{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/206/2060176.htm","path":"chr/ecf/206/2060176.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/206/2060176.htm","text":"This book can hardly be said to form part of a dialogue. It is rather an argument from Scripture to prove the point of the Augustinian arguer, Atticus. From the fourth chapter onwards it consists, like the last five chapters of Book I., of a chain of Scripture texts, taken from the New Testament and the Prophets, to show the universality of sin, and thus to refute the Pelagian assertion that a man can be without sin if he wills. We shall, therefore, give, as in the previous case, a list of the texts and the first words of them, only giving Jerome\u2019s words where he introduces some original remark of his own, or some noteworthy comment.\nThe Pelagian begins by reiterating the dilemma: If the commandments are given to be obeyed, then man can be without sin; if he is, by his creation, such that he must be a sinner, then God, not he, is the author of sin. To the argument that sacrifices are enjoined for sins of ignorance, he replies by appealing from the Old Testament to the New, which leads to a discussion (2, 3) on St. Paul\u2019s description of the conflict with sin, in Romans vii. Paul, it is argued, speaks not as a sinner, but as a man, and thus confesses the sinfulness of humanity. That men may be without ingrained vice is possible; that they can be without sin is not. This leads the Augustinian, Atticus, resuming his list of testimonies, to the fact that, though men are found who are righteous as avoiding wickedness (\u03ba\u03b1\u03ba\u03af\u03b1), yet none is without sin (\u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 ).\nIn Psalm xxxii. 5. One who speaks of himself as \u201choly,\u201d yet confesses his transgression.\nProv. xxiv. 16. Explains this, \u201cThe righteous falls, but sins again.\u201d\nProv. 18.17, LXX. and Vulgate. A righteous man accuses himself when he begins to speak.\nPs. lviii. 3. Sinners are estranged from the womb; that is, either, as St. Paul says (Rom. v. 14), they sin \u201cafter the similitude of Adam\u201d; or, \u201cwhen Christ, as the firstborn, opened the virgin\u2019s womb\u201d (Exod. xiii. 2). The heretics refused to acknowledge the mystery, which was prefigured by the Eastern door of the Temple (Ezek. xliv. 2), which closed again when once the High Priest had gone through it. 5257\nJob iv. 17-21. Shall mortal man be just with God?\nJob 7.1. The life of man is temptation.\nJob 7:20, 21. If I have sinned, what can I do?\nJob 9:15, 16. If I were righteous, he would not hear me.\nJob. 9.29-31. If I wash myself with snow water, etc.\nJob. 10.15. If I be righteous, etc.\nJob 14:4, 5. Who will be free from uncleanliness? Not one.\nProv. xvi. 26, LXX. Man toileth in sorrow.\nJob xl. 4. What shall I answer thee?\nProv. xx. 9. \u201cWho will boast that he has a clean heart?\u201d which shows at least that the commandments are not easy, as Pelagius says they are.\n1 John v. 3. \u201cHis commandments are not grievous,\u201d and\nMatt. xi. 30. \u201cMy yoke is easy,\u201d are true only in comparison with Judaism, and should be compared with\nActs xv. 10. A yoke \u2026which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear.\nJames iv. 11. \u201cThou judgest the law,\u201d that is, if you say that the condemnation of sins of ignorance is unreasonable. That we all sin in such ways is evident from\np. 467 James i. 20. \u201cThe wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.\u201d But anger is constantly condemned as in\nProv. xv. 1, LXX. \u201cWrath destroys even wise men.\u201d\nEph. iv. 26. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.\nMatt. v. 22. He who is angry\u2026shall be in danger of council.\nEccles. xi. 19. \u201cI am the most foolish of all men.\u201d This is said by Christ in the person of humanity. So\nPs. lxix. 5. \u201cGod, Thou knowest my foolishness.\u201d But\n1 Cor. i. 25. The foolishness of God is wiser than men.\nEcclesiasticus 1.18. \u201cIn much wisdom is much grief,\u201d shows the wise man\u2019s sense of imperfection. So\nEcclesiasticus 8.7. \u201cI hated my life,\u201d and\nEcclesiasticus 8.14. \u201cThere be righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked;\u201d that is, God sees evil where we do not.\nEcclesiasticus 8.17. \u201cHowever much a man may labor, yet he shall not find it;\u201d and\nSir. 9:2, 3. There is one event to all. The heart\u2026is full of evil.