552 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XVI. evil,and indifferent,or the knowledge of what is and what is not to be done, we must considerwhether thisword Prov.3, signifiesmany things,or one. For itis said that God by wisdom prepared the heavens. Now itisplainthatwisdom isgood,because the Lord by wisdom prepared the heavens. It is saidalsoin Genesis,accordingto the LXX, thatthe serpentwas the wisestanimal,wherein He makes wisdom not a virtue,but evil-mindedcunning. And it is in this sense that the lord commended the steward that he had done wisely,that is,cunningly and evilly.And perhaps the word commended was spoken not in the sense of real commendation, but in a lower sense; as when we speakof a man being commended in slightand indifferentmatters, aud in a certainmeasure clashingsand sharpnessof witare Ang. admired,by which the power ofthe mind isdrawn out. AUG. "''"On the other hand thisparableis spoken, that we should understand that ifthe stewardwho acted deceitfully,could be praisedby hislord,how much more they pleaseGod who do theirworks accordingto His commandment. ORIGEN. The childrenof thisworld also are not called wiserbut more prudent than the childrenof light,and this not absolutelyand simply,but in theirgeneration. For it follows,For the childrenofthisworld are in theirgeneration wiser than the childrenof light,fyc. BEDE. The children of lightand the childrenof this world are spoken of in the same manner as the childrenof the kingdom, and the childrenof hell. For whatever works a man does,he is alsotermed theirson. THEOPHYL. By the childrenof this world then He means thosewho mind the good thingswhich are on the earth; by the childrenof light,thosewho behold ing the divinelove,employ themselveswith spiritualtrea sures. But itisfound indeed in the management of huma affairs,that we prudentlyorder our own things,and busily setourselvesto work, in orderthat when we departwe may have a refugefor our life; but when we ought to directthe thingsof God we take no forethoughtforwhat shallbe our lothereafter. Greg. GREG. In order then that after death they may find capis''something in theirown hand, let men before death place theirrichesin the hands of the poor. Hence it follows,