Bronteksten
Zeventiende gesprek, tweede van abt Jozef: Het nemen van besluiten
(Johannes Cassianus)
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INHOUDSOPGAVE
- Een slapeloze nacht
- De bezorgheid van abt Germanus bij de gedachte aan onze belofte
- Mijn voorstel hieromtrent
- Vraag van abt Josef en ons antwoord, omtrent de oorsprong van onze bekommernis
- Uiteenzetting van abt Germanus, waarom wij enerzijds liever in Egypte bleven en anderzijds ons genoodzaakt voelden naar Syrië terug te keren
- Vraag van abt Josef: of wij in Egypte een grotere vooruitgang zouden vinden dan in Syrië
- Antwoord: het verschil van de vorming die men in de beide provincies ontvangt
- Volmaakte mensen moeten nooit absolute besluiten nemen. Kunnen zij zonder zonde het eenmaal beslotene verbreken?
- That very often it is more beneficial to alter one's decisions than to stick to them
- Our question about our anxiety over the vow that was made in the cenobium in Syria
- The reply, that the intention of the doer rather than the outcome of the affair must be considered
- That good results are of no benefit to those who have started off wickedly, nor do bad actions harm the good
- De redenen van onze eed
- Uiteenzetting van de grijsaard, dat men zonder kwaad de orde van z'n handelen kan veranderen, mits men zich richt op het doen van het goede
- A question as to whether it is sinful that our knowledge offers an occasion for lying to those who are weak
- The reply, that the truth of Scripture should not be altered because of scandal taken by the weak
- That holy persons have made good use of lying as if it were hellebore
- An objection, that only those who lived under the law used lying blamelessly
- The reply, that permission to lie, which was not granted even in the Old Testament, was uprightly made use of by many
- That very often the apostles themselves considered a lie beneficial and the truth harmful
- Whether one's hidden abstinence should be divulged to questioners without lying, and whether what has once been refused should be accepted
- An objection, that one's abstinence should indeed be concealed, but that what has once been refused must not be accepted
- The reply, that obstinacy with regard to this decision is unreasonable
- How Abba Piamun chose to conceal his abstinence
- Texts from Scripture concerning promises that have been changed
- Heiligen mogen niet koppig of halsstarrig zijn
- Vraag: of met bovengenoemde uitspraak dit Schriftwoord in strijd is: Ik heb gezworen, ik heb vastgesteld (Ps. 119,106)?
- Antwoord: in welke zaken men een besluit onveranderlijk dient vast te houden en in welke zaken men er zonodig van af moet zien
- How to keep concealed what must be concealed
- Men moet zich niet verbinden in zaken die de gang van het gewone leven betreffen
1. EEN SLAPELOZE NACHT
Toen het vorige gesprek was beëindigd en inmiddels de stilte van de nacht was aangebroken, werden we door de heilige abt Josef naar een aparte cel geleid voor onze nachtrust. Maar omdat er door zijn woorden als een vuur in ons hart was ontbrand, brachten we die hele nacht slapeloos door. We gingen de cel uit, en ongeveer honderd passen ervan verwijderd gingen wij zitten, op een afgelegen plek. Mede door het nachtelijk duister was de gelegenheid gunstig voor een vertrouwelijk en stil gesprek. Zodra we dan ook gezeten waren, nam abt Germanus met een zware zucht het woord.
2. DE BEZORGHEID VAN ABT GERMANUS BIJ DE GEDACHTE AAN ONZE BELOFTE
1. Wat doen wij? Sprak hij. We bevinden ons in de greep van een groot gevaar, in een zeer netelige toestand. Van de ene kant leert ons de manier zelf van denken en leven van de heiligen hier onmiskenbaar, wat het nuttigst is voor de vooruitgang van ons geestelijk leven, maar van de andere kant staat de belofte die wij onze oversten hebben gedaan, ons niet toe te kiezen wat goed voor ons is.
2. We zouden door het voorbeeld van zo hoogstaande en grote mensen gevormd kunnen worden tot een volmaakter leven en ideaal, als niet onze afspraak en onze belofte ons onder druk zetten om terug te keren naar ons klooster. En als wij eenmaal daar teruggekeerd zijn, dan zullen ze ons nooit meer de gelegenheid geven om nog hierheen te komen. Maar als wij liever aan ons verlangen voldoen en hier blijven, wat doen we dan met de trouw aan onze eed? We hebben onze oversten gezworen, zeer snel terug te keren, teneinde verlof te krijgen om, zij het slechts inderhaast, de heiligen en de kloosters van deze provincie af te reizen.
3. Zo waren wij onrustig en konden niet vinden wat wij moesten besluiten voor ons welzijn; met onze zuchten alleen getuigden wij van de nood van onze situatie: we klaagden onze slappe houding aan, we verfoeiden onze aangeboren beschroomdheid. Omdat die last ons bezwaarde, waren we niet in staat geweest om anders te weerstaan aan de verzoeken van hen die ons wilden weerhouden, dan door de belofte van een zeer spoedige terugkeer - tegen ons belang en ons voornemen.We betreurden het, geleden te hebben aan het kwaad van die schaamte waarvan gezegd wordt: Er is een schaamte die zonde brengt (Sir. 4,25).
3. MIJN VOORSTEL HIEROMTRENT
Toen sprak ik: laat de raad, of liever het gezag, van de grijsaard onze angst bekorten. We moeten hem onze zorgen voorleggen, en laat wat zijn antwoord beslist, als een goddelijk en hemels antwoord een einde maken aan al onze onrust. Want dat een antwoord uit de mond van die heilige ons door de Heer wordt gegeven, daaraan mogen we niet twijfelen, én om zijn verdiensten én om ons geloof. Door Gods gaven hebben vaak gelovigen van onwaardigen en ongelovigen van heiligen goede raad verkregen, die de Heer schenkt ofwel om de verdienste van degene die hem geeft ofwel om het geloof van degene die hem vraagt. Deze woorden werden door de heilige abt Germanus met zo grote vreugde aangenomen, als had ik ze niet uit mezelf, maar op ingeving van de Heer uitgesproken. Wij wachtten een ogenblik op de komst van de grijsaard voor het reeds nabije uur van de nachtelijke gebedsbijeen-komst. We ontvingen hem met de gewone begroeting, en nadat het gebruikelijk aantal gebeden en psalmen was volbracht, gingen we zoals gewoonlijk zitten op de matjes waarop we ook voor de nachtrust gelegen hadden.
4. VRAAG VAN ABT JOSEF EN ONS ANTWOORD, OMTRENT DE OORSPRONG VAN ONZE BEKOMMERNIS
De eerbiedwaardige Josef zag dat wij terneergeslagen waren en giste dat dit niet zonder reden het geval was. Hij sprak ons toe met deze woorden van de aartsvader Josef: Waarom is uw gezicht zo somber vandaag? (Gen. 40,7).Waarop wij zeiden: We hebben niet, zoals die dienaren van Farao in de gevangenis, een droom gezien zonder dat er iemand is die hem uitlegt, maar we hebben een slapeloze nacht doorgebracht, en er is niemand om de last van onze onrust te verlichten, tenzij de Heer hem door uw oordeel af wil nemen. Toen sprak hij die door zijn verdienste en door zijn naam de deugd van de aartsvader opriep: Bestaat er dan geen genezing van 's mensen gedachten door de Heer? Breng ze naar voren. Gods goedertierenheid is machtig om u overeenkomstig uw geloof door mijn raad een geneesmiddel te verschaffen.
