used to avow
that his own health and safety were dependent
upon theirs. Their attendants and all those
officers of the palace who by their numbers
1 Matt. iv. 18-22. 2 2 Cor. viii. 14. 3 1 Tim. vi. 8.
4 Ecclus. iii. 30. 5 Cf. Dan. iii. 25. 6 Gen. xxxix. 12.
7 The allusion is to the word ''officer" in Gen. xxxvii. 36.
See AV. margin.
8 Rom. vii. 23. 9 Arcadius and Honorius.
VOL. VI. M
add to the grandeur of the imperial court he
had so well conciliated by shewing his regard
for them, that men who were in reality inferior
to him were led by his attention to believe
themselves his peers. It is no easy task to
throw one's rank into the shade by one's vir-
tue, or to gain the affection of men who are
forced to yield you precedence. What widow
was not supported by his help ? What ward did
not find in him a father ? To him the bishops
of the entire East used to bring the prayers of
the unfortunate and the petitions of the dis-
tressed. Whenever he asked the Emperor for
a boon, he sought either alms for the poor or
ransom for captives or clemency for the af-
flicted. Accordingly the princes also used
gladly to accede to his requests, for they knew
well that their bounty would benefit not one
man but many.
6. Why do I farther postpone the end ?
" All flesh is grass and all the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the field."1 The
dust has returned to the dust.2 He has fallen
asleep in the Lord and has been laid with his
fathers, full of days and of light and fostered
in a good old age. For " wisdom is the grey
hair unto men." 3 "In a short time he " has
"fulfilled a long time."4 In his place we now
have his charming children. His wife is the
heir of his chastity. To those who miss his
father the tiny Nebridius shews him once
more, for
Such were the eyes and hands and looks he bore.6
A spark of the parent's excellence shines in
the son : the child's face betrays like a mirror
a resemblance in character.
That narrow frame contains a hero's heart.0
And with him there is his sister, a basket of
roses and lilies, a mixture of ivory and purple,
Her face though it takes after that of her
father inclines to be still more attractive ; and,
while her complexion is that of her mother,
she is so like both her parents that the linea-
ments of each are reflected in her features.
So sweet and honied is she that she is the
pride of all her kinsfolk. The Emperor7
does not disdain to hold her in his arms,
and the Empress 8 likes nothing better than
to nurse her on her lap. Everyone runs to
be the first to catch her up. Now she clings
to the neck of one, and now she is fondled
in the arms of another. She prattles and
stammers, and is all the sweeter for her fal-
tering tongue.
7. You have, therefore, Salvina, those to
1 Isa xl. 6. 2 Gen. iii. 19. 3 Wisd. iv. 9.
* Wisd. iv. 13. 6 Virg. A. iii. 490.
0 Virg. G. iv. 82. 7 Arcadius. B Eudoxia.
1 66
JEROME.
nurse who may well represent to you your
absent husband : " Lo, children are an heri-
tage of the Lord ; and the fruit of the womb
is his reward." ' In the place of one husband
you have received two children, and thus your
affection has more objects than before. All
that was due to him you can give to them.
Temper grief with love, for if he is gone they
are still with you. It is no small merit in
God's eyes to bring up children well. Hear
the apostle's counsel : " Let not a widow be
taken into the number under threescore years
old, having been the wife of one man, well
reported of for good works ; if she have
brought up children, if she have lodged
strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet,
if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have
diligently followed every good work."2 Here
you learn the roll of the virtues which God
requires of you, what is due to the name of
widow which you bear, and by what good
deeds you can attain to that second degree of
chastity 3 which is still open to you. Do not
be disturbed because the apostle allows none
to be chosen as a widow under threescore
years old, neither suppose that he intends
to reject those who are still young. Believe
that you are indeed chosen by him who
said to his disciple, " Let no man despise thy
youth," 4 your want of age that is, not your
want of continence. If this be not his mean-
ing, all who become widows under threescore
years will have to take husbands. He is train-
ing a church still untaught in Christ, and mak-
ing provision for people of all stations but
especially for the poor, the charge of whom
had been committed to himself and Barnabas.5
Thus he wishes only those to be supported by
the exertions of the church who cannot labour
with their own hands, and who are widows in-
deed,0 approved by their years and by their
lives. The faults of his children made Eli the
priest an offence to God. On the other hand
He is appeased by the virtues of such as "con-
tinue in faith and charity and holiness with
chastity."7 "O Timothy," cries the apostle,
" keep thyself pure." * Far be it from me to
suspect you capable of doing anything wrong ;
still it is only a kindness to admonish one whose
youth and opulence lead her into temptation.
You must take what I am going to say as ad-
dressed not to you but to your girlish years.
A widow " that liveth in pleasure is dead while
she liveth." 9 So speaks the " chosen vessel " 10
and the words are brought out from his treas-
ure who could boldly say : " Do ye seek a
1 Ps. cxxvii. 3. 2 1 Tim. v. 9, 10.
f The three degrees of chastity are those of a virgin a
widow, and a wife.
4 » Tim. iv. 12. * Gal. ii. 9, 10. « Cf. 1 Tim. v. 3.
I 1 1 im. 11. 15. AV. has ' sobriety ' for ' chastity.'
6 1 Tim. v. 22. » j Tim. v. 6. 10 Acts ix. 15
proof of Christ speaking in me?"1 Yet they
are the words of one who in his own person
admitted the weakness of the human body,
saying : " The good that I would I do not :
but the evil which I would not that I do." a
And again : Therefore " I keep under my
body and bring it into subjection lest that by
any means when I have preached to others I
myself should be a castaway." 3 If Paul is
afraid, which of us can venture to be confi-
dent ? If David the friend of God and Solo-
mon who lqved God 4 were overcome like
other men, if their fall is meant to warn us and
their penitence to lead us to salvation, who in
this slippery life can be sure of not falling ?
Never let pheasants be seen upon your table,
or plump turtledoves or black cock from Ionia,
or any of those birds so expensive that they
fly away with the largest properties. And do
not fancy that you eschew meat diet when you
reject pork, hare, and venison and the savoury
flesh of other quadrupeds.6 It is not the
number of feet that makes the difference but
delicacy of flavour. I know that the apostle
has said : " every creature of God is good and
nothing to be refused if it be received with
thanksgiving." ° But the same apostle says :
" it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink
wine," 7 and in another place : " be not drunk
with wine wherein is excess." 8 " Every creat-
ure of God is good " — the precept is intended
for those who are careful how they may please
their husbands.9 Let those feed on flesh who
serve the flesh, whose bodies boil with desire,
who are tied to husbands, and who set their
hearts on having offspring. Let those whose
wombs are burthened cram their stomachs with
flesh. But you have buried every indulgence
in your husband's tomb : over his bier you have
cleansed with tears a face stained with rouge
and whitelead ; you have exchanged a white
robe and gilded buskins for a sombre tunic
and black shoes ; and only one thing more is
needed, perseverance in fasting. Let pale-
ness and squalor be henceforth your jewels.
Do not pamper your youthful limbs with a bed
of down or kindle your young blood with hot
baths. Hear what words a heathen poet 10
puts into the mouth of a chaste widow : "
He, my first spouse, has robbed me of my loves.
So be it : let him keep them in the tomb.
If common glass is worth so much, what must
be the value of a pearl of price ? I2 If in def-
I 2 Cor. xiii. 3, Vulg. 2 Rom. vii. 19.
3 1 Cor. ix. 27. 4 1 K. iii. 3.
6 Many drew a distinction between the flesh of quadrupeds
and that of birds, abstaining from the former but using the
latter.
9 1 Tim. iv. 4. 7 Rom. xiv. 21. 8 Eph. v. 18.
6 1 Cor. vii. 34. I0 Virgil, JEn. iv. 28, 29.
II Dido, queen of Carthage.
12 Quoted from Tertullian (ad Mart. IV.). The same words
recur in Letters CVII. § 8 and CXXX. § 9.
LETTER LXXIX.
167
erence to a law of nature a Gentile widow can
condemn all sensual indulgence, what must we
expect from a Christian widow who owes her
chastity not to one who is dead but to one
with whom she shall reign in heaven ?
8. Do not, I pray you, regard these general
remarks — applying as they do to all young
women — as intended to insult you or to take
you to task. I write in a spirit of apprehension,
yet pray that you may never know the nature
of my fears. A woman's reputation is a ten-
der plant ; it is like a fair flower which withers
at the slightest blast and fades away at the
first breath of wind. Especially is this so
when she is of an age to fall into temptation
and the authority of a husband is wanting to
her. For the very shadow of a husband is a
wife's safeguard. What has a widow to do
with a large household or with troops of re-
tainers ? As servants, it is true, she must not
despise them, but as men she ought to blush
before them. If a grand establishment re-
quires such domestics, let her at least set over
them an old man of spotless morals whose dig-
nity may guard the honour of his mistress. I
know of many widows who, although they
live with closed doors, have not escaped the
imputation of too great intimacy with their
servants. These latter become objects of sus-
picion when they dress above their degree, or
when they are stout and sleek, or when they
are of an age inclined to passion, or when
knowledge of the favour in which they are se-
cretly held betrays itself in a too confident de-
meanour. For such pride, however carefully
concealed, is sure to break out in a contempt
for fellow-servants as servants. I make these
seemingly superfluous remarks that you may
keep your heart with all diligence1 and guard
against every scandal that may be broached
concerning you.
9. Take no well-curled steward to walk
with you, no effeminate actor, no devilish
singer of poisoned sweetness, no spruce and
smooth-shorn youth. Let no theatrical com-
pliments, no obsequious adulation be associ-
ated with you. Keep with you bands of widows
and virgins ; and let your consolers be of your
own sex. The character of the mistress is
judged by that of the maid. So long as you
have with you a holy mother, so long as an
aunt vowed to virginity is at your side, you
ought not to neglect them and at your own
risk to seek the company of strangers. Let
the divine scripture be always in your hands,
and give yourself so frequently to prayer that
such shafts of evil thoughts as ever assail the
young may thereby find a shield to repel them.
It is difficult, nay more it is impossible, to
escape the beginnings of those internal mo-
1 Prov. iv. 23.
tions which the Greeks with much significance
call 7tpo7ra6eiai, that is ' predispositions to
passion.' The fact is that suggestions of sin
tickle all our minds, and the decision rests with
our own hearts either to admit or to reject the
thoughts which come. The Lord of nature
Himself says in the gospel : — "out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, for-
nications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." '
It is clear from the testimony of another book
that " the imagination of man's heart is evil
from his youth," '" and that the soul wavers
between the works of the flesh and of the
spirit enumerated by the apostle,3 desiring now
the former and now the latter. For
From faults no mortal man is wholly free ;
The best is he who has but few of them.4
And, to quote the same poet,
At moles men cavil when they mark fair skins. 6
To the same effect in different words the
prophet says : — "I am so troubled that I
cannot speak,"6 and in the same book, "Be
ye angry and sin not."7 So Archytas of Tar-
entum 6 once said to a careless steward : " I
should have flogged you to death had I not
been in a passion." For " the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God." "
Now what is here said of one form of perturba-
tion may be applied to all. Just as anger is
human and the repression of it Christian, so it
is with other passions. The flesh always lusts
after the things of the flesh, and by its allure-
ments draws the soul to partake of deadly
pleasures ; but it is for us Christians to
restrain the desire for sensual indulgence by
an intenser love for Christ. It is for us to
break in the mettlesome brute within us by
fasting, in order that it may desire not lust but
food and amble easily and steadily forward
having for its rider the Holy Spirit.
10. Why do I write thus ? To shew you
that you are but human and subject, unless
you guard against them, to human passions.
We are all of us made of the same clay and
formed of the same elements. Whether we
wear silk or rags we are all at the mercy of
the same desire. It does not fear the royal
purple ; it does not disdain the squalor of the
mendicant. It is better then to suffer in
stomach than in soul, to rule the body than to
serve it, to lose one's balance than to lose
one's chastity. Let us not lull ourselves with
the delusion that we can always fall back on
penitence. For this is at best but a remedy
Matt. xv. 19.
a Gen. viii. 21
3 Gal. v. 19-23.
5 Horace, Sat. I. vi. 66
4 Horace, Sat. I. iii. 68, 69. - "«'«>-i-i ->«»>•• *■ »»• «"•
s pS- lxxvii. 4. 7 Ps. iv. 4, LXX. Quoted Eph. iv. 26.
A pythagorean philosopher, mathematician, general, and
piman. He was a contemporary of Plato.
statesman
8 Jas. i. 20
M 1
168
JEROME.
for misery. Let us shrink from incurring a
wound which must be painful to cure. For it
is one thing to enter the haven of salvation
with ship safe and merchandise uninjured,
and another to cling naked to a plank and, as
the waves toss you this way and that, to be
dashed again and again on the sharp rocks.
A widow should be ignorant that second mar-
riage is permitted ; she should know nothing
of the apostle's words : — "It is better to marry
than to burn." ' Remove what is said to be
worse, the risk of burning, and marriage will
cease to be regarded as good. Of course I
repudiate the slanders of the heretics ; I know
that " marriage is honourable . . . and the
bed undenled."2 Yet Adam even after he
was expelled from paradise had but one wife.
The accursed and blood-stained Lamech, de-
scended from the stock of Cain, was the first
to make out of one rib two wives ; and the
seedling of digamy then planted was alto-
gether destroyed by the doom of the deluge.
It is true that in writing to Timothy the
apostle from fear of fornication is forced to
countenance second marriage. His words
are these : — " I will therefore that the younger
women marry, bear children, guide the house,
give none occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully." But he immediately adds as a
reason for this concession ; "for some are
already turned aside after Satan."3 Thus we
see that he is offering not a crown to those
who stand but a helping hand to those who are
down. What must a second marriage be if it
is looked on merely as an alternative to the
brothel ! " For some," he writes, " are already
turned aside after Satan." The upshot of the
whole matter is that, if a young widow cannot
or will not contain herself, she had better take
a husband to her bed than the devil.
A noble alternative truly which is only to
be embraced in preference to Satan ! In old
days even Jerusalem went a-whoring and
opened her feet to every one that passed by.4
It was in Egypt that she was first deflowered
and there that her teats were bruised.5 And
afterwards when she had come to the wilder-
ness and, impatient of the delays of her leader
Moses, had said when maddened by the stings
of lust : " these be thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," c
she received statutes that were not good
and commandments that were altogether evil
whereby she should not live 7 but should
be punished through them. Is it surprising
then that when the apostle had said in another
place of young widows : " when they have
begun to wax wanton against Christ they
1 1 Cor. vn. 9. a Heb. xiii. 4. 3 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
4 Ezek. xvi. 25. 6 Ezek. xxiii. 3.
8 Exod. xxxn. 4. J Ezek. xx. 25.
will marry, having damnation because they
have cast off their first faith," ! he granted to
such as should wax wanton statutes of digamy
that were not good and commandments that
were altogether evil ? For the reason which
he gives for allowing a second husband would
justify a woman in marrying a third or even,
if she liked, a twentieth. He evidently wished
to shew them that he was not so much anxious
that they should take husbands as that they
should avoid paramours. These things, dear-
est daughter "in Christ, I impress upon you
and frequently repeat, that you may forget
those things which are behind and reach forth
unto those things which are before.2 You
have widows like yourself worthy to be your
models, Judith renowned in Hebrew story and
Anna the daughter of Phanuel famous in
the gospel. Both these lived day and night
in the temple and preserved the treasure of
their chastity by prayer and by fasting. One
was a type of the Church which cuts off the
head of the devil 3 and the other first received
in her arms the saviour of the world and had
revealed to her the holy mysteries which were
to come.4 In conclusion I beg you to attribute
the shortness of niy letter not to want of
language or scarcity of matter but to a deep
sense of modesty which makes me fear to force
myself too long upon the ears of a stranger,
and causes me to dread the secret verdict of
those who read my words.
LETTER LXXX.
FROM RUFINUS TO MACARIUS.
Rufinus on his return from Bethlehem to Rome pub-
lished a Latin version of Origen's treatise itspi 'Apx&v,
On First Principles. To this he prefixed the preface
which is here printed among Jerome's letters. Profess-
ing to take as his model Jerome's own translations of
Origen's commentaries which he greatly praises, he de-
clares that, following his example, he has paraphrased
the obscure passages of the treatise and has omitted as
due to interpolators such parts as seem heretical. This
preface with its insincere praise of Jerome (whose name,
however, is not mentioned) and its avowed manipulation
of Origen's text caused much perplexity at Rome (see
Letters LXXXI., LXXXIIL, and LXXXIV.), andgave
rise to the controversy between Rufinus and Jerome de-
scribed in the Prolegomena, and given at length in vol.
iii. of this Series. The date is 398 A.D.
1. Large numbers of the brethren have, I
know, in their zeal for the knowledge of the
scriptures begged learned men skilled in Greek
literature to make Origen a Roman by
bringing home his teaching to Latin ears.
One of these scholars, a dear brother and
associate,0 at the request of bishop Damasus
3 As Judith cut off the head of Holofernes (Judith xiii.).
4 Luke ii. 36-38. 5 i.e. Jerome.
LETTERS LXXIX.-LXXX.
169
translated from Greek into Latin his two
homilies on the Song of Songs and prefaced
the work with an eloquent and eulogistic intro-
duction such as could not fail to arouse in all an
ardent desire to read and to study Origen. To
the soul of that just man — so he declared
— the words of the Song were applicable :
"the king hath brought me into his chambers;"1
and he went on to speak thus : " while in his
other books Origen surpasses all former
writers, in dealing with the Song of Songs he
surpasses himself." In his preface he pledges
himself to give to Roman ears these homilies
of Origen and as many of his other works as
he can. His style is certainly attractive but I
can see that he aims at a more ambitious task
than that of a mere translator. Not content
with rendering the words of Origen he desires
to be himself the teacher.'2 I for my part do
but follow up an enterprise which he has sanc-
tioned and commenced, but I lack his vigor-
ous eloquence with which to adorn the sayings
of this great man. I am even afraid lest my
deficiencies and inadequate command of Latin
may detract seriously from the reputation of
one whom this writer has deservedly termed
second only to the apostles as a teacher of the
Church in knowledge and in wisdom.
2. Often turning this over in my mind I
held my peace and refused to listen to the
brethren when — as frequently happened — they
urged me to undertake the work. But your
persistence, most faithful brother Macarius, is
so great that even want of ability cannot re-
sist it. Thus, to escape the constant impor-
tunings to which you subject me, I have given
way contrary to my resolution ; yet only on
these terms that, so far as is possible, I am to
be free to follow the rules of translation laid
down by my predecessors, and particularly
those acted upon by the writer whom I have
just mentioned. He has rendered into Latin
more than seventy of Origen's homiletical
treatises and a few also of his commentaries
upon the apostle ; 3 and in these wherever the
Greek text presents a stumbling block, he has
smoothed it down in his version and has so
emended the language used that a Latin writer
can find no word that is at variance with our
faith. In his steps, therefore, I propose to
walk, if not displaying the same vigorous elo-
quence at least observing the same rules. I
shall not reproduce passages in Origen's books
which disagree with or contradict his own state-
ments elsewhere. The reason of these incon-
sistencies I have put more fully before you in
the defence of Origen's writings composed by
Pamphilianus ' which I have supplemented by
a short treatise of my own.3 I have given what
I consider plain proofs that his books have
been corrupted in numbers of places by here-
tics and ill-disposed persons, and particularly
those which you now urge me to translate.
The books nepi 'Apxcov, that is of Principles
or of Powers, are in fact in other respects ex-
tremely obscure and difficult. For they treat
of subjects on which the philosophers have
spent all their days and yet have been able
to discover nothing. In dealing with these
themes Origen has done his best to make be-
lief in a Creator and a rational account of
things created subservient to religion and
not, as with the philosophers, to irreligion.
Wherever then in his books I have found a
statement concerning the Trinity contrary to
those which in other places he has faithfully
made on the same subject, I have either
omitted the passage as garbled and misleading
or have substituted that view of the matter
which I find him to have frequently asserted.
Again, wherever — in haste to get on with his
theme — he is brief or obscure relying on the
skill and intelligence of his readers, I, to make
the passage clearer, have sought to explain it
by adding any plainer statements that I have
read on the point in his other books. But I
have added nothing of my own. The words
used may be found in other parts of his writ-
ings : they are his, not mine. I mention this
here to take from cavillers all pretext for once
more2 finding fault. But let such perverse
and contentious persons look well to what
they are themselves doing.
3. Meantime I have taken up this great
task— if so be that God will grant your prayers
— not to stop the mouths of slanderers (an im-
possible feat except perhaps to God) but to
give to those who desire it the means of mak-
ing progress in knowledge.
In the sight of God, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost,3 1 adjure and require everyone
who shall either read or copy these books of
mine, by his belief in a kingdom to come, by
the mystery of the resurrection from the dead,
by the eternal fire which is " prepared for the
devil and his angels;"4 as he hopes not to
inherit eternally that place where "there is
weeping and gnashing of teeth,"5 and where
" their worm dieth not and the fire is not
quenched," 6 let him add nothing to what_ is
written, let him subtract nothing, let him in-
sert nothing, let him alter nothing, but let him
1 Cant. i. 4. See the Preface to Origen on the Canticles
translated in this volume.
3 Rem maioris gloriae sequitur ut pater verbi sit potius quam
interpres.
' i.e. St. Paul.
1 Or Pamphilus. .
3 See this treatise in vol. iii. of this series. Rufinus with
John of Jerusalem had been already accused of Origenism. See
Letter LI. 6. .
3 For this adjuration comp. Rev. xxn. 18, 19, and Stieren s
Irenaeus i. 821. , .
« Matt. xxv. 41. 6 Matt. xxii. 13. • Mark ix. 44.
170
JEROME.
compare his transcript with the copies from
which it is made, let him correct it to the letter,
and let him punctuate it aright. Every
manuscript that is not properly corrected and
punctuated he must reject: for otherwise the
difficulties in the text arising from the want of
punctuation will make obscure arguments
still more obscure to those who read them.
LETTER LXXXI.
TO RUFINUS.
A friendly letter of remonstrance written by Jerome
to Rufinus on receipt of his version of the nspi Apx&v
see the preceding letter). Being sent in the first instance
to Pammachius this latter treacherously suppressed it
and thus put an end to all hope of the reconciliation of
the two friends. The date of the letter is 399 A.D.
1. That you have lingered some time at
Rome your own language shews. Yet I feel
sure that a yearning to see your spiritual
parents ' would have drawn you to your na-
tive country,2 had not grief for your mother
deterred you lest a sorrow scarce bearable away
might have proved unbearable at home.
As to your complaint that men listen only
to the dictates of passion and refuse to ac-
quiesce in your judgement and mine ; the
Lord is witness to my conscience that since
our reconciliation I have harboured no ran-
cour in my breast to injure anyone ; on the con-
trary I have taken the utmost pains to prevent
any chance occurrence being set down to ill-
will. But what can I do so long as everyone
supposes that he has a right to do as he does
and thinks that in publishing a slander he is
requiting not originating a calumny? True
friendship ought never to conceal what it
thinks.
The short preface to the books nspl 'Apxaiv
which has been sent to me I recognize as yours
by the style. You know best with what inten-
tion it was written ; but even a fool can see how
it must necessarily be understood. Covertly
or rather openly I am the person aimed at. I
have often myself feigned a controversy to
practise declamation.3 Thus I might now re-
call this well-worn artifice and praise you in
your own method.4 But far be it from me to
imitate what I blame in you. In fact I have
so far restrained my feelings that I make no
charge against you, and, although injured,
decline for my part to injure a friend. But
another time, if you wish to follow any one,
pray be satisfied with your own judgement.
The objects which we seek are either good or
bad. If they are good, they need no help from
another ; and if they are bad, the fact that
1 Chromatius and Eusebius of Aquileia.
2 Concordia, near Aquileia.
3 See the introduction to Letter CXVU,
4 i.e. insincerely.
many sin together is no excuse. I prefer thus
to expostulate with you as a friend rather than
to give public vent to my indignation at the
wrong I have suffered. I want you to see that
when I am reconciled to anyone I become his
sincere friend and do not — to borrow a figure
from Plautus ' — while offering him bread with
one hand, hold a stone in the other.
2. My brother Paulinian has not yet re-
turned from home and I fancy that you will
see him at Aquileia at the house of the rever-
end pope Chromatius.2 I am also sending
the reverend presbyter Rufinus 3 on business
to Milan by way of Rome, and have requested
him to communicate to you my feelings and
respects. I am sending the same message to
the rest of my friends ; lest, as the apostle
says, if ye bite and devour one another, ye be
consumed one of another.4 It only remains
for you and your friends to shew your modera-
tion by giving no offence to those who are
disinclined to put up with it. For you will
hardly find everyone like me. There are few
who can be pleased with pretended eulogies.
LETTER LXXXII.
TO THEOPHILUS BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA.
Two years after his former attempt (see Letter
LXIII.) Theophilus again wrote to Jerome urging him
to be reconciled with John of Jerusalem. Jerome re-
plies that there is nothing he desires more earnestly
than peace but that this must be real and not a hol-
low truce. He speaks very bitterly of John who has,
he alleges, intrigued to procure his banishment from
Palestine. He also deals with the ordination of his
brother Paulinian (for which see Letter LI.) and de-
fends himself for having translated Origen's commen-
taries by adducing the example of Hilary of Poitiers.
This letter should be compared with the Treatise
" Against John of Jerusalem " in this volume. Its date
is 399 A.D. But see Introduction to the Treatise.
1. Your letter shews you to possess that
heritage of the Lord of which when going to
the Father he said to the apostles, " peace I
leave with you, my peace I give unto you," 6
and to own the happiness described in the
words, " blessed are the peace-makers." 6
You caress as a father, you teach as a master,
you enjoin as a bishop. You come to me not
with a rod and severity but in a spirit of
kindness, gentleness, and meekness.7 Your
opening words echo the humility of Christ
who saved men not with thunder and light-
ning 8 but as a wailing babe in the manger
and as a silent sufferer upon the cross. You
1 Plautus, Aul. ii. 2, 18.
2 Paulinian (of whose ordination an account is given in Letter
LI.) had been sent to Italy by Jerome in A.D. 398 partly to coun-
teract the proceedings of Rufinus and partly to sell the family
property at Stridon (see Letter LXVI. § 14).
3 Rufinus the Syrian, to be carefully distinguished from his
more famous namesake (to whom this letter is addressed) of
Aquileia. He was a monk in Jerome's monastery at Bethlehem.
4 Gal. v. 15. 6 Joh. xiv. 27. 6 Matt. v. 9.
7 1 Cor. iv, 8i, e Ci. Heb. xii. 18. Lukeix. 54.
LETTERS LXXX.-LXXXII.
171
have read the prediction made in one who
was a type of Him, " Lord, remember David
and all his meekness," ' and you know how it
was fulfilled afterwards in Himself. " Learn
of me," He said, " for I am meek and lowly
in heart."2 You have quoted «iany passages
from the sacred books in praise of peace, you
have flitted like a bee over the flowery fields
of scripture, you have culled with cunning
eloquence all that is sweet and conducive to
concord. I was already running after peace,
but you have made me quicken my pace : my
sails were set for the voyage but your exhor-
tation has filled them with a stronger breeze.
I drink in the sweet streams of peace not re-
luctantly and with aversion but eagerly and
with open mouth.
2. But what can I do, I who can only wish
for peace and have no power to bring it
about ? Even though the wish may win its
recompense with God, its futility must still
sadden him who cherishes it. When the
apostle said, " as much as lieth in you, live
peaceably with all men,"3 he knew quite well
that the realisation of peace depends upon
the consent of two parties. The prophet
truly cries " They say Peace, peace : and yet
there is no peace."4 To overthrow peace by
actions while professing it in words is not
hard. To point out its advantages is one
thing and to strive for it another. Men's
speeches may be all for unity but their ac-
tions may enforce bondage. I wish for peace
as much as others ; and not only do I wish
for it, I ask for it. But the peace which I
want is the peace of Christ ; a true peace, a
peace without rancour, a peace which does not
involve war, a peace which will not reduce
opponents but will unite friends. How can I
term domination peace ? I must call things
by their right names. Where there is hatred
there let men talk of feuds ; and where there
is mutual esteem, there only let peace be
spoken of. For my part I neither rend the
church nor separate myself from the commu-
nion of the fathers. From my very cradle, I
may say, I have been reared on Catholic
milk ; and no one can be a better churchman
than one who has never been a heretic. But
I know nothing of a peace that is without
love or of a communion that is without peace.
In the gospel I read : — " if thou bring thy
gift to the altar and there rememberest that
thy brother hath aught against thee ; leave
there thy gift before the altar and go thy
way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and
then come and offer thy gift."6 If then we
may not offer gifts that are our own unless
we are at peace with our brothers ; how much
« Ps. cxxxii. 1, LXX. 2 Matt, xi 29.
' Rom. xii. 18. 4 Jer. xi. 14, LXX. 6 Matt. v. 23, 24.
less can we receive the body of Christ if we
cherish enmity in our hearts ? How can I
conscientiously approach Christ's eucharist
and answer the Amen1 if I doubt the charity
of him who ministers it ?
3. Hear me, I beg you with patience and
do not take truthfulness for flattery. Is any
man reluctant to communicate with you ?
Does any turn his face away when you
hold out your hand ? Does any at the holy
banquet offer you the kiss of Judas?2 At
your approach the monks instead of trem-
bling rejoice. They race to meet you and
leaving their dens in the desert are fain to
master you by their humility. What compels
them to come forth ? Is it not their love for
you ? What draws together the scattered
dwellers in the desert ? Is it not the esteem
in which they hold you ? A parent ought to
love his children ; and not only a parent but
a bishop ought to be loved by his children.
Neither ought to be feared. There is an old
saying : 3 " whom a man fears he hates ; and
whom he hates, he would fain see dead."
Accordingly, while for the young the holy
scripture makes fear the beginning of knowl-
edge, 4 it also tells us that " perfect love cast-
eth out fear." 5 You exact no obedience from
them ; therefore the monks obey you. You
offer them a kiss ; therefore they bow the
neck. You shew yourself a common soldier ;
therefore they make you their general. Thus
from being one among many you become one
above many. Freedom is easily roused if
attempts are made to crush it. No one gets
more from a free man than he who does not
force him to be a slave. I know the canons
of the church ; I know what rank her minis-
ters hold ; and from men and books I have
daily up to the present learned and gathered
many things. The kingdom of the mild
David was quickly dismembered by one who
chastised his people with scorpions and fan-
cied that his fingers were thicker than his
father's loins.6 The Roman people refused
to brook insolence even in a king.7 Moses
was leader of the host of Israel ; he brought
ten plagues upon Egypt ; sky, earth, and sea
alike obeyed his commands : yet he is spoken
of as " very meek above all the men which
were " at that time " upon the face of the
earth."8 He maintained his forty-years' su-
premacy because he tempered the insolence
of office with gentleness and meekness.
When he was being stoned by the people he
1 1 Cor. xiv. 16, where in the Greek 'giving of thanks' is ' eu-
charist.'
2 Matt. xxvi. 48, 40 : the kiss of peace formed an integral part
of the eucharistic office from primitive till mediaeval times.
3 Attributed by Cicero to Ennius. 4 Prov. 1. 7.
5 1 Joh. iv. 18. 8 1 K. xii. 10.
7 Tarquin the Proud the last king of Rome was driven into
exile because of his many acts of tyranny.
8 Nu. xii. 3.
172
JEROME.
made intercession for them ; ' nay more he
wished to be blotted out of God's book sooner
than that the flock committed to him should
perish. 2 He sought to imitate the Shepherd
who would, he knew, carry on his shoulders
even the wandering sheep. " The good Shep-
herd " — they are the Lord's own words —
"layeth down his life for the sheep."3 One
of his disciples can wish to be anathema from
Christ for his brethren's sake, his kinsmen
according to the flesh who were Israelites.4
If then Paul can desire to perish that the lost
may not be lost, how much should good par-
ents not provoke their children to wrath " or
by too great severity embitter those who are
naturally mild.
4. The limits of a letter compel me to re-
strain myself ; otherwise, indignation would
make me diffuse. In an epistle which its
writer regards as conciliatory but which to
me appears full of malice my opponent 6 ad-
mits that I have never calumniated him or
accused him of heresy. Why then does he
calumniate me by spreading a rumour that I
am infected with that awful malady and am
in revolt against the Church ? Why is he so
ready to spare his real assailants and so eager
to injure me who have done nothing to injure
him ? Before my brother's ordination he said
nothing of any dogmatic difference between
himself and pope Epiphanius. What then
can have " forced " him — I use his own word
— publicly to argue a point which no one had
yet raised ? One so full of wisdom as you
knows well the danger of such discussions
and that silence is in such cases the safest
course ; except, indeed, on some occasion
which renders it imperative to deal with great
matters. What ability and eloquence it must
have needed to compress into a single sermon
— as he boasts to have done7 — all the topics
which the most learned writers have treated
in detail in voluminous treatises ! But this is
nothing to me : it is for the hearers of the
sermon to notice and for the writer of the
letter to realize. But as for me he ought of
his own accord to acquit me of bringing the
charge against him. I was not present and
did not hear the sermon. I was only one of
the many, indeed hardly one of them ; for
while others were crying out 1 held my peace.
Let us confront the accused and the accuser,
and let us give credit to him whose services,
life, and doctrine are seen to be the best.
5. You see, do you not, that I shut my eyes
1 Exod. xvii. 4. 2 Exod. xxxii. 31, 32.
3 Joh. x. 11, RV.; Luke xv. 4, 5.
4 Rom. ix. 3, 4, RV. 6 Eph. vi. 4.
6 John, Bishop of Jerusalem, who had accused Jerome of
Origenism, a charge which was brought against himself by Epi-
phanius (see Letter LI.).
7 Jerome represents John as saying that he took advantage of
a verse in the lesson " to preach on faith and all the dogmas of
the Church (c. Joh. Jer. u).
to many things and touch upon others only in
the most cursory manner, hinting at what I
suppose rather than saying out what I think.
I understand and approve your manoeu-
vres ; ' how in the interests of the peace of
the Church you stop your ears when you
come within range of the Sirens. Moreover,
trained as you have been from childhood in
sacred studies, you know exactly what is
meant by each expression which you use.
You knowingly employ ambiguous terms and
carefully balanced sentences so as not to
condemn others2 or repudiate us.3 But it is
not a pure faith and a frank confession which
look for quibbles or circumlocutions. What
is simply believed must be professed with
equal simplicity. For my part I could cry
out — though it were amid the swords and
fires of Babylon, " why does the answer
evade the question ? why is there no frank,
straightforward declaration ?" From begin-
ning to end all is shrinking, compromise, am-
biguity : as though he were trying to walk
on spikes of corn. His blood boils with
eagerness for peace ; yet he will not give a
straightforward answer ! others are free to
insult him ; for, when he is insulted, he does
not venture to retaliate. I meantime hold
my peace : for the present I shall let it be
thought that I am too busy, or ignorant, or
afraid ; for how would he treat me were I to ac-
cuse him, if when I praise him — as he admits
himself that I do — he secretly traduces me ?
6. His whole letter is less an exposition of
his faith than a mass of calumnies aimed at
myself. Without any of those mutual courte-
sies which men may use towards each other
without flattery, he takes up my name again
and again, flouts it, and bandies it about as
though I were blotted out of the book of the
living. He thinks that he has beaten me
black and blue with his letter ; and that I
live for the trifles at which he aims, I who
from my boyhood have been shut up in a
monastic cell, and have always made it my
aim to be rather than to seem a good man.
Some of us, it is true, he mentions with re-
spect, but only that he may afterwards wound
us more deeply. As if, forsooth, we too have
no open secrets to reveal ! One of his
charges is that we have allowed a slave to
be ordained. Yet he himself has clergymen
of the same class, and he must have read of
Onesimus who, being made regenerate by
Paul in prison, 4 from a slave became a dea-
con. Then he throws out that the slave in
question was a common informer ; and, lest
he should be compelled to prove the charge,
declares he has it from hearsay only ! Why,
1 Jerome now addresses John of Jerusalem.
8 The Origenists. 3 The orthodox. 4 Philemon, 10.
LETTER LXXXII.
173
if I had chosen to repeat the talk of the
crowd and to listen to scandal-mongers, he
would have learned before now that I too
know what all the world knows and have
heard the same stories as other people. He
declares farther that ordination has been
given to this slave as a reward for a slander
spread abroad by him. Does not such cun-
ning and subtlety appal one ? And is there
any answer to eloquence so overwhelming ?
Which is best, to spread a calumny or to suf-
fer from one ? To accuse a man whose love
you may afterwards wish for, or to pardon a
sinner ? And is it more tolerable that a com-
mon informer should be made a consul than
that he should be made an Eedile ? ' He knows
what I pass over in silence and what I say ;
what I myself have heard and what — from the
fear of Christ — I perhaps refuse to believe.
7. He charges me with having translated
Origen into Latin. In this I do not stand alone
for the confessor Hilary has done the same,
and we are both at one in this that while we
have rendered all that is useful, we have cut
away all that was harmful. Let him read
our versions for himself, if he knows how (and
as he constantly converses and daily associ-
ates with Italians,2 I think he cannot be
ignorant of Latin) ; or else, if he cannot
quite take it in, let him use his interpreters
and then he will come to know that I deserve
nothing but praise for the work on which he
grounds a charge against me. For, while I
have always allowed to Origen his great
merit as an interpreter and critic of the script-
ures, I have invariably denied the truth of
his doctrines. Is it I then that let him loose
upon the crowd ? Is it I that act sponsor to
other preachers like him ? No, for I know
that a difference must be made between the
apostles and all other preachers. The for-
mer always speak the truth ; but the latter
being men sometimes go astray. It would
be a strange defence of Origen surely to ad-
mit his faults and then to excuse them by
saying that other men have been guilty of
similar ones ! As if, when you cannot ven-
ture to defend a man openly, you may hope
to shield him by imputing his mistake to a
number of others ! As for the six thousand
volumes of Origen of which he speaks, it is
impossible that any one should have read
books which have never been written : and
I for my part find it easier to suppose that
this falsehood is due to the man who pro-
fesses to have heard it rather than to him
who is said to have told it.3
1 The highest ancj lowest offices in the Roman magistracy.
Jerome insinuates that if the ordained slave was a common in-
former so also was John of Jerusalem. * A hit at Rufinus.
3 The statement that he had read 6000 volumes of Origen was
attributed to Epiphanius by Rufinus and John of Jerusalem.
Cf. Apol. c. Ruf. ii. c. 13.
8. Again he avers that my brother ' is the
cause of the disagreement which has arisen,
a man who is content to stay in a monastic
cell and who regards the clerical office as
onerous rather than honourable. And al-
though up to this very day he has spoon-fed
us with insincere protestations of peace, he
has caused commotion in the minds of the
western bishops2 by telling them that a mere
youth, hardly more than a boy, has been or-
dained3 presbyter of Bethlehem in his own
diocese. If this is the truth, all the bishops
of Palestine must be aware of it. For the
monastery of the reverend pope Epiphanius —
called the old monastery — where my brother
was ordained presbyter is situated in the dis-
trict of Eleutheropolis4 and not in that of
jElia.5 Furthermore his age is well known to
your Holiness ; and as he has now attained to
thirty years I apprehend that no blame can
attach to him on that score. Indeed this
particular age is stamped as full and com-
plete by the mystery of Christ's assumed
manhood. Let him call to mind the ancient
law, and he will see that after his twenty-
fifth year a Levite might be chosen to the
priesthood ; 6 or if in this passage he prefers
to follow the Hebrew he will find that candi-
dates for the priesthood must be thirty years
old. And that he may not venture to say
that " old things are passed away ; and, be-
hold, all things are become new, " 7 let him
hear the apostle's words to Timothy, " Let no
man despise thy youth." e Certainly when my
opponent was himself ordained bishop, he
was not much older than my brother is now.
And if he argues that youth is no hindrance
to a bishop but that it is to a presbyter be-
cause a young elder9 is a contradiction in
terms, I ask him this question : Why has he
himself ordained a presbyter of this age or
younger still, and that too to minister in
another man's church ? But if he cannot be
at peace with my brother unless he consents
to submit and to renounce the bishop who
has ordained him, he shews plainly that his
object is not peace but revenge, and that he
will not rest satisfied with the quietude of re-
pose and peace unless he is able to inflict to
the full every penalty that he now threatens.
Had he himself ordained my brother, it
would have made no difference to this latter.
So dearly does he love seclusion that he
would even then have continued to live
1 Paulinian, who had been ordained by Epiphanius.
2 Sacerdotes ; lit. 'sacrificing priests.'
•3 Not by himself but by Epiphanius.
4 Otherwise Lydda, a town in the south of Judah at this time
the seat of a bishopric.
5 ^Elia Capitolina was the name given by Hadrian to the
colony established by him on the site of Jerusalem.
6 Nu. iv. 3, LXX. AV. follows the Hebrew.
7 2 Cor. v. 17. 8 1 Tim. iv. 12.
0 The word ' presbyter ' means elder.
174
JEROME.
quietly and would not have exercised his
office. And should the bishop have seen fit
to rend the church on that score, he would
then have owed him nothing save the re-
spect which is due to all who offer sacrifice.1
9. So much for his prolix defence of him-
self or I should rather say his attack on me.
In this letter I have only answered him
briefly and cursorily that from what I have
said he may perceive what I do not say, and
may know that as I am a human being I am
a rational animal and well able to understand
his shrewdness, and that I am not so obtuse
or brutish as to catch only the sound of his
words and not their meaning. I now ask of
you to pardon my chagrin ai\d to allow that
if it is arrogant to answer back, it is yet
more arrogant to bring baseless charges.
Yet my answer has indicated what I might
have said rather than has actually said it.
Why do men look for peace at a distance ?
and why do they wish to have it enforced by
word of command ? Let them shew them-
selves peacemakers, and peace will follow
at once. Why do they use the name of your
holiness to terrorize us, when your letter —
strange contrast to their harsh and menacing
words — breathes only peace and meekness?
For that the letter which Isidore the presby-
ter has brought for me from you does make
for peace and harmony I know by this, that
these insincere professors of a wish for peace
have refused to deliver it to me. Let them
choose whichever alternative they please.
Either I am a good man or I am a bad one.
If I am a good one let them leave me in quiet :
if I am a bad one, why do they desire to be
in bad company ? Surely my opponent has
learnt by experience the value of humility.
He who now tears asunder things which, for-
merly separate, he of his own will put together,
proves that in severing now what he then
joined, he is acting at the instigation of an-
other.2
10. Recently he sought and obtained a de-
cree of exile against me, and I only wish that
he had been able to carry it out,3 so that, as
the will is imputed to him for the deed, so I
too not in will only but in deed might wear
the crown of exile. The church of Christ has
been founded by shedding its own blood not
that of others, by enduring outrage not by in-
flicting it. Persecutions have made it grow ;
martyrdoms have crowned it. Or if the Chris-
tians among whom I live are unique in their
love of severity and know only how to perse-
' Here as frequently in Jerome the word ' sacerdos ' is used to
denote a bishop.
2 Pr°Dably Isidore' who had taken a view hostile to Jerome,
3 -r£ at thls tlme fel1 under the displeasure of Theophilus.
the execution of the decree was stopped by the sudden death
of the imperial minister Rufinus.
cute and not how to undergo persecution,
there are Jews here, there are heretics pro-
fessing various false doctrines, and in partic-
ular the foulest of all, I mean, Manichseism.
Why is it that they do not venture to say a
word against them ? Why am I the only per-
son they wish to drive into exile ? Am I who
communicate with the church the only person
of whom it can be said that he rends the
church ? I put it to you, is it not a fair
demand either that they should expel these
others as well as myself, or that, if they keep
them, they should keep me too ? All the
same they honour men by sending them into
exile, for by so doing they separate them from
the company of heretics. It is a monk,1
shame to say, who menaces monks and ob-
tains decrees of exile against them ; and that
too a monk who boasts that he holds an apos-
tolic chair. But the monastic tribe does not
succumb to terrorism : it prefers to expose its
neck to the impending sword rather than to
allow its hands to be tied. Is not every monk
an exile from his country ? Is he not an ex-
ile from the whole world ? Where is the need
for the public authority, the cost of a rescript,
the journeyings up and down the earth to ob-
tain one ? Let him but touch me with his
little finger, and I will go into exile of myself.
" The earth is the Lord's and the fulness
thereof." 2 Christ is not shut up in any one
spot.
11. Moreover when he writes that, though
I seem to be separated from communion with
him, I in reality hold communion with him
through you and through the church of
Rome : he need not go so far afield, for I am
connected with him in the same way also here
in Palestine. And lest even this should ap-
pear distant, in this village of Bethlehem I
hold communion with his presbyters as much
as I can. Thus it is clear that a private cha-
grin is not to be taken for the cause of the
church, and that one man's choler, or even
that of several stirred up by him, ought not
to be styled the displeasure of the church.
Accordingly I now repeat what I said at the
beginning of my letter that I for my part am
desirous of Christ's peace, that I pray for har-
mony, and that I request you to admonish
him not to exact peace but to purpose it.
Let him be satisfied with the pain which he
has caused by the insults that he has inflicted
upon me in the past. Let him efface old
wounds by a little new charity. Let him
shew himself what he was before, when of his
own choice he bestowed upon me his esteem.
Let his words no longer be tinged with a gall
that flows from the heart of another. Let him
do what he wishes himself, and not what others
1 John of Jerusalem.
8 Ps. xxiv. 1.
LETTERS LXXXII.-LXXXIV.
175
force him to wish. Either as a pontiff, let
him exercise authority over all alike, or as a
follower of the apostle, let him serve all for
the salvation of all.1 If he will shew himself
such, I am ready freely to yield and to hold
out my arms ; he will find me a friend and a
kinsman, and will perceive that in Christ I
am submissive to him as to all the saints.
" Charity," writes the apostle, " suffereth long
and is kind ; charity envieth not ; ... is
not puffed up . . . beareth all things, be-
lieveth all things." 2 Charity is the mother of
all virtues, and the apostle's words about faith
hope and charity 3 are like that threefold cord
which is not quickly broken.4 We believe,
we hope, and through our faith and hope we
are joined together in the bond of charity.5
It is for these virtues that I and others have
left our homes, it is for these that we would
live peaceably without any contention in the
fields and alone ; paying all due veneration
to Christ's pontiffs — so long as they preach
the right faith — not because we fear them as
lords but because we honour them as fathers ;
deferring also to bishops as bishops, but re-
fusing to serve under compulsion, beneath
the shadow of episcopal authority, men whom
we do not choose to obey. I am not so much
puffed up in mind as not to know what is due
to the priests of Christ. For he who receives
them, receives not them but Him, whose bish-
ops they are.6 But let them be content with
the honour which is theirs. Let them know
that they are fathers and not lords, especially
in relation to those who scorn the ambitions
of the world and count peace and repose the
.best of all things. And may Christ who is
Almighty God grant to your prayers that I
and my opponent may be united not in a
feigned and hollow peace but in true and sin-
cere mutual esteem, lest biting and devouring
one another we be consumed one of another.7
LETTER LXXXIII.
FROM PAMMACHIUS AND OCEANUS.
A letter from Pammachius and Oceanus in which they
express the perplexity into which they have been thrown
by Rufinus's version of Origen's treatise, On First Prin-
ciples (see Letter LXXX.) and request Jerome to make
for them a literal translation of the work. Written in
399 or 400 A.D.
1. Pammachius and Oceanus to the pres-
byter Jerome, health.
A reverend brother has brought to us
sheets containing a certain person's translation
into Latin of a treatise by Origen — entitled
7repi dpxcov. These contain many things
1 Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 19.
3 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
6 Cf. Col. iii. 14.
a 1 Cor. xiii. 4-7.
4 Eccl. iv. 12.
• Cf. Joh. xiii. 20.
Gal. v. 15.
which disturb our poor wits and which appear
to us to be uncatholic. We suspect also that
with a view of clearing the author many pas-
sages of his books have been removed which
had they been left would have plainly proved
the irreligious character of his teaching. We
therefore request your excellency to be so
good as to bestow upon this particular mat-
ter an attention which will benefit not only
ourselves but all who reside in the city ; we
ask you to publish in your own language the
abovementioned book of Origen exactly as it
was brought out by the author himself ; and
we desire you to make evident the interpola-
tions which his defender has introduced.
You will also confute and overthrow all
statements in the sheets which we have sent
to your holiness that are ignorantly made or
contradict the Catholic faith. The writer in
the preface to his work has, with much
subtlety but without mentioning your holi-
ness's name, implied that he has done no
more than complete a work which you had
yourself promised, thus indirectly suggesting
that you agree with him. Remove then the
suspicions men cannot help feeling and con-
fute your assailant ; for, if you ignore his
implications, people will say that you admit
their truth.
LETTER LXXXIV.
TO PAMMACHIUS AND OCEANUS.
A calm letter in which Jerome defines and justifies
his own attitude towards Origen, but unduly minimizes
his early enthusiasm for him. He admires him in the
same way that Cyprian admired Tertullian but does
not in any way adopt his errors. He then describes his
own studies and recounts his obligations to Apollinaris,
Didymus, and a Jew named Bar-anina. The rest of the
letter deals with the errors of Origen, the state of the
text of his writings, and the eulogy of him composed by
the martyr Pamphilus (the authenticity of which Jer-
ome assails without any sufficient reason). The date of
the letter is 400 A.D.
Jerome to the brothers Pammachius and
Oceanus, with all good wishes.
1. The sheets that you send me ' cover
me at once with compliments and con-
fusion ; for, while they praise my ability,
they take away my sincerity in the faith.
But as both at Alexandria and at Rome and,
I may say, throughout the whole world good
men have made it a habit to take the same
liberties with my name, esteeming me only so
far that they cannot bear to be heretics with-
out having me of the number, I will leave
aside personalities and only answer specific
charges. For it is of no benefit to a cause to
T i.e. Runnus's version of Origen's treatise, On First Princi-
ples with the Preface, translated in vol. iii. of this series. See
also Letters LXXX. and LXXXI.
176
JEROME.
encounter railing with railing and to retaliate
for attacks upon oneself by attacks upon
one's opponents. We are commanded not to
return evil for evil ' but to overcome evil with
good,2 to take our fill of insults, and to turn
the other cheek to the smiter.3
2. It is charged against me that I have
sometimes praised Origen. If I am not mis-
taken I have only done so in two places, in
the short preface (addressed to Damasus) to
his homilies on the Song of Songs and in the
prologue to my book of Hebrew Names. In
these passages do the dogmas of the church
come into question ? Is anything said of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ? or of
the resurrection of the flesh ? or of the con-
dition and material of the soul ? I have
merely praised the simplicity of his render-
ing and commentary and neither the faith
nor the dogmas of the Church come in at
all. Ethics only are dealt with and the
mist of allegory is dispelled by a clear expla-
nation. I have praised the commentator but
not the theologian, the man of intellect but
not the believer, the philosopher but not the
apostle. But if men wish to know my real
judgement upon Origen ; let them read my
commentaries upon Ecclesiastes, let them
go through my three books upon the epistle to
the Ephesians : they will then see that I have
always opposed his doctrines. How foolish
it would be to eulogize a system so far as to
endorse its blasphemy ! The blessed Cyprian
takes Tertullian for his master, as his writ-
ings prove ; yet, delighted as he is with the
ability of this learned and zealous writer,
he does not join him in following Montanus
and Maximilla.4 Apollinaris is the author of
a most weighty book against Porphyry, and
Eusebius has composed a fine history of the
Church ; yet of these the former has muti-
lated Christ's incarnate humanity,6 while the
latter is the most open champion of theArian
impiety.6 "Woe," says Isaiah, "unto them
that call evil good and good evil ; that put
bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."7 We
must not detract from the virtues of our op-
ponents— if they have any praiseworthy qual-
ities— but neither must we praise the defects
of our friends. Each several case must be
judged on its own merits and not by a refer-
1 1 Thess. v. 15. »Rom. xii. 21. 3 Matt. v. 39.
* Of these the two founders of Montanism the first was a
Phrygian of the second century who professed to be the special
organ of the Holy Ghost while the second was a female disciple
who claimed to exercise the gift of prophecy in furtherance of
his aims.
8 ^'m'd'at.am Christi introduxit ceconomiam. Apollinaris
taught that in Christ the divine personality supplied the place
of a human soul. In his view, therefore, Christ ceased to be
very man."
8 Eusebius, although he sided with the Arians, always
claimed to be orthodox. However, as Newman says, " his acts
are his confession.1'
' Isa. v. 20.
ence to the persons concerned. While Lu-
cilius is rightly assailed by Horace1 for the
unevenness of his verses, he is equally rightly
praised for his wit and his charming style.
3. In my younger days I was carried away
with a great passion for learning, yet I was not
like some presumptuous enough to teach my-
self. At Antioch I frequently listened to Apol-
linaris of Laodicea, and attended his lect-
ures ; yet, although he instructed me in the
holy scriptures, I never embraced his disput-
able doctrine" as to their meaning. At length
my head became sprinkled with gray hairs so
that I looked more like a master than a dis-
ciple. Yet I went on to Alexandria and
heard Didymus.2 And I have much to thank
him for: for what I did not know I learned
from him, and what I knew already I did not
forget. So excellent was his teaching. Men
fancied that I had now made an end of
learning. Yet once more I came to Jerusalem
and to Bethlehem. What trouble and ex-
pense it cost me to get Baraninas " to teach
me under cover of night. For by his fear of
the Jews he presented to me in his own person
a second edition of Nicodemus.4 Of all of
these I have frequently made mention in my
works. The doctrines of Apollinaris and of
Didymus are mutually contradictory. The
squadrons of the two leaders must drag me
in different directions, for I acknowledge both
as my masters. If it is expedient to hate
any men and to loath any race, I have a
strange dislike to those of the circumcision.
For up to the present day they persecute our
Lord Jesus Christ in the synagogues of Satan.5
Yet can anyone find fault with me for hav-
ing had a Jew as a teacher ? Does a certain
person dare to bring forward against me the
letter I wrote to Didymus calling him my
master ? It is a great crime, it would seem,
forme a disciple to give to one both old and
learned the name of master. And yet when
I ask leave to look at the letter which has
been held over so long to discredit me at
last, there is nothing in it but courteous
language and a few words of greeting. Such
charges are both foolish and frivolous. It
would be more to the point to exhibit a pas-
sage in which I have defended heresy or
praised some wicked doctrine of Origen. In
the portion of Isaiah which describes the
crying of the two seraphim6 he explains
these to be the Son and the Holy Ghost ;
but have not I altered this hateful explana-
tion into a reference to the two testaments?7
' Hor. S. 1. x. 1-4. 2 See Letter L. § 2.
3 From this Jew Jerome took lessons in Hebrew during the
earlier years of his life at Bethlehem. From time to time he
also consulted other Jewish scholars.
4 Joh. iii. 2. 6 Cf. Rev. ii. 9.
« Isa. vi. 3. 7 Cf. Letter XVIII. § 14.
LETTER LXXXIV.
177
I have the book in my hand as it was pub-
lished twenty years ago. In numbers of
my works and especially in my commenta-
ries I have, as occasion has offered, mangled
this heathen school. And if my opponents
allege that I have done more than anyone
else to form a collection of Origen's books, I
answer that I only wish I could have the
works of all theological writers that by
diligent study of them, I might make up for
the slowness of my own wits. I have made
a collection of his books, I admit ; but be-
cause I know everything that he has writ-
ten I do not follow his errors. I speak as a
Christian to Christians : believe one who has
tried him. His doctrines are poisonous, they
are unknown to the Holy Scriptures, nay
more, they do them violence. I have read
Origen, I repeat, I have read him; and if it is
a crime to read him, I admit my guilt: indeed,
these Alexandrian writings have emptied my
purse. If you will believe me, I have never
been an Origenist: if you will not believe me,
I have now ceased to be one. But if even this
fails to convince you, you will compel me in
self-defence to write against your favourite,
so that, if you will not believe me when I dis-
claim him, you will have to believe me when
I attack him. But I find readier credence
when I go wrong than when I shew amend-
ment. And this is not surprising, for my
would-be friends suppose me a fellow-dis-
ciple with them in the arcana of their sys-
tem. I am loath, they fancy, to profess
esoteric doctrines before persons who accord-
ing to them are brute-like and made of clay.
For it is an axiom with them that pearls
ought not to be lightly cast before swine, nor
that which is holy given to the dogs.1 They
agree with David when he says: "Thy word
have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin
against thee; "2 and when in another place he
describes the righteous man as one " who
speaketh truth with his neighbour," 3 that is
with those who " are of the household of
faith." 4 From these passages they con-
clude that those of us who as yet are unin-
itiated ought to be told falsehoods, lest,
being still unweaned babes, we should be
choked by too solid food. Now that perjury
and lying enter into their mysteries and form
a bond between them appears most clearly
from the sixth book of Origen's Miscel-
lanies, 5 in which he harmonizes the Chris-
tian doctrine 6 with the conceptions of Plato.
4. What must I do then ? deny that I am
of Origen's opinion ? They will not believe
me. Swear that I am not ? They will laugh
and say that I deal in lies. I will do the one
thing which they dread. I will bring forward
their sacred rites and mysteries, and will
expose the cunning whereby they delude
simple folk like myself. Perhaps, although
they refuse credence to my voice when I
deny, they may believe my pen when I ac-
cuse. Of one thing they are particularly
apprehensive, and that is that their writings
may some day be taken as evidence against
their master. They are ready to make state-
ments on oath and to disclaim them after-
wards with an oath as false as the first. When
asked for their signatures they use shifts and
seek excuses. One says : " I cannot con-
demn what no one else has condemned."
Another says : " No decision was arrived at
on the point by the Fathers." ' It is thus
that they appeal to the judgment of the
world to put off the necessity of assenting to
a condemnation. Another says with yet more
assurance : " how am I to condemn men whom
the council of Nicasa has left untouched ? For
the council which condemned Arius would
surely have condemned Origen too, had it
disapproved of his doctrines." They were
bound in other words to cure all the diseases
of the church at once and with one remedy ;
and by parity of reasoning we must deny the
majesty of the Holy Ghost because nothing
was said of his nature in that council. But the
question was of Arius, not of Origen ; of the
Son, not of the Holy Ghost. The bishops at
the council proclaimed their adherence to a
dogma which was at the time denied ; they
said nothing about a difficulty which no one
had raised. And yet they covertly struck at
Origen as the source of the Arian heresy :
for, in condemning those who deny the Son
to be of the substance of the Father, they
have condemned Origen as much as Arius.
On the ground taken by these persons we
have no right to condemn Valentine,2 or
Marcion,3 or the Cataphrygians,4 or Mani-
chseus, none of whom are named by the
council of Nicsea, and yet there is no doubt
that in time they were prior to it. But when
they find themselves pressed either to sub-
scribe or to leave the Church, you may see
some strange twisting. They qualify their
words, they arrange them anew, they use
vague expressions ; so as, if possible, to hold
both our confession and that of our oppo-
nents, to be called indifferently heretics and
Catholics. As if it were not in the same
spirit that the Delphian Apollo (or, as he is
sometimes called, Loxias) gave his oracles
1 Matt. vii. 6. 2 Ps. cxix. 11.
3 Ps. xv. 2, 3 from memory. 4 Gal. vi. 10.
6 oTpwfiaTeis, lit. = ' tapestries.' See note on Letter LXX. § 4.
6 The doctrine alluded to is probably that of the Trinity.
1 i. e. the Bishops present at Nicsea.
3 The founder of a Gnostic sect in the second century. He
taught first in Egypt and afterwards in Rome.
3 See note on L etter XLVIII. § 2.
* The Montanists were so called because the headquarters of
their sect were at Pepuza a small village in Phrygia.
i78
JEROME.
to Croesus and to Pyrrhus ; cheating with a
similar device two men widely separated in
time.' To make my meaning clear I will
give a few examples.
5. We believe, say they, in the resurrec-
tion of the body. This confession, if only
it be sincere, is free from objection. But as
there are bodies celestial and bodies terres-
trial2 and as thin air and the rether are both
according to their natures called bodies, they
use the word body instead of the word flesh
in order that an orthodox person hearing
them say body may take them to mean flesh
while a heretic will understand that they
mean spirit. This is their first piece of craft,
and if this is found out, they devise fresh
wiles, and, pretending innocence themselves,
accuse us of malice. As though they were
frank believers they say, " We believe in the
resurrection of the flesh." Now when they
have said this, the ignorant crowd thinks it
ought to be satisfied, particularly because
these exact words are found in the creed.3
If you go on to question them farther, a buzz
of disapproval is heard in the ring and their
backers cry out : " You have heard them say
that they believe in the resurrection of the
flesh ; what more do you want ? " the popu-
lar favour is transferred from our side to
theirs, and while they are called honest, we
are looked on as false accusers. But if you
set your face steadily and keeping a firm hold
of their admission about the flesh, proceed
to press them as to whether they assert the
resurrection of that flesh which is visible and
tangible, which walks and speaks, they first
laugh and then signify their assent. And
when we inquire whether the resurrection
will exhibit anew the hair and the teeth, the
chest and the stomach, the hands and the
feet, and all the other members of the body,
then no longer able to contain their mirth
they burst out laughing and tell us that in
that case we shall need barbers, and cakes,
and doctors, and cobblers. Do we, they ask
us in turn, believe that after the resurrection
men's cheeks will still be rough and those of
women smooth, and that sex will differentiate
their bodies as it does at present ? Then if
we admit this, they at once deduce from our
admission conclusions involving the grossest
materialism. Thus, while they maintain the
resurrection of the body as a whole, they deny
the resurrection of its separate members.
1 Croesus when he asked whether he should resist Cyrus was
told that, if he did so, he would overthrow a mighty kingdom,
a prophecy fulfilled in his own destruction ; while Pyrrhus long
afterwards received an equally evasive answer in the words,
' Pyrrhus the Sons of Rome mav well defeat."
a 1 Cor. xv. 40.
'Article XI. of the Apostles' Creed speaks in the original
forms of the resurrection not of " the body " but of " the flesh :"
and it is still found in this shape in the Anglican office for the
visitation of the sick.
6. The present is not a time to speak rhe-
torically against a perverse doctrine. Neither
the rich vocabulary of Cicero nor the fervid
eloquence of Demosthenes could adequately
convey the warmth of my feeling, were I
to attempt to expose the quibbles by which
these heretics, while verbally professing a
belief in the resurrection, in their hearts deny
it. For their women finger their breasts, slap
their chests, pinch their legs and arms, and
say, "What will a resurrection profit us if
these frail bodies are to rise again ? No, if
we are to be like angels,1 we shall have the
bodies of angels.0' That is to say they scorn
to rise again with the flesh and bones where-
with even Christ rose.2 Now suppose for a
moment that in my youth I went astray and
that, trained as I was in the schools of heathen
philosophy, I was ignorant, in the beginning
of my faith, of the dogmas of Christianity,
and fancied that what I had read in Pythag-
oras and Plato and Empedocles was also con-
tained in the writings of the apostle : Sup-
posing, I say, that I believed all this, why do
you yet follow the error of a mere babe and
sucking child in Christ ? Why do you learn
irreligion of one who as yet knew not reli-
gion ? After shipwreck one has still a plank
to cling to ; 3 and one may atone for sin by a
frank confession. You have followed me
when I have gone astray ; follow me also now
that I have been brought back. In youth
we have wandered ; now that we are old let
us mend our ways. Let us unite our tears
and our groans ; let us weep together, and
return to the Lord our Maker.4 Let us not
wait for the repentance of the devil ; for this
is a vain anticipation and one that will drag
us into the deep of hell. Life must be
sought or lost here. If I have never fol-
lowed Origen, it is in vain that you seek to
discredit me : if I have been his disciple, im-
itate my penitence. You have believed my
confession ; credit also my denial.
7. But it will be said, " If you knew these
things, why did you praise him in your
works ? " I should praise him today but that
you and men like you praise his errors. I
should still find his talent attractive, but that
some people have been attracted by his im-
piety. " Read 5 all things," says the apostle,
" hold fast that which is good." 6 Lactantius
in his books and particularly in his letters to
Demetrian altogether denies the subsistence
of the Holy Spirit, and following the error of
the Jews says that the passages in which he
is spoken of refer to the Father or to the Son
and that the words ' holy spirit ' merely prove
1 Cf. Matt. xxii. 30. 2Cf. Lukexxiv. 39.
3 A favourite metaphor with Jerome to describe the nature
of Christian penitence, taken from Acts xxvii. 44.
4 ps. xcv, 6, Vulg. 6 AV. ' prove.' • 1 Thess. v. 21.
LETTER LXXXIV.
179
the holiness of these two persons in the God-
head. But who can forbid me to read his In-
stitutes— in which he has written against the
Gentiles with much ability — simply because
this opinion of his is to be abhorred ? Apolli-
naris ' has written excellent treatises against
Porphyry, and I approve of his labours,
although I despise his doctrine in many points
because of its foolishness. If you too for
your parts will but admit that Origen errs in
certain things I will not say another syllable.
Acknowledge that he thought amiss concern-
ing the Son, and still more amiss concerning
the Holy Spirit, point out the impiety of which
he has been guilty in speaking of men's souls
as having fallen from heaven, and shew that,
while in word he asserts the resurrection of
the flesh, he destroys the force of this lan-
guage by other assertions. As, for instance,
that, after many ages and one " restitution of
all things,"8 it will be the same for Gabriel as
for the devil, for Paul as for Caiaphas, for
virgins as for prostitutes. When once you
have rejected these misstatements and have
parted them with your censor's wand from
the faith of the Church, I may read what is
left with safety, and having first taken the
antidote need no longer dread the poison.
For instance it will do me no harm to say as
I have said, " Whereas in his other books
Origen has surpassed all other writers, in
commenting on the Song of Songs he has
surpassed himself " ; nor will I fear to face
the words with which formerly in my younger
days I spoke of him as a doctor of the
churches.3 Will it be pretended, that I was
bound to accuse a man whose works I
was translating by special request ? that I
was bound to say in my preface, "This writer
whose books I translate is a heretic : beware
of him, reader, read him not, flee from the
viper : or, if you are bent on reading him,
know that the treatises which I have trans-
lated have been garbled by heretics and
wicked men ; yet you need not fear, for I
have corrected all the places which they have
corrupted,"jthat in other words I ought to
have said : " the writer that I translate is a
heretic, but I, his translator, am a Catholic."
The fact is that you and your party in your
anxiety to be straightforward, ingenuous, and
honest, have paid too little regard to the pre-
cepts of rhetoric and to the devices of ora-
tory. For in admitting that his books On
First Principles are heretical and in trying to
lay the blame of this upon others, you raise
difficulties for your readers ; you induce them
to examine the whole life of the author and
1 See note on § 2 above. 2 Acts iii. 21.
3 See Jerome's preface to his version of Origen's Homilies on
Ezekiel : and his preface to his own Treatise on Hebrew Names.
See also Letter XXXIII.
to form a judgment on the question from the
remainder of his writings. I on the other
hand have been wise enough to emend silent-
ly what I wished to emend : thus by ignoring
the crime I have averted prejudice from the
criminal. Doctors tell us that serious mala-
dies ought not to be subjected to treat-
ment, but should be left to nature, lest the
remedies applied should intensify the disease.
It is now almost one hundred and fifty years
since Origen died at Tyre.1 Yet what Latin
writer has ever ventured to translate his books
On the Resurrection and On First Principles,
his Miscellanies 2 and his Commentaries or as
he himself calls them his Tomes?3 Who has
ever cared by so infamous a work to cover
himself with infamy ? I am not more elo-
quent than Hilary or truer to the faith than
Victorinus who both have rendered his Hom-
ilies* not in exact versions but in indepen-
dent [paraphrases. Recently also Ambrose
appropriated his Six Days' Work,b but in such
a way that it expressed the views of Hippoly-
tus and Basil rather than of Origen. You pro-
fess to take me for your model, and blind as
moles in relation to others you scan me with
the eyes of gazelles. Well, had I been ill-dis-
posed towards Origen, I might have translated
these very books so as to make his worst writ-
ings known to Latin readers ; but this I have
never done ; and, though many have asked
me, I have always refused. For it has never
been my habit to crow over the mistakes of
men whose talents I admire. Origen himself,
were he still alive, would soon fall out with
you his would-be patrons and would say with
Jacob : " Ye have troubled me to make me to
stink among the inhabitants of the land."6
8. Does any one wish to praise Origen ?
Let him praise him as I do. From his child-
hood he was a great man, and truly a mar-
tyr's son.T At Alexandria he presided over
the school of the church, succeeding a man
of great learning the presbyter Clement. So
greatly did he abhor sensuality that, out of a
zeal for God but yet one not according to
knowledge,9 he castrated himself with a knife.
Covetousness he trampled under foot. He
knew the scriptures by heart and laboured
hard day and night to explain their meaning.
He delivered in church more than a thousand
sermons, and published innumerable commen-
taries which he called tomes. These I now
pass over, for it is not my purpose to cata-
logue his writings. Which of us can read all
that he has written ? and who can fail to ad-
1 Origen died at Tyre about the year 255 A.D.
2 See note on Letter LXX. § 4. 3 to'm<h. 4 Tractatus.
5 Hexaemeron : an account of the creation is meant.
6 Gen. xxxiv. 30. ...
7 His father Leonides suffered martyrdom in the persecution
of Severus. „ _
s See note on Letter LXX. § 4. » Rom. x. 2.
i8o
JEROME.
mire his enthusiasm for the scriptures ? If
some one in the spirit of Judas the Zealot '
brings up to me his mistakes, he shall have
his answer in the words of Horace :
'Tis true that sometimes Homer sleeps, but then
The fault is venial, for his work is long. 2
Let us not imitate the faults of one whose
virtues we cannot equal. Other men have
erred concerning the faith, both Greeks and
Latins, but I must not mention their names
lest I should be supposed to defend Origen
not by his own merits but by the errors of
others. This, you will say, is to accuse them
and not to excuse him. You would be right,
if I had declared him not to have erred, or if
I had professed a belief that the apostle Paul
or an angel from heaven 3 ought to be listened
to in a depravation of the faith. But as it is,
seeing I frankly admit him to be wrong, I
may read him on the same terms as I read
others, because if he is wrong so also are
they. But you may say, If error is common
to many, why do you assail him alone ? I
answer, because he alone is praised by you
as an apostle. Take away your exaggerated
love for him, and I am ready to take away
the greatness of my dislike. While you
gather other men's faulty statements out of
their books merely to defend Origen in his
error, you extol this latter to the sky and
will not allow that he has erred at all. Who-
soever you are who are thus preaching new
doctrines, I beseech you, spare the ears of the
Romans, spare the faith of a church which an
apostle has praised.4 Why after four hun-
dred years do you try to teach us Romans
doctrines of which until now we have known
nothing ? Why do you publicly proclaim
opinions which Peter and Paul 5 refused to
profess ? Until now no such teaching has
been heard of, and yet the world has become
christian. For my part I will hold fast in
my old age the faith wherein I was born
again in my boyhood.6 They speak of us as
claytowners,7 made out of dirt, brutish and
carnal, because, say they, we refuse to receive
the things of the spirit ; but of course they
themselves are citizens of Jerusalem and
their mother is in heaven.8 I do not despise
the flesh in which Christ was born and rose
again, or scorn the mud which, baked into a
clean vessel, reigns in heaven. And yet I
wonder why they who detract from the flesh
live after the flesh,9 and cherish and delicately
' i.e. Judas the Gaulonite whose fanatical rising against the
Romans is mentioned in Acts v. 37.
I Hor. A. P. 359, 360. s cl Gal. i. 8. * Rom. i. 8.
6 The (traditional) founders of the Roman Church.
6 Jerome was baptized at Rome about the year 367 A.D.
7 Pelusiotae, men of Pelusium, supposed to be derived from
»">)Aos, "clay." See Jerome's Comm. on Jer. xxix. 14-20.
" Gal. iv. 26.
9 See the description of Rufinus in Letter CXXV. 18.
nurture that which is their enemy. Perhaps
indeed they wish to fulfil the words of scrip-
ture : " love your enemies and bless them
that persecute you." ' I love the flesh, but I
love it only when it is chaste, when it is vir-
ginal, when it is mortified by fasting : I love
not its works but itself, that flesh which
knows that it must be judged, and therefore
dies as a martyr for Christ, which is scourged
and torn asunder and burned with fire.
9. The folly also of their contention that
certain heretics and ill-disposed persons have
tampered with Origen's writings may be
shewn thus. Could any person be more wise,
more learned, or more eloquent than were
Eusebius and Didymus, Origen's supporters?
Of these the former in the six volumes of his
Apology"1 asserts that Origen is of the same
mind with himself ; while the latter, though
he tries to excuse his errors, admits that he
has made them. Not being able to deny
what he finds written, he endeavours to ex-
plain it away. It is one thing to say that
additions have been made by heretics, but
another to maintain that heretical statements
are commendable. Origen's case would be
unique if his writings were falsified all over
the world and if in one day by an edict like
that of Mithridates 3 all the truth were shorn
from his volumes. Even supposing that
some one treatise of his has been tampered
with, can it be possible that all his works,
published as they were at different times and
places, have been corrupted ? Origen himself
in a letter written to Fabian, bishop of
Rome,4 expresses penitence for having made
erroneous statements, and charges Ambrose 5
with over haste in making public what was
meant only for private circulation. And yet
to this day his disciples search for shifts to
prove that all that excites disapprobation in
his writings is due not to him but to others.
10. Moreover, when they speak of Pam-
philus as one who praised Origen, I am per-
sonally much obliged to them for accounting
me worthy to be calumniated with that
martyr. For if, sirs, you tell me that Origen's
books have been tampered with by his ene-
mies to bring them into discredit ; why may not
I in my turn allege that his friends and follow-
ers have attributed to Pamphilus a volume
composed by themselves to vindicate their
master from disrepute by the testimony of
a martyr ? Lo and behold, you yourselves
1 Matt v. 44 from memory.
2 This treatise the joint work of Eusebius and his friend Pam-
philus has perished. Part of the Latin version of Rufinus still
remains. Jerome at this time erroneously supposed that the
two friends had written separate works in defence of Origen.
(See De VV. 111. c. 75, 81, in vol. iii. of this series.)
3 In accordance with this edict (promulgated in 88 B.C.) all
the Romans in Pontus were massacred in one day.
4 This letter is no longer extant.
6 A wealthy Alexandrian, who employed shorthand writers to
take down Origen's lectures. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. B. vi. c. 23.
LETTERS LXXXIV.. LXXXV.
correct in Origen's books passages which
(according to you) he never wrote : and
yet you are surprised if a man is said to have
published a book which as a matter of fact he
did not publish. But while your statements
can easily be brought to the test by an appeal
to Origen's published works ; as Pamphilus
has published nothing else, it is easier for
calumny to fix a book upon him. For shew
me any other work of Pamphilus ; you will
nowhere find any, this is his only one. How
then can I know that it is by Pamphilus ?
You will tell me, that the style and tone ought
to inform me. Well, I shall never believe
that a man so learned has dedicated the first
fruits of his talent to defend doubtful and
discredited positions. The very name of an
apology which the treatise bears implies a pre-
vious charge made ; for nothing is defended
that is not first attacked. I will now bring
forward but a single argument, one, however,
the force of which only folly and effrontery
can deny. The treatise attributed to Pam-
philus contains nearly the first thousand
lines of Eusebius's sixth book in defence
of Origen.1 Yet in the remaining parts of
his work the writer brings forward passages
by which he seeks to prove that Origen was
a Catholic. Now Eusebius and Pamphilus
were in such thorough harmony with each
other that they seemed to have but one
soul between them, and one even went so far
as to adopt the other's name.2 How then
could they have disagreed so fundamentally
on this point, Eusebius in all his works prov-
ing Origen to be an Arian, and Pamphilus
describing him as a supporter of the Nicene
council, which had not yet been held ? It is
evident from this consideration that the book
belongs not to Pamphilus but to Didymus or
somebody else, who having cut off the head
of Eusebius's sixth book supplied the other
members himself. But I am willing to be gen-
erous and to allow that the book is written
by Pamphilus, only by Pamphilus not yet a
martyr. For he must have written the book
before he underwent martyrdom. And why,
you will say, was he accounted worthy of
martyrdom ? Surely that he might efface his
error by a martyr's death, and wash away his
one fault by shedding his blood. How many
martyrs there have been all the world over
who before their deaths have been the slaves
of sins ! Are we then to palliate the sins
because those who committed them have
afterwards become martyrs ?
ii. This reply to your letter, my most
1 If the text is sound here Jerome is again misled by suppos-
ing that Eusebius and Pamphilus had written separate books
in defence of Origen.
- Eusebius calls himself Eusebius Pamphili. that is, ' the
friend of Pamphilus.'
VOL. VI. N
loving brothers, I have dictated in all haste;
and, overcoming my scruples, I have taken
up my pen against a man whose ability I
once eulogized. I would sooner, indeed,
risk my reputation than my faith. My
friends have placed me in the awkward
dilemma that if I say nothing I shall be held
guilty, and if I offer a defence I shall be
accounted an enemy. Both alternatives are
hard; but of the two I will choose that which
is the least so. A quarrel can be made up,
but blasphemy can find no forgiveness. I
leave to your judgment to discover how much
labour 1 have expended in translating the
books On First Principles j for on the one
hand if one alters anything from the Greek
the work becomes less a version than a per-
version ; and on the other hand a literal
adherence to the original by no means tends
to preserve the charm of its eloquence.
LETTER LXXXY.
TO PAULINUS.
Paulinus had asked Jerome two questions, (i) how
can certain passages of scripture (Exod. vii. 13 : Rom.
ix. 16) be reconciled with Free Will ? and (2) Why
are the children of believers said to be holy (1 Cor. vii.
14) apart from baptismal grace ? For the first of these
questions Jerome refers Paulinus to his version (newly
made) of Origen's treatise, On First Principles. For
the second he quotes the explanation of Tertullian.
Written in 400 A.D.
1. Your words urge me to write to you but
your eloquence deters me from doing so.
For as a letter- writer you are almost as good
as Tully. You complain that my letters are
short and unpolished : this is not due to care-
lessness but to fear of you, lest writing to
you at greater length I should but send you
more sentences to find fault with. Moreover,
to make a clean breast of it to a good man
like you, just about the time the vessels sail
for the west, so many letters are demanded of*
me at once that, if I were to reply to all my
correspondents, I should be unable to accom-
plish my task. Hence it happens that, neg-
lecting the niceties of composition and not
revising the work of my secretaries, I dictate
whatever first comes into my head. Thus
when I write to you I regard you as a friend
and not as a critic.
2. Your letter propounds two questions,
the first, why God hardened Pharaoh's heart,
and why the apostle said : " So then it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy ; " ' and
other things which appear to do away with
free will : the second, how those are holy
who are born of believing, that is, of baptized
parents,2 seeing that without the gift of grace
1 Rom. ix. 16.
8 1 Cor. vii. 14-
182
JEROME.
afterwards received and kept they cannot be
saved.
3. Your first question is most ably an-
swered by Origen in his treatise on First
Principles which, at the request of my friend
Pammachius, I have recently translated.
This task has occupied me so fully that I am
unable to keep my word with you and must
again postpone the sending my commentary
on Daniel. Indeed, distinguished and de-
voted to me as Pammachius is, had he been
alone in his request, I should have deferred
it to another time, but, as it was, almost all
our brothers at Rome urged the same demand
declaring that many persons were in danger,
and that some even accepted Origen's heret-
ical teaching. I have found myself forced
therefore to translate a book in which there
is more of bad than of good, and to keep to
this rule that I should neither add nor sub-
tract but should preserve in Latin in its in-
tegrity the true sense of the Greek. You
will be able to borrow a copy of my version
from the aforesaid brother, though in your
case the Greek will serve quite as well ;
neither should you, who can drink from the
fountain head, turn to the muddy streamlets
supplied by my poor wits.
4. Moreover, as I am speaking to an
educated man, well versed both in the sacred
scriptures and in secular literature, I desire
to give your excellency this note of warning.
Do not suppose that I am a clumsy buffoon '
who condemn everything that Origen has
written, — as his injudicious friends falsely
assert — or that I have changed my mind as
suddenly as the philosopher Dionysius.2
The fact is that I repudiate merely his ob-
jectionable dogmas. For I know that one
curse hangs over those who call evil good
and over those who call good evil, over those
who put bitter for sweet, and over those who
put sweet for bitter.3 Who would go so far
in praise of another man's teaching as to
acquiesce in blasphemy ?
5. Your second question is discussed by
Tertullian in his books on Monogamy'' where
he declares that the children of believers are
called holy because they are as it were can-
didates for the faith and have suffered no
pollution from idolatry. Consider also that
the vessels of which we read in the taber-
nacle are called holy and everything else re-
quired for the ceremonial worship : although
in strictness of speech there can be nothing
holy except creatures which know of and
worship God. But it is a scriptural usage
sometimes to give the name of holy to those
1 Cf. Hor. S. II. viii. si.
a Dionysius of Heraclea called the renegade because he aban-
doned the Stoic for the Cyrenaic school.
8 Isa, v. 20. 4 Ad. Ux. ii. z.
who are clean, or who have been purified, or
who have made expiation. For instance, it
is written of Bathsheba that she was made
holy ' from her uncleanness,2 and the temple
itself is called the holy place.
6. I beg that you will not silently in your
mind accuse me either of vanity or of in-
sincerity. God bears me witness in my con-
science that the unavoidable circumstances
mentioned above drew me back when I was
just going to grapple with my commentary ;
and you know that what is done when the
mind is pre-occupied is never well done. I
gladly accept the cap that you have sent me,
a mark, though small, of no small affection
and just the thing to keep an old man's head
warm. I am delighted alike with the gift
and with the giver.
LETTER LXXXYI.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Jerome congratulates Theophilus on the success of
his crusade against Origenism, and speaks of the good
work done in Palestine by his emissaries Priscus and
Eubulus. He then (by a singular change in his senti-
ments) asks Theophilus to forgive John of Jerusalem
for having unwittingly received an excommunicated
Egyptian. The date of the Letter is 400 A.D.
Jerome to the most blessed Pope Theoph-
ilus. I have recently received despatches
from your blessedness setting right your
long silence and summoning me to return to
my duty. So, though the reverend brothers
Priscus and Eubulus have been slow in bring-
ing me your letters, yet, as they are now
hastening in the ardour of faith from end to
end of Palestine and scattering and driving
into their holes the basilisks of heresy, I
write a few lines to congratulate you on your
success. The whole world glories in your
victories. An exultant crowd of all nations
gazes on the standard of the cross raised
by you at Alexandria and upon the shin-
ing trophies which mark your triumph over
heresy. Blessings on your courage ! bless-
ings on your zeal ! You have shewn that your
long silence has been due to policy and not
to inclination. I speak quite openly to your
reverence. I grieved to find you too for-
bearing, and, knowing nothing of the course
shaped by the pilot, I yearned for the
destruction of those abandoned men. But,
as I now see, you have had your hand raised
and, if you have delayed to strike, it has only
been that you might strike harder. As
regards the welcome given to a certain per-
son,3 you have no reason to be vexed with
1 AV. ' purified. ' 3 2 Sam. xi. 4.
3 Doubtless some Egyptian monk or ecclesiastic placed under
ban by Theophilus on account of Origenism.
LETTERS LXXXV.-LXXXIX.
183
the prelate of this city; ' for as you gave no
instructions on the point in your letter, it
would have been rash in him to decide a case
of which he knew nothing. Still I think that
he would neither wish nor venture to annoy
you in any way.
LETTER LXXXVII.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO JEROME.
Theophilus informs Jerome that he has expelled the
Origenists from the monasteries of Nitria, and urges
him to shew his zeal for the faith by writing against
the prevalent heresy. The date of the letter is 400
A.D.
Theophilus, bishop, to the well-beloved
and most loving brother, the presbyter
Jerome. The reverend bishop Agatho with
the well-beloved deacon Athanasius is ac-
credited to you with tidings relating to the
church. When you learn their import I feel
no doubt but that you will approve my
resolution and will exult in the church's
victory. For we have cut down with the
prophet's sickle* certain wicked fanatics
who were eager to sow broadcast in the
monasteries of Nitria the heresy of Origen.
We have remembered the warning words of
the apostle, "rebuke with all authority."3
Do you therefore on your part, as you hope
to receive a share in this reward, make haste
to bring back with scriptural discourses those
who have been deceived. It is our desire,
if possible, to guard in our days not only
the Catholic faith and the rules of the
church, but the people committed to our
charge, and to give a quietus to all strange
doctrines.
LETTER LXXXVIII.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Replying to the preceding letter Jerome again con-
gratulates Theophilus on the success of his efforts to
put down Origenism, and informs him that they have
already borne fruit as far west as Italy. He then asks
him for the decrees of his council (held recently at Alex-
andria). The date of the letter is 400 A.D.
Jerome to the most blessed pope Theoph-
ilus. The letter of your holiness has given
me a twofold pleasure, partly because it has
had for its bearers those reverend and esti-
mable men, the bishop Agatho and the deacon
Athanasius, and partly because it has shewn
your zeal for the faith against a most wicked
heresy. The voice of your holiness has rung
1 John of Jerusalem. He had probably, like Kutinus. been
reconciled to Jerome, and seems to have taken no part in the
subsequent quarrel between Jerome and Rutinus.
'•'Joel iii. 13. 3 Tit. ii. 15.
throughout the world, and to the joy of all
Christ's churches the poisonous suggestions
of the devil have been silenced. The old
serpent l hisses no longer, but, writhing and
disembowelled, lurks in dark caverns unable
to bear the shining of the sun. I have al-
ready, before the writing of your letter, sent
missives to the West pointing out to those of
my own language some of the quibbles em-
ployed by the heretics. I hold it due to the
special providence of God that you should
have written to the pope Anastasius2 at the
same time as myself, and should thus without
knowing it have been the means of confirm-
ing my testimony. Now that you have
directly urged me to do so, I shall shew my-
self more zealous than ever to recall from
their error simple souls both near and far.
Nor shall I hesitate, if needful, to incur
odium with some, for we ought to please God
rather than men :3 although indeed they have
been much more forward to defend their her-
esy than I and others have been to attack it.
At the same time I beg that if you have any
synodical decrees bearing upon the subject
you will forward them to me, that, strength-
ened with the authority of so great a prelate,
I may open my mouth for Christ with more
freedom and confidence. The presbyter Vin-
cent has arrived from Rome two days ago
and humbly salutes you. He tells me again
and again that Rome and almost the whole
of Italy owe their deliverance after Christ
to your letters. Shew diligence therefore,
most loving and most blessed pope, and
whenever opportunity offers write to the
bishops of the West not to hesitate — in your
own words4 — to cut down with a sharp sickle
the sprouts of evil.
LETTER LXXXIX.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO JEROME.
This letter (probably earlier in date than the three
preceding) commends to Jerome the monk Theodore,
who, having come from Rome to declare the condemna-
tion of Origenism by the church there, had visited the
monasteries of Nitria now purged of heresy, and wished
before returning to the West to see the Holy Places as
well. The date of the letter is 400 A.D.
Theophilus, bishop, to the well-beloved
lord and most loving brother the presbyter
Jerome. I have learned the project of the
monk Theodore — which will be known also
to your holiness — and I approve of it. Hav-
ing to leave us on a voyage for Rome, he
has been unwilling to set out without first
visiting and embracing as his own flesh and
1 Rev. xii. 9.
3 Acts v. 29.
» Bishop of Rome, A.D. 398-402.
1 See the preceding letter.
N 2
1 84
JEROME.
blood you and the reverend brothers who are
with you in the monastery. You will, I am
sure, rejoice in the news with which he will
meet your welcome, that quiet has been re-
stored to the church here. He has seen all
the monasteries of Nitria and can tell you of
the continence and meekness of the monks in
them ; as also how the Origenists have been
put down and scattered, how peace has been
restored to the church, and how the discipline
of the Lord is being upheld. How gladly
would I see the mask of hypocrisy laid aside
by those also who near you are said to be un-
dermining the truth. I feel obliged to write
thus because the brothers in your neighbour-
hood ' are mistaken concerning them. Where-
fore take heed to yourselves and shun men of
this type ; even as it is written : — " if any man
bring not to you the faith of the church, bid
him not God speed."2 It may, indeed, be
superfluous to write thus to you who can re-
call the erring from their error, yet no harm is
done when those careful for the faith admon-
ish even the wise and learned. Kindly salute
jn my name all the brothers who are with you.
LETTER XC.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO EPIPHANIUS.
Theophilus writes to Epiphanius to convoke a council
in Cyprus for the condemnation of Origenism and asks
him to transmit to Constantinople by a trustworthy mes-
senger a copy of its decrees together with the synodical
letter of Theophilus himself. His anxiety about this
last point is caused by the news that certain of the ex-
communicated monks have set sail for Constantinople
to lay their case before the bishop, John Chrysostom.
The date of the letter is 400 A.D.
Theophilus to his well-beloved lord, broth-
er, and fellow-bishop Epiphanius.
The Lord has said to his prophet, " See,
I have this day set thee over the nations and
over the kingdoms to root out and to pull
down and to destroy and ... to build
and to plant."3 In every age he bestows
the same grace upon his church, that His
Body4 may be preserved intact and that the
poison of heretical opinions may nowhere
prevail over it. And now also do we see the
words fulfilled. For the church of Christ
" not having spot or wrinkle or any such
thing " 5 has with the sword of the gospel
cut down the Origenist serpents crawling out
of their caves, and has delivered from their
deadly contagion the fruitful host of the
monks of Nitria. I have compressed a short
account of my proceedings (it was all that
1 The bishops of Palestine are meant. See Letter XCII.
a 2 John 10, inexactly quoted. a Jer. i. 10.
4 Eph.i. 2j. 6Eph. v. 27.
time would allow) into the general letter '
which I have addressed indiscriminately to
all. As your excellency has often fought in
contests of the kind before me, it is your
present duty to strengthen the hands of those
who are in the field and to gather together to
this end the bishops of your entire island.2
A synodical letter should be sent to myself
and the bishop of Constantinople 3 and to
any others whom you think fit ; that by
universal consent Origen himself may be
expressly condemned and also the infamous
heresy of which he was the author. I have
learned that certain calumniators of the true
faith, named Ammonius, Eusebius, and Eu-
thymius, filled with a fresh access of enthu-
siasm in behalf of the heresy, have taken
ship for Constantinople, to ensnare with their
deceits as many new converts as they can
and to confer anew with the old companions
of their impiety. Let it be your care, there-
fore, to set forth the course of the matter to
all the bishops throughout Isauria and Pam-
phylia and the rest of the neighbouring prov-
inces : moreover, if you think fit, you can
add my letter, so that all of us gathered to-
gether in one spirit with the power of our
Lord Jesus Christ may deliver these men unto
Satan for the destruction of the impiety
which possesses them.4 And to ensure the
speedy arrival of my despatches at Constan-
tinople, send a diligent messenger, one of
the clergy (as I send fathers from the mon-
asteries of Nitria with others also of the
monks, learned men and continent) that when
they arrive they may be able themselves to
relate what has been done. Above all I beg
of you to offer up earnest prayers to the
Lord that we may be able in this contest
also to gain the victory ; for no small joy
has filled the hearts of the people both in
Alexandria and throughout all Egypt, be-
cause a few men have been expelled from the
Church that the body of it might be kept
pure. Salute the brothers who are with you.
The people 5 with us salute you in the Lord.
LETTER XCI.
FROM EPIPHANIUS TO JEROME.
An exultant letter from Epiphanius in which he de-
scribes the success of his council (convened at the sug-
gestion of Theophilus), sends Jerome a copy of its synod-
ical letter, and urges him to go on with his work of
translating into Latin documents bearing on the Origen-
istic controversy. Written in 400 A.D.
To his most loving lord, son, and brother,
» Letter XCII. 9 Cyprus.
3 i.e. John Chrysostom who had been raised to the patriarch-
ate in 398 A.D.
* Cf . 1 Cor. v. 4. 5- 5Plebs.
LETTERS LXXXlX.-XCII.
185
the presbyter Jerome, Epiphanius sends greet-
ing in the Lord. The general epistle writ-
ten ' to all Catholics belongs particularly
to you ; for you, having a zeal for the
faith against all heresies, particularly oppose
the disciples of Origen and of Apollinaris ;
whose poisoned roots and deeply planted im-
piety almighty God has dragged forth into
our midst, that having been unearthed at
Alexandria they might wither throughout the
world. For know, my beloved son, that
Amalek has been destroyed 'root and branch
and that the trophy of the cross has been set
up on the hill of Rephidim." For as when
the hands of Moses were held up on high
Israel prevailed, so the Lord has strength-
ened His servant Theophilus to plant His
standard against Origen on the altar of the
church of Alexandria ; that in him might be
fulfilled the words: "Write this for a me-
morial, for I will utterly put out Origen's
heresy from under heaven together with that
Amalek himself." And that I may not ap-
pear to be repeating the same things over
and over and thus to be making my letter
tedious, I send you the actual missive written
to me that you may know what Theophilus
has said to me, and what a great blessing the
Lord has granted to my last days in approv-
ing the principles which I have always pro-
claimed by the testimony of so great a
prelate. I fancy that by this time you also
have published something and that, as I sug-
gested in my former letter to you on this
subject, you have elaborated a treatise for
readers of your own language. For I hear
that certain of those who have made ship-
wreck 3 have come also to the West, and that,
not content with their own destruction, they
desire to involve others in death with them ;
as if they thought that the multitude of sin-
ners lessens the guilt of sin and the flames of
Gehenna do not grow in size in proportion as
more logs are heaped upon them. With you
and by you we send our best greetings to
the reverend brothers who are with you in
the monastery serving God.
LETTER XCII.
THE SYNODICAL LETTER OF THEOPHILUS TO
THE BISHOPS OF PALESTINE AND OF CYPRUS.
The synodical letter of the council held at Alexandria
in 400 A.D. to condemn Origenism. Written origi-
nally in Greek it was translated into Latin by Jerome.
This letter was addressed in identical terms to the
Bishops of Palestine and to those of Cyprus. We
reproduce the headings of both copies. That to the
Bishops of Palestine commences thus : To the well-be-
By Theophilus.
3 Cf. Exod. xvii. 8-14. 3 1 Tim. i. 19.
loved lords, brothers, and fellow-bishops, Eulogiusjohn,
Zebianus, Auxentius, Dionysius, Gennadius, Zeno.Theo-
dosius, Dicterius, Porphyry. Satuminus, Alan, Paul,
Ammonius, Helianus, Eusebius, the other Paul, and
to all the Catholic bishops gathered together at the
dedication festival of /Elia, ' Theophilus [sends] greet-
ing in the Lord.
The Cyprians he addresses thus : To the well-be-
loved lords, brothers, and fellow-bishops, Epiphanius,
Marcianus, Agapetus, Boethius, Helpidius. Entasius,
Norbanus, Macedonius, Aristo, Zeno, Asiaticus, Her-
aclides, the other Zeno, Cyriacus, and Aphroditus,
Theophilus [sends] greeting in the Lord.
The scope of the letter is as follows :
We have personally visited the monasteries
of Nitria and find that the Origenistic her-
esy has made great ravages among them.
It is accompanied by a strange fanaticism :
men even maim themselves or cut out their
tongues2 to show how they despise the body.
I find that some men of this kind have gone
from Egypt into Syria and other countries 3
where they speak against us and the truth.
The books of Origen have been read be-
fore a council of bishops and unanimously
condemned. The following are his chief
errors, mainly found in the nepi "Apx&v.
1. The Son compared with us is truth, but
compared with the Father he is falsehood.
2. Christ's kingdom will one day come to
an end.
3. We ought to pray to the Father alone,
not to the Son.
4. Our bodies after the resurrection will be
corruptible and mortal.
5. There is nothing perfect even in heaven ;
the angels themselves are faulty, and some
of them feed on the Jewish sacrifices.
6. The stars are conscious of their own
movements, and the demons know the future
by their courses.
7. Magic, if real, is not evil.
8. Christ suffered once for men ; he will
suffer again for the demons.
The Origenists have tried to coerce me ;
they have even stirred up the heathen by de-
nouncing the destruction of the Serapeum ;
and have sought to withdraw from the eccle-
siastical jurisdiction two persons accused of
grave crimes. One of these is the woman '
1 In jElise encaeniis. ^51ia was the name given by the em-
peror Hadrian to the Roman colony founded by him on the site
of Jerusalem.
2 The monk Ammonius is said to have done this and similar
things.
3 Some fifty, led by Ammonius and his three brothers (called
the Long or Tall Monks) went first to Syria and then to Con-
stantinople.
4 This woman is said to have brought a charge of immorality
against Isidore and then suppressed it on being placed by him
on the list of widows who received the church's bounty. Isidore
was now eighty years old, and there were many causes for the
quarrel. Palladius, Socrates and Sozomen intimate that the real
cause of Theophilus1 enmity to his old confidant Isidore was
that Isidore knew secrets unfavorable to Theophilus. He after-
wards went with the Long Monks to Constantinople, where
Chrysostom by his reception of them incurred the hatred of
Theophilus. See Jerome Letter CXIII.
i So
JEROME.
who was wrongly placed on the list of widows
by Isidore, the other Isidore himself. He is
the standard-bearer of the heretical faction,
and his wealth supplies them with unbounded
resources for their violent enterprises. They
have tried to murder me ; they seized the
monastery church at Nitria, and for a time
prevented the bishops from entering and the
offices from being performed. Now, like
Zebul (Beelzebub) they go to and fro on
the earth.
I have done them no harm ; I have even
protected them. But I would not let an old
friendship (with Isidore) impair our faith and
discipline. I implore you to oppose them
wherever they come, and to prevent them
from unsettling the brethren committed to
you.
LETTER XCIII.
PROM THE BISHOPS OF PALESTINE TO
THE0PHI1AJS.
The synodical letter of the council of Jerusalem sent
to Theophilus in reply to the preceding. The transla-
tion as before is due to Jerome.
The following is an epitome : We have done
all that you wished, and Palestine is almost
wholly free from the taint of heresy. We
wish that not only the Origenists, but Jews,
Samaritans and heathen also, could be put
down. Origenism does not exist among us.
The doctrines you describe are never heard
here. We anathematize those who hold such
doctrines, and also those of Apollinaris, and
shall not receive anyone whom you excom-
municate.
LETTER XCIV.
PROM DIONYSIUS TO THEOPHILUS.
In this letter (translated into Latin by Jerome)
Dionysius, bishop of Lydda, praises Theophilus for his
signal victories over Origenism and urges him to con-
tinue his efforts against that heresy. Written in 400
A.D.
LETTER XCV.
PROM POPE ANASTASIUS TO SIMPL1CIANUS.
At the request of Theophilus Anastasius, bishop of
Rome, writes to Simplicianus, bishop of Milan, to
inform him that he. like Theophilus, has condemned
Origen whose blasphemies have been brought under
his notice by Eusebius of Cremona. This latter had
shewn him a copy of the version by Rufinus of the
treatise On First Principles. The date of the letter is
400 A.D.
To his lord and brother Simplicianus,
Anastasius.
1. It is felt right that a shepherd should
bestow great care and watchfulness upon his
flock. In like manner too from his lofty
tower the careful watchman keeps a lookout
day and night on behalf of the city. So also
in the hour of tempest when the sea is dan-
gerous the shipmaster suffers keen anxiety '
lest the gale and the violence of the waves
shall dash his vessel upon the rocks. It is
with similar feelings that the reverend and
honourable Theophilus our brother and fel-
low-bishop, ceases not to watch over the
things that make for salvation, that God's
people in the different churches may not by
reading Origen run into awful blasphemies.
2. Being informed, then, by a letter of the
aforesaid bishop, we inform your holiness that
we in like manner who are set in the city of
Rome in which the prince of the apostles, the
glorious Peter, first founded the church and
then by his faith strengthened it ; to the
end that no man may contrary to the com-
mandment read these books which we have
mentioned, have condemned the same ; and
have with earnest prayers urged the strict
observance of the precepts which God and
Christ have inspired the evangelists to teach.
We have charged men to remember the
words of the venerable apostle Paul, pro-
phetic and full of warning : — " if any man
preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed."2 Holding fast, therefore, this
precept, we have intimated that everything
written in days gone by by Origen that is
contrary to our faith is also rejected and con-
demned by us.
3. I send this letter to your holiness by
the hand of the presbyter Eusebius,3 a man
filled with a glowing faith and love for the
Lord. He has shewn to me some blasphe-
mous chapters which made me shudder as I
passed judgement on them. If Origen has
put forth any other writings, you are to
know that they and their author are alike
condemned by me. The Lord have you in
safe keeping, my lord and brother deservedly
held in honour.
LETTER XCVI.
PROM THEOPHILUS.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal
letter for the year 401 A.D. In it Theophilus refutes at
length the heresies of Apollinaris and Origen.
LETTER XCVII.
TO PAMMACHIUS AND MARCELLA.
With this letter Jerome sends to Pammachius and
Marcella a translation of the paschal letter issued by
1 Magister hactenus navis hora tempestatis aequoris et peri-
culo magnam patitur animi jactationem.
2 Gal. i. 8.
3 See the account of the meeting of Eusebius with Rufinus in
the presence of Simplicianus. Ruf. Apol. i. 19.
LETTERS XCII.-XCVIL
187
Theophilus for the year 402 A.D. together with the
Greek original. He takes the precaution of sending
this latter because in the preceding year complaints
have been made that his translation was not accurate.
Written in 402 A.D.
1. Once more with the return of spring I
enrich you with the wares of the east and
send the treasures of Alexandria to Rome :
as it is written, " God shall come from the
south and the Holy One from Mount Paran,
even a thick shadow."1 (Hence in the Song
of Songs the joyous cry of the bride : " I sat
down under his shadow with great delight
and his fruit was sweet to my taste." ") Now
truly is Isaiah's prophecy fulfilled : "In that
day shall there bean altar to the Lord in the
land of Egypt."3 "Where sin hath abound-
ed, grace doth much more abound."4 They
who fostered the infant Christ now with
glowing faith defend Him in His manhood ;
and they who once saved Him from the
hands of Herod are ready to save Him again
from this blasphemer and heretic. Deme-
trius expelled Origen from the city of Alex-
ander ; but he is now thanks to Theophilus
outlawed from the whole world. Like him
to whom Luke has dedicated the Acts of the
Apostles 5 this bishop derives his name from
his love to God. m Where now is the wrig-
gling serpent ? ' In what plight does the
venomous viper find himself? His is
A human face with wolfish body joined.7
Where now is that heresy which crawled
hissing through the world and boasted that
both the bishop Theophilus and I were
partisans of its errors ? W^here now is the
yelping of those shameless hounds who,
to win over the simple minded, falsely
proclaimed our adherence to their cause ?
Crushed by the authority and eloquence of
Theophilus they are now like demon-spirits
only able to mutter and that from out of the
earth.8 For they know nothing of Him who,
as He comes from above,9 speaks only of the
things that are above.
2. Would that this generation of vipers 10
would either honestly accept our doctrines,
or else consistently defend its own ; that we
might know whom we are to esteem and
whom we are to shun. As it is they have in-
vented a new kind of penitence, hating us as
enemies though they dare not deny our faith.
What, I ask, is this chagrin of theirs which
neither time nor reason seems able to cure?
When swords flash in battle and men fall and
blood flows in streams, hostile hands are
often clasped in amity and the fury of war is
exchanged for an unexpected peace. The
partisans of this heresy alone can make no
terms with churchmen ; for they repudiate
mentally the verbal assent that is extorted
from them. When their open blasphemy is
made plain to the public ear, and when they
perceive their hearers clamouring against
them ; then they assume an air of simplicity,
declaring that they hear such doctrines for
the first time and that they have no previous
knowledge of them as taught by their mas-
ter. And when you hold their writings in
your hand, they deny with their lips what
their hands have written. Why, sirs, need
you beset the Propontis,1 shift your abode,
wander through different countries, and rend
with foaming mouths a distinguished prelate
of Christ and his followers? If your recan-
tations are sincere, you should replace your
former zeal for error with an equal zeal for
the faith. Why do you patch together from
this quarter and from that these rags of curs-
ing? And why do you rail at the lives of
men whose faith you cannot resist? Do
you cease to be heretics because according
to you sundry persons believe us to be sin-
ners? And does impiety cease to disfigure
your lips because you can point to scars on
our ears? So long as you have a leopard's
spots and an Ethiopian's skin,2 how can it
help your perfidy to know that I too am
marked by moles? See, Pope Theophilus is
freely allowed to prove Origen a heretic ; and
the disciples do not defend the master's words.
They merely pretend that they have been
altered by heretics and tampered with, like
the works of many other writers. Thus they
seek to maintain his cause not by their own
belief but by other people's errors. So much
I would say against heretics who in the fury
of their unjust hostility to us betray the
secret feelings of their minds and prove the
incurable nature of the wound that rankles
in their breasts.
3. But you are Christians and the lights of
the senate : accept therefore from me the
letter which I append.3 This year I send it
both in Greek and Latin that the heretics
may not again lyingly assert that I have
made many changes in and additions to the
original. I have laboured hard, I must con-
fess, to preserve the charm of the diction by
a like elegance in my version : and keeping
within fixed lines and never allowing myself
to deviate from these I have done my best
to maintain the smooth flow of the writer's
» Hab. iii. 3, LXX. s Cant. ii. 3. 3 Isa. xix. 19.
4 Rom. v. 20. * Acts i. 1. 6 The allusion is to Rufinus.
* Virg. A. iii. 426. 8 Cf. I. Sam. xxviii. 13.
* Ion. viii. 23. 10 Matt. iii. 7.
1 Many of the Egyptian Orlgenlsts had fled to Constantinople
and thrown themselves on the kindness of the patriarch John
Chrysostom.
a/er.xiii. 23. a Letter XCVIIL
i88
JEROME.
eloquence and to render his remarks in the
tone in which they are made. Whether I
have succeeded in these two objects or not
I must leave to your judgement to determine.
As for the letter itself you are to know that
it is divided into four parts. In the first
Theophilus exhorts believers to celebrate the
Lord's passover ; in the second- he slays
Apollinarius ; in the third he demolishes
Origen ; while in the fourth and last he ex-
horts the heretics to penitence. If the polemic
against Origen should seem to you to be in-
adequate, you are to remember that Origen-
ism was fully treated in last year's letter ; '
and that this which I have just translated, as
it aims at brevity, was not bound to dwell
farther upon the subject. Besides, its terse
and clear confession of faith directed against
Apollinarius is not lacking in dialectical
subtlety. Theophilus first wrests the dagger
from his opponent's hand, and then stabs
him to the heart.
4. Entreat the Lord, therefore, that a com-
position which has won favour in Greek may
not fail to win it also in Latin, and that what
the whole East admires and praises Rome
may gladly take to her heart. And may the
chair of the apostle Peter by its preaching
confirm the preaching of the chair of the
evangelist Mark. Popular rumour, indeed,
has it that the blessed pope Anastasius is of
like zeal and spirit with Theophilus and that
he has pursued the heretics even to the dens
in which they lurk. Moreover his own letters
inform us that he condemns in the West what
is already condemned in the East. May he
live for many years2 so that the reviving
sprouts of heresy may in course of time by
his efforts be made to wither and to die.
LETTER XCVIII.
FROM THEOPHILUS.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal let-
ter for the year 402 A.D. Like that of the previous
year (Letter XCVI.) it deals mainly with the heresies
of Apollinarius and Origen.
LETTER XCIX.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Jerome forwards to Theophilus a translation of the
latter's paschal letter for 404 A.D. and apologizes for his
delay in sending it, on the ground that ill-health and
grief for the death of Paula have prevented him from
doing literary work. The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
To the most blessed pope Theophilus, Jerome.
1. From the time that I received the letters
of your holiness together with the paschal
1 Letter XCVI.
* He was already dead when these words were written.
treatise1 until the present day I have been so
harassed with sorrow and mourning, with anxi-
ety, and with the different reports which have
come from all quarters concerning the condi-
tion of the church, that I have hardly been
able to turn your volume into Latin. You
know the truth of the old saying, grief chokes
utterance ; and it is more than ever true when
to sickness of the mind is added sickness of
the body. I have now been five days in bed
in a burning fever : consequently it is only by
using the greatest haste that I can dictate this
very letter. But I wish to shew your holiness
in a few words what pains I have taken, in
translating your treatise, to transfer the charm
of diction which marks every sentence in the
original, and to make the style of the Latin
correspond in some degree with that of the
Greek.
2. At the outset you use the language of
philosophy ; and, without appearing to par-
ticularize, you slay one 2 while you instruct all.
In the remaining sections — a task most difficult
of accomplishment — you combine philosophy
and rhetoric and draw together for us Demos-
thenes and Plato. What diatribes you have
launched against self-indulgence ! What eulo-
gies you have bestowed upon the virtue of
continence ! With what secret stores of wis-
dom you have spoken of the interchange of
day and night, the course of the moon, the
laws of the sun, the nature of our world ;
always appealing to the authority of scripture
lest in a paschal treatise you should appear to
have borrowed anything from secular sources !
To be brief, I am afraid to praise you for
these things lest I should be charged with of-
fering flattery. The book is excellent botn
in the philosophical portions and where, with-
out making personal attacks, you plead the
cause which you have espoused. Where-
fore, I beseech you, pardon me my backward-
ness : I have been so completely overcome by
the falling asleep of the holy and venerable
Paula 3 that except my translation of this book
I have hitherto written nothing bearing on
sacred subjects. As you yourself know, I
have suddenly lost the comforter whom I have
led about with me, not — the Lord is my wit-
ness— to minister to my own needs, but for
the relief and refreshment of the saints upon
whom she has waited with all diligence. Your
holy and estimable daughter Eustochium (who
refuses to be comforted for the loss of her
mother), and with her all the brotherhood
humbly salute you. Kindly send me the
books which you say that you have lately
written that 1 may translate them or, if not
that, at least read them. Farewell in Christ.
1 Letter C.
» Origen.
» See Letter CVIII,
LETTERS XCVIT.-CVI1.
LETTER C.
FROM THEOPHILUS.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal letter
for 404 A.D. In it Theophilus inculcates penitence for
sinners, recommends the practice of fasting and con-
demns the errors of Origen.
LETTER CI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
A letter from Augustine in which he denies that he
has written a book against Jerome and sent it to Rome
but confesses that he has criticized him although with-
out giving details. Written in 402 A.D. This and the
''ollowing letters are to be found in the First Volume of
.he First Series of this Library, Letter LXVII.
/
LETTER CII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing in which, it has been
said, friendship struggles with suspicion and resentment.
He warns Augustine not to provoke him, lest old as he
s he may prove a dangerous opponent ; and encloses
part of his reply to the apology of Rufinus. Written in
402 A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXVIII.
LETTER CIII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
A letter of introduction in which Jerome commends
the deacon Praesidius to the kind offices of Augustine.
Written in 403 A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter
XXXIX.
LETTER CIV.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
In this letter Augustine (1) commends to Jerome the
deacon Cyprian, (2) explains how it is that his first let-
ter (Letter LVI.) has miscarried, and (3) urges Jerome
to base his scriptural labours not on the Hebrew text
but on the version of the LXX. The date of the letter
is 403 A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXXL
LETTER CV.
TO AUGUSTINE.
Jerome's answer to the foregoing. He complains that
even now he has not received Augustine's letter and
asks him to send him a copy of it. Popular rumour, he
declares, credits Augustine with a deliberate suppression
of the letter in order that he may seem to win an easy
victory over his opponent. Jerome next deals with
Augustine's denial of having made a written attack upon
him and concludes by refusing for the present all dis-
cussion of points of criticism. The date of the letter is
403 A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXXII.
LETTER CVI.
TO SUNNIAS AND FRETELA.
A long letter in which Jerome answers a number of
questions put to him by two sojourners in Getica,
Sunnias and Fretela. Diligent students of scripture,
these men were at a loss to understand the frequent
differences between Jerome's Latin psalter of 383 A.D.
(the so-called Roman psalter) and the LXX. and ac-
cordingly sent him a long list of passages with a
request for explanation. Jerome in his reply deals
fully with all these and points out to his corre-
spondents that they have been misled by their edi-
tion of the LXX. (the "common" edition) which
differs widely from the critical text of Origen as
given in the Hexapla and used by himself. He also
expresses his joy to find that even among the Getse
the scriptures are now diligently studied. The date of
the letter is about 403 A.D.
LETTER CVII.
TO LAETA.
Laeta, the daughter-in-law of Paula, having written
from Rome to ask Jerome how she ought to bring up
her infant daughter (also called Paula) as a virgin con-
secrated to Christ, Jerome now instructs her in detail as
to the child's training and education. Feeling some
doubt, however, as to whether the scheme proposed by
him will be practicable at Rome, he advises Laeta in
case of difficulty to send Paula to Bethlehem where she
will be under the care of her grandmother and aunt,
the elder Paula and Eustochium. Laeta subsequently
accepted Jerome's advice and sent the child to Bethle-
hem where she eventually succeeded Eustochium as
head of the nunnery founded by her grandmother.
The date of the letter is 403 A.D.
i. The apostle Paul writing to the Corin-
thians and instructing in sacred discipline a
church still untaught in Christ has among
other commandments laid down also this :
" The woman which hath an husband that
believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell
with her, let her not leave him. For the un-
believing husband is sanctified by the believ-
ing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanc-
tified by the believing husband ; else were
your children unclean but now are they
holy." ' Should any person have supposed
hitherto that the bonds of discipline are too
far relaxed and that too great indulgence is
conceded by the teacher, let him look at the
house of your father, a man of the highest
distinction and learning, but one still walking
in darkness ; and he will perceive as the re-
sult of the apostle's counsel sweet fruit grow-
ing from a bitter stock and precious balsams
exhaled from common canes. You yourself
are the offspring of a mixed marriage ; but
the parents of Paula — you and my friend
Toxotius — are both Christians. Who could
have believed that to the heathen pontiff
Albinus should be born — in answer to a
mother's vows — a Christian granddaughter ;
that a delighted grandfather should hear from
the little one's faltering lips Christ's Alleluia,
and that in his old age he should nurse in his
bosom one of God's own virgins ? Our ex-
pectations have been fully gratified. The one
unbeliever is sanctified by his holy and be-
lieving family. For, when a man is surrounded
by a believing crowd of children and grand-
1 1 Cor. vii. 13, 14. the word ' believing' is twice inserted by
Jerome.
190
JEROME.
children, he is as good as a candidate for the
faith. I for my part think that, had he pos-
sessed so many Christian kinsfolk when he
was a young man, he might then have been
brought to believe in Christ. For though he
may spit upon my letter and laugh at it, and
though he may call me a fool or a madman,
his son-in-law did the same before he came to
believe. Christians are not born but made.
For all its gilding the Capitol is beginning to
look dingy. Every temple in Rome is covered
with soot and cobwebs. The city is stirred to
its depths and the people pour past their half-
ruined shrines to visit the tombs of the mar-
tyrs. The belief which has not been accorded
to conviction may come to be extorted by
very shame.
2. I speak thus to you, Laeta my most de-
vout daughter in Christ, to teach you not to
despair of your father's salvation. My hope
is that the same faith which has gained you
your daughter may win your father too, and
that so you may be able to rejoice over bless-
ings bestowed upon your entire family. You
know the Lord's promise : " The things
which are impossible with men are possible
with God." ' It is never too late to mend.
The robber passed even from the cross to
paradise.3 Nebuchadnezzar also, the king of
Babylon, recovered his reason, even after he
had been made like the beasts in body and in
heart and had been compelled to live with the
brutes in the wilderness.3 And to pass over
such old stories which to unbelievers may
well seem incredible, did not your own kins-
man Gracchus whose name betokens his
patrician origin, when a few years back he
held the prefecture of the City, overthrow,
break in pieces, and shake to pieces the grotto
of Mithras4 and all the dreadful images
therein ? Those I mean by which the wor-
shippers were initiated as Raven, Bridegroom,
Soldier, Lion, Perseus, Sun, Crab, and Father ?
Did he not, I repeat, destroy these and then,
sending them before him as hostages, obtain
for himself Christian baptism ?
Even in Rome itself paganism is left in sol-
itude. They who once were the gods of the
nations remain under their lonely roofs with
horned-owls and birds of night. The stand-
ards of the military are emblazoned with the
sign of the Cross. The emperor's robes of pur-
ple and his diadem sparkling with jewels are
ornamented with representations of the shame-
ful yet saving gibbet. Already the Egyptian
Serapis has been made a Christian ; 5 while at
1 Lukexviii. ?7. » Cf. Luke xxiii. 42, 43. » Dan. iv. 33-37.
4 The Persian sun-god, at this time one of the most popular
deities of the Roman pantheon. Gracchus appears to have done
this as Urban Praetor, A. C. 378.
6 In the year 389 a.d. the temple of Serapis at Alexandria had
been pulled down and a Christian church built upon its site.
Gaza Manias ' mourns in conn. - ment and
every moment expects to see his temple over-
turned. From India, from Persia, from Ethi-
opia we daily welcome monks in crowds.
The Armenian bowman has laid aside his
quiver, the Huns learn the psalter, the chilly
Scythians are warmed with the glow of the
faith. The Getae,2 ruddy and yellow-haired,
carry tent-churches about with their armies :
and perhaps their success in fighting against
us may be due to the fact that they believe in
the same religion.
3. I have nearly wandered into a new sub-
ject, and while I have kept my wheel going,
my hands have been moulding a flagon when
it has been my object to frame an ewer.^.
For, in answer to your prayers and those of
the saintly Marcella, I wish to address you a*
a mother and to instruct you how to bring up
our dear Paula, who has been consecrated to
Christ before her birth and vowed to His
service before her conception. Thus in our
own day we have seen repeated the story told-
us in the Prophets,4 of Hannah, who though
at first barren afterwards became fruitful.
You have exchanged a fertility bound up with
sorrow for offspring which shall never die,
For I am confident that having given to the
Lord your first-born you will be the mother of
sons. It is the first-born that is offered under
the Law.6 Samuel and Samson are both in-
stances of this, as is also John the Baptist
who when Mary came in leaped for joy.'
For he heard the Lord speaking by the mouth
of the Virgin and desired to break from his
mother's womb to meet Him. As then Paula
has been born in answer to a promise, her
parents should give her a training suitable to
her birth. Samuel, as you know, was nur-
tured in the Temple, and John was trained
in the wilderness. The first as a Nazarite
wore his hair long, drank neither wine nor
strong drink, and even in his childhood talked
with God. The second shunned cities, wore a
leathern girdle, and had for his meat locusts
and wild honey.7 Moreover, to typify that pen-
itence which he was to preach, he was clothed
in the spoils of the hump-backed camel.8
4. Thus must a soul be educated which is to
be a temple of God. It must learn to hear
nothing and to say nothing but what belongs
to the fear of God. It must have no under-
1 Elsewhere (Life of Hilarion § 20) Jerome relates an extraor-
dinary story about the discomfiture of this ' demon.'
2 A well-known Thracian tribe who: since the days of Alexander,
occupied what is now Koumania.
3 Cf. Hor. A. P., ax, 22. Amphora caepit Institui : currentc
rota cur urceus exit ? ,
4 The books of Joshua, fudges. Samuel, and Kings are called
in the Hebrew Bible the Former Prophets.
6 Ex. xiii. 2. • Luke i. 41. ' Matt. iii. 4.
6 Cf. Letter LXXIX. § 3. Apparently Jerome means that the
difficulty of penitence is as great as that of the camel passing
through the eye of a needle. John, he implies, by wearing the
camel's hair shows that he has surmounted this.
LETTER CVII.
191
standing of unclean words, and no knowledge
of the world's songs. Its tongue must be
steeped while still tender in the sweetness of
the psalms. Boys with their wanton thoughts
must be kept from Paula : even her maids and
female attendants must be separated from
worldly associates. For if they have learned
some mischief they may teach more. Get for
her a set of letters made of boxwood or of
ivory and called each by its proper name. Let
her play with these, so that even her play may
teach her something. And not only make her
grasp the right order of the letters and see
that she forms their names into a rhyme, but
constantly disarrange their order and put the
last letters in the middle and the middle ones
at the beginning that she may know them all
by sight as well as by sound. Moreover, so
soon as she begins to use the style upon the
wax, and her hand is still faltering, either
guide her soft fingers by laying your hand
upon hers, or else have simple copies cut upon
a tablet ; so that her efforts confined within
these limits may keep to the lines traced out
for her and not stray outside of these. Offer
prizes for good spelling and draw her onwards
with little gifts such as children of her age
delight in. And let her have companions in
her lessons to excite emulation in her, that
she may be stimulated when she sees them
praised. You must not scold her if she is
slow to learn but must employ praise to excite
her mind, so that she may be glad when she
excels others and sorry when she is excelled
by them, Above all you must take care not
to make her lessons distasteful to her lest a
dislike for them conceived in childhood may
continue into her maturer years. The very
words which she tries bit by bit to put together
and to pr< bounce ought not to be chance ones,
but naif6':, specially fixed upon and heaped
togeth' *n )r the purpose, those for example of
the pe |ts or the apostles or the list of pat-
riae. jr°m\m Adam downwards as it is given
by£ d biv and Luke. In this way while her
ton 5y'l be well-trained, her memory will
be Lirselt °Se developed. Again, you must
c*iay torm! her a master of approved years,
l0Hrnino- A man of culture will not,
for a kinswoman or a
irning.
lsh to
do
cannot inn
of you thai in what Aristotle did for Philip's
crated virgl descending tQ the leyel of an
her moie tnsented t0 teach him his letters.1
quick to fa<L _. . j„„ • qj ~, -<• ~ — 11
small
T~" "St not be despised as of
the violet, ^e absence 0f which great results
never appecachieyed> The yery rudiments
you. Let n-mningS 0f knowledge sound dif-
shnne unles;e mQuth of an educated man and
man greet ucated Accordingly you must
1 Cant. v. 3. child is not led away by the silly
3 Eph. v. 18. i ; : ; '- ■ — —
6 Cp. Letter L ' Quintihan, Inst. I. I,
Christian virgin 1
coaxing of women to form a habit of shorten-
ing long words or of decking herself with gold
and purple. Of these habits one will spoil
her conversation and the other her character.
She must not therefore learn as a child what
afterwards she will have to unlearn. The elo-
quence of the Gracchi is said to have been
largely due to the way in which from their
earliest years their mother spoke to them.1
Hortensius " became an orator Vhile still on
his father's lap. Early impressions are hard
to eradicate from the mind. When once wool
has been dyed purple who can restore it to its
previous whiteness ? An unused jar long re-
tains the taste and smell of that with which it
is first filled.3 Grecian history tells us that
the imperious Alexander who was lord of the
whole world could not rid himself of the tricks
of manner and gait which in his childhood
he had caught from his governor Leonides.4
We are always ready to imitate what is evil ;
and faults are quickly copied where virtues
appear unattainable. Paula's nurse must not
be intemperate, or loose, or given to gossip.
Her bearer must be respectable, and her foster-
father of grave demeanour. When she sees her
grandfather, she must leap upon his breast,
put her arms round his neck, and, whether
he likes it or not, sing Alleluia in his ears.
She may be fondled by her grandmother, may
smile at her father to shew that she recog-
nizes him, and may so endear herself to every-^
one, as to make the whole family rejoice in the
possession of such a rosebud. She should be
told at once whom she has for her other
grandmother and whom for her aunt ; and she
ought also to learn in what army it is that she
is enrolled as a recruit, and what Captain it is
under whose banner she is called to serve.
Let her long to be with the absent ones and
encourage her to make playful threats of leav-
ing you for them.
5. Let her very dress and garb remind her
to Whom she is promised. Do not pierce her
ears or paint her face consecrated to Christ
with white lead or rouge. Do not hang gold
or pearls about her neck or load her head with
jewels, or by reddening her hair make it sug-
gest the fires of gehenna. Let her pearls be
of another kind and such that she may sell
them hereafter and buy in their place the
pearl that is " of great price." b In days gone
by a lady of rank, Praetextata by name, at the
bidding of her husband Hymettius, the uncle
of Eustochium, altered that virgin's dress and
appearance and arranged her neglected hair
after the manner of the world, desiring to
overcome the resolution of the virgin herself
and the expressed wishes of her mother. But
1 Quint. Inst. I. i. 2 The contemporary and rival of Cicero.
3 Horace, Epist. I. ii. 69. * Quint. Inst. 1. 1. 5 Matt. xiii. 46,
tg±
JEROME.
lo in the same night it befell her that an angel
came to her in her dreams. With terrible looks
he menaced punishment and broke silence
with these words, ' Have you presumed to put
your husband's commands before those of
Christ ? Have you presumed to lay sacrileg-
ious hands upon the head of one who is God's
virgin ? Those hands shall forthwith wither
that you may know by torment what you have
done, and at the end of five months you shall
be carried off to hell.1 And farther, if you
persist still in your wickedness, you shall be
bereaved both of your husband and of your
children.' All of which came to pass in due
time, a speedy death marking the penitence
too long delayed of the unhappy woman. So
terribly does Christ punish those who violate
His temple,2 and so jealously does He defend
His precious jewels. I have related this story
here not from any desire to exult over the
misfortunes of the unhappy, but to warn you
that you must with much fear and careful-
ness keep the vow which you have made to
God.
6. We read of Eli the priest that he became
displeasing to God on account of the sins of
his children ; 3 and we are told that a man
may not be made a bishop if his sons are loose
and disorderly.4 On the other hand it is
written of the woman that " she shall be saved
in childbearing, if they continue in faith and
charity and holiness with chastity." :' If then
parents are responsible for their children when
these are of ripe age and independent ; how
much more must they be responsible for them
when, still unweaned and weak, they cannot,
in the Lord's words, " discern between their
right hand and their left:"8 — when, that is
to say, they cannot yet distinguish good from
evil ? If you take precautions to save your
daughter from the bite of a viper, why are you
not equally careful to shield her from " the
hammer of the whole earth " ?7 to prevent her
from drinking of the golden cup of Babylon ?
to keep her from going out with Dinah to see
the daughters of a strange land ? 8 to save her
from the tripping dance and from the trailing
robe? No one administers drugs till he has
rubbed the rim of the cup with honey ; ' so,
the better to deceive us, vice puts on the mien
and the semblance of virtue. Why then, you
will say, do we read : — " the son shall not bear
the iniquity of the father, neither shall the
father bear the iniquity of the son," but "the
soul that sinneth it shall die " ? I0 The pas-
sage, I answer, refers to those who have dis-
1 Inferna. a Cf. i Cor. iii. 17.
s 1 Sam. ii. 27-36. * 1 Tim. iii. 4.
6 1 Tim. ii. 15 A.V. has 'sobriety' for 'chastity ' but Jerome
deliberately prefers the latter word.
• Jon. iv. 11. ' Babylon, the world power. Jer. 1. 23.
6 Gen. xxxiv. » Lucretius, I. 936, sqq.
10 Ezek. xviii. 20.
cretion, such as he of whom his parents said
in the gospel : — " he is of age ... he
shall speak for himself." ' While the son is a
child and thinks as a child and until he comes
to years of discretion to choose between the
two roads to which the letter of Pythagoras
points,2 his parents are responsible for his
actions whether these be good or bad. But
perhaps you imagine that, if they are not bap-
tized, the children of Christians are liable for
their own sins ; and that no guilt attaches to
parents who withhold from baptism those who
by reason of their tender age can offer no
objection to it. The truth is that, as baptism
ensures the salvation of the child, this in turn
brings advantage to the parents. Whether
you would offer your child or not lay within
your choice, but now that you have offered
her, you neglect her at your peril. I speak
generally for in your case you have no discre-
tion, having offered your child even before
her conception. He who offers a victim that
is lame or maimed or marked with any blemish
is held guilty of sacrilege.3 How much more
then shall she be punished who makes ready
for the embraces of the king a portion of her
own body and the purity of a stainless soul,
and then proves negligent of this her offer-
ing ?
7. When Paula comes to be a little older
and to increase like her Spouse in wisdom and
stature and in favour with God and man,4 let
her go with her parents to the temple of her
true Father but let her not come out of the
temple with them. Let them seek her upon
the world's highway amid the crowds and the
throng of their kinsfolk, and let them find her
nowhere but in the shrine of the scriptures,6
questioning the prophets and the apostles on
the meaning of that spiritual marriage to
which she is vowed. Let her imitate the re-
tirement of Mary whom Gabriel found alone
in her chamber and who was frightened," it
would appear, by seeing a man there. Let the
child emulate her of whom it is written chat
" the king's daughter is all glorious within." 7
Wounded with love's arrow let her say to her
beloved, " the king hath brought me into his
chambers." 8 At no time let her go abroad,
lest the watchmen find her that go about the
city, and lest they smite and wound her and
take away from her the veil of her chastity,9
and leave her naked in her blood.10 Nay rather
when one knocketh at her door " let her say :
" I am a wall and my breasts like towers.12 I
1 John ix. 21.
3 The letter Y used by Pythagoras to symbolize the diverg-
ing paths of good and evil. Cf. Persius. iii. 56.
3 Deut. xv. 21. * Luke ii. 52.
6 Cf. Luke ii. 43-46. " Luke i. 29.
7 Ps. xlv. 13. " Can', i. 4. •* Cant. V. ;.
10 Cf. Ezek. xvi. 1-10. >' Cant. v. 2. V Cant. viii. xo,
LETTERS CVIL, CVIII.
193
says and to whom she says it, to whom she
bows and whom she likes best to see. Hand
her over to Eustochium while she is still but
an infant and her every cry is a prayer for
you. She will thus become her companion in
holiness now as well as her successor here-
ifter. Let her gaze upon and love, let he*-
'from her earliest year^<-J'Iiast "'--<""-><- attract
language anrl o-.-i/uy at school I met the words :
in ys ill blaming what you allow to become a
granit. ' 2 Let her learn even now not to drink
grare "wherein is excess."3 But as, before
stowdren come to a robust age, abstinence is
has -gerous and trying to their tender frames,
to irier have baths if she require them, and let
crow take a little wine for her stomach's sake.4
■'-o v her also be supported on a flesh diet, lest
her feet fail her before they commence to run
their course. But I say this by way of con-
cession not by way of command ; because I
fear to weaken her, not because I wish to
teach her self-indulgence. Besides why should
not a Christian virgin do wholly what others
do in part ? The superstitious Jews reject
certain animals and products as articles of
food, while among the Indians the Brahmans
and among the Egyptians the Gymnosophists
subsist altogether on porridge, rice, and apples.
If mere glass repays so much labour, must not
a pearl be worth more labour still ? 5 Paula
has been born in response to a vow. Let her
life be as the lives of those who were born
under the same conditions. If the grace ac-
corded is in both cases the same, the pains
bestowed ought to be so too. Let her be deaf
to the sound of the organ, and not know even
the uses of the pipe, the lyre, and the cithern.
9. And let it be her task daily to bring to
you the flowers which she has culled from
scripture. Let her learn by heart so many
verses in the Greek, but let her be instructed
in the Latin also. For, if the tender lips are
not from the first shaped to this, the tongue is
spoiled by a foreign accent and its native
speech debased by alien elements. You must
yourself be her mistress, a model on which she
may form her childish conduct. Never either
in you nor in her father let her see what she
cannot imitate without sin. Remember both
of you that you are the parents of a conse-
crated virgin, and that your example will teach
her more than your precepts. Flowers are
quick to fade and a baleful wind soon withers
the violet, the lily, and the crocus. Let her
never appear in public unless accompanied by
you. Let her never visit a church or a martyr's
shrine unless with her mother. Let no young
man greet her with smiles ; no dandy with
1 Cant. v. 3. 2 Again quoted in Letter CXXVI1I. § 4.
3 Eph. v. 18. 4 1 Tim. v. 23.
5 Cp. Letter LXXIX, § 7. The heathen sage is gl:u,s. the
Christian virgin the e arl,
over, if you will only send PauW 'ier< lf our
be myself both a tutor and a A eves and a11"
her. Old as I am I will ca' hair's breadth
shoulders and train her " ^ must not single
my charge will be ^6 to make her a special fa-
of thr~ ur a confidante. What she says to one
^.11 ought to know. Let her choose for a com-
panion not a handsome well-dressed girl, able
to warble a song with liquid notes but one pale
and serious, sombrely attired and with the hue
of melancholy. Let her take as her model .
some aged virgin of approved faith, character,
and chastity, apt to instruct her by word and
by example. She ought to rise at night to
recite prayers and psalms ; to sing hymns in
the morning ; at the third, sixth, and ninth
hours to take her place in the line to do battle
for Christ ; and, lastly, to kindle her lamp and
to offer her evening sacrifice.1 In these occupa-
tions let her pass the day, and when night comes
let it find her still engaged in them. Let read-
ing follow prayer with her, and prayer again
succeed to reading. Time will seem short
when employed on tasks so many and so varied.
10. Let her learn too how to spin wool, to
hold the distaff, to put the basket in her lap,
to turn the spinning wheel and to shape the
yarn with her thumb. Let her put away with
disdain silken fabrics, Chinese fleeces,2 and
gold brocades : the clothing which she makes
for herself should keep out the cold and not
expose the body which it professes to cover.
Let her food be herbs and wheaten bread 3
with now and then one or two small fishes.
And that I may not waste more time in giving
precepts for the regulation of appetite (a sub-
ject I have treated more at length elsewhere) 4
let her meals always leave her hungry and able
on the moment to begin reading or chanting.
I strongly disapprove — especially for those of
tender years — of long and immoderate fasts
in which week is added to week and even oil
and apples are forbidden as food. I have
learned by experience that the ass toiling
along the high way makes for an inn when it is
weary/' Our abstinence may turn to glutting,
like that of the worshippers of Isis and of Cy-
bele who gobble up pheasants and turtle-doves
piping hot that their teeth may not violate the
gifts of Ceres.0 If perpetual fasting is allowed,
it must be so regulated that those who have
a long journey before them may hold out all
through ; and we must take care that we do not,
after starting well, fall halfway. However in
Lent, as I have written before now, those who
» See note on Letter XXII. § 37-
8 A Virgilian expression, g, II., 121.
3 Simila, but as elsewhere (L. 52, 6) this is spoken of as a lux-
ury perhaps we should read similia = ' and such like.'
« Jerome refers to his second book against Jovinian.
s Cf. the dying words of S. Francis (which have a similar
reference) ' 1 have sinned against my brother the ass."
6 i.e. having vowed to abstain from bread they indemnify
themselves with flesh.
194
JEROME.
., \ night it befell her that an angel
practise selt-iT dreams> with terrible looks
of canvas, andunishment and broke siience
slacken the ren\ ( Haye presumed to put
horses. Yet there vv...^ before thoge of
who live in the world ana ^ fo lqv sacrjieg_
and monks. The layman in Lent coim^ji
the coats of his stomach, and living like a snu..
on his own juices makes ready a paunch for
rich foods and feasting to come. But with
the virgin and the monk the case is different ;
for, when these give the rein to their steeds,
they have to remember that for them the race
knows of no intermission. An effort made
only for a limited time may well be severe, but
one that has no such limit must be more
moderate. For whereas in the first case we
can recover our breath when the race is over,
in the last we have to go on continually and
without stopping.
ii. When you go a short way into the coun-
try, do not leave your daughter behind you.
Leave her no power or capacity of living with-
out you, and let her feel frightened when she
is left to herself. Let her not converse with
people of the world or associate with virgins
indifferent to their vows. Let her not be
present at the weddings of your slaves and
let her take no part in the noisy games of the
household. As regards the use of the bath, I
know that some are content with saying that
a Christian virgin should not bathe along with
eunuchs or with married women, with the
former because they are still men at all events
in mind, and with the latter because women
with child offer a revolting spectacle. For
myself, however, I wholly disapprove of baths
for a virgin of full age. Such an one should
blush and feel overcome at the idea of seeing
herself undressed. By vigils and fasts she
mortifies her body and brings it into subjec-
tion. By a cold chastity she seeks to put out
the flame of lust and to quench the hot desires
of youth. And by a deliberate squalor she
makes haste to spoil her natural good looks.
Why, then, should she add fuel to a sleeping
fire by taking baths ?
12. Let her treasures be not silks or gems
but manuscripts of the holy scriptures ; and
in these let her think less of gilding, and
Babylonian parchment, and arabesque pat-
terns,1 than of correctness and accurate punc-
tuation. Let her begin by learning the psalter,
and then let her gather rules of life out of the
proverbs of Solomon. From the Preacher let
her gain the habit of despising the world and
its vanities.2 Let her follow the example set
in Job of virtue and of patience. Then let
her pass on to the gospels never to be laid
1 Vermiculata pictura.
* Jerome tells us that he read the book with Blaesilla for this
purpose.
cretion, such as he of whom his parents said
in the gospel : — " he is of age ... he
shall speak for himself." ' While the son is a
child and thinks as a child and until he comes
to years of discretion to choose between the
two roads to which the letter of Pythagoras
points,2 his parents are responsible for his
I "i:-^ns whether these be good or bad. But '
cles fix. ...a also ^ ^ ;f th are not b •
she has done all these she m^ ._„ j;nbie for
Song of Songs but not before : for, were^ to
to read it at the beginning, she would favh0
perceive that, 'though it is written in fle no
words, it is a marriage song of a spirigm
bridal. And not understanding this she wc.fn
suffer hurt from it. Let her avoid all apcher
phal writings, and if she is led to read such]1jn
by the truth of the doctrines which they coiu...%j
but out of respect for th" miiacles contained
in them ; let her understand that they are
not really written by those to whom they are
ascribed, that many faulty elements have been
introduced into them, and that it requires in-
finite discretion to look for gold in the midst
of dirt. Cyprian's writings let her have al-
ways in her hands. The letters of Athana-
sius2 and the treatises of Hilary 3 she may go
through without fear of stumbling. Let her
take pleasure in the works and wits of all in
whose books a due regard for the faith is not
neglected. But if she reads the works of
others let it be rather to judge them than to
follow them.
13. You will answer, ' How shall I, a woman
of the world, living at Rome, surrounded by a
crowd, be able to observe all these injunc-
tions ? ' In that case do not undertake a
burthen to which you are not equal. When
you have weaned Paula as Isaac was weanexU'
and when you have clothed her as Samuel was
clothed, send her to her grandmother and
aunt ; give up this most precious of gems, to
be placed in Mary's chamber and to rest in the
cradle where the infant Jesus cried. Let her
be brought up in a monastery, let her be one
amid companies of virgins, let her learn to
avoid swearing, let her regard lying as sacri-
lege, let her be ignorant of the world, let her
live the angelic life, while in the flesh let her
be without the flesh, and let her suppose that
all human beings are like herself. To say
nothing of its other advantages this course will
free you from the difficult task of minding
her, and from the responsibility of guardian-
ship. It is better to regret her absence than
to be for ever trembling for her. For you
cannot but tremble as you watch what she
1 i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, Judges.
8 Of these a large number are still extant. Over twenty of
them are " festal epistles " announcing to the churches the cor-
rect day on which to celebrate Easter.
3 These include commentaries on many P -rts of Scripture and
a work on the Trinity.
LETTERS CVIL, CVIII.
195
says and to whom she says it, to whom she
bows and whom she likes best to see. Hand
her over to Eustochium while she is still but
an infant and her every cry is a prayer for
you. She will thus become her companion in
'holiness now as well as her successor here-
after. Let her gaze upon and love, let her
'"from her earliest years admire " ' one whose
language and gait and dress are an education
in virtue.'- Let her sit in the lap of her
grandmother, and let this latter repeat to her
granddaughter the lessons that she once be-
stowed upon her own child. Long experience
has shewn Paula hov.T to rear, to preserve, and
to instruct virgins ; and daily inwoven in her
crown is the mystic century which betokens
the highest chastity.3 O happy virgin ! happy
Paula, daughter of Toxotius, who through the
virtues of her grandmother and aunt is nobler
in holiness than she is in lineage ! Yes, Laeta :
were it possible for you with your own eyes to
see your mother-in-law and your sister, and to
realize the mighty souls which animate their
small bodies ; such is your innate thirst for
chastity that I cannot doubt but that you
would go to them even before your daughter,
and would emancipate yourself from God's
first decree of the Law 4 to put yourself under
His second dispensation of the Gospel.5 You
would count as nothing your desire for other
offspring and would offer up yourself to the
service of God. But because " there is a time
to embrace, and a time to refrain from em-
bracing," c and because " the wife hath not
power of her own body," ' and because the
apostle says " Let every man abide in the same
calling wherein he was called " 8 in the Lord,
and because he that is under the yoke ought
so to run as not to leave his companion in the
mire, I counsel you to pay back to the full in
your offspring what meantime you defer pay-
ing in your own person. When Hannah had
once offered in the tabernacle the son whom
she had vowed to God she never took him
back ; for she thought it unbecoming that one
who was to be a prophet should grow up in
the same house with her who still desired to
have other children. Accordingly after she
had conceived him and given him birth, she
did not venture to come to the temple alone
or to appear before the Lord empty, but first
paid to Him what she owed ; and then, when
she had offered up that great sacrifice, she re-
turned home and because she had borne her
firstborn for God, she was given five children
for herself.0 Do you marvel at the happiness
of that holy woman ? Imitate her faith. More-
' Virgil, A. viii. 507. - Comp. Ecclus. xix. 30.
a The number 100 denotes virginity to which in her own per-
son Paula could have no claim. See note on Letter XLVIII. § 2.
* Gen. i. 28. 5 1 Cor. vii. 1. 6 Eccl. iii. 5.
7 1 Cor. vii. 4 e 1 Cor, vii. 20. » 1 Sam. ii. 21.
over, if you will only send Paula, I promise to
be myself both a tutor and a fosterfather to
her. Old as I am I will carry her on my
shoulders and train her stammering lips ; and
my charge will be a far grander one than that
of the worldly philosopher ; ' for while he
only taught a King of Macedon who was one
day to die of Babylonian poison, I shall in-
struct the handmaid and spouse of Christ who
must one day be offered to her Lord in
heaven.
LETTER CVIII.
TO EUSTOCHIUM. .
This, one of the longest of Jerome's letters, was writ-
ten to console Eustochium for the loss of her mother
who had recently died. Jerome relates the story of
Paula in detail ; speaking first of her high birth, mar-
riage, and social success at Rome, and then narrating
her conversion and subsequent life as a Christian
ascetic. Much space is devoted to an account of her
journey to the East which included a visit to Egypt and "
to the monasteries of Nitria as well as a tour of the most
sacred spots in the Holy Land. The remainder of the
letter describes her daily routine and studies at Bethle-
hem, and recounts the many virtues for which she was
distinguished. It then concludes with a touching
description of her death and burial and gives the epitaph
placed upon her grave. The date of the letter is 404
A.D.
i. If all the members of my body were to
be converted into tongues, and if each of my
limbs were to be gifted with a human voice, I
could still do no justice to the virtues of the
holy and venerable Paula. Noble in family,
she was nobler still in holiness ; rich formerly
in this world's goods, she is now more distin-
guished by the poverty that she has embraced
for Christ. Of the stock of the Gracchi and
descended from the Scipios, the heir and rep-
resentative of that Paulus whose name she
bore, the true and legitimate daughter of that
Martia Papyria who was mother to Africanus,
she yet preferred Bethlehem to Rome, and left
her palace glittering with gold to dwell in a
mud cabin. We do not grieve that we have
lost this perfect woman ; rather we thank God
that we have had her, nay that we have her
still. For " all live unto " God,2 and they who
return unto the Lord are still to be reckoned
members of his family. We have lost her, it
is true, but the heavenly mansions have gained
her ; for as long as she was in the body she
was absent from the Lord 3 and would con-
stantly complain with tears : — " Woe is me
that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the
tents of Kedar ; my soul hath been this long
time a pilgrim. " * It was no wonder that she
1 The allusion is to Aristotle who was tutor to Alexander,
King of Macedon.
s Luke xx. 38. 3 2 Cor. v. 6.
* Ps. cxx. 5, 6 ace. to Jerome's latest version.
1 96
JEROME.
sobbed out that even she was in darkness (for
this is the meaning of the word Kedar) seeing
that, according to the apostle, " the world lieth
in the evil one ; " ' and that, " as its darkness
is, so is its light ; " 2 and that " the light shineth
in darkness and the darkness comprehended it
not." 3 She would frequently exclaim : " I
am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all
my fathers were," 4 and again, I desire "to de-
part and to be with Christ." '" As often too as
she was troubled with bodily weakness (brought
on by incredible abstinence and by redoubled
fastings), she would be heard to say: "I
keep under my body and bring it into subjec-
tion ; lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a cast-
away ; " c and " It is good neither to eat flesh
nor to drink wine;"7 and "I humbled my
soul with fasting ; " 8 and " thou wilt make
all" my "bed in" my "sickness;"9 and
" Thy hand was heavy upon me : my moisture
is turned into the drought of summer." I0
And when the pain which she bore with such
wonderful patience darted through her, as if
she saw the heavens opened " she would say :
" Oh that I had wings like a dove ! for then
would I fly away and be at rest." '"
2. I call Jesus and his saints, yes and the
particular angel who was the guardian and the
companion of this admirable woman to bear
witness that these are no words of adulation
and flattery but sworn testimony every one of
them borne to her character. They are, in-
deed, inadequate to the virtues of one whose
praises are sung by the whole world, who
is admired by bishops, 13 regretted by bands
of virgins, and wept for by crowds of monks
and poor. Would you know all her virtues,
reader, in short ? She has left those depend-
ent on her poor, but not so poor as she was
herself. In dealing thus with her relatives
and the men and women of her small house-
hold— her brothers and sisters rather than her
servants — she has done nothing strange ; for
she has left her daughter Eustochium — a vir-
gin consecrated to Christ for whose comfort
this sketch is made — far from her noble fam-
ily and rich only in faith and grace.
3. Let me then begin my narrative. Others
may go back a long way even to Paula's
cradle and, if I may say so, to her swaddling-
clothes, and may speak of her mother Blae-
silla and her father Rogatus. Of these the
former was a descendant of the Scipios and
the Gracchi ; whilst the latter came of a line
distinguished in Greece down to the present
day. He was said, indeed, to have in his
1 1 Joh. v. 19. - Ps. cxxxix. 12, A.V. marg.
a Joh. i. 5. 4 Ps. xxxix. 12. 6 Phil. i. 23.
6 1 Cor. ix. 27. 7 Rom. xiv. 21. " Ps. xxxv. 13.
8 Ps. xli. 3. 10 Ps, xxxii. 4. " Cf, Acts vii. 56.
>a Ps. lv, 6. 18 Sacerdotes.
veins the blood of Agamemnon who destroyed
Troy after a ten years' siege. But I shall
praise only what belongs to herself, what
wells forth from the pure spring of her holy
mind. When in the gospel the apostles ask
their Lord and Saviour what He will give t*
those who have left all for His sake, He tells
them that they shall receive an hundredfold
now in this time and in the world to come
eternal life. ' From which we see that it is not
the possession, of riches that is praiseworthy
but the rejection of them for Christ's sake ;
that, instead of glorying in our privileges, we
should make them of siaaai account as com-
pared with God's faith. Truly the Saviour
has now in this present time made good His
promise to His servants and handmaidens.
For one who despised the glory of a single
city is to-day famous throughout the world ;
and one who while she lived at Rome was
known by no one outside it has by hiding her-
self at Bethlehem become the admiration of
all lands Roman and barbarian. For what
race of men is there which does not send pil-
grims to the holy places ? And who could
there find a greater marvel than Paula ? As
among many jewels the most precious shines
most brightly, and as the sun with its beams
obscures and puts out the paler fires of the
stars ; so by her lowliness she surpassed all
others in virtue and influence and, while she
was least among all, was greater than all.
The more she cast herself down, the more she
was lifted up by Christ. She was hidden and
yet she was not hidden. By shunning glory
she earned glory ; for glory follows virtue as
its shadow ; and deserting those who seek it,
it seeks those who despise it. But I must not
neglect to proceed with my narrative or dwell
too long on a single point forgetful of the
rules of writing.
4. Being then of such parentage, Paula mar-
ried Toxotius in whose veins ran the noble
blood of yEneas and the Julii. Accordingly
his daughter, Christ's virgin Eustochium, is
called Julia, as he Julius.
A name from great lulus handed down.9
I speak of these things not as of importance
to those who have them, but as worthy of
remark in those who despise them. Men of
the world look up to persons who are rich in
such privileges. We on the other hand praise
those who for the Saviour's sake despise
them ; and strangely depreciating all who
keep them, we eulogize those who are unwill-
ing to do so. Thus nobly born, Paula through
her fruitfulness and her chastity won approval
from all, from her husband first, then from
1 Mark x. 28-30.
2 Virg. A. i. 292.
LETTER CVIII.
197
5*
her reD« as thoufcistly from the whole city.
She bo' upon it : ah*n ; Blaesilla, for whose
death I ich was the s^while at Rome ; ' Pau-
lina, w^ed the. stoife reverend and admirable
Pammaway from thferit both her vows2 and
proper so ardent w/also I addressed a little
book o'ith her mom Eustochium, who is now
in the Ts body had a precious necklace of
virginity which hefe church ; Rufina, whose
'uitimele shed thename the affectionate heart
ner rat grief s/d Toxotius, after whom she
Wu no <nows ; Adren. You can thus see that
nknows Wish to fulfil a wife's duty, but
>c;c€y complied with her husband's
'ave male offspring.
\ , nde city, died, her grief was so great
she ynearly died herself : yet so com-
pletely did she then give herself to the service
of the Lord, that it might have seemed that
she had desired his death.
In what terms shall I speak of her dis-
tinguished, and noble, and formerly wealthy
house ; all the riches of which she spent upon
the poor ? How can I describe the great con-
sideration she shewed to all and her far reach-
ing kindness even to those whom she had
never seen ? What poor man, as he lay dying,
was not wrapped in blankets given by her ?
What bedridden person was not supported
with money from her purse ? She would seek
oui. such with the greatest diligence through-
out the city, and would think it a misfortune
were any hungry or sick person to be supported
by another's food. So lavish was her charity
that she robbed her children ; and, when her rel-
atives remonstrated with her for doing so, she
declared that she was leaving to them a better
inheritance in the mercy of Christ.
6. Nor was she long able to endure the
visits and crowded receptions, which her high
position in the world and her exalted family
entailed upon her. She received the homage
paid to her sadly, and made all the speed she
could to shun and to escape those who wished
to pay her compliments. It so happened that
at that time 3 the bishops of the East and
West had been summoned to Rome by letter
from the emperors 4 to deal with certain dis-
sensions between the churches, and in this way
she saw two most admirable men and Christian
prelates, Paulinus bishop of Antioch and Ep-
iphanius, bishop of Salamis or, as it is now
called, Constantia, in Cyprus. Epiphanius,
indeed, she received as her guest ; and, al-
though Paulinus was staying in another per-
son's house, in the warmth of her heart she
treated him as if he too were lodged with her.
Inflamed by their virtues she thought more
and more each moment of forsaking her
1 See Letter XXXIX,
3 A.D. 38?,
VOL. VI.
2 Of continence. See Letter LXVI. 3.
* Theodosius and Valentinian.
home. Disregarding her house, her children,
her servants, her property, and in a word
everything connected with the world, she was
eager — alone and unaccompanied (if ever it
could be said that she was so) — to go to the
desert made famous by its Pauls and by its
Antonies. And at last when the winter was
over and the sea was open, and when the
bishops were returning to their churches, she
also sailed with them in her prayers and de-
sires. Not to prolong the story, she went
down to Portus accompanied by her brother,
her kinsfolk and above all her own children
eager by their demonstrations of affection to
overcome their loving mother. At last the
sails were set and the strokes of the rowers
carried the vessel into the deep. On the shore
the little Toxotius stretched forth his hands
in entreaty, while Rufina, now grown up, with
silent sobs besought her mother to wait till
she should be married. But still Paula's eyes
were dry as she turned them heavenwards ;
and she overcame her love for her children by
her love for God. She knew herself no more
as a mother, that she might approve herself a
handmaid of Christ. Yet her heart was rent
within her, and she wrestled with her grief,
as though she were being forcibly separated
from parts of herself. The greatness of the
affection she had to overcome made all admire
her victory the more. Among the cruel hard-
ships which attend prisoners of war in the
hands of their enemies, there is none severer
than the separation of parents from their
children. Though it is against the laws of
nature, she endured this trial with unabated
faith ; nay more she sought it with a joyful
heart : and overcoming her love for her chil-
dren by her greater love for God, she concen-
trated herself quietly upon Eustochium alone,
the partner alike of her vows and of her
voyage. Meantime the vessel ploughed on-
wards and all her fellow-passengers looked
back to the shore. But she turned away her
eyes that she might not see what she could not
behold without agony. No mother, it must be
confessed, ever loved her children so dearly.
Before setting out she gave them all that she
had, disinheriting herself upon earth that she
might find an inheritance in heaven.
7. The vessel touched at the island of
Pontia ennobled long since as the place of
exile of the illustrious lady Flavia Domitilla
who under the Emperor Domitian was ban-
ished because she confessed herself a Chris-
tian ; ' and Paula, when she saw the cells in
which this lady passed the period of her long
martyrdom, taking to herself the wings of
faith, more than ever desired to see Jerusalem
» Wife of Flavius Clemens, believed to have been a Christian
martyr.
198
JEROME.
and the holy places. The strongest winds
seemed weak and the greatest speed slow.
After passing between Scylla and Charybdis '
she committed herself to the Adriatic sea and
had a calm passage to Methone.2 Stopping
here for a short time to recruit her wearied
frame
She stretched her dripping limbs upon the shore :
Then sailed past Malea and Cythera's isle,
The scattered Cyclades. and all the lands
That narrow in the seas on every side.3
Then leaving Rhodes and Lycia behind her,
she at last came in sight of Cyprus, where
falling at the feet of the holy and venerable
Epiphanius, she was by him detained ten
days ; though this was not, as he supposed, to
restore her strength but, as the facts prove,
that she might do God's work. For she visited
all the monasteries in the island, and left, so
far as her means allowed, substantial relief for
the brothers in them whom love of the holy
man had brought thither from all parts of the
world. Then crossing the narrow sea she
landed at Seleucia, and going up thence to
Antioch allowed herself to be detained for a
little time by the affection of the reverend
confessor Paulinus.' Then, such was the
ardour of her faith that she, a noble lady
who had always previously been carried by
eunuchs, went her way — and that in midwin-
ter— riding upon an ass.
8. I say nothing of her journey through
Coele-Syria and Phoenicia (for it is not my
purpose to give you a complete itinerary of
her wanderings) ; I shall only name such
places as are mentioned in the sacred books.
After leaving the Roman colony of Berytus
and the ancient city of Zidon she entered
Elijah's town on the shore at Zarephath and
therein adored her Lord and Saviour. Next
passing over the sands of Tyre on which Paul
had once knelt 5 she came to Acco or, as it is
now called, Ptolemais, rode over the plains
of Megiddo which had once witnessed the
slaying of Josiah," and entered the land of
the Philistines. Here she could not fail
to admire the ruins of Dor, once a most
powerful city ; and Strato's Tower, which
though at one time insignificant was rebuilt
by Herod king of Judaea and named Caesarea
in honour of Caesar Augustus.7 Here she saw
the house of Cornelius now turned into a
Christian church ; and the humble abode of
Philip ; and the chambers of his daughters the
1 i.e. the straits of Messina.
2 A port on the S.W. coast of the Peloponnese.
3 Virg. A. iii. 126-8.
* At this time one of the three bishops who claimed the see of
Antioch. See Ep. xv. 2.
b Actsxxi. 5. « 2 Kings xxiii. 29.
7 A maritime city of Palestine which subsequently to its
restoration by Herod became first the civil, and then the eccle-
siastical, capital of Palestine.
four virgins " which did pnon who dest She ar-
rived next at Antipatris, sieo-e. ]3ut j half in
ruins, named by Heroovq t0' herself ier Anti-
pater, and at Lydda, now Sprino- of hefP°^s> a
place made famous by e\ the°apostle!>am °^
Dorcas 2 and the restoriat jje wju ~;.lth of
/Eneas.3 Not far from t^js sake jjmathoea,
the village of Joseph whve an \m'n^ Lord,1
and Nob, once a city of Le ^y^u to now the
tomb in which their slain te see ^^ jt Joppa
too is hard by, the port c js praisevv ^&nt 5 °
which also — if I may intKc[irjsfs poetic
fable— saw Andromeda bound >rivilep;e rock.7
Again resuming her journey, ,nt ^.came to
Nicopolis, once called Emmaus^ ' here the
Lord became known in thf„,fe ^aking of
bread ; 8 an action by which He defeated the
house of Cleopas as a church. Startii ig thence
she made her way up lower and highelorP>eth-
horon, cities founded by Solomon 9 but sub-
sequently destroyed by several devastating
wars ; seeing on her right Ajalon and Gibeon
where Joshua the son of Nun when fighting
against the five kings gave commandments
to the sun and moon,1'-' where also he con-
demned the Gibeonites (who by a crafty
stratagem had obtained a treaty) to be hewers
of wood and drawers of water." At Gibeah
also, now a complete ruin, she stopped for a
little while remembering its sin, and the cut-
ting of the concubine into pieces, and how in
spite of all this three hundred men of the
tribe of Benjamin were saved 12 that in after
days Paul might be called a Benjamite.
9. To make a long story short, leaving on
her le-ft the mausoleum of Helena queen of
Adiabene I3 who in time of famine had sent
corn to the Jewish people, Paula entered
Jerusalem, Jebus, or Salem, that city of three
names which after it had sunk to ashes and
decay was by /Elius Hadrianus restored once
more as /Elia.14 And although the proconsul
of Palestine, who was an intimate friend of
her house, sent forward his apparitors and
gave orders to have his official residence ,B
placed at her disposal, she chose a humble
cell in preference to it. Moreover, in visiting
the holy places so great was the passion and
the enthusiasm she exhibited for each, that
she could never have torn herself away from
one had she not been eager to visit the rest.
Before the Cross she threw herself down in
1 Acts xxi. 8,9. 2 Acts ix. 36-41. 3 Acts ix. 32-34.
4 John xix. 38. 6 1 Sam. x.xii. 17-19. 6 Jon. i. 3.
7 Andromeda had been chained to a rock by her father to
assuage the wrath of Poseidon who had sent a sea monster to
ravage the country. Here she was found by Perseus who slew
the monster and effected her rescue. See Josephus B. J. iii. ix. 3.
6 Luke xxiv. 13, 28-31. 9 2 Chr. viii. 5.
10 Josh. x. 12-14. "Josh. ix.
i" Judges xix. xx. According to xx. 47 the number of Benja-
mites who escaped was six hundred.
13 Josephus, A.J. xx. ii. 6.
14 Or more fully ^Elia Capitolina, a Roman colony from
which all Jews were expelled.
15 Praetorium. The word occurs in John xviii, 28.
LETTER CVIII.
*99
adoration as though she beheld the Lord
hanging upon it : and when she entered the
tomb which was the scene of the Resurrection
she kissed the stone which the angel had
rolled away from the door of the sepulchre.'
Indeed so ardent was her faith that she even
licked with her mouth the very spot on which
the Lord's body had lain, like one athirst for
the river which he has longed for. What
tears she shed there, what groans she uttered,
and what grief she poured forth, all Jeru-
salem knows ; the Lord also to whom she
prayed knows it well. Going out thence she
made the ascent of Zion ; a name which signi-
fies either " citadel " or " watch-tower." This
formed the city which David formerly stormed
and afterwards rebuilt." Of its storming it is
written, " Woe to Ariel, to Ariel " — that is,
God's lion, (and indeed in those days it was
extremely strong) — " the city which David
stormed : " 3 and of its rebuilding it is said,
" His foundation is in the holy mountains :
the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than
all the dwellings of Jacob." ' He does not
mean the gates which we see to-day in dust
and ashes ; the gates he means are those
against which hell prevails not 5 and through
which the multitude of those who believe in
Christ enter in.G There was shewn to her
upholding the portico of a church the blood-
stained column to which our Lord is said
to have been bound when He suffered His
scourging. There was shewn to her also the
spot where the Holy Spirit came down upon
the souls of the one hundred and twenty be-
lievers, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Joel.7
10. Then, after distributing money to the
poor and her fellow-servants so far as her
means allowed, she proceeded to Bethlehem
stopping only on the right side of the road to
visit Rachel's tomb. (Here it was that she
gave birth to her son destined to be not what
his dying mother called him, Benoni, that is
the " Son of my pangs " but as his father in
the spirit prophetically named him Benjamin,
that is " the Son of the right hand)." 8 After
this she came to Bethlehem and entered into
the cave where the Saviour was born.a Here,
when she looked upon the inn made sacred
by the virgin and the stall where the ox knew
his owner and the ass his master's crib,10 and
where the words of the same prophet had
been fulfilled " Blessed is he that soweth be-
side the waters where the ox and the ass
trample the seed under their feet:"" when
she looked upon these things I say, she pro-
tested in my hearing that she could behold
1 Matt, xxviii. 2. " 2 Sam. v. 7, 9. 3 Isa. xxix. 1. Vulg.
4 Ps. lxxxvii. 1, 2. 6 Matt. xvi. 18. a Rev. xxii. 14.
7 Acts ii. r6-2i. e Gen. xxxv. 18, 19.
* This legend of the cave dates back to Justin Martyr.
10 Isa. i. 3. " Isa. xxxii. 20. LXX.
o
travaileth hath
remnant of his
the children of
with the eyes of faith the infant Lord wrapped
in swaddling clothes and crying in the manger,
the wise men worshipping Him, the star shin-
ing overhead, the virgin mother, the attentive
foster-father, the shepherds coming by night
to see " the word that was come to pass " ' and
thus even then to consecrate those opening
phrases of the evangelist John " In the be-
ginning was the word " and " the word was
made flesh." a She declared that she could
see the slaughtered innocents, the raging
Herod, Joseph and Mary fleeing into Egypt ;
and with a mixture of tears and joy she cried :
' Hail Bethlehem, house of bread,3 wherein
was born that Bread that came down from
heaven.4 Hail Ephratah, land of fruitfulness3
and of fertility, whose fruit is the Lord Him-
self. Concerning thee has Micah prophesied
of old, " Thou Bethlehem Ephratah art not 5
the least among the thousands of Judah, for
out of thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth
have been from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore wilt thou c give them up, until
the time that she which
brought forth : then the
brethren shall return unto
Israel." 7 For in thee was born the prince
begotten before Lucifer.8 Whose birth from
the Father is before all time : and- the cradle
of David's race continued in thee, until the
virgin brought forth her son and the remnant
of the people that believed in Christ returned
unto the children of Israel and preached
freely to them in words like these : " It was
necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you ; but seeing ye put
it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." 9
For the Lord hath said : "lam not sent but
unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." '"
At that time also the words of Jacob were ful-
filled concerning Him, " A prince shall not
depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from be-
tween his feet, until He come for whom it is
laid up,11 and He shall be for the expectation
of the nations." I2 Well did David swear, well
did he make a vow saying : " Surely I will
not come into the tabernacle of my house nor
go up into my bed : I will not give sleep to
mine eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, or rest to
the temples of my head,13 until I find out a
place for the Lord, an habitation for the . .
. God of Jacob." " And immediately he
1 Luke ii. 15, p>iMa-
2 Joh. i. 1, 14 Voyos the Vulg. has ' verbum ' both here and in
Luke.
3 The name means this in Hebrew. 4 Joh. vi. 51.
6 The word 'not* is inserted by Paula from Matt. ii. 6.
6 ' Will he ' A.V. following the Hebrew.
7 Mic. v. 2, 3 : Cf. Matt. ii. 6. » Ps. ex. 3, Vulg.
9 Acts xiii. 46. 10 Matt. xv. 24.
11 LXX. ace. to one reading. 12 Gen. xlix. 10. LXX.
13 This clause comes from the LXX. M Ps. exxxii. 2-5.
2
200
JEROME.
explained the object of his desire, seeing with
prophetic eyes that He would come whom we
now believe to have come. " Lo we heard of
Him at Ephratah : we found Him in the fields
of the wood." ' The Hebrew word Zo as I
have learned from your lessons " means not
her, that is Mary the Lord's mother, but him
that is the Lord Himself. Therefore he says
boldly : " We will go into His tabernacle : we
will worship at His footstool." 3 I too, miser-
able sinner though I am, have been accounted
worthy to kiss the manger in which the Lord
cried as a babe, and to pray in the cave in
which the travailing virgin gave birth to the
infant Lord. " This is my rest " for it is my
Lord's native place ; " here will I dwell " J for
this spot has my Saviour chosen. " I have pre-
pared a lamp for my Christ " B " My soul shall
live unto Him and my seed shall serve Him. " ' 6
After this Paula went a short distance down
the hill to the tower of Edar,7 that is < of the
flock,' near which Jacob fed his flocks, and
where the shepherds keeping watch by night
were privileged to hear the words : " Glory to
God in the highest and on earth peace, good-
will toward men." ' While they were keeping
their sheep they found the Lamb of God ;
whose fleece bright and clean was made wet
with the dew of heaven when it was dry upon
all the earth beside, ,J and whose blood when
sprinkled on the doorposts drove off the de-
stroyer of Egypt iu and took away the sins of
the world.11
ii. Then immediately quickening her pace
she began to move along the old road which
leads to Gaza, that is to the ' power ' or
'wealth 'of God, silently meditating on that
type of the Gentiles, the Ethiopian eunuch,
who in spite of the prophet changed his
skin ia and whilst he read the old testament
found the fountain of the gospel.13 Next
turning to the right she passed from Beth-
zur :4 to Eshcol which means " a cluster of
grapes." It was hence that the spies brought
back that marvellous cluster which was the
proof of the fertility of the land l5 and a type of
Him who says of Himself : " I have trodden
the wine press alone ; and of the people there
was none with me." 10 Shortly afterwards she
entered the home " of Sarah and beheld the
birthplace of Isaac and the traces of Abra-
ham's oak under which he saw Christ's day
and was glad.1" And rising up from thence she
I Ps. exxxii. 6, Vulg. 3 Jerome taught Paula Hebrew.
3 Ps. exxxii. 7. 4 Ps. exxxii. 14.
6 Ps. exxxii. 17, Vulg. e Ps. xxii. 29, 30, LXX.
7 Gen. xxxv. 21 ; Mic. iv. 8. 8 Luke ii. 14.
9 Jud. vi. 37. 10 Ex. xii. 21-23. " Joh. i. 29.
12 Jer. xiii. 23. 13 Acts viii. 27-39.
14 This town played an important part in the wars of the
Maccabees.
16 Nu. xiii. 23, 24. l* Isa. lxiii. 3.
17 Cellulae, lit. 'little cells.'
II Joh, vjii. 56 : cf. Gen. xviii. i, R.V. -«-q.v,
went up to Hebron, that is Kirjath-Arba, or
the City of the Four Men. These are Abra-
ham, Isaac, Jacob, and the great Adam whom
the Hebrews suppose (from the book of
Joshua the son of Nun) to be buried there.1
But many are of opinion that Caleb is the
fourth and a monument at one side is pointed
out as his. After seeing these places she did
not care to go on to Kirjath-sepher, that is
" the village of letters ; " because despising
the letter that killeth she had found the spirit
that givetlv life.2 She admired more the
upper springs and the nether springs which
Othniel the son of Kenaz the son of Jeph-
unneh received in place of a south land and a
waterless possession,3 and by the conducting
of which he watered the dry fields of the old
covenant. For thus did he typify the redemption
which the sinner finds for his old sins in the
waters of baptism. On the next day soon after
sunrise she stood upon the brow of Caphar-
barucha,4 that is, "the house of blessing,"
the point to which Abraham pursued the
Lord when he made intercession with Him.5
And here, as she looked down upon the wide
solitude and upon the country once belonging
to Sodom and Gomorrah, to Admah and Ze-
boim, she beheld the balsam vines of Engedi
and Zoar. By Zoar I mean that " heifer of
three years old " ' which was formerly called
Bela ' and in Syriac is rendered Zoar that is
' little.' She called to mind the cave in which
Lot found refuge, and with tears in her eyes
warned the virgins her companions to beware
of " wine wherein is excess ; " " for it was to
this that the Moabites and Ammonites owe
their origin.9
12. I linger long in the land of the midday
sun for it was there and then that the spouse
found her bridegroom at rest 10 and Joseph
drank wine with his brothers once more.11 I
will return to Jerusalem and, passing through
Tekoa the home of Amos,1! I will look upon
the glistening cross of Mount Olivet from
which the Saviour made His ascension to the
Father.13 Here year by year a red heifer was
burned as a holocaust to the Lord and its
ashes were used to purify the children of Is-
rael. H Here also according to Ezekiel the
Cherubim after leaving the temple founded
the church of the Lord.10
After this Paula visited the tomb of Lazarus
and beheld the hospitable roof of Mary and
Martha, as well as Bethphage, < the town of the
1 Josh. xiv. 15. In Hebrew ' Adam ' and ' man ' are the same
word. Hence the mistake.
2 2 Cor. iii. 6. 3 Jud. i. 13-15.
4 Perhaps identical with "the valley of Berachah" men-
tioned in 2 Chr. xx. 26.
5 Gen. xviii. 23-33. e Isa. xv. 5. ' Gen. xiv. 2.
e Eph. v. 18. 9 Gen. xix. 30-38. 10 Cant. i. 7.
11 Gen. xliii. 16. '- Amos i. 1.
13 Luke xxiv. 50, 51 : Acts i. 9-12,
,4 Nu. xix, 1-10, 16 Ezek. x. 18, 19.
LETTER CVIII.
Sot
priestly jaws." Here it was that a restive
foal typical of the Gentiles received the bridle
of God, and covered with the garments of the
apostles" offered its lowly back 3 for Him to sit
on. From this she went straight on down the
hill to Jericho thinking of the wounded man
in the gospel, of the savagery of the priests
and Levites who passed him by, and of the
kindness of the Samaritan, that is, the guar-
dian, who placed the half-dead man upon his
own beast and brought him down to the inn
of the church.4 She noticed the place called
Adomim 5 or the Place of Blood, so-called be-
cause much blood was shed there in the fre-
quent incursions of marauders. She beheld
also the sycamore tree0 of Zacchaeus, by which
is signified the good works of repentance
whereby he trod under foot his former sins of
bloodshed and rapine, and from which he saw
the Most High as from a pinnacle of virtue.
She was shewn too the spot by the wayside
where the blind men sat who, receiving their
sight from the Lord,7 became types of the two
peoples H who should believe upon Him. Then
entering Jericho she saw the city which Hiel
founded in Abiram his firstborn and of which
he set up the gates in his youngest son Segub.9
She looked upon the camp of Gilgal and the
hill of the foreskins ;o suggestive of the mystery
of the second circumcision; " and she gazed at
the twelve stones brought thither out of the
bed of Jordan ia to be symbols of those twelve
foundations on which are written the names
of the twelve apostles.13 She saw also that
fountain of the Law most bitter and barren
which the true Elisha healed by his wisdom
changing it into a well sweet and fertilising.14
Scarcely had the night passed away when
burning with eagerness she hastened to the
Jordan, stood by the brink of the river, and
as the sun rose recalled to mind the rising of
the sun of righteousness ; 15 how the priest's
feet stood firm in the middle of the river-
bed ; I6 how afterwards at the command of
Elijah and Elisha the waters were divided
hither and thither and made way for them to
pass ; and again how the Lord had cleansed
by His baptism waters which the deluge had
polluted and the destruction of mankind had
defiled.
13. It would be tedious were I tell of the
valley of Achor, that is, of ' trouble and
crowds,' where theft and covetousness were
condemned ; " and of Bethel, ' the house of
1 The jaw was the priest's portion and hence the epithet
' priestly ' : or else Rethphage belonged to the priests.
2 Matt. xxi. 1-7. 3 Humilia. 4 Luke x. 30-35.
8 Strictly Damim. 8 Luke xix. 4. 7 Matt. xx. 30-34.
6 i.e. the Jews and the Gentiles. 9 1 Kings xvi. 34.
10 Josh. v. 3. " Rom. ii. 28, 29.
12 Josh. iv. 3, 20. 13 Rev. xxi. 14.
14 2 K. ii. 19-22, type and antitype are. as often, here con-
founded.
16 Mai. iv, 2. »* Josh. iii. 17. 17 Josh. vii. 24-26.
God,' where Jacob poor and destitute slept
upon the bare ground. Here it was that, having
set beneath his head a stone which in Zechariah
is described as having seven eyes ' and in
Isaiah is spoken of as a corner-stone/ he be-
held a ladder reaching up to heaven ; yes, and
the Lord standing high above it 3 holding out
His hand to such as were ascending and hurl-
ing from on high such as were careless. Also
when she was in Mount Ephraim she made
pilgrimages to the tombs of Joshua the son of
Nun and of Eleazar the son of Aaron the
priest, exactly opposite the one to the other ;
that of Joshua being built at Timnath-serah
"on the north side of the hill of Gaash,"4 and
that of Eleazar " in a hill that pertained to
Phinehas his son." D She was somewhat sur-
prised to find that he who had had the distri-
bution of the land in his own hands had se-
lected for himself portions uneven and rocky.
What shall I say about Shiloh where a ruined
altar6 is still shewn to-day, and where the
tribe of Benjamin anticipated Romulus in the
rape of the Sabine women?7 Passing by
Shechem (not Sychar as many wrongly read ")
or as it is now called Neapolis, she entered
the church built upon the side of Mount Ger-
izim around Jacob's well ; that well where the
Lord was sitting when hungry and thirsty He
was refreshed by the faith of the woman of
Samaria. Forsaking her five husbands by
whom are intended the five books of Moses,
and that sixth not a husband of whom she
boasted, to wit the false teacher Dositheus,'
she found the true Messiah and the true Sav-
iour. Turning away thence Paula saw the
tombs of the twelve patriarchs, and Samaria
which in honour of Augustus Herod renamed
Augusta or in Greek Sebaste. There lie the
prophets Elisha and Obadiah and John the
Baptist than whom there is not a greater
among those that are born of women.10 And
here she was filled with terror by the marvels
she beheld ; for she saw demons screaming
under different tortures before the tombs of
the saints, and men howling like wolves, bay-
ing like dogs, roaring like lions, hissing like
serpents and bellowing like bulls. They twisted
their heads and bent them backwards until
they touched the ground ; women too were
suspended head downward and their clothes
did not fall off." Paula pitied them all, and
shedding tears over them prayed Christ to
have mercy on them. And weak as she was
she climbed the mountain on foot ; for in two
of its caves Obadiah in a time of persecution
1 Zech. iii. 9. 2 Isa. xxvh'i. 16. 3 Gen. xxviii. 12, 13.
4 Josh. xxiv. 30. 6 Josh. xxiv. 33. * Cf. 1 Sam. i. 3.
7 Judg. xxi. 19-23 : cf. Liv. i. 9. * From Joh. iv. 5.
9 The founder of a Samaritan sect akin to the Essencs.
10 Luke vii. 28.
rl Other authorities for these strange phenomena are Hilary,
Sulpicius. and Paulinus,
202
JEROME.
and famine had fed a hundred prophets with
bread and water. ' Then she passed quickly
through Nazareth the nursery of the Lord ;
Cana and Capernaum familiar with the signs
wrought by Him ; the lake of Tiberias sanc-
tified by His voyages upon it ; the wilderness
where countless Gentiles were satisfied with a
few loaves while the twelve baskets of the
tribes of Israel were filled with the fragments
left by them that had eaten.'- She made the
ascent of mount Tabor whereon the Lord was
transfigured.3 In the distance she beheld the
range of Hermon ; 4 and the wide stretching
plains of Galilee where Sisera and all his host
had once been overcome by Barak ; and the
torrent B Kishon separating the level ground
into two parts. Hard by also the town of
Nain was pointed out to her, where the widow's
son was raised.8 Time would fail me sooner
than speech were I to recount all the places to
which the revered Paula was carried by her
incredible faith.
14. I will now pass on to Egypt, pausing
for a while on the way at Socoh, and at Sam-
son's well which he clave in the hollow place
that was in the jaw.7 Here I will lave my
parched lips and refresh myself before visiting
Moresheth ; in old days famed for the tomb
of the prophet Micah,8 and now for its church.
Then skirting the country of the Horites and
Gittites, Mareshah, Edom, and Lachish, and
traversing the lonely wastes of the desert
where the tracks of the traveller are lost in
the yielding sand, I will come to the river of
Egypt called Sihor,9 that is " the muddy riv-
er," and go through the five cities of Egypt
which speak the language of Canaan,10 and
through the land of Goshen and the plains of
Zoan " on which God wrought his marvellous
works. And I will visit the city of No, which
has since become Alexandria ; ia and Nitria,
the town of the Lord, where day by day the
filth of multitudes is washed away with the
pure nitre of virtue. No sooner did Paula
come in sight of it than there came to meet
her the reverend and estimable bishop, the
confessor Isidore, accompanied by countless
multitudes of monks many of whom were of
priestly or of Levitical rank.1" On seeing these
Paula rejoiced to behold the Lord's glory
manifested in them ; but protested that she
had no claim to be received with such honour.
Need I speak of the Macarii, Arsenius, Ser-
apion,14 or other pillars of Christ ! Was there
1 1 Kings xviii. 4. a Matt. xiv. 15-21.
8 According to the common tradition, but Hermon is more
likely to have been the place.
4 In the original ' Hermon and the Hermons ' ; an allusion
to the Hebrew text of Ps. xlii. 6.
6 Jud. v. 31, Vulg. 6 Luke vii. 11-15. ' Jud. xv. 17-19, R.V.
8 Micah i. i, 14. 9 Jer. ii. 18. i0 Isa. xix. 18.
" Ps. lxxviii. 12. ia A mistake : No is Thebes.
13 i.e. presbyters and deacons. Cf. § 20, infra.
14 At that time the most famous of the Egyptian hermits.
any cell that she did not enter ? Or any man
at whose feet she did not throw herself ? In
each of His saints she believed that she saw
Christ Himself ; and whatever she bestowed
upon them she rejoiced to feel that she had
bestowed it upon the Lord. Her enthusiasm
was wonderful and her endurance scarcely
credible in a woman. Forgetful of her sex
and of her weakness she even desired to make
her abode, together with the girls who accom-
panied her, among these thousands of monks.
And, as they were all willing to welcome her,
she might perhaps have sought and obtained
permission to do so ; had she not been drawn
away by a still greater passion for the holy
places. Coming by sea from Pelusium to
Maioma on account of the great heat, she re-
turned so rapidly that you would have thought
her a bird. Not long afterwards, making up
her mind to dwell permanently in holy Beth-
lehem, she took up her abode for three years
in a miserable hostelry ; till she could build
the requisite cells and monastic buildings, to
say nothing of a guest house for passing trav-
ellers where they might find the welcome
which Mary and Joseph had missed. At this
point I conclude my narrative of the journeys
that she made accompanied by Eustochium
and many other virgins.
15. I am now free to describe at greater
length the virtue which was her peculiar
charm ; and in setting forth this I call God to
witness that I am no flatterer. I add nothing.
I exaggerate nothing. On the contrary I tone
down much that I may not appear to relate
incredibilities. My carping critics must not
insinuate that I am drawing on my imagina-
tion or decking Paula, like yEsop's crow, with
the fine feathers of other birds. Humility is
the first of Christian graces, and hers was so
pronounced that one who had never seen her,
and who on account of her celebrity had de-
sired to see her, would have believed that he
saw not her but the lowest of her maids.
When she was surrounded by companies of
virgins she was always the least remarkable in
dress, in speech, in gesture, and in gait. From
the time that her husband died until she fell
asleep herself she never sat at meat with a
man, even though she might know him to
stand upon the pinnacle of the episcopate.
She never entered a bath except when dan-
gerously ill. Even in the severest fever she
rested not on an ordinary bed but on the hard
ground covered only with a mat of goat's
hair ; if that can be called rest which made
day and night alike a time of almost unbroken
prayer. Well did she fulfil the words of the
psalter : " All the night make I my bed to
swim ; I water my couch with my tears " ! '
1 Ps. vi. 6.
LETTER CVIII.
203
Her tears welled forth as it were from foun-
tains, and she lamented her slightest faults as
if they were sins of the deepest dye. Con-
stantly did I warn her to spare her eyes and
to keep them for the reading of the gospel ;
but she only said : ' I must disfigure that face
which contrary to God's commandment I have
painted with rouge, white lead, and antimony.
I must mortify that body which has been given
up to many pleasures. I must make up for
my long laughter by constant weeping. I
must exchange my soft linen and costly silks
for rough goat's hair. I who have pleased my
husband and the world in the past, desire now
to please Christ.' Were I among her great
and signal virtues to select her chastity as a
subject of praise, my words would seem super-
fluous ; for, even when she was still in the
world, she set an example to all the matrons of
Rome, and bore herself so admirably that the
most slanderous never ventured to couple
scandal with her name.1 No mind could be
more considerate than hers, or none kinder
towards the lowly. She did not court the
powerful ; at the same time, if the proud and j
the vainglorious sought her, she did not turn
from them with disdain. If she saw a poor
man, she supported him : and if she saw a rich
one, she urged him to do good. Her liberality
alone knew no bounds. Indeed, so anxious
was she to turn no needy person away that she
borrowed money at interest and often con-
tracted new loans to pay off old ones. I was
wrong, I admit ; but when I saw her so pro-
fuse in giving, I reproved her alleging the
apostle's words : "I mean not that other men
be eased and ye burthened ; but by an equality
that now at this time your abundance may be
a supply for their want, that their abundance
also may be a supply for your want." 2 I
quoted from the gospel the Saviour's words :
"he that hath two coats, let him impart
one of them to him that hath none " ; 3 and
I warned her that she might not always have
means to do as she would wish. Other argu-
ments I adduced to the same purpose ; but
with admirable modesty and brevity she over-
ruled them all. " God is my witness," she
said, " that what I do I do for His sake. My
prayer is that I may die a beggar not leav-
ing a penny to my daughter and indebted to
strangers for my winding sheet." She then
concluded with these words : " I, if I beg, shall
find many to give to me ; but if this beggar
does not obtain help from me who by borrow-
ing can give it to him, he will die ; and if he
1 Jerome's own name had been coupled with Paula's when
they both lived at Rome, but he was able to shew that his
relations with her were wholiy innocent. See Letter XLV.
- 2 Cor. viii. 13, 14.
3 Luke iii. 11. The word alteram, one of two (therefore.
Jerome means, retaining the second) is found in the Syriac Ver-
sion of Cureton. It is not found in the Vulgate.
dies, of whom will his soul be required ? " I
wished her to be more careful in managing her
concerns, but she with a faith more glowing
than mine clave to the Saviour with her whole
heart and poor in spirit followed the Lord in
His poverty, giving back to Him what she had
received and becoming poor for His sake.
She obtained her wish at last and died leaving
her daughter overwhelmed with a mass of debt.
This Eustochium still owes and indeed cannot
hope to pay off by her own exertions ; only
the mercy of Christ can free her from it.
16. Many married ladies make it a habit to
confer gifts upon their own trumpeters, and
while they are extremely profuse to a few, with-
hold all help from the many. From this fault
Paula was altogether free. She gave her
money to each according as each had need,
not ministering to self-indulgence but reliev-w
ing want, No poor person went away from
her empty handed. And all this she was en-
abled to do not by the greatness of her wealth
but by her careful management of it. She
constantly had on her lips such phrases as
these : " Blessed are the merciful for they
shall obtain mercy : " ' and " water will quench
a flaming fire ; and alms maketh an atonement
for sins ;"2 and "make to yourselves friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness that . . .
they may receive you into everlasting habita-
tions;"3 and "give alms . . . and be-
hold all things are clean unto you;"4 and
Daniel's words to King Nebuchadnezzar in
which he admonished him to redeem his sins
by almsgiving.5 She wished to spend her
money not upon these stones, that shall pass
away with the earth and the world, but upon
those living stones, which roll over the earth ; *
of which in the apocalypse of John the city of
the great king is built ; 7 of which also the
scripture tells us that they shall be changed
into sapphire and emerald and jasper and
other gems.8
17. But these qualities she may well share
with a few others and the devil knows that it
is not in these that the highest virtue consists.
For, when Job has lost his substance and
when his house and children have been de-
stroyed, Satan says to the Lord : " Skin for
skin, yea all that a man hath, will he give for
his life. But put forth thine hand now and
touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse
thee to thy face."" We know that many
persons while they have given alms have yet
given nothing which touches their bodily com-
fort ; and while they have held out a helping
hand to those in need are themselves over-
come with sensual indulgences ; they white-
1 Matt. v. 7.
* Luke xi. 41.
7 Rev. xxt. 14.
3 Ecclus. iii. 30.
6 Dan. iv. 27, LXX.
s Rev. xxi. 19-21.
3 Luke xvi. 9.
1 Zech. ix. 16, LXX.
• Job ii. 4, 5.
•
204
JEROME.
cfio.
-i
wash the outside but within they are " full of
dead men's bones." ' Paula was not one of
these. Her self-restraint was so great as to be
almost immoderate ; and her fasts and labours
were so severe as almost to weaken her consti-
tution. Except on feast days she would scarcely
ever take oil with her food ; a fact from which
may be judged what she thought of wine,
sauce, fish, honey, milk, eggs, and other things
agreeable to the palate. Some persons believe
that in taking these they are extremely frugal ;
and, even if they surfeit themselves with
them, they still fancy their chastity safe.
18. Envy always follows in the track of
virtue : as Horace says, it is ever the mountain
top that is smitten by the lightning.2 It is
not surprising that I declare this of men and
women, when the jealousy of the Pharisees
succeeded in crucifying our Lord Himself.
All the saints have had illwishers, and even
Paradise was not free from the serpent
through whose malice death came into the
world.3 So the Lord stirred up against Paula
Hadad the Edomite 4 to buffet her that she
might not be exalted, and warned her fre-
quently by the thorn in her flesh 6 not to be
elated by the greatness of her own virtues or
to fancy that, compared with other women,
she had attained the summit of perfection.
For my part I used to say that it was best to
give in to rancour and to retire before pas-
sion. So Jacob dealt with his brother Esau ;
so David met the unrelenting persecution of
Saul. I reminded her how the first of these
fled into Mesopotamia ; 6 and how the second
surrendered himself to the Philistines,7 and
chose to submit to foreign foes rather than
to enemies at home. She however replied as
follows :— ' Your suggestion would be a wise
one if the devil did not everywhere fight
against God's servants and handmaidens, and
did he not always precede the fugitives to
their chosen refuges. Moreover, I am de-
terred from accepting it by my love for the
holy places ; and I cannot find another Beth-
lehem elsewhere. Why may I not by my pa-
tience conquer this ill will ? Why may I not
by my humility break down this pride, and
when I am smitten on the one cheek offer to
the smiter the other?8 Surely the apostle
Paul says " Overcome evil with good." ° Did
not the apostles glory when they suffered
reproach for the Lord's sake ? Did not even
the Saviour humble Himself, taking the form
of a servant and being made obedient to the
Father unto death, even the death of the
cross,10 that He might save us by His passion ?
' Matt, xxiii. 27. » ftor. C. ii. k. ii. 3 Wisd. ii. 24.
4 The enemy of Solomon— 1 K. xi. 14. Who Paula's enemy
may have been we do not know.
• 2 Cor. xii. 7. s Qen xxvii. 41-46 : xxviii. 1-5.
7 iSam. xxi. 10. 8 Matt. v. 39. » Rom. .\ii. 21. i" Phil ii. 7, 8.
If Job had not fought the ~~T>attle and won
the victory, he would never have received the
crown of righteousness, or have heard the
Lord say : " Thinkest thou that I have spoken
unto thee for aught else than this, that thou
mightest appear righteous." : In the gospel
those only are said to be blessed who suffer
persecution for righteousness' sake.8 My
conscience is at rest, and I know that it is not
from any fault of mine that I am suffering ;
moreover affliction in this world is a ground
for expecting a reward hereafter.' When the
enemy was more than usually forward and
ventured to reproach her to her face, she used
to chant the words of the psalter : " While
the wicked was before me, I was dumb with
silence ; I held my peace even from good : " 3
and again, "Iasa deaf man heard not ; and I
was as a dumb man that openeth not his
mouth : " J and " I was as a man that heareth
not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs."6
When she felt herself tempted, she dwelt
upon the words in Deuteronomy : " The Lord
your God proveth you, to know whether ye
love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul." " In tribulations
and afflictions she turned to the splendid
language of Isaiah : " Ye that are weaned
from the milk and drawn from the breasts,
look for tribulation upon tribulation, for hope
also upon hope : yet a little while must these
things be by reason of the malice of the lips
and by reason of a spiteful tongue." 7 This
passage of scripture she explained for her own
consolation as meaning that the weaned, that
is, those who have come to full age, must
endure tribulation upon tribulation that they
may be accounted worthy to receive hope
upon hope. She recalled to mind also the
words of the apostle, " we glory in tribula-
tions also : knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experi-
ence hope : and hope maketh not ashamed " 9
and " though our outward man perish, yet the
inward man is renewed day by day":0 and
"our light affliction which is but for a mo-
ment worketh in us "' an eternal weight of
glory ; while we look not at the things which
are seen but at the things which are not seen :
for the things which are seen are temporal
but the things which are not seen are eternal.11
She used to say that, although to human im-
patience the time might seem slow in coming,
yet that it would not be long but that pres-
ently help would come from God who says :
" In an acceptable time have I heard thee,
and in a day of salvation have I helped
1 Job xl. 8, LXX. = Matt. v. 10.
3 Ps. xxxix. 1, 2, ace. to the Gallican psalter.
* Ps. xxxviii. 13. 5 Ps. xxxviii. 14. 6 Deut. xiii. 3,
7 Isa. xxviii. 9-11 LXX. 8 Rom. v. 3-5. » 2 Cor. iv.
I0Vulg. 11 2 Cor. iv, ,7l j8.
LETTER CVIII.
2o$
thee." ' We ought not, she declared, to
dread the deceitful lips and tongues of the
wicked, for we rejoice in the aid of the Lord who
warns us by His prophet : " fear ye not the
reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their
revilings ; for the moth shall eat them up like
a garment, and the worm shall eat them like
wool":2 and she quoted His own words, "In
your patience ye shall win your souls" :3 as
well as those of the apostle, " the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be com-
pared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us " : 4 and in another place, " we are to
suffer affliction " 5 that we may be patient in
all things that befall us, for "he that is slow
to wrath is of great understanding : but he
that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly."6
19. In her frequent sicknesses and infirmi-
ties she used to say, " when I am weak, then
am I strong: "7 "we have our treasure in
earthen vessels " e until " this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption and this mortal shall
have put on immortality " 9 and again "as the
sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our con-
solation also aboundeth by Christ : " In and then
"as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall
ye be also of the consolation." In sorrow she
used to sing : " Why art thou cast down, O
my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within
me ? hope thou in God for I shall yet praise
him who is the health of my countenance and
my God." '" In the hour of danger she used
to say : " If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me : " 13 and again " whosoever will save
his life shall lose it," and " whosoever will lose
his life for my sake the same shall save it." 14
When the exhaustion of her substance and the
ruin of her property were announced to her
she only said : " What is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world and lose his own
soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul : " 15 and " naked came I out of my
mother's womb, and naked shall I return
thither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away : blessed be the name of the
Lord : " 16 and Saint John's words, " Love not
the world neither the things that are in the
world. For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world passeth away and the lust
thereof." " I know that when word was sent
to her of the serious illnesses of her children
and particularly of Toxotius whom she dearly
loved, she first by her self-control fulfilled the
saying : " I was troubled and I did not speak," "
1 Isa. xli.x. 8.
4 Rom. viii. 18.
7 z Cor. xii. 10.
">2 Cor. i. 5.
13 Luke ix. 23.
19 Job i. 21.
2 Isa. li. 7, 8. 3 Luke xxi. 19, R.V.
5 1 Th. iii. 4, R.V. • Prov. xiv. 29.
8 2 Cor. iv. 7. 9 1 Cor. xv. 54.
11 2 Cor. i. 7. ,s Ps. xlii. 11.
14 Luke ix. 24. 15 Matt, xvi.26.
17 1 Joh. ii. 15-17. ie Ps. lxxvii. 4, Vulg.
and then cried out in the words of scripture,
" He that loveth son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me." ' And she prayed
to the Lord and said : Lord " preserve thou
the children of those that are appointed to
die," 2 that is, of those who for thy sake every
day die bodily. I am aware that a talebearer
— a class of persons who do a great deal of
harm — once told her as a kindness that owing
to her great fervour in virtue some people
thought her mad and declared that something
should be done for her head. She replied in
the words of the apostle, " we are made a
spectacle unto the world and to angels and to
men," 3 and " we are fools for Christ's sake " *
but "the foolishness of God is wiser than
men." 5 It is for this reason she said that
even the Saviour says to the Father, " Thou
knowest my foolishness," '' and again " I am
as a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong
refuge."7 "I was as a beast before thee;
nevertheless I am continually with thee." * In
the gospel we read that even His kinsfolk de-
sired to bind Him as one of weak mind.9 His
opponents also reviled him saying " thou art
a Samaritan and hast a devil," I0 and another
time " he casteth out devils through Beelze-
bub the chief of the devils." " But let us,
she continued, listen to the exhortation of the
apostle, " Our rejoicing is this, the testimony
of our conscience that in simplicity and sin-
cerity ... by the grace of God we have
had our conversation in the world." ia And
let us hear the Lord when He says to His
apostles, " If ye were of the world the world
would love his own ; but because ye are not
of the world . . . therefore the world
hateth you. " " And then she turned to the
Lord Himself, saying, " Thou knowest the
secrets of the heart," 14 and " all this is come
upon us ; yet have we not forgotten thee,
neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant ;
our heart is not turned back." 15 " Yea for
thy sake are we killed all the day long ; we
are counted as sheep for the slaughter." I6 But
" the Lord is on my side : I will not fear what
man doeth unto me." 17 She had read the
words of Solomon, " My son, honour the Lord
and thou shalt be made strong ; and beside
the Lord fear thou no man."18 These pas-
sages and others like them she used as God's
armour against the assaults of wickedness, and
particularly to defend herself against the furi-
ous onslaughts of envy ; and thus by patiently
enduring wrongs she soothed the violence of
the most savage breasts. Down to the very
1 Matt. x. 37.
* 1 Cor. iv. 10.
7 Ps. lxxi. 7.
'o Joh. viii. 48.
13 Joh. xv. 19.
18 Ps. xliv. 22.
- Ps. lxxix. ii, LXX.
6 1 Cor. i. 25.
8 Ps. lxxiii. 22, 23.
11 Luke xi. 15.
'» Cf. Ps. xliv. 21.
>7 Ps. cxviii. 6. P.B.V
3 1 Cor. iv. 9.
' Ps. lxix. 5.
9 Mark iii. 21.
13 2 Cor. i. 12.
16 Ps. xliv. 17, iS
18 Prov. vii. 2, LXX.
2o6
JEROME.
day of her death two things were conspicuous
in her life, one her great patience and the
other the jealousy which was manifested
towards her. Now jealousy gnaws the heart
of him who harbours it : and while it strives
to injure its rival raves with all the force of
its fury against itself.
20. I shall now describe the order of her
monastery and the method by which she
turned the continence of saintly souls to her
own profit. She sowed carnal things that she
might reap spiritual things ; ' she gave earthly
things that she might receive heavenly things ;
she forewent things temporal that she might
in their stead obtain things eternal. Besides
establishing a monastery for men, the charge
of which she left to men, she divided into
three companies and monasteries the numer-
ous virgins whom she had gathered out of
different provinces, some of whom are of
noble birth while others belonged to the mid-
dle or lower classes. But, although they
worked and had their meals separately from
each other, these three companies met to-
gether for psalm-singing and prayer. After
the chanting of the Alleluia — the signal by
which they were summoned to the Collect2 —
no one was permitted to remain behind. But
either first or among the first Paulajised to
await the arrival of the rest, urging them to
diligence rather by her own modest example
than by motives of fear. At dawn, at the
third, sixth, and ninth hours, at evening, and
at midnight they recited the psalter each in
turn.3 No sister was allowed to be ignorant of
the psalms, and all had every day to learn
a certain portion of the holy scriptures. On
the Lord's day only they proceeded to the
church beside which they lived, each com-
pany following its own mother-superior. Re-
turning home in the same order, they then
devoted themselves to their allotted tasks, and
made garments either for themselves or else
for others. If a virgin was of noble birth, she
was not allowed to have an attendant belong-
ing to her own household lest her maid having
her mind full of the doings of old days and of
the license of childhood might by constant
converse open old wounds and renew former
errors. All the sisters were clothed alike.
Linen was not used except for drying the
hands. So strictly did Paula separate them
from men that she would not allow even
eunuchs to approach them ; lest she should
give occasion to slanderous tongues (always
ready to cavil at the religious) to console
themselves for their own misdoing. When a
1 Cf. 1 Cor. ix. ii.
2 The Gathering ; perhaps ueed, like the Greek crtVoSos, for
the Communion. The opening prayer came thus to be called
The Collect. See note on Letter LI. § 1.
3 For the canonical hours see note on Letter XXII. § 37.
sister was backward in coming to the recita-
tion of the psalms or shewed herself remiss
in her work, Paula used to approach her in
different ways. Was she quick-tempered ?
Paula coaxed her. Was she phlegmatic ?
Paula chid her, copying the example of the
apostle who said : " What will ye ? Shall I
come to you with a rod or in love and in the
spirit of meekness ? " ' Apart from food and
raiment she allowed no one to have anything
she could call her own, for Paul had said,
" Having food and raiment let us be therewith
content." 2 She was afraid lest the custom of
having more should breed covetousness in
them ; an appetite which no wealth can sat-
isfy, for the more it has the more it requires,
and neither opulence nor indigence is able
to diminish it.a When the sisters quarrelled
one with another she reconciled them with
soothing words. If the younger ones were
troubled with fleshly desires, she broke their
force by imposing redoubled fasts ; for she
wished her virgins to be ill in body rather
than to suffer in soul. If she chanced to
notice any sister too attentive to her dress, she
reproved her for her error with knitted brows
and severe looks, saying ; " a clean body and
a clean dress mean an unclean soul. A vir-
gin's lips should never utter an improper or
an impure word, for such indicate a lascivious
mind and by the outward man the faults of
the inward are made manifest." When she
saw a sister verbose and talkative or forward
and taking pleasure in quarrels, and when she
found after frequent admonitions that the
offender shewed no signs of improvement ;
she placed her among the lowest of the sisters
and outside their society, ordering her to pray
at the door of the refectory instead of with
the rest, and commanding her to take her
food by herself, in the hope that where rebuke
had failed shame might bring about a refor-
mation. The sin of theft she loathed as if it
were sacrilege; and that which among men
of the world is counted little or nothing she
declared to be in a monastery a crime of the
deepest dye. How shall I describe her kind-
ness and attention towards the sick or the won-
derful care and devotion with which she nursed
them ? Yet, although when others were sick
she freely gave them every indulgence, and
even allowed them to eat meat ; when she fell
ill herself, she made no concessions to her own
weakness, and seemed unfairly to change in
her own case to harshness the kindness which
she was always ready to shew to others.
21. No young girl of sound and vigorous
constitution could have delivered herself up
to a regimen so rigid as that imposed upon
1 1 Cor. iv. 21.
1 Tim. vi. 8.
» Cf. Sail. Cat. xi,
LETTER CVIII.
207
herself by Paula whose physical powers age
had impaired and enfeebled. I admit that
in this she was too determined, refusing to
spare herself or to listen to advice. I will
relate what I know to be a fact. In the ex-
treme heat of the month of July she was once
attacked by a violent fever and we despaired
of her life. However by God's mercy she
rallied, and the doctors urged upon her the
necessity of taking a little light wine to accel-
erate her recovery ; saying that if she continued
to drink water they feared that she might
become dropsical. I on my side secretly
appealed to the blessed pope Epiphanius to
admonish, nay even to compel her, to take the
wine. But she with her usual sagacity and
quickness at once perceived the stratagem,
and with a smile let him see that the advice
he was giving her was after all not his but
mine. Not to waste more words, the blessed
prelate after many exhortations left her cham-
ber ; and, when I asked him what he had
accomplished, replied, "Only this that old as
I am I have been almost persuaded to drink no
more wine." I relate this story not because I
approve of persons rashly taking upon them-
selves burthens beyond their strength (for
does not the scripture say : " Burden not thy-
self above thy power " ? ') but because I wish
from this quality of perseverance in her to
shew the passion of her mind and the yearn-
ing of her believing soul ; both of which made
her sing in David's words, " My soul thirst-
eth for thee, my flesh longeth after thee." '
Difficult as it is always to avoid extremes, the
philosophers 3 are quite right in their opinion
that virtue is a mean and vice an excess, or
as we may express it in one short sentence
" In nothing too much." 4 While thus un-
yielding in her contempt for food Paula was
easily moved to sorrow and felt crushed by
the deaths of her kinsfolk, especially those of
her children. When one after another her
husband and her daughters fell asleep, on
each occasion the shock of their loss en-
dangered her life. And although she signed
her mouth and her breast with the sign of the
cross, and endeavoured thus to alleviate a
mother's grief ; her feelings overpowered her
and her maternal instincts were too much for
her confiding mind. Thus while her intellect
retained its mastery she was overcome by
sheer physical weakness. On one occasion a
sickness seized her and clung to her so long
that it brought anxiety to us and danger to
herself. Yet even then she was full of joy
and repeated every moment the apostle's
words : " O wretched man that I am ! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death ? " 5
1 Ecclus. xiii. 2. - Ps. lxiii. 1. 3 e.g. Aristotle, E.N. ii. 6.
4 Ne quid nimis. in Greek y^Siv dyav. 5 Rom. vii. 24.
The careful reader may say that rrt|r jpvpnls are
an invective rather than an eulogy. $»Call
that Jesus whom she served and whom I de-
sire to serve to be my witness that so far from
unduly eulogizing her or depreciating her I
tell the truth about her as one Christian
writing of another ; that I am writing a
memoir and not a panegyric, and that what
were faults in her might well be virtues in
others less saintly. I speak thus of her faults
to satisfy my own feelings and the passionate
regret of us her brothers and sisters, who all
of us love her still and all of us deplore her
loss.
22. However, she has finished her course,
she has kept the faith, and now she enjoys
the crown of righteousness.1 She follows the
Lamb whithersoever he goes." She is filled
now because once she was hungry.3 With joy
does she sing : " as we have heard, so have we
seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the
city of our God." ' O blessed change ! Once
she wept but now laughs for evermore. Once
she despised the broken cisterns of which the
prophet speaks ; 5 but now she has found in
the Lord a fountain of life.6 Once she wore
haircloth but now she is clothed in white
raiment, and can say : " thou hast put off my
sackcloth, and girded me with gladness." 7
Once she ate ashes like bread and mingled her
drink with weeping ; b saying "my tears have
been my meat day and night ; " ° but now for
all time she eats the bread of angels ,0 and
sings : " O taste and see that the Lord is
good ; " " and "my heart is overflowing with
a goodly matter ; I speak the things which I
have made touching the king." '" She now
sees fulfilled Isaiah's words, or rather those of
the Lord speaking through Isaiah : " Behold,
my servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry :
behold, my servants shall drink but ye shall be
thirsty : behold, my servants shall rejoice, but
ye shall be ashamed : behold, my servants
shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for
sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation
of spirit." 13 I have said that she always
shunned the broken cisterns : she did so that
she might find in the Lord a fountain of life,
and that she might rejoice and sing : " as the
hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth
my soul after Thee, O God. When shall I
come and appear before God ? " "
23. I must briefly mention the manner in
which she avoided the foul cisterns of the
heretics whom she regarded as no better than
heathen. A certain cunning knave, in his own
estimation both learned and clever, began with-
1 2 Tim. iv. 7. 8.
4 Ps. xlviii. 8.
7 Ps. XXX. II.
10 Cf. Ps. lxxviii. 23.
" Ps. xlv. 1, R.V.
2 Rev. xiv. 4. 3 Cf. Luke vi. 21.
6 Jer. ii. 13. ° Joh. iv. 14.
* Ps. cii. 9. • Ps. xlii. 3.
11 Ps. xxxiv. 8.
1S Isa. lxv. 13, 14. 14 Ps. xlii. 1, at
2o8
J K ROME.
out my knowledge to put to her such questions
as these : What sin has an infant committed
that it should be seized by the devil ? Shall
\vc be young or old when we rise again ? If
we die young and rise young, we shall after
the resurrection require to have nurses. If
however we die young and rise old, the dead
will not rise again at all : they will be trans-
formed into new beings. Will there be a dis-
tinction of sexes in the next world ? Or will
there be no such distinction ? If the distinc-
tion continues, there will be wedlock and
sexual intercourse and procreation of children.
If however it does not continue, the bodies
that rise again will not be the same. For, he
argued, " the earthy tabernacle weigheth down
the mind that museth upon many things," '
but the bodies that we shall have in heaven
will be subtle and spiritual according to the
words of the apostle : " it is sown a natural
body: it is raised a spiritual body.""' From
all of which considerations he sought to prove
that rational creatures have been for their
faults and previous sins subjected to bodily
conditions ; and that according to the nature
and guilt of their transgression they are born
in this or that state of life. Some, he said, re-
joice in sound bodies and wealthy and noble
parents ; others have for their portion diseased
frames and poverty stricken homes ; and by im-
prisonment in the present world and in bodies
pay the penalty of their former sins. Paula
listened and reported what she heard to me,
at the same time pointing out the man. Thus
upon me was laid the task of opposing this
most noxious viper and deadly pest. It is of
such that the Psalmist speaks when he writes :
"deliver not the soul of thy turtle dove unto |
the wild beast," 3 and " Rebuke the wild beast
of the reeds ; " 4 creatures who write iniquity
and speak lies against the Lord and lift up
their mouths against the Most High. As the
fellow had tried to deceive Paula, I at her re-
quest went to him, and by asking him a few
questions involved him in a dilemma. Do you
believe, said I, that there will be a resurrection
of the dead or do you disbelieve? He replied,
I believe. I went on : Will the bodies that
rise again be the same or different ? He said,
The same. Then I asked : What of their sex ?
Will that remain unaltered or will it be
changed ? At this question he became silent
and swayed his head this way and that as a
serpent does to avoid being struck. Accord-
ingly I continued, As you have nothing to say
I will answer for you and will draw the con-
elusion from your premises. If the woman
shall not rise again as a woman nor the man as
a man, there will be no resurrection of the
1 Wisd. ix. 15.
8 Ps. lxxiv. 19, R.V.
2 1 Cor. xv. 44.
« Ps. lxviii. 30, R.V.
dead. For the body is made up of sex and
members. But if there shall be no sex and no
members what will become of the resurrection
of the body, which cannot exist without sex
and members ? And if there shall be no resur-
rection of the body, there can be no resurrec-
tion of the dead. But as to your objection
taken from marriage, that, if the members
shall remain the same, marriage must inevi-
tably be allowed ; it is disposed of by the
Saviour's words : "ye do err not knowing the
scriptures nor the power of God. For in the
resurrection they neither marry nor are given
in marriage but are as the angels." ■ When it
is said that they neither marry nor are given
in marriage, the distinction of sex is shewn to
persist. For no one says of things which
have no capacity for marriage such as a stick
or a stone that they neither marry nor are
given in marriage ; but this may well be said
of those who while they can marry yet abstain
from doing so by their own virtue and by the
grace of Christ. But if you cavil at this and
say, how shall we in that case be like the
angels with whom there is neither male nor
female, hear my answer in brief as follows.
What the Lord promises to us is not the nature
of angels but their mode of life and their bliss.
And therefore John the Baptist is called an
angel2 even before he is beheaded, and all
God's holy men and virgins manifest in them-
selves even in this world the life of angels.
When it is said " ye shall be like the angels,"
likeness only is promised and not a change of
nature.
24. And now do you in your turn answer
me these questions. How do you explain the
fact that Thomas felt the hands of the risen
Lord and beheld His side pierced by the
spear ? 3 And the fact that Peter saw the Lord
standing on the shore l and eating a piece of a
roasted fish and a honeycomb.5 If He stood,
He must certainly have had feet. If He
pointed to His wounded side He must have
also had chest and belly for to these the sides
are attached and without them they cannot be.
If He spoke, He must have used a tongue and
palate and teeth. For as the bow strikes the
strings, so to produce vocal sound does the
tongue come in contact with the teeth. If His
hands were felt, it follows that He must have
had arms as well. Since therefore it is ad-
mitted that He had all the members which go
to make up the body, He must have also had
the whole body formed of them, and that not
a woman's but a man's ; that is to say, He
rose again in the sex in which He died. And
if you cavil farther and say : We shall eat
1 Matt. xxii. 29, 30.
2 Luke vii. 27. ' Angel ' is a Greek word and means ' messen-
ger.'
3 Jon. xx. 26-28. 4 Jon. xxi. 4. 6 Luke xxiv. 42, 43.
LETTER CVIII.
209
then, I suppose, after the resurrection ; or
How can a solid and material body enter in
contrary to its nature through closed doors ?
you shall receive from me this reply. Do not
for this matter of food find fault with belief in
the resurrection : for our Lord after raising
the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue
commanded food to be given her.' And La-
zarus who had been dead four days is described
as sitting at meat with Him,* the object in
both cases being to shew that the resurrection
was real and not merely apparent. And if
from our Lord's entering in through closed
doors 3 you strive to prove that His body was
spiritual and aerial, He must have had this
spiritual body even before He suffered ; since
— contrary to the nature of heavy bodies — He
was able to walk upon the sea.1 The apostle
Peter also must be believed to have had a spir-
itual body for he also walked upon the waters
with buoyant step.5 The true explanation is
that when anything is done against nature, it
is a manifestation of God's might and power.
And to shew plainly that in these great signs
our attention is asked not to a change in nat-
ure but to the almighty power of God, he who
by faith had walked on water began to sink
for the want of it and would have done so,
had not the Lord lifted him up with the re-
proving words, " O thou of little faith where-
fore didst thou doubt ? " ° I wonder that you
can display such effrontery when the Lord
Himself said, " reach hither thy finger, and
behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand
and thrust it into my side : and be not faith-
less but believing," 7 and in another place,
"behold my hands and my feet that it is I
myself : handle me and see ; for a spirit hath
not flesh and bones as ye see me have. And
when he had thus spoken he shewed them his
hands and his feet." 8 You hear Him speak
of bones and flesh, of feet and hands ; and yet
you want to palm off on me the bubbles and
airy nothings of which the stoics rave ! °
25. Moreover, if you ask how it is that a
mere infant which has never sinned is seized
by the devil, or at what age we shall rise again
seeing that we die at different ages ; my only
answer — an unwelcome one, I fancy — will be
in the words of scripture : " The judgments of
God are a great deep," 10 and " O the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out ! For who hath
known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath
been his counsellor ? " " No difference of age
can affect the reality of the body. Although
1 Mark v. 43. - Joh. xii. 2. 3 Joh. xx. 19.
4 Matt. xiv. 25. * Matt. xiv. 29. ° Matt. xiv. 31.
7 Joh. xx. 27. 8 Luke xxiv. 39, 40.
* Globos stoicorum atque aeria quadam deliramenta.
10 Ps. xxxvi. 6. n Rom, xi. 33, 34.
our frames are in a perpetual flux and lose or
gain daily, these changes do not make us dif-
ferent individuals. I was not one person at
ten years old, another at thirty and another at
fifty ; nor am I another now when all my head
is gray.1 According to the traditions of the
church and the teaching of the apostle Paul,
the answer must be this ; that we shall rise as
perfect men in the measure of the stature of
the fulness of Christ.2 At this age the Jews
suppose Adam to have been created and at
this age we read that the Lord and Saviour
rose again. Many other arguments did I ad-
duce from both testaments to stifle the outcry
of this heretic.
26. From that day forward so profoundly
did Paula commence to loathe the man — and
all who agreed with him in his doctrines — that
she publicly proclaimed them as enemies of
the Lord. I have related this incident less
with the design of confuting in a few words a
heresy which would require volumes to con-
fute it, than with the object of shewing the
great faith of this saintly woman who preferred
to subject herself to perpetual hostility from
men rather than by friendships hurtful to her-
self to provoke or to offend God.
27. To revert then to that description of
her character which I began a little time ago ;
no mind was ever more docile than was hers.
She was slow to speak and swift to hear,3
remembering the precept, u Keep silence and
hearken, O Israel."4 The holy scriptures she
knew by heart, and said of the history con-
tained in them that it was the foundation of
the truth ; but, though she loved even this,
she still preferred to seek for the underlying
spiritual meaning and made this the keystone
of the spiritual building raised within her
soul. She asked leave that she and her
daughter might read over the old and new
testaments B under my guidance. Out of
modesty I at first refused compliance, but as
she persisted in her demand and frequently
urged me to consent to it, I at last did so and
taught her what I had learned not from myself
— for self-confidence is the worst of teachers —
but from the church's most famous writers.
Wherever I stuck fast and honestly confessed
myself at fault she would by no means rest
content but would force me by fresh questions
to point out to her which of many different
solutions seemed to me the most probable. I
will mention here another fact which to those
who are envious may well seem incredible.
While I myself beginning as a young man have
with much toil and effort partially acquired
the Hebrew tongue and study it now unceas-
1 Jerome was at this time about Co years old.
' Eph. iv. 13. s Jas. i. 19. 4 Deut. xxvii. 9. R.V.
5 Vetus et novum instrumentum.
210
JEROME.
ingly lest if I leave it, it also may leave me ;
Paula, on making up her mind that she too
would learn it, succeeded so well that she
could chant the psalms in Hebrew and could
speak the language without a trace of the pro-
nunciation peculiar to Latin. The same ac-
complishment can be eeen to this day in her
daughter Eustochium, who always kept close
to her mother's side, obeyed all her com-
mands, never slept apart from her, never
walked abroad or took a meal without her,
never had a penny that she could call her
own, rejoiced when her mother gave to the
poor her little patrimony, and fully believed
that in filial affection she had the best heri-
tage and the truest riches. I must not pass
over in silence the joy which Paula felt when
she heard her little granddaughter and name-
sake, the child of Laeta and Toxotius — who
was born and I may even say conceived in
answer to a vow of her parents dedicating her
to virginity — when, I say, she heard the little
one in her cradle sing " alleluia " and falter
out the words " grandmother " and "aunt."
