Wisdom of Solomon 1

Christ died for the ungodly and sinners so that we might be called to believe, not by merit but by grace, and thus by believing we might also establish merit. This is why sinners are commanded to believe, because by believing one purges himself from sins. Sinners, in fact, have no idea what they will see by living rightly. This is why—since they cannot see unless they live rightly, and they cannot live rightly unless they believe—it is obvious that they must begin by believing. In this way the commandments, by which those who believe separate themselves from the things of this world, purify their hearts—for only with a pure heart can one see God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Also, in the words of the prophecy it is sung, "Seek him in sincerity of heart."

He says therefore: Love etc. The Gloss: "Not only do." For the work of justice is not meritorious unless it is done out of love of justice. Gregory: "The branch of good work has no greenness unless it remains in the root of charity." Justice, namely uncreated, which is the rectitude of the divine will; and created, which is the rectitude of the human will, according to Anselm. Love, I say, justice, that you may be conformed to God, because "the Lord is just and has loved justice"; likewise, that with spiritual gladness you may be filled, according to that verse of the Psalm: "You have loved justice, etc.; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions"; likewise, that you may be made blessed, according to that verse of Matthew five: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice."

You who judge the earth: specifically indeed you, prelates, who judge the earth by public judgment: the earth, of the subject people. The Gloss: "To whom the power of judging has been given"; subject, I say, by the merit of sin. For Gregory says: "Where we do not transgress, there we are equals." And therefore he rightly says: the earth, that is, those who love earthly things; not the heavenly, because there is no need: "For the spiritual man judges all things," namely in hope, "and is judged by no one," that is, ought not to be judged, First Corinthians two; but the bestial, according to the Gloss on that verse of Genesis one: "Let him rule over the beasts" of the earth, that is, those living bestially.

Likewise, all of you generally, who judge, by private judgment, the earth, of your own body. The Gloss: that is, who "discreetly restrain the body," so that "your service may be rational," Romans twelve.

It should be noted, moreover, that there is found to be a fourfold earth, namely the upper earth, the earth, I say, of the living, of which in the Psalm: "I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living." The lower earth, namely of the dead: Ezekiel thirty-one: "Behold, you have been brought down with the trees of pleasure to the uttermost earth." The outer earth, namely of the dying, namely the present world: Revelation eight: "Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling upon the earth"! that is, in the world. The inner earth, namely of death, that is, the mortal and earthly body: Ecclesiasticus ten: "Why are you proud, O earth and ashes"?

The first earth is not subject to our judgment, because it is not in our power; and therefore it was rightly said to Peter, Matthew sixteen: "Whatever you shall bind upon earth," not upon heaven.

The second has already been judged and cannot repent: John three: "He who does not believe has already been judged."

The third is to be judged by the judgment of justice, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Judge rightly, O sons of men."

The fourth is to be judged by the judgment of discerning discipline, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 33: "Fodder and a rod and a burden for the donkey: bread and discipline and work for the servant," that is, for the body, which must be compelled to serve the spirit, by the example of blessed Martin, who "compelled his limbs, though weakening with fever, to serve the spirit"; likewise by the example of Paul, who says: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection," into which subjection, namely, it was in the state of innocence; I bring it back, through the power and works of penance. To the aforesaid servant is owed the sustenance of bread, lest it fail; the rod of discipline, lest it grow wanton; and the occupation of holy work, lest it grow sluggish.

Think, that is, rightly esteem, of the Lord in goodness, that is, well, not badly, as heretics do. Moreover, he admonishes us to think well both by the exterior sense, by piously reading the divine Scriptures, and by the interior sense, by piously understanding them. Whence the Gloss: "Read and understand Scripture piously," piously, namely, by devoutly approving and carrying out what you understand, and not by criticizing and despising what you do not understand. And in simplicity of heart seek him, namely, by directing the whole intention of the heart toward him. Whence the Gloss: "Submit yourselves to his will"; which hypocrites do not do, and therefore they are inconstant, according to that passage of James 1: "A double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways"; and on account of this it is said to them in Ecclesiasticus 2: "Woe to the double heart"! The heart is double when its parts are drawn principally toward diverse things, which is the occasion of spiritual death, according to that passage of Hosea 10: "Their heart is divided, now they shall perish." But the heart is simple when all its parts are drawn toward the one most simple being, namely toward God, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 30: "Gather your heart in holiness." In simplicity of heart, that is, in the simple unity of the heart. This unity is produced by faith in the rational power, according to that passage of Ephesians 4: "One Lord, one faith," etc.; by charity in the concupiscible power: 1 Corinthians 6: "He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit"; by peace in the irascible power: Ephesians 4: "Be careful to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." The first unity prohibits the division of errors in the intellect; the second, of desires in the affections; the third, of schisms in action.

General Division. Since, as has been said, princes and prelates, and consequently all people, are urged in this book to the study and love of wisdom; but because wisdom cannot be had without the observance of justice: for into a malevolent soul wisdom will not enter, etc., below in chapter one; likewise Ecclesiasticus chapter one: Son, desiring wisdom, keep justice: therefore according to the Gloss, he first exhorts to justice, namely up to the sixth chapter; second, to wisdom, namely from the sixth chapter to the end.

Part I. Exhortation to Justice. In the first part he does three things according to the three parts of general justice. For first he treats of the justice of man with respect to God, in chapter one; second, of justice with respect to neighbor, in chapters two and three; third, of the justice of man with respect to himself, in chapters four and five.

First, on the threefold justice of man with respect to God. In the first, he first stirs to justice of the heart; second, of the mouth: He is benign; third, of work: Do not be zealous.

The justice of the heart is treated in three ways. In the first, he first sets forth an exhortation to the good of justice; second, the advantage of acquiescing: For it is found; third, the detriment of those who despise: For perverse thoughts, etc.

In the first, first as to right affection, saying: Love justice; second, as to right estimation: Think of the Lord; third, as to right intention: And in simplicity.

The one who approaches the Lord with an insincere heart is rejected, while the Lord receives the one who approaches with a sincere heart and a well-disposed mind, according to the thought of Scripture, "Seek the Lord with sincerity of heart." Therefore the one who believed by faith was received by the Lord into the boat, that is, into the church, where the chorus of the apostles is found. The scribe was not worthy to be received by the Lord; rather, he was rejected, since he showed that he had no faith. Blessed is the disciple who deserved to be received by the Lord, though the scribe was rejected!

"Love righteousness," so as to show yourself just in your affairs. In fact, "the Lord is righteous, and he has loved righteousness," and he always loves it; "his face has looked on uprightness." In those days, he who said, "Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth," both loved righteousness greatly and counseled that it be loved. And another said, "If you speak of righteousness, judge uprightly." In fact, it is written, "With the judgment that you judge, you will be judged."

