PREFACE — CHAPTER II. ON THE ARGUMENT OF THE BOOK OF STEPS.

they are paved for the sake of the little ones, so that the weak and infants, running in those paths, might gradually grow and, having been strengthened, enter the way of the perfect, since those walking in the "paths" cannot be perfectly saved.

Having explained the difference between "ways" and "paths," the twentieth discourse, "on the arduous degrees" leading to the city of the Lord, discusses the matter. The Author asserts in the first part of the discourse (1-7) that three degrees, in particular, are difficult to overcome: to reconcile enemies, to say farewell to earthly things, and to live chastely. He shows how one may ascend to these "arduous" degrees with the help of prayer, humility, and fasting, and how the "internal sin may be plucked from the heart," by the removal of which the Paraclete the Advocate/Holy Spirit appears and renders the man perfect. In the second part (8-12), he proposes that the life of the Lord be imitated, who traversed all these degrees to teach us how we might remove "internal sin" from our hearts. Finally, in the third part (13-17), he encourages the observance of the commandments and urges that the Lord be beseeched with tears, so that by praying, one might receive the Paraclete and be able to see the Lord "face to face." He assigns this meaning also to the parable of the wedding garment (Matthew 22:10 ff.).

In the twenty-first discourse, the fall of the first parents is explained, who obeyed Satan and involved themselves in earthly things. It is shown how men might be freed from the death that Adam tasted, so that they might be restored to the state of the first holy nature. With the fatal effects of the first sin described, the humility of the Savior is opposed to the pride of Adam; for the humble are looked upon by God, just as He once looked upon Moses, Noah, Job, the Apostles, and Mary, the mother of the Lord. Finally, having enumerated the various consequences of Adam’s sin, the divine mercy is celebrated, which permitted men the use of earthly things so that they might at least be freed from eternal punishments.

In the twenty-second discourse, the notion of "judgments by which no one lives who observes them" is explained as those precepts of the ancient Law which permit vengeance to be exacted for evil deeds and look to the law of retaliation according to the rule: "an eye for an eye." The Author contends that these laws were enacted to prevent greater evils, and he teaches that they—insofar as they are contrary to justice—have been abrogated in the New Covenant, and he admits only the Decalogue, which the Savior also received into the New Law.

In the twenty-third discourse, the subject is "concerning Satan and Pharaoh and the children of Israel" as examples of hardening; it is shown that God was not the immediate cause for why they were hardened. Indeed, sinners are exalted by God’s long-suffering and resist God, just as Satan, Pharaoh, and the Jews did.

The twenty-fourth discourse, dealing with "penance," attacks those who deny penance to those who have fallen after baptism (1-2); then it discusses the degrees of gravity of

sins and the varied remuneration of good works according to the degrees of goodness (3-6).

The twenty-fifth discourse is directed against those "solitaries" who, while they may sincerely wish to strive for perfection, are deceived by the Devil and engage in the corporal works of mercy, plant gardens, and build houses for themselves where they might receive the poor and pilgrims. It is shown that such "solitaries" cannot be perfected as long as they do not renounce earthly things, and the dangers of losing the very justice which the possession of goods and the distribution of alms necessarily involve are weighed.

In the twenty-sixth discourse, the "second law which the Lord placed for Adam" is described after he had fallen, by permitting him the just use of the things of the earth; this law is said to have lasted until the arrival of Christ, who, having renewed the first law set for Adam (as the law of perfection), made the first law the newest and made the newest the first.

The twenty-seventh discourse alludes to the tumultuous movements of the "perfect," who, having left the paternal home under the pretext of seeking "perfection," began to wander without any rational end. The Author reproves the preposterous entry—as he calls it—into the way of perfection, and to those who, having left the paternal home, wish to surrender themselves to be taught by some "master of perfection," he advises that they first learn the way of the Lord and humility. He criticizes the arrogance of certain "disciples of perfection" who, without a solid foundation of virtue, desert their parents and, ignorant of prayer, wander like cattle.

In the twenty-eighth discourse, he contends that "the human soul is not blood," rejecting the opinion of those who posit three parts of man: body, soul, and spirit. Having rejected the difference between soul and spirit, he admits that man is constituted in a "trinity" only when, having achieved perfection, he has received the "Paraclete" (1-2). The remaining part of the discourse treats the degrees of perfection and briefly repeats what was set forth more fully in the seventh discourse (nn. 5-10).

The twenty-ninth discourse deals with "the chastisement of the body" and demonstrates the necessity of mortification to achieve perfection because of the corrupt human nature, which leans toward pleasure with an insatiable impulse and, distracted by delights, forgets the law of God. The kinds of pleasures, hardening, and mortification are described, and with the Pharisaical fast rejected, a sincere kind of fasting is established to be observed by the "solitaries."

The thirtieth discourse deals with "the precepts of faith and the charity of the solitaries." The Author contends that the precepts of faith are lesser than those of charity, from which he infers that the disciples of charity are greater than those of faith, and he compares their mutual