No charge more acutely stings a man than that of being considered senseless; he would rather be deemed a knave than a fool. The apostle shows that man, whom God created upright that he might behold God and heavenly things, has continually gazed at the earth, and become prone like the beasts. Thus bending, he has wrapped his soul in shadow, and his religion, instead of a blessing, has proved a curse.

I. THE WORSHIP OF IMAGES ORIGINATES IN A NATURAL CRAVING FOR A SENSIBLE EMBODIMENT OF DEITY. Abstract ideas have little charm or power for men, and the worship of force or humanity can never attract the multitudes. The yearning for a visible God was answered in the Shechinah, and in the many appearances of the angel of Jehovah, and has received fullest recognition in the manifestation of God in Christ. The spirituality of Divine worship was to be preserved in Israel by the commandment not to rear graven images, and the ascension of Christ to heaven, withdrawing the Saviour from mortal eyes, is likewise intended to protect Christianity from the dangers liable to a system whose votaries should "walk by sight" rather than by faith. The Scriptures and universal history demonstrate the rapidity with which, as in the Roman Catholic Church to-day, men's homage and devotion are transferred from the Being represented, to the statue or figure which at first stood innocently enough as his symbol. There is a danger of modern literature seeking too much "to know Christ after the flesh," instead of relying upon the assistance furnished by the teaching of the Spirit, the invisible Christ dwelling in the heart.

II. THE TENDENCY OF IMAGE-WORSHIP IS TO DEGRADE RELIGION. The argument of Xenophanes, ridiculing the Homeric theology that if sheep and oxen were to picture a god, they would imagine him like one of themselves, only showed that natural religion, in framing a notion of Deity, rightly attributes to him the highest attributes of personality and intelligence conceivable. And the Apostle Paul accused the Athenians of unreasonableness in fancying that the great Father could be supposed to be less powerful and intelligent than his children. But without supernatural aid man sinks lower and lower in his conceptions; the direction of evolution in religion is downward, not upward, except where there is a manifest interposition of the Supreme Being. Note how strenuously the prophets had to combat the desire of Israel to ally themselves in worship with the abominable idolatries of the nations around. Man, selected as God's representative, becomes man in his lowest moods and merely animal existence; the transition is easy to the wise-looking owl and soaring eagle, then to the cow and the dog, and finally to the serpent and the fish. The unity of God is lost in the multiplicity of idols, and his power and righteousness swamped in bestial stupidity and depravity. Religious rites became scenes of licentiousness. "The light that was in men has turned to darkness, and how great is that darkness!"

III. THE WORSHIPPER GRADUALLY ASSIMILATES HIMSELF TO THE OBJECT WORSHIPPED. Man does not rise higher in thought and life than the Deity before whom he bows and to whom he submits himself; but he may, and too generally does, adopt the worst features of the character and conduct of his gods. What we constantly meditate upon transforms us into its own lineaments. Where the lower animals are deified, there the passions of the brutes are rampant, and a merely animal existence is lived. The lie substituted for the truth shunts man's behaviour on to another line, and a descending plane lands him in moral ruin. "They that make the gods are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." The revelation God gives of himself in his Word operates reversely on a similar principle, so that "we beholding as in a glass the true glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image;" and, the image of God in man being restored, the likeness to God to which we are made to attain grows unto perfection, till "we shall be like him, when we shall see him as he is." - S.R.A.

All is full of crime and vice; there is more committed than can be healed by punishment. A monstrous prize contest of wickedness is going on. The desire to sin increases, and shame decreases day by day. Vice is no longer practised secretly, but in open view. Vileness gains in every street and in every breast to such an extent that conscience has become not only rare but extinct.

( Seneca.)

