Luke § 91

He does not deny that He is good, but points to God. None is good then except he be full of goodness. But should it strike any one that it is said, none is good, let this also strike him, save God, and if the Son is not excepted from God, surely neither is Christ excepted from good. For how is He not good who is born from good? A good tree brings forth good fruits. (Matt. 7:17.) How is He not good, seeing that the substance of His goodness which He took unto Him from the Father has not degenerated in the Son which did not degenerate in the Spirit. Thy good spirit, he says, shall lead me into a land of uprightness. (Ps. 148:10.) But if the Spirit is good who received from the Son, verily He also is good who gave It. Because then it was a lawyer who tempted Him, as is plainly shown in another book, He therefore well said, None is good, save God, that He might remind him that it was written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, (Deut. 6:16.) but he the rather gives thanks to the Lord that He is good. (Ps. 118.)

On this account also He replied to him, who had called Him Good Master, when seeking advice of Him how he might attain eternal life, "Why askest thou me about good? there is none good but One, that is, God." And yet the Lord Himself, in another place, calls man good: "A good man," He says, "out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things: and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things." But because that man was seeking eternal life, and eternal life consists in that contemplation in which God is seen, not for punishment, but for everlasting joy; and because he did not understand with whom he was speaking, and thought Him to be only the Son of man: Why, He says, askest thou me about good? that is, with respect to that form which thou seest, why askest thou about good, and callest me, according to what thou seest, Good Master? This is the form of the Son of man, the form which has been taken, the form that will appear in judgment, not only to the righteous, but also to the ungodly; and the sight of this form will not be for good to those who are wicked. But there is a sight of that form of mine, in which when I was, I thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but in order to take this form I emptied myself. That one God, therefore, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who will not appear, except for joy which cannot be taken away from the just; for which future joy he sighs, who says, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord:" that one God, therefore, Himself, I say, is alone good, for this reason, that no one sees Him for sorrow and wailing, but only for salvation and true joy. If you understand me after this latter form, then I am good; but if according to that former only, then why askest thou me about good?

Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Since he had called him a good teacher and had not confessed him as God or God's Son, he learns that compared to God, no mere human being is good. Of whom it is said: 'Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good' (Psalm 106). But God alone being good is not to be understood as the Father alone, but also the Son, who says: 'I am the good Shepherd.' Also the Holy Spirit, because the Father from heaven will give the good Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11). That is, the one and individual Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is the only one and good God. Therefore, the Lord does not deny being good but indicates being God. He does not deny being a good teacher but testifies that no teacher apart from God is good.

Secondly, as to the response, by which is shown where one must tend, it is added: But Jesus said: Why do you call me good? He says this not rebuking him as a liar, but because, calling him good, he was fixing his intention on the humanity. Whence Augustine, On the Trinity: "You call me, according to what you see, good master; the vision of this form will not be for the good of those who act wickedly"; as if to say: the goodness toward which you ought to tend is not in me insofar as I am man, but insofar as I am God. — And therefore he adds: No one is good except God alone: which he does not understand of goodness by participation, which is communicated to all by God, according to that passage in Genesis 1: "God saw all things that he had made, and they were very good"; but of goodness by essence, which makes the blessed and good, according to that passage in Exodus 33: "I will show you all good"; and this alone is to be desired, according to that passage in Proverbs 11: "The desire of the just is all good." This good is to be sought as the end of every good: whence Matthew 19: "Why do you ask me about the good? No one is good" etc., that is, the final good is in God alone, who is the end of all things, because "the good and the end are the same." And he himself says in Apocalypse 1: "I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end"; and therefore Nahum 1: "The Lord is good and strengthening in the day of tribulation and knowing those who hope in him." From this good, goodness flows into us through the Holy Spirit; Wisdom 12: "O how good and sweet is your Spirit in us, O Lord"; and the Psalm: "How good is the God of Israel to those who are upright of heart." But this goodness of ours, compared to the divine goodness, is not goodness: whence Job 4: "Shall a man be justified in comparison with God, or shall he be purer than his Maker?" There the Gloss says: "Human justice, compared to the divine, is injustice." And therefore Job 25: "Can a man be justified when compared with God?" as if to say: no. Sirach 18: "God alone shall be justified and remains an unconquered king forever." Christ therefore, about to respond to a question useful for the salvation of the whole world, as the master of morals and of all moral philosophy, began from the highest good by essence, from which and according to which and toward which every good must be ordered; otherwise it ceases to be good.

What reply is made by the all-knowing One of whom it is written that he "takes the wise in their craftiness"? "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one, God." You see how Christ proved immediately that the ruler was neither wise nor learned, although he was the ruler of a synagogue of the Jews. He says, "You did not believe that I am God, and the clothing of the flesh has led you astray. Why did you apply to me titles suitable to the supreme nature alone, while you still assume that I am a mere man like you and not superior to the limits of human nature?" In the nature that transcends all, God alone is found to be good by nature, that is, unchangeably good.… He says, "I do not seem to you to be truly God. Ignorantly and foolishly, you have applied to me the properties and virtues of the divine nature. Why do you then imagine that I, a mere man that never is invested with goodness but only gains it by the assent of the divine will, have the property of the unchangeable nature?" This was the meaning of what Christ spoke.

