Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, He commands slaves to obey their masters. Secondly, in verse 3, He reproves the authors of new doctrines and heresies, and recounts their fruits and vices. Thirdly, in verse 5, He inveighs at length against their avarice and that of others, as the root of all evils. Fourthly, in verse 11, He commands Timothy not to pursue wealth, but justice, piety, faith, etc., and to keep His commands until the coming of the Lord. Fifthly, in verse 17, He commands the rich to be humble, pious, liberal, and to make themselves rich in good works. Sixthly, in verse 20, He commands again that the novelty of heresies be guarded against, and that the faith be kept as it were a deposit.
Vulgate Text: 1 Timothy 6:1-21
1. Whosoever are servants under the yoke, let them count their masters worthy of all honor; lest the name of the Lord and His doctrine be blasphemed. 2. But they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren: but serve them the rather, because they are faithful and beloved, who are partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. 3. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to that doctrine which is according to godliness: 4. He is proud, knowing nothing, but sick about questions and strifes of words, from which arise envies, contentions, blasphemies, evil suspicions, 5. conflicts of men corrupted in mind, and who are destitute of the truth, supposing gain to be godliness. 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7. For we brought nothing into this world: and certainly we can carry nothing out. 8. But having food, and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content. 9. For they that will become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition. 10. For the desire of money is the root of all evils: which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. 11. But you, O man of God, fly these things: and pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness. 12. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are called, and have confessed a good confession before many witnesses. 13. I charge you before God, who quickens all things, and Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate, a good confession, 14. that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15. which in His times He shall show, who is the Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings, and Lord of lords: 16. Who only has immortality, and inhabits light inaccessible: whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and empire everlasting. Amen. 17. Charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God (who gives us abundantly all things to enjoy); 18. to do good, to be rich in good works, to give easily, to communicate, 19. to lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on the true life. 20. O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called, 21. which some promising have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
Verse 1: Whosoever Are Servants Under the Yoke, Let Them Count Their Masters Worthy of All Honor
Whosoever are servants under the yoke, let them count their masters worthy of all honor, lest the name of the Lord and His doctrine be blasphemed. — After the Apostle has taught how the Bishop ought to behave with men of every kind who are free, he at last here descends to slaves, that is, bondmen, who are under the yoke of servitude, and teaches that the Bishop ought not to despise them, but to lead them to good morals, and especially to obedience, that is, that they may obey their unbelieving masters promptly and reverently, lest, if they are disobedient to them, alleging that through Christianity they have been delivered from servitude into liberty, the masters themselves blaspheme Christianity, as though it had made the slaves who were formerly compliant rebellious and seditious. For he is dealing with slaves who have unbelieving masters; for slaves who have believing masters he treats in the next verse. See what was said on Ephesians VI, 5.
Verse 2: Those Who Have Believing Masters, Let Them Not Despise Them, but Serve Them the Rather
Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren (that is, Christians): but serve them rather, because they are faithful and beloved. — Here he is treating of slaves who had believing and Christian masters. He warns them not to think that through baptism they have been made equal to their masters: for although they are equal in baptism and brothers in Christ, nevertheless in their civil condition and state they are unequal, for one is master and the other servant. Rather the Apostle exhorts these slaves to serve believing masters even better than unbelieving ones; because the believing master is better and more worthy, and is more loving toward the Christian slave, and more closely joined to him in the faith, and consequently more "beloved," that is, to be loved, than the unbelieving master. Therefore let the believing slave who serves a believing master consider that he is rendering service to one who has passed from the haughtiness of a master into the affection of a parent, and instead of being feared has begun to be beloved.
Note: For "beloved" the Greek is agapētoi, which signifies both "beloved" and "worthy of love." Our version renders "beloved"; others render "worthy of love," as if to say: Believing masters are worthy of love and honor, namely as brothers, members of the household of the faith.
Who are partakers of the benefit. — Chrysostom teaches that this can be referred both to the slaves and to the masters: to the slaves thus, as if to say: Let slaves serve masters who are believing and beloved, because they share many benefits from them, namely because they are nourished, clothed, fostered, and promoted in the Christian faith by their masters. So the Syriac. But then "who are partakers of the benefit" must be referred more remotely to "serve." It seems however more apt to refer it to what immediately precedes, "because they are believing and beloved," namely the masters or lords. Wherefore we shall better take it of the same masters or lords, whom God has made partakers of the benefit, namely that great and excellent benefit, to wit Christianity. Hence Primasius reads, "who are partakers of God's benefit," as if to say: Let slaves serve Christian masters more lovingly and more diligently, because the masters are believing and beloved by God, and friends of God, namely because the masters together with the slaves are partakers of the same benefit of God, that is, of the calling to faith and the grace of Christ: for this is the greatest benefit of God. For if obedience must be rendered to unbelieving masters, enemies of God and reprobate, much more does God require this obedience from slaves whom He has subjected to believing masters, His friends, beloved and elect.
Tropologically, Chrysostom: "If the Apostle so commands slaves to obey their masters, behold with what spirit it befits us to be toward our Lord, who made us out of nothing that we might be, who nourishes us, who clothes us," etc.
These things teach (those who do not know them) and exhort — those who do know them, that they may do and fulfill in deed what they know.
Verse 3: If Any Man Teach Otherwise, He Is Proud, Knowing Nothing
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to that doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing. — The Apostle concludes by resuming as it were the first theme of the epistle, which he proposed in chapter I, verse 3, namely that Timothy as Bishop ought to announce to certain innovators that "they should not teach otherwise, nor give heed to endless fables, which yield questions rather than the edification of God, which is in faith." For certain Jews and Gentiles converted to Christ were mixing their sects, traditions, and philosophical doctrines with Christianity, and thus corrupting Christianity: whom the Apostle here orders to be restrained. Perhaps in particular the Apostle is touching upon Judaizers, who were teaching that slaves, according to the law of Exodus, chapter XXI, verse 2, ought to be manumitted and made free in the seventh year. For he has just spoken of slaves; and thus there will be a convenient transition and return to the first theme on the avoidance of new teachers.
Note: For "teach otherwise" the Greek is heterodidaskalei, which word he employed in chapter I, verse 3; and from this passage it is clear that it signifies not so much him who follows a different doctrine, as Vatablus translates, but him who teaches another doctrine; for there follows: "Sick about questions and strifes of words," and that he hunts gain from this counterfeit doctrine of piety. Which things, certainly, are not of a disciple, but of a teacher.
Secondly, for "does not consent" the Greek is mē proserchetai, that is, "does not approach," that is, "does not consent, does not acquiesce." For he is speaking of an approach not of feet, but of mind and will.
Thirdly, he calls "the sound words of Jesus Christ" the law and doctrine of Christ. He calls the same the "doctrine which is according to godliness," that is, which teaches true piety and the genuine worship of the true God, namely that the worship of God consists not in ceremonies and external display, but in internal faith, hope, and charity.
Fourthly, for "proud" the Greek is tetyphōtai, that is, "he is inflated, swells with the smoke of pride and vain knowledge." Note: This "typhus" is the character and origin of every heresy. The clearest proof of this typhus and pride is that heretics so please themselves that they will believe neither the Church nor even the Gospel, except in those things which please them. Hence St. Augustine, book XVII Against Faustus, III: "On every side, your evasion is crushed, O Manichaeans. Openly say that you do not believe the Gospel of Christ: for he who in the Gospel believes what he wishes, and does not believe what he does not wish, believes himself rather than the Gospel." For which reason heretics are rarely converted by disputation (for they do not want to seem defeated), but rather by prayer. This the bishop taught of whom St. Augustine narrates in Book III of the Confessions, chapter XII: when St. Monica begged him to refute her son Augustine's errors by disputation, he refused, saying that Augustine, swollen with youthful ardor and the novelty of heresy, was still untractable: "Leave him there, and only pray to the Lord for him: by reading he himself will discover what that error is and how great the impiety." And when she nonetheless persisted with tears: "Go, it cannot be that the son of such tears should perish." St. Augustine praises this deed of the bishop in the same place.
Fifthly, the heretic is said to be "knowing nothing," because although he may know many things about God, three and one, and other articles of faith, yet by his heresy he has so far taken from himself divine faith that he does not believe even one article with divine faith; and moreover through heresy, as through leaven, he ferments, vitiates, and corrupts his whole knowledge, so that he may truly be said to know nothing — both because his whole knowledge is infected and corrupted by heresy, and because his knowledge does nothing nor contributes to acquiring God's grace, justice, and salvation. For this alone is true knowledge, which by the Wise One is called the knowledge of the saints, and which the heretic lacks. Thus Theodoret.
Languishing about questions and battles of words. — For "languishing" in Greek it is nosōn, that is, sick not in body but in soul and mind — one who is doubtless deranged and delirious, so that, as if lacking a brain, he needs hellebore. He opposes this languor to sound speech and the sanctity of doctrine, as I said in the preceding verse.
Note: He does not here censure the Scholastic Theologians or those who raise questions, as Robert Stephanus annotated in the margin here, but heretics: for he is treating of heretics, whose property it is to know nothing, but to doubt everything, to raise a question about everything. The reason for this Theophylact gives: "Because faith is the eye: he who has no eyes sees nothing, finds nothing, but only searches." Thus Nestorius asked: how is God born of a woman of two and three months? Thus Pelagius asked: how did Adam through carnal generation transfuse sin into the souls of his children, which are created by God alone? Thus Arius asked: how is the Father not more worthy and prior in time to the Son? Thus our Sacramentarians ask: how can Christ's body of six feet be in so small a host? Beautifully says Chrysostom: "When the soul is overcome by the fever of thoughts, when it is tossed by the wave of ambiguity, then it questions; but when it is sound, it does not question, but faithfully believes; for from questioning and contention of words nothing can be discovered." Doubtless faith alone is what stabilizes the mind in truth and excludes all questions: for faith teaches one to believe what you do not see, what you do not grasp, what you do not understand; faith teaches that God is omnipotent and that all things, even those we do not understand, are possible to God.
Note secondly: He calls verbal disputes more elegantly and significantly in Greek logomachias, which signifies battles, brawls, and quarrels about words and terms — for example, whether the name of mediator can be attributed to the Saints without injury to Christ? — quarrels and disputes which are carried on not so much by reasoning as by words and verbose clamors. We experience such heretics: for when they are deprived of substance and solid reasonings, they flee to verbose battles of speeches and declamations. Secondly, St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, and Vatablus translate logomachias as battles of argumentations, disputations, and reasonings. For logos signifies not only word and speech, but also reason; for when heretics set faith aside and wish to measure all things by their own reason, they pile up natural and physical reasons, which they contentiously oppose to the articles of faith that transcend nature and the power of nature. "Of all heretics," says Augustine in Epistle 56, "there is, as it were, a regular rashness, namely that they attempt to overcome the most stable authority of the most firmly founded Church under the name and promise of reason." And this is the other source of all heresy, namely private judgment, private reason. For while they obstinately insist on natural reason and each one wishes to understand the Scriptures according to his own judgment, it is necessary that as many as there are men and diverse judgments, so many sects and heresies arise. And hence we find that heretics of the same sect do not agree among themselves, but one sect is divided into many others — indeed, you scarcely find two or three among those who scrutinize the Scriptures and wish to seem wiser than the common people who do not disagree on many points. These things are evident from the synopsis and modern catalogues which enumerate and set before our eyes the offshoots of the heresies of Luther and Calvin.
