holy, whatever is most perfect, in his station of life, but should
still be deficient in integrity of faith, would be eternally the object
of divine reprobation.
Such was the language, beloved Christians, of those great men,
whom God in his wisdom hath given us for teachers ; and such
the origin of the frightful irregularity, into which innumerable
haughty minds, seduced by the demon of infidelity, have fallen.
Ah ! Christians, who can conceive this, and form a just idea of it ?
Who can, for instance, ascertain how much merit the heresy of
Calvin hath destroyed ? How many good works it hath rendered
ineffectual ? What virtues it hath corrupted, and what admirable
fruits of grace it hath destroyed in the presence of God, which
the true faith would have brought to maturity ? For, in short,
let it be owned (though it were but to adore the unfathomable
depths of God's judgments) ; let it be owned sincerely (and by
the testimony we shall bear to a truth which doth not concern us,
let us convince ourselves feelingly and efficaciously of another, in
which our all is at stake) ; let it be owned, that in those unfor-
tunate sects, which schism hath raised up, some good hath been
done, at least to appearance. In the midst of those tares, the
enemy that had sown them, affected to make a good grain appear.
Some were modest, charitable, abstemious. It is, nevertheless,
incumbent on us, from the tenets of our religion, to believe that
as they bore not the sign of the living God on their foreheads,
that is the sign of faith ; how wonderful soever their deeds might
ON FAITH. 121
have been, God told'thenVperpetually : " I know you not." They
prayed, it is true, but their prayers were reprobated ; they fasted,
but God disregarded their fasts ; and had they made their com-
plaints to him, and asked the reason ; had they said, like the Jews :
" Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not ; have we humbled
our souls, and thou takest no notice ?" Isai. lv. God, ever righ-
teous, and ever certain that his proceedings are righteous, would
have made them this answer, founded in reason, and filled with
indignation : " Behold, in the day of your fast, your will is found ;"
(Isai. lv. ;) your pride, your obstinacy, your rebellion, your dispo-
sition of heart, directly opposite to that submission and obedience
of the understanding, which the purity of my church's faith
required.
And, indeed, when they appeared, at the instant of death, before
Almighty God, and produced their good works performed in heresy,
how inclined soever he is to reward, he was obliged, in his justice,
for the gravity of their sin, to reject and reprobate them, and by
the mouth of his prophet to pronounce this melancholy, dreadful
sentence : true it is, " ye have sown much ; (but your misfortune
is, that) ye have brought in little : ye looked for much, and lo ! it
came to little." Agg. i. Ye hoped to be greater gainers than
your brethren, who, without refinement, followed the beaten track
of faith ; but by grasping at a shadow, ye have lost the real and
substantial proof which ye might have acquired. " Ye brought
into the house, and 1 did blow upon it." Agg. i. Ye heaped
up a treasure, but a treasure of dust, which the winds swept away,
and scattered in the air. And "for what reason? saith the Lord
of hosts. Because (continues he) my house is left waste, and
ye have every man hastened into his own house." Ago-, i.
Because ye have abandoned my house, the church, and retired to
houses of your own making ; because ye have wantonly set up
churches after your own fancy ; because ye have sucked in the
poison of innovation, and hearkened to uncommisioned teachers
and preachers ; and because, by an unaccountable and capricious
infidelity, ye have adopted their sentiments, and preferred their
conduct to the universal rule which I had established. This,
says the Lord, (by the mouth of his prophet,) this is the worm
which spoiled and corrupted all your works.
Now, what Almighty God, beloved Christians, said at that
time, we may well say at this, and apply it to ourselves. For,
122 ON FAITH.
although among Catholics, or rather among those who bear that
name, there are no declared heretics ; you know what numbers
there are whose faith may at least be doubted, inasmuch as it is
not complete and pure. True it is, that they have not quitted
the pale of the church ; but they may remain in the pale of the
church externally, and want her faith. They may be in the com-
munion of the body of the church, and not of her spirit. They
are good livers, you tell me ; and chanty obliges me to close with
your assertion, , notwithstanding some instances that might render
their sincerity equivocal and questionable. But let them, if you
please, be angels or martyrs, with respect to morals, if nevertheless
they are wanting in purity of faith, humility of faith, sincerity of
faith, plenitude of faith, I will answer with St. Paul, that they
are hateful objects in the sight of heaven; because, " without
faith it is impossible to please God." Heb. xi. And I will add
with St. Cyprian, that it is faith, not their blood, which God
requires.
