The Catechism of the Council of Trent/Part 3: The First Commandment
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.
"I AM THE LORD THY GOD, WHO BROUGHT THEE OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE: THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME: THOU SHALT NOT MAKE TO THYSELF A GRAVEN THING, &C." [1]
THE law announced in the Decalogue, although delivered to the Jews by the Lord from the summit of Sinai, was originally written by the finger of nature on the heart of man, [2] and was therefore rendered obligatory on mankind at all times by the Author of nature. It will, however, be found very salutary to explain with minute attention the words in which it was proclaimed to the people of Israel by Moses, its minister and interpreter, and to present to the faithful an epitome of the mysterious economy of Providence towards that people.
The pastor will first show, that from amongst the nations of the earth God chose one which descended from Abraham; that it was the divine will that Abraham should be a stranger in the land of Canaan, the possession of which he had promised him; and that, although for more than forty years he and his posterity were wanderers, before they obtained possession of the land, God withdrew not from them his protecting care. " They passed from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another people; he suffered no man to hurt them, and he re proved kings for their sakes." [3] Before they went down into Egypt, he sent before them one by whose prudence they and the people of Egypt were rescued from famine. In Egypt such was his paternal kindness towards them, that although opposed by the power of Pharaoh who sought their destruction, they increased to an extraordinary degree; and when severely harassed and cruelly treated as slaves, he raised up Moses as a leader to conduct them from bondage with a strong hand This their deliverance is particularly referred to in these opening words of the Law; "I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." The people Having premised this brief sketch of the history of the people of Israel, the pastor will not omit to observe, that from amongst the nations of the earth one was chosen by Almighty God whom he called " his people," and by whom he would be known and worshipped; [4] not that they were superior to other nations in justice or in numbers, and of this God him self reminds them, but because, by the multiplication and aggrandizement of an inconsiderable and impoverished nation, he would display to mankind the extent of his power and the riches of his goodness. Such having been the circumstances of the Jewish nation, " He was closely joined to them, and loved them," [5] and Lord of heaven and earth as he was, he disdained not to be called " their God." The other nations were thus to be excited to a holy emulation, that seeing the superior happiness of the Israelites, mankind might em brace the worship of the true God; as St. Paul says that by placing before them the happiness of the Gentiles and the knowledge of the true God, " he provoked to emulation those who were his own flesh." [6]
The pastor will next inform the faithful that God suffered the Hebrew Fathers to wander for so long a time, and their posterity to be oppressed and harassed by a galling servitude in order to teach us, that to be friends of God we must be enemies of the world, and pilgrims in this vale of tears; that an entire detachment from the world gives us an easier access to the friendship of God; and that admitted to his friendship we may experience the superior happiness enjoyed by those who serve God rather than the world. This is the solemn admonition of God himself: " yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference between my service and the service of a kingdom of the earth." [7]
The pastor will also remind the faithful that God delayed the fulfilment of his promise until after the lapse of more than four hundred years, in order that the Israelites might be sustained by faith and hope; for, as we shall show more particularly when we come to explain the First Commandment, God will have his children centre all their hopes and repose all their confidence in his goodness.
Finally, the time and place, when and where the people of Israel received this law, deserve particular attention. They received it when, having been delivered from the bondage of Egypt, they had come into the wilderness; in order, that impressed with a lively sense of gratitude for a blessing still fresh in their recollection, and awed by the dreariness of the wild waste in which they journeyed, they might be the better disposed to receive the law. To those whose bounty we have experienced we are bound by ties of reciprocity; and when man has lost all hope of assistance from his fellow man, he then seeks refuge in the protection of God. We are hence given to understand, that the more detached the faithful are from the allurements of the world, and the pleasures of sense, the more disposed are they to lend a willing ear to the doctrines of salvation: " whom shall he teach knowledge," says Isaias, "and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? Them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts." [8]
The pastor, then, will use his best endeavours to induce the faithful to keep continually in view these words, " I am the Lord thy God." From them they will learn that he who is their Creator and conservator, by whom they were made, and are preserved, is also their legislator, and that they may truly say with the Psalmist: " He is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand." [9] The frequent and earnest inculcation of these words will also serve to induce the faithful to a more willing observance of the law, and a more cautious abstinence from sin.