\nEcclesiasticus 10.1. \u201cDead flies cause the ointment to stink;\u201d That is, almost everyone is defiled by heresy or other faults.\n1 Pet. 2:17, 18. Judgement must begin at the house of God.\n6. There are four emotions which agitate mankind, two relating to the present, two to the future; two to good, and two to evil. There is sorrow, called in Greek \u03bb\u03cd\u03c0\u03b7, and joy, in Greek \u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03ac or \u1f21\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03ae, although many translate the latter word by voluptas, pleasure; the one of which is referred to evil, the other to good. And we go too far if we rejoice over such things as we ought not, as, for example, riches, power, distinctions, the bad fortune of enemies, or their death; or, on the other hand, if we are tortured with grief on account of present evils, adversity, exile, poverty, weakness, and the death of kindred, all of which is forbidden by the Apostle. And again, if we covet those things which we consider good, inheritance, distinctions, unvaried prosperity, bodily health, and the like, in the possession of which we rejoice and find enjoyment; or if we fear those things which we deem adverse. Now, according to the Stoics, Zeno that is to say and Chrysippus, it is possible for a perfect man to be free from these emotions; according to the Peripatetics, it is difficult and even impossible, an opinion which has the constant support of all Scripture. Hence Josephus, the historian of the Maccabees, said that the emotions can be subdued and governed, not extirpated, and Cicero\u2019s five books of \u201cTusculan Disputations\u201d are full of these discussions. 5258 According to the Apostle, the weakness of the body and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places fight against us. And the same writer 5259 tells us that the works of the flesh and the works of the spirit are manifest, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that we do not the things that we would. If we do not what we would, but what we would not, how can you say that a man can be without sin if he chooses? You see that neither an Apostle, nor any believer can perform what he wishes. 5260 \u201cLove covereth a multitude of sins,\u201d not so much sins of the past as sins of the present, that we may not sin any more while the love of God abideth in us. Wherefore it is said concerning the woman that was a sinner, 5261 \u201cHer sins which are many are forgiven her, for she loved much.\u201d And this shows us that the doing what we wish does not depend merely upon our own power, but upon the assistance which God in His mercy gives to our will.\n7. The quotations from Scripture are now continued:\nIn 1 John 1:5, John 1:7, 8, Matt. 5:14, Christ and the Apostles are called the Light of the world. The world therefore is darkness.\n1 Tim. vi. 16. God only hath immortality and is \u201conly wise\u201d; yet others, like the Prince of Tyre (Ezek. xxviii. 3), are wise derivatively. So we are pure, but only by grace. Thus\n1 John i. 7. The blood of Christ cleanses us.\nJob 25:5, 6. The stars are not pure in his sight.\nGal. ii. 16. \u201cBy the law no flesh shall be justified;\u201d but\nRom. 3:1, 24, 28, 30. Being justified freely through His grace, etc.\nRom. 6.14. Not under the law, but under grace.\nRom. 9.16. Not of him that willeth, but of God which showeth mercy.\nRom. 9.30-32. The Gentiles\u2026attained to the righteousness by faith.\nRom. 10.2. Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth.\n8. The Apostle confesses his need of this grace for his work.\n1 Cor. i. 1-3. Grace to you from God.\n1 Cor. 1:7, 8. That ye come behind in no gift\u2014that no flesh may glory in His sight.\n1 Cor. iii. 6-10. Paul planted\u2026but God gave the increase.\n1 Cor. 3:18, 19. If any man thinketh himself to be wise, let him become a fool.\n1 Cor. 4.4. I know nothing against myself, yet I am not hereby justified.\n1 Cor. 4.7. What have ye that ye did not receive?\n1 Cor. 4.19. I will come to you, if the Lord will.\n9. The Apostle shows also his need of grace himself.\np. 468 1 Cor. 15:9, 10. By the grace of God I am what I am, etc.\n2 Cor. iii. 4-6. Our sufficiency is of God.\nGal. ii. 16. We have believed, that we might, be justified by faith.\nGal. 2.21. If righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead for nought.\nGal. 3:10, 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.\nGal. 3.24. The law our teacher to bring us to Christ.