It is, of course, another matter if He does not wish to be prayed to, because He is the supremely and spontaneously good God! But who is this good God? There is, He says, "none but one." It is not as if He had shown us that one of two gods was the supremely good; but He expressly asserts that there is one only good God, who is the only good, because He is the only God.

"But," say they, "God is `good, 'and `most good, ' and `pitiful-hearted, 'and `a pitier, 'and `abundant in pitiful-heartedness, ' which He holds `dearer than all sacrifice, ' `not thinking the sinner's death of so much worth as his repentance', `a Saviour of all men, most of all of believers.

He comes to the Lord as to a mere man and teacher. Therefore the Lord, to show that one should not come to Him as to a mere man, said: "No one is good but God alone." You, He says, called Me "good," so why did you also add "teacher"? It seems you take Me for one of many. But if so, then I am not good, for among men properly no one is good; only God alone is good. Therefore, if you wish to call Me good, call Me good as God, and do not come to Me as to a mere man. But if you consider Me one of ordinary men, then do not call Me good. For God alone is truly good, is the fountain of goodness and the source of essential goodness. But we men, even if we are good, are not so of ourselves, but by participation in His goodness, and possess a goodness that is mixed and capable of inclining toward evil.

The Saviour then considering his meaning, because faith is the way to good works, passes over the question he asked, and leads him to the knowledge of faith; as if a man was to ask a physician, "What shall I eat?" and he was to show him what ought to go before his food. And then He sends him to His Father, saying, Why callest thou me good? not that He was not good, for He was the good branch from the good tree, or the good Son of the good Father.

Honour is concerned not only with paying respect, but also with giving bountifully. For it is honouring to reward deserts. Feed thy father, feed thy mother, and when thou hast fed them thou hast not requited all the pangs and agony thy mother underwent for thee. To the one thou owest all thou hast, to the other all thou art. What a condemnation, should the Church feed those whom thou art able to feed! But it may be said, What I was going to bestow upon my parents, I prefer to give to the Church. God seeks not a gift which will starve thy parents, but the Scripture says as well that parents are to be fed, as that they are to be left for God's sake, should they check the love of a devout mind.

(in Esai. cap. 1. 23.) Now we must not understand by thieves, only such as cut strips off hides, or commit robberies in the baths. But all such also as, when appointed leaders of legions, or installed governors of states or nations, are guilty of secret embezzlement, or violent and open exactions.

You know the commandments: You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother. This is the chastity of childlike innocence, which is proposed to us for imitation if we wish to enter the kingdom of God. It should indeed be noted that justice of the law, kept at its proper time, not only confers the goods of the earth but also eternal life.

Thirdly, as to the instruction, by which the salvific path is declared, he adds: You know the commandments: which is expressed more clearly in Matthew 19: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."

He explains these things when he adds: Thou shalt not kill, through wrath; 1 John 3: "He who hates his brother is a murderer"; and therefore Matthew 5: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not kill." "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment." Thou shalt not commit adultery, through lust, for Deuteronomy 27: "Cursed is everyone who lies with the wife of his neighbor"; and Matthew 5: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Thou shalt not steal, through avarice: Ephesians 4: "Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands," etc. Thou shalt not bear false witness, through deceit; Proverbs 19: "A false witness shall not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish." Honor thy father and mother, namely through beneficence: Ecclesiasticus 3: "He who honors his father shall find joy in his children. And he who honors his mother shall live a longer life; and he who obeys his father shall bring comfort to his mother." Whence Ambrose says: "This is the first step of piety: for God willed these to be your authors. Honor them with dutiful service and refrain from insults; for the piety owed to parents must not be injured even by a look"; therefore Ecclesiasticus 3: "He who fears the Lord honors his parents and serves as though they were his masters those who begot him."

Note here that the Lord enumerates the commandments here in an orderly manner and sufficiently: in an orderly manner indeed, because it is prior to turn away from evil than to do good; and therefore he places the negative commandments before the affirmative. Sufficiently, because the commandments of the first tablet are not about things to be done, but rather direct us toward that highest good to be desired; while the last two concerning the coveting of a wife and of another's property are reduced to the prohibition of adultery and theft. Whence in this he sufficiently teaches us to turn away from every disorder with respect to our neighbor, both with respect to the irascible and the concupiscible, and with respect to the operative and the interpretive; and he also teaches perfect beneficence through the last commandment. And thus in these are contained the two precepts of the natural law, concerning the first of which, Tobit 4: "What you would hate to be done to you by another, see that you never do to another"; concerning the second, Matthew 7: "All things whatsoever you wish that men should do to you, do you also the same to them." In these is also sufficiently contained the commandment concerning the love of neighbor, about which it is said in Romans 13: "He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law."

