Tertullian: de Fuga in Persecutione

[1] Quaesisti proxime, Fabi frater, fugiendum necne sit in persecutione, quod nescio quid annuntiaretur. Ibidem ego oblocutus aliquid pro loco ac tempore et quarundam personarum importunitate semitractatam materiam abstuli mecum, plenius in eam de stilo nunc renuntiaturus, utpote quam ei tua consultatio commendarat et condicio temporum suo iam nomine iniunxerat. Quanto enim frequentiores imminent persecutiones, tanto examinatio procuranda est, quomodo eas excipere fides debeat.

[1] You asked most recently, brother Fabius, whether one should flee or not in persecution, because some I-know-not-what was being announced. In the same place I spoke against it somewhat, in view of the place and the time and the importunity of certain persons, and I carried off with me a half-treated matter, to report upon it now more fully by the stylus, inasmuch as your consultation had commended it to me and the condition of the times had already in its own right enjoined it. For the more frequent persecutions are imminent, the more an examination must be provided, as to how faith ought to receive them.

Procuranda autem examinatio penes [s]vos, <qui> si forte Paraclitum non recipiendo, deductorem omnis veritatis, merito adhuc etiam aliis quaestionibus obnixi estis.

However, the examination is to be provided with you, <who> if perchance by not receiving the Paraclete, the guide of all truth, you have deservedly up to now also in other questions been obstinate.

[2] Igitur consultationi tuae ordinem quoque indidimus, animadvertentes ante determinari oportere de statu ipsius persecutionis, utrum a deo veniat an a diabolo, quo facilius de obitu eius constare possit; omnis enim rei inspectio auctore cognito planior.

[2] Therefore we have also assigned an order to your consultation, observing that it ought first to be determined concerning the status of the persecution itself, whether it comes from God or from the Devil, whereby its outcome may more easily be established; for the inspection of any matter is plainer with the author known.

Satis est quidem praescribere nihil fieri sine dei voluntate; sed non statim hac sententia ceteris retractatibus locum dabimus, ne a praesenti articulo avocemur, si qui responderit: 'Ergo et malum a deo et delictum a deo, nihil iam in diabolo, nihil etiam in nobis ipsis.'

It is indeed sufficient to prescribe that nothing is done without the will of God; but we will not straightway by this sentence give place for the rest to be retracted, lest we be diverted from the present article, if someone should reply: 'Therefore both evil is from God and delict from God, nothing now in the devil, nothing even in ourselves.'

[3] De persecutione nunc quaeritur; circa hanc interim dixerim nihil fieri sine dei voluntate, respiciens eam inprimis deo dignam esse et, ut ita dixerim, necessariam, ad probationem scilicet servorum eius sive reprobationem. Quis est enim exitus persecutionis, quis effectus alius nisi probatio et reprobatio fidei, qua suos utique dominus examinavit? Hoc nomine iudicium est persecutio, per quam quis aut probatus aut reprobatus iudicatur; porro iudicium soli deo competit.

[3] The inquiry now is about persecution; regarding this, meanwhile, I would say that nothing happens without the will of God, considering it to be, in the first place, worthy of God and, so to say, necessary, namely for the probation of his servants or reprobation. For what is the outcome of persecution, what other effect except the probation and reprobation of faith, by which the Lord has certainly examined his own? By this name persecution is a judgment, through which one is judged either proved or reprobated; furthermore judgment belongs to God alone.

[4] Haec pala illa, quae et nunc dominicam aream purgat, ecclesiam scilicet, confusum acervum fidelium eventilans et discernens frumentum martyrum et paleas negatorum, haec etiam scalae, quas somniat Iacob, aliis ascensum in superiora, aliis descensum ad inferiora demonstrantes.

[4] This is that winnowing‑shovel, which even now purges the Lord’s threshing‑floor, namely the church, winnowing the confused heap of the faithful and discerning the grain of the martyrs and the chaff of the deniers; these too are the ladders which Jacob dreams, showing to some an ascent into the higher things, to others a descent to the lower.

[5] Si et agonem intelligi capit persecutionem, a quo certamen edicitur, nisi a quo corona et praemia proponuntur? Legis edictum agonis istius in Apocalypsi, quibus praemiis ad victoriam invitet vel maxime illos, qui proprie vicerint in persecutione vincendo, luctati revera nonadversus carnem et sanguinem, sed adversus spiritalia nequitiae; ita agnosces ad eundexn agonithetam pertinere certaminis arbitrium, qui invitat ad praemium.

[5] If even persecution admits of being understood as an agon, by whom is the contest proclaimed, unless by the one by whom the crown and the prizes are set forth? You read the edict of this agon in the Apocalypse, with what prizes he invites to victory, and most especially those who have properly conquered in persecution by conquering, having truly wrestled notagainst flesh and blood, but against the spiritualities of wickedness; thus you will recognize that the arbitration of the contest pertains to the same agonothete who invites to the prize.

[6] Totum, quod agitur in persecutione, gloria dei est, probantis et reprobantis, imponentis et deponentis; quod autem ad gloriam dei pertinet, utique ex voluntate illius eveniet. Sed quando deus magis creditur, nisi cum magis timetur, nisi in tempore persecutionis?

[6] The whole of what is done in persecution is the glory of God, of the One approving and reprobating, imposing and deposing; but what pertains to the glory of God will surely come to pass from his will. When is God more believed, except when he is more feared, except in the time of persecution?

[7] Ecclesia in attonito est: tunc et fides in expeditione, sollicitior et disciplinatior in ieiuniis et stationibus et orationibus et humilitate, in alterutra diligentia et dilectione, in sanctitate et sobrietate; nihil enim vacatur nisi timori et spei. Adeo et ex hoc ipso ostenditur nobis non posse diabolo deputari eam, quae meliores efficit dei servos.

[7] The Church is in astonishment: then also faith is on campaign, more solicitous and more disciplined in fasts and stations and prayers and humility, in both diligence and love, in sanctity and sobriety; for nothing is at leisure except for fear and hope. So much so that even from this very fact it is shown to us that that which makes God’s servants better cannot be attributed to the devil.

II.

[1] Si, quod iniquitas a deo non est, sed a diabolo, persecutio autem ex iniquitate consistit ---- quid enim iniquius quam veri dei antistites, omnis sectatores veritatis, nocentissimorum more tractari? ---- , ideo videtur persecutio a diabolo evenire, a quo iniquitas agitur, ex qua constat persecutio, scire debemus, quatenus nec persecutio potest sine iniquitate diaboli nec probatio fidei sine persecutione propter probationem fidei necessariam, iniquitatem non patrocinium praesentare persecutioni, sed ministerium; praecedere enim dei voluntatem circa fidei probationem, quae est ratio persecutionis, sequi autem diaboli iniquitatem ad instrumentum persecutionis, quae ratio est probationis.

[1] If, since iniquity is not from God but from the devil, persecution however consists of iniquity ---- for what more iniquitous than that the prelates of the true God, all followers of truth, be treated after the manner of the most harmful? ---- , for that reason persecution seems to come from the devil by whom iniquity is wrought, of which persecution is constituted, we ought to know this: that neither can persecution be without the devil’s iniquity nor the probation of faith without persecution on account of the probation of faith being necessary, that iniquity presents not a patronage to persecution, but a ministry; for the will of God goes before concerning the probation of faith, which is the reason of persecution, but the iniquity of the devil follows as the instrument of persecution, which is the reason of the probation.

[2] Nam et alias in quantum iustitiae iniquitas aemula est, in tantum materia est ad testimonium eius, cuius est aemula, ut sic iustitia iniquitate perficiatur, quomodovirtus in infirmitate perficitur. Nam infirma mundi electa sunt a deo, ut confundantur fortia, et stulta eius, ut confundantur sapientia. Ita et iniquitas adhibetur, ut iustitia probetur confundens iniquitatem.

[2] For also elsewhere, in so far as iniquity is a rival of justice, so far it is material for the testimony of that of which it is a rival, that thus justice by iniquity may be perfected, just aspower is perfected in weakness. For the weak things of the world have been chosen by God, that the strong may be confounded, and its foolish things, that the wise may be confounded. Thus too iniquity is employed, so that justice may be proved, confounding iniquity.

Igitur, quod ministerium non est arbitrii, sed servitii ---- arbitrium enim domini persecutio propter fidei probationem, ministerium autem iniquitas diaboli propter persecutionis instructionem ----, ita eam per diabolum si forte, non a diabolo evenire credimus.

Therefore, since a ministry is not of free choice, but of service ---- for the decision of the Lord is persecution for the probation of faith, but the ministry however is the iniquity of the devil for the instruction of persecution ----, thus we believe that it comes, perchance, through the devil, not from the devil.

[3] Nihil satanae in servos dei vivi licebit, nisi permiserit dominus, ut aut ipsum destruat per fidem electorum in temptatione victricem aut homines eius fuisse traducat, qui defecerint ad illum. Habes exemplum Iob, cui diabolus nullam potuit incutere temptationem, nisi a deo accepisset potestatem, nec in substantiam quidem eius, nisi dominusEcce, dixisset, omnia, quae sunt ei, in manu tua do, in ipsum autem ne extenderis manum. Denique nec extendit nisi posteaquam et hoc postulanti dominus Ecce, dixisset, trado tibi illum, tantum animam eius custodi.

