Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He describes the qualities and virtues required in a bishop, and at verse 8, in a deacon, and at verse 11, in their wives. Finally, at verse 15, he admonishes Timothy to conduct himself reverently in the Church of God, which is the pillar and ground of truth, especially that truth which teaches the incarnation and redemption of Christ, which is the great mystery of piety.
Vulgate Text: 1 Timothy 3:1-16
1. A faithful saying: If any man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2. It behoveth therefore a bishop to be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, of good behavior, chaste, given to hospitality, a teacher, 3. not given to wine, no striker, but modest; not quarrelsome, not covetous, but 4. one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all chastity. 5. But if any man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? 6. Not a neophyte: lest, being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil. 7. Moreover he must have a good testimony of them who are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 8. Deacons in like manner chaste, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre: 9. holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience. 10. And let these also first be proved: and so let them minister, having no crime. 11. The women in like manner chaste, not slanderers, but sober, faithful in all things. 12. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife: who rule well their children, and their own houses. 13. For they that have ministered well, shall purchase to themselves a good degree, and much confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 14. These things I write to thee, hoping to come to thee shortly. 15. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16. And evidently great is the mystery of godliness, which was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the spirit, appeared unto angels, hath been preached unto the Gentiles, is believed in the world, is taken up in glory.
Verse 1: A Faithful Saying: If a Man Desire the Office of a Bishop, He Desireth a Good Work
A faithful saying. — Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Oecumenius refer these words not to what follows about the episcopate, but to what precedes; for since they could doubt whether what He had said at the end of the preceding chapter was true and certain, namely that a woman is to be saved by the bearing of children, He therefore here adds, they say, "A faithful saying," as if to say: What I have said about women is certain and undoubted. But far better, Theodoret, Ambrose, Primasius and others refer this "faithful saying" to what follows, as if to say: It is certain and most true what I am about to say throughout this whole chapter concerning the episcopate and the hierarchical order. The Apostle, when he is about to say something great, is accustomed to prefix the "faithful saying," as I noted at chapter 1, verse 15. For here he begins to depict to the life for Timothy the duties of a Bishop and of the other ministers of the Church.
If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. — St. Augustine, in book XIX of The City of God, ch. 19, says the Apostle wishes to teach what the episcopate is, namely that it is the name of a work, not of an honor: for a Bishop is an overseer, who bears the care of others, and undertakes the burden and labor of teaching and ruling the people; for the episcopate is so called from epi tou episkopein pantas, that is, because he watches over all and provides for all, says Theophylact. In which sense Cicero said in his Epistles: "Pompey wished me alone to be the one whom all Campania should have as bishop, to whom the levy and the sum of the business should be referred." Eusebius also, in book I, ch. xxxvii of The Life of Constantine, calls him the common bishop of the world appointed by God. Thus also Jerome explains, epistle 83 to Oceanus: "If anyone," he says, "desires the episcopate, he desires a good work: a work, not a dignity; labor, not delights; a work by which he is to decrease in humility, not swell in loftiness." For the same reason St. Clement teaches, in book II of the Apostolic Constitutions, ch. xxv, that the episcopate is a heavy burden: "Because," he says, "the Bishop must be the goal (scopus) of all, just as Christ is the goal of the Bishop." Here our Turrianus adds that for this reason the Apostle here calls it ergon, that is, an arduous and difficult work.
Hence Augustine infers, first, that he is not a Bishop who chooses rather to preside than to be of profit. Secondly, that the episcopate, although in itself it is a good work, is nevertheless not well but unbecomingly desired, unless one is called to it by God and the Church, as Timothy was called by prophecy, chapter 1, verse 18. "Therefore," says Augustine, in book XIX of The City of God, ch. xix, "the love of truth seeks a holy leisure, the necessity of charity undertakes a just business; which burden, if no one imposes, one must give oneself to perceiving and contemplating the truth: but if it is imposed, it is to be undertaken because of the necessity of charity; yet not so that the delight in truth is altogether to be abandoned, lest that sweetness be withdrawn and that necessity overwhelm us."
Secondly, more plainly and clearly: "He who desires the episcopate desires a good (in Greek kalon, that is, excellent and arduous) work": for here that adage is most true, dyskola ta kala, difficult are the things that are beautiful or excellent. For the Apostle wishes to teach Timothy and all bishops that the office of Bishop is lofty and arduous, that they may seriously grasp it and wholly devote themselves to it, so as to do justice to so great a burden. Hence, explaining this good or excellent work, he adds: "It behoveth therefore a Bishop to be blameless," etc. This was most true in Paul's time, when the episcopate was not an honor, but an immense labor and the step nearest to martyrdom. Indeed Alvarus Pelagius, in his book On the Lament of the Church, art. 18, explains it thus from St. Jerome: "He who desires the episcopate desires a good work, that is, martyrdom. At that time," he says, "it was said by the Apostle, If a man desire the episcopate, he desires a good work, since whoever presided over the people was the first dragged to the torments of martyrdom. Then, therefore, it was praiseworthy to seek the episcopate, when by this it was not doubtful that one would attain to graver sufferings." The same is taught by St. Gregory, Pastoral I, part viii; by Anselm and others. As just as God then stirred up many to offer themselves to martyrdom, so also He stirred up some to take up the episcopate, that they might present themselves to the Martyrs as leaders in faith and martyrdom. But those who now seek the episcopate for the sake of large revenues, for dignity, for rank and honor, sin by dangerous ambition and avarice. The reason is that a Bishop ought to be perfect, not to be aspiring to, but to be already in, the state of Christian perfection: and to presume this of oneself is a mark of great pride.
Secondly, because, as the Council of Trent teaches, the episcopate is a burden formidable even to angelic shoulders; for God will require an account from the Bishop not only for his own soul, but also for the souls of all those subject to him. Who, unless rash, would aspire to this office and burden? Socrates in Plato, Republic I, marvels at those who willingly take up government: For, he says, no upright magistrate aims at and serves himself, but his subjects and their advantages: hence he judges that good men ought to be compelled, even unwilling, to take up magistracies, by penalty or reward. Hence also Antigonus, king of the Macedonians, when he saw his son ruling his subjects too insolently, said: "Do you not know, my son, that our kingdom is a splendid servitude?" If this is so in an earthly and temporary magistracy, what will it be in the spiritual, heavenly and perpetual one, such as the episcopate?
Whence St. Gregory in the cited place: "The Apostle," he says, "praising the desire of a good work (the episcopate), at once turns into fear what he had praised, when he adds: 'A Bishop must be blameless,' etc., as if to say: I praise what you seek, but learn what you are seeking." And the author of the Imperfect Work, homily 33 on Matthew: "To desire a work," he says, "is in itself good: but to covet the primacy of honor is vanity; primacy desires him who flees from it, but flees from and shrinks from him who desires it." Hence St. Chrysostom so greatly fled the episcopate, as he himself teaches in his six books On the Priesthood. So also did St. Augustine, Gregory, Fulgentius and others flee from it.
Hear St. Augustine, epistle 148 to Valerian: "Violence," he says, "was done to me by the merit of my sins (for I know not what else to call it), so that the second place at the helm was handed over to me, who knew not even how to hold an oar." And in sermon 75 To the Brothers in the Hermitage: "To such a degree did I fear the episcopate that (since I had begun, by my reputation, to be of some weight among the servants of God) I took care not to approach any place where I knew there was no Bishop; by this I labored as much as I could to be saved in a humble place, lest in a high one I should be endangered. I came to that city to see a friend, whom I thought I could win for God, so that he might be with us in the monastery. I came as if secure, because the place had its Bishop. I was seized and made a presbyter, and through this manner I arrived at the episcopate."
It is read in the Life of St. Goar that he, when asked by Sigebert, king of the Franks, to be Bishop of Trier, asked for a delay; meanwhile he prayed God that, unless it were for his salvation, He would turn the episcopate away from him: soon he fell into illness, and being weakened to the point of death, he escaped the episcopate. Nicephorus, book XIII, ch. xvii, relates a similar thing about the monk Nilamon. So Thomas of Cantimpre, in book I of the Memorable Examples of His Time, ch. xx, narrates of that Canon of St. Victor of Paris, of conspicuous integrity and learning, that, having in life constantly refused the episcopate when proposed to him, he appeared after death as blessed to a certain friend of his, who had earnestly begged this from him while dying; and being asked whether that obstinate refusal of the episcopate had turned out well for him, he answered, saying: "What in life I always feared, I now know, namely that if I had ascended the episcopal chair, I would have fallen into the danger of eternal damnation," that is, if I had been of the number of Bishops, I probably would not have been of the number of the Blessed.
Rightly therefore did the Emperor Leo decree about the year of our Lord 469, book XXXI, chapter On Bishops and Clerics: "Let the Prelate be ordained not by price but by prayers. He ought to be so set apart from ambition that he must be sought out and forced, that when asked he draws back, when invited he flees, that only the necessity of excusing himself avails him. For truly he is unworthy of the priesthood, unless he be ordained against his will." St. Gregory, book VI on book I of Kings, last chapter: "It is," he says, "the right order that men should be sought out for the episcopate." And Bernard, book I On Consideration, ch. v: "He who asks for himself," he says, "is already judged." And below: "The hesitating and refusing, force and compel them to enter." See Anselm and St. Thomas, II II, Quest. CLXXXV, art. 1.
