Saint Ephrem (c.306-373), Deacon in Syria, Doctor of the Church
Commentary on the Diatessaron, 9, 7-13 ; SC 121
"Yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he"
«Of all that are born of women, none is greater than John.»
Were all the saints - righteous, upright and wise – joined together and dwelling within a single man, they would not be able to equal John the Baptist... of whom it has been said that he surpasses by far all other men and belongs to the class of angels (Mk 1,2 Gk; Mal 3,1 Heb.).
«But the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he»... By what he has said concerning John's greatness our Lord wanted to make known God's immense generosity to us and his generosity towards his chosen ones. However great and famous John might be it is less than the least in the kingdom, as the apostle Paul said: «Our knowledge is in part... but when what is perfect has come, what is in part will pass away» (1Cor 13,9-10). Yes, John is great – he who had the presentiment to say: «Behold, the Lamb of God» (Jn 1,29) – but this greatness is no more than a tiny foretaste compared to the glory to be revealed to those who are found worthy. To put it another way: all great and wonderful things here below appear in all their smallness and insignificance compared to the blessedness above...
John was found worthy of the great gifts of this life: prophecy, priesthood (cf. Lk 1,5) and righteousness... John is greater than Moses and the prophets yet the old Law has need of the New Covenant since he who is greater than the prophets said to the Lord: «I need to be baptized by you» (Mt 3,14). John is great, too, because his conception was announced by an angel, his birth was surrounded with miracles, he announced the One who bestows life, he baptized for the remission of sins... Moses led the people as far as the Jordan and the Law led humankind to the baptism of John. Yet if «of all that are born of women none is greater than John», the Lord's forerunner, how much greater must they be whose feet the Lord washed and into whom he breathed his Spirit? (Jn 13,4; 20,22).
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Dec 15 - DAILY MEDITATIONS BY BISHOP CHALLONER
DECEMBER 15TH
ON THE GLORY THE SON OF GOD GAVE HIS FATHER IN HIS MOTHER'S WOMB
Consider first, that as the soul of Christ from the first instant of his conception, by being assumed to the divine person of the Word, was full of all light and knowledge, and consequently enjoyed from the beginning the perfect use of reason and understanding, so the inward powers and faculties of his soul from the first instant of his conception were always employed - they were never idle. Now as the great design of God in the incarnation of his Son was his own glory and the redemption of man, so the continual occupation of the Son of God-made-man was the procuring of his Father's glory and man's salvation: from the very first moment that his soul received a being by creation this was his perpetual employment. It was from the beginning the indispensable duty both of angels and men in their first creation to turn themselves immediately to God by adoration, oblation, and love, and to dedicate themselves eternally to him and to his glory. The omission of this at first was the cause of the condemnation of Lucifer and his companions; and the like omission is to this day the cause of the condemnation of millions of men, who unhappily turn themselves away from God for the sake of the creature. But the soul of Christ, our great deliverer and our most perfect model and pattern, has taught us better things by his nine months' occupation in the Virgin's womb; where, silent as he is, he preaches to us admirable lessons with regard to the glory we ought at all times to give to God.
Consider 2ndly, that these lessons which the Son of God teaches us by his great example in his mother's womb are contained in the different acts of virtue in which he there spent his time. He began, as we learn from the psalmist, (Ps. xxxix. 7,8,9,) by offering himself to the father without reserve to do all his will; he embraced this will in the midst of his heart; he substituted himself in the place of all the ancient sacrifices, to be the great burnt-offering and sin-offering that should be immolated for God's glory and for the expiation of the sins of the world; he presented his body, just then formed by the Holy Ghost, with his ears pierced, (as it was prescribed by the law with relation to such as yield themselves up to be servants for ever,) Deut. xv. 17, to be entirely at the disposal of his Father, a perpetual servant, obedient unto death, even unto the death of the cross. O let us hear from himself these dispositions! 'Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire, but thou hast pierced ears for me. Burnt-offerings and sin-offerings thou didst not require: then, said I, Behold, I come. In the head of the book it is written of me that I should do thy will. O my God, I have desired it;, and thy law in the midst of my heart.' O my soul, how happy shall we be if we labour in good earnest to imitate these dispositions of our dear Jesus, by embracing, like him, the will of God and his holy law in the midst of our hearts, and offering ourselves without reserve to be at all times his devoted servants.