[3] Nothing will be permitted to Satan against the servants of the living God, unless the Lord shall have permitted it, so that either he himself may be destroyed through the victorious faith of the elect in temptation, or he may traduce as his those men who have defected to him. You have the example of Job, against whom the devil could inflict no temptation, unless he had received power from God, nor even against his substance, unless the Lord had said,Behold, I give all that is his into your hand; but do not stretch out your hand against himself. Finally, nor did he stretch it out until, when he asked for this also, the Lord said, Behold, I hand him over to you; only guard his soul.

[4] Sic et in apostolos facultatem temptationis postulavit non habens eam scilicet nisi ex permissu, siquidem dominus in evangelio ad PetrumEcce, inquit, postulavit satanas, uti cerneret vos velut frumentum, verum ego rogavi pro te, ne deficeret fides tua, id est, ne tantum diabolo permitteretur, ut fides periclitaretur. Per quod ostenditur utrumque apud deum esse, et concussionem fidei et protectionem, cum utrumque ab eo petitur, concussio a diabolo, protectio a filio.

[4] Thus also in the case of the apostles he requested the faculty of temptation, not having it, to wit, except by permission, since the Lord in the Gospel says to Peter,Behold, he says, Satan has demanded to sift you like grain, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail, that is, that not so much would be permitted to the devil that faith would be imperiled. Through which it is shown that both are with God, both the concussion of faith and the protection, since both are asked from him, concussion from the devil, protection from the Son.

[5] Et utique cum filius dei protectionem fidei habet in sua potestate, quam a patre postulat, a quo omnem accipit potestatem in caelis et in terris, quale est, ut concussionem fidei diabolus in manu sua habeat? Sed in legitima oratione, cum dicimus ad patrem:Ne nos inducas in temptationem ---- quae autem maior temptatio quam persecutio? ----, ab eo illam profitemur accidere, a quo veniam eius deprecamur; hoc est enim quod sequitur: Sed erue nos a maligno, id est, ne nos induxeris in temptationem permittendo nos maligno; tunc enim eruimur diaboli manibus, cum illi non tradimur in temptationem.

[5] And certainly, since the Son of God has the protection of faith in his own power, which he asks from the Father, from whom he receives all power in the heavens and on the earth, what sort is it, that the concussion of faith the Devil should have in his hand? But in the legitimate prayer, when we say to the Father:Lead us not into temptation ---- and what temptation is greater than persecution? ----, from him we profess that that occurs, from whom we beg its pardon; for this is what follows: But deliver us from the Evil One, that is, that you may not have led us into temptation by permitting us to the Evil One; then indeed we are delivered from the Devil’s hands, when we are not handed over to him into temptation.

[6] Nec in porcoram gregem diaboli legio habuit potestatem, nisi eam de deo impetrasset; tantum potestatem abest ut in oves dei habeat. Possum quoque dicere porcorum quoque setas tunc numeratas apud deum fuisse, nedum capillos sanctorum.

[6] Not even over the herd of swine did the devil’s legion have power, unless it had obtained it from God; so far is it from having such power over the sheep of God. I can also say that even the bristles of the swine were then numbered with God, to say nothing of the hairs of the saints.

[7] Habere videtur diabolus propriam iam potestatem si forte in eos, qui ad deum non pertinent, semel 'in stillam situlae et in pulverem areae et in salivam' nationibus deputatis a deo ac per hoc diabolo expositis in vacuam quodammodo possessionem;

[7] The devil seems to have a proper power now, if perchance over those who do not pertain to God, once the nations have been deputed by God 'as a drop of a bucket and as the dust of the threshing-floor and as spittle' and through this exposed to the devil, into a certain, as it were, empty possession;

[8] ceterum in domesticos dei nihil illi licet ex propria potestate, quia, quando liceat, id est ex quibus causis, exempla in scripturis signata demonstrant. Aut enim ex causa probationis conceditur ei ius temptationis provocato vel provocanti ut in superioribus aut ex causa reprobationis traditur ei peccator quasi carnifici in poenam ut Saul ----Et abscessit, inquit, spiritus domini a Saule et concutiebat eum spiritus nequam a domino et suffocabat eum ---- aut ex causa cohibitionis, ut apostolus refert datum sibi sudem angelum satanae, ut colaphizaretur, ne <ignoremus> hanc speciem permitti diabolo in sanctos humiliandos per carnis vexationem, simul ut et virtus, tolerantiae scilicet, in infirmitate perfici possit.

[8] moreover, upon the domestics of God nothing is permitted to him out of his own power, since, when it is permitted—namely, for what causes—the examples marked in the Scriptures demonstrate. For either on account of probation a right of temptation is conceded to him, to the provoked or the provoking, as in the foregoing; or on account of reprobation the sinner is handed over to him, as to an executioner, for punishment, as Saul ----And the Spirit of the Lord departed, he says, from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord would shake him and would choke him ---- or on account of cohibition, as the apostle reports that there was given to him a stake, an angel of Satan, so that he might be buffeted, lest we <be ignorant> of this kind being permitted to the Devil upon saints to be humbled through the vexation of the flesh, and at the same time that virtue, namely tolerance, might be perfected in weakness.

[9] Nam et ipse apostolus Phygelum et Hermogenem tradidit satanae, uti emendentur, ne blasphement. Videtis iam et a servis dei facilius diabolum accipere potestatem; tanto abest, ut eam ex proprietate possideat.

[9] For even the Apostle himself handed over Phygelus and Hermogenes to Satan, that they might be amended, lest they blaspheme. You see now that even from the servants of God the devil more easily receives authority; so far is it from the case that he possesses it by proprietorship.

III.

[1] Cum ergo et haec exempla magis in persecutionibus eveniant, siquidem magis tunc probamur vel reprobamur et magis tunc humiliamur vel emendamur, ab eo permittatur vel imperetur necesse est catholice fieri haec a quo et ex parte, scilicet ab illo qui dicit:Ego sum, qui facio pacem et condo mala, id est bellum; hoc est enim contrarium paci. Nostrae autem paci quod est bellum quam persecutio?

[1] Since therefore these examples too occur more in persecutions, seeing that more then we are approved or reprobated, and more then we are humbled or amended, it must be permitted by Him or commanded, that these things be done catholicly by Him by whom also in part—namely by the one who says:I am he who makes peace and creates evils, that is, war; for this is what is contrary to peace. But to our peace, what is war if not persecution?

[2] Si persecutionis vel maxime exitus aut vitam afferunt aut mortem, aut plagam aut sanationem, habes auctorem eiusdem: Ego percutiam et sanabo, ego vivificabo et mortificabo.

[2] If either persecution, or most especially its outcomes, bring either life or death, or a blow or a healing, you have the author of the same:I will smite and I will heal, I will vivify and I will mortify.

[3]Uram, inquit, illos, sicut uritur aurum, et probabo, inquit, illos, sicut probatur argentum. Cum enim exurimur persecutionis ardore, tunc probamur de fidei tenore. Haec erunt 'ignea iacula' diaboli, per quae fidei ustio et conflatio administratur, ex dei tamen voluntate.

[3]I will burn, he says, them, just as gold is burned, and I will prove, he says, them, just as silver is proved. For when we are burned by the ardor of persecution, then we are proved concerning the tenor of faith. These will be the 'fiery javelins' of the devil, through which the burning and smelting of faith is administered, yet by the will of God.

[4] De isto quis dubitare possit, ignoro, nisi plane frivola et frigida fides, deprehendens eos, qui timide conveniunt in ecclesiam. Dicitis enim [inquit]: 'Quoniam' 'incondite convenimus et simul convenimus et complures concurrimus in ecclesiam, quaerimur a nationibus et timemus, ne turbentur nationes hae.' Non scitis, quod deus sit omnium dominus, et si velit deus, tunc persecutionem patieris, si vero noluerit, silebunt nationes? Credas utique, si tamen in eum deum credis, sine cuius voluntate nec unius passer assis cadit in terram; nos autem, puto, multis passeribus antistamus.

[4] About this who could doubt, I do not know, unless plainly a frivolous and frigid faith, detecting those who come timidly into the church. For you say [he says]: 'Since' 'we convene in disorder and we convene together, and many run together into the church, we are sought out by the nations and we fear lest these nations be disturbed.' Do you not know that God is lord of all, and if God shall will, then you will suffer persecution; but if he shall not will, the nations will be silent? You should surely believe—if indeed you believe in that God without whose will not even a single sparrow of a penny falls to the earth; but we, I suppose, stand above many sparrows.

IV.

[1] Igitur si constat, a quo persecutio eveniat, possumus iam consultationem tuam inducere et determinare ex hoc ipso praetractatu fugiendum in persecutione non esse. Si enim persecutio a deo evenit, nullo modo fugiendum erit, quod a deo evenit, sicut duplex ratio defendit, quia neque debeat devitari neque possit evadi, quod a deo evenit. Non debet devitari, quia bonum; necesse est enim bonum esse omne, quod deo visum est.

[1] Therefore, if it is agreed by whom persecution comes about, we can now bring in your consultation and determine from this very preliminary discussion that one ought not to flee in persecution. For if persecution comes from God, in no way will it be to be fled, since it comes from God, as a twofold reasoning defends: because what comes from God ought neither to be avoided nor can it be escaped. It ought not to be avoided, because it is good; for it is necessary that everything which has seemed good to God be good.

Et numquid ideo in Genesi sic positum est: Et vidit deus, quia bonum est, non quod ignoraret bonum esse, nisi vidisset, sed ut hoc sono portenderet bonum esse, quod deo visum est? Multa quidem sunt, quae a deo eveniunt et alicuius malo eveniunt ---- immo bonum est ideo, quia a deo venit ut divinum, rationale; quid enim divinum non rationale, non bonum? quid bonum non divinum?

