I would indeed wish these testimonies of Holy Scripture, inserted or to be inserted into this letter, to be interpreted in their entirety — so far as our slender ability could manage — whether in a historical or moral sense. But lest this little work be drawn out to an immense extent for those who despise, loathe, and turn away not so much from what is ours as from what is God's, they are heaped up, or to be heaped up, simply and without any circumlocution of words. And after a few words: 'For whoever shall loose one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 5:19). And again: 'Judge not, that ye be not judged: for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged' (Matt. 7:1, 2). Which of you, I ask, will look upon what follows?
'And why,' he says, 'beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?' (Matt. 7:3, 4). Or as for what follows: 'Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you' (Matt. 7:6) — which very often happens to you. And warning the people not to be seduced by deceitful teachers, such as you are, he said: 'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?'
'So every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit' (Matt. 7:15-17). And below: 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 7:21). CHAPTER XVII. Again from the Gospel of Matthew. — What indeed shall become of you, who — as the prophet said (Isa. 29:13) — believe in God with your lips only and not with your heart? And how do you fulfil what follows: 'Behold,' he says, 'I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves' (Matt. 10:16), you who, on the contrary, advance like wolves into the flock of sheep? Or what he says: 'Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves' (Matt. 10:16)?
You are indeed wise — to bite someone with a deadly mouth, but not to defend, by the interposition of your body as it were, that which is yours, namely Christ, whom you trample down with all your endeavours of evil works. For neither do you possess the simplicity of doves; rather, likened to the blackness of the raven, and having once flown out from the ark — that is, the Church — and finding the stench of carnal pleasures, you have never flown back to her with a pure heart. But let us look at the rest as well. 'Fear not,' he says, 'them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell' (Matt. 10:28). Consider which of these things you have done.
But which of you would not be wounded in the deepest secret of his heart by the testimony that follows, which the Saviour speaks to the apostles concerning depraved prelates? 'Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch' (Matt. 15:14). The peoples over whom you preside — or rather whom you have deceived — surely need to hear this. Attend to the words of the Lord speaking to the apostles and to the crowds, which you also, as I hear, are not ashamed to bring frequently into the open: 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not' (Matt. 23:2, 3).
Certainly, dangerous and useless is the teaching of priests which is darkened by depraved works. 'Woe unto you, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in' (Matt. 23:13). For not only on account of the great crimes of wickedness which you commit shall you be punished with penal punishment in the future, but also on account of those who perish daily by your example; whose blood shall be required at your hands in the day of judgment. But consider what evil the parable of the servant sets forth, of him who says in his heart: 'My lord delayeth his coming' — who perhaps for this reason had begun to smite his fellow-servants, eating and drinking with the drunken.
'The lord of that servant,' he says, 'shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder' (namely, from the holy priests) 'and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites' (assuredly with those who, under the priestly covering, greatly cloak their wickedness): 'there,' he says, 'shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth' (Matt. 24:48-51) — which does not often happen to you in this life on account of the daily ruins of the sons of mother Church, or the desires of the kingdom of heaven. CHAPTER XVIII. From Paul's Epistle to the Romans. — But let us see what Christ's true disciple, the teacher of the Gentiles, Paul — who is to be imitated by every ecclesiastical teacher ('even as I also am of Christ' [1 Cor. 11:1]) — says beforehand in such a matter, declaring in his first Epistle:
'Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools' (Rom. 1:21, 22). Although this seems to be said of the Gentiles, yet consider that it fittingly applies to the priests of this age together with their peoples. And after a few words he says: 'Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. For this cause God gave them up unto passions of dishonour' (Rom. 1:25, 26). And again:
'And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, malice, lewdness, fornication, covetousness, wickedness; full of envy, murder' (namely, the murder of the souls of the people), 'debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, disorderly, without mercy, without affection. Who, when they had known the righteousness of God, understood not that they who commit such things are worthy of death' (Rom. 1:28-32). Which of those mentioned above has in truth lacked all these vices? For if he had, perhaps he would be caught by the subjoined meaning, in which he says:
'Not only they that do the same, but also they that consent unto them that do them' (Rom. 1:32) — none, that is, being immune from this evil of theirs. And below: 'But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds' (Rom. 2:5, 6). And again: 'For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified' (Rom. 2:11-13).
