Collation 2

COLLATION II.

On the first precept of the Decalogue in particular.

Summary. - Introduction, 1. 2. - Repetition and confirmation of the second part of Collation I, 3. 4. - On the manner in which the ten precepts are handed down, 5.

On the first precept, Part 1. Literal explanation of the words of the first precept, by which three things are prohibited. The first precept is the foundation of the others, 6. -

The words of this precept, which contain three things, namely what must be prefaced for knowledge, what must be subjoined for observance, and what must be interposed for completeness, 7. 8. - First, two things must be prefaced, namely knowledge of the Creator and the Restorer, 9-13. - Second, two things must be subjoined which avail for observance, namely fear and love, 14-16. - Third, things to be placed in the middle which avail for the completeness of the commandments and which in the negative prohibit the worship of others and in the affirmative imply the worship of God: the individual words are explained by which a threefold idolatry is prohibited, 17-20. - Part II. A fuller explanation according to the Christian faith. Three other things are prohibited: pacts with demons, inventions of errors, perverse valuations of worldly natures, 21. - On pacts with demons, 22. 23. - On inventions of errors, 24-28. - On perverse valuations of worldly natures, 29.

1. Come up to me on the mountain, and I will give you two tablets of stone and the Law and the commandments, which I have written, that you may teach the children of Israel, Exodus, chapter twenty-four.

Depart from me, you wicked, and I will search the commandments of my God. It is read that blessed Gregory, who was Pope and Doctor of the Church, had the custom that whenever he went to the study of the divine law, he always spoke these words: Depart from me, etc. It was asked of him why he did this; and he replied to Peter, to whom he was accustomed to tell his secrets, that he had learned by experience that whenever he wished to meditate on the law of God, he felt demons always opposing him. But in other subtleties the demons do not provoke, because in them they see no harm to themselves: indeed, they expect advantage from them. But when mention is made of the teachings of truth, by which demons are put to flight, then the prince of darkness rushes forth armed, now through earthly occupations, now through phantastic illusions, and strives to call back the minds of men from the study of truth. It is true that these words, Depart from me, etc., were spoken by blessed Gregory, who had the power of restraining demons; but I am not one of those. Therefore at the beginning let us beseech the Lord that he may command the demons not to hinder us, but that he may give us serene minds to understand the words concerning his commandments.

2. Come up to me, etc. The Lord spoke that word to Moses, and Moses, having heard the word, ascended the mountain and received two tablets of stone and the Law and the commandments. In this it is signified that if we wish to arrive at an understanding of the commandments of God, we must ascend the mountain, that is, to the eminence of the mind, because according to the impression of the eternal light the law of nature has been given to us, and according to that light we have received the teachings of the divine law.

3. I mentioned to you on another occasion that it is certain that being of itself first falls upon the soul. Now being is twofold, namely created and uncreated, and accordingly justice is twofold: one, by which we are ordered to uncreated being, and another, by which we are ordered to created being. And according to this twofold justice a twofold tablet was given to Moses, namely the first and the second. In the first tablet are contained the commandments by which we are ordered to uncreated being, that is, God. In the second tablet are contained the commandments by which we are ordered to created being, namely our neighbor.

4. Now uncreated being is the cause of all things—the cause, I say, efficient, formal-exemplary, and final—and it has power, wisdom, and benevolence and produces all things into being. And these three are appropriated to the three persons in the Trinity: power or majesty is appropriated to the Father, wisdom or truth to the Son, benevolence or goodness to the Holy Spirit. The supreme majesty in the Father is to be humbly adored, the supreme truth in the Son is to be faithfully professed, and the divine goodness in the Holy Spirit is to be sincerely loved.

These things were said concerning the commandments of the first tablet in general; but because discourses concerning the commandments spoken in general are useless unless they are made in particular, therefore it is necessary to explain the commandments in particular.

It was said in general that there are ten commandments, of which the first three are contained in the first tablet and seven in the second.

5. Now I shall tell you a general teaching: the eternal wisdom of God, which wrote these tablets, handed them down in the briefest manner, the clearest manner, and the easiest manner in which it could. In the briefest manner indeed, lest our memory be overburdened; in the clearest manner, lest our intelligence be obscured; in the easiest manner, lest our will be drawn back or turned away. This is the reason why the commandments were given through words as brief, as clear, and as easy as possible, and through synecdochic expressions.

