hypocrisy, their implacable hatred, and their secret envy against Jesus Christ. Obscurities are only in our own heart; and we never begin to doubt upon our duties but when we begin to love those maxims which oppose them. — Second reflection.
In effect, I tell you, in the third place, you believe that the Gospel is not so express as we pretend, upon the greater part of the rules which we wish to prescribe to you; that we carry its severity to excess, and that we make it to say whatever we please. Hear it then itself, my brethren; we consent that, of all the duties prescribed to you by it, you shall think yourselves obliged to observe only those which are marked there in terms so precise and clear that it is impossible to mistake or misconstrue them: more is not required of you, and we free you from all the rest. Hear it then: u And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. The kingdom of heaven sufTereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger; woe unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep. Blessed are they that weep now, for ye shall laugh. He that loveth his father, his wife, his children, yea, and his life also, better than me, is not worthy of me. I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy."
Do I speak here, my brethren? Do I come to deceive you by an excess of severity, to add to the Gospel, and to bring you only my own thoughts? Weak creature that I am, I have occasion myself for indulgence; and if I took, in the weakness of my own heart, the doctrine which I announce to you, alas! I would speak to you only the language of man: I would tell you that God is too good to punish inclinations which are born, it would appear, with us; that, to love God, it is not necessary to hate one*s self; that, when rich, we ought to enjoy our wealth, and allow ourselves every gratification. Behold the language which I would hold; for man, delivered up to himself, can speak only this language of flesh and blood. But would you believe me, as I have already demanded; would you respect my ministry; would you look upon me as an angel from heaven, who should come to announce to you this new Gospel?
That of Jesus Christ speaks another language to you. I have related to you only his own divine words; these are the duties which he prescribes to you in clear and express terms. We consent that you confine your whole piety to these limits, and that you leave all the rest as doubtful, or, at least commanded in terms less clear, and more susceptible of favourable interpretations. Reckon not among your duties but these holy and incontestable rules; we exact nothing more: limit yourselves to performing what they prescribe to you; and you will see that you shall do more than we even demand of you; and that the most common and most
