Chapter II.
Second, concerning the justice of man toward his neighbor, the treatment is twofold.
For they said etc. Above he treated of the justice of man toward God: here principally of the justice of man toward his neighbor: and first, by drawing back from the likeness of the unjust, namely in this chapter: second, by urging toward the likeness of the just, namely in the third chapter.
First he draws back from the likeness of the unjust by noting three things. In the first part, first on the side of the unjust he sets forth the motivating cause of living unjustly: second he describes the unjust life, at: Come therefore etc.; third he shows that it is not to be imitated, at: These things they thought etc.
In the first part a threefold motivating cause is touched upon: the first on the part of condition; the second on the part of nature: Because we are born of nothing: the third on the part of name or reputation: And our name shall receive oblivion etc.
On the part of condition it is threefold: first, as regards the condition of the world, at: It is short and tedious etc.; second, as regards the condition of paradise: There is no refreshment etc.: third, as regards the condition of hell: And no one is known to have returned from the netherworld.
(Verse 1). For the ungodly said, thinking within themselves not rightly, etc. I have rightly said that "the ungodly by hands and words summoned" injustice and death. For the ungodly said, that is, those lacking piety toward God and neighbor: the Gloss: "It is the voice of the lost, who like brute animals love the things that are present and despise future things, nor do they hope for eternal rest after this life." Within themselves, because "they do not dare openly," according to that passage of the Psalm: "The fool has said in his heart: There is no God"; for if they were to speak openly, they would fear incurring punishment. Thinking not rightly, indeed wickedly. It is short, etc., on account of its brevity, according to that passage of Job chapter fourteen: "The days of man are short." And with weariness, on account of its painfulness: Job chapter fourteen: "Man born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries." The time of our life: the Gloss: "Of the present," by which, namely, they live for themselves, not for God; therefore he adds: our, against which Second Corinthians chapter five says: "That they who live may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again." And there is no refreshment at the end of man; the Gloss: "That is, rest after death." This, however, is false, because it is said in the Psalm in the person of the Saints: "We have passed through fire and water, and you have brought us out into refreshment"; likewise Jeremiah chapter six: "Ask about the ancient paths, which is the good way, and walk in it; and you shall find refreshment for your souls"; likewise Apocalypse chapter fourteen: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, etc., that they may rest from their labors." - And there is no one who is known to have returned from the netherworld. By this they intend to exclude the existence of the netherworld; but by the same reasoning they could say that death does not exist, because no dead person returns to life. Hence their reasoning does not hold, because from privation to possession there is no return according to nature; and therefore from the lower netherworld no one returns according to the common law; hence Job chapter seven: "He who descends to the netherworld shall not ascend." Some, however, are recorded to have returned by a privilege of grace, such as the youth whom John the Evangelist raised, and Trajan, whom Gregory raised. From the upper netherworld, however, Christ returned, and many others raised through him or through his disciples.
Because we are born from nothing, etc. Here is set forth the motivating cause on the part of nature: and first, from the consideration of human origin; second, from the consideration of composition, at: Because smoke: third, from the consideration of dissolution: Which being extinguished.
(Verse 2). I have rightly said that there will be neither refreshment nor punishment, because there is no subject capable of receiving such things; because we are born from nothing, by immediate origin as regards the soul and by mediate origin as regards the body; hence Second Maccabees chapter seven: "Understand that God made these things from nothing, and the race of men."
And after this, that is, after this life, we shall be as though we had never been, as if to say: we shall return to nothing, according to that saying of Damascene: "Everything that began from change is subject to change"; likewise Augustine: "It is natural that what is from nothing can be dissolved into nothing"; which is to be understood of the possibility of primary aptitude, not of necessity: because they are held by the hand of the Creator, lest they fall into nothing, as Gregory says.
For smoke, namely with respect to the intrinsic corporeal vital spirit: smoke indeed is a fiery vapor, and the vital spirit is a subtle fiery body; and breath, that is, wind, with respect to the exterior corporeal spirit, which is breathed: James 4: "What is your life? It is a vapor appearing for a little while"; Job 7: "My life is a wind"; Psalm: "My days have vanished like smoke".
