For righteousness is God to him. For righteousness is a thing of God, and whoever transgresses it becomes guilty before God's judgment. But Melchizedek, as is given to be understood, is called king not after the manner of men, because he has beneath himself righteousness, which holds dominion over kings. For no one can have righteousness beneath himself, unless he be of such a nature that he cannot sin. And it is said to be beneath him for this reason, that by him it was devised in the form of a law, by which those are governed who are able to sin. Therefore the King of Righteousness is the moderator of the words devised by himself, by which one may both live well and blessedly, and may believe.
Long and much do we labor, and still we say too little of Melchizedek, unless we return to Scripture, which itself also long knocks and cries aloud, that it may rouse those oppressed by heavy sleep to the understanding not of night but of day. It says, therefore, that Melchizedek is without father, without mother, without genealogy; and, lest it should be understood otherwise than is fitting, it added: having neither beginning of days nor end of life. By this it shows that Melchizedek was neither born nor died. What does human subtlety argue against things so manifest? What is so crafty a cleverness of mind that dares to resist things plain, so as not to take its sense from the reading, but to impose a sense upon the reading?
Violence is done to the Lord's Scriptures, so that it perceives as enemies even those who seem to bow to its authority. For some say that we ought not to believe concerning Melchizedek as it has been related in the Scriptures, and thereby they turn the Scriptures to their own sense; for whom it were better openly not to receive the Scriptures, than deceitfully to act against them, so that under the name of peace war is prepared, and under the covering of friendship an enemy lies hidden. They say, therefore, that the phrase pertains not to Melchizedek's high birth, but to the lowliness of his lineage, because he is read to have been without father and mother. For they say it was written thus for this reason, that it might be shown he was of foreign stock, not of the tribe from which Abraham sprang, because his lineage is not found in the Law.
'And for this reason,' they say, 'it added: and without genealogy, that it might be understood that his origin was utterly not described in the Law, so that he might be believed to have become a good man by himself, out of parents of whatever sort.' But moreover, how heedless is Scripture, that it sets down in order all the things necessary to the case as digested! For first it says: without father, without mother. Let us see whether the mothers of the rest are signified in the Law: who was the wife of Nahor, Abraham's grandmother, the mother of Terah, is not recorded; nor who was the mother of Abraham — to say nothing of the others. Are these to be said to have been without mothers? If it had said 'without father,' would they not have been...? Because the fathers of all who existed are recorded in the Law, it adds: and without genealogy.
If it said these things for this reason, to show that his generation was not in the Law, it would have sufficed to say 'without father,' because of one whose father no one knows, much more is his grandfather unknown. For manifestation it says: having neither beginning of days nor end of life. Tell me, whoever you are that do violence to the text, how do you interpret this? What is it to have neither beginning of days nor end of life? Surely it would have sufficed to say that his generation was not written in the Law, and thereby his origin should be believed to be from the foreigners. It may be said that he was 'translated' like Enoch, and therefore did not die. So be it. What is it to have no beginning of the days of life? Perhaps you will say, because the day of his birth is not written. For whose birthday is written in the Law?
And is this the reasoning, that of him whose birthday is not written, it should be denied that he has a beginning of the days of life? Then the same could be said of the rest as well. And if he had been translated as a man, yet he would not have been without an end of life, because whatever is under the hope of death has an end. Cease, whoever you are that are bent on contention. For it is more profitable to be conquered by what is true than to conquer truth by falsehoods. For it is to perish, not to conquer, because, even if in man truth should seem to perish, yet with God it conquers, because its reasoning is invincible. And so the mind ought to be conquered by the Law, that it may perceive what is signified by the Law, not that it should itself give a sense to the Law at its own pleasure, so as violently to make the Law conform to its own reading. And hear Zerubbabel, who says: Above all things truth conquers.
