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Certain spiritual men, as we have said, assure
themselves that it is a good thing to display
curiosity, as they sometimes do, in striving to know
certain things by supernatural methods, thinking
that, because God occasionally answers their
importunity, this is a good method and pleasing to
Him.
Yet the truth is that, although He may answer
them, the method is not good, neither is it pleasing
to God, but rather it is displeasing to Him; and not
only so, but oftentimes He is greatly offended and
wroth. The reason for this is that it is lawful for
no creature to pass beyond the limits that God has
ordained for its governance after the order of
nature. He has laid down rational and natural limits
for man's governance; wherefore to desire to pass
beyond them is not lawful, and to desire to seek out
and attain to anything by supernatural means is to go
beyond these natural limits.
It is therefore an unlawful thing, and it is
therefore not pleasing to God, for He is offended by
all that is unlawful. King Achaz was well aware of
this, since, although Isaias told him from God to ask
for a sign, he would not do so, saying: Non petam, et
non tentabo Dominum.[382] That is: I will not ask
such a thing, neither will I tempt God. For it is
tempting God to seek to commune with Him by
extraordinary ways, such as those that are
supernatural.
2. But why, you will say, if it be a fact that God
is displeased, does He sometimes answer? I reply that
it is sometimes the devil who answers. And, if it is
God Who answers, I reply that He does so because of
the weakness of the soul that desires to travel along
that road, lest it should be disconsolate and go
backward, or lest it should think that God is wroth
with it and should be overmuch afflicted; or for
other reasons known to God, founded upon the weakness
of that soul, whereby God sees that it is well that
He should answer it and deigns to do so in that way.
In a like manner, too, does He treat many weak and
tender souls, granting them favours and sweetness in
sensible converse with Himself, as has been said
above; this is not because He desires or is pleased
that they should commune with Him after that manner
or by these methods; it is that He gives to each one,
as we have said, after the manner best suited to him.
For God is like a spring, whence everyone draws water
according to the vessel which he carries.
Sometimes a soul is allowed to draw it by these
extraordinary channels; but it follows not from this
that it is lawful to draw water by them, but only
that God Himself can permit this, when, how and to
whom He wills, and for what reason He wills, without
the party concerned having any right in the matter.
And thus, as we say, He sometimes deigns to
satisfy the desire and the prayer of certain souls,
whom, since they are good and sincere, He wills not
to fail to succour, lest He should make them sad, but
it is not because He is pleased with their methods
that He wills it. This will be the better understood
by the following comparison.
3. The father of a family has on his table many
and different kinds of food, some of which are better
than others. A child is asking him for a certain
dish, not the best, but the first that meets its eye,
and it asks for this dish because it would rather eat
of it than any other; and as the father sees that,
even if he gives it the better kind of food, it will
not take it, but will have that which it asks for,
since that alone pleases it, he gives it that,
regretfully, lest it should take no food at all and
be miserable.
In just this way, we observe, did God treat the
children of Israel when they asked Him for a king: He
gave them one, but unwillingly, because it was not
good for them. And thus He said to Samuel: Audi vocem
populi in omnibus quae loquuntur tibi: non enim te
objecerunt, sed me.[383] Which signifies: Hearken
unto the voice of this people and grant them the king
whom they ask of thee, for they have not rejected
thee but Me, that I should not reign over them.
In this same way God condescends to certain souls,
and grants them that which is not best for them,
because they will not or cannot walk by any other
road. And thus certain souls attain to tenderness and
sweetness of spirit or sense; and God grants them
this because they are unable to partake of the
stronger and more solid food of the trials of the
Cross of His Son, which He would prefer them to take,
rather than aught else.
4. I consider, however, that the desire to know
things by supernatural means is much worse than the
desire for other spiritual favours pertaining to the
senses; for I cannot see how the soul that desires
them can fail to commit, at the least, venial sin,
however good may be its aims, and however far
advanced it may be on the road to perfection; and if
anyone should bid the soul desire them, and consent
to it, he sins likewise.
