Simul iustus et peccator: The Theological Significance of Shifts of Perspective in the Middle English Cleanness and Patience

Cleanness and Patience, two biblical paraphrases found in MS Cotton Nero A.x, present a strikingly different image of God, the former revolving around acts of destruction that spring from the deity's uncontrollable wrath and the latter subverting this by focusing on divine mercy. The juxtaposition of the two poems in the manuscript is here read with the structure of a diptych in mind, which makes it possible to trace the influence of Augustinian thought on the poet. The interplay of Cleanness and Patience is shown to produce a powerful theological statement about man's relationship with God that brings the poet surprisingly close to a position adopted about a century and a half later by Martin Luther.