One wish alone made her long to see her
native land again ; that she might know her
son and his wife and child ' to have renounced
the world and to be serving Christ. And it
has been granted to her in part. For while
her granddaughter is destined to take. the
veil, her daughter-in-law has vowed herself to
perpetual chastity, and by faith and alms
emulates the example that her mother has set
her. She strives to exhibit at Rome the
virtues which Paula set forth in all their ful-
ness at Jerusalem.
28. What ails thee, my soul? Why dost
thou shudder to approach her death ? I have
made my letter longer than it should be
already ; dreading to come to the end and
vainly supposing that by saying nothing of it
and by occupying myself with her praises I
could postpone the evil day. Hitherto the
wind has been all in my favour and my keel
has smoothly ploughed through the heaving
waves. But now my speech is running upon
the rocks, the billows are mountains high, and
imminent shipwreck awaits both you and me.
We must needs cry out : " Master, save us,
we perish :" " and "awake, why sleepest thou,
O Lord?"" For who could tell the tale of
Paula's dying with dry eyes ? She fell into a
most serious illness and thus gained what she
most desired, power to leave us and to be
joined more fully to the Lord. Eustochium's
affection for her mother, always true and
tried, in this time of sickness approved itself
still more to all. She sat by Paula's bedside,
she fanned her, she supported her head, she
1 Toxotius, Laeta, the younger Paula. Comp. Letter CVII.
3 Matt. viii. 25 : Luke viii. 24. a Ps. xliv. 23.
arranged her pillows, she chafed her feet, she
rubbed her stomach, she smoothed down the
bedclothes, she heated hot water, she brought
towels. In fact she anticipated the servants
in all their duties, and when one of them did
anything she regarded it as so much taken
away from her own gain. How unceasingly
she prayed, how copiously she wept, how con-
stantly she ran to and fro between her pros-
trate mother and the cave of the Lord !
imploring God that she might not be deprived
of a companion so dear, that if Paula was to
die she might herself no longer live, and that
one bier might carry to burial her and her
mother. Alas for the frailty and perishable-
ness of human nature ! Except that our be-
lief in Christ raises us up to heaven and
promises eternity to our souls, the physical
conditions of life are the same for us as for the
brutes. " There is one event to the righteous
and to the wicked ; to the good and to the
evil ; to the clean and to the unclean ; to him
that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth
not : as is the good so is the sinner ; and he
that sweareth as he that feareth an oath."1
Man and beast alike are dissolved into dust
and ashes.
29. Why do I still linger, and prolong my
suffering by postponing it ? Paula's intelli-
gence shewed her that her death was near.
Her body and limbs grew cold and only in her
holy breast did the warm beat of the living
soul continue. Yet, as though she were leav-
ing strangers to go home to her own people,
she whispered the verses of the psalmist :
" Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy
house and the place where thine honour
dwelleth," a and " How amiable are thy tab-
ernacles, O Lord of hosts ! My soul longeth
yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord," 8
and " I had rather be an outcast in the house
of my God than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness."' When I asked her why she
remained silent refusing to answer my call?c
and whether she was in pain, she replied in
Greek that she had no suffering and that all
things were to her eyes calm and tranquil.
After this she said no more but closed her
eyes as though she already despised all mor-
tal things, and kept repeating the verses just
quoted down to the moment in which she
breathed out her soul, but in a tone so low
that we could scarcely hear what she said.
Raising her finger also to her mouth she made
the sign of the cross upon her lips. Then her
breath failed her and she gasped for death ;
yet even when her soul was eager to break
free, she turned the death-rattle (which comes
1 Eccles. ix. 2. - Ps. xxvi. 8.
3 Ps. lxxxiv. 1, 2. * Ps. lxxxiv. 10, Vulg.
0 For the technical meaning of inclamatio vide Virg. A. 1.
219, with Conington's note.
LETTER CVIII.
211
at last to all) into the praise of the Lord.
The bishop of Jerusalem and some from other
cities were present, also a great number of the
inferior clergy, both priests and levites. ' The
entire monastery was filled with bodies of vir-
gins and monks. As soon as Paula heard the
bridegroom saying : " Rise up my love my
fair one, my dove, and come away : for, lo,
the winter is past, the rain is over and gone,"
she answered joyfully " the flowers appear on
the earth ; the time to cut them has come" 2
and " I believe that I shall see the good things
of the Lord in the land of the living." 3
30. No weeping or lamentation followed
her death, such as are the custom of the
world ; but all present united in chanting the
psalms in their several tongues. The bishops
lifted up the dead woman with their own
hands, placed her upon a bier, and carrying
her on their shoulders to the church in the
cave of the Saviour, laid her down in the
centre of it. Other bishops meantime carried
torches and tapers in the procession, and yet
others led the singing of the choirs. The
whole population of the cities of Palestine
came to her funeral. Not a single monk
lurked in the desert or lingered in his cell.
Not a single virgin remained shut up in the
seclusion of her chamber. To each and all it
would have seemed sacrilege to have withheld
the last tokens of respect from a woman so
saintly. As in the case of Dorcas,4 the widows
and the poor shewed the garments Paula had
given them ; while the destitute cried aloud
that they had lost in her a mother and a
nurse. Strange to say, the paleness of death
had not altered her expression ; only a certain
solemnity and seriousness had overspread her
features. You would have thought her not
dead but asleep.
One after another they chanted the psalms,
now in Greek, now in Latin, now in Syriac ;
and this not merely for the three days which
elapsed before she was buried beneath the
church and close to the cave of the Lord, but
throughout the remainder of the week. All
who were assembled felt that it was their own
funeral at which they were assisting, and shed
tears as if they themselves had died. Paula's
daughter, the revered virgin Eustochium, " as
a child that is weaned of his mother," B could
not be torn away from her parent. She
kissed her eyes, pressed her lips upon her
brow, embraced her frame, and wished for
nothing better than to be buried with her.
31. Jesus is witness that Paula has left not a
single penny to her daughter but^as I said
before, on the contrary a large mass of debt ;
1 i.e. presbyters and deacons— see § 14 above.
» Cant. ii. 10-12, Vulg. 3 Ps. xxvii. 13.
* Acts ix. 39. * Ps, cxxxi. 2.
and, worse even than this, a crowd of brothers
and sisters whom it is hard for her to support
but whom it would be undutiful to cast off.
Could there be a more splendid instance of
self-renunciation than that of this noble lady
who in the fervour of her faith gave away so
much of her wealth that she reduced herself
to the last degree of poverty ? Others may
boast, if they will, of money spent in charity,
of large sums heaped up in God's treasury,1
of votive offerings hung up with cords of
gold. None of them has given more to the
poor than Paula, for Paula has kept nothing
for herself. But now she enjoys the true
riches and those good things which eye hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have they
entered into the heart of man. ! If we
mourn, it is for ourselves and not for her ;
yet even so, if we persist in weeping for one
who reigns with Christ, we shall seem to envy
her her glory.
32. Be not fearful, Eustochium : you are
endowed with a splendid heritage. The Lord
is your portion ; and, to increase your joy,
your mother has now after a long martyrdom
won her crown. It is not only the shedding
of blood that is accounted a confession : the
spotless service of a devout mind is itself a
daily martyrdom. Both alike are crowned ;
with roses and violets in the one case, with
lilies in the other. Thus in the Song of Songs
it is written : " my beloved is white and rud-
dy ; " 3 for, whether the victory be won in
peace or in war, God gives the same guerdon
to those who win it. Like Abraham your
mother heard the words : " get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, unto a
land that I will shew thee ; " 4 and not only
that but the Lord's command given through
Jeremiah : " flee out of the midst of Babylon,
and deliver every man his soul." ; To the
day of her death she never returned to Chal-
daea, or regretted the fleshpots of Egypt or its
strong-smelling meats. Accompanied by her
virgin bands she became a fellow-citizen of
the Saviour ; and now that she has ascended
from her little Bethlehem to the heavenly realms
she can say to the true Naomi : " thy people
shall be my people and thy God my God." °
33. I have spent the labour of two nights
in dictating for you this treatise ; and in doing
so I have felt a grief as deep as your own. I
say in ' dictating ' for I have not been able to
write it myself. As often as I have taken up
my pen7 and have tried to fulfil my promise ;
my fingers have stiffened, my hand has fallen,
and my power over it has vanished. The
rudeness of the diction, devoid as it is of all
1 Corbona. See Matt, xxvii. 6, Vulg.
'-' 1 Cor. ii. 9. 3 Cant. v. 10. * Gen. xii.
6 Jer. Ii, 6. ' Ruth i, 16. 7 Stilus.
212
JEROME.
elegance or charm, bears witness to the feeling
of the writer.
34. And now, Paula, farewell, and aid with
your prayers the old age of your votary.
Your faith and your works unite you to
Christ ; thus standing in His presence you
will the more readily gain what you ask. In
this letter " I have built " to your memory " a
monument more lasting than bronze," ' which
no lapse of time will be able to destroy. And
I have cut an inscription on your tomb, which
I here subjoin ; that, wherever my narrative
may go, the reader may learn that you are
buried at Bethlehem and not uncommemorated
there.
The Inscription on Paula's Tomb.
Within this tomb a child of Scipio lies,
A daughter of the farfamed Pauline house,
A scion of the Gracchi, of the stock
Of Agamemnon's self, illustrious :
Here rests the lady Paula, well-beloved
Of both her parents, with Eustochium
For daughter ; she the first of Roman dames
Who hardship chose and Bethlehem for Christ.
In front of the cavern there is another in-
scription as follows : —
Seest thou here hollowed in the rock a grave,
'Tis Paula's tomb ; high heaven has her soul.
Who Rome and friends, riches and home forsook
Here in this lonely spot to find her rest.
For here Christ's manger was, and here the kings
To Him, both God and man, their off'rings made.
35. The holy and blessed Paula fell asleep
on the seventh day before the Kalends of Feb-
ruary, on the third day of the week, after the
sun had set. She was buried on the fifth day
before the same Kalends, in the sixth consul-
ship of the Emperor Honorius and the first of
Aristametus. She lived in the vows of religion
five years at Rome and twenty years at Beth-
lehem. The whole duration of her life was
fifty-six years eight months and twenty-one
days.
LETTER CIX.
TO RIPARIUS.
Riparius, a presbyter of Aquitaine had written to in-
form Jerome that Vigilantius (for whom see Letter LXI.)
was preaching in southern Gaul against the worship of
relics and the keeping of night vigils ; and this appar-
ently with the consent of his bishop. Jerome now re-
plies in a letter more noteworthy for its bitterness than
for its logic. Nevertheless he offers to write a full con-
futation of Vigilantius if Riparius will send him the
book containing his heresies. This Riparius subse-
quently did and then Jerome wrote his treatise Against
Vigilantius, the most extreme and least convincing of
all his works.
The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
1 Horace, C, III. xxx. 1.
r. Now that I have received a letter from
you, if I do not answer it I shall be guilty of
pride, and if I do I shall be guilty of rash-
ness. For the matters concerning which you
ask my opinion are such that they cannot
either be spoken of or listened to without pro-
fanity. You tell me that Vigilantius (whose
very name Wakeful is a contradiction : he
ought rather to be described as Sleepy) has
again opened his fetid lips and is pouring
forth a torrent of filthy venom upon the relics
of the holy martyrs ; and that he calls us who
cherish them ashmongers and idolaters who
pay homage to dead men's bones. Unhappy
wretch ! to be wept over by all Christian men,
who sees not that in speaking thus he makes
himself one with the Samaritans and the Jews
who hold dead bodies unclean and regard as
defiled even vessels which have been in the
same house with them, following the letter that
killeth and not the spirit that giveth life.1 We,
it is true, refuse to worship or adore, I say not
the relics of the martyrs, but even the sun and
moon, the angels and archangels, the Cherubim
and Seraphim and " every name that is named,
not only in this world but also in that which is
to come."2 For we may not "serve the crea-
ture rather than the Creator, who is blessed
for ever.3 Still we honour the relics of the
martyrs, that we may adore Him whose mar-
tyrs they are. We honour the servants that
their honour may be reflected upon their Lord
who Himself says : — " he that receiveth you
receiveth me."4 I ask Vigilantius, Are the
relics of Peter and of Paul unclean ? Was the
body of Moses unclean, of which we are told
(according to the correct Hebrew text) that it
was buried by the Lord Himself ? 6 And do
we, every time that we enter the basilicas of
apostles and prophets and martyrs, pay hom-
age to the shrines of idols ? Are the tapers
which burn before their tombs only the tokens
of idolatry ? I will go farther still and ask a
question which will make this theory recoil
upon the head of its inventor and which will
either kill or cure that frenzied brain of his, so
that simple souls shall be no more subverted
by his sacrilegious reasonings. Let him answer
me this, Was the Lord's body unclean when it
was placed in the sepulchre ? And did the
angels clothed in white raiment merely watch
over a corpse dead and defiled, that ages after-
wards this sleepy fellow might indulge in
dreams and vomit forth his filthy surfeit, so as,
like the persecutor Julian, either to destroy the
basilicas of the saints or to convert them into
heathen temples ?
2. I am surprised that the reverend bishop 6.
1 2 Cor. iii. 6.
4 Matt. x. 40.
6 Probably Exuperius of Toulouse
2 Eph. i. 21. 3 Rom. i. 25.
6 Deut. xxxiv. 6.
Letters cviii., cix.
213
in whose diocese he is said to be a presbyter
acquiesces in this his mad preaching, and that
he does not rather with apostolic rod, nay with
a rod of iron, shatter this useless vessel 1 and
deliver him for the destruction of the flesh that
the spirit maybe saved.2 He should remember
the words that are said : " When thou sawest
a thief, then thou consentedst unto him ; and
hast been partaker with adulterers ; " 3 and in
another place, " I will early destroy all the
wicked of the land ; that I may cut off all
wicked doers from the city of the Lord ; " 4
and again " Do not I hate them, O Lord, that
hate thee ? and am not I grieved with those
that rise up against thee ? I hate them with
perfect hatred." 5 If the relics of the martyrs
are not worthy of honour, how comes it that
we read " Precious in the sight of the Lord is
the death of his saints ? " 6 If dead men's
bones defile those that touch them, how came
it that the dead Elisha raised another man also
dead, and that life came to this latter from the
body of the prophet which according to Vigil-
antius must have been unclean ? In that case
every encampment of the host of Israel and
the people of God was unclean ; for they car-
ried the bodies of Joseph and of the patriarchs
with them in the wilderness, and carried their
unclean ashes even into the holy land. In that
case Joseph, who was a type of our Lord and
Saviour, was a wicked man ; for he carried up
Jacob's bones with great pomp to Hebron
merely to put his unclean father beside his
unclean grandfather and great grandfather,
that is, one dead body along with others. The
wretch's tongue should be cut out, or he should
be put under treatment for insanity. As he
does not know how to speak, he should learn
to be silent. I have myself before now seen
the monster, and have done my best to bind
the maniac with texts of scripture, as Hippoc-
rates binds his patients with chains ; but " he
went away, he departed, he escaped, he broke
out," 7 and taking refuge between the Adriatic
and the Alps of King Cotius 8 declaimed in
his turn against me. For all that a fool says
must be regarded as mere noise and mouth-
ing.
3. You may perhaps in your secret thoughts
find fault with me for thus assailing a man
behind his back. I will frankly admit that my
indignation overpowers me ; I cannot listen
with patience to such sacrilegious opinions.
I have read of the javelin of Phinehas,0 of the
harshness of Elijah,10 of the jealous anger of
Simon the zealot,11 of the severity of Peter
I Ps. ii. 9. 2 1 Cor. v. 5. 3 Ps. 1. 18.
4 Ps. ci. 8. 5 Ps. exxxix. 21,22.
6 Ps. cxvi. 15. 7 Cic. Cat. ii. 1, of Catiline.
8 A contemporary and ally of Augustus.
9 Nu. xxv. 7, 8. 10 1 K. xviii. 40.
II Luke vi. 15 : so called probably because he came from the
most fanatical party among the Pharisees.
VOL. VI. p
in putting to death Ananias and Sapphira,1 and
of the firmness of Paul who, when Elymas
the sorcerer withstood the ways of the Lord,
doomed him to lifelong blindness.2 There is
no cruelty in regard for God's honour. Where-
fore also in the Law it is said : " If thy
brother or thy friend or the wife of thy bosom
entice thee from the truth, thine hand shall be
upon them and thou shalt shed their blood/
and so shalt thou put the evil away from the
midst of Israel."4 Once more I ask, Are the
relics of the martyrs unclean ? If so, why did
the apostles allow themselves to walk in that
funeral procession before the body — the un-
clean body — of Stephen? Why did they make
great lamentation over him,5 that their grief
might be turned into our joy ?
You tell me farther that Vigilantius exe-
crates vigils. In this surely he goes contrary
to his name. The Wakeful one wishes to
sleep and will not hearken to the Saviour's
words, "What, could ye not watch with me
one hour ? Watch and pray that ye enter not
into temptation : the spirit indeed is willing
but the flesh is weak." n And in another place
a prophet sings : " At midnight I will rise to
give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous
judgments."7 We read also in the gospel how
the Lord spent whole nights in prayer 8 and how
the apostles when they were shut up in prison
kept vigil all night long, singing their psalms
until the earth quaked, and the keeper of the
prison believed, and the magistrates and citi-
zens were filled with terror. 9 Paul says :
"continue in prayer and ivatch in the same," 10
and in another place he speaks of himself as
" in watchings often." u Vigilantius may sleep
if he pleases and may choke in his sleep,
destroyed by the destroyer of Egypt and of
the Egyptians. But let us say with David :
" Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither
slumber nor sleep." 12 So will the Holy One
and the Watcher come to us. 13 And if ever
by reason of our sins He fall asleep, let us say
to Him : " Awake, why sleepest thou, O
Lord ; " 14 and when our ship is tossed by the
waves let us rouse Him and say, " Master,
save us : we perish." 15
4. I would dictate more were it not that the
limits of a letter impose upon me a modest
silence. I might have gone on, had you sent
me the books which contain this man's rhap-
sodies, for in that case I should have known
what points I had to refute. As it is I am
only beating the air 16 and revealing not so
1 Acts v. 1-10.
* Deut. xiii. 5,
7 Ps. cxix. 62.
10 Col. iv. 2.
13 Dan. iv. 13.
viz. *ry.
14 Ps. xliv. 23.
15 Matt. viii. 25 : Luke viii. 24
2 Acts xiii. 8-11. 3 Deut. xiii. 6-9.
5 Acts viii. 2. 6 Matt. xxvi. 40, 41.
8 Luke vi. 12. 9 Acts xvi. 25-38.
» 2 Cor. xi. 27. 12 Ps. exxi. 4.
Jerome gives the Hebrew word for watcher,
i° Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 26.
214
JEROME.
much his infidelity — for this is patent to all —
as my own faith. But if you wish me to write
against him at greater length, send me those
wretched dronings of his and in my answer he
shall hear an echo of John the Baptist's words :
" Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the
trees ; therefore every tree which bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into
the fire." l
LETTER CX.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
Augustine's answer to Letter CII. He now tries to
soothe Jerome's wounded feelings, begs him to overlook
the offence that he has committed, and implores him
not to break off the friendly relations hitherto main-
tained between them. He touches on the quarrel be-
tween Jerome and Rufinus and sincerely hopes that no
such breach may ever separate Jerome from himself.
The tone of the letter is throughout conciliatory and is
marked in places with deep feeling. More than once
Augustine dwells on Jerome's words ("would that I
could embrace you and that by mutual converse we
might learn one from the other," Letter CII. § 2) and
speaks of the comfort which they have brought to him.
The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
LETTER CXI.
FROM AUGUSTINE TO PRiESIDIUS.
Augustine asks Prsesidius to forward the preceding
letter to Jerome and also to write himself to urge him
to forgive Augustine.
LETTER CXII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
On receiving Letter CIV. together with duly authen-
ticated copies of Letters LVI. and LXVII. Jerome in
three days completes an exhaustive reply to all the ques-
tions which Augustine had raised. He explains what is
the true title of his book On Illustrious Men, deals at
great length with the dispute between Paul and Peter,
expounds his views with regard to the Septuagint, and
shews by the story of " the gourd " how close and accu-
rate his translations are. His language throughout is
kind but rather patronising : indeed in this whole
correspondence Jerome seldom sufficiently recognizes
the greatness of Augustine. The date of the letter is
404 A.D.
LETTER CXIII.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO JEROME.
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, had compiled an
invective against John Chrysostom, bishop of Constan-
tinople who was now (largely through his efforts) an
exile from his see. This he now sends to Jerome with
a request that the latter will render it into Latin for
dissemination in the West. The invective (of which
only a few fragments remain) is of the most violent
kind. Nevertheless Jerome translated it along with
this letter, the date of which is 405 A.D. The latter
part of the letter has perished.
To the well-beloved and most loving-
1 Matt. iii. 10.
brother Jerome, Theophilus sends greeting in
the Lord.
1. At the outset the verdict which is in
accordance with the truth satisfies but few.
But the Lord speaking by the prophet says :
"my judgment goeth forth as the light:"1
and they who are surrounded with a horror of
darkness and do not with clear comprehension
perceive the nature of things, are covered
with eternal shame and know by the issues of
their acts that their efforts have been in vain.
Wherefore we also have always desired for
John who has for a time ruled the church of
Constantinople grace that he might please
God, and we have been slow to attribute to
him the rash acts which have caused his
downfall. But, not to speak of his other mis-
deeds, he has taken the Origenists into his
confidence, has advanced many of them to the
priesthood, and by committing this crime has
saddened with no slight grief that man of
God, Epiphanius of blessed memory, who has
shone throughout all the world a bright star
among bishops. And therefore he has rightly
come to hear the words of doom : " Babylon
is fallen, is fallen." 2
2. Knowing then that the Saviour has said :
"judge not according to the appearance but
judge righteous judgment." 3 . . .
LETTER CXIV.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Jerome writes to Theophilus to apologize for his
delay in sending Latin versions of the latter's letter
(CXIII.) and invective against John Chrysostom. Pos-
sibly, however, the allusion may be not to these but to
some other work of Theophilus (e.g. a paschal letter.)
This delay he attributes to the disturbed state of Pales-
tine, the severity of the winter, the prevalent famine, and
his own ill-health. He now sends the translations that
he has made and, while he deprecates criticism on his
own work, praises that of Theophilus, quoting with
particular approval the directions given by this latter
for the reverent care of the vessels used in celebrating
the holy communion. The date of the letter is 405
A.D.
To the most blessed pope Theophilus,
Jerome.
1. My delay in sending back to your
holiness your treatise translated into Latin is
accounted for by the many interruptions and
obstacles that I have met with. There has
been a sudden raid of the Isaurians ; Phoenicia
and Galilee have been laid waste ; Palestine
has been panic-stricken, and particularly Jeru-
salem ; we have all been engaged in making
not books but walls. There has also been a
severe winter and an almost unbearable fam-
ine ; and these have told heavily upon me who
have the charge of many brothers. Amid
1 Hos. vi. 5, LXX.
Isa. xxi. 9.
s Joh. vii. 24.
LETTERS CIX.-CXVII.
215
these difficulties the work of translation went
on by night, as I could save or snatch time to
give to it. At last I got it done and by Lent
nothing remained but to collate the fair copy
with the original. However, just then a
severe illness seized me and I was brought to
the threshold of death, from which I have
only been saved by God's mercy and your
prayers ; perhaps for this very purpose that I
might fulfil your behest and render with its
writer's elegance the charming volume which
you have adorned with the scripture's fairest
flowers. But bodily weakness and sorrow of
heart have, I need hardly say, dulled the edge
of my intellect and obstructed the free flow of
my language.
2. I admire in your work its practical aim,
designed as it is to instruct by the authority of
scripture ignorant persons in all the churches
concerning the reverence with which they must
handle holy things and minister at Christ's
altar ; and to impress upon them that the
sacred chalices, veils,1 and other accessories
used in the celebration of the Lord's passion
are not mere lifeless and senseless objects de-
void of holiness, but that rather, from their
association with the body and blood of the
Lord, they are to be venerated with the same
awe as the body and the blood themselves.
3. Take back then your book, nay mine or
better still ours ; for when you flatter me you
will but flatter yourself. It is for you that my
brain has toiled ; it is for 'you that I have
striven with the poor resources of the Latin
tongue to find an equivalent for the eloquence
of the Greek. I have not indeed given a
word-for-word rendering, as skilled translators
do, nor have I counted out the money you
have given to me coin by coin ; but I have
given you full weight. Some words may be
missing but none of the sense is lost. More-
over I have translated into Latin and prefixed
to this volume the letter that you sent to me,
so that all who read it may know that I have
acted under the commands of your holiness,
and have not rashly and over-confidently
undertaken a task that is beyond my powers.
Whether I have succeeded in it I must leave
to your judgment. Even though you may
blame my weakness, you will at least give me
credit for my good intention.
LETTER CXV.
TO AUGUSTINE.
A short but most friendly letter in which Jerome ex-
cuses himself for the freedom with which he has dealt
with Augustine's questions (the allusion is to Letter
CXII.) and hopes that henceforth they may be able to
1 So the embroidered cloths used in Catholic Churches to
cover the sacramental elements are still called.
avoid controversy and to labour like brothers in the
field of scripture.
Written probably in 405 A.D.
LETTER CXVI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
A long letter in which Augustine for the third time
(see Letters LVL, LXVII.) restates his opinion about
Jerome's theory of the dispute between Peter and Paul
at Antioch. In doing so, however, he disclaims all
desire to hurt Jerome's feelings, apologizes for the tone
of his previous letters, and again explains that it is not
his fault that they have failed so long to reach Jerome.
Written shortly after the preceding.
LETTER CXVII.
TO A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER LIVING
IN GAUL.
A monk of Gaul had during a visit to Bethlehem asked.
Jerome for advice under the following circumstances.
His mother was a church-widow and his sister a religious
virgin but the two could not agree. They were accord-
ingly living apart but neither by herself. For each had
taken into her house a monk ostensibly to act as steward
but really to be a paramour. At the request of his
visitor Jerome now writes to both mother and daughter
urging them to dismiss their companions ; or at any rate
to live together : and pointing out the grave scandal that
must otherwise be caused.
From the treatise against Vigilantius (§ 3) we learn
that ill-natured critics maintained that the persons and
circumstances described in the letter were alike fictitious
and that Jerome in writing it was but exercising his in-
genuity on a congenial theme.
The date is A. D. 405.
Introduction.
1. A certain brother from Gaul has told me
that his virgin-sister and widowed mother,
though living in the same city, have separate
abodes and have taken to themselves clerical
protectors either as guests or stewards ; and
that by thus associating with strangers they
have caused more scandal than by living apart.
When I groaned and expressed what I felt
more by silence than words ; " I beseech you,"
said he, "rebuke them in a letter and recall
them to mutual harmony ; make them once
more mother and daughter." To whom I re-
plied, " a nice task this that you lay upon me,
for me a stranger to reconcile two women
whom you, a son and brother, have failed to
influence. You speak as though I occupied
the chair of a bishop instead of being shut up
in a monastic cell where, far removed from
the world's turmoil, I lament the sins of the
past and try to avoid the temptations of the
present. Moreover, it is surely inconsistent,
while one buries oneself out of sight, to allow
one's tongue free course through the world."
" You are too fearful," he replied ; " where is
P 2
2l6
JEROME.
that old hardihood of yours which made you
'scour the world with copious salt,' as Horace
says of Lucilius ? " ' " It is this," I rejoined,
" that makes me shy and forbids me to open
my lips. For through accusing crime I have
been myself made out a criminal. Men have
disputed and denied my assertions until, as the
proverb goes, I hardly know whether I have
ears or feeling left. The very walls have re-
sounded with curses levelled at me, and ' I
was the song of drunkards.'2 Under the
compulsion of an unhappy experience I have
learned to be silent, thinking it better to set a
watch before my mouth and to keep the door
of my lips than to incline my heart to any evil
thing,3 or, while censuring the faults of others,
myself to fall into that of detraction." In
answer to this he said : " Speaking the truth
is not detraction. 'Nor will you lecture the
world by administering a particular rebuke ;
for there are few persons, if any, open to this
special charge. I beg of you, therefore, as I
have put myself to the trouble of this long
journey, that you will not suffer me to have
come for nothing. The Lord knows that, after
the sight of the holy places, my principal ob-
ject in coming has been to heal by a letter
from you the division between my sister and
my mother." " Well," I replied, " I will do as
you wish, for after all the letters will be to
persons beyond the sea and words written
with reference to definite persons can seldom
offend other people. But I must ask you to
keep what I say secret. You will take my
advice with you to encourage you by the way ;
if it is listened to, I will rejoice as much as
you ; while if, as I rather think, it is rejected,
I shall have wasted my words and you will have
made a long journey for nothing."
The Letter.
2. In the first place my sister and my daugh-
ter, I wish you to know that I am not writing
to you because I suspect anything evil of you.
On the contrary I implore you to live in har-
mony, so as to give no ground for any such
suspicions. Moreover had I supposed you
fast bound in sin — far be this from you — I
should never have written, for I should have
known that my words would be addressed to
deaf ears. Again, if I write to you somewhat
sharply, I beg of you to ascribe this not to
any harshness on my part but to the nature of
the ailment which I attempt to treat. Cautery
and the knife are the only remedies when
mortification has once set in ; poison is the
only antidote known for poison ; great pain
can only be relieved by inflicting greater pain.
1 Hot. Sat. I. x. 3, 4. 2 Ps. lxix. 12. '■> Ps. cxli. 3, 4.
Lastly I must say this that even if your own
consciences acquit you of misdoing, yet the
very rumour of such brings disgrace upon you.
Mother and daughter are names of affection ;
they imply natural ties and reciprocal duties ;
they form the closest of human relations after
that which binds the soul to God. If you
love each other, your conduct calls for no
praise : but if you hate each other, you have
committed a crime. The Lord Jesus was sub-
ject to His parents.1 He reverenced that
mother of whom He was Himself the parent ;
He respected the foster-father whom He had
Himself fostered ; for He remembered that
He had been carried in the womb of the one
and in the arms of the other. Wherefore also
when He hung upon the cross He commended
to His disciple ~ the mother whom He had never
before His passion parted from Himself.
3. Well, I shall say no more to the mother,
for perhaps age, weakness, and loneliness
make sufficient excuses for her ; but to you
the daughter I say: "Is a mother's house
too small for you whose womb was not too
small ? When you have lived with her for ten
months in the one, can you not bear to live
with her for one day in the other ? or are you
unable to meet her gaze ? Can it be that one
who has borne you and reared you, who has
brought you up and knows you, is dreaded by
you as a witness of your home-life ? If you
are a true virgin, why do you fear her careful
guardianship ; and, if you have fallen, why do
you not openly marry ? Wedlock is like a
plank offered to a shipwrecked man and by its
means you may remedy what previously you
have done amiss. I do not mean that you are
not to repent of your sin or that you are to
continue in evil courses ; but, when a tie of
the kind has been formed, I despair of break-
ing it altogether. However, a return to your
mother will make it easier for you to bewail
the virginity which you have lost through
leaving her. Or if you are still unspotted and
have not lost your chastity, be careful of it for
you may lose it. Why must you live in a
house where you must daily struggle for life
and death ? Can any one sleep soundly with a
viper near him ? No ; for, though it may not
attack him it is sure to frighten him. It is
better to be where there is no danger, than to
be in danger and to escape. In the one case
we have a calm ; in the other careful steering
is necessary. In the one case we are filled
with joy ; in the other we do but avoid
sorrow.
4. But you will perhaps reply : "my mother
is not well-behaved, she desires the things of
the world, she loves riches, she disregards
1 Luke ii. 51.
2 Joh. xix. 26, 27.
LETTER CXVII.
217
fasting, she stains her eyes with antimony, she
likes to walk abroad in gay attire, she hinders
me from the monastic vow, and so I cannot live
with her." But first of all, even though she is
as you say, you will have the greater reward
for refusing to forsake her with all her faults.
She has carried you in her womb, she has
reared you ; with gentle affection she has
borne with the troublesome ways of your
childhood. She has washed your linen, she
has tended you when sick, and the sickness
of maternity was not only borne for you but
caused by you. She has brought you up
to womanhood, she has taught you to love
Christ. You ought not to be displeased with
the behaviour of a mother who has conse-
crated you as a virgin to the service of your
spouse. Still if you cannot put up with her
dainty ways and feel obliged to shun them,
and if your mother really is, as people so
often say, a woman of the world, you have
others, virgins like yourself, the holy company
of chastity. Why, when you forsake your
mother, do you choose for companion a man
who perhaps has left behind him a sister and
mother of his own ? You tell me that she is
hard to get on with and that he is easy ; that
she is quarrelsome and that he is amiable. I
will ask you one question : Did you go straight
from your home to the man, or did 3'ou fall in
with him afterwards ? If you went straight to
him, the reason why you left your mother is
plain. If you fell in with him afterwards, you
shew by your choice what you missed under
your mother's roof.1 The pain that I inflict is
severe and I feel the knife as much as you.
" He that walketh uprightly walketh surely."2
Only that my conscience would smite me, I
should keep silence and be slow to blame
others where I am not guiltless myself. Having
a beam in my own eye I should be reluctant to
see the mote in my neighbour's. But as it is I
live far away among Christian brothers ; my
life with them is honourable as eyewitnesses of
it can testify ; I rarely see, or am seen by,
others. It is most shameless, therefore, in you
to refuse to copy me in respect of self-restraint,
when you profess to take me as your model.
If you say: "my conscience is enough for me
too. God is my judge who is witness of my
I care not what men may say ; " let me
upon you the apostle's words : " pro-
things honest " not only in the sight of
but also "in the sight of all men."3 If
carps at you for being a Christian
life,
urge
vide
God
any one
and a virgin, mind it not ; you have left your
mother it may be said to live in a monastery
among virgins, but censure on this score is
your glory. When men blame a maid of God
l Viz. men's society. 2 Prov. x. 9. 3 Rom. xii, 17.
not for self-indulgence but only for insensi-
bility to affection, what they condemn as cal-
lous disregard of a parent is really a lively
devotion towards God. For you prefer to your
mother Him whom you are bidden to prefer
to your own soul.1 And if the day ever comes
that she also shall so prefer Him, she will find
in you not a daughter only but a sister as well.
5. " What then ? " you will say, " is it a crime
to have a man of religion in the house with me ? "
You seize me by the collar and drag me into
court either to sanction what I disapprove or
else to incur the dislike of many. A man of
religion never separates a daughter from her
mother. He welcomes both and respects both.
A daughter may be as religious as she pleases ;
still a mother who is a widow is a guaranty for
her chastity. If this person whoever he is
is of the same age with yourself, he should
honour your mother as though she were his
own ; and, if he is older, he should love you
as a daughter and subject you to a mother's
discipline. It is not good either for your
reputation or for his that he should like you
more than your mother ; for his affection
might appear to be less for you than for your
youth. This is what I should say if a monk
were not your brother and if you had no
relatives able to protect you. But what ex-
cuse has a stranger for thrusting himself in
where there are both a mother and a brother,
the one a widow and the other a monk ? It is
good for you to feel that you are a daughter
and a sister. However, if you cannot manage
both, and if your mother is too hard a morsel
to swallow, your brother at any rate should
satisfy you. Or, if he is too harsh, she that
bore you may prove more gentle. Why do
you turn pale ? Why do you get excited ?
Why do you blush, and with trembling lips
betray the restlessness of your mind ? One
thing only can surpass a woman's love for her
mother and brother ; and that is her passion
for her husband.
6. I am told, moreover, that you frequent
suburban villas and their pleasant gardens in
the company of relatives and intimate friends.
I have no doubt that it is some female cousin
or connexion who for her own satisfaction
carries you about with her as a novel kind of
attendant. Far be it from me to suspect that
you would desire men's society ; even though
they should be those of your own family. But
pray, maiden, answer me this ; do you appear
alone in your kinsfolk's society? or do you
bring your favourite with you ? Shameless as
you may be, you will hardly venture to flaunt
him in the eyes of the world. If you ever do so,
your whole circle will cry out about both you
1 Luke xiv, 26,
218
JEROME.
and him ; every one's finger will be pointed at
you ; and your cousins who in your presence to
please you call him a monk and a man of re-
ligion, will laugh at you behind your back for
having such an unnatural husband. If on the
other hand you go out alone — which I rather
suppose to be the case — you will find yourself
clothed in sober garb among slave youths,
women married or soon to be so, wanton girls,
and dandies with long hair and tight-fitting
vests.1 Some bearded fop will offer you his
hand, he will hold you up if you feel tired,
and the pressure of his fingers will either be a
temptation to you, or will shew that you are a
temptation to him. Again when you sit down
to table with married men and women, you
will have to see kisses in which you have no
part, and dishes partaken of which are not for
you. Moreover it cannot but do you harm to
see other women attired in silk dresses and
gold brocades. At table also whether you
like it or not, you will be forced to eat flesh
and that of different kinds. To make you
drink wine they will praise it as a creature of
God. To induce you to take baths they will
speak of dirt with disgust ; and, when on
second thoughts you do as you are bid, they
will with one voice salute you as spotless and
open, a thorough lady. Meantime some singer
will give to the company a selection of softly
flowing airs ; and as he will not venture to
look at other men's wives, he will constantly
fix his eyes on you who have no protector.
He will speak by nods and convey by his tone
what he is afraid to put into words. Amid in-
ducements to sensuality so marked as these,
even iron wills are apt to be overcome with
desire ; an appetite which is the more im-
perious in virgins because they suppose that
sweetest of which they have no experience.
Heathen legends tell us that sailors actually
ran their ships on the rocks that they might
listen to the songs of the Sirens ; and that
the lyre of Orpheus had power to draw to
itself trees and animals and to soften flints.
In the banquet-hall chastity is hard to keep.
A shining skin shews a sin-stained soul.
7. As a schoolboy I have read of one — and
have seen his effigy true to the life in the
streets — who continued to cherish an unlawful
passion even when his flesh scarcely clung to
his bones, and whose malady remained uncured
until death cured it. What then will become of
you a young girl physically sound, dainty, stout,
and ruddy, if you allow yourself free range
among flesh-dishes, wines, and baths, not to
mention married men and bachelors ? Even
if when solicited you refuse to consent, you
will take the fact of your being asked as evi-
« Lineatos juvenes. The linea appears to have been a close-
fitting jerkin.
dence that you are considered handsome. A
sensual mind pursues dishonourable objects
with greater zest than honourable ones ; and
when a thing is forbidden hankers after it
with greater pleasure. Your very dress, cheap
and sombre as it is, is an index of your secret
feelings. For it has no creases and trails
along the ground to make you appear taller
than you are. Your vest is purposely ripped
asunder to shew what is beneath and while
hiding what is repulsive, to reveal what is fair.
As you walk, the very creaking of your black
and shiny shoes attracts the notice of the
young men. You wear stays to keep your
breasts in place, and a heaving girdle closely
confines your chest. Your hair covers either
your forehead or your ears. Sometimes too
you let your shawl drop so as to lay bare your
white shoulders ; and, as if unwilling that they
should be seen, you quickly conceal what you
have purposely disclosed. And when in pub-
lic you for modesty's sake cover your face, like
a practised harlot you only shew what is likely
to please.
8. You will exclaim " How do you know
what I am like, or how, when you are so far
away, can you see what I am doing ? " Your
own brother's tears and sobs have told me,
his frequent and scarcely endurable bursts of
grief. Would that he had lied or that his
words had been words of apprehension only
and not of accusation. But, believe me, liars
do not shed tears. He is indignant that you
prefer to himself a young man, not it is true
clothed in silk or wearing his hair long but
muscular and dainty in the midst of his
squalor ; and that this fellow holds the purse-
strings, looks after the weaving, allots the
servants their tasks, rules the household, and
buys from the market all that is needed. He
is at once steward and master, and, as he anti-
cipates the slaves in their duties,1 he is carped
at by all the domestics. Everything that their
mistress has not given them they declare that
he has stolen from them. Servants as a class
are full of complaints ; and no matter what
you give them, it is always too little. For
they do not consider how much you have but
only how much you give ; and they make up
for their chagrin in the only way they can,
that is, by grumbling. One calls him a para-
site, another an impostor, another a money-
seeker, another by some novel appellation that
hits his fancy. They noise it abroad that he
is constantly at your bed-side, that when you
are sick he runs to fetch nurses, that he holds
basins, airs sheets, and folds bandages for you.
The world is only too ready to believe scandal,
and stories invented at home soon get afloat
1 To ingratiate himself with their mistress. Cf . 108,
LETTER CXVII.
2ig
abroad. Nor need you be surprised if your
servantmen and servantmaids get up such
tales about you, when even your mother and
your brother complain of your conduct.
9. Do, therefore, what I advise you and en-
treat you to do : if possible, be reconciled with
your mother ; or, if this may not be, at least
come to terms with your brother. Or if you
are filled with an implacable hatred of relation-
ships usually so clear, separate at all events from
the man, whom you are said to prefer to your
own flesh and blood, and, if even this is im-
possible for you, (for, if you could leave him,
you would certainly return to your own) pay
more regard to appearances in harbouring him
as your companion. Live in a separate build-
ing and take your meals apart ; for if you
remain under one roof with him slanderers
will say that you share with him your bed.
You may thus easily get help from him when
you feel you need it, and yet to a considerable
degree escape public discredit. Yet you must
take care not to contract the stain of which
Jeremiah tells us that no nitre or fuller's soap
can wash it out.1 When you wish him to
come to see you, always have witnesses pres-
ent ; either friends, or freedmen, or slaves. A
good conscience is afraid of no man's eyes.
Let him come in unembarrassed and go out at
his ease. Let his silent looks, his unspoken
words and his whole carriage, though at times
they may imply embarrassment, yet indicate
peace of mind. Pray, open your ears and listen
to the outcry of the whole city. You have
already both of you lost your own names and
are known each by that of the other. You are
spoken of as his, and he is said to be yours.
Your mother and your brother have heard this
and are ready to take you in between them.
They implore you to consent to this arrange-
ment, so that the scandal of your intimacy
with this man which is confined to yourself
may give place to a glory common to all. You
can live with your mother and he with your
brother. You can more boldly shew your re-
gard for one who is your brother's comrade ;
and your mother will more properly esteem one
who is the friend of her son and not of her
daughter. But if you frown and refuse to
accept my advice, this letter will openly ex-
postulate with you. ' Why,' it will say, ' do you
beset another man's servant ? Why do you
make Christ's minister your slave ? Look at
the people and scan each face as it comes
under your view. When he reads in the church
all eyes are fixed upon you ; and you, using
the licence of a wife, glory in your shame.
Secret infamy no longer contents you ; you
call boldness freedom ; " you have a whore's
forehead and refuse to be ashamed. " a
1 Jer. ii. 23.
a From Jer. iii. 3,
10. Once more you exclaim that I am over-
suspicious, a thinker of evil, too ready to
follow rumours. What? I suspicious? I ill-
natured ? I, who as I said in the beginning
have taken up my pen because I have no
suspicions ? Or is it you that are careless,
loose, disdainful ? You who at the age of
twenty-five have netted in your embrace a
youth whose beard has scarcely grown ? An
excellent instructor he must be, able no doubt
by his severe looks both to warn and frighten
you ! No age is safe from lust, yet gray hairs
are some security for decent conduct. A day
will surely come (for time glides by impercep-
tibly) when your handsome young favourite
will find a wealthier or more youthful mistress.
For women soon age and particularly if they live
with men. You will be sorry for your decision
and regret your obstinacy in a day when your
means and reputation shall be alike gone, and
when this unhappy intimacy shall be happily
broken off. But perhaps you feel sure of
your ground and see no reason to fear a
breach where affection has had so long a time
to develop and grow.
11. To you also, her mother, I must say a
word. Your years put you beyond the reach
of scandal ; do not take advantage of this to
indulge in sin. It is more fitting that your
daughter should learn from you how to part
from a companion than that you should learn
from her how to give up a paramour. You
have a son, a daughter, and a son-in-law, or
at least one who is your daughter's partner.1
Why then should you seek other society than
theirs, or wish to kindle anew expiring flames ?
It would be more becoming in you to screen
your daughter's fault than to make it an
excuse for your own misdoing. Your son is
a monk, and, if he were to live with you, he
would strengthen you in your religious pro-
fession and in your vow of widowhood. Why
should you take in a complete stranger, espe-
cially in a house not large enough to hold a son
and a daughter ? You are old enough to have
grand-children. Invite the pair home then.
Your daughter went away by herself ; let her
return with this man. I say ' man ' and not
' husband ' that none may cavil. The word
describes his sex and not his relation to her.
Or if she blushes to accept your offer or finds
the house in which she was born too narrow
for her, then move both of you to her abode.
However limited may be its accommodation,
it can take in a mother and a brother better
than a stranger. In fact, if she lives in the
same house and occupies the same room with
a man, she cannot long preserve her chastity.
It is different when two women and two men
live together. If the third person concerned
1 Contubernalis.
220
JEROME.
— he, I mean, who fosters your old age — will
not make one of the party and causes only
dissension and confusion, the pair of you '
can do without him. But if the three of you
remain together, then your brother and son 2
will offer him a sister and a mother. Others
may speak of the two strangers as step-father
and son-in-law ; but your son must speak of
them as his foster-father and his brother.
Note.
12. Working quickly I have completed this
letter in a single night anxious alike to gratify
a friend and to try my hand on a rhetorical
theme. Then early in the morning he has
knocked at my door on the point of starting.
I wish also to shew my detractors that like
them I too can say the first thing that comes
into my head. I have, therefore, introduced
few quotations from the scriptures and have
not, as in most of my books, interwoven its
flowers in my discourse. The letter has been,
in fact, dictated off-hand and poured forth by
lamp-light so fast that my tongue has out-
stripped my secretaries' pens and that my
volubility has baffled the expedients of short-
hand. I have said this much that those who
make no allowances for want of ability may
make some for want of time.
LETTER CXVIII.
TO JULIAN.
Jerome writes to Julian, a wealthy nobleman ap-
parently of Dalmatia (§ 5), to console him for the loss
of his wife and two daughters all of whom had recently
died. He reminds Julian of the trials of Job and
recommends him to imitate the patience of the patri-
arch. He also urges him to follow the example set
by Pammachius and Paulinus, that is, to give up his
riches and to become a monk for the sake of Christ.
The date of the letter is 406 A.D.
1. At the very instant of his departure
Ausonius, a son to me as he is a brother to
you, gave me a late glimpse of himself but
quickly hurried away again, saying good-,
morning and good-bye together. Yet he
thought that he would return empty-handed
unless he could bring you some trifle from me
however hastily written. Clothed in scarlet
as befitted his rank, he had already strapped
on his sword-belt 3 and sent down a requisition
to have a stage-horse saddled. Still he made
me send for my secretary and dictate a letter
to him. This I did with such rapidity that
his nimble hand could hardly keep pace with
my words or manage to put down my hurried
1 Viz. the mother and daughter.
2 Viz. the monk who was sou of the widow and brother of
the virgin.
»Cf. Letter LX. §9.
sentences. Thus hasty dictation has taken
the place of careful writing ; and, if I break
my long silence, it is but to offer you an
expression of good will. This is an im-
promptu letter without logical order or charm
of style. You must look on me for once as a
friend only ; you will find, I assure you, noth-
ing of the orator here. Bear in mind that
it has been dashed off on the spur of the
moment and given as a provision for the way
to one in a hurry to depart.
Holy scripture says : " a tale out of season
is as musick in mourning."1 Accordingly I
have disdained the graces of rhetoric and
those charms of eloquence which boys find so
captivating, and have fallen back on the seri-
ous tone of the sacred writings. For in these
are to be found true medicines for wounds
and sure remedies for sorrow. In these a
mother receives back her only son even on the
bier.2 In these a crowd of mourners hears the
words : " the maid is not dead but sleepeth.""
In these one that is four days dead comes
forth bound at the call of the Lord."4
2. I hear that in a short space of time you
have suffered several bereavements, that you
have buried in quick succession two young
unmarried daughters, and that Faustina, most
chaste and loyal of wives, your sister in the
fervour of her faith and your one comfort in
the loss of your children, has suddenly fallen
asleep and been taken from you. You have
been like a shipwrecked man who has no
sooner reached the shore than he falls into
the hands of brigands, or in the eloquent
language of the prophet like one " who did
flee from a lion, and a bear met him ; or went
into the house, and leaned his hand on the
wall, and a serpent bit him." 5 Pecuniary-
losses have followed your bereavements ; the
entire province has been overrun by a bar-
barian enemy, and in the general devastation
your private property has been destroyed,
your flocks and herds have been driven off,
and your poor slaves either made prisoners or
else slain. To crown all, your only daughter,
made all the more dear to you by the loss
of the others, has for her husband a young
nobleman who, to say nothing worse of him,
has given you more occasion for sorrow than
for rejoicing. Such is the list of the trials
that have been laid upon you ; such is the
conflict waged by the old enemy against
Julian a raw recruit to Christ's standard. If
you look only to yourself your troubles are
indeed great but if you look to the strong
Warrior,0 they are but child's play and the
conflict is only the semblance of one. After
1 Ecclus. xxii. 6.
3 Matt. ix. 24.
5 Amos v. 19,
a Luke vii. 11-15.
« Joh. xi. 3g, 43, 44.
6 Cf. Rev. xix. n-16,
LETTERS CXVIL, CXVIII.
221
untold trials a wicked wife was still left to the
blessed Job, the devil hoping that he might
learn from her to blaspheme God. You on
the other hand have been deprived of an ex-
cellent one that you might learn to go without
consolation in the hour of misfortune. Yet it
is far harder to put up with a wife whom you
dislike than it is to mourn for one whom you
dearly love. Moreover when Job's children
died they found a common tomb beneath the
ruins of his house, and all he could do to shew
his parental affection was to rend his garments
to fall upon the ground and to worship, say-
ing : " Naked came I out of my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return thither : the
Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away : it
has been as. the Lord pleased : blessed be the
name of the Lord."1 But you, to put the
matter briefly, have been allowed to perform
the obsequies of your dear ones ; and those
obsequies have been attended by many
respectful kinsmen and comforting friends.
Again Job lost all his wealth at once ; and, as,
one after another, the messengers of woe
unfolded new calamities, he flinched as little
as the sage of whom Horace writes : 2 —
Shatter the world to atoms if you will.
Fearless will be the man on whom it falls.
But with you the case is different. The
greater part of your substance has been left
to you, and your trials have not been greater
than you can bear. For you have not yet
attained to such perfection that the devil has
to marshal all his forces against you.
3. Long ago this wealthy proprietor and
still wealthier father was made by a sudden
stroke destitute and bereaved. But as, in
spite of all that befel him, he had not sinned
before God or spoken foolishly, the Lord —
exulting in the victory of his servant and re-
garding Job's patience as His own triumph —
said to the devil : " Hast thou considered my
servant Job, that there is none like him in
the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one
that feareth God and escheweth evil ? and still
he holdeth fast his integrity ? " 3 He finely
adds the last clause because it is difficult for
innocence to refrain from murmuring when
it is overborne by misfortune ; and to avoid
making a shipwreck of faith when*it sees that
its sufferings are unjustly inflicted. The
devil answered the Lord and said : " Skin for
skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for
his life. But put forth thine hand now, and
touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse
thee to thy face." 4 See how crafty the ad-
versary is, and how hardened in sin his evil
days have made him ! He knows the differ-
« Job i. 20, 2i, LXX.
s Job ii. 3.
• Horace, C. III. iii. 7,
4 Job ii. 4, 5.
ence between things external and internal.
He knows that even the philosophers of the
world call the former adidcpopa, that is
indifferent, and that the perfection of virtue
does not consist in losing or disdaining them.
It is the latter, those that are internal and
objects of preference,1 the loss of which in-
evitably causes chagrin. Wherefore he boldly
contradicts what God has said and declares
that Job deserves no praise at all ; since he
has yielded up no part of himself but only
what is outside himself, since he has given for
his own skin the skins of his children, and
since he has but laid down his purse to secure
the health of his body. From this your sa-
gacity may perceive that your trials have so
far only reached the point at which you give
hide for hide, skin for skin, and are ready to
give all that you have for your life. The Lord
has not yet stretched forth His hand upon you,
or touched your flesh, or broken your bones.
Yet it is when such afflictions as these are
laid upon you that it is hard not to groan and
not to ' bless ' God to His face, that is to curse
Him. The word ' bless ' is used in the same
way in the books of Kings where it is said of
Naboth that he ' blessed ' God and the king
and was therefore stoned by the people.2 But
the Lord knew His champion and felt sure
that this great hero would even in this last and
severest conflict prove unconquerable. There-
fore He said : " Behold he is in thine hand ;
but save his life." 3 The holy man's flesh is
placed at the devil's disposal, but his vital
powers are withheld. For if the devil had
smitten that on which sensation and mental
judgment depend, the guilt arising from a
misuse of these faculties I would have lain at
the door not of him who committed the sin
but of him who had overthrown the balance of
his mind.
4. Others may praise you if they will, and
celebrate your victories over the devil. They
may eulogize you for the smiling face with
which you bore the loss of your daughters, or
for the resolution with which, forty days after
they fell asleep, you exchanged your mourn-
ing for a white robe to attend the dedication
of a martyr's bones ; unconcerned for a be-
reavement which was the concern of the whole
city, and anxious only to share in a martyr's
triumph. Nay, say they, when you bore your
wife to burial, it was not as one dead but as
one setting forth on a journey. But I shall
not deceive you with flattering words or take
the ground from under your feet with slippery
praises. Rather will I say what it is good for
you to hear : " My son, if thou come to serve
1 He alludes to the -npor^yixiva of the Stoics.
2 1 K. xxi. 10, Vulg. (which mistranslates the neutral verb of
the Hebrew).
s Job ii. 6.
222
JEROME.
the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation,*' '
and " when thou shalt have done all those
things which are commanded thee, say, I am
an unprofitable servant ; I have done that
which was my duty to do." s Say to God :
" the children that thou hast taken from me
were Thine own gift. The hand-maiden that
Thou hast taken to Thyself Thou also didst
lend to me for a season to be my solace. I am
not aggrieved that Thou hast taken her back,
but thankful rather that Thou hast previously
given her to me."
Once upon a time a rich young man boasted
that he had fulfilled all the requirements of
the law, but the Lord said to him (as we read
in the gospel): "One thing thou lackest: if
thou wilt be perfect, go thy way, sell whatso-
ever thou hast, and give to the poor ; and
come and follow me."3 He who declared
that he had done all things gave way at the
first onset to the power of riches. Wherefore
they who are rich find it hard to enter the
kingdom of heaven, a kingdom which desires
for its citizens souls that soar aloft free
from all ties and hindrances. " Go thy way,"
the Lord says, " and sell " not a part of thy
substance but " all that thou hast, and give to
the poor ; " not to thy friends or kinsfolk or
relatives, not to thy wife or to thy children.
I will even go farther and say : keep back
nothing for yourself because you fear to be
some day poor, lest by so doing you share the
condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira ; 4 but
give everything to the poor and make to your-
self friends of the mammon of unrighteousness
that they may receive you into everlasting
habitations.5 Obey the Master's injunction
" follow me,"6 and take the Lord of the world
for your possession ; that you may be able to
sing with the prophet, " The Lord is my por-
tion," 7 and like a true Levite r may possess no
earthly inheritance. I cannot but advise you
thus if you wish to be perfect, if you desire to
attain the pinnacle of the apostles' glory, if
you wish to take up your cross and to follow
Christ. When once you have put your hand
to the plough you must not look back ; 9 when
once you stand on the housetop you must think
no more of your clothes within ; to escape your
Egyptian mistress10 you must abandon the
cloak that belongs to this world. Even Elijah,
in his quick translation to heaven could not
take his mantle with him, but left in the world
the garments of the world.11 Such conduct,
you will object, is for him who would emulate
the apostles, for the man who aspires to be
perfect. But why should not you aspire to be
1 Ecclus. ii. i.
3 Mark x. 21.
6 Luke xvi. 9.
8 Nu. xviii. 20-24.
10 Gen. xxxix. 12.
3 Luke xvii. 10 (adapted).
4 Acts v. 1-10.
6 Matt. ix. 9. 7 Ps. xvi. 5.
• Luke ix. 62.
11 2 K. ii, 11, 13.
perfect ? Why should not you who hold a
foremost place in the world hold a foremost
place also in Christ's household ? Is it because
you have been married ? Peter was mar-
ried too, but when he forsook his ship and
his nets he forsook his wife also.1 The
Lord who wills that all men shall be saved
and prefers the repentance of a sinner to
his death2 has, in His almighty providence,
removed from you this excuse. Your wife
can no longer draw you earthwards, but you
can follow -her as she draws you heaven-
wards. Provide good things for your children
who have gone home before you to the
Lord. Do not let their portions go to swell
their sister's fortune, but use them to ransom
your own soul and to give sustenance to the
needy. These are the necklaces your daugh-
ters expect from you ; these are the jewels
they wish to see sparkle on their foreheads.
The money which they would have wasted in
buying silks may well be considered saved
when it provides cheap clothing for the poor.
They ask you for their portions. Nov/ that
they are united to their spouse they are loth
to appear poor and undistinguished : they
desire to have the ornaments that befit their
rank.
5. Nor may you excuse yourself on the
score of your noble station and the responsi-
bilities of wealth. Look at Pammachius and
at Paulinus that presbyter of glowing faith
both of whom have offered to the Lord not
only their riches but themselves. In spite
of the devil and his shuffling they have by
no means given skin for skin, but have con-
secrated their own flesh and bones, yea and
their very souls unto the Lord. Surely these
may lead you to higher things both by their
example and by their preaching, that is, by
their deeds and words. You are of noble birth,
so are they : but in Christ they are made nobler
still. You are rich and held in repute, so once
were they : but now instead of being rich and
held in repute they are poor and obscure, yet,
because it is for Christ's sake, they are really
richer and more famous than ever. You too,
it is true, shew yourself beneficent, you are
said to minister to the wants of the saints, to
entertain monks, and to present large sums of
money to churches. This however is only the
a b c of your soldiership. You despise money ;
the world's philosophers have done the same.
One of these 3 — to say nothing of the rest —
cast the price of many possessions into the sea,
saying as he did so " To the bottom with you,
ye provokers of evil lusts. I shall drown you
in the sea that you may never drown me in
sin." If then a philosopher — a creature of
1 But see 1 Cor. ix. 5.
8 Crates the Theban,
3 1 Tim. ii. 4 ; 2 Pet. iii. 9,
LETTER CXVIII.
223
vanity whom popular applause can buy and
sell — laid down all his burthen at once, how
can you think that you have reached vir-
tue's crowning height when you have yielded
up but a portion of yours ? It is you your-
self that the Lord wishes for, " a living
sacrifice . . . acceptable unto God." '
Yourself, I say, and not what you have.
And therefore, as he trained Israel by sub-
jecting it to many plagues and afflictions, so
does He now admonish you by sending you
trials of different kinds. " For whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth." 2 The poor widow did
but cast two mites into the treasury ; yet be-
cause she cast in all that she had it is said of
her that she surpassed all the rich in offering
gifts to God. 3 Such gifts are valued not by
their weight but by the good-will with which
they are made. You may have spent your sub-
stance upon numbers of people, and a portion
of your fellows may have reason to rejoice in
your bounty ; yet those who have received
nothing at your hands are still more numer-
ous. Neither the wealth of Darius nor the
riches of Croesus would suffice to satisfy the
wants of the world's poor. But if you once
give yourself to the Lord and resolve to follow
the Saviour in the perfection of apostolic vir-
tue, then you will come to see what your place
has hitherto been, and how you have lagged
in the rear of Christ's army. Hardly had you
begun to mourn for your dead daughters when
the fear of Christ dried the tears of paternal
affection upon your cheeks. It was a great
triumph of faith, true. But how much greater
was that won by Abraham who was content to
slay his only son, of whom he had been told
that he was to inherit the world, yet did not
cease to hope that after death Isaac would live
again. 4 Jephthah too offered up his virgin
daughter, and for this is placed by the apostle
in the roll of the saints.5 I would not there-
fore have you offer to the Lord only what a
thief may steal from you or an enemy fall
upon, or a proscription confiscate, what is lia-
ble to fluctuations in value now going up and
now down, what belongs to a succession of
masters who follow each other as fast as in the
sea wave follows wave, and — to say everything
in a word — what, whether you like it or not,
you must leave behind you when you die.
Rather offer to God that which no enemy can
carry off and no tyrant take from you, which
will go down with you into the grave, nay on to
the kingdom of heaven and the enchantments
of paradise. You already build monasteries
and support in the various islands of Dalmatia
a large number of holy men. But you would
1 Rom. xii. 1. * Heb. xii. 6. 3 Mark xii. 43, 44.
4 Cf. Heb. xi. 17-19. 6 Judg. xi. 34-40 ; Heb. xi. 32.
do better still if you were to live among these
holy men as a holy man yourself. " Be ye holy,
saith the Lord, for I am holy." ' The apostles
boasted that they had left all things and had
followed the Saviour."2 We do not read that
they left anything except their ship and their
nets ; yet they were crowned with the approval
of Him who was to be their judge. Why ?
Because in offering up themselves they had
indeed left all that they had.
6. I say all this not in disparagement of
your good works or because I wish to under-
rate your generosity in almsgiving, but because
I do not wish you to be a monk among men
of the world and a man of the world among
monks. I shall require every sacrifice of you
for I hear that your mind is devoted to the
service of God. If some friend, or follower,
or kinsman tries to combat this counsel of
mine and to recall you to the pleasures of a
handsome table, be sure that he is thinking
less of your soul than of his own belly, and
remember that death in a moment terminates
both elegant entertainments and all other
pleasures provided by wealth. Within the
short space of twenty days you have lost two
daughters, the one eight years old and the
other six ; and do you suppose that one so old
as you are yourself can live much longer ?
David tells you how long a time you can look
for : " the days of our years are threescore
years and ten ; and if by reason of strength
they be fourscore years, yet is their strength
labour and sorrow." 3 Happy is he and to be
held worthy of the highest bliss whom old age
shall find a servant of Christ and whom the
last day shall discover fighting for the Sav-
iour's cause. " He shall not be ashamed when
he speaketh with his enemies in the gate." *
On his entrance into paradise it shall be said
to him : " thou in thy lifetime receivedst evil
things but now here thou art comforted." 5 The
Lord will not avenge the same sin twice. Laz-
arus, formerly poor and full of ulcers, whose
sores the dogs licked and who barely managed
to live, poor wretch, on the crumbs that fell
from the rich man's table, is now welcomed
into Abraham's bosom and has the joy of find-
ing a father in the great patriarch. It is diffi-
cult nay impossible for a man to enjoy both
the good things of the present and those of the
future, to satisfy his belly here and his mind
yonder, to pass from the pleasures of this life
to the pleasures of that, to be first in both
worlds, and to be held in honour both on earth
and in heaven.
7. And if in your secret thoughts you are
troubled because I who give you this advice
am not myself what I desire you to be, and
1 Lev. xix. 2 ; 1 Pet. i. 16. a Lukexviii. 28. ' Ps. xc. 10.
* Ps. cxxvii. s (adapted from R.V.S) 6 Luke xvi. 25 (adapted).
224
JEROME.
because you have seen some after beginning
well fall midway on their journey ; I shall
briefly plead in reply that the words which I
speak are not mine but those of the Lord and
Saviour, and that I urge upon you not the
standard which is possible to myself but the
ideal which every true servant of Christ must
wish for and realize. Athletes as a rule are
stronger than their backers ; yet the weaker
presses the stronger to put forth all his efforts.
Look not upon Judas denying his Lord but
upon Paul confessing Him. Jacob's father
was a man of great wealth ; yet, when Jacob
went to Mesopotamia, he went alone and des-
titute leaning upon his staff. When he felt
weary he had to lie down by the wayside and,
delicately nurtured as he had been by his
mother Rebekah, was forced to content him-
self with a stone for a pillow. Yet it was
then : that he saw the ladder set up from earth
to heaven, and the angels ascending and de-
scending on it, and the Lord above it holding
out a helping hand to such as fall and encour-
aging the climbers to fresh efforts by the vision
of Himself. Therefore is the spot called Bethel
or the house of God ; for there day by day
there is ascending and descending. When
they are careless, even holy men lose their
footing ; and sinners, if they wash away their
stains with tears regain their place. I say this
not that those coming down may frighten you
but that those going up may stimulate you.
For evil can never supply a model and even in
worldly affairs incentives to virtue come always
from the brighter side.
But I have forgotten my purpose and the
limits set to my letter. I should have liked to
say a great deal more. Indeed all that I can
say is inadequate alike to satisfy the serious-
ness of the subject and the claims of your
rank. But here is our Ausonius beginning to
be impatient for the sheets, hurrying the sec-
retaries, and in his impatience at the neighing
of his horse, accusing my poor wits of slow-
ness. Remember me, then, and prosper in
Christ. And one thing more ; follow the ex-
ample set you at home by the holy Vera,2 who
like a true follower of Christ does not fear to
endure the hardships of pilgrimage. Find in
a woman your ' leader in this high emprise.' 3
LETTER CXIX.
TO MINERVIUS AND ALEXANDER.
Minervius and Alexander two monks of Toulouse had
written to Jerome asking, him to explain for them a
large number of passages in scripture. Jerome in his
« Gen. xxviii. 12, 13. Cp. Letters CVIII. § 13, and CXXIII.
§ 15;
2 Of this lady nothing is known.
3 Words of Virg. A. 1. 364, relating to Dido.
reply postpones most of these to a future time but deals
with two in detail viz. (1) "we shall not all sleep but
we shall all be changed," 1 Cor. xv. 51 ; and (2) " we
shall be caught up in the clouds," 1 Th. iv. 17. With
regard to (1) Jerome prefers the reading " we shall all
sleep but we shall not all be changed," and with regard
to (2) he looks upon the language as metaphorical and
interprets it to mean that believers will be ' assumed '
into the company of the apostles and prophets. The
date of the letter is 406 A.D.
LETTER CXX.
TO HEDIBIA.1
At the request of Hedibia, a lady of Gaul much inter-
ested in the study of scripture, Jerome deals with the
following twelve questions. It will be noticed that
several of them belong to the historical criticism of our
own day.
(1) How can anyone be perfect ? and How ought a
widow without children to live to God ?
(2) What is the meaning of Matt. xxvi. 29 ?
(3) How are the discrepancies in the evangelical nar-
ratives to be accounted for ? How can Matt, xxviii. 1
be reconciled with Mark xvi. I, 2 ?
(4) How can Matt, xxviii. 9 (Saturday evening) be
reconciled with John xx. 1-18 (Sunday morning) ?
(5) How can Matt, xxviii. 9 be reconciled with John
xx. 17?
(6) How was it that, if there was a guard of soldiers
at the sepulchre, Peter and John were allowed to go in
freely ? (Matt, xxvii. 66 : John xx. 1-8.)
(7) How is the statement of Matthew and Mark that
the apostles were ordered to go into Galilee to see Jesus
there to be reconciled with that of Luke and John who
make Him appear to them in Jerusalem ?
(8) What is the meaning of Matt, xxvii. 50, 51 ?
(9) How is the statement of John xx. 22 that Jesus
breathed on his apostles the Holy Ghost to be reconciled
with that of Luke (Luke xxiv. 49 : Acts i. 4) that He
would send it to them after His ascension ?
(10) What is the meaning of the passage, Rom. ix.
14-29 ?
(n) What is the meaning of 2 Cor. ii. 16?
(12) What is the meaning of 1 Th. v. 23 ?
The date of the letter is 406 or 407 A.D.
LETTER CXXI.
TO ALGASIA.
Jerome writes to a lady of Gaul named Algasia to
answer eleven questions which she had submitted to
him. They were as follows : —
(1) How is Luke vii. 18, 19, to be reconciled with
John i. 36 ?
(2) What is the meaning of Matt. xii. 20 ?
(3) And of Matt. xvi. 24 ?
(4) And of Matt. xxiv. 19, 20 ?
(5) And of Luke ix. 53 ?
(6) What is the meaning of the parable of the unjust
steward? Luke xvi. 1 — 13.
(7) What is the meaning of Rom. v. 7 ?
(8) And of Rom. vii. 8 ?
(9) And of Rom. ix. 3 ?
(10) And of Col. ii. 18?
(n) And of 2 Th. ii. 3?
The date of the letter is 406 A.D.
1 For Hedibia and her family, see an article in Diet, of Christ.
Biog.
LETTERS CXVIII-CXXII.
225
LETTER CXXII.
TO RUSTICUS.
Rusticus and Artemia his wife having made a vow of
continence broke it. Artemia proceeded to Palestine
to do penance for her sin and Rusticus promised to
follow her. However he failed to do so, and Jerome
was asked to write this letter in the hope that it might
induce him to fulfil his promise. The date is about
408 A.D.
r. I am induced to write to you, a stranger
to a stranger, by the entreaties of that holy
servant of Christ Hedibia ' and of my daughter
in the faith Artemia, once your wife but now
no longer your wife but your sister and fellow-
servant. Not content with assuring her own
salvation she has sought yours also, in former
days at home and now in the holy places. She
is anxious to emulate the thoughtfulness of
the apostles Andrew and Philip ; who after
Christ had found them, desired in their turn to
find, the one his brother Simon and the other
his friend Nathanael.2 To the former of these
it was said " Thou art Simon, the son of Jona :
thou shalt be called Cephas which is by inter-
pretation a stone ; " 3 while the latter, whose
name Nathanael means the gift of God, was
comforted by Christ's witness to him : "behold
an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile." 4 So
of old Lot 6 desired to rescue his wife as well
as his two daughters, and refusing to leave
blazing Sodom and Gomorrah until he was
himself half-on-fire, tried to lead forth one
who was tied and bound by her past sins.
But in her despair she lost her composure, and
looking back became a monument of an unbe-
lieving soul.0 Yet, as if to make up for the
loss of a single woman, Lot's glowing faith set
free the whole city of Zoar. In fact when he
left the dark valleys in which Sodom lay and
came to the mountains, the sun rose upon him
as he entered Zoar or the little City ; so-called
because the little faith that Lot possessed,
though unable to save greater places, was at
least able to preserve smaller ones. For one
who had gone so far astray as to live in Gom-
orrah could not all at once reach the noonland
where Abraham, the friend of God,7 enter-
tained God and His angels.8 (For it was
in Egypt that Joseph fed his brothers, and
when the bride speaks to the Bridegroom her
cry is : " tell me where thou feedest, where
thou makest thy flock to rest at noon." 9)
Good men have always sorrowed for the sins
of others. Samuel of old lamented for Saul 10
because he neglected to treat the ulcers of
pride with the balm of penitence. And Paul
1 This lady lived in Gaul and was a diligent student of
scripture. Letter CXX. is addressed to her.
2 Joh. i. 41, 45. a Joh. i. 42. 4 Joh. i. 47.
6 Gen. xix. 15-26. 6 Cf. Wisdom, x. 7. ' Jas. ii. 23.
8 Gen. xviii. 1. 9 Cant. i. 7. 10 1 Sam. xv. 35.
wept for the Corinthians ' who refused to
wash out with their tears the stains of forni-
cation. For the same reason Ezekiel swal-
lowed the book where were written within
and without song, and lamentation and woe ; 2
the song in praise of the righteous, the lamen-
tation over the penitent, and the woe for those
of whom it is written, " When the wicked man
falleth into the depths of evil, then is he
filled with scorn." 3 It is to these that Isaiah
alludes when he says : " in that day did the
Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to
mourning and to baldness and to girding with
sackcloth : and behold joy and gladness, slay-
ing oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh " and
saying, " let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die."4 Yet of such persons Ezekiel is bidden
to speak thus : " O thou son of man, speak
unto the house of Israel ; Thus ye speak, say-
ing, If our transgressions and our sins be upon
us, and we pine away in them, how should we
then live ? Say unto them, As I live, saith the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his
way and live," and again, "turn ye, turn ye
from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O
house of Israel?"6 Nothing makes God so
angry as when men from despair of better
things cleave to those which are worse ; and
indeed this despair in itself is a sign of unbe-
lief. One who despairs of salvation can have
no expectation of a judgment to come. For
if he dreaded such, he would by doing good
works prepare to meet his Judge. Let us hear
what God says through Jeremiah, " withhold
thy foot from a rough way and thy throat from
thirst," 6 and again " shall they fall, and not
arise ? Shall he turn away, and not return ? " 7
Let us hear also what God says by Isaiah :
" When thou shalt turn and bewail thyself,
then shalt thou be saved, and then shalt thou
know where thou hast hitherto been."8 We
do not realize the miseries of sickness till
returning health reveals them to us. So sins
serve as a foil to the blessedness of virtue ;
and light shines more brightly when it is re-
lieved against darkness. Ezekiel uses lan-
guage like that of the other prophets because he
is animated by a similar spirit. " Repent," he
cries, " and turn yourselves from all your trans-
gressions ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Cast away from you all your transgressions
whereby ye have transgressed ; and make you
a new heart and a new spirit : for why will ye
die, O house of Israel ? For I have no pleas-
ure in the death of him that dieth, saith the
Lord." 9 Wherefore in a subsequent passage
1 2 Cor. ii. 4.
3 Prov. xviii. 3, LXX.
6 Ezek. xxxiii. 10, 11.
7 Jer. viii. 4.
* Ezek. xviii. 30-32.
2 Ezek. ii. 10, LXX.
4 Isa. xxii. 12, 13.
«Jer. ii. 25, LXX.
8 Isa. xxx. 15, LXX.
226
JEROME.
he says : " As I live, saith the Lord God, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked :
but that the wicked turn from his way and
live." ' These words shew us that the mind
must not through disbelief in the promised
blessings give way to despair ; and that the
soul once marked out for perdition must not
refuse to apply remedies on the ground that
its wounds are past curing. Ezekiel describes
God as swearing, that if we refuse to believe
His promise in regard to our salvation we may
at least believe His oath. It is with full con-
fidence that the righteous man prays and says,
" Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause
thine anger toward us to cease,"2 and again,
" Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my
mountain to stand strong : thou didst hide thy
face and I was troubled." 3 He means to say,
" when I forsook the foulness of my faults for
the beauty of virtue, God strengthened my
weakness with His grace." Lo, I hear His
promise : " I will pursue mine enemies and
overtake them : neither will I turn again till
they are consumed," 4 so that I who was once
thine enemy and a fugitive from thee, shall be
laid hold of by thine hand. Cease not from
pursuing me till my wickedness is consumed,
and I return to my old husband who will give
me my wool and my flax, my oil and my fine
flour and will feed me with the richest foods.'
He it was who hedged up and enclosed my
evil ways 6 that I might find Him the true way
who says in the gospel, " I am the way, the
truth, and the life." 7 Hear the words of the
prophet : " they that sow in tears shall reap in
joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bear-
ing precious seed, shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with
him." 8 Say also with him : " All the night
make I my bed to swim ; I water my couch
with my tears " D : and again, " As the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my
soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for
God, for the living God : when shall I come
and appear before God ? My tears have been
my meat day and night," 10 and in another
place, " O God, thou art my God ; early will I
seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh
longeth for thee in a dry and weary land where
no water is. So have I looked upon thee in
the sanctuary."11 For although my soul has
thirsted after thee, yet much more have I
sought thee by the labour of my flesh and
have not been able to look upon thee in thy
sanctuary ; not at any rate till I have first
dwelt in a land barren of sin, where the weary
wayfarer is no more assailed by the adversary,
and where there are no pools or rivers of lust.
1 Ezek. xxxiii. n.
4 Ps. xviii.37, R.V.
7 Joh. xiv. 6.
10 Ps. xlii. 1-3.
2 Ps. lxxxv. 4. 3 Ps. XXX. 7.
6 Hos. ii. 7-9. 6 Hos. ii. 6.
8 Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6. » Ps. vi. 6.
11 Ps. lxiii. 1-3 R.V.
The Saviour also wept over the city of
Jerusalem because its inhabitants had not
repented ; ' and Peter washed out his triple
denial with bitter tears, 2 thus fulfilling the
words of the prophet : " rivers of waters run
down mine eyes."3 Jeremiah too laments
over his impenitent people, saying : " Oh
that my head were waters and mine eyes
a fountain of tears, that I might weep day
and night for . . . my people!"4 And
farther on he gives a reason for his lamen-
tation : " weep ye not for the dead," he writes,
" neither bemoan him : but weep sore for him
that goeth away : for he shall return no
more." 5 The Jew and the Gentile there-
fore are not to be bemoaned, for they have
never been in the Church and have died once
for all (it is of these that the Saviour says :
" let the dead bury their dead " 6) ; weep
rather for those who by reason of their
crimes and sins go away from the Church,
and who suffering condemnation for their
faults shall no more return to it. It is in
this sense that the prophet speaks to ministers
of the Church, calling them its walls and
towers, and saying to each in turn, " O wall,
let tears run down." 7 In this way, it is pro-
phetically implied, you will fulfil the apostolic
precept : " rejoice with them that do rejoice
and weep with them that weep," 8 and by your
tears you will melt the hard hearts of sinners
till they too weep ; whereas, if they persist in
evil doing they will find these words applied to
them, " I . . . planted thee a noble vine,
wholly a right seed : how then art thou turned
into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto
me ? " 9 and again " saying to a stock, Thou art
my father ; and to a stone, Thou hast brought
me forth : for they have turned their back unto
me, and not their face." 10 He means, they
would not turn towards God in penitence ;
but in the hardness of their hearts turned
their backs upon Him to insult Him. Where-
fore also the Lord says to Jeremiah : " hast
thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath
done? She is gone up upon every high
mountain and under every green tree, and
there hath played the harlot. And I said after
she " had played the harlot and " had done all
these things, Turn thou unto me. But she
returned not." "
2. How hard hearted we are and how
merciful God is ! who even after our many
sins urges us to seek salvation. Yet not even so
are we willing to turn to better things. Hear
the words of the Lord : " If a man put away
his wife, and she go from him, and become
another man's and shall afterwards desire to
1 Luke xix. 41.
4 Jer. ix. 1.
7 Lam. ii. 18.
10 Jer. ii. 27.
- Luke xxii. 62.
6 Jer. xxii. 10.
8 Rom. xii. 15.
11 Jer. iii. 6, 7.
3 Ps. cxix. 136.
6 Matt. viii. 22.
9 Jer. ii. 21.
LETTER CXXII.
227
return to him, will he at all receive her ? Will
he not loathe her rather ? But thou hast
played the harlot with many lovers : yet
return again to me, saith the Lord." In place
of the last clause the true Hebrew text (which
is not preserved in the Greek and Latin
versions) gives the following : " thou hast
forsaken me, yet return, and I will receive
thee, saith the Lord." ' Isaiah also speaking
in the same sense uses almost the same words :
" Return," he cries, " O children of Israel, ye
who think deep counsel and wicked.2 Return
thou unto me and I will redeem thee. I am
God, and there is no God else beside me ; a
just God and a Saviour ; there is none beside
me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the
ends of the. earth.3 Remember this and shew
yourselves men : bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. Return in heart and remember
the former things of old : for I am God and
there is none else." 4 Joel also writes : ''turn
ye even to me with all your heart, and with
fasting and with weeping and with mourning :
and rend your heart and not your garments
and turn unto the Lord your God ; for he is
gracious and merciful . . . and repenteth
him of the evil." 5 How great His mercy is
and how excessive — if I may so say — and
unspeakable is His pitifulness, the prophet
Hosea tells us when he speaks in the Lord's
name : " how shall I give thee up, Ephraim ?
how shall I deliver thee, Israel ? how shall I
make thee as Admah ? How shall I set thee
as Zeboim ? Mine heart is turned within me,
my repentings are kindled together. I will
not execute the fierceness of mine anger." °
David also says in a psalm : " in death there
is no remembrance of thee ; in the grave who
shall give thee thanks ? " 7 and in another
place : " I acknowledged my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I
will confess my transgressions unto the Lord ;
and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
For this shall every one that is godly pray
unto thee in a time when thou mayest be
found : surely in the floods of great waters
they shall not come nigh unto him." 8
3. Think how great that weeping must be
which deserves to be compared to a flood of
waters. Whosoever so weeps and says with
the prophet Jeremiah "let not the apple of
mine eye cease " 9 shall straightway find the
words fulfilled of him : " mercy and truth are
met together : righteousness and peace have
kissed each other ; " 10 so that, if righteousness
and truth terrify him, mercy and peace may
encourage him to seek salvation.
1 Jer. iii. 1, Vulg. The Hebrew contains nothing correspond-
ing to the words " and I will receive thee." The Latin Version
mentioned in the text is of course the old Latin.
2 Isa. xxxi. 6, LXX. 3 Isa. xlv. 21, 22. 4 Isa. xlvi. 8, 9, LXX.
6 Joel ii. 12, 13. • Hos. xi. 8, 9. 7 Ps. vi. 5.
8 Ps. xxxii. 5, 6. • Lam. ii, x8, 10 Ps. lxxxv. 10.
The whole repentance of a sinner is exhib-
ited to us in the fifty-first l psalm written by
David after he had gone in unto Bathsheba the
wife of Uriah the Hittite,3 and when, to the re-
buke of the prophet Nathan he had replied, " I
have sinned." Immediately that he confessed
his fault he was comforted by the words :
" the Lord also hath put away thy sin." 3
He had added murder to adultery ; yet burst-
ing into tears he says : " Have mercy upon
me, O God, according to thy loving kindness :
according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions."4 A sin
so great needed to find great mercy. Ac-
cordingly he goes on to say : " Wash me
throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me
from my sin. For I acknowledge my trans-
gressions : and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only have I sinned " — as a
king he had no one to fear but God — " and
done this evil in thy sight ; that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest and be clear
when thou judgest." 5 For "God hath con-
cluded all in unbelief, that he might have
mercy upon all. " 6 And such was the prog-
ress that David made that he who had once
been a sinner and a penitent afterwards be-
came a master able to say : " I will teach
transgressors thy ways ; and sinners shall be
converted unto thee." 7 For as " confession
and beauty are before God," 8 so a sinner who
confesses his sins and says : " my wounds
stink and are corrupt because of my foolish-
ness " 9 loses his foul wounds and is made
whole and clean. But " he that covereth his
sins shall not prosper." 10
The ungodly king Ahab, who shed the
blood of Naboth to gain his vineyard, was with
Jezebel, the partner less of his bed than of his
cruelty, severely rebuked by Elijah. "Thus
saith the Lord, hast thou killed and also taken
possession ? " and again, " in the place where
dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs
lick thy blood, even thine ; " and " the dogs
shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." "
" And it came to pass " — the passage goes on
— " when Ahab heard those words that he rent
his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh,
and fasted, and lay in sackcloth ... and
the word of the Lord came to Elijah say-
ing, Because Ahab humbleth himself before
me, I will not bring the evil in his days." "
Ahab's sin and Jezebel's were the same ; yet
because Ahab repented, his punishment was
postponed so as to fall upon his sons, while
Jezebel persisting in her wickedness met her
doom then and there.
1 In the Vulg. the fiftieth.
2 Cf. the heading of the psalm in A.V.
3 2 Sam. xii. 13. 4 Ps. Ii. 1. 6 Ps. Ii. 2-4.
6 Rom. xi. 32. 7 Ps. Ii. 13. e Ps. xcvi. 6, Vulg.
8 Ps. xxxviii. 5. 10 Prov. xxviii. 13.
« 1 Kings xxi. 19, 23. la 1 Kings xxi. 27-29.
228
JEROME.
Moreover the Lord tells us in the gospel,
"the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment
with this generation and shall condemn it : be-
cause they repented at the preachingof Jonas ;" '
and again He says " I am not come to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance."2 The
lost piece of silver is sought for until it is found
in the mire.3 So also the ninety and nine sheep
are left in the wilderness, while the shepherd
carries home on his shoulders the one sheep
which has gone astray.4 Wherefore also
"there is joy in the presence of the angels
over one sinner that repenteth." £ What a
blessed thought it is that heavenly beings
rejoice in our salvation ! For it is of us
that the words are said : " Repent ye : for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand."6 Death
and life are contrary the one to the other ;
there is no middle term. Yet penitence can
knit death to life. The prodigal son, we are
told, wasted all his substance, and in the far
country away from his father "would fain
have filled his belly with the husks that the
swine did eat." Yet, when he comes back to
his father, the fatted calf is killed, a robe and
a ring are given to him.7 That is to say, he
receives again Christ's robe which he had
before defiled, and hears to his comfort the
injunction : " let thy garments be always
white." 8 He receives the signet of God and
cries to the Lord : " Father, I have sinned
against heaven and before thee ; " and receiv-
ing the kiss of reconciliation, he says to Him :
" Now is the light of thy countenance sealed
upon us, O Lord." 9
Hear the words of Ezekiel : " as for the
wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall
thereby in the day that he turneth from his
wickedness ; neither shall the righteous be
able to live for his righteousness in the day
that he sinneth."10 The Lord judges every
man according as he finds him. It is not the past
that He looks upon but the present. Bygone
sins there may be, but renewal and conver-
sion remove them. "A just man," we read,
" falleth seven times and riseth up again."11
If he falls, how is he just? and if he is just,
how does he fall ? The answer is that a sinner
does not lose the name of just if he always
repents of his sins and rises again. If a sin-
ner repents, his sins are forgiven him not only
till seven times but till seventy times seven. 12
To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth
much.13 The harlot washed with her tears the
Saviour's feet and wiped them with her hair ;
1 Matt. xii. 41. 2 Matt. ix. 13. 3 Luke xv. 8-10.
4 Luke xv. 4, 5. 6 Luke xv. 10. 6 Matt. iii. 2.
7 Luke xv. 11-24. " Eccles. ix. 8.
9 Ps. iv. 6, ace. to the Gallican and Roman psalters. The
allusions throughout are to the ritual practised in Jerome's day
in connection with the reception of penitents.
10 Ezek. xxxiii. 12. n Prov. xxiv. 16.
i" Cf. Matt, xviii. 21, 22. » Cf. Luke vii. 47.
and to her, as a type of the Church gathered
from the nations, was the declaration made :
" Thy sins are forgiven." ' The self-righteous
Pharisee perished in his pride, while the hum-
ble publican was saved by his confession.2
God makes asseveration by the mouth of
the prophet Jeremiah : " At what instant I
shall speak concerning a nation and concern-
ing a kingdom, to pluck up to pull down and
to destroy it : if that nation, against whom I
have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will
repent of the evil that I thought to do unto
them. And* at what instant I shall speak con-
cerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom to
build and to plant it ; if it do evil in my sight,
that it obey not my voice, then I will repent
of the good wherewith I said I would benefit
them." And immediately he adds : " Behold,
I frame evil against you, and devise a device
against you : return ye now every one from
his evil way, and make your ways and your
doings good. And they said, there is no hope :
but we will walk after our own devices, and
we will every one do the imagination of his
evil heart."3 The righteous Simeon says in
the gospel : " Behold, this child is set for the
fall and rising again of many," 4 for the fall,
that is, of sinners and for the rising again of
the penitent. So the apostle writes to the Cor-
inthians : " it is reported commonly that there
is fornication among you, and such fornication
as is not so much as named among the Gentiles,
that one should have his father's wife. And
ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned
that he that hath done this deed might be
taken away from among you." * And in his
second epistle to the same, " lest such a one
should be swallowed up with overmuch sor-
row," 6 he calls him back, and begs them to
confirm their love towards him, so that he who
had been destroyed by incest might be saved
by penitence.
" There is no man clean from sin ; even
though he has lived but for one day." 7 And
the years of man's life are many in number.
" The stars are not pure in his sight,8 and his
angels he charged with folly." 9 If there is sin
in heaven, how much more must there be sin
on earth ? If they are stained with guilt who
have no bodily temptations, how much more
must we be, enveloped as we are in frail flesh
and forced to cry each one of us with the
apostle : " O wretched man that I am ! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death ? 10
For in my flesh there dwelleth no good
thing." "' For we do not what we would but
what we would not ; the soul desires to do one
1 Luke vii. 48
3 Jer. xviii. 7-
6 2 Cor. ii. 7.
9 Job iv. 18.
2 Cf. Luke xviii. 14.
4 Luke ii. 14. 6 1 Cor. v. 1, 2.
7 Job xiv. 4, 5, LXX. e Job xxv. 5.
10 Rom. vii. 24. -1 Rom. vii. 18.
LETTER CXXII.
229
thing, the flesh is compelled to do another. If
any persons are called righteous in scripture,
and not only righteous but righteous in the
sight of God, they are called righteous accord-
ing to that righteousness mentioned in the pas-
sage I have quoted : " A just man falleth seven
times and riseth up again," ' and on the prin-
ciple laid down that the wickedness of the
wicked shall not hurt him in the day that he
turns to repentance.5 In fact Zachariah the
father of John who is described as a righteous
man sinned in disbelieving the message sent to
him and was at once punished with dumbness."
Even Job, who at the outset of his history is
spoken of as perfect and upright and uncom-
plaining, is afterwards proved to be a sinner
both by God's words and by his own confes-
sion. If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the proph-
ets also and the apostles were by no means
free from sin and if the finest wheat had chaff
mixed with it, what can be said of us of whom
it is written : " What is the chaff to the wheat,
saith the Lord ? " 4 Yet the chaff is reserved
for future burning ; as also are the tares which
at present are mingled with the growing corn.
For one shall come whose fan is in His hand,
and shall purge His floor, and shall gather
His wheat into the garner, and shall burn the
chaff in the fire of hell.5
4. Roaming thus through the fairest fields
of scripture I have culled its loveliest flowers
to weave for your brows a garland of peni-
tence ; for my aim is that, flying on the wings
of a dove, you may find rest6 and make your
peace with the Father of mercy. Your former
wife, who is now your sister and fellow-ser-
vant, has told me that, acting on the apostolic
precept, T you and she lived apart by consent
that you might give yourselves to prayer ; but
that after a time your feet sank beneath you
as if resting on water and indeed — to speak
plainly — gave way altogether. For her part
she heard the Lord saying to her as to Moses :
"as for thee stand thou here by me ;" B. and
with the psalmist she said of Him : " He hath
set my feet upon a rock."9 But your house
— she went on — having no sure foundation of
faith fell before a whirlwind of the devil. 10
Hers however still stands in the Lord, and
does not refuse its shelter to you ; you can
still be joined in spirit to her to whom you
were once joined in body. For, as the apostle
says, " he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit " with him." Moreover, when the fury
of the barbarians and the risk of captivity sep-
arated you again, you promised with a solemn
oath that, if she made her way to the holy
1 Prov. xxiv. 16.
3 Luke i. 20-22.
5 Matt. iii. 12.
B Deut. v. 31.
10 Cf. Matt. vii. 24-27.
VOL. VI,
2 Cf. Ezek. xxxiii. 12.
4 Jer. xxtii. 28.
4 Ps. lv. 6. ' 1 Cor. vii. 5.
» Ps. xl. 2.
11 1 Cor. vi. 17.
places, you would follow her either immediately
or later, and that you would try to save your
soul now that by your carelessness you had
seemed to lose it. Perform, now, the vow
which you then made in the presence of God.
Human life is uncertain. Therefore, lest you
may be snatched away before you have ful-
filled your promise, imitate her whose teacher
you ought to have been. For shame ! the
weaker vessel overcomes the world, and yet
the stronger is overcome by it !
A woman ieadeth in the high emprise ; '
and yet you will not follow her when her sal-
vation leads you to the threshold of the faith !
Perhaps, however, you desire to save the
remnants of your property and to see the last
of your friends and fellow-citizens and of
their cities and villas. If so, amid the horrors
of captivity, in the presence of exulting foes,
and in the shipwreck of the province, at least
hold fast to the plank of penitence ; 2 and
remember your fellow-servant 3 who daily
sighs for your salvation and never despairs of
it. While you are wandering about your own
country (though, indeed, you no longer have a
country ; that which you once had, you have
lost) she is interceding for you in the vener-
able spots which witnessed the nativity, cruci-
fixion and resurrection of our Lord and
Saviour, and in the first of which He uttered
His infant-cry. She draws you to her by her
prayers that you may be saved, if not by your
own exertions, at any rate by her faith. Of
old one lay upon his bed sick of the palsy, so
powerless in all his joints that he could
neither move his feet to walk nor his hands to
pray ; yet when he was carried to our Lord by
others, he was by Him so completely restored
to health as to carry the bed which a little
before had carried him.4 You too— absent in
the body but present to her faith — your fellow-
servant offers to her Lord and Saviour ; and
with the Canaanite woman she says of you :
"my daughter is grievously vexed with a
devil. " 5 Souls are of no sex ; therefore I
may fairly call your soul the daughter of hers.
For as a mother coaxes her unweaned child
which is as yet unable to take solid food ; so
does she call you to the milk suitable for
babes and offer to you the sustenance that a
nursing mother gives. Thus shall you be
able to say with the prophet : " I have gone
astray like a lost sheep ; seek thy servant ;
for I'do not forget thy commandments."6
1 Virgil, -<Eneid, i. 364- . , T o t .. ^v^tt c
2 A favourite phrase with Jerome. See Letter CXVII. fe 3.
s Viz. Artemia.
4 Matt. ix. 1-7.
5 Matt. xv. 22.
• Ps, cxix, 17$.
230
JEROME.
LETTER CXXIII.
TO AGERUCHIA.
An appeal to the widow Ageruchia, a highborn lady of
Gaul, not to marry again. It should be compared with
the letters to Furia (LIV.) and to Salvina (LXXIX.)
The allusion to Stilicho's treaty with Alaric fixes the
date to 409 A.D.
i. I must look for a new track on the old
road and devise a natural treatment, the same
yet not the same, for a hackneyed and well-
worn theme.1 It is true that there is but one
road ; yet one can often reach one's goal by
striking across country. I have several times
written letters to widows 2 in which for their
instruction I have sought out examples from
scripture, weaving its varied flowers into a
single garland of chastity. On the present
occasion I address myself to Ageruchia ;
whose very name 3 (allotted to her by the
divine guidance) has proved a prophecy of
her after-life. Around her stand her grand-
mother, her mother, and her aunt ; a noble
band of tried Christian women. Her grand-
mother, Metronia, now a widow for forty
years, reminds us of Anna the daughter of
Phanuel in the gospel.4 Her mother,
Benigna, now in the fourteenth year of her
widowhood, is surrounded by virgins whose
chastity bears fruit a hundredfold.5 The
sister of Celerinus, Ageruchia's father, has
nursed her niece from infancy and indeed took
her into her lap the moment that she was
born. Deprived of the solace of her husband
she has for twenty years trained her brother's
child, teaching her the lessons which she has
learned from her own mother.
2. I make these brief remarks to shew my
young friend that in resolving not to marry
again she does but perform a duty to her
family ; and that, while she will deserve no
praise for fulfilling it, she will be justly blamed
if she fails to do so. The more so that she
has a posthumous son named after his father
Simplicius and thus cannot plead loneliness or
the want of an heir. For the lust of many
shelters itself under such excuses as though
the promptings of incontinence were only a
desire for offspring. But why do I speak as
to one who wavers when I hear that Ageru-
chia seeks the church's protection against the
many suitors whom she meets in the palace ?
For the devil inflames men to vie with one
another in proving the chastity of our beloved
widow ; and rank and beauty, youth and
riches cause her to be sought after by all.
But the greater the assaults that are made
' Cf. Letter LX. § 6.
« Letters LIV., LXXV., LXXIX., and others.
* Ageruchia = Greatheart. 4 Luke ii. 36, 37.
6 See Letter XLVIIL, § 2 ; also § y infra.
upon her continence, the greater will be the
rewards that will follow her victory.
3. But no sooner do I clear the harbour
than I find my way to the sea barred by a
rock.1 I am confronted with the authority of
the apostle Paul who in writing to Timothy
thus speaks concerning widows : " I will
therefore that the younger women marry, bear
children, guide the house, give none occasion
to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For
some are already turned aside after Satan." 5
I must accordingly begin by considering the
meaning of this pronouncement and examin-
ing the context of the whole passage. I must
then plant my feet in the steps of the apostle
and, as the saying goes, not deviate a hair's
breadth from them either to this side or to
that. He had previously described his ideal
widow as one who had been the wife of one
man, who had brought up children, who was
well reported of for good works, who had re-
lieved the afflicted with her substance,3 whose
trust had been in God, and who had continued
in prayer day and night.4 With her he con-
trasted her opposite, saying : " She that liveth
in pleasure is dead while she liveth." And
that he might warn his disciple Timothy with
all needful admonition, he immediately added
these words : " the younger widows refuse :
for when they have begun to wax wanton
against Christ they will marry ; having damna-
tion because they have cast off their first
faith." 5 It is then for these who have out-
raged Christ their Spouse by committing for-
nication against Him (for this is the sense of
the Greek word nar affr pijv ma goo i) — it is
for these that the apostle wishes a second
marriage, thinking digamy preferable to forni-
cation ; but this second marriage is a conces-
sion and not a command.
4. We must also take the passage clause by
clause. " I will," he says, " that the younger
women marry. " Why, pray? because I would
not have young women commit fornication.
" That they bear children ; " ° for what reason ?
That they may not be induced by fear of the
consequences to kill children whom they have
conceived in adultery. " That they be the
heads of households." ' Wherefore, pray ?
Because it is much more tolerable that a
woman should marry again than that she
should be a prostitute, and better that she
should have a second husband than several
paramours. The first alternative brings relief
in a miserable plight, but the second involves a
sin and its punishment. He continues : " that
they give none occasion to the adversary to
speak reproachfully," a brief and comprehen-
» Cf. Letter LXXVII. § 3.
3 1 Tim. v. 9, 10.
5 1 Tim. v. 11, 12.
' So Vulg.
- 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
1 1 Tim. v. 5.
* 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
LETTER CXXIII.
231
sive precept in which many admonitions are
summed up. As for instance these : that a
woman must not bring discredit upon her pro-
fession of widowhood by too great attention to
her dress, that she must not draw troops of
young men after her by gay smiles or expres-
sive glances, that she must not profess one
thing by her words and another by her be-
haviour, that she must give no ground for the
application to herself of the well known line :
She gave a meaning look and slyly smiled.1
Lastly, that Paul may compress into a few words
all the reasons for such marriages, he shews
the motive of his command by saying : " for
some are already turned aside after Satan."
Thus he allows to the incontinent a second
marriage, or in case of need a third, simply
that he may rescue them from Satan, prefer-
ring that a woman should be joined to the
worst of husbands rather than to the devil.
To the Corinthians he uses somewhat similar
language : " I say therefore to the unmarried
and widows, It is good for them if they abide
even as I. But if they cannot contain, let
them marry : for it is better to marry than to
burn." a Why, O apostle, is it better to marry ?
He answers immediately : because it is worse
to burn.3
5. Apart from these considerations, that
which is absolutely good and not merely rela-
tively so is to be as the apostle, that is loose,
not bound ; free, not enslaved ; caring for the
things of God, not for the things of a wife.
Immediately afterwards he adds : " The wife
is bound by the law to her husband as long as
her husband liveth, but if her husband be
fallen asleep,4 she is at liberty to be married
to whom she will ; only in the Lord. But she
is happier if she so abide, after my judgment :
and I think also that I have the spirit of God." B
This passage corresponds with the former in
meaning, because the spirit of the two is the
same. For though the epistles are different,
they are the work of one author. While her
husband lives the woman is bound, and when
he is dead, she is loosed. Marriage then is a
bond, and widowhood is the loosing of it.
The wife is bound to the husband and the
husband to the wife ; and so close is the tie
that they have no power over their own bodies,
but each stands indebted to the other. They
who are under the yoke of wedlock have not
the option of choosing continence. When the
apostle adds the words " only in the Lord," he
excludes heathen marriages of which he had
spoken in another place thus : " be ye not un-
equally yoked together with unbelievers : for
1 Ovid, Am. iii. 2, 8^. - 1 Cor. vii. 8, 9.
3 Cf. Letters XLVIII. § 19. and LXXIX. § 10.
4 So R,V, marg. 6 1 Cor, vii. 39, 40, cf. Rom. vii. 2..
what fellowship hath righteousness with un-
righteousness ? and what communion hath
light with darkness ? and what concord hath
Christ with Belial ? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel ? and what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols ? " ' We
must not plough with an ox and an ass to-
gether ; 2 nor weave our wedding garment of
different colours. He at once takes back the
concession he made, and, as if repenting of
his opinion, withdraws it by saying : " She is
happier if she so abide," that is, unmarried ;
and declares that in his judgment this course
is preferable. And that this may not be made
light of as a merely human utterance, he
claims for it the authority of the Holy Spirit,
so that we are listening not to a fellowman
making concessions to the weakness of the
flesh but to the Holy Spirit using the apostle
for his mouthpiece.
6. Again, no widow of youthful age must
quiet her qualms of conscience by the plea
that he gives commandment that no widow is
to be taken into the number under three-score
years old.3 He does not by this arrangement
urge unmarried girls or youthful widows to
marry, seeing that even of the married he
says : " the time is short : it remaineth that
they that have wives be as though they had
none."4 No, he is speaking of widows who
have relations able to support them, who have
sons and grandsons to be responsible for their
maintenance. The apostle commands these
latter to shew piety at home, and to requite
their parents and to relieve them adequately ;
that the church may not be charged, but may
be free to relieve those that are widows indeed.
" Honour widows," he writes, " that are widows
indeed," that is, such as are desolate and have
no relations to help them, who cannot labour
with their hands, who are weakened by poverty
and overcome by years, whose trust is in God
and their only work prayer.6 From which it
is easy to infer that the younger widows, unless
they are excused by ill health, are either left
to their own exertions or else are consigned to
the care of their children or relations. The
word ' honour ' in this passage implies either
alms or a gift, as also in the verse immediately
following :" Let the elders . . . be counted
worthy of double honour, especially they who
labour in the word and doctrine." ° So also
in the gospel when the Lord discusses that
commandment of the Law which says : " Hon-
our thy father and thy mother," 7 He declares
that it is to be interpreted not of mere words
which while offering an empty shew of regard
may still leave a parent's wants unrelieved,
but of the actual provision of the necessaries
1 2 Cor. vi. 14-16. 2 Dt. xxii. 10. 3 1 Tim. v. 9.
* 1 Cor. vii. 29. 6iTim. v. 3-5, 16, 6iTim. v. 17. 7Ex.xx. 12
Q2
JEROME.
of life. The Lord commanded that poor par-
ents should be supported by their children
and that these should pay them back when old
those benefits which they had themselves re-
ceived in their childhood. The scribes and
pharisees on the other hand taught the chil-
dren to answer their parents by saying : " It is
Corban, that is to say, a gift ' which I have
promised to the altar and engaged to present
to the temple : it will relieve you as much
there, as if I were to give it you directly to
buy food."2 So it frequently happened that
while father and mother were destitute their
children were offering sacrifices for the priests
and scribes to consume. If then the apostle
compels poor widows — yet only those who are
young and not broken down by sickness — to
labour with their hands that the church, not
charged with their maintenance, may be able
to support such widows as are old, what plea
can be urged by one who has abundance of
this world's goods, both for her own wants and
those of others, and who can make to herself
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness
able to receive her into everlasting habita-
tions?3
Consider too that no one is to be elected a
widow, except she has been the wife of one
husband. We sometimes fancy it to be the
distinctive mark of the priesthood that none
but monogamists shall be admitted to the
altar. But not only are the twice-married
excluded from the priestly office, they are de-
barred from receiving the alms of the church.
A woman who has resorted to a second mar-
riage is held unworthy to be supported by the
faithful. And even the layman is bound by
the law of the priest, for his conduct must be
such as to admit of his election to the priest-
hood. If he has been twice married, he cannot
be so elected. Therefore, as priests are chosen
from the ranks of laymen, the layman also is
bound by the commandment, fulfilment of
which is indispensable for the attainment of
the priesthood.4
7. We must distinguish between what the
apostle himself desires and what he is com-
pelled to acquiesce in. If he allows me to
marry again, this is due to my own incontin-
ence and not to his wish. For he wishes all
men to be as he is, and to think the things of
God, and when once they are loosed no more
to seek to be bound. But when he sees unstable
men in danger through their incontinence of
falling into the abyss of lust, he extends to
them the offer of a second marriage ; that, if
they must wallow in the mire, it may be with
1 Mark vii. 11.
3 Text corrupt : probably ' quasi ' should be substituted for
si.'
3 Cf. Luke xvi. 9.
* A reminiscence of Tert. de Exh- Cast. vii.
one and not with many. The husband of a
second wife must not consider this a harsh
saying or one that conflicts with the rule laid
down by the apostle. The apostle is of two
minds : first, he proclaims a command, " I say
therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is
good for them if they abide even as I." Next,
he makes a concession, " But if they cannot
contain, let them marry : for it is better to
marry than to burn." ' He first shews what he
himself desires, then that in which he is forced
to acquiesce. He wishes us — after one mar-
riage— to abide even as he, that is, unmarried,
and sets before us in his own apostolic example
an instance of the blessedness of which he
speaks. If however he finds that we are un-
willing to do as he wishes, he makes a conces-
sion to our incontinence. Which then of the
two alternatives do we choose for ourselves ?
The one which he prefers and which is in itself
good ? Or the one which in comparison with
evil is tolerable, yet as it is only a substitute
for evil is not altogether good ? Suppose that
we choose that course which the apostle does
not wish but to which he only consents against
his will, allowing those who seek lower ends to
have their own way ; in this case we carry out
not the apostle's wish but our own. We read
in the old testament that the daughters of the
priests who have been married once and have
become widows are to eat of the priests' food
and that when they die they are to be buried
with the same ceremonies as their father and
mother.2 If on the other hand they take other
husbands they are to be kept apart both from
their father and from the sacrifices and are to
be counted as strangers."
8. These restraints on marriage are observed
even among the heathen ; and it is our con-
demnation if the true faith cannot do for
Christ what false ones do for the devil, who
has substituted for the saving chastity of the
gospel a damning chastity of his own.1 The
Athenian hierophant disowns his manhood and
weakens his passions by a perpetual restraint.0
The holy office of the flamen is limited to those
who have been once married, and the attendants
of the flamens' wives must also have had but
one husband.0 Only monogamists are allowed
to share in the sacred rites connected with the
Egyptian bull.' I need say nothing of the
vestal virgins and those of Apollo, the Achivan
Juno, Diana, and Minerva, all of whom waste
away in the perpetual virginity required by
their vocation. I will just glance at the queen
of Carthage 8 who was willing to burn herself
1 1 Cor. vii. 8, 9.
2 Jerome seems to be here relying on tradition.
3 Lev. xxii. 12, 13. * From Tert. de Exh. Cast. xiii.
6 Julian, Orat. v. 6 See Diet. Antiq. s.v. flamen.
7 The sacred bull of Memphis, generally called Apis.
8 Dido.
LETTER CXXIII.
^33
rather than marry king Iarbas ; at the wife of
Hasdrubal ' who taking her two children one in
each hand cast herself into the flames beneath
her rather than surrender her honour ; and at
Lucretia = who having lost the prize of her chas-
tity refused to survive the defilement of her
soul. I will not lengthen my letter by quoting
the many instances of the like virtue which you
can read to your profit in my first book against
Tovinian.3 I will merely relate one which took
place in your own country and which will shew
you that chastity is held in high honour even
among wild and barbarous and cruel peoples.
Once the Teutons who came from the remote
shores of the German Ocean overran all parts
of Gaul, and it was only when they had cut to
pieces several Roman armies that Marius at
last defeated them in an encounter at Aqua;
Sextiae.1 By the conditions of the surrender
three hundred of their married women were
to be handed over to the Romans. When the
Teuton matrons heard of this stipulation they
first begged the consul that they might be set
apart to minister in the temples of Ceres and
Venus ; b and then when they failed to obtain
their request and were removed by the lictors,
they slew their little children and next morning
were all found dead in each other's arms hav-
ing strangled themselves in the night.6
9. Shall then a highborn lady do what these
barbarian women refused to do even as prison-
ers of war ? After losing a first husband, good
or bad as the case may be, shall she make
trial of a second, and thus run counter to the
judgment of God? And in case that she
immediately loses this second, shall she take
a third ? And if he too is called to his rest,
shall she go on to a fourth and a fifth, and by so
doing identify herself with the harlots ? No,
a widow must take every precaution not to
overstep by an inch the bounds of chastity.
For if she once oversteps them and breaks
through the modesty which becomes a matron,
she will soon riot in every kind of excess ; so
much so that the prophet's words shall be true
of her " Thou hast a whore's forehead, thou
refusest to be ashamed." 7
What then ? do I condemn second marriages ?
not at all ; but I commend first ones. Do I
expel twice-married persons from the church ?
Far from it ; but I urge those who have been
once married to lives of continence. The Ark
of Noah contained unclean animals as well as
clean. It contained both creeping things and
human beings. In a great house there are
vessels of different kinds, some to honour and
1 Who refused to survive the fall of Carthage. The story is
told by Polybius.
- See Livy, I. cc. 57, 58. 3 Against Jov. i. 20.
4 The battle of Aix was fought in 102 b.c.
6 The priestesses in these temples seem to have been vowed
to chastity.
* Val. Max. vi. 1. 7 Jer. iii. 3.
some to dishonour.1 In the gospel parable
the seed sown in the good ground brings forth
fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold.'2 The hundredfold which
comes first betokens the crown of virginity ;
the sixtyfold which comes next refers to the
work of widows ; while the thirtyfold — indi-
cated by joining together the points of the
thumb and forefinger 3 — denotes the marriage-
tie. What room is left for double marriages ?
None. They are not counted. Such weeds
do not grow in good ground but among briers
and thorns, the favourite haunts of those foxes
to whom the Lord compares the impious
Herod.1 A woman who marries more than
once fancies herself worthy of praise because
she is not so bad as the prostitutes, because
she compares favourably with these victims of
indiscriminate lust by surrendering herself to
one alone and not to a number.
10. The story which I am about to relate
is an incredible one ; yet it is vouched for
by many witnesses. A great many years ago
when I was helping Damasus bishop of Rome
with his ecclesiastical correspondence, and
writing his answers to the questions referred
to him by the councils of the east and west, I
saw a married couple, both of whom were
sprung from the very dregs of the people.
The man had already buried twenty wives,
and the woman had had twenty-two husbands.
Now they were united to each other as each
believed for the last time. The greatest
curiosity prevailed both among men and
women to see which of these two veterans
would live to bury the other. The husband
triumphed and walked before the bier of his
often-married wife, amid a great concourse of
people from all quarters, with garland and
palm-branch, scattering spelt as he went along
among an approving crowd. What shall we
say to such a woman as that ? Surely just
what the Lord said to the woman of Samaria :
" Thou hast had twenty-two husbands, and he
by whom you are now buried is not your
husband." 5
11. I beseech you therefore, my devout
daughter in Christ, not to dwell on those
passages which offer succour to the incon-
tinent and the unhappy but rather to read
those in which chastity is crowned. It is
enough for you that you have lost the first and
highest kind, that of virginity, and that you
have passed through the third to the second ;
that is to say, having formerly fulfilled the
obligations of a wife, that you now live in
continence as a widow. Think not of the
• 2 Tim. ii. 20. .
- Matt. xiii. 8 : for this explanation of the parable see Letter
XLVIII. §2.
a See Letter XLVIII. § 2 and note there.
4 Luke xiii. 32. 5 Cf. Joh. iv. 18.
234
JEROME.
lowest grade, nay of that which does not
count at all, I mean, second marriage ; and
do not seek for far fetched precedents to
justify you in marrying again. You cannot
too closely imitate your grandmother, your
mother, and your aunt ; whose teaching and
advice as to life will form for you a rule
of virtue. For if many wives in the life-
time of their husbands come to realize the
truth of the apostle's words: "all things
are lawful unto me but all things are not
expedient," ' and make eunuchs of themselves
for the kingdom of heaven's sake 2 either by
consent after their regeneration through the
baptismal laver, or else in the ardour of their
faith immediately after their marriage ; why
should not a widow, who by God's decree has
ceased to have a husband, joyfully cry again
and again with Job : " the Lord gave, and the
Lord hath taken away," 3 and seize the oppor-
tunity offered to her of having power over her
own body instead of again becoming the ser-
vant of a man. Assuredly it is much harder
to abstain from enjoying what you have than
it is to regret what you have lost. Virginity
is the easier because virgins know nothing of
the promptings of the flesh, and widowhood
is the harder because widows cannot help
thinking of the license they have enjoyed in
the past. And it is harder still if they suppose
their husbands to be lost and not gone before ;
for while the former alternative brings pain,
the latter causes joy.
.12. The creation of the first man should
teach us to reject more marriages than one.
There was but one Adam and but one Eve ;
in fact the woman was fashioned from a rib of
Adam.4 Thus divided they were subsequently
joined together in marriage ; in the words of
scripture "the twain shall be one flesh," not
two or three. " Therefore shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife." 5 Certainly it is not said " to
his wives." Paul in explaining the passage
refers it to Christ and the church ; G making
the first Adam a monogamist in the flesh and
the second a monogamist in the spirit. As
there is one Eve who is " the mother of all
living," ' so is there one church which is the
parent of all Christians. And as the accursed
Lamech made of the first Eve two separate
wives," so also the heretics sever the second
into several churches which, according to the
apocalypse of John, ought rather to be called
synagogues of the devil than congregations
of Christ.9 In the Book of Songs we read
as follows : — " there are threescore queens,
and fourscore concubines, and virgins without
1 i Cor. vi. 12.
* Gen. ii. 21, 22.
T Gen. iii. 20.
a Matt. xix. J2.
* Gen. ii. 24, LXX.
8 Gen. iv. 19.
3 Job i. 21.
* Eph. v. 31, 32
» Rev. ii. 9.
number. My dove, my undefiled is but one ;
she is the only one of her mother, she is the
choice one of her that bare her."1 It is to
this choice one that the same John addresses
an epistle in these words, " the elder unto the
elect lady and her children." " So too in the
case of the ark which the apostle Peter
interprets as a type of the church,3 Noah
brings in for his three sons one wife apiece
and not two.1 Likewise of the unclean ani-
mals pairs only are taken, male and female, to
shew that .digamy has no place even among
brutes, creeping things, crocodiles and lizards.
And if of the clean animals there are seven
taken of each kind,5 that is, an uneven num-
ber ; this points to the palm which awaits
virginal chastity. For on leaving the ark
Noah sacrificed victims to God c not of course
of the animals taken by twos for these were
kept to multiply their species, but of those
taken by sevens some of which had been set
apart for sacrifice.
13. It is true that the patriarchs had each of
them more wives than one and that they had
numerous concubines besides. And as if their
example was not enough, David had many
wives and Solomon a countless number.
Judah went in to Tamar thinking her to be a
harlot ; 7 and according to the letter that
killeth the prophet Hosea married not only a
whore but an adulteress.6 If these instances
are to justify us let us neigh after every
woman that we meet ; ° like the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah let us be found by the
last day buying and selling, marrying and
giving in marriage ; 10 and let us only end our
marrying with the close of our lives. And if
both before and after the deluge the maxim
held good : " be fruitful and multiply and re-
plenish the earth:"11 what has that to do
with us upon whom the ends of the ages are
come,12 unto whom it is said, " the time is
short," 13 and "now the axe is laid unto the
root of the trees ; " " that is to say, the forests
of marriage and of the law must be cut down
by the chastity of the gospel. There is " a
time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
embracing." 15 Owing to the near approach
of the captivity Jeremiah is forbidden to take
a wife.16 In Babylon Ezekiel says : " my wife
is dead and my mouth is opened." 1? Neither
he who wished to marry nor he who had
married could in wedlock prophesy freely. In
days gone by men rejoiced to hear it said of
them : " thy children shall be like olive plants
I Cant. vi. 8, 9.
'-' 2 Joh. i. In Latin ' choice ' and ' elect ' are one word.
3 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21. * Gen. vii. 13. 6 Gen. vii. 2.
* Gen. viii. 20. ' Gen. xxxviii. 12-18.
8 Hos. i. 2, 3. » Cf Jer. v. 8. 10 Luke xvii. 27-29.
II Gen. i. 28, ix. 7. 12 T Cor. x. 11, R.V.
13 1 Cor. vii. 29. i« Matt. iii. 10.
18Eccles. iii. 5. i« Jer. xvi. 2. 17 Cf. Ezek. xxiv. 16-18, 27,
LETTER CXXHi.
235
round about thy table," and " thou shalt see
thy children's children." ' But now it is said
of those who live in continence : " he that is
joined unto the Lord is one spirit ; " 2 and
" my soul followeth hard after thee : thy right
hand upholdeth me." 3 Then it was said "an
eye for an eye ; " now the commandment is :
" whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also." 4 In those
days men said to the warrior : " gird thy
sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty ; "
now it is said to Peter: "put up again thy
sword into his place : for all they that take the
sword shall perish with the sword." G
In speaking thus I do not mean to sever the
law from the gospel, as Marcion 7 falsely does.
No, I receive one and the same God in both
who, as the time and the object vary, is both
the Beginning and the End, who sows that He
may reap, who plants that He may have some-
what to cut down, and who lays the foundation
that in the fulness of time He may crown the
edifice. Besides, if we are to deal with sym-
bols and types of things to come, we must
judge of them not by our own opinions but in
the light of the apostle's explanations. Hagar
and Sarah, or Sinai and Zion, are typical of
the two testaments.8 Leah who was tender-
eyed and Rachel whom Jacob loved9 signify
the synagogue and the church. So likewise
do Hannah and Peninnah of whom the former,
at first barren, afterwards exceeded the latter
in fruitfulness. In Isaac and Rebekah we see
an early example of monogamy : it was only to
Rebekah that the Lord revealed Himself in the
hour of childbirth and she alone went of herself
to enquire of the Lord.10 What shall I say of
Tamar who bore twin sons, Pharez and Zarah ?' '
At their birth was broken down that middle
wall of partition which typified the division
existing between the two peoples ; '" while the
binding of Zarah's hand with the scarlet thread
even then marked the conscience of the Jews
with the stain of Christ's blood. And how
shall I speak of the whore married by the proph-
et 13 who is a figure either of the church as
gathered in from the Gentiles or — an inter-
pretation which better suits the passage — of
the synagogue ? First adopted from among
the idolaters by Abraham and Moses, this has
now denied the Saviour and proved unfaithful
to Him. Therefore it has long been deprived
of its altar, priests, and prophets and has to
abide many days for its first husband.14 For
' Ps. cxxviii. 3, 6. 3 1 Cor. vi. 17.
3 Ps. lxiii. 8. • Matt. v. 38, 39.
5 Ps. xlv. 3. * Matt. xxvi. 52.
7 A gnostic of the second century who rejected the whole of
the old testament as incompatible with the new.
8 Gal. iv. 22-26. 9 Gen. xxix. 17, 18.
10 Gen. xxv. 22, 23. " Gen. xxxviii. 27-30.
12 Eph. ii. 14. " Gomer the wife of Hosea.
H Hos. ii.7, iii. 3.
when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have
come in, all Israel shall be saved.1
14. I have tried to compress a great deal
into a limited space as a draughtsman does
when he delineates a large country in a small
map. For I wish to deal with other questions,
the first of which I shall give in Anna's words
to her sister Dido :
Why waste your youth alone in ceaseless grief
Unblest with offspring, sweetest gift of love ?
Think you the buried dead require this?
To whom the sufferer thus briefly replies:
'Twas you, my sister, you, who were the first
To plunge my frenzied soul into this woe.
Why could I not have lived a virgin life
Like some wild creature innocent of care ?
Alas ! I pledged my soul unto the dead :
I vowed a vow and I have broken it.3
You set before me the joys of wedlock. I
for my part will remind you of Dido's sword
and pyre and funeral flames. In marriage
there is not so much good to be hoped for as
there is evil which may happen and must be
feared. Passion when indulged always brings
repentance with it ; it is never satisfied, and
once quenched it is soon kindled anew. Its
growth or decay is a matter of habit ; led like
a captive by impulse it refuses to obey reason.
But you will argue, ' the management of wealth
and property requires the superintendence of a
husband.' Do you mean to say that the affairs
of those who live single are ruined ; and that,
unless you make yourself as much a slave as
your own servants, you will not be able to
govern your household? Do not your grand-
mother, your mother and your aunt enjoy even
more than their old influence and respect,
looked up to as they are by the whole province
and by the leaders of the churches ? Do not
soldiers and travellers manage their domestic
affairs and give entertainments to one another
with no wives to help them ? 3 Why can you
not have grave and elderly servants or freed-
men, such as those who have nursed you in
your childhood, to preside over your house, to
answer public calls, to pay taxes ; men who
will look up to you as a patroness, who will
love you as a nursling, who will revere you as
a saint ? " Seek first the kingdom of God,
and all these things shall be added unto you." 4
If you are careful for raiment the gospel bids
you " consider the lilies ; " and, if for food, to
go back to the fowls which "sow not neither
do they reap ; yet your heavenly father feedeth
them." 6 How many virgins and widows there
are who have looked after their property for
1 Rom. xi. 25, 26. ■ Virg. A. iv. 32-34 : 548, 553,
3 From Tert. de E.xh. Cast. xii.
* Matt. vi. 33. 6 Matt. vi. 26, 28.
2^6
JEROME.
themselves without thereby incurring any stain
of scandal !
15. Do not associate with young women or
cleave to them, for it is on account of such
that the apostle makes his concession of sec-
ond marriage, and so you may be shipwrecked
in what appears to be calm water. If Paul
can say to Timothy, " the younger widows
refuse," ' and again " love the elder women
as mothers ; the younger as sisters, with all
purity,"2 what plea can you urge for refusing
to hear my admonitions ? Avoid all persons
to whom a suspicion of evil living may attach
itself, and do not content yourself with the
trite answer, 'my own conscience is enough
for me ; I do not care what people say of me.'
That was not the principle on which the
apostle acted. He provided things honest not
only in the sight of God but in the sight of all
men ; 3 that the name of God might not be
blasphemed among the Gentiles.4 Though he
had power to lead about a sister, a wife,6 he
would not do so, for he did not wish to be
judged by an unbeliever's conscience.6 And,
though he might have lived by the gospel,7 he
laboured day and night with his own hands,
that he might not be burdensome to the
believers.8 "If meat," he says, "make my
brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the
world standeth."9 Let us then say, if a sister
or a brother causes not one or two but the
whole church to offend, ' I will not see that
sister or that brother.' It is better to lose a
portion of one's substance than to imperil the
salvation of one's soul. It is better to lose
that which some day, whether we like it or
not, must be lost to us and to give it up
freely, than to lose that for which we should
sacrifice all that we have. Which of us can
add — I will not say a cubit for that would be
an immense addition— but the tenth part of a
single inch to his stature ? Why are we care-
ful what we shall eat or what we shall drink ?
Let us " take no thought for the morrow : suf-
ficient unto the day is the evil thereof."10
Jacob in his flight from his brother left
behind in his father's house great riches and
made his way with nothing into Mesopotamia.
Moreover, to prove to us his powers of endur-
ance, he took a stone for his pillow. Yet as
he lay there he beheld a ladder set up on the
earth reaching to heaven and behold the Lord
stood above it, and the angels ascended and
descended on it ; " the lesson being thus taught
that the sinner must not despair of salvation
nor the righteous man rest secure in his virtue.12
1 1 Tim. v. 11.
' 1 Tim. v. 2. Jerome substitutes ' love ' for ' rebuke.'
1 Rom. xii. 17, cf. Letter cxvii. §4. « Rom. ii. 24.
6 1 Cor. ix. 5. « 1 Cor. x. 29. ' 1 Cor. ix. 14.
8 1 Cor. iv. 12 : 1 Thess. ii. 9 : 2 Cor. xii. 14. » 1 Cor. viii. 13.
!° Matt. vi- 25. 27. 34- " Gen. xxviii. 11-13.
*a Ci. Letters cviii. § 13 and cxviii. § 7.
To pass over much of the story (for there is no
time to explain all the points in the narrative)
after twenty years he who before had passed
over Jordan with his staff returned into his
native land with three droves of cattle, rich in
flocks and herds and richer still in children.'
The apostles likewise travelled throughout the
world without either money in their purses, or
staves in their hands, or shoes on their feet ; 2
and yet they could speak of themselves as " hav-
ing nothing and yet possessing all things."3
" Silver and gold," say they, " have we none,
but such as we have give we thee : in the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up
and walk."4 For they were not weighed
down with the burthen of riches. Therefore
they could stand, as Elijah, in the crevice of
the rock, they could pass through the needle's
eye, and behold the back parts of the Lord.5
But as for us we burn with covetousness
and, even while we declaim against the love of
money, we hold out our skirts to catch gold
and never have enough.6 There is a common
saying about the Megarians which may rightly
be applied to all who suffer from this passion :
" They build as if they are to live forever ;
they live as if they are to die to-morrow."
We do the same, for we do not believe the
Lord's words. When we attain the age which
all desire we forget the nearness of that death
which as human beings we owe to nature and
with futile hope promise to ourselves a long
length of years. No old man is so weak and
decrepit as to suppose that he will not live
for one year more. A forgetfulness of his
true condition gradually creeps upon him ; so
that — earthly creature that he is and close to
dissolution as he stands — he is lifted up into
pride, and in imagination seats himself in
heaven.
16. But what am I doing? Whilst I talk
about the cargo, the vessel itself founders.
He that letteth ' is taken out of the way, and
yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near.
Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus
Christ "shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth."8 "Woe unto them," he cries, "that
are with child, and to them that give suck in
those days." 9 Now these things are both the
fruits of marriage.
I shall now say a few words of our present
miseries. A few of us have hitherto survived
them, but this is due not to anything we have
done ourselves but to the mercy of the Lord.
Savage tribes in countless numbers have over-
1 Gen. xxxii. 7. 10. ~ Matt. x. 9, 10.
3 2 Cor. vi. 10. 4 Acts iii. 6.
6 1 K. xix. 11-13, cf. Exod. xxxiii. 21-23. * Cf. Juv. i. 88.
7 Jerome follows Tertullian, Irenaeus, and the majority of
the fathers in supposing the apostle to allude to the Roman
Empire. See Letter CXX1. §11, Comm. in Hierem. xxv. 26,
Comm. in Dan. vii. 7, 8.
6 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8. » Matt. xxiv. 19,
LETTER CXXIII.
237
run all parts of Gaul. The whole country be-
tween the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the
Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by
hordes of Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans,
Gepids, Herules, Saxons, Burgundians, Alle-
manni and— alas ! for the commonweal ! — even
Pannonians. For " Assur also is joined with
them. " ' The once noble city of Moguntiacum 2
has been captured and destroyed. In its
church many thousands have been massacred.
The people of Vangium 3 after standing a long
siege have been extirpated. The powerful
city of Rheims, the Ambiani, the Altrebatas,'
the Belgians on the skirts of the world, Tour-
nay, Spires, and Strasburg have fallen to Ger-
many : while the provinces of Aquitaine and
of the Nine Nations, of Lyons and of Nar-
bonne are with the exception of a few cities
one universal scene of desolation. And those
which the sword spares without, famine rav-
ages within. I cannot speak without tears of
Toulouse which has ,been kept from falling
hitherto by the merits of its reverend bishop
Exuperius.5 Even the Spains are on the
brink of ruin and tremble daily as they recall
the invasion of the Cymry ; and, while others
suffer misfortunes once in actual fact, they
suffer them continually in anticipation.
17. I say nothing of other places that I may
not seem to despair of God's mercy. All that
is ours now from the Pontic Sea to the Julian
Alps in days gone by once ceased to be ours.
For thirty years the barbarians burst the bar-
rier of the Danube and fought in the heart of
the Roman Empire. Long use dried our
tears. For all but a few old people had been
born either in captivity or during a blockade,
and consequently they did not miss a liberty
which they had never known. Yet who will
hereafter credit the fact or what histories will
seriously discuss it, that Rome has to fight
within her own borders not for glory but for
bare life ; and that she does not even fight but
buys the right to exist by giving gold and sac-
rificing all her substance ? This humiliation
has been brought upon her not by the fault of
her Emperors 6 who are both most religious
men, but by the crime of a half-barbarian
traitor 7 who with our money has armed our
foes against us.8 Of old the Roman Empire
was branded with eternal shame because after
ravaging the country and routing the Romans
at the Allia, Brennus with his Gauls entered
Rome itself.0 Nor could this ancient stain be
1 Ps. Ixxxiii. 8. 2 Now Maintz. 3 Now Worms.
4 Tribes whose memories linger in the names Amiens and
Arras.
6 See note on Letter LIV. § n. 9 Arcadius and Honorius.
7 Stilicho who induced the senate to grant a subsidy to the
Gothic King Alaric. See Gibbon. C. xxx.
8 This, one of Jerome's few criticisms on the public policy of
his day, shows him to have taken a narrow and inadequate view
of the issues involved.
v In the year 390 b.c.
wiped out until Gaul, the birth-place of the
Gauls, and Gaulish Greece,1 wherein they had
settled after triumphing over East and West,
were subjugated to her sway. Even Hanni-
bal2 who swept like a devastating storm from
Spain into Italy, although he came within sight
of the city, did not dare to lay siege to it.
Even Pyrrhus3 was so completely bound by
the spell of the Roman name that destroying
everything that came in his way, he yet with-
drew from its vicinity and, victor though he
was, did not presume to gaze upon what he had
learned to be a city of kings. Yet in return for
such insults — not to say such haughty pride —
as theirs which ended thus happily for Rome,
one1 banished from all the world found death
at last by poison in Bithynia ; while the other *
returning to his native land was slain in his own
dominions. The countries of both became
tributary to the Roman people. But now, even
if complete success attends our arms, we can
wrest nothing from our vanquished foes but
what we have already lost to them. The poet
Lucan describing the power of the city in a
glowing passage says : °
If Rome be weak, where shall we look for strength?
we may vary his words and say :
If Rome be lost, where shall we look for help ?
or quote the language of Virgil :
Had I a hundred tongues and throat of bronze
The woes of captives I could not relate
Or ev'n recount the names of all the slain.7
Even what I have said is fraught with danger
both to me who say it and to all who hear it ;
for we are no longer free even to lament our
fate, and are unwilling, nay, I may even say,
afraid to weep for our sufferings.
Dearest daughter in Christ, answer me this
question : will you marry amid such scenes as
these ? Tell me, what kind of husband will
you take ? One that will run or one that will
fight ? In either case you know what the
result will be. Instead of the Fescennine
song,8 the hoarse blare of the terrible trumpet
will deafen your ears and your very brides-
women may be turned into mourners. In
what pleasures can you hope to revel now that
you have lost the proceeds of all your posses-
sions, now that you see your small retinue
under close blockade and a prey to the in-
roads of pestilence and famine ? But far be
it from me to think so meanly of you or to
harbour any suspicions of one who has dedi-
cated her soul to the Lord. Though nomin-
1 i.e. Galatia. .
1 The great Carthaginian general in the second Punic war.
3 King of Epirus who invaded Italy in the years 280, 279. 276,
4 Hannibal. 6 Pyrrhus. 6 Lucan, Phars. v. 274.
7 Virg. A. vi. 625-627, 8 See note on Letter CXXX. § 5.
i&
JEROME.
ally addressed to you my words are really
meant for others such as are idle, inquisitive
and given to gossip. These wander from
house to house and from one married lady to
another,1 their god is their belly and their
glory is in their shame,'2 of the scriptures they
know nothing except the texts which favour
second marriages, but they love to quote the
example of others to justify their own self-
indulgence, and flatter themselves that they
are no worse than their fellow-sinners. When
you have confounded the shameless proposals
of such women by explaining the true drift of
the apostle's meaning ; then to show you by
what mode of life you can best preserve your
widowhood, you may read with advantage
what I have written. I mean my treatise on
the preservation of virginity addressed to
Eustochium 3 and my two letters to Furia 4
and Salvina.5 Of these two latter you may
like to know that the first is daughter-in-law
to Probus some time consul, and the second
daughter to Gildo formerly governour of
Africa. This tract on monogamy I shall call
by your name.
LETTER CXXIV.
TO AVITUS.
Avitus to whom this letter is addressed is probably
the same person who induced Jerome to write to Salvina
(see Letter LXXIX., £ i, ante). The occasion of
writing is as follows. Ten years previously (that is to
say in A.D. 399 or 400) Pammachius had asked Jerome
to supply him with a correct version of Origen's First
Principles to enable him to detect the variations intro-
duced by Rufinus into his rendering. This Jerome
willingly did (see Letters LXXXIII. and LXXXIV.)
but when the work in its integrity was perused by Pam-
machius he thought it so erroneous in doctrine that he
determined not to circulate it. However, "a certain
brother" induced him to lend the MS. to him for a
short time ; and then, when he had got it into his hands,
had a hasty and incorrect transcript made, which he
forthwith published much to the chagrin of Pammachius.
Falling into the hands of Avitus a copy of this much
perplexed him and he seems to have appealed to Jerome
for an explanation. This the latter now gives forward-
ing at the same time an authentic edition of his version
of the First Principles. The date of the letter is A.D.
409 or 410.
i. About ten years ago that saintly man
Pammachius sent me a copy of a certain per-
son's rendering," or rather misrendering, of Ori-
gen's First Principles ; with a request that in a
Latin version I should give the true sense of the
Greek and should set down the writer's words
for good or for evil without bias in either di-
rection.7 When I did as he wished and sent
him the book,8 he was shocked to read it and
locked it up in his desk lest being circulated
it might wound the souls of many. However,
a certain brother, who had " a zeal for God
but not according to knowledge," ' asked for
a loan of the manuscript that he might read it ;
and, as he promised to return it without delay,
Pammachius, thinking no harm could happen
in so short a time, unsuspectingly consented.
Hereupon he who had borrowed the book to
read, with the aid of scribes copied the whole
of it and gave it back much sooner than he
had promised. Then with the same rashness
or — to use a less severe term — thoughtlessness
he made bad worse by confiding to others
what he had thus stolen. Moreover, since a
bulky treatise on an abstruse subject is diffi-
cult to reproduce with accuracy, especially if
it has to be taken down surreptitiously and in
a hurry, order and sense were sacrificed in
several passages. Whence it comes, my dear
Avitus, that you ask me to send you a copy of
my version as made for Pammachius and not
for the public, a garbled edition of which has
been published by the aforesaid brother.
2. Take then what you have asked for ;
but know that there are countless things in
the book to be abhorred, and that, as the Lord
says, you will have to walk among scorpions
and serpents." It begins by saying that Christ
was made God's son not born ; 3 that God the
Father, as He is by nature invisible, is invis-
ible even to the Son ; ' that the Son, who is the
likeness of the invisible Father, compared
with the Father is not the truth but compared
with us who cannot receive the truth of the
almighty Father seems a figure of the truth so
that we perceive the majesty and magnitude
of the greater in the less, the Father's glory
limited in the Son ; 6 that God the Father is
a light incomprehensible and that Christ com-
pared with him is but a minute brightness,
although by reason of our incapacity to us he
appears a great one.0 The Father and the
Son are compared to two statues, a larger one
and a small ; the first filling the world and
being somehow invisible through its size, the
second cognisable by the eyes of men.7 God
the Father omnipotent the writer terms good
and of perfect goodness ; but of the Son he
says : " He is not good but an emanation and
likeness of goodness ; not good absolutely but
only with a qualification, as ' the good shep-
herd ' and the like." * The Holy Spirit he
places after the Father and the Son as third
in dignity and honour. And while he de-
1 1 Tim. v. 13.
* Letter LIV.
a Phil. iii. 19. " Letter XXII.
6 Letter LXXIX.
' The ' certain person ' is of course Rufinus.
' See Letter LXXXIII. " See Letter LXXXIV.
» Cf. Lukex. 19: Ezek. ii. 6.
1 Rom. x. 2. R.V.
3 This statement is not borne out by the existing fragments of
the treatise. In fact Origen declares Christ's divinity in unam-
biguous language. " Being God he was made man." First
Principles. I. Preface.
1 F. P.. I. 1, 8. 6F. P., I. 2, 6. «F. P., I. 2. 7.
7 F. P., I. 2, 8.
B F. P., I. ?, 9, 13. The last words are omitted by Rufinus.
LETTERS CXXIII., CXXIV.
239
clares that he does not know whether the
Holy Spirit is created or uncreated,1 he has
later on given his own opinion that except
God the Father alone there is nothing uncre-
ated. " The Son," he states, " is inferior to
the Father, inasmuch as He is second and the
Father first ; and the Holy Spirit which dwells
in all the saints is inferior to the Son. In the
same way the power of the Father is greater
than that of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Likewise the power of the Son is greater than
that of the Holy Spirit, and as a consequence
the Holy Spirit in its turn has greater virtue
than other things called holy."'
3. Then, when he comes to deal with rational
creatures and to describe their lapse into
earthly bodies as due to their own negligence,
he goes on to say : " Surely it argues great
negligence and sloth for a soul so far to
empty itself as to fall into sin and allow it-
self to be tied to the material body of an
unreasoning brute ; " and in a subsequent
passage : " These reasonings induce me to
suppose that it is by their own free act that
some are numbered with God's saints and ser-
vants, and that it was through their own fault
that others fell from holiness into such negli-
gence that they were changed into forces of
an opposite kind." 3 He maintains that after
every end a fresh beginning springs forth and
an end from each beginning, and that whole-
sale variation is possible ; so that one who is
now a human being may in another world be-
come a demon, while one who by reason of his
negligence is now a demon may hereafter be
placed in a more material body and thus be-
come a human being.4 So far does he carry
this transforming process that on his theory
an archangel may become the devil and the
devil in turn be changed back into an arch-
angel. " Such as have wavered or faltered
but have not altogether fallen shall be made
subject, for rule and government and guidance,
to better things — to principalities and powers,
to thrones and dominations ; and of these
perhaps another human race will be formed,
when in the words of Isaiah there shall be
' new heavens and a new earth.' 6 But such as
have not deserved to return through humanity
to their former estate shall become the devil
and his angels, demons of the worst sort ; and
according to what they have done shall have
special duties assigned to them in particular
worlds." Moreover, the very demons and
rulers of darkness in any world or worlds, if
they are willing to turn to better things, may
become human beings and so come back to
their first beginning. That is to say, after
1 F. P., I. Preface, 4.
a F. P., I. 3,5, The words are omitted by Rufinus.
8 F. P., I. 5, 5. * F. P., I. 6, 2. 6 Isa. lxv.
they have borne the discipline of punishment
and torture for a longer or a shorter time in
human bodies, they may again reach the
angelic pinnacles from which they have fallen.
Hence it may be shewn that we men may
change into any other reasonable beings, and
that not once only or on emergency but time
after time ; we and angels shall become de-
mons if we neglect our duty ; and demons, if
they will take to themselves virtues, may at-
tain to the rank of angels.
4. Bodily substances too are to pass away
utterly or else at the end of all things will be-
come highly rarified like the sky and aether
and other subtle bodies. It is clear that these
principles must affect the writer's view of the
resurrection. The sun also and the moon and
the rest of the constellations are alive. Nay
more ; as we men by reason of our sins are
enveloped in bodies material and sluggish ; so
the lights of heaven have for like reasons re-
ceived bodies more or less luminous, and
demons have been for more serious faults
clothed with starry frames. This, he argues,
is the view of the apostle who writes : — " the
creation has been subjected to vanity and shall
be delivered for the revealing of the sons of
God." ' That it may not be supposed that I
am imputing to him ideas of my own I shall
give his actual words. " At the end and con-
summation of the world," he writes, " when
souls and beings endowed with reason shall be
released from prison by the Lord, they will
move slowly or fly quickly according as they
have previously been slothful or energetic.
And as all of them have free will and are free
to choose virtue or vice, those who choose the
latter will be much worse off than they now
are. But those who choose the former will
improve their condition. Their movements
and decisions in this direction or in that will
determine their various futures ; whether, that
is, angels are to become men or demons, and
whether demons are to become men or angels."
Then after adducing various arguments -in
support of his thesis and maintaining that
while not incapable of virtue the devil has
yet not chosen to be virtuous, he has finally
reasoned with much diffuseness that an angel,
a human soul, and a demon — all according to
him of one nature but of different wills — may
in punishment for great negligence or folly be
transformed into brutes. Moreover, to avoid
the agony of punishment and the burning flame
the more sensitive may choose to become low
organisms, to dwell in water, to assume the
shape of this or that animal ; so that we have
reason to fear a metamorphosis not only into
four-footed things but even into fishes. Then,
1 Rom. viii. 19-21, R.V.
1^6
JEROME.
lest he should be held guilty of maintaining
with Pythagoras the transmigration of souls,
he winds up the wicked reasoning with which
he has wounded his reader by saying : " I must
not be taken to make dogmas of these things ;
they are only thrown out as conjectures to
shew that they are not altogether overlooked."
5. In his second book he maintains a plural-
ity of worlds; not, however, as Epicurus
taught, many like ones existing at once, but a
new one beginning each time that the old
comes to an end. There was a world before
this world of ours, and after it there will be
first one and then another and so on in regu-
lar succession. He is in doubt whether one
world shall be so completely similar to another
as to leave no room for any difference between
them, or whether one world shall never
wholly be indistinguishable from another.
And again a little farther on he writes : "if,
as the course of the discussion makes neces-
sary, all things can live without body, all
bodily existence shall be swallowed up and
that which once has been made out of nothing
shall again be reduced to nothing. And yet
a time will come when its use will be once
more necessary." And in the same context :
" but if, as reason and the authority of script-
ure shew, this corruptible shall put on
incorruption and this mortal shall put on
immortality, death shall be swallowed up in
victory and corruption in incorruption. ' And
it may be that all bodily existence shall be
removed, for it is only in this that death can
operate." And a little farther on : " if these
things are not contrary to the faith, it may be
that we shall some day live in a disembodied
state. Moreover, if only he is fully subject to
Christ who is disembodied, and if all must be
made subject to Him, we too shall lose our
bodies when we become fully subject to Him."
And in the same passage: "if all are to be
made subject to God, all shall lay aside their
bodies ; and then all bodily existence shall be
brought to nought. But if through the fall of
reasonable beings it is a second time required
it will reappear. For God has left souls to
strive and struggle, to teach them that full
and complete victory is to be attained not by
their own efforts but by His grace. And so
to my mind worlds vary with the sins which
cause them, and those are exploded theories
which maintain that all worlds are alike."
And again : " three conjectures occur to me
with regard to the end ; it is for the reader to
determine which is nearest to the truth. For
either we shall be bodiless when being made
subject to Christ we shall be made subject to
God and He shall be all in all ; or as things
1 1 Cor. xv. S3, 5*.
made subject to Christ shall be with Christ
Himself made subject to God and brought
under one law, so all substance shall be re-
fined into its most perfect form and rarificd
into aether which is a pure and uncompounded
essence ; or else the sphere which I have
called motionless and all that it contains will
be dissolved into nothing, and the sphere in
which the antizone1 itself is contained shall be
called 'good ground,'2 and that other sphere
which in its revolution surrounds the earth
and goes by the name of heaven shall be
reserved for the abode of the saints."
6. In speaking thus does he not most
clearly follow the error of the heathen and
foist upon the simple faith of Christians the
ravings of philosophy ? In the same book he
writes : " it remains that God is invisible.
But if He is by nature invisible, He must be
so even to the Saviour." And lower down :
" no soul which has descended into a human
body has borne upon it so true an impress of
its previous character as Christ's soul of which
He says : ' no man taketh it from me, but I
lay it down of myself.' " 3 And in another
place : " we must carefully consider whether
souls, when they have won salvation and have
attained to the blessed life, may not cease to
be souls. For as the Lord and Saviour came
to seek and to save that which was lost 4 that
it might cease to be lost ; so the lost soul
which the Lord came to save, when saved,
will cease to be a soul. We must ask our-
selves whether, as the lost was not lost once
and again will not be, the soul likewise may
have been and again may be not a soul." 5
And after a good many remarks upon the
soul he brings in the following, " vovz or "
intelligence by falling becomes a soul ; and by
acquiring virtue this will become intelligence
again. This at least is a fair inference from
the case of Esau who for his old sins is con-
demned to lead a lower life. And concerning
the heavenly bodies we must make a similar
acknowledgment. The soul of the sun — or
whatever else you like to call it — does not
date its existence from the creation of the
world ; it already existed before it entered its
shining and glowing body. So also with the
moon and stars. From antecedent causes
they have been made subject to vanity not
willingly but for future reward," and are
forced to do not their own will but the cre-
ator's who has assigned to them their several
spheres."
7. Hellfire, moreover, and the torments with
1 This word is doubtful. 2 Matt. xiii. 8.
3 Joh. x. 18. * Luke xix. 10.
6 The paralogism in this reasoning— so obvious to modern
minds— is due to the confusion of the copula with the verb sub-
stantive.
6 Rom. viii. 20.
LETTER CXXIV.
241
which holy scripture threatens sinners he ex-
plains not as external punishments but as the
pangs of guilty consciences when by God's
power the memory of our transgressions is set
before our eyes. " The whole crop of our sins
grows up afresh from seeds which remain in
the soul, and all our dishonourable and unduti-
ful acts are again pictured before our gaze.
Thus it is the fire of conscience and the stings
of remorse which torture the mind as it looks
back on former self-indulgence." And again :
" but perhaps this coarse and earthly body
ought to be described as mist and darkness ;
for at the end of this world and when it be-
comes necessary to pass into another, the like
darkness will lead to the like physical birth."
In speaking thus he clearly pleads for the
transmigration of souls as taught by Pythago-
ras and Plato.1 And at the end of the second
book in dealing with our perfection he has
said : " when we shall have made such prog-
ress as not only to cease to be flesh or body
but perhaps also to cease to be souls our per-
fect intelligence and perception, undimmed
with any mist of passion, will discern reason-
able and intelligible substances face to face.
8. In the third book the following faulty
statements are contained. " If we once ad-
mit that, when one vessel is made to honour
and another to dishonour,2 this is due to ante-
cedent causes ; why may we not revert to the
mystery of the soul and allow that it is loved
in one and hated in another because of its past
actions, before in Jacob it becomes a sup-
planter and before in Esau it is supplanted ? " 3
And again : " the fact that souls are made
some to honour and some to dishonour is to
be explained by their previous history." And
in the same place : " on this hypothesis of
mine a vessel made to honour which fails to
fulfil its object will in another world become a
vessel made to dishonour ; and contrariwise a
vessel which has from a previous fault been
condemned to dishonour will, if it accepts cor-
rection in this present life, become in the new
creation a vessel ' sanctified and meet for the
Master's use and prepared unto every good
work.'"4 And he immediately goes on to
say : " I believe that men who begin with
small faults may become so hardened in
wickedness that, if they do not repent and
turn to better things, they must become in-
human energies ; 5 and contrariwise that hos-
tile and demonic beings may in course of time
so far heal their wounds and check the current
of their former sins that they may attain to
the abode of the perfect. As I have often
said, in those countless and unceasing worlds
in which the soul lives and has its being some
1 Phaedo, 70-77.
4 2 Tim. ii. 2i
3 2 Tim. ii. 20.
6 i.e. demons.
3 Mai. i. 2, 3.
grow worse and worse until they reach the
lowest depths of degradation ; while others in
those lowest depths grow better and better
until they reach the perfection of virtue."
Thus he tries to shew that men, or rather their
souls, may become demons ; and that demons
in turn may be restored to the rank of angels.
In the same book he writes : " this too must
be considered ; why the human soul is di-
versely acted upon now by influences of one
kind and now by influences of another." And
he surmises that this is due to conduct which
has preceded birth. It is for this, he argues,
that John leaps in his mother's womb when at
Mary's salutation Elizabeth declares herself
unworthy of her notice.1 And he immediately
subjoins : " on the other hand infants that are
hardly weaned are possessed with evil spirits
and become diviners and soothsayers ; a indeed,
some are indwelt from their earliest years with
the spirit of a python. Now as they have
done nothing to bring upon themselves these
visitations, one who holds that nothing hap-
pens without God's permission, and that all
things are governed by His justice, cannot
suppose that God's providence has abandoned
them without good reason.
9. Again, of the world he writes thus : " The
belief commends itself to me that there was a
world before this world and that after it there
will be another. Do you wish to know that
after the decay of this world there will be a
new one ? Hear the words of Isaiah : ' the new
heavens and the new earth which I will make
shall remain before me.' 3 Do you wish to
know that before the making of this world
there have previously been others ? Listen to
the Preacher who says : ' the thing which
hath been, it is that which shall be ; and that
which is done is that which shall be done :
and there is no new thing under the sun. Is
there anything whereof it may be said, See,
this is new ? It hath been already of old
time, which was before us.' 4 A passage
which proves not only that other worlds
have been but that other worlds shall be ;
not, however, simultaneously and side by
side but one after another." And he im-
mediately adds : " I hold that heaven is the
abode of the deity, the true place of rest ; and
that it was there that reasonable creatures
enjoyed their ancient bliss, before coming
down to a lower plane and exchanging the
invisible for the visible, they fell to the earth
and came to need material bodies. Now that
they have fallen, God the creator has made
for them bodies suitable to their surroundings ;
and has fashioned this visible world, and has
sent into it ministers to ensure the salva-
' Luke i. £i.
3 Isa, lxvi. 2
aCf. Acts xvi. 16, A.V. margin,
* Eccles. i. 9, 10,
24-
JEROME.
tion and correction of the fallen. Of these
ministers some have held assigned positions
and have been subject to the world's necessary
laws; while others have intelligently per-
formed duties laid upon them in times and
seasons determined by God's plan. To the
former class belong the sun, moon, and stars
called by the apostle ' the creation ; ' and
these have had allotted to them the heights of
heaven. Now the creation is subjected to
vanity ' because it is encased in material
bodies and visible to the eye. And yet it
is ' made subject to vanity not willingly but
by reason of him who hath subjected the same
in hope.' Others again of the second class,
at particular places and times known to their
Maker only, we believe to be His angels sent
to steer the world." A little farther on he
says : " the affairs of the world are so ordered
by Providence that while some angels fall
from heaven others freely glide down to earth.
The former are hurled down against their
will ; the latter descend from choice alone.
The former are forced to continue in a dis-
tasteful service for a fixed period ; the latter
spontaneously embrace the task of lending a
hand to those who fall." Again he writes :
" whence it follows that these different move-
ments result in the creation of different worlds ;
and that this world of ours will be succeeded
by one quite unlike it. Now, as regards this
falling and rising, this rewarding of virtue and
punishment of vice, whether they take place in
the past, present, or future, God, the creator,
can alone apportion desert and make all things
converge to one end. For He only knows
why He allows some to follow their own
inclination and to descend from the higher
planes to the lowest ; and why He visits
others and giving them His hand draws them
back to their former state and places them
once more in heaven."
io. In discussing the end of the world he
has made use of the following language.
" Since, as I have often said, a new beginning
springs from the end, it may be asked whether
bodies will then continue to exist, or whether,
when they have been annihilated, we shall live
without bodies and be incorporeal as we know
God to be. Now there can be no doubt but
that, if bodies or, as the apostle calls them,
visible things, belong only to our sensible
world, the life of the disembodied will be
incorporeal." And a little farther on : "when
the apostle writes, 'the creation shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the liberty of the glory of the children of
God,' ' I explain his words thus. Reasonable
and incorporeal beings are the highest of
1 Rom. viii. 20, R.V.
3 Rom. viii. 91, R.V.
God's creatures, for not being clothed with
bodies they are not the slaves of corruption.
Since where there are bodies, there corruption
is sure to be found. But hereafter 'the crea-
tion shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption,' and then men shall receive the
glory of the children of God and God shall be
all in all." And in the same passage he
writes : "that the final state will be an incor-
poreal one is rendered credible by the words
of our Saviour's prayer : ' as thou, Father, art
in me and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us.' ' For we ought to realize what God is
and what the Saviour will finally be, and how
the likeness to the Father and the Son here
promised to the Saints consists in this that as
They are one in Themselves so we shall be
one in Them. For if in the end the life of the
Saints is to be assimilated to the life of God,
we must either admit that the Lord of the
universe is clothed with a body and that he is
enveloped in matter as we are in flesh ; or, if
it is unbecoming to suppose this, especially in
persons who have but small clues from which
to infer God's majesty and to guess at the
glory of His innate and transcendent nature,
we are reduced to the following dilemma.
Either we shall always have bodies and in
that case must despair of ever being like God ;
or, if the blessedness of the life of God is
really promised to us, the conditions of His
life must be the conditions of ours."
11. These passages prove what his view is
regarding the resurrection. For he evidently
maintains that all bodies will perish and that
we shall be incorporeal as according to him
we were before we received our present bodies.
Again when he comes to argue for a variety of
worlds and to maintain that angels will become
demons, demons either angels or men, and
men in their turn demons ; in a word that
everything will be turned into something else,
he thus sums up his own opinion : " no doubt,
after an interval matter will exist afresh and
bodies will be formed and a different world
will be created to meet the varying wills of
reasonable beings who, having forfeited the
perfect bliss which continues to the end, have
gradually fallen into so great wickedness as to
change their' nature and refuse to keep their
first estate of unalloyed blessedness. Many
reasonable beings, it is right to say, keep it
until a second, a third, and a fourth world,
and give God no ground for changing their
condition. Others deteriorate so little that
they seem to have lost hardly anything, and
others again have to be hurled headlong into
the abyss. God who orders all things alone
knows how to use each class according to its
Joh. xvii. 2t.
LETTER CXXIV.
243
deserts in a suitable sphere ; for He only
understands opportunities and motives and the
course in which the world must be steered.
Thus one who has borne away the palm for
wickedness and has sunk into the lowest deg-
radation will in the world which is hereafter
to be fashioned be made a devil, a kind of first
fruits of the Lord's handiwork, to be a laugh-
ing stock to the angels who have lost their
first virtue." What is this but to argue that
the sinful men of this world may become a
devil and demons in another ; and contrari-
wise that those who are now demons may
hereafter become either men or angels ? And
after a lengthy discussion in which he main-
tains that all corporeal creatures must ex-
change their material for subtle and spiritual
bodies and that all substance must become one
pure and inconceivably bright body, of which
the human mind can at present form no con-
ception, he winds up thus : — " ' God shall be
all in all ; ' that is to say, all bodily existence
shall be made as perfect as possible ; it shall
be brought into the divine essence, than which
there is none better."
12. In the fourth and last book of his work
the following passages deserve the church's
condemnation. " It may be that as, when
men die in this world by the separation of
soul and body, they are allotted different
positions in hell according to the difference
in their works ; so when angels die out of
the system of the heavenly Jerusalem, they
come down to this world as a hell and are
placed on earth according to their deserts."
And again : " as we have compared the souls
which pass from this world to hell with those
which as they come from heaven to us are in
a manner dead ; so we must carefully inquire
whether this is true of all souls without ex-
ception. For in that case souls born on earth
when they desire better things rise out of hell
and assume human bodies or when they desire
worse things come down to us from better
worlds ; and in the firmament above us like-
wise there are souls on their way from our
world to higher ones, and others who, while
they have fallen from heaven, have not sinned
so grievously as to be thrust down to earth."
He thus tries to prove that the firmament, that
is the sky, is hell compared with heaven ; and
that this earth is hell compared with the firm-
ament ; and again that our world is heaven to
hell. Or in other words what is hell to some
is heaven to others. And not content with
saying this he goes on : " at the end of all
things when we shall return to the heavenly
Jerusalem the hostile powers shall declare war1
against the people of God to breathe and exer-
1 Reading adversariorum fortitudinura
bella consurgere.
cise their valour and strengthen their resolve.
For this they cannot have until they have
faced and foiled their foes ; of whom we read
in the book of Numbers ' that they are over-
come by reason, discipline, and tactical skill."
13. After saying that according to the
apocalypse of John " the everlasting gospel "
which shall be revealed in heaven 2 as much
surpasses our gospel as Christ's preaching
does the sacraments3 of the ancient law, he
has asserted what it is sacrilegious even to
think ; that Christ will once more suffer in
the sky for the salvation of demons. And
although he has not expressly said it, it is yet
implied in his words that as for men God be-
came man to set men free, so for the salvation
of demons when He comes to deliver them
He will become a demon. To shew that this
is no gloss of mine, I must give his own words :
" As Christ," he writes, " has fulfilled the
shadow of the law by the shadow of the gos-
pel, and as all law is a pattern and shadow of
things done in heaven, we must inquire
whether we are justified in supposing that
even the heavenly law and the rites of the
celestial worship are still incomplete and need
the true gospel which in the apocalypse of
John is called everlasting to distinguish it
from ours which is only temporal, set forth in
a world that shall pass away. Now if we ex-
tend our inquiry to the passion of our Lord
and Saviour, it may indeed be overbold to
suppose that He will suffer in heaven ; yet
if there is spiritual wickedness in heavenly
places 4 and if we confess without a blush that
the Lord has once been crucified to destroy
those things which He has destroyed by His
passion ; why need we fear to imagine a like
occurrence in the upper world in the fulness
of time, so that the nations of all realms shall
be saved by a passion of Christ ? "
14. Here is another blasphemy which he
has spoken of the Son. " Assuming that the
Son knows the Father, it would seem that by
this knowledge He can comprehend Him as
much as a craftsman can comprehend the rules
of his art. And, doubtless, if the Father is
in the Son, He is also comprehended by Him
in whom He is. But if we mean by compre-
hension not merely that the knower takes a
thing in by perception and insight but that he
contains it within himself by virtue of a special
faculty ; in this sense we cannot say that the
Son comprehends the Father. For the Father
comprehends all things, and of these the Son
is one ; therefore, He comprehends the Son."
And to shew us reasons why, while the Father
1 Passim. 2 Rev. xiv. 6.
3 This term had not in Jerome's time become restricted to its
later sense. Anything mysterious or sacred was called a sacra-
ment. Here it refers to the mystic teaching of the O.T.
* Eph. vi. »2.
244
JEROME.
comprehends the Son, the Son cannot com-
prehend the Father, he adds : " the curious
reader may inquire whether the Father knows
Himself in the same way that the Son knows
Him. But if he recalls the words: 'the
Father who sent me is greater than I,' ' he
will allow that they must be universally true
and will admit that, in knowledge as in every-
thing else, the Father is greater than the Son,
and knows Himself more perfectly and im-
mediately than the Son can do."
15. The following passage is a convincing
proof that he holds the transmigration of souls
and annihilation of bodies. " If it can be
shewn that an incorporeal and reasonable
being has life in itself independently of the
body and that it is worse off in the body than
out of it ; then beyond a doubt bodies are
only of secondary importance and arise from
time to time to meet the varying conditions
of reasonable creatures. Those who require
bodies are clothed with them, and contrariwise,
when fallen souls have lifted themselves up to
better things, their bodies are once more anni-
hilated. They are thus ever vanishing and
ever reappearing." And to prevent us from
minimizing the impiety of his previous utter-
ances he ends his work by maintaining that all
reasonable beings, that is, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, angels, powers, domina-
tions, and virtues, and even man by right of
his soul's dignity, are of one and the same
essence. " God," he writes, " and His only-
begotten Son and the Holy Spirit are conscious
of an intellectual and reasonable nature. But
so also are the angels, the powers, and the vir-
tues, as well as the inward man who is created
in the image and after the likeness of God.2
From which I conclude that God and they are
in some sort of one essence." He adds "in
some sort " to escape the charge of blasphemy ;
and while in another place he will not allow
the Son and the Holy Spirit to be of one sub-
stance with the Father lest by so doing he
should appear to make the divine essence
divisible, he here bestows the nature of God
almighty upon angels and men.
16. This being the nature of Origen's book,
is it anything short of madness to change a few
blasphemous passages regarding the Son and
the Holy Spirit and then to publish the rest
unchanged with an unprincipled eulogy when
the parts unaltered as well as the parts altered
flow from the same fountain head of gross im-
piety ? This is not the time to confute all the
statements made in detail ; and indeed those
who have written against Arius, Eunomius,
Manichaeus, and various other heretics must
be supposed to have answered these blas-
1 Joh. xiv. 28
• 2 Cor. iv. 16 : Gen. i. 27.
phemies as well. If anyone, therefore, wishes
to read the work let him walk with his feet
shod towards the land of promise ; let him
guard against the jaws of the serpent and the
crooked jaws of the scorpion ; let him read this
treatise first and before he enters upon the
path let him know the dangers which he will
have to avoid.
LETTER CXXV.
TO RUSTICUS.
Rusticus, a young monk of Toulouse, (to be carefully
distinguished from the recipient of Letter CXXII.) is
advised by Jerome not to become an anchorite but to
continue in a community. Rules are suggested for the
monastic life and a vivid picture is drawn of the differ-
ence between a good monk and a bad. Incidentally
Jerome indulges his spleen against his dead opponent
Rufinus (j^iS). The date of the letter is 411 A.L).
1. No man is happier than the Christian, for
to him is promised the kingdom of heaven.
No man struggles harder than he, for he goes
daily in danger of his life. No man is stronger,
for he overcomes the Devil. No man is weaker,
for he is overcome by the flesh. Both pairs of
statements can be proved by many examples.
For instance, the robber believes upon the
cross and immediately hears the assuring
words : " verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt
thou be with me in paradise : " ' while Judas
falls from the pinnacle of the apostolate into
the abyss of perdition. Neither the close in-
tercourse of the banquet nor the dipping of the
sop2 nor the Lord's gracious kiss3 can save
him from betraying as man Him whom he had
known as the Son of God. Could any one have
been viler than the woman of Samaria ? Yet
not only did she herself believe, and after her
six husbands find one Lord, not only did she
recognize that Messiah by the well, whom the
Jews failed to recognize in the temple ; she
brought salvation to many and, while the
apostles were away buying food, refreshed the
Saviour's hunger and relieved His weariness.4
Was ever man wiser than Solomon ? Yet love
for women made even him foolish. Salt is
good, and every offering must be sprinkled
with it.0 Wherefore also the apostle has given
commandment : " let your speech be alway
with grace, seasoned with salt."0 But " if the
salt have lost his savour," it is cast out.7 And
so utterly does it lose its value that it is not
even fit for the dunghill," whence believers
fetch manure to enrich the barren soil of their
souls.
I begin thus, Rusticus my son, to teach you
1 Luke xxiii. 43.
4 Joh. iv.
7 Matt. v. 13.
- Joh. xiii. 26.
6 Lev. ii. 13.
8 Luke xiv. 35.
3 Matt. xxvi. 4/),
6 Col. iv. 6.
LETTERS CXXIV., CXXV.
245
the greatness of your enterprise and the lofti-
ness of your ideal ; and to shew you that only
by trampling under foot youthful lusts can
you hope to climb the heights of true ma-
turity. For the path along which you walk is
a slippery one and the glory of success is less
than the shame of failure.
2. I need not now conduct the stream of my
discourse through the meadows of virtue, nor
exert myself to shew to you the beauty of its
several flowers. I need not dilate on the pur-
ity of the lily, the modest blush of the rose,
the royal purple of the violet, or the promise of
glowing gems which their various colours hold
out. For through the mercy of God you have
already put your hand to the plough ; ' you
have alreadygone up upon the housetop like the
apostle Peter, 2 who when he became hungry
among the Jews had his hunger satisfied by
the faith of Cornelius, and stilled the craving
caused by their unbelief through the conver-
sion of the centurion and other Gentiles. By
the vessel let down from heaven to earth, the
four corners of which typified the four gospels,
he was taught that all men can be saved. Once
more, this fair white sheet which in his vision
was taken up again was a symbol of the church
which carries believers from earth to heaven,
an assurance that the Lord's promise should
be fulfilled : " blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God." 3
All this means that I take you by the hand
and do my best to impress certain facts upon
your mind ; that, like a skilled sailor who has
been through many shipwrecks, I am anxious
to caution an inexperienced passenger of the
risks before him. For on one side is the
Charybdis of covetousness, " the root of all
evil ;"4 and on the other lurks the Scylla of
detraction girt with the railing hounds of
which the apostle says : " if ye bite and devour
one another, take heed that ye be not consumed
one of another." 6 Sometimes, you must know,
the quicksands of vice 6 suck us down as we
sail at ease through the calm water ; and the
desert of this world is not untenanted by ven-
omous reptiles.
3. Those who navigate the Red Sea — where
we must pray that the true Pharaoh may be
drowned with all his host — have to encounter
many difficulties and dangers before they
reach the city of Auxuma.7 Nomad savages
and ferocious wild beasts haunt the shores on
either side. Thus travellers must be always
armed and on the alert, and they must carry
with them a whole year's provisions. More-
over, so full are the waters of hidden reefs and
1 Luke ix. 62. 2 Acts x. 9-16.
3 Matt. v. 8. 4 1 Tim. vi. 10.
6 Gal. v. 15. 6 LybicaE Syrtes.
T An important city of Abyssinia in Jerome's day, 120 miles
from the Red Sea. It is now in ruins.
VOL. VI. R
impassable shoals that a look-out has con-
stantly to be kept from the masthead to direct
the helmsman how to shape his course. They
may count themselves fortunate if after six
months they make the port of the above-men-
tioned city. At this point the ocean begins, to
cross which a whole year hardly suffices. Then
India is reached and the river Ganges — called
in holy scripture Pison — " which compasseth
the whole land of Havilah " ' and is said to
carry down with it — from its source in para-
dise— various dyes and pigments. Here are
found rubies and emeralds, glowing pearls and
gems of the first water, such as high born
ladies passionately desire. There are also
mountains of gold which however men cannot
approach by reason of the griffins, dragons,
and huge monsters which haunt them ; for
such are the guardians which avarice needs
for its treasures.
4. What, you ask, is the drift of all this ?
Surely it is clear enough. For if the mer-
chants of the world undergo such hardships to
win a doubtful and passing gain, and if after
seeking it through many dangers they only
keep it at risk of their lives ; what should
Christ's merchant do who " selleth all that he
hath " that he may acquire the " one pearl of
great price ; " who with his whole substance
buys a field that he may find therein a treasure
which neither thief can dig up nor robber
carry away ? '
5. I know that I must offend large num-
bers who will be angry with my criticisms
as aimed at their own deficiencies. Yet
such anger does but shew an uneasy con-
science and they will pass a far severer sen-
tence on themselves than on me. For I shall
not mention names ; or copy the licence of
the old comedy3 which criticized individuals.
Wise men and wise women will try to hide
or rather to correct whatever they perceive
to be amiss in them ; they will be more
angry with themselves than with me, and
will not be disposed to heap curses upon
the head of their monitor. For he, although
he is liable to the same charges, is certainly
superior in this that he is discontented with
his own faults.
6. I am told that your mother is a religious
woman, a widow of many years' standing;
and that when you were a child she reared
and taught you herself. Afterwards when you
had spent some time in the flourishing schools
of Gaul she sent you to Rome, sparing no ex-
pense and consoling herself for your absence
by the thought of the future that lay before
you. She hoped to see the exuberance and
J Gen. ii. 11. 2 Matt. xiii. 45-46 : vi. 19, 20.
3 The Old Comedy at Athens ridiculed citizens by name.
Most of the extant plays of Aristophanes belong to it.
246
JEROME.
glitter of your Gallic eloquence toned down
by Roman sobriety, for she saw that you re-
quired the rein more than the spur. So we
are told of the greatest orators of Greece that
they seasoned the bombast of Asia with the
salt of Athens and pruned their vines when
they grew too fast. For they wished to fill
the wine-press of eloquence not with the ten-
drils of mere words but with the rich grape-
juice of good sense. Your mother has done
the same thing for you ; you should, therefore,
look up to her as a parent, love her as a tender
nurse, and venerate her as a saint. You must
not imitate those who leave their own relations
and pay court to strange women. Their in-
famy is apparent to all, for what they aim at
under the pretence of pure affection ' is simply
illicit intercourse. I know some women of
riper years, indeed a good many, who, finding
pleasure in their young freedmen, make them
their spiritual children and thus, pretending
to be mothers to them, gradually overcome
their own sense of shame and allow themselves
in the licence of marriage. Other women de-
sert their maiden sisters and unite themselves
to strange widows. There are some who hate
their parents and have no affection for their
kin. Their state of mind is indicated by a
restlessness which disdains excuses ; they rend
the veil of chastity and put it aside like a cob-
web. Such are the ways of women ; not, in-
deed, that men are any better. For there are
persons to be seen who (for all their girded
loins, sombre garb, and long beards) are in-
separable from women, live under one roof
with them, dine in their company, have young
girls to wait upon them, and, save that they
do not claim to be called husbands, are as good
as married. Still it is no fault of Christianity
that a hypocrite falls into sin ; rather, it is the
confusion of the Gentiles that the churches
condemn what is condemned by all good
men.
7. But if for your part you desire to be a
monk and not merely to seem one, be more
careful of your soul than of your property ;
for in adopting a religious profession you have
renounced this once for all. Let your gar-
ments be squalid to shew that your mind is
white ; and your tunic coarse to prove that
you despise the world. But give not way to
pride Jest your dress and language be found
at variance. Baths stimulate the senses and
must, therefore, be avoided ; for to quench
natural heat is the -aim of chilling fasts. Yet
even these must be moderate, for, if they are
carried to excess, they weaken the stomach
and by making more food necessary to it pro-
mote indigestion, that fruitful parent of un-
1 Pietas.
clean desires. A frugal and temperate diet is
good for both body and soul.
See your mother as often as you please but
not with other women, for their faces may
dwell in your thoughts and so
A secret wound may fester in your breast.1
The maidservants who attend upon her you
must regard as so many snares laid to entrap
you ; for the lower their condition is the more
easy is it for you to effect their ruin. John
the Baptist, had a religious mother and his
father was a priest.2 Yet neither his mother's
affection nor his father's wealth could induce
him to live in his parents' house at the risk of
his chastity. He lived in the desert, and
seeking Christ with his eyes refused to look
at anything else. His rough garb, his girdle
made of skins, his diet of locusts and wild
honey 3 were all alike designed to encourage vir-
tue and continence. The sons of the prophets,
who were the monks of the Old Testament,
built for themselves huts by the waters of Jor-
dan and forsaking the crowded cities lived in
these on pottage and wild herbs.4 As long
as you are at home make your cell your
paradise,6 gather there the varied fruits of
scripture, let this be your favourite companion,
and take its precepts to your heart. If your
eye offend you or your foot or your hand, cast
them from you.0 To spare your soul spare
nothing else. The Lord says : " whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his
heart."7 "Who can say," writes the wise
man, " I have made my heart clean ? " 8 The
stars are not pure in the Lord's sight ; how
much less men whose whole life is one long
temptation.9 Woe be to us who commit forni-
cation every time that we cherish lust. " My
sword," God says, " hath drunk its fill in
heaven ; " 10 much more then upon the earth
with its crop of thorns and thistles.11 The
chosen vessel 12 who had Christ's name ever on
his lips kept under his body and brought it
into subjection.13 Yet even he was hindered
by carnal desire and had to do what he would
not. As one suffering violence he cries : "O
wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver
me from the body of this death ? " " Is it
likely then that you can pass without fall or
wound, unless you keep your heart with all
diligence,15 and say with the Saviour: "my
mother and my brethren are these which hear
the word of God and do it." 1G This may
seem cruelty, but it is really affection. What
1 Virgil, JEn, iv. 67.
3 Mark i. 6.
6 i. e. ' garden.'
8 Prov. xx. 9.
11 Gen. iii. 18.
14 Rom. vii. 24.
2 Pontifex.
4 2 Kings iv. 38, 39: vi. 1, 2.
9 Matt, xviii. 8, 9. ' Matt. v. 28.
8 Job xxv. s, 6. 10 Isa. xxxiv. 5, R.V,
12 Acts ix. 15. 13 1 Cor. ix. 27.
15 Prov. iv. 23. 16 Luke viii. z\.
LETTER CXXV.
247
greater proof, indeed, can there be of affection
than to guard for a holy mother a holy son ?
She too desired your eternal welfare and is
content to forego seeing you for a time that
she may see you for ever with Christ. She is
like Hannah who brought forth Samuel not
for her own solace but for the service of the
tabernacle.1
The sons of Jonadab, we are told, drank
neither wine nor strong drink and dwelt in
tents pitched wherever night overtook them.2
According to the psalter they were the first to
undergo captivity ; for, when the Chaldasans
began to ravage Judah they were compelled to
take refuge in cities.3
8. Others may think what they like and fol-
low each his own bent. But to me a town is
a prison and solitude paradise. Why do we
long for the bustle of cities, we whose very
name speaks of loneliness?4 To fit him for
the leadership of the Jewish people Moses was
trained for forty years in the wilderness ; 5 and
it was not till after these that the shepherd of
sheep became a shepherd of men. The apos-
tles were fishers on lake Gennesaret before
they became " fishers of men."6 But at the
Lord's call they forsook all that they had,
father, net, and ship, and bore their cross daily
without so much as a rod in their hands.
I say these things that, in case you desire to
enter the ranks of the clergy, you may learn
what you must afterwards teach, that you may
offer a reasonable sacrifice 7 to Christ, that you
may not think yourself a finished soldier while
still a raw recruit, or suppose yourself a mas-
ter while you are as yet only a learner. It
does not become one of my humble abilities
to pass judgment upon the clergy or to speak
to the discredit of those who are ministers in
the churches. They have their own rank and
station and must keep it. If ever you become
one of them my published letter to Nepotian "
will teach you the mode of life suitable to you
in that vocation. At present I am dealing
with the forming and training of a monk ; of
one too who has put the yoke of Christ upon
his neck after receiving a liberal education in
his younger days.
9. The first point to be considered is
whether you ought to live by yourself or in a
monastery with others.9 For my part I should
like you to have the society of holy men so as
not to be thrown altogether on your own
resources. For if you set out upon a road
that is new to you without a guide, you are
sure to turn aside immediately either to the
right or to the left, to lay yourself open to the
1 1 Sam. i. 27, 28. 2 Jer. xxxv. 6. 7.
3 See Letter LVIII. § 5 and note there.
4 An allusion to the word ' monachus.' ' solitary ' or ' monk.'
5 Acts vii. 2g, 30. 6 Matt. iv. 19. * Rom. xii. 1.
8 Letter LII. » Cf. Letter CXXX. § 17.
assaults of error, to go too far or else not
far enough, to weary yourself with running
too fast or to loiter by the way and to fall
asleep. In loneliness pride quickly creeps
upon a man : if he has fasted for a little while
and has seen no one, he fancies himself a per-
son of some note ; forgetting who he is, whence
he comes, and whither he goes, he lets his
thoughts riot within and outwardly indulges
in rash speech. Contrary to the apostle's
wish he judges another man's servants,1 puts
forth his hand to grasp whatever his appetite
desires, sleeps as long he pleases, fears nobody,
does what he likes, fancies everyone inferior to
himself, spends more of his time in cities than
in his cell, and, while with the brothers he
affects to be retiring, rubs shoulders with
the crowd in the streets. What then, you
will say ? Do I condemn a solitary life ? By
no means : in fact I have often commended
it. But I wish to see the monastic schools
turn out soldiers who have no fear of the
rough training of the desert, who have ex-
hibited the spectacle of a holy life for a con-
siderable time, who have made themselves
last that they might be first, who have not
been overcome by hunger or satiety, whose
joy is in poverty, who teach virtue by their
garb and mien, and who are too conscientious
to invent — as some silly men do — monstrous
stories of struggles with demons, designed to
magnify their heroes in the eyes of the crowd
and before all to extort money from it.
10. Quite recently we have seen to our sor-
row a fortune worthy of Croesus brought to
light by a monk's death, and a city's alms, col-
lected for the poor, left by will to his sons and
successors. After sinking to the bottom the
iron has once more floated upon the surface,2
and men have again seen among the palm-
trees the bitter waters of Marah.3 In this
there is, however, nothing strange, for the man
had for his companion and teacher one who
turned the hunger of the needy into a source
of wealth for himself and kept back sums left
to the miserable to his own subsequent misery.
Yet their cry came up to heaven and entering
God's ears overcame His patience. Where-
fore, He sent an angel of woe to say to this new
Carmelite, this second Nabal,4 "Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee :
then whose shall those things be which thou
hast provided ? " 5
11. If I wish you then not to live with your
mother, it is for the reasons given above, and
above all for the two following. If she offers
you delicacies to eat, you will grieve her by
refusing them ; and if you take them, you will
add fuel to the flame that already burns within
1 Rom. xiv. 4.
4 1 Sam. xxv. 38.
2 2 K. vi. 5, 6. ' Ex. xv. 23, 27.
6 Luke xii. 20.
K 2
248
JEROME.
you. Again in a house where there are so many
girls you will see in the daytime sights that
will tempt you at night. Never take your
hand or your eyes off your book ; learn the
psalms word for word, pray without ceasing,1 be
always on the alert, and let no vain thoughts
lay hold upon you. Direct both body and
mind to the Lord, overcome wrath by patience,
love the knowledge of scripture, and you will
no longer love the sins of the flesh. Do not
let your mind become a prey to excitement,
for if this effects a lodgment in your breast it
will have dominion over you and will lead you
into the great transgression.2 Always have
some work on hand, that the devil may find
you busy. If apostles who had the right to
live of the Gospel 3 laboured with their own
hands that they might be chargeable to no
man,4 and bestowed relief upon others whose
carnal things they had a claim to reap as hav-
ing sown unto them spiritual things ; B why
do you not provide a supply to meet your
needs ? Make creels of reeds or weave
baskets out of pliant osiers. Hoe your ground ;
mark out your garden into even plots ; and
when you have sown your cabbages or set
your plants convey water to them in conduits ;
that you may see with your own eyes the
lovely vision of the poet :
Art draws fresh water from the hilltop near
Till the stream plashing down among the rocks
Cools the parched meadows and allays their thirst.8
Graft unfruitful stocks with buds and slips
that you may shortly be rewarded for your
toil by plucking sweet apples from them.
Construct also hives for bees, for to these the
proverbs of Solomon send you,7 and you may
learn from the tiny creatures how to order a
monastery and to discipline a kingdom. Twist
lines too for catching fish, and copy books ;
that your hand may earn your food and your
mind may be satisfied with reading. For
" every one that is idle is a prey to vain de-
sires."8 In Egypt the monasteries make it
a rule to receive none who are not willing to
work ; for they regard labour as necessary not
only for the support of the body but also for
the salvation of the soul. Do not let your
mind stray into harmful thoughts, or, like
Jerusalem in her whoredoms, open its feet to
every chance comer.9
12. In my youth when the desert walled me
in with its solitude I was still unable to endure
the promptings of sin and the natural heat of
my blood ; and, although I tried by frequent
fasts to break the force of both, my mind still
surged with [evil] thoughts.10 To subdue its
1 1 Thess. v. 17.
3 1 Cor. ix. 14.
6 1 Cor. ix. 11. « Virg.,G,
8 Prov. xiii. 4, LXX. * Ezek. xvi. 25
2 Ps. xix. 13.
4 1 Thess. ii. 0.: 1 Cor. iv. 12.
i. 108-10. 7 Prov. vi. 8, LXX.
10 Cf. Letter XXII. § 7.
turbulence I betook myself to a brother ' who
before his conversion had been a Jew and
asked him to teach me Hebrew. Thus, after
having familiarised myself with the pointedness
of Quintilian, the fluency of Cicero, the seri-
ousness of Fronto and the gentleness of Pliny,
I began to learn my letters anew and to study
to pronounce words both harsh and guttural.
What labour I spent upon this task, what dif-
ficulties I went through, how often I despaired,
how often I gave over and then in my eagerness
to learn commenced again, can be attested both
by myself the subject of this misery and by
those who then lived with me. But I thank
the Lord that from this seed of learning sown
in bitterness I now cull sweet fruits.
13. I will recount also another thing that I
saw in Egypt. There was in a community a
young Greek the flame of whose desire neither
continual fasting nor the severest labour could
avail to quench. He was in great danger of
falling, when the father of the monastery
saved him by the following device. He gave
orders to one of the older brothers to pursue
him with objurgations and reproaches, and
then after having thus wronged him to be
beforehand with him in laying a complaint
against him. When witnesses were called
they spoke always on behalf of the aggressor.
On hearing such falsehoods he used to weep
that no one gave credit to the truth ; the
father alone used cleverly to put in a word for
him that he might not be " swallowed up with
overmuch sorrow. " 2 To make the story short,
a year passed in this way and at the expiration
of it the young man was asked concerning his
former evil thoughts and whether they still
troubled him. " Good gracious," he replied,
"how can I find pleasure in fornication when
I am not allowed so much as to live ? " Had
he been a solitary hermit, by whose aid could
he have overcome the temptations that assailed
him ?
14. The world's philosophers drive out an
old passion by instilling a new one ; they ham-
mer out one nail by hammering in another.3
It was on this principle that the seven princes
of Persia acted towards king Ahasuerus, for
they subdued his regret for queen Vashti by
inducing him to love other maidens.4 But
whereas they cured one fault by another fault
and one sin by another sin, we must overcome
our faults by learning to love the opposite
virtues. " Depart from evil," says the psalm-
ist, "and do good ; seek peace and pursue it." !
For if we do not hate evil we cannot love
1 In Letter XVIII. § 10 Jerome speaks of his teacher as one so
learned in the Hebrew language that the very scribes regarded
him as a Chaldsean (i.e., as a graduate of the Babylonian school
of Rabbinic learning).
2 2 Cor. ii. 7. 3 Cic.,T. Q. iv. 35.
4 Esth. ii. 1-4. s ps. xxxiv. 14.
LETTER CXXV.
249
good. Nay more, we must do good if we are
to depart from evil. We must seek peace if
we are to avoid war. And it is not enough
merely to seek it ; when we have found it and
when it flees before us we must pursue it with
all our energies. For " it passeth all under-
standing ; " ' it is the habitation of God. As
the psalmist says, " in peace also is his habita-
tion." 2 The pursuing of peace is a fine meta-
phor and may be compared with the apostle's
words, "pursuing hospitality."3 It is not
enough, he means, for us to invite guests with
our lips ; we should be as eager to detain them
as though they were robbers carrying off our
savings.
15. No art is ever learned without a master.
Even dumb animals and wild herds follow
leaders of their own. Bees have princes, and
cranes fly after one of their number in the
shape of a Y.4 There is but one emperor and
each province has but one judge. Rome was
founded by two brothers, 5 but, as it could not
have two kings at once, was inaugurated by
an act of fratricide. So too Esau and Jacob
strove in Rebekah's womb.0 Each church
has a single bishop, a single archpresbyter, a
single archdeacon ; 7 and every ecclesiastical
order is subjected to its own rulers. A ship
has but one pilot, a house but one master, and
the largest army moves at the command of
one man. That I may not tire you by heap-
ing up instances, my drift is simply this. Do
not rely on your own discretion, but live in a
monastery. For there, while you will be under
the control of one father, you will have many
companions ; and these will teach you, one
humility, another patience, a third silence, and
a fourth meekness. You will do as others
wish ; you will eat what you are told to eat ;
you will wear what clothes are given you ; you
will perform the task allotted to you ; you will
obey one whom you do not like, you will come
to bed tired out ; you will go to sleep on your
feet and you will be forced to rise before you
have had sufficient rest. When your turn
comes, you will recite the psalms, a task which
requires not a well modulated voice but genu-
ine emotion. The apostle says : " I will pray
with the spirit and I will pray with the under-
standing also," 8 and to the Ephesians, " make
melody in your hearts to the Lord." ' For he
had read the precept of the psalmist : " Sing
ye praises with understanding." 10 You will
serve the brothers, you will wash the guests7
1 Phil. iv. 7. 2 Ps. lxxvi. 2, LXX.
3 Rom. xii. 13, R.V. mare. 4 Pliny, N. H. x. 32.
6 Romulus and Remus, the first of whom slew the second.
6 Gen. xxv. 22.
7 When Jerome wrote, these terms had but recently come into
use in the West ; no doubt, however, the offices described by
them were of older date. Archpresbyters seem to have been
the forerunners of those who are now called " rural deans."
6 1 Cor. xiv. 15. » Eph. v. 19. 10 Ps. xlvii. 7.
feet ; if you suffer wrong you will bear it in
silence ; the superior of the community you will
fear as a master and love as a father. What-
ever he may order you to do you will believe
to be wholesome for you. You will not pass
judgment upon those who are placed over you,
for your duty will be to obey them and to do
what you are told, according to the words
spoken by Moses : " keep silence and hearken,
O Israel." ' You will have so many tasks to
occupy you that you will have no time for
[evil] thoughts ; and while you pass from one
thing to another and fresh work follows work
done, you will only be able to think of what
you have it in charge at the moment to do.
16. But I myself have seen monks of quite
a different stamp from this, men whose re-
nunciation of the world has consisted in a
change of clothes and a verbal profession,
while their real life and their former habits
have remained unchanged. Their property
has increased rather than diminished. They
still have the same servants and keep the same
table. Out of cheap glasses and common
earthenware they swallow gold. With ser-
vants about them in swarms they claim for
themselves the name of hermits. Others who
though poor think themselves discerning, walk
as solemnly as pageants 2 through the streets
and do nothing but snarl 3 at every one whom
they meet. Others shrug their shoulders and
croak out what is best known to themselves.
While they keep their eyes fixed upon the earth,
they balance swelling words upon their tongues.4
Only a crier is wanted to persuade you that it is
his excellency the prefect who is coming along.
Some too there are who from the dampness of
their cells and from the severity of their fasts,
from their weariness of solitude and from ex-
cessive study have a singing in their ears day
and night and turn melancholy mad so as to
need the poultices of Hippocrates b more than
exhortations from me. Great numbers are
unable to break free from the crafts and trades
they have previously practised. They no
longer call themselves dealers but they carry
on the same traffic as before ; seeking for
themselves not " food and raiment " 6 as the
apostle directs, but money-profits and these
greater than are looked for by men of the
world. In former days the greed of sellers
was kept within bounds by the action of the
^Ediles or as the Greeks call them market-
inspectors,7 and men could not then cheat
with impunity. But now persons who profess
religion are not ashamed to seek unjust profits
and the good name of Christianity is more
1 Deut. xxvii. 9. R.V. 2 Cic, Off. 1. 36.
3 Caninam e.xercent facundiam. The phrase recurs in Letter
CXXXIV. § 1. 4 See also Lactantius, vi. 18.
5 The most celebrated physician of antiquity.
6 1 Tim. vi. 8. ' 'ayopavpoi..
250
JEROME.
often a cloak for fraud than a victim to it.
I am ashamed to say it, yet it must be said —
we are at least bound to blush for our infamy
— while in public we hold out our hands for
alms we conceal gold beneath our rags ; and
to the amazement of every one after living as
poor men we die rich and with our purses
well-filled.
But you, since you will not be alone but
one of a community, will have no temptation
to act thus. Things at first compulsory will
become habitual. You will set to work un-
bidden and will find pleasure in your toil. You
will forget things which are behind and will
reach forth to those which are before.1 You
will think less of the evil that others do than
of the good you ought to do.
17. Be not led by the multitude of those
who sin, neither let the host of those who per-
ish tempt you to say secretly : " What ? must
all be lost who live in cities ? Behold, they
continue to enjoy their property, they serve
churches, they frequent baths, they do not dis-
dain cosmetics, and yet they are universally
well-spoken of." To this kind of remark I
have before replied and now shortly reply
again that the object of this little work is not
to discuss the clergy but to lay down rules for
a monk. The clergy are holy men and their
lives are always worthy of praise. Rouse
yourself then and so live in your monastery
that you may deserve to be a clergyman, that
you may preserve your youth from defilement,
that you may go to Christ's altar as a virgin
cut of her chamber. See that you are well-
reported of without and that women are famil-
iar with your reputation but not with your
appearance. When you come to mature years,
if, that is, you live so long, and when you
have been chosen into the ranks of the clergy
either by the people of the city or by its
bishop, act in a way that befits a clergyman,
and choose for your models the best of your
brothers. For in every rank and condition of
life the bad are mingled with the good.
18. Do not be carried away by some mad
caprice and rush into authorship. Learn long
and carefully what you propose to teach. Do
not credit all that flatterers say to you, or, I
should rather say, do not lend too ready an
ear to those who mean to mock you. They
will fawn upon you with fulsome praise and
do their best to blind your judgment ; yet if
you suddenly look behind you, you will find
that\hey are making gestures of derision with
their hands, either a stork's neck or the flap-
ping ears of a donkey or a thirsty dog's pro-
truding tongue.2.
Never speak evil of. anyone or suppose that
» Phil. ill. 13,
> Imitated from Persius (I. 58-60).
you make yourself better by assailing the repu-
tations of others. The charges we bring
against them often come home to ourselves ;
we inveigh against faults which are as much
ours as theirs ; and so our eloquence ends by
telling against ourselves. It is as though
dumb persons were to criticize orators. When
the grunter ' wished to speak he used to come
forward at a snail's pace 2 and to utter a word
now and again with such long pauses between
that he seemed less making a speech than
gasping for breath. Then, when he had placed
his table and arranged on it his pile of books,
he used to knit his brow, to draw in his nos-
trils, to wrinkle his forehead and to snap his
fingers, signs meant to engage the attention
of his pupils. Then he would pour forth a
torrent of nonsense and declaim so vehement-
ly against every one that you would take him
for a critic like Longinus3 or fancy him a sec-
ond Cato the Censor4 passing judgment on
Roman eloquence and excluding whom he
pleased from the senate of the learned. As
he had plenty of money he made himself
still more popular by giving entertainments.
Numbers of persons shared in his hospitality ;
and thus it was not surprising that when he
went out he was surrounded always by a
buzzing throng. At home he was a monster
like Nero, abroad a paragon like Cato. Made
up of different and opposing natures, as a
whole he baffled description. You would say
that he was formed of jarring elements like
that unnatural and unheard of monster of
which the poet tells us that it was ' in front a
lion, behind a dragon, in the middle the goat
whose name it bears.' 5
19. Men such as these you must never look
at or associate with. Nor must you turn aside
your heart unto words of evil 6 lest the psalm-
ist say to you : " Thou sittest and speakest
against thy brother ; thou slanderest thine
own mother's son," ' and lest you become as
" the sons of men whose teeth are spears and
arrows," B and as the man whose "words were
softer than oil yet were they drawn swords." 3
The Preacher expresses this more clearly still
when he says : " Surely the serpent will bite
where there is no enchantment, and the slan-
1 i.e., Rufinus who was now dead. The nickname is taken
from a burlesque very popular in Jerome's day entitled " The
Porker's Last Will and Testament." In this the testator's full
name is set down as Marcus Grunnius Corocotta, i.e., Mark
Grunter Hog. In the beginning of the twelfth book of his
commentary on Isaiah Jerome mentions the "Testament" as
being then a popular school book.
2 Plautus, Aulularia, I. 1. 10.
3 A Platonist of the third century after Christ, much cele-
brated for his learning and critical skill. "To judge like
Longinus " became a synonym for accurate discrimination.
4 A martinet of the old school, who did his utmost to oppose
what he considered the luxury of his age. He was censor in
184 B.C.
6 Lucr. V. 905, Munro. The words come first from Homer, IL
vi. 181, where the Chimxra is described.
6 Ps. cxli. 4, Vulg. » Ps. 1. 20.
s Ps. lvii. 4. » Ps. lv. a:.
LETTER CXXV.
251
derer is no better." x But you will say, ' I
am not given to detraction, but how can I
check others who are ? ' If we put forward
such a plea as this it can only be that we may
" practise wicked works with men that work
iniquity." 2 Yet Christ is not deceived by
this device. It is not I but an apostle who
says : " Be not deceived ; God is not mocked." 3
" Man looketh upon the outward appearance
but the Lord looketh upon the heart." 4 And
in the proverbs Solomon tells us that as " the
north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry
countenance a backbiting tongue." 5 It some-
times happens that an arrow when it is aimed
at a hard object rebounds upon the bowman,
wounding the would-be wounder, and thus, the
words are fulfilled, " they were turned aside
like a deceitful bow," 6 and in another pas-
sage : " whoso casteth a stone on high casteth
it on his own head."7 So when a slanderer
sees anger in the countenance of his hearer
who will not hear him but stops his ears that
he may not hear of blood,8 he becomes silent
on the moment, his face turns pale, his lips
stick fast, his mouth becomes parched. Where-
fore the same wise man says : " meddle not
with them that are given to detraction : for
their calamity shall rise suddenly ; and who
knoweth the ruin of them both ? " 8 of him
who speaks, that is, and of him who hears.
Truth does not love corners or seek whisper-
ers. To Timothy it is said, " Against an elder
receive not an accusation suddenly ; but him
that sinneth rebuke before all, that others also
may fear." 10 When a man is advanced in
years you must not be too ready to believe
evil of him ; his past life is itself a defence,
and so also is his rank as an elder. Still, since
we are but human and sometimes in spite of
the ripeness of our years fall into the sins of
youth, if I do wrong and you wish to correct
me, accuse me openly of my fault : do not
backbite me secretly. " Let the righteous
smite me, it shall be a kindness, and let him
reprove me ; but let not the oil of the sinner
enrich my head. " n For what says the
apostle ? " Whom the Lord loveth, he chas-
teneth, and scourgeth every son whom he re-
ceiveth." 13 By the mouth of Isaiah the Lord
speaks thus : " O my people, they who call you
happy cause you to err and destroy the way
of your paths." 13 How do you help me by
telling my misdeeds to others ? You may,
without my knowing of it, wound some one
else by the narration of my sins or rather of
those which you slanderously attribute to me ;
and while you are eager to spread the news in
all quarters, you may pretend to confide in
each individual as though you had spoken to
no one else. Such a course has for its object
not my correction but the indulgence of your
own failing. The Lord gives commandment
that those who sin against us are to be ar-
raigned privately or else in the presence of a
witness, and that if they refuse to hear reason,
the matter is to be laid before the church, and
those who persist in their wickedness are to be
regarded as heathen men and publicans.1
20. I lay great emphasis on these points
that I may deliver a young man who is dear
to me from the itching both of the tongue and
of the ears : that, since he has been born again
in Christ, I may present him without spot or
wrinkle2 as a chaste virgin,'3 chaste in mind
as well as in body ; that the virginity of which
he boasts may be more than nominal and that
he may not be shut out by the bridegroom
because being unprovided with the oil of good
works his lamp has gone out.4 In Proculus
you have a reverend and most learned pre-
late," able by the sound of his voice to do
more for you than I with my written sheets
and sure to direct you on your path by daily
homilies. He will not suffer you to turn to
the right hand or to the left or to leave the
king's highway ; for to this Israel pledges
itself to keep in its hasty passage to the land
of promise.6 May God hear the voice of the
church's supplication. " Lord, ordain peace
for us, for thou hast also wrought all our
works for us." 7 May our renunciation of the
world be made freely and not under compul-
sion ! May we seek poverty gladly to win its
glory and not suffer anguish because others
lay it upon us ! For the rest amid our present
miseries with the sword making havoc around
us, he is rich enough who has bread sufficient
for his need, and he is abundantly powerful
who is not reduced to be a slave. Exuperius,"
the reverend bishop of Toulouse, imitating the
widow of Zarephath,9 feeds others though hun-
gry himself. His face is pale with fasting,
yet it is the cravings of others that torment
him most. In fact he has bestowed his whole
substance to meet the needs of Christ's poor.
Yet none is richer than he, for his wicker
basket contains the body of the Lord, and his
plain glass-cup the precious blood. Like his
Master he has banished greed out of the tem-
ple ; and without either scourge of cords or
words of chiding he has overthrown the chairs
of them that sell doves, that is, the gifts of the
1 Eccl. x. 11, R V. marg. a Ps. cxli. 4.
3 Gal. vi. 7. 4 1 Sam. xvi. 7. 5 Prov. xxv. 23.
• Ps. l.xxviii. 57. ' Ecclus. xxvii. 25. 8 Isa. xxxiii. 15.
• Prov. xxiv. 21, 22 Vulg. I0 1 Tim. v. 19, 20 (inexact).
" Ps. cxli. 5. LXX. » Heb. xii. 6.
»s Isa. iii. 12. LXX.
1 Matt, xviii. is-17. 3 Eph. v. 27. s 2 Cor . xi. 2.
4 Matt xxv. 1-10. 6 He was bishop of Massilia (Marseilles).
• Num'. xx. 17. ' Isa- xxvi, 12 LXX.
e Bishop of Toulouse. See Letter LIV. 11, and Pref. to
Comm. on Zech.
» 1 Kings xvii. 8-16.
2^2
JEROME.
Holy Spirit. He has upset the tables of
Mammon and has scattered the money of the
money-changers ; zealous that the house of
God may be called a house of prayer and not
a den of robbers.1 In his steps follow closely
and in those of others like him in virtue,
whom the priesthood makes poor men and
more than ever humble. Or if you will be
perfect, go out with Abraham from your coun-
try and from your kindred, and go whither
you know not." If you have substance, sell
it and give to the poor. If you have none,
then are you free from a great burthen. Des-
titute yourself, follow a destitute Christ. The
task is a hard one, it is great and difficult ;
but the reward is also great.
LETTER CXXVI.
TO MARCELLINUS AND ANAPSYCHIA.
Marcellinus, a Roman official of high rank, and
Anapsychia his wife had written to Jerome from Africa
to ask him his opinion on the vexed question of the
origin of the soul. Jerome in his reply briefly enumer-
ates the several views that have been held on the sub-
ject. For fuller information he refers his questioners
to his treatise against Rufinus and also to their bishop
Augustin who will, he says, explain the matter to them
by word of mouth. Although it hardly appears in this
letter Jerome is a decided creationist (see his Comm. on
Eccles. xii. 7). But, though he vehemently condemns
Rufinus (Ap. ii. 10) for professing ignorance on the sub-
ject, he assents (Letter CXXXIV.) to Augustin (Letter
CXXXI.) who similarly professes ignorance but seems to
lean to traducianism. The date of writing is A.D. 412.
To his truly holy lord and lady, his children
worthy of the highest respect and affection,
Marcellinus and Anapsychia, Jerome sends
greeting.
1. I have at last received from Africa your
joint letter and no longer regret the effrontery
which led me, in spite of your silence to ply
you both with so many missives. I hoped,
indeed, by so doing to gain a reply and to
learn of your welfare not indirectly from others
but directly from yourselves.
I well remember your little problem about
the nature of the soul ; although I ought not to
call it little, seeing that it is one of the greatest
with which the church has to deal. You ask
whether it has fallen from heaven, as Pytha-
goras, all Platonists, and Origen suppose ; or
whether it is part of God's essence as the Stoics,
Manes, and the Spanish Priscillianists hint.
Whether souls created long since are kept in
God's storehouse as some ecclesiastical writers3
foolishly imagine ; or whether they are formed
by God and introduced into bodies day by day
according to that saying in the Gospel : " my
Father worketh hitherto and I work ; " 4 or
1 John 11. 14-16: Matt. xxi. 12,13. 2 Gen. xii. 1: Heb. xi. 8-
3 The allusion is probably to Clement of Alexandria.
4 John v. 17.
whether, lastly, they are transmitted by prop-
agation. This is the view of Tertullian,
Apollinaris, and most western writers who hold
that soul is derived from soul as body is from
body and that the conditions of life are the
same for men and brutes. I have given my
opinion on the matter in my reply to the
treatise which Rufinus presented to Anasta-
sius, bishop of Rome, of holy memory. He
strives in this by an evasive and crafty but
sufficiently foolish confession to play with the
simplicity of his hearers, but only succeeds in
playing with his own faith or rather want of
it. My book,1 which has been published a
good while, contains an answer to the calum-
nies which in his various writings Rufinus
has directed against me. Your reverend
father Oceanus2 has, I think, a copy of it.
But if you cannot procure it your bishop
Augustine is both learned and holy. He will
teach you by word of mouth and will give you
his opinion, or rather mine, in his own words.
2. I have long wished to attack the prophe-
cies of Ezekiel and to make good the promises
which I have so often given to curious read-
ers. When, however, I began to dictate I
was so confounded by the havoc wrought in
the West and above all by the sack of Rome
that, as the common saying has it, I forgot
even my own name. Long did I remain silent
knowing that it was a time to weep.3 This
year I began again and had written three
books of commentary when a sudden incur-
sion of those barbarians of whom your Virgil
speaks 4 as the " far-wandering men of Barce "
(and to whom may be applied what holy script-
ure says of Ishmael : " he shall dwell over
against all his brethren " b) overran the bor-
ders of Egypt, Palestine, Phenicia, and Syria,
and like a raging torrent carried everything
before them. It was with difficulty and only
through Christ's mercy that we were able to
escape from their hands. But if, as the great
orator says, " amid the clash of arms law
ceases to be heard ; " 6 how much more truly
may it be said that war puts an end to the
study of holy scripture. For this requires
plenty of books and silence and careful copy-
ists and above all freedom from alarm and a
sense of security. I have accordingly only
been able to complete two books and these I
have sent to my daughter, Fabiola,7 from
1 Against Rufinus, ii. §§ 8-10 ; iii. § 30 ; in neither place, how-
ever, does Jerome clearly state his own view.
2 See Letter LXIX. introduction. It is doubtful whether
Oceanus was in holy orders although the title ' father ' seems to
imply it.
3 Eccl. iii. 4.
4 Virg , A. iv. 43. It does not appear who these barbarians
were. Barce is near Cyrene in Africa.
5 Gen. xvi. 12. R.V. marg. 6 Cicero, pro Milon. 4.
7 This Fabiola (who must be carefully distinguished from the
lady so often mentioned by Jerome) is probably the person to
whom Augustine addressed a letter on communion with the
spiritual world.
LETTERS CXXV.-CXXVII.
253
whom you can if you like borrow them. For
want of time I have not been able as yet to
transcribe the rest. But when you have read
these you will have seen the ante-chamber
and will easily form from this a notion of the
whole edifice. I trust in God's mercy and
believe that, as he has helped me in the diffi-
cult opening chapters of the prophecy, so he
will help me in the chapters towards the close.
These describe the wars of Gog and Magog,
and set forth the mode of building, the plan,
and the dimensions of the holy and mysteri-
ous temple.
3. Our reverend brother Oceanus to whom
you desire an introduction is a great and good
man and so learned in the law of the Lord
that no words of mine are needed to make
him able and willing to instruct you both and
to explain to you in conformity with the rules
which govern our common studies, my opin-
ion and his on all questions arising out of the
scriptures. In conclusion, my truly holy lord
and lady, may Christ our God by his almighty
power have you in his safekeeping and cause
you to live long and happily.
LETTER CXXVII.
TO PRINCIPIA.
This letter is really a memoir of Marcella (for whom
see note on Letter XXIII.) addressed to her greatest
friend. After describing her history, character, and
favourite studies, Jerome goes on to recount her emi-
nent services in the cause of orthodoxy at a time when,
through the efforts of Rufinus, it seemed likely that
Origenism would prevail at Rome (§§ 9, 10). He
briefly relates the fall of the city and the horrors conse-
quent upon it (§§ 12, 13) which appear to have been
the immediate cause of Marcella's death (§ 14). The
date of the letter is 412 A.D.
1. You have besought me often and ear-
nestly, Principia,1 virgin of Christ, to dedicate
a letter to the memory of that holy woman
Marcella,2 and to set forth the goodness long
enjoyed by us for others to know and to imi-
tate. I am so anxious myself to do justice to
her merits that it grieves me that you should
spur me on and fancy that your entreaties
are needed when I do not yield even to you
in love of her. In putting upon record her
signal virtues I shall receive far more bene-
fit myself than I can possibly confer upon
others. If I have hitherto remained silent
and have allowed two years to go over without
making any sign, this has not been owing to a
wish to ignore her as you wrongly suppose,
but to an incredible sorrow which so overcame
my mind that I judged it better to remain
silent for a while than to praise her virtues
1 This Roman lady, like her friend Marcella, took a great in-
terest in the study of scripture. In Letter LXV. Jerome gives
her an explanation of the 45th Psalm.
» See Letter XXIII.
in inadequate language. Neither will I now
follow the rules of rhetoric in eulogizing one so
dear to both of us and to all the saints, Mar-
cella the glory of her native Rome. I will not
set forth her illustrious family and lofty lin-
eage, nor will I trace her pedigree through a
line of consuls and prgetorian prefects. I will
praise her for nothing but the virtue which is her
own and which is the more noble, because for-
saking both wealth and rank she has sought the
true nobility of poverty and lowliness.
2. Her father's death left her an orphan,
and she had been married less than seven
months when her husband was taken from her.
Then as she was young, and highborn, as well
as distinguished for her beauty — always an at-
traction to men — and her self-control, an illus-
trious consular named Cerealis paid court to her
with great assiduity. Being an old man he
offered to make over to her his fortune so that
she might consider herself less his wife than
his daughter. Her mother Albina went out
of her way to secure for the young widow so
exalted a protector. But Marcella answered :
" had I a wish to marry and not rather to dedi-
cate myself to perpetual chastity, I should look
for a husband and not for an inheritance ; "
and when her suitor argued that sometimes
old men live long while young men die early,
she cleverly retorted : " a young man may
indeed die early, but an old man cannot live
long." This decided rejection of Cerealis
convinced others that they had no hope of
winning her hand.
In the gospel according to Luke we read
the following passage : " there was one Anna,
a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the
tribe of Aser : she was of great age, and had
lived with an husband seven years from her
virginity ; and she was a widow of about four-
score and four years, which departed not from
the temple but served God with fastings and
prayers night and day." ' It was no marvel
that she won the vision of the Saviour, whom
she sought so earnestly. Let us then compare
her case with that of Marcella and we shall see
that the latter has every way the advantage.
Anna lived with her husband seven years ;
Marcella seven months. Anna only hoped for
Christ ; Marcella held Him fast. Anna con-
fessed him at His birth ; Marcella believed in
Him crucified. Anna did not deny the Child ;
Marcella rejoiced in the Man as king. I do
not wish to draw distinctions between holy
women on the score of their merits, as some
persons have made it a custom to do as regards
holy men and leaders of churches ; the con-
clusion at which I aim is that, as both have
one task, so both have one reward.
1 Luke ii. 36, 37.
254
JEROME.
3. In a slander-loving community such as
Rome, filled as it formerly was with people
from all parts and bearing the palm for wicked-
ness of all kinds, detraction assailed the up-
right and strove to defile even the pure and
the clean. In such an atmosphere it is hard to
escape from the breath of calumny. A stain-
less reputation is difficult nay almost impossi-
ble to attain ; the prophet yearns for it but
hardly hopes to win it : " Blessed," he says,
" are the undefiled in the way who walk in the
law of the Lord." ' The undefiled in the way
of this world are those whose fair fame no
breath of scandal has ever sullied, and who
have earned no reproach at the hands of their
neighbours. It is this which makes the Sav-
iour say in the gospel : " agree with," or be
complaisant to, " thine adversary whilst thou
art in the way with him." 2 Who ever heard a
slander of Marcella that deserved the least
credit ? Or who ever credited such without
making himself guilty of malice and defama-
tion ? No ; she put the Gentiles to confusion
by shewing them the nature of that Christian
widowhood which her conscience and mien
alike set forth. For women of the world are
wont to paint their faces with rouge and white-
lead, to wear robes of shining silk, to adorn
themselves with jewels, to put gold chains
round their necks, to pierce their ears and hang
in them the costliest pearls of the Red Sea,3
and to scent themselves with musk. While they
mourn for the husbands they have lost they re-
joice at their own deliverance and freedom to
choose fresh partners — not, as God wills, to
obey these 4 but to rule over them.
With this object in view they select for their
partners poor men who contented with the
mere name of husbands are the more ready to
put up with rivals as they know that, if they so
much as murmur, they will be cast off at once.
Our widow's clothing was meant to keep out
the cold and not to shew her figure. Of gold
she would not wear so much as a seal-ring,
choosing to store her money in the stomachs of
the poor rather than to keep it at her own dis-
posal. She went nowhere without her mother,
and would never see without witnesses such
monks and clergy as the needs of a large
house required her to interview. Her train
was always composed of virgins and widows,
and these women serious and staid ; for, as she
well knew, the levity of the maids speaks ill for
the mistress and a woman's character is shewn
by her choice of companions.5
4. Her delight in the divine scriptures was
incredible. She was for ever singing, " Thy
words have I hid in mine heart that I might
1 Ps. cxix. 1.
8 i.e. the Indian Ocean.
* Cf . Letter LXXIX. § 9.
2 Matt. v. 25.
* Eph. v. 32.
not sin against thee," ' as well as the words
which describe the perfect man, " his delight
is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night." a This
meditation in the law she understood not of
a review of the written words as among the
Jews the Pharisees think, but of action accord-
ing to that saying of the apostle, " whether,
therefore, ye eat or drink or what soever ye
do, do all to the glory of God." 3 She remem-
bered also the prophet's words, " through thy
precepts I get understanding," 4 and felt sure
that only when she had fulfilled these would
she be permitted to understand the scriptures.
In this sense we read elsewhere that " Jesus
began both to do and teach." 5 For teaching
is put to the blush when a man's conscience
rebukes him ; and it is in vain that his tongue
preaches poverty or teaches alms-giving if he
is rolling in the riches of Croesus and if, in
spite of his threadbare cloak, he has silken
robes at home to save from the moth.
Marcella practised fasting, but in modera-
tion. She abstained from eating flesh, and
she knew rather the scent of wine than its
taste ; touching it only for her stomach's sake
and for her often infirmities.6 She seldom
appeared in public and took care to avoid the
houses of great ladies, that she might not be
forced to look upon what she had once for
all renounced. She frequented the basilicas
of apostles and martyrs that she might escape
from the throng and give herself to private
prayer. So obedient was she to her mother
that for her sake she did things of which she
herself disapproved. For example, when her
mother, careless of her own offspring, was for
transferring all her property from her children
and grandchildren to her brother's family,
Marcella wished the money to be given to the
poor instead, and yet could not bring herself
to thwart her parent. Therefore she made
over her ornaments and other effects to per-
sons already rich, content to throw away her
money rather than to sadden her mother's
heart.
5. In those days no highborn lady at Rome
had made profession of the monastic life,
or had ventured — so strange and ignominious
and degrading did it then seem — publicly to
call herself a nun. It was from some priests of
Alexandria, and from pope Athanasius, and
subsequently from Peter,7 who, to escape the
persecution of the Arian heretics, had all fled
for refuge to Rome as the safest haven in
which they could find communion — it was
from these that Marcella heard of the life of
the blessed Antony, then still alive, and of the
' Ps. cxix. 11. » Ps. i. 2. * 1 Cor. x. 31.
4 Ps. cxix. 104. • Acts i. 1. 6 1 Tim. v. 23.
7 The successor of Athanasius in the see of Alexandria.
LETTER CXXVI1.
^55
monasteries in the Thebaic! founded by
Pachomius, and of the discipline laid down
for virgins and for widows. Nor was she
ashamed to profess a life which she had thus
learned to be pleasing to Christ. Many years
after her example was followed first by So-
phronia and then by others, of whom it may
be well said in the words of Ennius : 1
Would that ne'er in Pelion's woods
Had the axe these pinetrees felled.
My revered friend Paula was blessed with
Marcella's friendship, and it was in Marcella's
cell that Eustochium, that paragon of virgins,
was gradually trained. Thus it is easy to see
of what type the mistress was who found such
pupils.
The unbelieving reader may perhaps laugh
at me for dwelling so long on the praises of
mere women ; yet if he will but remember how
holy women followed our Lord and Saviour
and ministered to Him of their substance, and
how the three Marys stood before the cross
and especially how Mary Magdalen — called
the tower 2 from the earnestness and glow of
her faith — was privileged to see the rising
Christ first of all before the very apostles, he
will convict himself of pride sooner than me
of folly. For we judge of people's virtue not
by their sex but by their character, and hold
those to be worthy of the highest glory who
have renounced both rank and wealth. It
was for this reason that Jesus loved the evan-
gelist John more than the other disciples.
For John was of noble birth 3 and known to
the high priest, yet was so little appalled by
the plottings of the Jews that he introduced
Peter into his court,4 and was the only one of
the apostles bold enough to take his stand be-
fore the cross. For it was he who took the
Saviour's parent to his own home ; b it was
the virgin son 6 who received the virgin
mother as a legacy from the Lord.
6. Marcella then lived the ascetic life for
many years, and found herself old before she
bethought herself that she . had once been
young. She often quoted with approval
Plato's saying that philosophy consists in
meditating on death.7 A truth which our
own apostle indorses when he says : " for
your salvation I die daily."8 Indeed accord-
ing to the old copies our Lord himself says :
1 A fragment from the Medea of Ennius relating to the un-
lucky ship Argo which had brought Jason to Colchis. Here
however the words seem altogether out of place. Unless, in-
deed, they are supposed to be spoken by pagans.
2 Magdala means 'tower.' 3 So Ewald.
4 Joh. xviii. 15, 16, R.V. 6 Joh. xix. 26, 27.
8 Tertullian goes so far as to call him ' Christ's eunuch ' (de
Monog. c. xvii.).
7 Tota philosophorum vita commentatio mortis est— Cicero,
T. Q. i. 30, 74 (summarizing Plato's doctrine as given in his
P.haedo, p. 64).
8 1 Cor. xv. 31 (apparently quoted from memory).