\nGal. 5.4. Ye are severed from Christ, ye that would be justified by the law.\nPhil. ii. 13. It is God that worketh in you.\n2 Thess. iii. 3. The Lord is faithful, He shall establish you.\n1 Tim. 6:20, 21. O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee.\nTit. iii. 4-7. The kindness and mercy of God our Saviour saved us.\n11. We now turn to the Gospels \u201cand supplement the flickering flame of the Apostolic light with the brightness of the lamp of Christ.\u201d\nMatt. v. 22. \u201cEvery man who is angry\u2026shall be in danger of the council.\u201d Which of us is not here condemned?\nMatt. 5:23, 24. \u201cFirst be reconciled to thy brother.\u201d Who is there that finds this command easy?\nMatt. 5.37. \u201cLet your speech be Yea, yea, Nay, nay.\u201d Who has ever kept this commandment? The Psalmist says Ps. cxvi. 11. All men are liars.\nMatt. vi. 34. \u201cBe not anxious for to-morrow.\u201d Do you fulfil this?\nMatt. 7.14. \u201cNarrow is the gate which leadeth to life.\u201d How can you say that the commandments are easy?\nLuke ix. 58. \u201cThe Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.\u201d This is interpreted by\nIs. xxviii. 12. \u201cReceive him that is weary, and this is my rest;\u201d and\nIsa. 66:1, 2. \u201cOn whom shall I rest but on him that is humble?\u201d Christ finds few on whom to rest. How then can His commands be said to be easy?\nMatt. 9:12, 13. \u201cI came not to call the righteous.\u201d \u201cThey that are whole need not the physician.\u201d Had the world not been full of sin, Christ would not have come. So\nPs. xii. 1. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth.\nPs. 14:1, 3. They are corrupt\u2026none doeth good.\nMatt. x. 9. \u201cGet you no gold\u2026nor shoes.\u201d Who has fulfilled this? Not even the Apostles, for\nActs xii. 8. The angel bids Peter to bind on his sandals.\nMatt. x. 22-34. Describes the persecutions of Christ\u2019s followers, and gives the command to take up the cross. Are these easy?\nMatt. 14.31. Even Peter\u2019s faith fails, and he begins to sink.\nMatt. 15:19, 20. Out of the heart came evil thoughts, etc.\nMatt. 16.25. Whosoever will lose his life will find it.\nMatt. 18.7. \u201cWoe to the man through whom stumbling cometh.\u201d But\nJames iii. 2. In many things we all stumble or err.\nPhil. ii. 21. All seek their own.\nMatt. xix. 21. The young lawyer had kept all the law, yet failed.\nMatt. 23.26-28. The woes on the Pharisees fall in their measure upon all.\nMatt. xxvi. 39. \u201cNot as I will, but as Thou wilt.\u201d Yet Critobulus says, by his own will he can do right.\nMark xiv. 37. \u201cCould ye not watch with me one hour?\u201d They could not.\nMark 6.5. He could do no mighty works because of their unbelief.\nMark 7.24. \u201cHe went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon.\u201d If Christ could not do as he wished, how can we?\nMark 9.5. Peter\u2019s request at the Transfiguration shows his ignorance.\nMark 13.32. Even the Son knows not all things; how then can we?\nMark 14.35. If it be possible. How can you say it is possible every hour to avoid sin?\nMark xvi. 14. Even the Apostles showed unbelief and hardness of heart.\n1 John v. 19. The world lieth in the evil one.\nLuke i. 20. Even Zacharias disbelieved God\u2019s message.\nMatt. xvii. 15. The disciples could not relieve the lunatic, because of unbelief.\nMark iv. 34. The disciple\u2019s dispute about precedence.\nLuke ix. 54. James and John show a vindictive spirit.\nxiv. 26, 27. The commands to forsake all and take up the cross are not easy.\nxvi. 15. That which is exalted among men is abomination in the sight of God.\nxvii. 1. It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come.\nxvii. 6. The Apostles\u2019 faith was not even like a grain of mustard seed.\nLuke xviii. 1. We are always to pray. This shows our weakness.\nLuke 18.27. Who, then, can be saved? It is possible, but to God only.\nLuke 22.24. The contest for precedence at the last supper.\nLuke 22:31, 32. Peter\u2019s faith almost overcome by Satan.\np. 469 Luke xxii. 43. Even Christ in his agony needs an angel to strengthen Him.\nLuke 22.46. Pray that ye enter not into temptation.\nJohn v. 30. Even Christ says, \u201cI cannot do anything by myself\u201d; and\nJohn 7.10. Was irresolute about going up to the Feast of Tabernacles.\nJohn 7.19. None of you doeth the law.\nJohn 8.3. None of the accusers of the woman taken in adultery were without sin. Christ wrote their names in the earth (Jerem. xvii. 13).