Ecclesiastes 6

Thirdly, he denounces avarice, because riches are frequently transferred to strangers.

"There is also another evil," etc. Above he showed that riches are to be despised, both because they do not enrich their possessors, and because they are frequently not transmitted to posterity. Here thirdly he shows they are to be despised, because they are frequently transferred to strangers: this indeed he does in this order. First indeed is indicated the transfer of hoarded riches: second, the detestation of miserliness, at: "If anyone should beget," etc.; third is subjoined the reason for the detestation, at: "In vain therefore he came," etc.

First therefore Ecclesiastes considered the vanity attending the rich and proposes it, assumes it, and concludes. He proposes, saying: "There is also another evil, which I saw under the sun:" and he aggravates it from the circumstance: "And which is frequent among men," that is, among the weak lovers of the world and the rich, of whom the Psalm says: "O sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek after falsehood?" etc.

Moreover, I shall exhibit in discourse the ill-fortune that most of all prevails among men. While God may supply a man with all that is according to his mind, and deprive him of no object which may in any manner appeal to his desires, whether it be wealth, or honour, or any other of those things for which men distract themselves; yet the man, while thus prospered in all things, as though the only ill inflicted on him from heaven were just the inability to enjoy them, may but husband them for his fellow, and fall without profit either to himself or to his neighbours. This I reckon to be a strong proof and clear sign of surpassing evil. The man who has borne without blame the name of father of very many children, and spent a long life, and has not had his soul filled with good for so long time, and has had no experience of death meanwhile, — this man I should not envy either his numerous offspring or his length of days; nay, I should say that the untimely birth that falls from a woman's womb is better than he. For as that came in with vanity, so it also departs secretly in oblivion, without having tasted the ills of life or looked on the sun. And this is a lighter evil than for the wicked man not to know what is good, even though he measure his life by thousands of years. And the end of both is death. The fool is proved above all things by his finding no satisfaction in any lust. But the discreet man is not held captive by these passions. Yet, for the most part, righteousness of life leads a man to poverty. And the sight of curious eyes deranges many, inflaming their mind, and drawing them on to vain pursuits by the empty desire of show. Moreover, the things which are now are known already; and it be comes apparent that than is unable to contend with those that are above him. And, verily, inanities have their course among men, which only increase the folly of those who occupy themselves with them.

"There is an evil I have observed beneath the sun, and it is prevalent among mankind; a man to whom God has given riches, wealth and honour, and he lacks nothing that his heart could desire, yet God did not give him the power to enjoy it. This is futility and an evil disease. If a man begets an hundred children and lives many years - great being the days of his life - and his soul is not content with the good - and he even is deprived of burial; I say: the stillborn is better off than he. Though its coming is futile and it departs in darkness, though its very name is enveloped in darkness, though it never saw the sun nor knew; it has more satisfaction than he. Even if he should live a thousand years twice over, but find no contentment - do not all go to the same place?" He describes the riches of misers and asserts that this evil is often in men, since none of those things, which are thought to be good in the world, is lacking in him, and nonetheless he torments himself with the most inane sparing, saving those things to be devoured by others. Nor does he say this in exaggeration, for even if he produced an hundred books and lived longer than Adam, that is almost one thousand years, but lived two thousand years, he would rot his mind with desire and avarice. He is born prematurely in a worse state that dies, as soon as he seems born. For he did not see evil things or good things; but although he used to possess good things, he was tormented by thoughts and sadness, and having been born prematurely he has more rest, than a greedy man who is old. But both however are seized by the same fate, while both the first and the last are taken away by the same death. This could also refer to Israel, because God gave Israel the law, which speaks about the prophets, the testament, the Promised Land and the Saviour: "let the reign of God be removed from you and given to a nation that brings forth his fruit" [Matth. 21, 43.]. All these things have been given to a foreign and pilgrim people from peoples who see their good yet do not enjoy it. They say we are of much better condition, who are considered to be as new-born and premature by those, who praised themselves in antiquity, finding glory in their fathers, saying: "our father was Abraham" [Ioh. 8, 39.], but however both we and they hasten to one place, that is to the judgement of God. But what Ecclesiastes says in the middle is this: "but there was no tomb for him". This either means that that rich man does not think of his death, and while he possesses all, is greedy even in building a tomb; or that often he is killed on account of those riches, by plots against his life, and is left unburied, or, what I think is a better interpretation, he needs nothing of good deeds, from which he is able to obtain for himself memory among those who come after him. And so that he will not pass through life in silence, just as cattle, although he had a means, by which he was able to show that he had lived.

