About Augustinus Steuchus Eugubinus
Augustinus Steuchus Eugubinus (1497–1548) was an Italian humanist, theologian, Hebraist, and bishop, born at Gubbio in Umbria. A canon regular of the Order of St. Augustine of the Lateran Congregation, he rose to become prefect of the Vatican Library under Pope Paul III. He is best known for coining the phrase philosophia perennis — the doctrine of a primordial, universal wisdom underlying all true philosophy — developed at length in his De Perenni Philosophia (1540). His other major works include the Recognitio Veteris Testamenti ad Hebraicam veritatem (1529/1531), a critical examination of the Latin Vulgate against the Hebrew text; the Enarrationum in Psalmos (1548), a vast commentary on the Psalms; the Enarrationes in Librum Iob (1567, posthumous); and the Pro Religione Christiana adversus Lutheranos (1533), a work of Catholic controversy against the Reformers.
Steuchus was, after Pico della Mirandola, the most learned Hebraist among the Renaissance Catholic theologians, and his intimate familiarity with Rabbinic literature gave his polemical observations unusual sharpness. He wrote throughout as a thoroughly orthodox Catholic exegete, steeped in the patristic Adversus Judaeos tradition, and his works contain numerous sustained passages on the blindness, obstinacy, and guilt of the Jewish people; their rejection and killing of the Messiah; the consequent transfer of God’s covenant to the Church of the Gentiles; and the vanity and falsehood of Rabbinic interpretation. These passages are drawn from the works listed below. Latin originals are given first, followed by English translations.
I. On the Jews as a Race Hostile to Truth
Source: Recognitio Veteris Testamenti ad Hebraicam veritatem, Liber I, on Genesis 1:26 (“Faciamus hominem”), 2269–2284
“Sic & Iudaei, genus hominum veritati inimicum, non valentes aliam afferre causam, asserunt multas esse personas, quibus cum Deus locutus fuerit: nam astantibus sibi angelis dixisse, Faciamus hominem. Iudaicum sane commentum, et illius nationis ad mentiendum propensissima fabulatio: scilicet dant operam, ut uno repudiato, infinitos admittant: & reiecto Filio, famulis consulendi tribuant authoritatem, & eos qui nobis servitute pares sunt, nostrae creationis dominos efficiant.”
“So also the Jews — a race of men hostile to the truth — unable to bring forward any other reason, assert that there are many persons to whom God spoke: for they say that God addressed the angels standing about Him, saying, ‘Let us make man.’ A truly Jewish invention, and the characteristic fabrication of that nation so inclined to lying: they take pains, forsooth, to reject the One and admit the many; and, having cast aside the Son, they grant to servants the authority to give counsel, and make those who are our equals in servitude the lords of our creation.”
II. On the Perverse and Foolish Jewish Interpretation of Scripture After Christ’s Coming
Source: Recognitio Veteris Testamenti, Liber I, on Genesis 1:26 (continued), 2315–2323
“Perperam enim & ineptissime Iudaei post Christi adventum scripturas interpretati sunt, ut passim in eorum scriptis videre licet. Alii quoque ad philosophorum placita, alii ad astrologorum eas torquere conati sunt. Eorum itaque commenta, puerilesque nugae nihili sunt faciendae, sed authoritati potius sanctissimorum doctissimorum que patrum standum, qui & divinitus sunt locuti, & eorum mentes omni Lynceо erant acriores.”
“For the Jews have interpreted the scriptures most perversely and most foolishly since the coming of Christ, as may be seen everywhere in their writings. Some have tried to twist them toward the opinions of the philosophers, others toward the astrologers. Their inventions, therefore, and their childish trifles, are to be counted as nothing; rather one must stand by the authority of the most holy and most learned Fathers, who both spoke under divine inspiration and whose minds were sharper than any Lyncean eye.”
III. On the Jews as the Most Superstitious of All Nations
Source: Recognitio Veteris Testamenti, Liber I, on Exodus 3:14–15 (on the Tetragrammaton), 3017–3021
“Quod nomen ut divinissimum est, ita ad varias & execrabiles superstitiones ab Hebraeis, gente omnium superstiosissima, trahitur.”
“Which name, as it is the most divine of all, so it is drawn by the Hebrews — a nation the most superstitious of all — into various and execrable superstitions.”