Note: The Apostle here does not mention parish priests and Priests, but he understands them under the Bishops: for their burden and office is the same, namely to teach, to feed, and to rule the people, but with regard to fewer subjects. See what is said on Philippians 1:1.
Verse 2: It Behoveth Therefore a Bishop to Be Blameless, the Husband of One Wife
As if to say: Therefore, that I may approach the chief argument of this epistle, namely that I may teach you, O Timothy, and other bishops, what kind of men and endowed with what virtues they ought to be, I say first of all that a Bishop must be blameless, that is, who not only is free from vice that can be reproached, but who is moreover adorned with all virtues. "He comprehends," says Jerome to Oceanus, "all virtues in one word, and demands almost a thing contrary to nature; for who is the man who lives without sin and reproach?" Hence Nazianzen, in Apologetic 1: "It is a fault," he says, "in a Bishop not to be the very best;" because, as Plutarch rightly says in his book On the Instruction of Princes, "Princes, sacred and profane alike, are like shining gems, and so if any blemish appears in them, it is exposed to detraction and to calumny." And Theophylact here: "It befits a president and prince," he says, "to be as a star and a light, that all fixing their eyes upon him may be illuminated and led into the right way." And Chrysostom here, homily 10: "He," he says, "who has undertaken to govern others, ought to excel with such glory of virtue that, like the sun, he obscures the others as stars by his splendor." And below: "A Bishop," he says, "must be an angel, subject to no human disturbance or vice." And in his moral: "Therefore," he says, "the Lord has chosen us, that we may be as luminaries, that we may come forth as leaven, that we may be made teachers of others, that we may dwell as angels with men on earth, as adults with infant children, as spiritual ones with animals, that they may from our company acquire immense profits." Elsewhere he teaches the same, that a Bishop ought to be among the people as an angel among men, and as a shepherd among mute and irrational sheep, and ought to surpass the people in reason and virtue as much as a man surpasses the brutes. Hence it is plain that a Bishop ought to be perfect. Therefore the imperfect err, who persuade themselves that they will perfect themselves in the episcopate: for to wish to learn perfection there is the same as wishing to learn pottery on the great jar, says Nazianzen, Apologetic 1, that is, to wish to learn an art when you ought to be exercising it, indeed teaching it; and that with grave peril and harm to the souls entrusted to you.
Hear Bernard, at the end of book IV On Consideration to Pope Eugene: "Consider," he says, "above all that the holy Roman Church, over which by God's authorship you preside, is the mother of the Churches, not their mistress: and that you yourself are not the lord of the Bishops, but one of them, and indeed a brother of those who love God. Furthermore, consider that you must be a form of justice, a mirror of holiness, an example of piety, an asserter of truth, a defender of the faith, a teacher of the Gentiles, a leader of Christians, a friend of the Bridegroom, a paranymph of the Bride, an ordainer of the clergy, a shepherd of peoples, a teacher of the foolish, a refuge of the oppressed, an advocate of the poor, a hope of the wretched, a guardian of orphans, a judge of widows, the eye of the blind, the tongue of the mute, the staff of the aged, an avenger of crimes, a terror of the evil, a glory of the good, a rod of the powerful, a hammer of tyrants, a father of kings, a moderator of laws, a dispenser of canons, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, a priest of the Most High, the vicar of Christ, the Christ of the Lord, finally a God to Pharaoh."
Note: The Apostle requires here sixteen conditions of a Bishop, ten affirmative and six negative. The first is affirmative, that he be blameless; the second is negative, that he be the husband of one wife, etc.
The husband of one wife. — First, Ambrose, in the book On the Dignity of the Priesthood, ch. iv, explains it thus, as if to say: A Bishop must be the bishop of one Church, not of many, nor pass from one Church to another; for this Paul forbids here, as does the First Council of Nicaea, canon 16. But this is mystical, not literal, as Ambrose himself confesses.
Secondly, Luther explains it thus: A Bishop should not be a fornicator, but should have one wife. So almost also Beza. A Bishop, he says, should not be such a one who, having rashly repudiated his wife, marries another. For this man is in truth a fornicator, indeed an adulterer.
Thirdly, the Magdeburg Centuriators, Calvin, and the Innovators generally explain it thus, as if to say: A Bishop should not have many wives at the same time, as the Jews had by permission of God; but only one, yet so that, when she has died, he may marry another and another, and thus successively have many.
Here can be referred the explanation of some of old, mentioned here by Chrysostom and Theophylact, and approved here by Theodoret, namely that a Bishop must be chosen, not who is now married (in which they plainly dissent from Calvin and the Innovators), but who before the episcopate has been a monogamist, that is, has had only one wife at a time, although he may have had several successively. For in the episcopate itself he must be not a monogamist, but unmarried and celibate.
But all others, except Theodoret, refute these expositions with valid reasons, and wish by "husband of one wife" to understand a monogamist absolutely, who has not entered into second marriage, nor has had several wives successively, but only one. This appears first, because not only by the law of Christ, but also by the custom of the nations and by Roman law, polygamy in the time of Christ, indeed before Christ, was abrogated, not only among Christians, but also among the Jews and all the nations, and polygamists were infamous, as appears from the edict of Diocletian and Maximian, which is in Law Neminem, Code, On Incestuous Marriages, and from the edict of Valerian and Gallienus, Law Eum, Code, ad leg. Juliam On Adulteries. "He," say the Emperors, "who shall have had two wives at the same time, is, without doubt, accompanied by infamy," namely from the long-received custom and usage of the nations. Superfluously, therefore, and in vain would the Bishop here be admonished by Paul not to be a polygamist, that is, not to have several wives at the same time, since not even the layman was permitted this, nor was polygamy in use. Just as it would now be ridiculous if, for example, the Pope were to write to Bishops: A Bishop ought not to be a polygamist, when polygamy is not even in use among the laity, nor permitted. Indeed, by this very thing, that the Apostle requires this perfection from a Bishop, that he be the husband of one wife, he tacitly permits a layman to be the husband of two wives: but this cannot be at the same time (because the law of Christ, indeed even the Roman law, forbids it, as I have said), but only successively; therefore, when Paul requires of a Bishop that he be the husband of one wife, he understands not at the same time, but successively, namely, that the Bishop should so have, or have had, one wife, that after or before her he had no other successively.
Secondly, because in chapter v, verse 9, the Apostle says with a similar phrase: "Let a widow be chosen, of not less than sixty years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband." But there he understands by the wife of one husband her who, after the death of her husband, did not enter into a second marriage, nor had a second husband; for it was never seen that one wife had two husbands at the same time, so that for the sake of guarding against this the Apostle should have said that the wife of one husband is to be chosen: therefore likewise here he understands by "husband of one wife" him who has had only one successively, in such a way that, his first wife being dead, he has not married a second.
Thirdly, because hence the most ancient usage of the Church holds that not the digamous, who have had two wives successively, but the monogamous, who have had only one, are to be ordained. And this is the common exposition of the Fathers, except Theodoret. See them in Bellarmine, book I On Clerics, ch. xxiii and xxiv.
You will say: The Apostle wishes the Bishop to be blameless, and explaining adds: "the husband of one wife;" therefore by this he wishes to guard against having two wives at the same time; for this is a crime and reprehensible: but to have two successively is neither a crime nor reprehensible.
I answer first, that these may be taken as separate, namely so that first he wishes the Bishop to be blameless; secondly, that he wishes the same to be the husband of one wife; for here he requires various endowments of a Bishop.
Secondly, granted that the term "blameless" refers to what follows, and embraces them in general, I answer that by "blameless" he understands not only one lacking crime, but also lacking any mark which is wont to be noted and reproached by men, and which gives men a suspicion of some vice, weakness, or imperfection: such, however, is digamy. For this gives men a suspicion of incontinence and a propensity to lust; whence in a Bishop it is base and reprehensible; for it is fitting that Bishops be chaste, that they may shine forth to their flock by chastity, and that they may more freely exhort them to continence, says Ambrose, book I On Duties, last chapter. Hence even the Gentiles excluded the digamous from the priesthood. "Even among the Gentiles," says Jerome to Ageruchia, epistle 11, "a flamen who is the husband of one wife is admitted to the priesthood, a flaminica also is chosen who is the wife of one husband: to the rites of the Egyptian bull a man is taken who has been a husband only once." Hence Dido in Aeneid IV says: To this one man perhaps I could have yielded in fault. "In fault," says Servius, on account of the ancient rite, by which those twice married were repelled from the priesthood.
You will say secondly: Fornicators and adulterers, if they amend themselves, are not repelled from the priesthood; therefore much less are the digamous, who have had two wives successively, to be repelled from it.