\nJohn 10.8. All who came (not who were sent; Jerem. xiv. 15) before Christ were robbers.\nJohn 17.12. I kept them\u2014they did not keep themselves.\nActs xv. 39. Paul and Barnabas quarrelled.\nActs 16:6, 7. They were forbidden to preach where they chose.\n18. Even the Apostles, with their full light, show their dependence on grace.\nActs xvii. 30. The times before Christ were times of ignorance.\n1 Cor. iv. 19. I will come if the Lord will.\nJames ii. 10. To stumble in one point is to be guilty of all.\nJames 3.2. In many things we all stumble.\nJames 3.8. The tongue is a deadly poison.\nJames iv. 1. Wars arise from our lust. David indeed said,\nPs. xxvi. 2. \u201cExamine me and prove me,\u201d etc. This self-confidence led to his fall.\nPsa. 51.1. Have mercy on me, O God.\nPsa. 80.5. \u201cThou feedest us with the bread of tears.\u201d Similarly\nPs. 30:6, 7. I said I shall never be moved\u2026Thou didst hide Thy face.\nPsa. 32.5. I said I will confess my sin,\nPs. 37:5, 6. He shall make thy righteousness as the light.\nPsa. 37.39. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.\nPsa. 38.7. There is no soundness in my flesh.\nRom. vii. 18. In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.\nPs. xxxviii. 8. Vulgate. My loins are filled with deceits.\nPsa. 39.5. He hath made our days as handbreadths.\nPsa. 69.5. My sins are not hid from thee.\nPsa. 77.2. My soul refused to be comforted.\nPsa. 77.10. This is the changing of the right hand of the Most High. 5262\nPs. lxxxix. 2. Mercy shall be built up forever.\nPsa. 91.6. From \u201cthe thing 5263 that walketh in darkness\u201d who can be free? For\nPsa. 11.2. \u201cThe wicked bend their bow\u201d\u2014an image of the heretics.\nPsa. 92.14. Those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish.\nPs. 103:8, 10. The Lord is full of compassion.\n2 Sam. 8:13, 14. David receives the promises with the humble confession of his weakness. \u201cIs this the law of man, O God?\u201d\n2 Sam. 16.10. He humbles himself under Abishai\u2019s violence and Shimei\u2019s curse.\n2 Sam. 17.14. And is delivered only by God\u2019s confounding the counsel of Ahithophel.\n1 Kings xiv. 8. It was God who gave Jeroboam the kingdom.\n1 Kings xv. 11. Asa, though a good man, was faulty.\n1 Kings 19.4. Elijah fled from Jezebel.\nPs. cxviii. 6. The Lord is my keeper.\n2 Chron. xvii. 3. Jehoshaphat prospers because the Lord is with him. Yet\n2 Chron. 19.2. He is rebuked for joining with Ahab.\n2 Chron. xxii. 9. Ahaziah received burial among kings because descended from righteous Jehoshaphat.\n2 Kings 18:3, 4, 7. Hezekiah did great things, but only through the Lord\u2019s help.\n2 Kings 18.14. He gave the consecrated gold to the king of Assyria.\n22. Even the best kings of Judah were imperfect.\n2 Kings 20:1, 5. Hezekiah wept when death was at hand, and recovered through special mercy.\n2 Kings 20:13, 17. But he sinned in receiving the Babylonian envoys.\n2 Chron. xxxii. 26. He fell by the lifting up of his heart.\n2 Chron. 34.2. Josiah was a righteous man; yet\n2 Chr. 34:22, 23. He needed the aid of Huldah; and\n2 Chron. 35.22. He was slain through not heeding God\u2019s warning; and\n23. The prophets also are weak and sinful.\nLam. iv. 20. Jeremiah 5264 lamented his fall.\nNum. 20:10, 12. Moses is punished for his sin at Meribah. This is the meaning of Ps. cxli. 6. Vulgate. Their judges were swallowed up, joined to the Rock, etc.\np. 470 Hosea ii. 19. God in mercy forgives Israel\u2019s unfaithfulness.\nHos. 11.9. \u201cI will not enter into the city.\u201d Only the Holy One is not joined to the mass of ungodliness.\nAmos vi. 13. We turn righteousness into wormwood.\nJonah i. 14. The sailors confess that God is just in raising the storm.\nMicah vii. 2. The godly man is perished from the earth, etc.\nMic. 6.8. The command of justice, mercy, and a humble walk with God is only possible to humble faith, for\nPs. cxl. 6. \u201cThe wicked walk on every side,\u201d and\nJames iv. 6. God giveth grace to the humble.\nHabakkuk iii. 16. Let rottenness enter into my bones, if only I may rest, etc.\nZech. iii. 1. Joshua is represented as clothed in filthy garments, and is freed through God\u2019s mercy.