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Chapter 11PazmanyKalauz.1.11

6. Három tanúság

Humility from the Earth

God created us from earth to remind us of our lowliness and to curb our pride.

Here's the first testimony: although God could have created our body from nothing, He willed that its beginning should be from earth—so that the earth we constantly tread would remind us of our lowly condition, and we wouldn't puff ourselves up over our goods; instead, smothering the swell of our self-will with the memory of the earth, we would often say to ourselves: What can dust and ashes take pride in?1 What can a clay shard or an earthen pot grumble against the potter? Why should earth get angry with its neighbor over a single word—earth that only deserves to be trampled underfoot? Right here we have a memorial of our lowliness—from the very things we tread underfoot.2 Bend down toward the earth, and consider that you were formed from the earth. What is more contemptible than we are? What do we more rightly consider worthless than ourselves?3 Have you seen someone clothed in a flowered garment, adorned with gems and silks?4 Don't let outward appearances lead you astray.5 Remember that God formed man from the mud of the earth: you have a reminder of your humility right at hand.✦ You who rant and fly into a rage—where does your anger come from?6 From the insult? You can't bear to hear yourself called base?7 Lower your eyes, and the anger will settle. Look at the earth and think: 'He called me base.' But when I consider that I was made from earth—he said less than what I am.✦8

Raised for Heaven

Our upright stature directs our minds and desires toward God and heavenly goods, not earthly pleasures.

Saint Basil gives this second testimony: when we consider how the human condition differs from that of irrational animals, it should occur to us that God created us with an upright posture so that this might make clear the goal of our life and the duty of our calling. For God gave us an upright posture, raised toward the heavens, so that we might direct our minds, thoughts, wills, and all our desires toward God and heavenly goods—and not look only at the earth, like the irrational animals: God formed man upright. He gave you this chosen form, beyond the other animals, because He was also going to give you a chosen way of acting: the other animals feed on the ground, and for the things to which nature destined them, they have a build suited to those things.9 The sheep was born for grazing; its head is bent down so that it may look at its belly and what lies under it, because the goal of its happiness is a full belly and pleasure. But man does not look toward the belly; rather his head is raised upright toward what is above, so that he may gaze upon his heavenly kinship.10 Therefore do not act contrary to your nature; do not look down at the earth, but at the heavenly things, where Christ is. Your very form is a lesson about the purpose for which you were made: that you may see God, not that you may have a beast's pleasure.

Dominion and Dignity

God made us lords over creation, but we must not become like beasts through vice; instead, we should live as priests in the temple of the world.

This holy doctor offers a third testimony: God made man lord over all the animals without reason: "Let us make man in our image and likeness, so that he may rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the beasts of the whole earth."✦ Indeed, Moses even writes that he created the sun and the moon to serve human beings.✦ So let's do everything we can to preserve the dignity of our condition, and not become like animals without reason in our morals—like those Saint David writes about, who were made like cattle: "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like them."✦ For whoever is carried away by anger turns into a raging dog. Anyone who preys on what belongs to someone else becomes a wolf. Lustful and unchaste people are rightly called stallions, because they have freely adopted the ways of those animals: "What, then, do you say?"✦11 "Do I myself have wild beasts within me?" "Yes—countless ones." When anger barks in the heart, isn't it fiercer than any dog? Isn't the one who's quick with insults a scorpion? Isn't the one secretly stirred up for revenge a fiercer viper? Isn't the greedy man a ravenous wolf? Isn't the man raging with lust for women a mad stallion? For they have become horses, he says, raging with love of women; each one neighed after his neighbor's wife: he remade himself after the nature of brute beasts, through disordered affection.✦12 That too is a way of thinking fitting for a Christian, which we read in Macrobius: that this world is God's temple; therefore we ought to live in this world as priests customarily live in the temple: Whatever is subject to human sight is called the temple of him who is grasped by the mind alone; so whoever is brought into the use of this temple should know that he must live after the manner of a priest.

Read the original Hungarian

Első tanúság az légyen; hogy noha Isten semmiből teremthette volna a mi testünket, de azt akarta, hogy földből légyen kezdeti: avégre, hogy a föld, melyet szünetlen tapodunk, megemlékeztessen kicsiny állapatunkrúl, és fel ne fuvalkodjunk javainkban; hanem a mi akaratosságunk dagályát, a föld emlékezetivel megfojtván, gyakran azt mondjuk magunkban: Miben kevélykedhetik a por és hamu? Mit zúgolódhatik a fazekas ellen a cserép és földedény? Mi oka vagyon, hogy egy szóért haragudjék felebarátja ellen a föld; mely csak azt érdemli, hogy emberek lábaival tapodtassék? In promptu adest nobis monumentum nostrae vilitatis, ex his quae pedibus calcamus. Inclina te ad terram, & cogita, quod ex terra formatus es. Quid magis contemtibile, quam nos sumus? Quid magis merito vili pendimus, quam nos ipsos? Vidisti aliquem veste fiorida indutum; gemma & sericis ornatum?

ne obalienent te imagmes. Cogita, quod formavit Deus hominem ex limo terrae: Prope habes commonefactionem tuae humilitatis. Convitiator & iracundus, unde est tibi ira? Ex ignominia? non sustines audire ignobili? Demitte oculos & quiescet ira. Respice terram & cogita; Ignobilem me dixit; cum, quid de terra factus sum: minus dixit, quam ego sum.

