Supererogation

Use in the book

The early supererogate concludes a series of accusations against religious orders. The imagined Democritus would see a Jesuit professing poverty while possessing wealth, recommending fasting while indulging himself, and professing chastity while behaving otherwise. Burton then calls the monks professional renouncers of the world but politically entangled, professed peacemakers but incendiaries, traitors and assassins. His declaration that this is to supererogate and merit heaven for themselves and others is sarcastic: it exposes the contradiction he alleges between religious profession and conduct. The charges remain polemical accusations, not established facts about the orders as a whole.

The Latin tag hâc itur ad astra sharpens the same reversal. Literally this is the way to the stars, it represents the alleged misconduct as a grotesque road to heaven. Merit here is a verb, earning or deserving the reward, while supererogate identifies the supposedly more-than-required character of the works. Neither word endorses the acts just charged. The following paragraph turns to the opposite extreme among Burton’s own schismatics, conformists and opportunists, and the next attacks professions of zeal contradicted by life. This larger setting keeps the satire from looking like a detached technical definition or a declaration that hypocrisy belongs only to one community.

The later classification of religious melancholy gives the theological distinction more explicitly. Burton has divided the field into excess and deficiency, but immediately denies that true worship or love of God can be excessive. People cannot love God too much; in his argument they cannot even fulfil their duty as they ought or attain perfection in this life. Much less can they supererogate. Excess instead consists in doing something else: zeal without knowledge and anxious occupation with unnecessary ceremonies. The Latin aliud agere marks the change of object, not a greater quantity of the same proper love. The scriptural image of unprofitable servants undercuts a claim to have put God in one’s debt through a surplus performance.

Burton next joins the supposed ability to satisfy the law with the stronger claim to do more than is required through evangelical counsels and works of supererogation, earning merit for others. He attributes the defence of these claims to Bellarmine, Gregory of Valencia and their allies; the supplied note correctly treats the passage as Burton’s Protestant polemical summary, not a verified quotation from either author. His further allegation that some members of the mendicant orders imagine nothing could be charged against them dramatizes the same claim of perfection. The next paragraph’s some of us again attacks privileged self-estimation and contempt for others within his own religious community. Surplus merit and spiritual pride are thus locally connected without becoming identical terms.

The fasting discussion tests how far this criticism reaches. Burton first represents blind obedience and the expectation of reward as forces leading followers into violence, self-sacrifice and penitential practices. He says works performed in this way are considered meritorious for oneself and others, combining ex opere operato, by the work performed, with ex condigno, by strict desert. The supplied note identifies these as distinct theological expressions concerning efficacy and merit which Burton combines polemically. They should not be expanded into a claim that all Catholic accounts of sacramental efficacy simply equate every penitential act with surplus merit.

Yet Burton expressly refuses to condemn fasting in itself. He calls it a preparation for devotion and medicine of the soul, commending restraint and the production of chaste thoughts and true zeal. He accepts the traditional praise when fasting is used moderately and seasonably, in the manner of the scriptural examples he names. His objection arises when people claim by that means to supererogate, and, in the saying attributed to Erasmus, think heaven an insufficient reward for their merits. The object of criticism is the inflated claim and the destructive excess, not every instance of abstinence. The following paragraph attacks the buying and selling of merits and the supposed preference of observances over commandments and Christ’s passion. Those are Burton’s accusations; his comparison between eating meat in Lent and killing a person is not a trustworthy summary of Catholic moral teaching.

The sequence then turns from claimed spiritual gain to alleged bodily and mental harm. Immoderate fasting, poor diet, sickness and solitude are said to precede or accompany deceptive experiences; Burton treats them as opportunities for the Devil and illustrates the argument with reports of wasted ascetics. His historical account combines physiological and supernatural explanations, rather than treating them as exclusive alternatives. Its sweeping causal claims and its applications of earlier saints’ lives are not independent clinical proof. What matters to this family is the reversal from a supposedly excessive stock of merit to an excess that weakens the body and endangers the soul. The approval of moderate, timely fasting remains a necessary part of that argument.

The plural supererogations appears in a later indictment of the displacement of divine commands by human observances. A long catalogue of shrines, rituals and practices culminates in the claim that older religious forms have passed into Christianity with altered outward names and circumstances. Burton then accuses the teachers of preferring traditions to Scripture and evangelical counsels, including poverty, obedience, vows, alms and fasting, to God’s commandments. The following account describes frightened consciences, readiness to despair over an omitted ceremony, and obedience overriding family bonds. Supererogations here names the alleged works beyond obligation within that accusatory ordering. It neither means church councils nor proves the genealogy of religions which Burton’s surrounding comparison asserts.

Related entries

Mortification — bodily discipline and the charge of ascetic harm.

Fasting — moderation and timing distinguished from excessive abstinence.

