Handbook of the Law 1 part 1/4

You yourself know, venerable father Primasius, that, being aware of my life and my way of living, just as I do not deny that I have a zeal for the divine law, so I do not presume to call myself a teacher, fearing that prophetic word: 'But to the sinner God said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth?' But while the advantage of your province had compelled you, among your other most reverend fellow-bishops, to journey even as far as Constantinople, out of a feeling of courtesy we came into acquaintance and conversation. And you, after that custom of yours, asked nothing before this: whether there were anyone among the Greeks who burned with zeal and understanding for the study of the divine books.

To this I replied that I had seen a certain man, Paul by name, a Persian by race, who had been instructed in the school of the Syrians in the city of Nisibis, where the divine law is handed down by public masters in order and according to rule, just as among us in worldly studies grammar and rhetoric are. 2. Then, having long been asked whether I had anything from his sayings, I said that I had read certain rules with which he was accustomed to imbue the minds of his disciples—instructed in the surface of the divine Scriptures—before he laid open the depths of exposition, so that they might in the meantime come to know the intention and order of those very subjects which are treated in the divine law, lest the several matters should be taught scatteredly and confusedly, but according to rule.

You, father, judged—by what reasoning I do not know—that these matters were necessary for all Christians who wish to be instructed; and though I long made excuses, you pressed me to the point of the shamelessness of publication. Hence I have gathered these regular precepts into two very brief little books, adding, as far as I could, a useful form to the very wording, so that, as though a master were questioning and disciples answering, each point might be stated briefly and very clearly. And lest any confusion should arise through the negligence of the copyists, as is wont to happen, I set the Greek letter [Delta] before the master and [Mu] before the disciples, so that by means of foreign characters, which Latin writing does not employ, every error might be utterly removed. 3. There are other splendid monuments of that man:

for I also heard him expounding the epistle of the blessed Paul to the Romans with a subtlety, as I think, greater than that with which I, from his own mouth, took it down lest it slip from memory; but the thorns of cares and business hinder us from bearing any fruit in the Lord's field. This one act of boldness is enough, that out of confessed poverty I dare to cast these two mites into the divine treasury. There are those who load it with talents, from which provision may be doled out to the needy; who can offer to the divine sanctuaries the gems of virtues, the gold of life, the silver of knowledge. To me nothing more is at hand than these two mites, and these themselves borrowed from another.

But indeed I promise myself much from the Gospel examiner, because, although others may be able to give precious things out of most precious treasures and many things out of very many, I nevertheless, because I gave my whole, offered more. Book One. 1. On the parts of the divine law. [Delta] Into how many primary parts is the knowledge of the divine law divided? [Mu] Into two, of which one pertains properly to the very surface of the wording, the other lies in the things which Scripture itself teaches us. 2. What things pertain to the surface of the Scriptures? [Delta] How many are the things pertaining properly to the very surface of the wording? [Mu] Five. [Delta] Which? [Mu] The kind of wording, authority, author, mode, and order. 2. [Delta] How many are the kinds of wording? [Mu] Four:

for it is either historical, or prophetic, or proverbial, or simply teaching. 3. On history. [Delta] What is history? [Mu] The narration of past or present things. 2. [Delta] In which books is the divine history contained? [Mu] In seventeen: Genesis, one; Exodus, one; Leviticus, one; Numbers, one; Deuteronomy, one; Joshua, one; Judges, one; Ruth, one; Kings—according to us four, according to the Hebrews two—; the Gospels, four: according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke, according to John; the Acts of the Apostles, one. [Delta] Do no other books pertain to the divine history? [Mu] Many add two of Chronicles, one of Job, one of Tobit, one of Ezra, one of Judith, one of Esther, two of Maccabees.

[Delta] Why do these books not run among the canonical Scriptures? [Mu] Because among the Hebrews too they were received with this same distinction, as Jerome and others testify. 3. [Delta] Is no other kind found in these books? [Mu] The rest occur, but not principally; for although the persons by whom they are spoken first spoke according to the other kinds, yet by him who wrote the book they are reported as history: just as the blessings of the patriarch Jacob were spoken by him indeed as prophecies, but Moses, who reports them, narrates them in historical order. And when Moses himself says that in the beginning heaven and earth were made, he speaks indeed by a prophetic spirit, but narrates in the historical kind.