Consider 3rdly, that the infinite glory which our Lord gave to his Father all the time he was in his mother's womb: First by the acts of adoration and homage which, a man, he continually paid to God; perfectly annihilating himself to his sight, and continually bowing down all the powers of his soul to offer him a most acceptable worship, worthy of his divine majesty; 2ndly, by acts of praise and thanksgiving which he offered up both for himself and for the whole creation; 3rdly, by acts of oblation and eternal dedication of himself to his Father; to be ever his, both in life and death; both in time and eternity; with a total consecration of his whole soul and body; of his whole will, memory, and understanding, of all his senses and faculties, and of all his thoughts, words, and deeds, to his divine sacrifice; 4thly, by acts of a most pure and most perfect love, zeal, and desire of ever promoting, in all things, and above all things, the sanctification of the name of God, the propagation of his kingdom, and the doing of his will upon earth as it is in heaven. Such acts as these, joined with acts of charity and prayer, for us poor sinners, were the perpetual occupation of Christ our Lord, in his mother's womb. A happy employment indeed, and most worthy of our imitation at all times!
Conclude to embrace, and to follow in the practice of thy life, these heavenly lessons which the Son of God teaches thee by his divine example from his mothers womb: no other exercises can be either more agreeable to him, or to his Father; or more advantageous to thyself.
ON THE GLORY THE SON OF GOD GAVE HIS FATHER IN HIS MOTHER'S WOMB
Consider first, that as the soul of Christ from the first instant of his conception, by being assumed to the divine person of the Word, was full of all light and knowledge, and consequently enjoyed from the beginning the perfect use of reason and understanding, so the inward powers and faculties of his soul from the first instant of his conception were always employed - they were never idle. Now as the great design of God in the incarnation of his Son was his own glory and the redemption of man, so the continual occupation of the Son of God-made-man was the procuring of his Father's glory and man's salvation: from the very first moment that his soul received a being by creation this was his perpetual employment. It was from the beginning the indispensable duty both of angels and men in their first creation to turn themselves immediately to God by adoration, oblation, and love, and to dedicate themselves eternally to him and to his glory. The omission of this at first was the cause of the condemnation of Lucifer and his companions; and the like omission is to this day the cause of the condemnation of millions of men, who unhappily turn themselves away from God for the sake of the creature. But the soul of Christ, our great deliverer and our most perfect model and pattern, has taught us better things by his nine months' occupation in the Virgin's womb; where, silent as he is, he preaches to us admirable lessons with regard to the glory we ought at all times to give to God.
Consider 2ndly, that these lessons which the Son of God teaches us by his great example in his mother's womb are contained in the different acts of virtue in which he there spent his time. He began, as we learn from the psalmist, (Ps. xxxix. 7,8,9,) by offering himself to the father without reserve to do all his will; he embraced this will in the midst of his heart; he substituted himself in the place of all the ancient sacrifices, to be the great burnt-offering and sin-offering that should be immolated for God's glory and for the expiation of the sins of the world; he presented his body, just then formed by the Holy Ghost, with his ears pierced, (as it was prescribed by the law with relation to such as yield themselves up to be servants for ever,) Deut. xv. 17, to be entirely at the disposal of his Father, a perpetual servant, obedient unto death, even unto the death of the cross. O let us hear from himself these dispositions! 'Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire, but thou hast pierced ears for me. Burnt-offerings and sin-offerings thou didst not require: then, said I, Behold, I come. In the head of the book it is written of me that I should do thy will. O my God, I have desired it;, and thy law in the midst of my heart.' O my soul, how happy shall we be if we labour in good earnest to imitate these dispositions of our dear Jesus, by embracing, like him, the will of God and his holy law in the midst of our hearts, and offering ourselves without reserve to be at all times his devoted servants.
