Shame

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From New Testament Words (1964)

  In classical Greek it means ‘an arrogant greediness’, the spirit which tries to take advantage of its fellow-men. The corresponding verb, pleonektein, means ‘to defraud’ or ‘overreach’. Polybius, the Greek historian, has one suggestive use of the word. The Stoics had a phrase by which they described ‘that which is fitting’—ta kathēkonta—by which they meant that kind of conduct which a good man ought to produce. Polybius says that the man who is guilty of this covetous conduct uses methods which are not fitting for a man to use. Pleonexia was a word which was much in the vocabulary of the ordinary people and it is common in the papyri. There it is connected with conduct which is ‘quite shameless’, with ‘overreaching ambition’, with ‘violence’, with ‘injustice’, with the ‘cupidity’ for which a man in his better moments will be sorry, with the ‘rapacity’ of a dishonest official who is out to fleece the district of which he is in charge. By the Latin moralists it is defined as amorsceleratus habendi, ‘the accursed love of possessing’. Theodoret, the early commentator, describes it as ‘the aiming always at getting more, the snatching at things which it does not befit a man to have’. Cicero defined avaritia, which is the Latin equivalent, as injuriosa appetitio alienorum, ‘the unlawful desire for things which belong to others’. Now let us see if we can classify the NT usages so that we may arrive at the basic quality of this sin. (i) In Rom. 1.29 pleonexia is the sin of the godless world. It is the sin of the world, of the society, of the man who has turned his back upon the laws of God. It is the very opposite of the generosity of the love of God and of the charity of the Christian life. (ii) In Luke 12.15 it is the sin of the man who evaluates life in material terms, who thinks that the value of life lies in the number of things that a man possesses, the man whose one desire is to get and who never even thinks of giving. (iii) In I Thess. 2.5 and in II Pet. 2.3 it describes the sin of the man who uses his position to take advantage of, ‘to make merchandise of’ the people he ought to serve, the man who sees his fellow-men as creatures to be exploited and not as sons of God to be served. (iv) In Col. 3.5 it is identified with idolatry. Pleonexia is the worship of things instead of God. A threepenny-piece is a little thing, yet if it is held before the eye it will blot out the vastness of the sun. When a man has pleonexia in his heart he loses sight of God in a mad desire to get. (v) In passage after passage it is connected with sexual sin (Mark 7.22; Rom. 1.29; Eph. 4.19; 5.3; II Pet. 2.14).

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  1. The fact that false prophets make use of sheep’s clothing to deceive the faithful is rather in favour of the habit of wearing poor clothing than against it. For hypocrites would not thus disguise their malice, unless a contemptible garb carried with it an appearance of good. Otherwise the Scriptures which, as we are told (2 Pet. iii.), that heretics abuse, ought to be reprobated. The same might be said of piety, which heretics often pretend (2 Tim. iii.). Hence the Gloss says, on St. Matt. vii, that false prophets are recognised not by their garments, but by their works. Again, the Gloss adds that sheep should not lay aside their clothing, even though, at times wolves may assume it as a disguise. 2. The devil would not clothe his emissaries in a religious habit if this habit were not, in itself a token of goodness. But this is no reason why virtuous persons should not wear the religious habit; nor is it a reason why all who wear it should be accounted wicked (Gloss on Matt, vii). Hence St. Jerome asks in his book against Helvidius, “Does the fact that it is sinful to pretend to be a virgin, make virginity itself a crime?” 3. The prohibition, quoted in this objection was not published because poverty of clothing is in itself reprehensible, but because it is assumed by some men or the purposes of deception. 4. The quotation of St. Augustine, cited in this objection, applies, only, to such rigour of life as causes dissension amongst those with whom we have to live. For, if it be understood absolutely, everyone who fasts when others do not fast would deserve blame. This idea is, of course, absurd. 5. The words here quoted from St. Jerome apply not to the use, but to the abuse, of a poor and lowly garb. He utters a warning against the vainglory which may arise from such a custom. In his epistles to the monk Rusticus, and to the nobleman Pammachius, he commends poverty and humility of clothing. This is evident from his epistle to Pammachius on the death of Paulina. 6. The use of exterior things may be regarded from a double point of view. Their use is indifferent if we consider the nature of the things themselves. If, however, we regard the end for which we use them, their use is commendable in proportion to the excellence of that end. For example, fasting practised as a means of overcoming lust is more commendable than the eating of ordinary food with giving of thanks. Jovinian denied this proposition; but he was refuted in this and in his other errors by St. Jerome. Hence poverty of clothing, when it is intended as humiliation for the soul and as a conquest over the body, is in itself more to be commended than ordinary clothing. Consequently, as religion is evidenced by fasting, so, on the same grounds, is it seen in humility of attire.

