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Hilary of Poitiers

On the Trinity & Psalm Commentary 7

Latin original · 16 verses · some words can be tapped for a gloss

7:1

Epistula syn. Sardicensis (343/4). Benignifica natura tua, domino heatissimp Auguste, cum benigna uoluntate concordat et, quoniam de fonte paternae pietatis tuae misericordia largiter profluit, quod rogamus, facile nos impetrare posse confidimus. non solum uerbis, sed etiam lacrimis deprecamur, ne diutius catholicae ecclesiae grauissimis iniuriis afficiantur et intolerabiles sustineant persecutiones et contumelias et, quod est nefarium, a fratribus nostris.

The letter of the Synod of Sardica (343/4). Your kindly nature, O most blessed Augustus and lord, is in harmony with a kindly will; and since mercy flows abundantly from the fountain of your fatherly devotion, we are confident that what we ask we may easily obtain. Not only with words, but even with tears we beseech that the catholic churches may no longer be afflicted with the gravest injuries, nor endure intolerable persecutions and insults, and — what is abominable — at the hands of our own brethren.

撒爾狄卡會議的書信（三四三／四年）。至蒙福的奧古斯都、我主啊，您那仁慈的本性與仁慈的心意相和；既然憐憫從您慈父般虔敬的泉源豐豐富富地湧流，我們深信所求的必能輕易得著。我們不僅用言語，甚至流淚懇求：願大公教會不再遭受最沉重的傷害，不再忍受難以承受的逼迫與凌辱，並且——這是可憎之事——竟是出於我們自己弟兄之手。

7:2

prouideat et decernat clementia tua, ut omnes ubique iudices, quibus prouinciarum auntem mu tationis creditae sunt, ad quos sola cura et sollicitudo publicorum negotiorum pertinere debet, a religiosa se obseruantia abstineant neque posthac praesumant atque usurpent et putent se causas cognoscere clericorum et innocentes homines uariis afflictationibus, minis, uiolentia, terroribus frangere atque uexare. Intellegit singularis et ammirabilis sapientia tua non decere, non oportere cogi et conpelli inuitos et repugnantes, ut se his subiciant et addicant ui oppressi, qui non cessant adulterinae doctrinae corrupta semina aspargere.

Let your clemency provide and decree that all judges everywhere, to whom the government of the provinces has been entrusted, and to whom only the care and concern of public business ought to pertain, should abstain from meddling in religious observance, and should not henceforth presume, usurp, and imagine that they may examine the causes of the clergy and break and harass innocent men by various afflictions, threats, violence, and terrors. Your singular and admirable wisdom understands that it is not fitting, not right, that men should be forced and compelled against their will and resistance to submit and give themselves over, oppressed by violence, to those who do not cease to scatter the corrupt seeds of an adulterate doctrine.

願您的仁慈規定並頒令：凡各處受託治理各行省的一切官長——他們理當只關切公共事務的照管與職責——都當戒絕干涉宗教的事務，此後不可擅自妄為、越權僭取，也不可自以為可以審理教牧人員的案件，並用種種苦害、恐嚇、暴力、威逼來壓碎、騷擾無辜之人。您那卓越可佩的智慧明白：強迫、壓制那些不情願且抗拒的人，使他們在暴力壓迫下屈服、順從於那些不停撒播敗壞邪說種子之人，這是既不合宜、也不正當的。

7:3

iccirco laboratis et salutaribus consiliis rem publicam regitis, excubatis etiam et uigilatis, ut omnes, quibus imperatis, dulcissima libertate potiantur. non alia ratione, quae turbata sunt, componi, quae diuulsa sunt, coherceri possint, nisi unusquisque nulla seruitutis necessitate astrictus integrum habeat uiuendi arbitrium. certe uox exclamantium a tua mansuetudine exaudiri debet: \'catholicus sum, nolo esse hereticus; Christianus sum, non Arrianus; et melius est mihi in hoc saeculo mori, quam alicuius priuati potentia dominante castam ueritatis uirginitatem corrumpere\'.

