Volume I, Treatise IV, Chapter XV

Of Rash Judgments, and in What Their Heinousness Particularly Consists

“But you,” says St. Paul, “what right have you to judge your brother; or who are you that you should contemn him?” (Romans 14:10) Amongst all the temptations that the enemy of our salvation provides himself with, in order to make war against us, one of the chief is that which incites us to judge ill of our brethren, For by judging ill of them, we lose first the good opinion, and secondly, the affection, we had had for them; or at least our charity towards them abates and grows cold. Wherefore we must take all care imaginable to vigorously resist this temptation, which, as it annoys and weakens charity, we must believe to be extremely dangerous. If you will therefore preserve charity in your heart, if you desire to keep yourself in a perfect union with your brethren, “above all things,” says St. Austin, “take care you admit no suspicions into yuur mind; because they are the poison of friendship.” (Lib. de amic. e. xxiv.) St. Bonaventure calls them “a secret plague, but a very dangerous one, because it drives God far from us, and tears in pieces fraternal charity.” (In stim. amor. c. x.)

’ That which is most pernicious in this vice is, that it makes

ao us injure the reputation of our neighbour within our own hearts; so that upon very slight grounds we come to despise him within ourselves, whereby without doubt we do an injury to our brother. But the fault we commit is greater or less, in proportion to the matter upon which we frame our judgments; and as the ground upon which we frame them is strong or weak. In order to comprehend more clearly the heinousness of this fault, let us speak of another like unto it. Consider how great a sin it would be, if you should lessen your brother’s esteem in the opinion of another, and that by staining his reputation, you should ruin the esteem and good opinion he had before conceived of him. You do him ag great an injury, when, without reason or sufficient ground, you yourself conceive a bad opinion of him; for he wishes te keep his credit and reputation as much with you as with any one else. Each one may easily judge by himself, what prejudice he does hereby to his brother. Would not you be offended should another harbour a bad opinion of you, without having, on your part, given occasion for his doing so. You offend him in the same manner, by judging disadvantageously of him without any just occasion offered. Judge of another by yourself; and let charity and justice make use of no other means than these, to measure your eharity towards your neighbour. |

You must, notwithstanding, observe that there is a very great difference between having temptations to judge rashly, and suffering ourselves to be carried away by them. For it is the same in this, as in all other things; and as, for example, there is a great difference between having any temptations, and yielding to them; for the crime consists not in being attacked, but in being overcome: in like manner the crime in this matter consists not in being tormented by thoughts of rash judgment. It would without doubt be much better, that we were so replenished with charity and esteem of our neighbour, and so taken up with the consideration of our own faults, that we should not be able to attend to those of our brother, nor imagine him to be guilty ofany. “Yet after all,” says St. Bernard, “a thought cannot render us guilty, so long as we give no consent,” and are not overcome by the temptation. It is true, that in rash judgments, to become guilty of them, we must give our consent; because, when we do so, we presently lose the good opinion we had of our brother, and begin to undervalue him, according to what we-before quoted from St. Paul. In this case it is not sufficient, when we go to confession, to say, that there passed several rash judgments against our brethren in our minds; but we ought more fully to express that we consented to them; and yielded to the temptation. Divines say, moreover, that we must take care not to speak of those suspicions that came into our minds against our brother, lest that should give occasion to another to have the same, or confirm him in that which perhaps he might before have had of him. For our inclination is so perverse, that it urges us to believe rather what is bad, than what is good of our neighbour; wherefore they forbid us even to name in confession, either the person of whom we made the rash jndgment, or him who has given us an occasion of scandal, lest it should make on the mind of our confessor an impression which would lessen his esteem for them. See the length to which the holy doctors carry the circumspection they require we should have, in what concerns the honour and reputation of our neighbour. And yet, upon light conjectures, you would deprive him of the reputation he had before with you; and which he is entitled to with all the world, until his actions give sufficient proofof the contrary.

But besides the injury we do in this to our neighbour, we also do a very great one to God, by usurping his jurisdiction, contrary to what our Saviour forbids in these words: “‘ Judge not, and you shall not be judged; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.” (Luke 6:37) St. Austin says, that by this the Son of God forbids all rash judgments; such as, to judge the intention of the heart, and generally all other things that are hidden from us, because God has reserved the knowledge of these to himself; and would not have men pretend to such a knowledge. But St. Paul explains this still more perfectly. ‘“Who are you,” says he, “that takeé upon you to judge the servant of another? It belongs only to his master to absolve or condemn him.” (Romans 14:4) ‘ Wherefore, take care of judging before the time, until our Lord comes himself, who will illuminate even the thickest darkness, and discover the greatest secrets of hearts, and then every one.shall receive praise from him.” (1 Corinthians 4:5) The reason he alleges why we should not judge is, because the things we judge are very uncertain, and very hidden and abstruse. As therefore God is the only one able to penetrate them; and asit belongs only to him to judge, so whosoever takes upon him that office, usurps God’s right, and trenches upon his divine jurisdiction. We read in the lives of the fathers, that a certain anchorite having upon slight grounds judged ill of another, heard presently a voice trom heaven, that said to him: “Men usurp to themselves that right of judicature which J have reserved to myself, and encroach upon my jurisdiction.”

But if it be criminal to judge ill of our neighbour, even when there is some appearance of evil; how far worse must we believe it is, when the things he does are good in themselves? And yet we presume to make an ill interpretation of them, and to judge that they are performed with a bad intention, or out of human respects? This is evidently to usurp God’s jurisdiction, te pretend to penerate the secrets of hearts, and to judge the most hidden thoughts and intentions. “This is to become judges, full of unjust thoughts.” (Jam. ii.4.) “This is like those who divine, and by vain conjéctures would know what they are ignorant of.” (Proverbs 23:7)

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