it is a" deceitful sign, denoting that which is not, and not denoting
that which is. A man passes for a saint : we judge by what
we see ; we extol one, and look upon another as a pattern of virtue.
But what is this virtue but a false light, or specious phantom, that
hath nothing substantial or real in it ? Alas ! brother, (says St.
Chrysostom,) be what you appear to be, or cease to appear to be
what you are not.

But the worst of it is, that they deceive themselves. They
think they lead a truly Christian life, as in fact it seems to be.
They imagine that all the good works they perform are quite meri-
torious in the sight of God, not reflecting that there is no such
thing as a good work which doth not proceed from the same prin-
ciple which ought to produce it, and winch alone can sanctify it.
They willingly hear their own praises ; they receive them with
satisfaction; they would gladly persuade themselves that such
praises are well founded. They dwell upon reflections on their
own conduct, which keeps up the delusion. They say, (like the
bishop in the Kevelation,) I am rich, or at least I labour to enrich
myself, and daily increase my treasure for heaven. What an extra-
vagant blindness ! Instead of the abundance, with the possession
of which you flatter yourself, you cannot discern your poverty and
misery. You vainly imagine that your hands are full, like one
who dreams that he hath found a treasure, but, waking, finds that
he is still in want, and " hath nothing in his hands." Ps. lxxv. If
God himself could be deceived, and his all-seeing eyes Avere unable

y2



332 ON TRUE AND FALSE PIETY.

to penetrate the blaze that surrounds you, you would not be so
much to be pitied. But he sees what it is not in your power to
see. Alas ! Christians, when we shall appear before the bar of this
sovereign Judge, and be called to an account not only for our crimes
and our vicious habits, but even for our virtues, what will he do ?
Will the determination of our eternal lot be regulated by the out-
ward appearance of our actions ? Hath he not told us by his pro-
phets and apostles, that " he will search our souls with the rays of
his light ?" Sophon. i. That he " will lay open our thoughts, our
views, and our designs." 1 Cor. iv. That he " will weigh all
this in the scale of justice, and that whatever shall be under weight
shall be reprobated ?" Dan. v. Many, very many, of these false
prophets shall present themselves before him for the crown of
glory, to which he will make answer; "I profess unto you I
never knew you." Matt. vii. They foretold future events, they
worked miracles, they acquired the esteem, the admiration, and the
confidence of mankind by elaborate discourses, by finished works
on pious subjects, by new institutions and charitable foundations.
They were spoken of in the world, they were the boast of the
people ;-whole provinces, whole kingdoms resounded their praises.
But God will disown them ', because, in all that, the lustre was
equally shining and frivolous ; and, because the day of universal
doom will make it disappear all at once, not leaving the least trace
behind, whereon he will deign to cast an eye.

"Wherefore, my brethren, let us rectify our notions, and let us
follow the advice of the great apostle : " Whatsoever ye do in word
or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Colos.iii
Let us say nothing, let us undertake nothing, let us carry nothing
into execution, but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with
a view to God. The ark of the Lord was all gold, both within
and without ; and we ought to resemble the ark of the Lord. If,
like the Pharisees, we content ourselves with cleansing the outside
of the vessel, and neglect the rest, we expose ourselves to lie under
the same malediction that they lay under. Let us offer the sacri-
fice of Abel, not of Cain : Abel offered up the very best of his
flock, and Cain the very worst. You know how greatly God was
pleased with the victim of the one, and with what horror he turned
his eyes from that of the other. In like manner, in order to devote
ourselves effectually to God, let us give him, above all things, what



ON SCANDAL. 333



is most excellent and noble in us, which is the understanding. Let
us begin with that, go on with that, and conclude with that ; for
all depends upon the understanding ; and whatever is governed by
the understanding, becomes worthy of God and his eternal rewards.



SEEM ON XVI



ON SCANDAL.



For tlie Second Sunday of Advent.



"Jesus making answer, said to them: Qo, and relate to John
what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame toalk, the
deaf hear, the dead rise again : and blessed is the man that shall
not he scandalized in me" Matt. xi.



