The Wisdom Of The Flesh And The Spirit

Qui enim secundum carnem sunt quae carnis sunt sapiunt qui vero secundum Spiritum quae sunt Spiritus sentiunt Sapientia odit malitiam. Quid est sapientia, nisi sapor boni? Quid malitia, nisi sapor mali? Quibus ergo sapit et dulce est in corde, sive bonum, sive malum, ipsi sunt qui sapiunt vel sentiunt quae sunt spiritus, vel quae sunt carnis: ipsi sunt et qui ambulant vel secundum spiritum, vel secundum carnem. Sequitur: Nam prudentia carnis mors est. Bene post saporem ponitur prudentia, quia sicut gustus est discernere cibos, quidquid sapiat, sic prudentiae est perpendere quid expediat. In quo si quis hoc tantum quaerit quod sapit carni, prudentia carnis est: quae mors animae est. Sicut enim anima vita est corporis, sic vita animae Deus est, et quidquid infra Deum appetit, mors illi est. Prudentia vero spiritus est quaerere vitam suam, quae Deus est: et pacem quae est in Deo, quae pax ei non potest, qui sapit quae carnis sunt: quia sicut dictum est sapientia odit malitiam: et sapientia carnis inimica est Deo, Legi enim Dei non est subjecta, nec enim potest. Quid est: neque enim potest? Non homo non caro, non spiritus, non ulla natura, non potest, sed prudentia carnis non potest. Vitium non potest, sed natura, quomodo si diceres: Claudicatio rectae ambulationi non est subjecta, nec enim potest. Pes potest, sed claudicatio non potest. Tolle claudicationem, et videbus rectam ambulationem. Quandiu claudicatio est, non potest, sic quandiu prudentia carnis est, non potest. Non sit prudentia carnis, et homo potest. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber II, Caput VIII Source: Migne PG 180.627d-628d

Those who are of the flesh know the things of the flesh but those of the spirit understand the things of the spirit. 1 Wisdom hates evil. What is wisdom unless the flavour of the good. What is wickedness but the flavour of evil? Therefore by the things it knows and are sweet to the heart, whether good or evil, there are those who know or know the things of the flesh and those who understand the things of the spirit, and there are those who walk according to the spirit and there are those who walk according to the flesh. It follows, 'For the wisdom of the flesh is death.' Rightly is wisdom placed after flavour, because as foodstuffs are distinguished by taste, whatever is known, it is of wisdom to reckon what is beneficial. In which if someone seeks only what he knows according to the flesh, it is the wisdom of the flesh, which is the death of the soul. For as the soul is the life of the body, so the life of the soul is God, and whatever is desired below God is its death. But the wisdom of the spirit is to seek its own life, which is God, and the peace which is in God, which peace is not possible for him who knows the things of the flesh, because as it was said, wisdom hates evil, and the wisdom of the flesh is the hatred of God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor is it able to be. What does it mean, that it is not possible? It is not man, nor flesh, nor the spirit, nor any nature, that is not able, but it is the wisdom of the flesh that is not able. Vice is not able, by its nature. As if you were to say, 'Lameness is not subject to correct walking, for it is not able.' The foot is able, but lameness is not able. Remove lameness, and you shall see correct walking. While there is lameness, it is not possible, and so while there is the wisdom of the flesh, it is not able. Let there be no wisdom of the flesh, and a man is able. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 5, Chapter 8 1 Rom 8.5

Raising The Dead

In repromissione etiam Dei non haesitavit diffidentia, sed confortatus est fide, dans gloriam Deo: plenissime sciens, quia quaecumque promisit, potens est et facere. Ideo et reputatum est illi ad justitiam. Non est autem scriptum tantum propter ipsum quia reputatum est illi ad justitiam: sed et propter nos, quibus reputabitur credentibus in eum, qui suscitavit Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum a mortuis, qui traditus est propter delicta nostra, et resurrexit propter justificationem nostram. Inquirendum sollicite est quid est quod Apostolus in hoc loco Deum nominans cui credimus et cui Abraham credidit, non dixit, credentibus in Deum excelsu, vel in Deum qui feit coelum et terram; sed tantum, qui suscitavit Dominum Jesum a mortuis. Nimirum quia multum magnificentius est in laudem Dei Dominum Jesum Christum suscitare a mortuis quam creare coelum et terram. Illud enim fuit facere quae non erant; hoc autem est reparare quae perierant. Illud fuit nova instituere; istud fuit perdita restituere. Cujus rei mysterium jam in fide Abrahae praecesserat, cum jussus filium immolare, credidit, sicut dicit Scriptura, quia et a mortuis potens est suscitare Deus. Propter hoc gaudens unicum offerebat, quia in eo non interitum posteritatis, sed reparationem mundi et innovationem totius creaturae cogitabat, quae per resurrectionem Domini futura erat. Hoc ergo modo competenter videbitur habita comparatio fidei Abrahae, et eorum qui credunt in Deum, qui suscitavit Dominum Jesum Christum; quia quod ille credidit futurum, nos credimus factum. Qui traditus est propter delicta nostra, et resurrexit propter justificationem nostram. Mors Christi et significat, et exigit mortificationem veteris hominis nostri, et resurrectionem ad justitiam. Propter quod implacabiliter exesum habere debet homo peccatum suum, propter quod scit traditum esse Dominum suum. Nemo ergo fidem quam habet in eum, arbitretur sibi reputandum ad justitiam, nisi depositio veteri homine cum actibus suis, et novo induto, conformem et comparticipem se fecerit mortis ejus et resurrectionis. Alioqui nulla conventio injustitae ad justitiam. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber II, Caput IV Source: Migne PG 180.588d-590a