Verses 4 and 5: From Which Arise Envies, Contentions, Blasphemies, Evil Suspicions
Verses 4 and 5. From which arise envies, contentions, blasphemies, evil suspicions, conflicts of men of corrupt mind. — He recounts the fruits of the questions and logomachy of heretics. The first is envy: for each of them, wishing to stand out and seem wiser, envies another if he should appear to know more, or to have more authority and favor.
The second fruit are "contentions," or quarrels. For heretics do not dispute with this end, that truth may shine forth, which they desire to behold; but that they may seem to have overcome the opposing side and may triumph in victory. On the contrary, Nazianzen commends three things to Catholics in disputations, namely silence, order, and humility. "For what will it harm you, or why should you take it ill," he says, "if you do not dominate in every dispute, but others are found either more learned or more bold than you?" It should help you to yield rather than to conquer; this is the mark of the prudent, this of the wise.
The third fruit are "blasphemies," both against the antagonist and those who think differently — namely insults and curses; and also blasphemies properly so called against God and the Saints. For, as Oecumenius rightly says, it is necessary that he who measures all things by human reasonings should fall into blasphemies, namely that he should blaspheme the omnipotence, goodness, and providence of God. We hear such blasphemies daily when one disputes with heretics, e.g., that God is the author of evil works as much as of good ones, of the betrayal of Judas as much as of the calling of Peter; that God cannot do more than the powers of nature bear, indeed more than He actually does; that God, before any foreknowledge of works, has consigned Judas and the reprobate to hell, Peter and the elect to heaven; that the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, is not more worthy than other virgins, indeed not even than married women; that the images and relics of the Saints are to be abolished and burned — and six hundred such things.
The fourth fruit are "evil suspicions." The Greek hyponoiai signifies not only evil suspicions, but also opinions. We see from these disputes what monstrous opinions emerge from day to day.
The fifth are "conflicts," in Greek paradiatribai. Diatribai is what the Greeks call the disputes of doctors and philosophers. But here is added the preposition para, which often inflects the word to which it is added in a bad sense; paradiatribai therefore are useless disputes — indeed noxious and pestilent. Hence following Chrysostom and Theodoret, Theophylact translates "contagious chafings." For the word "diatribe" in Greek signifies not only disputes, but also conversations, customs, and mutual communications, and from there the chafings either of morals or of opinions. "For just as scabby sheep," says Chrysostom, "if they rub against the others, even those that are healthy are infected and seized by the disease; so these wicked men, if they mingle with the simpler ones, infect them with the poison of their malice. For their speech spreads like a cancer," as the Apostle says, II Timothy II; doubtless it is necessary that those who are familiar with each other in conversations and disputes mutually rub off and communicate something, so that either the good converts the evil, or — what is more usual — the evil perverts the good. "As a coal," says Epictetus in book III, chapter xvi, "if placed next to a glowing coal, either being extinguished will extinguish the burning one, or being burning will make the extinguished one fiery."
Verse 5: Who Are Deprived of the Truth, Supposing Gain to Be Godliness
5. Who are deprived of the truth. — Apesterēmenōn tēs alētheias, that is, as Vatablus, those from whom the truth has been taken away, who namely as a punishment for their heresy have been blinded so that they cannot behold the truth, and who, as the Syriac translates, are reprobated from the truth. Here that saying of Publius is true: "By too much wrangling truth is lost."
Supposing gain to be godliness. — Hence it is clear that these heretics abused the Christian religion and piety for gain, and therefore devised new doctrines and sects, in order to draw disciples after them, by whom they might be venerated as prophets and enriched. "A heretic," says St. Augustine in his book On the Utility of Believing, chapter 1, "is one who, for the sake of some temporal advantage and especially for his own glory and primacy, either generates or follows false and new opinions." Thus today the innovators reckon piety to be gain, in that they despoil churches or monasteries; in that they sacrilegiously plunder chasubles, chalices, lamps, ciboria, gold and silver statues, and claim for themselves the lands and estates of the Church against all law and right.
Among Catholics also there are many, as St. Augustine says in Epistle 79 to Hilarius, of this sort, "who even think that the Christian religion ought to favor them in increasing their wealth and multiplying their delights." Such doubtless are those who aspire to priesthoods or monasteries in order to attain riches and earthly delights, in order to lead an idle, leisurely, and luxurious life.
The Greek here adds aphistaso apo tōn toioutōn, that is, depart from such men: and so reads the Syriac, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius, and Ambrose. But the Latin and the Latins do not so read. It is likely that these words crept from the margin or commentary of someone into the Greek text.
Verse 6: But Godliness With Sufficiency Is Great Gain
6. But great gain is godliness with sufficiency. — It is a correction. For he had said that heretics regard piety as gain: here he as it were corrects himself, as if to say: Indeed, I myself say that piety is truly great gain, but in a different sense from that in which the heretics say the same thing. For they abuse piety for gain and for scraping together wealth; but I say piety is great gain in itself with sufficiency, that is if it is conjoined with sufficiency, or with a mind sufficient to itself, that is content with one's own lot — which piety itself bears and begets. For this is the Greek autarkeia, and such an autarkēs was the Apostle when he says in Philippians IV, 11: "I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be sufficient; I know how to be humbled, and I know how to abound." See what is said there. Again, sufficiency can be taken properly and broadly, as if to say: Truly piety is great gain: for it brings with itself whatever is enough for a man. Thus Maldonatus in his manuscript Notes.
Therefore piety is great gain, because it brings with itself supernatural riches and the friendship of God, which prepares and promises heavenly riches to the pious. Again, the sufficiency just spoken of is great gain and a treasure, because he to whom his small and few possessions suffice, and who does not desire to have more, this man is rich, this man is at peace, this man is happy. Whence Ausonius: Who is rich? He who desires nothing. Who is poor? The greedy. Hence too that axiom of the Stoics: "Only the wise man is rich, because he desires nothing;" for he who still desires something does not have enough, and consequently is not rich. Of the same kind is that saying of Cicero, Paradoxes 2: "Virtue is sufficient unto itself for living happily, and he who has virtue lacks nothing for living happily," as if Paul says: Falsely do those false doctors think that piety is gain, that is, that Christian religion and its preaching is in itself useless, superfluous, and insufficient unless it be referred to gain and shameful lucre, as they refer it: for I think entirely the contrary, namely that true piety joined with sufficiency and quiet of mind, is the greatest gain. Therefore let not the pious fall in spirit, let them not grieve, even if they are destitute of wealth, because piety and a mind content with its own lot is to them instead of all riches. So Theophylact. Thus St. Paulinus, who from a rich man made himself poor in order to redeem his fellow citizens, was made truly rich. For as St. Augustine narrates of him in book I of the City [of God], chapter x, when the barbarians were ravaging Nola, he prayed thus to God in his heart: "Lord, let me not be tormented for gold: You know where all my things are. For there," says Augustine, "Paulinus had all his treasures, where Christ had warned him to deposit and treasure them up." For what would not be sufficient for him who has God, who is Shaddai, that is, sufficiency itself? Thus religious, who renounce their goods by the vow of poverty, truly become rich, and obtain a mind free of all cares and heaped with all goods.
Thus St. Ephrem in his testament: "Neither purse, nor staff, nor wallet have I ever had; never have I possessed gold or silver, or any other thing: for I heard the good King speaking to His disciples in the Gospel: You shall possess nothing on earth; wherefore no desire for things of this kind seized me." Hence dying, St. Ephrem adjured his followers not to wrap him and bury him in costly garments, but if they wished to give him anything, to give it to the poor. But when a certain man, more inclined to venerate him, had done otherwise and had adorned him with a costly garment, he was soon seized by a demon, but was freed by St. Ephrem's prayers, as Gregory of Nyssa narrates in the Life of St. Ephrem.
Secondly, "sufficiency" can be taken as opposed both to want and to abundance, for things necessary and sufficient for life, as if to say: Great wealth is piety itself with sufficiency, that is, through the sufficiency it is wont to bring — because ordinarily God provides for the pious with sufficiency, that is, with sufficient food and clothing and other things necessary and sufficient for life, even if often He does not grant them riches; for the Christian religion and piety teach the Christian that the wealth of this life consists not in thousands of gold and silver, but in sufficiency: namely that he is rich who has not abundance, but the necessities which suffice for sustaining life, such as God commonly bestows upon Christians and pious men. So St. Augustine understands it in Epistle 121 to Proba, chapter 11, and this is what Solomon asked, Proverbs xxx: "Beggary and riches give me not, grant me only what is necessary for my sustenance." And this is what Christ proves at length in Matthew vi, and finally in verse 33 concludes saying: "Seek therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." This sufficiency was signified by the manna given to the Hebrews, which sufficed equally for all; nor was more or less collected than sufficiency required, namely to teach us, as Nyssen says in his book On the Life of Moses, that there is one common divine measure of eating in all things — sufficiency.
Hence Plato, in book IV of the Republic, teaches that both affluence and poverty are to be kept away from a well-constituted city, but moderation and sufficiency in necessary things are to be preserved. Lycurgus established the same thing in Sparta, declaring that it would be unconquerable in moderation, but would perish in affluence: and so it happened in fact. Aristotle was wont to say that poverty indeed lacks many things, but insatiability lacks all. That sufficiency can be taken here in both ways is indicated by what follows, and especially what he says: "Having food and that wherewith we are covered, with these we are content;" where for "we are content" in Greek is the same word arkei, from which is derived autarkeia, that is, sufficiency: namely both senses already given — by which, having been given by God sober and necessary food and clothing, we are content with them. Yet the former sense is more sublime and more in keeping with Paul's heart.
Morally St. Chrysostom, homily 79 on John: "Do we not in this differ from the angels, that they do not have needs as we do? Therefore the fewer things we need, the more we approach the angels: the more, the more we are bent down to this perishable life." And further on he contends that the more desire is increased, the more is the misery and servitude of man increased and augmented: "Do we not therefore call Adam blessed, because he needed nothing — neither food nor clothing? The more things you embrace, the more you derogate from your liberty: for true liberty is to need nothing (such as is in God); in the second place, to need the very least, which the angels have." The philosophers too pursued this frugality as the parent of wisdom and tranquility. See Laertius in the Lives of Diogenes, Socrates, and others.