The words, " who brought thee out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage," come next in order; and, whilst they seem to relate solely to the Jews liberated from the bondage of Egypt, are, if considered in their implicit reference to universal salvation, still more applicable to Christians, who are liberated, not from the bondage of Egypt, but from the slavery of sin, and " the power of darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of his beloved Son." [10] Contemplating in the vision of prophecy the magnitude of this favour, the prophet Jeremiah exclaims: " behold the days come, saith the Lord, when it shall be said no more: the Lord liveth that brought forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought the children of Israel out of the land of the North and out of all the lands to which I cast them out; and I will bring them again into their land which I gave to their Fathers. Behold, I will send many fishes, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them, &C." [11] Our most indulgent Father has " gathered together" through his beloved Son, his "children that were dispersed," [12] that, "being made free from sin and made the servants of justice," [13] " we may serve before him in holiness and justice all our days." [14] Against every temptation, therefore, the faithful should arm themselves with these words of the Apostle as with a shield: " shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein?" [15] We are no longer our own: we are his who died and rose again for us: he is the Lord our God who has purchased us for himself at the price of his blood. Shall we then be any longer capable of sinning against the Lord our God, and crucifying him again? Being made truly free, and with that liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, let us, as we heretofore yielded our members to serve injustice, henceforward yield them to serve justice to sanctification.
"THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME." [16] ] The Decalogue naturally divides itself into two parts, the first embracing what regards God, the second what regards our neighbour; the duties which we discharge towards our neighbour are referred to God; then only do we fulfil the divine precept which commands us to love our neighbour, when we love him in God. This division of the Decalogue the pastor will make known to the faithful; and he will add that the commandments which regard God, are those which were inscribed on the first table of the law.
He will next show that the words which form the subject matter of the present exposition contain a two-fold precept; the one mandatory, the other prohibitory When it is said; " Thou shalt not have strange gods before me," it is equivalent to saying; thou shalt worship me the true God: thou shalt not worship strange gods." The former contains a precept of faith, hope, and charity - of faith, for, acknowledging God to be immoveable, immutable, always the same, faithful, we acknowledge an eternal truth in the recognition of these his attributes: assenting therefore to his oracles, we necessarily yield to him all faith and authority - of hope, for who can contemplate his omnipotence, his clemency, his beneficence, and not repose in him all his hopes? - of charity, for who can behold the riches of his goodness and love, which he lavishes on us with so bounteous a hand, and not love him? with this exalted claim upon our obedience therefore commence, with this conclude all his commandments: " I am the Lord."
The negative part of the precept is comprised in these words: " thou shalt not have strange gods before me." This our divine legislator subjoins, not because it is not implied in the positive part of the precept, which says equivalently: "thou shalt worship me the only God," for if he is God, he is the only God; but on account of the blindness of many, who of old professed to worship the true God, and yet adored a multitude of gods. Of these there were many even amongst the Israelites, whom Elias reproached with having " halted between two sides," [17] and also amongst the Samaritans, who worshipped the God of Israel and the gods of the nations. [18]
Having thus explained the precept in its two-fold import, the pastor will observe that this is the first and principal commandment, not only in order, but also in its nature, dignity, and excellence. God is entitled to infinitely greater love and to higher authority with regard to his creatures than the masters or monarchs of the earth. He created us, He governs us, He nurtured us even in the womb, brought us into existence, and still supplies us by his provident care with all the necessaries of life. Against this commandment therefore transgress all who have not faith, hope, and charity; a numerous class, amongst whom are those who fall into heresy, who reject what the church of God teaches; those who give credit to dreams, divination, for tune telling, and such superstitious illusions; those who despairing of salvation trust not in the goodness of God; and also those who place their happiness solely in the wealth of this world, in health and strength, in personal attractions, or mental endowments. But these are matters which the pastor will find developed more at large in treatises on morality. [19]
ON THE HONOUR AND INVOCATION OF THE SAINTS.