If, beloved Christians, we be fully persuaded of this important
truth, in how great estimation shall we hold the precious gift of
faith ? With what care shall we preserve it ? We shall not only
live in apprehension of losing it, but of hurting its beauty by the
smallest blemish, and of letting its chastity (as St. Ambrose ex-
presses it) suffer contamination in any shape. For, this holy
father considered faith, as a virgin whom the slightest stain dis-
honoured ; and such were his words, in speaking of St. Paul, and
of the primitive Christians, whose conduct that great apostle
inspected : " He feared lest they should lose the virginity of faith."
In all polemic debates whatever, instead of so much reasoning and
examining, instead of pursuing either our prejudice or our interest,
we shall beware of forming any other resolution, than that of pay-
ing filial obedience, and showing a perfect attachment to the
church ; that is to say, than that which stops all disputes and divi-
sions ; than that which the fathers have always and above all
things earnestly recommended ; than that which will preserve us
from all delusions, and all devious steps ; than that on which God
showers down his blessings, being obliged, himself, to direct and
protect us, and willing to work miracles, rather than permit us to
wander blindly, and be lost in the mazes and intricacies of error.
We shall frequently offer up the same prayer to God, that the
apostles did to Christ : " Lord, increase our faith ;" (Luke xvii. ;)
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purify our faith, corroborate our faith ; for I know, my God, that it
is faith must save us, not only because it gives value to all the good
works which we practise, and is itself, as it were, their intrinsic
excellence ; but farther, because it induces us to practise them,
and is the very fountain from which they flow.
2ndly. And truly these are two different things, to act, and to
act well. Accordingly, though faith be a necessary condition for
the perfecting of our works, as Often as we act ; it is no good con-
sequence, that therefore it carries with it the peculiar virtue of
impelling us to action. I am not endued with the power of doing
the works of salvation without faith. This is the first proposition
I laid down. But it differs widely from this other ; so soon as I
have faith, I feel myself warmed, and impelled to perform the
works of salvation. Nor is anything better adapted to inspire us,
on this head, with the zeal and activity which we admire in the
saints, and in which Christian fervour essentially consists. Now,
in this other manner it is that we work our salvation by faith.
For, only figure to yourselves, my brethren — (it is a comparison
of St. Bernard's, and a very natural one it is) — figure to yourselves
faith, and suppose it to the righteous, as the first mover is to the
universe. That orb, which we call the first mover, hath so great
a superiority over all the others, and influences them so powerfully,
that he impresses them with his own movement and action ; and
while he rolls over our heads, makes them roll along with him,
according to his impulse. Were this first mover to stop his
course, the progressive motion of every other celestial body would
cease ; but as his movement is continual, that of the inferior orbs
is never interrupted. It is just so with faith. Faith, in the soul,
and in all the operations of divine grace, is the first mover. It is a
virtue superior to all the rest ; so that all the rest are subordinate
to it, and act not relatively to eternal life, but as they are impelled
by it. What I do for God, I do it in consequence of my having
faith, and proportionably as I have it. If I have great faith, I
am then determined to do great things for God. If I have but
little faith, I sink into sloth, and do but little for God. If I have
no faith at all, I shall infallibly do nothing at all for God.
This doctrine is plain and obvious, from our own experience ;
but St. Paul goes farther. He informs us, that faith is not only
the impulsive cause that all virtues operates in us, but the efficient
of all our virtues ; and that all supernatural aud divine virtues are
i2
124 ON FAITH.
nothing, in strict propriety of speech, but the instruments of faith ;
a truth which he declares, in his epistle to the Galatians, in deci-
sive terms, when he tells them that " faith worketh by charity ."
Gal. v. Weigh well these words. He says not that charity
works by faith, but that faith works by charity, loves by charity,
pardons by charity, relieves by charity ; as though charity had no
function peculiar to itself, and that whatever it did, or it under-
took, was the work of faith. Now if it be faith, when we love God
or our neighbour, that operates, (two duties, in which the whole
compass of the law is included,) can any one doubt that it is not
faith which radically saves and justifies us ?