What severity then presses upon those who not only do not perform what ought to be fulfilled, and do not abandon what is forbidden, but even flee from the very reading of the words of God — though it be lightly poured into their ears — as from a most savage serpent? CHAPTER XIX. Likewise, from the same Epistle and from the two Epistles to the Corinthians. — But let us pass on to what follows. 'What shall we say then?' he says. 'Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?' (Rom. 6:1, 2). And somewhat later: 'Who,' he says, 'shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?' (Rom. 8:35).
Which of you, I pray, will such an affection occupy in his inmost heart — you who not only do not labour for godliness, but even suffer many things in order to act wickedly and offend Christ? Or as for what follows: 'The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof' (Rom. 13:12, 14). And again to the Corinthians in the first Epistle: 'As a wise master-builder,' he says, 'I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.'
'For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, all things shall be judged through fire. He who hath built thereupon shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss' (1 Cor. 3:10-15). 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy' (1 Cor. 3:16, 17). And again:
'If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God' (1 Cor. 3:18, 19). And somewhat later: 'Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump' (1 Cor. 5:6, 7). How shall the old leaven be purged out — that is, sin — which from day to day is heaped up by all endeavours? And again: 'I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company,
if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat' (1 Cor. 5:9, 11). But a thief by no means condemns another thief for theft or robbery, whom rather he wishes well, protects, and loves, as a partner of his crime. Likewise in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: 'Therefore,' he says, 'seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully' (2 Cor. 4:1, 2). And in what follows he speaks thus of evil teachers: 'For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works' (2 Cor. 11:13, 15). CHAPTER XX. From the Epistles to the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians (first), and to the Colossians. — Attend also to what he says to the Ephesians. Do you not know that you are held in some way guilty on this account? 'This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness' (Eph. 4:17, 19). And which of you has of his own accord fulfilled what follows? 'Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is; and be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit' (Eph. 5:17, 18). And likewise what he says to the Thessalonians: 'For neither at any time were we among you with flattering words, as ye know, nor with an occasion of covetousness; nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been a burden, as the other apostles of Christ.
But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls' (1 Thess. 2:5-8). If you, O apostles — wait, if you retain this affection in all things, you may know yourselves to sit lawfully on his chair. Or also what follows: 'Ye know,' he says, 'what commandments we gave you. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in honour and sanctification, not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles which know not God.
And that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. Therefore he that despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God' (1 Thess. 4:2-8). Which of you also has circumspectly and cautiously kept what follows? 'Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, and evil concupiscence; for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of unbelief' (Col. 3:5, 6). For you see for which sins the wrath of God especially rises up. CHAPTER XXI. From the Epistles to Timothy and to Titus.
— Hear therefore what this same holy apostle, by the prophetic Spirit, foretold concerning you and those like you, writing openly to Timothy: 'This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, exalted, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, wicked, without natural affection, incontinent, fierce, without kindness, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasures more than of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such turn away' (2 Tim. 3:1-5). (As the prophet also says: 'I have hated the congregation of evil-doers; and I will not sit with the wicked' [Ps. 26:5]).
And somewhat later (a thing which we see sprouting in our own time) he says: 'Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was' (2 Tim. 3:7-9). For he plainly shows how priests ought to conduct themselves in their office, writing thus to Titus: 'In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine, in integrity, in gravity, having sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of us' (Titus 2:7, 8).
And again to Timothy: 'Labour,' he says, 'as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No man that warreth for God entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath approved him. And if a man also strive in the contest, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully' (2 Tim. 2:3-5). This indeed is an exhortation to good men. But what he likewise sets forth is a denunciation of evil men (such as you appear to all who have understanding to be). 'If any man,' he says, 'teach otherwise, and consent not to the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but languishing about questions and strifes of words:
from which arise envyings, contentions, blasphemies, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, who are destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness' (1 Tim. 6:3-5). But why, by making further use of testimonies scattered here and there, shall we be tossed amid the waves of meanings and of sundry matters in the despised little skiff of our talent?
