Chapter 16 — Religious are blamed for causing their persecutors to be punished

Objections

We must next expose the grounds on which religious, are expected to allow their enemies to persecute them with impunity.

Obj. 1: We read in Matthew 5:44: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Again, in Luke 6:27-28 the same precept is given. If we are to do good to our persecutors, we certainly ought not to cause evil to befall them.

Obj. 2: Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves (Matt 10:16). On this passage, the Gloss comments in the following words: he who undertakes the office of preacher, ought not to inflict evil, but to suffer it. (Glossa ordinaria 5, 193 at Matt 10:16 (PL 114:118).) Hence preachers who procure the punishment of their persecutors, prove themselves, thereby, to be false preachers.

Obj. 3: Repay no one evil for evil (Rom 12:17). Again in the same chapter it is written: revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved. (Rom 12:19.) Hence those who cause their adversaries to be punished, act in disobedience to St. Paul.

Obj. 4: We read in the legenda of Saints Simon and Jude that when the general of the King of Persia wished to punish the heathen priests who had persecuted these Saints, the apostles cast themselves at his feet and implored the pardon of their enemies. (Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum historiale* 9.78 on the Apostles Simon and Jude, from Pseudo-Abdias, Acta apostolorum, bk. 6.)* For, they said, they did not wish to be the cause of death to any of those to whom they came to preach salvation. (Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum historiale* 9.78 on the Apostles Simon and Jude, from Pseudo-Abdias, Acta apostolorum, bk. 6.)* Hence, they who cause their assailants to be punished are not true, but false apostles.

Obj. 5: As at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now (Gal 4:29). St. Augustine observes, on this passage: who are those who are born according to the flesh?—The lovers of the world. Who are those who are after the Spirit?—The lovers of heaven and of Christ. (Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John, tr. 11, para. 12 (CCSL 36; PL 35:1481), found in Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at Gal 4:29 (PL 192:151A).) They, therefore, who cause others to be persecuted, must, seemingly, be lovers of the world.

Obj. 6: Let us have no vainglory (Gal 5:26). The Gloss says that vainglory is the desire for victory, where no reward is gained. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at Gal 5:26 (PL 192:161A).) Now those who wish to see their enemies worsted are desirous of victory. Hence it is by no means permissible for holy men to wish to see persecution arise against their opponents.

Obj. 7: When St. Luke and St. John said to our Lord: Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them?, he rebuked them, saying, you do not know of what spirit you are. (Luke 9:54-55.) They, therefore, who are filled with the Holy Spirit ought no to cause others to be punished.

Response

I answer that, On the other hand, examples can be adduced, proving that holy men have inflicted chastisement, or caused it to be inflicted. And first is the example of Christ, who making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple, and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables (John 2:14).

St. Peter condemned Ananias and Saphira to death, in punishment of their deceit (Acts 5). (Acts 5:1-11.)

St. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked upon Elymas the Magician, and said: you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind and unable to see the sun for a time (Acts 13:10–11). Here we have an example of an Apostle, both rebuking and punishing a sinner.

In 1 Corinthians 5:3–5, we read the following words: as if present, I have already pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. The meaning of this, is, says the Gloss, that Satan may inflict on him bodily torments. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at 1 Cor 5:3 (PL 191:1571D).) Here, we have another proof of chastisement, inflicted by an Apostle on an evildoer.

In the Song of Songs 2:15 we read: catch us the little foxes. By which words the Gloss understands, pursue and overcome schismatics and heretics. (Glossa interlinearis, at Song 2:15 (in Glossa ordinaria 3, 1837-1838).) For (as another Gloss explains) it will not suffice for us to spend our lives in preaching and setting a good example, unless we correct those that are in error, and preserve the weak from their snares. (Glossa ordinaria 3, 1837 at Song 2:15 (PL 113:1141).)

Dionysius says (On the Divine Names, 4) that the angels are not wicked, although they punish wicked men. (Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names, ch. 4, sect. 22 (PG 3:724B).) Now the ecclesiastical hierarchy is modelled on the heavenly. Hence a man may, without any malice, punish evildoers, or procure their punishment.

We read (Decretals, XXIII, q. 3, Qui potest), to neglect to check evil is to encourage it; and he who fails to put down public crime may legitimately be suspected of secret connivance at it. (Gratian, Decretum, P. 2, C. 23, q. 3, ch. 8 (Friedberg, 1:898).) Hence not only is it lawful to resist and punish offenders, but it is sinful not to do so.

Job 39:21 says of the horse, by which preachers are typified, he goes out to meet the weapons, because, says the Gloss, a preacher opposes injustice in defence of the truth, (Glossa ordinaria 3, 375 at Job 39:21.) even when this duty is not imposed upon him. (Glossa interlinearis, at Job 39:21 (in Glossa ordinaria 3, 375-376).) Thus we see that holy preachers must wrestle with impiety, even when impious men do not attack them.