For this reason you labour and govern the commonwealth with wholesome counsels, you keep watch and remain vigilant, so that all whom you rule may enjoy the sweetest liberty. In no other way can things that have been thrown into confusion be settled, nor things torn asunder be held together, unless each man, bound by no necessity of servitude, has entire freedom of living. Surely the voice of those who cry out ought to be heard by your gentleness: 'I am a catholic, I will not be a heretic; I am a Christian, not an Arian; and it is better for me to die in this age than, under the domineering power of some private man, to corrupt the chaste virginity of the truth.'

為此，您以有益的謀略勞苦治理國家，您警醒守望，好叫您所治理的眾人都能享有最甘美的自由。除非各人不受任何奴役之束縛、擁有完全的生活自主，否則那陷入混亂的斷無法平定，那被撕裂的也斷無法維繫。呼喊者的聲音實在理當被您的溫良所垂聽：「我是大公信徒，我不願作異端；我是基督徒，不是亞流派；我寧可在今世死去，也不願在某個私人的專橫權勢之下，玷污真理那貞潔的童貞。」

7:4

aequumque debet uideri sanctitati tuae, gloriosissime Auguste, ut, qui timent dominum deum et diuinum iudicium, non polluantur aut contaminentur exsecrandis blasphemiis, sed habeant potestatem, ut eos sequantur episcopos et praepositos, qui et inuiolata conseruant foedera caritatis et cupiunt perpetuam et sinceram habere pacem. nec fieri potest nec ratio patitur, ut repugnantia congruant, dissimilia conglutinentur, uera et falsa misceantur. lux et tenebrae confundantur, dies quoque et nox habeant aliquam coniunctionem.

And it ought to seem just to your holiness, most glorious Augustus, that those who fear the Lord God and the divine judgment should not be polluted or defiled by execrable blasphemies, but should have the power to follow those bishops and prelates who both keep inviolate the bonds of charity and desire to have perpetual and sincere peace. For it cannot be, nor does reason allow, that contraries should agree, that unlike things should be glued together, that true and false should be mingled, that light and darkness should be confounded, or that day and night should have any conjunction.

至為榮耀的奧古斯都啊，在您的聖德看來，這也理當是公義的：那些敬畏主神與神聖審判的人，不當被可咒的褻瀆所玷污、污穢，而當有能力跟從那些既完好保守愛的聯繫、又渴望擁有恆久真誠和平的主教與教牧。因為這是不可能的，理性也不容許：相反之物竟能相合，相異之物竟能膠著，真與偽竟能混雜，光與暗竟能相混，晝與夜竟能有任何連結。

7:5

si igitur, quod sine dubitatione et speramus et credimus, haec permouent non insitam, sed ingenitam tuam bonitatem, praecipe, ut non studium, non gratiam, non fauorem locorum rectores grauissimis hereticis praestent. permittat lenitas tua populis, quos uoluerint, quos putauerint, quos delegerint, audiant docentes et diuina mysteriorum sollemnia concelebrent, pro incolumitate et beatitudine tua offerant preces. Non quisquam peruersus aut inuidus maligna loquatur. nulla quidem suspicio erit non modo seditionis, non asperae obmurmurationis. quieta sunt omnia et uerecunda.

If therefore — as we both hope and believe without doubt — these considerations move your goodness, which is not merely implanted but inborn, command that the governors of provinces bestow no zeal, no favour, no partiality upon the most grievous heretics. Let your leniency permit the peoples to hear those teachers whom they wish, whom they judge fit, whom they choose, and to celebrate together the divine solemnities of the mysteries, and to offer prayers for your safety and blessedness. Let no perverse or envious man speak malicious things. Indeed there will be no suspicion, not to say of sedition, but not even of harsh murmuring. All will be quiet and modest.