" whosoever doth not bear His cross daily
and come after me cannot be my disciple."1
Ages before, the Holy Spirit had said by the
prophet : " for thy sake are we killed all
the day long : we are counted as sheep for
the slaughter." 2 Many generations after-
wards the words were spoken : "remember
the end and thou shalt never do amiss,"3
as well as that precept of the eloquent sati-
rist : " live with death in your mind ; time
flies ; this say of mine is so much taken from
it."4 Well then, as I was saying, she passed
her days and lived always in the thought that
she must die. Her very clothing was such as
to remind her of the tomb, and she presented
herself as a living sacrifice, reasonable and ac-
ceptable,.unto God.5
7. When the needs of the Church at length
brought me to Rome 8 in company with the
reverend pontiffs, Paulinus and Epiphanius —
the first of whom ruled the church of the
Syrian Antioch while the second presided
over that of Salamis in Cyprus, — I in my
modesty was for avoiding the eyes of highborn
ladies, yet she pleaded so earnestly, " both in
season and out of season " 7 as the apostle
says, that at last her perseverance overcame
my reluctance. And, as in those days my
name was held in some renown as that of a
student of the scriptures, she never came to
see me that she did not ask me some question
concerning them, nor would she at once ac-
quiesce in my explanations but on the contrary
would dispute them ; not, however, for argu-
ment's sake but to learn the answers to those
objections which might, as she saw, be made
to my statements. How much virtue and
ability, how much holiness and purity I found
in her I am afraid to say ; both lest I may
exceed the bounds of men's belief and lest I
may increase your sorrow by reminding you
of the blessings that you have lost. This
much only will I say, that whatever in me was
the fruit of long study and as such made by
constant meditation a part of my nature, this
she tasted, this she learned and made her
own. Consequently after my departure from
Rome, in case of a dispute arising as to the
testimony of scripture on any subject, recourse
was had to her to settle it. And so wise was
she and so well did she understand what phi-
losphers call to npknov, that is, the becom-
ing, in what she did, that when she answered
questions she gave her own opinion not as
her own but as from me or some one else,
thus admitting that what she taught she had
herself learned from others. For she knew
that the apostle had said : " I suffer not a
1 Luke xiv. 27 : cf. ix. 23.
3 Ecclus. vii. 36.
6 Rom. xii. 1. * In 383 A
a Ps. xliv. 22.
4 Pers. v. 153 Corvington.
•D. 7 2 Tim. iv. a.
256
JEROME.
woman to teach," ' and she would not seem to
inflict a wrong upon the male sex many of
whom (including sometimes priests) questioned
her concerning obscure and doubtful points.
8. I am told that my place with her was im-
mediately taken by you, that you attached
yourself to her, and that, as the saying goes,
you never let even a hair's-breadth 2 come
between her and you. You both lived in the
same house and occupied the same room so
that every one in the city knew for certain
that you had found a mother in her and she a
daughter in you. In the suburbs you found
for yourselves a monastic seclusion, and chose
the country instead of the town because of its
loneliness. For a long time you lived together,
and as many ladies shaped their conduct by
your examples, I had the joy of seeing Rome
transformed into another Jerusalem. Monas-
tic establishments for virgins became numerous,
and of hermits there were countless numbers.
In fact so many were the servants of God that
monasticism which had before been a term of
reproach became subsequently one of honour.
Meantime we consoled each other for our
separation by words of mutual encouragement,
and discharged in the spirit the debt which in
the flesh we could not pay. We always went
to meet each other's letters, tried to outdo
each other in attentions, and anticipated each
other in courteous inquiries. Not much was
lost by a separation thus effectually bridged
by a constant correspondence.
9. While Marcella was thus serving the
Lord in holy tranquillity, there arose in these
provinces a tornado of heresy which threw
everything into confusion ; indeed so great was
the fury into which it lashed itself that it spared
neither itself nor anything that was good.
And as if it were too little to have disturbed
everything here, it introduced a ship 3 freighted
with blasphemies into the port of Rome itself.
The dish soon found itself a cover ; 4 and the
muddy feet of heretics fouled the clear waters 5
of the faith of Rome. No wonder that in the
streets and in the market places a soothsayer
can strike fools on the back or, catching up
his cudgel, shatter the teeth of such as carp
at him ; when such venomous and filthy teach-
ing as this has found at Rome dupes whom it
can lead astray. Next came the scandalous
version 6 of Origen's book On First Principles,
and that 'fortunate ' disciple ' who would have
1 1 Tim. ii. 12. » Literally " thickness of a nail."
3 The movement connected with Rufinus' translation of Ori-
gen's ntpi 'ApxCiv. His coming was likened, in the dream of his
friend Macarius (Ruf. Apol. i. n), to that of a ship laden with
Eastern wares.
4 The same proverb occurs in Letter VII. § 5.
6 Cf. Ezek. xxxiv. 18.
8 i.e. That published by Rufinus. See Letter LXXX.
7 'dA0io«, i.e. Macarius, a Roman Christian who wrote a book
op the providence of God. To him Rufinus dedicated his ver-
sion 01 Origen's treatise.
been indeed fortunate had he never fallen in
with such a master. Next followed the con-
futation set forth by my supporters, which
destroyed the case of the Pharisees ' and
threw them into confusion. It was then that
the holy Marcella, who had long held back
lest she should be thought to act from party
motives, threw herself into the breach. Con-
scious that the faith of Rome — once praised
by an apostle 2 — was now in danger, and that
this new heresy was drawing to itself not only
priests and monks but also many of the laity
besides imposing on the bishop 3 who fancied
others as guileless as he was himself, she pub-
licly withstood its teachers choosing to please
God rather than men.
10. In the gospel the Saviour commends
the unjust steward because, although he de-
frauded his master, he acted wisely for his own
interests.4 The heretics in this instance pursued
the same course ; for, seeing how great a mat-
ter a little fire had kindled/' and that the flames
applied by them to the foundations had by
this time reached the housetops, and that the
deception practised on many could no longer
be hid, they asked for and obtained letters of
commendation from the church,6 so that it
might appear that till the day of their depart-
ure they had continued in full communion
with it. Shortly afterwards 7 the distinguished
Anastasius succeeded to the pontificate ; but
he was soon taken away, for it was not fitting
that the head of the world should be struck
off8 during the episcopate of one so great.
He was removed, no doubt, that he might not
seek to turn away by his prayers the sentence
of God passed once for all. For the words
of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning Israel ap-
plied equally to Rome : " pray not for this
people for their good. When they fast I will
not hear their cry ; and when they offer burnt-
offering and oblation, I will not accept them ;
but I will consume them by the sword and by
the famine and by the pestilence."9 You will
say, what has this to do with the praises of Mar-
cella ? I reply, She it was who originated the
condemnation of the heretics. She it was who
furnished witnesses first taught by them and
then carried away by their heretical teaching.
She it was who showed how large a number they
had deceived and who brought up against them
the impious books On First Principles, books
which were passing from hand to hand after be-
ing 'improved' by the hand of the scorpion.10
1 Apparently the Roman clergy who sided with Rufinus.
2 Rom. i. 8.
3 Siricius, the successor of Damasus. He died A.D. 398.
4 Luke xvi. 8. £ James iii. 5.
6 Rufinus obtained such letters from Pope Siricius when he
left Rome for Aquileia. See Jer. Apol. iii. 21. 7 398 A.D.
s The allusion is to the capture of Rome by Alaric in 410 A.D.
9 Jer. xiv. 11, 12.
10 Emendata manu scorpii. The scorpion is Rufinus whom
Jerome accused of suppressing the worst statements of Origea
sq that the subtler heresy might be accepted,
LETTER CXXVII.
257
She it was lastly who called on the heretics
in letter after letter to appear in their own
defence. They did not indeed venture to
come, for they were so conscience-stricken
that they let the case go against them by de-
fault rather than face their accusers and be
convicted by them. This glorious victory
originated with Marcella, she was the source
and cause of this great blessing. You who
shared the honour with her know that I speak
the truth. You know too that out of many
incidents I only mention a few, not to tire
out the reader by a wearisome recapitulation.
Were I to say more, ill natured persons might
fancy me, under pretext of commending a
woman's virtues, to be giving vent to my own
rancour. I will pass now to the remainder of
my story.
11. The whirlwind ' passed from the West
into the East and threatened in its passage to
shipwreck many a noble craft. Then were
the words of Jesus fulfilled : " when the son
of man cometh, shall he find faith on the
earth ? " 2 The love of many waxed cold.3
Yet the few who still loved the true faith ral-
lied to my side. Men openly sought to take
their lives and every expedient was employed
against them. So hotly indeed did the perse-
cution rage that " Barnabas also was carried
away with their dissimulation ; "4 nay more he
committed murder, if not in actual violence at
least in will. Then behold God blew and the
tempest passed away ; so that the prediction
of the prophet was fulfilled, " thou takest
away their breath, they die, and return to their
dust.5 In that very day his thoughts perish, " 6
as also the gospel-saying, "Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee : then
whose shall those things be, which thou hast
provided ? " 7
12. Whilst these things were happening
in Jebus B a dreadful rumour came from the
West. Rome had been besieged 9 and its
citizens had been forced to buy their lives with
gold. Then thus despoiled they had been
besieged again so as to lose not their substance
only but their lives. My voice sticks in my
throat ; and, as I dictate, sobs choke my utter-
ance. The City which had taken the whole
world was itself taken ; I0 nay more famine was
beforehand with the sword and but few citi-
zens were left to be made captives. In their
frenzy the starving people had recourse to hid-
eous food ; and tore each other limb from
limb that they might have flesh to eat. Even
the mother did not spare the babe at her breast.
1 i.e. the Origenistic heresy.
2 Luke xviii. 8. 3 Matt. xxiv. 12.
4 Gal. ii. 13. The allusion is perhaps to John of Jerusalem ;
possibly to Chrysostom.
6 Ps. civ. 29. s Ps. cxlvi. 4.
7 Luke xii. 20. 8 The Canaanite name for Jerusalem.
8 By Alaric the Goth, 408 A.D. 10 By Alaric, 410 A.D.
In the night was Moab taken, in the night did
her wall fall down.1 " O God, the heathen
have come into thine inheritance ; thy holy
temple have they defiled ; they have made
Jerusalem an orchard.2 The dead bodies of
thy servants have they given to be meat unto
the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints
unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood
have they shed like water round about Jerusa-
lem ; and there was none to bury them." 3
Who can set forth the carnage of that night?
What tears are equal to its agony ?
Of ancient date a sovran city falls ;
And lifeless in its streets and houses lie
Unnumbered bodies of its citizens.
In many a ghastly shape doth death appear.4
13. Meantime, as was natural in a scene of
such confusion, one of the bloodstained victors
found his way into Marcella's house. Now
be it mine to say what I have heard,5 to relate
what holy men have seen ; for there were some
such present and they say that you too were
with her in the hour of danger. When the
soldiers entered she is said to have received
them without any look of alarm ; and when
they asked her for gold she pointed to her
coarse dress to shew them that she had no
buried treasure. However they would not
believe in her self-chosen poverty, but scourged
her and beat her with cudgels. She is said to
have felt no pain but to have thrown herself
at their feet and to have pleaded with tears for
you, that you might not be taken from her, or
owing to your youth have to endure what she
as an old woman had no occasion to fear.
Christ softened their hard hearts and even
among bloodstained swords natural affection
asserted its rights. The barbarians conveyed
both you and her to the basilica of the apostle
Paul, that you might find there either a place
of safety or, if not that, at least a tomb.
Hereupon Marcella is said to have burst into
great joy and to have thanked God for having
kept you unharmed in answer to her prayer.
She said she was thankful too that the taking
of the city had found her poor, not made her
so, that she was now in want of daily bread,
that Christ satisfied her needs so that she no
longer felt hunger, that she was able to say
in word and in deed : " naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return
thither : the Lord gave and the Lord hath
taken away ; blessed be the name of the
Lord." 6
14. After a few days she fell asleep in the
Lord ; but to the last her powers remained
unimpaired. You she made the heir of her
1 Isa. xv. 1.
' Ps. lxxix. 1-3.
6 Virg. A. vi. 266.
2 Ps. lxxix. 1. LXX.
4 Virg. A. ii. 361.
6 Job 1. 21, LXX.
258
JEROME.
poverty, or rather the poor through you.
When she closed her eyes, it was in your
arms ; when she breathed her last breath, your
lips received it ; you shed tears but she smiled,
conscious of having led a good life and hoping
for her reward hereafter.
In one short night I have dictated this letter
in honour of you, revered Marcella, and of
you, my daughter Principia ; not to shew off
my own eloquence but to express my heart-
felt gratitude to you both ; my one desire has
been to please both God and my readers.
LETTER CXXVIII.
TO GAUDENTIUS.
Gaudentius had written from Rome to ask Jerome's
advice as to the bringing up of his infant daughter ;
whom after the religious fashion of the day he had dedi-
cated to a life of virginity. Jerome's reply may be
compared with his advice to Lseta (Letter CVII.) which
it closely resembles. It is noticeable also for the vivid
account which it gives of the sack of Rome by Alaric in
A.D. 410. The date of the letter is A.D. 413.
1. It is hard to write to a little girl who
cannot understand what you say, of whose
mind you know nothing, and of whose inclina-
tions it would be rash to prophesy. In the
words of a famous orator " she is to be praised
more for what she will be than for what she
is." : For how can you speak of self-control to
a child who is eager for cakes, who babbles on
her mother's knee, and to whom honey is
sweeter than any words ? Will she hear the
deep things of the apostle when all her de-
light is in nursery tales ? Will she heed the
dark sayings of the prophets when her nurse can
frighten her by a frowning face ? Or will she
comprehend the majesty of the gospel, when its
splendour dazzles the keenest intellect ? Shall
I urge her to obey her parents when with her
chubby hand she beats her smiling mother ?
For such reasons as these my dear Pacatula
must read some other time the letter that I
send her now. Meanwhile let her learn the
alphabet, spelling, grammar, and syntax. To
induce her to repeat her lessons with her little
shrill voice, hold out to her as rewards cakes
and mead and sweetmeats. * She will make
haste to perform her task if she hopes after-
wards to get some bright bunch of flowers,
some glittering bauble, some enchanting doll.
She must also learn to spin, shaping the yarn
with her tender thumb ; for, even if she con-
stantly breaks the threads, a day will come
when she will no longer break them. Then
when she has finished her lessons she ought to
have some recreation. At such times she may
1 Spesineamagislaudandaestquamres. Cic. de Rep. Jerome
again quotes the words in Letter CXXX. « i.
*cf. Hor. iS. i. 25, 26.
hang round her mother's neck, or snatch
kisses from her relations. Reward her for
singing psalms that she may love what she has
to learn. Her task will then become a pleas-
ure to her and no compulsion will be neces-
sary.
2. Some mothers when they have vowed a
daughter to virginity clothe her in sombre gar-
ments, wrap her up in a dark cloak, and let her
have neither linen nor gold ornaments. They
wisely refuse to accustom her to what she will
afterwards have to lay aside. Others act on
the opposite principle. " What is the use," say
they, " of keeping such things from her ? Will
she not see them with others ? Women are
fond of finery and many whose chastity is be-
yond question dress not for men but for them-
selves. Give her what she asks for, but shew
her that those are most praised who ask for
nothing. It is better that she should enjoy
things to the full and so learn to despise them
than that from not having them she should
wish to have them." " This," they continue,
" was the plan which the Lord adopted with the
children of Israel. When they longed for the
fleshpots of Egypt He sent them flights of
quails and allowed them to gorge themselves
until they were sick.1 Those who have once
lived worldly lives more readily forego the
pleasures of sense than such as from their
youth up have known nothing of desire." For
while the former — so they argue — trample on
what they know, the latter are attracted by
what is to them unknown. While the former
penitently shun the insidious advances which
pleasure makes, the latter coquet with the al-
lurements of sense and fancying them to be as
sweet as honey find them to be deadly poison.
They quote the passage which says that " the
lips of a strange woman drop as an honey-
comb ; " 2 which is sweet indeed in the eater's
mouth but is afterwards found more bitter
than gall.3 This they argue, is the reason that
neither honey nor wax is offered in the sacri-
fices of the Lord,4 and that oil the product of
the bitter olive is burned in His temple.0
Moreover it is with bitter herbs that the pass-
over is eaten,0 and " with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth."7 He that re-
ceives these shall suffer persecution in the
world. Wherefore the prophet symbolically
sings : " I sat alone because I was filled with
bitterness." 8
3. What then, I reply ? Is youth to run riot
that self-indulgence may afterwards be more
resolutely rejected ? Far from it, they rejoin :
" let every man, wherein he is called, therein
abide.9 Is any called being circumcised," —
1 Numb. xi. 4, 20, 31.
4 Lev. ii. 11.
7 1 Cor. v. 8.
a Prov. v. 3.
6 Ex. xxvii. 20.
8 Jer. xv. 17, LXX.
3 Rev. x. 9. 10.
8 Ex. xii. 8.
9 1 Cor. vii. 24.
LETTERS CXXVII., CXXVIIL
259
that is, as a virgin ? — "let him not become un-
circumcised " ' — that is, let him not seek the
coat of marriage given to Adam on his expul-
sion from the paradise of virginity.2 " Is any
called in uncircumcision," — that is, having a
wife and enveloped in the skin of matrimony?
let him not seek the nakedness of virginity 3
and of that eternal chastity which he has lost
once for all. No, let him " possess his vessel
in sanctification and honour," 4 let him drink
of his own wells not out of the dissolute cis-
terns & of the harlots which cannot hold within
them the pure waters of chastity." The same
Paul also in the same chapter, when discuss-
ing the subjects of virginity and marriage,
calls those who are married slaves of the flesh,
but those not under the yoke of wedlock free-
men who serve the Lord in all freedom.7
What I say I do not say as universally ap-
plicable ; my treatment of the subject is only
partial. I speak of some only, not of all. How-
ever my words are addressed to those of both
sexes, and not only to "the weaker vessel." 8
Are you a virgin ? Why then do you find
pleasure in the society of a woman ? Why do
you commit to the high seas your frail patched
boat, why do you so confidently face the great
peril of a dangerous voyage ? You know not
what you desire, and yet you cling to her as
though you had either desired her before or,
to put it as leniently as possible, as though
you would hereafter desire her. Women, you
will say, make better servants than men. In
that case choose a misshapen old woman,
choose one whose continence is approved in
the Lord. Why should you find pleasure in
a young girl, pretty, and voluptuous ? You
frequent the baths, walk abroad sleek and
ruddy, eat flesh, abound in riches, and wear
the most expensive clothes ; and yet you
fancy that you can sleep safely beside a death-
dealing serpent. You tell me perhaps that
you do not live in the same house with her.
This is only true at night. But you spend
whole days in conversing with her. Why
do you sit alone with her ? Why do you dis-
pense with witnesses ? By so doing if you
do not actually sin you appear to do so, and
(so important is your influence) you embolden
unhappy men by your example to do what is
wrong. You too, whether virgin or widow,
why do you allow a man to detain you in
conversation so long ? Why are you not
afraid to be left alone with him ? At least go
out of doors to satisfy the wants of nature, and
for this at any rate leave the man with whom
you have given yourself more liberty than you
would with your brother, and have behaved
1 1 Cor. yii. 18. a Gen. iii. 21. 3 Gen iii. 25.
4 1 Thess. iv. 4. 5 Jer. ii. 13, Cisternas dissipatas.
6 Prov. v. 15. 7 1 Cor. vii. 21, 22. 8 1 Pet. iii. 7.
more immodestly than you would with your
husband. You have some question, you say, to
ask concerning the holy scriptures. If so, ask
it publicly ; let your maids and your attendants
hear it. " Everything that is made manifest is
light." ' He who says only what he ought
does not look for a corner to say it in ; he is
glad to have hearers for he likes to be praised.
He must be a fine teacher, on the other hand,
who thinks little of men, does not care for the
brothers, and labours in secret merely to in-
struct just one weak woman !
2,a. I have wandered for a little from my
immediate subject to discuss the procedure of
others in such a case as yours ; and while it is
my object to train, nay rather to nurse, the
infant Pacatula, I have in a moment drawn
upon myself the hostility of many women who
are by no means daughters of peace.2 But
I shall now return to my proper theme.
A girl should associate only with girls, she
should know nothing of boys and should dread
even playing with them. She should never
hear an unclean word, and if amid the bustle
of the household she should chance to hear
one, she should not understand it. Her
mother's nod should be to her as much a
command as a spoken injunction. She should
love her as her parent, obey her as her mis-
tress, and reverence her as her teacher. She
is now a child without teeth and without
ideas, but, as soon as she is seven years old,
a blushing girl knowing what she ought not
to say and hesitating as to what she ought,
she should until she is grown up commit to
memory the psalter and the books of Solomon ;
the gospels, the apostles and the prophets
should be the treasure of her heart. She
should not appear in public too freely or too
frequently attend crowded churches. All her
pleasure should be in her chamber. She must
never look at young men or turn her eyes upon
curled fops ; and the wanton songs of sweet
voiced girls which wound the soul through
the ears must be kept from her. The more
freedom of access such persons possess, the
harder is it to avoid them when they come ;
and what they have once learned themselves
they will secretly teach her and will thus con-
taminate our secluded Danae by the talk of
the crowd. Give her for guardian and com-
panion a mistress and a governess, one not
given to much wine or in the apostle's words
idle and a tattler, but sober, grave, industrious
in spinning wool 3 and one whose words will
form her childish mind to the practice of vir-
tue. For, as water follows a finger drawn
1 Eph. v. 13, R. V. L> L
2 Male pacattp, a pun on Pacatula, which means Little
Peaceful.'
3 Lanifica. Cf. the well-known epitaph on a Roman matron :
" She stayed at home and spun wool."
26o
JEROME.
through the sand, so one of soft and tender
years is pliable for good or evil ; she can
be drawn in whatever direction you choose
to guide her. Moreover spruce and gay young
men often seek access for themselves by pay-
ing court to nurses or dependants or even by
bribing them, and when they have thus gently
effected their approach they blow up the first
spark of passion until it bursts into flame and
little by little advance to the most shameless
requests. And it is quite impossible to check
them then, for the verse is proved true in
their case : " It is ill rebuking what you have
once allowed to become ingrained." ' I am
ashamed to say it and yet I must ; high born
ladies who have rejected more high born
suitors cohabit with men of the lowest grade
and even with slaves. Sometimes in the name
of religion and under the cloak of a desire for
celibacy they actually desert their husbands
in favour of such paramours. You may often
see a Helen following her Paris without the
smallest dread of Menelaus. Such persons
we see and mourn for but we cannot punish,
for the multitude of sinners procures toler-
ance for the sin.
4. The world sinks into ruin : yes ! but
shameful to say our sins still live and flourish.
The renowned city, the capital of the Roman
Empire, is swallowed up in one tremendous
fire ; and there is no part of the earth where
Romans are not in exile. Churches once held
sacred are now but heaps of dust and ashes ;
and yet we have our minds set on the desire
of gain. We live as though we are going to
die tomorrow ; yet we build as though we are
going to live always in this world.2 Our walls
shine with gold, our ceilings also and the cap-
itals of our pillars ; yet Christ dies before our
doors naked and hungry in the persons of His
poor. The pontiff Aaron, we read, faced the
raging flames, and by putting fire in his cen-
ser checked the wrath of God. The High
Priest stood between the dead and the living,
and the fire dared not pass his feet.3 On
another occasion God said to Moses, " Let me
alone . . . that I may consume this peo-
ple," 4 shewing by the words " let me alone "
that he can be withheld from doing what he
threatens. The prayers of His servant hin-
dered His power. Who, think you, is there
now under heaven able to stay God's wrath,
to face the flame of His judgment, and to say
with the apostle, " I could wish that I myself
were accursed for my brethren " ? ° Flocks
and shepherds perish together, because as it is
with the people, so is it with the priest.0 Of
old it was not so. Then Moses spoke in a
1 Already quoted in Letter CVII. § 8.
2 cf. Letter CXXIII. 15. 3 Nu. xvi. 46-48, Vulg.
4 Ex. xxxii. 10. 6 Rom. ix. 3. eIsa. xxiv. 2.
passion of pity, " yet now if thou wilt forgive
their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee,
out of thy book."1 He is not satisfied to se-
cure his own salvation, he desires to perish
with those that perish. And he is right, for
" in the multitude of people is the king's hon-
our. "2
Such are the times in which our little Paca-
tula is born. Such are the swaddling clothes
in which she draws her first breath ; she is
destined to know of tears before laughter and
to feel sofrow sooner than joy. And hardly
does she come upon the stage when she is
called on to make her exit. Let her then
suppose that the world has always been what
it is now. Let her know nothing of the past,
let her shun the present, and let her long for
the future.
These thoughts of mine are but hastily
mustered. For my grief for lost friends has
known no intermission and only recently have
I recovered sufficient composure to write an
old man's letter to a little child. My affection
for you, brother Gaudentius, has induced me
to make the attempt and I have thought it
better to say a few words than to say nothing
at all. The grief that paralyses my will will
excuse my brevity ; whereas, were I to say
nothing, the sincerity of my friendship might
well be doubted.
LETTER CXXIX.
TO DARDANUS.
In answer to a question put by Dardanus, prefect of
Gaul, Jerome writes concerning the Promised Land
which he identifies not with Canaan but with heaven.
He then points out that the present sufferings of the
Jews are due altogether to the crime of which they have
been guilty in the crucifixion of Christ. The date of the
letter is 414 A.D.
LETTER CXXX.
TO DEMETRIAS.
Jerome writes to Demetrias, a highborn lady of Rome
who had recently embraced the vocation of a virgin.
After narrating her life's history first at Rome and then
in Africa, he goes on to lay down rules and principles
to guide her in her new life. These which cover the
whole field of ascetic practice and include the duties of
study, of prayer, of fasting, of obedience, of giving up
money for Christ, and of constant industry, are in sub-
stance similar to those which thirty years before Jerome
had suggested to Eustochium (Letter XXII. ). The tone
of the letter is however milder and less fanatical ; the
asceticism recommended is not so severe ; there is less of
rhapsody and more of common sense. This letter should
also be compared with the letter addressed to Demetrias
by Pelagius, which is given in Vol. xi. of Jerome's works
(Migne's Patr. Lat. xxx. ed. 15). The date is 414 A.D.
1. Of all the subjects that I have treated
from my youth up until now, either with my
1 Ex. xxxii. 32.
2 Prov. xiv. 28.
LETTERS CXXVIII.-CXXX.
261
own pen or that of my secretaries I have dealt
with none more difficult than that which now
occupies me. I am going to write to Demetrias
a virgin of Christ and a lady whose birth and
riches make her second to none in the Roman
world. If, therefore, I employ language ade-
quate to describe her virtue, I shall be thought
to flatter her ; and if I suppress some details
on the score that they might appear incred-
ible, my reserve will not do justice to her un-
doubted merits. What am I to do then ? I
am unequal to the task before me, yet I cannot
venture to decline it. Her grandmother and
her mother are both women of mark, and they
have alike authority to command, faith to seek
and perseverance to obtain that which they
require. It is not indeed anything very new
or special that they ask of me ; my wits have
often been exercised upon similar themes.
What they wish for is that I should raise my
voice and bear witness as strongly as I can to
the virtues of one who— in the words of the
famous orator ] — is to be praised less for what
she is than for what she gives promise, of
being. Yet, girl though she is, she has a
glowing faith beyond her years, and has
started from a point at which others think it a
mark of signal virtue to leave off.
2. Let detraction stand aloof and. envy
give way ; let no charge of self seeking be
brought against me. I write as a stranger to
a stranger, at least so far as the personal ap-
pearance is concerned. For the inner man
finds itself well known by that knowledge
whereby the apostle Paul knew the Colos-
sians and many other believers whom he had
never seen. How high an esteem I entertain
for this virgin, nay more what a miracle of
virtue I think her, you may judge by the fact
that being occupied in the explanation of
Ezekiel's description of the temple — the hard-
est piece in the whole range of scripture —
and finding myself in that part of the sacred
edifice wherein is the Holy of Holies and the
altar of incense, I have chosen by way of a
brief rest to pass from that altar to this, that
upon it I might consecrate to eternal chastity
a living offering acceptable to God 2 and free
from all stain. I am aware that the bishop3
has with words of prayer covered her holy
head with the virgin's bridal-veil, reciting the
while the solemn sentence of the apostle : " I
wish to present you all as a chaste virgin to
Christ." 4 She stood as a queen at his right
hand, her clothing of wrought gold and her
raiment of needlework.1 Such was the coat
of many colours, that is, formed of many dif-
ferent virtues, which Joseph wore ; and simi-
1 Cicero in his Dialogue on the Republic. Cf. Or. xxx,
3 Rom. xii. 1. s Pontifex.
4 2 Cor. xi. z. 6 Ps. xlv. 9, 13, 14.
VOL. vr.
lar ones were of old the ordinary dress of
king's daughters. Thereupon l the bride
herself rejoices and says : " the king hath
brought me into his chambers," 8 and the
choir of her companions responds : " the
king's daughter is all glorious within. " 3
Thus she is a professed virgin. Still these
words of mine will not be without their use.
The speed of racehorses is quickened by the
applause of spectators ; prize fighters are
urged to greater efforts by the cries of their
backers ; and when armies are drawn up for
battle and swords are drawn, the general's
speech does much to fire his soldiers' valour.
So also is it on the present occasion. The
grandmother and the mother have planted,
but it is I that water and the Lord that giveth
the increase.4
3. It is the practice of the rhetoricians to
exalt him who is the subject of their praises
by referring to his forefathers and the past
nobility of his race, so that a fertile root may
make up for barren branches and that you
may admire in the stem what you have not
got in the fruit. Thus I ought now to recall
the distinguished names of the Probi and of
the Olybrii, and that illustrious Anician house,
the representatives of which have seldom or
never been unworthy of the consulship. Or
I ought to bring forward Olybrius our virgin's
father, whose untimely loss Rome has had to
mourn. I fear to say more of him, lest I should
intensify the pain of your saintly mother,
and lest the commemoration of his virtues
should become a renewing of her grief.. He
was a dutiful son, a loveable husband, a kind
master, a popular citizen. He was made
consul while still a boy ; 6 but the good-
ness of his character made him more illustri-
ous as a senator. He was happy in his death 6
for it saved him from seeing the ruin of
his country ; and happier still in his off-
spring, for the distinguished name of his
great grandmother Demetrias has become yet
more distinguished now that his daughter
Demetrias has vowed herself to perpetual
chastity.
4. But what am I doing? Forgetful of
my purpose and filled with admiration for
this young man, I have spoken in terms of
praise of mere worldly advantages ; whereas
I should rather have commended our virgin
for having rejected all these, and for having
determined to regard herself not as a wealthy
or a high born lady, but simply as a woman
like other women. Her strength of mind al-
most passes belief. Though she had silks
and jewels freely at her disposal, and though
1 i.e. After receiving the veil. 2 Cant. i. 4.
3 Ps. xlv. 13. * 1 Cor. iii. 6. 6 In the year 395 A.D.
6 Which took place before the fall of Rome in 410 A D.
262
JEROME.
she was surrounded by crowds of eunuchs
and serving-women, a bustling household of
flattering and attentive domestics, and though
the daintiest feasts that the abundance of a
large house could supply were daily set before
her ; she preferred to all these severe fasting,
rough clothing, and frugal living. For she
had read the words of the Lord : " they that
wear soft clothing are in kings' houses." '
She was filled with admiration for the manner
of life followed by Elijah and by John the
Baptist ; both of whom confined and morti-
fied their loins with girdles of skin," while
the second of them is said to have come in
the spirit and power of Elijah as the fore-
runner of the Lord.3 As such he prophesied
while still in his mother's womb,4 and before
the day of judgment won the commenda-
tion of the Judge.5 She admired also the
zeal of Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who
continued even to extreme old age to serve
the Lord in the temple with prayers and
fastings.6 When she thought of the four
virgins who were the daughters of Philip,7
she longed to join their band and to be
numbered with those who by their vir-
ginal purity have attained the grace of
prophecy. With these and similar medita-
tions she fed her mind, dreading nothing so
much as to offend her grandmother and her
mother. Although she was encouraged by
their example, she was discouraged by their
expressed wish and desire ; not indeed that
they disapproved of her holy purpose, but
that the prize was so great that they did not
venture to hope for it, or to aspire to it.
Thus this poor novice in Christ's service was
sorely perplexed. She came to hate all her
fine apparel and cried like Esther to the
Lord : " Thou knowest that I abhor the sign
of my high estate" — that is to say, the dia-
dem which she wore as queen — " and that I
abhor it as a menstruous rag." " Among the
holy and highborn ladies who have seen and
known her some have been driven by the tem-
pest which has swept over Africa, from the
shores of Gaul to find refuge in the holy places.
These tell me that secretly night after night,
though no one knew of it but the virgins
dedicated to God in her mother's and grand-
mother's retinue, Demetrias, refusing sheets
of linen and beds of clown, spread a rug
of goat's hair upon the ground and watered
her face with ceaseless tears. Night after
night she cast herself in thought at the Sav-
iour's knees and implored him to accept
her choice, to fulfil her aspiration, and to
I Matt. xi. 8. 2 2 Kings i. 8 : Matt. iii. 4.
3 Matt. xi. 14: Luke i. 17. * Luke 1. 41.
6 Matt. xi. 7-14. Jerome here borrows a phrase from Cyprian,
de Op. et El. xv. '* '
8 Luke ii. 36, 37. » Acts xxi. 9. » Esther xiv. 16.
soften the hearts of her grandmother and of
her mother.
5. Why do I still delay to relate the sequel ?
When her wedding day was now close at
hand and when a marriage chamber was
being got ready for the bride and bridegroom ;
secretly without any witnesses and with only
the night to comfort her, she is said to have
nerved herself with such considerations as
these: "What ails you, Demetrias? Why are
you so fearful of defending your chastity ?
What you heed is freedom and courage. If
you are so panic-stricken in time of peace,
what would you do if you were called on to
undergo martyrdom ? If you cannot bear so
much as a frown from your own, how would
you steel yourself to face the tribunals of
persecutors ? If men's examples leave you
unmoved, at least gather courage and confi-
dence from the blessed martyr Agnes ' who
vanquished the temptations both of youth
and of a despot and by her martyrdom hal-
lowed the very name of chastity. Unhappy
girl ! you know not, you know not to whom
your virginity is due. It is not long since
you have trembled in the hands of the bar-
barians and clung to your grandmother and
your mother cowering under their cloaks for
safety. You have seen yourself a prisoner2
and your chastity not in your own power. You
have shuddered at the fierce looks of your
enemies ; you have seen with secret agony
the virgins of God ravished. Your city, once
the capital of the world, is now the grave of
the Roman people ; and will you on the
shores of Libya, yourself an exile, accept an
exile for a husband ? Where will you find a
matron to be present at your bridal ? 3 Whom
will you get to escort you home ? No tongue
but a harsh Punic one will sing for you the
wanton Fescennine verses.4 Away with all
hesitations ! ' Perfect love ' of God ' cast-
eth out fear.' '" Take to yourself the shield
of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, the
helmet of salvation,8 and sally forth to
battle. The preservation of your chastity
involves a martyrdom of its own. Why do
you fear your grandmother ? Why do you
dread your mother ? Perhaps they may
themselves wish for you a course which they
do not think you wish for yourself." When
by these and other arguments she had
wrought herself to the necessary pitch of
resolution, she cast from her as so many hin-
drances all her ornaments and worldly attire.
1 A virgin 13 years old beheaded at Rome under Diocletian
after vain efforts first made to overcome her faith by subjecting
her to assault and outrage.
2 See § 7 for the cruelties of the Count Heraelian.
3 Quam habitura pronubam?
4 Wedding songs so called from the place of their origin,
Fescennia in Etruria. See Catullus LXI. for the several cus-
toms here mentioned.
6 1 John iv, j8, < Eph. vi. 14-17-
LETTER CXXX.
263
Her precious necklaces, costly pearls, and
glowing gems she put back in their cases.
Then dressing herself in a coarse tunic and
throwing over herself a still coarser cloak she
came in at an unlooked for moment, threw
herself down suddenly at her grandmother's
knees, and with tears and sobs shewed her
what she really was. That staid and holy
woman was amazed when she beheld her
granddaughter in so strange a dress. Her
mother was completely overcome for joy.
Both women could hardly believe that true
which they had longed to be true. Their
voices stuck in their throats,1 and, what with
blushing and turning pale, with fright and
with joy, they were a prey to many conflict-
ing emotions.
6. I must needs give way here and not
attempt to describe what defies description.
In the effort to explain the greatness of that
joy past all belief, the flow of Tully's elo-
quence would run dry and the bolts poised
and hurled by Demosthenes would become
spent and fall short. Whatever mind can
conceive or speech can interpret of human
gladness was seen then. Mother and child,
grandmother and granddaughter kissed each
other again and again. The two elder women
wept copiously for joy, they raised the pros-
trate girl, they embraced her trembling form.
In her purpose they recognized their own
mind, and congratulated each other that now
a virgin was to make a noble house more
noble still by her virginity. She had found,
they said, a way to benefit her family and to
lessen the calamity of the ruin of Rome.
Good Jesus ! What exultation there was all
through the house ! Many virgins sprouted
out at once as shoots from a fruitful stem, and
the example set by their patroness and lady
was followed by a host both of clients and
servants. Virginity was warmly espoused
in every house and although those who made
profession of it were as regards the flesh of
lower rank than Demetrias they sought one
reward with her, the reward of chastity. My
words are too weak. Every church in Africa
danced for joy. The news reached not only
the cities, towns, and villages but even the
scattered huts. Every island between Africa
and Italy was full of it, the glad tidings
ran far and wide, disliked by none. Then
Italy put off her mourning and the ruined
walls of Rome resumed in part their olden
splendour ; for they believed the full conver-
sion of their fosterchild to be a sign of God's
favour towards them. You would fancy that
the Goths had been annihilated and that that
concourse of deserters and slaves had fallen
1 Virg., A. ii. 774.
by a thunderbolt from the Lord on high.
There was less elation in Rome when Marcel-
lus won his first success at Nola x after thou-
sands of Romans had fallen at the Trebia,
Lake Thrasymenus, and Cannse. There was
less joy among the nobles cooped up in the
capitol, on whom the future of Rome de-
pended, when after buying their lives with gold
they heard that the Gauls had at length been
routed.2 The news penetrated to the coasts
of the East, and this triumph of Christian
glory was heard of in the remote cities of
the interior. What Christian virgin was not
proud to have Demetrias as a companion ?
What mother did not call Juliana's womb
blessed ? Unbelievers may scoff at the doubt-
fulness of rewards to come. Meantime,
in becoming a virgin you have gained more
than you have sacrificed. Had you become
a man's bride but one province would
have known of you ; while as a Christian
virgin you are known to the whole world.
Mothers who have but little faith in Christ
are unhappily wont to dedicate to virginity
only deformed and crippled daughters for
whom they can find no suitable husbands.
Glass beads, as the saying goes, are thought
equal to pearls.3 Men who pride themselves
on their religion give to their virgin daugh-
ters sums scarcely sufficient for their mainte-
nance, and bestow the bulk of their property
upon sons and daughters living in the world.
Quite recently in this city a rich presbyter left
two of his daughters who were professed vir-
gins with a mere pittance, while he provided
his other children with ample means for self-
indulgence and pleasure. The same thing has
been done, I am sorry to say, by many women
who have adopted the ascetic life. Would
that such instances were rare, but unfortu-
nately they are not. Yet the more frequent
they are the more blessed are those who re-
fuse to follow an example which is set them
by so many.
7. All Christians are loud in their praises
of Christ's holy yokefellows,4 because they
gave to Demetrias when she professed her-
self a virgin the money which had been set
apart as a dowry for her marriage. They
would not wrong her heavenly bridegroom ;
in fact they wished her to come to Him with
all her previous riches, that these might not
be wasted on the things of the world, but
might relieve the distress of God's servants.
Who would believe it ? That Proba, who
of all persons of high rank and birth in the
1 Over Hannibal, B.C. 216. Jerome is quoting from Cicero,
Brutus, III.
4 The reference is to the siege of the Capitol by Brennus and
the Gauls, B.C. 390.
8 See note on Letter LXXIX. § 7.
* i.e. Juliana and Proba, the mother and grandmother of De-
metrias.
S 2
264
JEROME.
Roman world bears the most illustrious
name, whose holy life and universal charity
have won for her esteem even among the
barbarians, who has made nothing of the
regular consulships enjoyed by her three sons,
Probinus, Olybrius, and Probus, — that Proba,
I say, now that Rome has been taken and its
contents burned or carried off, is said to be
selling what property she has and to be mak-
ing for herself friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness, that these may receive her
into everlasting habitations ! ' Well may the
church's ministers, whatever their degree,
and those monks who are only monks in
name, blush for shame that they are buying
estates, when this noble lady is selling them.
Hardly had she escaped from the hands of
the barbarians, hardly had she ceased weep-
ing for the virgins whom they had torn from
her arms, when she was overwhelmed by a
sudden and unbearable bereavement, one too
which she had had no cause to fear, the death
of her loving son.2 Yet as one who was to
be grandmother to a Christian virgin, she
bore up against this death-dealing stroke,
strong in hope of the future and proving
true of herself the words of the lyric :
" Should the round world in fragments burst, its fall
May strike the just, may slay, but not appal.""
We read in the book of Job how, while the
first messenger of evil was yet speaking,
there came also another ; 4 and in the same
book it is written : " is there not a tempta-
tion " — or as the Hebrew better gives it — " a
warfare to man upon earth?"6 It is for
this end that we labour, it is for this end that
we risk our lives in the warfare of this world,
that we may be crowned in the world to
come. That we should believe this to be
true of men is nothing wonderful, for even
the Lord Himself was tempted,6 and of Abra-
ham the scripture bears witness that God
tempted him.' It is for this reason also that
the apostle says : " we glory in tribulations
. . . knowing that tribulation worketh pa-
tience ; and patience experience ; and experi-
ence hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed ; " 6
and in another passage : "Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribula-
tion or distress or persecution or famine or
nakedness or peril or sword ? As it is writ-
ten, For thy sake we are killed all the day
long ; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter."9 The prophet Isaiah comforts
those in like case in these words : " ye that
' Luke xvi. 9. 2 i.e. Olybrius, the father of Demetrias.
3 Horace, Carm. lii. 3. 7, 8. * Job 1. 16. s Job vii. 1.
« Matt. iv. i, sqq. 1 Gen. xxii. 1.
B Rom- V. 3-> » Rom. viii. 35, 36.
are weaned from the milk, ye that are drawn
from the breasts, look for tribulation upon
tribulation, but also for hope upon hope." '
For, as the apostle puts it " the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be com-
pared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us."2 Why I have here brought together
all these passages the sequel will make
plain.
Proba who had seen from the sea the
smoke of her native city and had committed
her own safety and that of those dear to her
to a fragile boat, found the shores of Africa
even more cruel than those which she had
left. For one3 lay in wait for her of whom
it would be hard to say whether he was
more covetous or heartless, one who cared
for nothing but wine and money, one who
under pretence of serving the mildest of
emperors 4 stood forth as the most savage
of all despots. If I may be allowed to
quote a fable of the poets, he was like
Orcus 5 in Tartarus. Like him too he had
with him a Cerberus,6 not three headed
but many headed, ready to seize and rend
everything within his reach. He tore be-
trothed daughters from their mothers' arms '
and sold high-born maidens in marriage to
those greediest of men, the merchants of
Syria. No plea of poverty induced him to
spare either ward or widow or virgin dedi-
cated to Christ. Indeed he looked more at
the hands than at the faces of those who
appealed to him. Such was the dread
Charybdis and such the hound-girt Scylla
which this lady encountered in fleeing from
the barbarians ; monsters who neither spared
the shipwrecked nor heeded the cry of
those made captive. Cruel wretch ! B at
least imitate the enemy of the Roman Em-
pire. The Brennus of our day 9 took only
what he found, but you seek what you can-
not find.
Virtue, indeed, is always exposed to envy,
and cavillers may marvel at the secret agree-
ment by which Proba purchased the chastity
of her numerous companions. They may
allege that the count who could have taken
all would not have been satisfied '" with a
part ; and that she could not have questioned
his claim since in spite of her rank she was but
a slave in his despotic hands. I perceive also
that I am laying myself open to the attacks of
enemies and that I may seem to be flattering a
lady of the highest birth and distinction. Yet
these men will not be able to accuse me when
1 Isa. xxviii. g, 10, LXX. 2 Rom. viii. 18.
3 Heraclian, Count of Africa. * Honorius.
6 i.e. Pluto, king- of the lower world.
6 Sabinus, the son-in-law of Heraclian. 7 Virg., A. x. 79.
8 Jerome here apostrophizes Heraclian.
8 Alaric the Goth. >° Reading dedignatus for dignatus.
LETTER CXXX.
265
they learn that hitherto I have said nothing
about her. I have never either in the life-
time of her husband or since his decease
praised her for the antiquity of her family or
for the extent of her wealth and power, sub-
jects which others might perhaps have im-
proved in mercenary speeches. My purpose
is to praise the grandmother of my virgin in
a style befitting the church, and to thank her
for having aided with her goodwill the desire
which Demetrias has formed. For the rest
my cell, my food and clothing, my advanced
years, and my narrow circumstances suffi-
ciently refute the charge of flattery. In
what remains of my letter I shall direct all
my words to Demetrias herself, whose holi-
ness ennobles her as much as her rank, and
of whom it may be said that the higher she
ciimbs the more terrible will be her fall.
For the rest
This one thing, child of God, I lay on thee ;
Yea before all, and urge it many times : '
Love to occupy your mind with the read-
ing of scripture. Do not in the good ground
of your breast gather only a crop of darnel
and wild oats. Do not let an enemy sow
tares among the wheat when the householder
is asleep ' (that is, when the mind which ever
cleaves to God is off its guard) ; but say al-
ways with the bride in the song of songs :
" By night I sought him whom my soul loveth.
Tell me where thou feedest, where thou mak-
est thy flock to rest at noon ; " 3 and with the
psalmist : " my soul followeth hard after thee :
thy right hand upholdeth me ; " 4 and with
Jeremiah : " I have not found it hard . . .
to follow thee," 5 for " there is no grief in Jacob
neither is there travail in Israel."6 When
you were in the world you loved the things
of the world. You rubbed your cheeks with
rouge and used whitelead to improve your
complexion. You dressed your hair and
built up a tower on your head with tresses
not your own. I shall say nothing of your
costly earrings, your glistening pearls from
the depths of the Red Sea,7 your bright green
emeralds, your flashing onyxes, your liquid
sapphires, — stones which turn the heads of
matrons, and make them eager to possess the
like. For you have relinquished the world
and besides your baptismal vow have taken a
new one ; you have entered into a compact
with your adversary and have said: "I re-
nounce thee, O devil, and thy world and thy
pomp and thy works." Observe, therefore,
the treaty that you have made, and keep
1 Virg., A. iii. 435. " Matt. xiii. 25. 3 Cant. iii. i: i. 7.
4 Ps. lxiii. 8. 6 Jer. xvii. 16, LXX.
* Nu. xxiii. 2i, LXX. 7 i. <. The Indian Ocean.
terms with your adversary while you are in
the way of this world. Otherwise he may
some day deliver you to the judge and prove
that you have taken what is his ; and then
the judge will deliver you to the officer — at
once your foe and your avenger — and you
will be cast into prison ; into that outer dark-
ness ' which surrounds us with the greater
horror as it severs us from Christ the one
true light." And you shall by no means come
out thence till you have paid the uttermost
farthing,3 that is, till you have expiated your
most trifling sins ; for we shall give account
of every idle word in the day of judgment.4
8. h\ speaking thus I do not wish to utter
an ill-omened prophecy against you but only
to warn you as an apprehensive and prudent
monitor who in your case fears even what
is safe. What says the scripture ? " If
the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee,
leave not thy place." 5 We must always stand
under arms and in battle array, ready to en-
gage the foe. When he tries to dislodge us
from our position and to make us fall back,
we must plant our feet firmly down, and say
with the psalmist, " he hath set my feet upon
a rock " 6 and "the rocks are a refuge for the
conies."7 In this latter passage for ' conies '
many read ' hedgehogs.' Now the hedge-
hog is a small animal, very shy, and covered
over with thorny bristles. When Jesus was
crowned with thorns and bore our sins and
suffered for us, it was to make the roses of
virginity and the lilies of chastity grow for
us out of the brambles and briers which have
formed the lot of women since the day when
it was said to Eve, " in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children ; and thy desire shall be
to thy husband and he shall rule over thee." 8
We are told that the bridegroom feeds among
the lilies,0 that is, among those who have not
defiled their garments, for they have remained
virgins 10 and have hearkened to the precept
of the Preacher : " let thy garments be always
white." " As the author and prince of vir-
ginity He says boldly of Himself : " I am the
rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys." a>
" The rocks " then " are a refuge for the
conies " who when they are persecuted in one
city flee into another I3 and have no fear that
the prophetic words "refuge failed me"14
will be fulfilled in their case. " The high
hills are a refuge for the wildgoats," 16 and
their food are the serpents which a little
child draws out of their holes. Meanwhile
the leopard lies down with the kid and the
1 Matt. viii. 12. 2 Joh. viii. 12.
3 Matt. v. 25, 26. 4 Matt. xii. 36.
5 Eccles. x. 4. Jerome takes ' the ruler"1 to be the devil.
« Ps. xl. 2. T Ps. civ. 18. " Gen. iii. 16.
9 Cant. ii. 16. 10 Rev. xiv. 4. ll Eccles. ix. 8.
'2 Cant. ii. 1. l3 Matt. x. 23.
n Ps. cxlii. 4. 1S Ps. civ. 18.
JEROME.
lion cats straw like the ox ; ' not of course
that the ox may learn ferocity from the lion
but that the lion may learn docility from the
ox.
But let us turn back to the passage first
quoted, " If the spirit of the ruler rise up
against thee, leave not thy place," a sentence
which is followed by these words: " for
yielding pacifieth great offences."2 The
meaning is, that if the serpent finds his way
into your thoughts you must "keep your
heart with all diligence"3 and sing with
David, "cleanse thou me from secret faults :
keep back thy servant also from presumptuous
sins," and come not to " the great transgres-
sion "4 which is sin in act. Rather slay the
allurements to vice while they are still only
thoughts ; and dash the little ones of the
daughter of Babylon against the stones 6
where the serpent can leave no trail. Be
wary and vow a vow unto the Lord : " let
them not have dominion over me : then shall
I be upright and I shall be innocent from the
great transgression." " For elsewhere also the
scripture testifies, "I will visit the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation." ' That is to say, God
will not punish us at once for our thoughts
and resolves but will send retribution upon
their offspring, that is, upon the evil deeds
and habits of sin which arise out of them.
As He says by the mouth of Amos : " for
three transgressions of such and such a city
and for four I will not turn away the punish-
ment thereof." 8
9. I cull these few flowers in passing from
the fair field of the holy scriptures. They
will suffice to warn you that you must shut
the door of your breast and fortify your brow
by often making the sign of the cross. Thus
alone will the destroyer of Egypt find no
place to attack you ; thus alone will the first-
born of your soul escape the fate of the first-
born of the Egyptians ; 9 thus alone will you
be able with the prophet to say : " my heart
is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed ; I will sing
and give praise. Awake up, my glory ;
awake, psaltery and harp." I0 For, sin stricken
as she is, even Tyre is bidden to take up her
harp " and to do penance ; like Peter she is
told to wash away the stains of her former
foulness with bitter tears. Howbeit, let us
know nothing of penitence, lest the thought
of it lead us into sin. It is a plank for those
who have had the misfortune to be ship-
wrecked ; " but an inviolate virgin may hope
to save the ship itself. For it is one thing to
1 Isa. xi. 6-8. 3 Eccles. x. 4. 8 Prov. iv. 23.
4 Ps. xix. 12-14. * Ps. exxxvii. 9. • Ps. xix. 13.
' Nu. xiv. 18. 8 Amos 1. 3. » Exod. xii. 2^, 20.
>° Ps. lvii. 7, 8. 1 1 Isa. xxiii. 15, 16. " See Letter CXXII. $4.
look for what you have cast away, and an-
other to keep what you have never lost.
Even the apostle kept under his body and
brought it into subjection, lest having
preached to others he might himself become
a castaway.1 Heated with the violence of
sensual passion he made himself the spokes-
man of the human race : " O wretched man
that I am ! who shall deliver me from the
body of this death ? " and again, " I know
that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no
good thing ; for to will is present with me ;
but how to perform that which is good, I find
not. For the good that I would, I do not :
but the evil which I would not, that I do ; "2
and once more : " they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit
of God dwell in you." 3
10. After you have paid the most careful
attention to your thoughts, you must then put
on the armour of fasting and sing with David :
" I chastened my soul with fasting," 4 and " I
have eaten ashes like bread," 5 and " as for
me when they troubled me my clothing was
sackcloth."6 Eve was expelled from para-
dise because she had eaten of the forbidden
fruit. Elijah on the other hand after forty
days of fasting was carried in a fiery chariot
into heaven. For forty days and forty nights
Moses lived by the intimate converse which
he had with God, thus proving in his own
case the complete truth of the saying, " man
doth not live by bread only but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the
Lord." 7 The Saviour of the world, who in
His virtues and His mode of life has left us
an example to follow,8 was, immediately
after His baptism, taken up by the spirit
that He might contend with the devil,0 and
after crushing him and overthrowing him
might deliver him to his disciples to trample
under foot. For what says the apostle?
" God shall bruise Satan under your feet
shortly." I0 And yet after the Saviour had
fasted forty days, it was through food that the
old enemy laid a snare for him, saying, " If
thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread." " Under the law, in
the seventh month after the blowing of trum-
pets and on the tenth day of the month, a
fast was proclaimed for the whole Jewish
people, and that soul was cut off from among
his people which on that day preferred self-
indulgence to self-denial.12 In Job it is writ-
ten of behemoth that " his strength is in his
loins, and his force is in the navel of his
1 i> 'x> 27- " R°m- v'<- 24. l8i 'Q- ' Rom. viii. 8, 9.
4 Ps. lxix. 10. 6 ps cjj 9 9 ps xxxv- t, Vulg.
,n £eut- Vlli- 3- 6 J°h- xiii- 15'- • Pet- »'• 2I- " Matt. iv- «•
10 Rom. xvi. 20. 11 Matt. iv. 3. J- Lev. xxiii. 27, 29.
LETTER CXXX.
i6y
belly." ' Our foe uses the heat of youthful
passion to tempt young men and maidens and
"sets on fire the wheel of our birth." ; He
thus fulfils the words of Hosea, " they are all
adulterers, their heart is like an oven ;" 3 an
oven which only God's mercy and severe
fasting can extinguish. These are "the fiery
darts"4 with which the devil wounds men and
sets them on fire, and it was these which the
king of Babylon used against the three chil-
dren. But when he made his fire forty-nine
cubits high 5 he did but turn to his own
ruin ° the seven weeks which the Lord had
appointed for a time of salvation.1 And as
then a fourth bearing a form like the son of
God slackened the terrible heat 8 and cooled
the flames of the blazing fiery furnace, until,
menacing as they looked, they became quite
harmless, so is it now with the virgin soul. •
The dew of heaven and severe fasting quench !
in a girl the flame of passion and enable her |
soul even in its earthly tenement to live the
angelic life. Therefore the chosen vessel "
declares that concerning virgins he has no
commandment of the Lord.10 For you must
act against nature or rather above nature if
you are to forswear your natural function, to
cut off your own root, to cull no fruit but
that of virginity, to abjure the marriage-bed,
to shun intercourse with men, and while in
the body to live as though out of it.
ii. I do not, however, lay on you as an
obligation any extreme fasting or abnormal
abstinence from food. Such practices soon
break down weak constitutions and cause bod-
ily sickness before they lay the foundations
of a holy life. It is a maxim of the philoso-
phers that virtues are means, and that all ex-
tremes are of the nature of vice ; " and it is
in this sense that one of the seven wise men
propounds the famous saw quoted in the
comedy, " In nothing too much." 12 You must
not go on fasting until your heart begins to
throb and your breath to fail and you have
to be supported or carried by others. No ;
while curbing the desires of the flesh, you
must keep sufficient strength to read script-
ure, to sing psalms, and to observe vigils. For
fasting is not a complete virtue in itself but
only a foundation on which other virtues may
be built. The same may be said of sanctifi-
cation and of that chastity without which
no man shall seethe Lord.13 Each of these is
a step on the upward way, yet none of them
by itself will avail to win the virgin's crown.
"Jobxl. 16. Cf. Letter XXII. §n. - Jas. iii. 6, R.V. marg.
3 Hos. vii. 4, Vulg. 4 Eph. vi. 16.
B Song of the Three Holy Children, 24.
6 Dan. iv. 16, 25, 32. 7 Lev. xxv. 8.
8 Dan. iii. 25. 9 Acts ix. 15.
10 i Cor. vii. '25. n See Letter CVIII. §20.
12 yii)Stv 'dyav quoted by Terence (Andria, 61).
'3Heb. xii. 14, R.V.
The gospel teaches us this in the parable of
the wise and foolish virgins ; the former of
whom enter into the bridechamber of the
bridegroom, while the latter are shut out from
it because not having the oil of good works '
they allow their lamps to fail.2 This subject
of fasting opens up a wide field in which I
have often wandered myself,3 and many
writers have devoted treatises to the subject.
I must refer you to these if you wish to learn
the advantages of self-restraint and on the
other hand the evils of over-feeding.
12. Follow the example of your Spouse :4
be subject to your grandmother and to your
mother. Never look upon a man, especially
upon a young man, except in their company.
Never know a man whom they do not know.
It is a maxim of the world that the only sure
friendship is one based on an identity of likes
and dislikes.5 You have been taught by their
example as well as instructed by the holy life
of your home to aspire to virginity, to recog-
nize the commandments of Christ, to know
what is expedient for you and what course
you ought to choose. But do not regard
what is your own as absolutely your own.
Remember that part of it belongs to those
who have communicated their chastity to you
and from whose honourable marriages and
beds undefiled ° you have sprung up like a
choice flower. For you are destined to pro-
duce perfect fruit if only you will humble your-
self under the mighty hand of God,7 always
remembering that it is written : " God resist-
eth the proud and giveth grace to the hum-
ble." 8 Now where there is grace, this is
not given in return for works but is the free
gift of the giver, so that the apostles' words
are fulfilled : " it is not of him that willeth
nor of him that runneth, but of God that
sheweth mercy." ' And yet it is ours to will
and not to will ; and all the while the very
liberty that is ours is only ours by the mercy
of God.
13. Again in selecting for yourself eunuchs
and maids and servingmen look rather to
their characters than to their good looks ;
for, whatever their age or sex, and even if
mutilation ensures in them a compulsory
chastity, you must take account of their dis-
positions, for these cannot be operated on
save by the fear of Christ. When you are
present buffoonery and loose talk must find
no place. You should never hear an im-'/
proper word ; if you do hear one, you must
not be carried away by it. Abandoned men
often make use of a single light expression to
1 See Jerome's commentary on the parable,
s Matt. xxv. 1-12. 3 See Letters XXII., LIL, etc.
4 Luke ii. 51. » Sail. Cat. i. zo. e Heb. xiii. 4.
7 1 Pet. v. 6. 8 1 Pet. v. 5. e Rom. ix. 16,
26S
JEROME.
try the gates of chastity.' Leave to world-
lings the privileges of laughing and being
laughed at. One who is in your position
ought to be serious. Cato the Censor, in old
time a leading man in your city, (the same
who in his last days turned his attention to
Greek literature without either blushing for
himself as censor or despairing of success on
account of his age) is said by Lucilius2 to
have laughed only once in his life, and the
same remark is made about Marcus Crassus.
These men may have affected this austere
mien to gain for themselves reputation and
notoriety. For so long as we dwell in the
tabernacle of this body and are envel-
oped with this fragile flesh, we can but
restrain and regulate our affections and pas-
sions ; we cannot wholly extirpate them.
Knowing this the psalmist says : " be ye
angry and sin not ; " 3 which the apostle ex-
plains thus : " let not the sun go down upon
your wrath."4 For, if to be angry is human,
to put an end to one's anger is Christian.
14. I think it unnecessary to warn you
against covetousness since it is the way of
your family both to have riches and to de-
spise them. The apostle too tells us that
covetousness is idolatry,5 and to one who
asked the Lord the question: "Good Master,
what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life ? " He thus replied : " If thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treas-
ure in heaven ; and come and follow me." 6
Such is the climax of complete and apostolic
virtue — to sell all that one has and to dis-
tribute to the poor,7 and thus freed from all
earthly encumbrance to fly up to the heav-
enly realms with Christ. To us, or I should
rather say to you, a careful stewardship is
entrusted, although in such matters full free-
dom of choice is left to every individual,
whether old or young. Christ's words are
" if thou wilt be perfect." I do not compel
you, He seems to say, I do not command
you, but I set the palm before you, I shew
you the prize ; it is for you to choose
whether you will enter the arena and win the
crown. Let us consider how wisely Wisdom
has spoken. " Sell that thou hast." To
whom is the command given ? Why, to him
to whom it was said, " if thou wilt be per-
fect." Sell not a part of thy goods but " all
that thou hast." And when you have sold
them, what then ? " Give to the poor." Not
to the rich, not to your kinsfolk, not to
1 Cf. Letter XXII. 834.
- The fragment of Lucilius (preserved by Cic. de Fin. V. 30)
says nothing of Cato : possibly therefore the text is here corrupt.
See for Cato Letter LII. § 3.
3 Ps. iv. 4, LXX. * Eph. iv. 26. 6 Eph. v s
• Matt. xu. 16, bi. » Luke xviii. 22. Cf. Letter CXIX, §4.
minister to self indulgence ; but to relieve
need. It does not matter whether a man is
a priest or a relation or a connexion, you
must think of nothing but his poverty. Let
your praises come from the stomachs of the
hungry and not from the rich banquets of
the overfed. We read in the Acts of the
Apostles how, while the blood of the Lord
was still warm and believers were in the fer-
vour of their first faith, they all sold their
possessions and laid the price of them at the
apostles' feet (to shew that money ought to be
trampled underfoot) and " distribution was
made unto every man according as he had
need." ' But Ananias and Sapphira proved
timid stewards, and what is more, deceit-
ful ones ; therefore they brought on them-
selves condemnation. For having made a
vow they offered their money to God as if it
were their own and not His to whom the)'
had vowed it ; and keeping back for their
own use a part of that which belonged to
another, through fear of famine which true
faith never fears, they drew down on them-
selves suddenly the avenging stroke, which
was meant not in cruelty towards them
but as a warning to others." In fact the
apostle Peter by no means called down
death upon them as Porphyry3 foolishly
says. He merely announced God's judg-
ment by the spirit of prophecy, that the
doom of two persons might be a lesson to
many. From the time of your dedication to
perpetual virginity your property is yours
no longer ; or rather is now first truly yours
because it has come to be Christ's. Yet
while your grandmother and mother are liv-
ing you must deal with it according to their
wishes. If, however, they die and rest in the
sleep of the saints (and I know that they
desire that you should survive them) ; when
your years are riper, and your will steadier,
and your resolution stronger, you will do
with your money what seems best to you, or
rather what the Lord shall command, know-
ing as you will that hereafter you will have
nothing save that which you have here spent
on good works. Others may build churches,
may adorn their walls when built with mar-
bles, may procure massive columns, may
deck the unconscious capitals with gold and
precious ornaments, may cover church doors
with silver and adorn the altars with gold and
gems. I do not blame those who do these
things ; I do not repudiate them.4 Everyone
must follow his own judgment. And it is
better to spend one's money thus than to
hoard it up and brood over it. However
1 Acts iv. 34, 35. 2 Acts v. 1-10.
3 A philosopher of the Neoplatonic school (fl. 232-300 A. D.).
Of his books against Christianity only small fragments remain.
« But see Letter LII. § 10.
LETTER CXXX.
269
your duty is of a different kind. It is yours
to clothe Christ in the poor, to visit Him in
the sick, to feed Him in the hungry, to shel-
ter Him in the homeless, particularly such as
are of the household of faith,1 to support
communities of virgins, to take care of God's
servants, of those who are poor in spirit, who
serve the same Lord as you day and night,
who while they are on earth live the angelic
life and speak only of the praises of God.
Having food and raiment they rejoice and
count themselves rich. They seek for noth-
ing more, contented if only they can perse-
vere in their design. For as soon as they be-
gin to seek more they are shewn to be unde-
serving even of those things that are needful.
The precedingcounselshavebeen addressed
to a virgin who is wealthy and a lady of rank.
15. But what I am now going to say will
be addressed to the virgin alone. I shall
take into consideration, that is, not your cir-
cumstances but yourself. In addition to the
rule of psalmody and prayer which you must
always observe at the third, sixth, and ninth
hours, at evening, at midnight, and at dawn,2
you should determine how much time you
will bind yourself to give to the learning and
reading of scripture, aiming to please and
instruct the soul rather than to lay a burthen
upon it. When you have spent your allotted
time in these studies, often kneeling down to
pray as care for your soul will impel you to
do ; have some wool always at hand, shape
the threads into yarn with your thumb, attach
them to the shuttle, and then throw this to
weave a web, or roll up the yarn which
others have spun or lay it out for the weav-
ers. Examine their work when it is done,
find fault with its defects, and arrange how
much they are to do. If you busy yourself
with these numerous occupations, you will
never find your days long ; however late the
summer sun may be in setting, a day will
always seem too short on which something
remains undone. By observing such rules as
these you will save yourself and others, you
will set a good example as a mistress, and
you will place to your credit the chastity of
many. For the scripture says : " the soul of
every idler is filled with desires." s Nor may
you excuse yourself from toil on -the plea that
God's bounty has left you in want of nothing.
No ; you must labour with the rest, that being
always busy you may think only of the service
of the Lord. I shall speak quite plainly.
Even supposing that you give all your prop-
erty to the poor, Christ will value nothing
more highly than what you have wrought
with your own hands. You may work for
1 Gal. vi. 10. a See note on Letter XXII. § 37.
8 Prov. xiii. 4, LXX. comp. Letter CXXV. § n.
yourself or to set an example to your virgins ;
or you may make presents to your mother
and grandmother to draw from them larger
sums for the relief of the poor.
16. I have all but passed over the most
important point of all. While you were still
quite small, bishop Anastasius of holy and
blessed memory ruled the Roman church.1
In his days a terrible storm of heresy ' came
from the East and strove first to corrupt and
then to undermine that simple faith which an
apostle has praised.3 However the bishop,
rich in poverty and as careful of his flock as
an apostle, at once smote the noxious thing
on the head, and stayed the hydra's hissing.
Now I have reason to fear — in fact a report
has reached me to this effect — that the poi-
sonous germs of this heresy still live and
sprout in the minds of some to this day. I
think, therefore, that I ought to warn you,
in all kindness and affection, to hold fast the
faith of the saintly Innocent, the spiritual
son of Anastasius and his successor in the
apostolic see ; and not to receive any foreign
doctrine, however wise and discerning you
may take yourself to be. Men of this type
whisper in corners and pretend to inquire into
the justice of God. Why, they ask, was a
particular soul born in a particular province ?
What is the reason that some are born of
Christian parents, others among wild beasts
and savage tribes who have no knowledge of
God ? Wherever they can strike the simple
with their scorpion-sting and form an ulcer
fitted to their purpose, there they diffuse their
venom. " Is it for nothing, think you," —
thus they argue — " that a little child scarcely
able to recognize its mother by a laugh or a
look of joy,4 which has done nothing either
good or evil, is seized by a devil or over-
whelmed with jaundice or doomed to bear
afflictions which godless men escape, while
God's servants have to bear them?" Now if
God's judgments, they say, are "true and
righteous altogether,"1 and if "there is no
unrighteousness in Him," ° we are compelled
by reason to believe that our souls have pre-
existed in heaven, that they are condemned
to and, if I may so say, buried in human
bodies because of some ancient sins, and that]
we are punished in this valley of weeping r
for old misdeeds. This according to them is
the prophet's reason for saying : " Before I
was afflicted I went astray,"8 and again,
"Bring my soul out of prison."0 They ex-
plain in the same way the question of the
disciples in the gospel : " Who did sin, this
1 Anastasius was pope from 398 to 402 A. D.
2 That of the Origenists. 3 Rom. i. 8.
4 Virg. Eel. iv. 60. 5 Ps. xix. 9. 6 Ps. xcii. 15.
1 Ps. lxxxiv. 6, R.V. a Ps. cxix. 67. 9 Ps. cxlii. 7,
2/0
JEROME.
man or his parents, that he was born blind ? " '
and other similar passages.
This godless and wicked teaching was for-
merly ripe in Egypt and the East ; and now
it lurks secretly like a viper in its hole
among many persons in those parts, defil-
ing the purity of the faith and gradually
creeping on like an inherited disease till it
assails a large number. But I am sure that
if you hear it you will not accept it. For
you have preceptresses under God whose
faith is a rule of sound doctrine. You will
understand what I mean, for God will give
you understanding in all things. You must
not ask me on the spot to give you a refuta-
tion of this dreadful heresy and of others
worse still ; for were I to do so I should
"criticize where I ought to forbid,"'* and my
present object is not to refute heretics but
to instruct a virgin. However, I have de-
feated their wiles and counterworked their
efforts to undermine the truth in a treatise 3
which by God's help I have written ; and if
you desire to have this, I shall send it to you
promptly and with pleasure. I say, if you
desire to have it, for as the proverb says,
wares proffered unasked are little esteemed,
and a plentiful supply brings down prices,
which are always highest where scarcity pre-
vails.
17. Men often discuss the comparative
merits of life in solitude and life in a com-
munity ; and the preference is usually given
to the first over the second. Still even for
men there is always the risk that, being with-
drawn from the society of their fellows, they
may become exposed to unclean and godless
imaginations, and in the fulness of their ar-
rogance and disdain may look down upon
everyone but themselves, and may arm their
tongues to detract from the clergy or from
those who like themselves are bound by the
vows of a solitary life.4 Of such it is well said
by the psalmist, " as for the children of men
their teeth are spears and arrows and their
tongue a sharp sword." " Now if all this is
true of men, how much more does it apply
to women whose fickle and vacillating minds,
if left to their own devices, soon degenerate.
I am myself acquainted with anchorites of
both sexes who by excessive fasting have so
impaired their faculties that they do not
know what to do or where to turn, when to
speak or when to be silent. Most frequently
those who have been so affected have lived
in solitary cells, cold and damp. Moreover
if persons untrained in secular learning read
1 John ix. 2.
" A phrase borrowed from Cicero (p. Sext. Rose )
* Apparently Letter CXXIV. concerning Origen's book on
First Principles.
* Cf. Letter CXXV. g9. s> ps. lvli. 4.
the works of able church writers, they only
acquire from them a wordy fluency and not,
as they might do, a fuller knowledge of the
scriptures. The old saying is found true of
them, although they have not the wit to
speak, they cannot remain silent. They teach
to others the scriptures that they do not un-
derstand themselves ; and if they are fortu-
nate enough to convince them, they take
upon themselves airs as men of learning.1 In
fact, they set up as instructors of the ignor-
ant before, they have gone to school them-
selves. It is a good thing therefore to defer
to one's betters, to obey those set over one,
to learn not only from the scriptures but
from the example of others how one ought
to order one's life, and not to follow that
worst of teachers, one's own self-confidence.
Of women who are thus presumptuous the
apostle says that they " are carried about
with every wind of doctrine,2 ever learning
and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth."3
18. Avoid the company of married women
who are devoted to their husbands and to the
world, that your mind may not become un-
settled by hearing what a 'husband says to
his wife, or a wife to her husband. Such
conversations are filled with deadly venom.
To express his condemnation of them the apos-
tle has taken a verse of a profane writer and
has pressed it into the service of the church.
It may be literally rendered at the expense
of the metre : " evil communications corrupt
good manners." 4 No ; you should choose for
your companions staid and serious women,
particularly widows and virgins, persons of
approved conversation, of few words, and of
a holy modesty. Shun gay and thoughtless
girls, who deck their heads and wear their hair
in fringes, who use cosmetics to improve their
skins and affect tight sleeves, dresses without
a crease, and dainty buskins ; and by pretend-
ing to be virgins more easily sell themselves
into destruction. Moreover, the character
and tastes of a mistress are often inferred from
the behaviour of her attendants. Regard as
fair and lovable and a fitting companion one
who is unconscious of her good looks and
careless of her appearance ; who does not ex-
pose her breast out of doors or throw back
her cloak to reveal her neck ; who veils all
of her face except her eyes, and only uses
these to find her way.
19. I hesitate about what I am going to
say but, as often happens, whether I like it
or not, it must be said ; not that I have
1 Cf. Letters LIII. §7, and LXVI. §9.
- Eph. iv. 14. " 2 Tim. iii. 7.
4 1 Cor. xv. 33 ; the words are quoted from a lost comedy of
Menander.
LETTER CXXX.
271
reason to fear anything of the kind in your
case, for probably you know nothing of such
things and have never even heard of them,
but that in advising you I may warn others.
A virgin should avoid as so many plagues
and banes of chastity all ringletted youths
who curl their hair and scent themselves with
musk ; to whom may well be applied the
words of Petronius Arbiter, " too much per-
fume makes an ill perfume." ' I need not
speak of those who by their pertinacious visits
to virgins bring discredit both on themselves
and on these ; for, even if nothing wrong is
done by them, no wrong can be imagined
greater than to find oneself exposed to the
calumnies and attacks of the heathen. I do
not here speak of all, but only of those whom
the church itself rebukes, whom sometimes it
expels, and against whom the censure of bish-
ops and presbyters is not seldom directed.
For, as it is, it is almost more dangerous for
giddy girls to shew themselves in the abodes
of religion than even to walk abroad. Vir-
gins who live in communities and of whom
large numbers are assembled together, should
never go out by themselves or unaccompanied
by their mother.2 A hawk often singles out
one of a flight of doves, pounces on it and
tears it open till it is gorged with its flesh
and blood. Sick sheep stray from the flock
and fall into the jaws of wolves. I know
some saintly virgins who on holy days keep
at home to avoid the crowds and refuse to go
out when they must either take a strong es-
cort, or altogether avoid all public places.
It is about thirty years since I published a
treatise on the preservation of virginity ? in which
I felt constrained to oppose certain vices and
to lay bare the wiles of the devil for the
instruction of the virgin to whom it was
addressed. My language then gave offence
to a great many, for everyone applied what I
said to himself and instead of welcoming my
admonitions turned away from me as an
accuser of his deeds. Was it any use, do
you ask, thus to arm a host of remonstrants
and to show by my complaints the wounds
which my conscience received ? Yes, I an-
swer, for, while they have passed away, my
book still remains. I have also written short
exhortations to several virgins and widows,
and in these smaller works I have gathered
together all that there is to be said on the
subject. So that I am reduced to the alter-
native of repeating exhortations which seem
superfluous or of omitting them to the serious
injury of this treatise. The blessed Cyprian
1 The words are not extant in Petronius but occur in Martial
ii. 12. 4.
2 i.e. the head of the community.
3 Letter XXII. to Eustochium.
has left a noble work on virginity ; ' and
many other writers, both Greek and Latin,
have done the same. Indeed the virginal life
has been praised both with tongue and pen
among all nations and particularly among the
churches. Most, however, of those who have
written on the subject have addressed them-
selves to such as have not yet chosen vir-
ginity, and who need help to enable them to
choose aright. But I and those to whom I
write have made our choice ; and our one
object is to remain constant to it. Therefore,
as our way lies among scorpions and adders,
among snares and banes, let us go forward
staff in hand, our loins girded and our feet
shod ; 2 that so we may come to the sweet
waters of the true Jordan, and enter the land
of promise and go up to the house of God.
Then shall we sing with the prophet : " Lord,
I have loved the habitation of thy house and
the place where thine honour dwelleth;"3
and again : " one thing have I desired of
the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of
my life." 4
Happy is the soul, happy is the virgin in
whose heart there is room for no other love
than the love of Christ. For in Himself He
is wisdom and chastity, patience and justice
and every other virtue. Happy too is she
who can recall a man's face without the
least sigh of regret, and who has no desire to
set eyes on one whom, after she has seen him,
she may find herself unwilling to give up.
Some there are, however, who by their ill-
behaviour bring discredit on the holy profes-
sion of virginity and upon the glory of the
heavenly and angelic company who have
made it. These must be frankly told either
to marry if they cannot contain, or to contain
if they will not marry. It is also a matter for
laughter or rather for tears, that when mis-
tresses walk abroad they are preceded by
maids better dressed than themselves ; indeed
so usual has this become that, if of two women
you see one less neat than the other, you take
her for the mistress as a matter of course.
And yet these maids are professed virgins.
Again not a few virgins choose sequestered
dwellings where they will not be under the
eyes of others, in order that they may live
more freely than they otherwise could do.
They take baths, do what they please, and
try as much as they can to escape notice.
We see these things and yet we put up with
them ; in fact, if we catch sight of the glitter
of gold, we are ready to account of them as
good works.
20. I end as I began, not content to have
1 See Letter XXII. § 22 ante.
3 Ps. xxvi. 8.
3 Exod. xii. 11.
* Ps. xxvii. 4.
27i
JEROME.
given you but a single warning. Love the
holy scriptures, and wisdom will love you.
Love wisdom, and it will keep you safe.
Honour wisdom, and it will embrace you
round about.1 Let the jewels on your breast
and in your ears be the gems of wisdom.
Let your tongue know no theme but Christ,
let no sound pass your lips that is not holy,
and let your words always reproduce that
sweetness of which your grandmother and
your mother set you the example. Imitate
them, for they are models of virtue.
LETTER CXXXI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
At the suggestion of Jerome, Marcellinus (for whom
see Letter CXXVL) had consulted Augustine on the
difficult question of the origin of the soul but had failed
to get any definite opinion from this latter. Augustine
now writes to Jerome confessing his inability to decide
the question and asking for advice upon it. He begins
by reciting — and justifying — his own belief that the soul
is immortal and incorporeal and that its fall into sin is
due not to God but to its own free choice. He then
goes on to say that he is quite ready to accept creationism
as a solution of the difficulty if Jerome will shew him
how this theory is reconcilable with the church's con-
demnation of Pelagius and its assertion of the doctrine
of original sin. The damnation of unbaptized infants
is assumed throughout.
The date of the letter is 415 a.d. Its number in the
Letters of Augustine is CLXVI.
LETTER CXXXII.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
In this letter Augustine deals with the statement of
James ii. 10 ("whosoever shall keep the whole law
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all") and ex-
plains it by saying that every breach of the law is a
breach of love. He also takes occasion to criticise two
doctrines of the schools then prevalent, (1) that all sins
are equal and (2) that he who has one virtue has all and
that all virtues are wanting to him who lacks one.
The date of the letter is 415 A.D. Its number in the
Letters of Augustine is CLXVII.
LETTER CXXXIII.
TO CTESIPHON.
Ctesiphon had written to Jerome for his opinion on
two points in the teaching of Pelagius, (1) his quietism
and (2) his denial of original sin. Jerome now refutes
these two doctrines and points out that Pelagius has
drawn them partly from the philosophers and partly
from the heretics. He censures Rufinus, who had died
5 years before, for attributing to Sixtus bishop of Rome
a book which is really the work of Xystus a Pythagorean,
and for passing off as the composition of the martyr
Pamphilus a panegyric of Origen really due to his
friend Eusebius. In both these assertions, however,
Jerome is more wrong than right. (See Prolegomena to
the works of Rufinus.) The letter concludes with a
promise to deal more fully with the heresy of Pelagius
at some future time, a promise afterwards redeemed by
' Cf. Letter LII. §3.
the publication of a ' dialogue against the Pelagians."
The date of the letter is 415 a.d.
1. In acquainting me with the new contro-
versy which has taken the place of the old
you are wrong in thinking that you have
acted rashly, for your conduct has been
prompted by zeal and friendship. Already
before the arrival of your letter many in the
East have been deceived into a pride which
apes humility and have said with the devil :
" I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God ; I will be like
the Most High." ' Can there be greater pre-
sumption than to claim not likeness to God
but equality with Him, and so to compress
into a few words the poisonous doctrines of
all the heretics which in their turn flow from
the statements of the philosophers, particu-
larly of Pythagoras and Zeno the founder of
the Stoic school? For those states of feeling
which the Greeks call nddj] and which we
may describe as " passions," relating to the
present or the future such as vexation and
gladness, hope and fear, — these, they tell us,
it is possible to root out of our minds ; in
fact all vice may be destroyed root and
branch in man by meditation on virtue and
constant practice of it. The position which
they thus take up is vehemently assailed by
the Peripatetics who trace themselves to
Aristotle, and by the new Academics of
whom Cicero is a disciple ; and these over-
throw not the facts of their opponents — for
they have no facts — but the shadows and
wishes which do duty for them. To main-
tain such a doctrine is to take man's nature
from him, to forget that he is constituted of
body as well as soul, to substitute mere
wishes for sound teaching.2 For the apostle
says : — " O wretched man that I am ! who
shall deliver me from the body of this
death?"8 But as I cannot say all that I
wish in a short letter I will briefly touch on
the points that you must avoid. Virgil
writes : —
Thus mortals fear and hope, rejoice and grieve,
And shut in darkness have no sight of heaven.4
For who can escape these feelings ? Must
we not all clap our hands when we are joyful,
and shrink at the approach of sorrow ? Must
not hope always animate us and fear put us in
terror ? So in one of his Satires the poet
Horace, whose words are so weighty, writes :
From faults no mortal is completely free ;
He that has fewest is the perfect man.0
2. Well does one of our own writers" say:
"the philosophers are the patriarchs of the
1 Isa. xiv. 13, 14. 2 cf. Letter LXXIX. §9. s Rom. vii. 24.
4 Virgil, ^Eneid, vi. 733, 734. . ~° Horace, Sat. I. iii. 68, 69.
6 Tertullian, against Hermogenes, c. ix.
LETTERS CXXX.— CXXXIII.
273
heretics." It is they who have stained with
their perverse doctrine the spotlessness of
the Church, not knowing that of human
weakness it is said : " Why is earth and
ashes proud?"1 So likewise the apostle:
" I see another law in my members warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me
into captivity " ; 2 and again, " The good that
I would I do not : but the evil which I would
not that I do."3 Now if Paul does what he
wills not, what becomes of the assertion that a
man may be without sin if he will ? Given
the will, how is it to have its way when the
apostle tells us that he has no power to do
what he wishes ? Moreover if we ask them
who the persons are whom they regard as
sinless they seek to veil the truth by a new
subterfuge. They do not, they say, profess
that men are or have been without sin ; all
that they maintain is that it is possible for
them to be so. Remarkable teachers truly,
who maintain that a thing may be which,
on their own shewing, never has been ;
whereas the scripture says : — " The thing
which shall be, it is that which hath been
already of old time."4
I need not go through the lives of the
saints or call attention to the moles and spots
which mark the fairest skins. Many of our
writers, it is true, unwisely, take this course ;
however, a few sentences of scripture will
dispose alike of the heretics and the philoso-
phers. What says the chosen vessel ? " God
had concluded all in unbelief that he might
have mercy upon all ; 6 and in another place,
" all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God." ° The preacher also who is
the mouthpiece of the Divine Wisdom freely
protests and says : " there is not a just man
upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth
not : " 7 and again, " if thy people sin against
thee, for there is no man that sinneth not : " b
and " who can say, I have made my heart
clean ? " * and none is clean from stain,
not even if his life on earth has been but
for one day. David insists on the same
thing when he says : " Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me ; " 10 and in another psalm, " in thy sight
shall no man living be justified." u This last
passage they try to explain away from motives
of reverence, arguing that the meaning is that
no man is perfect in comparison with God.
Yet the scripture does not say : " in compari-
son with thee shall no man living be justi-
fied," but " in thy sight shall no man living be
justified." And when it says " in thy sight " it
1 Ecclus. x. 9. a Rom. vii. 23. s Rom. vii. 19.
4 Eccles. i. 9. Jerome inverts the words of the Preacher.
s Rom. xi. 32. e Rom. iii, 23. ' Eccles. vii. 20.
»iK. viii. 46. • Prov. xx. 9.
luPs. li. 5. » Ps. cxliii. 2.
means that those who seem holy to men to
God in his fuller knowledge are by no means
holy. For " man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart."1 But if in the sight of God who
sees all things and to whom the secrets of
the heart lie open2 no man is just ; then
these heretics instead of adding to man's
dignity, clearly take away from God's power.
I might bring together many other passages
of scripture of the same import ; but were
I to do so, I should exceed the limits I will
not say of a letter but of a volume.
3. It is with no new doctrines that in
their self-applauding perfidy they deceive the
simple and untaught. They cannot, how-
ever, deceive theologians who meditate in
the law of the Lord day and night.3 Let
those blush then for their leaders and com-
panions who say that a man may be " without
sin" if he will, or, as the Greeks term it
avajJtxpTtfToS, " sinless." As such a state-
ment sounds intolerable to the Eastern
churches, they profess indeed only to say
that a man may be " without sin " and do not
presume to allege that he may be " sinless "
as well. As if, forsooth, "sinless* and
" without sin " had different meanings ;
whereas the only difference between them
is that Latin requires two words to express
what Greek gives in one. If you adopt
" without sin " and reject " sinless," then
condemn the preachers of sinlessness. But
this you cannot do. You know 4 very well
what it is that you teach your pupils in
private ; and that while you say one -thing
with your lips you engrave another on your
heart. To us, ignorant outsiders you speak in
parables ; but to your own followers you avow
your secret meaning. And for this you claim
the authority of scripture which says: "to
the multitudes Jesus spake in parables ; "
but to his own disciples He said : " it is
given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not
given." 5
But to return ; I will shortly set forth the
names of your leaders and companions to
shew you who those are of whose fellowship
you make your boast. Manichoeus says of
his elect — whom he places among Plato's
orbits in heaven — that they are free from
all sin, and cannot sin even if they will. To
so great heights have they attained in virtue
that they laugh at the works of the flesh.
Then there is Priscillian in Spain whose infamy
makes him as bad as Manichxus, and whose
disciples profess a high esteem for you.
These are rash enough to claim for them-
1 1 S. xvi. 7. 2 Ps. xliv. 21 : Heb. iv. 13. 3 Ps. i. 2.
* Jerome here addresses Pelagius. 6 Matt xiii. 3, 11.
274
JEROME.
selves the twofold credit of perfection and
wisdom. Yet they shut themselves up alone
with women and justify their sinful embraces
by quoting the lines :
The almighty father takes the earth to wife ;
Pouring upon her fertilizing rain,
That from her womb new harvest he may reap.1
These heretics have affinities with Gnosti-
cism which may be traced to the impious
teaching of Basilides.2 It is from him that
you derive the assertion that without knowl-
edge of the law it is impossible to avoid sin.
But why do I speak of Priscillian who has
been condemned by the whole world and put
to death by the secular sword?3 Evagrius "
of Ibera in Pontus who sends letters to virgins
and monks and among others to her whose
name bears witness to the blackness of her
perfidy,6 has published a book of maxims on
apathy, or, as we should say, impassivity or
imperturbability ; a state in which the mind
ceases to be agitated and — to speak simply —
becomes either a stone or a God. His work
is widely read, in the East in Greek and in
the West in a Latin translation made by his
disciple Rufinus.8 He has also written a book
which professes to be about monks and in-
cludes in it many not monks at all whom he
declares to have been Origenists, and who
have certainly been condemned by the
bishops. I mean Ammonius, Eusebius, Eu-
thymius,' Evagrius himself, Horus,6 Isidorus,9
and many others whom it would be tedious
to enumerate. He is careful, however, to do
as the physicians, of whom Lucretius says ; 10
To children bitter wormwood still they give
In cups with juice of sweetest honey smeared.
That is to say, he has set in the forefront of
his book John,11 an undoubted Catholic and
1 Virgil, Georg. ii. 325-327.
2 See note on Letter LXXV. §3.
3 He was condemned by a council at Saragossa in 380-381 a.d.
and was put to death by Maximus at Treves in 385 a.d. at the
instigation of the Spanish bishops. Martin of Tours tried to
save his life in vain.
4 According to Sozomen (H. E. vi. c. 30) Evagrius was in his
youth befriended by Gregory of Nvssa, who left him in Con-
stantinople to assist Nectarius in dealing with theological ques-
tions. Being in danger, both as to his chastity and as to his
personal safety on account of an acquaintance he had formed
with a lady of rank, he withdrew to Jerusalem, where he was
nursed through a severe illness by Melanium. The rest of his
hie he spent as an ascetic in the Egyptian desert. See also Pal-
lad. Hist. Laus., §lxxxvi.
6 Viz., Melanium, who having sided with Rufinus in his con-
troversy with Jerome, incurred the latter's displeasure The
name means ' black.' See Letter IV. § 2.
* Viz., Rufinus of Aquileia, Jerome's former friend.
7 These three were known as ' the long brothers.' Their expul-
sion from Egypt by Theophilus was one of the causes which led
to the downfall of John of Chrysostom.
b A contemporary Egyptian monk of great celebrity.
• See Letter XCII. and note.
10 Lucretius, i. 935-937.
v WVi1->JohP of Lycopolis, an Egyptian hermit of the latter
half of the fourth century. His reputation for sanctity was
only second to that of Antony. The book about monks here
spoken of does not occur in the list of the writings of Evagrius
in the Diet, of Chr. Biog., taken from Socrates, Gennadius and
Falladius. Rulmus' History of the Monks bears a close affinity
to the Historia Lausiaca of Palladius. who was closely allied to
saint, by his means to introduce to the church
the heretics mentioned farther on. But who
can adequately characterize the rashness or
madness which has led him to ascribe a book
of the Pythagorean philosopher Xystus,1 a
heathen who knew nothing of Christ, to Six-
tus s a martyr and bishop of the Roman
church? In this work the subject of perfec-
tion is discussed at length in the light of the
Pythagorean doctrine which makes man equal
with God and of one substance with Him.
Thus many not knowing that its author was
a philosopher and supposing that they are
reading the words of a martyr, drink of the
golden cup of Babylon. Moreover in its pages
there is no mention of prophets, patriarchs,
apostles, or of Christ ; so that according to Ru-
finus3 there has been a bishop and a martyr
who had nothing to do with Christ. Such is
the book from which you and your followers
quote passages against the church. In the
same way he played fast and loose with the
name of the holy martyr Pamphilus ascribing
to him the first of the six books in defence
of Origen written by Eusebius of Csesarea4
who is admitted by every body to have been
an Arian. His object in doing so was of
course to commend to Latin ears Origen's
four wonderful books about First Principles.
Would you have me name another of your
masters in heresy ? Much of your teaching
is traceable to Origen. For, to give one in-
stance only, when he comments on the
psalmist's words : " My reins also instruct
me in the night season," ° he maintains that
when a holy man like yourself has reached
perfection, he is free even at night from
human infirmity and is not tempted by evil
thoughts. You need not blush to avow
yourself a follower of these men ; it is of no
use to disclaim their names when you adopt
their blasphemies. Moreover, your teaching
Evagrius ; and it is possible that Jerome may have attributed
Palladius' work to Evagrius. See Prolegomena to Rufinus, and
comp. Ruf. Hist. Mon. 1. with Pall. Hist. Laus., xliii.
1 In his references (here and in his comm. on Jeremiah, book
iv., ch. 22) to the Gnomes of Sixtus or Xystus, Jerome is both
inaccurate and unfair. For Rufinus merely states that the
author was traditionally identified with Sixtus, bishop of Rome
and martyr; and he does not endorse the statement. In its
present form the book is so strongly Christian in tone and lan-
guage that it is strange to find it described as Christless and
heathen. Of its origin nothing certain is known, but probably
it is " the production of an early Christian philosopher working
up heathen material with a leaven of the Gospel " (Diet. Chr.
Biog. s. v. Xystus).
u It is not clear which Sixtus is meant. Sixtus I. is not
known to have been a martyr and Sixtus II. can hardly be
intended. For though his claim to the title is undisputed he
can scarcely have written what Origen already quotes as well
known.
3 Jerome elsewhere twits Rufinus with the same mistake
(see Comm. on Jer., book iv., ch. 22). He was not, however,
alone in making it, for even Augustine was for a time similarly
deceived (see his Retractations, ii. 42).
* Cf. Against Rufinus, i. 8, 9. There is now no doubt that
Jerome was wrong and Rufinus right as to the authorship of
the book. See the article entitled ?' Eusebius " in the Diet, of
Christian Biog. and the prolegomena to hij works as issued in
this series.
6 Ps. xvi. 7 and Origen's Comm. ad loc.
LETTER CXXXIII.
275
corresponds to Jovinian's second position.1
You must, therefore, take the answer which I
have given to him as equally applicable to
yourself. Where men's opinions are the
same their destinies can hardly be different.
4. Such being the state of the case, what
object is served by "silly women laden with
sins, carried about with every wind of doc-
trine, ever learning and never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth ? "8 Or how
is the cause helped by the men who dance
attendance upon these, men with itching ears 3
who know neither how to hear nor how to
speak ? They confound old mire with new
cement and, as Ezekiel says, daub a wall with
untempered mortar ; so that, when the truth
comes in a shower, they are brought to
nought.* It was with the help of the harlot
Helena that Simon Magus founded his sect."
Bands of women accompanied Nicolas of
Antioch that deviser of all uncleanness.6
Marcion sent a woman before him to Rome
to prepare men's minds to fall into his snares.'
Apelles possessed in Philumena an associate
in his false doctrines.8 Montanus, that
mouthpiece of an unclean spirit, used two
rich and high born ladies Prisca and Max-
imilla first to bribe and then to pervert many
churches.9 Leaving ancient history I will
pass to times nearer to our own. Arius in-
tent on leading the world astray began by
misleading the Emperor's sister.10 The re-
sources of Lucilla helped Donatus to defile
with his polluting baptism many unhappy
persons throughout Africa.11 In Spain the
blind woman Agape led the blind man Elpi-
dius into the ditch.12 He was followed by
Priscillian, an enthusiastic votary of Zoro-
aster and a magian before he became a
bishop. A woman named Galla seconded
his efforts and left a gadabout sister to per-
petuate a second heresy of a kindred form.13
Now also the mystery of iniquity is working.14
1 See Against Jovinian, book ii. 1. His second position is that
"persons baptized with water and the spirit cannot be tempted
of the devil."
8 Eph. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7. 3 2 Tim. iv. 3.
4 Ezek. xiii. 10-16.
5 This legendary companion and disciple of Simon Magus is
said to have been identified by him with Helen of Troy. Ac-
cording to Justin Martyr she had been a prostitute at Tyre.
6 Cf. Epiphanius, Adv. Haer. lib. i, torn, ii, p. 76, ed. Migne.
7 Jerome is alone in speaking of this emissary. It has been
suggested that he may have had in mind the gnostic Marcellina,
who came to Rome during the episcopate of Anicetus.
8 Apelles, the most famous of the disciples of Marcion, lived
and taught mainly at Rome. Philumena was a clairvoyante
whose revelations he regarded as inspired.
* See Letter XLI.
10 Constantia, sister of Constantine the Great.
1 > Lucilla, a wealthy lady of Carthage, having been condemned
by its bishop Caecilianus. is said to have procured his deposition
by bribing his fellow-bishops.
13 Agape, a Spanish lady, was a disciple of the gnostic Marcus
of Memphis (cf. Letter LXXV. § 3). She was thus one of the
links between the gnosticism of the East and the Priscillianism
of Spain. Elpidius was a rhetorician who spread in Spain the
Zoroastrian opinions which culminated in Priscillianism.
13 Of these sisters nothing further is known.
>4 2 Th. ii. 7.
Men and women in turn lay snares for each
other till we cannot but recall the prophet's
words : " the partridge hath cried aloud, she
hath gathered young which she hath not
brought forth, she getteth riches and not by
right ; in the midst of her days she shall leave
them, and at her end she shall be a fool." '
5. The better to deceive men they have
added to the maxim given above3 the saving
clause " but not without the grace of God ; "
and this may at the first blush take in some
readers. However, when it is carefully sifted
and considered, it can deceive nobody. For
while they acknowledge the grace of God,
they tell us that our acts do not depend upon
His help. Rather, they understand by the
grace of God free will and the command-
ments of the Law. They quote Isaiah's
words : " God hath given the law to aid
men,"3 and say that we ought to thank Him
for having created us such that of our own
free will we can choose the good and avoid
the evil. Nor do they see that in alleging
this the devil uses their lips to hiss out an
intolerable blasphemy. For if God's grace
is limited to this that He has formed us with
wills of our own, and if we are to rest con-
tent with free will, not seeking the divine aid
lest this should be impaired, we should cease
to pray ; for we cannot entreat God's mercy
to give us daily what is already in our hands
having been given to us once for all. Those
who think thus make prayer impossible and
boast that free will makes them not merely
controllers of themselves but as powerful as
God. For they need no external help. Away
with fasting, away with every form of self-
restraint ! For why need I strive to win by
toil what has once for all been placed within
my reach ? The argument that I am using is
not mine ; it is that put forward by a dis-
ciple of Pelagius, or rather one who is the
teacher and commander of his whole army.4
This man, who is the opposite of Paul for he
is a vessel of perdition, roams through thick-
ets— not, as his partisans say, of syllogisms,
but of solecisms, and theorizes thus : " If I
do nothing without the help of God and if
all that I do is His act, I cease to labour and
the crown that I shall win will belong not to
me but to the grace of God. It is idle for
Him to have given me the power of choice
if I cannot use it without His constant help.
For will that requires external support ceases
to be will. God has given me freedom of
1 Jer. xvii. 11, Vulg.
2 Viz., "A man may be without sin." See for this and the
other statements of Pelagius, Aug. de Gestis Pelagii, esp. c. 2
and 6. Jerome's Anti-Pelagian Dialogue takes these words as
containing the essence of Pelagianism.
3 Isa. viii. 20, LXX.
* Celestius is meant, after Pelagius the principal champion of
free will,
2;6
JEROME.
choice, but what becomes of this if I cannot
do as I wish?" Accordingly he propounds
the following dilemma: " Either once for all I
use the power which is given to me, and so
preserve the freedom of my will ; or I need
the help of another, in which case the free-
dom of my will is wholly abrogated."
6, Surely the man who says this is no ordi-
nary blasphemer ; the poison of his heresy is
no common poison. Since our wills are free,
they argue, we are no longer dependent upon
God ; and they forget the Apostle's words :
"what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
Now if thou didst receive it why dost thou
glory as if thou hadst not received it ? " ' A
nice return, truly, does a man make to God
when to assert the freedom of his will he
rebels against Him ! For our parts we glad-
ly embrace this freedom, but we never forget
to thank the Giver ; knowing that we are
powerless unless He continually preserves in
us His own gift. As the apostle says, " it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." 2
To will and to run are mine, but they wilt
cease to be mine unless God brings me His
continual aid. For the same apostle says :
"it is God which worketh in you both to will
and to do." 3 And in the Gospel the Saviour
says : " my Father worketh hitherto and I
work."4 He is always a giver, always a be-
stower. It is not enough for me that he has
given me grace once ; He must give it me
always. I seek that I may obtain, and when
I have obtained I seek again. I am covetous
of God's bounty ; and as He is never slack
in giving, so I am never weary in receiving.
The more I drink, the more I thirst. For I
have read the song of the psalmist : " O
taste and see that the Lord is good." 5 Every
good thing that we have is a tasting of the
Lord. When I fancy myself to have finished
the book of virtue, I shall then only be at the
beginning. For " the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom,"6 and this fear is in
its turn cast out by love.' Men are only
perfect so far as they know themselves to be
imperfect. " So likewise ye," Christ says,
" when ye shall have done all those things
which are commanded you, say, We are un-
profitable servants : we have done that which
was our duty to do." 8 If he is unprofitable
who has done all, what must we say of him
who has failed to do so ? This is why the
Apostle declares that he has attained in part
and apprehended in part, that he is not yet
perfect, and that forgetting those things
which are behind he reaches forth unto those
1 i Cor. iv. 7.
* John v. 17.
7 1 Joh. i» 18.
2 Rom. ix. 16.
6 Ps. xxxiv. 8.
e Luke xvii. 10
3 Phil. ii. 13.
b Ps. cxi. 10.
things which are before.1 Now he who al-
ways forgets the past and longs for the future
shews that he is not content with the present.
They are for ever objecting tc us that we
destroy free will. Nay, we reply, it is you
who destroy it ; for you use it amiss and dis-
own the bounty of its Giver. Which really
destroys freedom ? the man who thanks God
always and traces back his own tiny rill to its
source in Him ? or the man who says : " come
not near to me, for I am holy ; 2 I have no
need of Thee. Thou hast given me once for
all freedom of choice to do as I wish. Why
then dost Thou interfere again to prevent
me from doing anything unless Thou Thyself
first makest Thy gifts effective in me ? " To
such an one I would say : " your profession
of belief in God's grace is insincere. For
you explain this of the state in which man
has been created and you do not look for
God to help him in his actions. To do this,
you argue, would be to surrender human
freedom. Thus disdaining the aid of God
you have to look to men for help."
7. Listen, only listen, to the blasphemer.
" Suppose," he avers, " that I want to bend
my finger or to move my hand, to sit, to stand,
to walk, to run to and fro, to spit or to blow my
nose, to perform the offices of nature ; must
the help of God be always indispensable to
me ? " Thankless, nay blasphemous wretch,
hear the apostle's declaration : " whether
therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye
do, do all to the glory of God." 3 Hear also
the words of James : " go to now, ye that
say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such
a city and continue there a year, and buy,
and sell, and get gain. Whereas ye know
not what shall be on the morrow : for what
is your life ? It is even a vapour that appear-
eth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will,
we shall live, and do this or that. But now
ye rejoice in your boastings ; all such rejoic-
ing is evil."4 You fancy that a wrong is
inflicted on you and your freedom of choice
is destroyed if you are forced to fall back on
God as the moving cause of all your actions,
if you are made dependent on His Will, and
if you have to echo the psalmist's words :
" mine eyes are ever toward the Lord : for it
is he that shall pluck my feet out of the
net." 5 And so you presume rashly to main-
tain that each individual is governed by his
own choice. But if he is governed by his
own choice, what becomes of God's help ? If
he does not need Christ to rule him, why does
Jeremiah write : "the way of man is not in him-
self " * and "the Lord directeth his steps."7
1 Phil. iii. 12, 13. 2 Isa. lxv. 5, LXX.
4 Jas. iv. 13-16. 6 Ps. xxv. 15. 6 Jer. x. 23.
3 1 Cor. x. 31.
7 Prov. r.vi. 9.
LETTER CXXXIII.
277
You say that the commandments of God
are easy, and yet you cannot produce any
one who has fulfilled them all. Answer me
this : are they easy or are they difficult ? If
they are easy, then produce some one who
has fulfilled them all. Explain also the words
of the psalmist : " thou dost cause toil by
thy law," ' and " because of the words of thy
lips I have kept hard ways." 2 And make
plain our Lord's sayings in the gospel : " enter
ye in at the strait gate ; " 3 and " love your
enemies ; " and " pray for them which perse-
cute you." * If on the other hand the com-
mandments are difficult and if no man has
kept them all, how have you presumed to say
that they are easy? Do not you see that you
contradict yourself ? For either they are
easy and countless numbers have kept them ;
or they are difficult and you have been too
hasty in calling them easy.
8. It is a common argument with your
party to say that God's commandments are
either possible or impossible. So far as they
are the former you admit that they are
rightly laid upon us ; but so far as they are
the latter you allege that blame attaches not
to us who have received them but to God
who has imposed them on us. What ! has God
commanded me to be what He is,5 to put no
difference between myself and my creator, to
be greater than the greatest of the angels, to
have a power which no angels possess ? Sin-
lessness is made a characteristic of Christ,
" who did no sin neither was guile found in
his mouth." 6 But if I am sinless as well as
He, how is sinlessness any longer His distin-
guishing mark ? for if this distinction exists,
your theory becomes fatal to itself.
You assert that a man may be without sin
if he will ; and then, as though awakening
from a deep sleep, you try to deceive the
unwary by adding the saving clause " yet
not without the grace of God." For if by
his own efforts a man can keep himself with-
out sin, what need has he of God's grace ?
If on the other hand he can do nothing
without this, what is the use of saying that
he can do what he cannot do ? It is argued
that a man may be without sin and perfect if
he only wills it. What Christian is there
who does not wish to be sinless or who would
reject perfection if, as you say, it is to be had
for the wishing, and if the will is sure to be
followed by the power ? There is no Chris-
tian who does not wish to be sinless ; wishing
to be so, therefore, they all will be so.
Whether you like it or not you will be caught
in this dilemma, that you can produce nobody
1 Ps. xciv. 20, LXX and Vulg.
3 Matt. vii. 13.
6 avrapKiis, self-determined.
VOL. VI.
2 Ps. xvii. 4, LXX.
* Matt. v. 44.
6 1 Pet. ii. 22.
or hardly anybody who is without sin, yet
have to admit that everybody may be sinless
if he likes. God's commandments, it is
argued, are possible to keep. Who denies
it ? But how this truth is to be understood
the chosen vessel thus most clearly explains :
" what the law could not do in that it was
weak through the flesh, God, sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh ; " 1 and again :
" by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified." 3 And to shew that it is not
only the law of Moses that is meant or all
those precepts which collectively are termed
the law, the same apostle writes : " I delight
in the law of God after the inward man.
But I see another law in my members, war-
ring against the law of my mind, and bring-
ing me into captivity to the law of sin which
is in my members. O wretched man that I
am : who shall deliver me from the body of
this death ? The grace of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord." 3 Other words of
his further explain his meaning : "we know
that the law is spiritual : but I am carnal,
sold under sin. For that which I do I know4
not : for what I would that do I not, but
what I hate that do I. If then I do that
which I would not, I consent unto the law
that it is good. Now then it is no more I that
do it : but sin that dwelleth in me. For I
know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth
no good thing. For to will, is present with
me : but how to perform that which is good
I find not. For the good that I would, I do
not : but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." 6
9. But you will demur to this and say that
I follow the teaching6 of the Manichseans and
others who make war against the church's doc-
trine in the interest of their belief thatthereare
two natures diverse from one another and that
there is an evil nature which can in no wise be
changed. But it is not against me that you
must make this imputation but against the
apostle who knows well that God is one thing
and man another, that the flesh is weak and the
spirit strong.7 " The flesh lusteth against the
spirit and the spirit against the flesh : and
these are contrary the one to the other : so
that ye cannot do the things that ye would." l
But from me you will never hear that any
nature is essentially evil. Let us learn then
from him who tells us so in what sense the
flesh is weak. Ask him why he has said :
1 Rom. viii. 3. * Rom. iii. 20.
3 Rom. vii. 22-25. In the Latin as in the Greek one word does
duty for ' grace ' and * thanks.'
4 R. V. 5 Rom. vii. 14-20.
• This is the well known dualism of Manes (Manichaeus), who
held that the physical world and the human body are essentially
evil. 7 cf. Matt. xxvi. 41. 8 Gal. v. 17.
27*
JEROME.
" the good that I would, I do not ; the evil
which I would not, that I do." ' What
necessity fetters his will ? What compulsion
commands him to do what he dislikes ? And
why must he do not what he wishes but what
he dislikes and does not wish ? He will
answer you thus : " nay, but, O man, who art
thou that repliest against God ? Shall the
thing formed say unto him that formed it,
Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay, of the same lump
to make one vessel unto honour and another
unto dishonour?"2 Bring a yet graver
charge against God and ask Him why, when
Esau and Jacob were still in the womb, He
said : " Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated."3 Accuse Him of injustice because,
when Achan the son of Carmi stole part of
the spoil of Jericho, He butchered so many
thousands for the fault of one.4 Ask Him why
for the sin of the sons of Eli the people were
well-nigh annihilated and the ark captured.5
And why, when David sinned by numbering
the people, so many thousands lost their
lives.6 Or lastly make your own the favorite
cavil of your associate Porphyry, and ask how
God can be described as pitiful and of great
mercy when from Adam to Moses and from
Moses to the coming of Christ He has suf-
fered all nations to die in ignorance of the
Law and of His commandments.' For
Britain, that province so fertile in despots,
the Scottish tribes, and all the barbarians
round about as far as the ocean were alike
without knowledge of Moses and the prophets.
Why should Christ's coming have been
delayed to the last times ? Why should He
not have come before so vast a number had
perished ? Of this last question the blessed
apostle in writing to the Romans most wisely
disposes by admitting that he does not know
and that only God does. Do you too, then,
condescend to remain ignorant of that into
which you inquire. Leave to God His power
over what is His own ; He does not need you
to justify His actions. I am the hapless
being against whom you ought to direct your
insults, I who am for ever reading the words :
11 by grace ye are saved," 8 and " blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is
covered."0 Yet, to lay bare my own weak-
ness, I know that I wish to do many things
which I ought to do and yet cannot. For
while my spirit is strong and leads me to life
my flesh is weak and draws me to death.
And I have the warning of the Lord in my
" watch and pray that ye enter not
ears
1 Rom. vii. 19. » Rom. ix. 20, 21. 3 Mai. i. 2, 3. Rom. ix. n.
4 J™P- vii. » 1 Sam. iv. «2 Sam. xxiv.
rTIr ™s °b)ect'on 's dealt with at length by Augustine (Letter
CXIJ^ 8-15. See Vol. I. Series I. of this Library).
" EPh- «■ 5- » Ps. xxxii. 1.
into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak." '
10. It is in vain that you misrepresent me
and try to convince the ignorant that I con-
demn free will. Let him who condemns it be
himself condemned. We have been created
endowed with free will ; still it is not this
which distinguishes us from the brutes. For
human free will, as I have said before, de-
pends upon the help of God and needs His
aid moment by moment, a thing which you
and yours .do not choose to admit. Your
position is that, if a man once has free will,
he no longer needs the help of God. It is
true that freedom of the will brings with it
freedom of decision. Still man does not act
immediately on his free will, but requires
God's aid who Himself needs no aid. You
yourself boast that a man's righteousness
may be perfect and equal to God's ; yet you
confess that you are a sinner. Answer me
this, then ; do you or do you not wish to be
free from sin ? If you do, why on your
principle do you not carry out your desire ?
And if you do not, do you not prove your-
self a despiser of God's commandments ?
If you are a despiser, then you are a sinner.
And if you are a sinner, then the scripture
says : " unto the wicked God saith, what hast
thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou
shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth ?
seeing thou hatest instruction and castest
my words behind thee." 2 So long as you
are unwilling to do what God commands, so
long do you cast His words behind you. And
yet like a new apostle you lay down for
the world what to do and what not to do.
However, your words and your thoughts by
no means correspond. For when you say that
you are a sinner — yet that a man may be with-
out sin if he will, you wish it to Le under-
stood that you are a saint and free from all
sin. It is only out of humility 3 that you call
yourself a sinner ; to give you a chance of
praising others while you depreciate yourself.
11. Another of your arguments is also in-
tolerable, one which runs thus : " To be sinless
is one thing, to be able to be so is another.
The first is not in our power, the second gen-
erally is. For though none ever has been
sinless, yet, if a man wills to be so, he can
be so." What sort of reasoning, I ask, is
this ? that a man can be what a man never
has been ! that a thing is possible which
according to your own admission, no man
has yet achieved ! You are predicating of
man a quality which, for aught you know, he
may never possess ! and you are assigning to
any chance person a grace which you cannot
1 Matt. xxvi. 41. 2 Ps. 1. 16, 17. s Or rather, mock humility.
LETTER CXXXIII.
279
shew to have marked patriarchs, prophets, or
apostles. Listen to the Church's words, plain
as they may seem to you or crude or ignor-
ant. And speak what you think ; preach
publicly what secretly you tell your disciples.
You profess to have freedom of choice ; why
do you not speak your thoughts freely ?
Your secret chambers hear one doctrine, the
crowd around the platform hear another.
The uneducated throng, I suppose, is not
able to digest your esoteric teaching. Satis-
fied with the milk-diet of an infant it cannot
take solid food.1
I have written nothing yet, and still you
menace me with the thunders of a reply ;
hoping, I suppose, that I may be scared by
your terrors and may not venture to open
my mouth. You fail to see that my purpose
in writing is to force you to answer and to
commit yourself plainly to doctrines which
at present you maintain or ignore, as time,
place, and person require. One kind of
freedom I must deny to you, the freedom to
deny what you have once written. An open
avowal on your part of the opinions that
you hold will be a victory for the church.
For either the language of your reply will
correspond to mine, in which case I shall
count you no longer as opponents but as
friends ; or else you will gainsay my doctrine,
in which case the making known of your
opinion to all the churches will be a triumph
for me. To have brought your tenets to
light is to have overcome them. Blasphemy
is written on the face of them, and a doctrine,
which in its very statement is blasphemous,
needs no refutation. You threaten me with
a reply, but this nobody can escape except
the man who does not write at all. How do
you know what I am going to say that you
talk of a reply ? Perhaps I shall take your
view and then you will have sharpened your
wits to no purpose. Eunomians, Arians,
Macedonians — all these, unlike in name,
alike in impiety, give me no trouble. For
they say what they think. Yours is the only
heresy which blushes openly to maintain
what secretly it does not fear to teach. But
the frenzy of the disciples exposes the silence
of the masters ; for what they have heard
from them in the closet they preach upon
the housetop. If their auditors like what
they say, their masters get the credit ; and if
they dislike it, only the disciples are blamed,
the masters go free. In this way your heresy
has grown and you have deceived many ;
especially those who cleave to women and
are assured that they cannot sin. You are
always teaching, you are always, denying ;
> cf. 1 Cor. iii. 2.
you deserve to have the prophet's words ap-
plied to you : "give to them glory, O Lord,
when they are in travail and in the throes of
labour. Give them, O Lord ; what wilt thou
give ? Give them a miscarrying womb and
dry breasts." ' My temper rises and I can-
not check my words. The limits of a letter
do not admit of a lengthy discussion. I as-
sail nobody by name here. It is only against
the teacher of perverse doctrine that I have
spoken. If resentment shall induce him to
reply, he will but betray himself like a mouse
which always leaves traces of its presence ;
and, when it comes to blows in earnest, will
receive more serious wounds.
12. From my youth up until now I have
spent many years in writing various works
and have always tried to teach my hearers
the doctrine that I have been taught publicly
in church. I have not followed the philoso-
phers in their discussions but have preferred
to acquiesce in the plain words of the apos-
tles. For I have known that it is written :
" I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and
will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent,"2 and "the foolishness of God
is wiser than men."3 This being the case, I
challenge my opponents thoroughly to sift
all my past writings and, if they can find
anything that is faulty in them, to bring it
to light. One of two things must happen.
Either my works will be found edifying and I
shall confutethe false charges brought against
me ; or they will be found blameworthy and
I shall confess my error. For I would
sooner correct an error than persevere in an
opinion proved to be wrong. And as for
you, illustrious doctor, go you and do like-
wise : either defend the statements that you
have made, and support your clever theories
with corresponding eloquence, and do not
when the whim takes you disown your own
words ; or if, as a man may do, you have
made a mistake, confess it frankly and re-
store harmony where there has been disagree-
ment. Recall to mind how even the soldiers
did not rend the coat of the Saviour.4 When
you see brothers at strife you laugh ; and
are glad that some are called by your name
and others by that of Christ. Better would it
be to imitate Jonah and say : " If it is for my
sake that this great tempest is upon you, take
me up and cast me forth into the sea." s He
in his humility was thrown into the deep that
he might rise again in glory to be a type of
the Lord.6 But you are lifted up in your pride
to the stars, only that of you too Jesus may
1 Hos. ix. 11, 14, partly after the LXX., partly from memory.
a Isa. xxix. 14, as quoted by Paul, 1 Cor. i. 19.
> 1 Cor. i. 25. * Jon. xix. 23, 24.
6 Jon. i. 12. * Matt. xn. 39, 40.
T 2
280
JEROME.
say : " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from
heaven." '
13. It is true that in the holy scriptures
many are called righteous, as Zacharias and
Elizabeth, Job, Jehosaphat, Josiah, and many
others who are mentioned in the sacred writ-
ings. Of this fact I shall, if God gives me
grace, give a full explanation in the work
which I have promised 2 ; in this letter it must
suffice to say that they are called righteous,
not because they are faultless but because
their faults are eclipsed by their virtues.3 In
fact Zacharias is punished with dumbness,4
Job is condemned out of his own mouth,5 and
Jehoshaphat and Josiah who are beyond a
doubt described as righteous are narrated to
have done things displeasing to the Lord.
The first leagued himself with the ungodly
Ahab and brought upon himself the rebuke
of Micaiah ; 6 and the second — though for-
bidden by the word of the Lord spoken by
Jeremiah — went against Pharaoh-Nechoh,
king of Egypt, and was slain by him.7 Yet
they are both called righteous. Of the rest
this is not the time to write ; for you have
asked me not for a treatise but for a letter.
For a complete refutation I require leisure
and then I hope to destroy all their cavils by
the help of Christ. For this purpose I shall
rely on the holy scriptures in which God
every day speaks to those who believe. And
this is the warning which I would give through
you to all who are assembled within your holy
and illustrious house, that they should not al-
low one or at the most three mannikins to taint
them with the dregs of so many heresies and
with the infamy — to say the least — attaching
to them. A place once famous for virtue and
holiness must not be defiled by the presump-
tion of the devil and by unclean associations.
And let those who supply money to such
men know that they are adding to the ranks
of the heretics, raising up enemies to Christ,
and fostering his avowed opponents. It is idle
for them to profess one thing with their lips
when by their actions they are proved to think
another.
LETTER CXXXIV.
TO AUGUSTINE.
Jerome acknowledges the receipt of Letters CXXXI.
and CXXXII. and excuses himself from answering the
questions raised in them on the twofold ground (1) that
the times are evil and (2) that it is inexpedient that he
should be supposed to differ from Augustine. He prays
for the speedy extinction of Pelagianism, regrets that
he^ cannot send Augustine a critical Latin text of the
O.T., and concludes with a number of salutations from
1 Luke, x. 18.
2 The Anti-Pelagian Dialogue, to which this letter is a kind of
prelude.
» Cf Letter CXXIII. §3. * Luke i. 20-22. * Job xlii. 6.
1 Kings xxii. i9. 7 2 Chr. xxxv 20_24
himself and those with him. The date of the letter is
416 A.D. Its number in Augustine's Letters is CLXXII.
LETTER CXXXV.
FROM POPE INNOCENT TO AURELIUS.
Shortly after the synod of Diospolis the Pelagians
exulting in their success made an attack upon Jerome's
monasteries at Bethlehem which they pillaged and par-
tially burned. This gained for him the sympathy of
Innocent who now (a.d. 417) asks Aurelius to transmit
to him the letter which follows this.
Innocent to his most esteemed friend and
brother Aurelius.1
Our fellow-presbyter Jerome has informed
us of your most dutiful desire to come to see us.
We suffer with him as with a member of our
own flock. We have been swift also to take
such measures as have appeared to us expedi-
ent and practicable. As you count yourself
one of us, most dear brother, make haste to
transmit the following letter2 to, the aforesaid
Jerome.
LETTER CXXXVL
FROM POPE INNOCENT TO JEROME.
Innocent expresses his sympathy with Jerome and
promises to take strong measures to punish his oppo-
nents if he will bring specific charges against them.
The date of the letter is a.d. 417.
Innocent to his most esteemed son, the
presbyter Jerome.
The apostle3 bears witness that contention
has never done good in the church ; and for
this reason he gives direction that heretics
should be admonished once or twice in the
beginning of their heresy and not subjected
to a long series of rebukes. Where this rule
is negligently observed, the evil to be guarded
against so far from being evaded is rather in-
tensified.
Your grief and lamentation have so affected
us that we can neither act nor advise.
To begin however, we commend you for
the constancy of your faith. To quote your
own words spoken many times in the ears of
many, a man will gladly face misrepresenta-
tion or even personal danger on behalf of the
truth ; if he is looking for the blessedness
that is to come. We remind you of what you
have yourself preached although we are
sure that you need no reminder. The spec-
tacle of these terrible evils has so thoroughly
roused us that we have hastened to put forth
the authority of the apostolic see to repress
the plague in all its manifestations ; but as
your letters name no individuals and bring
no specific charges, there is no one at present
against whom we can proceed. But we do
1 At this time bishop of Carthage and a friend of Augustine.
2 Letter CXXXVL » Tit. Hi. 10, 11.
LETTERS CXXXIIi.-CXXXVIII.
281
all that we can ; we sympathize deeply with
you. And if you will lay a clear and unam-
biguous accusation against any persons in
particular we will appoint suitable judges to
try their cases ; or if you, our highly es-
teemed son, think that it is needful for us to
take yet graver and more urgent action, we
shall not be slow to do so. Meantime we
have written to our brother bishop John ' ad-
vising him to act more considerately, so that
nothing may occur in the church committed
to him which it is his duty to foresee and to
prevent, and that nothing may happen which
may subsequently prove a source of trouble
to him.
LETTER CXXXVII.
FROM POPE INNOCENT TO JOHN, BISHOP OF
JERUSALEM.
Innocent censures John for having allowed the Pela-
gians to cause the disturbance at Bethlehem mentioned
in the two preceding letters and exhorts him to be more
watchful over his diocese in future. The date of the
letter is A.D. 417. This was the year of the death of
both John and Innocent, and it is probable that John
never received the letter.
Innocent to his most highly esteemed
brother John.
The holy virgins Eustochium and Paula2
have deplored to me the ravages, murders,
fires and outrages of all kinds, which they
say that the devil has perpetrated in the
district belonging to their church ; for with
wonderful clemency and generosity they
have left untold the name and motive of his
human agent. Now although there can be
no doubt as to who is the guilty person ; 3
yet you, my brother, ought to have taken
precautions and to have been more careful of
your flock so that no disturbance of the kind
might arise ; for others suffer by your negli-
gence, and you encourage men by it to make
havoc of the Lord's flock till His tender
lambs, fleeced and weakened by fire, sword
and persecution, their relations murdered and
dead, are, as we are informed, themselves
scarce alive. Does it not touch your sacred
responsibility as a priest 4 that the devil has
shewn himself so powerful against you and
yours ? Against you, I say ; for surely it
speaks ill of your capacity as a priest that a
crime so terrible should have been committed
in the pale of your church. Where were
your precautions ? Where, after the blow
had been struck, were your attempts at
1 i.e. John of Jerusalem. See the next letter.
3 i.e. Paula the younger, Eustochium's niece, concerning
whose education Jerome had written to her mother Laeta (Let-
ter CVII.).
3 The attack was supposed to have been instigated by Pela-
gius.
* In Jerome's writings this title is often given to bishops.
Presbyters are by him rarely so called.
relief ? Where too were your words of com-
fort ? These ladies tell me that up to the
present they have been in a state of too great
apprehension to complain of what they have
already suffered. I should judge more
gravely of the matter had they spoken to me
concerning it more freely than they have.
Beware then, brother, of the wiles of the old
enemy, and in the spirit of a good ruler be
vigilant either to correct or to repress such
evils. For they have reached my ears in the
shape of rumours rather than as specific
accusations. If nothing is done, the law of
the Church on the subject of injuries may
compel the person who has failed to defend
his flock to shew cause for his negligence.
LETTER CXXXVIII.
TO RIPARIUS.
Jerome praises Riparius for his zeal on behalf of the
Catholic faith and for his efforts to put down the Pela-
gians. He then describes the attack made by these
heretics upon the monasteries of Bethlehem. Now, he
is glad to say, they have at last been driven from Pales-
tine. Most of them, that is, for some still linger at
Joppa including one of their chief leaders. The date is
A.D. 417.
That you fight Christ's battles against the
enemies of the Catholic Faith your own let-
ters have informed me as well as the reports
of many persons, but I am told that you find
the winds contrary and that those who ought
to have been the world's champions have
backed the cause of perdition to each other's
ruin. You are to know that in this part of
the world, without any human help and mere-
ly by the decree of Christ, Catiline l has been
driven not only from the capital but from the
borders of Palestine. Lentulus, however,
and many of his fellow-conspirators still lin-
ger to our sorrow in Joppa. I myself have
thought it better to change my abode than to
surrender the true faith ; and have chosen to
leave my pleasant home rather than to suffer
contamination from heresy. For I could not
communicate with men who would either
have insisted on my instant submission or
would else have summoned me to support
my opinions by the sword. A good many,
I dare say, have told you the story of my
sufferings and of the vengeance which
Christ's uplifted hand has on my behalf taken
upon my enemies. I would beg of you,
therefore, to complete the task which you
have taken up and not, while you are in it,
1 Pelagius would naturally be understood by Catiline, and
Celestius by Lentuius, who was Catiline's lieutenant. But it is
known that, after the Synod of Diospolis which acquitted
them, Celestius went to Africa, Ephesus, Constantinople, and
Rome, while Pelagius apparently remained in Palestine, where
be died,
282
JEROME.
to leave Christ's church without a defender.
Every one knows the weapons that must be
used in this warfare ; and you, I feel sure,
will ask for no others. You must contend
with all your might against the foe ; but it
must be not with physical force but with that
spiritual charity which is never overcome.
The reverend brothers who are with me, un-
worthy as I am, salute you warmly. The rev-
erend brother, the deacon Alentius, is sure to
give you, my worshipful friend, a faithful nar-
rative of all the facts. May Christ our Lord,
of His almighty power, keep you safe and
mindful of me, truly reverend sir and es-
teemed brother.
LETTER CXXXIX.
TO APRONIUS.
Of Apronius nothing is known ; but from the mention
of Innocent (for whom see Letter CXLIII.) it seems a
fair inference that he lived in the West. Jerome here
congratulates him on his steadfastness in the faith and
exhorts him to come to Bethlehem. He then touches
on the mischief done by Pelagius and complains that
his own monastery has been destroyed by him or by
his partisans. The date of the letter is A. D. 417.
I know not by what wiles of the devil it has
come to pass that all your toil and the efforts
of the reverend presbyter Innocent ' and my
own prayers and wishes seem for the moment
to produce no effect. God be thanked that
you are well and that the fire of faith glows
in you even when you are in the midst of the
devil's wiles. My greatest joy is to hear that
my spiritual sons are fighting in the cause of
Christ ; and assuredly He in whom we believe
will so quicken this zeal of ours that we shall
be glad freely to shed our blood in defence of
His faith.
I grieve to hear that a noble family has been
subverted,2 for what reason I cannot learn ;
for the bearer of the letter could give me no
information. We may well grieve over the
loss of our common friends and ask Christ
the only potentate and Lord 3 to have mercy
upon them. At the same time we have de-
served to receive punishment at God's hand,
for we 4 have harboured the enemies of the
Lord.
The best course you can take is to leave
everything and to come to the East, before
all to the holy places ; for everything is now
quiet here. The heretics have not, it is true,
purged the venom from their breasts, but they
1 At this time in Palestine whither he had come as the bearer
of letters from Augustine to Jerome and others.
2 The family meant is probably the one warned by Jerome in
his letter to Ctesiphon (CXXXIII, § 13). In that case the troubler
of its peace is of course Pelagius.
3 1 Tim. vi. 15.
4 It would seem as if Jerome, like Augustine, had at first
thought favourably of Pelagius.
do not venture to open their impious mouths.
They are " like the deaf adder that stoppeth
her ear." ' Salute your reverend brothers on
my behalf.
As for our house,2 so far as fleshly wealth
is concerned, it has been completely destroyed
by the onslaughts of the heretics ; but by the
mercy of Christ it is still filled with spiritual
riches. To live on bread is better than to lose
the faith.
• LETTER CXL.
TO CYPRIAN THE PRESBYTER.
Cyprian had visited Jerome at Bethlehem and had
asked him to write an exposition of Psalm XC. in simple
language such as might be readily understood. With
this request Jerome now complies, giving a very full
account of the psalm, verse by verse, and bringing the
treasures of his learning and especially his knowledge
of Hebrew to bear upon it. He asserts its Mosaic
authorship but is careful to add that " the man of God "
may have spoken not for himself but in the name of the
Jewish people. He speaks of the five books into which
the psalter is divisible and says that it is a mistake to
ascribe all the psalms to David. An allusion to the
doctrine of Pelagius shows that the letter must belong
to Jerome's last years, and Vallarsi is probably right
in assigning it to A. D. 418.
LETTER CXLI.
TO AUGUSTINE.
A short note in which Jerome praises Augustine for
the determined stand which he has made against heresy
and speaks of him as " the restorer of the ancient faith."
The allusion seems to be to his action in the Pelagian
controversy. If so, the date is probably 418 A.D. This
letter is among those of Augustine, number 195.
LETTER CXLII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
There is good ground for supposing this to form part
of the previous letter. If so, Jerome speaks in a figure
of the success gained by Pelagianism in Palestine.
" Jerusalem," he says, " is in the hands of Nebuchad-
nezzar and will not heed the voice of Jeremiah," that
is, as the context shews, Jerome himself. This letter is
among those of Augustine, number 123.
LETTER CXLIII.
TO ALYPIUS AND AUGUSTINE.
In this letter Jerome congratulates Alypius and
Augustine on their success in strangling the heresy of
Caelestius, the co-adjutor of Pelagius, and states that,
if he can find time and secretaries, he hopes to write a
refutation of the absurd errors of the Pelagian pseudo-
deacon Annianus. The date is 419 A.D. This letter
is among those of Augustine, number 202.
1 Ps. lviii. 4.
2 i.e. the monastic establishment under Jerome's guidance at
Bethlehem. See Letters CXXXV.-CXXXVII.
LETTERS CXXXVIII.-CXLIV.
283
LETTER CXLIV.
FROM AUGUSTINE TO OPTATUS.
Augustine writes to Optatus, bishop of Milevis, to say
that he cannot send him a copy of his letter to Jerome
on the origin of the soul (Letter CXXXI.) as it is in-
complete without Jerome's reply which he has not yet
received. He then criticises the arguments with which
Optatus combats traducianism and points out that his
reasoning is inconclusive. The date of the letter is
A. D. 420. The letter has been somewhat compressed
in translation : the involved sentences of the original
have been simplified and its redundancies curtailed.
To the blessed lord and brother, sincerely
loved and longed-for, his fellow-bishop Op-
tatus, Augustine [sends] greeting in the Lord.
1. By the hand of the reverend presbyter
Saturninus I have received a letter from you,
venerable sir, in which you earnestly ask me
for what I have not yet got. You thus shew
clearly your belief that I have already had a
reply to my question on the subject. Would
that I had ! Knowing the eagerness of your
expectation, I should never have dreamed of
keeping back from you your share in the
gift ; but if you will believe me, dear brother,
it is not so. Although five years have elapsed
since I despatched to the East my letter
(which was one of inquiry, not of assertion), I
have so far received no reply, and am conse-
quently unable to untie the knot as you wish
me to do. Had I had both ' letters, I should
gladly have sent you both ; but I think it
better not to circulate mine 2 by itself lest he
to whom it is addressed and who may still
answer me as I desire should prove displeased.
If I were to publish so elaborate a treatise as
mine without his reply to it, he might be justly
indignant, and suppose me more intent on dis-
playing my talents than on promoting some
useful end. It would look as if I were bent
on starting problems too hard for him to
solve. It is better to wait for the answer
which he probably means to send. For I am
well aware that he has other subjects to oc-
cupy him which are more serious and urgent
than this question of mine. Your holiness
will readily understand this if you read what
he wrote to me a year later when my messen-
ger was returning. The following is an ex-
tract from his letter : 3
" A most trying time has come upon us4 in
which I have found it better to hold my peace
than to speak. Consequently my studies
have ceased, that I may not give occasion to
1 That is Augustine's to Jerome and the expected answer.
4 In Jerome s Letters, No. CXXXI. ; in Augustine's, No.
CLXVI.
3 In Jerome's Letters, No. CXXXIV. ; in Augustine's, No.
CLXXII.
4 After the Council of Diospolis Jerome suffered much from
the violence of the Pelagians. See Letters CXXXVL-
CXXXIX.
what Appius calls ' the eloquence of dogs.' l
For this reason I have not been able to send
any answer to your two learned and brilliant
letters. ,Not, indeed, that I think anything
in them needs correction, but that I recall the
Apostle's words : ' One judges in this way, an-
other in that; let every man give full expres-
sion to his own opinion.'2 All that a lofty intel-
lect can draw from the well of holy scripture
has been drawn by you. So much your rev-
erence must allow me to say in praise of your
ability. But though in any discussion between
us our joint object is the advancement of
learning, our rivals and especially the heretics
will ascribe any difference of opinion between
us to mutual jealousy. For my part, how-
ever, I am resolved to love you, to look up to
you, to reverence and admire you, and to de-
fend your opinions as my own. I have also
in a dialogue which I have recently brought
out made allusion to your holiness in suita-
ble terms. Let us, rather, then, strain every
nerve to banish from the churches that most
pernicious heresy,3 which feigns repentance
that it may have liberty to teach in our
churches. For were it to come out into the
light of day, it would be expelled and die."
2. You can see, worshipful brother, from
this reply that my friend does not refuse to
answer my inquiry ; he postpones it because
he is condemned to give his time to more
urgent matters. Moreover, that he is well
disposed towards me is clear from his friendly
warning that a controversy between us begun
in all charity and in the interests of learning
may be misconstrued by jealous and heretical
persons as due to mutual illfeeling. No ; it
will be better for the public to have both to-
gether, his explanation as well as my inquiry.
For, as I shall have to thank him for instruct-
ing me if he is able to explain the matter,
the discussion will be of no small advantage
when it comes to the knowledge of the world.
Those who come after us will not only know
what view they ought to take of a subject
thus fully argued but will also learn how
under the divine mercy brothers in affection
may dispute a difficult question and yet pre-
serve each other's esteem.
3. On the other hand, if I were to publish
the letter in which I raise this obscure point
without the reply in which it may be set at
rest, it might circulate widely and reach men
who " comparing themselves," as the Apostle
says, "with themselves,"4 would misconstrue
a motive which they could not understand,
and would explain my feeling towards one
whom I love and esteem for his immense ser-
1 i.e. railing.
3 Suo sensu abundet. Rom. xiv. 5, Vulg.
3 i.e. Pelagianism. 4 a Cc
284
JEROME.
vices not as it would appear to them (for it
would be invisible to them) but as their own
fancy and malice would dictate. Now this
is a danger which, so far as in me lies, I am
bound to guard against. But if a document
which I am unwilling to publish is published
without my consent and placed in hands
from which I would withhold it, then I shall
have to resign myself to the will of God.
Indeed, had I wished to keep my words per-
manently undivulged I should never have
sent them to any one. For if (though I hope
it may not be so) chance or necessity shall
prevent any reply being ever given me, my
letter of inquiry is still bound sooner or later
to come to light. Nor will it be useless to
those who read it ; for, although they will
not find what they seek, they will learn how
much better it is, when one is uninformed, to
put questions than to make assertions ; and
in the meantime those whom they consult1 will
work out the points raised by me, laying
aside contention and in the interests of learn-
ing and charity trying to obtain sound opin-
ions about them. Thus they will either arrive
at the solutions they desire, or their faculties
will be quickened and they will learn from
the investigation that farther inquiry is use-
less. At present, however, as I have no
reason to despair of an answer from my
friend I have decided not to publish the
letter I have sent him, and I trust, my dear
comrade, that this decision may commend
itself to you. It should do so, for you have
not asked for my letter so much as for the
answer to it ; and this I would gladly send
you if I had it to send. It is true that in
your epistle you speak of " the lucid demon-
stration of my wisdom which in virtue of my
life the Giver of light has bestowed upon
me " ; and if by this you mean not the way
in which I have stated the problem but a
solution which I have obtained of the point
in question, I should like to gratify your wish.
But I must admit that I have so far failed to
discover how the soul can derive its sin from
Adam (a truth which it is unlawful to ques-
tion) and yet not itself be derived from Adam.
At present I think it better to sift the matter
farther than to dogmatize rashly.
4. Your letter speaks of "many old men
and persons educated by learned priests whom
you have failed to recall to your modest way
of thinking, and to a statement of the case
which is truth itself." You do not, how-
ever, explain what this mode of expression
is. If your old men hold fast what they
have received from learned priests, how
comes it that you are troubled by a boorish
1 At this point the text is obscure.
mob of unlettered clerics ? On the other
hand, if the old men and the unlettered cler-
ics have wickedly departed from the priests'
teachings, surely these latter are the persons
to correct them and restrain them from con-
troversial excesses. Again when you say that
" you as a new-fledged and inexperienced
teacher have been afraid to tamper with the
doctrines handed down by great and famous
bishops, and that you have been loth to draw
men into a better path lest you should cast
discredit on the dead," do you not imply that
in refusing to agree with you the objects of
your solicitude are but preferring the tradition
of great and famous bishops to the views of a
new-fledged and inexperienced teacher? Of
their conduct in the matter I say nothing, but
I am most anxious to learn that " mode of
expression which is truth itself," not the thing
expressed, but the mode of expression.
5. For you have made it sufficiently plain
to me that you disapprove of those who assert
that men's souls are derived from that of the
protoplast ' and propagated from one genera-
tion to another ; but as your letter does not
inform me, I have no means of knowing on
what grounds and from what passages of
scripture you have shewn this view to be false.
What does commend itself to you is not clear
either from your letter to the brothers at Cae-
sarea or from that which you have lately ad-
dressed to me. Only I see that you believe
and write that " God has been, is, and will be
the maker of men, and that there is nothing
either in heaven or on earth which does not
owe its existence wholly to Him." This is of
course a truism which nobody can call in
question. But as you affirm that souls are not
propagated, you ought to explain out of what
God makes them. Is it out of some pre-
existing material, or is it out of nothing ?
For it is impossible that you should hold the
opinion of Origen, Priscillian, and other her-
etics that it is for deeds done in a former life
that souls are confined in earthly and mortal
bodies. This opinion is, indeed, flatly con-
tradicted by the apostle who says of Jacob
and Esau that before they were born they
had done neither good nor evil.2 Your view
of the matter, then, is known to me though
only partially, but of your reasons for suppos-
ing it to be true I know nothing. This was why
in a former letter I asked you to send me your
confession of faith, the one which you were
vexed to find that one of your presbyters had
signed dishonestly. I now again ask you for
this, as well as for any passages of scripture
which you have brought to bear on the ques-
tion. For you say in your letter to the broth-
1 i, e. Adam, " our first-formed father." (Wisd.
a Rom, ix. u.
X.X.)
LETTER CXLIV.
285
ers at Caesarea that you " have resolved to
have all definitions of dogma reviewed by lay
judges, sitting by general invitation, and in-
vestigating all points touching the faith."
And you continue : " the divine mercy has
made it possible for them to put forward their
views in a positive and definite form, which
your modest ability has reinforced with a
great weight of evidence." Now it is this
"great weight of evidence " which I am so
anxious to obtain. For, so far as I can see,
your one aim has been to refute your oppo-
nents when they deny that our souls are the
handiwork of God. If they hold such a view,
you are right in thinking that it should be
condemned. Were they to say the same thing
of our bodies, they would be forced to retract
it, or else be held up to execration. For what
Christian can deny that every single human
body is the work of God ? Yet when we ad-
mit that they are of divine origin we do not
mean to deny that they are humanly engen-
dered. When therefore it is asserted that our
souls are procreated from a kind of immate-
rial seed, and that they, like our bodies,
come to us from our parents, yet are made
souls by the working of God, it is not by hu-
man guesses that the assertion is to be re-
futed, but by the witness of divine scripture.
Numbers of passages may indeed be quoted
from the sacred books which have canonical
authority, to prove that our souls are God's
handiwork. But such passages only refute
those who deny that each several human soul
is made by God ; not at all those who while
they admit this contend that, like our bodies,
they are formed by divine agency through
the instrumentality of parents. To refute
these you must look for unmistakable texts ;
or, if you have already discovered such, shew
your affection by communicating them to me.
For though I seek them most diligently I fail
to find them.
As stated shortly by yourself (at the end
of your letter to the brothers at Caesarea)
your dilemma is as follows : "Inasmuch as
I am your son and disciple and have but re-
cently by God's help come to consider these
mysteries, I beg you with your priestly wis-
dom to teach me which of two opposite views
I ought to hold. Am I to maintain that souls
are transmitted by generation, and that they
are derived in some mysterious way from
Adam our first-formed father?1 Or am I
with your brothers and the priests who are
here to hold that God has been, is, and will
be the author and maker of all things and all
men ? "
6. Of the two alternatives which you thus
• Wisdom x. 1.
put forward you wish to be urged to choose
one or other ; and this would be the course
of wisdom if your alternatives were so con-
trary that the choice of one would involve
the rejection of the other. But as it is, in-
stead of selecting one of them a man may say
that they are both true. He may maintain
that the souls of all mankind are derived from
Adam our first-formed father, and yet believe
and assert that God has been, is, and will be
the author and maker of all things and all
men. How on your principles is such a man
to be confuted ? Shall we say : " If they are
transmitted by generation God is not their
author, for He does not make them?" In
that case he will reply : " Bodies too are en-
gendered and not made by God ; on your
shewing, then He is not their author." Will
any one maintain that God is the maker of
no bodies but Adam's which He made out
of the dust and Eve's which He formed out of
Adam's side ; and that other bodies are not
made by Him because they are engendered
by human parents ?
7. If your opponents go so far in maintain-
ing the derivation of souls as to deny that
they are made and formed by God, you may
use this argument as a weapon to confute
them so far as God's help enables you. But
if, while they assert that the soul's beginnings
come from Adam first and then from a man's
parents, they at the same time hold that the
soul in every man is created and formed by
God the author of all things, they can only
be confuted out of scripture. Search there-
fore till you find a passage that is neither
obscure nor capable of a double meaning ; or
if you have already found one, hand it on to
me as I have begged you to do. But if, like
myself, you have so far failed to discover any
such passage, you must still strain every nerve
to confute those who say that souls are in no
sense God's handiwork. This seems to be
your opponents' position, for in your first let-
ter you write that " they have secretly whis-
pered scandalous doctrines and have forsaken
your communion and the obedience of the
church on account of this foolish, nay im-
pious opinion." Against such men defend
and uphold by every possible expedient the
doctrine you have laid down in the same let-
ter, that God has been, is, and will be the
maker of souls ; and that everything in heaven
and on earth owes its existence wholly to
Him. For this is true of every creature ;
and as such is to be believed, asserted, de-
fended, and proved. God has been, is, and
will be the author and maker of all things
and all men as you have told your fellow-
bishops of the province of Csesarea, exhort-
ing them to adopt the doctrine by the ex-
286
JEROME.
ample of your brothers and fellow-priests.
But there are two quite distinct dilemmas :
(i) Is God the author and maker of all souls
and bodies (the true view), or is there some-
thing in nature which He has not made (a
view which is wholly erroneous) ? (2) If souls
are undoubtedly God's handiwork, does He
make them directly, or indirectly by propaga-
tion ? It is in dealing with this second di-
lemma that I would have you to be sober
and vigilant. Else in refuting the propaga-
tion-theory you may fall incautiously into the
heresy of Pelagius. Everybody knows that
human bodies are propagated by generation ;
yet if we are right in saying that all human
souls — and not only those of Adam and Eve
— are created by God, it is clear that to assert
their transmission by generation is not to
deny their divine origin. For in this view
God makes the soul as He makes the body,
indirectly by a process of generation. If the
truth condemns this as an error, some fresh
argument must be sought to confute it. No
persons could better advise you on the point
(if only they were within reach) than those
dead worthies whom you feared to discredit
by drawing men away from them into a bet-
ter path. They were, you said, great and
famous bishops while you were a new-fledged
and inexperienced teacher ; thus you were
loth to tamper with their doctrines. Would
that I could know on what passages these
great men rested their opinion that souls
are transmitted ! For in your letter to the
brothers at Caesarea, you speak of their view
with a total disregard of their authority, as
a new invention, an unheard-of doctrine ;
though we all know that, error as it may be,
it is no novelty but old and of ancient date.
8. Now when we have reason to be doubt-
ful about a point, we need not doubt that we
are right in doubting. There is no doubt but
that we ought to doubt things that are doubt-
ful. For instance, the Apostle has no doubt
about doubting whether he was in the body
or out of the body when he was carried up
into the third heaven.1 Whether it was thus
or thus, he says, I know not ; God knows.
Why may not I, then, so long as I have no
light, doubt whether my soul comes to me
by generation or unengendered ? Why may I
not be doubtful about this, so long as I do not
doubt that in either case it is the work of
God most high? Why may I not say: "I
know that my soul owes its existence to God
and is altogether His handiwork ; but whether
it comes by generation, as the body does, or
unengendered, as was Adam's soul, I know
not ; God knows." You wish me to assert
1 2 Cor. xii. 4.
positively one view or the other. I might do
so if I knew which was right. You may have
some light on the point, and if so you will
find me keener to learn what I know not
than to teach what I know. But if, like
myself, you are in the dark, you should pray,
as I do, that either through one of His serv-
ants, or with His own lips, He would teach
us who said to His disciples : " Be not ye
called masters ; for one is your master, even
Christ." ' Yet such knowledge is only expe-
dient for us when He knows it to be expedi-
ent who knows both what He has to teach
and what we ought to learn. Nevertheless,
to you, my dear friend, I confess my eager-
ness. Still much as I desire to know this
after which you seek, I would sooner know
when the desire of all nations shall come and
when the kingdom of the saints will be set
up, than how my soul has come to its earthly
abode. But when His disciples (who are our
apostles) put this question to the all-knowing
Christ, they were told : " It is not yours to
know the times or the seasons which the
Father hath put in His own power."2 What
if Christ, who knows what is expedient for
us, knows this knowledge not to be expedi-
ent ? Through Him I know that it is not
ours to know the times which God has placed
in His own power ; but concerning the origin
of souls, I am ignorant whether it is or is not
ours to know. If I could be sure that such
knowledge is not for us, I should cease not
only to dogmatize, but even to inquire. As
it is, though the subject is so deep and dark
that my fear of becoming a rash teacher is
almost greater than my eagerness to learn the
truth, I still wish to know it if I can do so.
It may be that the knowledge for which the
psalmist prays : " Lord, make me to know
mine end," 3 is much more necessary ; yet I
would that my beginning also might be re-
vealed to me.
9. But even as touching this I must not be
ungrateful to my Master. I know that the
human soul is spiritual not corporeal, that it
is endowed with reason and intelligence, and
that it is not of God's essence but a thing
created. It is both mortal and immortal : the
first because it is subject to corruption and
separable from the life of God in which it is
alone blessed, the second because its con-
sciousness must ever continue and form the
source of its happiness or woe. It does not,
it is true, owe its immersion in the flesh to
acts done before the flesh ; yet in man it is
never without sin, not even when " its life has
been but for one day."4 Of those engendered
of the seed of Adam no man is born without
1 Matt, xxiii. 10,
8 Ps, xxxix, 4,
2 Acts i. 7.
♦ Job xiv. 5, LXX.
LETTERS CXLIV.-CXLV.
2§7
sin, and it is necessary even for babes to be
born anew in Christ by the grace of regener-
ation. All this I know concerning the soul,
and it is much ; the greater part of it, indeed,
is not only knowledge but matter of faith as
well. I rejoice to have learned it all and I
can truly say that I know it. If there are
things of which I am still ignorant (as whether
God creates souls by generation or apart from
it — for that He does create them I have no
doubt) I would sooner know the truth than
be ignorant of it. But so long as I cannot
know it I had rather suspend my judgment
than assert what is plainly contrary to an
indisputable truth.
10. You, my brother, ask me to decide for
you whether . men's souls as made by the
Creator come like their bodies by generation
from Adam, or whether like his soul they are
made without generation and separately for
each individual. For in one way or the other
we both admit that they are God's handi-
work. Suffer me then in turn to ask you a
question. Can a soul derive original sin
from a source from which it is not itself
derived ? For unless we are to fall into the
detestable heresy of Pelagius, we must both
of us allow that all souls do derive original
sin from Adam. And if you cannot answer
my question, pray give me leave to confess
my ignorance alike of your question and
of my own. But if you already know what I
ask, teach me and then I will teach you what
you wish to know. Pray do not be displeased
with me for taking this line, for though I
have given you no positive answer to your
question, I have shewn you how you ought
to put it. When once you are clear about
that, you may be quite positive where you
have been doubtful.1
This much I have thought it right to write
to your holiness seeing that you are so sure
that the transmission of souls is a doctrine to
be rejected. Had I been writing to main-
tainors of the doctrine I might perhaps have
shewn how ignorant they are of what they
fancy they know and how cautious they
should be not to make rash assertions.
It may perhaps perplex you that in my
friend's answer as I have quoted it in this
letter he mentions two letters of mine to
which he has no time to reply. Only one of
these deals with the problem of the soul ;2 in
the other I have asked light on another diffi-
culty.3 Again when he urges me to take
more pains for the removal from the church
of a most pernicious heresy, he alludes to the
error of the Pelagians which I earnestly beg
you, my brother, at all hazards to avoid. In
1 i.e. you may be quite sure that souls are created by God.
» JLetter CXXXI., ante. 3 Letter CXXXII., ante.
speculating or arguing on the origin of the
soul you must never give place to this heresy
with its insidious suggestions. For there is
no soul, save that of the one Mediator, which
does not derive original sin from Adam.
Original sin is that which is fastened on the
soul at its birth and from which it can only
be freed by being born again.
LETTER CXLV.
TO EXUPERANTIUS.
Jerome advises Exuperantius, a Roman soldier, to
come to Bethlehem and with his brother Quintilian to
become a monk. According to Palladius (H. L. c. lxxx.)
Exuperantius came to Jerome but went away again ' un-
able to endure his violence and ill-will.' The date of
the letter is unknown.
Among all the favours that my friendship
with the reverend brother Quintilian has con-
ferred upon me the greatest is this that he
has introduced me in the spirit to you whom
I do not know personally. Who can fail to
love a man who, while he wears the cloak and
uniform of a soldier does the work of a proph-
et, and while his outer man gives promise of
quite a different character, overcomes this by
the inner man which is formed after the image
of the creator. I come forward therefore to
challenge you to an interchange of letters and
beg that you will often give me occasion to
reply to you that I may for the future feel
less constraint in writing.
For the present I will content myself by
suggesting to your discretion that you should
bear in mind the apostle's words : " Art thou
bound unto a wife ? Seek not to be loosed.
Art thou loosed from £ wife ? Seek not a
wife ; " \ that is, seek not that binding which is
contrary to loosing. He who has contracted the
obligations of marriage, is bound, and he who
is bound is a slave ; on the other hand he who
is loosed is free. Since therefore you rejoice
in the, freedom of Christ, since your life is better
than your profession, since 5^ou are all but on
the housetop of which the Saviour speaks ; you
ought not to come down to take your clothes,2
you ought not to look behind you, you ought
not having put your hand to the plough, then to
let it go.3 Rather, if you can, imitate Joseph
and leave your garment in the hand of ycur
Egyptian mistress,4 that naked you may follow
your Lord and Saviour. For in the gospel He
says : " Whosoever doth not leave all that he
hath and bear his cross and come after me can-
not be my disciple."5 Cast from you the burthen
of the things of this world, and seek not those
riches which in the gospel are compared to the
1 i Cor. vii. 27.
4 Gen. x.x.xi.x. 12.
a Matt. xxiv. 17, 18.
3 Luke ix. 62.
* Luke xiv. 26, 27.
288
JEROME.
humps ' of camels. Naked and unencumbered
fly up to heaven ; masses of gold will but im-
pede the wings of your virtue. I do not speak
thus because I know you to be covetous, but
because I have a notion that your object in re-
maining so long in the army is to fill that purse
which the Lord has commanded you to empty.
For they who have possessions and riches are
bidden to sell all that they have and to give to
the poor and then to follow the Saviour.2 Thus
if your worship is rich already you ought to
fulfil the command and sell your riches ; or if
you are still poor you ought not to amass what
you will have to pay away. Christ accepts the
sacrifices made for him 3 according as he who
makes them has a willing mind. Never were
any men poorer than the apostles ; yet never
any left more for the Lord than they. The poor
widow in the gospel who cast but two mites
into the treasury was set before all the men of
wealth because she gave all that she had.4 So
it should be with you. Seek not for wealth
which you will have to pay away ; but rather
give up that which you have already acquired
that Christ may know his new recruit to be
brave and resolute, and then when you are a
great way off His Father will run with joy to
meet you. He will give you a robe, will put a
ring upon your finger, and will kill for you the
fatted calf.5 Then when you are freed from all
encumbrances God will soon make a way for
you to cross the sea to me with your reverend
brother Quintilian. I have now knocked at
the door of friendship : if you open it to me,
you will find me a frequent visitor.
LETTER CXLVI.
TO EVANGELUS.
Jerome refutes the opinion of those who make
deacons equal to presbyters, but in doing so himself
makes presbyters equal to bishops.
The date of the letter is unknown.
i. We read in Isaiah the words, "the fool
will speak folly," 6 and I am told that some
one has been mad enough to put deacons be-
fore presbyters, that is, before bishops. For
when the apostle clearly teaches that pres-
byters are the same as bishops, must not a
mere server of tables and of widows 7 be insane
to set himself up arrogantly over men through
whose prayers the body and blood of Christ
are produced ? 8 Do you ask for proof of
what I say ? Listen to this passage : " Paul
and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are
1 Pravitates, deformities. Matt. xix. 24. - Matt. xix. 21.
3 2 Cor. viii. 12. * Luke xxi. 1-4.
6 Luke xv. 20-23. " Isa. xxxii. 6, RV. ' Acts vi. 1, 2.
6 Ad quorum preces Christi corpus sanguisque conticitur . Cp.
Letter XIV. §sT v H *
at Philippi with the bishops and deacons."1
Do you wish for another instance ? In the
Acts of the Apostles Paul thus speaks to
the priests " of a single church : " Take heed
unto yourselves and to all the flock, in the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops,
to feed the church of God which He pur-
chased with His own blood." 3 And lest any
should in a spirit of contention argue that
there must then have been more bishops
than one in a single church, there is the fol-
lowing passage which clearly proves a bishop
and a presbyter to be the same. Writing to
Titus the apostle says : " For this cause left I
thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order
the things that are wanting, and ordain pres-
byters 4 in every city, as I had appointed thee :
if any be blameless, the husband of one wife,
having faithful children not accused of riot or
unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as
the steward of God." 6 And to Timothy he
says : " Neglect not the gift that is in thee,
which was given thee by prophecy, with the
laying on of the hands of the presbytery."6
Peter also says in his first epistle : " The
presbyters which are among you I exhort,
who am your fellow-presbyter and a witness of
the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of
the glory that shall be revealed : feed the flock
of Christ ' . . . taking the oversight thereof
not by constraint but willingly, according unto
God.'" In the Greek the meaning is still
plainer, for the word used is zmGHonovvTtZ,
that is to say, overseeing, and this is the origin
of the name overseer or bishop. 9 But per-
haps the testimony of these great men seems to
you insufficient. If so, then listen to the blast of
the gospel trumpet, that son of thunder,10 the
disciple whom Jesus loved " and who reclin-
ing on the Saviour's breast drank in the waters
of sound doctrine. One of his letters begins
thus : " The presbyter unto the elect lady and
her children whom I love in the truth ; " 12 and
another thus : " The presbyter unto the well-
beloved Gains whom I love in the truth." 13
When subsequently one presbyter was chosen
to preside over the rest, this was done to
remedy schism and to prevent each individual
from rending the church of Christ by drawing
it to himself. For even at Alexandria from
the time of Mark the Evangelist until the
episcopates of Heraclas and Dionysius the
presbyters always named as bishop one of
their own number chosen by themselves and
set in a more exalted position, just as an army
elects a general, or as deacons appoint one of
themselves whom they know to be diligent
1 Ph. i. 1. » Sacerdotes. 3 Acts xx. 28, RV.
4 A. V. ' elders.' 6 Tit. i. 5-7. 6 1 Tim. iv. 14.
7 AV. ' of God.' • 1 Pet. v. 1, 2. The last clause from RV.
• eiriVicoTros. 1" Mark iii. 17.
Xl Joh, xiii. 23, n 2 Joh. 1. »3 3 Jon. 1,
LETTERS CXLV.-CXLVII.
289
and call him archdeacon. For what function,
excepting ordination, belongs to a bishop that
does not also belong to a presbyter ? It is not
the case that there is one church at Rome and
another in all the world beside. Gaul and
Britain, Africa and Persia, India and the East
worship one Christ and observe one rule of
truth. If you ask for authority, the world
outweighs its capital.1 Wherever there is a
bishop, whether it be at Rome or at Engubium,
whether it be at Constantinople or at Rhegium,
whether it be at Alexandria or at Zoan, his
dignity is one and his priesthood is one.
Neither the command of wealth nor the low-
liness of poverty makes him more a bishop or
less a bishop. All alike are successors of the
apostles. 2
2. But you will say, how comes it then that
at Rome a presbyter is only ordained on the
recommendation of a deacon ? To which I
reply as follows. Why do you bring forward
a custom which exists in one city only ? Why
do you oppose to the laws of the Church a
paltry exception which has given rise to arro-
gance and pride ? The rarer anything is the
more it is sought after. In India pennyroyal
is more costly than pepper. Their fewness
makes deacons persons of consequence 3 while
presbyters are less thought of owing to their
great numbers. But even in the church of
Rome the deacons stand while the presbyters
seat themselves, although bad habits have by
degrees so far crept in that I have seen a
deacon, in the absence of the bishop, seat him-
self among the presbyters and at social gather-
ings give his blessing to them.4 Those who
act thus must learn that they are wrong and
must give heed to the apostles' words : " it is
not reason that we should leave the word of
God and serve tables." 5 They must consider
the reasons which led to the appointment of
deacons at the beginning. They must read
the Acts of the Apostles and bear in mind
their true position.
Of the names presbyter and bishop the
first denotes age, the second rank. In writing
both to Titus and to Timothy the apostle
speaks of the ordination of bishops and of
deacons, but says not a word of the ordination
of presbyters ; for the fact is that the word
bishops includes presbyters also. Again when
a man is promoted it is from a lower place to
a higher. Either then a presbyter should be
ordained a deacon, from the lesser office, that
1 Orbis major est urbe.
2 In this passage Jerome does his best to minimize the distinc-
tion between bishops and presbyters. Elsewhere also he stands
up for the rights of the latter (see Letter LII. § 7).
3 At Rome there were only seven, that having been the num-
ber of ' servers ' appointed by the apostles. (See Acts vi. and
Sozomen H. E. vii. 19.)
4 Contrary to the eighteenth canon of Nicaea.
6 Acts vi. 2.
is, to the more important, to prove that a pres-
byter is inferior to a deacon ; or if on the other
hand it is the deacon that is ordained pres-
byter, this latter should recognize that, although
he may be less highly paid than a deacon, he
is superior to him in virtue of his priesthood.
In fact as if to tell us that the traditions
handed down by the apostles were taken by
them from the old testament, bishops, pres-
byters and deacons occupy in the church the
same positions as those which were occupied
by Aaron, his sons, and the Levites in the
temple.1
LETTER CXLVII.
TO SABINIANUS.
Jerome writes in severe but moderate language to
Sabinianus, a deacon, calling on him to repent of his
sins. Of these he recounts at length the two most
serious, an act of adultery at Rome and an attempt to
seduce a nun at Bethlehem. The date of the letter is
uncertain.
1. Of old, when it had repented the Lord
that he had anointed Saul to be king over
Israel,2 we are told that Samuel mourned for
him ; and again, when Paul heard that there
was fornication among the Corinthians and
such fornication as was not so much as named
among the gentiles,3 he besought them to
repent with these tearful words : " lest, when
I come again, my God will humble me among
you and that I shall bewail many which have
sinned already and have not repented of the
uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness
which they have committed."4 If an apostle or
a prophet, themselves immaculate, could speak
thus with a clemency embracing all, how much
more earnestly should a sinner like me plead
with a sinner like you. You have fallen and
refuse to rise ; you do not so much as lift your
eyes to heaven ; having wasted your father's
substance you take pleasure in the husks that
the swine eat ; 5 and climbing the precipice of
pride you fall headlong into the deep. You
make your belly your God instead of Christ ;
you are a slave to lust ; your glory is in your
shame ; 6 you fatten yourself like a victim for
the slaughter, and imitate the lives of the
wicked, careless of their doom. " Thou
knowest not that the goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance. But after thy hardness
and impenitent heart thou treasurest up unto
thyself wrath against the day of wrath." ' Or
is it that your heart is hardened, as Pharaoh's
was, because your punishment is deferred and
you are not smitten at the moment ? The ten
plagues were sent upon Pharaoh not as by an
1 This analogy had become very common in Jerome's day.
The germ of it is to be found in Clem, ad Cor. I. xl.
2 1 Sam. xv. 11, 17. 3 1 Cor. v. 1. * 2 Cor. xii. 21.
s Luke xv. 13, 16. 6 Phil. iii. 19. ' Rom. ii. 4, 5.
290
JEROME.
angry God but as by a warning father, and
his day of grace was prolonged until he
repented of his repentance. Yet doom over-
took him when he pursued through the wilder-
ness the people whom he had previously let
go and presumed to enter the very sea in the
eagerness of his pursuit. For only in this one
way could he learn the lesson that He is to be
dreaded whom even the elements obey. He
had said : " I know not the Lord, neither will
I let Israel go ; " ' and you imitate him when
you say : " The vision that he seeth is for many
days to come, and he prophesieth of the times
that are far off." 2 Yet the same prophet
confutes you with these words : " Thus saith
the Lord God, There shall none of my words
be prolonged any more, but the word which I
have spoken shall be done." David too says
of the godless (and of godlessness you have
proved yourself not a slight but an eminent
example), that in this world they rejoice in
good fortune and say : " How doth God
know? And is there knowledge in the Most
High ? Behold these are the ungodly who
prosper in the world ; they increase in riches." 3
Then almost losing his footing and stagger-
ing where he stands he complains, saying :
" Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and
washed my hands in innocency."4 For he
had previously said : " I was envious at the
foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the
wicked. For they have no regard for death,1
but their strength is firm. They are not in
trouble as other men are ; neither are they
plagued like other men. Therefore pride com-
passeth them about as a chain ; violence
covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand
out with fatness : they have more than heart
could wish. They are corrupt, and speak
wickedly concerning oppression : they speak
loftily. They set their mouth against the
heavens, and their tongue walketh through
the earth." 5
2. Does not this whole psalm seem to you to
be written of yourself? Certainly you are
hale and strong ; and like a new apostle of
Antichrist, when you are found out in one city,
you pass to another.6 You are in no need of
money, no crushing blow strikes you down,
neither are you plagued as other men who are
not like you mere brute beasts. Therefore
you are lifted up into pride, and lust covers
you as a garment. Out of your fat and
bloated carcass you breathe out words fraught
with death. You never consider that you
must some day die, nor feel the slightest re-
pentance when you have satisfied your lust.
1 Ex. v. 2. a Ezek. xii. 27, 28.
3 Ps. lxxiii. ii, 12. * Ps. lxxiii. 13.
6 So the Vulgate, from which Jerome quotes.
• Ps. lxxiii. 3-9. 1 Cf. Matt. x. 23.
You have more than heart can wish ; and, not
to be alone in your wrongdoing, you invent
scandals concerning those who are God's ser-
vants. Though you know it not, it is against
the most High that you are speaking iniquity
and against the heavens that you are setting
your mouth. It is no wonder that God's ser-
vants small and great are blasphemed by you,
when your fathers did not scruple to call even
the master of the house Beelzebub. " The
disciple is not above his master nor the ser-
vant above his lord." ' If they did this with
the green tree, what will you do with me, the
dry ? " Much in the same way also the offend-
ed believers in the book of Malachi gave ex-
pression to feelings like yours ; for they said,
" It is vain to serve God : and what profit is it
that we have kept his ordinance, and that we
have walked mournfully before the Lord of
Hosts ? And now we call the proud happy ;
yea, they that work wickedness are set up ;
yea, they that tempt God are even delivered."
Yet the Lord afterwards threatens them with
a day of judgment ; and announcing before-
hand the distinction that shall then be made
between the righteous and the unrighteous,
speaks to them thus : " Return ye,a and discern
between the righteous and the wicked, between
him that serveth God and him that serveth
him not." 4
3. All this may perhaps seem to you matter
for jesting, seeing that you take so much pleas-
ure in comedies and lyrics and mimes like those
of Lentulus ; 5 although so blunted is your wit
that I am not disposed to allow that you can
understand even language so simple. You
may treat the words of prophets with contempt,
but Amos will still make answer to you :
" Thus saith the Lord, For three transgres-
sions and for four shall I not turn away from
him ? " 6 For inasmuch as Damascus, Gaza,
Tyre, Edom, the Ammonites and the Moabites,
the Jews also and the children of Israel, al-
though God had often prophesied to them to
turn and to repent, had refused to hear His
voice, the Lord wishing to shew that He had
most just cause for the wrath that he was going
to bring upon them used the words already
quoted, " For three transgressions and for four
shall I not turn away from them ? " It is
wicked, God says, to harbour evil thoughts ;
yet I have allowed them to do so. It is still
more wicked to carry them out ; yet in My
mercy and kindness I have permitted even
this. But should the sinful thought have be-
come the sinful deed ? Should men in their
pride have trampled thus on my tenderness ?
1 Matt. x. 24, 25. 2 Luke xxiii. 31.
3 So the Latin. 4 Mai. iii. 14, 15, 18.
6 A writer and actor of mimes, probably in the first century
of the Empire.
8 Am. i. 3, LXX.
LETTER CXLVlL
291
Nevertheless "I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from
his way and live ; " ' and as it is not they that
are whole who need a physician but they that
are sick,2 even after his sin I hold out a hand
to the prostrate sinner and exhort him, pollut-
ed as he is in his own blood,3 to wash away
his stains with tears of penitence. But if even
then he shews himself unwilling to repent, and
if, after he has suffered shipwreck, he refuses
to clutch the plank which alone can save him,
I am compelled at last to say : " Thus saith
the Lord, For three transgressions and for
four shall I not turn away from him ? " For
this " turning away " God accounts a punish-
ment, inasmuch as the sinner is left to his own
devices. It is thus that he visits the sins of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation ; 4 not punishing those who
sin immediately but pardoning their first of-
fences and only passing sentence on them for
their last. For if it were otherwise and if God
were to stand forth on the moment as the aven-
ger of iniquity, the church would lose many of
its saints ; and certainly would be deprived of
the apostle Paul. The prophet Ezekiel, from
whom we have quoted above, repeating God's
words spoken to himself speaks thus : " Open
thy mouth and eat what I shall give thee. And
behold," he says, " an hand was sent unto me ;
and, lo, a roll of a book was therein ; and he
spread it before me ; and it was written within
and without : and there was written therein
lamentations, and a song, and woe." 5 The first
of these three belongs to you if you prove will-
ing, as a sinner, to repent of your sins. The
second belongs to those who are holy, who are
called upon to sing praises to God ; for praise
does not become a sinner's mouth. And the
third belongs to persons like you who in de-
spair have given themselves over to unclean-
ness, to fornication, to the belly, and to the low-
est lusts ; men who suppose that death ends all
and that there is nothing beyond it ; who say :
" When the overflowing scourge shall pass
through it shall not come unto us." 6 The
book which the prophet eats is the whole series
of the Scriptures, which in turn bewail the
penitent, celebrate the righteous, and curse the
desperate. For nothing is so displeasing to
God as an impenitent heart. Impenitence is
the one sin for which there is no forgiveness.
For if one who ceases to sin is pardoned even
after he has sinned, and if prayer has power
to bend the judge ; it follows that every im-
penitent sinner must provoke his judge to
wrath. Thus despair is the one sin for which
there is no remedy. By obstinate rejection of
1 Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
3 Cf. Ezek. xvi. 6.
* Ezek. iii. 1 : ii. 9, 10, Vulg.
3 Luke v. 31.
4 Ex. xx. 5.
6 Is. xxviii. 15.
God's grace men turn His mercy into sternness
and severity. Yet, that you may know that
God does every day call sinners to repentance,
hear Isaiah's words : " In that day," he says,
" did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping
and to mourning and to baldness and to gird-
ing with sackcloth : and behold joy and glad-
ness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating
flesh, and drinking wine ; let us eat and drink,
for to-morrow we shall die." After these
words filled with the recklessness of despair
the Scripture goes on to say : " And it was
revealed in my ears by the Lord of Hosts,
Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from
you till ye die." ' Only when they become
dead to sin, will their sin be forgiven them.
For, so long as they live in sin, it cannot be
put away.
4. Have mercy I beseech you upon your
soul. Consider that God's judgment will one
day overtake you. Remember by what a
bishop you were ordained. The holy man was
mistaken in his choice ; but this he might well
be. For even God repented that he had an-
ointed Saul to be king.2 Even among the
twelve apostles Judas was found a traitor.
And Nicolas of Antioch — a deacon like your-
self 3 — disseminated the Nicolaitan heresy and
all manner of uncleanness." I do not now
bring up to you the many virgins whom you
are said to have seduced, or the noble matrons
who have suffered death 6 because violated by
you, or the greedy profligacy with which you
have hied through dens of sin. For grave and
serious as such sins are in themselves, they are
trivial indeed when compared with those which
I have now to narrate. How great must be
the sin beside which seduction and adultery are
insignificant ? Miserable wretch that you are !
when you enter the cave wherein the Son of
God was born, where truth sprang out of the
earth and the land did yield her increase,6 it
is to make an assignation. Have you no fear
that the babe will cry from the manger, that
the newly delivered virgin will see you, that
the mother of the Lord will behold you ? The
angels cry aloud, the shepherds run, the star
shines down from heaven, the wise men wor-
ship, Herod is terrified, Jerusalem is in con-
fusion, and meantime you creep into a virgin's
cell to seduce the virgin to whom it belongs. I
am filled with consternation and a shiver
runs through me, soul and body, when I try to
set before your eyes the deed that you have
done. The whole church was keeping vigil
by night and proclaiming Christ as its Lord.;
in one spirit though in different tongues the
1 Isa. xxii. 12-14. 2 x Sam- xv- "■
3 Acts vi. 5. * Rev. ii. 6. 15.
5 Women guilty of adultery were legally punishable with
death until the time of Justinian.
6 Ps. lxxxv. 11, 12.
292
JEROME.
praises of God were being sung. Yet you
were squeezing your love-notes into the open-
ings of what is now the altar, as it was once
the manger, of the Lord, choosing this place
in order that your unhappy victim might find
and read them when she came to kneel and
worship there. Then you took your place
among the singers, and with impudent nods
communicated your passion to her.
5. Oh ! crying shame ! I can go no far-
ther. For sobs anticipate my words, and in-
dignation and grief choke me in the act of
utterance. Oh ! for the sea of Tully's elo-
quence ! Oh ! for the impetuous current of
the invective of Demosthenes ! Yet in this
case I am sure you would both be dumb; your
eloquence would fail you. A deed has been
disclosed which no rhetoric can explain ; a
crime has been discovered which no mime can
represent, nor jester play, nor comedian de-
scribe.1
It is usual in the monasteries of Egypt and
Syria for virgins and widows who have vowed
themselves to God and have renounced the
world and have trodden under foot its pleas-
ures, to ask the mothers of their communities
to cut their hair ; not that afterwards they
go about with heads uncovered in defiance of
the apostle's command,3 for they wear a close-
fitting cap and a veil. No one knows of this
in any single case except the shearers and the
shorn, but as the practice is universal, it is
almost universally known. The custom has
in fact become a second nature. It is designed
to save those who take no baths and whose
heads and faces are strangers to all unguents,
from accumulated dirt and from the tiny creat-
ures which are sometimes generated about the
roots of the hair.
6. Let us see then, my good friend, how you
acted in these surroundings. You promised
to marry your unhappy victim ; and then in
that venerable cave you took from her, either
as securities for her fidelity or as a pledge of
the engagement, some locks of hair, some hand-
kerchiefs, and a girdle, swearing at the same
time that you would never love another as you
loved her. Then you ran to the place where
the shepherds were watching their flocks when
they heard the angels singing over head, and
there again you plighted your troth. I say no
more ; I do not accuse you of kissing her or
of embracing her. Although I believe that
there is nothing of which you are not capable,
still the sacred character of stable and field
forbids me to suppose you guilty except in
will and determination. Unhappy man ! When
you first stood beside the virgin in the cave,
surely a mist must have dimmed your eyes,
1 Mimus, scurra, atellanus.
3 1 Cor. xi. 5, 6.
your tongue must have been paralysed, your
arms must have fallen to your sides, your chest
must have heaved, your gait must have become
unsteady. She had assumed the bridal-veil
of Christ in the basilica of the apostle Peter
and had vowed to live henceforth in the
monastery, in the spots consecrated by the
Lord's Cross, His Resurrection, and His As-
cension ; and yet after all this you dared to ac-
cept that hair, which at Christ's command she
had cut off in the cave of His birth, as a token
of her readiness to sleep with you. Again
you used to sit beneath her window from the
evening till the morning ; and because owing
to its height you could not come to close
quarters with her, you conveyed things to her
and she in her turn to you by the aid of a cord.
How careful the lady superior must have been
is shewn by the fact that you never saw the
virgin except in church ; and that, although both
of you had the same inclination, you could
find no means of conversing with each other
except at a window under cover of night. As
I was afterwards told you used to be quite
sorry when the sun rose. Your face looked
bloodless, shrunken, and pale ; and to remove
all suspicion, you used to be for ever reading
Christ's gospel as if you were a deacon indeed.1
I and others used to attribute your paleness to
fasting, and to admire your bloodless lips — so
unlike the brilliant colour which they generally
shewed— in the belief that they were caused
by frequent vigils. You were already prepar-
ing ladders to fetch the unhappy virgin from
her cell ; you had already arranged your route,
ordered vessels, settled a day, and thought
out the details of your flight, when, behold, the
angel who kept the door of Mary's chamber,
who watched over the cradle of the Lord and
who bore in his arms the infant Christ, in
whose presence you had committed these great
sins, himself and none other, betrayed you.
7. Oh ! my unlucky eyes ! Oh ! day worthy
of the most solemn curse, on which with utter
consternation I read your letters, the contents
of which I am forced to remember still ! What
obscenities they contained ! What blandish-
ments ! What exultant triumph in the pros-
pect of the virgin's dishonour. A deacon should
not have even known such things, much less
should he have spoken of them. Unhappy
man ! where can you have learned them, you
who used to boast that you had been reared
in the church. It is true, however, that in
these letters you swear that you have never
led a chaste life and that you are not really a
deacon. If you try to disown them your own
handwriting will convict you, and the very
1 At the Eucharistic service the gospel was commonly though
not exclusively read by a deacon. (See Const. Apost. II. 57, 5,
and Sozomen, H. C. VII. 19.)
LETTER CXLVII.
293
letters will cry out against you. But mean-
time you may make what you can of your sin,
for what you have written is so foul that I
cannot bring it up as evidence against you.
8. You threw yourself down at my knees,
you prostrated yourself, you begged me — I
use your own words — to spare "your half-
pint of blood." Oh ! miserable wretch ! you
thought nothing of God's judgment, and feared
no vengeance but mine. I forgave you, I
admit ; what else being a Christian could I
do ? I urged you to repent, to wear sackcloth,
to roll in ashes, to seek seclusion, to live in a
monastery, to implore God's mercy with con-
stant tears. You however showed yourself a
pillar of confidence, and excited as you were
by the viper's sting you became to me a deceit-
ful bow ; you shot at me arrows of reviling.
I am become your enemy because I tell
you the truth.1 I do not complain of your
calumnies ; everyone knows that you only
praise men as infamous as yourself. What I
lament is that you do not lament yourself,
that you do not realize that you are dead,
that, like a gladiator ready for Libitina,2 you
deck yourself out for your own funeral. You
wear not sackcloth but linen, you load your
fingers with rings, you use toothpowder for
your teeth, you arrange the stray hairs on
your brown skull to the best advantage.
Your bull's neck bulges out with fat and
droops no whit because it has given way to
lust. Moreover you are redolent of perfume,
you go from one bath to another, you wage
war 3 against the hair that grows in spite of
you, you walk through the forum and the
streets a spruce and smooth-faced rake. Your
face has become the face of a harlot : you
know not how to blush.4 Return, unhappy
man, to the Lord, and He will return to you.''
Repent, and He will repent of the evil that
He has purposed to bring upon you.
9. Why is it that you disregard your own
scars and try to defame others ? Why is it
that when I give you the best advice you
attack me like a madman ? It may be that
I am as infamous as you publicly proclaim ;
in that case you can at least repent as heartily
as I do. It may be that I am as great a sinner
, as you make me out ; if so, you can at least
imitate a sinner's tears. Are my sins your
virtues ? Or does it alleviate your misery that
many are in the same plight as yourself ? Let
a few tears fall on the silk and fine linen which
make you so resplendent. Realize that you
1 Gal. iv. 16.
2 The goddess who in the Roman pantheon presided over
funerals. The gladiators meant are the so-called bustuarii who
were engaged to fight at the funeral pile ibustumj in honour of
the dead.
8 i. e. by the use of depilatories.
4 Jer. iii. 3.
6 Mai. iii. 7.
VOL. VI, U
are naked, torn, unclean, a beggar.1 It is never
too late to repent.2 You may have gone down
from Jerusalem and may have been wounded
on the way ; yet the Samaritan will set you
upon his beast, and will bring you to the inn
and will take care of you. :' Even if you are
lying in your grave, the Lord will raise you
though your flesh may stink.4 At least imitate
those blind men for whose sake the Saviour
left His home and heritage and came to Jericho.
They were sitting in darkness and in the
shadow of death when the light shone upon
them.' For when they learned that it was
the Lord who was passing by they began to
cry out saying : " Thou Son of David, have
mercy on us." 6 You too will have your sight
restored ; if you cry to Him, and cast away
your filthy garments at His call.' "When
thou shalt turn and bewail thyself then shalt
thou be saved, and then shalt thou know
where thou hast hitherto been."* Let Him
but touch your scars and pass his hands over
your eyeballs ; and although you may have
been born blind from the womb and although
your mother may have conceived you in sin,
he will purge you with hyssop and you shall
be clean, he will wash you and you shall be
whiter than snow.3 Why is it that you
are bowed together and bent down to the
ground, why is it that you are still prostrate
in the mire ? She whom Satan had bound for
eighteen years came to the Saviour ; and
being cured by Him was made straight so
that she could once more look up towards
heaven.10 God says to you what He said to
Cain : " Thou hast sinned : hold thy peace." ll
Why do you flee from the face of God and
dwell in the land of Nod ? Why do you strug-
gle in the waves 12 when you can plant your feet
upon the rock ? See to it that Phinehas does
not thrust you through with his spear while
you are committing fornication with the
Midianitish woman.13 Amnon did not spare
Tamar,14 and you her brother and kinsman in
the faith have had no mercy upon this virgin.
But why is it that when you have defiled her
you change into an Absalom and desire to
kill a David who mourns over your rebellion
and spiritual death ? The blood of Naboth 1S
cries out against you. The vineyard also of
1 Rev. iii. 17.
2 Cf. Cyprian, Epist. ad Demet. xxv.
3 Luke x. 30-34.
4 Joh. xi. 39, 44.
6 Luke i. 79.
6 Matt. ix. 27 : cf. Luke xviii. 35-38-
7 Markx. 50.
9 Isa. xxx. 15, LXX.
9 Ps. Ii. 5, 7.
10 Luke xiii. n-13.
» Gen. iv. 7, LXX.
12 An etymological allusion. Nod =' ebb and flow.'
>3 Num. xxv. 6-8.
n 2 Sam. xiii. 14.
16 1 Kings xxi. 13.
294
JEROME.
Jezreel, that is, of God's seed, demands due
vengeance upon you, seeing that you have
turned it into a garden of pleasures and made
it a seed-bed of lust. God sends you an
Elijah to tell you of torment and of death.
Bow yourself down therefore and put on sack-
cloth for a little while ; then perhaps the Lord
will say of you what He said of Ahab : " Seest
thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me ?
Because he humbleth himself before me,1 I
will not bring the evil in his days."
10. But possibly you flatter yourself that
since the bishop who has made you a deacon
is a holy man, his merits will atone for your
transgressions. I have already told you that
the father is not punished for the son nor the
son for the father. " The soul that sinneth it
shall die." 2 Samuel too had sons who forsook
the fear of the Lord and " turned aside after
lucre " and iniquity.3 Eli also was a holy
priest, but he had sons of whom we read in
the Hebrew that they lay with the women that
assembled at the door of the tabernacle of
God, and that like you they shamelessly
claimed for themselves the right to minister in
His sanctuary. " Wherefore the tabernacle it-
self was overthrown and the holy place made
desolate by reason of the sins of those who
were God's priests. And even Eli himself
offended God by shewing too great leniency
to his sons ; therefore, so far from the right-
eousness of your bishop being able to deliver
you, it is rather to be feared that your wicked-
ness may hurl him from his seat and that fall-
ing on his back like Eli he may perish irretriev-
ably.5 If the Levite Uzzah was smitten merely
because he tried to hold up from falling the
ark which it was his special province to carry ; 6
what punishment, think you, will be inflicted
upon you who have tried to overthrow the
Lord's ark when standing firm? The more
estimable the bishop is who ordained you, the
more detestable are you who have disappoint-
ed the expectations of so good a man. His
long ignorance of your misdoings is indeed
easy to account for ; as it generally happens
that we are the last to know the scandals
which affect our homes, and are ignorant of
the sins of our children and wives even when
our neighbors talk of nothing else. At all
events all Italy was aware of your evil life ;
and it was everywhere a subject of lamenta-
tion that you should still stand before the
altar of Ghrist. For you had neither the
cunning nor the forethought to conceal your
vices. So hot were you, so lecherous, and so
wanton, so entirely under the sway of this and
1 i Kings xxi. 29.
3 1 Sam. viii. 3.
5 1 Sam. iv. 18.
a Ezek. xviii. 4.
* 1 Sam. ii. 12-17, 22.
6 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7.
that caprice of self-indulgence, that, not con-
tent with satisfying your passions, you gloried
in each intrigue as a triumph and emerged
from it bearing palms of victory.
11. Once more the fire of unchastity seized
you, this time among savage swords and in
the quarters of a married barbarian of great
influence and power. You were not afraid to
commit adultery in a house where the injured
husband might have punished you without
calling in a 'judge's aid. You found yourself
attracted and drawn to suburban parks and
gardens ; and, in the husband's absence be-
haved as boldly and madly as if you sup-
posed your companion to be not your para-
mour but your wife. She was at last captured,
but you escaped through an underground pas-
sage and secretly made your way to Rome.
There you hid yourself among some Samnite
robbers ; and on the first hint that the ag-
grieved husband was coming down from the
Alps like a new Hannibal in search of you,
you did not think yourself safe till you had
taken refuge on shipboard. So hasty indeed
was your flight that you chose to face a tem-
pest at sea rather than take the consequences
of remaining on shore. Somehow or other
you reached Syria, and on arriving there pro-
fessed a wish to go on to Jerusalem and there
to serve the Lord. Who could refuse to wel-
come one who declared himself to be a monk ;
especially if he were ignorant of your tragical
career and had read the letters of commenda-
tion which your bishop had addressed to other
prelates ? ' Unhappy man ! you transformed
yourself into an angel of light ; 2 and while
you were in reality a minister of Satan, you
pretended to be a minister of righteousness.
You were only a wolf in sheep's clothing ; 3 and
having played the adulterer once towards the
wife of a man, you desired now to play the
adulterer to the spouse of Christ.4
12. My design in recounting these events
has been to sketch for you the picture of your
evil life and to set your misdeeds plainly be-
fore your eyes. I have wished to prevent you
from making God's mercy and His abundant
tenderness an excuse for committing new sins
and to save you from crucifying to yourself
the son of God afresh and putting Him to an ,
open shame. For you may do these things if
you do not read the words which follow the
passage to which I have alluded. They are
these : " The earth which drinketh in the rain
that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth
herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed,
1 Sacerdotes, lit. priests.
a 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15.
3 Matt. vii. 15.
4 i.e. to the church at large represented by individual vir-
gins.
LETTERS CXLVII.-CL.
>95
receiveth blessing from God : but that which
beareth thorns and briers is rejected and is
nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." '
LETTER CXLVIIL
TO THE MATRON CELANTIA.
This is an interesting letter addressed to a lady of
rank, on the principles and methods of a holy life. It is
not, however, the work of Jerome, of whose style it
shews few traces. It has been ascribed in turn to Pau-
linus of Nola and Sulpicius Severus.
i Heb. vi. 6, 7-8.
LETTER CXLIX.
ON THE JEWISH FESTIVALS.
The theme of this letter is the abrogation of the
Jewish festivals by the evangelical law. It has no
claim to be considered a work of Jerome.
LETTER CL.
FROM PROCOPIUS TO JEROME.
This letter is extant also among those of Procopius
of Gaza, to whose works it properly belongs. As this
Procopius flourished a century later than Jerome, the
letter cannot be addressed to him.
U2
TREATISES.
THE LIFE OF PAULUS THE FIRST HERMIT.
299
THE LIFE OF PAULUS THE FIRST HERMIT.
The Life of Paulus was written in the year 374 or 375 during Jerome's stay in the desert of Syria, as is seen
from c. 6, and was dedicated to Paulus of Concordia as stated in Jerome's Ep. X. c. 3.
i. It has been a subject of wide-spread and
frequent discussion what monk was the first to
give a signal example of the hermit life. For
some going back too far have found a begin-
ning in those holy men Elias and John, of
whom the former seems to have been more
than a monk and the latter to have begun to
prophesy before his birth. Others, and their
opinion is that commonly received, maintain
that Antony was the originator of this mode of
life, which view is partly true. Partly I say, for
the fact is not so much that he preceded the rest
as that they all derived from him the neces-
sary stimulus. But it is asserted even at the
present day by Amathas and Macarius, two
of Antony's disciples, the former of whom laid
his master in the grave, that a certain Paul of
Thebes was the leader in the movement, though
not the first to bear the name, and this opin-
ion has my approval also. Some repeat strange
stories such as the following — that he was
a man living in an underground cave with
flowing hair down to his feet, and invent many
incredible tales which it would be useless to
detail. Nor does the opinion of men who lie
without any sense of shame seem worthy of
refutation. So then inasmuch as both Greek
and Roman writers have handed down care-
ful accounts of Antony, I have determined
to write a short history of Paul's early
and latter days, more because the thing has
been passed over than from confidence in my
own ability. What his middle life was like,
and what snares of Satan he experienced, no
man, it is thought, has yet discovered.
2. During the persecutions of Decius and Va-
lerian, when Cornelius at Rome and Cyprian at
Carthage shed their blood in blessed martyr-
dom, many churches in Egypt and the The-
baid were laid waste by the fury of the storm.
At that time the Christians would often pray
that they might be smitten with the sword for
the name of Christ. But the desire of the
crafty foe was to slay the soul, not the body ;
and this he did by searching diligently for
slow but deadly tortures. In the words of
Cyprian himself who suffered at his hands :
they who wished to die were not suffered to
1 A.D. 249-260.
be slain. We give two illustrations, both as
specially noteworthy, and to make the cruelty
of the enemy better known.
3. A martyr, steadfast in faith, who stood
fast as a conqueror amidst the racks and burn-
ing plates, was ordered by him to be smeared
with honey and to be made to lie under a
blazing sun with his hands tied behind his
back, so that he who had already surmounted
the heat of the frying-pan might be van-
quished by the stings of flies. Another who
was in the bloom of youth was taken by his
command to some delightful pleasure gardens,
and there amid white lilies and blushing roses,
close by a gently murmuring stream, while
overhead the soft whisper of the wind played
among the leaves of the trees, was laid upon
a deep luxurious feather-bed, bound with
fetters of sweet garlands to prevent his es-
cape. When all had withdrawn from him a
harlot of great beauty drew near and began
with voluptuous embrace to throw her arms
around his neck, and, wicked even to relate !
to handle his person, so that when once the
lusts of the flesh were roused, she might accom-
plish her licentious purpose. What to do, and
whither to turn, the soldier of Christ knew
not. Unconquered by tortures he was being
overcome by pleasure. At last with an inspi-
ration from heaven he bit off the end of his
tongue and spat it in her face as she kissed him.
Thus the sensations of lust were subdued by
the intense pain which followed.
4. While such enormities were being per-
petrated in the lower part of the Thebaid, Paul
and his newly married sister were bereaved
of both their parents, he being about six-
teen years of age. He was heir to a rich
inheritance, highly skilled in both Greek and
Egyptian learning, gifted with a gentle dis-
position and a deep love for God. Amid the
thunders of persecution he retired to a house
at a considerable distance and in a more se-
cluded spot. But to what crimes does not the
" accursed thirst for gold " impel the human
heart? His brother-in-law conceived the
thought of betraying the youth whom he
was bound to conceal. Neither a wife's tears
which so often prevail, nor the ties of blood,
nor the all-seeing eye of God above him could
turn the traitor from his wickedness. " He
300
JEROME.
came, he was urgent, he acted with cruelty
while seeming only to press the claims of
affection."
5. The young man had the tact to under-
stand this, and, conforming his will to the neces-
sity, fled to the mountain wilds to wait for
the end of the persecution. He began with
easy stages, and repeated halts, to advance
into the desert. At length he found a rocky
mountain, at the foot of which, closed by a
stone, was a cave of no great size. He re-
moved the stone (so eager are men to learn
what is hidden), made eager search, and
saw within a large hall, open to the sky, but
shaded by the wide-spread branches of an
ancient palm. The tree, however, did not
conceal a fountain of transparent clearness,
the waters whereof no sooner gushed forth
than the stream was swallowed up in a small
opening of the same ground which gave it
birth. There were besides in the mountain,
which was full of cavities, many habitable
places, in which were seen, now rough with
rust, anvils and hammers for stamping money.
The place, Egyptian writers relate, was a
secret mint at the time of Antony's union
with Cleopatra.
6. Accordingly, regarding his abode as a gift
from God, he fell in love with it, and there in
prayer and solitude spent all the rest of his
life. The palm afforded him food and cloth-
ing. And, that no one may deem this impos-
sible, I call to witness Jesus and His holy
angels that I have seen and still see in that
part of the desert which lies between Syria
and the Saracens' country, monks of whom
one was shut up for thirty years and lived on
barley bread and muddy water, while another
in an old cistern ('called in the country dia-
lect of Syria Gubba) kept himself alive on five
dried figs a day. What I relate then is so
strange that it will appear incredible to those
who do not believe the words that "all things
are possible to him that believeth."
7. But to return to the point at which I di-
gressed. The blessed Paul had already lived
on earth the life of heaven for a hundred and
thirteen years, and Antony at the age of ninety
was dwelling in another place of solitude (as
he himself was wont to declare), when the
thought occurred to the latter, that no monk
more perfect than himself had settled in the
desert. However, in the stillness of the night it
was revealed to him that there was farther in
the desert a much better man than he, and
that he ought to go and visit him. So then at
break of day the venerable old man, support-
ing and guiding his weak limbs with a staff,
started to go : but what direction to choose he
knew not. Scorching noontide came, with a
broiling sun overhead, but still he did not
suffer himself to be turned from the journey
he had begun. Said he, " I believe in my
God : some time or other He will shew me the
fellow-servant whom He promised me." He
said no more. All at once he beholds a crea-
ture of mingled shape, half horse half man,
called by the poets Hippo-centaur. At the
sight of this he arms himself by making on his
forehead the sign of salvation, and then ex-
claims, " Holloa ! Where in these parts is a
servant of God living ? " The monster after
gnashing out some kind of outlandish utter-
ance, in words broken rather than spoken
through his bristling lips, at length finds a
friendly mode of communication, and extend-
ing his right hand points out the way desired.
Then with swift flight he crosses the spreading
plain and vanishes from the sight of his won-
dering companion. But whether the devil
took this shape to terrify him, or whether it
be that the desert which is known to abound
in monstrous animals engenders that kind of
creature also, we cannot decide.
8. Antony was amazed, and thinking over
what he had seen went on his way. Be-
fore long in a small rocky valley shut in on all
sides he sees a mannikin with hooked snout,
horned forehead, and extremities like goats' feet.
When he saw this, Antony like a good soldier
seized the shield of faith and the helmet of
hope : the creature none the less began to
offer to him the fruit of the palm-trees to sup-
port him on his journey and as it were
pledges of peace. Antony perceiving this
stopped and asked who he was. The answer
he received from him was this : " I am a
mortal being and one of those inhabitants of
the desert whom the Gentiles deluded by
various forms of error worship under the names
of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to rep-
resent my tribe. We pray you in our behalf
to entreat the favour of your Lord and ours,
who, we have learnt, came once to save the
world, and ' whose sound has gone forth into
all the earth.'" As he uttered such words as
these, the aged traveller's cheeks streamed
with tears, the marks of his deep feeling, which
he shed in the fulness of his joy. He rejoiced
over the Glory of Christ and the destruction of
Satan, and marvelling all the while that he
could understand the Satyr's language, and
striking the ground with his staff, he said,
" Woe to thee, Alexandria, who instead of God
worshippest monsters ! Woe to thee, harlot
city, into which have flowed together the
demons of the whole world ! What will you
say now ? Beasts speak of Christ, and you
instead of God worship monsters." He had
not finished speaking when, as if on wings,
the wild creature fled away. Let no one
scruple to believe this incident ; its truth is
THE LIFE OF PAULUS THE FIRST HERMIT.
3d
supported by what took place when Constan-
tine was on the throne, a matter of which the
whole world was witness. For a man of that
kind was brought alive to Alexandria and
shewn as a wonderful sight to the people.
Afterwards his lifeless body, to prevent its
decay through the summer heat, was preserved
in salt and brought to Antioch that the
Emperor might see it.
9. To pursue my proposed story. Antony
traversed the region on which he had entered,
seeing only the traces of wild beasts, and
the wide waste of the desert. What to do,
whither to wend his way, he knew not.
Another day had now passed. One thing
alone was left him, his confident belief that he
could not be forsaken by Christ. The dark-
ness of the second night he wore away in
prayer. While it was still twilight, he saw not
far away a she-wolf gasping with parching
thirst and creeping to the foot of the moun-
tain. He followed it with his eyes ; and after
the beast had disappeared in a cave he drew
near and began to look within. His curiosity
profited nothing : the darkness hindered vision.
But, as the Scripture saith, perfect love casteth
out fear. With halting step and bated breath
he entered, carefully feeling his way ; he
advanced little by little and repeatedly listened
for the sound. At length through the fearful
midnight darkness a light appeared in the
distance. In his eager haste he struck his
foot against a stone and roused the echoes ;
whereupon the blessed Paul closed the open
door and made it fast with a bar. Then
Antony sank to the ground at the entrance
and until the sixth hour or later craved admis-
sion, saying, " Who I am, whence, and why I
have come, you know. I know I am not
worthy to look upon you : yet unless I see
you I will not go away. You welcome beasts :
why not a man ? I asked and I have found : I
knock that it may be opened to me. But if I
do not succeed, I will die here on your thresh-
old. You will surely bury me when I am dead."
" Such was his constant cry ; unmoved he stood.
To whom the hero thus brief answer made " *
" Prayers like these do not mean threats ; there
is no trickery in tears. Are you surprised at
my not welcoming you when you have come
here to die?" Thus with smiles Paul gave
him access, and, the door being opened,
they threw themselves into each other's arms,
greeted one another by name, and joined in
thanksgiving to God.
10. After the sacred kiss Paul sat down and
thus began to address Antony. " Behold the
man whom you have sought with so much
1 Virg. JEn. ii, 650, and vi, 672.
toil, his limbs decayed with age, his gray hairs
unkempt. You see before you a man who
ere long will be dust. But love endures all
things. Tell me therefore, I pray you, how
fares the human race ? Are new homes
springing up in the ancient cities? What
government directs the world ? Are there
still some remaining for the demons to carry
away by their delusions ? " Thus conversing
they noticed with wonder a raven which had
settled on the bough of a tree, and was then
flying gently down till it came and laid a
whole loaf of bread before them. They were
astonished, and when it had gone, " See," said
Paul, "the Lord truly loving, truly merciful,
has sent us a meal. For the last sixty years I
have always received half a loaf : but at your
coming Christ has doubled his soldier's ra-
tions."
11. Accordingly, having returned thanks to
the Lord, they sat down together on the brink
of the glassy spring. At this point a dispute
arose as to who should break the bread, and
nearly the whole day until eventide was spent
in the discussion. Paul urged in support of
his view the rites of hospitality, Antony
pleaded age. At length it was arranged that
each should seize the loaf on the side nearest
to himself, pull towards him, and keep for his
own the part left in his hands. Then on
hands and knees they drank a little water
from the spring, and offering to God the
sacrifice of praise passed the night in vigil.
At the return of day the blessed Paul thus
spoke to Antony : " I knew long since, brother,
that you were dwelling in those parts : long
ago God promised you to me for a fellow-
servant ; but the time of my falling asleep now
draws nigh ; I have always longed to be dis-
solved and to be with Christ ; my course is
finished, and there remains for me a crown of
righteousness. Therefore you have been sent
by the Lord to lay my poor body in the
ground, yea to return earth to earth."
12. On hearing this Antony with tears and
groans began to pray that he would not desert
him, but would take him for a companion on
that journey. His friend replied : " You ought
not to seek your own, but another man's good.
It is expedient for you to lay aside the bur-
den of the flesh and to follow the Lamb ; but
it is expedient for the rest of the brethren
to be trained by your example. Wherefore
be so good as to go and fetch the cloak Bishop
Athanasius gave you, to wrap my poor body
in." The blessed Paul asked this favour not
because he cared, much whether his corpse
when it decayed were clothed or naked (why
should he indeed, when he had so long worn
a garment of palm-leaves stitched together ?) ;
but that he might soften his friend's regrets at
JEROME.
his decease. Antony was astonished to find Paul
had heard of Athanasius and his cloak ; and,
seeing as it were Christ Himself in him, he
mentally worshipped God without venturing to
add a single word ; then silently weeping he
once more kissed his eyes and hands, and set
out on his return to the monastery which was
afterwards seized by the Saracens. His steps
lagged behind his will. Yet, exhausted as he
was with fasting and broken by age, his courage
proved victorious over his years.
13. At last wearied and panting for breath
he completed his journey and reached his little
dwelling. Here he was met by two disciples
who had begun to wait upon him in his ad-
vanced age. Said they, " Where have you
stayed so long, father ? " He replied, " Woe to
me a sinner ! I do not deserve the name of
monk. I have seen Elias, I have seen John in
the desert, and I have really seen Paul in Para-
dise." He then closed his lips, beat upon his
breast, and brought out the cloak from his cell.
When his disciples asked him to explain the
matter somewhat more fully he said,1 " There is
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak."
14. He then went out, and without taking
so much as a morsel of food returned the same
way he came, longing for him alone, thirsting
to see him, having eyes and thought for none
but him. For he was afraid, and the event
proved his anticipations correct, that in his
absence his friend might yield up his spirit to
Christ. And now another day had dawned
and a three hours' journey still remained, when
he saw Paul in robes of snowy white ascending
on high among the bands of angels, and the
choirs of prophets and apostles. Immediate-
ly he fell on his face, and threw the coarse
sand upon his head, weeping and wailing as
he cried, " Why do you cast me from you,
Paul ? Why go without one farewell ? Have
you made yourself known so late only to de-
part so soon ? "
15. The blessed Antony used afterwards to
relate that he traversed the rest of the distance
at such speed that he flew along like a bird; and
not without reason : for on entering the cave
he saw the lifeless body in a kneeling attitude,
with head erect and hands uplifted. The first
thing he did, supposing him to be alive, was to
pray by his side. But when he did not hear the
sighs which usually come from one in prayer,
he fell to kisses and tears, and he then under-
stood that even the dead body of the saint with
duteous gestures was praying to God unto
whom all things live.
16. Then having wrapped up the body and
carried it forth, all the while chanting hymns
and psalms according to the Christian tradi-
1 Eccl. iii. 7.
tion, Antony began to lament that he had no
implement for digging the ground. So in a
surging sea of thought and pondering many
plans he said : " If I return to the monastery,
there is a four days' journey : if I stay here I
shall do no good. I will die then, as is fitting,
beside Thy warrior, O Christ, and will quickly
breathe my last breath." While he turned
these things over in his mind, behold, two
lions from the recesses of the desert with
manes flying on their necks came rushing
along. At first he was horrified at the sight,
but again turning his thoughts to God, he wait-
ed without alarm, as though they were doves
that he saw. They came straight to the corpse
of the blessed old man and there stopped,
fawned upon it and lay down at its feet,
roaring aloud as if to make it known that they
were mourning in the only way possible to
them. Then they began to paw the ground close
by, and vie with one another in excavating
the sand, until they dug out a place just large
enough to hold a man. And immediately, as
if demanding a reward for their work, pricking
up their ears while they lowered their heads,
they came to Antony and began to lick his
hands and feet. He perceived that they were
begging a blessing from him, and at once with
an outburst of praise to Christ that even dumb
animals felt His divinity, he said, " Lord, with-
out whose command not a leaf drops from the
tree, not a sparrow falls to the ground, grant
them what thou knowest to be best." Then
he waved his hand and bade them depart.
When they were gone he bent his aged shoul-
ders beneath the burden of the saint's body,
laid it in the grave, covered it with the exca-
vated soil, and raised over it the customary
mound. Another day dawned, and then, that
the affectionate heir might not be without
something belonging to the intestate dead, he
took for himself the tunic which after the
manner of wicker-work the saint had woven
out of palm-leaves. And so returning to the
monastery he unfolded everything in order to
his disciples, and on the feast-days of Easter
and Pentecost he always wore Paul's tunic.
17. 1 maybe permitted at the end of this
little treatise to ask those who do not know
the extent of their possessions, who adorn
their homes with marble, who string house to
house and field to field, what did this old man
in his nakedness ever lack ? Your drinking
vessels are of precious stones ; he satisfied his
thirst with the hollow of his hand. Your
tunics are of wrought gold ; he had not the
raiment of the meanest of your slaves. But
on the other hand, poor though he was, Para-
dise is open to him ; you with all your gold
will be received into Gehenna. He though
naked yet kept the robe of Christ ; you, clad
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION.
503
in your silks, have lost the vesture of Christ.
Paul lies covered with worthless dust, but will
rise again to glory ; over you are raised
costly tombs, but both you and your wealth
are doomed to the burning. Have a care, I
pray you, at least have a care for the riches you
love. Why are even the grave-clothes of your
dead made of gold ? Why does not your
vaunting cease even amid mourning and tears?
Cannot the carcases of rich men decay except
in silk ?
18. I beseech you, reader, whoever you may
be, to remember Jerome the sinner. He, if God
would give him his choice, would much sooner
take Paul's tunic with his merits, than the
purple of kings with their punishment.
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION.
The life of Htlarion was written by Jerome in 390 at Bethlehem. Its object was to further the ascetic life
to which he was devoted. It contains, amidst much that is legendary, some statements which attach it to
genuine history, and is in any case a curious record of the state of the human mind in the 4th century. A
theory started in Germany, that it was a sort of religious romance, seems destitute of foundation. It may
possibly have been, in Jerome's intention, a contribution to the church history the writing of which he proposed
but never executed. (See the Life of Malchus, c. 1.)
i. Before I begin to write the life of the
blessed Hilarion I invoke the aid of the Holy
Spirit who dwelt in him, that He who bestowed
upon the saint his virtues may grant me such
power of speech to relate them that my
words may be adequate to his deeds. For the
virtue of those who have done great deeds is
esteemed in proportion to the ability with
which it has been praised by men of genius.
Alexander the Great of Macedon, who is
spoken of by Daniel as the ram, or the
panther, or the he-goat, on reaching the grave
of Achilles exclaimed, "Happy Youth ! to have
the privilege of a great herald of your worth,"
meaning, of course, Homer. I, however, have
to tell the story of the life and conversation of
a man so renowned that even Homer were he
here would either envy me the theme or prove
unequal to it. It is true that that holy man
Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, who
had much intercourse with Hilarion, set forth
his praises in a short but widely circulated
letter. Yet it is one thing to praise the dead
in general terms, another to relate their char-
acteristic virtues. And so we in taking up the
work begun by him do him service rather than
wrong : we despise the abuse of some who as
they once disparaged my hero Paulus,1 will now
perhaps disparage Hilarion ; the former they
censured for his solitary life ; they may find
fault with the latter for his intercourse with
the world ; the one was always out of sight,
therefore they think he had no existence ; the
other was seen by many, therefore he is
deemed of no account. It is just what their
ancestors the Pharisees did of old ! they were
not pleased with 3 John fasting in the desert,
1 See life of Paulus above.
3 Matt. xi. 18.
nor with our Lord and Saviour in the busy
throng, eating and drinking. But I will put
my hand to the work on which I have re-
solved, and go on my way closing my ears to
the barking of Scylla's hounds.
2. The birth place of Hilarion was the
village Thabatha, situate about five miles to
the south of Gaza, a city of Palestine. His
parents were idolaters, and therefore, as the
saying is, the rose blossomed on the thorn.
By them he was committed to the charge of a
Grammarian at Alexandria, where, so far as his
age allowed, he gave proofs of remarkable
ability and character : and in a short time
endeared himself to all and became an accom-
plished speaker. More important than all
this, he was a believer in the Lord Jesus, and
took no delight in the madness of the circus,
the blood of the arena, the excesses of the
theatre : his whole pleasure was in the as-
semblies of the Church.
3. At that time he heard of the famous
name of Antony, which was in the mouth of
all the races of Egypt. He was fired with a
desire to see him, and set out for the desert.
He no sooner saw him than he changed his
former mode of life and abode with him about
two months, studying the method of his life
and the gravity of his conduct : his assiduity
in prayer, his humility in his dealings with the
brethren, his severity in rebuke, his eagerness
in exhortation. He noted too that the saint
would never on account of bodily weakness
break his rule of abstinence or deviate from
the plainness of his food. At last, unable to
endure any longer the crowds of those who
visited the saint because of various afflictions
or the assaults of demons, and deeming it a
strange anomaly that he should have to bear in
564
JEROME.
the desert the crowds of the cities, he thought
it was better for him to begin as Antony
had begun. Said he : " Antony is reaping
the reward of victory like a hero who has
proved his bravery. I have not entered on
the soldier's career." He therefore returned
with certain monks to his country, and, his
parents being now dead, gave part of his
property to his brothers, part to the poor,
keeping nothing at all for himself, for he
remembered with awe the passage in the Acts
of the Apostles and dreaded the example and
the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira ;
above all he was mindful of the Lord's words,1
" whosoever he be of you that renounceth not
all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."
At this time he was about fifteen years old.
Accordingly, stripped bare and armed with
the weapons of Christ, he entered the wilder-
ness which stretches to the left seven miles
from Majoma, the port of Gaza, as you go
along the coast to Egypt. And although the
locality had a record of robbery and of blood,
and his relatives and friends warned him of
the danger he was incurring, he despised
death that he might escape death.
4. His courage and tender years would
have been a marvel to all, were it not that his
heart was on fire and his eyes bright with the
gleams and sparks of faith. His cheeks were
smooth, his body thin and delicate, unfit to
bear the slightest injury which cold or heat
could inflict. What then ? With no other
covering for his limbs but a shirt of sackcloth,
and a cloak of skins which the blessed Antony
had given him when he set out, and a blanket
of the coarsest sort, he found pleasure in the
vast and terrible wilderness with the sea on
one side and the marshland on the other.
His food was only fifteen dried figs after sun-
set. And because the district was notorious
for brigandage, it was his practice never to
abide long in the same place. What was the
devil to do ? Whither could he turn ? He
who once boasted and said,2 "I will ascend into
heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of
the sky, I will be like the most High," saw
himself conquered and trodden under foot by
a boy whose years did not allow of sin.
5. Satan therefore tickled his senses and, as
is his wont, lighted in his maturing body the
fires of lust. This mere beginner in Christ's
school was forced to think of what he knew
not, and to revolve whole trains of thought
concerning that of which he had no ex-
perience. Angry with himself and beating
his bosom (as if with the blow of his hand
he could shut out his thoughts) " Ass ! '' he
1 Luke xiv. 33.
Isa. xlv. 14.
exclaimed, " I'll stop your kicking, I will not
feed you with barley, but with chaff. I will
weaken you with hunger and thirst, I will lade
you with heavy burdens, I will drive you
through heat and cold, that you may think
more of food than wantonness." So for
three or four days afterwards he sustained his
sinking spirit with the juice of herbs and a few
dried figs, praying frequently and singing, and
hoeing the ground that the suffering of fast-
ing might be, doubled by the pain of toil. At
the same time he wove baskets of rushes and
emulated the discipline of the Egyptian monks,
and put into practice the Apostle's precept,
1 " If any will not work, neither let him eat."
By these practices he became so enfeebled and
his frame so wasted, that his bones scarcely
held together.
6. One night he began to hear the wailing
of infants, the bleating of flocks, the low-
ing of oxen, the lament of what seemed to be
women, the roaring of lions, the noise of an
army, and moreover various portentous cries
which made him in alarm shrink from the
sound ere he had the sight. He understood
that the demons were disporting themselves,
and falling on his knees he made the sign of
the cross on his forehead. Thus armed, as he
lay he fought the more bravely, half longing to
see those whom he shuddered to hear, and
anxiously looking in every direction. Mean-
while all at once in the bright moonlight he
saw a chariot with dashing steeds rushing
upon him. He called upon Jesus, and suddenly
before his eyes, the earth was opened and the
whole array was swallowed up. Then he said,
2 "The horse and his rider hath He thrown into
the sea." And,5 "Some trust in chariots, and
some in horses ; but we will triumph in the
name of the Lord our God."
7. So many were his temptations and so
various the snares of demons night and day,
that if I wished to relate them, a volume would
not suffice. How often when he lay down
did naked women appear to him, how often
sumptuous feasts when he was hungry !
Sometimes as he prayed a howling wolf sprang
past or a snarling fox, and when he sang a
gladiatorial show was before him, and a man
newly slain would seem to fall at his feet and
ask him for burial.
8. Once upon a time he was praying with
his head upon the ground. As is the way
with men, his attention was withdrawn from
his devotions, and he was thinking of some-
thing else, when a tormentor sprang upon his
back and driving his heels into his sides and
beating him across the neck with a horse-whip
1 2 Thess. iii. 10.
3 Ps. xx. 7.
Exod.
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION.
3oS
cried out " Come ! why are you asleep ? " Then
with a loud laugh asked if he was tired and
would like to have some barley.
9. From his sixteenth to his twentieth year
he shielded himself from heat and rain in a
little hut which he had constructed of reeds and
sedge. Afterwards he built himself a small
cell which remains to the present day, five feet
in height, that is less than his own height, and
only a little more in length. One might suppose
it a tomb rather than a house.
10. He shaved his hair once a year on
Easter Day, and until his death was accustomed
to lie on the bare ground or on a bed of
rushes. The sackcloth which he had once put
on he never washed, and he used to say that
it was going too far to look for cleanliness in
goats' hair-cloth. Nor did he change his shirt
unless the one he wore was almost in rags.
He had committed the Sacred Writings to
memory, and after prayer and singing was
wont to recite them as if in the presence of
God. It would be tedious to narrate singly
the successive steps of his spiritual ascent ; I
will therefore set them in a summary way be-
fore my reader, and describe his mode of life
at each stage, and will afterwards return to
proper historical sequence.
n. From his twentieth to his twenty-seventh
year, for three years his food was half a pint
of lentils moistened with cold water, and for
the next three dry bread with salt and water.
From his twenty-seventh year onward to the
thirtieth, he supported himself on wild herbs
and the raw roots of certain shrubs. From
his thirty-first to his thirty-fifth year, he had
for food six ounces of barley bread, and vege-
tables slightly cooked without oil. But find-
ing his eyes growing dim and his whole body
shrivelled with a scabby eruption and dry
mange, he added oil to his former food and up
to the sixty-third year of his life followed this
temperate course, tasting neither fruit nor pulse,
nor anything whatsoever besides. Then when
he saw that his bodily health was broken down,
and thought death was near, from his sixty-
fourth year to his eightieth he abstained from
bread. The fervour of his spirit was so won-
derful, that at times when others are wont to
allow themselves some laxity of living he ap-
peared to be entering like a novice on the
service of the Lord. He made a sort of broth
from meal and bruised herbs, food and drink
together scarcely weighing six ounces, and,
while obeying this rule of diet, he never broke
his fast before sunset, not even On festivals
nor in severe sickness. But it is now time to
return to the course of events.
12. While still living in the hut, at the age
of eighteen, robbers came to him by night,
either supposing that he had something which
they might carry off, or considering that they
would be brought into contempt if a solitary
boy felt no dread of their attacks. They
searched up and down between the sea and
the marsh from evening until daybreak with-
out being able to find his resting place. Then,
having discovered the boy by the light of day
they asked him, half in jest, " What would you
do if robbers came to you ? " He replied,
" He that has nothing does not fear robbers."
Said they, " At all events, you might be killed."
" I might," said he, "I might ; and therefore
I do not fear robbers because I am prepared
to die." Then they marvelled at his firmness
and faith, confessed how they had wandered
about in the night, and how their eyes had
been blinded, and promised to lead a stricter
life in the future.
13. He had now spent twenty -two years in
the wilderness and was the common theme in
all the cities of Palestine, though everywhere
known by repute only. The first person bold
enough to break into the presence of the blessed
Hilarion was a certain woman of Eleuthero-
polis who found that she was despised by her
husband on account of her sterility (for in
fifteen years she had borne no fruit of wedlock).
He had no expectation of her coming when
she suddenly threw herself at his feet. " For-
give my boldness," she said : " take pity on
my necessity. Why do you turn away your
eyes ? Why shun my entreaties ? Do not
think of me as a woman, but as an object of
compassion. It was my sex that bore the
Saviour.' They that are whole have no need
of a physician, but they that are sick." At
length, after a long time he no longer turned
away, but looked at the woman and asked the
cause of her coming and of her tears. On
learning this he raised his eyes to heaven and
bade her have faith, then wept over her as she
departed. Within a year he saw her with a
son.
14. This his first miracle was succeeded
by another still greater and more notable.