Those who do not believe in the equality of the Father and the Son completely reject the coming of the Son from God the Father. Coming to the one who loves them, the Father and the Son make a single dwelling with him. Now, there cannot be a single dwelling for them both, if they are loved in different ways. And if they are not equal, they will inevitably be loved in an unequal way. It is therefore not possible to prepare a single dwelling for them in a simple heart if they are not equal. Yet Scripture admonishes us to do so, saying, "Think of the Lord with uprightness, and seek him with simplicity of heart." How can one seek God with simplicity of heart if he makes a distinction in his love for God the Father and God the Son? Or how can one have a simple love for God if he is convinced that there is a diversity in the Divinity? One loves with a simple heart that Divinity whose nature he believes to be simple. But if he adores the Divinity making distinctions, this is not simplicity but duplicity of heart. And this is not true faith but false.

"Think of the Lord with uprightness, and seek him with sincerity of heart." Sincerity of heart is like a day not dimmed by fraud, not obscured by lies, not darkened by envy, not clouded by deception; it is a day illuminated by the light of truth, made resplendent by the dawning of the divine presence. As it is written, "He speaks with the sincere." For God, to speak is to reveal to human minds, by the illumination of his presence, the mysteries of his will. This is why it is said that God speaks with the sincere, because, by the light of his inspiration, he enlightens with his heavenly mysteries the minds of those who are not darkened by even a shadow of duplicity.

And well did I say: In simplicity, etc. For he is found, through grace in the present life, according to that passage of Song of Songs 3: "I found him whom my soul loves"; by those who do not tempt him, by displaying one thing outwardly while intending another inwardly, as the Scribes and Pharisees tempting Christ; and this he says against hypocrisy and duplicity: Matthew 22: "Why do you tempt me, you hypocrites?"

But He appears, namely in the future through glory: First John 3: "When He shall appear, we shall be like Him"; and Colossians 3: "But when Christ shall appear, your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory." To those who have faith in Him: he says this against heresy and unbelief. And note that he says: In Him, because it does not suffice to believe Him or to believe that He is, but to believe in Him, which is the act of formed faith, according to Augustine. Or: He is found, on account of the devotion of the affections; He appears, through the contemplation of the intellect: Psalm: "Taste," by affection; "see," by intellect.

It should be noted, however, that according to Gregory, "to tempt is the same as to craftily test": and accordingly it happens that God is tempted in four ways, namely either by unduly wishing to test His power, as those who, tempting Christ, sought a sign from heaven, Matthew 16; or His wisdom, as the Sadducees, proposing to Him a question about the resurrection that was, according to their judgment, insoluble for those who posit the resurrection, Matthew 22; or His justice, as the Pharisees, by asking about the payment of tribute: "We know that You are truthful," etc.; or His mercy, as the Jews, by questioning about the judgment of the woman caught in adultery, John 8. And because every such tempting comes from distrust, and God is in no way to be distrusted, therefore every such tempting is prohibited; whence Deuteronomy 6: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God"; likewise Ecclesiasticus 18: "Do not be like a man who tempts God."

Even if one who is pure of heart and another stained with impurity are found in the same place, the fact that they are in the same place cannot harm the one or benefit the other. The one whose heart is pure will see God; the one whose heart is not in the same condition, however, will not be able to see what the other sees. In my view, the same can also be said of Christ when he was visible in the body. Not all those who laid eyes on him were able to see him.They saw the body of Christ, but they did not see Christ as Christ. His disciples, however, saw him and contemplated the greatness of his divinity. I think this is the reason why, when Philip asks him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us," the Savior responds, "Have I been with you all this time and you do not know me? Philip, he who sees me sees the Father as well." In fact, neither Pilate nor Judas the betrayer gazed on the Father, for while they were gazing at Jesus, neither Pilate nor Judas gazed on Christ as Christ. Nor did the crowd that pressed around him. Only those whom Jesus deemed worthy of beholding him actually saw him. We too, therefore, should work in such a way that God might appear to us in the present (as the sacred words of Scripture promised, "He lets those find him who do not test him, and he appears to those who believe in him"). And, in the life to come, he may not be hidden from us. Rather, may we see him "face to face."

For perverse thoughts etc. Here he touches upon the manifold detriment of those who despise the exhortation to the good of justice, of which the first is exclusion from the fellowship of God: For perverse thoughts: the second, exclusion from the fellowship of wisdom: Because into a malevolent soul: the third, exclusion from the fellowship of the Holy Spirit: For the Holy Spirit. The first pertains to the Father, the second to the Son, the third to the Holy Spirit, whose presence is obtained through the love of justice; whence John 14: "If anyone loves Me, etc., and We will come to him and make Our abode with him"; but their absence or deprivation, through hatred of justice.

For perverse thoughts etc. I rightly said that He appears to those who have faith in Him, and not to others; for perverse thoughts, namely by perversity of faith or of morals, separate from God, with respect to the punishment of loss: Second Corinthians 6: "What fellowship has light with darkness?" Proverbs 17: "He who is perverse of heart shall not find good"; likewise Isaiah 59: "Your iniquities have divided," etc.

But proven etc., as if to say: nor does this suffice for punishment; but stands for "however." Proven virtue, that is "true virtue," according to the Gloss, namely divine virtue: corrects, by punishing: Psalm: "O Lord, do not correct me in your anger." The foolish: the Gloss says "that is, all foolishness"; this he says with regard to the punishment of the senses.

In the book of Wisdom it is clear that what separates people from God is not the distance of place but evil thoughts and wicked actions. It says, "Perverse thoughts separate people from God; the excellence of virtue banishes fools, because wisdom will not enter a heart that does evil or dwell in a heart enslaved to sin. The Holy Spirit of instruction flees deceit and departs from foolish speech." Who cannot see that this alludes to the Trinity of persons, each according to their properties? In fact, it is said that "perverse thoughts separate people from God," using a name by which the person of God the Father can be recognized. Then it adds that "wisdom will not enter a heart that does evil"; by this name Christ is indicated, whom Paul calls "the power of God and the wisdom of God." Then it says, "The Holy Spirit flees from deceit, and departs from foolish speech." Moreover, in order that no one would think that an evil or godless person could distance himself, spatially, from this holy Trinity who is the one, true and good God, Scripture then says, "Wisdom is a spirit that is a friend of people; but he will not leave unpunished one who blasphemes, because God is witness of his inmost feelings and a true observer of his heart, and he hears the words of his mouth. In fact, the Spirit of the Lord fills the universe."

Certainly, every year we celebrate the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit. However, we must act in such a way as to invite him, with pure actions and feelings, so that he comes to us every day. We must be pure and clean in our senses and in our thoughts, and we must dedicate ourselves to watching over our speech and our hearts, so as to render ourselves always worthy of his visitations and his illumination and so that it may be evident that we are free from all impurity in our thoughts. He has said in fact that "perverse thoughts separate people from God." Let us make every effort to be free from all backbiting and malice, because "wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul or dwell in a body enslaved to sin." By their anger and pride, the hearts of the careless find themselves without the vigilance and protection of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, let us not sadden the Holy Spirit by these passions. Rather, let us invoke him, that with the grace of humility and the mildness of peace he would enter our hearts and that we would gladden him by our works and our initiatives. He himself has said, "With whom will I make my resting place? With the humble one, who has a contrite spirit and trembles at my word."