5. UITEENZETTING VAN ABT GERMANUS, WAAROM WIJ ENERZIJDS LIEVER IN EGYPTE BLEVEN EN ANDERZIJDS ONS GENOODZAAKT VOELDEN NAAR SYRIË TERUG TE KEREN
1. Hierop sprak Germanus: Wij hadden gedacht dat wij na het zien van uwe heiligheid, vervuld van geestelijke vreugde en vooral ook vooruitgang, naar ons klooster zouden terugkeren om datgene wat wij in uw leerschool zouden ontvangen hebben, na onze terugkeer tenminste in bescheiden mate na te volgen. Dat heeft dan ook de liefde voor onze oversten ons hun doen beloven, overtuigd als wij waren de verhevenheid van uw leven en uw leer in dat klooster enigszins na te kunnen volgen. Maar terwijl wij meenden dat dit alles ons grote vreugde zou brengen, worden we integendeel door ondraaglijke pijn verteerd, omdat we zien dat we in deze situatie niet datgene kunnen hebben wat ons welzijn zou dienen.
2. Van beide kanten worden we in het nauw gedreven. Als we de belofte willen nakomen die wij in de grot waarin onze Heer uit de schoot van de Maagd stralend werd geboren, hebben gedaan met Hemzelf als getuige, dan ondervinden we de grootste schade voor ons geestelijk leven. Maar als wij onze verbintenis vergeten en in deze streken blijven en onze eed ten achter willen stellen bij het belang van onze volmaaktheid, dan zijn wij bang in de gevaarlijke afgrond te vallen van de leugen en de meineed.Snel op en neer reizen om aan onze eed te voldoen, en daarna onmiddellijk hierheen terugkomen, is al evenmin een oplossing voor onze zorgen. Zeker, we zouden zo, zij het wat traag, onze belofte volbrengen, - al is voor hen die naar geestelijke vooruitgang en deugd streven, zelfs een klein uitstel al nadelig en gevaarlijk. Maar we weten dat zowel het gezag als ook de liefde van onze oversten ons zo onverbrekelijk zouden binden dat ons daarna volstrekt geen verlof meer gegeven zou worden om nog hierheen terug te komen.
6 .VRAAG VAN ABT JOSEF: OF WIJ IN EGYPTE EEN GROTERE VOORUITGANG ZOUDEN VINDEN DAN IN SYRIË
Hierop zweeg de zalige Josef een ogenblik. Bent u er zeker van, sprak hij toen, dat u in deze streek een grotere vooruitgang op geestelijk gebied zult kunnen vinden?
7. ANTWOORD: HET VERSCHIL VAN DE VORMING DIE MEN IN DE BEIDE PROVINCIES ONTVANGT
Germanus: Wij zijn om hun leer de grootste dankbaarheid verschuldigd aan hen die ons van jongsaf geleerd hebben het grote te beproeven en die ons met de smaak van het goede dat in hen was, een buitengewone dorst naar de volmaaktheid hebben ingegeven. Maar als ons oordeel enig vertrouwen verdient: wij maken geen vergelijking tussen wat hier is en de lessen die wij daar ontvingen, om nog te zwijgen van de onnavolgbare zuiverheid van uw leven, die, dunkt ons, niet enkel uit de gestrengheid van uw geest en uw levenswijze voortkomt, maar ook door de weldaad van deze streek wordt bevorderd. Daarom lijdt het voor ons geen twijfel dat om uw verheven volmaaktheid na te volgen, dit spoed-onderricht niet kan volstaan. We hebben daarbij de hulp nodig van een voortgezet verblijf en een langdurige vorming zal met haar dagelijkse lessen de indolentie van ons hart naar vermogen af moeten schudden.
8. VOLMAAKTE MENSEN MOETEN NOOIT ABSOLUTE BESLUITEN NEMEN. KUNNEN ZIJ ZONDER ZONDE HET EENMAAL BESLOTENE VERBREKEN?
1. Josef:Het is normaalen volmaakten geheel in overeenstemmingmet onze levensstaatdat wij ietswat weonder belofteop ons nemen,metterdaaduitvoeren.Daarommoet een monnikniets overijldbesluiten,om nietgedwongen te zijnte volbrengenwat hijonvoorzichtig heeft beloofdof om geenbelofteschennerte zijnals hij om een hoger motiefop zijn woord terugkomt.
2. Maarhet gaat er ons nuniet zozeer om,over de toestand van gezondheidte sprekenals welover het genezen van een ongesteldheid.De vraag is nietwat uvroegerhad moeten doen;we zoekengoede raadvoor uomuit dit levensgevaarlijkeslopte geraken.Welnu,als geen enkelebandons beperkt,geen enkele voorwaardeons bindt,dan geven we,gesteld voor de keusvan verschillende gunstige mogelijkheden,de voorkeur aan wat onshet meest te pas komt.Maarstaan wijvoor nadeligesituaties,dan moeten we de nadelen vergelijkenen het minstergekiezen.
3. Voorzoverhet nu uit uwuiteenzettingduidelijk is geworden,steltuw onbezonnen verbintenisaan een plaatsuvoor het feitdatuin beide gevallenernstig nadeelzultlijden.Daaromzal uw keusnaar die kantmoeten gaanwaarde schade het meest dragelijkisof waar die schadedoor middel van de voldoeninggemakkelijker ongedaan wordt gemaakt.Indien u dusmeentdat uw geestuit uw verblijf hiergrotergewinhaaltdanhetgeenuvondin het leven in uw klooster,en indien uuw belofteniet zonder verliesvan zeer grote voordelenkuntvervullen,kunt ubeterde schadevan een leugenlijden,van een niet nagekomen belofte,- een schadedie,eenmaal geleden,zich niet meer herhaalten die uit zichzelfook geen anderezondenvoortbrengt, -dandatudagelijksen zonder eindehet nadeelheeftvan een lauw leven, zoals u zelf zegt.
4. Want het is vergeeflijk,ja zelfs loffelijk,een onvoorzichtig genomen besluitte veranderenindien heteen overgang isnaar iets beters.Het herzienvan een belofte waaraan gebreken kleven,isnietals een tekort aan standvastigheidte beschouwen,maarals een verbetering van de lichtzinnigheid.Dit alleskan ookduidelijkmet getuigenissenuit de Schriftenworden aangetoond.Zij laten zien hoe voor velenhet vasthouden aan hun besluiteneen dodelijke afloop had,en hoe daarentegenvoor velenhet afzien van hun besluitengunstigen heilzaamis geweest.
9. THAT VERY OFTEN IT IS MORE BENEFICIAL TO ALTER ONE'S DECISIONS THAN TO STICK TO THEM
The examples of the holy apostle Peter and of Herod bear very clear witness to each of these situations. For the former, in departing from the words of the promise that he had made with something like the force of an oath when he said: You shall never wash my feet (Joh. 13,8), was promised undying fellowship with Christ, whereas he would certainly have been deprived of the grace of this blessedness had he clung obstinately to his words. But the latter, very cruelly insisting on holding to his thoughtless oath, was the murderer of the Lord's precursor and, in the vain fear of breaking his oath, brought upon himself damnation and the torment of everlasting death (vgl. Mt. 14,3-10).In every case, then, the end is the thing to be taken into account, and in accordance with it the direction of our chosen orientation is to be set.If, thanks to having received better advice, we saw that we were on the wrong course, it would be preferable to eliminate the unsuitable situation and to move toward what was better rather than, by sticking persistently to what we have promised, to involve ourselves in more serious sins.
10. OUR QUESTION ABOUT OUR ANXIETY OVER THE VOW THAT WAS MADE IN THE CENOBIUM IN SYRIA
Germanus:Inasmuch as this touches on our desire, which came upon us for the sake of a spiritual good, we wished to be edified by your constant companionship. For if we returned to our cenobium we would not only fall away from this sublime orientation but it is certain that, because of the mediocrity of that way of life, we would suffer numerous losses as wel1. But the gospel command frightens us terribly: Let your speech be yes, yes, no, no. Whatever is more than these is from the evil one (Mt. 5,37).For we believe that the transgression of so great a precept can be compensated for by no righteous act, and that what has once been badly begun cannot come out right in the end.