Satisfaction — fulfilling a requirement and making amends distinguished from exceeding duty.

Grace — divine assistance and acceptance distinguished from claims of personal perfection.

Zeal — misdirected religious ardour rather than excessive genuine love.

Indulgences and pardons — the related language of transferable merit and remission.

Martyrdom and pseudomartyrdom — followers’ disputed assurance of reward for suffering.

Places to read

1. Democritus Junior to the Reader · paragraphs 12–16the original sarcastic supererogate, its alleged peacemakers and the following turn to other communities
2. Its Object, God; What His Beauty Is; How It Attracts. The Parts and People Affected · paragraphs 16–20excess distinguished from true love, duty and perfection, evangelical counsels, and works of supererogation
3. Causes of Religious Melancholy. From the Devil, Through Miracles, Apparitions and Oracles. His Instruments or Agents: Politicians, Priests, Impostors, Heretics and Blind Guides. In Them: Credulity, Fear, Blind Zeal, Ignorance, Solitude, Curiosity, Pride, Vanity, Presumption and So On. His Devices: Fasting, Solitude, Hope, Fear and the Rest · paragraphs 42–46pride, blind obedience and followers’ expectation of heavenly reward
4. Causes of Religious Melancholy. From the Devil, Through Miracles, Apparitions and Oracles. His Instruments or Agents: Politicians, Priests, Impostors, Heretics and Blind Guides. In Them: Credulity, Fear, Blind Zeal, Ignorance, Solitude, Curiosity, Pride, Vanity, Presumption and So On. His Devices: Fasting, Solitude, Hope, Fear and the Rest · paragraphs 1–9penitential merit, the two Latin expressions, qualified approval of fasting and the charge of claiming too much for it
5. General Symptoms: Love of Their Own Sect; Hatred of All Other Religions; Obstinacy and Ill Temper; Readiness to Undergo Any Danger or Adversity for It; Martyrs; Blind Zeal and Blind Obedience; Fasts and Vows; Belief in Incredible and Impossible Things. Particular Symptoms Among Pagans, Muslims, Jews and Christians; and Among Christians, Heretics Old and New, Schismatics, Scholastic Theologians, Prophets, Enthusiasts and So On · paragraphs 38–48the long polemical context, Councels and supererogations, and the ensuing fear of omission

In this edition

“to supererogate” becomes “to perform works beyond duty” in the early satire. The phrase retains the technical meaning that makes the irony intelligible. “merit heaven for themselvs and others” becomes “earning heaven for themselves and others”; the alleged beneficiaries are not lost. “hâc itur ad astra” becomes “This is the way to the stars!” The explanatory context shows why the ascent is sarcastic rather than an endorsement of the preceding accusations.

“much less supererogate” becomes “much less do more than duty requires”; “such works of supererogation” becomes “such works beyond duty” in the following paragraph. These are locally the denial of a capacity and the description of a contested claim, not two contradictory endorsements. “aliud agere” is “pursuing something else,” identifying misplaced activity rather than too much genuine love. “supererogations” later becomes “works beyond strict obligation,” and “Evangelical Councels” becomes “evangelical counsels”. The modernization resolves the potentially misleading spelling without inventing an ecclesiastical assembly.

“ex opere operato” and “ex condigno” become “by the work performed” and “by strict desert”. The first has an ablative noun and agreeing participle after ex; the second uses the substantive force of the adjective for what is deserved. Their juxtaposition is Burton’s polemical combination. “Cœlum non sufficere putant suis meritis” becomes “think heaven insufficient for their merits”: heaven is the accusative subject of the infinitive, non retains the negation, and meritis is the dative plural with sufficere. Burton follows the Latin with his own English restatement, Heaven is too small a reward for it. That second phrasing is his application to the fasting practice, not a replacement original for the Latin plural merits.

For the particular voluntary-poverty component of these counsels, see Poverty and riches, which treats “wilfull poverty” and its later occurrence in the counsels list. The present article explains the relation of counsels and claimed works beyond duty to commandments; it does not count the shared passages as newly discovered occurrences.

supererogate

Perform good works beyond what duty requires, a capacity here ironically ascribed or explicitly denied.

Original text: “to supererogate”. In the modern column: “to perform works beyond duty”. To do more than duty requires, in the sarcastic conclusion of the attack on monks. Burton’s alleged peacemakers become incendiaries; the term does not commend the alleged conduct or verify the accusations.

Original text: “much less supererogate”. In the modern column: “much less do more than duty requires”. Still less possess the capacity to exceed religious duty. Burton denies perfect fulfilment and excess beyond it, while expressly denying that genuine love of God can be excessive.

Original text: “when by this means they will supererogate”. In the modern column: “when they use it to perform works beyond what duty requires”. Claim to exceed duty by fasting. But introduces the contested use after Burton’s explicit acceptance of moderate and timely fasting; the following claim about reward is attributed to Erasmus. Supererogate supplies perform works beyond what duty requires; by this means is unfolded as use it, with fasting as the antecedent.

supererogation; supererogations

Supposed performance beyond strict duty, or the works regarded as exceeding it.