IV. On the Calumnies of the Jews and Their Ingratitude
Source: Recognitio Veteris Testamenti, Liber XXX, on Deuteronomy 31, 30317–30343
“Quare tam calumnias Iudaeorum, quam argutias quorundam Christianorum parvi pendamus, qui cum duas tenuerint voces Hebraicas, in ostentationem suae imperitiae, dicunt nostram aeditionem esse depravatam. Quae si optima non est, quantum esse possit, nulla erit unquam. Gens nimirum ingrata, & parum pia, quae & alienae invidet laudi, & cum suo detrimento, utilitate sua sunt studiosi, & alios suis impiis maledictis, ad beneficia praestanda reddunt tardiores. Quamobrem quae ex falso, aut maligno iudicio potius, quam veritate proficiscuntur, audacter contemnamus.”
“Wherefore let us make little account both of the calumnies of the Jews and of the quibbles of certain Christians, who, having picked up two Hebrew words, say in their display of ignorance that our edition is corrupted. Which, if it is not the best it could possibly be, none ever will be. A race, forsooth, ungrateful and of little piety, which both envies another’s praise, and to their own detriment pursues their own advantage, and by their impious curses makes others slower to render benefits. Let us therefore boldly despise those things which arise from falsehood or malicious judgment rather than from truth.”
V. On the Jews Worshipping the Son of God in the Synagogues Without Knowing It — and Then Crucifying Him
Source: De Perenni Philosophia, Liber I, Cap. V
“Hebraei vel maxime irridentes, hi potissimum fuerunt, qui non noverunt Patrem. Nam noscunt, ac celebrant creatorem mundi, hunc in Synagogis venerantur: verum is est Filius Dei, quem postea corpore, magnitudinem divinitatis suae abscondentem, cruci affixerunt, factum similem nostri tunc, ut nos similes sui postea efficeret. Ergo nisi Filius revelasset, & nos simili in errore versaremur.”
“The Hebrews, mocking above all others, were above all others those who did not know the Father. For they know and celebrate the creator of the world; they venerate Him in their Synagogues: but He is the Son of God, Whom they afterward, when He was clothed in flesh and concealing the greatness of His divinity, nailed to the Cross — made like unto us at that time, so that He might afterward make us like unto Himself. Therefore, had the Son not revealed Him, we ourselves would be wandering in the same error.”
VI. On the Conspiracy of the Jews and the Nations Against Christ — Commentary on Psalm 2
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, Pars Prima, on Psalm 2 (“Quare fremuerunt gentes”), 1733–1742
“Innuit videlicet bellum quod omnes gentes, sed Hebraei cum primis, indixerunt, indixeruntque Christo, verius autem ei qui misit eum.”
“It points, that is, to the war which all the nations — but the Hebrews above all — declared, and declared against Christ, or rather against Him Who sent Him.”
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 2, 1786–1796
“Igitur Graeci duos sensus proferunt, ut vel sic quasi vox Spiritus sancti usa per Prophetam, cohortans omnes ut iugo idololatriae, Hebraearumque superstitionum, iugo inquam servili rupto, atque excusso, iugum Christi suave suscipiant.”
“Therefore the Greeks bring forward two senses: as though the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through the Prophet were exhorting all men to break and shake off the yoke of idolatry and of Hebrew superstitions — that is, the servile yoke — and to take upon themselves the sweet yoke of Christ.”
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 2, 1653–1663
“Tumultum igitur hoc Hebraicum quasi per seditionem collecti exercitus designat… Gentes igitur nunc Pharisaei vocantur, Sin de Christo psalmus est, ut paret, Pharisaeos cum sequacibus, qui iam ad mores profanos abierunt, iam impios ac profanos, gentes, sive gentiles appellat, item que Antichristum. Getesque fuisse Romanos milites, ac centuriones, quibus in caede Christi ministris Iudaei uterentur. Principes & Reges terrae, Herodem, & Pilatum: Populum autem, cui sapere dei & adorare est, plebem illam insanam, quae cum maioribus suis ignaro tanquam numine, pari impietate laboraret, eorum conatus, blasphemiasque in nihilum reddi.”
“This Hebrew tumult, therefore, signifies something like the uproar of an army gathered in sedition… The nations are here called Pharisees — if, as is apparent, the psalm is of Christ — for the Pharisees with their followers, who had already gone over to profane ways, already impious and profane, He calls nations or Gentiles, and likewise Antichrist. And the Gentiles were the Roman soldiers and centurions of whom the Jews made use as ministers in the slaying of Christ. The rulers and kings of the earth were Herod and Pilate: and the people — to whom it belongs to know and worship God — was that mad rabble which, together with their leaders, was laboring under the same impiety, as if God were unknown to them; and their efforts and their blasphemies He reduces to nothing.”