What good is there for a person in this life? He lives in darkness and cannot be satisfied in his desires. And if he is sated with riches, he loses the enjoyment of his rest, because he is forced to guard the possessions he has acquired through his wretched greed. Thus he possesses them in greater wretchedness, seeing that they can do him no good. For what is more wretched than to be tormented with guarding them and derive no advantage from their abundance?

Let none of us entertain the desire for possessions, for what gain is it to acquire those things which we cannot take with us? Why not rather acquire those that we can take: prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, understanding, charity, love of the poor, faith in Christ, gentleness, hospitality? If we obtain these, we shall find them there before us preparing a welcome for us in the land of the meek. LIFE OF ST.

And he assumes the vanity, which is observed in this, that one hoards riches and another devours them: therefore he says: "A man, to whom God has given riches," as regards movable goods; "and wealth," as regards immovable goods; "and honors," as regards exalted things. For all things are from God: riches are from God: Proverbs 3: "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory." And wealth is from God, especially that of which Sirach 13 says: "Good is the wealth for which there is no sin on the conscience." Likewise honor is from God: whence in Daniel 5, Daniel said to Belshazzar: "O king! The Most High God gave kingdom and magnificence and honor to your father." And to complete the perfect abundance of the goods of fortune, he subjoins: "And nothing is lacking to his soul of all that he desires," because he has sufficiently. He calls soul here the carnal life, of which John 12 says: "He who loves his soul shall lose it." Thus he has abundance for possessing, and yet he has avarice for retaining, which takes away from him the power of enjoying: therefore he subjoins: "Nor does God grant him the power to eat of it," because he continually hoards it, and in vain: whence Sirach 14: "For the covetous and miserly man, wealth is without purpose; and for the envious man, of what use is gold?" Neither does he himself use it, nor his posterity, but strangers: whence he adds: "But a stranger shall devour it:" whence Sirach 14: "He who heaps up unjustly from his own soul gathers for others, and another shall revel in his goods"; and Proverbs 13: "The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the just." And from this he infers vanity: "And this is vanity and a great misery:" vanity, because he himself does not rejoice; misery, because, when another takes it away, he is grieved: Isaiah 1: "Your land — strangers devour it before your face," etc.

There is a question concerning what he says: "God did not give him the power to enjoy good things."

To the contrary: This is free will; but He gave free will; therefore also the power.

I respond: it must be said that he has the capacity for enjoying, namely by which he can enjoy; but by the just judgment of God he is impeded by some punishment, because he has incurred superfluous anxiety and fear and sorrow. And because power denotes an unimpeded capacity, and this has been impeded by just judgment, therefore, etc.

Likewise, there is a question concerning what he says, that "nothing is lacking to his soul of all that it desires."

To the contrary: Above in the fifth chapter: "The covetous man shall not be filled with money;" and again Jerome: "The miser lacks both what he has and what he does not have." Therefore he speaks poorly when he says: "And nothing is lacking."

I respond: it must be said that for something to be lacking, this can be in two ways: either with respect to sufficiency according to reality and nature, or according to opinion. I say therefore that a miser can indeed be so wealthy that nothing is lacking to him according to reality and nature; but nevertheless never so wealthy that something is not lacking to him according to his own estimation, because he always desires to have more, and thus it is lacking to him.

"If anyone should beget" etc. Here is noted the detestation of miserliness by reason of the aforementioned transfer, and he reproves miserliness itself, however much successive prosperity he may have. Therefore he adds: "If anyone should beget a hundred children," this is said hyperbolically, that is, many children, because the wicked frequently beget wicked children, in whom there is no joy, even if they are many: Sirach 16: "Do not rejoice in ungodly children; if they are multiplied, do not delight in them." To abound in children is temporal prosperity; and another temporal prosperity follows: "And should live many years," that is, for many years; "and should have more days of age," namely more than other men; and this indeed is temporal prosperity. The impious frequently have this prosperity; whence below in chapter seven: "For a long time the impious man lives in his impiety," if he has abounded in these prosperities. "And his soul does not enjoy the goods of his substance," that is, he has been miserly and greedy in life; "and lacks burial" in death, according to what is said of Joachim in Jeremiah chapter twenty-two: "Joachim shall be buried with the burial of an ass, rotting and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem."

