Charity is the rule that decides when a command is a figure, and eternity is a will that does not change. Augustine says a figurative expression is to be turned until it establishes the reign of love, and if the literal sense already does that, it is not a figure. A command that seems to enjoin a crime, or to forbid a kindness, is figurative. Eating the flesh is a share in the sufferings. Coals of fire are the groans of penitence. Commands given to a lower state are not canceled by a higher one. What was allowed in the Old Testament for those times is not a habit for these, and one man may use many wives with chastity while another uses one with lust. In the Confessions he has been told, in the inner ear, that God alone is immortal, and that every nature which is not God is still from God. Only what is not, is not from Him. Sin is the motion of the will toward what is less, and no sin hurts God or disturbs His rule. Aquinas asks how the one who is equal can still be subject. He is subject, and He prays, and He mediates, as man. He is priest forever, offering once, the virtue of the offering remaining. He is Son by nature, not by adoption. The humanity is adored because it is the humanity of the Son, not because flesh is divine.

Today’s Readings:

Augustine — On Christian Doctrine, Book 3, Chapters 15–18 (Sections 23–27) Augustine — The Confessions, Book 12, Chapter 11 (Section 11) Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 3, Questions 20–26

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