• From Love & Sex: A Christian Guide to Healthy Intimacy (2018)

  “Probably the memory that haunts me the most is how my mom washed me in the tub.” “What do you mean by ‘washed me’?” Olivia asked. “Well, she hurt me.” “How did she hurt you?” Olivia wondered. “She would put her fingers inside of me,” Mary Francis remembered, a look of anguish and disgust darkening her face. Olivia asked, “Can you give what your mother did a name?” “Yes—I guess you call it sexual abuse,” Mary Francis said flatly. “Oh, Mary Francis, I’m so sorry; she shouldn’t have done that to you. That was wrong of her,” Kaycie said. Olivia asked, “What was that like for you, Mary Francis?” “Well, it has made me wonder if there is something wrong with me. It has made me question my sexual identity: am I gay? I sometimes wonder if I fooled around so much with boys and men to prove to myself I wasn’t gay.” “What made you think you were gay?” Olivia asked her. “Well, it hurt when my mom did that to me, but it also felt good once I got over the initial shock. It felt warm and tingly and exciting. And she would talk to me in a nurturing voice. It was one of the few times she told me she loved me. She told me I was beautiful. I was so starved for her affection I sort of ended up enjoying her abuse. Is that sick or what?” Mary Francis stated flatly, grief framing her face. Olivia said, “Remember when we talked about our automatic sexual response system? When our bodies are exposed to sexual stimuli they automatically respond. That’s how our bodies are wired.” “Yes, I remember,” Mary Francis said. “Thinking about how we are all wired sexually, what do you think about your responses to your mother’s abuse?” “I think, maybe, I am more normal than I thought I was. I think I was a little girl who wanted her mother’s time and attention and approval, and it’s sad that sexual abuse was the way I received that. I think it has really affected how I think and feel about myself. It has impacted my sexual acting out and it’s caused me to feel shameful. I’ve carried shame for so long and I’m tired. I’m so tired of feeling shame and hating myself. No wonder I didn’t think anyone could or would love me unless I was putting out sexually. I was sexualized by my own mother, when I was far too young to be sexualized. I should have been able to be a child. I think I lost a portion of my childhood the day my mother touched me sexually.” “What do you wish for that little girl who still lives inside of you to know?” Olivia wondered aloud. “I want her to know she is not dirty, she is not bad, she is not unlovable. She has value and worth and deserves to be treated with dignity,” Mary Francis stated.

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  ful a manner and so much to the poor gentleman's dis- advantage, that his mistress that very evening sent him orders to go home instantly, without saying a word to any one, and to remain there until further orders. He obeyed for fear of worse. As long as Jambicque was with the princess he remained in exile, and never heard from Jambicque, who had warned him truly that he should lose her if ever he tried to know her.* You may see, ladies, how she, who preferred the world's respect to her conscience, lost both the one and the other : for everybody now knows what she wished to conceal from her lover ; and through her desire to avoid being mocked by one alone, she has now become an object of derision to all the world. It cannot be said in her excuse that hers was an ingenuous love, the sim- plicity of which claims every one's pity; for what makes her doubly deserving of condemnation is that her design was to cover the wickedness of her heart with the mantle of glory and honour, and pass before God and man for what she was not. But He who will not give His glory to another was pleased to unmask her, and make her appear doubly infamous. * Brantome {Dames Galantes, Discours ii.), gives a detailed analysis of this novel in a very lively style, and says of the too- talkative gallant, " Those who knew the temper of this gentleman will hold him excused, for he was neither cold nor discreet enough to play that game, and mask himself with that discretion. Accord- ing to what I have heard from my mother, who was in the Queen of Navarre's service and knew some secrets of her novels, and was herself one of the confabulators {devisanfes), it was my late uncle La Chastaigneraye, who was brusque, hasty, and rather volatile.'' This Seigneur de La Chastaigneraye is the same who fought the famous duel with the Sire de Jarnac, in which he was killed with a sword-pass known by the name of coitp de Jarnac. Brantome says that the lady was zgrande dame, but he does not name her. Fifth day.\ QUEEN OF NA VARRE. 37^ "Truly," said Oisille, " this woman was wholly inex- cusable ; for who can say a word for her, since God, honour, and love are her accusers ? " " Who ? " exclaimed Hircan, " why, pleasure and folly, two great advocates for the ladies."

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  Reply to Objection 4: Sometimes more grievous sins are less shameful, either because they are less disgraceful, as spiritual sins in comparison with sins of the flesh, or because they connote a certain abundance of some temporal good; thus a man is more ashamed of cowardice than of daring, of theft than of robbery, on account of a semblance of power. The same applies to other sins. Whether man is more shamefaced of those who are more closely connected with him?Objection 1: It would seem that man is not more shamefaced of those who are more closely connected with him. For it is stated in Rhet. ii, 6 that “men are more shamefaced of those from whom they desire approbation.” Now men desire this especially from people of the better sort who are sometimes not connected with them. Therefore man is not more shamefaced of those who are more closely connected with him. Objection 2: Further, seemingly those are more closely connected who perform like deeds. Now man is not made ashamed of his sin by those whom he knows to be guilty of the same sin, because according to Rhet. ii, 6, “a man does not forbid his neighbor what he does himself.” Therefore he is not more shamefaced of those who are most closely connected with him. Objection 3: Further, the Philosopher says (Rhet. ii, 6) that “men take more shame from those who retail their information to many, such as jokers and fable-tellers.” But those who are more closely connected with a man do not retail his vices. Therefore one should not take shame chiefly from them. Objection 4: Further, the Philosopher says (Rhet. ii, 6) that “men are most liable to be made ashamed by those among whom they have done nothing amiss; by those of whom they ask something for the first time; by those whose friends they wish to become.” Now these are less closely connected with us. Therefore man is not made most ashamed by those who are more closely united to him. On the contrary, It is stated in Rhet. ii, 6 that “man is made most ashamed by those who are to be continually with him.”

