The Gluttonous and the Abstinent

Admonition 20. The gluttonous and the abstinent are to be admonished differently. For too much talk, lightness of conduct, and lust go along with the gluttonous; but with the abstinent there often goes the sin of impatience, and often that of pride. For if it were not true that endless talk carries the gluttonous away, that rich man who is said to have feasted splendidly every day would not burn more sorely in his tongue than anywhere else, saying, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” These words surely show that in his daily feasting he had often sinned with his tongue, since, while he was burning all over, he asked to be cooled above all in his tongue. Again, that lightness of conduct follows close on gluttony, sacred authority testifies when it says, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” For the most part, too, greed for food leads us even to lust, because when the belly is stretched full, the stings of desire are stirred up. That is why the divine voice says to the cunning enemy, who opened the senses of the first man by craving for the apple but bound them in a noose of sin, “On breast and belly you will creep”; as if it were said to him plainly, “Through thought and through the belly you will rule over human hearts.” That lust follows on gluttony the prophet testifies, denouncing hidden things while he speaks of open ones, when he says, “The chief of the cooks broke down the walls of Jerusalem.” For the chief of the cooks is the belly, which the cooks serve with great care, so that it may be filled with delicious foods. But the walls of Jerusalem are the virtues of the soul, raised up toward a longing for the peace above. The chief of the cooks, therefore, throws down the walls of Jerusalem, because when the belly is stretched with gluttony, the virtues of the soul are destroyed through lust. [a]

On the other hand, if it were not true that impatience commonly shakes the abstinent out of the lap of calm, Peter, when he said, “Add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue knowledge, and to your knowledge abstinence,” would never have watchfully added at once, “and to your abstinence patience.” For he foresaw that the patience he urged them to have would be lacking in the abstinent. Again, if it were not true that the sin of pride sometimes pierces the thoughts of the abstinent, Paul would never have said, “Let not him who does not eat judge him who eats.” And again, speaking to others, with an eye on the sayings of those who gloried in the virtue of abstinence, he added, “These things indeed have a show of wisdom in superstition and humility, and in not sparing the body, not in any honor for the satisfying of the flesh.” Here it should be noted that the excellent preacher, in his argument, joins a show of humility to superstition; because when the flesh is worn down more than it should be by abstinence, humility is displayed outwardly, but because of this very humility there is grievous pride within. And unless the mind were sometimes puffed up by the virtue of abstinence, the arrogant Pharisee would never have taken such care to count this among his great merits, saying, “I fast twice a week.” [e]

So the gluttonous are to be admonished not to pierce themselves through with the sword of lust while they give themselves to the enjoyment of delicacies, and to see how much talk and how much lightness of mind lie in wait for them through eating; otherwise, while they serve the belly softly, they will be bound cruelly in the nooses of vice. For the more we renew the fall of our first parent by reaching out our hand for food without restraint, the further we fall back from our second parent. But the abstinent, on the other hand, are to be admonished to keep an anxious watch at all times, so that while they flee the vice of gluttony, still worse vices are not born, as it were, from virtue; so that while they wear down the flesh, their spirit does not break out into impatience; and so that their conquest of the flesh is not left without virtue, with the spirit conquered by anger. Sometimes, moreover, while the mind of the abstinent keeps anger down, it is corrupted, as it were, by a joy that creeps in from outside, and it loses all the good of abstinence because it fails to guard itself against the vices of the spirit. That is why it is rightly said through the prophet, “In the days of your fasts your own wills are found.” And shortly after: “You fast for quarrels and strife, and you strike with the fist.” For the will belongs to pleasure, the fist to anger. In vain, then, is the body worn down by abstinence, if the mind, given over to disorderly emotions, is scattered by vices. And again, they are to be admonished that while they keep up their abstinence without slackening, they should not suppose it to be a virtue of great standing before the hidden Judge; otherwise, if it happens to be thought of great merit, the heart will be lifted up to haughtiness. That is why it is said through the prophet, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen? Rather, break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and the wanderers into your house.” [g]

In this matter it should be considered how small the virtue of abstinence is counted, since it is not commended except for the sake of other virtues. That is why Joel says, “Consecrate a fast.” For to consecrate a fast is to show that the abstinence of the flesh is worthy of God by adding other good things to it. The abstinent are to be admonished that they offer God an abstinence that pleases him only when they give the poor the food they withhold from themselves. For we should pay wise attention to what the Lord blames through the prophet, saying, “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and the seventh, these seventy years, did you really fast for me? And when you ate and drank, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?” For a man does not fast for God but for himself, if what he withholds from his belly for a time he does not give to the needy, but keeps to be offered to his belly later. [i]

Therefore, so that greedy appetite does not throw the one sort off their guard, and the afflicted flesh does not trip up the other through self-exaltation, let the gluttonous hear this from the mouth of the Truth: “Take heed to yourselves, so that your hearts are not weighed down with overeating and drunkenness and the cares of this world.” And in the same place a profitable fear is added: “and so that day comes on you unawares. For it will come like a snare on all who live on the face of the whole earth.” Let the abstinent hear: “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” Let the gluttonous hear: “Food for the belly, and the belly for food; but God will destroy both it and them.” And again: “Not in reveling and drunkenness.” And again: “Food does not commend us to God.” Let the abstinent hear: “To the pure all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure.” Let the gluttonous hear: “Their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame.” Let the abstinent hear: “Some will depart from the faith”; and a little after: “forbidding marriage, and commanding abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” Let the gluttonous hear: “It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine, nor anything by which your brother stumbles.” Let the abstinent hear: “Use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent ailments.” So the gluttonous may learn not to desire the food of the flesh without measure, and the abstinent may not dare to condemn what God has created, which they do not crave. [j]