From the early Church Fathers to now.
14 Patristic · 1 Medieval
“Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.”
“From this statement we will refute those who suppose that the Savior was a man but not also the Son of God. For they dared with many human evils to say even this, that the Only-begotten, the firstborn of all creation, could not be God. For "cursed is one who has hope in humankind." It is evident that cursed are those who have hope in humankind. I may say that I do not have hope in people.”
“(Verses 5, 6.) Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts (or has hope) in man, and relies on flesh for his strength, and turns his heart away from the Lord. He will be like a shrub in the desert, and will not see when good comes; but he will live in dryness in the desert, in a land of salt and uninhabitable. If every man is cursed who trusts in man, then Paul of Samosata and Photinus, although they proclaim the Savior as holy and surpassing all virtues, still confess him as a man; therefore, they will be cursed for having hope in man. But if it is opposed to us, that we also believe in him who says: Now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God, Abraham did not do this: you do the works of your father. (John 8:40) We will respond with that of the Apostles: And if we have known Christ according to the flesh at some time, but now we no longer know him. Finally, the same Apostle writes in the beginning of his letter to the Galatians: Paul, an Apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead, and who are with me all the brethren. (Galatians 1:1-2). For if death was swallowed up in victory (Hosea 13), why did not the lowliness of the flesh, which was assumed for the salvation of mankind, pass into the majesty of divinity, so that it might make both one; and we do not worship the creature, but the Creator, who is blessed forever? Therefore, he is cursed, not only who has hope in man, but who puts his trust in the flesh, that is, his own strength, and whatever he accomplishes, considers it to be not of the mercy of the Lord, but of his own power. For whoever does this, departs from the heart of the Lord, asserting that he can do what he cannot. And he will be like myrtle, which in Hebrew is called Aroer, or as Symmachus interpreted, a fruitless tree in the desert. And he will not see the good things that the multitude of nations will see when they come, but he will dwell in dryness in the desert. This is said of the people of Judah who dwell in the desert, do not bear fruit, and live in a land of salt, which produces no fruit, and is uninhabitable, having no guest of God, nor the protection of angels, nor the grace of the Holy Spirit, nor the knowledge of teachers.”
“"What is your own opinion? What people do you call happy?" He [the psalmist] would not say, "Happy is the people whose strength is in their own mind." If he had said this, he would, it is true, distinguish that people from the former that made happiness consist in that visible and bodily good fortune, but he would not yet have passed beyond all the vanities and lying follies, for the same Scriptures teach elsewhere: "Cursed be everyone that places his hope in humankind." Therefore, he ought not to place it in himself, because he himself is human. Thus, in order to pass beyond the boundaries of all vanities and lying follies and to place happiness where it truly exists, he says, "Happy is the people whose God is the Lord."”
“The Stoics, when questioned about where they place the efficient cause of the happy life that is the thing in people that makes life happy, answer that it is not bodily pleasure but a virtuous mind. What says the apostle? Does he agree? If he agrees, let us agree, too. But he does not agree, because Scripture reproves those who trust in their own virtue. And so the Epicurean who places a person's supreme good in the body is placing his hopes in himself. But after all, the Stoic who places a person's supreme good in the mind has indeed placed it in a person's better part. But even he has placed it in himself. Now the Stoic is a human just as much as the Epicurean. Cursed therefore is everyone who places his hope in humankind. So what now? Here we have three people set before our eyes: an Epicurean, a Stoic, a Christian. Let us question them one by one. "Tell us, Epicurean, what thing makes one blessed?" "Bodily pleasure," he replies. "Tell us, Stoic." "A virtuous mind." "Tell us, Christian." "The gift of God."”
“But of these matters, all of which are true objects of faith, those only pertain to hope that are embraced in the Lord's Prayer. For "cursed is the one that trusts in humankind" is the testimony of Holy Scripture. Consequently, this curse attaches also to the person who trusts in himself. Therefore, we ought to ask for nothing that we either hope to do well or hope to obtain as a reward for our good works except from God the Lord.”