Now Melchizedek showed forth the future mystery of the Lord's incarnation and passion, when he first delivered to Abraham, as it were to the father of the faithful, the Eucharist of the Lord's body and blood, that there might be prefigured in the father the truth that was to be in the children. If he is thought to be a man, a priest after the manner in which Aaron was, or as they now are, let the place of his dwelling be shown or read of, or whether there was any temple or synagogue in which he gathered the people and offered their sacrifices, or what people assembled to him. For if he was a priest on earth, without doubt he had a people. And before Abraham, or at least in his time, there was surely a people who served God. And how was Abraham made, as it were, the head
of the faith, so that from him the people might have the knowledge of God? For likewise, if there was a Melchizedek to teach on earth the fear of the one God, then Abraham was chosen in vain to have the people of God named from him. For he could have been among those who assembled to Melchizedek. And where is that which is read in the song of Deuteronomy, that when the Most High, it says, divided the nations, in the manner he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and the Lord's portion became his people Jacob? Therefore if in the world there was no people of God except the sons of Abraham, by what reasoning is another people thought to have existed, which had descended from the teaching of Melchizedek, while the prophet denies it?
For when it names all the nations that are in the world, and says that none is the people of God except the sons of Abraham, what remains but that, these excepted, the rest be denied to have had knowledge of God — because God is known in Judea? But Melchizedek, 'priest of the Most High God,' appeared to bless Abraham as a foretoken of the saints to come, because a blessing was to be given in the future to the people of God through the prelate of God, whom we call a priest. This Melchizedek, then, appeared as a forerunner of the sacrament of the future Son of God, because he who is following in order goes before to do service. The things, therefore, which we have said of Melchizedek are not to be wondered at, since Scripture, to the confusion of those who clamor against it, adds yet more and says:
For after all things worthy of praise, that it might confound the ill-disposed, it says: but being made like to the Son of God, he abides a priest forever. Now consider concerning whom you strive to think evil; and if you do not reverence this one, at least fear Christ, to whom he is reported by the authority of Scripture to be like. For by degrees, little by little, it comes to his natural merit, so that, if the earlier sayings should move any — by which he was signified as King of Righteousness and of Peace, and because, seen in the flesh, he had neither father nor mother, that is, appeared unbegotten, having neither rising nor setting — from these last things which it has subjoined it might prove the earlier things credible.
For who would dare to say, unless he were mad, that all these sublime things which have been said are unfitting for him who has been designated like to the Son of God, abiding a priest forever? But he cannot be like to the Son of God unless he be of the same nature. And what seems incredible, if Melchizedek appeared as a man, when he is understood to be the third person? For if Christ, who is the second person, was frequently seen in the guise of a man, what is there to doubt concerning the things that have been said? For we read in the psalm that, it says, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
None of us doubts that this pertains to the person of Christ, because Christ is a priest forever in the same kind as Melchizedek; but Christ is the high priest, and Melchizedek the second. For if Melchizedek is a man, how does it agree that Christ should be a priest forever after his order? For both are read to be alike and to be of one dispensation for this reason, that they are also of one nature. But since the authority of the one God is in every way to be preserved, therefore the second and third persons are subjected to the Father's name. Christ, however, is the vicar of the Father and his prelate, and on this account he is also called priest.
Likewise also the Holy Spirit, sent as a prelate, was called priest of the Most High God — not high priest, as our people presume in the offering — because, although Christ and the Holy Spirit are of one substance, nevertheless the order of each one is to be preserved. Priests, then, or legates, are so called because they show forth in themselves him whose legates they are; for they are his image. And on this account Christ and the Holy Spirit, naturally having the image of God, are called his priests. In them God is seen, as the Lord says: He who has seen me has seen the Father also;
and if in the deeds of the Lord God was seen, and the deeds of the Holy Spirit are works while the Lord points it out — because I cast out demons in the Spirit of God — then also in the Holy Spirit God was seen. CHAPTER 110. CONCERNING THE FIRST PSALM. Since the prophet David, through the appearance of carnal things, signified spiritual reasoning, uttering with eager mind psalms of diverse kind and merit to the praise of God and his mystery, he veiled the first psalm with no covering, nor assigned it to anyone, but appointed it as general, that it might belong to those who, separated from the wicked, have fortified themselves with the fellowship of the good.