The Law forbids first that into which we more easily fall, and then that into which few fall and infrequently: for example, adultery, since it is a fire from both the outside and the inside; murder, since anger is a great beast; while theft is less important, and one can fall into false witness infrequently. Therefore the first crimes are forbidden first, since we easily fall into them, although in other respects they are also more grievous. But these, that is, theft and false witness, the Law places in second rank, since they are committed infrequently and are less important. After these crimes, the Law placed the sin against parents. For although this sin is grievous, it does not often occur, since it is not often nor many, but rarely and few, that such bestial people are found who would dare to insult their parents.

The law first forbids those things to which we are most prone, as adultery for instance, the incitement to which is within us, and of our nature; and murder, because rage is a great and savage monster. But theft and bearing false witness are sins which men seldom fall into. And besides, the former also are the more grievous sins, therefore He places theft and bearing false witness in the second place, as both less common, and of less weight than the other.

Because sin against parents, although a great crime, very rarely happens, He places it last of all, Honour thy father and mother.

After instructing him in the knowledge of the faith, He adds, Thou knowest the commandments. As though He said, Know God first, and then will it be time to seek what thou askest.

But you may observe that these commandments consist in not doing certain things; that if thou hast not committed adultery, thou art chaste; if thou stealest not, honestly disposed; if thou bearest not false witness, truth-telling. Virtue then we see is rendered easy through the goodness of the Lawgiver. For He speaks of avoiding of evil, not practising of good. And any cessation from action is easier than any actual work.

(ex Apol. de sua fuga.) For when we despise the world, we must not imagine we have resigned any thing great, for the whole earth in comparison of the heaven is but a span long; therefore even should they who renounce it be lords of the whole earth, yet still it would be nothing worth in comparison of the kingdom of heaven.

The young man asked the Lord how to attain to eternal life and heard that he must sell all his goods and distribute them to the poor and have his treasure in heaven. Why else did he go away sad, except that he had, as the Gospel says, great riches? It is one thing not to wish to hoard up what one does not have. It is another thing to scatter what has been accumulated. The former is like refusing food; the latter, like cutting off a limb.

(in Reg. Brev. int. 92.) He does not tell us to sell our goods, because they are by nature evil, for then they would not be God's creatures; He therefore does not bid us cast them away as if they were bad, but distribute them; nor is any one condemned for possessing them, but for abusing them. And thus it is, that to lay out our goods according to God's command both blots out sins, and bestows the kingdom.

(in Reg. fus. disp. 3. ad int. 9.) When our Lord says, Give to the poor, it becomes a man no longer to be careless, but diligently to dispose of all things, first of all by himself if in any measure he is able, if not, by those who are known to be faithful, and prudent in their management; for cursed is he who doeth the work of the Lord negligently. (Jerem. 49, 10.)

(Hom. de eleemos.) The merchant when he goes to the market, is not loth to, part with all that he has, in order to obtain what he requires, but thou art grieved at giving mere dust and ashes that thou mayest gain everlasting bliss.

Sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. Whoever wishes to be perfect must sell, like Ananias and Sapphira, but sell everything; and when he has sold it, give everything to the poor, and so prepare a treasure for himself in the kingdom of heaven. And this does not suffice for perfection, unless after despising riches, he follows the Savior, that is, leaving behind evil, he does good. For it is easier to despise the purse than the will. Many, though they leave riches, do not follow the Lord. However, he follows the Lord who is his imitator, and walks in his footsteps. For whoever says he believes in Christ, ought to walk as He did.

Whoever then wishes to be perfect must sell all that he hath, not a part only, as Ananias and Sapphira did, but the whole.

Fourth, as regards the exhortation, by which the perfect path of poverty is urged, it is added: Having heard this, Jesus said to him: Yet one thing is lacking to you; The Gloss: "For perfection." Now that is perfect which lacks nothing: James 1: "That you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing." And this is done by perfectly fulfilling the divine will, not only by doing what is commanded and avoiding what is forbidden, but also by fulfilling the counsels, according to that in Romans 12: "That you may prove what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God"; and above in chapter 6: "But everyone will be perfect if he is like his master," that is, Christ, who had absolutely nothing.

On account of which He adds: All things whatsoever you have, sell and give to the poor: The Gloss: "Not a part," as Ananias did, of whom it is said in Acts 5 that he "defrauded from the price of the field"; and this because "the kingdom of heaven, as Gregory says, is worth as much as you have." "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field," etc. And lest this seem burdensome, He adds: And you shall have treasure in heaven: Job 22: "He shall give flint for earth and golden torrents for flint"; and these are in eternal glory, where there are incorruptible treasures; Matthew 6: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth destroys, nor thieves dig through nor steal."

