約伯倫理 第 186 章

'Why did I not die in the womb? Why, coming forth from the belly, did I not immediately perish? Why was I received upon the knees? Why suckled at the breasts? For now I should have slept in silence, and rested in my sleep' (Job 3:11-13). Confirmation of the proposed argument. By what means men were freed from original sin before baptism was instituted. — If, coming forth from the womb, he had immediately perished, would he from this very perdition conceive any merit of recompense? Do those that are born untimely enjoy eternal rest? For whoever is not loosed by the wave of regeneration is held bound by the guilt of the first bond. But what

(as it holds among us: the water of baptism) — what the water of baptism avails among us, this among the ancients was effected, either for little ones by faith alone, or for the grown by the virtue of sacrifice, or for those who came from the stock of Abraham by the mystery of circumcision. For that everyone is conceived with the guilt of the first parent, the Prophet testifies, saying: 'Behold, I was conceived in iniquities' (Ps. 51:7). And that he whom the wave of salvation does not wash away does not lose the punishments of original guilt, Truth Himself openly declares through Himself, saying: 'Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he shall not have eternal life' (John 3:5).

What then is it that he desires to have been dead in the womb, and hopes that he could have rested by the benefits of that same death, when it is agreed that no rest of life would have received him, if the sacraments of divine knowledge had by no means freed him from the guilt of original sin? He further adds those with whom he might have rested, saying: 'With kings and consuls of the earth, who build for themselves solitudes' (Job 3:14). Who does not know that kings and consuls of the earth are far from solitude, in that they are hemmed about by countless throngs of attendants? Or how hardly do those tend toward rest who are bound by such harsh knots of manifold reckonings? Scripture bearing witness, which says:

'The severest judgment shall be for those who bear rule' (Wisd. 6:6). Whence in the Gospel Truth says: 'To whom much is given, much shall be required of him' (Luke 12:48). He further intimates those whom he would have had as companions in that same rest, saying: 'Or with princes that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver' (Job 3:15). It is very rare that those who possess gold tend toward rest, since Truth Himself says: 'With difficulty shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 19:24, cf. 23). For those who here gape after multiplying riches, what joys of the other life do they hope for? Yet, that our Redeemer might show this to be very rare and able to happen only by divine miracle:

'With men,' He says, 'this is impossible; but with God all things are possible' (Matt. 19:26). Since therefore these words on the surface are at variance with reason, the very letter itself indicates that in these things the holy man says nothing according to the letter.