Verse 7: For We Brought Nothing Into This World, and Certainly We Can Carry Nothing Out
7. For we brought nothing into this world; and it is certain that we can carry nothing (he would have translated more elegantly "bear out," as the Greek has it: for this he opposes to "bring in," when he says "we brought in") out. — He gives the reason why sufficiency is great gain, or why each one ought to live content with his lot and with the few necessities, and to consider himself rich and happy, and not require an abundance of wealth. The reason is that these riches are given only for the use of the present life, which is short, and in which we must constantly strain toward the other life, blessed and eternal, that we may acquire heavenly riches: therefore in this life we must not gape after earthly riches, but use them moderately and soberly, only as much as is necessary for this life; so that he who has great riches should not exult, not live luxuriously; and he who has few should not grieve nor be cast down; but let each one live content with his lot for so brief a time, because the rich man, departing from this life, will carry away with him no more wealth than the poor man; nor a king or prince more than a smith or farmer.
Morally, this thought which the Apostle here suggests can wonderfully arouse all Christians to this sufficiency and to contempt of riches and of all human things: if firstly all of us consider that we are born under this law, that having lingered a little while in life we forthwith depart from it; if each one says to himself what David said to Ittai: "Yesterday you came, and today you are compelled to depart with us." What else, says St. Augustine, is life but a race — and a swift race — to death, indeed to immortality? And, as Nazianzen says, The very fact that I live is like a very rapid river, Which rising upward always flows down to the lowest places. And, as the same Nazianzen says again, From tomb I seek the tomb: that is, from my mother's womb I tend toward the sepulcher. Hence Seneca truly, Epistle 59: "Daily some part of our life is taken away, and even when we grow, life decreases. The day which we are passing we share with death; soon, as we enter life, we immediately begin to go out by another gate."
Secondly, contempt of riches will be induced by the thought of their worthlessness, which the Apostle here suggests. For what are riches but earthen masses, fastened to the earth and ever to remain in the earth? For what is gold, says St. Bernard, but red earth? what is silver but white earth? what are pearls but the excrement of shellfish? what is purple but the blood of a foul oyster? what is byssus but the foul fluid of silkworms drawn out from their entrails and reduced to slender threads? Beautifully therefore St. Chrysostom here: "Are you attracted by the brilliance of the shining pearl? Consider that it is sea water, and in its bosom it once lay cast down. Does the gleam of gold and the brightness of silver carry off your soul? Consider that they were earth and ash before, and presently are. Does a costly silken garment please you? But it is the weaving of worms — it is opinion and human presumption: it has in itself no natural beauty," as if to say: These things are esteemed great, not because they are great, but because men make them great; for gold and silver and money take their value from the esteem of men.
Thirdly, we shall be led to the same if we consider that in death we shall be sent back naked, as we came, with a single linen cloth in which we shall be wrapped, to the sepulcher and to the earth as to our mother, and that we shall carry away with us from here only the works which we have done, whether good or evil.
Saladin, king of Egypt, most powerful Sultan, who expelled the Christians from Jerusalem and the Holy Land, which they had recovered under the leadership of Godfrey of Bouillon and had held for eighty years — when about to die, ordered the linen shirt in which he was to be buried to be carried around all his camps, suspended from a spear, with this proclamation by a herald: Saladin, ruler of all Asia, from so great an empire and so great riches, dying carries nothing else away with him. The witnesses are Fulgosius, book VII, chapter 11; Bergomensis, book XII; Platina in the life of Celestine III, and others. The same is shown in the beautiful parables of the two friends (namely riches and kindred) who deserted the man summoned to judgment, and of the third faithful friend, namely virtue, who alone stood by him and pleaded his cause before the judge — Barlaam shows this to Josaphat in Damascene, chapters xiii and xiv of their History.
Wherefore aptly to this passage of the Apostle, St. Jerome, in book II Against Jovinian: "Delicacies and varieties of feasts are fomenters of avarice. It is great exultation of soul when, content with little, you have the world beneath your feet, and exchange all its power, feasts, lusts, for the sake of which riches are sought, for cheap foods, and compensate them with a coarser tunic. Take away the luxury of feasting and lust — no one will seek riches, whose use is either in the belly or below the belly; whence the Poet: He who knows not how to use a little will be a slave forever. And Aristotle in his Ethics says that every prodigal man is greedy."
Verse 8: Having Food, and Wherewith to Be Covered, With These Let Us Be Content
8. But having food and wherewith we may be covered, with these let us be content. — For "food" in Greek it is diatrophas, which St. Cyprian, explaining the Lord's Prayer, translates as "provision" — that is, what we commonly call a "prebend." For in this life God has assigned to each man, as it were, his prebend of nourishment, with which it behooves him to live content. Secondly, for "let us be content" in Greek it is arkesthēsometha, that is, "we shall be content"; it is a Hebraism: for the Hebrews use the future for the imperative and subjunctive; perhaps also our author reads with omega arkesthēsōmetha, which signifies "let us be content."
These things St. John the Almsgiver thought on, who in his life gave all his possessions to the poor to such an extent that, dying, he left only half a coin in his chest, which by his testament he also bequeathed to the poor. And Hilarion, according to Jerome in his Life, when he left all his riches by testament to Hesychius, left him nothing but a Gospel, a sackcloth tunic, a hood, and a small cloak.
Verse 9: For They Who Will to Be Rich Fall Into Temptation, and the Snare of the Devil
9. For they who will to be rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition. — He gives the reason why we ought to be content with food and clothing — because, namely, if not content with these you should desire riches, you will fall into temptations and the snares of the devil.
Note first: The Apostle is speaking to all Christians, but especially to Bishops and teachers. For he censured the avarice of false teachers in verse 5, and on their account he has digressed thus far in urging the avoidance of avarice; for, as Ambrose notes, a teacher and pastor eager for gain harms not only himself but also others, because he gives them an example of avarice in that to which our nature is most prone. Hence, it is scarcely possible that such a one should satisfy his office and care: for he who undertakes the care of the Church for the sake of cheap petty gain looks rather at the wool and milk than at the salvation of his sheep; indeed he consumes almost all his cares and thoughts in accumulating money: it is necessary therefore that he neglect souls, not care for them, scarcely think of them. Note here: The Apostle did not say: Those who are rich, but, Those who will to be rich. For, as St. Augustine says in homily 13 of the 50, "He accused desires, not means: for avarice is to wish to be rich, not however to be rich;" as the same Augustine says, sermon 203 On the Times. For there are many good and holy rich men who have money, but spurn it and rightly dispense it and distribute it to the poor.
Hence secondly, Theodoret notes that this desire is more present in those who acquire money by their own labor than in those who are their heirs or successors. The reason, which Plato gives in book I of the Republic, is that those who acquire wealth by their own industry love it more, as the fruit and offspring brought forth by their own sweat; but those who possess it without labor love it less, because they think it the offspring not of their own, but of another's industry. "For poets too love their own poems more than another's, and parents love their own children more than another's."
Note thirdly: The desire of riches leads into temptation, because it is insatiable and most vehement; indeed The love of money grows as much as money itself grows. Hence it induces a man to neglect the Sacred and divine things, to enter into usurious contracts, to violate divine and human laws, and to accumulate wealth through fair means and foul; and, if when wishing to repent he is admonished that what was unjustly acquired must be restored, he refuses to restore, and so he will sooner suffer his soul than his ill-gotten wealth to be torn from him. Hence the Apostle called avarice the service of idols and the avaricious man an idolater.
Note fourthly: The "of the devil" is not in the Greek, nor in the Syriac, nor in Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, but it is understood and perhaps was once present. For Primasius and Cyprian, sermon 6 on the Lord's Prayer, read the name of the devil. "You see," says Cyprian, "that the snare of the devil is riches, which he stretched even for the Savior."
Secondly, Chrysostom understands this "snare" as infidelity, into which those fall who entirely gape after riches: for this is what the Apostle says in the following verse: "Which some coveting have erred from the faith."
Thirdly, Haymo interprets this "snare" as damnation.
Fourthly, others take it for pride. Wherefore St. Augustine in the Sentences, number 197: "He is master of the things he has who is deluded by no desire. For he who is bound by the love of earthly things does not possess, but is possessed."
Fifthly, others understand captivity, which takes away the liberty of the mind; for the rich man is bound by his wealth as if by fetters, whence riches are called by the Gentiles the fetters of Pluto.
Sixthly and best, the snare of the devil is that which the Apostle immediately adds in explaining it: "And many unprofitable and hurtful desires;" where the conjunction "and" signifies "that is." For so it is taken in Colossians II, 8 and elsewhere, as I said there.
Whence note fifthly: The "snare" and, as Cyprian in the place just cited reads, the "mousetrap" which the devil casts upon those wishing to grow rich, are the useless and harmful desires which necessarily impose themselves both for acquiring, for increasing, and for spending riches. Add that riches are followed by ambition and desire of glory and pomp in clothing, in chariots, in retinues, in palaces, at the table, in banquets, and in every external display: which things distract a man's mind from God and divine things, and draw it into themselves and absorb it, and make it wholly vain, covetous, voluptuous, proud, and ensnare it with many other sins. Justly therefore St. Bernard, sermon 3 on the Psalm "He that dwelleth," inferring from these words of the Apostle: "Are then the riches of this age the snare of the devil?" groans and exclaims: "Alas, how few shall we find who, freed from this snare, exult! how many who grieve that they seem to themselves to be little ensnared, and still strive as much as they can to entangle and entwine themselves! You who have left all things and have followed Him who had not where to lay His head, the Son of man, exult and say: Because He Himself has freed me from the snare of the hunters. Confess to Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and from the very marrow of your heart give thanks to Him, saying: Because He Himself has freed me from the snare of the hunters."
Drown. — In Greek bythizousi, that is, they sink into the deep — "into destruction" namely and damnation: for they are "unprofitable and harmful." Note here: For "unprofitable" in Greek it is anoētous, that is foolish and mindless. So Theophylact, who, explaining the same thing, adds: "How is it not foolish to feed apes, to enclose wild beasts and fish in pools and pens, to adorn horses with gold, to lead water beneath one's roof, and on the floor or pavement of the house to gaze at one's face as in a mirror because of the brightness of the stones? These things are foolish and harmful, which injure the riches of the soul and consume the senses. What of this, that many rich men proud of their wealth, aspiring to tyranny, brought death upon themselves?"