And "because, as the Gloss says, it does not suffice to leave one's possessions unless one follows the Lord by imitating Him"; therefore He adds: And come, follow me, through the utmost harshness of life: according to that in 1 Peter 2: "Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example," etc. Through the utmost destitution of possessions. For to the disciple wishing to follow Him out of cupidity and saying: "Master, I will follow you wherever you go," He responds: "Foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head," Matthew 8. Through the utmost humility of heart; Sirach 23: "It is a great glory to follow the Lord"; and John 8: "He who follows me does not walk in darkness." And concerning these things, above in chapter nine: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." To follow therefore Christ is to configure oneself perfectly to him, according to that passage in Job 23: "My foot has followed his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside from it," etc.

(Hom. 22. in 1 ad Cor.) God might indeed feed the poor without our taking compassion upon them, but He wishes the givers to be bound by the ties of love to the receivers.

(Hom. 32. in 1. ad Cor.) But it is asked, how does Christ acknowledge the giving all things to the poor to be perfection, whereas St. Paul declares this very thing without charity to be imperfect. Their harmony is shown in the words which succeed, And come, follow me, which betokens it to be from love. For herein shall all men know that ye are my, disciples, if ye have love one toward another. (John 13:35.)

"My work was my subsistence." Nay, but "all things are to be sold, and divided to the needy." "But provision must be made for children and posterity.

When the young man said that he had kept all these things from his youth, the Lord proposes to him the summit of everything: non-possessiveness. See, the Laws prescribe a truly Christian way of life. "Sell all that you have," He says. For if anything remains, you are a slave to it. And "distribute" not to wealthy relatives, but "to the poor." In my opinion, the word "distribute" also expresses the idea that one should disperse possessions with discernment, and not haphazardly. And since alongside non-possessiveness a person must also have all the other virtues, the Lord said, "and follow Me," that is, in all other respects as well be My disciple, always follow Me — and not in such a way that you follow today but not tomorrow.

Hence when he says, All that thou hast, He inculcates the most complete poverty. For if there is any thing left over or remaining to thee, thou art its slave.

Together with poverty must exist all the other virtues, therefore He says, Come, follow me, that is, In all other things be My disciples, be always following Me.

Our Lord next declares, that though a man has kept the old covenant, he is not perfect, since he lacks to follow Christ. Thou yet lackest one thing, Sell all that thou hast, &c. As if He says, Thou askest how to possess eternal life; scatter thy goods among the poor, and thou shalt obtain it. A little thing is that thou spendest, thou receivest great things.

But Jesus, seeing him become sad, said: How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! It is clear indeed that those who strive to multiply their riches here, disdain to seek the joys of another life, but there is a difference between having wealth and loving wealth. Many indeed who have do not love. Many who do not have, love. Similarly, others both have and love, while others neither have nor love the riches of this world, whose state is safer, with the Apostle saying: The world is crucified to us, and we to the world (Gal. VI). Hence Solomon does not say, Whoever has, but Whoever loves riches, will not enjoy their fruit (Eccl. V). And the Lord Himself, according to Mark, with the disciples astonished at the words of this statement, further explained: Little children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God (Mark X)! And it is to be noted that He did not say, Impossible, but Difficult, that is, it is of the greatest labor for those who have wealth, or trust in wealth, stripping off the bonds of avarice, to enter the court of the heavenly kingdom.

Second, as regards the danger of human tenacity, it is added: But Jesus, seeing him made sad, on account of the disposition of pusillanimity; against which Ecclesiasticus 7 says: "Do not be faint-hearted in your soul. Do not despise praying and giving alms." — He said: How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God, on account of the vice of tenacity. The Gloss says: "Who have riches, that is, who possess them with love and place their trust in them." Whence it is said more expressly in Mark 10: "How difficult it is for those trusting in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" And the reason for this is that those who embrace temporal things here as great things despise those eternal things; whence the Gloss says: "Those who devote themselves to multiplying riches despise the joys of the other life."

Moreover, those who love these temporal things are exposed to many darts of temptations: 1 Timothy, last chapter: "Those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil and into many useless and harmful desires, which plunge a man," etc.

Another reason is that those who are joined to these things by affection are not easily separated: whence also concerning such persons in the Psalm: "For our soul has been humbled in the dust, our belly has been glued to the earth." Whence Bernard: "The concupiscence of the world harms more than its substance. And this is the principal reason for fleeing riches: because they can scarcely or never be possessed without love. For the substance of this world is slimy and sticky, and the human heart easily clings to all things which it frequents." And therefore the Gloss: "Riches are despised with difficulty: therefore, of all courses, it is safer neither to have nor to love riches." In this he gives to understand four differences among men, which Bede explains, and which are found in the Gloss on the tenth chapter of Mark: "Many have and do not love; many do not have yet love; others have and love; but others rejoice in neither having nor loving, and these are the safest, because they can say with the Apostle: The world is crucified to me, and I to the world," Galatians 6.