I answer: I deny the consequence; for the digamous are repelled not only on account of the appearance of incontinence, of which I have spoken, but also on account of the mystical signification: for a Bishop ought to represent Christ, who had only one Bride, and her a virgin, namely the Church; therefore he cannot be a digamist, but a monogamist, as St. Augustine beautifully teaches in his book On the Good of Marriage, ch. xviii, whose words I shall presently recite. Just as therefore by Ecclesiastical law judges who punish the guilty with death are irregular and unfit for the priesthood, not on account of any crime (for they have committed none, but rather have exercised justice), but on account of the unbecomingness and the signification; for the priest ought to reflect the meekness of Christ, and be most remote from the shedding of blood: so likewise the Church could justly enact a law by which it should debar the digamous, on account of a like unbecomingness and signification, from the priesthood.
For there is a twofold kind of irregularity established by the laws of the Church: the first, on account of enormous crimes, among which fornication and adultery are not; the second, on account of mystical signification, such as is in digamy and in capital judgments.
Calvin objects thirdly: At least the Apostle places among the endowments of a Bishop the being "husband of one wife": therefore he requires that the Bishop be married, at least to one. Of old Vigilantius made the same objection to Jerome.
I answer with Theophylact and the Fathers that the "husband of one wife" is an endowment of a Bishop, not positive but negative, which nevertheless implies another positive one: for the husband of one wife is he who is so continent that he has not nor has had more wives than one. The Apostle therefore does not command or praise that a Bishop should have one wife, but that if he has had one, he should have had only one; and if he has none or has had none, the Apostle wishes that he should be considered not unfit, but more fit for the episcopate: for he wishes the Bishop to be chosen as chaste as may be possible. For otherwise Paul himself would have sinned against this law, since he made Timothy and Titus Bishops, who, according to St. Ignatius to the Philadelphians, cultivated perpetual virginity: but because in the time of Christ, celibates were rare among Gentiles and Jews, and almost all were married, hence it was necessary that these same, now converted to Christ, since fit celibates were lacking, should be promoted to the episcopate and priesthood: yet so that the Apostle wishes monogamists, as more chaste, to be chosen.
Where note: Those who were called from marriage to the priesthood, after ordination, abstained from the use of marriage by the common law of the Church, and that on account of the excellent dignity of the priesthood, which requires angelic purity, and that they might be wholly free for Christ and the Church. Hence the Apostle to Titus, ch. 1, 8, wishes a Bishop to be continent. It is certainly clear that all the most holy and most learned Bishops, who have lived during the past twelve hundred years, were celibates. Epiphanius teaches this in heresy 59, that of the Cathari. "But you will say," he says, "that in certain places presbyters and deacons still beget children; but this is not according to the canon, but according to the mind of men, which over time has grown weak." And Jerome, book I Against Vigilantius: "What will they do," he says, "the Churches of the East, what those of Egypt and of the Apostolic See, which either receive virgins as clerics, or continent men, or, if they have had wives, they cease to be husbands." The same is taught and sanctioned by the most holy Pontiffs: Siricius, in his epistle to Himerius; Leo I, in his epistle to Anastasius; Innocent I, in his epistle to Victricius; indeed by the First Council of Nicaea, can. 3, and the Council of Elvira, can. 33. That therefore the Greek priests use the wives whom they married before the priesthood is an abuse, introduced by the incontinent Greeks about the year of our Lord 700, in the Trullan Synod (which was not a legitimate Synod, but a clandestine and profane one), can. 13; for before these Trullans, the Greek Fathers in the Council of Nicaea and others, as appears from Epiphanius in the cited place, condemned this abuse: yet, since it has become too inveterate, the Roman Church now permits it to the Greeks for the sake of peace, as appears in the chapter Cum olim, on married clerics.
Finally there was once a controversy between St. Jerome and Augustine, whether this digamy, which is an impediment to the priesthood, is to be reckoned before baptism or only after baptism. St. Jerome, in his epistle to Oceanus, holds that only those are to be considered digamists here who, after baptism, have successively married two wives, but not those who, before baptism, married one, and after she died, after baptism married another.
Augustine denies this, and wishes both these and those to be digamists and irregular; for thus he has it, in the book On the Good of Marriage, ch. xviii: "Which those have understood more sharply, who held that not even he who as a catechumen or pagan has had a second wife is to be ordained; for the question is about the Sacrament, not about sin: for in baptism all sins are forgiven. But on account of the holiness of the Sacrament, just as a woman who, even as a catechumen, has been violated, cannot after baptism be consecrated among God's virgins: so it has not seemed absurd that he who has exceeded the singular number of wives has not committed any sin, but has lost a certain norm of the Sacrament, necessary not to the merit of a good life, but to the seal of Ecclesiastical ordination." The Church, with its head Innocent I, has followed Augustine's opinion, as appears in 28, q. III.
Sober. — The Greek nephalion signifies sober as well as watchful (as Theodoret and the Syriac translate it), and clear-sighted, and attentive to one's affairs (as Theophylact). For sobriety is the mother of vigilance, of wit, and of skill. Hence rites were called nephalia in which water was libated instead of wine: indeed, it is not fitting that the watchman vigilant for the salvation of all be drowsy; nor can he watch who gives himself to his belly. Such a vigilant shepherd Jacob the patriarch showed himself, Genesis xxxi, verse 39. Such ought Bishops and Pastors to be: indeed, as Chrysostom says, they ought to imitate, and even surpass, the leaders of camps, who night and day inspect their whole army.
Prudent. — The Greek sophrona means also temperate, and, as Ambrose and Jerome translate it, chaste; but properly it signifies prudent, one who is of sound mind, judgment and counsel, especially in this place, where "sober" has preceded. In a Bishop great prudence is required; for "the art of arts," says Nazianzen, Apologetic 1, "and the science of sciences seems to me to be to govern man, an animal namely the most variable and manifold of all."
Again, the Bishop must direct all the affairs of the Church: how great then and how various a prudence does he need? Thirdly, the Bishop must abound and excel in all virtues, therefore he must necessarily be endowed with a rare and admirable prudence; for prudence is the charioteer of all virtues, as St. Anthony was wont to say. Hence Aristotle, Ethics VI, ch. xiii, teaches that all virtues are connected in prudence, and therefore that Socrates asserted that all virtues are kinds of prudence, because indeed none can be or subsist without prudence; for prudence must direct all, must dictate and prescribe to all what is to be done and what is to be avoided.
Of good behavior. — Kosmion, that is, in honorable bearing, such as becomes a grave man, adorned: for it is the same word that our translator renders in chapter 2, verse 9, as "in adorned attire."
Secondly and better, Jerome to Oceanus, drawing from Cicero, says: "He is called adorned who preserves decorum in his movement, gait, dress, and speech." Therefore "adorned" is the same as composed in manners; so that even through the body the moderation and temperance of the mind may appear. "For the attire of the body, and the laughter of the teeth, and the gait of the man, declare concerning him," Ecclesiasticus xix, 27. And as Cicero says: "The chief of an art is to teach what you do." So Theodoret, the Syriac, Anselm and others explain with Jerome.
Hence St. Ambrose, as St. Thomas here relates, refused to ordain certain men, for this reason alone, that they walked so dissolutely. On this adornment of the priest see at length St. Gregory, homily 17 on the Gospel. Hence gravely and with a complaining voice St. Ambrose, in his book On the Dignity of the Priesthood, ch. vi, and Gregory in the cited place, teach that the cause why priests, Bishops and clerics are sometimes despised is their own levity, ignorance, ill-composed manners, impure and wicked life. For this is what God threatens to such through Malachi, ch. ii, verse 8, saying: "You have departed out of the way, and have scandalized very many in the law, you have made void the covenant of Levi: therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all peoples."
Chaste. — The Greek and Syriac do not have this word, but the Latin does. That Bishops and Ecclesiastics may keep themselves chaste, they must above all avoid the company of women. That St. Augustine did this, Possidonius writes in chapter xxvi of his Life; and because the example of so great a doctor is memorable and to be imitated by us, I shall set it down here: "No woman," says Possidonius, "ever conversed within his house, none stayed there, not even his own sister, who, a widow serving God for much time, even unto the day of her death, lived as the head of God's handmaids; but neither did the daughter of his uncle, nor the daughters of his brother, who were likewise serving God; persons whom the Councils of holy Bishops have set among the exceptions. He used to say that, even though no evil suspicion could arise from his sister and nieces dwelling with him, yet, because those persons could not be without other necessary women dwelling with them, and because other women from outside also entered to them, an occasion of stumbling or scandal could arise from them for the weaker. For this reason therefore he used to say that women must never remain in one house with servants of God, even the most chaste. And if perhaps he was asked by some women to be seen and greeted, he never went in to them without clerical witnesses, nor did he ever speak alone with women alone, unless something secret was at stake."
Thus St. Xavier used to say that women are approached with less fruit and greater peril, whether of temptation or of sinister suspicion. Indeed the Council of Carthage, can. 23, decrees that Bishops, Presbyters, or clerics shall not approach women, unless other clerics, or some grave Christians, are present.