"The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness." The apostle declares that the bodies of those who have been abandoned by the Holy Spirit are dead because of sin, yet their experience of death does not touch him, that is, the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit of God does not know how to sin: he is given for justification and to justify by his help. Because he does not know how to sin, he is life, and he certainly cannot die, given that death is a result of sin. It is for this reason that the sinner harms himself, but not the Spirit whom he has received. The Spirit certainly cannot be affected—he whose purpose it is to justify. Thus, the sign of a person's justification consists in this: that through the one who lives in him, the justified one shows himself to be a child of God. In fact "not in a false person or in a body enslaved to sin" can the Holy Spirit live, as Solomon says. Certainly, if one returns to a carnal life, abandoned by the Holy Spirit, he will die in his unrighteousness.

The first pillar of the house of wisdom is chastity in the flesh. Why is this the first? Because this is where one must begin: for it is written in the book of Wisdom: "Into a malevolent soul wisdom shall not enter, nor shall she dwell in a body subject to sins." An unchaste body is subject to sins; therefore wisdom cannot dwell in it.

For into a malevolent soul etc. I rightly said that they separate etc., for into a malevolent soul, with respect to spiritual sins, wisdom will not enter, by infusing itself into it: wisdom, I say, "which is from above, which is first indeed pure" etc.; although that wisdom may enter which is from below, "namely earthly, animal, diabolical," James 3. Nor will it dwell, by remaining, in a body subject to sins: this he says with regard to carnal sins, which, although they are of lesser guilt, are nevertheless of greater infamy, as Gregory says.

It is objected that all things desire the good: therefore no soul is malevolent, that is, willing evil.

It must be said that no one wills evil per se, but per accidens, because namely he wills that which is evil, namely an evil action, not insofar as it is evil, but insofar as it is delightful and an apparent good.

Again it is doubted: the body cannot be a dwelling place of wisdom nor the subject of sin or foolishness or grace: therefore it supposes something false when it says: Nor will it dwell etc.

To this it must be said that body there does not refer to the bodily part of man only, but by synecdoche, according to which a part is customarily put for the whole, body is taken here for the whole man, insofar as he follows the passions of the body. Hence the Gloss: "He who is subject to sins is body, not spirit." In such a one wisdom does not dwell: hence the Gloss: "In vain do heretics, Pharisees, and false Christians flatter themselves; for only those pure in heart can receive the wisdom of God."

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit come and go in their own, incomprehensible way. One cannot speak of a "change of locality" of the Father or of the Son or of the Holy Spirit. They come and go in such a way that, physically, they neither go to a place nor depart from it. Consequently, this coming of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit does not demonstrate the mobility of God but his piety. It is said in fact that the unique divinity of the Trinity, who fills all things and contains all things, comes to the one to whom he deigns to manifest himself, and he distances himself from the one to whom he hides the light of his love. But this does not mean a local absence, when he justly abandons one who is unworthy; nor does he make himself present in a place if he visits with his mercy one whom he has made worthy. Therefore, even though God says, "I fill heaven and earth," of some it is said, "God is not with them." And though the Father fills all things, the book of Wisdom says, "Perverse thoughts separate human beings from God." And if it also says of the Son—that is, of the wisdom of God, "she reaches from end to end with power and orders all things well," the same Wisdom says of itself, "The perverse will seek me, but they will not find me." And again, "Wisdom does not enter a soul who does evil or dwell in a body enslaved to sin." And of the Holy Spirit, of whom it is said that he is immense in every way, it is said, "The Holy Spirit flees from deceit and departs from foolish speech."

The soul whose life is in God will find its pleasure in none of those things that are deceptively presented as something good. If that soul allows its heart to be defiled by one passion, at the same time it breaks the covenant of its spiritual marriage. And, as it says in Scripture, "Wisdom cannot enter the soul that does evil." It may, in a word, be truly said that the good spouse cannot come to live with a soul that is irascible or full of malice or that harbors any other similar defect.

Do ye not see that malice is blind? Have ye never heard, that he that diggeth a pit for his neighbors, diggeth it for himself? How, it may be said, ought we not to fear a soul full of tumult? If indeed we are to fear the bitter in the same way as we fear evil spirits, and fools and madmen, (for they indeed do everything at random,) I grant it myself; but if we are to fear them as men skillful in the conduct of affairs, that never. For nothing is so necessary for the proper conduct of affairs as prudence; and there is no greater hindrance to prudence than wickedness, and malice, and hollowness. Look at bilious persons, how unsightly they are, with all their bloom withered away. How weak they are, and puny, and unfit for anything. So also are souls of this nature. What else is wickedness, but a jaundice of the soul? Wickedness then has no strength in it, indeed it has not.

Jacob was a guileless man, yet he overcame the treacherous Esau. "For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter." "Let all bitterness be put away from you." Let not even a remnant remain, for it will be sure, if stirred, as if from a smouldering brand, to turn all within to an entire blaze.

"Wisdom dwelleth not in the soul which worketh deceitfully in wickedness", saith Solomon the wise man, and knowledge of the Spirit sojourneth not in the body which is conquered of sin; for the soul which worketh deceitfully in wickedness is full of cunning, because cunning itself is the inventor of wickedness. Whosoever desireth to serve his lusts runneth to become a disciple of cunning, so that with the learning which ariseth therefrom, and with the deceits of iniquity which it sheweth to him he may find means whereby to cover his wickedness, and to make an excuse for the hateful things which are wrought by him.

Nor can it be said that those who mingle with Christ's sheep in a merely physical and hypocritical way are either in the church or belong to the communion of the Spirit. For the Holy Spirit, the master of discipline, hates those who are hypocritical. That is why all those baptized in schismatic or heretical congregations—they might better be called segregations—have not been regenerated by the Spirit. They are similar, so to speak, to Ishmael, who was born from Abraham according to the flesh, and not like Isaac who was born according to the Spirit in virtue of the promise.

"The holy spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful and will withdraw from thoughts that are without understanding." God wills that we do all things reasonably. Prudential understanding teaches what is to be carried out, namely every good, according to the way of interior thought and exterior action.

It is necessary to ordain our thoughts so that the Holy Spirit be able to enter in the form of wisdom, "for the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsel." Hence, there is need for us to use clearly defined materials with which we can be properly concerned.

And I rightly said that he will not dwell etc. For the Holy Spirit of discipline: Gloss: "Who teaches all discipline," according to that passage of John 16: "He will teach you all truth," namely rational, natural, and moral: Psalm: "Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge." He is called Spirit, insofar as he breathes life: John 6: "It is the Spirit who gives life"; holy, insofar as he purges and renews, according to that passage of the Psalm: "You will send forth your spirit, and they shall be created: and you will renew the face of the earth"; of discipline, insofar as he removes ignorance and bestows wisdom, according to that passage of Isaiah 11: "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom" etc. He will flee, that is, in the present he will flee far from, the deceitful, that is, the sinner, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Salvation is far from sinners," and especially the hypocrite, who is properly called deceitful: Job 13: "No hypocrite shall come into his sight." And he will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding, that is, from false and erroneous thoughts: for understanding pertains only to true things. He will withdraw himself etc.; behold, the punishment of loss: and he will be reproved etc.: behold, the punishment of sense.