And hence it arises, that the same apostle, by a train of deduc-
tions, (which cannot be pondered with too much care,) easily attri-
butes to faith alone, the most wonderful and heroic effects of all
the other virtues. He admits (as I may say) but this one virtue
in the Christian religion, and comprises in faith all Christian vir-
tues, as we find that St. Augustin comprised them in charity.
But St. Paul's theology is here more explicit than that of St.
Augustin ; for hear how he speaks in his excellent epistle addressed
to the Hebrews. He proposes (in order to excite our zeal) the
example of the patriarchs of the Old Testament ; and concentrating
their eulogy in one point of view, makes us clearly understand,
that all the great and good things they did, were done by faith :
that " Abel, by faith, offered to God a sacrifice more excellent
than Cain's ;" that " Abraham, by faith, offered Isaac when he
was tried ;" that " Moses, by faith, forsook Egypt ;" (Heb. xi. ;)
and so on of many others. But how? (says St. Chrysostom.)
Was it not his ardent charity for the people, that made Moses with-
draw from the land of Egypt ? Was it not the piety and religion
of Abel, that made him so liberal, and offer up so many victims
to God ? Was it not obedience that impelled Abraham to yield
submission to the decree of heaven, and form the resolution to
sacrifice his only beloved child ? Alas ! all this (replies the holy
doctor) was brought about by faith. Abraham, I own, obeyed
God ; and the obedience he paid him was more than human ; but
it was faith that obeyed in him, that stifled in his heart all the
sentiments of nature, and made him piously cruel to his own blood.
The reason is, that Abraham consented to the death of Isaac, and
disposed himself to carry the order of heaven into execution, in virtue
(to use the language of scripture) of that which he believed against
ON FAITH. 125
all belief, and of that which he hoped against hope itself: " Who,
against hope, believed in hope." Rom. iv. And for this reason,
(the scripture adds,) that " it was therefore imputed to him unto
justice ;" (Rom. iv. ;) that is, he believed, and was, therefore, jus-
tified. The text says not, that he believed, and therefore obeyed
God, went out of his house, gained the top of the mountain, pulled
off Isaac's clothes, lifted his arm, and forthwith was justified ; but
only that he believed, and was therefore justified : not after the
manner of florid declaimers, who eke out an argument with a chain
of inferences, but of close reasoners, who draw the last consequence
from the primary proposition. Abraham believed, and was there-
fore justified ; because, in reality, whatever else contributed to pro-
mote his justification, is, as in its principle and first cause, included
in this one word — believed.
Upon this account it is, that the Council of Trent, desirous to
give an exact idea of faith, declares that " it is the commencement,
the foundation, and the root of our justification." Mark well these
three characteristic words, which are linked in such manner, and
bear such analogy one to another, that the one signifies always
more than the other, as more is imported by foundation than com-
mencement, and by root than foundation. For, commencement is
that which holds the first place in the order of things. But besides
the foundation being the part by which the edifice commences, it
is that which sustains it, and bears all its weight. Now to sustain
is more than to begin. In like manner, although the root is the
original of the tree, and bears its whole weight, it also produces all
its branches, blossoms, and fruit. Now to produce is more than
to sustain ; and these are the three characteristics of faith. It
is the first of all our virtues. Further, it is the support of all our
virtues. Neither is this all ; it produces in us all our virtues.
That is, Christians, if I be righteous, not only I begin by faith,
and am upheld by faith, but I act and live by faith, according to
that oraculous expression of St. Paul : " My just man liveth by
faith." Heb. x. Oh ! what it is, beloved hearers, to be the just
of God ? How many may be called, at this very time, the just of
men, who are criminals and sinners in the presence of God ? But
my just man (says the Lord) hath no other life, in quality of just
man, than the life of faith ; I acknowledge no other. " My just
man liveth by faith."