VII. On the Obstinacy and Blindness of the Jews Toward Their Own Prophets
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 20 (21), 12534–12543
“Hoc igitur fefellit Hebraeos, stolidum pecus, illam bonorum acceptionem, quam de Messia praedicant oracula, merum hominem designare summo mentis errore opinantes, Neque enim sunt ullius interioris philosophiae capaces. Sed eis caliginem, tenebrasque offudit pertinacia, certusque Christianis contradicendi scopus.”
“This, therefore, deceived the Hebrews — that dull-witted herd — who imagine, in the extreme error of their minds, that the receiving of good things which the oracles proclaim of the Messiah designates a mere man. For they are incapable of any deeper philosophy. Obstinacy, and a fixed purpose of contradicting Christians, poured darkness and shadow over them.”
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 21 (22), 13628–13641
“Sed malus animus, mala mens, eos fallit, in voragines praecipites agit. Referunt inutiliter ad novissima tempora, quod in medio temporum erat celebrandum. In hanc voraginem delabuntur, quod corporea duntaxat, ut sunt ubique stolidum pecus, respiciunt, non videntes haec omnia, Prophetas suos, ad coelestia, & sempiterna retulisse, sed verbis, et nominibus corporea resonantibus.”
“But their evil disposition and evil mind deceives them and drives them headlong into the abyss. They refer in vain to the last times what was to be celebrated in the midst of time. Into this abyss they fall, because they look only to bodily things — as they are everywhere a dull-witted herd — not seeing that all these things their own Prophets referred to heavenly and eternal realities, albeit in words and names that resound with bodily meaning.”
VIII. On the Jews Rejecting and Killing the Messiah
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 21 (22), verse “Manducaverunt & adoraverunt omnes pingues terrae”, 13754–13762
“Parte alia collocat impios — reor ego Iudaeos incredulos, pertinaces, qui bellum pietati semper intulerunt: qui Messiam tot suorum prophetiis decantatum, ad eos venientem, coelestia que dona afferentem, non modo repulerunt, sed etiam interfecerunt, quantumque viribus valerent, religionem cognitionemque Dei, quam ille pectoribus hominum inspiraverat, obliterari, & funditus everti non destiterunt.”
“On the other side He places the impious — I reckon these to be the unbelieving, obstinate Jews, who always waged war on piety: who the Messiah, heralded by so many of their own prophecies, coming to them, offering heavenly gifts, not only rejected but also killed, and, to the full extent of their strength, ceased not striving to blot out and utterly overturn the religion and knowledge of God which He had breathed into the hearts of men.”
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 21 (22), 13712–13718
“Nihil hic Iudaeis pertinacibus, quibus imperat vesania, hic ac valent satius.”
“Here the obstinate Jews, over whom madness holds sway, avail nothing and are of no account.”
IX. On the Kingdom of the Messiah Passing to the Nations — Supersessionism
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 21 (22), 13808–13822
“Hoc novum, inquit, semen, haec nova progenies serviet illi, colet, venerabitur eum. Haec narrabitur, deputabitur ipsi Deo. Gens Dei vocabitur in posterum semper. Nec enim Iudaeis verum Messiae regnum potest esse, quem non susceperunt, adorare recusaverunt, quibus nihil profuit Messiam in terras concessisse. Nobilissimum regnum eius, omnes orbis terrarum nationes. In generationem, in saeculum, in aeternum. Est enim, ait, ut cecinit Daniel, potestas eius, potestas aeterna, est regnum, quod non corrumpetur.”
“This new seed, he says, this new progeny, shall serve Him, shall worship, shall venerate Him. This shall be told of, shall be counted as His own. It shall be called the People of God forever after. For the true kingdom of the Messiah cannot belong to the Jews, who did not receive Him, who refused to adore Him, to whom it profited nothing that the Messiah descended to earth. His most glorious kingdom belongs to all the nations of the world. Unto the generation, unto the age, unto eternity. For His power, as Daniel sang, is an everlasting power, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
X. On the Jews as a Hostile Race Who Testify Against Themselves
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 21 (22), 13697–13714
“Hunc regem cecinit alio Psalmo, quem magno consensu de Messia gens inimica interpretatur… Sed oraculum huius Psalmi, vere suspiciendum, de omnium gentium conversione, & quod ubique colendus sit Deus, quod usque ad extremum Oceanum, per omnes mundi plagas… penetrabit sancta religio, propagato regno Dei, quem nunc Reges adorant. Super ipso enim (ait alius) continebunt Reges os suum, ipsum gentes deprecabuntur. Nihil hic Iudaeis pertinacibus, quibus imperat vesania, hic ac valent satius.”