Excellently Galen in the paraphrase of the oration eis tas technas: Demosthenes, he says, used to call ignorant rich men devoid of letters golden cattle, while Diogenes compared the same to figs which are born in steep and inaccessible places. For the fruit of these trees is eaten not by men, but by deer and jackdaws: so also the goods and revenues of these men are consumed not by honest men, but by certain wits and flatterers. Plato, in book V On the Laws, does not hesitate to assert that those who are very rich are not good men, since men generally become insolent through wealth and prosperous circumstances. Plutarch narrates that someone replied thus to Sulla, who was glorying in his great wealth: "How can you be a good man, when you possess such great riches, since you received nothing from your father?"
Verse 10: The Root of All Evils Is Desire
10. The root of all evils is desire. — St. Augustine, in book II of the Literal Genesis, chapter xiv, and Anselm take desire or avarice most generally — that, namely, by which each one desires anything more — whether of honor, or of riches, or of pleasures, or of vengeance — than is fitting for him; so that desire embraces pride as a species, and he proves this because elsewhere, namely Ecclesiasticus x, 15, it is said "the beginning of all sin is pride." Secondly, because it is established that not every sin is born of the desire of money: for the sin of the Devil was not the love of money, but of honor.
But this opposition is beside the mind of the Apostle. This is clear from the Greek, where for "desire" it is philargyria, that is, love and desire of silver, namely of money, or avarice properly so called. Thus Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others everywhere explain.
Therefore this avarice is the root of all evils, not as if all the sins which have ever been individually committed by any man or angel have flowed from avarice — this would be false; but because evils and sins of every kind are wont to be born of avarice and have often been so born: for the word "of all" is taken distributively, not for individuals of the kinds, but for the kinds of individuals. In the same sense it could be said that pride is the root of all evils, because evils of every kind are wont to come forth from pride. For so we commonly say that humility is the root of all goods, that charity, patience, prayer are the root of all virtues; because he who has these virtues can through them acquire all the others for himself, and often actually does acquire them.
Hence is clear the answer to St. Augustine's first objection: for both pride and avarice are the root of every sin; because both pride and avarice impel a man to all sins, or to every kind of sin.
Otherwise, but more subtly, D. Thomas answers, I II, Question LXXXIV, articles 1 and 2, namely that pride is called the beginning of every sin in the order of intention, but avarice is called the root of every sin in the order of execution; because avarice supplies the means and instrument, namely money, which all things obey, for fulfilling and executing every sin which the proud man conceives in his soul and resolves to commit. This is often true, yet not always: for it often happens that avarice both in the order of intention and of execution precedes pride and is the root of every sin, and so even of pride itself; as we often see the poor and the humble, when they grow rich, beginning on account of their wealth to become insolent and proud. The former response therefore seems plainer, fuller, and more solid.
Hence beautifully and morally St. Ambrose: "Avarice, because it can admit all evils, is therefore the root of all evils; because in order to fulfill its desires (which however is impossible to attain in fact), it commits even crimes, and homicides, and obscenity, and whatever wickedness exists." The same Ambrose, book On Cain and Abel, chapter v: "Avarice, the more it has taken, the more does it believe itself in want; envious of all, vile to itself; needy amid the greatest riches, it grows lean in affection at what abounds in sense; there is no measure of plundering where there is no measure of desiring; it shakes the elements, furrows the sea, digs up the earth, wearies heaven with vows, neither pleased with clear weather nor with cloudy, condemns the yearly produce, and accuses the offspring of the lands." So Bias: "philargyria is the metropolis of all wickedness," that is, the love of money is the metropolis of all wickedness. So also Timon: "There are two elements of evils, apleistia and philochrematia," that is, insatiable desire of riches and craving for glory. And Virgil: To what do you not drive mortal hearts, Accursed hunger for gold! "sacred," that is sacrilegious. And Horace: He has lost his weapons, deserted the post of virtue, who Is always hastening to increase wealth and is overwhelmed by it. So too Ecclesiasticus x, 9: "Nothing is more wicked than the avaricious: for he has even his own soul for sale." "Therefore root out desire," says Augustine, sermon 12 On the Words of the Lord according to Matthew, "and plant charity: for as desire is the root of all evils, so charity is the root of all goods." See Chrysostom in moral homily 17.
Finally, on this saying of the Apostle, St. Augustine wrote a homily, which is the eighth among the 50, in volume X, where among other things he says: "Because the root of all evils is desire, and the root of all goods is charity, and both cannot exist together, unless one is uprooted to the root, the other cannot be planted: without cause does anyone try to cut the branches if he does not strive to pull out the root." Then, exhorting everyone with the Apostle to almsgiving, he says: "If he has the mind, he produces and gives; if he has not, the good will suffices for him before God: this man is poor in his chest, but rich in conscience; poor in his house, but rich in his mind."
Which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. — The relative "which" does not refer to "desire," but to "money": for this is what is desired, not desire itself. "Money," although it is not in the Latin text, is nevertheless in the Greek: for it is included in the word philargyria, for this is nothing other than philia tēs argyrias or argyrou, that is, love of money. Behold how desire is the root of all evils, since it leads to apostasy, heresy, infidelity — which is the head and heap of all evils: for the avaricious man, who seeks present goods alone by fair means and foul, neglects God and divine things, and so at length does not believe that other goods of the future age remain, and therefore despises all religion and faith.
Thus today many, either through fear of losing or hope of acquiring wealth, fall away from the Christian faith into heresy.
They have pierced themselves (periepeiran, that is, fastened upon, or transfixed) with many sorrows. — For the love of money, like a thorn, pierces and wounds the mind of man with stinging cares, sleepless nights, anxieties, fears, labors and troubles, as if to say: O man, why do you desire wealth? You desire thorns, not roses; you seek stings, not jewels. So Chrysostom and his followers. But because the Apostle joins these sorrows to the apostasy of the avaricious, as though the avaricious enmesh themselves in them after they have wandered from the faith, not before:
Secondly, better from the Hebrew idiom, we shall interpret "many sorrows" as the many sins and crimes which follow upon infidelity and avarice. For the Hebrews call sin amal, that is, labor and sorrow, because it is the cause of many sorrows. Thus Psalm VII, 15: "He hath conceived sorrow (that is, sin and iniquity, for it follows) and brought forth iniquity," namely the one he conceived. That the morals of the Romans were corrupted by wealth and avarice Juvenal teaches, and from him St. Augustine, Epistle 5 to Marcellinus. Hear him:
Humble fortune once kept the Latin women chaste, nor did toil, brief sleep, and hands worn rough by Tuscan wool allow their small dwellings to be touched by vice, with Hannibal near the city, and husbands standing in the Colline tower. Now we suffer the evils of long peace. Luxury, more cruel than arms, has settled upon us, and avenges the conquered world. No crime is absent, no act of lust, since Roman poverty perished.
Thirdly, we shall most fully take here any sorrows whatsoever, whether pure or joined with sin, which usually follow the avaricious, especially those fallen into infidelity; such as infamy, anguish of conscience, losses of temporal things, perplexity and almost necessity of admitting not only usuries and frauds, but also dealings with the infidels, superstitions and errors, and all acts of infidelity, lest they lose the favor of their own — namely, that they may seem truly to have defected to the infidels and embraced infidelity from the heart; and at length the fear, danger and guilt of hell, which is the sorrow of sorrows.
"Wherefore," says Prosper in book II On the Contemplative Life, chapter XIII, "by him who serves God as a soldier, riches must be fled, which those who have them do not seek without toil, do not find without difficulty, do not keep without care, do not possess without harmful delight, do not lose without sorrow." Do not, then, love those things which when loved defile, when possessed burden, when lost torment.
Galen splendidly, in his book On Curing the Diseases of the Soul, chapter IX, shows that desire is insatiable and the cause of all sadness: "Know that the cause of all grief is insatiability, from this — that men have desires which can neither be satisfied nor filled. For those who are insatiable for present things always covet: thus if they have a double of something, they immediately strive to acquire a triple; if a triple, they begin to seek a quadruple. Therefore you will never be richer than all, but because of immense desires you will always be poor. Rightly therefore is it said that insatiability is the worst vice of the soul, for it is, as it were, the foundation of all desires — for money, glory, goods, dominion, contention," etc.
And St. Chrysostom, in the homily delivered when Sartonius and Aurelius had been driven into exile, vol. V: "The mad desire of riches is an incurable disease, a furnace which is never extinguished, a tyranny far spread throughout the world: riches are ungrateful, fugitive, murderous, cruel and implacable, untamable beasts, a precipice broken off on every side, a rock filled with constant waves, a sea agitated by countless winds, irreconcilable enemies which never lay aside their enmity toward those by whom they are possessed."
And Chrysologus, sermon 29: "Desire is a savage enemy: it wounds by loving, strips by enriching, even captivates the gaze, breaks faith, violates affection, wounds charity, disturbs peace, takes away innocence, teaches theft, persuades to fraud, commands robbery."
Moreover Plutarch in the Moralia teaches that the avaricious lead an unhappy life: "As that Chian sold his best wines to others, but himself drank stale wine: so those who pervert all their own things do not enjoy their own goods. When his servant was asked what his master was doing, he said: When goods are present, he seeks evils."
Verse 11: But Thou, O Man of God, Flee These Things
11. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. — Theodoret and Chrysostom note that in Scripture men eminently holy and familiar with God are called men of God — not that the rest of men are not God's, but because these preserve pure from sins and intact the image of God, to which they were created. So we commonly call "divine men" those who are admirable for rare virtue. Thus Achilles is often called by Homer dios Achilleus, that is, divine Achilles. But note that it is a Hebraism; for the Hebrews call him isch haelohim, that is, man of God, who is God's go-between, interpreter, vicar among men, through whom God speaks, works, and governs His people.
Hence firstly, and most often, this name is attributed to the Prophets, whom the Spirit of God ruled. Thus the captain of fifty in IV Kings I, 11 and 12 says to Elijah: "Man of God," to whom Elijah replied: "If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven," etc. So I Kings IX, 6, of Samuel it is said: "There is a man of God in this city;" so in Judges XIII, 6, Manoah of the angel whom he saw: "A man of God came to me, having an angelic countenance;" so III Kings XIII, 1, it is said: "A man of God came from Judah by the word (that is, the command) of the Lord to Bethel." Who this man of God is, he explains in verse 18, where he calls him nabi, that is, a prophet; so in II Timothy chapter III, verse 17, the teacher of sacred Scripture is called by Paul "a man of God": for now there are teachers in place of what once were prophets.
