Sermon

Beware etc. [3] The responsibility of a good leader is to train his troops to be on guard against ambushes. To be sure we have a cunning and deceptive enemy, hence we read in Ecclesiasticus: many are the ambushes of the deceitful (Sir 11:29). The psalmist writes: he sits in ambush with the rich (Ps 10:8), that is to say, with the proud. The Apostle explains these ambushes, saying that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Cor 11:14-15). Through these words the Lord makes us wary of Satan's servants by teaching us four things.

[4] First of all, he instructs us as to the kind of enemies, here: beware of false prophets; secondly, he teaches us about their strategy of ambushing, here: who come to you in sheep's clothing; thirdly, their menacing harm, here: but inwardly they are ravenous wolves; fourthly, he teaches us how to identify them, here: you will know them by their fruits.

[5] These enemies are false prophets, and being extremely dangerous must be avoided, because they are as dangerous to us as good angels are necessary and helpful to us, hence we read in Proverbs: when prophecy fails the people will be scattered (Prov 29:18). Jeremiah says this about false prophets: from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth into all the land (Jer 23:15).

And in order that we may discern who the false prophets are, let us first of all consider what the definition of a prophet is, and how he becomes a false prophet.

[6] There are four defining points of a prophet.

The first is divine revelation, as we read in Amos: the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

[7] Sometimes certain divine things are revealed to someone who does not understand them, as when Nebuchadnezar saw a statue, and something was revealed to Pharaoh, namely ears of grain and cows, though he did not understand it. For this reason understanding is the second thing that is required, as we read in Daniel: a word was revealed to Daniel and he understood the word, hence understanding was needed in the visions (Dan 10:1).

[8] If a man were to receive a revelation from God and though he understood it nonetheless kept it to himself, no benefit would be derived from that; for this reason a third thing is required so that those things which are revealed to a man, which he himself also understands, will be announced to another. As it says in Isaiah: what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you (Is 21:10).

[9] There are certain divinely revealed and announced things beyond human comprehension that men would not believe unless they were given a sign, and this outward sign is the action of miracles, which is indicated in the fourth book of Kings, where it is said that when Naaman the Syrian had come to the King of Israel to be cured from leprosy, Elias said: send him to me so that he will know that there is a prophet in Israel (2 Kg 5:8).

[10] But according to what I have already said, I now add that the name of a prophet is understood in four ways.

[11] Sometimes someone who has received a divine revelation is called a prophet, therefore we read in Numbers: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, in a dream, I will speak to him through a vision (Num 12:6).

[12] At other times someone who has not received a divine revelation, [but has the ability to understand it] is called a prophet, hence we read in I Corinthians: let the prophets speak; two or three, and let the rest judge (1 Cor 14:29). So he calls teachers and preachers prophets according to that [phrase] of Ecclesiasticus: All teachers will still pour out doctrine as prophecy (Sir 24:33).

[13] Sometimes those who repeat revelations are called prophets, hence in Chronicles: the sons of Asaph [and] of Jeduthun (1 Chr 25:6) were prophesying.

[14] Sometimes those who perform miracles are called prophets, therefore in Ecclesiasticus it is said that the lifeless body of Elias prophesied (Sir 48:14), that is, he performed a prophetic miracle; in the book of Kings it is said that some frightened thieves cast the corpse of a certain slain man into the sepulchre of Elias, whereupon that man came to back to life. And so it is said in the Gospel that when Christ performed miracles, the Jews responded: a great prophet has risen up among us (Luke 7:16).

[15] Therefore it says: beware** etc.

But how are prophets understood here? Chrysostom says that what is meant here by prophets are not those who prophesy about Christ, but interpret prophecy about Christ, because no one can interpret prophetic meanings except through the Holy Spirit.

[16] Let us now consider those who are called false prophets. There are four ways of being a false prophet: firstly, by reason of their deceptive teaching; secondly, by reason of their deceptive inspiration; thirdly, by reason of their deceptive intention; and fourthly, by reason of their deceptive life.

[17] Now, in the first place some are called false prophets by reason of their deceptive teaching, as when he proclaims and teaches spurious things. It is a prophet's duty to announce and to teach truths, hence we find in Daniel: a word was revealed to Daniel, and it was a true word (Dan 10:1). And the Lord says: if anyone proclaims my words, let him speak truly (Jer 23:28). But many make false claims, and therefore we read in the Catholic Epistle: there were false prophets among the people, even as there will be among you lying teachers (2 Pet 2:1), who are not afraid to introduce a ruinous heresy. Was not Arius a liar and those like him who sought to correct Christ's teaching? Thus we find in Lamentations: your prophets have seen false and foolish things (Lam 2:14). But what are these foolish things? Whoever speaks false things gladly, speaks pleasing things. We read in Isaiah: speak to us pleasant things: see errors for us (Is 30:10). Asked what false things the prophets saw, Jeremiah responds: they have not laid open your iniquity in order to incite you to penance. If anyone calls good evil and evil good: they are false prophets. As Jeremiah says: they have seen false revelations and banishments (Lam 2:14); what is accepted is approved and what is rejected is disapproved. Therefore when estimable things are disdained and detestible things are esteemed, then you are witnessing false conclusions.

