e been adorned with the august
name of the Church. The labors of such we both laud and admire.

199. But surely no less a difficulty confronted Noah himself, who
alone is called just and upright, at a time when the very sons of men
paraded the name of the Church. When the sons of the fathers allied
themselves with these they, forsooth, believed that Noah with his
people raved, because he followed another doctrine and another
worship.

200. Today our life is very brief, still to what lengths human nature
will go is sufficiently in evidence. What may we imagine the condition
to have been in such a long existence, in which the bitterness and
vehemence of human nature were even stronger? Today we are naturally
much more dull and stupid, and yet men singularly gifted rush into
wickedness. It is afterward said that all flesh had corrupted its way
upon the earth, only Noah was just and upright.

201. From these two words we may gather the thought that Noah is held
to be "just" as he honored the first table and "upright" as he honored
the second. "Just" he is called, because of his faith in God, because
he first believed the general promise with respect to the seed of
woman and then also the particular one respecting the destruction of
the world through the flood and the salvation of his own offspring. On
the other hand he is called "upright" because he walked in the fear of
God and conscientiously avoided murder and other sins with which the
wicked polluted themselves in defiance of conscience. Nor did he
permit himself to be moved by the frequent offenses of men most
illustrious, wise and apparently holy.

202. Great was his courage. Today it appears to us impossible that one
man should oppose himself to all mankind, condemning them as evil,
while they vaunt the Church and God's Word and worship, and to
maintain that he alone is a son of God and acceptable before him.
Noah, accordingly, is a marvelous man, and Moses commends this same
greatness of mind when he plainly adds "in his generation," or "in his
age," as if he desired to say that his age was indeed the most wicked
and corrupt.

203. Above, in the history of Enoch, we explained what it means to
walk with God, namely, to advocate the cause of God in public. To be
just and upright bespeaks private virtue, but to walk with God is
something public--to advocate the cause of God before the world, to
wield his Word, to teach his worship. Noah was not simply just and
h