Secondly, isch haelohim, that is, man of God, is a name given to kings, princes and prelates appointed by God to govern the people in His name: for to these God communicates His power of judging and governing (which the name elohim signifies). Thus Moses, appointed by God and the go-between from God to the people, is called "man of God," Deuteronomy XXXIII, 1: so David, in II Paralipomenon VIII, 14, is called "man of God"; so in Acts II, 22, Peter calls Jesus "a man approved by God (that is, a man of God) by miracles and signs which God did by Him"; and in chapter XVII, verse 31, Paul calls Jesus "a man in whom God will judge the world." Therefore "man of God" is the same as judge, lawgiver, prince, who in the name and power of God judges, rules, acts. Here Timothy is called "man of God" in both senses: in the former, because he was a prophet, that is, a teacher of the people; in the latter, because he was bishop and prince of the Church of Ephesus and ruled it in the place of God, as if Paul were saying: Remember, O Timothy, whose you are and whom you serve: you are God's, you serve God, you act as God's vicar; see therefore that you do not serve avarice, of which I have hitherto treated: for no one can serve God and mammon.
But pursue righteousness. — Diōke, that is, pursue, as a hunter pursues a wild beast, so do you pursue righteousness: pursue, I say, that is, continue to pursue with greater zeal and effort, that the righteousness, piety, etc., which you have, you may foster and increase in yourself and in your subjects: for what is signified here is not an act begun, but continued, according to Canon 32.
Note: For "meekness," Ambrose reads "tranquility of soul," for meekness produces this. Furthermore, meekness is greatly necessary to a Bishop and Teacher, that he may flow gently and efficaciously into souls and implant virtues in them and remove vices: for vicious men do not bear the harshness of correction.
Verse 12: Fight the Good Fight of Faith, Lay Hold on Eternal Life
12. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you are called, and have confessed a good confession before many witnesses. — In Greek it is agōnizou ton kalon agōna, as if to say: Strive in the beautiful or splendid contest of faith. For he alludes to the wrestling-school and the contests which were celebrated at Ephesus and in Greece. Again he alludes to military contests and battles, in which it is glorious to fight bravely unto death, so that a noble soldier says to himself: "Yield not to misfortunes, but advance more boldly against them; I would rather die than flee, and seek a beautiful death through wounds." For such ought a Christian to be, that as a soldier of Christ he may fight for Christ and the faith of Christ even unto death and martyrdom. Hence the Apostle exhorts Christians everywhere to undertake this contest nobly, as in Philippians I, 30: "Having the same combat (in Greek agōna) which you have seen in me and now hear of me." Hebrews XII, 1: "Through patience let us run to the contest set before us (agōna)." I Cor. IX, 25: "Every one that strives in the contest abstains himself from all things; and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible: so run that you may obtain." Which here in almost the same words he says: "Fight the good contest, lay hold on eternal life."
Secondly, the contest or struggle of faith which the Bishop undertakes — of which the Apostle properly speaks here — is the contest by which he shows himself the most ardent defender, propagator and champion of the Christian faith against all the snares and persecutions of Jews, Gentiles and heretics. Such was the contest of Paul, I Thessalonians II, 2: "Having suffered and being affronted, etc., we had confidence in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God in much carefulness," in Greek agōni; and II Timothy IV, 7: "I have fought a good fight," in Greek ton kalon agōna ēgōnismai. He describes this contest in II Cor. chapter XI, verse 23 and following.
Thirdly, the contest of faith is that by which every Christian, and especially the Bishop, fights against sins and vices, and all the allurements and concupiscences of the world, as well as its terrors. It is called "of faith," both because it is undertaken on account of the faith of Christ; and because faith working through hope and charity brings about this war. For it persuades the Christian, for love of his God and the hope of obtaining the heavenly prize, to contend strenuously in this war. "This is the victory which overcomes the world, our faith," says St. John, Epistle I, chapter V, verse 4. Hence the Apostle to the Hebrews XI teaches that "the saints by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, and partly performed and partly endured other admirable things."
Lay hold (by fighting manfully, as it were the palm of victory) on eternal life, into which (in Greek eis hēn, that is, unto which) you have been called — by God.
Thus all the Saints of every age contended, and by contending obtained the praise and crown of virtue. Hear St. Chrysostom, sermon On the Martyrs, vol. III: "From the beginning of the world, innocent Abel is slain, Enoch pleasing to God is translated, just Noah is found, Abraham is proved faithful, Moses is recognized as meek, Joshua chaste, David gentle, Elijah accepted, Daniel holy, the three children are made victors, the Apostles disciples of Christ are held as masters of believers; instructed by them, the most courageous Confessors fight, the perfect Martyrs triumph, and Christians, always armies armed by God, conquer the devil. In these there are always equal virtues, different battles, glorious victories." Then, by their example stirring each one to the contest, and sounding for them the trumpet-call, he says: "Whence are you, O Christian, a delicate soldier, if you think you can conquer without battle, triumph without contest? Put forth your strength, mightily fight, contend fiercely in this battle. Consider the pact, attend to the condition, know the warfare: the pact which you have pledged; the condition under which you came; the warfare in which you have enrolled your name."
Thus the seven brothers of the Maccabees, with the prospect of eternal life and the hope of a blessed resurrection, each roused one another to contend against Antiochus; whence the second, steadily extending his tongue and hands to be cut off by the executioner, said: "From heaven I possess these; but for the sake of God's laws I now despise these very things, since I hope to receive them again from Him." The mother, exhorting them, said: "The Creator of the world shall again with mercy restore to you spirit and life, even as you now despise yourselves for His laws." And turning to the youngest: "I beseech you, my son, look upon heaven, etc., that you may not fear this executioner; but, made a worthy partaker with your brothers, accept death, that in that mercy I may receive you back with your brothers." For to those who contend, eternal life is promised and given as a prize.
Hear a beautiful vision on this matter, which John Moschus narrates in the Spiritual Meadow, ch. CXXX: "Abbot Athanasius told us this also of himself: There came to me once a thought, saying: What think you will be the lot of those who contend and of those who do not contend? And when I fell into ecstasy, there came to me one saying: Follow me; and he led me into a certain place full of light and glory, and set me beside a door whose appearance cannot be described: but we heard within as it were an innumerable multitude praising God. And when we knocked, someone within heard and said: What do you wish? My guide said: We wish to enter. He answered: No one shall enter here who lives in negligence; but if you wish to enter, go, contend, esteeming as nothing the vanities of the world."
And having confessed, as if to say: For the sake of obtaining this palm, namely eternal life, you have confessed a good confession: First, in baptism, says Chrysostom, Theophylact, Ambrose. For of old adults, such as Timothy was, who were converted from gentilism to Christianity, made a public profession of faith and Christianity; that Victorinus the Rhetor made such a profession Augustine teaches, Book VIII of the Confessions, chapter II. Hence the Apostle often exhorts his own to retain this confession of faith and to profess it by word and by life, as in Hebrews X, 23: "Let us hold the unswerving confession of our hope." II Corinthians IX, 13: "Glorifying God for the obedience of your confession unto the Gospel of Christ." Hebrews III, 1: "Consider the Apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus."
Secondly and rather, "having confessed," or, as the Syriac, Vatablus and others render it, "you have professed a good profession," when in the persecution of the Gentiles, and especially of the silversmiths of the Ephesian Diana, you displayed and exhibited at Ephesus, in the public theater of all Asia, an illustrious protestation — yea, defense — of the faith at the peril of your life. So also Chrysostom and Theophylact explain it: for it is plain that the Apostle has chiefly in view this protestation in persecution, because he is treating of the protestation in which, as previously, professing the faith of Christ, one fights the good fight to lay hold on eternal life. Whence he immediately adds that Christ made such a confession before Pontius Pilate, namely in the supreme persecution of the Jews seeking Christ unto death, that He might be condemned by Pilate to the cross, because He confessed Himself to be the Messiah.
Thirdly, not badly do St. Thomas, Cajetan, Lombard understand this of that protestation and promise which Timothy made, in the presence of the Christian people, when he was consecrated Bishop — namely, that he would evangelize the faith and faithfully care for the Church of Ephesus. So monks and Religious make a good confession and profession when they take vows, by which they profess to renounce the world, the pleasures of the world and the divisible life, says St. Dionysius, chapter VI of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, page 2.
Verse 13: I Charge Thee Before God, and Christ Jesus, Who Gave Testimony Under Pontius Pilate
13. I charge thee before God, and Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate, the good confession. — Ambrose notes that the Apostle commands so severely, not so much for the sake of Timothy, whose zeal did not need this command, as for the sake of his successors and all future Bishops thereafter.
Secondly, he here adds two spurs to the Bishop, to sharpen his virtue and spirit in this contest which Paul commands. The first is that he should fight "before God, who quickens all things," that is, who gives and preserves life to all living things, and especially who shall raise all men from death to life — as if to say: Act, then, O Bishop, fight manfully, knowing that there is prepared for you by God in the resurrection a crown of eternal life. The latter is that he should fight before Christ, whom He here proposes as the model of good profession: for he will not fail in tribulation or persecution who has seriously considered how great things, and how constantly and patiently, Christ has suffered for him.
Splendidly does Cyprian, in book II, epistle 6 to the Martyrs and Confessors, exhort them, saying: "If the battle-line shall have called you, if the day of your contest shall have come, fight bravely, contend constantly, knowing that you fight under the eyes of the present Lord, and by the confession of His name come to His glory: who is not such as merely to look upon His servants, but Himself also wrestles in us, Himself enters the lists, Himself in the contest of our struggle both crowns and is crowned."
Whence note thirdly: Christ "gave testimony [in/of] a good confession," that is, a testimony which was a good confession: for it is in apposition; for in Greek it is martyrēsantos tēn kalēn homologian, that is, who (namely Christ) testified, or made attested, the good or splendid confession. This good or splendid confession of Christ was that by which, before Pontius Pilate, and the whole council and people of the Jews, He professed Himself to be the Messiah, the King of the Jews, sent into the world to bear witness to the truth — namely, that He might teach men the true doctrine of living well and piously and of attaining eternal salvation. So Chrysostom, Theophylact and others.
Note fourthly: The Apostle did not say: He confessed a good confession, as he had said of Timothy in the preceding verse, but: "He testified, or made attested, a good confession"; because Christ verified by the endurance of His passion, cross and death the confession He had made by mouth, and confirmed and sealed it with His own blood. So Chrysostom and his followers. For this is the meaning of the Greek martyrēsantos. For Christ is the Martyr and the leader and head of Martyrs: whence in Apocalypse I He is called the witness (in Greek martys), and from this Martyrs are so called who by their blood, death and martyrdom testify that the faith of Christ is true; for those others who, examined in tribulations, professed the faith of Christ, were called Confessors from their good confession: but if afterwards on that account they were put to death, they were called Martyrs. Hence the Church sings of Christ: "O glorious King of Martyrs, crown of confessors."
Verse 14: That Thou Keep the Commandment Without Spot, Blameless
14. That you keep the commandment without spot, blameless. — Some understand the commandment of love, which is the first, great and general commandment.
