On the Governance of God 4.3–4.48
Latin text: CSEL 8 (Latin text: CSEL, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 4
4.3CSEL 8:63–64
denique qui uult plenius scire uocabula nihil esse sine rebus, respiciat quomodo innumerabiles populi cessantibus meritis etiam nomina perdiderunt. duodecim Hebraeorum tribus, cum electae quondam a deo essent, duo nomina sacrosancta acceperunt: et populus enim dei et Israhel appellatae sunt. sic quippe legimus: audi populus meus, et loquar; Israhel, et testificabor tibi. ergo Iudaei aliquando utrumque, nunc neutrum. nam nec dei populus dici potest qui cultum dei olim reliquit, nec uidens deum qui dei filium denegauit, sicut scriptum est: Israhel uero me non cognouit, et populus me non intellexit.
In short, whoever wishes to know more fully that names are nothing without realities, let him look at how innumerable peoples, when their merits ceased, lost even their names. The twelve tribes of the Hebrews, when they had once been chosen by God, received two most holy names: they were called both the people of God and Israel. For so we read: “Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel, and I will testify to you.” So the Jews were once both, now neither. For neither can he be called the people of God who once abandoned the worship of God, nor “seeing God” who denied the Son of God, as it is written: “But Israel has not known me, and the people has not understood me.”
Ps 50:7 (49:7 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 1:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Israel lost the names “people of God” and “Israel” when it lost the reality.
- Ps 50:7 (Vulgate 49:7); Isa 1:3. Salvian’s polemic against the Jews is translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.3 (CSEL 8:63–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.4CSEL 8:64
propter quod etiam alibi deus noster de Iudaeorum plebe loquitur ad prophetam dicens: uoca nomen eius, non dilecta. et iterum ad Iudaeos ipsos: uos non estis populus meus, et ego non sum deus uester. cur autem hoc de eis diceret et ipse alibi euidenter ostendit; sic quippe ait: dereliquerunt uenam aquarum uiuentium dominum. et iterum: uerbum, inquit, domini proiecerunt et sapientia nulla est in illis.
For this reason too our God speaks elsewhere of the Jewish people to the prophet, saying: “Call her name Not-beloved.” And again to the Jews themselves: “You are not my people, and I am not your God.” And why he said this of them he himself shows plainly elsewhere; for so he says: “They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.” And again: “They have cast away the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in them.”
Hos 1:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Hos 1:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 17:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 8:9 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God renamed Israel “not beloved” and “not my people” because they forsook him.
- Hos 1:6, 9; Jer 17:13 (2:13); Jer 8:9.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; words run together): propter quodio etiam → propter quod etiam; uoca nomen eius, nondilecta → uoca nomen eius, non dilecta.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.4 (CSEL 8:64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.5CSEL 8:64
quod quidem timeo ne non magis tunc de eis dici potuerit quam de nobis nunc dici possit, quia nec uerbis dominicis obtemperamus, et qui uerbis domini non obsequimur, sapientiam profecto in nobis penitus non habemus. nisi fortasse credimus sapienter nos deum spernere et hoc ipsum, quod Christi mandata contemnimus, summam prudentiam iudicamus.
I fear indeed that this could not have been said of them then more than it can be said of us now, because we do not obey the Lord’s words, and we who do not follow the Lord’s words surely have no wisdom in us at all. Unless perhaps we believe that we despise God wisely, and judge this very thing, that we despise Christ’s commands, the height of prudence.
Notes and citation
Summary: The same charge applies to Christians who disobey Christ.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.5 (CSEL 8:64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.6CSEL 8:64–65
est quidem causa, cur hoc ita existimare credamur; nam tanto consensu omnes peccata sequimur, quasi summi consilii conspiratione peccemus. quae cum ita sint, quae ratio est, ut ipsi nos falsa opinione fallamus, existimantes scilicet, quia Christiani esse dicamur, quod opitulari nobis inter mala quae agimus nomen bonum possit, cum spiritus sanctus nec fidem quidem dicat hominibus Christianis sine operibus bonis posse prodesse. et utique multo plus est fidem habere quam nomen, quia nomen uocabulum est hominis, fides autem fructus est mentis. et tamen hunc ipsum fidei fructum infructuosum apostolus sine operibus bonis esse testatur dicens: fides sine operibus mortua est. et iterum: sicut enim corpus sine spiritu, sic fides sine operibus bonis mortua est. addit quoque asperiora quaedam ad confundendos eos, qui sibi praesumptione Christianae fidei blandiuntur.
There is indeed a reason why we may be believed to think so; for we all follow sins with such agreement as if we sinned by a conspiracy of the highest counsel. Since this is so, what reason is there for us to deceive ourselves with a false opinion, thinking, because we are called Christians, that a good name can help us amid the evils we do, when the Holy Spirit says that not even faith can profit Christian men without good works? And certainly it is much more to have faith than a name, because a name is a man’s designation, but faith is the fruit of the mind. And yet the apostle testifies that this very fruit of faith is fruitless without good works, saying: “Faith without works is dead.” And again: “For as the body without the spirit, so faith without good works is dead.” He adds also some harsher words to confound those who flatter themselves with the presumption of Christian faith.
Jas 2:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 2:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Not even faith, much less the name, profits without good works.
- Jas 2:17, 26.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; split word; stray mark): cum spiritus sanctos nec fidem → cum spiritus sanctus nec fidem; hominibus Christianis. sine operibus → hominibus Christianis sine operibus; fides autem fractas est mentis → fides autem fructus est mentis; fidei fructum. infructuosum → fidei fructum infructuosum; bonis esse, testatur → bonis esse testatur; sicut enim corpu s sine → sicut enim corpus sine.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.6 (CSEL 8:64–65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.7CSEL 8:65
Sed dicit aliquis: tu fidem habes et ego opera habeo: ostende mihi sine operibus fidem tuam et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam. quo utique hoc indicat, actus bonos Christianae fidei quasi testes esse, quia Christianus nisi opera bona fecerit, fidem suam penitus adprobare non possit, ac per hoc quod probare non ualeat quia sit, sic omnino habendum esse quasi non sit. nam quam pro nullo hoc habendum existimaret, in subditis statim ipse demonstrat, dicens ad Christianum: tu credis quia unus est deus. bene facis: et daemones credunt et contremescunt.
“But someone says: You have faith and I have works: show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith from works.” By this he certainly indicates that good deeds are, as it were, witnesses of Christian faith, because a Christian cannot prove his faith at all unless he has done good works; and so what he cannot prove exists must be held entirely as if it did not exist. And how he thought it should be held as nothing he himself shows at once in what follows, saying to the Christian: “You believe that God is one. You do well: the demons also believe, and tremble.”
Jas 2:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 2:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Faith is proved only by works; even the demons believe.
- Jas 2:18–19. The chapter numeral “II” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text; stray mark): II. Sed dicit aliquis: tu fidem → Sed dicit aliquis: tu fidem; nisi opera. bona fecerit → nisi opera bona fecerit.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.7 (CSEL 8:65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.8CSEL 8:65–66
consideremus, quid uoluerit hoc loco apostolus dicere, nec irascamur diuinis testimoniis sed adquiescamus, nec contradicamus sed proficiamus. tu credis, inquit ad Christianum sermo diuinus, quod deus unus est. bene facis: et daemones credunt et contremescunt. numquid errauit apostolus, ut hominis Christiani fidem daemoni compararet? non utique: sed ostendere illud uolens, quod supra dictum est, quia sine operibus bonis nihil sibi per fidei supercilium usurpare deberent, idcirco ait et a daemonibus deum credi; scilicet ut, sicut daemones, cum deum credant, tamen in peruersitate perdurant, ita et quosdam homines quasi credulitatem daemonicam habere, qui cum se deum credere adserant, tamen
Let us consider what the apostle meant to say here, and let us not be angry at the divine testimonies but assent to them, not contradict them but profit from them. “You believe,” the divine word says to the Christian, “that God is one. You do well: the demons also believe, and tremble.” Did the apostle err in comparing a Christian man’s faith with a demon’s? Certainly not; but wishing to show what was said above, that without good works they ought to claim nothing for themselves through the haughtiness of faith, he said that God is believed even by demons; so that, as the demons, though they believe God, still persist in perversity, so certain men too have, as it were, a demonic belief, who, though they assert that they believe God, still
Jas 2:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Faith without works is like the demons’ belief.