Likewise history sometimes sounds even proverbial, as is, "The trees went forth to anoint a king over themselves." Sometimes it simply teaches, as is, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God." Yet all things, as I said, are woven together in the historical kind. 4. [Delta] In what does history excel the other kinds? [Mu] In that the others are subject to it, but it to none. 5. [Delta] What has it in common with the others? [Mu] It has in common with simple teaching that both seem plain on the surface, though for the most part they are difficult to understand; for the others are the reverse. 4. On prophecy. [Delta] What is prophecy? [Mu] The manifestation, by divine inspiration, of hidden things past, present, or future. 2.

[Delta] Give an instance of prophecy concerning past things. [Mu] "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established," and "for he himself spoke, and they were made," and "In the beginning God made heaven and earth." [Delta] Give an instance concerning present things. [Mu] The prophet saw in the present the knowledge of the theft committed by Gehazi, and the apostle Peter that of Ananias and Sapphira. [Delta] Give an instance concerning future things. [Mu] "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in her womb and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." 3. [Delta] Why was "hidden" placed in the definition? [Mu] Because if anyone should speak of things already known, even though they be future, he is nonetheless not a prophet, just as we, when we proclaim the resurrection, are not prophets. But if he should make manifest the hidden things of any time, then he is a prophet, as we have already shown.

[Delta] Prove this by a testimony of divine Scripture. [Mu] The apostle Paul, in the first epistle to the Corinthians, says, "If the whole church come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there enter in the unlearned, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and there enter in one who is an unbeliever or unlearned, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all; the hidden things of his heart are made manifest, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that 'God is manifestly among you.'" Behold, the apostle marked the power of prophecy in the manifestation of hidden things. But many other such things are also found in what follows in the same epistle and in the rest. 4. [Delta] Why did we add "by divine inspiration"?

[Mu] Because those who, whether by the prompting of demons or by other means, speak of hidden things, although they may be called prophets, are nevertheless not numbered among the authors of the divine Scriptures. 5. [Delta] In which books is prophecy received? [Mu] In seventeen: the Psalms, one book of 150; Hosea, one book; Isaiah, one book; Joel, one book; Amos, one book; Obadiah, one book; Jonah, one book; Micah, one book; Nahum, one book; Habakkuk, one book; Zephaniah, one book; Jeremiah, one book; Ezekiel, one book; Daniel, one book; Haggai, one book; Zechariah, one book; Malachi, one book. As for the Apocalypse of John, however, it is very much doubted among the Easterners. 6. [Delta] Is no other kind found in these books?

[Mu] The rest occur, but not principally, except for the proof of the prophecy, just as in Isaiah a kind of history is recounted concerning the kings Ahaz and Hezekiah; but the intent of prophecy is not to weave together deeds, but to confirm the outcome of things foretold. And in Jeremiah, when it is said, "O earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord," by "earth" it proverbially names the men dwelling in it. And when Isaiah says, "Not such a fast have I chosen, says the Lord, but loose every knot of iniquity," and the rest, he seems simply to teach, but he proclaims these things as one commanded by the prophetic Spirit. 7. [Delta] What has prophecy in common with the others? [Mu] It has in common with proverbs that both are difficult on the surface, but most are not hard to understand. 5.

On proverbs. [Delta] What is the proverbial kind? [Mu] A certain figurative manner of speech, sounding one thing and meaning another, and admonishing in the present time. 2. [Delta] In which books is this received? [Mu] In two: the one book of the Proverbs of Solomon, and the one book of Jesus, son of Sirach. [Delta] Is no other book placed under this kind? [Mu] Some add the book which is called Wisdom and the Song of Songs. 3. [Delta] Do other kinds occur in these books as well? [Mu] Only simple teaching occurs, but not principally, except for the explanation or commendation of the proverbs, as is, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 4. [Delta] What has the proverbial kind in common with the others?

[Mu] It has in common with prophecy that it seems difficult on the surface, though for the most part it is not so in understanding. 5. [Delta] What does the proverbial kind have proper to itself? [Mu] That neither history nor prophecy is mingled with it, and it alone is so understood that in a certain way the surface of the words is removed. 6. [Delta] Why is it lawful for us in this kind alone not to consider the very text of Scripture but the sense, whereas in the other three we admit allegory mystically in such a way that it is necessary to maintain the trustworthiness of the narrative? [Mu] Because if, apart from the proverbial kind, we should wish to receive allegory everywhere in such a way that the truth of the narrative were weakened, we would give place to enemies to interpret the divine books however they wished. 7.