With these conditions of prosperity and miserliness having been set forth, he subjoins the detestation: "Concerning this I pronounce," as a judge of the earth, "that an abortive is better than he," on account of the great misery and vanity which the abortive lacks; whence it is said in Job chapter three: "Why did I not die in the womb? Why, having come forth from the womb, did I not immediately perish? Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?" And again in chapter ten: "Why did you bring me forth from the womb?"

Likewise, concerning this it is asked why he prefers the stillborn to him. It seems that this is wrong:

1. Because the stillborn had knowledge of no things, but this man did; likewise, the miser, when he sins mortally, enjoys things that are meant to be used.

2. Likewise, how does he say that it did not know the difference between good and evil, unless it had fully enjoyed goods? Therefore it seems that the stillborn would be better than all who do not delight in present goods and who are not carnal: but this is heretical.

I respond: it must be said that according to that approach, if this is said in the person of the carnal man, the response is easy; maintaining nevertheless that he says this according to truth, I say that he prefers the stillborn to such a grasping rich man, because the former, although it did not experience goods, nevertheless did not endure evils; but the latter endured evils and did not taste goods; therefore the former is preferable, and it is in this respect that he means it.

To the objection based on reason, that he did not fully enjoy goods: it must be said that to enjoy in one way denotes love of something with rest in it; in another way, rest and delight. I say therefore that he who loves God possesses Him, as Augustine says in the book of Eighty-Three Questions, and therefore he who loves God delights in Him. But money or a temporal thing, when it is loved and not possessed according to one's desire, begets sorrow. Therefore there can be enjoyment of these things, that is, supreme love, and yet slight delight and great sorrow. Therefore it does not follow that, although such a miser sins, he rests in delight; but nevertheless he rests in love, because he loves for his own sake.

To the objection that it did not know the difference: it must be said that by simple knowledge, he who always has goods knows good and evil; similarly also he who always has evils; but not by knowledge of experience, unless he has both goods and evils. And because such a one always has evils, never goods; therefore, etc.

To the objection concerning the spiritual man, I say that he is not without spiritual delight, and therefore he sees the sun and knows the difference. But the grasping miser, because he is a sinner, does not have spiritual delight; because he is grasping, he does not have carnal delight; and therefore he does not know the difference between good and evil.

"For he comes in vain" etc. Here is subjoined thirdly the reason for the detestation, namely that an abortive is better than one who is miserly in this manner, because, just as an abortive comes in vain and goes to darkness, since it immediately dies, so also does he; therefore it is said: "For he comes in vain and goes to darkness," namely the miser himself: Job chapter three: "To a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has surrounded with darkness." And that in vain such a greedy and miserly man should come into this world, he shows both on account of the deletion of his name in death, and on account of the inexperience of good in life, and on account of the non-fulfillment of desire in both states. On account of the deletion of his name he says: "And his name shall be blotted out by oblivion," that is, he shall endure neither in reality nor in name, according to what the Lord threatens against Babylon in Isaiah chapter fourteen: "I will destroy the name and remnants and offspring and posterity of Babylon, says the Lord"; and in Wisdom chapter two, in the person of the wicked: "Our name shall receive oblivion in time, and no one shall be mindful of our works."

On account of the inexperience of good, he adds: "he does not see the sun," in which namely there is delight and experience of good, according to what is said below in the eleventh chapter: "The light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun." The avaricious man has not seen this, because he errs: Wisdom 5: "We have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice has not shone upon us, and the sun of understanding has not risen upon us," etc. And thus he has not seen the sun, that is, he has not had the light of knowledge; nor has he known the difference between good and evil, because namely he has not experienced it.