11. THE REPLY, THAT THE INTENTION OF THE DOER RATHER THAN THE OUTCOME OF THE AFFAIR MUST BE CONSIDERED
Joseph:In every affair, as we have said, it is not the outcome of the work but rather the will of the worker that must be looked at, nor should who has done what be the first thing to be inquired into but rather with what intention he did it. Thus we shall find that some people have been condemned for deeds out of which good later arose and, by the same token, that certain others have attained to the highest righteousness by blameworthy actions. And neither has a beneficia! result been of any use to the person who, having approached a thing with a bad intention, did not wish to bring about the good that ensued but something dif-ferent, nor has a blameworthy beginning been harmful to the per-son who accepted the necessity of a faulty start not out of disdain for God or with the intention of wrongdoing but for the sake of a necessary and holy end.
12. THAT GOOD RESULTS ARE OF NO BENEFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE STARTED OFF WICKEDLY, NOR DO BAD ACTIONS HARM THE GOOD
1. And, by way of casting light on these matters with examples from Holy Scripture, what could have been of greater value to the whole world than the saving remedy of the Lord's pas-sion? And yet not only was it useless to the traitor at whose connivance it is known to have occurred but it was so prejudicial to him that it is unhesitatingly declared of him: It would have been good for him if that man had not been born (Mt. 26,24). For the fruit of his work was not to be repaid him in accordance with what resulted but in accordance with what he wanted to do and believed that he was going to accomplish.
2. Again, what is more wicked than a deceptive act and a lie perpetrated even against a stranger, to say nothing of one's brother or father? Yet not only did the patriarch Jacob incur no condemnation or blame for these things, but he was even rewarded with a blessed and everlasting inheritance.Quite rightly so, because he sought the blessing intended for the firstborn not out of covetousness for present gain but in the expectation of everlasting holiness, while the other one handed over to death the Redeemer of all not with a view to human salvation but because of the sin of avarice.
3. Therefore, the fruit of each one's activity was ascribed to him in accordance with the aim of his mind and the intention of his will, by which neither the one had determined to bring about a fraud nor the other salvation. For there is justly repaid to each one by way of recompense what he was principally thinking of in his mind, not what resulted from that, whether for good or for ill, contrary to the will of the doer. Hence the most righteous Judge considered excusable and even praiseworthy the perpetrator of that lie, because without it he would have been unable to acquire the blessing of the firstborn. Nor should what arose out of a desire for a blessing be referred to as a sin.
4. Otherwise the aforesaid patriarch would have been not only wicked with regard to his brother but also deceptive and sacrilegious with regard to his father if, having had another way of acquiring the grace of that blessing, he had preferred to seek this one, to the ruin and harm of his brother. You see, then, that God does not search into the outcome of the work but into the aim of the mind.Maar laten we, na dit alles gesteld te hebben, terugkeren tot uw kwestie, waarom juist al het voorafgaande is gezegd. Ik zou graag hebben dat u mij eerst zegt waarom u door die belofte gebonden bent.
13. DE REDENEN VAN ONZE EED
Germanus: De eerste reden was, zoals we gezegd hebben, dat we vreesden onze oversten te bedroeven en tegen hun bevelen in te gaan. De tweede was dat we volkomen onbezonnen geloofden dat we al wat we bij u aan volmaakts en groots zouden zien of horen, na onze terugkeer in ons klooster, zelf zouden kunnen beoefenen.
14. UITEENZETTING VAN DE GRIJSAARD, DAT MEN ZONDER KWAAD DE ORDE VAN Z'N HANDELEN KAN VERANDEREN, MITS MEN ZICH RICHT OP HET DOEN VAN HET GOEDE
1. Josef: Zoals ik al zei: de gerichtheid van de geest beloont of veroordeelt de mens, volgens dit woord: Hun gedachten zullen hen over en weer beschuldigen of vrijspreken, op de dag dat God de verborgen daden van de mensen zal oordelen (Rom. 2,15-16). En dit woord: Ik zal komen om hun werken en gedachten te verzamelen, met alle volkeren en talen (Jes. 66,18).Welnu, ik zie dat u uit verlangen naar volmaaktheid de band van deze eed op u genomen hebt, en u dacht die volmaaktheid op deze manier te bereiken. Maar nu uw oordeel is gerijpt, konstateert u dat u zo niet tot die hoogte kunt geraken.
2. Dan doet al wat van dat besluit schijnt af te wijken, er niet toe, als er maar geen verandering volgt van uw oorspronkelijke opzet. Verandering van gemeenschap is nog geen opgeven van de arbeid en het kiezen van een korter en direkter weg betekent geen luiheid van de reiziger. Zo is ook in dit geval het herzien van een onvoorzichtig besluit geen voorbijgaan aan uw gelofte te noemen. Al wat gedaan wordt uit liefde voor God en uit vroomheid, die een belofte inhoudt van levendat nu is en toekomstig (lTim. 4,8), hoezeer het aanvankelijk ook tegen de borst kan stuiten en hard kan lijken, verdient niet alleen geen enkel verwijt, maar integendeel de hoogste lof.
3. Derhalve doet het verbreken van een onvoorzichtige belofte er niets toe, zolang in elk geval de opzet, de gerichtheid op de liefde, gehandhaafd blijft. In al ons handelen gaat het er immers om dat we God een zuiver hart kunnen aanbieden, en als u dat hier op deze plaats gemakkelijker te verwezenlijken acht, dan zal het wijzigen van een afgeperste overeenkomstu geen kwaad doen. Want zo bereikt u, - en dat komt met de wil van de Heer overeen, - sneller het doel waar het om gaat, de zuiverheid, waarom het uw belofte toch begonnen was.
15. A QUESTION AS TO WHETHER IT IS SINFUL THAT OUR KNOWLEDGE OFFERS AN OCCASION FOR LYING TO THOSE WHO ARE WEAK
Germanus: As far as the force of the words (which were reasonably and carefully weighed) is concerned, we could have dispelled the scruple about our promise without any difficulty whatsoever, except that we are terribly frightened by the fact that by these examples an occasion for lying seems to be offered to weaker persons if they should ever find out that a trust could legitimately be broken, especially since this very thing is forbidden in such menacing language by the prophet, when he says: You will destroy all those who speak a lie (Ps. 5,6).And: The mouth that lies will slay the soul (Wijsh. 1,11).
16. THE REPLY, THAT THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE SHOULD NOT BE ALTERED BECAUSE OF SCANDAL TAKEN BY THE WEAK
1. Joseph:There can be no lack of occasions and causes of destruction for those who are going to be destroyed and who, indeed, desire to perish. For the texts whereby the wickedness of heretics is encouraged, the infidelity of the jews is hardened, and proud Gentile wisdom is offended must not be set aside and utterly eradicated from the body of Scripture.Rather, to be sure, they must be devoutly believed, fïrmly maintained, and preached according to the rule of truth.
2. Therefore we must not, because of another's infidelity, reject the oikonomiai - that is, the dispensations - of the prophets and holy persons which Scripture contains. Otherwise, while believing that we must descend to their weakness, we shall be stained by the crime not only of lying but even of sacrilege. But, as we have said, we should acknowledge those things as historically true and explain how they were devoutly accomplished.
3. For those, however, who are of a wicked disposition, the possibility of lying will not hereby be impeded, even if we should make an effort either to deny completely or to weaken with allegorical interpretations the truth of the things that we are going to say or that we have said. For how will the authority of these texts harm those for whom the corruption of the will alone is enough for sinning?
