5b.

Augustine and the reasonability of

faith.

A short and elegant survey of the life and

works of Augustine (born November 13, 354
AD, died August 28, 430), is:
H. CHADWICK, Augustine of Hippo : a very short
introduction (Oxford, OUP, 2001). Augustine
was a North-African rhetorician, philosopher,
convert to Christianity, and eventual bishop of
Hippo – indeed, one of the most important
thinkers of the ‘ West’. Concerning his most
influential work, viz., the Confessiones, cf. G.
WILLS, Augustine's 'Confessions': A Biography
(Princeton, Princeton UP, 2011).
A reference site to Augustine of Hippo (and the
Order of Saint Augustine) is :
http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=223

We shall read the little treatise, On Faith of

Things Unseen (which was wrongly dismissed
by Erasmus as inauthentic). On the topics
discussed in it (e.g., belief, trust, testimony;
‘internal’ intentions vs. ‘external’ acts) one can
see J.H. NEWMAN, An Essay in Aid of a Grammar
of Assent (London, Burns, Oates & Co., 1874). 1
The Latin Text, as published by Jacques-Paul
Migne 2 in his Patrologia Latina is now available
online, at:

1 Cf. https://archive.org/details/essayinaidofgram01newm
A criticism of the distinction internal vs. external is to be found
in G.E.M. ANSCOMBE, Intention (Oxford, Blackwell, 1957).
2 Cf. R. H. BLOCH, God's Plagiarist: Being an Account of the

Fabulous Industry and Irregular Commerce of the Abbé Migne

(Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1994.

1
http://www.augustinus.it/latino/fede_nelle_c
ose/index.htm .
The English translation by C.L. Cornish (1887)
is available online as well, at:
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1305.htm

Hereafter, we follow the 1950 edition by Sister

Mary Frances McDonald:
Saint Augustine’s ‘De fide rerum quae non
videntur’: A Critical Text and Translation with
Introduction and Commentary, A
Dissertation by M.F. MCDONALD
(Washington, D.C., The Catholic University of
America Press, 1950), pp. 81-115.

2
AUGUSTINE, On trust in things unseen

1. (1) There are those who think: that the Christian religion
ought to be ridiculed rather than embraced for this reason,
that in it, not the thing which may be seen is set forth, but
faith in things which are not seen is imposed upon men.
Therefore, for the sake of refuting those who think that they
are prudent in opposing belief in what they cannot see,
although we have not the power to present to the eyes of men
the divine things which we believe, nevertheless, we shall
demonstrate to the minds of men that there are some things
also to be believed which are not seen.
And, first of all, those whom folly has made so servile to the
eyes of the body, that anything which they do not perceive
through those eyes they do not think they ought to believe,
must be reminded of how many things there are, things which
cannot be seen with bodily eyes, which they not only believe
but also actually know.
Although in our mind itself, whose nature is invisible, there
are innumerable things, to say nothing of other matters, there
is the faith itself by which we believe, or the thought process
by which we know that we either believe something or do not
believe it. Even though it is utterly beyond the range of these
eyes of ours, what is there so obvious and so clear, what is so
certain, to the interior vision of our minds? How is it,
therefore, that what we do not see with our bodily eyes must
not be believed, when beyond any doubt we perceive either
that we believe or do not believe in cases where we cannot
employ the eyes of the body?

2. “But,” they say, “we have no need to learn through the eyes
of the body those things which are in the mind, since we are
able to discern them by the mind itself. But, the things which
you bid us believe, you neither show us exteriorly, that we
may know them through our bodily eyes, nor are they within
the mind, that we may see them by thought .”
They say these things, just as if one were bid to believe, if he
could see presented before him in such an instance that which
is believed. Surely, therefore, we ought to believe also some
temporal things which we do not see, that we may deserve to
see also the eternal things which we believe.
But whoever you are who will not believe except what you see,
surely you see bodies which are before you with your bodily