And, in effect, if I live righteously, my whole life is of necessity
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ON FAITH.
a life of faith. Whether I deliberate or act, fear or hope, seek or
shun, it is by the impulse of faith. It is faith that makes me love
my enemies, without which I should hate them. It is faith that
makes me hate worldly pleasures, without which I should court them.
It is faith that makes me forget injuries, without which I should
indulge the ranklings of animosity, and take revenge. It is faith
that makes me bless God in sufferings, makes me value poverty,
makes me choose an austere penitential life, without which I should
hold them all in abhorrence. Therefore, faith is the source and
origin of all good, is my life and salvation : " My just man liveth
by faith."
But if this be the case, how comes it to pass, that in the Chris-
tian religion, in the centre of the faith, that faith so spread all over
the earth, so many Christians are, nevertheless, absorbed in the
gulph of damnation, and so few arrive in the harbour of bliss ?
This, my brethren, this, I must own, is one of those difficulties,
those mighty difficulties, which filled the fathers of the church
with astonishment, and which seems to have held St. Augustin
himself, with all his intellectual light, in suspense. This difficulty,
however, I might elude, by contesting the principle on which it is
founded ; namely, that the faith is spread throughout all the world
in the same degree that we are pleased to suppose it. No, no,
would I say, it appears to be very far from evident ; and for the
honour and credit of the faith itself, I had rather question that it
is so general, than grant that, being so general, it produces
among us so little fruit. True it is, the preaching of the gospel
is carried into every known part of the earth ; but I would it
were the same with regard to faith ! for, faith differs widely from
the preachng of the gospel. The one is external grace, inde-
pendent on us; the other, an infused virtue, which we ought
to cultivate, and preserve in our hearts. This preaching of the
gospel, this external grace, by a favourable disposition of divine
Providence, is very common ; but I have great reason to fear that
faith is very rare. Christ asked his disciples, if, when he should
come, there would be faith upon the earth ; either not believing
(according to St. Chrysostom) that there would be any left, or
foreseeing in his wisdom, that there would be but little : " When
the Son of man cometh, shall he find, think ye, faith upon the
earth ?" Luke xviii. Now is not this word of our divine Saviour
more than ever verified in these our days ? Though the Son of
ON FAITH. 127
God had not spoken in that manner, would not the life which
Christians lead, be more than sufficient to make me doubt of their
faith ? and from the knowledge, however little, which I have of
the world, might I not conclude, at least suspect, that a secret and
disguised leaven of infidelity hath effected a general corruption in
their hearts ? For (as St. Bernard further observes) it is hard to
conceive that the generality of men should act quite differently
from their own belief, and that so monstrous a contradiction should
appear in their conduct, as that of living in the manner they live,
and still retaining the faith in their hearts. In this supposed
system, there is something so forcible, that it scarce can possibly
be long maintained. When I see a Christian as passionate, as
sensual, as ambitious as a pagan, and even more so than a pagan ;
instead of saying, as is commonly said on such occasions, that
man belies his faith, I should almost say, that man is absolutely
destitute of faith, because if he had any, it is inconceivable to me,
that he should belie it so universally, and so constantly, and that
believing one way, he should act another. When I see a woman,
a lady of fashion, tranquil in her vices, licentious in her converse,
loose in her communications, and scandalous in her intrigues ;
instead of saying (according to the ordinary language of the world)
the faith of that woman is weak and languid, steril and fruitless, I
would ask and say, is there a spark of faith remaining in that
woman ? because I am persuaded that more would not be neces-
sary to give her a horror of her state, and induce her to relinquish it.
In this manner should I reason ; and it would be both for the
interests and honour of faith. For it would be more to its honour,
that most men should be reputed ungodly and faithless, than be
deemed to have a faith that should resist nothing, surmount
nothing, perform nothing ; what do I say ? that should suffer them
to fall into shameful vices, and utter abominations. And if it be
urged, that those very sinners, who on one hand give the reins
to their inordinate passions, and on the other loudly protest that
they have faith : I know, would I say, that they loudly protest
it ; but the point is to know, what dependence may be had on their
protestations, and were it not better to bring them to the test
which St. James required : " Show me thy faith without works."