We have judged it necessary at last to recur to those Lessons (which were rightly excerpted from almost the whole text of the sacred writings — not only that they might be recited, but also that they might attest to the blessing by which the hands of priests or ministers are consecrated, and might perpetually teach them never, by degenerating from priestly dignity, to depart from the commandments faithfully contained in them), so that it may be more openly evident to all that eternal torments await them, and that they are not priests or ministers of God who do not fulfil their teachings and commandments in deed according to their powers. CHAPTER XXII. From the First Epistle of Peter. — Let us therefore hear what the prince of the apostles, blessed Peter, has marked concerning such a matter:
'Blessed,' he says, 'be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope of eternal life, by the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God' (1 Pet. 1:3-5). For why is such an inheritance foolishly violated by you, which is not, like the earthly, fading, but unfading and eternal? And somewhat later: 'Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope perfectly for the grace that is brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ' (1 Pet. 1:13).
For search the depths of your breast, whether you are sober, and whether you perfectly keep the priestly grace, which is to be examined at the Lord's revelation. And again he says: 'As children of blessing, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but according to him who hath called you holy, be ye also holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy' (1 Pet. 1:14, 16). Which of you, I ask, has so pursued holiness with all the ardour of his soul, that he would hasten to fulfil it as far as in him lies? But let us see what is contained in the second lesson from him.
'Dearly beloved,' he says, 'purify your souls in obeying the faith through the Spirit, in love, in brotherhood, loving one another perseveringly out of a pure heart; being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever' (1 Pet. 1:22, 23). These indeed are the commands given by the Apostle, and read on the day of your ordination, that you might keep them inviolate; but they have by no means been fulfilled by you in judgment, nor even much pondered or understood. And below: 'Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, reasonable, and without guile, desire the milk, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation:
because the Lord is sweet' (1 Pet. 2:1-3). Consider whether these things too, heard often by you with deaf ears, are trampled underfoot. And again: 'But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people unto adoption, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light' (1 Pet. 2:9). Not only are the praises of God not shown forth or improved through you, but they are even despised among all the unbelieving by your most depraved examples. CHAPTER XXIII. From the Acts of the Apostles, and again from the First Epistle to Timothy. — You heard perhaps on that same day what was read in the lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter rising up in the midst of the disciples, who said:
'Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas' (Acts 1:15, 16). And a little after: 'Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity' (Acts 1:18). This you heard with a secure, or rather a dull, heart, as though it had not been read concerning you. Which of you, I ask, does not seek a field with the reward of iniquity? For Judas pilfered the bags; you lay waste the Church's offerings and the souls of her sons. He went to the Jews that he might sell God; you go to tyrants and to your father the devil, that you might despise Christ. He held the Saviour of all up for sale at thirty pieces of silver; you, for even a single penny. What more?
The example of Matthias is brought into your midst for your confusion — he too obtained his lot by the election of the holy apostles, or rather by the judgment of Christ, not by his own will: in regard to which, being made blind, you do not see how far you stand from his merits, since you have of your own accord rushed headlong into the love and disposition of Judas the traitor. It appears, therefore, that he who knowingly and from his heart calls you priests is not a true Christian. Truly, what I feel I will declare. The rebuke could indeed be made gentler: but what does it profit merely to handle a wound with the hand, or to anoint it with ointment, when, already shuddering at itself with swelling or stench, it needs the public cautery, the medicine of fire — if indeed it can be healed at all, the sick man by no means seeking a cure, and withdrawing farther from this physician?
