Righteousness And Anger

Quia nisi abundaverit justitia vestra plus quam Scribarum et Pharisaeorum et caetera. Ideo ponit justitiam Scribarum et Pharisaeorum, quia isti justiores in lege esse videbantur, quia non solum faciebant praecepta Moysi, sed etiam faciebant traditiones novas. Scribae erant cancellarii, qui legem exponebant, et novas traditiones scribebant. Dominus autem praecepit, quod abundantior sit apostolorum justitia, quam Pharisaeorum, quia Judaei sequebantur tantum initialia praecepta Moysi et imperfecta. Christus praecepit sequi illa, sed perfecta et consummata, et perfectionem et impletionem mandatorum illorum docet. Sed ut lex sua gravior sit, poenam addit, quia aliter non intrabitis in regnum coelorum. Audistis quod dictum est antiquis: Non occides... Ponit justitiam Pharisaeorum, et suam adimpletionem exponit. Cum enim lex prohibeat occidi manu, Christus occidere voluntate, jubens non irasci. Videamus ergo quam iram prohibeat. Primum, est suggestio in homine, et illa aut est exterior a diabolo, aut est interior ab ipsa carnis fragilitate, quae utraque non est peccatum, sed materia pugnandi et victoriae. Post suggestionem propassio est, id est subitus motus est, qui est aliqua culpa, sed venialis sine aliqua deliberatione boni et mali. Deinde sequitur passio, quando non solum habet motum, sed etiam deliberat quomodo faciat, et ista est mors in domo, haec passio duplex est. Alius enim in ea cogitatione delectatur, et bonum est ei ibi immorari, et tamen nollet perficere etsi haberet opportunitatem. Alius non solum delectatur, sed quaerit etiam opportunitatem, quae aliquando deficit, nec ut vellet contingit, haec ab actu occulto non differt. Prima passio dicitur delectatio. Secunda consensus, aliquando etiam nomina alternantur. Deinde sequitur actus, qui est mors in porta. Tandem consuetudo, quae est mors quatriduani. Cum ergo prohibeat iram, videtur contrarius esse ei, qui dicit: Irascimini et nolite peccare. Sed qui dicit, Irascimini, de passione dicit, quae auferri non potest, et non est criminalis, imo naturalis. Deus autem prohibet passionis iram, quae est ex deliberatione, quae est criminalis, quae est mors. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput V Source: Migne PL 162.1294b-1295a

Because unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and The Pharisees...1 He sets down the justice of the Scribes and Pharisees, because they seemed very just in the law, since that did not only perform the commands of Moses but they even made new traditions. The Scribes were the commentators who expounded the law and wrote down the new traditions. But the Lord commands the righteousness of the Apostles to be more abundant than the Pharisees because the Jews followed only the initial and imperfect commands of Moses. Christ commands them to be performed, but perfectly and consummately, and He teaches the perfection and fulfillment of the commands. But as His law is weightier, He adds the penalty, that otherwise you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard it said to the men of old, 'Do not kill'... He sets down the justice of the Pharisees and he explains its fulfillment. For when the law prohibits killing with the hand, Christ does the wish to kill, commanding us not to be angry. Let us see, then, what anger He prohibits. First there is the suggestion in a man, and that comes either from outside by the devil, or from within by the weakness of the flesh, and neither of these are sins, but the ground of violence and victory. After suggestion there is fore-passion, that is, an interior motion, which is a fault but venial without the deliberation of good and evil. Then follows passion, when there is not only motion but even thought on how to accomplish it, and this is death in the house, which is a twofold passion. One part is delight in the thought, and it is good to delay there and not to accomplish it even if one has the opportunity. Another part is not only that delight but the seeking of an opportunity, which sometimes fades, so that he does not wish it to happen, and this does not differ from a hidden act. The first part of the passion is named delight and the second consent, and sometimes other names are used. Finally comes the act, which is death in the gate. And habit is the fourfold death. But when He prohibits anger, it may seem contrary to Himself who said, 'Be angry and do not sin.' 2 But He who said, 'Be angry' speaks of the passion which is impossible to remove, and it is not criminal but natural. But God does prohibit the anger of passion which is from deliberation, which is criminal, and which is death. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.20 2 Ps 4.5