Chapter 14 — The charges that religious resist their detractors

Objections

We will next consider the arguments, whereby, the assailants of religious try to prove that they are not justified in offering any resistance to such as detract them.

Obj. 1: The Gloss on the words: no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" (1 Cor 12:3), has the following passage: Christians ought to be humble and to bear reproach and not to desire to be flattered. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at 1 Cor 12:3 (PL 191:1651B).) Therefore, religious who do not endure reproach prove that they are not true Christians.

Obj. 2: In 2 Corinthians 12:12, St. Paul says: the signs of a true apostle were performed among you in all patience. On which text the Gloss observes: the Apostle makes special mention of patience, as being an essential of virtue. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at 2 Cor 12:12 (PL 192:86C).) Hence they who perform the apostolic function of preaching ought to be remarkable for their patience, according to Psalm 91:15, they will be very patient, so that they can proclaim. (Vulgate.) They ought to bear with the malice of their detractors and to offer no resistance to it.

Obj. 3: Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? asks St. Paul (Gal 4:16). The comment of the Gloss on this verse is: the carnal-minded man will not suffer himself to be reproved as though he were in the wrong. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at Gal 4:16 (PL 192:144D).) Hence they who will not bear rebuke show that they live according to the flesh.

Obj. 4: Again, on the words beware of dogs (Phil 3:2), the Gloss says: understand that such men are dogs, not because they lack reason, but because they are used to barking at truth to which they are unaccustomed. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalsm and St. Paul, at Phil 3:2 (PL 192:242B).) Again as dogs, says the Gloss, obey habit rather than reason, so false apostles bark at truth in an irrational manner and rend it. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at Phil 3:2 (PL 192:242B).) They therefore who rage against those who reprove them for their vices, hereby prove that they are false apostles.

Obj. 5: St. Gregory says, in his Pastorals: he who is bent upon wrong doing, and desires that others should conceal his sin, shows that he loves himself better than truth. For, he will not suffer truth to be defended at his own cost. (Gregory the Great, Liber regulae pastoralis 2.8 (PL 77:43B).) God is truth, as John 14:6 says. They, therefore, who will not allow themselves to be corrected, show that they love themselves better than God. They are, consequently, in a state of damnation.

Obj. 6: What has been already said on the subject is further confirmed by the words of Proverbs 9:8, do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. It is likewise supported by the following passages from the Old and New Testament: Again. Whoever hates reproof walks in the steps of the sinner (Sir 21:6). Again. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them (Rom 12:14). Again. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you (Luke 6:28). Again. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure (1 Cor 4:12). All the texts which we have cited seem to prove that it is the duty of perfect men, and especially of preachers of the Gospel, not to resist those that speak ill of them.

Response

I answer that, it can however be shown that at times apostolic men are justified in opposing their calumniators, as we shall now see: and why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their damnation is just (Rom 3:8). The commentary of the Gloss on this passage, runs as follows: certain perverse men, who misunderstand us and who are inclined to blame us, assert that this is our teaching. Their damnation is just. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at Rom 3:8 (PL 191:1355C-D).) In these words, the Apostle infers that no credit is be given to his detractors; and thus he resists them.

Again, in 3 John 1:10: so if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, prating against me with evil words. On this verse, the Gloss comments in the following terms: we ought not, by our own fault, to stir up detraction against ourselves, lest we cause our slanderers to perish. If our enemies, animated by their own malignity, revile us, we ought to endure such treatment patiently, to the increase of our merit. It is right, however, at times to suppress their slanders, lest by propagating evil reports against us they gain the ears and harden the hearts of those who would otherwise have listened to our preaching. (Glossa ordinaria 6, 1429-1430 at 3 John 1:10 (PL 114:706).)

Again, in the following words St. Paul shows that he thought it right to resist those who slandered him: his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account. Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present (2 Cor 10:10–11). The Apostle thus treats those who speak ill of him.

Again, St. Gregory in his Homily upon Ezekiel (9, part 1) says, they who occupy so conspicuous a position that their lives are regarded as an example for imitation, ought, if they can do so, to silence the detractions propagated against them. For these slanders may reach the ears of those who would otherwise have listened to their preaching. They may cause them to refuse to hear their words, and thus become hardened in their sins. (Gregory the Great, Homilies on Ezekiel 1.9.18 (CCSL 142; PL 76:877D).) Now they who practice a life of perfection are regarded by all men as a model for imitation. It is, therefore, their duty to suppress the calumnies set afoot against them.

Again, St. Augustine (De Trinitate, 2) writes: modest and gracious charity gladly admits the kisses of the dove; but chaste and cautious humility avoids the dog’s bite; solid truth likewise repels it. (Augustine, De trinitate, bk. 2, prologue (CCSL 50; PL 42:845).) Hence we see that detraction is, at times, to be avoided, and, at times, is to be combatted.

Again, we learn the same lesson from the example of a multitude of Saints. Thus Saints Gregory Nazianzen, Jerome, Bernard, and many others wrote apologies and epistles defending themselves against the attacks of their enemies.

Replies to objections

In the matter of reproof, we must draw a distinction between those who rebuke others in a legitimate manner and with a desire for their correction, and those who bring false charges against their neighbour. Men of the first class should be not only tolerated, but loved. Those of the second category must be patiently endured, when their calumnies do not cause much scandal or produce much injury amongst those who hear them. At other times, however, they must, if possible, be suppressed, not on account of the personal reputation of their victims, but for the sake of the public welfare. But if such detractions cannot be silenced, they must be borne with patience. Thus St. Gregory says, in the Homily before quoted, as just men may at times, without arrogance, acknowledge the good that they do; so they can, without undue solicitude for their personal reputation, silence the tongues of those that speak against them. But, when their slanderers cannot be silenced, they must be patiently endured. Calumny in itself is not to be feared. We must only be on our guard, lest the dread of being slandered should cause us to desist from doing right. (Gregory the Great, Homilies on Ezekiel 1.9.20 (CCSL 142; PL 76:879A-B).)

Ad 1: True Christians bear reproof, when administered to them for the sake of correction. They resist, however, accusations brought against them in order to overthrow their work. More especially do they resist, when such charges are blasphemies, directed not only against their person, but against the truth which they preach.

Ad 2: Apostolic men ought certainly to practice patience. When they resist detraction, they do so not out of impatience, but from love of truth.

Ad 3: Carnal-minded men hate those who rebuke them in charity. It is not, however, carnal minded to oppose those who calumniate the truth.

Ad 4: The passage of the Gloss quoted in the fourth argument refers to men who unreasonably slander the truth and injure its preaching. They who, under pretext of patience, permit falsehoods about the truth to be disseminated are like the dumb dogs, unable to bark, of which Isaiah 56:10 speaks.

Ad 5: If they who will not suffer the truth to be defended at their own expense show that they love themselves more than the truth, they equally love themselves better than the truth who, rather than suffer their own peace to be disturbed, leave the assailants of truth unanswered. Hence it is love of truth which inspires holy men to resist its detractors.

Ad 6: The following reply will serve as an answer to all the remaining objections. The authors quoted in these objections counsel us to love those who correct us justly, and they forbid us to pursue, with hatred or impatience, those that malign us. They advise us, on the contrary, to love and pray for our detractors. Holy men amply fulfil this duty; even while they refute the charges brought against them by their enemies.