3
eyes, and your present intentions, desires, and thoughts,
because they are in your own mind, you see with that mind;
tell me, please, with what eyes do you see your friend’s
disposition toward you?
For no disposition (i.e., voluntas, intention or will) can be seen
with bodily eyes.
Or, indeed, do you see this also in your mind, namely, what is
taking place in the mind of another? And if you do not see it,
how do you on your part requite his loving kindness, if what
you cannot see you do not believe?
Or perhaps you are going to say that you see the disposition
or intention of another through his deeds? Therefore, you will
see actions, and you will hear words, but, in the case of your
friend’s disposition toward you, you will believe what cannot
be seen or heard. For that disposition is not color or figure that
may be impressed upon the eyes; nor is it a sound or chant
that may strike upon the ears; nor is it even yours to be felt
through the impulse of your own heart. The conclusion is
clear: for fear that your life would be left barren of any
friendship, and that love bestowed upon you would fail of
payment in return. you do believe your friend’s disposition
though it is unseen, unheard and unperceived by you
internally.
Where, then, is that which you were saying, that you ought to
believe only what you see either exteriorly with the body or
interiorly with the mind? Behold, from your heart you believe
in a heart that is not yours, and you make use of faith where
you cannot direct the glance of either your body or your mind.
You discern your friend's countenance with your body, and
you discern your own faith by means of your mind. But your
friend’s faith is not appreciated by you if there is in you no
reciprocating faith by which you may believe that there is in
him what you do not see. However, it is possible for a man
even to deceive by feigning kindness and by cloaking malice;
or, even if he does not plan to do harm, yet in expecting some
advantage from you, he pretends, because he does not have
love.

3. But you say that you believe in a friend whose heart you
cannot see for this reason, that you have tested him in your
trials and have learned the nature of his feelings toward you
when you were in difficulties and he did not desert you. Now,
then, does it seem to you that we should desire misfortune to
befall us in order that the love of our friends toward us may
be tested? Nor will anyone be happy in his truest friends
unless he has been unhappy through adversity, for, plainly,
even after experiencing the love of another he would not enjoy
it, unless he should be tortured by his own grief and fear? And

4
how, as regards having true friends, can that happiness be
sought, and not rather feared, a happiness which only
unhappiness can prove?
Still it is true, that a friend can be had even in prosperity, but
he can be proved more certainly in adversity. (II) But surely
to prove him you would not expose yourself to personal
dangers unless you had faith in him. Hence, when you so
expose yourself in order to prove him, you believe before you
prove. And, indeed, since you wish to put faith in things not
seen, ought not we, seeing that we do put faith in the hearts
of friends both when they have not been fully proven, and
when we have proved them to be good by our misfortunes,
even then we believe their good will toward us rather than see
it? Unless it is that faith is so great that very appropriately we
judge that we see (with the eyes of faith itself, as it were) what
we believe, although we really ought to believe because we
cannot see.

4. If this faith in respect to human affairs is removed, who will

not mark what great disorder will result in them, and how
dreadful a confusion will follow? For who will be cherished by
anyone in mutual charity, since love itself is invisible, if what
I do not see I ought not to believe? Friendship, then, will
completely perish, since it is established solely on mutual love.
For will one be able to receive any love from another, if it is
believed that no love can be shown? Furthermore, if
friendship perishes, the bonds of neither marriage nor of
relationship nor of affinity will be held intact in the mind,
because in these also, obviously, there is loving agreement.
Then a husband and wife will not be able to love each other,
since they do not believe that they are loved because they
cannot see love itself. Nor will they desire to have children,
who likewise they do not believe will return their love. And if
children should be born and grow up, their very parents will
love their children less, for they will not see filial love in their
children’s hearts, because it is invisible, if it be through
reprehensible rashness rather than through praiseworthy
faith that unseen things are believed.
What shall I say now of the other relationships, of brothers,
sisters, sons-in-law, fathers-in-law, and of those joined by any
degree of relationship in blood or marriage, if charity is
uncertain and affection suspected, both on the part of parents
towards their clu1dren and on that of children towards their
parents, and if due kindness is not rendered because it is not
thought to be due, since the love in another which is not seen
is not believed to exist? Besides, if this kind of caution is not
shrewd, but rather odious, when we do not believe that we are
loved because we do not see the love of those who love us, and

5
when we do not on our part return love to those to whom we
do not think that we owe a mutual love, to such a degree will
human affairs be disturbed, if we do not believe what we do
not see, that they will be thrown into utter confusion if we
should have no faith in the dispositions or intentions of men,
which, of course, we cannot see.
I will not mention how many things those who rebuke us for
believing what we do not see believe on the basis of rumor or
history, or about places where they themselves have never
been. In such cases they do not say, “We do not believe
because we have not seen.” Because, if they say this, they are
compelled to admit that they are uncertain about their own
parents, since in this regard they have believed those who
report the fact but are unable to exhibit it since it is already
past, and although they retain no consciousness of that time
themselves, yet, without any hesitation, they give assent to
what others tell them about it.
But if this were not done, a faithless lack of reverence toward
parents would necessarily develop, while a credulous belief in
those things which we cannot see is, as they hold, being
avoided.
(III) Since, therefore, merely human society, through the
destruction of concord, will not remain stable, if we do not
believe what we do not see, how much more ought faith to be
placed in divine things, even if they are not seen! If this faith
is not exercised, it is not the friendship of certain men that is
violated, but the highest religious obligation itself, and the
deepest misery will necessarily follow