17. THAT HOLY PERSONS HAVE MADE GOOD USE OF LYING AS IF IT WERE HELLEBORE
1. And so a lie is to be thought of and used as if it were hellebore. If it is taken when a deadly disease is imminent it has a healthful effect, but taken when there is no urgent need it is the cause of immediate death. For we read that even men who were holy and most approved by God made such good use of lying that they not only did not commit sin thereby but even acquired the highest righteousness. If deceit were capable of conferring glory on them, would truth, on the other hand, have brought them anything but condemnation?This was the case with Rahab. Scripture not only recalls nothing virtuous about her but even speaks of her immorality. Yet for her lie alone, whereby she chose to conceal the spies rather than betray them, she deserved to share an eternal blessing with the people of God .
2. If she had chosen to speak the truth or to be concerned for the safety of her people, there is no doubt that she and her whole household would not have escaped the approaching destruction and that she would not have deserved to be included among those responsible for the Lord's birth, to be numbered on the roll of the patriarchs, and, through her offspring, to beget the Savior of all. Then there is Delilah, who was concerned for the wellbeing of her people and who betrayed the truth that she had spied out. She obtained everlasting perdition in exchange for this, and left to everyone nothing but the memory of her sin.
3. When some grave danger is connected with speaking the truth, therefore, the refuge of lying must be resorted to, yet in such a way that we are bitten by the healthful guilt of a humbled conscience. But when no circumstance of great urgency presses, every precaution must be taken to avoid lying as if it were something deadly. It is like the potion of hellebore that we were speak-ing of, which is healthful indeed if it is only taken when an unavoidable and deadly sickness is imminent. But if it is taken when the body is enjoying complete and undisturbed health, its destructive force immediately seeks out and possesses the vitals.
4. This is very clearly evident with respect to Rahab of Jericho and the patriarch Jacob. Of the two of them, she would have been unable to escape death and he to attain the blessing of the firstborn otherwise than by this remedy. For God is not the overseer and judge of our words and deeds alone but also the one who looks into our intention and aim.
5. If he sees that something has been done or promised by someone for the sake of eternal salvation or with a view to divine contemplation, even if it appears to human beings to be hard and wicked, he nonetheless perceives the inner devotion of the heart and judges not the sound of the words but the intent of the will, because it is the end of the work and the disposition of the doer that must be considered. In accordance with this, as has already been said, one person can be justifïed even when lying, whereas another can commit a sin deserving everlasting death by telling the truth.With this end in mind the patriarch Jacob himself was not afraid to counterfeit his brother's hairy body by wrapping himself up in skins, praiseworthily going along with the lie that his mother inspired.
6. For he saw that in this way greater benefits would be conferred on him - those of a blessing and of righteousness - than by holding to candor. He had no doubt that the stain of this lie would be instantly washed away by the outpouring of his father's blessing, that it would be quickly removed like a kind of little cloud by the breath of the Holy Spirit, and that more abundant and worthy rewards would be conferred on him by this dissimulation than by the unvarnished truth.
18. AN OBJECTION, THAT ONLY THOSE WHO LIVED UNDER THE LAW USED LYING BLAMELESSLY
1. Germanus: No wonder that these dispensations were uprightly made use of in the Old Testament and that holy men sometimes lied in praiseworthy or at least in pardonable fashion, since we see that far greater things were permitted them because it was a time of beginnings. For what is there to wonder at that when the blessed David was fleeing Saul and Ahimelech the priest asked him: Why are you alone, and no one is with you?, he replied and said: The king gave me a commission and said: Let no one know the reason why you were sent, for I have also appointed my servants to such and such a place (1Sam. 21,3)? And again: Do you have a spear or a sword at hand? For I did not bring my sword and my weapons with me because the king's business was urgent (1Sam. 21,9)? Or what happened when he was brought to Achish, the king of Gath, and made believe that he was insane and raging, and changed his countenance before them, and feil down between their hands, and dashed himself against the door of the gate, and his spittle ran down his beard (1Sam. 21,14)?For, after all, they lawfully enjoyed flocks of wives and concubines, and no sin was imputed to them on this account. Besides that, they also frequently spilied their enemies' blood with their own hands, and this was held not only to be irreprehensible but even praiseworthy.
2. We see that, in the light of the Gospel, these things have been utterly forbidden, such that none of them can be committed without very serious sin and sacrilege. Likewise we believe that no lie, in however pious a form, can be made use of by anyone in a pardonable way, to say nothing of praiseworthily, according to the words of the Lord: Let your speech be yes, yes, no, no. Whatever is more than these is from the evil one (Mt. 5,37).The Apostle also agrees with this: Do not lie to one another (Ko1. 3,9).
19. THE REPLY, THAT PERMISSION TO LIE, WHICH WAS NOT GRANTED EVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, WAS UPRIGHTLY MADE USE OF BY MANY
1. Joseph: Now that the end of the ages is at hand and the multiplication of the human race has been completed, that ancient freedom with regard to many wives and concubines had rightly to be cut off as quite unnecessary, thanks to gospel perfection. For up until the coming of Christ it was proper for the blessing of those primordial words to be in force, according to which it was said: Increase and multiply and fïll the earth (Gen. 1,28).
2. Therefore it was most just that from the stock of human fruitfulness, which flourished advantageously in the Synagogue in accordance with the dispensation of the age, blossoms of angelic virginity should spring forth and the aromatic fruits of chastity should grow sweedy in the Church.The whole text of the Old Testament shows clearly, how-ever, that lies were condemned even then, when it says: You will destroy all those who speak a lie (Ps. 5,7). And again: The bread of lying is sweet to a person, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel (Spr. 20,17). And the Lawgiver himself says: You shall avoid a lie (Ex.23,7).
3. But we have said that it was made use of in upright fashion only when some need or saving dispensation was linked to it, for which reason it was not to be condemned. Such is what you recalled in connection with King David, when he was fleeing the unjust persecution of Saul and used lying words to Ahimelech the priest, not with the intention of gain or with the desire to harm anyone but only in order to save himself from that most wicked persecution of his. For, indeed, he did not wish to stain his hands with the blood of the hostile king, who had so often been delivered over to him. As he said: May the Lord be gracious to me, lest I do this thing to my lord, the anointed of the Lord, and lay my hand on him, for he is the Lord's anointed (1Sam. 24,7).
4. Therefore, we ourselves cannot forgo these dispensations, which we read that holy men in the Old Testament practiced for the sake of the will of God or for the prefïguring of spiritual mysteries or for the salvation of some people, when necessity compels it, since we see that even the apostles themselves did not draw back from them when the consideration of some benefit demanded it. Leaving these latter aside for a short while, and after having first discussed what we still want to bring up from the Old Testament, we shall introduce them afterward in more appropriate fashion, so that it may the more easily be demonstrated that the righteous and holy men of both the New and the Old Testaments were in complete agreement with one another with respect to these devices.
5. For what shall we say about Hushai's pious deception of Absalom for the sake of King David's safety which, although formulated with good will by the deceiver and cheater and opposed to the well-being of the questioner, is approved by the text of divine Scripture that says: By the will of the Lord the useful advice of Ahitophel was undone, so that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom (2Sam. 17,14)?For what was accomplished with a right intention and pious judgment for a good purpose and conceived for the safety and religious victory of a man whose piety was pleasing to God, all by way of deception, could not be blamed.