6. First, therefore, let us consider the first commandment. And here it should be noted that, just as we see in other things that the first work is the foundation and rule of all subsequent ones, so the first commandment is the foundation and rule of all the other commandments.

7. The first words concerning the commandments are these: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude. You shall not have strange gods before me. You shall not make a graven image nor any likeness of those things that are in the heavens, nor that are on the earth, nor of those that are in the waters. You shall not adore nor worship them. I am the Lord your God, strong and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands to those who love me.

8. For the full explanation of these words, three things concur: certain things pertain to the cognition of the commandment, and these must be set forth first; certain things pertain to the observance of the commandment, and these must be subjoined; certain things, however, pertain to the integrity of the commandment, and these must be interposed.

9. First I say that certain things pertain to the cognition of the commandment, and these must be set forth first, which are the two greatest foundations of faith. The first is the knowledge of the Creator, the second is the knowledge of the Restorer; and these are the two rays or two spiritual eyes directing us in the way of God's commandments. For a man must first open his eyes before he walks; similarly, a man must first know the commandments through faith before he carries them out through works.

Now, for knowing the Creator, he says: I am the Lord your God. In that he says Lord, he intimates the power of the Father. In that he says God, he intimates the wisdom of the Son. In that he says your, he intimates the benevolence or goodness of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in that he says I, he denotes the identity of essence, and in this he intimates God as triune and one, Creator of all things.

10. There follows: Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; here he intimates the gift of restoration through the incarnate Word. The Lord speaks to all to whom he gave the commandment, and he gave the commandments to all, although he first gave them to the children of Israel. From the house of servitude, that is, of sin; for all of us have been led out from the servitude of sin who have been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb.

11. The whole Trinity speaks these words. He says therefore I, namely, the one whom you ought to obey and whom you ought to love and adore. Or he says I, who made you in the being of nature and in the being of grace. We ought therefore also to say: Lord, you are the one whom we ought to adore, whom we ought to serve; you are the one who created me; you are the one who redeemed me. Psalm: Know that the Lord himself is God; there follows: He made us, and not we ourselves. Come, let us adore and fall down and weep before the Lord who made us, for he is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

These two things, therefore, namely the knowledge of the Creator and the Restorer, are set forth first, without which we can understand nothing, because these are the foundations of our faith.

12. But in order that we may understand these things, it is necessary to know certain supporting points. You know to whom the first noble knowledge of the commandments was given? Certainly to Moses, who wrote through the Holy Spirit. But when did he have this knowledge? Certainly, when the Lord appeared to him. And in what manner did He appear to him? Certainly, in the fire of the flame of the burning bush. And then Moses said: Who are you, Lord? And the Lord answered him: I am who I am. And then the Lord gave him two lights, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth. The bush was burning and was not consumed, in which the mystery of the incarnation is signified to us.

13. These are the two lights and the principal foundations of faith, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth, and together with this also the mystery of the incarnation of our Savior.

And when we make the cross on our forehead in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge the Trinity and together with this our Redeemer. By saying: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, man acknowledges the Trinity; by making the cross on the forehead, he acknowledges the Redeemer.

It is now clear that two things avail for the knowledge of the commandment, which must be set forth first; and these are the two foundations of faith, namely the knowledge of the Creator and of the Redeemer.

14. Second, there are certain things which avail for the observance of the commandments, and these must be subjoined. It should be noted here that all commandments are either affirmative or negative. Affirmative ones indeed are that man should do good; negative ones, that man should avoid evil. But it is impossible for man to avoid evil except through fear, and to do good except through love; and on account of this, two things are necessary for the observance of the commandments, namely fear and love.

A bird cannot fly without two wings, nor can a man walk without two feet. Similarly, no one can be a perfect observer of the commandments of God unless he is filled with fear and love. But man is not filled with fear except from the consideration of divine severity, nor is he filled with love except from the consideration of divine goodness.

15. This twofold consideration is therefore necessary for man. And on account of this He says: I am the Lord your God, strong and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.

A mighty zealot, that is, having the strongest zeal, namely against those who hate me. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, not that he punishes the children on account of the actual sins of the fathers, but when the children are imitators of their fathers' crimes, then the Lord punishes the sins of the fathers together with their own sins unto the third and fourth generation, namely of those who hate me. He says this so that we may fear, and through fear turn away from evil; whence in Ecclesiastes: Fear God and keep his commandments; this is the whole of man, that is, for this is every man. Do you wish to merit, so as to arrive at the highest fulfillment? Fear God. But how shall I fear? Certainly by considering that the Lord is a most mighty zealot.

