OF REPENTANCE. [The de Pœnitentia furnishes no materials for determining its date; its whole tone is however Catholic; Lumper objects, that T. no where distinctly says, that the pardon which he speaks of as open once for all sin, was given through the Church also, and so that what he says of Exomologesis might equally have been written by him as a Montanist, since they too held the necessity and benefit of penitence, although they denied to the Church authority, in great crimes, to pronounce upon it. But since T. says there was one penitence after Baptism, and one only, he plainly is speaking of a public restoration to the Communion of the Church, after the public penitence which he describes; for none denied that a person might repent even after a relapse, although the Church did not receive such. Repentance towards God might take place more than once; T. then in limiting it to one, plainly means one, upon which the Church would pronounce. There seems no doubt that T. in rejecting his former agreement with the Church's doctrine on penitence (de Pudic. c. 1.) alluded to this Treatise. It seems strange that Erasmus should have questioned its genuineness on the ground of style, which is so fully Tertullian's.] I. THE men of this world, such as we ourselves also were in time past", blind without the light of the Lord, know, as far as nature teacheth, that repentance is a certain affection of the mind, which ariseth from dislike of some worse b opinion but from the reason of the thing they are as far distant as from the Author of reason Himself. For reason is a thing of God; seeing that God, the Creator of all things, hath provided, hath disposed, hath ordained nothing without reason, and hath willed that nothing should be handled and understood save by reason. All therefore who are ignorant of God, must needs be ignorant of the thing which is His; for no treasure is ever opened to strangers. Wherefore, floating through the whole business of life without the pilotage of reason, they know not how to avoid the storm that hangeth over the world. But how unreasonably they PENIT. 350 Men by nature repent of good, more than of evil. DE demean themselves in the act of penitence it will suffice to XI. 1. make plain by this one fact, that they apply it even to their good deeds. They repent them of their faith, love, simplicity, patience, compassion. According as an act hath met with ingratitude, they curse themselves because they have done a good deed, and they fix in their heart that sort of repentance chiefly, which is employed upon the best acts, taking care to remember never again to perform any good service: on repentance for evil deeds, on the contrary, they lay but a light stress. In fact, they more readily sin through this same repentance, than act rightly by its means. II. But if they acted with a right apprehension of God, and hence of reason also, they would first weigh the merits of repentance, and would never use it as an aggravation of the change from the better to the worse: finally, they would regulate the limit of their repentance, because they would have reached the limit of their sin also, that is, by fearing the Lord. But where there is no fear, there is therefore no amendment; and where there is no amendment, repentance is of necessity vain, because it wanteth its proper fruit, unto which God hath sown it, that is, unto the salvation of man. For God, after so many and so great sins of human rashness, beginning in Adam the first of human kind, after that man had been condemned together with his portion in this world', after that he had been cast out from Paradise, and made subject to death, when He had hasted back to His own mercy, from thenceforth He made a solemn beginning of repentance in His own self, in rescinding the sentence of His former wrath, covenanting to pardon him who was His own work and image. Wherefore also He gathered together "Of repentance as to almsgiving, the Devil is the author," Quæstt. ad Antioch. q. 83. S. Jerome, Ep. 147. ad Sabin. imitates T. "in perversum acta pœnitentia." S. Ambrose de Pœnit. ii. 9." they who perform penitence, should of this only not repent, lest they perform penitence of their very penitence. These seem to have asked to do penitence for things evil, to do it for things good." dad augmentum; in contrast with what follows,"modum pœnitendi temperarent." Rig. adopts Urs.'s conjecture "ad argumentum"" as a ground." i. e. using repentance to restrain sin, they restrain repentance to things sinful. f the ground, cursed for his sake. g"When God by His unchangeable counsel changeth His works, He, on account of this same change, not of counsel but of work, is said to repent." Aug. in Ps. 131. "When God repenteth, He is not changed and changeth; as, when He is angry, He is not changed, and avengeth.' Id. c. adv. Leg. et Proph. i. 20. Repentance prepares for Faith and for abode of The Spirit. 351 6 28. a people unto Himself, and cherished them with many gifts of His goodness, and though He so often found them most unthankful, He ever exhorted them to repentance, and sent forth the voices of all the prophets in prophecy: promising them presently His grace, the light of which He would in the last days pour forth by His Spirit upon the whole world; Joel 2, He commanded that the baptism of repentance should go Luke 3, beforehand, that, by the seal of repentance, He might fit 3. beforehand those, whom He called by grace unto the promise appointed unto the seed of Abraham. John is not silent Mat. 3, hereupon: Begin,' saith he, to repent, for now shall 2. Salvation come nigh unto the nations,' that is, the Lord that bringeth salvation, according to the promise of God; to whom he, fore-ministering, appointed repentance, set over the work of purifying minds; that whatsoever former error had defiled, whatsoever within the heart of man ignorance had polluted, this repentance sweeping, and scouring, and casting Mat. 