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  THEOPHYLACT. (in loc.) Let the Manichean blush, who pronounces us the creatures of a dark and malignant creator: for we should never be enlightened, were we not the children of the true Light. CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. viii. c. 2) Where are those too, who deny Him to be very God? We see here that He is called very Light. But if He lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, how is it that so many have gone on without light? For all have not known the worship of Christ. The answer is: He only enlighteneth every man, so far as pertains to Him. If men shut their eyes, and will not receive the rays of this light, their darkness arises not from the fault of the light, but from their own wickedness, inasmuch as they voluntarily deprive themselves of the gift of grace. For grace is poured out upon all; and they, who will not enjoy the gift, may impute it to their own blindness. AUGUSTINE. (de Pecc. Mer. et Remiss. i. c. xxv) Or the words, lighteneth every man, may be understood to mean, not that there is no one who is not enlightened, but that no one is enlightened except by Him. BEDE. Including both natural and divine wisdom; for as no one can exist of himself, so no one can be wise of himself. ORIGEN. (Hom. 2, in div. loc.) Or thus: We must not understand the words, lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, of the growth from hidden seeds to organized bodies, but of the entrance into the invisible world, by the spiritual regeneration and grace, which is given in Baptism. Those then the true Light lighteneth, who come into the world of goodness, not those who rush into the world of sin. THEOPHYLACT. (in loc.) Or thus: The intellect which is given in us for our direction, and which is called natural reason, is said here to be a light given us by God. But some by the ill use of their reason have darkened themselves. 1:1010. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. AUGUSTINE. (Tr. in Joan. ii. c. 8) The Light which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, came here in the flesh; because while He was here in His Divinity alone, the foolish, blind, and un-righteous could not discern Him; those of whom it is said above, The darkness comprehended it not. Hence the text; He was in the world. ORIGEN. (Hom. 2 in div. loc.) For as, when a person leaves off speaking, his voice ceases to be, and vanishes; so if the Heavenly Father should cease to speak His Word, the effect of that Word, i. e. the universe which is created in the Word, shall cease to exist.

• From The Swimming-Pool Library (1988)

