To the Church (Against Avarice) 1.52–2.35
Latin text: CSEL 8 (Latin text: CSEL, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 1
1.52CSEL 8:240
utatur medicamento alii oblato ad sua uulnera, uereatur contumaciae inoboedientis exemplum, cogitet quid ipse sit passurus in morte, cum uideat quid rex Assyrius pertulerit in uita. euidens est de superbia ac rebellione documentum. consideret an ipse, si non audierit, mortuus euasurus sit, cum uideat quod rex ille, qui non audiuit, se ipsum uiuus amisit. offerat ergo uel moriens ad liberandam de perennibus poenis animam suam, quia aliud iam non potest, saltim substantiam suam, sed offerat tamen cum conpunctione cum lacrimis, offerat. cum. dolore cum luctu.
Let him use for his own wounds the medicine offered to another; let him fear the example of disobedient obstinacy; let him consider what he himself will suffer in death, when he sees what the Assyrian king endured in life. It is a plain lesson about pride and rebellion. Let him consider whether he will escape when dead if he does not listen, when he sees that the king who did not listen lost himself while alive. Let him offer, then, even while dying, to free his soul from everlasting punishments, since he can do nothing else, at least his substance; but let him offer it with compunction, with tears; let him offer it with sorrow, with mourning.
Dan 4:33 (4:30 Vulg.) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Warned by the king’s fate, the dying sinner should give his substance with tears and sorrow.
- Nebuchadnezzar’s madness, Dan 4:28–33. Salvian calls the Babylonian king “Assyrian”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): medioamento → medicamento; oontumaciae → contumaciae.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.52 (CSEL 8:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-52). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-52
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.53CSEL 8:240–241
aliter quippe oblata non prosunt, quia non pretio sed affectu placent. nec enim animus dantis datis sed animo commendantur data, nec pecunia fidem insinuat sed pecuniam fides. ac per hoc qui prodesse sibi uult quae deo offert hoc modo offerat. neque enim homo deo praestat beneficium in his quae dederit, sed deus in his homini quae acceperit, quia etiam quod homo habet dei ac domini sui munus est. ac per hoc in his, quae offeruntur ab homine, homo non suum reddit, dominus suum recipit.
For offerings made otherwise do not profit, because they please not by their price but by the disposition. The giver’s mind is not commended by the gifts, but the gifts by the mind; money does not recommend faith, but faith money. And so whoever wishes what he offers to God to profit him should offer it in this way. For man confers no benefit on God in what he gives, but God on man in what he accepts, since even what man has is the gift of God his Lord. And so in what is offered by man, man does not return what is his own; the Lord receives back what is his.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gifts please God by the giver’s disposition, and in giving man only returns what is God’s.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.53 (CSEL 8:240–241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-53). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-53
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.54CSEL 8:241
itaque cum offert deo quispiam facultates suas, non offerat quasi praesumptione donantis sed quasi humilitate soluentis, nec absoluere se peccata sua credat sed adleuare, nec offerat cum redemptionis fiducia sed cum supplicationis officio; nec quasi totum debitum reddens sed quasi uel paruum de magno reddere cupiens, quia etiamsi tradat quod habet pro modo rerum, non reddit quod debet pro magnitudine peccatorum. et ideo, licet offerat, oret deum, ut sua placeat oblatio, plangens id ipsum quod tarde offert, plangens ac paenitens quod non prius: sic erit, ut iuxta prophetam propitietur forsitan deus delictis tuis.
So when anyone offers his means to God, let him offer not with the presumption of a donor but with the humility of a debtor paying; let him not believe that he is absolving his sins but lightening them; let him offer not with confidence of redemption but in the service of supplication; not as returning the whole debt but as wishing to return at least a little of much, because even if he hands over what he has according to the measure of his property, he does not pay what he owes according to the greatness of his sins. And therefore, though he offers, let him pray God that his offering may please, lamenting the very fact that he offers late, lamenting and repenting that he did not do so before. So it will be that, according to the prophet, God will perhaps be propitious to your offenses.
Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gifts should be offered humbly, as partial payment and supplication, not as a purchase of pardon.
- Dan 4:27 (Vulgate 4:24).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.54 (CSEL 8:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-54). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-54
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.55CSEL 8:241–242
Sed dicit aliquis: totum ergo deo oblaturus est quod habet? non offerat totum quod habet, si non putat se debere totum quod habet. non quaero cuius sit quod offertur, a quo sit acceptum ante quod redditur: hoc dico solum, non offerat totum pro debito, si debere se totum non putat pro reatu. totum ergo, inquit quamuis peccator aliquis, oblaturus est? immo nihil, si non cum fide, immo nihil, si non cum ambitu, immo nihil, si non cum prece, immo nihil, si non hoc animo, ut hoc ipsum inter praecipua beneficia dei reputet, quod animum offerendi dedit, et plus sibi in his quae deo relinquit praestari aestimet, quam in illis quae prius habuit: quia hoc, quod habetur ab homine, temporarium est, quod autem deo relinquitur, sempiternum.
But someone says: “Is he then to offer God all he has?” Let him not offer all he has, if he does not think he owes all he has. I do not ask whose is what is offered, or from whom what is returned was first received. I say only this: let him not offer all as a debt if he does not think he owes all for his guilt. “All, then,” says someone, though a sinner, “is he to offer?” Rather nothing, if not with faith; rather nothing, if not with eager zeal; rather nothing, if not with prayer; rather nothing, if not in this spirit: that he count this very thing among the chief benefits of God, that God gave him the will to offer, and think that more is granted him in what he leaves to God than in what he had before; because what a man has is temporary, but what is left to God is everlasting.
Notes and citation
Summary: Whatever is given must be given with faith, prayer, and gratitude for the will to give.
- The chapter numeral “XI” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral and stray letter): XI. Sed dicit aliquis: totum ergo deo oblaturus est quod i habet? → Sed dicit aliquis: totum ergo deo oblaturus est quod habet?.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.55 (CSEL 8:241–242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-55). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-55
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.56CSEL 8:242
totum, inquit aliquis, oblaturus est? at ego dico esse hoc totum parum. quid enim? iam scit aliquis an peccatorum mensuram oblata conpensent? iam scit aliquis an tantum sit in officio placationis, quantum est in offensione discriminis? si nouit quisquam hominum peccatorum quanti redimere delicta possit, utatur scientia ad redemptionem. si uero nescit, cur non tantum offerat quantum potest? ut, si conpensare peccata non ualet pretii magnitudine, saltim mentis deuotione conpenset. perfectum enim conscientiae fruetum exhibet qui intra conscientiam nil relinquit.
“All,” someone says, “is he to offer?” But I say that this “all” is little. Why? Does anyone yet know whether what is offered balances the measure of his sins? Does anyone yet know whether there is as much in the work of appeasement as in the danger of the offense? If any man knows how much he can redeem his sins for, let him use that knowledge for redemption. But if he does not know, why should he not offer as much as he can, so that if he cannot balance his sins by the size of the price, he may at least balance them by the devotion of his mind? For he shows the perfect fruit of conscience who leaves nothing within his conscience.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since no one knows the price of his sins, he should give all he can.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.56 (CSEL 8:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-56). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-56
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.57CSEL 8:242
dura nonnulli haec absque dubio et inmensurata causantur, maxime quia propheta is, de quo diximus, Babylonium regem hoc tantum admonuisse uideatur, ut multa donaret, non ut uniuersa distraheret. non profero interim testimonia euangelii nec confugio ad uocem loquentis dei: non dico aliud uetere aliud noua lege praeceptum. unde etiam apostolus ecce, inquit, uetera transierunt, facta sunt omnia noua, omnia autem ex deo: quibus utique docet, non uetera secundum litteram sed noua secundum deum esse facienda.