The Christian view is that men were created to be in a certain relationship to God (if we are in that relation to Him, the right relation to one another will follow inevitably). Christ said it was difficult for "the rich" to enter the Kingdom of Heaven,1 referring, no doubt, to "riches" in the ordinary sense. But I think it really covers riches in every sense—good fortune, health, popularity, and all the things one wants to have. All these things tend—just as money tends—to make you feel independent of God, because if you have^them you are happy already and contented in this life. You don't want to turn away to anything more, and so you try to rest in a shadowy happiness as if it could last forever. But God wants to give you a real and eternal happiness. Consequently He may have to take all these "riches" away from you: if He doesn't, you will go on relying on them. It sounds cruel, doesn't it? But I am beginning to find out that what people call the cruel doctrines are really the kindest ones in the long run. I used to think it was a "cruel" doctrine to say that troubles and sorrows were "punishments." But I find in practice that when you are in trouble, the moment you regard it as a "punishment," it becomes easier to bear. If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad.

Imagine a set of people all living in the same building. Half of them think it is a hotel, the other half think it is a prison. Those who think it a hotel might regard it as quite intolerable, and those who thought it was a prison might decide that it was really surprisingly comfortable. So that what seems the ugly doctrine is one that comforts and strengthens you in the end. The people who try to hold an optimistic view of this world would become pessimists: the people who hold a pretty stern view of it become optimistic.

As the ruler therefore was too infirm of purpose, and could not be prevailed upon even to listen to the advice of selling his possessions, although it would have been good for him, and full of reward, our Lord lays bare the malady which has its lair in the rich, thus saying, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And I say unto you, that it is easier for a camel to enter in through the eye of a needle, than a rich man into the kingdom of God." Now by a camel He means not the animal of that name, but a thick cable rather: for it is the custom of those well versed in navigation to call the thicker cables "camels."

Observe however, that He does not altogether cut away the hope of the rich, but reserves for them a place and way of salvation. For He did not say that it is impossible for a rich man to enter in, but that he does so with difficulty.

(Hom. 24. in 1 ad Cor.) Abraham indeed possessed wealth for the poor. And all they who righteously possess it, spend it as receiving it from God, according to the divine command, while those who have acquired wealth in an ungodly way, are ungodly in their use of it; whether in squandering it on harlots or parasites, or hiding it in the ground, but sparing nothing for the poor. (Hom. 18. in Joan.). He does not then forbid men to be rich, but to be the slaves of their riches. He would have us use them as necessary, not keep guard over them. It is of a servant to guard, of a master to dispense. Had he wished to preserve them, He would never have given them to men, but left them to remain in the earth.

(Hom. 80. in Matt.) There is no profit in riches while the soul suffers poverty, no hurt in poverty, while the soul abounds in wealth. But if the sign of a man waxing rich is to be in need of nothing, and of becoming poor to be in want, it is plain that the poorer a man is, the richer he grows. For it is far easier for one in poverty to despise wealth, than for the rich. Nor again is avarice wont to be satisfied by having more, for thereby are men only the more inflamed, just as a fire spreads, the more it has to feed upon. Those which seem to be the evils of poverty, it has in common with riches, but the evils of riches are peculiar to them.

"How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God!" When all the saints heard this command, they thought they should withdraw from this hardness of riches. They parted with all their goods. By this distribution of their riches to the poor, they laid up for themselves eternal riches. They took up the cross and followed Christ. Some followed, being made perfect by martyrdom, even as I have already told you, while others by the practice of self-denial did not fall short of them in the life of the true philosophy. Know that this is a command of Christ our King and God that leads us from corruptible things and makes us partakers of everlasting things.

What am I to fasten on as the cause of this madness, except the weakness of faith, ever prone, to the concupiscences of worldly joys?-which, indeed, is chiefly found among the wealthier; for the more any is rich, and inflated with the name of "matron," the more capacious house does she require for her burdens, as it were a field wherein ambition may run its course. To such the churches look paltry. A rich man is a difficult thing (to find) in the house of God; and if such an one is (found there), difficult (is it to find such) unmarried.

After the rich man, having heard about the renunciation of wealth, became sorrowful, the Lord explains with a wondrous comparison "how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God." He did not say that it is impossible for them (the rich) to enter, but "hard." For it is not impossible for such people to be saved. Having distributed their wealth, they can receive heavenly blessings. But to do the former is not easy, because wealth binds more firmly than glue, and for the one whom it has mastered, it is difficult to renounce it. Below the Lord explains how this becomes impossible.

Our Lord, seeing that the rich man was sorrowful when it was told him to surrender his riches, marvelled, saying, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! He says not, It is impossible for them to enter, but it is difficult. For they might through their riches reap an heavenly reward, but it is a hard thing, seeing that riches are more tenacious than birdlime, and hardly is the soul ever plucked away, that is once seized by them. But he next speaks of it as impossible. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye. The word in the Greek answers equally to the animal called the camel, and to a cable, or ship rope. However we may understand it, impossibility is implied. What must we say then? First of all that the thing is positively true, for we must remember that the rich man differs from the steward, or dispenser of riches. The rich man is he who reserves his riches to himself, the steward or dispenser one who holds them entrusted to his care for the benefit of others.