For there is no necessity for any of these things,
since the soul has its natural reason and the
doctrine and law of the Gospel, which are quite
sufficient for its guidance, and there is no
difficulty or necessity that cannot be solved and
remedied by these means, which are very pleasing to
God and of great profit to souls; and such great use
must we make of our reason and of Gospel doctrine
that, if certain things be told us supernaturally,
whether at our desire or no, we must receive only
that which is in clear conformity with reason and
Gospel law.
And then we must receive it, not because it is
revelation, but because it is reason, and not allow
ourselves to be influenced by the fact that it has
been revealed. Indeed, it is well in such a case to
look at that reason and examine it very much more
closely than if there had been no revelation
concerning it; inasmuch as the devil utters many
things that are true, and that will come to pass, and
that are in conformity with reason, in order that he
may deceive.
5. Wherefore, in all our needs, trials and
difficulties, there remains to us no better and surer
means than prayer and hope that God will provide for
us, by such means as He wills. This is the advice
given to us in the Scriptures, where we read that,
when King Josaphat was greatly afflicted and
surrounded by enemies, the saintly King gave himself
to prayer, saying to God: Cum ignoremus quid facere
debeamus, hoc solum habemus residue, ut oculos
nostros dirigamus ad re.[384] Which is as though he
had said: When means fail and reason is unable to
succour us in our necessities, it remains for us only
to lift up our eyes to Thee, that Thou mayest succour
us as is most pleasing to Thee.
6. And further, although this has also been made
clear, it will be well to prove, from certain
passages of Scripture, that, though God may answer
such requests, He is none the less sometimes wroth.
In the First Book of the Kings it is said that,
when King Saul begged that the prophet Samuel, who
was now dead, might speak to him, the said prophet
appeared to him, and that God was wroth with all
this, since Samuel at once reproved Saul for having
done such a thing, saying: Quare inquietasti me, ut
suscitarer?[385] That is: Why hast thou disquieted
me, in causing me to arise?
We also know that, in spite of having answered the
children of Israel and given them the meat that they
besought of Him, God was nevertheless greatly
incensed against them; for He sent fire from Heaven
upon them as a punishment, as we read in the
Pentateuch, and as David relates in these words:
Adhuc escape eorum erant in ore ipsorum, et ira Dei
descendit super cos.[386] Which signifies: Even as
they had the morsels in their months, the wrath of
God came down upon them.
And likewise we read in Numbers that God was
greatly wroth with Balaam the prophet, because he
went to the Madianites when Balac their king sent for
him, although God had bidden him go, because he
desired to go and had begged it of God; and while he
was yet in the way there appeared to him an angel
with a sword, who desired to slay him, and said to
him: Perversa est via tua, mihique contraria.[387]
'Thy way is perverse and contrary to Me.' For which
cause he desired to slay him.
7. After this manner and many others God deigns to
satisfy the desires of souls though He be wroth with
them. Concerning this we have many testimonies in
Scripture, and, in addition, many illustrations,
though in a matter that is so clear these are
unnecessary. I will merely say that to desire to
commune with God by such means is a most perilous
thing, more so than I can express, and that one who
is affectioned to such methods will not fail to err
greatly and will often find himself in confusion.
Anyone who in the past has prized them will
understand me from his own experience. For over and
above the difficulty that there is in being sure that
one is not going astray in respect of locutions and
visions which are of God, there are ordinarily many
of these locutions and visions which are of the
devil; for in his converse with the soul the devil
habitually wears the same guise as God assumes in His
dealings with it, setting before it things that are
very like to those which God communicates to it,
insinuating himself, like the wolf in sheep's
clothing, among the flock, with a success so nearly
complete that he can hardly be recognized.