In our nostrils, he says this specifically, giving the whole body to be understood from a part, on account of the easy departure, as if it were in the nostrils: likewise, on account of manifestation, because there, by breathing in and breathing out, it is more manifested. And the speech of a spark for moving our heart, "that is, the soul comparable to a spark," as the Gloss says; whence 2 Kings 14: "They seek to extinguish my spark." But the soul is called a word according to the reckoning of the unbelievers, because according to them it is nothing in reality, but only according to name or word: but it is compared to a spark, because according to some philosophers the soul was said to be of a fiery nature. Or better: the soul can be called a word from its effect, because namely it has the power of speaking: but it is compared to a spark on account of the subtlety of its nature and on account of the agility of its motion: whence below in chapter three: "And they shall run about like sparks among the reeds"; likewise, on account of the brevity of its duration, according to the unbelievers: whence the Gloss: "Comparable to a spark, which immediately becomes nothing." For moving our heart, "that is, for enlivening or animating," according to the Gloss: breathing is in our nostrils, that is, in our bodies, so ready to depart from the body, as breath from the nostril.
There follows: Because extinguished etc. I rightly said that the soul is compared to a spark, because it is quickly extinguished, because our body will be extinguished ash, namely after the extinguishing of the soul, which according to the unbelievers is extinguished in death. But the truer reading is: Which having been extinguished etc. Here he touches upon the motivating cause from the consideration of dissolution, and first, from the consideration of dissolution with respect to the body: second, with respect to the spirit, there: And the spirit shall be dispersed: third, with respect to life: And our life shall pass away etc.
(Vers. 3.). He says therefore: Which, namely the soul, being extinguished, according to them, our body will be ashes: Ecclesiasticus seventeen: "All men are earth and ashes"; likewise Genesis eighteen: "I will speak to my Lord, since I am dust and ashes." For through the consumption of the natural moisture by heat, the body is consumed and turned into ashes; and the spirit, the bodily vital spirit, will be dispersed, namely by returning to its component principles, like soft air, that is, easily and invisibly; air is called soft because it does not resist touch. Or: the spirit, the incorporeal spirit, that is the soul, will be dispersed, that is, it will vanish and be dissolved, according to them, according to that verse of the Psalm: "The spirit shall pass through in him and shall not subsist," etc. And our life will pass away, that is, through the annihilation of its principles it will totally cease. And like the trace of a cloud, which does not appear after the dissolution of the cloud: Job thirty: "Like a cloud my well-being has passed away," namely temporal well-being; likewise chapter seven: "As a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to the netherworld shall not ascend." And it will be dissolved like a mist, which namely is the remnant of a cloud; for a cloud consists of a grosser and lower vapor, but mist of a thinner one. Which, namely the mist, was put to flight by the rays of the sun, the heat of the surrounding air uniting and driving away the parts of the cold vapor, and weighed down by its heat, the same heat driving the cold of the cloud to the interior parts and thus condensing per accidens the parts of that matter and thus weighing them down and afterward dissolving them into water: Job thirty-seven: "Suddenly the air will be gathered into clouds, and the passing wind will drive them away."
And our name, etc. Here is shown the motive cause on the part of fame or name: first the abolition of fame is touched upon; second, the reason for the abolition, at: For the passing of a shadow.
(Vers. 4.). He says therefore: And our name, as if to say: not only will our essence or substance pass into nothing, but also our name, that is, fame as regards the person, will receive oblivion through time, that is, through the length of time: Proverbs ten: "The name of the wicked shall rot." And no one will have memory of our works, as regards life: Job eighteen: "Let his memory perish from the earth"; likewise in the Psalm: "Their memory has perished with a noise"; and on the contrary: "The just shall be in everlasting memory."
But it is objected that the works of many reprobates, namely Cain, Pharaoh, Nero, etc., are still remembered.