Likewise, it should be noted that he is said to withdraw himself because naturally the commission of fault precedes the withdrawal of grace: for God is first in approaching and last in departing. And although he withdraws himself from them, they will not nevertheless remain unpunished: whence he adds: And he will be reproved etc.: correction is done with words, reproof is done with scourges. He will be reproved, I say, namely the deceitful one in the future, that is, he will be punished, by the supervening iniquity, that is, on account of the supervening iniquity: whence the Gloss: "The deceitful one, when the day of retribution comes, will be punished for his iniquity." Supervening, that is, "oppressing," on account of which it is called supervening, just as one who oppresses comes upon another. — Or: He will be reproved, that is, he will be seized together in soul and body unto punishment.

The city from which the inhabitants went out, pleading with the Lord to leave them, represents the synagogue, which did not want to accept the Lord and Savior of the human race, even after it had seen his divine miracles. Therefore he returned to his own city—rejected by the synagogue, he has come to his church; it is this latter that in a true and proper sense merits the name of the city of Christ. Thus one understands why the Gadarenes pleaded with the Lord to leave their town. We must, however, be attentive, that none of us find ourselves in a similar situation; I am alluding to the danger that someone, because of an unbelieving heart, would impel the Lord and Savior of the world to leave his heart, because it is written that "the Holy Spirit, the teacher of discipline, flees from one who is false; he will not dwell in a body enslaved to sin."

The first man, formed of mud and earth, had in his power the choice between good and evil and had under his control whether he inclined to the one or the other. He was snared by a grave deception and, fallen into disobedience, returned to the mother earth from which he was born; subject to corruption and death, he transmitted this punishment to all his descendents. Evil increased and multiplied among us, and our hearts fell ever lower; sin reigned, and thus, finally, human nature was deprived of the Holy Spirit that had lived in it. "The Holy Spirit of instruction flees from deceit," as it is written, "and he does not dwell in a body enslaved to sin." Because, therefore, the first Adam did not preserve the grace given to him by God, God the Father sent us the second Adam from heaven. He sent us his own Son, made in our likeness, who did not know change or alteration and did not know sin, so that, just as by the disobedience of the first we merited divine wrath, so by the obedience of the second we would escape the curse, and its evil would cease.

Let no one hold that the three persons are separable, since he would not be able to find any one of the persons existing or acting before another or after another or without another. Just as by nature there can be no separability of action, in the same way there remains, by nature, an immutable unity of the will. We will now consider in what way both angels and human beings have been separated from God, in order to enable us to grasp without a shadow of doubt that the Trinity is inseparable. For holy Scripture says, in fact, that "perverse thoughts separate people from God," and that "wisdom does not enter into a malignant spirit, nor does it dwell in a body given over to sin" and that "the Holy Spirit of discipline flees from deceit and distances himself from thoughts lacking in reason." In effect, Isaiah also proves that iniquities dig a trench between God and humanity. The holy Trinity, therefore, is the same faithful God in whom no wickedness can exist: "The Son of God came to take away sins; there is no sin or iniquity in him."

But the spirit is said to be directed, so that, turned away from the proud king, it may be perceived. Therefore the spirit directs itself into another, when the grace of the same spirit flees the proud and the deceitful. Whence it is also written: "The Spirit of the Lord of discipline will flee from the deceitful" (Wis. 1:5). Hence also He says through Himself in the Gospel: "The Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, and you do not know whence He comes or where He goes" (John 3:8). The Spirit indeed comes and goes, because He abandons the reprobate and takes up the elect. And because the judgment of almighty God is inscrutable, man does not know whence He comes and where He goes: because it cannot be known whether anyone ought to persevere forever in the grace which he receives. The spirit is therefore said to come from him who has fallen away, and to go to him who will persevere: because He abandons some in time, takes up others, and yet does not abandon them.

Often, in fact, when the Scriptures speak about the mouth, they refer to the intimate recesses of the heart, where one approves and determines what will eventually be spoken with the mouth, when one speaks the truth. It follows, then, that anyone who approves a lie is in his heart a liar. A person might not lie in his heart, however, if in saying something that is not in his heart, he does so knowing that what he does is evil, but he does so to avoid a greater evil—at the same time disapproving of both evils. Those who hold this principle say that Scripture, as well, must be understood in this sense when it says, "He who pronounces the truth in his heart." With the heart, in fact, one must always speak the truth—but not always with the lips; for example, if someone is forced, so as to avoid a greater evil, to say with his voice something contrary to what is in his mind.… A response in fact cannot be known when it remains hidden from others, who cannot listen to the voice of the heart unless the voice of the body makes it heard. But that voice of the heart does reach the ears of the Spirit of the Lord who, as Scripture says in the text cited, fills the whole earth. In that same portion of Scripture it also speaks about lips, the voice and language; but saying that these are known to the Lord means nothing other than what refers to the heart. Thus, when it is said that a sound "reaches our ears," it means that it is no longer hidden even from human beings.

"The spirit of wisdom is benign, and will not free the evil-speaker from his lips." Good persuadability causes one to esteem and love good things and to consent to them: and the wiser a person is, the more persuadable he is to good things. The malicious person is persuadable to evil, but there is no one who is persuadable to good unless he is benign: and this also accords with wisdom.

Concerning the justice of speech, the matter is treated in three ways.

For he is kind etc. Here he admonishes toward justice of speech, by drawing back from evil words. And first he removes from evil speech itself the confidence of impunity: second, he foretells their punishment: Therefore he who speaks etc.; third, he admonishes to caution against depraved speech: Guard etc.

In the first part, he first removes the confidence of impunity which might arise from the mercy of the judge: Kind: second, from his ignorance: For of the reins etc.; third, from his powerlessness: For the spirit of the Lord.

He says therefore: For the spirit of wisdom is benign etc. I have rightly said that the dissembler will be reproved etc.: for the spirit of wisdom is benign, namely of uncreated wisdom, namely of the Son, from whom the Holy Spirit is given: or of created wisdom, which he himself gives; below in chapter twelve: "O how good and how sweet is your spirit, O Lord, in all things"! Psalm: "Your good spirit" etc. And yet he will not free the accursed etc., although he is benign: because, as Gregory says, "discipline and mercy are greatly undermined if one is held without the other." Or thus: and because he is benign, he will not free the accursed etc., because benignity is contrary to malice: as the Gloss says: "He will not free, I say, the accursed, that is, the one who curses," who is accursed because he acts against God's commandment, which forbids cursing; Psalm: "Cursed are those who turn aside from your commandments"; behold, a curse in the present. Likewise, Matthew twenty-five: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire" etc.: behold, a curse in the future. From his lips, that is, from the sin of his lips, or from the punishment which he merited by the sin of his lips: Matthew twelve: "By your words you shall be condemned"; likewise in the Psalm: "The labor of their lips shall cover them." And it should be noted that the consequent is placed for the antecedent, when he says the accursed for the one who curses.