5. But, you may say, “Although I am not able to see the good
will of a friendly person towards me, yet I can detect it by
many indications; whereas you, on the contrary, can furnish
no proofs for the things not seen which you wish us to believe.”
Again, it is quite significant that you admit that through
certain clear indications some things, even some not seen,
ought to be believed. And so it is established now that not all
unseen things ought riot to be believed, and that opinion
stands rejected and refuted which holds that we ought not to
believe the things which we do not see.
But they are very much in error who think that we believe in
Christ without any proofs of Christ. For what proofs are
clearer than the things which we know were foretold and now
see fulfilled? Accordingly, those of you who think that there
are no evident signs why you ought to believe concerning
Christ, things that you have not seen, mark well the things
that you do see. The Church herself addresses you with the
voice of maternal affection:
“I, whose fruitfulness and expansion throughout the whole

6
world astonish you, was not always such as you now behold
me. But, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.3
When God blessed Abraham, He gave promise of me; for over
all nations in the blessing of Christ am I spread. The record of
succeeding generations testifies that Christ is the seed of
Abraham.
In brief: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob
begot twelve sons from whom the people of Israel took their
origin. Jacob himself, in fact, was called Israel. Among his
twelve sons he begot Juda, whence comes the name of the
Jews, and from these was born the Virgin Mary who brought
forth Christ. And, lo, in Christ, that is, in the seed of
Abraham, you see that all nations are blessed, and you
marvel; and still you fear to believe in Him in whom you ought
rather to fear not to believe.
“Or do you hesitate or refuse to believe that He was born of a
virgin, when you ought rather believe that thus was it fitting
for the God-Man to be born? For learn that this too was
foretold by the prophet: Behold a virgin shall conceive in the
womb and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name
Emmanuel, which is interpreted, ‘God with us’ [Matthew 1, 23].
Have no doubt, therefore, regarding a virgin becoming a
mother, if you want to believe in God being born, without
relinquishing His rule of the universe even when coming in the
flesh to men, and bringing fecundity to His mother, but
without destroying her maidenhood.
“His being born as Man was necessary then, for this, that,
since He was always God, by this birth He might become God
among us. Hence, again the prophet speaks concerning Him:
Thy throne, O God, is forever and .ever, the scepter of thy kingdom
is a scepter of uprightness, Thou hast looed justice and hated
iniquity: therefore, God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows. That anointing, whereby God
anointed God, that is, the Father anointed the Son, is a
spiritual anointing; whence we know that Christ was
named from that chrism, that is, from the anointing. I
am the Church who is spoken of to Him in the same Psalm
[Ps. 44] , and of whom that is foretold as if it had already come
to pass: The queen stood at thy right hand, in gilded clothing,
surrounded with variety, that is, in the mystery of wisdom,
decorated with a variety of tongues. There it is said to me:
Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy
people and thy father’s house, For the king has greatly desired thy
beauty, for he is the Lord, thy God. And the daughters of Tyre shall
adore him with gifts, yea, all the rich among the people shall

3 Passages which Augustine takes from the Bible are put in Italics

hereafter. In this case, Augustine is quoiting from Genesis 22, 18.

7
entreat thy countenance. All the glory of the king's daughter is
within, in golden borders, clothed roundabout with variety. After
her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbors shall be
brought to thee. They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing:
they shall be brought into the temple of the king. Sons are born
to thee who will serve as fathers for thee: thou shalt make them
princes over all the earth. They shall remember thy name
throughout all generations. Therefore shall the peoples praise thee
forever; yea, forever and ever.