And is it for this reason that in Genesis it is thus set: And God saw that it is good, not that he was ignorant that it was good unless he had seen, but that by this sound he might portend that what has seemed to God is good? Many indeed are things which come from God and eventuate to someone’s harm ---- nay rather, it is good for this reason, because it comes from God as something divine, rational; for what divine thing is not rational, not good? what good thing not divine?

----

[2] si autem sensui cuiusque videtur, non sensus hominis praeiudicat statui rerum, sed status sensui; status enim unusquisque certum quid est et dat sensui legem ita sentiendi statum sicut est. Si autem statu quidem bonum, quod a deo venit ---- nihil enim a deo non bonum, quia divinum, quia rationale ----, sensui vero malum videtur, erit status in tuto, sensus in vitio. Statu optima res pudicitia et veritas et iustitia, quae a multorum sensu displicent; numquid ideo status sensui addicitur?

[2] if, however, it seems to anyone’s sense, it is not the sense of a human that prejudges the status of things, but the status the sense; for each status is something definite and gives to the sense the law of sensing the status thus as it is. But if in status indeed it is good, that which comes from God ---- for nothing from God is not good, because divine, because rational ----, yet to the sense it seems evil, the status will be in safety, the sense in fault. In status the best thing is pudicity and verity and justice, which displease the sense of many; is the status on that account adjudged to the sense?

[3] Ita et persecutio statu bona est, quia divina et rationalis dispositio, sensui eorum vero, quorum malo venit, displicet. Sed qui de[s]t etiam illud malum rationale apud deum haberi, cum quis in persecutione evertitur de salute, sicut et bonum illud ratione contingere, cum quis ex persecutione proficit in salute ---- nisi si inrationaliter quis aut perit apud dominum aut salvus est ----, is non poterit persecutionem malum dicere, quae etiam in mali parte bonum est, dum ratione administratur.

[3] Thus persecution also is good in status, because it is a divine and rational disposition; yet it displeases the sense of those to whose harm it comes. But he who sees that even that evil is held as rational with God, when someone in persecution is overturned from salvation, just as that good befalls by reason, when someone from persecution makes progress in salvation ---- unless, to be sure, someone either perishes with the Lord or is saved irrationally ----, that man will not be able to call persecution an evil, which even on the side of evil is a good, so long as it is administered by reason.

[4] Ita si bonum persecutio quoquo modo, quia de statu constat, merito definimus, quod bonum est, vitari non oportere, quia delictum sit, quod bonum est, recusare, eo amplius, quod deo visum est, iam vero nec posse vitari, quia a deo evenit, cuius voluntas non vitari poterit. eo [ad]igitur qui putant fugiendum, aut malum exprobrant deo, si persecutionem uti malum fugiunt ---- bonum enim nemo devitat ----, aut fortiores se deo existimant, qui putant se evadere posse, si deus tale aliquid voluerit evenire.

[4] Thus, if persecution is in any way a good, because it rests on the status, we rightly define that what is good ought not to be avoided, because it is a delict to refuse what is good, all the more since it has seemed good to God; indeed, now it cannot even be avoided, because it comes from God, whose will cannot be avoided. eo [ad]igitur those who think it must be fled are driven, either they impute an evil to God, if they flee persecution as an evil ---- for no one shuns a good ----, or they deem themselves stronger than God, who think they can escape, if God should will something of this sort to occur.

[1] 'Sed quod meum est', inquit, 'fugio, ne peream, si negavero; illius est, si voluerit, etiam fugientem me reducere in medium.' Hoc mihi prius responde: certus es te negaturum, si non fugeris, an incertus? Si enim certus, iam negasti, quia praesumendo te negaturum id despopondisti, de quo prae- sumpsisti, et vane iam fugis, ne neges, qui, si negaturus es, iam negasti;

[1] 'But what is my part,' he says, 'I flee, lest I perish, if I deny; it is his part, if he will, even to bring me back into the midst though I am fleeing.' Answer me this first: are you certain that you will deny, if you do not flee, or uncertain? For if you are certain, you have already denied, because by presuming that you will deny you have pledged that which you presumed, and already you flee vainly, lest you deny—you who, if you are going to deny, have already denied;

[2] si vero incertus es, cur non ex aequalitate incerti metus inter utrumque eventum etiam confiteri te posse praesumis et salvum magis fieri, quominus fugias, sicut negaturum te praesumis, ut fugias? Iam nunc aut in nobis est utrumque aut totum in deo; si in nobis aut confiteri aut negare, cur non id praesumimus, quod est melius, id est confessuros nos? ---- nisi si vis confiteri, patiaris; nolle autem confiteri negare est ----;

[2] if indeed you are uncertain, why, from the equality of an uncertain fear between either outcome, do you not also presume that you can confess and be made safe rather, so that you may not flee, just as you presume that you will deny, in order to flee? Now either both alternatives are in us or the whole is in God; if in us lies either to confess or to deny, why do we not presume that which is better, that is, that we shall confess? ---- unless perhaps you do not wish to confess, lest you suffer; but to be unwilling to confess is to deny ----;

[3] si vero in deo totum est, cur non totum relinquimus arbitrio eius, agnoscentes virtutem et potestatem, quod possit nos sicut fugientes educere in medium, ita et non fugientes, immo et in medio populo conversantes obumbrare?

[3] if indeed the whole is in God, why do we not leave the whole to his arbitration, acknowledging the virtue and power, that he can educe us into the midst just as when we are fleeing, so also when we are not fleeing—nay, even when we are conversing in the midst of the people—overshadow us?

[4] Quale est, ut ad fugiendum deo honorem reddas, qui possit te etiam fugientem producere in medium, ad constandum autem inhonores illum desperans potentiam protectionis ab illo? Quanto magis ex hac parte, constantiae et fiduciae in deum, dicis: 'Ego quod meum est facio: non discedo; deus si voluerit, ipse me proteget'! Hoc potius nostrum est, stare sub dei arbitrium quam fugere sub nostro.

[4] What sort of thing is it, that for fleeing you render honor to God, who can even when you are fleeing bring you out into the midst, but for standing fast you dishonor him, despairing of the power of protection from him? How much more, on this side—of constancy and confidence in God—you say: 'I do what is mine to do: I do not depart; God, if he wills, he himself will protect me'! This rather is ours: to stand under God’s will rather than to flee under our own.

[5] Rutilius sanctissimus martyr cum totiens fugisset persecutionem de loco in locum, etiam periculum, ut putabat, nummis redemisset, post totam securitatem, quam sibi prospexerat, ex inopinato apprehensus et praesidi oblatus, tormentis dissipatus ---- credo pro fugae castigatione ----, dehinc ignibus datus passionem, quam vitarat, misericordiae dei rettulit. Quid aliud voluit dominus nobis demonstrare hoc documento quam fugiendum non esse, quia nihil fuga prosit, si deus nolit?

[5] Rutilius, a most holy martyr, although he had so often fled the persecution from place to place, had even, as he thought, ransomed the danger with coins, after all the security which he had provided for himself, was unexpectedly apprehended and brought before the governor, torn apart by torments, ---- I believe, as a chastisement for the flight ----, then given to the flames, he attributed to the mercy of God the passion which he had shunned. What else did the Lord wish to show us by this document than that one ought not to flee, because flight profits nothing, if God does not will it?

VI.

[1] 'Immo', inquit, 'quia praeceptum adimplevit fugiens de civitate in civitatem.' Sic enim voluit quidam, sed et ipse fugitivus, argumentari et qui proinde nolunt intelligere sensum domini illius pronuntiationis, ut eam ad velamentum timiditatis suae utantur, cum et personas suas habuerit et tempora et causas.Cum coeperint, inquit, persequi vos, fugite de civitate in civitatem.

[1] ‘Nay rather,’ he says, ‘because he fulfilled the precept by fleeing from city to city.’ For so a certain person, himself a fugitive, wished to argue, and likewise those who are unwilling to understand the sense of the Lord’s pronouncement, so that they may use it as a veiling of their timidity, whereas it had its proper persons and times and causes.When they begin, he says, to persecute you, flee from city to city.

[2] Hoc in persona proprie apostolorum et in tempora et in causas eorum pertinere defendimus, sicut subsequentes sensus probabunt, qui nonnisi in apostolos competunt:In viam nationum ne ieritis et in civitatem Samaritanorum ne introieritis, sed ite potius ad oves perditas domus Israelis.

[2] We maintain that this pertains in the person properly of the apostles and to their times and to their causes, as the subsequent senses will prove, which fit no one except the apostles:Do not go into the way of the nations, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

[3] Nobis autem et via nationum patet, in qua et inventi sumus et usque in finem incedimus, et nulla civitas excepta est, quo per totum orbem praedicamus; sed nec cura nobis Israelis iniuncta est extra ordinem, nisi qua et omnibus gentibus praedicare debemus;

[3] But for us also the way of the nations lies open, in which we have been found and we proceed even unto the end, and no city is excepted, whither we proclaim throughout the whole orb; but neither has the care of Israel been enjoined upon us beyond the order, except in so far as we ought to preach to all the nations as well;

[4] etiam si apprehendamur, non in concilia eorum perducemur nec in synagogis eorum flagellabimur, sed Romanis utique potestatibus et tribunalibus obiciemur.