Consider 3rdly, that the infinite glory which our Lord gave to his Father all the time he was in his mother's womb: First by the acts of adoration and homage which, a man, he continually paid to God; perfectly annihilating himself to his sight, and continually bowing down all the powers of his soul to offer him a most acceptable worship, worthy of his divine majesty; 2ndly, by acts of praise and thanksgiving which he offered up both for himself and for the whole creation; 3rdly, by acts of oblation and eternal dedication of himself to his Father; to be ever his, both in life and death; both in time and eternity; with a total consecration of his whole soul and body; of his whole will, memory, and understanding, of all his senses and faculties, and of all his thoughts, words, and deeds, to his divine sacrifice; 4thly, by acts of a most pure and most perfect love, zeal, and desire of ever promoting, in all things, and above all things, the sanctification of the name of God, the propagation of his kingdom, and the doing of his will upon earth as it is in heaven. Such acts as these, joined with acts of charity and prayer, for us poor sinners, were the perpetual occupation of Christ our Lord, in his mother's womb. A happy employment indeed, and most worthy of our imitation at all times!
Conclude to embrace, and to follow in the practice of thy life, these heavenly lessons which the Son of God teaches thee by his divine example from his mothers womb: no other exercises can be either more agreeable to him, or to his Father; or more advantageous to thyself.
Cur Deus Homo by St. Anselm of Canterbury - Book II: Chapters XI - XV
CHAPTER XI
How Christ dies of his own power, and how mortality does not inhere in the essential nature of man.
Anselm. Now, also, it remains to inquire whether, as man's nature is, it is possible for that man to die?
Boso. We need hardly dispute with regard to this, since he will be really man, and every man is by nature mortal.
Anselm. I do not think mortality inheres in the essential nature of man, but only as corrupted. Since, had man never sinned, and had his immortality been unchangeably confirmed, he would have been as really man; and, when the dying rise again, incorruptible, they will no less be really men. For, if mortality was an essential attribute of human nature, then he who was immortal could not be man. Wherefore, neither corruption nor incorruption belong essentially to human nature, for neither makes nor destroys a man; but happiness accrues to him from the one, and misery from the other. But since all men die, mortality is included in the definition of man, as given by philosophers, for they have never even believed in the possibility of man's being immortal in all respects. And so it is not enough to prove that that man ought to be subject to death, for us to say that he will be in all respects a man.
Boso. Seek then for some other reason, since I know of none, if you do not, by which we may prove that he can die.
Anselm. We may not doubt that, as he will be God, he will possess omnipotence.
Boso. Certainly.
Anselm. He can, then, if he chooses, lay down his life and take it again.
Boso. If not, he would scarcely seem to be omnipotent.
Anselm. Therefore is he able to avoid death if he chooses, and also to die and rise again. Moreover, whether he lays down his life by the intervention of no other person, or another causes this, so that he lays it down by permitting it to be taken, it makes no difference as far as regards his power.
Boso. There is no doubt about it.
Anselm. If, then, he chooses to allow it, he could be slain; and if he were unwilling to allow it, he could not be slain.
Boso. To this we are unavoidably brought by reason.
Anselm. Reason has also taught us that the gift which he presents to God, not of debt but freely, ought to be something greater than anything in the possession of God.
Boso. Yes.
Anselm. Now this can neither be found beneath him nor above him.
Boso. Very true.
Anselm. In himself, therefore, must it be found.
Boso. So it appears.
Anselm. Therefore will he give himself, or something pertaining to himself.
Boso. I cannot see how it should be otherwise.
Anselm. Now must we inquire what sort of a gift this should be? For he may not give himself to God, or anything of his, as if God did not have what was his own. For every creature belongs to God.
Boso. This is so.
Anselm. Therefore must this gift be understood in this way, that he somehow gives up himself, or something of his, to the honor of God, which he did not owe as a debtor.
Boso. So it seems from what has been already said.
Anselm. If we say that he will give himself to God by obedience, so as, by steadily maintaining holiness, to render himself subject to his will, this will not be giving a thing not demanded of him by God as his due. For every reasonable being owes his obedience to God.
Boso. This cannot be denied.