Therefore he says: "Even if he should live two thousand years," because we do not have knowledge through length of time, but through experience: Sirach 34: "He who has not been tested knows few things," according to what the Philosopher says: "Experience produced art, inexperience produced chance." On account of the incompleteness of desire, he adds: "Do not all things hasten to one place?" As if to say: on the part of the body, they will pass into the earth; Sirach 41: "All things that are made from the earth shall be converted into earth"; and above in the third chapter: "All things are subject to vanity, and all things go to one place." On the part of the body, therefore, there is reduction to ashes, but on the part of the soul, there is the incompleteness of its desire.

For this reason he says: "All the labor of man is in his mouth:" the mouth is called the initiation of desire; for he who desires, as it were, opens his mouth. Therefore, for labor to be in the mouth is to labor toward the completion of desire; whence Proverbs 16: "The soul of the laborer labors for himself, because his mouth has compelled him." And although he does this toward fulfilling his desire, it is nevertheless not fulfilled; therefore he says: "But his soul," namely that of the tenacious rich man, "will not be filled with good things," as was said above in the fifth chapter: "The covetous man shall not be filled with money"; whence Habakkuk 2: "He has enlarged his soul like hell, and he himself like death shall not be filled." Thus it is true of the avaricious regarding money; so also regarding knowledge: 2 Timothy 3: "Always learning, and never arriving at the knowledge of the truth."

The rich man reveals the great burning in his tongue when he says, "Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, since I am tormented in this flame." The unbelieving people keep the words of the law in their mouths but refuse to act on them. The burning will be greater in the place where they manifested that they knew what to do, but that they were unwilling to do it. Solomon said concerning those who are knowledgeable but remiss, "All the toil of a man is in his mouth, but his soul will not be filled." Whoever labors only for this, to know what he should say, fasts with an empty heart from the nourishment that should provide him with knowledge.

A person's true life is not found here on earth, for he claims that it is found elsewhere. This, then, is the great advantage humankind has over the animal: The animal does not live on after death, while a person begins to live only when he has completed this visible life through bodily death.

Moreover he is shown to burn more in his tongue, when he says: "Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." The unbelieving people held the words of the law in their mouth, which they scorned to keep in deed. Therefore he will burn more there, where he showed himself to know what he was unwilling to do. Wherefore it is well said of the learned and negligent through Solomon: "All the labor of man is in his mouth, but his soul will not be filled," because whoever labors only to know what he ought to say, fasts with an empty mind from the very refreshment of his knowledge.

Everything that human labor produces in this world is consumed by the mouth, ground by the teeth, and sent to the stomach for digestion. Even when a bite to eat delights the palate, it seems to give pleasure only for as long as it remains in the mouth, for when it passes into the belly, it can no longer be distinguished from other food. The soul of the diner is afterwards not fulfilled, because he will again desire what he has just eaten, since neither the wise nor the foolish is able to live without food, and the poor seeks nothing other than to sustain his frail body and to avoid starvation. Moreover, the soul derives no benefit from the refreshment of the body. Food is common to both the wise and the foolish, and the poor tend to go where they perceive wealth. It is better to understand this teaching as referring to the ecclesiastical person whose labor is in his mouth because he is learned in the heavenly Scriptures but whose soul is not fulfilled because he desires always to learn more.

"All man's toil is for his mouth, yet his wants are never satisfied. What advantage then has the wise man over the fool? What less has the pauper who knows how to conduct himself among the living? "All that men toil at in this world is consumed by the mouth and taken to be digested in the stomach after it has been ground down by the teeth. And when a little bit has pleased the palette, it seems to create a desire, so long as it is held in the mouth. But when it has passed down to the stomach the difference between foods is no longer distinguishable. And after all these things the spirit of a man who eats is not filled up; or then he desires again what he has eaten, and is as wise as the fool without food, who does not know how to live, and the poor man asks for nothing else but for how he is to sustain the organs of his meagre body, and not die through starvation. Or because the spirit takes no gain from the food of the body, and food is of equal use to a wise man and a fool, and the pauper wanders therefrom, to where he has seen wealth to be. This is better understood regarding a man of the church, who learned in the heavenly Scriptures, holds all his toil in his mouth yet his spirit is not filled, for he always desires to learn. And in that respect the wise man has more than the fool, since when he feels himself to be poor, he presses that pauper, who is called blessed in the Gospel, to understand those things which are of life, and walks the restricted and narrow path, which leads to life, and he is poor from wicked deeds and knows where Christ, (who is life) is to be found.