- Jas 2:19. The sentence continues in 4.9.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips and stray marks; stray mark): et daemones credunt et contremescunt.* numquid → et daemones credunt et contremescunt. numquid; scilicet ut,. sieut -daemones, eam deum credant → scilicet ut, sicut daemones, cum deum credant.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.8 (CSEL 8:65–66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.9CSEL 8:66
a malo opere non cessant. subiungit autem ad pudorem et condemnationem hominum peccatorum, non credere solum daemones dei nomen sed etiam timere et contremescere. hoc est dicere: quid tibi blandiris, o homo, quisquis es, credulitate, quae sine timore atque obsequio dei nulla est? aliquid plus daemones habent. tu enim unam rem habes tantummodo, illi duas: tu credulitatem habes, non habes timorem, illi et credulitatem habent pariter et timorem. quid miraris ergo, si caedimur? quid miraris, si castigamur si in ius hostium tradimur si infirmiores omnibus sumus?
do not cease from evil work. And he adds, to the shame and condemnation of sinful men, that the demons not only believe the name of God but also fear and tremble. That is to say: “Why do you flatter yourself, O man, whoever you are, with a belief that is nothing without the fear and obedience of God? The demons have something more. For you have only one thing, they two: you have belief, you do not have fear; they have both belief and fear alike.” Why then do you wonder if we are beaten? Why do you wonder if we are chastised, if we are handed over into the power of enemies, if we are weaker than all?
Jas 2:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons both believe and fear; so it is no wonder if faithless Christians are punished.
- Jas 2:19.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): a malo opere non cessast subiungit → a malo opere non cessant. subiungit; non oredere solum → non credere solum; obsequio dei nulla eat? → obsequio dei nulla est?; unam rem babes → unam rem habes; si caedupur? quid miraris, si eastigamur → si caedimur? quid miraris, si castigamur.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.9 (CSEL 8:66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-9
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.10CSEL 8:66
siue miseriae nostrae siue infirmitates siue euersiones siue captiuitates et poenae improbae seruitutis testimonia sunt mali serui et boni domini. quomodo mali serui? quia patior scilicet uel ex parte quod mereor. quomodo boni domini? quia ostendit quae mereamur, etsi non inrogat quae mereamur; clementissima enim ac benignissima castigatione mauult nos corrigere quam perire. nos siquidem, quantum ad crimina nostra pertinet, letalibus suppliciis digni sumus; sed ille plus misericordiae tribuens quam seueritati uult nos clementis censurae temperamento emendare quam plaga iustae coercitionis occidere.
Whether our miseries, or weaknesses, or overthrows, or captivities, and the punishments of wicked slavery, they are testimonies of a bad servant and a good master. How of a bad servant? Because I suffer, at least in part, what I deserve. How of a good master? Because he shows what we deserve, even if he does not inflict what we deserve; for by a most merciful and kind chastisement he would rather correct us than have us perish. For as far as our crimes go, we are worthy of deadly punishments; but he, giving more to mercy than to severity, wishes to amend us by the tempering of a merciful judgment rather than kill us by the blow of just coercion.
Notes and citation
Summary: Our sufferings show that we are bad servants and God a merciful master who corrects rather than destroys.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray letter): siue infirmitates sine euersiones sine captiuitates → siue infirmitates siue euersiones siue captiuitates; quomodo mali serui? P quia → quomodo mali serui? quia; plaga iustae cohercitionis → plaga iustae coercitionis.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.10 (CSEL 8:66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-10
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.11CSEL 8:66–67
ingratum nobis esse quod caedimur satis certus sum. sed quid miramur, si peccantes nos deus uerberat, cum ipsi peccantes seruulos uerberemus? iniusti iudices sumus: homunculos nos flagellari a deo nolumus, cum ipsi condicionis nostrae homines flagellemus. sed nec miror quod tam iniqui in hac re sumus: natura in nobis et nequitia seruilis est. uolumus delinquere et nolumus uerberari: ipsi in nobis mores sunt qui in seruulis nostris; omnes uolumus impune peccare. denique, si mentior, cunctos consulo. nego ullum esse, quamlibet magni criminis reum, qui se adquiescat debere torqueri.
I am quite sure that being beaten is unwelcome to us. But why do we wonder if God beats us when we sin, when we ourselves beat our little slaves when they sin? We are unjust judges: we little men do not want to be scourged by God, when we ourselves scourge men of our own condition. But I do not wonder that we are so unjust in this: we have the nature and wickedness of slaves. We want to do wrong and do not want to be beaten: we have in ourselves the same ways as our slaves; we all want to sin with impunity. In short, if I lie, I consult all. I deny that there is anyone, guilty of however great a crime, who agrees that he ought to be tormented.
Notes and citation
Summary: We punish our slaves for sins yet resent God’s punishment of ours.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): natura ia nobis et nequitia → natura in nobis et nequitia; qui in seruulis nostra; omnes uolumus impune peceare → qui in seruulis nostris; omnes uolumus impune peccare; nego ullum em, quamlibet magni criminis reum, qui se adquiescat deberent torqueri → nego ullum esse, quamlibet magni criminis reum, qui se adquiescat debere torqueri.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.11 (CSEL 8:66–67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-11
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.12CSEL 8:67
hinc ergo agnosci potest, quam inique ac prauissime aliis seuerissimi sumus nobis indulgentissimi, aliis asperi nobis remissi. in eodem crimine punimus alios nos absoluimus: intolerabilis prorsus contumaciae et praesumptionis. nec agnoscere in nobis uolumus rectum audemus de aliis usurpare iudicium. quid esse iniustius nobis aut quid peruersius potest? id ipsum scelus in nobis probabile esse ducimus, quod in aliis seuerissime uindicamus. et ideo non sine causa ad nos apostolus clamat: propter quod inexcusabilis es o homo omnis qui iudicas: in quo enim alium iudicas, te ipsum condemnas; eadem enim agis quae iudicas.
From this it can be recognized how unjustly and most perversely we are most severe to others and most indulgent to ourselves, harsh to others and lax with ourselves. For the same crime we punish others and acquit ourselves: a quite intolerable obstinacy and presumption. We do not want to recognize right judgment in ourselves, yet we dare to usurp it over others. What can be more unjust or more perverse than us? We count that very crime acceptable in ourselves which we most severely punish in others. And so not without cause the apostle cries out to us: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, everyone who judges: for in judging another you condemn yourself; for you do the same things you judge.”
Rom 2:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We condemn in others what we excuse in ourselves.
- Rom 2:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; words run together; OCR slip): hincergo agnosei potest → hinc ergo agnosci potest; m eodem crimine punimus alios m absoluimus → in eodem crimine punimus alios nos absoluimus; intolerabilis prorsus incontumaciae → intolerabilis prorsus contumaciae; id ipsum scelus ia nobis probabile esse ducimus, quod m aliis → id ipsum scelus in nobis probabile esse ducimus, quod in aliis; et ideo 009 sine causa → et ideo non sine causa; alium iudicas. te ipsum coudemnas;eadem → alium iudicas, te ipsum condemnas; eadem.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.12 (CSEL 8:67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-12
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.13CSEL 8:67–68
Sed non eadem, inquit aliquis ex diuitibus, non eadem nos agimus, quae serui agant: ex seruis enim fures ac fugitiui sunt, ex seruis gulae ac uentri iugiter seruientes. uerum est esse haec uitia seruorum: sed plura tamen sunt ac maiora dominorum quamuis non omnium. excipiendi enim quidam sunt sed paucissimi: quos ideo non nomino, ne non tam eos nominando laudare quam alios non nominando uidear publicare.
“But not the same things,” says one of the rich, “we do not do the same things slaves do: for it is among slaves that there are thieves and runaways, among slaves those continually serving gullet and belly.” It is true that these are the vices of slaves; but those of masters are more and greater, though not of all. For some must be excepted, but very few; and I do not name them lest I seem not so much to praise them by naming them as to expose others by not naming them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Masters’ vices are more and greater than slaves’, with very few exceptions.
- The chapter numeral “III” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; chapter numeral leaked; OCR slip): III. Sed non eadem, inquit aliquis ei diuitibus → Sed non eadem, inquit aliquis ex diuitibus; fures ac fugitiui suat → fures ac fugitiui sunt.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.13 (CSEL 8:67–68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-13
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.14CSEL 8:68
ac primum serui, si fures sunt, ad furandum forsitan egestate coguntur: quia, etiamsi stipendia usitata praestentur, consuetudini haec magis quam sufficientiae satisfaciunt et ita implent canonem, quam non explent satietatem. ac per hoc culpam ipsam inopia minus culpabilem facit, quia excusabilis furti reus est, qui ad furtum cogi uidetur inuitus. nam et scriptura ecclesiastica quasi subexcusare quodammodo miserorum omnium noxas uidetur dicens: non grandis est culpae, cum quis furatus fuerit; furatur enim, ut esurientem impleat animam. furatur, ut expleat animam suam: ac per hoc non satis a nobis accusandi sunt qui diuino sermone excusantur.