Anselm. Therefore must it be in some other way that he gives himself, or something belonging to him, to God.
Boso. Reason urges us to this conclusion.
Anselm. Let us see whether, perchance, this may be to give up his life or to lay down his life, or to deliver himself up to death for God's honor. For God will not demand this of him as a debt; for, as no sin will be found, he ought not to die, as we have already said.
Boso. Else I cannot understand it.
Anselm. But let us further observe whether this is according to reason.
Boso. Speak you, and I will listen with pleasure.
Anselm. If man sinned with ease, is it not fitting for him to atone with difficulty? And if he was overcome by the devil in the easiest manner possible, so as to dishonor God by sinning against him, is it not right that man, in making satisfaction for his sin, should honor God by conquering the devil with the greatest possible difficulty? Is it not proper that, since man has departed from God as far as possible in his sin, he should make to God the greatest possible satisfaction?
Boso. Surely, there is nothing more reasonable.
Anselm. Now, nothing can be more severe or difficult for man to do for God's honor, than to suffer death voluntarily when not bound by obligation; and man cannot give himself to God in any way more truly than by surrendering himself to death for God's honor.
Boso. All these things are true.
Anselm. Therefore, he who wishes to make atonement for man's sin should be one who can die if he chooses.
Boso. I think it is plain that the man whom we seek for should not only be one who is not necessarily subject to death on account of his omnipotence, and one who does not deserve death on account of his sin, but also one who can die of his own free will, for this will be necessary.
Anselm. There are also many other reasons why it is peculiarly fitting for that man to enter into the common intercourse of men, and maintain a likeness to them, only without sin. And these things are more easily and clearly manifest in his life and actions than they can possibly be shown to be by mere reason without experience. For who can say how necessary and wise a thing it was for him who was to redeem mankind, and lead them back by his teaching from the way of death and destruction into the path of life and eternal happiness, when he conversed with men, and when he taught them by personal intercourse, to set them an example himself of the way in which they ought to live? But how could he have given this example to weak and dying men, that they should not deviate from holiness because of injuries, or scorn, or tortures, or even death, had they not been able to recognize all these virtues in himself?
CHAPTER XII
How, though he share in our weakness, he is not therefore miserable.
Boso. All these things plainly show that he ought to be mortal and to partake of our weaknesses. But all these things are our miseries. Will he then be miserable?
Anselm. No, indeed! For as no advantage which one has apart from his choice constitutes happiness, so there is no misery in choosing to bear a loss, when the choice is a wise one and made without compulsion.
Boso. Certainly, this must be allowed.
CHAPTER XIII
How, along with our other weaknesses, he does not partake of our ignorance.
Boso. But tell me whether, in this likeness to men which he ought to have, he will inherit also our ignorance, as he does our other infirmities?
Anselm. Do you doubt the omnipotence of God?
Boso. No! but, although this man be immortal in respect to his Divine nature, yet will he be mortal in his human nature. For why will he not be like them in their ignorance, as he is in their mortality?
Anselm. That union of humanity with the Divine person will not be effected except in accordance with the highest wisdom; and, therefore, God will not take anything belonging to man which is only useless, but even a hindrance to the work which that man must accomplish. For ignorance is in no respect useful, but very prejudicial. How can he perform works, so many and so great, without the highest wisdom? Or, how will men believe him if they find him ignorant? And if he be ignorant, what will it avail him? If nothing is loved except as it is known, and there be no good thing which he does not love, then there can be no good thing of which be is ignorant. But no one perfectly understands good, save he who can distinguish it from evil; and no one can make this distinction who does not know what evil is. Therefore, as he of whom we are speaking perfectly comprehends what is good, so there can be no evil with which he is unacquainted. Therefore must he have all knowledge, though he do not openly show it in his intercourse with men.
Boso. In his more mature years, this should seem to he as you say; but, in infancy, as it will not be a fit time to discover wisdom, so there will be no need, and therefore no propriety, in his having it.