6. And what shall we say about the deed of the woman who received those who had been sent to King David by the aforementioned Hushai and who hid them in a well, spreading a cover over the mouth of it and making believe that she was drying barley? They went on, she said, after having drunk a little water (2Sam. 17,20), and by this trick she saved them from the hands of their pursuers. Tell me, then, I ask you, what you would have done if a similar situation had arisen for you who now live under the Gospe1. Would you have chosen to conceal them by a similar lie, saying in the same way: They went on after having drunk a little water, thus fulfilling what is commanded: Spare not to save those who are being led to death and to redeem those who are being slain (Spr. 24,11 LXX)? Or by speaking the truth would you have given over those who were hidden to those who were going to kill them?
7. What, then, of the Apostle's words? Let no one seek what is his own but rather what is another's (1Kor. 10,24). And: Love does not seek what is its own but rather what belongs to others (1Kor. 13,5; Fi1. 2,4). And what he says about himself: I do not seek what is beneficial to me but what is beneficial to the many, so that they may be saved (1Kor. 10.33).For if we seek what is ours and wish to hold on obstinately to what is beneficial to us, we shall have to speak the truth even in difficulties of this sort, and we shall become guilty of another's death. But if we fulfill the apostolic command by placing what is helpful to others ahead of our own well-being, without a doubt the necessity of lying will be imposed upon us.
8. And therefore we shall be able neither to possess the bowels of love in their entirety nor to seek, according to the apostolic teach-ing, what belongs to others unless we choose to relax somewhat the things that pertain to our own strictness and perfection and to accommodate ourselves with a willing disposition to what is benefi-cial for others. Thus, along with the Apostle, we shall be weak to the weak, in order to be able to gain the weak (vgl. 1Kor. 9,22).
20. THAT VERY OFTEN THE APOSTLES THEMSELVES CONSIDERED A LIE BENEFICIAL AND THE TRUTH HARMFUL
1. Instructed by these examples, the blessed apostle James as well and all the chief rulers of the primitive Church urged the apostle Paul to stoop to simulation for the sake of the infirmity of the weak.They compelled him to be purified in accordance with the observance of the law, to shave his head and to offer vows, considering the short-term damage that arose from this hypocrisy to be nothing, and looking forward instead to the gains that would be made from his long career of preaching.
2. For the gain conferred on the apostle Paul by this strictness of his would not have been as great as the loss that all the pagans would have incurred by his sudden death. This is what certainly would have happened to the whole Church then if this beneficial and salutary hypocrisy had not saved him for the preaching of the Gospel. For out of necessity one may pardonably acquiesce in the evil of a lie when, as we have said, the damage done by speaking the truth and the benefit conferred on us from the truth could not offset the harm that would be caused.
3. The same blessed Apostle testifies in other words that he held to this point of view everywhere and always when he says: To the jews I became as a jew, in order to gain the Jews. To those who were under the law I was as one under the law, although I myself was not under the law, in order to gain those who were under the law. To those who were without the law I was as one without the law, although I was not without the law of God but under the law of Christ, in order to gain those who were without the law. To the weak I became weak, in order to gain the weak. I became all things to all people, in order to save all people (1Kor. 9,20-22). What is he demonstrating by this if not that he always accommodated himself and relaxed something of his rigorous perfection in accordance with the degree of weakness of those who were being instructed, and that he did not hold on to what his strictness seemed to demand but, instead, preferred what the well-being of the weak required?
4. And - in order to examine these same matters more carefully and to go over the signs of apostolic virtue one by one - suppose someone should ask how the blessed Apostle may be shown to have adapted his person to all people in all respects, and when he became as a jew to the jews. At the very moment when, while maintaining in his inmost being the point of view that he had declared to the Galatians, saying: Behold, I, Paul, tell you that,if you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing (Gal. 5,2), he nonetheless took on the aspect of Jewish superstition, so to speak, by circumcising Timothy (vg1. Hand. 16,3).
5. Again, when did he become to those who were under the law as one who was under the law? Namely, when James and all the elders of the Church were afraid lest the multitude of Jewish believers - indeed, of Judaizing Christians - that had received the faith of Christ in such a way as still to be held by the ritual of legal cere-monies might attack him. They aided him in his danger with this advice and counsel, and they said: You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and all of these are zealous for the law. But they have heard of you that you are teach-ing the jews who are among the Gentiles to depart from Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their sons (Hand. 21,20-21).And further on: Do what we tell you, therefore. There are four men among us who have a vow. Take them and sanctify yourself with them and pay for them to shave their heads, and everyone will know that what they have heard about you is false, and that you yourself walk in keeping with the law (Hand. 21,23-24).
6. Thus, for the salvation of these who were under the law he trampled for a while on his strict attitude, in keeping with which he had said: Through the law I am dead to the law, so that I may live to God (Gal. 2,19), and he was obliged to shave his head, to be purified in accordance with the law, and, following the Mosaic ritual, to offer his vows in the Temple.Do you also want to know when he became as one without the law for the salvation of those who were completely ignorant of God's law? Readhow he began his preaching when he was in the city of Athens, where the wickedness of the Gentiles flourished: As I was passing by, he said, I saw your idols and an altar on which was written: To an unknown god (Hand. 17,23a).
7. And when he had spoken of their superstition as if he were himself also without the law, he used that profane inscription as an opportunity to intro-duce faith in Christ, and he said: What you are worshiping unawares, then, I announce to you (Hand. 17,23b). After a few words, as if he were utterly ignorant of the divine law, he chose to bring forth a verse from a Gentile poet rather than a phrase from Moses or Christ, and he said: Just as some of your own poets have said: We are also his offspring (Hand. 17,28). And when he had thus approached them with their own texts, which they were unable to refute, thus confirming what was true from what was false, he went on and said: Since we are the offspring of God, then, we should not consider that the Divinity is like gold or silver or stone, a statue produced by the skill and reflection of a human being (Hand. 17,29).
8. He became weak to the weak, though, when, by way of concession and not by way of command, he permitted those who could not contain themselves to come together again (vgl. 1Kor. 7,5), and when he fed the Corinthians with milk rather than solid food (vgl. 1Kor. 3,2) and said that he was among them in weakness, fear, and great trembling (vgl. 1Kor. 2,3).But he became all things to all people, in order to save all people, when he said: The one who eatsshould not despise the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat should not judge the one who does eat (Rom. 14,3). And: The one who gives his virgin in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her does better (1Kor. 7,38). And elsewhere he says: Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I do not burn? (2Kor. 11,29).
9. And in this way he fulfilled what he had commanded the Corinthians when he said: Be without offense to the Jews and the Greeks and to the Church of Christ, just as I myself please everyone in all respects, not seeking what is beneficial to me but what is beneficial to the many, so that they may be saved (1Kor. 10,32-33). For it certainly would have been beneficial not to circumcise Timothy, not to shave his head, not to undergo Jewish purification, not to walk barefoot, not to offer the law's vows. But he did all these things because he sought not what was beneficial to himself but to the many. Although this was done with a view to God, nonetheless deception was involved.
10. For he who through the law of Christ had died to the law in order to live to God, and who had without complaint treated as loss the righteousness of the law in which he had lived, considering it like dung, in order to gain Christ (vgl. Fil. 3,6-8), could not offer the things of the law with the correct disposition of heart. Nor is it right to believe that he fell into what he himself had condemned when he said: If I again rebuild what I have destroyed, I make myself a transgressor (Gal. 2,18).To such an extent is the disposition of the doer given more weight than the thing which is done that, contrariwise, the truth is found to have harmed some people and a lie to have helped them.
11. For one time King Saul was complaining in the presence of his retainers about David's flight, saying: Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards, and make all of you tribunes and centurions, since you have all conspired against me, and there is no one to inform me? (1Sam. 22,7-8). What but the truth did Doeg the Edomite tell him when he said: I saw the son of Jesse in Nob, with Ahimelech the son of Ahitub the priest. He consulted the Lord on his behalf, and he gave him provisions,and he gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine as well (1Sam. 22,9-10)?For this truth he deserved to be uprooted from the land of the living, and of him it is said by the prophet: Therefore God shall destroy you forever, pluck you up and remove you from your tent and uproot you from the land of the living (Ps. 52,5).