Aristaenete the wife of Elpidius who was after-
wards pretorian prefect, a woman well known
among her own people, still better known
among Christians, on her return with her
husband, from visiting the blessed Antony,
was delayed at Gaza by the sickness of
her three children ; for there, whether it
was owing to the vitiated atmosphere, or
whether it was, as afterwards became clear,
for the glory of God's servant Hilarion,
they were all alike seized by a semi-tertian
ague and despaired of by the physicians. The
mother lay wailing, or as one might say walked
up and down between the corpses of her three
1 Luke v. 31.
306
JEROME.
sons not knowing which she should first have
to mourn for. When, however, she knew that
there was a certain monk in the neighbouring
wilderness, forgetting her matronly state (she
only remembered she was a mother) she set
out accompanied by her hand-maids and
eunuchs, and was hardly persuaded by her
husband to take an ass to ride upon. On
reaching the saint she said, " I pray you by
Jesus our most merciful God, I beseech you
by His cross and blood, to restore to me my
three sons, so that the name of our Lord
and Saviour may be glorified in the city of
the Gentiles. Then shall his servants enter
Gaza and the idol Marnas shall fall to the
ground." At first he refused and said that he
never left his cell and was not accustomed to
enter a house, much less the city ; but she
threw herself upon the ground and cried
repeatedly, " Hilarion, servant of Christ, give
me back my children : Antony kept them
safe in Egypt, do you save them in Syria."
All present were weeping, and the saint him-
self wept as he denied her. What need to say
more ? the woman did not leave him till he
promised that he would enter Gaza after sun-
set. On coming thither he made the sign of
the cross over the bed and fevered limbs of
each, and called upon the name of Jesus.
Marvellous efficacy of the Name ! As if
from three fountains the sweat burst forth at
the same time : in that very hour they took
food, recognized their mourning mother, and,
with thanks to God, warmly kissed the saint's
hands. When the matter was noised abroad,
and the fame of it spread far and wide, the
people flocked to him from Syria and Egypt,
so that many believed in Christ and professed
themselves monks. For as yet there were no
monasteries in Palestine, nor had anyone
known a monk in Syria before the saintly
Hilarion. It was he who originated this mode
of life and devotion, and who first trained men
to it in that province. The Lord Jesus had
in Egypt the aged Antony : in Palestine He
had the youthful Hilarion.
15. Facidia is a hamlet belonging to Rhino-
Corura, a city of Egypt. From this village a
woman who had been blind for ten years was
brought to the blessed Hilarion, and on being
presented to him by the brethren (for there
were now many monks with him) affirmed
thatshe had spent all her substance on physi-
cians. The saint replied : " If you had given
to the poor what you have wasted on physi-
cians, the true physician Jesus would have
cured you." But when she cried aloud and
entreated pity, he spat into her eyes, in imita-
tion of the Saviour, and with similar instant
effect.
16. A charioteer, also of Gaza, stricken by a
demon in his chariot became perfectly stiff, so
that he could neither move his hand nor bend
his neck. He was brought on a litter, but could
only signify his petition by moving his tongue;
and was told that he could not be healed unless
he first believed in Christ and promised to
forsake his former occupation. He believed,
he promised, and he was healed : and rejoice^
more in the saving of the soul than in that of
the body.
17. Again, a very powerful youth called
Marsitas from the neighbourhood of Jerusa-
lem plumed himself so highly on his strength
that he carried fifteen bushels of grain for a
long time and over a considerable distance,
and considered it as his highest glory that he
could beat the asses in endurance. This man
was afflicted with a grievous demon and could
not endure chains, or fetters, but broke even
the bolts and bars of the doors. He had bit-'
ten off the noses and ears of many : had
broken the feet of some, the legs of others.
He had struck such terror of himself into
everybody, that he was laden with chains and
dragged by ropes on all sides like a wild bull
to the monastery. As soon as the brethren
saw him they were greatly alarmed (for the
man was of gigantic size) and told the Father.
He, seated as he was, commanded him to be
brought to him and released. When he was
free, "Bow your head," said he, "and come."
The man began to tremble ; he twisted his
neck round and did not dare to look him in
the face, but laid aside all his fierceness and
began to lick his feet as he sat. At last the
demon which had possessed the young man
being tortured by the saint's adjurations
came forth on the seventh day.
18. Nor must we omit to tell that Orion, a
leading man and wealthy citizen of Aira, on the
coast of the Red Sea, being possessed by a le-
gion of demons was brought to him. Hands,
neck, sides, feet were laden with iron, and his
glaring eyes portended an access of raging
madness. As the saint was walking with the
brethren and expounding some passage of
Scripture the man broke from the hands of his
keepers, clasped him from behind and raised
him aloft. There was a shout from all, for
they feared lest he might crush his limbs wast-
ed as they were with fasting. The saint
smiled and said, " Be quiet, and let me have my
rival in the wrestling match to myself." Then
he bent back his hand over his shoulder till
he touched the man's head, seized his hair
and drew him round so as to be foot to foot
with him ; he then stretched both his hands in
a straight line, and trod on his two feet with both
his own, while he cried out again and again,
" To torment with you ! ye crowd of demons,
to torment ! " The sufferer shouted aloud
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION.
307
and bent back his neck till his head touched
the ground, while the saint said, ;' Lord Jesus,
release this wretched man, release this captive.
Thine it is to conquer many no less than
one." What I now relate is unparalleled :
from one man's lips were heard different
voices and as it were the confused shouts of
a multitude. Well, he too was cured, and not
long after came with his wife and children to
the monastery bringing many gifts expressive
of his gratitude. The saint thus addressed
him — " Have you not read what befell Gehazi
and Simon, one of whom took a reward, the
other offered it, the former in order to sell
grace, the latter to buy it ?" And when Orion
said with tears, " Take it and give it to the
poor," he replied, " You can best distribute
your own gifts, for you tread the streets of the
cities and know the poor. Why should I who
have forsaken my own seek another man's ?
To many the name of the poor is a pretext
for their avarice ; but compassion knows no
artifices. No one better spends than he who
keeps nothing for himself." The man was sad
and lay upon the ground. " Be not sad, my
son," he said ; " what I do for my own good I do
also for yours. If I were to take these gifts I
should myself offend God, and, moreover, the
legion would return to you."
19. There is a story relating to Majomites
of Gaza which it is impossible to pass over in
silence. While quarrying building stones on
the shore not far from the monastery he was
helplessly paralysed, and after being carried to
the saint by his fellow-workman immediately
returned to his work in perfect health. I
ought to explain that the shore of Palestine
and Egypt naturally consists of soft sand and
gravel which gradually becomes consolidated
and hardens into rock ; and thus though to the
eye it remains the same it is no longer the
same to the touch.
20. Another story relates to Italicus, a citizen
of the same town. He was a Christian and
kept horses for the circus to contend against
those of the Duumvir of Gaza who was a
votary of the idol god Marnas. This custom
at least in Roman cities was as old as the
days of Romulus, and was instituted in com-
memoration of the successful seizure of the
Sabine women. The chariots raced seven
times round the circus in honour of Consus in
his character of the God of Counsel.1 Victory
lay with the team which tired out the horses
opposed to them. Now the rival of Italicus
had in his pay a magician to incite his horses
by certain demoniacal incantations, and keep
back those of his opponent. Italicus there-
1 He was also the god of agricultural fertility. The festival
of the Consualia, supposed to have been instituted by Romulus,
was on August si.
fore came to the blessed Hilarion and be-
sought his aid not so much for the injury of
his adversary as for protection for himself. It
seemed absurd for the venerable old man to
waste prayers on trifles of this sort. He
therefore smiled and said, " Why do you not
rather give the price of the horses to the
poor for the salvation of your soul ? " His
visitor replied that his office was a public
duty, and that he acted not so much from
choice as from compulsion, that no Christian
man could employ magic, but would rather
seek aid from a servant of Christ, especially
against the people of Gaza who were enemies
of God, and who would exult over the Church
of Christ more than over him. At the request
therefore of the brethren who were present he
ordered an earthenware cup out of which he
was wont to drink to be filled with water and
given to Italicus. The latter took it and
sprinkled it over his stable and horses, his
charioteers and his chariot, and the barriers
of the course. The crowd was in a marvellous
state of excitement, for the enemy in derision
had published the news of what was going to
be done, and the backers of Italicus were in
high spirits at the victory which they promised
themselves. The signal is given ; the one
team flies towards the goal, the other sticks
fast : the wheels are glowing hot beneath the
chariot of the one, while the other scarce
catches a glimpse of their opponents' backs
as they flit past. The shouts of the crowd
swell to a roar, and the heathens themselves
with one voice declare Marnas is conquered
by Christ. After this the opponents in their
rage demanded that Hilarion as a Christian
magician should be dragged to execution.
This decisive victory and several others which
followed in successive games of the circus
caused many to turn to the faith.
21. There was a youth in the neighbourhood
of the same market-town of Gaza who was
desperately in love with one of God's virgins.
After he had tried again and again those
touches, jests, nods, and whispers which so
commonly lead to the destruction of virginity,
but had made no progress by these means, he
went to a magician at Memphis to whom he
proposed to make known his wretched state,
and then, fortified with his arts, to return to
his assault upon the virgin. Accordingly after
a year's instruction by the priest of ^Escula-
pius, who does not heal souls but destroys
them, he came full of the lust which he had
previously allowed his mind to entertain, and
buried beneath the threshold of the girl's
house certain magical formulas and revolting
figures engraven on a plate of Cyprian brass.
Thereupon the maid began to show signs of
insanity, to throw away the covering of her
308
JEROME.
head, tear her hair, gnash her teeth, and
loudly call the youth by name. Her intense
affection had become a frenzy. Her parents
therefore brought her to the monastery and
delivered her to the aged saint. No sooner
was this done than the devil began to howl and
confess. " I was compelled, I was carried off
against my will. How happy I was when I
used to beguile the men of Memphis in their
dreams! What crosses, what torture I suffer !
You force me to go out, and I am kept bound
under the threshold. I cannot go out unless
the young man who keeps me there lets me
go." The old man answered, "Your strength
must be great indeed, if a bit of thread and
a plate can keep you bound. Tell me, how is
it that you dared to enter into this maid who
belongs to God?" "That I might preserve
her as a virgin," said he. " You preserve her,
betrayer of chastity ! Why did you not rather
enter into him who sent you?" "For what
purpose," he answers, " should I enter into
one who was in alliance with a comrade of
my own, the demon of love ? " But the saint
would not command search to be made for
either the young man or the charms till the
maiden had undergone a process of purgation,
for fear that it might be thought that the
demon had been released by means of incan-
tations, or that he himself had attached credit
to what he said. He declared that demons are
deceitful and well versed in dissimulation, and
sharply rebuked the virgin when she had
recovered her health for having by her con-
duct given an opportunity for the demon to
enter.
22. It was not only in Palestine and the
neighbouring cities of Egypt or Syria that he
was in high repute, but his fame had reached
distant provinces. An officer ' of the Em-
peror Constantius whose golden hair and per-
sonal beauty revealed his country (it lay
between the Saxons and the Alemanni, was
of no great extent but powerful, and is
known to historians as Germany, but is now
called France), had long, that is to say from
infancy, been pursued by a devil, who forced
him in the night to howl, groan, and gnash
his teeth. He therefore secretly asked the
Emperor for a post-warrant, plainly telling
him why he wanted it, and having also ob-
tained letters to the legate at Palestine came
with great pomp and a large retinue to Gaza.
On his inquiring of the local senators where
Hilarion the monk dwelt, the people of Gaza
were much alarmed, and supposing that he
had been sent by the Emperor, brought him
to the monastery, that they might show re-
spect to one so highly accredited, and that, if
» Or secretary-Candidatus, a qu:estor appointed by the Em-
peror to read his rescripts, etc.
any guilt had been incurred by them by inju-
ries previously done by them to Hilarion it
might be obliterated by their present duti-
fulness. The old man at the time was taking
a walk on the soft sands and was humming
some passage or other from the psalms. See-
ing so great a company approaching he
stopped, and having returned the salutes of all
while he raised his hand and gave them his
blessing, after an hour's interval he bade the
rest withdraw, but would have his visitor to-
gether with servants and officers remain : for
by the man's eyes and countenance he knew
the cause of his coming. Immediately on
being questioned by the servant of God the
man sprang up on tiptoe, so as scarcely to
touch the ground with his feet, and with a
wild roar replied in Syriac in which language
he had been interrogated. Pure Syriac was
heard flowing from the lips of a barbarian who
knew only French and Latin, and that without
the absence of a sibilant, or an aspirate, or
an idiom of the speech of Palestine. The
demon then confessed by what means he had
entered into him. Further, that his interpreters
who knew only Greek and Latin might under-
stand, Hilarion questioned him also in Greek,
and when he gave the same answer in the
same words and alleged in excuse many oc-
casions on which spells had been laid upon
him, and how he was bound to yield to magic
arts, " I ca-re not," said the saint, " how you
came to enter, but I command you in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ to come out."
The man, as soon as he was healed, with a
rough simplicity offered him ten pounds of
gold. But the saint took from him only bread,
and told him that they who were nourished on
such food regarded gold as mire.
23. It is not enough to speak of men ; brute
animals were also daily brought to him in a
state of madness, and among them a Bactrian
camel of enormous size amid the shouts of
thirty men or more who held him tight with
stout ropes. He had already injured many.
His eyes were bloodshot, his mouth filled with
foam, his rolling tongue swollen, and above
every other source of terror was his loud and
hideous roar. Well, the old man ordered him
to be let go. At once those who brought him
as well as the attendants of the saint fled away
without exception. The saint went by himself
to meet him, and addressing him in Syriac said,
" You do not alarm me, devil, huge though
your present body is. Whether in a fox or
a camel you are just the same." Meanwhile
he stood with outstretched hand. The brute
raging and looking as if he would devour
Hilarion came up to him, but immediately fell
down, laid its head on the ground, and to the
amazement of all present showed suddenly no
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION.
309
less tameness than it had exhibited ferocity
before. But the old man declared to them
how the devil, for men's sake, seizes even
beasts of burden ; that he is inflamed by such
intense hatred for men that he desires to
destroy not only them but what belongs to
them. As an illustration of this he added
the fact that before he was permitted to try
the saintly Job, he made an end of all his
substance. Nor ought it to disturb anyone
that ' by the Lord's command two thousand
swine were slain by the agency of demons,
since those who witnessed the miracle could
not have believed that so great a multitude of
demons had gone out of the man unless an
equally vast number of swine had rushed to
ruin, showing that it was a legion that impelled
them.
24. Time would fail me if I wished to relate
all the miracles which were wrought by him.
For to such a pitch of glory was he raised by
the Lord that the blessed Antony among the
rest hearing of his life wrote to him and gladly
received his letters. And if ever the sick
from Syria came to him he would say to them,
" Why have you taken the trouble to come so
far, when you have there my son Hilarion ? "
Following his example, however, innumerable
monasteries sprang up throughout the whole
of Palestine, and all the monks flocked to him.
When he saw this he praised the Lord for His
grace, and exhorted them individually to the
profit of their souls, telling them that the fash-
ion of this world passes away, and that the true
life is that which is purchased by suffering in
the present.
25. Wishing to set the monks an example of
humility and of zeal he was accustomed on
fixed days before the vintage to visit their
cells. When the brethren knew this they
would all come together to meet him, and in
company with their distinguished leader go the
round of the monasteries, taking with them
provisions, because sometimes as many as two
thousand men were assembled. But, as time
went on, all the settlements round gladly gave
food to the neighbouring monks for the enter-
tainment of the saints. Moreover, the care
he took to prevent any brother however
humble or poor being passed over is evidenced
by the journey which he once took into the
desert of Cades to visit one of his disciples.
With a great company of monks he reached
Elusa, as it happened on the day when the
annual festival had brought all the people
together to the temple of Venus. This
goddess is worshipped on account of Lucifer
to whom the Saracen nation is devoted. The
very town too is to a great extent semi-bar-
1 Matt. viii. and Mark v.
barous, owing to its situation. When there-
fore it was heard that Saint Hilarion was pass-
ing through (he had frequently healed many
Saracens possessed by demons), they went to
meet him in crowds with their wives and
children, bending their heads and crying in
the Syriac tongue Barech, that is, Bless. He
received them with courtesy and humility, and
prayed that they might worship God rather
than stones ; at the same time, weeping
copiously, he looked up to heaven and prom-
ised that if they would believe in Christ he
would visit them often. By the marvellous
grace of God they did not suffer him to depart
before he had drawn the outline of a church,
and their priest with his garland upon his
head had been signed with the sign of Christ.
26. Another year, again, when he was
setting out to visit the monasteries and was
drawing up a list of those with whom he must
stay and whom he must see in passing, the
monks knowing that one of their number was a
niggard, and being at the same time desirous to
cure his complaint, asked the saint to stay with
him. He replied, "Do you wish me to inflict
injury on you and annoyance on the brother ? "
The niggardly brother on hearing of this was
ashamed, and with the strenuous support of
all his brethren, at length obtained from the
saint a reluctant promise to put his monastery
on the roll of his resting places. Ten days
after they came to him and found the keepers
already on guard in the vineyard through
which their course lay, to keep off all comers
with stones and clods and slings. In the
morning they all departed without having
eaten a grape, while the old man smiled and
pretended not to know what had happened.
27. Once when they were being entertained
by another monk whose name was Sabus (we
must not of course give the name of the nig-
gard, we may tell that of this generous man),
because it was the Lord's day, they were all
invited by him into the vineyard so that before
the hour for food came they might relieve the
toil of the journey by a repast of grapes. Said
the saint, " Cursed be he who looks for the
refreshment of the body before that of the
soul. Let us pray, let us sing, let us do our
duty to God, and then we will hasten to the
vineyard." When the service was over, he
stood on an eminence and blessed the vine-
yard and let his own sheep go to their pasture.
Now those who partook were not less than
three thousand. And whereas the whole vine-
yard had been estimated at a hundred flagons,
within thirty days he made it worth three
hundred. The niggardly brother gathered
much less than usual, and he was grieved to
find that even what he had turned to vinegar.
The old man had predicted this to many
VOL. VI.
3io
JEROME.
brethren before it happened. He particularly
abhorred such monks as were led by their lack
of faith to hoard for the future, and were care-
ful about expense, or raiment, or some other of
those things which pass away with the world.
28. Lastly he would noteven look at one of the
brethren who lived about five miles off because
he ascertained that he very jealously guarded
his bit of ground, and had a little money. The
offender wishing to be reconciled to the old
man often came to the brethren, and in partic-
ular to Hesychius who was specially dear to
Hilarion. One day accordingly he brought a
bundle of green chick-pea just as it had been
gathered. Hesychius placed it on the table
against the evening, whereupon the old man
cried out that he could not bear the stench,
and asked where it came from. Hesychius
replied that a certain brother had sent the
brethren the first fruits of his ground. " Don't
you notice," said he, " the horrid stench, and
detect the foul odour of avarice in the peas ?
Send it to the cattle, send to the brute-beasts
and see whether they can eat it." No sooner
was it in obedience to his command laid in the
manger than the cattle in the wildest alarm
and bellowing loudly broke their fastenings
and fled in different directions. For the old
man was enabled by grace to tell from the
odour of bodies and garments, and the things
which any one had touched, by what demon
or with what vice the individual was distressed.
29. His sixty-third year found the old man
at the head of a grand monastery and a
multitude of resident brethren. There were
such crowds of persons constantly bringing
Miose who suffered from various kinds of sick-
ness or were possessed of unclean spirits, that
the whole circuit of the wilderness was full of
all sorts of people. And as the saint saw all
this he wept daily and called to mind with in-
credible regret his former mode of life. When
one of the brethren asked him why he was so
dejected he replied, " I have returned again to
the world and have received my reward in my
lifetime. The people of Palestine and the ad-
joining province think me of some importance,
and under pretence of a monastery for the well-
ordering of the brethren I have all the appara-
tus of a paltry life about me." The brethren,
however, kept watch over him and in particu-
lar Hesychius, who had a marvellously devot-
ed affection and veneration for the old man.
After he had spent two years in these lamen-
tations Aristamete the lady of whom we made
mention before, as being then the wife of
a prefect though without any of a prefect's
ostentation, came to him intending to pay a visit
to Antony also. He said to her, " I should
like to go myself too if I were not kept a pris-
oner in this monastery, and if my going could
be fruitful. For it is now two days since
mankind was bereaved of him who was so truly
a father to them all." She believed his word
and stayed where she was : and after a few
days the news came that Antony had fallen
asleep.
30. Some may wonder at the miracles he
worked, or his incredible fasting, knowledge,
and humility. Nothing so astonishes me as
his power to tread under foot honour and glory.
Bishops, presbyters, crowds of clergymen and
monks, of Christian matrons even (a great
temptation), and a rabble from all quarters
in town and country were congregating about
him, and even judges and others holding high
positions, that they might receive at his hands
the bread or oil which he had blessed.
But he thought of nothing but solitude, so
much so that one day he determined to be
gone, and having procured an ass (he was al-
most exhausted with fasting and could scarcely
walk) endeavoured to steal away. The news
spread far and wide, and, just as if a public
mourning for the desolation of Palestine were
decreed, ten thousand people of various ages
and both sexes came together to prevent his
departure. He was unmoved by entreaties,
and striking the sand with his stick kept say-
ing : " I will not make my Lord a deceiver ;
I cannot look upon churches overthrown,
Christ's altars trodden down, the blood of my
sons poured out." All who were present be-
gan to understand that some secret had been
revealed to him which he was unwilling to
confess, but they none the less kept guard over
him that he might not go. He therefore de-
termined, and publicly called all to witness,
that he would take neither food nor drink
unless he were released. Only after seven
days was he relieved from his fasting ; when
having bidden farewell to numerous friends,
he came to Betilium attended by a count-
less multitude. There he prevailed upon
the crowd to return and chose as his com-
panions forty monks who had resources for
the journey and were capable of travelling
during fasting-time, that is, after sunset. He
then visited the brethren who were in the
neighbouring desert and sojourning at a
place called Lychnos, and after three days
came to the castle of Theubatus to see Dra-
contius, bishop and confessor, who was in
exile there. The bishop was beyond measure
cheered by the presence of so distinguished a
man. At the end of another three days he set
out for Babylon and arrived there after a hard
journey. Then he visited Philo the bishop,
who was also a confessor ; for the Emperor
Constantius who favoured the Arian heresy
had transported both of them to those parts.
Departing thence he came in three days to
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION.
3H
the town Aphroditon. There he met with a
deacon Baisanes who kept dromedaries which
were hired, on account of the scarcity of water
in the desert, to carry travellers who wished
to visit Antony. He then made known to the
brethren that the anniversary of the blessed
Antony's decease was at hand, and that he
must spend a whole night in vigil in the very
place where the saint had died. So then after
three days' journey through the waste and
terrible desert they at length came to a very
high mountain, and there found two monks,
Isaac and Pelusianus, the former of whom had
been one of Antony's attendants.1
31. The occasion seems a fitting one, since
we are on the spot itself, to describe the abode
of this great man. There is a high and rocky
mountain extending for about a mile, with gush-
ing springs amongst its spurs, the waters of
which are partly absorbed by the sand, partly
flow towards the plain and gradually form a
stream shaded on either side by countless palms
which lend much pleasantness and charm to the
place. Here the old man might be seen pacing
to and fro with the disciples of blessed Antony.
Here, so they said, Antony himself used to
sing, pray, work, and rest when weary. Those
vines and shrubs were planted by his own hand:
that garden bed was his own design. This
pool for watering the garden was made by
him after much toil. That hoe was handled
by him for many years. Hilarion would lie
upon the saint's bed and as though it were
still warm would affectionately kiss it. The
cell was square, its sides measuring no more
than the length of a sleeping man. More-
over on the lofty mountain-top, the ascent of
which was by a zig-zag path very difficult,
were to be seen two cells of the same dimen-
sions, in which he stayed when he escaped
from the crowds of visitors or the company of
his disciples. These were cut out of the live
rock and were only furnished with doors.
When they came to the garden, " You see,"
said Isaac, "this garden with its shrubs and
green vegetables ; about three years ago it
was ravaged by a troop of wild asses. One
of their leaders was bidden by Antony to
stand still while he thrashed the animals' sides
with a stick and wanted to know why they
devoured what they had not sown. And ever
afterwards, excepting the water which they
were accustomed to come and drink, they
never touched anything, not a bush or a
vegetable." The old man further asked to be
shown his burial place, and they thereupon
took him aside ; but whether they showed him
the tomb or not is unknown. It is related
that the motive for secrecy was compliance
1 Interpres. Probably one who spoke for him to the people,
as Elijah had Elisha as his attendant.
with Antony's orders and to prevent Perga-
mius, a very wealthy man of the district, from
removing the saint's body to his house and
erecting a shrine to his memory.
32. Having returned to Aphroditon and
keeping with him only two of the brethren, he
stayed in the neighbouring desert, and prac-
tised such rigid abstinence and silence that
he felt that then for the first time he had
begun to serve Christ. Three years had now
elapsed since the heavens had been closed and
the land had suffered from drought, and it was
commonly said that even the elements were
lamenting the death of Antony. Hilarion did
not remain unknown to the inhabitants of that
place any more than to others, but men and
women with ghastly faces and wasted by
hunger earnestly entreated the servant of
Christ, as being the blessed Antony's suc-
cessor, to give them rain. Hilarion when he
saw them was strangely affected with compas-
sion and, raising his eyes to heaven and lifting
up both his hands, he at once obtained their
petition. But, strange to say, that parched
and sandy district, after the rain had fallen,
unexpectedly produced such vast numbers of
serpents and poisonous animals that many
who were bitten would have died at once if
they had not run to Hilarion. He therefore
blessed some oil with which all the husband-
men and shepherds touched their wounds, and
found an infallible cure.
33. Seeing that even there surprising respect
was paid to him, he went to Alexandria, intend-
ing to cross from thence to the farther oasis of
the desert. And because he had never stayed
in cities since he entered on the monk's life,
he turned aside to some brethren at Bruchium,
not far from Alexandria, whom he knew, and
who welcomed the old man with the greatest
pleasure. It was now night when all at once
they heard his disciples saddling the ass and
making ready for the journey. They there-
fore threw themselves at his feet and besought
him not to leave them ; they fell prostrate
before the door, and declared they would
rather die than lose such a guest. He an-
swered : " My reason for hastening away is
that I may not give you trouble. You will
no doubt afterwards discover that I have not
suddenly left without good cause." Next day
the authorities of Gaza with the lictors of the
prefect having heard of his arrival on the
previous day, entered the monastery, and
when they failed to find him anywhere they
began to say to one another : " What we
heard is true. He is a magician and knows
the future." The fact was that the city of
Gaza on Julian's accession to the throne, after
the departure of Hilarion from Palestine and
the destruction of his monastery, had pre-
X 2
312
JEROME.
sented a petition to the Emperor requesting
that both Hilarion and Hesychius might be
put to death, and a proclamation had been
published everywhere that search should be
made for them.
34. Having then left Bruchium, he entered
the oasis through the trackless desert, and
there abode for a year, more or less. But, inas-
much as his fame had travelled thither also,
he felt that he could not be hidden in the
East, where he was known to many by report
and by sight, and began to think of taking
ship for some solitary island, so that having
been exposed to public view by the land, he
might at least find concealment in the sea. Just
about that time Hadrian, his disciple, arrived
from Palestine with information that Julian was
slain and that a Christian emperor ' had com-
menced his reign ; he ought therefore, it was
said, to return to the relics of his monastery.
But he, when he heard this, solemnly refused
to return ; and hiring a camel crossed the
desert waste and reached Paretonium, a city
on the coast of Libya. There the ill-starred
Hadrian wishing to return to Palestine and
unwilling to part with the renown so long
attaching to his master's name, heaped re-
proaches upon him, and at last having packed
up the presents which he had brought him from
the brethren, set out without the knowledge
of Hilarion. As I shall have no further
opportunity of referring to this man, I would
only record, for the terror of those who despise
their masters, that after a little while he was
attacked by the king's-evil 2 and turned to a
mass of corruption.
35. The old man accompanied by Gazanus
went on board a ship which was sailing to
Sicily. Half way across the Adriatic he was
preparing to pay his fare by selling a copy of
the Gospels which he had written with his
own hand in his youth, when the son of the
master of the ship seized by a demon began to
cry out and say : " Hilarion, servant of God,
why is it that through you we cannot be safe
even on the sea ? Spare me a little until I
reach land. Let me not be cast out here and
thrown into the deep." The saint replied : " If
my God permit you to remain, remain ; but if
He casts you out, why bring odium upon me a
sinner and a beggar ? " This he said that the
sailors and merchants on board might not be-
tray him on reaching shore. Not long after,
the boy was cleansed, his father and the rest
who were present having given their word that
they would not reveal the name of the saint
to any one.
1 Jovian, A. D., 363-4.
"Morboregio. The dictionaries give "jaundice" as the » Scutarius,on<
meaning, but it is universally used in modem times for scrcf- ons were shields,
ula. I fere it seems to mean leprosy. s m,h „ o
36. On approaching Pachynus, a promontory
of Sicily, he offered the master the Gospel for
the passage of himself and Gazanus. The
man was unwilling to take it, all the more be-
cause he saw that excepting that volume and
the clothes they wore they had nothing, and at
last he swore he would not take it. But the
aged saint, ardent and confident in the con-
sciousness of his poverty, rejoiced exceedingly
that he had no worldly possessions and was
accounted a beggar by the people of the
place.
37. Once more, on thinking the matter over
and fearing that merchants coming from the
East might make him known, he fled to the
interior, some twenty miles from the sea, and
there on an abandoned piece of ground, every
day tied up a bundle of firewood which he laid
upon the back of his disciple, and sold at some
neighbouring mansion. They thus supported
themselves and were able to purchase a morsel
of bread for any chance visitors. But that
came exactly to pass which is written : ' " a
city set on a hill cannot be hid." It happened
that one of the shields-men 2 who was vexed by
a demon was in the basilica of the blessed
Peter at Rome, when the unclean spirit within
him cried out, " A few days ago Christ's ser-
vant Hilarion entered Sicily and no one knew
him, and he thinks he is hidden. I will go
and betray him." Immediately he embarked
with his attendants in a ship lying in harbour,
sailed to Pachynus and, led by the demon to
the old man's hut, there prostrated himself and
was cured on the spot. This, his first miracle
in Sicily, brought the sick to him in countless
numbers (but it brought also a multitude of
religious persons) ; insomuch that one of the
leading men who was swollen with the dropsy
was cured the same day that he came. He
afterwards offered the saint gifts without end,
but the saint replied to him in the words of
the Saviour to his disciples : 3 " Freely ye re-
ceived, freely give."
38. While this was going on in Sicily He-
sychius his disciple was searching the world over
for the old man, traversing the coast, penetrat-
ing deserts, clinging all the while to the belief
that wherever he was he could not long be
hidden. At the end of three years he heard
at Methona from a certain Jew, who dealt in
old-clothes, that a Christian prophet had ap-
peared in Sicily, and was working such miracles
and signs, one might think him one of the an-
cient saints. So he asked about his dress, gait,
and speech, and in particular his age, but
could learn nothing. His informant merely
1 Matt. y. 14.
2 Scutarius,oneof a corps of guards, whose prominent weap-
ns were shieH=
Matt. x. 8.
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION.
313
declared that he had heard of the man by re-
port. He therefore crossed the Adriatic and
after a prosperous voyage came to Pachy-
nus, where he took up his abode in a cottage
on the shore of the bay, and, on inquiring for
tidings of the old man, discovered by the tale
which every one told him where he was, and
what he was doing. Nothing about him sur-
prised them all so much as the fact that after
such great signs and wonders he had not
accepted even a crust of bread from any one
in the district. And, to cut my story short,
the holy man Hesychius fell down at his mas-
ter's knees and bedewed his feet with tears ;
at length he was gently raised by him, and
when two or three days had been spent in
talking over matters, he learned from Gazanus
that Hilarion no longer felt himself able to
live in those parts, but wanted to go to certain
barbarous races where his name and fame were
unknown.
39. He therefore brought him to Epidaurus,1
a town in Dalmatia, where he stayed for a few
days in the country near, but could not be
hid. An enormous serpent, of the sort which
the people of those parts call boas" because
they are so large that they often swallow oxen,
was ravaging the whole province far and wide,
and was devouring not only flocks and herds,
but husbandmen and shepherds who were
drawn in by the force of its breathing. He
ordered a pyre to be prepared for it, then
sent up a prayer to Christ, called forth the
reptile, bade it climb the pile of wood, and
then applied the fire. And so before all the
people he burnt the savage beast to ashes.
But now he began anxiously to ask what he
was to do, whither to betake himself. Once
more he prepared for flight, and in thought
ranged through solitary lands, grieving that
his miracles could speak of him though his
tongue was silent.
40. At that time there was an earthquake
over the whole world, following on the death
of Julian, which caused the sea to burst its
bounds, and left ships hanging on the edge of
mountain steeps. It seemed as though God were
threatening a second deluge, or all things were
returning to original chaos. When the people
of Epidaurus saw this, I mean the roaring
waves and heaving waters and the swirling
billows mountain-high dashing on the shore,
fearing that what they saw had happened else-
where might befall them and their town be
utterly destroyed, they made their way to the
old man, and as if preparing for a battle
placed him on the shore. After making the
sign of the cross three times on the sand, he
1 The mention of the serpent might connect the story with the
Epidaurus of /Esculapius. But that city was in Argolis.
* Boas because they can swallow oxen (botes).
faced the sea, stretched out his hands, and no
one would believe to what a height the swell-
ing sea stood like a wall before him. It
roared for a long time as if indignant at the
barrier, then little by little sank to its level.
Epidaurus and all the region roundabout tell
the story to this day, and mothers teach their
children to hand down the remembrance of
it to posterity. Verily, what was said to the
Apostles,1 " If ye have faith, ye shall say to this
mountain, Remove into the sea, and it shall be
done," maybe even literally fulfilled, provided
one has such faith as the Lord commanded
the Apostles to have. For what difference
does it make whether a mountain descends
into the sea, or huge mountains of waters
everywhere else fluid suddenly become hard
as rock at the old man's feet ?
41. The whole country marvelled and the
fame of the great miracle was in everyone's
mouth, even at Salonae.2 When the old man
knew this was the case he escaped secretly by
night in a small cutter, and finding a merchant
ship after two days came to Cyprus. Between
3 Malea and 4 Cythera, the pirates, who had left
on the shore that part of their fleet which is
worked by poles instead of sails, bore down on
them with two light vessels of considerable
size ; and besides this they were buffeted by
the waves on every side. All the rowers began
to be alarmed, to weep, to leave their places,
to get out their poles, and, as though one
message was not enough, again and again told
the old man that pirates were at hand. Look-
ing at them in the distance he gently smiled,
then turned to his disciples and said/ " O ye
of little faith, wherefore do ye doubt ? Are
these more than the army of Pharaoh ? Yet
they were all drowned by the will of God."
Thus he spake, but none the less the enemy
with foaming prows kept drawing nearer and
were now only a stone's throw distant. He
stood upon the prow of the vessel facing them
with out-stretched hand, and said, " Thus far
and no farther." Marvellous to relate, the
boats at once bounded back, and though
urged forward by the oars fell farther and
farther astern. The pirates were astonished
to find themselves going back, and laboured
with all their strength to reach the vessel, but
were carried to the shore faster by far than
they came.
42. I pass by the rest for fear I should seem
in my history to be publishing a volume of
miracles. I will only say this, that when sailing
with a fair wind among the Cyclades he heard
the voices of unclean spirits shouting in all
1 Matt. xvii. 20 sq.
3 In Dalmatia, three miles from Diocletian"s great palace (Spa
latro). 3 The southern promontory of Greece.
4 Now Cerigo. • Matt. xiv. 32.
3H
JEROME.
directions from towns and villages, and running
in crowds to the shore. Having then entered
Paphos, the city of Cyprus renowned in the
songs of the poets, the ruins of whose tem-
ples after frequent earthquakes are the only
evidences at the present day of its former
grandeur, he began to live in obscurity about
two miles from the city, and rejoiced in hav-
ing a few days' rest. But not quite twenty
days passed before throughout the whole island
whoever had unclean spirits began to cry out
that Hilarion Christ's servant had come, and
that they must go to him with all speed.
Salamis, Curium, Lapetha, and the other cities
joined in the cry, while many declared that
they knew Hilarion and that he was indeed
the servant of Christ, but where he was
they could not tell. So within a trifle more
than thirty days, about two hundred people,
both men and women, came together to him.
When he saw them he lamented that they
would not suffer him to be quiet, and thirst-
ing in a kind of manner to avenge himself, he
lashed them with such urgency of prayer that
some immediately, others after two or three
days, all within a week, were cured.
43. Here he stayed two years, always think-
ing of flight, and in the meantine sent He-
sychius, who was to return in the spring, to
Palestine to salute the brethren and visit the
ashes of his monastery. When the latter re-
turned he found Hilarion longing to sail again
to Egypt, that is to the locality called 1 Bucolia ;
but he persuaded him that, since there were
no Christians there, but only a fierce and bar-
barous people, he should rather go to a spot in
Cyprus itself which was higher up and more
retired. After long and diligent search he found
such a place twelve miles from the sea far off
among the recesses of rugged mountains, the
ascent to which could hardly be accomplished
by creeping on hands and knees. Thither he
conducted him. The old man entered and
gazed around. It was indeed a lonely and terri-
ble place ; for though surrounded by trees on
every side, with water streaming from the brow
of the hill, a delightful bit of garden, and
fruit-trees in abundance (of which, however, he
never ate), yet it had close by the ruins of an
ancient temple from which, as he himself was
wont to relate and his disciples testify, the
voices of such countless demons re-echoed
night and day, that you might have thought
there was an army of them. He was highly
pleased at the idea of having his opponents
in the neighbourhood, and abode there five
years, cheered in these his last days by the
frequent visits of Hesychius, for, owing to the
1 Probably the place which gave its name to one of the mouths
Of the Nik- iRucolicum>.
steep and rugged ascent, and the numerous
ghosts (so the story ran), nobody or scarcely
anybody either could or dared to go up to
him. One day, however, as he was leaving
his garden, he saw a man completely para-
lysed lying in front of the gates. He asked
Hesychius who he was, or how he had been
brought. Hesychius replied that he was the
agent at the country-house to which the garden
belonged in which they were located. Weeping
much and stretching out his hand to the pros-
trate man he said, " I bid you in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ arise and walk/' The
words were still on the lips of the speaker, when,
with miraculous speed, the limbs were strength-
ened and the man arose and stood firm. Once
this was noised abroad the need of many
overcame even the pathless journey and the
dangers of the place. The occupants of all
the houses round about had nothing so much
in their thoughts as to prevent the possibility
of his escape, a rumour having spread con-
cerning him to the effect that he could not
stay long in the same place. This habit of his
was not due to levity or childishness, but to the
fact that he shunned the worry of publicity
and praise, and always longed for silence and
a life of obscurity.
44. In his eightieth year, during the absence
of Hesychius, he wrote by way of a will a
short letter with his own hand, and left him all
his riches (that is to say, a copy of the gospels,
and his sack-cloth tunic, cowl and cloak), for
his servant had died a few days before. Many
devout men therefore came to the invalid from
Paphos, and specially because they had heard
of his saying that he must soon migrate to the
Lord and must be liberated from the bonds of
the body. There came also Constantia a
holy woman whose son-in-law and daughter
he had anointed with oil and saved from
death. He earnestly entreated them all not
to let him be kept even a moment of time
after death, but to bury him immediately in
the same garden, just as he was, clad in his
goat-hair tunic, cowl, and his peasant's cloak.
45. His body was now all but cold, and
nought was left of life but reason. Yet with
eyes wide open he kept repeating, " Go forth,
what do you fear ? Go forth, my soul, why
do you hesitate ? You haveserved Christ nearly
seventy years, and do you fear death? " Thus
saying he breathed his last. He was im-
mediately buried before the city heard of his
death.
46. When the holy man Hesychius heard of
his decease, he went to Cyprus and, to lull the
suspicions of the natives who were keeping
strict guard, pretended that he wished to live
in the same garden, and then in the course of
about ten months, though at great peril to his
THE LIFE OF MALCHUS, THE CAPTIVE MONK.
315
life, stole the saint's body. He carried it to
Majuma ; and there all the monks and crowds
of towns-folk going in procession laid it to
rest in the ancient monastery. His tunic, cowl
and cloak, were uninjured ; the whole body as
perfect as if alive, and so fragrant with sweet
odours that one might suppose it to have been
embalmed.
47. In bringing my book to an end I think I
ought not to omit to mention the devotion of
the holy woman Constantia who, when a mes-
sage was brought her that Hilarion's body was
in Palestine, immediately died, proving even
by death the sincerity of her love for the
servant of God. For she was accustomed to
spend whole nights in vigil at his tomb, and to
converse with him as if he were present in
order to stimulate her prayers. Even at the
present day one may see a strange dispute
between the people of Palestine and the Cy-
priotes, the one contending that they have the
body, the other the spirit of Hilarion. And
yet in both places great miracles are wrought
daily, but to a greater extent in the garden of
Cyprus, perhaps because that spot was dearest
to him.
THE LIFE OF MALCHUS, THE CAPTIVE MONK.
The life of Malchus was written at Bethlehem, A.D., 391.
scribed in chapters 1 and 2.
Its origin and purpose are sufficiently de-
1. They who have to fight a naval battle
prepare for it in harbours and calm waters by
adjusting the helm, plying the oars, and making
ready the hooks and grappling irons. They
draw up the soldiers on the decks and accus-
tom them to stand steady with poised foot
and on slippery ground ; so that they may not
shrink from all this when the real encounter
comes, because they have had experience of
it in the sham fight. And so it is in my case.
I have long held my peace, because silence
was imposed on me by one to whom I give
pain when I speak of him. But now, in pre-
paring to write history on a wider scale I desire
to practise myself by means of this little work,
and as it were to wipe the rust from my
tongue. For I have purposed (if God grant
me life, and if my censurers will at length
cease to persecute me, now that I am a fu-
gitive and shut up in a monastery) to write a
history of the church of Christ' from the
advent of our Saviour up to our own age,
that is from the apostles to the dregs of time
in which we live, and to show by what means
and through what agents it received its birth,
and how, as it gained strength, it grew by
persecution and was crowned with martyr-
dom ; and then, after reaching the Christian
Emperors, how it increased in influence and
in wealth but decreased in Christian virtues.
But of this elsewhere. Now to the matter in
hand.
2. Maronia is a little hamlet some thirty
miles to the east of Antioch in Syria. After
having many owners or landlords,' at the time
when I was staying as a young man in Syria1'
it came into the possession of my intimate
friend, the Bishop Evagrius,3 whose name I
now give in order to show the source of my
information. Well, there was at the place at
that time an old man by name Malchus, which
we might render "king," a Syrian by race and
speech, in fact a genuine son of the soil. His
companion was an old woman very decrepit
who seemed to be at death's door, both of
them so zealously pious and such constant
frequenters of the Church, they might have
been taken for Zacharias and Elizabeth in the
Gospel but for the fact that there was no John
to be seen. With some curiosity I asked the
neighbours what was the link between them ;
was it marriage, or kindred, or the bond of
the Spirit ? All with one accord replied that
they were holy people, well pleasing to God,
and gave me a strange account of them.
Longing to know more I began to question
the man with much eagerness about the truth
of what I heard, and learnt as follows.
3. My son, said he, I used to farm a bit of
ground at Nisibis 4 and was an only son. My
parents regarding me as the heir and the only
survivor of their race, wished to force me
into marriage, but I said I would rather be
a monk. How my father threatened and my
mother coaxed me to betray my chastity
requires no other proof than the fact that I
fled from home and parents. I could not go
to the East because Persia was close by and
1 This purpose was never carried into effect. These Lives of
the Monks may be regarded as a contribution towards it, and
also the book De Viris Illustribus (translated in Vol. iii. of this
series) which was written in the following year, 392.
' Patronos. Properly defenders or advocates, but passing
into the sense of proprietor, as in the Italian padrone.
> In the year 374. 3 See Letters i. 15, 111. 3.
4 A populous city in Mesopotamia.
3i6
JEROME.
the frontiers were guarded by the soldiers
of Rome ; I therefore turned my steps to the
West, taking with me some little provision
for the journey, but barely sufficient to ward
off destitution. To be brief, I came at last
to the desert of Chalcis ' which is situate
between Immae and Beroa farther south.
There, finding some monks, I placed myself
under their direction, earning my livelihood
by the labour of my hands, and curbing
the wantonness of the flesh by fasting. After
many years the desire came over me to return
to my country, and stay with my mother and
cheer her widowhood while she lived (for my
father, as I had already heard, was dead), and
then to sell the little property and give part
to the poor, settle part on the monasteries
and (I blush to confess my faithlessness) keep
some to spend in comforts for myself. My
abbot began to cry out that it was a tempta-
tion of the devil, and that under fair pretexts
some snare of the old enemy lay hid. It was,
he declared, a case of the dog returning to
his vomit. Many monks, he said, had been
deceived by such suggestions, for the devil
never showed himself openly. He set before
me many examples from the Scriptures, and told
me that even Adam and Eve in the beginning
had been overthrown by him through the hope
of becoming gods. When he failed to con-
vince me he fell upon his knees and besought
me not to forsake him, nor ruin myself by
looking back after putting my hand to the
plough. Unhappily for myself I had the mis-
fortune to conquer my adviser. I thought he
was seeking not my salvation but his own
comfort. So he followed me from the mon-
astery as if he had been going to a funeral,
and at last bade me farewell, saying, " I see
that you bear the brand of a son of Satan. I
do not ask your reasons nor take your excuses.
The sheep which forsakes its fellows is at once
exposed to the jaws of the wolf."
4. On the road from Beroa to Edessa 2 ad-
joining the high-way is a waste over which the
Saracens roam to and fro without having any
fixed abode. Through fear of them travellers
in those parts assemble in numbers, so that by
mutual assistance they may escape impending
danger. There were in my company men,
women, old men, youths, children, altogether
about seventy persons. All of a sudden the
Ishmaelites on horses and camels made an
assault upon us, with their flowing hair bound
with fillets, their bodies half-naked, with their
broad military boots, their cloaks streaming be-
hind them, and their quivers slung upon the
1 The desert in which Jerome spent the years 375-80. See
Letters ii., v., xiv., xvii.
2 A city of Mesopotamia, formerly the capital of Abgarus'
kingdom : at this time a great centre of Syrian Christianity.
shoulders. They carried their bows unstrung
and brandished their long spears ; for they
had come not to fight, but to plunder. We
were seized, dispersed, and carried in different
directions. I, meanwhile, repenting too late
of the step I had taken, and far indeed from
gaining possession of my inheritance, was as-
signed, along with another poor sufferer, a
woman, to the service of one and the same
owner. We were led, or rather carried, high
upon the camel's back through a desert waste,
every moment expecting destruction, and sus-
pended, I may say, rather than seated. Flesh
half raw was our food, camel's milk our drink.
5. At length, after crossing a great river we
came to the interior of the desert, where, being
commanded after the custom of the people to
pay reverence to the mistress and her children,
we bowed our heads. Here, as if I were a
prisoner, I changed my dress, that is, learnt
to go naked, the heat being so excessive as
to allow of no clothing beyond a covering for
the loins. Some sheep were given to me to
tend, and, comparatively speaking, I found this
occupation a comfort, for I seldom saw my
masters or fellow slaves. My fate seemed to
be like that of Jacob in sacred history, and
reminded me also of Moses ; both of whom
were once shepherds in the desert. I fed on
fresh cheese and milk, prayed continually, and
sang psalms which I had learnt in the monas-
tery. I was delighted with my captivity, and
thanked God because I had found in the
desert the monk's estate which I was on the
point of losing in my country.
6. But no condition can ever shut out the
Devil. How manifold past expression are his
snares ! Hid though I was, his malice found
me out. My master seeing his flock increasing
and finding no dishonesty in me (I knew that
the Apostle has given command that masters
should be as faithfully served as God Himself),
and wishing to reward me in order to secure
my greater fidelity, gave me the woman who
was once my fellow servant in captivity. On
my refusing and saying I was a Christian, and
that it was not lawful for me to take a woman
to wife so long as her husband was alive
(her husband had been captured with us, but
carried off by another master), my owner was
relentless in his rage, drew his sword and
began to make at me. If I had not without
delay stretched out my hand and taken posses-
sion of the woman, he would have slain me
on the spot. Well ; by this time a darker
night than usual had set in and, for me, all too
soon. I led my bride into an old cave ; sorrow
was bride's-maid ; we shrank from each other
but did not confess it. Then I really felt my
captivity ; I threw myself down on the ground,
and began to lament the monastic state which
THE LIFE OF MALCHUS, THE CAPTIVE MONK.
3i7
I had lost, and said : "Wretched man that I
am ! have I been preserved for this ? has my
wickedness brought me to this, that in my
gray hairs I must lose my virgin state and be-
come a married man ? What is the good of
having despised parents, country, property,
for the Lord's sake, if I do the thing I wished
to avoid doing when I despised them ? And
yet it may be perhaps the case that I am in
this condition because I longed for home.
What are we to do, my soul ? are we to perish,
or conquer ? Are we to wait for the hand of the
Lord, or pierce ourselves with our own sword ?
Turn your weapon against yourself ; I must
fear your death, my soul, more than the death
of the body. Chastity preserved has its own
martyrdom.. Let the witness for Christ lie un-
buried in the desert ; I will be at once the per-
secutor and the martyr." Thus speaking I
drew my sword which glittered even in the
dark, and turning its point towards me said :
" Farewell, unhappy woman : receive me as a
martyr not as a husband." She threw herself
at my feet and exclaimed : " I pray you by
Jesus Christ, and adjure you by this hour of
trial, do not shed your blood and bring its
guilt upon me. If you choose to die, first
turn your sword against me. Let us rather
be united upon these terms. Supposing my
husband should return to me, I would pre-
serve the chastity which I have learnt in cap-
tivity ; I would even die rather than lose it.
Why should you die to prevent a union with
me ? I would die if you desired it. Take me
then as the partner of your chastity ; and love
me more in this union of the spirit than you
could in that of the body only. Let our
master believe that you are my husband.
Christ knows you are my brother. We shall
easily convince them we are married when
they see us so loving." I confess, I was
astonished and, much as I had before admired
the virtue of the woman, I now loved her as a
wife still more. Yet I never gazed upon her
naked person ; I never touched her flesh, for
I was afraid of losing in peace what I had
preserved in the conflict. In this strange
wedlock many days passed away. Marriage
had made us more pleasing to our masters,
and there was no suspicion of our flight ; some-
times I was absent for even a whole month
like a trusty shepherd traversing the wilderness.
7. After a long time as I sat one day by
myself in the desert with nothing in sight save
earth and sky, I began quickly to turn things
over in my thoughts, and amongst others
called to mind my friends the monks, and spe-
cially the look of the father who had instructed
me, kept me, and lost me. While I was thus
musing I saw a crowd of ants swarming over
a narrow path. The loads they carried were
clearly larger than their own bodies. Some
with their forceps .were dragging along the
seeds of herbs : others were excavating the
earth from pits and banking it up to keep out
the water. One party, in view of approaching
winter, and wishing to prevent their store from
being converted into grass through the damp-
ness of the ground, were cutting off the tips of
the grains they had carried in ; another with
solemn lamentation were removing the dead.
And, what is stranger still in such a host, those
coming out did not hinder those going in ; nay
rather, if they saw one fall beneath his burden
they would put their shoulders to the load and
give him assistance. In short that day afford-
ed me a delightful entertainment. So, remem-
bering how Solomon sends us to the shrewd-
ness of the ant and quickens our sluggish
faculties by setting before us such an example,
I began to tire of captivity, and to regret the
monk's cell, and long to imitate those ants and
their doings, where toil is for the community,
and, since nothing belongs to any one, all
things belong to all.
8. When I returned to my chamber, my wife
met me. My looks betrayed the sadness of
my heart. She asked why I was so dispirit-
ed. I told her the reasons, and exhorted her
to escape. She did not reject the idea. I
begged her to be silent on the matter. She
pledged her word. We constantly spoke to
one another in whispers ; and we floated in
suspense betwixt hope and fear. I had in the
flock two very fine he-goats : these I killed,
made their skins into bottles, and from their
flesh prepared food for the way. Then in the
early evening when our masters thought we
had retired to rest we began our journey, tak-
ing with us the bottles and part of the flesh.
When we reached the river which was about
ten miles off, having inflated the skins and
got astride upon them, we intrusted ourselves
to the water, slowly propelling ourselves with
our feet, that we might be carried down by
the stream to a point on the opposite bank
much below that at which we embarked, and
that thus the pursuers might lose the track.
But meanwhile the flesh became sodden and
partly lost, and we could not depend on it for
more than three days' sustenance. We drank
till we could drink no more by way of pre-
paring for the thirst we expected to endure,
then hastened away, constantly looking be-
hind us, and advanced more by night than day,
on account both of the ambushes of the
roaming Saracens, and of the excessive heat
of the sun. I grow terrified even as I relate
what happened ; and, although my mind is
perfectly at rest, yet my frame shudders from
head to foot.
9. Three days after we saw in the dim
3i«
JEROME.
distance two men riding on camels approach-
ing with all speed. At once foreboding ill
I began to think my master purposed putting
us to death, and our sun seemed to grow dark
again. In the midst of our fear, and just as
wc realized that our footsteps on the sand had
betrayed us. we found on our right hand a
cave which extended far underground. Well,
we entered the cave : but we were afraid of
venomous beasts such as vipers, basilisks,
scorpions, and other creatures of the kind,
which often resort to such shady places so as
to avoid the heat of the sun. We therefore
barely went inside, and took shelter in a pit
on the left, not venturing a step farther, lest
in fleeing from death we should run into
death. We thought thus within ourselves : If
the Lord helps us in our misery we have found
safety : if He rejects us for our sins, we have
found our grave. What do you suppose were
our feelings ? What was our terror, when in
front of the cave, close by, there stood our
master and fellow-servant, brought by the
evidence of our footsteps to our hiding place ?
How much worse is death expected than
death inflicted ! Again my tongue stammers
with distress and fear; it seems as if I heard
my master's voice, and I hardly dare mutter a
word. He sent his servant to drag us from
the cavern while he himself held the camels,
and, sword in hand, waited for us to come.
Meanwhile the servant entered about three or
four cubits, and we in our hiding place saw his
back though he could not see us, for the
nature of the eye is such that those who go
into the shade out of the sunshine can see
nothing. His voice echoed through the cave :
" Come out, you felons ; come out and die ;
why do you stay ? Why do you delay ? Come
out, your master is calling and patiently wait-
ing for you." He was still speaking when lo !
through the gloom we saw a lioness seize the
man, strangle him, and drag him, covered
with blood, farther in. Good Jesus ! how
great was our terror now, how intense our
joy ! We beheld, though our master knew
not of it, our enemy perish. He, when he saw
that he was long in returning, supposed that
the fugitives being two to one were offering
resistance. Impatient in his rage, and sword
still in hand, he came to the cavern, and
shouted like a madman as he chided the slow-
ness of his slave, but was seized upon by the
wild beast before he reached our hiding place.
Who ever would believe that before our eyes
a brute would fight for us ?
One cause of fear was removed, but there
was the prospect of a similar death for our-
selves, though the rage of the lion was not so
bad to bear as the anger of the man. Our
hearts failed for fear ; without venturing to stir
a step we awaited the issue, having no wall of
defence in the midst of so great dangers save
the consciousness of our chastity ; when, early
in the morning, the lioness, afraid of some
snare and aware that she had been seen took
up her cub in her teeth and carried it away,
leaving us in possession of our retreat. Our
confidence was not restored all at once. We
did not rush out, but waited for a long time ;
for as often as we thought of coming out we
pictured to ourselves the horror of falling in
with her.
10. At last we got rid of our fright ; and
when that day was spent, we sallied forth to-
wards evening, and saw the camels, on account
of their great speed called dromedaries, quietly
chewing the cud. We mounted, and with the
strength gained from the new supply of grain,
after ten days' travelling through the desert
arrived at the Roman camp. After being
presented to the tribune we told all, and from
thence were sent to Sabianus, who commanded
in Mesopotamia, where we sold our camels.
My dear old abbot was now sleeping in the
Lord ; I betook myself therefore to this place,
and returned to the monastic life, while I
entrusted my companion here to the care of
the virgins ; for though I loved her as a sister,
I did not commit myself to her as if she were
my sister.
Malchus was an old man, I a youth, when
he told me these things. I who have related
them to you am now old, and I have set them
forth as a history of chastity for the chaste.
Virgins, I exhort you, guard your chastity.
Tell the story to them that come after, that
they may realize that in the midst of swords,
and wild beasts of the desert, virtue is never
a captive, and that he who is devoted to the
service of Christ may die, but cannot be con-
quered.
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS. 319
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
Introduction.
This Dialogue was written about 379, seven years after the death of Lucifer, and very soon after Jerome's
return from his hermit life in the desert of Chalcis. Though he received ordination from Paulinus, who had
been consecrated by Lucifer, he had no sympathy with Lucifer's narrower views, as he shows plainly in this
Dialogue. Lucifer, who was bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia, first came into prominent notice about A. D. 354,
when great efforts were being made to procure a condemnation of S. Athanasius by the Western bishops. He
energetically took up the cause of the saint, and at his own request was sent by Liberius, bishop of Rome, in
company with the priest Pancratius and the deacon Hilarius, on a mission to the Emperor Constantius. The
emperor granted a Council, which met at Milan in A. D. 354. Lucifer distinguished himself by resisting a
proposition to condemn Athanasius, and did not hesitate to oppose the emperor with much violence. In conse-
quence of this he was sent into exile from A. D. 355 to A. D. 361. the greater portion of which time was spent
at Eleutheropolis in Palestine, though he afterwards removed to the Thebaid. It was at this time that his
polemical writings appeared, the tone and temper of which is indicated by the mere titles De Regibus Apostalicis
(of Apostate Kings), De non Conveniemio ctim Hcrrcticis, etc. (of not holding communion with heretics). On
the death of Constantius in 361, Julian permitted the exiled bishops to return ; but Lucifer instead of going to
Alexandria where a Council was to be held under the presidency of Athanasius for the healing of a schism in
the Catholic party at Antioch (some of which held to Meletius, while others followed Eustathius), preferred to go
straight to Antioch. There he ordained Paulinus, the leader of the latter section, as bishop of the Church.
Eusebius of Vercellae soon arrived with the synodal letters of the Council of Alexandria, but, finding himself
thus anticipated, and shrinking from a collision with his friend, he retired immediately. Lucifer stayed, and
" declared that he would not hold communion with Eusebius or any who adopted the moderate policy of the
Alexandrian Council. By this Council it had been determined that actual Arians, if they renounced their
heresy, should be pardoned, but not invested with ecclesiastical functions ; and that those bishops who had
merely consented to Arianism should remain undisturbed. It was this latter concession which offended Lucifer,
and he became henceforth the champion of the principle that no one who had yielded to any compromise what-
ever with Arianism should be allowed to hold an ecclesiastical office." He was thus brought into antagonism
with Athanasius himself, who, it has been seen, presided at Alexandria. Eventually he returned to his see in
Sardinia where, according to Jerome's Chronicle, he died in 371. Luciferianism became extinct in the beginning
of the following century, if not earlier. It hardly appears to have been formed into a separate organization,
though an appeal was made to the emperor by some Luciferian presbyters about the year 384, and both Ambrose
and Augustine speak of him as having fallen into the schism. (See for these facts Diet. of Eccl. Biog. Art. Lucifer. )
The argument of the Dialogue may be thus stated. It has been pointed out above that Lucifer of
Cagliari, who had been banished from his see in the reign of Constantius because of his adherence to the cause
of Athanasius, had, on the announcement of toleration at the accession of Julian (361), gone to Antioch and
consecrated Paulinus a bishop. There were then three bishops of Antioch, Dorotheus the Arian (who had succeeded
Euzoius in 376), Meletius who, though an Athanasian in opinion, had been consecrated by Arians or Semi-Arians,
and Paulinus; besides Vitalis, bishop of a congregation of Apollinarians. Lucifer, in the earnestness of his
anti-Arian opinion, refused to acknowledge as bishops those who had come over from Arianism, though he
accepted the laymen who had been baptized by Arian bishops. This opinion led to the Luciferian schism,
and forms the subject of the Dialogue.
The point urged by Orthodoxus throughout is that, since the Luciferian accepts as valid the baptism conferred
by Arian bishops, it is inconsistent in him not to acknowledge the bishops who have repented of their Arian opinions.
The Luciferian at first (2) in his eagerness, declares the Arians to be no better than heathen ; but he sees that he
has gone too far, and retracts this opinion. Still it is one thing, he says, (3) to admit a penitent neophyte,
another to admit a man to be bishop and celebrate the Eucharist. We do not wish, he says (4) to preclude
individuals who have fallen from repentance. And we, replies Orthodoxus, by admitting the bishops save not
them only but their flocks also. "' The salt," says the Luciferian (5), " which has lost itssavour cannot be salted,"
and, " What communion has Christ with Belial ?" But this, it is answered (6), would prove that Arians could
not confer baptism at all. Yes, says the objector, they are like John the Baptist, whose baptism needed to be
followed by that of Christ. But, it is replied, the bishop gives Christ's baptism and confers the Holy Spirit.
The confirmation which follows (9) is rather a custom of the churches than the necessary means of grace.
The argument is felt to be approaching to a philosophical logomachy (10, 11), but it is resumed by the
Luciferian. There is a real difference, he says (12), between the man who in his simplicity accepts baptism from
an Arian bishop, and the bishop himself who understands the heresy. Yet both, it is replied (13), when they
are penitent, should be received.
At this point (14) the Luciferian yields. But he wishes to be assured that what Orthodoxus recommends
has been really the practice of the Church. This leads to a valuable chapter of Church history. Orthodoxus
recalls the victories of the Church, which the Luciferians speak of as corrupt (15). The shame is that, though
they have the true creed, they have too little faith. He then describes (17, iS) how the orthodox bishops
were beguiled into accepting the creed of Ariminum, but afterwards saw their error (19). " The world groaned
to find itself Arian." They did all that was possible to set things right. Why should they not be received, as
all but the authors of heresy had been received at Nicsea ? (20) Lucifer who was a good shepherd, and Hilary
the Deacon, in separating their own small body into a sect have left the rest a prey to the wolf (20, 21). The
wheat and tares must grow together (22). This has been the principle of the Church (23), as shown by Scrip-
ture (24) and Apostolic custom, and even Cyprian, when he wished penitent heretics to be re-baptized (25), could
not prevail. Even Hilary by receiving baptism from the Church which always has re-admitted heretics in repent-
ance (26, 27) acknowledges this principle. In that Church, not in sects called after men. it is our duty to abide,
320
JEROME.
i. It happened not long ago that a follower
of Lucifer had a dispute with a son of the
Church. His loquacity was odious and the
language he employed most abusive. For he
declared that the world belonged to the devil,
and, as is commonly said by them at the pres-
ent day, that the Church was turned into a
brothel. His opponent on the other hand,
with reason indeed, but without due regard to
time and place, urged that Christ did not die
in vain, and that it was for something more
than a Sardinian cloak of skins ' that the Son
of God came down from heaven. To be brief,
the dispute was not settled when night inter-
rupted the debate, and the lighting of the
street-lamps gave the signal for the assembly
to disperse. The combatants therefore with-
drew, almost spitting in each other's faces, an
arrangement having been previously made by
the audience for a meeting in a quiet porch at
daybreak. Thither, accordingly, they all came,
and it was resolved that the words of both
speakers should be taken down by reporters.
2. When all were seated, Helladius the
Luciferian said, I want an answer first to my
question. Are the Arians Christians or not ?
Orthodoxus. I answer with another ques-
tion, Are all heretics Christians ?
L. If you call a man a heretic you deny
that he is a Christian.
O. No heretics, then, are Christians.
L. I told you so before.
O. If they are not Christ's, they belong to
the devil.
L. No one doubts that.
O. But if they belong to the devil, it makes
no difference whether they are heretics or
heathen.
L. I do not dispute the point.
O. We are then agreed that we must speak
of a heretic as we would of a heathen.
L. Just so.
O. Now it is decided that heretics are
heathen, put any question you please.
L. What I wanted to elicit by my question
has been expressly stated, namely, that heretics
are not Christians. Now comes the inference.
If the Arians are heretics, and all heretics are
heathen, the Arians are heathen too. But if
the Arians are Jieathen and it is beyond dispute
that the church has no communion with the
Arians, that is with the heathen, it is clear
that your church which welcomes bishops
from the Arians, that is from the heathen,
receives priests of the Capitol 5 rather than
bishops, and accordingly it ought more cor-
1 The Sardinian cloak of skins is contrasted by Cicero (pro
Scauro) with the Royal purple :— Quem purpura regalis non
comniovit, eum Sardorum mastruca mutavit. Jerome's mean-
ing is that Christ came not to win the lowest place on earth, but
the highest. The fact that Lucifer was Bishop of Cagliari in
Sardinia gives point to the saying.
s That is, of Jupiter, whose temple was in the Capitol.
rectly to be called the synagogue of Anti-
Christ than the Church of Christ.
O. Lo ! what the prophet said is fulfilled :
1 " They have digged a pit before me, they
have fallen into the midst thereof themselves."
L. How so ?
O. If the Arians are, as you say, heathen,
and the assemblies of the Arians are the devil's
camp, how is it that you receive a person who
has been baptized in the devil's camp ?
L. I do receive him, but as a penitent.
O. The fact is you don't know what you are
saying. Does any one receive a penitent
heathen ?
L. In my simplicity I replied when we began
that all heretics are heathen. But the ques-
tion was a captious one, and you shall have
the full credit of victory in the first point. I will
now proceed to the second and maintain that
a layman coming from the Arians ought to be
received if penitent, but not a cleric.
O. And yet, if you concede me the first
point, the second is mine too.
L. Show me how it comes to be yours.
O. Don't you know that the clergy and
laity have only one Christ, and that there is
not one God of converts and another of bish-
ops ? Why then should not he who receives
laymen receive clerics also ?
L. There is a difference between shedding
tears for sin, and handling the body of Christ ;
there is a difference between lying prostrate
at the feet of the brethren, and from the high
altar administering the Eucharist to the people.
It is one thing to lament over the past,
another to abandon sin and live the glorified
life in the Church. You who yesterday im-
piously declared the Son of God to be a
creature, you who every day, worse than a Jew,
were wont to cast the stones of blasphemy at
Christ, you whose hands are full of blood, whose
pen was a soldier's spear, do you, the convert
of a single hour, come into the Church as an
adulterer might come to a virgin ? If you re-
pent of your sin, abandon your priestly func-
tions : if you are shameless in your sin, remain
what you were.
O. You are quite a rhetorician, and fly from
the thicket of controversy to the open fields
of declamation. But, I entreat you, refrain
from common-places, and return to the ground
and the lines marked out ; afterwards, if you
like, we will take a wider range.
L. There is no declamation in the case ; my
indignation is more than I can bear. Make
what statements you please, argue as you
please, you will never convince me that a peni-
tent bishop should be treated like a penitent
layman.
i Ps. Ivii. 6.
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
321
O. Since you put the whole thing in a nut-
shell and obstinately cling to your position,
that the case of the bishop is different from
that of the layman, I will do what you wish,
and I shall not be sorry to avail myself of the
opportunity you offer and come to close
quarters. Explain why you receive a layman
coming from the Arians, but do not receive a
bishop.
L. I receive a layman who confesses that
he has erred ; and the Lord willeth not the
death of a sinner, but rather that he should
repent.
O. Receive then also a bishop who, as well
as the layman, confesses that he has erred,
and it still holds good that the Lord willeth
not the death of a sinner, but rather that he
should repent.
L. If he confesses his error why does he
continue a bishop ? Let him lay aside his
1 episcopal functions, and I grant pardon to the
penitent.
O. I will answer you in your own words. If
a layman confesses his error, how is it he con-
tinues a layman ? Let him lay aside his lay-
priesthood, that is, his baptism, and I grant
pardon to the penitent. For it is written
a " He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests
unto his God and Father." And again, 3 " A
holy nation, a royal priesthood, an elect race."
Everything which is forbidden to a Christian,
is forbidden to both bishop and layman. He
who does penance condemns his former life.
If a penitent bishop may not continue what he
was, neither may a penitent layman remain in
that state on account of which he confesses
himself a penitent.
L. We receive the laity, because no one will
be induced to change, if he knows he must be
baptized again. And then, if they are reject-
ed, we become the cause of their destruction.
O. By receiving a layman you save a single
soul : and I in receiving a bishop unite to the
Church, I will not say the people of one city,
but the whole 4 province of which he is the
head ; if I drive him away, he will drag down
many with him to ruin. Wherefore I beseech
you to apply the same reason which you think
you have for receiving the few to the salva-
tion of the whole world. But if you are not
satisfied with this, if you are so hard, or rather
so unreasonably unmerciful as to think him who
gave baptism an enemy of Christ, though you
account him who received it a son, we do not
so contradict ourselves : we either receive a
bishop as well as the people which is con-
stituted as a Christian people by him, or if we
1 Sacerdotium . 2 Apoc. i. 6. 3 1 Pet. ii. g.
4 That is diocese. The word diocese was in early times the
larger expression, and contained many provinces. See Can-
on II of Constantinople, Bright's edition, and note.
do not receive a bishop, we know that we must
also reject his people.
5. L. Pray, have you not read what is said
concerning the bishops, '"Ye are the salt of
the earth : but if the salt have lost its savour,
wherewith shall it be salted ? It is thence-
forth good for nothing, but to be cast out and
trodden under foot of man." And then there
is the fact that the priest 2 intercedes with God
for the sinful people, while there is no one to
entreat for the priest. Now these two pas-
sages of Scripture tend to the same conclu-
sion. For as salt seasons all food and nothing
is so pleasant as to please the palate without
it : so the bishop is the seasoning of the whole
world and of his own Church, and if he lose his
savour through the denial of truth, or through
heresy, or lust, or, to comprehend all in one
word, through sin of any kind, by what other
can he be seasoned, when he was the season-
ing of all ? The priest, we know, offers his
oblation for the layman, lays his hand upon
him when submissive, invokes the return of
the Holy Spirit, and thus, after inviting the
prayers of the people, reconciles to the altar
him who had been delivered to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh that the spirit might
be saved ; nor does he restore one member to
health until all the members have wept to-
gether with him. For a father easily pardons
his son, when the mother entreats for her off-
spring. If then it is by the priestly order that
a penitent layman is restored to the Church,
and pardon follows where sorrow has gone
before, it is clear that a priest who has been
removed from his order cannot be restored to
the place he has forfeited, because either he
will be a penitent and then he cannot be a
priest, or if he continues to hold office he cannot
be brought back to the Church by penitential
discipline. Will you dare to spoil the savour
of the Church with the salt which has lost its
savour ? Will you replace at the altar the
man who having been cast out ought to
lie in the mire and be trodden under foot
by all men ? What then will become of the
Apostle's command, 3"The bishop must be
blameless as God's steward " ? And again,
4 " But let a man prove himself, and so let him
come." What becomes of our Lord's intima-
tion, 5 " Neither cast your pearls before the
swine " ? But if you understand the words as
a general admonition, how much more must
care be exercised in the case of priests when
so much precaution is taken where the laity
are concerned ? c " Depart, I pray you," says
the Lord by Moses, " from the tents of these
wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs,
lest ye be consumed in all their sins." And
1 Matt. v. 13.
4 1 Cor. xi. 28.
2 Lev. ix. 7.
6 Matt. vii. 6.
£ Tit. i. 7.
6 Numb. x\i. 26.
322
JEROME.
again in the Minor Prophets, ' " Their sacrifices
shall be unto them as the bread of mourn-
ers ; all that eat thereof shall be polluted."
And in the Gospel the Lord says, " " The lamp
of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
For when the bishop preaches the true faith the
darkness is scattered from the hearts of all.
And he gives the reason, 3 " Neither do men
light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but
on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in
the house." That is, God's motive for light-
ing the fire of His knowledge in the bishop is
that he may not shine for himself only, but
for the common benefit. And in the next
sentence 4 "If/5 says he, " thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
how great is the darkness ! " And rightly ;
for since the bishop is appointed in the Church
that he may restrain the people from error,
how great will the error of the people be when
he himself who teaches errs. How can he
remit sins, who is himself a sinner ? How can
an impious man make a man holy ? How shall
the light enter into me, when my eye is blind ?
0 misery ! Antichrist's disciple governs the
Church of Christ. And what are we to think
of the words, 4 "No man can serve two
masters " ? And that too B " What com-
munion hath light and darkness ? And what
concord hath Christ with Belial ? " In the
old testament we read, ° " No man that hath a
blemish shall come nigh to offer the offerings
of the Lord." And again, 7 " Let the priests
who come nigh to the Lord their God be
clean, lest haply the Lord forsake them."
And in the same place, ' " And when they draw
nigh to minister in holy things, let them not
bring sin upon themselves, lest they die."
And there are many other passages which it
would be an endless task to detail, and which
1 omit for the sake of brevity. For it is not
the number of proofs that avails, but their
weight. And all this proves that you with a
little leaven have corrupted the whole lump of
the Church, and receive the Eucharist to-day
from the hand of one whom yesterday you
loathed like an idol.
6. O. Your memory has served you, and
you have certainly given us at great length
many quotations from the sacred books : but
after going all round the wood, you are caught
in my hunting-nets. Let the case be as you
would have it, that an Arian bishop is the
enemy of Christ, let him be the salt that has
lost its savour, let him be a lamp without
flame, let him be an eye without a pupil : no
1 Hos. ix. 4. 2 Matt. vii. 22. s Matt. v. 15.
* Matt. vi. 23-24. » 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. « Levit. xxi. 17.
Quoted apparently from memory as giving the general
sense of passages in Lev. xxi. xxii.
doubt your argument will take you thus far —
that he cannot salt another who himself has
no salt : a blind man cannot enlighten others,
nor set them on fire when his own light has
gone out. But why, when you swallow food
which he has seasoned, do you reproach the
seasoned with being saltless ? Your Church
is bright with his flame, and do you accuse his
lamp of being extinguished ? He gives you
eyes, and are you blind ? Wherefore, I pray
you, either give him the power of sacrificing
since you approve his baptism, or reject his
baptism if you do not think him a priest. For
it is impossible that he who is holy in baptism
should be a sinner at the altar.
L. But when I receive a lay penitent, it is
with laying on of hands, and invocation of the
Holy Spirit, for I know that the Holy Spirit
cannot be given by heretics.
O. All the paths of your propositions lead
to the same meeting-point, and it is with you
as with the frightened deer — while you fly
from the feathers fluttering in the wind, you
become entangled in the strongest of nets.
For seeing that a man, baptized in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Ghost, becomes a temple of the Lord, and that
while the old abode is destroyed a new shrine
is built for the Trinity, how can you say that
sins can be remitted among the Arians with-
out the coming of the Holy Ghost ? How is
a soul purged from its former stains which
has not the Holy Ghost ? For it is not mere
water which washes the soul, but it is itself
first purified by the Spirit that it may be able
to spiritually wash the souls of men. "'The
Spirit of the Lord," says Moses, " moved
upon the face of the waters," from which it
appears that there is no baptism without the
Holy Ghost. Bethesda, the pool in Judea,
could not cure the limbs of those who suffered
from bodily weakness without the advent of
an angel,2 and do you venture to bring me a
soul washed with simple water, as though it
had just come from the bath? Our Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, of whom it is less correct
to say that He was cleansed by washing than
that by the washing of Himself He cleansed
all waters, no sooner raised His head from the
stream than He received the Holy Ghost.
Not that He ever was without the Holy
Ghost, inasmuch as He was born in the
flesh through the Holy Ghost ; but in order
to prove that to be the true baptism by which
the Holy Ghost comes. So then if an Arian
cannot give the Holy Spirit, he cannot even
baptize, because there is no baptism of the
Church without the Holy Spirit. And you,
when you receive a person baptized by an
1 Gen. i, 2.
2 John v. 2 sq.
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
!23
Arian and afterwards invoke the Holy Ghost,
ought either to baptize him, because without
the Holy Ghost he could not be baptized, or,
if he was baptized in the Spirit, you must not
invoke the Holy Ghost for your convert who
received Him at the time of baptism.
7. L. Pray tell me, have you not read '
in the Acts of the Apostles that those who
had already been baptized by John, on their
saying in reply to the Apostles' question that
they had not even heard what the Holy Ghost
was, afterwards obtained the Holy Ghost ?
Whence it is clear that it is possible to be
baptized, and yet not to have the Holy Ghost.
O. I do not think that those who form our
audience are so ignorant of the sacred books
that many words are needed to settle this little
question. But before I say anything in sup-
port of my assertion, listen while I point out
what confusion, upon your view, is introduced
into Scripture. What do we mean by saying
that John in his baptism could not give the
Holy Spirit to others, yet gave him to Christ ?
And who is that John ? * " The voice of one
crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the
way of the Lord, make his paths straight." He
who used to say, 3 " Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sins of the world " : I
say too little, he who from his mother's womb
cried out, 4 " And whence is this to me that the
mother of my Lord should come unto me,"
did he not give the Holy Ghost ? And did
6 Ananias give him to Paul ? It perhaps looks
like boldness in me to prefer him to all other
men. Hear then the words of our Lord,
8 " Among them that are born of women there
hath not arisen a greater than John the Bap-
tist." For no prophet had the good fortune
both to announce the coming of Christ, and to
point Him out with the finger. And what
necessity is there for me to dwell upon the
praises of so illustrious a man when God the
Father even calls him an angel ? 7 " Behold,
I send my messenger (angel) before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way before thee." He
must have been an angel who after lodging in
his mother's womb at once began to frequent
the desert wilds, and while still an infant
played with serpents ; who, when his eyes had
once gazed on Christ thought nothing else
worth looking at ; who exercised his voice,
worthy of a messenger of God, in the words of
the Lord, which are sweeter than honey and
the honey-comb. And, to delay my question
no further, thus it behoved 8 the Forerunner
of the Lord to grow up. Now is it possible
that a man of such character and renown did
> xix. 2. * Is. xi. 3 : Matt. iii. 3. 3 John i. 29.
* Luke i. 43. 5 Acts ix. 17.
* Matt. xi. 11. 7 Matt. xi. 10.
8 We venture to read 'decebat' instead of ' dicebat.' Other-
Wise, we may render ' Thus (the Scripture) said that,' etc.
not give the Holy Ghost, while Cornelius the
centurion received Him before baptism ? Tell
me, pray, why could he not give Him? You
don't know ? Then listen to the teaching of
Scripture : the baptism of John did not so
much consist in the forgiveness of sins as in
being a baptism of repentance for the remission
of sins, that is, for a future remission, which was
to follow through the sanctification of Christ.
For it is written, ' " John came, who baptized
in the wilderness, and preached the baptism of
repentance unto remission of sins." And soon
after, 2 " And they were baptized of him in the
river Jordan, confessing their sins." For as
he himself preceded Christ as His forerunner,
so also his baptism was the prelude to the
Lord's baptism. 3 " He that is of the earth,"
he said, " speaketh of the earth ; he that
cometh from heaven is above all." And again,
4 " I indeed baptize you with water, he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost." But if
John, as he himself confessed, did not baptize
with the Spirit, it follows that he did not for-
give sins either, for no man has his sins remit-
ted without the Holy Ghost. Or if you con-
tentiously argue that, because the baptism of
John was from heaven, therefore sins were for-
given by it, show me what more there is for us
to get in Christ's baptism. Because it for-
gives sins, it releases from Gehenna. Because
it releases from Gehenna, it is perfect. But
no baptism can be called perfect except that
which depends on the cross and resurrection
of Christ. Thus, although John himself said,
0 " He must increase, but I must decrease,"
in your perverse scrupulosity you give more
than is due to the baptism of the servant, and
destroy that of the master to which you leave
no more than to the other. What is the drift
of your assertion ? Just this — it does not
strike you as strange that those who had
been baptized by John, should afterwards by
the laying on of hands receive the Holy Ghost,
although it is evident that they did not obtain
even remission of sins apart from the faith
which was to follow. But you who receive a
person baptized by the Arians and allow him
to have perfect baptism, after that admission
do you invoke the Holy Ghost as if this were
still some slight defect, whereas there is no
baptism of Christ without the Holy Ghost ?
But I have wandered too far, and when I might
have met my opponent face to face and repelled
his attack, I have only thrown a few light darts
from a distance. The baptism of John was so
far imperfect that it is plain they who had been
baptized by him were afterwards baptized with
the baptism of Christ. For thus the history
relates, ° " And it came to pass that while
Mark i. 4.
Matt. iii. 11.
2 Mark i. 5.
5 John iii. 30.
3 John iii. 31.
6 Acts xix. 1, sqq.
324
JEROME.
A polios was at Corinth, Paul having passed
through the upper country came to Ephesus,
and found certain disciples : and he said unto
them, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye
believed ? And they said unto him, Nay, we
did not so much as hear whether the Holy
Ghost was given. And he said, Into what
then were ye baptized ? And they said, Into
John's baptism. And Paul said, John baptized
with the baptism of repentance, saying unto
the people, that they should believe on Him
which should come after him, that is, on Jesus.
And when they heard this, they were baptized
into the name of the Lord Jesus : And when
Paul had laid his hands upon them, immedi-
ately the Holy Ghost fell on them." If then
they were baptized with the true and lawful
baptism of the Church, and thus received the
Holy Ghost, you must follow the apostles and
baptize those who have not had Christian
baptism, and you will be able to invoke the
Holy Ghost.
8. L. Thirsty men in their dreams eagerly
gulp down the water of the stream, and the
more they drink the thirstier they are. In
the same way you appear to me to have
searched everywhere for arguments against
the point I raised, and yet to be as far as ever
from being satisfied. Don't you know that
the laying on of hands after baptism, followed
by the invocation of the Holy Spirit is a custom
of the Churches ? Do you demand Scripture
proof ? You may find it in the Acts of the
Apostles. And even if it did not rest on
the authority of Scripture the consensus of the
whole world in this respect would have the
force of a command. For many other observ-
ances of the Churches, which are due to tradi-
tion, have acquired the authority of the written
law, as for instance ' the practice of dipping the
head three times in the laver, and then, after
leaving the water, of a tasting mingled milk
and honey in representation of infancy ;3 and,
again, the practices of standing up in worship
on the Lord's day, and ceasing from fasting
every Pentecost ; and there are many other
unwritten practices which have won their place
through reason and custom. So you see we
follow the practice of the Church, although it
1 Triple immersion, that is, thrice dipping the head while
standing in the water, was the all but universal rule of the
Church in early times. There is proof of its existence in Africa,
Palestine, Egypt, at Antioch and Constantinople, in Cappadocia
and Rome. See Basil, On the H. Sp. § 66, and Apostolical
Canons. Gregory the Great ruled that either form was allow-
able, the one symbolizing the Unity of the Godhead, the
other the Trinity of Persons.
■ This ceremony together with the kiss of peace and white
robes probably dated from very eariy times. In the fourth
century some new ceremonies were introduced, such as the use
o£ lights and salt, the unction with oil before baptism in addition
to that with chrism which continued to be administered after
baptism.
3 At Holy Communion the first prayer of the faithful was
said by all kneeling. During the rest of the liturgy all stood.
At other times of service the rule was for all to kneel in prayer
except ou Sundays and between Easter and Whitsuntide.
may be clear that a person was baptized before
the Spirit was invoked.
9. O. I do not deny that it is the practice
of the Churches in the case of those who
living far from the greater towns have been
baptized by presbyters and deacons, for the
bishop to visit them, and by the laying on of
hands to invoke the Holy Ghost upon them.
But how shall I describe your habit of apply-
ing the laws of the Church to heretics, and of
exposing the virgin entrusted to you in the
brothels of -harlots? If a bishop lays his
hands on men he lays them on those who
have been baptized in the right faith, and who
have believed that the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, are three persons, but one essence.
But an Arian has no faith but this (close your
ears, my hearers, that you may not be defiled
by words so grossly impious), that the Father
alone is very God, and that Jesus Christ our
Saviour is a ' creature, and 2 the Holy Ghost
the Servant of both. How can he then
receive the Holy Ghost from the Church, who
has not yet obtained remission of sins ? For
the Holy Ghost must have a clean abode :
nor will He become a dweller in that temple
which has not for its chief priest the true
faith. But if you now ask how it is that a
person baptized in the Church does not
receive the Holy Ghost, Whom we declare to
be given in true baptism, except by the
hands of the bishop, let me tell you that our
authority for the rule is the fact that after
our Lord's ascension the Holy Ghost de-
scended upon the Apostles. And in many
places we find it the practice, more by way of
honouring the 3 episcopate than from any com-
pulsory law. Otherwise, if the Holy Ghost
descends only at the bishop's prayer, they are
greatly to be pitied who in isolated houses, or
in forts, or retired places, after being baptized
by the presbyters and deacons have fallen
asleep before the bishop's visitation. The
well-being of a Church depends upon the
dignity of its chief-priest, and unless some
extraordinary and unique functions be as-
signed to him, we shall have as many schisms
in the Churches as there are priests. Hence
it is that without ordination and the bishop's
license neither presbyter nor deacon has the
power to baptize. And yet, if necessity so
be, we know that even laymen may, and
frequently do, baptize. For as a man re-
ceives, so too he can give ; for it will hardly
1 The Arians said He was the creature (made out of nothing)
through whom the Father gave being to all other creatures.
2 The Macedonians, who became nearly co-extensive with
the Semi- Arians about 360, held that the Spirit not being l very '
God must be a creature and therefore a Servant of God.
3 Sacerdotium — often used by Jerome in a special sense for
the Episcopate. He says of Pammachius and of himself (Let-
ter xlv., 3) that many people thought them digni sacordotij,
meaning the Bishopric of Rome. (Letter XLIX. 4.)
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
325
be said that we must believe that the eunuch
whom Philip ' baptized lacked the Holy Spirit.
The Scripture thus speaks concerning him,
" And they both went down into the water ;
and Philip baptized him." And on leaving
the water, " The Holy Spirit fell upon the
eunuch." You may perhaps think that we
ought to set against this the passage in which
we read, " Now when the apostles which were
at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received
the word of God, they sent unto them Peter
and John : who, when they were come down,
prayed for them that they might receive the
Holy Ghost : for as yet he was fallen upon
none of them." But why this was, the context
tells us, — " Only they had been baptized into
the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they
their hands on them, and they received the
Holy Ghost." And if you here say that you
do the same, because the heretics have not
baptized into the Holy Spirit, I must remind
you that Philip was not separated from the
Apostles, but belonged to the same Church
and preached the same Lord Jesus Christ :
that he was without question a deacon of
those who afcerwards laid their hands on his
converts. But when you say that the Arians
have not a Church, but a synagogue, and that
their clergy do not worship God but creatures
and idols, how can you maintain that you
ought to act upon the same principle in cases
so totally different ?
L. You repel my attack in front with vigour
and firmness : but you are smitten in the
rear and leave your back exposed to the darts.
Let us even grant that the Arians have no
baptism, and therefore that the Holy Ghost can-
not be given by them, because they themselves
have not yet received remission of sins ; this
altogether makes for victory on my side, and
all your argumentative wrestling is but labori-
ous toil to give me the conqueror's palm. An
Arian has no baptism ; how is it then that he
has the episcopate ? There is not even a lay-
man among them, how can there be a bishop ? I
may not receive a beggar, do you receive a
king ? You surrender your camp to the enemy,
and are we to reject one of their deserters ?
11. O. If you remembered what has been said
you would know that you have been already
answered ; but in yielding to the love of con-
tradiction you have wandered from the subject,
like those persons who are talkative rather
than eloquent, and who, when they cannot
argue, still continue to wrangle. On the pres-
ent occasion it is not my aim to either accuse
or defend the Arians, but rather to get safely
past the turning-post of the race, and to main-
tain that we receive a bishop for the same
1 Acts viii. 26 sq.
reason that you receive a layman. If you
grant forgiveness to the erring, I too pardon
the penitent. If he that baptizes a person into
our belief has had no injurious effect upon the
person baptized, it follows that he who con-
secrates a bishop in the same faith causes no
defilement to the person consecrated. Heresy
is subtle, and therefore the simple-minded are
easily deceived. To be deceived is the com-
mon lot of both layman and bishop. But you
say, a bishop could not have been mistaken.
The truth is, men are elected to the episcopate
who come from the bosom of Plato and Aris-
tophanes. How many can you find among
them who are not fully instructed in these
writers ? Indeed all, whoever they may be, that
are ordained at the present day from among the
literate class make it their study not how to seek
out the marrow of Scripture, but how to tickle
the ears of the people with the flowers of
rhetoric. We must further add that the Arian
heresy goes hand in hand with the wisdom of
the world, and ' borrows its streams of argu-
ment from the fountains of Aristotle. And so
we will act like children when they try to outdo
one another — whatever you say I will say : what
you assert, I will assert : whatever you deny,
I will deny. We allow that an Arian may
baptize ; then he must be a bishop.3 If we
agree that Arian baptism is invalid, you must
reject the layman, and I must not accept the
bishop. I will follow you wherever you go ;
we shall either stick in the mud together, or
shall get out together.
12. L. We pardon a layman because, when
he was baptized, he had a sincere impression
that he was joining the Church. He believed
and was baptized in accordance with his faith.
O. That is something new for a man to be
made a Christian by one who is not a Chris-
tian. When he joined the Arians into what
faith was he baptized ? Of course into that
which the Arians held. If on the other hand
we are to suppose that his own faith was cor-
rect, but that he was knowingly baptized by
heretics, he does not deserve the indulgence
we grant to the erring. But it is quite absurd
to imagine that, going as a pupil to the master,
he understands his art before he has been
taught. Can you suppose that a man who has
just turned from worshipping idols knows
Christ better than his teacher does ? If you
1 " The philosophical relations of Arianism have been differ-
ently stated. Baur, Newman (The Arians, p. 17), and others,
bring it into connection with Aristotle, and Athanasianism with
Plato ; Petavius, Ritter, and Voigt, on the contrary, derive the
Arian idea of God from Platonism and Neo-Platonism. The
empirical, rational, logical tendency of Arianism is certainly
more Aristotelian than Platonic, and so far Baur and Newman
are right; but all depends on making either revelation and faith,
or philosophy and reason, the starting point and ruling power of
theology." Doctor Schaff in Diet, of Chris. Biog.
2 Baptism was at this time, as a rule, administered by the
bishop alone.
VOL. VI.
326
JEROME.
say, he sincerely believed in the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and therefore
obtained baptism, what, let me ask, is the
meaning of being sincerely ignorant of what
one believes ? He sincerely believed. What
did he believe ? Surely when he heard the
three names, he believed in three Gods, and
was an idolater ; or by the three titles he was
led to believe in a God with three names, and
so fell into the ' Sabellian heresy. Or he was
perhaps trained by the Arians to believe that
there is one true God, the Father, but that the
Son and the Holy Spirit are creatures. What
else he may have believed, I know not : for
we can hardly think that a man brought up in
the Capitol would have learnt the doctrine of
the co-essential Trinity. He would have
known in that case that the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are not divided in nature, but in
person. He would have known also that the
name of Son was implied in that of Father and
the name of Father in that of Son. It is ridic-
ulous to assert that any one can dispute con-
cerning the faith before he believes it ; that
he understands a mystery before he has been
initiated ; that the baptizer and the baptized
hold different views respecting God. Besides,
it is the custom at baptism to ask, after the
confession of faith in the Trinity, do you be-
lieve in Holy Church ? Do you believe in the
remission of sins ? What Church do you say he
believed in ? The Church of the Arians ? But
they have no Church. In ours ? But the man
was not baptized into it : he could not believe
in that whereof he was ignorant.
L. I see that you can prattle cleverly about
each point that I raise ; and when we let fly a
dart you elude it by a harangue which serves
you for a shield ; I will therefore hurl a single
spear which will be strong enough to pierce
your defences and the hail-storm of your
words. I won't allow strength any longer to
be overcome by artifice. Even a layman bap-
tized without the Church, if he be baptized
according to the faith, is received only as a
penitent : but a bishop either does no penance
and remains a bishop, or, if he does penance
he ceases to be a bishop. Wherefore we do
right both in welcoming the penitent layman,
and in rejecting the bishop,'if he wishes to
continue in his office.
O. An arrow which is discharged from the
tight-drawn bow is not easy to avoid, for it
reaches him at whom it was aimed before the
shield can be raised to stop it. On the other
This was, approximately, the Patripassian form of the heresy,
according to which the person of the Father who is one with the
bon, was incarnate in Christ, and the Father might then be said
to have died upon the cross. The personality of the Holy Ghost
appears to have been denied. With varying shades of opinion
ana modes of expression the doctrine was expounded by
Praxeas (arc. AD 200), Noetius rA. D. 220), Sabellius (A. D.
225), Beryllus and Paul of Samosata (circ. A. D. 250).
hand your propositions are pointless and there-
fore cannot pierce an opponent. The spear then
which you have hurled with all your might and
about which you speak such threatening words,
I turn aside, as the saying is, with my little
finger. The point in dispute is not merely
whether a bishop is incapable of penitence and
a layman capable, but whether a heretic has
received valid baptism. If he has not (and
this follows from your position), how can he
be a penitent, before he is a Christian ? Show
me that a layman coming from the Arians has
valid baptism, and then I will not deny him
penitence. But if he is not a Christian, if he
had no priest to make him a Christian, how
can he do penance when he is not yet a be-
liever ?
14. L. I beseech you lay aside the methods
of the philosophers and let us talk with Chris-
tian simplicity ; that is, if you are willing to
follow not the logicians, but the Galilean
fishermen. Does it seem right to you that an
Arian should be a bishop ?
O. You prove him a bishop because
you receive those he has baptized. And
it is here that you are to blame : — Why
are there walls of separation between us
when we are at one in faith and in receiving
Arians ?
L. I asked you before not to talk like a phi-
losopher, but like a Christian.
O. Do you wish to learn, or to argue ?
L. Of course I argue because I want to
know the reason for what you do.
O. If you argue, you have already had an
answer. I receive an Arian bishop for the
same reason that you receive a person who is
only baptized. If you wish to learn, come
over to my side : for an opponent must be
overcome, it is only a disciple who can be
taught.
L. Before I can be a disciple, I must hear
one preach whom I feel to be my master.
O. You are not dealing quite fairly : you
wish me to be your teacher on the terms that
you may treat me as an opponent whenever
you please. I will teach you therefore in the
same spirit. We agree in faith, we agree in
receiving heretics, let us also be at one in our
terms of communion.
L. That is not teaching, but arguing.
0. As you ask for peace with a shield in
your hand, I also must carry my olive branch
with a sword grafted in it.
L. I drop my hands in token of submission.
You are conqueror. But in laying down my
arms, I ask the meaning of the oath you force
me to take.
O. Certainly, but first I congratulate you,
and thank Christ my God for your good dis-
positions which have made you turn from the
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
327
unsavoury teaching of the 1 Sardinians to that
which the whole world approves as true ; and
no longer say as some do, 2 " Help, Lord ; for
the godly man ceaseth." By their impious
words they make of none effect the cross of
Christ, subject the Son of God to the devil, and
would have us now understand the Lord's
lamentation over sinners to apply to all men,
3 " What profit is there in my blood, when I go
down to the pit ? " But God forbid that our
Lord should have died in vain. 4 The strong
man is bound, and his goods are spoiled.
What the Father says is fulfilled, B " Ask of
me, and I will give thee the nations for thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession." 6 " Then the chan-
nels of water appeared, and the foundations of
the world were laid bare." 7 " In them hath
he set a tabernacle for the sun, and there is
nothing hid from the heat thereof." The
Psalmist fully possessed by God sings, 8 " The
swords of the enemy are come to an end, and
the cities which thou hast overthrown."
15. And what is the position, I should like
to know, of those excessively scrupulous, or
rather excessively profane persons, who assert
that there are more synagogues than Churches?
How is it that the devil's kingdoms have been
destroyed, and now at last in the consumma-
tion of the ages, the idols have fallen ? If
Christ has no Church, or if he has one only,
in Sardinia, he has grown very poor. And if
Satan owns Britain, Gaul, the East, the races
of India, barbarous nations, and the whole
world at the same time, how is it that the
trophies of the cross have been collected in a
mere corner of the earth ? Christ's powerful
opponent, forsooth, gave over to him the
9 serpent of Spain: he disdained to own a poor
province and its half-starved inhabitants. If
they flatter themselves that they have on their
side that verse of the gospel,10 " Howbeit when
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on
the earth ? " let me remind them that the faith
in question is that of which the Lord himself
said,11 " Thy faith hath made thee whole." And
elsewhere, of the centurion,12 " I have not found
so great faith, no, not in Israel." And again,
to the Apostles,13 "Why are ye fearful, O ye of
little faith ? " In another place also,14 " If ye
have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall
1 That is the followers of Lucifer, whose see was in Sar-
dinia.
2 Ps. xii. 1. The Luciferians believed that few or none out-
side their own sect could be saved.
3 Ps. xxx. 9. 4 Mark iii. 27. 5 Ps. ii. 8. 6 Ps. xviii. 15.
7 Lit. In the sun hath he placed his tabernacle, and there is
none who can hide himself from the heat thereof. Ps. xix. 6.
8 Ps. ix. 6. Sept. Vulg. Syr.
9 The allusion is doubtful. It probably refers to some
province of Spain (perhaps that of the Ibera or Ebro), in which
the views of Lucifer prevailed and which his followers consid-
ered almost the sole land of the faithful. The expression,
however, is used in a more general sense by Jerome. Letter VI.
10 Luke xviii. 8. n Matt. ix. 22. la Matt. viii. 10.
1S Matt. viii. 26. I4 Matt. xvii. 20.
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to
yonder place, and it shall remove." For
neither the centurion nor that poor woman
who for twelve years was wasting away with
a bloody flux, had believed in the mysteries
of the Trinity, for these were revealed to the
Apostles after the resurrection of Christ ; so
that the faith of such as believe in the mystery
of the Trinity might have its due pre-eminence:
but it was her singleness of mind and her
devotion to her God that met with our Lord's
approval: l " For she said within herself, If I
do but touch his garment, I shall be made
whole. " This is the faith which our Lord said
was seldom found. This is the faith which
even in the case of those who believe aright is
hard to find in perfection. 2 " According to
your faith, be it done unto you," says God.
I do not, indeed, like the sound of those
words. For if it be done unto me according
to my faith, I shall perish. And yet I certainly
believe in God the Father, I believe in God
the Son, and I believe in God the Holy Ghost.
I believe in one God ; nevertheless, I would
not have it done unto me according to my
faith. For the enemy often comes, and sows
tares in the Lord's harvest. I do not mean to
imply that anything is greater than the purity
of heart which believes that mystery ; but un-
doubted faith towards God it is hard indeed
to find. To make my meaning plain, let us
suppose a case : — I stand to pray ; I could not
pray, if I did not believe ; but if I really
believed, I should cleanse that heart of mine
with which God is seen, I should beat my hands
upon my breast, the tears would stream down
my cheeks, my body would shudder, my face
grow pale, I should lie at my Lord's feet, weep
over them, and wipe them with my hair, I
should cling to the cross and not let go my
hold until I obtained mercy. But, as it is,
frequently in my prayers I am either walking
in the arcades, or calculating my interest, or
am carried away by base thoughts, so as to be
occupied with things the mere mention of
which makes me blush. Where is our faith ?
Are we to suppose that it was thus that Jonah
prayed ? or the three youths ? or Daniel in
the lion's den ? or the robber on the cross ?
I have given these illustrations that you may
understand my meaning. But let every one
commune with his own heart, and he will find
throughout the whole of life how rare a thing
it is to find a soul so faithful that it does
nothing through the love of glory, nothing on
account of the petty gossip of men. For he
who fasts does not as an immediate conse-
quence fast unto God, nor he who holds out
his hand to a poor man, lend to the Lord.
1 Matt. ix. 21.
a Matt. ix. 29.
Y 2
328
JEROME.
Vice is next-door neighbour to virtue. It is
hard to rest content with God alone for
judge.
16. L. I was reserving that passage until
last, and you have anticipated my question
about it. Almost all our party, or rather not
mine any more, use it as a sort of controversial
battering ram : as such I am exceedingly
glad to see it broken to pieces and pulverized.
But will you be so good as to fully explain to
me, not in the character of an opponent but of
a disciple, why it is that the Church receives
those who come from the Arians ? The
truth is I am unable to answer you a word,
but I do not yet give a hearty assent to what
you say.
17. O. When Constantius was on the throne
and Eusebius and Hypatius were Consuls,
there was composed, under the pretext of
unity and faith,1 an unfaithful creed, as it is
now acknowledged to have been. For at
that time, nothing seemed so characteristic of
piety, nothing so befitting a servant of God,
as to follow after unity, and to shun separa-
tion from communion with the rest of the
world. And all the more because the cur-
rent profession of faith no longer exhibited
on the face of it anything profane. " We
believe," said they, " in one true God, the
Father Almighty. This we also confess :
We believe in the only begotten Son of God,
who, before all worlds, and before all their
origins,2 was born of God. The only-begotten
Son, moreover, we believe to be born alone of
the Father alone, God of God, like to his Father
who begot Him, according to the Scriptures ;
whose birth no one knows, but the Father
alone who begot Him." Do we find any such
words inserted here as 3 " There was a time,
when he was not ? " Or, " The Son of God is
a creature though not made of things which
exist." No. This is surely the perfection of
faith to say we believe Him to be God of God.
Moreover, they called Him the only begotten,
" born alone of the Father." What is the
meaning of born ? Surely, not made. His
birth removed all suspicion of His being a
creature. They added further, "Who came
down from heaven, was conceived of the Holy
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified by
Pontius Pilate, rose again the third day from
the dead, ascended into heaven, sitteth at the
right hand of the Father, who will come to
judge the quick and the dead." There was a
ring of piety in the words, and no one thought
1 For an account of the "Dated Creed " here referred to, and
of the Councils of Seleucia and Ariminum, A. D. 350 see
Bnght's History of the Church, A. D. 313-451, fourth edition
pp. 03-100.
' Principium, the equivalent of the Greek 'Apvn, which
m|ans beginning, or principle, or power.
These two propositions constituted the essence of the teach-
ing of Arms.
that poison was mingled with the honey of
such a proclamation.
18. As regards the term 1 Usia, it was not
rejected without a show of reason for so
doing. 2 " Because it is not found in the
Scriptures," they said, " and its novelty is a
stumbling-block to many, we have thought it
best to dispense with it." The bishops were
not anxious about the name, so long as that
which it implied was secured. Lastly, at the
very time when rumour was rife that there
had been some insincerity in the statement of
the faith, Valens, bishop of Mursa, who had
drawn it up, in the presence of Taurus the
pretorian prefect who attended the Synod by
imperial command, declared that he was not
an Arian, and that he utterly abhorred their
blasphemies. This, however, had taken place
in private, and the prevailing uneasiness was
not removed. So on another day, when
crowds of bishops and laymen came together
in the Church at Ariminum, Muzonius, bishop
of the province of Byzacena, to whom by
reason of seniority the first rank was assigned
by all, spoke as follows : " One of our number
has been authorized to read to you, reverend
fathers, what reports are being spread and
have reached us, so that the evil opinions
which ought to grate upon our ears and be
banished from our hearts may be condemned
with one voice by us all." The whole body
of bishops replied, Agreed. And so when
Claudius, bishop of the province of Picenum,
at the request of all present, began to read
the blasphemies attributed to Valens, Valens
denied they were his and cried aloud, " If any-
one denies Christ our Lord, the Son of God,
begotten of the Father before the worlds, let
him be anathema." There was a general
chorus of approval, " Let him be anathema."
3 " If anyone denies that the Son is like the
Father according to the Scriptures, let him
be anathema." All replied, " Let him be
anathema." " If anyone does not say that
1 Usia (ovcria) is defined by Cyril of Alexandria as that which
has existence in itself, independent of everything else to con-
stitute it. A discussion of both it and its companion term
hypostasis may be found in Newman's Arians, Appendix p. 432.
Around ovaia., or some compound of the word, the great Arian
controversy always raged. In asserting that the son was howo-
o2is!os with the Father, i.e., consubstantial or co-essential, the
Church affirmed the Godhead of the Son. But the formula
experienced varying fortunes. It was disowned as savouring of
heterodoxy by the Council of Antioch (264-269) which was held
to decide upon the views of Paulus : was imposed at Nicata
(325) : considered inexpedient by the great body of the epis-
copate in the next generation : was most cautiously put forward
by Athanasius himself (see Stanley's Hist, of Eastern Church,
1883, p. 240) : does not occur in the catecheses of S. Cyril of
Jerusalem (347) j was momentarily abandoned by 400 bishops at
Ariminum who were " tricked and worried " into the act. '"They
had not," says Newman, " yet got it deeply fixed in their minds
as a sort of first principle, that to abandon the formula was to
betray the faith."
- The distinguishing principle of the doctrine of Acacius was
adherence to Scriptural phraseology. See Bright's Hist., p. 69.
3 The teaching of Aetius and Eunomius, the Anomceans, who
were the extremists of the Arians. See Robertson's Hist^of
Chris. Ch., fourth edition, pp. 236237, etc. The other tenets
anathematized are Arian or Semi- Arian.
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
329
the Son of God is co-eternal with the Father,
let him be anathema." There was again a
chorus of approval, "Let him be anathema."
" If anyone says that the Son of God is a
creature, like other creatures, let him be
anathema." The answer was the same, " Let
him be anathema." " If anyone says that the
Son was of no existing things, yet not of
God the Father, let him be anathema." All
shouted together, "Let him be anathema."
" If anyone says, There was a time when the
Son was not, let him be anathema." At this
point all the bishops and the whole Church
together received the words of Valens with
clapping of hands and stamping of feet. And
if anyone thinks we have invented the story
let him examine the public records. At all
events the muniment-boxes of the Churches
are full of it, and the circumstance is fresh in
men's memory. Some of those who took part
in the Synod are still alive, and the Arians
themselves (a fact which may put the truth
beyond dispute) do not deny the accuracy of
our account. When, therefore, all extolled
Valens to the sky and penitently condemned
themselves for having suspected him, the same
Claudius who before had begun to read, said
" There are still a few points which have
escaped the notice of my lord and brother
Valens ; if it seem good to you, let us, in
order to remove all scruples, pass a general
vote of censure upon them. If anyone says
that the Son of God was indeed before all
worlds but was by no means before all time,
so that he puts some thing before Him, let him
be anathema. " And many other things which
had a suspicious look were condemned by
Valens when Claudius recited them. If any-
one wishes to learn more about them he will
find the account in the acts of the Synod of
Ariminum, the source from which I have my-
self drawn them.
19. After these proceedings the Council was
dissolved. All returned in gladness to their
own provinces. For the Emperor and all
good men had one and the same aim, that the
East and West should be knit together by the
bond of fellowship. But wickedness does not
long lie hid, and the sore that is healed super-
ficially before the bad humour has been
worked off breaks out again. Valens and
1 Ursacius and others associated with them in
their wickedness, eminent Christian bishops of
course, began to wave their palms, and to say
they had not denied that He was a creature,
but that He was like other creatures. At that
moment the term Usia was abolished : the
1 Bishop of Singedunum (Belgrade). " He and Valens. bishop
of Mursa (in Pannonia) appear at every Synod and Council from
33P till about 370, as leaders of the Arian party, both in the East
and West . . . They are described by Athanasius as the disciples
of Arius." Diet, of Chris. Biog.
Nicene Faith stood condemned by acclama-
tion. The whole world groaned, and was as-
tonished to find itself Arian. Some, therefore,
remained in their own communion, others
began to send letters to those Confessors who
as adherents of Athanasius were in exile ;
several despairingly bewailed the better rela-
tions into which they had entered. But a few,
true to human nature, defended their mistake
as an exhibition of wisdom. The ship of the
Apostles was in peril, she was driven by the
wind, her sides beaten with the waves : no hope
was now left. But the Lord awoke and bade
the tempest cease ; the ' beast died, and there
was a calm once again. To speak more
plainly, all the bishops who had been banished
from their sees, by the clemency of the new
2 emperor returned to their Churches. Then
Egypt welcomed the 3 triumphant Athanasius ;
then 4 Hilary returned from the battle to the
embrace of the Church of Gaul ; then " Eu-
sebius returned and Italy laid aside her mourn-
ing weeds. The bishops who had been caught
in the snare at Ariminum and had unwittingly
come to be reported of as heretics, began to
assemble, while they called the Body of our
Lord and all that is holy in the Church to
witness that they had not a suspicion of any-
thing faulty in their own faith. We thought,
said they, the words were to be taken in their
natural meaning, and we had no suspicion that
in the Church of God, the very home of sim-
plicity and sincerity in the confession of truth,
one thing could be kept secret in the heart,
another uttered by the lips. We thought too
well of bad men and were deceived. We did
not suppose that the bishops of Christ were fight-
ing against Christ. There was much besides
which they said with tears, but I pass it over
for brevity's sake. They were ready to con-
demn their 6 former subscription as well as all
the blasphemies of the Arians. Here I ask
our excessively scrupulous friends what they
think ought to have been done with those who
made this Confession ? Deprive the old bish-
ops, they will say, and ordain new ones. The
plan was tried. But how many whose con-
science does not condemn them will allow
themselves to be deprived ? Particularly when
all the people who loved their bishops flocked
together, ready to stone and slay those who
attempted to deprive them. The bishops
should, it may be said, have kept to themselves
» Constantius. a Julian.
3 In August 362, " All Egypt seemed to assemble in the city
(Alexandria), which blazed with lights and rang with acclama-
tions ; the air was fragrant with incense burnt in token of joy ;
men formed a choir to precede the Archbishop ; to hear his
voice, to catch a glimpse of his face, even to see his shadow, was
deemed happiness.'1 Bright, p. 115.
« Bishop of Poictiers (A. D. 350). Died A. D. 368.
6 Bishop of Vercellae in N. Italy. Died about A. D. 370. Both
he and Hilary had been sent into exile by Constantius for their
opposition to Arianism.
« That is, the creed of Ariminum,
330
JEROME.
within their own communion. That is to say,
with senseless cruelty they would have surren-
dered the whole world to the devil. Why
condemn those who were not Arians ? Why
rend the Church when it was continuing in
the harmony of the faith ? Lastly, were they
by obstinacy to make Arians of orthodox
believers ? We know that at the Council of
Nicaea, which was assembled on account of the
Arian perfidy, eight Arian bishops were wel-
comed, and there is not a bishop in the world
at the present day whose ordination is not de-
pendent on that Council. This being so, how
could they act in opposition to it, when their
loyalty to it had cost them the pain of exile ?
20. L. Were Arians really then received
after all ? Pray tell me who they were.
O. ' Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, 2 The-
ognis, bishop of Nicaea, Saras, at the time
presbyter of Libya, 3 Eusebius, bishop of
Caesarea in Palestine, and others whom it
would be tedious to enumerate ; Arius also,
the presbyter, the original source of all the
trouble ; Euzoius the deacon, 4 who suc-
ceeded Eudoxius as bishop of Antioch, and
Achillas, the reader. These three who were
clerics of the Church of Alexandria were the
originators of the heresy.
L. Suppose a person were to deny that
they were welcomed back, how is he to be
refuted ?
O. There are men still living who took part
in that Council. And if that is not enough,
because owing to the time that has elapsed
they are but few, and it is impossible for wit-
nesses to be everywhere, if we read the acts
and names of the bishops of the Council of
Nicaea, we find that those who we saw just
now were welcomed back, did subscribe the
homoousion along with the rest.
L. Will you point out how, after the Council
of Nicaea, they relapsed into their unfaithful-
ness ?
O. A good suggestion, for unbelievers are
in the habit of shutting their eyes and deny-
ing that things which they dislike ever hap-
pened. But how could they afterwards do
anything but relapse, when it was owing to
1 Said to have been the "most prominent and most distin-
guished man of the entire movement." Athanasius suggested
that he was the teacher rather than the disciple of Arius. He
died A. D. 342.
3 Regarded as one of the chief opponents of Athanasius. He
and .others it is said saved themselves from exile by secretly
substituting o/uoiovfftos for 6/u.oouo-ios in the sentence of the
Council.
3 Born, probably, about A. D. 260. He was made bishop of
Caesarea about 313 and lived to be eighty. At the time of the
Council he was the most learned man and most famous living
writer. He had great influence with Constantine, and was
among the most moderate Arians.
4 Eudoxius was deposed from the bishopric of Antioch by
the Council of Scleucia, A. D. 359 ; but the immediate predeces-
sor of Euzoius was Meletius", deposed A. D. 361. Baronius
describes him as the worst of all the Arians. Euzoius had been
the companion and intimate friend of Arius from an early age.
AUiaaasius (Hist, Arian. p, 858; calls him the " Canaanite."
them that the Council was convened, and their
letters and impious treatises which were pub-
lished before the Council, remain even to the
present day ? Seeing, therefore, that at that
time three hundred bishops or more welcomed
a few men whom they might have rejected
without injury to the Church, I am surprised
that certain persons, who are certainly uphold-
ers of the faith of Nicaea, are so harsh as to
think that ' three Confessors returning from
exile were not bound in the interests of the
world's salvation to do what so many illustri-
ous men did of their own accord. But, to go
back to our starting point, on the return of
the Confessors it was determined, in a synod
afterwards 2 held at Alexandria, that, the
authors of the heresy excepted (who could not
be excused on the ground of error), penitents
should be admitted to communion with the
Church : not that they who had been heretics
could be bishops, but because it was clear that
those who were received had not been heretics.
The West assented to this decision, and it was
through this conclusion, which the necessities
of the times demanded, that the world was
snatched from the jaws of Satan. I have
reached a very difficult subject, where I am
compelled against my wishes and my purpose,
to think somewhat otherwise of that saintly
man Lucifer than his merits demand, and my
own courtesy requires. But what am I to do ?
Truth opens my mouth and urges my reluctant
tongue to utter the thoughts of my heart. At
such a crisis of the Church, when the wolves
were wildly raging, he separated off a few
sheep and abandoned the remnant of the
flock. He himself was a good shepherd, but he
was leaving a vast spoil to the beasts of prey.
I take no notice of reports originating with
certain evil speakers, though maintained by
them to be authenticated facts ; such as that
he acted thus through the love of glory, and the
desire of handing down his name to posterity ;
or again that he was influenced by the grudge
he bore against Eusebius on account of the
3 quarrel at Antioch. I believe none of these
reports in the case of such a man ; and this
I will constantly affirm even now — that the
difference between us and him is one of words,
not of things, if he really does receive those
who have been baptized by the Arians.
21. L. The account I used before to hear
given of these things was widely different, and,
as I now think, better calculated to promote
error than hope. But I thank Christ my God
for pouring into my heart the light of truth,
that I might no longer profanely call the
1 Saints Athanasius, Hilary of Poictiers, and Eusebius of
Vercellae.
2 A. D. 328, when Athanasius was consecrated bishop.
3 See introduction.
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
33i
Church, which is His Virgin, the harlot of the
devil. There is one other point I should like
you to explain. What are we to say about
1 Hilary who does not receive even those who
have been baptized by the Arians ?
O. Since Hilary when he left the Church was
only a deacon, and since the Church is to him,
though to him alone, a mere worldly multi-
tude, he can neither duly celebrate the Eu-
charist, for he has no bishops or priests, nor
can he give baptism without the Eucharist.
And since the man is now dead, inasmuch as
, he was a deacon and could ordain no one to
follow him, his sect died with him. For there
is no such thing as a Church without bishops.
But passing over a few very insignificant per-
sons who are in their own esteem both laymen
and bishops, let me point out to you what
views we should hold respecting the Church at
large.
L. You have settled a great question in
three words, as the saying is, and indeed while
you speak, I feel that I am on your side. But
when you stop, some old misgivings arise as to
why we receive those who have been baptized
by heretics.
O. That is just what I had in mind when I
said I would point out what views we ought to
hold concerning the Church at large. For
many are exercised by the misgivings you
speak of. I shall perhaps be tedious in my
explanation, but it is worth while if the truth
gains.
22. Noah's ark was a type of the Church,
as the Apostle Peter says — 2 " In Noah's ark
few, that is, eight souls, were saved through
water : which also after a true likeness doth
now save us, even baptism." As in the ark
there were all kinds of animals, so also in the
Church there are men of all races and char-
acters. As in the one there was the leopard
with the kids, the wolf with the lambs, so in
the other there are found the righteous and
sinners, that is,3 vessels of gold and silver with
those of wood and of earth. The ark had its
rooms : the Church has many mansions. Eight
souls were saved in Noah's ark. And 4 Ec-
clesiastes bids us " give a portion to seven,
yea, even unto eight," that is to believe both
Testaments. This is why some psalms bear
the inscription5 for the octave, and why the
one hundred and nineteenth psalm is divided
into portions of eight verses each beginning
1 This Hilary was a deacon of Rome, sent by Liberius the
bishop with Lucifer and Pancratius to the Emperor Constan-
tius. He joined the Luciferians, and wrote in their interest on
the re-baptism of heretics. He appears, however, to have been
reconciled before his death.
2 i Pet. iii. 20. , 3 2 Tim. ii. 20. 4 Ecc. xi. 2.
6 Vulg. for rpJ^EJ' ~>U Pss. vi. xii. and 1 Chron. xv. 21. The
meaning is • • : - probably " in a lower octave," or, "in
the bass." According- to others, an air, or key in which the
psalm was to be sung, or a musical instrument with eight
strings.
with its own letter for the instruction of the
righteous. The beatitudes which our Lord
spoke to his disciples on the mountain, thereby
delineating the Church, are eight. And Eze-
kiel for the building of the temple employs
the number eight. And you will find many
other things expressed in the same way in the
Scriptures. The raven also is sent forth
from the ark but does not return, and after-
wards the dove announces peace to the earth.
So also in the Church's baptism, that most un-
clean bird the devil is expelled, and the dove
of the Holy Spirit announces peace to our earth.
The 'construction of the ark was such that it
began with being thirty cubits broad and
gradually narrowed to one. Similarly the
Church, consisting of many grades, ends in
deacons, presbyters, and bishops. The ark
was in peril in the flood, the Church is in peril
in the world. When Noah left the ark he
planted a vineyard, drank thereof, and was
drunken. Christ also, born in the flesh,
planted the Church and suffered. The elder
son made sport of his father's nakedness, the
younger covered it : and the Jews mocked
God crucified, the Gentiles honoured Him.
The daylight would fail me if I were to
explain all the mysteries of the ark and
compare them with the Church. Who are the
eagles amongst us? Who the doves and lions,
who the stags, who the worms and serpents ?
So far as our subject requires I will briefly
show you. It is not the sheep only who abide
in the Church, nor do clean birds only fly to
and fro there ; but amid the grain other seed
is sown, ' " amidst the neat corn-fields burrs
and caltrops and barren oats lord it in the
land." What is the husbandman to do ? Root
up the darnel ? In that case the whole harvest
is destroyed along with it. Every day the
farmer diligently drives the birds away with
strange noises, or frightens them with scare-
crows : here he cracks a whip, there he spreads
out some other object to terrify them. Never-
theless he suffers from the raids of nimble
roes or the wantonness of the wild asses ;
here the mice convey the corn to their garners
underground, there the ants crowd thickly in
and ravage the corn-field. Thus the case
stands. No one who has land is free from
care. 2 While the householder slept the enemy
sowed tares among the wheat, and when the
servants proposed to go and root them up the
master forbade them, reserving for himself the
separation of the chaff and the grain. 3 There
are vessels of wrath and of mercy which the
Apostle speaks of in the house of God. The
day then will come when the storehouses of
the Church shall be opened and the Lord will
1 Virg. Georg. i. 154.
3 Rom. ix. as, 23 : 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21.
8 S. Matt. xiii. 24 sq.
332
JEROME.
bring forth the vessels of wrath ; and, as they
depart, the saints will say,1 "They went out
from us, but they were not of us ; for if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have
continued with us." No one can take to him-
self the prerogative of Christ, no one before
the day of judgment can pass judgment upon
men. If the Church is already cleansed, what
shall we reserve for the Lord ? 2 " There is a
way which seemeth right unto a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of death." When
our judgment is so prone to error, upon whose
opinion can we rely ?
23. Cyprian of blessed memory tried to
avoid broken cisterns and not to drink of
strange waters : and therefore, rejecting
heretical baptism, he summoned his 3 African
synod in opposition to Stephen,4 who was the
blessed Peter's twenty-second successor in the
see of Rome. They met to discuss this mat-
ter ; but the attempt failed. At last those
very bishops who had together with him de-
termined that heretics must be re-baptized,
reverted to the old custom and published a
fresh decree. Do you ask what course we
must pursue? What we do our forefathers
handed down to us as their forefathers to
them. But why speak of later times ? When
the blood of Christ was but lately shed and
the apostles were still in Judaea, the Lord's
body was asserted to be a phantom ; the Gala-
tians had been led away to the observance of
the law, and the Apostle was a second time in
travail with them ; the Corinthians did not
believe the resurrection of the flesh, and he
endeavoured by many arguments to bring them
back to the right path. Then came 6 Simon
Magus and his disciple Menander. They
asserted themselves to be 6 powers of God.
Then ' Basilides invented the most high god
Abraxas and the three hundred and sixty-five
manifestations of him. Then e Nicolas, one
of the seven Deacons, and one whose lech-
ery knew no rest by night or day, indulged
in his filthy dreams. I say nothing of the
Jewish heretics who before the coming of
Christ destroyed the law delivered to them :
of ° Dositheus, the leader of the Samaritans
1 1 John ii. 19. a Prov. xiv. 12.
3 Stephen was willing to admit all heretical baptism, even that
by Marcionites and Ophites ; Cyprian would admit none. The
Council was held at Carthage A. D. 255, and was followed by-
two in the next year.
4 Bishop of Rome from May 12, A. D. 254, to Aug. 2, A. D.
257. See note on ch. 25.
4 The words of 1 John iv. 3 would appear to support Jerome's,
remark.
" Acts viii. 10. In the Clementine Homilies and Recognitions
Simon is the constant opponent of St. Peter.
7 Commonly regarded as the chief among the Egyptian Gnos-
tics. The Basilidian system is described by Irenaeus (xoif).
" Acts vi. 5. Rev. ii. 6, 15. As to how far Jerome's estimate
of the character of Nicolas is correct, the article Nicolas in
Smith's Diet, of Bible may be consulted.
• Jerome here reproduces almost exactly the remark of Pseudo-
Tcrtullian. The Dositheans were probably a Jewish or Sa-
maritan ascetic sect, something akin to the Essenes.
who rejected the prophets : of the Sadducees
who sprang from his root and denied even the
resurrection of the flesh : of the Pharisees who
separated themselves from the Jews ' on ac-
count of certain superfluous observances, and
took their name from the fact of their dissent :
of the Herodians who accepted Herod as the
Christ. I come to those heretics who have
mangled the Gospels, 2 Saturninus, and the
3 Ophites, 4 the Cainites and 6 Sethites, and
6 Carpocrates, and ' Cerinthus, and his suc-
cessor 8 Ebio-n, and the other pests, the most
of which broke out while the apostle John was
still alive, and yet we do not read that any of
these men were re-baptized.
24. As we have made mention of that dis-
tinguished saint, let us show also from his
Apocalypse that repentance unaccompanied
by baptism ought to be allowed valid in the
case of heretics. It is imputed (Rev. ii. 4)
to the angel of Ephesus that he has forsaken
his first love. In the angel of the Church of
Pergamum the eating of idol-sacrifices is cen-
sured (Rev. ii. 14), and the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans (ib. 15). Likewise the angel of
Thyatira is rebuked (ib. 20) on account of
Jezebel the prophetess, and the idol meats,
and fornication. And yet the Lord encour-
ages all these to repent, and adds a threat,
moreover, of future punishment if they do
not turn. Now he would not urge them
to repent unless he intended to grant pardon
1 The name Pharisee implies separation, but in the sense of
dedication to God.
2 Of Antioch. One of the earliest of the Gnostics (second cen-
tury).
3 The Ophites, whose name is derived from o$is, a serpent,
were a sect which lasted from the second century to the sixth.
Some of them believed that the serpent of Gen. iii. was either
the Divine Wisdom, or the Christ himself, come to enlighten
mankind. Their errors may in great measure, like those of the
Cainites, be traced to the belief, common to all systems of Gnos-
ticism, that the Creator of the world, who was the God of
the Jews, was not the same as the Supreme Being, but was in
antagonism to Him. They supposed that the Scriptures were
written in the interest of the Demiurge or Creator, and that a
false colouring being given to the story, the real worthies were
those who are reprobated in the sacred writings.
1 The Cainites regarded as saints, Cain, Korah, Dathan, the
Sodomites, and even the traitor Judas.
6 The Sethites are said to have looked upon Seth as the same
person as Christ.
f> Carpocrates, another Gnostic, held that our Lord was the
son of Joseph and Mary, and was distinguished from other men
by nothing except moral superiority. He also taught the indif-
ference of actions in themselves, and maintained that they take
their quality from opinion or from legislation ; he advocated
community of goods and of wives, basing his views on the doc-
trine of natural rights. See Mosheim, Cent. ii.
' Cerinthus was a native of Judsea, and after having studied
at Alexandria established himself as a teacher in his own
country. He afterwards removed to Ephesus, and there became
prominent. He held that Jesus and the Christ were not the
same person ; Jesus was, he said, a real man, the son of Joseph
and Mary ; the Christ was an emanation which descended upon
Jesus at his baptism to reveal the Most High, but which for-
sook him before the Passion. S. John in his Gospel and Epistles
combats this error. See Westcott's Introduction to i John, p.
xxxiv. (second ed.) etc. Cerinthus is said to have been the here-
tic with whom S. John refused to be under the same roof at the
bath. To him as author is also referred the doctrine of the
Millennium.
" The Ebionites were mere humanitarians. Whether Ebion
ever existed, or whether the sect took its name from the beg-
garliness of their doctrine, or their vow of poverty, or the poor-
ness 0/ spirit which they professed, is disputed.
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS.
333
to the penitents. Is there any indication of
his having said, Let them be re-baptized who
have been baptized in the faith of the Nico-
laitans ? or let hands be laid upon those of
the people of Pergamum who at that time be-
lieved, having held the doctrine of Balaam ?
Nay, rather, " Repent therefore," ' he says, " or
else I come to thee quickly, and I will make
war against them with the sword of my mouth. "
25. If, however, those men who were or-
dained by Hilary, and who have lately become
sheep without a shepherd, are disposed to al-
lege Scripture in support of what the blessed
Cyprian 2 left in his letters advocating the re-
baptization of heretics, I beg them to remem-
ber that he did not anathematize those who
refused to follow him. At all events, he re-
mained in communion with such as opposed
his views. He was content with exhorting
them, on account of 3 Novatus and the nu-
merous other heretics then springing up, to
receive no one who did not condemn his pre-
vious error. In fact, he thus concludes the
discussion of the subject with Stephen, the
Roman Pontiff : " These things, dearest
brother, I have brought to your knowledge
on account of our mutual respect and love
unfeigned, believing, as I do, that from the
sincerity of your piety and your faith you
will approve such things as are alike conso-
nant with piety and true in themselves. But
I know that some persons are unwilling to
abandon views which they have once enter-
tained, and are averse to a change of purpose ;
they would rather, without breaking the bond
of peace and concord between colleagues, ad-
here to their own plans, when once they have
been adopted. This is a matter in which we
do not force anyone, or lay down a law for
anyone ; let each follow his own free choice in
the administration of the Church : let each be
ruler in his own sphere since he must give
account of his action to the Lord." In the
letter also to Jubaianus on the re-baptization
of heretics, towards the end, he says this : " I
have written these few remarks, my dearest
brother, to the best of my poor ability, with-
out dictating to anyone, or prejudicing the
case of anyone : I would not hinder a single
bishop from doing what he thinks right with
the full exercise of his own judgment. So
far as is possible, we avoid disputes with col-
1 Rev. ii. 16.
8 Cyprian's opinion as stated in his reply to the Numidian and
Mauritanian bishops (Ep. 71) was that converts must be bap-
tized, unless they had received the regular baptism of the
Church before falling into heresy or schism, in which case impo-
sition of hands would suffice. The question was afterwards de-
cided against Cyprian's views by the Council of Aries (A. D.
314), which ordered that if the baptism had been administered
in the name of the Trinity, converts should be admitted to the
Church by imposition of hands.
3 For Novatus and an account of the dispute between Cyprian
and Stephen, see Robertson's " Hist, of Christian Church,"
fourth ed., vol. i. pp. 120-127.
leagues and fellow-bishops about the heretics,
and maintain with them a divine harmony and
the Lord's peace, particularly since the Apostle
says : ' ' But if any man seem to be conten-
tious, we have no such custom, neither the
churches of God.' With patience and gentle-
ness we preserve charity at heart, the honour
of our order, the bond of faith, the harmony
of the episcopate."
26. There is another argument which I
shall adduce, and against that not even
Hilary,2 the modern Deucalion, will venture to
mutter a syllable. If heretics are not baptized
and must be re-baptized because they were
not in the Church, Hilary himself also is not
a Christian. For he was baptized in that
Church which always allowed heretical bap-
tism. Before the Synod of Ariminum was
held, before Lucifer went into exile, Hilary
when a deacon of the Roman Church wel-
comed those who came over from the heretics
on account of the baptism which they had
previously received. It can hardly be that
Arians are the only heretics, and that we are
to accept all but those whom they have bap-
tized. You were a deacon, Hilary (the Church
may say), and received those whom the Man-
ichseans had baptized. You were a deacon, and
acknowledged Ebion's baptism. All at once
after Arius arose you began to be quite out of
conceit with yourself. You and your house-
hold separated from us, and opened a new
laver of your own. If some angel or apostle
has re-baptized you, I will not disparage your
procedure. But since you who raise your
sword against me are the son of my womb, and
nourished on the milk of my breasts, return
to me what I gave you, and be, if you can, a
Christian in some other way. Suppose I am a
harlot, still I am your mother. You say, I do
not keep the marriage bed undenled : still what
I am now I was when you were conceived.
If I commit adultery with Arius, I did the
same before with Praxias, with Ebion, with
Cerinthus, and Novatus. You think much of
them and welcome them, adulterers as they are,
to your mother's home. I don't know why one
adulterer more than others should offend you.
27. But if anyone thinks it open to question
whether heretics were always welcomed by
our ancestors, let him read the letters of the
blessed Cyprian in which he applies the lash
to Stephen, bishop of Rome, and his errors
which had grown inveterate by usage.3 Let
1 1 Cor. xi. 16.
2 As Deucalion was left alone after the flood, so, Jerome im-
plies, Hilary imagined himself the sole survivor after the flood
of Arianism.
3 The advocates on each side could plead immemorial local
usage. If imposition of hands was the rule at Rome, synods
held at Iconium and at Synnada had established the rule of re-
baptism nearly throughout Asia Minor. In Africa the same
practice had been sanctioned early in the third century, but it
seems to have fallen into disuse long before Cyprian's time,
334
JEROME.
him also read the pamphlets of Hilary on the
re-baptization of heretics which he published
against us, and he will there find Hilary him-
self confessing that 'Julius, Marcus, Sylvester,
and the other bishops of old alike welcomed
all heretics to repentance ; and, further, to shew
that he could not justly claim possession of the
true custom; the Council of Nicaea also, to
which we referred not long ago, welcomed all
heretics with the exception of2 the disciples of
Paul of Samosata. And, what is more, it al-
lows a Novatian bishop on conversion to have
the rank of presbyter, 3 a decision which con-
demns both Lucifer and Hilary, since the
same person who is ordained is also baptized.
28. I might spend the day in speaking to
the same effect, and dry up all the streams
of argument with the single Sun of the Church.
But as we have already had a long discussion
and the protracted controversy has wearied
out the attention of our audience, I will tell
you my opinion briefly and without reserve.
We ought to remain in that Church which was
founded by the Apostles and continues to this
day. If ever you hear of any that are called
Christians taking their name not from the
Lord Jesus Christ, but from some other, for
instance, Marcionites, Valentinians, Men of
1 Bishops of Rome— Julius 337-352; Mark Jan. iS-Oct. 7, 336>
Sylvester 314-335-
- Canon 19.
3 Canon 8. The bishop might give him the nominal honour
of a bishop.
the mountain or the plain,' you may be sure
that you have there not the Church of Christ,
but the synagogue of Antichrist. For the
fact that they took their rise after the founda-
tion of the Church is proof that they are those
whose coming the Apostle foretold. And let
them not flatter themselves if they think they
have Scripture authority for their assertions,
since the devil himself quoted Scripture, and
the essence of the Scriptures is not the letter,
but the meaning. Otherwise, if we follow the
letter, we top can concoct a new dogma and
assert that such persons as wear shoes and
have two coats must not be received into the
Church.
L. You must not suppose that victory rests
with you only. We are both conquerors, and
each of us carries off the palm, — you are vic-
torious over me, and I over my error. May I
always when I argue be so fortunate as to
exchange wrong opinions for better ones. I
must, however, make a confession, because I
best know the character of my party, and own
that they are more easily conquered than con-
vinced.
1 By the " men of the mountain or the plain," Jerome appears
to contemptuously designate the Circumcellions who were
an extreme section of the Donatists. They roamed about the
country in bands of both sexes, and struck terror into the
peaceable inhabitants. They were guilty of the grossest ex-
cesses, and no Catholic was safe except in the towns. Robert-
son's ''Hist, of the Church," vol. i. fourth ed. pp. 200, 419, and
the original authorities there referred to.
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY.
Against Helvidius.
This tract appeared about A.D. 383. The question which gave occasion to it was whether the Mother of
our Lord remained a Virgin after His birth. Helvidius maintained that the mention in the Gospels of the
"sisters" and "brethren" of our Lord was proof that the Blessed Virgin had subsequent issue, and he sup-
ported his opinion by the writings of Tertullian and Victorinus. The outcome of his views was that virginity
was ranked below matrimony. Jerome vigorously takes the other side, and tries to prove that the " sisters "
and "brethren " spoken of, were either children of Joseph by a former marriage, or first cousins, children of
the sister of the Virgin. A detailed account of the controversy will be found in Farrar's " Early Days of
Christianity," pp. 124 sq. When Jerome wrote this treatise both he and Helvidius were at Rome, and Damasus
was Pope. The only contemporary notice preserved of Helvidius is that by Jerome in the following pages.
Jerome maintains against Helvidius three propositions : —
1st. That Joseph was only putatively, not really, the husband of Mary.
2d. That the " brethren" of the Lord were his cousins, not his own brethren.
3d. That virginity is better than the married state.
1. The first of these occupies ch. 3-8. It turns upon the record in Matt. i. 18-25, and especially on the
words, " Before they came together " (c. 4), " knew her not till, &c." (5-8).
2. The second (c. 9-17) turns upon the words " first-born son" (9, 10), which, Jerome argues, are applicable
not only to the eldest of several, but also to an only son : and the mention of brothers and sisters, whom Jerome
asserts to have been children of Mary the wife of Cleophas or Clopas (11-16); he appeals to many Church writers
in support of this view (17).
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY.
335
3. In support of his preference of virginity to marriage, Jerome argues that not only Mary but Joseph also
remained in the virgin state (19) ; that, though marriage may sometimes be a holy estate, it presents great
hindrances to prayer (20), and the teaching of Scripture is that the states of virginity and continency are more
accordant with God's will than that of marriage (21, 22).
i. I was requested by certain of the breth-
ren not long ago to reply to a pamphlet writ-
ten by one Helvidius. I have deferred doing
so, not because it is a difficult matter to main-
tain the truth and refute an ignorant boor who
has scarce known the first glimmer of learn-
ing, but because I was afraid my reply might
make him appear worth defeating. There
was the further consideration that a turbulent
fellow, the only individual in the world who
thinks himself both priest and layman, one
who,1 as has been said, thinks that eloquence
consists in Loquacity and considers speaking
ill of anyone to be the witness of a good con-
science, would begin to blaspheme worse than
ever if opportunity of discussion were afforded
him. He would stand as it were on a pedes-
tal, and would publish his views far and wide.
There was reason also to fear that when truth
failed him he would assail his opponents with
the weapon of abuse. But all these motives
for silence, though just, have more justly
ceased to influence me, because of the scan-
dal caused to the brethren who were disgusted
at his ravings. The axe of the Gospel must
therefore be now laid to the root of the bar-
ren tree, and both it and its fruitless foliage
cast into the fire, so that Helvidius who has
never learnt to speak, may at length learn to
hold his tongue.
2. I must call upon the Holy Spirit to ex-
press His meaning by my mouth and defend
the virginity of the Blessed Mary. I must
call upon the Lord Jesus to guard the sacred
lodging of the womb in which He abode for
ten months from all suspicion of sexual inter-
course. And I must also entreat God the
Father to show that the mother of His Son,
who was a mother before she was a bride,
continued a Virgin after her son was born.
We have no desire to career over the fields of
eloquence, we do not resort to the snares of
the logicians or the thickets of Aristotle. We
shall adduce the actual words of Scripture.
Let him be refuted by the same proofs which
he employed against us, so that he may see
that it was possible for him to read what is
written, and yet to be unable to discern the
established conclusion of a sound faith.
3. His first statement was : " Matthew says,2
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise :
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to
Joseph, before they came together she was
found with child of the Holy Ghost. And
1 V*. ait ille. The sentiment, almost in the same words, is
found inTertullian against Hermogenes, ch. x.
* i. t8 sq.
Joseph her husband, being a righteous man,
and not willing to make her a public example,
was minded to put her away privately. But
when he thought on these things, behold, an
angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife : for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost." Notice, he says, that the word used
is betrothed, not intrusted as you say, and of
course the only reason why she was betrothed
was that she might one day be married. And
the Evangelist would not have said before they
came together if they were not to come to-
gether, for no one would use the phrase before
he di?ied of a man who was not going to dine.
Then, again, the angel calls her wife and
speaks of her as united to Joseph. We are
next invited to listen to the declaration of
Scripture : ' " And Joseph arose from his sleep,
and did as the angel of the Lord commanded
him, and took unto him his wife ; and knew
her not till she had brought forth her son."
4. Let us take the points one by one, and
follow the tracks of this impiety that we may
show that he has contradicted himself. He.
admits that she was betrothed, and in the
next breath will have her to be a man's wife
whom he has admitted to be his betrothed.
Again, he calls her wife, and then says the
only reason why she was betrothed was that
she might one day be married. And, for fear
we might not think that enough, " the word
used," he says, " is betrothed and not intrusted,
that is to say, not yet a wife, not yet united
by the bond of wedlock." But when he con-
tinues, " the Evangelist would never have
applied the words, before they came together
to persons who were not to come together,
any more than one says, before he dined, when
the man is not going to dine," I know not
whether to grieve or laugh. Shall I convict
him of ignorance, or accuse him of rashness ?
Just as if, supposing a person to say, "Before
dining in harbour I sailed to Africa," his
words could not hold good unless he were
compelled some day to dine in harbour. If I
choose to say, "the apostle Paul before he
went to Spain was put in fetters at Rome,"
or (as I certainly might) " Helvidius, before
he repented, was cut off by death," must Paul
on being released at once go to Spain, or must
Helvidius repent after death, although the
Scripture says 2 " In sheol who shall give thee
thanks?" Must we not rather understand
1 S. Matt. i. 24, 25.
• Ps. vi. 5.
336
JEROME.
that the preposition before, although it fre-
quently denotes order in time, yet sometimes
refers only to order in thought ? So that there
is no necessity, if sufficient cause intervened
to prevent it, "for our thoughts to be realized.
When, then, the Evangelist says before they
came together, he indicates the time immedi-
ately preceding marriage, and shows that
matters were so far advanced that she who
had been betrothed was on the point of be-
coming a wife. As though he said, before
they kissed and embraced, before the consum-
mation of marriage, she was found to be with
child. And she was found to be so by none
other than Joseph, who watched the swelling
womb of his betrothed with the anxious
glances, and, at this time, almost the privi-
lege, of a husband. Yet it does not follow,
as the previous examples showed, that he had
intercourse with Mary after her delivery, when
his desires had been quenched by the fact
that she had already conceived. And al-
though we find it said to Joseph in a dream,
"Fear not to take Mary thy wife"; and
again, " Joseph arose from his sleep, and did
as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and
took unto him his wife," no one ought to be
disturbed by this, as though, inasmuch as she
is called wife, she ceases to be betrothed, for
we know it is usual in Scripture to give the
title to those who are betrothed. The follow-
ing evidence from Deuteronomy establishes
the point.1 "If the man," says the writer,
" find the damsel that is betrothed in the field,
and the man force her, and lie with her, he
shall surely die, because he hath humbled his
neighbour's wife." And in another place, "
" If there be a damsel that is a virgin be-
trothed unto an husband, and a man find her
in the city, and lie with her ; then ye shall
bring them both out unto the gate of that city,
and ye shall stone them with stones that they
die ; the damsel, because she cried not, being
in the city ; and the man, because he hath
humbled his neighbour's wife : so thou shalt
put away the evil from the midst of thee."
Elsewhere also,3 " And what man is there that
hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her ?
let him go and return unto his house, lest he
die in the battle, and another man take her."
But if anyone feels a doubt as to why the
Virgin conceived after she was betrothed
rather than when she had no one betrothed to
her, or, to use the Scripture phrase, no husband,
let me explain that there were three reasons.
First, that by the genealogy of Joseph, whose
kinswoman Mary was, Mary's origin might
also be shown. Secondly, that she might not
in accordance with the law of Moses be stoned
as an adulteress. Thirdly, that in her flight
to Egypt she might have some solace, though
it was that of a guardian rather than a hus-
band. For who at that time would have
believed the Virgin's word that she had con-
ceived of the Holy Ghost, and that the angel
Gabriel had come and announced the pur-
pose of God ? and would not all have given
their opinion against her as an adulteress, like
Susanna ? for at the present day, now that
the whole world has embraced the faith, the
Jews argue -that when Isaiah says,1 "Behold,
a virgin shall conceive and bear a son," the
Hebrew word denotes a young woman, not a
virgin, that is to say, the word is ALMAH, not
BETHULAH, a position which, farther on, we
shall dispute more in detail. Lastly, except-
ing Joseph, and Elizabeth, and Mary herself,
and some few others who, we may suppose,
heard the truth from them, all considered
Jesus to be the son of Joseph. And so far
was this the case that even the Evangelists,
expressing the prevailing opinion, which is the
correct rule for a historian, call him the father
of the Saviour, as, for instance,2 "And he (that
is, Simeon) came in the Spirit into the temple :
and when the parents brought in the child
Jesus, that they might do concerning him
after the custom of the law ; " and elsewhere,3
" And his parents went every year to Jerusalem
at the feast of the passover." And after-
wards,4 " And when they had fulfilled the
days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus
tarried behind in Jerusalem ; and his parents
knew not of it." Observe also what Mary
herself, who had replied to Gabriel with the
words,5 " How shall this be, seeing I know not
a man ?" says concerning Joseph,6 "Son, why
hast thou thus dealt with us ? behold, thy
father and I sought thee sorrowing." We
have not here, as many maintain, the utter-
ance of Jews or of mockers. The Evangelists
call Joseph father : Mary confesses he was
father. Not (as I said before) that Joseph
was really the father of the Saviour : but that,
to preserve the reputation of Mary, he was
regarded by all as his father, although, before
he heard the admonition of the angel,7 " Jo-
seph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto
thee Mary thy wife : for that which is con-
ceived in her is of the Holy Ghost," he had
thoughts of putting her away privily ; which
shows that he well knew that the child con-
ceived was not his. But we have said enough,
more with the aim of imparting instruction
than of answering an opponent, to show why
Joseph is called the father of our Lord, and
why Mary is called Joseph's wife. This ?1c'}(~.
. . — able _
1 Deut. xxii. 24, 25. 2 Deut, xxii. 23, 24. 8 Deut. xx. 7.
1 Is. vii. 14. See Cheyne's Isaiah, and critical note. ome
3 S. Luke ii. 27. 3 S. Luke ii. 41. 4 ib. ii. 43. iters
6 ib. i. 34. « S. Luke ii. 48, 7 S. Matt. i.
1 V
ound
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY.
337
at once answers the question why certain per-
sons are called his brethren.
5. This, however, is a point which will find
its proper place further on. We must now
hasten to other matters. The passage for
discussion now is, " And Joseph arose from
his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him, and took unto him his wife,
and knew her not till she had brought forth a
son, and he called his name Jesus." Here,
first of all, it is quite needless for our oppo-
nent to show so elaborately that the word know
has reference to coition, rather than to intel-
lectual apprehension : as though anyone de-
nied it, or any person in his senses could
ever imagine the folly which Helvidius takes
pains to refute. Then he would teach us
that the adverb till implies a fixed and definite
time, and when that is fulfilled, he says the
event takes place which previously did not
take place, as in the case before us, "and
knew her not till she had brought forth a
son." It is clear, says he, that she was known
after she brought forth, and that that knowl-
edge was only delayed by her engendering a
son. To defend his position he piles up text
upon text, waves his sword like a blind-folded
gladiator, rattles his noisy tongue, and ends
with wounding no one but himself.
6. Our reply is briefly this, — the words knew
and till in the language of Holy Scripture are
capable of a double meaning. As to the
former, he himself gave us a dissertation to
show that it must be referred to sexual inter-
course, and no one doubts that it is often used
of the knowledge of the understanding, as,
for instance, " the boy Jesus tarried behind in
Jerusalem, and his parents knew it not."
Now we have to prove that just as in the one
case he has followed the usage of Scripture,
so with regard to the word //// he is utterly
refuted by the authority of the same Scrip-
ture, which often denotes by its use a fixed
time (he himself told us so), frequently time
without limitation, as when God by the mouth
of the prophet says to certain persons,1 "Even
to old age I am he." Will He cease to be God
when they have grown old ? And the Saviour
in the Gospel tells the Apostles,2 " Lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the
world." Will the Lord then after the end of
the world has come forsake His disciples, and
at the very time when seated on twelve thrones
they are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel will
they be bereft of the company of their Lord ?
Again Paul the Apostle writing to the Corinth-
ians 3 says, " Christ the first-fruits, afterward
they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then
cometh the end, when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father,
1 Is. xlvi. 4.
2 S. Matt, xxviii. 20. 3 1 Cor. xv. 23 sq.
when he shall have put down all rule, and all
authority and power. For he must reign, till
he hath put all enemies under his feet."
Granted that the passage relates to our Lord's
human nature, we do not deny that the words
are spoken of Him who endured the cross and
is commanded to sit afterwards on the right
hand. What does he mean then by saying,
" for he must reign, till he hath put all enemies
under his feet " ? Is the Lord to reign only
until His enemies begin to be under His feet,
and once they are under His feet will He cease
to reign ? Of course His reign will then com-
mence in its fulness when His enemies begin
to be under His feet. David also in the fourth
Song of Ascents' speaks thus, "Behold, as the
eyes of servants look unto the hand of their
master, as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand
of her mistress, so our eyes look unto the
Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us."
Will the prophet, then, look unto the Lord
until he obtain mercy, and when mercy is
obtained will he turn his eyes down to the
ground ? although elsewhere he says,2 " Mine
eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word
of thy righteousness." I could accumulate
countless instances of this usage, and cover
the verbosity of our assailant with a cloud of
proofs ; I shall, however, add only a few, and
leave the reader to discover like ones for him-
self.
7. The word of God says in Genesis,3 "And
they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods
which were in their hand, and the rings which
were in their ears ; and Jacob hid them under
the oak which was by Shechem, and lost them
until this day." Likewise at the end of Deu-
teronomy,4 " So Moses the servant of the Lord
died there in the land of Moab, according to
the word of the Lord. And he buried him in
the valley, in the land of Moab over against
Beth-peor : but no man knoweth of his
sepulchre unto this day." We must certainly
understand by this day the time of the compo-
sition of the history, whether you prefer the
view that Moses was the author of the Penta-
teuch or that Ezra re-edited it. In either
case I make no objection. The question now
is whether the words unto this day are to be
referred to the time of publishing or writing
the books, and if so it is for him to show, now
that so many years have rolled away since
that day, that either the idols hidden beneath
the oak have been found, or the grave of
Moses discovered; for he obstinately maintains
that what does not happen so long as the point
of time indicated by until and unto has not
been attained, begins to be when that point
1 Ps. cxxiii. 2. The songs of the i(p-goinss or ascents (t^v
ava.pcU)ixuv Sept., graduum Vulg.), are the fifteen psalms cxx.-
cxxxiv.
2 Ps. cxix. 123. 3 Gen. xxxv. 4, Sept. * Deut. xxxiv. 5-6.
338
JEROME.
has been reached. He would do well to pay
heed to the idiom of Holy Scripture, and
understand with us, (it was here he stuck in
the mud) that some things which might seem
ambiguous if not expressed are plainly inti-
mated, while others are left to the exercise of
our intellect. For if, while the event w^s still
fresh in memory and men were living who had
seen Moses, it was possible for his grave to be
unknown, much more may this be the case
after the lapse of so many ages. And in the
same way must we interpret what we are told
concerning Joseph. The Evangelist pointed
out a circumstance which might have given
rise to some scandal, namely, that Mary was
not known by her husband until she was de-
livered, and he did so that we might be the
more certain that she from whom Joseph
refrained while there was room to doubt the
import of the vision was not known after her
delivery.
8. In short, what I want to know is why
Joseph refrained until the day of her delivery ?
Helvidius will of course reply, because he heard
the angel say,1 "that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost." And in turn we
rejoin that he had certainly heard him say, 2
" Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife." The reason why
he was forbidden to forsake his wife was that
he might not think her an adulteress. Is it
true then, that he was ordered not to have
intercourse with his wife ? Is it not plain that
the warning was given him that he might not
be separated from her ? And could the just
man dare, he says, to think of approaching her,
when he heard that the Son of God was in her
womb ? Excellent ! We are to believe then
that the same man who gave so much credit
to a dream that he did not dare to touch his
wife, yet afterwards, when he had learnt from
the shepherds that the angel of the Lord had
come from heaven and said to them,3 "Be
not afraid : for behold I bring you good tid-
ings of great joy which shall be to all people,
for there is born to you this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord ; "
and when the heavenly host had joined with
him in the chorus4 " Glory to God in the high-
est, and on earth peace among men of good
will ; " and when he had seen just Simeon em-
brace the infant and exclaim,5 " Now lettest
thou thy servant depart, O Lord, according to
thy word in peace : for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation ;" and when he had seen Anna
the prophetess, the Magi, the Star, Herod, the
angels ; Helvidius, I say, would have us believe
that Joseph, though well acquainted with such
1 S. Matt. i. 20.
3 S. Luke ii. io sq.
6 ib. ii. 29.
2 S. Matt. i. 20.
4 S. Luke ii. 14.
surprising wonders, dared to touch the temple of
God, the abode of the Holy Ghost, the mother
of his Lord. Mary at all events " kept all
these sayings in her heart." You cannot for
shame say Joseph did not know of them, for
Luke tells us,1 "His father and mother were
marvelling at the things which were spoken
concerning Him." And yet you with marvel-
lous effrontery contend that the reading of the
Greek manuscripts is corrupt, although it is
that which nearly all the Greek writers have
left us in their books, and not only so, but sev-
eral of the Latin writers have taken the words
the same way. Nor need we now consider
the variations in the copies, since the whole
record both of the Old and New Testament
has since that time been2 translated into Latin,
and we must believe that the water of the
fountain flows purer than that of the stream.
9. Helvidius will answer, " What you say, is
in my opinion mere trifling. Your arguments
are so much waste of time, and the discussion
shows more subtlety than truth. Why could
not Scripture say, as it said of Thamar and
Judah,3 ' And he took his wife, and knew her
again no more ' ? Could not Matthew find
words to express his meaning ? ' He knew
her not,' he says, ' until she brought forth a son.'
He did then, after her delivery, know her,
whom he had refrained from knowing until
she was delivered."
10. If you are so contentious, your own
thoughts shall now prove your master. You
must net allow any time to intervene between
delivery and intercourse. You must not say,4
" If a woman conceive seed and bear a man
child, then she shall be unclean seven days ;
as in the days of the separation of her sick-
ness shall she be unclean. And in the eighth
day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circum-
cised. And she shall continue in the blood
of her purifying three and thirty days. She
shall touch no hallowed thing," and so forth.
On your showing, Joseph must at once ap-
proach her, and be subject to Jeremiah's 5 re-
proof, " They were as mad horses in respect of
women : every one neighed after his neigh-
bour's wife." Otherwise, how can the words
stand good, " he knew her not, till she had
brought forth a son," if he waits after the
time of another purifying has expired, if his
lust must brook another long delay of forty
days ? The mother must go unpurged from
her child-bed taint, and the wailing infant be
attended to by the midwives, while the hus-
band clasps his exhausted wife. Thus for-
1 S. Luke ii. 33.
2 The allusion is to the Old Latin, the Versio Itala. The quo-
tations which follow stand differently in Jerome's Vulgate, made
subsequently (391-404). The argument is that, since the copies
of the Latin version substantially agree in the present case, it is
futile to suppose variations in the original.
8 Gen. xxxviii. 26. * Lev. xii. 2-3 margin. 6 Jer. v. 8.
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY.
339
sooth must their married life begin so that
the Evangelist may not be convicted of false-
hood. But God forbid that we should think
thus of the Saviour's mother and of a just
man. No midwife assisted at His birth ; no
women's officiousness intervened. With her
own hands she wrapped Him in the swaddling
clothes, herself both mother and midwife,1 " and
laid Him," we are told, " in a manger, because
there was no room for them in the inn " ; a
statement which, on the one hand, refutes the
ravings of the apocryphal accounts, for Mary
herself wrapped Him in the swaddling clothes,
and on the other makes the voluptuous notion
of Helvidius impossible, since there was no
place suitable for married intercourse in the inn.
ii. An ample reply has now been given to
what he advanced respecting the words before
they came together, and he knew her not till
she had brought forth a son. I must now
proceed, if my reply is to follow the order of
his argument, to the third point. He will
have it that Mary bore other sons, and he
quotes the passage,2 " And Joseph also went
up to the city of David to enroll himself with
Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great
with child. And it came to pass, while they
were there, the days were fulfilled that she
should be delivered, and she brought forth
her first-born son. " From this he endeavours
to show that the term first-born is inapplicable
except to a person who has brothers, just as
he is called only begotten who is the only son of
his parents.
12. Our position is this : Every only begot-
ten son is a first-born son, but not every first-
born is an only begotten. By first-born we
understand not only one who is succeeded by
others, but one who has had no predecessor.
3 "Everything," says the Lord to Aaron, "that
openeth the womb of all flesh which they offer
unto the Lord, both of man and beast, shall be
thine : nevertheless the first born of man shalt
thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean
beasts shalt thou redeem." The word of God
defines first-born as everything that openeth
the womb. Otherwise, if the title belongs to
such only as have younger brothers, the priests
cannot claim the firstlings until their successors
have been begotten, lest, perchance, in case
there were no subsequent delivery it should
prove to be not only the first-born, but also the
only-begotten.4 " And those that are to be re-
deemed of them from a month old shalt thou
redeem, according to thine estimation for the
money of five shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs). But
the firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep,
or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem ;
1 S. Luke ii. 7.
3 Numb, xviii. 15.
2 S. Luke ii. 4 sq.
4 Numb, xviii. 16.
they are holy." The word of God compels me to
dedicate to God everything that openeth the
womb if it be the firstling of clean beasts : if
of unclean beasts, I must redeem it, and give
the value to the priest. 1 might reply and say,
Why do you tie me down to the short space of
a month ? Why do you speak of the first-born,
when I cannot tell whether there are brothers
to follow ? Wait until the second is born. I
owe nothing to the priest, unless the birth of
a second should make the one I previously
had the first-born. Will not the very points
of the letters cry out against me and convict
me of my folly, and declare that first-born is a
title of him who opens the womb, and is not
to be restricted to him who has brothers?
And, then, to take the case of John : we are
agreed that he was an only begotten son : I
want to know if he was not also a first-born
son, and whether he was not absolutely ame-
nable to the law. There can be no doubt
in the matter. At all events Scripture thus
speaks of the Saviour,1 " And when the days
of her purification according to the law of
Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to
Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord (as it
is written in the law of the Lord, every male
that openeth the womb shall be called holy to
the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice according to
that which is said in the law of the Lord, a
pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons."
If this law relates only to the first-born, and
there can be no first-born unless there are suc-
cessors, no one ought to be bound by the law
of the first-born who cannot tell whether there
will be successors. But inasmuch as he who
has no younger brothers is bound by the law
of the first-born, we gather that he is called the
first-born who opens the womb and who has
been preceded by none, not he whose birth is
followed by that of a younger brother. Moses
writes in Exodus,2 " And it came to pass at
midnight, that the Lord smote all the first-born
in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of
Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-
born of the captive that was in the dungeon :
And all the first-born of cattle." Tell me,
were they who then perished by the destroyer,
only your first-born, or, something more, did
they include the only begotten ? If only they
who have brothers are called first-born, the
only begotten were saved from death. And
if it be the fact that the only begotten were
slain, it was contrary to the sentence pro-
nounced, for the only begotten to die as well
as the first-born. You must either release the
only begotten from the penalty, and in that
case you become ridiculous : or, if you allow-
that they were slain, we gain our point, though
1 S. Luke ii. 22 sq.
2 Exod. xii. 29.
340
JEROME.
we have not to thank you for it, that only be-
gotten sons also are called first-born.
13. The last proposition of Helvidius was
this, and it is what he wished to show when
he treated of the first-born, that brethren of the
Lord are mentioned in the Gospels. For ex-
ample,1 "Behold, his mother and his brethren
stood without, seeking to speak to him."
And elsewhere,2 " After this he went down
to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his
brethren." And again,3 "His brethren there-
fore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into
Judsea, that thy disciples also may behold the
works which thou doest. For no man doeth
anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be
known openly. If thou doest these things,
manifest thyself to the world." And John
adds,4 " For even his brethren did not believe
on him." Mark also and Matthew,6 "And
coming into his own country he taught them
in their synagogues, insomuch that they were
astonished, and said, Whence hath this man
this wisdom, and mighty works ? Is not this
the carpenter's son ? is not his mother called
Mary? and his brethren James, and Joseph,
and Simon, and Judas ? And his sisters, are
they not all with us?" Luke also in the Acts
of the Apostles relates,6 " These all with one
accord continued stedfastly in prayer, with
the women and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and with his brethren." Paul the Apostle also
is at one with them, and witnesses to their
historical accuracy, 7 " And I went up by
revelation, but other of the apostles saw I
none, save Peter and James the Lord's
brother." And again in another place,8 " Have
we no right to eat and drink ? Have we no
right to lead about wives even as the rest of
the Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord,
and Cephas ? " And for fear any one should
not allow the evidence of the Jews, since it
was they from whose mouth we hear the name
of His brothers, but should maintain that
His countrymen were deceived by the same
error in respect of the brothers into which
they fell in their belief about the father,
Helvidius utters a sharp note of warning
and cries, " The same names are repeated
by the Evangelists in another place, and
the same persons are there brethren of the
Lord and sons of Mary." Matthew says,9
" And many women were there (doubtless at
the Lord's cross) beholding from afar, which
had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering
unto him : among whom was Mary Magda-
lene, and Mary the mother of James and
1 S. Matt. xii. 46.
8 S. John vii. 3, 4.
6 S. Matt. xiii. 54, 55.
0 Acts i. 14.
8 1 Cor. ix. 4, 5.
0 S. Matt, xxvii. 55, 56. For Joses, Jerome has Joseph.
2 S. John ii. 12.
4 S. John vii. 5
S. Mark vi. 1-3.
7 Gal. ii.
".'•
Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebe-
dee." Mark also,1 "And there were also
women beholding from afar, among whom
were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the
mother of James the less and of Joses, and
Salome " ; and in the same place shortly after,
" And many other women which came up with
him unto Jerusalem." Luke too,2 " Now there
were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary
the mother of James, and the other women
with them."
14. My reason for repeating the same thing
again and again is to prevent him from rais-
ing a false issue and crying out that I have
withheld such passages as make for him,
and that his view has been torn to shreds
not by evidence of Scripture, but by eva-
sive arguments. Observe, he says, James
and Joses are sons of Mary, and the same
persons who were called brethren by the
Jews. Observe, Mary is the mother of James
the less and of Joses. And James is called
the less to distinguish him from James the
greater, who was the son of Zebedee, as
Mark elsewhere states,3 "And Mary Magda-
lene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld
where he was laid. And when the sabbath
was past, they bought spices, that they might,
come and anoint him. " And, as might be ex-
pected, he says : " What a poor and impious
view we take -of Mary, if we hold that when
other women were concerned about the burial
of Jesus, she His mother was absent ; or if we
invent some kind of a second Mary ; and all
the more because the Gospel of S. John testifies
that she was there present, when the Lord
upon the cross commended her, as His mother
and now a widow, to the care of John. Or
must we suppose that the Evangelists were so
far mistaken and so far mislead us as to call
Mary the mother of those who were known
to the Jews as brethren of Jesus ? "
15. What darkness, what raging madness
rushing to its own destruction ! You say that
the mother of the Lord was present at the
cross, you say that she was entrusted to the
disciple John on account of her widowhood and
solitary condition : as if upon your own show-
ing, she had not four sons, and numerous
daughters, with whose solace she might com-
fort herself ? You also apply to her the name
of widow which is not found in Scripture.
And although you quote all instances in the
Gospels, the words of John alone displease
you. You say in passing that she was pres-
ent at the cross, that you may not appear to
have omitted it on purpose, and yet not a
word about the women who were with her. I
could pardon you if you were ignorant, but I
1 S. Marc. xv. 40, 41. For Joses, Jerome has Joseph.
2 S. Luc. xxiv. 10. 3 S. Mark xv. 47 : xvi. 1.
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY.
34 r
see you have a reason for your silence. Let
me point out then what John says,1 " But there
were standing by the cross of Jesus his
mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife
of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. " No one
doubts that there were two apostles called by
the name James, James the son of Zebedee,
and James the son of Alphseus. Do you in-
tend the comparatively unknown James the
less, who is called in Scripture the son of
Mary, not however of Mary the mother of
our Lord, to be an apostle, or not ? If he is
an apostle, he must be the son of Alphseus
and a believer in Jesus, " For neither did his
brethren believe in him." If he is not an
apostle, but a third James (who he can be
I cannot tell), how can he be regarded as
the Lord's brother, and how, being a third,
can he be called less to distinguish him from
greater, when greater and less are used to de-
note the relations existing, not between three,
but between two ? Notice, moreover, that the
Lord's brother is an apostle, since Paul says,2
" Then after three years I went up to Jerusa-
lem to visit Cephas, and tarried with him fif-
teen days. But other of the Apostles saw I
none, save James the Lord's brother." And in
the same Epistle,3 " And when they perceived
the grace that was given unto me, James and
Cephas and John, who were reputed to be
pillars," etc. And that you may not suppose
this James to be the son of Zebedee, you have
only to read the Acts of the Apostles, and
you will find that the latter had already been
slain by Herod. The only conclusion is that
the Mary who is described as the mother of
James the less was the wife of Alphoeus and
sister of Mary the Lord's mother, the one who
is called by John the Evangelist " Mary of
Clopas," whether after her father, or kindred,
or for some other reason. But if you think
they are two persons because elsewhere we read,
" Mary the mother of James the less," and here,
" Mary of Clopas," you have still to learn
that it is customary in Scripture for the same
individual to bear different names. Raguel,
Moses' father-in-law, is also called Jethro.
Gedeon,4 without any apparent reason for the
change, all at once becomes Jerubbaal. Ozias,
king of Judah, has an alternative, Azarias.
Mount Tabor is called Itabyrium. Again
Hermon is called by the Phenicians Sanior,
and by the Amorites Sanir. The same tract
of country is known by three names,0 Negebh,
Teman, and Darom in Ezekiel. Peter is also
called Simon and Cephas. Judas the zealot
1 S. John xix. 25. 2 Gal. i. 18, iq.
3 Gal. ii. 9. 4 But see Judges vi. 2.
6 The Heb. Negebh signifies South, and it is probable that
the land of Teman was a southern portion of the land of Edom.
If Darom be the right reading, it is. apparently, the same as
Dedan (Ezek. xxv. 13, etc.
VOL. VI.
in another Gospel is called Thaddaeus. And
there are numerous other examples which the
reader will be able to collect for himself from
every part of Scripture.
16. Now here we have the explanation of
what I am endeavouring to show, how it is that
the sons of Mary, the sister of our Lord's
mother, who though not formerly believers
afterwards did believe, can be called brethren
of the Lord. Possibly the case might be that
one of the brethren believed immediately
while the others did not believe until long
after, and that one Mary was the mother of
James and Joses, namely, " Mary of Clopas,"
who is the same as the wife of Alphaeus, the
other, the mother of James the less. In any
case, if she (the latter) had been the Lord's
mother S. John would have allowed her the title,
as everywhere else, and would not by calling
her the mother of other sons have given a
wrong impression. But at this stage I do not
wish to argue for or against the supposition
that Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary the
mother of James and Joses were different
women, provided it is clearly understood that
Mary the mother of James and Joses was not
the same person as the Lord's mother. How
then, says Helvidius, do you make out that they
were called the Lord's brethren who were not his
brethren? I will show how that is. In Holy
Scripture there are four kinds of brethren —
by nature, race, kindred, love. Instances of
brethren by nature are Esau and Jacob, the
twelve patriarchs, Andrew and Peter, James
and John. As to race, all Jews are called
brethren of one another, as in Deuteronomy,
1 " If thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an
Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve
thee six years ; then in the seventh year thou
shalt let him go free from thee." And in the
same book,2 " Thou shalt in anywise set him
king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall
choose : one from among thy brethren shalt
thou set king over thee ; thou mayest not put
a foreigner over thee, which is not thy brother."
And again,3 " Thou shalt not see thy brother's
ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself
from them : thou shalt surely bring them
again unto thy brother. And if thy brother
be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him
not, then thou shalt bring it home to thine
house, and it shall be with thee until thy
brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it
to him again." And the Apostle Paul says,
4 " I could wish that I myself were anathema
from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kins-
men according to the flesh : who are Israel-
ites." Moreover they are called brethren by
kindred who are of one family, that is narpia,
1 Deut. xv. 12.
3 Deut. xxii. 1.
2 Deut. xvii. 15.
4 Rom. ix. 3, 4.
342
JEROME.
which corresponds to the Latin paternitas, be-
cause from a single root a numerous progeny
proceeds. In Genesis1 we read, "And Abram
said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray
thee, between me and thee, and between my
herdmen and thy herdmen ; for we are breth-
And again, " So Lot chose him all the
ren
plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east :
and they separated each from his brother."
Certainly Lot was not Abraham's brother, but
the son of Abraham's brother Aram. For
Terah begat Abraham and Nahor and Aram :
and Aram begat Lot. Again we read,2 " And
Abram was seventy and five years old when
he departed out of Haran. And Abram took
Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son."
But if you still doubt whether a nephew can
be called a son, let me give you an instance.3
" And when Abram heard that his brother
was taken captive, he led forth his trained
men, born in his house, three hundred and
eighteen." And after describing the night
attack and the slaughter, he adds, " And
he brought back all the goods, and also
brought again his brother Lot." Let this suf-
fice by way of proof of my assertion. But
for fear you may make some cavilling objec-
tion, and wriggle out of your difficulty like a
snake, I must bind you fast with the bonds of
proof to stop your hissing and complaining,
for I know you would like to say you have
been overcome not so much by Scripture truth
as by intricate arguments. Jacob, the son of
Isaac and Rebecca, when in fear of his broth-
er's treachery he had gone to Mesopotamia,
drew nigh and rolled away the stone from
the mouth of the well, and watered the flocks
of Laban, his mother's brother.4 " And Jacob
kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and
wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was
her father's brother, and that he was Re-
bekah's son." Here is an example of the rule
already referred to, by which a nephew is
called a brother. And again,5 " Laban said
unto Jacob. Because thou art my brother,
shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought ?
Tell me what shall thy wages be." And so,
when, at the end of twenty years, without the
knowledge of his father-in-law and accom-
panied by his wives and sons he was return-
ing to his country, on Laban overtaking him
in the mountain of Gilead and failing to find
the idols which Rachel hid among the bag-
gage, Jacob answered and said to Laban,0
" What is my trespass ? What is my sin, that
thou hast so hotly pursued after me ? Where-
as thou hast felt all about my stuff, what hast
thou found of all thy household stuff? Set
it here before my brethren and thy brethren,
that they may judge betwixt us two." Tell
me who are those brothers of Jacob and
Laban who were present there ? Esau, Jacob's
brother, was certainly not there, and Laban,
the son of Bethuel, had no brothers although
he had a sister Rebecca.
17. Innumerable instances of the same kind
are to be found in the sacred books. But, to
be brief, I will return to the last of the four
classes of brethren, those, namely, who are
brethren by affection, and these again fall into
two divisions, those of the spiritual and those
of the general relationship. I say spiritual
because all of us Christians are called breth-
ren, as in the verse,1 " Behold, how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to-
gether in unity." And in another psalm the
Saviour says," " I will declare thy name unto
my brethren." And elsewhere,8 " Go unto
my brethren and say to them." I say also
general, because, being all children of one
Father, there is a like bond of brotherhood
between us all. * " Tell these who hate you,"
says the prophet, "ye are our brethren."
And the Apostle writing to the Corinthians :
5 " If any man that is named brother be a
fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or
a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner :
with such a one no, not to eat." I now ask
to which class you consider the Lord's
brethren in the Gospel must be assigned.
They are brethren by nature, you say. But
Scripture does not say so ; it calls them
neither sons of Mary, nor of Joseph. Shall
we say they are brethren by race ? But it
is absurd to suppose that a few Jews were
called His brethren when all Jews of the time
might upon this principle have borne the title.
Were they brethren by virtue of close intimacy
and the union of heart and mind ? If that
were so, who were more truly His brethren
than the apostles who received His private in-
struction and were called by Him His mother
and His brethren ? Again, if all men, as such,
were His brethren, it would have been foolish
to deliver a special message, "Behold, thy
brethren seek thee," for all men alike were
entitled to the name. The only alternative is
to adopt the previous explanation and under-
stand them to be called brethren in virtue of
the bond of kindred, not of love and sym-
pathy, nor by prerogative of race, nor yet by
nature. Just as Lot was called Abraham's
brother, and Jacob Laban's, just as the daugh-
ters of Zelophehad received a lot among their
brethren, just as Abraham himself had to wife
Sarah his sister, for he says,0 "She is in-
1 Gen. xiii. 8, 11.
8 Gen. xiv. 14.
6 Gen. xxix. 15.
a Gen. xii. 4.
4 Gen. xxix. 11.
6 Gen. xxxi. 36, 37,
1 Ps. exxxiii. 1.
J S. John xx. 17.
6 1 Cor, v. 11.
a Ps. xxii. 22.
4 Is. lxvi. 5.
s Gen. xx. 11.
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY.
343
deed my sister, on the father's side, not on the
mother's, " that is to say, she was the daugh-
ter of his brother, not of his sister. Other-
wise, what are we to say of Abraham, a just
man, taking to wife the daughter of his own
father ? Scripture, in relating the history of
the men of early times, does not outrage our
ears by speaking of the enormity in express
terms, but prefers to leave it to be inferred by
the reader : and God afterwards gives to the
prohibition the sanction of the law, and threat-
ens,1 " He who takes his sister, born of his
father, or of his mother, and beholds her
nakedness, hath commited abomination, he
shall be utterly destroyed. He hath uncovered
his sister's nakedness, he shall bear his sin."
1 8. There are things which, in your extreme
ignorance, you had never read, and therefore
you neglected the whole range of Scripture
and employed your madness in outraging the
Virgin, like the man in the story who being
unknown to everybody and finding that he
could devise no good deed by which to gain
renown, burned the temple of Diana : and
when no one revealed the sacrilegious act, it
is said that he himself went up and down
proclaiming that he was the man who had
applied the fire. The rulers of Ephesus were
curious to know what made him do this thing,
whereupon he replied that if he could not have
fame for good deeds, all men should give him
credit for bad ones. Grecian history relates the
incident. But you do worse. You have set on
fire the temple of the Lord's body, you have
defiled the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit from
which you are determined to make a team of
four brethren and a heap of sisters come forth.
In a word, joining in the chorus of the Jews
you say, a " Is not this the carpenter's son ? is
not his mother called Mary ? and his brethren
James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
and his sisters, are they not all with us ? The
word all would not be used if there were not
a crowd of them." Pray tell me, who, before
you appeared, was acquainted with this blas-
phemy ? who thought the theory worth two-
pence ? You have gained your desire, and are
become notorious by crime. For myself who
am your opponent, although we live in the
3 same city, I don't know, as the saying is,
whether you are white or black. I pass over
faults of diction Which abound in every book
you write. I say not a word about your absurd
introduction. Good heavens ! I do not ask
for eloquence, since, having none yourself, you
applied for a supply of it to your brother Crate-
rius. I do not ask for grace of style, I look
for purity of soul : for with Christians it is
1 Lev. xviii. 9.
a S. Matt. xiii. 55 :
3 That is, Rome,
S. Mark vi. 3.
the greatest of solecisms and of vices of style
to introduce anything base either in word or
action. I am come to the conclusion of my
argument. I will deal with you as though I
had as yet prevailed nothing ; and you will
find yourself on the horns of a dilemma. It
is clear that our Lord's brethren bore the name
in the same way that Joseph was called his
father : * " I and thy father sought thee sor-
rowing." It was His mother who said this, not
the Jews. The Evangelist himself relates that
His father and His mother were marvelling at
the things which were spoken concerning Him,
and there are similar passages which we have
already quoted in which Joseph and Mary are
called his parents. Seeing that you have been
foolish enough to persuade yourself that the
Greek manuscripts are corrupt, you will per-
haps plead the diversity of readings. I there-
fore come to the Gospel of John, and there it
is plainly written,2 " Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him of
whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
You will certainly find this in your manu-
script. Now tell me, how is Jesus the son of
Joseph when it is clear that He was begotten
of the Holy Ghost ? Was Joseph His true
father ? Dull as you are, you will not venture
to say that. Was he His reputed father ? If
so, let the same rule be applied to them when
they are called brethren, that you apply to
Joseph when he is called father.
19. Now that I have cleared the rocks and
shoals I must spread sail and make all speed
to reach his epilogue. Feeling himself to be
a smatterer, he there produces Tertullian as a
witness and quotes the words of Victorinus
bishop of 3Petavium. Of Tertullian I say no
more than that he did not belong to the
Church. But as regards Victorinus, I assert
what has already been proved from the Gospel
— that he spoke of the brethren of the Lord
not as being sons of Mary, but brethren in the
sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren
in point of kinship not by nature. We are,
however, spending our strength on trifles, and,
leaving the fountain of truth, are following the
tiny streams of opinion. Might I not array
against you the whole series of ancient writers ?
Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenceus, Justin Martyr,
and many other apostolic and eloquent men,
who against Ebion, Theodotus of Byzantium,
and Valentinus, held these same views, and
wrote volumes replete with wisdom. If you
had ever read what they wrote, you would be
a wiser man. But I think it better to reply
1 S. Luke i. 18.
'-' S. John i. 45.
3 That is. Pettau in Upper Pannonia. See Jerome, De Vir. III.
344
JEROME.
briefly to each point than to linger any longer
and extend my book to an undue length.
20. I now direct the attack against the pas-
sage in which, wishing to show your clever-
ness, you institute a comparison between
virginity and marriage. I could not forbear
smiling, and I thought of the proverb, did you
ever see a camel dance ? " Are virgins better,"
you ask, " than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
who were married men ? Are not infants daily
fashioned by the hands of God in the wombs
of their mothers ? And if so, are we bound to
blush at the thought of Mary having a husband
after she was delivered ? If they find any dis-
grace in this, they ought not consistently even
to believe that God was born of the Virgin by
natural delivery. For according to them there
is more dishonour in a virgin giving birth to
God by the organs of generation, than in a
virgin being joined to her own husband after
she has been delivered." Add, if you like,
Helvidius, the other humiliations of nature,
the womb for nine months growing larger,
the sickness, the delivery, the blood, the
swaddling-clothes. Picture to yourself the
infant in the enveloping membranes. Intro-
duce into your picture the hard manger, the
wailing of the infant, the circumcision on the
eighth day, the time of purification, so that he
may be proved to be unclean. We do not
blush, we are not put to silence. The greater
the humiliations He endured for me, the more
I owe Him. And when you have given every
detail, you will be able to produce nothing
more shameful than the cross, which we con-
fess, in which we believe, and by which we
triumph over our enemies.
21. But as we do not deny what is written,
so we do reject what is not written. We be-
lieve that God was born of the Virgin, because
we read it. That Mary was married after she
brought forth, we do not believe, because we
do not read it. Nor do we say this to condemn
marriage, for virginity itself is the fruit of
marriage ; but because when we are dealing
with saints we must not judge rashly. If we
adopt possibility as the standard of judgment,
we might maintain that Joseph had several
wives because Abraham had, and so had
Jacob, and that the Lord's brethren were the
issue of those wives, an invention which some
hold with a rashness which springs from au-
dacity not from piety. You say that Mary
did not continue a virgin : I claim still more,
that Joseph himself on account of Mary was a
virgin, so that from a virgin wedlock a virgin
son was born. For if as a holy man he does
not come under the imputation of fornication,
and it is nowhere written that he had another
wife, but was the guardian of Mary(whom he
was supposed to have to wife) rather than her
husband, the conclusion is that he who was
thought worthy to be called father of the Lord,
remained a virgin.
22. And now that I am about to institute a
comparison between virginity and marriage,
I beseech my readers not to suppose that in
praising virginity I have in the least dispar-
aged marriage, and separated the saints of the
Old Testament from those of the New, that
is to say, those who had wives and those
who altogether refrained from the embraces
of women : I rather think that in accordance
with the difference in time and circumstance
one rule applied to the former, another to us
upon whom the ends of the world have come.
So long as that law remained,1 " Be fruitful,
and multiply and replenish the earth"; and2
" Cursed is the barren woman that beareth not
seed in Israel," they all married and were
given in marriage, left father and mother, and
became one flesh. But once in tones of thun-
der the words were heard,3 " The time is
shortened, that henceforth those that have
wives may be as though they had none " :
cleaving to the Lord, we are made one spirit
with Him. And why?' Because "He that
is unmarried is careful for the things of the
Lord, how he may please the Lord : but he
that is married is careful for the things of the
world, how he may please his wife. And there
is a difference also between the wife and the
virgin. She that is unmarried is careful for
the things of the Lord, that she may be holy
both in body and in spirit : but she that is
married is careful for the things of the world,
how she may please her husband." Why do
you cavil ? Why do you resist ? The vessel
of election says this ; he tells us that there is
a difference between the wife and the virgin.
Observe what the happiness of that state must
be in which even the distinction of sex is lost.
The virgin is no longer called a woman.6
" She that is unmarried is careful for the
things of the Lord, that she may be holy both
in body and in spirit." A virgin is defined as
she that is holy in body and in spirit, for it is
no good to have virgin flesh if a woman be
married in mind.
" But she that is married is careful for the
things of the world, how she may please her
husband." Do you think there is no differ-
ence between one who spends her time in
prayer and fasting, and one who must, at
her husband's approach, make up her counte-
nance, walk with mincing gait, and feign a
shew of endearment ? The virgin's aim is to
appear less comely ; she will wrong herself
1 Gen. i. 28.
* Probably a mistranslation of Exod. xxiii. 26.
3 1 Cor. vii. 29. * ib. vii. 32, 33.
6 1 Cor. vii. 34.
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY.
345
so as to hide her natural attractions. The
married woman has the paint laid on be-
fore her mirror, and, to the insult of her
Maker, strives to acquire something more than
her natural beauty. Then come the prattling
of infants, the noisy household, children
watching for her word and waiting for her
kiss, the reckoning up of expenses, the prep-
aration to meet the outlay. On one side you
will see a company of cooks, girded for the
onslaught and attacking the meat : there you
may hear the hum of a multitude of weavers.
Meanwhile a message is delivered that the
husband and his friends have arrived. The
wife, like a swallow, flies all over the house.
" She has to see to everything. Is the sofa
smooth ? Is the pavement swept ? Are the
flowers in the cups ? Is dinner ready?" Tell
me, pray, where amid all this is there room for
the thought of God ? Are these happy homes?
Where there is the beating of drums, the noise
and clatter of pipe and lute, the clanging of
cymbals, can any fear of God be found ? The
parasite is snubbed and feels proud of the
honour. Enter next the half-naked victims
of the passions, a mark for every lustful eye.
The unhappy wife must either take pleasure
in them, and perish, or be displeased, and pro-
voke her husband. Hence arises discord, the
seed-plot of divorce. Or suppose you find me
a house where these things are unknown, which
is a vara avis indeed ! yet even there the very
management of the household, the education
of the children, the wants of the husband, the
correction of the servants, cannot fail to call
away the mind from the thought of God. ' " It
had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner
of women " : so the Scripture says, and after-
wards Abraham received the command,2 " In
all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto
her voice." She who is not subject to the
anxiety and pain of child-bearing and having
passed the change of life has ceased to per-
form the functions of a woman, is freed from
the curse of God : nor is her desire to her
husband, but on the contrary her husband be-
comes subject to her, and the voice of the
Lord commands him, " In all that Sarah saith
unto thee, hearken unto her voice." Thus
they begin to have time for prayer. For so
long as the debt of marriage is paid, earnest
prayer is neglected.
23. I do not deny that holy women are
found both among widows and those who
have husbands ; but they are such as have
ceased to be wives, or such as, even in the
close bond of marriage, imitate virgin chas-
tity. The Apostle, Christ speaking in him,
briefly bore witness to this when he said,
1 Gen. xviii. u.
2 Gen. xxi. 12.
1 " She that is unmarried is careful for the
things of the Lord, how she may please the
Lord : but she that is married is careful for
the things of the world, how she may please
her husband." He leaves us the free exercise
of our reason in the matter. He lays no
necessity upon anyone nor leads anyone into
a snare : he only persuades to that which is
proper when he wishes all men to be as him-
self. He had not, it is true, a commandment
from the Lord respecting virginity, for that
grace surpasses the unassisted power of man,
and it would have worn an air of immodesty
to force men to fly in the face of nature, and
to say in other words, I want you to be what
the angels are. It is this angelic purity which
secures to virginity its highest reward, and the
Apostle might have seemed to despise a course
of life which involves no guilt. Nevertheless
in the immediate context he adds,2 " But I give
my judgment, as one that hath obtained
mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I think
therefore that this is good by reason of the
present distress, namely, that it is good for a
man to be as he is." What is meant by pres-
ent distress ? 3 " Woe unto them that are with
child and to them that give suck in those
days ! " The reason why the wood grows up
is that it may be cut down. The field is
sown that it may be reaped. The world is
already full, and the population is too large
for the soil. Every day we are being cut
down by war, snatched away by disease, swal-
lowed up by shipwreck, although we go to
law with one another about the fences of our
property. It is only one addition to the gen-
eral rule which is made by those who follow
the Lamb, and who have not defiled their gar-
ments, for they have continued in their virgin
state. Notice the meaning of defiling. I shall
not venture to explain it, for fear Helvidius
may be abusive. I agree with you, when you
say, that some virgins are nothing but tavern
women ; I say still more, that even adulteresses
may be found among them, and, you will no
doubt be still more surprised to hear, that
some of the clergy are inn-keepers and some
monks unchaste. Who does not at once
understand that a tavern woman cannot be a
virgin, nor an adulterer a monk, nor a clergy-
man a tavern-keeper ? Are we to blame vir-
ginity if its counterfeit is at fault ? For my
part, to pass over other persons and come to
the virgin, I maintain that she who is engaged
in huckstering, though for anything I know
she may be a virgin in body, is no longer one
in spirit.
24. I have become rhetorical, and have dis-
ported myself a little like a platform orator.
1 1 Cor. vii. 34.
8 Matt. xxiv. 19 : S- Mark xiii. 17,
1 Cor. vii. 25
34^
JEROME.
Yon compelled me, Helvidius ; for, brightly as
the Gospel shines at the present day, you will
have it that equal glory attaches to virginity
and to the marriage state. And because I
think that, finding the truth too strong for you,
you will turn to disparaging my life and abusing
my character (it is the way of weak women to
talk tittle-tattle in corners when they have been
put down by their masters), I shall anticipate
you. I assure you that I shall regard your
railing as a high distinction, since the same
lips that assail me have disparaged Mary, and
I, a servant of the Lord, am favoured with
the same barking eloquence as His mother.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.
Book I.
Jovinianus, concerning whom we know little more than is to be found in the two following books, had
published at Rome a Latin treatise containing all, or part of the opinions here controverted, viz. (l) " That a
virgin is no better as such than a wife in the sight of God. (2) Abstinence is no better than a thankful
partaking of food. (3) A person baptized with the Spirit as well as with water cannot sin. (4) All sins are
equal. (5) There is but one grade of punishment and one of reward in the future state." In addition to this
he held the birth of our Lord to have been by a "true parturition," and was thus at issue with the orthodoxy of the
time, according to which the infant Jesus passed through the walls of the womb as His Resurrection body after-
wards did out of the tomb or through the closed doors. Pammachius, Jerome's friend, brought Jovinian's book
under the notice of Siricius, bishop of Rome, and it was shortly afterwards condemned in synods at that city
and at Milan (about A.D. 390). He subsequently sent Jovinian's books to Jerome, who answered them in the
present treatise in the year 393. Nothing more is known of Jovinian ; we only know by inference from Jerome's
remark in the treatise against Vigilantius, where Jovinian is Baid to have " amidst pheasants and pork
rather belched out than breathed out his life," and by a kind of transmigration to have transmitted his opinions
into Vigilantius, that he had died before 409, the date of that work.
The first book is wholly on the first proposition of Jovinianus, that relating to marriage and virginity. The
first three chapters are introductory. The rest may be divided into three parts :
1 (ch. 4-13). An exposition, in Jerome's sense, of St. Paul's teaching in 1 Cor. vii.
2 (ch. 14-39). A statement of the teaching which Jerome derives from the various books of both the Old
and the New Testaments.
3. A denunciation of Jovinianus (c. 40), and the praises of virginity and of single marriages derived from
examples in the heathen world.
The treatise gives a remarkable specimen of Jerome's system of interpreting Scripture, and also of the
methods by which asceticism was introduced into the Church, and marriage brought into disesteem.
1. Very few days have elapsed since the
holy brethren of Rome sent to me the treat-
ises of a certain Jovinian with the request
that I would reply to the follies contained in
them, and would crush with evangelical and
apostolic vigour the ' Epicurus of Christianity.
I read but could not in the least comprehend
them. I began therefore to give them closer
attention, and to thoroughly sift not only
words and sentences, but almost every single
syllable ; for I wished first to ascertain his
meaning, and then to approve, or refute what
he had said. But the style is so barbarous,
and the language so vile and such a heap of
blunders, that I could neither understand what
he was talking about, nor by what arguments
he was trying to prove his points. At one
From this expression and that quoted in the notice above, it
would be supposed that Jerome knew Jovinianus and his mode
ot lite. But there is no reason to think that he had this knowl-
edge ; and his imputations against his adversary must be taken
as the inferences which he draws from his opinions
moment he is all bombast, at another he
grovels : from time to time he lifts himself up,
and then like a wounded snake finds his own
effort too much for him. Not satisfied with
the language of men, he attempts something
loftier.
1 " The mountains labour : a poor mouse is born."
2 " That he's gone mad ev'n mad Orestes swears."
Moreover he involves everything in such in-
extricable confusion that the saying of 3Plau-
tus might be applied to him : — " This is what
none but a Sibyl will ever read."
To understand him we must be prophets.
We read Apollo's4 raving prophetesses. We
remember, too, what 6 Virgil says of senseless
1 Hor. Ars Poet. 139.
" Pers. Sat. iii. 118.
3 Plautus, Pseudolus, i. 1. 23.
Has quidem, pol, credo, nisi Sibylla legerit,
Interpretari alium potesse neminem.
* rhe allusion is probably to the Sybilline books.
" Jh.n. x. 640.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
347
noise. ' Heraclitus, also, surnamed the Ob-
scure, the philosophers find hard to under-
stand even with their utmost toil. But what
are they compared with our riddle-maker,
whose books are much more difficult to com-
prehend than to refute ? Although (we must
confess) the task of refuting them is no easy
one. For how can you overcome a man
when you are quite in the dark as to his
meaning ? But, not to be tedious to my reader,
the introduction to his second book, of which
he has discharged himself like a sot after a
night's debauch, will show the character of
his eloquence, and through what bright flow-
ers of rhetoric he takes his stately course.
2. " I respond to your invitation, not that
I may go through life with a high reputation,
but may live free from idle rumour. I be-
seech the ground, the young shoots of our
plantations, the plants and trees of tender-
ness snatched from the whirlpool of vice, to
grant me audience and the support of many
listeners. We know that the Church through
hope, faith, charity, is inaccessible and im-
pregnable. In it no one is immature : all are
apt to learn : none can force a way into it by
violence, or deceive it by craft."
3. What, I ask, is the meaning of these
portentous words and of this grotesque de-
scription ? Would you not think he was in a
feverish dream, or that he was seized with
madness and ought to be put into the strait
jacket which Hippocrates prescribed ? How-
ever often I read him, even till my heart sinks
within me, I am still in uncertainty of his
meaning.2 Everything starts from, everything
depends upon, something else. It is impos-
sible to make out any connection ; and, ex-
cepting the proofs from Scripture which he
has not dared to exchange for his own lovely
flowers of rhetoric, his words suit all matter
equally well, because they suit no matter at
all. This circumstance led me shrewdly to
suspect that his object in proclaiming the ex-
cellence of marriage was only to disparage
virginity. For when the less is put upon a
level with the greater, the lower profits by
comparison, but the higher suffers wrong.
For ourselves, we do not follow the views of
3 Marcion and Manichseus, and disparage mar-
riage ; nor, deceived by the error of 4 Tatian,
1 The philosopher of Ephesus. Flourished about B. C. 513.
2 Ibi est distinctio. Instead of clearness we have to make a
choice between possible meanings.
3 Marcion lived about A. D.ijo.and was co-temporary with Poly-
carp, who is said to have had a personal encounter with him at
Rome. Unlike other Gnostics he professed to be purely Chris-
tian in his doctrines. He is specially noted for his violent treat-
ment of Scripture : he rejected the whole of the Old Testament,
while of the New he acknowledged only the Gospel of S. Luke and
ten of S. Paul's Epistles, and from these he expunged whatever
he did not approve of. His sect lasted until the sixth century.
4 By birth an Assyrian, and a pupil of Justin Martyr. His
followers were called Encratites, or Temperates, from their great
austerity. They also bore the names Water-drinkers and Re-
nouncers.
the leader of the Encratites, do we think all
intercourse impure ; he condemns and rejects
not only marriage but also food which God
created for the use of man. We know that
in a great house, there are not only vessels of
gold and silver, but also of wood and earthen-
ware. And that upon the foundation, Christ,
which Paul the master-builder laid, some build
gold, silver, precious stones : others, on the
contrary, hay, wood, straw. We are not igno-
rant of the words, ' " Marriage is honourable
among all, and the bed undefiled. " We have
read God's first command,2 "Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth " ; but while
we honour marriage we prefer virginity which
is the offspring of marriage. Will silver cease
to be silver, if gold is more precious than sil-
ver ? Or is despite done to tree and corn, if
we prefer the fruit to root and foliage, or the
grain to stalk and ear ? Virginity is to mar-
riage what fruit is to the tree, or grain to the
straw. Although the hundred-fold, the sixty-
fold, and the thirty -fold spring from one earth
and from one sowing, yet there is a great dif-
ference in respect of number. The thirty-fold
has reference to marriage. The very way the
3 fingers are combined — see how they seem to
embrace, tenderly kiss, and pledge their troth
either to other — is a picture of husband and
wife. The sixty-fold applies to widows, be-
cause they are placed in a position of diffi-
culty and distress. Hence the upper finger sig-
nifies their depression, and the greater the
difficulty in resisting the allurements of pleas-
ure once experienced, the greater the reward.
Moreover (give good heed, my reader), to
denote a hundred, the right hand is used
instead of the left : a circle is made with the
same fingers which on the left hand rep-
resented widowhood, and thus the crown of
virginity is expressed. In saying this I have
followed my own impatient spirit rather
than the course of the argument. For I
had scarcely left harbour, and had barely
hoisted sail, when a swelling tide of words
suddenly swept me into the depths of the dis-
cussion. I must stay my course, and take in
canvas for a little while ; nor will I indulge
my sword, anxious as it is to strike a blow for
virginity. The farther back the catapult is
drawn, the greater the force of the missile.
To linger is not to lose, if by lingering victory
is better assured. I will briefly set forth our
adversary's views, and will drag them out from
1 Heb. xiii, 4- The Revised Ver. translates " let marriage be.
etc." There is no verb in the original, the'sentence being prob-
ably designed to be a Christian proverb, and capable of serving
either as an assertion or as a precept. The revised rendering is
preferred by the chief modern commentators.
2 Gen. i. 28.
3 For much interesting information relating to counting on
the fingers, and for authorities on the subject, see Mayor's note
on Juvenal x. 249.
34*
JEROME.
his hooks like snakes from the holes where
they hide, and will separate the venomous
head from the writhing body. What is bane-
ful shall be discovered, that, when we have
the power, it may be crushed.
He says that " virgins, widows, and married
women, who have been once passed through
the laver of Christ, if they are on a par in
other respects, arc of equal merit."
He endeavours to show that " they who with
full assurance of faith have been born again in
baptism, cannot be overthrown by the devil."
His third point is " that there is no difference
between abstinence from food, and its recep-
tion with thanksgiving."
The fourth and last is "that there is one
reward in the kingdom of heaven for all who
have kept their baptismal vow."
4. This is the hissing of the old serpent ; by
counsel such as this the dragon drove man
from Paradise. For he promised that if they
would prefer fulness to fasting they should be
immortal, as though it were an impossibility
for them to fall ; and while he promises they
shall be as Gods, he drives them from Para-
dise, with the result that they who, while
naked and unhampered, and as virgins un-
spotted enjoyed the fellowship of the Lord,
were cast down into the vale of tears, and
sewed skins together to clothe themselves
withal. But, not to detain the reader any
longer, I will keep to the division given above,
and taking his propositions one by one will
rely chiefly on the evidence of Scripture to
refute them, for fear he may chatter and com-
plain that he was overcome by rhetorical skill
rather than by force of truth. If I succeed in
this and with the aid of a cloud of witnesses
from both Testaments prove too strong for
him, I will then accept his challenge, and
adduce illustrations from secular literature. I
will show that even among philosophers and
distinguished statesmen, the virtuous are wont
to be preferred by all to the voluptuous, that
is to say men like ' Pythagoras, ' Plato and
' Aristides, to 4 Aristippus, '* Epicurus and
1 The philosopher of Crotona, in Italy;, B. C. 580-510. See
Some of his sayings in Jerome's Apology, iii. 39-40.
3 The great teacher of the Academy at Athens ; lived B. C.
428-389.
3 Surnamed the " Just." He was the opponent of Themis-
toclcs. He fought at Marathon (400), and although in exile
did good service at Salamis (480). He was now recalled, and
after commanding the Athenians at Platoea (470) died, probabiy
in 468, so poor that he did not leave enougn to pay for his
funeral.
* Flourished about B. C. 370. A disciple of Socrates, and
founder of theCyrenaic School of Philosophy; he was luxurious
in his life, and held pleasure to be the highest good.
6 Epicurus (B. C. 342-270), though a disciple of Aristippus,
does not appear to have deserved the odium attached to his
name by Jerome and many others. " Pleasure with him was not
a mere momentary and transitory sensation, but something last-
ing and imperishable, consisting in pure and noble enjoyments,
that is, in arapagia and airovia, or the freedom from pain and
from all influences which disturb the peace of our mind, and
thereby our happiness which is the result of it." See Zeller's
Socrates and the Socratic Schools (Reichel's translation), sec-
pnd ed., p. 337 sq.
1 Alcibiades. I entreat virgins of both sexes
and all such as are continent, the married also
and the twice married, to assist my efforts with
their prayers. Jovinian is the common enemy.
For he who maintains all to be of equal merit,
does no less injury to virginity in comparing it
with marriage than he does to marriage, when
he allows it to be lawful, but to the same ex-
tent as second and third marriages. But to dig-
amists and trigamists also he does wrong, for he
places on a level with them whoremongers and
the most licentious persons as soon as they
have repented ; but perhaps those who have
been married twice or thrice ought not to com-
plain, for the same whoremonger if penitent
is made equal in the kingdom of heaven even
to virgins. I will therefore explain more
clearly and in proper sequence the arguments
he employs and the illustrations he adduces
respecting marriage, and will treat them in the
order in which he states them. And I beg the
reader not to be disturbed if he is compelled
to read Jovinian's nauseating trash. He will
all the more gladly drink Christ's antidote
after the devil's poisonous concoction. Listen
with patience, ye virgins ; listen, I pray you,
to the voice of the most voluptuous of preach-
ers ; nay rather close your ears, as you would
to the Syren's fabled songs, and pass on. For
a little while endure the wrongs you suffer :
think you are crucified with Christ, and are
listening to the blasphemies of the Pharisees.
5. First of all, he says, God declares that
■ " therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and
they shall be one flesh." And lest we should
say that this is a quotation from the Old
Testament, he asserts that it has been 3 con-
firmed by the Lord in the Gospel — " What God
hath joined together, let not man put asun-
der": and he immediately adds,4 "Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth." He
next repeats the names of Seth, Enos, Cainan,
Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
Noah, and tells us that they all had wives and
in accordance with the will of God begot sons,
as though there could be any table of descent
or any history of mankind without wives and
children. "There," says he, "is Enoch, who
walked with God and was carried up to heaven.
There is Noah, the only person who, except his
wife, and his sons and their wives, was saved at
the deluge, although there must have been many
persons not of marriageable age, and therefore
presumably virgins. Again, after the deluge,
when the human race started as it were anew,
men and women were paired together and a
fresh blessing was pronounced on procreation,
1 The famous Athenian, talented, reckless and unscrupulous ,*
born about B. C. 450, assassinated 404.
2 Gen. ii. 24. 8 Matt. xix. 5. * Gen. i. 28 ; ix. 1,
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
349
1 " Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth." Moreover, free permission was given to
eat flesh,2 " Every moving thing that liveth
shall be food for you ; as the green herb have
I given you all." He then flies off to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, of whom the first had three
wives, the second one, the third four, Leah,
Rachel, Billah, and Zilpah, and he declares that
Abraham by his faith merited the blessing
which he received in begetting his son. Sarah,
typifying the Church, when it had ceased to be
with her after the manner of women, exchanged
the curse of barrenness for the blessing of
child-bearing. We are informed that Rebekah
went like a prophet to inquire of the Lord, and
was told,3 " Two nations and two peoples are
in thy womb," that Jacob served for his wife,
and that when Rachel, thinking it was in the
power of her husband to give her children,
said,4 " Give me children, or else I die," he
replied,6 " Am I in God's stead, who hath with-
held from thee the fruit of the womb ? " so
well aware was he that the fruit of marriage
cometh from the Lord and not from the hus-
band. We next learn that Joseph, a holy man
of spotless chastity, and all the patriarchs, had
wives, and that God blessed them all alike
through the lips of Moses. Judah also and
Thamar are brought upon the scene, and he
censures Onan, slain by the Lord, because he,
grudging to raise up seed to his brother,
marred the marriage rite. He refers to
Moses and the leprosy of Miriam, who, be-
cause she chided her brother on account of
his wife, was stricken by the avenging hand of
God. He praises Samson, I may even say ex-
travagantly panegyrizes the uxorious Nazarite.
Deborah also and Barak are mentioned, be-
cause, although they had not the benefit of
virginity, they were victorious over the iron
chariots of Sisera and Jabin. He brings for-
ward Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, and
extols her for arming herself with the ° stake.
He says there was no difference between Jeph-
thah and his virgin daughter, who was sacrificed
to the Lord : nay, of the two, he prefers the
faith of the father to that of the daughter
who met death with grief and tears. He then
comes to Samuel, another Nazarite of the
Lord, who from infancy was brought up in the
tabernacle and was clad in a linen ephod, or,
as the words are rendered, in linen vestments :
he, too, we are told, begot sons without a stain
upon his priestly purity. He places Boaz and
his wife Ruth side by side in his repository,
and traces the descent of Jesse and David
from them. He then points out how David
himself, for the price of two hundred fore-
skins and at the peril of his life, was bedded
with the king's daughter. What shall I say of
Solomon, whom he includes in the list of hus-
bands, and represents as a type of the Saviour,
maintaining that of him it was written,1 " Give
the king thy judgments, O God, and thy right-
eousness unto the king's son"? And2 "To
him shall be given of the gold of Sheba, and
men shall pray for him continually." Then all
at once he makes a jump to Elijah and Elisha,
and tells us as a great secret that the spirit of
Elijah rested on Elisha. Why he mentioned
this he does not say. It can hardly be that he
thinks Elijah and Elisha, like the rest, were
married men. The next step is to Heze-
kiah, upon whose praises he dwells, and yet (I
wonder why) forgets to mention that he said,3
" Henceforth I will beget children." He re-
lates that Josiah, a righteous man, in whose
time the book of Deuteronomy was found in
the temple, was instructed by Huldah, wife of
Shallum. Daniel also and the three youths
are classed by him with the married. Sud-
denly he betakes himself to the Gospel, and
adduces Zachariah and Elizabeth, Peter and
his father-in-law, and the rest of the Apostles.
His inference is thus expressed : " If they idly
urge in defence of themselves the plea that
the world in its early stage needed to be re-
plenished, let them listen to the words of Paul,
4 ' I desire therefore that the younger widows
marry, bear children.' And i ' Marriage is
honourable and the bed undefiled.' And" 'A
wife is bound for so long time as her husband
liveth ; but if the husband be dead, she is free
to be married to whom she will ; only in the
Lord.' And 7 ' Adam was not beguiled, but
the woman being beguiled hath fallen into
transgression : but she shall be saved through
the child-bearing, if they continue in faith and
love and sanctification with sobriety.' Surely
we shall hear no more of the famous Apostolic
utterance,8 ' And they who have wives as
though they had them not. ' It can hardly be
that you will say the reason why he wished
them to be married was that some widows had
already turned back after Satan : as though
virgins never fell and their fall was not more
ruinous. All this makes it clear that in for-
bidding to marry, and to eat food which
God created for use, you have consciences
seared as with a hot iron, and are followers of
the Manichseans." Then comes much more
which it would be unprofitable to discuss. At
last he dashes into rhetoric and apostrophizes
virginity thus : " I do you no wrong, Virgin :
you have chosen a life of chastity on account
of the present distress : you determined on
1 Gen. ix. i
* Gen,, xxx .
a Gen. ix. 3.
5 Gen. xxx. t.
3 Gen. xxv. 23.
• Palo. Rev. Vers, tent-pin.
1 Ps. lxxii. 1.
3 Is. xxxviii. 19.
•'• Hebr. xiii. 4.
1 1 Cor. vii. 39.
* 1 Cor. vii. 29.
Sept.
See note on sec .
1 Ps. lxxii. 15.
4 1 Tim. v. 14.
7 1 Tim. ii. 14.
350
JEROME.
the course in order to be holy in body and
spirit : be not proud : you and your married
sisters are members of the same Church."
6. I have perhaps explained his position at
too great a length, and become tedious to my
reader ; but I thought it best to draw up in
full array against myself all his efforts, and to
muster all the forces of the enemy with their
squadrons and generals, lest after an early vic-
tory there should spring up a series of other
engagements. I will not therefore do battle
with single foes, nor will I be satisfied with
skirmishes in which I meet small detachments
of my opponents. The battle must be fought
with the whole army of the enemy, and the
disorderly rabble, fighting more like brigands
than soldiers, must be repulsed by the skill
and method of regular warfare. In the front
rank I will set the Apostle Paul, and, since he
is the bravest of generals, will arm him with
his own weapons, that is to say, his own state-
ments. For the Corinthians asked many
questions about this matter, and the doctor of
the Gentiles and master of the Church gave
full replies. What he decreed we may regard
as the law of Christ speaking in him. At the
same time, when we begin to refute the sev-
eral arguments, I trust the reader will give me
his attention even before the Apostle speaks,
and will not, in his eagerness to discuss the
most weighty points, neglect the premises, and
rush at once to the conclusion.
7. Among other things the Corinthians
asked in their letter whether after embracing
the faith of Christ they ought to be unmarried,
and for the sake of continence put away their
wives, and whether believing virgins were at
liberty to marry. And again, supposing that
one of two Gentiles believed on Christ, whether
the one that believed should leave the one
that believed not. And in case it were al-
lowable to take wives, would the Apostle di-
rect that only Christian wives, or Gentiles
also, should be taken ? Let us then consider
Paul's replies to these inquiries. l " Now con-
cerning the things whereof ye wrote : It is
good for a man not to touch a woman. But,
because of fornications, let each man have his
own wife, and let each woman have her own
husband. Let the husband render unto the
wife her due : and likewise also the wife
unto the husband. The wife hath not power
over her own body, but the husband : And
likewise also the husband hath not power over
his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not
one the other, except it be by consent for a
season, that ye may give yourselves unto
prayer, and may be together again, that Satan
tempt you not because of your incontinency.
C6r.
But this I say by way of permission not of
commandment. Yet I would that all men
were even as I myself. Howbeit each man hath
his own gift from God, one after this manner,
and another after that. But I say to the un-
married and to widows, it is good for them if
they abide even as I. But if they have not
continency, let them marry : for it is better to
marry than to burn." Let us turn back to
the chief point of the evidence : " It is good,"
he says, "for a man not to touch a woman."
If it is good 'not to touch a woman, it is bad
to touch one : for there is no opposite to
goodness but badness. But if it be bad and
the evil is pardoned, the reason for the con-
cession is to prevent worse evil. But surely a
thing which is only allowed because there may
be something worse has only a slight degree
of goodness. He would never have added
" let each man have his own wife," unless he
had previously used the words "but, because
of fornications." Do away with fornication,
and he will not say " let each man have his
own wife." Just as though one were to lay it
down : " It is good to feed on wheaten bread,
and to eat the finest wheat flour," and yet to
prevent a person pressed by hunger from de-
vouring cow-dung, I may allow him to eat
barley. Does it follow that the wheat will
not have its peculiar purity, because such an
one prefers barley to excrement? That is
naturally good which does not admit of com-
parison with what is bad, and is not eclipsed
because something else is preferred. At the
same time we must notice the Apostle's pru-
dence. He did not say, it is good not to have
a wife : but, it is good not to touch a woman :
as though there were danger even in the
touch : as though he who touched her, would
not escape from her who " hunteth for the
precious life," who causeth the young man's
understanding to fly away. ' " Can a man
take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be
burned ? Or can one walk upon hot coals, and
his feet not be scorched? " As then he who
touches fire is instantly burned, so by the
mere touch the peculiar nature of man and
woman is perceived, and the difference of sex
is understood. Heathen fables relate how
2 Mithras and 3 Ericthonius were begotten of
the soil, in stone or earth, by raging lust.
Hence it was that our Joseph, because the
Egyptian woman wished to touch him, fled
from her hands, and, as if he had been bitten
by a mad dog and feared the spreading poison,
1 Prov. vi. 27, 28.
- Mithras was the God of the Sun among the Persians. His
worship was introduced at Rome under the Emperors, and
thence spread over the empire.
3 Son of Vulcan, king of Athens, and the first to drive a four-
in-hand. Virg. G. iii. 113 : " First to the chariot, Erichthorrius
dared four steeds to join, and o'er the rapid wheels victorious
hang."'
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
351
threw away the cloak which she had touched.
" But, because of fornications let each man
have his own wife, and let each woman have
her own husband." He did not say, because
of fornication let each man marry a wife :
otherwise by this excuse he would have thrown
the reins to lust, and whenever a man's wife
died, he would have to marry another to pre-
vent fornication, but " have his own wife."
Let him he says have and use his own wife,
whom he had before he became a believer,
and whom it would have been good not to
touch, and, when once he became a follower of
Christ, to know only as a sister, not as a wife,
unless fornication should make it excusable to
touch her. " The wife hath not power over
her own body, but the husband : and likewise
also the husband hath not power over his
own body, but the wife." The whole question
here concerns those who are married men.
Is it lawful for them to do what our Lord for-
bade in the Gospel, and to put away their
wives ? Whence it is that the Apostle says,
' It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
But inasmuch as he who is once married has
no power to abstain except by mutual consent,
and may not reject an unoffending partner,
let the husband render unto thewife her due.
He bound himself voluntarily that he might
be under compulsion to render it. " Defraud
ye not one the other, except it be by consent
for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto
prayer. " What, I pray you, is the quality of
that good thing which hinders prayer ? which
does not allow the body of Christ to be re-
ceived ? So long as I do the husband's part,
I fail in continency. The same Apostle in
another place commands us to pray always.
If we are to pray always, it follows that we
must never be in the bondage of wedlock, for
as often as I render my wife her due, I cannot
pray. The Apostle Peter had experience of
the bonds of marriage. See how he fashions
the Church, and what lesson he teaches Chris-
tians : ' "Ye husbands in like manner dwell
with your wives according to knowledge,
giving honour unto the woman, as unto the
weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the
grace of life ; to the end that your prayers be
not hindered." Observe that, as S. Paul be-
fore, because in both cases the spirit is the
same, so S. Peter now, says that prayers are
hindered by the performance of marriage duty.
When he says "likewise," he challenges the
husbands to imitate their wives, because he
has already given them commandment : 2 " be-
holding your chaste conversation coupled with
fear. Whose adorning let it not be the outward
adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing
1 i Pet. iii. 7.
- 1 Pet. iii. t, 3.
jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel : but
let it be the hidden man of the heart, in
the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet
spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price." You see what kind of wedlock he
enjoins. Husbands and wives are to dwell
together according to knowledge, so that they
may know what God wishes and desires, and
give honour to the weak vessel, woman. If
we abstain from intercourse, we give honour
to our wives : if we do not abstain, it is clear
that insult is the opposite of honour. He also
tells the wives to let their husbands "see their
chaste behaviour, and the hidden man of the
heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and
quiet spirit. " Words truly worthy of an apostle,
and of Christ's rock ! He lays down the law
for husbands and wives, condemns outward
ornament, while he praises continence, which
is the ornament of the inner man, as seen in
the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet
spirit. In effect he says this : Since your
outer man is corrupt, and you have ceased to
possess the blessing of incorruption character-
istic of virgins, at least imitate the incorrup-
tion of the spirit by subsequent abstinence,
and what you cannot show in the body exhibit
in the mind. For these are the riches, and
these the ornaments of your union, which
Christ seeks.
8. The words which follow, " that ye may
give yourselves unto prayer, and may be to-
gether again," might lead one to suppose that
the Apostle was expressing a wish and not
making a concession because of the danger of
a greater fall. He therefore at once adds,
" lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency."
It is a fine permission which is conveyed in
the words "be together again." What it was
that he blushed to call by its own name, and
thought only better than a temptation of
Satan, and the effect of incontinence, we take
trouble to discuss as if it were obscure, although
he has explained his meaning by saying, "this
I say by way of permission, not by way of
command." And do we still hesitate to speak
of marriage as a concession to weakness, not a
thing commanded, as though second and third
marriages were not allowed on the same
ground, as though the doors of the Church
were not opened by repentance even to forni-
cators, and what is more, to the incestuous ?
Take the case of the man who outraged his
step-mother. Does not the Apostle, after de-
livering him, in his first Epistle to the Corinth-
ians, to Satan for the destruction of the flesh
that his spirit might be saved, in the second
Epistle take the offender back and strive to
prevent a brother from being swallowed up by
overmuch grief. The Apostle's wish is one
thing, his pardon another. If a wish be ex-
352
JEROME.
pressed, it confers a right ; if a thing is only
called pardonable, we are wrong in using it.
If you wish to know the Apostle's real mind,
you must take in what follows : "but I would
that all men were as I am." Happy is the
man who is like Paul ! Fortunate is he who
attends to the Apostle's command, not to his
concession. This, says he, I wish, this I desire,
that ye be imitators of me, as I also am of
Christ, who was a Virgin born of a Virgin,
uncorrupt of her who was uncorrupt. We,
because we are men, cannot imitate our Lord's
nativity ; but we may at least imitate His life.
The former was the blessed prerogative of
divinity, the latter belongs to our human con-
dition and is part of human effort. I would
that all men were like me, that while they are
like me, they may also become like Christ, to
whom I am like. For ' " he that believeth in
Christ ought himself also to walk even as He
walked." 2 " Howbeit each man hath his own
gift from God, one after this manner, and
another after that." What I wish, he says, is
clear. But since in the Church there is a di-
versity of gifts, I acquiesce in marriage, lest I
should seem to condemn nature. At the same
time consider, that the gift of virginity is one,
that of marriage, another. For were the reward
the same for the married and for virgins, he
would never after enjoining continence have
said : 3 " Each man hath his own gift from God,
one after this manner, and another after that."
Where there is a distinction in one particular,
there is a diversity also in other points. I
grant that even marriage is a gift of God, but
between gift and gift there is great diversity.
In fact the Apostle himself speaking of the
same person who had repented of his incest-
uous conduct, says : a " so that contrariwise ye
should rather forgive him and comfort him, and
to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also."
And that we might not think a man's gift con-
temptible, he added, 4 " for what I also have
forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your
sakes have I forgiven it, in the presence
of Christ." There is diversity in the gifts of
Christ. Hence it is that by way of type Joseph
has a coat of many colours. And in the forty-
fifth psalm we read, b " at thy right hand doth
stand the queen in a vesture of gold wrought
about with divers colours." And the Apostle
Peter says, B " as heirs together of the manifold
grace of God," where the more expressive
Greek word 7roiHi\r/S, i. e., varied, is used.
9. Then come the words ' "But I say^to the
unmarried and to widows, it is good for them
if they abide even as I. But if they have not
1 1 John ii. 6. 2 1 Cor. vii. 7. '2 Cor. ii
* 2 Cor. ii. 10. Margin. 4 Ps. xlv. 9, 13, 14.
e 1 Peter iii. 7, joined with 1 Peter iv. 10.