How great a matter this is, both in importance and in peril, the Author of the book On the Singularity (or solitary life apart from women) of clerics, which is found among the works of Cyprian, eminently teaches and gravely warns: "Slippery," he says, "is the hope that hopes to be saved among the kindlings of sin; uncertain is the victory of fighting amid hostile arms; impossible is the deliverance of being surrounded by flames and not burning." And below: "We deceive ourselves whenever we believe that chastity can be kept unshaken between males and females. Hardly will anyone drink poison and live; one sleeping on the bank must fear lest he fall, since the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 10: 'Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall;' and it is more useful for a man to acknowledge himself weak, that he may stand strong, than, if he should wish to seem strong, that he should emerge weak." And below: "From coals sparks leap forth, from iron rust is nourished, asps hiss diseases, and woman pours forth the pestilence of concupiscence, which Solomon thus compares, saying: From garments cometh a moth, and from a woman the iniquity of a man."
St. Leander, Bishop of Seville, wrote a remarkable rule, or instruction of virgins, to his sister Florentina, which our Brouwerus published, in which, in chapter ii, he thus commands her: "Whatever man, if he is holy, let him seek no familiarity with you, lest by the constancy of seeing one another the holiness of both be either ill spoken of or perish. For she shall fall from the love of God, who has given occasion of doing an evil work. She shall fall from the love of neighbor, who, even if she does not act badly, by reputation nourishes a most evil fame. For different sexes placed together are titillated by the very contact in which they are born, and the natural flame is stirred, if it touches what is unrestrained. Who shall bind fire in his bosom, and not be burned? Fire and tow, two things contrary to each other, brought together into one, nourish flames. The diverse sex of man and woman, if joined, is moved, as the law of nature provokes."
Indeed, as Plato used to say, a man desires woman as a part of himself (for the rib desires to return to the side of the man from which it was taken), and woman desires man, as a part desires its whole, and longs to be joined to it and to subsist in it. See St. Jerome, epistles 8, 9, 10, 11 and 22. This therefore is a hidden but most harmful reef, against which incautious or self-confident men, great and holy, have been dashed and have made shipwreck of chastity. O what and how great things we shall see in the day of judgment! You who are wise, flee the alluring Sirens.
Given to hospitality. — Philoxenon, that is, a lover of strangers, and hospitable toward them. This virtue is necessary for a Bishop, and therefore the Church has bestowed such great resources upon Bishops. Hence St. Gregory, writing to Bishop John: "Let him," he says, "who is ignorant of hospitality not become a Bishop." And Jerome to Oceanus: "Before all things," he says, "hospitality is enjoined upon the Bishop. For if all desire to hear that Gospel saying: I was a stranger and you took me in, how much more the Bishop, whose house should be a hospitality for all! For a layman, receiving one or two or a few, will fulfill the duty of hospitality; but the Bishop, unless he receives all, is inhuman." Thus St. Job sought out and gathered strangers; whence in chapter xxxi, verse 32, he says: "The stranger did not stay outside, and my door was open to the traveler." Thus St. Gregory always received the poor and strangers as guests at his table: which was so pleasing to God, that Christ, putting on the appearance of a poor man, willed to be received by him at table. The witness is John the Deacon in the Life of St. Gregory, book II, chapters XIII and XXIII. Thus Pope Leo IX, around the year of the Lord 1048, lavishly devoted to the poor and to strangers, ordered a leper found before his house to be placed in his own bed, and the next morning, seeking him out, found that he had disappeared. It was believed that Christ, in the appearance of a poor man, had lain in the bed of so merciful a Pontiff. Sigebert in his Chronicle and Platina in the Life of Leo IX recount this.
Finally hear what a woman is, and see how much she is to be guarded against. Thus Anastasius of Nicaea describes her, in tome VI of the Library of the Holy Fathers, Question LXII, § Omnis qui aspexerit: "What is a woman?" he says. "A shipwreck on land, a fountain of crime, a deadly encounter, a stumbling of the eyes, the destruction of souls, a lance to the heart, a sceptre of the lower regions, a headlong desire, the ruin of young men. What is a woman? The slander of the saints, the rest of the serpent, the consolation of the devil, an inconsolable sickness, a kindled furnace, a scandal to those who are being saved, an incurable vice, the daily trifle, the lodging of the prodigal, the workshop of demons. What is a woman? An unbridled mouth, the triumph of mysteries, the leader of darkness, the mistress of delights, a clothed viper, a household tempest, the shipwreck of man, an unmerciful beast," etc.
Therefore, that priests and clerics may keep themselves chaste, let them avoid the conversations and company of women. Let women in turn do the same, especially virgins, and let them take care never to speak in secret with any man, even a Religious, even a confessor, without witnesses; but let all things be done in the open, where they can be seen by many: or if anything must be discussed inside the house in a chamber, let there never be lacking a witness who sees all. Let them remember that Thamar, in secret, when a witness was lacking, was incestuously violated by her brother. Let them remember that almost all who have fallen, fell through neglect of this warning. If there were no conversations in hidden places and without an inspector, there would be no rapes. Hence St. Ambrose, book II on Luke: "It is the part of virgins," he says, "to tremble, and at every entrance of a man to be afraid, to fear every address of a man." He speaks of a virgin when she is alone: for in secret each is fire to the other, each is tinder and tow; and the devil is then present, and exerts all his powers, lest so convenient an occasion pass by him without gain.
A teacher. — Didaktikon, that is, apt for teaching. The Apostle requires teaching from the Bishop, not the laurel-degree; but the Council of Trent requires this latter as a witness of doctrine, when it wishes those distinguished by the degree of Licence in Theology or Canon Law to be chosen as Bishops. This is the first endowment of a Bishop, by which a Bishop is a Bishop. "For the highest of all episcopal virtues," says Hilary, book VIII On the Trinity, "is knowledge and doctrine." And Jerome to Oceanus: "Without preaching," says he, "conversation profits as much by example as it harms by silence." Hence the High Priest of the Old Law had inscribed on his Rational: "Doctrine and Truth." "For doctrine," says Theophylact in his commentary on Titus, "is the virtue and character of a Bishop." Hence also to Titus, chapter 1, the Apostle requires of the Bishop, "that he be powerful to exhort." And the Council of Trent teaches in session V, chapter 1, that the chief office of a Bishop is the preaching of the Word of God, and that the Bishop ought to discharge this in person, if he can.
3. Not a striker. — That is, who does not strike with the tongue, does not quarrel, does not insult, does not curse. So Chrysostom. For there are also, as Horace says, "blows of the tongue," namely, when fathers harshly rebuke their sons. Secondly, and more simply, that is: Who does not strike with his hands, who is not violent, who is not harsh and cruel toward his household and subjects. So the Syriac, Theophylact, and Anselm. "Christ," says Jerome, "condemns that Bishop as a striker, who turned His back to scourges and, when cursed, did not curse back." Thirdly, Theophylact and Anselm: "Not a striker," that is, who does not wound the consciences of the brethren by an inopportune word or example: but this is the mystical sense. The Greek here adds μὴ αἰσχροκερδῆ, that is, not eager for shameful gain; but this seems redundant. For there immediately follows ἀφιλάργυρον, that is, not greedy for silver.
Modest. — Epieikē, that is, fair. Fair, says Aristotle in Ethics V, chapter x, is called he who does not pursue the highest right, in which the greatest injury lies; but inclines toward the kinder side, as equity and moderation dictate. Hence the virtue inclining that way is called epieikeia.
Not quarrelsome. — Amachon, that is, averse to fighting, not so much of blows (treated above) as of words. Hence Jerome, book 1 Against the Pelagians, translates: without quarrel. The same to Oceanus teaches how unbecoming lawsuits are to a Bishop: "Nothing," he says, "is more shameless than the arrogance of rustics, who think loquacity is authority, and ever ready for disputes, thunder with swelling speeches against the flock subject to them."
Not covetous. — Aphilargyron, that is, free from love of money. "The glory of a Bishop," says Jerome to Nepotian, "is to provide for the resources of the poor; the disgrace of a priest is to seek his own. Born in a poor house and rustic hovel, I who could scarcely satisfy my growling belly with millet and coarse bread, now disdain fine flour and honey," etc. A terrible example of this avarice is told by Münster, book III of his Cosmography, concerning Hatto, Archbishop of Mainz in the year of the Lord 914, who, calling the poor mice and allowing them as it were to perish from hunger like mice, was attacked by the just vengeance of God through mice — just as Pharaoh by frogs and flies — and finally fleeing to a tower which is still seen in the middle of the Rhine, was there killed by them and devoured. But our Serarius, in his Mainz, book IV, chapters IV and v, refutes with many arguments this story of Hatto being eaten by mice, and says the fable arose from Popiel, a Polish prince, who on account of his cruelty was eaten by mice.
