Chapter VIII.
In order to understand more clearly where the divine likeness resides, the qualities of both the body and the soul are examined. It is shown that the whole person is designated by the term 'soul'. Those who deface the image of God with deceit, cruelty, and treachery are rebuked. Under these headings, an exhortation to vigilance against vices, and a comparison between the poor and the rich concludes.
44. But let us consider more closely what it means to be in the image of God. Is the flesh also in the image of God? Therefore, the earth is in God; because the flesh is earth. Therefore, God is corporeal. Therefore, he is weak like flesh, and subject to passions. And perhaps you might think that the head is in the likeness of God, because it stands out: or the eyes, because they see: or the ears, because they hear. If you consider height, do we seem tall, because we slightly rise above the earth with our heads? But why should we not be ashamed, since we are said to be like God, either because we are taller than snakes and other creeping things, or because we are higher than deer and sheep and wolves? And how much more superior are camels and elephants to us in that regard? Truly, it is remarkable to behold the elements of the world, to know what no one else can proclaim, but only your gaze can discern. However, this is only what we see; so that we may say that we are like God in this respect, who sees everything, observes everything, detects hidden emotions, and explores the secrets of the heart. Is there no shame in saying this, when I myself cannot see my whole self? I can see what is in front of me; I cannot see what is behind me. I do not know my own neck, I do not know the back of my head, I cannot see my own kidneys. Likewise, how much is it that we hear; when it is something that is a little bit away, I cannot see and hear? If there are walls in between, vision is hindered, hearing is hindered. Furthermore, our body remains stuck in one place, enclosed in a narrow space. All animals are broader than humans, all are also faster.
45. Therefore, it is not the flesh that can be in the image of God, but our soul, which is free and wanders with diverse thoughts and deliberations, and by considering, looks at everything. Behold now, we are in Italy, and we think about things that seem to pertain to the Eastern or Western parts, and we seem to associate with those who are in Persia, and we see those who live in Africa, if that land has received any known to us: we follow those who depart, we cling to those who travel, we connect with those who are absent, we speak to those who are separated, we also revive the conversation with the deceased, and we embrace and hold them as if they were alive, and we perform the duties of life and bring them usefulness. Therefore, that is the image of God which is not estimated by bodily appearance but by the strength of the mind: it sees those who are absent, it traverses foreign lands with its gaze, it runs through with its sight, it examines hidden things, in an instant it carries its senses through the boundaries of the whole world and the secrets of the universe: it is joined to God, it adheres to Christ, it descends into hell, and ascends, it freely moves about in heaven. Finally, hear him saying: But our conversation is in heaven (Phil. III, 20). Therefore, is there not an image of God, in which God is always? But listen, because there is an image of God. For the Apostle says: So all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
46. Therefore, since we know that the soul is in the image of God, let us now consider whether it can be said of the soul: Let us make man in our image. But listen to this, for the soul is called by the name of man. For it is written in Genesis: Now the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were nine souls. So all the souls that entered Egypt with Jacob were seventy-five (Gen. XLVI, 27). And much more appropriately, the soul or man is called in Latin, or in Greek ἄνθρωπος; one from humanity, the other having the power of sight, which undoubtedly pertains more to the soul than to the body. To what matter also that said right agrees, in the Lamentations of Jeremiah: The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him (Lam. 3:25). He spoke about men and thought that the soul should be added. For he seeks these things better if she is alone, drawing herself away from the filth of the body and from carnal desire. She herself is conformed to the image of God, similar to the Lord Jesus. But those who are conformed to the Son of God are holy. For we read as follows, with Paul speaking: And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose: those whom he foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:30). Therefore, I ask you to answer whether justification seems to be conferred to you according to the body or according to the soul. But you cannot doubt that the righteousness from which justification is derived is of the mind, not of the body.
You are painted, therefore, O man, and painted by your Lord God. You have a good artist and painter. Do not destroy the good painting, shining not with paint but with truth, expressed not with wax but with grace. Erase the painting, woman, if you smear your face with material whiteness, if you drench it with acquired blush. That painting is not of beauty but of vice; that painting is not of simplicity but of deceit; that painting is temporary, it is wiped away by rain or sweat; that painting deceives and tricks; so that you may not please him whom you desire to please, for he understands that what pleases you is not your own but someone else's; and you may displease your creator, who sees that his work has been destroyed. Tell me, if you bring another artisan above a certain craftsman, who covers the work of that superior with new works, does not the one who knows that his work has been adulterated become indignant? Do not take away the image of God and assume the image of a harlot, for it is written: 'Then shall I take away the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot?' (I Cor. VI, 15). But if anyone adulterates the work of God, he commits a grave crime. For it is a grave crime to think that a man can paint better than God. It is serious that God should say of you: I do not recognize my colors, I do not recognize my image, I do not recognize the face that I myself formed, I reject what is not mine. Seek the one who painted you: have fellowship with him, receive grace from him to whom you have given reward. What will you answer?