16. Likewise, together with this one must also love him, because he says of himself, as follows: And showing mercy unto thousands to those who love me; in which he shows us that the mercy and kindness of God transcends the punishment of iniquities. When the heart is enlarged through love, then man easily keeps the commandments of God. Psalm: I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. I have seen an end of all perfection; thy commandment is exceedingly broad. He says that the way of God's commandments is broad, yet to some it seems to be narrow. Certainly to those who love, it is broad; but to those who do not love, it seems to be narrow.

It is clear, therefore, how fear and love avail for the observance of the commandments of God.

17. Third, certain things avail for the integrity of the commandments, and these ought to be interposed, that is, placed in the middle; and he touches upon this when he says: Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven image, nor any likeness of those things that are in the heavens above, nor of those that are on the earth beneath, nor of those that are in the waters.

Note that latria is worship owed to God alone and is rendered in such a way that it is owed to no other. God prohibits the worship of others in the negative, and by this he implied the worship of God in the affirmative, which is made explicit in the New Testament, when the Lord says in Matthew 4: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

18. But it is asked: why did the Lord prohibit the worship of others in the negative and not make explicit the worship of God in the affirmative? Certainly, because he wished to give us the commandments in the easiest manner he could; and therefore in the negative he called us back from the worship of others, so as to imply his own worship in the affirmative. — And it should be noted that he called us back from all idolatry. Now everything that is adored other than God is either an intellectual creature, such as angels and demons; or a corporeal creature, such as heaven and earth and water and the like; or it is a figment of the human mind. And the Lord prohibits adoring these three.

19. But why did the Lord place the figment of the human mind among idolatry, since a figment is nothing in reality? I say that an idol is nothing; rather, it is referred to that which exists in estimation.

And see how sacred Scripture proceeds: it places the intellectual creature at the highest level, the figment in the middle, and corporeal nature at the lowest; and accordingly it first prohibits idolatry with respect to the intellectual creature, when it says: You shall not have strange gods. Second, it prohibits idolatry with respect to the figment of the human mind, when it says: You shall not make a graven image. Third, it prohibits idolatry with respect to corporeal nature, when it says: Neither shall you make the likeness of those things which are in the heavens, nor those which are on earth, nor of those which are in the waters. First it is prohibited with respect to celestial things, second with respect to terrestrial things, third with respect to those which are in the waters.

20. Concerning idolatry with respect to the spiritual creature, it is said in the Psalm: For all the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens.

Concerning idolatry with respect to the figment of the human mind, it is said in the Psalm: Let all be confounded who adore graven things, and who glory in their idols. That man is inclined to adore his own figment and thus to glory in adoring it — this is the supreme perversion.

Concerning idolatry with respect to corporeal nature, the Apostle says: Who exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God — and it follows: And they served the creature rather than the Creator. Behold, the true adoration of God is here implied, and all idolatry is prohibited.

We have, therefore, the supports for the commandments.

21. Now I say that we Christians ought to see beyond that Jewish people to whom these commandments were given, because the truth has been made manifest to us, and according to the three things which are prohibited here, a great and true light has appeared to us. Now three things are prohibited, by which the human mind is turned away from reverence for its Creator, and in those three things there are first prohibited to us all profane pacts with demons, where it says: You shall not have strange gods before me. Second, false and superstitious inventions of errors are prohibited, where it says: You shall not make a graven image. Third, all perverse valuations of worldly natures are prohibited, where it says: Neither the likeness of those things which are in the heavens, etc.

22. I say therefore that in the first word: You shall not have strange gods before me, all profane pacts with demons are prohibited, whether they be made through incantations of words, or through inscriptions of characters or images, or through immolations of sacrifices. In these three consist all the parts of the magical art. And thus by prohibiting these three, all things are prohibited from which all profane pacts with demons arise, whether they be made for the transmutation of natures, as the magicians of Pharaoh did; or for the deception of the senses, as illusionists do; or for the investigation of future contingencies. All these Augustine calls pacts with demons, because in such things there is attributed to the creature what ought to be attributed to the Creator; and therefore such persons sin against the first word of the commandment, which is: You shall not have strange gods before me. Concerning such persons it is said in the canticle of Deuteronomy, the thirty-second chapter: They provoked him with strange gods, and stirred him to anger with him who was not God. Whence such persons fall into the hands of demons; the Apostle: God delivered them up to shameful passions, that is, he permitted them to be delivered up, their sins demanding it.