The Saviour of the world, beloved Christians, after having wrought
such illustrious miracles, had a right to expect that mankind, far
from taking scandal at the precepts of his gospel, would look upon
it as an honour to embrace and follow them. Such numbers of the
deaf, the dumb, the blind, and the lame cured, and of the dead
raised to life; so many other miraculous operations, which so
visibly and irrefragably displayed the virtue and power of a God,
ought to have attracted and commanded the respect and veneration
nay, the worship and adoration of the whole earth. But, oh ! the
depth of the decrees of heaven ! Christ Jesus, nevertheless, is a
scandal to mankind ; a scandal so general, that himself in the o-ospel
declares " the man happy who shall not be scandalized in him."

But what is the world (I mean the profane and impious world)
scandalized at in this God-man ? At his person, at his doctrine
at his law, at his sufferings, at his death ; insomuch that St. Paul
when he mentioned to the faithful the mystery of the cross
called it not the mystery, but the scandal of the cross : " The scan-
dal of the cross is made void." Gal. v. By which mode of speech
he would inculcate to the faithful, that the cross would be a token
of contradiction for the reprobated, which for the predestinated



334 ON SCANDAL.

would be a mystery of redemption ; and that the great scandal of
men, would be the very God that became man to save them.

Such, at that time, was the language of the apostles ; but (praise
be to God) that sort of scandal is now no more. Christ Jesus hath
triumphed over the world and its adherents ; his doctrine is received,
his religion prevails, his cross (according to the expression of St.
Augustin) is an ornament to the brows of sovereigns and monarchs.
But to that kind of scandal of which Christ was the object, another
hath succeeded, of which we are ourselves the authors : another
not less deplorable, and perhaps more criminal. My meaning is
this : Jesus Christ is now to us no occasion of scandal ; but we are
occasion of scandal to Jesus Christ. We are not scandalized at
him, but we give him scandal in the persons of our brethren. As
it, is^ written, that St. Paul, by persecuting the church, persecuted
him : " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" In like manner,
might he not say to us, why scandalize ye me, by scandalizing
those who appertain to me, and whom I have made the members
of my mystical body ? Now it is this kind of scandal (I mean the
scandal given to our neighbour) that I 6hall make the subject of
the present discourse.

Our blessed Saviour declares the man who shall not be scanda-
lized in him, happy ; but I conclude, by a contrary inference, that
unhappy is the man who scandalizes Christ, by scandalizing his
neighbour. This, Christians, is the important point I undertake
to demonstrate. The sin of scandal, which God detests and con-
demns so loudly iu a thousand places of the inspired writings ; the
sin, with which he so emphatically reproached an unfaithful soul :
".Against thy mother's son thou didst lay a scandal ;" (Ps. xlix. ;)
a trap for his innocence, and occasioned his fall ; and heedless of
the grief which your common mother, the church of Christ, would
feel by liis loss, made no difficulty of giving him scandal ; the
sin, which (according to the doctrine of Tertullian) paves the.way
to crimes, in the same manner that good example doth to virtue.
Of this sin, beloved Christians, I purpose to give you a compre-
hensive, clear, and accurate notion ; I purpose to inspire you with
a horror andjdetestation of it; and with the divine assistance of
the Word of God, I purpose to teach you to fear and shun it. To
that intent, I shall advance two propositions, which shall make
the divisions of this discourse.

First : wo be to the man who causes scandal.



ON SCANDAL. 335

Secondly : wo in the last degree to him, when specially obliged
to give good example.

Wo be to the man who causes scandal. This is the nature of
the sin I shall speak upon ; which, considered absolutely, is univer-
sally diffused through all ranks of people. But wo in the last
degree to him, when it is incumbent on him, in a particular manner,
to give good example. This is the particular species of this sin,
which, although confined to certain states*of life, is, nevertheless,
as you shall see, but too extensive. Wo be to the man, whoever
he be, that is a scandal to his brother, and occasions his fall ; but
wo in the last degree to the man who scandalizes him, when, besides
the reciprocal title of Christian, there is still another more peculiar
and personal, which lays on him an obligation of giving edification.
In the first, I shall lay down for you, on this important subject,
general rules and maxims that will be suitable to all. In the second,
I shall draw, from the difference of your conditions, particular, but
pressing motives, to inspire each of you, upon this head, according
to your different conditions in life, with all the necessary zeal and
vigilance.