[4] even if we are apprehended, we will not be conducted into their councils nor be flagellated in their synagogues, but we will certainly be brought before Roman authorities and tribunals to be accused.

[5] Si igitur et fugae praeceptum apostolorum condicio desiderabat, quoniam primum praedicandum eratad oves perditas domus Israelis. Ut ergo perciperetur praedicatio, apud quos priores eam perfici oportebat, uti panem ante filii quam canes sumerent, ideo illis fugere tunc ad tempus praecepit, non propter eludendum periculum proprio nomine persecutionis ---- atquin persecutiones eos passuros praedicabat et tolerandas docebat ----, sed propter profectum annuntiationis, ne statim oppressis evangelii quoque disseminatio perimeretur. Neque enim quasi tacite in aliquam civitatem transfugiendum erat, sed quasi ubique annuntiaturis et ex hoc ubique persecutiones subituris, donec replerent doctrinam suam.

[5] Thus therefore the precept of flight too was required by the condition of the apostles, since it had first to be preachedto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Therefore, in order that the preaching might be received, among those with whom it ought first to be brought to completion, as that the children should take the bread before the dogs, for that reason he then commanded them to flee for a time, not for the sake of eluding the danger by the very name of persecution ---- nay rather, he was foretelling that they would suffer persecutions and was teaching that they were to be tolerated ----, but for the progress of the annunciation, lest, with them straightway oppressed, the dissemination of the gospel also be destroyed. For it was not as if one had to slip silently as a refugee into some city, but as men who were going to announce everywhere and from this to undergo persecutions everywhere, until they should fill up their doctrine.

[6] DeniqueNon consummabitis, inquit, civitates Israelis; adeo intra terminos Iudaeae praeceptum fugae continebatur. Nobis autem nulla Iudaeae praefinitio competit praedicationis in omnem iam carnem effuso spiritu sancto.

[6] Finally,You will not consummate, he says, the cities of Israel; so far was the precept of flight contained within the borders of Judaea. But for us no Judaean predefinition is fitting for the preaching, now that the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon all flesh.

[7] Itaque Paulus et apostoli ipsi memores praecepti dominici contestantur illud apud Israel, quem iam doctrina sua impleverant: Vobis oportuit in primis sermonem dei tradi; sed quoniam repulistis eum nec dignos vos aeterna vita existimastis, ecce convertimus nos ad nationes, Atque exinde conversi, ut ipsi antecessores instituerant, et in viam nationum abierunt et in civitates Samaritanorum introierunt, ut in totam scilicet terram exiret sonus eorum et in terminos orbis voces eorum.

[7] Therefore Paul and the apostles themselves, mindful of the Lord’s precept, attest that among Israel, whom they had already filled with their teaching: To you it was necessary that the word of God be delivered first; but since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the nations, And from then, having turned, as their own predecessors had instituted, they both went on the way of the nations and entered into the cities of the Samaritans, so that their sound might go out into all the earth and their voices to the ends of the world.

[8] Si ergo cessavit exceptio viae natiorum et introitus in civitates Samaritanorum, cur non cessaverit et fugae praeceptum pariter emissum? Denique ex quo saturato Israele apostoli in nationes transierunt, nec fugerunt de civitate in civitatem nec pati dubitaverunt.

[8] If therefore the exception of the way of the nations and the entrance into the cities Samaritanorum, why has not the precept of flight also, issued at the same time, ceased? Finally, from the time when, Israel being sated, the apostles passed over into the nations, they neither fled from city to city nor did they hesitate to suffer.

[9] Atquin Paulus, qui se per murum concesserat expediri de persecutione, qua ad hoc tempus erat praecepti, idem iam in clausula officii et in consummatione praecepti discipulis magnopere deprecantibus, ne se Hierosolymam committeret passurus illic, quae Agabus prophetaverat, sollicitudini eorum non subscripsit, sed e contrario:Quid, inquit, facitis lacrimantes et conturbantes cor meum? ego enim non modo vincula pati optaverim, sed etiam mori Hierosolymis pro nomine domini mei Iesu Christi.

[9] But indeed Paul, who had permitted himself to be let down through the wall to be freed from persecution, in which up to that time there was a precept, this same man now, at the closing of the office and at the consummation of the precept, with the disciples greatly beseeching that he not commit himself to Jerusalem to suffer there the things which Agabus had prophesied, did not subscribe to their solicitude, but on the contrary:Why, he says, are you weeping and troubling my heart? For I, for my part, would not only choose to endure chains, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of my Lord Jesus Christ.

[10] Atque ita omnes aierunt:Fiat voluntas domini. Quae erat voluntas domini? Utique non fugiendi iam persecutionem.

[10] And thus all said:Let the will of the Lord be done. What was the will of the Lord? Assuredly, no longer to flee persecution.

Ceterum poterant et priorem domini voluntatem proposuisse, qua fugere mandaverat, qui illum persecutionem vitasse maluerant.

Moreover they could also have proposed the prior will of the Lord, by which he had commanded to flee, those who had preferred that he avoid that persecution.

[11] Igitur cum etiam sub apostolis ipsis temporale fuerit fugae praeceptum sicut et reliquorum praescriptorum, non potest apud nos perseverare, quod apud doctores nostros concessavit, etsi non proprie ad illos fuisset emissum; aut, si perseverare illud dominus voluit, deliquerunt apostoli, qui non usque in finem fugere curaverunt.

[11] Therefore, since even under the apostles themselves the precept of flight was temporal, just as the rest of the prescriptions, it cannot persevere among us, what has lapsed among our doctors, even if it had not been issued expressly to them; or, if the Lord willed that to persevere, the apostles were delinquent, who did not take care to flee unto the end.

VII.

[1] Videamus nunc, an et cetera domini edita congruant perpetuo fugae praecepto. Primo quidem, si a deo persecutio est, quale est, ut idem fugiendam eam mandet, qui et infert? Quam si evadi vellet, melius non immitteret, ne voluntatem suam alia voluntate praevaricare videretur; aut pati enim nos voluit persecutionem aut fugere: si fugere, quomodo pati?

[1] Let us now see whether the other things issued by the Lord also agree
with a perpetual precept of flight. First indeed, if persecution is from God,
what sort of thing is it that the same one who also inflicts it commands that it be fled?
Which, if he wished it to be evaded, it would be better not to inflict, lest he should seem
to contravene his own will by another will; for he has willed us either to suffer persecution
or to flee: if to flee, how to suffer?

si pati, quomodo fugere? Iam vero quanta inaequalitas sententiarum iubentis fugere et invitantis ad passionem (quae) contraria[m] fugae! [quae].

if to suffer, how to flee? And indeed, how great an inequality of opinions of the one ordering to flee and of the one inviting to passion (which) contrary[m] to flight! [which].

[2]Qui confessus fuerit me, et ego confitebor illum coram patre meo: quomodo confitebitur fugiens? quomodo fugiet confitens? Qui mei confusus fuerit, et ego confundar eius coram patre meo: devito passionem, confundo<r> confessionem. Felices, qui persecutionem passi fuerint causa nominis mei: infelices ergo, qui fugiendo ex praecepto non erunt passi.

[2]Whoever shall have confessed me, I also will confess him before my Father: how will the fleeing one confess? how will the confessing one flee? Whoever shall have been ashamed of me, I also will be ashamed him before my Father: I avoid the passion, I confound<r> the confession. Blessed are those who shall have suffered persecution for the sake of my name: unhappy therefore, who by fleeing by precept will not have suffered.

Qui sustinuerit in finem, iste salvabitur: quid ergo me iubens fugere vis in finem sustinere? Tanta diversitas sententiarum si non congruit divinae gravitati, apparet ex his quoque praeceptum fugae suam tunc habuisse rationem, quam ostendimus.

He who shall have endured to the end, this one will be saved: what then commanding me to flee, do you wish me to endure to the end? So great a diversity of sentences, if it does not agree with divine gravity, makes it appear from these things also that the precept of flight then had its own rationale, which we have shown.

[3] 'Sed infirmitatem', inquit, 'quorundam prospiciens dominus per suam humanitatem nihilominus et portum fugae demonstravit.' Non enim idoneus erat etiam sine fuga, tam turpi et indigno et servili praesidio, salvos facere, in persecutione quos sciret infirmos. Atquin non fovet, sed recusat semper infirmos, primum docens non fugiendos esse persecutores, sed potius non timendos:Nolite timere eos, inquit, qui corpus occidunt, animae autem nihil valent facere, sed timete eum, qui et corpus et animam perdere potest in gehennam.

[3] 'But the Lord,' he says, 'foreseeing the infirmity of certain persons by his humanity nonetheless also pointed out the haven of flight.' He was not, in fact, competent even without flight—that protection so base and unworthy and servile—to make safe, in persecution, those whom he knew to be infirm. But on the contrary he does not foster, but refuses always the infirm, first teaching that persecutors are not to be fled, but rather not to be feared:Do not fear those, he says, who kill the body, but are able to do nothing to the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.

[4] Atque exinde quae timidis praefinit?Qui pluris fecerit animam suam quam me, non est me dignus, et qui non tollit crucem suam et sequitur me, non potest esse meus discipulus. Postremo in Apocalypsin non fugam timidis offert, sed inter ceteros reprobos particulam in stagnum sulphuris et ignis, quod est mors secunda.

[4] And then what does he prescribe for the timid?Whoever shall have valued his soul more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever does not lift up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Finally, in the Apocalypse he offers not flight to the timid, but among the other reprobates a share in the lake of sulphur and fire, which is the second death.