所以，倘若——正如我們毫無疑惑地既盼望又相信——這些考量能感動您那並非僅是後植、乃是天生的良善，就請下令各行省的長官不給那些最嚴重的異端絲毫熱心、恩惠或偏袒。願您的寬仁准許百姓聆聽他們所願、所認為合宜、所揀選的教師，一同慶祝神聖奧秘的莊嚴禮儀，並為您的平安與福祉獻上祈禱。不容任何乖僻或嫉妒之人說出惡毒的話。如此，別說是叛亂的嫌疑，就連刺耳的怨言也絕不會有。一切都將安寧而端莊。

7:6

et nunc, qui Arriana et pestifera contagione inquinati sunt, non cessant ore impio et sacrilego animo euangeliorum sinceritatem corrumpere et rectam apostolorum regulam deprauare. diumos prophetas non intellegunt. callidi et astuti artificio quodam utuntur, ut inclusam perniciosam corruptelam exquisitorum uerborum uelamine contegant, non prius uenenatum uirus effundant, quam simplices et innocentes sub praetextu nominis Christiani raptos atque inretitos, ne soli pereant, sed participes horrendi criminis sui, reos faciant.

And now those who are stained with the Arian and pestilent contagion do not cease to corrupt the sincerity of the Gospels with impious mouth and sacrilegious mind, and to deprave the right rule of the apostles. They do not understand the divine prophets. Crafty and cunning, they use a certain artifice, so as to cover their enclosed and ruinous corruption under a veil of chosen words, not pouring out their venomous poison until they have — under the pretext of the Christian name — snatched and ensnared the simple and innocent, and, lest they perish alone, made them guilty as partakers of their horrendous crime.

如今那些被亞流的、瘟疫般的傳染所玷污之人，不停地以不虔的口與褻瀆的心敗壞福音的純正，並歪曲使徒正確的準則。他們不明白神聖的先知。他們狡猾詭詐，運用某種伎倆，用精挑細選的言辭作幔子，遮蓋內藏的、毀滅性的敗壞，不到得手絕不倒出他們有毒的毒液——直到他們在基督徒之名的偽裝下，擄掠、網羅了那些單純無辜之人，並且，唯恐自己獨自滅亡，便使這些人成為他們可怕罪行的同夥而同受刑責。

7:7

Et hoc obsecramus pietatem tuam, ut eos, qui adhuc — egregii uidelicet sacerdotes, qui tanti nominis praepollent dignitate — aut in exilio aut in desertis locis tenentur, iubeas ad sedes suas remeare, ut ubique grata libertas sit et iucunda laetitia. Quis non uidet, quis non intellegit? post quadringentos fere annos, postquam dei unigenitus filius humano generi pereunti subuenire dignatus est, quasi ante non apostoli, non post eorum martyria et excessus fuerint Christiani, nouella nunc et teterrima lues non corrupti aeris, sed exsecrandorum blasphemiorum Arriana effusa est. ita illi, qui ante crediderunt,. inanem spem immortalitatis habuerunt?

And this too we beseech of your devotion: that those who are still held either in exile or in desert places — namely those excellent priests, who excel in the dignity of so great a name — you would command to return to their own sees, so that everywhere there may be welcome liberty and joyful gladness. Who does not see, who does not understand? After nearly four hundred years, since the Only-begotten Son of God deigned to come to the aid of the perishing human race, as though before this there had been no apostles, and after their martyrdoms and departures no Christians, a new and most foul plague has now been poured out — not of corrupted air, but of execrable blasphemies, the Arian. Did those, then, who believed before, hold an empty hope of immortality?