The worst kind of religion is no religion at all; and these men, living in ease and luxury, indulging themselves in the "amusement of going without religion," may be thankful that they live in the lands where the gospel they neglect has tamed the beastliness and ferocity of the men who, but for Christianity, might long ago have eaten their carcasses like the South Sea Islanders, or cut off their heads and tanned their hides like the monsters of the French Revolution. When the microscopic search of scepticism, which has hunted the heavens and sounded the seas to disprove the existence of a Creator, has turned its attention to human society, and has found a place on this planet ten miles square where a decent man can live in decency, comfort, and security, supporting and educating his children unspoiled and unpolluted — a place where age is reverenced, infancy respected, manhood respected, womanhood honoured, and human life held in duo regard; when sceptics can find such a place ten miles square on this globe, where the gospel of Christ has not gone and cleared the way and laid the foundations and made decency and security possible, it will then be in order for the sceptical literati to move thither and then ventilate their views. But so long as these very men are dependent upon the religion which they discard for every privilege they enjoy, they may well hesitate a little before they seek to rob the Christian of his hope and humanity of its faith in that Saviour who alone has given to man that hope of life eternal which makes life tolerable and society possible, and robs death of its terrors and the grave of its gloom.

(J. R. Lowell.)

I need not, I suppose, spend any time in illustrating the vividness and truthfulness of that metaphor which compares any kind of evil in a man's character to the silently, gradually, surely working leaven. The cancer spreads; the fungus creeps steadily through the rotting timber; the smallest hidden speck of evil in a man's nature has in it a demoniacal transforming and assimilating power which works underground, unconsciously even to the man himself, until some strain of temptation and stress of trial comes; and lo! he finds that what he thought was solid timber is all eaten out in the heart of it, and has no strength to resist or to bear. The smallest sin may corrupt a man's whole nature, and change, as it were, the chemical composition of every part of it; though in itself it be but an infinitesimal and almost invisible atom that has been dropped into the hole.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

These two words agree that they both wound the fame of our neighbour, and they both do it behind his back or in his absence. But they differ —

1. In that whispering doth it secretly and closely, but backbiting openly.

2. Whispering tendeth to breed strife among our friends, but backbiting to our general disgrace before the world. The one seeketh to deprive us of the goodwill of our friends, the other to destroy our service. They are often conjoined (2 Corinthians 12:20).

I. WHAT IS DETRACTION?

1. The nature of it in general. It is an unjust violation of another's reputation. God, that hath bidden me to love my neighbour as myself, doth therein bid me to be tender not only of his person and goods, but of his good name. Therefore certainly this is —(1) A sin against God, who hath forbidden us to bear false witness against our neighbour, and to speak evil of others without a cause (Ephesians 4:31);(2) A wrong to man because it robbeth him of his good name, which is so deservedly esteemed by all that would do anything for God in the world (Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 7:1).(3) The causes it proceedeth from are —(a) Malice and ill-will, which prompteth us to speak falsely of others, so to make them odious, or do them wrong or hurt. Now, to hate our brother is inconsistent with that charity which the love of Christ should beget in us (1 Peter 4:8; 2 Peter 1:7);(b) Uncharitable credulity, whereby men easily believe a false report, and so convey it to others (Jeremiah 20:10);(c) Rashness and unruliness of tongue (James 1:26). Possibly it may not come from downright malice, but (Proverbs 11:13) whisperers must be talking, and be it true or false, out it comes;(d) Passion for our different interests and opinions. Bitter envying (James 3:14) hath made mad work in the world as to strifes, and confusions, and quarrels, and bloodsheds, and persecutions. But usually it venteth itself in evil-speaking (2 Corinthians 12:20).

2. The kinds of it are two in the text.(1) Whispering, which is privy defamation of our brother. Now this is a great sin —(a) Because it is here reckoned among those which reigned among the heathen, and God hath expressly forbidden to His people (Leviticus 19:16; Jeremiah 11:4).(b) It is against natural equity, because they do that to others which they would not have done to themselves (Matthew 7:2).(c) It is a cause of much mischief in the world, as — Grief to the party wronged (Proverbs 18:8); much debate and strife (Proverbs 26:20; Proverbs 16:28; Proverbs 6:19); sometimes even the destruction of another's life (Ezekiel 22:9; 1 Samuel 22:9). But here ariseth a question, whether all private complaints and informations against others come under the name of whispering? I answer — No, with these cautions —

(i)If the party be duly admonished; for, before we go any further, the rule is (Matthew 18:15).