Secondly, others take it of the commandment which is given to the baptized in baptism — namely, that he guard the garment of innocence which he has received, and present himself spotless and blameless to Christ coming to judgment.
Thirdly and better, others understand the commandment which immediately preceded, namely: "Fight the good fight of faith."
Fourthly and most fully, "the commandment," that is, the commandments — as if to say: Whatever I have prescribed and committed to you, O Bishop, by this epistle, this keep.
Note: This commandment is bidden to be kept "without spot," not as though the commandment, which is holy and pure, could be reproved in itself, but because the one to whom the commandment is given is bound to keep it whole and inviolate, so that he cannot rightly be reproved for its neglect or violation. There is therefore a hypallage: for the commandment is kept "without spot and blameless" when the one entrusted with it, obeying the commandment, keeps himself without spot and blameless. Whence the Greek has it thus: tērēsai se tēn entolēn aspilon, kai anepilēpton. Where aspilon may, with Vatablus, Erasmus and others, be referred not to entolēn but to se — that you may keep the commandment unspotted and blameless. Hence also Chrysostom and Theophylact explain it thus, as if Paul said: Keep my commandments whole, so that neither in dogmas nor in morals you contract a stain for which you would deservedly be reproved.
Secondly, however, Oecumenius, Hesselius and Primasius say properly that the commandment itself is kept by the obedient one without spot and blameless; because he who, disobedient, transgresses the commandment, in a way casts upon the commandment some mark and blot, and stains it and makes it liable to reproof; especially if he is a Bishop, for if he lives badly he makes the Gentiles blaspheme both the law and the name of Christ and of Christians. So in James IV, 11 it is said: "He who detracts his brother, detracts the law" — which, namely, forbids detraction. For just as he who obeys this law and others honors the law, so he who violates the law and detracts his neighbor detracts from the law itself, and by that very deed despises and defames the law.
Until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. — For "coming" the Greek has epiphaneian, that is, manifestation, illumination, and an illustrious and splendid coming: for, as is said in Matthew XXIV, 30: "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great majesty and power." Therefore, by this mention of the illustrious and glorious coming of Christ to judgment, the Apostle stirs up the Bishop and all Christians to keep themselves without spot in obedience to the commandments of Christ, inasmuch as they know that they will be endowed by Christ and with Christ with eternal glory. Whence to Christians this coming of Christ ought to be not a terror, but a thing desired and longed for. "For if," says Augustine on Psalm CXLVII, "we loved Christ, surely we should desire His coming."
Verse 15: Which in His Times He Shall Show, the Blessed and Only Mighty, King of Kings
15. Which (supply: coming of Christ, as is clear from the Greek hon) in His own times He shall show (that is, exhibit), the Blessed and only Mighty. — Note: For "blessed" the Greek has ho makarios, as if to say: That Blessed One, who namely is beatitude itself, and beatifies all angels and saints, and will beatify you, O Timothy, and all Christians, if they keep His commandments without spot, as I have said.
Secondly: For "only potentate" the Greek has monos dynastēs, that is, sole sovereign and prince, because, namely, God alone has of Himself all dominion, power, and principality, and that so absolute, mighty and eminent that, in comparison with Him, created princes and sovereigns seem not to be princes and sovereigns, but only servants of God, to whom God freely and as it were of charity grants and communicates a shadowy, slight and temporary lordship and principality. Thus it is said: "None is good but God alone;" again: "I am Who am," because the being of God and the goodness of God are so perfect, solid and immense that all created essence and goodness, compared with that uncreated being, is scarcely a shadow — as if Paul said: Do not fear the sovereigns and kings of the world in confessing and defending the faith, O Timothy: for over them presides the supreme Sovereign, who alone is properly and absolutely Sovereign, whom you serve, and who takes care of you and will protect you against all the sovereigns of the world. So Chrysostom.
King of kings. — In Greek basileus tōn basileuontōn, that is, king of those who reign, namely not only of kings, but also of tyrants. Erasmus distinguishes these three epithets of God thus: dynastēs, he says, is called the governor and prince of a commonwealth: for those are called dynastai who hold the commonwealth by power; which is proper to God, inasmuch as He is subject to no laws. Basileus, on the other hand, that is, king, is said of God from providence, as it were pasi epileussōn, namely that He provides for all; and this is uniquely fitting to God. Lastly, He is called Lord, which is a name of authority: for none can rescind what has pleased God. So Erasmus.
But this distinction is too fine and slender: rather it seems that the Apostle is heaping these together as synonyms to explain and emphasize the immense and all-transcending power and dominion of God, and that by names and titles of dignity which among men signify a certain gradation from the lowest to the highest. For among men, the least among princes are the dynasts; greater than these are kings; but the greatest are Lords, or Emperors. Thus Augustus, Tiberius, Nero and other Roman Emperors were called Lords, namely supreme and absolute, as is clear from Acts XXV, 26. So even now the Emperor of the Turks is called by them Great Lord. Hence God too is called Adonai, that is, Lords in the plural — that is, the manifold and great Lord.
Verse 16: Who Alone Has Immortality, and Dwells in Light Inaccessible
16. Who alone has immortality. — Just as God is said to be the only mighty one, so also the only immortal one, namely from Himself most fully and most absolutely, so that no thing can inflict death or destruction upon God; for angels and souls, though they participate in some way in God's immortality, as also in God's spiritual being, yet imperfectly and faintly do they participate in it, equally as in God's being; and so they can absolutely be destroyed and annihilated by God. Hence Plato in the Timaeus introduces God thus speaking to the lesser gods, that is, the angels: "You have been generated as indeed immortal, and yet you are not altogether indissoluble: nevertheless you shall never be dissolved, nor undergo the fate of death. For My will is a greater and more excellent bond for guarding your life than those bonds by which you were bound together when you were begotten."
Secondly, St. Augustine, in book I On the Trinity, chapter I, and Gregory in book XII of the Morals, chapter XVII, take "immortality" here as immutability: for immutability is the reason and as it were the cause of incorruption and immortality, and again, all immutability is a certain immortality, just as all mutability is a certain death, and conversely. Because what is changed passes from what it was to something else which it was not: which is a certain death and destruction of the prior being, which perishes by this change. Now in this sense it is clear that God alone is immortal, that is, immutable: for angels and men are mutable. Hence St. Bernard, sermon 81 on the Canticle, infers that the soul of man, though it is immortal, has yet only a small part of immortality, because the Apostle says of God: "Who alone has immortality. Which I think is therefore said because God alone is by nature unchangeable, who says: I am the Lord, and I change not. For true and entire immortality no more admits change than it does end; because every change is a certain imitation of death. For everything which is changed, while it passes from one being to another, in some manner must die as to what it is, that it may begin to be what it is not. But if there are as many deaths as changes, where is the immortality? And the creature itself is subject to this variety," etc.
Note that these things are said against Simon Magus: for he set forth besides God other virtues or princes immortal and powerful of themselves and independent, as it were, of God. To remove these, Paul says that God alone is mighty and immortal of Himself.
You will say: The Father alone is here said to be mighty and immortal; therefore the Son and the Holy Spirit are not immortal and mighty of themselves.
I reply first, denying the antecedent: for the Apostle here speaks absolutely of God, who is common to the three Persons. Hence St. Augustine, in book I On the Trinity, chapter VI, wills that the Apostle here speaks of the whole most Holy Trinity.
Secondly, even if the Apostle were speaking of the Father alone, as Chrysostom holds, saying: The Father alone is mighty and immortal — by this fact neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit ought to be understood as excluded, but only those things which are of another nature, or which have another essence than that which God the Father has. For it is an axiom of Theologians that exclusive particles — only, alone, solely, and the like — in divine matters, when they are added to notional acts, exclude the other Persons; but when they are added to essential attributes (such as power, immortality, etc.), they exclude only other essences, or things which have another nature. Therefore both the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as the Father, have omnipotence and immortality through themselves, or of themselves — that is, from their own essence and divinity.
Thirdly, Cyril replies, in book IV of the Thesaurus, last chapter, that the Father alone has power and immortality from Himself, because He has them from no other: but the Son and the Holy Spirit do not have them from themselves, but from the Father, since He is the principle of the whole most Holy Trinity — so that this denotes not nature, but Person.
He dwells in light inaccessible. — This light is the very uncreated splendor and glory of the divine majesty, immense and ineffable, which is the source of all light, brightness, knowledge, glory; and to say it in a word, this light is God Himself. Whence God is said anthropopathically to dwell in it: for God properly has no house in which to dwell, but He dwells, that is, exists, in Himself.
Secondly, this light is inaccessible to us: whence to us it is not light but darkness. Hence in the Old Testament God appeared to Moses and the Prophets in a cloud and darkness, Exodus XX, 21; Psalm XVII, 10 and 12: "He set darkness as His covert;" Psalm XCVI, 2: "Clouds and darkness are round about Him." On this matter St. Dionysius, in epistle 5 to Dorotheus: "The divine darkness is inaccessible, in which God is said to dwell: this is invisible because of its surpassing brightness, and inaccessible because of the immense abundance of its light." Therefore the infinite light of God is in Scripture called darkness and clouds: because it dazzles our eyes, so that they can no more behold this immense glory of God than the thickest darkness, or any other gloom or black cloud.
Whom no man has seen, nor can see, namely with the bodily eye. So Hesselius. Secondly, the Commentary ascribed to Ambrose understands these things here of the Father alone, whom he denies to have appeared in the Old Testament, so that none of the Prophets or men ever saw God the Father, but only the Son. For he wills that in all the apparitions only the Son appeared. But this is refuted by St. Augustine, in book II On the Trinity, chapter XVIII, and more truly by Ambrose on that text of Luke I, 11: "There appeared to him an angel of the Lord," and he teaches that the Father and the Holy Spirit also appeared; and it is clear from Genesis chapter XVIII, where Abraham saw three Angels representing the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity: whence he saw three, but addressed and adored the three as one.
Thirdly, others take this of this mortal life, as if Paul said: In this mortal life neither I, nor Moses, nor any other has seen, nor can see, the divine essence. But this absolutely does not seem true: for even if we grant that no one has actually seen God, yet God can grant that some mortal man see the essence of God.
Hence fourthly, genuinely and solidly: no one can see God — namely, of himself and by the powers of his own nature; or, no one can see God by the keenness of his own mind, his own natural acumen, his own ingenuity, as the Anomoeans presumed: but it is necessary that the man who is to see God be elevated above man, and through grace transcend nature and be lifted above himself, and as it were receive a supernatural power of sight and an eye, namely the light of glory, by which he may see God. Therefore what is said in Genesis XXXII, 30: "Jacob saw God face to face," and Moses in Numbers XII, 8 is said to have spoken "mouth to mouth, as a friend with a friend familiarly with God" — this must be understood not of the essence of God, but of a body assumed by God, or rather by an angel representing the Person of God, in which the angel in God's stead spoke face to face with Moses and Jacob.