For the beginning, and especially of this grace, ought not to be sung in obscurity — for light comes before darkness, and the head of every thing is in the open — nor does the question arise from there, but from what follows; whence he thus began, saying: Blessed is the man who has not gone in the counsel of the ungodly. The counsel of the ungodly is the conspiracy of the malicious, to be understood in many ways. Therefore the ungodly differ from sinners — for ungodliness is the gravest sin — because all ungodliness is sin, yet not every sin is ungodliness. How, then, does one go into the counsel of the ungodly? Surely when he is called away from himself. For in saying this he shows that, as long as one does not depart from his own nature, he does not incur sin.
For this reason 'blessed,' he says, 'is he who has not gone in the counsel of the ungodly.' For ungodliness, begun by the devil, with his satellites consenting, entices men, that it may make them partakers of its ungodliness. For he himself, first sinning against God, while he wishes to usurp for himself the chief place by tyranny, cast down from the holy seats, esteemed this his consolation, if he should acquire very many companions for his own perdition. And therefore 'blessed,' he says, 'is the man who has not gone in the counsel of the ungodly.' For they ever entice men, who, acting under this prince, are enemies to us, as the Apostle says:
For our wrestling, he says, is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers; and in another epistle, concerning their tyrant, he says among other things: so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God. For because to sin seems sweet, and the evil is not felt unless there be loss — and on this account those who deceive do not appear so long as they ensnare, but when they have deceived, then they are recognized — therefore he calls him blessed who has not been enticed into the counsel of the ungodly, so as to go into the fellowship of their ungodliness. The first cause, then, of ungodliness is this, by which they began to be rebels against God in malicious conspiracy, by imitation of which idolatry began. For the transgression, begun in the heavenly places, descended to the earth.
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dum (enim) contentinonsuntunideoetcreatoriessesubiecti, impiiextiteruntmaiestatemeiusaliispartiendo, utspretoeoaliossibiadculturameligerent. haecestenimprimacausaoffensionishumanigeneris, exquaneglectiadeodiuersisinlecebrisetpassionibusinludenditraduntursecundumfidemapostoliPauli. quideniminuiolatumopusmanet, quodnonagnouitauctorem? indeiamseminatummalumconsuetudinemrenuitetinmultaspartesuelutpropagopalmitestendit, utquideononpepercerantinparentumcontumeliametnecemfaciliusprosilirent, quia — utdeceteristaceamdicenteapostolo: quoenimmihidehisquiforissuntiud-ieare?
For while they are not content to be subject to the one God and Creator, they became ungodly by dividing his majesty among others, so that, despising him, they chose others for themselves to worship. For this is the first cause of the offense of the human race, from which, neglected by God, they are given over to be mocked by various enticements and passions, according to the faith of the Apostle Paul. For what work remains inviolate, which has not acknowledged its Author? Thence the evil, once sown, refuses restraint by custom, and stretches into many parts like a vine its shoots, so that those who had not spared God might more readily leap forth to the contumely and slaying of their parents — because, to say nothing of the rest, as the Apostle says: For what have I to do to judge those who are without?
— Reuben, to the contumely of his father, committed defilement with his concubine; and Absalom, against all right, presumed to seize the kingdom, that he might deprive his own father of dominion and of life. — Ungodliness still has other aspects as well, because both to despise one who entreats in peril, when one could be of help, is ungodliness; and, in a hard and malicious matter, to give counsel that it may be accomplished, is also such — yet of this thing he did not even escape for the present — and such things as could be found bearing on this sense. Not without cause, then, is the man blessed who has not gone in the counsel of the ungodly. For it is a great ruin and an incurable wound to a man, after the knowledge of God, to be associated with these errors.
