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   Title: NPNF1-12. Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to
   the Corinthians
   Creator(s):
   Schaff, Philip (Editor)
   Print Basis: Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1889
   Rights: Public Domain
   CCEL Subjects: All; Early Church; Sermons; Proofed
   LC Call no: BR60
   LC Subjects:

   Christianity

   Early Christian Literature. Fathers of the Church, etc.
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   A SELECT LIBRARY

   OF THE

   NICENE AND

   POST-NICENE FATHERS

   OF

   THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

   EDITED BY

   PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D.,

   PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW
   YORK.

   IN CONNECTION WITH A NUMBER OF PATRISTIC SCHOLARS OF EUROPE AND
   AMERICA.

   VOLUME XII

   SAINT CHRYSOSTOM:

   HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS

   T&T CLARK

   EDINBURGH

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   WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY

   GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
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   the homilies of St. john Chrysostom

   archbishop of constantinople,

   on the

   EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS

   THE OXFORD TRANSLATION

   revised with ADDITIONAL notes

   by

   rev. TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, d.d.,

   PASTOR OF THE COLLEGIATE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH, NEW YORK.
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   Preface.

   ------------------------

   The British edition of this translation has a preface in which is given
   a short ?sketch? of Chrysostom's history. As a fuller outline has been
   given in the course of the present reproduction of the homilies, it is
   considered advisable to omit this sketch here. (See Vol. ix. pp. 3-23.)
   The remainder of the English editor's preface is as follows:

   ?The history and remains of St. Chrysostom are in one respect more
   interesting perhaps to the modern reader, than most of the monuments of
   those who are technically called the Fathers. At the time when he was
   raised up, and in those parts of the Christian world to which he was
   sent, the Patriarchates, namely, of Antioch and Constantinople, the
   Church was neither agitated by persecution from without, nor by any
   particular doctrinal controversy within, sufficient to attract his main
   attention, and connect his name with its history, as the name of St.
   Athanasius, e.g., is connected with the Arian, or that of St. Augustine
   with the Pelagian, controversy. The labours of St. Athanasius and St.
   Basil, and their friends and disciples, had come to a happy issue at
   the second OEcumenical Council; the civil power favoured orthodox
   doctrine, and upheld Episcopal authority. The Church seemed for the
   time free to try the force of her morals and discipline against the
   ordinary vices and errors of all ages and all nations. This is one
   reason why the Homilies of St. Chrysostom have always been considered
   as eminently likely among the relics of Antiquity, to be useful as
   models for preaching, and as containing hints for the application of
   Scripture to common life, and the consciences of persons around us.

   Another reason undoubtedly is the remarkable energy and fruitfulness of
   the writer's mind, that command of language and of topics, and above
   all, that depth of charitable and religious feeling, which enabled him,
   to a very remarkable extent, to carry his hearers along with him, even
   when the things he recommended were most distasteful to their natures
   and prejudices. It is obvious how much of the expression of this
   quality must vanish in translation: the elegance and fluency of his
   Greek style, the flow of his periods, the quickness and ingenuity of
   his turns, all the excellencies to which more especially his surname
   was owing, must in the nature of things be sacrificed, except in case
   of very rare felicity, on passing into a modern language. His dramatic
   manner indeed, which was one of the great charms of his oratory among
   the Greeks, and his rapid and ingenious selection and variation of
   topics, these may in some measure be retained, and may serve to give
   even English readers some faint notion of the eloquence which produced
   so powerful effects on the susceptible people of the East.

   ?However, it is not of course as composition that we desire to call
   attention to these or any other of the remains of the Fathers. Nor
   would this topic have been so expressly adverted to, but for the two
   following reasons. First, it is in such particulars as these, that the
   parallel mainly subsists, which has more than once been observed,
   between St. Chrysostom and our own Bishop Taylor: and it is good for
   the Church in general, and encouraging for our own Church in
   particular, to notice such providential revivals of ancient graces in
   modern times.

   ?Again, this profusion of literary talent, and eloquency and vehemence
   and skill in moral teaching, is of itself, as human nature now exists,
   a matter of much jealousy to considerate persons, found answerable to
   the profession implied in their works. And therefore it was desirable
   to dwell on it in this instance, for the purpose of pointing out
   afterwards how completely his life gave evidence that he meant and
   practiced what he taught.

   ?The Homilies on the first Epistle to the Corinthians have ever been
   considered by learned and devout men as among the most perfect
   specimens of his mind and teaching. They are of that mixed form,
   between exposition and exhortation, which serves perhaps better than
   any other, first, to secure attention, and then to convey to an
   attentive hearer the full purport of the holy words as they stand in
   the Bible, and to communicate to him the very impression which the
   preacher himself had received from the text. Accordingly they come in
   not unfitly in this series, by way of specimen of the hortatory Sermons
   of the ancients, as St. Cyril's, of their Catechetical Lectures, and
   St. Cyprians, the Pastoral Letters, which were circulated among them.

   ?The date of these Homilies is not exactly known: but it is certain
   that they were delivered at Antioch, were it only from Hom. xxi. S:. 9.
   ad fin. Antioch was at that time, in a temporal sense, a flourishing
   Church, maintaining 3,000 widows and virgins, [1] maimed persons,
   prisoners, and ministers of the altar; although, St. Chrysostom adds,
   its income was but that of one of the lowest class of wealthy
   individuals. It was indeed in a state of division, on account of the
   disputed succession in the Episcopate between the followers of Paulinus
   and Meletius since the year 362: but this separation affected not
   immediately any point of doctrine; and was in a way to be gradually
   worn out, partly by the labors of St. Chrysostom himself, whose
   discourse concerning the Anathema seems to have been occasioned by the
   too severe way in which the partisans on both sides allowed themselves
   to speak of each other. It may be that he had an eye to this schism in
   his way of handling those parts of the Epistles to the Corinthians,
   which so earnestly deprecate the spirit of schism and party, and the
   calling ourselves by human names.

   ?The Text which has been used in this translation is the Benedictine,
   corrected however in many places by that of Savile. The Benedictine
   Sections are marked in the margin thus, (2.) For the Translation, the
   Editors are indebted to the Reverend Hubert Kestell Cornish, M.A., late
   Fellow of Exeter College, and to the Reverend John Medley, M.A., of
   Wadham College, Vicar of St. Thomas, in the city of Exeter.?

   J. K[eble].

   The Homilies on the Second Epistle were issued four years later than
   those on the First, and were preceded by the following note:

   ?The present Volume completes the set of St. Chrysostom's Commentaries
   on the Epistles of St. Paul, with the exception of that to the Hebrews,
   the Translation of which is preparing for the press. The edition of the
   original by Mr. Field has afforded the advantage of an improved text,
   in fact of one as good as we can hope to see constructed from existing
   mss.

   ?These Homilies were delivered at Antioch in the opinion of the
   Benedictine Editors, though Savile doubted it. The question depends on
   the interpretation of a passage near the end of Hom. xxvi., in which
   St. Chrysostom speaks of Constantinople, and presently says here.'
   This, it has been rightly argued, he might say in the sense of ?in the
   place I am speaking of,' while he was not likely to say, in
   Constantinople' if he were speaking there.

   ?For the Translation the Editors are indebted to the Rev. J. Ashworth,
   M.A., of Brasenose College.?

   S. Clement, 1848.

   C. M. M[arriott.]

   This volume of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, embraces both
   volumes of the original London issue, one of which appeared in 1844,
   the other in 1848. The author of the latter had, as appears from his
   statement above, the advantage of using the recension of the Greek text
   which was prepared by the late Frederick Field, M.A., LL.D., and
   eminent textual critic whose labors leave nothing to be desired so far
   as concerns the materials at his command. The translators of the First
   Epistle did not have this advantage. Hence the present editor has made
   a diligent comparison throughout their work with Dr. Field's text, and
   whenever it was necessary has silently conformed the rendering to that
   text, in a few instances omitting a note which made needless or
   inappropriate by the change. In both Epistles he has occasionally
   amended the translation to gain perspicuity and smoothness. The work of
   the English authors has been performed with great care and fidelity,
   and is literal almost to a fault, it apparently being their endeavor to
   reproduce the form as well as the spirit of the original. This has
   given to their pages a stiffness and constraint not altogether
   agreeable, yet it is a compensation to the reader to know that he has
   before him the precise thought of the great pulpit orator of the Greek
   Church. The American Editor's notes have been enclosed in square
   brackets and marked with his initial.

   The English text of the Epistles has been sedulously conformed to that
   of the Revised Edition of 1881, except in cases in which the Greek text
   used by Chrysostom varied from that adopted by recent Editors. All
   peculiarities of Chrysostom's text have been faithfully preserved.

   In these days when expository preaching is so loudly and generally
   demanded, it cannot but be of use to the rising ministry to see how
   this service was performed by the most eloquent and effective of the
   Fathers, John of the Golden-Mouth.

   T. W. Chambers.

   New York, June, 1889.
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   [1] Hom. 66. on St. Matt. t. ii. p. 422. ed. Savil.
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   Homilies of St. John Chrysostom,

   archbishop of constantinople,

   on the

   first epistle of St. paul the apostle.

   to the

   corinthians.

   ------------------------

   Argument.

   [1.] As Corinth is now the first city of Greece, so of old it prided
   itself on many temporal advantages, and more than all the rest, on
   excess of wealth. And on this account one of the heathen writers
   entitled the place ?the rich [2] .? For it lies on the isthmus of the
   Peloponnesus, and had great facilities for traffic. The city was also
   full of numerous orators, and philosophers, and one, [3] I think, of
   the seven called wise men, was of this city. Now these things we have
   mentioned, not for ostentation's sake, nor to make, a display of great
   learning: (for indeed what is there in knowing these things?) but they
   are of use to us in the argument of the Epistle.