  ‘Good God no. There’s so much, it rather puts one off. And then he’s so frightfully keen about it himself, and regards it all as a big treat for me. I’ve got to try and be honest about it.’ James looked at me sceptically. ‘You must show me the bit about R.F.,’ he said. ‘Yes, that is good. Parts of it are—he must have put a lot of care into it. There are some rather Bridesheady bits about Oxford—though somewhat more candid than that deplorable novel. They would be good in a book. But a lot of the stuff in the Sudan is very routine—and he has this trying kind of nature-worship thing about blacks. He has only to see the back of a black hand or the curl of a black lip and he’s off.’ ‘I thought you were rather the same.’ ‘Well, up to a point—but I don’t go writing about it in this secret, religious kind of way. There’s no indication that old Charlie ever actually got it together with any of these tribesmen, bearers, and so on.’ ‘I think you’re going to have to brush up on one or two things, dear. I mean, you could hardly have the District Commissioner riding round on his camel rogering the subject people, could you? I know that’s what you would have done, but it would really have been rather frowned on in the Political Service.’ I smiled in gap-toothed, humorous shame. ‘I haven’t been very systematic about it,’ I further confessed. ‘I’ve read bits here and there—just to see if I like it, if I think I can do it. The idea of writing a whole great big book—it’s too ghastly. Of course,’ I added, ‘I haven’t got everything here. The diaries stop, I think about 1950.’ ‘Does he still keep one, do you suppose?’ ‘I don’t know. He could do. He’s full of energy, even though he’s so old and not, strictly speaking, all there.’ ‘He’s probably writing about you now—the peaches and cream of your complexion—soon to be restored—the well-knit frame.’ I aimed a swipe at him with a cushion, and then clutched at my ribs. ‘The subject describing his biographer … It all gets rather complicated and modern,’ he said, frowning and getting up to go. As usual he had been a corrective, and when Phil turned up later he found me aloof with a volume of the diaries, and hardly interested in his anecdotes about Pino and the hotel lift, and how there was a gay couple staying who had made a pass at him. He unpacked some veal, some ripe peaches, some wine and more bread. He seemed to believe in bread in some literal way as the staff of life.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  Reply to Objection 1: Lack of shame occurs in the best and in the worst men through different causes, as stated in the Article. In the average men it is found, in so far as they have a certain love of good, and yet are not altogether free from evil. Reply to Objection 2: It belongs to the virtuous man to avoid not only vice, but also whatever has the semblance of vice, according to 1 Thess. 5:22, “From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves.” The Philosopher, too, says (Ethic. iv, 9) that the virtuous man should avoid “not only what is really evil, but also those things that are regarded as evil.” Reply to Objection 3: As stated above (A[1], ad 1) the virtuous man despises ignominy and reproach, as being things he does not deserve, wherefore he is not much ashamed of them. Nevertheless, to a certain extent, shame, like the other passions, may forestall reason. Reply to Objection 4: Shamefacedness is a part of temperance, not as though it entered into its essence, but as a disposition to it: wherefore Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 43) that “shamefacedness lays the first foundation of temperance,” by inspiring man with the horror of whatever is disgraceful. OF HONESTY* (FOUR ARTICLES)[*Honesty must be taken here in its broad sense as synonymous with moral goodness, from the point of view of decorum.] We must now consider honesty, under which head there are four points of inquiry: (1) The relation between the honest and the virtuous; (2) Its relation with the beautiful [*As honesty here denotes moral goodness, so beauty stands for moral beauty]; (3) Its relation with the useful and the pleasant; (4) Whether honesty is a part of temperance? Whether honesty is the same as virtue?Objection 1: It would seem that honesty is not the same as virtue. For Tully says (De Invent. Rhet. ii, 53) that “the honest is what is desired for its own sake.” Now virtue is desired, not for its own sake, but for the sake of happiness, for the Philosopher says (Ethic. i, 9) that “happiness is the reward and the end of virtue.” Therefore honesty is not the same as virtue. Objection 2: Further, according to Isidore (Etym. x) “honesty means an honorable state.” Now honor is due to many things besides virtue, since “it is praise that is the proper due of virtue” (Ethic. i, 12). Therefore honesty is not the same as virtue. Objection 3: Further, the “principal part of virtue is the interior choice,” as the Philosopher says (Ethic. viii, 13). But honesty seems to pertain rather to exterior conduct, according to 1 Cor. 14:40, “Let all things be done decently [honeste] and according to order” among you. Therefore honesty is not the same as virtue.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  9. Shame results from a base action: baseness is opposed to beauty. Hence baseness, and the shame consequent upon it, must be distinguished according to the kind of beauty to which it is opposed. Beauty may be either spiritual or physical. Spiritual beauty consists in a well ordered soul, and in abundance of spiritual gifts. Hence all that arises from a deficiency of spiritual good, or which points to spiritual disorder, is base. Physical beauty consists in symmetry of body and in the due proportion of such things as pertain to corporeal perfection. Bodily deformity or deficiency is, in a certain sense, base. And as both spiritual and physical beauty are loved and desired, spiritual and physical deformity cause a certain shame. Thus, a man is ashamed of being poor or unsightly or ignorant or awkward. Since spiritual deformity is always reprehensible, all that produces the shame of such deformity ought to be avoided. We speak not of the confession of sins, for the shiner is ashamed, not of his confession, but of the guilt which he acknowledges. But holy men think little of physical defect or deformity. In fact, they embrace it willingly for the love of Christ and for the sake of perfection. Hence the ignominy that accompanies such physical deformity is not always an object of contempt. Sometimes, indeed, it is worthy of high praise, as when it is assumed for the sake of humility. Now beggary is shameful, inasmuch as it is a disgrace attached to a material deficiency. For a beggar acknowledges that he is poor and is often subject to the one to whom he appeals for the relief of his needs. But beggary undertaken for the sake of Christ deserves honour rather than contempt. 10. A man who is asked for charity ought not to be wearied, if the petition is properly made. And if he is wearied, the fault lies in him for giving alms in order to free himself from importunity, rather than with him who asks in a becoming manner, for the relief of his needs. But, if the petition is not rightly made, the fault lies with the petitioner. We shall next undertake to answer, in their proper order, the arguments of those who hold that religious who preach may not live on charity, or beg for alms.

• From New Testament Words (1964)