[Delta] In how many ways is allegory recognized in the divine law? [Mu] In four: either according to transference, or metaphor, as is, "The Lord was angry" and "He came down," and the like, which, to indicate causes, are transferred from human movements to God; or according to imagination, or hypotyposis, as is in the Gospel, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho"; and again, the parable of the vineyard and the husbandmen; for the order of those things which were done by Christ is reported as fulfilled, as it were under the image of another person and matter; or according to comparison, or likeness, as he says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed," and the rest;

for there is no narrative, as is woven together in the previous example, but only the effects of causes are compared; or according to the proverbial mode, as is, "Drink water out of your own vessels and out of your own cistern and out of your own wells," since Scripture wishes to warn that carnal concupiscence is to be restrained within the licence of marriage. 6. On simple teaching. [Delta] What is simple teaching? [Mu] That by which we are simply instructed concerning faith or morals in the present time. 2. [Delta] Why did it receive this name? [Mu] Because all Scripture indeed teaches something, but under the other kinds which we have mentioned above; this kind, however, neither weaves a history nor a prophecy nor speaks proverbially, but only simply teaches.

3. [Delta] Which books pertain to simple teaching? [Mu] Seventeen canonical ones, that is: Ecclesiastes, one book; the epistles of the apostle Paul: to the Romans, one; to the Corinthians, two; to the Galatians, one; to the Ephesians, one; to the Philippians, one; to the Colossians, one; to the Thessalonians, two; to Timothy, two; to Titus, one; to Philemon, one; to the Hebrews, one; the first of the blessed Peter to the nations, and the first of the blessed John. [Delta] Do no other books pertain to simple teaching? [Mu] Very many add five others, which are called the canonical epistles of the apostles, that is: James, one; the second of Peter; Jude, one; two of John. 4. [Delta] Is no other kind found in these books? [Mu] The rest occur, but not principally, except for the proof of the teaching.

For when the apostle says, "And when I had come to Troas for the Gospel of Christ, a door was opened to me," and where he says that he withstood Peter to the face, he seems to weave a history. Again, when he says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall indeed all rise, but we shall not all be changed," he undertakes the work of a prophet. Likewise when he says, "The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy bellies," he uses proverbial words: yet all these are inserted, as we have said, for the proof of the teaching. 5. [Delta] What does simple teaching have in common with the other kinds? [Mu] It has in common with history that both seem easy on the surface, though for the most part they are difficult on inspection or in understanding. 7. On the authority of the Scriptures.

[Delta] How is the authority of the divine books considered? [Mu] In that some are of perfect authority, some of middle, some of none. [Delta] Which are of perfect authority? [Mu] Those which we have numbered without qualification as canonical in the several kinds. [Delta] Which are of middle authority? [Mu] Those which we said are added by many. [Delta] Which are of no authority? [Mu] All the rest. 2. [Delta] Are these distinctions found in all the kinds of wording? [Mu] In history and simple teaching, all of them; for in prophecy no books of middle authority are found except the Apocalypse, nor in the proverbial kind, which is wholly without them. 8. On the writers of the divine books.

[Delta] By what means do we recognize the writers of the divine books? [Mu] In three ways: either from the titles and prefaces, as the prophetic books and the epistles of the apostle; or from the titles only, as the evangelists; or from the tradition of the ancients, as Moses is handed down to have written the first five books of the history, although the title does not say this, nor does he himself report, "The Lord said to me," but as of another, "The Lord said to Moses." Likewise the book of Joshua is handed down to have been written by him by whom it is named, and Samuel is said to have written the first book of Kings. 2. Moreover it must be known that the authors of certain books are altogether unknown, as of Judges and Ruth and the last of the third of Kings and other similar ones;

which must therefore be believed to have been divinely arranged, so that the other divine books too might be known to have obtained so great a height of authority not by the merit of their authors, but by the grace of the Holy Spirit alone. 9. On the modes of the Scriptures. [Delta] How many are the modes of divine Scripture? [Mu] Two: for they are written either in Hebrew metres in their own language, or in simple prose. [Delta] Which are written in metres? [Mu] As the Psalms and the history of Job and Ecclesiastes and certain parts among the prophets. [Delta] Which are written in simple prose? [Mu] All the rest. 2. [Delta] Why are they not written among us in the same metres? [Mu] Because no diction preserves metre in another language, unless it change the force and order of the words. 10. On the order of the Scriptures.