Original text: “such works of supererogation”. In the modern column: “such works beyond duty”. Works alleged to exceed what is required. Burton attributes their defence to Bellarmine, Gregory of Valencia and allies in a polemical summary, not a verified direct quotation.

Original text: “supererogations”. In the modern column: “works beyond strict obligation”. Alleged works beyond obligation in the list of observances. Burton accuses their teachers of preferring these practices to divine commandments; the subsequent fearful obedience is part of his polemic.

merit; meritorious; merits

Earn or be held worthy of spiritual reward; the claimed worth or rewards of religious works in this argument.

Original text: “merit heaven for themselvs and others”. In the modern column: “earning heaven for themselves and others”. Earn heaven, with self and others as the alleged beneficiaries. The verb completes the sarcastic conclusion; no approval or verified reward is being granted by the narrator.

Original text: “merit for others”. In the modern column: “earning merit for others”. Acquire spiritual merit on behalf of other people. This is a claim Burton attacks, associated with works beyond obligation.

Original text: “they shall certainly merit by it”. In the modern column: “they will certainly earn merit by it”. Followers’ expected spiritual reward for the conduct described. Certainty belongs to the followers’ reported assurance, not Burton’s confirmation of their reward.

Original text: “to merit by penance”. In the modern column: “to earn merit through penance”. Gain merit by penitential practice. Burton presents the project as a deceptive appeal to perfection; the Devil is the antecedent of he in this passage.

Original text: “these works so done are meritorious”. In the modern column: “works performed in this way are held to earn merit”. These works are claimed to possess spiritual worth or earn reward. The supplied are held to makes the reported and polemical status explicit; Burton juxtaposes two distinct theological expressions.

Original text: “buy and sell their merits”. In the modern column: “buy and sell their merits”. Treat the alleged merits of observances as exchangeable. This is Burton’s accusation within the criticism of excessive claims for fasting, not a neutral verification of the transactions or a statement of every Catholic teaching.

Evangelical Counsels; Evangelicall counsels; Evangelical Councels

Recommendations associated with religious perfection, distinguished from obligatory commandments.

Original text: “Evangelical Counsels”. In the modern column: “evangelical counsels”. Practices invoked as a way of doing beyond duty. The surrounding summary is Burton’s confessional argument; the editor associates the traditional term with poverty, chastity and obedience.

Original text: “Evangelicall counsels”. In the modern column: “evangelical counsels”. The recommended practices Burton says are proposed to wear down the body. The body lists obedience, voluntary poverty, chastity, monastic practices and solitude; its cross-religious generalization is not verified doctrinal identity.

Original text: “Evangelical Councels”. In the modern column: “evangelical counsels”. Counsels or recommendations, not ecclesiastical councils. Burton accuses teachers of placing these human observances before divine commandments; the original list is his polemical expansion.

hâc itur ad astra

This is the way to the stars, here a sarcastic path to heaven.

Original text: “hâc itur ad astra”. In the modern column: “This is the way to the stars”. An impersonal present passive expression: by this way one goes to the stars. The tag ironically makes the alleged monks’ crimes a road to heavenly reward; it does not describe astronomical travel.

aliud agere

Do or pursue something else, a change of object rather than an excess of proper love.

Original text: “aliud agere”. In the modern column: “pursuing something else”. Infinitive agere with accusative aliud, used inside Burton’s English construction do aliud agere. The phrase explains why he calls certain observances excessive without admitting excessive genuine love of God.

ex opere operato

By the work performed, a formula of efficacy juxtaposed polemically with merit.

Original text: “ex opere operato”. In the modern column: “by the work performed”. Ex with ablative opere and agreeing perfect passive participle operato. Burton applies the formula polemically alongside ex condigno to the alleged merit of penitential works for self and others; this is not a neutral account of sacramental theology.

ex condigno

By strict desert, on the ground of what is deserved.

Original text: “ex condigno”. In the modern column: “by strict desert”. Ex with an ablative substantival adjective expressing what is fittingly or strictly deserved. The formula is distinct from the neighbouring ex opere operato; Burton combines efficacy and merit in his polemical account.

meritum

Merit, here the supposed spiritual worth of observances.

Original text: “Cœlum non sufficere putant suis meritis”. In the modern column: “think heaven insufficient for their merits”. Dative plural meritis with sufficere; heaven is the accusative subject of the infinitive after putant. Attributed to Erasmus in the criticism of inflated claims for fasting. Burton’s following English restates the application as too small a reward for it. Meritis contributes merits, suis their, non sufficere insufficient, Cœlum heaven and putant think; no one component is credited with the whole sentence.