§14Sed enim plerique iam induxerunt animo ignoscendum esse, si quando, quae ethnici, faciunt, ne nomen blasphemetur.
But indeed most people have already persuaded themselves that they must be pardoned if, at times, they do what the heathens do, lest the Name be blasphemed.
porro blasphemia, quae nobis omni modo deuitanda est, haec opinor est, si qui nostrum ad iustam blasphemiam ethnicum deducat aut fraude aut iniuria aut contumelia aliaue materia dignae querelae, in qua nomen merito percutitur, ut merito irascatur et dominus.
Furthermore, the blasphemy which we must by all means avoid is, I think, this: if any of us should lead a heathen to a just blasphemy, either by fraud, or by injustice, or by insult, or by any other matter worthy of a just complaint, in which the Name is deservedly struck, so that the Lord also is deservedly angered.
ceterum si de omni blasphemia dictum est, uestra causa nomen meum blasphematur, perimus uniuersi, cum totus circus scelestis suffragiis nullo merito nomen lacessit.
But if it is said of every blasphemy, 'Because of you my name is blasphemed,' we are all lost, since the entire circus, with its wicked acclamations and for no fault of ours, assaults the Name.
desinamus, et non blasphemabitur.
Let us cease to be [Christians], and it will not be blasphemed.
immo blasphemetur, dum sumus in obseruatione, non in exorbitatione disciplinae, dum probamur, non dum reprobamur.
Nay rather, let it be blasphemed, as long as we are in the observance, not in the deviation from discipline, as long as we are approved, not as long as we are rejected.
o blasphemiam martyrii adfinem, quae tunc me testatur Christianum, cum propterea me detestatur! benedictio est nominis maledictio custoditae disciplinae.
O blasphemy akin to martyrdom, which testifies that I am a Christian at the very moment when, for that reason, it detests me! The cursing of a preserved discipline is a blessing of the Name.
si hominibus, inquit, uellem placere, seruus Christi non essem. sed idem alibi iubet, omnibus placere curemus.
'If,' he says, 'I wanted to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.' But the same apostle elsewhere commands us to take care to please all men.
quemadmodum ego, inquit, omnibus per omnia placeo. nimirum Saturnalia et Kalendas Ianuarias celebrans hominibus placebat? an modestia et patientia? an grauitate, an humanitate, an integritate? proinde cum dicit, omnibus omnia factus sum, ut omnes lucrifaciam: numquid idololatris idololatres? numquid ethnicis ethnicus? numquid saecularibus saecularis? sed etsi non prohibet nos conuersari cum idololatris et adulteris et ceteris criminosis dicens, ceterum de mundo exiretis, non utique eas habenas conuersationis inmittit, ut, quoniam necesse est et conuiuere nos et commisceri cum peccatoribus, idem et compeccare possimus.
'Even as I,' he says, 'please all men in all things.' To be sure, was he pleasing men by celebrating the Saturnalia and the Kalends of January? Or by modesty and patience? Or by gravity, by humanity, by integrity? Therefore, when he says, 'I have become all things to all men, that I might gain all,' did he become an idolater to idolaters? A heathen to heathens? A worldly man to worldly men? But even if he does not forbid us to associate with idolaters and adulterers and other criminals, saying, 'Otherwise you would have to go out of the world,' he certainly does not loosen the reins of association to the extent that, because it is necessary for us to live and mingle with sinners, we may also sin together with them.
ubi est commercium uitae, quod apostolus concedit, ibi ** peccare, quod nemo permittit.
Where there is the intercourse of life, which the apostle allows, there [is no room] to sin, which no one permits.
licet conuiuere cum ethnicis, commori non licet.
It is permitted to live with the heathens; it is not permitted to die together with them.
conuiuamus cum omnibus; conlaetemur ex communione naturae, non superstitionis.
Let us live together with all; let us rejoice together from the communion of nature, not of superstition.
pares anima sumus, non disciplina, compossessores mundi, non erroris.
We are equal in soul, not in discipline; co-possessors of the world, not of error.
quod si nobis nullum ius est communionis in huiusmodi cum extraneis, quanto scelestius est haec inter fratres frequentare.
But if we have no right of communion in such matters with outsiders, how much more wicked is it to frequent these things among brethren.
quis hoc sustinere aut defendere potest? Iudaeis dies suos festos exprobrat spiritus sanctus. sabbata, inquit, uestra et numenias et ceremonias odit anima mea.
Who can tolerate or defend this? The Holy Spirit reproaches the Jews with their festival days.
nobis, quibus sabbata extranea sunt et numeniae et feriae a deo aliquando dilectae, Saturnalia et Ianuariae et Brumae et Matronales frequentantur, munera commeant et strenae, consonant lusus, conuiuia constrepunt.
'Your sabbaths,' he says, 'and new moons and ceremonies my soul hates.' For us, to whom sabbaths and new moons and festivals once beloved by God are foreign, the Saturnalia and January festivals and the Brumalia and Matronalia are frequented, gifts pass to and fro, and new year's presents, games resound in harmony, banquets make a din.
o melior fides nationum in suam sectam, quae nullam sollemnitatem Christianorum sibi uindicat! non dominicum diem, non pentecosten, etiamsi nossent, nobiscum communicassent; timerent enim, ne Christiani uiderentur.
O better faith of the nations in their own sect, which claims for itself no solemnity of the Christians! They would not have shared with us the Lord's Day, nor Pentecost, even if they knew of them; for they would fear lest they should seem to be Christians.
nos ne ethnici pronuntiemur, non ueremur.
We do not fear lest we be pronounced heathens.
si quid et carni indulgendum est, habes, non dicam tuos dies tantum, sed et plures.
If any indulgence must be granted to the flesh, you have, I will not say your own days only, but even more.
nam ethnicis semel annuus dies quisque festus est, tibi octauo quoque die.
For to the heathens each festival day is annual, once a year; to you, it is every eighth day.
excerpe singulas sollemnitates nationum et in ordinem exsere: pentecosten implere non poterunt.
Gather the individual solemnities of the nations and set them out in order: they will not be able to fill Pentecost.