And first, if slaves are thieves, they are perhaps forced to steal by want; for even if the usual allowances are given, these satisfy custom rather than sufficiency, and so fill the ration rather than satisfy hunger. And so want itself makes the fault less culpable, because he is guilty of an excusable theft who seems forced to theft against his will. For even ecclesiastical Scripture seems in a way half to excuse the offenses of all the wretched, saying: “It is not a great fault when someone has stolen; for he steals to fill his hungry soul.” He steals to satisfy his soul; and so those who are excused by the divine word are not to be much accused by us.
Prov 6:30 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Slaves who steal are often driven by hunger, and Scripture half excuses them.
- Prov 6:30 (in the Old Latin form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; repeated word): ac primum serni, si fures → ac primum serui, si fures; implent canonem, quam quam non explent → implent canonem, quam non explent; non grandis est cuipae, cum quia furatus → non grandis est culpae, cum quis furatus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.14 (CSEL 8:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-14
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.15CSEL 8:68
quod autem de furtis seruorum dicimus, hoc etiam de fuga: immo hoc rectius de fuga, quia ad fugam seruos non miseriae tantum, sed etiam supplicia compellunt. pauent quippe actores pauent silentiarios pauent procuratores, prope ut inter istos omnes nullorum minus serui sint quam dominorum suorum: ab omnibus caeduntur ab omnibus conteruntur. quid amplius dici potest? multi seruorum ad dominos suos confugiunt, dum conseruos timent. unde illorum fugam non tam ad eos debemus referre qui fugiunt, quam ad eos qui fugere compellunt. uim patiuntur infelicissimi: famulari optant et fugere coguntur. discedere a seruitio dominorum suorum omnino nolunt et conseruorum suorum crudelitate non permittuntur ut seruiant.
What we say of the thefts of slaves, we say also of their running away; indeed it is more rightly said of running away, because not only miseries but also punishments drive slaves to flight. For they dread the overseers, they dread the silentiaries, they dread the stewards, so that among all these they belong to none less than to their own masters: they are beaten by all, crushed by all. What more can be said? Many slaves take refuge with their masters because they fear their fellow slaves. So we ought to attribute their flight not so much to those who flee as to those who compel them to flee. The most unhappy suffer violence: they wish to serve and are forced to flee. They do not at all wish to leave their masters’ service, and they are not allowed to serve by the cruelty of their fellow slaves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Slaves run away because of the cruelty of overseers and fellow slaves.
- Actores, silentiarii, procuratores: slave overseers and household officers of great estates.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips and stray letter): quod antem I de furtis sernorum dicimus → quod autem de furtis seruorum dicimus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.15 (CSEL 8:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-15
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.16CSEL 8:68–69
mendaces quoque esse dicuntur. ad mendacium nihilominus atrocitate praesentis supplicii coartantur, siquidem, dum tormentis se uolunt eximere, mentiuntur. quid autem mirum est; si positus in metu seruus mentiri uult quam flagellari? accusantur etiam gulae et uentris auidi. nec hoc nouum est: magis desiderat saturitatem qui famem saepe tolerarit. sed esto, non perferat famem panis, famem, certe; perfert deliciarum, et ideo ignoscendum est, si auidius expetit quod ei iugiter deest.
They are also said to be liars. They are nonetheless forced into lying by the cruelty of present punishment, since they lie when they wish to escape torture. And what wonder is it if a slave placed in fear would rather lie than be flogged? They are accused also of greed of gullet and belly. Nor is this new: he who has often borne hunger longs the more for fullness. But suppose he does not bear hunger for bread; he certainly bears hunger for delicacies; and so he must be pardoned if he seeks more greedily what he continually lacks.
Notes and citation
Summary: Slaves’ lying and gluttony are driven by fear and want.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (question mark read as P): mentiri uult quam flagellari P accusantur → mentiri uult quam flagellari? accusantur.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.16 (CSEL 8:68–69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-16
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.17CSEL 8:69
tu uero nobilis tu uero diues, qui omnibus bonis affiuis, qui hoc ipso deum sanctis operibus honorare plus debes, quod beneficiis illius sine cessatione perfrueris, uideamus si actus non dico sanctos sed uel innoxios habes. et quis, ut superius dixi, diuitum praeter paucos non. cunctis criminibus infectus est? et quod paucos excipio, utinam plures atque omnes excipi liceret: salus erat omnium innocentia plurimorum. neque ego nunc de ullo dico, nisi de eo tantum, - qui in se id quod dico esse cognoscit. si enim extra conscientiam suam sunt quaecumque dico, nequaquam ad iniuriam eius spectant cuncta quae dico: si autem in se esse nouit quae loquor, non a mea sibi hoc lingua dici existimet met sed a conscientia sua.
But you, the noble, you, the rich, who abound in all goods, who ought to honor God with holy works the more for the very fact that you enjoy his benefits without ceasing, let us see whether you have deeds, I do not say holy, but even harmless. And who, as I said above, among the rich, apart from a few, is not stained with all crimes? And as to my excepting a few, would that it were allowed to except more, and all: the innocence of the many would be the salvation of all. Nor do I now speak of anyone except him who recognizes in himself what I say. For if whatever I say is outside his conscience, nothing I say touches him to his injury; but if he knows that what I speak is in him, let him think it is said to him not by my tongue but by his conscience.
Notes and citation
Summary: Salvian turns to the rich and noble, few of whom are free from crime.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.17 (CSEL 8:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-17
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.18CSEL 8:69–70
ac primum, ut de uitiis seruilibus dicam: si fugitiuus est seruus, fugitiuus es etiam tu, diues ac nobilis; omnes enim dominum suum fugiunt, qui legem domini derelinquunt. quid ergo, diues, culpas in seruo? hoc facis quod et ille. ille fugitiuus est sui domini et tu tui: sed hoc culpabilior tu quam ille, quia ille fugit forsitan malum dominum et tu bonum. incontinentiam quoque uentris in seruo arguis. in illo rara est per indigentiam in te cotidiana per copiam.
And first, to speak of the vices of slaves: if a slave is a runaway, you too are a runaway, rich and noble man; for all flee their Lord who abandon the Lord’s law. Why then, rich man, do you blame in a slave what you do as he does? He is a runaway from his master and you from yours; but you are more culpable than he in this, that he perhaps flees a bad master and you a good one. You charge the slave with lack of control of the belly too: in him it is rare through want, in you daily through abundance.
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich are runaways from God and gluttons far more than slaves.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; words run together): culpas in seruo?hoc facis → culpas in seruo? hoc facis; incontinentiam quoque uentris in seruo arguis. ia illo rara → incontinentiam quoque uentris in seruo arguis. in illo rara.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.18 (CSEL 8:69–70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-18
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.19CSEL 8:70
uides ergo apostolicam sententiam te potissimum uerberare, immo te solum, quia in quo alium iudicas temetipsum condemnas; eadem enim agis quae iudicas; immo non eadem sed maiora multo ac nequiora. in. illo quippe etiam infrequentem uentris intemperantiam punis, et tu adsidua cruditate distenderis. furtum quoque, ut putas, seruile uitium est; et tu furtum, diues, facis, quando a deo uetita praesumis. omnes siquidem furta faciunt, qui inlicita committunt.
You see, then, that the apostle’s sentence strikes you above all, or rather you alone: “for in judging another you condemn yourself; for you do the same things you judge”; or rather not the same, but much greater and worse. For in him you punish even infrequent intemperance of the belly, and you are distended with constant indigestion. Theft too, as you think, is a slave’s vice; and you, rich man, commit theft when you presume on what God forbids. For all commit theft who do what is unlawful.
Rom 2:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul’s rebuke of hypocritical judges fits the rich, who commit worse sins.
- Rom 2:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray marks and OCR slip): immo te Solum → immo te solum; et tu furtum,: diues, fecis → et tu furtum, diues, facis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.19 (CSEL 8:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-19
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.20CSEL 8:70
Sed quid ego tam minute et quasi allegorice de hoc loquor, cum facinoribus apertissimis non furta tantum diuitum sed latrocinia comprobentur? quotus quisque enim iuxta diuitem non pauper pauper actu actu statu tutus est? siquidem peruasionibus praepotentum aut sua homines inbecilli aut etiam se ipsos cum suis pariter amittunt, ut non immerite de utrisque personis sacer sermo testatus est dicens: uenatio leonis onager in heremo: sic pascua sunt diuitum pauperes. quamuis tyrannidem hanc non pauperes tantum sed paene uniuersitas patiatur generis humani.