Some no doubt complain that this is harsh and immoderate, especially because the prophet of whom we spoke seems to have advised the Babylonian king only to give much, not to sell off everything. For now I do not bring forward the testimonies of the gospel, nor take refuge in the voice of God speaking; I do not say that one thing was commanded by the old law and another by the new. Hence the apostle too says: “Behold, the old things have passed away, all things have become new; but all are from God,” by which he certainly teaches that we must do not the old things according to the letter but the new according to God.
2 Cor 5:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even apart from the gospel’s higher demands, Daniel’s counsel supports Salvian.
- 2 Cor 5:17–18.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.57 (CSEL 8:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-57). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-57
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.58CSEL 8:242–243
hoc solo interim contentus sum, quod propheta dixit. sermo enim ei cum rege erat et quidem cum rege non unius urbis, sed, ut tunc uidebatur, totius orbis, qui utique non poterat populos quos regebat per testamentum egenis tradere et nationes barbaras indigentibus quasi nummos dare aut in pauperum stipes diffusa longe ac late regna conuertere. et ideo propheta peccata inquit tua in misericordiis redime, hoc. est: aurum da indigentibus, quia non potes regnum dare: facultatem distribue, quia potestatem non uales prorogare: ac per hoc uidetur iussisse, ut totum daret, quem hoc solum non iussit distribuere, quod non poterat erogare.
For now I am content with this alone, what the prophet said. For he was speaking with a king, and indeed with a king not of one city but, as it then seemed, of the whole world, who certainly could not hand over the peoples he ruled to the needy by testament, nor give barbarian nations to the poor like coins, nor turn kingdoms spread far and wide into alms for paupers. So the prophet said: “Redeem your sins by mercies”; that is: give gold to the needy, since you cannot give a kingdom; distribute your means, since you cannot hand on your power. And by this he seems to have ordered him to give everything, since he did not order him to distribute only what he could not give away.
Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Daniel in effect told the king to give everything he could give.
- Dan 4:27 (Vulgate 4:24).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.58 (CSEL 8:242–243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-58). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-58
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.59CSEL 8:243
Exaggeramus forte rem uerbis et nimis alte attollimus: uideamus ergo id ipsum quale sit. peccata, inquit, tua in misericordiis redime. quid est aliqua redimere? opinor, pretium rerum quae redimuntur dare. non quaero quae illius regis peccata fuerint: ipse sciat quanti debuerit redimere quae fecit. te adloquor, cuius causa est, te appello, cuius discrimen agitur. hoc facito, quod propheta dixit: peccata tua in misericordiis redime. noli tantum deo relinquere quantum habes, si pro peccatis tuis necessarium non putas quantum habes.
Perhaps we exaggerate the matter in words and raise it too high; let us see, then, what it is. “Redeem your sins,” he says, “by mercies.” What is it to redeem something? To pay, I think, the price of the things redeemed. I do not ask what that king’s sins were; let him know how much he had to pay to redeem what he did. I speak to you, whose cause it is; I call on you, whose peril is at stake. Do what the prophet said: “Redeem your sins by mercies.” Do not leave God as much as you have, if you do not think as much as you have necessary for your sins.
Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Each must pay the price of his own sins as Daniel taught.
- Dan 4:27. The chapter numeral “XII” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; chapter numeral leaked into the text): XII. Exaggeramus → Exaggeramus; peccata tua sin misericordiis → peccata tua in misericordiis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.59 (CSEL 8:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-59). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-59
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.60CSEL 8:243
aestima diligentissime culpas quas admisisti, aestima peccatorum diuersitates: uide quid pro mendaciis debeas quid pro maledictis atque periuriis, quid pro neglegentiis cogitationum quid pro inpuritate sermonum, quid pro omni denique malae uoluntatis affectu. adde postremo etiam, si aliqua de his intra conscientiam tuam sunt, de quibus apostolus dicit, adulteria fornicationes, inpudicitiae ebrietates, inmunditia deo exosa auaritia idolatriae famula, et post haec aliqua forte crimina etiam de humani sanguinis effusione contracta.
Reckon most carefully the faults you have committed; reckon the varieties of your sins. See what you owe for lies, what for curses and perjuries, what for carelessness of thought, what for impurity of speech, what finally for every impulse of evil will. Add at last, if any of these are in your conscience, those of which the apostle speaks: adulteries, sexual immorality, unchastity, drunkenness, uncleanness hateful to God, greed the servant of idolatry; and after these, perhaps, some crimes contracted even by the shedding of human blood.
Gal 5:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Salvian urges a full reckoning of one’s sins, including those listed by Paul.
- Gal 5:19–21; Col 3:5.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.60 (CSEL 8:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-60). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-60
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.61CSEL 8:243–244
cumque omnium supputaueris numerum, expende pretia singulorum. et post haec non quaero, ut pro peccatis tuis totum deo tradas quod habes: hoc solum redde quod debes. addo autem post ista omnia, quod cum tractaueris delicta tua atque taxaueris, tanto plus pro malis tuis debebis, quanto peccata tua uilius aestimaris, quoniam qui se, inquit apostolus, existimat esse aliquid, cum nihil sit, se ipsum seducit. ut non dicam tibi, quod regi illi uicturo adhuc et forte iuueni ut festinaret tamen peccata sua redimere praeceptum est: tu autem tanto plus pro te debes, quod haec uel moriens facis uel iam iamque moriturus.
And when you have reckoned the number of all, weigh the prices of each. And after this I do not ask that you hand over to God all you have for your sins; only pay what you owe. But I add after all this that, when you have handled and assessed your offenses, you will owe the more for your evils the more cheaply you value your sins, since “if anyone thinks himself to be something,” says the apostle, “when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Not to mention that that king, who was yet to live and was perhaps young, was told nevertheless to hasten to redeem his sins; but you owe the more for yourself because you are doing this either while dying or on the very point of death.
Gal 6:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Underestimating one’s sins only increases the debt, especially for one who acts at the point of death.
- Gal 6:3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter): hoc solum I redde → hoc solum redde.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.61 (CSEL 8:243–244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-61). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-61
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.62CSEL 8:244
grandis enim munificentia ac deuotio futura est, quae possit id conpensare, quod haec tum demum domino tuo reddis, quando habere ipse iam non potes, praesertim cum addatur ad ista omnia, quod propheta ipse, qui regem illum ad redemptionem criminum uocat, per haec ipsa, quae dicit debere fieri, non tam ei ueniae securitatem quam uiam inquirendae salutis ostendit. dicens enim peccata tua in misericordiis redime, et forsitan propitiabitur deus delictis tuis, hoc ipsum, quod dicit forsitan, spem indicat, non fiduciam pollicetur.
For it will need great munificence and devotion to make up for this, that you return these things to your Lord only when you can no longer have them yourself; especially since to all this is added that the prophet himself, who calls that king to the redemption of his crimes, by the very things he says should be done, shows him not so much the security of pardon as a way of seeking salvation. For in saying “Redeem your sins by mercies, and perhaps God will be propitious to your offenses,” the very word “perhaps” indicates hope; it does not promise certainty.
Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Daniel’s “perhaps” offers hope, not a guarantee of pardon.
- Dan 4:27 (Vulgate 4:24).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.62 (CSEL 8:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-62). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-62
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
1.63CSEL 8:244–245
ex quo intellegi potest quam difficile iam in supremis positi peccatores qualibet munificentia ad perfectam indulgentiam peruenire possint, quando propheta ipse, qui suadet propitiationem dei inquirendam, promittere tamen non ausus est promerendam. dat consilium de actu et tamen dubitat de effectu: hortatorem se agendi non inpetrandi auctorem facit. quare ita? quia omnes scilicet peccatores debent pro se uel in supremis cuncta temptare, etsi non possunt ulla praesumere. si enim regi propheta ille per solam bonorum operum largitatem absolutam indulgentiam non promittit, intellegere peccator non acta errorum paenitentia potest, quanta ei et quam larga in supremis munificentia opus est, qui uult obtinere a domino per seram deuotionem quod non potest usurpare per legem.
