St. Jerome
Against the Pelagians
Book II › Section 26
26. Let us hastily run through the prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 5:1, 2. Is there any that does justly, etc.
vii. 21, 22. God rejects the sacrifices, because of the worshippers' evil lives.
xiii. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
27.
Jerem. xvii. 14. “Heal me, O Lord.” Otherwise Jeremiah could only say, as in the text next quoted,
xx. 14, 17, 18. Cursed be the day wherein I was born, etc.
xxiii. 23. Am I a God at hand, etc. So conscious is he of God's power.
xxiv. 6, 7. God, not they themselves, will plant them, etc.
xxvi. 21-24. Jeremiah needed the help of Ahikam. How much more do we need that of God.
28.
Jerem. xxxi. 34. The promise of the new covenant.
xxxii. 30. The children of Israel have perpetually done evil.
xxxvii. 18, 19. Yet Jeremiah himself trembled before Zedekiah.
Jeremiah 30:10, 11. Fear not, O Jacob, for I am with you.
29.
Amos vi. 14. “We have taken us horns by our own strength.” These are the boasts of heretics. But
Is. xvi. 6. His strength (Moab's) is by no means according to his arrogance.
Jeremiah 1:7, 20. Men's sin will only be abolished because God is gracious to them. If you will abandon your assertions of natural ability, I will concede that your whole contention stands good, but only by the gift of God.
Lam. iii. 26-42. It is good that a man should quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
30.
Dan. iv. 17. The Most High rules in the kingdom of men.
Psalm 113:7, 8. He raises up the poor out of the dust.
Is. xl. 17. He does what He will in heaven and in earth.
The words of 2 Maccabees v. 17, which say that Antiochus Epiphanes had power to overthrow the Temple, “because of the multitude of sins,” are quoted in connection with the confessions of Daniel.
Dan. ix. 5. “We have sinned and dealt perversely,” which is shown by
20. “While I was yet praying,” etc., to be a personal, not only a national confession.
Source: Against the Pelagians (New Advent)