VIII.

[1] Refugit et ipse vim interdum, sed eadem ratione, qua apostolis fugere praeceperat, donec scilicet doctrinam suam impleret, qua consummata, non dico stetit, sed nec auxilium a patre angelorum exercituum desideravit, increpito etiam Petri gladio.

[1] He too at times shunned force, but by the same rationale by which he had enjoined the apostles to flee, until, namely, he should fulfill his doctrine; this once consummated, I do not say he stood, but neither did he desire help from the Father of the armies of angels, with Peter’s sword rebuked as well.

[2] Professus quidem et ipse est animam anxiam usque ad mortem et carnem infirmam, ut tibi ostenderet primo in se utramque substantiam humanam fuisse ex proprietate anxietatis animae et imbecillitatis carnis, ne aliam, ut quidam nunc induxerunt, aut carnem aut animam Christi interpretareris, dehinc ut demonstratis condicionibus earum scires illas nihil valere per semetipsas sine spiritu;

[2] He himself indeed professed the soul anxious unto death and the flesh infirm, so that he might show you first, that in himself each human substance existed from the property of the soul’s anxiety and the imbecility of the flesh, lest you interpret, as certain have now introduced, some other flesh or some other soul of Christ; thereafter, with their conditions demonstrated, that you might know that those avail nothing by themselves without the Spirit;

[3] et ideo praeponit:Spiritus promptus, ut utramque condicionem substantiae utriusque respiciens intelligas in te esse etiam fortitudinem spiritus quomodo et infirmitatem carnis ac iam hinc scias, quid unde facias et quid cui subieias, infirmum scilicet forti, ne, ut nunc facis, de carnis quidem infirmitate causeris, de spiritus autem firmitate dissimules.

[3] and therefore he puts first:The spirit is prompt, so that, looking to each condition of each substance, you may understand that in yourself there is also the fortitude of the spirit just as the infirmity of the flesh, and from here already you may know what to do from what source and what to subject to what, namely the weak to the strong, lest, as you now do, about the infirmity indeed of the flesh you complain, but about the firmity of the spirit you dissemble.

[4] Postulavit et ipse a patre, si fieri posset, transiret ab illo calix passionis: postula et tu, sed stans ut ille, sed postulans tantum, sed subiungens et reliqua:Verum non quod ego volo, sed quod tu. Fugiens autem quomodo hoc postulabis, ipse tibi calicis praestans translationem nec quod pater vult faciens, sed quod tu?

[4] He too requested from the Father that, if it were possible, the chalice of the passion might pass from him: do you also request, but standing as he did, but requesting only, yet adding also the rest:Truly, not what I will, but what you [will]. But if you are fleeing, how will you request this, you yourself granting to yourself the translation of the chalice and not doing what the Father wills, but what you?

IX.

[1] Omnia apostoli secundum deum utique docuerunt, omnia + evangelizare voluerunt +. Ubi illos ostendis praeceptum fugiendi de civitate in civitatem restaurasse? quia nec potuissent tale quid constituere tam contrarium exemplis suis, ut fugam mandarent, qui cum maxime de vinculis vel insulis, quibus ob confessionem, non ob fugam nominis continebantur, ad ecclesias scribebant.

[1] All things the apostles certainly taught according to God, all things + they wished to evangelize +. Where do you show that they restored the precept fleeing from city to city? for they could not have constituted such a thing so contrary to their own examples as to mandate flight, they who especially from their chains or islands, in which they were detained on account of confession, not on account of flight from the Name, were writing to the churches.

[2] Infirmos sustineri iubet Paulus, utique enim non fugientes; quomodo enim sustinebantur absentes? At patientia dicit sustinendos, si cum per infirmitatem fidei suae offenderint; sic et pusillanimes consolari, non tamen in fugam mitti.

[2] He orders the infirm to be sustained, Paul does, assuredly not fleeing; for how, indeed, were absentees being sustained? But with patience he says they are to be sustained, if, through the infirmity of their faith, they have stumbled; thus also the pusillanimous to be consoled, not, however, to be sent into flight.

Sed <et> cum admonet, ne locum malo demus, non fugae suggerit consilium, sed iracundiae docet temperamentum, et si redimendum tempus dicit, quia dies nequam sunt, non per fugam, sed per sapientiam conversationis lucrari nos vult commeatum. Ceterum qui fulgere nos iubet velut filios lucis, non iubet fuga abscondi ut filios tenebrarum. Stare immobiles praecipit ---- utique nec fuga mobiles ---- et accinctos: in fugam an in occursum evangelii?

But <et> when he admonishes that we not give place to evil, he suggests no counsel of flight, but teaches a tempering of wrath; and if he says that the time must be redeemed, because the days are wicked, he wants us to gain a reprieve, not by flight, but by the wisdom of conversation (conduct), provision. Moreover, he who bids us shine as sons of light does not bid us to be hidden by flight like sons of darkness. He commands us to stand immovable — assuredly not made mobile by flight — and girded: for flight, or for an encounter with the gospel?

Arma quoque demonstrat, quae fugituris non essent necessaria; inter quae et clipeum, quo possitis tela diaboli extinguere, resistentes sine dubio et excipientes omnem vim illius.

He also demonstrates arms, which would not be necessary for those about to flee; among which also the shield, by which you may be able the missiles of the devil to extinguish, doubtless resisting and intercepting all his force.

[3] Proinde et Iohannes pro fratribus quoque animas ponendas docet, nedum pro domino; hoc a fugientibus non potest adimpleri. Denique memor Apocalypsis suae, in qua timidorum exitum audierat, de suo sensu admonet et ipse timorem reiciendum:Timor, inquit, non est in dilectione; sed enim perfecta dilectio foras mittit timorem, quia timor supplicamentum habet, utique ignem stagni; qui autem timet, non est perfectus in dilectione, dei scilicet. Porro quis fugiet persecutionem, nisi qui timebit?

[3] Accordingly John also teaches that lives to be laid down for the brothers as well, not to say for the Lord; this cannot be fulfilled by those who are fleeing. Finally, mindful of his Apocalypse, in which he had heard the outcome of the timid, he too, from his own sense, admonishes that fear must be rejected:Fear, he says, is not in love; but indeed perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment, namely the lake of fire; but he who fears, not is perfect in love, namely of God. Moreover, who will flee persecution, except the one who will be afraid?

quis timebit, nisi qui non amabit?

who will fear, except he who will not love?

[4] Spiritum vero si consulas, quid magis sermone illo Spiritus probat? namque omnes paene ad martyrium exhortantur, non ad fugam, ut et illius commemoremur: 'Publicaris?' inquit, 'bonum tibi est; qui enim non publicatur in hominibus, publicatur in domino. Ne confundaris: iustitia te producit in medium; quid confunderis laudem ferens?

[4] But if you consult the Spirit, what does the Spirit approve more in that sermon? For indeed almost all exhort to martyrdom, not to flight, so that we may also commemorate that saying: 'Are you publicized?' he says, 'it is good for you; for he who is not publicized among men is publicized in the Lord. Do not be confounded: justice brings you forth into the midst; why are you confounded bearing praise?

Potestas fit, cum conspiceris ab hominibus.' Sic et alibi: 'Nolite in lectulis nec in aborsibus et febribus mollibus optare exire, sed in martyriis, uti glorificetur, qui est passus pro vobis.'

Authority comes into being, when you are seen by human beings.' Likewise elsewhere: 'Do not wish to depart in little beds nor in abortions and in mild fevers, but in martyrdoms, that he who suffered for you may be glorified.'

10.

[1] Sed omissis quidam divinis exhortationibus illum magis Graecum versiculum saecularis sententiae sibi adhibent: 'Qui fugiebat, rursus sibi proeliabitur'. Ut et rursus forsitan fugiat? Et quando vincet, qui, cum fugerit, victus est? Bonum militem Christo imperatori suo praestat, qui tam plene ab apostolo armatus, ut tubam perseoutionis audit, a diem deserit persecutionis!

[1] But, with the divine exhortations laid aside, some rather apply to themselves that Greek little verse of a secular sentence: 'He who was fleeing will fight again for himself.' So that perhaps he may flee again? And when will he conquer, he who, when he has fled, has been conquered? He proves himself a good soldier to Christ his emperor, who, so fully armed by the apostle, as soon as he hears the trumpet of persecution, deserts on the day of persecution!

[2] Respondebo et ego de saeculo aliquid: 'Usque adeone mori miserum est?' Moriatur quoquo modo, aut victus aut victor; nam etsi negando ceciderit, cum tormentis tamen proeliatus. Malo miserandum quam erubescendum; pulcrior est miles in pugna proelio amissus quam in fuga salvus.

[2] I too will answer something from the world: 'Is dying so wretched a thing?' Let him die in whatever way, either vanquished or victor; for even if by denying he has fallen, yet he has battled with torments. I prefer the pitiable to the shameful; a soldier lost in battle is fairer than one saved in flight.

[3] Times hominem, Christiane, quem timeri oportet ab angelis, siquidem angelos iudicaturus es? quem timeri oportet a daemoniis, siquidem et in daemonas accepisti potestatem? quem timeri oportet ab universo mundo, siquidem et in te mundus iudicatur?

[3] Do you fear a man, O Christian, whom it is fitting to be feared by angels, since indeed you are going to judge angels? whom it is fitting to be feared by demons, since indeed you have also received power over demons? whom it is fitting to be feared by the whole world, since indeed in you the world is judged?