Anselm. Did not I say that the incarnation will be made in wisdom? But God will in wisdom assume that mortality, which he makes use of so widely, because for so great an object. But he could not wisely assume ignorance, for this is never useful, but always injurious, except when an evil will is deterred from acting, on account of it. But, in him an evil desire never existed. For if ignorance did no harm in any other respect, yet does it in this, that it takes away the good of knowing. And to answer your question in a word: that man, from the essential nature of his being, will be always full of God; and, therefore, will never want the power, the firmness or the wisdom of God.
Boso. Though wholly unable to doubt the truth of this with respect to Christ, yet, on this very account, have I asked for the reason of it. For we are often certain about a thing, and yet cannot prove it by reason.
CHAPTER XIV
How his death outweighs the number and greatness of our sins.
Boso. Now I ask you to tell me how his death can outweigh the number and magnitude of our sins, when the least sin we can think of you have shown to be so monstrous that, were there an infinite number of worlds as full of created existence as this, they could not stand, but would fall back into nothing, sooner than one look should be made contrary to the just will of God.
Anselm. Were that man here before you, and you knew who he was, and it were told you that, if you did not kill him, the whole universe, except God, would perish, would you do it to preserve the rest of creation?
Boso. No! not even were an infinite number of worlds displayed before me.
Anselm. But suppose you were told: "If you do not kill him, all the sins of the world will be heaped upon you."
Boso. I should answer, that I would far rather bear all other sins, not only those of this world, past and future, but also all others that can be conceived of, than this alone. And I think I ought to say this, not only with regard to killing him, but even as to the slightest injury which could be inflicted on him.
Anselm. You judge correctly; but tell me why it is that your heart recoils from one injury inflicted upon him as more heinous than all other sins that can be thought of, inasmuch as all sins whatsoever are committed against him?
Boso. A sin committed upon his person exceeds beyond comparison all the sins which can be thought of, that do not affect his person.
Anselm. What say you to this, that one often suffers freely certain evils in his person, in order not to suffer greater ones in his property?
Boso. God has no need of such patience, for all things lie in subjection to his power, as you answered a certain question of mine above.
Anselm. You say well; and hence we see that no enormity or multitude of sins, apart from the Divine person, can for a moment be compared with a bodily injury inflicted upon that man.
Boso. This is most plain.
Anselm. How great does this good seem to you, if the destruction of it is such an evil?
Boso. If its existence is as great a good as its destruction is an evil, then is it far more a good than those sins are evils which its destruction so far surpasses.
Anselm. Very true. Consider, also, that sins are as hateful as they are evil, and that life is only amiable in proportion as it is good. And, therefore, it follows that that life is more lovely than sins are odious.
Boso. I cannot help seeing this.
Anselm. And do you not think that so great a good in itself so lovely, can avail to pay what is due for the sins of the whole world?
Boso. Yes! it has even infinite value.
Anselm. Do you see, then, how this life conquers all sins, if it be given for them?
Boso. Plainly.
Anselm. If, then, to lay down life is the same as to suffer death, as the gift of his life surpasses all the sins of men, so will also the suffering of death.
CHAPTER XV
How this death removes even the sins of his murderers.
Boso. This is properly so with regard to all sins not affecting the person of the Deity. But let me ask you one thing more. If it be as great an evil to slay him as his life is a good, how can his death overcome and destroy the sins of those who slew him? Or, if it destroys the sin of any one of them, how can it not also destroy any sin committed by other men? For we believe that many men will be saved, and a vast many will not be saved.
Anselm. The Apostle answers the question when he says: "Had they known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." For a sin knowingly committed and a sin done ignorantly are so different that an evil which they could never do, were its full extent known, may be pardonable when done in ignorance. For no man could ever, knowingly at least, slay the Lord; and, therefore, those who did it in ignorance did not rush into that transcendental crime with which none others can be compared. For this crime, the magnitude of which we have been considering as equal to the worth of his life, we have not looked at as having been ignorantly done, but knowingly; a thing which no man ever did or could do.
Boso. You have reasonably shown that the murderers of Christ can obtain pardon for their sin.