   Paul also himself suffered many things in this city; and Christ, too,
   in this city appears to him and says, (Acts xviii. 10), ?Be not silent,
   but speak; for I have much people in this city:? and he remained there
   two years. In this city [Acts xix. 16. Corinth put here, by lapse of
   memory, for Ephesus.] also the devil went out, whom the Jews
   endeavoring to exorcise, suffered so grievously. In this city did those
   of the magicians, who repented, collect together their books and burn
   them, and there appeared to be fifty thousand. (Acts xix. 18. arguriou
   omitted.) In this city also, in the time of Gallio the Proconsul, Paul
   was beaten before the judgment seat. [4]

   [2.] The devil, therefore, seeing that a great and populous city had
   laid hold of the truth, a city admired for wealth and wisdom, and the
   head of Greece; (for Athens and Lacedaemon were then and since in a
   miserable state, the dominion having long ago fallen away from them;)
   and seeing that with great readiness they had received the word of God;
   what doth he? He divides the men. For he knew that even the strongest
   kingdom of all, divided against itself, shall not stand. He had a
   vantage ground too, for this device in the wealth, the wisdom of the
   inhabitants. Hence certain men, having made parties of their own, and
   having become self-elected made themselves leaders of the people, and
   some sided with these, and some with those; with one sort, as being
   rich; with another, as wise and able to teach something out of the
   common. Who on their part, receiving them, set themselves up forsooth
   to teach more than the Apostle did: [5]   at which he was hinting, when
   he said, ?I was not able to speak unto you as unto spiritual? (ch. iii.
   1.); evidently not his inability, but their infirmity, was the cause of
   their not having been abundantly instructed. And this, (ch. iv. 8.) ?Ye
   are become rich without us,? is the remark of one pointing that way.
   And this was no small matter, but of all things most pernicious; that
   the Church should be torn asunder.

   And another sin, too, besides these, was openly committed there:
   namely, a person who had had intercourse with his step-mother not only
   escaped rebuke, but was even a leader of the multitude, and gave
   occasion to his followers to be conceited. Wherefore he saith, (ch. 5.
   2.) ?And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned.? And after this
   again, certain of those who as they pretended were of the more perfect
   sort, and who for gluttony's sake used to eat of things offered unto
   idols, and sit at meat in the temples, were bringing all to ruin.
   Others again, having contentions and strifes about money, committed
   unto the heathen courts (tois exothen sikadteriois) all matters of that
   kind. Many persons also wearing long hair used to go about among them;
   whom he ordereth to be shorn. There was another fault besides, no
   trifling one; their eating in the churches apart by themselves, and
   giving no share to the needy.

   And again, they were erring in another point, being puffed up with the
   gifts; and hence jealous of one another; which was also the chief cause
   of the distraction of the Church. The doctrine of the Resurrection,
   too, was lame (echoleue) among them: for some of them had no strong
   belief that there is any resurrection of bodies, having still on them
   the disease of Grecian foolishness. For indeed all these things were
   the progeny of the madness which belongs to Heathen Philosophy, and she
   was the mother of all mischief. Hence, likewise, they had become
   divided; in this respect also having learned of the philosophers. For
   these latter were no less at mutual variance, always, through love of
   rule and vain glory contradicting one another's opinions, and bent upon
   making some new discovery in addition to all that was before. And the
   cause of this was, their having begun to trust themselves to
   reasonings.

   [3.] They had written accordingly to him by the hand of Fortunatus and
   Stephanas and Achaicus, by whom also he himself writes; and this he has
   indicated in the end of the Epistle: not however upon all these
   subjects, but about marriage and virginity; wherefore also he said,
   (ch. vii. 1.) ?Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote? &c. And he
   proceeds to give injunctions, both on the points about which they had
   written, and those about which they had not written; having learnt with
   accuracy all their failings. Timothy, too, he sends with the letters,
   knowing that letters indeed have great force, yet that not a little
   would be added to them by the presence of the disciple also.

   Now whereas those who had divided the Church among themselves, from a
   feeling of shame lest they should seem to have done so for ambition's
   sake, contrived cloaks for what had happened, their teaching (forsooth)
   more perfect doctrines, and being wiser than all others; Paul sets
   himself first against the disease itself, plucking up the root of the
   evils, and its offshoot, the spirit of separation. And he uses great
   boldness of speech: for these were his own disciples, more than all
   others. Wherefore he saith (ch. ix. 2.) ?If to others I be not an
   Apostle, yet at least I am unto you; for the seal of my apostleship are
   ye.? Moreover they were in a weaker condition (to say the least of it)
   than the others. Wherefore he saith, (ch. iii. 1, 2. oude for oute).
   ?For I have not spoken unto you as unto spiritual; for hitherto ye were
   not able, neither yet even now are ye able.? (This he saith, that they
   might not suppose that he speaks thus in regard of the time past
   alone.)

   However, it was utterly improbable that all should have been corrupted;
   rather there were some among them who were very holy. And this he
   signified [6] in the middle of the Epistle, where he says, (ch. iv. 3,
   6.) ?To me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you:?
   and adds, ?these things I have in a figure transferred unto myself and
   Apollos.?

   Since then from arrogance all these evils were springing, and from
   men's thinking that they knew something out of the common, this he
   purgeth away first of all, and in beginning saith,
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   [2] Homer, Il. ii. 570; Thucyd. i. 13; Strabo, viii. 20.

   [3] Periander; but vid. Plutarch. in Solon. tom. i. p. 185. ed. Bryan.

   [4] This is said of Sosthenes, Acts xviii. 17. But the context makes it
   probable that St. Paul was beaten also. [Hardly.]

   [5] St. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. iii. v. 1, points out this as a main topic
   of heretical teaching. ?These most futile of Sophisters affirm that the
   Apostles taught feignedly, after the capacity of the hearers, and gave
   answer after the prejudices of those who enquired of them, discoursing
   with the blind blindly according to their blindness, with the feeble
   according to their feebleness, and with the erring according to their
   error.?

   [6] It appears by the subsequent commentary on these verses, that S.
   Chrysostom understood the Apostle to be alluding in them to persons
   among the Corinthians, who had suffered from unjust censure and party
   spirit. See Hom. ii. S:. 1; xi. near the end; and the opening of Hom.
   xii.
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   Homily I.

   1 Cor. i. 1-3

   Paul, called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God,
   and Sosthenes our brother, unto the Church of God which is at Corinth,
   even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be Saints,
   with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every
   place, their Lord and ours: Grace unto you and peace from God our
   Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

   [1.] See how immediately, from the very beginning, he casts down their
   pride, and dashes to the ground all their fond imagination, in that he
   speaks of himself as ?called.? For what I have learnt, saith he, I
   discovered not myself, nor acquired by my own wisdom, but while I was
   persecuting and laying waste the Church I was called. Now here of Him
   that calleth is everything: of him that is called, nothing, (so to
   speak,) but only to obey.

   ?Of Jesus Christ.? Your teacher is Christ; and do you register the
   names of men, as patrons of your doctrine?

   ?Through the will of God.? For it was God who willed that you should be
   saved in this way. We ourselves have wrought no good thing, but by the
   will of God we have attained to this salvation; and because it seemed
   good to him, we were called, not because we were worthy.

   ?And Sosthenes our brother.? Another instance of his modesty; he puts
   in the same rank with himself one inferior to Apollos; for great was
   the interval between Paul and Sosthenes. Now if where the interval was
   so wide he stations with himself one far beneath him, what can they
   have to say who despise their equals?

   ?Unto the Church of God.? Not ?of this or of that man,? but of God.

   ?Which is at Corinth.? Seest thou how at each word he puts down their
   swelling pride; training their thoughts in every way for heaven? He
   calls it, too, the Church ?of God;? shewing that it ought to be united.
   For if it be ?of God,? it is united, and it is one, not in Corinth
   only, but also in all the world: for the Church's name (ekklesia:
   properly an assembly) is not a name of separation, but of unity and
   concord.

   ?To the sanctified in Christ Jesus.? Again the name of Jesus; the names
   of men he findeth no place for. But what is Sanctification? The Laver,
   the Purification. For he reminds them of their own uncleanness, from
   which he had freed them; and so persuades them to lowliness of mind;
   for not by their own good deeds, but by the loving-kindness of God, had
   they been sanctified.

   ?Called to be Saints.? For even this, to be saved by faith, is not
   saith he, of yourselves; for ye did not first draw near, but were
   called; so that not even this small matter is yours altogether.
   However, though you had drawn near, accountable as you are for
   innumerable wickednesses, not even so would the grace be yours, but
   God's. Hence also, writing to the Ephesians, he said, (Eph. ii. 8) ?By
   grace have ye been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves;?
   not even the faith is yours altogether; for ye were not first with your
   belief, but obeyed a call.

   ?With all who call upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.? Not ?of
   this or that man,? but ?the Name of the Lord.?

   [2.] ?In every place, both theirs and ours.? For although the letter be
   written to the Corinthians only, yet he makes mention of all the
   faithful that are in all the earth; showing that the Church throughout
   the world must be one, however separate in divers places; and much
   more, that in Corinth. And though the place separate, the Lord binds
   them together, being common to all. Wherefore also uniting them he
   adds, ?both theirs and ours.? And this is far more powerful [to unite],
   than the other [to separate]. For as men in one place, having many and
   contrary masters, become distracted, and their one place helps them not
   to be of one mind, their masters giving orders at variance with each
   other, and drawing each their own way, according to what Christ says,
   (St. Matt. vi. 24) ?Ye cannot serve God and Mammon;? so those in
   different places, if they have not different lords but one only, are
   not by the places injured in respect of unanimity, the One Lord binding
   them together. ?I say not then, (so he speaks,) that with Corinthians
   only, you being Corinthians ought to be of one mind, but with all that
   are in the whole world, inasmuch as you have a common Master.? This is
   also why he hath a second time added ?our;? for since he had said, ?the
   Name of Jesus Christ our Lord,? lest he should appear to the
   inconsiderate to be making a distinction, he subjoins again, ?both our
   Lord and theirs.?

   [3.] That my meaning may be clearer, I will read it according to its
   sense thus: ?Paul and Sosthenes to the Church of God which is in
   Corinth and to all who call upon the Name of Him who is both our Lord
   and theirs in every place, whether in Rome or wheresoever else they may
   be: grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
   Christ.?

   Or again thus; which I also believe to be rather more correct: ?Paul
   and Sosthenes to those that are at Corinth, who have been sanctified,
   called to be Saints, together with all who call upon the Name of our
   Lord Jesus Christ in place, both theirs and ours;? that is to say,
   ?grace unto you, and peace unto you, who are at Corinth, who have been
   sanctified and called;? not to you alone, but ?with all who in every
   place call upon the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and theirs.?

