The Impious Man and the Sinner

Beatus vir, qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit. Sed in lege Domini fuit voluntas ejus, et in lege ejus meditabitur die ac nocte.  Quinque generum observantiam beato viro subesse Propheta commemorat: primam in impiorum consilio non eundi, alteram in peccatorum via non consistendi, tertiam in cathedra pestilentia non sedendi, tum deinde voluntatis in lege Domini ponendae, postremo in ea die noctuque meditandi. Ergo necesse est differre impium a peccatore, peccatorem a pestilente; maxime cum sit impiis consilium, peccatori via, cathedra pestilenti: dehinc cum in consilio impiorum eatur potius quam stetur, in via vero peccatoris stetur magis quam eatur. Quarum rerum causas ut intelligere possimus, discernendum est, quantum differat peccator ab impio: ut per id intelligi possit, cur peccatori via, et impio consilium deputetur: dehinc cur et in via standum, et in consilio eundum sit; cum humana consuetudo, et in consilio standum, et in via eundum esse decernat. Non omnis qui peccator est, et impius est; impius autem non potest non esse peccator. Et sumamus ex usu conscientiae communis exemplum: Patres suos amare possunt filii, licet ebriosi sint et lacivi et prodigi; et inter haec vitia carent impietate, qui non carent crimine. Impii vero, licet in praecipius sint continentiae frugalitatisque virtutibus, omne tamen quodcumque aliud extra impietatem erit crimen in contumelia parentis excedunt. Igitur secundum hoc propositum exemplum, impium discerni a peccatore non dubium est. Et impios quidem eos esse natura ipsa judicii communis ostendit, qui cognitionem Dei expetere fastidiunt, qui nullum esse mundi creatorem irreligiosa a opinione praesumunt, qui mundum in hunc habitum ornatumque fortuitis motibus coastitisse commemorant, qui ne quod judicium creatori suo ob vitam recte criminoseve gestam relinquant, volunt ex naturae necessitate se nasci, et ex eadem rursum necessitate dissolvi. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus Super Psalmos, Psalmus I

Blessed the man who has not walked in the counsel of the impious, nor stood in the way of sinners, and in the seat of pestilence he has not sat. But in the Law of the Lord is his will, and on His Law will he shall meditate day and night.  The Prophet recites five things to be observed by the blessed man. The first, not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly; the second, not to stand in the way of sinners; the third, not to sit in the seat of pestilence; then to set his will in the Law of the Lord; and lastly, to meditate on it day and night. Therefore it must be that there is a distinction between the impious man and the sinner and between the sinner and the pestilent; chiefly because the impious has counsel, the sinner a way, and the pestilent a seat; and further because into the counsel of the impious 'he goes' rather than 'stands'. That we be able to understand the causes of these things, one must discern how the sinner differs from the impious, so it may be understood why the sinner is assigned a way and the impious a counsel; and then why in the way there is 'standing' and in counsel there is 'walking', since men by custom associate standing with counsel and walking with a way. Not everyone, then, who is a sinner is impious, but the impious man cannot fail to be a sinner. Let us take an example from general experience: sons are able to love their fathers though the sons be drunks and lascivious and spendthrifts, and though they have all these vices, though they are not lacking in guilt, they may lack impiety. Impious men, though they may be famed for the virtues of continence and frugality, by despising the parent, exceed the guilt of the others. Therefore, as this example demonstrates, there is no doubt that the impious must be distinguished from the sinner. Indeed, common nature deems those impious who scorn to seek the knowledge of God, who in their irreligion adopt the opinion that there is no Creator of the world, who say that it was brought together into order and beauty by fortuitous movements, who, to deny their Creator judgment on a life lived rightly or in sin, wish it to be that they are born by a necessity of nature and again that by necessity they pass away. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 1