Anselm. What more do you ask? For now you, see how reason of necessity shows that the celestial state must be made up from men, and that this can only be by the forgiveness of sins, which man can never have but by man, who must be at the same time Divine, and reconcile sinners to God by his own death. Therefore have we clearly found that Christ, whom we confess to be both God and man, died for us; and, when this is known beyond all doubt, all things which he says of himself must be acknowledged as true, for God cannot lie, and all he does must be received as wisely done, though we do not understand the reason of it.
Boso. What you say is true; and I do not for a moment doubt that his words are true, and all that he does reasonable. But I ask this in order that you may disclose to me, in their true rationality, those things in Christian faith which seem to infidels improper or impossible; and this, not to strengthen me in the faith, but to gratify one already confirmed by the knowledge of the truth itself.
How Christ dies of his own power, and how mortality does not inhere in the essential nature of man.
Anselm. Now, also, it remains to inquire whether, as man's nature is, it is possible for that man to die?
Boso. We need hardly dispute with regard to this, since he will be really man, and every man is by nature mortal.
Anselm. I do not think mortality inheres in the essential nature of man, but only as corrupted. Since, had man never sinned, and had his immortality been unchangeably confirmed, he would have been as really man; and, when the dying rise again, incorruptible, they will no less be really men. For, if mortality was an essential attribute of human nature, then he who was immortal could not be man. Wherefore, neither corruption nor incorruption belong essentially to human nature, for neither makes nor destroys a man; but happiness accrues to him from the one, and misery from the other. But since all men die, mortality is included in the definition of man, as given by philosophers, for they have never even believed in the possibility of man's being immortal in all respects. And so it is not enough to prove that that man ought to be subject to death, for us to say that he will be in all respects a man.
Boso. Seek then for some other reason, since I know of none, if you do not, by which we may prove that he can die.
Anselm. We may not doubt that, as he will be God, he will possess omnipotence.
Boso. Certainly.
Anselm. He can, then, if he chooses, lay down his life and take it again.
Boso. If not, he would scarcely seem to be omnipotent.
Anselm. Therefore is he able to avoid death if he chooses, and also to die and rise again. Moreover, whether he lays down his life by the intervention of no other person, or another causes this, so that he lays it down by permitting it to be taken, it makes no difference as far as regards his power.
Boso. There is no doubt about it.
Anselm. If, then, he chooses to allow it, he could be slain; and if he were unwilling to allow it, he could not be slain.
Boso. To this we are unavoidably brought by reason.
Anselm. Reason has also taught us that the gift which he presents to God, not of debt but freely, ought to be something greater than anything in the possession of God.
Boso. Yes.
Anselm. Now this can neither be found beneath him nor above him.
Boso. Very true.
Anselm. In himself, therefore, must it be found.
Boso. So it appears.
Anselm. Therefore will he give himself, or something pertaining to himself.
Boso. I cannot see how it should be otherwise.
Anselm. Now must we inquire what sort of a gift this should be? For he may not give himself to God, or anything of his, as if God did not have what was his own. For every creature belongs to God.
Boso. This is so.
Anselm. Therefore must this gift be understood in this way, that he somehow gives up himself, or something of his, to the honor of God, which he did not owe as a debtor.
Boso. So it seems from what has been already said.
Anselm. If we say that he will give himself to God by obedience, so as, by steadily maintaining holiness, to render himself subject to his will, this will not be giving a thing not demanded of him by God as his due. For every reasonable being owes his obedience to God.
Boso. This cannot be denied.
Anselm. Therefore must it be in some other way that he gives himself, or something belonging to him, to God.
Boso. Reason urges us to this conclusion.
Anselm. Let us see whether, perchance, this may be to give up his life or to lay down his life, or to deliver himself up to death for God's honor. For God will not demand this of him as a debt; for, as no sin will be found, he ought not to die, as we have already said.
Boso. Else I cannot understand it.
Anselm. But let us further observe whether this is according to reason.
Boso. Speak you, and I will listen with pleasure.