[Delta] What is the order of the divine volumes? [Mu] In that some are of the Old Testament, some of the New. [Delta] Which pertain to the New Testament? [Mu] The Gospels, as was said above, four; the apostolic epistles; and the Acts. [Delta] Which pertain to the Old Testament? [Mu] All the rest. 2. [Delta] What are the things proper to the Old and the New Testament? [Mu] The intent of the Old is to show forth the New by figures and foretellings; that of the New is to kindle human minds to the glory of eternal blessedness. 11. On the things which Scripture teaches us. [Delta] Since enough has been said about those things which pertained properly to the very surface of Scripture, I now inquire what are the things which Scripture itself teaches us. [Mu] Three things, namely:

for it speaks either of God, or of the present age, or of the age to come. 12. In how many significations does Scripture speak of God? [Delta] In how many significations does Scripture speak of God? [Mu] In four: for it either signifies his essence, which in Latin we also call substance, as is, "I am who I am"; or the Persons, or, according to the Greeks, the subsistences, as is, "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"; or his operation, as it is written, "according to the working of the might of his power, which he wrought in Christ, raising him from the dead and making him to sit at his right hand";

or his relation to creatures, as is, "Now to the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory unto the ages of ages." 13. On the significations of the divine essence. [Delta] In how many ways is the divine essence signified? [Mu] In two: principally and consequently. 2. [Delta] By what words principally? [Mu] By eight: for it is called either God, or Lord, or at once Lord God, or Adonai, or Sabaoth, or Eli, or Elohim, or He-Who-Is. [Delta] Do these words signify nothing other than God? [Mu] Two only are sometimes said improperly of others as well, namely God and Lord, as Paul the apostle witnesses, "for there are many gods and many lords";

and "You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High." But the remaining six are never said except of God. [Delta] What do these words signify concerning God? [Mu] Not what he is, but that he is; for what God is cannot be comprehended. 3. [Delta] In what ways is God signified consequently? [Mu] When it expounds the Persons, or his operation, or his relation to creatures. For even when it names the Father, although the first hearing signifies one who begets, consequently we understand God; likewise also when it names the Son or the Holy Spirit. And when it says "almighty," although the first speech announces his operation, consequently we understand God.

And when it says "invisible," although it principally sounds him who cannot be seen by mortals, and from our relation assigns to him who made us that which we are not, consequently we nevertheless understand God. 14. On the significations of the Trinity. [Delta] In how many ways does Scripture signify the Persons, or subsistences, of the Godhead? [Mu] Likewise in two: principally and consequently: principally, as when we say, "Father, Son, Holy Spirit"; consequently, through those things by which the essence, or the operation, or the relation to creatures is signified.

For both when I say "God," which pertains to the essence, and when I say "almighty," which pertains to the operation, and when I say "immutable," which is said from the relation to creatures, although the first hearing perceives something other, yet I consequently understand Father and Son and Holy Spirit, whether together or singly, to be God. 15. In how many ways is the Father signified? [Delta] In how many ways is the Father signified? [Mu] By the name of Father one Person is understood, but not in one way: for it is said properly with respect to the Son, but commonly with respect to creation; there by the truth of nature, here by the goodness of grace. 2. [Delta] Is the Father signified in this one way? [Mu] Principally in this;

for consequently, also from those things which in any way signify the essence of the deity, or the operation, or the relation to creatures. Moreover, from the term "Son" the Father is consequently understood; and by the name of the Holy Spirit the Father himself, of course, whose Spirit it is, is understood by implication. 3. [Delta] In the Trinity itself, is the term "Father" ascribed to no other Person? [Mu] It is read as said of the Son, "Father of the age to come," but this is said according to the flesh and figuratively, not properly, so that it might be shown that he himself is the cause and begetter of our blessedness, because through the resurrection of his flesh human nature begins both to hope for and to receive the life to come. 16. In how many ways is the Son signified?

