§18Vnde et antiqui iusti ante incarnationem uerbi in hac fide Christi et in hac uera iustitia, quod est nobis Christus, iustificati sunt, hoc credentes futurum quod nos credimus factum: et ipsi gratia salui facti per fidem non ex semet ipsis, sed dei dono, non ex operibus, ne forte extollerentur.
Wherefore also the ancient just before the incarnation of the Word were justified in this faith of Christ and in this true justice, which Christ is to us, believing this to be future which we believe to be past; and they themselves were saved by grace through faith, and that not of themselves, but it was the gift of God, not of works, lest any should be exalted.
bona quippe opera eorum non praeuenerunt dei misericordiam, sed subsecuta sunt.
For their good works did not precede God's mercy, but followed it.
ipsi quippe audierunt, ipsi scripserunt longe antequam Christus uenisset in carne: miserebor, cui misertus ero, et misericordiam praestabo, cui misericors fuero. ex quibus dei uerbis tanto post apostolus Paulus diceret: igitur non uolentis neque currentis, sed miserentis est dei. ipsorum etiam uox est longe antequam Christus uenisset in carne: deus meus, misericordia eius praeueniet me. quomodo autem possent alieni esse a fide Christi, quorum caritate etiam nobis praenuntiatus est Christus, sine cuius fide quisquam mortalium nec fuit nec est nec esse aliquando poterit iustus? si ergo iam iusti a Christo eligerentur apostoli, prius illum ipsi elegissent, ut iusti eligi possent, quia sine illo iusti esse non possent.
For they themselves heard, they themselves wrote, long before Christ came in the flesh: "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will show mercy to whom I will have been merciful." From which words of God, so long after, the Apostle Paul was to say: "Therefore it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." Theirs also is the voice, long before Christ came in the flesh: "My God, His mercy shall prevent me." But how could they be aliens from the faith of Christ, by whose charity Christ was also foretold to us, without whose faith no mortal either was, or is, or ever will be able to be just? If, therefore, the Apostles, being already just, were chosen by Christ, they themselves would first have chosen Him, so that they might be chosen as just, since without Him they could not be just.
sed non ita factum est; ipse quippe illis ait: non uos me elegistis, sed ego uos elegi. unde dicit apostolus Iohannes: non quod dilexerimus deum. sed quia ipse dilexit nos. §19Quod cum ita sit, quid est homo utens in hac uita propria uoluntate, antequam eligat et diligat deum, nisi iniustus et inpius? quid est, inquam, homo aberrans a creatore creatura, nisi creator eius memor sit eius et eligat eum gratis et diligat gratis? quia ipse non potest eligere uel diligere, nisi prius electus dilectusque curetur, qui caecitate eligenda non cernit et langore diligenda fastidit.
But it was not so done; for He Himself says to them: "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you." Whence the Apostle John says: "Not that we loved God, but because He loved us." Since this is so, what is man using his own will in this life, before he chooses and loves God, but unjust and ungodly? What, I say, is man, a creature wandering away from his Creator, unless his Creator be mindful of him and choose him freely and love him freely? Because he himself cannot choose or love, unless first, being chosen and loved, he be cured, who through blindness does not discern the things to be chosen, and through languor loathes the things to be loved.
sed forte quis dicat: quomodo deus prius eligit et diligit iniquos, ut iustificet eos, cum scriptum sit: odisti, domine, omnes, qui operantur iniquitatem? quomodo putamus nisi miro et ineffabili modo? et tamen etiam non possumus cogitare, quod medicus bonus aegrotum et odit et diligit? odit enim, quia aegrotat, qui diligit, ut aegritudinem pellat.
But perhaps someone may say: "How does God first choose and love the unjust, that He may justify them, when it is written: 'You hate, Lord, all who work iniquity'?" How do we think this is, except in a wondrous and unspeakable manner? And yet, can we not also think that a good physician both hates and loves his patient? For he hates because he is sick, whom he loves, that he may drive away the sickness.