From this it can be understood how hard it is for sinners already at the end to arrive at full pardon by any munificence, when the prophet himself, who urges seeking God’s propitiation, still did not dare to promise that it would be won. He gives counsel about the act and yet doubts about the effect; he makes himself an exhorter to act, not a guarantor of obtaining. Why so? Because all sinners ought to try everything for themselves even at the end, though they can presume nothing. For if the prophet does not promise that king full pardon through generosity in good works alone, the sinner who has not done penance for his errors can understand how great and how lavish a munificence he needs at the end, who wishes to obtain from the Lord by late devotion what he cannot claim by law.
Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since even Daniel did not promise pardon, the late penitent must give lavishly and presume nothing.
- “By law” (per legem): what is due by right.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 1.63 (CSEL 8:244–245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-63). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/1-63
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
Chapter 2
2.1CSEL 8:245
Diximus de remediis peccatorum, immo potius de spebus remediorum atque solaciis, scilicet hoc primum inquirendae salutis esse suffragium ut peccatorem paeniteat erroris, tum ut iuxta sermonem sacrum statim peccata sua misericordiis redimat, postremo, si id non fecerit, ne quid saltim moriens inexpertum relinquat, ut uel ultima sibi rerum suarum oblatione succurrat. sed respondeatur fortasse illud: si peccatores homines hac redimendorum criminum necessitate teneantur, sanctos absque dubio, qui sint expertes criminum, non teneri, ac per hoc non habere eos causam substantiae largiendae, qui non habeant quod redimere eos necesse sit largitate. audio: sed id quale sit. iam uidebimus.
We have spoken of the remedies for sins, or rather of the hopes and consolations of remedies: that the first aid in seeking salvation is that the sinner repent of his error; then that, according to the sacred word, he at once redeem his sins by mercies; finally, if he has not done so, that at least when dying he leave nothing untried, so that he may help himself at least by a last offering of his goods. But perhaps the reply will be this: if sinful men are bound by this necessity of redeeming crimes, then without doubt the holy, who are free of crimes, are not bound, and so they have no reason to give away their substance, since they have nothing that they need to redeem by generosity. I hear it; but what this amounts to we shall soon see.
Dan 4:27 (4:24 Vulg.) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Book 2 takes up the objection that the holy, having no crimes to redeem, need not give away their wealth.
- The chapter numeral “I” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text): I. Diximus de remediis → Diximus de remediis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.1 (CSEL 8:245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.2CSEL 8:245
interim, etiamsi praeterita mala non sint, quae sanctum hominem oporteat rebus cunctis redimere, sunt tamen perennia bona, quae magno debeat conparare. sed de hoc plenius postea. nunc autem hoc dico libere et constanter adfirmo, neminem esse omnino sanctorum, qui non in multis sit deo debitor, ac per hoc eum quaecumque domino suo dederit non tam donare quam soluere.
Meanwhile, even if there are no past evils which a holy man must redeem with all his goods, there are still everlasting goods which he ought to buy at a great price. But of this more fully later. Now I say this freely and affirm it firmly: there is no one at all among the holy who is not God’s debtor in many things, and so whatever he gives to his Lord he does not so much donate as pay.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the holy are God’s debtors, so their giving is payment, not gift.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.2 (CSEL 8:245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.3CSEL 8:245–246
ac primum, ut de beneficiis generalibus dicam, id est, quod quisquis uel sanctorum es ille uel diuitum, primum beniuolentia ac dono dei et natus et altus et educatus es, quod rebus ad uitam necessariis communitus, quod etiam non necessariis locupletatus, quod plus ad. usum tibi dominus tuus tribuit quam modus usuum postulauit, quod extendit denique super spes tuas munera sua et, quod est maximum ac rarissimum, dona illius etiam tua uota uicerunt.
And first, to speak of the general benefits: whoever you are, holy or rich, you were first born, nourished, and brought up by the kindness and gift of God; you were furnished with things necessary for life, enriched even with things not necessary; your Lord granted you more for use than the measure of use required; in short, he extended his gifts beyond your hopes, and, what is greatest and rarest, his gifts surpassed even your prayers.
Notes and citation
Summary: Every person owes God for birth, sustenance, and gifts beyond what was needed or asked.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.3 (CSEL 8:245–246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.4CSEL 8:246
addo autem post ista omnia., quod idem dominus, qui te primum munere suo genuit, postea etiam passione saluauit, quod propter te, o homo, terram ac lutum, immo exiguam terrae ac luti partem, rerum uniuersarum dominus terras adiit, ex carne pariter et in carne processit, humiliatus usque ad humani exordii pudorem et pannorum inluuiem et praesepii uilitatem, tolerans indignas se uitae istius passiones edendi bibendi, somni uigiliarum aegras uicissitudines et caducae istius conuersationis contumeliosas necessitates, ipsam denique hominum circa se conuersantium faetidam commorationem, populos peccatorum sordentium luto oblitos, semper malae conscientiae admissis reos, turpium ex se actuum nidorem exalantes et ideo caelestium praeceptorum incapaces nec sustinentes sacri fulgoris iubar, quia caligantes peccatis oculos splendor diuini luminis obruebat.
And I add after all this that the same Lord who first begot you by his gift afterwards also saved you by his passion; that for your sake, O man, earth and clay, or rather a tiny part of earth and clay, the Lord of all things came to earth, came forth from flesh and in flesh alike, humbled even to the shame of human beginnings, the filth of swaddling-clothes, and the lowliness of a manger, enduring the sufferings of this life unworthy of him: the weary alternations of eating and drinking, sleep and waking, the humiliating necessities of this perishable way of life, and finally the foul company of the men who lived around him, peoples of sinners smeared with mud and filth, always guilty of the deeds of an evil conscience, breathing out the stench of their shameful acts and therefore incapable of heavenly precepts and unable to bear the radiance of holy light, because the splendor of the divine light overwhelmed eyes darkened by sins.
Luke 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, Lord of all, humbled himself to birth, a manger, and life among sinners for man’s sake.
- Passage on the incarnation (Luke 2:7, 12; Phil 2:7–8).
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.4 (CSEL 8:246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.5CSEL 8:246
nec solum hoc, sed post haec omnia adde proteruas superbientis populi contradictiones adde conuicia adde maledicta, inpiam insectationem testimonium falsum; iudicium cruentum inrisiones populi, sputa uerbera, acerbissimas quidem poenas sed indignitates poenis acerbiores, coronam spineam aceti poculum cibum fellis, damnatum ab hominibus dominum uniuersorum pendentem in patibulo humani generis salutem deum terrenae condicionis lege morientem.
And not only this; but after all this add the insolent contradictions of a proud people; add insults, add curses, impious persecution, false testimony, a bloody trial, the mockery of the people, spittings, scourgings, punishments most bitter indeed but indignities more bitter than the punishments: the crown of thorns, the cup of vinegar, the food of gall; the Lord of all condemned by men, the salvation of the human race hanging on the gibbet, God dying by the law of earthly condition.
Matt 27:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:34 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 69:21 (68:22 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ also endured the insults, trial, scourging, and death of the cross.
- Passion narrative (Matt 26–27; Ps 69:21, LXX 68:22).
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.5 (CSEL 8:246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.6CSEL 8:246–247
Quae cum ita sint, quicumque ille aut sanctus es aut sanctum te esse credis, dic mihi, quaeso, numquid solui haec sola possunt, etiam si nulla alia debeantur? quicquidlibet enim homo pro deo perferat, solui omnino non potest quod deus pro homine; perpessus est, quia etiamsi passio ipsa non differat genere poenarum, multum tamen distet necesse est diuersitate patientium. sed forsitan dicis generale in his quae diximus omnium hominum esse debitum et in hoc uniuersorum hominum genus indiscrete obnoxium. uerum est.