“This king He celebrated in another Psalm, which the hostile race interprets by great consensus as being of the Messiah… But the oracle of this Psalm, truly to be admired, concerns the conversion of all nations, and that God is to be worshipped everywhere, and that, to the uttermost Ocean, through all regions of the world… holy religion shall penetrate, with the kingdom of God extended, Whom the kings now adore. For over Him (says another) kings shall keep silence, and nations shall supplicate Him. Here the obstinate Jews, over whom madness holds sway, avail nothing and are of no account.”
XI. On the Jews as an Obtuse Herd, Incapable of Higher Understanding — Commentary on Psalm 44 (45)
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 44 (45), 23836–23839
“Prior sensus est probatior, gravior, profundior, qui facilius decipiat Hebraeos obtufum pecus, altos sensus nusquam agnoscentes.”
“The former sense is more approved, weightier, deeper — which more easily deceives the Hebrews, that obtuse herd, who nowhere recognize the higher meanings.”
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 44 (45), 24019–24023
“Nec te cortex verborum humanorum, quemadmodum Hebraeos, stolidum pecus, decipiat. Sicut Regem non terrenum, sicut eloquentiam non humanam, sed maiorem quam humanam, sicut formam supra filios hominum, sic oleum laetitiae, maioris quam humanae laetitiae, sentiens.”
“And let not the outer bark of human words deceive you as it deceives the Hebrews, that dull-witted herd. Just as you perceive a King not earthly, eloquence not human but greater than human, a beauty above the sons of men — so perceive an oil of gladness of a joy greater than human joy.”
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 67 (68), 24813–24820
“Non, ut falsum & obtufum, & ubique caligans iudicium Hebraeorum decipit, in homine mortali, mortalique posteritate poterit esse, quoniam in aeterno Imperatore, supra humanam, ut sit ab omni homine, & omni tempore insuperabilis, necesse fit potestas, ratione, & oraculorum summo consensu comprobata.”
“This power cannot reside — as the false, obtuse, and everywhere darkened judgment of the Hebrews would have it — in a mortal man and mortal posterity, for in the eternal Emperor, above what is human, that no man and no time may overcome Him, the power must needs be such as is confirmed by reason and by the highest consensus of the oracles.”
XII. On Jewish Pertinacity and the Truth Testified Against Their Own Perfidy
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 90 (91), 29108–29120
“Quibus contra suam perfidiam, & pro vera religione, ac pietate, nihil potuit dici efficacius, veritate, ex inimico ore testimonium claritatis suae exsculpente. Qui si saperent, si tandem renuntiare infidi pertinaciae vellent, cognoscerent uno die eam veram esse religionem, cui & ipsi caeci, ignorique ferant testimonium. Voco enim prudentes, & accuratos ad haec diligenter inspicienda, & quid ab illa gente ex sacris oraculis sentiatur, consideranda.”
“Against their own perfidy, and for the true religion and piety, nothing could be said more effectively — truth wrenching testimony to its own brightness from an enemy’s mouth. For if they were wise, if they would at last renounce their faithless obstinacy, they would acknowledge in a single day that that religion is true to which they themselves, blind and ignorant, bear witness. For I call upon the prudent and careful to examine these things diligently, and to consider what is held by that nation on the basis of the sacred oracles.”
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 90 (91), 28224–28235
“Hoc illi si saperent, si severitate, et ratione, non semel irroborata pertinacia duci se sineret, viderent, admirarentur, nobiscum expectarent.”
“If they were wise in these matters, if they would allow themselves to be led by rigour and reason rather than by an obstinacy long since hardened, they would see, they would marvel, they would expect along with us.”