   Now if our peace be of grace, why hast thou high thoughts? Why art Thou
   so puffed up, being saved by grace? And if thou hast peace with God,
   why wish to assign thyself to others? since this is what separation
   comes to. For what if you be at ?peace? with this man, and with the
   other even find ?grace?? My prayer is that both these may be yours from
   God; both from Him I say, and towards Him. For neither do they abide
   (menei, Savile in marg.) secure except they enjoy the influence from
   above; nor unless God be their object will they aught avail you: for it
   profiteth us nothing, though we be peaceful towards all men, if we be
   at war with God; even as it is no harm to us, although by all men we
   are held as enemies, if with God we are at peace. And again it is no
   gain to us, if all men approve, and the Lord be offended; neither is
   there any danger, though all shun and hate us, if with God we have
   acceptance and love. For that which is verily grace, and verily peace,
   cometh of God, since he who finds grace in God's sight, though he
   suffer ten thousand horrors, feareth no one; I say not only, no man,
   but not even the devil himself; but he that hath offended God suspects
   all men, though he seem to be in security. For human nature is
   unstable, and not friends only and brethren, but fathers also, before
   now, have been altogether changed and often for a little thing he whom
   they begat, the branch of their planting, hath been to them, more than
   all foes, an object of persecution. Children, too, have cast off their
   fathers. Thus, if ye will mark it, David was in favor with God, Absalom
   was in favor with men. What was the end of each, and which of them
   gained most honor, ye know. Abraham was in favor with God, Pharaoh with
   men; for to gratify him they gave up the just man's wife. (See St.
   Chrys. on Gen. xii. 17.) Which then of the two was the more
   illustrious, and the happy man? every one knows. And why speak I of
   righteous men; The Israelites were in favor with God, but they were
   hated by men, the Egyptians; but nevertheless they prevailed against
   their haters and vanquished them, with how great triumph, is well known
   to you all.

   For this, therefore, let all of us labor earnestly; whether one be a
   slave, let him pray for this, that he may find grace with God rather
   than with his master; or a wife, let her seek grace from God her
   Saviour rather than from her husband; or a soldier, in preference to
   his king and commander let him seek that favor which cometh from above.
   For thus among men also wilt thou be an object of love.

   [4.] But how shall a man find grace with God?  How else, except by
   lowliness of mind? ?For God, ?saith one, (St. Jas. iv. 6.) ?resisteth
   the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble; and, (Ps. li. 17.
   tetapeinomenen.) the sacrifice of God is a broken spirit, and a heart
   that is brought low God will not despise.? For if with men humility is
   so lovely, much more with God. Thus both they of the Gentiles found
   grace and the Jews no other way fell from grace; (Rom. x. 13.) ?for
   they were not subject unto the righteousness of God.? The lowly man of
   whom I am speaking, is pleasing and delightful to all men, and dwells
   in continual peace, and hath in him no ground for contentions. For
   though you insult him, though you abuse him, whatsoever you say, he
   will be silent and will bear it meekly, and will have so great peace
   towards all men as one cannot even describe. Yea, and with God also.
   For the commandments of God are to be at peace with men: and thus our
   whole life is made prosperous, through peace one with another. For no
   man can injure God: His nature is imperishable, and above all
   suffering. Nothing makes the Christian so admirable as lowliness of
   mind. Hear, for instance, Abraham saying, (Gen. xviii. 27.) ?But I am
   but dust and ashes;? and again, God [saying] of Moses, that (Numb. xii.
   3.) ?he was the meekest of all men.? For nothing was ever more humble
   than he; who, being leader of so great a people, and having overwhelmed
   in the sea the king and the host of all the Egyptians, as if they had
   been flies; and having wrought so many wonders both in Egypt and by the
   Red Sea and in the wilderness, and received such high testimony, yet
   felt exactly as if he had been an ordinary person, and as a son-in-law
   was humbler than his father-in-law, (Exodus xviii. 24) and took advice
   from him, and was not indignant, nor did he say, ?What is this? After
   such and so great achievements, art thou come to us with thy counsel??
   This is what most people feel; though a man bring the best advice,
   despising it, because of the lowliness of the person. But not so did
   he: rather through lowliness of mind he wrought all things well. Hence
   also he despised the courts of kings, (Heb. xi. 24-26.) since he was
   lowly indeed:  for the sound mind and the high spirit are the fruit of
   humility. For of how great nobleness and magnanimity, thinkest thou,
   was it a token, to despise the kingly palace and table? since kings
   among the Egyptians are honored as gods, and enjoy wealth and treasures
   inexhaustible. But nevertheless, letting go all these and throwing away
   the very sceptres of Egypt, he hastened to join himself unto captives,
   and men worn down with toil, whose strength was spent in the clay and
   the making of bricks, men whom his own slaves abhorred, (for, saith he
   (ebdelussonto, Sept. Ex. i. 2.) ?The Egyptians abhorred them;?) unto
   these he ran and preferred them before their masters. From whence it is
   plain, that whoso is lowly, the same is high and great of soul. For
   pride cometh from an ordinary mind and an ignoble spirit, but
   moderation, from greatness of mind and a lofty soul.

   [5.] And if you please, let us try each by examples. For tell me, what
   was there ever more exalted than Abraham? And yet it was he that said,
   ?I am but dust and ashes;? it was he who said, (Gen. xiii. 8) ?Let
   there be no strife between me and thee.? But this man, so humble, (Gen.
   xiv. 21-24.) despised (?Persian,? i.e. perhaps, ?of Elam.?) Persian
   spoils, and regarded not Barbaric trophies; and this he did of much
   highmindedness, and of a spirit nobly nurtured. For he is indeed
   exalted who is truly humble; (not the flatterer nor the dissembler;)
   for true greatness is one thing, and arrogance another. And this is
   plain from hence; if one man esteem clay to be clay, and despise it,
   and another admire the clay as gold, and account it a great thing;
   which, I ask, is the man of exalted mind? Is it not he who refuses to
   admire the clay? And which, abject and mean? Is it not he who admires
   it, and set much store by it? Just so do thou esteem of this case also;
   that he who calls himself but dust and ashes is exalted, although he
   say it out of humility; but that he who does not consider himself dust
   and ashes, but treats himself lovingly and has high thoughts, this man
   for his part must be counted mean, esteeming little things to be great.
   Whence it is clear that out of great loftiness of thought the patriarch
   spoke that saying, ?I am but dust and ashes;? from loftiness of
   thought, not from arrogance.

   For as in bodies it is one thing to be healthy and plump, (sphrigonta,
   firm and elastic.) and another thing to be swoln, although both
   indicate a full habit of flesh, (but in this case of unsound, in that
   of healthful flesh;) so also here: it is one thing to be arrogant,
   which is, as it were, to be swoln, and another thing to be high-souled,
   which is to be in a healthy state. And again, one man is tall from the
   stature of his person; another, being short, by adding buskins [7]
   becomes taller; now tell me, which of the two should we call tall and
   large? Is it not quite plain, him whose height is from himself? For the
   other has it as something not his own; and stepping upon things low in
   themselves, turns out a tall person. Such is the case with many men who
   mount themselves up on wealth and glory; which is not exaltation, for
   he is exalted who wants none of these things, but despises them, and
   has his greatness from himself. Let us therefore become humble that we
   may become exalted; (St. Luke xiv. 11) ?For he that humbleth himself
   shall be exalted.? Now the self-willed man is not such as this; rather
   he is of all characters the most ordinary. For the bubble, too, is
   inflated, but the inflation is not sound; wherefore we call these
   persons ?puffed up.? Whereas the sober-minded man has no high thoughts,
   not even in high fortunes, knowing his own low estate; but the vulgar
   even in his trifling concerns indulges a proud fancy.

   [6.] Let us then acquire that height which comes by humility. Let us
   look into the nature of human things, that we may kindle with the
   longing desire of the things to come; for in no other way is it
   possible to become humble, except by the love of what is divine and the
   contempt of what is present. For just as a man on the point of
   obtaining a kingdom, if instead of that purple robe one offer him some
   trivial compliment, will count it to be nothing; so shall we also laugh
   to scorn all things present, if we desire that other sort of honor. Do
   ye not see the children, when in their play they make a band of
   soldiers, and heralds precede them and lictors, and a boy marches in
   the midst in the general's place, how childish it all is? Just such are
   all human affairs; yea and more worthless than these: to-day they are,
   and to-morrow they are not. Let us therefore be above these things; and
   let us not only not desire them, but even be ashamed if any one hold
   them forth to us. For thus, casting out the love of these things, we
   shall possess that other love which is divine, and shall enjoy immortal
   glory. Which may God grant us all to obtain, through the grace and
   loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ; with whom be to the Father,
   together with the holy and good Spirit, the glory and the power for
   ever and ever. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [7] embadas, a leathern shoe coming half way up the leg, with high
   heels of cork; used especially by tragic actors to elevate their size.
   AEschylus, says Horace, improving tragedy, ?docuit magnumque loqui,
   nitique cothurno.? A. P. 280.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily II.

   1 Cor. i. 4, 5

   I thank my God always concerning you, for the Grace of God which was
   given you in Jesus Christ; that in every thing you were enriched in
   him.

   [1.] That which he exhorts others to do, saying, ?(Phil. iv. 6.) Let
   your requests with thanksgiving be made known unto God,? the same also
   he used to do himself: teaching us to begin always from these words,
   and before all things to give thanks unto God. For nothing is so
   acceptable to God as that men should be thankful, both for themselves
   and for others: wherefore also he prefaces almost every Epistle with
   this. But the occasion for his doing so is even more urgent here than
   in the other Epistles. For he that gives thanks, does so, both as being
   well off, and as in acknowledgment of a favor: now a favor is not a
   debt nor a requital nor a payment: which indeed every where is
   important to be said, but much more in the case of the Corinthians who
   were gaping after the dividers of the Church.