But why do I speak of this so minutely and as it were allegorically, when not only thefts of the rich but robberies are proved by the most open crimes? For how few poor men next to a rich man are safe in their property and status? For by the seizures of the powerful the weak lose either their own goods or even themselves along with their goods, so that the sacred word has not unfittingly testified of both kinds of person, saying: “The wild ass in the desert is the lion’s prey: so the poor are the pastures of the rich.” Though not only the poor suffer this tyranny, but almost the whole of the human race.
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich openly rob the poor, who are their prey.
- Sir 13:19 (Vulgate 13:23). The phrase “pauper actu actu statu” is garbled in the digital text; translated by sense. The chapter numeral “IIII” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text; stray letters and split word): IIII. Sed quid ego tam minute → Sed quid ego tam minute; uenatio leonis is onager in heremo: sic pas cua sunt → uenatio leonis onager in heremo: sic pascua sunt.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 13:19 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.20 (CSEL 8:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-20
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.21CSEL 8:70–71
quid est enim aliud dignitas sublimium quam proscriptio ciuitatum? aut? quid aliud quorundam, quos taceo, praefectura quam praeda? nulla siquidem maior paupercularum est depopulatio quam potestas; ad hoc enim honor a paucis emitur, ut cunctorum uastatione soluatur: quo quid esse indignius quid iniquius potest? reddunt miseri dignitatum pretia, quas non emunt: commercium nesciunt et solutionem sciunt: ut pauci inlustrentur, mundus euertitur: unius honor orbis excidium est. denique sciunt hoc Hispaniae, quibus solum nomen relictum est, sciunt Africae, quae fuerunt, sciunt Galliae deuastatae, sed non ab omnibus, et ideo in paucissimis adhuc angulis uel tenuem spiritum agentes, quia eas interdum paucorum integritas aluit, quas multorum rapina uacuauit.
For what is the dignity of the exalted but the proscription of cities? Or what is the prefecture of certain men, whom I do not name, but plunder? For there is no greater devastation of the poor than power; for office is bought by a few so that it may be paid for by the ravaging of all. What can be more unworthy, more unjust than this? The wretched pay the prices of dignities which they do not buy: they do not know the bargain and they know the payment. That a few may be made illustrious, the world is overturned; one man’s honor is the ruin of the world. In short, the Spains know this, to which only the name has been left; the Africas know it, which once were; the Gauls know it, devastated, though not by all, and so still drawing a faint breath in a very few corners, because the integrity of a few has at times nourished those whom the plunder of many had emptied.
Notes and citation
Summary: Office is bought by a few and paid for by ruining the provinces of Spain, Africa, and Gaul.
- The provinces of Spain, Africa, and Gaul, ravaged in the fifth century.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray letter): ut cunetorum uastatione → ut cunctorum uastatione; et solutionem sciunt t ut pauci → et solutionem sciunt: ut pauci.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.21 (CSEL 8:70–71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-21
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.22CSEL 8:71
Sed euagati longius sumus dolore compulsi. ergo ut ad superior redeamus: quid est igitur, in quo non seruilibus uitiis etiam nobiles polluantur, nisi forte ideo, quia illa, quae in seruis peccata puniunt, ipsi quasi licita committunt? denique ad has peruasiones, quas supra dicti nobiles agunt, seruus nec adspirare permittitur. quamuis mentiar; quidam enim ex seruis nobiles facti ant paria aut maiora fecerunt. sed hoc tamen imputari seruis nequaquam potest, quod quibusdam seruilis condieio tam feliciter cessit. homicidia.
But we have wandered further, driven by grief. To return, then, to what we were saying: in what are even the nobles not polluted with the vices of slaves, unless perhaps in this, that what they punish as sins in slaves they themselves commit as if lawful? Indeed, a slave is not even allowed to aspire to these seizures that the nobles mentioned above carry out. Though I am wrong; for certain slaves made nobles have done equal or greater things. But this can in no way be laid to the charge of slaves, that the servile condition turned out so happily for some. Murders
Notes and citation
Summary: Nobles commit worse crimes than slaves; freed slaves made nobles have done the same.
- The chapter numeral “V” is removed. The sentence continues in 4.23.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked; OCR slip; stray letter): V. Sed euagati longius sumas → Sed euagati longius sumus; quae J in seruis → quae in seruis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.22 (CSEL 8:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-22
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.23CSEL 8:71–72
quoque in seruis rara sunt terrore ac metu mortis, in diuitibus adsidua spe ac fiducia impunitatis. nisi forte iniqui simus hoc quod diuites faciunt ad peccata referendo, quia illi cum occidunt seruulos suos, ius putant esse non crimen.
too are rare among slaves through terror and fear of death, constant among the rich through hope and confidence of impunity. Unless perhaps we are unjust in counting as sins what the rich do, since when they kill their slaves they think it a right, not a crime.
Notes and citation
Summary: Slaves rarely kill; the rich kill their slaves and call it their right.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slips): quoque ih semis rara → quoque in seruis rara; cum occidunt. seraulos suos → cum occidunt seruulos suos.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.23 (CSEL 8:71–72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-23
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.24CSEL 8:72
nec solam hoc, sed eodem priuilegio etiam in exercendo impudicitiae caeno abutuntur. quotus enim quisque est diuitum conubii sacramenta conseruans, quem non libidinis furor rapiat in praeceps, cui non domus ac familia sua scortum sit, et qui non, in quamcumque personam cupiditatis improbae calor traxerit, mentis sequatur insaniam? secundum illud scilicet, quod de talibus dicit sermo diuinus: equi insanientes in feminas facti sunt. quid enim aliud quam de se dictum hoc probat, qui totum peruadere uult concubitu quicquid concupierit
And not only this, but they abuse the same privilege in practicing the filth of unchastity. For how few of the rich keep the sacraments of marriage, whom the frenzy of lust does not hurl headlong, to whom his house and household are not a brothel, and who does not follow the madness of his mind toward whatever person the heat of wicked desire has drawn him? According, indeed, to what the divine word says of such men: “They have become horses mad after females.” For what else proves this said of himself than one who wishes to possess by intercourse whatever he has coveted
Jer 5:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich violate marriage and treat their households as brothels.
- Jer 5:8. The sentence continues in 4.25.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark): conubii sacramenta, conseruans → conubii sacramenta conseruans.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.24 (CSEL 8:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-24
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.25CSEL 8:72
aspectu? nam de concubinis quippiam dici forsitan etiam iniustum esse uideatur, quia hoc in comparatione supradictorum flagitiorum quasi genus est castitatis, uxoribus paucis esse contentum et intra certum coniugum numerum frenum libidinum continere. coniugum dixi, quia ad tantam res impu-
with his eyes? For to say anything of concubines may perhaps even seem unjust, because in comparison with the shameful deeds mentioned above it is almost a kind of chastity to be content with a few wives and to hold the rein of lust within a fixed number of spouses. I said “spouses” because the matter has come to such shamelessness
Notes and citation
Summary: Keeping a few concubines seems almost chaste compared with the rich men’s other crimes.
- Ironic. The sentence continues in 4.26.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray letter; stray mark): I aspectu? nam → aspectu? nam; supradiotorum → supradictorum; et intra. certum coniugum → et intra certum coniugum.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.25 (CSEL 8:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-25
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.26CSEL 8:72
dentiam uenit, ut ancillas suas multi uxores putent. atque utinam sicut putantur esse quasi coniuges, ita solae haberentur uxores. illud magis taetrum ac detestabile, quod quidam matrimonia honorata sortiti alias sibi rursum seruilis status coniuges sumunt, deformantes sancti conubii honorem per degeneris contubernii uilitatem, non erubescentes maritos se fieri ancillarum suarum, praecipitantes fastigia nobilium matrimoniorum in cubilia obscena seruarum, digni prorsus etiam illarum statu, quarum se putant dignos esse consortio.
that many think their slave women their wives. And would that, as they are thought to be wives of a sort, so they alone were held as wives! What is fouler and more detestable is that some, having obtained honorable marriages, take for themselves other wives again of slave status, disfiguring the honor of holy marriage by the baseness of an ignoble cohabitation, not blushing to become husbands of their own slave women, hurling the dignity of noble marriages down into the obscene beds of slave girls, worthy indeed of the status of those whose company they think themselves worthy of.