XIII. On the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Extermination of the Jewish People as Punishment for Killing Christ
Source: Pro Religione Christiana adversus Lutheranos, Liber II, 2052–2073
“Seder futura aperuit illis omnia, quae Petrus et Paulus Romae praedicaverunt, et ea praedicatio in memoriam scripta remansit: in qua cum multa alia mira, tum etiam hoc futurum esse dixerunt, ut post breve tempus immitteretur Deus regem, qui expugnaret Iudaeos, et Civitates eorum solo adaequaret. Ipsos autem, fame, sitivique confertos obsideret. Tum fore ut corporibus suorum vescerentur, et consumerent se invicem. Postremo ut capti venirent in manus hostium, et in conspectu suo acerbissime coniuges suas vexaretur, violari ac prostibui virgines, dirnpi pueros, allidi parvulos, omnia demqi ferro ignique vasari. Captivos in perpetuum terris suis exterminari. Eoque exuivaverunt superamantissimum et probatissimum Dei filium. Itaque post illorum obitum, cum eos Nero interemisset, Iudaeorum gentem et nomen Vespasianus extinxit, fecitque omnia, quae illi futura praedixerant. Audis Petrum et Paulum Romam venisse, atque ibi praedicasse; eorum praedicationem in memoriam servatam fuisse. Audis Hierosolymorum et Iudaicae gentis excidium eos praedixisse.”
“God revealed to them all future things which Peter and Paul preached at Rome, and this preaching remained preserved in writing: in which, among many other marvels, they also declared that after a short time God would send a king who would conquer the Jews and level their cities to the ground. And that He would besiege them themselves, packed together by hunger and thirst. And that they would eat the bodies of their own and consume one another. Finally that they would fall captive into the hands of enemies, and that before their own eyes their wives would be most cruelly abused, their virgins violated and prostituted, their boys torn apart, their little ones dashed down, and all things at last put to the sword and fire. The captives to be exterminated forever from their own lands. And this they suffered because they had cast out the most beloved and most proven Son of God. Therefore, after the death of those Apostles, when Nero had slain them, Vespasian exterminated the Jewish nation and name, and accomplished all things which those men had foretold would come to pass. You hear that Peter and Paul came to Rome and there preached; that their preaching was preserved in written memory. You hear that they foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish race.”
XIV. On the Hebrews‘ Claim to Exclusive Holiness as Unworthy Boasting
Source: Enarrationes in Librum Iob, Liber I, on Job 1, 1793–1802
“Hebraeos minime veridicos putabimus, se solos, homines gentis suae sanctos dumtaxat, caeteros autem omnes impios iactantes, nimiumque sua tollentes, aliena deprimentes.”
“We shall consider the Hebrews anything but truthful when they boast that they alone are the holy men of their nation, and that all others are impious — exalting their own far too much and depressing that of others.”
XV. On the Hopeless Messianic Expectations of the Jews and Their Preference for a Carnal Salvation
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, on Psalm 89 (90), 28207–28228
“Nec miseri Hebraei aliud, si paulum modo oculos attollerent, sentirent, salutem illam famigeratam, tot oraculis praedictam, a sanctissimis viris desideratam, terrestrem, & corpoream esse non posse, qualis in transitu maris rubri, sed maiorem, universalem a maioribus malis ad maiora bona generatim omnes adducentem. Tum si salus maior quam corporea, eius necessario collatore, maius aliquid quam homine, quando ab homine nisi humana fieri non possunt, futura. Hoc illi si saperent, si severitate, et ratione, non semel irroborata pertinacia duci se sineret, viderent, admirarentur, nobiscum expectarent.”
“Nor would the wretched Hebrews think otherwise, if only they raised their eyes a little, than that that celebrated salvation — foretold by so many oracles, longed for by the most holy men — cannot be earthly and corporeal, such as the crossing of the Red Sea, but must be greater, universal, leading all men generally from greater evils to greater goods. And further: if the salvation is greater than bodily, its conferrer must necessarily be something greater than man, since only human things can be accomplished by a man. If they were wise in these matters, if they would allow themselves to be led by rigour and reason rather than by an obstinacy long since hardened, they would see, they would marvel, they would expect along with us.”
XVI. On the Jews Who Worship the Son in the Synagogue Without Knowing Him — and Crucified Him
Source: De Perenni Philosophia, Liber I, 6895–6907
“Nam noscunt, ac celebrant creatorem mundi, hunc in Synagogis venerantur: verum is est Filius Dei, quem postea corpore, magnitudinem divinitatis suae abscondentem, cruci affixerunt, factum similem nostri tunc, ut nos similes sui postea efficeret. Ergo nisi Filius revelasset, & nos simili in errore versaremur. Ac certe credendum est eundem ipsum antiquis saeculis Patrem suum manifestasse: unde Chaldaeus, Sibylla, Mercurius, Plato, Orpheus, hanc cognitionem hauserint, qui postea copiosissime revelavit.”