  Aselgeia is a grim word. It is the wanton insolence that is lost to shame. It is a grim commentary on human nature that a man can be so mastered by sin that in the end he loses even shame. CHARISMA THE GIFT OF GOD Charisma basically means ‘a gift’. Outside the NT it is not at all a common word. In classical Greek it is rare. It is not common in the papyri, but there is one suggestive occurrence where a man classifies his property as that which he acquired apo agorasias, ‘by purchase’, and that which he acquired apo charismatos, ‘by gift’. In the NT charisma is a characteristically Pauline word. Altogether it occurs seventeen times, fourteen times in the undoubted Pauline letters, twice in the Pastoral Epistles, and once in I Peter. (i) It is used of what we might call ‘gifts of grace’. Paul longs to visit Rome in order to impart to the Romans some charisma (Rom. 1.11). The Corinthians are deficient in no charisma (I Cor. 1.7). He bids them covet the best charismata (I Cor. 12.31) and then goes on to sing his hymn to love. Charismata are the graces of the Christian life. (ii) It is used of God’s ‘grace and forgiveness’ in that situation where judgment and condemnation would have been only just. In Rom. 5.15, 16, man’s sin and God’s charisma of gracious forgiveness are contrasted. In Rom. 6.23—a verse to which we shall return—the wages of sin is death, but the charisma of God is eternal life. (iii) It is used of the ‘natural endowments’ which a man possesses. Every man, says Paul, has his own charisma from God (I Cor. 7.7). Peter exhorts every man to serve others as he has received his charisma (I Pet. 4.10). (iv) It is used of ‘the gift which is implanted in a man when he is ordained to the ministry’. Timothy must never neglect the gift that came to him by the laying on of hands by the Presbytery (I Tim. 4.14; cp. II Tim. 1.6). The gift of God comes to men through the hands of men, but it remains a gift of God. (v) It is specially used for all ‘the special gifts which can be exercised in the service of the Church’. There are two great lists of these gifts. Rom. 12.6-8 lists prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling, showing mercy. I Cor. 12.8-10 is a longer list. I Cor. 12.28-30 points out how different charismata are given to different people. (vi) It is used for ‘God’s rescue in a difficult situation’ (II Cor. 1.11). The whole basic idea of the word is that of a free and undeserved gift, of something given to a man unearned and unmerited, something which comes from God’s grace and which could never have been achieved or attained or possessed by a man’s own effort.

• From Love & Sex: A Christian Guide to Healthy Intimacy (2018)

  “All of us come to crossroads in our lives, hopefully many. Crossroads are a point in time when we need to stop and pay attention. We need to look to the right and to the left and determine what our next course of action will be. Will I doggedly stick to my belief system and do it the way I always have because it is what I know? Or will I open my heart and allow change to take place?” Evan said, “Olivia, I have tried it my way for so long, and my life is a mess. My sexuality has done nothing but hurt me and those I love. I have cheated, lied, deceived, manipulated, and blamed. I have nearly destroyed what I have with Emily. She had every right to walk away from me and take our children with her. Do you think God would have me? Do you think He would want someone like me? Do you think he would want a cheater and a liar and someone who is hooked on porn?” “Evan, I think you are exactly who Jesus wants. I think He has been seeking you out and calling your name. I think He has loved you since before you were in your mother’s womb. Evan, you are the one He gave up the life of his Son Jesus for. You are wanted by the Father. He wants to adopt you, put His royal robe on your shoulders, and His ring on your finger. He wants to call you His son and his friend. He wants to heal the sexual mistakes you have made, and He wants to cast your sin and shame as far as the east is from the west. You are the one He wants,” Olivia reassured. Evan sat with his eyes closed and tears streaming down onto his chest. Emily held his hand and cried with him. She thought to herself, God, you are the God of miracles. And I am experiencing a miracle in this moment. Thank you. Thank you. “This feels like a hallowed moment. Is anyone else experiencing God’s presence?” Olivia asked. Olivia had noticed a man, who looked like he was in his late twenties, slip into the room at the beginning of the session. He now stood to his feet at the back of the room. Olivia said, “Yes, is there something you would like to say?” He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet for a moment before he spoke.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  REMIGIUS. Woe also to all who draw near to Christ’s table with an evil and defiled conscience! who though they do not deliver Christ to the Jews to be crucified, deliver Him to their own sinful members to be taken. He adds, to give more emphasis, Good were it for that man if he had never been born. JEROME. We are not to infer from this that man has a being before birth; for it cannot be well with any man till he has a being; it simply implies that it is better not to be, than to be in evil. AUGUSTINE. (Quæst. Ev. i. 40.) And if it be contended that there is a life before this life, that will prove that not only not for Judas, but for none other is it good to have been born. Can it mean, that it were better for him not to have been born to the Devil, namely, for sin? Or does it mean that it had been good for him not to have been born to Christ at his calling, that he should now become apostate? ORIGEN. After all the Apostles had asked, and after Christ had spoken of him, Judas at length enquired of himself, with the crafty design of concealing his treacherous purpose by asking the same question as the rest; for real sorrow brooks not suspense. JEROME. His question feigns either great respect, or a hypocritical incredulousness. The rest who were not to betray Him, said only Lord; the actual traitor addresses Him as Master, as though it were some excuse that he denied Him as Lord, and betrayed a Master only. ORIGEN. Or, out of sycophancy he calls Him Master, while he holds Him unworthy of the title. CHRYSOSTOM. Though the Lord could have said, Hast thou covenanted to receive silver, and darest to ask Me this? But Jesus, most merciful, said nothing of all this, therein laying down for us rules and landmarks of endurance of evil. He saith unto him, Thou hast said. REMIGIUS. Which may be understood thus; Thou sayest it, and thou sayest what is true; or, Thou hast said this, not I; leaving him room for repentance so long as his villainy was not publicly exposed. RABANUS. This might have been so said by Judas, and answered by the Lord as not to be overheard by the rest. 26:2626. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. JEROME. When the typical Passover was concluded, and He had partaken of the Lamb with His Apostles, He comes to the true paschal sacrament; that, as Melchisedech, Priest of the most high God, had done in foreshadowing Christ, offering bread and wine (Gen. 14:18.), He also should offer the present verity of His Body and Bloodc.