Notes and citation
Summary: Married nobles take slave women as additional wives, dishonoring marriage.
- Contubernium: the union of slaves, not a legal marriage.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark; stray marks): ( dentiam, uenit,. ut ancillas → dentiam uenit, ut ancillas; status coniuges. sumunt → status coniuges sumunt.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.26 (CSEL 8:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-26
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.27CSEL 8:72–73
Non dubito ex his plurimos, qui aut sunt nobiles aut uideri nobiles uolunt, superbe et aspernanter accipere, quod, dum consideramus haec talia quae locuti sumus, minus flagitiosos diximus seruos quosdam esse quam dominos. sed cum ego hoc non de omnibus, sed de his qui tales sunt praedicauerim, nullus irasci omnino debet, qui nequaquam se talem esse cognoscit, ne hoc ipso, quod irascitur, de coetu ipsorum esse uideatur. quin potius quicumque ex nobilibus haec mala horrent irasci talibus debent, quod facinoribus sordidissimis nobilitatis nomen infament: quia licet hi, qui tales sunt, omnem grauent populum Christianum, specialiter tamen illos sordibus suis polluunt, quorum pars esse dicuntur.
I do not doubt that very many of those who are noble or wish to seem noble take it proudly and scornfully that, considering such things as we have spoken of, we have said some slaves are less shameful than their masters. But since I have declared this not of all but of those who are such, no one at all ought to be angry who knows that he is in no way such, lest by the very fact that he is angry he seem to be of their company. Rather, whoever among the nobles shudders at these evils ought to be angry with such men for defaming the name of nobility with the filthiest crimes; because, though those who are such burden the whole Christian people, they pollute especially with their filth those of whom they are said to be part.
Notes and citation
Summary: Nobles who are innocent should be angry not at Salvian but at the guilty who disgrace their class.
- The chapter numeral “VI” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; chapter numeral leaked into the text; stray mark): VL Non dubito → Non dubito; irasoi talibus → irasci talibus; omnem grauent -populum → omnem grauent populum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.27 (CSEL 8:72–73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-27
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.28CSEL 8:73
diximus itaque nobiles quosdam esse seruis deteriores [diximus utique] et improbabiliter diximus, nisi quod diximus comprobamus. ecce enim ab hoc scelere uel maximo prope omnis seruorum numerus immunis est. numquid aliquis ex seruis turbas concubinarum habet, numquid multarum uxorum labe polluitur et canum uel suum more tantas putat coniuges suas esse, quantas potuerit libidini subiugare?
So we have said that some nobles are worse than slaves, and we would have said it unprovably unless we prove what we said. For behold, almost the whole number of slaves is free from this crime, perhaps the greatest. Does any slave have crowds of concubines, is any polluted by the stain of many wives, and does he, like dogs or swine, think he has as many wives as he can subject to his lust?
Notes and citation
Summary: Slaves do not keep harems of concubines as the rich do.
- The editor’s square brackets around “we have certainly said” (diximus utique) mark it for deletion; left out.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): diximas itaque nobiles → diximus itaque nobiles.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.28 (CSEL 8:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-28
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.29CSEL 8:73
sed responderi uidelicet ad haec potest, quod facere seruis ista non liceat: nam profecto facerent, si liceret. credo: sed quae fieri non uideo, quasi facta habere non possum. quamlibet enim in eis improbae mentes, quamlibet malae cupiditates sint, nullus pro eo, quod non admittit, scelere punitur. malos esse seruos ac detestabiles satis certum est, sed hoc utique ingenui ac nobiles magis execrandi, si in statu honestiore peiores sunt. quo fit ut ad illum perueniri exitum rei huius necesse sit, non ut serui sint a reatu nequitiae suae absoluendi, sed ut plurimi diuites magis sint seruorum comparatione damnandi.
But the answer can no doubt be made to this, that slaves are not allowed to do these things: for they would surely do them if it were allowed. I believe it: but what I do not see done I cannot hold as done. However wicked their minds, however evil their desires, no one is punished for a crime he does not commit. It is certain enough that slaves are bad and detestable; but the freeborn and the nobles are the more execrable if they are worse in a more honorable status. So it must come to this conclusion in this matter: not that slaves are to be acquitted of the guilt of their wickedness, but that very many of the rich are to be the more condemned by comparison with slaves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Slaves are not innocent, but the rich are more to be condemned.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips; stray mark): uidelioet ad haec potest, quod facere semis ista → uidelicet ad haec potest, quod facere seruis ista; habere non -possum → habere non possum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.29 (CSEL 8:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-29). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-29
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.30CSEL 8:73–74
nam illud latrocinium ac scelus quis digne eloqui possit, quod, cum Romana respublica uel iam mortua uel certe extremum spiritum agens in ea parte, qua adhuc uiuere uidetur, tributorum uinculis quasi praedonum manibus strangulata moriatur, inueniuntur tamen plurimi diuitum, quorum tributa pauperes ferunt, hoc est, inueniuntur plurimi diuitum, quorum tributa pauperes necant. et quod inueniri dicimus plurimos, timeo ne uerius diceremus omnes: tam pauci enim mali huius expertes sunt, si tamen ulli sunt, ut in ea parte, qua multos diximus, omnes paene diuites reperire possimus.
For who could worthily describe that robbery and crime, that, while the Roman commonwealth, already dead or at least drawing its last breath in the part in which it still seems to live, is dying, strangled by the chains of taxes as if by the hands of bandits, there are nevertheless found very many of the rich whose taxes the poor bear; that is, there are found very many of the rich whose taxes kill the poor. And as to our saying that very many are found, I fear we should more truly say all: so few are free of this evil, if indeed any are, that where we said “many” we could find almost all the rich.
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich shift their taxes onto the poor while the dying empire strangles under taxation.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): nam illud latiocinium → nam illud latrocinium.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.30 (CSEL 8:73–74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-30). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-30
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.31CSEL 8:74
ecce enim remedia pridem nonnullis urbibus data quid aliud egerunt, quam ut diuites cunctos immunes redderent, miserorum tributa cumularent; illis ut demerentur uectigalia uetera, istis ut adderentur noua; illos ut decessio etiam minimarum functionum locupletaret, istos ut accessio maximarum adfligeret; illi ut eorum, quae leuiter ferebant, imminutione ditescerent, isti ut eorum, quae iam ferre non poterant, multiplicatione morerentur, ac sic remedium illud alios iniustissime erigeret alios iniustissime necaret, aliis esset sceleratissimum praemium aliis sceleratissimum uenenum? unde aduertimus, quod nihil esse diuitibus sceleratius potest, qui remediis suis pauperes perimunt, et nihil pauperibus infelicius, quos etiam illa, quae pro remedio cunctis dantur, occidunt.
For behold, what else have the remedies lately given to some cities done but make all the rich immune and heap up the taxes of the wretched; take old taxes from the former and add new ones to the latter; enrich the former by the removal even of the smallest dues and afflict the latter by the addition of the greatest; make the former grow rich by the lessening of what they bore lightly, and the latter die by the multiplying of what they could already not bear; and so that remedy most unjustly raised up some and most unjustly killed others, being to some a most wicked reward and to others a most wicked poison? Hence we notice that nothing can be more wicked than the rich, who kill the poor with their remedies, and nothing more unhappy than the poor, whom even what is given to all as a remedy kills.
Notes and citation
Summary: Tax relief granted to cities benefited the rich and crushed the poor.
- Remedia: imperial tax remissions.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line number and hyphen leaked into the text; line number leaked into the text; stray letters and OCR slip; stray word): miserorum tributa 10 cumularent → miserorum tributa cumularent; istos ut aocessio → istos ut accessio; isti at eorum → isti ut eorum; multiplicatione more-15 rentur → multiplicatione morerentur; esse et diuitibus sceleratius → esse diuitibus sceleratius; illa, quae to pro remedio cunetis → illa, quae pro remedio cunctis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.31 (CSEL 8:74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-31). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-31
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.32CSEL 8:74–75
Iam uero illud quale, quam sanctum, quod si qui ex nobilibus conuerti ad deum coeperit, statim honorem nobilitatis amittit? aut quantus in Christiano populo honor Christi est, ubi religio ignobilem facit? statim enim, ut quis melior esse temptauerit, deterioris abiectione calcatur, ac per hoc omnes quodammodo mali esse coguntur, ne uiles habeantur. et ideo non sine causa apostolus clamat: saeculum totum in malo positum est. et uerum est; merito enim totum esse in malo dicitur, ubi boni locum habere non possunt. siquidem ita totum iniquitatibus plenum est, ut aut mali sint qui sunt, aut qui boni sunt multorum persecutione crucientur.