Indeed he did not hesitate in distrust of the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, fully assured that whatever He has promised, He is able to perform. And therefore it was reputed to him as righteousness. And that was not written only for him, that it was reputed to him as righteousness, but also for us, for it shall be reputed to the believers of Him who raised up Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead, He who was given up for our sins and rose again for our justification. 1 One must enquire carefully why it is that in this place when the Apostle names God, whom we believe in and whom Abraham believed in, he does not say, 'to the believers in God most high,' or 'in God who made heaven and earth,' but only He who raised up the Lord Jesus from the dead. Certainly it is because it is more magnificent for the praise of God to raise up the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead than to create heaven and earth. The latter is to make what was not, the former to repair what has been destroyed. The latter was to establish something new, the former to restore what had been ruined. Already Abraham had preceded the mystery of this in faith, when he was commanded to sacrifice his son, and he believed, as Scripture says, 'that God can raise up the dead.' 2 Because of this, rejoicing, he offered up his only son, because in that was not the ruin of posterity but he thought of the repair the world and renewal of  all created things, which was through the resurrection of the Lord in the future. This therefore seems to have its fitting comparison with the faith of Abraham, and with those who believe in God, who raised up the Lord Jesus Christ, because Abraham believed for the future, and we believe it as something done. 'He who was delivered up for our sins and rose again for our justification.' The death of Christ even signifies and demands the mortification of our old man, and the resurrection to righteousness. Because of which a man should be implacable in scouring off his sin, since he knows that on account of them his Lord was handed over. No one, therefore, who has faith in Him, should judge himself to be reckoned as righteous unless having deposed of the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new man, he is conformed and made a fellow participant in His death and resurrection. There is no gathering of the unrighteous to righteousness. 3 William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 2, Chapter 4 1 Rom 4.20-25 2 Heb 11.19 3 Ephes 4.22, Phil 3.10, Ps 1.5

The Spirit And Sons

Quotquot enim spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei Plus est agi quem regi. Qui enim regitur aliquid agit: et ideo regitur, ut recte agat. Qui autem agitur agere ipse aliquid vix intelligitur. Et tamen tantum praestat voluntatibus nostris gratia Salvatoris, ut non dubite Apostolus dicere. Quotquot spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei. Aguntur quippe filii Dei, ut quod agendum est agant; et cum egerint, illi a quo aguntur, gratias againt, quia sicut agendum est illud agant, id est cum delectatione et dilectione justitiae, et suavitatem quam dedit Dominus, ut terra ejus dare fructum suum, ab eo se accepise guadeant. Nomen enim adjutoris praescribit agenti, quia et ipse aliquid agit. Filii ergo Dei sunt, quicunque aguntur spiritu, non littera, non lege praecipente, minante, promittente, sed spiritu excitante, illuminante, adjuvante. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber VIII, Caput XIV Source: Migne PG 180.631a-b

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, are sons of God. 1 It is better to be led than ruled. For he who is ruled does something and is ruled so that he might do it correctly. But he who is led does something he scarcely can grasp. But this can only be with the grace of the Saviour in our wills, so that the Apostle does not hesitate to say, 'As many as are led by the Spirit of God, are sons of God.' Certainly the sons of God are led so that they do what they should, and when they have done they give thanks to the one who led them, because as it should be done so they have done, that is, with delight and a love of righteousness, 'and the Lord gave such sweetness that His earth gave forth its fruits,' 2 from whom receiving it they rejoice. And He is named as a helper in the deed, because He himself acts. Therefore the sons of God are any of those who are led by the Spirit, who are not commanded by the letter and the law, nor threatened or given promises, but roused by the Spirit, and illuminated by Him and helped by Him. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 7, Chapter 14 1 Rom 8.14 2 Ps 84.13

Grace And Apostleship

Per quem accepimus gratiam et apostolatum... Per quem, sicut reconciliatorem pro peccais nostris, accepimus gratiam, id est ipsorum remissionem peccatorum, per quem, sicut per sapientiam in contemptum praesentium, sapit nobis gratia futurorum. Per quem, inquit, accepimus gratiam et apostolatum: gratiam ad laborum patientiam, apostolatem ad praedictionis auctoritatem, gratiam in persuadendo ea quae persuadenda sunt, apostolatu in coercendo eos qui coercendi sunt. Ad obediendum fidei in omnibus gentibus. Tantam etenim gratiam in hujusmodi apostoli adepti sunt, ut gentes quae erant alienae a testamento Dei and conversatione Israel, non solum in suscipiendo fidem praedictoribus crederent, sed etiam novum vitae modum et religiosae conversationis ordinem pro nominis Christi reverentia suscipere obedirent. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber I, Caput I Source: Migne PG 180.551c-d

Through whom we have received grace and apostleship... 1 'Through whom,' as reconciliation for our sins, 'we have received grace,' that is, for forgiveness of sins. And 'through whom,' as through the wisdom that is contempt of present things he knows the grace of future things for us. Thus 'through whom,' he says, 'we have received grace and apostleship,' grace for patience in toil, and apostleship for authority in preaching, and grace for persuading those things that must be persuaded, and apostleship for ordering those who need to be ordered. 'For the obedience of faith among all peoples.' So great is the grace that this Apostle has received that the peoples who were far estranged from the testament of God and the ways of Israel not only have believed in the taking up of the faith by preaching, but are obedient in the adoption of a new way of life and the rule of religious conduct out of reverence for the name of Christ. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 1, Chapter 1 1 Rom 1.5