To the corrupting power of riches [the Lord] made the enormity of voracious appetite antecedent; indeed, the former generates the latter.

"What more does he have" etc. He set forth above the remedy against the vanity of malice and against the vanity of avarice: here thirdly he sets forth the remedy against the vanity of imprudence. Against this, however, the supreme remedy is the acquisition of wisdom; and because no one can acquire wisdom unless he has the proper method of learning: therefore this part has two sections. In the first he gives the method, in the second he unfolds the teachings of wisdom, at the passage: "Better is a good name" etc.

First the method of acquiring wisdom is explained by a threefold reasoning.

The method of considering or learning for one who wishes to be wise is handed down in this way. First, that he should learn useful things: second, that he should leave aside hidden things: third, that he should not inquire into lofty things.

First therefore he teaches to seek and consider useful things, and this is, how one may arrive at the life of glory. Therefore he asks: "What more does the wise man have than the fool, and what does the poor man?" He rightly joins these two: poor and wise. For one is called poor through contempt of present things: whence Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"; wise, through the savor of eternal things and right estimation: concerning which Proverbs 3: "The wise shall possess glory: the exaltation of fools is disgrace." But the fool is called the worldly man, who on the contrary, despising eternal things, gapes after earthly things: concerning whom Job 5: "I saw the fool with a firm root, and I cursed his beauty at once." "What more does the wise and poor man have than the fool" in this life? supply: little. "Except that he may go there, where life is," namely eternal life, to which man ought to aspire, not to temporal things, which cannot be held: on account of which he has little here in mortal life, because "the learned dies equally with the unlearned," above in chapter two: but in eternal life he has much more, because he will obtain delightful, abundant, secure being, all things in the open vision and enjoyment of the highest good: concerning which life John 17: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God" etc. To this life the wise proceed, because they direct their eyes toward it, as is said above in chapter two: "The eyes of the wise man are in his head"; and therefore he follows Christ, the light, who, as is said in John 14, is "the way, the truth, and the life": but the fool does not proceed: whence below in chapter ten: "The labor of fools shall afflict them, because they do not know how to go to the city."

To this life one cannot rightly arrive without knowledge: therefore he adds: "It is better to see what you desire," that is, to know the life which you long for: "than to desire what you do not know," that is, to wish to arrive there in ignorance: and therefore one ought to direct one's consideration toward it: Proverbs 4: "Let your eyes look upon what is right, and let your eyelids go before your steps." And indeed this is good to know, but to desire what one does not know is foolish. Therefore he adds: "But this also is vanity and presumption of spirit," namely, to desire what man does not know, just as James and John desired and asked to sit at the right hand, and sought presumptuously: therefore it is said to them in Matthew 20: "You do not know what you ask."

It can also be expounded as a commendation of the knowledge of useful things, so that the sense is that it is better to know desirable and useful things than to desire to know hidden things, which indeed he forbids to consider, because this is presumption of spirit, namely, to wish to know what God has disposed in his providence.

It is asked concerning what he says: "It is better to see what you desire than to desire what you do not know." Therefore it does not involve a contradiction that someone can desire what he does not know.

On the contrary: Augustine says that "we can love things unseen, but things unknown in no way"; thus therefore, in order for something to be loved and desired, it is necessary that it be known. Furthermore, the affection follows the intellect; therefore where the intellect does not precede, the affection does not extend itself; but the intellect does not extend itself to those things which it does not know; therefore neither does the affection desire those things.

I respond: it must be said that there is a twofold knowledge, namely of certitude and of estimation; and so correspondingly there is a twofold ignorance: one through the privation of any certitude, and another through the privation of any estimation. I say therefore that in order for something to be desired, it is not necessary that knowledge of certitude precede: for desire follows estimation alone; but it is necessary that some knowledge of estimation precede. Here, however, he speaks of ignorance through the privation of certitude.