Hence rightly do Theologians infer that there neither is, nor can be, any created substance to which it is connatural to see Him, or which by the powers of its nature could see God, and consequently to which the light of glory is natural: for to such a creature God would not inhabit a light inaccessible but accessible of itself; and such a creature could of itself see God, and consequently would have to be of the same divine order, and in the same order with God, and as it were equal to God. All which is opposed to the Apostle here, when he says that God so transcends all created things, and indeed every intellect, whether created in fact or possible, that He cannot by any be approached, reached, or seen by its own powers and those of its nature. So in chapter I, verse 17, he called God "the king of ages, invisible."
To whom be honor and empire everlasting. — For "empire" the Greek has kratos, which signifies not only empire, but also power and might, as if to say: The kings of this world have their might and empire, but brief: "for the life of every potentate is short;" but God has might and empire eternal, by which He shall punish the impious for ever, and shall make the Saints partakers of His glory and kingdom at Christ's coming to judgment.
Verse 17: Charge the Rich of This World Not to Be High-Minded, Nor to Trust in the Uncertainty of Riches
17. Charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches. — Because in verse 6 and following he treated of the vices of those eager to grow rich, hence he passes to the vices of the rich themselves and their remedies. For Ephesus was a noble emporium of Asia; whence many merchants in it were exceedingly rich.
Note: He calls them "the rich of this world," because there are others — the rich of the world to come. They are therefore called rich and the riches of this world, because they pass away with this world, like a bubble and a moment. Secondly, because they are earthly, wretched, vile and slight, such as this world is, and worldly men, and all things worldly. Thus the rich Dives was rich in this world, but poor in the world to come: on the contrary, Lazarus the beggar was poor in the present life, rich in the future. See St. Augustine, sermon 212 On Time.
Secondly, Paul wishes Timothy the Bishop to charge the rich not to be high-minded, in Greek mē hypsēlophronein, which Ambrose renders "not to think proudly;" Vatablus, "not to be of exalted mind;" but it properly signifies to think loftily of oneself, to make much of oneself, to claim much for oneself. "For as the worm is born in the apple, so is pride born in riches," says Anselm; and Augustine, sermon 5 On the Words of the Lord according to Matthew, vol. X: "Every apple, every grain, every kind of corn, every wood has its own worm: one is the worm of the apple, another of the pear, another of the bean, another of wheat: the worm of riches is pride."
Thirdly, he wills that the rich "trust not in the uncertainty (in Greek adēlotēti, that is, uncertainty) of their riches," because these wealth are unstable, fleeting, and at the smallest breath of war, shipwreck, theft and any change of human affairs are blown away, perish, and are wafted from one to another, so that he who today is richer than Croesus tomorrow is poorer than Irus. Add: in death, whose day and hour is uncertain to us, all wealth shall forsake us: so that we are not so much owners of wealth as usufructuaries, says Chrysostom. What wise man, then, would set his hope in them? "Fool," says Christ to that rich man, Luke XII, 20, "this night they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast prepared?" Hence Diogenes the Cynic, because riches are vile and fluid, called them the vomit of fortune. Chrysostom, in his homily on Eutropius, calls them a fugitive slave, indeed a murderer; and he sets forth as an example Eutropius himself, who from the height — namely by accumulating for themselves many merits of good works: for true riches are not gold and silver, but virtues and the works of virtues.
Verses 17, 18, and 19: To Do Good, to Be Rich in Good Works, to Lay Up a Good Foundation
17. But (to hope) in the living God (who furnishes us all things abundantly to enjoy), 18. to do good, to become rich in good works, to give easily, to communicate, 19. to lay up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on the true life. — Fittingly, against the uncertainty of riches, which do not endure but quickly perish, he sets the living God who always endures, lives and is vigorous. For thus the Hebrews call the eternal and stable God el chai, that is, the living God; in order to oppose Him to the gods of the Gentiles and to idols, which are gods of stone and wood, and therefore false and dead. Whence St. Augustine, Sermon 205 De Tempore, says: "The Apostle commands us not to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God. A thief takes away your gold; who takes away your God from you? What does a rich man have, if he does not have God? Do not therefore hope in riches, but in the living God, who furnishes us all things abundantly, including with all things His very Self." The same, in book XIII of the Confessions, viii: "It goes ill with me apart from Thee, and all abundance to me, which is not my God, is poverty." Secondly, "the living God" signifies God who is rich, generous, and liberal, who graciously breathes out and communicates to us life and all His good things; hence among the Greeks the highest of the gods is called Zeus or Zēn, because, as Laertius says in his life of Zeno, "He is the cause of living for the rest." Whence Paul here, explaining this same point, adds: "Who furnishes all things abundantly" (plousiōs, that is, richly, opulently, copiously: for he alludes to the word ploutein, that is, riches, of which he spoke before) — He who is and is called in Hebrew shaddai, of whom I have spoken on Philippians iv, 11.
Here therefore He "furnishes all things to enjoy," so that, namely, by air, water, light, sun, and the elements, says Chrysostom, we may enjoy them, the poor as much as the rich, and that we may abound in the fruits and resources of the earth, and in all the nourishments and supports of soul and body (on which subject Seneca discourses beautifully, book IV De Beneficiis, chapter IV), and that we may be able to enjoy them, that is, to use them with delight: "For God fills our hearts with food and gladness," as is said in Acts xiv, 16; for otherwise, properly speaking, we only use present goods, but enjoy the eternal ones. Whence St. Augustine, Sermon 5 De Verbis Domini secundum Matthaeum: "God furnishes both temporal and eternal things: temporal things to be used as by travellers, eternal things to be enjoyed as by inhabitants: temporal things from which we may do good; eternal things, that we may become good."
Note: The Apostle here gives seven precepts to the rich. The first is, that they not fix their hopes on their own wealth. The second, that they hope in the living God. Third, the Apostle wishes that the rich be commanded to do good, in Greek agathoergein, that is, that they perform good works, and flee luxury and other sins and evil works which usually accompany wealth. Fourth, he wishes that they "become rich in good works," namely by accumulating for themselves many merits of good works: for true riches are not gold and silver, but virtues and the works of virtues. Fifth, that they "give easily," in Greek eumetadotous einai, that is, says Ambrose, that they be ready to share, to bestow, to give alms. Sixth, that they "communicate," that is, that they recognize other mortals as their equals, says St. Augustine, sermon 3 just cited De Verbis Domini; and, as Haymo says, to communicate is to remember that one is mortal and a partner with other men in frailty. Secondly, the Greek koinōnikous, that is, those who communicate, is interpreted by Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Oecumenius as benevolent, friendly, lovers of fellowship, humane, who do not despise others, especially the poor, but speak and deal with them familiarly without arrogance. Thirdly, and more aptly with respect to what follows and precedes, by "to communicate" understand to readily lend, to loan, and to make the use of their property common, for just as by "to give easily" he meant ready donation, so by "to communicate" he means ready sharing of one's wealth by loan, by lending, and other modes distinct from donation. For he wishes the rich liberally not only to give their goods, but also to give for use: for their wealth is given them for use, both their own and another's; yet the avaricious tenaciously hold these and do not allow them to leave their sticky hands; but the liberal liberally share them.
Seventh, the Apostle wishes the rich to "lay up for themselves a good foundation." This foundation the commentary ascribed to Jerome, and another ascribed to Primasius (both of which, as I said in the preface, are really by Pelagius or some Pelagian), interpret as selling everything and giving to the poor; which they hold to be a precept. For this also was among the heresies of Pelagius, namely that it was commanded by Christ and by the Apostle to Christians to sell all their goods and give them to the poor, and consequently that wealth was forbidden to all Christians and poverty enjoined, and therefore the rich cannot be saved; and that Christ taught this in Matthew xix, 24, when He said: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." St. Augustine refutes this in epistle 89 to Hilary, Question IV, and recalls this exposition of the passage just mentioned, calling it Pelagian. From which it follows that these commentaries ascribed to Jerome are by some Pelagian: he refutes them on this ground, that St. Paul wishes wives, children, and servants to be supported by the rich: yet these cannot be supported without wealth. Again, that no precept of this poverty exists which is given to all Christians; for Christ does not say: If you wish to be a Christian, but: If you wish to be perfect, go and sell everything; and that passage of Matthew, chapter xix, has another sense, as I shall there explain.
I say therefore: The Apostle wishes the rich to lay up and store for themselves "for the time to come," namely the age to come, "a good foundation," that is, firm and well-founded wealth, namely spiritual, heavenly, and eternal: such as virtues and the works of virtues and piety. For He sets these riches as a solid foundation over against the uncertainty of the riches of this age. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm, and Theodoret, who at the end teaches that the true riches of the Christian man are stored up in heaven, where Christ admonishes us to place our treasures, which neither rust destroys nor moth corrupts.
Note here: The Apostle calls good works the "foundation" of the future edifice which is being prepared for us in heaven; because the whole preparation of future glory is through the merits which we acquire here through grace, says St. Thomas. Whence the Apostle adds: "That they may lay hold of the true life," namely the blessed and eternal life, which is true wisdom and knowledge. Therefore good works are the foundation of eternal life, by which, namely, eternal life is acquired and built up. Whence it clearly follows that "good works" are the meritorious cause of eternal life. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others.
Note secondly, that "true life" is said to be that which the Blessed have in heaven. Whence the Greek has ontōs aiōniou, that is, truly eternal life: for this present life is not life, but vanity, and is rather to be called death than life. "This therefore," says St. Augustine, sermon 5 De Verbis Domini secundum Matthaeum, "is the false life; the true life therefore must be laid hold of; our resources must be transferred to the place of the true life, that we may find there what we give here." As therefore he would be foolish who, having to migrate to another place where he would find nothing except what he had sent ahead, nevertheless wished to send nothing thither: so he is foolish who does not here send ahead his wealth, by alms and good works, into the future life in heaven, that there he may from these be nourished and live for ever. Barlaam declares the same by a beautiful parable to king Josaphat in Damascene, chapter xiv of the History of the same.
Verse 20: O Timothy, Keep the Deposit, Avoiding the Profane Novelties of Words
20. O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust. — Again and again the Apostle returns and impresses upon Bishop Timothy that he should beware of new and false doctrines, and guard the ancient and true faith. For this matter weighed upon the mind of the Apostle, who foresaw the heresies that would soon arise. Instead of "deposit," Ambrose reads commodatum (a thing entrusted on loan); Oecumenius by "deposit" understands the precepts of God here set forth by Paul to Timothy; others with Theodoret understand grace, the gift and episcopal office; Cajetan takes it as the people, as a flock committed to Bishop Timothy under the title of a deposit; others understand charity, or even chastity.