For of the reins etc., as if to say: he will truly be punished for his sins, even hidden ones: for of his reins, that is, of the affections or "carnal pleasures, whose seat is in the reins," God is a witness, that is, a certain knower, as a witness concerning the matter about which he bears testimony; Jeremiah twenty-nine: "I am the witness and the judge, says the Lord." And of his heart, that is, of the thoughts proceeding from the heart, Matthew fifteen: he is a true searcher, that is, an infallible examiner: whence First Corinthians two: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God"; likewise Jeremiah seventeen: "I the Lord search the hearts and try the reins"; Psalm: "God, who searches hearts and reins." And of his tongue, that is, of the utterances which are formed by the tongue, a hearer, that is, an immediate knower without the report of another: Psalm: "He who planted the ear, shall he not hear"? as if to say: yes. And it should be noted that he places the instruments for the operations proceeding from them, because, just as the instruments relate more immediately to the soul than their operations do, so God more immediately than anyone else knows all the acts of a person, both interior and exterior.

As the Lord fills all things, so too we read of the Spirit, "For the Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world." You see also that it was said of all those who were gathered with the apostles, "They were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." You see that the Holy Spirit gives both fullness and boldness. It is his work that the archangel announces, saying to Mary, "The Holy Spirit shall come on you."

The words "the Spirit hovered over the waters" do not require us, as some claim, to understand that spirit by which this corporal mass of the universe is animated, allowing bodily creatures to generate and preserve themselves, each according to their species. In fact, such a being would also be a creature. Also, regarding the text, "The Spirit of the Lord fills the universe," there are those who understand by this that spirit which, as an invisible creature, encompasses and vivifies the entire visible creation with a universal breath. But even here I do not see what would prevent one from understanding the Holy Spirit, when God says in a prophet, "I fill the heavens and the earth." God in fact does not fill heaven and earth without his Holy Spirit. What is strange, then, if it was said of his Holy Spirit, "he filled the universe"? Indeed, he fills in one way when he sanctifies, as was said of Stephen, "He was filled with the Holy Spirit," and of many others. In another way he fills with sanctifying grace, as happens with some saints, and in yet another way he fills everything with his manifest and ordering presence. In conclusion, I do not know whether it can be proven with certainty from Scripture that, when speaking of the Spirit of God or of the Spirit of the Lord without any further qualification, it refers to something other than the Holy Spirit.

For the Spirit of the Lord etc., as if he were inferring: rightly have I said that the Spirit can do this: for the Spirit of the Lord, intransitively, that is, who is the Lord, according to that saying of Athanasius: "The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord"; or transitively, that is, the Spirit who is from the Lord, according to that saying of Isaiah sixty-one: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" etc.; likewise, John: "The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father." Has filled the whole world, by assisting all things with his presence and containing them: Jeremiah twenty-three: "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" because, according to Gregory, "God is everywhere, within all things yet not enclosed, outside all things yet not excluded, above all things yet not elevated, below all things yet not cast down." And that which contains all things, namely the Holy Spirit containing all things by preserving them through his power. For as Boethius proves in the book On the Consolation, "the world from such diverse and contrary parts would not have come together into one form, and the joined discordant diversity would have torn apart, unless there were one who joined them together and held together what he had woven." Has knowledge of the voice, that is, of all utterances and languages, by knowing all things.

From this it is clear that he can know and punish all things, both deeds on account of his universal presence and words on account of his universal knowledge.

Another exposition, or according to the Gloss: That which contains all things, that is, the Holy Spirit, who contains all things, that is, the Church, outside of which whatever exists is nothing, just as outside the ark of Noah. Has knowledge of the voice, causally speaking, "that is, he grants understanding of Scripture to men"; or formally: Has knowledge of the voice, that is, he has the same knowledge as the voice, that is, as the Word, that is, the Son, of whom John one says: "In the beginning was the Word" etc.

Allegorically, according to the Gloss, it can be expounded concerning the temporal coming of the Holy Spirit. And first is touched upon the person sent, when it says: Spirit; second, his eternal origin: of the Lord; third, the temporal mission: Has filled; fourth, the manifestation of the mission: And that which contains all things.

He says therefore: The Spirit of the Lord has filled: the Gloss says: "with gifts"; the whole world, "that is, the Church spread throughout all lands," as the Gloss says. And that which contains all things: "that is, man, who has a correspondence with every creature," on account of which in Mark at the end he is called every creature, according to Gregory. Has knowledge of the voice: the Gloss says: "Of diverse languages from the Holy Spirit," as is clear from Acts two.

To the orb indeed of the earth the primitive Church is compared, first on account of its expansion, according to that word of the Psalm: "Their sound has gone forth into all the earth." Second, on account of its perfection, which is understood through the roundness of the orb: Song of Songs 6: "One is my dove, my perfect one." Third, on account of its stability: Ecclesiastes 1: "For the earth stands forever."

Fourth, on account of its compression and wearing down: 1 Corinthians 4: "I think that God has set forth us the Apostles last, as men destined to death," etc.; just as the earth is the lowest of bodies, whence it is worn down and trampled upon by all.

Fifth, on account of the sustaining and vivifying of the human race, because it lives from the earth and is sustained by the earth, just as by the primitive Church: Job 9: "Under whom they stoop who bear up the world," namely the Apostles and their followers; nor yet are they broken, because in the Psalm: "I have established its pillars." Sixth, on account of the adornment and production of all virtues, according to that word of Genesis 1: "Let the earth bring forth green herb," etc.

Seventh, on account of the origin of waters, that is, of the wisdom of saving doctrine, according to that word of Genesis 2: "A spring rose up from the earth, watering the whole surface of the earth."

The true faith asserts that the Holy Spirit also is creator, not created. Indeed, how can one deny that he is creator, about whom it has been proven that he established the array of the heavens? David says, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the Spirit of his mouth their entire array." And elsewhere, "Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created." The one who made humanity is in fact the creator of all. Blessed Job calls him "the divine Spirit who made me." Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit created all things, in the same way he pervades all things, without limit. And one who pervades all things is true God by nature. It is written, "The Spirit of the Lord fills the world." And even blessed David attests that the Spirit is everywhere, saying precisely of God, "Where will I go, far from your Spirit, and where will I flee from your face?" Then how can the Arians deny that the Holy Spirit is God, given that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, just as we are the temple of the Father and the Son? Indeed, the apostle says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. In fact, the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are." In the same letter, the apostle asserts that we are the temple of God in such a way as to say that we are also the temple of the Holy Spirit. He says, "Do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?" And precisely to show that the Holy Spirit is God, he adds, "Glorify and keep God in your hearts."

We will show that the Scriptures say that the Son is almighty like the Father, so that not only reason, but the divine witness as well, would persuade the shameless minds of heretics. The Father is called almighty, because the prophet says, "Thus says the almighty God." The Son is called almighty when the apostle John says in Revelation, "From Jesus Christ our Lord, who is, who was and who is to come, the almighty." The Holy Spirit is also called almighty: "The Spirit of the Lord fills the universe, and he who embraces all things, knows." Is it possible that the one who encompasses everything not be almighty?

