De affectu carnali duplici
Two Roots of Carnal Affection
Bernard distinguishes two kinds of carnal affection, showing how outward appearances—beauty, speech, bearing—stir desire in the observer apart from any real knowledge of the person.
There are two kinds of carnal affection, and this is where they start. In most cases, it's not really anyone's virtue or fault that sways the heart of the person looking on, but rather some outward bearing of the person they see. After all, it doesn't take much — a more attractive face, a sweeter way of speaking, a measured and graceful walk, a charming appearance — to stir up and provoke desire in someone who doesn't even know what sort of person he's really dealing with.
Moses: Beauty Preserved by Grace
The infant Moses, graced with remarkable beauty, is preserved from death by his parents' faith and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, rising to prominence in Egypt.
This grace shone so brightly in Moses while he was still a boy that, in defiance of Pharaoh's tyrannical order to put two Hebrew baby boys to death, he was kept safe by his parents for three months — as the Apostle says, because they saw that the child was beautiful (Heb.✦ 11; Exod. 1). And though he was exposed to danger, the beauty of his form won the compassion even of Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her own son; and being raised in her household, he grew to prominence before all of Pharaoh's servants.
The Memory of Sin and Carnal Stirring
When the memory of past sinful pleasure is awakened by an attractive appearance, no one doubts that disordered carnal impulse follows.
Moreover, when a person is pricked by the memory of sinful pleasure — stirred by the seductive charm of any attractive appearance — no one in their right mind will doubt that this provokes a carnal impulse through disordered affection.
David Undone by a Glance
David, caught off guard by the sight of Bathsheba, is dissolved by disordered affection and proceeds to abuse his power, sending Uriah to his death.
This kind of affection caught David off guard as he walked on the upper terrace of his house, when the sight of Bathsheba came upon him (2 Kings 11).1 Once overtaken, it dissolved him; it overwhelmed him as he came apart. And in an opposite manner: the one he weakened by embracing another man's wife, he cruelly armed for death against his own soldier.2
Solomon's Wisdom Swallowed by Lust
Solomon's great wisdom is ultimately swallowed up by carnal lust, which plunges him into the abyss of idolatry and spiritual fornication.
This same affection swallowed up Solomon's wisdom, and once he was undone by carnal lust, it threw him into the abyss of spiritual fornication through the most abominable worship of idols.
Read the original Latin
Carnalis affectus duplex occurrit origo. Plerumque enim cujuslibet non quidem virtus aut vitium, sed quaedam exterioris hominis habitudo animum sibi intuentis inclinat. Facile quippe alicujus et forma elegantior, et sermo suavior, et maturus incessus, et venustus aspectus, etiam ignorantis qualis ipse homo sit, provocat et perstringit affectum. Haec adeo in Moyse puero adhuc gratia relucebat ; ut contra tyrannicum Pharaonis imperium, duo masculos Hebraeorum neci destinaverat, a parentibus tribus mensibus, servaretur, ut ait Apostolus, eo quod vidissent elegantem infantem (Hebr. xi; Exod. i). Expositus quoque periculo, formae elegantia etiam filiae Pharaonis sibi pietatem illexit ; cui adoptatus in filium magnus effectus est coram universis quoque servis Pharaonis. Porro quem ad noxiae voluptatis memoriam in quamlibet speciem suavitas male blanda compungit; carnali motui affectu, nemo sani capitis dubitabit.
Hic affectus ambulantem in solario domus suae David ad speciem Bethsabee praevenit incautum (II Reg. xi), praeventum dissolvit, obruit dissolutum. Contrarioque modo quem in alienae uxoris enervavit amplexum, in proprii militis crudelem armavit interitum. Hic affectus sapientiam Salomonis absorbuit, et carnali libidine dissolutum in spiritualis fornicationis barathrum nefandissima idolorum cultura dejecit.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Heb.11.23 — By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
Notes
Speculum caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) companion
Reorder one love at a time, daily
Use the study map with the free Chosen Portion app's daily readings to work through Aelred at a sustainable pace.
Aelred wrote the Mirror as a rule for daily interior discipline in community, and Chosen Portion carries that discipline forward as a short ordered reading each day.
- All 3 books and 102 chapters mapped into 4 weekly themes with page-level pointers
- Aelred's choice-motion-fruit test, turned into a one-page self-examination worksheet
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