   [2.] ?Unto my God.?  Out of great affection he seizes on that which is
   common, and makes it his own; as the prophets also from time to time
   use to say, (Ps. xliii. 4; lxii. 1.) ?O God, my God;? and by way of
   encouragement he incites them to use the same language also themselves.
   For such expressions belong to one who is retiring from all secular
   things, and moving towards Him whom he calls on with so much
   earnestness: since he alone can truly say this, who from things of this
   life is ever mounting upwards unto God, and always preferring Him to
   all, and giving thanks continually, not [only] for the grace already
   given, [8] but whatever blessing hath been since at any time bestowed,
   for this also he offereth unto Him the same praise. Wherefore he saith
   not merely, ?I give thanks,? but ?at all times, concerning you;?
   instructing them to be thankful both always, and to no one else save
   God only.

   [3.] ?For the grace of God.? Seest thou how from every quarter he draws
   topics for correcting them? For where ?grace? is, ?works? are not;
   where ?works,? it is no more ?grace.? If therefore it be ?grace,? why
   are ye high-minded? Whence is it that ye are puffed up?

   ?Which is given you.? And by whom was it given? By me, or by another
   Apostle? Not at all, but ?by Jesus Christ.? For the expression, ?In
   Jesus Christ,? signifies this. Observe how in divers places he uses the
   word en, ?in,? instead of di hou, ?through means of whom;? therefore
   its sense is no less. [9]

   ?That in every thing ye were enriched.? Again, by whom? By Him, is the
   reply. And not merely ?ye were enriched,? but ?in every thing.? Since
   then it is first of all, ?riches? then, ?riches of God,? next, ?in
   every thing,? and lastly, ?through the Only-Begotten,? reflect on the
   ineffable treasure!

   Ver. 5. ?In all utterance, and all knowledge.? ?Word? [?or utterance,?]
   not such as the heathen, but that of God. For there is knowledge
   without ?word,? and there is knowledge with ?word.? For so there are
   many who possess knowledge, but have not the power of speech; as those
   who are uneducated and unable to exhibit clearly what they have in
   their mind. Ye, saith he, are not such as these, but competent both to
   understand and to speak.

   Ver. 6. ?Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.? Under
   the color of praises and thanksgiving he touches them sharply. ?For not
   by heathen philosophy,? saith he, ?neither by heathen discipline, but
   ?the grace of God,? and by the ?riches,? and the ?knowledge,? and the
   ?word? given by Him, were you enabled to learn the doctrines of the
   truth, and to be confirmed unto the testimony of the Lord; that is,
   unto the Gospel. For ye had the benefit of many signs, many wonders,
   unspeakable grace, to make you receive the Gospel. If therefore ye were
   established by signs and grace, why do ye waver?? Now these are the
   words of one both reproving, and at the same time prepossessing them in
   his favor.

   [4.] Ver. 7. ?So that ye come behind in no gift.? A great question here
   arises. They who had been ?enriched in all utterance,? so as in no
   respect to ?come behind in any gift,? are they carnal? For if they were
   such at the beginning, much more now. How then does he call them
   ?carnal?? For, saith he, (1 Cor. iii. 1.) ?I was not able to speak unto
   you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal.? What must we say then? That
   having in the beginning believed, and obtained all gifts, (for indeed
   they sought them earnestly,) they became remiss afterwards. Or, if not
   so, that not unto all are either these things said or those; but the
   one to such as were amenable to his censures, the other to such as were
   adorned with his praises. For as to the fact that they still had gifts;
   (1 Cor. xiv. 26, 29.) ?Each one,? saith he, ?hath a psalm, hath a
   revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation; let all things be
   done unto edifying.? And, ?Let the prophets speak two or three.? Or we
   may state it somewhat differently; that as it is usual with us to call
   the greater part the whole, so also he hath spoken in this place.
   Withal, I think he hints at his own proceedings; for he too had shewn
   forth signs; even as also he saith in the second Epistle to them, (2
   Cor. xii. 12, 13.) ?Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among
   you in all patience:? and again, ?For what is there wherein you were
   inferior to other churches??

   Or, as I was saying, he both reminds them of his own miracles and
   speaks thus with an eye to those who were still approved. For many holy
   men were there who had ?set themselves to minister unto the saints,?
   and had become ?the first fruits of Achaia;? as he declareth (ch. xvi.
   15.) towards the end.

   [5.] In any case, although the praises be not very close to the truth,
   still however they are inserted by way of precaution, (oikonomikos)
   preparing the way beforehand for his discourse. For whoever at the very
   outset speaks things unpleasant, excludes his words from a hearing
   among the weaker: since if the hearers be his equals in degree they
   feel angry; if vastly inferior they will be vexed. To avoid this, he
   begins with what seem to be praises. I say, seem; for not even did this
   praise belong to them, but to the grace of God. For that they had
   remission of sins, and were justified, this was of the Gift from above.
   Wherefore also he dwells upon these points, which shew the
   loving-kindness of God, in order that he may the more fully purge out
   their malady.

   [6.] ?Waiting for the revelation (apokalupsin.) of our Lord Jesus
   Christ.? ?Why make ye much ado,? saith he, ?why are ye troubled that
   Christ is not come? Nay, he is come; and the Day is henceforth at the
   doors.? And consider his wisdom; how withdrawing them from human
   considerations he terrifies them by mention of the fearful
   judgment-seat, and thus implying that not only the beginnings must be
   good, but the end also. For with all these gifts, and with all else
   that is good, we must be mindful of that Day: and there is need of many
   labors to be able to come unto the end. ?Revelation? is his word;
   implying that although He be not seen, yet He is, and is present even
   now, and then shall appear. Therefore there is need of patience: for to
   this end did ye receive the wonders, that ye may remain firm.

   [7.] Ver. 8. ?Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be
   unreprovable.? Here he seems to court them, but the saying is free from
   all flattery; for he knows also how to press them home; as when he
   saith, (1 Cor. iv. 18, 21.) ?Now some are puffed up as though I would
   not come to you:? and again, ?What will ye? shall I come unto you with
   a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?? And, (2 Cor. xiii.
   3.) ?Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.? But he is also
   covertly accusing them: for, to say, ?He shall confirm,? and the word
   ?unreprovable? marks them out as still wavering, and liable to reproof.

   But do thou consider how he always fasteneth them as with nails to the
   Name of Christ. And not any man nor teacher, but continually the
   Desired One Himself is remembered by him: setting himself, as it were
   to arouse those who were heavy-headed after some debauch. For no where
   in any other Epistle doth the Name of Christ occur so continually. But
   here it is, many times in a few verses; and by means of it he weaves
   together, one may say, the whole of the proem. Look at it from the
   beginning. ?Paul called [to be] an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to them
   that have been sanctified in Jesus Christ, who call upon the Name of
   our Lord Jesus Christ, grace [be] unto you and peace from God the
   Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God for the grace which
   hath been given you by Jesus Christ, even as the testimony of Christ
   hath been confirmed in you, waiting for the revelation of our Lord
   Jesus Christ, who shall confirm you unreprovable in the day of our Lord
   Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the
   fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And I beseech you by the
   Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.? Seest thou the constant repetition of
   the Name of Christ? From whence it is plain even to the most
   unobservant, that not by chance nor unwittingly he doeth this, but in
   order that by incessant application [10] of that glorious Name he may
   foment [11] their inflammation, and purge out the corruption of the
   disease.

   [8.] Ver. 9. ?God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the
   fellowship of His Son.? Wonderful!  How great a thing saith he here!
   How vast in the magnitude of the gift which he declares!  Into the
   fellowship of the Only-Begotten have ye been called, and do ye addict
   yourselves unto men? What can be worse than this wretchedness? And how
   have ye been called? By the Father. For since ?through Him,? and ?in
   Him,? were phrases which he was constantly employing in regard of the
   Son, lest men might suppose that he so mentioneth Him as being less, he
   ascribeth the same to the Father. For not by this one and that one,
   saith he, but ?by the Father? have ye been called; by Him also have ye
   been ?enriched.? Again, ?ye have been called;? ye did not yourselves
   approach. But what means, ?into the fellowship of His Son?? Hear him
   declaring this very thing more clearly elsewhere. (2 Tim. ii. 12.) If
   we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we die with Him, we shall
   also live with Him. Then, because it was a great thing which He had
   said, he adds an argument fraught with unanswerable conviction; for,
   saith he, ?God is faithful,? i.e. ?true.? Now if ?true,? what things He
   hath promised He will also perform. And He hath promised that He will
   make us partakers of His only-begotten Son; for to this end also did He
   call us. For (Rom. xi. 29.) ?His gifts, and the calling of God,? are
   without repentance.

   These things, by a kind of divine art he inserts thus early, lest after
   the vehemence of the reproofs they might fall into despair. For
   assuredly God's part will ensue, if we be not quite impatient of His
   rein. (apheniasomen)  As the Jews, being called, would not receive the
   blessings; but this was no longer of Him that called, but of their lack
   of sense. For He indeed was willing to give, but they, by refusing to
   receive, cast themselves away. For, had He called to a painful and
   toilsome undertaking, not even in that case were they pardonable in
   making excuse; however, they would have been able to say that so it
   was: but if the call be unto cleansing, (Comp. i. 4-7.) and
   righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, and grace, and a
   free gift, and the good things in store, which eye hath not seen, nor
   ear heard; and it be God that calls, and calls by Himself; what pardon
   can they deserve, who come not running to Him? Let no one therefore
   accuse God; for unbelief cometh not of Him that calleth, but of those
   who start away (apopedontas) from Him.

   [9.] But some man will say, ?He ought to bring men in, even against
   their will.? Away with this. He doth not use violence, nor compel; [12]
   for who that bids to honors, and crowns, and banquets, and festivals,
   drags people, unwilling and bound? No one. For this is the part of one
   inflicting an insult. Unto hell He sends men against their will, but
   unto the kingdom He calls willing minds. To the fire He brings men
   bound and bewailing themselves: to the endless state of blessings not
   so. Else it is a reproach to the very blessings themselves, if their
   nature be not such as that men should run to them of their own accord
   and with many thanks.