The Trinity And Virtue

Perfectio namque hujus vitae non alia est quam per fidem, spem et charitatem, perfecte quae retro sunt oblivisci, et in ea extendi quae ante sunt. Nam et Apostolus hoc dicit: Quotquot, inquit, perfecti sumus, hoc sapiamus. Quicunque ergo vere quaerunt Deum Trinitatem, trium virtutum harum affectent in semetipsis habere trinitatem, et conformare se studeant ad earum disciplinam. Conscientia earum paradisus voluptatis est, pollens affluentia gratiarum, et castis sanctarum deliciis virtutum; ubi homo incola paradisi ipsius cum Deo conversatur; et saepe eum videt, semper ab eo videtur, saepe cum eo loquitur. Tres autem cardinales istae virtutes ubi sunt, ad aliquam similudinem Trinitatis Dei sic sibi invicem connexae sunt et conjunctae, ut sint singulae in omnibus, et omnes in singulis; ut quod, et quantum, et quomodo, quid credit; hoc etiam, et tantum, et eo modo speret et amet: sic etiam speret, quod credit et amat; et amet, quod credit et sperat. Fides enim nomen virtutis est, et magnae et eximiae virtutis. Sed fides quae spem et charitatem non habet, virtus est. Sic enim et daemones credunt, et homines, qui sicut daemones credunt, nisi quod pejores esse videntur ipsis daemonibus homines quidam, in eo quod homines nec timent, ubi daemones contremiscunt. Certamque esse fidem oportet, ut certa sit spes, certa charitatis. Sicut enim recte credi non potest sine spe, nec sperari nisi praecedente fide, sic nec alterius formae spes esse potest quam fides. Creditum quipper bonum suum spei format appetitum, cum credita bonitas crediti dat fiduciam sperandi. Ad similitudinem ergo summae Trinitatis sicut fides spem gignit, sic charitatis ab utroque, hoc est a fide et spe procedit, cum non potest non amari quod creditur et speratur; et eodem utique modo amari, quo creditur et speratur. Sicut enim ibi tres personae coaeternae sibi sunt et consubstantiales, ita et hic fides, spes, charitas, non tempore alia prior, alia posterior est, quantum ad virtutis substantiam quodammmodo consubstantiales licet videantur habere secundum formam differentis affectius, quasi differentias quasdam personales. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Speculum Fidei Source: Migne PG 180.367b-368a

The perfection of this life is nothing other than by faith, hope and charity, the things behind being completely forgotten in reaching for those things ahead. For as the Apostle says, 'However many of us are perfect, this we shall know. ' 1 Whoever, then, seeks the Divine Trinity desires to have in himself this trinity of virtues, and he is eager to conform himself to their discipline. The awareness of them is the paradise of joys, strong with the abundance of grace and with the chaste delights of the holy virtues, where man placed in paradise dwelt with God, and often he sees Him, and he is always seen by Him, and he often speaks to Him. Now as the three cardinal virtues have a certain similitude to the divine Trinity, so it is that they are in themselves connected and joined, each one being in all, and all in each, so that as much and how someone believes, with this and only with this, is the way he hopes and loves. For faith is the name of a virtue, and it is a great and wonderful virtue, but the faith which does not have hope and charity is no virtue. As demons believe, so even men who are like demons believe, unless they seem to be worse than demons and thus are men who have no fear, whereas demons tremble. 1 It is necessary that faith be certain, that hope be certain, and love be certain. For as one cannot believe rightly without hope, nor can one hope unless faith precedes, and so there is no other way for there to be hope but with faith. Certainly a believed good forms the appetite of hope, for the good that is believed gives confidence to hope in the believing. In the likeness, then, of the Holy Trinity faith begets hope, and love comes from both, that is, it proceeds from faith and hope, since it is impossible not to love what we believe in and hope for, whence in the same way one loves what is believed in and is hoped for. So as there are three coeternal and consubstantial persons, so it is with faith and hope and charity, one is not earlier or later in time, but as much as the substance of the virtue is consubstantial yet they have a difference of form, just as it is with the differences of the Divine persons. William of St Thierry, The Mirror of Faith 1 1 Cor 13.13, Phil 3.13-15 2 James 2.19

Faith And Sin

Omne enim quod non est ex fide peccatum est... Non enim omnis actus tantum, sed omnis infidelium vita peccatum est. Ubi enim deest agnitio incommutabilis veritatis, falsa virtus est, etiam in optimis moribus. Nam, sicut jam dictur est, et saepe dicendum est et firmiter credendum est, optima opera fiunt ab homine, fides autem fit in homine, sine qua nulla bona opera fiunt ab ullo homine, quia peccatum est quidquid ex fide non est. Peccat ergo, qui non cum fide manducat, semetipsum vero ille judicat, cujus exemplo infirmus peccat. In suo enim genere curandum est quod ad melius interum perduci non potest. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber VII, Caput XIV Source: Migne PG 180.686a

Everything that is not from faith is sin. 1 And not even every act but the whole life of the faithless is sin. Where there is the lack of the immutable truth, virtue is false, even in the best conduct. For as has been said, and as must often be said and firmly believed, the best works come from a man, but faith is made in a man, without which no good works come from any man, because whatever is not from faith is sin. Therefore he sins who does not eat with faith, however he judges himself, by whose example the weak man sins. For his care must be for his own kind which meanwhile cannot lead to what is better. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 7, Chapter 14 1 Rom 14.10

Calling On The Name

Omnis enim quicunque invocaverit nomen Domini, salvus erit. Nomen Domini invocat, qui servus Domini esse desiderat; desiderat esse servus ejus, quicunque intelligit nomen ejus. Nomen ejus intelligeunt, qui in semetipsis experiuntur dominatum ejus. Ipsi sunt qui cognoscunt in semetipsis gratiam Dei, et ingrati non sunt, et ideo invocantes nomen Domini salvi sunt. Sic ergo fides Jesu Christi Domini nobis salutem, et quanta nobis hic inchoatur in spe, et quanta dabitur in re. Quod autem dicit, salvus erit, utique sicut a febre, sicut a peste, quia non est sanis opus medicus, sed male habentibus. Si ergo omni invocanti salus promittitur, nec est distinctio Judaei et Graeci, omnibus invocandum est. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber VI, Caput X Source: Migne PG 180.655d-656a