• From New Testament Words (1964)

  The adjective sklēros can be used, for instance, of a stone which is specially hard for masons to work; it can be used metaphorically of a king who is inhuman and hard in his treatment of his subjects. Sin hardens the heart. In Phil. 1.9 Paul prays that the Philippians may abound in what he calls aisthēsis, which is ‘sensitive perception’. It is the quality of heart and mind which is sensitive to that which is wrong. It is the experience of life that the first time a man commits a wrong action he does so with a kind of shuddering reluctance; if he does it twice he does it more easily; if he goes on doing it he will end by doing it without thinking at all. His sensitiveness to sin is gone; his heart is hardened. It is indeed true that the most awful thing about sin is exactly its power to beget sin. (ii) Sin results in ‘death’ (Rom. 5.12, 21; 6.16; 6.23; James 1.15). This is doubly so. It was Paul’s belief that it was because of Adam’s sin that death entered into the world. Sin is that which wrecked and ruined the life that God had planned for man. But it is also true that death results in the death of the soul. Physical death and spiritual death are to Paul both the result of sin. One of the best ways of discovering the real meaning of any word is to examine the company it keeps. A word’s meaning, and its inward flavour, will best be found by examining the words in whose company it is usually found. Let us, then, examine the words with which hamartia is found in the NT. (i) Hamartia is connected with blasphēmia (Matt. 12.31). The basic meaning of blasphēmia is insult. Sin is then ‘an insult’ to God. It insults God by flouting his commandments, by putting self in the place which he ought to occupy, and above all, by grieving his love. (ii) Hamartia is connected with apatē (Heb. 3.13). A patē is ‘deceit’. Sin is always a deceitful thing, in that it promises to do that which it cannot do. Sin is always a lie. Any man who sins, who does the forbidden thing or who takes the forbidden thing, does so because he thinks that he will be happier for doing or taking that thing. Sin deceives him into thinking so. But the plain fact of experience is that an act or a possession which is the result of sin never brought happiness to any man. Long ago, Epicurus, with his strictly utilitarian morality, pointed out that sin can never bring happiness, because, apart from anything else, it leaves a man with the constant fear of being found out.

• From Blue Like Jazz (2003)

  The first of the exploits to go was the Bible. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to read it or didn’t agree with it, I would just forget. It sat on the floor next to my bed beneath a pile of dirty clothes. Out of sight, out of mind. I’d forget about it for a month until I cleaned my room, and then I’d lift up a pile of dirty clothes and there would be my Bible, staring up at me like a dead pet. One evening I was walking around Pioneer Square in down-town Portland when I noticed a pipe and tobacco store across the street. I decided I’d step inside and take a look-see. I came out with a new pipe that I swore I wouldn’t smoke till the year was up. It was a good deal, you know, about fifteen dollars or something. I couldn’t pass up the sale on tobacco, either, even though it would go bad before the contract expired. I sat down in Pioneer Square with the skateboarders and musicians, chess players and coffee drinkers. I decided to pack my pipe, just to get a feel for it. I stuck it in my mouth to bring back that sensation, the feel of the stem between my teeth. Then I lit it. Then I smoked it. After the Bible and the pipe thing fell apart, I decided to yield a bit on the television aspect of the contract. There was this indie pizza place down the street from my apartment, Escape from New York Pizza or something like that, and they had a big-screen television. I’d go down and watch Monday night football, which was a double sin because on Mondays we were supposed to be fasting. I figured none of the guys would mind if I switched the fasting day to Wednesday, just to shuffle things around. I shuffled so many fasting days around that after three months I was supposed to go twelve days without eating. I think I fasted twice that year. Maybe. I hated the entire year. Hated it. I felt like a failure every morning. I hated looking in the mirror because I was a flop. I got ticked at all the people who were having fun with their lives. I’d walk home from the pizza place feeling criminal for my mischief, feeling as though I were not cut out to be a Christian, wondering what my punishment would be for disobeying God. Everything was failing. I’d get letters from the other guys, too, some of them doing quite well. I wouldn’t answer them. Not only was I failing God, I was failing my fundamentalist brothers!