And now what of this, how holy is it, that if any of the nobles begins to turn to God, he at once loses the honor of nobility? Or how great is the honor of Christ among a Christian people, where religion makes a man ignoble? For as soon as anyone tries to be better, he is trampled by the contempt of the worse; and so all are in a way forced to be wicked so as not to be held cheap. And so not without cause the apostle cries out: “The whole world lies in evil.” And it is true; for the whole is rightly said to be in evil where the good can have no place. For the whole is so full of iniquities that either those who are are wicked, or those who are good are tormented by the persecution of the many.
1 John 5:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A noble who turns to God loses his standing; the world lies in evil.
- 1 John 5:19. The chapter numeral “VII” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; chapter numeral leaked; OCR slip): VII. Ikm uero illud → Iam uero illud; abiectione ca!catur → abiectione calcatur; in malo diertur → in malo dicitur; aut mali sint i sunt → aut mali sint qui sunt.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.32 (CSEL 8:74–75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-32). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-32
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.33CSEL 8:75
itaque, ut diximus, si honoratior quispiam religioni se adplicuerit, ilico honoratus esse desistit. ubi enim quis mutauerit uestem, mutat protinus dignitatem: si fuit sublimis fit despicabilis, si fuit splendidissimus fit uilissimus, si fuit totus honoris fit totus iniuriae. et mirantur mundani quidam et infideles, si offensam dei aut iracundiam perferunt, ubi deum in sanctis omnibus persequuntur; peruersa enim sunt et in diuersum cuncta mutata. si bonus est quispiam, quasi malus spernitur, si malus est, quasi bonus honoratur. nihil itaque mirum est, si deteriora cotidie patimur, qui cotidie deteriores sumus. et noua enim cotidie homines mala faciunt et uetera non relinquunt: surgunt recentia crimina nec repudiantur antiqua.
So, as we said, if anyone of rank has applied himself to religion, he at once ceases to be honored. For as soon as one has changed his dress, he at once changes his dignity: if he was lofty he becomes despicable, if most splendid most cheap, if all honor all insult. And certain worldly and unbelieving people wonder if they suffer God’s displeasure and anger, when they persecute God in all the saints; for everything is perverse and changed into its opposite. If anyone is good, he is spurned as if bad; if bad, he is honored as if good. It is no wonder, then, if we suffer worse things daily, who are daily worse. For men daily do new evils and do not abandon old ones: new crimes rise and old ones are not repudiated.
Notes and citation
Summary: Converts lose honor; the world honors the bad and despises the good, so suffering increases.
- “Changing dress”: taking the monastic habit.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray mark): adplicuetit, Hico honoratus → adplicuerit, ilico honoratus; si fait totus honoris → si fuit totus honoris; offensam dei ant iracundiam → offensam dei aut iracundiam; nihil itaque mirum est, Si deteriora → nihil itaque mirum est, si deteriora; noua enim cotidie homines mala, faciunt → noua enim cotidie homines mala faciunt.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.33 (CSEL 8:75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-33). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-33
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.34CSEL 8:75–76
Quis ergo est causationi locus? quamlibet aspera et aduersa patiamur, minora patimur quam meremur. quid querimur, quod dure agat nobiscum deus? multo nos cum deo durius agimus. exacerbamus quippe eum impuritatibus nostris et ad puniendos nos trahimus inuitum. cumque eius naturae sit mens dei atque maiestas, ut nulla iracundiae passione moueatur, tanta tamen in nobis peccatorum exacerbatio est, ut per nos cogatur irasci. uim, ut ita dixerim, facimus pietati suae ac manus quodammodo adferimus misericordiae suae. cumque eius benignitatis sit ut uelit nobis iugiter parcere, cogitur malis nostris scelera quae admittimus
What room, then, is there for complaint? However harsh and adverse the things we suffer, we suffer less than we deserve. Why do we complain that God deals harshly with us? We deal much more harshly with God. For we provoke him with our impurities and drag him unwilling to punish us. And though the mind and majesty of God are of such a nature that he is moved by no passion of anger, the provocation of our sins is so great that he is forced by us to be angry. We do violence, so to speak, to his kindness and lay hands, as it were, on his mercy. And though it is of his goodness to wish always to spare us, he is forced by our evils to punish the crimes we commit.
Notes and citation
Summary: We suffer less than we deserve; our sins force the merciful God to punish.
- God is not subject to the passion of anger; Salvian speaks by accommodation. The chapter numeral “VIII” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked; OCR slips): VIII. Quia ergo est cansationi locus → Quis ergo est causationi locus.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.34 (CSEL 8:75–76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-34). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-34
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.35CSEL 8:76
uindicare. ac sicut illi solent, qui munitissimas urbes obsident aut firmissimas arces urbium capere et subruere conantur — omnibus absque dubio eas et telorum et machinarum generibus oppugnant — ita nos ad expugnandam misericordiam dei omni peccatorum immanium scelere quasi omni telorum genere pugnamus; et iniuriosum nobis deum existimamus, cum ipsi iniuriosissimi deo simus. omnis siquidem Christia--
And as those are accustomed to do who besiege very strongly fortified cities or try to capture and undermine the strongest citadels of cities, attacking them without doubt with every kind of weapon and siege engine, so we fight to storm the mercy of God with every crime of monstrous sins as with every kind of weapon; and we think God injurious to us, when we ourselves are most injurious to God. For every fault of all Christians
Notes and citation
Summary: We besiege God’s mercy with our sins like an army attacking a city.
- The sentence continues in 4.36.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark): ( uindicare. ac sicut → uindicare. ac sicut.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.35 (CSEL 8:76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-35). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-35
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.36CSEL 8:76
norum omnium culpa diuinitatis iniuria est. nam cum illa, quae facere a deo uetamur, admittimus, uetantis iussa calcamus, ac per hoc impie in calamitatibus nostris seueritatem diuinam accusamus: quippe nobis nos accusandi sumus. nam cum ea quibus torqueamur admittimus, ipsi tormentorum nostrorum auctores sumus. quid ergo de poenarum acerbitate querimur? unusquisque nostrum ipse se punit. et ideo illud propheticum ad nos dicitur: ecce omnes uos ignem accenditis et uires praebuistis flammae: ingredimini in lucem ignis uestri et flammae, quam accendistis. totum namque humanum genus hoc ordine in poenam aeternam ruit, quo scriptura commemorauit. primum enim ignem accendit, postea uires ignibus praebet, postremum flammam ingreditur quam parauit. quando igitur primum sibi homo aeternum accendit ignem? scilicet cum primum peccare incipit.
is an injury to the Godhead. For when we commit what we are forbidden by God to do, we trample on the commands of the one who forbids; and so we impiously accuse the divine severity in our calamities, since we must accuse ourselves. For when we commit the things by which we are tormented, we ourselves are the authors of our torments. Why then do we complain of the bitterness of punishments? Each of us punishes himself. And so that prophetic word is said to us: “Behold, all of you kindle a fire and have given strength to the flame: walk into the light of your fire and of the flame you have kindled.” For the whole human race rushes into eternal punishment in the order Scripture records. First it kindles the fire, then it gives strength to the fires, finally it walks into the flame it has prepared. When, then, does man first kindle eternal fire for himself? When he first begins to sin.
Isa 50:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Every sin wrongs God; each sinner kindles the fire that will punish him.
- Isa 50:11.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray letter): quippe nobis nos accuaandi sumus → quippe nobis nos accusandi sumus; ecce omnes uos ignem a accenditis → ecce omnes uos ignem accenditis.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.36 (CSEL 8:76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-36). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-36
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.37CSEL 8:76–77
quando autem uires ignibus praebet? cum utique peccatis peccata cumularit. quando uero ignem aeternum introibit? quando inremediabilem iam malorum omnium summam crescentium delictorum nimietate compleuerit, sicut saluator noster ad Iudaeorum principes ait: implete mensuram patrum uestrorum, serpentes, progenies uiperarum. non longe a plenitudine peccatorum erant quibus ipse dicebat dominus, ut peccata complerent, ideo absque dubio, ut, quia digni iam salute non essent, implerent iniquitatum numerum, quo perirent.