For all who shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 1 He calls on the name of the Lord who desires to be a servant of the Lord. He desires to be His servant who understands His name. He understands His name who in Himself experiences His rule. These are the ones who know the grace of God in themselves, and they are not unthankful, and therefore calling on the name of the Lord they are saved. As therefore faith in Jesus Christ our Lord is our salvation, as much as it begins in hope for us, just as much it shall be given in truth. But because Paul says here, 'shall be saved' it is as from a fever or a plague, because there is no work for a physician with the healthy, but with those who are sick. 2 If, therefore, salvation is promised to all who call, nor is there any distinction between Jew and Greek, for all must call. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 6, Chapter 10 1 Rom 10.13 2 Mt 9.12, Mk 2.17, Lk 5.31

Freedom And Servitude

Cum enim inquit servi essetis peccati, liberi fuistis justitiae. Qualis, quaeso, potest servi addicti esse libertas, nisi quando eum peccare delectat? Liberaliter enim servit, qui sui domini voluntatem libenter facit, ac per hoc ad peccandum liber est, qui peccati servus est. Unde ad juste faciendum liber non erit: nisi a peccato liberatus, esse justitiae coeperit servus. Ipsa vero est vera libertatis, esse justitiae coeperit servus. Ipsa vero est vera libertas, habere recte facti laetitiam: simul et pia servitus, amplecti praecepti obedientiam. Sed ad bene faciendum ista libertas unde erit homini addito et vendito, nisi redimat eum, cujus illa vox est: Si vos Filius liberaverit, tunc vere liberi eritis. Liberi enim a justitia non sunt, nisi arbitrio libertatis; liberi autem a peccato non sunt, nisi gratia Salvatoris. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber III, Caput VI Source: Migne PG 180.610d-611a

For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.... 1 How is it possible, I ask, to be free when enslaved to sin, unless it is a man's delight to sin? He serves freely, who freely performs the will of his master, and because of this he is free for sin who is a slave of sin. Whence a man shall not be free to do what is right unless he has been freed from sin to become a servant of righteousness. This, however, is true freedom, to have joy in acting righteously, and at the same time that service is pious which has embraced the obedience of the commands. But how shall a man bound and sold have this freedom for acting well, unless He frees him whose voice says: 'If the Son has freed you, then truly you are free.' 2 Men are not free from righteousness unless by freedom of the will, and they are not free from sin unless by the grace of the Saviour. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Rom 6.20 2 Jn 8.36

Arms Of Righteousness

Sed exhibete vos Deo, tanquam ex mortuis viventes, et membra vestra arma justitiae Deo. Intuere per singula sapientiam Pauli. Ubi dicit arma non esse praebenda peccato vel iniquitati non nos, sed membra nostra ponit. Ubi vero suadet, ut nos Deo exhibeamus, non tam membra nostra quam nos ipsos exhiberi vult Deo, hoc est anima vel propositum cordis: ut primum nosmetipsos exhibuerimus, et erimus adhaerentes Deo, tunc demum etiam membra nostra efficiamus arma justitiae. Rursus si peccati concupiscentiam mortificemus in corpore nostro mortali, efficiemur tanquam ex mortuis viventes, mortui peccato, et viventes Deo; et membra nostra arma justitiae militantia ei, cui ea deservire justissimum est. Bene autem metaphoram superius propositam exequitur ut in regno peccati membra nostra arma nominaret iniquitatis, rursumque arma justitiae nominaret in regno Dei. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber III, Caput VI Source: Migne PG 180.608b-c

But exhibit yourselves to God as those living from the dead, and your members as the arms of righteousness for God. 1 Observe the wisdom of Paul in each thing. When he says our arms must not be offerred to sin or wickedness, it is not us but our members he specifies. But when he exhorts us to exhibit ourselves to God, it is not so much our members but ourselves he wishes to be exhibited to God, that is, the soul or the intent of the heart, so that first we exhibit ourselves, and we are those who adhere to God, and then at last we make our members the arms of righteousness. Again if we mortify the lust for sin in our mortal bodies, we are made as living men from the dead, those dead in sin, and we live to God, and our members are the arms of righteousness for Him, Him whom it is most right to serve with all diligence. Well employed is the metaphor above, so that he might name our members as the arms of wickedness in the kingdom of sin, and again that he might name them the arms of righteousness in the kingdom of God. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Rom 6.13

Partaking Of The Resurrection

Qui traditus est propter peccata nostra, et surrexit propter justificationem nostram. Mors Christi et significat, et exigit mortificationem veteris hominis nostri, et resurrectionem ad justitiam. Propter quod implacabiliter exosum habere debet homo peccatum suum, propter quod scit traditum esse Dominum suum. Nemo ergo fidem quam habet in eum, arbitretur sibi reputandam ad justitiam, nisi depostio veteri homine cum actibus suis, et novo induto, conformem et comparticipem se fecerit mortis ejus et resurrectionis. Alioqui nulla conventio injustitiae ad justitiam. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber II, Caput IV Source: Migne PG 180.590a

He who given over for our sins and rose for our justification. 1 The death of Christ both signifies and demands the mortification of our old man and the resurrection to righteousness. Because of which a man should have implacable hatred for his own sin, because of which he knows that the Lord was given over. Therefore no one has faith in Him that shall be reckoned to him as righteousness, 2 unless he casts off the old man with his deeds and puts on the new, and makes himself conform and be a participant in His death and resurrection. 3 Certainly there is no agreement between unrighteousness and righteousness. 4 William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 2, Chapter 4 1 Rom 4.25 2 Gen 15.6, Rom 4.22 3 Ephes 4.22-24 4 2 Cor 6.14

Dying And Living

Itaque, fratres mei, et vos mortificati estis legi per corpus Christi. Id est umbrae per rem, litterae per spiritum, legi per gratiam, ita jam non sitis uxor vel sponsa ejus qui mortuus est, sed ejus qui ex mortuis resurrexit, ut jam non fructificetis in operibus mortuis mortuo; sed in fructibus vitae Deo. Nam et lex tale quid adumbrabat, praecipiens ut mulier primo viro mortuo, de quo semen non susceperit transeat, in torum ejus, qui frater fuerit defuncti, et suscitet semen fratri suo, quod ille suscitate non potuit. Frater enim videtur litterae fecundior spiritualis intellectus. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber IV, Cap VII Source: Migne PG 180.614a