[4] Christum indutus es ---- siquidem in Christum tinctus es ----, qui fugis diabolum? Depretiasti Christum, qui in te est, fugitivum cum diabolo te reddidisti. Sed dominum fugiens exprobras omnibus fugitivis sui[s] vanitatem consilii: fugerat et quidam animosus prophetes dominum, traiecerat ab Ioppen Tarsum, quasi et a deo transfretaret; sed illum, non dico in mari et in terra, verum in uterum etiam bestiae invenit, in quo nec mori per triduum potuit nec vel sic deum evadere.

[4] You have put on Christ ---- if indeed you have been baptized into Christ ----, you who flee the devil? You have depreciated Christ, who is in you; you have rendered yourself a fugitive with the devil. But in fleeing the Lord you upbraid to all his fugitives the vanity of their plan: a certain high-spirited prophet had fled the Lord, he had crossed from Joppa to Tarsus, as though he were also crossing over away from God; but Him—I do not say on the sea and on the land, but indeed even in the belly of a beast—found him, in which for three days he could not die, nor even thus escape God.

[5] Quanto melius servus, qui sive iniquitatis dominum timens non fugit eum, sed potius contemnit, confidens scilicet de tutela domini, sive deum reformidat, quanto magis sub oculis eius astitit, dicens: 'Dominus est, potens est; omnia illius sunt; ubi fuero, in manu illius sum; faciat quod vult, non discedo, et si perire me volet, ipse me perdat, dum me ego illi servo. Malo invidiam ei facere per voluntatem ipsius pereundo quam bilem per meam evadendo'.

[5] How much better the servant of God, who, even if fearing the lord of iniquity’s lord, does not flee him, but rather scorns him, trusting of course in the protection of the Lord; or if he shrinks from God, so much the more does he stand under His eyes, saying: 'He is the Lord, He is powerful; all things are His; wherever I shall be, I am in His hand; let Him do what He wills, I do not depart, and if He wills me to perish, let Him Himself destroy me, provided that I serve Him. I prefer to make him envy by His will by perishing than bile by my own by escaping'.

XI.

11.

[1] Haec sentire et facere omnem servum dei oportet, etiam minoris loci, ut maioris fieri possit, si quem gradum in persecutionis tolerantia ascenderit. Sed cum ipsi auctores, id est ipsi diaconi et presbyteri et episcopi fugiunt, quomodo laicus intelligere poterit, qua ratione dictum:Fugite de civitate in civitatem? Itaque cum duces fugiunt, quis de gregario numero sustinebit ad gradum in acie figendum suadere?

[1] It is fitting for every servant of God to think and to do these things, even of lesser station, so that he may be able to be made of greater, if he shall have ascended some grade in the endurance of persecution. But when the very authors, that is, the deacons themselves and the presbyters and the bishops, flee, how will a layman be able to understand by what rationale it was said:Flee from city to city? And so, when the leaders flee, who of the rank-and-file number will sustain to advise being fixed at a grade in the battle-line?

[2] Certe quidembonus pastor animam pro pecoribus ponit, ut Moyses non domino adhuc Christo revelato et iam in se figurato ait: Si perdis hunc populum, inquit, et me pariter cum eo disperde. Ceteram Christo confirmante figuras suas malus pastor est, qui viso lupo fugit et pecora diripienda derelinquit; proicietur de villa pastor huiusmodi, detinebuntur illi mercedes missionis suae in compensatione, immo et de priore peculio eius exigetur detrimenti dominici restitutio: Etenim qui habet, dabitur ei, ab eo autem, qui non habet, etiam quod videtur habere, auferetur.

[2] Surely indeedthe good shepherd lays down his life for the flock, as Moses—when the Lord Christ was not yet revealed and was already figured in himself—says: If you destroy this people, he says, destroy me likewise together with them. Moreover, with Christ confirming his own figures, he is an evil shepherd who, when the wolf is seen, flees and leaves the flock to be plundered; he of this sort will be cast out of the villa, the wages of his mission will be withheld from him by way of compensation, nay rather, even from his prior peculium there will be exacted a restitution for the Master’s loss: For whoever has, it will be given to him; but from him who does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken away.

[3] Sic Zacharias comminatur:Exurge, rhomphaea, in pastores et evellite oves et superducam manum meam in pastores. In quos et Ezechiel et Hieremias isdem minis perorant, quod non tantum de pecoribus improbe vescantur pascentes potius semetipsos, verum et dispersam gregem faciant et in praedam esse omnibus bestiis agri, dum non est pastor illis. Quod numquam magis fit, quam cum in persecutione ecclesia destituitur a clero.

[3] Thus Zacharias threatens:Arise, rhomphaea, against the shepherds, and tear away the sheep, and I will draw my hand over upon the shepherds. Against these Ezechiel and Hieremias with the same menaces perorate, that they not only, feeding themselves rather than the flocks, wickedly feed upon the sheep, but also make the flock scattered and to be prey for all the beasts of the field, while there is no shepherd for them. Which never happens more than when, in persecution, the church is left destitute by the clergy.

Si et Spiritum quis agnoverit, audiet fugitivos denotantem.

If anyone also has recognized the Spirit, he will hear him pointing out the fugitives.

[4] Porro si eos, qui gregi praesunt, fugere, cum lupi irruunt, nec decet, immo nec licet ---- qui enim talem pastorem malum pronuntiavit, utique damnavit; omne autem quod damnatur, illicitum factum est sine dubio ----, ideo praepositos ecclesiae in persecutione fugere non oportebit. Ceterum si grex fugere deberet, non debere praepositos gregis stare, sine causa staturos ad tutelam gregis, quam grex non desiderat, scilicet ex licentia fugae.

[4] Moreover, if it is not becoming for those who preside over the flock to flee when wolves rush in, nay nor is it permitted ---- for he who pronounced such a shepherd evil, surely condemned him; but everything that is condemned has without doubt been made illicit ----, therefore the prelates of the church ought not to flee in persecution. On the other hand, if the flock ought to flee, the prelates of the flock ought not to stand, being about to stand without cause for the protection of the flock, which the flock does not desire, to wit from the license of flight, non debere praepositos gregis stare, sine causa staturos ad tutelam gregis, quam grex non desiderat, scilicet ex licentia fugae.

XII.

12.

[1] Quod pertineat, frater, ad tuum problema, habes sententiae nostrae responsionem et exhortationem. Porro si quis quaerit, an persecutio fugienda sit, sequentem quoque iam prospiciat necesse est, an, si fugienda non est, redimenda certe sit. Ultro igitur et de hoc tibi suggeram, definiens persecutionem, quam constat non esse fugiendam, proinde nec redimendam.

[1] As it pertains, brother, to your problem, you have the response of our opinion and an exhortation. Moreover, if anyone asks whether persecution is to be fled, it is necessary that he already look ahead to the following as well: whether, if it is not to be fled, it should at least certainly be redeemed. Of my own accord, therefore, I will also suggest to you about this, defining the persecution which it is agreed is not to be fled, and accordingly not to be redeemed.

[2] Pretium interest; ceterum sicut fuga redemptio gratuita est, ita redemptio nummaria fuga est. Certe et huius timiditatis consilium est. Quod times, redimis, ergo fugis; pedibus stetisti, nummis curristi; hoc ipsum, quod ex redemptione stetisti, fugisti.

[2] The price makes a difference; but just as flight is a gratuitous redemption, so a monetary redemption is a flight. Surely this too is the plan of this timidity. What you fear, you redeem, therefore you flee; with your feet you stood, with coins you ran; this very thing, that by redemption you stood, you have fled.

[3] Ut autem redimas hominem tu nummis, quem ex sanguine suo redemit Christus, quam indignum deo et dispositionis eius,qui filio suo non pepercit pro te, ut fieret pro nobis maledictum ---- quia maledictus, qui pependerit in ligno ----, qui tamquam ovis ad victimam ductus est, et tamquam agnus ante tondentem sic non aperuit os, sed posuit dorsum suum in flagella, maxillas autem in palmas et faciem non avertit a sputaminibus et inter iniquos deputatus est et traditus est in mortem, mortem autem crucis:

[3] But for you to ransom a man with coins, whom Christ redeemed by his own blood, how unworthy of God and of his dispensation,who did not spare his Son for you, that he might become a curse for us ---- because cursed is he who has hung on a tree ----, who like a sheep was led to the victim, and like a lamb before the shearer so he did not open his mouth, but he set his back to the scourges, and his cheeks to blows, and he did not turn his face away from spittings, and he was reckoned among the unjust and was handed over to death, death moreover of the cross:

[4] totum hoc, ut nos a peccatis lucraretur. Sol cessit die[m] emptionis nostrae: apud inferos remancipatio nostra est et stipulatio nostra in caelis; sublevatae sunt portae sempiternae, ut introiretrex gloriae, dominus virtutum, hominem de terris, immo ab inferis mercatus in caelos.

[4] all this, so that he might gain us away from sins. The Sun yielded on the day of our purchase: among the underworld is our remancipation, and our stipulation is in the heavens; the everlasting gates have been lifted up, that theking of glory, the lord of hosts, might enter, having purchased man from the earth—nay, from the underworld—into the heavens.

