 Book 2, chapters 26 through 30, of Against Duvinianius by Saint Jerome. The Slibervox recording is in the public domain. As for the parable of the sore, which makes both good and bad ground bear a triple crop, and the passage from the apostle in which Christ, as the foundation, one man builds gold, silver, costly stones, another wood, hay, stubble, the meaning is perfectly clear. We know that in a great house there are different vessels, and to wish to contradict so plain a truth would be sheer impudence. Yet that Duvinianius may not triumph in a lie and quote the instance of the apostles by way of discrediting the hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold. Let me inform him that in Matthew and Mark a hundredfold is promised to the apostles who had left all, and I would tell him further that in the Gospel of Luke we find much more, that is, polypleona, and that there is absolutely no instance in the gospels of a hundred standing for seven, and that he is convicted either of forgery or of ignorance, and that our cause is not prejudiced by the fact that in one gospel the enumeration begins at a hundred and another at thirty, since it is the rule with all scripture and especially with the older writings to put the lower number first and so ascend by degrees to the higher. For instance, suppose one to say that so and so lived five and seventy and a hundred years, it does not follow that five and seventy are more than a hundred because they were first mentioned. If you do not on the side of good admit the difference between a hundred, sixty, and thirty, either will you do so on the side of evil, and the seed which fell by the wayside upon the rock and among the thorns will be equally faulty, but if the former three or the latter three on the side of good or in the side of evil respectively are one and the same, it was foolish instead of speaking of two things to enumerate six kinds, and all the more because according to the account of the parable in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Savior has always added, he that had ears to hear let him hear, where there is no deeper intermeeting it is useless to draw our attention to the mystic sense. If you give it your opinion that since the Father and the Son make there abode with the faithful, and since Christ is their guest, nothing is lacking, I suppose whoever that Christ abiding with the Corinthians was one thing with the Ephesians another, it was one thing I say for him to abide with those whom Paul blamed for many sins, another for him to dwell with those to whom the apostle revealed mysteries hidden from the beginning of the world, one thing for him to be in Titus and Timothy another in Paul, certainly amongst them that had been born of women there is not arisen a greater than John the Baptist, but the term greater implies others who are less, and he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. You see then that in heaven one is greatest and another is least, and that among the angels and the invisible creation there is a manifold and infinite diversity. Why do the apostles say, Lord increase our faith if there is one measure for all? And why did our Lord rebuke his disciples saying, O thou little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? In Jeremiah also we read concerning the future kingdom, Behold the days come, say at the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, and soon after I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their hearts will I write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them. The context of this passage clearly shows that the prophet is describing the future kingdom, and how can there possibly be, in it, a least or greatest if all are to be equal. The secret is disclosed in the gospel, whosoever shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall teach and not do shall be least. The Savior taught us at the feast to take the lowest placed, lest when one greater than us came we should be thrust with disgrace from the higher place. If we cannot fall but only raise ourselves by penance, what is the meaning of the ladder at Bethel, on which the angels come from heaven to earth, and descend as well as ascend? Only while on that ladder they are reckoned among the sheep and stand on the right hand. There are angels who descended from heaven, but Jovinianius is sure that they retain their inheritance. But when Jovinianius supposes that the many mansions in our father's house are churches scattered throughout the world, who can refrain from laughing? Some scripture plainly teaches in John's gospel that our Lord was discoursing not of the number of the churches, but of the heavenly mansions, and the eternal tabernacles for which the prophet longed. In my father's house he says, our many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and will receive you unto myself, and where I am there ye may be also. The place in the mansions which Christ says he would prepare for the apostles are, of course, in the father's house, that is, in the kingdom of heaven, not on earth where for the present he was leading the apostles. But at the same time, regard must be had to the sense of scripture. I might tell you, he says, that I go to prepare a place for you. If there were not many mansions in my father's house, that is to say, if each individual did not prepare for himself a mansion through his own works rather than receive it through the bounty of God, the preparation is therefore not mine but yours. This view is supported by the fact that it profited Judas nothing to have a place prepared, since he lost it by his own faults. But we must interpret in the same way what our Lord says to the sons of Zebedee, one of whom wished to sit on his left hand and the other on his right. My cup indeed ye shall drink, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give. But it is for them for whom it hath been prepared of my father. It is not the sons to give. How then is it the fathers to prepare? There are, he says, prepared in heaven many different mansions, destined for many different virtues, and they will be awarded not to persons, but to persons' works. Invane, therefore, do you ask of me what rests with yourselves, a reward which my father has prepared for those whose virtues will entitle them to rise to such dignity? Again when he says, I will come again, and will receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also, ye speaking especially to the apostles, concerning whom it is elsewhere written, that as I and thou, father, are one, so they also may be one in us. Inasmuch as they have believed, have been perfected, and can say, The Lord is my portion, if, however, there are not many mansions. How is it taught in the Old Testament, correspondingly with the new, that the chief priest has one rank, the priest's another, the Levite's another, the doorkeeper's another, the sacriston's another? How is it that in the book of Ezekiel, where a description is given of the future church, and of the heavenly Jerusalem? The priests who have sinned are degraded to the rank of sacristons and doorkeepers, and although they are in the temple of God, that is, on the right hand, they are not among the rams, but among the poorest of the sheep. How again is it that in the river which flows from the temple, and replenishes the salt sea, and gives new life to everything? We read that there are many kinds of fish. Why do we read that in the Kingdom of Heaven there are archangels, angels, thrones, dominions, powers, cherubim, and seraphim, and every name which is named, not only in this present world, but also that which is to come? A difference of name is meaningless, where there is not difference of rank. An archangel is, of course, an archangel to other inferior angels, and powers and dominions have other spheres over which they exercise authority. This is what we find in Heaven, and in the administration of God. You must not, therefore, smile and sneer at us, as is your want for making a graduated series of emperors, prefects, and counts, tribunes, and centurions, companies, and all the other steps in the service. It is mere trifling to quote the passage, know ye not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost, for it is customary in Holy Scripture to speak of a single object as though it were many, and of many as though it were one. And Jovinianius himself should know that even in a temple there are many divisions, the outer and the inner courts, the vestibules, the holy place, and the holy of holies. There is also in a temple kitchens, pantries, oil cellars, and cupboards for the vessels. And so in the temple of our body there are different degrees of merit. God does not dwell in all alike, nor does he impart himself to all in the same degree. A portion of the spirit of Moses was taken and given to the seventy elders. I suppose there is a difference between the abundance of the river and that of the rivulets. Elijah's spirit was given in a double measure to Elisha, and thus double grace wrought greater miracles. Elijah, while living, restored a dead man to life. Elisha, after death, did the same. Elijah invoked famine on the people. Elisha, in a single day, put the enemy's forces in the power of the city which they besieged. No doubt the words, no ye not, that your bodies are a temple of the holy ghost. Refer to the whole assembly of the faithful. Who joined together, make up the one body of Christ? But the question now is, who in the body is worthy to be the feet of Christ, and who the head? Who is his eye, and who is his hand? A distinction indicated by the two women in the Gospel, the penitent and the holy woman, one of whom held his feet and the other his head. Some authorities, however, think there was only one woman, and that she who began at his feet gradually advanced to his head. Devinianius further urges against us, our Lord's words, I pray not for these only, but also for those who shall believe on me through their word. That as I, Father, in thee, and now in me are one, so they all may be one in us. It reminds us that the whole Christian people is one in God, and as his well-beloved sons are partakers of the divine nature, we have already said, and the truth must now be inculcated more in detail, that we are not one in the Father and the Son according to nature, but according to grace. For the essence of the human soul and the essence of God are not the same, as the Manicheans constantly assert. But says our Lord, thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. You see, then, that we are privileged to partake of his essence, not in the realm of nature, but of grace. And the reason why we are beloved of the Father is that he has loved the Son, and the members are loved, those namely of the body, for as many as received Christ, to them give he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The word was made flesh that we might pass from the flesh into the word. The word did not cease to be what it had been, nor did the human nature lose that which it was by birth. The glory was increased. The nature was not changed. Do you ask how we are made one body with Christ? Your Creator shall be your instructor. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven. But the evangelist John, who had drunk in wisdom from the breast of Christ, agrees herewith and says, hereby know we that we abide in him and he in us because he hath given us his spirit. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him and he in God. If you believe in Christ, as the apostles believed, you shall be made one body with them in Christ. But if it is rash for you to claim for yourself the faith and works like theirs, when you have not the same faith and works, you cannot have the same place. You repeat the words, bride, sister, mother, and affirm that all these titles of the one church and names applied to all believers. The fact goes against you, for if the church admits but one rank and has not many members of one body, what necessity is there for calling her bride, sister, mother? It must be that she is the bride of some, the sister of others, the mother of others. All indeed stand on the right hand, but one stands as the bridegroom, another as a brother, a third as a son. My little children, says the apostle, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you. Do you think that the children are being born and the apostle who is in travail are of equal rank? In the folly of your contention that we love all the members alike and do not prefer the eye to the finger nor the hand to the ear, but that if one be lost, all mourn, is proven by the lesson which the apostle teaches the Corinthians. Some members are more honorable, others excite the sense of shame, and those parts to which shame attaches are clothed with more abundant honor, whereas our comely parts have no need of our care. Do you think that the mouth and the belly, the eyes and the outlets of the body are to be classed together as of equal merit? The lamp of thy body, he says, is thine eye. If thine eye be blinded, thy whole body is in darkness. If you cut off a finger or the tip of the ear, there is indeed pain, but the loss is not so great, nor is the disfigurement attended by so much pain as it would be for you to take out the eyes, mutilate the nose or saw through a bone. Some members we can dispense with and yet live, but others life is an impossibility. Some offenses are light, some heavy. It is one thing to owe 10,000 talents, another to owe a farthing. We shall have to give an account of the idle word, no less than of adultery, but it is not the same thing to be put back to the blush and to be put upon the rack to grow red in the face and to ensure lasting torment. Do you think I am merely expressing my own views? Hear what the apostle John says. He who knows that his brother, Senneth, the sin not unto death, let him ask, and he shall give him life, even to him that Senneth not unto death. But he that has sinned unto death, who shall pray for him? You observe that if we entreat for smaller offenses, we obtain pardon. If for greater ones, it is difficult to obtain a request and that there is a great difference between sins. And so with respect to the people of Israel who had sinned a sin unto death, it is said to Jeremiah, pray not thou for this people, neither entreat for them, and do not withstand me, for I will not hear thee. Moreover, if it be true that we all alike entered the world and all alike leave it, and this is the precedent for the world to come, it follows that whether righteous or sinners, we shall all be equally esteemed by God. Because the conditions of our birth and death are now the same. And if you contend that there are two atoms, the one of the earth and the other from heaven, and that they who are in the earthly atom stand on the left hand, those who are in the heavenly are on the right hand. Before we go further, let me ask you a question concerning two brothers. Was Esu in the earthly atom or in the heavenly? No one doubts that you will reply, he was in the earthly, in which was Jacob, without hesitation you will say in the heavenly. Now then, was he in the heavenly when Christ had not yet come in the flesh? Christ who was called the second atom from heaven. You must either reckon all before the incarnation of Christ in the old atom, and even the just in the man from the earth, and then they will be on the left among your goats. Or if it be impious to give Isaac the same place as Ishmael Jacob as Esu, the saints as sinners, the last atom will date from the time when Christ was born of a virgin. And your argument from the two atoms will not benefit your sheep and goats. Because we have proved that in the first atom there were both sheep and goats. And that of those who are in one and the same man, some stood on the right hand of God, others on the left. For from Adam, even until Moses, death reigned over all, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression. End of book two, chapters 26 through 30. Book two, chapters 31 through 35 of Against Jivinianius by Saint Jerome. The sleeper box recording is in the public domain. As regards your attempt to show that railings and murder, the use of the expression Raqqa and adultery, the idol word and godlessness are rewarded with the same punishment. I have already given you my reply and I will now briefly repeat it. You must either deny that you are a sinner if you are not to be in danger of Gehenna or if you are a sinner, you will be sent to hell for even a slight offense. The mouth that Lieth saves one kills the soul. I suspect that you, like other men, have occasionally told a lie for all men are liars, that God alone may be true and that he may be justified in his words and may prevail when he judges. It follows either that you will not be a man lest you be found a liar or if you are a man and consequently a liar, you will be punished with parasites and adulterers. For you admit no difference between sins and the gratitude of those whom you raise from the mire and set on high will not equal the rage against you of those whom for the trifling offenses of daily life you have thrust into utter darkness. And if it be so that in the persecution one is stifled, another beheaded, another flees, or the fourth dies within the walls of a prison and one crown of victory awaits various kinds of struggle. The fact tells in our favor. For in martyrdom it is the will which gives occasion to the death that is crowned. My duty is to resist the frenzy of the heathen and not deny the Lord. It rests with them either to be heads or to burn or to shut up in prison or enforce various other penalties. And if I escape and die in solitude, there will not at my death be the same crown for me as for them, because the confession of Christ will not have been to me as to them the cause of death. As for your remark that absolutely no difference was made between the brother who had always been with his father and whom who was afterwards welcomed as a penitent, I am willing to add, if you like, that the one drunk mom which was lost and was found was put with the others and that the one sheep which the good shepherd, leaving the ninety-nine, sought and brought back made up the full tale of the hundred. But it is one thing to be a penitent and with tears sue for pardon. Another to be always with the father. And so both the shepherd and the father say by the mouth of Ezekiel to the sheep that was carried back and to the son that was lost. And I will establish my covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, that thou mayest remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth evermore, because of thy shame. When I have forgiven thee all that thou hast done, the penitents may have their due that is enough for them to feel shame instead of all other punishments, hence in another place it is said to them, then shall ye remember your evil ways and all the crimes wherewith ye were defiled. And ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the wickedness that ye have done. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have done you good for my namesake and not according to your evil ways, nor according to your evil doings. The son moreover was reproved by his father for envying his brother's deliverance and for being tormented by jealousy while the angels in heaven were rejoicing. The parallel, however, is not to be drawn between the merits of the two sons, one of whom is temperate, the other a prodigal, and those of the whole human race, but the characters depicted are either Jews and Christians or saints and penitents. In the lifetime of Bishop Damascus, I dedicated to him a small treatise upon this parable. And if a penny was given to all the laborers, those of the first, the third, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh hours. And they came first for the reward who were the last to work in the vineyard. Even here, the persons described do not belong to one time or one age. But from the beginning of the world to the end of it, there are different calls and a special meaning attaches to each. Abel and Seth were called at the first hour, Enoch and Noah at the third, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the sixth, Moses and the prophets at the ninth. At the eleventh, the Gentiles, to whom the recompense was first given because they believed on the crucified Lord. And inasmuch as it was hard for them to believe they earned a great reward. Many kings and prophets have desired to see the things that we see and have not seen them. But the one penny does not represent one reward, but one life and one deliverance from Gehenna. And as by the favor of the sovereign, those guilty of various crimes are released from prison. And each one according to his toil and exhortations is in this or that condition of life. So to the penny, as it were, by the favor of our sovereign is the discharge from prison of all by baptism. Now our work is according to our different virtues to prepare for ourselves a different future. So far I have replied to the separate portions of his argument. I shall now address myself to the general question. Our Lord says to his disciples, whosoever would become great among you, let him be least of all. If we are all to be equal in heaven, in vain do we humble ourselves here that we may be greater there. Of the two debtors who owed one 500 pence, the other 50, he to whom most was forgiven loved most. And so the Savior says, I say to you, her sins which are many are forgiven her, for she had loved much, but to whom little is forgiven the same love with little. He who loves little has little forgiven. He will, of course, be of inferior rank. The householder, when he set out, delivered to his servants his goods, to one five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Just as in another gospel it is written that a noble man set out for a far country to receive for himself a kingdom in return, called the servants and gave them each a sum of money with which one gained 10 pounds, another five, and they each according to his ability, and the gain he had made received 10 or five cities. But one who had received a talent or a pound buried it in the ground or tied it up in a napkin and kept it until his master's return. Our first thought is that if, according to the modern Zeno, the righteous do not toil in hope of reward, but to avoid the loss of what they already have. He who buried his pound or talents that he might not lose it did no wrong. And the caution of him who kept his money is worthy of more praise than the fruitless toil of those who wore themselves out and yet receive no reward for their labor. And observe that the very talent which was taken from the timid or negligent servant was not given to him who had the smaller profits, but to him who had gained the most, that is, to him who had been placed over 10 cities. If difference of rank is not constituted by the difference in number, why did our Lord say he gave to everyone according to his ability? If the gain of five talents and 10 talents is the same, why were not 10 cities given to him who gained the least and five to him who gained the most? But that our Lord is not satisfied with what we have, but always desires more. He himself shows by saying, wherefore didest thou not give my money to the money changers? That so when I came I might have received it with usury. The apostle Paul understood this and forgetting those things which were behind, reached forward to those things which were in front. That is, he made daily progress and did not keep the grace given to him carefully wrapped up in a napkin, but his spirit, like the capital of a keen man of business, was renewed from day to day. And if he was not always growing larger, he thought himself growing less. Six cities of refuge are mentioned in the law, provided for fugitives who were involuntary homicides. And the cities themselves belonging to the priests. I should like to ask whether you would put those fugitives among your goats or among our sheep. If they were goats, they would be slain like other homicides. It would not enter the cities of God's ministers. If you say they were sheep, they will not possibly be such sheep as can enjoy full liberty and feed without fear of wolves. And it will be plain to you that sheep indeed they are, but wandering sheep, that they are on the right hand, but they do not stand there. They flee until the high priest dies and descending into hell liberates their souls. The gibbonites met the children of Israel and although other nations were slaughtered, they were kept for hewers of wood and drawers of water. And of such value were they in God's eyes that the family of Saul was destroyed for the wrong done to them. Where would you put them among the goats? But they were not slain and they were avenged by the determination of God. Among the sheep, but holy scripture says they were not of the same merit as the Israelites. You see then that they do indeed stand on the right hand, but are of a far inferior grade. Jonathan came between David, the holy man, and Saul, the worst of kings. And we can neither place him among the kids because he was worthy of a prophet's love, nor amongst the rams, lest we make him equal to David. And particularly when we know that he was slain. He will therefore be among the sheep, but low down. And just as in the case of David and Jonathan, you will be bound to recognize differences between sheep and sheep. That servant which knew his Lord's will and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew nots and did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given of him much shall be required. And to whom they commit much of him will they ask the more. Low, more or less, is committed to different servants. And according to the nature of the trust, as well as of the sin, is the number of stripes inflicted. The whole account of the land of Judah and of the tribes is typical of the church in heaven. Let us read Joshua, the son of none, or the concluding portions of Ezekiel. And we shall see that the historical division of the land is related by the one finds a counterpart in the spiritual and heavenly promises of the other. What is the meaning of the seven and eight steps in the description of the temple? Or again, what significance attaches to the fact that in the sultry after being taught the mystic alphabet by the 118th Psalm, we arrive by 15 steps at the point where we can sing, behold, now bless the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, ye who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Why did two tribes and a half dwell on the other side of Jordan, a district abounding in cattle, while the remaining nine tribes and a half either drove out the old inhabitants from their possessions or dwelt with them? Why did the tribe of Levi receive no portion in the land but have the Lord for their portion? And how is it that of the priests and Levites themselves, the high priests alone entered the holy of holies? Where were the cherubim and the mercy seats? Why did the other priests wear linen and raiment only and not have their clothing of rot gold, blue, scarlet, purple, and fine cloth? The priests and the Levites of the lower order took care of the oxen and wanes. Those of the higher order carried the ark of the Lord on their shoulders. If you do away with the gradations of the tabernacle, the temple, the church, if to use a common military phrase, all upon the right hand are to be up to the same standard. Bishops are to no purpose, priests in vain, deacons useless. Why do virgins persevere, widows toil? Why do married women practice continence? Let us all sin and when once we have repented we shall be on the same footing as the apostles. But now we have just sighted land. The foaming billows have been rolling mountain high. Our ship has been borne aloft or has been rushed headlong into the depths beneath. Little by little the havens open to the view of the weary and exhausted sailors. We have discussed the married, widows, and virgins. We have preferred virginity to widowhood, widowhood to marriage. The passage of the apostles in which she treats questions of this kind has been expounded. In particular objections have been met. We also took a survey of secular literature and inquired what was thought of virgins and what of those who had one husband. By way of contrast, we pointed out the cares which sometimes attend wedlock. Then we passed to the second division in which our opponent denies the possibility of sinning to those who have been baptized with complete faith. And we show that God alone is faultless and every creature is at fault. Not because all have sin, but because all may sin and those who stand have cause to fear when they see the fall of men like themselves. In the third place we came to fasting and is so much as our opponent's argument fell under two heads and he appealed either to philosophy or to holy scripture. We also furnished a several reply. In the fourth, that is in the last section, the sheep and goats on the right hand and on the left, the righteous and the wicked were distributed into two classes. The intention being to show that there is no difference between one just man and another or between one sinner and another. To prove the points, Giovannius had accumulated countless instances from scripture which apparently favored his view and this contention rebutted both by arguments and illustrations from scripture and pulverized Zeno's old opinion, no less with common sense than with the words of inspiration. End of book two, chapters 31 through 35. Book two, chapters 36 through 38 of Against Giovannius by Saint Jerome. This Lebervox recording is in the public domain. I must in conclusion say a few words to our modern epicurious wantonings in his gardens with his favorites of both sexes. On your side are the fat and the sleek in their festal attire. If I may mock like Socrates, add if you please all swine and dogs and since you like flesh so well, vultures too, eagles, hawks and owls, you shall never be afraid of the host of Aristipus. If ever I see a fine fellow or a man who is no stranger to the curling irons with his hair nicely done and his cheeks all aglow, he belongs to your herd or rather grunts in concert with your pigs. To our flock belong the sad, the pale, the meanly clad, who like strangers in this world, though their tongues are silent, yet speak by their dress and bearing. What was me they say, that my sojourning is prolonged, that I dwell among the tents of Cedar. That is to say in the darkness of this world. For the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. Most not of having many disciples, the Son of God taught in Judea and only 12 apostles followed him. I have trodden the wine-press alone, he says. And of the peoples there was no man with me. At the passion he was left alone and even Peter's fidelity to him wavered. On the other hand all the people applauded the doctrine of the Pharisees saying crucify him, crucify him. We have no king but Caesar. That is in effect, we follow vice, not virtue. Epicurious, not Christ. Duvenianus, not the apostle Paul. If many assent to your views, that only indicates voluptuousness. For they do not so much approve your utterances as favor their own vices. In our crowded thoroughfares a false prophet may be seen any day stick in hand belaboring the fools about him and knocking out the teeth of those who offend him. And yet he never lacks constant followers. And do you regard it as a mark of great wisdom if you have a following of many pigs, whom you are feeding to make pork for hell. Since you published your views and set the mark of your approval on baths in which the sexes bathe together, the impatience which once through over burning lust the semblance of a robe of monesty has been laid bare and exposed. What was once hidden is now open to the gaze of all. You have revealed your disciples such as they are, not made them. One result of your teaching is that sin is no longer even repented of. Your virgins whom with a depth of wisdom never found before in speech or writing, you have taught the apostles maxim that it is better to marry than to burn, have turned secret adulterers into acknowledged husbands. It was not the apostle the chosen vessel who gave this advice, it was Virgil's widow. She calls it wedlock, thus she veils her fault. About 400 years have passed since the preaching of Christ flashed upon the world and during that time in which his robe has been torn by countless heresies almost the whole body of error has been derived from the Calcedonian, Syrac, and Greek languages. Basilides, the master of licentiousness and the gross essentiality after the lapse of so many years and like the second euphorobus was changed by transmission into Jovian so that the Latin tongue might have a heresy of its own. Was there no other province in the whole world to receive the gospel of pleasure and into which the serpent might insinuate itself? Except that which was founded by the teaching of Peter upon the rock of Christ? Idol temples had fallen before the standard of the cross and the severity of the gospel. Now in the contrary, lust and gluttony endeavor to overthrow the solid structure of the cross. And so God says by Isaiah, oh my people, they which bless you cause you to err and trouble the paths of your feet. Also by Jeremiah, flee out of the midst of Babylon and save every man his life and believe not the false prophets which say peace, peace, and there is no peace. Who are always repeating the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish things. They have not laid bare thine iniquity that thine might call thee to repentance who devour God's people like bread. They have not called upon God. Jeremiah announced the captivity and was stoned by the people. In Anaya, the son of Azur broke the bars of wood for the present but was preparing bars of iron for the future. False prophets always promise pleasant things and please for a time. Truth is bitter and they who preach it are filled with bitterness. For with the unleavened bread of sincerity in truth the Lord's Passover is kept and it is eaten with bitter herbs. Admirable are your utterances and worthy of the years of the bride of Christ standing in the midst of her virgins and widows and celibates. Their very name is derived from the fact that they who abstain from intercourse are fit for heaven. This is what you say. Fast seldom marry often. You cannot do the work of marriage unless you take mead and flesh and solid food. For lust strength is required. Flesh is soon spent and venerated. You need not be afraid of fornication. He who has been once baptized into Christ cannot fall for he has the consolation of marriage to shake his lust. And if you do fall, repentance will restore you and you who are hypocrites at baptism may have a firm faith in your repentance. Be not disturbed by the thought of a difference between the righteous and the penitent and do not imagine that pardon even gives a lower place. Rather believe that it takes away your crown. For there is one reward. He who stands on the right hand shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Through councils such as these, your swine herds are richer than our shepherds and the he goats straw after them many of the other sex. They were as fed horses. They were mad after women. They no sooner see a woman than they nigh after her and shame to say find scriptural authority for the consolation of their incontinence. But the very women, unhappy creatures, though they deserve no pity who chant the words of their instructor. But what does God require of them but to become mothers have lost knots only their chastity but all sense of shame and defend their licentious practices with an access of impudence. You have moreover in your army many subalterns. You have your guardsmen and your skirmishes at the outposts. The round bellied, the well dressed, the exquisites and the noisy orators to defend you with tooth and nail. The noble make way for you. The wealthy print kisses on your face or unless you had come the drunkard in the glutton could not have entered paradise. All honor to your virtue or rather your vices. You have in your camp even amazons with uncovered breasts, bare arms and knees who challenge the men who come against them to a battle of lust. Your household is a large one and so in your avarice not only turtle doves but hoopos are fed which may wing their flight over the whole field of ranked debauchery. Pull me to pieces and scatter me to the winds. Tax me with what offenses you. Please. Cuse me of luxurious and delicate living. You would like me better if I were guilty for I should belong to your herd. But I will now address myself to you, great Rome, who with the confession of Christ have blotted out the blasphemy written on your forehead. Mighty city, mistress city of the world, city of the apostles praise. Show the meaning of your name. Rome is either strength in Greek or height in Hebrew. Lose not the excellence your name implies. Let virtue lift you up on high. Let not voluptuousness bring you low. By repentance as the history of Nineveh proves, you may escape the curse wherewith the Savior threatened you in the apocalypse. Beware of the name of Jovinianius. It is derived from that of an idol. The capital is in ruins. The temples of Jove with their ceremonies have perished. Why should his name and vices flourish now in the midst of you? When even in the time of Numa Pompilius, even under the sway of kings, your ancestors give a heartier welcome to the self-restraint of Pythagoras than they did under the councils to the debauchery of Epicurius. End of Book Two. End of Against Jovinianius by Saint Jerome.