Therefore, my brothers, even you are dead to the Law through the body of Christ. 1 That is, to the shadow by the thing, to the letter by the spirit, to the Law by grace. Thus now you are not a wife or a bride of him who is dead, but of him who rose from the dead, so that now you do not put forth your fruit in works of death for death, but in fruits of life for God. For such was the Law that foreshadowed, commanding that a woman whose first man had died, whose seed she did not receive, should pass into the bed of the brother of the man who had died, that she receive the brother’s seed, which the former was not able to give. And the brother appears as the spiritual understanding, more fertile than the letter. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 4 Chapter 7 1 Rom 7.4

A Different Birth

In Isaac vocabitur tibi semen ... Promissionis enim verbum hoc est: secundum hoc tempus veniam: er erit Sarae filius. Non, ergo, inquit, per ordinem nativitatis carnalis Isaac nascitur; quippe cum jam Abraham emortui esset corporis, et mortua vulva Sarae, sed per virtutem promittentis. Merito ergo non carnis, sed Dei filius dicitur qui ex adventu et sermone Dei nascitur. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber V, Caput IX Source: Migne PG 180.646a

Through Isaac your seed shall be known ... For this was the word of His promise: at this time I shall come and Sarah shall have a son. 1 Thus He says that it is not according to the carnal order of birth that Isaac shall be born, since Abraham was already barren in his body and Sarah was barren in her womb, but through the power of the promise. Rightly then he is not called a son of the flesh but of God, he who is born from the coming and the word of God. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 5, Chapter 9 1 Rom 9.7-9, Gen 18.10

Dissension And Difficulties

Rogo vos, fratres, ut observestis eos qui dissentiones et offendicula, praeter doctrinam, quam vos didicistis, faciunt; et declincate ab eis. Manifestum est ex offendiculis fieri dissensiones, ex dissensionibus divisiones, ex quibus haereses fiunt et schismata. Si autem praecipit Apostolus declinandum ab eis qui offendicula faciunt, quanto magis qui dissensionibus Eccleisam dividunt. Hujusmodi enim Christo Domino non serviunt, sed suo ventri... Non curantes cujus cor possint exinanire, dum suum ventrem possint implere. Videtur hic tangere aliquas haeresum pestes jam in Ecclesia pullulantes, per dulces, sicut ipse dicit, semones et benedictiones innocentium corda seducentes, ponentes secundum prophetam, tenebras lucem et lucem tenebras, amarum dulce, et dulce amarum; ad dulce placitum loquentes, vitiis adulantes; et in his omnibus, nonnisi quae ventris sunt, quaerentes. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber VII, Caput XVI Source: Migne PG 180.691d-692a

I beseech you, brothers, that you watch out for those who create dissensions and difficulties on account of the teaching which you were taught. Avoid them. 1 It is manifest that from difficulties comes dissent, and from dissent division, from which heresies and schisms arise. If the Apostle commands that we must withdraw from those who create difficulties, so much more from those who divide the Church with dissension. For these sort do not serve the Lord Christ but their own bellies...2 They who by lack of care make the heart empty while they fill their bellies. This seems to refer to some heretical pests polluting the Church, who with sweet words and blessings, as he then says, seduce the innocent of heart, and as the prophet says, place darkness for light and light for darkness, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, 3 speaking sweetly to please, praising vice, and in all these things, seeking nothing else but what is for the belly. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 7, Chapter 16 1 Rom 16.17 2 Rom 16.18 3 Isaiah 5.20

Infirmity And Righteousness

Humanum dico propter infirmitatem vestram. Prudens verbi dispensator in prima eos forma doctrinae videns profecisse, humana sicut hominibus censet esse committenda, cum divina mallet, si supra hominem aliquantulum eos profecisse adverteret. Humanum, inquit, quod potestis portatre, dico. Quando exhibuistis membra vestra iniquitati ad flagita perpetranda, timor vos ducebat ad peccatura, an suavitas peccati? Respondebitis, suavitas. Ad peccatum ergo suavitas ducit; ad justitiam vero timor impingit? Hoc inhumanum est. Potius humanum est, ut sicut hoc, sic et illud. Sicut in vobis fuit haectenus libido voluptasque peccati; sic amodo delectatio sit, charitasque justitiae. Et haec quidem nondum videtur perfecta, sed quodammodo adulta justitia. Plus quippe servitutis debetur justitiae quam peccato solent homines exhibere. Nam poena corporis etsi non a voluntate, tamen revocat ab opere peccati; justitia vero sic amanda est, ut ejus operibus etiam poena corporis cohibere non debeat. Sicut ergo ille est iniquissimus, quem nec poenae corporales deterrent ab immundi operibus sordidae voluptatis; ita illo justissimus, qui nec poenarum corporalium terrore revocatur a sanctis operibus luminosae charitatis. Sed humana tibi dico, o homo: Ama justitiam, sicut amasti iniquitatem. In iniquitate secutus es voluptatem; pro justitia tolera persecutionem. Ventum est ad aspera, horrenda, truculenta, minantia; calca, frange et transi. O amare, o ire, o sibi perire, O ad Deum pervenire. Qui amat animam suam perdet eam, et qui perdiderit animam suam propter me, in vitam aeternam inveniet eam. Sic amandus est amator justitiae: sic amandus est amator invisibilis pulchritudinis. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber IV, Caput VI Source: Migne PG 180.610b-d