Do not think, therefore, that God is in a particular place! He is with you, and he will be as you are. What does it mean, "He will be as you are"? He will be good if you are good, and he will seem bad to you if you are bad. If you are good, he will help you, but he will avenge himself if you are wicked. You have the judge within you. When you want to do evil, you withdraw from the town square to your house, where no enemy can see you. From the rooms of your house that are open and can be seen by others, you go into your own room. And even if in your room you fear indiscreet eyes, you hide in your heart, and there, within, you weave your plot. God is within you more deeply than your very heart. Wherever you flee to, he is there.

On this account, he who speaks, etc. The foolish confidence of impunity having been removed, here he foretells the punishment of evil speech: and first, because it will be brought into judgment; second, because it will be examined by the Judge: "In the thoughts of the ungodly"; third, because it will be made known to all: "For the ear of jealousy."

He says therefore: On this account, because namely the Holy Spirit has knowledge of the voice, that is, of every utterance: he who speaks iniquitous things, like those of whom it is said in the Psalm: "The mouth of those who speak iniquitous things has been stopped"; cannot be hidden, namely from the Holy Spirit in the present; whence Hebrews 4: "All things are naked and open to his eyes"; likewise Proverbs 16: "All the ways of men lie open to his eyes." Nor shall it pass by, namely by dissembling, him, namely the one speaking iniquitous things, correcting, that is, punishing; or correcting, that is, seizing together his body and soul, or all his evil works and words and thoughts; judgment, namely the future judgment: "for all things that are done, God will bring into judgment," as is found in the last chapter of Ecclesiastes.

For in the thoughts of the wicked, that is, concerning the thoughts of the wicked, in which there is less sin than in wicked words, there will be an interrogation, that is, a searching inquiry by the judge and an examination, according to that passage of the Psalm: "The Lord interrogates the just and the wicked"; Job, last chapter: "I know that no thought is hidden from you." And if there will be a searching inquiry concerning thoughts, how much more so concerning words; on account of this he adds: But of his words, etc.; as if to say: not only concerning thoughts. But, used for "however": the hearing of his words, that is, the examination, to God, as to the examiner and judge, will come, and for correction, that is, punishment; of his iniquities, which he committed by speaking wickedly: Genesis eighteen: "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied," etc.

Divinely inspired, he speaks thus of the Holy Sprit: "Because the Spirit of the Lord fills the world, he embraces all things and knows what is said." One understands, moreover, that here the Scripture refers to the voice of the heart, not of the body. That is, not to the voice of speech among living beings, but that of one's most hidden thoughts, that resounding voice that only God hears, since he alone sees the one who ponders secretly. Thus he continues, "Therefore, no one who utters unrighteous things can remain hidden, nor will he be spared his chastening judgment." To show further in what this wicked speech consists, so that it would be understood more as the expression of the conscience than of the tongue, the holy Scripture then explains, "There will be an inquiry into the reflections of the godless." I have said this because it says of the Holy Spirit, "because he encompasses all things, he knows what is said." Given that he encompasses all things, the Holy Spirit is not inferior to the Father or the Son. And because he has knowledge of hidden thoughts, he is recognized as the true God.

Is God perhaps circumscribed by a place—he to whom every conscience is present, angelic and human, not only good but also evil? This distinction is truly important: whereas to good consciences he is present as Father, to bad consciences he is present as judge. In fact, it is written, "God judges the righteous and the ungodly." It is also written, "The thoughts of the ungodly will be examined." The Lord does not make himself heard to the ears of the body more strongly than he does in the secret of one's thoughts, where he alone listens, where he alone is heard.

Perhaps the good that has come to us from the Lord's passion should be attributed to the godless people who killed Christ? Absolutely not. They wanted to kill; God permitted it. They would have been guilty even if they had had only the intention. As for God, he would not have permitted the crime if it had not been just. Let us suppose that they had not been able to carry out their crime but had only wanted to: they would have been equally unjust, equally murderers. Who can doubt this? It is true that "the Lord scrutinizes the righteous and the godless," and "he will inquire into the counsels of the ungodly." God sees, therefore, what someone wants, and not only what he is able to do. It follows that, if the Jews had wanted to kill Christ but were unable to carry out their intention (and therefore actually would not have killed him), they would have still been guilty, while you would have been without the advantages of the passion of Christ. The godless therefore wanted to carry out actions worthy of condemnation and were allowed to do so in your favor. Desiring to do so is imputed to the unrighteousness of the godless, while being permitted to do so is attributed to the power of God. The godless therefore desired unjustly, whereas God permitted justly.

So that human beings would not complain that they lacked something, what they were unable to read in their own hearts was written on tablets of stone. It is not true that they did not have a law written in their hearts. It is only that they refused to read it. What they should have read in their consciences was thus put before their eyes. People were urged to look into their hearts by the voice of God, coming, as it were, from without. As Scripture says, "He will inquire into the counsels of the godless." Now, where there is an inquiry, there must also be law. But, because human beings, in their desire for exterior things, had become strangers even to themselves, they were also given a written law. Not because the law had not already been written on their hearts, but because you had fled from your heart, and he who is everywhere wanted to find you again and compel you to return to yourself. And what does the written law call out to those who have distanced themselves from the law impressed on their hearts? "Transgressors, return to your hearts."

And rightly did I say that it will come, etc.; for the ear of jealousy, of jealousy, I say, of God who is jealous for souls as for brides, hears all things, that is, knows all things, as one who hears all things, namely words both evil and good and indifferent, just as a jealous man carefully hears and notes the words of his spouse and of those speaking with her: Exodus twenty: "I am a mighty God, jealous," etc. And the tumult of murmurings, by which men murmur against God: Ecclesiasticus thirty-three: "The heart of a fool is like a cart wheel." And it is called a tumult, because a man who murmurs makes a tumult, as it were, within his teeth, and does not speak clearly. Shall not be hidden, but shall be made manifest to the whole world; Luke twelve: "Nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, nor hidden that shall not be known"; Exodus sixteen: "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel."

There is truth in the saying of Wisdom: "The Spirit of the Lord fills the universe," and "An attentive ear hears all things." To those, then, who foolishly, even godlessly, think that their words remain hidden to the divine mind, the psalmist says somewhere, "Understand, you senseless among the people. Fools, when will you become wise? Does he who made the ear not hear?" How is it possible that he who gave hearing to his creatures would not hear everything? And from this you understand, yet again, that the Lord is God by nature. He was not unaware of what the Jews murmured secretly among the crowd. Rather, as befits God, he heard it, even though they did not speak openly of him, for fear of their leaders.

It is said that God has hearing, because he listens to everything and nothing remains hidden to him in silence. About this, it is written in the book of Wisdom, "Heaven's ear listens to everything; even the whisper of murmurings are not hidden from him."

"Do not fear those who kill the body, but do not have power to kill the soul." Whoever wants to kill you can so do in the body but not in the soul. Your soul will not die, unless you yourself want to kill it. Another's wickedness can kill your flesh, but the truth would preserve your soul in righteousness. If you abandon the truth, what other evil could your enemy do to you that would be greater than what you have done to yourself? Your enemy, if he wanted to harm you, could at most kill your flesh. You, however, by giving false testimony, kill the soul. Listen to Scripture: "A lying mouth destroys the soul."