4. One that ruleth well his own house. — Kalōs proistamenon, that is, who governs his house well. For from aptitude and skill in domestic government a judgment is made about aptitude for political and ecclesiastical government; for he who governs his own house well is a sign that he will likewise rule the Church well; "and he who knows not how to rule his own house," says Paul in verse 5, "how shall he have care of the Church of God?" Whence St. Jerome to Oceanus: "The Apostle wishes," he says, "that the Bishop rule his house well, not that he may increase wealth, nor prepare regal banquets, nor heap up engraved platters, nor cook pheasants over slow steam so that they reach the bones without dissolving the surface of the flesh by a skilful tempering; but so that what he is to teach the people, he may first require from his household." What of this? — that canon 18 of the Council of Carthage prescribes thus: "That Bishops, presbyters, and deacons not be ordained until all who are in their household have been made Catholic Christians."
Verse 4: Having His Children in Subjection with All Chastity
Sons (if he has begotten any before being made Bishop: whence Ambrose also notes that Paul does not say, Begetting or producing, but) having subjects with all chastity. — In Greek σεμνότητος, that is, with the honesty and gravity of morals; Vatablus, with all reverence; the Syriac, with all purity; Erasmus, with ingenuous and liberal modesty. For this is the kind of subjection which sons owe to parents, of which he spoke before. Paul therefore wishes that from the well-ordered conduct of the children, the morals of the father and his manner of educating and governing be estimated, and that he be chosen Bishop who has best instructed his children. Whence St. Bernard, book IV On Consideration to Eugenius: "It belongs," he says, "to the glory of your Holiness, that those whom you have before your eyes be so ordered, so formed, that they may be the very mirror, the very pattern of all honesty and order. They ought to be found beyond others ready for offices, fit for the Sacraments, attentive to instructing the people, circumspect, guarding themselves in all chastity," etc. What if someone is hard and resists rule? Bernard answers: "Do not lose heart; you are required to give care, not cure. You heard, Have care of him; not, Cure or heal him." It is not always in the physician's power that the sick man recover.
Verse 5: But If a Man Know Not How to Rule His Own House, How Shall He Take Care of the Church of God?
5. But if any man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God? — In Greek ἐπιμελήσεται, that is, will have care. "For the Church," says Chrysostom, "is like a household: and just as in a household there is a wife, and sons and servants, and all care and rule rests on the husband, so almost you may see it in the Church. But it is far more difficult to rule the Church than the house; he therefore who knows not how to manage his family, by what reasoning is he to be thought able rightly to preside over the Church?" How foolish then is the ambition of some, who, though they know not how to govern themselves and their own, yet eagerly desire to govern the commonwealth or the Church? To whom rightly applies that saying of St. Ephrem, treatise On the Fear of God, beginning of volume III: "Before we know how to row, we try to steer." We want to be generals and captains, who have not learned to fight or handle arms. Themistocles, the leader of the Athenians, replied to his wife who eagerly asked something for her son: "The Athenians command the Greeks, I command the Athenians, you command me, your son commands you. See then that this fool does not command all the Greeks." What, then, can the Bishop say to his own? Chrysostom asks why the Apostle here requires from the Bishop common virtues and not rare and heroic ones — why he does not wish Bishops to be wholly mortified, dead to the world, heavenly, divine. He answers: "Because such men were to be found only in few: but at that time there was need of many Bishops, who should be set up as masters in every city; lest, then, the affairs and fruits of the Church perish, he therefore proposed a moderate virtue to be sought, not that supreme and heavenly one. For to be sober and chaste and honest was common to many."
Verse 6: Not a Neophyte: Lest Being Puffed Up with Pride, He Fall into the Judgment of the Devil
6. Not a neophyte: lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil. — The Greeks call νεόφυτον a novice, as it were newly born or newly planted, and ingrafted into Christ in baptism, that is, recently converted and baptized from Judaism or paganism. As if to say: Do not easily ordain as Bishop one who is a novice in the faith, lest such a one, seized by a new honor, become proud and seem swollen by the novelty of power, thinking himself better than others who are veterans in the faith, and as it were having immediately attained Christian perfection, and as if the Church needed him, and as if he did not so much confer benefit on her as receive it from her, and wish to lord it over others insolently. "The neophyte is excluded," says Haymo, "lest he be able to say: My Church was in want of wisdom, therefore she led me to the faith and set me over herself;" and so "he falls into the judgment," that is, the condemnation, "of the devil," who as a neophyte in heaven became proud of the new beauty of his creation and was therefore damned. Others differently: first, some thus, εἰς κρίμα, that is, into the right and power of the devil; second, others thus, into the accusation of the devil; third, Maldonatus thus, into the sin, by which man is as it were subjected to the jurisdiction and judgment of the devil. For what he here calls κρίμα, in the next verse he calls παγίδα (snare). So Chrysostom and Theophylact. How shameful it is that a neophyte be chosen, Jerome describes in these words to Oceanus: "Yesterday," he says, "a catechumen, today a Pontiff; yesterday in the amphitheater, today in the Church; in the evening at the circus, in the morning at the altar; lately a patron of actors, now a consecrator of virgins." And St. Gregory, book IV of the Register, epistle 50: "Another thing," he says, "very detestable, has been reported to us, that certain men from the lay habit, through the appetite of temporal glory, when Bishops have died, are tonsured and suddenly become priests. In which matter it is now well known what kind of man comes to the priesthood, who suddenly passes from the lay habit to sacred leadership: and he who has never been a soldier does not fear to become leader of the religious. What kind of preaching will he have, who perhaps has never heard another's? or when shall he correct the evils of others, who has not yet wept his own?" Then confirming this by the testimony of this Paul and by examples from natural things, he adds: "And since the Apostle Paul forbids a neophyte to come to Sacred Orders, we must know that, just as he was then called a neophyte who was as yet only newly trained and planted in the faith, so now we count among neophytes him who is still new in the holy conversation. We know moreover that walls when built do not first receive the weight of beams unless they are dried out from the moisture of their newness. And when we cut shrubs for a building, we wait that the moisture of greenness should first dry out, lest from the very newness they bend and quickly fall broken." See the same author, book VII of the Register, epistle 112. Except from this law, unless the neophyte's life be so approved that there is no doubt about his fitness for the Episcopate, or unless by an oracle of God the neophyte is designated Bishop. For thus St. Ambrose, while not yet baptized, was at Milan acclaimed Bishop by a child and presently by the whole people, and was elected and consecrated.
Verse 7: He Must Have a Good Testimony of Them Who Are Without
7. Moreover he must have a good testimony (of good life) from those who are without (from the unbelievers), lest he fall into reproach and into the snare of the devil. — "And" here means "that is": for he calls the very reproach a "snare of the devil," as if to say: Such a Bishop should be chosen, to whom even the Gentiles bear testimony of probity, lest otherwise they reproach him with his former vices, and so he himself fall into the snare of the devil, that is, infamy. And it would become a common reproach by which the devil, as by a snare, captures many believers and unbelievers, and turns them away from such a Bishop and consequently from the faith and religion of Christ. So Ambrose. Secondly, according to Theophylact, "lest into the snare," that is, into the former sins of the Gentiles he relapse, and so be a scandal and ruin to all. Thirdly, according to Anselm, "lest into the snare," that is, into the wrath and hatred of the Gentiles he fall, by undertaking enmities with them, since they reproach him with his vices, or even kill him. Whence some understand by "snare of the devil" the snare of the calumniator: for this is what the Greek διάβολος signifies. The first sense is more connected and genuine. Lampridius in his Life of Alexander Severus relates that the Christians used to propose publicly the names of those who were to be ordained priests, and to ask the people that if anyone knew any crime concerning any of them, he should declare it. So also the Council of Trent, session XXIII, canon 5, commands that the names of those to be ordained be publicly proposed and that their life be inquired into.
Verse 8: Deacons in Like Manner Chaste, Not Double-Tongued, Not Given to Much Wine
8. Deacons in like manner chaste, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience. — After the description of the Bishop, under whom he also includes presbyters, the Apostle passes to deacons: for these are the ministers of bishops and presbyters, not only in the custody of the Church's treasure and the distribution of alms, but also in the sacrifice of the Mass, in which deacons of old used to administer to the people the chalice of the Lord's blood. Whence St. Lawrence in Ambrose, book 1 of Offices, chapter IV, says that the dispensation of the Lord's blood was committed to him as deacon. And so the deacons, says Clement of Rome, epistle 1 and 2, are the eyes of the Bishop — such as Archdeacons now are, who retain and represent the whole office of the ancient deacons, just as the Archpriests and Pastors retain and represent the whole office of the ancient presbyters who governed the Church of God. For it was the deacon's duty to assist the Bishop both when sacrificing and when preaching; indeed the deacon cooperated with the priest in the sacrifice and in some manner offered the sacrifice with him. Whence St. Lawrence to Sixtus: "You," he said, "never used to offer the sacrifice without a deacon." A still greater argument of this fact is that in the Offertory, when the chalice of wine is offered, the deacon, touching the priest's arm as if cooperating and serving him, is wont to say together with the priest: "We offer to You, O Lord, the chalice," as the Roman Missal prescribes. Again secondly, it was the deacon's part to consider the particular needs of the faithful and refer them to the Bishop; and thirdly, to handle external matters by the Bishop's discretion, so that the Bishop might not be hindered from the urgency of prayer and the assiduous ministry of the Word of God.
