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The Pastor of Hermas
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Introductory Note to The Pastor of Hermas
[180] It will be noticed that space is attributed to the heart or soul, and that joy and goodness expand the heart, and produce width, while sadness and wickedness contract and straiten.
[181] But … himself. But rejoicing he will be expanded, and he will feast in the vessel in which he dwells, and he will serve the Lord joyfully in the midst of great peace.—Vat. He will serve the Lord in great gladness, having abundance of all things within himself.—Pal.
[182] For … anger, omitted in Vat.; fuller in Pal.: For the Lord dwells in calmness and greatness of mind, but anger is the devil’s house of entertainment. [Eph. iv. 26, 27.]
[183] [Jas iii. 11.]
[184] Patience if polluted. The mind is distressed.—Vat.; omitted in Pal.
[185] I … heart. I, the angel [or messenger] of righteousness, am with you, and all who depart from anger, and repent with their whole heart, will live to God.—Vat.
[186] Are justified. Are received into the number of the just by the most holy angel (or messenger).—Pal. [i.e., As the instrument of justification; but the superlative here used seems to indentify this angel with that of the covenant (Mal. iii. 1); i.e., the meritorious cause, “the Lord.”]
[187] Hear … away. “Hear now,” said he, “how great is the wickedness of anger, and how injurious, and in what way it overthrows the servants of God. For they who are full of faith receive no harm from it, for the power of God is with them; for it is the doubters and those destitute [of faith] that it overturns.”—Vat. [The philosophic difference between anger and indignation is here in view.]
[188] [Matt. xii. 45; Luke xi. 26.]
[189] You … Lord. You will be found by God in the company of purity and chastity.—Vat.
[190] And put … them. That you may live to God, and they who keep these commandments will live to God.—Vat. [The beauty of this chapter must be felt by all, especially in the eulogy on patience. A pious and learned critic remarks on the emphasis and frequent recurrence of scriptural exhortations to patience, which he thinks have been to little enlarged upon in Christian literature.]
[191] [See Tob. iii. 8, 17. The impure spirit, and the healing angel. This apocryphal book greatly influenced the Church’s ideas of angels, and may have suggested this early reference to one’s good and evil angel. The mediæval ideas on this subject are powerfully illustrated in the German legends preserved by Sir. W. Scott in The Wild Huntsman and The Fire-King.]
[192] Forthwith … heart, omitted in Lips.
[193] Transactions. I think the writer means, when a longing is felt to engage with too great devotedness to business and the pursuit of wealth. [“That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” 1 Cor. vii. 35.]
[194] Trust … deed. Trust the angel of righteousness, beacause his instruction is good.—Vat.
[195] Faithful. Most happy.—Vat.
[196] But to bid farewell. The Vat. ends quite differently from this point: If, then, you follow him, and trust to his works, you will live to God; and they who trust to his works will live to God.—Vat.
Commandment Seventh. On Fearing God, and Not Fearing the Devil.
[198] [Prov. xxviii. 14; 1 John iv. 18. This chapter seems based on Jas. iv. 7.]
[199] Why … they only who fear the Lord, omitted in Vat.
[200] God. Lord.—Vat.
Commandment Eighth. We Ought to Shun that Which is Evil, and Do that Which is Good.
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