Chapter 45
Why our Lord did resolve to save us, by the means of Faith, and not of humane Reason; and of the great subjection which we must yield to those things which our Faith doth teach; & of the particular devotion which we own, in especial manner, to that which our Lord jesus taught us by his own sacred mouth.
THE method of the words of this Treatise, did require, that after the first word thereof, I should declare the second to thee; but the order of the sentences, whereof the first, and the third, say the same thing; requireth, that (forbearing at the present to touch the second), I now declare the third, which saith thus: Incline thine care. By this thou art to note, that so great is the height of the mysteries of God; and so low, & poor is thy reason; and so easily subject to deceit; that for the security of our salvation, God resolved to save us, by our faith, and not by our knowledge. And this, not without most just cause; because since the world (as Saint Paul saith) did not know God by means of wisdom, but sell impertinently upon many crrours, ascribing the glory of God to the Sun, and Moon, and other creatures. And because others who (by the trace of those creatures) came to know God) took such a deal of pride, in their way of tracing the knowledge of a thing so high, this light was taken away, for their pride, which our Lord had given them through his goodness; and so they fell into the darkness of idolatry, and into a multitude of other sins, such as they had fallen into, who never had known God. For which reason, as, after the fall of the wicked Angels (God taking (as a man may say) a kind of warning by that) he would not suffer any creature to remain in heaven, that could be able to sin; perceiving how ill the creatures served themselves of reason; and because the world (as S. Paul saith) did not know God by wisdom, he would not leave the knowledge of him, & the salvation of themselves, in the hands of their wisdom.
Therefore, as soon as the holy Ghost had given us counsel, by the two words already mentioned, of Hear and See, he doth instantly advice us by a third, which saith, Incline thine ear. Whereby he giveth us to understand, that we must submit our reason most profoundly; & not be too confident therein, if we mean that our hearing, and our seeing, which were given us for our good, may not be the occasion of our eternal perdition. Certain it is, that many have heard the word of God, and have had an excellent sight and notice, of high, and subtle things; but yet because they rested upon the curiosity of their sight, more than they did ●●cline the ear of their reason, with obedience; their sight grew to be stark blindness; & they went stumbling in the light of Noonday, as if it had been in utter darkness.
If therefore thou wilt not lose the way to heaven, Incline thine ear, that is, thy reason, for fear lest otherwise thou be deceived thereby. Incline it, with a most profound reverence, to that which is said by the word of God, throughout the whole Scripture. And if thou understand it not, thou art not, for that, to think that the Holy Ghost which spoke, did err; but submit thy understanding, and believe, as S. Augustine saith, that he did that, which by reason of the height of that word, thou art not able to understand. And although thou art to incline thine ear, by giving equal credit of Faith, to all the Scripture of God, because all of it is the word of the same supreme Truth; yet art thou to carry particular respect, & care, to receive profit by those blessed words, which1 the true God incarnate spoke here on earth. Open thou, with devout attention, both the ears of thy body, and of thy soul, to every word of this Lord, who was given to us for an especial master, by the voice of the eternal Father, who said, This is my well beloved Son, in whom I am pleased, hear him. Be studious. in reading, and hearing these words; and then thou wilt not fail to find, in them a singular remedy, and powerful efficacy, for those things which concern thy soul, which thou hast not found in every other of those words, which God hath spoken, from the beginning of the world. And this is so, with great reason, since that which he said in other places, was spoken by the mouth of his servants; but that which he said, in the humanity which he took, he spoke in person; opening his own sacred mouth to speak; he who formerly had opened, and afterwards did open the mouth of others, who spoke both in the old, and new Testament. And take heed that thou be not unthankful; for so great a blessing, as it is, That God should be our Master; giving us the milk of his word to sustain us; he who had given us first a being, that we might have somewhat to be sustained.
So great a favour is this, that if we had scales wherewith to weigh it; and if it were told us, that at the furthest corner of the world, some words of God were left for the instruction of our soul, we were to make light of all labour; and danger, to hear some few of those words delivered, by that supreme wisdom, for the making of us his disciples. Serve thyself therefore well of this favour, since God hath given it thee, so near at hand; and desire of him, who taketh care to conduct thy soul in the way of spirit; that in holy Scripture, and in the doctrine of the Church, and amongst the writings of the Saints he will seek out such words, as may carry proportion to the necessities of thy soul; whether it be to defend thee against tentations, as our Lord did fast in the desert for our example; or whether it be to spur thee up in the search of those virtues, which thou wantest; or whether in fine it be to know how to carry thyself as thou oughtest, with God, with thyself, and with thy Neighbours, whether they be thy betters, thy inferiors, or thy equals; and how thou art to conduct thy soul in prosperity, and how in tribulation. And finally, how thou art to behave thyself, in all that, whereof thou mayst have need, in the way of God. In such sort as that thou mayst say, In2 my hart, I have hidden thy words, that I may not sin against thee. Thy word is a torch to my feet, and a light to my pathways. And be sure thou fall not, into curiosity of desiring to know more than thou hast need of, either for thyself, or for such as are under thy charge. For whatsoever is more than this, thou must leave to them whose office it is, to teach the people of God; as S. Paul3 admonisheth, That our knowledge may be with sobriety.
Footnotes
Chapter 47 of 115