And when does he give strength to the fires? When he has heaped sins on sins. And when will he enter eternal fire? When he has completed the now irremediable total of all evils by the excess of growing offenses; as our Savior said to the leaders of the Jews: “Fill up the measure of your fathers, you serpents, brood of vipers.” Those to whom the Lord himself said that they should complete their sins were not far from the fullness of sins; without doubt so that, since they were no longer worthy of salvation, they might fill up the number of iniquities by which they would perish.
Matt 23:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:33 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sinners fill up the measure of their sins until they perish.
- Matt 23:32–33.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark): cum utique + peccatis → cum utique peccatis.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.37 (CSEL 8:76–77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-37). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-37
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.38CSEL 8:77
unde etiam cum lex uetus peccata Amorreorum completa esse memorasset, sic locutos esse ad sanctum Loth angelos refert: omnes qui tui sunt educ de urbe hac; delebimus enim locum istum, eo quod increuerit clamor eorum coram domino, qui misit nos, ut perdamus illos. diu profecto flagitiosissimus ille populus ignem ilium accenderat, quo peribat, et ideo completis iniquitatibus suis arsit flammis criminum suorum. tam male enim de deo meruit, ut gehennam, quae in futuro iudicio erit, iam in hoc saeculo sustineret.
Hence also, when the old law had recorded that the sins of the Amorites were complete, it reports that the angels spoke thus to holy Lot: “Bring all who are yours out of this city; for we will destroy this place, because their cry has grown before the Lord, who has sent us to destroy them.” That most shameful people had long kindled the fire by which it perished, and so, its iniquities complete, it burned in the flames of its own crimes. For it deserved so ill of God that it endured already in this age the Gehenna that will be in the future judgment.
Gen 15:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 19:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 19:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: When their sins were complete, Sodom burned in the fire it had kindled.
- Gen 15:16; 19:12–13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark; words run together): cum lex netus peccata → cum lex uetus peccata; delebimus -enim → delebimus enim; qui misitnos → qui misit nos; in hoc saeculo sustineret.. → in hoc saeculo sustineret..
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.38 (CSEL 8:77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-38). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-38
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.39CSEL 8:77–78
Sed nulli sunt, inquit aliquis, illorum exitu digni, quia nulli illorum impuritatibus comparandi. uerum fortasse istud sit: attamen quid facimus, quod saluator ipse omnes, qui euangelium suum spreuerint, peiores esse memorauit? denique ad Capharnaum sic ait: si in Sodomis factae fuissent uirtutes, quae factae sunt in te, forsitan mansissent usque in hunc diem. uerumtamen dico uobis quia terrae Sodomorum remissius erit in die iudicii quam tibi. si Sodomitas minus damnabiles esse dicit quam cunctos euangelia neglegentes, certissima ergo ratio est, qua et nos, qui in plurimis euangelia neglegimus, peius timere aliquid debeamus, praesertim cum usitatis iam
“But none,” someone says, “are worthy of their end, because none are to be compared with their impurities.” Perhaps that is true; and yet what are we to do, since the Savior himself said that all who spurn his gospel are worse? In short, he says thus to Capernaum: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, perhaps it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” If he says the Sodomites are less damnable than all who neglect the gospel, then there is a most certain reason why we too, who neglect the gospel in very many things, should fear something worse, especially since with the usual
Matt 11:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:24 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ says those who neglect the gospel are worse than Sodom.
- Matt 11:23–24. The chapter numeral “IX” is removed. The sentence continues in 4.40.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; chapter numeral leaked; stray mark; stray mark): IX. Sed nulli sunt, inquit aliquis, illorum exitu digni,. quia → Sed nulli sunt, inquit aliquis, illorum exitu digni, quia; uerumtamen dico nobis quia → uerumtamen dico uobis quia; minus damnabiles esse: dicit → minus damnabiles esse dicit.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.39 (CSEL 8:77–78; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-39). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-39
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.40CSEL 8:78
et, quasi familiaribus malis contenti esse uolumus, non sufficiunt enim multis consuetudinarii reatus, non sufficiunt lites, non calumniae non rapinae, non sufficiunt uinolentiae non sufficiunt comessationes, non sufficiunt falsitates non sufficiunt periuria, non sufficiunt adulteria non sufficiunt homicidia, non sufficiunt denique cuncta ista, etsi atrocitate inhumanissima, re tamen ipsa ad humanas iniurias pertinentia, nisi blasphemas furiosarum mentium manus iniciant etiam in deum. posuerunt enim, sicut de impiis scriptum est, posuerunt in caelo os suum, et lingua eorum transiit super terram, et dixerunt: quomodo scibit deus, etsi est scientia in excelso? et illud: non uidebit nec intelleget deus Iacob.
and, as it were, familiar evils we are not willing to be content: for to many the customary sins are not enough, lawsuits are not enough, false accusations, plunder are not enough, drunkenness is not enough, revels are not enough, falsehoods are not enough, perjuries are not enough, adulteries are not enough, murders are not enough; finally, all these are not enough, which, though of most inhuman atrocity, still concern injuries to men, unless they also lay the blasphemous hands of raving minds on God. For “they have set,” as is written of the impious, “they have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has passed over the earth, and they said: How will God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” And: “God will not see nor understand, the God of Jacob.”
Ps 73:9 (72:9 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 73:11 (72:11 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 94:7 (93:7 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Not content with sins against men, many blaspheme God by denying that he sees.
- Ps 73:9, 11 (Vulgate 72:9, 11); Ps 94:7 (Vulgate 93:7).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): familiaribus malis coutenti esse uolimus → familiaribus malis contenti esse uolumus; non calumniae non rapiuae → non calumniae non rapinae; intelleget deus Iaoob. → intelleget deus Iacob..
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.40 (CSEL 8:78; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-40). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-40
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.41CSEL 8:78–79
ad quos utique tales rectissime propheticum illud referri potest: dixit insipiens in corde suo: non est deus. nam qui nihil a deo aspici adfirmant prope est ut cui aspectum adimunt etiam substantiam tollant, et quem dicunt omnino nil cernere dicant etiam omnino non esse. et quidem licet nullum admodum malum facinus ratione subsistat, quia rationi non possunt scelera coniungi, nullum tamen est, ut puto, uel inrationabilius uel insanius. quid enim tam furiosum est quam ut aliquis, cum deum creatorem rerum omnium non neget, gubernatorem neget, et cum factorem esse fateatur, dicat neglegere quae fecit? quasi uero haec ei faciendorum omnium cura fuerit, ut neglegeret quae fecisset.
To such as these that prophetic word can most rightly be referred: “The fool has said in his heart: There is no God.” For those who affirm that nothing is regarded by God are close to taking away the being of the one from whom they take away sight, and to saying that he whom they say sees nothing at all does not exist at all. And indeed, though no evil deed at all stands by reason, because crimes cannot be joined to reason, yet none, I think, is more unreasonable or more insane. For what is so raving as for someone, while not denying God as creator of all things, to deny him as governor, and, while confessing him the maker, to say that he neglects what he has made? As though his care in making all things had been such as to neglect what he had made.
Ps 14:1 (13:1 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To deny God’s providence is close to denying God, and contradicts belief in him as Creator.
- Ps 14:1 (Vulgate 13:1).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark): nullum tamen, est, ut puto → nullum tamen est, ut puto; quam ut aliquis,, cum → quam ut aliquis, cum.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.41 (CSEL 8:78–79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-41). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-41
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.42CSEL 8:79
ego autem in tantum eum curam creaturarum suarum habere dico, ut probem, etiam priusquam crearet habuisse: res quippe ipsa hoc euidenter ostendit. nihil enim fecerat, nisi curam faciendi habuisset antequam faceret, praesertim cum etiam in ipsa humano genere nullus sit ferme hominum tam hebes, qui ad hoc aliquid agat atque perficiat, ut perfecta non curet. nam et qui agrum excolit ad hoc colit, ut culta conseruet. et qui uineam plantat ad hoc plantat, ut plantata custodiat. et qui initia gregum praeparat ad hoc parat, ut curam multiplicandis gregibus impendat. et qui domum aedificat uel fundamentum locat, etsi necdum habitationem paratam habet, iam tamen ipsa, quae adhuc facere molitur, spe futurae habitationis amplectitur.
But I say that he has such care of his creatures that I prove he had it even before he created them: the thing itself shows this plainly. For he would have made nothing had he not had care for making before he made; especially since even in the human race there is hardly any man so dull as to do and complete something only not to care for it once completed. For he who tills a field tills it so as to preserve what is tilled; and he who plants a vineyard plants it so as to guard what is planted; and he who prepares the beginnings of flocks prepares them so as to spend care on multiplying the flocks; and he who builds a house or lays a foundation, though he does not yet have a dwelling ready, still embraces what he is still striving to make with the hope of future habitation.