James ii. If, therefore, dear Christians, you who, perhaps, pique
yourselves on that which you have not, would ascertain me of your
faith, make it good by your works ; for so long as 1 find, that your
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ON FAITH.
daily practice runs counter to your words, and I see no works, I
shall have no reliance on your asseverations. And truly, beloved
hearers, is not this what we are come to by the iniquity of the
times ? What assurance or conviction is there of the faith of
Christians ? How can it be determined, whether they have it, or
have it not ? Who knows what they are ? Is not this the deplo-
rable situation of that which is called the world ? Enter into the
stately places of princes, examine the lowly dwelling] of the cot-
tager, be present, if possible, at the secret counsels and schemes of
politicians, take a survey of the manners in routs and assemblies,
cast your eyes round in churches and holy places, every where
you will doubt that there is no faith, because you will no where
find anything but scandal and depravity of manners : " Shall he
find, think ye, faith upon the earth ?"
But I shall insist no longer on this topic. The libertine, per-
chance, might avail himself of it, and use it as a pretext to abide
by his notions. For, one of the libertine's pretext is, that there is
no faith, or real relief; whereby he pretends to impute his wicked-
ness to what seems reasonable — a want of persuasion, not a corrup-
tion of heart. Be it, therefore, admitted, that of the vast number
of Christian people who are lost in the world, there are many, in
fact, who preserve the faith. Be every tiling granted that can
be granted : to wit, be it granted, that their faith subsists.
Be this their comfort, that it is in their power to keep it entire
amidst all the excesses of a criminal life. The church disputes
not this advantage with them ; nay, she maintains them in the
possession of it by an express decree of the Council of Trent, which
declares, that destruction of faith is not a consequent, on all occa-
sions, of a vicious life. Let us join issue with her. One may be
a Christian, and a bad man ; one may have the faith, and act
against it. But shall we, in that case, be saved by faith ? So far
from it, our faith will condemns us, as I am going to make appear
in the second part.
Part II. We ought not to wonder, beloved Christians, that
the same faith which saves us, should- be that which condemns us
in the sight of God. In this it doth only what Christ himself
doth. Though the author o£our salvation, through the ill use we
make of his merits and graces, oecomes the author of our reproba-
tion. So faith, which was given us for our justification, becomes
instrumental toward our condemnation, according to the difference
ON FAITH. 129
of our behaviour to it, and the various treatment it receives from
us. But, why doth it condemn us ? and how doth it condemn
us ? Two important points these, which remain to be elucidated,
and which call upon you for more than ordinary attention.
1st. I say, that faith, when we square not our lives to its
maxims, condemns us, because we hold it (according to the expres-
sion of St. Paul) in injustice ; because (to speak in the language of
St. Ambrose) we deprive it of its fairest fruits, good works ; and
because (in the mind of St. James the apostle) we occasion its
death in our very hearts. Now are not these so many affronts
which we offer it, and for which, if I may venture so to speak,
it will take vengeance by condemning us.
Mark my assertion : we hold it in injustice. They are the
teacher of the Gentiles own words : " Who hold the truth of God
in injustice." Rom. i. Now it is by faith that the truth of God is
in us ; and so long as we lead a disorderly life, it cannot be denied,
that we offer it violence, and hold it in close subjection and bon-
dage. The reason is, that we refuse it the liberty of acting in us
in the manner it would and it ought to act. In the infancy of
Christianity, (St. Bernard remarks,) when persecutions raged, the
faith was free, while the faithful were in chains. But although
persecutions are now no more, the faithful enjoy a liberty they
abuse, and the faith is enchained, as it were, and held captive.
Oh ! how great reason for shame and condemnation ! In prisons,
and in dungeons, the martyrs proclaimed the faith with which
their hearts were replenished, and, in spite of tyranny, confessed
publicly the name of Jesus Christ. Strange ! that now the church
is in peace, the faith of Christians should no longer enjoy the same
liberty, but that Christians themselves should become its perse-
cutors, and exert more cruelty towards it than infidels, as they
bring it into slavery, a slavery to which the power of infidelity
could never reduce it : " Who hold the truth of God in injustice."
Mind the word injustice ; for, St. Paul says not barely, that we
hold our faith captive ; but that we hold it captive in injustice ;
which is the most shameful and invidious of all servitudes. This