Since this is so, whoever you are, holy or believing yourself holy, tell me, I ask: can these things alone be paid back, even if nothing else were owed? For whatever a man may bear for God, what God suffered for man can in no way be repaid, because even if the suffering itself does not differ in the kind of punishment, it must differ greatly by the difference of those who suffer. But perhaps you say that what we have described is a debt common to all men, and that the whole human race is liable for it without distinction. That is true.
Notes and citation
Summary: No one can repay what God suffered for man, even if that debt is common to all.
- The chapter numeral “II” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text; stray accent): II. Quae cum ita sint, quicumque → Quae cum ita sint, quicumque; pró deo → pro deo.
Topics: Christology, Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.6 (CSEL 8:246–247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.7CSEL 8:247
sed numquid aliquis ideo minus debet, si et alius idem debeat? aut centum hominum cautiones de centenis sestertiis scriptae sint, num idcirco adleuatur unius debitum, si omnes sint eiusdem numeri debitores? unus quisque enim, inquit apostolus, suum onus portabit et unus quisque pro se rationem reddet.. nequaquam ergo unius pondus pondere adleuatur alterius nec absoluitur reus societate multorum. neque ideo minus est cuilibet taetra damnatio, si multos uideatur conplices poenae habere damnatus.
But does anyone owe less because another owes the same? Or if a hundred men’s bonds are written for a hundred sesterces each, is the debt of one lightened because all are debtors for the same amount? “For each one,” says the apostle, “will bear his own burden,” and “each will give an account for himself.” In no way, then, is one man’s weight lightened by another’s, nor is the accused acquitted by the company of many. Nor is anyone’s damnation the less dreadful if the condemned man seems to have many partners in punishment.
Gal 6:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 14:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A shared debt does not lessen each person’s own obligation.
- Gal 6:5; Rom 14:12.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.7 (CSEL 8:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.8CSEL 8:247
ita hoc, quod supra dixi, licet generale sit debitum, et speciale tamen esse non dubium est; licet sit commune omnium, est tamen peculiariter singulorum; ita ad omnes aequaliter peruenit, quod tamen de summa unicuique nil recedit. Christus enim sicut pro omnibus passus est sic pro singulis et cunctis se inpendit pariter et singulis et totum se dedit uniuersis et totum singulis; ac per hoc quidquid passione sua saluator praestitit, sicut totum ei debent uniuersi sic totum singuli, nisi quod prope hoc plus singuli quam uniuersi, quod tantum acceperunt singuli quantum uniuersi. ubi enim hoc unus accipit quod uniuersi, etsi par est mensura, maior inuidia est. quo fit ut, licet ipsum accipiat, plus debere uideatur, quia magis fit unus obnoxius, qui uidetur omnibus conparatus. haec ergo hactenus, quia debitores deo quidam sanctorum esse se non putant, cum debitum aestimare non possint.
So what I said above, though it is a general debt, is no doubt also particular; though common to all, it belongs nonetheless to each individually; it reaches all equally in such a way that nothing of the total is taken away from each. For as Christ suffered for all, so he suffered for each; he spent himself equally on all and on each, and gave himself wholly to all and wholly to each. So whatever the Savior bestowed by his passion, as all owe him the whole of it, so does each; except that each owes almost more than all, since each received as much as all. For where one receives what all receive, even if the measure is equal, the obligation is greater. Hence, though he receives the same, he seems to owe more, because one man becomes more liable when he is set on a level with all. So much, then, on this, because some of the holy do not think themselves debtors to God, since they cannot estimate the debt.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ died wholly for each person, so each owes the whole debt.
- “Obligation” renders inuidia, here the weight of a benefit received.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): aecipiat → accipiat.
Topics: Christology, Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.8 (CSEL 8:247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.9CSEL 8:247–248
Sed dicit fortasse aliquis, non quidem debitores non esse sanctos, sed multo tamen maiora hominum saecularium esse debita, quorum sint plura peccata. quod tale est ac si quispiam dicat: ideo ego sum innocens, quia alius magis nocens est, ideo ego iustus, quia alter iniustus, ideo ego adprime bonus, quia alius singulariter malus. iam primum enim indecorum hoc sanctae menti est, ut bona sua crescere malis arbitretur alienis et meliorem se esse aestimet conparatione peiorum. infelicissimum enim consolationis genus est de miseriis hominum peccatorum capere solacia, cum apostolus gaudere nos cum gaudentibus iubeat et deflere cum flentibus et non quae sua sunt singulos cogitare, sed ea quae aliorum.
But perhaps someone says, not that the holy are not debtors, but that the debts of worldly men, who have more sins, are much greater. This is as if someone were to say: “I am innocent because another is more guilty; I am just because another is unjust; I am exceedingly good because another is singularly wicked.” First, it is unbecoming to a holy mind to think that its own goods grow by others’ evils, and to judge itself better by comparison with the worse. For it is a most unhappy kind of consolation to take comfort from the miseries of sinful men, when the apostle commands us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and for each to think not of his own things but of those of others.
Rom 12:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Taking comfort in others’ greater sins is unworthy of the holy.
- Rom 12:15; Phil 2:4. The chapter numeral “III” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text): III. Sed dicit fortasse → Sed dicit fortasse.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.9 (CSEL 8:247–248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-9
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.10CSEL 8:248
sed esto istiusmodi conparatio iusta atque honesta uideatur: numquid etiam fida existimari potest? quis enim de illo tanto ac tam terribili futuro dei iudicio satis certus est? aut quis dicere potest: ego minus debeo ille plus debet? quis postremo de se praesumere aut de alio desperare? omnes enim, inquit apostolus, stabimus ante tribunal Christi, et
But suppose a comparison of this kind seems just and honorable: can it also be thought trustworthy? For who is sure enough about that great and terrible future judgment of God? Or who can say: “I owe less, he owes more”? Who, finally, can presume about himself or despair about another? “For we shall all stand,” says the apostle, “before the judgment seat of Christ,” and
Rom 14:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: No one can be sure of his standing at God’s judgment.
- Rom 14:10 (2 Cor 5:10); the sentence continues in 2.11.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.10 (CSEL 8:248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-10
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.11CSEL 8:248
unus quisque suum onus portabit, nihil ergo, inquit aliquis, inter sanctos et peccatores est? multum plane et paene inmensurabile. sed quia scriptura dicit beatus homo, qui semper est pauidus, et numquam est de salute propria mens secura sapientis, licet multum inter sanctos et peccatores sit, quaero tamen ab omnibus religionem professis, quis sibi iuxta suam conscientiam satis sanctus sit, quis de illa futuri examinis tremenda seueritate non trepidus, quis de perpetua incolumitate securus?
“each will bear his own burden.” “Is there then no difference,” someone says, “between the holy and sinners?” Much, plainly, and almost immeasurable. But since Scripture says, “Blessed is the man who is always fearful,” and the mind of the wise is never secure about its own salvation, though there is much difference between the holy and sinners, still I ask of all who profess religion: who is holy enough for himself in his own conscience? Who does not tremble at the dreadful severity of that future examination? Who is secure of everlasting safety?
Gal 6:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 28:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Though the holy differ greatly from sinners, none can be secure of salvation.
- Gal 6:5; Prov 28:14.
Topics: Eschatology, Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.11 (CSEL 8:248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-11
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.12CSEL 8:248–249
quod si utique non est, sicuti neque esse debet, dicat mihi, obsecro, quilibet hominum, cur non totis substantiae suae uiribus id adnititur, ut uel mortis deuotione redimat quidquid uitae offensione contraxit? quamquam haec quae loquor scire omnes legentes uolo, non me de omnibus sanctis sed de his tantum loqui, qui licet religionem professi sint, tamen diuitias non relinquunt.