(ii)If it be made to such as have power to redress the fault by the most discreet and gentle means (Genesis 37:2).

(iii)If the complainer seeketh nothing but the amendment of the party.

(iv)If he grieve that he hath cause to complain, and pray for his conversion.

3. Backbiting is a more public speaking evil of our absent brother, to the impairing of his credit. Now, this may be done —(1) With respect to the good things found in him. There are four degrees in this:

(a)When we deny them. This is not only to wrong our neighbour, but to rob God of His own praise.

(b)When we lessen them. To extenuate and clip another's due praise is envy, but in honour to prefer them above ourselves is charity and humility (Philippians 2:3; Romans 12:10).

(c)When we but deprave them by supposing a sinister intention (Job 1:9).

(d)When we enviously suppress them.(2) With respect to evil supposed to be committed by them.

(a)When we publish their secret slips, which in charity we ought to conceal (Proverbs 11:13).

(b)When, in relating any evil action of another, we use harder terms than are required, and make beams of motes, and mountains of mole hills. We should lessen sins all that we can (Acts 3:17).

II. THE HEINOUSNESS OF THE SIN.

1. In general, that is evident from what is said already. I shall urge two arguments more.(1) That men shall be called to an account for these sins as well as others (Jude 1:15; 1 Peter 4:4, 5).(2) It is the property of a citizen of Zion not to be given to backbiting (Psalm 15:3).

2. More particularly, it is the more heinous.(1) From the person against whom it is committed. As suppose the godly and irreprovable for the main, who by their life and conversation have the best right to honour and esteem (Psalm 64:3; Numbers 12:8; 1 Timothy 3:7). Against these it is not only unjust, but noxious and hurtful to God's service.(2) From the persons before whom the slander is brought; so that they are deprived not only of private friendships, but the favour and countenance of these under whose protection they have their life and service (Esther 3:8; Psalm 52:1).(3) From the end of it. Some men have no direct intention of mischief, but are given to tattling. It is a great sin in them, and an unprofitable waste of time; but it is a greater in those that make it their business to disgrace others or sow discord.(4) From the effect or great hurt that followeth, be it loss of estate, as in the case of Mephibosheth, or a general trouble and persecution on the people of God. When their good names are buried their persons cannot long subsist afterward with any degree of service.Conclusion: Note —

1. How good natured Christianity is, and befriendeth human societies; it condemneth not only sins against God, but sins against our neighbour (Philippians 4:8).

2. That we should not speak evil of others behind their backs, but tell them their faults plainly in love and wisdom, nor encourage others in this sin (Proverbs 25:23).

(T. Manton, D. D.)

Enemies of God in heart and work (Romans 8:7). Hatred of God is the essence of sin, as the love of God is the essence of holiness. Hatred to God is shown in dislike —

1. To His character as just and holy.

2. To His government as opposed to evil-doers.

3. To His laws as forbidding what is sinful.

4. To His people as bearing His image.Hatred of God is the cause of men's rejection of Christ (John 15:21-24). Written in characters of blood in times of persecution (Psalm 79:2, 3). Shows the intense wickedness and madness of the human heart. God is hated who is supremely excellent, and man's greatest benefactor. An unholy nature is at the root of such hatred, which is aggravated by conscious guilt and dread of God. It is only overcome by the belief of God's love as seen in Christ.

(T. Robinson, D. D.)

The inventions of a hater of God are as the proud engines and presumptuous artillery of a Titanic warfare of defiance against Heaven, which recoil on himself, like mountains which are hurled back on the heads of the giants who attempted to scale the skies, and which crushed them beneath the ruins.