For, since he says many things that are true, and
in conformity with reason, and things that come to
pass as he describes them,[388] it is very easy for
the soul to be deceived, and to think that, since
these things come to pass as he says, and the future
is correctly foretold, this can be the work of none
save God; for such souls know not that it is a very
easy thing for one that has clear natural light to be
acquainted, as to their causes, with things, or with
many of them, which have been or shall be. And since
the devil has a very clear light of this kind, he can
very easily deduce effect from cause, although it may
not always turn out as he says, because all causes
depend upon the will of God. Let us take an example.
8. The devil knows that the constitution of the
earth and the atmosphere, and the laws ruling the
sun, are disposed in such manner and in such degree
that, when a certain moment has arrived, it will
necessarily follow, according to the laws of nature
laid down for these elements, that they will infect
people with pestilence, and he knows in what places
this will be more severe and in what places less so.
Here you have a knowledge of pestilence in respect of
its causes. What a wonderful thing it seems when the
devil reveals this to a soul, saying: 'In a year or
in six months from now there will be pestilence,' and
it happens as he says! And yet this is a prophecy of
the devil.
In the same way he may have a knowledge of
earthquakes, and, seeing that the bowels of the earth
are filling with air, will say: 'At such a time there
will be an earthquake.' Yet this is only natural
knowledge, for the possession of which it suffices
for the spirit to be free from the passions of the
soul, even as Boetius says in these words: Si vis
claro lumine cernere verum, gaudia pelle, timorem,
spemque fugato, nec dolor adsit.[389] That is: If
thou desire to know truths with the clearness of
nature, cast from thee rejoicing and fear and hope
and sorrow.
9. And likewise supernatural events and happenings
may be known, in their causes, in matters concerning
Divine Providence, which deals most justly and surely
as is required by their good or evil causes as
regards the sons of men.
For one may know by natural means that such or
such a person, or such or such a city, or some other
place, is in such or such necessity, or has reached
such or such a point, so that God, according to His
providence and justice, must deal with such a person
or thing in the way required by its cause, and in the
way that is fitting for it, whether by means of
punishment or of reward, as the cause merits. And
then one can say: 'At such a time God will give you
this, or will do this, or that will come to pass, of
a surety.'
It was this that holy Judith said to Holofernes,[390]
when, in order to persuade him that the children of
Israel would without fail be destroyed, she first
related to him many of their sins and the evil deeds
that they did. And then she said: Et, quoniam haec
faciunt, certum est quod in perditionem dabuntur.
Which signifies: Since they do these things, it is
certain that they will be destroyed. This is to know
the punishment in the cause, and it is as though she
had said: It is certain that such sins must be the
cause of such punishments, at the hand of God Who is
most just. And as the Divine Wisdom says: Per quae
quis peccat, per haec et torquetur.[391] With respect
to that and for that wherein a man sins, therein is
he punished.
10. The devil may have knowledge of this, not only
naturally, but also by the experience which he has of
having seen God do similar things, and he can
foretell it and do so correctly.
Again, holy Tobias was aware of the punishment of
the city of Ninive because of its cause, and he thus
admonished his son, saying: 'Behold, son, in the hour
when I and thy mother die, go thou forth from this
land, for it will not remain.' Video enim quia
iniquitas ejus finem dabit ei.[392] I see clearly
that its own iniquity will be the cause of its
punishment, which will be that it shall be ended and
destroyed altogether.
This might have been known by the devil as well as
by Tobias, not only because of the iniquity of the
city, but by experience, since they had seen that for
the sins of the world God destroyed it in the Flood,
and that the Sodomites, too, perished for their sins
by fire; but Tobias knew it also through the Divine
Spirit.
11. And the devil may know that one Peter[393]
cannot, in the course of nature, live more than so
many years, and he may foretell this; and so with
regard to many other things and in many ways that it
is impossible to recount fully -- nor can one even
begin to recount many of them, since they are most
intricate and subtle -- he insinuates falsehoods;
from which a soul cannot free itself save by fleeing
from all revelations and visions and locutions that
are supernatural.