"I have the power to give my life and the power to take it up again." In another passage of the Gospel it says that it is not only the Father who raises the Son but the Son also raises himself. "I will destroy this temple," he says, "and in three days I will raise it up again." And the Evangelist notes, "he spoke of the temple of his body." In fact, he had to raise what had died; now, the Word is not dead, and neither is his soul. Could the Lord's soul die, when not even your soul dies? How do I know, you ask, that my soul does not die? If you do not kill it, it will not die. In what sense, you ask, can I kill my soul? "A lying mouth destroys the soul," to not speak of other sins. How can I be sure, you insist, that it does not die? Listen to the Lord, who gives this assurance to his servant: "You must not fear those who kill the body and, after that, can do nothing more." And more exactly, what did he say? "Fear, rather, him who has the power to cause both body and soul to perish in Gehenna." This proves that the soul both dies and does not die.

Guard etc. Here he admonishes to caution against wicked speech, and first he sets forth his exhortation; second, the necessity of the exhortation: For a word, etc.

Now the construction or continuation is as follows: since the tumult shall not be hidden, etc., guard yourselves therefore from murmuring, namely against God, which profits nothing, indeed it greatly harms; whence First Corinthians ten: "Some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer." And from detraction, namely against one's neighbor: Job six: "Why have you detracted from the words of truth?" Spare the tongue; he does not say: spare your neighbor, but the tongue, namely your own, because one who detracts from another first injures himself. Whence detraction is worse than the venom of a serpent: Seneca: "That venom which serpents produce for the destruction of others, they contain without harm to themselves; but detraction itself drinks a portion of its own poison." The Gloss: "Pernicious are murmurings and detractions"; Romans one: "Detractors hateful to God." Detractors, he says in the plural, because detraction occurs in many ways, namely either when a hidden good is denied, or when a manifest good is diminished, or when a hidden evil is made public, or when a manifest evil is further spread abroad.

And I rightly said: Spare your tongue, for obscure speech: The Gloss: "Hidden," as is the word of murmuring: shall not go into the void, that is, it shall not remain without punishment, because not even an idle word: Matthew twelve: "Of every idle word" etc.; therefore much more so of a malicious word. "An idle word, as the Gloss says there, is one that is spoken without benefit to the speaker or the hearer"; Jerome: "Everything that does not edify the hearers turns to the peril of the speakers." But the mouth that lies, namely by slandering, slays the soul: The Gloss: "By the sword of sin, the soul of the liar"; the Psalm: "You will destroy all who speak falsehood." And it should be noted that he speaks here of pernicious lying, which is mortal, not of jocose or officious lying: whence the Gloss: "There is a lie of lighter fault, when someone lies in bestowing a benefit."

But it seems that some lie is good and meritorious, because the midwives who lied merited a reward from the just judge, namely God, who cannot be deceived, as is clear from Exodus one.

But it must be said according to the Gloss that "not the lie was rewarded, but the benevolence of their piety."

But was one and the same deed a sin, and yet possessed the merit of benevolence? And it seems so, for the Gloss says: "God pardons the evil of one and the same deed on account of the good, and rewards the good itself."

It must be said that it was one by connection, not by indivisibility: because the intention to deliver was one thing, and the will to lie was another, although they were conjoined.

The Lord demands that there be no difference between our oaths and our ordinary speech. If this were not so, then it could be admitted that there is a sort of deception in our oath. Likewise, there must be no lie whatsoever in our words, because both a deceiving oath and a lie fall under the condemnation of divine judgment. Scripture attests to this: "A lying mouth destroys the soul." To speak the truth is already an oath, given that we read, "The truthful witness does not lie." For this reason Scripture justly asserts that God often utters oaths. God is true, and he cannot lie. Everything he says can be considered an oath, given that everything God says is entirely true. It is true, of course, that sometimes Scripture says that God swears an oath. If he does so, however, it is because human beings are incredulous. He swears, then, because of the devious infidelity of the Jews, who believe that truth is found only in words given with an oath. It is for this reason alone that God at times wanted to swear an oath, so that those who did not believe God when he spoke would at least believe when he gave an oath.

It is not lawful to deceive anyone, either by clever reasoning or with simple words, because whoever lies in any way, sins. In fact, it is written, "A lying mouth destroys the soul." And it adds, "The burning pool of fire and sulphur is reserved for all liars. This is the second death."

Concerning the justice of works, the treatment is twofold.

Do not be zealous for etc. Here he exhorts to the justice of works, and first by reasons taken from the side of creation; second, from the side of retribution, at: For justice etc.

From the side of creation, first by a reason taken from the goodness of the Creator: For God; second by a reason taken from the side of the end of creation: He created; third by a reason taken from the side of the condition of the creature: There is not in them.

Do not be zealous for etc., as if to say: because lying kills, do not be zealous for, that is, do not love or desire with affection, death, namely of the soul, which one incurs through fault, according to that saying of Augustine: "True death is that which men do not fear: namely the separation of the soul from God, who is the blessed life of souls, just as bodily death is the separation of the body from the soul." Death, I say, causally established in the error of your lives, according to that passage of Proverbs fourteen: "They err who work evil"; for every wicked person is in error, according to the Philosopher. Nor acquire, in effect, perdition, of eternal punishment, which is in our power, according to that passage of Hosea thirteen: "Your destruction, O Israel; only your help is from me." By the works of your hands, causally, that is, by the merit of your works.

But it is objected that, according to Augustine, all desire life and beatitude: therefore no one desires death or perdition.

It must be said that this is true per se: but per accidens and consequently those are said to desire it who desire the act that is the cause of death and perdition. Whence he posits the consequent for the antecedent, adding: I rightly said that error is the cause of death, and evil works the cause of perdition.

For God desires all things to be saved. Thus Solomon also says: 'God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living' (Wisdom 1:13). He made the soul to exist; he created man for incorruption, whom he made in his own image. But men, deviating from the gift of nature, have rendered themselves subject to death, so that they may be corrupted like earthly beings. But God compels through tribulations to repentance, so that through repentance that evil accident of wickedness may be burned up and consumed, and perish; and that place of the soul, which was the possession of the accident of impiety, may be open for the reception of virtue and grace. It is certain, however, that the nature of the soul is precious, which, made in the likeness of God, admits the reception of all virtue; since it is not deprived of the fellowship of heavenly knowledge.

Therefore death does not come from God. In fact, "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living." In fact, the supreme essence makes all that is to exist, and consequently he is called essence. Death forces what dies into non-being, to the degree that it dies. If in fact something that dies were to die completely, it would certainly arrive at nonexistence. But it dies only to the extent that it does not participate in the essence. In short, the less it exists, the more it dies. The body is less than any kind of life, because to the extent that it remains in its species, it does so thanks to life, whether this regards an animated being or the entire nature of the world. For this reason the body is more subject to death and closer to nonexistence. Thus the life that neglects God, delighting in the fruits of the body, tends toward nonexistence. And this is wickedness.