6. “If you do not see this queen, now fruitful even with royal
offspring; if she to whom was said, Hearken, O daughter, and
see, does not see fulfilled what she heard was promised; if she
to whom was said, Forget thy people and thy father’s house, has
not put aside the old rites of the world; if she to whom was
said, The king has greatly desired thy beauty, for he is the Lord,
thy God, does not everywhere confess Christ the Lord; if she
does not behold the peoples of the Nations pour forth prayers
to Christ and offer gifts to Him of whom it was said to her,
Him shall the daughters of Tyre adore with gifts; if the pride also
of the wealthy be not put aside, and if they do not implore aid
from the Church to whom it was said, All the rich among the
peoples shall entreat thy countenance; if He does not recognize
the daughter of the king to whom she was bidden to say, Our
Father who art in heaven; and if she of whom it was said, All
the glory of the king’s daughter is within, is not in her saints
‘renewed in the interior man from day to day,’ although she
dulls the brilliant lights of those outside the fold by the
renown of her preachers in diversity of tongues, as it were, clad
in golden borders and variety of vesture; if, after her name is
proclaimed everywhere through her good odor, virgins also are
not led to be consecrated to Christ, of whom it is said and to
whom it is said, After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her
neighbors shall be brought to thee, and, lest they should seem to
be led as if captive into some prison, he says, They shall be
brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the
temple of the king; if she does not bring forth sons among whom
she may have fathers, as it were, whom she may establish
everywhere as her rulers, she to whom is said, Sons are born to
thee who will serve as fathers for thee; thou shalt make them
princes over all the earth, to whose prayers she may commend
herself as their mother, their superior and yet their subject,
whence is added, They shall remember thy name throughout all
generations; if such great multitudes are not gathered together
within her because of the preaching of these same fathers, in
which they have been unceasingly mindful of her name, and
if they do not confess without end and in meet accents their

8
grateful praise of her to whom it is said, Therefore shall people
praise thee forever: yea, for ever and ever; (IV) if, finally, these
things are not shown to be so clear that the eyes of enemies
can find no place toward which they may turn aside their gaze,
without being struck by the same clearness, so that they are
forced thereby to admit what is manifest, then, perhaps you
are right in saying that no proofs are pointed out to you upon
the evidence of which you should believe even those things
which you do not see.
But if these things which you see were prophesied long ago
and are now so manifestly fulfilled, if the truth reveals itself
both by utterances that have preceded and by
accomplishments that have followed, O remnant of infidelity,
that you may believe the things that you do not see, blush
with shame in the presence of those which you do see.

7. “Give heed unto me,'” the Church says to you, “give heed
unto me whom you see, even though you are unwilling to see.
For those who were believers at that time in the land of Juda
learned of the birth of Christ of a virgin, of His miracles, of His
passion. resurrection, and ascension. Being present there, they
learned all His divine words and deeds firsthand. These things
you did not see, and so you refuse to believe them. Therefore,
look at these things before you; gaze upon them intently;
consider these things which you behold, which are not
narrated to you as past, nor foretold to you as future, but
clearly demonstrated to you as present. Now does this seem
vain or trivial to you, or do you think that it is not a divine
miracle or merely one of little significance, that the whole
human race runs its course in the name of One Crucified?”
“You did not see what was foretold and fulfilled concerning
the human nativity of Christ, Behold a virgin shall conceive in
the womb and bear a son, but you do see what was foretold and
is fulfilled with regard to the word of God to Abraham, In thy
seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.”
“You did not see what was foretold concerning miracles of
Christ, Come and behold ye the works of the Lord, what wonders
he hath done upon the earth, but you do see that which was
foretold, The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the Gentiles
for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy
possession.”
“You did not see what was foretold and accomplished
concerning the passion of Christ: They have dug my hands and
my feet. They have numbered all my bones, and they have looked
and stared upon me. They parted my garments amongst them: and
upon my vesture they cast lots, but you do see what was
prophesied in the same Psalm [Ps. 21] and is now manifestly

9
fulfilled: All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be
converted to the Lord: and all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall
adore in his sight. For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall
have dominion over the nations.
“Nor did you see what was predicted and fulfilled concerning
the resurrection of Christ, the Psalm [Ps. 40] speaking first in
the name of Christ of His betrayer and persecutors: They went
out and spoke together to the same purpose: all my enemies
whispered together against me: they devised evils against me. They
deter· mined against me an unjust word. And here, to prove that
they availed nothing by killing Him, He added that He would
rise again, saying, Shall he that sleepeth rise again no more? And
when a little farther on through the mouth of the same
prophet He had foretold concerning His very betrayer, a
prophecy whose writing He also mentions in the Gospel, He
who ate my bread has pressed down his shoe upon me, that is, has
trampled upon me; and He immediately added, But thou, O
Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up again: and I will requite
them.
This has been fulfilled; Christ has slept and awakened again,
that is, He has risen. And He speaks by the same prophet in
another Psalm [Ps. 3], I have slept and have taken my rest: and
I have risen up because the Lord will protect me.
“Truly this you did not see, but you do see His Church, of
whom in a similar manner it was foretold and is fulfilled: O
Lord, my God, to thee the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the
earth, and shall say: Surely our fathers have worshipped deceitful
idols, and there is no profit in them. This, indeed, you do behold,
whether you will or no, even if you still think that there is or
has been some usefulness in idols; yet, you certainly hear the
innumerable peoples of the earth, having abandoned or
rejected or destroyed such vanities, when they say: Surely our
fathers have worshipped deceitful idols, and there is no profit in
them. If a man make gods unto himself, behold, they are not gods.
“But that you may not think that these Nations, however,
were destined to come to some one place appointed by God,
since it is said, To thee the Gentiles shall come from the ends of
the earth, understand, if you can, that to the God of the
Christians, who is the supreme and true God, the peoples of
the earth come, not by walking, but by believing. For this fact
has been foretold by another prophet in this manner: The Lord
shall be powerful against them, he said, and he has destroyed all
the gods of the earth; and they shall adore him every man from his
own place, all the islands of the Gentiles. One says, To thee the
Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth; the other, They
shall adore him every man from his own place. They will come
to Him, therefore, but without leaving their own places,
because those who believe in Him will find Him in their own

10
hearts.
“You did not see what was foretold and has been fulfilled
concerning the ascension of Christ, Be thou exalted, O God,
above the heavens, but you do see what immediately follows,
And thy glory over all the earth. All those things hitherto done
and accomplished concerning Christ you did not see, but you
cannot deny that you do see the present condition of His
Church. We shall show you that both were foretold and that
both have been fulfilled, although we cannot present them as
actually to be seen, because it is not within our power to recall
to sight what is past.”

8. (V) But just as the dispositions and intentions of our

friends which are not seen are believed through manifest
indications which are seen, so the Church, which is now seen,
is, in respect to all the things which are not seen but which are
pointed out in the same writings in which she herself is
foretold, both an index to the past and a harbinger of the
future.
For when past things which cannot now be seen, and future
things which cannot yet be seen, and present things which can
now be seen were being foretold, all were future, and none of
them could then be seen. When, therefore, the things foretold
began to happen, beginning with those which have already
taken place up to those which are now taking place, the things
foretold about Christ and the Church have come to pass
according to a preordained succession. To this succession
belong the day of judgment, the resurrection of the dead, the
eternal punishment of the wicked with the Devil, and the
eternal reward of the just with Christ, things foretold in a
similar manner which will likewise come to pass. Why, then,
should we not believe the first and last things which we do not
see, when we have, as witnesses for both, the things occupying
a middle position which we do see, and when in the Books of
the Prophets we hear read or read for ourselves that the first
and the middle and the last were foretold before they took
place?
Unless, perhaps, unbelievers think that those things were
fabricated by the Christians in order that the other things
which they were now believing might have a greater weight of
influence if they were considered to have been promised
before actually taking place.

9. (VI) And if they suspect this, let them search through the
books of our enemies, the Jews. There they may read either
the things which we have mentioned or many others in
addition – they are almost innumerable – which we have not
mentioned, foretold of the Christ in whom we believe and the

11
Church which we embrace, from the beginning of labored faith
even up to the everlasting happiness of the kingdom. But
when they read, let them not wonder that the Jews, to whom
these books belong, do not understand these matters because
of the darkness of their enmity. For it was proclaimed
beforehand by the very same prophets that they would not
understand, and it was necessary that this, as all other
prophesies, be fulfilled, and that, by a hidden but just
judgment of God, a due punishment be paid in accordance
with their deserts. For, indeed, although He whom they
crucified and to whom they gave gall and vinegar, said when
He was hanging on the cross, for the sake of those whom He
was to lead from the darkness to the light, Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do, yet, because of the rest whom
He was to abandon for quite hidden causes, He foretold very
long before through the prophet: And they gave me gall for my
food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table
become as a snare before them, and a recompense and a stumbling
block. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back
bend thou down always. And, therefore, furnishing most
conspicuous testimony to our cause, they roam about
everywhere with darkened eyes, so that through them these
things may be proved, wherein also they themselves are
condemned.
Therefore, it came to pass that the Jews were not so destroyed
that their sect itself became completely extinct, but it was
scattered throughout the earth, so that, carrying about with
it the prophecies of grace conferred upon us, it might help us
everywhere in convincing unbelievers more effectively. On
this very point of mine, listen to what was prophesied, Slay
them not, he said, lest at any time they forget thy law; scatter them
by thy power. They have not been slain, therefore, for this
reason, that they have not forgotten the things that were once
read and heard among them. For if they had forgotten entirely
the holy writings, even though they do not comprehend them,
they would have been slain with the Jewish. rite itself, because
when the Jews knew nothing of the Law and the Prophets
they could not serve a useful purpose. So they have not been
slain, but they have been dispersed, that, although they have
not through faith that whereby they might be saved, they
might still retain in memory that whereby we might be aided.
They are our contradictors in their words, but our supporters
in their books, our enemies in their hearts, and our witnesses
in their writings.

10. (VII) Even if no testimonies concerning Christ and the

Church had appeared in advance, should not the fact that a
divine brilliance has unexpectedly illuminated the human race

12
move anyone to believe, especially when, now that the false
gods have been abandoned, their images everywhere dashed
to pieces, their temples razed or converted to other uses, and
so many vain rites rooted out from the most stubborn human
customs, he sees the one true God called upon by all, and that
this was brought about by one Man, a Man who was by men
derided, seized, bound, scourged, buffeted, reproached,
crucified, and put to death? The ignorant, the inexperienced,
fishermen and publicans, whom He chose as His disciples,
through whom His teaching authority should be transmitted,
announced His resurrection and ascension into heaven, which
they declared that they had seen, and, filled with the Holy
Spirit, they proclaimed this Gospel in all tongues, even in
those which they had not learned. Of those who heard them,
some believed, but some, not believing, savagely opposed the
preachers, who were thus faithful even unto death for the sake
of truth, carrying on their combat, not by returning evil for
evil, but by bearing evil patiently, and conquering, not by
killing, but by dying.
Thus, therefore, the world has been changed to this religion;
thus have the hearts of mankind been converted, men
and women, young and old, learned and ignorant, wise and
simple, strong and weak, rich and poor, exalted and lowly; and
this Church, spread throughout all nations, is so flourishing
that now no perverse sect, no body of error, arises even against
the Catholic faith, which is found to be in opposition to
Christian truth to such a degree that it does not affect and
strive to glory in the name of Christ. Such error indeed would
not be permitted to spring up and flourish unless contradiction
itself made proof of sound religion.
Could the Crucified Himself have ever accomplished so much
unless God had taken on humanity, even if He had foretold no
such future things through His prophets? But, since, this
wonderful mystery of love has had its prophets and heralds
going before, through whose inspired words it was announced
and has come to pass exactly as it was foretold, who is so
foolish as to say that the Apostles lied about Christ when they
preached that He had come just as the prophets long before
had foretold that He would come, not failing either to foretell
future truths concerning the Apostles themselves, too?
For certainly it was of them that they had said, There are no
speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard. Their
sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the
ends of the world [Ps. 18]. And, surely, we see this fulfilled in
the world, although we have not yet seen Christ in the flesh.
Who, therefore, except one blind through a strange madness,
or hard and savage through a strange stubbornness, would
refuse to believe the sacred writings which have foretold the

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faith of the whole world?

11. (VIII) But, my dearly beloved, you who possess this faith,
or you who have but newly received it, let it be fostered and
increase within you. For just as the temporal things foretold
so long before have come to pass, so also will come to pass the
eternal things that have been promised. Let not the vain
pagans deceive you, nor the perfidious Jews, nor the deceitful
heretics, nor those evil Christians who are in the fold of the
Catholic Church herself, who do the greater harm inasmuch as
they are closer enemies. That the weak might not be disturbed
at this, divine prophecy has not been silent about this either,
for the spouse speaking to his beloved in the Canticle of
Canticles [Cant. 2, 2], that is, Christ the Lord speaking to His
Church, says: As a lily in the midst of thorns, so is my beloved in
the midst of the daughters. He did not say, ‘in the midst of
strange women,’ but ‘in the midst of daughters.’
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear [Matthew 13, 9]; and while
the net which has been cast into the sea and gathers together
all kinds of fishes, as the holy Gospel tells us, is being dragged
toward the shore, that is, toward the end of the world, let him
separate himself from the bad fishes, in heart, not in body, by
changing his evil ways, not by breaking the holy net, in order
that the good who now seem to be mixed with the wicked may
find not eternal punishment, but eternal life, when they come
to be divided on the shore. 4

4 Cf. Mt. 13, 47-50

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