But it is certain that by "deposit" the Apostle understands sound doctrine, which had been entrusted to Timothy as Bishop, and committed to him as a deposit by God and Paul. From which it follows that this doctrine is wont to be handed down by hands, and that its guardians are the Bishops, bound to the duty that they not allow even the smallest part of it to be removed or corrupted. For the law of a deposit, says Chrysostom, does not allow that anything of it perish without fault on the part of the depositary. Hence St. Basil, when the prefect of the Arian emperor Valens urged him to yield in some matters, responded thus: "Those who have been nourished on divine sayings do not suffer even one syllable of divine doctrines to be corrupted; but for them, if so required, they embrace every kind of death."
That this doctrine is here called "deposit" is clear: first, because Paul so explains himself when he adds: "Avoiding the profane novelties of words and the oppositions of knowledge falsely so called;" where he commands that profane novelties and the knowledge falsely so called are to be avoided as opposed and contrary to the deposit; if therefore knowledge falsely so called is opposed to the deposit, it follows that the deposit is knowledge truly so called, that is, sound doctrine.
Secondly, the same is clear from the second epistle, where he commends this deposit again and again to Timothy, and uses almost the same words as here, when he says in chapter I, 13: "Hold the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith; and in the love which is in Christ Jesus: keep the good deposit." And in chapter II, 2: "The things thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men." And below: "Carefully study to present thyself, etc., rightly handling the word of truth, but shun profane and vain babblings." Behold the same thing he says here: "Avoiding the profane novelties of words."
Thirdly, because so explain Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Anselm, and most beautifully Vincent of Lérins in his golden little book against heresies, past the middle of the book.
From which note, that sound doctrine is called "deposit," first, because by Christ it was deposited with the Church, and like a deposit handed over and committed to the Apostles and Bishops to be preserved. Whence Vincent beautifully, expounding and urging each word of the Apostle: "O Timothy, O Bishop, O priest, O teacher! 'O' is a mark of exclamation, and of foreknowledge, and of charity: for he foresaw the future errors which he was already lamenting; guard the deposit against thieves, against enemies, that is, sound doctrine, which has been entrusted to you as Bishop by me and by Christ, not what was invented by you; which you received by tradition, not which you devised; of which you ought not to be the author, but the guardian.
Secondly, guard the deposit, that is, preserve inviolate and unimpaired the talent of the Catholic faith: you have received gold, return gold; do not substitute lead or brass: teach, adorn, illuminate the same things which you have learned, in such a way that, when you speak in a new manner, you do not speak new things.
Thirdly, guard the deposit, that is, Catholic, universal doctrine, one and the same through every succession of ages, flowing from an uncorrupted tradition of truth and to remain unto endless ages. Avoiding, as a viper, as a scorpion, as a basilisk, profane things, that is, things which have nothing sacred, nothing religious, alien from the sacred faith, the Church, religion — novelties of words, that is of dogmas, of things, of opinions and consequently of speech, which are contrary to antiquity, contrary to ancient custom. If novelty must be avoided, antiquity must be retained; if novelty is profane, antiquity is sacred; if novelties are accepted, it is necessary that the faith of the blessed Fathers be either wholly violated, or certainly to a great extent, it is necessary that all the faithful of every age, all the saints, the chaste, the virgins, all the clergy, Levites, priests, so many thousands of Confessors, so great armies of Martyrs, so great a renown and multitude of cities and peoples, so many islands, provinces, regions, nations, kingdoms, peoples, in short the whole world incorporated by Catholic faith into Christ as its Head — be pronounced through so great a stretch of ages to have been ignorant, to have erred, to have blasphemed, not to have known what they believed." Let the Innovators hear and weigh these things, who care to seek the sound faith and eternal salvation.
Avoiding the profane novelties of words. — The Greek now has kenophōnias, that is, vanities or empty utterances of words; and so reads the Syriac, Oecumenius, and Theophylact, who calls them "mataeologies" and idle talk, such as was that of the bishop Triphyllius, otherwise learned, who, while delivering a sermon, in repeating those words of Christ: "Take up thy bed and walk," said lectum (couch) instead of grabatum (pallet) as a less inelegant word; hearing whom that great Spiridion rebuked him, saying: "Are you better than He who said grabatum?" Nicephorus is the witness, book VIII, chapter XLII.
But Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, and the ancients generally read with our translator kainophōnias, that is, novelties of words. He alludes to and censures the new and monstrous names of the thirty aeons of Valentinus, and the 365 principles which the Gnostics had, and other things similar to these of other Innovators. Of which Jerome on Amos III, on those words, "Be assembled, mountains of Samaria": "Each one invents what he wishes and adores his own fiction, as Marcion does a good and idle God; as Valentinus does thirty aeons, and the last Christ, whom he calls ektrōma, that is, an abortion; as Basilides, who calls the omnipotent God by the monstrous name abraxas: he says that the same, according to the Greek letters and the number of the annual course, is contained in the circle of the sun; which the heathen, under the title of other letters, call metran." Such a novelty of word was devised by the Arians, when, denying that the Son was homoousion, that is, consubstantial with the Father, they invented that He was homoiousion with the Father, that is, similar in substance.
Note: A sign of heresy is novelty of doctrine and of speech, and hence heretics are everywhere noted, exposed, and condemned by the Fathers as innovators.
Whence St. Augustine, Against Cresconius, book II, chapter LIII, presses Cresconius thus: "You say that the Church has perished, and show whence you yourselves were born. Therefore the Gospel doctrine alone is by excellence called true and ancient, to the discredit of the false, which is called new." The same, to Optatus, On the Nature of the Soul: "Always novelty has been suspect to holy men."
On the contrary, sound doctrine is hoary and ancient, derived to us undefiled from the times of Christ and the Apostles. Hence St. John, in his first epistle, chapter II, verse 7: "I write not a new commandment to you." And verse 24: "Let that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you."
With this weapon of antiquity Tertullian assails and slays Marcion, book IV Against the same, chapter IV, when he says: "I call my Gospel true, Marcion his own: who shall decide between us, except the reckoning of time prescribing authority to that which shall be found more ancient; and prejudging as a corruption that which shall be convicted as later? For inasmuch as falsehood is the corruption of truth, so it is necessary that the truth precede the falsehood." The same, Against Hermogenes: "We are wont, for the sake of brevity, to charge heretics with belatedness." With the same weapon St. Jerome smote all innovators, writing to Pammachius and Oceanus: "Why, after four hundred years do you strive to teach us what we did not know before? for unto this day the Christian world has been without that doctrine." And Nazianzen, to Cledonius: "If the faith began thirty years ago, when there are nearly four hundred years since Christ was manifested, certainly our Gospel was empty for so long a time, and our faith empty," etc. And Augustine, book II Against Cresconius, chapter XIV, objects this to the Donatists: "You say the Church has perished; and show whence you were born." On which subject Tertullian again, in De Praescriptione, chapter XXXII: "Let them produce the origins of their Churches, let them unroll the order of their bishops so running through successions from the beginning, that that first bishop had as his author and predecessor some one of the Apostles."
Note secondly: Profane novelties of words are not those names newly invented which more briefly and clearly explain matters of the faith, because the thing signified by the name is not new, but old and ancient — such are: "Trinity, hypostasis, consubstantial, Christian, free will, Purgatory, Indulgences, transubstantiation." Concerning which hear St. Augustine, tract 97 on John: "The Apostle does not say, Novelties of words; but adds, Profane: for there are also novelties of words congruent with the doctrine of religion; and xenodochia and monasteries were afterward called by new names, yet the things themselves existed even before their names. Against the impiety of the Arians too the Fathers established the new name homoousion; but they did not signify a new thing by such a name. For this is called homoousion, which is said: I and the Father are one." Wherefore St. Athanasius, disputing with Arius, when Arius objected that homoousion was a new word of the Nicene Fathers, foreign to sacred Scripture, replied, and threw back at him his own trisousion: "Show me in sacred Scripture your trisousion, and I will show you our homoousion: nay rather, the three substances in the Deity which you invent you can never show from Scripture; but I will prove to you from Scripture that there is one substance in three divine Persons (which is what homoousion means)." So St. Athanasius himself relates in the disputation with Arius held by command of the Emperor Constantine, book I; for the name homoousion is not found in Scripture, but the thing signified by the name is; whereas of trisousion neither the name nor the thing exists, since it is false and heretical.
Oppositions of knowledge falsely so called. — In Greek antitheseis tēs pseudōnymou gnōseōs, that is, antitheses of falsely-named knowledge: he understands the objections or oppositions which heretics, who falsely claim and boast of their own knowledge, throw against Catholics in opposition to sound faith.
Theodoret and Chrysostom note that the Apostle here censures the heretics already arising, who called themselves Gnostics, that is, knowers, as if they alone above others were wise — but falsely; for there is no true knowledge where there is no true faith.
Thus all other heretics, says Vincent of Lérins, falsely arrogate to themselves the knowledge of sacred Scripture and of doctrine which they oppose to the true faith; and they paint over and color their ignorance with the name of knowledge, their gloom and darkness with the name of light.
Verse 21: Which Some Promising Have Erred Concerning the Faith
21. Which (knowledge) some promising (in Greek epangellomenoi, can also be rendered "professing") have erred concerning the faith, — ēstochēsan, that is, they have wandered: it is a metaphor taken from those who stray from the mark, as if to say: These Innovators feign that with all their effort they aim, as at a target, at the true faith, which is the head and foundation of true religion; but they err, because while they aim at novelties of words, false knowledge, and their erroneous doctrines, they utterly stray from the faith, and consequently from true religion.
Beautifully Vincent of Lérins: "The Apostle says, 'Which, namely, knowledge promising'; for these Innovators say: Come, foolish and wretched ones, who are commonly called Catholics, and learn the true faith, which no one besides us understands, which lay hidden for many ages past, but has lately been revealed and shown forth: but learn it furtively and secretly, for it will delight you."
Closing Benediction
O King of kings and Lord of lords, O Inhabitant and Prince of eternity, who alone hast immortality and dwellest in inaccessible light: to Thee be honor and everlasting dominion. Grant us not to be high-minded, not to hope in the uncertainty of riches and of the vanities of the world, but to do good, to become rich in good works, to lay up a good foundation for the time to come, that we may lay hold on eternal life. O eternal Truth! O true Charity! Thou hast created us for Thy eternal glory: grant us to despise all temporal, vain, and fleeting things; grant us to follow heavenly things, to seek after eternal things; grant us to tend toward Thee by right paths, to pant continually for Thee, to sigh after Thee with our whole heart: because Thou art our portion in the land of the living, Thou art He who shalt restore to us our inheritance, our ETERNITY.