Második tanúságot azt adja Szent Basilius; hogy midőn embernek, az oktalan állatok termetitűl különböző állapatját tekintjük, eszünkbe jusson, hogy minket igyenesen fennálló termettel azért teremtett Isten, hogy ebből kitessék életünk célja és hivatalunk kötelessége. Mert az egek felé igyenes felserdült állapatot avégre adott Isten, hogy elménket, gondolatunkat, akaratunkat és minden kívánságunkat Istenhez, mennyei jókra igazítsuk; és ne nézzük csak a földet, mint az oktalan állatok: Formavit Deus hominem erectum. Electam tibi hanc formationem, praeter alia animalia dedit, quia electam etiam actionem daturus erat: cetera animalia humi pascentia sunt, & ad quae a natura destinata sunt, ad ea constructionem habent. Genita est Ovicula ad pastum; caput habet inclinatum, ut ventrem inspiciat, & ea quae sub ventre sunt, quoniam finis foelicitatis illius, est repletivo ventris et voluptas: Homo autem non in ventrem aspicit, sed caput est illi sursum versus erectum, quo supernam cognationem intueatur. Ne igitur te ipsum praeter naturam geras; ne terram circumspicias, sed caelestia, ubi Christus est. Ipsa formatio, documentum est finis, ad quem factus es, ut Deum videas, non ut bestialem habeas voluptatem.

Harmadik tanúságot azt adja ezen szent doktor; hogy az embert az Isten urává tette minden oktalan állatoknak: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem & similitudinem nostram, ut praesit piscibus maris, volatilibus coeli & bestiis universaeque terrae. Sőt azt írja Mózes, hogy a napot és holdot az emberek szolgálatjára teremtette. Azért minden tehetségünkkel azon légyünk, hogy állapatunk méltóságát megtartsuk, és oktalan állatokhoz hasonlók ne légyünk erkölcsünkben; mint azok, akikrűl írja Szent Dávid; hogy barmokhoz hasonlíttattak: Homo cum in honore esset, non intellexit; comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, & similis factus est illis. Mert aki elragadtatik a haragosságtúl, dühödt ebbé változik. Aki ragadoz a másén, farkassá lészen. A buják és fajtalanok méltán neveztetnek ménlovaknak: mert ezek erkölcsébe öltöztek, szabad akaratjokkal: Quid igitur dicis? Ego feras & bestias in me ipse habeo? Sane innumeras.

Ira cum latrat in corde, nonne omni Cane ferocior existit? Qui velox ad contumelias, nonne est Scorpius? Qui clam ad vindictam concitatur, non est Vipera saevior? Avarus, non est Lupus rapax? Mulierum amore furens, non est Equus insaniens? Equi enim, inquit, facti sunt, feminarum amore furentes, unusguisque ad uxorem proximi adhinnivit: transposuit se ipsum ad naturam brutorum, per affectionem. Az is keresztyén emberhez illendő gondolkodás, melyet Macrobiusnál olvasunk; Hogy e világ Isten temploma: azért úgy kell élnünk e világon, mint a papok szoktak a templomban: Quidquid humano aspectui subjicitur, templum ejus vocatur, qui sola mente concipitur: sciat ergo, quisquis in usum hujus templi inducitur, ritu sibi vivendum sacerdotis.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gen.2.7 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
  2. ↩Gen.2.7;Gen.3.19 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Gen.3.19 — By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
  3. ↩Gen.1.26 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
  4. ↩Gen.1.14-Gen.1.18 — And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years." Gen.1.15 — and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth — and it was so. Gen.1.16 — And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. Gen.1.17 — And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, Gen.1.18 — and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
  5. ↩Ps.49.13;Ps.50.12 — And a man in honor does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. Ps.50.12 — If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
  6. ↩Jer.5.8 — They are well-fed, lustful stallions; each one neighs after his neighbor's wife.
  7. ↩Jer.5.8 — They are well-fed, lustful stallions; each one neighs after his neighbor's wife.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩akaratosságunk dagályát: rendered as 'the swell of our self-will' (willfulness/obstinacy swelling like a tide); dagály is tidal swell.
  2. 2 ↩Embedded Latin citation (Basil, as framed by the preceding Hungarian chapter). vilitatis rendered 'lowliness' rather than 'vileness' to match the humility register of the surrounding testimony.
  3. 3 ↩vili pendimus: classical/scholastic 'hold of little worth / value cheaply'; rendered 'hold cheap' to keep the evaluative force without archaism.
  4. 4 ↩Source has veste fiorida; translated as veste florida ('flowery/bright garment').
  5. 5 ↩Source reading 'ne obalienent te imagmes' is almost certainly corrupt for 'ne abalienent te imagines' ('do not let the images/appearances alienate you'), continuing the previous sentence about fine dress, gems, and silk.
  6. 6 ↩'Convitiator' is taken as 'conviciator' (railer/reviler); paired with 'iracundus' as a double address to the insulted, angry person.
  7. 7 ↩'audire ignobili' is terse; rendered as inability to bear being called ignoble/base, which matches the following 'Ignobilem me dixit'. Alternatively it could mean 'hear it from a low-born person'.
  8. 8 ↩The force of 'minus dixit, quam ego sum' is that the insult understates the truth: made from earth, the speaker is even lower than 'base'.
  9. 9 ↩electam actionem rendered as 'chosen way of acting' (elevated conduct suited to the upright form); could also be 'chosen activity/work'.
  10. 10 ↩repletivo ventris taken as repletione ventris, 'filling of the belly' / 'a full belly'; foelicitatis = felicitatis.
  11. 11 ↩ménlovaknak: stud-horses/stallions; the image is the traditional Jeremianic comparison of lust to neighing horses, not ordinary workhorses.
  12. 12 ↩Source has unusguisque; translated as unusquisque ("each one").

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