For he must needs be dealt with worse who, after the truth, turns to the false; and blessed is the man who, having received the knowledge of the truth, flees the counsels of the ungodly, because ungodliness is the head of error. And there follows: and has not stood in the way of sinners, since it is impossible not to sin, as it is possible not to be ungodly; because the gravest sin can be avoided, but as for the rest, there is no way they may not creep in. For human living itself frequently, while it does not intend to sin, unexpectedly falls into sinning. And on this account blessed is he who does not go into the counsel of the ungodly — that is, not even to begin evil. But since sin, as I have said, cannot but be begun, he called him blessed who does not remain in it — that is, not to stand in the way of sinners.
For the way of sinners is a manner of living in sins. For he is said to walk wickedly who proceeds to this end, that he may seek to sin. For while his mind does not stand in the law of God, but wanders, he is said to walk in the way of sinners, because this wandering seeks to sin. And therefore 'blessed is he who does not stand in the way of sinners' — that is, who, with repentance following, grieves that he has been entrapped, and withdraws from the conspiracy of sinful men. Therefore, just as he is blessed who has not gone in the counsel of the ungodly, so he will be incorrigible if he has gone, as Solomon says that «the foot of the ungodly shall perish»; and: blessed is the man who has not stood in the way of sinners. But if he has stood, he is no longer blessed, but guilty, deserving of stripes.
For he seems to have some hope of amendment, because he is not impious but a sinner. But if there be one man who has not walked in the counsel of the impious, and stands not in the way of sinners, he is blessed in a twofold manner. For he cannot be blessed if he does not go into the counsel of the impious yet stands in the way of sinners, since, even if he is not liable to perdition, he is nonetheless liable to punishment. Then he adds: 'And has not sat in the seat of pestilence.' He says that this is the blessedness which consists in these three degrees and is fortified by a threefold rule, that is, that one neither goes into the counsel of the impious, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of pestilence.
But since in this reproof only two kinds are held to exist—the impious and the sinners, which were mentioned above—to which class did he wish this third to be assigned, which he added when he said: 'And has not sat in the seat of pestilence'? To the impious, or to the sinners? But let us see what it is to sit in the seat of pestilence, and then we shall understand to which class he assigns this. We call that the seat of pestilence which is outside the ordinance of God, which was indeed devised for this end—that iniquitous judgments might issue from it; and therefore it is called the seat of pestilence, which is the corruption that brings forth death, just as iniquity brings forth condemnation. Therefore the seat of death is not from God; for Moses received the seat of life.
For it was given for this purpose, that in it might reside the authority of the righteous Judge, even of God the Creator. Whence the Lord says: 'The scribes and Pharisees have sat upon the seat of Moses'; and the Apostle says: 'There is no power but from God; for the powers that be are ordained of God.' Whence he says to the ruler of the people: 'You indeed sit judging according to the law, yet contrary to the law you command me to be struck?' In that he said 'according to the law,' he signified the just and salutary authority of the seat. But in that he said 'contrary to the law you command me to be struck,' he showed that very judge to be unjust, in that, sitting in the seat of God, he judged unjustly. Hence too Daniel says: 'The kingdom is God's, and to whom he wills he gives it.'
Therefore just as the authority of an earthly emperor runs through all, so that in all there may be reverence for him, even so God appointed that authority from God should begin with the king himself and run through all. Although the world frequently does not understand this, and one set in power subjects himself to another than he ought, nevertheless it is the ordinance that there be one who is to be feared. Where, therefore, this ordinance is not, there the seat of pestilence is found. Nowhere is the authority of the one God denied, except among those who proclaim the dread and reverence of many gods. These are they who sit in the seat of pestilence, because what their priests proclaim is death.