[18] It is evident through the Lord's teaching what is to be esteemed and what is to be detested. Living according to the ways of the world and leading a worldly life must be detested. If anyone says that it is better to fast without a vow, and leads others away from religious life where they are fasting under a vow, and persuades them to fast in the world without a vow, then he holds a spurious teaching. The Prophet says: Make a vow and perform it (Eccl 5:4). He says this because it is better to fast under a vow than without a vow; otherwise he would only have said: "Make it". Anselm offers us an example in his book, De similitudinibus, explaining that whoever gives an apple tree gives more than someone who gives only apples; in the same way whoever makes a vow and performs it acts better than someone who performs a good deed without a vow. Nonetheless it is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay (Eccl 5:5).

[19] Moreover, they are called false prophets by reason of their deceptive inspiration. Where does the inspiration of true prophets come from? Certainly, it comes from God and the Holy Spirit, as we read in the Canonical epistle of Peter: Prophecy came not by the will of men but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21). [Whoever can be deceptively inspired by the devil], can also be deceptively inspired by his own spirit; we find both in sacred Scripture.

[20] First of all, someone can be deceptively inspired by the devil, as we read in Jeremiah: His prophets were prophesying in Baal (Jer 23:13); in Baal, that is to say in the devil, to prophesy is to speak about secret things. Sorcerers, who, through the inspiration of the devil, inquire into the truth about dark secrets, prophesy in Baal. And among sins and particular sorts of idolatry this is a most serious offense, nor can anyone be excused from this just because they say that they are doing it to bring about some good, since an evil act should not to be done to bring about some good, as the Apostle says: Let us do evil that there may come good; the damnation of these people is just (Rom 3:8).

[21] Others are deceptively inspired by their own spirit, thus in Ezekiel: Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing (Ezek 13:3). And Jeremiah says: They speak a vision of their own mind, not from the mouth of the Lord (Jer 23:16). Those who follow human reasoning speak from their own spirit. People such as these speak according to platonic principles which cannot reach the truth; namely, they are like those who say that the world is eternal.

[22] We find that others, who study philosophy and advance some things which are not true according to the faith, who when told that this is repugnant to the faith, respond by saying that they themselves do not assert this, but rather they are only repeating the words of the Philosopher. Such a person is a false prophet or a false teacher, for it is the same thing to instill doubt and not to resolve it, as it is to affirm the doubt. This point is illustrated in Exodus where it says that if anyone digs a well and opens the pit and does not cover it, and if their neighbor's ox comes along and falls into the pit, the person who opened the pit is held accountable for its restitution. That person who instills doubt about those things which belong to faith opens a pit; he does not cover the pit who does not resolve the doubt, even though he himself possesses sound and clear understanding and is not deceived. Nonetheless the other person who does not possess such clear understanding is truly deceived, and so that man who instilled the doubt is held accountable for restitution, since it was through him that the other man fell into the pit.

[23] Consider this dear brothers: there were many philosophers who spoke many things belonging to faith, and you will scarcely find two philosophers agreeing upon one opinion; and any one of them that did say something true, did not speak without an admixture of error. A little old woman now knows more about what belongs to faith than all the philosophers once knew. We read that Pythagoras began as a boxer; he heard his teacher discuss the immortality of the soul, asserting that the soul was immortal, and he was so enthralled that after having forsaken everything, he dedicated himself to the study of philosophy. But what little old woman is there today who does not know that the soul is immortal? Faith is capable of much more than philosophy, consequently if philosophy contradicts faith, it must not to be accepted, as the Apostle to the Colossians says: See to it that no one deceive you by philosophy and empty deceit. Let no one seduce you, willing, walking in the things which he has not seen, in vain puffed up by the sense of his flesh, not holding the head (Col 2:8, 18), that is Christ.

[24] Others are called false prophets by reason of their deceptive intention. But what is a prophet's true intention? Certainly it is the welfare of the people, as the Apostle says in his letter to the Corinthians: He who prophesies speaks to men for their edification and encouragement and consolation (1 Cor 14:3). [He speaks] for their edification so that they may become devout; for their encouragement so that they may become ready to perform good deeds; for their consolation so that they may become patient in adversity. If anyone seeks anything from a teaching other than the welfare of the people, he is a false prophet.

[25] Every bishop who takes up the duty of governing and preaching must look to the welfare of his people. But if he is seeking anything else, namely temporal gain and empty glory, he is a false prophet, because he does not keep an upright intention; for this reason Chrysostom says that many priests are not concerned with how people live, but with how much they give. Therefore, in Ezekiel the Lord deplores such men: And they violated me among my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread (Ez 13:19). Against whom the Apostle says: For we are not as many, adulterating the word of God (2 Cor 2:17). Gregory also says that "that servant is guilty of adulterous thoughts, if he desires to please the eyes of the bride when the bridegroom sends gifts by him to her. An adulterer is not looking to sire a child with his mistress, but he is only looking for a moment of pleasure. Likewise, that person adulterates the word of God, who is not looking to sire a spiritual child, but is only looking for temporal gain and empty glory.

[26] Others are called false prophets by reason of their wicked life, as when someone teaches one way but lives another way: then his teaching must not be accepted. It is for this reason that Christ began to do and to teach (Acts 1:1). And it says in Luke: As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning (Lk 1:70), as if to say: the prophets through whom the Lord speaks ought to be holy men. But the Lord deplores such prophets through his prophet Jeremiah: The priests, he said, and the prophets are defiled; in my house I have found their wickedness (Jer 23:11).

We shall ask the Lord, etc.