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  If ever a man was utterly confounded and horrified, it was the poor husband. It was bad enough to think that he had forsaken his wife, who was fair, chaste, and virtuous, and overflowing with affection for him, for a woman who did not love him ; but it was infinitely worse when he represented to himself that he had been so un- lucky as to make her quit the path of virtue, in spite of herself and without knowing it, to share with another the pleasures which should have been his alone, and to have forged for himself the horns of perpetual mockery. Seeing, however, that his wife was already angry enough about his intended intrigue with the servant, he did not dare to tell her of the villainous trick he had played upon herself. He implored her pardon, promised to make amends for the past by the strictest propriety of conduct in future, and gave her back her ring, which he had taken from his friend, whom he begged not to say a word of what had happened. But as everything whispered in the eg THE HEPTAMEKON OF THE lN(n'd%. ear is by-and-by proclaimed from the house-top, the ad- venture became public at last, and people called him a cuckold, without any regard for his wife's feelings.* It strikes me, ladies, that if all those who have been guilty of similar infidelity to their wives were punished in the same way, Hircan and Saffredent would have great cause to fear. " Why, Longarine ? " said Saffredent. " Are Hircan and I the only married men in the company } " " You are not the only married men," she replied. " but you are the only ones capable of playing such a trick." " Who told you," returned Saffredent, " that we have sought to debauch our wives* servant-maids } "' " If those who are interested in the matter," she an- swered, "were to speak the truth, we should certainly hear of servant-maids dismissed before their time." "This is pleasant, truly," observed Geburon ; "you promised to make the company laugh, and instead of that you vex these gentlemen." " It comes to the same thing," replied Longarine. "Provided they do not draw their swords, their anger will not fail to make us laugh." " If our wives were to listen to this lady," said Hircan, " there is not a married couple in the company but she would set at variance." " Nay," said Longarine, " I know before whom I speak. Your wives are so prudent, and love you so much, that though you were to make them bear horns as big as those of a deer, they would believe, and try to make others believe, that they were chaplets of roses." * This tale is taken from the fabliau of Le Meunier d'Alens, and also occurs in the facetis of Poggio, in Sacchetti, and in the Cent Nouvelles A^oitvelles.

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  " Fair niece, fair niece," rejoined the duchess, with execrable spite, " there is no love so secret as not to be known, nor any little dog so well trained as not to be heard to bark." I leave you to imagine the anguish of poor Madame du Verger at finding that an affair she had thought so secret was published to her shame. The thought of her honour, so carefully guarded, and so unhappily lost, was torture to her ; but the worst was her fear that her lover had broken his word to her, which she did not believe he could ever have done unless he loved some fairer lady, and in doting fondness had suffered her to extort the secret from him. However, she had so much self- command that she did not let her emotion be seen, but laughingly replied that she did not understand the lan- guage of brutes. But her heart was so wrung with grief that she rose, and, passing through the duchess's chamber, entered a garderobe in sight of the duke, who was walking about. Thinking herself alone, she threw herself on a bed. A demoiselle, who had sat down beside it to sleep, roused herself and peeped through the curtains to see who it might be, and perceiving it was the duke's niece, who thought herself alone, she 536 THE HEPTAMERON OF THE [Havel 70 durst not speak, but remained as still as possible to listen, whilst the poor lady in a dying voice thus began her lamentation :

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  Third day:\ Q UEEN OF NA VARRE. 223 Sister Marie, witliout suffering herself to be dismayed, replied that He who knew the hearts of his servants would be her stay. " And since you carry your malev- olence so far," she said, " I would rather be the victim of your cruelty than the accomplice of your criminal desires ; because I know that God is a just judge." In a rage that may be more easily imagined than de- scribed, the prior hurried off to assemble the chapter. Summoning Sister Marie before him, he made her kneel, and thus addressed her : " It is with extreme grief. Sister Marie, that I see how the wholesome remonstrances which I have addressed to you on so capital a fault have been of no avail, and I am compelled with regret to im- pose a penance upon you contrary to my custom. I have examined your confessor touching certain crimes of which he was accused, and he has confessed to me that he has abused you, and that in a place where two witnesses de- pose to having seen you. Instead, then, of the honourable post of mistress of the novices in which I had placed you, I ordain that you be the lowest of all, and also that you eat your diet of bread and water on the ground in the presence of all the sisters, until you shall have merited pardon by your repentance." Sister Marie, having been warned beforehand, by one of her companions who knew her whole affair, that if she made any reply which was displeasing to the prior he would put her in pace, that is, immure her for ever in a cell, heard her sentence without saying a word, raising her eyes to heaven, and praying that He who had given her the grace to resist sin, would give her the patience necessary to endure her sufferings. This was not all. The venerable prior further prohibited her speaking for three years to her mother or her relations, or writing any letter excepting in community. 224 ^-^^ HEPTAMERON OF THE iNovel 22.

