Argumento deste primero libro
The Purpose of the First Book
The author introduces the first book as an exhortation to virtue, grounded in the obligations to God and the reality of the four last things.
This first book, Christian reader, contains a long exhortation to virtue—that is, to keeping and obeying God's commandments—and true virtue consists in that. It's divided into three main parts. The first part urges virtue, bringing forward for this purpose all the most common reasons the saints usually give on this subject: the great obligations we have to God our Lord, both for what he is in himself and for what he is to us because of his inestimable benefits; and along with this, for how much virtue itself matters to us—which is amply proven by the four last things of man, namely death, judgment, paradise, and hell, which this first part treats.1
The Privileges of Virtue
This section outlines the second part of the book, which focuses on the present goods and spiritual privileges that accompany a virtuous life.
In the second part, the same point is urged by bringing forward fresh reasons: the goods of grace promised to virtue right now in this life. There twelve special privileges that virtue has are set out, and each one is treated in particular. These privileges, though the saints sometimes touch on them briefly—declaring the peace, the light, and the true freedom and joy of a good conscience, and the consolations of the Holy Spirit (which the just enjoy), which virtue commonly brings with it—yet until now I have not seen anyone who has deliberately treated this subject at length and in order.2 And for this reason a little more work was needed: to draw out and gather all these things from various places in Holy Scripture, name them, set them in order, and explain and accompany each one with various testimonies from those same Scriptures and with sayings of the saints. This diligence was necessary so that those who aren't moved to the love of virtue by the hope of future goods—because those goods seem so far away—might at least be moved by the inestimable benefit of the goods that accompany virtue here and now.
Removing Obstacles and Clarifying Terms
The author explains the third part of the book, which addresses excuses against virtue, and clarifies the relationship between this work and his previous writings.
But because it isn't enough to put forward every reason that can justify a cause if the opposing side's reasons aren't dismantled, the third part of this book serves that purpose: it answers all the excuses that people given to vice usually offer for dismissing virtue. To keep the Christian reader from getting confused, you should know that this first book corresponds to the first book of our Memorial of the Christian Life, which also includes an exhortation to virtue. However, that version is very brief, as befits a memorial, while this one is quite comprehensive, treating this essential and noble subject thoroughly—and every good thing written in the world serves that subject. The second book corresponds to the rule of Christian life we wrote about briefly there, which is set out here much more fully and in greater detail. Since the subject of these two books is virtue, the reader should note that by this word we mean not only the habit of virtue, but also its acts and duties, toward which this noble habit is directed. It is a common figure of speech to signify the effect by the name of the cause, and the cause by its effect.3
Read the original Spanish
Este primero libro, cristiano lector, contiene una larga exhortación a la virtud, que es a la guarda y obediencia de los mandamientos de Dios; en la cual consiste la verdadera virtud. Va repartida en tres partes principales. La primera persuade la virtud, alegando para esto todas las razones más comunes que en esta materia suelen traer los santos, que son las obligaciones grandes que tenemos a Dios, nuestro Señor, así por lo que él es en sí, como por lo que es para nosotros por razón de sus inestimables beneficios; y juntamente con esto, por lo que nos importa la misma virtud; lo cual bastantemente se prueba por las cuatro postrimerías del hombre, que son muerte, juicio, paraíso y infierno, de que en esta primera parte se trata.
En la segunda se persuade esto mismo, alegando otras nuevas razones; que son los bienes de gracia que de presente en esta vida se prometen a la virtud. Donde se ponen doce singulares privilegios que ella tiene; y se trata de cada uno en particular. Los cuales privilegios, aunque algunas veces tocan brevemente los santos —declarando la paz, y la luz, y la verdadera libertad y alegría de la buena conciencia, y las consolaciones del Espíritu Santo (de que gozan los justos), que consigo trae comúnmente la virtud—, pero hasta agora no he visto yo quien de propósito tratase esta materia extendidamente y por su orden. Y por esto fue necesario un poco de más trabajo, para entresacar y recoger todas estas cosas de diversos lugares de las Santas Escrituras, y llamarlas por sus nombres, y ponerlas en orden, y explicar y acompañar cada una dellas con diversos testimonios de sus mismas escrituras y dichos de santos. La cual diligencia fue necesaria para que los que no se mueven al amor de la virtud con la esperanza de los bienes advenideros, por parecerles que están muy lejos, se moviesen siquiera con la utilidad inestimable de los que de presente andan en su compañía.
Mas, porque no basta alegar todas las razones que hay, para justificar una causa, si no se deshacen las de la parte contraria, para esto sirve la tercera parte deste libro, en la cual se responde a todas las excusas que los hombres viciosos suelen alegar para dar de mano a la virtud.
Y, porque no se confunda el cristiano lector, sepa que este primer libro responde al primero de nuestro Memorial de la vida cristiana, el cual también tiene una exhortación a la virtud; pero allí, muy breve, como convenía a memorial, mas aquí, muy copiosa, donde se trata muy de propósito este tan necesario y noble argumento, al cual sirve todo lo bueno que en el mundo está escrito. Mas el segundo libro responde a la regla que allí escribimos brevemente de vida cristiana, la cual aquí va mucho más extendida y acrecentada. Y, porque la materia destos dos libros es la virtud, advierta el lector que por este vocablo no sólo entendemos el hábito de la virtud, sino también los actos y oficios della, a los cuales este noble hábito se ordena; porque muy conocida figura es significar el efecto por el nombre de la causa, y el de la causa por su efecto.
Notes
- 1 ↩"las cuatro postrimerías" is rendered as the traditional "four last things" (death, judgment, paradise/heaven, hell).
- 2 ↩"buena conciencia" rendered as "good conscience," preserving conscience as a moral/accountability term rather than mere self-feeling.
- 3 ↩oficios: rendered as 'duties' (the functions/works to which the habit of virtue is ordered), not liturgical 'offices'.
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