Caring For Beasts And Men

Ὁ μὲν ἐλεήμων ἀνὴρ μακροθυμεῖ, ἐν παντί τε μεριμνῶντι ἔνεστι σοφία· ἐμπεσεῖται γὰρ μέριμνα ἀνδρὶ νοήμονι, φροντιστής τε ὢν ζωὴν ζητήσει· καὶ ὁ ζητῶν τὸν θεὸν εὑρήσει γνῶσιν μετὰ δικαιοσύνης, οἱ δὲ ὀρθῶς ζητήσαντες αὐτὸν εἰρήνην εὗρον. Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ καὶ Πυθαγόρας τὸ ἥμερον τὸ περὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα παρὰ τοῦ νόμου εἰληφέναι. Αὐτίκα τῶν γεννωμένων κατά τε τὰς ποίμνας κατά τε τὰ αἰπόλια καὶ βουκόλια τῆς παραχρῆμα ἀπολαύσεως, μηδὲ ἐπὶ προφάσει θυσιῶν λαμβάνοντας, ἀπέχεσθαι διηγόρευσεν, ἐκγόνων τε ἕνεκα καὶ μητέρων, εἰς ἡμερότητα τὸν ἄνθρωπον κάτωθεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἀνατρέφων. Χάρισαι γοῦν, φησί, τῇ μητρὶ τὸ ἔκγονον κἂν ἑπτὰ τὰς πρώτας ἡμέρας. Εἰ γὰρ μηδὲν ἀναιτίως γίνεται, γάλα δὲ ἐπομβρεῖται ταῖς τετοκυίαις εἰς διατροφὴν τῶν ἐκγόνων, ὁ ἀποσπῶν τῆς τοῦ γάλακτος οἰκονομίας τὸ τεχθὲν ἀτιμάζει τὴν φύσιν. Δυσωπείσθωσαν οὖν Ἕλληνες καὶ εἴ τις ἕτερός ἐστι τοῦ νόμου κατατρέχων, εἰ ὃ μὲν καὶ ἐπ´ ἀλόγων ζῴων χρηστεύεται, οἳ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκτιθέασιν ἔκγονα, καίτοι μακρόθεν καὶ προφητικῶς ἀνακόπτοντος αὐτῶν τὴν ἀγριότητα τοῦ νόμου διὰ τῆς προειρημένης ἐντολῆς. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν ἀλόγων τὰ ἔκγονα διαζεύγνυσθαι τῆς τεκούσης πρὸ τῆς γαλακτουχίας ἀπαγορεύει, πολὺ πλέον ἐπ´ ἀνθρώπων τὴν ὠμὴν καὶ ἀτιθάσευτον προθεραπεύει γνώμην, ἵν´ εἰ καὶ τῆς φύσεως, μαθήσεως γοῦν μὴ καταφρονῶσιν. Ἐρίφων μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀρνῶν ἐμφορεῖσθαι ἐπιτέτραπται, καί τις ἴσως ἀπολογία τῷ διαζεύξαντι τῆς τεκούσης τὸ ἔκγονον· ἡ δὲ τοῦ παιδίου ἔκθεσις τίνα τὴν αἰτίαν ἔχει; ἐχρῆν γὰρ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν γῆμαι τῷ μηδὲ παιδοποιεῖσθαι γλιχομένῳ ἢ δι´ ἡδονῆς ἀκρασίαν παιδοκτόνον γεγονέναι. Πάλιν αὖ ὁ χρηστὸς νόμος ἀπαγορεύει ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ συγκαταθύειν ἔκγονον καὶ μητέρα. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι, εἰ καί τις ἔγκυος καταδικασθείη τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, οὐ πρότερον ἐῶσιν ὑποσχεῖν τὴν τιμωρίαν πρὶν ἢ ἐκτεκεῖν. Ἄντικρυς γοῦν καὶ ὅσα τῶν ζῴων κυοφορεῖ, ὁ νόμος οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει ἄχρις ἂν ἀποτέκῃ σφαγιάζεσθαι, μακρόθεν ἐπισχὼν τὴν εὐχέρειαν τῶν εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἀδικούντων. Οὕτως ἄχρι καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ἀπέτεινεν, ἵνα ἐν τοῖς ἀνομογενέσιν ἀσκήσαντες πολλῇ τινι περιουσίᾳ φιλανθρωπίας ἐν τοῖς ὁμογενέσι χρησώμεθα. Οἳ δὲ καὶ περιλακτίζοντες τὰς γαστέρας πρὸ τῆς ἀποτέξεως ζῴων τινῶν, ἵνα δὴ γάλακτι ἀνακεκραμένην σάρκα θοινάζωνται, τάφον τῶν κυοφορουμένων τὴν εἰς γένεσιν κτισθεῖσαν μήτραν πεποιήκασι, διαρρήδην τοῦ νομοθέτου κελεύοντος, Ἀλλ´ οὐδὲ ἑψήσεις ἄρνα ἐν γάλακτι μητρὸς αὐτοῦ· μὴ γὰρ γινέσθω ἡ τοῦ ζῶντος τροφὴ ἥδυσμα τοῦ ἀναιρεθέντος ζῴου, φησίν ἡ σάρξ, μηδὲ τὸ τῆς ζωῆς αἴτιον συνεργὸν τῇ τοῦ σώματος καταναλώσει γινέσθω. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Β' Κεφ' ΙΗ' Source: Migne PG 8.1033a-35b

