Quod Gnatonici peruertunt omnia nec uera ao
The Peril of Flattery and the Cry of the Poor
The author warns against the sycophants who enable the wealthy to oppress the poor, reminding them that God hears the cries of the needy and judges those who offer ill-gotten sacrifices.
They concede that if the wealthy are wise, they must be flayed like Marsyas, and that God Himself pursues those who slander the poor. But if you believe Gnato, anyone who doesn't smile upon the wealthy even when they do wrong, or who doesn't applaud their worst actions, is seen as either envying their fortune or failing in their duty; for among the Gnatonici, speaking the truth is a crime of treason. Having obtained permission, however, I offer one thing on behalf of the members for the ears of the head—not my own words, but those of the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit: 'Whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be heard.' Indeed, he won't be heard by his own head, since his head is Christ, and in Christ is God, and God is Christ, who frees the poor from the powerful and shatters all the swelling kingdoms of the earth—the stone cut from the mountain without hands, rescuing the needy from the hand of those stronger than him, and the destitute and poor from those who plunder them. If, therefore, anyone—whoever he may be—rises up against those whose patron, or rather father, is Christ, he undoubtedly provokes against himself the stone by whose impact the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw was crushed, which represented the series of kingdoms of varying splendor and strength. It is of no use to multiply vows while torturing the poor, or to try to bribe God with gifts—as if He could be corrupted—by offering alms from the impenitent rather than the true, when Wisdom protests that it is ruin for a man to devour the holy and then make vows; and that saying: 'The sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, because they are offered from wickedness,' and: 'He who offers a sacrifice from the property of the poor is like one who kills a son before his father.' And don't hold it against me if the blood of the brother is sought from their hand, or if they receive the rewards of their works in the same measure that they themselves dealt out; for it is not I, but the Most High, who says and does all these things. I, for my part, believe that one should serve not only the good and modest but even the difficult, with all humility and reverence, yet faithfully honoring God in the cult of authority, by whom it was instituted.
The Folly of the Sycophant
While acknowledging the duty to respect authority, the author condemns the flatterer as a fickle and immature figure who blinds the powerful with empty praise.
This is why the Hebrews are instructed to pray for the Babylonians, because in the peace of their rulers lies the rest of the people; and Christ himself judged that tribute should be paid by the faithful to Caesar. Yet the sycophant twists everything, and in his view, speaking the truth is the same as committing treason. He is a man who deserves to have his skin stripped off by a student of Apollo—that is, a seeker of wisdom—following the example of Marsyas, who was defeated and flayed after trying to outdo Phoebus in song. The faction of flatterers imitates him and plays the part of that unhappy satyr; they don't seek so much to surpass their own idols—the fortunate—with empty praise, as to blind them, as if they were nothing more than musical instruments. It always remains immature in its vice, never ripening with the gravity of good sense; it is fickle, wanton, talkative, and more easily swayed by every breeze than a reed.
Read the original Latin
fateri patiuntur, et quod eis exemplo Marsiae corium detrahendum est, si sapiant diuites; et quod calumpd niatores pauperum JDeus ipse persequitur. Ceterum si Gnatoni creditur, quisquis non arridet diuitibus etiam cum malefecerint aut non applaudit in pessimis eorum, uidetur aut inuidere fortunae aut officio non def erre; nam apud Gnatonicos ueritatis eloquium crimen est maiestatis. Impetrata tamen uenia unum pro membris in auditu capitis insero, non tamen ego sed Spiritus sapientiae, Spiritus ueritatis, Spiritus sanctus: Qui obturat aurem suam ad elamorem pauperis et ipse clamabit et non exaudietur. Non equidem exaudietur a capite suo, quoniam caput eius Christus est et in Christo Deus et Deus Christus, qui liberat pauperem a potente et confringit omnia intumentia regna terrarum, lapis praecisus de monte sine manibus, eripiens inopem de manu fortiorum eius, egenum a et pauperem a diripientibus eum. Si ergo quisquam, quicumque sit ille, insurgit in eos quorum patronus immo pater est Christus, proculdubio in se ipsum prouocat lapidem quo irruente comminuta est statua quam uidit Nabugodonosor, quae regnonmi uarii splendoris et roboris seriem figurabat. Nec proficit in tortura pauperum multiplicare uota et, quasi Deus muneribus corrumpi queat, eum stipulatis potius quam ueris ab impenitente elemosinis attemptare, cum Sapientia protestetur quia ruina est homini deuorare sanctos et post uota tractare; et illud: Hostiae impiorum abominabiles Domino, quia ofFeruntur ex scelere; et: Qui ofiert sacrificium de rapina pauperis quasi filiimi immolat patri. Nec michi imputetur si de manu eorum fratemus sanguis exquiritur aut operum suorum reportant praemia in eadem mensura quam ipsi intulerunt; quoniam non ego sed Altissimus dicit et facit haec omnia. Ego quidem non tantum bonis et modestis sed etiam discolis arbitror seruiendum in omni humilitate et reuerentia, fidehter tamen efc in cultu potestatis Deum uenerandum, a quo est instituta.
Vnde et Ebrei praecipiuntur orare pro Babyloniis quia in pace principum quies est populorum; et Christus ipse Cesari tributa a fidelibus censuit esse soluenda. Omnia tamen peruertit Gnato, et eo iudice ueri prof essio maiestatis crimini coaequatur; dignus plane cui alumnus Apollinis, id est sapientiae cultor, pellem detrahat, exemplo Marsiae qui, dum contendit Phebum superare canendo, uictus indumento naturae spoliatur. Eum namque adulatorum factio imitatur et infelicem satirum implet, dum numina sua (fortunatos loquor) uanis laudibus uelut instrumentis musicis non tam superare molitur quam excecare. Semper quidem iuuenescit in uitio, quae numquam grauitate sensuum maturatur, leuis, lasciua, loquax, et quae ad omnem auram quauis harundine citius agitatur,
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