§20Haec propter caritatem dicta sint, sine qua in nobis non potest esse uera patientia, quoniam in bonis caritas dei est, quae tolerat omnia, sicut in malis mundi cupiditas.
Let these things be said for the sake of charity, without which there cannot be true patience in us, since in the good there is the charity of God, which bears all things, just as in the wicked there is the desire of the world.
sed haec caritas per spiritum sanctum est in nobis, qui datus est nobis.
But this charity is in us through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
unde a quo nobis est caritas, ab illo patientia.
Whence, from whom we have charity, from Him we have patience.
mundi autem cupiditas quando patienter sustinet onera cuiuslibet calamitatis, gloriatur de uiribus propriae uoluntatis tamquam de stupore morbi, non de robore sanitatis.
But when the desire of the world patiently endures the burdens of any calamity, it glories in the strength of its own will as if in the stupor of disease, not in the robustness of health.
insana est ista gloriatio; non est patientiae, sed dementiae.
Insane is that glorying; it is not of patience, but of madness.
uoluntas ista tanto uidetur patientior acerborum malorum, quanto est auidior temporalium bonorum, quia inanior aeternorum.
That will seems the more patient of bitter evils, the more avid it is of temporal goods, because it is the emptier of eternal ones.
§21Quodsi eam exagitat et inflammat fallacibus uisis et suasionibus inmundus et diabolicus spiritus et maligna conspiratione sociatus efficit hominis uoluntatem uel errore dementem uel adpetitu cuiuslibet mundanae delectationis ardentem quaecumque uidentur intolerabilia mirabiliter sustinere, non tamen ideo etiam uoluntas mala sine instigatione alterius inmundi spiritus sicut uoluntas bona sine adiutorio sancti spiritus non potest esse.
But if an unclean and diabolical spirit agitates and inflames it with fallacious visions and persuasions, and, allied in a malignant conspiracy, makes the will of man, either mad with error or burning with the desire of any worldly delight, wonderfully endure whatever things seem intolerable, yet not for all that is a bad will unable to exist without the instigation of another unclean spirit, just as a good will cannot exist without the help of the Holy Spirit.
nam esse posse uoluntatem malam etiam sine aliquo spiritu uel seducente uel incitante in ipso diabolo satis ostenditur. qui per nullum alium diabolum propria uoluntate factus diabolus inuenitur.
For that a bad will can exist even without any spirit either deceiving or inciting is sufficiently shown in the devil himself, who is found to have become a devil by his own will through no other devil.
uoluntas itaque mala siue cupiditate rapiatur siue timore reuocetur siue laetitia diffundatur siue tristitia contrahatur atque in his omnibus perturbationibus animi quaecumque sunt aliis uel alio tempore grauiora contemnat et perferat. potest et sine alterius spiritus instinctu se ipsa seducere et defectu a superioribus in inferiora lapsando, quanto iucundius aestimauerit. quod adipisci adpetit uel amittere metuit uel adeptum gaudet uel amissum dolet, tanto tolerabilius pro eo ferre, quod sibi minus est ad patiendum quam illud ad fruendum.
Therefore, whether a bad will be carried away by desire, or recalled by fear, or diffused by joy, or contracted by sadness, and in all these perturbations of the soul contemns and endures whatever things are heavier to others or at another time, it can even without the instinct of another spirit deceive itself, and by a defection, sliding from higher things into lower, the more delightfully it has esteemed that which it desires to obtain, or fears to lose, or rejoices to have obtained, or grieves to have lost, so much the more tolerably endure for its sake that which is less for it to suffer than that other is to enjoy.
quidquid enim illud est, ex creatura est, cuius nota uoluntas est.
For whatever that is, it is from the creature, to which the will is well-known.
quodam modo enim familiari contactu atque conexu ad experiendam eius suauitatem adiacet amanti creaturae amata creatura.
For after a fashion, by a familiar contact and connection, the beloved creature lies adjacent to the loving creature for the experiencing of its sweetness.