[Delta] In how many ways does Scripture speak of the Son? [Mu] In five: for sometimes his deity alone is, as it were, signified, and consequently the assumption of flesh is understood, as is, "the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father"; but sometimes only the man assumed by him, and the deity consequently, as is, "in these last days he has spoken to us in the Son"; sometimes both at once, as is, "Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant"; sometimes those things which are principally to be referred to the deity seem to be said even with respect to the body, as is, "the Son of Man, who is in heaven";

again, sometimes those things which specially refer to the flesh seem to be ascribed to the divinity, as is, "for had they known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." 2. [Delta] Why does Scripture speak of the Son in these five ways? [Mu] It speaks distinctly according to the natures, in order to show their unconfused properties; it speaks in common, in order to assert the unity; and it alternates the human with the divine and the divine with the human, in order that both may be shown to belong to one and undivided Person. 3. [Delta] In how many ways is the Person of the Son wont to be signified? [Mu] In two; and this too, principally and consequently: principally indeed it is signified when Christ is said absolutely;

for when others are called christs, something is added, as is, "the christ of the Lord" or "my christs"; but he alone who is naturally the Son of God is called Christ absolutely, whence it is declared that this is proper to him alone: consequently, however, the Person of the Son is understood also from those three by which the Father too is understood, and from the very term "Father," and from that of the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit is called the Spirit of both the Father and the Son. 17. In how many ways is the Person of the Holy Spirit signified? [Delta] In how many ways is the Person of the Holy Spirit signified? [Mu] Principally in one, as it is read, "Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and again, "for you are the temple of the Holy Spirit";

but consequently, also from the grace which he himself bestows, which is likewise itself called the Holy Spirit, as is, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you" and "Receive the Holy Spirit": likewise also from those things by which the divine essence, or operation, or relation to creatures is signified, as we said of the Son; but the Person of the Father and of the Son also signifies the Holy Spirit consequently, because whatever of these we say, we also understand consequently the Person of the Holy Spirit either as co-operating or as consubstantial. 18. What do the Persons of the Trinity have in common or as proper? [Delta] What do the several Persons of the Trinity have as proper?

[Mu] That the Father is never called the Son, nor, in conjoined speech, the Holy Spirit, although separately he can be called both "spirit" and "holy"; nor can the Son properly be called Father, or conjointly the Holy Spirit; nor, again, is the name of Father or of Son ascribed to the Holy Spirit. 2. [Delta] What things are common to these Persons? [Mu] All those which are known to pertain to the signification either of the essence, or of the operation, or of the relation to creatures; whence it is also established that the Trinity is of one substance [under the terms Father and Son and Holy Spirit]. 3. [Delta] What is signified in these Persons? [Mu] Not what they are, but that they are; for what they are, as we said above concerning God, speech cannot explain. 19.

In how many ways is the efficacy of the Godhead signified? [Delta] By how many kinds is the efficiency, or operation, of the Godhead designated, which the Greeks call energeia? [Mu] By four: either by creation, or by providence concerning creatures, or by the preparation of future things concerning them, or by the issue or outcome of the things prepared. 2. [Delta] Give the things pertaining to operation. [Mu] As when he is called good, chiefly from this, that he has made and makes to be the things which were not; and wise, in that we discern all things ordered by him so marvellously; and strong, in that he was able to fulfil the things which he so well and wisely willed. [Delta] Are these in God by essence or by will? [Mu] God is simple, nor is there in him essence other than will;

whence also all the names of his operation, although they differ among themselves in their definitions, yet in him no difference or diversity is found. So then he acts both by essence, or nature, because nothing is accidental to him; and yet also by will, because he effects nothing by necessity or by constraint. For God does not operate as fire burns by the necessity of its nature, or as bees by natural necessity fashion their combs, or spiders their webs; but God is said to make by nature, or essence—lest the will should be shown in him as though something else—and therefore by will, because he is compelled to operate nothing, but essentially wills and by will subsists. 3. [Delta] Give specifically the things pertaining to creation.

[Mu] As when he is called maker, craftsman, creator, and the like, although he is also said to make in the sense of to dispose, as is, "he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth," but then it is said according to the kind of providence. [Delta] Give the things which pertain specially to providence. [Mu] As when he is called helper, foreknowing, almighty, and the like. [Delta] Give the things pertaining to the preparation of future things. [Mu] As when he is called the way, and hope, and refuge, and the like. [Delta] Give the things pertaining to the issue of the things prepared. [Mu] As when he is called exultation, joy, and the rest of the like. But all the things pertaining to operation are recognized not only in names, but also in similar verbs or revelations. 4.