“For they know and celebrate the creator of the world, and they venerate Him in their Synagogues: but He is the Son of God, Whom they afterward, when He was clothed in flesh and concealing the greatness of His divinity, nailed to the Cross — made like unto us at that time, so that He might afterward make us like unto Himself. Therefore, had the Son not revealed Him, we ourselves would be wandering in the same error. And certainly it must be believed that He Himself manifested His Father in ancient ages: whence the Chaldean, the Sibyl, Mercury, Plato, and Orpheus drew this knowledge — He Who afterward revealed it most copiously.”
XVII. On the Jews as Perpetual Enemies of Christian Sacred Things — and Their Pressure on the Roman Prince
Source: Recognitio Veteris Testamenti ad Hebraicam veritatem, Praefatio — Opera Omnia, Tomus I (Paris: Michael Sonnius, 1578)
“Auxeruntque hanc suspicionem nobis semper inimici Iudaei, quorum non aliud opus, quam rebus nostris semper detrahere, sacra, cerimonias, legesque nostras calumniari. Hi ergo & apud principes nostros, si quando de his rebus sermo incidit, maximis assertionibus iactant, nostram aeditionem corruptam, depravatamque esse. Itaque impulerunt etiam nuper Romanum principem, ut nova eo iubente fieret editio, quae profecto minime erat necessaria.”
“And those perpetual enemies of ours, the Jews, have always increased this suspicion — whose only occupation is always to detract from our affairs, and to calumniate our sacred things, our rites, and our laws. They therefore, when speech of these matters arises among our princes, boast with great assertions that our edition is corrupted and depraved. And so they have even lately pressured the Roman prince, such that at his command a new edition should be made — which was by no means necessary.”
XVIII. On the Falsehoods of the Talmud and the Jewish Nation’s Propensity for Lying
Source: Recognitio Veteris Testamenti, on Numbers 1 — Opera Omnia, Tomus I (Paris, 1578)
“Ostenditur etiam in Talmud apud Hebraeos, licet pleraque falsa super hac re, in libris illis tradantur, ut est eius nationis ad mentiendum procliuitas. Mentiri autem in Talmud Hebraeos, in his quae de hac aedtione scribunt, illud argumento est, quod asserunt solum Pentateuchum a Septuaginta esse translatum, quod falsum esse, tota aeditio proclamat.”
“It is shown also in the Talmud among the Hebrews — although for the most part false things are handed down on this matter in those books, as is the propensity of that nation for lying. That the Hebrews lie in the Talmud, in those things which they write concerning this edition, is proven by the fact that they assert only the Pentateuch to have been translated by the Seventy, which assertion the whole edition proclaims to be false.”
XIX. On Jewish Pertinacity Compared to That of Heretics — The Jews Harder Than Stone
Source: Pro Religione Christiana adversus Lutheranos, Liber II — Opera Omnia, Tomus III (Paris, 1578)
“Nos igitur non contra Lutheranos quidem, qui nullas rationes volunt: qui Iudaeis in placitis suis pertinaciors sunt, sed ad eos, quibus plus rationis est, & qui pestilentissimis eorum scriptis fidem forte adhibuerunt, non alio vitio, quam quia nescirent aliud, scribemus.”
“We therefore shall write not against the Lutherans, who will accept no reasons — who are more obstinate in their opinions than the Jews — but to those who have more reason, and who have perhaps lent credence to their most pestilential writings, not from any other fault than that they knew nothing else.”
Source: Pro Religione Christiana adversus Lutheranos, Liber II — Opera Omnia, Tomus III (Paris, 1578)
“Sed fallimur, loquimur pertinacissimis hominibus, petras emollire tentamus, qui inclusam in pectore habent feritatem, quae non sinit eos veritatem aspicere: irreconciliabiles mentes placare cupimus, quae etiam si ipse illucesceret Christus non placarentur, propter illarum duritiem.”
“But we deceive ourselves; we are speaking to the most obstinate of men; we attempt to soften stones; they have a savagery locked in their breast that does not allow them to look upon the truth. We seek to appease irreconcilable minds, which, even if Christ Himself were to shine forth before them, would not be appeased, on account of their hardness.”