   ?Whence it is then,? say you, ?that all men do not choose them?? From
   their own infirmity. ?And wherefore doth He not cut off their
   infirmity?? And how tell me--in what way--ought He to cut it off? Hath
   He not made a world that teacheth His loving-kindness and His power?
   For (Ps. xix. 1.) ?the heavens,? saith one, ?declare the glory of God.?
   Hath He not also sent prophets? Hath He not both called and honored us?
   Hath He not done wonders? Hath He not given a law both written and
   natural?  Hath He not sent His Son? Hath he not commissioned Apostles?
   Hath He not wrought sins? Hath He not threatened hell? Hath He not
   promised the kingdom? Doth He not every day make His sun to rise? Are
   not the things which He hath enjoined so simple and easy, that many
   transcend His commandments in the greatness of their self-denial? [13]
     ?What was there to do unto the vineyard and I have not done it?? (Is.
   v. 4.)

   [10.] ?And why,? say you, ?did He not make knowledge and virtue natural
   to us?? Who speaketh thus? The Greek or the Christian? Both of them,
   indeed, but not about the same things: for the one raises his objection
   with a view to knowledge, the other with a view to conduct. First,
   then, we will reply to him who is on our side; for I do not so much
   regard those without, as our own members.

   What then saith the Christian? ?It were meet to have implanted in us
   the knowledge itself of virtue.? He hath implanted it; for if he had
   not done so, whence should we have known what things are to be done,
   what left undone? Whence are the laws and the tribunals? But ?God
   should have imparted not [merely] knowledge, but also the very doing of
   it [virtue].? For what then wouldest thou have to be rewarded, if the
   whole were of God?  For tell me, doth God punish in the same manner
   thee and the Greek upon committing sin [14] ? Surely not. For up to a
   certain point thou hast confidence, viz. that which ariseth from the
   true knowledge. What then, if any one should now say that on the score
   of knowledge thou and the Greek will be accounted of like desert? Would
   it not disgust thee? I think so, indeed. For thou wouldest say that the
   Greek, having of his own wherewith to attain knowledge, was not
   willing. If then the latter also should say that God ought to have
   implanted knowledge in us naturally, wilt thou not laugh him to scorn,
   and say to him, ?But why didst thou not seek for it? why wast thou not
   in earnest even as I?? And thou wilt stand firm with much confidence,
   and say that it was extreme folly to blame God for not implanting
   knowledge by nature. And this thou wilt say, because thou hast obtained
   what appertains to knowledge. So also hadst thou performed what
   appertains to practice, thou wouldest not have raised these questions:
   but thou art tired of virtuous practice, therefore thou shelterest
   thyself with these inconsiderate words. But how could it be at all
   right to cause that by necessity one should become good? Then shall we
   next have the brute beasts contending with us about virtue, seeing that
   some of them are more temperate than ourselves.

   But thou sayest, ?I had rather have been good by necessity, and so
   forfeited all rewards, than evil by deliberate choice, to be punished
   and suffer vengeance.? But it is impossible that one should ever be
   good by necessity. If therefore thou knowest not what ought to be done,
   shew it, and then we will tell you what is right to say. But if thou
   knowest that uncleanness is wicked, wherefore dost thou not fly from
   the evil thing?

   ?I cannot,? thou sayest. But others who have done greater things than
   this will plead against thee, and will more than prevail to stop thy
   mouth. For thou, perhaps, though living with a wife, art not chaste;
   but another even without a wife keeps his chastity inviolate. Now what
   excuse hast thou for not keeping the rule, while another even leaps
   beyond the lines [15] that have been drawn to mark it?

   But thou sayest ?I am not of this sort in my bodily frame, or my turn
   of mind.? That is for want, not of power, but of will. For thus I prove
   that all have a certain aptness towards virtue: That which a man cannot
   do, neither will he be able to do though necessity be laid upon him;
   but, if, necessity being laid upon him, he is able, he that leaveth it
   undone, leaveth it undone out of choice. The kind of thing I mean is
   this: to fly up and be borne towards heaven, having a heavy body, is
   even simply impossible. What then, if a king should command one to do
   this, and threaten death, saying, ?Those men who do not fly, I decree
   that they lose their heads, or be burnt, or some other such
   punishment:? would any one obey him?  Surely not. For nature is not
   capable of it. But if in the case of chastity this same thing were
   done, and he were to lay down laws that the unclean should be punished,
   be burnt, be scourged, should suffer the extremity of torture, would
   not many obey the law?  ?No? thou wilt say: ?for there is appointed,
   even now, a law forbidding to commit adultery [16] and all do not obey
   it.? Not because the fear looses its power, but because the greater
   part expect to be unobserved. So that if when they were on the point of
   committing an unclean action the legislator and the judge came before
   them, the fear would be strong enough to cast out the lust. Nay, were I
   to apply another kind of force inferior to this; were I to take the man
   and remove him from the beloved person, and shut him up close in
   chains, he will be able to bear it, without suffering any great harm.
   Let us not say then that such an one is by nature evil: for if a man
   were by nature good, he could never at any time become evil; and if he
   were by nature evil, he could never be good. But now we see that
   changes take place rapidly, and that men quickly shift from this side
   to the other, and from that fall back again into this. And these things
   we may see not in the Scriptures only, for instance, that publicans
   have become apostles; and disciples, traitors; and harlots, chaste; and
   robbers, men of good repute; and magicians have worshipped; and ungodly
   men passed over unto godliness, both in the New Testament and in the
   Old; but even every day a man may see many such things occurring. Now
   if things were natural, they could not change. For so we, being by
   nature susceptible, could never by any exertions become void of
   feeling. For that which is whatever it is by nature, can never fall
   away from such its natural condition. No one, for example, ever changed
   from sleeping to not sleeping: no one from a state of corruption unto
   incorruption: no one from hunger to the perpetual absence of that
   sensation. Wherefore neither are these things matters of accusation,
   nor do we reproach ourselves for them; nor ever did any one, meaning to
   blame another, say to him, ?O thou, corruptible and subject to
   passion:? but either adultery or fornication, or something of that
   kind, we always lay to the charge of those who are responsible; and we
   bring them before judges, who blame and punish, and in the contrary
   cases award honors.

   [11.] Since then both from our conduct towards one another, and from
   others' conduct to us when judged, and from the things about which we
   have written laws, and from the things wherein we condemn ourselves,
   though there be no one to accuse us; and from the instances of our
   becoming worse through indolence, and better through fear; and from the
   cases wherein we see others doing well and arriving at the height of
   self-command, (philosophias) it is quite clear that we also have it in
   our power to do well: why do we, the most part, deceive ourselves in
   vain with heartless pretexts and excuses, bringing not only no pardon,
   but even punishment intolerable? When we ought to keep before our eyes
   that fearful day, and to give heed to virtue; and after a little labor,
   obtain the incorruptible crowns? For these words will be no defence to
   us; rather our fellow-servants, and those who have practised the
   contrary virtues, will condemn all who continue in sin: the cruel man
   will be condemned by the merciful; the evil, by the good; the fierce,
   by the gentle; the grudging, by the courteous; the vain-glorious, by
   the self-denying; the indolent, by the serious; the intemperate, by the
   sober-minded. Thus will God pass judgment upon us, and will set in
   their place both companies; on one bestowing praise, on the other
   punishment. But God forbid that any of those present should be among
   the punished and dishonored, but rather among those who are crowned and
   the winners of the kingdom. Which may God grant us all to obtain
   through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ; with
   Whom unto the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, power, honor, now and
   ever, and unto everlasting ages. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [8] This seems to mean the grace given in Baptism once for all.

   [9] [This is true, but modern criticism prefers the literal sense of
   the preposition; in Jesus Christ, i.e., in your fellowship with him.
   C.]

   [10] The image here seems to be taken from the vulgar use, in medicine,
   of a charm or amulet.

   [11] [Dr. Field's text reads epantlon.]

   [12] Yet in St. Luke xiv. 23. it is, ?compel them to come in.? But our
   Lord is there speaking of the kingdom of heaven, S. Chrysostom here, of
   heaven itself. [A better answer is that the words denote not physical
   violence or literal compulsion but intense moral earnestness.]

   [13] [te periousia tes philosophias. Lit. ?by the excess of
   philosophy.? The term philosophy came to be used by the early Christian
   writers to denote a contemplative, self-denying life. The reference in
   the text is to the so-called ?counsels of perfection,? such as
   voluntary poverty, voluntary celibacy, etc., which as they exceed what
   is enjoined in the Gospel were supposed to establish a peculiar merit
   and secure a higher degree of blessedness. This two-fold standard of
   moral excellence may be traced back as far as the middle of the second
   century. See Pastor Hermae Simil. v. 3. C.]

   [14] The meaning seems to be, ?Whatever other sins you commit, you have
   not the sin of unbelief to answer for; and would, I suppose, think it
   hard, if caeteris paribus you were counted as guilty as an unbeliever.
   Now this your instinctive judgment confutes any hope you may have that
   nature and circumstances may excuse you in any other sin.?

   [15] Ta skammata. The image is borrowed from the gymnastic exercise of
   leaping.

   [16] From the time of Constantine to that of Justinian it was a capital
   offence. Gibbon, e. 44. note 197.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily III.

   1 Cor. i. 10

   Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
   that ye all speak of the same thing, and that there be no divisions
   among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in
   the same judgment.

   What I have continually been saying, that we must frame our rebukes
   gently and gradually, this Paul doth here also; in that, being about to
   enter upon a subject full of many dangers and enough to tear up the
   Church from her foundations he uses very mild language. His word is
   that he ?beseeches? them, and beseeches them ?through Christ;? as
   though not even he were sufficient alone to make this supplication, and
   to prevail.

   But what is this, ?I beseech you through Christ?? ?I take Christ to
   fight on my side, and to aid me, His injured and insulted Name.? An
   awful way of speaking indeed! lest they should prove hard and
   shameless: for sin makes men restless. Wherefore if at once (an men
   eutheos epiplexes Savil. an me Ben.) you sharply rebuke you make a man
   fierce and impudent: but if you put him to shame, you bow down his
   neck, you check his confidence, you make him hang down his head. Which
   object being Paul's also, he is content for a while to beseech them
   through the Name of Christ. And what, of all things, is the object of
   his request?

   ?That ye may all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions
   [schisms] among you.? The emphatic force of the word ?schism,? I mean
   the name itself, was a sufficient accusation. For it was not that they
   had become many parts, each entire within itself, but rather the One
   [Body which originally existed] had perished.  For had they [17] been
   entire Churches, there might be many of them; but if they were
   divisions, then that first One was gone. For that which is entire
   within itself not only does not become many by division into many
   parts, but even the original One is lost. Such is the nature of
   divisions.

   [2.] In the next place, because he had sharply dealt with them by using
   the word ?schism,? he again softens and soothes them, saying, ?That ye
   may be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
   judgment.? That is; since he had said, ?That ye may all speak the same
   thing;? ?do not suppose,? he adds, ?that I said concord should be only
   in words; I seek for that harmony which is of the mind.? But since
   there is such a thing as agreement in words, and that hearty, not
   however on all subjects, therefore he added this, ?That ye may be
   perfected together.? For he that is united in one thing, but in another
   dissents, is no longer ?perfected,? nor fitted in to complete
   accordance. There is also such a thing as harmony of opinions, where
   there is not yet harmony of sentiment; for instance, when having the
   same faith we are not joined together in love: for thus, in opinions we
   are one, (for we think the same things,) but in sentiment not so. And
   such was the case at that time; this person choosing one [leader], and
   that, another. For this reason he saith it is necessary to agree both
   in ?mind? and in ?judgment.? For it was not from any difference in
   faith that the schisms arose, but from the division of their judgment
   through human contentiousness.

   [3.] But seeing that whoso is blamed is unabashed so long as he hath no
   witnesses, observe how, not permitting them to deny the fact, he
   adduces some to bear witness.

   Ver. 11. ?For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my
   brethren, by them which are of the household of Chloe.? Neither did he
   say this at the very beginning, but first he brought forward his
   charge; as one who put confidence in his informants. Because, had it
   not been so, he would not have found fault: for Paul was not a person
   to believe lightly. Neither then did he immediately say, ?it hath been
   signified,? lest he might seem to blame on their authority:  neither
   does he omit all mention of them, lest he should seem to speak only
   from himself. And again, he styles them ?brethren;? for although the
   fault be plain, there is nothing against calling people brethren still.
   Consider also his prudence in not speaking of any distinct person, but
   of the entire family; so as not to make them hostile towards the
   informer: for in this way he both protects him, and fearlessly opens
   the accusation. For he had an eye to the benefit not of the one side
   only, but of the other also. Wherefore he saith not, ?It hath been
   declared to me by certain,? but he indicates also the household, lest
   they might suppose that he was inventing.

   [4.]  What was ?declared? ?That there are contentions among you.? Thus,
   when he is rebuking them, he saith, ?That there be no divisions among
   you;? but when he is reporting the statements of others, he doth it
   more gently; saying, ?For it hath been declared unto me...that there
   are contentions among you; in order that he might not bring trouble
   upon the informants.

   Next he declares also the kind of contention.

   Ver. 12. ?That each one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos,
   and I of Cephas.? ?I say, contentions,? saith he, ?I mean, not about
   private matters, but of the more grievous sort.? ?That each one of you
   saith;? for the corruption pervaded not a part, but the whole of the
   Church. And yet they were not speaking about himself, nor about Peter,
   nor about Apollos; but he signifies that if these were not to be leaned
   on, much less others. For that they had not spoken about them, he saith
   further on: ?And these things I have transferred in a figure unto
   myself and Apollos, that ye may learn in us not to go beyond the things
   which are written.? For if it were not right for them to call
   themselves by the name of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas, much
   less of any others. If under the Teacher and the first of the Apostles,
   and one that had instructed so much people, it were not right to enroll
   themselves, much less under those who were nothing. By way of hyperbole
   then, seeking to withdraw them from their disease, he sets down these
   names. Besides, he makes his argument less severe, not mentioning by
   name the rude dividers of the Church, but concealing them, as behind a
   sort of masks, with the names of the Apostles.

   ?I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas.? Not esteeming
   himself before Peter hath he set his name last, but preferring Peter to
   himself, and that greatly. He arranged his statement in the way of
   climax, (kata auxesin) that he might not be supposed to do this for
   envy; or, from jealousy, to be detracting from the honor of others.
   Wherefore also he put his own name first. For he who puts himself
   foremost to be rejected, doth so not for love of honor, but for extreme
   contempt of this sort of reputation. He puts himself, you see, in the
   way of the whole attack, and then mentions Apollos, and then Cephas.
   Not therefore to magnify himself did he do this, but in speaking of
   wrong things he administers the requisite correction in his own person
   first.

   [5.] But that those who addicted themselves to this or that man were in
   error, is evident. And rightly he rebukes them, saying, ?Ye do not well
   in that ye say, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas.'? But
   why did he add, ?And I of Christ?? For although these who addicted
   themselves to men were in error, not surely (oude pou Bened. ou depou
   Savil.) those who dedicated themselves unto Christ. But this was not
   his charge, that they called themselves by the Name of Christ, but that
   they did not all call themselves by that Name alone. And I think that
   he added this of himself, wishing to make the accusation more grievous,
   and to point out that by this rule Christ must be considered as
   belonging to one party only: although they were not so using the Name
   themselves. For that this was what he hinted at he declared in the
   sequel, saying,

   Ver. 13. ?Is Christ divided.? What he saith comes to this: ?Ye have cut
   in pieces Christ, and distributed His body.? Here is anger! here is
   chiding! here are words full of indignation!  For whenever instead of
   arguing he interrogates only, his doing so implies a confessed
   absurdity.

   But some say that he glanced at something else, in saying, ?Christ is
   divided:? as if he had said, ?He hath distributed to men and parted the
   Church, and taken one share Himself, giving them the other.? Then in
   what follows, he labors to overthrow this absurdity, saying, ?Was Paul
   crucified for you, or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?? Observe
   his Christ-loving mind; how thenceforth he brings the whole matter to a
   point in his own name, shewing, and more than shewing, that this honor
   belongs to no one. And that no one might think it was envy which moved
   him to say these things, therefore he is constantly putting himself
   forward. Observe, too, his considerate way, in that he saith not, ?Did
   Paul make the world? did Paul from nothing produce you into being?? But
   only those things which belonged as choice treasures to the faithful,
   and were regarded with great solicitude--those he specifies, the Cross,
   and Baptism, and the blessings following on these. For the
   loving-kindness of God towards men is shewn by the creation of the
   world also: in nothing, however, so much as by the (tes sunkatabaseos)
   condescension through the Cross. And he said not, ?did Paul die for
   you?? but, ?was Paul crucified?? setting down also the kind of death.

   ?Or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?? Again, he saith not, ?did
   Paul baptize you?? For he did baptize many: but this was not the
   question, by whom they had been baptized, but, into whose name they had
   been baptized!  For since this also was a cause of schisms, their being
   called after the name of those who baptized them, he corrects this
   error likewise saying, ?Were ye baptized into the name of Paul?? ?Tell
   me not,? saith he, ?who baptized, but into whose name. For not he that
   baptizeth, but he who is invoked in the Baptism, is the subject of
   enquiry. For this is He who forgives our sins [18] .?

   And at this point he stays the discourse, and does not pursue the
   subject any further. For he saith not, ?Did Paul declare to you the
   good things to come? Did Paul promise you the kingdom of heaven?? Why,
   then, I ask, doth he not add these questions also? Because it is not
   all as one, to promise a kingdom and to be crucified. For the former
   neither had danger nor brought shame; but the latter, all these.
   Moreover, he proves the former from the latter: for having said, (Rom.
   viii. 32.) ?He that spared not His own Son,? he adds, ?How shall He not
   with Him also freely give us all things?? And again, (Rom. v. 10.) ?For
   if when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of His
   Son, much more bring reconciled, we shall be saved.? This was one
   reason for his not adding what I just mentioned: and also because the
   one they had not as yet, but of the other they had already made trial.
   The one were in promise; the other had already come to pass.

   [6.] Ver. 14. ?I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and
   Gaius.? ?Why are you elate at having baptized, when I for my part even
   give thanks that I have not done so!? Thus saying, by a kind of divine
   art (oikonomikos) he does away with their swelling pride upon this
   point; not with the efficacy of the baptism, (God forbid,) but with the
   folly of those who were puffed up at having been baptizers: first, by
   showing that the Gift is not theirs; and, secondly, by thanking God
   therefore. For Baptism truly is a great thing: but its greatness is not
   the work of the person baptizing, but of Him who is invoked in the
   Baptism: since to baptize is nothing as regards man's labor, but is
   much less than preaching the Gospel. Yea, again I say, great indeed is
   Baptism, and without baptism it is impossible to obtain the kingdom.
   Still a man of no singular excellence is able to baptize, but to preach
   the Gospel there is need of great labor.

   Ver. 15. He states also the reason, why he giveth thanks that he had
   baptized no one. What then is this reason? ?Lest anyone should say that
   ye were baptized into my own name.? Why, did he mean that they said
   this in those other cases? Not at all; but, ?I fear,? saith he, ?lest
   the disease should proceed even to that. For if, when insignificant
   persons and of little worth baptize, a heresy ariseth, had I, the first
   announcer of Baptism, baptized many, it was likely that they forming a
   party, would not only call themselves by my name, but also ascribe the
   Baptism to me.? For if from the inferiors so great an evil arose, from
   those of higher order it would perhaps have gone on to something far
   more grievous.

   Ver. 16. Then, having abashed those who were unsound in this respect
   and subjoining, ?I baptized also the house of Stephanas,? he again
   drags down their pride, saying besides, ?I know not whether I baptized
   any other.? For by this he signifies that neither did he seek much to
   enjoy the honor accruing hereby from the multitude, nor did he set
   about this work for glory's sake.

   Ver. 17. And not by these only, but also by the next words, he greatly
   represses their pride, saying, ?Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
   preach the Gospel:? for the more laborious part, and that which needed
   much toil and a soul of iron, and that on which all depended, was this.
   And therefore it was that Paul had it put into his hand.

   And why, not being sent to baptize, did he baptize? Not in contention
   with Him that sent him, but in this instance laboring beyond his task.
   For he saith not, ?I was forbidden,? but, ?I was not sent for this, but
   for that which was of the greatest necessity.? For preaching the Gospel
   is a work perhaps for one or two; but baptizing, for everyone endowed
   with the priesthood. For a man being instructed and convinced, to take
   and baptize him is what any one whatever might do: for the rest, it is
   all effected by the will of the person drawing near, and the grace of
   God. But when unbelievers are to be instructed, there must be great
   labor, great wisdom. And at that time there was danger also annexed. In
   the former case the whole thing is done, and he is convinced, who is on
   the point of initiation: and it is no great thing when a man is
   convinced, to baptize him. But in the later case the labor is great, to
   change the deliberate will, to alter the turn of mind, and to tear up
   error by the roots, and to plant the truth in its place.

   Not that he speaks out all this, neither doth he argue in so many words
   that Baptism has no labor, but that preaching has. For he knows how
   always to subdue his tone, whereas in the comparison with heathen
   wisdom he is very earnest, the subject enabling him to use more
   vehemency of language.

   Not therefore in opposition to Him that sent him did he baptize; but,
   as in the case of the widows [19] , though the apostles had said, (Acts
   vi. 2.) ?it is not fit that we should leave the Word of God and serve
   tables,? he discharged the office (Acts xii. 25. ten diakonian) of a
   deacon, not in opposition to them, but as something beyond his task: so
   also here. For even now, we commit this matter to the simpler sort of
   presbyters, but the word of doctrine unto the wiser: for there is the
   labor and the sweat. Wherefore he saith himself, (1 Tim. v. 17.) ?Let
   the Elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially
   they who labor in the word and in teaching.? For as to teach the
   wrestlers in the games is the part of a spirited and skilful trainer,
   but to place the crown on the conquerors head may be that of one who
   cannot even wrestle, (although it be the crown which adds splendor to
   the conqueror,) so also in Baptism. It is impossible to be saved
   without it, yet it is no great thing which the baptizer doth, finding
   the will ready prepared.

   [7.] ?Not in wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made
   of none effect.?

   Having brought down the swelling pride of those who were arrogant
   because of their baptizing, he changes his ground afterwards to meet
   those who boasted about heathen wisdom, and against them he puts on his
   armor with more vehemency. For to those who were puffed up with
   baptizing he said, ?I give thanks that I baptized no one;? and, ?for
   Christ sent me not to baptize.? He speaks neither vehemently nor
   argumentatively, but, having just hinted his meaning in a few words,
   passeth on quickly. But here at the very outset he gives a severe blow,
   saying, ?Lest the Cross of Christ be made void.? Why then pride thyself
   on a thing which ought to make thee hide thy face?  Since, if this
   wisdom is at war with the Cross and fights with the Gospel, it is not
   meet to boast about it, but to retire with shame. For this was the
   cause why the Apostles were not wise; not through any weakness of the
   Gift, but lest the Gospel preached suffer harm. The sort of people
   therefore above mentioned were not those employed in advocating the
   Word: rather they were among its defamers. The unlearned men were the
   establishers of it. This was able to check vain glory, this to repress
   arrogance, this to enforce moderation.

   ?But if it was not by wisdom of speech,' why did they send Apollos who
   was eloquent?? It was not, he replies, through confidence in his power
   of speech, but because he was (Acts xviii. 24, 29) ?mighty in the
   Scriptures,? and ?confuted the Jews.? And besides the point in question
   was that the leaders and first disseminators of the word were not
   eloquent; since these were the very persons to require some great
   power, for the expulsion of error in the first instance; and then,
   namely at the very outset, was the abundant strength needed. Now He who
   could do without educated persons at first, if afterwards some being
   eloquent were admitted by Him, He did so not because He wanted them,
   but because He would make no distinctions. For as He needed not wise
   men to effect whatever He would, so neither, if any were afterwards
   found such, did He reject them on that account.

   [8.] But prove to me that Peter and Paul were eloquent. Thou canst not:
   for they were ?unlearned and ignorant men!? [20]   As therefore Christ,
   when He was sending out His disciples into the world, having shewn unto
   them His power in Palestine first, and said, (St. Luke xxii. 35.
   (hupodematos, rec. text hupodematon.) ?When I sent you forth without
   purse and wallet and shoe, lacked ye any thing?? permitted them from
   that time forward to possess both a wallet and a purse; so also He hath
   done here: for the point was the manifestation of Christ's power, not
   the rejection of persons from the Faith on account of their Gentile
   wisdom, if they were drawing nigh. When the Greeks then charge the
   disciples with being uneducated, let us be even more forward in the
   charge than they. Nor let anyone say, ?Paul was wise;? but while we
   exalt those among them who were great in wisdom and admired for their
   excellency of speech, let us allow that all on our side were
   uneducated; for it will be no slight overthrow which they will sustain
   from us in that respect also: and so the victory will be brilliant
   indeed.

   I have said these things, because I once heard a Christian disputing in
   a ridiculous manner with a Greek, and both parties in their mutual fray
   ruining themselves. For what things the Christian ought to have said,
   these the Greek asserted; and what things it was natural to expect the
   Greek would say, these the Christian pleaded for himself. As thus: the
   dispute being about Paul and Plato, the Greek endeavored to show that
   Paul was unlearned and ignorant; but the Christian, from simplicity,
   was anxious to prove that Paul was more eloquent than Plato. And so the
   victory was on the side of the Greek, this argument being allowed to
   prevail. For if Paul was a more considerable person than Plato, many
   probably would object that it was not by grace, but by excellency of
   speech that he prevailed; so that the Christian's assertion made for
   the Greek. And what the Greek said made for the Christian's; for if
   Paul was uneducated and yet overcame Plato, the victory, as I was
   saying, was brilliant; the disciples of the latter, in a body, having
   been attracted by the former, unlearned as he was, and convinced, and
   brought over to his side. From whence it is plain that the Gospel was a
   result not of human wisdom, but of the grace of God.

   Wherefore, lest we fall into the same error, and be laughed to scorn,
   arguing thus with Greeks whenever we have a controversy with them; let
   us charge the Apostles with want of learning; for this same charge is
   praise. And when they say that the Apostles were rude, let us follow up
   the remark and say that they were also untaught, and unlettered, and
   poor, and vile, and stupid, and obscure. It is not a slander on the
   Apostles to say so, but it is even a glory that, being such, they
   should have outshone the whole world. For these untrained, and rude,
   and illiterate men, as completely vanquished the wise, and powerful,
   and the tyrants, and those who flourished in wealth and glory and all
   outward good things, as though they had not been men at all:  from
   whence it is manifest that great is the power of the Cross; and that
   these things were done by no human strength. For the results do not
   keep the course of nature, rather what was done was above all nature.
   Now when any thing takes place above nature, and exceedingly above it,
   on the side of rectitude and utility; it is quite plain that these
   things are done by some Divine power and cooperation. And observe; the
   fisherman, the tentmaker, the publican, the ignorant, the unlettered,
   coming from the far distant country of Palestine, and having beaten off
   their own ground the philosophers, the masters of oratory, the skillful
   debaters, alone prevailed against them in a short space of time; in the
   midst of many perils; the opposition of peoples and kings, the striving
   of nature herself, length of time, the vehement resistance of
   inveterate custom, demons in arms, the devil in battle array and
   stirring up all, kings, rulers, peoples, nations, cities, barbarians,
   Greeks, philosophers, orators, sophists, historians, laws, tribunals,
   divers kinds of punishments, deaths innumerable and of all sorts. But
   nevertheless all these were confuted and gave way when the fisherman
   spake; just like the light dust which cannot bear the rush of violent
   winds. Now what I say is, let us learn thus to dispute with the Greeks;
   that we be not like beasts and cattle, but prepared concerning ?the
   hope which is in us.? (1 St. Pet. iii. 15.) And let us pause for a
   while to work out this topic, no unimportant one; and let us say to
   them, How did the weak overcome the strong; the twelve, the world? Not
   by using the same armor, but in nakedness contending with men in arms.

   For say, if twelve men, unskilled in matters of war, were to leap into
   an immense and armed host of soldiers, themselves not only unarmed but
   of weak frame also; and to receive no harm from them, nor yet be
   wounded, though assailed with ten thousand weapons; if while the darts
   were striking them, with bare naked body they overthrew all their foes
   using no weapons but striking with the hand, and in conclusion killed
   some, and others took captive and led away, themselves receiving not so
   much as a wound; would anyone have ever said that the thing was of man?
   And yet the trophy of the Apostles is much more wonderful than that.
   For a naked man's escaping a wound is not so wonderful by far as that
   the ordinary and unlettered person--that a fisherman--should overcome
   such a degree of talent: (deinotetos)  and neither for fewness, nor for
   poverty, nor for dangers, nor for prepossession of habit, nor for so
   great austerity of the precepts enjoined, nor for the daily deaths, nor
   for the multitude of those who were deceived, nor for the great
   reputation of the deceivers be turned from his purpose.

   [9.] Let this, I say, be our way of overpowering them, and of
   conducting our warfare against them; and let us astound them by our way
   of life rather than by words. For this is the main battle, this is the
   unanswerable argument, the argument from conduct. For though we give
   ten thousand precepts of philosophy in words, if we do not exhibit a
   life better than theirs, the gain is nothing. For it is not what is
   said that draws their attention, but their enquiry is, what we do; and
   they say, ?Do thou first obey thine own words, and then admonish
   others. But if while thou sayest, infinite are the blessings in the
   world to come, thou seem thyself nailed down to this world, just as if
   no such things existed, thy works to me are more credible than thy
   words. For when I see thee seizing other men's goods, weeping
   immoderately over the departed, doing ill in many other things, how
   shall I believe thee that there is a resurrection?? And what if men
   utter not this in words? they think it and turn it often in their
   minds. And this is what stays the unbelievers from becoming Christians.