O enemies of God, and not priests; veterans of evils, and not pontiffs; betrayers, and not successors of the holy apostles; and not ministers of Christ. You did indeed listen to the sound of the words of the apostle Paul in the second lesson (but in no way did you keep its admonitions and its power, and in the manner of idols which neither see nor hear, you stood that same day beside the altar) as it thundered to you then and daily: 'Brethren,' he says, 'this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation' (1 Tim. 3:1). He said 'faithful and worthy': you have despised it as unfaithful and unworthy.
'If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work' (1 Tim. 3:1). You desire the office of a bishop greatly for the sake of covetousness, not under the pretext of spiritual advancement, and you by no means possess the good work worthy of it. 'A bishop then must be blameless' (1 Tim. 3:2). For in this saying there is need of tears rather than of words; as if the Apostle had said that he ought to be more blameless than all men. 'The husband of one wife' (1 Tim. 3:2). Why is this also among us so contemned, as though it were not heard, even to say the same — the husband of wives? 'Sober, prudent' (1 Tim. 3:2). Which even of you has at any time so much as wished this to be in him? 'Hospitable' (1 Tim. 3:2).
If this perchance happens by chance, being done for popular favour rather than out of regard for the precept, it profits nothing — the Lord and Saviour saying thus: 'Verily I say unto you, They have their reward' (Matt. 6:2). 'Orderly, not given to wine, no striker, but modest, not quarrelsome, not covetous' (1 Tim. 3:2, 3). O deadly transformation! O horrible trampling of the heavenly precepts! Do you not untiringly seize the weapons of deeds and words to assault these — or rather to overwhelm them? For preserving and confirming which, if it had been necessary, even punishment ought to have been undergone willingly, and life laid down. But let us look at what follows too: 'One,' he says, 'that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all chastity' (1 Tim.
3:4). Therefore the chastity of the fathers is imperfect, if to it there be not also added the chastity of the children. But what shall it be, where neither father nor son, depraved by the example of an evil parent, is seen to be chaste? 'For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?' (1 Tim. 3:5). These are words which are proved by undoubted effects. 'Likewise deacons, chaste, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not following filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them minister, having no crime' (1 Tim. 3:8, 10). Shuddering at these things, I have indeed long lingered: one thing I can truly say, namely that all these are changed into contrary acts;
so that the clergy (which I confess not without grief of heart) are unchaste, double-tongued, drunken, greedy for filthy lucre, having faith — or, to speak more truly, unfaithfulness — in an impure conscience, not approved in good but foreknown in evil work; and ministering, and having innumerable crimes, are admitted to the sacred ministry. CHAPTER XXIV. Again from the Gospel of Matthew. — You heard also on that day (when it would have been far more worthy and far more right that you should be dragged to prison or to the penal scaffold than to the priesthood), when the Lord asked whom the disciples thought him to be, that Peter answered: 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matt. 16:16); and that the Lord said to him, for such a confession:
'Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven' (Matt. 16:17). Therefore Peter, taught by God the Father, rightly confesses Christ; but you, admonished by your father the devil, wickedly deny the Saviour by your evil deeds. To the true priest it is said: 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church' (Matt. 16:18). But you are likened to the foolish man, who built his house upon the sand (Matt. 7:26). And it is to be noted that to the unwise, in building a house upon the swaying instability of sands, the Lord does not co-operate, according to that saying: 'They have set up kings, but not by me' (Hos. 8:4). And likewise what follows sounds the same, saying:
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it' (Matt. 16:18) — and his sins are understood thereby. What is pronounced concerning your deadly structure? 'The floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it' (Matt. 7:27). To Peter and his successors the Lord says: 'And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 16:19): but to you: 'I know you not: depart from me, ye workers of iniquity' (Matt. 7:23; Luke 13:27); that, separated to the left part with the goats, you may fall into eternal fire. And likewise to every holy priest it is promised: 'And whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven' (Matt. 16:19).
But how shall you loose anything so that it may be loosed also in heaven — you who, on account of your crimes, have been taken away from heaven, and shackled with the cords of your monstrous sins, as Solomon also says: 'Everyone is bound with the cords of his own sins' (Prov. 5:22)?