' 1 Cor. vii. 8.
continency, let them marry : for it is better to
marry than to burn." Having conceded to
married persons the enjoyment of wedlock
and pointed out his own wishes, he passes on
to the unmarried and to widows, sets before
them his own practice for imitation, and calls
them happy if they so abide. " But if they
have not continency, let them marry," just as
he said before " But because of fornications,"
and " Lest Satan tempt you, because of your
incontinency." And he gives a reason for say-
ing " If they have not continency, let them
marry," viz. "It is better to marry than to
burn. " The reason why it is better to marry
is that it is worse to burn. Let burning lust
be absent, and he will not say it is better to
marry. The word better always implies a com-
parison with something worse, not a thing ab-
solutely good and incapable of comparison. It
is as though he said, it is better to have one
eye than neither, it is better to stand on one
foot and to support the rest of the body with
a stick, than to crawl with broken legs. What
do you say, Apostle? I do not believe you
when you say " Though I be rude in speech,
yet am I not in knowledge." As humility is
the source of the sayings " For I am not
worthy to be called an Apostle," and " To me
who am the least of the Apostles," and " As
to one born out of due time," so here also we
have an utterance of humility. You know the
meaning of language, or you would not quote
1 Epimenides, " Menander, and 3 Aratus. When
you are discussing continence and virginity
you say, " It is good for a man not to touch a
woman." And, " It is good for them if they
abide even as I." And, "I think that this is
good by reason of the present distress." And,
" That it is good for a man so to be." When
you come to marriage, you do not say it is
good to marry, because you cannot then add
" than to burn ; " but you say, " It is better to
marry than to burn." If marriage in itself be
good, do not compare it with fire, but simply
say" It is good to marry." I suspect the good-
ness of that thing which is forced into the
position of being only the lesser of two evils.
What I want is not a smaller evil, but a thing
absolutely good.
10. So far the first section has been ex-
plained. Let us now come to those which
follow.4 " But unto the married I give charge,
yea not I, but the Lord. That the wife de-
part not from her husband (but and if she
depart, let her remain unmarried, or else be
reconciled to her husband): and that the hus-
band leave not his wife. But to the rest say
I, not the Lord : If any brother hath an un-
believing wife, and she is content to dwell
1 Tit. i. 12.
3 Acts xvii. 28,
2 1 Cor. xv. 33.
1 1 Cor. vii. 10 sq.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
with him, let him not leave her," and so on
to the words " As God hath called each, so
let him walk. And so ordain I in all the
churches." This passage has no bearing on
our present controversy. For he ordains, ac-
cording to the mind of the Lord, that except-
ing the cause of fornication, a wife must not
be put away, and that a wife who has been
put away, may not, so long as her husband
lives, be married to another, or at all events
that her duty is to be reconciled to her hus-
band. But in the case of those who are al-
ready married at the time of conversion, that
is to say, supposing one of the two were a
believer, he enjoins that the believer shall not
put away the unbeliever. And after stating his
reason, viz., that the unbeliever who is unwill-
ing to leave the believer becomes thereby a
candidate for the faith, he commands, on the
other hand, that if the unbeliever reject the
faithful one on account of the faith of Christ,
the believer ought to depart, lest husband or
wife be preferred to Christ, in comparison
with Whom we must hold even life itself
cheap. Yet at the present day many women
despising the Apostle's command, are joined to
heathen husbands, and prostitute the temples
of Christ to idols. They do not understand
that they are part of His body though indeed
they are His ribs. The Apostle is lenient
to the union of unbelievers, who having (be-
lieving) husbands, afterwards come to believe
in Christ. He does not extend his indulgence
to those women who, although Christians, have
been married to heathen husbands. To these
he elsewhere says,1 "Be not unequally yoked
with unbelievers : for what fellowship have
righteousness and iniquity ? or what commun-
ion hath light with darkness ? And what con-
cord hath Christ with Belial ? or what portion
hath a believer with an unbeliever ? And what
agreement hath a temple of God with idols ?
For we are a temple of the living God." Al-
though I know that crowds of matrons will
be furious against me : although I know that
just as they have shamelessly despised the
Lord, so they will rave at me who am but a
flea and the least of Christians : yet I will
speak out what I think. I will say what the
Apostle has taught me, that they are not on
the side of righteousness, but of iniquity : not
of light, but of darkness : that they do not
belong to Christ, but to Belial : that they are
not temples of the living God, but shrines
and idols of the dead. And, if you wish to
see more clearly how utterly unlawful it is for
a Christian woman to marry a Gentile, con-
sider what the same Apostle says," " A wife is
bound for so long time as her husband liveth :
but if the husband be dead, she is free to be
1 2 Cor. vi. 14 sq.
1 Cor. vii. ij.
married to whom she will ; only in the Lord,"
that is, to a Christian. He who allows second
and third marriages in the Lord, forbids first
marriages with a Gentile. Whence Abraham
also makes his servant swear upon his thigh,
that is, on Christ, Who was to spring from his
seed, that he would not bring an alien-born
as a wife for his son Isaac. And Ezra checked
an offence of this kind against God by making
his countrymen put away their wives. And
the prophet Malachi thus speaks, ' " Judah
hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination
is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem ; for
Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord
which he loveth, and hath married the daugh-
ter of a strange god. The Lord will cut off
the man that doeth this,2 him that teacheth
and him that learneth, out of the tents of
Jacob, and him that offers an offering unto
the Lord of hosts." I have said this that they
who compare marriage with virginity, may at
least know that such marriages as these are
on a lower level than digamy and trigamy.
11. In the above discussion the Apostle has
taught that the believer ought not to depart
from the unbeliever, but remain in marriage
as the faith found them, and that each man
whether married or single should continue as
he was when baptized into Christ ; and then he
suddenly introduces the metaphors of circum-
cision and uncircumcision, of bond and free,
and under those metaphors treats of the mar-
ried and unmarried.3 "Was any man called
being circumcised ? let him not become uncir-
cumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncir-
cumcision is nothing : but the keeping of the
commandments of God. Let each man abide
in that calling wherein he was called. Wast
thou called being a bondservant ? Care not
for it : but even if thou canst become free, use
it rather. For he that was called in the Lord
being a bondservant, is the Lord's freedman ;
likewise he that was called, being free, is
Christ's bondservant. Ye were bought with
a price ; become not bondservants of men.
Brethren, let each man, wherein he was called,
therein abide with God." Some, I suppose,
will find fault with the Apostle's way of rea-
soning. I would therefore ask first, What we
are to infer from his suddenly passing in a
discussion concerning husbands and wives to
a comparison of Jew and Gentile, bond and
free, and then returning, when this point is
settled, to the question about virgins, and tell-
ing us " Concerning virgins I have no com-
mandment from the Lord "; what has a com-
parison of Jew and Gentile, bond and free, to
do with wedlock and virginity ? In the next
1 Mai. ii. 11, 12.
» R. V. "To the man that doeth this, him that waketh and
him that answered!."
3 1 Cor. vii. 18 sq.
354
JEROME.
place, how are we to understand the words
u Hath any been called in circumcision, let him
not become uncircumcised :' ? ' Can a man who
has lost his foreskin restore it again at his
pleasure ? Then, in what sense are we to ex-
plain " For he that was called in the Lord,
being a bondservant, is the Lord's freedman :
likewise he that was called, being free, is
Christ's bondservant." Fourthly, how is it that
he who commanded servants to obey their
masters according to the flesh, now says, " Be-
come not bondservants of men." Lastly, how
are we to connect with slavery, or with cir-
cumcision, his saying " Brethren, let each man,
wherein he was called, therein abide with
God," which even contradicts his previous
opinion. We heard him say "Become not bond-
servants of men." How can we then possibly
abide in that vocation wherein we were called,
when many at the time they became believers
had masters according to the flesh, whose
bondservants they are now forbidden to be ?
Moreover, what has the argument about our
abiding in the vocation wherein we were
called, to do with circumcision ? for in an-
other place the same Apostle cries aloud " Be-
hold I Paul tell you that, if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing " ? We must
conclude, therefore, that a higher meaning
should be given to circumcision and uncircum-
cision, bond and free, and that these words
must be taken in close connection with what
has gone before. " Was anyone called being
circumcised ? let him not become uncircum-
cised." If, he says, at the time you were called
and became a believer in Christ, if, I say, you
were called being circumcised from a wife, that
is, unmarried, do not marry a wife, that is, do
not become uncircumcised, lest you lay upon
the freedom of circumcision and chastity the
burden of marriage. Again, if anyone was
called in uncircumcision, let him not be cir-
cumcised. You had a wife, he says, when you
believed : do not think the faith of Christ a
reason for disagreement, because God called
us in peace. " " Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing ; but the keeping of
the commandments of God." For neither ce-
libacy nor marriage availeth anything without
works, since even faith, which is specially char-
acteristic of Christians, if it have not works,
is said to be dead, and vestal virgins and
Juno's widows might upon these terms be
numbered with the saints. " Let each man in
the vocation wherein he was called, therein
abide." Whether he had, or had not, a wife
1 But S. Paul hints at a surgical operation. See Josephus,
Antig. Bk. xii. c. v. sec. i, where certain apostates from Judaism
are said "to have hid their circumcision that even when they
were naked | in the gymnasium | they might appear to be Greeks/'
See also Celsus, Bk. vii. c. xxv.
* i Cor. vii. tg.
when he believed, let him remain in that con-
dition in which he was when called. Accord-
ingly he does not so strongly urge virgins to
be married, as forbid divorce. And as he de-
bars those who have wives from putting them
away, so he cuts off from virgins the power of
being married. " Thou wast called being a
slave, heed it not ; but even if thou canst be-
come free, use it rather." Even if you have, he
says, a wife, and are bound to her, and pay her
due, and have not power over your own body ;
or if, to speak more clearly, you are the bond-
servant of your wife, be not sad upon that ac-
count, nor sigh for the loss of your virginity.
But even if you can find some causes of dis-
cord, do not, for the sake of thoroughly enjoy-
ing the liberty of chastity, seek your own wel-
fare by destroying another. Keep your wife
awhile, and do not go too fast for her lagging
footsteps : wait till she follows. If you are
patient, your spouse will become a sister, " For
he that was called in the Lord, being a bond-
servant, is the Lord's freedman : likewise, he
that was called being free, is Christ's bond-
servant." He gives his reasons for not wish-
ing wives to be forsaken. He therefore says,
I command that Gentiles who believe on Christ
do not abandon the married state in which
they were before embracing the faith : for he
who had a wife when he became a believer, is
not so strictly devoted to the service of God as
virgins and unmarried persons. But, in a man-
ner, he has more freedom, and the reins of his
bondage are relaxed ; and, while he is the
bondservant of a wife, he is, so to speak, the
freedman of the Lord. Moreover, he who
when called by the Lord had not a wife and
was free from the bondage of wedlock, he is
truly Christ's bondservant. What happiness to
be the bondservant, not of a wife but of Christ,
to serve not the flesh, but the spirit ! ' " For
he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."
There was some fear that by saying " Wast
thou called being a bondservant ? Care not for
it : but, even if thou canst become free, use it
rather," he might seem to have flouted conti-
nence, and to have given us up to the slavery of
marriage. He therefore makes a remark which
removes all cavil : " Ye were bought with a
price, become not servants of men. " We have
been redeemed with the most precious blood
of Christ : the Lamb was slain for us, and hav-
ing been sprinkled with hyssop and the warm
drops of His blood, we have rejected poison-
ous pleasure. Why do we at whose baptism
Pharaoh died and all his host was drowned,
again turn back in our hearts to Egypt, and
after the manna, angels' food, sigh for the gar-
lic and the onions and the cucumbers, and
Pharaoh's meat ?
I i Cor. vi. 17.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
355
12. Having discussed marriage and conti-
nency he at length comes to virginity and says
1 " Now concerning virgins I have no com-
mandment of the Lord : but I give my judge-
ment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the
Lord to be faithful. I think therefore that
this is good by reason of the present distress,
namely, that it is good for a man to be as he
is. " Here our opponent goes utterly wild
with exultation : this is his strongest batter-
ing-ram with which he shakes the wall of
virginity. "See," says he, "the Apostle con-
fesses that as regards virgins Jie has no com-
mandment of the Lord, and he who had with
authority laid down the law respecting hus-
bands and wives, does not dare to command
what the Lord has not enjoined. And rightly
too. For what is enjoined is commanded,
what is commanded must be done, and that
which must be done implies punishment if it
be not done. For it is useless to order a thing
to be done and yet leave the individual free
to do it or not do it. If the Lord had com-
manded virginity He would have seemed to
condemn marriage, and to do away with the
seed-plot of mankind, of which virginity itself
is a growth. If He had cut off the root, how
was He to expect fruit ? If the foundations
were not first laid, how was He to build the
edifice, and put on the roof to cover all ! Ex-
cavators toil hard to remove mountains ; the
bowels of the earth are pierced in the search
for gold. And, when the tiny particles, first by
the blast of the furnace, then by the hand of
the cunning workman have been fashioned
into an ornament, men do not call him blessed
who has separated the gold from the dross,
but him who wears the beautiful gold. Do
not marvel then if, placed as we are, amid
temptations of the flesh and incentives to vice,
the angelic life be not exacted of us, but
merely recommended. If advice be given, a
man is free to proffer obedience; if there be a
command, he is a servant bound to compli-
ance. "I have no commandment," he says,
" of the Lord : but I give my judgement, as
one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to
be faithful." If you have no commandment
of the Lord, how dare you give judgement with-
out orders ? The Apostle will reply : Do you
wish me to give orders where the Lord has
offered a favour rather than laid down a law ?
The great Creator and Fashioner, knowing the
weakness of the vessel which he made, left
virginity open to those whom He addressed ;
and shall I, the teacher of the Gentiles, who
have become all things to all men that I might
gain all, shall I lay upon the necks of weak
believers from the very first the burden of per-
i Cor, vii. 25, 26.
petual chastity ? Let them ' begin with short
periods of release from the marriage bond, and
give themselves unto prayer, that when they
have tasted the sweets of chastity they may
desire the perpetual possession of that where-
with they were temporarily delighted. The
Lord, when tempted by the Pharisees, and
asked whether according to the law of Moses
it was permitted to put away a wife, forbade
the practice altogether. After weighing His
words the disciples said to Him : " " If the case
of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedi-
ent to marry. But He said unto them, all men
cannot receive this saying, but they to whom
it is given. For there are eunuchs, which were
so born from their mother's womb : and there
are eunuchs, which were made eunuchs by
men : and there are eunuchs, which made
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it,
let him receive it." The reason is plain why
the Apostle said, " concerning virgins I have
no commandment of the Lord." Surely ; be-
cause the Lord had previously said " All men
cannot receive the word, but they to whom it
is given," and " He that is able to receive it,
let him receive it." 3 The Master of the
Christian race offers the reward, invites can-
didates to the course, holds in His hand the
prize of virginity, points to the fountain of
purity, and cries aloud 4 " If any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink." " He that
is able to receive it, let him receive it. " He
does not say, you must drink, you must run,
willing or unwilling : but whoever is willing
and able to run and to drink, he shall conquer,
he shall be satisfied. And therefore Christ
loves virgins more than others, because they
willingly give what was not commanded them.
And it indicates greater grace to offer what
you are not bound to give, than to render
what is exacted of you. The apostles, con-
templating the burden of a wife, exclaimed,
" If the case of the man is so with his wife, it
is not expedient to marry." Our Lord thought
well of their view. You rightly think, said
He, that it is not expedient for a man who is
hastening to the kingdom of heaven to take a
wife : but it is a hard matter, and all men do
not receive the saying, but they to whom it has
been given. Some are eunuchs by nature,
others by the violence of men. Those
eunuchs please Me who are such not of
necessity, but of free choice. Willingly do I
take them into my bosom who have made
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's sake, and in order to worship Me
1 Ferias nuptiarum. The reference is to 1 Cor. vii. 5.
'* Matt. xix. 10 sq.
8 Jerome uses the Greek word dyw»'o0e'T>)s— President of the
Games.
4 S. John vii. 37.
35^
JEROME.
have renounced the condition of their birth.
We must now explain the words, " Those who
have made themselves eunuchs for the king-
dom of heaven's sake." If they who have
made themselves eunuchs have the reward of
the kingdom of heaven, it follows that they
who have not made themselves such cannot
be placed with those who have. He who is
able, he says, to receive it, let him receive it.
It is a mark of great faith and of great virtue,
to be the pure temple of God, to offer oneself
a whole burnt-offering, and, according to the
same apostle, to be holy both in body and in
spirit. These are the eunuchs, who thinking
themselves dry trees because of their impo-
tence, hear by the mouth of ' Isaiah that they
have a place prepared in heaven for sons and
daughters. Their type is 2 Ebed-melech the
eunuch in Jeremiah, and the eunuch of Queen
Candace in the 3 Acts of the Apostles, who on
account of the strength of his faith gained the
name of a man. These are they to whom
Clement, who was the successor of the Apostle
Peter, and of whom the Apostle Paul makes
mention, wrote letters, directing almost the
whole of his discourse to the subject of virgin
purity. After them there is a long series of
apostolic men, martyrs, and men illustrious
no less for holiness than for eloquence, with
whom we may very easily become acquainted
through their own writings. 4 " I think, there-
fore," he says, " that this is good for the pres-
ent distress." What is this distress which, in
contempt of the marriage tie, longs for the
liberty of virginity ? B " Woe unto them that
are with child and to them that give suck in
those days." We have not here a condemna-
tion of harlots and brothels, of whose damna-
tion there is no doubt, but of the swelling
womb, and wailing infancy, the fruit as well
as the work of marriage. " For it is good for
a man so to be." If it is good for a man so
to be, it is bad for a man not so to be. 6 "Art
thou bound unto a wife ? Seek not to be
loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife ? Seek
not a wife. " Each one of us has his appointed
bounds ; let me have what is mine, and keep
your own. If thou art bound to a wife, give
her not a bill of divorce. If I am loosed from
a wife, I will not seek a wife. As I do not
dissolve marriages once contracted : so you
should not bind what is loosed. And at the
same time the meaning of the words must be
taken into account. He who has a wife is
regarded as a debtor, and is said to be uncir-
cumcised, to be the servant of his wife, and
like bad servants to be bound. But he who
has no wife, in the first place owes no man
1 Is. lvi. 3.
3 Acts viii. 27.
6 Matt. .xxiv. 19, &c.
2 Jer. xxxviii. 7.
* 1 Cor. vii. 26.
6 1 Cor. vii. 27.
anything, then is circumcised, thirdly is free,
lastly, is loosed.
13. Let us run through the remaining points,
for our author is so voluminous that we can-
not linger over every detail. " But and if
thou marry, thou hast not sinned." It is one
thing not to sin, another to do good. " And
if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned." Not
that virgin who has once for all dedicated her-
self to the service of God : for, should one of
these marry, she will have damnation, because
she has made of no account her first faith.
But, if our advgrsary objects that this saying
relates to widows, we reply that it applies with
still greater force to virgins, since marriage is
forbidden even to widows whose previous
marriage had been lawful. For virgins who
marry after consecration are rather incestuous
than adulterous. And, for fear he should by
saying, " And if a virgin marry, she hath not
sinned," again stimulate the unmarried to be
married, he immediately checks himself, and
by introducing another consideration, invali-
dates his previous concession. " Yet," says he,
"such shall have tribulation in the flesh."
Who are they who shall have tribulation in
the flesh? They to whom he had before in-
dulgently said "But and if thou marry, thou
hast not sinned ; and if a virgin marry, she
hath not sinned. Yet such shall have tribula-
tion in the flesh." We in our inexperience
thought that marriage had at least the joys of
the flesh. But if they who are married have
tribulation even in the flesh, which is imagined
to be the sole source of their pleasure, what
else is there to marry for, when in the spirit,
and in the mind, and in the flesh itself there
is tribulation. " But I would spare you."
Thus, he says, I allege tribulation as a motive,
as though there were not greater obligations
to refrain. " But this I say, brethren, the time
is shortened, that henceforth both those that
have wives may be as though they had none. "
I am by no means now discussing virgins, of
whose happiness no one entertains a doubt. I
am coming to the married. The time is short,
the Lord is at hand. Even though we lived
nine hundred years, as did men of old, yet we
ought to think that short which must one day
have an end, and cease to be. But, as things
are, and it is not so much the joy as the trib-
ulation of marriage that is short, why do we
take wives whom we shall soon be compelled
to lose ? ' " And those that weep, and those
that rejoice, and those that buy, and those
that use the world, as though they wept not,
as though they rejoiced not, as though they
bought not, as though they did not use the
world : for the fashion of this world passeth
1 i Cor. vii. 30 sqq.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
357
away." If the world, which comprehends all
things, passes away, yea if the fashion and
intercourse of the world vanishes like the
clouds, amongst the other works of the world,
marriage too will vanish away. For after the
resurrection there will be no wedlock. But if
death be the end of marriage, why do we not
voluntarily embrace the inevitable ? And why
do we not, encouraged by the hope of the re-
ward, offer to God that which must be wrung
from us against our will. " He that is un-
married is careful for the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord : but he that is
married is careful for the things of the world,
how he may please his wife, and is1 divided."
Let us look at the difference between the cares
of the virgin, and those of the married man.
The virgin longs to please the Lord, the hus-
band to please his wife, and that he may please
her he is careful for the things of the world,
which will of course pass away with the world.
"And he is divided," that is to say, is dis-
tracted with manifold cares and miseries.
This is not the place to describe the difficulties
of marriage, and to revel in rhetorical com-
monplaces. I think I delivered myself fully
as regards this point in my argument against
2 Helvidius, and in the book which I addressed
to 3 Eustochium. At all events 4 Tertullian,
while still a young man, gave himself full play
with this subject. And my teacher,5 Gregory
of Nazianzus, discussed virginity and marriage
in some Greek verses. I now briefly beg my
reader to note that in the Latin manuscripts
we have the reading "there is a difference
also between the virgin and the wife." The
words, it is true, have a meaning of their own,
and have by me, as well as by others, been so
explained as showing the bearing of the pas-
sage. Yet they lack apostolic authority, since
the Apostle's words are as we have translated
them — " He is careful for the things of the
world, how he may please his wife,6 and he is
divided." Having laid down this, he passes
to the virgins and the continent, and says
" The woman that is unmarried and a virgin
thinks of the things of the Lord, that she may
be holy in body and in spirit." Not every un-
married woman is also a virgin. But every
virgin is of course unmarried. It may be, that
regard for elegance of expression led him to
repeat the same idea by means of another
1 See Rev. Ver. Margin.
2 See the treatise on the Perp. Virginity of the Blessed Vir-
gin Mary, (Rome, 384) in this Volume, pp. 334—46.
3 Ep. xxii. on the guarding of virginity. Rome, 384.
4 Jerome apparently, here, alludes to some early work of Ter-
tullian not now extant.
6 Jerome often alludes to his relation to Gregory, in the year
381 ; he was present at the council of Constantinople, of which
Gregory was then the bishop.
• This rendering supposes kcu. penepLcrTai to be joined to the
preceding sentence. The Vulgate has et tfivisits t-^,and so also
the /Ethiopie Version.
word and speak of " a woman unmarried and
a virgin " ; or at least he may have wished to
give to " unmarried " the definite meaning
of "virgin," so that we might not suppose
him to include harlots, united to no one by
the fixed bonds of wedlock, among the " un-
married." Of what, then, does she that is un-
married and a virgin think ? " The things of
the Lord, that she may be holy both in body
and in spirit." Supposing there were noth-
ing else, and that no greater reward followed
virginity, this would be motive enough for her
choice, to think of the things of the Lord.
But he immediately points out the contents of
her thought — that she may be holy both in
body and spirit. For there are virgins in the
flesh, not in the spirit, whose body is intact,
their soul corrupt. But that virgin is a sacri-
fice to Christ, whose mind has not been defiled
by thought, nor her flesh by lust. On the
other hand, she who is married thinks of the
things of the world, how she may please her
husband. Just as the man who has a wife is
anxious for the things of the world, how he
may please his wife, so the married woman
thinks of the things of the world, how she
may please her husband. But we are not of
this world, which lieth in wickedness, the fash-
ion of which passeth away, and concerning
which the Lord said to the Apostles,1 " If ye
were of the world, the world would love its
own." And lest perchance someone might
suppose that he was laying the heavy burden
of chastity on unwilling shoulders, he at once
adds his reasons for persuading to it, and says :
" "And this I say for your profit ; not that I
may cast a snare upon you, but for that which
is seemly, and that ye may attend upon the
Lord without distraction. " The Latin words
do not convey the meaning of the Greek.
What words shall we use to render IIpos to
evffxVfxov u<*1 evrfpoffsSpov rep Kvpicp
a7T6piff7ra(XTGoS? The difficulty of transla-
tion accounts for the fact that the clause is
completely wanting in Latin manuscripts. Let
us, however, use the passage as we have trans-
lated it. The Apostle does not lay a snare
upon us, nor does he compel us to be what we
do not wish to be ; but he gives his advice as
to what is fair and seemly, he would have us
attend upon the Lord and ever be anxious
about that service, and await the Lord's will,
so that like active and well-armed soldiers we
may obey orders, and may do so without dis-
traction, which, according to 3 Ecclesiastes, is
given to the men of this world that they may
be exercised thereby. But if anyone con-
siders that his virgin, that is, his flesh, is wan-
ton and boiling with lust, and cannot be
' S. John xv. 19.
* 1 Cor. vii. 35.
VOL. VI.
a a
358
JEROME.
bridled, and he must do one of two things,
either take a wife or fall, let him do what he
will, he does not sin if he marry. Let him do,
he says, what he will, not what he ought. He
does not sin if he marry a wife ; yet, he does
not well if he marry : ' " But he that standeth
stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but
hath power as touching his own will, and hath
determined this in his own heart, to keep his
own virgin, shall do well. So then both he
that giveth his own virgin in marriage doeth
well ; and he that giveth her not in marriage
shall do better." With marked propriety he
had previously said " He who marries a wife
does not sin " : here he tells us " He thatkeep-
eth his own virgin doeth well." But it is one
thing not to sin, another to do well. 2 " De-
part from evil," he says, " and do good." The
former we forsake, the latter we follow. In
this last lies perfection. But whereas he says
"and he that giveth his virgin in marriage
doeth well," it might be supposed that our
remark does not hold good ; he therefore
forthwith detracts from this seeming good and
puts it in the shade by comparing it with an-
other, and saying, "and he that giveth her
not in marriage shall do better." If he had
not intended to draw the inference of doing
better, he would never have previously referred
to doing well. But where there is something
good and something better, the reward is not
in both cases the same, and where the reward
is not one and the same, there of course the
gifts are different. The difference, then, be-
tween marriage and virginity is as great as
that between not sinning and doing well ; nay
rather, to speak less harshly, as great as be-
tween good and better.
14. He has ended his discussion of wedlock
and virginity, and has carefully steered be-
tween the two precepts without turning to
the right hand or to the left. He has fol-
lowed the royal road and fulfilled the com-
mand 3 not to be righteous over much. Now
again he compares monogamy with digamy,
and as he had subordinated marriage to vir-
ginity, so he makes second marriages inferior
to first, and says,1 " A wife is bound for so
long time as her husband liveth ; but if the
husband be dead, she is free to be married
to whom she will ; only in the Lord. But
she is happier if she abide as she is, after my
judgement : and I think that I also have the
Spirit of God." He allows second marriages,
but to such persons as wish for them and are
not able to contain ; lest,6 having " waxed
wanton against Christ," they desire to marry,
" having condemnation, because they have re-
1 1 Cor. vii. 37, 38.
3 Eccles. vii. 16.
6 1 Tim. v. 11, 15.
2 Ps. xxxiv. 14.
* 1 Cor. vii. 39, 40.
jected their first faith ; " and he makes the
concession because many had already turned
aside after Satan. ' " But," says he, " they
will be happier if they abide as they are," and
he immediately adds the weight of Apostolic
authority, "after my judgement." And that
an Apostle's authority might not, like that of
an ordinary man, be without weight, he added,
" and I think that I also have the Spirit of
God." When he incites to continence, it is
not by the judgement or spirit of man, but by
the judgement and Spirit of God ; when, how-
ever, he grants the indulgence of marriage,
he does not mention the Spirit of God, but
weighs his judgement with wisdom, and adapts
the severity of the strain to the weakness of
the individual. In this sense we must take the
whole of the following passage : 2 " For the
woman that hath a husband is bound by law
to the husband while he liveth ; but if the
husband die, she is discharged from the law
of the husband. So then if, while the husband
liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall
be called an adulteress : but if the husband
die, she is free from the law, so that she is no
adulteress, though she be joined to another
man." And similarly the words to Timothy,
3 " I desire therefore that the younger widows
marry, bear children, rule the household, give
none occasion to the adversary for reviling :
for already some are turned aside after
Satan," and so on. For as on account of the
danger of fornication he allows virgins to
marry, and makes that excusable which in
itself is not desirable, so to avoid this same
fornication, he allows second marriages to
widows. For it is better to know a single
husband, though he be a second or third,
than to have many paramours : that is, it is
more tolerable for a woman to prostitute her-
self to one man than to many. At all events
this is so if the Samaritan woman in John's
Gospel who said she had her sixth husband
was reproved by the Lord because he was not
her husband. For where there are more hus-
bands than one the proper idea of a husband,
who is a single person, is destroyed. At the
beginning one rib was turned into one wife.
" And they two,'; he says, " shall be one flesh " :
not three, or four ; otherwise, how can they
be any longer two, if they are several. Lamech,
a man of blood and a murderer, was the first
who divided one flesh between two wives.
Fratricide and digamy were abolished by the
same punishment — that of the deluge. The
one was avenged seven times, the other sev-
enty times seven. The guilt is as widely dif-
ferent as are the numbers. What the holiness
of second marriage is, appears from this — that
1 1 Cor. vii. 40. 2 Rom. vii. 2, 3.
1 1 Tim. v. 14, 15.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
359
a person twice married 1 cannot be enrolled in
the ranks of the clergy, and so the Apostle
tells Timothy,2 " Let none be enrolled as a
widow under threescore years old, having
been the wife of one man." The whole
command concerns those widows who are
supported on the alms of the Church, The
age is therefore limited, so that those only
may receive the food of the poor who can no
longer work. And at the same time, consider
that she who has had two husbands, even
though she be a widow, decrepit, and in want,
is not a worthy recipient of the Church's
funds. But if she be deprived of the bread
of charity, how much more is she deprived of
that bread which cometh down from heaven,
and of which if a man eat unworthily, he shall
be guilty of outrage offered to the body and
the blood of Christ ?
15. The passages, however, which I have
adduced in support of my position and in
which it is permitted to widows, if they so
desire, to marry again, are interpreted by
some concerning those widows who had lost
their husbands and were found in that condi-
tion when they became Christians. For, sup-
posing a person baptized and her husband
dead, it would not be consistent if the Apostle
were to bid her marry another, when he en-
joins even those who have wives to be as
though they had them not. And this is why
the number of wives which a man may take
is not defined, because when Christian baptism
has been received, even though a third or a
fourth wife has been taken, she is reckoned as
the first. Otherwise, if, after baptism and after
the death of a first husband, a second is taken,
why should not a sixth after the death of the
second, third, fourth, and fifth, and so on ?
For it is possible, that through some strange
misfortune, or by the judgement of God cutting
short repeated marriages, a young woman may
have several husbands, while an old woman
may be left a widow by her first husband in
extreme age. The first Adam was married
once : the second was unmarried. Let the
supporters of second marriages shew us as
their leader a third Adam who was twice mar-
ried. But granted that Paul allowed second
marriages : upon the same grounds it follows
that he allows even third and fourth marriages,
or a woman may marry as often as her husband
dies. The Apostle was forced to choose many
things which he did not like. He circumcised
Timothy, and shaved his own head, practised
1 See 1 Tim. iii. 12. Most ancient writers interpreted S. Paul's
words as referring to second marriages after loss of first wife,
however happening. And certain Councils decided in the same
sense, e. g. Neocssarea (A.D. 314). Ellicott's Pastoral Ep.,
fifth ed., p. 41.
2 1 Tim. v. 9. Other authorities, however, suppose the words
to refer to an order of widows, and pertinently ask, would the
Church thus limit her alms.
going barefoot, let his hair grow long, and cut it
at Cenchrea. And he had certainly chastised
the Galatians, and blamed Peter because for
the sake of Jewish observances he separated
himself from the Gentiles. As then in other
points connected with the discipline of the
Church he was a Jew to Jews, a Gentile to
Gentiles, and was made all things to all men,
that he might gain all : so too he allowed sec-
ond marriages to incontinent persons, and did
not limit the number of marriages, in order that
women, although they saw themselves per-
mitted to take a second husband, in the same
way as a third or a fourth was allowed, might
blush to take a second, lest they should be com-
pared to those who were three or four times
married. If more than one husband be allowed,
it makes no difference whether he be a second
or a third, because there is no longer a ques-
tion of single marriage. ' " All things are law-
ful, but not all things are expedient." I do
not condemn second, nor third, nor, pardon
the expression, eighth marriages : I will go
still further and say that I welcome even
a penitent whoremonger. Things that are
equally lawful must be weighed in an even
balance.
16. But he takes us to the Old Testament,
and beginning with Adam goes on to Zacharias
and Elizabeth. He next confronts us with
Peter and the rest of the Apostles. We are
therefore bound to traverse the same course
of argument and show that chastity was al-
ways preferred to the condition of marriage.
And as regards Adam and Eve we must main-
tain that before the fall they were virgins in
Paradise : but after they sinned, and were
cast out of Paradise, they were immediately
married. Then we have the passage,2 " For
this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the
twain shall become one flesh," in explanation
of which the Apostle straightway adds,3 " This
mystery is great, but I speak in regard of
Christ, and of the Church." Christ in the
flesh is a virgin, in the spirit he is once mar-
ried. For he has one Church, concerning
which the same Apostle says,4 " Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the
Church." If Christ loves the Church holily,
chastely, and without spot, let husbands also
love their wives in chastity. And let every-
one know how to possess his vessel in sanc-
tification and honour, not in the lust of
concupiscence, as the Gentiles who know not
God : 5 " For God called us not for unclean-
ness, but in sanctification : seeing that ye have
put off the old man with his doings, and have
1 1 Cor. vi. 12.
3 Eph. v. 32.
5 1 Thess. IV. 7.
2 Eph. v. 31 : Gen. ii. 24.
* Eph. v, 25 : Col. iii. 9-1 1.
A a 2
360
JEROME.
put on the new man, which is being renewed
unto knowledge after the image of him that
created him: where there cannot be male and
female, Greek and Jew, circumcision and un-
cumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, free-
man : but Christ is all, and in all." The link
of marriage is not found in the image of the
Creator. When difference of sex is done
away, and we are putting off the old man,
and putting on the new, then we are being
born again into Christ a virgin, who was both
born of a virgin, and is born again through
'virginity. And whereas he says "Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth," it was
necessary first to plant the wood and to let
it grow, so that there might be an after-
growth for cutting down. And at the same
time we must bear in mind the meaning of
the phrase, " replenish the earth." Marriage
replenishes the earth, virginity fills Paradise.
This too we must observe, at least if we would
faithfully follow the Hebrew, that while Scrip-
ture on the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth
days relates that, having finished the works of
each, " God saw that it was good," on the
second day it omitted this altogether, leaving
us to understand that two is not a good num-
ber because it destroys unity, and prefigures
the marriage compact. Hence ;t was that all
the animals which Noah took into the ark by
pairs were unclean. Odd numbers denote
cleanness. And yet by the double number is
represented another mystery: that not even in
beasts and unclean birds is second marriage
approved. For unclean animals went in two
and two, and clean ones by sevens, so that
Noah after the flood might be able to im-
mediately offer to God sacrifices from the
latter.
17. But if Enoch was translated, and Noah
was preserved at the deluge, I do not think
that Enoch was translated because he had a
wife, but because he was ~ the first to call upon
God and to believe in the Creator ; and the
Apostle Paul fully instructs us concerning
him in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Noah,
moreover, who was preserved as a kind of
second root for the human race, must of course
be preserved together with his wife and sons,
although in this there is a Scripture mystery.
The ark,'J according to the Apostle Peter, was
a type of the Church, in which eight souls
were saved. When Noah entered into it, both
he and his sons were separated from their
wives ; but when he landed from it, they
united in pairs, and what had been separated
in the ark, that is, in the Church, was joined
together in the intercourse of the world.
1 Lit. through a virgin. The allusion is, probably, to his
baptism by a virgin, i.e., John Baptist.
'-1 But see Gen. iv. 26. a 1 Pet. iii. 20.
And at the same time if the ark had many
compartments and little chambers, and was
made with second and third stories, and was
filled with different beasts, and was furnished
with dwellings, great or small, according to
the kind of animal, I think all this diversity
in the compartments was a figure of the mani-
fold character of the Church.
18. He raises the objection that when God
gave his second blessing, permission was grant-
ed to eat flesh, which had not in the first bene-
diction been allowed. He should know that just
as divorce according to the Saviour's word was
not permitted from the beginning, but on
account of the hardness of our heart was a
concession of Moses to the human race, so too
the eating of flesh was unknown until the del-
uge. But after the deluge, like the quails
given in the desert to the murmuring people,
the poison of flesh-meat was offered to our
teeth. The Apostle writing to the Ephesians '
teaches that God had purposed in the fulness
of time to sum up and renew in Christ Jesus
all things which are in heaven and in earth.
Whence also the Saviour himself in the Reve-
lation of John says,2 " I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the ending." At
the beginning of the human race we neither
ate flesh, nor gave bills of divorce, nor suf-
fered circumcision for a sign. Thus we
reached the deluge. But after the deluge, to-
gether with the giving of the law which no
one could fulfil, flesh was given for food, and
divorce was allowed to hard-hearted men, and
the knife of circumcision was applied, as
though the hand of God had fashioned us
with something superfluous. But once Christ
has come in the end of time, and Omega
passed into Alpha and turned the end into the
beginning, we are no longer allowed divorce,
nor are we circumcised, nor do we eat flesh,
for the Apostle says,3 " It is good not to eat
flesh, nor to drink wine." For wine as well as
flesh was consecrated after the deluge.
19. What shall I say of Abraham who had
three wives, as Jovinianus says, and received
circumcision as a sign of his faith ? If we fol-
low him in the number of his wives, let us also
follow him in circumcision. We must not
partly follow, partly reject him. Isaac, more-
over, the husband of one wife, Rebecca, pre-
figures the Church of Christ, and reproves the
wantonness of second marriage. And if Jacob
had two pairs of wives and concubines, and
our opponent will not admit that blear-eyed
Leah, ugly and prolific, was a type of the syna-
gogue, but that Rachel, beautiful and long
barren, indicated the mystery of the Church,
let me remind him that when Jacob did this
1 Eph. i. 10.
3 Rom. xiv. 21.
2 Rev. i. 8 ; xxii. 13.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
361
thing he was among the Assyrians, and in
Mesopotamia in bondage to a hard master.
But when he wished to enter the holy land, he
raised on Mount Galeed ' the heap of witness,
in token that the lord of Mesopotamia had
failed to find anything among his baggage,
and there swore that he would never return to
the place of his bondage ; and when, 2 after
wrestling with the angel at the brook Jabbok,
he began to limp, because the great muscle of
his thigh was withered, he at once gained the
name of Israel. 3Then the wife whom he once
loved, and for whom he had served, was slain
by the son of sorrow near Bethlehem which
was destined to be the birthplace of our Lord,
the herald of virginity : and the intimacies of
Mesopotamia died in the land of the Gospel.
20. But I wonder why he set 4 Judah and
Tamar before us for an example, unless per-
chance even harlots give him pleasure ; or
6 Onan who was slain because he grudged his
brother seed. Does he imagine that we ap-
prove of any sexual intercourse except for the
procreation of children ? As regards Moses,
it is clear that he would have been in peril at
the inn, if 6 Sephora which is by interpretation
a bi?'d, had not circumcised her son, and cut off
the foreskin of marriage with the knife which
prefigured the Gospel. This is that Moses
who when he saw a great vision and heard an
angel, or the Lord speaking in the bush,7 could
not by any means approach to him without
first loosing the latchet of his shoe, that is,
putting off the bonds of marriage. And we
need not be surprised at this in the case of
one who was a prophet, lawgiver, and the
friend of God, seeing that all the people
when about to draw nigh to Mount Sinai, and
to hear the voice speaking to them, were com-
manded to sanctify themselves in three days,
and keep themselves from their wives. I am
out of order in violating historical sequence,
but I may point out that the same thing was
said by 8 Ahimelech the priest to David when
he fled to Nob : " If only the young men have
kept themselves from women." And David
answered, " of a truth about these three days."
For the shew-bread, like the body of Christ,
might not be eaten by those who rose from the
marriage bed. And in passing we ought to
consider the words " if only the young men
have kept themselves from women." The
truth is that, in view of the purity of the body
of Christ, all sexual intercourse is unclean. In
the law also it is enjoined that the 9 high priest
must not marry any but a virgin, nor must he
take to wife a widow. If a virgin and a widow
1 Gen. xxxi. 46-49, where the heap itself is called Galeed.
2 Gen. xxxii. 25, 28, 31. 3 Gen, xxxv. 16, 20.
4 Gen. xxxviii. 6 Gen. xxxviii. 9.
8 Ex. iv. 24-26. 7 Ex. iii. 5.
6 1 Sam. xxi. 4, . 8 Levit. xxi. 13, 14,
are on the same level, how is it that one is
taken, the other rejected ? ' And the widow
of a priest is bidden abide in the house of her
father, and not to contract a second marriage.
2 If the sister of a priest dies in virginity, just
as the priest is commanded to go to the fu-
neral of his father and mother, so must he go
to hers. But if she be married, she is despised
as though she belonged not to him. He who
has 3 married a wife, and he who has planted
a vineyard, an image of the propagation of
children, is forbidden to go to the battle. For
he who is the slave of his wife cannot be the
Lord's soldier. And the laver in the taber-
nacle was cast from the mirrors of the women
who 4 fasted, signifying the bodies of pure
virgins : And within, 5 in the sanctuary, both
cherubim, and mercy-seat, and the ark of the
covenant, and the table of shew-bread, and
the candle-stick, and the censer, were made
of the purest gold. For silver might not be
brought into the holy of holies.
21. I must not linger over Moses when my
purpose is at full speed to lightly touch on
each topic and to sketch the outline of a proper
knowledge of my subject. I will pass to Joshua
the son of Nun, who was previously called
Ause, or better, as in the Hebrew, Osee, that
is, Saviour. For he, ° according to the epistle
of Jude, saved the people of Israel and led
them forth out of Egypt, and brought them
into the land of promise. As soon as this
Joshua ' reached the Jordan, the waters of mar-
riage, which had ever flowed in the land, dried
up and stood in one heap ; and the whole
people, barefooted and on dry ground, crossed
over, and came to Gilgal, and there was a
second time circumcised. If we take this lit-
erally, it cannot possibly stand. For if we had
two foreskins, or if another could grow after
the first was cut off, there would be room for
speaking of a second circumcision. But the
meaning is that Joshua circumcised the people
who had crossed the desert, with the Gospel
knife, and he circumcised them with a stone
1 The reference is, probably, to Levit. xxii. 13. But the sec-
ond marriage is not there prohibited, and in the ideal polity of
Ezekiel (xhv. 22) a priest might marry the widow of a priest.
2 Levit. xxi. 3.
3 Deut. xx. 6, 7, where an indulgence, not a prohibition, is
clearly indicated.
4 Ex. xxxviii. 8. Sept. Vulg. "who watched ;" Onkelos' Tar-
gum "who assembled to pray," and so the Syriac Version. The
Hebrew word signifies " to go forth to war," but is applied to
the temple service, a sort of militia sacra (Gesenius). Hence
Rev. Version, " the serving women which served at the door of
the tent of meeting ; " and Margin," the women which assembled
to minister." Comp. Numb. iv. 3, 23, 30, 35, 39; and 1 Sam.
ii. 22.
6 Ex. xxxvii.
6 In Jude 5, instead of "the Lord," A. B. read Jesus, and this
is accepted by many ancient authorities. Farrar observes
("Early Days of Christianity," pop. ed., p. 128) "Jesus" is the
more difficult, and therefore more probable reading of A. B. It
is explained by 1 Cor. x. 4, and the identification of the Messiah
with the " Angel of the Lord " (Ex. xiv. 19, xxiii. 20, &c.) and
with the Pillar of Fire in Philo.
7 Josh. iii. i.j, 15, 16,
362
JEROME.
knife, that what in the case of Moses' son was
prefigured in a few might under Joshua be ful-
filled in all. Moreover, the very foreskins were
heaped together and buried, and covered with
earth, and the fact that the reproach of Egypt
was taken away, and the name of the place,
Gilgal, which is by interpretation ' revelation,
show that while the people wandered in the
desert uncircumcised their eyes were blinded.
Let us see what follows. After this Gospel
circumcision and the consecration of twelve
stones at the place of revelation, the Passover
was immediately celebrated, a lamb was slain
for them, and they ate the food of the Holy
Land. Joshua went forth, and was met by
the Prince of the host, sword in hand, that is
either to shew that he was ready to fight for
the circumcised people, or to sever the tie of
marriage. And in the same way that Moses
was commanded, so was he : 2 " loose thy shoe,
for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground." For if the armed host of the Lord
was represented by the trumpets of the priests,
we may see in Jericho a type of the overthrow
of the world by the preaching of the Gospel.
And to pass over endless details (for it is not
my purpose now to unfold all the mysteries of
the Old Testament), 3 five kings who previous-
ly reigned in the land of promise, and opposed
the Gospel army, were overcome in battle with
Joshua. I think it is clearly to be understood
that before the Lord led his people from Egypt
and circumcised them, sight, smell, taste, hear-
ing, and touch had the dominion, and that to
these, as to five princes, everything was sub-
ject. And when they i took refuge in the cave
of the body and in a place of darkness, Jesus
entered the body itself and slew them, that the
source of their power might be the instrument
of their death.
22. But it is now time for us to raise the
standard of Joshua's chastity. It is written
that Moses had a wife. Now Moses is inter-
preted both by our Lord and by the Apostle
to mean the law : 5 " They have Moses and
the prophets." And 5 " Death reigned from
Adam until Moses, even over them that had
not sinned after the likeness of Adam's trans-
gression." And no one doubts that in both
passages Moses signifies the law. We read
that Moses, that is the law, had a wife : shew
me then in the same way that Joshua the son
of Nun had either wife or children, and if you
can do so, I will confess that I am beaten. He
certainly received the fairest spot in the divi-
sion of the land of Judah, and died, not in the
rte
1 Jerome derives Gilgal from H?3 to uncover : the accepted
derivation is from ??3 to roll. 2 rx ;;; , . ios v
Mosh.x.3. TT "Iosh.x.16. 5
6 S. Luke xvi. 39. « Rom. v. 14.
twenties, which are ever unlucky in Scripture
— by them are reckoned the years of ' Jacob's
service, 2 the price of Joseph, and 3 sundry
presents which Esau who was fond of them re-
ceived— but in the 4 tens, whose praises we have
often sung ; and he was buried in 6 Thamnath
Sare, that is, most perfect sovereignty, or
among those of a new covering, to signify the
crowds of virgins, covered by the Saviour's
aid on Mount Ephraim, that is, the fruitful
mountain; on the north of the Mountain of
Gaash, which is, being interpreted, disturb-
ance : for 6 " Mount Sion is on the sides of the
north, the city of the Great King," is ever ex-
posed to hatred, and in every trial says 7 " But
my feet had well nigh slipped." The book
which bears the name of Joshua ends with his
burial. Again in the book of Judges we read
of him as though he had risen and come to
life again, and by way of summary his works
are extolled. We read too8 "So Joshua sent the
people away, every man unto his inheritance,
that they might possess the land." And "Is-
rael served the Lord all the days of Joshua,"
and so on. There immediately follows : " And
Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the
Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years
old." Moses, moreover, only saw the land of
promise ; he could not enter : and 9 "he died
in the land of Moab, and the Lord buried him
in the valley in the land of Moab over against
Beth-peor : but no man knoweth of his sep-
ulchre unto this day." Let us compare the
burial of the two : Moses died in the land of
Moab, Joshua in the land of Judasa. The
former was buried in a valley over against
the house of Phogor, which is, being inter-
preted, reproach (for the Hebrew Phogor cor-
responds to Priapus10); the latter in Mount
Ephraim on the north of Mount Gaash. And
in the simple expressions of the sacred Scrip-
tures there is always a more subtle meaning.
The Jews gloried in children and child-bear-
ing ; and the barren woman, who had not off-
spring in Israel, was accursed ; but blessed
was he whose seed was in Sion, and his family
in Jerusalem ; and part of the highest blessing
was,11 " Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine,
1 Gen. xxxi. 41. - Gen. xxxvii. 28. 3 Gen. xxxii. 14.
4 Joshua died at the age of no years. Josh. xxiv. 29.
6 Timnath-Serah was the original name of Joshua's inheri-
tance (Josh. xix. 50), but in Judges ii. q, wefind the name changed
to Timnath-Heres. Timnath-Serah and the tomb of its illustri-
ous owner were shown in the time of Jerome (Letter cviii. 13).
" Paula wondered greatly that he who assigned men their pos-
sessions had chosen for himself a rough and rocky spot." Jer-
ome is looking at the inheritance with the eyes of an ardent con-
troversialist when he describes it as " the fairest spot in the land
of Judah."
6 Ps. xlviii. 2. The correct rendering of the Hebrew is much
disputed.
7 Ps. lxxiii. 2. 8 Josh. xxiv. 28.
9 Deut. xxxiv. 6.
10 Worshipped more especially at Lampsacus on the Helles-
pont. He was regarded as the promoter of fertility in vege-
tables and animals.
u Ps. exxviii. 3.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
363
in the innermost parts of thy house, thy chil-
dren like olive plants, round about thy table."
Therefore his grave is described as placed in
a valley over against the house of an idol
which was in a special sense consecrated to
lust. But we who fight under Joshua our
leader, even to the present day know not
where Moses was buried. For we despise
Phogor, and all his shame, knowing that they
who are in the flesh cannot please God. And
the Lord before the flood had said ' " My
spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that
he also is flesh." Wherefore, when Moses
died, the people of Israel mourned for him ;
but Joshua like one on his way to victory was
unmourned. For marriage ends at death ;
virginity thereafter begins to wear the crown.
23. Next he brings forward Samson, and does
not consider that the Lord's Nazarite was
once shaven bald by a woman. And although
Samson continues to be a type of the Saviour
because he loved a harlot from among the
Gentiles, which harlot corresponds to the
Church, and because he slew more enemies in
his death than he did in his life, yet he does
not set an example of conjugal chastity. And
he surely reminds us2 of Jacob's prophecy
— he was shaken by his runaway steed, bitten
by an adder, and fell backwards. But why he
enumerated Deborah, and Barak, and the wife
of Heber the Kenite, I am at a loss to under-
stand. For it is one thing to draw up a list
of military commanders in historical sequence,
another to indicate certain figures of marriage
which cannot be found in them. And whereas
he prefers the fidelity of the father Jephthah
to the tears of the virgin daughter, that makes
for us. For we are not commending virgins
of the world so much as those who are virgins
for Christ's sake, and most Hebrews blame
the father for the rash vow he made,3 " If
thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Am-
nion into mine hand, then it shall be, that
whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my
house to meet me, when I return in peace
from the children of Amnion, it shall be for
the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt
offering." Supposing (they say) a dog or an
ass had met him, what would he have done ?
Their meaning is that God so ordered events
that he who had improvidently made a vow,
should learn his error by the death of his
daughter. And if Samuel who was brought
up in the tabernacle married a wife, how does
that prejudice virginity ? As if at the present
day also there were not many married priests,
and as though the Apostle did not4 describe a
bishop as the husband of one wife, having
1 Gen. vi.3. R. V. Strive or rule in.
2 Gen. xlix. 17. Samson was of the tribe of Dan.
9 Judg. xi. 30, 31. * 1 Tim. iii. 2,
children with all purity. At the same time we
must not forget that Samuel was a Levite, not
a priest or high-priest. Hence it was that his
mother made for him a linen ephod, that is, a
linen garment to go over the shoulders, which
was the proper dress of the Levites and of the
inferior order. And so he is not named in the
Psalms among the priests, but among those
who call upon the name of the Lord : ' " Moses
and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel
among those who call upon his name." For
2 Levi begat Kohath, Kohath begat Ammina-
dab, Amminadab begat Korah, Korah begat
Assir, Assir begat Elkanah, Elkanah begat
Zuph, Zuph begat Tahath, Tahath begat Eliel,
Eliel begat Jeroham, Jeroham begat Elkanah,
Elkanah begat Samuel. And no one doubts
that the priests sprang from the stock of Aaron,
Eleazar, and Phinees. And seeing that they
had wives, they would be rightly brought
against us, if, led away by the error of the
Encratites, we were to maintain that marriage
deserved censure, and our high priest were
not after the order of Melchizedek, without
father, without mother,3 A'yEveaXoyi/Tos,
that is, unmarried. And much fruit truly did
Samuel reap from his children ! he himself
pleased God, but 4 begat such children as dis-
pleased the Lord. But if in support of second
marriage, he urges the instance of Boaz and
Ruth, let him know that in the Gospel (S.
Matt. i. 6) to typify the Church even Rahab
the harlot is reckoned among our Lord's an-
cestors.
24. He boasts that David bought his wife
for two hundred foreskins. But he should
remember that David had numerous other
wives, and afterwards received Michal, Saul's
daughter, whom her father had delivered to
another, and when he was old got heat from
the embrace of the Shunammite maiden. And
I do not say this because I am bold enough
to disparage holy men, but because it is one
thing to live under the law, another to live
under the Gospel. David slew Uriah the
Hittite and committed adultery with Bath-
sheba. And because he was a man of blood —
the reference is not, as some think, to his
wars, but to the 6 murder — he was not per-
mitted to build a temple of the Lord. But as
for us,6 if we cause one of the least to stumble,
and if we say to a brother 7 Raca, or e use our
eyes improperly, it were good that a millstone
1 Ps. xcix. 6. a See 1 Chron. vi. 34-38.
s Heb. vii. 3. The Greek word in the text (" without geneal-
ogy") is unknown to secular writers, and occurs here only in
the New Test. It cannot mean without descent (see verse 6).
Unmarried appears to be a false inference from this supposed
meaning. Ignatius also (Ep. ad. Philad.) reckoned Melchizedek
among celibates. Rev. Version translates, " without geneal-
ogy, i.e., his ancestry was unrecorded. See Farrar's " Early
Days of Christianity," pop. ed., p. 221.
* 1 Sam. ii. 22. ' See, however, iChron. xxii. 8.
6 S. Matt, xviii. 6. 7 S. Matt. v. 22.
8 S. Matt. v. 87.
3r,4
JEROME.
were hanged about our neck, we shall be in
danger of Gehenna, and a mere glance will
be reckoned to us for adultery. He passes on
to Solomon, through whom wisdom itself sang
its own praises. Seeing that not content with
dwelling upon his praises, he calls him uxo-
rious, I am surprised that he did not add
the words of the Canticles:1 " There are
threescore queens, and fourscore concubines,
and maidens without number," and those of
the First Book of Kings ; 2 And he had seven
hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred
concubines, and others without number."
These are they who turned away his heart
from the Lord : and yet before he had
many wives, and fell into sins of the flesh, at
the beginning of his reign and in his early
years he built a temple to the Lord. For
every one is judged not for what he will be,
but for what he is. But if Jovinianus ap-
proves the example of Solomon, he will no
longer be in favour of second and third mar-
riages only, but unless he has seven hundred
wives and three hundred concubines, he can-
not be the king's antitype or attain to his
merit. I earnestly again and again remind
you, my reader, that I am compelled to speak
as I do, and that I do not disparage our pre-
decessors under the law, but am well aware
that they served their generation according to
their circumstances, and fulfilled the Lord's
command to increase, and multiply, and re-
plenish the earth. And what is more they
were figures of those that were to come. But
we to whom it is said,3 " The time is short-
ened, that henceforth those that have wives
may be as though they had none," have a
different command, and for us virginity is con-
secrated by the Virgin Saviour.
25. What folly it was to include Elijah and
Elisha in a list of married men, is plain with-
out a word from me. For, since John Baptist
came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and
John was a virgin, it is clear that he came not
only in Elijah's spirit, but also in his bodily
chastity. Then the passage relating to Heze-
kiah might be adduced (though Jovinianus
with his wonted stupidity did not notice it),
in which after his recovery and the addition
of fifteen years to his life he said, " Now will
I beget children." It must be remembered,
however, that in the Hebrew texts the passage
is not so, but runs thus : * " The father to the
children shall make known thy faithfulness."
Nor need we wonder that Huldah, the proph-
etess, and wife of Shallum, was5 consulted by
Josiah, King of Judah, when the captivity
was approaching and the wrath of the Lord
1 Cant. vi. 8.
3 r Cor. vii. 29.
• i Kings xxii, 14,
5 1 Kings xi. 3.
* Is, xxxviii. 19,
was falling upon Jerusalem : since it is the
rule of Scripture when holy men fail, to praise
women to the reproach of men. And it is
superfluous to speak of Daniel, for the He-
brews to the present day affirm that the three
youths were eunuchs, in accordance with the
declaration of God which Isaiah utters to Heze-
kiah : 1 " And of thy sons that shall issue from
thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take
away : and they shall be eunuchs in the palace
of the King of Babylon." And again in Daniel
we read : a " And the king spake unto Ash-
penaz the master of his eunuchs, that he
should bring in certain of the children of
Israel, even of the seed royal and of the
nobles : youth in whom was no blemish, but
well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and
cunning in knowledge, and understanding
science." The conclusion is that if Daniel
and the three youths were chosen from the
seed royal, and if Scripture foretold that
that there should be eunuchs of the seed
royal, these men were those who were made
eunuchs. If he meets us with the argument
that in Ezekiel 3 it is said that Noah, Daniel
and Job in a sinful land could not free their
sons and daughters, we reply that the words
are used hypothetically. Noah and Job were
not in existence at that time : we know that
they lived many ages before. And the mean-
ing is this : if there were such and such men
in a sinful land, they shall not be able to save
their own sons and daughters : because the
righteousness of the father shall not save the
son, nor shall the sin of one be imputed to
another. 4 " For the soul that sinneth, it shall
die." This, too, must be said, that Daniel, as
the history of his book shows, was taken cap-
tive with King Jehoiakim at the same time
that Ezekiel was also led into captivity. How
then could he have sons who was still a youth ?
And only three years had elapsed when he
was brought in to wait upon the king. Let
no one suppose that Ezekiel at this time re-
members Daniel as a man, not as a youth ;
for " It came to pass," he says,5 "in the sixth
year," that is of King Jehoiakim, " in the sixth
month, in the fifth day of the month ; " and,
"as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah
sat before me." Yet on that same day it was
said to him,0 " Though these three men, Noah,
Daniel, and Job were in it." Daniel was
therefore a youth, and known to the people,
either on account of his interpretation of the
king's dreams,7 or on account of the release
of Susannah, and the slaying of the elders.
And it is clearly proved that at the time these
1 2 Kings xx. 18. - Dan. i. 3, 4.
3 Ezek. xiv. 14, 20. 4 Ezek. xviii. 4.
8 Ezek. viii. 1. • Ezek. xiv. 14.
T Apocryphal additions to Daniel,
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
365
things were spoken of Noah, Daniel, and Job,
Daniel was still a youth and could not have
had sons and daughters, whom he might save
by his righteousness. So far concerning the
Law.
26. Coming to the Gospel he sets before us
Zacharias and Elizabeth, Peter and his mother-
in-law, and, with a shamelessness to which we
have now grown accustomed, fails to under-
stand that they, too, ought to have been reck-
oned among those who served the Law. For
the Gospel had no being before the crucifixion
of Christ — it was consecrated by His passion
and by His blood. In accordance with this
rule Peter and the other Apostles (I must give
Jovinianus something now and then out of my
abundance) had indeed wives, but those which
they had taken before they knew the Gospel.
But once they were received into the Aposto-
late, they forsook the offices of marriage. For
when Peter, representing the Apostles, says to
the Lord : ' "Lo we have left all and followed
thee," the Lord answered him,2 "Verily I say
unto you, there is no man that hath left house,
or wife, or brethren, or parents, or children,
for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not
receive manifold more in this time, and in the
world to come eternal life." But if, in order to
show that all the Apostles had wives, he meets
us with the words 3 " Have we no right to lead
about women or wives " (for ywi] in Greek
has both meanings) " even as the rest of the
apostles, and Cephas, and the brethren of the
Lord ? " let him add what is found in the Greek
copies, " Have we no right to lead about wom-
en that are sisters, or wives?" This makes it
clear that the writer referred to other holy wom-
en, who, in accordance with Jewish custom,
ministered to their teachers of their substance,
as we read was the practice with even our
Lord himself. Where there is a previous ref-
erence to eating and drinking, and the outlay
of money, and mention is afterwards made of
women that are sisters, it is quite clear, as we
have said, that we must understand, not wives,
but those women who ministered of their sub-
stance. And we read the same account in the
Old Testament of the Shunammite who was
wont to welcome Elisha, and to put for him
a table, and bread, and a candlestick, and the
rest. At all events if we take yvvafxaS to
1 Matt. xix. 27. 2 Luke .xviii. 29, 30.
3 1 Cor. ix. 5. The text has been much tampered with by the
advocates or opponents of celibacy. The reading first quoted
by Jerome is that of F. a manuscript of the eighth or ninth cen-
tury, and is found in Tertullian ; the other chief readings in-
troduce the Greek equivalent for sister, either in the sing, or
plural. The Rev. Version renders, " have we no right to lead
about a wife that is a believer" (or sister). Augustine, Tertul-
lian, Theodoret, &c, together with Cornelius-a-Lapide and
Estius among the moderns, agree with Jerome in referring the
passage to holy women who ministered to the Apostles as they
did to the Lord Himself. The third canon of Nicaea is sup-
posed to be directed against the practice encouraged by this in-
terpretation of the Apostle's words.
mean wives, not women, the addition of the
word sisters destroys the effect of the word
wives, and shews that they were related in
spirit, not by wedlock. Nevertheless, with
the exception of the Apostle Peter, it is not
openly stated that the Apostles had wives ;
and since the statement is made of one while
nothing is said about the rest, we must under-
stand that those of whom Scripture gives no
such description had no wives. Yet Jovinianus,
who has arrayed against us Zacharias and
Elizabeth, Peter and his wife's mother, should
know, that John was the son of Zacharias and
Elizabeth, that is, a virgin was the offspring
of marriage, the Gospel of the law, chas-
tity of matrimony ; so that by a virgin proph-
et the virgin Lord might be both announced
and baptized. But we might say concerning
Peter, that he had a mother-in-law when he
believed, and no longer had a wife, although
in the : "Sentences" we read of both his wife
and daughter. But for the present our argu-
ment must be based wholly on Scripture.
He has made his appeal to the Apostles, be-
cause he thinks that they, who hold the chief
authority in our moral system and are the
typical Christian teachers, were not virgins.
If, then, we allow that they were not virgins
(and, with the exception of Peter, the point
cannot be proved), yet I must tell him that it
is to the Apostles that the words of Isaiah
relate : " " Except the Lord of hosts had left
unto us a small remnant, we should have been
as Sodom, we should have been like unto Go-
morrah." So, then, they who were by birth
Jews could not under the Gospel recover the
virginity which they had lost in Judaism.
And yet John, one of the disciples, who is
related to have been the youngest of the
Apostles, and who was a virgin when he em-
braced Christianity, remained a virgin, and on
that account was more beloved by our Lord,
and lay upon the breast of Jesus. And what
Peter, who had had a wife, did not dare ask,3
he requested John to ask. And after the
resurrection, when Mary Magdalene told them
that the Lord had risen,4 they both ran to the
sepulchre, but John outran Peter. And when
they were fishing in the ship on the lake of
Gennesaret, Jesus stood upon the shore, and
the Apostles knew not who it was they saw ; 5
the virgin alone recognized a virgin, and said
to Peter, " It is the Lord." Again, after hear-
ing the prediction that he must be bound by
another, and led whither he would not, and
must suffer on the cross, Peter said, " Lord,
what shall this man do ? " being unwilling to
desert John, with whom he had always been
1 Attributed to Clement by Jerome.
8 Isa. i. 9. 3 S. John xiii. 23.
* S. John xx. 4. • S. John xxi. 7 sq,
366
JEROME.
united. Our Lord said to him, " What is that
to thee if I wish him so to be ?" Whence the
saying went abroad among the brethren that
that disciple should not die. Here we have a
proof that virginity does not die, and that the
defilement of marriage is not washed away by
the blood of martyrdom, but virginity abides
with Christ, and its sleep is not death but a
passing to another state. If, however, Jovini-
anus should obstinately contend that John was
not a virgin, (whereas we have maintained that
his virginity was the cause of the special love
our Lord bore to him), let him explain, if he
was not a virgin, why it was that he was loved
more than the other Apostles. But you say,
' the Church was founded upon Peter : al-
though 2 elsewhere the same is attributed to
all the Apostles, and they all receive the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength
of the Church depends upon them all alike,
yet one among the twelve is chosen so that
when a head has been appointed, there may
be no occasion for schism. But why was not
John chosen, who was a virgin ? Deference
was paid to age, because Peter was the elder :
one who was a youth, I may say almost a boy,
could not be set over men of advanced age ;
and a good master who was bound to remove
every occasion of strife among his disciples,
and who had said to them,3 " Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you," and,
4 " He that is the greater among you, let him
be the least of all," would not be thought to
afford cause of envy against the youth whom
he had loved. We maybe sure that John was
then a boy because ecclesiastical history most
clearly proves that he lived to the reign of
Trajan, that is, he fell asleep in the sixty-
eighth year after our Lord's passion, as I have
briefly noted in my treatise on Illustrious Men?
Peter is an Apostle, and John is an Apostle —
the one a married man, the other a virgin ;
but Peter is an Apostle only, John is both an
Apostle and an Evangelist, and a prophet. An
Apostle, because he wrote to the Churches as
a master ; an Evangelist, because he composed
a Gospel, a thing which no other of the Apos-
tles, excepting Matthew, did ; a prophet, for
he saw in the island of Patmos, to which he
had been banished by the Emperor Domitian
as a martyr for the Lord, an Apocalypse con-
taining the boundless mysteries of the future.
Tertullian, moreover, relates that he was sent
to Rome, and that having been plunged into a
jar of boiling oil he came out fresher and more
active than when he went in. But his very
1 S. Matt. xvi. 18.
Q S. Matt, xviii. 18 : S. John xx. 22, 23.
• S. John xiv. 27.
J S. Matt. xx. 27 : S. Luke xxii. 26.
0 See this book in Vol. III. of this series.
Gospel is widely different from the rest.
Matthew as though he were writing of a man
begins thus : " The book of the Generation of
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham ; " Luke begins with the priesthood
of Zacharias ; Mark with a prophecy of the
prophets Malachi and Isaiah. The first has the
face of a man, on account of the genealogical
table ; the second, the face of a calf, on ac-
count of the priesthood ; the third, the face of
a lion, on account of the voice of one crying
in the desert, ' " Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make His paths straight." But John
like an eagle soars aloft, and reaches the Fa-
ther Himself, and says, 2 " In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The same was in the be-
ginning with God," and so on. The virgin
writer expounded mysteries which the married
could not, and to briefly sum up all and show
how great was the privilege of John, or rather
of virginity in John, the Virgin Mother 3 was
entrusted by the Virgin Lord to the Virgin
disciple.
27. But we toil to no purpose. For our op-
ponent urges against us the Apostolic sen-
tence and says," " Adam was first formed, then
Eve ; and Adam was not beguiled, but the
woman being beguiled hath fallen into trans-
gression : but she shall be saved through the
child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love
and sanctification with sobriety." Let us con-
sider what led the Apostle to make this dec-
laration : B " I desire therefore that the men
pray in everyplace, lifting up holy hands, with-
out wrath and disputing." So in due course he
lays down rules of life for the women and says
"In like manner that women adorn themselves
in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and
sobriety ; not with braided hair, and gold or
pearls or costly raiment ; but (which becom-
eth women professing godliness) through good
works. Let a woman learn in quietness with
all subjection. But I permit not a woman to
teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but
to be in quietness." And that the lot of a
woman might not seem a hard one, reducing
her to the condition of a slave to her husband,
the Apostle recalls the ancient law and goes
back to the first example : that Adam was first
made, then the woman out of his rib ; and that
the Devil could not seduce Adam, but did se-
duce Eve ; and that after displeasing God she
was immediately subjected to the man, and
began to turn to her husband ; and he points
out that she who was once tied with the bonds
of marriage and was reduced to the condition
of Eve, might blot out the 6 old transgression
1 Is. xl. 3. " S. John i. 1. 8 S. John xix. 26, 27.
4 1 Tim. ii. 13, 15. 6 1 Tim. ii. 8 sqq.
8 Apparently, Eve's transgression imputed to her descendants,
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
3<57
by the ' procreation of children : provided,
however, that she bring up the children them-
selves in the faith and love of Christ, and in
sanctification and chastity ; for we must not
adopt the faulty reading of the Latin texts,
sobrietas, but castitas, that is, 2 ffGocppoGwrj.
You see how you are mastered by the witness
of this passage also, and cannot but be driven
to admit that what you thought was on the side
of marriage tells in favour of virginity. For
if the woman is saved in child-bearing, and the
more the children the greater the safety of the
mothers, why did he add " if they continue in
faith and love and sanctification with chas-
tity " ? The woman will then be saved, if she
bears children who will remain virgins : if
what she has herself lost, she attains in her
children, and makes up for the loss and decay
of the root by the excellence of the flower and
fruit.
28. Above, in passing, when our opponent
adduced Solomon, who, although he had many
wives, nevertheless built the temple, I briefly
replied that it was my intention to run over
the remaining points. Now that he may not
cry out that both Solomon and others under
the law, prophets and holy men, have been dis-
honoured by us, let us show what this very man
with his many wives and concubines thought
of marriage. For no one can know better than
he who suffered through them, what a wife or
woman is. Well then, he says in the Proverbs:
3 " The foolish and bold woman comes to want
bread." What bread ? Surely that bread
which cometh down from heaven : and he
immediately adds 4 " The earth-born perish in
her house, rush into the depths of hell." Who
are the earth-born that perish in her house ?
They of course who follow the first Adam,
who is of the earth, and not the second, who
is from heaven. And again in another place:
" Like a worm in wood, so a wicked woman
destroyeth her husband." But if you assert
that this was spoken of bad wives, I shall
briefly answer : What necessity rests upon me
to run the risk of the wife I marry proving
good or bad ? " " It is better," he says, "to
dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious
and passionate woman in a wide house." How
seldom we find a wife without these faults, he
knows who is married. Hence that sublime
orator, Varius Geminus,6 says well " The man
1 The original admits of the rendering " by means of her child-
bearing." But Ellicott and others'interpret of the Incarnation.
2 Rev. Version, "sobriety." Sobermindedness or discretion are
given by Ellicott (Notes on translation) as alternative render-
ings. The word cannot mean chastity, but rather " the well-
balanced state of mind resulting from habitual self-restraint " in
general.
8 Prov. vi. 26? 4 Prov. vii. 27 : ix. 18.
6 Prov. xxi. 19.
' Often mentioned by Seneca. A saying is reported of him :
" Ho, traveller, stop. There is a miracle here: a man and his
wife not at strife."
who does not quarrel is a bachelor." ' " It is
better to dwell in the corner of the housetop,
than with a contentious woman in a house in
common." If a house common to husband and
wife makes a wife proud and breeds contempt
for the husband : how much more if the wife
be the richer of the two, and the husband but
a lodger in her house ! She begins to be not
a wife, but mistress of the house ; and if she
offend her husband, they must part. 2 "A con-
tinual dropping on a wintry day " turns a man
out of doors, and so will a contentious woman
drive a man from his own house. She floods
his house with her constant nagging and daily
chatter, and ousts him from his own home,
that is the Church. Hence the same Solomon
previously commands : 3 " My son flow not forth
beyond." And the Apostle, writing to the
Hebrews, says " Therefore we ought to give
the more earnest heed to the things spoken,
lest haply we flow forth beyond." But who
can hide from himself what is thus enigmatic-
ally expressed ? 4 " The horseleech had three
daughters, dearly loved, but they satisfied her
not, and a fourth is not satisfied when you say
Enough ; the grave, and woman's love, and
the earth that is not satisfied with water, and
the fire that saith not, Enough." The horse-
leech is the devil, the daughters of the devil
are dearly loved, and they cannot be satisfied
with the blood of the slain : the grave, and
woman's love, and the earth dry and scorched
with heat. It is not the harlot, or the adul-
teress who is spoken of ; but woman's love in
general is accused of ever being insatiable ;
put it out, it bursts into flame ; give it plenty,
it is again in need ; it enervates a man's mind,
and engrosses all thought except for the pas-
sion which it feeds. What we read in the
parable which follows is to the same effect :
" For three things the earth doth tremble, and
for four which it cannot bear : for a servant
when he is king : and a fool when he is filled
with meat : for an odious woman when she is
married to a good husband : and an handmaid
that is heir to her mistress." See how a wife
is classed with the greatest evils. But if you
reply that it is an odious wife, I will give you
the same answer as before — the mere pos-
sibility of such danger is in itself no light
matter. For he who marries a wife is uncer-
tain whether he is marrying an odious woman
or one worthy of his love. If she be odious,
she is intolerable. If worthy of love, her love
1 Prov. xxi. 9 ; xxv. 24.
2 Prov. xxvii. 15.
3 Supereffluas. Prov. iii. 21 Sept., Heb. ii. 1. The Greek
word signifies to fall away like flowing water. See Schleusner
on napappvonai. In Heb. ii. i, Rev. v. translates "We drift
away : " Vaughan, " We be found to have leaked, or ebbed
away."
4 Prov. xxx. 15, 16.
368
JEROME.
is compared to the grave, to the parched earth,
and to fire.
29. Let us come to Ecclesiastesand adduce
a few corroborative passages from him also.
'"To everything there is a season, and a
time to every purpose under the heaven : a
time to be born, and a time to die : a time to
plant, and a time to pluck up that which is
planted." We brought forth young under
the law with Moses, let us die under the
Gospel with Christ. We planted in marriage,
let us by chastity pluck up that which was
planted. " A time to embrace, and a time
to refrain from embracing : a time to love,
and a time to hate : a time for war, and a
time for peace." And at the same time he
warns us not to prefer the law to the Gospel ;
nor to think that virgin purity is to be placed
on a level with marriage : 2 " Better," he says,
" is the end of a thing than the beginning
thereof." And he immediately adds : " Say
not thou, what is the cause that the former
days were better than these ? for thou dost
not inquire wisely concerning this." And
he gives the reason why the latter days are
better than the former : 3 " For wisdom with
an inheritance is good." Under the law car-
nal wisdom was followed by the sword of
death ; under the Gospel an eternal inheri-
tance awaits spiritual wisdom. " Behold,
this have I found, 4 saith the Preacher, one
man among a thousand have I found ; but a
woman among all those have I not found.
Behold this only have I found, that God made
man upright ; but they have sought out
many inventions." He says that he had
found man upright. Consider the force of
the words. The word man comprehends both
male and female. " But a woman," he says,
"among all these have I not found." Let
us read the beginning of Genesis, and we
shall find Adam, that is man, called both
male and female. Having then been created
by God good and upright, by our own fault
we have fallen to a worse condition ; and
that which in Paradise had been upright,
when we left Paradise was corrupt. If you
object that before they sinned there was a
distinction in sex between male and female,
and that they could without sin have come
together, it is uncertain what might have
happened. For we cannot know the judge-
ments of God, and anticipate his sentence as
we choose. What really happened is plain
enough, — that they who in Paradise remained
in perpetual virginity, when they were ex-
pelled from Paradise were joined together.
Or if Paradise admits of marriage, and there
1 Eccles. iii. 1, 2. sqq.
* R.V. " Good as an inheritance
0 Eccles. vii. 10.
4 Eccles. vii. 28, 39.
is no difference between marriage and vir-
ginity, what prevented their previous inter-
course even in Paradise ? They are driven
out of Paradise ; and what they did not
there, they do on earth ; so that from the
very earliest days of humanity virginity was
consecrated by Paradise, and marriage by
earth. 1 " Let thy garments be always white."
The eternal whiteness of our garments is the
purity of virginity. In the morning we sowed
our seed, and in the evening let us not cease.
Let us who -served marriage under the law,
serve virginity under the Gospel.
30. I pass to the Song of Songs, and
whereas our opponent thinks it makes alto-
gether for marriage, I shall show that it
contains the mysteries of virginity. Let us
hear what the bride says before that the
bridegroom comes to earth, suffers, descends
to the lower world, and rises again. 3 " We
will make for thee likenesses of gold with
ornaments of silver while the king sits at his
table." Before the Lord rose again, and the
Gospel shone, the bride had not gold, but
likenesses of gold. As for the silver, however,
which she professes to have at the marriage,
she not only had silver ornaments, but she had
them in variety — in widows, in the continent,
and in the married. Then the bridegroom
makes answer to the bride, and teaches her
that the shadow of the old law has passed
away, and the truth of the Gospel has come.
3 " Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come
away, for lo, the winter is past, the rain is
over and gone." This relates to the Old
Testament. Once more he speaks of the
Gospel and of virginity : " The flowers ap-
pear on the earth, the time of the pruning of
vines has come." Does he not seem to you
to say the very same thing that the Apostle
says:4 "The time is shortened that hence-
forth both those that have wives may be as
though they had none "? And more plainly
does he herald chastity : 5 " The voice," he
says, " of the turtle is heard in our land."
The turtle, the chastest of birds, always
dwelling in lofty places, is a type of the
Saviour. Let us read the works of natural-
ists and we shall find that it is the nature of
the turtle-dove, if it lose its mate, not to
take another ; and we shall understand that
second marriage is repudiated even by dumb
birds. And immediately the turtle says to
its fellow : fl " The fig tree hath put forth its
green figs," that is, the commandments of
the old law have fallen, and the blossoming
vines of the Gospel give forth their fra-
I Eccles. ix. 8.
II Cant. i. 10, 11. " Plaits of gold with studs of silver." R.V,
8 Cant. ii. 1, 10-12. * 1 Cor. vii. 20.
6 Cant. ii. ig, e Verse 13. '
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
369
grance. Whence the Apostle also says,1 " We
are a sweet savour of Christ." 2 " Arise, my
love, my fair one, and come away. O my
dove, thou art in the clefts of the rock, in
the covert of the steep place. Let me see
thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ; for
sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is
comely."3 Whilst thou coveredst thy coun-
tenance like Moses and the veil of the law
remained, I neither saw thy face, nor did I
condescend to hear thy voice. I said, 4 " Yea,
when ye make many prayers, I will not hear."
But now with unveiled face behold my glory,
and shelter thyself in the cleft and steep
places of the solid rock. On hearing this the
bride disclosed the mysteries of chastity :
6 " My beloved is mine, and I am his : he feed-
eth his flock among the lilies," that is among
the pure virgin bands. Would you know
what sort of a throne our true Solomon, the
Prince of Peace, has, and what his attendants
are like ? 6 " Behold," he says, " it is the
litter of Solomon : threescore mighty men
are about it, of the mighty men of Israel.
They all handle the sword, and are expert
in war : every man hath his sword upon his
thigh." They who are about Solomon have
their sword upon their thigh, like Ehud, the
left-handed judge, who slew the fattest of
foes, a man devoted to the flesh, and cut
short all his pleasures. ' " I will get me,"
he says, " to the mountain of myrrh ; " to
those, that is, who have mortified their
bodies ; " and to the hill of frankincense,"
to the crowds of pure virgins ; " and I will
say to my bride, thou art all fair, my love,
and there is no spot in thee." Whence
too the Apostle : 8 " That he might present
the church to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle, or any such
thing." 9 " Come with me from Lebanon,
my bride, with me from Lebanon. Thou
shalt come I0 and pass on from the beginning
of faith, from the top of Sanir and Hermon,
from the lions' dens, from the mountains
of the leopards." Lebanon is, being inter-
preted, whiteness. Come then, fairest bride,
concerning whom it is elsewhere said11 "Who
is she that cometh up, all in white?" and
pass on by way of this world, from the be-
ginning of faith, and from Sanir, which is by
interpretation, God of light, as we read in the
psalm : 12 " Thy word is a lantern unto my
feet, and light unto my path ; " and " from
Hermon," that is, consecration: and "flee
1 2 Cor. ii. 13. 2 Cant. ii. 13, 14.
3 Ex. xxxiv. 33, 35 : 2 Cor. iii. 7 sq.
* Is. i. it;. B Cant. ii. 16.
6 Cant. iii. 7, 8. 7 Cant. iv. 6. 6 Eph. v. 27.
9 Cant. iv. 8.
10 Sept. R.V. " Look from the top of Amana."
11 Cant. viii. 5. 12 Ps. cxix. 105.
from the lions' dens, and the mountains of
the leopards who cannot change their spots."
Flee, he says, from the lions' dens, flee from
the pride of devils, that when thou hast been
consecrated to me, I may be able to say unto
thee : ' " Thou hast ravished my heart, my
sister, my bride, thou hast ravished mine
heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain
of thy neck." What he says is something
like this — I do not reject marriage : you
have a second eye, the left, which I have
given to you on account of the weakness of
those who cannot see the right. But I am
pleased with the right eye of virginity, and
if it be blinded the whole body is in dark-
ness. And that we might not think he had
in view carnal love and bodily marriage, he
at once excludes this meaning by saying
2 " Thou hast ravished my heart, my bride, my
sister." The name sister excludes all sus-
picion of unhallowed love. " How fair are
thy breasts with wine," those breasts con-
cerning which he had said above, My beloved
is mine, and I am his : " betwixt my breasts
shall he lie," that is in the princely portion
of the heart where the Word of God has its
lodging. What wine is that which gives
beauty to the breasts of the bride, and fills
them with the milk of chastity ? That, for-
sooth, of which the bridegroom goes on to
speak : 3 "I have drunk my wine with my
milk. Eat, O friends : yea, drink and be
drunken, my brethren." Hence the Apostles
also were said to be filled with new wine ;
with new, he says, not with old wine ; be-
cause4 new wine is put into fresh wine-skins,
and they i did not walk in oldness of the
letter, but in newness of the Spirit. This is
wine wherewith when youths and maidens
are intoxicated, they at once thirst for vir-
ginity ; they are filled with the spirit of
chastity, and the prophecy of Zechariah
comes to pass, at least if we follow the He-
brew literally, for he prophesied concerning
virgins : 6 " And the streets of the city shall
be full of boys and girls playing in the streets
thereof. For what is his goodness, and what
is his beauty, but the corn of the elect, and
wine that giveth birth to virgins ? " They
are virgins of whom it is written in the forty-
fifth psalm : 7 " The virgins her companions
that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
With gladness and rejoicing shall they be
led : they shall enter into the King's palace."
31. Then follows: 8 "A garden shut up is my
1 Cant. iv. 9.
3 Cant. v. 1.
iv. g, 10.
6 Rom. vii. 6.
2 Cant.
* S. Matt. ix. 17.
6 Zech. viii. s ; ix. 17, R- V. " How great is his goodness, and
how great is his beauty ! Corn shall make the young men flour-
ish, and new wine the maids."
7 Ps. xlv. 16, 17.
8 Cant. iv. 12, 13.
370
JEROME.
sister, my bride : a garden shut up, a foun-
tain sealed." That which is shut up and
sealed reminds us of the mother of our Lord
who was a mother and a Virgin. Hence it
was that no one before or after our Saviour
was laid in his new tomb, hewn in the solid
rock. And yet she that was ever a Virgin is
the mother of many virgins. For next we
read : " Thy shoots are an orchard of pome-
granates with precious fruits." By pome-
granates and fruits is signified the blending
of all virtues in virginity. ' " My beloved is
white and ruddy" ; white in virginity, ruddy
in martyrdom. And because He is white and
ruddy, therefore it is immediately added
2" His mouth is most sweet, yea, he is alto-
gether lovely." The virgin bridegroom hav-
ing been praised by the virgin bride, in turn
praises the virgin bride, and says to her :
3" How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, 4 O
daughter of Aminadab," which is, being in-
terpreted, a people that offereth itself tvillingly.
For virginity is voluntary, and therefore the
steps of the Church in the beauty of chastity
are praised. This is not the time for me
like a commentator to explain all the mys-
teries of virginity from the Song of Songs ;
I have no doubt that the fastidious reader
will turn up his nose at what has already
been said.
32. Isaiah tells of the mystery of our faith
and hope : * " Behold a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son, and shall call his name
Emmanuel." I know that the Jews are ac-
customed to meet us with the objection that
in Hebrew the word Almah does not mean a
virgin, but a young woman. And, to speak
truth, a virgin is properly called Bethulak,
but a young woman, or a girl, is not Almah,
but Naarah. 6 What then is the meaning of
Almah ? A hidden virgin, that is, not merely
virgin, but a virgin and something more, be-
cause not every virgin is hidden, shut off
from the occasional sight of men. Then
again, Rebecca, on account of her extreme
purity, and because she was a type of the
Church which she represented in her own
virginity, is described in Genesis as Almah,
not Bethulah, as may clearly be proved from
the words of Abraham's servant, spoken by
him in Mesopotamia: '"And he said, O
Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if
now thou do prosper my way which I go :
behold I stand by the fountain of water; and
1 Cant. v. 10.
2 Cant. v. 16.
8 Cant. vu. 1.
4 R. V. O Prince s daughter ! " Sept., also " daughter of
Nadab."
6 Is. vii. 14.
• Delitzsch remarks, " The assertion of Jerome is untenable."
See Cheyne, critical note on Is. vii. 14. The word probably de-
notes a female, married or unmarried, just attaining maturity.
But in every other passage, the context shows that the word is
used of an unmarried woman.
1 Gen. xxiv. 42 sq.
let it come to pass, that the maiden which
cometh forth to draw, to whom I shall say,
Give me, I pray thee, a little water of this
pitcher to drink ; and she shall say to me,
Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy
camels : let the same be the woman whom
the Lord hath appointed for my master's
son." Where he speaks of the maiden com-
ing forth to draw water, the Hebrew word is
Almah, that is, a virgin secluded, and guarded
by her parents with extreme care. Or, if
if this be not so, let them at least show me
where the word is applied to married women
as well, and I will confess my ignorance.
" Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a
son." If virginity be not preferred to mar-
riage, why did not the Holy Spirit choose a
married woman, or a widow ? For at that
time Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the
tribe of Aser, was alive, distinguished for
purity, and always free to devote herself to
prayers and fasting in the temple of God. If
the life, and good works, and fasting without
virginity can merit the advent of the Holy
Spirit, she might well have been the mother
of our Lord. Let us hasten to the rest :
1 " The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised
thee and laughed thee to scorn." To her
whom he called daughter the prophet also gave
the title virgin, for fear that if he spoke only of
a daughter, it might be supposed that she was
married. This is the virgin daughter whom
elsewhere he thus addresses : 2" Sing, O bar-
ren, thou that dost not bear ; break forth
into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst
not travail with child : for more are the chil-
dren of the desolate, than the children of the
married wife, saith the Lord." This is she
of whom God by the mouth of Jeremiah
speaks, saying : 3 " Can a maid forget her
ornaments, or a bride her attire." Concern-
ing her we read of a great miracle in the
same prophecy4 — that a woman should com-
pass a man, and that the Father of all things
should be contained in a virgin's womb.
2,$. " Granted, " says Jovinianus, " that there
is a difference between marriage and virgin-
ity, what have you to say to this, — Suppose
a virgin and a widow were baptized, and con-
tinued as they were, what difference will there
be between them ? " What we have already
said concerning Peter and John, Anna and
Mary, may be of service here. For if there
is no difference between a virgin and a widow,
both being baptized, because baptism makes
a new man, upon the same principle harlots
and prostitutes, if they are baptized, will be
equal to virgins. If previous marriage is no
prejudice to a baptized widow, and past pleas-
1 Is. xxxvii. 22.
3 Jerem. ii. 32.
3 Is. liv. 1.
4 Jer. xxxi. 22.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
371
ures and the exposure of their bodies to pub-
lic lust are no detriment in the case of harlots,
once they have approached the laver they
will gain the rewards of virginity. It is one
thing to unite with God a mind pure and free
from any stain of memory, another to re-
member the foul and forced embraces of a
man, and in recollection to act a part which
you do not in person. Jeremiah, who was
1 sanctified in the womb, and was known in his
mother's belly, enjoyed the high privilege
because he was predestined to the blessing
of virginity. And when all were captured,
and even the vessels of the temple were
plundered by the King of Babylon, he alone
was 2 liberated by the enemy, knew not the
insults of captivity, and was supported by
the conquerors ; and Nebuchadnezzar, though
he gave Nebuzaradan no charge concerning
the Holy of Holies, did give him charge con-
cerning Jeremiah. For that is the true temple
of God, and that is the Holy of Holies, which
is consecrated to the Lord by pure virginity.
On the other" hand, Ezekiel, who was kept
captive in Babylon, who saw the 3 storm ap-
proaching from the north, and the whirlwind
sweeping all before it, says,4 " My wife died
in the evening and I did in the morning as I
was commanded." For the Lord had previ-
ously told him that in that day he should
open his mouth, and speak, and no longer
keep silence. Mark well, that while his wife
was living he was not at liberty to admonish
the people. His wife died, the bond of wed-
lock was broken, and without the least hesi-
tation he constantly devoted himself to the
prophetic office. For he who was called being
free, is truly the Lord's bondservant. I do
not deny the blessedness of widows who re-
main such after their baptism ; nor do I dis-
parage those wives who maintain their chas-
tity in wedlock ; but as they attain a greater
reward with God than married women who
pay the marriage due, let widows themselves
be content to give the preference to virgin-
ity. For if a chastity which comes too late,
when the glow of bodily pleasure is no longer
felt, makes them feel superior to married
women, why should they not acknowledge
themselves inferior to perpetual virginity.
34. All that goes for nothing, says Jovini-
anus, because even bishops, priests, and
deacons, husbands of one wife, and having
children, were appointed by the Apostle.
Just as the Apostle B says he has no com-
mandment respecting virgins, and yet gives
his advice, as one who had obtained mercy
from the Lord, and is anxious throughout
the whole discussion to give virginity the
1 Jer. i. 5. 2 Jer. xxxix. 11 ; xl. i. 3 Ezek. i. 4.
4 Ezek. xxiv. 18. 5 1 Cor. vii. 25.
preference over marriage, and advises what
he does not venture to command, lest he seem
to lay a snare, and to put a heavier burden
upon man's nature than it can bear ; so also in
establishing the constitution of the Church, in-
asmuch as the elements of the early Church
were drawn from the Gentiles, he made the
rules for fresh believers somewhat lighter that
they might not in alarm shrink from keeping
them. Then, again, the Apostles and elders
wrote1 letters from Jerusalem that no heavier
burden should be laid on Gentile believers
than that they should keep themselves from
idolatry, and from fornication, and from
things strangled. As though they were pro-
viding for infant children, they gave them
milk to drink, not solid food. Nor did they
lay down rules for continence, nor hint at
virginity, nor urge to fasting, nor repeat the
directions2 given in the Gospel to the Apos-
tles, not to have two tunics, nor scrip, nor
money in their girdles, nor staff in their
hand, nor shoes on their feet. And they
certainly did not bid them,3 if they wished
to be perfect, go and sell all that they had
and give to the poor, and "come follow me."
For if the young man who boasted of having
done all that the law enjoins, when he heard
this went away sorrowful, because he had
great possessions, and the Pharisees derided
an utterance such as this from our Lord's
lips : how much more would the vast multi-
tude of Gentiles, whose highest virtue con-
sisted in not plundering another's goods, have
repudiated the obligation of perpetual chas-
tity and continence, when they were told
in the letter to keep themselves from idols,
and from fornication, seeing that fornication
was heard of among them, and such fornica-
tion as was not " even among the Gentiles."
But the very choice of a bishop makes for me.
For he does not say : Let a bishop be chosen
who marries one wife and begets children ;
but who marries one wife, and 4 has his chil-
dren in subjection and well disciplined. You
surely admit that he is no bishop who during
his episcopate begets children. The reverse
is the case — if he be discovered, he will not
be bound by the ordinary obligations of a
husband, but will be condemned as an adul-
terer. Either permit 6 priests to perform the
work of marriage with the result that virgin-
ity and marriage are on a par : or if it is un-
lawful for priests to touch their wives, they
are so far holy in that they imitate virgin
chastity. But something more follows. A
layman, or any believer, cannot pray unless
he abstain from sexual intercourse. Now a
1 Acts xv. 28, 29.
8 S. Matt. xix. 21.
6 Sacerdotes : that is, bishops.
a S. Matt. x. 10 : S. Luke x. 5.
* 1 Tim. iii. 2, 4 : Tit. i. 6.
372
JEROME.
priest must always offer sacrifices for the
people : he must therefore always pray. And
if he must always pray, he must always be
released from the duties of marriage. For
even under the old law they who used to offer
sacrifices for the people not only remained in
their houses, but purified themselves for the
occasion by separating from their wives, nor
would they drink wine or strong drink which
are wont to stimulate lust. That married
men are elected to the priesthood, I do not
deny : the number of virgins is not so great
as that of the priests required. Does it fol-
low that because all the strongest men are
chosen for the army, weaker men should not
be taken as well ? All cannot be strong. If
an army were constituted of strength only,
and numbers went for nothing, the feebler
men might be rejected. As it is, men of
second or third-rate strength are chosen, that
the army may have its full numerical com-
plement. How is it, then, you will say, that
frequently at the ordination of priests a
virgin is passed over, and a married man
taken ? Perhaps because he lacks other
qualifications in keeping with virginity, or it
may be that he is thought a virgin, and is
not : or there may be a stigma on his virgin-
ity, or at all events virginity itself makes
him proud, and while he plumes himself on
mere bodily chastity, he neglects other vir-
tues ; he does not cherish the poor : he is
too fond of money. It sometimes happens
that a man has a gloomy visage, a frowning
brow, a walk as though he were in a solemn
procession, and so offends the people, who,
because they have no fault to find with his
life, hate his mere dress and gait. Many are
chosen not out of affection for themselves,
but out of hatred for another. In most
cases the election is won by mere simplicity,
while the shrewdness and discretion of an-
other candidate elicit opposition as though
they were evils. Sometimes the judgement of
the commoner people is at fault, and in test-
ing the qualities of the priesthood, the indi-
vidual inclines to his own character, with
the result that he looks not so much for
a good candidate as for one like himself.
Not unfrequently it happens that married
men, who form the larger portion of the
people, in approving married candidates
seem to approve themselves, and it does not
occur to them that the mere fact that they
prefer a married person to a virgin is evi-
dence of their inferiority to virgins. What
I am going to say will perhaps offend many.
Yet I will say it, and good men will not be
angry with me, because they will not feel
the sting of conscience. Sometimes it is the
fault of the bishops, who choose into the
ranks of the clergy not the best, but
the cleverest, men, and think the more sim-
ple as well as innocent ones incapable ; or, as
though they were distributing the offices of
an earthly service, they give posts to their
kindred and relations ; or they listen to the
dictates of wealth. And, worse than all,
they give promotion to the clergy who be-
smear them with flattery. To take the other
view, if the Apostle's meaning be that mar-
riage is necessary in a bishop, the Apostle
himself ought not to have been a bishop, for
he said,1 " Yet I would that all men were even
as I myself." And John will be thought un-
worthy of this rank, and all the virgins, and
the continent, the fairest gems that give grace
and ornament to the Church. Bishop, priest,
and deacon, are not honourable distinctions,
but names of offices. And we do not read :
2 " If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he
desireth a good degree," but, "he desireth a
good work," because by being placed in the
higher order an opportunity is afforded him,
if he choose to avail himself of it, for the
practice of virtue.
35. " The bishop, then, must be without
reproach, so that he is the slave of no vice :
" the husband of one wife," that is, in the
past, not in the present ; " sober," or 3 better,
as it is in the Greek, " vigilant," that is
vi]cpakiov; " chaste," for that is the 4 mean-
ing of Gaoqjpova ; 6 " distinguished," both
by chastity and conduct : " hospitable," so
that he imitates Abraham, and with stran-
gers, nay rather in strangers, entertains Christ ;
" apt to teach," for it profits nothing to en-
joy the consciousness of virtue, unless a man
be able to instruct the people intrusted to
him, so that he can exhort in doctrine, and
refute the gainsayers ; 6 " not a drunkard,"
for he who is constantly in the Holy of
Holies and offers sacrifices, will not drink
wine and strong drink, since wine is a lux-
ury. If a bishop drink at all, let it be in such
a way that no one will know whether he has
drunk or not. " No striker," that is, 7 a
striker of men's consciences, for the Apostle
is not pointing out what a boxer, but a pon-
tiff ought not to do. He directly teaches
what he ought to do : " but gentle, not con-
tentious, no lover of money, one that ruleth
well his own house, having his children in
1 1 Cor. vii. 7. 2 1 Tim. iii. 1.
3 V. supra, c. 27. R. V. " temperate." Ellicott observes,
" under any circumstances the derivative translation Vigilant,
Auth., though possibly defensible in the verb, is a needless and
doubtful extension of the primary meaning."
4 R. V. " orderly." V. above, c. 27.
6 koct^lov. R. V. " orderly."
6 Non vinolentum. R.V. ''no brawler," i.e., as the Margin ex-
plains, " not quarrelsome over wine." The original is not thus
a mere synonym for i-rj^a'Aios in v. 2.
7 So Chrysostom and Theodoret. The simple meaning ap-
pears to suit the context better.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
373
subjection with all chastity." See what chas-
tity is required in a bishop ! If his child be
unchaste, he himself cannot be a bishop, and
he offends God in the same way as did ' Eli
the priest, who had indeed rebuked his sons,
but because he had not put away the offend-
ers, fell backwards and died before the lamp
of God went out. 2 " Women in like manner
must be chaste," and so on. In every grade,
and in both sexes, chastity has the chief place.
You see then that the blessedness of a bishop,
priest, or deacon, does not lie in the fact
that they are bishops, priests, or deacons,
but in their having the virtues which their
names and offices imply. Otherwise, if a
deacon be holier than his bishop, his lower
grade will not give him a worse standing with
Christ. If it were so, Stephen the deacon,
the first to wear the martyr's crown,
would be less in the kingdom of heaven
than many bishops, and than Timothy and
Titus, whom I venture to make neither in-
ferior nor yet superior to him. Just as in
the legions of the army there are generals,
tribunes, centurions, javelin-men, and light-
armed troops, common soldiers, and com-
panies, but once the battle begins, all dis-
tinctions of rank are dropped, and the one
thing looked for is valour : so too in this
camp and in this battle, in which we contend
against devils, not names but deeds are
needed : and under the true commander,
Christ, not the man who has the highest
title has the greatest fame, but he who is the
bravest warrior.
36. But you will say: "If everybody were
a virgin, what would become of the human
race " ? Like shall here beget like. If every-
one were a widow, or continent in marriage,
how will mortal men be propagated ? Upon
this principle there will be nothing at all for
fear that something else may cease to exist.
To put a case : if all men were philosophers,
there would be no husbandmen. Why speak
of husbandmen ? there would be no orators,
no lawyers, no teachers of the other profes-
sions. If all men were leaders, what would be-
come of the soldiers? If all were the head,
whose head would they be called, when there
were no other members ? You are afraid that
if the desire for virginity were general there
would be no prostitutes, no adulteresses, no
wailing infants in town or country. Every
day the blood of adulterers3 is shed, adul-
terers are condemned, and lust is raging and
rampant in the very presence of the laws and
the symbols of authority and the courts of
justice. Be not afraid that all will become
1 1 Sam. ii. and iv. 2 1 Tim. 111. n.
3 The Code of Constantine, following the Mosaic law, im-
posed the penalty of death for adultery. See Gibbon, ch. xliv.
virgins : virginity is a hard matter, and there-
fore rare, because it is hard : " Many are
called, few chosen." Many begin, few perse-
vere. And so the reward is great for those
who have persevered. If all were able to be
virgins, our Lord would never have said :
1 " He that is able to receive it, let him re-
ceive it : " and the Apostle would not have
hesitated to give his advice, — 2 " Now con-
cerning virgins I have no commandment of
the Lord." Why then, you will say, were the
organs of generation created, and why were
we so fashioned by the all-wise creator, that
we burn for one another, and long for nat-
ural intercourse ? To reply is to endanger our
modesty : we are, as it were, between two
rocks, the 3 Symplegades of necessity and vir-
tue, on either side ; and must make shipwreck
of either our sense of shame, or of the cause
we defend. If we reply to your suggestions,
shame covers our face. If shame secures si-
lence, in a manner we seem to desert our post,
and to leave the ground clear to the raging
foe. Yet it is better, as the story goes, to
shut our eyes and fight like the 4 blindfold
gladiators, than not to repel with the shield
of truth the darts aimed at us. I can indeed
say : " Our hinder parts which are banished
from sight, and the lower portions of the ab-
domen, which perform the functions of na-
ture, are the Creator's work." But inasmuch
as the physical conformation of the organs
of generation testifies to difference of sex, I
shall briefly reply : Are we never then to fore-
go lust, for fear that we may have members of
this kind for nothing ? Why then should a
husband keep himself from his wife ? Why
should a widow persevere in chastity, if we
were only born to live like beasts ? Or what
harm does it do me if another man lies with
my wife ? For as the teeth were made for
chewing, and the food masticated passes into
the stomach, and a man is not blamed for
giving my wife bread : similarly if it was in-
tended that the organs of generation should
always be performing their office, when my
vigour is spent let another take my place, and,
if I may so speak, let my wife quench her
burning lust where she can. But what does
the Apostle mean by exhorting to continence,
if continence be contrary to nature ? What
does our Lord mean when He instructs us in
the various kinds of eunuchs.5 Surely6 the
Apostle who bids us emulate his own chas-
tity, must be asked, if we are to be consistent,
Why are you like other men, Paul ? Why are
1 S. Matt. xix. 12. 2 1 Cor. vu. 25.
3 " Two rocky islands in the EuxHne, that, according to the
fable, floated about, dashing against and rebounding from each
other, until at length they became fixed 011 the passage of th"
Argo between them."
4 Andabatae. 6 Matt. xix. 12. e 1 Cor. vu. 7.
VOL. VI.
15 b
374
JEROME.
you distinguished from the female sex by a
beard, hair, and other peculiarities of person ?
How is it that you have not swelling bosoms,
and are not broad at the hips, narrow at the
chest? Your voice is rugged, your speech
rough, your eyebrows more shaggy. To no
purpose you have all these manly qualities,
if you forego the embraces of women. I am
compelled to say something and become a
fool : but you have forced me to dare to
speak. Our Lord and Saviour, ' Who though
He was in the form of God, condescended to
take the form of a servant, and became obe-
dient to the Father even unto death, yea the
death of the cross — what necessity was there
for Him to be born with members which He
was not going to use? He certainly was cir-
cumcised to manifest His sex. Why did he
cause John the Apostle and John the Baptist
to make themselves eunuchs through love of
Him, after causing them to be born men ? Let
us then who believe in Christ follow His ex-
ample. And if we knew Him after the flesh,
let us no longer know Him according to the
flesh. The substance of our resurrection
bodies will certainly be the same as now,
though of higher glory. For the Saviour
after His descent into hell had so far the self-
same body in which He was crucified, that 2
He showed the disciples the marks of the
nails in His hands and the wound in His side.
Moreover, if we deny the identity of His body
because 3 He entered though the doors were
shut, and this is not a property of human
bodies, we must deny also that Peter and the
Lord had real bodies because they 4 walked
upon the water, which is contrary to nature.
5 " In the resurrection of the dead they will
neither marry nor be given in marriage, but
will be like the angels." What others will
hereafter be in heaven, that virgins begin to
be on earth. If likeness to the angels is
promised us (and there is no difference of
sex among the angels), we shall either be
of no sex as are the angels, or at all events,
which is clearly proved, though we rise from
the dead in our own sex, we shall not per-
form the functions of sex.
37. But why do we argue, and why are we
eager to frame a clever and victorious reply
to our opponent ?8 " Old things have passed
away, behold all things have become new."
I will run through the utterances of the
Apostles, and as to the instances afforded
by Solomon I added short expositions to
facilitate their being understood, so now I
will go over the passages bearing on Chris-
tian purity and continence, and will make of
many proofs a connected series. By this
method I shall succeed in omitting nothing
relating to chastity, and shall avoid being te-
diously long. Amongst other passages, Paul
the Apostle writes to the Romans:1 "What
fruit then had ye at that time in the things
whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of
those things is death. But now being made
free from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto sanctification, and the
end eternal life." I suppose too that the
end of marriage is death. But the compen-
sating fruit of sanctification, fruit belonging
either to virginity or to continence, is eternal
life. And afterwards : 2 " Wherefore, my
brethren, ye also were made dead to the law
through the body of Christ ; that ye should
be joined to another, even to him who was
raised from the dead, that we might bring
forth fruit unto God. For when we were in
the flesh, the sinful passions, which were
through the law, wrought in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. But now
we have been discharged from the law,
having died to that wherein we were holden ;
so that we serve in newness of the Spirit,
and not in oldness of the letter." "When,"
he says, " we were in the flesh, and not in
the newness of the Spirit but in the oldness
of the letter," we did those things which per-
tained to the flesh, and bore fruit unto death.
But now because we are dead to the law,
through the body of Christ, let us bear fruit
to God, that we may belong to Him who rose
from the dead. And elsewhere, having pre-
viously said,3 "I know that the law is spirit-
ual," and having discussed at some length
the violence of the flesh which frequently
drives us to do what we would not, he at
last continues : " O wretched man that I am !
who shall deliver me out of the body of this
death ? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord." And again, "So then I myself
with the mind serve the law of God ; but
with the flesh the law of sin." And,4 " There
is therefore now no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after
the flesh. For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus made me free from the law of
sin and death." And more clearly in what
follows he teaches that Christians do not
walk according to the flesh but according to
the Spirit : 5 " For they that are after the
flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; but
they that are after the spirit the things of
the spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death ;
but the mind of the spirit is life and peace :
because the mind of the flesh is enmity against
1 Phil. ii. 6-8.
3 S. John xx. 19.
6 S. Matt. xxii. 30,
s S. John xx. 20.
4 S. Matt. xiv. 28.
6 2 Cor. v. 17.
1 Rom. vi. 21, 22.
3 Rom. vii. 14, 24, 25.
I 6 Rom. viii. 5 sq.
2 Rom. vii. 4 sq.
4 Rom. viii. 1, 2.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
375
God ; for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can it be : and they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you," and
so on to where he says,1 " So then, brethren,
we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after
the flesh : for if ye live after the flesh, ye
must die ; but if by the spirit ye mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, these
are sons of God." If the2 wisdom of the
flesh is enmity against God, and they who
are in the flesh cannot please God, I think
that they who perform the functions of mar-
riage love the wisdom of the flesh, and there-
fore are in the flesh. The Apostle being
desirous to withdraw us from the flesh and
to join us to the Spirit, says afterwards:
8 " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service. And be
not fashioned according to this world : but
be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is the good
and acceptable and perfect will of God. For
I say, through the grace that was given me,
to every man that is among you, not to think
of himself more highly than he ought to think ;
but to think according to chastity " 4 (not
soberly as the Latin versions badly render),
but " think," he says, " according to chastity,"
for the Greek words are si? to <jooq)poveiv.
Let us consider what the Apostle says : " Be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is the good and ac-
ceptable and perfect will of God." What he
says is something like this — God indeed per-
mits marriage, He permits second marriages,
and if necessary, prefers even third mar-
riages to fornication and adultery. But we
who ought to present our bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
our reasonable service, should consider, not
what God permits, but what He wishes : that
we may prove what is the good and accept-
able and perfect will of God. It follows that
what He merely permits is neither good, nor
acceptable, nor perfect. And he gives his
reasons for this advice : 6 " Knowing the
season, that now it is high time for you to
awake out of sleep : for now is salvation
nearer to us than when we first believed.
The night is far spent, and the day is at
hand/' And lastly : " Put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." God's will
1 Rom. viii. n, 14.
8 Rom. xii. 1-3.
6 Rom. xiii. n, 12, 14.
2 R. V. "mind.
4 See ch. 27.
is one thing, His indulgence another. Whence,
writing to the Corinthians, he says,1 " I, breth-
ren, could not speak unto you as unto spirit-
ual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes
in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not
with meat : for hitherto ye were not able to
bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye
are yet carnal." He who2 is in the merely
animal state, and does not receive the things
pertaining to the Spirit of God (for he is
foolish, and cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually discerned), he is not fed
with the food of perfect chastity, but with
the coarse milk of marriage. As through
man came death, so also through man came
the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam
we all die, so in Christ we shall all be made
alive. Under the law we served the old
Adam, under the Gospel let us serve the new
Adam. For the first man Adam was made a
living soul, the last Adam was made a quick-
ening spirit.3 "The first man is of the earth,
earthy : the second man is of heaven. As
is the earthy, such are they also that are
earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly. And as we have
borne the image of the earthy, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I
say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the Kingdom of God ; neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption." This is so
clear that no explanation can make it clearer :
"Flesh and blood," he says, "cannot inherit
the Kingdom of God, neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption." If corruption attaches
to all intercourse, and incorruption is char-
acteristic of chastity, the rewards of chastity
cannot belong to marriage. 4 "For we know
that if the earthly house of this tabernacle
be dissolved, we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands, eternal, in the
heavens. For verily in this we groan, long-
ing to be clothed upon with our habitation
which is from heaven. We are willing to be
absent from the body, and to be at home with
the Lord. Wherefore also we make it our aim,
whether in the body, or out of the body, to
be well-pleasing unto God." And by way of
more fully explaining what he did not wish
them to be he says elsewhere : b " I espoused
you to one husband, that I might present you
as a pure virgin to Christ." But if you choose
to apply the words to the whole Assembly of
believers, and in this betrothal to Christ in-
clude both married women, and the twice-
1 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2, 3. . .
2 That is, under the dominion of the psyche, or principle of
life common to man and the beasts, hence, natural. Opposed
to the psyche is the pneuma, capable of being influenced by the
Spirit of God. A man thus influenced is pneumatikos or spirit-
ual. See also 1 Cor. xv. 44.
s 1 Cor. xv. 47 sq. 4 2 Cor. v. 1 sq.
6 2 Cor. xi. 2.
B b 2
376
JEROME.
married, and widows, and virgins, that also
makes for us. For whilst he invites all to
chastity and to the reward of virginity, he
shows that virginity is more excellent than
all these conditions. And again writing to
the Galatians he says : ' " Because by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
Among the works of the law is marriage, and
accordingly under it they are cursed who
have no children. And if under the Gospel
it is permitted to have children, it is one
thing to make a concession to weakness,
another to hold out rewards to virtue.
38. Something else I will say to my friends
who marry and after long chastity and
continence begin to burn and are as wanton
as the brutes:2 "Are ye so foolish? hav-
ing begun in the Spirit, are ye now per-
fected in the flesh ? Did ye suffer so many
things in vain?" If the Apostle in the case
of some persons loosens the cords of conti-
nence, and lets them have a slack rein, he does
so on account of the infirmity of the flesh.
This is the enemy he has in view when he
once more says : 3 " Walk by the Spirit, and
ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh." It is unnecessary
now to speak of the works of the flesh : it
would be tedious, and he who chooses can
easily gather them from the letter of the
Apostle. I will only speak of the Spirit and its
fruits, love, joy, peace, long suffering, kind-
ness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, 4 con-
tinence. All the virtues of the Spirit are
supported and protected by continence, which
is as it were their solid foundation and crown-
ing point. Against such there is no law.
'"'And they that are of Christ have crucified
their flesh with the passions and the lusts
thereof. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit
let us also walk." Why do we who with Christ
have crucified our flesh and its passions and
desires again desire to do the things of the
flesh?8 "Whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto
his own flesh, shall of the flesh reap cor-
ruption ; but he that soweth unto the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap eternal life." I think
that he who has a wife, so long as he reverts
to the practice in question, that Satan may
not tempt him, is sowing to the flesh and not
to the Spirit. And he who sows to the flesh
(the words are not mine, but the Apostle's)
reaps corruption. God the Father chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, that we might be holy and without
1 Gal. ii. 16. 2 Gal. iii. 3, 4.
3 Gal. v. i6: 17. 5 *
4 Properly, self-control in the wide sense.
6 Gal. v. 24, 25. e Gat. vi. 7,8.
spot before Him. ' We walked in the lusts of
the flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and
of the thoughts, and were children of wrath,
even as the rest. But now He has raised us
up with Him, and made us to sit with Him
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,2 that
we may put away according to our former
manner of life the old man, which is corrupt
according to the lusts of deceit, and that bless-
ing may be applied to us which so finely con-
cludes the mystical Epistle to the Ephesians :
3 " Grace be with all them that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in uncorruptness." 4 " For our
citizenship is in heaven ; from whence also
we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ :
who shall fashion anew the body of our humil-
iation, that it may be conformed to the
body of his glory. 6 Whatsoever things then
are true, whatsoever are chaste, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things pertain to
purity, let us join ourselves to these, let us
follow these.6 Christ hath reconciled us in
his body to God the Father through his
death, and has presented us holy and without
spot, and without blame before himself : in
whom we have been also circumcised, not
with the circumcision made with hands, to the
spoiling of the body of the flesh, but with the
circumcision of Christ, having been buried
with him in baptism, wherein also we rose
with him. If then we have risen with Christ,
let us seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God ; let us set our affections on things
above, not upon the things that are upon the
earth. For we are dead, and our life is hid
with Christ in God. When Christ our life
shall appear, then we also shall appear with
him in glory. 7 No soldier on service entan-
gleth himself in the affairs of this life ; that
he may please him who enrolled him as a
soldier. 8For thegraceof God hath appeared,
bringing salvation to all men, instructing us,
to the intent that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live purely and right-
eously and godly in this present world."
39. The day would not be long enough
were I to attempt to relate all that the Apos-
tle enjoins concerning purity. These things
are those concerning which our Lord said to
the Apostles : 9 " I have yet many things to
say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he shall guide you into all the truth." After
the crucifixion of Christ, we find in the 10 Acts
of the Apostles that one house, that of Philip
1 Eph. ii. 3,4.
3 Eph. vi. 24.
6 Phil.iv. 8.
7 2 Tim. ii. 4.
9 S. John xvi. 12, 13.
a Eph. iv. 22.
* Phil. iii. 20, 2i.
6 Coloss. ii. 11 ; iii. 1 sq.
8 Titus ii. 11, 12.
10 xxi. 9.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
377
the Evangelist, produced four virgin daugh-
ters, to the end that Csesarea, where the Gen-
tile Church had been consecrated in the per-
son of Cornelius the centurion, might afford
an illustration of virginity. And whereas our
Lord said in the Gospel : ' " The law and the
prophets were until John," they because they
were virgins are related to have prophesied
even after John. For they could not be
bound by the law of the Old Testament, who
had shone with the brightness of virginity.
Let us pass on to James, who was called the
brother of the Lord, a man of such sanctity
and righteousness, and distinguished by so
rigid and perpetual a virginity, that even
2 Josephus, the Jewish historian, relates that
the overthrow of Jerusalem was due to his
death. He, the first bishop of the Church at
Jerusalem, which was composed of Jewish
believers, to whom Paul went, accompanied
by Titus and Barnabas, says in his Epistle : 3
" Be not deceived, my beloved brethren. Ev-
ery good gift and every perfect boon is from
above, coming down from the Father of
lights,4 with whom there is no difference,
neither shadow that is cast by turning. Of
his own will he brought us forth by the word
of truth, that we should be a kind of first-
fruits of his creatures." Himself a virgin, he
teaches virginity in a mystery. Every per-
fect gift cometh down from above, where
marriage is unknown ; and it cometh down,
not from any one you please, but from the
Father of lights, Who says to the apostles,
" Ye are the light of the world ; " with Whom
there is no difference of Jew, or Gentile, nor
does that shadow which was the companion
of the law, trouble those who have believed
from among the nations ; but with His word
He begat us, and with the word of truth, be-
cause some shadow, image, and likeness of
truth went before in the law, that we might be
the first-fruits of His creatures. And as He
who was Himself the 6 first begotten from the
dead has raised all that have died in Him :
so He who was a virgin, consecrated the first-
fruits of His virgins in His own virgin self.
Let us also consider what Peter thinks of the
calling of the Gentiles : 6 " Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to his great mercy begat us again
unto a living hope by the resurrection of Je-
sus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you, who
by the power of God are guarded through
1 S. Matt. xi. 13.
3 The passage is not found in existing- copies of Josephus.
3 S. James i. 16-18.
4 R. V. "can be no variation." The word " difference," as
used by Jerome, is explained by the context.
5 Rev. i. 5. 6 1 Pet. i. 3-5,
faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time." Where we read of an inher-
itance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, prepared in heaven and re-
served for the last time, and of the hope of
eternal life when they will neither marry, nor
be given in marriage, there, in other words,
the privileges of virginity are described. For
he shows as much in what follows : '. " Where-
fore girding up the loins of your mind, be
sober and set your hope perfectly on the
grace that is to be brought unto you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ ; as children of
obedience, not fashioning yourselves accord-
ing to your former lusts in the time of your
ignorance ; but like as he which called you is
holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all man-
ner of living ; because it is written, ye shall
be holy ; for I am holy.2 For we were not
redeemed with contemptible things, with sil-
ver or gold ; but with the precious blood of
a lamb without spot, Jesus Christ,3 that we
might purify our souls in obedience to the
truth, having been begotten again not of cor-
ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through
the word of God,4 who liveth and abideth.
And as living stones let us be built up a spir-
itual house, an holy priesthood offering up
spiritual sacrifices through Christ our Lord.
6 For we are an elect race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people for God's own pos-
session. 6 Christ died for us in the flesh. Let
us arm ourselves with the same conversation
as did Christ ; for he that hath suffered in the
flesh hath ceased from sin ; that we should
no longer live the rest of our time in the flesh
to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
For the time past is sufficient for us when we
walked in lasciviousness, lusts, and other vices.
Great and precious are the promises attach-
ing to virginity which He has given us,
7 that through it we may become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped from the
corruption that is in the world through lust.
'The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous
under punishment unto the day of judgement,
but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in
the lust of defilement, and despise dominion,
daring, self-willed. For they, as beasts of
burden, without reason, think only of their
belly and their lusts, railers who shall in their
corruption be destroyed, and shall receive the
reward of iniquity : men that count unright-
eousness delight, spots and blemishes, think-
' 1 Pet. i. 13-16. s 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. 3 1 Pet. i. 22, 23.
4 In Jerome's rendering ' living and abiding,' are attributes of
God. But in the original the participles may be taken as predi-
cates of either word or God. The R. V. refers them to the
former.
6 1 Pet. ii. 9. 6 1 Pet. iv. 1 sq.
1 z Pet. i. 4. 8 2 Pet. ii. 9 sq.
378
JEROME.
ing of nothing but their pleasures ; having
eyes full of adultery and insatiable lust, de-
ceiving souls not yet strengthened by the
love of Christ. For they utter swelling words
and easily snare the unlearned with the seduc-
tion of the flesh ; promising them liberty
while they themselves are the slaves of vice,
luxury, and corruption. For of what a man
is overcome, of the same is he also brought
into bondage. But if, after they had escaped
the defilements of the world through the
knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ, they
are again overcome by that which they be-
fore overcame, the last state is become
worse with them than the first. And it were
better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to
turn back and forsake the holy command-
ment delivered unto them. And it has hap-
pened unto them according to the true prov-
erb, the dog hath turned to his own vomit
again, and the sow that had washed to wal-
lowing in the mire." I have hesitated, for
fear of being tedious, to quote the whole
passage of the second Epistle of Peter, and
have merely shown that the Holy Spirit in
prophecy foretold the teachers of this time
and their heresy. Lastly, he more clearly
denotes them, saying,1 " In the last days
seducing mockers shall come, walking after
their own lusts."
40. The Apostle has described Jovinianus
speaking with swelling cheeks and nicely
balancing his inflated utterances, promising
heavenly liberty, when he himself is the slave
of vice and self-indulgence, a dog return-
ing to his vomit. For although he boasts of
being a monk, he has exchanged his dirty
tunic, bare feet, common bread, and drink of
water, for a snowy dress, sleek skin, honey-
wine and dainty dishes, for the sauces of
2 Apicius and 3 Paxamus, for baths and rub-
bings, and for the cook-shops. Is it not clear
that he prefers his belly to Christ, and thinks
his ruddy complexion worth the kingdom of
heaven ? And yet that handsome monk so
fat and sleek, and of bright appearance, who
always walks with the air of a bridegroom,
must either marry a wife if he is to show that
virginity and marriage are equal : or if he
does not marry one, it is useless for him to
bandy words with us when his acts are on
our side. And John agrees with this almost
to the letter : * " Love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. For all that is in the world is the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of this life, which is not of the
Father, but is of the world." And, "The
world passeth away, and the lust thereof : but
he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
A new commandment have I written unto
you, which thing is true both in Christ and in
you ; because the darkness is passing away,
and the true light already shineth." And
again, 1 " Beloved, now are we the children
of God, and it is not yet made manifest what
we shall be. ' But we know that, if he shall
be manifested, we shall be like him : for we
shall see him even as he is. And every one
that hath this hope purifieth himself, even as
he is pure. 2 Herein is our love made perfect,
if we have boldness in the day of judgement :
that as he is, even so may we be in this
world." The Epistle of Jude also expresses
nearly the same : 3 " Hating even the garment
spotted by the flesh." Let us read the Apoc-
alypse of John, and we shall there find the
Lamb upon Mount Sion,4 and with Him " a
hundred and forty-four thousand of them that
were sealed, having His name and the name
of His Father written in their foreheads, who
sing a new song, and no one can sing that
song save they who have been redeemed out
of the earth. These are they who have
not defiled themselves with women, for they
continued virgins. These follow the Lamb
whithersoever He goeth : for they were re-
deemed from among men, first-fruits to God
and to the Lamb, and in their mouth was
found no guile, and they are without spot."
6 Out of each tribe, the tribe of Dan excepted,
the place of which is taken by the tribe of
Levi, twelve thousand virgins who have been
sealed are spoken of as future believers,
who have not defiled themselves with women.
And that we may not suppose the reference
to be to those who know not harlots, he
immediately added : " For they continued
virgins." Whereby he shows that all who
have not preserved their virginity, in com-
parison of pure and angelic chastity and of
our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, are defiled.
6" These are they who sing a new song which
no man can sing except him that is a virgin.
These are first-fruits unto God and unto the
Lamb, and are without blemish." If virgins
are first-fruits, it follows that widows and the
continent in marriage, come after the first-
fruits, that is, are in the second and third
rank : nor can a lost people be saved unless
it offer such sacrifices of chastity to God, and
with pure victims reconcile the spotless Lamb.
1 2 Pet. iii. 3.
2 The notorious epicure of the time of Augustus and Tiberius.
8 Paxamus wrote a treatise on cooking, which, Suidas states,
was arranged in alphabetical order,
* 1 John ii. is sq.
1 1 John iii. 2, 3.
- 1 John iv. 7. R. V.
a Jude, 23.
• Rev. vh. 5 sq.
that we may have."
4 xiv. 1 sq.
* Apoc. xiv. 3, 4,
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
379
It would be endless work to explain the Gos-
pel mystery of the ten virgins, five of whom
were wise and five foolish. All I say now is,
that as mere virginity without other works
does not save, so all works without virginity,
purity, continence, chastity, are imperfect.
And we shall not be hindered in the least
from taking this view by the objection of our
opponent that our Lord was at Cana of Gali-
lee, and joined in the marriage festivities
when He turned water into wine. I shall very
briefly reply, that He Who was circumcised
on the eighth day, and for Whom a pair of
turtle-doves and two young pigeons were
offered on the day of purification, like others,
before He suffered, shewed His approval of
Jewish custom, that He might not seem to
give His enemies just cause for putting Him
to death on the pretext that He destroyed the
law and^condemned nature. And even this
was done for our sakes. For by going once
to a marriage, He taught that men should
marry only once. Moreover, at that time it
was possible to injure virginity if marriage
were not placed next to it, and the purity of
widowhood in the third rank. But now when
heretics are condemning wedlock, and despise
the ordinance of God, we gladly hear any-
thing he ' may say in praise of marriage. For
the Church does not condemn marriage, but
makes it subordinate ; nor does she reject it,
but regulates it ; for she knows, as was said
before, that 2 in a great house there are not
only vessels of gold and silver, but also of
wood and earthenware ; and that some are
to honour, some to dishonour ; and that
whoever cleanses himself will be a vessel of
honour, necessary, prepared for every good
work.
41. I have given enough and more than
enough illustrations from the divine writings of
Christian chastity and angelic virginity. But
as I understand that our opponent in his com-
mentaries summons us to the tribunal of worldly
wisdom, and we are told that views of this kind
are never accepted in the world, and that our
religion has invented a dogma against nature,
I will quickly run through Greek and Roman
and Foreign History, and will show that vir-
ginity ever took the lead of chastity. Fable
relates that Atalanta, the virgin of Calydonian
fame, lived for the chase and dwelt always in
the woods ; in other words that she did not set
her heart on marriage with its troubles of preg-
nancy and of sickness, but upon the nobler life
of freedom and chastity. 3 Harpalyce too, a
Thracian virgin, is described by the famous
poet ; and so is 4 Camilla, queen of the Volsci,
on whom, when she came to his assistance,
1 or they may say.
8 Virg. JEn. i. 317.
2 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21.
4 Virg. JEa. vii. 803 : id. xi. 535.
Turnus had no higher praise which he could
bestow than to call her a virgin. " O Virgin,
Glory of Italy ! " And that famous daughter
of l Leos, the lady of the brazen house, ever
a virgin, is related to have freed her country
from pestilence by her voluntary death : and
the blood of the virgin 2 Iphigenia is said to
have calmed the stormy winds. What need to
tell of the Sibyls of Erythrae and Cumse, and
the eight others ? for Varro asserts there were
ten whose ornament was virginity, and divina-
tion the reward of their virginity. But if in
the ^Eolian dialect " Sibyl " is represented by
QeofiovXi], we must understand that a knowl-
edge of the Counsel of God is rightly attribut-
ed to virginity alone. We read, too, that Cas-
sandra and Chryseis, prophetesses of Apollo
and Juno, were virgins. And there were in-
numerable priestesses of the Taurian Diana,
and of Vesta. One of these, Munitia, being sus-
pected of unchastity was 3 buried alive, which
would be in my opinion an unjust punishment,
unless the violation of virginity were consid-
ered a serious crime. At all events how highly
the Romans always esteemed virgins is clear
from the fact that consuls and generals even
in their triumphal chariots and bringing home
the spoils of conquered nations, were wont to
make way for them to pass. And so did men
of all ranks. When 4 Claudia, a Vestal Virgin,
was suspected of unchastity, and a vessel con-
taining the image of Cybele was aground in
the Tiber, it is related that she, to prove her
chastity, with her girdle drew the ship which
a thousand men could not move. Yet, as & the
uncle of Lucan the poet says, it would have
been better if this circumstance had decorated
a chastity tried and proved, and had not pleaded
in defence of a chastity equivocal. No won-
der that we read such things of human beings,
when heathen error also invented the virgin
goddesses Minerva and Diana, and placed the
Virgin among the twelve signs of the Zodiac,
by means of which, as they suppose, the world
1 Leos was the hero from whom the tribe Leontis derived its
name. Once when Athens was suffering from famine or plague,
the oracle at Delphi demanded that his daughters should be sac-
rificed. The father complied. The shrine called Leocorium
was erected by the Athenians to their honour.
2 Jerome's memory appears to be at fault. When the Greek
fleet was on its way to Troy, it was detained by a calm at Aulis.
The seer Calchas advised that Iphigenia, daughter of Agamem-
non, should be sacrificed. See Diet, of Ant.
3 According to the law of Numa, the punishment of a Vestal
Virgin for violating the vow of chastity was stoning to death.
Tarquinius Priscus first enacted that the offender should be
buried alive, after being stripped of her badges of office,
scourged and attired like a corpse. " From the time of the
triumvirs each | Vestal] was preceded by a lictor when she
went abroad ; consuls and praetors made way for them, and
lowered their fasces ; even the tribunes of the plebs respected
their holy character, and if anyone passed under their litter,
he was put to death."
4 It is said, however, that Claudia (Quinta) was a Roman
matron, not a Vestal Virgin. The soothsayers announced that
only a chaste woman could move the vessel referred to. Claudia,
who had been accused of incontinency, took hold of the rope,
and the vessel forthwith followed her. B. C. 204.
6 Seneca.
38o
JEROME.
revolves. It is a proof of the little esteem in
which they held marriage that they did riot
even among the scorpions, centaurs, crabs,
fishes, and Capricorn, thrust in a husband and
wife. When the thirty tyrants of Athens had
slain Phidon at the banquet, they commanded
his virgin daughters to come to them, naked
like harlots, and there upon the ground, red
with their father's blood, to act the wanton.
For a little while they hid their grief, and then
when they saw the revellers were intoxicated,
going out on the plea of easing nature, they
embraced one another and threw themselves
into a well, that by death they might save
their virginity. The virgin daughter of De-
motion, chief of the Areopagites, having heard
of the death of her betrothed, ' Leosthenes,
who had originated the Lamian war, slew her-
self, for she declared that although in body
she was a virgin, yet if she were compelled to
accept another, she should regard him as her
second husband, when she had given her heart
to Leosthenes. So close a friendship long ex-
isted between Sparta and Messene that for
the furtherance of certain religious rites they
even exchanged virgins. Well, on one occa-
sion when the men of Messene attempted to
outrage fifty Lacedaemonian virgins, out of so
many not one consented, but they all most
gladly died in defence of their chastity.
Whence there arose' a long and grievous war,
and in the long run 2 Mamertina was des-
troyed. Aristoclides, tyrant of Orchomenos,
fell in love with a virgin of Stymphalus, and
when after the death of her father she took
refuge in the temple of Diana, and embraced the
image of the goddess and could not be dragged
thence by force, she was slain on the spot.
Her death caused such intense grief through-
out Arcadia that the people took up arms and
avenged the virgin's death. 3 Aristomenes of
Messene, a just man, at a time when the Lace-
daemonians, whom he had conquered, were cel-
ebrating by night the festival called the 4 Hya-
cinthia, carried off from the sportive bands
fifteen virgins, and fleeing all night at full
speed got away from the Spartan territory.
His companions wished to outrage them, but
he admonished them to the best of his power
not to do so, and when certain refused to
1 In the year after the death of Alexander (B. C. 323), Leos-
thenes defeated Alexander's general Antipater, near Thermop-
ylae. Antipater then threw himself into the town of Lamia
(in Phthiotis in Thessalyl which thus gave its name to the war.
Leosthenes pressed the siege with great vigour, but was killed
by a blow from a stone.
2 Another name for Messana (or Messene), derived from the
Mamertini, a people of Campania, some of whom were merce-
naries in the army of the tyrant Agathocles, and were quartered
in the town. At his death (B. C. 282) they rose and gained pos-
session of it.
3 The semi-legendary hero of the second war between Sparta
and Messene. He lived about B. C. 270.
4 The spring festival held in honour of Hyacinthus, the beau-
tiful youth accidentally slain by Apollo, and from whose blood
was said to have sprung the flower of the same name.
obey, he slew them, and restrained the rest
by fear. The maidens were afterwards ran-
somed by their kinsmen, and on seeing Aris-
tomenes condemned for murder would not
return to their country until clasping the
knees of the judges they beheld the protector
of their chastity acquitted. How shall we
sufficiently praise the daughters of Scedasus
at Leuctra in Bceotia ? It is related that in
the absence of their father they hospitably
entertained two youths who were passing by,
and who having drunk to excess violated the
virgins in the course of the night. Being un-
willing to survive the loss of their virginity,
the maidens inflicted deadly wounds on one-an-
other. Nor would it be right to omit mention
of the Locrian virgins. They were sent to
Ilium according to custom which had lasted
for nearly a thousand years, and yet not one
gave occasion to any idle tale or filthy rumour
of virginity defiled. Could any one pass over
in silence the seven virgins of Miletus who,
when the Gauls spread desolation far and
wide, that they might suffer no indignity at
the hands of the enemy, escaped disgrace by
death, and left to all virgins the lesson of their
example — that noble minds care more for
chastity than life ? Nicanor having conquered
and overthrown Thebes was himself over-
come by a passion for one captive virgin,
whose voluntary self-surrender he longed for."
A captive maid, he thought, must be only too
glad. But he found that virginity is dearer
to the pure in heart than a kingdom, when
with tears and grief he held her in his arms
slain by her own hand. Greek writers tell
also of another Theban virgin who had been
deflowered by a Macedonian foe, and who,
hiding her grief for a while, slew the violator
of her virginity as he slept, and then killed
herself with the sword, so that she would
neither live when her chastity was lost, nor die
before she had avenged herself.
42. To come to the Gymnosophists of
India, the opinion is authoritatively handed
down that Budda, the founder of their re-
ligion, had his birth through the side of a
virgin. And we need not wonder at such a
belief among Barbarians when cultured Greece
supposed that Minerva at her birth sprang
from the head of Jove, and Father Bacchus
from his thigh. ' Speusippus also, Plato's
nephew, and 2 Clearchus in his eulogy of Plato,
and 3 Anaxelides in the second book of his
1 He succeeded Plato as president of the Academy (B. C. 347-
339). His works are all lost.
2 One of Aristotle's pupils, and author of a number of works,
none of which are extant.
3 Diogenes Laertius (so named from Laerte in Cilicial, who
probably lived in the 2nd century after Christ, in the Third
Book of his " Lives of the Philosophers " refers to a treatise by
Anaxelides on the same subject. It has therefore been conjec-
tured that Jerome may have written Philosophica Historic for
fhUnsophiiaty
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
33i
philosophy, relates that Perictione, the mother
of Plato, was violated by an apparition of
Apollo, and they agree in thinking that the
prince of wisdom was born of a virgin. ' Ti-
maeus writes that the 2 virgin daughter of
3 Pythagoras was at the head of a band of
virgins, and instructed them in chastity. " Dio-
dorus, the disciple of Socrates, is said to
have had five daughters skilled in dialectics
and distinguished for chastity, of whom a
full account is given by Philo the master of
6 Carneades. And mighty Rome cannot taunt
us as though we had invented the story of the
birth of our Lord and Saviour from a virgin ;
for the Romans believe that the founders of
their city and race were the offspring of the
virgin 6 Ilia and of Mars.
43. Let these allusions to the virgins of the
world, brief and hastily gathered from many
histories, now suffice. I will proceed to mar-
ried women who were reluctant to survive the
decease or violent death of their husbands for
fear they might be forced into a second mar-
riage, and who entertained a marvellous affec-
tion for the only husbands they had. This
may teach us that second marriage was re-
pudiated among the heathen. Dido, the sister
of Pygmalion, having collected a vast amount
of gold and silver, sailed to Africa, and there
built Carthage. And when her hand was
sought in marriage by Iarbas, king of Libya,
she deferred the marriage for a while until her
country was settled. Not long after, having
raised a ' funeral pyre to the memory of her
former husband Sichaeus, she preferred to
" burn rather than to marry." Carthage was
built by a woman of chastity, and its end
was a tribute to the excellence of the virtue.
1 Timseus of Locri, in Italy, a Pythagorean philosopher, is
said to have been a teacher of Plato. There is an extant work
bearing his name ; but its genuineness is considered doubtful,
and it is in all probability only an abridgment of Plato's dia-
logue of Timteus.
2 Damo. Pythagoras is said to have entrusted his writings to
her, and to have forbidden her to give them to any one. She
strictly observed the command, although she was in extreme
poverty, and received many requests to sell them. According
to some accounts Pythagoras had another daughter, Myia.
3 Flourished about B. C. 540-510.
4 Clement of Alexandria (died about A.D. 220) in his Stro-
viata (/.?. literally, patchwork) or Miscellanies, Bk. iv., relates
the same story and gives the names of the daughters. The
Diodorus referred to in the text lived at Alexandria in the reign
of Ptolemy Soter (B. C. 323-285), by whom he was said to have
been surnamed Cronos or Saturn, on account of his inability
to solve at once some dialectic problem when dining with the
king, perhaps with a play upon the word chronos (time), or with
a sarcastic allusion to Cronos as the introducer of the arts of
civilized life. The philosopher is said to have taken the dis-
grace so much to heart, that he wrote a treatise on the problem,
and then died in despair. Another account derives his name
from his teacher Apollonius Cronus.
6 Born about B. C 213, died B. C. 129. He was the deter-
mined opponent of the Stoics, and maintained that neither our
senses nor our understanding gives us a safe criterion of truth.
6 The poetical name of Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor
and mother of Romulus and Remus.
7 According to the legend she stabbed herself on the funeral
pyre. Jerome ignores the modifications introduced into the
legend by Virgil, who, in defiance of the common chronology,
makes Dido a contemporary of ./Eneas, and represents her as
destroying herself when forsaken by the hero,
For the 'wife of Hasdrubal, when the city
was captured and set on fire, and she saw that
she could not herself escape capture by the
Romans, took her little children in either hand
and leaped into the burning ruins of her house.
44. What need to tell of the wife of 2 Nicera-
tus, who, not enduring to wrong her husband,
inflicted death upon herself rather than sub-
ject herself to the lust of the thirty tyrants
whom Lysander had set over conquered
Athens? 'Artemisia, also, wife of Mausolus,
is related to have been distinguished for
chastity. Though she was queen of Caria,
and is extolled by great poets and historians,
no higher praise is bestowed upon her than
that when her husband was dead she loved
him as much as when he was alive, and built
a tomb so great that even to the present day
all costly sepulchres are called after his name,
mausoleums. 4 Teuta, queen of the Illyrians,
owed her long sway over brave warriors, and
her frequent victories over Rome, to her mar-
vellous chastity. The Indians and almost all
the Barbarians have a plurality of wives. It is
a law with them that the favourite wife must
be burned with her dead husband. The wives
therefore vie with one another for the hus-
band's love, and the highest ambition of the
rivals, and the proof of chastity, is to be con-
sidered worthy of death. So then she that is
victorious, having put on her former dress and
ornaments, lies down beside the corpse, em-
bracing and kissing it, and to the glory of
chastity despises the flames which are burning
beneath her. I suppose that she who dies
thus, wants no second marriage. The famous
Alcibiades, the friend of Socrates, when
Athens was conquered, fled to Pharnabazus,
wmo took a bribe from Lysander the Lacedae-
monian leader and ordered him to be slain.
He was strangled, and when his head had been
cut off it was sent to Lysander as proof of the
murder, but the rest of his body lay unburied.
His concubine, therefore, all alone, in defiance
of the command of the cruel enemy, in the
midst of strangers, and in the face of peril,
gave him due burial, for she was ready to die
for the dead man whom she had loved when
living. Let matrons, Christian matrons at all
events, imitate the fidelity of concubines, and
1 Hasdrubal and his family, with 900 deserters and desper-
adoes, retired into the temple of ^Esculapius, as if to make a
brave defence. But the commandant's heart failed him ; and,
slipping out alone, he threw himself at the feet of Scipio, and
craved for pardon. His wife, standing on the base of the
temple, was near enough to witness the sight, and reproaching
her husband with cowardice, cast herself with her children into
the flames which were now wrapping the Citadel round on all
sides. B. C 146.
- Son of Nicias the celebrated Athenian general.
3 She succeeded Mausolus and reigned B.C. 352-350.
* She was the wife of Agron, and assumed the sovereign power
on the death of her husband, B. C 231. War was declared
against her by Rome in consequence of her having caused the
assassination of an ambassador, and in 228 she obtained peace
at the cost of the greater part of her dominions.
382
JEROME.
exhibit in their freedom what she in her cap-
tivity preserved.
45. Strato, ruler of Sidon, thought of dying
by his own hand, that he might not be the
sport of the Persians, who were close by and
whose alliance he had discarded for the friend-
ship of the king of Egypt. But he drew back
in terror, and eying the sword which he had
seized, awaited in alarm the approach of the
enemy. His wife, knowing that he must be
immediately taken, wrested the weapon from
his hand, and pierced his side. When the
body was properly laid out she lay down upon
it in the agony of death, that she might not
violate her virgin troth in the embraces of
another. ' Xenophon, in describing the early
years of the elder Cyrus, relates that when her
husband Abradatas was slain, Panthea who
had loved him intensely, placed herself beside
the mangled body, then stabbed herself, and
let her blood run into her husband's wounds.
The 2 queen whom the king her husband had
shewn naked and without her knowledge to his
friend, thought she had good cause for slay-
ing the king. She judged that she was not
beloved if it was possible for her to be ex-
hibited to another. Rhodogune, daughter of
Darius, after the death of her husband, put to
death the nurse who was trying to persuade
her to marry again. 3 Alcestis is related in
story to have voluntarily died for Admetus,
and Penelope's chastity is the theme of
Homer's song. Laodamia's praises are also
sung by the poets, because, when 4 Protesilaus
was slain at Troy, she refused to survive him.
46. I may pass on to Roman women ; and
the first that I shall mention is 6 Lucretia, who
would not survive her violated chastity, but
blotted out the stain upon her person with her
own blood. Duilius, the first Roman who won
a 6 naval triumph, took to wife a virgin, Bilia, of
such extraordinary chastity that she was an ex-
ample even to an age which held unchastity to
be not merely vicious but monstrous. When he
was grown old and feeble he was once in the
course of a quarrel taunted with having bad
breath. In dudgeon he betook himself home,
and on complaining to his wife that she had
never told him of it so that he might remedy
1 Cyropaedeia, Book vii.
2 The wife of Candaules, also called Myrsilus. She was ex-
hibited to Gyges, who, after the murder of her husband, mar-
ried her. Herod. B. i.
3 The story, as is well known, formed the subject of the play
by Euripides bearing the heroine's name, which was brought
out about B.C. 438.
* Protesilaus was the first of the Greeks to fall at Troy. Ac-
cording to some accounts he was slain by Hector. When her
husband was slain Laodamia begged the gods to allow her to
converse with him for only 3 hours. The request having been
granted, Hermes led Protesilaus back to the upper world, and
when he died a second time, Laodamia died with him.
6 The wife of L. Tarquinius Collatinus, whose rape by Sextus
led to the dethronement of Tarquinius Superbus and the estab-
lishment of the republic.
• Oyer the Carthaginian fleet near Mylae, 260 B.C.
the fault, he received the reply that she would
have done so, but she thought that all men had
foul breath as he had. In either case this chaste
and noble woman deserves praise, whether
she was not aware there was anything wrong
with her husband, or if she patiently endured,
and her husband discovered his unfortunate
condition not by the disgust of a wife, but by
the abuse of an enemy. At all events the
woman who marries a second time cannot say
this. Marcia, Cato's younger daughter, on be-
ing asked after the loss of her husband why
she did not marry again, replied that she could
not find a man who wanted her more than her
money. Her words teach us that men in
choosing their wives look for riches rather
than for chastity, and that many in marrying
use not their eyes but their ringers. That
must be an excellent thing which is won by
avarice ! When the same lady was mourning
the loss of her husband, and the matrons asked
what day would terminate her grief, she re-
plied, "The same that terminates my life." I
imagine that a woman who thus followed her
husband in heart and mind had no thought of
marrying again. Porcia, whom ' Brutus took
to wife, was a virgin ; Cato's wife, 2 Marcia,
was not a virgin ; but Marcia went to and fro
between Hortensius and Cato, and was quite
content to live without Cato ; while 3 Porcia
could not live without Brutus ; for women
attach themselves closely to particular men,
and to keep to one is a strong link in the chain
of affection. When a relative urged Annia to
marry again (she was of full age and a goodly
person), she answered, " I shall certainly not
do so. For, if I find a good man, I have no
wish to be in fear of losing him : if a bad one,
why must I put up with a bad husband after
having had a good one ? " 4 Porcia the young-
er, on hearing a certain lady of good charac-
ter, who had a second husband, praised in
her house, replied, "A chaste and happy ma-
tron never marries more than once." Marcella
the elder, on being asked by her mother if
she was glad she was married, answered,
"So much so that I want nothing more."
5 Valeria, sister of the Messalas, when she lost
her husband Servius, would marry no one else.
1 One of the assassins of Julius Caesar. Jerome appears to be
at fault here. Porcia, the daughter of Cato by his first wife
Atilia, before marrying Brutus in 45 B.C., had been married to
M. Bibulus and had borne him three children. He died in 48.
After the death of Brutus in 42 she put an end to her own life,
probably by the fumes of a charcoal fire.
2 Marcia is related to have been ceded by Cato to his friend
Hortensius. She continued to live with the latter until his
death, when she returned to Cato.
3 It has been conjectured that instead of " Marcia, Cato's
younger daughter," a few lines above, we should read Porcia.
* Probably the daughter of Cato by his second wife Marcia.
6 Jerome, apparently, makes a mistake here. Valeria, sister
of the Messalas, married Sulla towards the end of his life. Nothing
is known of the Servius here mentioned, and this name has probably
crept in by inadvertence. Valeria was a faithful wife, and bore
a daughter soon after Sulla's death.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
383
On being asked why not, she said that to her,
her husband Servius was ever alive.
47. I feel that in giving this list of women
I have said far more than is customary in illus-
trating a point, and that I might be justly cen-
sured by my learned reader. But what am I
to do when the women of our time press me
with apostolic authority, and before the first
husband is buried, repeat from morning to
night the precepts which allow a second mar-
riage ? Seeing they despise the fidelity which
Christian purity dictates, let them at least learn
chastity from the heathen. A book On Mar-
riage, worth its weight in gold, passes under
the name of * Theophrastus. In it the author
asks whether a wise man marries. And after
laying down • the conditions — that the wife
must be fair, of good character, and honest
parentage, the husband in good health and of
ample means, and after saying that under these
circumstances a wise man sometimes enters the
state of matrimony, he immediately proceeds
thus : " But all these conditions are seldom
satisfied in marriage. A wise man therefore
must not take a wife. For in the first place his
study of philosophy will be hindered, and it is
impossible for anyone to attend to his books
and his wife. Matrons want many things, costly
dresses, gold, jewels, great outlay, maid-ser-
vants, all kinds of furniture, litters and gilded
coaches. Then come curtain-lectures the live-
long night: she complains that one lady goes
out better dressed than she : that another is
looked up to by all : ' I am a poor despised no-
body at the ladies' assemblies.' ' Why did you
ogle that creature next door ? ' ' Why were you
talking to the maid ?' 'What did you bring
from the market ? ' 'I am not allowed to have
a single friend, or companion.' She suspects
that her husband's love goes the same way as
her hate. There may be in some neighbouring
city the wisest of teachers ; but if we have a
wife we can neither leave her behind, nor take
the burden with us. To support a poor wife, is
hard : to put up with a rich one, is torture.
Notice, too, that in the case of a wife you can-
not pick and choose : you must take her as you
find her. If she has a bad temper, or is a fool,
if she has a blemish, or is proud, or has bad
breath, whatever her fault maybe — all this we
learn after marriage. Horses, asses, cattle, even
slaves of the smallest worth, clothes, kettles,
wooden seats, cups, and earthenware pitchers,
are first tried and then bought : a wife is the
only thing that is not shown before she is mar-
ried, for fear she may not give satisfaction.
1 The Greek philosopher to whom Aristotle bequeathed his
library and the originals of his own writings. He died B.C. 287,
after being President of the Academy for 35 years. If he
were the author of the book here referred to, it is not to be
found among his extant writings.
Our gaze must always be directed to her face,
and we must always praise her beauty : if you
look at another woman, she thinks that she is
out of favour. She must be called my lady, her
birth-day must be kept, we must swear by her
health and wish that she may survive us, re-
spect must be paid to the nurse, to the nurse-
maid, to the father's slave, to the foster-child,
to the handsome hanger-on, to the curled
darling who manages her affairs, and to the
eunuch who ministers to the safe indulgence of
her lust : names which are only a cloak for
adultery. Upon whomsoever she sets her
heart, they must have her love though they
want her not. If you give her the manage-
ment of the whole house, you must yourself be
her slave. If you reserve something for your-
self, she will not think you are loyal to her ; but
she will turn to strife and hatred, and unless
you quickly take care, she will have the poison
ready. If you introduce old women, and
soothsayers, and prophets, and vendors of
jewels and silken clothing, you imperil her
chastity ; if you shut the door upon them, she
is injured and fancies you suspect her. But
what is the good of even a careful guardian,
when an unchaste wife cannot be watched, and
a chaste one ought not to be ? For necessity
is but a faithless keeper of chastity, and she
alone really deserves to be called pure, who is
free to sin if she chooses. If a woman be fair,
she soon finds lovers ; if she be ugly, it is easy
to be wanton. It is difficult to guard what
many long for. It is annoying to have what
no one thinks worth possessing. But the
misery of having an ugly wife is less than that
of watching a comely one. Nothing is safe,
for which a whole people sighs and longs.
One man entices with his figure, another with
his brains, another with his wit, another with
his open hand. Somehow, or sometime, the
fortress is captured which is attacked on all
sides. Men marry, indeed, so as to get a
manager for the house, to solace weariness, to
banish solitude ; but a faithful slave is a far
better manager, more submissive to the master,
more observant of his ways, than a wife who
thinks she proves herself mistress if she acts in
opposition to her husband, that is, if she does
what pleases her, not what she is commanded.
But friends, and servants who are under the
obligation of benefits received, are better able
to wait upon us in sickness than a wife who
makes us responsible for her tears (she will
sell you enough to make a deluge for the
hope of a legacy) ; who boasts of her anxiety, yet
drives her sick husband to the distraction
of despair. But if she herself is poorly, we
must fall sick with her and never leave her
bedside. Or if she be a good and agreeable
wife (how rare a bird she is !), we have to share
384
JEROME.
her groans in childbirth, and suffer torture
when she is in danger. A wise man can
never be alone. He has with him the good
men of all time, and turns his mind freely
wherever he chooses. What is inaccessible to
him in person he can embrace in thought.
And, if men are scarce, he converses with God.
: He is never less alone than when alone. Then
again, to marry for the sake of children, so
that our name may not perish, or that we may
have support in old age, and leave our prop-
erty without dispute, is the height of stupidity.
For what is it to us when we are leaving the
world if another bears our name, when even
a son does not all at once take his father's
title, and there are countless others who are
called by the same name. Or what support in
old age is he whom you bring up, and who
may die before you, or turn out a repro-
bate ? Or at all events when he reaches ma-
ture age, you may seem to him long in dying.
Friends and relatives whom you can judi-
ciously love are better and safer heirs than
those whom you must make your heirs
whether you like it or not. Indeed, the surest
way of having a good heir is to ruin your for-
tune in a good cause while you live, not to
leave the fruit of your labour to be used you
know not how."
48. When Theophrastus thus discourses,
are there any of us, Christians, whose con-
versation is in heaven and who daily say a " I
long to be dissolved, and to be with Christ,"
whom he does not put to the blush? Shall
a joint-heir of Christ really long for human
heirs ? And shall he desire children and de-
light himself in a long line of descendants, who
will perhaps fall into the clutches of Antichrist,
when we read that 3 Moses and 4 Samuel pre-
ferred other men to their own sons, and did
not count as their children those whom they
saw to be displeasing to God ? When Cicero
after 6 divorcing Terentia was requested by
c Hirtius to marry his sister, he 7 set the matter
1 Cicero at the beginning of the third book of the De Officiis,
makes Cato quote this saying as one frequently in the mouth
of Publius Scipio.
2 Phil. i. 23.
3 We hear very little of the two sons of Moses, Gershom and
Eliezer. See Ex. iv. 20, xviii. 3, 1 Chron. xxiii. 14. Their pro-
motion is nowhere recorded, and Moses appointed a person of
another tribe to be his successor.
4 See 1 Sam. viii. 1-4 and ch. ix.
5 B.C. 46. " What grounds for displeasure she had given him
besides her alleged extravagance it is hard to say. His letters
to her during the previous year had been short and rather cold."
Watson, Select Letters of Cicero, third ed. p. 397.
8 Hirtius was the friend personal and politicalof Julius Caesar,
and during Caesar's absence in Africa he lived principally at his
Tusculan estate which adjoined Cicero's villa. Hirtius and
Cicero though opposed to each other in politics were on good
terms, and the former is said to have received lessons in oratory
from the latter.
7 But not long after divorcing Terentia he married Publilia, a
young girl of whose property he had the management, in order
to relieve himself from pecuniary difficulties. She seems to
have received little affection from her husband, Watson, p,
397-
altogether on one side, and said that he could
not possibly devote himself to a wife and to
philosophy. Meanwhile that excellent partner,
who had herself drunk wisdom at Tully's foun-
tains, married ' Sallust his enemy, and took for
her third husband Messala Corvinus, and thus,
as it were, passed through three degrees of
eloquence. Socrates had two wives, Xantippe
and Myron, grand-daughter of Aristides.
They frequently quarrelled, and he was ac-
customed to banter them for disagreeing about
him, he being the ugliest of men, with snub
nose, bald forehead, rough-haired, and bandy-
legged. At last they planned an attack upon
him, and having punished him severely, and
put him to flight, plagued him for a long time.
On one occasion when he opposed Xantippe,
who from above was heaping abuse upon him,
the termagant soused him with dirty water,
but he only wiped his head and said, " I
knew that a shower must follow such thunder
as that." 2 Metella, consort of L. Sulla the
3 Fortunate (except in the matter of his
wife) was4 openly unchaste. It was the
common talk of Athens, as I learnt in my
youthful years when we soon pick up what is
bad, and yet Sulla was in the dark, and first
got to know the secrets of his household
through the abuse of his enemies. Cn. Pompey
had an impure wife B Mucia, who was sur-
rounded by eunuchs from Pontus and troops
of the countrymen of Mithridates. Others
thought that he knew all and submitted to it ;
but a comrade told him during the campaign,
and the conqueror of the whole world was
dismayed at the sad intelligence. ° M. Cato,
the Censor, had a wife Actoria Paula, a woman
of low origin, fond of drink, violent, and (who
would believe it ?) haughty to Cato. I say
this for fear anyone may suppose that in mar-
rying a poor woman he has secured peace.
When 7 Philip king of Macedon, against whom
s Demosthenes thundered in his Philippics,
was entering his bed-room as usual, his wife
1 This statement is without authority. See Long's Article on
Sallust in Smith's Diet, of Classical Biography.
2 Caecilia Metella, the third of Sulla s five wives, had pre-
viously been married to M. ^Emilius Scaurus, consul B.C. 115.
She fell ill during the celebration of Sulla's triumph on account
of his victory over Mithridates in 81 ; and as her recovery was
hopeless, Sulla for religious reasons divorced her. She soon
afterwards died, and Sulla honoured her memory with a splendid
funeral.
3 The famous dictator claimed the name Felix for himself in
a speech which he delivered to the people at the close of the
celebration of his triumph, because he attributed his success in
life to the favour of the gods.
4 But Sulla's youth and manhood were disgraced by the most
sensual vices. He was indebted for a considerable portion of
his wealth to a courtesan Nicopolis, and his death in B.C. 78 at
the age of 60 was hastened by his dissolute mode of life.
5 Pompey, like Sulla, was married five times. Mucia, his
third wife, daughter of Q. Mucius Scaevola, the augur, consul
B.C. Q5, was divorced by Pompey in 62, and afterwards married
M. ^Emilius Scaurus, son of the consul by Caecilia and thus
stepson of Sulla.
" Born B.C. 234, died B.C. 149. He was the great-grand-
father of Cato of Utica
7 B.C. 388-336,
8 B.C. 385-322,
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK I.
385
in a passion shut him out. Finding himself
excluded he held his tongue, and consoled
himself for the insult by reading a tragic poem.
] Gorgias the Rhetorician recited his excellent
treatise on Concord to the Greeks, then at
variance among themselves, at Olympia.
Whereupon 2 Melanthius his enemy observed :
" Here is a man who teaches us concord, and
yet could not make concord between himself,
his wife, and maid-servant, three persons in
one house." The truth was that his wife envied
the beauty of the girl, and drove the purest of
men wild with daily quarrels. Whole trage-
dies of Euripides are censures on women.
Hence Hermione says,3 " The counsels of evil
women have beguiled me." In the semi-
barbarous and remote city 4 Leptis it is the
custom for a daughter-in-law on 6 the second
day to beg the loan of a jar from her mother-
in-law. The latter at once denies the request,
and we see how true was the remark of 6 Ter-
ence, ambiguously expressed on purpose —
" How is this ? do all mothers-in-law hate their
daughters-in-law ? " We read of a certain
Roman noble who, when his friends found
fault with him for having divorced a wife,
beautiful, chaste, and rich, put out his foot
and said to them, " And the shoe before you
looks new and elegant, yet no one but myself
knows where it pinches." Herodotus' tells
us that a woman puts off her modesty with her
clothes. And our own comic poet s thinks the
man fortunate who has never been married.
Why should I refer to Pasiphae,9 Clytemnestra,
and Eriphyle, the first of whom, the wife of a
king and swimming in pleasure, is said to have
lusted for a bull, the second to have killed her
husband for the sake of an adulterer, the third
to have betrayed Amphiaraus, and to have
preferred a gold necklace to the welfare of
her husband. In all the bombast of tragedy
and the overthrow of houses, cities, and king-
doms, it is the wives and concubines who stir
up strife. Parents take up arms against their
children : unspeakable banquets are served :
and on account of the rape of one wretched
woman Europe and Asia are involved in a ten
1 Born about B.C. 480 at Leontini in Sicily. He is said to
have lived 105, or even 109 years. He was held in high esteem
at Athens, where he had numerous distinguished pupils and
imitators.
2 An Athenian tragic poet, celebrated for his wit.
3 See the A ndromache.
4 There were two cities of this name, Leptis Magna and
Leptis Parva, in N. Africa.
6 Or ''on another day," that is, than the marriage day im-
plied in the context.
8 Terence, Hecyra II. i. 4.
7 Bk. I. ch. 8. ''Candaules addressed Gyges as follows:
' Gyges, as I think you do not believe me when I speak of my
wife's beauty (for the ears of men are naturally mure incredu-
lous than their eyes), you must contrive to see her naked.' But
he, exclaiming loudly, answered : ' Sire, what a shocking pro
posal do you make, bidding me behold my queen naked ! With
her clothes a woman puts off her modesty,' " etc.
8 Perhaps Terence, Phormio I. iii. 21.
» For these legends, see Classical Dict-
years' war. We read of some who were di-
vorced the day after they were married, and
immediately married again. Both husbands
are to blame, both he who was so soon dis-
satisfied, and he who was so soon pleased.
Epicurus, the patron of pleasure, (though
1 Metrodorus his disciple married Leontia),says
that a wise man can seldom marry, because
marriage has many drawbacks. And as riches,
honours, bodily health, and other things which
we call indifferent, are neither good nor bad,
but stand as it were midway, and become good
and bad according to the use and issue, so
wives stand on the border line of good and ill.
It is, moreover, a serious matter for a wise man
to be in doubt whether he is going to marry a
good or a bad woman. 2 Chrysippus ridicu-
lously maintains that a wise man should marry,
that he may not outrage Jupiter 3 Gamelius
and Genethlius. For upon that principle the
Latins would not marry at all, since they have
no Jupiter who presides over marriage. But
if, as he thinks, the life of men is determined
by the names of gods, whoever chooses to sit
will offend Jupiter4 Stator.
49. Aristotle and Plutarch and our Seneca
have written treatises on matrimony, from
which we have already given some extracts
and now add a few more. " The love of
beauty is the forgetting of reason and the
near neighbour of madness ; a foul blot little
in keeping with a sound mind. It confuses
counsel, breaks high and generous spirits,
draws away men from great thoughts to mean
ones ; it makes men querulous, ill-tempered,
foolhardy, cruelly imperious, servile flatterers,
good for nothing, at last not even for love
itself. For although in the intensity of pas-
sion it burns like a raging fire, it wastes much
time through suspicions, tears, and complaints:
it begets hatred of itself, and at last hates
itself." The course of love is laid bare in
Plato's Phgedrus from beginning to end, and
Lysias explains all its drawbacks — how it is
led not by reason, but by frenzy, and in par-
ticular is a harsh gaoler over lovely wives.
Seneca, too, relates that he knew an accom-
plished man who before going out used to tie
1 The most distinguished disciple and the intimate friend of
Epicurus. His philosophy appears to have been of a more
sensual kind than that of his master. He made perfect happi-
ness to consist in having a well-constituted body. He died B.C.
277 in the 53rd year of his age, 7 years before Epicurus.
2 Chrysippus (B.C. 280-207) tne Stoic philosopher, born at
Soli in Cilicia. He opposed the prevailing scepticism and main-
tained the possibility of attaining certain knowledge. It was
said of him "that if Chrysippus had not existed the Porch (i.e.,
Stoicism) could not have been." He is reported to have seldom
written less than 500 lines a-day, and to have left behind him
705 works.
3 That is Zeus, regarded as presiding over marriages and the
tutelary god of races or families.
4 Literally, " Jupiter who causes to stand" : hence Jerome's
play upon the word. Jupiter Stator was the god regarded as
supporting, preserving, etc. Cic, Cat. I. 13, 31—" quern (sc.
Jovem) statorem hujus urbis atque imperii vere nominamus."
386
JEROME.
his wife's garter upon his breast, and could
not bear to be absent from her for a quarter
of an hour ; and this pair would never take a
drink unless husband and wife alternately put
their lips to the cup ; and they did other
things just as absurd in the extravagant out-
bursts of their warm but blind affection. Their
love was of honourable birth, but it grew
out of all proportion. And it makes no dif-
ference how honourable may be the cause of
a man's insanity. Hence ' Xystus in his Sen-
tences tells us that " He who too ardently
loves his own wife is an adulterer." It is dis-
graceful to love another man's wife at all, or
one's own too much. A wise man ought to
love his wife with judgment, not with passion.
Let a man govern his voluptuous impulses, and
not rush headlong into intercourse. There is
nothing blacker than to love a wife as if she
were an adulteress. Men who say they have
contracted marriage and are bringing up chil-
dren, for the good of their country and of the
race, should at least imitate the brutes, and
not destroy their offspring in the womb ; nor
should they appear in the character of lovers,
but of husbands. In some cases marriage
has grown out of adultery : and, shameful to
relate ! men have tried to teach their wives
chastity after having taken their chastity away.
Marriages of that sort are quickly dissolved
when lust is satiated. The first allurement
gone, the charm is lost. What shall I say,
says Seneca, of the poor men who in numbers
are bribed to take the name of husband in
order to evade the laws promulgated against
bachelors ? How can he who is married under
such conditions be a guide to morality, teach
chastity, and maintain the authority of a hus-
band ? It is the saying of a very learned
man, that chastity must be preserved at all
costs, and that when it is lost all virtue falls
to the ground. This holds the primacy of all
virtues in woman. This it is that makes up
for a wife's poverty, enhances her riches, re-
deems her deformity, gives grace to her
beauty ; it makes her act in a way worthy
of her forefathers whose blood it does not
taint with bastard offspring ; of her children,
who through it have no need to blush for
their mother, or to be in doubt about their
father ; and above all, of herself, since it de-
fends her from external violation. There is
no greater calamity connected with captivity
than to be the victim of another's lust. The
consulship sheds lustre upon men ; eloquence
gives eternal renown ; military glory and
a triumph immortalise an obscure family.
Many are the spheres ennobled by splendid
ability. The virtue of woman is, in a special
sense, purity. It was this that made ! Lucretia
the equal of Brutus, if it did not make her his
superior, since Brutus learnt from a woman the
impossibility of being a slave. It was this
that made ' Cornelia a fit match for Gracchus,
and 3 Porcia for a second Brutus. 4 Tanaquil
is better known than her husband. His name,
like the names of many other kings, is lost in
the mists of antiquity. She, through a virtue
rare among women, is too deeply rooted in the
hearts of all ages for her memory ever to
perish. Let my married sisters copy the ex-
amples of 6Theano, 6Cleobuline, Gorgente,
7 Timoclia, the 8 Claudias and Cornelias ; and
when they find the Apostle conceding second
marriage to depraved women, they will read
that before the light of our religion shone
upon the world wives of one husband ever
held high rank among matrons, that by their
hands the sacred rites of Fortuna a Muliebris
were performed, that a priest or I0 Flamen
twice " married was unknown, that the high-
priests of Athens to this day12 emasculate them-
selves by drinking hemlock, and once they
have been drawn in to the pontificate, cease
to be men.
1 The greater number of manuscripts read Sextus, an alterna-
tive name for the same person. Jerome in his version of the
Chronicon of Eusebius speaks of " Xystus a Pythagorean phi-
losopher" who flourished at the time of Christ's birth; but
there is great difficulty in establishing the identity of the author
of the " Sentences." See also the Prolegomena to Rufinus who
translated the Sentences of Xystus, in Vol. III. of this Series.
1 See note above, p. 382.
2 Daughter of P. Scipio Africanus, and wife of Ti. Sempronius
Gracchus, censor B.C. 169. The people erected a statue to her
with the inscription " Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi."
3 See note p. 376. 4 Wife of Tarquinius Priscus.
6 Theano was the most celebrated of the female philosophers
of the Pythagorean school. According to some authorities she
was the wife of Pythagoras.
6 Cleobuline, or Cleobule, was celebrated for her riddles in
hexameter verse. One on the subject of the year runs thus —
" A father has 72 children, and each of these 30 daughters, on
one side white, and on the other side black, and though im-
mortal they all die."
7 Timoclia was a woman of Thebes,whose house at the capture
of the city in B.C. 335 was broken into and pillaged by the
soldiery. She was herself violated by the commander, whom
she afterwards contrived to push into a well.
8 A vestal virgin who proved her innocence of the unchastity
imputed to her by setting free a stranded ship with her girdle.
9 The epithet is said to have been given to the goddess at the
time when Coriolanus was prevented by the entreaties of the
■women from destroying Rome.
10 The name for any Roman priest devoted to the service of
one particular god. He took his distinguishing title from the
deity to whom he ministered, e.g. Flamen Martialis.
11 Comp. Tertullian De Monogamia, last chapter —" For-
tunse, inquit, muliebri coronam non imponit, nisi univira . . .
Pontifex Maximus et Flaminica (the wife of a Flamen) nubunt
semel."
12 See Origen, Contra Celsum, Bk. VII. The water hemlock,
or cowbane, is the variety referred to.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
3^7
Book II.
Jerome answers the second, third, and fourth propositions of Jovinianus.
I. (c. 1-4). That those who have become regenerate cannot be overthrown by the devil. Jerome (c. 1) puts it
that they cannot be tempted by the devil. He quotes 1 John i. 8-ii. 2, as shewing that faithful men can be tempted
and sin and need an advocate. The expressions (3) in Heb. vi. as to those who crucify the Son of God afresh
do not apply to ordinary sins after baptism, as supposed by Montanus and Novatus. The epistles to the Seven
Churches shew that the lapsed may return. The Angels, and even our Lord Himself, (4) could be tempted.
II. (c. 5-17). That there is no difference (morally) between one who fasts and one who takes food with
thanksgiving. Jovinian has quoted (5) many texts of Scripture to shew that God has made animals for men's
food. But (6) there are many other uses of animals besides food. And there are many warnings like 1 Cor. vi.
13, as to the danger arising from food. There are among the heathen (7) many instances of abstinence. They
recognize (8) the evil of sensual allurements, and often, like Crates the Theban, (9) have cast away what would
tempt them ; the senses, they teach, (10) should be subject to reason ; and, that (n) except for athletes (Chris-
tians do not want to be like Milo of Crotona) bread and water suffice. Horace (12), Xenophon and other eminent
Greeks (13), the Essenes and the Brahmans (14), as well as philosophers like Diogenes, testify to the value of
abstinence. The Old Testament stories (15) of Esau's pottage, of the lusting of Israel for the flesh-pots of
Egypt, and those in the New Testament of Anna, Cornelius, &c, commend abstinence. If some heretics
inculcate fasting (16) in such a way as to despise the gifts of God, and weak Christians are not to be judged for
their use of flesh, those who seek the higher life (17) will find a help in abstinence.
III. (c. 18-34). The fourth proposition of Jovinianus, that all who are saved will have equal reward, is refuted
(19) by the various yields of thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold in the parable of the sower, by (20) the "stars differ-
ing in glory" of 1 Cor, xv. 41. It is strange (21) to find the advocate of self-indulgence now claiming equality
to the saints. But (22) as there were differences in Ezekiel between cattle and cattle, so in St. Paul between
those who built gold or stubble on the one foundation. The differences of gifts (23), of punishments (24), of
guilt (25), as in Pilate and the Chief Priests, of the produce of the good seed (26), of the mansions promised
in heaven (27-29), of the judgment upon sins both in the church and in Scripture (30-31), of those called at
different times to the vineyard (32) are arguments for the diversity of rewards. The parable of the talents (33)
holds out as rewards differences of station, and so does the church (34) in its different orders.
Jerome now recapitulates (35) and appeals (36) against the licentious views of Jovinianus, which have already
induced many virgins to break their vows ; and which, as the new Roman heresy (37), he calls upon the Imperial
City (38) to reject.
1. The second proposition of Jovinianus is
that the baptized cannot be tempted ' by the
devil. And to escape the imputation of folly
in saying this, he adds : " But if any are
tempted, it only shows that they were baptized
with water, not with the Spirit, as we read was
the case with Simon Magus." Hence it is that
John says,2 "Whosoever is begotten of God
doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him :
and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of
God. In this the children of God are manifest,
and the children of the Devil." And at the end
of the Epistle,3 " Whosoever is begotten of God
sinneth not ; but his being begotten of God
keepeth him, and the evil one toucheth him
not."
2. This would be a real difficulty and one
for ever incapable of solution were it not
solved by the witness of John himself, who
immediately goes on to say, 4 " My little chil-
dren, guard yourselves from idols." If every-
one that is born of God sinneth not, and can-
not be tempted by the devil, how is it that he
bids them beware of temptation ? Again in
the same Epistle we read : 6 " If we say that
we have no sins, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
1 This, according to i. 3, is " cannot be overthrown."
2 1 John iii. 9, 10. 3 1 John v. 18.
4 1 John v. si. 5 1 John i. 8 sq.
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we
say that we have not sinned, we make him a
liar, and his word is not in us." I suppose
that John was baptized and was writing to the
baptized : I imagine too that all sin is of the
devil. Now John confesses himself a sinner,
and hopes for forgiveness of sins after bap-
tism. My friend Jovinianus says, ' " Touch
me not, for I am clean." WThat then ? Does
the Apostle contradict himself ? By no means.
In the same passage he gives his reason for
thus speaking : 2 " My little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye may not sin.
But if any man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : and
he is the propitiation for our sins ; and not
for ours only, but also for the whole world.
And hereby know we that we know him, if we
keep his commandments. He that saith, I
know him, and keepeth not his command-
ments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily
hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby
know we that we are in him : he that saith he
abideth in him ought himself also to walk even
as he walked." My reason for telling you,
little children, that everyone who is born of
God sinneth not, is that you may not sin, and
1 Is. lxv. 5. Quoted from memory. The LXX. and Vulg. have
like A. V. and Rev., " Come not near me."
2 1 John ii. 1.
iS8
JEROME.
that you may know that so long as you sin not
you abide in the birth which God has given
you. Yea, they who abide in that birth can-
not sin. ' " For what communion hath light
with darkness ? Or Christ with Belial ? " As
day is distinct from night, so righteousness
and unrighteousness, sin and good works,
Christ and Antichrist cannot blend. If we
give Christ a lodging-place in our hearts, we
banish the devil from thence. If we sin and
the devil enter through the gate of sin, Christ
will immediately withdraw. Hence David
after sinning says : 2 " Restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation," that is, the joy which he
had lost by sinning. 3 " He who saith, I know
him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him." Christ is
called the truth : 4 " I am the way, the truth,
and the life." In vain do we make our boast
in him whose commandments we keep not.
To him that knoweth what is good, and doeth
it not, it is sin. 5 " As the body apart from
the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from
works is dead." And we must not think it a
great matter to know the only God, when even
devils believe and tremble. " He that saith
he abideth in him ought himself also to walk
even as he walked." Our opponent may
choose whichever of the two he likes ; we give
him his choice. Does he abide in Christ, or
not ? If he abide, let him then walk as Christ
walked. But if there is 6 rashness in profess-
ing to copy the virtues of our Lord, he does
not abide in Christ, for he does not walk as
did Christ. 7 " He did not sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth: when he was reviled,
he reviled not again, and as a lamb is dumb
before its shearer, so opened he not his mouth."
To Him came the prince of this world, and
found nothing in Him ; although He had done
no sin, God made Him sin for us. But we,
according to the Epistle of James,8 "all stum-
ble in many things," and 9 " no one is pure from
sin, no not if his life be but a day long." 10 For
who will boast " that he has a clean heart ? or
who will be sure that he is pure from sin ? "
And we are held guilty after the similitude
of Adam's transgression. Hence David says,
""Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in
sin did my mother conceive me." And the
blessed Job, 12" Though I be righteous my
mouth will speak wickedness, and though I
be perfect, I shall be found perverse. If I
wash myself with snow water and make my
1 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. 2 Ps. li. 12. 3 1 John ii. 4.
4 John xiv. 6. 5 James ii. 26.
6 Jerome is perhaps hinting at the opinions of Jovinianus, that
there was no other distinction between men than the grand
division into righteous and wicked, and drawing from this the
inference that whoever had been truly baptized had nothing
further to gain by progress in the Christian life.
7 1 Peter ii. 22. 8 James iii. 2.
0 Job xiv. 4, 5. Sept. 10 Prov. xx. 9.
11 Ps. li. 5. is Job ix. 20, 30. Sept.
hands never so clean, yet wilt thou plunge me
in the ditch and mine own clothes shall abhor
me." But that we may not utterly despair
and think that if we sin after baptism we can-
not be saved, he immediately checks the ten-
dency : ' " And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous, and he is the propitiation for our
sins. And not for ours only, but also for the
whole world. " He addresses this to baptized
believers, and he promises them the Lord
as an advocate for their offences. He does
not say : If you fall into sin, you have an
advocate with the Father, Christ, and He is
the propitiation for your sins : you might then
say that he was addressing those whose bap-
tism had been destitute of the true faith : but
what he says is this, " We have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, and he is the
propitiation for our sins." And not only for
the sins of John and his contemporaries, but
for those of the whole world. Now in " the
whole world " are included apostles and all
the faithful, and a clear proof is established
that sin after baptism is possible. It is use-
less for us to have an advocate Jesus Christ,
if sin be impossible.
3. The apostle Peter, to whom it was said,
2 " He that is bathed needeth not to wash
again," and 3"Thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my Church," through fear of
a maid-servant denied Him. Our Lord him-
self says, 4 " Simon, Simon, behold Satan asked
to have you, that he might sift you as wheat.
But I made supplication for thee, that thy
faith fail not." And in the same place,
" Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation : the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak." If you reply that this was
said before the Passion, we certainly say after
the Passion, in the Lord's prayer, & " Forgive
us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors ;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from the evil one." If we do not sin after bap-
tism, why do we ask that we may be forgiven
our sins, which were already forgiven in bap-
tism ? Why do we pray that we may not enter
into temptation, and that we may be delivered
from the evil one, if the devil cannot tempt
those who are baptized ? The case is different
if this prayer belongs to the Catechumens,
and is not adapted to faithful Christians.
Paul, the chosen vessel, 6 chastised his body,
and brought it into subjection, lest after preach-
ing to others he himself should be found a
reprobate, and 7 he tells that there was given
to him " a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
1 1 John ii. 1, 2.
3 S. Matt. xvi. 18
G S. Matt. vi. 12.
7 2 Cor. xii. 7.
2 S. John xiii. 10.
4 S. Luke xxi. 31.
6 1 Cor. ix. 27.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK IT.
389
Satan to buffet " him. And to the Corinthians
he writes : ' " I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your
minds should be corrupted from the simplic-
ity that is toward Christ." And elsewhere :
8 " But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive
also : for what I also have forgiven, if I have
forgiven anything, for your sakes have I for-
given it in the person of Christ : that no ad-
vantage may be gained over us by Satan : for
we are not ignorant of his devices." And
again: 3" There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as man can bear ; but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able ; but will with the
temptation make also the way of escape, that
ye may be. able to endure it." And, ""Let
him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest
he fall." And to the Galatians : b"Ye were
running well ; who did hinder you that ye
should not obey the truth ? " And elsewhere :
6 " We would fain have come unto you, I Paul
once and again ; and Satan hindered us."
And to the married he says : ' " Be together
again, that Satan tempt you not because of
your incontinency." And again : 8 " But I
say, walk by the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil
the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh ; for these are contrary the one to the
other : that ye may not do the things that ye
would." We are a compound of the two, and
must endure the strife of the two substances.
And to the Ephesians : 9 " Our wrestling is
not against flesh and blood, but against the
principalities, against the powers, against the
world-rulers of this darkness, against the spir-
itual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places." Does any one think that we are safe,
and that it is right to fall asleep when once we
have been baptized? And so,too,in the epistle
to the Hebrews : 10 " For as touching those who
were once enlightened and tasted of the heav-
enly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy
Ghost, and tasted the good word of God, and
the powers of the age to come, and then fell
away, it is impossible to renew them again
unto repentance ; seeing they crucify to them-
selves the Son of God afresh, and put him to
an open shame." Surely we cannot deny that
they have been baptized who have been illu-
minated, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and
have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
and have tasted the good word of God. But
if the baptized cannot sin, how is it now that
the Apostle says, " And have fallen away " ?
1 2 Cor. xi. 3.
3 1 Cor. x. 13.
6 Gal. v. 7.
J 1 Cor. vii. 5.
8 Eph. vi. 12.
VOL. VI.
2 2 Cor. ii. 10, 11.
4 1 Cor. x. 12.
6 1 Thess. ii. 18.
8 Gal. v. 16, 17.
10 Heb. vi. 4 sq.
1 Montanus and 2 Novatus would smile at
this, for they contend that it is impossible to
renew again through repentance those who
have crucified to themselves the Son of God,
and put Him to an open shame. He there-
fore corrects this mistake by saying : 3 " But,
beloved, we are persuaded better things of
you, and things that accompany salvation,
though we thus speak ; for God is not un-
righteous to forget your work and the love
which ye shewed towards his name, in that ye
ministered unto the Saints, and still do minis-
ter." And truly the unrighteousness of God
would be great, if He merely punished sin,
and did not welcome good works. I have so
spoken, says the Apostle, to withdraw you
from your sins, and to make you more careful
through fear of despair. But, beloved, I am
persuaded better things of you, and things
that accompany salvation. For it is not ac-
cordant with the righteousness of God to for-
get good works, and the fact that you have
ministered and do minister to the Saints for
His name's sake, and to remember sins only.
The Apostle James also, knowing that the
baptized can be tempted, and fall of their own
free choice, says : 4 " Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation : for when he hath been
approved, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord promised to them that love
him." And that we may not think that we
are tempted by God, as we read in Genesis
Abraham was, he adds : " Let no man say
when he is tempted, I am tempted of God :
for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He
Himself tempteth no man. But each man is
tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust
and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath con-
ceived, beareth sin : and the sin, when it is
full grown, bringeth forth death." God cre-
ated us with free will, and we are not forced
by necessity either to virtue or to vice. Other-
wise, if there be necessity, there is no crown.
As in good works it is God who brings them
to perfection, for it is not of him that willeth,
1 Various dates, ranging between A.D. 126 and A.D. 173, are
assigned to the origin of Montanism. In addition to the tenet, that
the church has no power to remit sin after baptism (though the
power was claimed for the Montanistic prophets) and that some
sins exclude for ever from the communion of the saints on earth,
although the mercy of God may be extended to them hereafter,
Montanus held second marriages to be no better than adultery,
proscribed military service and secular life in general, de-
nounced profane learning and amusements of every kind, advo-
cated extreme simplicity of female dress, practised frequent and
severe fasting, and inculcated the most rigorous asceticism. The
sect produced a great effect on the church and lasted until the
sixth century. As is well known, Tertullian in middle life
lapsed into Montanism, and he was the most distinguished of
its champions. Montanism has been described as an anticipa-
tion of the mediaeval system of Rome.
2 The founder of the schism which afterwards bore the
name of Novatian was Novatus, a presbyter of Carthage who
went to Rome (about A.D. 250) and there co-operated with No-
vatianus, one of the most distinguished of the clergy of that city.
The Novatianists, whose doctrines were near akin in many
respects to those of Montanists, assumed the name of Catkari,
or Puritatis.
3 Heb. vi. 9. * James i. 12 sq.
C C
390
JEROME.
nor of him that runneth, but of God that piti-
eth and gives us help that we may be able to
reach the goal : so in things wicked and sin-
ful, the seeds within us give the impulse, and
these are brought to maturity by the devil.
When he sees that we are building upon the
foundation of Christ, hay, wood, stubble, then
he applies the match. Let us then build gold,
silver, costly stones, and he will not venture
to tempt us : although even thus there is not
sure and safe possession. For the lion lurks
in ambush to slay the innocent. ' " Potters'
vessels are proved by the furnace, and just
men by the trial of tribulation." And in an-
other place it is written : 2 " My son, when
thou comest to serve the Lord, prepare thyself
for temptation." Again, the same James says :
3 " Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers
only. For if any one is a hearer of the word,
and not a doer, he is like unto a man behold-
ing his natural face in a mirror : for he be-
holdeth himself, and goeth away, and straight-
way forgetteth what manner of man he was."
It was useless to warn them to add works to
faith, if they could net sin after baptism. He
tells us that 4 " whosoever shall keep the whole
law, and yet stumble in one point, he is be-
come guilty of all." Which of us is without
sin ? B " God hath shut up all unto disobedi-
ence, that he might have mercy upon all."
Peter also says: °"The Lord knows how to
deliver the godly out of temptation." And
concerning false teachers : 7 " These are
springs without water, and mists driven by a
storm ; for whom the blackness of darkness
hath been reserved. For, uttering proud words
of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh,
by lasciviousness, those who had just es-
caped, and have turned back to error." Does
not the Apostle in these words seem to you to
have depicted the new party of ignorance ?
For, as it were, they open the fountains of
knowledge and yet have no water : they
promise a shower of doctrine like prophetic
clouds which have been visited by the truth
of God, and are driven by the storms of devils
and vices. They speak great things, and their
talk is nothing but pride : 8 " But every one
is unclean with God who is lifted up in his
own heart." Like those who had just escaped
from their sins, they return to their own error,
and persuade men to luxury, and to the de-
lights of eating and the gratification of the
flesh. For who is not glad to hear them say :
" Let us eat and drink, and reign for ever " ?
The wise and prudent they call corrupt, but
pay more attention to the honey-tongued.
1 Ecclus. xxvii. 5.
3 James i. 22 sq.
6 Rom. xi. 32.
> 2 Pet ii. 17, 18.
2 Ecclus. ii. 1.
4 James ii. 10.
6 2Pet.ii.g.
8 Prov. xvi. 5. Sept.
John the apostle, or rather the Saviour in the
person of John, writes thus to the angel of the
Church of Ephesus : "'I know thy works and
thy toil and patience, and that thou didst bear
for my name's sake, and hast not grown weary.
But I have this against thee, that thou didst
leave thy first love. Remember therefore
from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and
do the first works ; or else I will come to
thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its
place, except thou repent." Similarly He urges
the other churches, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thya-
tira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, to repent-
ance, and threatens them unless they return
to the former works. And in Sardis He says
He has a few who have not defiled their gar-
ments, and they shall walk with Him in white,
for they are worthy. But they to whom He
says : " Remember from whence thou art
fallen"; and, "Behold the devil is about to
cast some of you into prison, that ye may be
tried"; and, "I know where thou dwellest,
even where Satan's throne is"; and, u Remem-
ber how thou hast received, and didst hear,
and keep it, and repent," and so on, were
of course believers, and baptized, who once
stood, but fell through sin.
4. I delayed for a little while the produc-
tion of proofs from the Old Testament, be-
cause, wherever the Old Testament is against
them they are accustomed to cry out that " the
Law and the Prophets were until John. But
who does not know that under the other dis-
pensation of God all the saints of past times
were of equal merit with Christians at the
present day? As Abraham in days gone by
pleased God in wedlock, so virgins now please
him in perpetual virginity. He served the
Law and his own times; let us, 3 upon whom
the ends of the ages have come, now serve the
Gospel and our times. David the chosen
one, the man after God's own heart, who had
performed all His pleasure, and who in a cer-
tain psalm had said, 4 " Judge me, O Lord, for
I have walked in mine integrity : I have
trusted also in the Lord and shall not slide.
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me ; try my
reins and my heart," even he was afterwards
tempted by the devil ; and repenting of his
sin said, 5 " Have mercy upon me, O God, ac-
cording to thy loving-kindness." He would
have a great sin blotted out by great loving-
kindness. Solomon, beloved of the Lord, and
to whom God had twice revealed Himself, be-
cause he loved women forsook the love of God.
It is related in the 6Book of Days that Ma-
nasses the wicked king was restored after the
Babylonish captivity to his former rank. And
1 Apoc. ii. 2 sq.
3 1 Cor. x. 11,
6Ps. Ii. 1.
- Matt. xi. 13.
4 Ps. xxvi. 1. 2.
6 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
39*
Josiah, a holy man, ! was slain by the king of
Egypt on the plain of Megiddo. 2 Joshua
also, the son of Josedech'and high-priest, al-
though he was a type of our Saviour Who bore
our sins, and united to Himself a church of
alien birth from among the Gentiles, is never-
theless, according to the letter of Scripture,
represented in filthy garments after he attained
to the priesthood, and with the devil standing
at his right hand ; and white raiment is after-
wards restored to him. It is needless to tell
how Moses and Aaron 3 offended God at the
water of strife, and did not enter the land of
promise. For the blessed Job relates that
even the angels and every creature can sin.
'"Shall mortal man," he says, "be just before
God ? Shall a man be spotless in his works ?
If he putteth no trust in his servants, and
chargeth his angels with folly, how much more
them that dwell in houses of clay," amongst
whom are we, and made of the same clay too.
6 " The life of man is a warfare upon earth."
6 Lucifer fell who was sending to all nations,
and he who was nurtured in a paradise of de-
light as one of the twelve precious stones, was
wounded and went down to hell from the
mount of God. Hence the Saviour says in
the Gospel : 7" I beheld Satan falling as light-
ning from heaven." If he fell who stood on
so sublime a height, who may not fall ? If
there are falls in heaven, how much more on
earth ! And yet though Lucifer be fallen (the
old serpent after his fall), 8 " his strength is in
his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his
belly. The great trees are overshadowed by
him, and he sleepeth beside the reed, the rush,
and the sedge." 9 He is king over all things
that are in the waters — that is to say in the
seat of pleasure and luxury, of propagation of
children, and of the fertilisation of the marriage
bed 10 " For who can strip off his outer gar-
ment ? Who can open the doors of his face ?
Nations fatten upon him, and the tribes of
Phenicia divide him." And lest haply the
reader in his secret thought might imagine that
the tribes of Phenicia and peoples of Ethiopia
only are meant by those to whom the dragon
was given for food, we immediately find a ref-
erence to those who are crossing the sea of
1 2 King's xxiii. 29 sq. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 sq.
2 Zech. iii. 1 sq. 3 Numb. xx. 13. Ps. cvi. 32.
4 Job v. 17. 6 Job vii. r.
6 Jerome blends two passages. Is. xiv. 12 (in which the Sept.
reading is "' that sendest to." R. V. " didst lay low") and Ezek.
xxviii. 13 sq. In the passage from Isaiah the king of Babylon
is compared to Lucifer, i.e. the shining one, the morning star,
whose movements the Babylonians had been the first to record.
See Sayce, Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments, p. 178,
and Cheyne's Isaiah. The subject of Ezckiel's prophecy is the
Prince of Tyre.
1 S. Luke x. 18.
9 Job xl. 16, 21. R. V. " He lieth under the lotus trees, in the
covert of the reed and the fen."
9 Job xli. 34. Sept. R. V. " King over the sons of pride."
10 Job xli. 13 sq. R. V. for the latter part of the verse has
"Round about his teeth is terror, his strong scales are his
pride." Jerome's words are not found in the existing Septuagint.
this world, and are hastening to reach the
haven of salvation : ' " His head stands in the
ships of the fishermen like an anvil that can-
not be wearied : u he counteth iron as straw,
and brass as rotten wood. And all the gold
of the sea under him is as mire. He maketh
the deep to boil like a pot : he values the sea
like a pot of ointment, and the blackness of
the deep as a captive. He beholdeth every-
thing that is high." And my friend Jovini-
anus thinks he can gain an easy mastery over
him. Why speak of holy men and angels,
who, being creatures of God, are of course
capable of sin ? He dared to tempt the Son
of God, and though smitten through and
through with our Lord's first and second
answer, nevertheless raised his head, and
when thrice wounded, withdrew only for a
time, and deferred rather than removed the
temptation. And we flatter ourselves on the
ground of our baptism, which though it put
away the sins of the past, cannot keep us for
the time to come, unless the baptized keep
their hearts with all diligence.
5. At length we have arrived at the ques-
tion of food, and are confronted by our third
difficulty. " All things were created to serve
for the use of mortal men.' And as man, a
rational animal, in a sense the owner and ten-
ant of the world, is subject to God, and wor-
ships his Creator, so all things living were
created either for the food of men, or for
clothing, or for tilling the earth, or conveying
the fruits thereof, or to be the companions of
man, and hence, because they are man's3 help-
ers, they have their name jumenta. " ' What
is man,' says David, 'that thou art mindful
of him ? And the son of man, that thou visitest
him ? For thou hast made him but little lower
than the angels, and crownest him with glory
and honour. Thou madest him to have do-
minion over the works of thine hands ; thou
hast put all things under his feet : all sheep
and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field : the
fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, what-
soever passeth through the paths of the seas.'
Granted, he says, that the ox was created for
ploughing, the horse for riding, the dog for
watching, goats for their milk, sheep for their
fleeces. What is the use of swine if we may
not eat their flesh ? of roes, stags, fallow-deer,
boars, hares, and such like game? of geese,
wild and tame ? of wild ducks and 5 fig-peckers ?
of woodcocks ? of coots ? of thrushes ? Why
do hens run about our houses ? If they are
not eaten, all these creatures were created by
1 The Septuagint omits much in this portion of the Book of
Job.
a xli. 27.
3 That is, deriving jumenta iromjuz'o. The derivation, how-
ever, is from jungo. *
4 Ps. viii. 5 sq. 6 The Italian beccafico.
C C 2
392
JEROME.
God for nothing. But what need is there of
argument when Scripture clearly teaches that
every moving creature, like herbs and vege-
tables, were given to us for food, and the
Apostle cries aloud a ' All things are clean to
the clean, and nothing is to be rejected, if it
be received with thanksgiving,' and 2 tells us
that men will come in the last days, forbidding
to marry, and to eat meats, which God created
for use? The Lord himself was called by the
Pharisees a wine-bibber and a glutton, the
friend of publicans and sinners, because he
did not decline the invitation of Zacchseus to
dinner, and went to the marriage-feast. But
it is a different matter if, as you may foolishly
contend, he went to the dinner intending to
fast, and after the manner of deceivers said, I
eat this, not that ; I do not drink the wine
which I created out of water. He did not
make water, but wine, the type of his blood.
After the resurrection he ate a fish and part
of a honey-comb, not sesame nuts and ser-
vice-berries. The apostle, Peter, did not wait
like a Jew for the stars to peep, but went
upon the house-top to dine at the sixth hour.
Paul in the ship broke bread, not dried figs.
When Timothy's stomach was out of order, he
advised him to drink wine, not perry. In
abstaining from meats they please their own
fancy : as though superstitious Gentiles did not
observe the 3 rites of abstinence connected
with the Mother of the Gods and with Isis."
6. I will follow in detail the views now ex-
pounded, and before I come to Scripture and
show by it that fasting is pleasing to God, and
chastity accepted by him, I will meet philo-
sophic argument with argument, and will prove
that we are not followers of Empedocles and
Pythagoras, who on account of their doctrine
of the transmigration of souls think nothing
which lives and moves should be eaten, and
look upon him who fells a fir-tree or an oak as
equally guilty with the parricide or the poi-
soner : but that we worship our Creator Who
made all things for the use of man. And as
the ox was created for ploughing, the horse
for riding, dogs for watching, goats for milk,
sheep for their wool : so it was with swine and
stags, and roes and hares, and other ani-
mals : the immediate purpose of their creation
was not that they might serve for food, but
for other uses of men. For if everything that
moves and lives was made for food, and pre-
pared for the stomach, let my opponents tell
me why elephants, lions, leopards, and wolves
1 Rom. xiv. 20: i Tim. iv. 5. 2 1 Tim. iv. 3.
3 Castum. Another reading is Cossum i.e. wood-worms, which
were considered a delicacy in Pontus and Phrygia. The read-
ing Castum is supported by Tert., De Iejun. cap. 16 : In nostris
xerophagiis Wasphemias ingerens. Casto Isidis et Cybeles eos
adaequas. Compare Arnob. Bk. V., and Jerome's Letter cvii. ad
Lactam c. 10, and below c. 7.
were created ; why vipers, scorpions, bugs,
lice, and fleas ; why the vulture, the eagle, the
crow, the hawk ; why whales, dolphins, seals,
and small snails were created. Which of us
ever eats the flesh of a lion, a viper, a vulture,
a stork, a kite, or the worms that crawl upon
our shores? As then these have their proper
uses, so may we say that other beasts, fishes,
birds, were created not for eating, but for
medicine. In short, to how many uses the
flesh of vipers, from which we make our
antidotes against poison, may be applied, phy-
sicians know well. Ivory dust is an ingredi-
ent in many remedies. Hyena's gall restores
brightness to the eyes, and its dung and that
of dogs cures gangrenous wounds. And (it
may seem strange to the reader) Galen asserts
in his treatise on Simples, that human dung is
of service in a multitude of cases. Naturalists
say that snake-skin, boiled in oil, gives won-
derful relief in ear-ache. What to the uniniti-
ated seems so useless as a bug ? Yet, suppose
a leech to have fastened on the throat, as soon
as the odour of a bug is inhaled the leech is
vomited out, and difficulty in urinating is re-
lieved by the same application. As for the
fat of pigs, geese, fowls, and pheasants, how
useful they are is told in all medical works,
and if you read these books you will see there
that the vulture has as many curative proper-
ties as it has limbs. Peacock's dung allays
the inflammation of gout. Cranes, storks,
eagle's gall, hawk's blood, the ostrich, frogs,
chameleons, swallow's dung and flesh — in what
diseases these are suitable remedies, I could
tell if it were my purpose to discuss bodily
ailments and their cure. If you think proper
you may read Aristotle and ' Theophrastus in
prose, or " Marcellus of Side, and our3 Flavius,
who discourse on these subjects in hexameter
verse ; the 4 second Pliny also, and 5 Dios-
corides, and others, both naturalists and phy-
sicians, who assign to every herb, every stone,
every animal whether reptile, bird, or fish, its
own use in the art of which they treat. So
then when you ask me why the pig was created,
I immediately reply, as if two boys were dis-
puting, by asking you why were vipers and
scorpions ? You must not judge that anything
from the hand of God is superfluous, because
1 See note on p. 383.
2 That is, of Side in Pamphylia. He lived in the reigns of
Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, A.D. 117-161. Only two frag-
ments remain of his Greek poem in forty-two books.
3 He appears to be Flavius the Grammarian to whom refer-
ence is made in the Book on Illustrious Men, chap. 80 :— Firmi-
anus, qui et Lactantius, Arnobii discipulus, sub Diocletiano
principe accitus cum Flavio giammatico, cujus de Medicinalibus
versu compositi exstant libri, etc.
4 Born A.D. 23. His Historia Nattiralis embraces astronomy,
meteorology, geography, mineralogy, zoology, and botany, and
comprises according to the author's own account 20,000 matters
of importance drawn from 2,000 volumes.
5 A native of Cilicia, who probably lived in the second century
of the Christian era. He was a Greek physician and wrote a
treatise on Materia Medica, in 5 books, which is still extant.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.-BOOK II.
393
there are many beasts and birds which your
palate rejects. But this may perhaps look
more like contentiousness and pugnacity than
truth. Let me tell you therefore that pigs
and wild-boars, and stags, and the rest of liv-
ing creatures were created, that soldiers, ath-
letes, sailors, rhetoricians, miners, and other
slaves of hard toil, who need physical strength,
might have food : and also those who carry
arms and provisions, who wear themselves out
with the work of hand or foot, who ply the
oar, who need good lungs to shout and speak,
who level mountains and sleep out rain or fair.
But our religion does not train boxers, ath-
letes, sailors, soldiers, or ditchers, but followers
of wisdom, who devote themselves to the wor-
ship of God, and know why they were created
and are in the world from which they are
impatient to depart. Hence also the Apostle
says : ' " When I am weak, then am I strong."
And, 2 " Though our outward man is decay-
ing, yet our inward man is renewed day by
day." And 3 " I have the desire to depart and
be with Christ." And, 4 " Make not provision
for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof." Are
all commanded 6not to have two coats, nor
food in their scrip, money in their purse, a
staff in the hand, shoes on the feet ? or to
sell all they possess and give to the poor, and
follow Jesus ? Of course not : but the com-
mand is for those who wish to be perfect. On
the contrary John the Baptist lays down one
rule for the soldiers, another for the publicans.
But the Lord says in the Gospel to him who
had boasted of having kept the whole law :
6 " If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that
thou hast, and give to the poor, and come, fol-
low me." That He might not seem to lay a
heavy burden on unwilling shoulders, He sent
His hearer away with full power to please him-
self, saying " If thou wilt be perfect." And
so I too say to you : If you wish to be perfect,
it is good not to drink wine, and eat flesh. If
you wish to be perfect, it is better to enrich
the mind than to stuff the body. But if you
are an infant, and fond of the cooks and their
preparations, no one will snatch the dainties
out of your mouth. Eat and drink, and, if
you like, with Israel rise up and play, and sing
7 " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we
shall die." Let him eat and drink, who looks
for death when he has feasted, and who says
with Epicurus, " There is nothing after death,
and death itself is nothing." We believe Paul
when he says in tones of thunder: 8" Meats
for the belly, and the belly for meats. But
God will destroy both them and it."
7. I have quoted these few passages of
1 2 Cor. xii. 14. 2 2 Cor. iv. 16. 3 Phil. i. 23.
4 Rom. xiii. 14. 5 Matt. x. 9, xix. 21 : Mark vi. 8.
6 Matt. xix. 21. 7 1 Cor. xv. 32. s 1 Cor. vi. 13,"
Scripture to show that we are at one with the
philosophers. But who does not know that
no universal law of nature regulates the food
of all nations, and that each eats those things
of which it has abundance ? For instance, the
Arabians and Saracens, and all the wild tribes
of the desert live on camel's milk and flesh :
for the camel, to suit the climate and barren
soil of those regions, is easily bred and reared.
They think it wicked to eat the flesh of swine.
Why ? Because pigs which fatten on acorns,
chestnuts, roots of ferns, and barley, are seldom
or never found among them : and if they were
found, they would not afford the nourishment
of which we spoke just now. The exact oppo-
site is the case with the northern peoples. If
you were to force them to eat the flesh of asses
and camels, they would think it the same as
though they were compelled to devour a wolf
or a crow. In Pontus and Phrygia a pater-
familias pays a good price for fat white
worms with blackish heads, which breed in
decayed wood. And as with us the woodcock
and fig-pecker, the mullet and scar, are reputed
delicacies, so with them it is a luxury to eat
the ' xylophagus. Again, because throughout
the glowing wastes of the desert clouds of
locusts are found, it is customary with the
peoples of the East and of Libya to feed on
locusts. John the Baptist proves the truth
of this. Compel a Phrygian or a native of
Pontus to eat a locust, and he will think it
scandalous. Force a Syrian, an African, or
Arabian to swallow worms, he will have the
same contempt for them as for flies, mille-
pedes, and lizards, although the Syrians are
accustomed to eat land-crocodiles, and the
Africans even green lizards. In Egypt and
Palestine, owing to the scarcity of cattle no
one eats beef, or makes the flesh of bulls or
oxen, or calves, a portion of their food. More-
over, in my province 2 it is considered a crime
to eat veal. Accordingly the Emperor Valens
recently promulgated a law throughout the
East, prohibiting the killing and eating of
calves. He had in view the interests of agri-
culture, and wished to check the bad practice
of the commoner sort of the people who
imitated the Jews in devouring the flesh of
calves, instead of fowls and sucking pigs.
The Nomad tribes, and the 3 Troglodytes, and
Scythians, and the barbarous * Huns with
whom we have recently become acquainted,
' That is, the wood-worm just referred to.
2 Pannonia, of which Valens also was a native.
3 This name, which signifies dwellers in caves, was applied by
Greek geographers to various peoples, but especially to the un-
civilized inhabitants of the west coast of the Red Sea, along the
shores of Upper Egypt and ^Ethiopia. The whole coast was
called Troglodytice.
4 In 376 the Goths were driven out of their country by the
Huns. They were allowed by Valens to cross the Danube, but
.war soon broke out and the emperor was defeated with great
slaughter on Aug. 9, 378,
394
JEROME.
eat flesh half raw. Moreover the Icthyophagi,
a wandering race on the shores of the Red
Sea, broil fish on the stones made hot by
the sun, and subsist on this poor food. The
1 Sarmatians, the * Quadi, the 3 Vandals, and
countless other races, delight in the flesh of
horses and wolves. Why should I speak of
other nations when I myself, a youth on a
visit to Gaul, heard that the Atticoti, a Brit-
ish tribe, eat human flesh, and that although
they find herds of swine, and droves of large
or small cattle in the woods, it is their cus-
tom to cut off the buttocks of the shepherds
and the breasts of their women, and to regard
them as the greatest delicacies ? The Scots
have no wives of their own ; as though they
read Plato's Republic and took Cato for their
leader, no man among them has his own wife,
but like beasts they indulge their lust to their
hearts' content. The Persians, Medes, In-
dians, and Ethiopians, peoples on a par with
Rome itself, have intercourse with mothers
and grandmothers, with daughters and grand-
daughters. The 4 Massagetse and 5 Derbices
think those persons most unhappy who die
of sickness — and when parents, kindred, or
friends reach old age, they are murdered and
devoured. It is thought better that they
should be eaten by the people themselves than
by the worms. The 6 Tibareni crucify those
whom they have loved before when they have
grown old. The 7 Hyrcani throw them out
half alive to the birds and dogs: the Cas-
pians leave them dead for the same beasts.
The Scythians bury alive with the remains of
the dead those who were beloved of the de-
ceased. The Bactrians throw their old men
to dogs which they rear for the very pur-
pose, and when Stasanor, Alexander's general,
wished to correct the practice, he almost lost
his province. Force an Egyptian to drink
sheep's milk : drive, if you can, a Pelusiote
to eat an onion. Almost every city in Egypt
venerates its own beasts and monsters, and
whatever be the object of worship, that they
think inviolable and sacred. Hence it is that
their towns also are named after animals :
Leonto, Cyno, Lyco, Busyris, Thmuis, which
is, being interpreted, a he-goat. And to make
us understand what sort of gods Egypt always
> The Sarmatians dwelt on the N. E. of the Sea of Azov. E. of
the river Don.
2 They were located in the S. E. of Germany
3 The name given to the great confederacy of German peoples
who in A.D. 4og traversed Germany and Gaul, and invaded
bpain. In 429 they conquered all the Roman dominions in Africa
and in 455 they plundered Rome. Their kingdom was destroved
by Behsanus in 535. '
4 A people of Central Asia. Cyrus the Great was slain in an
expedition against them.
« On the Oxus near its entrance into the Caspian Sea.
" An agricultural people on the W. coast of Pontus
,^7TtWas a Pr°vince of the Persian Empire, on the S.
and S. E. shores of the Caspian or Hyrcanian Sea. Jerome
draws many of these details from the treatise of Porphyry
Wept citto^ijj tn^v^uv, *v»j«*j«jf
welcomed, one of their cities was recently
called ' Antinous after Hadrian's favourite.
You see clearly then that not only in eating,
but also in burial, in wedlock, and in every
department of life, each race follows its own
practice and peculiar usages, and takes that
for the law of nature which is most familiar
to it. But suppose all nations alike ate flesh,
and let that be everywhere lawful which the
place produces. How does it concern us
whose conversation is in heaven ? who, as well
as Pythagoras and Empedocles and all lovers
of wisdom, are not bound to the circum-
stances of our birth, but of our new birth : who
by abstinence subjugate our refractory flesh,
eager to follow the allurements of lust ? The
eating of flesh, and drinking of wine, and ful-
ness of stomach, is the seed-plot of lust.
And so the comic poet says,2 " Venus shivers
unless Ceres and Bacchus be with her."
8. Through the five senses, as through open
windows, vice has access to the soul. The
metropolis and citadel of the mind cannot be
taken unless the enemy have previously en-
tered by its doors. The soul is distressed by
the disorder they produce, and is led captive
by sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. If
any one delights in the sports of the circus,
or the struggles of athletes, the versatility of
actors, the figure of women, in splendid
jewels, dress, silver and gold, and other
things of the kind, the liberty of the soul is
lost through the windows of the eyes, and the
prophet's words are fulfilled : 3 " Death is
come up into our windows." Again, our sense
of hearing is flattered by the tones of various
instruments and the modulations of the voice ;
and whatever enters the ear by the songs
of poets and comedians, by the pleasantries
and verses of pantomimic actors, weakens the
manly fibre of the mind. Then, again, no one
but a profligate denies that the profligate
and licentious find a delight in sweet odours,
different sorts of incense, fragrant balsam,
4 kuphi, b cenanthe, and musk, which is nothing
but the skin of a foreign rat. And who does
not know that gluttony is the mother of avar-
ice, and, as it were, fetters the heart and keeps
it pressed down upon the earth ? For the sake
of a temporary gratification of the appetite, land
and sea are ransacked, and we toil and sweat
our lives through, that we may send down our
throats honey- wine and costly food. The desire
to handle other men's persons, and the burn-
ing lust for women, is a passion bordering on
1 Antinous was drowned in the Nile, A.D. 122. The em-
peror's grief was so great that he enrolled his favourite amongst
the gods, caused a temple to be erected to his honour at Man-
tinea, and founded the city of Antinoopolis.
a Ter. Eunuch, iv. 5, 6.
3 Jer. ix. 21.
4 An Egyptian perfuming powder.
0 Probably an ointment made from the grape of the wild vine.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
395
insanity. To gratify this sense we languish,
grow angry, throw ourselves about with joy,
indulge envy, engage in rivalry, are filled with
anxiety, and when we have terminated the
pleasure with more or less repentance, we once
more take fire, and want to do that which we
again regret doing. Where, then, that which
we may call the thin edge of disturbance, has
entered the citadel of the mind through these
doors, what will become of its liberty, its
endurance, its thought of God, particularly
since the sense of touch can picture to itself
even bygone pleasures, and through the recol-
lection of vice forces the soul to take part in
them, and after a manner to practice what it
does not actually commit ?
9. At the call of reasoning such as this, many
philosophers have forsaken the crowded cities,
and their pleasure gardens in the suburbs with
well-watered grounds, shady trees, twittering
birds, crystal fountains, murmuring brooks, and
many charms for eye and ear, lest through
luxury and abundance of riches, the firmness
of the mind should be enfeebled, and its purity
debauched. For there is no good in frequently
seeing objects which may one day lead to
your captivity, or in making trial of things
which you would find it hard to do without.
Even the Pythagoreans shunned company of
this kind and were wont to dwell in solitary
places in the desert. The Platonists also and
Stoics lived in the groves and porticos of
temples, that, admonished by the sanctity
of their restricted abode, they might think
of nothing but virtue. Plato, moreover, him-
self, when ' Diogenes trampled on his couches
with muddy feet (he being a rich man),
chose a house called 2 Accidentia at some dis-
tance from the city, in a spot not only lonely
but unhealthy, so that he might have leisure
for philosophy. His object was that by con-
stant anxiety about sickness the assaults of
lust might be defeated, and that his disci-
ples might experience no pleasure but that
afforded by the things they learned. We have
read of some who took out their own eyes
lest through sight they might lose the con-
templation of philosophy. Hence it was that
3 Crates the famous Theban, after throwing
into the sea a considerable weight of gold, ex-
claimed, " Go to the bottom, ye evil lusts : I
will drown you that you may not drown me."
1 The celebrated Cynic philosopher. He died at Corinth, at
the age of nearly 90, B. C. 323.
2 Academia was a piece of land on the Cephir,us about three-
quarters of a mile from Athens, originally belonging to the hero
Academus. Here was a Gymnasium with plane and olive plan-
tations, etc. Plato had a piece of land in the neighbourhood ;
here he taught, and after him his followers, who were hence
called Academici. Cicero called his villa Academia.
3 Flourished about B. C. 320. Though heir to a large for-
tune, he renounced it all, and lived and died as a true Cynic. He
was called Uie "door-opener," because it was his practice to
visit every house at Athens and rebuke its inmates.
But if anyone thinks to enjoy keenly meat
and drink in excess, and at the same time to
devote himself to philosophy, that is to say, to
live in luxury and yet not to be hampered by
the vices attendant on luxury, he deceives
himself. For' if it be the case that even when
far distant from them we are frequently
caught in the snares of nature, and are com-
pelled to desire those things of which we have
a scant supply : what folly it is to think we are
free when we are surrounded by the nets of plea-
sure ! We think of what we see, hear, smell,
taste, handle, and are led to desire the thing
which affords us pleasure. That the mind sees
and hears, and that we can neither hear nor see
anything unless our senses are fixed upon the
objects of sight and hearing, is an old saw.
It is difficult, or rather impossible, when we
are swimming in luxury and pleasure not to
think of what we are doing : and it is an idle
pretence which some men put forward ] that
they can take their fill of pleasure with their
faith and purity and mental uprightness unim-
paired. It is a violation of nature to revel in
pleasure, and the Apostle gives a caution
against this very thing when he says, 2 " She
that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while
she liveth."
10. The bodily senses are like horses madly
racing, but the soul like a charioteer holds
the reins. And as horses without a driver go
at break-neck speed, so the body if it be not
governed by the reasonable soul rushes to its
own destruction. The philosophers make use
of another illustration of the relations between
soul and body ; 3 they say the body is a boy,
the soul his tutor. Hence the 4 historian tells
us uthat our soul directs, our body serves.
The one we have in common with the gods,
the other with the beasts." So then unless
the vices of youth and boyhood are regu-
lated by the wisdom of the tutor, every
effort and every impulse sets strongly in the
direction of wantonness. We might lose four
of the senses and yet live, — that is we could
do without sight, hearing, smell, and the plea-
sures of touch. But a human being cannot
subsist without tasting food. It follows that
reason must be present, that we may take
food of such a kind and in such quantities as
will not burden the body, or hinder the free
movement of the soul : for it is the way with
us that we eat, and walk, and sleep, and di-
gest our food, and afterwards in the fulness of
blood have to bear the spur of lust. " " Wine
is a mocker, strong drink a brawler." Who-
soever has much to do with these is not wise.
1 A common form of Gnostic error revived many centuries
afterwards by the Anabaptists.
- 1 Tim. v. 6. 3 See Cicero, Repub. Bk. Ill,
* Sallust. In Cat. ch. 1. 6 Prow xx. 1.
596
JEROME.
And we should not take such food as is diffi-
cult of digestion, or such as when eaten will
give us reason to complain that we got it and
Tost it with much effort. The preparation of
vegetables, fruit, and pulse is easy, and does
not require the skill of expensive cooks : our
bodies are nourished by them with little trou-
ble on our part ; and, if taken in modera-
tion, such food is easier to digest, and at less
cost, because it does not stimulate the ap-
petite, and therefore is not devoured with
avidity. No one has his stomach inflated
or overloaded if he eats only one or two
dishes, and those inexpensive ones : such a
condition comes of pampering the taste with
a variety of meats. The smells of the kitchen
may induce us to eat, but when hunger is
satisfied, they make us their slaves. Hence
gorging gives rise to disease : and many per-
sons find relief for the discomfort of gluttony
in emetics, — what they disgraced themselves
by putting in, they with still greater disgrace
put out.
n. ' Hippocrates in his Aphorisms teaches
that stout persons of a coarse habit of body,
when once they have attained their full growth,
unless the plethora be quickly relieved by
blood-letting, develop tendencies to paraly-
sis and the worst forms of disease : they
must therefore be bled, that there may be
room for fresh growth. For it is not the
nature of our bodies to continue in one stay,
but to go on either increasing or decreasing,
and no animal can live which is incapable
of growth. Whence 2 Galen, a very learned
man and the commentator on Hippocrates,
says in his exhortation to the practice of
medicine that athletes whose whole life and
art consists in stuffing cannot live long, nor
be healthy : and that their souls enveloped
with superfluous blood and fat, and as it were
covered with mud, have no refined or heav-
enly thoughts, but are always intent upon
gluttonous and voracious feasting. Diogenes
maintains that tyrants do not bring about
revolutions in cities, and foment wars civil or
foreign for the sake of a simple diet of veg-
etables and fruits, but for costly meats and
the delicacies of the table. And, strange to
say, Epicurus, the defender of pleasure, in all
his books speaks of nothing but vegetables and
fruits ; and he says that we ought to live on
cheap food because the preparation of sumptu-
ous banquets of flesh involves great care and
suffering, and greater pains attend the search
for such delicacies than pleasures the con-
1 The most celebrated physician of antiquity. Born about
B.C. 460, died about 357.