IN the exposition of this precept, the faithful are also to be accurately taught that the veneration and invocation of angels and saints, who enjoy the glory of heaven, and the honour which the Catholic Church has always paid even to the bodies and ashes of the saints, are not forbidden by this commandment. [20] Were a king to prohibit by proclamation any individual to assume the regal character, or accept the honours due to the royal person, how unreasonable to infer from such an edict a prohi bition that suitable honour and respect should be paid to his magistrates? Of this nature is the relative honour paid by the Catholic Church to angels and saints. When, walking in the footsteps of those exalted characters, whose names are recorded in the Old Testament, she is said "to adore the angels of God," she venerates them as the special friends and servants of God, but gives not to them that supreme honour which is due to God alone.
True, we sometimes read that angels refused to be worshipped by men; [21] but the worship which they refused to accept was the supreme honour due to God alone: the Holy Spirit who says: "Honour and glory to God alone," [22] commands us also to honour our parents and elders; [23] and the holy men who adored one God only, are also said in Scripture to have " adored," that is supplicated and venerated, kings. If then kings, by whose agency God governs the world, are so highly honoured, [24] shall it be deemed unlawful to honour those angelic spirits, whom God has been pleased to constitute his ministers, whose services he makes use of not only in the government of his Church, but also of the Universe, by whose invisible aid we are every day delivered from the greatest dangers of soul and body? Are they not, rather, to be honoured with a veneration greater, in propor tion as the dignity of these blessed spirits exceeds that of kings? Another claim on our veneration is their love of us, which, as the Scripture informs us, [25] prompts them to pour out their prayers for those countries over which they are placed by Providence, and for us whose guardians they are, and whose prayers and tears they present before the throne of God. [26] Hence our Lord admonishes us in the Gospel not to offend the little ones, "be cause their angels in heaven always see the face of their Father who is in heaven." [27] Their intercession, therefore, we invoke, because they always see the face of God, and are constituted by him the willing advocates of our salvation. To this their invocation the Scriptures bear testimony Jacob invoked, nay compelled, the angel with whom he wrestled, to bless him, [28] declaring that he would not let him go until he had blessed him; and not only did he invoke the blessing of the angel whom he saw, but also of him whom he saw not: " The an gel," says he, " who delivered me out of all evil, bless these children." [29]
From these attestations we are justified in concluding, that to honour the saints " who sleep in the Lord," to invoke their intercession, and to venerate their sacred relics and ashes, far from diminishing, tends considerably to increase the glory of God, in proportion as the Christian's hope is thus animated and fortified, and he himself excited to the imitation of their virtues. This is a doctrine which is also supported by the authority of the second Council of Nice, [30] the Council of Gangre, [31] and of Trent, [32] and by the testimony of the Holy Fathers. [33] In order however that the pastor may be the better prepared to meet the objections of those who impugn this doctrine, he will consult particularly St. Jerome against Vigilantius, and the fourth book, sixteenth chapter of Damascene on the orthodox faith; [34] and what, if possible, is still more conclusive, he will appeal to the uniform practice of Christians, as handed down by the Apostles and faithfully preserved in the Church of God. [35] But what argument more convincing, than that which is supplied by the admirable praises given in Scripture to the saints of God! If the inspired Volume celebrates the praises of particular saints, why question for a moment the propriety of paying them the same tribute of praise and veneration? [36] Another claim which the saints have to be honoured and invoked is, that they earnestly importune God for our salvation, and obtain for us by their intercession many favours and blessings. If there is joy in heaven for the conversion of one sinner, [37] can the citizens of heaven be indifferent to his conversion, or neglect to assist him by their prayers? When their interposition is solicited by the penitent, will they not rather implore the pardon of his sins, and the grace of his conversion? Should it be said that their patronage is unnecessary, because God hears our prayers without the intervention of a mediator, the objection is at once met by the observation of St. Augustine: " There are many things, says he, " which God does not grant without a mediator and intercessor:" [38] an observation the justness of which is confirmed by two illustrious examples Abimelech and the friends of Job were pardoned but through the prayers of Abraham and of Job. [39] Should it be alleged, that to recur to the patronage and intercession of the saints argues want or weakness of faith, the answer of the Centurion refutes the allegation: his faith was highly eulogized by our Lord himself; and yet he sent to the Redeemer " the Ancients of the Jews," to intercede with him to heal his servant. [40]
True, there is but one Mediator, Christ the Lord, who alone has reconciled us through his blood, [41] and who, having accomplished our redemption, and having once entered into the Holy of Holies, ceases not to intercede for us; [42] but it by no means follows, that it is therefore unlawful to have recourse to the intercession of the saints. If, because we have one mediator Christ Jesus, it were unlawful to ask the intercession of the saints, the Apostle would not have recommended himself with so much earnestness to the prayers of his brethren on earth. [43] In his capacity as Mediator, the prayers of the living should derogate from the glory and dignity of Christ not less than the intercession of the saints in heaven.