It must be said that this statement is the statement of the reprobates, and therefore it is not unfitting to say that it is false. Or it must be said that they are not remembered with a praiseworthy memory or one useful to them; and it is of this kind that he speaks here.
But it is objected that the celebrated and praiseworthy deeds of many reprobates are remembered.
To this it must be said that these were not theirs but God's in them, according to that text of Isaiah twenty-six: "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord."
(Verse 5). For remembering, however, two things are required, namely a strong impression and frequent repetition, and he excludes both when he adds: For shadows etc.; the passing of a shadow, on account of the swiftness of passing, 1 Chronicles twenty-nine: "Our days are like a shadow upon the earth, and there is no delay"; a shadow, I say, of passing is our time, that is, what we spend on doing our own will, not God's; but the Lord will at some time take that very time for himself: Psalm: "When I shall receive the time, I will judge justices." And there is no return of our end, on account of the impossibility of returning: Job ten: "Before I go and do not return" etc. Because it is sealed, namely our return, that is, closed under a seal: the Gloss: "Sealed, as if not appearing, because it does not exist." And no one returns to life, namely according to the common law; Psalm: "Their graves are their homes forever," namely according to their opinion, but according to truth all will at some time rise again through divine power: whence 1 Corinthians fifteen: "Indeed we shall all rise again" etc.
It should be noted, however, that the life and condition of the impious is said to be smoke on account of the blinding of the rational faculty, below in the same chapter: "Their malice has blinded them"; likewise Romans one: "Their foolish heart was darkened." It is likened to a breath on account of the restless disturbance of the irascible faculty, Isaiah fifty-seven: "The impious are like a raging sea"; to a spark, on account of the inflammation of the concupiscible faculty, Ecclesiasticus twenty-three: "A heated soul like a burning fire will not be quenched"; to air, on account of the emptiness of intention; to ashes, on account of the fruitlessness of works, below in chapter three: "Their works are useless"; to a thick cloud, on account of opposition to grace; to a light mist, on account of the elevation or elation of the mind; to a shadow, on account of outward dissimulation.
Come therefore etc. Here he describes the unjust life, and first is touched upon the concord of the unjust and their mutual exhortation to the dissolution of their own life; second, the oppression of the just, at: Let us oppress etc.
First, therefore, they exhort one another to devote themselves to dissolution: first, swiftly; second, abundantly, at: With costly wine etc.; third, openly, at: Let us crown; fourth, in common or universally, at: Let none of us; fifth, merrily, at: Let us leave everywhere.
(Vers. 6.). Come therefore, as if they were saying: since the present life passes away, and we do not hope for a future one; come therefore etc. Come, they say, because as Seneca says, "the possession of no thing is pleasant without a companion"; and therefore they exhort one another. For this is the invitatory at the matins of the devil. For it should be noted that just as the Church of the just has different invitatories and Venite according to different feasts, so too does the synagogue of sinners. One is of vanity: Genesis 11: "Come, and let us make for ourselves a city and a tower." Another, of iniquity: Genesis 37: "Come, and let us kill him and cast him into an old cistern." The third, of avarice and cupidity: Proverbs 1: "Come with us" etc. The fourth, of pleasure, which is treated here, namely: Come, and let us enjoy the good things that are etc. To these corresponds that saying of Matthew 25: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the fire" etc. Let us enjoy, I say, with loving affection, desiring nothing beyond; "for to enjoy is to cling with love to something for its own sake"; the good things that are, that is, present goods, and let us use, taking delight in the effect: Augustine: "To use is to take something into the power of the will"; Augustine: "The whole evil of man is to enjoy things that should be used and to use things that should be enjoyed." Let us use, I say, the creature, namely with contempt for the Creator: for otherwise it would not be a sin to use the creature. As in youth, that is, as long as we are young: because the senses of the young perceive pleasure more than those of the old: whence 2 Kings 19: "I am eighty years old today; are my senses still vigorous?" etc.; therefore Ecclesiastes 11: "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth." Swiftly: The Gloss: "Lest we and those things pass away before we enjoy them," according to that saying of Isaiah 22: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die."