Caput XV
Two Lineages from Adam's Firstborn
Odo introduces two lineages arising from Cain, Adam's firstborn, noting that the natural order precedes the spiritual, as the Apostle teaches.
Now in the case of those two men from whom these lineages arose, what their followers carry with them has been set forth through God's wise ordering. Let us speak first about Cain, Adam's firstborn — as the Apostle says, what is natural came first, not what is spiritual (1 Cor. 15:46).✦
The Earthly Desire of Cain's Followers
Cain's followers pursue earthly goods with their whole desire, yet the joy found in such pleasures is called into question.
He himself proved to be a farmer, and his followers seek earthly things with all their desire: they have their good here, though mixed with many hardships, and they rejoice in receiving it. What kind of joy can be found in such pleasures and pursuits?
Insincere Sacrifice and Stained Good Works
Like Cain, these people offer sacrifice without sincerity, holding the faith in word but staining their good works with evil or brotherly hatred.
He offered a sacrifice to God, but not sincerely; and these people hold the faith — at least in word. They often do many good things, yet they stain them either with an admixture of evil or — like that man — with brotherly hatred.
Rewards Poured into a Torn Sack
They accumulate rewards but send them into a torn sack, seeking praise from men or earthly prosperity, as the prophet laments that they carry their sacrifices down into the deep.
They give to some, they seize from others, they pile up rewards; but, as it is written, they send them into a torn sack, since for those very gifts they seek either praise from men or prosperity in this present life from God. Of whom the prophet says: They carry their sacrifices down into the deep (Hos.).
Seeking the Lowest Things
However much good works they perform, they seek the lowest things; had they sought heavenly things, they would have raised their sacrifices on high.
That is, they seek the things that are lowest, through whatever good works they perform.1 For if they were seeking heavenly things, they would raise their sacrifices on high.2
Read the original Latin
In illis autem duobus hominibus, a quibus hae generationes exortae sunt, quid sequaces eorum gerant provida dispensatione expressum est. Nam ut prius de Cain dicamus, qui primogenitus Adae fuit, (ut enim Apostolus ait, non prius quod spiritale, sed quod animale (I Cor. XV, 46),) ipse agricola exstitit, et sequaces ejus totis desideriis terrena quaerunt: qui hic habent bonum suum, quamvis multis angustiis intermistum, cujus boni perceptione laetantur. Qualis laetitia de talibus gaudiis et rebus inesse potest? Ille sacrificium Deo, sed non simpliciter obtulit, et isti fidem, licet verbotenus, tenent. Qui saepe multa bona faciunt, quae tamen vel malorum admistione, vel sicut ille, fraterno odio commaculant. Aliis donant, aliis rapiunt, mercedes congregant: sed, ut scriptum est, eos in saccum pertusum mittunt, dum pro ipsis donis aut laudes ab hominibus, aut a Deo praesentis vitae felicitatem quaerunt. De quibus propheta dicit: Victimas in profundo deferunt (Ose.
V, 2), id est ea quae in imo sunt, per quaelibet bona opera requirunt. Nam si coelestia quaererent, victimas in altum levarent.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Cor.15.46 — But the spiritual is not first; rather, the natural comes first, and then the spiritual.
Notes
- 1 ↩The phrase ea quae in imo sunt ("the things that are lowest") contrasts earthly, base pursuits with heavenly ones; the contrast is sharpened in the following sentence.
- 2 ↩The conditional (si…quaererent…levarent) is contrary-to-fact: they do not seek heavenly things, and so their sacrifices remain earthbound. The image of raising victims in altum ("into the height") evokes the contrast between low, worldly offerings and sacrifices directed toward heaven.
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