For this is what they teach, that the worshippers of the one God should be treated as fools and enemies, and should either be subjected to reproach or be removed from this life. This very matter is impiety, which extends also into other parts, through which it may set forth the laws of its impiety. For at the command of Jezebel the priests of iniquity sat in the seat of pestilence, who, against the innocent Naboth—though they were not judges—devising wicked things, by suborning false witnesses pronounced the sentence of death. Whence in another psalm he says: 'And I will not sit with the impious.' For this judgment is his whose also is the seat of pestilence. And so, if those sitting in the seat of God oppress the innocent, the judgment will be unjust, not the seat.
For where the seat of pestilence is, the judgment cannot but be iniquitous, although they apply to themselves certain veils, as it were, with which to cover their impiety, so that those who see may be deceived. For impiety alone cannot be set forth, because it finds no buyer; and where the law of the devil is, if it be named, it is shrunk from. Just as a poison is mixed with something through which it may lie hidden, so also they mingle certain just things with the law of the devil and apply to it the name of truth; yet each man's intent is to be judged, since for this reason it sometimes shows forth something true, that it may deceive—so that, when it proclaims malicious things, they may be thought good.
Since we have asserted that the seat of pestilence is not of God's ordinance, we also say that the seat of those who have set up seats for themselves outside the Church or against the Church is a seat of pestilence. For he who presumes upon what is not granted is guilty: how much more if he also corrupts the tradition of him whose seat he usurps! For they disturb the order begun from the apostle Peter and preserved down to this present time through the succession of bishops handed on, claiming for themselves an order without origin, that is, professing a body without a head; whence it is fitting to call their seat also a seat of pestilence. Nor will it be unpunished, on the ground that they do these things under the name of God. For it is evident that they are conducting their own causes under the name of God.
For they do not do these things out of zeal for God, but wishing to defend their own place, since we know that Korah and the two hundred and fifty men, presuming to offer to God, were swallowed up by the opening of the earth, and that King Uzziah, when he had offered unlawfully to God, was struck with leprosy on his forehead. Since it has become clear that the seat of pestilence pertains to the aforesaid impiety, let us pursue the rest. For he added: 'But his will is in the law of the Lord.' He says that the will of him is in the law of the Lord, who, despising the impious and forsaking sinners, refusing the seat of pestilence, has established his will in the law of God. For which reason he called this man 'blessed.' And there follows: 'And in his law he shall meditate day and night.'
It is manifest that one who is free from all enticements and exempt from those things which are contrary to the law of God, does nothing else than exercise himself in the law of God. Strengthened by the sacraments of the Son of God, by day he persists in good works, and by night in prayers. For this is he of whom it says in the Song of Songs that 'he sleeps and his heart keeps watch.' Whence he says: 'And he shall be like a tree which is planted beside the courses of waters.' Who doubts that he who meditates upon the law of God has hope of obtaining the reward? For just as a tree planted beside the water cannot be barren, so also he who by frequent use applies himself to the law of God cannot fail to have the effect of that work. And he added: 'Which shall give its fruit in its season.'
Every well-tended planting gives fruit at the fitting time: so also this man, who obeys the law of God, will have fruit at the appointed time. For then he shall receive the reward of this devotion, when the Lord Jesus Christ shall begin to sit to judge the living and the dead. Then he added: 'And its leaf shall not fall.' It is manifest that in a tree whose leaves do not fall he has signified life. For the wood, made vigorous by the moisture of the flowing water, retains its leaves. For the Lord Jesus also says: 'If they do these things in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry?' By the green wood he signified life and fruit.
Therefore just as the wood, by the help of the flowing water, does not suffer dryness, so also this man, who applies himself to the law of God, when temptation comes, being kept safe by the protection of God, does not lose but gains salvation, as the Apostle says: 'For through tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.' And there follows: 'And all things whatsoever he does shall prosper.' What he says is plain, that he who keeps faith with the law of God, eager for his commandments, becomes happy in all his deeds; just as also Joseph, because he set the fear of God before the present life, God made all things he did to prosper in his hands. And he added: 'Not so the impious, not so.'