\nBut Jovinian\u2019s heir says \u201cI am quite free from sin, I have no filthy garments, I am governed by my own will, I am greater than an Apostle. The Apostle does what he would not, and what he would he does not; but I do what I will, and what I would not I do not: the kingdom of heaven has been prepared for me, or rather I have by my virtuous life prepared it for myself. Adam was subject to punishment, and so are others who think themselves guilty after the similitude of Adam\u2019s transgressions; I and my crew alone have nothing to fear. Other men shut up in their cells and who never see women, because, poor creatures! they do not listen to my words, are tormented with desire: crowds of women may surround me, I feel no stirring of concupiscence. For to me may be applied the 5265 words, \u2018Holy stones are rolled upon the ground,\u2019 and the reason why I am insensible to the attraction of sin is that in the power of free will I carry Christ\u2019s trophy about with me.\u201d But let us listen to God 5266 proclaiming by the mouth of Isaiah: \u201cO my people, they which call thee happy cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.\u201d Who is the greatest subverter of the people of God\u2014he who, relying on the power of free choice, despises the help of the Creator, and is satisfied with following his own will, or he who dreads to be judged by the details of the Lord\u2019s commandments? To men of this sort, God 5267 says, \u201cWoe unto you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight.\u201d Isaiah, if we follow the Hebrew, laments 5268 and says, \u201cWoe is me because I have been silent, because I am a man of unclean lips: and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the Lord of Hosts.\u201d He for his meritorious and virtuous life enjoyed the sight of God, and conscious of his sins confessed that he had unclean lips. Not that he had said anything repugnant to the will of God, but because, either from fear, or from a deep sense of shame, he had been 5269 silent, and had not reproved the errors of the people so freely as a prophet should. When do we sinners rebuke offenders, we who flatter wealth and accept the persons of sinners for the sake of filthy lucre? for we shall hardly say that we speak with perfect frankness to men of whose assistance we stand in need. Suppose that we do not such things as they, suppose we keep ourselves from every form of sin; to refrain from speaking the truth is certainly sin. In the Septuagint, however, we do not find the words \u201cbecause I have been silent,\u201d but \u201cbecause I was pricked,\u201d that is with the consciousness of sin; and thus the words of the 5270 prophet are fulfilled. \u201cMy life was turned into misery while I was pierced by the thorn.\u201d He was pricked by the thorn of sin: you are decked with the flowers of virtue. 5271 \u201cThe moon shall be ashamed, and the sun confounded, when the Lord shall punish the host of heaven on high.\u201d This is explained by another passage. 5272 \u201cEven the stars are unclean in His sight,\u201d and again, 5273 \u201cHe chargeth His angels with folly.\u201d The moon is ashamed, the sun is confounded, and the sky covered with sackcloth, and shall we fearlessly and joyously, as though we were free from all sin, face the majesty of the Judge, when the mountains shall melt away, that is, all who are lifted up by pride, and all the host of the heavens, whether they be stars, or angelic powers, when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their host shall fade away like leaves?\nThe argument is now carried on mostly by the quotation of passages from the prophets:\nIs. xxxiv. 5. \u201cMy sword hath drunk its fill in the heavens. It will come down in Edom.\u201d How much more is there wrath against sin on earth! Edom means blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom (1 Cor. xv. 50).\nIsa. 45.9. Woe unto him who striveth with his Maker.\nIsa. 53.6. We have all gone astray like sheep.\nEzek. xvi. 14. Jerusalem is perfect in beauty; yet\np. 471 Ezek. 16:60, 61. Her salvation is not of merit but of mercy.\nNahum i. 3. Though he cleanse, 5274 yet will he not make thee innocent.\n1 Cor. xv. 9. I am not worthy\u2014because I persecuted.\nEzek. 20:43, 44. When pardoned, Jerusalem will still remember her sin.\nLet us confess with shame that these are the utterances of men who have already won their reward; sinners upon earth, and still in our frail and mortal bodies let us adopt the language of the saints in heaven who have even been endowed with incorruption and immortality. 5275 \u201cAnd ye say the way of the Lord is not equal, when your ways are not equal.