The Apostle therefore wishes deacons to be "chaste," in Greek σεμνούς, that is honest, composed, and conspicuous for purity of life and gravity of morals. Secondly, he wishes them to be "not double-tongued," in Greek διλόγους, that is duplicitous in speech and inconstant in their words, so that they affirm this here, deny it there — which is the mark of a deceitful, flattering, and lying man. "Nothing," says Chrysostom, "makes us so degenerate from spiritual nobility, nothing harms the Church more, than crafty dissimulation." Thirdly, "not given to much wine." He did not say, as Theophylact notes, not drunkards, not intoxicated (for this is altogether unworthy), but not drinking much, for this, although it does not strip away the strength and vigor of soul and mind, yet loosens and weakens it, and is of bad example. Fourthly, "not pursuing filthy lucre," which happens, says Ambrose, when under a pious profession one strives for gain. Again, when a cleric devotes himself to commerce and engages in sordid offices for the sake of gain. Hence trading is forbidden to clerics by the Canons. Fifthly, "holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience," that is holding the mysteries of faith with a pure conscience, namely so that they may hold a pure faith and at the same time a conscience and life conformed to a pure faith; or so that with sincere faith and doctrine they may have a blameless life. So Theodoret, Theophylact, and others. Secondly, St. Thomas and Peter Lombard understand by "mystery of faith" the hidden dogmas of the faith which are concealed from others, especially the laity. For deacons must know these and preserve them as initiates, or rather as fellow-initiates of the priests. Thirdly, by "mystery of faith" Catharinus, Hesselius, Magallianus, and Soto Major understand the sacred Eucharist: for this is called by Dionysius, Chrysostom, Cyril, Basil, par excellence "mystery" or "tremendous mysteries." Hence in the form of consecration of the Lord's blood, the chalice of blood is called "mystery of faith;" and in the Greek τὸ is added, as if designating a certain definite mystery, as if to say: Let the deacons have, that is keep and guard (for this also is what the Greek ἔχω signifies) the Eucharist, which is that hidden mystery of the Christian faith; in a pure conscience, namely so that with pure mind and hands they may handle the chalice of the Eucharist and administer it to the people. For the ancient Fathers — like Paul here — are wont to speak veiledly and arcanely, lest the Gentiles, hearing so great a matter and not understanding it, should mock and deride it: hence they everywhere call it the hidden mystery. This sense is very fitting: for it touches the proper and chief office and duty of deacons. Our Lorinus on Acts VI, 3, adds that these words, "mystery of faith," in the consecration of the chalice seem to have been taken from this passage of the Apostle. Whence Innocent III, in chapter Cum Martha, on the celebration of the Mass, asserts that those words were added to the consecration of the chalice by Apostolic tradition. Ivo gives the reason, namely that a great mystery lies hidden here, no doubt the blood of Christ under the species of wine, as if to say: "The Sacraments which you see on the altar are to be esteemed not by their appearance but by faith."
Verse 10: And Let These Also First Be Proved: And So Let Them Minister
10. And let these also first be proved (as if to say: As the Bishop, so also the deacons ought not to be neophytes, but those whose virtue has long been observed and tested), and so (when ordained by the Bishop) let them minister, having no crime. — In Greek ἀνέγκλητοι ὄντες, that is, when they are found (through the proving and examination made before their ordination) blameless, whom no one can accuse, no one can charge with crime. But Erasmus and Vatablus, referring this not to the past but to the future, translate: "let the deacons minister so that no one may charge them," as if to say: As before ordination the deacons were proved and found blameless, so after it let them prove themselves by ministering and discharging the diaconate without blame and irreproachably. But the former sense of our Interpreter (the Vulgate) more truly and aptly coheres with the word "let them be proved."
Verse 11: The Women in Like Manner Chaste, Not Slanderers, Sober, Faithful in All Things
11. The women in like manner chaste, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. — Ambrose thinks the Apostle speaks of women in general. Secondly, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, and Oecumenius think he speaks of deaconesses: for if he were not speaking of them, says Theophylact, what need was there, when treating of deacons, to turn his speech to women? Thirdly and best, St. Thomas, Lombard, Hesselius, and others take it of the wives of deacons, whom the deacons retained after ordination just as the Bishops did: but they abstained from their use. Whence for "women" the Greek is γυναῖκας, which signifies both wives, as Vatablus and Erasmus translate, and women. Just as a little before the Apostle wished the Bishop with his family to be without reproach, so here he wishes the deacon with his family to be unspotted. Nor does the second exposition of Chrysostom and Theodoret disagree with this; for the wives of bishops and deacons could be deaconesses. Note here: Deaconesses, being women, were not ordained; whence the Council of Nicaea, canon 19, reckons them among the laity. Wrongly therefore from this passage the Cataphrygians ordained women as deaconesses, just as men as deacons, and even as presbyteresses and bishopesses, as Epiphanius testifies in their heresy. Deaconesses therefore were women devoted to the ministries of the temple, as Nuns or Beguines now are: what their offices were, I shall say in chapter v, verse 9.
The wives, then, of deacons — those whom the deacons had married, not after but before receiving the order of the diaconate, as I showed in verse 2, and who, when their husband became a deacon, became deaconesses thereafter, such as I have just described — these, I say, the Apostle wishes first, to be "chaste," in Greek σεμνάς, that is conspicuous for honesty and gravity of morals. Secondly, "not slanderers," μὴ διαβόλους, that is, not calumniators; Ambrose translates, not striving for discord. For the calumnious and detracting loquacity of women begets this. Thirdly, "sober," in Greek νηφαλίους, which signifies both sober and watchful and prudent. By this word, then, he forbids them to be wine-loving, sluggish, foolish. Fourthly, "faithful in all things," namely both in conjugal fidelity and in the dispensing of household affairs, lest they be adulteresses or thieves. For on the life and reputation of the wives depends the reputation of the husbands, especially of deacons.
Verse 12: Let Deacons Be the Husbands of One Wife
12. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife: who rule well their children and their own houses. — On this see what is said on verses 2 and 4, where he required the same from the Bishop.
Verse 13: They That Have Ministered Well Shall Purchase to Themselves a Good Degree
13. For they that have ministered well (in their diaconate, hence in Greek διακονήσαντες), shall purchase to themselves a good degree, and much confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. — That is, a good place of grace and merit both with God and with men, that they may deserve to be promoted higher to be priests and Bishops. So Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm. Whence the Council of Trent, session XXIII, chapter XI, commands those to be promoted to the higher Orders who have conducted themselves piously and faithfully in the lower. Thus St. Cyprian, book IV, epistle 2 to Antonian, praises St. Cornelius the Pontiff, because he had been raised by degrees to the pontificate. "He (Cornelius)," says Cyprian, "did not come to the episcopate suddenly, but, promoted through all the ecclesiastical offices, and having often deserved well of the Lord in divine administrations, ascended to the sublime height of the priesthood through all the grades of religion: then he neither sought nor desired the episcopate itself, but suffered violence so that, compelled, he might receive the episcopate." Note: By "confidence" Ambrose understands the confidence of asking from God and obtaining what we ask of Him. For this confidence rests not only on God's mercy but also on the good life and holiness of the one asking, as Augustine teaches, book I On Christian Doctrine, chapter XXXVII. But for "confidence" the Greek is παρρησίαν, that is, freedom — namely, of teaching and of reproving — as if to say: Deacons who fulfill their office well will acquire liberty and authority, so that they need not fear even powerful men, but freely profess, teach, reprove, and accomplish what the faith of Christ requires. So Theophylact and Oecumenius. Morally St. Bernard, sermon 3 On the Assumption, explaining Mary's better part over Martha: "He acquires a good degree," he says, "who has ministered well: perhaps a better, who has been at leisure for God: but the best, who is perfect in both."
Verses 14-15: That Thou Mayest Know How to Behave in the House of God, Which Is the Pillar and Ground of the Truth
14 and 15. These things I write to you, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the pillar and ground of the truth. — He gives Timothy this incentive, that he may live worthily, exactly, and vigilantly, and discharge the episcopal duties in the Church of God — namely, that he may consider that he does this in the house of God. Note: Not the Ephesian Church alone, but absolutely the universal Church is here called "the house of God and the pillar of truth." For the universal Church cannot err in the faith; but the Ephesian Church and any particular Church can err in the faith. "Although the whole world," says Ambrose, "is God's, the Church is yet called His house; whose ruler today is Damasus." The Apostle alludes to Bethel, of which, when the Lord appeared to him there, Jacob said, Genesis xxviii: "Truly there is nothing else here but the house of God, and the gate of heaven;" and to the tabernacle and temple of the Jews, which was a type of the Church. So Chrysostom. At the same time, He tacitly admonishes all the faithful to behave reverently and holily in the Church, considering that they live and dwell not in the hall of a king but in the house of God, and so in the very eyes of God Most High.