Anselm. If man sinned with ease, is it not fitting for him to atone with difficulty? And if he was overcome by the devil in the easiest manner possible, so as to dishonor God by sinning against him, is it not right that man, in making satisfaction for his sin, should honor God by conquering the devil with the greatest possible difficulty? Is it not proper that, since man has departed from God as far as possible in his sin, he should make to God the greatest possible satisfaction?
Boso. Surely, there is nothing more reasonable.
Anselm. Now, nothing can be more severe or difficult for man to do for God's honor, than to suffer death voluntarily when not bound by obligation; and man cannot give himself to God in any way more truly than by surrendering himself to death for God's honor.
Boso. All these things are true.
Anselm. Therefore, he who wishes to make atonement for man's sin should be one who can die if he chooses.
Boso. I think it is plain that the man whom we seek for should not only be one who is not necessarily subject to death on account of his omnipotence, and one who does not deserve death on account of his sin, but also one who can die of his own free will, for this will be necessary.
Anselm. There are also many other reasons why it is peculiarly fitting for that man to enter into the common intercourse of men, and maintain a likeness to them, only without sin. And these things are more easily and clearly manifest in his life and actions than they can possibly be shown to be by mere reason without experience. For who can say how necessary and wise a thing it was for him who was to redeem mankind, and lead them back by his teaching from the way of death and destruction into the path of life and eternal happiness, when he conversed with men, and when he taught them by personal intercourse, to set them an example himself of the way in which they ought to live? But how could he have given this example to weak and dying men, that they should not deviate from holiness because of injuries, or scorn, or tortures, or even death, had they not been able to recognize all these virtues in himself?
CHAPTER XII
How, though he share in our weakness, he is not therefore miserable.
Boso. All these things plainly show that he ought to be mortal and to partake of our weaknesses. But all these things are our miseries. Will he then be miserable?
Anselm. No, indeed! For as no advantage which one has apart from his choice constitutes happiness, so there is no misery in choosing to bear a loss, when the choice is a wise one and made without compulsion.
Boso. Certainly, this must be allowed.
CHAPTER XIII
How, along with our other weaknesses, he does not partake of our ignorance.
Boso. But tell me whether, in this likeness to men which he ought to have, he will inherit also our ignorance, as he does our other infirmities?
Anselm. Do you doubt the omnipotence of God?
Boso. No! but, although this man be immortal in respect to his Divine nature, yet will he be mortal in his human nature. For why will he not be like them in their ignorance, as he is in their mortality?
Anselm. That union of humanity with the Divine person will not be effected except in accordance with the highest wisdom; and, therefore, God will not take anything belonging to man which is only useless, but even a hindrance to the work which that man must accomplish. For ignorance is in no respect useful, but very prejudicial. How can he perform works, so many and so great, without the highest wisdom? Or, how will men believe him if they find him ignorant? And if he be ignorant, what will it avail him? If nothing is loved except as it is known, and there be no good thing which he does not love, then there can be no good thing of which be is ignorant. But no one perfectly understands good, save he who can distinguish it from evil; and no one can make this distinction who does not know what evil is. Therefore, as he of whom we are speaking perfectly comprehends what is good, so there can be no evil with which he is unacquainted. Therefore must he have all knowledge, though he do not openly show it in his intercourse with men.
Boso. In his more mature years, this should seem to he as you say; but, in infancy, as it will not be a fit time to discover wisdom, so there will be no need, and therefore no propriety, in his having it.
Anselm. Did not I say that the incarnation will be made in wisdom? But God will in wisdom assume that mortality, which he makes use of so widely, because for so great an object. But he could not wisely assume ignorance, for this is never useful, but always injurious, except when an evil will is deterred from acting, on account of it. But, in him an evil desire never existed. For if ignorance did no harm in any other respect, yet does it in this, that it takes away the good of knowing. And to answer your question in a word: that man, from the essential nature of his being, will be always full of God; and, therefore, will never want the power, the firmness or the wisdom of God.
Boso. Though wholly unable to doubt the truth of this with respect to Christ, yet, on this very account, have I asked for the reason of it. For we are often certain about a thing, and yet cannot prove it by reason.
CHAPTER XIV
How his death outweighs the number and greatness of our sins.