But what incredulity so obstinate but must yield to the evidence in support of the honour and invocation of the saints, which the wonders wrought at their tombs flash upon the mind? The blind see, the lame walk, the paralyzed are invigorated, the dead raised to life, and evil demons are expelled from the bodies of men! These are authentic facts, attested not, as frequently happens, by very grave persons who have heard them from others; they are facts which rest on the ocular attestation of witnesses, whose veracity is beyond all question, of an Ambrose, [44] and an Augustine. [45] But why multiply proofs on this head? If the clothes, the kerchiefs, [46] and even the very shadows of the saints, whilst yet on earth, banished disease and restored health and vigour, who will have the hardihood to deny that God can still work the same wonders by the holy ashes, the bones and other relics of his saints who are in glory? Of this we have a proof in the resuscitation of the dead body which was let down into the grave of Eliseus, and which, on touching the body of the prophet, was instantly restored to life. [47]
" THOU SHALT NOT MAKE TO THYSELF A GRAVEN THING, NOR
THE LIKENESS OF ANY THING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, OR IN
THE EARTH BENEATH, NOR OF THOSE THINGS THAT ARE IN THE
WATERS UNDER THE EARTH: THOU SHALT NOT ADORE THEM NOR
SERVE THEM." [48]
Some, supposing these words to constitute a distinct precept, reduce the ninth and tenth commandments into one. St. Augustine holds a different opinion: considering the two last to be precept. distinct, he refers these words to the first commandment; [49] and this division, because well known and much approved in the Catholic church, we willingly adopt. As a very strong argument in its favour, we may, however, add the propriety of annexing to the first commandment its sanction, the rewards or punishments attached to its observance or violation; a propriety which can be preserved in the arrangement alone which we have chosen.
This commandment does not prohibit the arts of painting or sculpture; the Scriptures inform us that God himself commanded images of Cherubim, [50] and also the brazen serpent [51] to be made; and the conclusion, therefore, at which we must arrive, is that images are prohibited only in as much as they may be the means of transferring the worship of God to inanimate objects, as though the adoration offered them were given to so many Gods.
By the violation of this commandment the majesty of God is grievously offended in a two-fold manner: the one, by worshipping idols and images as gods, or believing that they possess any divinity or virtue entitling them to our worship, by praying to, or reposing confidence in them, as the Gentiles did, who placed their hopes in idols, and whose idolatry the Scriptures universally reprobate: the other, by attempting to form a representation of the Deity, as if he were visible to mortal eyes, or could be represented by the pencil of the painter or the chisel of the statuary. " Who," says Damascene, " can repre sent God, invisible, as he is, incorporeal, uncircumscribed by limits, and incapable of being described under any figure or form?" [52] This subject, however, the pastor will find treated more at large in the second Council of Nice. [53] Speaking of the Gentiles, the Apostle has these admirable words: " They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into a likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things." [54] Hence the Israelites, when they exclaimed before the molten calf: "These are thy Gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt," [55] are denounced as idolaters; because they "changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass." [56]
When, therefore, the Almighty forbids the worship of strange gods, with a view to the utter extinction of all idolatry, he also prohibits the formation of an image of the Deity from brass or other materials, as Isaias declares when he asks: "To whom then have you likened God, or what image will you make for him?" [57] That this is the meaning of the prohibitory part of the precept is proved, not only from the writings of the Holy Fathers, who, as may be seen in the seventh General Council, give to it this interpretation; but also from these words of Deuteronomy, by which Moses sought to withdraw the Israelites from the worship of idols: "You saw not," says he, "any similitude in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb, from the midst of the fire." [58] These words this wisest of legislators addressed to the people of Israel, lest through error of any sort, they should make an image of the Deity, and transfer to any thing created, the honour due to God alone.
