約伯倫理 第 1213 章

14. From those who believe yet live evilly the light of faith shall be taken away, especially in the time of Antichrist's persecution.—For the light of God does not now enlighten those who cloak the malice of their iniquity with the name of faith. [Old Recension III, Recension V.] For while they neglect to live according to the preaching of faith, and yet venerate that same faith only in appearance, they seek the honour of the present life from the name of religion, and this shines upon them from faith—that faith cherishes them in the sight of men. But there are some who truly believe the eternal things they hear, and yet, being lukewarm toward that same faith, contradict it by living evilly.

These also have their light in darkness, because while they do perverse things, and yet think rightly of God, lest they be utterly darkened, they are in some part illumined by the splendour of light. But while they love earthly things more than heavenly, the things they see more than the things they hear, when the crisis of persecution strikes, they lose what they seemed rightly to believe. Which is done in a more manifold way especially at that time when, the very head of the wicked arising, in the last persecution against the holy Church, its strength rages with its own free forces. There then is the heart of each one shown, when whatever lay hidden in secret is laid open;

and those who are now pious in mouth but impious in heart, their malice being made public, fall away, and lose the light of faith which they held only in appearance. But amid these things it is necessary that each one of us return to the secret of his own heart, and dread the losses of his own action, lest, his merits demanding it, through the strict justice of God's judgments he fall into the number of such men. [Recension VI.] 15. Now Antichrist lives and rages in his members.—But let no one incautiously flatter himself, and therefore believe himself a stranger to such a fall because he thinks he will not reach the storm of that tempest. O how many have not seen the times of that temptation, and yet are engaged in the storm of that temptation.

Cain did not see the time of Antichrist, and yet by his merit he was a member of Antichrist (Gen. 4). Judas knew not the savagery of that persecution, and yet, avarice persuading him, he succumbed to the forces of his cruelty (Matt. 26:15). Simon existed far removed from the times of Antichrist, and yet he joined himself to his pride by perversely coveting the power of miracles (Acts 8:19). Thus the iniquitous body is joined to its head, thus member to members, when they neither know one another, and yet are coupled to one another by depraved action. For Pergamos had not known the books or words of Balaam, and yet, following his wickedness, it heard the voice of heavenly rebuke:

'Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat and to commit fornication' (Rev. 2:14). The church of Thyatira also—times and places divided it from Jezebel by acquaintance; but because the guilt of a like life had bound it, Jezebel is said to be present in it, and to persist in perverse works, the angel testifying, who says: 'I have against thee a few things: because thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants, to commit fornication and to eat of things sacrificed to idols' (ibid., 20).

Behold, because there could be found those who followed the life of Jezebel by reprobate action, Jezebel is recorded as found there; because, namely, a depraved body makes the manners of wedlock one, even if places or times divide it. Whence it comes about that in his perverse imitators even the iniquitous one who has already passed away remains, and in his workers he himself, the author of the iniquitous, already appears, who has not yet come. Hence John says: 'Now there are made many Antichrists' (1 John 2:18), because all the iniquitous are already his members, who namely by living evilly have anticipated their head that is to be perversely brought forth. Hence Paul says: 'That he may be revealed in his own time; for the mystery of iniquity already worketh' (2 Thess. 2:6). As if he were to say:

Then Antichrist shall be seen manifest; for in the hearts of the wicked, hidden, he already now works his secrets. For, that I may be silent concerning the more open crimes, behold, one silently envies his brother in his heart, and if he find occasion, strives to supplant him; of whom is he a member, but of him of whom it is written: 'By the envy of the devil, death entered into the world' (Wisd. 2:24)? Another, esteeming himself to be of great merit, preferring himself to all through the swelling of his heart, believes all men inferior to himself; of whom is he a member, but of him of whom it is written: 'He beholdeth every high thing, and he himself is king over all the children of pride' (Job 41:25)?

Another seeks the power of this world, not that he may profit others, but that he himself may not be subject to another; of whom is he a member, but of him of whom it is written: 'Who said: I will sit in the mount of the testament, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the height of the clouds; I will be like the Most High' (Isa. 14:13-14)? For the Most High alone so rules over all things that He cannot be subject to another. Whom the devil perversely wished to imitate, when, seeking his own dominion, he refused to be subject to Him. Therefore whoever craves his own power for this reason, that he disdains to be subject to him who is set over him by the ordinance of heaven, imitates the devil. [Old Recension IV.] 16. They are guilty of infidelity who deny the truth.

—There are, moreover, very many things which declare certain men, even those established in the very peace of the Church, to be unbelievers. For I see not a few so accept the person of a powerful man that, when asked by him, for his favour they do not hesitate to deny the truth in a neighbour's cause. And who is the truth, but He who said: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life' (John 14:6)? For John the Baptist perished, being asked not concerning the confession of Christ, but concerning the truth of justice (Mark 6:28); yet because Christ is the truth, he came even unto death for Christ, in that, namely, he came for the truth. Let us therefore set before our eyes that someone, being questioned, has accepted the person of a powerful man, and, lest he suffer even an injury of words, has denied the truth.

What, I ask, would such a man do in the pain of punishments, who was ashamed of Christ amid the trivialities of words? Behold, even after these things he is still a Christian before the eyes of men, and yet if the Lord has strictly disposed to judge him, he is already not one. 17. And those also who, though bound to correct, neglect it. The temptations of Antichrist are not lacking even in the peace of the Church.—But I see others to whom, through the office of teaching, the duties of exhorting and reproving have been committed, who see something unlawful being committed, and yet, while they fear to offend the favour of certain powerful men, do not presume to reprove. Whoever such a man is, what else does he do but 'see the wolf coming, and flee' (John 10:12)? He flees, because he keeps silent;

he kept silent, because, despising the eternal favour, he loved temporal glory more. Behold, before the face of the powerful man he hides himself within the lurking-places of his own silence, and, just as to public persecution, so he gave place to secret fear. Well is it said of such: 'They loved the glory of men more than that of God' (John 12:43). Whoever therefore is such, if these things are strictly judged, even though public persecution was lacking, yet by keeping silence he denied Christ. Not therefore even in the peace of the Church are the temptations of Antichrist lacking. Let no one, then, dread those times of the final persecution as though they alone. For among the wicked the business of Antichrist is transacted daily, because in their hearts, hidden, he already now works his mystery.

And if now many, established within the Church only in appearance, pretend to be what they are not, yet at the coming of the Judge they shall be exposed as what they are: concerning whom Solomon well says: 'I saw the wicked buried, who also, while they yet lived, were in the holy place, and were praised in the city as of just works' (Eccles. 8:10). Therefore after it was said of the iniquitous, 'The seal shall be restored as clay, and it shall stand as a garment, and their light shall be taken away from the impious'—which is assuredly to be done in that persecution of Antichrist—presently, consoling us concerning the perdition of that same Antichrist, He says: