35. But now we have just sighted land: the foaming billows have been rolling mountain-high: our ship has been borne aloft, or has rushed headlong into the depths beneath: little by little the haven opens 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 apostle, in which he treats questions of this kind, has been expounded, and 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; and 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 showed that God alone is faultless, and every creature is at fault, not because all have sinned, 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 inasmuch 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 the last section, the sheep and goats on the right hand and 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 point Jovinianus had accumulated countless instances from Scripture which apparently favoured his view, and this contention we 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.
36. I must in conclusion say a few words to our modern Epicurus wantoning in his gardens with his favourites 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. We shall never be afraid of the host of [4930] Aristippus. 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. [4931] "Woe is me," say they, "that my sojourning is prolonged! that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!" that is to say, in the darkness of this world, for the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Boast not of having many disciples. The Son of God taught in Judæa, and only twelve apostles followed Him. [4932] "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, [4933] "Crucify him, crucify him. We have no king but Cæsar," that is in effect, we follow vice, not virtue; Epicurus, not Christ; Jovinianus, not the Apostle Paul. If many assent to your views, that only indicates voluptuousness; for they do not so much approve your utterances, as favour their own vices. In our crowded thoroughfares a false prophet may be seen any day stick in hand belabouring 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 threw over burning lust the semblance of a robe of modesty 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 apostle's maxim that it is better to marry than to burn, have turned secret adulterers into acknowledged husbands. [4934] It was not the apostle, the chosen vessel, who gave this advice; it was Virgil's widow:
[4935] "She calls it wedlock; thus she veils her fault."
37. About four hundred 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 Chaldæan, Syriac, and Greek languages. Basilides, the master of licentiousness and the grossest sensuality, after the lapse of so many years, and like a second [4936] Euphorbus, was changed by transmigration into Jovinian, 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 Christ? Idol temples had fallen before the standard of the Cross and the severity of the Gospel: now on the contrary lust and gluttony endeavour to overthrow the solid structure of the Cross. And so God says by Isaiah, [4937] "O my people, they which bless you cause you to err, and trouble the paths of your feet." Also by Jeremiah, [4938] "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, [4939] "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 they 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. [4940] Hananiah, the son of Azzur, 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 and truth the Lord's passover is kept, and it is eaten with bitter herbs. Admirable are your utterances and worthy of the ears of the bride of Christ standing in the midst of her virgins, and widows, and celibates! (their very name is [4941] 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 enervated. 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 slake his lust. And if you do fall, repentance will restore you, and you who were 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 counsels such as these your swine-herds are richer than our shepherds, and the he-goats draw after them many of the other sex: [4942] "They were as fed horses: they were mad after women": they no sooner see a woman than they neigh 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 (for what does God require of them but to become mothers?), have lost not 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 skirmishers at the outposts, the round-bellied, the well-dressed, the exquisites, and noisy orators, to defend you with tooth and nail. The noble make way for you, the wealthy print kisses on your face. For unless you had come, the drunkard and the glutton could not have entered paradise. All honor to your virtue, or rather to 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 aviaries not only turtle-doves, but hoopoes are fed, which may wing their flight over the whole field of rank debauchery. Pull me to pieces and scatter me to the winds: tax me with what offences you please: accuse me of luxurious and delicate living: you would like me better if I were guilty, for I should belong to your herd.
38. 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 Apostle's praises, shew 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 Saviour threatened you in the Apocalypse. Beware of the name of Jovinianus. It is derived from that of an idol. [4943] The Capitol 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 gave a heartier welcome to the self-restraint of Pythagoras than they did under the consuls to the debauchery of Epicurus?
[4652] This, according to i. 3, is "cannot be overthrown."
[4653] 1 John iii. 9, 10.
[4654] 1 John v. 18.
[4655] 1 John v. 21.
[4656] 1 John i. 8 sq.
[4657] Is. lxv. 5. Quoted from memory. The LXX and Vulg. have like A.V. and Rev., "Come not near me."
[4658] 1 John ii. 1.
[4659] 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
[4660] Ps. li. 12.
[4661] 1 John ii. 4.
[4662] 1 John xiv. 6.
[4663] James ii. 26.
[4664] Jerome is perhaps hinting at the opinions of Jovinianus, that there was no other distinction between men than the grand division into righteous and wicked, and drawing from this the inference that whoever had been truly baptized had nothing further to gain by progress in the Christian life.
[4665] 1 Peter ii. 22.
[4666] James iii. 2.
[4667] Job xiv. 4, 5, Sept.
[4668] Prov. xx. 9.
[4669] Ps. li. 5.
[4670] Job ix. 20, 30. Sept.
[4671] 1 John ii. 1, 2.
[4672] S. John xiii. 10.
[4673] S. Matt. xvi. 18.
[4674] S. Luke xxi. 31.
[4675] S. Matt. vi. 12.
[4676] 1 Cor. ix. 27.
[4677] 2 Cor. xii. 7.
[4678] 2 Cor. xi. 3.
[4679] 2 Cor. ii. 10, 11.
[4680] 1 Cor. x. 13.
[4681] 1 Cor. x. 12.
[4682] Gal. v. 7.
[4683] 1 Thess. ii. 18.
[4684] 1 Cor. vii. 5.
[4685] Gal. v. 16, 17.
[4686] Eph. vi. 12.
[4687] Heb. vi. 4 sq.
[4688] Various dates, ranging between a.d. 126 and a.d. 173, are assigned to the origin of Montanism. In addition to the tenet, that the church has no power to remit sin after baptism (though the power was claimed for the Montanistic prophets) and that some sins exclude for ever from the communion of the saints on earth, although the mercy of God may be extended to them hereafter, Montanus held second marriages to be no better than adultery, proscribed military service and secular life in general, denounced profane learning and amusements of every kind, advocated extreme simplicity of female dress, practised frequent and severe fasting, and inculcated the most rigorous asceticism. The sect produced a great effect on the church and lasted until the sixth century. As is well known, Tertullian in middle life lapsed into Montanism, and he was the most distinguished of its champions. Montanism has been described as an anticipation of the mediaeval system of Rome.