kingdom of God,"[1447]1447 and yet the vices by which they are
separated from the kingdom of God are not shared by us.
Chapter 18.â26. Nor indeed, is it of heresies alone that the apostle
says "that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God."Â But it may be worth while to look for a moment at the things
which he groups together. "The works of the flesh," he says "are
manifest, which are these; fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and
such like:Â of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you
in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God."[1448]1448Â Let us suppose some one, therefore,
chaste, continent, free from covetousness, no idolater, hospitable,
charitable to the needy, no manâs enemy, not contentious, patient,
quiet, jealous of none, envying none, sober, frugal, but a heretic; it
is of course clear to all that for this one fault only, that he is a
heretic, he will fail to inherit the kingdom of God. Let us suppose
another, a fornicator, unclean, lascivious, covetous, or even more
openly given to idolatry, a student of witchcraft, a lover of strife
and contention, envious, hot-tempered, seditious, jealous, drunken,
and a reveller, but a Catholic; can it be that for this sole merit,
that he is a Catholic, he will inherit the kingdom of God, though his
deeds are of the kind of which the apostle thus concludes:Â "Of the
which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God?"Â If
we say this, we lead ourselves astray. For the word of God does not
lead us astray, which is neither silent, nor lenient, nor deceptive
through any flattery. Indeed, it speaks to the same effect
elsewhere:Â "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean
person, nor covetous man, which is an idolater, hath any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with
vain words."[1449]1449Â We have no reason, therefore, to complain of
the word of God. It certainly says, and says openly and freely, that
those who live a wicked life have no part in the kingdom of God.
Chapter 19.â27. Let us therefore not flatter the Catholic who is
hemmed in with all these vices, nor venture, merely because he is a
Catholic Christian, to promise him the impunity which holy Scripture
does not promise him; nor, if he has any one of the faults above
mentioned, ought we to promise him a partnership in that heavenly
land. For, in writing to the Corinthians, the apostle enumerates the
several sins, under each of which it is implicitly understood that it
shall not inherit the kingdom of God:Â "Be not deceived," he says:Â
"neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom
of God."[1450]1450Â He does not say, those who possess all these
vices together shall not inherit the kingdom of God; but neither these
nor those:Â so that, as each is named, you may understand that no one
of them shall inherit the kingdom of God. As, therefore, heretics
shall not possess the kingdom of God, so the covetous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God. Nor can we indeed doubt that the
punishments themselves, with which they shall be tortured who do not