• From Love & Sex: A Christian Guide to Healthy Intimacy (2018)

  “On a side note, research reveals the best predictor of a child’s attachment is actually how a parent has made sense of his or her own early life history. Even foster or adoptive parents with a coherent narrative revealing how they’ve made sense of their life histories help their non-genetically related children develop secure relationships with them.4 When we process our traumas, big or small, it rewires our brains, brings healing to our narratives, and frees us to walk in the abundant life Jesus longs for us to live. “Shame says there is something inherently wrong with me: I am less than others, or I am more than others. Shame’s greatest lie is, ‘You are unworthy of relational connection.’ Shame is at the root of all relationship disturbances and is the great kidnapper of intimacy. Shame sends us into hiding and isolation and deeper into attachment and intimacy disorders. Further, shame invites people into one-night stands, casual sex, unattached sex, lust, and porn. “The reason this type of sex is so appealing is because it doesn’t require letting another person in. But God’s idea of healthy sexuality is based in a context of relationship with another person free from shame, a relationship where you are allowing yourself to be known and you are longing to know the other. “Neuroscientists say our brains are not fully developed until we are twenty-five. That means we needed sexual and relational guidance, teaching, and wisdom until we were twenty-five and ready to make good sexual and relational choices. How many of you wish you would have had more guidance?” Most in the room nodded. Olivia, wanting to be sensitive to give the group time to process said, “I know we have covered a lot of information this session. Let’s get into our groups and process for a few minutes and then we will take a lunch break. “I’ll put some questions on the screen. Take about forty-five minutes to process with your group. Make it safe for each other and avoid giving advice. Mostly, what we want to do is listen. Psalms 10:17–18 says, ‘The victim’s faint pulse picks up; the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood as you put your ear to their lips. Orphans get parents, the homeless get homes. The reign of terror is over, the rule of the gang lords is ended.’ “Some of you have felt terrorized and ruled over by sexual issues, you have felt like orphans and even like you didn’t have a place to belong. Today, let’s be the kind of people who just put our ear to the lips of the victims with kindness and compassion. Let’s give a home for one another’s narratives; and let’s love, like a good parent loves a child.” MOVING FORWARD 1.​What value did your family put on human sexuality and sex education? 2.​Who talked with you about your sexual values and what did they say?

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  " Tr^s chere soeur, si je savois ou couche Votre personne au jour des Innocents, De bon matin j'irois en votre couche Veoir ce gent corps que j'aime entre cinq cents. Adonc ma main (veu I'ardeur que je sens^ Ne se pourroit bonnement contenter De vous toucher, tenir, taster, tenter: Et si quelquun survenoit d'aventure, Semblant ferois de vous innocenter, Seroit-co pas honneste couverture ? " Ftfth day:\ QUEEN OF NA VARKE. ^g^ the bedpost at such a rate that he made the rods fly in pieces, and then he carried them broken as they were to his wife. " I think, my dear," said he, showing them to her, " that your servant will not soon forget the Inno- cents." The upholsterer having gone out of doors, the servant went and threw herself at her mistress's feet, and com- plained that her husband had behaved to her in the most shameful way that ever a servant was treated. The good woman, imagining that she spoke of the flogging she had received, interrupted her, and said, " My hus- band has done well, and just as I have been begging him to do this month and more. If he has made you smart I am very glad of it. You may lay it all to me. He has not given you half as much as he ought." When the girl perceived that her mistress approved of such an act. she concluded that it was not such a great sin as she had supposed, seemg that a woman who was considered so virtuous was the cause of it ; and so she never ventured to complain of it again. The upholsterer, seeing that his wife was as glad to be deceived as he was to deceive her, resolved frequently to give her the same satisfaction, and gained the servant's consent so well that she cried no more for getting the Innocents. He continued the same course for a long time without his v/ife's knowing anything of the matter, until winter came, and there was a great fall of snow. As he bad given his servant the Innocents in the garden on the green grass, he took a fancy to give them to her also on the snow ; and one morning, before anyone was awake, he took her out into the garden in her shift, to make the crucifix on the snow. They romped and pelted each other, and among the sport that of the Innocents was pot forgotten. One of the neighbours, meanwhile, had 394 THE HEPTAMERON OF THE YXiK-d \<^.

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  The lady, recognizing him too late by his voice and his laughter, was overwhelmed with shame and vexation, and called him a thousand times impostor, cheat, trai- tor, villain. She would have sprung out of bed to look for a knife with which to kill herself for having been so unhappy as to lose her honour for a man whom she did not love, and who, to be revenged upon her, might make known this affair to the whole world. But he held her fast, and vowed so hard that he would love her better than the other, and would faithfully keep her secret, that at last she believed him, and was pacified. He then told her how he had contrived to find himself where he then was, and related to her all the pains he had taken to win her ; whereupon she praised his ingenuity, and vowed that she would love him better than the other, who had not been able to keep her secret. She was now convinced, she said, how false were the preju- dices that prevailed against the French, who were better men, more persevering, and more discreet than the Italians ; and from that moment she would cast off the erroneous opinions of her countrypeople, and attach her- self heartily to him. Only she entreated him that for some time he would forbear from showing himself at any entertainment or in any place where she might be, unless he were masked ; for she knew well she should be so much ashamed, that her countenance would tell tales of her to everybody. Having promised this, he begged her in his turn to receive his friend well when he should Second day:\ Q UEEN OF NA VARRE ■ 1 3 9 come about two o'clock, and afterwards get rid of him by degrees. She made great difficulties about this, and only yielded at last under the strong coercion of her love for Bonnivet, who on taking leave of her behaved so much to her satisfaction that she would gladly have had him stay a little longer.