23. We have an example of this in a certain learned man, who had long studied how he might become rich, and had made his tongue available for hire for a long time, and yet was always in want. But he thought thus: since I cannot be made rich through God, I will be made rich through the devil. He sought a magician among Jews and Christians and found none. At length he thought: I myself will try whether I can become rich through the devil. He went by a certain shady, rocky path alongside a torrent and said: Where are you, demon, who always seek to deceive men? I am here to give you my soul. The first and second time the demon did not come nor respond, because the Lord did not yet permit it. But the third time the devil came and said: What do you seek from me? He answered: That you make me rich. The devil said to him: It is necessary that you first adore me. And then he bowed down and adored him. And immediately the devil had power over him and deceived him: he made all those stones appear to him to be gold. And the demon said to him: Take as much gold as you wish. And then he, rejoicing, loaded himself with stones, and when he came home he placed the stones in a certain corner of the house; and the stones caught fire, and the house was burned along with whatever was in it, so that he himself barely escaped. He thought again to return to the former place, saying: I will go and take enough gold. And when he came to the place, then he saw that there was nothing there but stones: and so he was made a fool.

It is now clear how in the first word all profane pacts with demons are prohibited.

24. In the second word: You shall not make a graven image, all false and superstitious inventions of errors are prohibited. And it should be noted here that every error is nothing other than a fiction of the mind. For imagination produces error by clouding reason and making what is not appear to be. Now all false and superstitious inventions of errors arise either from the wicked audacity of philosophical investigation, or from a perverse understanding of Sacred Scripture, or from a disordered affection of human carnality.

25. From the wicked audacity of philosophical investigation proceed errors among philosophers, such as positing that the world is eternal and that there is one intellect in all men. For to posit that the world is eternal is to pervert all of Sacred Scripture and to say that the Son of God was not incarnate. To posit, moreover, that there is one intellect in all men is to say that there is no truth of faith, nor salvation of souls, nor observance of the commandments; and this is to say that the worst man is saved and the best is damned. To posit this, therefore, comes from the wicked audacity of philosophical investigation. And such men hold that it is impossible for the mortal to attain immortality. And whoever fabricates or defends or imitates this, or proceeds according to it, errs most gravely, because he acts against the second word of the commandment: You shall not make a graven image: whence the fabricator, the defender, and the imitator alike are all prohibited here.

26. Second, errors arise in some from a perverse understanding of Sacred Scripture, as among heretics, who hold wrongly concerning the Trinity and the Holy Spirit. Such are the Arians, the Sabellians, the Donatists, the Pelagians, and the like.

27. Third, errors are prohibited which arise from a perverse affection of human carnality, such as the errors of the Epicureans, who say that there is no other life than this one; and the Nicolaitans, who say that it is lawful for anyone to act shamefully with anyone. The Saracens likewise do not have what they say from Sacred Scripture nor from the height of divine wisdom. Therefore all errors, in whatever manner they proceed, ought to be abominated as graven images, because they sin against this word of the commandment: You shall not make a graven image.

28. Concerning such men, however, who devise, or defend, or imitate these or similar errors, Jeremiah says: Every man has become foolish by his own knowledge, that is, by his own investigation and excessive philosophy; every craftsman has been confounded by his graven image: their works are vain and worthy of ridicule, and in the time of their visitation they shall perish. We must therefore stand upon what the lights of faith dictate, and whatever is opposed to this, we ought to abominate entirely as a graven image.

I heard, when I was a student, about Aristotle, that he posited the world to be eternal: and when I heard the reasons and arguments that were made for this, my heart began to be shaken and I began to think, how can this be? But these things are now so manifest that no one can doubt it. — It is now clear how in the second word of the commandment: You shall not make a graven image, all profane and superstitious inventions of errors are prohibited.

29. In the third word: Neither shall you make a likeness of those things that are in the heavens etc., all perverse valuations of worldly natures are prohibited. Now every perverse valuation of creatures proceeds either by reason of sublimity, or by reason of sufficiency, or by reason of delight. In the first way it is the idolatry of the proud; in the second way it is the idolatry of the avaricious: in the third way it is the idolatry of the lascivious. Against the first the Prophet says: There shall be no new god in you, nor shall you adore a strange god: against the second the Apostle says: Avarice is the servitude of idols: against the third the Apostle says: Whose god is their belly. At another time, God willing, we shall pursue this more fully.