Part I. It must needs be that scandals come. It is Christ
himself that says it, and it is one of those mysteries in which the
judgments of God should seem the most impenetrable. For, on
what foundation is this necessity raised ? On none other than the
iniquity of the world, which God is at no loss to convert to his glory,
but the course of which he is not pleased to stop upon all occasions
by the extraordinary means of his absolute power. The world (as
St. Chrysostom, explaining this passage, admirably remarks) being
so perverted as it is, and the Almighty Lord, for reasons known
only to his providential wisdom, letting it remain in the corruption
in which we behold it, and not choosing to work miracles for its
redress, it is a necessary consequence, and "must needs be that
scandals come." Matt, xviii. But however necessary, however
infallible, this consequence be, a dreadful curse against the author
of scandal is pronounced in these words by the Son of God :
" Nevertheless, wo be to that man by whom the scandal cometh."
Matt, xviii. A curse (says St. Chrysostom) which the preachers
of the gospel can neither too often repeat to their audiences, "* nor
depict in colours too striking and lively. Therefore, dear Christians,
lend all your attention, and remember that this is the religious
duty in which it behoves you, perhaps of all, the most particularly



336 ON SCANDAL.

to be well instructed. "Wo to that man by whom the scandal
cometh." The reason is, that he is a murderer, in the sight
of God, of all the souls to whom he gives scandal ; and that he is
answerable to the God of heaven for the crimes of all those to
whom he gives scandal : two reasons, adduced by St. Chrysostom,
and capable to affect the most obdurate heart, in which there
remains the least spark of faith. Give unusual force, O Lord, to
my words ! And you, Christians, be more attentive than ever,
and let nothing escape you of that with which it shall please God
to inspire me for your instruction.

1st. The author of scandal becomes a murderer of every soul he
scandalizes. A monstrous sin, a diabolical sin, a sin against the
Holy Ghost, a sin essentially opposed to the redemption of our
Saviour, Christ ; a sin for which we shall be particularly account-
able before God's tribunal : but what in a manner still more sin-
gula!' deserves your reflection, a sin the more dangerous, as it is
common in the world, as it is every day purposely and maliciously
committed ; as it is annexed to such things as are seemingly trivial,
of which scruple is not made, but which still imports enormous
criminality in the presence of God. Take all this along with you,
and judge yourselves, whether in every particular, and in the
strictest sense, I adhere not to truth.

A monstrous sin : for how horrible is it to be the death of a soul
that was righteous and innocent, pleasing and precious in the sight
of God ! To deprive her of a supernatural and divine life, and
make her lose her inheritance to the kingdom of God ? Now this,
beloved hearers, when you scandalize your neighbour, is the sin
you commit. Were he the meanest of men, whose fall you have
occasioned, whether by diverting him from doing good, or inducing
him to do ill, or communicating to him your wicked inclinations,
or influencing his disposition by your contagious example ; were
he, I say, the meanest, and in every respect the most despicable
of men, you are still culpable. And this is what our Saviour lays
before us in the gospel so clearly and so distinctly, the purport of
which is very extensive : " Whoever shall scandalize one of these
little ones who believe in me." Matt, xviii. It is observable (says
St. Chrysostom) that Jesus Christ says not, whoever scandalizes
a great man. This is a crime of a much deeper die, and more to
be lamented in the Christian world ; a crime, notwithstanding, but
too common among the 'sons of Adam. How many have there



ON SCANDAL. 337

been in all ages, and, at this very time, what numbers there are,
who, by an inscrutable judgment of the Supreme liuler, seem to
approach the great, and to partake of their favour, only to poison
and corrupt their minds with detestable maxims and hellish advice !
Be that as it may, the moral intent of our Lord and Saviour in
the words just quoted, is not restrained to the condition of the
great. He says : " Whosoever scandalize tli one of these little
ones;" and thereby, Christians, rectifies the mistake you may
possibly be in — that the meanness of the person should ever autho-
rize or give colour to sin. True it is, the person you scandalize is
a low-lived creature, a mean creature ; it is an abject soul (accord-
ing to the notions of the world) that is subject to your incontinence.
But this so vile and worthless 'a soul (according to the notions of
the world) is, in the views of God, of infinite value. And there-
fore, the God who created it, who redeemed it, who knew how to
rate it according to its worth, declares, that as often as you give it
scandal, "it were better for you that you were drowned in the
depth of the sea." Matt, xviii.