And if no one is, as no one ought to be, let any man tell me, I beg, why he does not strive with the whole strength of his substance to redeem, at least by devotion at death, whatever he has contracted by offense in life? Yet I want all who read what I say to know that I am not speaking of all the holy, but only of those who, though they have professed religion, do not give up their riches.
Notes and citation
Summary: Salvian addresses those professed religious who keep their riches.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.12 (CSEL 8:248–249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-12
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.13CSEL 8:249
de illis enim, qui expediti omnibus sarcinis saluatoris uiam sequuntur et dominum legum Christum non sanctitate tantum sed etiam: paupertate mercantur, nihil est quod dici possit, nisi illud tantum, quod etiam propheta dixit: mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui, deus. hos enim ego omnes non aliter quam imitatores Christi honoro non aliter quam Christi imagines colo non aliter quam Christi membra suspicio, et ad hoc tantum illorum memini, ut eorum memoria dignus fiam.
For of those who, freed of every burden, follow the way of the Savior and purchase Christ, the Lord of the laws, not only by holiness but also by poverty, nothing can be said except only what the prophet also said: “But to me your friends, O God, are exceedingly honored.” For I honor all these as nothing other than imitators of Christ; I revere them as nothing other than images of Christ; I look up to them as nothing other than members of Christ; and I remember them only so that I may become worthy of their remembrance.
Ps 139:17 (138:17 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Salvian honors those who have embraced poverty as imitators and members of Christ.
- Ps 139:17 (Vulgate 138:17).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.13 (CSEL 8:249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-13
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.14CSEL 8:249
Sed iniuriosa forsitan illa, quae supra diximus, religiosae professioni esse uideantur. quid enim, inquit aliquis, si uidua sit diues et uiduitatem tamen in magna opum copia non relinquens? quid, si uirgo integritatem professa et inpolluti corporis sanctitate deuota? quid, si coniugium sine opere coniugali, negans se ipsum sibi et habens se quasi non habens? quid, si monachus ab incunabulis deo militans? quid, si clericus sacri ministerii seruitutem fideli seruitute consummans? numquid etiam hi aeternae salutis fructu periclitantur, si aut uiuentes opes integras habeant aut morientes indigentibus non relinquant?
But perhaps what we said above may seem injurious to religious profession. “For what,” someone says, “if a widow is rich, yet does not abandon her widowhood amid great abundance of wealth? What if a virgin has professed integrity and is devoted to the holiness of an unpolluted body? What if a married couple live without the marital act, denying themselves to each other and having one another as though not having? What if a monk has served as God’s soldier from the cradle? What if a cleric fulfils the service of the sacred ministry with faithful servitude? Are even these in danger of losing the fruit of eternal salvation if they keep their wealth intact while living, or do not leave it to the needy at death?”
1 Cor 7:29 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The objection: are widows, virgins, continent spouses, monks, and clerics who keep their wealth really in danger?
- Continent marriage: 1 Cor 7:29. The chapter numeral “IIII” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text; split word): IIII. Sed iniuriosa → Sed iniuriosa; indi. gentibus → indigentibus.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.14 (CSEL 8:249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-14
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.15CSEL 8:249–250
parua est ad promulgandam de huiuscemodi quaestione sententiam sermo atque auctoritas mea. uideamus ergo, quid de his omnibus sacrorum uoluminum linguae ac praeceptorum caelestium uoces sonent, et tum. rectissime secundum datam a deo normam opinionis nostrae regulam dirigemus. ac primum non est, quod confugiendum sibi nunc quisquam putet ad ueterum exemplorum esse solacia, ut dicat aliquos fortasse sanctos aut in lege aut ante legem diuites fuisse. abiit quippe illud tempus, mutata ratio est. ante legem enim liberum omnibus erat uel habendae uel.
My word and authority are slight for pronouncing judgment on such a question. Let us see, then, what the tongues of the sacred volumes and the voices of the heavenly precepts declare about all these, and then we shall most rightly direct the rule of our opinion by the norm God has given. And first, there is no reason for anyone to think he must now take refuge in the comfort of old examples, saying that some holy men, either under the law or before the law, were perhaps rich. That time has gone; the principle has changed. For before the law all were free to choose whether to have or even
Notes and citation
Summary: Appeals to rich saints of the Old Testament no longer apply.
- The sentence continues in 2.16.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and run-together words): ueterumex$mplorum → ueterum exemplorum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.15 (CSEL 8:249–250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-15
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.16CSEL 8:250
etiam consectandae facultatis arbitrium, quia scilicet adhuc tunc uirga interdictorum caelestium non castigabatur. ubi enim, inquit apostolus, non est lex, nec praeuaricatio. lex ergo fecit aliquid non licere: nam concupiscentiam, inquit apostolus, nesciebam, nisi lex diceret: non concupisces.
to pursue wealth, because then they were not yet chastened by the rod of heavenly prohibitions. “For where there is no law,” says the apostle, “there is no transgression.” So the law made something unlawful: “for I would not have known covetousness,” says the apostle, “unless the law had said, You shall not covet.”
Rom 4:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Before the law, possessing wealth was not forbidden.
- Rom 4:15; Rom 7:7.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.16 (CSEL 8:250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-16
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.17CSEL 8:250
et ideo opes, quas ante legem deus non reprehenderat, homo libere possidebat. in lege quoque nihilominus prope idem iuris omnibus suppetebat, quia lex hominem, dummodo iuste, habere quod uellet penitus non uetabat. itaque tunc omnes omnino sancti cunctis facultatibus suis iuxta praescriptos legis terminos utebantur, ambulantes, ut legimus, in omnibus mandatis et iustificationibus dei sine querela.
And so man freely possessed wealth, which God had not reproved before the law. Under the law too almost the same right belonged to all, because the law did not at all forbid a man to have what he wished, provided he had it justly. So then all the holy used all their means within the limits prescribed by the law, walking, as we read, “in all the commandments and ordinances of God blameless.”
Luke 1:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Under the law, too, wealth justly held was permitted.
- Luke 1:6.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.17 (CSEL 8:250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-17
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.18CSEL 8:250
sic utique illi ipsi ambulauerunt, de quibus ista memorantur, sicut prophetes Anna in ieiuniis atque orationibus uiuens, sicut Nathanael ille, quem legimus, ueri Israhelitae laude sublimis et ipso domino ac deo teste mirabilis, sicut Tobis magnanimitate deuotionis praecepta legis excedens, sepulturis hominum mortuorum etiam cum mortis periculo seruiebat et indigentibus usque ad indigentiam suam consulens in tantum largitatis affectum uenerat, ut mercennario suo partem bonorum omnium deputaret, et hoc, quo magis possit mirum esse, iam diues et, quo mirabilius, diues ex paupere, quia maiorem ferme habendi excitant cupiditatem opes post indigentiam.
So indeed walked those of whom these things are recorded: Anna the prophetess, living in fasts and prayers; Nathanael, of whom we read, exalted by the praise of a true Israelite and wonderful by the witness of the Lord and God himself; Tobit, who, exceeding the precepts of the law by the greatness of his devotion, served in burying the dead even at the risk of death, and, providing for the needy even to his own need, came to such a disposition of generosity that he assigned to his hired man a share of all his goods; and this, to make it the more wonderful, when he was already rich, and, more wonderful still, rich after being poor, since wealth after want generally rouses a greater desire to possess.
Luke 2:37 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:47 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Anna, Nathanael, and Tobit exemplify the generous holiness of those under the law.
- Luke 2:36–37; John 1:47; Tobit 1–2 and 12:1–5 (Tobit offers Raphael, his hired man, half of all goods).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray comma breaks the clause): sicut Tobis, → sicut Tobis.