12. For indicating the truth, then, he was everlastingly uprooted from the land in which Rahab the harlot was planted, along with her family, because of her lie. In the same way we remember that Samson in most ruinous fashion delivered over to his wicked wife a truth that had long been concealed by a lie. Therefore the truth that he had very heedlessly disclosed to her brought about his own undoing, because he failed to keep that prophetic command: Keep the doors of your mouth from her who sleeps on your breast (Mi. 7,5).
21. WHETHER ONE'S HIDDEN ABSTINENCE SHOULD BE DIVULGED TO QUESTIONERS WITHOUT LYING, AND WHETHER WHAT HAS ONCE BEEN REFUSED SHOULD BE ACCEPTED
1. And now let us offer some examples as well from our unavoidable and almost daily needs, which we are never able to guard against, however careful we may be, in such a way that we are not obliged to cater to them whether we want to or not. What, I ask, should be done when we have decided to postpone our meal and a brother who arrives at nightfall inquires whether we have eaten? Should our fasting be concealed and our virtuous frugality be covered over, or should it be disclosed by speaking the truth?
2. Suppose that we hide it in order to fulfill the Lord's com-mand, which says: When you are fasting, do not let yourself be seen by men but by your Father, who is hidden (Mt. 6,18). And again: Your left hand should not know what your right hand is doing (Mt. 6,3).Then we would certainly be lying. But if we publicize our virtuous abstinence, the gospel words would justifiably daunt us: Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward (Mt. 6,2).
3. What if someone has decisively declined a drink that was offered him by a brother, utterly refusing to take what he who rejoices at his coming humbly entreats him to receive? Is it right that he should submit, even with an effort, to the brother who has fallen on his knees and is prostrate on the ground, and who believes that he can act in a loving way only by performing this service, or should he persevere in the obstinacy of his word and his intention?
22. AN OBJECTION, THAT ONE'S ABSTINENCE SHOULD INDEED BE CONCEALED, BUT THAT WHAT HAS ONCE BEEN REFUSED MUST NOT BE ACCEPTED
Germanus:In the former example, to be sure, there is no doubt that, as we believe, it is better for our abstinence to be hidden than to be disclosed to inquirers, and we concede as well that a lie for reasons of this sort is unavoidable. In the second case, however, no necessity of lying presses upon us - first, because we are able to decline what is offered by the ministry of our brothers in such a way as not to involve ourselvesin the restrictions of a promise; and then because, once we have declined, we can keep our resolution fixed.
23. THE REPLY, THAT OBSTINACY WITH REGARD TO THIS DECISION IS UNREASONABLE
Joseph: There is no doubt that these promises were made in those monasteries in which, as you say, the first steps of your renunciation were taken. Their leaders are in the habit of preferring their own will to their brothers' meals, and they obstinately pursue what they have once conceived of in their minds. But our elders, whose faith has been borne witness to by the signs of apostolic virtues and who do everything in accordance with the judgment and discretion of the Spirit rather than by following their own rigidly obstinate mind, have determined that those who adapt themselves to others' weaknesses gain much richer fruits than those who hold fast to their own promises, and they have declared that it is more sublimely virtuous to conceal one's abstinence by this necessary and humble lie, as has been said, than to reveal it by proudly indicating the truth.
24. HOW ABBA PIAMUN CHOSE TO CONCEAL HIS ABSTINENCE
1. Finally there is Abba Piamun, who, after twenty-five years, unhesitatingly took some grapes and wine that were offered him by a certain brother and, against his own custom, preferred to taste at once what had been brought to him rather than to publicize the virtue of his abstinence, which was not known to anyone. For if we also wish to consider what we recall our elders used to do unhesitatingly, making believe that their miraculous powers and their own deeds, which had to be mentioned in con-ferences for the sake of the younger men, were other people's doing - what other judgment can we make of these things than that they were downright lies?
2. And would that we too had something worthy that could be set before the young men to stimulate their faith! Certainly we should not fear to follow the deceptions of men of that sort. For it is more justifiable to lie by this kind of deception than either to conceal by an inappropriate silence things that could edify our listeners or to brag with harmful vanity by speaking truthfully about ourselves.
3. The teacher of the Gentiles has also instructed us clearly in this regard by his own teaching, when he preferred to speak of the greatness of his revelations as if he were someone else, saying: I know a man in Christ, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows, who was caught up to the third heaven. And I know that this man was caught up in paradiseand heard unspeakable words, which it is not permitted for a man to utter (2Kor. 12,2-4).
25. TEXTS FROM SCRIPTURE CONCERNING PROMISES THAT HAVE BEEN CHANGED
1. It is impossible for us to run through everything in a short space. For who could count all the almost innumerable patriarchs and holy persons who have sought protection, so to speak, in lying - some in order to save their lives, some out of desire for a blessing, some out of mercy, some in order to conceal a mystery, some out of zeal for God, and some in probing the truth? Just as all of these cannot be numbered, so neither should they all be completely omitted.
2. For piety compelled the blessed Joseph to fasten a false crime on his brothers, even with an oath by the king's life, when he said: You are spies. You have come to look at the weaker parts of the land (Gen. 42,9 LXX). And further on he said: Send one of you, and bring your brother here. But you shall be kept here while your words become clear, whether what you say is true or not. But if not, by Pharaoh's life, you are spies (Gen. 42,16 LXX). If he had not frightened them with this merciful lie he would have been unable to see his father and his brother again or to feed them when they were so endangered by want or, finally, to purify his brothers' conscience of the guilt of having sold him.
3. It was not so blameworthy, then, for him to have struck fear in his brothers by way of a lie as it was holy and praiseworthy to have driven his enemies and sellers to a beneficial repentance by way of a feigned danger. When they were suffering under the weight of that very serious charge, they were crushed by an awareness not of what was falsely brought up but of their previous crime, and they said to one another: We are rightly suffering these things, because we sinned against our brother, because we despised the tribulation of his soul when he called out to us and we did not listen to him. Therefore all this tribulation has come upon us (Gen. 42,21 LXX). This confession, as we believe, expiated not only the sin against their brother, which they committed with wicked cruelty, but also that against God, thanks to their most salutary humility.
4. What about Solomon, who received the gift of wisdom from God and who made his first judgment with the help of a lie? For, in order to elicit the truth that was hidden by a woman's lie, he himself also made use of a very cleverly thoughtout lie when he said: Bring me a sword, and cut the living infant in two pieces, and give half to one and half to the other (1Kon. 3,24-25). When this semblance of cruelty profoundly shook the real mother but was praised by the one who was not the mother, he at once, as a result of this most astute discovery of the truth, handed down the sentence that everyone believes was inspired by God: Give the living infant to this woman,he said,and do not let it be slain. This is its mother (1Kon. 3,27).
5. Further, we are taught at considerable length by other texts of Scripture, too, that we neither should nor can fulfïll everything that we decide upon whether with tranquil or upset mind. In them we frequently read that holy men or angels or even Almighty God himself altered the things that they had promised. For blessed David determined with the promise of an oath and said: May God do this and add more to the enemies of David if, of all that belongs to Nabal, I leave one male until morning (1Sam. 25,22).
6. But when his wife Abigail interceded and entreated on his behalf, he immediately ceased his threats, softened his words, and preferred to be considered a transgressor of his own intention than to be true to his oath by cruelly carrying it out, and he said: As the Lord lives, unless you had come quickly to meet me, there would not have been left to Nabal one male until the morning light (1Sam. 25,34).As we do not at all consider the promptness of his rash vow, which proceeded from an upset and disturbed mind, as something to be imitated, so likewise we judge that the cessation and correction of the thing that was decided on is to be pursued.