"Better is what the eyes see than what is imagined. That, too, is futility and a vexation of the spirit." Symmachus interpreted this clearly, he says: "it is better to make provision, than to walk about as it pleases you". That is, it is better to do all things according to what you know to be right in your mind, which is the eye of the soul, than to follow the desire of your heart. For this is to wander in spirit, just as Ezekiel says: "he who walks by the desire of his heart" [Ezek. 11, 21.]. For indeed he denounced that man is proud and only pleases himself and says he is better, who makes provision for all days, than he, whom nothing pleases, unless he has made it himself. Nothing is worse than him, and more vane than any breath. And again here "vexation of the spirit" has been interpreted by Theodotion and Aquila as 'suffering of the soul'. Symmachus too has "affliction of the spirit". More precisely we must remember that in Hebrew 'spirit' and 'breath' are similar in usage - that is "ruha".

And indeed he forbids to scrutinize this, consequently saying: "He who is to be" etc. Here he calls back from scrutinizing hidden things, such as the divine disposition: on account of which he says: "He who is to be, his name has already been called," with respect to eternal election; Romans 4: "Who calls those things which are not, as though they were." "And it is known that he is man," with respect to the smallness of the duration of life: Genesis 3: "Dust you are, and to dust you shall return." "And he cannot contend in judgment against one stronger than himself," with respect to the condition of justice: for no one is so just that he can justify himself in judgment with God: Job 9: "I know that man is not justified when compared to God. If he should wish to contend with God, he cannot answer him one for a thousand"; therefore Job said: "How great then am I, that I should answer him"; and therefore it is added: because "stronger:" whence Job 9: "If strength is sought, he is most mighty; if equity of judgment, no one dares to bear witness for me." Therefore this hidden disposition is said not to be scrutinized by us; because in our words little truth is found, especially when we wish to discuss those things which are hidden from us.

There are two sorts of names: some names designate those things which by nature have a body; others designate those which by nature are without a body. The names of those with a body designate the characteristics of such a being, such as its size, color and structure.… The names of those without a body reveal a quality of their state of existence, such as their being worthy of praise or condemnation. But if the first class of names is applied in a straightforward manner, such is not the case with the second class. [With the second class] there are two options: the being has the ability of self-determination of either to incline toward virtue and honor in its knowledge of the Creator, which is the case with angels, archangels, thrones and dominions; or to incline toward evil and increase in its ignorance of the Creator, as is the case with Satan and any other world ruler of the present darkness. …Let us not ask, "Why was I placed in this body? Or why was I not made an angel? Does not God show partiality? Do we not have free will?" All these questions simply multiply vanity. How can the creature say to its Creator, "Why did you make me like this?" Or, how can a creature answer back to God? Let all those kinds of discussions cease. Instead, let those discussions prevail which guide us towards virtue and knowledge. All that is present in this age of shadows is called vanity and shadows, and all that belongs to this life will be covered with the darkness, becoming obsolete upon departing this life.

"What has been was already named, and it is known that he is but a man. He cannot contend with one who is mightier than him." Clearly this is predicting the arrival of the Saviour, since he writes 'he will be'; before he was seen in body his name was already written in the Scriptures and was known by prophets and holy men of God, since he was a man; and similar to this, since he is a man, he is not able to walk with his Father. And in the Gospel it says: "the Father, who sent me, is greater than me." [Ioh. 14, 28.] In the following passages it teaches not to ask more than is written for us by Him, so that a man may not wish to know more than is attested in the Scriptures. For although we are ignorant of our condition and our life passes us by like a shadow, and our future is undecided, it is not useful for us to strive for more than we are able to attain. Some think that this passage means that God already knows the names of all the men, who will be in the future, and who will be enclosed within the body of mankind. Nor is a man able to reply to his creator, and ask why he has been made in this way or that. For however much more we seek, our vanity and our unnecessary words are exposed all the more. Our choice does not come free from the foreknowledge of God, but precedes the causes, why any one thing is done in a particular way.

Therefore he adds: "Words are very many," that is, few things are known: below, chapter 10: "The fool multiplies words." "And having much vanity in disputing," and little truth, above, chapter 3: "He has delivered the world to their disputation, so that man may not find the work which God has wrought from the beginning even to the end"; and therefore those who wish to scrutinize these things become vain, according to that word of the Apostle in First Corinthians 3: "God knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain."