To represent the Persons of the Holy Trinity by certain forms, under which, as we read in the Old and New Testaments, they deigned to appear, is not to be deemed contrary to religion, or the Law of God. Who so ignorant as to believe that such forms are express images of the Deity? - forms, as the pastor will teach, which only express some attribute or action ascribed to God. Thus, Daniel describes " The Ancient of Days, seated on a throne, and before him the books opened;" to signify his eternity and wisdom, by which he sees and judges all the thoughts and actions of men. [59] Angels, also, are represented under human form and winged, to give us to under stand that they are actuated by benevolent feelings towards us, and are always prepared to execute the ministry of God to man: " they are all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation." [60] That attributes of the Holy Ghost are represented under the forms of a dove, and of tongues of fire, as we read in the Gospel [61] and in the Acts of the Apostles, [62] is a matter too well known to require lengthened exposition.
But to make and honour the images of our Lord, of his holy and virginal Mother, and of the Saints, all of whom appeared in human form, is not only not forbidden by this commandment, but has always been deemed a holy practice, and the surest indication of a mind deeply impressed with gratitude towards them. This position derives confirmation from the monuments of the Apostolic age, the General Councils of the Church, and the writings of so many amongst the Fathers, eminent alike for sanctity and learning, all of whom are of one accord upon the subject. But the pastor will not content himself with showing the lawfulness of the use of images in churches, and of paying them religious respect, when this respect is referred to their prototypes he will do more he will show that the uninterrupted observance of this practice up to the present time has been attended with great advantage to the faithful; as may be seen in the work of Damascene, on images, [63] and in the seventh General Council, which is the second of Nice. [64]
But as the enemy of mankind, by his wiles arid deceits, seeks to pervert even the most holy institutions, should the faithful happen at all to offend in this particular, the pastor, in accordance with the decree of the Council of Trent, [65] will use every exertion in his power to correct such an abuse, and, if necessary, explain the decree itself to the people. He will also inform the unlettered, and those who may be ignorant of the proper use of images, that they are intended to instruct in the history of the Old and New Testaments, and to revive the recollection of the events which they record; that thus excited to the contemplation of heavenly things we may be the more ardently inflamed to adore and love God. He will, also, in form the faithful that the images of the Saints are placed in churches, not only to be honoured, but that, also, admonished by their example we may imitate their lives and emulate their virtues. [66]
"I AM THE LORD THY GOD, MIGHTY, JEALOUS, VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN TO THE THIRD AND. FOURTH GENERATION OF THEM THAT HATE ME, AND SHOW ING MERCY UNTO THOUSANDS OF THEM THAT LOVE ME, AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS."] In this concluding clause of the first commandment, two things occur which demand exposition. The first is, that whilst, on account of the enormous guilt incurred by the violation of the first commandment, and the propensity of man towards its violation, the punishment is here properly proposed: it is also appended to all the other commandments. Every law enforces its observance by some sanction, by rewards and punishments; and hence the frequent and numerous promises of God, which are recorded in Scripture. To omit those that we meet almost in every page of the Old Testament, we read in the Gospel: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments;" [67] and again: " He that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter heaven;" [68] and also; " Every tree that doth not yield good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire;" [69] " Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be guilty of the judgment;" [70] " If you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your of fences." [71] The other observation is, that this divine sanction is to be proposed in a very different manner to the spiritual and to the carnal Christian: to the spiritual who is animated by the Spirit of God, [72] and who yields to him a willing and cheerful obedience, it is, in some sort, glad tidings, and a strong proof of the divine goodness: in it he recognises the parental care of a most loving God, who, now by rewards, again by punishments, almost compels his creatures to adore and worship him. The spiritual man acknowledges the infinite goodness of God in vouchsafing to issue his commands to him, and to make use of his service to the glory of the divine name; and not only does he acknowledge the divine goodness, he also cherishes a strong hope that, when God commands what he pleases, he will also give strength to fulfil what he commands. But to the carnal man, who is not yet disenthralled from the spirit of servitude, and who abstains from sin more through fear of punishment than love of virtue, this sanction of the divine Law, which closes each of the commandments, is burdensome and severe. He is, therefore, to be supported by pious exhortation, and to be led, as it were, by the hand, in the path pointed out by the Law of God. These two classes of persons the pastor, therefore, will keep in view, as often as he has occasion to explain any of the commandments.