For God, who is the author of all things, according to that saying in John 1: "All things were made through him"; did not make death, namely present death.

But against this: Ecclesiasticus 11: "Life and death, poverty and honor are from God."

It must be said that here he speaks of the death of fault: or if of the death of nature, he speaks with respect to privation, not with respect to the sense of pain. Concerning the death of hell also, with respect to the punishment of loss, what is said here is true: God did not make death.

But against this: Every punishment is just, and everything just is good, and everything good is from God.

It must be said that when it is said: every punishment is just, this is understood per se, namely insofar as it is punishment, not according to what it is: whence it cannot be concluded that it is simply from God, but insofar as it is punishment.

Nor does he rejoice in the perdition of the living, namely their future perdition.

Against this: Proverbs 1: "I also will laugh at your destruction," etc.

It must be said that he does not delight in punishment insofar as it is the perdition of nature, but insofar as it is the effect of justice: whence Isaiah 1: "Ah! I will be consoled over my enemies, and I will be avenged upon my foes." And I rightly said that he does not delight or rejoice in perdition, which is the way to non-being.

For he created, Genesis 1, all things that they might exist: The Gloss: "Not that they might perish": whence he also implanted in all things a natural appetite for existing, that is, gave it inwardly. And because "it is a common conception of the mind, according to Boethius, that everything which exists tends toward the good," and all things tend toward being: he proves that the being of all things is good. And healable, that is, created in spiritual health through innocence and reducible to health through penance, lest they perish: for he does not "will the death of the sinner," etc. Healable, I say, he made the nations of the world, that is, all who are born in the world. Their incurability therefore is from themselves, not from God: Jeremiah 30: "Your fracture is incurable, your wound is grievous."

For there is not in them: The Gloss: "In the nature of those," namely of the nations, a medicine of destruction, "that is, the cup of sin," according to the Gloss, which is the cause of destruction in present death: Baruch 3: "They were destroyed and descended to the underworld." Destruction is called sin, because it places one outside the boundaries of grace: likewise, temporal death, because it places one outside the boundary of natural life: likewise, the death of hell, because it places one outside the boundaries of glory: and he speaks by antiphrasis, as if poison were called a medicine, and as a fishpond is the name for water lacking fish.

But an objection is raised against what he says: There is not in them etc., because Ephesians 2: "We were by nature children of wrath."

But it must be said that here he speaks of actual sin, or of nature as established, that is, before the fall, not deprived through sin, of which the Apostle speaks.

Nor the kingdom of the underworld, that is, eternal perdition, on earth, that is, in man made from the earth: Genesis 2: "God formed man from the slime of the earth." He intends therefore to show that the death of sin and the perdition of eternal punishment are not from nature, but from a perverse will. Concerning the death of sin, this is clear from the Gloss, which says: "We do not sin by necessity, but by a perverse will"; concerning the perdition of punishment, this is clear from another Gloss, which says: "The devil would have harmed man in nothing, had man not consented."

Every human being is so corrupted by the voluntary sin of the first man that only God, if he wills, can heal a person's will by his good will. In fact, it is written, "He created all things that they might exist, and the creative forces of the world he made wholesome." Still, lest human beings would ever think the beginning of their healing derived from themselves, the divine word immediately adds, "And there is no purging medicine in them." Therefore, though the devil had deprived the first man of faith, he nevertheless did not deprive God of the power to give again what he had first given. Nor could the devil corrupt human nature to such a degree that it could not receive once again what it had lost, thanks to the generosity of God. In fact, the Almighty, who was capable of forming human nature, can also reform and preserve it, healing its fragility through grace.

"God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist, and the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them. And the dominion of Hades is not on earth." Then, a little further on in the text, it says, "But by the envy of the devil death entered the world." If therefore God made everything for us in the best possible way, it is we who have caused evil and sins.

For justice is perpetual etc. Here he admonishes toward justice of work from the consideration of retribution: and first he touches upon the reward of justice: second, the punishment of injustice: But injustice etc.; third, the equity of the punishment or penalty inflicted: But the ungodly etc.

For justice is perpetual etc.; as if to say: I rightly said that death is not from God nor from nature, but from the injustice of a perverse will. For justice is perpetual, by bestowing eternal life, according to that passage in Proverbs 12: "In the paths of justice is life." And immortal, by liberating from perpetual death; whence below in chapter 3: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them."

But injustice is the acquisition of death, namely both of temporal and eternal death: whence Romans 6: "The wages of sin is death"; likewise Proverbs 12: "The wayward path leads to death."

I saw a godless person who said, "By the power of my own hand I have acted, and with my wisdom, for I am shrewd. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and I have pillaged their treasures." I saw him exalted. I went forward in my thoughts to the next life and considered the arrangements of Providence. I saw him no longer, nor did I find his place, even though I looked for it. Godlessness will come to an end and will be no more. It is not included in what is immortal, as is said of righteousness, "Righteousness is immortal."

When I prospered, sowing in righteousness and reaping the fruits of righteousness, I was in such a state that I could never waver. If "whoever does the will of God remains forever" and his "righteousness is immortal," I indeed said this when I received the fruits of righteousness and prospered. I spoke thus to my soul, just as with the word according to which "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' …" I confessed this with my soul and with my life when I prospered and bore fruits of virtue, because I will never waver, according to the word: "Whoever believes, and whoever lives and believes, will never die," and "The righteousness of the Lord remains forever."

But the ungodly etc. Here he shows the equity of retribution, because namely the ungodly merited this, first, by doing injustice, on account of which he says: But the ungodly with hands etc.: second, by loving it familiarly, there: And esteeming etc.: third, by inseparably adhering to it: And covenants etc.: fourth, by strongly defending it: Because they are worthy of death etc.

But the ungodly etc. I have rightly said that death is not from God, nor from nature: but, for however: the ungodly, against God and neighbor: with hands and words, Gloss: "By deeds and sayings"; they summoned it, as if to say: it did not impose itself, but they themselves called it forth, namely ungodliness and death, as is evident in the first parents, Genesis 3.

And esteeming it a friend, that is, useful and not harmful: Gloss: "Because they think they sin with impunity"; they melted away, that is, they flowed downward, Gloss: "into eternal death"; but first, into the death of guilt, second, into the death of temporal punishment, third, into the death of eternal punishment; Hebrews 2: "We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest perhaps we drift away." And they made a covenant with it, that is, an inseparable pact as of betrothal through the impenitence of obstinacy; Gloss: "Lest they be separated"; Isaiah 28: "We have struck a covenant with death, and with hell we have made a pact."

And rightly they melted away into death, for they are worthy of death who are of its party, namely of injustice, by holding and defending it, just as a man defends the party to which he belongs: Romans 1: "Those who do such things are worthy of death."

Moreover, here can be noted the progression in sins, concerning which Ecclesiasticus 20: "There is a progression in evil for the undisciplined man"; for first there is ungodliness in the heart through consent to iniquity; then in the hand through the consummation of the deed; then the word of defense or boasting; then friendship and hope of impunity; afterward the melting away through the repetition of depraved habit; next the covenant through the hardening of the mind; lastly the death of final impenitence.