Breviloquium

But concerning the precepts of divine law, this is to be held: in the Mosaic law there are judicial, figurative, and moral precepts, namely, the ten precepts of the Decalogue written on two tablets by the finger of God.¹ — The evangelical law moderates the judicial precepts by taking them away, empties the figurative by fulfilling them, and perfects the moral by adding to them. It also adds instructive teachings, promises that stir us, and counsels that perfect; such are the counsel of poverty, the counsel of obedience, and the counsel of chastity, to fulfill which Christ our Lord invites the one who wishes to be perfect.²

The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because the first principle, just as it is supremely good in itself, so is it supremely just in its work and in governing the universe by ordering it.³ Since it belongs to the supremely just to be zealous for justice not only in himself but also in another, and justice consists in conforming oneself to the rules of right, hence it belongs to divine justice to impress and express the rules of justice upon man, not only by dictating them in the manner of truth that instructs, but also by commanding and obliging in the manner of a will that orders. And since grace makes our will conformable to the divine will, it belongs to grace to dispose us to obey and submit to those rules of justice according to the dictate of the divinely given law.

Again, since it is possible to obey divine commands in two ways, namely, out of fear of punishment or out of love of justice, and the first is characteristic of the imperfect while the second is of the perfect, therefore God bestowed on man a twofold law: one of fear, the other of love, one generating servitude and the other transferring him into the adoption of the sons of God;⁴ and because it is fitting for those who fear and are imperfect to be terrified through judgments, led by the hand through signs, and nevertheless directed through precepts, hence it is that the Mosaic law, which is the law of fear, contains judicial, figurative, and moral things. — But to the perfect and loving there belongs the open instruction of teachings, a generous promise of rewards, and the lofty perfection of counsels; hence it is that the evangelical law contains these three. And therefore the Mosaic law is said to differ from the evangelical, because the former is of figure, the latter of truth; the former a law of punishment, the latter of grace; the former literal, the latter spiritual; the former killing, the latter giving life; the former of fear, the latter of love; the former of servitude, the latter of freedom; the former of burden, the latter of ease.⁵

Lastly, since the rules pertaining to the necessity of justice are contained in the divine precepts, and it belongs to justice “to render to each his own right,”⁶ it is necessary that there be certain moral precepts that order us to God, and certain others to our neighbor according to the twofold precept of charity; this the Holy Spirit wished to signify through the mystery of the two tablets, and therefore they are said to be written by the finger of God. — And since God is triune, namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom belong supreme majesty to be adored, truth to be professed, and charity to be embraced, according to the irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, through the act of work, mouth, and heart, therefore the commandment of the first tablet is threefold, corresponding to the three things mentioned above, namely, subjective adoration, truthful oath-taking, and sacred sabbatization.

But since the neighbor is the image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Father, piety is due; insofar as he bears the image of the Son, veracity is due; insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is due, hence it is that there are seven commandments pertaining to the second tablet.⁷ For under piety there are two: one that commands piety, namely, concerning honoring the father; the other that forbids impiety, namely, concerning not killing. Under veracity, which principally consists in the word, one is taken, namely, concerning not bearing false testimony. Under benignity, to which cupidity and concupiscence are opposed, either of which can be in action or in the heart, four are taken, namely, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, you shall not steal, and you shall not covet another's property.⁸ And these ought to be ordered according to the greater or lesser harms through which justice can be infringed. And thus the rules pertaining to the necessity of justice ought to be contained in the ten⁹ precepts.

Since moreover justice arrives at perfection when it perfectly distances itself from evil both as regards fault and as regards cause, and every evil arises from a threefold root, namely, the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life,¹⁰ hence it is that there are three evangelical counsels,¹¹ which perfectly distance us from the aforesaid threefold root. They are called counsels because, while they make us perfectly withdraw from evil, they separate us not only from unlawful things but also from lawful and permitted things that can be an occasion of evil; and thus they contain not only sufficient justice but also abundant justice, according to what befits the perfection of the evangelical law and the exercise of perfecting grace.¹²