Chapter IV.
Abraham is defended from the crime of adultery upon receiving a son with a handmaid: namely, because he was not immune from human frailty, and at that time he had barely abandoned the superstitions of the Chaldeans: furthermore, because he had not sinned against a law that had not yet been enacted: afterwards, because he was motivated not by lust, but by love for his offspring; where many arguments against adultery are discussed: finally, it is defended that that very act was not a sin. Lastly, it is debated whether it was fitting for circumcision to be instituted and then revoked, containing a minimum of perfection within itself.
But perhaps someone may say: How do you propose that we imitate Abraham, who had a child with a maidservant? Or what does this mean, that such a great man was subject to this error, which we admire so much? And so, lest we appear to have deviated from a certain way of thinking, like most people think this place is shallow, it is dear to explain its reasoning. I do not deny that Abraham had a child with a maidservant; so that you may know that Abraham was not of a higher nature and substance, but one among the number and frailty of all men. Finally, he was also called from the region of the Chaldeans, whom we have heard to be more intent on empty superstitions than others; and therefore he found greater favor with God because he renounced previous things, stretched out towards earlier things, to follow God. He was set as an example for you to imitate, so that you also may realize that if you renounce sins, you can earn the mercy of the Lord.
23. However, it can be argued that he was moving some people because he was already speaking with God, and he went in to his servant girl, as it is written: 'For Sarah said to Abraham, "Behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my servant girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her" ' (Gen. XVI, 2; 32, q. 4, c. Dixit Sara). And so it happened. But let us consider, first, that Abraham lived before the law of Moses and before the Gospel: adultery had not yet been prohibited. The punishment of a crime is determined by the time of the law, which prevents the crime: and there is no condemnation before the law; but from the law. Therefore, Abraham did not commit a crime against the law, but anticipated the law. Although God praised marriage in paradise (Gen. I, 28), He did not condemn adultery. For He does not desire the death of the sinner, and therefore, promises a reward instead of punishment. He prefers to provoke the meek rather than to terrify the more savage. And if you have sinned when you were a pagan, you have an excuse: you came to the Church, you heard the law: You shall not commit adultery (Exod. XX, 14), now you have no excuse for your offense. However, since I am speaking to those who have given their name to the grace of baptism, if anyone has committed only this crime, let him know that forgiveness is to be given to him; but let him also know that he must abstain from it for the future, as one who has committed the crime. Finally, the Lord forgave the sins of the adulterous woman brought before Him by the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel, but He said: Go, and sin no more (John VIII, 11). When he says that to them, he says it to you. Did you commit adultery, you heathen? It is forgiven to you, it is remitted to you through baptism. Go, and after this, see that you do not sin again. You have one defense, that of Abraham.
The second reason is that, not inflamed by any wandering passion, not captivated by the beauty of a flirtatious form, she held conjugal relations with a slave in the place of a marriage bed, but sought offspring and the propagation of children out of a desire for procreation. Even after the flood, there was a scarcity of the human race: there was also a scarcity of religion, so that no one seemed to have failed to pay their debt to nature. Finally, Lot's saintly daughters had this reason for seeking offspring, so that the human race would not perish; and for the sake of a public duty, they concealed their private fault. It is not idle when a wife is persuaded to be the author of the act; in order that the husband may be excused, lest he be believed to have been carried away by wandering error: at the same time, that women may learn to love their husbands, and not be tormented by vain suspicion of adultery, or envy stepchildren, if they themselves have not borne children. It was pleasing to a good wife to excuse her own sterility in front of her husband; and in order that there may not be a reason for the husband not having children, she advises him to enter the maidservant. This was done by Leah, and afterward by Rachel. Learn, woman, to put aside jealousy, which often incites women to madness.
25. But I also warn you, men, especially those who strive for the grace of the Lord, not to mix with an adulterous body (for whoever is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her) and not to give this opportunity for divorce to women. Let no one deceive themselves about human laws. (33, q. 4, cap. Nemo) Every act of fornication is adultery, and what is not permissible for a woman is not permissible for a man. A husband owes the same chastity to his wife as a wife owes to her husband. Whatever is committed with a woman who is not a lawful wife is condemned as the crime of adultery. Therefore, you have been warned what you should beware of, that no one present themselves unworthy of the sacraments.
26. Also, take note of this, that such intemperance weakens the bond of matrimony, creates proud maidservants, irritable matrons, discordant spouses, shameless concubines, and disrespectful husbands. As soon as a maidservant conceives a child by her master, she despises her mistress as if she were more worthy because of her pregnancy. The mistress is hurt by this contempt and accuses her husband as the instigator of her mistreatment. In fact, Sara herself had given her husband the power over her maidservant, and later she says to him: I receive injury from you; I gave my maidservant into your bosom; but when she sees that she is pregnant, she says that she has been despised by her. Let God be the judge between me and you. (Gen. XVI, 5). The magnitude of the pain and the severity of the complaint of women is revealed in their reading. It shows an imprudent and light-minded husband who does not know how to be obedient, and it presents the causes of divorce. But Abraham, a moderate and wise man, said: 'Behold, your maid is in your hands, use her as you please' (Ibid., 6). He preferred to keep his wife rather than a servant. Yet this is not a complete remedy. The angry wife takes power and uses it with excessive vengeance permitted. But if Sarah did not show moderation, who will show it? And so it is written: And Sarah afflicted her, and she fled from her presence. (Ibid.) There are two things that the Scripture includes; it expresses the seriousness of the mistress's anger and the arrogance and pride of the servant. That Sarah afflicted her refers to the anger of the one afflicting: that Hagar fled, she could not bear the insult with submissive patience, which claimed the pinnacle of a master's dwelling: she was angered by the injustice, which had taken on insolence. Finally, when the angel was asked where he was going, he replied, 'I am fleeing from the face of my lady Sarah' (Genesis 16:8). And by this excessive swelling, that he first mentioned the name of Sarah and then referred to her as his lady. The insult was added to injure, this was added to express the person. The insolence of the maidservant did not please the angel; and therefore he said to her, 'Return to your mistress' (Genesis 16:9). Surely the angel would not have been unaware, if she had been overcome by the force of punishments, and he would have rebuked more the cruelty of the one who was beating than the departure of the one fleeing; but in order to show that she was fleeing as if proudly, so that she would not be proud of her mistress, he added, 'And humble yourself under her hand' (Genesis 16:9). Therefore, I hope that no one will encounter this vice. But if someone does encounter it, let them learn to humble their servant to their wife, so that they do not, while wanting to avenge their servant, exclude their wife.
Therefore, Abraham was one of the gentiles, and for the sake of posterity he entered into a relationship with a handmaid; because his wife, desiring to overshadow her own barrenness, had persuaded him to do so. And yet, it is not without purpose that God immediately, either to test his other works or to elicit repentance for this act, said to him: I am your God, walk before me and be blameless (Gen. XVII, 1), as if he had not fully walked before God, who, despairing of his wife's barrenness, sought posterity from a handmaid. He said this without complaint; this is, without blame; so that your wife does not complain about you, nor anyone reproach your actions. For a name is changed, with a letter added, so that he would be called Abraham instead of Abram, which means 'father of a multitude', as the Latin interpretation has it, or 'sublime father', 'chosen father'; or so that he would become a father and the father of a son. He was vain when he did not know God; he became chosen after he knew God. He was a father when he had offspring by a slave woman; but he was not the father of a son, because he did not have a son who was conceived in lawful marriage. Sarah gave birth, and he became the father of a son. He is commanded to be circumcised, to receive the inheritance of true seed. Is not clearly circumcision a commandment for chastity, so that one may cut off the desire of the flesh and restrain unruly desires of luxury and lasciviousness? Indeed, by the term circumcision, it is prescribed that the foul odor of all impurity be removed, and the incentive of lust be taken away. We have made use of two defenses.
28. The third authority that the Apostle Paul gives us is this, who says: Those things that Abraham did in taking a son from his servant girl were done as a symbol, and were spoken of using an allegory. An allegory is when one thing is done but another thing is symbolized; as the Apostle himself also teaches, saying: Do you wish to be under the law? Have you not read the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one from his servant girl and one from the free woman; but indeed, the one who was born from the servant girl was born according to the flesh, and the one from the free woman through the promise: which things are spoken of using allegory. For these are the two covenants: one indeed from Mount Sinai, generating into slavery, which is Hagar (Galatians 4:21 et seq.); showing two peoples to descend from the generation of Abraham: one, the Jews, who serve the law by syllables, as if generated into slavery by a maidservant; the other, the Christians, who have received the freedom of heavenly grace for forgiveness of sins. Therefore, what you think is sin, you are advised is a mystery, by which things that were to come in later times were revealed. Finally, he added: But you, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac (Galatians, IV, 28). Therefore, he says, do not seek the works of the law; for a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians II, 16). And so that you may know that he said this to Christians: And we, he says, believe in Christ Jesus; so that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law (Ibid.). Let us therefore understand that these things that happened in a figurative sense were not to their blame: but they will be to ours if we do not want to correct ourselves from them; rather, let us strive to not serve the snares of the law, when Abraham held the free woman, Sara, and cast out the slave woman.
29. In this place (Gen. XVII, 10) I know that many are moved: for if circumcision is good, it should have been observed until today: if useless, it should not have been commanded, especially by a divine oracle. But when the Apostle Paul said (Rom. IV, 11): Because Abraham received the sign of circumcision: surely the sign is not the thing itself, but a sign of another thing, that is, not the truth, but an indication of the truth. Finally, he himself explained and expressed it, saying (Ibid.): Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of righteousness and faith. Hence we rightly understand that bodily circumcision is a sign of spiritual circumcision. Therefore, the sign remained until the truth came. The Lord Jesus came, who said: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Because he did not circumcise a small part of the body as a sign, but he circumcised the whole person in truth, he removed the sign and brought in the truth. For after what is perfect came, what was only partial was abolished; and therefore, the circumcision of a part ceased, where the circumcision of the whole shone forth. For now, not in part, but the whole man is saved in the body, saved in the soul. For it is written: Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24). This is the perfection of circumcision; for through the offering of the body, the soul is redeemed, of which the Lord himself says: Whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it (Luke 9:24).
30. Now remains the portion of the question as to whether the part should have been sent before the coming perfection. This is an easy point to clarify if we consider to whom the part was entrusted and by whom the perfection was kept. For the part was entrusted to the people of Judaea, to them with hard necks, to them with weakness, to them who did not know their God. So if they could not bear the part, how could they have kept the perfection? If you want to educate a little boy in letters, you must start from the individual elements of the letters, from the individual strokes to syllables, and from syllables in order to words and sentences. No one can sail the sea fearlessly unless they have first sailed on rivers. Finally, if you want to entrust the boy or the more advanced person with anything, either to accomplish a journey or to lighten a burden, are the burdens to be equalized or the effort to be equalized? So, therefore, you should know that the perfection of circumcision was preserved in those who seemed suitable, having been instituted by Christ; so that the faithful would be tested, whose countless multitude would bear the cross; and would devote their own soul for Christ, and unbelievers could not resist, who believed that salvation was sought in the complete sacrifice of the entire body, and who considered the blood of their small circumcision to be salutary.
However, it should be considered that God called what was placed in the foreskin, and while it remained in the foreskin, the inheritance of the legitimate son was promised, so that you may believe that he is not just the father of the Jews, as they assert, but also the author of all believers through faith. Sarah, too, before the circumcision of the man, is blessed with the addition of one letter, with a considerable reward, so that she would have the leadership of virtue and grace; concerning whom, nations and kings of the gentiles are promised to come forth, so that she would be established as a type not of the Synagogue, but of the Church. But when he heard the promise from his son, Abraham laughed, which was not a sign of disbelief but of joy. In fact, he fell on his face, worshiped, believed, and added: 'If a son is born to me at the age of one hundred, and if Sarah at the age of ninety shall give birth.' And he said: 'May Ishmael live in Your sight' (Gen. XVII, 17 and 18). He is not incredulous in promises, nor greedy in desires. This means, I do not doubt that you will do it, to give a son to a man of a hundred years and to extend the limits of nature for nature itself. Blessed is the one to whom these things are given: but even here Ismael, whom I have from a native land, if he lives in your presence, grace abounds to me. Finally, the Lord both approved his disposition and did not reject his request, and confirmed his own promises.