48. But if it is a serious matter to commit adultery against the work of God, what shall we say of those who kill the work of God, who shed human blood, who extort the life that God has given, who say: Let us destroy the Just One, for he is useless to us? Hence it is well said today: Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests where they may rest: but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (Matth. VIII, 20). Therefore, the fox hides in a den, the bird takes refuge in a nest: man does not hide in a den, but he is deceived. But the eye of man is a pit, the chest of man is a deep pit, where harmful and deceitful counsels, evil thoughts are. You walk, and another prepares a pit for you. You walk in the midst of traps, which your enemies have hidden for you on the way. Therefore, look around everything, so that you may escape like a deer from nets, and like a bird from a trap. A deer avoids nets with agility: a bird avoids traps, if it flies to higher places and overcomes earthly things. For in the higher realms, no one sets out nets, no one hides a snare. Therefore, whoever's conversation is in the heavens, such a person does not tend to come into the capture as prey. But why are you surprised if a human is deceived by a human, when the Son of Man, where He would rest, had nowhere? And indeed, He made such a human in whom He would recline His head. But afterwards, when in our heart He began not to find rest but a pit; after one began to weave snares for another, whom he should have helped, Christ turned His head away from us: but afterwards He still chose to offer it to death for us. Therefore, do not be deceitful, cruel, or merciless; so that Christ may dwell within you as the head.
Finally, when He had made the creatures of the sea, when He had made the different kinds of wild animals and beasts, He did not rest, but He rested after making man in His image. In whom shall I rest unless it be upon the humble and quiet, and on him who trembles at my words (Isaiah 66:2)? Therefore, be humble and quiet, so that God may find rest in your heart. He did not find rest in the animals, so much more will He not find rest in a bestial heart. For there are bestial souls, there are beasts in human form, of whom the Lord says: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravenous wolves (Matt. VII, 15). Therefore, God does not find rest in these, but finds rest in human conduct, which God made in his own image and likeness, when he created man who should not cover his head; for he is the image and glory of God. The soul of this man says: Behold, I have painted your walls, O Jerusalem (Isaiah 49:16). He did not say, I have painted your belly; he did not say, I have painted your private parts; but he said, I have painted your walls, asserting that he has given to man the defenses of walls so that if a vigilant watchman is at the gates, he can repel the danger of a siege. Therefore, he says: I have not given you pleasures, nor the allurements of desires, nor the incentives of luxury, nor the longing for another's beauty, but I have given you the foundations of walls, I have given you the lofty summits of towers, in which, once established, you may not fear being conquered by an enemy, nor be afraid of the formidable temptations of advancing legions. Finally, you have in Isaiah, where the righteous soul or the Church says, 'I am a fortified city, I am a besieged city' (Isaiah 27:3): fortified by Christ, besieged by the devil. But one should not fear the siege when Christ is the helper. For it is fortified by spiritual grace and besieged by worldly dangers. Hence, in the Song of Songs it is said: 'I am a wall, and my breasts are towers' (Song of Songs 8:10). The wall is the Church and its towers are the priests, who abound in both the word of nature and moral discipline.
50. Therefore, know yourself, beautiful soul; for you are the image of God. Know yourself, O man; for you are the glory of God. Hear how glorious [you are]. The prophet says, 'Your knowledge of me has become wondrous' (Psalm 138:6), that is, your majesty has become more wondrous in my work; in human counsel your wisdom is proclaimed. As I contemplate myself, whom you apprehend in the hidden and internal thoughts, I recognize the mysteries of your knowledge. Therefore recognize yourself, O man, how great you are, and take care of yourself, lest you become the prey of the hunting devil's snares; lest perhaps you fall into the jaws of that foul lion, who roars and prowls seeking whom he may devour. Take care of yourself, so that you may consider what enters into you, and what comes out of you. I am not speaking of food, which is consumed and expelled, but I speak of thoughts, I assert of speech. May not the desire for someone else's bed enter into you, may it not creep into your mind, may it not ravish your eyes the beauty of a passing woman, may the mind not enclose it, may your speech not weave the machines of temptations, may it not betray in deceit, may it not sprinkle your neighbor with reproach. God made you a hunter, not a conqueror, who said: Behold, I send many hunters (Jer. XVI, 16): hunters not of sin, but of absolution; hunters not of blame certainly, but of grace. Christ is the fisherman, to whom it is said: Henceforth you shall be a life-giving man (Luke V, 10). So send forth your nets, so send forth your eyes, so send forth your words: that you may not oppress anyone, but may raise up the struggling. Take heed to yourself, it says (Ecclus. XXVIII, 30). Stand firm, so that you do not fall; run in such a way that you may reach the prize; fight in such a way that you often conquer; for the crown is owed to the legitimate contest. You are a soldier, diligently scout the enemy; so that the nocturnal one does not creep upon you; you are an athlete, be closer to your opponent with your hands than with your face; so that he does not strike your eyes. Let your look be free, your gait sharp; so that you may pour out on the attacker, seize the one retreating, escape the wound with a watchful gaze, repel with a strong encounter. But if you are wounded, attend to yourself, run to the doctor, seek the remedy of repentance. Attend to yourself; for you have flesh, which quickly decays: let the good doctor of souls, the divine word, come to you, sprinkling the oracles of the Lord upon you like healing medicines. Attend to yourself, lest an evil hidden word be made in your heart: for it creeps like poison, and brings deadly contagion. Attend to yourself; lest you forget the God who made you, lest you take His name in vain.
51. Take heed to yourself, the law says, lest when you have eaten and are full, and have built houses and begun to live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and you have an abundance of gold and silver, and all that you have is increased, your heart becomes proud and you forget the Lord your God (Deut. VIII, 12, et seq.). For what do you have, O man, that you have not received? Do not all these things pass away like a shadow? Is not your house dust and ruin? Are all these things not false? Is not the treasure of this age vanity? Are you not yourself dust? Look into the tombs of men, and see what will remain of you except dust and bones, that is, of your body: look, I say, and tell me who is rich there, who is poor? Distinguish the needy from the powerful. We are all born naked, we all die naked. There is no distinction among the corpses of the dead; unless perhaps that the bodies of the wealthy, swollen by excess luxury, stench more heavily. Whom did you hear died in poverty and misery? Poverty is beneficial to him: it exercises his body, not crushes it. However, we have not heard of a righteous person forsaken, and his descendants seeking bread; because the one who labors well in his own land, abounds in food. Therefore, take heed, oh wealthy person; for you also carry flesh like the poor.
52. Attend to yourself, poor one; for your soul is precious: and if mortal flesh, a temporary soul: and if you lack money, grace does not lack: and if there is no spacious house, widespread possession, heaven is open, the earth is free. The elements have been given to all in common, the ornaments of the world are open equally to the rich and the poor. Are not the faces of the heavens, adorned with shining stars, more beautiful than the most precious gold-leaf ceilings of luxurious houses? Are the riches of the rich wider than the expanses of the earth? Whence it was said to those who join house to house and villa to villa: Will you alone dwell upon the earth (Isaiah 5:8)? You have a larger house: the poor, in which you cry out and are heard. O Israel, says the prophet, how great is the house of God and its vast place of possession! It is great and boundless (Baruch 3:24-25). The house of God is common to the rich and the poor, yet it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. But perhaps you are saddened that no gleaming light of golden lamps shines for you; but the moon shines for you with a much brighter light all around. Perhaps you complain about the winter, because no hypocausts are warmed by panting fires for you; but you have the warmth of the sun, which tempers the world for you and defends you from winter cold. Do you think those people are blessed who are crowded by a multitude of attending slaves? But those who seek their servants' feet are unable to use their own. Finally, a few are surpassed, many are carried. Unless perhaps you wonder about this, that they abound in gold, silver, money: how much you see them abound, how much they need you do not see. But you think it is precious to recline on ivory beds; and you do not consider that the earth is more precious, which for the poor spreads beds of grass, on which there is sweet rest, pleasant sleep, which he, laid on a golden bed, seeks throughout the whole sleepless night, and cannot find. How much more blessed does he judge himself while awake than while at rest! I pass over that which is far more excellent: because the just who has lacked here, will abound there; and he who has endured labor here, will have consolation there: but he who has received goods here, will not be able to hope for their reward there. Poverty indeed reserves its reward, wealth consumes it.
53. Therefore, pay attention to yourself, poor man, pay attention, wealthy man; because there are trials in both poverty and riches. And therefore the Wise Man says: Do not give me riches or poverty, give me only what is sufficient for me. Because riches, like feasts, stretch the stomach and the mind with worries and anxieties. And therefore he asks to be established with what is necessary and sufficient: Lest, he says, being filled, I become a liar and say: Who sees me? But if I become poor, I will commit theft and swear in the name of the Lord (Ibid.). Therefore, the temptations of the world must be avoided and guarded against; lest the poor despair and the wealthy become arrogant. For it is written: When you have driven out the nations and have taken possession of their land, do not say: My own power and the strength of my own hand have won this possession for me (Deut. VIII, 17). Thus is the one who ascribes his wealth to himself deemed deserving. And in this manner, he does not recognize his own error, but instead drags sin along with a long rope. For if one believes that the acquisition of money is either due to chance events or dishonest cunning, then there is no place for arrogance in those who have either no praise and empty labor, or for immodest desire ignorant of setting a limit to pleasure.