Here he calls back a third time from scrutinizing lofty things and inquiring into them, and this, since he has enough to do in knowing his own evils, or common ones. Therefore he says: "What need is there for a man to seek things greater than himself?" as if to say, there is no need: Sirach 3: "Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things above thy strength"; and Romans 11: "Be not high-minded, but fear." And he adds the reason why he ought not to seek greater things: "Since he does not know what is profitable for him in his life," that is, what is useful for him: Wisdom 9: "We can hardly guess at the things that are upon earth, and with labor do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out?" He is indeed ignorant of what is useful in this momentary life; whence he adds: "In the number of the days of his pilgrimage"; Genesis 47: "The days of the pilgrimage of my life are few and evil"; 2 Corinthians 5: "While we are in this body, we are pilgrims from the Lord." "And in the time which passes like a shadow"; 1 Chronicles, last chapter: "We are pilgrims before thee and strangers, as were all our fathers. Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no delay." And so he cannot inquire by himself, nor even learn from another; therefore he adds: "Or who can tell him what shall come after him under the sun?" For man does not know future things, unless the Lord reveals them through grace. Therefore man ought not to extend his thought to this: Isaiah 48: "Before the day thou heardest them not, lest perhaps thou shouldst say: Behold, I knew them. Thou hast neither heard nor known, neither was thine ear opened from that time"; below in chapter 8: "Man is ignorant of things past, and things to come he can know by no messenger." Whence God alone knows and reveals future things.

The question is raised concerning what he says: "What need is there for a man to seek things greater than himself?" From this it seems that man ought not to investigate anything nor come to know by labor what is above him. This same point is proved by Ecclesiasticus 3: "Seek not things that are higher than yourself." Likewise, Romans 11: "Be not high-minded, but fear."

But to the contrary: Man stands in the middle between visible creatures and God; but Augustine says that the soul of man is darkened when it fixes its eye on these earthly and lowest things, but is illuminated when it turns to eternal goods: therefore it ought always to seek those things. But those things are higher: therefore, etc. Furthermore, the soul is never perfected with complete perfection except in those things which are higher than itself; but everything perfectible ought to tend toward and seek that in which it is perfected: therefore it ought to seek higher things.

If you say that he does not mean that one ought not to seek or consider things higher according to substance, but that one ought not to consider those things which exceed the possibility of one's consideration, it is objected then: because all things that belong to faith are above our intellect: therefore according to this our intellect ought not to raise itself to believing those things which belong to faith. Likewise, then those who wish to examine the articles of faith would be most blameworthy: therefore all who dispute about faith would be blameworthy.

I respond: it must be said that emphasis should be placed on what he says, "greater than himself," and on what he says, "to seek." "Greater than himself" he calls those things which exceed our consideration, insofar as they exceed it. "To seek" he calls to inquire into and examine, as if to say that it is foolish to wish to investigate those things which our inquiry cannot reach, with respect to those things for which our consideration does not suffice. For there are some things which are manifest to us concerning God, and those are not greater than us: hence he does not discourage the consideration of God. As to the objection concerning faith, it must be said that he does not dissuade from believing, but from seeking. Furthermore, even though the things of faith are above our intellect by itself when bare, they are nevertheless not above the intellect illuminated by the grace of faith: hence to seek those things and to believe and to investigate up to that point to which the light of faith extends is not to extend oneself to greater things; and such is every sober disputation concerning the articles themselves. But if one exceeds this, unless it be from God, then such excess is blameworthy.

The question is also raised concerning what he says: "Who can show him what shall come after him under the sun?" To the contrary: In our soul there is a power which is "to become all things" and "to make all things"; but the possible intellect can receive in itself all present things, all past things, and all future things: therefore if the agent intellect can reduce it to act, then man can of himself know future things.

I respond: it must be said that even if the agent can form or abstract cognition in the possible intellect, nevertheless its operation depends both on the certitude of the thing outside and internally on sense; because "when the thing is lacking, knowledge perishes"; and "when a sense is lacking, it is necessary that one science be lacking according to that sense." Because therefore future contingents do not generate a likeness of themselves in sense, neither through themselves nor through a determinate antecedent cause: and they do not have in themselves the stability that is required for cognition: therefore our intellect, which receives from things, cannot of itself come to the cognition of them, except through him whose cognition does not depend on things.