Extrabiblical texts: Tob 12:5 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.18 (CSEL 8:250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-18
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.19CSEL 8:250–251
Tales ergo tunc sancti erant, secundum legem omnia habentes secundum legem omnia relinquentes. ac sic perfectus fuit omnis qui legi paruit, et tam deuotus qui sub lege tunc minus fecit, quam nunc in euangelio qui plus facit: tunc enim quasi euangelium lex fuit. quo fit, quod. qui se obtemperantem tunc legi praebuit quasi euangelia conpleuit non est ergo quod confugiendum sibi nunc quisquam, ad legem putet; uetera enim, ut ait apostolus, transierunt, facta sunt omnia noua.
Such, then, were the holy at that time: having all things according to the law, leaving all things according to the law. Thus everyone who obeyed the law was perfect, and he who then under the law did less was as devout as he who now under the gospel does more; for then the law was, as it were, the gospel. Hence whoever then showed himself obedient to the law, in a sense fulfilled the gospel. There is no reason, then, for anyone to think he must now take refuge in the law; for “the old things,” as the apostle says, “have passed away; all things have become new.”
2 Cor 5:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Obedience under the law was then perfection, but Christians cannot now retreat to the law’s standard.
- 2 Cor 5:17. The chapter numeral “V” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text; stray mark): V. Tales ergo tunc → Tales ergo tunc; qui se + obtemperantem → qui se obtemperantem.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.19 (CSEL 8:250–251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-19
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.20CSEL 8:251
plus tunc indulgentiae erat et plus licentiae. tunc esus carnium praedicabatur nunc abstinentia: tunc in omni uita ieiuniorum paucissimi dies nunc quasi unum ieiunium uita omnis: tunc laesis ultio suppetebat nunc patientia: tunc irascentibus lex ministra erat nunc aduersaria: tunc accusatori gladium porrigebat nunc caritatem:. tunc, etiam carnali inlecebrae lex indulgebat nunc euangelium nec aspectui: tunc corporeae uoluptates habebant quandam licentiam nunc iubentur etiam oculi custodire censuram: tunc ad multas uxores recipiendas. unius mariti torum.lex dilatabat nunc etiam ad unam excludendam casti affectus deuotione constringit.
There was more indulgence then and more license. Then the eating of meat was proclaimed, now abstinence; then in a whole life there were very few days of fasting, now the whole of life is, as it were, one fast; then vengeance was available to the injured, now patience; then the law served the angry, now it opposes them; then it held out the sword to the accuser, now love; then the law indulged even fleshly allurement, now the gospel does not indulge even a look; then bodily pleasures had a certain license, now even the eyes are commanded to keep strict watch; then the law widened the bed of one husband to receive many wives, now by the devotion of chaste affection it restrains even to the exclusion of one.
Matt 5:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:39 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The gospel demands more than the law: abstinence, fasting, patience, love, purity of the eyes, and continence.
- Contrast of law and gospel (Matt 5:21–48; 5:28). “Restrains even to the exclusion of one” refers to continence within marriage.
Topics: Ethics, Marriage, Fasting
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.20 (CSEL 8:251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-20
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.21CSEL 8:251
superest enim, inquit apostolus, ut et qui habent uxores ita sint ac si non habeant, et qui flent tamquam non flentes, et qui gaudent tamquam non gaudentes, et qui emunt tamquam non possidentes, et qui utuntur hoc mundo tamquam non utantur; praeterit enim figura huius mundi. uidete quam breuiter missus a deo doctor cuncta moderatus sit et intra unam perfectionem uniuersa concluserit, non inlicita solum interdicendo sed etiam licita coartando, circumcidens scilicet et usum coniugiorum et infidelitatem fletuum et intemperantiam gaudiorum et habendi libidinem et emendi, cupiditatem et ipsam denique mundi huius breuem atque umbratilem uoluptatem. et haec omnia cur?
“For it remains,” says the apostle, “that those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who weep as though not weeping, and those who rejoice as though not rejoicing, and those who buy as though not possessing, and those who use this world as though not using it; for the form of this world is passing away.” See how briefly the teacher sent by God has regulated everything and enclosed all in one perfection, not only forbidding what is unlawful but also restricting what is lawful: cutting back the use of marriage, the faithlessness of weeping, the excess of joys, the lust of possessing and the desire of buying, and finally the brief and shadowy pleasure of this world itself. And why all this?
1 Cor 7:29 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 7:30 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 7:31 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul restricts even lawful things, including marriage and possessions, because the world is passing.
- 1 Cor 7:29–31.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.21 (CSEL 8:251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-21
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.22CSEL 8:251–252
cur utique nisi, ut ipse dixit, quia praeterit figura huius mundi? quam longe ergo sunt a mandato dei, quos cum ipsos iusserit deus uiuentes opibus renuntiare, illi eas cupiunt etiam in cognatis suis mortui possidere: aut quam longe ab ea deuotione sunt,.. ut exheredent ipsos se propter deum qui exheredare nolunt saltim extraneos propter se? quibus libenter libere dicerem: quae insania est, o miserrimi! ut heredes alios quoscumque faciatis, uos ipsos uestro exheredatis; ut alios relinquatis uel breui diuites, uos ipsos aeterna mendicitate damnatis.
Why, indeed, unless, as he himself said, because “the form of this world is passing away”? How far, then, are they from God’s command, who, when God has ordered them to renounce wealth while living, desire to possess it even when dead in their relatives! Or how far are they from that devotion of disinheriting themselves for God’s sake, who will not disinherit even strangers for their own sake! To them I would gladly say freely: “What madness is this, O most wretched men! To make any others whatever your heirs, you disinherit yourselves of your own; to leave others rich, even briefly, you condemn yourselves to eternal beggary.”
1 Cor 7:31 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who bequeath wealth to others disinherit themselves of eternal goods.
- 1 Cor 7:31.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word with stray mark): deus ui* uentes → deus uiuentes.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.22 (CSEL 8:251–252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-22
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.23CSEL 8:252
Sed quaerit fortasse aliquis, quid sit istud, quod nunc plus exigat deus a Christianis per euangelium quam a Iudaeis ante per legem. certa istius rei ratio est: ideo enim maiora nunc domino nostro soluimus, quia maiora debemus. Iudaei quippe habebant quondam umbram rerum nos ueritatem: Iudaei fuerunt serui nos adoptiui: Iudaei acceperunt iugum nos libertatem, Iudaei maledicta nos gratiam, Iudaei litteram interficientem nos spiritum uiuificantem: Iudaeis seruus magister missus est nobis filius: Iudaei per mare transierunt ad heremum nos per baptisma introimus in regnum: Iudaei manna manducauere nos Christum, Iudaei carnes auium nos dei corpus, Iudaei pruinam caeli nos deum caeli: qui cum, ut apostolus ait, in forma dei esset, humiliauit semetipsum usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis, non contentus scilicet simplicem pro nobis subire mortem, nisi ipsam uoluntariae necis susceptionem summorum suppliciorum perpessione cumulasset.
But perhaps someone asks why God now demands more of Christians through the gospel than formerly of the Jews through the law. The reason is clear: we now pay our Lord more because we owe more. For the Jews once had the shadow of things, we the truth; the Jews were servants, we adopted sons; the Jews received a yoke, we freedom; the Jews curses, we grace; the Jews the letter that kills, we the Spirit that gives life; to the Jews a servant was sent as teacher, to us the Son; the Jews passed through the sea to the desert, we enter the kingdom through baptism; the Jews ate manna, we Christ; the Jews the flesh of birds, we the body of God; the Jews the dew of heaven, we the God of heaven, who, as the apostle says, “though he was in the form of God, humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross,” not content, indeed, to undergo a simple death for us, unless he heaped on the acceptance of a voluntary death the endurance of the greatest torments.
Heb 10:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 3:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 16:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · Phil 2:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians owe more than the Jews did because they have received the truth, sonship, the Spirit, and Christ himself.