\u201d It is Pharisaic pride to attribute to the injustice of the Creator sins which are due to our own will, and to slander His righteousness. The sons of Zadok, the priests of the spiritual temple, that is the Church, 5276 go not out to the people in their ministerial robes, lest by human intercourse they may lose their holiness and be defiled. And do you suppose that you, in the thick of the throng, and an ordinary individual, are pure?\n26. Let us hastily run through the prophet Jeremiah:\nJer. 5:1, 2. Is there any that doeth justly, etc.\nJer. 7:21, 22. God rejects the sacrifices, because of the worshippers\u2019 evil lives.\nJer. 13.23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin?\nJerem. xvii. 14. \u201cHeal me, O Lord.\u201d Otherwise Jeremiah could only say, as in the text next quoted,\nJer. 20:14, 17, 18. Cursed be the day wherein I was born, etc.\nJer. 23.23. Am I a God at hand, etc. So conscious is he of God\u2019s power.\nJer. 24:6, 7. God, not they themselves, will plant them, etc.\nJer. 26.21-24. Jeremiah needed the help of Ahikam. How much more do we need that of God.\nJerem. xxxi. 34. The promise of the new covenant.\nJer. 32.30. The children of Israel have perpetually done evil.\nJer. 37:18, 19. Yet Jeremiah himself trembled before Zedekiah.\nJer. 30:10, 11. Fear not, O Jacob, for I am with thee.\nAmos vi. 14. \u201cWe have taken us horns by our own strength.\u201d These are the boasts of heretics. But\nIs. xvi. 6. His strength (Moab\u2019s) is by no means according to his arrogance. 5277\nJer. 1:7, 20. Men\u2019s sin will only be abolished because God is gracious to them. If you will abandon your assertions of natural ability, I will concede that your whole contention stands good, but only by the gift of God.\nLam. iii. 26-42. It is good that a man should quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.\nDan. iv. 17. The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.\nPs. 13:7, 8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust.\nIs. xl. 17. He doeth what He will in heaven and in earth.\nThe words of 2 Maccabees v. 17, which say that Antiochus Epiphanes had power to overthrow the Temple, \u201cbecause of the multitude of sins,\u201d are quoted in connection with the confessions of Daniel.\nDan. ix. 5. \u201cWe have sinned and dealt perversely,\u201d which is shown by\nDan. 9.20. \u201cWhile I was yet praying,\u201d etc., to be a personal, not only a national confession.\nDan. 9.24. The prophecy of the seventy weeks shows that the prophet looked to God alone for the establishment of righteousness.\nSo then, until that end shall come, and this corruptible and mortal shall put on incorruption and immortality, we must be liable to sin; not, as you falsely say, owing to the fault of our nature and creation, but through the frailty and fickleness of human will, which varies from moment to moment; because God alone changeth not. You ask in what respects Abel, Enoch, Joshua the son of Nun, or Elisha, and the rest of the saints have sinned. There is no need to look for a knot in a bulrush; I freely confess I do not know; and I only wish that, when sins are manifest, I might still be silent. 5278 \u201cI know nothing against myself,\u201d says St. Paul, \u201cyet am I not hereby justified.\u201d 5279 \u201cMan looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.\u201d Before Him no man is justified. And so Paul says confidently, 5280 \u201cAll have sinned, and come short of the glory of God\u201d; and 5281 \u201cGod hath shut up all under sin that He may have mercy upon all\u201d; and similarly in other passages which we have repeated again and again.\nThere was an early and widespread belief, afterwards confirmed by a decree of the Council of Ephesus, that the birth of Christ was by miracle, not by a true and proper parturition.\n467:5258 467:5259 467:5260 467:5261 469:5262\nVulgate, Rev. V. I will remember the years, etc. Marg.\u2014The right hand of the Most High doth change.\n469:5263 469:5264\nThe words of the Lamentations refer to Zedekiah.\n470:5265\nZech. ix. 16, Sept. Correctly, they (God\u2019s people) shall be as the stones of a crown lifting themselves up (or glittering) upon His land.\n470:5266 470:5267 470:5268 470:5269\nThat is, according to Jerome\u2019s rendering of the Hebrew. R.V. has \u201cI am undone.\u201d For the Sept. rendering see below.\n470:5270 470:5271 470:5272 470:5273 471:5274\nMundans: not in the Vulgate nor in A.V.\n471:5275 471:5276 471:5277\nThis is the sense of the Vulgate, but not the exact words.\n471:5278 471:5279 471:5280 471:5281","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. VI: Treatises.: Book II","type":"page"}