Boso. Now I ask you to tell me how his death can outweigh the number and magnitude of our sins, when the least sin we can think of you have shown to be so monstrous that, were there an infinite number of worlds as full of created existence as this, they could not stand, but would fall back into nothing, sooner than one look should be made contrary to the just will of God.
Anselm. Were that man here before you, and you knew who he was, and it were told you that, if you did not kill him, the whole universe, except God, would perish, would you do it to preserve the rest of creation?
Boso. No! not even were an infinite number of worlds displayed before me.
Anselm. But suppose you were told: "If you do not kill him, all the sins of the world will be heaped upon you."
Boso. I should answer, that I would far rather bear all other sins, not only those of this world, past and future, but also all others that can be conceived of, than this alone. And I think I ought to say this, not only with regard to killing him, but even as to the slightest injury which could be inflicted on him.
Anselm. You judge correctly; but tell me why it is that your heart recoils from one injury inflicted upon him as more heinous than all other sins that can be thought of, inasmuch as all sins whatsoever are committed against him?
Boso. A sin committed upon his person exceeds beyond comparison all the sins which can be thought of, that do not affect his person.
Anselm. What say you to this, that one often suffers freely certain evils in his person, in order not to suffer greater ones in his property?
Boso. God has no need of such patience, for all things lie in subjection to his power, as you answered a certain question of mine above.
Anselm. You say well; and hence we see that no enormity or multitude of sins, apart from the Divine person, can for a moment be compared with a bodily injury inflicted upon that man.
Boso. This is most plain.
Anselm. How great does this good seem to you, if the destruction of it is such an evil?
Boso. If its existence is as great a good as its destruction is an evil, then is it far more a good than those sins are evils which its destruction so far surpasses.
Anselm. Very true. Consider, also, that sins are as hateful as they are evil, and that life is only amiable in proportion as it is good. And, therefore, it follows that that life is more lovely than sins are odious.
Boso. I cannot help seeing this.
Anselm. And do you not think that so great a good in itself so lovely, can avail to pay what is due for the sins of the whole world?
Boso. Yes! it has even infinite value.
Anselm. Do you see, then, how this life conquers all sins, if it be given for them?
Boso. Plainly.
Anselm. If, then, to lay down life is the same as to suffer death, as the gift of his life surpasses all the sins of men, so will also the suffering of death.
CHAPTER XV
How this death removes even the sins of his murderers.
Boso. This is properly so with regard to all sins not affecting the person of the Deity. But let me ask you one thing more. If it be as great an evil to slay him as his life is a good, how can his death overcome and destroy the sins of those who slew him? Or, if it destroys the sin of any one of them, how can it not also destroy any sin committed by other men? For we believe that many men will be saved, and a vast many will not be saved.
Anselm. The Apostle answers the question when he says: "Had they known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." For a sin knowingly committed and a sin done ignorantly are so different that an evil which they could never do, were its full extent known, may be pardonable when done in ignorance. For no man could ever, knowingly at least, slay the Lord; and, therefore, those who did it in ignorance did not rush into that transcendental crime with which none others can be compared. For this crime, the magnitude of which we have been considering as equal to the worth of his life, we have not looked at as having been ignorantly done, but knowingly; a thing which no man ever did or could do.
Boso. You have reasonably shown that the murderers of Christ can obtain pardon for their sin.
Anselm. What more do you ask? For now you, see how reason of necessity shows that the celestial state must be made up from men, and that this can only be by the forgiveness of sins, which man can never have but by man, who must be at the same time Divine, and reconcile sinners to God by his own death. Therefore have we clearly found that Christ, whom we confess to be both God and man, died for us; and, when this is known beyond all doubt, all things which he says of himself must be acknowledged as true, for God cannot lie, and all he does must be received as wisely done, though we do not understand the reason of it.
Boso. What you say is true; and I do not for a moment doubt that his words are true, and all that he does reasonable. But I ask this in order that you may disclose to me, in their true rationality, those things in Christian faith which seem to infidels improper or impossible; and this, not to strengthen me in the faith, but to gratify one already confirmed by the knowledge of the truth itself.
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