Again, observe that He says, a rich man can not possibly be saved, but one who possesses riches hardly; as if he said, The rich man who has been taken captive by his riches, and is a slave to them, shall not be saved; but he who possesses or is the master of them shall with difficulty be saved, because of human infirmity. For the devil is ever trying to make our foot slip as long as we possess riches, and it is a hard matter to escape his wiles. Poverty therefore is a blessing, and as it were free from temptation.

"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 God." This is great power. It has great weight in words. With what other words would he more vehemently express that a rich person must not boast in his riches than these by which a compassionate person is defined as against nature?… You can also understand it morally, about every sinner and haughty rich person. When he did not dare to raise his eyes to God, the tax collector, burdened with the awareness of his own sins, was like a camel. Through the help of his confession, he will pass more easily through the eye of a needle than the Pharisee will enter the kingdom of heaven. The Pharisee was arrogant in prayer, boasting of innocence, and overconfident of glory. He rebuked mercy, proclaimed himself, and accused another. He would rather confront the Lord than beg him. If anyone trembles at the camel, let him shudder at him whose deeds are uglier than a camel.

(de Quæst Evang. lib. ii. c. 42.) The name of "rich" he here gives to one who covets temporal things, and boasts himself in them. To such rich men are opposed the poor in spirit, of whom is the kingdom of heaven. Now mystically it is easier for Christ to suffer for the lovers of this world, than for the lovers of this world to be converted to Christ. For by the name of a camel He would represent Himself: for He voluntarily humbled Himself to bear the burdens of our infirmity. By the needle He signifies sharp piercings, and thereby the pangs received in His Passion, but by the form of the needle He describes the straitening of the Passion.

For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. If it is easier for a camel, which has enormous and huge limbs, to pass through the narrow eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, then no rich man will enter the kingdom of God. And how is it that both in the Gospel according to Matthew, Zacchaeus, and Joseph, as well as in the Old Testament, so many rich men of God have entered the kingdom? Unless perhaps they learned, by the Lord's inspiration, either to value riches at nothing or to leave them entirely? Did David, who sang about himself: "For I am poor and alone" (Ps. XXIV), trust in the riches of his kingdom? And he advises others: "If riches increase, do not set your heart on them" (Ps. LXI)? I believe he did not dare say "Do not accept them." Is it credible that Abraham preferred his possessions to the Lord, for whose sake he did not hesitate to strike his only heir? In a higher sense, it is easier for Christ to suffer for the lovers of the world than for the lovers of the world to be able to be converted to Christ. For by the name of the camel, He wished to be understood, because He voluntarily humbled Himself and bore the burdens of our weakness. In what indeed is it more clearly understood than in what is written of Him: "The greater you are, humble yourself in all things" (Eccli. III)? By the needle, he signifies the punctures, and by the punctures, the sufferings endured in His passion. Therefore, the eye of the needle denotes narrowness and sufferings. When it is split, He deigns somehow to mend, that is, to restore our nature's garments, so that after the fall we may be better reformed, as we rejoice in the testimony of the Apostle, who says: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galat. III).

Third, as to the obstacle of tenacity itself, he adds: For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, although this is against nature, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, because this is against divine justice. For it is less impossible that a great thing should pass through a small needle than that a covetous and avaricious soul should enter into heaven, where there is a sufficiency of goods; because, as Ecclesiastes 5 says, "the covetous man shall not be satisfied with money, and he who loves riches shall not reap fruit from them," but rather indeed eternal destruction, because the weight of riches drags one downward: Ecclesiastes 5: "Riches kept to the harm of their owner. They perish in the worst affliction." Whence, as far as heaven is distant from earth, so far is the heart of the avaricious man, which is turned toward earthly things, distant from the kingdom of God, which is in heaven. On account of which, Isaiah 55: "As the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts." And it should be noted that the comparison of the avaricious man to a camel is apt, because the camel with its huge limbs is an enormous, monstrous, and hump-backed animal: so the avaricious man, joined by love to his possessions, is like a monstrous animal. Moreover, the entrance to the heavenly kingdom is compared to the eye of a needle on account of its narrowness and spirituality: whence Matthew 7: "Narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leads to life, and few enter through it." Whence the impossibility of the avaricious man entering the kingdom of heaven is greater than that of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. On account of which Bernard says: "It is necessary that we strive to enter through the narrow gate. Why, O camel, do you bear the hump? Why, O man of wealth, do you carry the purses of Judas the traitor? Not so, O impious one, not so shall you enter: the eye of a needle does not admit such burdens. But some excuse themselves saying: Are not Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the other Saints read to have possessed earthly riches? That suffices for us: for we are not better than the fathers."