The carnal and spiritual are, however, to be excited by two considerations which are contained in this concluding clause, and are well calculated to enforce obedience to the divine Law The one is that when God is called " The Strong," the force of that appellation requires to be fully expounded to the faithful; because, unappalled by the terrors of the divine menaces, the flesh frequently indulges in the delusive expectation of escaping, in a variety of ways, the wrath of God and his menaced judgments. But when deeply impressed with the awful conviction that God is " The Strong," the sinner will exclaim with David: " Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?" [73] The flesh, also, distrusting the promises of God, sometimes magnifies the power of the enemy to such an extent, as to believe itself unable to withstand his assaults; whilst on the contrary, a firm and unshaken faith, which relies confidently on the strength and power of God, animates and confirms the hopes of man: it exclaims with the Psalmist: " The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" [74]
The second consideration is the jealousy of God. Man is sometimes tempted to think that God, indifferent whether we contemn or observe his Law, takes no concern in human affairs, an error which is the source of the greatest disorders; but when we believe that God is a jealous God, the reflection tends powerfully to restrain us within the limits of our duty towards him. The jealousy attributed to God does not, how ever, imply agitation of mind: it is that divine love and charity by which God will suffer no human creature to resist his sovereign will with impunity, and which "destroys all those who are disloyal to him." [75] The jealousy of God, therefore, is the most impartial justice, the calmness of which is undisturbed by the least commotion, a justice which repudiates as an adulteress the soul which is corrupted by erroneous opinions and criminal passions; and in this jealousy of God, evincing as it does his boundless and incomprehensible goodness towards us, we recognise at once a source of pure and unmixed pleasure. It declares that the soul is his spouse, and what stronger tie of affection, or closer bond of union can bind him to us? God, there fore, when frequently comparing himself to a spouse or husband, he calls himself a jealous God, demonstrates the excess of his love towards us.