7. In writing to the Corinthians, the vessel of election (vgl. Hand. 9,15) promised unconditionally that he would return, saying: I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia, for I will pass through Macedonia. But I will stay with you or even pass the win-ter with you, so that you may take me wherever I shall be going. For I do not want to see you now in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you (1Kor. 16,5-7). He recalls this matter even in his second let-ter, as foliows: In this confidence I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second favor, and by you to go over to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia and to be taken by you to Judea (2Kor. 1,15-16).But he thought better about it and openly confesses that he will not carry out what he had promised. When I intended this, he says, was I careless? Or do I think what I think according to the flesh, so that there isa yes, yes and a no, no with me? (1Kor. 1,17).
8. Finally, he declares with an oath that he preferred to break his word than to submit his disciples to an annoying burden by his coming: I invoke God as a witness against my soul that I did not go as far as Corinth in order to spare you. For I decided this with myself, that I would not come to you in sorrow (2Kor. 1,23; 2,1).Although the angels had refused to enter Lot's house at Sodom and had said to him: We will not enter, but we will remain in the street (Gen. 19,2), they were at once obliged to alter their stated word because of his prayers, as Scripture adds: And Lot compelled them, and they turned in to him (Gen. 19,3 LXX).
9. Certainly, if they had known that they were going to turn in to him, they refused their host's request with a feigned excuse. But if their excuse was real, they are clearly shown to have altered their word. Indeed, we believe that the Holy Spirit inserted these things in the sacred volumes for no other reason than that we might be instructed by these examples not to hold obstinately to our promises but to subject them to our will and to keep our judgment free from every constraint of law, such that it might be ready to go wherever good counsel directs it and not postpone or refuse to pass on without delay to what a salutary discernment may find to be more beneficial.
10. Now let us rise to still more sublime examples. Speaking in the person of God, the prophet Isaiah addressed King Hezekiah as he was lying in bed and laboring under a grave illness: The Lord says this: Set your house in order, because you shall die and you shall not live. And Hezekiah, it says, turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord and said: I beseech you, Lord, remember, I pray, how I walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and did what was good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept with much weeping (2Kon. 20,1-3 LXX). After this it was said to him again: Turn back and speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, and say: The Lord, the God of David your father, says this: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, and behold, I will add fifteen years to your days, and I will free you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David (2Kon. 20,5-6 LXX).
11. What is clearer than this text, according to which the Lord, with a view to mercy and kindness, chose to break his own word and to extend the life of the one praying by fifteen years beyond the appointed time of his death rather than show himself inexorable because of an inflexible decree?The divine judgment spoke in similar fashion to the Ninevites as well: Yet three days and Nineveh shall be overthrown (Jona 3,4 LXX). And at once, due to their repentance and fasting, the sentence that was so threatening and abrupt was softened and, through love, made merciful. But if anyone asserts that the Lord was already aware, as it were, of their conversion and threatened them with the overthrow of their city in order to incite them to a salutary repentance, the consequence would be that those who are set over their brothers may, if need be and without any of the blame attached to a lie, threaten those who stand in want of correction with something more stringent than they are going to carry out.
12. But he may say that God revoked that severe sen-tence of his out of consideration for their repentance, in keeping with what is said through Ezekiel: If I say to the wicked: You shall surely die, and he repents of his sin, and does judgment and righteousness, he shall surely live, he shall not die (Ez. 33,14-15).If that is so, then we are taught that we must not hold obstinately to our promises but with gentle mercy must soften threats that are made out of some necessity.
13. So that the Lord may not be believed to have shown this only to the Ninevites in particular, he continually declares by Jeremiah that he is going to act in the same way toward everyone in general, and he promises that, because of our de-serts, he will unhesitatingly alter his word if need be. As he says: I will suddenly speak against a nation and against a kingdom, to root up and to tear down and to destroy it. If that nation repents of the evil which I have spoken against it, I also will repent of the evil which I thought to do to it. And I will suddenly speak of a nation and a kingdom, to build it up and to plant it. If it does evil in my sight, so as not to hear my voice, I will repent of the good which I spoke of doing for it (Jer. 18,7-10). To Ezekiel as well: Do not hold back a word, if perchance they hear and everyone be turnedfrom his evil way. And I will repent of the evil which I thought to do to them because of the wickedness of their deeds (Jer. 26,2-3).
14. These texts declare that we should not cling stubbornly to our promises, but that they should be tempered by reason and judgment, that what is better should always be chosen and preferred and that we should pass over without any hesitation to whatever is proven to be more beneficial. This invaluable judg-ment also teaches us above all that, although each person's end may be known to him before he was born, he so disposes everything with order and reason and, so to say, human feelings, that he determines all things not by his power or in accordance with his ineffable foreknowledge but, based upon the deeds of human beings at the time, either rejects them or draws them or daily pours out grace upon them or turns them away.15. The choosing of Saul also demonstrates that this is so. Although, indeed, the foreknowledge of God could not be ignorant of his miserable end, he chose him from among many thousands of Israelites and anointed him king (vgl. 1Sam. 8-10). In doing this he rewarded him for his deserving life at the time and did not take into consideration the sin of his future transgression.And so, after he became reprobate, God as it were repented of his choice and complained of him with, so to speak, human words and feelings, saying: I repent that I set up Saul as king, because he has forsaken me and not carried out my words (1Sam. 15,11). And again: Samuel grieved over Saul, because the Lord repented that he had set up Saul as king over Israël (1Sam. 15,35).
16. There is also this, which the Lord carried out afterward, when he declared by Ezekiel the prophet how he would act with everyone according to his daily judgment: Even if I say, he says, to the righteous that he shall surely live, and he acts wickedly, trusting in his righteousness, all of his righteousness shall be forgotten, and he shall die in the very wickedness that he worked. But if I say to the wicked: You shall surely die, and he repents of his sin, and does judgment and righteousness, and if that wicked man restores the pledge, returns what he has robbed, walks in the commands of life, and does not do anything unjust, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the sins that he committed shall be imputed to him (Ez. 33,13-16).
17. And when, because of their sudden transgression, the Lord had turned away the gaze of his mercy from the people that he had selected from all the nations, the Lawgiver interceded for them and cried out: I beseech you, O Lord. This people has com-mitted a great sin, they have made for themselves gods of gold. And now, if you forgive their sin, forgive it. Otherwise, blot me out from your book, which you have written. The Lord said to him: If anyone has sinned in my sight, I will blot him out from my book (Ex. 32,31-33 LXX).Likewise David, when he was complaining in prophetic spirit about Judah and about the persecutors of Christ, said: Let them be blotted out of the book of the living (Ps. 69,28a). And because they did not deserve to attain to a salutary repentance for such a great criminal offense, he adds: And let them not be enrolled with the righteous (Ps. 69,28b).
18. Finally, in the case of Judas himself, the power of the prophetic curse was clearly fulfilled. For, once he had committed the crime of betrayal, he killed himself by hanging (Mt. 27,5), lest after his name was blotted out he turn again to repentance and deserve to be enrolled with the righteous in heaven.For there is no doubt that even the name of Judas was written in the book of the living at the time when he was chosen by Christ and appointed to the rank of an apostle, and that he heard along with the others: Do not rejoice because the demons are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven (Lc. 10,20).
19. But since he was corrupted by the plague of avarice and was cast down from a heavenly enrollment to earthly things, it is appropriately said of him and of others like him by the prophet: Lord, let all those who abandon you be confounded. Let those who depart from you be written in the earth, because they have abandoned the Lord, the vein of living waters (Jer. 17,13).And elsewhere: They shall not be in the council of my people, nor enrolled in the book of the house of Israël, and they shall not enter into the land of Israël (Ez. 13,9).
