§7Ad hanc partem zelus fidei perora!bit ingemens: Christianum ab idolis in ecclesiam uenire, de aduersaria officina in domum dei uenire, attollere ad deum patrem manus matres idolorum, his manibus adorare, quae foris aduersus deum adorantur, eas manus admouere corpori domini, quae daemoniis corpora conferunt? nec hoc sufficit.
On this part, the zeal of faith will perorate, groaning: "That a Christian should come from idols into the church! That he should come from the adversary’s workshop into the house of God! That he should lift up to God the Father hands that are the mothers of idols! That he should worship with those hands which outside are worshiped against God! That he should bring those hands to the body of the Lord, which bestow bodies upon demons!" Nor is this sufficient.
parum sit, si ab aliis manibus accipiant quod contaminent, sed etiam. ipsae tradunt aliis quod contaminauerunt.
Let it be a small thing if they receive from other hands what they may contaminate, but they themselves also hand over to others what they have contaminated.
adleguntur in ordinem ecclesiasticum artifices idolorum.
Idol makers are chosen into the ecclesiastical order.
pro scelus! semel Iudaei Christo manus intulerunt, isti quotidie corpus eius lacessunt.
Oh, the crime! Once did the Jews lay hands on Christ; these men daily assault His body.
o manus praecidendae! uiderint iam, an per similitudinem dictum sit: si te manus tua scandalizat, amputa eam. quae magis amputandae, quam in quibus domini corpus scandalizatur?
O hands to be cut off! Let them see to it now, whether it was said by way of figure: "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." What hands are more to be cut off than those in which the body of the Lord is outraged?
§8Sunt et aliae conplurium artium species, quae, etsi non contingunt idolorum fabricationem, tamen ea, sine quibus idola nil possunt, eodem crimine expediunt.
There are also other branches of many arts which, although they do not touch the fabrication of idols, yet facilitate, with the same crime, those things without which idols can do nothing.
nec enim differt, an extruas uel exornes, si templum, si aram, si aediculam eius instruxeris, si bratteam expresseris aut insignia aut etiam domum fabricaueris.
For it makes no difference whether you build or adorn, if you have furnished its temple, its altar, its niche, if you have beaten out the gold leaf, or the insignias, or even built the house.
maior est eiusmodi opera, quae non effigiem confert, sed auctoritatem.
Greater is such work which does not bestow the effigy, but the authority.
si ita necessitas exhibitionis extenditur, habent et alias species, quae sine exorbitatione disciplinae id est sine idoli confictura opem uictus praestent.
If the necessity of maintenance is stretched so far, they have also other branches which, without the transgression of discipline, that is, without the fashioning of an idol, may provide the means of livelihood.
scit albarius tector et tecta sarcire et tectoriainducere et cisternam liare et cymatia distendere et multa alia ornamenta praeter simulacra parietibus incrispare.
The plasterer knows how to repair roofs, to lay plaster, to smooth a cistern, to draw moldings, and to embellish walls with many other ornaments besides images.
scit et pictor et marmorarius et aerarius et quicumque caelator latitudines suas et utique multo faciliores.
The painter, the marble-mason, the bronze-smith, and any engraver also know their own wide scopes, and indeed much easier ones.
nam qui signum describit, quanto facilius abacum linit? qui de tilia Martem exculpit, quanto citius armarium compingit? nulla ars non alterius artis aut mater aut propinqua est: nihil alterius uacat.
For how much easier is it for him who drafts a statue to coat a table? How much quicker for him who carves a Mars out of linden wood to put together a chest? No art is not either the mother or relative of another art; nothing of one is disengaged from another.
tot sunt artium uenae, quot hominum concupiscentiae.
There are as many veins of arts as there are lusts of men.
sed de mercedibus et manus pretiis interest.
But there is a difference concerning wages and hand-prices.
perinde interest et de labore.
There is likewise a difference concerning labor.
minor merces frequentiore actu repensatur.
A smaller wage is compensated by more frequent activity.
quot parietes signa desiderant? quot templa et aedes idolis aedificantur? domus uero et praetoria et balnea et insulae quantae? soccus et baxa quotidie deauratur, Mercurius et Serapis non quotidie.
How many walls require statues? How many temples and shrines are built for idols? But houses indeed, and governor's palaces, and baths, and apartment blocks, how many are there? A slipper and a sandal are gilded daily; Mercury and Serapis are not gilded daily.
sufficiat ad quaestum artificiorum.
Let this suffice for the gain of crafts.
frequentior est omni superstitione luxuria et ambitio.
Luxury and ambition are more frequent than any superstition.
lances et scyphos facilius ambitio quam superstit io desiderabit.
Ambition will require dishes and cups more easily than superstition.
coronas quoque magis luxuria quam sollemnit as erogat.
Luxury also demands crowns more than solemnity does.
cum igitur ad haec artificiorum genera cohortemur, quae idolum quidem et quae idolo competunt non adtingant, sint autem et hominibus communia saepe quae et idolis, hoc quoque cauere debemus, ne quid scientibus nobis ab aliquibus de manibus nostris in rem idolorum postuletur.
When, therefore, we exhort to these kinds of crafts, which do not touch the idol itself and what belongs to the idol, but which are often common to both men and idols, we must also beware of this: lest something be demanded from our hands by anyone for the service of idols, while we are aware of it.
quod si concesserimus et non remediis iam usitatis egerimus, non puto nos a contagio idololatriae uacare, quorum manus non ignorantium in officio uel in honore et usu daemoniorum deprehenduntur.
But if we concede to this and do not act with the remedies already in use, I do not think that we are free from the contagion of idolatry, whose hands, not of those who are ignorant, are caught in the service or in the honor and use of demons.