The pastor, therefore, will here exhort the faithful, that they should be so warmly interested in promoting the worship and honour of God, as to be said with more propriety to be jealous of, rather than to love him; imitating the example of Elias, who says of himself: " With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts;" [76] or rather of Jesus Christ himself, who says: " The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up." [77]
The pastor should also set forth the terrors denounced in the menaces of God's judgments menaces which declare that he will not suffer sinners to run their iniquitous career with impunity; but will chastise them with the fondness of a parent, or punish them with the rigour of a judge; and which, on another occasion, are thus expressed by Moses: " Thou shalt know that the Lord thy God is a strong and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments, unto a thousand generations; and repaying forthwith them that hate him, so as to destroy them without further delay, immediately rendering to them what they deserve." [78] " You will not," says Josue, " be able to serve the Lord; for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and sins. If you leave the Lord and serve strange gods, he will turn and will afflict you, and will destroy you." [79] The faithful are also to be taught, that the punishments here threatened await the third and fourth generation of the impious and wicked; not that the children are always visited with the chastisements due to the delinquency of their parents, but that, although they and their children may go unpunished, their posterity shall not all escape the wrath and vengeance of the Almighty. Of this we have an illustration in the life of king Josias: God had spared him for his singular piety, and allowed him to be gathered to the tomb of his fathers in peace, that his eyes might not behold the evils of the times that were to befall Judah and Jerusalem, on ac count of the wickedness of his father Manasseh; yet, after his decease, the divine vengeance so overtook his posterity, that even the children of Josias were not spared. [80]
The words of this commandment may perhaps seem to be at variance with the sentence pronounced by the prophet: " The soul that sins shall die;" [81] but the authority of St. Gregory, supported by the concurrent testimony of all the ancient fathers, satisfactorily reconciles this apparent contradiction: "Who ever," says he, " follows the bad example of a wicked father is also bound by his sins; but he, who does not follow the example of a wicked father, shall not at all suffer for the sins of the father. Hence it follows that a wicked son, who dreads not to superadd his own malice to the vices of his father, by which he knows the divine wrath to have been excited, is burdened not only with his own additional sins, but also with those of his wicked father. It is just that he who dreads not to walk in the footsteps of a wicked father, in presence of a rigorous judge, should be subjected in the present life to the punishment invoked by the crimes of his wicked parent." [82] That the goodness and mercy cf God far exceed his justice is another observation, which the pastor will not fail to make to the faithful: he is angry to the third and fourth generation; but he bestows his mercy on thousands.
The words: " Of them that hate me" display the grievousness of sin: what more wicked? what more detestable than to hate God, the supreme goodness and sovereign truth? This, however, is the crime of all sinners: for as he who observes the commandments of God, loves God, [83] so he who despises his Law, and violates his commandments, is justly said to hate God. The concluding words: "And them that love me," point out the manner and motive of observing the Law of God: those who observe the divine Law should be influenced in its observance by the same love and charity which they bear to God; a principle which applies with equal force and truth to the exposition and observance of all the other commandments.
- ↑ Exod. xx, 2.
- ↑ Rom. i. 19, 20.
- ↑ Ps. civ. 11.
- ↑ Deut. vii. 6, 7.
- ↑ Deut. x. 15.
- ↑ Rom. xi. 14.
- ↑ 2 Par. xii. 8.
- ↑ Isa. xxviii. 9.
- ↑ Ps. xciv. 7.
- ↑ Col. i. 13.
- ↑ Jerem. xvi. 14, et seq.
- ↑ John xi. 52.
- ↑ Rom. vi. 18.
- ↑ Luke i. 74, 75.
- ↑ Rom. vi. 2.
- ↑ Exod. xx. 3.
- ↑ 3 Kings xviii. 21.
- ↑ 4 Kings xvii. 33.
- ↑ De variis istis peccatis vide dist. 24. q. 2. multis in capitibus. Aug. in lib. de divinat. diemon. cap. 5. et citatur 26. q. 4. a. secundum. Origen. horn, 5. in Joshue et habet 26. q. 2. c. sed et illud Aug. lib. 2. de doct. Christian, cap. 19. and 20. et ci tatur eodein cap. illud quod est. Cone. Garth. 4. cap. 19. vid. plura 26. q. 2, 3 et 5.
- ↑ Vid. Trid. sess. 17. de Sacrif Missae. c. 3. et sess. 25. sub princip. cap. de invo- cat. Sanctorum. Item vid. Synod. 7. act. 6. in fine, item Aug. lib. 8. de civit. Dei. c. 27. et lib. 10. c. 1. et lib. 21. contra Faust, c. 21. Basil. Horn. 20. in 40. Mar. et de Mar. Mamman: item Nazian. orat. in land. S. Cyprian.
- ↑ Apoc. six. 10. Apoc. xxii. 9.
- ↑ 1 Tim. i. 17. Exod. xx. 2. Levit. xix. 11.
- ↑ Deut. v. 16.
- ↑ Gen. xxiii. 7. 2 Kings xxiv. 20. 1 Par. 29. 20
- ↑ Dan. x. 13.