[5] Quis est nunc, qui adversus illum reluetatur, immo depretiat mercedem eius tam magno comparatam,pretiosissimo scilicet sanguine agni immaculati? Iam ergo melius fugere quam fieri viliorem, si non tanto sibi constabit homo, quanti constitit domino. Et dominus quidem illum redemit ab angelis munditenentibus potestatibus, a spiritalibus nequitiae, a tenebris huius aevi, a iudicio aeterno, a morte perpetua; tu autem pro eo pacisceris cum delatore vel milite vel furunculo aliquo praeside sub tunica et sinum, quod aiunt, ut furtivo, quem coram toto mundo Christus emit, immo et manumisit. Hunc ergo liberam pretio aestimabis et pretio possidebis nisi eodem, quanto, ut diximus, domino constitit, sanguine suo scilicet?

[5] Who is there now who contends against him, nay, who depreciates his wage, procured at so great a price, namely with themost precious blood of the immaculate lamb? Now then it is better to flee than to become more debased, if a man will not be worth as much to himself as he cost the Lord. And the Lord indeed redeemed him from the angels, the world-holding powers, from the spiritualities of wickedness, from the darkness of this age, from eternal judgment, from perpetual death; but you, on the other hand, for him strike a bargain with a denouncer (delator) or a soldier or some petty thief, slipping it to a governor under the tunic and into the bosom, as they say, like a furtive payment, the one whom Christ bought before the whole world, nay even manumitted. Will you then appraise this one, free, for a price, and possess him for a price, unless at the same price at which, as we said, it cost the Lord—namely, with his own blood?

[6] Ut quid ergo de homine Christum redimis in homine, in quo Christus est? Non aliter et Simon facere temptavit, cum pecuniam apostolis obtulit pro spiritu Christi. Audiet ergo et iste, qui se redimens Christi spiritum redemit:Pecunia tua tecum sit in interitum, quoniam gratiam dei pretio consequendam putasti.

[6] Why then do you redeem Christ from a man, in the man in whom Christ is? Not otherwise did Simon attempt to do, when he offered money to the apostles for the Spirit of Christ. Therefore this man also, who, in redeeming himself, has redeemed the Spirit of Christ, will hear:Let your money be with you into destruction, since you supposed that the grace of God was to be obtained by a price.

[7] Quis talem abnegatorem spernat? Quid enim dicit ille concussor? 'Da mihi pecuniam.' Certe ne eum tradat, siquidem non aliud venditat, quam quod praestaturus est praemio tuo.

[7] Who would spurn such a denier? For what does that extortioner say? 'Give me money.' Surely, so that he may not betray him, since indeed he sells nothing other than what he is going to furnish by your reward.

Cum das, utique ne tradaris voluisti; non traditus autem traduci habebas? Ergo dum nolendo tradi non vis traduci, nolendo negasti te esse, <quod> traduci noluisti. 'Immo', inquis, 'dum nolo traduci quod sum, confessus id esse, quod nolo traduci, id est Christianum'. Potes itaque te martyrem vindicare, <si> constanter ostendis[se] Christum; redimens non ostendit.

When you give, of course you wished not to be handed over; and not handed over, had you to be led along? Therefore, while by being unwilling to be handed over you do not wish to be led along, by that unwillingness you have denied yourself to be, <what> you were unwilling to be led along as. “On the contrary,” you say, “while I am unwilling to be led along as what I am, I have confessed that to be which I am unwilling to be led along, that is, a Christian.” You can therefore claim yourself a martyr, <if> you steadfastly show[ed] Christ; the ransomer does not show him.

Apud unum si forte confessus es, ergo et apud plures nolendo confiteri negasti. Ipsa salus iudicabit hominem excidisse, dum evadit; excidit ergo, qui maluit evasisse. Negatio est etiam martyrii recusatio.

If perhaps you have confessed before one, therefore also before several, by being unwilling to confess, you have denied. Salvation itself will judge that the man has fallen away while he escapes; he has fallen away, therefore, who preferred to have escaped. Denial is also a refusal of martyrdom.

[8] Christianus pecunia salvus est et in hoc nummos habet, ne patiatur, dum adversus deum erit dives? At enim Christus sanguine fuit dives pro illo.Felices itaque pauperes, quia illorum, inquit, est regnum caelorum, qui animam solam in confiscato habent.

[8] Is the Christian safe by money, and for this he has coins, that he may not suffer, while he will be rich in opposition to God? But indeed Christ was rich in blood for him.Blessed therefore the poor, because theirs, he says, is the kingdom of the heavens, who have the soul alone in the confiscated.

Si non possumus deo servire et mammonae, possumus et a deo redimi et a mammona? Quis enim magis serviet mammonae, quam quem mammonas redemit?

If we cannot serve God and Mammon, can we be redeemed both by God and by Mammon? For who will serve Mammon more than the one whom Mammon has redeemed?

[9] Postremo quo exemplo uteris in redemptionem traditionis? Apostoli tractantes persecutionibus agitati quando se pecunia liberaverunt, quae illis utique non deerat ex praediorum pretiis ad pedes eorum depositis? Certe multis locupletibus credentibus, viris ac feminis, qui his etiam refrigeria subministrabant, quando Onesiphorus aut Aquila aut Stephanas hoc modo eis in persecutionem succurrerunt? Paulus quidem, cum Felix praeses pecunias accepturum se pro eo a discipulis sperasset, de quo et ipse in secreto tractavit cum ipso, neque ipse pro se neque discipuli pro eo numeraverunt,

[9] Finally, by what example do you make use for the redemption of a handing over? The apostles, being handled by persecutions driven to and fro, when did they free themselves with money, which certainly was not lacking to them from the prices of estates laid at their feet? Surely, with many wealthy believers, men and women, who even supplied them with refreshments, when did Onesiphorus or Aquila or Stephanas in this way come to their aid in persecution? Paul indeed, when the governor Felix hoped that he would receive money for him from the disciples, about which he himself also dealt in secret with him, neither did he himself for himself nor did the disciples for him count out the money,

[10] illi utique discipuli, qui flentes, quod [n]aeque Hierosolymam tendere perseveraret et persecutiones praedicatas illic non praecaveret, postremo inquiunt:Fiat voluntas dei. Quae ista voluntas? utique ut pateretur pro nomine domini, non ut redimeretur.

[10] those disciples assuredly, who, weeping that he was persevering to make for Jerusalem and was not taking precautions against the persecutions foretold there, at last say:Let the will of God be done. What will is that? assuredly that he should suffer for the name of the Lord, not that he should be redeemed.

Oportet enim, quomodo Christus animam suam posuit pro nobis, ita fieri pro eo et a nobis nec tantum pro ipso, immo etiam pro fratribus propter ipsum. Quod <et> Iohannes docens non [et] pro fratribus numerandum, sed moriendum potius pronuntiavit. Nihil interest, si quem Christianum redimere non debeas alium an te.

For it is necessary, just as Christ laid down his soul for us, that it likewise be done for him also by us, and not only for him, nay rather also for the brethren on account of him. Which John, teaching, pronounced that not [and] is to be reckoned for the brethren, but that one must rather die. It makes no difference, if you ought not to redeem any Christian—another or yourself an te.

[11] Et adeo voluntas dei sic est: aspice regnorum et imperiorum utique a deo dispositum statum, in cuius manu cor regis: tanta cotidie aerario augendo prospiciuntur remedia censuum, vectigalium, collationum, stipendiorum nec umquam tamen usque adhuc ex Christianis tale aliquid prospectum est sub aliqua redemptione capitis et sectae redigendis, cum tantae multitudinis nemini ignotae fructus ingens meti posset; sanguine empti, sanguine numerati nullum nummum pro capite debemus, quia caput nostrum Christus est: non decet Christum pecunia constare. Quomodo et martyria fieri possent in gloriam domini, si tributo licentiam sectae compensaremus? Itaque qui eam praemio paciscitur, dispositioni divinae adversatur.

[11] And to such a degree the will of God is thus: look at the state of kingdoms and empires, of course disposed by God, in whose hand is the heart of the king: so many remedies are daily provided for augmenting the treasury—of censuses, taxes, contributions, stipends—yet never up to this time has anything of the sort been provided among Christians under any ransom for life and for the sect, to be commuted, although the huge fruit of so great a multitude, unknown to no one, could be measured; bought with blood, reckoned with blood, we owe no coin for a head, because our head is Christ: it does not befit Christ to be priced in money. How also could martyrdoms be accomplished to the glory of the Lord, if by a tribute we compensated the license of the sect? Therefore he who bargains it for a reward opposes the divine disposition.

[12] Cum igitur nihil nobis Caesar indixerit in hunc modum stipendiariae sectae, sed nec indictum umquam tale quid possit, antichristo iam instante et in sanguinem, non in pecunias hiante Christianorum, quomodo mihi proponere potest scripturam esse:Reddite quae sunt Caesaris Caesari? Miles me vel delator vel inimicus concutit, nihil Caesari exigens, immo contra fas faciens, cum Christianum legibus humanis reum mercede dimittit. Alius denarius, quem Caesari debeo, qui ad eum pertinet, de quo tunc agebatur, tributarius, tributariis scilicet, non a liberis debitus.

[12] Since therefore Caesar has imposed upon us nothing in this fashion of a stipendary sect, nor indeed could such a thing ever be imposed, with Antichrist already imminent and gaping for the blood, not for the monies, of Christians, how can he set before me that the Scripture is:Render the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar? A soldier or an informer or an enemy shakes me down, exacting nothing for Caesar, nay rather doing what is against right, when he dismisses a Christian, guilty by human laws, for a fee. Another denarius, which I owe to Caesar, which pertains to him, that which was then in question, the tributary one, owed, to wit, by tributaries, not by free men.