The repetition of the saying signifies that it shall come to pass in no way other than it promises, namely that nothing shall be prosperous for the impious in the future, but all things adverse, even to their destruction. Whence he says: 'But like the dust which the wind drives from the face of the earth.' In the same manner he says that the impious perish, like the dust which the wind drives from the face of the earth that it may perish. For being lifted from its substance and scattered through the air, it gradually wastes away: so also the impious, cast by ministering angels from the face of God their Maker, without whom one cannot live, shall perish. And there follows: 'Therefore the impious shall not rise in the judgment.' It is fitting what he says: for why should they rise in the judgment who chose to have no business of God entrusted to them, of which they might render account?
For those who despise and deny the law of God have nothing from which to render account, so that, being interrogated in the judgment, they might render their reasons according to the law entrusted to them. Therefore, being found arrogant and rebellious against God, they shall rise for this end—that they may see to be true what they refused to believe, that they may perish, because they judged God to be a liar. And he added: 'Nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous.' In this psalm he signifies three kinds of men: the impious, the sinners, and the righteous, in which order the error was begun. But the impious are alien from these, because, as I said, they refused to live under the decree of God;
but sinners, living under the law of God, are to be set before the tribunal of Christ, separated from the righteous, that they may render account of the law they received, to be amended in those things in which they did not exert effort, so that they may have more of praise than of blame; while the righteous, found far more disposed in the exercise of fulfilling the law, are to be rewarded. And he added: 'For the Lord knows the way of the righteous.' God is said to know those who, mindful of his precepts, persist in good works, that, being held righteous, they may be crowned. But to those who, unmindful of him, are negligent concerning the care of the soul, he speaks thus: 'Depart from me; I know you not, workers of iniquity.' And there follows: 'And the way of the impious shall perish.'
Whence the psalm was begun and ended, so that, the cause of the impious having been treated, they might be taught to be liable to nothing else than perdition. For as I have said, God is therefore said to know the way of the righteous, because they walk in his law; but the way of the impious, because it is outside the law of God, shall perish, since 'all the ways of the impious are dark,' says Solomon, 'but those of the godly are most bright,' under the leadership of Christ our Lord. CXI. ON PSALM 23. The title of the psalm intimates its purpose. For about to speak of the sacrament of Christ our Lord, he signified the Lord's day, saying: 'A psalm for David, for the first day of the week.' For when it is said 'for David,' it pertains to him whose image this David bears, of whom the prophet says: 'And my servant David feeds them.'
Now the first of the sabbath is the first day. For after the sabbath the first day is the Lord's day, as the Gospel affirms and says: 'Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came, and the other Mary, to the sepulchre,' and so forth. Therefore on the Lord's day he signified the sacrament of the Saviour. But that the psalm might be expounded according to the order of reason, he made his beginning from the person of God the Father, so that the sacrament of the truth might be manifested to men not without order. For he who wishes to set forth any cause, unless he hold its head and origin, will not be able to show its proper character, nor to teach what its truth is. And so the prophet thus began and says: 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.' He held to the faith of things, saying: 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.'
For he followed the authority of the ancient saints, who said that the earth and the things that are in it belong to the dominion of the Lord God. And he added: 'The world and all who dwell therein.' Lest perhaps he should be thought to have signified something less, because he had said that the earth and its fullness are the Lord's, he opened his meaning, saying: 'The world and all who dwell therein,' that he might teach that the whole earth utterly is the Lord's, and the things that are in it, so that nothing should be excepted which is not his—as certain heretics suppose, who, according to the saying of the apostle Peter, deny the dominion to God; to whose condemnation the prophetic oracles have taught that all things are God's. And there follows: