4754. 'Because he is our brother, our flesh' means because that which is received from them is accepted. This is clear from the meaning of 'brother' as a blood relationship by virtue of good, dealt with in 3815, and from the meaning of 'flesh' as that which is one's own in both the genuine and the contrary senses, dealt with in 3813, and so means that it was accepted because it was received from those who belonged to the Church, and that it was accepted by these because it was accepted by those in whom simple good was present. For the Ishmaelites represent those in whom simple good is present, while Joseph's brothers represent the Church that adheres to faith separated from charity. Those in whom simple good is present acknowledge that the Lord's Human is Divine and also that the works of charity must be done so that a person may be saved. Adherents to faith separated from charity know this, and therefore they do not in everyone's presence insist emphatically on faith separated from charity; indeed they hardly mention it among those in whom simple good is present. The main reason for this is that they do not dare to express anything contrary to common sense, thereby robbing themselves of position and gain. For if those in whom simple good is present rejected such ideas about faith separated from charity, they would say that these adherents to those ideas were stupid. Those in whom simple good is present know what love is and what the works of love are; but what faith separated from these may be they do not know. Arguments favouring faith rather than works and concerning the distinction drawn between the Lord's Divine and His Human they would call sophisticated ones beyond their grasp. This being so, to get themselves accepted, and because what is received from them is accepted, the adherents to faith alone choose to compromise their position; for if those truths were annihilated it would be no profit to them and would not give them any superiority, 4751.