“Out of that confession of faith that is briefly contained in the creed and that, pondered according to the flesh, is the milk of babes but spiritually considered and studied is the food of the strong, arises the good hope of believers, which holy charity accompanies. But of all those things that are to be believed by faith, only those pertain to hope that are contained in the Lord's Prayer. For "cursed is everyone who puts hope in humankind," as the divine Scriptures testify; and, consequently, one who puts hope in himself is also ensnared in the chain of this curse. Therefore, we ought to make petition only of the Lord God, whatever it is that we hope to do well or to obtain as a reward for good works.”
“Blessed are all who trust in God. If the blessed are those who trust in him, then the wretched are those who trust in themselves. Cursed, you see, is everyone who puts his hopes in humankind, so do not put them even in yourself, because you too are human. If you put your hopes in another person, that is the wrong kind of humility. But if you put your hopes in yourself, that is dangerous pride. What is the difference, anyway? Each is pernicious, neither is to be chosen. Humble in the wrong way, you cannot lift yourself up; dangerously proud, you are heading for a fall.”
“Take care not to let trust in your own strength steal on you, for you are human, and "cursed is everyone who puts his hope in humankind." But put your trust fully and with your whole heart in God, and he will be your strength. Trust him lovingly and gratefully and say to him humbly and faithfully, "Trust in the Lord with your whole heart; he will be your strength."”
“People who despise being in need before God, lest they receive true perseverance from him, glory in their own false endurance and seek to "confound the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his hope." Nor do they regard, seeing they are human and attribute so much to their own, that is, to the human will, that they run into that which is written, "Cursed is everyone who puts his hope in humankind."”
“But it is said, "It is by his own fault that any one deserts the faith, when he yields and consents to the temptation which is the cause of his desertion of the faith." Who denies it? But because of this, perseverance in the faith is not to be said not to be a gift of God. For it is this that a man daily asks for when he says, "Lead us not into temptation;" and if he is heard, it is this that he receives. And thus as he daily asks for perseverance, he assuredly places the hope of his perseverance not in himself, but in God. I, however, am loth to exaggerate the case with my words, but I rather leave it to them to consider, and see what it is of which they have persuaded themselves—to wit, "that by the preaching of predestination, more of despair than of exhortation is impressed upon the hearers." For this is to say that a man then despairs of his salvation when he has learned to place his hope not in himself, but in God, although the prophet cries, "Cursed is he who has his hope in man."”
“We must find out from what source true perseverance, worthy of the name, is to be had. There are those who attribute it to the powers of human will, not those that people have from divine assistance, but from their own free will. But that is an arrogant error. It is the error of the rich about whom the psalm speaks: "a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud." Glorying in their own false endurance, they wish "to confound the counsel of the poor person, but the Lord is his hope." Since they are people and attribute so much to themselves, that is, to their human will, they do not tend to apply to themselves the words of Scripture: "Cursed is everyone who trusts in humankind."”
“This is the combat we are challenged to, this the struggle with the flesh, this the struggle with the devil, this the struggle with the world. But let us be wary of confidence, because the one who instituted this contest does not watch his own champions, nor does he encourage us to rely on our own strength. Anyone relying on his own strength, you see, is relying, being clearly human, on the strength of a person; and accursed is everyone who rests his hope in humankind.”
“We have recognized ourselves, seen ourselves and taken a thorough look at ourselves. Let us groan and sigh in ourselves, pour out prayers, that we enter not into temptations. We must not rely on our own powers to overcome all these things. Blessed, after all, is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, his hope in the Lord his God, not in himself, because he is a mere mortal. But cursed is everyone who places his hope in humankind.”
“In order that we fall not away from the virtue of the soul, we ought to watch especially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil that we presume not of our own strength. For "cursed is everyone who places his hope in humankind." And who is he, but mortal? We cannot therefore truly say that the person who places his hope in humankind places it in himself. For this also is to "live after humankind," what is it but to "live after the flesh"? Whoever therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear, and if he has any Christian feeling, let him tremble. Let him hear, I say, "If you live after the flesh, you shall die."”
“All things which are good, even those of which man is the agent, really come from God rather than man. "It is the spirit," we are told, "that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer." Hence there is a curse on the man who puts his trust in man, for although our whole hope rightly depends on God made man, it is not because he is man but because he is God.”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.