(Bp. Chr. Wordsworth.)

David, Paul, RomansRomeCovetousness, Crafty, Cruel, Death, Debate, Deceit, Depravity, Desire, Dishonesty, Dispositions, Envy, Evil, Fighting, Filled, Fornication, Full, Goods, Gossips, Greed, Habits, Hate, Hearts, Immorality, Kind, Malice, Maliciousness, Malignity, Manner, Mischief, Murder, Overflowed, Putting, Quarrelsome, Secret, Sexual, Slanderers, Sorts, Spiteful, Statements, Strife, Talk, Unrighteousness, Whisperers, Whoredom, Wickedness, Wrongdoing1. Paul commends his calling to the Romans;
9. and his desire to come to them.
16. What his gospel is.
18. God is angry with sin.
21. What were the sins of mankind.

Romans 1:29

     5870   greed, condemnation
     6146   deceit, and God
     8733   envy

Romans 1:18-32

     1025   God, anger of
     1441   revelation, necessity
     5004   human race, and sin
     5541   society, negative
     6023   sin, universality
     6155   fall, of Adam and Eve
     6750   sin-bearer

Romans 1:21-32

     6024   sin, effects of
     8136   knowing God, effects

Romans 1:23-31

     8748   false religion

Romans 1:24-31

     8339   self-control

Romans 1:26-31

     8821   self-indulgence

Romans 1:26-32

     8310   morality, and creation

Romans 1:28-29

     5004   human race, and sin
     5946   sensitivity
     7315   blood, basis of life

Romans 1:28-31

     5793   arrogance
     5824   cruelty, examples
     8710   atheism

Romans 1:28-32

     5033   knowledge, of good and evil
     5731   parents
     5896   irreverence

Romans 1:29-30

     5868   gossip
     6121   boasting
     8803   pride, evil of

Romans 1:29-31

     5875   hatred
     5951   slander
     8841   unfaithfulness, to people

Romans 1:29-32

     5550   speech, negative

Beautiful Thoughts
"Beautiful Thoughts" From Henry Drummond Arranged by Elizabeth Cureton {Project Gutenberg Editorial note: Many quotes from "The Greatest Thing in the World" did not provide a page number.} 1892 The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.--Rom. i. 20. To My Dear Friend Helen M. Archibald This Book Is Affectionately Inscribed. …
Henry Drummond—Beautiful Thoughts

February 19. "As Much as in Me is I am Ready" (Rom. I. 15).
"As much as in me is I am ready" (Rom. i. 15). Be earnest. Intense earnestness, a whole heart for Christ, the passion sign of the cross, the enthusiasm of our whole being for our Master and humanity--this is what the Lord expects, this is what His cross deserves, this is what the world needs, this is what the age has a right to look for. Everything around us is intensely alive. Life is earnest, death is earnest, sin is earnest, men are earnest, business is earnest, knowledge is earnest, the age is …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Third Sunday after Easter
Text: First Peter 2, 11-20. 11 Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12 having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14 or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Nineteenth Day. Holiness and Resurrection.
The Son of God, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead.'--Rom. i. 4. These words speak of a twofold birth of Christ. According to the flesh, He was born of the seed of David. According to the Spirit, He was the first begotten from the dead. As He was a Son of David in virtue of His birth through the flesh, so He was declared to be the Son of God with power, …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

First Day. God's Call to Holiness.
Like as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy, for I am holy.'--1 Pet. i. 15, 16. The call of God is the manifestation in time of the purpose of eternity: 'Whom He predestinated, them He also called.' Believers are 'the called according to His purpose.' In His call He reveals to us what His thoughts and His will concerning us are, and what the life to which He invites us. In His call He makes clear to …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