"What shall we respond to the new imitators of the ancient Saints? Let them place calves upon the altar of the Lord, let them slaughter rams, let them sacrifice goats, because Abraham also did this. But just as the divine dispensation accommodated itself to those sacrifices for the peoples of that time, so also to carnal riches; where indeed the heavenly promise has sounded, it is necessary that spiritual things be compared with spiritual things, and that the sacrifice be changed, since the hope has been changed."

Only the Christian Church can offer any rational objection to a complete confidence in the rich. For she has maintained from the beginning that the danger was not in man's environment, but in man. Further, she has maintained that if we come to talk of a dangerous environment, the most dangerous environment of all is the commodious environment. I know that the most modern manufacture has been really occupied in trying to produce an abnormally large needle. I know that the most recent biologists have been chiefly anxious to discover a very small camel. But if we diminish the camel to his smallest, or open the eye of the needle to its largest--if, in short, we assume the words of Christ to have meant the very least that they could mean, His words must at the very least mean this--that rich men are not very likely to be morally trustworthy. Christianity even when watered down is hot enough to boil all modern society to rags. The mere minimum of the Church would be a deadly ultimatum to the world. For the whole modern world is absolutely based on the assumption, not that the rich are necessary (which is tenable), but that the rich are trustworthy, which (for a Christian) is not tenable. You will hear everlastingly, in all discussions about newspapers, companies, aristocracies, or party politics, this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man. The whole case for Christianity is that a man who is dependent upon the luxuries of this life is a corrupt man, spiritually corrupt, politically corrupt, financially corrupt. There is one thing that Christ and all the Christian saints have said with a sort of savage monotony. They have said simply that to be rich is to be in peculiar danger of moral wreck.

Instead of looking at books and pictures about the New Testament I looked at the New Testament. There I found an account, not in the least of a person with his hair parted in the middle or his hands clasped in appeal, but of an extraordinary being with lips of thunder and acts of lurid decision, flinging down tables, casting out devils, passing with the wild secrecy of the wind from mountain isolation to a sort of dreadful demagogy; a being who often acted like an angry god--and always like a god. Christ had even a literary style of his own, not to be found, I think, elsewhere; it consists of an almost furious use of the a fortiori. His "how much more" is piled one upon another like castle upon castle in the clouds. The diction used about Christ has been, and perhaps wisely, sweet and submissive. But the diction used by Christ is quite curiously gigantesque; it is full of camels leaping through needles and mountains hurled into the sea. Morally it is equally terrific; he called himself a sword of slaughter, and told men to buy swords if they sold their coats for them. That he used other even wilder words on the side of non-resistance greatly increases the mystery; but it also, if anything, rather increases the violence. We cannot even explain it by calling such a being insane; for insanity is usually along one consistent channel. The maniac is generally a monomaniac. Here we must remember the difficult definition of Christianity already given; Christianity is a superhuman paradox whereby two opposite passions may blaze beside each other. The one explanation of the Gospel language that does explain it, is that it is the survey of one who from some supernatural height beholds some more startling synthesis.

It is utterly impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, whether you understand by "camel" the animal itself or some thick nautical rope. If it is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved, and the first is impossible, then all the more impossible is it for a rich man to be saved. What then must we say? First of all, that it is truly impossible for a rich man to be saved. Do not tell me, if you please, that so-and-so, being rich, distributed what he had and was saved. For he was saved not in his wealth, but when he became poor; or he was saved as a steward, but not as a rich man. And a steward is one thing, a rich man another. The rich man hoards wealth for himself, while to the steward wealth is entrusted for others. Therefore the one you point to as well, if he was saved, was saved not with his wealth, but, as we said, either by renouncing all that he had, or by managing his possessions well, as a steward. Then observe also that it is impossible for a rich man to be saved, but difficult for one who has riches. The Lord speaks as if to say: whoever is possessed by wealth, whoever is its slave and subject, will not be saved; but whoever has wealth and keeps it under his own power, rather than being himself under its power, for such a one it is difficult to be saved because of human weakness. For it is impossible not to misuse what we have. Since, as long as we have wealth, the devil strives to ensnare us so that we use it contrary to the rules and law of stewardship — and it is difficult to escape his nets. Therefore poverty is a good thing, and it is almost free from temptation.

He therefore that made the original bodies out of nothing, and fashioned various forms of them, will also again revive and raise up those that are dead. For He that formed man in the womb out of a little seed, and created in him a soul which was not in being before—as He Himself somewhere speaks to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee;" and elsewhere, "I am the Lord who established the heaven, and laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the spirit of man in him"—will also raise up all men, as being His workmanship; as also the divine Scripture testifies that God said to Christ, His only-begotten, "Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness. And God made man: after the image of God made He him; male and female made He them." And the most divine and patient Job, of whom the Scripture says that it is written, that "he was to rise again with those whom the Lord raises up," speaks to God thus: "Hast not Thou milked me like milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. Having these things within me, I know that Thou canst do all things, and that nothing is impossible with Thee." Wherefore also our Saviour and Master Jesus Christ says, that "what is impossible with men is possible with God."