I speak in human terms on account of your infirmity... 1 The prudent dispensor of words seeing that they had advanced in the first manner of teaching, judges that human things must be committed to men, when he would prefer Divine things, if he had reckoned them to have advanced a little beyond the man. Human things, he says, which you are able to bear, I speak. When you exhibited your members to iniquity for the commission of crimes, did fear lead you to sin, or was it sweetness? You will answer, sweetness. Therefore sweetness leads to sin, fear drives to righteousness? This is inhuman. Rather it is human that they be reversed. As in you there was this desire and pleasure of sin, so may there be a delight in charity and righteousness. And yet this does not yet seem to be a perfect but merely a developed righteousness. Certainly it should be that men are more accustomed to exhibit the service of righteousness than sin. For the punishment of the body, even if it is not a matter of choice, yet withdraws one from the works of sin, righteousness, however, must be loved so much that even the punishment of the body does not restrain one from its works. So he is most iniquitous whom the punishments of the body do not deter from the filth of foul deeds, as he is most righteous who the terror of corporeal punishment does not call back from the holy work of illustrious charity. But I speak human things to you, O man. Love righteousness, as you have loved iniquity. In iniquity you followed pleasure; for righteousness endure persecution. When it comes to bitterness, to terror, hostility, threats, tread it under foot, crush it, and pass on. O to love, O to go on, O to lose oneself, O to come to God. He who loves his own soul shall lose it, and he who loses his own soul for me, he shall find it in eternal life. 2 So loveable is the lover of righteousness, so loveable is the the lover of beauty unseen. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 4 Chapter 6 1 Rom 6.19 2 Mt 10.39, Jn 12.25

The Place Of Speaking

Et erit: in loco, ubi dictum est eis: Non plebs mea vos: ibi vocabuntur filii Dei vivi. Quis iste locus est? Nunquid Judaea? Numquid Roma? Absit! Judaea dignior, Roma sublimior locus est, ubi Deum loqui decet, vel possibile est. Locus enim hic mens hominis est, sensus rationis, principale cordis. Ibi agente Deo peccatori populo damnabilis dicit conscientia: Non plebs mea vos, quibus vero charitatis diffunditur in cordibus suis, per Spiritum Sanctum qui datus est eis, testimonium perhibet ipse Spiritus, quod sunt filii Dei. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber V, Caput IX Source: Migne PG 180.651a-b

But it shall be in the place where they were told: You are not my people, they shall be called the sons of the living God. 1 What is this place? Is it Judea? Is it Rome? Let it not be that it is Judea that  is more worthy, Rome more noble a place for God to speak, or that it is possible. For this place is the soul of a man, his rational mind, the depth of his heart. There by God's work a damned conscience speaks to a sinful people: 'You are not my people', and yet also by which love is diffused in the heart, by the Holy Spirit which is given to them, the same Spirit who gives witness that they are sons of God. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 5, Chapter 9 1 Rom 9.26, Hosea 2.24

The Flesh And The Spirit

Vos autem in carne non estis, sed in spiritu; si tamen spiritus Dei habitat in vobis. Si secundum interiorem hominem condelectamini legi Dei. Hoc enim est, si spiritus Dei habitat in vobis. Nam si de vestro spiritu praesumitis, adhuc in carne estis. Sic enim non estis in carne, si in spiritu Dei sitis. Nam si recedit spiritus Dei, pondere suo spiritus hominis revolvitur in carnem; redit ad facta carnalia, redit ad concupiscentias carnales, et fiunt hominis illius novissima pejora prioribus. Sic ego habete liberum arbitrium, ut imploretis auxilium. Non estis in carne. Et hoc ex viribus vestris? Absit! Unde ergo? Si tamen spiritus Dei habitat in vobis. Si quis autem spiritum Christi non habet, hic non est ejus. Non ergo se jactet, non se extendat, non sibi arroget virtutem propriam egena et vitiata natura, quia si quis spiritum Christi non habet, hic non est ejus. Ipse est spiritus Dei, qui spiritus Christi; ipse Patris, qui Filii. Sed ecce adjuvante ipsius misericordia spiritum Christi habemus, et ipsa delectatione justitiae, et integra fide et catholica, spiritum Dei nobis inesse cognoscimus. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber V, Caput VIII Source: Migne PG 180.629b-c

For you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. 1 If according to the interior man you delight in the law of God. That is, if the spirit of God dwells in you. For if you presume concerning your spirit, you are yet in the flesh. You are not in the flesh if you are in the spirit of God. For if the spirit of God is withdrawn, by the weight of your spirit of man you tumble back into the flesh, you return to carnal deeds, you return to carnal desires, and what the last man does is worse than the first. 2 So I have a free will that I might implore aid. 'You are not in the flesh.' And is this from your own power? Let is not be! From where, then? 'If indeed you have the spirit of God dwelling in you.' For if someone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not Christ's. Let him therefore not boast of himself, nor enlarge himself, nor arrogate to himself his own virtue in the poverty and ruin of his nature, because if someone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not His. The spirit of God is the spirit of Christ, He is of the Father who is of the Son. But, behold, with the aid of His mercy we have the spirit of Christ, and by the love of righteousness and by a secure and catholic faith we know the spirit of God is in us. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 5, Chapter 8 1 Rom 8.9 2 Mt 12.45, Lk 11.26