The Gospel the Power of God
'I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.'--ROMANS i. 16. To preach the Gospel in Rome had long been the goal of Paul's hopes. He wished to do in the centre of power what he had done in Athens, the home of wisdom; and with superb confidence, not in himself, but in his message, to try conclusions with the strongest thing in the world. He knew its power well, and was not appalled. The danger was an attraction to his chivalrous …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Witness of the Resurrection
'Declared to be the Son of God with power, ... by the resurrection of the dead.'--ROMANS i. 4 (R.V.). It is a great mistake to treat Paul's writings, and especially this Epistle, as mere theology. They are the transcript of his life's experience. As has been well said, the gospel of Paul is an interpretation of the significance of the life and work of Jesus based upon the revelation to him of Jesus as the risen Christ. He believed that he had seen Jesus on the road to Damascus, and it was that appearance …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Privilege and Obligation
'To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.'--ROMANS i. 7. This is the address of the Epistle. The first thing to be noticed about it, by way of introduction, is the universality of this designation of Christians. Paul had never been in Rome, and knew very little about the religious stature of the converts there. But he has no hesitation in declaring that they are all 'beloved of God' and 'saints.' There were plenty of imperfect Christians amongst them; many things to rebuke; much …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Paul's Longing
'I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12. That is, that I may be comforted together with you, by the mutual faith both of you and me.'--ROMANS i. 11, 12. I am not wont to indulge in personal references in the pulpit, but I cannot but yield to the impulse to make an exception now, and to let our happy circumstances mould my remarks. I speak mainly to mine own people, and I must trust that other friends who may hear or read my words will …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Sin in the Heart the Source of Error in the Head
ROMANS i. 28.--"As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind." In the opening of the most logical and systematic treatise in the New Testament, the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul enters upon a line of argument to demonstrate the ill-desert of every human creature without exception. In order to this, he shows that no excuse can be urged upon the ground of moral ignorance. He explicitly teaches that the pagan knows that there is one Supreme …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

All Mankind Guilty; Or, Every Man Knows More than He Practises.
ROMANS i. 24.--"When they knew God, they glorified him not as God." The idea of God is the most important and comprehensive of all the ideas of which the human mind is possessed. It is the foundation of religion; of all right doctrine, and all right conduct. A correct intuition of it leads to correct religious theories and practice; while any erroneous or defective view of the Supreme Being will pervade the whole province of religion, and exert a most pernicious influence upon the entire character …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

Knowledge. Worship. Gratitude.
The people mentioned by Paul in our text fell into two great evils, or rather into two forms of one great evil--atheism: the atheism of the heart, and the atheism of the life. They knew God, but they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful. We will first consider the first sin mentioned here, and then the second. I shall not look at these two evils as if you were Romans, because I know that you are not, but I shall adapt the text to your own case, and speak of these sins, as Englishmen …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884

Inexcusable Irreverence and Ingratitude
"They are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful."--Romans 1:20-21. This first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans is a dreadful portion of the Word of God. I should hardly like to read it all through aloud; it is not intended to be so used. Read it at home, and be startled at the awful vices of the Gentile world. Unmentionable crimes were the common pleasures of those wicked ages; but the chapter is also a striking picture of heathenism …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

The Beloved Pastor's Plea for Unity
"To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."--Romans 1:7. IN A FEW MINUTES we shall gather together as members of the Church of Christ to celebrate the memorial of his death. It is a memorable sight to see so many Christian people sitting together with the object of observing this ordinance. Frequently as I have seen it, I must confess that, when sitting in the chair at the head of the table, I often feel overawed …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 39: 1893

Sources of Our Knowledge of Jesus
20. The earliest existing record of events in the life of Jesus is given to us in the epistles of Paul. His account of the appearances of the Lord after his death and resurrection (I. Cor. xv. 3-8) was written within thirty years of these events. The date of the testimony, however, is much earlier, since Paul refers to the experience which transformed his own life, and so carries us back to within a few years of the crucifixion. Other facts from Jesus' life may be gathered from Paul, as his descent …
Rush Rhees—The Life of Jesus of Nazareth