這一件事我們也懇求您的虔敬：那些至今仍被扣留在流放之地或荒僻之處的人——就是那些卓越的祭司，他們以如此崇高名位的尊榮而超群——願您下令使他們得以歸回自己的教座，好叫各處都有可喜的自由與歡欣的喜樂。誰看不見？誰不明白？在神的獨生子俯就前來拯救那將亡的人類將近四百年之後，彷彿在此之前並無使徒，在他們殉道與離世之後也並無基督徒，如今竟湧出一場全新而極其可憎的瘟疫——不是敗壞空氣的瘟疫，而是可咒褻瀆的亞流瘟疫。難道那些在先前相信的人，所懷的不死盼望都是虛空的嗎？

7:8

nuper didicimus commenta haec fuisse inuenta et a duobus Eusebiis et a Narcisso et a Theodoro et ab Stefano et Acacio et Mcnofanto et imperitis atque improbis duobus adulescentibus Ursacio et Valente. quorum epistulae proferuntur et idoneis testibus etiam conuincuntur, qui eos magis oblatrantes quam disputantes audierint. quibus qui communionem suam inprudenter et incaute commiscent, quia fient socii scelerum, participes criminum necesse est eos, qui iam in hoc saeculo abiecti sunt et abdicati, cum aduenerit dies iudicii, pati supplicia sempiterna. II. Textus narratiuus. (6).

We have lately learned that these fabrications were devised by the two Eusebii, by Narcissus, by Theodore, by Stephen, by Acacius, by Menophantus, and by two ignorant and wicked young men, Ursacius and Valens. Their letters are produced and are even refuted by suitable witnesses, who heard them barking rather than debating. Those who imprudently and incautiously mix their communion with these men — since they will become associates of their crimes and partakers of their misdeeds — must needs, when the day of judgment shall come, suffer eternal torments together with those who are already in this age cast out and repudiated. II. Narrative text. (6).

我們近來得知，這些捏造之詞是由兩位尤西比烏斯、由納爾基索斯、由狄奧多爾、由司提反、由阿卡基烏斯、由梅諾凡圖斯，以及由兩個無知邪惡的年輕人烏爾撒基烏斯和瓦倫斯所炮製的。他們的書信被呈出，甚至被適格的證人所駁倒，這些證人聽見他們是在狂吠，而非辯論。凡輕率、不慎與這些人相交通的，既將成為他們罪行的同夥、過犯的分擔者，到審判之日來臨時，就必與那些如今在今世已被棄絕、革除之人一同受永刑。二、敘事本文。（六）。

7:9

Iam nemini dubium est, quod huiuscemodi curam in absolutionem Athanasi sancti illi uiri receperint, ut post synodi sententias, quas pro sacerdotalis iudicii reuerentia fas fuerat sacer- dotali uel ecclesiastica conscientia contineri, seribi ad regem legationemque instrui oportuerit. sed quid aliud his litteris quam libertatem fidei a contagione Arriani nominis deprecantur orantque uincula, carceres, tribunalia et omnem illum feralem habitum, nouas etiam in reos quaestiones inhiberi ? deus cognitionem sui docuit potius quam exegit et operationum caelestium ammiratione praeceptis suis concilians auctoritatem coactam confitendi se aspernatus est uoluntatem.

It is now doubtful to no one that those holy men undertook such care for the acquittal of the saint Athanasius that, after the sentences of the synod — which, out of reverence for priestly judgment, it had been lawful to keep within priestly or ecclesiastical conscience — it became necessary to write to the emperor and to organize an embassy. But what else do they beg by these letters than freedom of faith from the contagion of the Arian name, and pray that chains, prisons, tribunals, and all that deadly apparatus, and even novel modes of inquiry against the accused, be restrained? God taught the knowledge of Himself rather than exacted it, and, winning authority for His precepts by wonder at heavenly works, spurned a will compelled to confess Him.

如今無人再懷疑：那些聖人為亞他那修聖人的昭雪竟如此費心，以致在會議的判決之後——這些判決，出於對祭司裁斷的敬重，本可存留於祭司或教會的良知之中——竟不得不上書皇帝並組織一個使團。然而他們藉這些書信所懇求的，除了求信仰得脫離亞流之名的傳染、並祈求約束那鎖鏈、牢獄、法庭與一切那死亡般的刑具、甚至是針對被告的新式審訊之外，還有什麼呢？神教導人對祂的認識，過於強索這認識；祂藉著人對屬天作為的驚奇為自己的誡命贏得權威，卻厭棄那被強逼來承認祂的心志。