The Law And Sin

Occasione autem accepta, peccatum per mandatum operatum est in me omnem concupiscentiam. Erat enim et ante peccatum concupiscentia, sed non omnis erat. Fluvius per legem frenatus est, non siccatus. Quae te ducebat obicibus nullis, obruit te, obicibus ruptis. Minor erat, quando tuam movebat libidinem; omnis est, quando transcendit legem. Vis nosse quam magnus sit? Attende quid rupit. Praeceptum Dei dicentis, Non concupisces. Sine lege enim peccatum mortuum erat, id est latebat, non apparebat, omnino tanquam sepultum erat in quibusdam ignorantiae suae tenebris. Ego autem vivebam sine lege aliquando, id est nulla ex peccato morte terrebar, quia non apparebat, cum lex non esset. Vivebam, id est vivere mihi videbat. Sed cum venisset mandatum, peccatum revixit. Eminuit, apparuit; non tamen vixit, sed revixit. Vixerat enim aliquando in paradiso, quando contra datum praeceptum, satis apparebat admissum. Cum autem a nascentibus trahitur, tanquam mortuum sit, latet, donec repugnans justitiae malum ejus prohibitione sentiatur. Cum enim aliud jubetur atque probatur, aliud delectat atque dominatur; peccatum quodammodo in notitia nati homnis revixit, quod in notitia primi facti hominis aliquando vixerat. Revixit, hoc est sentiri coepit: coepit rebellare, coepit apparere. Ego autem mortuus sum, id est praevaricator factus sum, vel quia mortuum me cognovi, vel quia reatus praevaricationis certum mortis supplicium comminavatur: quae ignorabam, cum concupiscentias meas sequerer sine cognitione, quia sine cohibitione. Et inventum est mihi mandatum quod erat ad vitam, si obedieretur, esse ad mortem, dum fit contra mandatum; et non solus peccatum fit sicut prius, sed etiam sciente et praevaricante peccatur. Bene autem mandatum est ad vitam, non concupiscere. Sola enim vera vita est non concupiscere. O vita dulcis et dulcior quam voluptas concupiscentiae. Felix anima, quae hujusmodi delectationibus oblectatur, ubi turpitudine nulla inquinetur, et veritatis serenitate purgetur, scilicet quando delectat lex Dei, et sic delectat, ut omnes lascivae delectationes vincantur. Hoc autem non fit statim cum venit homo ad gratiam, sed concupiscentia tanto fit in proficiente lentior, quanto justitiae fit proficiendo propinquior. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber IV, Caput VII Source: Migne PG 180.615c-616b

Taking the opportunity, sin through the commandment worked in me all covetousness... 1 There was desire before sin, but it was not everything. The flow was bridled by the Law, not dried up, that which had carried you off without any check, rushing over you, bursting through all obstacles. It was little once when it stimulated your lust, it is everything when it passed over to the Law. You wish to know how it becomes great? Attend to how it burst forth. The law of the Lord said, 'You shall not covert.' 2 Without the law sin was dead, that is, it was hidden, it did not appear, indeed it was as if it were buried in a tomb in the darkness of ignorance 'But I was living for a time without the Law.' 3 That is, I was not distressed by mortal sin, because it did not appear when there was no Law. 'I was living,' that is, it seemed to me that I was living. But when the commandment came, sin revived. It became manifest, it appeared, but it did not live, it revived. For it lived once in paradise, when against the commandment given, it appeared overtly by offence. When it is acquired from birth, as death is, it is hidden, until by the opposition of the prohibition of justice the evil is known. For when there is something which is commanded and approved and another thing which desires and dictates, sin, which is as born by knowledge, is revived in a man, because in the knowledge of the first made man it once lived. It revived, that is, it began to be known, it began to revolt, it began to appear. 'And I died,' 3 that is, I became a sinner, or because I knew my death, or because the guilt of the sinner threatened the sure punishments of death, which I had been ignorant of, when I followed my desires without sense, without restraint. 'And there was found in me a commandment to life, ' if he had obeyed it, 'which was to death,' 4 while he acted in opposition to the commandment. And he did not only sin as he had done at first, but now he even sinned with knowledge of trespass. Good indeed is the commandment to life, that one not covert. The only true life is not to covert. O sweet life, even sweeter than the pleasure of desire. Happy soul, which takes joy when it is not defiled by any lust and it is purged for the serenity of truth, that is, what delights the law of God, delights it, so that it it may conquer every delight of lust. But this does not happen instantly to a man, but as much as he has been tardy to advance in lust, so he is nearer to advancing in righteousness. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 4 Chapter 7 1 Rom 7.8 2 Exod 20.17 3 Rom 7.9 4 Rom 7.10

Preaching And Salvation

Sed quomodo invocabunt in quem non crediderunt? De gentibus hic dicere videtur Doctor gentium: repellens eos qui putabant genti tantum Judaeorum, non etiam gentibus Evangelium praedicandum. Quod volens ostendere, non ad Judaeos tantum, sed et ad gentes pertinere, proposuit quod de propheta praemissum: Omnis quicunque invocaverit nomen Domini, salvus erit. Quomodo, inquit, invocabunt in quem non crediderunt? Aut quomodo credent ei quem non audierunt? Quomodo vero praedicabunt, nisi mittantur? Sed missi sunt et praedicabunt, sicut scriptum est: Quam speciosi pedes evangelizantium bona. Neque enim quia Deus dat incrementum, ideo non est plantandum atque rigandum; hoc autem tramite reditur ad gratiam. Nisi enim gratia provideat, praedicatores vero faciant credentes, non erunt qui salvi fiant invocantes, Ideo speciosi pedes evangelizantium pacem, evangelizantium bona; pacem qua percepta remissione peccatorum Deo reconciliamur; bona, quae filiis gratiae promittuntur vel speciosi pedes, speciosa nobis vestigia relinquentes, de cultu animi, de amore Dei, de contemput saeculo. Sed missi sunt evangelizantes, pacui vero inventi sunt obedientes. Unde sub verbis prophetae vox sequitur conquerentium dicens: Domine, quis credidit auditui nostro? Quae enim audivimus a te, annuntiavimus eis; sed pauci sunt qui obediant nobis. In hoc procedit omnis verborum horum prolixitas, quia prosequitur Apostolus tristitiam suam magnam et dolorem continuum cordis sui de gentis suae obcaecatione, quam dissimulare non potest, agens pro illis, in quantum veritas et justitia Dei conatibus ejus invenitur non obsistere; cui et ipse resistere non potest, resistente sibi obduratione pertinacis malitiae. Unde et Deo conjunctus condemnat quidem caecam in illis multitudinem obsurdatorum, sed in remedium doloris, sanctam ex eis electionis amplectitur raritatem. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber VI, Caput X Source: Migne PG 180.656a-d