2 Born at Pergamum A.D. 130, died probably in the year 200.
His writings are considered to hav^ had a more extensive influ-
ence on medical science than even th.^sc of Hippocrates,
sumption of them. Our bodies need only
something to eat and drink. Where there is
bread and water, and the like, nature is satis-
fied. Whatever more there may be does not
go to meet the wants of life, but only ministers
to vicious pleasure. Eating and drinking
does not quench the longing for luxuries, but
appeases hunger and thirst. Persons who
feed on flesh want also gratifications not
found in flesh. But they who adopt a simple
diet do not look for flesh. Further, we can-
not devote ourselves to wisdom if our thoughts
are running on a well-laden table, the supply
of which requires an excess of work and
anxiety. The wants of nature are soon satis-
fied : cold and hunger can be banished with
simple food and clothing. Hence the Apostle
says : " Having food and clothing let us be
therewith content." Delicacies and the various
dishes of the feast are the nurses of avarice.
The soul greatly exults when you are content
with little : you have the world beneath your
feet, and can exchange all its power, its
feasts, and its lusts, the objects for which
men rake money together, for common food,
and make up for them all with a sack-cloth
shirt. Take away the luxurious feasting and
the gratification of lust, and no one will want
riches to be used either in the belly, or beneath
it. The invalid only regains his health by
diminishing and carefully selecting his food,
i.e., in medical phrase, by adopting a "slen-
der diet." The same food that recovers
health, can preserve it, for no one can im-
agine vegetables to be the cause of disease.
And if vegetables do not give the strength of
Milo of Crotona — a strength supplied and
nourished by meat — what need has a wise
man and a Christian philosopher of such
strength as is required by athletes and sol-
diers, and which, if he had it, would only
stimulate to vice ? Let those persons deem
meat accordant with health who wish to grat-
tify their lust, and who, sunk in filthy plea-
sure, are always at heat. What a Christian
wants is health, but not superfluous strength.
And it ought not to disturb us if we find but
few supporters ; for the pure and temperate
are as rare as good and faithful friends, and
virtue is always scarce. Study the temper-
ance of ' Fabricius, or the poverty of 2 Curius,
and in a great city you will find few worthy of
your imitation. You need not fear that if you
do not eat flesh, fowlers and hunters will have
learnt their craft in vain.
1 Fabricius was censor in B.C. 27s, and devoted himself to
repressing the prevalent taste for luxury. The story of his
expelling from the Senate P. Cornelius Rufinus because he pos-
sessed ten pounds' weight of silver-plate is well-known.
- Curius Dentatus, Consul B.C. 2)0 with P. Cornelius Rufinus
to whom allusion has just been made, was no less distinguished
for simplicity of life than was Fabricius. He was censor B.C.
272.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
397
12. We have read that some who suffered
with disease of the joints and with gouty
humours recovered their health by proscribing
delicacies, and coming down to a simple board
and mean food. For they were then free
from the worry of managing a house and from
unlimited feasting. Horace ' makes fun of
the longing for food which when eaten leaves
nothing but regret.
" Scorn pleasure ; she but hurts when bought with pain."
And when, in the delightful retirement of
the country, by way of satirizing voluptuous
men, he described himself as plump and fat,
his sportive verse ran thus :
" Pay me a visit if you want to laugh,
You'll find me fat and sleek with well-dress'd hide,
Like any pig from Epicurus' sty."
But even if our food be the commonest,
we must avoid repletion. For nothing is so
destructive to the mind as a full belly, fer-
menting like a wine vat and giving forth its
gases on all sides. What sort of fasting is it,
or what refreshment is there after fasting,
when we are blown out with yesterday's din-
ner, and our 2 stomach is made a factory for
the closet ? We wish to get credit for pro-
tracted abstinence, and all the while we de-
vour so much that a day and a night can
scarcely digest it. The proper name to give
it is not fasting, but rather debauch and rank
indigestion.
13. 3 Dicsearchus in his book of Antiquities,
describing Greece, relates that under Saturn,
that is in the Golden Age, when the ground
brought forth all things abundantly, no one
ate flesh, but every one lived on field produce
and fruits which the earth bore of itself.
Xenophon in eight books narrates the life of
Cyrus, King of the Persians, and asserts that
they supported life on barley, cress, salt, and
black bread. Both the aforesaid Xenophon,
Theophrastus, and almost all the Greek
writers testify to the frugal diet of the
Spartans. 4 Chaeremon the Stoic, a man of
great eloquence, has a treatise on the life of
the ancient priests of Egypt, who, he says,
laid aside all worldly business and cares, and
were ever in the temple, studying nature and
the regulating causes of the heavenly bodies ;
they never had intercourse with women ;
they never from the time they began to
devote themselves to the divine service set
eyes on their kindred and relations, nor even
saw their children ; they always abstained
1 Ep. Lib. I. ep. 2.
a Or, "an ante-room to the closet" — Meditator turn. Comp.
Tertullian, Treatise on Fasting, ch. 6.
3 The Peripatetic philosopher, geographer, and historian, a
disciple of Aristotle and the friend of Theophrastus.
4 Chaeremon was chief librarian of the Alexandrian library.
He afterwards became one of Nero's tutors.
from flesh and wine, on account of the light-
headedness and dizziness which a small quan-
tity of food caused, and especially to avoid
the stimulation of the lustful appetite engen-
dered by this meat and drink. They seldom
ate bread, that they might not load the stom-
ach. And whenever they ate it, they mixed
pounded hyssop with all that they took, so
that the action of its warmth might diminish
the weight of the heavier food. They used
no oil except with vegetables, and then only
in small quantities, to mitigate the unpalat-
able taste. What need, he says, to speak of
birds, when they avoided even eggs and milk
as flesh. The one, they said, was liquid
flesh, the other was blood with the colour
changed ? Their bed was made of palrn-
leaves, called by them dates : a sloping foot-
stool laid upon the ground served for a pil-
low, and they could go without food for two
or three days. The humours of the body
which arise from sedentary habits were dried
up by reducing their diet to an extreme
point.
14. ' Josephus in the second book of the
history of the Jewish captivity, and in the
eighteenth book of the Antiquities, and the
two treatises against Apion, describes three
sects of the Jews, the Pharisees, Sadducees,
and Essenes. On the last of these he bestows
wondrous praise because they practised per-
petual abstinence from wives, wine, and flesh,
and made a second nature of their daily fast.
2 Philo, too, a man of great learning, published
a treatise of his own on their mode of life.
3 Neanthes of Cizycus, and 4 Asclepiades of
Cyprus, at the time when Pygmalion ruled
over the East, relate that the eating of flesh
was unknown. Eubulus, also, who wrote the
history of 5 Mithras in many volumes, relates
that among the Persians there are three kinds
of Magi, the first of whom, those of greatest
learning and eloquence, take no food except
meal and vegetables. At Eleusis it is cus-
tomary to abstain from fowls and fish and
certain fruits. G Bardesanes, a Babylonian, di-
vides the Gymnosophists of India into two
classes, the one called Brahmans, the other
Samaneans, who are so rigidly self-restrained
1 Wars, Book II., ch. viii. 2 sq. ; Antiquities, Bk. xviii. I. 2
sq. Josephus nowhere says that the Essenes abstained from
flesh and wine, or fasted daily. Philo commends them for so
doing. Jerome here, as above, borrows from Porphyry. The
" Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem,"
are here called the " History of the Jewish Captivity."
2 Philo the Jew. His exact date cannot be given ; but he was
advanced in years when he went to Rome (A.D. 40) on his
famous embassy in behalf of his countrymen.
3 Neanthes lived about B.C. 241. He was a voluminous writer,
chiefly on historical subjects.
4 There were many physicians of this name.
6 The sun-god of the Persians.
• Supposed to be the same as the Bardesanes born at Edessa
in Mesopotamia, who flourished in the latter half of the second
century. Jerome again refers to him in the book on Illustrious
Men, c. 33.
39§
JEROME.
that they support themselves either with the
fruit of trees which grow on the banks of the
Ganges, or with common food of rice or flour,
and when the king visits them, he is wont to
adore them, and thinks the peace of his
country depends upon their prayers. Eurip-
ides relates that the prophets of Jupiter in
Crete abstained not only from flesh, but also
from cooked food. ' Xenocrates the phil-
osopher writes that at Athens out of all the
laws of ' Triptolemus only three precepts re-
main in the temple of Ceres : respect to
parents, reverence for the gods, and absti-
nence from flesh. 3 Orpheus in his song
utterly denounces the eating of flesh. I might
speak of the frugality of Pythagoras, Socrates,
and 4 Antisthenes to our confusion : but it
would be tedious, and would require a work
to itself. At all events this is the An-
tisthenes who, after teaching rhetoric with
renown, on hearing Socrates, is related to
have said to his disciples, " Go, and seek a
master, for I have now found one." He im-
mediately sold what he had, divided the pro-
ceeds among the people, and kept nothing
for himself but a small cloak. Of his poverty
and toil Xenophon in the Symposium is a
witness, and so are his countless treatises,
some philosophical, some rhetorical. His most
famous follower was the great Diogenes, who
was mightier than King Alexander in that he
conquered human nature. For Antisthenes
would not take a single pupil, and when he
could not get rid of the persistent Diogenes
he threatened him with a stick if he did not
depart. The latter is said to have laid down
his head and said, " No stick will be hard
enough to prevent me from following you."
"Satyrus, the biographer of illustrious men,
relates that Diogenes to guard himself against
the cold, folded his cloak double : his scrip
was his pantry : and when aged he carried a
stick to support his feeble frame, and was
commonly called " Old Hand-to-mouth," be-
cause to that very hour he begged and received
food from any one. His home was the gate-
ways and city arcades. And when he wrig-
gled into his tub, he would joke about his
movable house that adapted itself to the
seasons. For when the weather was cold he
used to turn the mouth of the tub towards the
1 Xenocrates was born B.C. 396, died B.C. 314.
- Triptolemus was the legendary inventor of the plough and
of agriculture. y s
d,3 f oem4 ascribed t0 the mythical Orpheus are quoted bv
I lato. The extant poems which bear his name are forgeries of
Christian grammarians and philosophers of the Alexandrine
school ; but some fragments of the old Orphic poetry are said to
be remaining. *
4 Antisthenes was the founder of the Cynic philosophy. He
was a devoted disciple of Socrates and flourished about B C
366.
6 The distinguished Peripatetic philosopher and historian.
He lived, probably, about the time of Ptolemv Philopator (B.C.
322-205). • r v
south : in summer towards the north ; and
whatever the direction of the sun might be,
that way the palace of Diogenes was turned.
He had a wooden dish for drinking ; but on
one occasion seeing a boy drinking with the
hollow of his hand he is related to have
dashed the cup to the ground, saying that he
did not know nature provided a cup. His
virtue and self-restraint were proved even by
his death. It is said that, now an old man,
he was on his way to the Olympic games,
which used to be attended by a great con-
course of people from all parts of Greece,
when he was overtaken by fever and lay down
upon the bank by the road-side. And when
his friends wished to place him on a beast or
in a conveyance, he did not assent, but cross-
ing to the shade of a tree said, " Go your way,
I pray you, and see the games : this night will
prove me either conquered or conqueror. If
I conquer the fever, I shall go to the games :
if the fever conquers me, I shall enter the
unseen world." There through the night he
lay gasping for breath and did not, as we are
told, so much die as banish the fever by death. I
have cited the example of only one philosopher,
so that our fine, erect, muscular athletes, who
hardly make a shadow of a footmark in their
swift passage, whose words are in their fists
and their reasoning in their heels, who either
know nothing of apostolic poverty and the
hardness of the cross, or despise it, may at
least imitate Gentile moderation.
15. So far I have dealt with the arguments
and examples of philosophers. Now I will pass
on to the beginning of the human race, that
is, to the sphere which belongs to us. I will
first point out that Adam received a command
in paradise to abstain from one tree though
he might eat the other fruit. The blessedness
of paradise could not be consecrated without
abstinence from food. So long as he fasted,
he remained in paradise ; he ate, and was cast
out ; he was no sooner cast out than he mar-
ried a wife. While he fasted in paradise he
continued a virgin : when he filled himself
with food in the earth, he bound himself with
the tie of marriage. And yet though cast out
he did not immediately receive permission to
eat flesh ; but only the fruits of trees and the
produce of the crops, and herbs and vege-
tables were given him for food, that even
when an exile from paradise he might feed
not upon flesh which was not to be found in
paradise, but upon grain and fruit like that of
paradise. But afterwards when 2 God saw that
the heart of man from his youth was set on
wickedness continually, and that His Spirit
could not remain in them because they were
l Gen. vi. 3, 5.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
399
flesh, He by the deluge passed sentence on the
works of the flesh, and, taking note of the ex-
treme greediness of men, ' gave them liberty to
eat flesh : so that while understanding that all
things were lawful for them, they might not
greatly desire that which was allowed, lest
they should turn a commandment into a cause
of transgression. And yet even then, fasting
was in part commanded. For, seeing that
some animals are called clean, some un-
clean, and the unclean animals were taken
into Noah's ark by pairs, the clean in uneven
numbers (and of course the eating of the un-
clean was forbidden, otherwise the term un-
clean would be unmeaning), fasting was in
part consecrated : restraint in the use of all
was taught by the prohibition of some. Why
did Esau lose his birthright ? Was it not on
account of food ? and he could not atone with
tears for the impatience of his appetite. The
people of Israel cast out from Egypt and on
their way to the land of promise, the land
flowing with milk and honey, longed for the
flesh of Egypt, and the melons and garlic,
saying : 2 " Would that we had died by the
hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when
we sat by the flesh pots." And again,3 " Who
shall give us flesh to eat ? We remember the
fish which we did eat in Egypt for nought ;
the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks,
and the onions, and the garlic : but now our
soul is dried away : we have nought save this
manna to look to."
They despised angels' food, and sighed for
the flesh of Egypt. Moses for forty days
and forty nights fasted on Mount Sinai, and
showed even then that man does not live on
bread alone, but on every word of God. He
says to the Lord, "the people is full and
maketh idols." Moses with empty stomach
received the law written with the finger of
God. The people that ate and drank and
rose up to play fashioned a golden calf, and
preferred an Egyptian ox to the majesty of
the Lord. The toil of so many days perished
through the fulness of a single hour. Moses
boldly broke the tables : for he knew that
drunkards cannot hear the word of God.
4 " The beloved grew thick, waxed fat, and be-
came sleek : he kicked and forsook the Lord
which made him, and departed from the God
of his salvation." Hence also it is enjoined
in the same Book of Deuteronomy : 5 " Be-
ware, lest when thou hast eaten and drunk,
and hast built goodly houses, and when thy
herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver
and gold is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted
1 Gen. viii. 21 : ix. 3. 8 Ex. xvi. 3. 3 Numb. xi. 4-6.
4 Deut. xxxii. 15. " Beloved " (dilectus). Correctly Jeshurun.
that is, the Upright, a name of Israel.
6 Peut. viii. 12-14.
up, and thou forget the Lord thy God." In
short the people ate and their heart grew
thick, lest they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and understand with their
heart : so the people well fed and fat-fleshed
could not bear the countenance of Moses who
fasted, for, to correctly render the Hebrew, it
was ' furnished with horns through his converse
with God. And it was not, as some think, to
show that there is no difference between vir-
ginity and marriage, but to assert his sympathy
with severe fasting, that our Lord and Saviour
when he was transfigured on the Mount re-
vealed Moses and Elias with Himself in glory.
Although Moses and Elias were properly types
of the Law and the Prophets, as is clearly wit-
nessed by the Gospel : 2 " They spake of his
departure which he was about to accomplish
at Jerusalem." For the passion of our Lord
is declared not by virginity or marriage, but
by the Law and the Prophets. If, however,
any persons contentiously maintain that by
Moses is signified marriage, by Elias virginity,
let me tell them briefly that Moses died and
was buried, but Elias was carried off in a
chariot of fire and entered on immortality
before he approached death. But the second
writing of the tables could not be effected
without fasting. What was lost by drunken-
ness was regained by abstinence, a proof that
by fasting we can return to paradise, whence,
though fulness, we have been expelled. In
3 Exodus we read that the battle was fought
against Amalek while Moses prayed, and the
whole people fasted until the evening. " Josh-
ua, the son of Nun, bade sun and moon stand
still, and the victorious army prolonged its
fast for more than a day. 6Saul, as it is
written in the first book of Kings, pronounced
a curse on him who ate bread before the
evening, and until he had avenged himself
upon his enemies. So none of his people
tasted any food. And all they of the land
took food. And so binding was a solemn fast
once it was proclaimed to the Lord, that
Jonathan, to whom the victory was due, was
taken by lot, and c could not escape the charge
of sinning in ignorance, and his father's hand
was raised against him, and the prayers of the
people scarce availed to save him. 7 Elijah
after the preparation of a forty days' fast saw
God on Mount Horeb, and heard from Him
1 The curious custom of representing Moses with horns arose
from a mistake in the Vulgate rendering. The Hebrew verb
]")pi to emit rays, is derived from a word which, meaning
mostly a horn, has in the dual the signification rays 0/ light.
See Hab. iii. 4.
2 Luc. ix. 31. k
3 Ex. xvii. 8. * Josh. x. 13.
6 1 Sam. xiv. 24. Heb. "entered into the wood." The Eng-
lish version follows the Hebrew. The Sept. ^piara (Jerome's
prandebat) is perhaps only a repetition of the preceding thought.
Another rendering inserts the negative, ov« ijpiora.
6 1 Sam, xiv. 24. ' 1 Kings xi.\. S-n,
400
JEROME.
the words, " What doest thou here, Elijah ? "
There is much more familiarity in this than in
the "Where art thou, Adam?" of Genesis.
The latter was intended to excite the fears of
one who had fed and was lost ; the former
was affectionately addressed to a fasting ser-
vant. ' When the people were assembled in
Mizpeh, Samuel proclaimed a fast, and so
strengthened them, and thus made them pre-
vail against the enemy. 2 The attack of the
Assyrians was repulsed, and the might of
Sennacherib utterly crushed, by the tears and
sackcloth of King Hezekiah, and by his hum-
bling himself with fasting. So also the city
of Nineveh by fasting excited compassion and
turned aside the threatening wrath of the
Lord. And s Sodom and Gomorrha might
have appeased it, had they been willing to
repent, and through the aid of fasting gain for
themselves tears of repentance. * Ahab, the
most impious of kings, by fasting and wear-
ing sackcloth, succeeded in escaping the sen-
tence of God, and in deferring the overthrow
of his house to the days of his posterity.
b Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, by fasting won
the gift of a son. 6 At Babylon the magi-
cians came into peril, every interpreter of
dreams, soothsayer, and diviner was slain.
Daniel and the three youths gained a good
report by fasting, and although they were fed
on pulse, they were fairer and wiser than they
who ate the flesh from the king's table. Then
it is written that Daniel fasted for three weeks ;
he ate no pleasant bread ; flesh and wine
entered not his mouth ; he was not anointed
with oil ; and the angel came to him saying,
'"Daniel, thou art worthy of compassion."
He who in the eyes of God was worthy of
compassion, afterwards was an object of terror
to the lions in their den. How fair a thing is
that which propitiates God, tames lions, ter-
rifies demons ! Habakkuk (although we do not
find this in the Hebrew Scriptures 8 ) was sent
to him with the reaper's meal, for by a week's
abstinence he had merited so distinguished a
server. David, when his son was in danger
after his adultery, made confession in ashes
and with fasting. " He tells us that he ate
ashes like bread, and mingled his drink with
weeping. 10 And that his knees became weak
through fasting. Yet he had certainly heard
from Nathan the words, ""The Lord also
hath put away thy sin." Samson and Samuel
drank neither wine nor strong drink, for
they were children of promise, and conceived
1 i Sam. vii. 7. 2 2 Kings xix. i, 35.
3 Gen. xyiii. 23 sq. 4 1 Kings xxi. 27-29.
6 1 Sam. i. 15, 17. • Dan. 1 and ii.
' Dan. ix. 23. Heb. A man of desires. A. V. greatly be-
loved .
8 The story ie in the apocryphal part of the book of Daniel.
' Ps. cii. 9. ' 0 Ps. cix. 24. 11 s Sam. xii. 13.
in abstinence and fasting. ' Aaron and the
other priests when about to enter the temple,
refrained from all intoxicating drink for fear
they should die. Whence we learn that they
die who minister in the Church without so-
briety. And hence it is a reproach against
Israel : 2 " Ye gave my Nazarites wine to
drink." Jonadab, the son of Rechab, com-
manded his sons to drink no wine for ever.
And when Jeremiah offered them wine to
drink, and they of their own accord refused it,
the Lord • spake by the prophet, saying :
3 " Because ye have obeyed the commandment
of Jonadab your father, Jonadab the son of
Rechab shall not want a man to stand before
me for ever." On the 4 threshold of the
Gospel appears Anna, the daughter of Pha-
nuel, the wife of one husband, and a woman
who was always fasting. Long-continued chas-
tity and persistent fasting welcomed a Virgin
Lord. His forerunner and herald, John, fed
on locusts and wild honey, not on flesh ; and
the hermits of the desert and the monks in
their cells, at first used the same sustenance.
But the Lord Himself consecrated His baptism
by a forty days' fast, and He taught us that
the more violent devils " cannot be overcome,
except by prayer and fasting. 6 Cornelius
the centurion was found worthy through alms-
giving and frequent fasts to receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit before baptism. 7 The
Apostle Paul, after speaking of hunger and
thirst, and his other labours, perils from rob-
bers, shipwrecks, loneliness, enumerates fre-
quent fasts. And he 8 advises his disciple
Timothy, who had a weak stomach, and was
subject to many infirmities, to drink wine in
moderation : " Drink no longer water," he
says. The fact that he bids him no longer
drink water shows that he had previously drunk
water. The apostle would not have allowed
this had not frequent infirmities and bodily
pain demanded the concession.
16. The Apostle does indeed 9 blame those
who forbade marriage, and commanded to
abstain from food, which God created for use
with thanksgiving. But he has in view Mar-
cion, and Tatian, and other heretics, who in-
culcate perpetual abstinence, to destroy, and
express their hatred and contempt for, the
works of the Creator. But we praise every
creature of God, and yet prefer leanness to
corpulence, abstinence to luxury, fasting to
fulness. 10 " He that laboureth laboureth for
1 Lev. x. 9. 2 Amos ii. 12.
3 Jer. xxxv. 18. * S. Luke ii. 36.
6 S. Jerome is in accord with the Vulgate, Peshito, and cer-
tain manuscripts, but the R. V. omits S. Matt. xvii. 21 (How-
beit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting) and in
S. Mark ix. 29 omits the words respecting fasting. S. Luke
does not refer to our Lord's supposed remark.
6 Acts x. 4. 7 2 Cor, xi. 27. 8 1 Tim. v. 23.
• 1 Tim. iv. 3. J° Prov. xvi. 26. Sept,
Against jovinianus.— book ti.
401
himself, and he is eager to his own destruc-
tion." And,1 " From the days of John the
Baptist (who fasted and was a virgin) until
now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
and men of violence take it by force." For
we are afraid lest at the coming of the eternal
judge we be caught, as in the days of the
flood, and at the overthrow of Sodom and
Gomorrha, eating and drinking, and marrying,
and giving in marriage. For both the flood
and the fire from heaven found fulness as
well as marriage ready for destruction. Nor
need we wonder if the Apostle commands
that everything sold in the market be bought
and eaten, since with idolaters, and with those
who still ate in the temples of the idols meats
offered to idols as such, it passed for the high-
est abstinence to abstain only from food eaten
by the Gentiles. And if he says to the
Romans : 2 " Let not him that eateth set at
nought him that eateth not : and let not him
that eateth not judge him that eateth," he
does not make fasting and fulness of equal
merit, but he is speaking against those believers
in Christ who were still judaizing : and he
warns Gentile believers, not to offend those by
their food who were still too weak in faith. In
brief this is clear enough in the sequel : 3 " I
know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus,
that nothing is unclean of itself : save that to
him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to
him it is unclean. For if because of meat thy
brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer in
love. Destroy not with thy meat him for
whom Christ died. Let not then your good be
evil spoken of : for the Kingdom of God is
not eating and drinking." And that no one
may suppose he is referring to fasting and not
to Jewish superstition, he immediately ex-
plains,4 " One man hath faith to eat all things :
but he that is weak eateth herbs.'' And
again,6 " One man esteemeth one day above
another : another esteemeth every day alike.
Let each man be fully assured in his own
mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth
it unto the Lord : and he that eateth, eateth
unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; and
he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth
not, and giveth God thanks." For they who
were still weak in faith and thought some
meats clean, some unclean : and supposed there
was a difference between one day and an-
other, for example, that the Sabbath, and the
New Moons, and the Feast of Tabernacles were
holier than other days, were commanded to
eat herbs which are indifferently partaken of
by all. But such as were of stronger faith
believed all meats and all days to be alike.
1 S. Matt. xi. i2.
4 Rom. xiv. 2.
2 Rom. xiv. 3. 3 1 Rom. xiv. 14 sq.
6 Rom. xiv. 5 sq.
17. My opponent has dared to maintain
that our Lord was called by the Pharisees a
wine-bibber and a glutton : and from the fact
of His going to marriage feasts and from His
not despising the banquets of sinners, I am
to infer His wishes respecting ourselves.
That Lord, so you suppose, is a glutton who
fasted forty days to hallow Christian fasting ;
1 who calls them blessed that hunger and
thirst ; 2 who says that He has food, not that
which the disciples surmised, but such as
would not perish for ever ; 3 who forbids us to
think of the morrow ; who, though He is said
to have hungered and thirsted, and to have
gone frequently to various meals, except in
celebrating the mystery whereby He repre-
sented His passion, or 4 in proving the reality
of His body, is nowhere described as min-
istering to His appetite ; 6 who tells of purple-
clad Dives in hell for his feasting, and says that
poor Lazarus for his abstinence was in Abra-
ham's bosom ; who, when we fast, ° bids us
anoint our head and wash our face, that we
fast not to gain glory from men, but praise
from the Lord ; who did indeed 7 after His
resurrection eat part of a broiled fish and of
a honey-comb, not to allay hunger and to
gratify His palate, but to show the reality of
His own body. For whenever He raised any-
one from the dead He 8 ordered that food
should be given him to eat, lest the resurrec-
tion should be thought a delusion. And this
is why Lazarus after his resurrection is 9 de-
scribed as being at the feast with our Lord.
We do not deny that fish and other kinds of
flesh, if we choose, may be taken as food ;
but as we prefer virginity to marriage, so do
we esteem fasting and spirituality above
meats and full-bloodedness. And if Peter
10 before dinner went to the supper chamber
at the sixth hour, a chance fit of hunger does
not prejudice fasting. For, if this were so,
because our Lord " at the sixth hour sat weary
on the well of Samaria and wished to drink,
all must of necessity, whether they so desire
or not, drink at that time. Possibly it was
the Sabbath, or the Lord's day, and he hun-
gered at the sixth hour after two or three days'
fasting ; for I could never believe that the
Apostle, if he had eaten a dinner only one
day previous and had been blown out with a
great meal, would have been hungry by noon
next day. But if he did dine the day pre-
> S. Matt. v. 6. 3 S. John iv. 32.
3 S. Matt. v. 34. (Rather, not to be anxious about it.) •
4 S. Luke xxiv. 42 : S. John xxi. 13.
5 S. Luke xv. 19-31-
8 S. Matt. xvi. 17, 18. 'See above.
6 S. Mark v. 43 : S. Luke viii. 55. Our Lord is not related to
have given the command in the case of the son of the widow of
Nain, or in that of Lazarus.
9 S. John xii. 2.
10 Acts x. 10. In our version " the housetop."
11 S. John iv. 6.
402
JEROME.
vious, and was hungry next day before lunch-
eon, I do not think that a man who was so
soon hungry ate until he was satisfied. Again,
God by the mouth of Isaiah says what fast
He did not choose : ' " In the day of your
fast ye find pleasure, and afflict the lowly : ye
fast for strife and debate, and to smite with
the fist of wickedness. It is not such a fast
that I have chosen, saith the Lord." What
kind He has chosen He thus teaches : " Deal
thy bread to the hungry, and bring the house-
less poor into thy house. When thou seest
the naked cover him, and hide not thyself
frorn thine own flesh." He did not therefore
reject fasting, but showed what He would
have it to be : for that bodily hunger is not
pleasing to God which is made null and void
by strife, and plunder, and lust. If God does
not desire fasting, how is it that in " Leviticus
He commands the whole people in the seventh
month, on the tenth day of the month, to fast
until the evening, and threatens that he who
does not afflict his soul shall die and be cut
off from his people ? How is it that the
3 graves of lust where the people fell in their
devotion to flesh remain even to this day in
the wilderness? Do we not read that the
stupid people gorged themselves with quails
until the wrath of God came upon them ?
Why was the man of God at whose prophecy
the hand of King Jeroboam withered, and
who ate contrary to the command of God,
4 immediately smitten ? Strange that the lion
which left the ass safe and sound should not
spare the prophet just risen from his meal !
He who, while he was fasting, had wrought
miracles, no sooner ate a meal than he paid
the penalty for the gratification. Joel also
cries aloud : 6 " Sanctify a fast, proclaim a
time of healing," that it might appear that
a fast is sanctified by other works, and that a
holy fast avails for the cure of sin. Moreover,
just as true virginity is not prejudiced by the
counterfeit professions of the virgins of the
devil, so neither is true fasting by the peri-
odic fast and perpetual abstinence from cer-
tain kinds of food on the part of the wor-
shippers of Isis and Cybele, particularly when
a fast from bread is made up for by feasting
on flesh. And just as the signs of Moses
were imitated by the signs of the Egyptians
which were in reality no signs at all, for the
rod of Moses swallowed up the rods of the
magicians : so when the devil tries to be
1 Isa. lviii. 5 sq. 2 xvi. 29.
3 Numb. xi. 34. Tertullian also speaks of the graves re-
maining.
4 1 Kings xiii. 24.
6 Joel i. 14 : ii. 15. Jerome agrees with the Sept. ©epatreta.
The Heb. root signifies to close or bind ; hence the meaning
healing. But others translate ®epair4ia by worship, or service.
The correct rendering appears to be a solemn assembly as in
A. V.
the rival of God, this does not prove that our
religion is superstitious, but that we are negli-
gent, since we refuse to do what even men of
the world see clearly to be good.
18. His fourth and last contention is that
there are two classes, the sheep and the goats,
the just and the unjust : that the just stand on
the right hand, the other on the left : and that
to the just the words are spoken : ' " Come, ye
blessed of my Father, and inherit the king-
dom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world." But that sinners are thus ad-
dressed : " " Depart from me, ye cursed, into
the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil
and his angels." That a good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit, nor an evil tree good
fruit. Hence it is that the Saviour says to the
Jews : 3 " Ye are of your father the devil, and
the lusts of your father it is your will to do."
He quotes the parable of the ten virgins, the
wise and the foolish, and shows that the five
who had no oil remained outside, but that the
other five who had gotten for themselves the
light of good works went into the marriage
with the bridegroom. He goes back to the
flood, and tells us that they who were right-
eous like Noah were saved, but that the sinners
perished all together. We are informed that
among the men of Sodom and Gomorrha no
difference is made except between the two
classes of the good and the bad. The right-
eous are delivered, the sinners are consumed
by the same fire. There is one salvation for
those who are released, one destruction for
those who stay behind. Lot's wife is a clear
warning that we must not deviate a hair's
breadth from right. If, however, he says, you
object and ask me why the righteous toils in
time of peace, or in the midst of persecution,
if he is to gain nothing nor have a greater
reward, I would assert that he does this, not
that he may gain a further reward but that he
may not lose what he has already received.
In Egypt also the ten plagues fell with equal
violence upon all that sinned, and the same
darkness hung over master and slave, noble
and ignoble, the king and the people. Again
at the Red Sea the righteous all passed over,
the sinners were all overwhelmed. Six hun-
dred thousand men, besides those who were
unfit for war through age or sex, all alike fell
in the desert, and two who were alike in right-
eousness are alike delivered. For forty years
all Israel toiled and died alike. As regards
food, an homer of manna was the measure for
all ages : the clothes of all alike did not wear
out : the hair of all alike did not grow, nor
the beard increase : the shoes of all lasted the
same time. Their feet grew not hard : the
1 S. Matt. xxv. 34. ' S. Matt. xxv. 41. 3 S. John viii. 44.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
403
food in the mouths of all had the same taste.
They went on their way to one resting place
with equal toil and equal reward. All Hebrews
had the same Passover, the same Feast of
Tabernacles, the same Sabbath, the same New
Moons. In the seventh, the Sabbatical Year,
all prisoners were released without distinction
of persons, and in the year of Jubilee all debts
were forgiven to all debtors, and he who had
sold land returned to the inheritance of his
fathers.
19, Then, again, as regards the parable of
the sower in the Gospel, we read that the
good ground brought forth fruit, some a hun-
dred fold, some sixty fold, and some thirty
fold ; and, on the other hand, that the bad
ground admitted of three degrees of sterility :
but Jovinianus makes only two classes, the
good soil and the bad. ' And as in one Gos-
pel our Lord promises the Apostles a hundred
fold, in another seven fold, for leaving chil-
dren and wives, and in the world to come
life eternal ; and the seven and the hundred
mean the. same thing : so, too, in the passage
before us, the numbers describing the fertility
of the soil need not create any difficulty, par-
ticularly when the Evangelist Mark gives the
inverse order, thirty, sixty, and a hundred.
The Lord says, 2 " He that eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I
in him." As, then, there are not varying de-
grees of Christ's presence in us, so neither
are there degrees of our abiding in Christ.
3 " Every one that loveth me will keep my
word : and my Father will love him, and we
will come unto him, and make our abode with
him." He that is righteous, loves Christ : and
if a man thus loves, the Father and the Son
come to him, and make their abode with him.
Now I suppose that when the guest is such as
this the host cannot possibly lack anything.
And if our Lord says, " " In my Father's house
are many mansions," His meaning is not that
there are different mansions in the kingdom
of heaven, but He indicates the number of
Churches in the whole world, for though the
Church be seven-fold she is but one. " I
go," He says, " to prepare a place for you,"
not places. If this promise is peculiar to the
twelve apostles, then Paul is shut out from
that place, and the chosen vessel will be
thought superfluous and unworthy. John
and James, because they asked more than the
others, did not obtain it ; and yet their dig-
nity is not diminished, because they were
equal to the rest of the apostles. b " Know ye
not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy
1 S. Matt. xix. 29 : S Mark x. 29, 30 : S. Luke xviii 29, 30.
3 S. John xiv. 23.
2 S. John vi. 56
* S. John xiv
6 1 Cor. iii. 16 : vi. 19.
Ghost ? " A temple, He says, not temples, in
order to show that God dwells in all alike.
1 " Neither for these only do I pray, but for
them also that believe on me through their
word ; as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee,
are one, so they may be all one in us. And
the glory which thou hast given me I have
given unto them. I have loved them, as thou
hast loved me. And as we are Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, one God, so may they be
one people in themselves, that is, like dear
children, partakers of the divine nature." Call
the Church what you will, bride, sister, mother,
her assembly is but one and never lacks hus-
band, brother, or son. Her faith is one, and
she is not defiled by variety of doctrine, nor
divided by heresies. She continues a virgin.
Whithersoever the Lamb goeth, she follows
Him : she alone knows the Song of Christ.
20. " If you tell me," says he, " that one
star differeth from another star in glory, I
reply, that one star does differ from another
star ; that is, spiritual persons differ from
carnal. We love all the members alike, and
do not prefer the eye to the finger, nor the
finger to the ear : but the loss of any one is
attended by the sorrow of all the rest. We
all alike come into this world, and we all alike
depart from it. There is one Adam of the
earth, and another from heaven. The earthly
Adam is on the left hand, and will perish : the
heavenly Adam is on the right hand, and will
be saved. He who says to his brother, ' thou
fool,' and ' raca,' will be in danger of Gehenna.
And the murderer and the adulterer will like-
wise be sent into Gehenna. In times of per-
secution some are burnt, some strangled, some
beheaded, some flee, or die within the walls of
a prison : the struggle varies in kind, but the
victors' crown is one. No difference was
made between the son who had never left his
father, and his brother who was welcomed as
a returning penitent. To the labourers of the
first hour, the third, the sixth, the ninth, and
the eleventh, the same reward of a penny was
given, and what may perhaps seem still more
strange to you, the first to receive the reward
were they who had toiled least in the vine-
yard."
21. Who is there even of God's elect that
would not be disturbed at these and similar
passages of Holy Scripture which our crafty
opponent, with a perverse ingenuity, twists to
the support of his own views ? The Apostle
John says that many Antichrists had come,
and to make no difference between John him-
self and the lowest penitent is the preaching
of a real Antichrist. At the same time, I am
amazed at the portentous forms which Jovi-
1 S. John xvii. 20-23.
404
JEROME.
nianus, as slippery as a snake and like another
Proteus, so rapidly assumes. In sexual inter-
course and full feeding he is an Epicurean ;
in the distribution of rewards and punishments
he all at once becomes a Stoic, He exchanges
Jerusalem for ' Citium, Judaea for Cyprus,
Christ for Zeno. If we may not depart a hair's
breadth from virtue, and all sins are equal,
and a man who in a fit of hunger steals a
piece of bread is no less guilty than he who
slays a man : you must, in your turn, be held
guilty of the greatest crimes. The case is
different if you say that you have no sin, not
even the least, and if, although all apostles
and prophets and all the saints (as I have
maintained in dealing with 2 his second propo-
sition) bewail their sinfulness, you alone boast
of your righteousness. But a minute ago you
were barefooted : now you not only wear
shoes, but decorated ones. Just now you
wore a rough coat and a dirty shirt, you were
grimy, and haggard, and your hand was horny
with toil : now you are clad in linen and silks,
and strut like an exquisite in the fashions of
the Atrebates and the Laodiceans. Your
cheeks are ruddy, your skin sleek, your hair
smoothed down in front and behind, your
belly protrudes, your shoulders are little
mountains, your neck full and so loaded with
fat that the half-smothered words can scarce
make their escape. Surely in such extremes
of dress and mode of life there must be sin on
the one side or the other. I will not assert
that the sin lies in the food or clothing, but
that such fickleness and changing for the
worse is almost censurable in itself. And
what we censure, is far removed from virtue ;
and what is far from virtue becomes the prop-
erty of vice ; and what is proved to be vicious
is one with sin. Now sin, according to you,
is placed on the left hand, and corresponds to
the goats. You must, therefore, return to
your old habits if you are to be a sheep on the
right hand ; or, if you perversely repent of
your former views and change them for others,
whether you like it or not, and although you
shave off your beard, you will be reckoned
among the goats.
22. But what is the good of calling a 3 one-
eyed man Old One-eye, and of showing the in-
consistency of an assailant, when we have to
refute a whole series of statements ? That
the sheep and the goats on the right hand and
on the left are the two classes of the righteous
and the wicked, I do not deny. That a good
tree does not bring forth evil fruit, nor an
evil one good fruit, no one doubts. The ten
1 In Cyprus, where Zeno the founder of the Stoic school
was born.
2 i. e., Jovinianus. Jerome for the moment addresses the
reader.
3 Persius I. 128, Conington's translation.
virgins also, wise and foolish, we divide into
good and bad. We are not ignorant that at
the deluge the righteous were delivered, and
sinners overwhelmed with the waters. That
at Sodom and Gomorrha the just man was
rescued, while the sinners were consumed by
fire, is clear to everyone. We are also aware
that Egypt was stricken with the ten plagues,
and that Israel was saved. Even little chil-
dren in our schools sing how the righteous
passed through the Red Sea, and Pharaoh
with his host was drowned. That six hun-
dred thousand fell in the desert because they
were unbelieving, and that two only entered
the land of promise, is taught by Scripture ;
and so is the rest of your description of the
two classes, good and bad, down to the labour-
ers in the vineyard. But what are we to think
of your assertion, that because there is a
division into good and bad, the good, or the
bad it may be, are not distinguished one from
another, and that it makes no difference
whether one is a ram in the flock or a poor
little sheep ? whether the sheep have the first
or the second fleece ? whether the flock is
diseased and covered with the scab, or full of
life and vigour ? ' especially when by the author-
itative utterances of His own prophet Ezekiel
God clearly points out the difference between
flock and flock of His rational sheep, saying,
" Behold I judge between cattle and cattle,
and between the rams and the he-goats, and
between the fat cattle and the lean. Because
ye have thrust with side and with shoulder,
and pushed all the diseased with your horns,
until they were scattered abroad." And that
we might know what the cattle were, He im-
mediately added: 2"Ye my flock, the flock
of my pasture, are men." Will Paul and that
penitent who had lain with his father's wife
be on an equality, because the latter repented
and was received into the Church : and shall
the offender because he is with him on the
right hand shine with the same glory as the
Apostle ? How is it then that tares and wheat
grow side by side in the same field until the
harvest, that is the end of the world ? What is
the significance of good and bad fish being
contained in the Gospel net ? Why, in Noah's
ark, the type of the Church, are there different
animals with different abodes according to
their rank ? Why standeth the queen upon
the Lord's right hand, in raiment of wrought
gold, in a vesture of gold ? Why had Joseph,
representing Christ, a coat of many colours ?
Why does the Apostle say to the Romans :
3 " According as God had dealt to each man
a measure of faith. For even as we have
1 Ezek. xxxiv. 17, 20, 21.
3 Ezek. xxxiv. 31.
3 Rom. xii. 3 sq.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
405
many members in one body, and all the mem-
bers have not the same office : so we, who
are many, are one body in Christ, and severally
members one of another. And having gifts
differing according to the grace that was given
to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy ac-
cording to the proportion of our faith ; or
ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry ;
or he that teacheth, to his teaching ; or he
that exhorteth, to his exhorting : he that
giveth, let him do it with liberality ; he that
ruleth, with diligence," and so on. And else-
where : ' " One man esteemeth one day above
another : another esteemeth every day alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own
mind. " To the Corinthians he says : 2 " I
have planted, Apollos watered : but God gave
the increase. So then, neither is he that
planteth any thing, neither he that watereth :
but God that giveth the increase. Now he
that planteth and he that watereth are one :
and every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labour. For we are
labourers together with God, ye are God's
husbandry, ye are God's building." And
again elsewhere : 3 " According to the grace
of God which is given unto me, as a wise
master-builder I laid a foundation, and an-
other buildeth thereon. But let each man
take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For
other foundation can no man lay, than that
which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if
any man buildeth on the foundation, gold,
silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble : each
man's work shall be made manifest : for the
day shall reveal it, because it is revealed in
fire : and the fire itself shall prove each man's
work of what sort it is. If any man's work
shall abide which he built thereon, he shall re-
ceive a reward. If any man's work shall
be burned, he shall suffer loss : but he him-
self shall be saved ; yet so as through fire."
If the man whose work is burnt and perishes,
is to suffer the loss of his labour, while he him-
self is saved, yet not without proof of fire : it
follows that if a man's work remains which he
has built upon the foundation, he will be saved
without probation by fire, and consequently
a difference is established between one degree
of salvation and another. Again in another
place he says : 4 " Let a man so account of us,
as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God. Here, moreover, it is re-
quired in stewards, that a man be found faith-
ful." Would you be assured that between
one steward and another there is a great
difference (I am not speaking of bad and
good, but of the good themselves who stand
1 Rom. xiv. 5.
8 1 Cor. iii. 10 sq.
VOL. VI.
a 1 Cor. iii. 6 sq.
* 1 Cor. iv. i, 2.
on the right hand) ? then listen to the sequel :
1 " Know ye not that they which minister about
the sacrifices, eat of the sacrifices, and they
which wait upon the altar have their portion
with the altar ? Even so did the Lord ordain
that they which proclaim the gospel should
live of the gospel. But I have used none of
these things : and I wrote not these things
that it may be so done in my case : for it
were good for me rather to die, than that any
man should make my glorying void. For if
I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory
of ; for necessity is laid upon me ; for woe is
unto me if I preach not the gospel. For if I
do this of mine own will, I have a reward :
but if not of mine own will, I have a steward-
ship intrusted to me. What then is my re-
ward ? That, when I preach the gospel, I
may make the gospel without charge, so as
not to use to the full my right in the gos-
pel. For though I was free from all men, I
brought myself under bondage to all, that
I might gain the more." You surely cannot
say that men commit sin by living by the Gos-
pel, and partaking of the sacrifices. Of course
not. The Lord himself made the rule that
they who preach the Gospel, should live by
the Gospel. But an Apostle who does not
abuse this freedom, but labours with his hands
that he may not be a burden to anyone, and
toils night and day and ministers to his com-
panions, of course does this, that for his
greater toil he may receive a greater reward.
23. Let us hasten to what remains. 2 " There
are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are diversities of ministrations, and
the same Lord. And there are diversities of
operations, but the same God who worketh
all things in all. But to each one is given the
manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal."
And again : 3 "As the body is one, and hath
many members, and all the members of the
body, being many, are one body : so also is
Christ." But he precludes you from saying
that the different members of the one body
have the same rank ; for he immediately de-
scribes the orders of the Church, and says :
4 " And God hath set some in the Church, first,
apostles ; secondly, prophets ; thirdly, teach-
ers ; then miracles, then gifts of healings,
helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues.
Are all apostles ? are all prophets ? are all
teachers ? are all workers of miracles ? have
all gifts of healings ? do all speak with
tongues ? do all interpret ? But desire ear-
nestly the greater gifts. And a still more
excellent way shew I unto you." And after
discoursing more in detail of the graces of
1 1 Cor. ix. 13 sq.
3 1 Cor. xii. 12.
2 1 Cor. xii. 4.
* 1 Cor. xii. 28 sq.
Dd
406
JEROME.
charity, he added : ' " Whether there be proph-
ecies, they shall be done away ; whether there
be tongues, they shall cease ; whether there
be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we
know in part, and we prophesy in part : but
when that which is perfect is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away." And
afterwards we read : a " But now abideth faith,
hope, love, these three ; and the greatest of
these is love. Follow after love ; yet desire
earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye
may prophesy." And again : 3 " I would have
you all speak with tongues, but rather that
ye should prophesy : and greater is he that
prophesieth than he that speaketh with
tongues." And again : 4 "I thank God, I
speak with tongues more than you all." Where
there are different gifts, and one man is
greater, another less, and all are called spirit-
ual, they are all certainly sheep, and they
stand on the right hand ; but there is a differ-
ence between one sheep and another. It is
humility that leads the Apostle Paul to say :
6 " I am the least of the apostles, that am not
meet to be called an apostle, because I perse-
cuted the church of God. But by the grace
of God I am what I am : and his grace which
was bestowed upon me was not found vain :
but I laboured more abundantly than they all :
yet not I, but the grace of God which was
with me." But the very fact of his thus hum-
bling himself shows the possibility of there
being apostles of higher or lower rank, and
God is not unjust that He will forget the work
of him who is called the chosen vessel of elec-
tion, and who laboured more abundantly than
they all, or assign equal rewards to unequal
deserts. Afterwards we read, 6 " As in Adam
all die, so also in Christ shall all be now alive.
But each in his own order." If each is to rise
in his own order, it follows that those who rise
are of different degrees of merit. 7 " All flesh
is not the same flesh ; but there is one flesh of
men, and another flesh of beasts, and another
flesh of birds, and another of fishes. There
are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial :
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the
glory of the terrestrial is another. There is
one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars ; for one
star differeth from another star in glory. So
also is the resurrection of the dead." Like a
learned commentator, you have explained this
passage by saying that the spiritual differ from
the carnal. It follows that in heaven there
will be both spiritual and carnal persons, and
not only will the sheep climb thither, but your
1 i Cor. xiii. 8, 9, 10.
3 1 Cor. xiv. 5.
6 1 Cor. xv. 9, 10.
' i Cor. xv. 39
2 1 Cor. xiii. 18
4 1 Cor. xiv. 18.
s 1 Cor. xv. 22.
goats also. " One star," he says, " differeth
from another star in glory ": this is not the
distinction of sheep and goat, but of sheep and
sheep, star and star. Lastly, he says, " there is
one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon." But for this, you might maintain
that the phrase one star from another star cov-
ers the whole human race ; but he introduces
the sun and moon, and you cannot possibly
reckon them among the goats. " So," says
he, " is also the resurrection of the dead " —
the just will shine with the brightness of the
sun, and those of the next rank will glow with
the splendour of the moon, so that one will
be a Lucifer, another an Arcturus, a third an
Orion, another Mazzaroth, or some other of the
stars whose names are hallowed in the book
of Job. ' 2 " For we all," he says, " must
be made manifest before the judgment-seat
of Christ ; that each one may receive the
things done in the body, according to what
he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
And you cannot say that the mode of our
manifestation before the judgment-seat of
Christ is such that the good receive good
things, the bad evil things ; for he 3 teaches
us in the same epistle that he who soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he
that soweth bountifully shall reap also bounti-
fully. Surely he who sows more and he who
sows less are both on the right side. And
although they belong to the same class, that
of the sower, yet they differ in respect of
measure and number. The same Paul, writ-
ing to the Ephesians, says : 4 "to the intent
that now unto the principalities and the pow-
ers in the heavenly places might be made
known through the church the manifold wis-
dom of God." You observe that it is a varied
and manifold wisdom of God which is spoken
of as existing in the different ranks of
the church. And in the same epistle we
read, 6 " Unto each one of us was the grace
given according to the measure of the grace
of Christ " : not that Christ's measure varies,
but only that so much of His grace is poured
out as we can receive.
24. In vain, therefore, do you multiply in-
stances of sheep and goats, of the five wise
and five foolish virgins, of Egyptians and
Israelites, and so forth, because retribution is
not in the present, but will be in the future.
Hence we find that the day of judgment is
promised at the end of all things, because the
judgment is not now. For it would be ab-
surd to call the last day the day of judgment,
if God were judging at the present time. Now
we sail the ship, wrestle, and fight, that at last
1 Job ix. 9 : xxxviii. 32.
3 2 Cor. ix. 6.
6 Eph. iv. 7.
2 2 Cor. v. 10
4 Eph. iii. 10.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
407
we may reach the haven, be crowned, and tri-
umph. But you, with no less adroitness than
perversity, make the life of this world illustrate
that of the world to come, although we know
full well that here unrighteousness prevails,
there, righteousness : 1 " until we go into the
sanctuary of God, and understand the end of
those men." The saint does not die one way,
the sinner another. Those who sail the same
sea have the same calm and storm. A violent
death is not one thing to the robber, another
to the martyr. Children are not born one
way of adultery and prostitution, in another of
pure marriage. Certainly our Lord and the
robbers incurred the same penalty of crucifix-
ion. If the judgment of this world and of that
which is to come be the same, it follows that
they who were here crucified side by side, will
also be esteemed of equal rank hereafter.
Paul and they who bound him, sailed together,
endured the same storm, escaped together to
the shore when the ship was broken with the
waves. You cannot deny that the prisoner
and the keepers were of unequal merit. And
what were the circumstances of that same
shipwreck of the Apostle and the soldiers ?
The Apostle Paul afterwards2 related a vision,
and said that they who were with him in the
ship had been given to him by the Lord. Are
we to suppose that he to whom they were
given, and they who were given to him, were
of one degree of merit ? Ten righteous men
can save a sinful city. Lot together with his
daughters was delivered from the fire : his
sons-in-law would also have been saved, had
they been willing to leave the city. Now there
was surely a great difference between Lot and
his sons-in-law. One city out of the five,
3 Zoar, was saved, and a place which lay under
the same sentence as Sodom, Gomorrha, Ad-
man, and Zeboiim, was preserved by the
prayers of a holy man. Lot and Zoar were of
different merit, but both of them escaped the
fire. 4 The robbers who in the absence of
David had laid waste Ziklag, and made a prey
of the wives and children of the inhabitants
were slain on the third day in the plain, but
forty men mounted on camels fled. Will you
maintain that there was some difference be-
tween those who were slain and those who
made good their escape ? We read in the
6 Gospel that the tower of Siloam fell upon
eighteen men who perished in the ruins. Cer-
tainly our Saviour did not regard them as the
only sinners : but they were punished to ter-
rify the rest : it was like scourging a pestilent
fellow to teach fools wisdom. If all sinners
Ps. lxxiii. 17.
See Acts xxvii. 23 and the context
Gen. xix. 18-21.
S. Luke xiii. 4.
4 1 Sam. xxx. 1 sq.
are punished alike, it is unjust for one to be
slain while another is admonished by his com-
rade's death.
25. You raise the objection that all Israel-
ites had the same measure of manna, an homer,
and were alike in respect of dress, and hair,
and beard, and shoes ; as though we did not
all alike partake of the body of Christ. In
the Christian mysteries there is one means of
sanctification for the master and the servant,
the noble and the low-born, for the king and
his soldiers, and yet, that which is one varies
according to the merits of those who receive
it. ' " Whosoever shall eat or drink unwor-
thily shall be guilty of the body and blood of
the Lord." Does it follow that because Judas
drank of the same cup as the rest of the
apostles, that he and they are of equal merit ?
But suppose that we do not choose to receive
the sacrament, at all events we all have the
same life, breathe the same air, have the same
blood in our veins, are fed on the same food.
Moreover, if our viands are improved by cu-
linary skill and are made more palatable for
the consumer, food of this kind does not
satisfy nature, but tickles the appetite. We
are all alike subject to hunger, all alike suffer
with cold : we alike are shrivelled with the
frost, or melted with the broiling heat. The
sun and the moon, and all the company of the
stars, the showers, the whole world run their
course for us all alike, and, as the Gospel tells
us, the same refreshing rain falls upon all,
good and bad, just and unjust. If the pres-
ent is a picture of the future, then the Sun of
Righteousness will rise upon sinners as well
as upon the righteous, upon the wicked and
the holy, upon the heathen as well as upon
Jews and Christians, though the Scripture
says, 2 " Unto you that fear the Lord shall the
Sun of Righteousness arise." If He will rise
to those that fear, He will set to the despisers
and the false prophets. The sheep which
stand on the right hand will be brought into
the kingdom of heaven, the goats will be
thrust down to hell. The parable does not
contrast the sheep one with another, or on
the other hand the goats, but merely makes
a difference between sheep and goats. The
whole truth is not taught in a single passage :
we must always bear in mind the exact point
of an illustration. For instance, the ten vir-
gins are not examples of the whole human
race, but of the careful and the slothful : the
former are ever anticipating the advent of
our Lord, the latter abandon themselves to
idle slumber without a thought of future
judgment. And so at the end of the par-
able it is said, 3 " Watch, for ye know not the
1 1 Cor. xi. 27.
3 S. Malt. xxv. 1?.
* Mai. iv. 2.
D d 2
408
JEROME.
day, nor the hour." If at the deluge Noah was
delivered, and the whole world perished, all
men were flesh, and therefore were destroyed.
You must either say that the sons of Noah
and Noah for whose sake they were delivered
were of unequal merit, or you must place the
accursed Ham in the same rank as his father
because he was delivered with him from the
flood. At the passion of Christ all wavered,
all were unprofitable together : there was
none that did good, no not one. Will you
therefore dare to say that Peter and the rest
of the Apostles who fled denied the Saviour
in the same sense as Caiaphas and the Phari-
sees and the people who cried out, : " Crucify
him, crucify him " ? And, to say no more
about the Apostles, do you think Annas and
Caiaphas, and Judas the traitor guilty of no
greater crime than Pilate who was compelled
against his will to give sentence against our
Lord ? The guilt of Judas is proportioned to
his former merit, and the greater the guilt, the
greater the penalty too. 2 " For the mighty shall
mightily suffer torment." An evil tree does
not bear good fruit, nor a good tree evil fruit.
If this be so, tell me how it was that Paul
though he was an evil tree and persecuted the
Church of Christ, afterwards bore good fruit ?
And Judas, though he was a good tree and
wrought miracles like the other Apostles,
afterwards turned traitor and brought forth
evil fruit ? The truth is that a good tree does
not bear evil fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit,
so long as they continue in their goodness, or
badness. And if we read that every Hebrew
keeps the same Passover, and that in 3 the
seventh year every prisoner is set free, and that
at Jubilee, that is the fiftieth year, 4 every pos-
session returns to its owner, all this refers
not to the present, but to the future ; for
being in bondage during the six days of this
world, on the seventh day, the true and eter-
nal Sabbath, we shall be free, at any rate if we
wish to be free while still in bondage in the
world. If, however, we do not desire it, our
ear will be bored in token of our disobedience,
and together with our wives and children,
whom we preferred to liberty, that is, with
the flesh and its works, we shall be in perpet-
ual slavery.
26. As for the parable of the sower which
makes both good and bad ground bear a triple
crop, and the passage from the apostle in
which upon Christ as the foundation one man
builds gold, silver, costly stones, another wood,
hay, stubble, the meaning is perfectly clear.
We know that in a great house there are dif-
ferent vessels, and to wish to contradict so
1 S. John xix. 6.
8 Ex. xxi. 2.
3 Wisd. vi. 7.
4 Lev. xxv. 13.
plain a truth would be sheer impudence. Yet
that Jovinianus may not triumph in a lie and
quote the instance of the apostles by way of
discrediting the hundred fold, sixty fold, and
thirty fold, let me inform him that in ' Matthew
and Mark a hundred fold is promised to the
apostles who had left all. And I would tell
him further, that in the Gospel of Luke we find
much more, that is 7to\v nXeiova, and that
there is absolutely no instance in the Gospels
of a hundred standing for seven ; and that he
is convicted either of forgery, or of ignorance ;
and that our cause is not prejudiced by the
fact that in one Gospel the enumeration begins
at a hundred, in another at thirty, since it is
a rule with all Scripture, and especially with
the older writings, to put the lowest number
first and so ascend by degrees to the higher.
For instance, suppose one to say that so-and-
so lived five and seventy and a hundred years,
it does not follow that five and seventy are
more than a hundred because they were first
mentioned. If you do not on the side of good
admit the difference between a hundred, sixty,
and thirty, neither will you do so on the side
of evil, and the seed which fell by the wayside,
upon the rock, and among thorns, will be
equally faulty. But if the former three, or
the latter three, on the side of good or on
the side of evil respectively, are one and the
same, it was foolish instead of speaking of
two things to enumerate six kinds, and all
the more because according to the account
of the parable in Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
the Saviour always added: "He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear." Where there is
no deep inner meaning, it is useless to draw
our attention to the mystic sense.
27. You give it as your opinion that, since
the Father and the Son make their abode with
the faithful, and since Christ is their guest,
nothing is lacking. I suppose, however, that
Christ's abiding with the Corinthians was one
thing, with the Ephesians another : it was one
thing, I say, for Him to abide with those
whom Paul blamed for many sins, another for
Him to dwell with those to whom the apostle
revealed mysteries hidden from the beginning
of the world ; one thing for Him to be in Ti-
tus and Timothy, another in Paul. Certainly
amongst them that have been born of women,
there has not arisen a greater than John the
Baptist. But the term greater implies others
who are less. And ' "he who is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he. " You see
then that in heaven one is greatest and another
is least, and that among the angels and the
:S. Matt. xix. 29: S. Mark x. 30: S. Luke xviii. 30. In S.
Matthew some authorities agree with S. Luke in reading
" manifold."
2 Matt. xi. 11.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
409
invisible creation there is a manifold and infi-
nite diversity. Why do the apostles say :
1 " Lord, increase our faith," if there is one
measure for all ? And why did our Lord re-
buke His disciple, saying : 2 " O thou of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" In Jere-
miah also we read concerning the future
kingdom : 3 " Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel, and with the house of Judah :
not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers. " And soon after : 4 " I will put
my law in their inward parts, and in their heart
will I write it ; and I will be their God and they
shall be my people : and they shall teach no
more every man his neighbour, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the Lord : for they
shall all know me, from the least of them unto
the greatest of them." The context of this pas-
sage clearly shows that the prophet is describ-
ing the future kingdom, and how can there
possibly be in it a least or greatest, if all are
to be equal ? The secret is disclosed in the
Gospel : 6" Whosoever shall do and teach, he
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven :
but whosoever shall teach, and not do, shall
be least." 6The Saviour taught us at a feast
to take the lowest place, lest, when one greater
than us came, we should be thrust with dis-
grace from the higher place. If we cannot
fall, but only raise ourselves by penitence,
what is the meaning of the ladder at Bethel,
on which the angels come from heaven to
earth and descend as well as ascend ? Surely
while on that ladder they are reckoned among
the sheep and stand on the right hand. There
are angels who descend from heaven ; but
Jovinianus is sure that they retain their inher-
itance.
28. But when Jovinianus supposes that the
many mansions in our Father's house are
churches scattered throughout the world, who
can refrain from laughing ; since Scripture
plainly teaches in John's Gospel that our Lord
was discoursing not of the number of the
churches, but of the heavenly mansions, and
the eternal tabernacles for which the prophet
longed ? 7 " In my Father's house," He says,
"are many mansions : if it were not so, I
would have told you ; for I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a
place for you I will come again, and will re-
ceive you unto myself, that where I am, there
ye maybe also." The place and the mansions
which Christ says He would prepare for the
apostles are of course in the Father's house,
that is, in the kingdom of heaven, not on
1 S. Luke xvii. 5.
3 Jer. xxxi. 31.
8 S. Matt. v. 19.
7 S. John xiv. 2, 3.
8 Matt. xiv. 31.
* Jer. xxxi. 33, 34,
6 S. Luke xiv. 9.
earth, where for the present He was leading
the apostles. And at the same time regard
must be had to the sense of Scripture : " I
might tell you," He says, " that I go to prepare
a place for you, if there were not many man-
sions in my Father's house, that is to say, if
each individual did not prepare for himself a
mansion through his own works rather than
receive it through the bounty of God. The
preparation is therefore not mine, but yours."
This view is supported by the fact that it prof-
ited Judas nothing to have a place prepared,
since he lost it by his own fault. And we
must interpret in the same way what our Lord
says to the sons of Zebedee, one of whom
wished to sit on His left hand, the other on His
right : '"My cup indeed ye shall drink : but
to sit on my right hand, and on my left hand,
is not mine to give, but it is for them for whom
it hath been prepared of my Father." It is
not the Son's to give ; how then is it the
Father's to prepare ? There are, He says,
prepared in heaven, many different man-
sions, destined for many different virtues, and
they will be awarded not to persons, but to
persons' works. In vain therefore do you ask
of me what rests with yourselves, a reward
which my Father has prepared for those whose
virtues will entitle them to rise to such dig-
nity. Again when He says : 2 " I will come
again, and will receive you unto myself : that
where I am, there ye may be also," He is
speaking especially to the apostles, concern-
ing whom it is elsewhere written, " That as I
and thou, Father, are one, so they also may be
one in us," inasmuch as they have believed,
have been perfected, and can say, 3 " the Lord
is my portion." If, however, there are ;w/many
mansions, how is it taught in the Old Testa-
ment correspondingly with the New, that the
chief priest has one rank, the priests another,
the Levites another, the door-keepers another,
the sacristans another ? How is it that in the
4 book of Ezekiel, where a description is given
of the future Church and of the heavenly
Jerusalem, the priests who have sinned are
degraded to the rank of sacristans and door-
keepers, and although they are in the temple
of God, that is on the right hand, they are not
among the rams, but among the poorest of the
sheep ? How again is it that in the river which
flows from the temple, and replenishes the salt
sea, and gives new life to everything, we read
there are many kinds of fish ? Why do we read
that in the kingdom of heaven there are Arch-
angels, Angels, Thrones, Dominions, Powers,
Cherubim and Seraphim, and every name which
is named, not only in this present world, but
also that which is to come ? A difference of
1 S. Matt. xx. 23.
3 Ps. lxxiii. 26,
8 S. John xiv. 3.
* Ez. xliv. io.
4io
JEROME.
name is meaningless where there is not a dif-
ference of rank. An Archangel is of course
an Archangel to other inferior angels, and
Powers, and Dominions have other spheres
over which they exercise authority. This is
what we find in heaven and in the administra-
tion of God. You must not therefore smile
and sneer at us, as is your wont, for making
a graduated series of emperors, preefects and
counts, tribunes and centurions, companies,
and all the other steps in the service.
29. It is mere trifling to quote the passage :
1 " Know ye not that your bodies are a temple
of the Holy Ghost," for it is customary in
Holy Scripture to speak of a single object as
though it were many, and of many as though
they were one. And Jovinianus himself should
know that even in a temple there are many
divisions — the outer and the inner courts, the
vestibules, the holy place, and the Holy of
Holies. There are also in a temple kitchens,
pantries, oil-cellars, and cupboards for the
vessels. And so in the temple of our body
there are different degrees of merit. God
does not dwell in all alike, nor does He impart
Himself to all in the same degree. A portion
of the spirit of Moses was taken and given to
the seventy elders. I suppose there is a dif-
ference between the abundance of the river,
and that of the rivulets. 2 Elijah's spirit was
given in double measure to Elisha, and thus
double grace wrought greater miracles. Eli-
jah while living restored a dead man to life ;
Elisha after death did the same. Elijah invoked
famine on the people ; Elisha in a single day
put the enemy's forces in the power of the
city which they besieged. No doubt the words,
" Know ye not that your bodies are a temple
of the Holy Ghost," refer to the whole assem-
bly of the faithful, who, joined together, make
up the one body of Christ. But the question
now is, who in the body is worthy to be the
feet of Christ, and who the head ? who is His
eye, and who His hand ? — a distinction indi-
cated by the 3 two women in the Gospel, the
penitent and the holy woman, one of whom held
His feet, the other His head. Some authorities,
however, think there was only one woman, and
that she who began at His feet gradually ad-
vanced to His head. Jovinianus further urges
against us our Lord's words, 4 " I pray not for
these only, but also for those who shall believe
on me through their word : that as I, Father,
in thee and thou in me are one, so they all
may be one in us," and reminds us that the
whole Christian people is one in God, and, as
His well-beloved sons, are ° " partakers of the
1 1 Cor. vi. 19.
a Correctly, a portion of two, i.e.. the portion of a first-born
Deut. xxi. 17.
3 S. Luke vii., S. Matt, xxvi., S. Mark xiv., S. John xii.
♦ S. John xvii. 20, 2:, & g Pet, i. 4.
divine nature." We have already said, and
the truth must now be inculcated more in de-
tail, that we are not one in the Father and
the Son according to nature, but according to
grace. For the essence of the human soul
and the essence of God are not the same, as
the Manichaeans constantly assert. But, says
our Lord : ' " Thou hast loved them as thou
hast loved me." You see, then, that we are
privileged to partake of His essence, not in
the realm of nature, but of grace, and the
reason why we are beloved of the Father is
that He has loved the Son ; and the members
are loved, those namely of the body. 2 " For
as many as received Christ, to them gave He
power to become sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name : which were born
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God." The Word
was made flesh that we might pass from the
flesh into the Word. The Word did not cease
to be what He had been ; nor did the human
nature lose that which it was by birth. The
glory was increased, the nature was not
changed. Do you ask how we are made one
body with Christ ? Your creator shall be your
instructor : 3 " He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in
him. As the living Father sent me, and I live
because of the Father, so he that eateth me,
he also shall live because of me. This is the
bread which came down out of heaven." But
the Evangelist John, who had drunk in wisdom
from the breast of Christ, agrees herewith, and
says : 4 " Hereby know we that we abide in
him, and he in us, because he hath given us of
his Spirit. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus
is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and
he in God." If you believe in Christ, as the
apostles believed, you shall be made one body
with them in Christ. But, if it is rash for you
to claim for yourself a faith and works like
theirs when you have not the same faith and
works, you cannot have the same place.
30. You repeat the words bride, sister,
mother, and affirm that all these are titles of
the one Church and names applied to all be-
lievers. The fact goes against you. For if
the Church admits but one rank, and has not
many members in one body, what necessity is
there for calling her bride, sister, mother ? It
must be that she is the bride of some, the
sister of others, the mother of others. All
indeed stand on the right hand, but one
stands as a bridegroom, another as a brother,
a third as a son. 6 " My little children," says
the Apostle, " of whom I am again in travail
1 S. John xvii. 23.
3 S. John vi. 57 sq.
6 Gal, iv, iq.
2 S. John i. 12, 13.
* 1 John iv. 13, 15.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
411
until Christ be formed in you." Do you think
that the children who are being born and the
apostle who is in travail are of equal rank ?
And the folly of your contention that we love
all the members alike, and do not prefer the
eye to the finger, nor the hand to the ear, but
that if one be lost all mourn, is proved by the
lesson which the apostle teaches the Corin-
thians : ' " Some members are more honour-
able, others excite the sense of shame : and
those parts to which shame attaches are
clothed with more abundant honour ; whereas
our comely parts have no need of our care."
Do you think that the mouth and the belly,
the eyes and the outlets of the body are to be
classed together as of equal merit ? a " The
lamp of thy body," he says, " is thine eye. If
thine eye be blinded, thy whole body is in
darkness." If you cut off a finger, or the tip
of the ear, there is indeed pain, but the loss is
not so great, nor is the disfigurement attended
by so much pain as it would be were you to
take out the eyes, mutilate the nose, or saw
through a bone. Some members we can dis-
pense with and yet live : without others life
is an impossibility. Some offences are light,
some heavy. It is one thing to owe ten thou-
sand talents, another to owe a farthing. We
shall have to give account of the idle word no
less than of adultery ; but it is not the same
thing to be put to the blush, and to be put
upon the rack, to grow red in the face and
to ensure lasting torment. Do you think I
am merely expressing my own views ? Hear
what the Apostle John says: s " He who
knows that his brother sinneth a sin not unto
death, let him ask, and he shall give him life,
even to him that sinneth not unto death. But
he that hath sinned unto death, who shall pray
for him ? " You observe that if we entreat
for smaller offences, we obtain pardon : if for
greater ones, it is difficult to obtain our re-
quest : and that there is a great difference
between sins. And so with respect to the
people of Israel who had sinned a sin unto
death, it is said to Jeremiah : 4 " Pray not thou
for this people, neither entreat for them, and
do not withstand me, for I will not hear thee."
Moreover, if it be true that we all alike enter
the world and all alike leave it, and this is a
precedent for the world to come, it follows
that whether righteous or sinners we shall all
be equally esteemed by God, because the con-
ditions of our birth and death are now the
same. And if you contend that there are two
Adams, the one of the earth, the other from
heaven ; and that they who were in the earthly
Adam stand on the left hand, those who were
1 1 Cor. xii. 22-24.
8 1 John v. 16.
2 S. Luke xi. 34.
* Jer. vii. 16.
in the heavenly are on the right hand, before
we go further, let me ask you a question con-
cerning two brothers : Was Esau in the earthly
Adam, or in the heavenly ? No one doubts
that you will reply, he was in the earthly. In
which was Jacob ? Without hesitation you
will say, in the heavenly. How then was he
in the heavenly when Christ had not yet come
in the flesh — Christ who is called the second
Adam from heaven ? You must either reckon
all before the incarnation of Christ in the old
Adam, and even the just in the man from the
earth, and then they will be on the left among
your goats ; or, if it be impious to give Isaac
the same place as Ishmael, Jacob as Esau, the
saints as sinners, the last Adam will date from
the time when Christ was born of a Virgin,
and your argument from the two Adams will
not benefit your sheep and goats, because we
have proved that in the first Adam there were
both sheep and goats, and that of those who
were in one and the same man, some stood on
the right hand of God, others on the left :
1 " For from Adam even until Moses death
reigned over all, even over them that had not
sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgres-
sion."
31. As regards your attempt to show that
railing and murder, the use of the expression
raca and adultery, the idle word and godless-
ness, are rewarded with the same punishment,
I have already given you my reply, and will
now briefly repeat it. You must either deny
that you are a sinner if you are not to be in
danger of Gehenna : or, if you are a sinner
you will be sent to hell for even a light offence :
2 " The mouth that lieth," says one, "kills the
soul." I suspect that you, like other men,
have occasionally told a lie : 3 for all men are
liars, that God alone may be true, 4 and that
He ma)7 be justified in His words, and may
prevail when He judges. It follows either
that you will not be a man lest you be found
a liar : or if you are a man and are conse-
quently a liar, you will be punished with
parricides and adulterers. For you admit no
difference between sins, and the gratitude of
those whom you raise from the mire and set
on high will not equal the rage against you of
those whom for the trifling offences of daily
life you have thrust into utter darkness. And
if it be so that in a persecution one is stifled,
another beheaded, another flees, or the fourth
dies within the walls of a prison, and one
crown of victory awaits various kinds of strug-
gle, the fact tells in our favour. For in mar-
tyrdom it is the will, which gives occasion to
the death, that is crowned. My duty is to
1 Rom. v. 14.
3 Ps, cxvi. xi.
Rom. iii. 4.
3 Wisd. i.
< Ps. li. 4.
412
JEROME.
resist the frenzy of the heathen, and not deny
the Lord. It rests with them either to behead,
or to burn, or to shut up in prison, or enforce
various other penalties. But if I escape, and
die in solitude, there will not at my death be
the same crown for me as for them, because
the confession of Christ will not have been
to me as to them the cause of death. As for
your remark that absolutely no difference was
made between the brother who had always
been with his father, and him who was after-
wards welcomed as a penitent, I am willing
to add, if you like, that the one drachma which
was lost and was found was put with the
others, and that the one sheep which the good
shepherd, leaving the ninety and nine, sought
and brought back, made up the full tale of a
hundred. But it is one thing to be a penitent,
and with tears sue for pardon, another to be
always with the father. And so both the
shepherd and the father say by the mouth of
Ezekiel to the sheep that was carried back,
and to the son that was lost, ' " And I will
establish my covenant with thee ; and thou
shalt know that I am the Lord : that thou
mayest remember, and be confounded, and
never open thy mouth ever more, because
of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all
that thou hast done." That penitents may
have their due it is enough for them to feel
shame instead of all other punishment. Hence
in another place it is said to them,2 " Then
shall ye remember your evil ways, and all the
crimes wherewith ye were defiled, and ye shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the
wickedness that ye have done ; and ye shall
know that I am the Lord, when I shall have
done you good for my name's sake, and not
according to your evil ways, nor according to
your evil doings." The son, moreover, was
reproved by his father for envying his brother's
deliverance, and for being tormented by jeal-
ousy while the angels in heaven were rejoicing.
The parallel, however, is not to be drawn be-
tween the merits of the two sons (one of whom
was temperate, the other a prodigal) and those
of the whole human race, but the characters de-
picted are either Jews and Christians, or saints
and penitents. In the lifetime of Bishop
Damasus I dedicated to him a small treatise
upon this parable.3
32. And if a penny was given to all the
labourers, those of the first, the third, the
sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh hours, and
they came first for the reward who were the
last to work in the vineyard, even here the
persons described do not belong to one time or
one age, but from the beginning of the world
a Ezek. xvi. 62, 63,
» Letter XXI,
' Ezek. xxxvi. 31, 32.
to the end of it there are different calls and
a special meaning attaches to each. Abel
and Seth were called at the first hour : Enoch
and Noah at the third : Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob at the sixth : Moses and the prophets
at the ninth : at the eleventh the Gentiles, to
whom the recompense was first given because
they believed on the crucified Lord, and inas-
much as it was hard for them to believe they
earned a great reward. Many kings and
prophets have desired to see the things that
we see, and have not seen them. But the one
penny does not represent one reward, but
one life, and one deliverance from Gehenna.
And as by the favour of the sovereign those
guilty of various crimes are released from
prison, and each one, according to his toil and
exertions, is in this or that condition of life,
so too the penny, as it were by the favour of
our Sovereign, is the discharge from prison
of us all by baptism. Now our work is, ac-
cording to our different virtues, to prepare for
ourselves a different future.
33. So far I have replied to the separate
portions of his argument ; I shall now ad-
dress myself to the general question. Our
Lord says to his disciples, 1 " Whosoever would
become great among you, let him be least of
all." If we are all to be equal in heaven, in
vain do we humble ourselves here that we
may be greater there. Of the two debtors
who owed, one five hundred pence, the other
fifty, he to whom most was forgiven loved
most. And so the Saviour says, " " I say
to you, her sins which are many are forgiven
her, for she hath loved much. But to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little." He
who loves little, and has little forgiven, he
will of course be of inferior rank. 3 The
householder when he set out delivered to his
servants his goods, to one five talents, to
another two, to another one, to each according
to his ability. Just as in another Gospel it is
written that a nobleman setting out for a far
country to receive for himself a kingdom and
return, called the servants, and gave them
each a sum of money, with which one gained
ten pounds, another five, and they, each ac-
cording to his ability and the gain he had
made, received ten or five cities. But one
who had received a talent, or a pound, buried
it in the ground, or tied it up in a napkin,
and kept it until his master's return. Our
first thought is that if, according to the mod-
ern Zeno, the righteous do not toil in hope
of reward, but to avoid the loss of what they
already have, he who buried his pound or
talent that he might not lose it, did no wrong,
1 S. Matt. xx. 26.
8 S. Matt. xxv. 15 sq.
3 S. Luke vii. 47,
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK It.
4»3
and the caution of him who kept his money
is worthy of more praise than the fruitless
toil of those who wore themselves out and yet
received no reward for their labour. Then
observe that the very talent which was taken
from the timid or negligent servant, v/as not
given to him who had the smaller profit, but
to him who had gained the most, that is, to
him who had been placed over ten cities. If
difference of rank is not constituted by the
difference in number, why did our Lord say,
" He gave to everyone according to his
ability " ? If the gain of five talents and ten
talents is the same, why were not ten cities
given to him who gained the least, and five to
him who gained the most ? But that our Lord
is not satisfied with what we have, but always
desires more, He himself shows by saying,
" Wherefore didst thou not give my money
to the money-changers, that so when I came
I might have received it with usury ? " The
Apostle Paul understood this, and l forgetting
those things which were behind, reached for-
ward to those things which were in front, that
is, he made daily progress, and did not keep
the grace given to him carefully wrapped up
in a napkin, but his spirit, like the capital of
a keen man of business, was renewed from
day to day, and if he were not always grow-
ing larger, he thought himself growing less.
Six cities of refuge are mentioned in the law,
provided for fugitives who were involuntary
homicides, and the cities themselves belonged
to the priests. I should like to ask whether
you would put those fugitives among your
goats, or among our sheep. If they were
goats, they would be slain like other homi-
cides, and would not enter the cities of God's
ministers. If you say they were sheep, they
cannot possibly be such sheep as can enjoy
full liberty and feed without fear of wolves.
And it will be plain to you that sheep indeed
they are, but wandering sheep : that they are
on the right hand, but do not stand there :
they flee until the High Priest dies and de-
scending into hell liberates their souls. The
Gibeonites met the children of Israel, and
although other nations were slaughtered, they
were kept 2 for hewers of wood and drawers
of water. 3 And of such value were they in
God's eyes, that the family of Saul was de-
stroyed for the wrong done to them. Where
would you put them ? Among the goats ? But
they were not slain, and they were avenged
by the determination of God. Among the
sheep ? But holy Scripture says they were
not of the same merit as the Israelites. You
see then that they do indeed stand on the
1 Phil. iii. 13.
3 2 Sam. xxi. 1.
a Josh. ix. 27.
right hand, but are of a far inferior grade.
Jonathan came between David, the holy man,
and Saul, the worst of kings, and we can
neither place him among the kids because he
was worthy of a prophet's love, nor amongst
the rams lest we make him equal to David,
and particularly when we know that he was
slain. He will, therefore, be among the
sheep, but low down. And just as in the case
of David and Jonathan, you will be bound
to recognize differences between sheep and
sheep. 1 " That servant, which knew his
lord's will, and made not ready, nor did ac-
cording to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes ; but he that knew not, and did things
worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. And to whomsoever much is given,
of him shall much be required : and to whom
they commit much, of him will they ask the
more." Lo ! more or less is committed to
different servants, and according to the nature
of the trust, as well as of the sin, is the num-
ber of stripes inflicted.
34. The whole account of the land of Judah
and of the tribes is typical of the church in
heaven. Let us read Joshua, the son of Nun,
or the concluding portions of Ezekiel, and we
shall see that the historical division of the
land as related by the one finds a counterpart
in the spiritual and heavenly promises of the
other. What is the meaning of the seven and
eight steps in the description of the temple ?
or again, what significance attaches to the fact
that in the Psalter, after being taught the
mystic alphabet by the 2one hundred and eigh-
teenth psalm we arrive by fifteen steps at the
point where we can sing: 3 "Behold, now bless
the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord : ye who
stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of
the house of our God." Why did 4two tribes
and a half dwell on the other side of Jordan,
a district abounding in cattle, while the re-
maining nine tribes and a half either drove
out the old inhabitants from their possessions,
or dwelt with them ? Why did the tribe of Levi
5 receive no portion in the land, but have the
Lord for their portion ? And how is it that
of the priests and Levites themselves the
6 high priest alone entered the Holy of Holies
where were the cherubim and the mercy-
seat ? Why did the other priests wear ' linen
raiment only, and not have their clothing of
1 S.Luke xii. 47, 48.
2 Ps. cxix. in our arrangement of the Psalter. The psalm i3
divided into twenty-two portions, which begin with the suc-
cessive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The following; fifteen
psalms are called in our Authorized Version, Songs of Degrees
(Vulgate, graduum, steps). For the origin of the title, Words-
worth, or Neal and Littledale on Ps. cxx. may be consulted.
3 Ps. cxxxiv. 1.
4 Numb, xxxiv. 15 ; Josh. xiv. 3.
6 Numb, xviii. 20.
6 Lev. xvi. 2 ; Heb. ix. 7.
7 Ex. xxviii. etc.
4H
JEROME.
wrought gold, blue, scarlet, purple, and fine
cloth ? The priests and 'Levites of the lower
order took care of the oxen and wains : those
of the higher order carried the ark of the
Lord on their shoulders. If you do away with
the gradations of the tabernacle, the temple,
the Church, if, to use a common military phrase,
all upon the right handaretobe "up to the same
standard," bishops are to no purpose, priests
in vain, deacons useless. Why do virgins per-
severe ? widows toil ? Why do married women
practise continence ? Let us all sin, and when
once we have repented, we shall be on the
same footing as the apostles.
35. But now we have just sighted land : the
foaming billows have been rolling mountain-
high : our ship has been borne aloft, or has
rushed headlong into the depths beneath :
little by little the haven opens to the view of
the weary and exhausted sailors. We have dis-
cussed the married, widows, and virgins. We
have preferred virginity to widowhood, widow-
hood to marriage. The passage of the apostle,
in which he treats questions of this kind, has
been expounded, and particular objections
have been met. We also took a survey of
secular literature, and inquired what was
thought of virgins, and what of those who had
one husband ; and by way of contrast we
pointed out the cares which sometimes attend
wedlock. Then we passed to the second di-
vision, in which our opponent denies the pos-
sibility of sinning to those who have been
baptized with complete faith. And we showed
that God alone is faultless, and every creature
is at fault, not because all have sinned, but
because all may sin, and those who stand have
cause to fear when they see the fall of men
like themselves. In the third place we came
to fasting, and inasmuch as our opponent's
argument fell under two heads, and he ap-
pealed either to philosophy, or to Holy Scrip-
ture, we also furnished a several reply. In
the fourth, that is the last section, the sheep
and goats on the right hand and the left, the
righteous and the wicked, were distributed into
two classes, the intention being to show that
there is no difference between one just man
and another, or between one sinner and an-
other. To prove the point Jovinianus had ac-
cumulated countless instances from Scripture
which apparently favoured his view, and
this contention we rebutted both by argu-
ments and illustrations from Scripture, and
pulverized Zeno's old opinion no less with
common sense than with the words of inspira-
tion.
36. I must in conclusion say a few words to
our modern Epicurus wantoning in his gardens
J Numb. vii. 5.
with his favourites of both sexes. On your side
are the fat and the sleek in their festal attire. If
I may mock like Socrates, add if you please,
all swine and dogs, and, since you like flesh
so well, vultures too, eagles, hawks, and owls.
We shall never be afraid of the host of 1 Aris-'
tippus. If ever I see a fine fellow, or a man
who is no stranger to the curling-irons, with
his hair nicely done and his cheeks all aglow, he
belongs to your herd, or rather grunts in con-
cert with your pigs. To our flock belong the
sad, the pale, the meanly clad, who, like
strangers in this world, though their tongues
are silent, yet speak by their dress and bear-
ing. 2 " Woe is me," say they, " that my so-
journing is prolonged ! that I dwell among
the tents of Kedar ! " that is to say, in the
darkness of this world, for the light shin-
eth in the darkness, and the darkness compre-
hended it not. Boast not of having many
disciples. The Son of God taught in Judaea,
and only twelve apostles followed Him. 3 " I
have trodden the wine-press alone," He says,
" and of the peoples there was no man with
me." At the passion He was left alone, and
even Peter's fidelity to Him wavered : on
the other hand all the people applauded
the doctrine of the Pharisees, saying, i " Cru-
cify him, crucify him. We have no king but
Caesar," that is in effect, we follow vice, not
virtue ; Epicurus, not Christ ; Jovinianus, not
the Apostle Paul. If many assent to your
views, that only indicates voluptuousness ; for
they do not so much approve your utterances,
as favour their own vices. In our crowded
thoroughfares a mountebank may be seen any
day stick in hand belabouring the fools about
him, and knocking out the teeth of those who
offend him, and yet he never lacks constant fol-
lowers. And do you regard it as a mark of great
wisdom if you have a following of many pigs,
whom you are feeding to make pork for hell ?
Since you published your views, and set the
mark of your approval on baths in which the
sexes bathe together, the impatience which
once threw over burning lust the semblance of
a robe of modesty has been laid bare and ex-
posed. What was once hidden is now open to
the gaze of all. You have revealed your dis-
ciples, such as they are, not made them. One
result of your teaching is that sin is no longer
even repented of. Your virgins whom, with a
depth of wisdom never found before in speech
or writing, you have taught the apostle's maxim
that it is better to marry than to burn, have
turned secret adulterers into acknowledged
1 Aristippus, thouph the disciple of Socrates, taught that
pleasure was the highest good.
2 Ps. cxx. 5.
3 Is. lxiii. 3.
* S. John xix, 6, 15.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS.— BOOK II.
415
husbands.1 It was not the apostle, the chosen
vessel, who gave this advice ; it was Virgil's
widow :
2 " She calls it wedlock ; thus she veils her fault."
37. About four hundred years have passed
since the preaching of Christ flashed upon the
world, and during that time in which His robe
has been torn by countless heresies, almost
the whole body of error has been derived from
the Chaldsean, Syriac, and Greek languages.
Basilides, the master of licentiousness and
the grossest sensuality, after the lapse of so
many years, and like a second 3 Euphorbus,
was changed by transmigration into Jovinian,
so that the Latin tongue might have a heresy
of its own. Was there no other province
in the whole world to receive the gospel
of pleasure, and into which the serpent
might insinuate itself, except that which was
founded by the teaching of Peter, upon
the rock Christ ? Idol temples had fallen
before the standard of the Cross and the
severity of the Gospel : now on the contrary
lust and gluttony endeavour to overthrow the
solid structure of the Cross. And so God
says by Isaiah, 4 " O my people, they which
bless you cause you to err, and trouble the
paths of your feet. " Also by Jeremiah,6 " Flee
out of the midst of Babylon, and save every
man his life, and believe not the false proph-
ets which say, Peace, peace, and there is no
peace ; " who are always repeating, 8 " The
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord."
" Thy prophets have seen for thee false and
foolish things ; they have not laid bare thine
iniquity that they might call thee to repent-
ance : who devour God's people like bread :
they have not called upon God." Jeremiah
announced the captivity and was stoned by
the people. 7 Hananiah, the son of Azzur,
broke the bars of wood for the present, but
was preparing bars of iron for the future.
False prophets always promise pleasant things,
and please for a time. Truth is bitter, and
they who preach it are filled with bitterness.
For with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth the Lord's passover is kept, and it is
eaten with bitter herbs. Admirable are your
utterances and worthy of the ears of the bride
of Christ standing in the midst of her virgins,
and widows, and celibates ! (their very name
is 8 derived from the fact that they who ab-
stain from intercourse are fit for heaven). This
is what you say : " Fast seldom, marry often.
1 Jovinianus's doctrine is said to have influenced some who had
taken a vow of virginity, to marry.
8 Virgil JEn. iv. 172.
3 Pythagoras asserted that he had once been the Trojan Eu-
phorbus.
4 Is. iii. 16. 6 Jer. li. 6 ; vi. 14.
6 Jer. vii. 4; Ps. xiv. 4, liii. 4. 7 Jer. xxviii. 13.
8 That is, ccehbs from cesium.
You cannot do the work of marriage unless
you take mead, and flesh, and solid food. For
lust strength is required. Flesh is soon spent
and enervated. You need not be afraid of
fornication. He who has been once baptized
into Christ cannot fall, for he has the con-
solation of marriage to slake his lust. And if
you do fall, repentance will restore you, and
you who were hypocrites at baptism may have
a firm faith in your repentance. Be not dis-
turbed by the thought of a difference between
the righteous and the penitent, and do not im-
agine that pardon, by giving you a lower
place, shows that you have lost your crown.
For there is one reward : he who stands on the
right hand shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven." Through counsels such as these your
swine-herds are richer than our shepherds, and
the he-goats draw after them many of the other
sex : ' " They were as fed horses : they were
mad after women " : they no sooner see a
woman than they neigh after her, and, shame
to say ! find scriptural authority for the con-
solation of their incontinence. But the very
women, unhappy creatures ! though they de-
serve no pity, who chant the words of their
instructor (for what does God require of them
but to become mothers ?), have lost not only
their chastity, but all sense of shame, and de-
fend their licentious practices with an access
of impudence. You have, moreover, in your
army many subalterns, you have youf guards-
men and your skirmishers at the outposts, the
round-bellied, the well-dressed, the exquisites,
and noisy orators, to defend you with tooth
and nail. The noble make way for you, the ~
wealthy print kisses on your face. For unless
you had come, the drunkard and the glutton
could not have entered paradise. All honor
to your virtue, or rather to your vices ! You
have in your camp, even amazons with un-
covered breasts, bare arms and knees, who
challenge the men who come against them to
a battle of lust. Your household is a large
one, and so in your aviaries not only turtle-
doves, but hoopoes are fed, which may wing
their flight over the whole field of rank de-
bauchery. Pull me to pieces and scatter me
to the winds : tax me with what offences you
please : accuse me of luxurious and delicate
living : you would like me better if I were
guilty, for I should belong to your herd.
38. But I will now address myself to you,*>-
great Rome, who with the confession of
Christ have blotted out the blasphemy written
on your forehead. Mighty city, mistress-city
of the world, city of the Apostle's praises, shew
the meaning of your name. Rome is either
strength in Greek, or height in Hebrew. Lose
1 Jer. v. 8.
4i6
JEROME.
not the excellence your name implies : let
virtue lift you up on high, let not voluptuous-
ness bring you low. By repentance, as the
history of Nineveh proves, you may escape the
curse wherewith the Saviour threatened you in
the Apocalypse. Beware of the name of Jov-
inianus. It is derived from that of an idol.1
1 That is, Jove.
The Capitol is in ruins : the temples of Jove
with their ceremonies have perished. Why
should his name and vices flourish now in
the midst of you, when even in the time of
Numa Pompilius, even under the sway of
kings, your ancestors gave a heartier welcome
to the self-restraint of Pythagoras than they
did under the consuls to the debauchery of
Epicurus ?
AGAINST VIGILANTIUS.
417
AGAINST VIGILANTIUS.
Introduction.
Full details respecting Vigilantius, against whom this treatise, the result of a single night's labour, is di-
rected, may be found in a work on "Vigilantius and His Times," published in 1844 by Dr. Gilly, canon of
Durham. It will perhaps, however, assist the reader if we briefly remark that he was born about 370, at Cala-
gurris, near Con venae (Comminges), which was a station on the Roman road from Aquitaine to Spain. His
father was probably the keeper of the inn, and Vigilantius appears to have been brought up to his father's busi-
ness. He was of a studious character, and Sulpicius Severus, the ecclesiastical historian, who had estates in
those parts, took him into his service, and, possibly, made him manager of his estates. Having been ordained
he was introduced to Jerome (then living at Bethlehem, in 395) through Paulinus of Nola, who was the friend
of Sulpicius Severus. After staying with Jerome for a considerable time he begged to be dismissed, and left in
great haste without giving any reason. Returning to Gaul, he settled in his native country. Jerome hearing that
he was spreading reports of him as favouring the views of Origen, and in other ways defaming him and his friends,
wrote him a sharp letter of rebuke (Letter LXL). The work of Vigilantius which drew from Jerome the fol-
lowing treatise was written in the year A.D. 406 ; not " hastily, under provocation such as he may have felt in
leaving Bethlehem," but after the lapse of six or seven years. The points against which he argued as being su-
perstitious are : (1) the reverence paid to the relics of holy men by carrying them round the church in costly
vessels or silken wrappings to be kissed, and the prayers offered to the dead ; (2) the late watchings at the
basilicas of the martyrs, with their attendant scandals, the burning of numerous tapers, alleged miracles, etc. ;
(3) the sending of alms to Jerusalem, which, Vigilantius urged, had better be spent among the poor in each sep-
arate diocese, and the monkish vow of poverty ; (4) the exaggerated estimate of virginity.
The bishop of the diocese, Exsuperius of Toulouse, was strongly in favour of the views of Vigilantius, and
they began to spread widely. Complaints having reached Jerome through the presbyter Riparius, he at once
expressed his indignation, and offered to answer in detail if the work of Vigilantius were sent to hira. In 406
he received it through Sisinnius, who was bearing alms to the East. It has been truly said that this treatise has
less of reason and more of abuse than any other which Jerome wrote. But in spite of this the author was fol-
lowed by the chief ecclesiastics of the day, and the practices impugned by Vigilantius prevailed almost unchecked
till the sixteenth century.
i. The world has given birth to many-
monsters ; in ' Isaiah we read of centaurs
and sirens, screech-owls and pelicans. Job,
in mystic language, describes Leviathan and
Behemoth ; Cerberus and the birds of Stym-
phalus, the Erymanthian boar and the
Nemean lion, the Chimgera and the many-
headed Hydra, are told of in poetic fables.
Virgil describes Cacus. Spain has produced
Geryon, with his three bodies. Gaul alone
has had no monsters, but has ever been rich
in men of courage and great eloquence. All
at once Vigilantius, or, more correctly,
Dormitantius, has arisen, animated by an
unclean spirit, to fight against the Spirit of
Christ, and to deny that religious reverence
is to be paid to the tombs of the martyrs.
Vigils, he says, are to be condemned ; Alle-
luia must never be sung except at Easter ;
continence is a heresy ; chastity a hot-bed of
lust. And as Euphorbus is said to have been
born again in the person of Pythagoras, so in
this fellow the corrupt mind of Jovinianus
has arisen ; so that in him, no less than in his
predecessor, we are bound to meet the snares
of the devil. The words may be justly ap-
plied to him : a " Seed of evil-doers, prepare
thy children for the slaughter because of the
sins of thy father." Jovinianus, condemned
1 Is. xiii. 21, 22, and xxxiv. 14-16.
2 Is. xix. 21. Sept.
by the authority of the Church of Rome,
amidst pheasants and swine's flesh, breathed
out, or rather belched out his spirit. And
now this tavern-keeper of Calagurris, who,
according to the name of his ' native village
is a Quintilian, only dumb instead of elo-
quent, is * mixing water with the wine.
According to the trick which he knows of old,
he is trying to blend his perfidious poison
with the Catholic faith ; he assails virginity
and hates chastity ; he revels with worldlings
and declaims against the fasts of the saints ;
he plays the philosopher over his cups, and
soothes himself with the sweet strains of
psalmody, while he smacks his lips over his
cheese-cakes ; nor could he deign to listen
to the songs of David and Jeduthun, and
Asaph and the sons of Core, except at the
banqueting table. This I have poured forth
with more grief than amusement, for I can-
not restrain myself and turn a deaf ear to the
wrongs inflicted on apostles and martyrs.
2. Shameful to relate, there are bishops
who are said to be associated with him in his
wickedness — if at least they are to be called
bishops — who ordain no deacons but such as
have been previously married ; who credit no
celibate with chastity — nay, rather, who show
1 Quintilian, the rhetorician, was born at Calagurris, in Spain,
but not the same as the birthplace of Vigilantius.
2 Combining the cheating tavern-keeper with the heretic.
4i8
JEROME.
clearly what measure of holiness of life they
can claim by indulging in evil suspicions of
all men, and, unless the candidates for ordina-
tion appear before them with pregnant wives,
and infants wailing in the arms of their
mothers, will not administer to them Christ's
ordinance. What are the Churches of the
East to do? What is to become of. the
Egyptian Churches and those belonging to
the Apostolic Seat, which accept for the
ministry only men who are virgins, or those
who practice continency, or, if married,
abandon their conjugal rights? Such is the
teaching of Dormitantius, who throws the
reins upon the neck of lust, and by his
encouragement doubles the natural heat of
the flesh, which in youth is mostly at boiling
point, or rather slakes it by intercourse with
women ; so that there is nothing to sepa-
rate us from swine, nothing wherein we
differ from the brute creation, or from horses,
respecting which it is written : ' " They were
toward women like raging horses ; everyone
neighed after his neighbour's wife." This is
that which the Holy Spirit says by the mouth
of David : 2 "Be ye not like horse and mule
which have no understanding." And again
respecting Dormitantius and his friends :
3 "Bind the jaws of them who draw not near
unto thee with bit and bridle."
3. But it is now time for us to adduce his
own words and answer him in detail. For,
possibly, in his malice, he may choose once
more to misrepresent me, and say that I have
trumped up a case for the sake of showing off
my rhetorical and declamatory powers in com-
bating it, like the letter 4 which I wrote to Gaul,
relating to a mother and daughter who were
at variance. This little treatise, which I now
dictate, is due to the reverend presbyters
Riparius and Desiderius, who write that
their parishes have been defiled by being in
his neighbourhood, and have sent me, by our
brother Sisinnius, the books which he vomited
forth in a drunken fit. They also declare
that some persons are found who, from their
inclination to his vices, assent to his blas-
phemies. He is a barbarian both in speech
and knowledge. His style is rude. He can-
not defend even the truth ; but, for the sake
of laymen, and poor women, laden with sins,
ever learning and never coming to a knowl-
edge of the truth, I will spend upon his
melancholy trifles a single night's labour,
otherwise I shall seem to have treated with
contempt the letters of the reverend persons
who have entreated me to undertake the task.
4. He certainly well represents his race.
Sprung from a set of brigands and persons
1 Jerem. v. S. 2 Ps. xxxii. 9.
Ibid. 4 Letter CXVI1.
collected together from all quarters (I mean
those whom Cn. Pompey, after the conquest
of Spain, when he was hastening to return for
his triumph, brought down from the Pyrenees
and gathered together into one town, whence
the name of the city Convense1), he has car-
ried on their brigand practices by his attack
upon the Church of God. Like his ancestors
the Vectones, the Arrabaci, and the Celti-
berians, he makes his raids upon the churches
of Gaul, not carrying the standard of the
cross, but, on the contrary, the ensign of the
devil. Pompey did just the same in the East.
After overcoming the Cilician and Isaurian
pirates and brigands, he founded a city, bear-
ing his own name, between Cilicia and Isauria.
That city, however, to this day, observes the
ordinances of its ancestors, and no Dormi-
tantius has arisen in it ; but Gaul supports a
native foe, and sees seated in the Church a
man who has lost his head and who ought to
be put in the strait-jacket which Hip-
pocrates recommended. Among other blas-
phemies, he may be heard to say, " What
need is there for you not only to pay such
honour, not to say adoration, to the thing,
whatever it may be, which you carry about in
a little vessel and worship ? " And again, in
the same book, " Why do you kiss and adore
a bit of powder wrapped up in a cloth?"
And again, in the same book, " Under the
cloak of religion we see what is all but a
heathen ceremony introduced into the
churches : while the sun is still shining, heaps
of tapers are lighted, and everywhere a
paltry bit of powder, wrapped up in a costly
cloth, is kissed and worshipped. Great
honour do men of this sort pay to the blessed
martyrs, who, they think, are to be made
glorious by trumpery tapers, when the Lamb
who is in the midst of the throne, with all
the brightness of His majesty, gives them
light?"
5. Madman, who in the world ever adored
the martyrs? who ever thought man was God ?
Did not '2 Paul and Barnabas, when the people
of Lycaonia thought them to be Jupiter and
Mercury, and would have offered sacrifices to
them, rend their clothes and declare they were
men ? Not that they were not better than
Jupiter and Mercury, who were but men long
ago dead, but because, under the mistaken
ideas of the Gentiles, the honour due to God
was being paid to them. And we read the
same respecting Peter, who, when Cornelius
wished to adore him, raised him by the hand,
and^said, 3" Stand up, for I also am a man."
And have you the audacity to speak of " the
mysterious something or other which you
1 From convenio, to come together.
3 Acts x. 26.
2 Acts xiv. ii.
AGAINST VIGILANTIUS.
419
carry about in a little vessel and worship ? "
I want to know what it is that you call
"something or other." Tell us more clearly
(that there may be no restraint on your blas-
phemy) what you mean by the phrase " a bit of
powder wrapped up in a costly cloth in a tiny
vessel." It is nothing less than the relics of
the martyrs which he is vexed to see covered
with a costly veil, and not bound up with rags
or hair-cloth, or thrown on the midden, so
that Vigilantius alone in his drunken slumber
may be worshipped. Are we, therefore,
guilty of sacrilege when we enter the basilicas
of the Apostles? Was the Emperor Con-
stantius guilty of sacrilege when he trans-
ferred the sacred relics of Andrew, Luke, and
Timothy to Constantinople ? In their pres-
ence the demons cry out, and the devils who
dwell in Vigilantius confess that they feel the
influence of the saints. And at the present
day is the Emperor Arcadius guilty of sacri-
lege, who after so long a time has conveyed
the bones of the blessed Samuel from Judea
to Thrace ? Are all the bishops to be con-
sidered not only sacrilegious, but silly into the
bargain, because they carried that most worth-
less thing, dust and ashes, wrapped in silk in
a golden vessel ? Are the people of all the
Churches fools, because they went to meet
the sacred relics, and welcomed them with as
much joy as if they beheld a living prophet in
the midst of them, so that there was one great
swarm of people from Palestine to Chalcedon
with one voice re-echoing the praises of Christ ?
They were, forsooth, adoring Samuel and not
Christ, whose Levite and prophet Samuel was.
You show mistrust because you think only of
the dead body, and therefore blaspheme. Read
the Gospel—1 " The God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, the God of Jacob : He is not
the God of the dead, but of the living." If
then they are alive, they are not, to use your
expression, kept in honourable confinement.
6. Foryou say that the souls of Apostles and
martyrs have their abode either in the bosom
of Abraham, or in the place of refreshment,
or under the altar of God, and that they can-
not leave their own tombs, and be present
where they will. They are, it seems, of sena-
torial rank, and are not subjected to the worst
kind of prison and the society of murderers,
but are kept apart in liberal and honourable
custody in the isles of the blessed and the
Elysian fields. Will you lay down the law
for God ? Will you put the Apostles into
chains ? So that to the day of judgment they
are to be kept in confinement, and are not with
their Lord, although it is written concern-
ing them, 2 " They follow the Lamb, whither-
Matt, xxii. 32
3 Apoc. xiv. 4.
soever he goeth." If the Lamb is present
everywhere, the same must be believed respect-
ing those who are with the Lamb. And while
the devil and the demons wander through the
whole world, and with only too great speed
present themselves everywhere ; are martyrs,
after the shedding of their blood, to be kept
out of sight shut up in a ' coffin, from whence
they cannot escape ? You say, in your pam-
phlet, that so long as we are alive we can pray
for one another ; but once we die, the prayer
of no person for another can be heard, and all
the more because the martyrs, though they 2
cry for the avenging of their blood, have never
been able to obtain their request. If Apostles
and martyrs while still in the body can pray
for others, when they ought still to be
anxious for themselves, how much more must
they do so when once they have won their
crowns, overcome, and triumphed ? A single
man, Moses, often 3 wins pardon from God for
six hundred thousand armed men ; and
4 Stephen, the follower of his Lord and the first
Christian martyr, entreats pardon for his per-
secutors ; and when once they have entered
on their life with Christ, shall they have less /
power than before ? The Apostle Paul 6 says
that two hundred and seventy-six souls were
given to him in the ship ; and when, after his
dissolution, he has begun to be with Christ,
must he shut his mouth, and be unable to say
a word for those who throughout the whole
world have believed in his Gospel ? Shall
Vigilantius the live dog be better than Paul
the dead lion ? I should be right in saying so
after 6 Ecclesiastes, if I admitted that Paul is
dead in spirit. The truth is that the saints
are not called dead, but are said to be asleep.
Wherefore 7 Lazarus, who was about to rise
again, is said to have slept. And the Apostle
6 forbids the Thessalonians to be sorry for those
who were asleep. As for you, when wide
awake you are asleep, and asleep when you
write, and you bring before me an apocryphal
book which, under the name of Esdras, is read
by you and those of your feather, and in this
book it is 9 written that after death no one
dares pray for others. I have never read the
book : for what need is there to take up what
the Church does not receive ? It can hardly be
your intention to confront me with Balsamus,
and Barbelus, and the Thesaurus of Mani-
chgeus, and the ludicrous name of Leusiboras ;
though possibly because you live at the foot
of the Pyrenees, and border on Iberia, you
1 Another reading is, " Shut up in the altar."
2 Apoc. vi. 10.
3 Ex. xxxii. 30 sqq. * Acts vii. 59, 60.
6 Acts xxvii. 37. , 6 ix. 4.
7 John xi. 11. 8 1 Thess. iv. 13.
9 vii. 35 sq. The passage occurs in the Ethiopic and Arabic
versions, not in the Latin. It was probably rejected in later
times for dogmatic reasons.
420
JEROME.
follow the incredible marvels of the ancient
heretic ' Basilides and his so-called knowledge,
which is mere ignorance, and set forth what
is condemned by the authority of the whole
world. I say this because in your short
treatise you quote Solomon as if he were on
your side, though Solomon never wrote the
words in question at all ; so that, as you have
a second Esdras you may have a second
Solomon. And, if you like, you may read the
imaginary revelations of all the patriarchs and
prophets, and, when you have learned them,
you may sing them among the women in their
weaving-shops, or rather order them to be
read in your taverns, the more easily by these
melancholy ditties to stimulate the ignorant
mob to replenish their cups.
7. As to the question of tapers, however, we
do not, as you in vain misrepresent us, light
them in the daytime, but by their solace we
would cheer the darkness of the night, and
watch for the dawn, lest we should be blind
like you and sleep in darkness. And if some
persons, being ignorant and simple minded
laymen, or, at all events, religious women — of
whom we can truly say,2 "I allow that they
have a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge " — adopt the practice in honour
of the martyrs, what harm is thereby done
to you ? Once upon a time even the Apostles
3 pleaded that the ointment was wasted, but
they were rebuked by the voice of the
Lord. Christ did not need the ointment,
nor do martyrs need the light of tapers ;
and yet that woman poured out the oint-
ment in honour of Christ, and her heart's
devotion was accepted. All those who light
these tapers have their reward according to
their faith, as the Apostle says : 4" Let every
one abound in his own meaning." Do you call
men of this sort idolaters ? I do not deny
that all of us who believe in Christ have passed
from the error of idolatry. For we are not
born Christians, but become Christians by
being born again. And because we formerly
worshipped idols, does it follow that we ought
not now to worship God lest we seem to pay like
honour to Him and to idols ? In the one case
respect was paid to idols, and therefore the
ceremony is to be abhorred ; in the other the
martyrs are venerated, and the same ceremony
is therefore to be allowed. Throughout the
whole Eastern Church, even when there are
no relics of the martyrs, whenever the Gos-
pel is to be read the candles are lighted, al-
though the dawn may be reddening the sky, not
of course to scatter the darkness, but by way
1 The chief of the Egyptian Gnostics.
2 Rom. x. 2.
3 Matt. xxvi. 8 ; Mark xiv. 4.
4 Rom. xiv. 5. Let each man be fully assured in his own
mind. R. V.
of evidencing our joy. 'And accordingly the
virgins in the Gospel always have their lamps
lighted. And the Apostles are 2 told to have
their loins girded, and their lamps burning in
their hands. And of John Baptist we read,
3 " He was the lamp that burneth and shineth ";
so that, under the figure of corporeal light, >
that light is represented of which we read in«*
the Psalter,4 " Thy word is a lamp unto my
feet, O Lord, and a light unto my paths."
8. Does the bishop of Rome do wrong
when he offers sacrifices to the Lord over the
venerable bones of the dead men Peter and
Paul, as we should say, but according to you,
over a worthless bit of dust, and judges their
tombs worthy to be Christ's altars ? And not
only is the bishop of one city in error, but the
bishops of the whole world, who, despite the
tavern-keeper Vigilantius, enter the basilicas
of the dead, in which " a worthless bit of dust
and ashes lies wrapped up in a cloth," defiled
and defiling all else. Thus, according to
you, the sacred buildings are like the sepul-
chres of the Pharisees, whitened without,
while within they have filthy remains, and
are full of foul smells and uncleanliness. And
then he dares to expectorate his filth upon the
subject and to say : " Is it the case that the
souls of the martyrs love their ashes, and
hover round them, and are always present, lest
haply if any one come to pray and they were
absent, they could not hear ? " Oh, monster,
who ought to be banished to the ends of the
earth ! do you laugh at the relics of the mar-
tyrs, and in company with Eunomius, the
father of this heresy, slander the Churches of
Christ ? Are you not afraid of being in such
company, and of speaking against us the same
things which he utters against the Church ?
For all his followers refuse to enter the
basilicas of Apostles and martyrs, so that, for-
sooth, they may worship the dead Eunomius,
whose books they consider are of more author-
ity than the Gospels ; and they believe that the
light of truth was in him, just as other her-
etics maintain that the Paraclete came into
Montanus, and say that Manichaeus himself
was the Paraclete. You cannot find an occa-
sion of boasting even in supposing that you
are the inventor of a new kind of wickedness,
for your heresy long ago broke out against the
Church. It found, however, an opponent in
Tertullian, a very learned man, who wrote a
famous treatise which he called most correctly
Scorpiacum,b because, as the scorpion bends
itself like a bow to inflict its wound, so what
was formerly called the heresy of Cain pours
poison into the body of the Church ; it has
1 Matt. xxv. i. 2 Lukexii. 35.
3 John v. 35. * Ps. cxix. 105.
6 i.e. antidote to the scorpion's bite.
AGAINST VIGILANTIUS.
421
slept or rather been buried for a long time,
but has been now awakened by Dormitan-
tius. I am surprised you do not tell us that
there must upon no account be martyrdoms,
inasmuch as God, who does not ask for
the blood of goats and bulls, much less re-
quires the blood of men. This is what you
say, or rather, even if you do not say it,
you are taken as meaning to assert it. For
in maintaining that the relics of the martyrs
are to be trodden under foot, you forbid the
shedding of their blood as being worthy of no
honour.
9. Respecting vigils and the frequent keep-
ing of night-watches in the basilicas of the
martyrs, I have given a brief reply in another
letter ' which, about two years ago, I wrote to
the reverend presbyter Riparius. You argue
that they ought to be abjured, lest we seem to
be often keeping Easter, and appear not to
observe the customary yearly vigils. If so,
then sacrifices should not be offered to Christ
on the Lord's day lest we frequently keep the
Easter of our Lord's Resurrection, and intro-
duce the custom of having many Easters
instead of one. We must not, however,
impute to pious men the faults and errors of
youths and worthless women such as are often
detected at night. It is true that, even at the
Easter vigils, something of the kind usually
comes to light ; but the faults of a few form
no argument against religion in general, and
such persons, without keeping vigil, can go
wrong either in their own houses or in those
of other people. The treachery of Judas did
not annul the loyalty of the Apostles. And
if others keep vigil badly, our vigils are not
thereby to be stopped ; nay, rather let those
who sleep to gratify their lust be compelled to
watch that they may preserve their chastity.
For if a thing once done be good, it cannot
be bad if often done ; and if there is some
fault to be avoided, the blame lies not in its
being done often, but in its being done at all.
And so we should not watch at Easter-tide,
for fear that adulterers may satisfy their long
pent-up desires, or that the wife may find an
opportunity for sinning without having the
key turned against her by her husband. The
occasions which seldom recur are those which
are most eagerly longed for.
10. I cannot traverse all the topics embraced
in the letters of the reverend presbyters ; I
will adduce a few points from the tracts of
Vigilantius. He argues against the signs
and miracles which are wrought in the basilicas
of the martyrs, and says that they are of
service to the unbelieving, not to believers, as
though the question now were for whose
1 Letter CIX.
advantage they occur, not by what power.
Granted that signs belong to the faithless,
who, because they would not obey the word
and doctrine, are brought to believe by means
of signs. Even our Lord wrought signs for
the unbelieving, and yet our Lord's signs are
not on that account to be impugned, because
those people were faithless, but must be
worthy of greater admiration because they
were so powerful that they subdued even the
hardest hearts, and compelled men to believe.
And so I will not have you tell me that signs
are for the unbelieving ; but answer my ques-
tion— how is it that poor worthless dust and
ashes are associated with this wondrous power
of signs and miracles ? I see, I see, most
unfortunate of mortals, why you are so sad
and what causes your fear. That unclean
spirit who forces you to write these things
has often been tortured by this worthless dust,
aye, and is being tortured at this moment, and
though in your case he conceals his wounds,
in others he makes confession. You will
hardly follow the heathen and impious Por-
phyry and Eunomius, and pretend that these
are the tricks of the demons, and that they do
not really cry out, but feign their torments.
Let me give you my advice : go to the basil-
icas of the martyrs, and some day you will be
cleansed ; you will find there many in like
case with yourself, and will be set on fire, not
by the martyrs' tapers which offend you, but
by invisible flames ; and you will then confess
what you now deny, and will freely proclaim
your name — that you who speak in the person
of Vigilantius are really either Mercury, for
greedy of gain was he ; or Nocturnus, who,
according to Plautus's "Amphitryon," slept
while Jupiter, two nights together, had his
adulterous connection with Alcmena, and
thus begat the mighty Hercules ; or at all
events Father Bacchus, of drunken fame,
with the tankard hanging from his shoulder,
with his ever ruby face, foaming lips, and
unbridled brawling.
1 1. Once, when a sudden earthquake in this
province in the middle of the night awoke us
all out of our sleep, you, the most prudent
and the wisest of men, began to pray without
putting your clothes on, and recalled to our
minds the story of Adam and Eve in Paradise ;
they, indeed, when their eyes were opened
were ashamed, for they saw that they were
naked, and covered their shame with the
leaves of trees ; but you, who were stripped
alike of your shirt and of your faith, in the
sudden terror which overwhelmed you, and
with the fumes of your last night's booze still
hanging about you, showed your wisdom by
exposing your nakedness in only too evident
a manner to the eyes of the brethren. Such
VOL. vi.
E e
422
JEROME.
are the adversaries of the Church ; these are
the leaders who fight against the blood of the
martyrs'; here is a specimen of the orators
who thunder against the Apostles, or, rather,
such are the mad dogs which bark at the
disciples of Christ.
12. I confess my own fear, for possibly it
may be thought to spring from superstition.
When I have been angry, or have had evil
thoughts in my mind, or some phantom of
the night has beguiled me, I do not dare to
enter the basilicas of the martyrs, I shudder all
over in body and soul. You may smile, per-
haps, and deride this as on a level with the
wild fancies of weak women. If it be so, 1
am not ashamed of having a faith like that of
those who were the first to see the risen Lord ;
who were sent to the Apostles ; who, in the
person of the mother of our Lord and Saviour,
were commended to the holy Apostles. Belch
out your shame, if you will, with men of the
world, I will fast with women ; yea, with re-
ligious men whose looks witness to their
chastity, and who, with' the cheek pale from
prolonged abstinence, show forth the chastity
of Christ.
13. Something, also, appears to be troubling
you. You are afraid that, if continence, so-
briety, and fasting strike root among the
people of Gaul, your taverns will not pay,
and you will be unable to keep up through
the night your diabolical [vigils and drunken
revels. Moreover, I have learnt from those
same letters that, in defiance of the authority
of Paul, nay, rather of Peter, John, and James,
who gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul
and Barnabas, and commanded them to re-
member the poor, you forbid any pecuniary
relief to be sent to Jerusalem for the benefit
of the saints. Now, if I reply to this, you will
immediately give tongue and cry out that I
am pleading my own cause. You, forsooth,
were so generous to the whole community
that if you had not come to Jerusalem, and
lavished your own money or that of your
patrons, we should all be on the Verge of
starvation. I say what the blessed Apostle
Paul says in nearly all his Epistles ; and he
makes it a rule for the Churches of the Gen-
tiles that, on the first day of the week, that is,
on the Lord's day, contributions should be
made by every one which should be sent up to
Jerusalem for the relief of the saints, and that
either by his own disciples, or by those whom
they should themselves approve ; and if it
were thought fit, he would himself either send,
or take what was collected. Also in the Acts
of the Apostles, when speaking to the governor
Felix, he says, ' " After many years I went up
1 Act- wiv. 17, iS.
to Jerusalem to bring alms to my nation and
offerings, and to perform my vows, amidst
which they found me purified in the temple."
Might he not have distributed in some other
part of the world, and in the infant Churches
which he was training in his own faith, the
gifts he had received from others ? But he
longed to give to the poor of the holy places
who, abandoning their own little possessions
for the sake of Christ, turned with their whole
heart to the service of the Lord. It would
take too l.ong now if I purposed to repeat all
the passages from the whole range of his
Epistles in which he advocates and urges with
all his heart that money be sent to Jerusalem
and to the holy places for the faithful ; not
to gratify avarice, but to give relief ; not
to accumulate wealth, but to support the
weakness of the poor body, and to stave off
cold and hunger. And this custom continues
in Judea to the present day, not only among
us, but also among the Hebrews, so that they
who ' meditate in the law of the Lord, day
and night, and have2 no father upon earth
except the Lord alone, may be cherished by
the aid of the synagogues and of the whole
world ; that there may be3 equality — not that
some may be refreshed while others are in
distress, but that the abundance of some may
support the need of others.
14. You will reply that every one can do
this in his own country, and that there will
never be wanting poor who ought to be sup-
ported with the resources of the Church. And
we do not deny that doles should be distrib-
uted to all poor people, even to Jews and
Samaritans, if the means will allow. But the
Apostle teaches that alms should be given to
all, indeed,4 especially, however, to those who
are of the household of faith. And respect-
ing these the Saviour said in the Gospel,6
"Make to yourselves friends of the mammon
of unrighteousness, who may receive you into
everlasting habitations." What ! Can those
poor creatures, with their rags and filth,
lorded over, as they are, by raging lust, can
they who own nothing, now or hereafter, have
eternal habitations ? No doubt it is not the
poor simply, but the poor in spirit, who are
called blessed ; those of whom it is written,
6 " Blessed is he who gives his mind to the poor
and needy ; the Lord shall deliver him in the
evil day." But the fact is, in supporting the
poor of the common people, what is needed
is not mind, but money. In the case of the
saintly poor the mind has blessed exercises,
since you give to one who receives with a
blush, and when he has received is grieved,
1 Ps-'- =-...
< ••''. viii. 14.
s Luke xvi. 9.
2 Deut. xviii. 2 sq.
4 Gal. vi. 10.
e Ps.'xli. 9.
AGAINST VIGILANTIUS.
423
that while sowing spiritual things he must
reap your carnal things. As for his argument
that they who keep what they have, and dis-
tribute among the poor, little by little, the in-
crease of their property, act more wisely than
they who sell their possessions, and once for
all give all away, not I but the Lord shall
make answer : ' " If thou wilt be perfect, go
sell all that thou hast and give to the poor,
and come, follow Me." He speaks to him
who wishes to be perfect, who, with the Apos-
tles, leaves father, ship, and net. The man
whom you approve stands in the second or
third rank ; yet we welcome him provided it
be understood that the first is to be preferred
to the second, and the second to the third.
15. Let me add that our monks are not to
be deterred from their resolution by you with
your viper's tongue and savage bite. Your
argument respecting them runs thus : If all
men were to seclude themselves and live in
solitude, who is there to frequent the
churches ? Who will remain to win those
engaged in secular pursuits ? Who will be
able to urge sinners to virtuous conduct ?
Similarly, if all were as silly as you, who
could be wise? And, to follow out your ar-
gument, virginity would not deserve our ap-
probation. For if all were virgins, we should
have no marriages ; the race would perish ;
infants would not cry in their cradles ; mid-
wives would lose their pay and turn beggars ;
and Dormitantius, all alone and shrivelled
up with cold, would lie awake in his bed.
The truth is, virtue is a rare thing and not
eagerly sought after by the many. Would
that all were as the few of whom it is said :
2 " Many are called, few are chosen." The
prison would be empty. But, indeed, a
monk's function is not to teach, but to
lament ; to mourn either for himself or for
the world, and with terror to anticipate our
Lord's advent. Knowing his own weakness
and the frailty of the vessel which he carries,
he* is afraid of stumbling, lest he strike
against something, and it fall and be broken.
Hence he shuns the sight of women, and par-
ticularly of young women, and so far chastens
himself as to dread even what is safe.
16. Why, you will say, go to the desert?
The reason is plain : That I may not hear or
see you ; that I may not be disturbed by your
madness ; that I may not be engaged in con-
flict with you ; that the eye of the harlot
may not lead me captive ; that beauty may
not lead me to unlawful embraces. You will
reply : " This is not to fight, but to run away.
Stand in line of battle, put on your armour
and resist your foes, so that, having overcome,
you may wear the crown." I confess my
weakness. I would not fight in the hope of
victory, lest some time or other I lose the
victory. If I flee, I avoid the sword ; if I
stand, I must either overcome or fall. But
what need is there for me to let go certainties
and follow after uncertainties ? Either with
my shield or with my feet I must shun death.
You who fight may either be overcome or
may overcome. I who fly do not overcome,
inasmuch as I fly ; but I fly to make sure
that I may not be overcome. There is no
safety in sleep with a serpent beside you.
Possibly he will not bite me, yet it is possible
that after a time he may bite me. We call
women mothers who are no older than sisters
and daughters,1 and we do not blush to cloak
our vices with the names of piety. What
business has a monk in the women's cells?
What is the meaning of secret conversation
and looks which shun the presence of wit-
nesses ? Holy love has no restless desire.
Moreover, what we have said respecting lust
we must apply to avarice, and to all vices
which are avoided by solitude. We therefore
keep clear of the crowded cities, that we may
not be compelled to do what we are urged to
do, not so much by nature as by choice.
17. At the request of the reverend presby-
ters, as I have said, I have devoted to the dic-
tation of these remarks the labour of a single
night, for my brother Sisinnius is hastening
his departure for Egypt, where he has relief to
give to the saints, and is impatient to be gone.
If it were not so, however, the subject itself
was so openly blasphemous as to call for the
indignation of a writer rather than a mul-
titude of proofs. But if Dormitantius wakes
up that he may again abuse me, and if he
thinks fit to disparage me with that same
blasphemous mouth with which he pulls to
pieces Apostles and martyrs, I will spend
upon him something more than this short
lucubration. I will keep vigil for a whole
night in his behalf and in behalf of his com-
panions, whether they be disciples or masters,
who think no man to be worthy of Christ's
ministry unless he is married and his wife is
seen to be with child.
1 Matt. xix. 27.
Matte xx, 16 : xxii. 14.
1 He seems to mean tliat monks spoke of young ladies as
Mothers of the Convent-;, so as to ,be able to frequent their so-
ciety without reproach,
E e 2
424 JEROME. '
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF
JERUSALEM.
Introduction.
The letter against John of Jerusalem was written between the years 396 and 399, and was a product of the
Origenistic controversy. Its immediate occasion was the visit of Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, at
Jerusalem, in 394. The bishop preached, in the Church of the Resurrection (§ 1 1), a pointed sermon against
Origenism, which was thought to be so directly aimed at John that the latter sent his archdeacon to remonstrate
with the preacher (§ 14). After many unseemly scenes, Epiphanius advised Jerome and his friends to separate
from their bishop (g 39). But how were they to have the ministrations of the Church ? This difficulty was sur-
mounted by Epiphanius, who took Jerome's brother to the monastery which he had founded at Ad, in the diocese
of Eleutheropolis, and there ordained him against his will, even using force to overcome his opposition (Jerome,
Letter LI. 1). Epiphanius attempted to defend his action (Jerome, Letter LI. 2), but John, after some time, ap-
pealed to Alexandria against Jerome and his supporters as schismatics. The bishop, Theophilus, at once took
the side of John ; but a letter, written by his emissary Isidore and intended for John, fell into the hands of
Jerome (g 37). The letter showed that Isidore was coming as a mere partisan of John, and Jerome, therefore,
treated both it and the bearer with secret contempt. The dispute was thus prolonged for about four years, and,
after some attempts at reconciliation, and the exhibition of much bitterness, amounting to the practical excom-
munication of Jerome and his friends, the dispute was stopped, perhaps by Theophilus, perhaps through the
influence of Melania. The letter written to Pammachius at Rome, in 397 or 398, against John, was abruptly
broken off, and it is almost certain that it was never published during Jerome's lifetime. Jerome afterwards
had so much influence with Theophilus that we find him interceding for John, who had fallen under the Pontiff 's
displeasure (Letter LXXXVI. 1).
The date of this treatise is the subject of controversy. In § 1 Jerome says that he wrote " after three years,"
that is, three years from the visit of Epiphanius to Jerusalem, which was in 394. This would give the date 397.
At § 14, also, he says that Epiphanius had been brooding over his wrongs for three years. Another note of time
is found in the words of § 43, that John had " lately " sought to obtain a sentence of exile against Jerome from
" that wild beast who threatened the necks of the whole world," that is, the Prefect Rufinus, who died at the
end of 395. All these statements point to the year 397. On the other hand, at § 17, he speaks of his " Commen-
taries" on Ecclesiastes and Ephesians as having been written "about (ferme) ten years ago " ; and the preface to
Ecclesiastes says that he had read Ecclesiastes with Blesilla at Rome "about (ferme) five years ago," conse-
quently, fifteen years before the writing of this treatise. Blesilla's death was in 384. The reading of Ecclesiastes
may, therefore, have been in 383. And the fifteen years would bring us to 398. Also, at § 41, Jerome says,
addressing John, " You seem to have slept for thirteen years," implying that it was for thirteen years that the
state of things complained of by John had existed, that is, the presence of the monks in his diocese, or, at least,
their leaving their own dioceses. Jerome left Antioch, the diocese of his ordination, at the end of 385 or be-
ginning of 3S6 ; these thirteen years, therefore, bring us to 399, the date adopted by Vallarsi. There is, how-
ever, an intimation in " Pallad. Hist. Laus.," c. 117, that Melania, the friend of Rufinus, gave assistance in the
matter of "the schism of nearly 400 monks who followed Paulinus," which is admitted to relate to the schism
at Bethlehem, caused by the question of the ordination of Paulinianus. We know that Melania and Rufinus left
Jerusalem early in 397, and that, before their departure, Jerome and Rufinus were reconciled. It would, there-
fore, seem most probable that the treatise, which is written with so much animosity against John, Rufinus's
fellow-worker, and contains invidious allusions to Rufinus himself (§ ir, "your friends, who grin like dogs and
turn up their noses," Jerome's constant description of Rufinus), was written before the reconciliation of Rufinus
and Jerome, that is, in the end of 386 or the beginning of 3S7, and that it was broken off and kept unpublished
because the situation had changed. Vallarsi places it in 399. He quotes the passages which make for the laj:er
date, but strangely omits the more definite statements which make for the earlier. It should be added that the
letter of Jerome (LXXXII.) to Theophilus is evidently written at the same time, and under the same feelings, as
this treatise, and, if the arguments above given are valid, that letter must be placed in 397, not in 399, as stated
in the note prefixed to it. The short letter (LXXXVI.) to Theophilus is, in that case, probably to be placed
in 398 or 399, rather than 401, as there stated.
The treatise is a letter to Pammachius, who had been disturbed by the complaints of Bishop John to
Siricius, bishop of Rome, against Jerome. Jerome begins (1) by pleading necessity for his attack on the
bishop. _ Epiphanius has accused him of heresy (2). Let him answer plainly (3), for it is pride alone (4) which pre-
vents this. It is said that John's letter of explanation or apology was approved by Theophilus (5) ; but it did
not touch the point, that is, the accusation of Origenism. Only three points are treated (6), and Epiphanius
adduced eight— namely (7) Origen's opinions (i.) that the Son does not see the Father ; (ii.) that souls are con-
fined in earthly bodies, as in a prison ; (iii.) that the devil may be saved ; (iv.)that the skins with which God
clothed Adam and Eve were human bodies ; (v.) that the body in the resurrection will be without sex ; (vi.) that the
descriptions of Paradise are allegorical : trees meaning angels, and rivers the heavenly virtues ; (vii.) that the waters
above and below the firmament are angels and devils ; (viii.) that the image of God was altogether lost at the Fall.
John, instead of answering on the first head, merely expressed his faith in the Trinity (8, 9), and all through
tries to make out (10) that the question between him and Epiphanius relates merely to the ordination of Paulini-
anus. Jerome then relates the extraordinary scenes of the altercation between Epiphanius and Tohn(n-i4).
He then turns to the Origenistic notions that angels are cast down into human souls (15, 16), that "the spirits of
men pass into the heavenly bodies (17), and that the souls of men had a previous existence (18), and pass up and
down in the scale of creation (19, 20). John, instead of answering on these points, contents himself with protest-
T0 PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 425
ing against Manichaeism (21). Jerome presses him on the question of the origin of souls (22}, pronouncing rashly
for creationism. He then passes to the question of the state of the body after the resurrection (23), asserting
the restoration of thejles/i as it now is (24-27), both in the case of Christ (28) and in our own, adducing test"
monies from the Old Testament (29-32), and discussing the appearances of our Lord after His resurrection (34-
36). He then passes to a detailed examination of John's letter or "Apology " to Theophilus (37), quoting its words,
and telling the story of the mission of Isidore (37, 38), and the attempts of the Count Archelaus to make peace
(39). The ordination of Paulinianus.on which John lays stress, is a subterfuge (40, 41). The schism is due to
the heretical tendencies of the bishop, who is everywhere denounced by Epiphanius (42, 43).
The letter is, throughout, violent and contemptuous in its tone, with an arrogant assumption that the writer
is in possession of the whole truth on the difficult subject on which he writes, and that he has a right to demand
from his bishop a confession of faith on each point on which he chooses to catechise him. Its importance lies in
the fact that it, to a large extent, fixed the belief of churchmen on the points it deals with, and the mode of
dealing with supposed heresy, for more than a thousand years.
i. If, according to the ' Apostle Paul, we
cannot pray as we feel, and speech does not
express the thoughts of our own minds, how
much more dangerous is it to judge of an-
other man's heart, and to trace and explain
the meaning of the particular words and ex-
pressions which he uses ? The nature of man
is prone to mercy, and in considering an-
other's sin, every one commiserates himself.
Accordingly, if you blame one who offends in
word, a man will say it was only simplicity ;
if you tax a man with craft, he to whom you
speak will not admit that there is anything
more in it than ignorance, so that he may
avoid the suspicion of malice. And it will
thus come to pass that you, the accuser, are
made a slanderer, and the censured party is
regarded, not as a heretic, but merely as a
man without culture. You know, Pamma-
chius, you know that it is not enmity or the
lust of glory which leads me to engage in
this work, but that I have been stimulated by
your letters and that I act out of the fervour
of my faith ; and, if possible, I would have all
understand that I cannot be blamed for impa-
tience and rashness, seeing that I speak only
after the lapse of three years. In fact, if you
had not told me that the minds of many are
troubled at the "Apology" which I am about
to discuss, and are tossing to and fro on a sea
of doubt, I had determined to persist in
silence.
2. So away with " Novatus, who would not
hold out a hand to the erring ! perish 3 Mon-
tanus and his mad women ! Montanus, who
would hurl the fallen into the abyss that they
may never rise again. Every day we all sin
and make some slip or other. Being then
merciful to ourselves, we are not rigorous
towards others ; nay, rather, we pray and be-
seech 4 him either to simply tell us our own
faults, or to openly defend those of other men.
1 Rom. viii. 26.
2 Novatus the Carthaginian was the chief ally of Novatian,
who, about the middle of the third century, founded the sect of
the Cathari, or pure. The allusion is to the severity with which
they treated the lapsed.
3 Maximilla and Priscilla, who forsook their husbands and fol-
lowed him, professing to be inspired prophetesses. Circ. A.D.
150. Montanus, like Novatian, refused to re-admit the lapsed,
* That is, John.
I dislike ambiguities ; I dislike to be told
what is capable of two meanings. Let us
contemplate with ' unveiled face the glory of
the Lord. Once upon a time the people of
Israel halted2 between two opinions. But,
said Elias, which is by interpretation the
strong one of the Lord* " How long halt ye be-
tween two opinions ? If the Lord be God,
go after him ; but if Baal, follow him."
And the Lord himself says concerning the
Jews,4 " The strange children lied unto me ;
the strange children became feeble, and
limped out of their by-paths." If there really
is no ground for suspecting him of heresy
(as I wish and believe), why does he not
speak out my opinion in my own words ?
He calls it simplicity ; I interpret it as artful-
ness. He wishes to convince me that his
belief is sound ; let his speech, then, also be
sound. And, indeed, if the ambiguity
attached to a single word, or a single state-
ment, or two or three, I could be indulgent
on the score of ignorance ; nor would I
judge what is obscure or doubtful by the
standard of what is certain and clear. But,
as things are, this " simplicity " is nothing but
a platform trick, like walking on tiptoe over
eggs or standing corn ; there is doubt and
suspicion everywhere. You might suppose he
was not writing an exposition of the faith, but
was writing a disputation on some imaginary
theme. What he is now so keen upon, we learnt
long ago in the schools. He puts on our own
armour to fight against us. Even if his faith
be correct, and he speaks with circumspec-
tion and reserve, his extreme care rouses my
suspicions. 6 " He that walketh uprightly,
walketh boldly." It is folly to bear a bad
name for nothing. A charge is brought
against him of which he is not conscious. Let
him confidently deny the charge which hangs
upon a single word, and freely turn the tables
against his adversary. Let the one exhibit the
same boldness in repelling the charge which the
other shows in advancing it. And when he
1 ? Cor. iii. 18.
- In Jerome's text, " limped in both its feet." It seemed better
to give the accepted meaning.
8 1 Kings xviii. 21. * Ps. xviii, 45! 5 Prov, x. 9,
iz6
JEROME.
has said all that he wishes and purposes to
say, and such things as are above suspicion, if
his opponent persists in slander, let him try
conclusions in open court. I wish no one to
sit still under an imputation of heresy, lest, if
he say nothing, his want of openness be inter-
preted, amongst those who are not aware of
his innocence, as the consciousness of guilt,
although there is no need to demand the pres-
ence of a man and to reduce him to silence
when you have his letters in your possession.
3. We all know what1 he wrote to you,
what charge he brought against you, wherein
(as you maintain) he has slandered you.
Answer the points, one by one ; follow the
footsteps of this letter ; leave not a single jot
or tittle of the slander unnoticed. For if you
are careless, and accidentally pass over any-
thing as I believe you on your oath to have
done, he will immediately cry out : " Now,
now, you have got the worst of it, the whole
thing turns upon this." Words do not sound
the same in the ears of friends and enemies.
An enemy looks for a knot even in a bul-
rush ; a friend judges even crooked to be
straight. It is a saying of secular writers
that lovers are blind in their judgments,
though, perhaps, you are too busy with the
sacred books to pay any attention to such
literature. You should never boast of what
your friends think of you. That is true
testimony which comes from the lips of foes.
On the contrary, if a friend speaks in your be-
half he will be considered not as a witness
but a judge or a partisan. This is the sort
of thing your enemies will say, who perhaps
give no credit to you, and only wish to vex
you. But I, whom you say you have never
willingly injured, yet whose name you are
always bound to bandy about in your letters,
advise you either to openly proclaim the faith
of the Church, or to speak as you believe.
For that cautious mincing and weighing of
words may, no doubt, deceive the unlearned ;
but a careful hearer and reader will quickly
detect the snare, and will show in open day-
light the subterranean mines by which truth
is overthrown. The Arians (no one knows
more about them than you) for a long time pre-
tended that they condemned the 'Jlomooiision
on account of the offence it gave, and they be-
smeared poisonous error with honeyed words.
But at last the snake uncoiled itself, and its
deadly head, which lay concealed under all its
folds, was pierced by the sword of the Spirit.
The Church, as you know, welcomes penitents,
and is so overwhelmed by the multitude of
I That is, Epiphanius. See Jerome, Letter 1. 1, c. 6. Epiph-
ysitis prays that God would free John and Rufinus and all their
flock from all heresies.
■ The 1 doctrine that the Son is of "one substance with the
father, More correctly ofor.t essence, etc,
sinners that it is forced, in the interests of
the misguided flocks, to be lenient to the
wounds of the shepherds.' Ancient and
modern heresy observes the same rule — the
people hear one thing, the priests preach an-
other.
4. And first, before I translate and insert
in this book the letter which you wrote to
Bishop Theophilus, and show you that 1 un-
derstand your excessive care and circumspec-
tion, I should like a word of expostulation
with you. What is the meaning of this
towering arrogance which makes you refuse
to reply to those who question you respecting
the faith ? How is it that you regard almost
as public enemies the vast multitude of
brethren, and the bands of monks, who re-
fuse to communicate with you in Palestine ?
The Son of God, for the sake of one sick
sheep, leaving the ninety and nine on the
mountains, endured the buffeting, the cross,
the scourge ; He took up the burden, and
patiently carried on His shoulders to heaven
the voluptuous woman that was a sinner.
Is it for you to act the " most reverend
father in God," the fastidious prelate ; to
stand apart in your wealth and wisdom, in
your grandeur and your learning ; to frown
superciliously upon your fellow servants, and
scarce vouchsafe a glance to those who have
been redeemed with the blood of your Lord ?
Is this what you have learnt from the Apostles'
precept to be 2 " ready always to give answer to
every man that asketh you a reason concern-
ing the hope that is in you " ? Suppose we do,
as you pretend, seek occasion, and that, under
the pretext of zeal for the faith, we are sow-
ing strife, framing a schism, and fomenting
quarrels. Then take away the occasion from
those who wish for an occasion ; so that
having given satisfaction on the point of faith,
and solved all the difficulties in which you
are involved, you may show clearly to all that
the dispute is not one of doctrine, but of
3 order. But perhaps when questioned con-
cerning the faith, you say that it is from wise
forethought that you hold your tongue, so
that it may not be said that you have proved
yourself a heretic — inasmuch as you give
satisfaction to your accusers. If that be so,
then men ought not to refute any charges
of which they are accused, lest, having denied
them, they may be held to be guilty. The
accusations of the laity, deacons, and pres-
byters, arc, I suppose, beneath your notice.
For you can, as you are perpetually boast-
1 The meaning is that, where error is widespread, the Church
authorities are forced to wink at speciously expressed error in the
pastors.
2 i Pet. iii. 15.
3 John complained of the ordination of Paulinianus, Jerome's
brother, to the priesthood by Epiphanius, for the monastery of
liethlehcm,
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM.
427
ing, make a thousand clerics in an hour.
But you have to answer Epiphanius, our
father in God, who, in the letters which he
sent, openly calls you a heretic. Certainly
you are not his superior in respect of years,
of learning, of his exemplary life, or of the
judgment of the whole world. If it is a
question of age, you are a young man writ-
ing lo an old one. If it is one of knowledge,
you are a person not so very accomplished
writing io a learned man, although your
partisans maintain that you are a more fin-
ished speaker than Demosthenes, more sharp-
witted than Chrysippus, wiser than Plato,
and perhaps have persuaded you that they
are right. As regards his life and devotion
to the faith, I will say no more, that I may
not seem to be seeking to wound you. At
the time when the whole East (except our
fathers in God Athanasius and Paulinus) was
overrun by the Arian and Eunomian heresies ;
when you did not hold communion with the
Westerns ; then, in the very worst of the
exile which made them confessors, he, though
a simple convent priest, gained the ear of
Eutychius, and afterwards as bishop of
Cyprus was unmolested by Valens. For he
was always so highly venerated that heretics
on the throne thought it would redound to
their own disgrace if they persecuted such
a man. Write therefore to him. Answer
his letter. So let the rest understand your
purpose and judge of your eloquence and
wisdom ; do not keep all your accomplish-
ments to yourself. Why, when you are chal-
lenged, in one quarter, do you turn your arms
towards another ? A question is put to you
in Palestine, your answer is given in Egypt.
When some are blear-eyed, you anoint the
eyes of others who are not affected. If you
tell another what is meant to give us satisfac-
tion, such action springs entirely from pride ;
if you tell him what we do not ask for, it is
quite superfluous.
5. But you say " the bishop of Alexandria
approved of my letter." What did he ap-
prove of ? Your correct utterances against
Arius, Photinus, and Manichaeus. For who,
at this time of day, accuses you of being an
Arian ? Who now fastens on you the guilt of
Photinus and Manichceus ? Those faults were
long ago corrected, those enemies were
shattered. You were not so foolish as to
openly defend a heresy which you knew was
offensive to the whole Church. You knew
that if you had done this, you must have been
immediately removed, and your heart was
upon the pleasures of your episcopal throne.
You so tuned your expressions as to neither
displease the simple, nor offend your own
supporters. You wrote well, but nothing
to the purpose. How was the bishop of
Alexandria to know of what you were accused,
or what things they were of which a confes-
sion was demanded from you ? You ought to
have set forth in detail the charges brought
against you, and then have met them one by
me. There is an old story which tells how
a certain pleader, when he was speaking
fluently, was carried along by a torrent of
words, without touching the question before
the court, and thus drew the wise remark from
the judge, " Excellent ! excellent ! but to
what purpose is all this excellence ? " Quacks
have but one lotion for all affections of the
eyes. He who is accused of many things, and
in dissipating the charges passes over some,
[confesses all that he omits to mention. Did
you not reply to the letter of Epiphanius,
and yourself choose the points for refuta-
tion ? No doubt, in replying, you rested on
the axiom, that no man is so brave as to put
the sword to his own throat. Choose which
'alternative you like. You shall have your
choice: you either replied to the letter of
Epiphanius, or you did not. If you did reply,
why did you take no notice of the most impor-
. tant, and the most numerous, of the charges
j brought against you? If you did not reply,
I what becomes of your " Apology," of which you
[boast amongst the simple, and which you are
scattering broadcast amongst those who do
not understand the matter ?
6. The questions for you to answer were
arranged, as I shall presently show, under
eight heads. You touch only three, and pass
on. As regards the rest, you maintain a mag-
nificent silence. If you had with perfect
frankness replied to seven, I should still cling
to the charge which remained ; and what you
said nothing about, that I should hold to be
the truth. But as things are, you have caught
the wolf by the ears ; you can neither hold
fast, nor dare let go. With a sort of careless
security and an air of abstraction, you skim
over and touch the surface of three in which
there is nothing or but little of importance.
And your procedure is so dark and close that
you confess more by your silence than you
rebut by your arguments. Every one has the
right forthwith to say to you,1 "If the light
that is in thee be darkness, how great is the
darkness." Even in answering three little
questions, respecting which you seemed to
say something, you are not clear from sus-
picion and from blame, but your replies are
incontestably marked by deceit and slipperi-
ness ; what, then, are we to do with the re-
maining five, with regard to which, because
no opportunity was afforded for ambiguity,
1 Matt. vi. 23.
JEROME.
and you were therefore unable to cheat your
hearers, you preferred to maintain unbroken
silence rather than openly confess what had
been covered in obscurity ?
7. The questions relate to the passages in
the 'Tlepl Apx&v. The first is this, " for as it
is unfitting to say that the Son can see the
Father, so neither is it meet to think that the
Holy Spirit can see the Son." The second
point is the statement that souls are tied up
in the body as in a prison ; and that before
man was made in Paradise they dwelt amongst
rational creatures in the heavens. Where- 1
fore, afterwards to console itself, the soul
says in the Psalms,0 " Before I was humbled,
I went wrong" ; and s " Return, my soul, to
thy rest" ; and 4 " Lead my soul out of pris-
on " ; and similarly elsewhere. Thirdly, he
says that both the devil and demons will some
time or other repent, and ultimately reign with
the saints. Fourthly, he interprets the coats
of skin, with which Adam and Eve were
clothed after their fall and ejection from
Paradise, to be human bodies, and we are to
suppose of course that previously, in Paradise,
they had neither flesh, sinews, nor bones.
Fifthly, he most openly denies the resurrec-
tion of the flesh and the bodily structure, and
the distinction of senses, both in his explana-
tion of the first Psalm, and in many other of
his treatises. Sixthly, he so allegorises Para-
dise as to destroy historical truth, under-
standing angels instead of .trees, heavenly vir-
tues instead of rivers, and he overthrows all
that is contained in the history of Paradise by
his figurative interpretation. Seventhly, he
thinks that the waters which are said in Scrip-
ture to be above the heavens are holy and
supernal essences, while those which are
above the earth and beneath the earth are,
on the contrary, demoniacal essences. The
eighth is Origen's cavil that the image and like-
ness of God, in which man was created, was
lost, and was no longer in man after he was
expelled from Paradise.
8. These are the arrows with which you
are pierced ; these the weapons with which
throughout the whole letter you are wounded;
or I should rather say Epiphanius throws him-
self as a suppliant at your knees, and casts
his hoary locks beneath your feet, and, for a
time laying aside his episcopal dignity, prays
for your salvation in words such as' these :
"Grant to me and to yourself the favour of
your salvation ; save yourself, as it is written,
from this crooked generation,6 and forsake
the heresy of Origen, and all heresies, dearly
beloved." And lower down, " In the defence
of heresy you kindle hatred against me, and
destroy that love which I had towards you ;
insomuch that you would make us even repent
of holding communion with you who so reso-
lutely defend the errors and doctrines of
Origen." Tell me, prince of arguers, to
which, out of the eight sections, you have
replied. For the present, I say nothing of
the rest. Take the first blasphemy — that the
Son cannot see the Father, nor the Holy
Spirit the Son. By what weapons of yours
has it been pierced ? The answer we get is,
" We believe that the Holy and Adorable
Trinity are of the same substance ; that they
are co-eternal, and of the same glory and
Godhead, and we anathematize those who say
that there is any greatness, smallness, ine-
quality, or aught that is visible in the God-
head of the Trinity. But as we say the
Father is incorporeal, invisible, and eternal ;
so we say the Son and Holy Spirit are incor-
poreal, invisible, and eternal." If you did
not say this, you would not hold to the
Church. I do not ask whether there was not
a time when you refused to say this. I will
not discuss the question, whether you were
fond of those who preached such doctrines;
on whose side you were when, for expressing
those sentiments, they underwent banish-
ment ; or who the man was that, when the
presbyter Theo preached in the Church that
the Holy Spirit is God, closed his ears,
and excitedly rushed out of doors that he
might not so much as hear the impiety. I
recognize a man, as one may say, as one of
the faithful, even though his repentance
comes late. \That unhappy man Prastexta-
tus, who died after he had been chosen con-
sul, a profane person and an idolater, was
wont in sport to say to blessed Pope Damas-
cus, " Make me bishop of Rome, and I will at
once be a Christian." Why do you, with many
words and intricate periods, take the trouble
to show me that you are not an Arian ? Either
deny that the accused said what is imputed
to him, or, if he did give utterance to such
sentiments, condemn him for so speaking.
You have still to learn how intense is the
zeal of the orthodox. Listen to the Apostle :
: 2 " If I or an angel from heaven bring you
another gospel than that we have declared, let
him be anathema." You would extenuate the
I fault and hide the name of the guilty party :
as though everything were right and no one
were accused of blasphemy, you frame, in
artificial language, an uncalled-for profession
of your faith. Speak out at once, and let
1 Origen's great speculative work "On First Principles."
>Ps. cxix. 67. 8Ps. cxvi. 7. *Ps. cxlii. 7.
f Acts 11. 40.
1 Vettius Agorius Pratextatus, one of the most virtuous of the
heathen. Jerome writes of him to Marcella (Letter XXIII. 2):
" I wish you to know that the consul designate is now in Tar*
tarus."
2 Gal. i. 8.
TO PAMMACHItJS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 42$
your letter thus begin : " Let him be ac-
cursed who has dared to write such things."
Pure faith is impatient of delay. As soon as
the scorpion appears, he must be crushed un-
der foot. David, who was proved to be a
man after God's own heart, says : ' " Do not
I hate those that hate thee, O Lord, and did
not I pine away over thine enemies ? I hated
them with a perfect hatred." Had I heard
my father, or mother, or brother say such
things against my Master Christ, I would
have broken their blasphemous jaws like
those of a mad dog, and my hand should have
been amongst the first lifted up against them.
They who said to father and mother,2 " We
know you not," these men fulfilled the will of
the Lord. 3 He that loveth father or mother
more than Christ, is not worthy of Him.
9. It is alleged that your master, whom you
call a Catholic, and whom you resolutely de-
fend, said, "the Son sees not the Father, and
the Holy Spirit sees not the Son." And you
tell me that the Father is invisible, the Son
invisible, the Holy Ghost invisible, as though
the angels, both cherubim and seraphim, were
not also, in accordance with their nature,
invisible to our eyes. David was certainly
in doubt even as regards the appearance of
the heavens : 4 " I shall see," he says, " the
heavens, the works of Thy fingers." I shall
see, not I see. I shall see when with unveiled
face I shall behold the glory of the Lord : but
6 now we see in part, and we know in part.
The question is whether the Son sees the
Father, and you say " The Father is invisible."
It is disputed whether the Holy Spirit sees the
Son, and you answer" The Son is invisible."
The point at issue is, whether the Trinity have
mutually the vision of one another ; human
ears cannot endure such blasphemy, and you
say the Trinity is invisible. You wander in
the realms of praise in all other directions ;
you spend your eloquence on things which no
one wants to hear about. You put your
hearer off the scent, to avoid telling us what
we ask for. But granted that all this is super-
fluous. We make you a present of the fact
that you are not an Arian ; nay, even more,
that you never have been. We allow that in
the explanation of the first section no suspi-
cion rests upon you, and that all that you said
was frank and free from error. We speak to
you with equal frankness. Did our father in
God, Epiphanius, accuse you of being an
Arian ? Did he fasten upon you the heresy of
6 Eunomius, the Godless, or that of 'Aerius ?
1 Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22. • Deut. xxxiii. g. 3 Matt. x. 37.
4 Ps. viii. 3. B 1 Cor. xiii. g.
0 Eunomius held that the Son " resembles the Father in noth-
ing but his working," and similar doctrines.
7 Of Sebaste, in-the Lesser Armenia. Epiphanius described
him as an Arian. He asserted that Bishops and Presbyters were
equal.
The point of the whole letter is that you fol-
low the erroneous doctrines of Origen, and
are associated with others in this heresy.
Why, when a question is put to you on one
point, do you give an answer about another ;
and, as if you were speaking to fools, hide the
charges contained in the letters, and tell us
what you said in the church in the presence
of Epiphanius ? A confession of faith is de-
manded of you, and you inflict upon us your
very eloquent dissertations. I beseech my
readers to remember the judgment seat of
the Lord, and as you know that you must be
judged for the judgment you give, favour
neither me nor my opponent, and consider
not the persons of the arguers, but the case
itself. Let us then continue what we began.
10. You write in your letter that, before Pau-
linianus was made a presbyter, the pope
Epiphanius never took you to task in con-
nection with Origen's errors. To begin with,
this is doubtful, and I have to consider which
of the two men I should believe. He says
that he did object, you deny it ; he brings
forward witnesses, you will not listen to them
when they are produced ; he even relates
that 1 another besides yourself was arraigned
by him : you refuse to admit this in the case
of either ; he sends a letter to you by one of
his clergy, and demands an answer : you are
silent, dare not open your lips, and, chal-
lenged in Palestine, speak at Alexandria.
Which of you is to be believed is not for me
to say. I suppose that you yourself would
not, in the face of so distinguished a man, ven-
ture to claim truth for yourself, and impute
falsehood to him. But it is possible that
each speaks from his own point of view. I
will call a witness against you, and that wit-
ness is yourself. For if there were no dis-
pute about doctrines, if you had not roused
the anger of an old man, if he had given you
no reply, what need was there for you, who
do not excel in gifts of speech, to discuss
in a single sermon in the church the
whole circle of doctrine — the Trinity, the
assumption of our Lord's body, the cross,
hell, the nature of angels, the condition of
souls, the Saviour's resurrection and our own,
and this as taking place On this earth (a topic
perhaps omitted in your manuscript), in the
presence of the masses, in the presence, too,
of a man of such distinction ? and to speak
with such perfect assurance and to gallop
through it all without stopping to draw
breath ? What shall we say of the ancient
writers of the Church, who Avere scarce
able to explain single difficulties in many
volumes ? What of the vessel of election,
1 This probably relates to Rufinus, whose name was men-
tioned by Epiphanius in his letter to John.
43^
JEROME.
ihe Gospel trumpet, the roaring of our lion,
the thunderer of the Gentiles, the river of
Christian eloquence, who, when confronted
by the ' mystery concealed from ages and
generations, and by 3 the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God, rather
marvels at it than discusses it ? What of
Isaiah, who pointed beforehand to the
Virgin ? That single thing was too much for
him, and he says, ' " Who shall declare his gen-
eration ?" In our age a poor mannikin has
been found, who, with one turn of the tongue,
and a brilliancy exceeding that of the sun,
discourses on all ecclesiastical questions. If
no one asked you for the display, and every-
thing was quiet, you were foolish to enter
voluntarily upon so hazardous a discussion. !
If, on the other hand, the object of your speak- \
ing was the satisfaction you owed to the faith,
it follows that the cause of strife was not the
ordination of a 4 priest, who, it is certain, was
ordained long after. You have deceived only
those who were not on the spot, and your
letters flatter the ears of strangers only.
n. We were present (we know the whole
case) when the bishop Epiphanius spoke
against Origen in your church, and he was the
ostensible, you the real object of attack. You
and your crew grinned like dogs, drew in your
nostrils, scratched your heads, nodded to one
another, and talked of the " silly old man."
Did you not, in front of the Lord's tomb, send
your archdeacon to tell him to cease dis-
cussing such matters ? What bishop ever
gave such a command to one of his own pres-
byters in the presence of the people ? When
you were going from the Church of the Resur-
rection to the Church of the Holy Cross, and
a crowd of all ages, and both sexes, was flow-
ing to meet him, presenting to him their little
ones, kissing his feet, plucking the fringes of his
garments, and when he could not stir a step
forward, and could hardly stand against the
waves of the surging crowd, were not you so
tortured by envy as to exclaim against "the
vainglorious old man " ? And you were not
ashamed to tell him to his face that his stop-
ping was of set purpose and design. Pray
recall that day when the people who had been
called together were kept waiting until the
seventh hour by the mere hope of hearing
Epiphanius, and the subject of the harangue
you then delivered. You spoke, forsooth,
with indignant rage against the Anthropo-
morphites, who, with rustic simplicity, think
that God has actually the members of which
we read in Scripture ; and showed by your
eyes, hands, and every gesture that you had
the old man in view, and wished him to be
suspected of that most foolish heresy. When
through sheer fatigue, with dry mouth, head
thrown back, and quivering lips, to the satis-
faction of the whole people, who had longed
for the end, you at last wound up, how did
the crazy and " silly old man " treat you ?
He rose to indicate that he would say a few
words, and after saluting the assembly with
voice and hand proceeded thus : "All that has
been said by one who is my brother in the
episcopate, but my son in point of years,
against the heresy of the Anthropomorphitcs,
has been well and faithfully spoken, and my
voice, too, condemns that heresy. But it is
fair that, as we condemn this heresy so we
should also condemn the perverse doctrines
of Origen." You cannot, I think, have for-
gotten what a burst of laughter, what shouts
of applause ensued. This is what you call in
your letter his speaking to the people anything
he chose, no matter what it might be. He,
forsooth, was mad because he contradicted
you in your own kingdom. "Anything he
chose, no matter what." Either give him
praise, or blame. Why, here as well as else-
where, do you move with so uncertain a step ?
If what he said was good, why not openly
proclaim it? if evil, why not boldly censure
it ? And yet, let us note with what wisdom,
modesty, and humility this pillar of truth and
faith, who dares to say that so illustrious a
man speaks to the people what he chooses,
alludes to himself. " One day I was speaking
in his presence ; and, taking occasion from
some words in the lesson for the day, I
expressed, in his hearing and in that of the
whole Church, such views respecting the faith
and all the doctrines of the Church as by the
grace of God I unceasingly teach in the
Church, and in my catechetical lectures."
12. What, I ask, is the meaning of this
effrontery and bombast? All philosophers
and orators attack Gorgias of Leontini for
daring openly to pledge himself to answer
any question which any person might choose
to put to him. If the honour of the priest-
hood and respect for your title did not
restrain me, and if I did not know what the
Apostle says,1 "I wist not, brethren, that he
was the high priest : for it is written, Thou
shaltnot speak evil of the ruler of thy people,"
how loudly and indignantly might I complain
of what you relate ! You, on the contrary,
disparage the dignity of your title by the con-
tempt which you throw, both in word and
deed, on one who is almost the father of the
whole episcopate, and a monument of the
sanctity of former days. You say that on a
certain day, when something in the lesson for
1 Col. i. =6.
* Paulinianus.
'-' Rom, xi.
Is. liii. 8.
1 Acts xxiii. 5 j Ex. xxii. =3,
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM.
431
the day stirred you up, you made a discourse
in his hearing, and in that of the whole
Church, concerning the faith and all the doc-
trines of the Church. After this we cannot
but wonder at the weakness of Demosthenes ;
for we are told that he spent a long time in
elaborating his splendid oration against
^schines. We are quite mistaken in looking
up to Tully ; for his merit, according to
Cornelius Nepos, who was present, was noth-
ing but this, that he delivered his famous
defence of the seditious tribune Cornelius,
almost word for word as it was published.
Behold a Lysias ' and a Gracchus raised up for
us ! or, to name one of more modern days, a
Quintus Aterius, 2 the man who had all his
powers at hand like a stock of ready money, so
that he needed some one to tell him when to
stop, and of whom Caesar Augustus said very
well, " Our friend Quintus must have the
break put on."
13. Is there any man in his right senses
who would declare that in a single sermon
he had discussed the faith and all the doc-
trines of the Church ? Pray show me what
that lesson is which is so seasoned with the
whole savour of Scripture that its occurrence
in the service induced you to enter the arena
and put your wit to the hazard. And if you
had not been overwhelmed by the torrent of
your eloquence, you might have been con-
vinced that it was impossible for you to speak
upon the whole circle of doctrines without
any deliberation. But how stands the case ?
You promise one thing and present another.
Our custom is, for the space of forty days, to
deliver public lectures to those who are to be
baptized on the doctrine of the Holy and
Adorable Trinity. If the lesson for the day
stimulated you to discuss all doctrines in a
single hour, what necessity was there to repeat
the instruction of the previous forty days ?
But if you meant to recapitulate what you had
been saying during the whole of Lent, how
could one lesson on a certain day " stir you
up" to speak of all these doctrines? But
even here his language is ambiguous ; for pos-
sibly he took occasion, from the particular
lesson, to go over summarily what he was
accustomed to deliver in church to the candi-
dates for baptism during the forty days of
Lent. For it is eloquence all the same,
whether few things are said in many words,
or many things in few words. There is
another permissible meaning, that, as soon as
the one lesson gave him the spur, he was fired
with such oratorical zeal that for forty days
he never ceased speaking. But, then, even
1 A celebrated orator of Athens, many of whose orations are ex-
tant. B. 458, d. 378 B.C.
1 This story is "from the 4th Declamation of Seneca. |
the easy-going old man, who was hanging upon
his lips, and longing to know what he had
never heard before, must have almost fallen
from his seat asleep. However, we must
put up with it ; perhaps this, also, is a case
of the simplicity which we know to be his
manner.
14. Let us quote the rest, in which, after
the labyrinths of his perplexing discussion,
he expresses himself by no means ambigu-
ously but openly, and thus concludes his
wonderful homilies : "When we had thus
spoken in his presence, and when out of the
extreme honour which we paid him we invited
him to speak after us, he praised our preach-
ing, and said that he marvelled at it, and
declared to all that it was the Catholic faith."
The extreme honour you paid him is evi-
denced by the extreme insults offered to him,
when through the archdeacon you bade him
be silent, and loudly proclaimed that it was the
love of praise which made him linger among
the crowd. The present is the key to the
past. For three whole years from that time
he has brooded in silence ' over the wrongs he
suffered, and, spurning all personal strife, has
only asked for a more correct expression of
your faith. You, with your endless resources,
and making a profit out of the religion of the
whole world, have been sending those very
dignified envoys of yours hither and thither,
and have been trying to awake the old man
out of his sleep that he might answer you.
And in truth it was right that as you had con-
ferred such signal honour upon him he should
praise your utterances, particularly such as
were ex tempore. But as men have a way of
sometimes praising what they do not approve,
and of nourishing another's folly by meaning-
less commendation, he not only praised your
utterances, but praised and marvelled at them
as well ; and what is more, to magnify the
marvel, he declared to the whole people that
they were in harmony with the Catholic faith.
Whether he really said all this, we ourselves
are witnesses. The fact is, he came to us
half dead with dismay at your words, and
saying that he had been too precipitate in
communicating with you. And further, when
he was much entreated by the whole monas-
tery to return to you from Bethlehem, and
was unable to resist the entreaties of so
many, he did indeed return in the evening,
but only to escape again at midnight. His
letters to the pope Siricius prove the same
thing, and if you read them you will see
clearly in what sense he marvelled at your
utterances and acknowledged them Catholic.
But we are threshing chaff, and have spent
1 Literally " devours his wrongs,"
432
JEkOME.
many words in refuting gratuitous nonsense
and old wives' fables.
15. Let us pass on to the second point.
Here, as though there were nothing for his
consideration, he vapours, and vents himself
unconcernedly, pretending to be asleep, so
that he may lull his readers also into slumber.
" Rut we were speaking of the other matters
pertaining to the' faith, that is to say, that all
things visible and invisible, the heavenly
powers and terrestrial creatures have one
and the same creator, even God, that is, the
Holy Trinity, as the blessed David says, ' ' By
the word of the Lord were the heavens estab-
lished, and all the host of them by the breath
of His mouth ' ; and the creation of man is a
simple proof of the same ; for it was God Him-
self who took slime from the earth, and
through the grace of His own inspiration be-
stowed on it a reasonable soul, and one en-
dowed with free will ; not a part of His own
nature (as some impiously teach), but His
own workmanship. And concerning the holy
angels, the belief of Christians similarly fol-
lows Holy Scripture, which says of God,
2 "Who maketh His angels spirits, and His
ministers a flaming fire." Holy Scripture does
not allow us to believe that their nature is
unchangeable, for it says, 3 " And angels
which kept not their own principality, but I
left their proper habitation, He hath kept in
everlasting bonds under darkness unto the j
judgment of the great day "; we know, there-
fore, that they have changed, and having lost j
their own dignity and glory have become more
like demons. But that the souls of men are |
caused by the fall of the angels, or by their j
conversion, we never believed, nor have we so
taught (God forbid !), and we confess that the
view is at variance with the teaching of the
Church."
16. We want to know whether souls, before
man was made in paradise, and Adam was
fashioned out of the earth, were among reason-
able creatures ; whether they had their own
rank, lived, continued, subsisted ; and whether
the doctrine of Origen is true, who said that
all reasonable creatures, incorporeal and in-
visible, if they grow remiss, little by little
sink to a lower level, and, according to the
character of the places to which they de-
scend, take to themselves bodies. (For in-
stance, that they may be at first ethereal,
afterward aerial.) And that when they reach
the neighbourhood of earth they are invested
with grosser bodies, and last of all are tied to
human flesh ; and that the demons themselves
who, of their own choice, together with their
leader the devil, have forsaken the service of
' Ps, xxxiii. 6,
8 Ps. civ. 4.
3 Jude 6.
God, if they begin to amend a little, are
clothed with human flesh, so that, when they
have undergone a process of repentance
after the resurrection, and after pass-
ing through the same circuit by which they
reached the flesh, they may return to proximity
to God, being released even from aerial and
ethereal bodies ; and that then every knee
will bow to God, of things in heaven, and
things on earth, and things under the earth,
and that God may be all to all. When these
are the real questions, why do you pass over
the points at issue, and, leaving the arena, fix
yourself in the region of remote and utterly
irrelevant discussion ?
17. You believe that one God made all
creatures, visible and invisible. Arius, who
says that all things were created through the
Son, would also confess this. If you had
been accused of holding Marcion's heresy,
which introduces two Gods, the one the God
of goodness, the other of justice, and asserts
that the former is the Creator of things invisi-
ble, the latter of things visible, your answer
would have been well adapted to satisfy me
on a question of that sort. You believe it
is the Trinity which creates the universe.
Arians and Semi-Arians deny that, blasphe-
mously maintaining that the Holy Spirit is not
the Creator, but is Himself created. But who
now lays it to your charge that you are an
Arian ? You say that the souls of men are
not a part of the nature of God, as though you
were now called a Manichasan by Epiphanius.
You protest against those who assert that
souls are made out of angels, and say that
their nature, in its fall, becomes the substance
of humanity. Don't conceal what you know,
nor feign a simplicity which you do not
possess. Origen never said that souls are
made out of angels, since he teaches that the
term angels describes an office, not a nature.
For in his book TJspi ,Apx^>v he says that
angels, and thrones, and dominions, powers
and rulers of the world, and of darkness, and '
every name which is named, not only in this
world, but in that which is to come, become
the souls of those bodies which they have
assumed either through their own desire or
for the sake of their appointed duties ; that
the sun also, himself, and the" moon, and the
company of all the stars, are the souls of
what were once reasonable and incorporeal
creatures ; and that though now subject to
vanity, that is to say, to fiery bodies which
we, in our ignorance and inexperience, call
luminaries of the world, they shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption and brought
to the liberty of the glory of the sons of
1 Eph, i, ax,
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM.
433
God. Wherefore every creature groaneth and
travaileth in pain together. And the Apostle
laments, saying,1 " Wretched man that I am !
who shall deliver me from the body of this
death ? " This is not the time to controvert
this doctrine, which is partly heathen, and
partly Platonic. About ten years ago in my
" Commentary " on Ecclesiastes, and in my
explanation of the Epistle to the Ephesians,
I think my own views were made clear to
thoughtful men.
1 8. I now beg you, whose eloquence is so
exuberant, and who expound the truth con-
cerning all topics in the course of one sermon,
to give an answer to your interrogators in
concise and clear terms. When God formed
man out of slime, and through the grace of
His own inspiration gave him a soul, had that
soul previously existed and subsisted which
was afterwards bestowed by the inspiration of
God, and where was it ? or did it gain its
capacity both to exist and to live from the
power of God, on the sixth day, when the body
was formed out of the slime ? You are silent
regarding this, and pretend you do not know
what is wanted, and busy yourself with irrele-
vant questions. You leave Origen untouched,
and rave against the absurdities of Marcion,
Apollinaris, Eunomius, Manichaeus, and the
other heretics. You are asked for a hand
and you put out a foot, and all the while
covertly insinuate the doctrine to which you
hold. You speak smooth things to plain men
like us, but in such a way as in no degree to l
displease those of your own party.
19. You say that demons rather than souls
are made out of angels, as though you did not |
know that, according to Origen, the demons I
themselves are souls belonging to aerial j
bodies, and, after being demons, destined to
become human souls if they repent. You j
write that the angels are mutable ; and, under j
cover of a pious opinion, introduce an impiety j
by maintaining that, after the lapse of many
ages, souls are produced not from the angels, ;
but from whatever it was into which the angels
were first changed. I wish to make my mean-
ing clearer ; suppose a person of the rank of
tribune to be degraded through his own mis-
conduct, and to pass through the several steps
of the cavalry service until he becomes a pri-
vate, does he all at once cease to be a tribune
" and become a recruit ? No ; but he is first
colonel, then, successively, major, officer of
two hundred, captain, commissary, patrol,
trooper, and, lastly, a recruit ; and although
our tribune eventually becomes a common
1 Rom. vii. 24.
2 The names of the officers of the Roman Legion (some of them
of doubtful meaning), viz., tribunus, primicerius, senator, duce-
narius, centenarius, biarchus, circitor, eques, have been rendered
approximately by these linglish equivalents.
soldier, still he did not pass from the rank of
tribune to that of recruit, but to that of
colonel. Origen uses Jacob's ladder to teach
that reasonable creatures by slow degrees
sink to the lowest step, that is to flesh and
blood ; and that it is impossible for any one
to be suddenly precipitated from number one
hundred to number one without reaching the
last by passing through the successive numbers,
as in descending the rounds of a ladder ; and
that they change their bodies as often as they
change their resting-places in going from
heaven to earth. These are the tricks -and
artifices by which you make us out to be
1 " Pelusiots " and "beasts of burden " and
" animal men " who do " not receive the things
pertaining to the Spirit." 3 You are the " peo-
ple of Jerusalem," and can make a mock even
of the angels. But your mysteries are being
dragged into the light, and your doctrine,
which is a mere conglomerate of heathen
fables, is publicly exposed in the ears of
Christians. What you so much admire we
long ago despised when we found it in Plato.
And we despised it because we received the
foolishness of Christ. And we received the
foolishness of Christ because 3 the weakness
of God is wiser than men. And is it not a
shame for us, who are Christians and priests
of God, to entangle ourselves in words of
doubtful meaning, as though we were merely
jesting ; to keep our phrases balanced between
two meanings, in a way which deceives the
speaker himself more than his hearers ?
20. One of your company, when pressed by
me to say what he thought concerning the
soul, whether it had existed before the flesh,
or not, replied that soul and body had existed
together. I knew the man was a heretic, and
was seeking to entangle me in my speech. At
last I caught him saying that the soul gained
that name from the time when it began to
animate a body, whereas it was formerly called
a demon, or angel of Satan, or spirit of forni-
cation, or, on the other hand, dominion, power,
agent of the spirit, or messenger. Well, but
if the soul existed before Adam was made in
Paradise (in any rank and condition), and
lived and acted (for we cannot think that what
is incorporeal and eternal is dull and torpid
like a dormouse), there must have been some
precedent cause to account for the soul, which
at first had no body, being afterwards invested
with a body. And if it is natural to the soul
to be without a body, it must be contrary to
nature for it to be in a body. If it is contrary
to nature to be in a body, it follows that the
resurrection of the body is contrary to nature.
But the resurrection will not be contrary to
1 That is, apparently, with a play upon the word, Men 0/ Mud.
- Cor. ii, 14. J 1 Qor. i. 25.
434
JEROME.
nature ; therefore, according to you, the body,
which is contrary to nature, when it rises again
will be without a soul.
2i. You say that the soul is not of the es-
sence of God. Well ! This is what we might
expect, for you condemn the impious Mani-
chseus, to make mention of whose name is
pollution. You say that angels are not turned
into souls. I agree to some extent, although
I know what meaning you give to the words.
But, now that we have learnt what you deny,
we wish to know what you believe. " Having
taken slime of the earth," you say, " God
fashioned man, and through the grace of His
own inbreathing bestowed upon him a rational
soul, and through the grace of free will, not
a portion of His own divine nature (as some
impiously maintain), but His own handiwork."
See how he goes out of his way to be eloquent
about what we did not ask for. We know
that God fashioned man out of the earth ; we
are aware that He breathed into his face, and
man became a living soul ; we are not igno-
rant that the soul is characterized by reason
and free choice, and we know that it is the
workmanship of God. No one doubts that
Manichaeus errs in saying that the soul is the
essence of God. I now ask : When was that
soul made, which is the work of God, which is
distinguished by free will and reason, and is
not of the essence of the Creator ? Was it made
at the same time that man was made out of
the slime, and the breath of life was breathed
into his face ? Or, having previously existed,
and having associated with reasonable and
incorporeal creatures as well as lived, was it
afterwards gifted with the inbreathing of God ?
Here you are silent ; here you feign a rustic
simplicity, and make scriptural words a cloak
for unscriptural tenets. Where you affirm
what no one wants to know, that the soul is
not a part of God's own nature (as some im-
piously maintain), you ought rather to have
declared (and this is what we all want to
know) that it is not that which previously
existed, which He had before created, which
had long dwelt among rational, incorporeal,
and invisible creatures. You say none of these
things ; you bring forward Manichseus, and
keep Origen out of sight, and, just as when
children ask for something to eat their nurse-
maids put them off with some little joke, so
you direct the thoughts of us poor rustics to
other matters, so that we may be taken up with
the fresh character on the stage, and may not
ask for what we want.
22. But suppose the fact to be that you
merely omit this, and that your simplicity
does not mean something you are shrewd
enough to conceal. Having once begun to
speak of the soul, and to deduce arguments
on such an important topic from man's first
creation, why do you leave the discussion
in mid-air, and suddenly pass to the angels,
and the conditions under which the body of
our Lord existed ? Why do you pass by such a
vast slough of difficulty, and leave us to
stick in the mire ? If the inbreathing of God
(a view for which you have no liking, and a
point which you now leave unsettled) is the
creating of the human soul ; whence had
Eve her soul, seeing that God did not breathe
into her face ? But I will not dwell- upon
Eve, since' she, as a type of the Church, was
made out of one of her husband's ribs, and
ought not, after so many ages, to be subjected
to the calumnies of her descendants. I ask
whence Cain and Abel, who were the first-
born of our first parents, had their souls ?
And the whole human race downwards, what,
are we to think, was the origin of their souls ?
Did they come by propagation, like brute
beasts ? So that, as body springs from body,
so soul from soul. Or is it the case that
rational creatures, longing for bodily existence,
sink by degrees to earth, and at last are tied
ev.en to human bodies ? Surely (as the Church
teaches in accordance with the Saviour's
words,1 " My Father worketh hitherto and I
work "; and the passage in Isaiah,2 " Who mak-
eth the spirit of man in him "; and in the
Psalms,3 "Who fashioneth one by one the
hearts of them ") God is daily making souls —
He, with whom to will is to do, and who
never ceases to be a Creator. I know what
you are accustomed to say in opposition to
this, and how you confront us with adultery
and incest. But the dispute about these is a
tedious one, and would exceed the narrow lim-
its of the time at our disposal. The same argu-
ment may be retorted upon you, and whatever
seems unworthy in the Creator of the present
dispensation is again not unworthy, since it is
His gift. Birth from adultery imputes no blame
to the child, but to the father. As in the case
of seeds, the earth which cherishes does not
sin, nor the seed which is thrown into the
furrows, nor the heat and moisture, under
whose influence the grain bursts into bud,
but some man, as for example, the thief and
robber, who, by fraud and violence, plucks up
the seed : so in the begetting of men, the
womb, which corresponds to the earth,
receives its own, and nourishes what it has
received, and then gives a body to that which
it nourishes, and divides into the several
members the body it has formed. And among
those secret recesses of the belly the hand of
God is always working, and there is the same
Creator of body and soul. Do not despise
1 John v. 17.
2 That is, Zechariah xii.
Ps. xxxiii. 15.
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 435
the goodness of your Maker, who fashioned
you and made you as He chose. He Himself
is the virtue of God and the wisdom of God,
who, in the womb of the Virgin, built a house
for Himself. Jephthah, who is reckoned by
the Apostle among the saints, is the son of
a harlot. But listen: Esau, born of Rebecca
and Isaac, a " hairy man," both in mind and
body, like good wheat, degenerates into darnel
and wild oats ; because the cause of vice and
virtue does not lie in the seed, but in the will
of him who is born. If it is an offence to be
born with a human body, how is it that
Isaac, Samson, John Baptist, are the children
of promise ? You see, I trust, what it is to
have the courage of one's convictions. Sup-
pose I am wrong, I openly say what I think.
Do you, then, likewise either freely profess
our opinions, or firmly maintain your own.
Do not set yourself in my line of battle, so
that, by feigning simplicity, you maybe safe,
and may be able, when you choose, to stab
your opponent in the back. It is impossible
for me, at the present moment, to write a
book against the opinions of Origen. If
Christ gives us life, we will devote another
work to them. The point now is, whether the
accused has answered the questions put to
him, and whether his reply be clear and open.
23. Let us pass from this to the most noto-
rious point, that relating to the resurrection
of the flesh and of the body ; and here, my
reader, I would admonish you that you may
know I speak under a sense of fear and of
the judgment of God, and that you ought so
to hear. For, if the pure faith is to be found
in his exposition, and there is no suspicion
of unfaithfulness, I am not so foolish as to
seek an occasion of accusing him, and while
I wish to censure another for his fault be my-
self censured as a slanderer. I will ask you,
therefore, to read what follows on the resur-
rection of the flesh ; and, having read it, if
it satisfies you (I know it is well calculated
to please the ignorant), suspend your judg-
ment, wait a while, refrain from expressing
an opinion until I have finished my reply ;
and if after that it satisfies you, then you
shall fix on us the brand of slander. " His
passion also on the cross, His death and
burial, which was the saving of the world,
and His resurrection in a true and not an
imaginary sense, we confess ; and that ' being
the firstborn from the dead, He conveyed
to heaven the firstfruits of our bodily sub-
stance which, after being laid in the tomb, He
raised to life, thus giving us the hope of resur-
rection in the resurrection of His own body ;
wherefore we all hope so to rise from the dead,
as He rose again ; not in any foreign and
strange bodies, which are but phantom shapes
assumed for the moment ; but as He Him-
self rose again in that body which was laid
in the holy sepulchre at our very doors, so
we, in the very bodies with which we are now
clothed, and in which we are now buried,
hope to rise again for the same reason and
by the same ' command. For the bodies
which, as the Apostle says, are sown in cor-
ruption, shall rise in incorruption ; being sown
in dishonour, they shall rise in glory." 'It is
sown an animal body, it shall rise a spirit-
ual body ' ; and of them the Saviour said in
his teaching : 3 ' For they who shall be worthy
of that world, and of the resurrection from
the dead, shall neither marry nor be given in
marriage, for they can die no more, but shall
be as the angels of God, since they are the
sons of the resurrection.' "
24. Again, in another part of his letter,
that is, towards the end of his own homilies,
that he might cheat the ear of the ignorant,
he makes a grand parade and noise about the
Resurrection, but in ambiguous and balanced
language. He says : " We have not omitted
the second glorious advent of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall come in His own glory to judge
the quick and the dead ; for He shall awake
all the dead, and cause them to stand before
His own judgment-seat ; and shall render to
every one according to what he has done in
the body, whether it be good or bad ; for
every one shall either be crowned in the body
because he lived a pure and righteous life, or
be condemned, because he was the slave alike
of pleasure and iniquity." What we read in
the Gospel, that at the end of the world,1 if it
were possible, even the elect are to be seduced,
we see verified in this passage. The igno-
rant crowd hears of the dead and buried,
hears of the resurrection of the dead in a
true and not an imaginary sense, hears that
the firstfruits of our bodily substance in our
Lord's body have reached the heavenly
regions, hears that we shall rise again not in
foreign and strange bodies, which are mere
phantom shapes, but, as our Lord rose in the
body which lay amongst us in the holy sepul-
chre, so we also in the very bodies with which
we are now clothed and buried shall rise again
in the day of judgment. And that no one
might think this too little, he adds in the last
section : " And He shall render to every one
according to what he did in the body, whether
it were good or bad : for every one shall either
be crowned in the body for his pure and
righteous life, or shall be condemned, be-
1 Col. i. u
1 Jussione. Another reading, " Eadem ratione et visicne," might
be rendered, " In the same condition and the same appearance."
3 1 Cor. xv. 44. 3 Luke xx. 35, 36. * .Matt, xxiv. 24.
436
JEROME.
cause he was the slave of pleasure and in-
iquity." Hearing these things the ignorant
crowd suspects no artifice, no snares in all
this noise about the dead, the burial of the
body, and the resurrection. It believes things
are as they are said to be. For there is more
devotion in the ears of the people than in the
priest's heart.
25. Again and again, my reader, I admon-
ish you to be patient, and to learn what I also
have learnt through patience ; and yet, before
I take the veil off the dragon's face, and
briefly explain Origen's views respecting the
resurrection (for you cannot know the effi-
cacy of the antidote unless you see clearly
what the poison is), I beg you to read his
statements with caution, and to go over
them again and again. Mark well that, though
lie nine times speaks of the resurrection of
the body, he has not once introduced the
resurrection of the flesh, and you may fairly
suspect that he left it out on purpose. Well,
Origen says in several places, and especially
in his fourth book " Of the Resurrection," and
in the " Exposition of the First Psalm," and in
the " Miscellanies," that there is a double
error common in the Church, in which both
we and the heretics are implicated : " We, in
our simplicity and fondness for the flesh, say
that the same bones, and blood, and flesh, in
a word, limbs and features, and the whole
bodily structure, rise again at the last day :
so that, forsooth, we shall walk with our feet,
work with our hands, see with our eyes, hear
with our ears, and carry about with us a belly
never satisfied, and a stomach which digests
our food. Consequently, believing this, we
say that we must eat, drink, perform the
offices of nature, marry wives, beget children.
For what is the use of organs of generation,
if there is to be no marriage ? For what
purpose are teeth, if the food is not to be
masticated ? What is the good of a belly
and of meats, if, according to the Apostle,
both it and they are to be destroyed ? And the
same Apostle again exclaims,1 'Flesh and blood
shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, nor
shall corruption inherit incorruption.' " This,
according to him, is what we in our rustic
innocence maintain. But as for the heretics,
amongst whom are Marcion, Apelles, Valen-
tinus, Manes (a synomym for Mania), he says
that they utterly deny the resurrection of the
flesh and of the body, and allow salvation
only to the soul, and hold that it is futile for
us to say that we shall rise after the pattern
of our Lord, since our Lord also Himself rose
again in a phantom body, and not only His
resurrection, but His very nativity was docetic
1 1 Cor. xv. 58.
or imaginary ; that is, more apparent than
real. Origen himself is dissatisfied with both
opinions. He says that he shuns both errors,
that of the flesh, which our party maintain,
and that of the phantoms, maintained by the
heretics, because both sides go to the oppo-
site extremes, some wishing to be the same
that they have been, others denying altogether
the resurrection of the body. " There are
four elements," he says, " known to philoso-
phers and physicians : earth, water, air, and
fire, and out of these all things and human
bodies are compacted. We find earth in
flesh, air in the breath, water in the moisture
of the body, fire in its heat. When, then,
the soul, at the command of God, lets go this
perishing and feeble body, little by little all
things return to their parent substances :
flesh is again absorbed into the earth, the
breath is mingled with the air, the moisture
returns to the depths, the heat escapes to the
ether. And as if you throw into the sea a
pint of milk and wine, and wish again to
separate what is mixed together, although the
wine and milk which you threw in is not lost,
and yet it is impossible to keep separate what
was poured out ; so the substance of flesh
and blood does not perish, indeed, so far as
concerns the original matter, yet they cannot
again become the former structure, nor can
they be altogether the same that they were."
Observe that when such things are said, the
firmness of the flesh, the fluidity of the blood,
the density of the sinews, the interlacing of the
veins, and the hardness of the bones is de-
nied.
26. " For another reason," he says, " we con-
fess the resurrection of our bodies, those
which have been laid in the grave and have
turned to dust ; Paul's body will be that of
Paul, Peter's that of Peter, and each will
have his own ; for it is not right that souls
should sin in one body and be tormented in
another, nor is it worthy of the Righteous
Judge that one body should shed its blood for
Christ and another be crowned." Who, hear-
ing this, would think he denied the resurrec-
tion of the flesh ? " And," he says, " every
seed has its own law of being inherent in it
by the gift of God, the Creator, which law
contains in embryonic form the future growth.
The bulky tree, with its trunk, boughs, fruit,
leaves, is not seen in the seed, but neverthe-
less exists in the seed by implication or, ac-
cording to the Greek expression, by the
spermatikos logos.1 There is within the grain
of corn a marrow, or vein, which, when it has
been dissolved in the earth, attracts to itself
the surrounding materials, and rises again in
That is, the reason of the seed.
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM.
437
the shape of stalk, leaves, and ear ; and thus,
while it is one thing when it dies, it is an-
other thing when it rises from the dead ; for in
the grain of wheat, roots, stalk, leaves, ears,
trunk are as yet unseparated. In the same
manner, in human bodies, according to the
law of their being, certain original principles
remain which ensure their resurrection, and a
sort of marrow, that is a seed-plot of the dead,
is fostered in the bosom of the earth. But
when the day of judgment shall have come,
and at the voice of the archangel, and the
sound of the last trumpet, the earth shall
totter, immediately the seeds will be instinct
with life, and in a moment of time will cause
the dead to burst into life ; yet the flesh which
they will reconstitute will not be the same
flesh, nor will it be in the old forms. To give
you the assurance that we speak the truth, let
me quote the words of the Apostle : ' ' But
some one says, How shall the dead rise ? and
with what body will they come ? Thou fool,
that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that
body which shall be, but a bare grain, it may
be of wheat, or the seed of a vine and a tree.'
And as we have already made the grain of
wheat, and to some extent the planting of
trees, the subject of our reasoning, let us now
take the grape-stone as an example. It is a
mere granule, so small that you can scarcely
hold it between your two fingers. Where are
the roots ? where the tortuous interlacing of
roots, of trunk and off-shoots ? where the shade
of the leaves, and the lovely clusters teeming
with coming wine ? What you have in your
fingers is parched and scarcely discernible ;
nevertheless, in that dry granule, by the power
of God and the secret law of propagation, the
foaming new wine must have its origin. You
will allow all this in the case of a tree ; will
you not admit such things to be possible in the
case of a man ? The plant which perishes is
thus decked with beauty ; why should we
think that man, who abides, will receive back
his former meanness ? Do you demand that
there should be flesh, bones, blood, limbs, so
that you must have the barber to cut your
hair, that your nose may run, your nails must
be trimmed, your lower parts may gender filth
or minister to lust ? If you introduce these
foolish and gross notions, you forget what is
told us of the flesh, namely, that in it we can-
not please God, and that it is an enemy ; you
forget, also, what is told us of the resurrec-
tion of the dead : s 'It is sown in corruption, it
shall rise in incorruption. It is sown in dis-
honour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in
weakness, it shall rise in power. It is sown a
natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body.'
Now we see with our eyes, hear with our
ears, act with our hands, walk with our feet.
But in that spiritual body we shall be all
sight, all hearing, all action, all movement.
The Lord shall transfigure1 the body of our
humiliation and fashion it according to His
own glorious body. In saying transfigure
he affirms identity with the members which
we now have. But a different body, spiritual
and ethereal, is promised to us, which is
neither tangible, nor perceptible to the eye,
nor ponderable ; and the change it under-
goes will be suitable to the difference in its
future abode. Otherwise, if there is to be
the same flesh and if our bodies are to be
the same, there will again be males and
females, there will again be marriage ; men
will have the shaggy eyebrow and the flowing
beard ; women will have their smooth cheeks
and narrow chests, and their bodies must
adapt themselves to conception and parturi-
tion. Even tiny infants will rise again ; old
men will also rise ; the former to be nursed,
the latter to be supported by the staff. And,
simple ones, be not deceived by the resur-
rection of our Lord, because He showed His
side and His hands, stood on the shore, went
for a walk with Cleophas, and said that He
had flesh and bones. That body, because it
was not born of the seed of man and the pleas-
ure of the flesh, has its peculiar preroga-
tives. He ate and drank after His resurrec-
tion, and appeared in clothing, and allowed
Himself to be touched, that He might make
His doubting Apostles believe in His resur-
rection. But still He does not fail to manifest
the nature of an aerial and spiritual body.
For He enters when the doors are shut, and
in the breaking of bread vanishes out of sight.
Does it follow then that after our resurrec-
tion we shall eat and drink, and perform the
offices of nature ? If so, what becomes of the
promise,8 'The mortal must put on im-
mortality.' "
27. Here we have the complete explanation
of the fact that in your exposition of the faith,
to deceive the ears of the ignorant, you nine
times make mention of the body, and not even
once of the flesh, and all the while men think
that you confess the body of flesh, and that
the flesh is identical with the body. If it is
the same as the body, it means nothing dif-
ferent. I say this, for I know your answer :
"I thought the body was the same as the
flesh ; I spoke with all simplicity." Why do
you not rather call it flesh to signify the body,
and speak indifferently at one time of the flesh,
at another of the body, that the body may be
shown to consist of flesh, and the flesh to be
1 1 Cor. xv. 35, 37.
VOL. VI,
2 1 Cor. xv. 42, 44.
1 Phil. iii. 21,
2 1 Cor. xv, S3,
Ff
43»
JEROME.
the body. But believe me, your silence is >
not the silence of simplicity. For flesh is
defined one way, the body another ; all flesh '
is body, but not every body is flesh. Flesh J
is properly what is comprised in blood, veins,
bones, and sinews. Although the body is
also called flesh, yet sometimes it is designated
ethereal or aerial, because it is not subject to
touch and sight ; and yet it is frequently both
visible and tangible. A wall is a body, but
is not flesh ; a stone is a body, but it is not \
said to be flesh. Wherefore the Apostle calls
some bodies celestial, some terrestrial. A
celestial body is that of the sun, moon, stars ; !
a terrestrial body is that of fire, air, water,
and the rest, which bodies being inanimate
are known as consisting of material elements.
You see we understand your subtleties, and
publish abroad the mysteries which you utter
in the bedchamber and amongst the perfect, '
mysteries which may not reach the ears* of \
outsiders. You smile, and with hand uplifted
and a snap of the fingers retort,1 " All the
glory of the king's daughter is within." And, ;
2 " The king led me into his bedchamber."
It is clear why you spoke of the resurrection
of the body and not of that of the flesh ; of
course it was that we in our ignorance might
think that when body was spoken of flesh
was meant ; while yet the perfect would
understand that, when body was spoken of,
flesh was denied. Lastly, the Apostle, in
his Epistle to the Colossians, wishing to show
that the body of Christ was made of flesh,
and was not spiritual, aerial, attenuated, said
significantly,3 " And you, when you were some
time alienated from Christ and enemies of
His spirit in evil works, He has reconciled in
the body of His flesh through death." And
again in the same Epistle : 4 " In whom ye
were circumcised with a circumcision made
without hands in the putting off of the body
of the flesh." If by body is meant flesh only,
and the word is not ambiguous, nor capable
of diverse significations, it was quite super-
fluous to use both expressions — bodily and of
flesh — as though body did not imply flesh.
28. In the symbol of our faith and hope,
which was delivered by the Apostles, and is
not written with paper and ink, but on fleshy
tables of the heart, after the confession of
the Trinity and the unity of the Church, the
whole symbol of Christian dogma concludes
with the resurrection of the flesh. You dwell
so exclusively upon the subject of the body,
harping upon it in your discourse, repeat-
ing first the body, and secondly the body,
and again the body, and nine times over
the body, that you do not even once name
the flesh ; whereas they always speak of
the flesh, but say nothing of the body. I
would have you know that we see through
what you craftily add, and with wise precau-
tion seek to conceal. For you make use of
the same passages to prove the reality of the
resurrection by means of which Origen denies
it ; you support questionable positions with
doubtful arguments, and thus raise a storm
which in a moment overthrows the settled
fabric of faith. You quote the words,1 " It
is sown a-n animal body : it shall rise a spiritual
body." " For they shall neither marry, nor
be given in marriage, but shall be as the
angels in heaven." What other instances
would you take if you were denying the
resurrection ? You intend to confess the
resurrection of the flesh, you say, in a real
and not an imaginary sense. After the re-
marks with which you smooth things over to
the ears of the ignorant, to the effect that we
rise again with the very bodies with which
we died and were buried, why do you not go
on and speak thus : " The Lord after His
resurrection showed the prints of the nails in
His hands, pointed to the wound of the spear
in His side, and when the Apostles doubted
because they thought they saw a phantom,
gave them reply, z ' Handle Me and see, for
a spirit hath not flesh and blood as ye see Me
have'; and specially to Thomas,3 'Put thy
finger into My hands, and thy hand into My
side, and be not faithless, but believing.'
Similarly after the resurrection we shall have
the same members which we now use, the
same flesh and blood and bones, for it is not
the nature of these which is condemned in
Holy Scripture, but their works. Then again,
it is written in Genesis :4 ' My Spirit shall
not abide in those men, because they are flesh.'
And the Apostle Paul,[speaking of the corrupt
doctrine and works of the Jews, says :G ' I
rested not in flesh and blood.' And to the
Saints, who, of course, were in the flesh, he
says :6 ' But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you.'
For by denying that they were in the flesh
who clearly were in the flesh, he condemned
not the substance of the flesh but its sins."
29. The true confession of the resurrection
declares that the flesh will be glorious, but
without destroying its reality. And when the
Apostle says, 7 " This is corruptible and mor-
tal," his words denote this very body, that
is to say, the flesh which was then seen. But
when he adds that it puts on incorruption
and immortality, he does not say that that
which is put on, that is the clothing, does
Ps. xlv. 13, - Cant. i. 4. 3 Col. i. 21, 22
Coi. ii, 11.
1 1 Cor. xv. 44 ; Matt. xxii. 30; Luke xx. 35.
• Luke xxiv. 39, 3 John xx. 27.
= Gal, i. 16. 6 Rom. viii. y.
4 Gen. vi. 3.
7 1 Cor. xv. 53.
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 439
away with the body which it adorns in glory, \ skin, and in my flesh shall see God, Whom I
but that it makes that body glorious, which shall see for myself, and my eyes shall be-
before lacked glory ; so that the more worth- hold, and not another. This my hope is laid
less robe of mortality and weakness being up in my bosom." What can be clearer than
laid aside, we may be clothed with the gold of this prophecy ? No one since the days of
immortality, and, so to speak, with the blessed- ; Christ speaks so openly concerning the resur-
ness of strength as well as virtue; since .we ' rection as he did before Christ. He wishes
wish not to be stripped of the flesh, but to ; his words to last for ever ; and that they
put on over it the vesture of glory, and desire might never be obliterated by age, he would
to be clothed upon with our house, which is have them inscribed on a sheet of lead, and
from heaven, that mortality may be swallowed ' graven on the rock. He hopes for a resur-
up by life. Certainly, no one is clothed upon I rection ; nay, rather he knew and saw that
who was not previously clothed. Accord- Christ, his Redeemer, was alive, and at the
ingly, our Lord was not so transfigured on the j last day would rise again from the earth.
mountain that He lost His hands and feet
and other members, and suddenly began to
roll along in a round shape like that of the
The Lord had not yet died, and the athlete of
the Church saw his Redeemer rising from the
grave. When he says, " And I shall again be
sun or a ball ; but the same members glowed J clothed with my skin, and in my flesh see
with the brightness of the sun and blinded the [ God," I suppose he does not speak as if he
eyes of the Apostles. Hence, also, His gar- loved his flesh, for it was decaying and putri-
ments were changed, but so as to become fying before his eyes ; but in the confidence
white and glistening, not aerial, for I sup- of rising again, and through the consolation
pose you do not intend to maintain that His of the future, he makes light of his present
clothes also were spiritual. ' The Evangelist
adds that His face shone like the sun ; but
when mention is made of His face, I reckon
that His other members were beheld as well.
Enoch was translated in- the flesh ; Elias was
carried up to heaven in the flesh. They are
not dead, they are inhabitants of Paradise,
and even there retain the members with
which they were rapt away and translated.
What we aim at in fasting, they have through
fellowship with God. They feed on heavenly
bread, and are satisfied with every word of
God, having Him as their food who is also
their Lord. Listen to the Saviour saying :
8 "And my flesh rests in hope." And else-
where, 3 " His flesh saw not corruption."
And again,4 " All flesh shall see the salvation
of God." And must you be for ever making
the body a twofold thing ? Rather quote the
vision of 6Ezekiel, who joins bones to bones
and brings them forth from their sepulchres,
and then, making them to stand on their feet,
binds them together with flesh and sinews,
and clothes them with skin.
30. Listen to those words of thunder
which fall from Job, the vanquisher of tor-
ments, who, as he scrapes away the filth of
his decaying flesh with a potsherd, solaces
his miseries with the hope and the reality of
the resurrection: fl " Oh, that," he says, " my
words were written ! Oh, that they were in-
scribed in a book with an iron pen, and on a
sheet of lead, that they were graven in the
rock for ever ! For I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that in the last day I shall rise
misery. Again he says : " I shall be
clothed with my skin." What mention do
we find here of an ethereal body ? What of
an aerial body, like to breath and wind?
Where there is skin and flesh, where there are
bones and sinews, and blood and veins, there
assuredly is fleshy tissue and distinction of
sex. "And in my flesh," he says, "I shall
see God." When all flesh shall see the sal-
vation of God, and Jesus as God, then I,
also, shall see the Redeemer and Saviour,
and my God. But I shall see him in that
flesh which now tortures me, which now
melts away for pain. Therefore, in my flesh
shall I behold God, because by His own resur-
rection He has healed all my infirmities."
Does it not seem to you that Job was then
writing against Origen, and was holding a
controversy similar to ours against the here-
tics, for the reality of the flesh in which he
underwent tortures? He could not bear to
think that all his sufferings would be in vain ;
and that while the flesh he actually bore was tor-
tured as flesh indeed, it would be some other
and spiritual kind of flesh that would rise again.
Wherefore he presses home and emphasizes
the truth, and puts a stop to all that might
lie hid in an artful confession, by speaking
out plainly: "Whom I shall see for myself
and my eyes shall behold and not another."
If he is not to rise again in his own sex, if
he is not to have the same members which
were then lying on the dunghill, if he does
not open the same eyes to see God with
which he was then looking at the worms,
from the earth, and again be clothed with my where will Job then be ? You do away with
j what constituted Job, and give me the hollow
phrase, Job shall rise again j it is as if you
Matt. xvii.
Is. xl. 5.
- Ps. xvi. 9.
6 xxxvii. 1 sqq.
3 Acts ii.
8 Job xix
23 sqq.
F i2
440
JEROME.
were to order a ship to be restored after ship-
wreck, and then were to refuse each particu-
lar thing of which a ship is made.
31. I will speak freely, and although you
screw your mouths, pull your hair, stamp
your feet, and take up stones like the Jews,
I will openly confess the faith of the Church.
The reality of a resurrection without flesh and
bones, without blood and members, is unin-
telligible. Where there are flesh and bones,
where there are blood and members, there
must of necessity be diversity of sex. # Where
there is diversity of sex, there John is John,
Mary is Mary. You need not fear the mar-
riage of those who, even before death, lived in
their own sex without discharging the func-
tions of sex. When it is said, " In that day
they shall neither marry, nor be given in mar-
riage," the words refer to those who can
marry, and yet will not do so. For no one
says of the angels, " They shall not marry,
nor be given in marriage." I never heard of
a marriage being celebrated among the spirit-
ual virtues in heaven : but where there is sex,
there you have man and woman. Hence it is
that, although you were reluctant, you were
compelled by the truth to confess that, " A
man must either be crowned in the body be-
cause he lived a pure and upright life, or
be condemned in the body, because he was
the slave of pleasure and iniquity." Sub-
stitute flesh for body, and you have not
denied the existence of male and female.
Who can have any glory from a life of
chastity if we have no sex which would make
unchastity possible ? Who ever crowned a
stone for continuing a virgin ? Likeness to
the angels is promised us, that is, the blessed-
ness proper to angels who are without flesh
and sex will be bestowed on us in our flesh
and with our sex. I am simple enough so
to believe, and so know how to confess that
sex can exist without the functions of the
senses ; that it is thus that men rise, and that it
is thus that they are made equal to the an-
gels. Nor will the resurrection of the mem-
bers all at once seem superfluous, because
they are to have no office, since, while we are
still in this life, we strive not to perform the
works of the members. Moreover, likeness
to the angels does not imply a changing of
men into angels, but their growth in immor-
tality and glory.
32. But as for the arguments drawn from
boys, and infants, and old men, and meats, and
excrements, which you employ against the
Church, they are not your own ; they flow
from a heathen source. For the heathen
mock us with the same. You say you are a
Christian ; lay aside the weapons of the
heathen. It is for them to learn from you
to confess the resurrection of the dead, not
for you to learn from them to deny it. Or if
you belong to the enemy's camp, show your-
self openly as an adversary, that you may
share the wounds we inflict on the heathen.
I will allow you your jest about the necessity
of nursemaids to stop the infants from
crying ; of the decrepit old men, who, you fear,
would be shrivelled with winter's cold. I
will admit also that the barbers have learnt
their craft for nothing, for do we not know
that the • people of Israel for forty years
experienced no growth of either nails or
hair ; and, still more, their clothes were not
worn out, nor did their shoes wax old ?
Enoch and Elias, concerning whom we spoke
a while ago, abide all this time in the same
state in which they were carried away. They
have teeth, belly, organs of generation, and
yet have no need of meats, or wives. Why
do you slander the power of God, who can
from that xmarrow and seed-plot of which you
speak, not only produce flesh from flesh, but
also make one body from another ; and
change water, that is worthless flesh, into the
precious wine of an aerial body ? the same
power by which He created all things out
of nothing can give back what has existed,
because it is a much smaller thing to restore
what has been, than to make what never
was. Do you wonder that there is a resur-
rection from the condition of infancy and old
age to that of mature manhood, seeing that
a perfect man was made out of the slime of
the earth without having gone through suc-
cessive stages of growth ? A rib is changed
into a woman ; and by the third mode of
creating man, the poor elements of our birth
which put us to the blush are changed into
flesh, bound together by the members, run
into veins, harden into bones. There is a
fourth sort of human generation of which I
can tell you. " The Holy Spirit shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee. Wherefore that 2 holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God." Adam was created one way,
Eve another, Abel another, the man Jesus
Christ another. And yet, different as are all
these beginnings, the nature of man remains
one and the same.
33. If I wished to prove the resurrection of
the flesh and of all the members, and to give the
meaning of the several passages, many books
would be required ; but the matter in hand
does not call for this. For I purposed not to
reply to Origen in every detail, but to dis-
close the mysteries of your insincere " Apol-
1 Besides medulla and seminariuvi Jerome has crrepiWr; =:
inward part, or pith.
- Luke i. 35,
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 441
ogy." I have, however, tarried long in main-
taining the opposite to your position, and am
afraid that, in my eagerness to expose fraud, I
may leave a stumbling-block in the way of
the reader. I will, therefore, mass together
the evidence, and glance at the proofs in
passing, so that we may bring all the weight
of Scripture to bear upon your poisonous
argument. He who has not a wedding gar-
ment, and has not kept that command,1] " Let
your garments be always white," is bound
hand and foot that he may not recline at the
banquet, or sit on a throne, or stand at the
right hand of God ; 8 he is sent to Gehenna,
where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
3 " The hairs of your head are numbered." If
the hairs, I suppose the teeth would be more
easily numbered. But there is no object in
numbering them if they are some day to per-
ish. 4 " The hour will come in which all who
are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the
Son of God, and shall come forth." They
shall hear with ears, come forth with feet.
This Lazarus had already done. They shall,
moreover, come forth from the tombs ; that
is, they who had been laid in the tombs, the
dead, shall come, and shall rise again from
their graves. For the dew which God gives
is 5 healing to their bones. Then shall be
fulfilled what God says by the prophet,
6 " Go, my people, into thy closets for a little
while, until mine anger pass." The closets
signify the graves, out of which that, of
course, is brought forth which had been laid
therein. And they shall come out of the
graves like young mules free from the halter.
Their heart shall rejoice, and their bones shall
rise like the sun ; all flesh shall come into the
presence of the Lord, and He shall command
the fishes of the sea ; and they shall give up
the bones which they had eaten ; and He shall
bring joint to joint, and bone to bone ; and
1 they who slept in the dust of the earth shall
arise, some to life eternal, others to shame
and everlasting confusion. Then shall the
just see the punishment and tortures of the
wicked, for 8 their worm shall not die, and
their fire shall not be extinguished, and they
shall be beheld by all flesh. As many of us,
therefore, as have this hope, as we have
yielded our members servants to uncleanness,
and to iniquity unto iniquity, so let us yield
them servants to righteousness unto holiness,
that 9 we may rise from the dead and walk in
newness of life. As also the life of the
Lord Jesus is manifested in our mortal body,
so10 also He who raised up Jesus Christ from
the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies on
account of His Spirit Who dwelleth in us.
For it is right that as we have always borne
about the putting to death of Christ in our
body, so the life, also, of Jesus, should be
manifested in our mortal body, that is, in our
flesh, which is mortal according to nature,
but eternal according to grace. Stephen also
1 saw Jesus standing on the right hand of the
Father, and the a hand of Moses became
snowy white, and was afterwards restored to
its original colour. There was still a hand,
though the two states were different. The
potter in 3 Jeremiah, whose vessel, which he
had made, was broken through the rough-
ness of the stone, restored from the same
lump and from the same clay that which had
fallen to pieces ; and, if we look at the word
resurrection itself, it does not mean that one
thing is destroyed, another raised up ; and
the addition of the word dead, points to our
own flesh, for that which in man dies, that is
also brought to life. "The wounded man on
the road to Jericho is taken to the inn with
all his limbs complete, and the stripes of his
offences are healed with immortality.
34. Even the graves were opened B at our
Lord's passion when the sun fled, the earth
trembled, and many of the bodies of the
saints arose, and were seen in the holy city.
6 " Who is this," says Isaiah, " that cometh up
from Edom, with shining raiment from
Bozrah, so beautiful in his glistening robe?"
Edom is by interpretation either earthy or
bloody j Bosor either flesh, or in tribulation,.
In few words he shows the whole mystery of
the resurrection, that is, both the reality of
the flesh and the growth in glory. And the
meaning is : Who is he that cometh up
from the earth, cometh up from blood ? Ac-
cording to the 7 prophecy of Jacob, He has
bound His foal to the vine, and has trodden
the wine-press alone, and His garments are
red with new wine from Bosor, that is from
flesh, or from the tribulation of the world :
for He Himself 8 has conquered the world.
And, therefore, His garments are red and shin-
ing, because He is 9 beauteous in form more
than the sons of men, and on account of the
glory of His triumph they have been changed
into a white robe ; and then, in truth, as con-
cerns Christ's flesh, were fulfilled the words,
10 " Who is this that cometh up all in white,
leaning upon her beloved ? " And that which
is written in the same book : " " My beloved
is white and ruddy." These men are his true
followers who have not 1S defiled their gar-
- Matt. xxii.
3 Luke xii. 7.
1 Ecc. ix. 8.
* John v. 25. ! Acts vii. 55. a Ex. iv. 6. 3 xvht. 3, 4- Sept.
5 Sept. "The dew which comes from thee is healing to them." : * Luke x. 34. * Matt, xxvii. 52. " lxiii. isq.
* Is. xxvi. 20. * Dan. xii. 2. " Is. lxvi, 24. 7 Gen. xlix. 11. 8 John xvi. 33. ° Ps. xlv. (>).
9 Rom. vi. 4, 10 Rom, viii. 11, | 10 Cant. viii. 5. ll Cant. V. it>. 12 Apoc. xiv, 4,
44^
JEROME.
ments with women, for they have continued
virgins, who have made themselves eunuchs
for the kingdom of heaven's sake. And so
they shall be in white clothing. Then shall
the saying of our Lord appear perfectly
realised : ' " All that my Father has given
me, I shall not lose aught thereof, but I will
raise it up again at the last day ;" the whole
of His humanity, forsooth, which He had taken
upon Him in its entirety at His birth. Then
shall the sheep which was 2 lost, and was
wandering in the lower world, be carried
whole on the Saviour's shoulders, and the
sheep which was sick with sin shall be sup-
ported by the mercy of the Judge. Then
shall they see him who pierced Him, who
shouted, 3" Crucify Him, crucify Him."
Again and again shall they beat their breasts,
they and their women, those women to whom
our Lord said, as He carried His cross,4 "Ye
daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me but
weep for yourselves, and for your children."
Then shall be fulfilled the prophecy of the
angels, who said to the stupefied Apostles,
6 " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking
with astonishment into heaven ? This Jesus
who is taken from you into heaven, shall
come in like manner as ye have seen Him go
into heaven." But what are we to think of a
man saying that our Lord G ate with the Apos-
tles for forty days after His resurrection in
order that they might not think Him to be a
phantom, and then asserting that it was a
phantom which did this very thing, which ate
and which was seen by many in the flesh.
That which was seen is either real, or false. If
it is real, it follows that He really ate, and really
had members. But if it is false, how could He
be willing to give false impressions in order to
prove the truth of His resurrection ? For no
one proves what is true by means of what is
false. You will say, are we then going to eat
after our resurrection ? I know not. Scrip-
ture does not tell us ; and yet, if the question
be asked, I do not think we shall eat. For I
have read that the kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, while it promises 7such things as
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have
entered into the heart of man. Moses fasted
forty days and forty nights. Human nature
does not allow of this, but what is impossible
with men is not impossible with God. Just
as, in foretelling the future, it matters not
whether a person announces what will take
place after ten years or after a hundred, since
the knowledge of futurity is all one ; so he
who can fast for forty days and yet live, —
not, indeed, that he can of himself fast, but
1 John vi.jQ.
4 Luke xxiii. 28.
7 I Cor, ii. 9.
2 Luke xv. 3 sq.
B Acts i. it,
0 John xix. 6.
" lb. 3.
that he lives by the power of God, — will also
be able to live for ever without food and
drink. Why did our Lord eat an honeycomb ?
To prove the resurrection : not to give your
palate the pleasure of tasting of honey. He
asked for a fish broiled on the coals that He
might ' confirm the doubting Apostles, who
did not dare approach Him because they
thought they saw not a body, but a spirit.
2 The daughter of the ruler of the synagogue
was raised to life and took food. 3 Lazarus,
who had-been four days dead, rose again, and
comes before us at a dinner ; not because he
was accustomed to eat in the lower world,
but because a case which presented such
difficulties challenged the believer's criticism.
As He showed them real hands and a real
side, so He really ate with His disciples ;
really walked with Cleophas ; conversed with
men with a real tongue ; really reclined at
supper ; with real hands took bread, blessed
and brake it, and was offering it to them.
And as for His suddenly vanishing out of their
sight, that is the power of God, not of a shad-
owy phantom. Besides, even before His res-
urrection, when they had led Him out from
Nazareth that they might cast Him down
headlong from the brow of the hill, He passed
through the midst of them, that is, escaped out
of their hands. Can we follow Marcion, and
say that because, when He was held fast, He
escaped in a manner contrary to nature, there-
fore His birth must have been only apparent ?
Has not the Lord a privilege which is con-
ceded to magicians ? It is related of Apol-
lonius of Tyana that, when standing in court
before Domitian, he all at once disappeared.
Do not put the power of the Lord on a level
with the tricks of magicians, so that He may
appear to have been what He was not, and
may be thought to have eaten without teeth,
walked without feet, broken bread without
hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed
a side which had no ribs.
35. And how was it, you will say, that they
did not recognize Him on the road if He had
the same body which He had before ? Let
me recall what Scripture says : 4 " Their
eyes were holden, that they might not know
Him." And again, " Their eyes were opened,
and they knew Him." Was He one person
when He was not known, and another when
He was known ? He was surely one and the
same. Whether, therefore, they knew Him,
or not, depended on their sight ; it did not
depend upon Him Who was seen ; and yet it
did depend on Him in this sense, that He
held their eyes that they might not know
Him. Lastly, that you may see that the
John xxi. 9. 8 Mark v, 3 John xii. 4 Luke xxiv. 16.
TO PAMMACHItJS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM.
443
mistake which held them was not to be attrib-
uted to the Lord's body, but to the fact that
their eyes were closed, we are told : ' " Their
eyes were opened, and they knew Him."
Wherefore, also, Mary Magdalene so long as
she did not recognize Jesus, and sought the
living among the dead, thought He was the
gardener. Afterwards she recognized Him
and then she called Him Lord. After His
resurrection Jesus was standing on the shore,
His disciples were in the ship. When the
others did not know Him, the disciple whom
Jesus loved2 said to Peter, "It is the Lord."
For virginity is the first to recognize a virgin
body. He was the same, yet was not seen
alike by all as the same. And immediately it
is added, 3 " And no one durst ask Him, Who
art Thou ? for they knew that He was the
Lord." No one durst, because they knew
that He was God. They ate with Him at din-
ner because they saw He was a man and had
flesh ; not that He was one person as God,
another as man : but, being one and the same
Son of God, He was known as man, adored
as God. I suppose I must now air my phil-
osophy, and say that our senses are not to be
relied on, and especially sight. A 4 Carneades
must be awaked from the dead to tell us the
truth — that an oar seems broken in the water,
porticos afar off look more magnificent, the
angles of towers seem rounded in the dis-
tance, that the backs of pigeons change their
colours with every movement. When Rhoda5
announced Peter, and told the Apostles, they
did not believe that he had escaped, on
account of the greatness of the danger, but
suspected it was a phantom. Moreover, in
passing through closed doors, He exhibited
the same power as in vanishing out of sight.
0 Lynceus, as fable relates, used to see through
a wall. Could not the Lord enter when the
doors were shut, unless He were a phantom ?
Eagles and vultures perceive dead bodies
across the sea. Shall not the Saviour see
His Apostles without opening the door ? Tell
me, sharpest of disputants, which is greater,
to hang the vast weight of the earth on noth-
ing, and to balance it on the changing sur-
face of the waves ; or that God should pass
through a closed door, and the creature yield
to the Creator ? You allow the greater ; you
object to the less. Peter7 walked upon the
waters with his heavy and solid body. The
soft water does not yield : his faith doubts a
little, and immediately his body understands
its own nature ; that we may know that it
1 John xx. a John xxi. ;. * lb. 12.
* Born at Cyrene about B.C. 213. He maintained that we can
be sure of nothing, neither through the senses, nor through the
understanding.
' Acts xii. 6 One of the Argonauts. 7 Matt. xiv. 28.
was not his body that walked on the water,
but his faith.