26. HEILIGEN MOGEN NIET KOPPIG OF HALSSTARRIG ZIJN
Er is nog een nuttige regel die ik niet mag verzwijgen. Stel dat we onder invloed van de toorn of van een andere hartstocht ons binden door een of andere eed, - wat eigenlijk geen enkele monnik moest overkomen; in dat geval moeten we met onbezwaarde geest de twee mogelijkheden die zich voordoen, tegen elkaar afwegen, en dus datgene wat we besloten hebben, vergelijken met datgene wat wij ons gedrongen voelen te doen. En dan moet men zonder aarzelen overgaan tot wat bij rustiger beschouwing het meest juiste wordt geacht. Want het is beter ons woord niet gestand te doen dan het verlies te lijden van iets wat voordeliger voor ons is en God welgevallig. Wij herinneren ons overigens niet dat de verstandigen en degelijken onder de Vaders ooit hardnekkig of onveranderlijk zijn geweest bij dit soort besluiten.Zoals was voor de warmte, zo waren zij gevoelig voor het verstand, en als zich een gunstiger mogelijkheid voordeed, schikten zij zich zonder aarzelen voor het beste. Maar degenen die wij hardnekkig aan hun besluiten hebben zien vasthouden, zijn telkens de onverstandigen gebleken, van het onderscheid verstoken.
27. VRAAG: OF MET BOVENGENOEMDE UITSPRAAK DIT SCHRIFT-WOORD IN STRIJD IS: IK HEB GEZWOREN, IK HEB VASTGESTELD? (PS. 119,106)
Germanus: Als men van deze stelling uitgaat, die u zo duidelijk en rijkelijk hebt uiteengezet, dan moet een monnik zich door geen enkel besluit verbinden om zich niet ofwel ontrouw ofwel koppig te tonen. Maar hoe plaatsen we dan het woord van de psalmist: Ik heb gezworen, ik heb vastgesteld, dat ik uw rechtvaardige voorschriften zal onderhouden? (Ps. 119,106). Wat betekent immers zweren en vaststellen anders dan onveranderlijk vasthouden aan iets wat men besloten heeft?
28. ANTWOORD: IN WELKE ZAKEN MEN EEN BESLUIT ONVERANDERLIJK DIENT VAST TE HOUDEN EN IN WELKE ZAKEN MEN ER ZONODIG VAN AF MOET ZIEN
1. Josef: Ik bedoel hier niet de voornaamste geboden, zonder welke ons heil volstrekt onmogelijk is, maar die dingen die we zonder gevaar voor onze staat kunnen loslaten of vasthouden, zoals bijvoorbeeld onafge-broken streng vasten, voortdurende onthouding van wijn of olie, zich volkomen ontzeggen zijn cel te verlaten, ononderbroken volgehouden lezing of gebed; dat alles kan men zonder nadeel voor onze staat en ons leven ofwel beoefenen als men het verkiest, ofwel zonodig achterwege laten, zonder enige blaam.
2. Maar wat het onderhouden van de voornaamste geboden betreft, daarin moet men uiterst vastbesloten zijn; daarvoor moet men zelfs de dood niet ontlopen als het nodig is; daar moet men zonder wijken zeggen: Ik heb gezworen, ik heb vastgesteld (Ps. 119,106). Dit moet gebeuren als het het behoud van de liefde betreft, waarvoor alles moet worden opzij gezet om niet die volmaaktheid en dat goed van die vrede te schenden. Zweren moet men eveneens als het om de kuisheid gaat, en het is niet anders voor het geloof, de matigheid en de rechtvaardigheid. Aan dat alles moet men met onwrikbare volharding vasthouden en een beetje ervan afwijken is al te veroordelen.
3. Maar wat de oefeningen van het lichaam betreft, waarvan gezegd is dat ze slechts een beperkte waarde hebben (vgl. lTim. 4,8), die moet men houden zoals ik gezegd heb. Als er zich dan een zekerder gelegenheid voordoet om de liefde in praktijk te brengen, die het raadzaam maakt die oefeningen te verminderen, dan zijn we er door geen verplichting aan gehouden en kunnen we ze terzijde stellen en vrijelijk overgaan tot wat van groter waarde is. Er schuilt geen gevaar in, ze voor een tijd achterwege te laten. Maar de grote geboden loslaten, zelfs voor een ogenblik, is dodelijk.
29. HOW TO KEEP CONCEALED WHAT MUST BE CONCEALED
Precaution should likewise be taken so that, if perchance a word that you wish to be hidden has slipped from your mouth, no obligation to secrecy may trouble your hearer. For a thing will be better concealed if it is carelessly and unobtrusively let pass, because the brother, whoever he may be, will not be racked by a temptation to divulge it. He will consider it an insignificant matter that has been revealed in a passing conversation, whichis not important precisely because it has not been presented to the ears of the listenerin the context of a need to be specially careful. For if you bind him to an oath, you may be certain that it will be betrayed all the more quickly, inasmuch as the force of the diabolical onslaught that will attack him will be greater, so that you will be saddened and betrayed on the one hand and he will more speedily transgress his oath on the other.
30. MEN MOET ZICH NIET VERBINDEN IN ZAKEN DIE DE GANG VAN HET GEWONE LEVEN BETREFFEN
1. Daarom moet een monnik niets onherroepelijks vaststellen, ik bedoel wat de oefeningen van het lichaam betreft, om de tegenstander er niet toe aan te zetten hem in deze zaken aan te vallen die hij als een wet onderhoudt, en aldus eerder genoopt te zijn ze te schenden. Iemand die, gesteld onder de genade van de vrijheid, zichzelf een wet oplegt, verbindt zich aan een gevaarlijke dienstbaarheid. Want wat hij zich vrijelijk, ja met ere onder dankzegging had kunnen veroorloven, dat zal hij nu, als de noodzaak zich voordoet, gedwongen zijn te nemen als een overtreder, in een zondig plichtsverzuim. Want Waar geen wet is, is ook geen overtreding (Rom. 4,15).
2. Door deze uiteenzetting en leer van de zalige Josef waren we, als door een godsspraak, gerustgesteld en we besloten in Egypte te blijven. Maar ofschoon we ons vanaf dat ogenblik weinig zorgen maakten over ons gegeven woord, toch hebben we na verloop van zeven jaren onze belofte van harte vervuld. Door onze reis naar ons klooster - op een tijdstip dat we alle vertrouwen hadden, verlof te krijgen om naar de woestijn terug te keren - hebben we ten eerste onze oversten de verschuldigde eer bewezen. Voorts was hun vurige genegenheid nooit door onze talrijke brieven tevreden gesteld geweest: nu konden we in hun hart de vroegere liefde terugbrengen.Nadat we tenslotte van alle zorg omtrent onze belofte waren bevrijd, hebben zij ons zelf met vreugde begeleid op onze terugweg naar de woestijn van Scetis.
3. Our ignorance, o holy brothers, has cast as much light for you as it could on the knowledge and teaching of the illustrious fathers. Even if perchance our unskilled language has confused it instead of clarifying it, I pray that our blameworthy rudeness not nullify the renown of these remarkable men. For it seemed safer to us in the sight of our Judge to lay bare this magnifïcent teach-ing, even in awkward language, than to keep silent about it. Indeed, if one reflects upon its sublime insights, the offensive boorishness of our words cannot hinder the reader's profit. And we ourselves are concerned more about usefulness than renown.To be sure, I advise all into whose hands these little works may fall to realize that whatever is pleasing in them is from the fathers, whereas whatever is displeasing is ours.