But how shall they call on Him in whom they do not believe? 1 The teacher of the nations speaks here about the Gentiles, refuting those who think that the Gospel should be preached to the Jews alone and not to others. Which wishing to show that it is a matter not only of the Jews but the Gentiles, he sets down what the Prophet foretold: 'All who shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved.' 2 'How,' he says, 'will they call on Him who they do not believe? Or how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How shall they preach unless they are sent?' But they have been sent and they have preached, so it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet preaching good news.' 3 For it is not that because God gives growth, there must not be planting, nor watering, for this is the way of grace. But unless He provides grace, though preachers make believers, they shall not be those who are saved calling on Him. Therefore beautiful are the feet preaching peace, and preaching good things, that peace which is commanded for the forgiveness of sinners that we be reconciled to God; good things, which are promised to the sons of grace, who with beautiful feet leave a fair path for us concerning the cultivation of the soul and the love of God and contempt for the world. But they have been sent preaching and yet few are found obedient. Whence with the words of the Prophet follows speaking complaint: 'O Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' 4 For what we have heard from you we have declared to them, but few are obedient to us. He forestalls any prolixity of their words concerning this, because the Apostle follows it up with his own grave grief and sorrow which is always in his heart concerning the blindness of his own people, which he is not able to conceal, striving for them inasmuch as his efforts are not found to impede the truth and justice of God, Him whom he does not resist, for obdurate resistance is in persistance in evil. Whence even joined to God He condemns the blindness in that multitude of obstinate ones, but as a remedy for sorrow he embraces the rarity of the holy chosen from them. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 6, Chapter 10 1 Rom 10.14 2 Joel 2.32 3 Isaiah 52.7 4 Rom 10.16, Isaiah 53.1

Planted Together In Death

Si enim complantati facti sumus similitudini mortis ejus, simul et resurrectionis erimus. Omnia haec ad illam respiciunt quaestionem, ne videatur locum peccandi dedisse, in eo quod dixit. Ubi abundavit peccatum, superabundavit gratia. Ideo in Christi morte nos dicit baptizatos, et commortuos, et consepultos, et complantatos, addens insuper spem simul resurrectionis. Mors enim Christi in Ecclesia lignum vitae est plantatum in medio paradisi. Cui complantatur, qui ei commoritur, ut mortificando membra sua quae sunt super terram, mittat, sicut dicit Propheta, radices deorsum, ut faciat fructum sursum, fructum reflorentis carnis, et innovationis spiritus, in resurrectionis gloria, et germine, et fecunditate sanctarum virtutum. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber III, Caput VI Source: Migne PG 180.606a-b

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, likewise will be our resurrection. 1 All this looks to that question, lest it seems to have given a space to sin, in which he said: 'Where sin abounded, grace abounded.' 2 Therefore he says we are baptized into the death of Christ, and are dead with Him, and buried with Him, and planted together with Him, then adds the hope of the resurrection. For the death of Christ in the Church is the tree of life planted in the midst of paradise. 3 With whom he is planted who dies with Him, that in the mortifying of his members which are on the earth, he sends, as the Prophet says, deep roots down, so that he might make fruit above, 4 the fruit of the reflourishing of the flesh and the renewal of the spirit, in the glory of the resurrection, and with the seed and fecundity of the holy virtues. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Rom 6.5 2 Rom 6.1, 5.20 3 Gen 2.9 4 Isaiah 37.31

Kindness And Penitence

Ignoras quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Bonitas Dei inaestimabiles divitiae sunt, quia sicut solem suum oriri facit, sic etiam caetera bona sua diffundere non cessat super bonos et malos. Patientia vero Dei est in eos qui contemnunt, longanimitas in eos qui infirmitate potius quam proposito delinquunt. Perseverantibus quippe peccatoribus in nequitia, perservat Deus in patientia, per pauca in hoc saeculo puniens, ne divina providentia non esse credatur, multa extremo examini reservans, ut futurum judicium commendetur. Animus vero male sibi conscius jam totus datus in poenam, cum nullam sibi poenam videtur pati, credit quia non judicet Deus, Ipse est sensus reprobus, ipsa est caecitas et obduratio cordis; ipsae sunt interiores tenebrae, quibus ab interiori luce Dei peccator secludatur; non autem penitus quandia in hac vita est. Sunt enim tenebrae exteriores, quae magis ad diem judicii pertinere intelliguntur, ut penitus extra Deum sit qui corrigi non vult, dum tempus habet. Penitus autem esse extra Deum, quid est, nisi esse in summa caecitate? Siquidem Deus habitat lucem inaccessibilem, quo ingrediuntur quibus dicitur: Intra in gaudium Domini tui. Ignoras, inquit, quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Hoc, quandiu tempus est misericordiae. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber I, Caput II Source: Migne PG 180.566a-c

Do you not know that kindness of God is that it lead you to penitence? 1 The kindness of God is inestimable wealth, because as He makes His sun rise, so indeed without cease He pours out all His goods on the good and the wicked. The patience of God, however, is for those who scorn Him, His long suffering over those who stray in weakness rather than by intent. Certainly with those sinners who persevere in wickedness, God perseveres in patience, striking them with little things in this world, lest Divine Providence be doubted, and reserving most for the final examination, that future when judgement shall be given. However the soul wickedly conscious of itself now, that it is utterly given over to punishment, when it seems to itself to suffer no punishment, so thinks that God will not judge it. This is the understanding of the reprobate, it is blindness and hardness of heart, it is the interior darkness, by which the sinner is shut out from the light of God within, not however utterly while in this life. For there is the exterior darkness, which is better understood to be the day of judgement, so that without God within is the man who does not wish to be corrected while he has the time. And to be without God, what is it, but the depths of blindness? Since God dwells in inaccessible light, 2 into which they enter to whom it is said: 'Enter into the joy of your Lord.' 3 Do you not know, he says, that the kindness of God is to lead you to penitence? And this while there is still time for mercy. William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Rom 2.4 2 1 Tim 6.16 3 Mt 25.34