- Contrast of Israel under the law and Christians, in Salvian’s own terms (Heb 10:1; 2 Cor 3:6; 1 Cor 10:1–4; Exod 16; Phil 2:6–8). The chapter numeral “VI” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text): VI. Sed quaerit fortasse → Sed quaerit fortasse.
Topics: Christology, Baptism, Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.23 (CSEL 8:252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-23
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.24CSEL 8:252–253
pro hoc ergo solo quid soluere homo poterit, cui se per ultimam poenarum acerbitatem Christus inpendit? aut quid pro se dignum domino repensabit qui ipsum a quo redemptus est deum debet? haec ergo causa est, qua deuotiores esse nos dominus sibi uelit, quia tam magno deuotionem nostram pretio conparauit. et ideo beatissimus Paulus quis ergo, inquit, nos separabit a caritate Christi? tribulatio an angustia an persecutio an fames an nuditas an periculum an gladius? non apostolus solam pecuniam nec solas deberi a nobis diuitias deo dicit, sed tribulationem angustiam famem gladium passionem effusionem sanguinis animae exalationem mortem denique omni poenarum genere conditam: unde intellegant omnes religiosi non satis se deo reddere, etiamsi uniuersas dederint facultates, quia licet sua cuncta dispensent, ipsos se tamen debent.
For this alone, then, what can a man pay, for whom Christ spent himself through the ultimate bitterness of punishments? Or what worthy return will he make to the Lord for himself, who owes the very God by whom he was redeemed? This, then, is why the Lord wants us to be more devoted to him: because he purchased our devotion at so great a price. And so the most blessed Paul says: “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” The apostle does not say that we owe God only money or only riches, but tribulation, distress, famine, sword, suffering, the shedding of blood, the breathing out of the soul, and finally death seasoned with every kind of punishment. From this let all the religious understand that they do not give back enough to God even if they give all their means, because though they dispense all their goods, they still owe themselves.
Ps 116:12 (115:3 LXX) (echo, medium confidence) · Rom 8:35 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since Christ gave himself, Christians owe not only their wealth but themselves.
- Ps 116:12 (LXX 115:3) is echoed; Rom 8:35.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (quia for quis)): Paulus quia ergo, inquit → Paulus quis ergo, inquit.
Topics: Christology, Ethics, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.24 (CSEL 8:252–253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-24
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.25CSEL 8:253
et ideo, sicut supra dicere coeperamus, si uidua est quaepiam, nequaquam sibi sufficere ad aeternam salutem nomen uiduitatis putet, sed uideat qualem esse in apostolo uiduam deus iubeat dicens: quae uere uidua est, desolata sperat in domino, instat orationibus nocte ac die; nam quae in deliciis agit, uiuens mortua est. uno eodemque praecepto duas apostolus formas uiduitatis expressit, unam uitae alteram mortis: in deliciis mortem posuit. ergo absque dubio diuitem esse non uult quam deliciosam esse non patitur, quia omnis fructus diuitiarum in usu est positus deliciarum; alioqui remoto usu deliciarum causae opum non relinquuntur.
And so, as we had begun to say above, if any woman is a widow, let her in no way think the name of widowhood enough for eternal salvation, but let her see what kind of widow God commands her to be in the apostle, saying: “She who is truly a widow, left alone, hopes in the Lord and continues in prayers night and day; for she who lives in pleasures is dead while she lives.” By one and the same precept the apostle has expressed two forms of widowhood, one of life and the other of death: he placed death in pleasures. Without doubt, therefore, he does not want her to be rich whom he does not allow to live in pleasures, since all the fruit of riches lies in the use of pleasures; otherwise, when the use of pleasures is removed, no reasons for wealth remain.
1 Tim 5:5 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 5:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul’s true widow, who rejects luxury, should not be rich.
- 1 Tim 5:5–6.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark): si uidua: est → si uidua est.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.25 (CSEL 8:253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-25
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.26CSEL 8:253–254
Cum itaque apostolus in deliciis uiduae mortem esse memorauerit, promptum est quod ad uitae aeternae fructum uult uniuersa distribui, qui non uult ad mortis usum aliqua reseruari. et ideo dicit: quae uere uidua est, desolata sperat in domino, docens scilicet parum esse, si non sit uidua deliciosa non diues, nisi fuerit deo adhaerens nisi orationi dedita nisi a cunctis mundi inlecebris desolata et per haec omnia uere uidua.
Since, then, the apostle declared that there is death in a widow’s pleasures, it is plain that he wants everything to be distributed for the fruit of eternal life, since he wants nothing kept for the use of death. And so he says: “She who is truly a widow, left alone, hopes in the Lord,” teaching that it is little for a widow not to live in pleasure and not to be rich unless she clings to God, is devoted to prayer, is left alone from all the allurements of the world, and through all this is truly a widow.
1 Tim 5:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A true widow must cling to God and prayer, not merely avoid luxury.
- 1 Tim 5:5. The chapter numeral “VII” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text): VII. Cum itaque apostolus → Cum itaque apostolus.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.26 (CSEL 8:253–254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-26
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.27CSEL 8:254
quod si ita est, quaecumque se uitae cupit esse non mortis nequaquam sufficere sibi aestimet, si et delicias sibi ob deum et diuitias abnegarit, nisi et oratione et labore id promeruerit, ut uidua dei esse uideatur: quia non est dubium, quod quemadmodum quis in hoc saeculo Christo adhaeserit, ita in Christi corpore permanebit, secundum illud: adhaesit anima mea post te, me autem suscepit dextera. tua. quo declaratur, quod eam tantum animam, quae deo adhaeserit in hoc saeculo, dextera dei suscipiet in futuro.
If this is so, any woman who wishes to be a widow of life and not of death should not think it enough to have denied herself pleasures and riches for God’s sake, unless by prayer and labor she has earned the right to be seen as God’s widow; for there is no doubt that as anyone has clung to Christ in this world, so he will remain in Christ’s body, according to the saying: “My soul has clung after you; your right hand has upheld me.” By this it is declared that God’s right hand will uphold in the future only that soul which has clung to God in this world.
Ps 63:8 (62:9 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Only the soul that clings to God now will be upheld by him hereafter.
- Ps 63:8 (Vulgate 62:9).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.27 (CSEL 8:254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-27
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.28CSEL 8:254
haec ergo uiduitatis est regula. nam de coniugibus continentiam professis et spiritu dei plenis dubitare quis debeat, quin sua heredibus mundanis seruire nolint qui se ipsos mundo eliminauerint? quomodo enim ad se pertinentia aliis addicant qui ipsos se sibi denegant? tam noua enim. uirtute praediti concessasque et, quod maius est, expertas corporum uoluptates admirabilis continentiae austeritate calcantes quemadmodum aliquid rerum suarum non deo uoueant, qui ipsum intra se deum esse fecerunt? ut meo quidem iudicio etiam de tali coniugio rectissime dici possit: laetare sterilis quod non paris, erumpe et exclama quod non parturis, quia multi filii desertae magis quam eius quae habet uirum.
This, then, is the rule of widowhood. As for married people who have professed continence and are full of the Spirit of God, who should doubt that those who have banished themselves from the world will not want their goods to serve worldly heirs? For how will they assign to others what belongs to them, who deny themselves to themselves? Endowed with so new a virtue, trampling with the austerity of admirable continence the pleasures of the body which are permitted and, what is more, already experienced, how will they not vow something of their goods to God, who have made God himself dwell within them? So that, in my judgment, it can most rightly be said even of such a marriage: “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry out, you who are not in labor, for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband.”
Gal 4:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 54:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Continent married couples, having given themselves to God, should give him their goods as well.
- Gal 4:27 (Isa 54:1).