'The merciful man is long-suffering, in every one who has care there is wisdom. For to the thoughtful man care will come, and, given to thought, he will seek life, and he who seeks God shall find knowledge with righteousness, and they who have sought Him rightly have found peace.' 1 And it seems to me that Pythagoras took his gentleness for irrational creatures from the Law. For example, he prohibited the immediate use of the young of sheep and goats and cattle at the instant of their birth, not permitting it even for the sake of sacrifice, both on account of the offspring and the mothers, thus by use of irrational creatures educating man to gentleness for what is inferior. 'Allow, then,' he says, 'the offspring to be with the mother for the first seven days.' For if nothing happens without a cause, and at birth milk is for the sustenance of the offspring, he that removes that which has been born for the supply of milk, dishonours nature. Let the Greeks, then, be ashamed, and whoever else disputes the Law, since it is kind to irrational creatures. And moreover they expose even the offspring of men, though long ago and prophetically the Law thrust back their savagery in the above-mentioned commandment. For if it prohibits the offspring of irrational creatures to be taken from the mother before suckling, much more in the case of men does it set down beforehand a remedy for brutishness and savagery of disposition, so that even if they scorn nature, they might not do teaching. For they are permitted to make use of kids and lambs, and perhaps there might be some reason for removing the offspring from the mother, but what cause is there for the exposure of a child? For the man who dislikes siring children has no right to marry in the first place, he who then by eagerness for pleasure becomes a child killer. Again, the kindly law prohibits the slaying of the offspring and the mother together on the same day. Thence also the Romans, if some pregnant woman were condemned to death, do not allow her to suffer the punishment until she gives birth. The Law too expressly prohibits the killing of animals who are pregnant until they have given birth, at a remove restraining the inclination of man to do wrong to man. Thus it extended its clemency to irrational creatures, that from the exercise of kindness for creatures of different species, we might practice it with much greater abundance for those of the same species. Those also who kick the bellies of certain animals before birth that they might feast on flesh mixed with milk, make a grave of the womb that was created for the birth of the child, even though the Law expressly commands, 'But neither shall you boil a lamb in the milk of its mother.' 2 For it should not be that the nourishment of the living animal should become relish for that which has been deprived of life, and that which is the cause of life should not be an assistant in the consumption of the body. Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book 2, Chapter 18 1 Prov 9.11,14.23,17.12 2 Deut 14.21

Silence and Learning

'Tempus tacendi, et tempus loquendi.'  Pythagoricos reor, quorum disciplina est tacere per quinquennium, et postea eruditos loqui, hinc originem sui traxisse decreti. Discamus itaque et nos prius non loqui, ut postea ad loquendum praeceptoris ora reseremus. Sileamus certo tempore, et ad eloquia pendeamus. Nihil nobis videatur rectum esse, nisi quod discimus, ut post multum silentium, de discipulis efficiamur magistri. Nunc vero pro saeculorum quotidie in pejus labentium vitio, docemus in ecclesiis, quod nescimus. Et si compositione verborum, vel instinctu diaboli, qui fautor errorum est, plausus populi excitaverimus, contra conscientiam nostram scire nos arbitramur, de quo aliis potuimus persuadere. Omnes artes absque doctore non discimus: sola haec tam vilis et facilis est, ut non indigeat praeceptore. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten

'A time for silence and a time for speech,'1 The Pythagoreans, I think, of whom the discipline to be silent for fifteen years and afterwards to speak as one educated, from this origin drew their decrees. So let us learn not to speak, that we might open in speech the mouth of the teacher. Let us be silent for a certain time and let us depend on speech. Nothing seems right to us, unless by learning, after much silence, from pupils teachers are made. Now truly every day of this age we fall into a worse vice, teaching in the churches what we do not know. And if the arrangement of the words, or the instigation of the devil, who is the promoter of error, excites the applause of the people, we judge ourselves to know against our conscience that which we have been able to persuade others. We do not learn every art from a teacher, only those vile and easy have no need of a master.   Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1 Ec 3.7