[13] Aut quomodo reddam, quae sunt dei, deo, utique proinde imaginem et monetam ipsius inscriptam nomine eius, id est hominem Christianum? Quid autem deo debeo sicut denarium Caesari nisi sanguinem, quem pro me filius fudit ipsius? Quodsi deo quidem hominem et sanguinem meum debeo, nunc vero in eo sum tempore, ut quod deo debeo expostuler, utique fraudem deo facio id agens, ne quod debeo solvam.

[13] Or how shall I render the things of God to God, namely likewise the image and the coin of him inscribed with his name, that is, the Christian man? What, moreover, do I owe to God just as a denarius to Caesar except blood, which his Son poured out for me? And if to God indeed I owe the man and my blood, but now I am in that time, such that what I owe to God is exacted, indeed I commit fraud upon God by doing this, so that I may not pay what I owe.

Bene observavi praeceptum Caesari reddens, quae sunt Caesaris, deo vero, quae sunt dei, abnegans!

I have well observed the precept, rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but to God, the things that are God’s, denying!

XIII.

13.

[1] 'Sed et omni petenti me dabo': in causa elimosinae, non in concussurae.Petenti inquit; porro qui incutit, non petit; qui comminatur, si non acceperit, non postulat, sed extorquet; non elimosinam expectat, qui non miserandus, sed timendus venit. Dabo igitur misericordiae, non timiditatis meae nomine, ubi, qui accepit, deum honorat et benedictionem mihi reddit, non ubi amplius et benefactum praestitisse se credit et praedam suam aspiciens dicit: 'De reatu'.

[1] 'But also, "I will give to everyone who asks me": in the case of alms, not of extortion.To the one asking, he says; moreover, he who intimidates does not ask; he who threatens, if he does not receive, does not request, but extorts; he does not look for alms, he who comes not to be pitied but to be feared. I will therefore give in the name of mercy, not of my timidity, where the one who has received honors God and returns a blessing to me, not where he thinks that he has even rendered a benefaction besides, and, looking upon his plunder, says: "For the charge".'

[2] Tascam et inimicum!' Sed inimicitiae et alios habent titulos, non tamen dixit traditorem aut persecutorem aut concussorem; nam huic quanto magiscarbones acervabo super caput, si non me redemero! 'Proinde', inquit, 'qui tibi tunicam sustulerit, vel etiam pallium concede.' Ad eum pertinet, qui rem, non qui fidem meam eripere quasierit; concedam et pallium nil [o]minanti; traditionem si minatus fuerit, etiam tunicam reposcam.

[2] ‘Be silent—even to an enemy!’ But enmities also have other titles, nevertheless he did not say traitor or persecutor or extortioner; for upon this man how much the more shall I heapcoals upon the head, if I do not ransom myself! ‘Accordingly’, he says, ‘to him who has taken away your tunic, grant even the cloak.’ This pertains to him who has sought to snatch my property, not to him who has sought to snatch my faith; I will grant even the cloak to one threatening nothing; if he shall have threatened betrayal, I will demand back even the tunic.

[3] Omnium iam nunc dominicarum (sententiarum) suae sunt et causae et regulae; termini non in infinitum nec ad omnia spectant; atque adeo omni petenti dari iubet, ipse signum petentibus non dat. Alioquin si omnibus passim petentibus dandum putas, tu mihi videris, non dico vinum febricitanti, sed etiam venenum aut gladium mortem desideranti daturus.

[3] Already now all the Lord’s (sentences) have their own causes and rules; the termini do not extend to the infinite nor regard all things; and indeed, while he bids that it be given to everyone who asks, he himself does not give a sign to those asking. Otherwise, if you think it must be given to all who ask promiscuously, you seem to me— I do not say you would give wine to a feverish man— but even poison or a sword to one desiring death.

[4]Facite autem vobis amicos de mammona quomodo intelligendum sit, parabola praemissa te doceat ad populum Iudaicum dictum, qui, commissam sibi rationem domini cum male administrasset, deberet de mammonae hominibus, quod nos eramus, amicos sibi potius prospicere quam inimicos et relevare nos a debitis peccatorum, quibus deo detinebamur, si nobis id dominica ratione conferrent, ut, cum coepisset ab his deficere gratia, ad nostram fidem refugientes reciperentur in tabernacula aeterna. Quamvis nunc puta aliam interpretationem parabolae et sententiae istius, dum scias verisimile non esse, ut concussores nostri in amicitiam redacti per mammonam recipiant tunc nos in aeterna tabernacula.

[4]Make however for yourselves friends out of mammon—how this is to be understood the foregoing parable may teach you, spoken to the Jewish people, who, when he had ill administered the master’s account entrusted to him, ought from the men of mammon, which we were, to look out for friends for himself rather than enemies, and to relieve us from the debts of sins by which we were held to God, if they would confer that to us by the Lord’s reckoning, so that, when grace had begun to fail them, fleeing for refuge to our faith they might be received into the eternal tabernacles. Although now suppose another interpretation of the parable and of this saying, provided you know it is not probable that our extortioners, reduced into friendship through mammon, should then receive us into the eternal tabernacles.

[5] Sed quid non timiditas persuadebit? Quasi et fugere scriptum permittat et redimere praecipiat! Parum denique est, si tinus aut alius ita eruitur: massaliter totae ecclesiae tributum sibi irrogaverunt!

[5] But what will timidity not persuade? As though even to flee the Scripture permits and to redeem enjoins! It is too little, finally, if one or another is thus extricated: en masse they have imposed a tribute upon the whole church for themselves!

Nescio, dolendum an erubescendum sit, cum in matrioibus beneficiariorum et curiosorum inter tabernarios et ianeos et fures balnearum et aleones et lenones Christiani[s] quoque vectigales continentur.

I do not know whether one should grieve or be ashamed, when in the registers of the beneficiaries and the inquisitors, among tavern-keepers and janitors and thieves of the baths and gamblers and pimps, Christian[s] too are included as taxpayers.

[6] Hanc episcopatus formam apostoli providentius condiderunt, ut regno suo securi frui possent sub obtentu procurandae salutis? Scilicet enim talem pacem Christus ad patrem regrediens mandavit a militibus per Saturnalicia redimendam!

[6] Did the apostles more providently establish this form of the episcopate, so that they might securely enjoy their own kingdom under the pretext of procuring salvation? Surely, indeed, Christ, returning to the Father, mandated that such peace be redeemed by soldiers during the Saturnalia!

XIV.

14.

[1] 'Sed quomodo colligemus?' inquis, 'quomodo dominica sollemnia celebrabimus?' Utique quomodo et apostoli, fide, non pecunia tuti, quae fides si montem transferre potest, multo magis militem. Esto sapientia, non praemio cautus! Neque enim statim et a populo eris tutus, si officia militaria redemeris.

[1] 'But how shall we gather?' you ask, 'how shall we
the Lord’s
solemnities celebrate?' Surely just as the apostles,
secure by faith, not by money— which faith, if it can transfer a mountain,
much more a soldier. Be guarded by wisdom, not by a bribe! Nor indeed will you be safe straightway even from the populace, if you have redeemed the military duties.

Una ergo tibi fides et sapientia ad tutelam opus est, quibus non adhibitis et redemptionem tuam potest perdere, adhibitis autem redemptionem <nec> desiderare.

Therefore one thing is needed for you for protection: faith and wisdom; and, if these are not employed, you can even lose your redemption, but, with them employed, you will <not even> desire redemption.

[2] Postremo si colligere interdiu non potest, habes noctem, luce Christi luminosi adversus eam. Non potes discurrere per singulos? si<t> tibi e[s]t in tribus ecclesia; melius, turbas tuas aliquando non videas, quam addicas.

[2] Finally if it cannot be collected in the daytime, you have the night, with the light of Christ, luminous, against it. Can you not run about to individuals? if you have the church among three; better that you should at times not see your crowds, than to consign them.

Serva Christo virginem sponsam; nemo quaestum de ea faciat.

Preserve for Christ the virgin bride; let no one make profit from her.

[3] Haec tibi, frater, dura forsitan et intolerabilia videntur, sed recita deum dixisse:Qui capit, capiat, id est, qui non capit, discedat. Non potest, qui pati timet, ei esse, qui passus est; at qui pati non timet, iste erit perfectus in dilectione, utique dei; perfecta enim dilectio foras mittit timorem. Et ideo multi vocati, pauci electi; non quaeritur, qui latam viam sequi paratus sit, sed qui angustam; et ideo paraclitus necessarius, deductor omnium veritatum, exhortator omnium tolerantiarum.

[3] These things, brother, perhaps seem hard and intolerable to you, but recall that God said:He who grasps, let him grasp, that is, he who does not grasp, let him depart. He who fears to suffer cannot belong to him who suffered; but he who does not fear to suffer, this man will be perfect in love, assuredly of God; perfect indeed love casts out fear. And therefore many are called, few chosen; it is not sought who is ready to follow the broad way, but who the narrow; and therefore the Paraclete is necessary, the deducer of all truths, the exhorter of all tolerations.

Quem qui receperunt, neque fugere persecutionem neque redimere noverunt, habentes ipsum, qui pro nobis erit, sicut locuturus in interrogatione ita iuvaturus in passione.

Those who have received him have known neither to flee persecution nor to redeem it, having him who will be for us, just as about to speak in interrogation so about to aid in passion.