約伯倫理 第 154 章

Verse 10. — Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women. If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure the evil things? 15. Job, empty of outward things, inwardly full of God. In what sense scourges are called evils. — Behold, everywhere the enemy is broken, everywhere overcome; through all the arguments of temptations he succumbed, because even that familiar solace of his he lost from the woman. Amid these things, therefore, it is worthwhile to behold the holy man, empty of things without, inwardly full of God. Paul, when in himself he beheld the riches of inward wisdom, and saw himself outwardly to be a corruptible body, said: We have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7). Behold, in blessed Job the earthen vessel outwardly felt the rendings of the ulcers;

but this treasure remained inwardly whole. For outwardly it cracked through wounds, but the treasure of wisdom, unfailingly springing up within, flowed forth through the words of holy instruction, saying: If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure the evil things? — good things, namely, being the gifts of God, whether temporal or eternal; but evil things, being the present scourges, of which the Lord says through the prophet: I am the Lord, and there is none else, forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evils (Isa. 45:7). For evils, which subsist by no nature of their own, are not created by the Lord;

but the Lord declares that He creates evils, when He shapes into a scourge, for us who act wickedly, the things well created, so that these same things may be both evils to the transgressors through the pain by which they smite, and good through the nature by which they exist. Whence poison also is indeed death to man, yet is life to the serpent. For by love of present things we have departed from the love of our Author; and the perverse mind, while it submitted itself to love of the creature, disjoined itself from the fellowship of the Creator. From these things, therefore, it had to be smitten by its Author — the very things which, erring, it had preferred to its Author — so that whence proud man feared not to admit the fault, thence, being corrected, he might find the punishment; and might the more quickly come to his senses toward those things which he had lost, the more he perceived those things to be full of pain which he had sought.

Whence it is also well said: 'Forming the light, and creating the darkness' (Isa. 45:7); for while by the outward scourges of pain the darkness is created, within, through instruction, the light of the mind is kindled. 'Making peace, and creating evil'; for peace with God is then restored to us, when these things which were well created, but not well coveted, are turned into things that are evils to us, namely into scourges. For through our fault we have stood at variance with God; it is therefore fitting that we should return to peace with Him through scourges, so that when each well-created thing is turned into pain for us, the corrected mind may be humbly reformed to peace with its Author. These scourges, then, blessed Job calls evils, because he weighs by what disturbance they strike the good of health and tranquillity.

The pain of the scourge is to be tempered by the memory of the gift, and the joy of the gift by the fear of the scourge. Depraved sense, not sex, is at fault. But this is greatly to be considered in his words, with how great art of reflection he collects himself against the persuasion of his wife, saying: 'If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure evil things?' (Job 2:10). For it is a great consolation in tribulation, if, when we suffer adverse things, we recall to memory the gifts of our Author. Nor does that which meets us out of sorrow break us, if there swiftly comes to the mind that which lifts us up out of His bounty. For hence it is written: 'In the day of good things be not unmindful of evil things, and in the day of evil things be not unmindful of good things' (Ecclus. 11:27).

For whoever receives gifts, yet in the time of gifts by no means also fears the scourges, falls into elation through joy. But whoever is worn down by scourges, yet in the time of scourges by no means consoles himself from the gifts which he chanced to have received, is destroyed from his state of mind by utter despair. Thus, then, both are to be joined together, so that one may always be supported by the other; to the end that the memory of the gift may temper the pain of the scourge, and the suspicion and dread of the scourge may check the joy of the gift. The holy man, therefore, that he may soothe his oppressed mind amid its wounds, weighs the blandishments of gifts in the pains of scourges, saying: 'If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why should we not endure evil things?'

Where he also fittingly premises: 'You have spoken like one of the foolish women' (Job 2:10). For because it is the sense of a depraved woman, and not the sex, that is at fault, he by no means says: 'You have spoken like one of the women,' but 'like one of the foolish women,' so that it may be shown that what savors of depravity belongs to acquired folly, and not to created nature. There follows: