§23Sed est quaedam eiusmodi species in facto et in uerbo bis acuta et infesta utrimque, licet tibi blandiatur, quasi uacet in utroque, dum factum non uidetur, quia dictum non tenetur.
But there is a certain kind of this sort, in deed and in word, double-edged and hostile on both sides, although it flatters you as if it were free of guilt in both, so long as the deed is not seen, because the word is not held.
pecuniam de ethnicis mutuantes sub pignoribus fiduciati iurati cauent et se negant; se scire uolunt scilicet tempus persecutionis et locus tribunalis et persona praesidis.
Those who borrow money from pagans, having pledged under securities, bind themselves by oath in writing and deny themselves; they want it to be understood, forsooth, that the time of persecution, the place of the tribunal, and the person of the governor are what they know.
praescribit Christus non esse iurandum.
Christ prescribes that there must be no swearing.
scripsi, inquit, sed nihil dixi: lingua, non littera occidit. hic ego naturam et conscientiam aduoco: naturam, quia nihil potest manus scribere, etiamsi lingua in dictando cessat immobilis et quieta, quod non anima dictauerit; quamquam et ipsi linguae anima dictauerit aut a se conceptum aut ab alio traditum.
"I wrote," he says, "but I said nothing; it is the tongue, not the letter, that kills." Here I appeal to nature and conscience: to nature, because the hand can write nothing—even if the tongue in dictating is still, motionless, and quiet—which the soul has not dictated; although the soul has dictated to the tongue itself also, whether conceived by itself or delivered by another.
iam, ne dicatur, alius dictauit; hic conscientiam appello, an quod alius dictauit anima suscipiat et siue comitante siue residente lingua ad manum transmittat.
Now, lest it be said, "Another dictated"; here I appeal to conscience, whether the soul does not receive what another dictated, and transmit it to the hand, whether the tongue accompanies or remains at rest.
et bene, quod in animo et conscientia delinqui dominus dixit.
And it is well that the Lord said that sin is committed in the mind and conscience.
si, inquit, concupiscentia uel malitia in cor hominis ascenderit, pro facto teneris. cauisti igitur, quod in cor tuum plane ascendit, quod neque ignorasse te contendere potes neque noluisse.
"If," He says, "lust or malice shall enter into the heart of man, you are held guilty as for the deed." You therefore gave security for that which clearly entered into your heart, which you can neither contend that you were ignorant of nor that you did not wish.
nam cum caueres, scisti, cum scires, utique uoluisti; et est tam facto quam cogitatu.
For when you gave security, you knew; when you knew, you certainly willed; and it exists as much in deed as in thought.
nec potes leuiore crimine maius excludere, ut dicas falsum plane effici cauendo quod non facis.
Nor can you exclude a greater crime by a lighter one, so as to say that what you do not do is clearly made false by giving security for it.
tamen non negaui, quia non iuraui. quin immo, etsi nihil tale fecisses, sic tamen dicereris deierare, fecisse si consenseris.
"Yet I did not deny, because I did not swear." Nay, rather, even if you had done no such thing, you would still be said to swear falsely, if you consented to have done it.
non ualet tacita uox in stilo et mutus in litteris sonus.
A silent voice in the stylus and a mute sound in writing is not without force.
at enim Zacharias temporali uocis orbatione multatus cum animo conlocutus linguam inritam transit, cum manibus suis a corde dictat et nomen filii sine ore pronuntiat: loquitur in stilo, auditur in cera manus omni sono clarior, littera omni ore uocalior.
But indeed, Zacharias, punished with a temporary loss of voice, having communed with his mind, passed by his useless tongue, when with his hands he dictated from his heart and pronounced his son's name without a mouth: he speaks in the stylus, he is heard in the wax; the hand is clearer than any sound, the letter more vocal than any mouth.
quaere, an dixerit qui dixisse compertus est.
Inquire whether he spoke, who is found to have spoken.
dominum oremus, ne qua nos eiusmodi contractus necessitas circumsistat et, si ita euenerit, det fratribus operandi copiam uel nobis abrumpendae omnis necessitatis constantiam, ne illae litterae negatrices uicariae oris nostri in die iudicii aduersus nos proferantur signatae signis non iam aduocatorum, sed angelorum.
Let us pray to the Lord, that no necessity of such a contract may surround us, and, if it should so happen, that He may grant to our brethren the means of helping, or to us the constancy to break off every necessity, lest those denying letters, acting as substitutes for our mouth, be brought forward against us in the day of judgment, sealed with the seals no longer of advocates, but of angels.
§24Inter hos scopulos et sinus, inter haec uada et freta idololatriae uelificata spiritu dei fides nauigat, tuta si cauta, secura si attonita.
Among these rocks and bays, among these shallows and straits of idolatry, faith sails, its sails filled by the Spirit of God; safe if cautious, secure if awe-struck.
ceterum inenatabile excussis profundum est, inextricabile inpactis naufragium est, inrespirabile deuoratis hypobrychium in idololatria.
Moreover, for those cast out, the depth is unsurmountable; for those run aground, the shipwreck is inextricable; for those swallowed up, the submarine abyss in idolatry is suffocating.
quicumque fluctus eius offocant, omnis uertex eius ad inferos desorbet.
Whatever of its waves choke, every one of its whirlpools sucks down to the underworld.
nemo dicat: quis tam tuto praecauebit? exeundum de saeculo erit.
Let no one say: "Who will guard himself so safely?
quasi non tanti sit exire, quam idololatren in saeculo stare.
One would have to go out of the world." As if it were not worth as much to go out, as to stand in the world as an idolater.
nihil esse facilius potest, quam cautio idololatriae, si timor eius in capite sit.
Nothing can be easier than the avoidance of idolatry, if the fear of it is foremost.
quaecumque necessitas minor est periculo tanto comparata.
Any necessity whatsoever is smaller when compared with so great a danger.
propterea spiritus sanctus consultantibus tunc apostolis uinculum et iugum nobis relaxauit, ut idololatriae deuitandae uacaremus. .
Therefore the Holy Spirit, when the apostles were then consulting, relaxed for us the bond and the yoke, so that we might be free to avoid idolatry.
haec erit lex nostra, quo expedita hoc plenius administranda, propria Christianorum, per quam ab ethnicis agnoscimur et examinamur, haec accedentibus ad fidem proponenda et ingredientibus in fidem inculcanda est, ut accedentes deliberent, obseruantes perseuerent, non obseruantes renuntient sibi.
This shall be our law, which, the more unencumbered it is, the more fully it is to be administered; peculiar to Christians, by which we are recognized and examined by the pagans. This must be proposed to those approaching the faith, and inculcated upon those entering the faith, so that those approaching may deliberate, those observing may persevere, and those not observing may renounce themselves.
uiderimus enim si secundum arcae typum et coruus et miluus et lupus et canis et serpens in ecclesia erit.
For we shall see whether, according to the type of the ark, even the crow, the kite, the wolf, the dog, and the serpent shall be in the church.
certe idololatres in arcae typo non habetur.
Certainly, the idolater is not contained in the type of the ark.
nullum animal in idololatren figuratum est.
No animal was figured as an idolater.
quod in arca non fuit, in ecclesia non sit.
What was not in the ark, let it not be in the church.