7, out of doors, might make ready the house of the heart, thus 44. cleansed, for the Holy Spirit that should come after, whither He might willingly enter in with heavenly graces. The title of these good gifts is one, The salvation of man, the abolition of former sins having gone before. This is the cause of repentance, this its task, tending the work of divine mercy; in that it hath been man's profit, God's service. But the inward character of repentance, which through knowledge of the Lord we learn, maintaineth one determinate shape, such that violent hands", so to speak, are never to be laid upon good works or thoughts. For God doth not sanction the reprobation of such things as be good as being His own, whereof since He is the Author and Defender, He must therefore needs be also the Accepter; and if the Accepter, then also the Rewarder. Away then with the ingratitude of men, if it compel repentance even for good works: away with their gratitude also, if the desire of gaining this be a motive for doing good. Both are earthly, mortal. For how little is the gain, if thou doest good to a grateful, or the loss if to an ungrateful, man! h Urs.'s correction has been retained, (6 quasi violenta aliqua manus" for "violentia." The meaning of the old read ing is the same," that hands be never PONIT. Rom. 352 Sins of spirit not lighter than those of the flesh. DE A good work hath God for a debtor, as also hath an evil XI. 3. one; for the judge recompenseth in every cause'. But since Prov. God sitteth over us as a Judge to exact and to maintain that 19, 17. righteousness, which is most dear to Him, and, with a view 12, 19. to this, establisheth the entire sum of His law, is it to be doubted that, as in all our acts, so, in the cause of repentance also, righteousness must be fulfilled unto God? which indeed can then be fulfilled, if it be employed only in the case of sins. Moreover none but an evil work deserveth to be called a sin, nor doth any one sin by doing good: but if he sinneth not, why doth he meddle with the repentance of sinners? why doth he lay upon his own goodness an office proper to evil doing? So it cometh to pass that, when any thing is used where it ought not, it is neglected where it ought. Luke 22, 61. III. The occasion therefore requireth me to note what those things are, for which repentance seemeth to be just and due, that is, which are to be accounted sin: yet this may seem superfluous, for, when the Lord is known, the spirit looked upon by its Author, maketh its way, of itself, to a knowledge of the truth, and, being admitted to the Lord's commands, is straightway taught by them that that is to be accounted sin, which God forbiddeth. For since it is granted that God is some great Good, Him being good, surely nought else than evil could displease, because between things contrary to each other there is no agreement. Nevertheless it shall not irk to state briefly that of sins, some are carnal, that is, of the body, and some spiritual. For since man is made up of this union of two substances, he doth not sin except in those parts whereof he is made. But because the body and the spirit are two things, these sins do not therefore differ: on the contrary, they are rather of the same nature, because these two things make up one; lest any should distinguish between their sins according to the difference of the two substances, so as to esteem one lighter or heavier than another. For both the flesh and the spirit are things of God, the one moulded by His hand, the other good or bad. &c. Rig. has delinquentium privatum ? Cur. to be equally brought into Judgment, repented of. 353 made perfect by His Spirit. Seeing then that they equally pertain to the Lord, whatever in them sinneth, equally offendeth God. Canst thou distinguish between the acts of the flesh and those of the spirit? between which there is both in life, and in death, and in the resurrection, so much union and fellowship, that at that Day they shall be raised together either for life or for condemnation, because doubtless they have equally either sinned or lived innocent. Thus much I would premise, that we may understand that, if any sin be committed, no less necessity for repentance attacheth to either part of man than to both: both have a common guilt, and a common Judge, that is God; they have therefore also a common cure in repentance. Hence they are named spiritual and bodily, because every sin is either in deed or in thought; so that that which is in deed is bodily, because a deed can be seen and handled even as a body; but that which is in thought is spiritual, because a spirit is neither seen nor comprehended: whereby it is shewn that sins not only of deed, but of will also, must be avoided, and must be cleansed by repentance. For although the littleness of man judgeth only by deed', because it is no match for the coverts of the will, we may not therefore be careless of the sins of this will before God also. God is sufficient unto all things. Nothing, whence any sin at all cometh, is removed from His sight. Because He is not ignorant of it, neither doth He pass it by without determining to bring it into judgment. He is not one that dissembleth and dealeth falsely with His own knowledge. How when the will is the source of the deed? for I heed not what are imputed to chance, or necessity, or ignorance; which being excepted, it remaineth that sin is not committed save by the will. Seeing then that it is the source of the deed, ought it not to be the first to be punished, inasmuch as it was the first to sin? not being moreover acquitted of the sin, even when any hindrance preventeth its commission; for the will to sin is imputed to the will, and it cannot be excused on account of a failure in the performance, having fulfilled that which was its own work. Finally, after what manner doth the Lord shew that I factis Edd.: Rig. facti solum judicat, a conjecture of Latinius. A a |