The Holy Spirit in the Glorified Christ.
"Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."--Rom. i. 4. From the foregoing studies it appears that the Holy Spirit performed a work in the human nature of Christ as He descended the several steps of His humiliation to the death of the cross. The question now arises, whether He had also a work in the several steps of Christ's exaltation to the excellent glory, i.e., in His resurrection, ascension, royal dignity, and second coming. …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Proposition Though the Necessity and Indispensableness of all the Great and Moral Obligations of Natural Religion,
and also the certainty of a future state of rewards and punishments, be thus in general deducible, even demonstrably, by a chain of clear and undeniable reasoning; yet (in the present state of the world, by what means soever it came originally to be so corrupted, the particular circumstances whereof could not now be certainly known but by revelation,) such is the carelessness, inconsiderateness, and want of attention of the greater part of mankind; so many the prejudices and false notions taken up …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

Rome and Ephesus
Corinth as portrayed in the Epistles of Paul gives us our simplest and least contaminated picture of the Hellenic Christianity which regarded itself as the cult of the Lord Jesus, who offered salvation--immortality--to those initiated in his mysteries. It had obvious weaknesses in the eyes of Jewish Christians, even when they were as Hellenised as Paul, since it offered little reason for a higher standard of conduct than heathenism, and its personal eschatology left no real place for the resurrection …
Kirsopp Lake—Landmarks in the History of Early Christianity

With the Opening of this ChapterWe Come to Quite a Different Theme. ...
With the opening of this chapter we come to quite a different theme. Like a fever-tossed patient, Ecclesiastes has turned from side to side for relief and rest; but each new change of posture has only brought him face to face with some other evil "under the sun" that has again and again pressed from him the bitter groan of "Vanity." But now, for a moment, he takes his eyes from the disappointments, the evil workings, and the sorrows, that everywhere prevail in that scene, and lifts them up to see …
F. C. Jennings—Old Groans and New Songs

Here Some Man Shall Say; "If the Concupiscence of the Bad...
16. Here some man shall say; "If the concupiscence of the bad, whereby it comes that they bear all evils for that which they lust after, be of the world, how is it said to be of their will?" As if, truly, they were not themselves also of the world, when they love the world, forsaking Him by Whom the world was made. For "they serve the creature more than the Creator, Who is blessed for ever." [2670] Whether then by the word "world," the Apostle John signifies lovers of the world, the will, as it is …
St. Augustine—On Patience

On the Symbols of the Essence' and Coessential. '
We must look at the sense not the wording. The offence excited is at the sense; meaning of the Symbols; the question of their not being in Scripture. Those who hesitate only at coessential,' not to be considered Arians. Reasons why coessential' is better than like-in-essence,' yet the latter may be interpreted in a good sense. Explanation of the rejection of coessential' by the Council which condemned the Samosatene; use of the word by Dionysius of Alexandria; parallel variation in the use of Unoriginate; …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Fundamental Ideas of Man and his Redemption.
To Athanasius the Incarnation of the Son of God, and especially his Death on the Cross, is the centre of faith and theology (Incar. 19, kephalaion tes pisteos, cf. 9. 1 and 2, 20. 2, &c.). For our salvation' (Incar. 1) the Word became Man and died. But how did Athanasius conceive of salvation'? from what are we saved, to what destiny does salvation bring us, and what idea does he form of the efficacy of the Saviour's death? Now it is not too much to say that no one age of the Church's existence has …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Letter vi (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He protests against the reputation for holiness which is attributed to him, and promises to communicate the treatises which he has written. I. Even if I should give myself to you entirely that would be too little a thing still in my eyes, to have recompensed towards you even the half of the kindly feeling which you express towards my humility. I congratulate myself, indeed, on the honour which you have done me; but my joy, I confess, is tempered by the thought that it is not anything …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

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