He said to them: What is impossible with men is possible with God. It is not to be understood in such a way that the greedy and the proud, who are signified by the name of that rich man, will enter the kingdom of heaven with their greed and pride, but it is possible for God that through His word (as we also see has been done and is done daily) they may be converted from the desire for temporal things to the love of eternal things, and from destructive pride to most salutary humility.

Therefore the Lord shows the remedy through the gift of his grace, when he adds: He said to them: The things that are impossible with men, through the power of their own strength, are possible with God, that is, are made possible through his help; which he says because, although it is difficult to despise these temporal things through the force of nature, it is nevertheless made easy through the gift of grace, according to that passage in Song of Songs, last chapter: "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he would despise it as nothing." Hence it is not to be understood that the Lord introduces a covetous man, remaining covetous, into heaven by his power, but that through the gift of grace he converts him from vice to virtue. Hence the Gloss: "God converts from the love of earthly things to the charity of eternal things, not that the proud and covetous enter." And this is of great power, that so great a change is made, that from the covetous one a charitable one is made, from the earthly one a heavenly one, from the rich a poor man, from the proud a humble one, from a son of perdition a son of the king, so that the words of the Psalm may be said: "This is the change of the right hand of the Most High"; because he it is who can give sufficiency of heart through grace, which cannot be given through money or any creature, according to that passage in 2 Corinthians 9: "God is able to make all grace abound in you, so that in all things always having all sufficiency," etc., because, as is said above in chapter one, "no word shall be impossible with God."

But in respect to His greatness, and His wonderful glory, "no man shall see God and live," for the Father is incomprehensible; but in regard to His love, and kindness, and as to His infinite power, even this He grants to those who love Him, that is, to see God, which thing the prophets did also predict. "For those things that are impossible with men, are possible with God." For man does not see God by his own powers; but when He pleases He is seen by men, by whom He wills, and when He wills, and as He wills. For God is powerful in all things, having been seen at that time indeed, prophetically through the Spirit, and seen, too, adoptively through the Son; and He shall also be seen paternally in the kingdom of heaven, the Spirit truly preparing man in the Son of God, and the Son leading him to the Father, while the Father, too, confers [upon him] incorruption for eternal life, which comes to every one from the fact of his seeing God. For as those who see the light are within the light, and partake of its brilliancy; even so, those who see God are in God, and receive of His splendour. But [His] splendour vivifies them; those, therefore, who see God, do receive life. And for this reason, He, [although] beyond comprehension, and boundless and invisible, rendered Himself visible, and comprehensible, and within the capacity of those who believe, that He might vivify those who receive and behold Him through faith. For as His greatness is past finding out, so also His goodness is beyond expression; by which having been seen, He bestows life upon those who see Him. It is not possible to live apart from life, and the means of life is found in fellowship with God; but fellowship with God is to know God, and to enjoy His goodness.

For, to attribute the substance of created things to the power and will of Him who is God of all, is worthy both of credit and acceptance. It is also agreeable [to reason], and there may be well said regarding such a belief, that "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God." While men, indeed, cannot make anything out of nothing, but only out of matter already existing, yet God is in this point proeminently superior to men, that He Himself called into being the substance of His creation, when previously it had no existence.

Neither the nature of any created thing, therefore, nor the weakness of the flesh, can prevail against the will of God. For God is not subject to created things, but created things to God; and all things yield obedience to His will. Wherefore also the Lord declares, "The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God." As, therefore, it might seem to the men of the present day, who are ignorant of God's appointment, to be a thing incredible and impossible that any man could live for such a number of years, yet those who were before us did live [to such an age], and those who were translated do live as an earnest of the future length of days; and [as it might also appear impossible] that from the whale's belly and from the fiery furnace men issued forth unhurt, yet they nevertheless did so, led forth as it were by the hand of God, for the purpose of declaring His power: so also now, although some, not knowing the power and promise of God, may oppose their own salvation, deeming it impossible for God, who raises up the dead; to have power to confer upon them eternal duration, yet the scepticism of men of this stamp shall not render the faithfulness of God of none effect.

It has learnt not to respect life; how much more food? [You ask] "How many have fulfilled these conditions? "But what with men is difficult, with God is easy. Let us, however, comfort ourselves about the gentleness and clemency of God in such wise, as not to indulge our "necessities" up to the point of affinities with idolatry, but to avoid even from afar every breath of it, as of a pestilence.

True enough; who can be ignorant of it? Who also can be unaware that "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God? " The foolish things also of the world hath God chosen to confound the things which are wise.

And grant that it be just as you think sufficient to meet each point is the divine declaration which has fore-run: "The foolish things of the world hath God elected to confound its wisdom; " and, "The things very difficult with men are easy with God." For if God is wise and powerful (which even they who pass Him by do not deny), it is with good reason that He lays the material causes of His own operation in the contraries of wisdom and of power, that is, in foolishness and impossibility; since every virtue receives its cause from those things by which it is called forth.