Chapter IX — An admonition to Confessors

I. When I consider the oracles of Christ, and the doctrine of all the Fathers and of the graver Theologians, I tremble in every limb over the salvation of the rich; nor do the benign blandishments of certain men soothe my grief and dread. Extremes indeed must be avoided. Care must be taken lest the yoke of Christ be weighted down more than is right in this cause — which rarely happens. Care must be taken lest we relax it more than is right — which, as is well known, most easily happens from the proscribed opinions, and from others more benign than is fair. Let the Confessors of the rich, then, keep before their eyes the Gospel of Christ Jesus and the doctrine of the holy Fathers.

II. Confessors must beware of flattering the rich. Let them inculcate more deeply the doctrine of Christ concerning their difficult salvation. Let them beware lest the fear of alienating the rich from themselves, and of displeasing them, cause them to soothe and temper the severity of the evangelical doctrine with excessive sweetness. A certain and precise rule cannot be designated, either concerning the acquiring of a higher state, or concerning the increasing of a patrimony within the sphere of the same state. The superfluity of goods, too, is not fixed at any individual point. The rich can keep more things for the future, for dowering their daughters, for providing for their children, for sustaining the burdens of the City or of the Commonwealth, and for repairing other inconveniences which are wont probably to occur. But under these titles avaricious cupidity, ambition, and self-love feign very many things which reduce a most grave precept to nothing.

III. This is certain: that the rich abound in superfluities, when all their burdens, whether present or future, have been weighed. Vain and lying, then, is the excuse of very many rich men who say that they lack superfluities. Against these let Confessors hurl what St. Gregory Nazianzen writes in oration 14 [recte]: Those who have resolved to live softly and delicately are necessarily enticed to devising magnificent apparatus of buildings. In constructing and adorning these, the greatest force of money is poured out. To these they gladly summon and invite assemblies of men; they zealously procure splendid and varied furniture, innumerable kinds of cups, buffoons, mimes, harpers, singers male and female, dancers male and female — in short, the whole sport of wantonness. And while these things are carried on within, there sit at the doors of the vestibule innumerable ragged men, some full of grievous ulcers, some bereft of eyes, some maimed in their feet; they cry out together, and yet are not heard. If God beholds these things — as assuredly he does — what end do you think there will be, O enemies of the poor? Do you not know that it is for the sake of these that all the horrendous and terrible examples are set down and commemorated in the holy Gospel?

IV. In defining the quantity of the alms to be distributed one sticks fast. Christ commands, and the Fathers inculcate, that all superfluities be distributed. But since these superfluities are enclosed within no certain limit, they are not subject to a certain and precise measure. Some of the Theologians assign a tenth part of the revenues, whether coming from landed estates or from industry. Others prescribe a narrower, others an ampler measure.

V. Adriaan Reland, in his On the Mahometan Religion, from page 99, narrates that the Turks burden gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates, raisins, camels, oxen, sheep, and plants with a fixed yearly payment of alms, with many conditions added; which payment comes to about five in the hundred. This I note in passing, lest Christian rich men show themselves difficult in laying out alms. But since I cannot myself designate a precise measure, I shall set down what the holy Doctors suggest.

VI. St. Thomas of Villanova, sermon 2 on St. Martin, furnishes this answer: Hear John: He that hath two coats, let him give one to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner. You will say perhaps: To give the half is much. I have a wife and a household to feed. For all these the remaining half would not suffice. To which I say: Zacchaeus had all these; yet, with the Lord approving, he laid out half of his goods upon the poor. Oh, you will say, Zacchaeus was a publican: what wonder if he gave all who had first plundered? Give, then, all that is over. But you will say: If indeed my children did not increase, neither would I increase my inheritance and patrimony; but as children come, the patrimony too must be increased. Well, let it be so: reckon up all these things; give what is over. You will say: I gladly accept; if I reckon all things, much is wanting. Truly it is so: to your cupidity much is wanting, and much would be wanting even if you alone, without a partner, possessed the whole world. I do not wish, then, to bring you to a reckoning. Do as Tobias counseled his son, chapter 4: According to thy ability be merciful. If thou have much, give abundantly; if thou have little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little. I do not disapprove if you set aside a certain portion of money, at the judgment of a good man and according to your revenues, to be laid out upon the poor each year. Since, therefore, a certain and precise quantity of alms cannot be prescribed, let us say at least those things which seem to approach nearest to the evangelical doctrine. And first it is certain that those rich men do not keep the precept of almsgiving who out of ample riches impart some worthless leavings and a few pennies to the poor, with no regard had to the abundance of their riches; who feed their dogs more sumptuously than the poor; who pour out money with a lavish hand upon luxury, pomps, banquets, games, and other amusements, but succor the poor only moderately. The rule of holy Tobias, therefore, must be kept before the eyes. Let him who possesses much lay out much; and let those whose patrimonies are slender give slender aids to the poor, which they may impart with the desire of giving more, if they had it. Let the rich behold Christ in the poor; let them reckon themselves as brothers of the poor; let them distribute to them not the worthless scraps of their table and of their riches, but a just portion. Besides the crumbs of the table, then, and those pennies which are wont to be distributed to the beggars they meet, let the rich assign a certain portion of their revenues — greater or less, according to the abundance of their riches — to be imparted to the poor each year.

VII. The rich are wont to object the number of their children, and the dowry of their daughters. To whom Augustine furnishes this answer, sermon 43, On various matters: Make room for Christ along with your children; let your Lord be added to your family, let your Creator be added to your offspring, let your brother be added to the number of your children ... You have two children: reckon him the third. You have three: let Christ be numbered the fourth. You have five: let him be called the sixth. You have ten: let him be the eleventh. I do not wish to say more. Keep for your Lord the place of one child. For what you shall give to your Lord will profit both you and your children. But what you keep ill for your children will harm both you and them. You shall give one portion, which you have allotted to one child.