36. I pray you, who use such elaborate
arguments against the resurrection, let us
have some simple talk together. Do you be-
lieve that our Lord really rose again in the
same body in which He died and was buried,
or do you not believe it ? If you believe it,
why do you make propositions which lead to
the denial of the resurrection ? If you do not
believe, you who thus try to deceive the minds
of the ignorant, and parade the word resur-
rection, though you mean nothing by it, lis-
ten to me. Not long ago, a certain disciple
of Marcion said : " Woe to him who rises again
with this flesh and these bones ! " Our heart
at once with joy replied,1 "We are buried to-
gether, and we shall rise together with Christ
through baptism." " Do you speak of the
resurrection of the soul, or of the flesh ?" I
answered, " Not that of the soul alone, but
that of the flesh, which, together with the soul,
is born again in the laver. And how shall
that perish which has been born again in
Christ ? " " Because it is written," said he,
8 " ' Flesh and blood shall not inherit the king-
dom of God.' " " I intreat you to mind what is
said — ' Flesh and blood shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.' " " It is said that they shall
not rise again." "Not at all, but only 'they
shall not inherit the kingdom.' " " Flow so ? "
'" Because,' it follows,3 'neither shall corrup-
tion inherit incorruption.' So long then as
they remain mere flesh and blood, they shall
not inherit the kingdom of God. But when
the Corruptible shall have put on incorrup-
tion, and the mortal shall have put on immor-
tality, and the clay of the flesh shall have been
made into a vessel, then that flesh which was
formerly kept down by a heavy weight upon
the earth, when once it has received the wings
of the spirit — wings which imply its change,
not its destruction — shall fly with fresh glory
to heaven ; and then shall be fulfilled that
which is written, 5 ' Death is swallowed up
in victory. Where, O death, is thy boasting ?
O death, where is thy sting ? ' "
37. Reversing the order, we have given our
answer respecting the state of souls and the
resurrection of the flesh ; and, leaving out
the opening portions of the letter, we have con-
fined ourselves to the refutation of this most
remarkable treatise. For we preferred to speak
of the things of God rather than of our own
wrongs. " " If one man sin against another,
they shall pray for him to the Lord. But if
he sin against God, who shall pray for him ? "
In these days, on the contrary, we make it
our first business to pursue with undying
1 Rom. vi, 4,
4 lb. 54,
2 1 Cor. xv, 50.
6 lb. 55.
3 lb.
0 1 Sam, ii. 25,
444
JEROME.
hate those who have injured us — to those who
blaspheme God we indulgently hold out the
hand. John writes to Bishop Theophilus an
apology, of which the introduction runs thus :
" You, indeed, as a man of God, adorned with
apostolic grace, have upon you the care of all
the Churches, especially of that which is at
Jerusalem, though you yourself are distracted
with countless anxieties for the Church of
God, which is under you." This is bare-
faced adulation, and an attempt to concen-
trate ' authority in the hands of an individual.
You, who ask for ecclesiastical rules, and
make use of the3 canons of the Council of
Nicsea, and claim authority over clerics who
belong to another diocese and are 3 actually
living with their own bishop, answer my
question, What has Palestine to do with the
bishop of Alexandria ? Unless I am deceived,
it is decreed in those canons that Csesarea
is the metropolis of Palestine, and Antioch
of the whole of the East. You ought there-
fore either to appeal to the bishop of
Csesarea, with whom you know that we have
communion while we disdain to communi-
cate with you, or, if judgment were to be
sought at a distance, letters ought rather to be
addressed to Antioch. But I know why you
were unwilling to send to Csesarea, or to
Antioch. You knew what to flee from, what
to avoid. You preferred to assail with your
complaints ears that were preoccupied rather
than pay due honour to your metropolitan.
And I do not say this because I have anything
to blame in the mission itself, except certain
partialities which beget suspicion, but because
you ought rather to clear yourself in the
actual presence of your questioners. You
begin with the words, " You have sent a
most devoted servant of God, the presbyter
Isidore, a man of influence no less from the
dignity of his very gait and dress than from
that of his divine understanding, to heal those
whose souls are grievously sick ; would that
they had any sense of their illness ! A man
of God sends a man of God." No difference
is made between a priest and a bishop ; the
same dignity belongs to the sender and the
sent ; this is lame enough ; the ship, as the
saying goes, is wrecked in harbour. That
Isidore, whom you extol to the sky by your
1 Laudat faciem, ad personam principum trahit. Literally, He
praises the face (i.e. the person of Theophilus) and draws him on
to act the part of (only fit for) princes.
2 Canon 6 says that the old customs are to hold good, that all
Egypt is to be subject to the authority of the bishop of Alexan-
dria, just as the custom holds at Rome ; and similarly that at
Antioch, and in the other churches the authority of the churches
should be preserved to them. Canon 7 says : " Since custom and
ancient tradition has prevailed to cause honour to be given to the
bishop of Aelia (Jerusalem), let him have the proper results of
this honour ; saving, however, the proper authority due to the
metropolis" (that is, Caesarea).
3 This relates to Paulinianus, who was ordained by F.piphanius,
and, was then living with him in Cyprus,
praises, lies under the same imputation of
heresy1 at Alexandria as you at Jerusalem ;
wherefore he appears to have come to you
not as an envoy, but as a confederate. Be-
sides, the letters in his own handwriting,
which, three months before the sending of the
embassy, had been sent to us2 through an error
in the address, were delivered to the presbyter
Vincentius,~and to this day they are in his
keeping. In these letters the writer encour-
ages the leader of his army 3 to plant his foot
firmly upon the rock of the faith, and not to
be terrified by our Jeremiads. He promises,
before we had any suspicion of his mission,
that he will come to Jerusalem, and that on
his arrival the ranks of his adversaries will be
instantly crushed. And amongst the rest he
uses these words : " As smoke vanishes in
the air, and wax melts beside the fire, so shall
they be scattered who are for ever resisting
the faith of the Church, and are now through
simple men endeavouring to disturb that
faith."
38. I ask you, my reader, what does a man,
who writes these things before he comes,
appear to you to be ? An adversary, or an
envoy ? This is the man whom we may, in-
deed, call most pious, or most religious, and,
to give the exact equivalent of the word, one
devoted to the worship of God. This is the
man of divine understanding, so influential,
and of such dignity in gait and dress, that,
like a spiritual Hippocrates, he is able by his
presence to relieve the sickness of our souls,
provided, however, we are willing to submit
to his treatment. If such is his medicine, let
him heal himself, since he is accustomed to
heal others. To us, that divine understanding
of his is folly for the sake of Christ. We
willingly remain in the sickness of our sim-
plicity, rather than, by using your eye-salve,
learn an impious abuse of sight. Next conic
the words : " The excellent intentions of your
Holiness compel our prayers to the Lord
night and day ; and, as though those inten-
tions were already perfectly realised, we offer
our prayers to Him in the holy places, that
He may give you a perfect reward, and bestow
on you the crown of life." You do right in
giving thanks ; for, if Isidore had not come
you would not now have found in the whole
of Palestine such a faithful associate. If he
had not brought you the aid he had promised
beforehand, you would find yourself sur-
rounded by a crowd of rustics incapable of
1 Theophilus, whose sympathies had suddenly changed, turned
violently against Isidore, who had previously been his confidential
friend, accused him of Origenism, and, on his taking refuge with
Chrysostom at Constantinople, pursued both him and Chrysostom
with unrelenting animosity.
- Reading portantes errorem. Another reading is, " Through
the error of the bearer."
3 John, to whom the letters were really written,
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM.
44*
understanding your wisdom. This very apol-
ogy of which we are now speaking was dic-
tated in the presence and, to a great extent,
with the assistance of Isidore, so that the
same person both composed the letter and car-
ried it to its destination.
39. Your letter goes on to relate that " though
he had come hither and had had three sepa-
rate interviews with us, and had applied to
the matter the healing language no less of
your divine wisdom than of his own under-
standing, he found that he could be of no
use to any one, nor could any one be of use to
him." The fact is that he who is said to have
had "three separate interviews with us," so
that in his coming he might maintain the mys-
tic number, and who talked to us about the
command issued by Bishop Theophilus, did
not choose to deliver the letters sent to us by
him. And when we said : If you are an envoy,
produce your credentials; if you have no let-
ters, how can you prove to us that you are an
envoy ? he replied that he had, indeed, letters
to us, but he had been adjured by the bishop
of Jerusalem not to give them to us. You see
here the true envoy consistent with his proper
character ; you see how impartial he shows
himself to both sides, that he may make peace,
and exclude the suspicion of favouring either
party. At all events, he had come without
a plaster, and had not the physician's instru-
ments at his command, and therefore his med-
icine was of no avail. "Jerome and those asso-
ciated with him," you continue, " both secretly,
and in the presence of all, again and again
and with the attestation of an oath, satisfied
him that they never had any doubts of our
orthodoxy, saying : We have now just the
same feeling toward him, as regards matters of
faith, that we had when we used to communi-
cate with him." See what dogmatic agree-
ment can do. Isidore, in order that he might
make such a report as this, is taken into close
fellowship, and is spoken of as a man of God,
and a most devout priest, a man of influence,
of holy and venerable gait, and of divine un-
derstanding, the Hippocrates of the Christians.
I, a poor wretch, hiding away in solitude,
suddenly cut off by this mighty pontiff, have lost
the name of priest. This Jerome," then, with
his ragged herd and shabby following, did he
dare to give any answer to Isidore and his
thunderbolts ? Of course not ; and doubtless
for no other motive than fear that the envoy
would never yield, and might overwhelm them
by his presence and ' gigantic stature. " Not
once, nor thrice, but again and again " they
1 Isidore was closely associated with the three brothers known
as the Long Monks from their great size, and seems to have shared
the appellation with them.
_ 2 i.e. Jerome and his friends. Tin's was Isidore's report,
incorporated probahly into John's letter.
I swore that they knew the individual in
question to be orthodox, and that they had
never suspected him of heresy." What undis-
guised and shameless lying ! A witness borne
by a man to himself ! Such witness as is not
believed even in the mouth of a Cato, for ' in
the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every
word be established. Was there ever a word
said, or a message sent to you, to the effect
that, without being satisfied as to your ortho-
doxy, we would endure communion with you ?
When, through the instrumentality of the
Count Archelaus, a most accomplished as well
as a most Christian man, who tried to nego-
tiate a peace between us, a place had been
appointed where we were to meet, was not
one of the first things postulated that the
faith should form the basis of future agree-
ment ? He promised to come. Easter was
approaching ; a great multitude of monks had
assembled ; you were expected at the ap-
pointed place ; what to do you did not know.
All at once you sent word that some one or
other was sick, you could not come that day.
Is it a stage-player or a bishop who thus
speaks ? Suppose what you said was true, to
suit the pleasure of one feeble woman who
fears that she may have a headache, or may
feel sick, or have a pain in the stomach, while
you are away, do you neglect the interests of
the Church ? Do you despise so many men,
Christians and monks assembled together ?
We were unwilling to give occasion for break-
ing off the negotiation ; we saw through the
artifice of your procrastination, and sought to
overcome the wrong you did us by patience.
Archelaus wrote again, advising him that he
was staying on for two days, in case he should
be willing to come. But he was busy ; his
dear little woman had not ceased to vomit, he
could not bestow a thought upon us until she
should have escaped from her nausea. Well,
after two months, at last the long-looked for
Isidore arrived, and what he heard from us
was not, as you pretend, a testimony in your
behalf, but the reason why we demanded satis-
faction. For when he raised the point, " Why,
if he were a heretic, did you communicate
with him? " the reply was given by us all that
we communicated without any suspicion of his
heresy ; but that, after he had been summoned
by the Most Reverend Epiphanius, both by
word and by letter, and had disdained to
answer, documents were addressed to the
monks by Epiphanius himself, to the effect
that, unless he gave satisfaction respecting the
faith, no one should rashly communicate with
him. The letters are in our hands ; there can
be no doubt about the matter. This, then,
1 Kumb. xxxv. 30 ; Dent, xvii, 6 ; 2 Cor, xiii. x.
44<5
JEROME.
was the reply made by the whole body of the
brethren : not, as you maintain, that you were
not an heretic, because at a former time you
were not said to be one. For upon that
showing, a man must be said not to be sick,
because previous to his sickness he was in
good health.
40. To proceed with the letter. " But
when the ordination of Paulinianus, and the
others associated with him, was brought for-
ward, they began to feel that they themselves
were in the wrong. For the sake of charity
and concord every concession was made to
them, and the only point insisted on was that,
though they had been ordained contrary to
the rules, yet they should be subject to the
authority of the Church of God, that they
should not rend it, and set up an authority of
their own. But they, not agreeing to this,
began to raise questions concerning the faith ;
and thus they made it evident to all that if
the presbyter Jerome and his friends were not
accused, they had no charge to bring against
us, but that they only betook themselves to
doctrinal questions because, when charges of
error and misconduct were brought against
them, they were utterly unable to reply to us
on matters of that sort, or to give any satis-
factory explanation of their wrong-doing :
not that they had any hope that we could be
convicted of heresy, but they were striving to
injure our reputation."
41. No one must blame the translator for
this verbiage : the Greek is the same. Mean-
while I rejoice that whereas I thought I was
beheaded I find my presbyterial head on my
shoulders again. He says that we are utterly in-
capable of conviction, and he draws back from
the encounter. If the cause of discord is not
due to discussions about the faith, but springs
from the ordination of Paulinianus, is it not
the extreme of folly to give occasion to those
who seek occasion by refusing to answer ?
Confess the faith ; but do it so as to answer
the question put to you, that it may be clear
to all that the dispute is not one of faith,
but of order. For so long as you are silent
when questioned concerning the faith, your
adversary has a right to say to you : " The
matter is not one of order but of faith."
If it is a question of order, you act foolishly
in saying nothing when questioned concern-
ing the faith. If it is one of faith, it is fool-
ish of you to make a pretext of the question
of order. Moreover, when you say your aim
was that they might be subject to the Church,
that they might not rend it, nor set up an
authority of their own ; who they are of
whom you speak I do not well understand.
If you are speaking of me and the presbyter
Vincentius, you have been asleep long enough,
if you only wake up now, after thirteen years,1
to say these things. For the reason why I
forsook Antioch and he Constantinople,2 both
famous cities, was, not that Ave might praise
your popular eloquence, but that, in the
country and in solitude, we might weep over
the sins of our youth, and draw down upon
us the mercy of Christ. But if Paulinianus is
the subject of your remarks, he, as you see,
is subject to his3 bishop, and lives at Cyprus :
he sometimes comes to visit us, not as one of
your clergy> but as another's, his, namely, by
whom he was ordained. But if he wished even
to stay here, and to live a quiet, solitary life
sharing our exile, what does he owe you except
the respect which we owe to all bishops ? Sup-
pose that he had been ordained by you ; he
would only tell you the same that I, a poor
wretch of a man, told Bishop Paulinus of
blessed memory. " Did I ask to be ordained by
you ? " I said. " If in bestowing the rank of
presbyter you do not strip us of the monastic
state, you can bestow or withhold ordination
as you think best. But if your intention in
giving the name presbyter was to take from
me that for which I forsook the world, I
must still claim to be what I always was ; you
have suffered no loss by ordaining me." 4
42. " That they might not rend the Church,"
he says, " and set up an authority of their own."
Who rends the Church ? Do we, who as a
complete household at Bethlehem communi-
cate in the Church ? Or is it you, who
either being orthodox refuse through pride
to speak concerning the faith, or else being
heterodox are the real render of the Church ?
Do we rend the Church, who, a few months
ago, about the day of Pentecost, when the
sun was darkened and all the world dreaded
the immediate coming of the Judge, presented
forty candidates of different ages and sexes
to your presbyter for baptism ? There were
certainly five presbyters in the monastery who
had the right to baptize ; but they were
unwilling to do anything to move you to
anger, for fear you might make this a pretext
for reticence concerning the faith. Is it not
you, on the contrary, who rend the Church,
you who commanded your presbyters at Beth-
lehem not to give baptism to our candidates
at Easter, so that we sent them to B Diospolis
to the Confessor and Bishop Dionysius for
baptism ? Are we said to rend the Church,
who, outside our cells, hold no position in the
Church ? Or do not you rather rend the
Church, who issue an order to your clergy
1 Dating probably from Jerome's coming to Palestine. See
Prefatory Note.
2 Jerome was ordained at Antioch, Vincentius at Constantinople,
3 That is, Jerome argues, Epiphanius, who ordained him.
4 This perhaps means, " No virtue has gone out of you — you
have conferred nothing upon me,"
6 Lydda.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK 1.
44/
that if any one says Paulinianus was conse-
crated presbyter by Epiphanius, he is to be
forbidden to enter the Church. Ever since
that time to this day we can only look from
without on the cave of the Saviour, and,
while heretics enter, we stand afar off and sigh.
43. Are we schismatics ? Is not he the
schismatic who refuses a habitation to the
living, a grave to the dead, and demands
the exile of his brethren ? Who was it that
set at our throats, with special fury, that wild
beast who constantly menaced the throats of
the whole world ? ' Who is it that permits
the rain to beat upon the bones of the saints,
and their harmless ashes, up to the present
hour ? These are the endearments with which
the good shepherd invites us to reconciliation,
and at the same time accuses us of setting up
an authority of our own — us who are united in
communion and charity with all the bishops,
so long, at least, as they are orthodox. Do
you yourself constitute the Church, and is
whosoever offends you shut out from Christ ?
If we defend our own authority — prove that
we have a bishop in your diocese. The
reason that we have not had communion with
you is the question of faith ; answer our ques-
tions, and it will become one of order.
44. " They,"you go on, "also take advantage
of other letters which theysay Epiphanius wrote
to them. But he, too, shall give account for all
his doings before the judgment seat of Christ,
where great and small shall be judged without
respect of persons. Still, how can they rely
on his letter which he wrote only because we
took him to task on the matter of the unlaw-
ful ordination of Paulinianus and his associ-
ates ; as in the opening of that very letter he
intimates?" What, I ask, is the meaning of
this blindness ? how is it that he is immersed,
as the saying goes, in Cimmerian darkness ?
He says that we make a pretext, and that we
have no letters from Epiphanius against him,
1 The allusion is believed to be to the Prefect Rufinus, who was
at the head of the government under the young Arcadius, and
whose intrigues with Alaric with a view to obtain the empire for
himself led to his death in the end of 305. — Comp. Letter
LXXXII. 10.
and he immediately adds, " How can they
rely on his letter, which he only wrote because
he was taken to task by us, in the matter of
the unlawful ordination of Paulinianus and
his associates ; as in the opening of that very
letter he intimates ? " We have no such let-
ter ! And what letter then is that, which in
its opening sentence speaks of Paulinianus?
There is something in the body of the letter of
which you are afraid to make mention. Well !
He was taken to task, you say, by you because
of the age of Paulinianus. But you yourself
ordain a man presbyter, and send him out as
an envoy and a colleague. You have the
boldness falsely to call Paulinianus a boy, and
then to send out your own boy presbyter.
You likewise take Theoseca, a deacon of the
church of Thiria, and make him presbyter,
and put weapons into his hands against us,
and make a misuse of his eloquence for our
injury. You alone are at liberty to trample
on the rights of the Church ; whatever you do,
is the standard of teaching ; and you do not
blush to challenge Epiphanius to stand with
you before the judgment seat of Christ. The
sequel of this passage is to the following effect:
1 he throws it in the teeth of Epiphanius that
he was the partner of his table and an inmate
of his house, and declares that they never had
any talk together concerning the views of
Origen, and he supports what he says with the
attestation of an oath, saying : " He never
showed, as God is witness, that he had even
the suspicion that our faith was not correct ? "
I am unwilling to answer and argue acrimoni-
ously, lest I seem to be convicting a bishop of
perjury. There are several letters of Epi-
phanius in our possession. One to John him-
self, others to the bishops of Palestine, and one
of recent date to the pontiff of Rome ; and in
these he speaks of himself as impugning his
views in the presence of many, and says that
he was not thought worthy of a reply, " and
the whole Monastery," he says, "is witness to
what we in our insignificance assert."
1 See Letter LI., which begins as John says, though Jerome
denies it.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS:
DIALOGUE BETWEEN ATTICUS, A CATHOLIC, AND CRITOBULUS, A HERETIC.
The anti-Pelagian Dialogue is the Past of Jerome's controversial works, having been written in the year 417,
within three years of his death. It shows no lack of his old vigour, though perhaps something of the prolixity in-
duced by old age. He looks at the subject more calmly than those of the previous treatises, mainly because it lay
somewhat outside the track of his own thoughts. He was induced to interest himself in it by his increasing regard
for Augustin, and by the coming of the young Spaniard, Orosius, in 414, from Augustin to sit at his feet.
Pelagius also had come to Palestine, and, after an investigation of his tenets, at a small council at Jerusalem, in
448 JEROME.
415, presided over by Bishop John, and a second, at Diospolis in 416, had been admitted to communion. Jerome
appears to have taken no part in these proceedings, and having been at peace with Bishop John for nearly twenty
years, was no doubt unwilling to act against him. But he had come to look upon Pelagius as infected with the
heretical " impiety," which he looked upon (i. 2S)as far worse than moral evil ; and connected him, as we see from
his letter toCtesiphon (CXXXIII.), with Origenismand Rufinus ; and he brings his great knowledge of Scripture to
bear upon the controversy. He quotes a work of Pelagius, though giving only the headings, and the numbers
of the chapters, up to 100 (i. 26-32) ; and, though at times his conviction appears weak, and there are passages
(i. 5, ii. 6-30, iii. 1) which give occasion to the observation that he really, if unconsciously, inclined to the views
of Pelagius, and that he isa " Synergist," not, like Augustin, a thorough predestinarian, the Dialogue, as a whole,
is clear and forms a substantial contribution to our knowledge. Although its tone is less violent than that of his
ascetic treatises, it appears to have stirred up the strongest animosity against him. The adherents of Pelagius
attacked and burned the monasteries of Bethlehem, and Jerome himself only escaped by taking refuge in a tower.
His sufferings, and the interference of Pope Innocentius in his behalf, may be seen by referring to Letters
CXXXV.-CXXXVII., with the introductory notes prefixed to them. Sec also Aug. de Gest. Pel. c. 66.
The following is a summary of the argument : Atticus, the Augustmian, at once (c. 1) introduces the question :
Do you affirm that, as Pelagius affirms, men can live without sin ? Yes, says the Pelagian Critobulus, but I do
not add, as is imputed to us, " without the grace of God." Indeed, the fact that we have a freewill is from grace.
Yes, replies Atticus, but what is this grace ? Is it only our original nature, or is it needed in every act. In every
act, is the reply (2) ; yet one would hardly say that we cannot mend a pen without grace (3), for, if so, where is
our free will ? But, says Atticus (5), the Scriptures speak of our need of God's aid in everything. In that case,
says Critobulus, the promised reward must be given not to us but to God, Who works in us. Reverting then to
the first point stated, Atticus asks, does the possibility of sinlessness extend to single acts, or to the whole life ?
Certainly to the whole as well as the part, is the answer. But we wish, or will to be sinless ; why then are we
not actually sinless? Because (8) we do not exert our will to the full. But (9) no one has ever lived without
sin. Still, says the Pelagian, God commands us to be perfect, and he does not command impossibilities.
Job, Zacharias, and Elizabeth are represented as perfectly righteous. No, it is answered (12), faults are attributed
to each of them. John says, " He that is born of God sinneth not" (13) ; yet, " If we say we have no sin we
deceive ourselves." The Apostles, though told to be perfect (14) were not perfect: and St. Paul says (14a)," I count
not myself to have apprehended." Men are called just and perfect only in comparison of others (16), or because
of general subjection to the will of God (18), or according to their special characteristics (19), as we may speak
of a bishop as excellent in his office, though he may not fulfil the ideal of the pastoral epistles (22).
The discussion now turns to the words of Pelagius' book. ' ' All are ruled by their own will " (27). No ; for
Christ says, " I came not to do My own will." " The wicked shall not be spared in the judgment." But we
must distinguish between the impious or heretics who will be destroyed (28) and Christian sinners who will be for-
given. Some of his sayings contradict each other or are trifling (29, 30). " The kingdom of heaven is promised
in the Old Testament." Yes, but more fully in the New. Returning to the first thesis, "That a man can be
without sin if he wills it," the Pelagian says, If things like desires which arise spontaneously and have no issue,
are reckoned blamable, we charge the sin on our Maker ; to which it is only answered that, though we cannot
understand God's ways, we must not arraign His justice. In the rest of the book, Atticus alone speaks, going
through the Old Testament, and showing that each of the saints falls into some sin, which, though done in igno-
rance or half-consciousness, yet brings condemnation with it.
Prologue.
1. After writing the ' letter to Ctesiphon, in j Manichaeus,' Priscillianus," Evagrius of Ibora,
which I replied to the questions propounded, Jovinianus, and the heretics found through-
I received frequent expostulations from the | out almost the whole of Syria, who, by a
brethren, who wanted to know why I any perversion of the import of their name, are
longer delayed the promised work in which commonly called 3 Massalians, in Greek,
I undertook to answer all the subtleties of the Euc/iiles, all of whom hold that it is possible
preachers of Impassibility.8 For every one i for human virtue and human knowledge to
knows what was the contention of the Stoics attain perfection, and arrive, I will not say
and Peripatetics, that is, the old Academy ; \ merely at a likeness to, but an equality
some of them asserted that the naSi}, i ,
which We may call emotions, SUch as SOrrOW,1 ' Priscillian was a Spaniard, who began to propagate his
:_ . !,„„,■. r«„_ „„„ K~ tl.-.«„~l,l., „_„J.' views, which were a mixture of various heresies, about the year
JOV, hope, fear, Can be thoroughly eradl- 3?0. 'See Robertson, p. 295 sq., and Note on Jerome, Letter
cated from the minds of men ; others that cxxxni. ,,.„,, . .
, iii i.i 1 -Evagrius lberita. The name is taken cither from a town
their power Can be broken, that they Can be I named Ibera or Ibora in Pontus, or from the province of Iberia.
(Tovfrnpfl <yr\A rpcrrninprl as nnmarn o-puhlp I Jerome, in the letter to which he refers, styles Evagrius Hyper-
governed ana restrained, as unmanageaDie ; Jborita;hvA this is thou„ht to be an morforHyborita. ft has
horses are held in Check by peculiar kinds Of j been suggested that Jerome was playing on the word lberita.
1 '^ rrii • 1 i_ 1 • j 1 He was born in -z,\c.. He wrote, amongst many other works, a
bits. Their views have been explained by
Tully in the " Tusculan Disputations," and
Origen in his " Stromata " endeavours to blend
them With ecclesiastical truth. I pass Over habit0f ">ntinualVx^ The words are etymologtcalequtva.
, j lents {Massalians, from K?i to pray). The perversity lay in the
' Letter CXXXIII. * 'ATriOeia. \ misinterpretation of such texts as Luke xviii, 1, and 1 Thess, v. 17.
treatise Ilepi airadiias ( On Impassibility), and no doubt Jerome
refers to this a few lines above. He was a zealous champion of
Origen. See also Jerome, Letter CXXXIII. and note.
°T'he Massalians or Euchites derived their name from their
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
449
with God ; and who go the length of assert-
ing that, when once they have reached the
height of perfection, even sins of thought
and ignorance are impossible for them. And
although in my former letter addressed to
Ctesiphon and aimed at their errors, so far
as time permitted, I touched upon a few
points in the book which I am now endeavour-
ing to hammer out, I shall adhere to the
method of Socrates. What can be said on
both sides shall be stated ; and the truth will
thus be clear when both sides express their
opinions. Origen is peculiar in maintaining
on the one hand that it is impossible for
human nature to pass through life without
sin, and on the other, that it is possible for a
man, when he turns to better things, to be-
come so strong that he sins no more.
2. I shall add a few words in answer to
those who say that I am writing this work be-
cause I am inflamed with envy. I have never
spared heretics, and I have done my best to
make the enemies of the Church my own.
1 Helvidius wrote against the perpetual vir-
ginity of Saint Mary. Was it envy that led
me to answer him, whom I had never seen in
the flesh ? 2Jovinianus, whose heresy is now
being fanned into flame, and who disturbed
the faith of Rome in my absence, was so devoid
of gifts of utterance, and had such a pestilent
style that he was a fitter object for pity than
for envy. So far as I could, I answered him
also. a Rufinus did all in his power to circulate
the blasphemies of Origen and the treatise
" On First Principles" {Ilepi 'Apxdov), not in
one city, but throughout the whole world. He
even published the first book of "Eusebius'
" Apology for Origen " under the name of 6Pam-
philus the martyr, and, as though Origen had
not said enough,6 vomited forth a fresh vol-
ume en his behalf. Am I to be accused of envy
because I answered him ? and was his elo-
quence such a rushing torrent as to deter me
through fear from writing or dictating any-
thing in reply ? 7 Palladius, no better than a
villainous slave, tried to impart energy to the
1 He was a Roman lawyer. His treatise was written about A.D.
383. See Jerome's treatise against him in this volume.
* See introduction to Jerome's treatise against Jovinianus in
this volume.
3 See Rufinus' works, especially the " Prolegomena," and Jer-
ome's controversy with him in vol. iii. of this series.
* That is, Eusebius of Ca:sarea (A.D. 267-338), who was called
Famphilus from his friendship with Pamphilus the martyr.
6 Suffered martyrdom A. I). 309. He erected a library at
Caesarea of 30,000 volumes. See Rufinus' Preface to his Apology
in this series, vol. iii., with introductory note.
6 See Rufinus on the adulteration of the works of Origen, in this
series, vol. iii. p. 421.
7 Palladius, bishop of Hellenopolis, the biographer and trusted
friend of Chrysostom, was born about 367. He visited Bethlehem
about 387 and formed a very unfavourable opinion of Jerome. He
highly commended Rufinus. According to Epiphanius, as well as
Jerome, he was tainted with Origenism. Tillemont, however,
thinks that another Palladius may be referred to in these passages.
His accounts of Jerome and Rufinus are given in his " Histoiia
Lausiaca," c. 78 and 118.
same heresy, and to excite against me fresh
prejudice on account of my translation of the
Hebrew. Was I 'envious of such distin-
guished ability and nobility ? Even now the
"mystery of iniquity worketh, and every one
chatters about his views : yet I, it seems, am
the only one who is filled with envy at the
glory of all the rest ; I am so poor a creature
that I envy even those who do not deserve
envy. And so, to prove to all that I do not
hate the men but their errors, and that I do
not wish to vilify any one, but rather lament
the misfortune of men who are deceived by
knowledge falsely so-called, I have made use
of the names of Atticus and Critobulus in
order to express our own views and those of
our opponents. The truth is that all we who
hold the Catholic faith, wish and long that,
while the heresy is condemned, the men may
be reformed. At all events, if they will con-
tinue in error, the blame does not attach to us
who have written, but to them, since they have
preferred a lie to the truth. And one short
answer to our calumniators, whose curses fall
upon their own heads, is this, that the Mani-
chgean doctrine condemns the nature of
man, destroys free will, and does away with
the help of God. And again, that it is mani-
fest madness for man to speak of himself as
being what God alone is. Let us so walk
along the royal road that we turn neither to
the right hand nor to the left ; and let us
always believe that the eagerness of our wills
is governed by the help of God. Should any
one cry out that he is slandered and boast
that he thinks with us ; he will then show that
he assents to the true faith, when he openly
and sincerely condemns the opposite views.
Otherwise his case will be that described by
the prophet : 3 " And yet for all this her
treacherous sister Judah hath not returned
unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly."
It is a smaller sin to follow evil which you
think is good, than not to venture to defend
what you know for certain is good. If we
cannot endure threats, injustice, poverty, how
shall we overcome the flames of Babylon ?
Let us not lose by hollow peace what we have
preserved by war. I should be sorry to allow
my fears to teach me faithlessness, when
Christ has put the true faith in the power of
my choice.
1 Jerome was accused of envy or ill-will by Palladius. " Tanta
fuit ejus invidia ut ab ea obrueretur virtus doctrina;. Cuin ergo
multis diebus cumeo versatusesset sanctus Posidonius, dicit mihi in
aurem, " Ingenua quidem Paula, qua? ejus curam gerit, pra;mori-
etur, liberata ab ejus invidia. Ut autem arbitror, propter hunc
virum non habitabit vir sanctus in his locis, sed ejus pervadet
invidia usque ad propriuin fratrem." — Pallad. Hist. Laus,, § 78, cf.
§82.
* 2 1 hess. li. 7.
3 Jer. iii. 10,
450
JEROME.
Book I,
i. Atticus. I hear, Critobulus, that you
have written that man can be without sin, if
lie chooses ; and that the commandments of
God are easy. Tell me, is it true ?
Critobulus. It is true, Atticus ; but our
rivals do not take the words in the sense
I attached to them.
A. Are they then so ambiguous as to give
rise to a difference as to their meaning ? I do
not ask for an answer to two questions at
once. You laid down two propositions ; the
one, that ' man can be without sin, if he
chooses : the other, that God's command-
ments are easy. Although, therefore, they
were uttered together, let them be discussed
separately, so that, while our faith appears to
be one, no strife may arise through our mis-
understanding each other.
C. I said, Atticus, that man can be with-
out sin, if he chooses ; not, as some maliciously
make us say, without the grace of God (the
very thought is impiety), but simply that he
can, if he chooses ; the aid of the grace of
God being presupposed.
A. Is God, then, the author of your evil
works ?
C. By no means. But if there is any
good in me, it is brought to perfection through
His impulse and assistance.
A. My question does not refer to natural
constitution, but to action. For who doubts
that God is the Creator of all things ? I wish
you would tell me this : the good you do, is it
your's or God's ?
C. It is mine and God's : I work and He
assists.
A. How is it then that everybody thinks
you do away with the grace of God, and
maintain that all our actions proceed from
our own will?
C. I am surprised, Atticus, at your asking
me for the why and wherefore of other peo-
ple's mistakes, and wanting to know what I
did not write, when what I did write is per-
fectly clear. I said that man can be without
sin, if he chooses. Did I add, without the
grace of God?
A. No ; but the fact that you added noth-
ing implies your denial of the need of grace.
C. Nay, rather, the fact that I have not
denied grace should be regarded as tan-
tamount to an assertion of it. It is unjust to
suppose we deny whatever we do not assert.
A. You admit then that man can be sinless,
if he chooses, but with the grace of God.
1 See S, Aug, De Sp. et Lit., c, i.
C. I not only admit it, but freely proclaim it.
A. So then he who does away with the
grace of God is in error.
C. Just so. Or rather, he ought to be
thought impious, seeing that all things are
governed by the pleasure of God, and that we
owe our existence and the faculty of individual
choice and desire to the goodness of God, the
Creator. For that we have free will, and
according to our own choice incline to good
or evil, is part of His grace who made us
what we are, in His own image and likeness.
2. A. No one doubts, Critobulus, that all
things depend on the judgment of Him Who
is Creator of all, and that whatever we have
ought to be attributed to His goodness. But
I should like to know respecting this faculty,
which you attribute to the grace of God,
whether you reckon it as part of the gift be-
stowed in our creation, or suppose it energetic
in our separate actions, so that we avail our-
selves of its assistance continually ; or is it
the case that, having been once for all created
and endowed with free will, we do what we
choose by our own choice or strength ? For
I know that very many of your party refer all
things to the grace of God in such a sense
that they understand the power of the will to
be a gift not of a particular, but of a general
character, that is to say, one which is be-
stowed not at each separate moment, but once
for all at creation.
C. It is not as you affirm ; but I maintain
both positions, that it is by the grace of God
we were created such as we are, and also that
in our several actions we are supported by
His aid.
A. We are agreed, then, that in good works,
besides our own power of choice, we lean on
the help of God ; in evil works we are prompted
by the devil.
C. Quite so ; there is no difference of
opinion on that point.
A. They are wrong, then, who strip us of
the help of God in our separate actions.
The Psalmist sings : ' " Except the Lord
build the house, they labour in vain who
build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the
watchman waketh but in vain ; " and there
are similar passages. But these men en-
deavour by perverse, or rather ridiculous
interpretations, to twist his words to a dif-
ferent meaning.
3. C. Am I bound to contradict others when
you have my own answer?
1 Ps. cxxvii. I,
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
451
A. Your answer to what effect ? That they
are right, or wrong ?
C. What necessity compels me to set my
opinion against other men's ?
A. You are bound by the rules of discussion,
and by respect for truth. Do you not know
that every assertion either affirms, or denies,
and that what is affirmed or denied ought to
be reckoned among good or bad things ?
You must, therefore, admit, and no thanks to
you, that the statement to which my question
relates is either a good thing or a bad.
C. If in particular actions we must have
the help of God, does it follow that we are
unable to make a pen, ' or mend it when it
is made ? Can we not fashion the letters, be
silent or speak, sit, stand, walk or run, eat
or fast, weep or laugh, and so on, without
God's assistance ?
A. From my point of view it is clearly
impossible.
\XV>. How then have we free will, and how
can we guard the grace of God towards us,
if we cannot do even these things without
God?
4. A. The bestowal of the grace of free
will is not such as to do away with the sup-
port of God in particular actions.
C. The help of God is not made of no
account ; inasmuch as creatures are preserved
through the grace of free will once for all
given to them. For if without God, and ex-
cept He assist me in every action, I can do
nothing, He can neither with justice crown
me for my good deeds, nor punish me for my
evil ones, but in each case He will either
receive His own or will condemn the assist-
ance He gave.
A. Tell me, then, plainly, why you do away
with the grace of God. For whatever you
destroy in the parts you must of necessity
deny in the whole.
C. I do not deny grace when I assert that
I was so created by God, that by the grace of
God it was put within the power of my choice
either to do a thing or not to do it.
A. So God falls asleep over our good
actions, when once the faculty of free will has
been given ; and we need not pray to Him to
assist us in our separate actions, since it de-
pends upon our own choice and will either to
do a thing if we choose, or not to do it if we
do not choose.
5. C. As in the case of other creatures, the
conditions of their creation are observed ; so,
when once the power of free will was granted,
everything was left to our own choice.
A. It follows, as I said, that I ought not to
beg the assistance of God in the details of
1 Pumice terere.
conduct, because I consider it was given once
for all.
C. If He co-operates with me in everything
the result is no longer mine, but His Who
assists, or rather works in and with me ; and
all the more because I can do nothing with-
out Him.
A. Have you not read, pray,1 " that it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that run-
neth, but of God that showeth mercy ! "
From this we understand that to will and to
run is ours, but the carrying into effect our
willing and running pertains to the mercy of
God, and is so effected that on the one hand
in willing and running free will is preserved ;
and on the other, in consummating our willing
and running, everything is left to the power
of God. Of course, I ought now to adduce
the frequent testimony of Scripture to show
that in the details of conduct the saints
intreat the help of God, and in their several
actions desire to have Him for their helper
and protector. Read through the Psalter,
and all the utterances of the saints, and you
will find their actions never unaccompanied
by prayer to God. And this is a clear proof
that you either deny the grace which you
banish from the parts of life ; or if you con-
cede its presence in the parts, a concession
plainly much against your will, you must have
come over to the views of us who preserve
free will for man, but so limit it that we do
not deny the assistance of God in each action.
6. C. That is a sophistical conclusion and a
mere display of logical skill. No one can
strip me of the power of free will ; otherwise,
if God were really my helper in what I do,
the reward would not be due to me, but to
Him who wrought in me.
A. Make the most of your free will ; arm
your tongue against God, and therein prove
yourself free, if you will, to blaspheme. But
to go a step farther, there is no doubt as to
your sentiments, and the delusions of your
profession have become as clear as day.
Now, let us turn back to the starting-point
of our discussion. You said just now that,
granted God's assistance, man may be sinless
if he chooses. Tell me, please, for how long ?
For ever, or only for a short time ?
C. Your question is unnecessary. If I say
for a short time, for ever will none the less
be implied. For whatever you allow for a
short time, you will admit may last for
ever.
A. I do not quite understand your meaning.
C. Are you so senseless that you do not
recognize plain facts ?
7. A. I am not ashamed of my ignorance.
1 Rom, ix, 16,
452
JEROME.
And both sides ought to be well agreed on a
definition of the subject of dispute.
C. I maintain this: he who can keep him-
self from sin one day, may do so another day :
if he can on two, he may on three ; if on
three, on thirty : and so on for three hundred,
or three thousand, or as long as ever he
chooses to do so.
A. Say then at once that a man may be
without sin for ever, if he chooses. Can we
do anything we like?
C. Certainly not, for I cannot do all I
should like ; but all I say is this, that a man
can be without sin, if he chooses.
A. Be so good as to tell me this : do you
think I am a man or a beast ?
C. If 1 had any doubt as to whether you
were a man, or a beast, I should confess my-
self to be the latter.
A. If then, as you say, I am a man, how is
it that when I wish and earnestly desire not
to sin, I do transgress?
C. Because your choice is imperfect. If
you really wished not to sin, you really would
not.
A. Well then, you who accuse me of not
having a real desire, are you free from sin
because you have a real desire ?
C. As though I were talking of myself
whom I admit to be a sinner, and not of the
Jew exceptional ones, if any, who have re-
solved not to sin.
8. A. Still, I who question, and you who
answer, both consider ourselves sinners.
C. But we are capable of not being so, if
we please.
A. I said I did not wish to sin, and no
doubt your feeling is the same. How is it
then that what we both wish we can neither
do?
C. Because we do not wish perfectly.
A. Show me any of our ancestors who had
a perfect will and the power in perfection.
C. That is not easy. And when I say that a
man may be without sin if he chooses, I do not
contend that there ever have been such ; I
only maintain the abstract possibility — if he
chooses. ¥ ox possibility of being is one thing,
and is expressed in Greek by ri) dvvaixsi
(possibility) ; being is another, the equivalent
for which is rij evspysiac (actuality). I can
be a physician ; but meanwhile I am not. I
can be an artisan ; but I have not yet learnt
a trade. So, whatever I am able to be, though
I am not that yet, I shall be if I choose.
9. A. Art is one thing, that which is ' above
art is another. Medical skill, craftsmanship,
and so on, are found in many persons ; but
to be always without sin is a characteristic of
1 Reading quod sufer artes est, \
the Divine power only. Therefore, either
give me an instance of those who were for
ever without sin ; or, if you cannot find one,
confess your impotence, lay aside bombast,
and do not mock the ears of fools with this
being and possibility of being of yours. For
who will grant that a man can do
what no man was ever able to do ?
You have not learnt even the rudiments
of logic. For if a man is able, he is .no
longer unable. Either grant that some one
was able to do what you maintain was pos-
sible to be done ; or if no one has had this
power, you must, though against your will,
be held to this position, that no one is able to
effect what yet you profess to be possible.
That was the point at issue between the
powerful logicians, ' Diodorus and '2 Chrys-
ippus, in their discussion of possibility.
Diodorus says that alone can possibly
happen which is either true or will be true.
And whatever will be, that, he says, must of
necessity happen. But whatever will not be,
that cannot possibly happen. Chrysippus,
however, says that things which will not be
might happen ; for instance, this pearl might
be broken, even though it never will. They,
therefore, who say that a man can be without
sin if he chooses, will not be able to prove
the truth of the assertion, unless they show
that it will come to pass. But whereas the
whole future is uncertain, and especially such
things as have never occurred, it is clear that
they say something will be which will not be.
And Ecclesiastes supports this decision :
" All that shall be, has already been in for-
mer ages."
10. C. Pray answer this question : has God
given possible or impossible commands ?
A. I see your drift. But I must discuss
it later on, that we may not, by confusing
different questions, leave our audience in
a fog. I admit that God has given possible
commands, for otherwise He would Himself be
the author of injustice, were He to demand
the doing of what cannot possibly be done.
Reserving this until later, finish your argu-
ment that a man can be without sin, if he
chooses. You will either give instances of
such ability, or, if no one has had the power,
you will clearly confess that a man cannot
avoid sin always.
C. Since you press me to give what I am
not bound to give, consider what our Lord
says, 3 " That it is easier for a camel to go
1 That is, Diodorous, surnamed Cronus, who lived at Alexan-
dria in the reign of Ptolemy Soter (B.C. 323-285). He was the
teacher of Philo. For his discussions On the Possible, Zeller's
" Socrates and the Socratic Schools," Reichel's translation, pp.
272, 273, and authorities there cited, may be consulted.
- Died B.C. 207, aged 73. He was the first to base the Stoic
doctrine on something like systematic reasoning.
3 S, Matt, xix, 24.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
453
through a needle's eye, than for a rich man
to enter into the kingdom of heaven." And
yet he said a thing might possibly happen,
which never has happened. For no camel
has ever gone through a needle's eye.
A. I am surprised at a prudent man sub-
mitting evidence which goes against himself.
For the passage in question does not speak
of a possibility, but one impossibility is com-
pared with another. As a camel cannot go
through a needle's eye, so neither will a rich
man enter the kingdom of heaven. Or, if you
should be able to show that a rich man does
enter the kingdom of heaven, it follows, also,
that a camel goes through a needle's eye.
You must not instance Abraham and other
rich men, about whom we read in the Old
Testament, who, although they were rich,
entered the kingdom of heaven ; for, by spend-
ing their riches on good works, they ceased to
be rich ; nay, rather, inasmuch as they were
rich, not for themselves, but for others, they
ought to be called God's stewards rather than
rich men. But we must seek evangelical per-
fection, according to which there is the com-
mand,1 " If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell
all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and
come, follow Me."
n. C. You are caught unawares in your
own snare.
A. How so ?
C. You quote our Lord's utterance to the
effect that a man can be perfect. For when
He says, "If thou wilt be perfect, sell all that
thou hast, and give to the poor, and come,
follow Me," He shows that a man, if he
chooses, and if he does what is commanded,
can be perfect ?
A. You have given me such a terrible blow
that I am almost dazed. But yet the very
words you quote, " If thou wilt be perfect,"
were spoken to one who could not, or rather
would not, and, therefore, could not ; show
me now, as you promised, some one who
would and could.
C. Why am I compelled to produce in-
stances of perfection, when it is clear from
what the Saviour said to one, and through
one to all, " If thou wilt be perfect," that it is
possible for men to be perfect ?
A. That is a mere shuffle. You still stick
fast in the mire. For, either, if a thing is
possible, it has occurred at some time or
other ; or, if it never has happened, grant
that it is impossible.
12. C. Why do I any longer delay ? You
must be vanquished by the authority of Scrip-
ture. To pass over other passages, you
must be silenced by the two in which we read
1 S. Matt. xix. 2i.
the praises of Job, and of Zacharias and
Elizabeth. For, unless I am deceived, it is thus
written in the book of Job : 1 " There was a
man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job ;
and that man was perfect and upright, a true
worshipper of God, and one who kept him-
self from every evil thing." And again :
2 " Who is he that reproveth one that is right-
eous and free from sin, and speaketh words
without knowledge ? " Also, in the Gospel
according to Luke, we read : 3 " There was
in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a
certain priest named Zacharias, of the course
of Abijah : and he had a wife of the daugh-
ters of Aaron, and her name was Eliza-
beth. And they were both righteous before
God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless."
If a true worshipper of God is also without
spot and without offence, and if those who
walked in all the ordinances of the Lord are
righteous before God, I suppose they are free
from sin, and lack nothing that pertains to
righteousness.
A. You have cited passages which have
been detached not only from the rest of Scrip-
ture, but from the books in which they oc-
cur. For even Job, after he was stricken with
the plague, is convicted of having spoken
many things against the ruling of God, and
to have summoned Him to the bar : 4 " Would
that a man stood with God in the judgment
as a son of man stands with his fellow."
And again: 5"Oh that I had one to hear
me ! that the Almighty might hear my de-
sire, and that the judge would himself write
a book ! " And again : ° " Though I be
righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn
me : though I be perfect, it shall prove me
perverse. If I wash myself with snow-water,
and make my hands never so clean, Thou hast
dyed me again and again with filth. Mine
own clothes have abhorred me." And of
Zacharias it is written, that when the angel
promised the birth of a son, he said :
7 " Whereby shall I know this ? for I am an
old man, and my wife well stricken in years."
For which answer he was at once condemned
to silence : 8 " Thou shalt be silent, and not
able to speak, until the day that these
things shall come to pass, because thou be-
lievest not my words, which shall be fulfilled
in their season." From this it is clear that
men are called righteous, and said to be with-
out fault ; but that, if negligence comes over
lJobi. i. . . ,
2 This appears to be an inaccurate quotation made from
memory.
3 S. Luke i. 5 sqq.
4 Job xvi. 21. Vulg. R. V. Margin—" That one might plead for
a man with God as a son of man pleadeth for his neighbour."
5 fob xxxi. 35. 6 Job ix. 20, 30, 31.
7 S. Luke i. x8. 8 lb, 20.
VOL. VI,
G £
454
JEROME.
them, they may fall ; and that a man always
occupies a middle place, so that he may slip
from the height of virtue into vice, or may
rise from vice to virtue ; and that he is
never safe, but must dread shipwreck even
in fair weather ; and, therefore, that a man
cannot be without sin. Solomon says,
1 " There is not a righteous man upon earth
that doeth good and sinneth not" ; and like-
wise in the book of Kings : a " There is no :
man that sinneth not." So, also, the blessed j
David says : 3 " Who can understand his j
errors ? Cleanse Thou me from hidden faults,
and keep back Thy servant from presumptuous
sins." And again:4 "Enter not into judg-
ment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall \
no man living be justified." Holy Scripture
is full of passages to the same effect.
13. C. But what answer will you give to the
famous declaration of John the Evangelist :
t" We know that whosoever is begotten of God
sinneth not ; but the begetting of God keepeth
him, and the evil one toucheth him not. We
know that we are of God, and the whole
world lieth in the evil one ? "
A. I will requite like with like, and will
show that, according to you, the little epistle
of the Evangelist contradicts itself. For, if
whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not
because His seed abideth in him, and he can-
not sin, because he is born of God, how is it
that the writer says in the same place: 6"If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us?" You
cannot explain. You hesitate and are con-
fused. Listen to the same Evangelist telling
us that 7" If we confess our sins, he is faith-
ful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We are then righteous when we confess
that we are sinners, and our righteous-
ness depends not upon our own merits, but
on the mercy of God, as the Holy Scripture
says, e " The righteous man accuseth himself
when he beginneth to speak," and elsewhere,
9 "Tell thy sins that thou mayest be justified."
10 " God hath shut up all under sin, that He
may have mercy upon all." And the highest
righteousness of man is this — whatever virtue
he may be able to acquire, not to think it his
own, but the gift of God. He then who is
born of God does not sin, so long as the seed
of God remains in him, and he cannot sin, be-
cause he is born of God. But seeing that,
while the householder slept, an enemy sowed
tares, and that when we know not, a sower by
night scatters in the Lord's field darnel and
1 Eccles. vii. 21.
4 Ps. cxliii. 2.
7 1 John i. 9.
9 Is, xliii. 26, Sept.
• 2 Chron. vi. 36. 3 Ps. xix. 12, 13.
5 1 John v. 18, 19. 6 1 John i. 8.
8 Prov, xviii. 17, Vulg. nearly.
lu Rom, xi. 32.
wild oats among the good corn, this parable
of the householder in the Gospel should excite
our fears. He cleanses his floor, and gathers
the wheat into his garner, but leaves the chaff
to be scattered by the winds, or burned by the
fire. And so we read in Jeremiah,1 " What is
the chaff to the wheat ? saith the Lord." The
chaff, moreover, is separated from the wheat
at the end of the world, a proof that, while we
are in the mortal body, chaff is mixed with the
wheat. But if you object, and ask why did
the Apostje say " and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God," I reply by asking you
what becomes of the reward of his choice ?
For if a man does not sin because he cannot
sin, free will is destroyed, and goodness can-
not possibly be due to his efforts, but must be
part of a nature unreceptive of evil.
14. C. The task I set you just now was an
easy one by way of practice for something
more difficult. What have you to say to my
next argument ? Clever as you are, all your
skill will not avail to overthrow it. I shall
first quote from the Old Testament, then from
the New. Moses is the chief figure in the Old
Testament, our Lord and Saviour in the New.
Moses says to the people, " " Be perfect in the
sight of the Lord your God." And the Sav-
iour bids the Apostles 3 " Be perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect." Now it was either
possible for the hearers to do what Moses and
the Lord commanded, or, if it be impossible,
the fault does not lie with them who cannot
obey, but with Him who gave impossible
commands.
A. This passage to the ignorant, and to
those who are unaccustomed to meditate on
Holy Scripture, and who neither know nor
use it, does appear at first sight to favour your
opinion. But when you look into it, the diffi-
culty soon disappears. And when you com-
pare passages of Scripture with others, that
the Holy Spirit may not seem to contradict
Himself with changing place and time, ac-
cording to what is written, 4 " Deep calleth
unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts,"
the truth will show itself, that is, that Christ
did give a possible command when He said :
"Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is
perfect," and yet that the Apostles were not
perfect.
C. I am not talking of what the Apostles
did, but of what Christ commanded. And
the fault does not lie with the giver of the
command, but with the hearers of it, because
we cannot admit the justice of him who com-
mands without conceding the possibility of
doing what is commanded.
A. Good ! Don't tell me then that a man
1 Jer. xxiii. 28.
3 S, Matt, v. 48
a Deut. xviii. 17.
* Ps. xli. 7.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
455
can be without sin if he chooses, but that a
man can be what the Apostles were not.
C. Do you think me fool enough to dare
say such a thing ?
A. Although you do not say it in so many
words, however reluctant you may be to ad-
mit the fact, it follows by natural sequence
from your proposition. For if a man can be
without sin, and it is clear the Apostles were
not without sin, a man can be higher than the
Apostles : to say nothing of patriarchs and
prophets whose righteousness under the law
was not perfect, as the Apostle says,1 " For
all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of
God : being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus : whom God set forth to be a propiti-
ator."
14a. C. This way of arguing is intricate
and brings the simplicity which becomes the
Church into the tangled thickets of philosophy.
What has Paul to do with Aristotle ? or
Peter with Plato ? For as the latter was the
prince of philosophers, so was the former
chief of the Apostles : on him the Lord's
Church was firmly founded, and neither
rushing flood nor storm can shake it.
A. Now you are rhetorical, and while you
taunt me with philosophy, you yourself cross
over to the camp of the orators. But listen
to what your same favourite orator says :
2 " Let us have no more commonplaces : we
get them at home."
C. There is no eloquence in this, no bom-
bast like that of the orators, who might be de-
fined as persons whose object is to persuade,
and who frame their language accordingly..
We are seeking unadulterated truth, and use1
unsophisticated language. Either the LoroS
did not give impossible commands, so that
they are to blame who did not do what was j
possible ; or, if what is commanded cannot be
done, then not they who do not things impos-
sible are convicted of unrighteousness, but He
Who commanded things impossible, and that
is an impious statement.
A. I see you are much more disturbed than
is your wont ; so I will not ply you with
arguments. But let me briefly ask what you
think of the well-known passage of the Apostle
when he wrote to the Philippians :3 " Not that
I have already obtained, or am already made
perfect : but I press on, if so be that I may
apprehend that for which also I was appre-
hended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count
not myself to have yet apprehended : but one
thing I do ; forgetting the things which are
behind, and stretching forward to the things
which are before, I press on towards the goal
unto the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as
be perfect, be thus minded : and if in any-
thing ye are otherwise minded, even this shall
God reveal unto you," and so on ; no doubt
you know the rest, which, in my desire to be
brief, I omit. He says that he had not yet ap-
prehended, and was by no means perfect ;
but, like an archer, aimed his arrows at the
mark set up (more expressively called ' Guono^
in Greek), lest the shaft, turning to one side or
the other, might show the unskilfulness of
the archer. He further declares that he
always forgot the past, and ever stretched for-
ward to the things in front, thus teaching that
no heed should be paid to the past, but the
future earnestly desired ; so that what to-day
he thought perfect, while he was stretching
forward to better things and things in front,
to-morrow proves to have been imperfect.
And thus at every step, never standing still,
but always running, he shows that to be im-
perfect which we men thought perfect, and
teaches that our only perfection and true
righteousness is that which is measured by the
excellence of God. " I press on towards the
goal," he says, " unto the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus." Oh, blessed
Apostle Paul, pardon me, a poor creature who
confess my faults, if I venture to ask a ques-
tion. You say that you had not yet obtained,
nor yet apprehended, nor were yet perfect,
and that you always forgot the things behind,
and stretched forward to the things in front,
if by any means you might have part in the
resurrection of the dead, and win the prize of
your high calling. How, then, is it that you
immediately add, " As many therefore as are
perfect, are thus minded " ? (or, let us be thus
minded, for the copies vary). And what
mind is it that we have, or are to have ?
that we are perfect? that we have appre-
hended that which we have not apprehended,
received what we have not received, are per-
fect who are not yet perfect ? What mind
then have we, or rather what mind ought we
to have who are not perfect ? To confess
that we are imperfect, and have not yet ap-
prehended, nor yet obtained, this is true
wisdom in man : know thyself to be imper-
fect ; and, if I may so speak, the perfection
of all who are righteous, so long as they are
in the flesh, is imperfect. Hence we read in
Proverbs:2 "To understand true righteous-
ness." For if there were not also a false
righteousness, the rightousness of God would
never be called true. The Apostle continues :
" and if ye are otherwise minded, God will
also reveal that to you." This sounds strange
1 Rom. iii. i-\, 24. So R. V. Margin — " To be propitiatory."
2 Cic. Lib. iv, Acad. Quaest. 3 Phil. iii. 12-16.
1 From cr,\;c'j7TO/*a4l to keep watch,
5 Prov. i. 3, Sept. ?
G £ 2
456
JEROME.
to my ears. He who but just now said,
" Not that I have already obtained, or am
already perfect '•; the chosen vessel, who was
so confident of Christ's dwelling in him that
he dared to say " Do ye seek a proof of
Christ that speaketh in me ? " and yet plainly
confessed that he was not perfect ; he now
gives to the multitude what he denied to him-
self in particular, he unites himself with the
rest and says, " As many of us as are perfect,
let us be thus minded." But why he said
this, he explains presently. Let us, he means,
who wish to be perfect according to the poor
measure of human frailty, think this, that we
have not yet obtained, nor yet apprehended,
nor are yet perfect, and inasmuch as we are
not yet perfect, and, perhaps, think other-
wise than true and perfect perfection re-
quires, if we are minded otherwise than is
dictated by the full knowledge of God, God
will also reveal this to us, so that we may
pray with David and say,1 " Open Thou mine
eyes that I may behold wondrous things out1
of Thy law."
15. All this makes it clear that in Holy
Scripture there are two sorts of perfec-
tion, two of righteousness, and two of fear.
The first is that perfection, and incomparable
truth, and perfect righteousness 2and fear,
which is the beginning of wisdom, and which
we must measure by the excellence of God ;
the second, which is within the range not
only of men, but of every creature, and is
not inconsistent with our frailty, as we read
in the Psalms : 3 "In Thy sight shall no man
living be justified," is that righteousness which
is said to be perfect, not in comparison with
God, but as recognized by God. Job, and
Zacharias, and Elizabeth, were called right-
eous, in respect of that righteousness which
might some day turn to unrighteousness, and
not in respect of that which is incapable of
change, concerning which it is said, " " I am
God, and change not." And this is that
which the Apostle elsewhere writes : 6 " That
which hath been made glorious hath not been
made glorious in this respect, by reason of
the glory that surpasseth "; because, that is,
the righteousness of the law, in comparison
of the grace of the Gospel, does not seem to
be righteousness at all. 6 " For if," he says,
that which passeth away was with glory, much
more that which remaineth is in glory." ' And
again, " We know in part, and we prophesy
in part ; but when that which is perfect is
come, that which is in part shall be done
away." And, e " For now we see in a mirror,
darkly ; but then face to face : now I know
1 Ps. cxix. iR. 2 The reading is much disputed.
3 Ps. cxliii. 2. * Malach. iii. 6. 6 2 Cor. iii. 10.
0 lb. 11, 7 1 Cor. xiii, 9, 10. 8 1 Cor. xiii. 12
in part ; but then shall I know even as also
; I have been known." And in the Psalms,
1 " Such knowledge is too wonderful for
j me ; it is high, I cannot attain unto it."
j And again, i " When I thought how I
might know this, it was too painful for me ;
until I went into the sanctuary of God,
i and considered their latter end." And
in 'the same place,3 " I was as a beast before
, thee : nevertheless I am continually with
thee." And Jeremiah says, 4 " Every man is
become brutish and without knowledge."
And to return to the Apostle Paul, ° " The
foolishness of God is wiser than men." And
much besides, which I omit for brevity's sake.
16. C. My dear Atticus, your speech is
really a clever feat of memory. But the labour
you have spent in mustering this host of au-
thorities is to my advantage. For I do not
, any more than you compare man with God,
but with other men, in comparison with whom
I be who takes the trouble can be perfect.
And so, when we say that man, if he chooses,
. can be without sin, the standard is the meas-
I ure of man, not the majesty of God, in
comparison with Whom no creature can be
perfect.
A. Critobulus, I am obliged to you for re-
minding me of the fact. For it is just my
own view that no creature can be perfect in
respect of true and finished righteousness.
But that one differs from another, and that
1 one man's righteousness is not the same as
another's, no one doubts ; nor again that one
I may be greater or less than another, and yet
that, relatively to their own status and capacity,
men may be called righteous who are not
righteous when compared with others. For
instance, the Apostle Paul, the chosen vessel
who laboured more than all the Apostles,
was, I suppose, righteous when he wrote to
Timothy, 6 " I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the course, I have kept the
faith : henceforth there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, shall give to me at that day :
and not only to me, but also to all them that
love His appearing." Timothy, his disciple
and imitator, whom he taught the rules of
action and the limits of virtue, was also
righteous. Are we to think there was one
and the same righteousness in them both, and
that he had not more merit who laboured more
than all ? " In my Father's house are many
mansions." I suppose there are also different
degrees of merit. "One star differeth from
another star in glory," and in the one body
of the Church there are different members.
The sun has its own splendour, the moon
cxxxix. 6.
Jer, x, 14.
2 Ps. Ixxiii. 16, 17.
6 ( Cor. i. 25.
3 Ibid. 22, 23.
e a Tim. iv. 7, 8,
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
457
tempers the darkness of the night ; and the
five heavenly bodies which are called planets
traverse the sky in different tracks and with
different degrees of luminousness. There are
countless other stars whose movements we
trace in the firmament. Each has its own
brightness, and though each in respect of its
own is perfect, yet, in comparison with one of
greater magnitude, it lacks perfection. In the
body also with its different members, the eye
has one function, the hand another, the foot
another. Whence the Apostle says,1 " The
eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need
of thee : or again the head to the feet, I have
no need of you. Are all Apostles ? are all
prophets ? are all teachers ? are all workers
of miracles ? have all gifts of healing ? do all
speak with tongues ? do all interpret ? But
desire earnestly the greater gifts. But all
these worketh the one and the same Spirit,
dividing to each one severally even as He will."
And here mark carefully that he does not say,
as each member desires, but as the Spirit
Himself will. For the vessel cannot say to
him that makes it,2 " Why dost thou make
me thus or thus ? Hath not the potter a
right over the clay, from the same lump to
make one part a vessel unto honour, and
another unto dishonour ?" And so in close
sequence he added, " Desire earnestly the
greater gifts," so that, by the exercise of faith
and diligence, we may win something in addi-
tion to other gifts, and may be superior to
those who, compared with us, are in the second
or third class. In a great house there are
different vessels, some of gold, some of silver,
brass, iron, wood. And yet while in its kind
a vessel of brass is perfect, in comparison
with one of silver it is called imperfect, and
again one of silver, compared with one of
gold, is inferior. And thus, when compared
with one another, all things are imperfect and
perfect. In a field of good soil, and from
one sowing, there springs a crop thirty-fold,
sixty-fold, or a hundred-fold. The very num-
bers show that there is disparity in the parts
of the produce, and yet in its own kind each '
is perfect. Elizabeth and Zacharias, whom
you adduce and with whom you cover your-
self as with an impenetrable shield, may teach
us how far they are beneath the holiness of
blessed Mary, the Lord's Mother, who, con-
scious that God was dwelling in her, proclaims
without reserve, 3 " Behold, from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed. For
He that is mighty hath done to me great
things ; and holy is His name. And His
mercy is unto generations and generations of
them that fear Him. He hath showed
strength with His arm." Where, observe,
she says she is blessed not by her own merit
and virtue, but by the mercy of God dwelling
in her. And John himself, a greater than
whom has not arisen among the sons of men,
is better than his parents. For not only does
our Lord compare him with men, but with
angels also. And yet he, who was greater on
earth than all other men, is said to be less
than the least in the kingdom of heaven.
17. Need we be surprised that, when saints
are compared, some are better, some worse,
since the same holds good in the comparison
of sins ? To Jerusalem, pierced and wounded
with many sins, it is said, ' "Sodom is justi-
fied by thee." It is not because Sodom,
which has sunk for ever into ashes, is just in
herself, that it is said by Ezekiel,2 "Sodom
shall be restored to her former estate" ; but
that, in comparison with the more accursed
Jerusalem, she appears just. For Jerusalem
killed the Son of God ; Sodom through fulness
of bread and excessive luxury carried her
lust beyond all bounds. The publican in
the Gospel who smote upon his breast as
though it were a magazine of the worst
thoughts, and, conscious of his offences, dared
not lift up his eyes, is justified rather than
the proud Pharisee. And Thamar in the
guise of a harlot deceived Judah, and in the
estimation of this man himself who was de-
ceived, was worthy of the words,3 " Thamar
is more righteous than I." All this goes to
prove that not only in comparison with Di-
vine majesty are men far from perfection,
but also when compared with angels, and
other men who have climbed the heights of
virtue. You may be superior to some one
whom you have shown to be imperfect, and
yet be outstripped by another ; and conse-
quently may not have true perfection, which,
if it be perfect, is absolute.
18. C. How is it then, Atticus, that the
Divine Word urges us to perfection ?
A. I have already explained that in pro-
portion to our strength each one, with all his
power, must stretch forward, if by any means
he may attain to, and apprehend the reward
of his high calling. In short Almighty God,
to whom, as the Apostle teaches, the Son must
in accordance with the dispensation of the
Incarnation be subjected, that * " God may be
all in all," clearly shows that all things are by
no means subject to Himself. Hence the
prophet anticipates his own final subjection,
saying,5 "Shall not my soul be subject to
God alone ? for of Him cometh my salvation."
And because in the body of the Church
Christ is the head, and some of the members
1 1 Cor. xii. 21, 29, 11,
' S. Luke i. 48 sq.
2 Rom.ix. 2i.
1 Lam. iv. 6.
4 1 Cor. xv. 28.
a Ezek. xvi. 35.
6 Ps. lxii, 2,
3 Gen. xxxviii, 26,
453
JEROME.
still resist, the body does not appear to be
subject even to the head. For if one member
suffer, all the members suffer with it, and the
whole body is tortured by the pain in one
member. My meaning may be more clearly
expressed thus. So long as we have the
treasure in earthen vessels, and are clothed
with frail flesh, or rather with mortal and
corruptible flesh, we think ourselves fortunate
if, in single virtues and separate portions of
virtue, we are subject to God. But when this
mortal shall have put on immortality, and
this corruptible shall have put on incorrup-
tion, and death shall be swallowed up in the
victory of Christ, then will God be all in all :
and so there will not be merely wisdom in
Solomon, sweetness in David, zeal in Elias
and Phinees, faith in Abraham, perfect love
in Peter, to whom it was said, ' "Simon, son
of John, lovest thou me ? " zeal for preaching
in the chosen vessel, and two or three virtues
each in others, but God will be wholly in all,
and the company of the saints will rejoice in
the whole band of virtues, and God will be
all in all.
19. C. Do I understand you to say that no
saint, so long as he is in this poor body, can
have all virtues ?
A. Just so, because now we prophesy in
part, and know in part. It is impossible for
all things to be in all men, for no son of man
is immortal.
C. How is it, then, that we read that he
who has one virtue appears to have all ?
A. By partaking of them, not possessing
them, for individuals must excel in particular
virtues. But I confess I don't know where
to find what you say you have read.
C. Are you not aware that the philosophers
take that view ?
A. The philosophers may, but the Apostles
do not. I heed not what Aristotle, but what
Paul, teaches.
C. Pray does not James the Apostle "' write
that he who stumbles in one point is guilty of
all?
A. The passage is its own interpreter.
James did not say, as a starting-point for the
discussion, he who prefers a rich man to a
poor man in honour is guilty of adultery or
murder. That is a delusion of the Stoics
who maintain the equality of sins. But he
proceeds thus : " He who said, Thou shaltnot
commit adultery, said also, Thou shalt not kill :
but although thou dost not kill, yet, if thou
commit adultery, thou art become a transgres-
sor of the law." Light offences are compared
with light ones, and heavy offences with heavy
ones. A fault that deserves the rod must not
1 S, John xxi. 15-17.
'-1 James ii. 10.
be avenged with the sword ; nor must a crime
worthy of the sword, be checked with the
rod.
C. Suppose it true that no saint has all the
virtues : you will surely grant that within
the range of his ability, if a man do what he
can, he is perfect.
A. Do you not remember what I said
before ?
C. What was it ?
A. That a man is perfect in respect of what
he has done, imperfect in respect of what he
could not do.
C. But as he is perfect in respect of what
he has done, because he willed to do it, so in
respect of that which constitutes him imper-
fect, because he has not done it, he might
have been perfect, had he willed to do it.
A. Who does not wish to do what is per-
fect ? Or who does not long to grow vigor-
ously in all virtue ? If you look for all vir-
tues in each individual, you do away with the
distinctions of things, and the difference of
graces, and the variety of the work of the
Creator, whose prophet cries aloud in the
sacred song:1 "In wisdom hast thou made
them all." Lucifer may be indignant be-
cause he has not the brightness of the moon.
The moon may dispute over her eclipses and
ceaseless toil, and ask why she must traverse
every month the yearly orbit of the sun. The
sun may complain and want to know what he
has done that he travels more slowly than the
moon. And we poor creatures may demand
to know why it is that we were made men
and not angels ; although your teacher, ''the
Ancient, the fountain from which these
streams flow, asserts that all rational creatures
were created equal and started fairly, like
charioteers, either to succumb halfway, or to
pass on rapidly and reach the wished-for
goal. Elephants, with their huge bulk, and
griffins, might discuss their ponderous frames
and ask why they must go on four feet, while
flies, midges, and other creatures like them
have six feet under their tiny wings, and
there are some creeping things which have
such an abundance of feet that the keenest
vision cannot follow their countless and simul-
taneous movements. Marcion and all the
heretics who denied the Creator's works
might speak thus. Your principle goes so
far that while its adherents attack particular
points, they are laying hands on God ; they
are asking why He only is God, why He
envies the creatures, and why they are not
all endowed with the same power and impor-
1 Ps. civ. 24.
2 According to some, Plato : more probably, Origen, the word
apxaios being an allusion to the title of his chief work, nepl
'Apxior,
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
459
tance. You would not say so much (for you
are not mad enough to openly fight against
God), yet this is your meaning in other
words, when you give man an attribute of
God, and make him to be without sin like
God Himself. Hence the Apostle, with his
voice of thunder, says, concerning different
graces : ' " There are diversities of gifts, but
the same spirit ; and differences of ministra-
tions, but the same Lord ; and there are di-
versities of workings, but the same God, Who
worketh all things in all."
20. C. You push this one particular point
too far in seeking to convince me that a man
cannot have all excellences at the same time.
As though God were guilty of envy, or un-
able to bestow upon His image and likeness a
correspondence in all things to his Creator.
A. Is it I or you who go too far ? You
revive questions already settled, and do
not understand that likeness is one thing,
equality another ; that the former is a paint-
ing, the latter, reality. A real horse
courses over the plains; the painted one
with his chariot does not leave the wall.
The Arians do not allow to the Son of God
what you give to every man. Some do not
dare to confess the perfect humanity of
Christ, lest they should be compelled to ac-
cept the belief that He had the sins of a man ;
as though the Creator were unequal to the
act of creating, and the title Son of Man were
co-extensive with the title Son of God. So
either set me something else to answer, or lay
aside pride and give glory to God.
C. You forget a former answer of yours,
and have been so busy forging your chain of
argument, and careering through the wide
fields of Scripture, like a horse that has
slipped its bridle, that you have not said a
single word about the main point. Your for-
getfulness is a pretext for escaping the neces-
sity of a reply. It was foolish in me to con-
cede to you for the nonce what you asked,
and to suppose that you would voluntarily
give up what you had received, and would not
need a reminder to make you pay what you
owed.
A. If I mistake not, it was the question of
possible commands of which I deferred the
answer. Pray proceed as you think best.
21. C. The commands which God has
given are either possible or impossible. If
possible, it is in our power to do them, if we
choose. If impossible, we cannot be held guil-
ty for omitting duties which it is not given
us to fufil. Hence it results that, whether
God has given possible or impossible com-
mands, a man can be without sin if he chooses.
A. I beg your patient attention, for what
we seek is not victory over an opponent, but
the triumph of truth over falsehood. God
has put within the power of mankind all
arts, for we see that a vast number of men
have mastered them. To pass over those
which the Greeks call ' xfiavav60i, as we may
say, the manual arts, I will instance grammar,
rhetoric, the three sorts of philosophy —
physics, ethics, logic — geometry also, and
astronomy, astrology, arithmetic, music,
which are also parts of philosophy ; medi-
cine, too, in its threefold division — theory, in-
vestigation, practice ; a knowledge of law in
general and of particular enactments. Which
of us, however clever he may be, will be able
to understand them all, when the most elo-
quent of orators, discussing rhetoric and
jurisprudence, said : " A few may excel in one,
in both no one can." You see, then, that
God has commanded what is possible, and
yet, that no one can by nature attain to what
is possible. Similarly he has given different
rules and various virtues, all of which we can-
not possess at the same time. Hence it hap-
pens that a virtue which in one person takes
the chief place, or is found in perfection, in
another is but partial ; and yet, he is not to
blame who has not all excellence, nor is he
condemned for lacking that which he has
not ; but he is justified through what he does
possess. The Apostle described the charac-
ter of a bishop when he wrote to Timothy,
3 " The bishop, therefore, must be without re-
proach, the husband of one wife, temperate,
modest, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to
teach ; no brawler, no striker ; but gentle,
not contentious, no lover of money ; one
that ruleth well his own house, having his
children in subjection with all modesty."
And again, "Not a novice, lest, being puffed
up, he fall into the condemnation of the
devil. Moreover, he must have good testi-
mony from them that are without, lest he fall
into reproach and the snare of the devil."
Writing also to his disciple Titus, he briefly
points out what sort of bishops he ought to or-
dain : 3 " For this cause left I thee in Crete,
that thou shouldest set in order the things
that were wanting, and appoint elders in
every city, as I gave thee charge ; if any man
is blameless, the husband of one wife, having
children that believe, who are not accused of
riot or unruly. For the bishop must be
blameless (or free from accusation, for so
much is conveyed by the original) as God's
steward ; not self-willed, not soon angry, no
brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre ;
but given to hospitality, kind, modest, just,
1 1 Cor. xii, 4, 5.
* That is, nean,
3 1 Tim, iii, 2 sq. 3 Titus i. 5 sq.
460
JEROME.
holy, temperate ; holding to the faithful word
which is according to the teaching, that he
may be able both to exhort in the sound doc-
trine, and to convict the gainsayers." I will
not now say anything of the various rules re-
lating to different persons, but will confine
myself to the commands connected with the
bishop.
22. God certainly wishes bishops or priests
to be such as the chosen vessel teaches they
should be. As to the first qualification it is
seldom or never that one is found without
reproach; for who is it that has not some
fault, like a mole or a wart on a lovely body ?
If the Apostle himself says of Peter that he
did not tread a straight path in the truth of
the Gospel, and was so far to blame that
even Barnabas was led away into the same
dissimulation, who will be indignant if that is
denied to him which the chief of the Apostles
had not ? Then, supposing you find one,
"the husband of one wife, sober-minded,
orderly, given to hospitality," the next at-
tribute— didauriuov, apt to teach, not merely
as the Latin renders the word, apt to be
taught — you will hardly find in company with
the other virtues. A bishop or priest that is
a brawler, or a striker, or a lover of money,
the Apostle rejects, and in his stead would
have one gentle, not contentious, free from
avarice, one that rules well his own house,
and what is very hard, one who has his
children in subjection with all modesty,
whether they be children of the flesh or
children of the faith. "With all modesty,"
he says. It is not enough for him to have his
own modesty unless it be enhanced by the
modesty of his children, companions, and
servants, as David says,1 " He that walketh
in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me."
Let us consider, also, the emphasis laid on
modesty by the addition of the words " having
his children in subjection with all modesty."
Not only in deed but in word and gesture
must he hold aloof from immodesty, lest per-
chance the experience of Eli be his. Eli
certainly rebuked his sons, saying,2 " Nay,
my sons, nay ; it is not a good report which
I hear of you." He chided them, and yet was
punished, because he should not have chided,
outcast them off. What will he do who rejoices
at vice or lacks the courage to correct it ?
Who fears his own conscience, and there-
fore pretends to be ignorant of what is in
everybody's mouth ? The next point is that
the bishop must be free from accusation, that
he have a good report from them who are
without, that no reproaches of opponents be
levelled at him, and that they who dislike his
doctrine may be pleased with his life. I sup-
pose it would not be easy to find all this, and
particularly one "able to resist the gain-
sayers," to check and overcome erroneous
opinions. He wishes no novice to be ordained
bishop, and yet in our time we see the youth-
ful novice sought after as though he repre-
sented the highest righteousness. If baptism
immediately made a man righteous, and full of
all righteousness, it was of course idle for the
Apostle to repel a novice ; but baptism annuls
old sins, .does not bestow new virtues; it
looses from prison, and promises rewards to
the released if he will work. Seldom or
never, I say, is there a man who has all the
virtues which a bishop should have. And yet
if a bishop lacked one or two of the virtues
in the list, it does not follow that he can no
longer be called righteous, nor will he be con-
demned for his deficiencies, but will be
crowned for what he has. For to have all and
lack nothing is the virtue of Him ' " Who
did no sin ; neither was guile found in His
mouth ; Who, when He was reviled, reviled
not again ; " Who, confident in the conscious-
ness of virtue, said, ' " Behold the prince of
this world cometh, and findeth nothing in
me;" 3"Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be on an equality
with God, but emptied Himself, taking the
form of a servant, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Where-
fore God gave Him the name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things on earth, and things under the earth."
If, then, in the person of a single bishop you
will either not find at all, or with difficulty,
even a few of the things commanded, how will
you deal with the mass of men in general who
are bound to fulfil all the commandments ?
23. Let us reason from things bodily to
things spiritual. One man is swift-footed,
but not strong-handed. That man's move-
ments are slow, but he stands firm in battle.
This man has a fine face, but a harsh voice :
another is repulsive to look at, but sings
sweetly and melodiously. There we see a
man of great ability, but equally poor mem-
ory ; here is another whose memory serves
him, but whose wits are slow. In the very
discussions with which when we were boys
we amused ourselves, all the disputants are
not on a level, either in introducing a sub-
ject, or in narrative, or in digressions, or
wealth of illustration, and charm of peroration,
but their various oratorical efforts exhibit
different degrees of merit. Of churchmen I
will say more. Many discourse well upon
. ti. 6,
' I Sam. ii. 24.
1 1 Pet. ii. 22,
2 S. John xiv. 30,
3 Phil.ii. 6sq.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
461
the Gospels, but in explaining an Apostle's
meaning are unequal to themselves. Others,
although most acute in the New Testament,
are dumb in the Psalms and the Old Testa-
ment. I quite agree with Virgil — Noti om-
nia possumus omncs ; and seldom or never is
the rich man found who in the abundance
of his wealth has everything in equal pro-
portions. That God has given possible com-
mands, I admit no less than you. But it is
not for each one of us to make all these pos-
sible virtues our own, not because our nature
is weak, for that is a slander upon God, but
because our hearts and minds grow weary
and cannot keep all virtues simultaneously
and perpetually. And if you blame the
Creator for having made you subject to
weariness and failure, I shall reply, your
censure would be still more severe if you
thought proper to accuse Him of not having
made you God. But you will say, if I have
not the power, no sin attaches to me. You
have sinned because you have not done what
another could do. And again, he in com-
parison with whom you are inferior will be a
sinner in respect of some "other virtue, rela-
tively to you or to another person ; and thus
it happens that whoever is thought to be first,
is inferior to him who is his superior in some
other particular.
24. C. If it is impossible for man to be
without sin, what does the Apostle Jude mean
by writing,1 " Now unto Him that is able to
keep you without sin, and to set you before
the presence of His glory without blemish " ?
This is clear proof that it is possible to keep
a man without sin and without blemish.
A. You do not understand the passage.
We are not told that a man can be without
sin, which is your view, but that God, if He
chooses, can keep a man free from sin, and of
His mercy guard him so that he may be with-
out blemish. And I say that all things are
possible with God ; but that everything whiclr
a man desires is not possible to him, and es-
pecially, an attribute which belongs to no
created thing you ever read of.
C. I do not say that a man is without sin,
which, perhaps, appears to you to be possible ;
but that he may be, if he chooses. For actual-
ity is one thing, possibility another. In the
actual we look for an instance ; possibility
implies that our power to act is real.
A. You are trifling, and forget the proverb,
" Don't do what is done." You keep turning
in the same mire,2 and only make more dirt.
I shall, therefore, tell you, what is clear to all,
1 Verse 24.
a Literally, wash a brick ( that lixs not been burnt). Hence (1)
labour in vain, or (2) make bad worse. The latter appears to be
the meaning here.
that you are trying to establish a thing that is
not, never was, and, perhaps, never will be.
To employ your own words, and show the
folly and inconsistency of your argument, I
say that you are maintaining an impossible
possibility. For your proposition, that a man
can be without sin if he chooses, is either
true or false. If it be true, show me who the
man is ; if it be false, whatever is false can
never happen. But let us have no more of
these notions. Hissed off the stage, and no
longer daring to appear in public, they should
stay on the book shelves, and not let them-
selves be heard.
25. Let us proceed to other matters. And
here I must speak uninterruptedly, so far, at
least, as is consistent with giving you an op-
portunity of refuting me, or asking any ques-
tion you think fit.
C. I will listen patiently, though I cannot
say gladly. The ability of your reasoning
will strike me all the more, while I am amazed
at its falsity.
A. Whether what I am going to say is true
or false, you will be able to judge when you
have heard it.
C. Follow your own method. I am resolved,
if I am unable to answer, to hold my tongue
rather than assent to a lie.
A. What difference does it make whether
I defeat you speaking or silent, and, as it is
in the ' story of Proteus, catch you asleep or
awake ?
C. When you have said what you like, you
shall hear what you will certainly not like.
For though truth may be put to hard shifts
it cannot be subdued.
A. I want to sift your opinions a little, that
your followers may know what an inspired
genius you are. You say, " It is impossible
for any but those who have the knowledge of
the law to be without sin"; and you, conse-
quently, shut out from righteousness a large
number of Christians, and, preacher of sinless":
ness though you are, declare nearly all to be
sinners. For how many Christians have that
knowledge of the law which you can find but
seldom, or hardly at all, in many doctors of
the Church ? But your liberality is so great
that, in order to stand well with your
Amazons, you have elsewhere written, " Even
women ought to have a knowledge of the
law," although the Apostle preaches that
women ought to keep silence in the churches,
and if they want to know anything consult
their husbands at home. And you are not
content with having given your cohort a
knowledge of Scripture, but you must delight
yourself with their songs and canticles, for
1 Virg. Georg., iv.
462
JEROME.
you have a heading to the effect that " Women
also should sing unto God." Who does not
know that women should sing in the privacy
of their own rooms, away from the company
of men and the crowded congregation ? But
you allow what is not lawful, and the conse-
quence is, that, with the support of their
master, they make an open show of that
which should be done with modesty, and with
no eye to witness.
26. You go on to say, " The servant of God
should utter from his lips no bitterness, but
ever that which is sweet and pleasant"; and
as though a servant of God were one thing,
a doctor and priest of the Church another,
forgetting what was previously laid down,
you say in another heading, "A priest or
doctor ought to watch the actions of all, and
confidently rebuke sinners, lest he be re-
sponsible for them and their blood be re- '
quired at his hands." And, not satisfied
with saying it once, you repeat it, and incul- ]
cate that, " A priest or doctor should flatter J
no one, but boldly rebuke all, lest he destroy
both himself and those who hear him." Is
there so little harmony in one and the
same work that you do not know what you
have previously said ? For if the servant of
God ought to utter no bitterness from his
mouth, but always that which is sweet and
pleasant, it follows either that a priest and
doctor will not be servants of God who ought
to confidently rebuke sinners, and flatter no
one, but boldly reprove all : or, if a priest and
a doctor are not only servants of God, but
have the chief place among His servants, it is
idle to reserve smooth and pleasant speeches
for the servants of God, for these are charac-
teristic of heretics and of them who wish to
deceive; as the Apostle says,' "They that are
such serve not our Lord Christ but their own
belly, and by their smooth and fair speech
they beguile the hearts of the innocent."
Flattery is always insidious, crafty, and
smooth. And the flatterer is well described
by the philosophers as " a pleasant enemy."
Truth is bitter, of gloomy visage and wrinkled
brow, and distasteful to those who are re-
buked. Hence the Apostle says," " Am I be-
come your enemy, because I tell you the
truth ? " And the comic poet tells us that
"Obsequiousness is the mother of friendship,
truth of enmity." Wherefore we also eat the
Passover with bitter herbs, and the chosen
vessel teaches that the Passover should be
kept with truth and sincerity. Let truth in
our case be plain speaking, and bitterness will
instantly follow.
27. In another place you maintain that
" All are governed by their own free choice."
What Christian can bear to hear this ? For if
not one, nor a few, nor many, but all of us
are governed by our own free choice, what
becomes of the help of God ? And how do
you explain the text,1 " A man's goings are
ordered by the Lord " ? And " "A man's way
is not in himself"; and 3 " No one can receive
anything, unless it be given him from above ";
and elsewhere,4 " What hast thou which thou
didst not receive ? But if thou didst receive
it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not
received it ? " Our Lord and Saviour says :
6 " I am come down from heaven not to do
Mine own will, but the will of the Father who
sent Me." And in another place,0 " Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from Me ; nev-
ertheless not My will, but Thine be done."
And in the Lord's prayer,7 " Thy will be done
as in heaven, so on earth." How is it that
you are so rash as to do away with all God's
help ? Elsewhere, you make a vain attempt
to append the words " not without the grace of
God "; but in what sense you would have them
understood is clear from this passage, for you
do not admit His grace in separate actions,
but connect it with our creation, the gift of
the law, and the power of free will.
28. The argument of the next section is, " In
the day of judgment, no mercy will be shown
to the unjust and to sinners, but they must be
consumed in eternal fire." Who can bear
this, and suffer you to prohibit the mercy of
God, and to sit in judgment on the sentence
of the Judge before the day of judgment, so
that, if He wished to show mercy to the un-
just and the sinners, He must not, because
you have given your veto ? For you say it
is written in the one hundred and fourth
Psalm," "Let sinners cease to be in the earth,
and the wicked be no more." And in Isaiah,
9 " The wicked and sinners shall be burned
up together, and they who forsake God shall
be consumed." Do you not know that mercy
is sometimes blended with the threatenings of
God ? He does not say that they must be
I burnt with eternal fires, but let them cease to
be in the earth, and the wicked be no more.
For it is one thing for them to desist from sin
and wickedness, another for them to perish
for ever and be burnt in eternal fire. And as
for the passage which you quote from Isaiah,
" Sinners and the wicked shall be burned up
together," he does not add for ever. "And
they who forsake God shall be consumed."
This properly refers to heretics, who leave
the straight path of the faith, and shall be
consumed if they will not return to the Lord
1 Rom. xvi. iS.
8 Gal. iv, 16.
1 Prov. xx. 24.
4 1 Cor. iv. 7.
7 S. Matt, vi, 10.
2 Jer. x. 23.
5 S. John vi.
b Ps. civ, 35.
3 S. John xx. 11.
6 S. Luke xxji. 42,
8 Is. i. 28.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK 1.
463
whom they have forsaken. And the same
sentence is ready for you if you neglect to turn
to better things. Again, is it not marvellous
temerity to couple the wicked and sinners
with the impious, for the distinction between
them is great ? Every impious person is
wicked and a sinner ; but we cannot con-
versely say every sinner and wicked person is
also impious, for impiety properly belongs to
those who have not the knowledge of God,
or, if they have once had it, lose it by trans-
gression. But the wounds of sin and wicked-
ness, like faults in general, admit of healing.
Hence, it is written, ' " Many are the scourges
of the sinner"; it is not said that he is eter-
nally destroyed. And through all the scourg-
ing and torture the faults of Israel are cor-
rected, a " For whom the Lord loveth He
chasteneth, andscourgeth every son whom He
receiveth." It is one thing to smite with the
affection of a teacher and a parent ; another
to be madly cruel towards adversaries. Where-
fore, we sing in the first Psalm,3 " The impious
do not rise in the judgment," for they are al-
ready sentenced to destruction ; "nor sinners
in the counsel of the just." To lose the
glory of the resurrection is a different thing
from perishing for ever. " The hourcometh,"
he says, 4 " In which all that are in the tombs
shall hear His voice, and shall come forth :
they that have done good unto the resurrec-
tion of life, and they that have done ill unto
the resurrection of judgment." And so the
Apostle, in the same sense, because in the
same Spirit, says to the Romans, 6 " As many
as have sinned without law shall also perish
without law; and as many as have sinned un-
der law, shall be judged by law." The man
without law is the unbeliever who will perish
for ever. The man under the law is the sinner
who believes in God, and who will be judged
by the law, and will not perish. If the wicked
and sinners are to be burned with everlasting
fire, are you not afraid of the sentence you
pass on yourself, seeing that you admit you
are wicked and a sinner, while still you
argue that a man is not without sin, but that
he may be. It follows that the only person
t who can be saved is an individual who never
existed, does not exist, and perhaps never
will, and that all our predecessors of whom
we read must perish. Take your own case.
You are puffed up with all the pride of Cato,
and have 6 Milo's giant shoulders ; but is it
not amazing temerity for you, who are a sin-
ner, to take the name of a teacher ? If you
are righteous, and, with a false humility, say
you are a sinner, we may be surprised, but we
1 Ps. xxxii. 10. 2 Heb. xii. 6.
4 S. John v. 28, 29. s Rom. ii. 12.
c The reference is to the stature of Pelagius,
3 Verse 5. Sept.
shall rejoice at having so unique a treasure,
and at reckoning amongst our friends a per-
sonage unknown to patriarch, prophet, and
Apostle. And if Origen does maintain that
no rational creatures are to be lost, and al-
lows repentance to the devil, what is that
to us, who say that the devil and his at-
tendants, and all impious persons and trans-
gressors, perish eternally, and that 'Christians,
if they be overtaken by sin, must be saved
after they have been punished ?
29. 2 Besides all this you add two chapters
which contradict one another, and which, if
true, would effectually close your mouth.
" Except a man have learned, he cannot be ac-
quainted with wisdom and understand the
Scriptures." And again, " He that has not
been taught, ought not to assume that he
knows the law." You must, then, either pro-
duce the master from whom you learned,
if you are lawfully to claim the knowledge of
the law ; or, if your master is a person who
never learned from any one else, and taught
you what he did not know himself, it follows
that you are not acting rightly in claiming
a knowledge of Scripture, when you have
not been taught, and in starting as a master
before you have been a disciple. And yet,
perhaps, with your customary humility, you
make your boast that the Lord Himself, Who
teaches all knowledge, was your master, and
that, like Moses in the cloud and darkness,
face to face, you hear the words of God, and
so, with the 3 halo round your head, take the
lead of us. And even this is not enough, but
all at once you turn Stoic, and thunder in our
ears Zeno's proud maxims. " A Christian
ought to be so patient that if any one wished
to take his property he would let it go with
joy." Is it not enough for us patiently to
lose what we have, without returning thanks
to him who ill-treats and plunders us, and
sending after him all blessings ? The Gospel
teaches that to him who would go to law with
us, and by strife and litigation take away our
coat, we must give our cloak also. It does
not enjoin the giving of thanks and joy at the
loss of our property. What I say is this, not
that there is any enormity in your view, but
that everywhere you are prone to exaggera-
tion, and indulge in ambitious flights. This
is why you add that " The bravery of dress
and ornament is an enemy of God." What
enmity, I should like to know, is there to-
1 The sense of this passage is much disputed. St. Jerome was,
possibly, speaking of persons who upon the whole are sincere and
not merely covenanted Christians.
" Jerome seems here to speak in his own person and to address
Pelagius directly.
3 Cornutaf route. Literally, "with horned brow." The allu-
sion is to the rays of light which beamed from the face of Moses,
the Hebrew word bearing both meanings, ray and horn. Hencs
the portraiture of him with horns.
464
JEROME.
wards God if my tunic is cleaner than usual, or
if the bishop, priest, or deacon, or any other
ecclesiastics, at the offering of the sacrifices
walk in white ? Beware, ye clergy ; beware,
ye monks ; widows and virgins, you are in
peril unless the people see you begrimed with
dirt, and clad in rags. I say nothing of lay-
men, who proclaim open war and enmity
against God if they wear costly and elegant
apparel.
30. Let us hear the rest. " We must love
our enemies as we do our neighbours"; and
immediately, falling into a deep slumber, you
lay down this proposition : " We must never
believe an enemy." Not a word is needed
from me to show the contradiction here.
You will say that both propositions are found
in Scripture, but you do not observe the par-
ticular connection in which the passages
occur. I am told to love my enemies and
pray for my persecutors. Am I bidden to
love them as though they were my neighbours,
kindred, and friends, and to make no differ-
ence between a rival and a relative ? If I
love my enemies as my neighbours, what more
affection can I show to my friends? If you
had maintained this position, you ought to
have taken care not to contradict yourself by
saying that we must never believe an
enemy. But even the law teaches us how an
enemy should be loved. ' If an enemy's beast
be fallen, we must raise it up. And the
Apostle tells us, 2"If thine enemy hunger,
feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink. For by
so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon
his head," not by way of curse and condem-
nation, as most people think, but to chasten
and bring him to repentance, so that, over-
come by kindness, and melted by the warmth
of love, he may no longer be an enemy.
31. Your next point is that " the kingdom
of heaven is promised even in the Old Testa-
ment," and you adduce evidence from the
Apocrypha, although it is clear that the king-
dom of heaven was first preached under the
Gospel by John the Baptist, and our Lord and
Saviour, and the Apostles. Read the Gospels.
John the Baptist cries in the desert,3 " Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand "; and
concerning the Saviour it is written,4 " From
that time He began to preach and to say,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
And again, 5 " Jesus went round about the
towns and villages, teaching in their syna-
gogues, and preaching the kingdom of God."
And He commanded His Apostles to6 "go
and preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven
is at hand." But you call us Manichjeans
because we prefer the Gospel to the law, and
1 Deut. xxii. 4,
♦ jv, 17.
2 Rom. xii, 20.
6 iv. 23.
3 S. Matt. iii. 2.
»X.7.
say that in the* latter we have the shadow, in
the former, the substance, and you do not
see that your foolishness goes hand in hand
with impudence. It is one thing to condemn
the law for this, as Manichneus did ; it is another
to prefer the Gospel to the law, for this is
in accordance with apostolic teaching. In
the law the servants of the Lord speak, in the
Gospel the Lord Himself ; in the former are
the promises, in the latter their fulfilment ;
there are the beginnings, here is perfection ;
in the law. the foundations of works are laid ;
in the Gospel the edifice is crowned with the
top-stone of faith and grace. I have men-
tioned this to show the character of the teach-
ing given by our distinguished professor.
32. The hundredth heading runs thus : " A
man can be without sin, and easily keep the
commandments of God if he chooses," as to
which enough has already been said. And
although he professes to imitate, or rather
complete the work of the blessed martyr
Cyprian in the treatise which the latter wrote
to 'Quirinus, he does not perceive that he has
said just the opposite in the work under dis-
cussion. Cyprian, in the fifty-fourth heading
of the third book, lays it down that no one is
free from stain and without sin, and he imme-
diately gives proofs, among them the passage
in Job,2 " Who is cleansed from uncleanness ?
Not he who has lived but one day upon the
earth." aAnd in the fifty-first Psalm, " Be-
hold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did
my mother conceive me." And in the Epis-
tle of John,4 " If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us." You, on the other hand, maintain that
''A man can be without sin," and that you
may give your words the semblance of truth,
you immediately add, " And easily keep the
commandments of God, if he chooses," and
yet they have been seldom or never kept by
any one. Now, if they were easy, they ought
to have been kept by all. But if, to concede
you a point, at rare intervals some one may
be found able to keep them, it is clear that
what is rare is difficult. And by way of sup-
plementing this and displaying the greatness
of your own virtues (we are to believe, for-
sooth, that you bring forth the sentiment out
of the treasure of a good conscience), you
have a heading to the effect that: " We ought
not to commit even light offences." And
for fear some one might think you had not
explained in the work the meaning of light,
you add that, " We must not even think an
evil thought," forgetting the words, 6 " Who
1 A Christian of Carthage who, together with Cyprian, sent
relief to the bishops and martyrs in the Mines of Sigus, in Numidia,
and elsewhere (A.D. 1^7).
2 Job xiv. 4. " 3 Ps. li. 5. * 1 John i. 8,
6 Ps. xix. 12, I?.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK I.
405
understands his offences ? Clear thou me
from hidden faults, and keep back thy serv-
ant from presumptuous sins, O Lord."
You should have known that the Church ad-
mits even failures through ignorance and sins
of mere thought to be offences ; so much so
that she bids sacrifices be offered for errors,
and the high priest who makes intercession
for the whole people previously offers victims
for himself. Now, if he were not himself
righteous, he would never be commanded to
offer for others. Nor, again, would he offer for
himself if he were free from sins of ignorance.
of baptism, through the ineffable mercy of
the Saviour, who3 would not have anyone per-
ish, nor delights in the death of sinners, but
would rather that they should be converted
and live.
C. It is surely strange justice to hold me
guilty of a sin of error of which my conscience
does not accuse itself. I am not aware that
I have sinned, and am I to pay the penalty for
an offence of which I am ignorant ? What
more can I do, if I sin voluntarily ?
A. Do you expect me to explain the pur-
poses and plans of God ? The Book of
If I were to attempt to show that error and | Wisdom gives an answer to your foolish ques-
ignorance is sin, I must roam at large over
the wide fields of Scripture.
33. C. Pray have you not read that ' " He
who looks upon a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his
heart?" It seems that not only are the look
and the allurements to vice reckoned as sin,
but whatever it be to which we give assent.
For either we can avoid an evil thought, and
consequently may be free from sin ; or, if we
cannot avoid it, that is not reckoned as sin
which cannot be avoided.
A. Your argument is ingenious, but you do
not see that it goes against Holy Scripture,
which declares that even ignorance is na^
without sin. Hence it was that Job offered
sacrifices for his sons, lest, perchance, they
had unwittingly sinned in thought. And if,
when one is cutting wood, the axe-head flies
from the handle and kills a man, the owner
is "commanded to go to one of the cities of
refuge and stay there until the high priest
dies; that is to say, until he is redeemed by
the Saviour's blood, either in the baptistery,
or in penitence which is a copy of the grace
The remainder of this book is occupied by a series of quotations from the Old Testa-
ment, designed to show that it is not only the outer and conscious act which is reckoned
sinful, but the opposition to the Divine will, which is often implicit and half-conscious.
Occasionally, also, the speaker shows how the texts quoted enforce the argument which he
has before used, that men may be spoken of as righteous in a general sense, yet by no means
free from sins of thought or desire, if not of act.
The passages quoted are :
Gen. viii. 21. I will not curse the ground .... for the mind of man is set on evil from his youth.
xvii. 17, xviii. 12. Abraham and Sarah laughing at the promise.
xxxvii. 35. Jacob's excessive grief .
Exod. xxi. 12, 13. The guilt of one who slays another unawares.
Lev. iv. 2, 27. Offerings for sins of ignorance.
v. 3. Offerings for ceremonial uncleanness.
ix. 1. Offerings for Aaron at his consecration.
xii. 6. Offerings for women after childbirth.
.xiv. I, 6, xvi. 6, xii. 7. Offerings for the leper.
xv. 31, xvi. 2, 5. Offerings for the people on the day of atonement.
xxii. 14. Eating the hallowed things ignorantly ; compared with 1 Cor. xi. 27, 28, of careless participation
in the Sacrament.
Numbers vi. r. Offerings for the Nazarite.
xiv. 7, vii. 28, 29. Offerings for imploring God's mercy.
xxviii. 15, 22, xxix. 5, v. n, 17. Offerings at the feasts.
tion : * " Look not into things above thee,
and search not things too mighty for thee."
And elsewhere,3 " Make not thyself overwise,
and argue not more than is fitting." And in
the same place, " In wisdom and simplicity of
heart seek God." You will perhaps deny the
authority of this book ; listen then to the
Apostle blowing the Gospel trumpet : 6" O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past tracing out !
For who hath known the mind of the Lord ?
or who hath been His counsellor?" Your
questions are such as he elsewhere describes :
' " But foolish and ignorant questioning avoid,
knowing that they gender strifes." And in
Ecclesiastes (a book concerning which there
can be no doubt) we read, B" I said, I will
be wise, but it was far from me. That which
is exceeding deep, who can find it out?"
You ask me to tell you why the potter makes
one vessel to honour, another to dishonour,
and will not be satisfied with Paul, who replies
on behalf of his Lord, 9 " O man, who art
thou that repliest against God ?"
1 S. Matt. v. 28.
7 2 Tim, ii. 23.
2 Numb. xxxv. 6.
* Eccles, vii. 24, 25,
1 Ezek. xviii. 23.
' Rom, ix, 20,
4 iii. 21.
6 Eccles. vii, 16.
8 Rom. xi. 33, 34.
466 JEROME.
Numbers xxxv. 13. The cities of refuge provided for manslayers.
Peut. ix. 6, xviii. 13. Israel warned not to boast of righteousness.
xviii. 9-12, v. 14, 15. Perfection used only of avoiding idolatry.
xxii. 8. The housetop without a parapet makes a man guilty.
xxiii. 2. Defilement from unconscious personal acts.
Josh. vii. 12. The people made guilty by the sin of Achan.
xi. 19. 20. The racial guilt of the Canaanites.
1 Sam. xiv. 27. Jonathan made guilty by tasting the honey.
xvi. 6. The Lord sees the heart, not the outward appearance.
2 Sam. iv. 11. Ishbosheth spoken of as righteous.
vi. 7, 8. Uzzah smitten for carelessness.
xxiv. 10. David's numbering the people.
1 Kings viii. 46. Solomon's prayer — There is none that sinneth not.
xiv. 5. The prophet detecting the motive of Jeroboam's wife.
2 Kings iv. 27. Elijah seeing the Shunamite's heart.
1 Chron. ii. 52. Sept. Half-prophets.
Habakkuk iii. I. Vulgate. A prayer " for sins of ignorance" ('* upon Shigionoth "), supposed to be in recogni-
tion of over- boldness in i. 2-4.
Ezek. xlvi. 20. The sacrifices of Ezekiel's restored temple.
Jer. x. 23. The way of man not in himself,
xvii. 9. The heart deceitful.
Prov. xiv. 12. A way that seemeth right to a man.
xix. 21. Many devices in a man's heart.
xx. 9. Who can say, I have a clean heart ?
17. Who will boast that he is clean ?
Eccl, vii, 16. The heart of man is full of wickedness,
Book II.
This book can hardly be said to form part of a dialogue. It is rather an argument from Scripture to prove
the point of the Augustinian arguer, Atticus. From the fourth chapter onwards it consists, like the last five
chapters of Book I,, of a chain of Scripture texts, taken from the New Testament and the Prophets, to show the
universality of sin, and thus to refute the Pelagian assertion that a man can be without sin if he wills. We
shall, therefore, give, as in the previous case, a list of the texts and the first words of them, only giving Jerome's
words where he introduces some original remark of his own, or some noteworthy comment.
The Pelagian begins by reiterating the di-
lemma : If the commandments are given to
be obeyed, then- man can be without sin ; if
he is, by his creation, such that he must be a
sinner, then God, not he, is the author of sin
Paul, it is argued, speaks not as a sinner,
but as a man, and thus confesses the sin-
fulness of humanity. That men may be
without ingrained vice is possible ; that
they can be without sin is not. This leads
To the argument that sacrifices are enjoined the Augustinian, Atticus, resuming his list
for sins of ignorance, he replies by appealing of testimonies, to the fact that, though men
from the Old Testament to the New, which are found who are righteous as avoiding
leads to a discussion (2, 3) on St. Paul's de- ' wickedness t (nauia), yet none is without
scription of the conflict with sin, in Romans vii. 1 sin (dva/xdpT?/ro?).
In Psalm xxxii. 5. One who speaks of himself as "holy," yet confesses his transgressions.
Prov. xxiv. 16. Explains this, " The righteous falls, but sins again."
xviii. 17, LXX. and Vulgate. A righteous man accuses himself when he begins to speak.
Ps. lviii. 3. Sinners are estranged from the womb ; that is, either, as St. Paul says (Rom. v. 14), they sin " aftet
the similitude of Adam " ; or, " when Christ, as the firstborn, opened the Virgin's womb" (Exod. xiii.
2). The heretics refused to acknowledge the mystery, which was prefigured by the Eastern door of the
Temple (Ezek. xliv. 2), which closed again when once the High Priest had gone through it.1
Job iv. 17-21. Shall mortal man be just with God ?
vii. 1. The life of man is temptation.
20, 21. If I have sinned, what can I do ?
ix. 15, 16. If I were righteous, he would not hear me.
29-31. If I wash myself with snow water, etc.
x. 15. If I be righteous, etc.
xiv. 4, 5. Who will be free from uncleanness ? Not one.
Prov. xvi. 26, LXX. Man toileth in sorrow.
Job xl. 4. What shall I answer thee ?
Prov. xx. 9. " Who will boast that he has a clean heart ? " which shows at least that the commandments are
not easy, as Pelagius says they are.
1 John v. 3. " His commandments are not grievous," and
Matt. xi. 30. " My yoke is easy," are true only in comparison with Judaism, and should be compared with
Acts xv. 10. A yoke . . . which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.
James iv. 11. " Thou judgest the law," that is, if you say that the condemnation of sins of ignorance is un-
reasonable. That we all sin in such ways is evident from
1 There was an early and widespread belief, afterwards confirmed by a decree of the Council of Ephesu^, that the birth of
Christ was by miracle, not by a true and proper parturition.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK II.
467
But anger is constantly condemned
So
Vlll
7.
14.
17-
IX.
2, 3-
X. ]
'
I
Pet
. 11.
17.
1
that is,
James i. 20. " The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
as in
Prov. xv. 1, LXX. " Wrath destroys even wise men.''
Eph. iv. 26. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
Matt. v. 22. He who is angry . . . shall be in danger of the council.
Eccles. xi. 19. "I am the most foolish of all men." This is said by Christ in the person of humanitv,
Ps. lxix. 5. " God, Thou knowest my foolishness." But
1 Cor. i. 25. The foolishness of God is wiser than men.
Ecclus. i. 18. " In much wisdom is much grief," shows the wise man's sense of imperfection. So
" I hated my life," and
" There be righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked;
God sees evil where we do not./.-
" However much a man may labour, yet he shall not find it ; " and
There is one event to all. The heart ... is full of evil.
Dead flies cause the ointment to stink ; " that is, almost every one is defiled by heresy or other faults.
Judgment must begin at the house of God.
6. There are four emotions which agitate
mankind, two relating to the present, two to
the future; two to good, and two f to evil.
There is sorrow, called in Greek \v7nj, and
joy, in Greek xaP^ or vSovi'f, although many
translate the latter word by voluntas, pleasure ;
the one of which is referred to evil, the other
to good. And we go too far if we rejoice
over such things as we ought not, as, for ex-
ample, riches, power, distinctions, the bad
fortune of enemies, or their death ; or, on the
other hand, if we are tortured with grief on
account of present evils, adversity, exile,
poverty, weakness, and the death of kindred,
all of which is forbidden by the Apostle.
And again, if we covet those things which
we consider good, inheritance, distinctions,
unvaried prosperity, bodily health, and the
like, in the possession of which we rejoice
and find enjoyment ; or if we fear those things
which we deem adverse. Now, according to
the Stoics, Zenothat is to say and Chrysippus,
it is possible for a perfect man to be free
from these emotions ; according to the Peri-
patetics, it is difficult and even impossible, an
opinion which has the constant support of all
Scripture. Hence Josephus, the historian of
the Maccabees, said that the emotions can
be subdued and governed, not extirpated,
and Cicero's five books of " Tusculan Disputa-
tions " are full of these discussions. Accord-
to the Apostle, the weakness of the body and
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places fight against us. And the same
writer 2 tells us that the works of the flesh
and the works of the.spirit are manifest, and
these are contrary the one to the other, so
that we do not the things that we would.
If we do not what we would, but what we
would not, how can you say that a man can
be without sin if he chooses ? You see that
neither an Apostle, nor any believer can per-
form what he wishes. 3 " Love covereth a mul-
titude of sins," not so much sins of the past
as sins of the present, that we may not sin
any more while the love of God abideth
in us. Wherefore it is said concerning the
woman that was a sinner, 4"Her sins
which are many are forgiven her, for she loved
much." And this shows us that the doing
what we wish does not depend merely upon
our own power, but upon the assistance
which God in His mercy gives to our
will.
7. The quotations from Scripture are now
continued :
In I John i. 5, John i. 7, 8, Matt. v. 14, Christ and the Apostles are called the Light of the world. The world
therefore i<j in darkness.
I Tim. vi. 16. God only hath immortality and is " only wise " ; yet others, like the Prince of Tyre (Ezek.
xxviii. 3), are wise derivatively. So we are pure, but only by grace. Thus
1 John i. 7. The blood of Christ cleanses us.
Job xxv. 5, 6. The stars are not pure in His sight.
Gal. ii. 16. " By the law no flesh shall be justified ; " but
Rom. iii. 1, 24, 28, 30. Being justified freely through His grace, etc.
vi. 14. Not under the law, but under grace.
ix. 16. Not of him that willeth, but of God which showeth mercy.
ix. 30-32. The Gentiles . . . attained to the righteousness by faith
x. 2. Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth.
8. The Apostle confesses his need of this grace for his work.
1 Cor. i. 1-3. Grace to you from God.
7, 8. That ye come behind in no gift— that no flesh may glory in His sight,
iii. 6-10. Paul planted . . . but God gave the increase.
18, 19. If any man thinketh himself to be wise, let him become a fool.
iv. 4. I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified.
7. What have ye that ye did not receive ?
19. I will come to you, if the Lord will.
9. The Apostle shows also his need of grace for himsel
' Eph, vi. is
2 Gal.
8 1 Pet.
Luke vii, 47.
463 JEROME.
1 Cor. xv. 9, io. By the grace of God I am what I am, etc.
2 Cor. iii. 4-6. Our sufficiency is of God.
Gal. ii. 16. We have believed, that we might lie justified by faith.
ii. 21. If righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead for nought.
iii. 10, 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.
24. The law our teacher to bring us to Christ.
v. 4. Ye are severed from Christ, ye that would be justified by the law.
10.
Phil. ii. 13. It is God that worketh in you.
2 Thess. iii. 3. The Lord is faithful, lie shall establish you.
1 Tim. vi. 20, 21. O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee.
Tit. iii. 4-7. The kindness and mercy of God our Saviour saved us.
11. We now turn to the Gospels "and supplement the flickering flame of the Apostolic
light with the brightness of the lamp of Christ."
Matt, v. 22. " Every man who is angry . . . shall be in danger of the council." Which of us is not here
condemned ?
23, 24. " First be reconciled to thy brother." Who is there that finds this command easy ?
37. " Let your speech be Yea, yea, Nay, nay." Who has ever kept this commandment ? The Psalmist says
Ps. cxvi. 11. All men are liars.
12.
Matt. vi. 34. " Re not anxious for to-morrow." Do you fulfil this ?
vii. 14. " Narrow is the gate which leadeth to life." How can you say that the commandments are easy ?
Luke ix. 58. " The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." This is interpreted by
Is. xxviii. 12. " Receive him that is weary, and this is my rest ; " and
Is. lxvi. 1, 2. " On whom shall I rest but on him that is humble? " Christ finds few on wnom to rest. How
then can His commands be said to be easy ?
Matt. ix. 12, 13. "I came not to call the righteous." " They that are whole need not the physician." Had
the world not been full of sin, Christ would not have come. So
Ps. xii. 1. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth.
xiv. 1, 3. They are corrupt . . . none doeth good.
Matt. x. 9. " Get you no gold . . . nor shoes." Who has fulfilled this? Not even the Apostles, for
Acts xii. 8. The angel bids Peter to bind on his sandals.
Matt. x. 22-34. Describes the persecutions of Christ's followers, and gives the command to take up the cross.
Are these easy ?
xiv. 31. Even Peter's faith fails, and he begins to sink.
xv. 19, 20. Out of the heart came evil thoughts, etc.
xvi. 25. Whosoever will lose his life will find it.
xviii. 7. " Woe to the man through whom stumbling cometh." But
James iii. 2. In many things we all stumble or err.
Phil. ii. 21. All seek their own.
Matt. xix. 21. The young lawyer had kept all the law, yet failed.
xxiii. 26-2S. The woes on the Pharisees fall in their measure upon all.
14.
Matt. xxvi. 39. " Not as I will, but as Thou will." Yet Critobulus says, by his own will he can do right.
Mark xiv. 37. " Could ye not watch with me one hour ?" They could not.
vi. 5. He could do no mighty works because of their unbelief.
vii. 24. " He went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon." If Christ could not do as he wished, how can we?
ix. 5. Peter's request at the Transfiguration shows his ignorance.
xiii. 32. Even the Son knows not all things ; how then can we ?
xiv. 35. If it be possible. How can you say it is possible every hour to avoid sin ?
15-
Mark xvi. 14. Even the Apostles showed unbelief and hardness of heart.
1 John v. 19. The world lieth in the evil one.
Luke i. 20. Even Zacharias disbelieved God's message.
Matt. xvii. 15. The disciples could not relieve the lunatic, because of unbelief.
Mark iv. 34. The disciples' dispute about precedence.
Luke ix. 54. James and John show a vindictive spirit.
xiv. 26, 27. The commands to forsake all and take up the cross are not easy.
xvi. 15. That which is exalted among men is abomination in the sight of God.
xvii. 1. It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come.
xvii. 6. The Apostles' faith was not even like a grain of mustard seed.
James iii. 2. In many things we all stumble.
Matt. xvii. 20. If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed.
16.
Luke xviii. 1. We are always to pray. This shows our weakness.
27. Who, then, can be saved? It is possible, but to God only.
xxii. 24. The contest for precedence at the last supper.
31, 32. Peter's faith almost overcome by Satan.
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK II. 469
Luke xxii. 43. Even Christ in his agony needs an angel to strengthen Him.
46. Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
17.
John v. 30. Even Christ says, " I cannot do anything by myself"; and
vii. 10. Was irresolute about going up to the Feast of Tabernacles.
19. None of you doeth the law.
viii. 3. None of the accusers of the woman taken in adultery were without sin. Christ wrote their names
in the earth (Jerem. xvii. 13).
x. 8. All who came (not who were sent ; Jerem. xiv. 15) before Christ were robbers.
xvii. 12. I kept them — they did not keep themselves.
Acts xv. 39. Paul and Barnabas quarrelled.
xvi. 6, 7. They were forbidden to preach where they chose.
18. Even the Apostles, with their full light, show their dependence on grace.
Acts xvii. 30. The times before Christ were times of ignorance.
1 Cor. iv. 19. I will come if the Lord will.
James ii. 10. To stumble in one point is to be guilty of all.
iii. 2. In many things we all stumble.
8. The tongue is a deadly poison.
19.
James iv. 1. Wars arise from our lust. David indeed said,
Ps. xxvi. 2. " Examine me and prove me," etc. This self-confidence led to his fall.
Ii. 1. Have mercy on me, O God.
Ixxx. 5. " Thou feedest us with the bread of tears." Similarly
Ps. xxx. 6, 7. I said I shall never be moved . . . Thou didst hide Thy face.
xxxii. 5. I said I will confess my sin,
xxxvii. 3, 6. He shall make thy righteousness as the light.
39. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.
xxxviii. 7. There is no soundness in my flesh.
Rom. vii. 18. In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
Ps. xxxviii. 8. Vulgate. My loins are rilled with deceits
xxxix. 5. He hath made our days as handbreadths.
lxix. 5. My sins are not hid from thee.
lxxvii. 2. My soul refused to be comforted.
10. This is the changing of the right hand of the Most High.1
20.
Ps, lxxxix. 2. Mercy shall be btult up forever.
xci. 6. From "the thing 2 that walketh in darkness " who can be free ? For
xi. 2. " The wicked bend their bow " — an image of the heretics,
xcii. 14. Those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish.
ciii. 8, 10. The Lord is full of compassion.
2 Sam. viii. 13, 14. David receives the promises with the humble confession of his weakness. " Is this the law
of man, O God ? "
xvi. 10. He humbles himself under Abishai's violence and Shimei's curse.
xvii. 14. And is delivered only by God's confounding the counsel of Ahithophel.
1 Kings xiv, 8. It was God who gave Jeroboam the kingdom.
21.
1 Kings xv. n. Asa, though a good man, was faulty.
xix. 4. Elijah fled from Jezebel.
Ps. cxviii. 6. The Lord is my keeper.
2 Chron. xvii. 3. Jehoshaphat prospers because the Lord is with him. Yet
xix. 2. He is rebuked for joining with Ahab.
2 Chron. xxii. 9. Ahaziah received burial among kings because descended from righteous Jehoshaphat.
2 Kings xviii. 3, 4, 7. Hezekiah did great things, but only through the Lord's help.
14. He gave the consecrated gold to the king of Assyria
22. Even the best kings of Judah were imperfect.
2 Kings xx. 1, 5. Hezekiah wept when death was at hand, and recovered through special mercy.
13, 17. But he sinned in receiving the Babylonian envoys.
2 Chron. xxxii. 26. He fell by the lifting up of his heart.
xxxiv. 2. Josiah was a righteous man ; yet
22, 23. He needed the aid of Huldah ; and
xxxv. 22. He was slain through not heeding God's warning ; and
23. The prophets also are weak and sinful.
Lam. iv. 20. Jeremiah 3 lamented his fall.
Numb. xx. 10, 12. Moses is punished for his sin at Meribah. This is the meaning of
Ps. cxli. 6. Vulgate. Their judges were swallowed up, joined to the Rock, etc.
1 Vulgate, Rev. V. I will remember the years, etc. Marg.— The right hand of the Most High doth change.
8 LXX. A. V. Pestilence. 3 The words of. the Lamentations refer to Zedekiah,
VOL. VI. H ll
4/0
JEROME.
God in mercy forgives Israel's unfaithfulness.
" I will not enter into the city." Only the Holy One is not joined to the mass of ungodliness.
We turn righteousness into wormwood.
The sailors confess that God is just in raising the storm.
The godly man is perished from the earth, etc.
The command of justice, mercy, and a humble walk with God is only possible to humble faith, for
' The wicked walk on every side," and
God giveth grace to the humble.
16. Let rottenness enter into my bones, if only I may rest, etc.
Joshua is represented as clothed in filthy garments, and is freed through God's mercy.
Hosea ii. 19
xi. 9.
Amos vi. 13
Jonah i. 14.
Micah vii. 2,
vi. 8.
Ps. cxl. 6. '
James iv. 6.
24.
Ilabakkuk iii
Zech, iii. I.
But Jovinian's heir says " I am quite free
from sin, I have no filthy garments, I am
governed by my own will, I am greater than
an Apostle. The Apostle does what he would
not, and what he would he does not ; but I
do what I will, and what I would not I do
not : the kingdom of heaven has been pre-
pared for me, or rather I have by my virtuous
life prepared it for myself. Adam was sub-
ject to punishment, and so are others who
think themselves guilty after the similitude of
Adam's transgressions ; I and my crew alone
have nothing to fear. Other men shut up in
their cells and who never see women, because,
poor creatures ! they do not listen to my
words, are tormented with desire : crowds of
women may surround me, I feel no stirring
of concupiscence. For to me may be applied
the ' words, ' Holy stones are rolled upon the
ground,' and the reason why I am insensible
to the attraction of sin is that in the power
of free will I carry Christ's trophy about
with me." But let us listen to God2 pro-
claiming by the mouth of Isaiah : " O my
people, they which call thee happy cause thee
to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."
Who is the greatest subverter of the people of
God — he who, relying on the power of free
choice, despises the help of the Creator, and
is satisfied with following his own will, or he
who dreads to be judged by the details of the
Lord's commandments ? To men of this
sort, God 3 says, " Woe unto you that are wise
in your own eyes, and prudent in your own
sight." Isaiah, if we follow the Hebrew,
laments 4 and says, "Woe is me because I
have been silent, because I am a man of un-
clean lips : and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have
seen the Lord of Hosts." He for his meritori-
ous and virtuous life enjoyed the sight of God,
25-
Is. xxxiv. 5. "My sword hath drunk its fill in the heavens. It will come down in Edom." How much more
is there wrath against sin on earth! Edom means blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom (1 Cor. xv. 50).
xlv. 9. Woe unto him who striveth with his Maker.
liii. 6. We have all gone astray like sheep.
Ezek. xvi. 14. Jerusalem is perfect in beauty ; yet
1 Zech. ix. 16, Sept. Correctly, they ("God's people) shall be as the stones of a crown lifting themselves up (or glittering) upon
His land.
8 Is. iii. 12. 3 v. 21. 4 vi. 5.
8 That is, according to Jerome's rendering of the Hebrew. R. V. has " I am undone." For the Sept. rendering see below,
8 Ps, xxxii. 4. ' Is. xxiv. 21, " Job xxv, 5. * Job iv, 18,
and conscious of his sins confessed that he
had unclean lips. Not that he had said any-
thing repugnant to the will of God, but be-
cause, either from fear, or from a deep sense
of shame, he had been 5 silent, and had not
reproved the errors of the people so freely as
a prophet should. When do we sinners re-
buke offenders, we who flatter wealth and
accept the persons of sinners for the sake of
filthy lucre ? for we shall hardly say that we
speak with perfect frankness to men of whose
assistance we stand in need. Suppose that
we do not such things as they, suppose we keep
ourselves from every form of sin ; to refrain
from speaking the truth is certainly sin. In
the Septuagint, however, we do not find the
words " because I have been silent," but " be-
cause I was pricked," that is with the conscious-
ness of sin ; and thus the words of the "prophet
are fulfilled. " My life was turned into misery
while I was pierced by the thorn." He was
pricked by the thorn of sin : you are decked
with the flowers of virtue. "' " The moon
shall be ashamed, and the sun confounded,
when the Lord shall punish the host of heaven
on high." This is explained by another pas-
sage. 8 " Even the stars are unclean in His
sight ;" and again,9 " He chargeth His angels
with folly." The moon is ashamed, the sun
is confounded, and the sky covered with
sackcloth, and shall we fearlessly and joy-
ously, as though we were free from all sin,
face the majesty of the Judge, when the
mountains shall melt away, that is, all who
are lifted up by pride, and all the host of the
heavens, whether they be stars, or angelic
powers, when the heavens shall be rolled to-
gether as a scroll, and all their host shall fade
away like leaves ?
The argument is now carried on mostly by
the quotation of passages from the prophets :
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK II.
47i
Ezek. xvi. 60, 61. Her salvation is not of merit but of mercy.
Nahum i. 3. Though he cleanse,1 yet will he not make thee innocent.
1 Cor. xv. 9. I am not worthy — because I persecuted.
Ezek. xx. 43, 44. When pardoned, Jerusalem will still remember her sin.
Let us confess with shame that these are the
utterances of men who have already won their
reward ; sinners upon earth, and still in our
frail and mortal bodies let us adopt the lan-
guage of the saints in heaven who have even
been endowed with incorruption and immor-
tality. * " And ye say the way of the Lord is
not equal, when your ways are not equal."
It is Pharisaic pride to attribute to the
injustice of the Creator sins which are
due to our own will, and to slander His
righteousness. The sons of Zadok, the
priests of the spiritual temple, that is the
Church, 3 go not out to the people in their
ministerial robes, lest by human intercourse
they may lose their holiness and be defiled. And
do you suppose that you, in the thick of the
throng, and an ordinary individual, are pure ?
26. Let us hastily run through the prophet
Jeremiah:
Jerem. xvii. 14.
xx. 14, 17
xxiii. 23.
xxiv. 6, 7
Jerem. v. 1, 2. Is there any that doeth justly, etc.
vii. 21, 22. God rejects the sacrifices, because of the worshippers' evil lives,
xiii. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin ?
27.
" Heal me, O Lord." Otherwise Jeremiah could only say, as in the text next quoted,
18. Cursed be the day wherein I was born, etc.
Am I a God at hand, etc. So conscious is he of God's power.
God, not they themselves, will plant them, etc.
xxvi. 21-24. Jeremiah needed the help of Ahikam. How much more do we need that of God.
28.
Jerem. xxxi. 34. The promise of the new covenant.
xxxii. 30. The children of Israel have perpetually done evil,
xxxvii. 1 3, 19. Yet Jeremiah himself trembled before Zedekiah.
xxx. 10, 11. Fear not, O Jacob, for I am with thee.
29.
Amos vi. 14. " We have taken us horns by our own strength." These are the boasts of heretics. But
Is. xvi, 6. His strength (Moab's) is by no means according to his arrogance.4
Jerem. i. 7, 26. Men's sin will only be abolished because God is gracious to them. If you will abandon your as-
sertions of natural ability, I will concede that your whole contention stands good, but onlv bv the
gift of God. ; '
Lam. iii. 26-42. It is good that a man should quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
3°-
Dan. iv. 17. The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.
Ps. cxiii. 7. 8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
Is. xl. 17. lie doeth what He will in heaven and in earth.
The words of 2 Maccabees v. 17, which say that Antiochus Epiphanes had power to
overthrow the Temple, " because of the multitude of sins," are quoted in connection with
the confessions of Daniel.
Dan. ix. 5. "We have sinned and dealt perversely," which is shown by
20. " While I was yet praying," etc., to be a personal, not only a national confession.
24. The prophecy of the seventy weeks shows that the prophet looked to God alone for the establish-
ment of righteousness.
and I only wish that, when sins are manifest,
I might still be silent. 5 " I know nothing
against myself," says St. Paul, " yet am I not
hereby justified." G" Man looketh on the out-
ward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart." Before Him no man is justified. And
so Paul says confidently, 7 " All have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God "; and
8 " God hath shut up all under sin that He may
have mercy upon all "; and similarly in other
passages which we have repeated again and
again.
So then, until that end shall come, and this
corruptible and mortal shall put on incorrup-
tion and immortality, we must be liable to
sin ; not, as you falsely say, owing to the fault
of our nature and creation, but through the
frailty and fickleness of human will, which
varies from moment to moment ; because
God alone changeth not. You ask in what
respects Abel, Enoch, Joshua the son of Nun,
or Elisha, and the rest of the saints have
sinned. There is no need to look for a knot
in a bulrush ; I freely confess I do not know ;
1 Mundans : not in the Vulgate nor in A. V.
4 This is the sense of the Vulgate, but not the exact words.
7 Rom. iii. 23. B Gal, iii. 22.
Ezek. xxxii. 17.
1 Cor. iv. 4.
3 Ibid. xliv. 15, 16.
8 1 Sam, xvi. 7.
H h 2
472
JEROME.
Book III.
i. Critob. I am charmed with the exuber-
ance of your eloquence, but at the same time
I would remind you that,1 " In the multitude
of words there wanteth not transgression."
And how does it bear upon the question
before us ? You will surely admit that those
who have received Christian baptism are
without sin. And that being free from sin
they are righteous. And that once they are
righteous, they can, if they take care, preserve
their righteousness, and so through life avoid
all sin.
Attic. Do you not blush to follow the
opinion of Jovinian, which has been exploded
and condemned ? For he relies upon just the
same proofs and arguments as you do ; nay,
rather, you are all eagerness for his inventions,
and desire to preach in the East what was
formerly " condemned at Rome, and not long
ago in 3 Africa. Read then the reply which
was given to him, and you will there find the
answer to yourself. For in the discussion of
doctrines and disputed points, we must have
regard not to persons but to things. And yet
let me tell you that baptism condones past
offences, and does not preserve righteous-
ness in the time to come ; the keeping of
that is dependent on toil and industry, as
well as earnestness, and above all on the
mercy of God. It is ours to ask, to Him it be-
longs to bestow what we ask ; ours to begin,
His it is to finish ; ours to offer what we
can, His to fulfil what we cannot perform.
4 " For except the Lord build the house, they
labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in
vain." Wherefore the Apostle 6 bids us so
run that we may attain. All indeed run, but
one receiveth the crown. And in the 6 Psalm
it is written, " O Lord, thou hast crowned us
with thy favour as with a shield." For our
victory is won and the crown of our victory is
gained by His protection and through His
shield ; and here we run that hereafter we
may attain ; there he shall receive the crown
who in this world has proved the conqueror.
And when we have been baptized we are told,
7" Behold thou art made whole ; sin no more lest
a worse thing happen unto thee." And again,
H " Know ye not that ye are a temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwelieth in you ? If
any man profane the temple of God, him shall
1 Prov. x. 19.
- By a Synod under Siricius in A.D. 390.
__ :l The allusion is to the African Synod, held A.D. 412, at which
Celestius was condemned and excommunicated.
4 Ps. cxxvii. 1. ° 1 Cor. ix. 24. 6 v. 12.
' John v. 14. * 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.
God destroy." And in another place, ' " The
Lord is with you so long as ye are with Him :
if ye forsake Him, He will also forsake you."
Where is the man, do you suppose, in whom
as in a shrine and sanctuary the purity of Christ
is permanent, and in whose case the serenity
of the temple is saddened by no cloud of sin ?
We cannot always have the same countenance,
though the philosophers falsely boast that
this was the experience of Socrates ; how
much less can our minds be always the same !
As men have many expressions of counte-
nance, so also do the feelings of their hearts
vary. If it were possible for us to be always
immersed in the waters of baptism, sins would
fly over our heads and leave us untouched.
The Holy Spirit would protect us. But the
enemy assails us, and when conquered does
not depart, but is ever lying in ambush, that
he may secretly shoot the upright in heart.
2. In the Gospel according to the Hebrews,
which is written in the Chaldee and Syrian
language, but in Hebrew characters, and is
used by the Nazarenes to this day (I mean
the Gospel according to the Apostles, or, as
is generally maintained, the Gospel accord-
ing to Matthew, a copy of which is in the
library at Caesarea), we find, " Behold, the
mother of our Lord and His brethren said to
Him, John Baptist baptizes for the remission
of sins ; let us go and be baptized by him.
But He said to them, what sin have I com-
mitted that I should go and be baptized by
him ? Unless, haply, the very words which I
have said are only ignorance." And in the
same volume, " If thy brother sin against
thee in word, and make amends to thee,
receive him seven times in a day." Simon,
His disciple, said to Him, " Seven times in a
day ? " The Lord answered and said to him,
" I say unto thee until seventy times seven."
Even the prophets, after they were anointed
with the Holy Spirit, were guilty of sinful
words. Ignatius, an apostolic man and a
martyr, boldly writes," " The Lord chose
Apostles who were sinners above all men."
It is of their speedy conversion that the
Psalmist sings,3 " Their infirmities were mul-
tiplied ; afterwards they made haste." If
you do not allow the authority of this evi-
dence, at least admit its antiquity, and see
what has been the opinion of all good
churchmen. Suppose a person who has
1 2 Chron. xv. 2. ,„.,,.. 1
2 The words are those of S. Barnabas. Possibly in Jerome s
copy the passage may have been attributed to Ignatius,
3 Ps. xvi. 4. ' Sept. and Vulgate,
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK III.
4/3
been baptized to have been carried off by
death either immediately, or on the very day
of his baptism, and I will generously con-
cede that he neither thought nor said any-
thing whereby, through error and ignorance,
he fell into sin. Does it follow that he will,
therefore, be without sin, because he appears
not to have overcome, but to have avoided
sin ? Is not the true reason rather that by
the mercy of God he was released from the
prison of sins and departed to the Lord ?
We also say this, that God can do what He
wills ; and that man of himself and by his
own will cannot, as you maintain, be without
sin. If he can, it is idle for you now to add
the word grace, for, with such a power, he
has no need of it. If, however, he cannot
avoid sin without the grace of God, it is folly
for you to attribute to him an ability which
he does not possess. For whatever depends
upon another's will, is not in the power of
him whose ability you assert, but of him
whose aid is clearly indispensable.
3. C. What do you mean by this perversity,
or, rather, senseless contention ? Will you
not grant me even so much — that when a
man leaves the waters of baptism he is free
from sin ?
A. Either I fail to express my meaning
clearly, or you are slow of apprehension.
C. How so ?
A. Remember both what you maintained
and also what I say. You argued that a man
can be free from sin if he chooses. I reply
that it is an impossibility; not that we are to
think that a man is not free from sin immedi-
ately after baptism, but that that time of
sinlessness is by no means to be referred to
human ability, but to the grace of God. Do
not, therefore, claim the power for man, and
I will admit the fact. For how can a man
be able who is not able of himself ? Or
what is that sinlessness which is conditioned
by the immediate death of the body ? Should
the man's life be prolonged, he will certainly
be liable to sins and to ignorance.
C. Your logic stops my mouth. You do
not speak with Christian simplicity, but en-
tangle me in some fine distinctions between
being and ability to be.
A. Is it I who play these tricks with words ?
The article came from your own workshop.
For you say, not that a man is free from sin,
but that he is able to be ; I, on the other
hand, will grant what you deny, that a man
is free from sin by the grace of God, and yet
will maintain that he is not able of himself.
C. It is useless to give commandments if
we cannot keep them.
A. No one doubts that God commanded
things possible. But because men do not
what they might, therefore the whole world is
subject to the judgment of God, and needs
His mercy. On the other hand, if you can
produce a man who has fulfilled the whole
law, you will certainly be able to show that
there is a man who does not need the mercy
of God. For everything which can happen
must either take place in the past, the present,
or the future. As to your assertion that a man
can be without sin if he chooses, show that
it has happened in the past, or at all events
that it does happen at the present day ; the
future will reveal itself. If, however, you can
point to no one who either is, or has been,
altogether free from sin, it remains for us to
confine our discussion to the future. Mean-
while, you are vanquished and a captive as
regards two out of three periods of time, the
past and the present. If anyone hereafter
shall be greater than patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, inasmuch as he is without sin, then
you may perhaps be able to convince future
generations as to their time.
4. C. Talk as you like, argue as you please,
you will never wrest from me free will, which
God bestowed once for all, nor will you be
able to deprive me of what God has given,
the ability if I have the will.
A. By way of example let us take one
proof : "' I have found David, the Son of Jesse,
a man after Mine own heart, who shall do all
My will." There is no doubt that David was
a holy man, and yet he who was chosen that
he might do all God's will is blamed for
certain actions. Of course it was possible
for him who was chosen for the purpose to
do all God's will. Nor is God to blame Who
beforehand spoke of his doing all His will as
commanded, but blame does attach to him
who did not what was foretold. For God did
not say that He had found a man who would
unfailingly do His bidding and fulfil His will,
but only one who would do all His will.
And we, too, say that a man can avoid sinning,
if he chooses, according to his local and tem-
poral circumstances and physical weakness, so
long as his mind is set upon righteousness and
the string is well stretched upon the lyre. But
if a man grow a little remiss it is with him as with
the boatman pulling against the stream, who
finds that, if he slackens but for a moment,
the craft glides back and he is carried by the
flowing waters whither he would not. Such
is the state of man ; if we are a little careless
we learn our weakness, and find that our
power is limited. Do you suppose that the
Apostle Paul, when he wrote2 " the coat (or
cloak) that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring
when thou comest, and the books, especially
J > Acts xiii. 32 ; Ps, lxxxviii, 311
2 3 Tim. iv, 13.
474
JEROME.
the parchments," was thinking of heavenly
mysteries, and not of those things which are
required for daily life and to satisfy our bodily
necessities ? Find me a man who is never
hungry, thirsty, or cold, who knows nothing
of pain, or fever, or the torture of strangury,
and I will grant you that a man can think of
nothing but virtue. When the Apostle was
1 struck by the servant, he delivered himself
thus against the High Priest who commanded
the blow to be given : " God shall strike thee,
thou whited wall." We miss the patience of
the Saviour Who was led as a lamb to the
slaughter, and opened not His mouth, but
mercifully said to the smiter, 2"If I have spoken
evil, bear witness of the evil ; but if well,
why smitest thou Me ? " We do not disparage
the Apostle, but declare the glory of God
Who suffered in the flesh and overcame the
evil inflicted on the flesh and the weakness
of the flesh — to say nothing of what the
Apostle says elsewhere : 8 " Alexander, the
coppersmith, did me much evil ; the Lord,
the righteous Judge, will recompense him
in that day."
5. C. I have been longing to say some-
thing, but have checked the words as they
were bursting from my lips. You compel me
to say it.
A. Who hinders you from saying what you
think ? Either what you are going to say is
good — and you ought not to deprive us of
what is good — or it is bad, and, therefore, it is
not regard for us, but shame that keeps you
silent.
C. I will say, I will say after all, what I
think. Your whole argument tends to this :
You accuse nature, and blame God for creat-
ing man such as he is.
A. Is this what you wished, and yet did not
wish, to say ? Pray speak out, so that all may
have the benefit of your wisdom. Are you
censuring God because he made man to be
man ? Let the angels also complain because
they are angels. Let every creature discuss
the question, Why it is as it was created ? and
not what the Creator could have made it. I
must now amuse myself with the rhetorical
exercises of childhood, and passing from the
gnat and the ant to cherubim and seraphim,
inquire why each was not created with a
happier lot. And when I reach the exalted
powers, I will argue the point : Why God
alone is only God, and did not make all
things gods ? For, according to you, He will
either be unable to do so, or will be guilty of
envy. Censure Him, and demand why He
allows the devil to be in this world, and carry
off the crown when you have won the victory.
1 Acts xxiiii 2 sq. 3 S. John xviii. 23. 8 2 Tim. iv, 14.
C. I am not so senseless as to complain of
the existence of the devil, through whose
malice death entered into the world ; but
what grieves me is this : that dignitaries of
the Church, and those who usurp the title of
master, destroy free will ; and once that is
destroyed, the way is open for the Mani-
chaeans.
A. Am I the destroyer of free will because,
throughout the discussion, my single aim has
been to maintain the omnipotence of God as
well as free will ?
C. How can you have free will, and yet
say that man can do nothing without God's
assistance ?
A. If he is to be blamed who couples free
will and God's help, it follows that we ought
to praise him who does away with God's help.
C. I am not making God's help unneces-
sary, for to His grace we owe all our ability ;
but I and those who think with me keep both
within their own bounds. To God's grace
we assign the gift of the power of free choice ;
to our own will, the doing, or the not doing,
of a thing ; and thus rewards and punish-
ments for doing or not doing can be main-
tained.
6. A. You seem to me to be lost in forget-
fulness, and to be going over the lines of
argument already traversed as though not a
word had been previously said. For, by this
long discussion, it has been established that
the Lord, by the same grace wherewith He
bestowed upon us free choice, assists and
supports us in our individual actions.
C. Why, then, does He crown and praise
what He has Himself wrought in us ?
A. That is to say, our will which offered
all it could, the toil which strove in action,
and the humility which ever looked to the
help of God.
C. So, then, if we have not done what He
commanded, either God was willing to assist
us, or He was not. If He was willing and
did assist us, and yet we have not done what
we wished, then He, and not we, has been
overcome. But if He would not help, the
man is not to be blamed who wished to do
His will, but God, who was able to help, but
would not.
A. Do you not see that your dilemma has
landed you in a deep abyss of blasphemy ?
Whichever way you take it, God is either
weak or malevolent, and He is not so much
praised because He is the author of good and
gives His help, as abused for not restraining
evil. Blame Him, then, because He allows
the existence of the devil, and has suffered,
and still suffers, evil to be done in the
world. This is what Marcion asks, and the
whole pack of heretics who mutilate the Old
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK III.
475
Testament, and have mostly spun an argu-
ment something like this : Either God knew
that man, placed in Paradise, would trans-
gress His command, or He did not know.
If He knew, man is not to blame, who could
not avoid God's foreknowledge, but He
Who created him such that he could not
escape the knowledge of God. If He did
not know, in stripping Him of foreknowledge
you also take away His divinity. Upon the
same showing God will be deserving of blame
for choosing Saul, who was to prove one of
the worst of kings. And the Saviour must be
convicted either of ignorance, or of unright-
eousness, inasmuch as He said in the Gospel,
1 " Did I not choose you the twelve, and one of
you is a devil ? " Ask Him why He chose
Judas, a traitor? Why He entrusted to
him the bag when He knew that he was a
thief ? Shall I tell you the reason ? God
judges the present, not the future. He does
not make use of His foreknowledge to con-
demn a man though He knows that he will
hereafter displease Him ; but such is His
goodness and unspeakable mercy that He
chooses a man who, He perceives, will mean-
while be good, and who, He knows, will turn
out badly, thus giving him the opportunity of
being converted and of repenting. This is
the Apostle's meaning when he says,2 " Dost
thou not know that the goodness of God
leadeth thee to repentance? but after thy
hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up
for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and
revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Who will render to every man according to
his works." For Adam did not sin because
God knew that he would do so ; but God,
inasmuch as He is God, foreknew what Adam
would do of his own free choice. You may
as well accuse God of falsehood because He
said by the mouth of Jonah : 3 " Yet three
days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
But God will reply by tlie mouth of Jeremiah,
4 "At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck
up, and to break down, and to destroy it ; if
that nation, concerning which I have spoken,
turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do unto them. And at
what instant I shall speak concerning a nation,
and concerning a kingdom, to build and to
plant it ; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey
not my voice, then I will repent of the good,
wherewith I said I would benefit them."
Jonah, on a certain occasion, was indignant
because, at God's command, he had spoken
falsely ; but his sorrow was proved to be ill
founded, since he would rather speak truth
1 S. John vi. 70.
• Jerem, xviii. 7, 8.
3 Rom. ii, 4,
1 111. 4,
and have a countless multitude perish, than
speak falsely and have them saved. His
position was thus illustrated : ' " Thou grievest
over the ivy (or gourd), for the which thou
hast not laboured, neither madest it grow,
which came up in a night, and perished in a
night ; and should not I have pity on Nineveh,
that great city, wherein are more than six score
thousand persons that cannot discern between
their right hand and their left hand ? " If
there was so vast a number of children and
simple folk, whom you will never be able to
prove sinners, what shall we say of those
inhabitants of both sexes who were at dif-
ferent periods of life ? According to Philo,
and the wisest of philosophers, Plato (so the
" Timseus " tells us), in passing from infancy
to decrepit old age, we go through seven
stages, which so gradually and so gently fol-
low one another that we are quite insensible
of the change.
C. The drift of your whole argument is
this — what the Greeks call avri^ovGiov, and
we free will, you admit in terms, but in
effect destroy. For you make God the
author of sin, in asserting that man can of
himself do nothing, but that he must have
the help of God to Whom is imputed all we
do. But we say that, whether a man does
good or evil, it is imputed to him on account
of the faculty of free choice, inasmuch as he
did what he chose, and not to Him Who once
for all gave him free choice.
A. Your shuffling is to no purpose ; you are
caught in the snares of truth. For upon this
showing, even if He does not Himself assist,
according to you He will be the author of
evil, because He might have prevented it and
did not. It is an old maxim that if a man
can deliver another from death and does not,
he is a homicide.
C. I withdraw and yield the point ; you
have won ; provided, however, that victory is
the subverting of the truth by specious words,
that is to say, not by truth, but by falsehood.
For I might make answer to you in the
Apostle's words, a " Though I be rude in
speech, yet not in knowledge." When you
speak, your rhetorical tricks are too much
for me, and I seem to agree with you ; but
when you stop speaking, it all goes out of
my head, and I see quite clearly that your
argument does not flow from the foun-
tains of truth and Christian simplicity, but
rests on the laboured subtleties of the
philosophers.
A. Do you wish me, then, once more to re-
sort to the evidence of Scripture ? If so,
what becomes of the boast of your disciples
1 Jonah iv. io, 11,
3 1 Cor. xi. 6,
4/6
JEROME.
that no one can answer your arguments or
solve the questions you raise ?
C. I not only wish, but am eager that you
should do so. Show me any place in Holy
Scripture where we find that, the power of
free choice being lost, a man does what of
himself he either would not, or could not do.
8. A. We must use the words of Scripture
not as you propose, but as truth and reason
demand. Jacob says in his prayer,1 " If the
Lord God will be with me, and will keep me
in this way that I go, and will give me bread
to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come
again to my father's house in peace, then
shall the Lord be my God, and this stone,
which I have set up for a token, shall be God's
house ; and of all that Thou shalt give me I
will surely give the tenth unto Thee." He did
not say, If thou preserve my free choice, and I
gain by my toil food and raiment, and return
to my father's house. He refers everything
to the will of God, that he may be found
worthy to receive that for which he prays.
On Jacob's return from Mesopotamia2 an
army of angels met him, who are called God's
camp. He afterwards contended with an
angel in the form of a man, and was strength-
ened by God ; whereupon, instead of Jacob,
the sapptanter, he received the name, the most
upright of God. For he would not have dared
to return to his cruel brother unless he had
been strengthened and secured by the Lord's
help. In the sequel we read, 3 " The sun rose
upon him after he passed over Phanuel,"
which is, being interpreted, the face of God.
Hence 4 Moses also says, " I have seen the
Lord face to face, and my life is preserved,"
not by any natural quality — but by the con-
descension of God, Who had mercy. So then
the Sun of Righteousness rises upon us when
God makes His face to shine upon us and
gives us strength. Joseph in Egypt was shut
up in prison, and we next hear that the
keeper of the prison, believing in his fidelity,
committed everything to his hand. And the
reason is given : 5 " Because the Lord was
with him : and whatsoever he did, the Lord
made it to prosper." Wherefore, also, dreams
were suggested to Pharaoh's attendants, and
Pharaoh had one which none could interpret,
that so Joseph might be released, and his father
and brethren fed, and Egypt saved in the
time of famine. Moreover, God" said to
Israel, in a vision of the night, " I am the God
of thy fathers ; fear not to go down into
Egypt ; for I will make of thee there a great
nation, and I will go down with thee into
1 Gen. xxviii. 20 sq. s Gen. xxxii. 2.
8 Gen. xxxii. 31. L. R. V. Penuel. Comp. Mt. xix. 4.
* lb. 30. The words are Jacob's, but they are attributed to
Moses as author.
6 Gen, xxxix. 23, 6 Gen. xlvi, 3, 4,
Egypt ; and I will also surely bring thee up
again, and Joseph shall put his hand upon
thine eyes." Where in this passage do we
find the power of free choice ? Is not the
whole circumstance that he ventured to go to
his son, and entrust himself to a nation that
knew not the Lord, due to the help of the
God of his fathers ? The people was released
from Egypt with a strong hand and an out-
stretched arm ; not the hand of Moses and
Aaron, but of Him who set the people free by
signs and wonders, and at last smote the first-
born of Egypt, so that they who at 'first were
persistent in keeping the people, eagerly
urged them to depart. Solomon3 says,
" Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and
lean not upon thine own understanding : in
all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct thy paths." Understand what He says
— that we must not trust in our wisdom, but in
the Lord alone, by Whom the steps of a man
are directed. Lastly, we are bidden to show
Him our ways, and make them known, for
they are not made straight by our own labour,
but by His assistance and mercy. And so it
is written, 3 "Make my way right before Thy
face," so that what is right to Thee may seem
also right to me. Solomon says the same —
1 " Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy
thoughts shall be established." Our thoughts
are then established when we commit all we
do to the Lord our helper, resting it, as it
were, upon the firm and solid rock, and attrib-
ute everything to Him.
9. The Apostle Paul, rapidly recounting the
benefits of God, ended with the words, 5" And
who is sufficient for these things?" Wherefore,
also, in another place he 6 says, "Such con-
fidence have we through Christ to Godward ;
not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
anything as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency
is from God ; Who also made us sufficient as
ministers of a new covenant ; not of the letter
but of the spirit ; for the letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life." Do we still dare to
pride ourselves on free will, and to abuse the
benefits of God to the dishonour of the
giver? Whereas the same chosen vessel
openly ; writes, " We have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness
of the power may be of God, and not from
ourselves." Therefore, also, in another
place, checking the impudence of the here-
tics, he 8says, "He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord. For not he that com-
mendeth himself is approved, but whom the
Lord commendeth." And again, ' " In noth-
ing was I behind the very chiefest Apostles,
1 Ex. xi. and xii.
4 Prov. xvi. 3.
7 2 Cor. iv. 7.
2 Prov. iii. 5, 6.
5 2 Cor. ii. 16.
0 g Cor. x. 17, iS
8 Ps. v. 8.
6 2 Cor. iii. 4-6.
v 2 Cor. xii. 11,
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK III.
4/7
though I be nothing." Peter, disturbed by
the greatness of the miracles he witnessed,
said to the Lord,1 " Depart from me, for I am
a sinful man." And the Lord said to His
disciples, a " I am the vine and ye are the
branches : He that abideth in Me and I in
him, the same beareth much fruit, for apart
from Me ye can do nothing." Just as the
vine branches and shoots immediately decay
when they are severed from the parent stem,
so all the strength of men fades and perishes,
if it be bereft of the help of God. " No
one," 3 He says, " can come unto Me except
the Father Who sent Me draw him." When
He says, " No one can come unto Me," He
shatters the pride of free will ; because, even
if a man will to go to Christ, except that be
realized which follows — " unless My heavenly
Father draw him" — desire is to no purpose,
and effort is in vain. At the same time it is
to be noted that he who is drawn does not
run freely, but is led along either because he
holds back and is sluggish, or because he is
reluctant to go.
10. Now, how can a man who cannot by his
own strength and labour come to Jesus, at the
same time avoid all sins ? and avoid them
perpetually, and claim for himself a name
which belongs to the might of God ? For if
He and I are both without sin, what differ-
ence is there between me and God ? One
more proof only I will adduce, that I may not
weary you and my hearers. 4 Sleep was
removed from the eyes of Ahasuerus, whom
the Seventy call Artaxerxes, that he might turn
over the memoirs of his faithful ministers and
come upon Mordecai, by whose evidence he
was delivered from a conspiracy ; and that
thus Esther might be more acceptable, and the
whole people of the Jews escape imminent
death. There is no doubt that the mighty
sovereign to whom belonged the whole East,
from India to the North and to Ethiopia,
after feasting sumptuously on delicacies
gathered from every part of the world would
have desired to sleep, and to take his rest,
and to gratify his free choice of sleep, had
not the Lord, the provider of all good things,
hindered the course of nature, so that in
defiance of nature the tyrant's cruelty might
be overcome. If I were to attempt to pro-
duce all the instances in Holy Writ, I should
be tedious. All that the saints say is a prayer
to God ; their whole prayer and supplication
a strong wrestling for the pity of God, so
that we, who by our own strength and zeal
cannot be saved, may be preserved by His
mercy. But when we are concerned with
grace and mercy, free will is in part void ;
1 S. Luke v. 8.
• Esther vi. i.
S. John xv,
3 S. John vi. 44.
in part, I say, for so much as this depends
upon it, that we wish and desire, and give
assent to the course we choose. But it de-
pends on God whether we have the power in
His strength and with His help to perform
what we desire, and to bring to effect our toil
and effort.
11. C. I simply said that we find the help
of God not in our several actions, but in the
grace of creation and of the law, that free
will might not be destroyed. But there are
many of us who maintain that all we do is
done with the help of God.
A. Whoever says that must leave your
party. Either, then, say the same yourself and
join our side, or, if you refuse, you will be just
as much our enemy as those who do not hold
our views.
C. 1 shall be on your side if you speak my
sentiments, or rather you will be on mine if
you do not contradict them. You admit
health of body, and deny health of the soul,
which is stronger than the body. For sin is
to the soul what disease or a wound is to the
body. If then you admit that a man may be
healthy so far as he is flesh, why do you
not say he may be healthy so far as he is
spirit ?
A. I will follow in the line you point out,
" and you to-day
Shall ne'er escape ; where'er you call, I come."
C. I am ready to listen.
A. And I to speak to deaf ears. I will there-
fore reply to your argument. We are made up
of soul and body, and have the nature of both
substances. As the body is said to be healthy
if it is troubled with no weakness, so the
soul is free from fault if it is unshaken and
undisturbed. And yet, although the body
may be healthy, sound, and active, with all
the faculties in their full vigour, yet it suffers
much from infirmities at more or less fre-
quent intervals, and, however strong it may
be, is sometimes distressed by various hu-
mours ; so the soul, bearing the onset of
thoughts and? agitations, even though it es-
cape shipwreck, does not sail without danger,
and remembering its weakness, is always
anxious about death, according as it is written,
1 " What man is he that shall live and not
see death ?" — death, which threatens all mortal
men, not through the decay of nature, but
through the death of sin, according to the
prophet's words,2 " The soul that sinneth, it
shall die." Besides, we know that Enoch
and Elias have not yet seen this death which
is common to man and the brutes. Show me
a body which is never sick, or which after
sickness is ever safe and sound, and I will
1 Ps. lxxxix,
1 Ezek. xviii. 4.
4;§
JEROME.
show you a soul which never sinned, and
after acquiring virtues will never again sin.
The thing is impossible, and all the more
when we remember that vice borders on
virtue, and that, if you deviate ever so
little, you will either go astray or fall
over a precipice. How small is the interval
between obstinacy and perseverance, miserli-
ness and frugality, liberality and extravagance,
wisdom and craft, intrepidity and rashness,
caution and timidity ! some of which are
classed as good, others as bad. And the
same applies to bodies. If you take pre-
cautions against biliousness, the phlegm
increases. If you dry up the humours too
quickly, the blood becomes heated and
vitiated with bile, and a sallow hue spreads
over the countenance. Without question,
however much we may exercise all the care
of the physician, and regulate our diet, and
be free from indigestion and whatever fos-
ters disease, the causes of which are in
some cases hidden from us and known to
God alone, we shiver with cold, or burn with
fever, or howl with colic, and implore the
help of the true physician, our Saviour, and
1 say with the Apostles, " Master, save us, we
perish "
12. C. Granted that no one could avoid
all sin in boyhood, youth, and early man-
hood ; can you deny that very many righteous
and holy men, after falling into vice, have
heartily devoted themselves to the acquisition
of virtue and through these have escaped
sin?
A. This is what I told you at the begin-
ning— that it rests with ourselves either to
sin or not to sin, and to put the hand either
to good or evil ; and thus free will is preserved,
but according to circumstances, time, and
the state of human frailty ; we maintain,
however, that perpetual freedom from sin is
reserved for God only, and for Him Who
being the Word was made flesh without incur-
ring the defects and the sins of the flesh.
And, because I am able to avoid sin for a
short time, you cannot logically infer that I
am able to do so continually. Can I fast,
watch, walk, sing, sit, sleep perpetually ?
C. Why then in Holy Scripture are we
stimulated to aim at perfect righteousness ?
For example : " " Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God," and 3 " Blessed
are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the
law of the Lord." And God says to Abra-
ham, * " I am thy God, be thou pleasing in
My sight, and be thou without spot, or blame,
and I will make My covenant between Me and
thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly."
If that is impossible which Scripture testifies,
it was useless to command it to be done.
A. You play upon Scripture until you wear
a question threadbare, and remind me of the
platform tricks of a conjurer who assumes a
variety of characters, and is now Mars, next
moment Venus ; so that he who was at first all
sternness and ferocity is dissolved into femi-
nine softness. For the objection you now
raise with an air of novelty — " Blessed are the
pure in heart," " Blessed are the undefiled in
the way," and " Be without spot," and so forth
— is refuted when the Apostle replies, : " We
know in part, and we prophesy in part," and,
" Now we see through a mirror darkly, but
when that which is perfect is come, that
which is in part shall be done away." And
therefore we have but the shadow and like-
ness of the pure heart, which hereafter is des-
tined to see God, and, free from spot or stain,
to live with Abraham. However great the
patriarch, prophet, or Apostle may be, it is
" said to them, in the words of our Lord and
Saviour, " If ye being evil know how to
give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father Which is in heaven
give good things to them which ask Him ? "
Then again even Abraham, to whom it was
said,3 " Be thou without spot and blame,"
in the consciousness of his frailty fell upon
his face to the earth. And when God had
spoken to Him, saying, " Thy wifeSarai shall
no longer be called Sarai, but Sara shall her
name be, and I will give thee a son by her, and
I will bless him and he shall become a great na-
tion, and kings of nations shall spring from
him," the narrative at once proceeds to say,
" Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and
said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him
that is an hundred years old ? and shall Sarah,
that is ninety years old, bear ?" And Abra-
ham said unto God, " Oh, that Ishmael might
live before thee ! " And God said, " Nay,
but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and
thou shall call his name Isaac," and so on.
He certainly had heard the words of God,
" I am thy God, be thou pleasing in My sight,
and without spot "; why then did he not be-
lieve what God promised, and why did he
laugh in his heart, thinking that he escaped
the notice of God, and not daring to laugh
openly ? Moreover he gives the reasons for
his unbelief, and says, " How is it possible for
a man that is an hundred years old to beget a
son of a wife that is ninety years old ? " " Oh,
that Ishmael might live before thee," he says.
" Ishmael whom thou once gavest me. I do
not ask a hard thing, I am content with the
blessing I have received." God convinced
1 S. Matt. viii.
* Gen. xvii. i,
' S. Matt. v. 8,
3 Ps. cxix. i.
1 i Cor. xiii. 9, 10. * S. Matt, vii, n. ? Gen. xvii. : stj,
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK III.
An
him by a mysterious reply. He said, " Yea."
The meaning is, that shall come to pass
which you think shall not be. Your wife
Sara shall bear you a son, and before she
conceives, before he is born, I will give the
boy a name. For, from your error in secretly
laughing, your son shall be called Isaac, that
is laughter. But if you think that God is
seen by those who are pure in heart in this
world, why did Moses, who had previously
said, " I have seen the Lord face to face, and
my life is preserved," afterwards entreat that
he might see him distinctly ? And because
he said that he had seen God, the Lord told
him,1 " Thou canst not see My face. For man
shall not see My face, and live." Wherefore
also the Apostle 2 calls Him the only invisible
God, Who dwells in light unapproachable, and
Whom no man hath seen, nor can see. And
the Evangelist John in hoiy accents testifies,
saying, 3 " No man hath at any time seen
God. The only begotten Son Who is in the
bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."
He Who sees, also declares, not how great
He is Who is seen, nor how much He knows
Who declares ; but as much as the capacity
of mortals can receive.
13. And whereas you think he is blessed
who is undefiled in the way, and walks in His
law, you must interpret the former clause by
the latter. From the many proofs I have
adduced you have learnt that no one has been
able to fulfil the law. And if the Apostle,
in comparison with the grace of Christ, reck-
oned those things as filth which formerly,
under the law, he counted gain, so that he
might win Christ, how much more certain
ought we to be that the reason why the grace
of Christ and of the Gospel has been added
is that, under the law, no one could be justi-
fied ? Now if, under the law, no one is
justified, how is he perfectly undefiled in the
way who is still walking and hastening to
reach the goal? Surely, he who is in the
course, and who is advancing on the road, is
inferior to him who has reached his journey's
end. If, then, he is undefiled and perfect
who is still walking in the way and advancing
in the law, what more shall he have who has
arrived at the end of life and of the law ?
Hence the Apostle, speaking of our Lord,
says that, at the end of the world, when all
virtues shall receive their consummation, He
will present His holy Church to Himself with-
out spot or wrinkle, and yet you think that
Church perfect, while yet in the flesh, which
is subject to death and decay. You deserve
to be told, with the Corinthians,4 " Ye are
already perfect, ye are already made rich :
ye reign without us, and I would that ye did
reign, that we might also reign with you " —
since true and stainless perfection belongs to
the inhabitants of heaven, and is reserved for
that day when the bridegroom shall say to
the bride, ' " Thou art all fair, my love ; and
there is no spot in thee." And in this sense
we must understand the words : s " That ye
may be blameless and harmless, as children of
God, without blemish " ; for He did not say
ye are, but may be. He is contemplating the
future, not stating a case pertaining to the
present; so that here is toil and effort, in that
other world the rewards of labour and of
virtue. Lastly, John writes : 3 " Beloved, we
are sons of God, and it is not yet made
manifest what we shall be. We know that
when He shall be manifested, we shall be like
Him : for we shall see Him even as He is."
Although, then, we are sons of God, yet like-
ness to God, and the true contemplation of
God, is promised us then, when He shall
appear in His majesty.
14. From this swelling pride springs the
audacity in prayer which marks the directions
in your letter to a 4 certain widow as to how
the saints ought to pray. " He," you say,
5" rightly lifts up his hands to God ; he pours
out supplications with a good conscience who
can say, ' Thou knowest, Lord, how holy,
how innocent, how pure from all deceit,
wrong, and robbery are the hands which I
spread out unto Thee ; how righteous, how
spotless, and free from all falsehood are the
lips with which I pour forth my prayers unto
Thee, that Thou mayest pity me.' " Is this
the prayer of a Christian, or of a proud
Pharisee like him who6 says in the Gospel,
" God, I thank Thee that I am not as other
men are, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even
as this publican : I fast twice in the week, I
give tithes of all that I possess." Yet he
merely thanks God because, by His mercy, he
is not as other men : he execrates sin, and
does not claim his righteousness as his own.
But you say, " Now Thou knowest how holy,
how innocent, how pure from all deceit,
wrong, and robbery are the hands which I
spread out before Thee." He says that he
fasts twice in the week, that he may afflict his
vicious and wanton flesh, and he gives tithes
1 Ex. xxxiii. 20.
* 1 Cor. iv. 8.
8 1 Tim. i. 17, vi. 16.
1 Cant. iv. 7. 2 Phil. ii. is- 3 1 John iii. 2.
4 See S. Aug. De Gest. Pelag. § 16. The widow was Juliana,
mother to Demetrias (to whom Jerome addressed his Letter CXXX.
" On the keeping of Virginity "). Pelagius' letter to Demetrias is
found in Jerome's works (Ed. Vail.), vol. xi. col. 15.
6 The whole passage, as quoted by Augustin, runs as follows :
I " May piety find with thee a place which it has never found else-
\ where. May truth, which no one now knows, be thy household
'■ friend ; and the law of God. which is despised by almost all men,
; be honoured by thee alone." " How happy, how blessed art thou,
J if that justice which we are to believe exists only in heaven is
i found with thee alone upon earth." Then follow the words
quoted above.
j 6 S. Luke xviii. 11,
4§o
JEROME.
of all his substance. For ' " the ransom of a
man's life is his riches." You join the devil
in boasting,8 " I will ascend above the stars,
I will place my throne in heaven, and I will
be like the Most High." David says,3 " My
loins are filled with illusions"; and 4 " My
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my
foolishness "; and B " Enter not into judg-
ment with Thy servant"; and" "In Thy
sight no man living shall be justified." You
boast that you are holy, innocent, and pure,
and spread out clean hands unto God. And
you are not satisfied with glorying in all your
works, unless you say that you are pure from
all sins of speech ; and you tell us how right-
eous, how spotless, how free from all false-
hood your lips are. The Psalmist sings,
7" Everyman is a liar "; and this is supported
by apostolical authority : " That God may be
true," says St. Paul,8 "and every man a liar " ;
and yet you have lips righteous, spotless, and
free from all falsehood. Isaiah laments, say-
ing,9 " Woe is me ! for I am undone, because I
am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips"; and after-
wards one of the seraphim brings a hot coal,
taken with the tongs, to purify the prophet's
lips, for he was not, according to the tenor
of your words, arrogant, but he confessed his
own faults. Just as we read in the Psalms,
10 "What shall be due unto thee, and what
shall be done more unto thee in respect of a
deceitful tongue ? Sharp arrows of the mighty,
with coals that make desolate." And after
all this swelling with pride, and boastfulness
in prayer, and confidence in your holiness,
like one fool trying to persuade another, you
finish with the words " These lips with which
I pour out my supplication that Thou mayest
have pity on me." If you are holy, if you are
innocent, if you are cleansed from all defile-
ment, if you have sinned neither in word nor
deed — although James says," " He who of-
fends not in word is a perfect man," and
" No one can curb his tongue " — how is it
that you sue for mercy ? so that, forsooth, you
bewail yourself, and pour out prayers because
you are holy, pure, and innocent, a man of
stainless lips, free from all falsehood, and
endowed with a power like that of God.
Christ prayed thus on the cross : I2 " My God,
my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? Why
art Thou so far from helping Me?" And,
again," " Father, into Thy hands I commend
My spirit," and " " Father, forgive them, for
1 Prov. xiii. 8.
3 Is. xiv. h, 14. Spoken of the King of Babylon.
3 Ps. xxxviii. 7. Vulg. * Ibid. 5. 6 Ps. cxliii. 2.
9 Ibid. 4. ' Ps. cxvi. 11. " Rom. iii. 4.
* Is. vi. 5. 10 Ps. cxx. 3. Vulg. ll James iii. 2.
13 Ps. xxii. 2 ; Sept. and Vulgate. S. Matt, xxvii. 46, R. V.,
" and from the words of my roaring."
*3 S, Luke xxiii. 46. M S. Luke xxiii, 34.
they know not what they do." And this is
He, who, returning thanks for us, had said,
*" I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth."
15. Our Lord so instructed His Apostles
that, daily at the sacrifice of His body, believers
make bold to say, " Our Father, Which art in
Heaven, hallowed be Thy name"; they earn-
estly desire the name of God, which in itself
is holy, to be hallowed in themselves ; you say,
" Thou knowest, Lord, how holy, how inno-
cent, and how pure are my hands." Then
they say : " Thy Kingdom come," anticipat-
ing the hope of the future kingdom, so that,
when Christ reigns, sin may by no means reign
in their mortal body, and to this they couple
the words, " Thy will be done in earth as it
is in Heaven"; so that human weakness may
imitate the angels, and the will of our Lord
may be fulfilled on earth ; you say, " A man
can, if he chooses, be free from all sin." The
Apostles prayed for the daily bread, or the
bread better than all food, which was to come,
so that they might be worthy to receive the
body of Christ ; and you are led by your ex-
cess of holiness and well established right-
eousness to boldly claim the heavenly gifts.
Next comes, " Forgive us our debts, as we also
forgive our debtors." No sooner do they rise
from the baptismal font, and by being born
again and incorporated into our Lord and
Saviour thus fulfil what is written of them,
2 " Blessed are they whose iniquities are for-
given and whose sins are covered," than at
the first communion of the body of Christ they
say, " Forgive us our debts," though these
debts had been forgiven them at their con-
fession of Christ ; but you in your arrogant
pride boast of the cleanness of your holy
hands and of the purity of your speech.
However thorough the conversion of a man
may be, and however perfect his possession
of virtue after a time of sins and failings, can
such persons be as free from fault as they
who are just leaving the font of Christ ?
And yet these latter are commanded to say,
" Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive
our debtors " ; not in the spirit of a false
humility, but because they are afraid of human
frailty and dread their own conscience. They
say, " Lead us not into temptation"; you and
Jovinian unite in saying that those who with
a full faith have been baptized cannot be fur-
ther tempted or sin. Lastly, they add, " But
deliver us from the evil one." Why do they
beg from the Lord what they have already by
the power of free will ? Oh, man, now thou
hast been made clean in the laver, and of
thee it is said, " Who is this that cometh up
1 S. Matt, xi, 25,
3 Ps. xxi. 1,
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS.— BOOK III.
4S1
all white, leaning upon her beloved ? " The
bride, therefore, is washed, yet she cannot
keep her purity, unless she be supported by
the Lord. How is it that you long to be set
free by the mercy of God, you who but a little
while ago were released from your sins ? The
only explanation is the principle by which we
maintain that, when we have done all, we must
confess we are unprofitable.
16. So then your prayer outdoes the pride
of the Pharisee, and you are condemned
when compared with the Publican. He,
standing afar off, did not dare to lift up his
eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast,
saying, ' " God be merciful unto me a sinner."
And on this is based our Lord's declaration,
" I say unto you this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other. For
every one that exalteth himself shall be abased,
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
The Apostles are humbled that they may be
exalted. Your disciples are lifted up that
they may fall. In your flattery of the widow
previously mentioned you are not ashamed to
say that piety such as is found on earth, and
truth which is everywhere a stranger, had
made their home with her in preference to all
others. You do not recollect the familiar
words,2 " O my people, they which call thee
blessed cause thee to err, and destroy the
paths of thy feet "; and you expressly praise
her and say, " Happy beyond all thought are
you ! how blessed ! if righteousness, which is
believed to be now nowhere but in Heaven,
is found with you alone on earth." Is this
teaching or slaying ? Is it raising from earth,
or casting down from heaven, to attribute that
to a poor creature of a woman, which angels
would not dare arrogate to themselves ? If
piety, truth, and righteousness are found on
earth nowhere but in one woman, where shall
we find your righteous followers, who, you
boast, are sinless on earth ? These two
chapters on prayer and praise you and your
disciples are wont to swear are none of yours,
and yet your brilliant style is so clearly seen
in them, and the elegance of your Ciceronian
diction is so marked that, although you strut
about with the slow pace of a tortoise, you
have not the courage to acknowledge what
you teach in private and expose for sale.
Happy man ! whose books no one writes out
but your own disciples, so that whatever
appears to be unacceptable, you may contend
is not your own but some one else's work.
And where is the man with ability enough to
imitate the charm of your language ?
17. C. I can put it off no longer ; my pa-
tience is completely overcome by your iniqui-
1 S. Luke xviii, 13.
2 Is, iii, 12,
tous words. Tell me, pray, what sin have little
infants committed. Neither the conscious-
ness of wrong nor ignorance can be imputed
to those who, according to the prophet Jonah,
know not their right hand from their left.
They cannot sin, and they can perish ; their
knees are too weak to walk, they utter inartic-
ulate cries ; we laugh at their attempts to
speak ; and, all the while, poor unfortunates !
the torments of eternal misery are prepared
for them.
A. Ah ! now that your xlisciples have
turned masters you begin to be fluent, not
to say eloquent. Antony, ' an excellent
orator, whose praises Tully loudly proclaims,
says that he had seen many fluent men, but
so far never an eloquent speaker ; so don't
amuse me with flowers of oratory which have
not grown in your own garden, and with which
the ears of inexperience and of boyhood are
wont to be tickled, but plainly tell me what
you think.
C. What I say is this — you must at least
allow that they have no sin who cannot sin.
A. I will allow it, if they have been baptized
into Christ ; and if you will not then immedi-
ately bind me to agree with your opinion
that a man can be without sin if he chooses ;
for they neither have the power nor the will ;
but they are free from all sin through the
grace of God, which they received in their
baptism.
C. You force me to make an invidious re-
mark and ask, Why, what sin have they com-
mitted ? that you may immediately have me
stoned in some popular tumult. You have
not the power to kill me, but you certainly
have the will.
A. He slays a heretic who allows him to)
be a heretic. But when we rebuke him wej
give him life ; you may die to your heresy,
and live to the Catholic faith.
C. If you know us to be heretics, why do
you not accuse us?
A. Because the2 Apostle teaches me to
avoid a heretic after the first and second
admonition, not to accuse him. The Apostle
knew that such an one is perverse and self-
condemned. Besides, it would be the height
of folly to make my faith depend on an-
other man's judgment. For supposing some
one were to call you a Catholic, am I to im-
mediately give assent ? Whoever defends
you, and says that you rightly hold your per-
verse opinions, does not succeed in rescuing
you from infamy, but charges himself with
perfidy. Your numerous supporters will
never prove you to be a Catholic, but will
1 The grandfather of the Triumvir, born B.C. 142, died in the
civil conflict excited by Rlarius, B.C. 87.
2 Tit. iii. 10,
482
JEROME.
show that you are a heretic. But I would
have such opinions as these suppressed by
ecclesiastical authority ; otherwise we shall
be in the case of those who show some
dreadful picture to a crying child. May the
fear of God so prevail with us that we may despise
all other fears. Therefore, either defend your
opinions, or abandon what you are unable to
defend. Whoever maybe called in to defend
you must be enrolled as a partisan, not as a
patron.
18. C. Tell me, pray, and rid me of all
doubts, why little children are baptized.
A. That their sins may be forgiven them
in baptism.
C. What sin are they guilty of ? How can
any one be set free who is not bound ?
A. You ask me ! The Gospel trumpet will
reply, the teacher of the Gentiles, the golden
vessel shining throughout the world:1 " Death
reigned from Adam even unto Moses : even
over those who did not sin after the likeness
of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure
of Him that was to come." And if you object
that some are spoken of who did not sin, you
must understand that they did not sin in the
same way as Adam did by transgressing
God's command in Paradise. But all men
are held liable either on account of their
ancient forefather Adam, or on their own
account. He that is an infant rs released in
baptism from the chain which bound his
father. He who is old enough to have dis-
cernment is set free from the chain of his
own or another's sin by the blood of Christ.
You must not think me a heretic because
I take this view, for the blessed martyr
Cyprian, whose rival you boast of being in
the classification of Scripture proofs, in the
"epistle addressed to Bishop Fidus on the
Baptism of Infants speaks thus : " Moreover,
if even the worst offenders, and those who
previous to baptism sin much against God,
once they believe have the gift of remission
of sins, and no one is kept from baptism and
from grace, how much more ought not an in-
fant to be kept from baptism seeing that, be-
ing only just born, he has committed no sin?
He has only, being born according to the
flesh among Adam's sons, incurred the taint
of ancient death by his first birth. And he
is the more easily admitted to remission of
sins because of the very fact that not his own
sins but those of another are remitted to him.
And so, dearest brother, it was our decision
in council that no one ought to be kept by
us from baptism and from the grace of God,
Who is merciful to all, and kind, and good.
And whereas this rule ought to be observed
and kept with reference to all, bear in mind
that it ought so much the more to be observed
with regard to infants themselves and those
just born, for they have the greater claims
on our assistance in order to obtain Divine
mercy, because their cries and tears from
the very birth are one perpetual prayer."
19. That holy man and eloquent bishop
Augustin not long ago wrote to ' Marcel-
linus (the same that was afterwards, though
innocent, put to death by heretics on the pre-
text of his taking part in the tyranny of Her-
aclian3) two treatises on infant baptism, in
opposition to your heresy which maintains
that infants are baptized not for remission of
sins, but for admission to the kingdom of
heaven, according as it is written in the
Gospel,3 " Except a man be born again of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of heaven." He addressed a "third,
moreover, to the same Marcellinus, against
those who say as do you, that a man can be
free from sin, if he chooses, without the help
of God. And, recently, a ^fourth to Hilary
against this doctrine of yours, which is full of
perversity. And he is said to have others on
the anvil with special regard to you, which
have not yet come to hand. Wherefore, I
think I must abandon my task, for fear
Horace's words may be thrown at me,
°" Don't carry firewood into a forest." For
we must either say the same as he does, and
that would be superfluous ; or, if we wished to
say something fresh, we should7 find our best
points anticipated by that splendid genius.
One thing I will say and so end my discourse,
that you ought either to give us a new creed,
so that, after baptizing children into the name
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you may
baptize them into the kingdom of heaven ; or,
if you have one baptism both for infants and
for persons of mature age, it follows that infants
also should be baptized for the remission of
sins after the likeness of the transgression
of Adam. But if you think the remission of
1 Rom. v. 14.
2 Cyp. Ep. 64 (al. 59). S. Augustine preaching at Carthage on
June 27, 413, quoted the same letter, which was a Synodical letter
of A.D. 255. See Bright's Anti-Pelagian Treatises, Introduction,
p, xxi.
1 Marcellinus was the lay imperial commissioner appointed to
superintend the discussion between the Catholics and Donatists at
the Council of Carthage, A.D. 411. In 413 Heraclian, governor
of Africa, revolted against Honorius, the Emperor, and invaded
Italy. The enterprise failed, and on his return to Africa the pro-
moter of it was put to death. The Donatists, called by Jerome
" heretics," are supposed to have accused Marcellinus of taking
part in the rebellion. He was executed in 414.
2 "On the Deserts and Remission of Sins, and the Baptism of
Infants," in three books, the earliest of S. Augustin's Anti-Pela-
gian treatises. It was composed in reply to a letter from his friend
Marcellinus, who was harassed by Pelagianising disputants. See
S. Aug. " De Gest. Pel." § 25.
3 S. John iii. 3.
4 The " De Spiritu et Littera." Marcellinus found a difficulty
in. Augustin's view of the question of sinlessness. See Bright's
Anti-Pelagian Treatises, Introduction, p. xix.
5 Whether he who was made Bishop of Aries, in 429, is disputed.
The treatise was the " De Natura et Gratia," written early in 415.
6 Sat. i. 10.
7 Ory better positions have been occupied,
PREFACES.
483
another's sins implies injustice, and that he
has no need of it who could not sin, cross
over to Origen, your special favourite, who
says that ancient offences ' committed long
before in the heavens are loosed in baptism.
You will then be not only led by his authority
in other matters, but will be following his
error in this also.
and supposed their condition in this world to be the result of their
1 Origen held the pre-existence of souls, endowed with free will, conduct in their previous state of probation.
PREFACES.
The Prefaces to Jerome's works have in many cases a special value. This value is sometimes personal ;
they are the free expressions of his feelings to those whom he trusts. Sometimes it lies in the mention of par-
ticular events ; sometimes in showing the special difficulties he encountered as a translator, or the state of mind
of those for whom he wrote ; sometimes in making us understand the extent and limits of his own knowledge,
and the views on points such as the inspiration of Scripture which actuated him as a translator or commentator ;
sometimes, again, in the particular interpretations which he gives. These things gain a great importance from
the fact that Jerome's influence and that of his Vulgate was preponderant in Western Europe for more than a
thousand years.
We have had to make a selection, not only from want of space, but also because the Prefaces are Of very
unequal value, and sometimes are mere repetitions of previous statements. We have therefore given specimens
of each class of Preface ; we have given also all which bears on the better understanding of the life and views of
Jerome ; but where a Preface repeats what has been said before, or where it gives facts or interpretations which
are well known or of no particular value, we have contented ourselves with a short statement of its contents.
The Prefaces fall under three heads : 1st. Those prefixed to Jerome's early works bearing on Church history
or Scripture, 2d, The Prefaces to the Vulgate translation. 3d. Those prefixed to the Commentaries.
PREFACES TO JEROME'S EARLY WORKS.
PREFACE TO THE CHRONICLE OF
EUSEBIUS.
The " Chronicle " is a book of universal history, giving
the dates from the call of Abraham, and the Olympiads.
For an account of it the reader is referred to the article
of Dr. Salmon in the " Dictionary of Christian Antiqui-
ties." It was translated by Jerome in the years 381-82,
at Constantinople, where he was staying for the Council.
This Preface shows that Jerome was already becoming
aware of the difficulties arising from the various versions
of the Old Testament, and of the necessity of going back
to the Hebrew.
Jerome to his friends ■ Vincentius and Gal lie mi s,
Greeting ;
1. It has long been the practice of learned
men to exercise their minds by rendering
into Latin the works of Greek writers, and,
what is more difficult, to translate the
poems of illustrious authors though
trammelled by the farther requirements of
verse. It was thus that our Tully literally
translated whole books of Plato; and after
publishing an edition of 2Aratus (who may
now be considered a Roman) in hexameter
verse, he amused himself with the econo-
mics of Xenophon. In this latter work the
golden river of eloquence again and again
1 Vincentius appears to have attached himself to Jerome at Con-
stantinople and remained with him till the end of the century.
(Jerome, Against John of Jerusalem, 41 ; Apol., iii. 22 ■ Letter
LXXXV1I1.) Nothing is known of Oullienus,
2 Flourished B.C. 270.
meets with obstacles, around which its waters
break and foam to such an extent that persons
unacquainted with the original would not be-
lieve they were reading Cicero's words. And
no wonder ! It is hard to follow another
man's lines and everywhere keep within
bounds. It is an arduous task to preserve
felicity and grace unimpaired in a translation.
Some word has forcibly expressed a given
thought ; I have no word of my own to con-
vey the meaning; and while I am seeking
to satisfy the sense I may go a long way
round and accomplish but a small distance
of my journey. Then we must take into ac-
count the ins and outs of transposition, the
variations in cases, the diversity of figures,
and, lastly, the peculiar, and, so to speak,
the native idiom of the language. A literal
translation sounds absurd; if, on the other
hand, I am obliged to change either the
order or the words themselves, I shall
appear to have forsaken the duty of a trans-
lator.
2. So, my dear Vincentius, and you, Gallie-
nus, whom I love as my own soul, I beseech
you, whatever may be the value of this hurried
piece of work, to read it with the feelings of
a friend rather than with those of a critic.
And I ask this all the more earnestly because,
as you know, I dictated with great rapidity
to my amanuensis; and how difficult the task
4S4
JEROME.
is, the sacred records testify; for the old fla-
vour is not preserved in the Greek version by
the Seventy. It was this that stimulated
Aquila, Symmachus, andTheodotion; and the
result of their labors was to impart a totally
different character to one and the same work;
one strove to give word for word, another the
general meaning, while the third desired to
avoid any great divergency from the an-
cients. A fifth, sixth, and seventh edition,
though no one knows to what authors they
are to be attributed, exhibit so pleasing a vari-
ety of their own that, in spite of their being
anonymous, they have won an authoritative
position. Hence, some go so far as to con-
sider the sacred writings somewhat harsh
and grating to the ear; which arises from
the fact that the persons of whom I speak are
not aware that the writings in question are
a translation from the Hebrew, and there-
fore, looking at the surface not at the sub-
stance, they shudder at the squalid dress
before they discover the fair body which the
language clothes. , In fact, what can be more
musical than the Psalter? Like the writings
of our own ■ Flaccus and the Grecian Pindar
it now trips along in iambics, now flows in
sonorous alcaics, now swells into sapphics,
now 2 marches in half-foot metre. What can
be more lovely than the strains of Deuter-
onomy and Isaiah ? What more grave than
Solomon's words? What more finished than
Job ? All these, as Josephus and Origen tell
us, were composed in hexameters and
pentameters, and so circulated amongst their
own people. When we read these in Greek
they have some meaning; when in Latin they
are utterly incoherent. But if any one thinks
that the grace of language does not suffer
through translation, let him render Homer
word for word into Latin. I will go farther and
say that, if he will translate this author into
the prose of his own language, the order of
the words will seem ridiculous, and the most
eloquent of poets almost dumb.
3. What is the drift of all this ? I would
not have you think it strange if here and
there we stumble; if the language lag ; if it
bristle with consonants or present gaping
chasms of vowels ; or be cramped by conden-
sation of the narrative. The most learned
among men have toiled at the same task; and
in addition to the difficulty which all experi-
ence, and which we have alleged to attend all
translation, it must not be forgotten that a
peculiar difficulty besets us, inasmuch as the
history is manifold, is full of barbarous
names, circumstances of which the Latins
know nothing, dates which are tangled
1 That is, Horace.
,J Sublimia debent ingredi. — Quint, 9, 4 fin.
knots, critical marks blended alike with
the events and the numbers, so that it is
almost harder to discern the sequence of the
words than to come to a knowledge of what
is related.
[Here follows a long passage showing an arrange
ment according to which the dates are distinguished by
certain colours as belonging to one or another of the
kingdoms, the history of which is dealt with. This
passage seems unintelligible in the absence of the col-
oured figures, and would be of no use unless the book
with its original arrangement were being studied.]
I am well aware that there will be many
who, with their customary fondness for uni-
versal detraction (from which the only escape
is by writing nothing at all), will drive their
fangs into this volume. They will cavil at
the dates, change the order, impugn the accu-
racy of events, winnow the syllables, and, as
is very frequently the case, will impute the
negligence of copyists to the authors. I
should be within my right if I were to rebut
them by saying that they need not read un-
less they choose ; but I would rather send
them away in a calm state of mind, so that
they may attribute to the Greek author the
credit which is his due, and may recognize
that any insertions for which we are respon-
sible have been taken from other men of the
highest repute. The truth is that I have
partly discharged the office of a translator
and partly that of a writer. I have with the
utmost fidelity rendered the Greek portion,
and at the same time have added certain
things which appeared to me to have been
allowed to slip, particularly in the Roman his-
tory, which Eusebius, the author of this book,
as it seems to me, only glanced at ; not so
much because of ignorance, for he was a
learned man, as because, writing in Greek, he
thought them of slight importance to his
countrymen. So again from Ninus and Abra-
ham, right up to the captivity of Troy, the
translation is from the Greek only. From
Troy to the twentieth year of Constantine
there is much, at one time separately added,
at another intermingled, which I have gleaned
with great diligence from Tranquillus and
other famous historians. Moreover, the por-
tion from the aforesaid year of Constantine
to the sixth consulship of the Emperor Valens
and the second of Valentinianus is entirely
my own. Content to end here, I have re-
served the remaining period, that of Grati-
anus and Theodosius, for a wider historical
survey ; not that I am afraid to discuss the
living freely and truthfully, for the fear of
God banishes the fear of man ; but because
while our country is still exposed to the
fury of the barbarians everything is in con-
fusion.
PREFACES.
485
PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION
OF ORIGEN'S TWO HOMILIES
ON THE SONG OF SONGS.
Written at Rome, A.D. 383.
Jerome to the most holy Pope Damasus :
Origen, whilst in his other books he has sur-
passed all others, has in the Song of Songs
surpassed himself. He wrote ten volumes
upon it, which amount to almost twenty thous-
and lines, and in these he discussed, first the
version of the Seventy Translators, then those
of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and
lastly, a fifth version which he states that he
found on the coast of Actium, with such mag-
nificence and fulness, that he appears to me
to have realized what is said in the poem :
"The king brought me into his chamber."
I have left that work on one side, since it
would require almost boundless leisure and
labour and money to translate so great a work
into Latin, even if it could be worthily done ;
and I have translated these two short treat-
ises, which he composed in the form of daily
lectures for those who were still like babes
and sucklings, and I have studied faithful-
ness rather than elegance. You can con-
ceive how great a value the larger work pos-
sesses, when the smaller gives you such
satisfaction.
PREFACE TO THE BOOK ON
HEBREW NAMES.
The origin and scope of this book is described in the
Preface itself. It was written in the year 388, two
years after Jerome had settled at Bethlehem. He had,
immediately on arriving in Palestine, three years previ-
ously, set to work to improve his knowledge of Hebrew,
with a view to his translation of the Old Testament,
which was begun in 391. This book, therefore, and the
two which follow, may be taken as records of studies
preparatory to the Vulgate.
Philo, the most erudite man among the
Jews, is declared by Origen to have done what
I am now doing ; he set forth a book of He-
brew Names, classing them under their ini-
tial letters, and placing the etymology of each
at the side. This work I originally proposed
to translate into Latin. It is well known in the
Greek world, and is to be found in all li-
braries. But I found that the copies were so
discordant to one another, and the order so
confused, that I judged it to be better to say
nothing, rather than to write what would
justly be condemned. A work of this kind,
however, appeared likely to be of use ; and
my friends Lupulianus and Valerianus ' urged
me to attempt it, because, as they thought, I
had made some progress in the knowledge of
1 Nothing is known of these men. It is very improbable that
this Valerianus was the bishop of Aquilcia, who must, however,
have been known to Jerome.
Hebrew. I, therefore, went through all the
books of Scripture in order, and in the res-
toration which I have now made of the an-
cient fabric, I think that I have produced a
work which may be found valuable by Greeks
as well as Latins.
I here in the Preface beg the reader to take
notice that, if he finds anything omitted in
this work, it is reserved for mention in an-
other. I have at this moment on hand a book
of Hebrew Questions, an undertaking of a new
kind such as has never until now been heard
of amongst either the Greeks or the Latins.
I say this, not with a view of arrogantly puf-
fing up my own work, but because I know how
much labour I have spent on it, and wish to
provoke those whose knowledge is deficient
to read it. I recommend all those who wish to
possess both that work and the presentone, and
also the book of Hebrew Places, which I am
about to publish, to make no account of the
Jews and all their ebullitions of vexation.
Moreover, I have added the meaning of the
words and names in the New Testament, so that
the fabric might receive its last touch and might
stand complete. I wished also in this to imitate
Origen, whom all but the ignorant acknow-
ledge as the greatest teacher of the Churches
next to the Apostles; for in this work, which
stands among the noblest monuments of his
genius, he endeavoured as a Christian to sup-
ply what Philo, as a Jew, had omitted.
PREFACE TO THE BOOK ON THE
SITES AND NAMES OF HEBREW
PLACES.
For the scope and value of this book see Prolegomena.
It was written A.D. 388.
Eusebius, who took his second name from the
blessed Martyr Pamphilus, after he had writ-
ten the ten books of his " Ecclesiastical His-
tory," the Chronicle of Dates, of which I pub-
lished a Latin version, the book in which he set
forth the names of the different nations and
those given to them of old by the Jews and by
those of the present day, the topography of the
land of Judaea and the portions allotted to the
tribes, together with a representation of Jerusa-
lem itself and its temple, which he accompanied
with a very short explanation, bestowed his
labour at the end of his life upon this little
work, of which the design is to gather for us
out of the Holy Scriptures the names of almost
all the cities, mountains, rivers, hamlets, and
other places, whether they remain the same or
have since been changed or in some degree cor-
rupted. I have taken up the work of this ad-
mirable man, and have translated it, following
the arrangement of the Greeks, and taking the
words in the order of their initial letters, but
VOL. VI.
I 1
485
JEROME.
leaving out those names which did not seem
worthy of mention, and making a considerable
number of alterations. I have explained my
method once for all in the Preface to my trans-
lation of the Chronicle, where I said that I
might be called at once a translator and the
composer of a new work ; but I repeat this
especially because one who had hardly the
first tincture of letters has ventured upon a
translation of this very book into Latin,
though his language is hardly to be called
Latin. His lack of scholarship will be seen
by the observant reader as soon as he com-
pares it with my translation. I do not pie-
tend to a style which soars to the skies ; but
I hope that I can rise above one which grovels
on the earth.
PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF
HEBREW QUESTIONS.
Written A.D. 388. For the scope and character of
this work, see Prolegomena.
The object of the Preface to a book is to
set forth the argument of the work which fol-
lows ; but I am compelled to begin by an-
swering what has been said against me. My
case is somewhat like that of Terence, who
turned the scenic prologues of his plays
into a defence of himself. We have a ' Lus-
cius Lanuvinus, like the one who worried
him, and who brought charges against the
poet as j( he had been a plunderer of the
treasury. The bard of Mantua suffered in
the same way ; he had translated a few
verses of Homer very exactly, and they said
that he was nothing but a plagiarist from the
ancients. But he answered them that it was
no small proof of strength to wrest the club
of Hercules from his hands. Why, even
Tully, who stands on the pinnacle of Roman
eloquence, that king of orators and glory of
the Latin tongue, has actions for embezzle-
ment2 brought against him by the Greeks. I
cannot, therefore, be surprised if a poor little
fellow like me is exposed to the gruntings of
vile swine who trample our pearls under their
feet, when some of the most learned of men,
men whose glory ought to have hushed the
voice of ill will, have felt the flames of envy.
It is true, this happened by a kind of justice
to men whose eloquence had filled with its
resonance the theatres and the senate, the
public assembly and the rostra ; hardihood
always courts detraction, and (as Horace
says) :
" The 3 highest peaks invoke
The lightning's stroke."
But I am in a corner, remote from the city
and the forum, and the wranglings of crowded
courts ; yet, even so (as Quintilian says) ill-
will has sought me out. Therefore, I beseech
the reader,
" If 1 one there be, if one,
Who, rapt by strong desire, these lines shall read,"
not to expect eloquence or oratorical grace in
those Books of Hebrew Questions, which I
propose to write on all the sacred books ; but
rather, that he should himself answer my de-
tractors for me, and tell them that a work of
a new kind can claim some indulgence. I
am poor and of low estate ; I neither possess
riches nor do I think it right to accept them
if they are offered me; and, similarly, let metell
them that it is impossible for them to have
the riches of Christ, that is, the knowledge
of the Scriptures, and the world's riches as
well. It will be my simple aim, therefore,
first, to point out the mistakes of those who
suspect some fault in the Hebrew Scriptures,
and, secondly, to correct the faults, which
evidently teem in the Greek and Latin copies,
by a reference to the original authority ; and,
further, to explain the etymology of things,
names, and countries, when it is not apparent
from the sound of the Latin words, by giving
a paraphrase in the vulgar tongue. To enable
the student more easily to take note of these
emendations, I propose, in the first place, to
set out the true2 reading itself, as I am now
able to do, and then, by bringing the later
readings into comparison with it, to indicate
what has been omitted or added or altered.
It is not my purpose, as snarling ill-will pre-
tends, to convict the LXX. of error, nor do
I look upon my own labour as a disparage-
ment of theirs. The fact is that they, since
their work was undertaken for King Ptolemy
of Alexandria, did not choose to bring to
light all the mysteries which the sacred writ-
ings contain, and especially those which give
the promise of the advent of Christ, for fear
that he who held the Jews in esteem because
they were believed to worship one God,
would come to think that they worshipped
a second. But we find that the Evangelists,
and even our Lord and Saviour, and the Apos-
tle Paul, also, bring forward many citations
as coming from the Old Testament which
are not contained in our copies ; and on these
I shall dilate more fully in their proper
1 Terence's rival, to whom he makes allusions in the Prologi
to the Eunuchus, Heautontimoroumenos and Phormio.
2 Repetundarum. Properly an action to compel one who has
left office to restore public money which he had embezzled.
3 Hor. Odes II., x. 19, 20.
1 Virgil, Ec, vi. 10.
2 Ipsa testimonia. This is what he calls in other places
Hebraica Veritas. Jerome was right in the main in correcting the
LXX. and other Greek versions by the Hebrew. He was not
aware (as has been since made clear) that there are various read-
ings in the Hebrew itself, and that these may sometimes be cor-
rected by the LXX., which was made from older MSS.
3 That is, by the obeli (t), to show what has been left out, and
the asterisk (*), to show what has been inserted.
PREFACES.
487
places. But it is clear from this fact that
those are the best MSS. which most cor-
respond with the authoritative words of the
New Testament. Add to this that Josephus,
who gives the story of the Seventy Transla-
tors, reports them as translating only the five
books of Moses ; and we also acknowledge
that these are more in harmony with the He-
brew than the rest. And, further, those who
afterward came into the field as translators
— I mean Aquila and Symmachus and Theo-
dotion — give a version very different from
that which we use.1
I have but one word more to say, and it
may calm my detractors. Foreign goods are to
be imported only to the regions where there
is a demand for them. Country people are
not obliged to buy balsam, pepper, and dates.
As to Origen, I say nothing. His name (if
I may compare small things with great) is
even more than my own the object of ill-will,
because, though following the common ver-
sion in his Homilies, which were spoken to
common people, yet, in his Tomes,2 that is,
in his fuller discussion of Scripture, he
yields to the Hebrew as the truth, and,
though surrounded by his own forces, occa-
sionally seeks the foreign tongue as his ally.
I will only say this about him : that I should
gladly have his knowledge of the Scriptures,
even if accompanied with all the ill-will which
clings to his name, and that I do not care
a straw for these shades and spectral ghosts,
whose nature is said to be to chatter in dark
corners and be a terror to babies.
1 That is, from the copies of the LXX. commonly used in the
fourth century.
2 Larger Commentaries.
PREFACE TO THE COMMENTARY
ON ECCLESIASTES.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, Bethlehem,
A.D. 388.
I remember that, about five years ago,
when I was still living at Rome, I read Ec-
clesiastes to the saintly Blesilla,1 so that I
might provoke her to the contempt of this
earthly scene, and to count as nothing all
that she saw in the world ; and that she
asked me to throw my remarks upon all the
more obscure passages into the form of a
short commentary, so that, when I was absent,
she might still understand what she read.
She was withdrawn from us by her sudden
death, while girding herself for our work ;
we were not counted worthy to have such an
one as the partner of our life ; and, therefore,
Paula and Eustochium, I kept silence under
the stroke of such a wound. But now, living
as I do in the smaller community of Beth-
lehem, I pay what I owe to her memory and
to you. I would only point out this, that I
have followed no one's authority. I have
translated direct from the Hebrew, adapting
my words as much as possible to the form of
the Septuagint, but only in those places in
which they did not diverge far from the He-
brew. I have occasionally referred also to the
versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodo-
tion, but so as not to alarm the zealous stu-
dent by too many novelties, nor yet to let my
commentary follow the side streams of opin-
ion, turning aside, against my conscientious
conviction, from the fountainhead of truth.
1 Daughter of Paula. See Letter XXXIX.
PREFACES TO THE VULGATE VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
This version was made at Rome between the years 382 and 385. The only Preface remaining is that to the
translation of the Gospels, but Jerome speaks of, and quotes from, his version of the other parts also. The
work was undertaken at the request and under the sanction of Pope Damasus, who had consulted Jerome in A.D.
383 on certain points of Scriptural criticism, and apparently in the same year urged him to revise the current Latin
version by help, of the Greek original. It is to be observed that Jerome's aim was " to revise the old Latin, and
not to make a new version. When Augustin expressed to him his gratitude for ' his translation of the Gospels,'
he tacitly corrected him by substituting for this phrase ' the correction of the New Testament.' Yet, although
he proposed to himself this limited object, the various forms of corruption which had been introduced were, as he
describes, so numerous that the difference of the old and revised (Hieronymian) text is throughout clear and
striking." See article by Westcott in " Dictionary of Bible," on the Vulgate, and Fremantle's article on Jerome
in " Dictionary of Christian Biography."
THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Addressed to Pope1 Damasus, A.D. 383.
You urge me to revise the old Latin version,
and, as it were, to sit in judgment on the
copies of the Scriptures which are now scat-
tered throughout the whole world ; and, inas-
1 Made pope 366, died 384. Jerome had been his secretary at
the Council held at Rome in 3S2, and continued his literary ser-
vices till the pope's death, in 385.
I
much as they differ from one another, you
would have me decide which of them agree
with the Greek original. The labour is one of
love, but at the same time both perilous and
presumptuous; for in judging others I must
be content to be judged by all ; and how can
I dare to change the language of the world
in its hoary old age, and carry it back to the
early days of its infancy ? Is there a man,
learned or unlearned, who will not, when he
i 2
488
JEROME.
takes the volume into his hands, and per-
ceives that what he reads does not suit his
settled tastes, break out immediately into
violent language, and call me a forger and a
profane person for having the audacity to add
anything to the ancient books, or to make
any changes or corrections therein ? Now
there are two consoling reflections which en-
able me to bear the odium — in the first place,
the command is given by you who are the
supreme bishop ; and secondly, even on the
showing of those who revile us, readings at
variance with the early copies cannot be
right. For if we are to pin our faith to the
Latin texts, it is for our opponents to tell us
which j for there are almost as many forms of
texts as there are copies. If, on the other
hand, we are to glean the truth from a com-
parison of many, why not go back to the
original Greek and correct the mistakes in-
troduced by inaccurate translators, and the
blundering alterations of confident but igno-
rant critics, and, further, all that has been in-
serted or changed by copyists more asleep
than awake ? I am not discussing the Old
Testament, which was turned into Greek by
the Seventy elders, and1 has reached us by a
descent of three steps. I do not ask what
2 Aquila and 3Symmachus think, or why 4Theo-
dotion takes a middle course between the
1 That is, after being translated from Hebrew into Greek, and
from Greek into Latin.
2 Aquila belonged to the second century, but "whether to the
first half, or to the early part of the second half, cannot be deter-
mined. He was a Jewish proselyte, of Sinope in Pontus, and is
supposed to have translated the books of the Old Testament into
Greek in order to assist the Hellenistic Jews in their controversies
with Christians. Jerome's estimate of him varied from time to
time. In his commentary on Hos. ii., Is. xlix., and Letter XXVIII.,
etc., he treats him as worthy of credit. On the other hand, in
the letter to Pammachius, De Oft. Gen. Interp. (LVII. n), he de-
scribes him as contentiosus; but in Letter XXXVI. 12, he denies that
he is such. In the preface to Job he speaks of Aquila, Sym-
machus, and Theodotionas " Judaising heretics, who by their de-
ceitful translation have concealed many mysteries of salvation."
The second edition of Aquila's version, which was extremely
literal, was highly esteemed by the Jews, and was called by them
the Hebrew verity. See Davidson's "Biblical Criticism," p. 215,
etc.
p Symmachus was the author of the third Greek version. He is
said to have been a Samaritan by birth. The date of his version
cannot be accurately fixed ; but, apparently, it appeared after
Theodotion's. " He does not adhere to the text so closely as to
render it verbatim into Greek ; but chooses to express the same in
perspicuous and intelligible language." — Davidson.
4Theodotion, the author of the second Greek version, was a
native of Ephesus. His version is thought to have been made be-
fore 160. " The mode of translation adopted by him holds an in-
ancients and the moderns. I am willing to
let that be the true translation which had
apostolic approval. I am now speaking of
the New Testament. This was undoubtedly
composed in Greek, with the exception of the
work of Matthew the Apostle, who was the
first to commit to writing the Gospel of
Christ, and who published his work in Judaea
in Hebrew characters. We must confess that
as we have it in our language it is marked by
discrepancies, and now that the stream is dis-
tributed into different channels we must go
'back to thefountainhead. I pass over those
manuscripts which are associated with the
names of x Lucian and Hesychius, and the
authority of which is perversely maintained
by a handful of disputatious persons. It is
obvious that these writers could not amend
anything in the Old Testament after the
labours of the Seventy ; and it was useless to
correct the New, for versions of Scripture
which already exist in the languages of many
nations show that their additions are false. I
therefore promise in this short Preface the
four Gospels only, which are to be taken in
the following order, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
John, as they have been revised by a compar-
ison of the Greek manuscripts. Only early
ones have been used. But to avoid any great
divergences from the Latin which we are ac-
customed to read, I have used my pen with
some restraint, and while I have corrected
only such passages as seemed to convey a dif-
ferent meaning, I have allowed the rest to
remain as they are.
The Preface concludes with a description of lists of
words made by Eusebius and translated by Jerome, de-
signed to show what passages occur in two or more of
the Gospels.
termediate place between the scrupulous literality of Aquila and
the free interpretation of Symmachus," and his work was more
highly valued by Christians than that of either Aquila or Sym-
machus. Daniel was read in his version in the churches (Pref. to
Joshua).
1 Lucian in Syria and Hesychius in Egypt attempted their re-
censions about the middle of the third century, the time when
Origen also began to labour in the same direction. Lucian's re-
cension, also called the Constantinopolitan, and to which the
Slavonian and Gothic versions belong, spread over Asia Minor
and Thrace. See the Preface to the Chronicles. It was decreed
by a council held under Pope Gelasius, A.D. 494, that "the Gos-
pels which Lucian and Hesychius falsified are apocryphal."
PREFACES TO THE BOOKS
OF THE VULGATE
TESTAMENT.
VERSION OF THE OLD
This version was not undertaken with ecclesiastical sanction as was the case with the Gospels, but at the
request of private friends, or from Jerome's "own sense of the imperious necessity of the work." It was wholly
made at Bethlehem, and was begun about A.D. 391, and finished about A.D. 404. The approximate dates of the
several books are given before each Preface in the following pages.
PREFACE TO GENESIS.
This Preface was addressed to Desiderius, but which of
the three correspondents of Jerome who bore this name
is uncertain (See Article Desiderius in Smith and Wace's
"Dictionary of Christian Biography"). We do not give
it because it has been given at length as a specimen of
the rest, in Jerome's "Apology," book ii., vol. iii. of this
series, pp. 515-516). Jerome in it complains that he is
accused of forging a new version. He justifies his
undertaking by showing that in the versions then current
many passages were left out (though they exist in our
PREFACES.
489
copies of theLXX.), such as "Out of Egypt "(Hos. xi. 1);
"They shall look on him whom they pierced " (Zech.
xii. 10), etc., which are quoted in the New Testament
and are found in the Hebrew. He accounts for these
omissions by the suggestion that the LXX. were afraid
of offending Ptolemy Lagus for whom they worked,
and who was a Platonist. He rejects the fable of the
LXX. being shut up in separate cells and producing
an identical version, and protests against the notion
that they were inspired, and he urges his calumniators,
by applying to those who knew Hebrew, to test the
correctness of his version.
There is no Preface to the other books of the Penta-
teuch. From the allusion to the work on the Pentateuch
as lately finished, in the Preface to Joshua, which was
published in 404, it is presumed that the date of the
translation of the Pentateuch is 403.
JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH.
The Preface to these books was written A.D. 404 ;
Jerome speaks of the death of Paula, which took place in
that year, and the work is addressed to Eustochium alone.
The Preface is chiefly occupied with a defence of his
translation. He tells those who carp at it that they are
not bound to read it, and mentions that the Church had
given no final sanction to the LXX. , but read the book of
J )aniel in Theodotion's version. The books of Joshua,
Judges, and Ruth, were probably the last of the Vulgate
translation ; the Preface declares Jerome's intention of
devoting himself henceforward to the Commentaries
on the Prophets, a work which took up the remainder
of his life.
THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL AND KINGS.
This Preface was the first in order of publication. It
was set forth as an exposition of the principles adopted
by Jerome in all his translations from the Hebrew — the
" Helmeted Preface," as he calls it in the beginning of
the last paragraph, with which he was prepared to do
battle against all who impugn his design and methods.
It was addressed to Paula and Eustochium, and pub- '
lished about A.D. 391.
That the Hebrews have twenty-two letters
is testified by the Syrian and Chaldsean lan-
guages which are nearly related to the He-
brew, for they have twenty-two elementary
sounds which are pronounced the same way,
but are differently written. The Samaritans
also employ just the same number of letters
in their copies of the Pentateuch of Moses, and
differ only in the shape and outline of the
letters. And it is certain that Esdras, the
scribe and teacher of the law, after the cap-
ture of Jerusalem and the restoration of the
temple by Zerubbabel, invented xother letters
which we now use, although up to that time
the Samaritan and Hebrew characters were
the same. In the 2 book of Numbers, also,
where we have the census of the Levites and
priests, the mystic teaching of Scripture con-
ducts us to the same result. And we find
the four-lettered name of the Lord in certain
1 That is, the square character which was of Assyrian origin.
As to how far the tradition is true, see Davidson's " Biblical Criti-
cisms " (1854), p. 22, and the authorities there referred to.
2 iii. 39. All the males from a month old and upwards are said
l;* have been tzvetity-two thousand.
Greek books written to this day in the ancient
characters. The thirty-seventh Psalm, more-
over, the one hundred and eleventh, the one
hundred and twelfth, the one hundred and
nineteenth, and the one hundred and forty-
fifth, although they are written in different
metres, have for their ' acrostic framework an
alphabet of the same number of letters. The
Lamentations of Jeremiah, and his Prayer,
the Proverbs of Solomon also, towards the end,
from the place where we read " Who will find
a brave woman ? " are instances of the same
number of letters forming the division into
sections. And, again, five are double letters,
viz., Caph, Mem, Nun, Phe, Sade, for at the
beginning and in the middle of words they are
written one way, and at the end another way.
Whence it happens that, by most people, five
of the books are reckoned as double, viz.,
Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Jeremiah,
with Kinoth, i.e., his Lamentations. As, then,
there are twenty-two elementary characters
by means of which we write in Hebrew all
we say, and the compass of the human voice
is contained within their limits, so we
reckon twenty-two books, by which, as by
the alphabet of the doctrine of God, a right-
eous man is instructed in tender infancy, and,
as it were, while still at the breast.
The first of these books is called Bresith, to
which we give the name Genesis. The second,
Elk Smoih, which bears the name Exodus;
the third, Vaiecra, that is Leviticus ; the
fourth, Vaiedabber, which we call Numbers ;
the fifth, Elk Addabarim, which is entitled
Deuteronomy. These are the five books of
Moses, which they properly call 2 Thorath,
that is law.
The second class is composed of the Proph-
ets, and they begin with Jesus the son of
Nave, who among them is called Joshua the
son of Nun. Next in the series is Sophtim,
that is the book of Judges ; and in the same
book they include Ruth, because the events
narrated occurred in the days of the Judges.
Then comes Samuel, which we call First and
Second Kings. The fourth is Malachim,
that is, Kings, which is contained in the third
and fourth volumes of Kings. And it is far
better to say Malachim, that is Kings, than
Malachoth, that is Kingdoms. For the au-
thor does not describe the Kingdoms of
many nations, but that of one people, the
people of Israel, which is comprised in the
twelve tribes. The fifth is Isaiah, the sixth,
1 These are the alphabetical Psalms which, being mainly didactic,
were written acrostically to assist the memory. Others partially
acrostic are ix., x.. xxv.,xxxiv., to make the alphabet complete in
xxxvii. y in verse 28 must be supposed to be represented by DjiyS
and n in verse 39 by niT-lKTH •
- More correctly Torah.
490
JEROME.
Jeremiah, the seventh, Ezekiel, the eighth is
the book of the Twelve Prophets, which is
called among the Jews 1 Thare Asra.
To the third class belong the Hagiographa,
of which the first book begins with Job, the
second with David, whose writings they di-
vide into five parts and comprise in one vol-
ume of Psalms ; the third is Solomon, in
three books, Proverbs, which they call Par-
ables, that is Masaloth, Ecclesiastes, that is
Coeleth, the Song of Songs, which they denote
by the title Sir Assirim; the sixth is Daniel;
the seventh, Dabre Aiamim, that is, Words of
Days, which we may more expressively call a
chronicle of the whole of the sacred history,
the book that amongst us is called First and
Second 2 Chronicles ; the eighth, Ezra, which
itself is likewise divided amongst Greeks and
Latins into 3 two books ; the ninth is Esther.
And so there are also twenty-two books
of the Old Testament ; that is, five of Moses,
eight of the prophets, nine of the Hagio-
grapha, though some include Ruth and
Kinoth (Lamentations) amongst the Hagio-
grapha, and think that these books ought to
be reckoned separately ; we should thus
have twenty-four books of the old law. And
these the Apocalypse of John represents
by the twenty-four elders, who adore the
Lamb, and with downcast looks offer their
crowns, while in their presence stand the
four living creatures with eyes before and
behind, that is, looking to the past and the
future, and with unwearied voice crying,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who
wast, and art, and art to come.
This preface to the Scriptures may serve
as a " helmeted " introduction to all the books
which we turn from Hebrew into Latin, so
that we may be assured that what is not found
in our list must be placed amongst the Apoc-
ryphal writings. Wisdom, therefore, which
generally bears the name of Solomon, and
the book of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, and
Judith, and Tobias, and the Shepherd are
not in the canon. The first book of Macca-
bees I have found to be Hebrew, the second
is Greek, as can be proved from the very
style. Seeing that all this is so, I beseech
you, my reader, not to think that my labours
are in any sense intended to disparage the
old translators. For the service of the taber-
nacle of God each one offers what he can ;
some gold and silver and precious stones,
others linen and blue and purple and scarlet ;
we shall do well if we offer skins and goats'
hair. And yet the Apostle pronounces our
1 The laws or instructions of Ezra. By many of the Jews Ezra
was regarded as the author of the Twelve Prophets.
'J Jerome has in the text the Greek equivalent 7rapa*ewof«i'u>i>-
' That is, Ezra and Nehemiah.
more contemptible parts more necessary than
others. Accordingly, the beauty of the
tabernacle as a whole and in its several kinds
(and the ornaments of the church present
and future) was covered with skins and
goats'-hair cloths, and the heat of the sun
and the injurious rain were warded off by
those things which are of less account.
First read, then, my Samuel and Kings ; mine,
I say, mine. For whatever by diligent trans-
lation and by anxious emendation we have
learnt and made our own, is ours. And when
you understand that whereof you were before
ignorant, either, if you are grateful, reckon
me a translator, or, if ungrateful, a para-
phraser, albeit I am not in the least conscious
of having deviated from the Hebrew original.
At all events, if you are incredulous, read
the Greek and Latin manuscripts and com-
pare them with these poor efforts of mine,
and wherever you see they disagree, ask
some Hebrew (though you ought rather to
place confidence in me), and if he confirm
our view, I suppose you will not think him
a soothsayer and suppose that he and I
have, in rendering the same passage, divined
alike. But I ask you also, the 'handmaidens
of Christ, who anoint the head of your reclin-
ing Lord with the most precious ointment of
faith, who by no means seek the Saviour in
the tomb, for whom Christ has long since as-
cended to the Father — I beg you to confront
with the shields of your prayers the mad dogs
who bark and rage against me, and go about
the city, and think themselves learned if they
disparage others. I, knowing my lowliness,
will always remember what we are told.
2 " I said, I will take heed to my ways that I
offend not in my tongue. I have set a guard
upon my mouth while the sinner standeth
against me. I became dumb, and was hum-
bled, and kept silence from good words."
CHRONICLES.
This Preface is almost wholly a repetition of the argu-
ments adduced in the Preface to Genesis. It is ad-
dressed to Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia, who took
great interest in the work and provided funds for its
continuance. The date is A.D. 395.
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH.
This Preface is addressed to Domnio (a Roman
presbyter. See Letters L., and XLVII. 3, Paulinus,
Ep. 3) and Rogatianus, of whom nothing is known.
It was written A.D. 394. It is a repetition of his
constant ground of self-defence, and contains a noble
expression of his determination to carry the work
through. " The serpent may hiss, and
" ' Victorious Sinon hurl his brand of fire,'
1 Paula and Eustochium.
2 Ps. xxxix. 2 so,
PREFACES.
491
but never shall my mouth be closed. Cut off my
tongue ; it will still stammer out something."
ESTHER.