Wherefore God is justly angered with those that
receive them, for He sees that it is temerity on
their part to expose themselves to such great peril
and presumption and curiosity, and things that spring
from pride, and are the root and foundation of
vainglory, and of disdain for the things of God, and
the beginning of many evils to which many have come.
Such persons have succeeded in angering God so
greatly that He has of set purpose allowed them to go
astray and be deceived and to blind their own spirits
and to leave the ordered paths of life and give rein
to their vanities and fancies, according to the word
of Isaias, where he says: Dominus miscuit in medio
ejus spiritum vertiginis.394 Which is as much to say:
The Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit
of dissension and confusion. Which in our ordinary
vernacular signifies the spirit of misunderstanding.
What Isaias is here very plainly saying is to our
purpose, for he is speaking of those who were
endeavouring by supernatural means to know things
that were to come to pass. And therefore he says that
God mingled in their midst the spirit of
misunderstanding; not that God willed them, in fact,
to have the spirit of error, or gave it to them, but
that they desired to meddle with that to which by
nature they could not attain. Angered by this, God
allowed them to act foolishly, giving them no light
as to that wherewith He desired not that they should
concern themselves. And thus the Prophet says that
God mingled that spirit in them, privatively. And in
this sense God is the cause of such an evil -- that
is to say, He is the privative cause, which consists
in His withdrawal of His light and favour, to such a
point that they must needs fall into error.
12. And in this way God gives leave to the devil
to blind and deceive many, when their sins and
audacities merit it; and this the devil can do and
does successfully, and they give him credence and
believe him to be a good spirit; to such a point
that, although they may be quite persuaded that he is
not so, they cannot undeceive themselves, since, by
the permission of God, there has already been
insinuated into them the spirit of misunderstanding,
even as we read was the case with the prophets of
King Achab, whom God permitted to be deceived by a
lying spirit, giving the devil leave to deceive them,
and saying: Decipies, et praevalebis; egredere, et
fac ita.[395] Which signifies: Thou shalt prevail
with thy falsehood, and shalt deceive them; go forth
and do so.
And so well was he able to work upon the prophets
and the King, in order to deceive them, that they
would not believe the prophet Micheas, who prophesied
the truth to them, saying the exact contrary of that
which the others had prophesied, and this came to
pass because God permitted them to be blinded, since
their affections were attached to that which they
desired to happen to them, and God answered them
according to their desires and wishes; and this was a
most certain preparation and means for their being
blinded and deceived, which God allowed of set
purpose.
13. Thus, too, did Ezechiel prophesy in the name
of God. Speaking against those who began to desire to
have knowledge direct from God, from motives of
curiosity, according to the vanity of their spirit,
he says: When such a man comes to the prophet to
enquire of Me through him, I, the Lord, will answer
him by Myself, and I will set my face in anger
against that man; and, as to the prophet, when he has
gone astray in that which was asked of him, Ego
Dominus decepi prophetam illum.[396] That is: I, the
Lord, have deceived that prophet.
This is to be taken to mean, by not succouring him
with His favour so that he might not be deceived; and
this is His meaning when He says: I the Lord will
answer him by Myself in anger[397] -- that is, God
will withdraw His grace and favour from that man.
Hence necessarily follows deception by reason of his
abandonment by God. And then comes the devil and
makes answer according to the pleasure and desire of
that man, who, being pleased thereat, since the
answers and communications are according to his will,
allows himself to be deceived greatly.
14. It may appear that we have to some extent
strayed from the purpose that we set down in the
title of this chapter, which was to prove that,
although God answers, He sometimes complains. But, if
it be carefully considered, all that has been said
goes to prove or intention; for it all shows that God
desires not that we should wish for such visions,
since He makes it possible for us to be deceived by
them in so many ways. |