XX. On Those Who “Judaically” Dare to Deny the Right Faith
Source: Pro Religione Christiana adversus Lutheranos, Liber II — Opera Omnia, Tomus III (Paris, 1578), citing a letter of the Eastern Bishops to Pope John
“manifestum nobis faciatis, omnes qui praedicta confitentur suscipit vestra sanctitas, & eorum, qui iudaice ausi sunt rectam denegare fidem, condemnat perfidiam.”
“Make manifest to us that Your Holiness receives all those who confess the aforesaid things, and that it condemns the perfidy of those who have dared, after the manner of Jews, to deny the right faith.”
XXI. On the War Waged by the Jews Against the True King — Commentary on Psalm 7
Source: Enarrationum in Psalmos, Pars Prima, on Psalm 7, verse “Synagoga populorum circumdabit te” — Opera Omnia, Tomus II (Paris, 1578)
“Verus sensus, ambagibus amotis, est, Commemorato eosdem hostes, qui bellum importunum regi vero adulterinum quaerentes indixerunt. Impium hoc bellum, quoniam contra eum excitaverant, quem Deus elegisset, contra Deum clamat conflatum, eosque ferme in contumeliam, (erat enim id nomen gentium) populos appellat. Ergo ait, Et copiae coguntur contra te. Inde conflatur bellum hoc importunum, ut primo psalmo, Adversus dominum, & adversum Christum eius.”
“The true meaning, stripped of circumlocutions, is: Mark those same enemies, who declared an untimely war on the true king, seeking to set up an adulterous one. This impious war — since they had stirred it up against him whom God had chosen — He declares to be waged against God, and calls them in reproach (for that was the name of the nations) ‘peoples.’ He says therefore: ‘And armies gather against you.’ From this that untimely war is drawn up, as in the first psalm: ‘Against the Lord and against His Christ.'”
XXII. On the Hebrews Who Are Blind and Ignorant of True Wisdom
Source: De Perenni Philosophia, Index — Opera Omnia, Tomus III (Paris, 1578)
“Hebræi cæci, & ignari veræ sapientiæ.”
“Hebræorum cæcitas.”
“Hebræi non noverunt Patrem.”
“The Hebrews are blind and ignorant of true wisdom.”
“The blindness of the Hebrews.”
“The Hebrews did not know the Father.”
(These three entries appear as headings in the index of the De Perenni Philosophia, directing the reader to extended discussions at the pages noted, demonstrating that Steuchus considered the blindness of the Jews a sufficiently major theme to merit explicit indexing in his philosophical magnum opus.)
XXIII. On the Slaying of Christ — Confirmed in the Opera Omnia Text
Source: Enarrationes in Librum Iob, on Job 1 — Opera Omnia, Tomus I (Paris, 1578)
“Multa alia miranda acciderunt, de quibus prudenter est iudicandum. Ioannes est occisus vir sanctissimus, occisus Christus, tot hominum millia, iustitia divina sinente, & maiora hinc bona eliciente.”
“Many other wonderful things have occurred, concerning which one must judge prudently. John was slain, a most holy man; Christ was slain; so many thousands of men — divine justice permitting, and drawing greater goods therefrom.”
Sources
The passages above are drawn from the following primary sources, all by Augustinus Steuchus Eugubinus (1497–1548):
Original individual editions (Sections I–XVI):
- Recognitio Veteris Testamenti ad Hebraicam veritatem (Venice: Aldus, 1529) — Archive.org
- De Perenni Philosophia libri X (Lyon: Gryphius, 1540), vol. 1 — Archive.org
- De Perenni Philosophia libri X (Lyon: Gryphius, 1540), vol. 2 — Archive.org
- Enarrationum in Psalmos Pars Prima (Lyon: Gryphius, 1548) — Archive.org
- Enarrationes in Librum Iob (Venice: Cominus de Tridino, 1567) — Archive.org
- Pro Religione Christiana adversus Lutheranos (Bologna, 1533) — Archive.org
- De Aqua Virgine in Urbem revocanda (Rome, 1547) — Archive.org
Opera Omnia editions (Sections XVII–XXIII):
- Opera quae extant omnia, Tomus I (Paris: Michael Sonnius, 1578) — Google Books
- Opera omnia quae extant, Tomus II (Paris: Michael Sonnius, 1578) — Google Books
- Opera omnia quae extant, Tomus III (Paris: Michael Sonnius, 1578) — Google Books