But, the Saints act this way not out of hatred, but out of love. Thus, St. Paul, as the Gloss observes, when he delivered this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor 5:3), did so that the Spirit might be saved; whereby we see that his act was inspired not by malice, but by charity. The Gloss further adds: Elijah and other good men also punished certain sinners by death. By so doing, they inspired the living with a salutary fear, and diminished the number of sins which might have been committed by those whom they condemned to death. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at 1 Cor 5:3 (PL 191:1572A-B).) Hence the chastisement inflicted by holy men on sinners cannot strictly be called persecution. For they do not punish them for the sake of making them suffer, but in order either to correct or check them in their sins, or else in order to deliver others from their oppression, or to restrain others from crime by fear of punishment. Sometimes, however, this chastisement may metaphorically be called persecution. Thus, St. Augustine writing to the Count Boniface (Decretals, XXIII, q*.* 4*, Si ecclesia*) says that the persecution inflicted by the wicked on the Church of Christ is unjust, and that inflicted by the Church on sinners is just. (Augustine, Epistle 185, para. 11 (CCSL 31B; CSEL 57:10; PL 33:797), found as an excerpt in Gratian, Decretum, P. 2, C. 23, q. 4, ch. 42 (Friedberg, 1:922).)

Psalm 18:37[17:38]: I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back till they were consumed. Again, him who slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy (Ps 101[100]:5).

Replies to objections

Ad 1: It has already been proved that when holy men cause punishment to be inflicted on their enemies, they act not out of malice, but out of love. Hence they do their enemies good, rather than harm.

Ad 2: Preachers ought not, in causing their adversaries to be punished, to make their discomfiture their chief object. Their aim in chastising their enemies ought to be their conversion, or the benefit of others.

Ad 3: He who, out of zeal for virtue, causes another to be punished, does not return “evil for evil,” but rather good for evil; since the punishment inflicted is of benefit to him who suffers it. Punitive measures are at times remedial, says Aristotle (Ethics, 2). (Aristotle, Ethics 2.3, 1104b16-17.) And Dionysius observes (On the Divine Names, 4): it is not an evil thing to be punished, but to deserve punishment. (Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names 4.22 (PG 3:724C).) The prohibition against returning blow for blow means that we must not strike another out of malice or from revenge.

Ad 4: The Saints, as we have said, never punish others, nor cause, them to be punished, save out of desire for their amendment, or for the public welfare. If men are suffered to commit crime with impunity, they wax bold and become hardened in sin. Because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear (Sir 8:11). Therefore, the Saints inflict penalties on evildoers; but, when they see that indulgence would be more profitable to them, they remit the punishment that is due. The Gloss remarks on the words, you do not know what manner of spirit you are (Luke 9:55), it is not well always to take vengeance on the guilty, for at times mercy will avail more in bringing them to patience, and the fallen to amendment. (Source not found.) For this reason, Simon and Jude averted punishment from their enemies.

Ad 5: The lovers of this world unjustly, as St. Augustine says, persecute those who love God; and they, in turn, are justly persecuted by them. (Augustine, Epistle 185, para. 11 (CCSL 31B; CSEL 57:10; PL 33:797), found as an excerpt in Gratian, Decretum, P. 2, C. 23, q. 4, ch. 42 (Friedberg, 1:922).)

Ad 6: The saints, as we have already said, do not cause others to be punished, save in the hope of causing them to amend. The benefit of their neighbour they count as their reward. Hence they cannot be said to incur the stigma of vain glory.

Ad 7: The seventh objection is answered by the Gloss. (Glossa ordinaria 5, 831 at Luke 9:54 (PL 114:283).) The apostles, it explains, were untutored men at the time they spoke thus; they were ignorant of the way in which they might cause others to amend. Therefore, they spoke, not out of zeal for their neighbour’s correction; nor out of desire to check vice; but from a spirit of revenge. our Lord reproved them for their ignorance. At a later time, however, when he had instructed them in a spirit of true charity, he gave them authority to punish sinners. Such power they exercised towards Ananias and Saphira, whose death was profitable both in inspiring the living with awe, and in preventing the guilty man and woman from adding to their crimes. The same comment is made by the Gloss on the words in 1 Corinthians 5:3, to hand over such a one to Satan. (Peter Lombard, Commentaries on the Psalms and St. Paul, at 1 Cor 5:5 (PL 191:1572A-B).) Or we may say that our Lord forbade the disciples to call down fire on the Samaritans, because he knew that they would be more easily converted by mercy. The Gloss also accepts this view: the Samaritans who, in this place, were saved from fire, believed with greater firmness. (Glossa ordinaria 5, 833 at Luke 9:56 (PL 114:283).)