Lament for Modern Students

Pythagoras quoque hanc in studiis suis consuetudinem servasse legitur, ut usque ad septenium, secundum numerum videlicet septem liberalium artium, nullus discipulorum suorum de his quae ab ipso dicebantur rationem poscere auderet, sed fidem dare verbis magistri quousque omnia audivisset, sicque iam per semetipsum rationem eorum posset invenire. has septem tanto studio quidam didicisse leguntur, ut plane omnes ita in memoria tenerent, ut, quascunque scripturas deinde ad manum sumpsissent, quascumque quaestiones solvendas aut comprobandas proposuissent, ex his regulas et rationes ad definiendum id de quo ambigeretur folia librorum revolvendo non quaererent, sed statim singula corde parata haberent. hinc profecto accidit tot eo tempore fuisse sapientes ut plura ipsi scriberent quam nos legere possimus. scholares vero nostri aut nolunt aut nesciunt modum congruum in discendo servare, et idcirco multos studentes, paucos sapientes invenimus. mihi vero videtur non minori cura providendum esse lectori, ne in studiis inutilibus operam suam expendat quam ne in bono et utili proposito tepidus remaneat. malum est bonum negligenter agere, peius est in vanum labores multos expendere.  Hugonis De Sancto Victore, Didascalicon, Lib III, Cap III

Pythagoras, too, is said to have maintained the following practice in his studies: for seven years, doubtless to accord to the number of the seven liberal arts, not one of his pupils dared demand the reason for the things he said, instead the student was to trust the words of the master until he had heard everything because only then would he himself be capable of discovering the reason for all those things. We read that certain men studied the seven arts with such industry that they held them all in their memory, so that whatever writings they next took up in their hands, or whatever questions were proposed for solution or proof, they did not seek to turn the pages of books to hunt for rules and reasons which might resolve a doubtful matter, but instantly they had it ready in their minds. Indeed in that time there were so many wise men that they wrote more than we are able to read. But our students are either averse to a fitting method of learning or ignorant of it and therefore we find there are many who study but few who are wise. Certainly it seems to me that the student should have no less care to avoid expending effort in useless studies than he should to guard against tepidity in good and useful ones. It is bad to seek the good negligently; it is worse to expend much effort on a vain thing. Hugh of St Victor, Didascalion, Book 3, Chapter 3

Spreading The Faith

Adde quod ante resurrectionem Christi, notus tantum in Judaea erat Deus: in Israel magnum nomen eius. Et ipsi qui noverant cum, tamen ad inferos trahebantur. Ubi tunc totius orbis homines, ab India usque ad Britanniam, a rigida Septentrionis plaga, usque ad fervores Atlantici Oceani, tam innumerabiles populi, et tantarum gentium multitudines? Quam variae linguis, habitu tam vestis, et armis. Piscium ritu ac locustarum et velut muscae et culices conterebantur: absque notitia etenim Creatoris sui, omnis homo pecus est, Nunc vero passionem Christi, et resurrectionem eius, cunctarem gentium et voces et litterae sonant. Taceo Hebraeis, Graecis, et Latinis, quas nationes fidei suae in Crucis titulo Dominus dedicavit. Immortalem animam et Pythagoras somniavit, Democritus non credidit, in consolationem damnationis suae Socrates disputavit in carcere, Indus, Persa, Gothus, Aegyptius philosophantur. Bessorum ferita, et pellitorum turba populorum, qui mortuorum quondam inferiis homines immolabant, stridorem summ in dulce Crucis fregerunt melos, et totius mundi una vox Christus est.  Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola LX, Ad Heliodorum Source: Migne PL 22 591-592

Moreover, before the resurrection of Christ only in Judah was God known, only in Israel was His name great. And even they who knew Him were dragged down to hell. Where in those days were the men of the globe from India to Britain, from the freezing blasts of the North to the warmth of the Atlantic ocean? Where were the innumerable peoples of the world, where those multitudes 'So unlike in tongue, in style of dress and arms' ?1 Like fishes and locusts, like flies and gnats they were crushed. For apart from knowledge of his Creator every man is but a beast. Now, in truth, the voices and letters of all nations proclaim the passion and the resurrection of Christ. I am silent about the Jews, the Greeks, and the Latins, peoples the Lord dedicated to His faith in the title written on the Cross. Pythagoras dreamed of the immortality of the soul, Democritus would not credit it, Socrates disputed over it in prison to console himself for his condemnation, but now the Indian, Persian, Goth and Egyptian philosophise. Even the wild Bessians and crowds of skinclad savages who once sacrificed men in honour of the dead have broken out of their howling into the sweet music of the Cross, and Christ is the one voice of all the world. St Jerome, from Letter 60, To Heliodorus 1 Virgil, Aeneid, 8.723