- ↑ Tob. xii. 12. Apoc. viii. 3.
- ↑ Matt, xviii. 10.
- ↑ Gen. xxxii. 26. Osee xii. 4.
- ↑ Gen. xlviii. 16
- ↑ Nicasri. Cone. 2. act. 6.
- ↑ Gangr. Can. xx. et citatur dist. 30. cap. si quis per superbiam.
- ↑ Trid. sess. 25. item Cone. Chalced. sub finem et in 6. Synod. General, c. 7. et Cone. Geron. c. 3. Aurel. 1. c. 29.
- ↑ Damasc. do orth, fid. lib. 4. c. 6.
- ↑ Lib. 4. de orth. fid. c, 16.
- ↑ Dionys. c. 7. Hier. Eccles. Iren. lib. 5. contra hseres. c. 19. Athan. serm. in Evangel, de sancta Deip. Euseb. lib. 13. praspar. Evang. c. 7. Cornel, pap. epist. 1. Hilar. in Ps. 126. Ambr. in lib. de viduis.
- ↑ Eccl. xliv. xlv. xlvi. xlvii. xlviii. xlix. lib. Hebr. xi.
- ↑ Luke xv. 7. 10.
- ↑ Aug. qurest. 149 super Exod. serm. 2. et 4. de St. Sleph.
- ↑ Gen. xx.
- ↑ Matt. viii. 5. Luke vii. 3.
- ↑ 1 Tim. ii. 5.
- ↑ Heb. ix. 12 et 7. 25.
- ↑ Rom. xv. 30. Heb, xiii. 18.
- ↑ Ambr. epist. 85. et serm. 95.
- ↑ Aug. de civit. Dei, lib. 22. c. 8. et epist, 137.
- ↑ Acts v. xk. 12et5. 15.
- ↑ 4 Kings xiii. 21.
- ↑ Exod. xx. 4.
- ↑ Vid. Aug. super Exod. quaest. 71. and in Ps. 32. serm. 2. Sententia D. Aug. de pnceeptorum dist inctione magis placet Ecclewae Vid. D. Thorn, i. 2. quasi. 100. art, 4.
- ↑ Exod. xxv. 18. 3 Kings vi. 27.
- ↑ Num. xxi. 8. 9.
- ↑ Damas. lib. 4. de ortrod. fid. c. 17.
- ↑ Conc. Nicsen. 2 act. 3
- ↑ Rom. i. 23.
- ↑ Exod. xxxii. 4
- ↑ Ps. cv. 20.
- ↑ Isa. xl. 18. Acts vii. 40.
- ↑ Deut. iv. 15, 16.
- ↑ Dan. vii. 13.
- ↑ Heb. i. 14.
- ↑ Mat lii. 16. Mark i. 10. Luke iii. 22. John i. 32.
- ↑ Acts ii. 3.
- ↑ Lib. 4. de fid. orthod. cap. 17.
- ↑ Nic. Syn. passim.
- ↑ Trid. Con. Sess. 23.
- ↑ De cuitu et usu imaginum vid. Concil. Nicoen. 1. act 7. Histor. tnpart, lib. 6
- ↑ Matt. xix. 17.
- ↑ Matt vii. 21.
- ↑ Matt. iii. 10. and vii. 19.
- ↑ Matt. v. 23.
- ↑ Matt. vi. 15.
- ↑ Rom. viii. 14.
- ↑ Ps. cxxxviii. 7.
- ↑ Ps. xxvi. 1
- ↑ Ps. lxxii. 27.
- ↑ 3 Kings xix. 10.
- ↑ Ps . i xv iii. 10. John ii. 17.
- ↑ Deut. vii. 9, 10.
- ↑ Josue xxiv. 19, 20.
- ↑ 2 Par. 36. iii. 6. 4 Kings xxii. 20.
- ↑ Ezech. xviii. 4.
- ↑ Extat locus Greg. lib. 15. moral, c. 31. Vid. Aug. epist. 75. D. Thorn. 1. 2. q. 87 art 8.
- ↑ John xiv. 21.