15. Which is the pillar and ground of the truth. — The Apostle adds this to suggest to Timothy that with great zeal he must devote himself to avoiding and refuting heresies and errors, and to understanding and preaching pure truth in the Church; and so that he must follow and preach not the faith of the Judaizers or other innovators, but the faith of the Church, since she is the basis of truth; and especially that primary article of faith, then most necessary, which the Apostle here adds — namely, that he should preach the faith of the Church concerning Christ as the sole Redeemer, excluding Moses and the works of the Law: for this is "the great mystery of godliness," which the Apostle subjoins. Note: That the Church is called "the pillar and ground of truth," that is, a pillar well established and establishing the truth. For it is a hendiadys, like that in "He bit the gold and bridle." Again, the Church is "the ground of truth," both actively and passively. For the Church is passively grounded in faith and truth by God through the infallible assistance of the Holy Spirit promised by Christ, and through this assistance she actively confirms all the faithful. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Bede, and others. Whence St. Jerome, Angelomus, Bede and Eucherius on 3 Kings VII, partly allegorically, partly tropologically: These two columns, they say, are the Apostles and the holy Doctors of the Church, because raised to higher things by contemplation, they are strong both in faith and in deed. They are two because they support both Jews and Gentiles; they are before the doors of the temple to lead both into the temple, that is, into the Church. Again, one is on the right, the other on the left, to show that through both prosperity and adversity we must press toward heaven, which is the true temple of God, and that we may not be elated by prosperity nor cast down by adversity, but ever set before the eyes of our mind the temple itself — that is, heaven, toward which we tend through these things — and constantly press on toward it.
Whence the Commentary ascribed to Jerome: The Church, he says, is "the pillar and ground of truth," because in her alone stands established truth, which alone sustains the edifice of the Church. Note secondly: The Apostle alludes to the two columns which Solomon erected at the entrance of the temple built by him, of which he called the right Jachin, the left Boaz, 3 Kings VII, 21, that by them he might signify his vow — namely, that he wished firmness and stability for his temple, and that he might as it were portend it by this deed and monument. So Tostatus and Vatablus there, and Francisco Ribera, book II On the Temple, chapter XIV. He made two then, and called the right one in Hebrew Jachin, that is, as the Septuagint translate in 2 Paralipomenon chapter III, last verse, κατόρθωσις, that is direction, from the root כון kun, that is to direct; the left he called Boaz, that is, as the Septuagint, ἰσχύς, that is strength: or precisely Boaz is the same as "strength is in him;" so that by Jachin he signified directive command — both of God concerning all creatures and men, but especially concerning the Jews and their temple; and of the kings of Israel concerning the rule of the people according to piety and the pious worship of God in the temple. Whence each column was crowned. Second, that by the left Boaz he signified the executive strength of those directing: so that what Jachin signifies as prudently directed by God and by the king, this Boaz signified as forcefully executed by God as well as the king. For both — namely, both prudent direction and strong execution — are in God, and both are necessary for kings. Both therefore, tacitly and in fact, by these two columns Solomon gave thanks to God, and implicitly wished and prayed that He would show both in the keeping of the temple and the people, and would communicate the same to him and to his successors in the kingdom. These two columns allegorically signified the Church directed and established by God after the manner of a column. Whence the Apostle calls the Church "the pillar of truth," as if to say: Those columns of Solomon were only shadows, but the truth itself is in the Church of Christ, which is a column not of falsehood, not of vanity, not of a vanishing shadow — such as was that of the Solomonic temple, which was reduced to ashes and embers by the Chaldeans — but of stable, constant, and eternal truth. Hence what the Apostle here says: "The Church is the pillar and ground," is the same as if he had said: The Church is Jachin and Boaz. For "column," which in Greek is στῦλος, is the same as Jachin, that is, an upright and directed column; but "ground" is the same as Boaz, that is, strength, as if the Apostle says: The Church is the rectitude of truth, which Jachin foreshadowed; it is also the strength and ground of truth, which Boaz foreshadowed: so that she can never in any way or by any force deflect even the least from the right line of truth, or be torn away from the constant profession of truth.
Hence it is clear, first, that the Church is visible and visibly teaches and confirms us in the truth, namely through her pastors, Bishops, and especially through her head, who is the Roman Pontiff, successor of Peter, to whom it was said and promised by Christ, Matthew XVI, 18: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church." Secondly, it is clear that the Church cannot err in faith and truth. Calvin denies this, and answers that the Church is called the pillar and ground of the truth because she preserves the written word of God, which cannot err; and, as the Commentary ascribed to Vatablus has it, because (he says) those who are in the Church protect and defend the word of God, which is truth itself. But on the contrary, because thus the Church would be a case of the truth, not a column. Second, thus not only all the martyrs, doctors and faithful, but also all the workshops of booksellers, would have to be called pillars of truth — which is absurd and inept. Third, thus the Jews, enemies of Christ, would have to be called pillars of truth, because they preserve the Old Testament. Fourth, a column is solid and firm not in another but of itself, and firms and strengthens others: therefore the Church, as a pillar of the truth, is firm and solid in the truth of herself, so that she may confirm others in it. Thus all the Fathers teach, who from this passage teach that from the Church a certain and stable resolution is to be sought in the doubts of faith. Hear among others Irenaeus, book III, chapter IV: "Since there are such great proofs (of the Church)," he says, "one need not seek the truth among others, which is easy to obtain from the Church, since the Apostles deposited in her, as into a rich storehouse, most fully all the things that pertain to the truth, so that whoever wishes may take from her the drink of life: for this is the entrance of life. All the rest, however, are thieves and robbers, on account of which we must shun them indeed; but the things which are of the Church we must love and grasp the tradition of truth with great diligence." Then he teaches that from the Church and the Church's tradition the resolution of arising doubts and questions in faith is to be sought, when he says: "For if there were a dispute about some small question, would it not be necessary to recur to the most ancient Churches, and to obtain from them what is certain and clear concerning the present question? What, then, if the Apostles had not even left us the Scriptures? would it not have been necessary to follow the order of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they entrusted the Churches? To which order many nations of barbarians, who believe in Christ, give assent — having salvation written by the Spirit in their hearts without character or ink, and diligently guarding the ancient tradition." Similar things he says in chapter III, where he says that of all the Churches the Roman Church, founded by Peter and Paul, must especially be followed. Hear Jerome Against the Luciferian: "I could," he says, "dry up all the rivulets of propositions with the one sun of the Church." And again: "I will set forth to you a brief and clear opinion of my mind: that one must remain in that Church which, founded by the Apostles, endures to this day," etc. Hear Ambrose, epistle 82: "Both," he says, "were said by the Lord to Moses: Where you stand is holy ground. And: Stand here with Me — that is, you stand with Me, if you stand in the Church. For the place itself is holy, the ground itself fertile in holiness, and rich with the harvests of virtues. Stand therefore in the Church, stand where I appeared to you: there I am with you. Where the Church is, there is the most firm station of your mind; there is the foundation of your soul, where I appeared to you out of the bush." Hear finally Augustine, book I Against the epistle of the Foundation, chapter v: "I would not believe the Gospel, unless the authority of the Catholic Church moved me. Whom, then, I obeyed when they said: Believe the Gospel — why should I not obey them when they say to me: Do not believe Manichaeus?"
Verse 16: And Evidently Great Is the Mystery of Godliness, Which Was Manifested in the Flesh
16. And evidently great is the mystery of godliness, which was manifested in the flesh. — As if to say: As of old the temple of the Jews, which was the house of God, contained the hidden mysteries, namely the ark, the cherubim, the propitiatory; so the Church of Christ, which is the house of God, most truly contains, keeps, teaches and unfolds the great mystery of God's godliness — namely the incarnation of the Word and the whole dispensation of the flesh assumed by Him. For in this matter chiefly consists the Christian religion and the doctrine and truth of the Church. For, as Fulgentius says, book I to Trasimund: "It is certain that almost all the errors of heretical pravity have arisen, while they either do not believe the great mystery of godliness which was manifested in the flesh as it is, or do not believe it at all." And it is plain that for the first four hundred years all the heresies of Arius, Nestorius, Eutyches, Apollinaris, Valentinus, the Manichaeans, and others, were occupied either with the divinity or with the humanity of the incarnate Word — as if the Apostle says: See, O Timothy, that you conduct yourself cautiously and reverently in the Church, and that you rightly teach this truly most holy mystery of truth and piety, and live worthily of it. For to you has been entrusted the custody of so great a mystery, says Chrysostom.
Note first: For "manifestly," in Greek: ὁμολογουμένως, that is, by confession; and, as Ambrose says, by the confession of all; and, as Erasmus translates, beyond controversy.
