約伯倫理 第 1223 章

32. By light is justice signified, by darkness iniquity. Who are to persevere in justice, or to die in sin, is hidden from us. — Blessed Job is examined by a grave question, that he may be asked both of the way of light and of the place of darkness; that he may lead each to its own bounds, and understand the paths of its house. For what is understood by the name of light but justice? and what is signified by darkness but iniquity? Whence it is said to certain who have been converted from the wickedness of sins: You were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). And of certain who remain in sin it is recorded: They who sleep, sleep in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:7). Therefore it is said to blessed Job:

Tell me, if thou knowest all things, in what way the light dwelleth, and which is the place of darkness? As if it were said to him: If thou supposest thyself to have full knowledge, tell either into whose heart that innocence which is now lacking shall come, or in whose heart that malice which now is shall persevere. In what way the light dwelleth, that is, whose mind the justice that comes shall fill. And which is the place of darkness, that is, in whom blind iniquity shall endure: That thou mayest lead each to its own bounds, that is, that thou mayest judge whether he who now is discerned unjust shall end his life in iniquity; or he who is discerned just shall conclude the extremity of his life with the perfection of justice:

And that thou mayest understand the paths of its house, that is, that thou mayest consider and discern either to whom a persevering good action grants an eternal dwelling in the kingdom, or whom a depraved action, constraining him even to his end, condemns to eternal punishment. For the house is put for the dwelling, the path for the action. The path therefore leads to the house, because the action draws to the dwelling. But what man, when examined, could tell these things? who could even hear them undismayed? For we see many daily who shine with the light of justice, and yet at their end are darkened by the obscurity of wickedness; and we discern many wrapped in the darkness of sins, and yet near the end of their life suddenly restored, free, to the light of justice.

We have also known many to have held unblemished until death the way of justice once found, and we have beheld very many, until their departure, to have heaped up without cessation the crimes once begun. 33. The clouds of God's judgments are impervious to the rays of our mind. — But who, amid these clouds of hidden judgments, may send the ray of his mind, so as to discern by any consideration either who shall endure in evil, or who shall persevere in good, or who shall be converted from the lowest to the highest, or who shall turn back from the highest to the lowest? These things lie hidden from the senses of men, nor is anything known of anyone's end, because the abyss of the divine judgments is in no way penetrated by the eye of the human mind.

For we see that that Gentile world, adverse to God, has been suffused with the light of justice, and that Judaea, long beloved, has been blinded by the night of perfidy. We know also that the thief passed from the gibbet to the kingdom (Luke 23:43), and that Judas fell from the glory of the apostolate into the pit (Matthew 27:5). And again, because sometimes the lots which they have begun are not changed, we know that another thief came to punishment, and we know that the apostles received the purpose which they had desired, the kingdom. Who therefore shall examine in what way the light dwelleth, and which is the place of darkness, that he may lead each to its own bounds, and understand the paths of its house? I see Paul called from that savagery of persecution to the grace of the apostolate (Acts 9:1ff.),

and yet he so dreads amid the hidden judgments, that even after he was called he fears the things of the reprobate. For he says: I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway (1 Corinthians 9:27). And again: I count not myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press toward the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus. But I follow after, if I may lay hold, wherein I am also laid hold of (Philippians 3:13). And surely it had already been said of him by the voice of the Lord: He is to me a vessel of election (Acts 9:15); and yet, still chastising his body, he fears lest he be rejected. 34.

Let fear rather than security accompany our hope. Woe even to a praiseworthy life, if it be judged with mercy set aside. — Woe to us wretched ones, who as yet have known no voice of God concerning our election, and already in idleness grow torpid as though from security. There ought indeed, there ought to be in hope not only security, but also fear in our manner of life, that the one may foster those who strive, and the other may prick those who grow slothful. Whence it is rightly said through the prophet: They that fear the Lord, let them hope in the Lord (Psalm 115:11). As if he openly said: In vain does he presume upon hope, who refuses to fear God in his own works.

But why is blessed Job asked concerning so weighty a question, which is altogether unknown to men, namely that he should comprehend the end of the just and the unjust, unless it be that, being unable to know the end of others, he should recur to his own, because, as he knows not that of others, so he knows not even his own — and knowing it not, may fear; fearing, may be humbled; being humbled, may no longer exalt himself over his own works; and, not being elated, may persist in the citadel of grace? Let it therefore be said to him: Tell me, if thou hast understanding, in what way the light dwelleth, and which is the place of darkness; that thou mayest lead each to its own bounds. As if it were said: Just as thou knowest not who shall be converted from evils to goods, or who shall return from goods to evils, so also thou understandest not what is done concerning thee, as thy merits require.

And just as thou in no way comprehendest the end of others, so neither art thou able to foreknow thine own end. For thou already knowest how much thou thyself hast advanced, but thou knowest not what I still in secret feel concerning thee. Thou already considerest the acts of thy justice, but thou art ignorant how strictly they are weighed before me. Woe even to the praiseworthy life of men, if it be judged with mercy set aside, because, strictly examined, it is overwhelmed before the eyes of the Judge from the very source whence it supposes itself to be pleasing. Whence it is rightly said to God through the prophet: Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight no man living shall be justified (Psalm 143:2). Whence it is well said through Solomon:

There are just men and wise, and their works are in the hand of God, and yet man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred, but all things are kept uncertain for the future (Ecclesiastes 9:1). Hence again through the same Solomon it is said: What man is able to understand his own way (Proverbs 20:24)? And doubtless whoever does good or evil is known by the witness of his conscience. But for this reason it is said that thy way is unknown by men, because, even if each one understands himself to do right works, yet under the strict examination he is ignorant whither he tends. Therefore, after He had terrified him by this consideration of his end, He returns to examine his beginning;

and lest he complain that he knows not his own end, he is reminded also that he does not understand by what beginning he came hither. For there follows: