COLLATION II.
On the first precept of the Decalogue in particular.
Summary. - Introduction, 1. 2. - Repetition and confirmation of the second part of Collation I, 3. 4. - On the manner in which the ten precepts are handed down, 5.
On the first precept, Part 1. Literal explanation of the words of the first precept, by which three things are prohibited. The first precept is the foundation of the others, 6. -
The words of this precept, which contain three things, namely what must be prefaced for knowledge, what must be subjoined for observance, and what must be interposed for completeness, 7. 8. - First, two things must be prefaced, namely knowledge of the Creator and the Restorer, 9-13. - Second, two things must be subjoined which avail for observance, namely fear and love, 14-16. - Third, things to be placed in the middle which avail for the completeness of the commandments and which in the negative prohibit the worship of others and in the affirmative imply the worship of God: the individual words are explained by which a threefold idolatry is prohibited, 17-20. - Part II. A fuller explanation according to the Christian faith. Three other things are prohibited: pacts with demons, inventions of errors, perverse valuations of worldly natures, 21. - On pacts with demons, 22. 23. - On inventions of errors, 24-28. - On perverse valuations of worldly natures, 29.
1. Come up to me on the mountain, and I will give you two tablets of stone and the Law and the commandments, which I have written, that you may teach the children of Israel, Exodus, chapter twenty-four.
Depart from me, you wicked, and I will search the commandments of my God. It is read that blessed Gregory, who was Pope and Doctor of the Church, had the custom that whenever he went to the study of the divine law, he always spoke these words: Depart from me, etc. It was asked of him why he did this; and he replied to Peter, to whom he was accustomed to tell his secrets, that he had learned by experience that whenever he wished to meditate on the law of God, he felt demons always opposing him. But in other subtleties the demons do not provoke, because in them they see no harm to themselves: indeed, they expect advantage from them. But when mention is made of the teachings of truth, by which demons are put to flight, then the prince of darkness rushes forth armed, now through earthly occupations, now through phantastic illusions, and strives to call back the minds of men from the study of truth. It is true that these words, Depart from me, etc., were spoken by blessed Gregory, who had the power of restraining demons; but I am not one of those. Therefore at the beginning let us beseech the Lord that he may command the demons not to hinder us, but that he may give us serene minds to understand the words concerning his commandments.
2. Come up to me, etc. The Lord spoke that word to Moses, and Moses, having heard the word, ascended the mountain and received two tablets of stone and the Law and the commandments. In this it is signified that if we wish to arrive at an understanding of the commandments of God, we must ascend the mountain, that is, to the eminence of the mind, because according to the impression of the eternal light the law of nature has been given to us, and according to that light we have received the teachings of the divine law.
3. I mentioned to you on another occasion that it is certain that being of itself first falls upon the soul. Now being is twofold, namely created and uncreated, and accordingly justice is twofold: one, by which we are ordered to uncreated being, and another, by which we are ordered to created being. And according to this twofold justice a twofold tablet was given to Moses, namely the first and the second. In the first tablet are contained the commandments by which we are ordered to uncreated being, that is, God. In the second tablet are contained the commandments by which we are ordered to created being, namely our neighbor.
4. Now uncreated being is the cause of all things—the cause, I say, efficient, formal-exemplary, and final —and it has power, wisdom, and benevolence and produces all things into being. And these three are appropriated to the three persons in the Trinity: power or majesty is appropriated to the Father, wisdom or truth to the Son, benevolence or goodness to the Holy Spirit. The supreme majesty in the Father is to be humbly adored, the supreme truth in the Son is to be faithfully professed, and the divine goodness in the Holy Spirit is to be sincerely loved.
These things were said concerning the commandments of the first tablet in general; but because discourses concerning the commandments spoken in general are useless unless they are made in particular, therefore it is necessary to explain the commandments in particular.
It was said in general that there are ten commandments, of which the first three are contained in the first tablet and seven in the second.
5. Now I shall tell you a general teaching: the eternal wisdom of God, which wrote these tablets, handed them down in the briefest manner, the clearest manner, and the easiest manner in which it could. In the briefest manner indeed, lest our memory be overburdened; in the clearest manner, lest our intelligence be obscured; in the easiest manner, lest our will be drawn back or turned away. This is the reason why the commandments were given through words as brief, as clear, and as easy as possible, and through synecdochic expressions.
6. First, therefore, let us consider the first commandment. And here it should be noted that, just as we see in other things that the first work is the foundation and rule of all subsequent ones, so the first commandment is the foundation and rule of all the other commandments.
7. The first words concerning the commandments are these: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude. You shall not have strange gods before me. You shall not make a graven image nor any likeness of those things that are in the heavens, nor that are on the earth, nor of those that are in the waters. You shall not adore nor worship them. I am the Lord your God, strong and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands to those who love me.
8. For the full explanation of these words, three things concur: certain things pertain to the cognition of the commandment, and these must be set forth first; certain things pertain to the observance of the commandment, and these must be subjoined; certain things, however, pertain to the integrity of the commandment, and these must be interposed.
9. First I say that certain things pertain to the cognition of the commandment, and these must be set forth first, which are the two greatest foundations of faith. The first is the knowledge of the Creator, the second is the knowledge of the Restorer; and these are the two rays or two spiritual eyes directing us in the way of God's commandments. For a man must first open his eyes before he walks; similarly, a man must first know the commandments through faith before he carries them out through works.
Now, for knowing the Creator, he says: I am the Lord your God. In that he says Lord, he intimates the power of the Father. In that he says God, he intimates the wisdom of the Son. In that he says your, he intimates the benevolence or goodness of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in that he says I, he denotes the identity of essence, and in this he intimates God as triune and one, Creator of all things.
10. There follows: Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; here he intimates the gift of restoration through the incarnate Word. The Lord speaks to all to whom he gave the commandment, and he gave the commandments to all, although he first gave them to the children of Israel. From the house of servitude, that is, of sin; for all of us have been led out from the servitude of sin who have been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb.
11. The whole Trinity speaks these words. He says therefore I, namely, the one whom you ought to obey and whom you ought to love and adore. Or he says I, who made you in the being of nature and in the being of grace. We ought therefore also to say: Lord, you are the one whom we ought to adore, whom we ought to serve; you are the one who created me; you are the one who redeemed me. Psalm: Know that the Lord himself is God; there follows: He made us, and not we ourselves. Come, let us adore and fall down and weep before the Lord who made us, for he is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
These two things, therefore, namely the knowledge of the Creator and the Restorer, are set forth first, without which we can understand nothing, because these are the foundations of our faith.
12. But in order that we may understand these things, it is necessary to know certain supporting points. You know to whom the first noble knowledge of the commandments was given? Certainly to Moses, who wrote through the Holy Spirit. But when did he have this knowledge? Certainly, when the Lord appeared to him. And in what manner did He appear to him? Certainly, in the fire of the flame of the burning bush. And then Moses said: Who are you, Lord? And the Lord answered him: I am who I am. And then the Lord gave him two lights, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth. The bush was burning and was not consumed, in which the mystery of the incarnation is signified to us.
13. These are the two lights and the principal foundations of faith, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth, and together with this also the mystery of the incarnation of our Savior.
And when we make the cross on our forehead in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge the Trinity and together with this our Redeemer. By saying: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, man acknowledges the Trinity; by making the cross on the forehead, he acknowledges the Redeemer.
It is now clear that two things avail for the knowledge of the commandment, which must be set forth first; and these are the two foundations of faith, namely the knowledge of the Creator and of the Redeemer.