Note secondly: "This great mystery of piety" is the Incarnation of the Word, His nativity, passion, cross, resurrection, ascension, the conversion of the Gentiles through Him, justification, and salvation; or more aptly, it is the very incarnate Word Himself, that is, the God-man, being born, suffering, crucified, rising again, ascending, the justifier and Saviour of all men. Hence in place of what we have, "which was manifested in the flesh," the Greek has, Θεὸς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, that is, God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, appeared to angels, was preached to the Gentiles, was believed in the world, was taken up in glory. So read the Syriac, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Cyril to the Queens. "This appearance of Jesus in the flesh," says St. Dionysius, chapter II On the Divine Names, "is ineffable to every speech and unknown to every understanding, and not known even to the chief of angels Himself," namely fully and perfectly as to all things.
Wherefore some, with Erasmus, less aptly explain these things of the law of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel; so much so that even Beza wonders that Erasmus so studiously enervates or distorts all the passages of Scripture concerning the divinity of Christ: although the law of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel, as they followed from the Incarnation of the Word, are likewise here consequently understood from it.
Note thirdly: "Sacrament," or, as the Greek has it, mystery, does not signify here the sign of a sacred thing, but the sacred and hidden thing itself, namely the incarnate Word. Magalianus adds, at the end of this chapter, that by "this great mystery of piety" the Eucharist can be understood. But this sense is only accommodative, and not according to the mind of the Apostle. For the incarnate Word is the same on the altar as that which, once born in Bethlehem, was manifested in the flesh; and therefore the things that can be accommodated to one can also be accommodated to the other.
Of piety. — In Greek εὐσεβείας, which the Syriac translates, of justice; because, as follows, this hidden thing or mystery was justified in the Spirit, and through it satisfaction was made to the justice of God, which punished and avenged Adam's sin in Christ incarnate and crucified.
Secondly, Ambrose: "Of piety," he says, that is, of truth, whose pillar is the Church, because God displays His magnanimity, piety, and clemency — namely the most pious grace and gifts of Christ — to those who truly acknowledge it. Hence Vatablus also translates: great is the mystery which the pious know.
Thirdly and genuinely, εὐσεβείας, that is, of piety, of the worship and religion of God, as if to say: The mystery of the Incarnation is pious, and is such as by which God is most greatly worshipped, by which Christ also most greatly worshipped God, and which incites us to piety, the worship and veneration of God; and which is to be most piously commemorated and venerated: for this is what the word Εὐσέβεια properly signifies, that is, piety.
Fourthly, it can be taken from the common sense of men thus: "of piety," that is, of mercy and condescension; for the Hebrew chesed, that is, piety, frequently signifies mercy, both because mercy is the proper and certain mark of the pious — thus piety is taken for clemency and mercy in Ecclus. XLIV, 10 and Esther XVI, 10 — and because mercy is to God the most pleasing worship. "I will have mercy (says Christ), not sacrifice." And James, chapter I, verse 27: "Religion," he says, "clean is to visit orphans and widows." Therefore the Incarnation of the Word is the mystery of supreme "piety," that is, of condescension: for although he says:
Majesty and love do not well agree, nor dwell in one seat:
yet in Christ these do come together, namely the highest majesty of divinity and the highest lowliness of humanity, which two love bound and most closely joined, so that the same Christ is God-man, the Word an infant, a wise child. St. Augustine, in book IX of his Confessions, chapter VII, speaking of himself recently baptized, says: "In those days I could not be sated, with marvelous sweetness, in considering the depth of Your counsel (O God) concerning the salvation of the human race." Hence Blessed Prosper, in admiration, rightly infers in sentence 30: "What," he says, "is man going to be, for whom God became man?"
Which was manifested in the flesh. — Behold the great mystery of piety I spoke of, namely that the eternal Word, invisible in Himself, deigned to appear and be seen in the flesh. Hence the Greek has Θεὸς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, that is, God appeared in the flesh; some formerly read ho Theos, or hos Theos, that is, who is God. For Macedonius corrupted this passage by reading hos for Theos, and thus interprets it: that He might be God, He appeared through flesh, as if to say: That this man who is called Jesus might be and might be called God, for this reason God descended and appeared in the flesh and body of Jesus, and dwelt in Him as in a house. For he held with Nestorius that Christ had two persons as well as two natures, and that one was not joined to the other hypostatically, but only by assistance or indwelling. For which reason he was expelled from the see of Constantinople by the Emperor Anastasius, as Liberatus reports in his Breviarium, chapter XIX, volume III of the Councils. But Baronius, in the year of Christ 510, at the end, demonstrates that this calumny was falsely fabricated against Macedonius, the Catholic Patriarch, by the Eutychian Emperor Anastasius, in order to depose him from the episcopate as resisting his heresy, under the pretext that he was a Nestorian who resisted Eutyches.
Was justified in the Spirit. — First, some explain it thus: lest anyone think that Christ with the flesh assumed the vices of the flesh, I say that Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and through the fact that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove when He was baptized, was declared and acknowledged to be supremely just, and indeed justice itself.
Secondly, Cyril, in his work to the Queens, and Anselm explain it thus, as if to say: Christ was made just by the Holy Spirit, so that He never sinned, but justified others from their sins; so also nearly Vatablus: Christ, he says, was declared by the Holy Spirit to be the true justifier.
Thirdly, Theophylact interprets in this way, as if to say: Christ, having abolished the carnal and shadowy justice of the Law, introduced solid and true justice, which consists in the Spirit.
Fourthly, others, following the Syriac, think that the Apostle here says that through the incarnate Word satisfaction was made to the justice and just vengeance of God.
Fifthly, Brixianus understands it in this way, as if to say: Christ, who had appeared in the flesh to men, was judged just not by the eyes of men, but by the eyes of the Holy Spirit.
But sixthly and lastly, this is the genuine sense of this passage, as if the Apostle were saying: The Gentiles ridicule the incarnate Word and Him manifested in the flesh, that is, God become man, as foolish; the Jews hold it as a scandal: but the Holy Spirit, through most fitting reasons, through miracles, through so many charisms, through efficacious preaching and sanctity, zeal, wisdom and other heavenly gifts of the Apostles, declared and proved that this counsel of God concerning the Incarnation of the Word is just, holy, wise, and worthy of God. For in this work of the Incarnation there shines forth the marvelous justice, wisdom, goodness, and power of God, as St. Thomas beautifully declares in Part III, Question 1, articles 1 and 2, so that the Centurion and others, seeing the miracles, patience, grace, etc., of Christ even suffering on the cross, exclaimed: "Truly this was the Son of God." So Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Sedulius. Thus "the oracles of God" are said to be "justified," that is, declared to be just and holy. So in Matthew XI, 19, wisdom is said to be "justified by her sons," that is, declared just, and absolved from every calumny of worldly men and of the wise of this age. Here also belongs that exposition of Theophylact: this mystery, he says, was justified in the Spirit, because God did all things in this mystery that were required for the salvation of men. Therefore if any perish, they perish through their own fault, because they are unwilling to believe and obey Christ: let them therefore impute their own perdition to themselves, but justify God. In the same sense it is said in Psalm L: "That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged."
He appeared to angels. — In Greek ὤφθη, was seen, or, as Vatablus translates, was seen by the angels: was seen — supply the sacrament; was seen — supply Christ, who is this sacrament, that is, this sacred and hidden thing. For all these things can be referred to the Greek Θεός, that is, to God manifested in the flesh, as if to say: God was seen by the angels in the manger as an infant, when they sang: "Glory to God in the highest;" He was also seen by them in the desert dwelling with the beasts, fasting, praying, preaching, wearying Himself, dying, rising again, and ascending above all heavens and angels, when the wondering angels said, Isaiah LXIII, 1: "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra?" Hence the angels also announced the resurrection of Christ, because, having been reconciled to us through Christ, they began to bear greater care for our salvation. So Augustine, in the Enchiridion, chapters LXI and LXII.
Mystically, St. Gregory, in book XXXIV of the Morals, chapter IV, takes "angels" to mean preachers, through whom, as follows, Christ was preached to the Gentiles.
Was preached to the Gentiles. — Wonderful was the goodness of God, that not only to the Jews, to whom the Messiah had been promised, but to all the Gentiles however impure, barbarous, idolatrous, and wicked, was Christ and the justice of Christ preached.
Was believed in the world. — Not only, says Theodoret, was Christ preached, but also believed, and as God He is adored by those who believed. It was wondrous that the whole world believed in Christ a crucified man, and hoped from Him for grace and salvation; this was a great argument of His power and truth. See what is said at 1 Corinthians chapter I, verses 18 and 24.
Was taken up in glory. — Namely when Christ, that is, the God-man, gloriously triumphing with the angels and all the saints, both in body and in soul, ascended into heaven. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm, and Theodoret, who thinks that this is added as a kind of cause why He was believed in the world, namely because He sits in heaven at the right hand of God, and from there, as an efficacious and omnipotent teacher, persuades the world of the truth, so that all may believe in Him.
Add, with Hesselius, that it can be explained thus: Christ was taken up, that is, received, by the world as one existing in the glory of the Father, as the true God, to whom all glory is due: whom therefore the whole world glorifies.