A diabolical sin : and the reason which St. Chrysostom oives
for it is evident. For (according to the gospel) the distinguishing
characteristic of the devil, is, that "he was a murderer from the
beginning." He was a murderer, (continues this holy doctor),
because, from the beginning of the world, he made souls perish by
seducing them, by putting snares in their way, by making them
yield to temptation, by laying obstacles to their conversion. And
is not this the constant employment of the libertine liver, the
vicious man, the man hurried away by the spirit of impurity, who,
immersed in debauchery, seeks out on all sides (if I may use the
expression) a prey for his sensuality ? What doth he besides, or
in what else is his scandalous life taken up ? Is it not in deceiving
and damning souls, in prevailing over their weakness, in imposing
on their simplicity, in making the most of their imprudence, in
taking the advantage of their vanity, in undermining their religion,
in triumphing over then modesty, in dissipating their just fears, in
rendering ineffectual all their good inclinations ? Is it not in keep-
ing them back from the ways of God, when, touched with his grace,
they feel the weight of then* iniquity, and are sincerely desirous of
recovering their innocence ? Are not these, O sinner, the works
of darkness in which your infamous life is spent ? Is not this doin»
the office of the evil spirit, and the more dangerously, because they



338 ON SCANDAL.

whom you scandalize, being used, like yourself, to be drawn by
the senses, lie open to your baneful insinuations, and take more
lasting and deeper impressions ? The devil was, of himself, a mur-
derer from the beginning ; but is a murderer now, by your agency.
It is you who are his adjutant, who furnish him with weapons,
who carry on his enterprises, who are the tempter in his room, who
murder souls, by scandalously sacrificing them to your passions
and pleasures.

A sin against the Holy Ghost, because directly against charity, and
the Holy Ghost is personally charity itself. Now is this sufficient : I
add, because charity is wounded by it in the most essential part ;
and because in regard to this necessary virtue, of which the Holy
Ghost himself is the origin, it, if I may so speak, renders a man
criminal against the supreme Being. For, (as St. Chrysostom
judiciously argues,) if by theft or fraud you deprive your neighbour
of temporal effects ; if by calumny or slander you destroy his repu-
tation ; if by ill offices you ruin his credit, which ends but in the
loss of a perishable fortune ; if, according to all the rules of religion,
these are so many transgressions against the charity he hath
a right to expect from you : what shall I say of the scandal that
stops his progress in virtue, and obstructs his salvation ? No, no :
so flagitious a disposition and brotherly love never abode together
in the same heart : " He that loveth his brother, abideth in the
light, and scandal in him there is none." 1 John ii. And, indeed,
there needs charity but in a moderate degree, to beware of bring-
ing him, by giving him scandal, into infinite detriment. When
God permitted the prince of darkness to wreak his vengeance
on the property and person of the good man Job, he put his
natural and mortal life out of danger : " Behold he is in thy hands,
but yet save his life." Job ii. But might I not say, with still
greater reason, to the scandalous sinner : if your brother hath the
misfortune to offend you, and to incur your indignation, and is the
object of your hatred, carry your injustice to what length you
please, but carry not your vengeance to the depriving him of a
spiritual and immortal life. Give a thousand vexations, bring him
into trouble, fill him with uneasiness, raise persecutions against
him ; but spare at least his soul, make no base attempt on his con-
science and salvation ; but yet save his spiritual and immortal life.
It follows, therefore, necessarily, that whoever makes light of
scandalizing his brother, is devoid of charity, and by consequence,



ON SCANDAL. ;33U

before God, is the destruction of his brother and of charity too ;
for " every one that hateth his brother is a murderer." 1 John iii.
Now, how many doth the present age exhibit in this category ?
That is, how many are hurried away by the spirit of libertinism ;
and, far from being disturbed at the loss of souls, affect to contri-
bute to it with all their might, 6eek occasions and opportunities,
and feel self-complacency at having succeeded ? Can any crime
be more atrocious against the heavenly Spirit and his holy grace ?