To Paula and Eustochium, early in 404. Merely
assures them that he is acting as a faithful translator,
adding nothing of his own ; whereas in the version then
in common use (vulgata), " the book is drawn out into
all kinds of perplexing entanglements of language."
JOB.
This was put into circulation about the same time as
the sixteen prophets, that is, about the year 393. It
was written in 392. It has no dedication, but is full of
personal interest, and shows the deplorable state in
which the text of many parts of Scripture was before
his time, thus justifying his boast, " I have rescued
Job from the dunghill."
I am compelled at every step in my treat-
ment of the books of Holy Scripture to reply
to the abuse of my opponents, who charge
my translation with being a censure of the
Seventy ; as though Aquila among Greek
authors, and Symmachus and Theodotion,
had not rendered word for word, or para-
phrased, or combined the two methods in a
sort of translation which is neither the one
nor the other ; and as though Origen had not
marked all the books of the Old Testament
with obeli and asterisks, which he either
introduced or adopted from Theodotion, and
inserted in the old translation, thus showing
that what he added was deficient in the older
version. My detractors must therefore learn
either to receive altogether what they have in
part admitted, or they must erase my transla-
tion and at the same time their own asterisks.
For they must allow that those translators,
who it is clear have left out numerous details,
have erred in some points ; especially in the
book of Job, where, if you withdraw such
passages as have been added and marked
with asterisks, the greater part of the book
will be cut away. This, at all events, will be
so in Greek. On the other hand, previous to
the publication of our recent translation with
asterisks and obeli, about seven or eight hun-
dred lines were missing in the Latin, so that
the book, mutilated, torn, and disintegrated,
exhibits its deformity to those who publicly
read it. The present translation follows no
ancient translator, but will be found to
reproduce now the exact words, now the
meaning, now both together of the original
Hebrew, Arabic, and occasionally the Syriac.
For an indirectness and a slipperiness at-
taches to the whole book, even in the Hebrew ;
and, as orators say in Greek, it ' is tricked
out with figures of speech, and while it says
one thing, it does another ; just as if you
close your hand to hold an eel or a little
1 muraena, the more you squeeze it, the
sooner it escapes. I remember that in order
to understand this volume, I paid a not in-
considerable sum for the services of a teacher,
a native of Lydda, who was amongst the
Hebrews reckoned to be in the front rank ;
whether I profited at all by his teaching, I do
not know ; of this one thing I am sure, that
I could translate only that which I previously
understood. Well, then, from the beginning
of the book to the words of Job, the Hebrew
version is in prose. Further, from the words
of Job where he says, 2 " May the day perish
wherein I was born, and the night in which it
was said, a man-child is conceived," to the
place where before the close of the book it
is written 3 " Therefore I blame myself and
repent in dust and ashes," we have hexam-
eter verses running in dactyl and spondee :
and owing to the idiom of the language other
feet are frequently introduced not containing
the same number of syllables, but the same
quantities. Sometimes, also, a sweet and musi-
cal rhythm is produced by the breaking up
of the verses in accordance with the laws of
metre, a fact better known to prosodists than
to the ordinary reader. But from the aforesaid
verse to the end of the book the small re-
maining section is a prose composition. And if
it seem incredible to any one that the Hebrews
really have metres, and that, whether we con-
sider the Psalter or the Lamentations of
Jeremiah, or almost all the songs of Scripture,
they bear a resemblance to our Flaccus, and
the Greek Pindar, and Alcaeus, and Sappho,
let him read Philo, Josephus, Origen, Euse-
bius of Caesarea, and with the aid of their
testimony he will find that I speak the truth.
Wherefore, let my barking critics listen as I
tell them that my motive in toiling at this
book was not to censure the ancient transla-
tion, but that those passages in it which are
obscure, or those which have been omitted,
or at all events, through the fault of copyists
have been corrupted, might have light thrown
upon them by our translation ; for we have
some slight knowledge of Hebrew, and, as
regards Latin, my life, almost from the
cradle, has been spent in the company of
grammarians, rhetoricians, and philosophers.
But if, since the version of the Seventy was
published, and even now, when the Gospel of
Christ is beaming forth, the Jewish Aquila,
Symmachus, and Theodotion, judaising here-
tics, have been welcomed amongst the Greeks
— heretics, who, by their deceitful transla-
tion, have concealed many mysteries of salva-
tion, and yet, in the Hexapla are found in the
1 etr^ij/aoTicriuecos.
1 A small fish well known to the ancients, but apparently not
identified with any species known to us.
2 Job iii. 3. 8 xlii. 6.
492
JEROME.
Churches and are expounded by churchmen ;
ought not I, a Christian, born of Christian
parents, and who carry the standard of the
cross on my brow, and am zealous to recover
what is lost, to correct what is corrupt, and to
disclose in pure and faithful language the
mysteries of the Church, ought not I, let me
ask, much more to escape the reprobation of
fastidious or malicious readers? Let those
who will keep the old books with their gold
and silver letters on purple skins, or, to follow
the ordinary phrase, in " uncial characters,"
loads of writing rather than manuscripts, if
only they will leave for me and mine our
poor pages and copies which are less remark-
able for beauty than for accuracy. I have
toiled to translate both the Greek versions of
the Seventy, and the Hebrew which is the
basis of my own, into Latin. Let every one
choose which he likes, and ' he will find out
that what he objects to in me, is the result of
sound learning, not of malice.
PSALMS.
Dedicated to Sophronius, about the year 392. Jerome
had, while at Rome, made a translation of the Psalms
from the LXX. , which he had afterwards corrected by col-
lation with the Hebrew text (see the Preface addressed
to Paula and Eustochium, infra). His friend Sophroni-
us, in quoting the Psalms to the Jews, was constantly met
with the reply, " It does not so stand in the Hebrew."
He, therefore, urged Jerome to translate them direct from
the original. Jerome, in presenting the translation to
his friend, records the intention which he had expressed
of translating the new Latin version into Greek. This
we know was done by Sophronius, not only for the
Psalms, but also for the rest of the Vulgate, and was
valued by the Greeks (Apol. ii. 24, vol. iii. of this
series, p. 515).
PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, AND
THE SONG OF SONGS.
Dedicated to Chromatins and Ileliodorus, A.D. 393.
The Preface is important as showing the help given
to Jerome by his friends, the rapidity of his work, and
his view of the Apocrypha. We give the two chief
passages.
It is well that my letter should couple those
who are coupled in the episcopate ; and that
I should not separate on paper those who are
bound in one by the law of Christ. I would
have written the commentaries on Hosea,
Amos, Zechariah, and the Kings, which you
ask of me, if I had not been prevented' by
illness. You give me comfort by the supplies
you send me ; you support my secretaries and
copyists, so that the efforts of all my powers
may be given to you. And then all at once
comes a thick crowd of people with all sorts
of demands, as if it was just that I should
neglect your hunger and work for others, or
1 Read\ngs/iut/osi/m me mag-is quant malerolum f>robet. Sub-
stituting se for me, according to some manuscripts, we must trans-
late " and thus show that he is actuated more by a love of learning
than by malice."
as if, in the matter of giving and receiving,
I had a debt to any one but you. And so,
though I am broken by a long illness, yet,
not to be altogether silent and dumb amongst
you this year, I have dedicated to you three
days' work, that is to say, the translation of
the three books of Solomon.
After speaking of the books of the Wisdom of Solo-
mon and Ecclesiasticus, which were sent at the same
time, the Preface continues :
As, then, the Church reads Judith, Tobit,
and the books of Maccabees, but does not ad-
mit them among the canonical Scriptures, so
let it read these two volumes for the edifica-
tion of the people, not to give authority to
doctrines of the Church. If any one is bet-
ter pleased with the edition of the Seventy,
there it is, long since corrected by me. For
it is not our aim in producing the new to de-
stroy the old. And yet if our friend reads
carefully, he will find that our version is the
more intelligible, for it has not turned sour
by being poured three times over into differ-
ent vessels, but has been drawn straight from
the press, and stored in a clean jar, and has
thus preserved its own flavour.
ISAIAH.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, about A.D.
393. This Preface speaks of Isaiah as using the polished
diction natural to a man of rank and refinement, as an
Evangelist more than a prophet, and a poet rather than
a prose writer. He then reiterates his defence of his
translation, saying that now, " The Jews can no longer
scoff at our Churches because of the falsity of our
Scriptures."
JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL.
Short Prefaces without dedication, but probably
addressed to Paula and Eustochium, about A.D. 393.
DANIEL.
The Preface is interesting as showing the difficulties
caused by the incorporation of apocryphal matter into this
book, the fact that Theodotion's version, not the LXX.,
was read in the Churches, and that the book was reckoned
by the Jews not among the prophets but among the
Hagiographa. It was addressed to Paula and Eusto-
chium about A.D. 392.
The Septuagint version of Daniel the
prophet is not read by the Churches of our
Lord and Saviour. They use Theodotion's
version, but how this came to pass I cannot
tell. Whether it be that the language is
Chaldee, which differs in certain peculiarities
from our speech, and the Seventy were un-
willing to follow those deviations in a trans-
lation ; or that the book was published in the
name of the Seventy, by some one or other
not familiar with Chaldee, or if there be some
other reason, I know not ; this one thing
I can affirm — that it differs widely from
the original, and is rightly rejected. For we
PREFACES.
493
must bear in mind that Daniel and Ezra, the
former especially, were written in Hebrew
letters, but in the Chaldee language, as was
1 one section of Jeremiah ; and, further, that
Job has much affinity with Arabic. As for
myself, when, in my youth, after reading the
flowery rhetoric of Quintilian and Tully, I
entered on the vigorous study of this lan-
guage, the expenditure of much time and
energy barely enabled me to utter the puffing
and hissing words ; I seemed to be walking
in a sort of underground chamber with a few
scattered rays of light shining down upon me ;
and when at last I met with Daniel, such a
sense of weariness came over me that, in a fit
of despair, I could have counted all my former
toil as useless. But there was a certain He-
brew who'encouraged me, and was for ever quot-
ing for my benefit the saying that " Persist-
ent labour conquers all things " ; and so, con-
scious that among Hebrews I was only a smat-
terer, I once more began to study Chaldee.
And, to confess the truth, to this day I can
read and understand Chaldee better than I
can pronounce it. I say this to show you how
hard it is to master the book of Daniel, which
in Hebrew contains neither the history of
Susanna, nor the hymn of the three youths,
nor the fables of Bel and the Dragon ; be-
cause, however, they are to be found every-
where, we have formed them into an appendix,
prefixing to them an obelus, and thus making
an end of them, so as not to seem to the
uninformed to have cut off a large portion of
the volume. I heard a certain Jewish teacher,
when mocking at the history of Susanna, and
saying that it was the fiction of some Greek
or other, raise the same objection which Afri-
canus brought against Origen — that these
etymologies of '"' <rj/o"arz from 3 cjz^o?, and
4 Ttpiffai from 5 npivoS, are to be traced to
the Greek. To make the point clear to
Latin readers : It is as if he were to say,
playing upon the word ilex, illico pereas ; or
upon lentiscus, may the angel make a lentil
of you, or may you perish non lente, or may
you lentus (that is pliant or compliant) be led
to death, or anything else suiting the name of
the tree. Then he would captiously main-
tain that the three youths in the furnace of
raging fire had leisure enough to amuse
themselves with making poetry, and to sum-
mon all the elements in turn to praise God.
Or what was there miraculous, he would say,
or what indication of divine inspiration, in the
slaying of the dragon with a lump of pitch,
2 To split. The word has no sort of etymological connection
with o-xlvos. Susanna, 54, 55, 58, 59. When the first elder says
the crime was committed under a mastich tree (schinos), Daniel
answers, " God shall cut thee in two" (schisei).
3 The mastich tree. * To saw. 5 The holm-oak.
or in frustrating the schemes of the priests of
Bel ? Such deeds were more the results of
an able man's forethought than of a prophetic
spirit. But when he came to ' Habakkuk and
read that he was carried from Judaea into
Chaldsea to bring a dish of food to Daniel,
he asked where we found an instance in the
whole of the Old Testament of any saint with
an ordinary body flying through the air, and
in a quarter of an hour traversing vast tracts
of country. And when one of us who was
rather too ready to speak adduced the in-
stance of Ezekiel, and said that he was trans- ,
ported from Chaldsea into Judaea, he derided
the man and proved from the book itself that
Ezekiel, in spirit, saw himself carried over.
And he argued that even our own Apostle,
being an accomplished man and one who had
been taught the law by Hebrews, had not
dared to affirm that he was bodily rapt away,
but had said : 2 " Whether in the body, or out
of the body, I know not ; God knoweth."
By these and similar arguments he used to
refute the apocryphal fables in the Church's
book. Leaving this for the reader to pro-
nounce upon as he may think fit, I give
warning that Daniel in Hebrew is not found
among the prophets, but amongst the writers
of the Hagiographa ; for all Scripture is by
them divided into three parts : the law, the
Prophets, and the Hagiographa, which have
respectively five, eight, and eleven books, a
point which we cannot now discuss. But as to
the objections which 3 Porphyry raises against
this prophet, or rather brings against the
book, 4 Methodius, Eusebius, and Apollinaris
may be cited as witnesses, for they replied
to his folly in many thousand lines of writing,
whether with satisfaction to the curious
reader I know not. Therefore, I beseech
you, Paula and Eustochium, to pour out your
supplications for me to the Lord, that so
long as I am in this poor body, I may write
something pleasing to you, useful to the
Church, worthy of posterity. As for my con-
temporaries, I am indifferent to their opin-
ions, for they pass from side to side as they
are moved by love or hatred.
THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS.
This Preface, dedicated to Paula and Eustochium in
A.D. 392, contains nothing of importance, merely men-
tioning the dates of a few of the prophets, and the
fact that the Twelve Prophets were counted by the
Hebrews as forming a single book.
1 In the LXX. the story of Bel and the Dragon bears a special
heading as "part of the prophecy of Habakkuk.' — Westcott. The
angel is said to have carried Habakkuk with a dish of food in his
hand for Daniel from Judaea to Babylon.
2 2 Cor. xii. 2.
3 The bitter enemy of the Christian faith. Born at Tyre 223.
Died at Rome about 304.
4 Bishop of Patara in Lycia, and afterwards of Tyre. Suffered
martydom 302 or 303.'
494
JEROME.
TRANSLATIONS FROM THE SEPTUAGINT AND CHALDEE.
There are three stages of Jerome's work of Scripture Translation. The first is during his stay at Rome, A.D.
382-385, when he translated only from the Greek — the New Testament from the Greek MSS., and the Book of
Tsalms from the LXX. The second is the period immediately after his settlement at Bethlehem, when he
translated still from the LXX., but marked with obeli and asterisks the passages in which that version differed
from the Hebrew ; the third from A.D. 390-404, in which he translated directly from the Hebrew. The work
of the second period is that which is now before us. The whole of the Old Testament was translated from the
LXX. (see his "Apology," book ii. c. 24), but most of it was lost during his lifetime (see Letters CXXXIV.
(end) and CXVI. 34 (in Augustin Letter, 62)). What remains is the Book of Job, the Psalms, Chronicles, the
Books of Solomon, and Tobit and Judith.
CHRONICLES.
This book was dedicated to ' Domnion and Rogatianus,
about A.D. 388. Jerome points out the advantages he
enjoyed, in living in Palestine, for obtaining correct in-
formation on matters illustrative of Scripture, especially
the names of places. The MSS. of the LXX. on such
points were so corrupt that occasionally three names
were run into one, and "you would think that you
had before you, not a heap of Hebrew names, but those
of some foreign and Sarmatian tribe." Jerome had sent
for a Jew, highly esteemed among his brethren, from
Tiberias, and, after "examining him from top to toe,"
had, by his aid, emended the text and made the transla-
tion. But he had not the critical knowledge to guard
him against supposing that the Books of Chronicles are
" the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah,"
referred to in the Books of Kings.
BOOK OF JOB.
This translation was dedicated to Taula and Eusto-
chium, about, the year 388. He complains that even
the revision he was now making was the subject of
many cavils. Men prefer ancient faults to new truths,
and would rather have handsome copies than correct
ones ; but he boasts that " the blessed Job, who, as far
as the'Latins are concerned, was till now lying amidst
filth and swarming with the worms of error, is now
whole and free from stain."
THE PSALMS.
Jerome first undertook a revision of the Psalter with
the help of the Septuagint about the year 383, when liv-
ing at Rome. This revision, which obtained the name
of the Roman Psalter " probably because it was made
for the use of the Roman Church at the request of Da-
masus," was retained until the pontificate of Pius V.
(A.D. 1566). Before long "the old error prevailed
over the new correction," the faults of the old version
crept in again through the negligence of copyists ; and
at the request of Paula and Eustochium, Jerome com-
menced a new and more thorough revision. The exact
date is not known ; the work was in all probability done
at Bethlehem in the years 387 and 388. This edition,
which soon became popular, was introduced by Gregory
of Tours into the services of the Church of France, and
thus obtained the name of the Gallican Psalter. In 1 566
it superseded the Roman in all churches except those of
the Vatican, Milan, and St. Mark's, Venice.
Long ago, when I was living at Rome, I
revised the Psalter, and corrected it in a
great measure, though but cursorily, in ac-
cordance with the Septuagint version. You
now find it, Paula and Eustochium, again
* See Preface to Ezra (Vulgate).
corrupted through the fault of copyists, and
realise the 'fact that ancient error is more
powerful than modern correction ; and you
therefore urge me, as it were, to cross-plough
the land which has already been broken up, and,
by means of the transverse furrows, to root
out the thorns which are beginning to spring
again ; it is only right, you say, that rank and
noxious growths should be cut down as often
as they appear. And so I issue my custom-
ary admonition by way of preface both to
you, for whom it happens that I am under-
taking the labour, and to those persons who
desire to have copies such as I describe.
Pray see that what I have carefully revised
be transcribed with similar painstaking
care. Every reader can observe for himself
where there is placed either a horizontal line or
mark issuing from the centre, that is, either
an obelus (f) or an asterisk (*). And wher-
ever he sees the former, he is to understand
that between this mark and the two stops (:)
which I have introduced, the Septuagint
translation contains superfluous matter. But
where he sees the asterisk (*), an addition
from the Hebrew books is indicated, which
also goes as far as the two stops.
BOOKS OF SOLOMON.
This is addressed to Paula and Eustochium. Jerome
describes the numerous emendations he has had to make
in what was then the received Latin text, but says he
has not found the same necessity in dealing with Ecclesi-
asticus. He adds, " All I aim at is to give you a revised
edition of the Canonical Scriptures, and to employ my
Latin on what is certain rather than on what is doubt-
ful."
TOBIT AND JUDITH.
The Preface is to Chromatius and Heliodorus. It
recognizes that the books are apocrvphal. After his
usual complaints of " the Pharisees " who impugned his
translations, he says : ' ' Inasmuch as the Chaldee is
closely allied to the Hebrew, I procured the help of the
most skilful speaker of both languages I could find,
and gave to the subject one day's hasty labour, my
method being to explain in Latin, with the aid of a
secretary, whatever an interpreter expressed to me in
Hebrew words."
As to Judith, he notes that the Council of Nicseahad,
contrary to the Hebrew tradition, included it in the
Canon of Scripture, and this, with his friends' requests,
had induced him to undertake the labour of emendation
and translation,
PREFACES.
495
THE COMMENTARIES.
The extant commentaries by Jerome on the books of Holy Scripture may be arranged thus, chronological
sequence being observed as far as possible :
A. New Testament :
The Epistles to Philemon, Galatians, Ephesians, Titus. A.D. 3S7.
Origen on St. Luke. A.D. 389.
St. Matthew. A.D. 398.
B. Old Testament :
Ecclesiastes. A.D. 388.
1. The Twelve Minor Prophets :
Nahum, Michah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Habakkuk. A.D. 392.
Jonah. Begun three years after the foregoing (Preface). Finished between A.D. 395 and A.D. 397.
Obadiah. A.D. 403."
Zechariah, Malachi, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Finished by A.D. 406.
2. The Four Greater Prophets :
Daniel. A.D. 407.
Isaiah. A.D. 408-410.
Ezekiel. A.D. 410-414.
Jeremiah. Commenced after the death of Eustochium in A.D. 418. The commentary on this book,
which stops short at chapter xxxii., was therefore written in A.D. 419, the year which intervened
between Eustochium's death and Jerome's own.
We have thought it best to give the Prefaces, as in those to the Vulgate, in the order of the books as they
stand in our Bible, not in the order in which they were written.
MATTHEW.
The Preface, addressed to Eusebius of Cremona, was
written A.D. 398. Eusebius was at this time starting
for Rome, and he was charged to give a copy of this
Commentary to Principia, the friend of Marcella, for
whom he had been unable through sickness to write on
the Song of Songs as he had wished. Jerome begins
by distinguishing the Canonical from the Apocryphal
Gospels, quoting the words of St. Luke, that many had
taken in hand to write the life of Christ. He gives his
view of the origin of the Gospels as follows :
The first evangelist is Matthew, the pub-
lican, who was surnamed Levi. He published
his Gospel in Judsea in the Hebrew language,
chiefly for the sake of Jewish believers in
Christ, who adhered in vain to the shadow
of the law, although the substance of the
Gospel had come. The second is Mark, the
1 amanuensis of the Apostle Peter, and first
bishop of the Church of Alexandria. He
did not himself see our Lord and Saviour,
but he related the matter of his Master's
preaching with more regard to minute detail
than to historical sequence. The third is
Luke, the physician, by birth a native of
Antioch in Syria, whose praise is in the
Gospel. He was himself a disciple of the
Apostle Paul, and composed his book in
Achaia and Bceotia. He thoroughly inves-
tigates certain particulars and, as he himself
confesses in the preface, describes what he
had heard rather than what he had seen.
The last is John, the Apostle and Evangelist,
whom Jesus loved most, who, reclining on
the Lord's bosom, drank the purest streams
of doctrine, and was the only one thought
worthy of the words from the cross, " Behold !
thy mother." When he was in Asia, at the
Interpres.
time when the seeds of heresy were springing
up (I refer to Cerinthus, Ebion, and the rest
who say that Christ has not come in the flesh,
whom he in his own epistle calls Antichrists,
and whom the Apostle Paul frequently assails),
he was urged by almost all the bishops of Asia
then living, and by deputations from many
Churches, to write more profoundly concern-
ing the divinity of the Saviour, and to break
through all obstacles so as to attain to the very
Word of God (if I may so speak) with a bold-
ness as successful as it appears audacious.
Ecclesiastical history relates that, when he
was urged by the brethren to write, he replied
that he would do so if a general fast were
proclaimed and all would offer up prayer to
God ; and when the fast was over, the nar-
rative goes on to say, being filled with revela-
tion, he burst into the heaven-sent Preface :
" In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God :
this was in the beginning with God."
Jerome then applies the four symbolical figures of
Ezekiel to the Gospels : the Man is Matthew, the Lion,
Mark, the Calf, Luke, " because he began with Zacharias
the priest," and the Eagle, John. He then describes
the works of his predecessors : Origen with his twenty-
five volumes, Theophilus of Antioch, Hippolytus the
martyr, Theodorus of Heraclea, Apollinaris of Laodicaea,
Didymus of Alexandria, and of the Latins, Hilary, Vic-
torinus, and Fortunatianus ; from these last, he says, he
had gained but little. He continues as follows ;
But you urge me to finish the composition
in a fortnight, when Easter is now rapidly
approaching, and the spring breezes are
blowing ; you do not consider when the short-
hand writers are to take notes, when the
sheets are to be written, when corrected, how
long it takes to make a really accurate copy ;
and this is the more surprising, since you.
496
JEROME.
know that for the last three months I have
been so ill that I am now hardly beginning
to walk ; and I could not adequately per-
form so great a task in so short a time.
Therefore, neglecting the authority of an-
cient writers, since I have no opportunity of
reading or following them, I have confined
myself to the brief exposition and translation
of the narrative which you particularly re-
quested ; and I have sometimes thrown in a
few of the flowers of the 'spiritual interpreta-
tion, while I reserve the perfect work for a
future day.
PREFACE TO TRANSLATION OF
ORIGEN ON ST. LUKE.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 388.
A few days ago you told me that you had
read some commentaries on Matthew and
Luke, of which one was equally dull in per-
ception and expression, the other frivolous in
expression, sleepy in sense. Accordingly you
requested me to translate, without regarding
such rubbish, our Adamantius' thirty-nine
"homilies " on Luke, just as they are found
in the original Greek ; I replied that it was an
irksome task and a mental torment to write,
as Cicero phrases it, with another man's heart2
not one's own ; but yet I will undertake it, as
your requests reach no higher than this.
The demand which the sainted Blesilla once
made, at Rome, that I should translate into
our language his twenty-five volumes on
Matthew, five on Luke, and thirty-two on
John is beyond my powers, my leisure, and
my energy. You see what weight your in-
fluence and wishes have with me. I have
laid aside for a time my books on Hebrew
Questions because you think my labour will
not be in vain, and turn to the translation of
these commentaries, which, good or bad, are
his work and not mine. I do this all the
more readily because I hear on the left
of me the raven — that ominous bird —
croaking and mocking in an extraordinary
way at the colours of all the other birds,
though he himself is nothing if not a bird of
gloom. And so, before he change his note,
I confess that in these treatises Origen is
like a boy amusing himself with the dice-box ;
there is a wide difference between his mature
efforts and the serious studies of his old
age. If my proposal meet with your approba-
tion, if I am still able to undertake the task,
and if the Lord grant me opportunity to
translate them into Latin after completing the
work I have now deferred, you will then be
1 That is, the allegorical or mystical sense.
* Alieno stomacho.
able to see — aye, and all who speak Latin will
learn through you — how much good they
knew not, and how much they have now
begun to know. Besides this, I have arranged
to send you shortly the Commentaries of
Hilary, that master of eloquence, and of the
blessed martyr Victorinus, on the Gospel of
Matthew. Their style is different, but the
grace of the Spirit which wrought in them
is one. These will give you some idea of
the study which our Latins also have, in
former days, bestowed upon the Holy Scrip-
tures.
GALATIANS.
The Commentary is in three books, with full Prefaces.
Book I., Ch. i. i-iii. 9.
Addressed to Taula and Eustochium, A.D. 387.
The Preface to this book begins with a striking
description of the noble Roman lady Albina, which is
as follows :
Only a few days have elapsed since, having
finished my exposition of the Epistle of Paul
to Philemon, I had passed to Galatians, turn-
ing my course backwards and passing over
many intervening subjects. But all at once
letters unexpectedly arrived from Rome with
the news that the venerable Albina has been
recalled to the presence of the Lord, and
that the saintly Marcella, bereft of the com-
pany of her mother, demands more than ever
such solace as you can give, my dear Paula
and Eustochium. This for the present is
impossible on account of the great distance
to be traversed by sea and land, and I could,
therefore, wish to apply to the wound so sud-
denly inflicted at least the healing virtue of
Scripture. I know full well her zeal and
faith ; I know how brightly the fire burns in
her bosom, how she rises superior to her sex,
and soars so far above human nature itself,
that she crosses the Red Sea of this world,
sounding the loud timbrel of the inspired
volumes. Certainly, when I was at Rome,
she never saw me for ever so short a time
without putting some question to me respect-
ing the Scriptures, and she did not, like the
Pythagoreans, accept the "Ipse dixit" of her
teacher, nor did authority, unsupported by
the verdict of reason, influence her ; but
she tested all things, and weighed the whole
matter so sagaciously that I perceived I had
not a disciple so much as a judge. And so,
believing that my labours would be most
acceptable to her who is at a distance, and
profitable for you who are with me here, I
will approach a work unattempted by any
writers in our language before me, and which
scarcely any of the Greeks themselves have
handled in a manner worthy of the dignity of
the subject.
PREFACES.
497
Jerome then speaks of Victorinus, who had published
a commentary on St. Paul, but "was busily engaged
with secular literature and knew nothing of the Scrip-
tures," and of the great Greek writers, Origen, 1 Didy-
mus, and 8 Apollinaris, Eusebius of Emesa, and
Theodoras of Heraclea, and says he has plucked flowers
out of their gardens, so that the Commentary is more
theirs than his. The expository part of the Preface
is chiefly remarkable as giving the view of St. Paul's re-
buke of St. Peter in Galatians ii., which occasioned the
controversy between Jerome and Augustin. Jerome
says :
Paul does not go straight to the point, but is
like a man walking in secret passages : his
object is to exhibit Peter as doing what
was expedient for the people of the circum-
cision committed to him, since, if a too
sudden revolt took place from their ancient
mode of life, they might be offended and not
believe in the Cross ; he wished, moreover,
to show, inasmuch as the evangelisation of
the Gentiles had been entrusted to himself,
that he had justice on his side in defending
as true that which another only pretended
was a dispensation. That wretch Porphyry
3Bataneotes by no means understood this,
and, therefore, in the first book of the work
which he wrote against us, he raised the
objection that Peter was rebuked by Paul
for not walking uprightly as an evangelical
teacher. His desire was to brand the former
with error and the latter with impudence,
and to bring against us as a body the charge
of erroneous notions and false doctrine, on
the ground that the leaders of the Churches
are at variance among themselves.
In the Preface to Book II. Jerome describes the origin
of the Galatians as a Gaulish tribe settled in Asia ; but
he takes them as slow of understanding, and says that
the Gauls still preserve this character, just as the Roman
Church preserves the character for which it was praised
by St. Paul, for it still has crowds frequenting its
churches and the tombs of its martyrs, and " nowhere
else does the Amen resound so loudly, like spiritual
thunder, and shake the temples of the idols" ; and simi-
larly the traits of the churches of Corinth and Thessa-
lonica are still preserved ; in the first, the looseness of
behaviour and of doctrine, and the conceit of worldly
knowledge ; in the second, the love of the brethren
side by side with the disorderly conduct of busybodies.
And he speaks of the condition of Galatia in his own
day as follows :
Any one who has seen by how many schisms
Ancyra, the metropolis of Galatia, is rent and
torn, and by how many differences and false
doctrines the place is debauched, knows this as
well as I do. I say nothing of4 Cataphrygians,
1 Didymus, the blind teacher of Alexandria.
2 He became bishop of Laodicea about 362. About 376 his fol-
lowers became a sect, and about the same time he set up bishops
of his own at Antioch and elsewhere.
3 Probably from Batanea, the ancient Bashan, where Porphyry
is said to have been born.
4 " The patriarch (of the Montanists) resided at Pepuza, a small
town or village in Phrygia, to which the sectaries gave the mysti-
cal name of Jerusalem, as believing that it would be the seat
of the Millennial Kingdom, which was the chief subject of their
hopes. Hence they derived the names of Pepuzians and Cata-
phrygians."—Robertson, Ch. Hist., vol. i. p. 76.
1 Ophites, Borborites, and Manichseans ; for
these are familiar names of human woe. Who
ever heard of Passaioryncitse, and * Ascodrobi,
and 3 Artotyritse, and other portents — I can
hardly call them names — in any part of the
Roman Empire ? The traces of the ancient
foolishness remain to this day. One remark
I must make, and so fulfil the promise with
which I started. While the Galatians, in
common with the whole East, speak Greek,
their own language is almost identical with
that of the4 Treviri ; and if through contact
with the Greek they have acquired a few cor-
ruptions, it is a matter of no moment. The
Africans have to some extent changed the
Phenician language, and Latin itself is daily
undergoing changes through differences of
place and time.
The Preface to Book III. opens with the following
passage, describing, in contrast with his own simple
exposition, the arts of the preachers of his day.
We are now busily occupied with our third
book on Galatians, and, my friends, Paula
and Eustochium, we are well aware of our
weakness, and are conscious that our slender
ability flows in but a small stream and makes
little roar and rattle. For these are the
qualities (to such a pass have we come)
which are now expected even in the Churches ;
the simplicity and purity of apostolic lan-
guage is neglected ; we meet as if we were in
the 5 Athenaeum, or the lecture rooms, to kindle
the applause of the bystanders ; what is now
required is a discourse painted and tricked
out with spurious rhetorical skill, and which,
like a strumpet in the streets, does not aim at
instructing the public, but at winning their
favour; like a psaltery or a sweet-sounding
lute, it must soothe the ears of the audience ;
and the passage of the prophet Ezekiel is
suitable for our times, where the Lord says to
him, " Thou art become unto them as the
sound of a pleasant lute which is well made,
for they hear thy words but do them not."
Jerome then speaks of the composition of his com-
mentaries as follows :
How far I have profited by my unflagging
study of Hebrew I leave to others to decide ;
1 The Ophites, who took their name from o$i<?, a ser/ent,
supposed the serpent of Genesis iii. to have been either the Di-
vine Wisdom or the Christ Himself, come to set men free from
the ignorance in which the Demiurge wished to keep them. The
sect began in the second century and lasted until the sixth.
2 The Ben. editor prefers the form Tascodrogi, and states that
it is the Phrygian or Galatian equivalent for Passaloryncitae. The
sect is said to have been so called from their habit of putting the
finger to the nose when praying.
3 Heretics who made offerings of bread and cheese (dprd-Tvpos,
Arto-tyros). — Aug. de Hseres, No. 28.
4 The people who lived between the Moselle and the Forest of
Ardennes in and about the modern Treves.
5 The Athenaeum was the name specially given 10 ' school
founded by the Emperor Hadrian at Rome, about A.D. 133, for
the promotion of literary and scientific studies. The word de-
noted in general any place consecrated to the goddess Athena.
493
JEROME.
what I have lost in my own language, I can
tell. In addition to this, on account of the
weakness of my eyes and bodily infirmity
generally, I do not write with my own hand ;
and I cannot make up for my slowness of
utterance by greater pains and diligence, as
is said to have been the case with Virgil, of
whom it is related that he treated his books
as a bear treats her cubs, and licked them
into shape. I must summon a secretary, and
either say whatever comes uppermost ; or, if
I wish to think a little and hope to produce
something superior, my helper silently re-
proves me, clenches his fist, wrinkles his
brow, and plainly declares by his whole bear-
ing that he has come for nothing.
He then points out how the Scriptures have dispos-
sessed the great writers of the pre-Christian world.
How few there are who now read Aristotle.
How many are there who know the books, or
even the name of Plato ? You may find here
and there a few old men, who have nothing
else to do, who study them in a corner.1
But the whole world speaks the language of
our Christian peasants and fishermen, the
whole world re-echoes their words. And so
their simple words must be set forth with
simplicity of style ; for the word simple ap-
plies to their words, not their meaning. But
if, in response to your prayers, I could, in
expounding their epistles, have the same
spirit which they had when they dictated
them, you would then see in the Apostles as
much majesty and breadth of true wisdom as
there is arrogance and vanity in the learned
men of the world. To make a brief confes-
sion of the secrets of my heart, I should not
like any one who wished to understand the
Apostle to find a difficulty in understanding
my writings, and so be compelled to find some
one to interpret the interpreter.
EPHESIANS.
This Commentary was specially prized by Jerome as
exhibiting his true views (Letter LXXXIV. 2), and it
became in consequence one of the chief subjects of con-
troversy between him and Rufinus, who traced in it,
not unjustly, the influence of Origen. It was written
immediately after that on the Epistle to the Galatians, in
A.D. 387, and, like that, addressed to Paula and Eusto-
chium. In the Preface to Book i. Jerome defends him-
self against various accusations. He declares that he
has been, in the main, his own instructor, but yet that
he has constantly consulted others as to Scriptural
difficulties, and that he had, not long before, been to
Alexandria to consult Didymus. " I questioned him
about everything which was not clear to me in the whole
range of Scripture." As to his indebtedness to Origen,
he speaks as follows, certainly not blaming his doc-
trines : "I remark in the Prefaces, for your informa-
tion, that Origen composed three volumes on this
Epistle, and I have partly followed him. Apollinaris
1 Angulis. So. Cic. Rep. i. 2.
and Didymus also published some commentaries, and,
though we have gleaned a few things from them, we
have added or omitted such as we thought fit. The
studious reader will, therefore, understand at the outset
that this work is partly my own, and that I am in part
indebted to others."
The Preface to Books ii. and iii. is short. It speaks
in praise of Marcella, who had invited him to his task, and
declares that he in his monastery could not accomplish
as much as that noble woman amidst the cares of her
household. " I beseech you," he says, " to bear in
mind that the language of this publication has not been
long thought over or highly polished. In revealing the
mysteries of Scripture I use almost the language of the
street, and sometimes get through a thousand lines a
day, in order.that the explanation of the Apostle which
I have begun may be completed with the aid of the
prayers of Paul himself, whose Epistles I am endeavour-
ing to explain."
PHILEMON.
Written for Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 387.
The Preface is a defence of the genuineness of the
Epistle against those who thought its subject beneath
the dignity of inspiration. ' ' There are many degrees of
inspiration," Jerome says, "though in Christ alone it is
seen in its fulness." Many of the other Epistles touch
upon small affairs of life, like the cloak left at Troas.
To suppose that common life is separate from God is
Manichteanism. Jerome mentions that Marcion, who
altered many of the Epistles, did not touch that to
Philemon; and brevity in a document which has in it
so much of the beauty of the Gospel is a mark of its
inspiration.
TITUS.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 387.
The Preface speaks of the rejection of the Epistle by
Marcion and Basilides, its acceptance by Tatian, but
without assigning reasons. It ought, Jerome says, to
be of special interest to Paula and Eustochium, as
being written from Nicopolis, near Actium, where their
property lay.
ISAIAH.
The Commentary in eighteen books, each with its
Preface. It was written in the years 404-410, and ad-
dressed to Eustochium alone, her mother Paula having
died in 404.
The Preface to Book i. touches generally upon the
character and contents of Isaiah, asserting that many
of the prophecies are directly applicable to Christ, and
that the nations who are dealt with have a spiritual
meaning. Those to the following books mostly give
a short statement of the contents of the chapters com-
mented on, and entreat the prayers of Eustochium
for the work. The Fifth Book (on chapters xiii. to xxiii.)
had been published before by itself, at the instance of a
bishop named Amabilis, but he says he must add the
metaphorical and spiritual meaning of the Visions of
the various nations, which is done in Books vi. and vii.
The Preface to Book x. contains a bitter allusion to
Rufinus, "the Scorpion, a dumb and poisonous brute,
still grumbling over my former reply," and speaks of
Pammachius as joining in the request for the continua-
tion of the Commentaries.
The Preface to Book xi. intimates that his commen-
tary upon Daniel, which expounded the statue with feet of
iron and clay as the Roman Empire, and announced its
fall, had been known at the court and resented by Stilicho,
but that all danger from that source had been removed
by the judgment of God, that is, through the death of
Stilicho by the command of his son in-law Honorius,
PREFACES,
499
The Preface to Book xiii. records a severe illness which
had stopped his work, though he was restored to health
suddenly ; and that to Book xiv. thanks Eustochium for
her kind offices during this illness. The remaining
Prefaces, though they have occasionally some interest in
the history of the interpretation of Scripture, need not
delay us.
JEREMIAH.
The Commentary on Jeremiah is in six books ; but
Jerome did not live to finish it. It was written be-
tween the years 317 and 319, but only extends to
chapter xxxii. It was dedicated to Eusebius of
Cremona. The Prefaces, which are full of vigour, con-
tain many allusions to the events and controversies
of the last years of Jerome's life. In the Preface to
Book i. , after speaking of the Book of Daniel and the
apaicryphal Letter of Jeremiah as not belonging to the
prophet's writings, he continues :
I pay little heed to the ravings of dispar-
aging critics who revile not only my words,
but the very syllables of my words, and sup-
pose they give evidence of some little knowl-
edge if they discredit another man's work,
as was exemplified in that1 ignorant traducer
who lately broke out, and thought it worth
his while to censure my commentaries on
Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. He does
not understand the rules of commenting (for
he is more asleep than awake and seems
utterly dazed), and is not aware that in our
books we give the opinions of many different
writers, the authors' names being either
expressed or understood, so that it is open to
the reader to decide which he may prefer
to adopt ; although I must add that, in my
Preface to the First Book of that work, I gave
fair notice that my remarks would be partly
my own, partly those of other commentators,
and that thus the commentary would be the
work conjointly of the ancient writers and of
myself. " Grunnius, his precursor, overlooked
the same fact, and once upon a time did his
best to cavil. I replied to him in two books,
and there I cleared away the objections
which he adduced in his own name, though
the real traducer was some one else ; to say
nothing of my treatises against Jovinianus
where, you may remember, I show that he
(Jovinianus) laments that virginity is pre-
ferred to marriage, single marriage to digamy,
digamy to polygamy. The stupid fool,3
labouring under his load of Scotch porridge,
does not recollect that we said, in that very
work, " I do not condemn the twice married,
nor the thrice married, and, if it so be, the
1 Pelagius.
2 That is. Rufinus. See Preface to Book xii. of Isaiah, where
Rufinus is called Grunnius Corocotta Porcellus, and Preface to
Book iv. of Jeremiah.
3 Scotorum puhibus praegravatus. The words have been trans-
lated " made fat with Scotch flummery" (Stillingrleet). Another
rendering is, " having his belly filled and his head bedulled with
Scotch porridge" (Wall on Infant Baptism, pt. i. c. 19, § 3).
Some think the words refer to Celestius, Pelagius' supporter.
eight times married ; I will go a step farther,
and say that I welcome even a penitent
whoremonger ; for things equally lawful must
be weighed in an even balance." Let him read
the Apology1 for the same work which was
directed against his2 master, and was received
by Rome with acclamation many years ago.
He will then observe that his revilings are
but the echoes of other men's voices, and
that his ignorance is so deep that even his
abuse is not his own, but that he employs
against us the ravings of foes long since dead
and buried.
The Preface to Book ii. is short and contains nothing
of special importance. In that to Book iii. Jerome de-
clares that he will, like Ulysses with the Sirens, close
his ears to the adversary. The devil, who once spoke
through Jovinianus, " now barks through the hound of
Albion (Pelagius), who is like a mountain of fat, and
whose fury is more in his heels than in his teeth ; for
his offspring is among the Scots, in the neighbourhood
of Britain ; and, according to the fables of the poet, he
must, like Cerberus, be smitten to death with a spiritual
club, that, in company with his master Pluto, he may
forever hold his peace."
In the Preface to Book iv. Jerome says he has been
hindered in his work by the harassing of the Pelagian
controversy. He regards Pelagius as reproducing the
doctrines of impassibility and sinlessness taught by
Pythagoras and Zeno, and revived by Origen, Rufinus,
Evagrius Ponticus, and Jovinian. Their' doctrines, he
says, were promulgated chiefly in Sicily, Rhodes, and
other islands ; they were propagated secretly, and
denied in public. They were full of malice, but were
but dumb dogs, and were refuted in "certain writings,"
probably those of Augustin ; but he declares his in-
tention of writing against them, which he did in his
anti-Pelagian Dialogue.
The Prefaces to Books v. and vi. contain nothing
noteworthy.
EZEKIEL.
The Commentary on Ezekiel is in fourteen Books.
It was dedicated to Eustochium, and was written be-
tween the years 410 and 414. The Prefaces gain a
special interest from their descriptions of the sack of
Rome by Alaric and the consequent immigration into
Palestine. We give several passages.
In Preface to Book i.
Having completed the eighteen books of
the exposition of Isaiah, I was very desirous,
Eustochium, Christ's virgin, to go on to Eze-
kiel, in accordance with my frequent promises
to you and your mother Paula, of saintly mem-
ory, and thus, as the saying is, put the finish-
ing touches to the work on the prophets ;
but alas ! intelligence was suddenly brought
me of the death of Pammachius and 3 Mar-
cella, 4 the siege of Rome, and the falling
asleep of many of my brethren and sisters. I
1 The letter to Pammachius (Jer. Letter XLVIII.) in defence of
the book against Jovinianus.
2 Jovinian was condemned in a Synod at Rome about 390.
Thirty years had thus passed since the events occurred to which
Jerome refers. See Preface to the treatise against Jovinian.
3 Under whose care Eustochium had been trained. _
4 By the Goths under Alaric. The city was taken in A.p. 410.
500
JEROME.
was so stupefied and dismayed that day and
night I could think of nothing but the wel-
fare of the community; it seemed as though
I was sharing the captivity of the saints,
and I could not open my lips until I knew
something more definite ; and all the while,
full of anxiety, I was wavering between
hope and despair, and was torturing
myself with the misfortunes of other
people. But when the bright light of all
the world was put out, or, rather, when
the Roman Empire was decapitated, and,
to speak more correctly, the whole world
perished in one city,1 " I became dumb and
humbled myself, and kept silence from good
words, but my grief broke out afresh, my
heart glowed within me, and while I medi-
tated the fire was kindled ; " and I thought I
ought not to disregard the saying,2 " An un-
timely story is like music in a time of grief."
But seeing that you persist in making this
request, and a wound, though deep, heals by
degrees ; and sthe scorpion lies beneath the
ground with 4Enceladus and Porphyrion, and
the many-headed Hydra has at length ceased
to hiss at us ; and since opportunity has been
given me which I ought to use, not for reply-
ing to insidious heretics, but for devoting
myself to the exposition of Scripture, I will
resume my work upon the prophet Ezekiel.
Book ii. has, instead of a Preface, merely a line calling
the attention of Eustochiura to its opening words.
The Preface to Book iii. has a noteworthy passage
on the sack of Rome and its results.
Who would believe that Rome, built up by
the conquest of the whole world, had collapsed,
that the mother of nations had become also
their tomb ; that the shores of the whole
East, of Egypt, of Africa, which once belonged
to the imperial city, were filled with the hosts
of her men-servants and maid-servants, that
we should everyday be receiving in this holy
Bethlehem men and women who once were
noble and abounding in every kind of wealth,
but are now reduced to poverty ? We cannot re-
lieve these sufferers : all we can do is to sympa-
thise with them, and unite our tears with theirs.
The burden of this holy work was as much as
we could carry ; the sight of the wanderers,
coming in crowds, caused us deep pain ; and we
therefore abandoned the exposition of Ezekiel,
and almost all study, and were filled with a
longing to turn the words of Scripture into
action, and not to say holy things but to do
them. Now, however, in response to your
1 Ps. xxxix. ^, 4. 2Ecclus. xxii. 6.
3 Rufinus, who died A.D. 410, in Sicily, on his way to the Holy
Land from Aquileia and Rome, whence he had been driven by
the troubles in Italy.
• The giants who bore those names. See Hor. III. od. 4.
admonition, Eustochium, Christ's virgin, we
resume the interrupted labour, and approach
our third Book.
The Prefaces to Books iv., v., and vi. contain noth-
ing remarkable. The following is the important part
of the Preface to Book vii.
There is not a single hour, nor a single
moment, in which we are not relieving crowds
of brethren, and the quiet of the monastery
has been changed into the bustle of a guest
house. And so much is this the case that
we must either close our doors, or abandon
the study of the Scriptures on which we de-
pend for keeping the doors open. And so,
turning to profit, or rather stealing the hours
of the nights, which, now that winter is ap-
proaching, begin to lengthen somewhat, I
am endeavouring by the light of the lamp to
dictate these comments, whatever they maybe
worth, and am trying to mitigate with exposi-
tion the weariness of a mind which is a stranger
to rest. I am not boasting, as some perhaps
suspect, of the welcome given to the brethren,
but I am simply confessing the causes of the
delay. Who could boast when the flight of
the people of the West, and the holy places,
crowded as they are with penniless fugitives,
naked and wounded, plainly reveal the ravages
of the Barbarians ? We cannot see what has
occurred, without tears and moans. Who
would have believed that mighty Rome, with its
careless security of wealth, would be reduced
to such extremities as to need shelter, food, and
clothing ? And yet, some are so hard-hearted
and cruel that, instead of showing compassion,
they tear up the rags and bundles of the cap-
tives, and expect to find gold about those
who are nothing but prisoners. In addition
to this hindrance to my dictating, my eyes are
growing dim with age and to some extent I
share the suffering of the saintly Isaac : I am
quite unable to go through the Hebrew books
with such light as I have at night, for even
in the full light of day they are hidden from my
eyes owing to the smallness of the letters. In
fact, it is only the voice of the brethren which
enables me to master the commentaries of
Greek writers.
The Prefaces to Books viii. to xiv. contain nothing of
special interest.
DANIEL.
The Commentary on Daniel was dedicated to Pam-
machius and Marcella in the year 407. It is in a single
book, and is aimed at the criticisms of Porphyry, who,
like most modern critics, took the predictions in the
Book of Daniel as relating to the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes and the Maccabees, and written near that
date. The Preface is very similar to that prefixed to
the Vulgate translation of Daniel.
PREFACES.
501
PREFACES TO THE COMMENTARIES
ON THE MINOR PROPHETS.
For the order and date of writing of these Com-
mentaries see the Preface to Amos, Book iii., and the
note there.
HOSEA.
This Commentary was dedicated to Pammachius,
A.D. 406 (sixth consulate of Arcadius — Preface to Amos,
Book iii.). The Preface to Book i. is chiefly taken
up with a discussion on Hosea's " wife of whoredoms."
He takes the story as allegorical ; it cannot be literal,
for "God commands nothing but what is honourable,
nor does he, by bidding men do disgraceful things, make
that conduct honourable which is disgraceful." Jerome
then describes, as in former Prefaces, the chief Greek
commentators, of whom Apollinaris and Origen had
written very shortly on Hosea, Pierius at great length,
but to little purpose ; and says that he had himself
obtained from Didymus of Alexandria that he should
complete the Commentary of Origen. He had himself
often judged independently, though with little knowl-
edge of Hebrew, but he had been in earnest, while
most scholars were " more concerned for their bellies
than their hearts, and thought themselves learned if in
the doctors' waiting rooms they could disparage other
men's works."
In the Preface to Book ii. Jerome complains of his
detractors, and appeals from the present favour of high-
placed men to the posthumous authority of sound
ability.
In Book iii. he claims Pammachius as his defender,
though he fears the judgment of his great learning.
JOEL.
This Commentary also is addressed to Pammachius,
A.D. 406. It is in one book. It gives the order of
the Twelve Prophets adopted by the LXX. and the
Hebrew respectively, the Hebrew order being that now
in use. It also gives the etymological meaning of their
names.
AMOS.
In three books, addressed also to Pammachius, A.D.
406 (Prefaceto Amos, Book iii.). The Preface to Book i.
merely gives a description of Tekoa, Amos' birthplace.
That to Book ii. speaks of old age, with its advantages
for self-control and its trials in various infirmities, such as
phlegm, dim eyesight, loosened teeth, colic, and gout.
That to Book iii. contains the passage several times
referred to for the order of these Commentaries, which
is as follows :
We have not discussed them in regular
sequence from the first to the ninth, as they
are read, but as we have been able, and in
accordance with requests made to us.
Nahum, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, 'I first
addressed to Paula and Eustochium, her
daughter, who are never weary ; I next dedi-
cated two books on Habakkuk to Chromatius,
bishop of Aquileia ; I then proceeded to ex-
plain, at your command, Pammachius, and
after a long interval of silence, Obadiah and
1 These four and Habakkuk are mentioned in the De Vir. 111.
(A.D. 492), and were written about that date, Jonah three years
after, but Obadiah probably not till 403. The rest are fixed to the
Sixth Consulate of Arcadius, 406.
vol. vi. K k
Jonah.1 In the "present year, which bears in
the calendar the name of the sixth consulate
of Arcadius Augustus and Anitius Probus, I
interpreted Malachi for Exsuperius, bishop
of Toulouse, and Minervius and Alexander,
monks of that city. Unable to refuse your
request I immediately went back to the be-
ginning of the volume, and expounded
Hosea, Joel, and Amos. A severe sickness
followed, and I showed my rashness in re-
suming the dictation of this work too hastily ;
and, whereas others hesitate to write and fre-
quently correct their work, I entrusted mine
to the fortune which attends those who em-
ploy a secretary, and hazarded my reputation
for ability and orthodoxy ; for, as I have often
testified, I cannot endure the toil of writing
with my own hand ; and, in expounding the
Holy Scriptures, what we want is not a pol-
ished style and oratorical flourishes, but
learning and simple truth.
OBADIAH.
Addressed to Pammachius A.D. 403. The Preface
records how in early youth (some thirty years before),
he had attempted an allegorical commentary of Obadiah,
of which he was now ashamed, though it has lately
been praised by a youth of similar years.
JONAH.
This was addressed to Chromatius,3 but belongs to
the year 395. It is said in the Preface to be three
years after the commentary on Micah, Nahum, etc.
The Preface merely touches on the various places of
Scripture in which Jonah is named.
MICAH.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 392. It
is in two books. In the Preface to Book ii., Jerome
vindicates himself against the charge of making mere
compilations from Origen. He confesses, however, his
great admiration for him. " What they consider a re-
proach," he says, " I regard as the highest praise, since
I desire to imitate him who, I doubt not, is acceptable to
all wise men, and to you."
NAHUM.
Also to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 392. The
Preface contains little of importance. Jerome men-
tions that the village of Elkosh, Nahum's birthplace,
was pointed out to him by a guide in Galilee.
HABAKKUK.
Addressed to Chromatius, A.D. 392. The commen-
tary is in two books. The Preface to Book i. is long, but
merely describes the contents of the book. That to
Book ii. mentions among his adversaries, "The Serpent,
and Sardanapalus, whose character is worse than his
1 But see Preface to Jonah, which is addressed to Chromatius.
2 The year A.D. 406.
3 Chromatius is named in this Preface distinctly. But see Preface
to Amos, Book iii., which says that the Commentaries to Obadiah
and Jonah were written at the request of Pammachius.
502
JEROME.
name" — expressions which have been referred to
Rutinus; but the enmity between Jerome and Rufinus
had not broken out in 392.
ZEPHANIAH.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 392. In
the Preface Jerome defends himself for writing for
women, bringing many examples from Scripture and
from classical writers to show the capacity of women.
HAGGAI.
Also to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 392. The pre-
face merely describes the occasion of the book, but says
that Haggai's prophecy was contemporary with the
reign of Tarquinius Superbus (B.C. 535-510).
ZECHARIAH.
Addressed to Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse, A.D.
406, in three books, and sent, "in the closing days of
autumn, by the monk, Sisinnius, who had been sent with
presents for the poor saints at Jerusalem, and was
hastening to Egypt on a similar errand." The Prefaces
to the three books mention these facts, but have nothing
in them of note which has not been said before.
MALACHI.
Addressed, A.D. 406, to Minervius and Alexander,
presbyters of the diocese of Toulouse. The Jews, the
Preface says, believe Malachi to be a name for Ezra.
Origen and his followers believe that (according to his
name) he was an angel. But we reject this view alto-
gether, lest we be compelled to accept the doctrine of
the fall of souls from heaven.
ADDENDUM.
PREFACE TO TRANSLATION OF ORIGEN'S HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL.
This work is mentioned by Jerome in the list of his
writings (111. Men, § 135) immediately after the Chroni-
cle : but, as he says that he made the translation at
various times, it is probable that it was not published
till somewhat later ; perhaps in 383. The Preface
addressed to Vincentius marks the height of Jerome's
enthusiasm for Origen, and as such is quoted by Rufinus
(Ap. B. ii. § 13, Vol. iii. 367).
It is a great thing which you ask of me,
my friend, that I should translate Origen into
Latin, and present to the ears of Romans
a man of whom we may say in the words of
Didymus the seer, that he was a teacher of
the churches second only to the Apostles.
But, through the terrible neuralgia in the eyes
from which you know that I suffer, and which
I have contracted in my impatience by ex-
cessive study, and through the want of amanu-
enses, a help of which I am deprived by my
slender means, I am unable to fulfil what you
rightly desire with the same eagerness with
which you desire it. Consequently it is only
at intervals that I have been able to write
with the aid of a secretary these fourteen
homilies on Ezekiel, in continuation of the
fourteen on Jeremiah which I translated long
ago without any regular arrangement. My
chief care has been to preserve in my trans-
lation, along with the special style of Origen,
that simplicity of speech which alone is profit-
able to the churches. I have put aside all the
magnificence of the art of rhetoric ; for I wish
to magnify not words but things. I will, how-
ever, briefly state for your information that
Origen's works on the whole of Scripture are
of three kinds. First come the Extracts or
Notes, called in Greek Scholia, in which lie
shortly and summarily touches upon the things
which seemed to him obscure or to present
some difficulty. The second kind is the Homi-
letics, of which the present commentary is a
specimen. The third kind is what he called
Tomes, or as we say Volumes. In this part of
his work he gives all the sails of his genius to the
breathing winds ; and, drawing off from the
land, he sails away into mid-ocean. I know
that you wish that I should translate his
writings of all kinds. I have before mentioned
the reason why this is impossible ; but I promise
you this, that if, through your prayers, Jesus
gives me back my health, I intend to translate,
I will not say all, for that would be rash, but
very many of them ; on this condition, however,
which I have often set you, that I should
provide the words and you the secretary.
NDICES.
K k 2
JEROME.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
Abtgaus of Boetica consoled for
blindness, 157.
Abishag allegorized, Sq.
Abraxas, a Gnostic deity, 332.
Achillas, Arian reader, 330.
Adamantius, a name for Origen, 496.
Adriatic, between Egypt and Sici-
ly, 312.
uEmona, 12.
iEschines, 97.
Agape, Spanish Gnostic, 275.
Agapetas, 27.
Ageruchia, letter to on monogamy,
230 ; family of, 230.
Albina, 60, 496.
Albinus, heathen pontiff, 189.
Alexander, monk of Toulouse, 224,
501.
Alexandria, decree of, 19.
Algasia writes to Jerome from
Gaul, 224.
Alleluia and Amen, 43.
Alypius, friend of Augustin and
Jerome, 282.
Amabilis, Bishop, 498.
Amandus, presbyter of Bordeaux,
letter to, 109.
Amanuensis used by Jerome, 211,
220, 483, 500.
Amathas, disciple of Antony, 299,
301.
Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, on vir-
gins, 31, 74 ; praised, 76, 78,
496 ; depreciated, vii ; trans-
lator of Origen, 179.
Ambrose, friend of Jerome and
Paulinus, 96.
Ambrose, friend of Origen, 57, 180.
Ammonius and the Long Monks,
184.
Anabatha, near Bethel, 89.
Anapsychia, wife of Marcellinus,
252.
Anastasius, Pope, condemns Ori-
genism, 186 ; his greatness,
and action against heresy, 256.
Anchorites, 4, 5, 37.
Ancyra, capital of Galatia, 497.
Angels capable of falling and ris-
ing, 433-
Animals, uses of various, 392.
Anna, 400.
Anthropomorphites, 430.
Antioch, metropolis of the whole
East, 444.
Antony, 38, 299, 303, 309 ; story
of, 141 ; his death, 310 ; his
abode, 311 ; his burial-place ;
life of, 114 ; of y£mona, 12.
Apathy, doctrine of, 448.
Apocalypse, 98.
Apocrypha distinguished from
Scripture, 194, 491, 492, 493.
Apollinaris refutes Porphyry, 175,
493 ; comments on Gospels,
495, 497 : on Hosea, 590 ; lec-
tures to Jerome, 176.
Apollonius of Tyana, 96, 97.
Apologists, 150.
^Applause in Church, 93.
Apronius, friend of Jerome, zeal of
against Pelagianism, 282.
Aquila, translator of Old Testa-
ment into Greek, 46, 484, 488,
491.
Archdeacons appointed by deacons,
288, 289 ; arch-presbyters, 249.
Archelaus, Count, 445.
Arian baptism and consecration,
321, 322.
Arians, are they Christians ? 320 ;
formulas of faith, 19.
Ariminum, Council and Creed of,
_ 328.
Aristaenete, children of, cured by
Hilarion, 306, 310.
Aristophanes, 325.
Aristotle on marriage, 385 ; at the
judgment-seat of Christ, 18 ;
on interpretations and catego-
ries, 80 ; teaching Alexander,
191, 195 ; Arians influenced
by, 325-
Arius received by Nicene Council,
330 ; led astray Constantia, 275.
Aries, Synod of, 333 (note).
Arnobius, 122.
Artemia, a penitent, 225.
^Asceticism, exhortations to, 15, 58,
302, 304 ; instances of, 42, 48,
53, 108, 251, 253, 262, 304 ; in
Old Testament, 121 ; coward-
ice of, 423 ; breaking through
family ties, 43 ; Pelagianism
inconsistent with, 275.
Asella, Roman lady, 42 ; letter to,
53.
Asterisks, marks of words inserted
in version of Old Testament,
491.
Athanasius gives a cloak to An-
tony, 301.
Atticotti, a British tribe, strange
habits of, 394.
Atticus, name of Augustinian dis-
putant in Pelagian Dialogue,
448.
Augustin quoted against Pelagius,
482 ; letters to, 189, 214, 215,
280, 282 ; letters from, 112,
140, 189, 214, 215, 272 ; re-
ferred to on origin of souls,
252 ; eagerness of on this ques-
tion, 286 ; to Optatus on the
origin of souls, 283 ; awaits
Jerome's answer before pub-
lishing his own, 284 ; on limits
of knowledge, 286, 287.
Aurelius Victor, history of, 12.
Authors and critics, 138.
Auxentius, 3, 19.
Avitus asks for Jerome's version
of Tlepl 'Apx^v, 238.
Babylon, how its little ones should
be dashed against the rock,
baptism, effects of, 144 ; by Ari-
ans— see Luciferian Dialogue,
319-334 ; by triple immersion,
324 ; other practices at, 324 ;
by priests, 324 ; by laymen,
324 ; by heretics, 332 ; Je-
rome's candidates for sent to
Diospolis, 446 ; effects of, 145 ;
Old Testament types of, 145.
Baranina, Jewish teacher of Je-
rome, 176.
''Barbarians, irruptions of, 130, 161,
214, 236, 237, 252, 484 ; leni-
ty of, in the sack of Rome,
257 ; virgins in the hands of,
262.
Bardesanes, 397.
Basilides, Gnostic teacher, 332, 498 ;
his heresy introduced into
. Spain, 156.
Baths unsuited to virgins, a lux-
ury. 59 ; allowable for chil-
dren, 192, 194, 218.
Bethlehem, monasteries of, 446 ;
hospice at, 140 ; pilgrims to,
154, 287 ; presbyters in, 174 ;
Paula's first visit to, 198,
Bishops, dignity of, 288, 324 ; hold
506
rNDEX OF SUBJECTS.
rank of Apostles, 121 ; alone
baptized and confirmed, 324,
325 ; if condemned must be
deposed, 326 ; may not have
children after consecration,
371 ; qualifications of, 147,
372, 460 ; responsibility of, 17 ;
limits of jurisdiction of, 83,
84 ; jurisdiction of, 89, 280,
281 ; age of, at consecration,
173 ; translation of, 144, 14S ;
character proper to, 147 ;
should care for poor, 92 ;
should not be lords, 92, 175 ;
are the same as presbyters,
288 ; developed out of pres-
byters, 288 ; appointment of
at Alexandria, 282.
Biesilla, 47, 48, 102, 487 ; Hebrew
studies of, 49 ; death of, 49,
140.
Bonosus, 5 ; foster-brother of Je-
rome, 6 ; with Jerome in Gaul,
6 ; becomes a hermit, 5, 9.
Books, splendid copies of, 194, 492.
Brahmans, 97, 397 ; frugal diet of,
193 ; mission to, 150.
Brethren of the Lord, who were
they ? 340.
Briton pilgrims to Palestine, 64.
Brother, how used in Scripture, 342.
Buddha, 380.
Cades, desert of, 309.
Csesarea, metropolis of Palestine,
444.
Cainites, Gnostic sect, 332.
Calagurris, home of Vigilantius,
417.
Calpurnius Lanarius, supposed
name for Rufinus, 151.
Candles lighted at reading the
Gospel, 420.
Carneades, 81.
Carpocrates, Gnostic teacher, 332.
Castorina, aunt of Jerome, 13.
Castrutius of Pannonia wishes to
come to Bethlehem, 140.
Catechumens instructed for 40 days
on the Trinity, 431 ; refused
baptism, 446.
Cato the censor, 268.
Celantia, 295.
Celestius at Joppa, 281.
Celibacy praised, 78, 79 ; of the
clergy combated by Vigilan-
tius, 417, 423.
Centaurs, 300.
Cerinthus, 332, 495.
Chalcis, desert of, 316.
Chaldee used for Daniel and Ezra,
493-
Chastity, instances of, 317 ; among
heathen, 379 ; Adam's, in Para
dise, 398 ; Eve, 29 ; Scripture
models of, 30 ; of Nebridius,
165 ; extremes of, 74.
Cherries brought by Lucullus from
Cerasus, 45.
Christ fasting, 401 ; kingdom of,
universal, 327 ; subject to the
Father, in ; possessed in part
and in whole, 112 ; true tem-
ples of, 122 ; miraculous par-
turition of, 466 ; authority of
contrasted with that of Apos-
tles, 468.
Christianity, progress of in Roman
empire, 190.
Christians not born, but made, 190.
Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia, 490,
492, 494, 501 ; loses his brother,
131 ; Paulinian with, 170.
Chronicle of Eusebius, 483 ; how
dealt with by Jerome, 114.
Chrysogonus, monk of Aquileia, 10.
Chrysostom, Theophilus' letter
against, 214, 484.
Church, the, contrasted with sects,
334-
Church practices changeable, 324.
Churches, building too costly, 94,
268 ; care for, 128.
Cicero, Jerome accused of prefer-
ring to Christ, 35 ; on the com-
mon weal, 78 ; topics, 80 ; as
translator, 114 ; on re-mar-
riage, 3S4 ; accused of plagiar-
ism, 486.
Claudius, orthodox bishop at Arim-
inum. 329.
Clement of Alexandria, 78.
Clergy, successors of Apostles, 16 ;
powers of, 16 ; to beware of
pride, 83 ; duties of, 91 ; abuse
of position of, 28 ; should avoid
female society, 90 ; bequests to
forbidden by law, 92 ; should
read the Scripture, 92 ; relation
of to bishops, 92 ; not to be
money-hunters, 93, 94 ; not to
seek great men's society, 94 ;
not to court applause, 95 — nor
gifts, 95 ; to visit the sick, 95 ;
not to be stewards, 96 ; may
live in cities, 121 ; habits to be
cultivated by, 121 ; personal
care of for church-ornaments,
128; praises of, 250; celibacy
Lj of, 417, 423.
'tlipping words in talking to chil-
, dren, 191.
Clothing, excess of forbidden, 29,
36, 4S ; foolish fashions in,
34 ; a Christian lady's, 254,
262, 263.
Coenobites, 37.
Collect, name for the gathering for
Holy Communion, S3, 88.
Commands of God imply possi-
bility of fulfilment, 459, 478 ;
illustrations from commands
to bishops, 460.
Commentaries, order of, 495.
Communion, terms of, 19, 20.
Concordia, 17, 299.
Confirmation, why minister.ed by
Bishops, 324.
Conjurors, 478.
Consolation to mourners, 125, 49,
131, 155, 158, 163, 220; for
blindness, 156.
Constantinople, Origenistic refu-
gees at, 184.
Consular of Liguria, 2.
Consulate, splendour and degrada-
tion of, 137.
Continence in marriage, 153, 225.
Convenae, birthplace of Vigilantius,
418.
Conversation after dinner, 57.
Copies of Scriptures costly, 492.
Correspondence, slowness of, 2S3.
See Augustin.
Council of Ariminum, 32S ; record
of, 329.
Covetousness, 36, 119, 26S.
Coxcombs, 218, 271, 293.
Crates, story of, 119, 395.
Creationism, 284 ; does it support
Pelagianism ? 286.
Creed of Ariminum, 329.
Critobulus, Pelagian disputant in
dialogues, 44S.
Cross, the, on the Emperor's
robes, 190 ; on Olivet, 200.
Ctesiphon, letters to on Pelagian-
ism, 272, 448.
Cybele, priests of, 402.
Cyprian, 12, 122 ; attacked for
wrong quotations, 149 ; reject-
ing heretical baptism, 332,
333 ; took Tertullian as his
master, 176 ; on virginity, 271.
Cyprian corresponds with Jerome
on Ps. xc, 282.
Cyprus, ruined temples of, 314 ;
Hilarion in, 314.
Cyril, 21.
Damasus, Pope, fosters Jerome's
studies, 485, 487 ; letters to,
18, 20, 47 ; friendship for Je-
rome, 59, 233.
Daniel fasting, 400 ; Book of, 492 ;
visions of, 132 ; apocryphal
parts of, 493 ; not placed by
Jews among prophets, 493.
Deacons inferior to presbyters,
288 ; position of, at Rome, 289 ;
read the Gospel, 292.
Dead, disposal of, in various coun-
tries, 394.
Death, of a Christian, 128 ; of em-
perors, 129 ; constantly to be
thought of, 254.
Decius, persecution of, 299.
Demetrias, highborn virgin, letter
to, 260 ; her descent, 261 ; re-
fuses marriage, 262 ; mother's
consent to ascetic vows of, 263.
Demons, exorcised, 304, 306, 308 ;
can they be restored ? 432 ; at
tombs of prophets near Se-
baste, 201.
I Demosthenes, 97.
"^Dependence on God, 477.
Desert, 7, iS ; language of, 9 ; her-
mits in, 19, 21 ; life in, 24, 25,
89.
Desiderius, presbyter of Toulouse,
418 ; version of Genesis dedicat-
ed to, 488 ; friend of Jerome,
66.
Despair hateful to God, 225.
Deuteronomy found in Josiah's
reign, 349.
Devil, the assaults of, 23, 26, 34.
Dicaearchus on the golden age, 397.
Dido, a warning against remarry-
ing, 235.
Didymus, blind teacher of Alexan-
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
507
dria, 495 ; comments on gos-
pels, 495 ; questioned by Je-
rome, 498 ; on marriage, 78 ;
instructor of Jerome, 80, 176.
Differences of rewards, 402 ; and
punishments, 411.
Digamists, disabilities of, 232.
Dioceses, boundaries of, 83, 84, 173.
Diogenes, story of, 398.
Dionysius, bishop of Lydda, 446.
Discipline, 426.
Diversity of gifts, 352, 404-406.
Divorce and remarriage, no, 158,
159-
x^Dolls, 258.
Domnio, Roman presbyter, 66,
80, 490, 494.
Donatus, 275.
Dositheus, Samaritan leader, 332.
Dreams, 35.
Ebion, 332, 495.
Ecclesiastes, 'commentary on re-
commended, 132, 175.
Edessa, 316.
Education of young children, 189,
258.
Egyptian priests, habits of, 397.
Elijah unmarried and fasting, 399.
Elpidias, Spanish Zoroastrian, 275.
E-lusa, 309.
Emasculation, 3S6.
Emigration to Palestine, 262.
Emotions, four, their control, 467.
Encratites, 590 ; condemned mar-
riage, 71.
Envy, 59.
Ephesians, commentary on, subject
of controversy, 498 ; commend-
ed specially, 132, 175.
Epicurus, 396 ; on plurality of
worlds, 240 ; a modern, 414.
Epidaurus, 313.
Epiphanius, 303, 427, 429 ; visit of
to Jerusalem and sermon, 430 ;
popularity of, 430 ; at Bethle-
hem, 431 ; letters to Siricius,
431; letters to others, 447 ; let-
ters to John, bishop of Jerusa-
lem, 83 ; translation of same,
112 ; impugned and vindicated,
115 ; requested not to ordain
Paulinian, but does so, 84 ;
prays, for John of Jerusalem,
S4 ; travels of, 86 ; curious
story of, 89 ; monastery of
Advetus, 173 ; exhorted by
Theophilus to proceed against
Origenism, 184 ; praises Je-
rome for aid against heresy,
185 ; lodged with Paula at
Rome, 197 ; in Paula's cham-
ber at Bethlehem, 207.
Esdras, Book of, 419.
Essenes, 3S.
Eucharist, daily reception of, 154 ;
questions to Damasus about,
18, 19 ; elements of carried in
baskets, 251.
Eudoxius, bishop of Antioch, 330.
Eunuchs, servants of Christian
ladies, 267.
Eusebius, (1) of Aquileia, brother
of Chromatius, 8, 10 ; death
of, 131 ; (2) of Csesarea, 330;
apology of for Origen, 180 ;
chronicle of, 483 ; praised by
Jerome, 485 ; book on mar-
riage, 78, 79 ; (3) of Cremona,
102, 112, 132, 186, 495 ; (4)
of Nicomedia, 330 ; (5) of Ver-
cellae, 132.
Eustochium, 188 ; books dedicated
to, 499, 500 ; letters to, 22, 45 ;
appeals to, 22, 23, 28, 33 (see
Paula) ; work of at Bethlehem,
107 ; letter to on death of her
mother, 195 ; learned Hebrew
to sing Psalms, 210 ; conduct
of at Paula's death, 211 ; on
ravages of Pelagians, 281.
Euzoius, Arian bishop, 330
114. 315.
Evae:rius Ponticus
of Iberia, 274,
499.
Evangelus, question of on Melchize-
dek, 154 ; on orders of the
ministry, 288.
Exiles from Rome, sufferings of,
262, 264.
Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse,
212, 501 ; piety of, 237 ; chari-
ties of, 251.
Exuperantius invited to Bethlehem,
287.
Fabiola, 109 ; letter to on high-
priest, 134 ; on forty-two man-
sions of Desert, 163 ; husbands
of, 158; penitence of, 159;
hospice founded by, 160 ;
charities of, 160 ; goes to Beth-
lehem, 160 ; returns to Rome,
161 ; death of, 158 ; funeral
of, 162.
Fabiola the Younger, 252.
Facidia, village in Egypt, 306.
Faith, difficulty of, 327 ; the, em-
braces the whole world, 336.
Family relations, 217, 218.
Fasting commended, 392, 400 ;
monks, rules for, 38 ; rivalry
in, 37 ; not to be boasted of,
39 ; to be regulated, 106, 193,
246 ; on Sabbath-day, 154 ;
not a virtue in itself, 267 ; evil
when excessive, 270.
Faustinus, friend of Jerome, 133 ;
rejected Origen, 133.
Finger-language, 30, 60, 67, 100,
233> 347-
First-born distinguished from only-
begotten, 336.
Flattery, 31, 32.
Flesh, its eating conduces to lust,
394, 398 ; Esau's lust for, 399.
Florentius, 6, 7 ; his slave, 7.
-^"ood of various nations, 393 ;
costly, sought for, 95 ; excess
in, 106, 166 ; of Brahmans, 193.
Fortunatianus, comments on gos-
pels, 495 ; commentaries of, n.
France, 308.
Freewill, 1S2, 275, 276, 27S, 475.
Fretela of Getica inquires about
versions of Psalter, 1S9.
Funerals, 52.
Furia, letter to on widowhood, 102.
Galatia, Jerome in, 5.
Galatians, their strange schisms,
497-
Galen, 396.
Galla, Spanish Zoroastrian, 275.
Gallienus, friend of Jerome, 483.
Gaudentius writes about education
of infant daughters, 258 ; Je-
rome's reply, 258.
Gaul, correspondents of Jerome in,
215, 224, 230 ; Jerome's stay
in, 394-
Gaza, 306.
Gildo, father of Salvina, 238.
J' Girls not to be brought up with
boys, 259.
Evagrius of Antioch, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, ^Gladiatorial shows, 58.
God, names of, 43.
Gods of the heathen as demons,
421.
Gorgias, vaingloriousness of, 430.
Gospel preferred to the law, 464.
Gospels, Jerome's version of, 487 ;
order of composition of, 495.
Gossip, 35, 57, 82, 95, 104, 251,
253-
Goths, Stridon destroyed by the,
x.
Gracchus, prefect of Rome, and
iconoclast, 190.
Grace, universal need of, 276.
Gradations in the Church, and
hereafter, 413.
Gregory, abbot at Jerusalem, 84.
Gregory Nazianzen, instructor of
Jerome, 80, 357; story of, 93.
Grief, excess of, 50, 52.
Grunnius, a name for Rufinus, 250,
499.
Gymnosophists, 97, 193, 380, 397.
Habakkuk, story of, 400, 493.
Hands, laying on of after baptism,
1, 324-. .
[Handwriting, 292.
Heathen literature dangerous, 34,
35 ; known to Jerome, ict,
114, 115, 125, 149, 176, 178 ;
use of by Church writers, 149.
Heaven, Lea in, 45 ; Paula in, 207.
Hebrew alphabet, 489 ; Bible, 46 ;
Names, book of, 485 ; transla-
tions from, 80, 153, 154 ;
Places, sites and names of,
485 ; necessity of, for knowl-
edge of Old Testament, 484 ;
hardness of study of, 497.
Hedibia writes to Jerome from
Gaul, 224.
Heliodorus, bishop of Altinum, 4,
7, 10, 13, 91, 492, 494 ; was a
monk, 91 ; at Jerusalem, 6 ;
leaves Jerome in Syria, 8 ; let-
ter to, 13, 123 ; recited by
Fabiola, 161.
Hell, belief in, 41, 50.
Helvidius, treatise against, 334,
449 ; unknown to Jerome, 343.
Heracleian, cruelty of, 265.
Heraclitus, 347.
Heresy, accusations of, 112 ; of
Basilides in Spain, 156 ; insidi-
508
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
ousness of, 269 ; worse than
sin, 463.
Hermagoras, 97.
Hermit and monastic life com-
pared, 247.
Herodotus on marriage, 385.
Hesychius, servant of Hilarion,
310, 312.
High-priest, garments of, 134.
Hilarion, life of, 303 ; his death in
Cyprus, 316 ; his body stolen
as a relic, 315 ; was only a day
at Jerusalem, 120.
Hilary, Luciferian deacon, 331,
333-
Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, 122 ;
comments on Gospel, 495, 496 ;
work on Synods, 7 ; on Psalms,
7 ; as translator, 114, 132.
Hippocrates, 396.
Hippolytus, the martyr, 47, 495 ;
on marriage, 78.
Holy Ghost, sin against, 55, 56 ;
creative power of, 145 ; rides
upon the soul, 167.
Holy Land, blessedness of resi-
dence in, 64, 65 ; emigration
to, 262, 287.
Holy Sepulchre, statue of Venus at,
120; Paula at, 199 ; church of
the, 430.
Holy days, occasions of bustle,
271.
Horace, quotations from. See Quo-
tations.
Hosanna, 22.
Hospice founded by Pammachius
and Fabiola, 138, 160 ; by Je-
rome, 140.
Hours of prayer, 3S, 193.
Houses, moderation in, 31.
Huns, 161, 393.
Hylas, slave of Melania, 5 ; his
death, 6.
Hymettius, uncle of Eustochium,
I9T.
Hypostases of the Godhead, 19.
Ignorance, sins of punishable by
the law, 465 ; sacrifices for,
465-
Illustrious men, book of, 66.
Images forbidden in churches, 89.
Impassibility taught by Pelagius
and others, 272, 499 ; by Ori-
gen, 499.
Imperfection acknowledged by St.
Paul, 455 ; by other Scripture
writers, 466 ; history of Scrip-
ture on, 467-470 ; of apostles,
kings and prophets, 469, 471.
Innocent, friend of Jerome, 1 ;
death of, 5.
Innocent, Pope, intervenes to pro-
tect Jerome, 2S0.
Inspiration, degrees of, 493.
Intercession of the saints, 419.
Intermediate state, 124, 125.
Interpretation of Scripture by good
men only, 34 ; allegorical in-
stances of, 89-91.
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, against
Easilides, 156,
Isidore sent by Theophilus to
Palestine, 174, 444, 445 ; his
letter intercepted, 444 ; ac-
cused by Theophilus of Ori-
genism, 186.
Isis, priests of, 402 ; their glutton-
ous fasts, 193.
Jerome, life of, x-xvi ; writings of,
xvi-xx ; character and influ-
ence of, xxi ; born of Christian
parents, 492 ; property and so-
cial status of, 35, 140 ; falls
into sin, 9, 15, 7S ; baptized at
Rome, 20 ; ordained by Paul-
inus, 446 ; visited Gaul, ,7,
394 ; reasons for becoming a
monk, 446 ; accused of schism,
447 ; subject to detraction,
4S4, 490, 491 ; knowledge of
Greek, x ; lived among
learned men, 491 ; knew He-
brew, 48, 80, 491, 493, 497 ;
and Chaldee, 493 ; illnesses
of, 34, 188, 215, 492 ; weak
eyes of, 500 ; translated LXX
into Latin, 153, 494 ; in desert,
7, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 248 ; li-
brary of, 7, 35 ; sister of, 8, 9 ;
aunt of, 13 ; belief of, 19, 20,
21 ; credulity of, 2, 3 ; posi-
tion of at Rome, 59, 233 ;
anti-Ciceronian dream of, 36 ;
unpopular at Rome, 44, 49,
53> 54> 59 ; version of Gospels
by, 44, 487; expounding Scrip-
tures, 59 ; defence of himself
by, 59 ; departure of from
Rome, 59 ; publication of
works of, 66, 79 ; works of,
attacked by ignorant monks,
80 ; unwilling to celebrate the
communion, 83 ; reading of
many writers by, 131; ac-
cused of Origenism, 131, 176 ;
founder of hospice, 140 ; use
of secular literature by, 149 ;
knowledge of Church writers
of, 149-151 ; of general his-
tory, 379-382, 418, xxix ; of
medicines and foods, 392-3 ;
proposed church history of,
315 ; works of copied for Lu-
cinius, 153 ; works of up to
a.d. 398, 153 ; controversy of
with John of Jerusalem,
171 ; praise of Origen by, 46,
176, 178, 179 ; learned Hebrew,
248— from Baranina, 176 ;
translates the lie pi 'Apx&v,
1S1 ; praised for crushing her-
esy, 185 ; translates Paschal
letters of Theophilus, 186 ; de-
nunciation of Origen by, 187 ;
mode of composition of, 220 ;
adviser of Damasus, 233 ;
teaching in church and in writ-
ing, 279 ; attack of Pelagians
on, 281, 2S2 ; on the orders of
the ministry, 288 ; methods
used by, in composition, 497-8.
Jerusalem crowded with strangers,
121 ; poor of, their condition,
422 ; Paula's gifts to, 199 ; new
and actual, 62, 119.
Jewish festivals, 295.
Jews, unruly members of Christ,
in ; dealers in old clothes,
312.
Job, on the resurrection, 439 ; res-
cued from the dunghill, 491,
494 ; difficulty of, 491.
John of Jerusalem, treatise against,
424 ; its date, subject, analysis,
426 ; accused of duplicity, 426,
, 433, 438, 445— and arrogance,
426 — of heretical communion,
427 — of Origenism, 85, 428 —
of light-mindedness, 428, 430
— of setting the prefect Ru-
finus against Jerome, 174, 447 ;
letter of to Theophilus, 172,
427, 444 ; treatment of Epi-
phanius by, 430, 447 ; apology
of to Bishop Theophilus, 426,
444 ; sermon of, 172, 430 ;
letter of Epiphanius to, 83 ;
reasons for separating from,
172 ; tried to get Jerome ex-
iled, 174; was a monk, 174;
present at death of Paula,
211 ; letter of Innocent to, 281.
John, St., use of the word Logos
by, 98.
John the Baptist buried in Sama-
ria, 201.
Jonadab, son of Rechab, 400.
Joseph the putative, not real hus-
band of Mary, 336 ; called by
Mary the father of Christ, 343.
Josephus on the Jewish sects, 397 ;
on Essenes, 38 ; on metres of
Psalms, 484 ; says Pentateuch
alone translated by LXX, 487 ;
works of not translated by Je-
rome, 153.
Joshua unmarried, 362.
Jovinianus, anti-ascetic monk, 378 ;
controversy with, 109, 275,
346, 416, 449 ; analysis of ar-
gument, 346 ; his argument
from the marriage of the pa-
triarchs, etc., 349 ; luxurious
living imputed to, 378, 404,
414 ; inconsistency of, 404 ;
many followers of, 415 ; apo-
logy for books against, 66, 78 ;
refuted by a monk, 81.
Jovinus, archdeacon of Aquileia, S.
Judgment, the last, described, 17,
18, 35, 36, 40, 442.
Judith, praises of, 108.
Julian, a wealthy Dalmatian, 220.
Julian, deacon of Antioch, S.
Julian, emperor, 312 ; his death,
3M-
Keys, power of, 16.
Kiss of peace, 171.
Lactantius, 122, 17S.
Lady superior of convent, 292.
Laeta inquires about the education
of her daughter, 189.
Lamp before a shrine, 89 ; in
street, 320.
Lanuvinus, 486.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
509
Law, knowledge of, necessary for
holiness, 461 ; is it easy to
keep ? 277 ; against bequests to
clergy, 92.
Lea, Roman lady, 1 ; praises of, 42.
Learning, disparagement of, 35.
Legion, officers in, 433.
Literary thefts, 112, 113.
Livy, 96.
Lord's Day, 38, 154, 206.
Lot, 25.
Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, 330.
Luciferians, origin of, 319 ; dialogue
against, 319.
Lucinius of Bcetica, correspond-
ence of with Jerome, 151 ;
sends men to copy Jerome's
works, 153 ; death of, 155.
Lucullus, 45.
Lupicinus, bishop of Stridon, 3, 10.
Lupulianus, 485.
Luscius Lanuvinus, 386.
Lust, dangers- from, 24, 27, 139,
248, 259 ; provoked by wine,
?5 ; weakening effect of, 26 ;
women's great foe, 105, 216,
260 ; contrasted with marriage,
143 ; resistance to, 267.
Luxury, descriptions of, 137, 139,
140, 260.
Macarius of Egypt, 5 ; friend of
Rufinus, 168.
Magic, 307, 443.
Magi, 397.
Magnus, orator of Rome, corre-
sponds with Jerome, 148.
Maid-servants, 35, 103.
Majoma, the port of Gaza, 304.
Malchus, the captive monk. 315.
Manichaeans, 67, 277, 410, 420, 448,
464, 497-
Marcella, praise of, 108, 496 ; let-
ters to, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47,
54. 55. 50. 53(j 123, 186 ; pos-
sessed Jerome's works, 66, 80 ;
youth and marriage of, 253 ;
wealth renounced by, 253 ; her
love of the Bible, 253 ; becomes
a nun, 253 ; earnest study of
Scripture by, 254 ; resistance
to heresy, 256 ; death of, 257,
258.
Marcellinus, Roman commissioner
in Africa, letter to, on the
origin of souls, 252.
Marcion, 400 ; rejected Epistle to
Titus, 498.
Marcus, head of hermits, 21.
Maronia, 315.
Marriage, disparagement of, 28, 31,
75, 77, 82, 103, 262, 345, 350,
354 ; teaching of St. Paul on,
352, 358 — of St. Peter, 351
— ot Old Testament, 359-370 ;
opinions of Tertullian and
Gregory Nazianzen on, 357 ;
second not allowable, 358 ; evils
of, 107, 230 ; St. Paul on, 231 ;
not desirable in a world which
is breaking up, 237 ; various
stories about, 384; compared
with virginity, 28 — and widow-
hood, 67 ; not condemned by
Jerome, 68, 7S ; defence of,
143 ; preferred to unchastity,
216, 232.
Martyrs, asserted worship of, 41 S ;
miracles at tombs of, 421 ;
tombs of approached only by
the continent, 75 ; visited by
Jerome, xvi.
■JVleats, moderation in, 26.
Melania, 5, 7, 53, 59- 274-
Meletius, bishop of Antioch, 19, 20.
Menander, disciple of Simon Ma-
gus, 332.
Milo of Crotona, 396.
Minervius, monk of Toulouse, 224,
501.
Miracles, woman seven times struck
by the axe, 2 ; demons, 201 ;
Paulus, 300-303 ; Hilarion,
305-3I5-
Misfortunes no sign of God's
anger, 140, 141.
Mockery, modes of, 250.
Monasteries at Bethlehem, 140,
206, 292 ; destroyed by Pela-
gians, 281, 282 ; at Rome,
255 ; in islands of Adriatic,
223 ; in Egypt, 248, 292.
Monastic vows, 23, 37, 136 ; ideal
of, 245 ; taken before bishop,
261 ; cowardice of, 423.
Money, dangers of, 36 ; monks not
to possess, 37.
Monks in desert, 4 ; their disputes,
21 ; at Nitria, 37, 38 ; always
exiles, 174 ; relation of to
bishops, 175 ; taken as stew-
ards, 215 ; inequivocal rela-
tions, 217 ; garb of, 246 ;
riches a reproach to, 37, 247,
249 ; occupations suitable to,
248 ; true and false, 249 ;
should not affect literary am-
bition, 250; classes of, 37; life
of, 38, 245, 253 ; disliked at
Rome, 48, 49, 53 ; instances
of unworthy, 82, S3 ; duties
of, 120 ; should avoid cities,
121, 250 ; should not live
alone, 247 ; a monk-bishop,
174 ; functions of, 423 ; inde-
pendence of bishops of, 446.
Monogamy and bigamy, 70, 96,
102, 142, 165, 182, 230.
Montanism, 389, 420, 425, 55, 175,
275-
Morbus regius for jaundice, 50,
269 ; for leprosy, 312.
Moses buried at Phogor ; meaning
of this, 362.
Mourning for the dead, 51 ; by
Jews, 52.
Mutability of human life, 130, 131.
Nebridius, young courtier, husband
of Salvina, 163 ; life and death
of, 163.
Nepotian, nephew of Heliodorus,
letter to, 89, 247 ; death of, 123 ;
a model clergyman, 127 ; asks
Jerome to write his counsels,
127.
Newman on the Arians, 323.
New Testament, books of, sum-
marized, 101; writers of quote
or translate loosely, 114, 115 ;
use heathen books, 149 ; trans-
lated by Jerome, 154.
Nicsea, canons of, 444 ; decision of
about Judith, 494 ; about trans-
lation of bishops, 144.
Niceas, subdeacon of Aquileia,
afterward bishop, 10.
Nicolas, the fallen deacon, 332.
Nitria, 5, 37 ; monks of, Origenistic,
183 ; recalled from error, 184 ;
church at seized by Origen-
ists, 186; visited by Paula, 202.
Noah's ark a type of the church,
33 1-
Novatian, 56, 389 ; letters of, 12.
Novatus, 333, 389, 425.
Numbers, odd and even, their sig-
nificance, 360.
Obeli, marks of omitted words in
version of Old Testament, 494.
Oceanus, friend of Jerome, 132,
133; combated Origenism, 133 ;
letter to, 141 ; condemned
Bishop Carterius for remar-
riage, 142 ; consoled for death
of Fabiola, 158 ; writes about
Origen's works, 175 ; possesses
Jerome's works, 252 ; Marcel-
linus commended to, 253.
Octogamy not condemned, 70.
Odour of sanctity, 314.
Old age, vigor in, 11, 90.
Old Testament, books of, their
division, 489 ; ideal of blessed-
ness in, 30 ; summary of, 99-
101 ; authority of, 465 ; quo-
tations from, 465, 469, 470.
Olives, Mount of, cross upon, 200.
Olybrius, father of Demetrias, 261.
Onasus, 54.
Ophites, 332.
Optatus, bishop of Milevis, on the
origin of souls, 283.
Ordination the only function pecul-
iar to bishops, 289.
Origenism one of the eighty here-
sies, 85 ; Jerome accused of,
131 ; campaign of Theophilus
against, 182-186 ; condemned
at Rome, 183.
Origenists bound together by per-
jury, 176; disingenuousness of,
177; refugees at Constantino-
ple, 184 ; at Alexandria accused
by Theophilus, 185, 186 ; put
to flight, 187.
Origen, his TLnpl 'Ap^wi', 428 ; six
strange opinions of, 428, 432 ;
eight do., 185 ; opinion of,
that the Son sees not the
Father, 85, 238, 429 — nor com-
prehends Him, 244 ; on origin
of souls, 432-434 — and their
fall, S5, 238, 284 — their future
condition, 220 — belief that they
may become demons, 241; on
restoration of demons, 85, 179,
238, 244, 433 ; on the resurrec-
tion, 242, 435, 436 ; on the sera-
phim, 132, 176 ; on angels, 242-
244 ; on souls of sun and moon,
5io
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
432 ; on sinlessness, 449 ; on
transmigration of souls, 238,
244 ; on forgiveness of sins of a
previous state, 483 ; on plural-
ity of worlds, 240, 241 ; on im-
passibility, 499 ; spiritual father
of Arius, 85 ; translated and de-
fended by Rufinus, 168-170,
449 — by others, 132 ; used the
Hebrew Bible as the chief au-
thority, 487 ; on metres of Old
Testament books, 484, 491 ; on
a future state, 240 ; on Song of
Songs, 485 ; on hell fire, 240,
244 ; praises of, 46, 85, 179 ;
commentaries of, 485, 495, 496;
works in youth and old age
differ, 496; not condemned at
Nicsea, 178 ; Jerome's relation
to, 22, 131, 176, 182, 498 ;
views on Malachi, 501 ; num-
ber of works of, 46, 173, 179 ;
condemned at Rome, 46 ; on
marriage, 78 ; on Adam losing
the image of God, 87 ; how to
be read, 133 ; death of, 179 ; on
incorporeal existence, 241, 242,
244 ; on future sufferings of
Christ, 243 ; on the Son and
Holy Spirit, 238, 239 ; allego-
rizes Paradise, 85 ; is an enemy
to God, 87 ; translated by Ru-
finus and Jerome, 159, 172,
175 ; doctrines of poisonous,
176 ; were his writings cor-
rupted by heretics? 180; de-
nounced violently, 187.
Original sin, 474, 482.
Ornaments of churches, 89,128,268.
Orpheus, 398.
Pacatula, child dedicated to virgin-
ity," 260.
Palestine, emigration to, 500 ; pil-
grims to, 64, 65 ; is it still holy
land ? 64.
Palladius, bishop of Helenopolis,
449 ; an Origenist, 89.
Pammachius, 424, 425 ; letters to,
66, 79, 112, 134, 186; wished
to suppress Jerome's books
against Jovinian, 79, 81 ; pro-
posed for pope, 80 ; loss of his
wife, 134 ; takes a monastic
vow, 135 ; monk and senator,
136 ; humility of, 139 ; founds
hospice, 138, 162 ; writes about
Hspi 'Apxuv, 175, 238 ; heir
of Paula, 197 ; example of,
222 ; urges Jerome to write
commentaries, 498 ; commen-
taries dedicated to, 500, 501.
Pamphilus, martyr, said to have
defended Origen, 180, 190,
274 ; friendship of for Euse-
bius, 181.
Pantaenus, missionary to India, 150.
Parents, influence of, 191, 192.
Patriotism expressed, 130.
Paul of Concordia, 7, 11, 299 ; age
of, 11.
Paul of Samosata, 333.
Paul, St., quarrel with St. Peter
feigned, 112, 497; his exam-
ple, 40 ; teaching of on mar-
riage, 70, 76, 23 r ; journeys
of, 97 ; exhorts to read Scrip-
tures, 97 ; uses Cilician ex-
pressions, letter cxxi, 10.
Paul, the first hermit, 38 ; life of,
11, 299.
Paula, letters to, 46, 49 ; relations
to Jerome, 59 ; family of, 135,
197 ; descent of, 195 ; un-
worldliness of, 196 ; celebrity
of, 196 ; charities of, 197 ; call-
ed by Jerome mother-in-law
of God, 30; separation of
from her family, 197 ; voy-
age of to the East, 198 ; jour-
ney of through Palestine,
198, 200 ; reception of at Je-
rusalem, 198 ; in Egypt, 202 ;
renunciation of luxuries by,
202, 203 ; meekness of un-
der calumny, 205 ; in sickness,
205 ; monastic rule, 206 ; ascet-
icism of, 207 ; resistance of
to heresy, 207-209 ; zeal for
knowledge, 209 ; learned He-
brew, 210; death of, 188, 195,
489 ; books dedicated to her,
498, 501 ; dying words of,
210 ; bishops present at death
of, 211 ; poverty of at death,
211 ; funeral and tomb of, 214.
Paula and Eustochium, 102, 4S7,
489, 491, 492, 493, 494, 496,
497, 498, 501 ; write to Mar-
cella, 60.
Paula the younger, education of,
189-195.
Paulina, daughter of Paula, wife of
Pammachius, death of, 135.
Paulinianus, Jerome's brother, 132 ;
ordination of, 83, 172, 429, 446,
447 ; his stay in Cyprus with
Epiphanius, 446 ; in Italy, 170 ;
with Chromatius, 170; age at
ordination, 173.
Paulinus, bishop of Antioch, 19,
20, 197, 446.
Paulinus, bishop of Nola, letters to,
96, 116, 181 ; work on Theo
dosius by, 122 ; introduces Vig-
ilantius to Jerome, 123, 132 ;
asks questions on Scripture,
181 ; example of, 222.
Pelagian controversy, 269 ; letter
on, 272-280.
Pelagians, dialogue against, 280,
446, 499 ; analysis of, 446 ;
silenced, 282 ; driven away by
Augustin, 283 ; does creation-
ism make for? 285.
Pelagius, -quotations from work by,
462 ff ; Jovinian's heir, 470,
472 ; letter of to Juliana, 479 ;
an ignorant Scot, 499 ; driven
from Palestine, 281.
Pelusiots, a name given by Origen-
ists to their opponents, 433.
Penitential discipline, 159.
Pentateuch, was Moses or Ezra
author of ? 337.
Pepusa, in Phrygia, home of Mon-
tanism, 56.
Perfection, commanded, therefore
possible, 454 ; two sorts of,
455 ; attribute of God, not of
man, 488, 489 ; if impossible,
man not responsible, 459 ;
promised hereafter, not now,
479 ; boasting of purity, 479.
Uepl 'Apxtiv, Origen's work, trans-
lated by Rufinus, 168 ; diffi-
culties and object of, 169 ;
criticism on, 238-244 ; ques-
tions in, 428.
Persecutions, 299.
Perseverance, 152.
Peter, St., controversy of with St.
Paul, 112 ; on continence, 75 ;
_ day of, 45.
Philemon, genuineness of Epistle
to, 498.
Philip and the eunuch, 325.
Philo wrote book of Hebrew
names, 485 ; speaks of Es-
senes, 38.
Philosophers, unfavourable esti-
mate of, 222.
Philostratus, 97.
Pictures of contemporary life : a
hermit's struggles, 24, 25 ; pre-
tended virgins, 27 ; clerical
dandies and libertines, 34 ;
luxurious ladies, 36 ; a worldly
almsgiver, 36 ; burial of a
Nitrian monk, 37 ; life of monks
in Egypt, 38 ; fashionable cler-
gymen, 92 ; legacy-hunters,
92 ; a model clergyman, 127 ;
a Christian death-bed, 128 ; a
senator monk, 136 ; a college
debating club, 138 ; a funeral
at Rome, 162 ; a heathen priest
and his Christian daughter,
189 ; a worldly lady and her
Christian niece, 191 ; demons
howling like beasts, 201 ; a
Roman lady ruling a nunnery,
206 ; seductions of a virgin,
218 ; a man who had buried
twenty wives, 233 ; a monk
tempted and rescued, 249 ; a
conceited lecturer, 250 ; love-
making in a convent, 291, 292 ;
a worldly home, 344, 345.
Plato, 325 ; to be judged by Christ,
18 ; journeys of, 96 ; sur-
passed by St. John, 97 ; born
of a virgin, 381 ; almost un-
known in Jerome's time, 498 ;
doctrine of on falsehood
adopted by Origen, 176 ; bish-
ops influenced by, 325.
Plautus, quotations from, 346.
Plutarch on marriage, 385.
Poor, care of, 136, 164, 202, 268.
Pope, title of distinguished bish-
ops, 9, 183. See Epiphanius,
Augustin, etc.
Population question, 345.
Porphyry's criticisms on Daniel,
493, 500 ; refuted by Apolli-
naris, 175 ; on quarrel of St.
Peter and St. Paul, 497 ; in-
troduction of, 80.
Portus, hospice at, 140.
Possessions of Christians a stew-
ardship, 122.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
511
Praetextata, aunt of Eustochium,
story of, 191.
Pnetextatus, Vettius Agorius, sto-
ry of, 428 ; in hell, 42.
Prayer, 38 ; hours of, 38, 193, 206,
249, 269 ; wandering thoughts
in, 327.
Preachers, rhetorical and vain-
glorious, 497.
Preface, " Helmeted," 489.
Presbyters, relation of to bishops,
93, 2S2 ; hold position once
held by Apostles, 121 ; equal to
bishops, 288 ; St. John was a,
288.
Presents from Eustochium, 45 ;
from Marcella, 58 ; from and
to Lucinius, 154 ; from Pauli-
nus, 1S2.
Priests, heathen, monogamists,
232.
Principia, friend of Marcella, 134 ;
letter to in memory of Mar-
cella, 253 ; union with her
friend, 254.
Prisciilian, 273 ; on origin of souls,
2S4.
Procopius, 295.
Promised Land, letter on, 260.
Prophets, minor, form one book,
493-
Proverbs, 3, S, 10, 41, 44, 60, 72,
102, 118, T22, 138, 270.
Psalm-singer, 92.
Psalms, metres of, 101, 4S4, 491 ;
alphabetical, 45 ; chanted in
Greek, Latin and Syriac, 211 ;
Jerome's three versions of,
494-
Ptolemy Lagus, LXX, version
made for, 489.
Publication of books, xxviii, 66, 79,
238.
Purgatory, 464.
Pythagoras, 78, 96, 125, 499.
Quotations ; from Old Testament
in New, 486 ; Atilius, 81 ;
Cicero, 10, 12, 125, 137 ; En-
nius, 125, 129, 254; Horace, 8,
11, 82, 99, 114, 123, 129, 180,
220, 264, 272 ; Juvenal, 82 ;
Lucan, 122, 237 ; Lucretius,
274 ; Na^vius, 129 ; Ovid, 231 ;
Persius, 104, 122 ; Terence,
82, 105 ; Turpilius, 10 ; Vir-
gil, 3, 21, 72, 82, 89, 91, 99,
103, 119, 123, 125, 129, 130,
162, 165, 196, 198, 225, 235,
237, 248, 257, 265, 272, 274.
Rahab, 91.
Reader, a church officer, 92.
Relics, 319 ; worship of, 212, 314,
418.
Remoboth, monks living in fra-
ternities, 37.
Renun_cialiari_.of property, 102,
126, 137, 153, 222, 224, 236,
264, 268, 238 ; of luxury,. 139,
152, 202, 265.
Repentance, 225-228.
Resurrection of the flesh, 178, 190,
208, 209, 436 (see also Origen) ;
Job's words upon, 439 ; Christ's
body after, 442 ; state of par-
takers in, 155 ; controversy
about, 178.
Rewards, degrees of, 402, 414 ; of
chastity, 40 ; of virginity and
widowhood, 53.
Rhetitius, bishop of Autun, 7, 47.
Riches a bar to the kingdom of
God, 453 ; renounced, 126, 127,
162, 222.
Riparius, presbyter of Toulouse,
418 ; writes about Vigilantius,
212 ; zeal of for the faith, 281.
Rogatianus, 490, 494.
Rome, apostrophe to, 415, 416 ;
churches and worship of, 497 ;
faith of, 134, 180 ; sack of, 252,
257, 260, 499, 500; changing
from paganism to Christianity,
190 ; pride of, in her virgins,
263.
Rome, bishop of, his authority, 18,
19 ; sketch of life in, 27, 34.
Roman Empire, decline andfall of,
130, 237.
Roman matrons, of old praised for
chastity, 382 ; worldly, 27, 28.
Rufinus, 4 ; in Egypt, 5, 7 ; reported
at Jerusalem, 6 ; native of
Concordia, 7 ; baptism of, 7 ;
with John of Jerusalem, 84,
87 ; translator and apologist
of Origen, 16S ; supposed to
impugn Jerome, 112 ; and filch
his MSS., 112 ; supposed allu-
sion to, 151 ; preface to his
translation of the ILepl 'kpx^v,
168, 274, 449 ; letter of remon-
strance from Jerome to, 170 ;
alarm caused by translation of
Origen, 179 ; on origin of souls,
252 ; book of on hermits, 274 ;
translation of Xystus by, 274 ;
death of, 498, 500 ; satirical
description of, 250.
Rufinus, prefect of the East, 47 ;
death of, 129.
Rufinus, presbyter of Rome, ques-
tions of, 154.
Rufinus, probably "the Syrian,"
170.
Rusticus, husband of Artemia,
breaks vows of continency,225.
Rusticus, young monk of Toulouse,
advice to, 244, 253 ; mother of,
245.
Sabbath, fasting on, 154.
Sabellians, 326.
Sabinianus, the lapsed deacon, let-
ter to, 289 ; impenitence of,
289 ; warned against reckless-
ness, 291 ; his attempt at
seduction, 291, 292 ; his cox-
combry, 293 ; condemnation
of, 293 ; previous sins of,
294.
Salvina consoled for death of Neb-
ridius, 163 ; child of, 165.
Samaritan Pentateuch, 489.
Samuel, bones of, brought to Con-
stantinople, 419.
Saracens, 316 ; country of, 7, 8, 250.
Satan, his power over Christians,
87, 339-391-
Saturninus, Gnostic teacher, 332.
School-children, 404.
Scorpion, name for Rufinus, 498,
500.
Scots, have community of wives,
394-
Scripture, 57 ; exposition of, 93 ;
need of guide for, 97 ; summary
of, 99, 100 ; to be meditated on,
122 ; reading of, 32, 37, 92, 97,
254 ; interpretation of, 34 ; an-
tidote to heresy, 270 ; transla-
tion of, 113.
Sebesius, penitent, 149.
Secretary, responsibility of, 113.
Seneca on marriage, 385.
Senses, inlets of temptation, 29, 394.
Septuagint, insufficiency of, 484 ; a
reason for this, 486 ; not dis-
paraged, 486 ; omit passages
quoted in New Testament, 486,
488, 489 ; version of Daniel by,
rejected, 492 ; Jerome's trans-
lation of, 494 ; translation by,
loose, 115, 116 ; MSS. of, cor-
rupt, 494 ; version of Psalms,
189 ; still quoted by Jerome
after completion of Vulgate, 199
n. compared with 195 n.
Seraphim, vision of, 22.
Servants, undue numbers of, 167,
261, 262 ; treatment of, 40,
167, 218, 267, 271.
Sethites, Gnostic sect, 332.
Sick, care of, 136, 160.
Simon Magus, 275, 332.
Simplicianus, bishop of Milan, ex-
horted to join against Origen-
ism, 186.
Simplicity and artfulness, 425.
Sin, universality of, 273 ; shown
by Scripture testimonies, 229,
466 ; original, 278, 286, 287 ; re-
sult of our own will, 471 ; does
the doctrine of original, impugn
God's justice ? 278, 476 ; God's
foreknowledge of, 475 ; against
our own body, 109.
Sinlessness, is it possible? 273-
275, 450 ; possible if not act-
ual, 452 ; Cyprian upon, 464 ;
after baptism, 472, 482.
Sins differ in degree, 411.
Sisinnius, bearer of letters to Je-
rome, 418, 423.
Slave, 5, 6, 7 ; supposed ordination
of, 172.
Socrates, story of, 398.
Sophronius, friend of Jerome, 492.
Sophronius, a Roman dandy, 34.
Souls, origin of, 252, 272, 433,
434 ; pre-existence of, 269, 284 ;
Augustin and Jerome on, 283 ;
immortality of, taught by Pyth-
agoras, 125.
Spiritual attainment, diversity of,
408.
Stage, the, 58.
Stephen, bishop of Rome, opposed
by Cyprian, 332, 333.
Stewards, duties of, 96 ; relation to
mistresses, 167.
512
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Stilicho, hostile allusion to, 237.
Stories about Jerome, 38 ; Origen,
57 ; Epiphanius, 89 ; ^Eschines,
97 ; Thernistocles, 90 ; Sopho-
cles, 90 ; Gregory Nazianzen,
93 ; Demosthenes, 97 ; Faliscan
schoolmaster, 113 ; Pyrrhus
and Fabricius, 113 ; Theo-
dosius, 113 ; Antony and Didy-
mus, 141 ; Archytas and his
steward, 167 ; Marcella and
her suitor, 253 ; Crates, 138,
395 ; marriage, 384-386 ; Soc-
rates, 398 ; Diogenes, 398 ;
Vigilantius, 421 ; Prsetextatus
and Bishop Damasus, 428 ;
Quintus Aterius, 431.
Strangers, care for, 162.
Style, models of, 121 ; affectations
of, 138, 146, 250, 497.
Submission to God's will, 51.
Substances of the Godhead, 19.
Subtilty in argument, 72.
Sunnias of Getica inquires about
differences of Jerome's Psalter
LXX, 169.
Suttee, 381.
Symmachus, translator of Old Tes-
tament into Greek, 484, 488,
491-
Tabatha, birthplace of Hilarion,
303.
Tabernacle, imagery of, 490.
Tapers, 420.
Tarquinius Superbus, 501.
Tatian, 498, 500 ; leader of the En-
cratites, 67, 341 ; condemned
marriage, 71 ; rejected some
of St. Paul's Epistles, 498 ;
accepted Titus, 498.
Tatian, the deacon, friend of Je-
rome, 134, 500, 498.
Tekoa, 501.
Temptation, 24, 25, 218, 221 ; can
the regenerate be overthrown
by? 387.
Tertullian, 122 ; his opinion as to
the brethren of the Lord, 343 ;
his Scorpiacum, 420 ; a copy
of his works, 7 ; was master
of Cyprian, 176.
Theo, a presbyter, 428.
Theodora, wife of Lucinius, con-
solatory letter to, 154 ; com-
mended to Abigails, 157.
Theodorus of Heraclea, 495, 497.
Theodosius the Great, story of,
113; work upon, by Paulinus,
122.
Theodosius, head of the anchorites,
4-
Theodotion, translator of Old Tes-
tament into Greek, 484, 488 ;
version of Daniel by read in
churches, 489, 491, 492.
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria,
427 ; reconciled to Jerome, 134 ;
exhorts Jerome to peace with
Bishop John, 170; Jerome's
reply to, 171 ; campaign of
against Origenism, 182-188 ;
exhorts bishops of Palestine
and Cyprus to suppress Origen-
ism, 185 ; recounts proceed-
ings of Origenists, 186 ; Pa^
chal letters of translated by
Jerome, 186, 188, 189 ; letter
of against Chrysostom, 214.
Theophilus of Antioch, 495.
Theophrastus, 397 ; on marriage,
383-
Timothy, 25.
Tombs used as altars, 420.
Toothpowder, 293.
Toxotius, husband of Paula, 139 ;
descent of, 196.
Toxotius, son of Paula, 189.
Traducianism, 283 ; can it be dis-
proved ? 286.
Tranquillinus, 133 ; letter to, 133.
Transfiguration of Christ, 439.
Translation, methods of, 484 ; as
practised by Cicero and other
classics, 114 ; by Jerome and
other church writers, 114 ; in
New Testament, 115 ; in
LXX, 115, 116 ; best method
of, 112.
Treves, 7.
Trinity, doctrine of, revealed after
the Resurrection, 327.
Triptolemus, precepts of, 398.
Troglodytes, 393.
Ulysses, 499.
Ursicinus, 19.
Vainglory, 33, 39.
Valens, Arian bishop, 329.
Valentinus, 334.
Valerian, bishop of Aquileia, 9.
Valerian, persecution of, 299.
Valerianus, friend of Jerome, 485.
Varro, 46.
Vegetarianism, 396.
Venus to be judged by Chiist, 18 ;
temple of, 309 ; statue of on
site of Calvary, 120.
Vercellae, 1.
Version, old Latin, 487, 488 ; faults
of, 44.
Versions of Scripture, 338, 484,
485, 487 ; to be corrected, 4S6 ;
from Hebrew, 80 ; Jerome's,
from LXX, 494 ; Vulgate, see
below.
Victorinus, bishop of Petavium,
122 ; his view as to the breth-
ren of the Lord, 343 ; com-
ments on Gospels, 4, 95, 496,
,497-.
Vigilantius welcomed by Jerome,
123 ; letter to, 131 ; letter
about, 212 ; treatise against,
417-423 ; story of, 421 ; an
innkeeper, 421.
Vigils, excessive, 113, 421.
Vincentius, friend of Jerome, S3,
132, 183, 444, 446, 4S3.
Virgil. See Quotations.
Virgin, Isaiah's prophecy of, how
interpreted by Jews, 336.
Virgin Mary, compared to the
closed gate of the Temple, 7S ;
perpetual virginity of, 334 ;
does Isaiah prophesy of ? 336 ;
superior to others, 457.
Virgins.^ position of, 23 ; dangers
to, 34,218, 265, 292 ; false, 27 ;
life of, 28, 269 ; retired life
needed for, 32, 219 ; to be like
Mary, 39 ; Ambrose on, 74 ;
education of, 190, 258 ; not to
go to baths, 194 ; books suita-
ble to, 194, 269 ; not to mix
with world, 194 ; company of
with Paula in Egypt, 202 ; posi-
tion of sometimes equivocal,
215-220 ; consecrated by Bish-
op, 261 ; bridal veil of, 261,
292 ; should avoid married
women, 270.
Virginity, treatise on, 22, 96, 271 ;
enjoined on Christians gener-
ally, 374, 378 ; hardness of, 40 ;
compared with married and
widowed estate, 71, 135, 344,'
347-
Vitalis, Arian bishop of Antioch,
19, 20.
Vitalis, questions of, 154.
Vulgate, Jerome's, preparation for,
485 ; making of, 491, 492, 494 ;
translated into Greek, 492 ;
how hindered, 492 ; prophets,
80 ; finished, except Octoteuch,
A.D. 498, I53.
Vulgate, previous to Jerome's, 491.
Whitsuntide, 38.
Wickedness distinguished from sin-
ful imperfection, 466.
Widowhood, letter on, 102, 230.
Widows, state of, 48 ; not to seek
girlish adornments, 104, 105 ;
to be supported, 107, 231 ;
should live in retirement, 236 ;
temptations of, 166, 234, 238 ;
examples of, 108.
Wine, danger of, 25, 147.
Women, Jerome's relations to, 59,
134, 498 ; leaders in goodness,
229, 253 ; dangers from, 259 ;
preaching and singing in
church, 461-462.
Worship, standing up at, 324, 327 ;
not limited to particular places,
120.
Writing, time consumed in, 211 ;
correctness in, 194.
Xenophon's Cyropa?deia, 3S2, 397.
Xerxes, 130, 131.
Xystus on marriage, 3S6 ; Gnomes
of, 274.
Youth, dangers of, 90.
Zeno, presbyter at Jerusalem, S4,
414.
Zeno, stoicism of contrasted with
Christian submission, 51, 463 ;
teaching of on impassability,
31, 272, 467.
Zenobius, 21.
Zoroaster, 275,
JEROME.
INDEX OF TEXTS
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Gen. i., ii.,
• • • 99
Gen. viii. 8-1 1
• 145
Gen. xxv. 22, 23
Gen. xxxvm. 9 . . 361
i. i .
. . 118
viii. 20
• 234
235,
249. 349
• 52
xxxviii. 12-18 . 234
i 2
MS. 322
viii. 21
xxv. 34 .
xxxviii. 26 . 338, 457
i. 7 .
. . 86
167,
ix. 1 . .
399. 465
348, 349
xxvi. 8
• • 32
xxxviii. 27-30 . 235
i. 10
• • 77
xxvi. 12 .
• • 137
xxxviii. 28, 29 . 90
i. 26 .
• 58, 87
ix. 3 . .
349. 399
xxvi. 15, iS
• 145
xxxix. 12 . .
i. 27 .
. . . 244
ix. 4-6
. 87
xxvii. .
47, Mi
153, 165, 222, 287
i. 28 .
ix. 7 . .
85, 234
xxvii. 36 .
• • 145
xxxix. 12, 13 . 68
29. 67,
85, 94. 135,
ix. 20, 21 .
25, 147
xxvii. 41-46
. 204
xxxix. 23 . . 476
144, ig
5. 234. 344,
x., xi. . .
• 99
xxviii. 1-5
. 204
xii. 42-44
. . I64
347. 34
8.
X. II . .
60
xxviii. 11-13
• 236
xii. 45 . .
. . I64
i. 31 .
• • • 73
xi. 2
60
xxviii. 12 .
xli._ 50-52
. . I64
ii. 7 • •
. . . 145
xi. 4 . .
60
5, 24,
104, 409
xliii. 16 .
. . 200
ii. 8, 10
. . . 145
xi. 9 . .
60
xxviii. \2, 13
xlvi.
• 47, 99
ii. 10 .
. . . 86
xi. 10-26 .
87
201, 224
xlvi. 3, 4
• . 476
ii. 10, 11,
13 • 86
xi. 31 . .
22
xxviii. 20, 21
37
xlvi. 26
. . 26
ii. 11 .
• 97. 245
xii. 1 . .
xxviii. 20-22
• 476
xlviii. 10
. . 141
ii. 16 .
. . 86
22, 60, 152
211, 252
xxix. 10, 11
• 145
xlix. 10
141, 199
ii. 17 .
. . 29
xii. 1-4
52, 342
xxix. 11 .
• 34i
xlix. 11
• • 441
ii 21, 22
. 86, 234
xiii. 5-11 .
139. 342
xxix. 15 .
• 342
xlix. 17
• • 363
ii. 23 .
. . 86
xiii. 10
• 152
xxix. 17, 18
• 235
xlix. 27
ii. 24 . 2
34. 348, 359
xiv. 2 .
. 200
xxix. 20 .
. 40
47
126, 146
iii. 1-6
. . 6
xiv. 13-16
• 139
XXX. 1, 2 .
30, 349
xlix. 31
. . 65
iii. 7 •
. . . 86
xiv. 14
• 342
xxx. 14-16
■ 30
1. 7,8 .
• ■ 52
iii. 14 .
. . . g, 48
xiv. 18
61
xxx. 33 .
109
1. 9, 10
• 52
iii. 14, 18
• • 23
xv. 16 . .
• 47
xxxi. 36, 37
• 342
Ex. i. 1 . .
. 46
iii. 16 .
29. 74, 265
xvi. 12
• 252
xxxi. 40 .
• 40
ii. 16, 17
• 145
iii. 18 .
. . 246
xvii. . .
• 478
xxxi. 41 .
■ 362
iii. 3 •
155, 157
iii. 18, 19
. . 29
xvii. 1, 2 .
• 478
xxxi. 46-49
. 361
iii. 5 •
29,
361, 362
iii. ig .
. 21, 165
xvii. 17
• 465
xxxii. 2 .
• 476
iii. 14 .
9, 43, 74
iii. 20 .
• • 234
xviii. 1
200, 225
xxxii. 5, 10
• 37
iv. 6 .
• 44i
iii. 21 .
■ 86, 259
xviii. 1-8 .
. 138
xxxii. 7, 10
. 236
iv. 20 .
• 384
iii. 23 .
. . 86
xviii. 11 .
• 345
xxxii. 14 .
. 362
iv. 24-26
. 361
iii. 24 .
51, 86, 124
xviii. 12 .
• 405
xxxii. 24, 25
. 26
V. 2
. 290
iii. 25 .
• • 259
xviii. 23-33
200, 400
xxxii. 25, 28
3i 36i
vii. -xii.
• 99
iv. 7 .
• 139. 293
xix. 15-26
• 225
xxxii. 30 .
108, 476
vii. 16 .
• 32
iv. 15 .
. . . 47
xix. 17
22
xxxii. 31 .
• 476
xi. xii .
• 476
iv. 17 .
. . . 63
xix. 18-21
• 407
xxxiii. 18-20
• 117
xii. 8 . .
45, 258
iv. 19 .
• • 234
xix. 26
23
xxxiv. .
192
xii. 11
. 26
iv. 25 .
. . 87
xix. 30-3S
xxxiv. 30 .
• 179
xii. 21-23
. 200
iv. 26 .
. • 360
25.
1 -17, 200
xxxv. 4 .
• 337
xii. 22 .
18
v. 3 •
. . 87
XX. II .
• 342
xxxv. 16, 20
. 361
xii. 23-29
. 266
v. 27 .
129
xxi. 3, 6 .
• 139
xxxv. 16, 18
• 135
xii. 29, 30, 38 .
vi. 3 .
• 363, 438
xxi. 12
• 345
xxxv. 18, 19
• 199
Mi. 339
vi. 3. 5
. . 39S
xxi. 31
• 145
XXXV. 21 .
. 200
xii. 46 ... . 39
vi. 4 .
. . 11
xxii.
47, 137
xxxvii.
• 47
xiii. 2 . . 190, 466
vii. 2 .
xxii. 1 .
. 264
xxxvii. 23
68, 106
xiii. 18 . . . 47
29
47, 77. 234
xxiii. 19 .
• 139
xxxvii. 25
. 164
XV. 1 . .
• 304
vii. 11 .
. . 87
xxiv. 15, 16
• 145
xxxvii. 2S
. 362
XV. 20, 21
• 4i
vii. 13 .
• • 234
xxiv. 42 .
• 370
xxxvii. 35
5T, 465
XV. 21 . .
107
vii. 23 .
. . 18
XXV. 1 .
30
xxxvii. 36
. 165
xv. 23-25
. 26
514
JEROME.
PAGE
FAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Ex. xv. 23-27 . 14
5, 247
Num. xii. 14 .
l60
Deut. xxiv. 1-4
. Ill
1 Sam. viii. 1-4 anc
xvi. 3 . . .
399
xiii. 23,24
200
xxvii. 9 .
209, 249
chap, ix
384
xvii. 4 . . .
172
xiv. 7 . . .
465
xxix. 23 .
■ 63
viii. 3 . . .
294
xvii. 8 . . .
399
xiv. 18 . .
266
xxxii. 7
• 97
ix. 9
93
xvii. 8-14
185
xvi. 26 . .
321
xxxii. 15 .
• 399
xii. 3 . . .
59
xvii. 11
130
xvi. 29 . .
402
xxxiii. 9 .
• 429
xii. 3-5 • •
148
xviii. 3 . .
384
xvi. 46-48
260
xxxiv. 5, 6
xiv. 24 . .
399
xix. 15 . .
75
xviii. 9 . .
343
212,
337, 362
xiv. 27
466
XX
99
xviii. 15, 16 .
339
xxxiv. 6, S
• 52
XV. II . . .
291
xx. 5 . . .5
0, 291
xviii. 20-24 •
222
xxxiv. 8 .
5i, 125
xv. 11, 17
289
XX. 12 . . 10
3, 231
xviii. 20 .
413
Josh. ii. 18 . .
• 9r
xv. 35 . . .
225
xxi. 2 . . .
408
xviii. 24 .
91
iii. 13, 15, i(
) . 361
xvi. 6 . . .
466
xxi. 10 . .
144
xix. 1-10
200
iii. 17 . .
. 201
xvi. 7 . . .
xxi. 12, 13 .
465
xx. 10, 12
469
iv. 3, 20 .
. 201
39- 251, 27
3, 471
xxii. 28 .
430
xx. 13 . . .
391
v. 2, 9
• 157
xvi. 11-13
17
xxiii. 26 . .
344
xx. 17 . . .7
o, 251
v. 3 • •
. 201
xvii. 49 .
61
xxv. ir . .
32
xx. 29 . .
Si, 52
v. 15 . .
29, 362
xvii. 50, 51 .
149
xxv. 22
32
xxi. 3 . . .
361
vi. 20.
• 157
xviii. 6, 7
61
xxvii. 20 .
258
xxi. 9 . . .
5
vii.
. . 278
xxi. 1 . . .
117
xxviii. . .
413
xxi. 10-12
52
vii. 12
. 466
xxi. 4, 5 . .7
5, 361
xxxi. 2, 3
128
xxi. 13, 14 .
361
vii. 24-26
. 201
xxi. 10 . .
204
xxxii. 4 . .
168
xxi. 14 . .
94
viii. . .
, 157
xxii. 16-1S .
117
xxxii. 6 . .
25
xxi. 17-23 .
94
ix.
. 198
xxii. 17-19 .
198
xxxii. 10 .
260
xxiii. 21 . .if
2, 265
ix. 27 . .
• 4i3
xxv. 38
247
xxxii. 11-14 .
419
xxiii. 27, 29 .
266
x. 1, 26 .
• 157
xxviii. 13
187
xxxii. 30-35 • 15
9,419
xxiii. 40-42 .
94
x. 3 • ■
• 362
xxx. 1, 17
407
xxxii. 31, 32
172
xxiv. 15-19 .
. 161
x. 12-14 .
. . 198
2 Sam. iv. 11 . .
466
xxxii. 32 .
260
xxiii., xxiv., xx
vi. 99
x. 13 . .
• • 399
v. 7, 9 . .
199
xxxiii. 3 . .
106
xxv. 6-8 . .
293
x. 16 . .
• 362
vi. 6, 7 . .3
1, 294
xxxiii. 20
479
xxv. 7, 8 .
213
xi. 10 . .
• 157
vi. 7,8 . .
466
xxxiii. 21-23
236
xxviii. 15, 22
465
xi. 19, 20
. 466
viii. 13, 14 .
469
xxxiv. 29, 30
88
xxix, 5, 11, 17
465
xiv. 3 . .
• 413
xi
26
xxxiv. 33, 35
369
xxxiii. . . 9
9, 161
xiv. 15
. 200
xi. 4 . . .
182
xxxvii.
361
xxxiii. 47, 48
157
xv. 13-15
• 139
xii. 13 . . 22
7, 400
xxxviii. 8
361
xxxiv. 15
413
xv. 14 . .
• 139
xii. 16 . . .
• 159
Lev. ii. 11 . . .4
5, 258
xxxv. 6 . .
465
xix. 50
. 362
xiii. . . .
27
ii. 13 . . .
244
xxxv. 13 .
466
xxii. 27
109
xiii. 14 . .
293
iv. 2, 27 . .
465
xxxv. 30 .
445
xxiv. 28, 29
. 362
xvi. 10 . .
469
v. 3 ...
465
Deut. v. 31 . .
229
xxiv. 30 .
xvii. 1-4 . .
• 5i
viii. . . .
99
vi. 5 . . .
94
52,
125, 201
xvii. 14
469
ix. 1 . . .
465
vii. 13 . . .
118
xxiv. 33 .
. 201
xviii. 33 . .
5i
ix. 7 . . .
321
viii. 3 . . .
266
Jud. i. 13-15 .
. 200
xxi. 1 . . .
413
x. 6 ...
52
viii. 12-14
399
v. 21 .
. 202
xxiv. . . .
. 278
x. 9 . 94, 14
7, 400
viii. 15 . .
9. 145
vi. 2
• 34i
xxiv. 10 .
466
xii. 2,3 . .
333
ix. 6
466
vi. 36-40 .
120
1 Kings i. 1-4
. 89
xii. 6 . . .
465
xi. 10 . . .
61
vi. 37 . .
. 200
i. 4 . . . .
90
xii. 7 .
465
xi. 11 . . .
61
xi. 1 . .
. 126
i. 38 ...
• 145
xiv. 1, 6 .
465
xi. 14 . . .
61
xi. 30, 31
• 363
ii. 10 . . .
• 65
xv. 31 . . .
465
xiii. 3 . . .
204
xi. 34-40 .
. 223
iii. 3 . . .
166
xvi. 2 . . 41
3, 465
xiii. 5 . . .
213
xv. 17-19
. 202
iii. 16-28 . .
• 154
xvi. 5 . . .
465
xiii. 6-9 .
213
xvii. 5
• 45
iv. 33 . . .
26
xvi. 6 . . .
465
xv. 12 . . .
34i
xix., xx. .
. 198
vii. 14 . .
128
xix. 2 . . .
223
xv. 21 . . .
192
xxi. 19-23
. 201
viii. 9 . . .
32
xix. 15 . .
163
xvii. 5, 12
16
Ruth i. . . .
53
viii. 46 . 27
3, 466
xxi. 7, 13
144
xvii. 6 . . .
445
i. 14 . .
. 152
xi. 1-4 . .
26
xxi. 17-23
322
xvii. 9, 11
147
i. 16 . .
. 211
xi. 3 . . .
3f>4
xxii. 12, 13 . 23
2, 361
xvii. 15 . .
341
1 Sam. i. 3
. 201
xi. 14 . . .
204
xxii. 14 .
4f>5
xviii. 2
422
i- 15, 17 •
. 400
xii. 10 . . .
171
xxv. 8 . .
267
xviii. 9-12
466
i. 27, 28 .
• 247
xiii. 24 . .
402
xxv. 13 . . .
408
xviii. 13 . 45
4, 466
ii, 12-17, 22
xiv. 5 . . .
466
Num. iv. 3, 23, 30,
xviii. 14, 15 .
466
148,
294, 373
xiv. 8 . . .
469
35, 39 • • O
3,36i
xx. 7 • • 33
6, 361
ii. 18 . .
• 10, 45
XV. II . . .
469
vi. 1 . . .
465
xxi. 10-13
149
ii. 21 . .
• 195
xvi. 34 . .
201
vii. 5-9 . .
414
xxi. 11, 12
138
ii. 22 . .
361, 363
xvii. 4-6 . .
37
vii. 24 . . .
94
xxi. 17 . .
410
ii. 24 . .
. 460
xvii. 9-16
vii. 28, 29
465
xxii. 1
34i
ii. 25 . .
• 443
37, ic
S, 251
xi. 4, 20, 31 .
258
xxii. 4 . .
464
ii. 27-36 .
. 192
xviii. 3, 4
65
xi. 4-6 . .
399
xxii. 8
466
ii. jO . .
• 137
xviii. 4
202
xi. 16 . . 11
9, 127
xxii. 10 .
231
iv. . . .
. 278
xviii. 21 .
425
xi. 34 • • .
402
xxii. 23-27 . 11
1, 336
iv. 18 . .
294, 373
xviii. 40 .
213
xii. 1 .
23
xxiii. 2
. 466
iv. 19-22 .
. 136
xix. 4 . . .
469
xii. 3 . . .
171
xxiii. 3 . .
25
vii. 7 . .
. 400
xix. 4-6 . .
26
INDEX OF TEXTS.
5i5
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
1 Kings xix. 8-1 r
• 399
Esther xiv. 11 . . 74
Ps. xvi. 7 . . .
■ 274
Ps. xli. 1 . .
. . I06
xix. 1 1- 13
. 236
xiv. 16 . . . 262
xvi. 9 . . .
439
xli. 3 . .
. . 196
xix. 21
• 153
. 221
xvii. 4 . .
xviii. 15 .
277
327
xli. 7 . .
xli. 9 . .
• • 454
xxi. 10 . .
i. 1 .... 453
. . 422
xxi. 13 . .
• 293
i. 16 . . . . 264
xviii. 37 . .
226
xlii. 1, 2 .
. . 207
xxi. 19 . .
. 227
i. 20, 21 . . . 221
xviii. 45 . .
425
xlii. 1-3 .
. . 226
xxi. 19-21
• 159
i. 21 ....
xix. 4 . . .
120
x.ii. 3 . .
. . 207
xxi. 23 . .
. 227
36, 50, 205, 234, 257
xix. "6 .
327
xlii. 6 .
. . 202
xxi. 25
• 159
ii. 3 ... 26, 221
xix. 9 . . .
269
xlii. 11
• 24, 205
xxi. 27 . .
• 159
ii- 4, 5 x39, 203, 221
xix. 12-14
266
xliv. 8 . .
• • 33
xxi. 27-29
227, 400
ii. 6 .... 221
xix. 12, 13
xliv. 17, 18
. • 205
xxi. 28, 29 .
• 159
iii. 3 ... 49, 491
454, 464
xliv. 21
205, 273
xxi. 29
• 294
iv. 17-21 . . . 466
xix. 13
248, 266
xliv. 22
205, 255
xxii. 19
. 280
iv. 18 . . . . 470
xx. 7 . .
• 304
xliv. 23
. . 210
2 Kings i. 8 .
. 262
v. 17 . . . . 391
xxi. 1 . .
. 480
xiv.
134, 253
ii. 11 . . .
23, 88
vii. 1 . 264, 391, 466
xxii. 1
• 117
xiv. 1 . .
154, 207
ii. 11, 13 . .
153, 222
vii. 20, 21 . . 466
xxii. 2
. 480
xiv. 2 . .
. . 441
ii. 13 . .
• 29
ix. 9 . . . . 406
xxii. 22
• 342
xiv. 3 . .
• • 235
ii. 19-22 .
. 201
ix. 15, 16 . . . 466
xxii. 29, 30
. 200
xiv. 9, 13, 1
4 •
iv. 27 . .
. 466
ix. 20, 30, 31
xxiii. 5 .
• 58
261, 352
iv. 38, 39 . •
. 246
388, 453
xxiv. 1
xiv. 10
24, 68, 103
iv. 38-41 .
. 26
ix. 29-31 . . . 466
21,
120, 174
xiv. 10, II
. 22, 103
vi. 1, 2
121, 246
x. 15 . . . . 466
xxv.
• 489
xiv. 13 .
vi. 5, 6 .
• 247
xiv. 4 . . . . 464
xxv. 7
• 157
19:
•,'261, 438
vi. 16 . .
23
xiv. 4, 5 . . .
xxv, 15
. 276
xlvi. 4
. . 119
vi. 17 . .
• 23
286, 38S, 466
xxvi. 1, 2
• 39°
xlvii. 7
• • 249
vi. 18-23 •
. 26
xvi. 21 . . . 453
xxvi. 2
• 469
xlviii. 2 .
. . 362
x. 15, 16,
121
xviii. 14, 15 • ■ 74
xxvi. 8
210, 270
xlviii. 8 .
xiii. 21
• 65
xix. 23-27 . . 439
xxvii. 4 .
. 270
4
2, 125, 207
xviii. 3, 4, 7
• 469
xx, 26 . . . . 200
xxvii. 13 .
. 22, 211
xlix. 7
109
xviii. 14 .
• 4fi9
xxv. 5 .... 470
xxix. 3, 10
. . 146
1. 16, 17 .
. . 278
xviii., xix.
. 400
xxv. 5, 6 . 246, 467
xxx. 5 . .
• . 125
1. 18 . .
. • 213
xix. 28
9
xxxi. 35 • • • 453
xxx. 6, 7 .
• • 469
1. 20 . .
39, 8o, 250
-xix. 35 .
. 130
xxxviii. 3 . . . 26
xxx. 7
. . 226
1. 20, 21 .
• • 95
XX. . . .
• 47
xxxviii. 32 . . 406
xxx. 9
• 327
Ii. 1 . 22
7, 39°. 469
xx. 1, 5 .
• 469
xl. 4 . . . . 466
xxx. II .
. . 207
li. 2-4 . .
. . 227
xx. 12, 13
• 3i
xl. 8 . . . . 204
xxxii. 1 .
. . 278
Ii. 4 • •
. 26, 411
xx. 13, 17
• 469
xl. 16 . . 9, 26, 267
xxxii. 1, 2
. . 146
li. 4, 12
• • 159
xx. 18 . .
• 364
xl. 16, 21 . . . 391
xxxii. 4 .
. 196, 470
li. 5 . 27
3, 388, 464
xxii. 14
• 364
xli. 13 .... 391
xxxii. 5 .
. 466, 469
H- 5, 7 •
• • 293
xxiii. 29 .
xli. 27 .... 391
xxxii. 5, 6
. . 227
li. 7 • •
• • 7
141,
19S, 391
xli. 34 .... 391
xxxii. 9 .
. 418
li. 12 . .
. • 388
1 Chron. ii. 32
. 466
xlii. 6 . . . 280, 482
xxxii. 10 .
• 463
li. 13 . .
. . 227
ii- 55 • •
• 9i
Ps. i. 2 ....
xxxiii. 6 .
• 432
li. 17 . .
• • 159
vi. 34-38 .
■ 363
7, 45, 9°> 97,
xxxiii. 15
• 434
liii. 4 .
• • 415
xi. 5, 6 .
• 123
254, 273, 422
xxxiv.
• 489
liii. 5 . .
• • 34
xxi. 15-1S
. . 61
i. 1-5 • • 463
xxxiv. 2 .
• 33
Iv. 6 . .
xxii. 8 .
• 363
ii. 4
• • • 59
xxxiv. 8 .
38,152, K
>4, 196, 229
xxiii. 14 .
• • 334
ii. 8
... 327
154,
207, 276
lv. 7, 8 .
. . 152
xxviii. 3 .
. . 90
ii. 9
... 213
xxxiv. 14 .
. . 248
Iv. 13 . .
. . 119
2 Chron. iii. 1
. . 61
iv. 4
. . 13, 268
xxxv. 13 .
. 196, 266
Iv. 21 . .
. • 250
vi. 36 . .
• • 454
v. 8
• • • 476
xxxvi. 6 .
50, 209
lvi. 4 . .
. . 24
viii. 5 • •
. . 198
v. 12
... 472
xxxvi. 7 .
• • 74
lvii. 4 . .
250, 270
XV. 2 . .
• • 472
vi. 5
35, 227, 335
xxxvii.
. 489
lvii. 6 .
. . 320
xvii. 3 . .
. . 469
vi. 6
28, 202, 226
xxxvii. 5, 6
. 469
lvii. 7, S .
. . 266
xix. 2 . .
. . 469
vii. 9
1
xxxvii. 25
• 37
lviii. 3
. . 466
xx. 5-25 .
• • 130
viii. 3
... 429
xxxvii. 27
• 353
lviii. 4
. . 2S2
xxii. 9 . .
. . 469
viii. 4-
3 ... 391
xxxvii. 39
• 469
Ixii. 1 . .
. . in
xxxii. 2d .
. . 469
ix.
... 489
xxxviii. 2
• 40
lxii. 2 . .
• • 457
xxxii. 30 .
■ • 145
ix. 6
• • • 327
xxxviii. 5
. 227, 4S0
lxiii. 1
. . 207
xxxiii. 12, 13
X.
... 489
xxxviii. 7
. 469, 480
lxiii. 1, 2 .
152, 155
159. 39°
x. 8, 9
... 15
xxxviii. 8
• • 469
lxiii. 1-3 .
. . 226
xxxiv. 2 .
. . 469
xi. 2
... 469
xxxviii. 13
. . 204
lxiii. 8
235, 265
xxxiv. 22, 23
• 469
xii. 1
. 327, 468
xxxviii. 13, ]
4 . 21
lxviii. 13 .
. . 138
xxxv. 20-24
xii. 7
. . . 12
xxxviii. 14
. . 204
Ixviii. 14 .
• • 138
280, 391
xiv. 1
124, 46S
xxxix. 1, 2
. 21, 204
lxviii. 27 .
• • 47
XXXV. 22 .
■ • 469
xiv. 3
... 468
xxxix. 2 .
• • 490
lxviii. 30 .
. . 208
Neh. iv. 16
• • 47
xiv. 4
• • • 415
xxxix. 4 .
. . 286
lxix. 4
■ • 44
Esther ii. 1-4 .
. . 248
XV. 2, 2
... 177
xxxix. 5 .
• • 469
lxix. 5 . 20
5, 467, 469
vi. 1 . .
• • 477
xvi. 4
... 472
xxxix. 6 .
. 28, 88
lxix. 10 .
. . 266
vii. 10 . .
• • 31
xvi. 5
. 91, 222
xxxix. 12
• 152, 196
lxix. 11
• ■ 44
ix. 20-32 .
IOI
xvi. 5,
6 . . . 91
xl. 2 . .
22
9, 265
lxix. 12
. . 216
5i6
INDEX OF TEXTS.
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Ps. lxxi. 7 .
. . 205
Ps. ci. 8 . .
213
Ps. exxviii. 3 .
Prov. xv. 1 ... 467
Ixxi. 15 .
• • 349
cii. 5 . .
28
30,
235, 362
xvi. 3 . . . . 476
lxxii. 1
• • 349
2S
exxviii. 6 .
• 235
lxxii. 20 .
• • 4i
cii. 9 . .
exxxi. 1
• 33
xvi. 9 . . . . 276
Ixxiii. title
. . 41
29, 207,
266,
400
exxxi. 2 .
. . 211
xvi. 26 . 400, 466
lxxiii. 2, 3
. 50, 362
ciii. 2-4 .
29
exxxii. 1 .
157, 171
xviii. 3 . . . 225
Ixxiii. 3-9
. . 290
ciii. 8, 10 .
469
exxxii. 2-5
• • 199
xviii. 12 . . . 157
lxxiii. 11, 12
432
exxxii. 6 .
. . 200
xviii. 17 . 454, 466
50, 290
civ. 18
265
exxxii. 7 .
, 63, 200
xix. 21 ... 466
lxxiii. 13 .
. . 290
civ. 20, 21
23
exxxii. 11 .
. . 26
xix. 25 . . . 106
lxxiii. 13, 1^
• 50
civ. 24
458
exxxii. 14 .
. . 200
xx. 1 . . . . 394
lxxiii. 13, 15
. 141
civ. 26
152
exxxii. 17 .
. . 200
lxxiii. 15 .
• 15, 50
civ. 29
257
exxxiii. 1 .
• ■ 342
246, 273, 388, 466
lxxiii. 16, iy
9
civ. 35
462
exxxiv. I .
• • 413
xx. 17 . . . . 466
50, 458
cv. 37 . .
30
exxxvii. 1 .
. 61
xx. 19 . . . . 367
lxxiii. 17 .
• • 407
cvi. 32
391
exxxvii. 3
9
xx. 24 ... 462
Ixxiii. 20 .
. . 58
cix. 24
28,
400
exxxvii. 4
. 60
xxi. 9 .... 367
lxxiii. 22, 23
ex. 3 . .
I99
exxxvii. 9
. 24, 266
xxiv. 16 . . . 229
205, 458
489
exxxix. 6 .
• 456
xxiv. 21, 22 . .
lxxiii. 25 .
. . 58
cxi. 10
276
exxxix. 11, 12 . 75
95, 251
lxxiii. 26 .
489
exxxix. 12
. 196
xxv. 23 ... 251
9i
, 138, 409
156
exxxix. 13
9
xxv. 24 367
Ixxiii. 2S .
. . 58
cxiii. 7, 8
471
exxxix. 21
• 87
xxvii. 15 . . . 367
lxxiv. 13, 14
• • 145
cxvi. 7
exxxix. 21, 2
2, .
xxviii. 13 . . . 227
lxxiv. 14 .
• • 39i
2C
, 85,
428
213, 429
xxix. 16 . . . 466
lxxiv. 19 .
. . 208
cxvi. 9
86
cxl. 6 . .
• 470
xxx. 15, 16 . . 367
lxxv. 5
• • 157
cxvi. 11 .
cxli. 3, 4 .
. 216
xxxi. 10, 11 . . 144
lxxvi. 1 .
120, 124
411,
46*8,
480
cxli. 4 .
lxxvi. 2 .
cxvi. 12, 13,
15-
84, no,
250, 251
i. 9 .... 273
61
. 155, 249
40
cxli. 5 . .
• 251
i. 9, 10 . . . 241
lxxvii. 2 .
. . 469
cxvi. 14, 15
9
cxli. 6 .
• 469
i. 13 . . . . 70
lxxvii. 4 .
167, 205
cxvi. 15 .
213
cxlii. 4
. 265
i. 18 . . 161, 467
lxxvii. 10 .
. . 469
cxviii. 6 .
cxlii. 7
ii. 17 . . . . 467
lxxviii. 12
. . 202
3, 24,
205,
469
35,
269, 428
iii. 1, 2 . . . 368
lxxviii. 25
. . 207
cxviii. 8, 9
94
cxliii. 2
iii. 4 .... 252
lxxviii. 57
. . 251
cxviii. 25 .
22
273. 454,
456, 4S0
iii. 5 . 29, 195, 234
lxxix. 1 .
• • 257
cxix.
413,
489
cxlv. . .
• 489
iii. 7 . . . . 302
Ixxix. 1-3
• • 257
cxix. 1
254.
478
cxlvi. 4
• 257
iii. 10 . . . 70, 357
lxxix. 11 .
. . 205
cxix. 11
177,
254
cxlvi. 7
• 7, 9
iii. 16-22 ... 51
lxxx. 5
. . 469
cxix. 18 .
cxlvi. 8
9
iv. 9-12 ... 157
lxxxii. 1 .
. . 24
94. 93,
122,
456
Prov. i. 1-6
• 149
iv. 12 . . . . 175
lxxxii. 6, 7
. . 24
cxix. 20 .
101
i. 7 . . .
• 171
vii. 10 . . . 368
lxxxiii. 8 .
• • 237
cxix. 54 .
97
ii. 9 . .
• 455
vii. 12 ... 164
lxxxiii. 9, ic
• 65
cxix. 62 .
213
iii. 5, 6 .
• 476
vii. 16 ...
lxxxiv. 1, 2
. . 210
cxix. 67 .
iii. 9 . .
• 153
67, 70, 358, 465. 466
lxxxiv. 6 .
. 26, 269
85,
269, 428
iii. 21 . .
• 367
vii. 20 . . . . 273
lxxxiv. 7 .
• • 152
cxix. 83 .
28
iv. 5-9 .
. 90
vii. 21 . . . .454
lxxxiv. IO
. . 210
cxix. 103 .
108
iv. 23 .
vii. 24, 25 . . 465
lxxxv. 4 .
. . 226
cxix. 104 .
254
33, 167.
246, 266
vii. 28, 29 . . 368
lxxxv. 10 .
. . 227
cxix. 105 .
369.
420
v. 3 • ■
. 258
viii. 14 . . . 467
lxxxv. II .
ICO
cxix. 123 .
337
v. 15 . .
• 257
viii. 17 ... 467
lxxxv. 11, 1:
2 . 291
cxix. 136 .
226
V. 22 . .
• 78
ix. 2 . . . . 210
lxxxvii. 1, 2
cxix. 137 .
50
vi. 8 . .
. 248
ix. 2, 3 . . . 467
61, 199
cxix. 140 .
28
vi. 20 .
• 87
ix. 8 . . . .
lxxxvii. 5 .
. . 109
cxix. 176 .
229
vi. 26 .
• 367
49, 162, 265, 368, 441
lxxxix. 2 .
. . 469
exx.-exxxiv.
9.
100
vi. 27, 28
x. I ... 58, 467
lxxxix. 20, 2
1 • 473
cxx. 3 . .
480
27, 35o
x. 4 . 33, 265, 266
lxxxix. 48
■ • 477
cxx. 5 . .
40,
414
vii. 2 .
• 205
x. n . . . . 251
xc. . . .
. . 282
cxx. 5, 6 .
5i.
195
vii. 3 . .
• 39
xi. 2 . . . . 331
xc. IO . .
. 11, 223
exxi. 1
9
vii. 27 .
• 367
xi. 19 . . . . 467
xci. 5-7 .
• • 23
exxi. 4
156,
213
ix. 18 . .
• 367
xii. 7 . . 3, 49, 252
xci. 6 . .
. . 469
exxi. 6
.
95
x. 1 . .
• 93
Canticles, or Song of
xci. 10
. . 140
exxiii. 2 .
337
x. 9 . .
217, 425
Songs .... 101
xcii. 14
. . 469
exxiv. 7
23
x. 19 . .
• 472
i. 3, 4 . . . . 25
xcii. 15
. . 269
exxvi. 5 .
5.
100
xiii. 4 .
24S, 269
i. 4 ....
xciv. 20 .
• • 277
exxvi. 5, 6
226
xiii. 8 .
23, 169, 192,
xcv. 4, 5 .
. . 40
exxvii. 1
450,
472
36,
153, 480
261, 438
xcv. 6 . .
. . 17S
exxvii. 2 .
47
xiv. 1 . . .
• 144
i. 5 .... 22
xcvi. 6
. . 227
exxvii. 3 .
166
xiv. 12
i. 7 ....
xcvii. 8
• 36, 50
exxvii. 4 .
47
12,
332, 466
23, 33, 138,
xcix. G
• • 363
exxvii. 5 .
223
xiv. 28
. 260
200, 225, 265
ci. 6 . .
. . 460
exxviii. 2 .
47
xiv. 29 . .
• 205
i. 8 .... 33
INDEX OF TEXTS.
5i7
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Canticles, or Song of
Isa. xi. 1
Isa. xlvii. 1
,2 . . 160
Jer. xiii. 26
. . 24
Songs, i. io, 11 . 368
29,
65, Il6, 155
xlvii. 1
4 . . . 160
xiv. 11, IS
s . . 256
i. 13 • • • • 32
xi. 3 .
• • 323
xlix. 2
... 156
XV. 10
. . 50
ii. 1 ....
xi. 6-8
. . 266
xlix. 8
. . . 205
xv. 17
. . 258
29, 155, 265, 368
xi. 10 .
. . . 62
1.6
. . . 82, 147
xvi. 2 .
• 30, 234
ii. 3 .... 187
xiii. 21, 22
• • 417
li. 7, S
... 205
xvii. 9
. . . 466
ii. 4 . . . . 61
xiii. 22
. . 24
liii. 6
. ... 470
xvii. 11
■ • 275
ii. 5 .... 138
xiv. 12
18, 23, 39I
liii. 8
. ... 430
xvii. 13
. . 469
ii. 6 . . . 29, 138
xiv. 12, 12
. . 41
liv. 1
. 30, 136, 370
xvii. 14
• • 47i
ii. 10, 11 . . . 41
xiv. 13
. . 27
lvi. 3
• . . 30, 356
xvii. 16
. . 265
ii. 10-12 . .211, 368
xiv. 13, 14
lviii. 3,
4 • • 39
xviii. 3, 4
• • 44i
ii. 13 . . . . 368
23, 272, 48O
lviii. 5
. . 39, 402
xviii. 7, 8
• • 475
ii. 13, 14 . . . 369
xiv. 14 .
• 133, 304
lx. I
. ... 159
xx. 14 .
• 49- 47i
ii. 15 . . . . 18
XV. 1 .
• • 257
lx. 6
. . . 164
xx. 17, 18
• • 47*
ii. 16 . . . 265, 368
xv. 5 .
. . 200
lxiii. 1
... 441
xxii. 10
. . 226
iii. 1 . . . .
xvi. 1 .
IOO, 108
lxiii. 3
200, 414
xxiii. 23
. . 471
28, 138, 152, 265
xvi. 6 .
• • 471
lxiv. 4
... 117
xxiii. 28
229, 454
iii. 2 . . 32
xviii. 2
• • 83
lxv. 5
• • 276, 387
xxiv. 1-3
• • 45
iii. 2, 3 . . . 32
xix. 18
. . 202
lxv. 13
14 . . 207
xxiv. 6. 7
• • 471
iii. 4 . . . 32, 65
xix. 19
. . IS?
lxv. 17
... 239
xxvi. 21-2
4 . . 471
iii. 7, 8 . . . 369
xix. 21
• • 417
lxvi. 2
• 7, 17, 5i
xxvii. 6
. . 13°
iv. 2 . . ' . . 146
XX. 2 .
• • 54
lxvi. 5
... 342
xxviii. 13
• • 415
iv. 6 . . . . 369
xxi. 9 .
. . 214
lxvi. 7,
8 . . . 146
xxix. 14-2
0 . . 180
iv. 7 . . . 103, 479
xxii. 12, 1
3 • • 225
lxvi. 22
! ... 241
xxix. 20-2
3 . . 106
iv. 8 . . . . 369
xxii. 12-1/
^ . . 291
lxvi. 21
^ ... 441
xxix. 22
. . . 23
iv. 9 . . . 157, 369
xxiii. 15, 1
6 . . 266
Jer. i. 5
• 30, 43, 371
xxx. 10, 1
1 . . 471
iv. 9, 10 . . . 369
xxiv. 2
. . . 260
i. 7
... 47r
xxxi. 22
. . . 370
iv. 12 . . 18, 32, 78
xxiv. 16
• • 73
i. 10
... 184
xxxi. 31
. . 409
iv. 12, 13 . . 369
xxvi. 12
• • 251
i. 11
. . . 101
xxxi. 33
• • • 39
v. I .... 369
xxvi. 18
• • 39
i- 13
. . . 101
xxxi. 33, 3
4 . .409
V. 2 ....
xxvi. 20
• 33, 44i
i. 18
137, 202
xxxi. 34
. . 471
24, 32, 138,
xxvii. 11
• • 144
i. 20
... 471
xxxii. 30
■ • 471
152, 156, 192
xxviii. 9, ]
0 . . 264
ii. 13
207, 259
XXXV. .
. . 121
v. 2, 3 ... 33
xxvii i. 9-1
1 . . 204
ii. 18
... 86
xxxv. 6, 7
. . 247
v. 2, 4, 8 . . 32
xxviii. 12
. . 468
ii. 21
. . . 226
XXXV. II
. . . 121
v. 3 .... 193
xxviii. 15
. . 291
ii. 22
138, 219
xxxv. 18
. . 400
v. 6 ... 32, 33
xxviii. 16
. . 201
ii. 25
... 225
xxxv. 19
. . 121
v. 7 ... 32, 192
xxviii. 24
. . 30
ii. 27
. . . 226
xxxvi. .
• • 45
v. 10 . 211, 370, 441
xxix. 1
• • 199
ii. 32
... 370
xxxvi. 23
. • • 45
v. 16 . . . .. 370
xxix. 11
. . 98
iii. 1
. . . 227
xxxvii. 18,
19 . 471
vi. 8 . . . . 364
xxix. 14
• • 279
iii. 3
xxxviii.
• • 356
vi. 8, 9 ... 234
xxix. 21
• • 470
27
, 219, 233, 293
xxxix. 11
■ • • 37i
vi. 9 . . . 32, 41
xxx. 15
225, 293
iii. 6, 7
. . . 226
xl. 1 .
• • 37i
vi. IO . . . . 41
xxx. 17
• • 130
iii. 10
... 449
1. 23 .
. . 192
vii. 1 . . . . 370
xxxi. 6
. . 227
iii. 20
. ... 144
li. 6 .
64, 211, 415
viii. 5 . 23, 369, 441
xxxi. 9
• 30, 117
iii. 22
... 56
Lam. i.-iv.
. . 101
viii. 6 . . . . 41
xxxii. 6
. 87, 288
v. 1, 2
... 471
ii. 18 .
226, 227
viii. 7 . . . . 41
xxxii. 9
• • 144
v. 8
iii. 24 .
• • 38
viii. 10 . . . 192
xxxii. 20
• 44, 199
23-
1* 338, 415, 418
iii. 26-42
• • 47i
Isa. i. 3 .... 199
xxxiii. 15
• 156, 251
vi. 14
... 415
iii. 27, 28
. . 81
i. 9 .... 365
xxxiv. 5
vi. 16
. . . 106
iii. 27, 28,
30, 31 38
i. 15 • • • • 369
23, 246, 470
vii. 4
• • 120, 415
iv. 4
• • 30
i. 21 . . . . 24
xxxiv. 14-
[6 . . 417
vii. 16
... 411
iv. 6
• • 457
i. 28 . . . . 462
xxxiv. 15
. . 24
vii. 21,
22 . . 471
iv. 29 .
. . 469
iii. 12 . . . .
xxxvii. 22
• • 37o
viii. 4
. . 56, 225
Ezek. i. 4 .
• • 371
251, 470, 481
xxxviii.
• • 47
viii. 22
. . . 164
i. 7 .
. . 101
iii. 16 ... . 415
xxxviii. 19
ix. 1
. . 49, 226
i. 11 .
. . 101
iv. 3 • • • • 5
349, 364
ix. 21
i. 14 .
. . 101
v. 20 . 134, 176, 182
xl. 3 .
. . 116
33, 157, 394
i. 15-20
• . 51
v. 21 . . . . 470
xl. 5 •
• • 439
ix. 24
• • • 33
i. 16 .
. . 101
vi. 2, 3 . . .
xl. 6 .
. • 165
X. II
• • • 493
i. 18 .
. . 101
108, 132, 176
xl. 12 .
. . 40
x. 14
... 456
i. 20 .
. . IOI
vi. 5 . . . 470, 480
xl. 15 .
• • 13
x. 23
i. 22 .
• • 145
vi. 6 . . . . 108
xl. 17 .
. . 471
154
, 276, 462, 466
ii. 1
. . 146
vii. 14 ...
xli. 8 .
• • 163
xi. 14
... 171
ii. 6 .
. . 238
30, 116, 336, 370
xiii. 14
. . 21
xii. I
... 50
ii. 9, 10
. . 291
vii. 14, 15 . . 138
xliii. 26
• • 454
xii. 13
• • 83, 91
ii. 10 . .
■ • 225
vii. 20 ... 149
xiv. 9 .
• • 470
xiii. 4,
5 • • • 9
iii. 1 . .
. . 291
viii. 1 . .23, 39, 138
xiv. 21, 22
. . 227
xiii. 6,
7 • • • 54
iii. 8, 9 .
• • 137
viii. 3 . . . . 39
xlvi. 4
• • 337
xiii. 23
. . .
iv. 9-16
• • 54
viii. 20 . . . 275
xlvi. 8, 9
. . 227
101,
146, 187,
v. 1-5
• • 149
ix. 6 . . . . 30
xlvii. 1-3
. . 24
200, 471
viii. 1 .
. • 364
VOL. VI.
Ll
5i8
INDEX OF TEXTS.
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Ezek. viii. 3 . . . 61
Dan. xii. 3
• • 97
Hab. i. 9, 10,
[6. . 87
Ecclus. xxvii. 5 390
viii. 14 . . . 120
Hosea i. 2 . .
. . 100
i. 16 .
• • 23
xxvii. 25 . . 251
x. 8-22 ... 135
i. 2, 3 . .
• • 234
ii. I . .
. . IOO
xlvi. 1 ... 99
x. 18, 19 . . . 200
i. 2-4 . .
■ • 149
iii. 1 . .
. . 466
Baruch v. 5 . . . 159
xii. 27, 28 . . 290
ii. 6 . .
. . 226
iii. 3 • •
. . I87
vi 45
xiii. 10-16 . . 275
ii. 7 . .
• 235
iii- 3. 4 •
. . IOO
Song of the Holy
xiv. 14, 20 . . 364
ii. 7-9. .
. . 226
iii. 4 . .
■ • 399
Children ... 2
xvi. 1-10 . . . 192
ii. 19 . .
• ■ 470
iii. 8 . .
• • 135
24 267
xvi. 4-6 ... 26
iii. 1, 3, 4
. . 100
iii. 16 . .
• • 470
Bel and the Dragon,
xvi. 6 . . . . 291
iii. 3 • •
• 235
Zeph. i. 10
. . 100
33-39 • < • 4. 26
xvi. 11 . . . 45
vi. 5 . .
. 214
i. 11 . .
. . IOO
Susannah . . 119
xvi. 12 . . . 106
vii. 4 . .
. 267
Hag. i. 1 . .
. . 60
45 sqq. . . . 2, 17
xvi. 14 . . . 470
vii. 4, 6 .
. . 28
i. 6 . . .
• • 157
54. 55. 58, 59 • 493
xvi. 25 . . .
vii. 11 . .
• 45
ii. 6, 7 .
. . 101
2 Mac. v. 17 . . . 471
24, 168, 248
ix. 4 .
. 322
ii. II . ..
• • 97
vii 10
xvi. 42 . . . 141
ix. 11-14 ■
• 279
Zech. iii. 1
. . 470
Matt. i. 5 . . . . 53
xvi. 55 . . 63, 457
ix. 23 . .
. 400
iii. 1-3
• • 39i
i. 17 • . . . 87
xvi. 60, 61 . . 471
xi. 1 . .
115. 489
iii. 3 • •
. . 101
i. 20 . . . 336, 338
xvi. 62, 63 . . 412
xi. 8, 9
227
iii. 9 .
101, 201
i. 22, 23 . . . 116
xviii. 4 . . .
xi. 9 .
• 470
iv. 2, 3
. . 101
i. 24, 25 . . . 335
50, 126, 294, 364, 477
xiii. 14
. 124
vi. 1-3
. . 101
ii. 5, 6 . . . 116
xviii. 20 . . .
xiii. 15 .
124, 155
viii. 5 . .
• • 369
ii. 6 .... 109
50, 105, 192
Joel i. 4 . .
. 100
ix. 9 . .
. 44. 101
ii. 13-15 ... 115
xviii. 23 .
i. 14 . • .
. 402
ix. 10 . .
. . 101
ii. 23 . . . . 115
56, 159, 465
ii. 12, 13 .
. 226
ix. 16 . 2
19, 203, 470
iii. 2 . . 124, 464
xx. 25 . . . . 168
ii. 15 • •
94, 402
ix. 17 . .
• • 369
iii- 3 • • • • 323
xx. 43, 44 . . 471
ii. 29 . .
. 100
xi. 12, 13
. . 115
iii. 4 . . . .
xxiii. 3 . . . 168
iii. 13 . .
. 183
xi. 15 . .
. . 91
26, 48, 190, 262
xxiv. 15-18 . . 54
iii. 18 . .
. 78
xii. 1
• • 434
iii. 7 .... 187
xxiv. 16-18, 27 . 234
Amos i. 1 .
65, 200
xii. 10 .
115, 489
iii. 9 . . . . 29
xxiv. 18 . . . 371
i. 3 • • •
266, 290
xiii. 7 .
. . 115
iii. 10 . 16, 214, 234
xxv. 13 . . . 341
ii. 12 . .
. 400
Mai. i. 2, 3
241, 278
iii. 11 ... . 323
xxviii. 3 . . . 467
iv. 1 . .
. 100
i. 6 . .
• • 93
iii. 12 ... 229
xxviii. 12, 13 . 391
v. 2 . .
. 24
i. 10, 11 .
. . 101
iii. 13 ... . 65
xxxii. 17 . . . 471
v. 19 . . ,
. 220
ii. II, 12 .
■ • 353
iii. 13-17. • • 145
xxxiii. 10, 11 . 225
vi. 4-6 . .
. 118
iii. I . .
. . 116
iii. 16 . . . 45, 145
xxxiii. II . . .
vi. 11 . .
. 100
iii. 6 . .
. . 456
iv. I . . . . 266
12, 226, 291
vi. 13 . . .
. 470
iii. 7 . .
• • 293
iv. 1 sqq. . . . 264
xxxiii. 12 . . 104, 229
vi. 14 . . .
• 471
iii. 14. !5.
18 . 290
iv. 1-4 ... 6
xxxiii. 32 . . . 497
vii. 1 . . .
. 100
iv. 2 . .
iv. 2, 3 . . . 26
xxxiv. 17, 20, 21 404
vii. 7 . . .
. 100
18,:
8, 201, 407
iv. 3 . . . . 266
xxxiv. 18 . . . 256
vii. 12, 13
• 54
2 Esdras i. 30 .
. . 60
iv. 4 . . . . 6
xxxiv. 31 . . . 404
vii. 14 . .
17, 100
vii. 35-45
• • 419
iv. 17 . . . . 464
xxxvi. 24-26 . 146
viii. 1 . .
. 100
Jud. xiii. . 2
0, 108, 168
iv. 18-20 ... 15
xxxvi. 31, 32 . 412
viii. 11 . .
. 100
Wisdom i. 11 .
. 16, 411
iv. 18-22 . . .
xxxvii. 1-8 . . 439
viii. 13
. 24
ii. 23 . .
. . 88
48, 102, 165
xliv. 2, 3 . . 78, 466
Obad. 4 . . . .
• 23
ii. 24 . .
. . 204
iv. 19 . . . 152, 247
xliv. 10 . . . 409
Jonah i. 3 . . .
. 198
iii. 21 . .
• • 465
iv. 23 . . . . 464
xliv. 15, 16 . . 471
i. 12 . . .
. 279
iv. 9 .11
9, 127, 165
v. 6 .... 401
xliv. 22 . . . 361
i. 14 . . .
• 479
iv. n, 14
v. 7 .... 203
xlvi. 20 . . . 466
ii. 1, 2 . .
6
5
0, 124, 164
v. 8 . 88, 245, 478
xlvii. I, 8 . . 145
ii. 2-7 . . .
• 5i
iv. 11-14 .
• • 155
v. 9 .... 170
Dan. i., ii. ... 400
iii. 4 . . .
• 475
iv. 13 . .
• 103, 165
v. 10 . . . . 204
i. 8 .... 26
iii. 5-10 . .
v. 4 . .
. . 42
v. 13 . . . .
i. 16 . . . . 106
20,
159, 400
vi. 6 . .
. . 16
17, 18, 244, 321
ii. 34, 45 . . . 133
iv. 10, 11 . .
• 475
vi. 7
. . 408
v. 13, 14 . . . 18
ii. 45 . . . 29, 101
iv. 11 . . .
. 192
vii. 1 . .
. . 61
v. 14 . . . .
iii. 25 . . . 165, 267
Micah i. 1 . . .
. 100
viii. 7 . .
• 95. 135
iS, 119, 312, 467
iv. 13 . . . 156, 213
i. 1, 14 • .
. 202
ix. 15 . .
. . 208
v. 15 . . . . 322
iv. 16, 25, 32 . 267
iv. 8 . . .
. 200
x. 1 . .
. 284, 285
v. 19 . . . 6, 409
iv. 17 . . . . 471
v. 1 . . .
. 100
x. 7 . .
. . 225
v. 21, 22 . . . 17
iv. 27 . . .136, 203
v. 2 . . .
. 116
Ecclus. ii. 1 .
. 222, 390
v. 22 . . . .
iv- 33-37 ... 190
v. 2, 3
• 199
iii. 30 ■ 13
6, 165, 203
83, 363, 467. 468
v. 1-3 . . . . 31
vi. 8 . . .
• 47o
iv. 25 . .
. . 136
v. 23, 24 . . .
vi 2
vii. 2 . . .
• 470
vii. 36 .
• • 255
13, 171, 468
vi. 10 . . . . 33
vii. 19 . . .
. 146
x. 9 . .
• • 273
v. 25 . ^ . . 254
vii. 7, 8 . . . 236
Nahum i. 3 . .
• 47i
xi. 25 . .
. . 160
v. 25, 26 . . 265
ix. 5 . . . . 471
i. 9 . . .
. 141
xiii. 1 . .
• • 153
v. 26 ... . 7
ix. 20 . . . 471
i. 15 • • •
. 100
xiii. 2 . .
. . 207
v. 27 . . . . 363
ix. 23 . . . 26, 66
iii. 1 . . .
. 100
xix. 30
• • 195
v. 28 . . . .
ix. 24 . . . . 471
Hab. i. 2-4
. 466
xxii. 6
. . 220
24, 157. 246, 465
xii. 2 . . . . 441
i. 8 . . .
. 130
xxv. 9 . .
. . 112
v. 32 . . . . no
INDEX OF TEXTS.
5i9
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Matt. v. 34
. . 40I
Matt. x. 22-34
. 468
Matt. xvi. 23 .
14, 48
Matt. xxiv. 19 . .
v. 35 • •
• • 63
x. 23 . .
265, 290
xvi. 24
224
236, 345, 356
v. 37 • •
. . 468
x. 24, 25 .
. 291
xvi. 25
. 468
xxiv. 19, 20 . . 224
v. 38, 39 •
• • 235
x. 25 . .
• 49
xvi. 26
205
xxiv. 24 .
• 435
v. 39 • •
. I76, 204
x. 34 . .
• 23
xvii. 1-9 .
. . 65
xxiv. 46 .
. 418
v. 40 . .
. . I02
x. 37 . 14,
205, 429
xvii. 2 .
• 439
xxv. 1 .
58, 20
v. 42 . .
. . IO6
x. 40 . .
156,212
xvii. 15
. 468
XXV. I-IO
• 251
v. 44 . .
. l8o, 277
xi. 7-14 .
262
xvii. 19
. . 468
xxv. 1-12
. 267
v. 48 . .
• • 454
xi. 8 . .
262
xvii. 20
313, 327
xxv. 3, 10
24
vi. 2 . .
• 36. 42
xi. 10 . .
• 323
xvii. 21
. 400
xxv. 4 .
10, 107,
vi. 3, 16-18
• • 33
xi. 11 . .
323, 408
xviii. 3
13
xxv. 13
• 407
vi. 5 . .
• • 95
xi. 12 . 40,
124, 401
xviii. 6
• 363
xxv. 14 sqq.
. 412
vi. 6 . .
• • 33
xi. 13 . .
377, 390
xviii. 7
. 468
xxv. 31 sqq.
. 123
vi. 10 . .
. . 462
xi. 14 . .
. 262
xviii. 8, 9 .
. 85, 246
xxv. 33
33
vi. 12 . .
• 13. 3S8
xi. 18 . .
• 303
xviii. 10 .
• 155
xxv. 34
402
vi. 13 . .
. 109, 277
xi. 25 . .
. 480
xviii. 11
• 56
xxv. 34-40
6
vi. 16 . .
• • 34
xi. 29 . 157
,163,171
xviii. 15-17
• 251
xxv. 35, 36
. 106
vi. 17 . .
• • 43
xi. 30 . .
. 466
xviii. 18
• 366
xxv. 40
. 122
vi. 19, 20
• • 245
xii. 1-9
. 94
xix. 5 .
no, 348
xxv. 41
vi. 20 . .
153, 157
xii. 8 . .
. 468
xix. 6 .
. 68
63,
169, 402
vi. 21 . .
• • 35
xii. 20 . .
. 224
xix. 9 .
• 15S
xxvi. 6
• 152
vi. 23
• • 427
xii. 24 .
57
xix. 10-12
I", 355
xxvi. 7
. 410
vi. 23, 24
. • 322
xii. 25, 26
• 56
xix. n, 12
. 29
xxvi. 8
. 420
vi. 24 . .
xii. 30 .
14, 19
xix. 12
xxvi. 15
15, 37
36,7
3, 126, 153
xii. 32 .
56, 57
16, 75, 137,
234, 373
xxvi. 26, 29
74
vi. 25 . .
. . 36
xii. 35 . .
. 119
xix. 16, 21
. . 268
xxvi. 29 .
224
vi. 25, 26
. • 36
xii. 36 .
xix. 21
xxvi. 31 .
• "5
vi. 25, 27, 2
4 • 236
17, 128,
155, 265
16, 119,
[26,
xxvi. 33, 35
• 57
vi. 26, 28
• • 235
xii. 39, 40
• 279
137, 164, 288,
xxvi. 39 .
. 468
vi. 32 . .
. • 36
xii. 46 .
• 34o
371. 393. 423.
xxvi. 40 .
. 40
vi. 33 .
I4> 36, 235
xii. 49 .
39
453, 46S
xxvi. 40, 41
. 213
vi. 34 • •
5, 109, 468
xii. 50 . .
15, 153
xix. 23, 24
164
xxvi. 41 .
277, 278
vii. 1 . .
. . 64
xiii. 3, 11
• 273
xix. 24
288, 452
xxvi. 48, 49
• 171
vii. 3-5 •
59, 80, 96
xiii. 7 . .
• 78
xix. 26
43
xxvi. 49 .
• 244
vii. 5 . .
• • *43
xiii. 8 .
xix. 27
• 365
xxvi. 52 .
• 235
vii. 6 .
• 177, 321
27, 67, 135,
233, 240
xix. 28
20, 153
xxvi. 74 .
• 57
vii. 7 .
• • 45
xiii. 10-17
73
xix. 29
xxvii. 6
. 211
vii. 8 . .
. . 102
xiii. 22, 23
. 18
137,
403, 408
xxvii. 9, 10
• 115
vii. n
. . 478
xiii. 24
• 33i
xix. 30
. 64
xxvii. 28, 29
. 18
vii. 14
. . 468
xiii. 24, 25
• 454
xx. 15 . 12,
141, 162
xxvii. 29 .
. 107
vii. 15
• 39. 294
xiii. 25
. 265
xx. 16 .
3i, 423
xxvii. 46 .
. . 480
vii. 22
. • 322
xiii. 31
136
xx. 23 .
• 409
xxvii. 50, 51
. 224
vii. 24-27
. . 229
xiii. 31, 32
164
xx. 26 . .
. 412
xxvii. 51 .
viii. 10
164, 327
xiii. 33
136
xx. 27 .
• • 366
17,
32, 62, 63
viii. 11
. . 152
xiii. 44
. 138
xx. 28 . .
• 139
xxvii. 52 .
124, 441
viii. 12
. • 265
xiii. 45, 46
xx. 30-34 .
. 201
xxvii. 53 .
63, 124
viii. 20
• • 15
106,
138, 245
xxi. 1-3 .
• 32
xxvii. 55, 56
• 340
viii. 20-22
• • 31
xiii. 46 .13
!, l8, 191
xxi. 1-7 .
. 201
xxvii. 64 .
. 18
viii. 21
. . 49
xiii. 54. 55
xxi. 1-9 .
• 4i
xxvii. 66 .
. 224
viii. 22
340, 343
xxi. 2-5 .
• 44
xxviii. 1, 9
13, 224
1
5, 103, 226
xiii. 58
. 16
xxi. 12, 13
32, 252
xxviii. 2 .
• 199
viii. 25
xiv. 15-21
xxi. 33
• 56
xxviii. 9 .
. 123
21
3, 213, 478
65
, 74, 202
xxii. 11-13
17
xxviii. 19 .
62, 146
viii. 26
. • 327
xiv. 25
. 209
xxii. 13
169, 441
xxviii. 20 .
• 337
viii. 32
• • 309
xiv. 25-33
• 45
xxii. 14 .
31, 423
Mark i. 1-3 .
. 116
ix. 1-7
. . 229
xiv. 28
374, 443
xxii. 29, 30
. 208
i- 4, 5 • •
• 323
ix. 9 . .
15, 4S, 222
xiv. 29
. 209
xxii. 30
i. 6 . . .
246
ix. 12, 13
. 12, 468
xiv. 31
155, 178,
374, 438
i- 30, 31 •
. 48
ix. 17 . .
• • 369
209,
409, 468
xxii. 32
. 419
ii. 25, 26 .
• 117
ix. 20 . .
. . 152
xiv. 32
• 313
xxiii. 5
• 95
Mark iii. 17 .
. 288
ix. 21 . .
■ • 327
xv. 19 .
. 167
xxiii. 6, 7
13
iii. 21 . .
. 205
ix. 22 . .
• ■ 327
xv. 19, 20
. 468
xxiii. 10 .
. 286
iii. 27 . .
• 327
ix. 24 . .
220
XV. 22 .
. 229
xxiii. 23, 24
• 143
iv. 34 . .
. 468
ix. 27 . .
• ■ 293
xv. 24 .
• 199
xxiii. 26-28
. . 468
v. 13 . .
• 309
ix. 29 .
• • 327
xv. 26 .
. 122
xxiii. 27 .
119, 204
v. 39 . .
53, 124
x. 7 . .
. . 464
xv. 27 .
12
xxiii. 37 .
60, 119
v. 41 . .
• "5
x. 8 . .
• • 312
xv. 28 . .
20
xxiii. 37, 38
. 62
v. 43 . 209,
401, 442
x. 9 . .
• 393. 468
xv. 32 .
74
xxiii. 38 .
32, 120
vi. 1-3
340, 343
x. 9, 10
• • 236
xv. 32-38
65, 74
xxiv. 12
91. 257
vi. 5 • •
. 468
x. 10 . .
29, 42, 371
xvi. 17, 18
. 401
xxiv. 13 .
31
vi. 8 . .
• 393
x. 14 . .
. . 47
xvi. 18
xxiv. 17, 18
vii. n
. 232
x. 16 . .
. . 121
18, 55, 199,
366, 388
22,
152, 287
vii. 24
. 468
520
INDEX OF TEXTS.
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Mark viii. 34 .
• • 31
Luke vii. 11-15
Luke xv. 11-32 . . 4
Luke xxiii. 38
• 125
ix. 5 . .
. . 468
65, 202, 220
xv. 13, 16
. 289
xxiii. 42, 43
igO
ix. 29 .
. . 400
vii. 18, 19
. . 224
xv. 19-31
401
xxiii. 43 . 2
O, 49, 244
ix. 44 . .
. . I69
vii. 27 .
. 48, 208
xv. 20 .
12, 20
xxiii. 46 .
. 480
X. 21 . .
. . 222
vii. 28 . .
. 48, 20I
xv. 20-23
. 288
xxiv. 5
• 53
x. 27 . .
. . 164
vii. 37 . .
. . 12
xvi. 1-13 •
. 224
xxi v. 10 .
• 340
x. 28-30 .
. . I96
vii. 38 . .
. 48, 4IO
xvi. 8 . .
• 256
xxiv. 13 .
. 198
x. 29, 30 .
403, 408
vii. 40 sqq.
• • 13
xxiv. 16 .
• 442
x. 50 . .
• • 293
vii. 47 .
94, 106, 153,
xxiv. 28-31
. 198
xii. 41-44
. . I02
12, 104, 16
3, 412, 467
162, 164, 203,
xxiv. 31 .
• 443
xii. 43
. . I08
viii. 8, 10
. . 122
222, 232, 264, 422
xxiv. 32 .
22, 28, 91
xii. 43, 44
■ • 223
viii. 21
• 15, 246
xvi. 12 . . 36, 119
xxiv. 39 .
178,438
xiii. 17
• • 345
viii. 24
2IO, 213
xvi. 13
16
xxiv. 39, 40
209
xiii. 32
. . 468
viii. 55 •
. . 4OI
xvi. 15
. 468
xxiv. 42 .
. 401
xiv. 3 . .
. . 410
ix. 23 . .
xvi. 19-24
xxiv. 42, 43
. 208
xiv. 4 .
. . 420
if
), 205, 255
30, 42
, 79, 160
xxiv. 49 .
. 224
xiv. 8 . .
• • 152
ix. 24 .
• • 205
xvi. 22
. 120
xxiv. 50, 51
. 200
xiv. 35
. . 468
ix. 26 . .
. . 160
xvi. 23
5i
John i. 1 . 98,
366, 495
xiv. 37 .
. . 468
ix. 31 . .
• • 399
xvi. 25
141, 223
i. 1, 14 .
• IQ9
xiv. 51, 52
• • 153
ix. 4S . .
. • 156
xvi. 29
. 362
i. 5 • • •
5i. I96
xv. 40, 41, t
V7 • 340
ix. 53 . .
. . 224
xvii. 1
. 468
i. 12, 13 .
. 410
xvi. 1 . .
• • 340
ix. 54 • •
. . 468
xvii. 5
• 409
i. 18 . .
• 479
xvi. 1, 2 .
. . 224
ix. 58 • •
. . 468
xvii. 6
. 468
i. 29 . 142
200, 323
xvi. 14
. . 46S
ix. 59, 60
. . 14
xvii. 10
222, 276
i. 36 • •
. 224
Luke i. 5, 6 .
• • 453
ix. 59-62 •
• • 52
xvii. 21
i- 4i. 45 •
225, 343
i. 15 . .
• • 94
ix. 61, 62
• • 49
64,
120, 124
i. 42 . .
• 225
i. 17 • •
. . 262
ix. 62 . .
xvii. 27-29
• 234
i. 47 • •
. 225
i. 18 . .
343. 453
5, 22, 152,
222,
xvii. 37 .
. 64
ii. 1, 2
7i
i. 20 . .
453, 468
245, 287
xviii. 1
448, 468
ii. i-ii
65, 146
i. 20-22 .
229, 280
x. 1 . .
• • 145
xviii. 1-5
127, 163
ii. 12 . .
• 340
i. 26-31 .
. . 61
x. 5 • •
• • 371
xviii. 2-5
• 134
ii. 19 . .
• 332
i. 28 . .
• • 39
x. 18 . Ii
5, 280, 391
xviii. 8
257, 327
iii. 2 .
. 176
i. 29 . .
. . 192
x. 19 .
• • 238
xviii. 9 sqq.
13
iii. 3 . .
. 482
i. 34 • •
• • 336
x. 30 . .
. • 163
xviii. 10-14
20
iii. 5 • •
146
i- 35 • •
. . 440
x. 30-35 •
xviii. 11 .
• 479
iii. 8 .
. 120
i- 39 • •
. . 61
Gc
), 201, 293
xviii. 13 .
I59.48I
iii. 23 . .
• 145
i. 41 . .
x. 34 . .
• • 441
xviii. 22 .
. 268
iii. 30, 31
• 323
43. 19
), 241, 262
x. 41, 42 .
. . 32
xviii. 27 .
190, 468
iv. .
• 244
••43 • •
• • 323
xi. 5-8 .
xviii. 28 .
• 223
iv. 5 . .
. 201
i. 48 . .
• • 457
i
\o, 45. 127
xviii. 29, 30
iv. 6 . .
. 401
i- 79 • •
• • 293
xi. 7, 8 .
. . 20
365.
403, 408
iv. 7 . .
• 13
ii. 4 . .
• • 339
xi. 15 . .
. . 205
xviii. 35-38
• 293
iv. 13, 14 .
. 146
ii. 7 • •
18, 64, 339
xi. 34 • •
. . 411
xix. 2-9 .
• 139
iv. 14 . .
5, 207
ii. 8 . .
. . 65
xi. 41 . .
. . 203
xix. 4 .
. 201
iv. 16-18 .
■ 77
ii. 10 . .
• • 338
xii. 3 . .
• • 123
xix. 5 . .
. 152
iv. 18 . .
• 233
ii. 14 . .
xii. 7 .
• • 44i
xix. 10
. 240
iv. 24 . .
. 120
15
5, 200, 338
xii. 15 . .
• • 37
xix. 12-26
. 412
iv. 32 . .
. 401
ii. 15 • •
• • 199
xii. 20 . .
xix. 23
17
iv. 35 • •
• 157
ii. 22 . .
• • 339
5
h 247, 257
xix. 41
v. 2 . .
• 322
ii. 27 . .
• • 336
xii. 35 • •
. 26, 420
4c
1, 62, 226
v. 14 . .
• 472
ii. 29 . .
• • 338
xii. 47, 48
• • 413
xx. 35 . .
• 438
v. 17 . 252,
276, 434
»i- 33 • •
• • 338
xii. 48 . .
• • 17
xx. 35, 36
• 435
v. 19 .
. 142
ii. 36 . 1
3, IOS, 4OO
xii. 49 . .
. . 91
xx. 38 . .
. 195
v. 25 . .
• 44i
ii. 36, 37 :
xiii. 4 .
. . 407
xxi. 1-4 .
16, 288
v. 28, 29 .
• 463
54. 23
0, 253, 262
xiii. 11, 13
• • 293
xxi. 19
. 205
v. 30 . .
• 469
ii. 36-38 .
. . 168
xiii. 29
. . 120
xxi. 31
• 388
v. 35 • •
. 420
ii. 41 . .
• • 336
xiii. 32
. • 233
xxi. 33
. 120
v. 44 . .
• 33
ii. 43-46 .
• • 336
xiv. 8, 9 .
. . 409
xxi. 34
. 105
vi. 5-13 •
• 74
ii. 46 . .
. . 98
xiv. 10
• 17. "9
xxii. 24
. 468
vi. 15 . .
16
ii. 48 . .
• • 336
xiv. 11
• • 137
xxii. 26
• 366
vi. 38 . .
. 462
ii. 51 . 2
3, 216, 267
xiv. 26
• 49. 217
xxii. 31
23
vi. 39 . .
• 442
ii. 51, 52 .
. 40, 192
xiv. 26, 27
xxii. 31, 32
. 468
vi. 44 . .
• 477
iii. 11 . .
• • 203
287, 46S
xxii. 42
. 462
vi. 51 . .
• 199
iv. 24 . .
. . 16
xiv. 27
• • 255
xxii. 43 .
• 469
vi. 56 . .
• 403
v. 8 . .
• • 477
xiv. 28
. 17, 140
xxii. 46
• 469
vi. 56-58 .
. 410
v. 31 . .
. 291, 305
xiv. 33
• 15. 304
xxii. 47
13
vi. 60, 66
• 54
vi. 12 . .
. 120, 213
xiv. 35
• • 244
xxii. 54-62
• 47
vi. 70 . .
• 475
vi. 15 . .
• . 213
xv. 3-5 .
• • 4
xxii. 62
. 226
vii. 3, 4, 5
• 340
vi. 20 . .
• • 17
xv. 3 . .
• • 442
xxiii. 28 .
• 442
vii. 10
• 469
vi. 21 . .
. . 207
xv. 4, 5 .
. . 172
xxiii. 31 .
. . 290
vii. 19
. 469
vi. 42 . .
. . 141
xv. 5 . .
12, 20, 163
xxiii. 33 .
61
vii. 24
. 214
vi. 44 . .
. . 119
xv. 7, 10 .
. 12, 162
xxiii. 34 .
82, 480
vii. 37
. 355
INDEX OF TEXTS.
,21
PAGE
1
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
John viii. 3
• • 409
John xix. 38 sqq.
Acts ix. 4 . . .
• 4I9!
Rom. v. 7 . . . . 224
viii. 12
• • 265
62, igS
ix. 8 . . .
20
v. 14 . . . .
viii. 23
. . IS?
xix. 41 . .
• 78
ix. 15 . . .
52, 124, 362,
viii. 44
. 22, 402
xx. 1-18 . .
. 224
24, 50, 88,
97-
411, 466, 482
viii. 48
xx. 4 . . .
• 365
98, 119, 1
66.
v. 20 . . .
I
8, 60, 205
xx. 6, 7 .
62
246, 267
62, I4I, I63, 187
viii. 49
. . 60
xx. II . . .
462
ix. 17 . .
126, 323
vi. 3, 4 ... 146
viii. 56
. 9S, 200
xx. 12 . .
62
ix. 17, 18
. 146
vi. 4 . 40, 411, 443
ix. 2
. . 270
xx. 14-16
• 443
ix. 32-34 . .
. 198
vi. II ... . 48
ix. 2, 3 .
. . 140
xx. 17 . 53,
224, 342
ix. 36-41 . .
19S
vi. 14 .... 467
ix. 21 . .
192
xx. 19 . . .
ix. 39 . . .
. 21 r
vi. 21, 22 . . . 374
x. 8 . .
. . 469
78, 123,
209. 374
x
. 126
vii. 1-3 . . . 1 10
X. II . .
. . 172
XX. 20 .
■ 374
X. I . . .
• 152
vii. 2. 3 . 48, 69, 358
x. 18 . .
. . 240
xx. 19, 27
. 78
X. I, 2 . .
. 164
vii. 4 sq. . . 374
xi. 11 .
124, 419
XX. 22, 23
x. 4 . . .
. 400
vii. 6 . . . 146, 369
xi. 35 . .
. . 125
224, 366
x. 9-16 . .
• 245
xi. 35, 36 •
. 49, 62
xx. 26-28
. 208
x. 15 . . .
• 47
vii. 14 . . 94, 98, 374
xi. 38 • •
. . 48
xx. 27 .
209, 438
X. 26 . . .
. 418
vii. 14-20 . . 277
xi. 38-44 •
. . 48
xxi. 4 . . .
. 208
x. 34, 35 • •
. 164
vii. 18 ... . 469
xi. 39-44
, 220, 293
xxi. 7 . . .
• 365
xi. 28 . . .
• 55
vii. 18, 19, 24 . 266
xi. 43 . .
■ • 7,9
xxi. 9 .
376, 442
xii. 14, 15 •
• 443
vii. 19 . 166,273, 278
xi. 43. 44 :
. . 65
xxi. 12
• 443
xiii. 8, 11
. 213
vii. 22-25 . . 277
xii. 1, 2 .
xxi. 13
. 401
xiii. 22
• 473
vii. 23 . . . •
48, 152, 20
9, 401,442
xxi. 15-17 •
xiii. 46
62, 199
24, 159, 165, 273
xii. 3 . .
. . 410
57,
159, 458
xiv. 11
. 418
vii. 24 . . . .
xii. 10 .
. . 4S
xxi. 16
• 47
XV. 10
. 466
24, 207, 246, 272, 433
xii. 24 .
. . 108
xxi. 18
20
xv. 28, 29
• 37i
vii. 24, 25 . . 374
xii. 32 .
. . in
Acts i. 1 . .
187, 254
xv. 39 . .
• 469
viii. 1, 2 . . . 374
xii. 41 .
. . 22
i. 3 '• •
• 442
xvi. 6, 7 .
• 469
viii. 3 .... 277
xiii. 5 . .
• . 13
i. 4
. 224
xvi. 16
. 241
viii. 5 sq. . . . 374
xiii. 10
• 17, 338
i. 7 . .
. 286
xvi. 25-38
. 213
viii. 8 . . . . 48
xiii. 15
. . 266
i. 9, 12 .
• 65
xvii. 22
• 149
viii. 8, 9 . . . 266
xiii. 20
• • 175
i. 9-12
. 200
xvii. 28
149, 352
viii. 9 . . . . 438
xiii. 23
. . 288
i. 11 . .
. 442
xvii. 30 .
• 469
viii. 11 ...
xiii. 25
• • 365
i. 13, 15 •
. 100
xix. 1-7 .
146, 323
120, 375, 411
xiii. 26
• • 244
i. 14 . .
• 340
xx. 16 .
• 63
viii. 14 . . . 375
xiii. 38
• • 57
i. 24 . .
6
xx. 28 . .
103, 288
viii. 17 . . . 15
xiv. 2 .
• 6, 403
ii. 14-18 .
• 55
xx. 35 . .
. 96
viii. 18 . . .
xiv. 2, 3 .
• ■ 409
ii. 16-21 .
• 199
xxi, 5 . .
. 198
17, 40, 205, 264
xiv. 6 . 11
1, 226. 388
ii. 31 • •
• 439
xxi. 8, 9 .
. 19S
viii. 19-21 . . 239
xiv. 23
• ■ 403
ii. 38 . .
. 146
xxi. 9 . . k
), 55, 262
viii. 20 . 240, 242
xiv. 27
ii. 40 . .
• 85
xxi. 10, 11
• 55
viii. 21 . . . 2-)2
1
3, 170, 366
iii. 6 . 3'
7, 94, 236
xxi. 13
15, 63
viii. 26 . . . 425
xiv. 28
■ 55, 244
iii. 21 . .
• 179
xxiii. 2, 3
• 474
viii. 28 . . . 162
xiv. 30
. 23, 460
iv. 34, 35 •
153, 26S
xxiii. 5 .
• 43o
viii. 35, 36 • • 264
xiv. 31
. . 120
iv. 37 . .
. . 120
xxiv. 17, 18
. 422
viii. 35, 33, 39 • 4°
xv. 5 . .
• • 477
v.
• 137
xxvi. 2, 3
. 112
ix. 3 . . 224, 260
xv. IS . .
. . 60
V. I-IO
xxvi. 24
• 44
ix. 3, 4 • 172, 34i
xv. 19 . 5
8, 205, 357
15, 213,
222, 268
xxvii. 23 .
• 407
ix. 11 . . . . 284
xv. 26 . .
• • 55
v. 4 . .
. . 102
xxvii. 37 .
. 419
ix. 13 . . . . 278
xvi. 12, 13
• • 376
v. 29 .
• 183
xxvii. 44 .
. 178
ix. 14-29 . . . 224
xvi. 33
• • 441
vi. I, 2
. . 288
xxviii. 7 .
. . 162
ix. 16 ... .
xvii. 12
. . 469
vi. 2 .
. . 289
xxviii. 30 .
. . 152
137, 181, 267,
xvii. 20, 21
. . 410
vi. 5 • •
291, 332
Rom. i. 7 . .
■ • 155
276, 451, 467
xvii. 20-23
• • 403
vi. 15 • •
. . 88
i. 8 . . .
ix. 20 . . . . 465
xvii. 21
. . 242
vii. 15, 16
• ii7
18, 134,
180, 256
ix. 20-21 . . .
xvii. 23 .
. . 410
vii. 29, 30
• • 247
i. 25 . .
. . 212
278, 457
xviii. 15, it
• • 255
vii. 45 . .
• ■ 52
i. 26, 27 .
• • 143
ix. 22, 23 . . . 331
xviii. 15-27
■ • 159
vii. 55 . .
■ ■ 441
"• 4, 5
289,475
ix. 30-32 . . . 467
xviii. 23 .
• • 474
vii. 56 . .
. . 196
ii. 12 . .
• • 463
ix. 33 . . . . 117
xviii. 28 .
. . 198
vii. 59. 60
• • 419
ii. 24 . .
. . 236
x. 2 ....
xix. 6 . .
408, 442
viii. 2 .
• 5i. 213
ii. 28, 29 .
. . 201
104, 179, 238,
xix. 6, 15 .
■ • 414
viii. 3 . .
. . 20
iii. 1 . .
. . 467
420, 467
xix. 23
18, 29
viii. 10
■ • 332
iii. 2 .
. . 41
x. 10 . . . . 50
xix. 23, 24
viii. 20
• ■ 37
iii. 4 .
. 411, 480
xi. 6 . . . . 42
29, 279
viii. 26
■ • 325
iii. 12 . .
. . 124
xi. 20 . . . 23, 273
xix. 25
• 65, 341
viii. 26-30
• • 4
iii. 20 .
• • 277
xi. 25, 26 . . 235
xix. 26, 27
viii. 27
• 98, 356
iii. 23 . .
• 273, 47i
xi. 32 . . . .
21
6, 255, 366
viii 27-39
. 146, 200
iii. 23, 24 .
• • 455
141, 227, 390, 454
xix. 27
• • 495
viii. 30, 31
. . 98
iii. 24, 28, 3(
) . 467
xi. 33 • • ■ 50, 43o
xix. 34
• 5, M6
viii. 36
. . 65
iv. 11 . .
• • 47
xi. 33, 34 • •
xix. 37
. . 115
ix. 3-18 .
• • 47
v. 3-5 • 40
204, 264
209, 465
522
INDEX OF TEXTS.
PAGE
PAGE
TAGE
PAGE
Rom. xii. 1
I Cor. iv. 9 ... 205
I Cor. viii. 13 .
■ • 236
I Cor. xv. 35, 37 . . 437
15, 139, 223,
iv. 10 . . . . 205
ix. 4. 5 •
• 340, 365
xv. 39 . . . . 406
247, 255, 261
iv. 12 . 21, 236, 248
ix. 5 • •
xv. 40 . . . . 178
xii. 1-3 .. . 375
iv. 19 . . 467, 469
30, 66,
222, 236
xv. 41 ... . 6
xii. 3-8 .. . 404
iv. 21 . . 170, 206
ix. 9 .
• 137
xv. 42-44 . . 437
xii. 9 . . . . 83
v. 1 .... 289
ix. 11 . .
206, 248
xv. 44 . . . .
xii. 11 ... . 91
v. 4, 5 ... 184
ix. 13 . .
91. 137
208. 375,435. 438
xii. II, 12 . . 44
v. 5 ... 16, 213
ix. 13, 14
16
xv. 45-50 . . 375
xii. 13 • • • • 249
v. 8 . . . . 25S
ix. 13-19 .
■ 405
xv. 50 . . 443, 470
xii. 15 . . 127. 226
v. 11 . . . . 342
ix. 14 .
235, 248
xv. 51 . . . . 224
xii. 17 . . 217, 236
vi. 11 . . . . 144
ix. 19 .
• 175
xv. 53 . . . .
xii. 18 . . . . 171
vi. 12 . . . .
ix. 24 .
T52, 472
18, 155. 437. 438
xii. 20 . . . 464
70, 77, 106, 234, 359
ix. 26 .
• 213
xv. 54, 55 • • 443
xii. 21 . . . 176, 204
vi. 13 . 26, no, 393
ix. 27 . .
xv. 53, 54 . . 240
xiii. n, 12, 14 . 375
vi. 13-18 . . . 109
24, 105,
66,
xv. 54 . . . . 205
xiii. 12 125
vi. 15, 19 . . 85
196, 246,
266, 388
xv. 58 . . . . 436
xiii. 14 . . . 393
vi. 16 . . no, 158
x. 4 . .
24. 361
2 Cor. i. 5 . . . . 205
xiv. 2 . . . .
vi. 17 . . . .
X. 10 . .
. 88
i. 7 .... 205
61, 106, 401
229, 235, 354
x. 11 . 94,
234, 39°
i. 12 . . . . 205
xiv. 3 . . . . 401
vi. 18 . . . 105, 109
x. 12 . .
12, 389
ii. 4 .... 225
xiv. 4 . . . .
vi. 19 . . . 403, 410
x. 13 . .
60, 389
ii. 7 . 6S, 248, 352
12, 39. 58, 64, 247
vi. 20 . . . 74
X. 21
35, in
ii. 10 . . . 68. 352
vii 79
x. 29 .
• 236
ii. 10, 11 . . . 389
75, 283, 401,
vii. 1 . 68, 195, 350
x. 31 • •
254, 276
ii. 11 . . . . 34
405. 420
vii. I, 2 . . . 73
xi. 5, 6
292
ii. 15 . . . . 369
xiv. 6 . . . . 39
vii. 3 . . . 31, 68
xi. 6 .
• 475
ii. 16 . . 224, 476
xiv. 10 . . . 60
vii. 4 . . . 68,195
xi. 7 . .
. 88
iii. 2 . . . 11, 45
xiv. 14 . . . 401
vii. 5 . . . .
xi. 14 . .
34
iii. 4-6 . 468, 476
xiv. 20 392
75. 76. 229. 355. 389
xi. 16 . .
• 333
iii. 6 . 89, 200, 212
xiv. 21 ...
vii. 6 . . . . 76
xi. 27 . .
17. 407
iii. 7 . . .88, 369
25, 105, 166,
vii. 7 . . . .
xi. 27, 28 .
• 465
iii. 10, n . . 456
196, 360
68, 79. 352, 372, 373
xi. 28 . .
17, 321
iii. 14, 15 . . 122
xv. 19 . . . . 152
vii. 7, 8 . . . 30
xii. 4 . .
68, 405
iii. 18 . . 48, 88, 425
xv. 24 . . . . 152
vii. 8 . . .76, 352
xii. 4-6
• 459
iv. 7 . . . .
xvi. 18 . . . 462
vii. 8, 9 . . .
xii. n, 21
■ 457
'12, 23, 41, 205, 476
xvi. 20 . . 88, 266
76, 231, 232
xii. 12 .
• 405
iv. 16 . . . .
1 Cor 79
vii. 8-10 ... 68
xii. 12-27
• 94
204, 244, 393
1 Cor. i. 1-3 . . . 467
vii. 9 . . . .
xii. 22-24
• 4'f
iv. 17, 18 . . . 204
i. 7, 8 ... 467
35, 70. 158, 168
xii. 28 . .
• 55
iv. 18 . . . . 42
i. 19 . . . 98, 279
vii. 10 ... . 352
xii. 28-31
v. 1-9 . . . . 375
i. 21 . . . . 98
vii. n . . . . 158
405, 457
v. 4 ... . 51
i. 24 . . . 98, 135
vii. 13, 14 . . 189
xiii. 3 . .
. 166
v. 6 ... 51, 195
i. 25 . . . .
vii. 14 . . . . 181
xiii. 4 . .
■ 131
v. 10 . . . . 406
205, 279, 433,
vii. 15 ... 69
xiii. 4-7 .
• 175
v. 17 . . . 173. 374
456, 467
vii. 18 . . . 69, 259
xiii. 5 . .
. 66
vi. 8 . . . 69, 95
i. 26 . . . . 136
vii. 18-24 • • 353
xiii. 7 . .
■ 9, 21
vi. 9 . . . . 60
i. 27 . . . . 116
vii. 19 ... . 69
xiii. 7, 8 .
• 131
vi. 10 . . . 102, 236
i. 30 . . . . 138
vii. 20 . . . . 195
xiii. 8-10 .
406
vi. 14 . . . . 12
i. 31 • • • • 6, 33
vii. 21 ... 69
xiii. 9 .
. 429
vi. 14, 15. . .
ii. 6, 7 ... 98
vii. 21, 22 259
xiii. 9, 10
• 478
35, "I. 153, 322. 388
ii. 8, 9 . . . 117
vii. 23 ... . 74
xiii. 9, 12
56, 456
vi. 14-16 . . 231, 353
ii. 9 ....
vii. 24 ... . 258
xiii. 13
• 175
vi. 16 . . . . 120
4, 41, 123, 211, 442
vii. 25 ... .
xiii. 18
. 406
viii. 12 . . . 28S
ii. 13 . . . . 94
30, 69, 267,
xiv. 1 .
406
viii. 13, 14 . . 203
n. 14 • • • • 433
345, 371, 373
xiv. 5 . .
. 406
viii. 14 . . .
iii. 1-3 .. . 375
vii. 25, 26 . . 355
xiv. 15
28, 249
153, 165, 422
iii. 2 . . 146, 279
vii. 26 . . . 30, 356
xiv. 16
• 171
viii. iS . . . 102
iii. 3 . . . . 24
vii. 27 . . . 287, 356
xiv. 18
. 406
ix. 6 . . . . 406
iii. 6 ... 9, 261
vii. 28 ... . 31
xiv. 19
• 99
x. 3 .... 124
iii. 6-9 . 405, 467
vii. 29 . . . .
xiv. 30-33
• 93
x. 4-6 . . . . 97
iii. 10-12 . . 67
96, 231, 234,
xv. 8, 9 .
. 66
x. 8 ... . 84
iii. 10-15 • • • 405
344, 349, 364, 368
xv. 9 . .
■ 47i
x. 12 . . . . 283
iii. 14 -. . . . 8
vii. 30, 31 . . 356
xv. 9, 10 .
406, 468
x. 14 . . . 83, 147
iii. 16 ... . 403
vii. 32-34 . 31, 344
xv. 10 .
. 119
x. 17, 18 . . . 476
iii. 16, 17 . . 472
vii. 34 . . 39, 166, 345
xv. 22 .
. 406
xi. 2 .
iii. 17 . 15, 144, 192
vii. 35 . . . 69, 357
xv. 23 .
• 337
144, 251, 261, 375
iii. 18, 19 . . 467
vii. 37, 38 . . 358
xv. 25-28 .
. in
xi. 3 . . . . 389
iv. 1, 2 . . . 405
vii. 39. . . .
xv. 28 . .
• 457
xi. 6 . . . . 98
iv. 5 . . . . 12
69, no, 349, 353
xv. 31 . .
12S, 255
xi. 14 . . . . 19
iv. 7 . 276, 462, 467
vii. 39, 40 . .
xv. 32 . .
■ 393
xi. 14, 15 • • 294
iv. 4 . . 467, 471
70, 231, 358
xv. 33 . .
xi. 23-27 ... 40
iv. 8 . . . . 479
viii. 10 . . . 35
35, 91, 149
270, 352
xi. 27 . . . 213, 400
INDEX OF TEXTS.
523
10
2 Cor. xii. 2
xii. 2, 4
xii. 7 .
xii. 7, 10
xii. 8
xii. 9
xii. 9,
xii. 10
xii. 11
xii. 14
xii. 21
xiii. 1
xiii. 3
Gal. i. S
i. 10
i. 15
i. 16
i. 17, 18
i. 18, 19
i. 19 .
ii. 1, 2
ii. 2 .
ii. 9 .
ii. 9, 10
ii. 13 •
ii. 14 .
ii. 16
35
376
Eph. i
20 .
21 .
• 3, 4
. 10, 13
• 13 •
. 22 .
. 24 .
. 27 .
.28 .
. 16 .
. 19 .
. 22-26
. 26 .
32, I
4 •
7 •
15 •
16, 17
17 •
19 .
19-23
24 .
24, 25
. 2 .
• 7 •
• 7.8
. 10 .
106, 1
. 14 .
15 •
4 •
10 .
21
23 •
3. 4-
5 •
14 .
. 10 .
. 20 .
■ 7 •
. 11 .
• 13 •
54
70,
23
77
PAGE
• 493
86, 2S6
204, 388
• 3^
50
. 6, 50
• 50
, 20, 205
• 476
236, 393
. 289
• 445
• 97
186, 428
, 95. 136
• 24
• 438
• 97
• 34i
• 340
97, 140
. 46
• 34i
. 166
. 259
• 497
467, 468
. 28
. 468
• 376
. 468
. in
• 471
. 468
18, 52
• 155
293, 462
146, 419
• 235
119, 180
. 468
• 389
175, 245
376, 389
. 78, 277
354, 467
167
40
376
12
251
376
269, 422
21, 33
. 146
• 43
. 360
212, 432
. 184
• 376
. 278
• 235
. 406
4
. 406
• 55
. 209
Eph. iv. 14
iv. 22
iv. 26
13. i
v. 5
v. 8
v. 13
v. 14
v. 18
25. 105, I
v. 19 .
V. 22 .
v. 23, 24
v. 25 .
v. 27 .
67j
66
v. 31, 32
25
VI. I
vi. 4
vi. 6
vi. 12
23, 162, 243
vi. 13-17
vi. 14-17
vi. 16
vi. 24
Phil. i. 1
i. 21
i. 23
6. 28, 1
ii. 6-8
ii. 6-10
ii. 7, 8 .
ii. 13 .
ii. 14, 15
ii. 15 .
ii. 21 .
ii. 27 .
iii. 8 .
iii. 12, 13
iii. 13 .
152, 1
iii. 12-16
iii. 14 .
iii. 19 .
io, 15,
iii. 20 .
14.
iii. 20, 21
iii. 21 .
iv. 7 .
iv. 8 .
iv. 18 .
i. 16 .
i. 18 .
i. 21, 22
i. 26 .
ii. 5 •
ii. 11 .
ii. 13, 14
ii. 14, 15
ii. 18 .
iii. 1-4
iii. 5 .
iii. 5. 6
iii. 9-1 1
iii. 14 .
iv. 2 .
iv. 6 .
iv. 14 .
1 Thes. ii. 9
Col.
68
26
PAGE !
270.
275
146,
376
268,
467
15
268
51
259
61,
124
193,
200
249
254
71
359
251,
369
234
359
14
172
'28, 74
389. 467
5
262
105,
267
.
376
.
288
•
126
196, 384
374
.
460
204
276, 468
144
479
468
126
40
276
250
413
455
74
238
289
119
124
376
437
.
249
376
159
73
435
438
430
.
7, 58
376
438
146
39
224
376
28, ;
15
359
175
213
244
102
236
248
1 Thes. ii. iS
iii. 4
iv. 4
iv. 7
iv. 9
iv. 13
5- 5i- 124
iv. 15, 17
iv. 16 . .
iv. 17 . .
v. 15 . .
v. 17
v. 21 .
v. 23 .
2 Thes. ii. 3
ii. 7 .
ii. 7, 8 .
iii. 3 •
iii. 10 .
1 Tim. i. 17
i. 19 .
i. 19, 20
33- 75
• 131
. 4 .
. 10 .
. 12 .
. 14 •
• 15 •
i- i-3
i. 1-7
i. 2 .
i. 2-4
i- 3 •
i. 4 .
6 .
6,7
8-10
1. 11
i. 12
13
3
PAGE
• 389
• 205
• 259
■ 359
• 9S
155. 419
123
18
5, 224
. 176
iv. 4
248, 448
, 133, 178
77, 224
. 224
275, 449
. 236
. 468
21, 43, 304
479
185
39
222
45
256
350
44, 166, 192
... 16
143, 147. 372
96, 142, 363
371- 459
• 94
144, 192
• 157
• 459
. 16
• 373
• 359
• 17
67, 392, 400
v. 9
v. 9, 10
v. 11
v. 11, 12
35,
v. 11, 15
v. 13 .
v. 14 .
v. 14, 15
73, 105, 166
• • 392
166, 173
. 97, 288
127, 236
. . 166
. . 231
104, 230
iv. 5
iv. 12
iv. 14
v. 2
v. 3
v. 3-5. 16
v. 5
v. 6
25, 105, 147. 166, 395
231, 359
166, 230
. 236
70, 168, 230
107, 358
. 238
55, 159, 350
68, 230, 358
■ 70, 159
. • 231
• • 137
• 44- 251
. . 166
v. 15 .
v. 17 .
v. 18 .
v. 19, 20
V. 22 .
v. 23 .
25, 105, 193,
254, 400
PAGE
r Tim. v. 24 . 6
v. 24, 25 . . . 105
vi. 7 . . . . 36
vi. 8 . . . .
37, 91, 102, 137,
I48, 165, 206, 249
vi. 9 . . . 6, 164
vi. 10 . . . 36, 245
vi. 15 . . . . 282
vi. 16 . . 467, 479
vi. 17-19 . . . 164
vi. 20, 21 . . 467
2 Tim. i. 15 . . . 39
ii. 4 .... 376
ii. 20 . . . .
18, 67, 233,
241, 331
11. 20, 21
ii. 21
ii. 23
iii. 6, 7
15
in. 7
iii. 14
iii. 14,
iv. 2
iv. 3
iv. 7, 8
iv. 13
iv. 14
Titus i. 5-7
i. 5-9
i. 6 .
i. 7.
i. 9.
i. 9-14
i. 12
i. 15
ii. II, 12
ii. 15 •
iii. 4-7
iii. 10, 11
Philemon
10 .
12 .
Heb. ii. 1
iv. 13
v. 10
vi. 4-6
vi. 6-8
vi. 9
vii. 3
jx- 3-5
ix. 7
xi. 8
xi. 17-19
xi. 32
xii. 6
40,
34.
40,
71, 379
. 241
• 465
156, 275
. 270
• 92
• 97
• 255
• 275
207, 456
• 473
• 474
. 28S
143, 459
147, 371
148, 321
92, 97
. 147
149, 352
27, 35
• 376
. 183
. 468
280, 481
. 101
. 172
8, 87
• 367
. 273
. 78
• 389
• 295
• 389
• 363
. 62
• 413
. 252
. 223
126, 223
134, Mi,
223, 251, 463
138, 267
. . . 170
xn. 14
xii. 18
xiii. 4
23, 67, 135,
144, 168, 267,
347, 350
James i. 12-15 • • 389
i. 16-18 ... 377
i. 19 . . . . 209
i. 20 . . 167, 467
i. 22-24 • • 390
524
INDEX OF TEXTS.
PAGE
PAGE
1
PAGE
PAGE
James ii. 10 . . .
1 Peter iii. 15
. 93. 426
1 John iii. 15
• • 13
Rev. ii. 23 .
6
148, 272, 390,
iii. 20, 21
iv. 7 .
• • 378
ii. 27 .
18
458, 469
39; 2
34. 331. 36o
iv. 13, 15
. 4IO
iii. 4
. 162
ii. 11 . . • • 148
iv. 1-3
• ■ 377
iv. iS .
iii. 7 •
98, 122
ii. 17 . . • • 69
iv. 8 .
• ■ 467
1
71, 262. 276
iii. 15, 16
• 45
ii. 23 . . 163. 225
iv. 10 .
• 68, 352
v. 3 •
. .466
iii. 16 .
104
ii. 25 . . . . 39
v. 1
. . 88
v. 16 .
. . 411
iii. 17 .
• 293
ii. 26 . . . . 388
v. 1, 2
. . 288
v. 18 .
• • 387
iii. 20 .
• 33
iii. 2 . . . .
v. 4 .
• • 93
v. 18-19
• • 454
v. 1 . .
. 98
81, 115. 388,
v. 5 •
• T3. 267
v. 19 .
vi. 10 .
• 419
468, 469, 480
v. 6 .
. . 267
10
3, 196, 468
vii. 4-8
• 378
iii. 5 .... 256
v. 8 . .
15, 23, 48
V. 21 . .
• • 387
x. 9, 10
9, 258
iii. 6 .... 267
2 Peter i. 4
377, 410
2 John 1
234, 288
xi. 2
. 62
iii. 7 . . . . 87
ii. 7, 3
. . 66
10 . .
. . 184
xi. 7. S
. 62
iii. 8 . . . . 469
ii. 9 .
390
3 John 1
' . . 28S
xii 9 .
. 183
iii. 8, 9 . . . 88
ii. 9-22 .
377
Jude 5 . .
• 63, 361
xiv. 1, 4
74
iv. 1 . . . . 469
ii. 17. iS
390
6 . .
• 63. 432
xiv. 1-4
• 41
iv. 6 . . 157, 470
ii. 22 .
103
7 • •
. . 63
xiv. 1-5
• 378
iv. 11 . . . . 466
iii. 3 . .
378
9 • •
113
xiv. 3 .
71. 146
iv. 13-16 . . . 276
iii. 9 .
222
23 • •
378
xiv. 4 .
1 Peter i. 2 ... 142
1 John i. 5
467
24 . .
461
6, 71, 162, 207,
i. 3-5 • • • • 377
i. 7. 3 . .
467
Rev. i. 5 .
377
265,
419, 441
i. 13-16, 18, 19,
i. 8 . .
464
i. 6. .
321
xiv. 6 .
• • 243
22, 23 . . . 377
i. 8, 9
454
i. 7. .
T4
xvii. 4, 5, 9
. 64
i. 16 . . . . 223
i. 8-10 .
387
i. 8. .
360
xvii., xviii.
. 64
i. 24 . . . . 128
ii. 1 . .
' 387, 388
i. 9, 10
6
xviii. 2
. 64
ii. 8 . . . . 117
ii. 4 . .
. 42, 338
i. 14 .
II
xviii. 4
. 64
ii. 9 . 52, 321, 377
ii. 6 . ]
6, 103, 352
i. 15 •
64
xix. 11-16
. 220
ii. 17, 18 . . . 467
ii. 8 . .
• • 378
i. 16 . .
14
xxi. 2 .
• • 5
ii. 21 . . 234. 266
ii. 15-17 •
205, 378
ii. 2-5 .
39°
xxi. 14
201, 203
ii. 22 . 277, 388, 460
ii. 27 . .
• • 52
ii. 5 •
17
xxi 16-18
62
ii. 23 . . . 82, 147
iii. 2 . .
. 88, 479
ii. 6 .
17
xxi. 19, 20
17
iii. 2, 3 . . . 35i
iii. 2, 3 .
• • 378
ii. 6, 15
. 291, 332
xxi. 19-21
. 203
iii. 3 . . . . 103
iii. 8 . .
. . 22
ii. 9 .
176, 234
xxii. 13
■ 360
iii. 7 . . . .
iii. 9 .
• • 454
ii. 16 .
• • 333
xxii. 14
• 199
68,75. 259. 351, 352
iii. 9, 10 .
387
ii. 17 .
146
xxii. 18, 19
. 169
|>r(ntcfe bs Samea parfeer ano Co., Crown U?av6, ®rfort.
*
4
1
Date Due
*
p
1 (ty Dt** w%
j.s. 1 i x3b>
^ C
"^ap ? 1 ^
■ ' V
I/) JY
|
L. B. Cat. No. 1137
>e*5
WELLESLEY COLLEGE LIBRARY
3 5002 03044 4306
I IV DU
. S42 1 890 6
A Select library of Nicene
and poet -Nicene fathers of
^Tl
1
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11