Notes and citation
Summary: As human makers care for their work, God cared for his creation even before he made it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips; stray mark): curam creaturarum suarum. habere → curam creaturarum suarum habere; euideuter ostendit. nihil enim feoerat → euidenter ostendit. nihil enim fecerat; et qui uineam. plantat → et qui uineam plantat.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.42 (CSEL 8:79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-42). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-42
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.43CSEL 8:79–80
et quid de homine hoc loquar, cum etiam minima animalium genera futurarum rerum affectu omnia agant? formicae in subterraneis latibulis uaria frugum genera condentes ad hoc cuncta contrahunt ac reponunt, quia affectu uitae suae diligunt quae recondunt. apes, cum fundamenta fauis ponunt uel cum e floribus natos legunt, qua causa uel thymum iam nisi studio et cupiditate mellis uel flosculos quosdam nisi futurae sobolis caritate sectantur?
And why should I speak of man in this, when even the smallest kinds of animals do everything with concern for things to come? Ants, storing various kinds of grain in underground hiding places, gather and store everything because, out of love for their life, they love what they store away. Bees, when they lay the foundations of their combs or gather offspring from flowers, for what reason do they seek thyme except from zeal and desire for honey, or certain little flowers except from love of their future young?
Prov 6:6 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even ants and bees work with care for the future.
- Ancient belief that bees gather their young from flowers (Virgil, Georgics 4.200–201).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray letters; stray mark): de bomine hoc loquar → de homine hoc loquar; in subterraneis latibulis ex * uaria → in subterraneis latibulis uaria; nisi studio. et cupiditate → nisi studio et cupiditate.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.43 (CSEL 8:79–80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-43). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-43
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.44CSEL 8:80
deus ergo, qui etiam minimis animantibus hunc affectum proprii operis inseruit, se tantummodo solum creaturarum suarum amore priuauit, praesertim cum omnis in nos rerum bonarum amor ex illius bono amore descenderit. ipse est enim fons et origo cunctorum, et quia in ipso, ut scriptum est, et uiuimus et mouemur et sumus, ab ipso utique affectum omnem, quo pignora nostra amamus, accepimus; totus namque mundus et totum humanum genus pignus est creatoris sui. et ideo ex hoc ipso affectu, quo amare nos fecit pignora nostra, intellegere nos uoluit, quantum ipse amaret pignora sua.
Did God, then, who implanted even in the smallest animals this love for their own work, deprive himself alone of love for his creatures? Especially since all love of good things in us has come down from his good love. For he is the fount and origin of all things; and since in him, as it is written, we live and move and have our being, we have certainly received from him all the affection with which we love our dear ones; for the whole world and the whole human race is the dear child of its Creator. And so by the very affection with which he made us love our children he wished us to understand how much he himself loves his own.
Acts 17:28 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Our love for our children comes from God, who loves his creatures far more.
- Acts 17:28.
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.44 (CSEL 8:80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-44). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-44
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.45CSEL 8:80
sicut enim, ut legimus, inuisibilia eius per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur, ita amorem erga nos suum per eum, quem nobis erga nostros dedit amorem, uoluit intellegi. et sicut omnem, ut scriptum est, paternitatem in caelo et in terra a se ipso uoluit nominari, sic a nobis patris in se affectum uoluit agnosci. et quid dicam patris? immo potius plus quam patris. probat quippe hoc uox saluatoris in euangelio dicentis: sic enim dilexit deus hunc mundum, ut filium suum unicum daret pro mundi uita. sed et apostolus dicit: deus, inquit, filio suo non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum. quomodo non etiam cum illo omnia nobis donauit?
For as, we read, “his invisible things are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made,” so he wished his love toward us to be understood through the love he gave us toward our own. And as he willed, as it is written, “every fatherhood in heaven and on earth” to be named from himself, so he willed that the affection of a father be recognized in him by us. And why do I say of a father? Rather more than of a father. The voice of the Savior in the gospel proves this, saying: “For God so loved this world that he gave his only Son for the life of the world.” And the apostle says: “God,” he says, “did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. How has he not also with him given us all things?”
Rom 1:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 3:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 3:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:32 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God loves us more than a father loves his children, giving his only Son.
- Rom 1:20; Eph 3:15; John 3:16 (with 6:51); Rom 8:32.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark): dilexit deus hunc mundum,. ut → dilexit deus hunc mundum, ut.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.45 (CSEL 8:80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-45). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-45
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.46CSEL 8:80–81
Hoc est ergo illud, quod supra dixi, quia plus nos amat deus quam pater filium. euidens quippe res est, quod super affectum filiorum nos deus diligit, qui propter nos filio suo non pepercit. et quid? plus addo, et hoc filio iusto et hoc filio unigenito et hoc filio deo: quid dici amplius potest? et hoc pro nobis, id est pro malis pro iniquis pro impiissimis.
This, then, is what I said above, that God loves us more than a father loves his son. For it is plain that God loves us beyond the affection for children, who did not spare his own Son for our sake. And what more? I add more: and this a righteous Son, and this an only-begotten Son, and this a Son who is God. What more can be said? And this for us, that is, for the wicked, for the unjust, for the most impious.
Rom 8:32 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God gave his righteous, only-begotten, divine Son for the wicked.
- The chapter numeral “X” is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (chapter numeral leaked into the text): X. Hoc est ergo illud → Hoc est ergo illud.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.46 (CSEL 8:80–81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-46). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-46
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.47CSEL 8:81
quis aestimare hunc erga nos dei amorem queat, nisi quod iustitia dei tanta est, ut in eum aliquid iniustum cadere non possit? nam quantum ad rationem humanam pertinet, iniustam rem homo quilibet fecerat, si pro pessimis seruis filium bonum fecisset occidi. sed utique hoc magis inaestimabilis pietas et hoc magis mirabilis dei uirtus est, quod ita intellegi ab homine magnitudo iustitiae suae non potest, ut, quantum ad inbecillitatem humanam pertinet, paene iniustitiae speciem magnitudo iustitiae habere uideatur. et ideo apostolus ad indicandam nobis aliquatenus diuinae misericordiae immensitatem sic ait: ut quid enim Christus, cum adhuc impii essemus, secundum tempus pro impiis mortuus est? uix enim pro iusto quis moritur.
Who could estimate this love of God toward us, except that the justice of God is so great that nothing unjust can befall him? For as far as human reason goes, any man would have done an unjust thing if he had had a good son killed for the worst slaves. But this is all the more the incalculable kindness and the more wonderful power of God, that the greatness of his justice cannot be so understood by man that, as far as human weakness goes, the greatness of his justice seems almost to have the appearance of injustice. And so the apostle, to show us to some extent the immensity of divine mercy, says thus: “For why did Christ, while we were still impious, die in due time for the impious? For scarcely will anyone die for a righteous man.”
Rom 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s love in giving his Son for sinners seems to human eyes almost unjust, so great is it.
- Rom 5:6–7.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.47 (CSEL 8:81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-47). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-47
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
4.48CSEL 8:81
ostendit profecto nobis una hac sententia pietatem dei. nam si uix ullus pro summa iustitia mortem suscipit, probauit Christus quantum praestiterit pro nostra iniquitate moriendo. sed cur hoc fecerit dominus, statim in subditis docet dicens: commendat autem suam caritatem deus in nobis: nam si, cum adhuc peccatores essemus, Christus pro nobis mortuus est, multo magis igitur iustificati nunc in sanguine ipsius salui erimus ab ira per ipsum. hoc ipso ergo commendat, quia pro impiis mortuus est; maioris enim pretii est beneficium, quod praestatur indignis. idcirco itaque ait: commendat suam caritatem deus in nobis. quomodo commendat?
By this one sentence he has surely shown us the kindness of God. For if scarcely anyone undergoes death for the highest righteousness, Christ has proved how much he bestowed by dying for our iniquity. But why the Lord did this he teaches at once in what follows, saying: “But God commends his love toward us: for if, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, much more, then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him.” He commends it by this very fact, that he died for the impious; for a benefit given to the unworthy is of greater price. So he says: “God commends his love toward us.” How does he commend it?
Rom 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:9 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s death for sinners commends God’s love.
- Rom 5:8–9.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Salvian, Gub. 4.48 (CSEL 8:81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-48). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/salvian-gubernatione/4-48
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of the staged edition (corrections logged). No public-domain English translation is available to us and no FOTC volume covers Salvian, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.