I proceed farther, and say : a sin essentially opposed to the
redemption of Jesus Christ. For, whereas Jesus Christ, who is
styled, and is eminently, the Son of man, came into the world, as
Redeemer of men, to seek and save that which had been lost ;
(Luke xix. ;) so the son of perdition, (and such, says Tertullian, is
the giver of scandal,) with a contrary view, comes to damn and to
ruin that which he hath ransomed. And it is in this particularly
that the apostle makes the grievousness of scandal to consist. On
this was grounded that pathetic remonstrance which he made to the
Corinthians, conjuring them to leave off certain customs, to which
they were addicted, and at which the brethren, not yet thoroughly
confirmed in the faith, were scandalized. There are weak brethren
among you, (says he,) and you assume liberties which occasion
their fall. But know you not, that these brethren, whom your
conduct scandalizes, are numbered among the faithful, are true
believers, for whom the blessed Jesus shed his precious blood, and
that the scandal you give them, and the ruin you bring on them,
by your bad example, destroy, in their persons, the merit and
fruit of the death of a God ? Shall then Jesus Christ (continues
the apostle) have suffered and died for them to no purpose?
Shall your brother, as yet weak, be eternally damned, because
you thought it proper to disregard his weakness, and not have the
consideration for him which Christian charity and prudence
required ? Shall that be torn, as it were, by violence, from the
bosom of Jesus Christ, for which he poured forth every drop of
his blood ? " And so through thy knowledge shall the weak
brother perish for whom Christ died." 2 Cor. viii.

Thus spoke St. Paul ; and his manner of reasoning was suffi-
ciently convictive. The pious zeal with which the Corinthians were
animated and inflamed for their Lord and Saviour, induced them
to return within proper bounds, and not draw upon themselves the
just reproach of being enemies to lus cross, by contributing to make



340 ON SCANDAL.

" the weak brother perish for whom Christ died." How often, by
criminal liberties, which you ought to have abandoned, have you
wounded consciences, and been the death of souls, for which your
divine Saviour laid down his life ! And if what St. John says in his
first Canonical Epistle, be true, that " throughout the world there
are many antichrists ;" (1 John ii. ;) because it is overrun with
unworthy Christians, who destroy and bring to naught, by their
scandalous example, the work of Jesus Christ, and invalidate the
price of his adorable redemption : of those who hear me, to how
many is not, in the literal sense, this malediction of the apostle
applicable : " Now there are many antichrists !" How many anti-
christs are there lurking in the heart of Christianity, the more to
be dreaded, the more hidden and the less known they are !

A sin, therefore, for which we shall be accountable in a parti-
cular manner at the bar of heaven. For of all the menaces
which I find in the scripture, one of the most terrible and emphatic
is, that God Almighty will call us to a severe account, not only
for our own, but our neighbour's sins • "I will require his blood
from thy hands." Ezech. iii. But am I answerable for any but
myself? said the guilty Cain, endeavouring to clear himself in the
presence of God. " Am I my brother's keeper?" A maimer of
speaking not unusual at this day with worldlings. Am I engaged,
am I responsible for the salvation of another ? Yes, (replies the
Lord, by the mouth of his prophet,) you are responsible for it to
me ; and when I shall come, as sovereign Judge, in order to give to
each one according to his deserts, and pronounce my last decrees,
I shall evidently have a right, by the laws of equity, to be revenged
of you for innumerable grievous crimes, of which you were the
promoter and original cause. For, your brother perished by your
solicitations ; the purity of his soul* was tarnished and defiled by
your conversation; his mind was corrupted by the errors and
maxims of your licentiousness ; his heart was poisoned by the
attractions and charms of your dissolute life. It is owing to you
that he first conceived a disgust of his duty ; your satirical merri-
ment and irreligious sarcasms induced him to withdraw himself
from the divine law, and totally swerve from Christian observances.
If he is engaged in evil ways, it proceeds from the connexions he
hath had with you ; if he is swayed by his passions, it proceeds
from his glorying in being your imitator ; if he hath contracted
your vices, it proceeds from a desire of giving you pleasure. This



ON SCANDAL. 341

(says the Almighty in the fulness of his wrath) is what will be
imputed to you, and I will punish with the utmost severity. It
was by your means that this man became impious ; influenced by
your example, he led a wicked life, and died in his wickedness ;
but his blood, will louder than that of Abel, cry out to my throne,
and will pressingly call upon me for justice against you. And
what will be your plea? " The same wicked man shall die in his