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.28 (CSEL 8:254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-28
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.29CSEL 8:254–255
et sterile namque, est quod non parit et desertum quod ab omnibus se mundi inlecebris separauit et sine uiro quod sine uiri usu ita uirum habet, ut non habere uideatur. hos ergo coniuges tales quis dubitet et dum uiuunt, sicut in se ita etiam in suis substantiis deo uiuere, et cum e uita exeunt, cum sua ad deum, cui uixerint, facultate migrare? aliter enim quilibet horum, si res suas saeculo deditis atque ipsi saeculo derelinquit, frustra sibi nomen religionis inscripsit: ei uidetur semper uixisse, cui moritur. de coniugibus itaque ista sufficiunt.
For such a marriage is barren, because it does not bear; desolate, because it has separated itself from all the allurements of the world; and without a husband, because, without the use of a husband, it has a husband as though it seemed not to have one. Who, then, would doubt that such couples, while they live, live to God in their substance as in themselves, and when they depart from life, go with their means to God, to whom they lived? Otherwise, if any of them leaves his goods to people given to the world, and leaves them to the world itself, he has inscribed the name of religion on himself in vain: he seems always to have lived for the one for whom he dies. So much on married people.
Notes and citation
Summary: Continent couples should take their wealth with them to God rather than leave it to the world.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.29 (CSEL 8:254–255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-29). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-29
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.30CSEL 8:255
Transeamus ad sacras uirgines, quibus legem deuotionis saluator ipse praescripsit, exemplo scilicet decem uirginum, ex quibus fatuarum numerum puellarum ideo tantummodo dicit poenis perennibus dandum, quia sit ei opus misericordiae defuturum. quo dicto euidentissime docuit quanti pretii iudicarit largam misericordiam, sine qua. dixit nec integritatem quidem ipsam uirgini profuturam.
Let us pass on to the sacred virgins, for whom the Savior himself prescribed the law of devotion by the example of the ten virgins, of whom he says the number of the foolish girls was to be given over to everlasting punishments only because the work of mercy would be lacking to them. By this saying he most plainly taught at how great a price he valued abundant mercy, without which, he said, not even integrity itself would profit a virgin.
Matt 25:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The parable of the ten virgins shows that virginity without works of mercy does not save.
- Matt 25:1–13; Salvian reads the oil as works of mercy. The chapter numeral “VIII” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text): VIII. Transeamus → Transeamus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.30 (CSEL 8:255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-30). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-30
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.31CSEL 8:255
sed blandiuntur: sibi fortasse quaedam et sufficere sibi aestimant, si, cum multa in facultatibus habeant, saltim exigua largiantur. nec ego abnuo, ut, si ita ratio est, ita esse credatur. parum detur, si parum dedisse sufficiet: sed ego sufficere parum nescio, immo parum non sufficere certo scio. si aliud ipsae sciunt, apud se ipsas sciant: ego unum scio, quod deus dicit extinctas fatuarum uirginum lampadas, operum bonorum oleum non habentes.
But perhaps some flatter themselves and think it enough if, having much in their means, they give at least a little. Nor do I refuse to believe it is so, if the reasoning holds. Let little be given, if it will suffice to have given little; but I do not know that little suffices; rather, I know for certain that little does not suffice. If they know otherwise, let them know it for themselves; I know one thing: God says the lamps of the foolish virgins went out, having no oil of good works.
Matt 25:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Giving a little does not suffice; the foolish virgins’ lamps went out for lack of the oil of good works.
- Matt 25:8.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.31 (CSEL 8:255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-31). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-31
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.32CSEL 8:255
sed tu, quaecumque es,: habere te oleum abunde putas? et illae profecto, de quibus dixi, stultae uirgines sic putabant: nisi enim habere se credidissent, prouiderant ut haberent. nam cum postea, ut ait dominus, mutuari uelint et omni studio atque ambitione perquirant, absque dubio etiam ante quaesissent, nisi eas habendi fiducia decepisset et tu itaque, quaecumque uirgo es, uide ne sic non habeas, licet habere te credas: eiusdem enim nominis cuius illae, eiusdem professionis es. tu uirgo es et illae uirgines.
But you, whoever you are, do you think you have oil in abundance? Those foolish virgins of whom I spoke certainly thought so; for unless they had believed they had it, they would have provided for having it. For since afterwards, as the Lord says, they wanted to borrow and sought it with every effort and eagerness, they would no doubt have sought it before, had not confidence in having it deceived them. And so you too, whatever virgin you are, see that you do not lack it in this way, though you believe you have it; for you bear the same name as they, the same profession. You are a virgin, and they were virgins.
Matt 25:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The foolish virgins thought they had enough oil; a virgin today must not repeat their mistake.
- Matt 25:8–9.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.32 (CSEL 8:255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-32). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-32
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.33CSEL 8:255–256
erant: tu praesumis te esse sapientem et illae. se fatuas non putabant: tu lumen habere lampadam tuam iudicas et. illae profecto lumen praesumptione futuri luminis perdiderunt. nam et ideo scribuntur aptasse lampadas suas, quia inluminandas esse credebant. et quid plura? etiam emicuisse in eis quiddam luminis puto.
You presume that you are wise, and they did not think themselves foolish. You judge that your lamp has light, and they surely lost their light through presuming on light to come. For this is why they are written to have trimmed their lamps, because they believed they would give light. What more? I even think some light shone in them.
Matt 25:7 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The foolish virgins presumed their lamps would burn, and even had some light at first.
- Matt 25:7.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.33 (CSEL 8:255–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-33). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-33
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.34CSEL 8:256
cum enim ipsae, ut legimus, extinguendas fore lampadas suas reformidarint, habebant profecto aliquid quod uerebantur extingui. nec falsa opinio metuentium fuit: extinctae siquidem et obcaecatae sunt. nihil enim profuit illi integritati quod in ea lumen uirginitatis apparuit, quia substantia olei non suppeditante defecit. ex quo intellegimus id, quod parum est, quasi nihil esse: quia non satis prodest ilico extinguendum lumen accendi nec iuuat aliquid inlucescere, quod in ipso ortu habeat occasum, et ad hoc tantummodo initium habere uiuentis, ut possit initium habere morientis.
For since, as we read, they feared that their lamps were about to go out, they certainly had something they feared would be put out. Nor was the opinion of those who feared false: for they were put out and blinded. For it profited that integrity nothing that the light of virginity appeared in it, since it failed when the supply of oil was not furnished. From this we understand that what is little is as nothing, since it does little good for a light to be lit only to go out at once; it helps nothing for something to shine that sets at its very rising, and to have the beginning of a living thing only so as to have the beginning of a dying one.
Matt 25:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A little light that soon goes out is as nothing.
- Matt 25:8.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.34 (CSEL 8:256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-34). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-34
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
2.35CSEL 8:256
plena itaque lucerna opus est, ut lumen possit esse diuturnum. nam si in lychnis ipsis, quibus ad breue tempus utuntur homines, languescit lumen ac deficit, nisi oleum large fuerit infusum, quanta tibi, quaecumque illa es, quanta tibi olei abundantia opus est, ut lucerna tua luceat in aeternum? nemini itaque ad uitam perennem sat est, si putet se habere quod non habet; stultae enim praesumptiones perditionis causae sunt non salutis: nam qui se, inquit apostolus, existimat esse aliquid, cum nihil sit, se ipsum seducit.
So a full lamp is needed for the light to last. For if in the very lamps men use for a short time the light grows faint and fails unless oil has been poured in abundantly, how much, whoever you are, how great an abundance of oil do you need for your lamp to shine forever? So it is not enough for anyone for everlasting life to think he has what he does not have; for foolish presumptions are causes of perdition, not of salvation: “for if anyone thinks himself to be something,” says the apostle, “when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”
Gal 6:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Eternal light requires an abundance of oil, not presumption.
- Gal 6:3.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Eccl. 2.35 (CSEL 8:256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-35). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-ad-ecclesiam/2-35
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.