   Let us win them therefore by our life. Many, even among the untaught,
   have in that way astounded the minds of philosophers, as having
   exhibited in themselves also that philosophy which lies in deeds, and
   uttered a voice clearer than a trumpet by their mode of life and
   self-denial. For this is stronger than the tongue. But when I say, ?one
   ought not to bear malice,? and then do all manner of evils to the
   Greek, how shall I be able by words to win him, while by my deeds I am
   frightening him away? Let us catch them then by our mode of life; and
   by these souls let us build up the Church, and of these let us amass
   our wealth. There is nothing to weigh against a soul, not even the
   whole world. So that although thou give countless treasure unto the
   poor, thou wilt do no such work as he who converteth one soul. (Jer.
   xv. 19.) ?For he that taketh forth the precious from the vile shall be
   as my mouth:? so He speaks. A great good it is, I grant, to have pity
   on the poor; but it is nothing equal to the withdrawing them from
   error. For he that doth this resembles Paul and Peter: we being
   permitted to take up their Gospel, not with perils such as
   theirs;--with endurance of famines and pestilences, and all other
   evils, (for the present is a season of peace;)--but so as to display
   that diligence which cometh of zeal. For even while we sit at home we
   may practice this kind of fishery. Who hath a friend or relation or
   inmate of his house, these things let him say, these do; and he shall
   be like Peter and Paul. And why do I say Peter and Paul?  He shall be
   the mouth of Christ. For He saith, ?He that taketh forth the precious
   from the vile shall be as My mouth.? And though thou persuade not
   to-day, to-morrow thou shalt persuade. And though thou never persuade,
   thou shalt have thine own reward in full. And though thou persuade not
   all, a few out of many persuade all men; but still they discoursed with
   all, and for all they have their reward. For not according to the
   result of the things that are well done, but according to the intention
   of the doers, is God wont to assign the crowns; though thou pay down
   but two farthings, He receiveth them; and what He did in the case of
   the widow, the same will He do also in the case of those who teach. Do
   not thou then, because thou canst not save the world, despise the few;
   nor through longing after great things, withdraw thyself from the
   lesser. If thou canst not an hundred, take thou charge of ten; if thou
   canst not ten, despise not even five; if thou canst not five, do not
   overlook one; and if thou canst not one, neither so despair, nor keep
   back what may be done by thee. Seest thou not how, in matters of trade,
   they who are so employed make their profit not only of gold but of
   silver also? For if we do not slight the little things, we shall keep
   hold also of the great. But if we despise the small, neither shall we
   easily lay hand upon the other. Thus individuals become rich, gathering
   both small things and great. And so let us act; that in all things
   enriched, we may obtain the kingdom of heaven; through the grace and
   loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom
   unto the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor,
   now and henceforth and for evermore. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [17] i.e. the bodies formed by separation.

   [18] This seems to allude to the words of the ancient Oriental Creed,
   as preserved by S. Cyril of Jerusalem, ?I believe in one Baptism of
   Repentance, for the Remission of Sins;? (see Bp. Bull, Jud. Eccl. Cath.
   c. vi. S:. 4. &c.) into which Creed, in all probability, the people of
   Antioch had been baptized.

   [19] Perhaps the allusion is to such places as Acts 11. 30; 24. 17; 1
   Cor. 16. 4; &c.

   [20] agrammatoi kai idiotai. Acts iv. 13: there spoken of St. Peter and
   St. John, and by St. Chrysostom here quoted from memory as of St. Peter
   and St. Paul.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily IV.

   1 Cor. i. 18-20

   For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but to us
   which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will
   destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent will I
   reject. Where is the Wise? Where is the Scribe? Where is the Disputer
   of the World?

   To the sick and gasping even wholesome meats are unpleasant, friends
   and relations burdensome; who are often times not even recognized, but
   are rather accounted intruders. Much like this often is the case of
   those who are perishing in their souls. For the things which tend to
   salvation they know not; and those who are careful about them they
   consider to be troublesome. Now this ensues not from the nature of the
   thing, but from their disease. And just what the insane do, hating
   those who take care of them, and besides reviling them, the same is the
   case with unbelievers also. But as in the case of the former, they who
   are insulted then more than ever compassionate them, and weep, taking
   this as the worst symptom of the disease in its intense form, when they
   know not their best friends; so also in the case of the Gentiles let us
   act; yea more than for our wives let us wail over them, because they
   know not the common salvation. For not so dearly ought a man to love
   his wife as we should love all men, and draw them over unto salvation;
   be a man a Gentile, or be he what he may. For these then let us weep;
   for ?the word of the Cross is to them foolishness,? being itself Wisdom
   and Power. For, saith he, ?the word of the Cross to them that perish is
   foolishness.?

   For since it was likely that they, the Cross being derided by the
   Greeks, would resist and contend by aid of that wisdom, which came
   (forsooth) of themselves, as being disturbed by the expression of the
   Greeks; Paul comforting them saith, think it not strange and
   unaccountable, which is taking place. This is the nature of the thing,
   that its power is not recognized by them that perish. For they are
   beside themselves, and behave as madmen; and so they rail and are
   disgusted at the medicines which bring health.

   [2.] But what sayest thou, O man? Christ became a slave for thee,
   ?having taken the form of a slave,? (Phil. ii. 7.) and was crucified,
   and rose again. And when thou oughtest for this reason to adore Him
   risen and admire His loving kindness; because what neither father, nor
   friend, nor son, did for thee, all this the Lord wrought for thee, the
   enemy and offender--when, I say, thou oughtest to admire Him for these
   things, callest thou that foolishness, which is full of so great
   wisdom? Well, it is nothing wonderful; for it is a mark of them that
   perish not to recognize the things which lead to salvation. Be not
   troubled, therefore, for it is no strange nor unaccountable event, that
   things truly great are mocked at by those who are beside themselves.
   Now such as are in this mind you cannot convince by human wisdom. Nay,
   if you want so to convince them, you do but the contrary. For the
   things which transcend reasoning require faith alone. Thus, should we
   set about convincing men by reasonings, how God became man, and entered
   into the Virgin's womb, and not commit the matter unto faith, they will
   but deride the more. Therefore they who inquire by reasonings, it is
   they who perish.

   And why speak I of God? for in regard of created things, should we do
   this, great derision will ensue. For suppose a man, wishing to make out
   all things by reasoning; and let him try by thy discourse to convince
   himself how we see the light; and do thou try to convince him by
   reasoning. Nay, thou canst not: for if thou sayest that it suffices to
   see by opening the eyes, thou hast not expressed the manner, but the
   fact. For ?why see we not,? one will say, ?by our hearing, and with our
   eyes hear?  And why hear we not with the nostril, and with the hearing
   smell?? If then, he being in doubt about these things, and we unable to
   give the explanation of them, he is to begin laughing, shall not we
   rather laugh him to scorn? ?For since both have their origin from one
   brain, since the two members are near neighbors to each other, why can
   they not do the same work?? Now we shall not be able to state the cause
   nor the method of the unspeakable and curious operation; and should we
   make the attempt, we should be laughed to scorn. Wherefore, leaving
   this unto God's power and boundless wisdom, let us be silent.

   Just so with regard to the things of God; should we desire to explain
   them by the wisdom which is from without, great derision will ensue,
   not from their infirmity, but from the folly of men. For the great
   things of all no language can explain.

   [3.] Now observe: when I say, ?He was crucified;? the Greek saith, ?And
   how can this be reasonable?  Himself He helped not when undergoing
   crucifixion and sore trial at the moment of the Cross: how then after
   these things did He rise again and help others? For if He had been
   able, before death was the proper time.? (For this the Jews actually
   said.) (St. Matt. xxvii. 41, 42.) ?But He who helped not Himself, how
   helped he others? There is no reason in it,? saith he. True, O man, for
   indeed it is above reason; and unspeakable is the power of the Cross.
   For that being actually in the midst of horrors, He should have shewn
   Himself above all horrors; and being in the enemy's hold should have
   overcome; this cometh of Infinite Power. For as in the case of the
   Three Children, their not entering the furnace would not have been so
   astonishing, as that having entered in they trampled upon the
   fire;--and in the case of Jonah, it was a greater thing by far, after
   he had been swallowed by the fish, to suffer no harm from the monster,
   than if he had not been swallowed at all;--so also in regard of Christ;
   His not dying would not have been so inconceivable, as that having died
   He should loose the bands of death. Say not then, ?why did He not help
   Himself on the Cross?? for He was hastening on to close conflict with
   death himself. (See Hooker, E. P. v. 48. 9.) He descended not from the
   Cross, not because He could not, but because He would not. For Him Whom
   the tyranny of death restrained not, how could the nails of the Cross
   restrain?

   [4.] But these things, though known to us, are not so as yet to the
   unbelievers. Wherefore he said that ?the word of the Cross is to them
   that perish foolishness; but to us who are saved it is the power of
   God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the
   prudence of the prudent will I reject.? Nothing from himself which
   might give offence, does he advance up to this point; but first he
   comes to the testimony of the Scripture, and then furnished with
   boldness from thence, adopts more vehement words, and saith,

   Ver. 20, 21. ?Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Where
   is the wise? Where the Scribe? Where the disputer of this world? Hath
   not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For seeing that in the
   wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew God, it was God's good
   pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that
   believe.? Having said, ?It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the
   wise,? He subjoins demonstration from facts, saying, ?Where is the
   wise? where the Scribe?? at the same time glancing at both Gentiles and
   Jews. For what sort of philosopher, which among those who have studied
   logic, which of those knowing in Jewish matters, hath saved us and made
   known the truth? Not one. It was the fisherman's work, the whole of it.

   Having then drawn the conclusion which he had in view, and brought down
   their pride, and said, ?Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this
   world?? he states also the reason why these things were so done. ?For
   seeing that in the wisdom of God,? saith he, ?the world through its
   wisdom knew not God,? the Cross appeared. Now what means, ?in the
   wisdom of God?? The wisdom apparent in those works whereby it was His
   will to make Himself known. For to this end did he frame them, and
   frame them such as they are, that by a sort of proportion, (analogos)
   from the things which are seen admiration of the Maker might be
   learned. Is the heaven great, and the earth boundless? Wonder then at
   Him who made them. For this heaven, great as it is, not only was made
   by Him, but made with ease; and that boundless earth, too, was brought
   into being even as if it had been nothing. Wherefore of the former He
   saith, (Ps. cii. 25. ton cheiron. LXX.) ?The works of Thy fingers are
   the heavens,? and concerning the earth, (Is. xl. 23. LXX.) ?Who hath
   made the earth as it were nothing.? Since then by this wisdom the world
   was unwilling to discover God, He employed what seemed to be
   foolishness, i.e. the Gospel, to persuade men; not by reasoning, but by
   faith. It remains that where God's wisdom is, there is no longer need
   of man's. For before, to infer that He who made the world such and so
   great, must in all reason be a God possessed of a certain
   uncontrollable, unspeakable power; and by these means to apprehend
   Him;--this was the part of human wisdom. But now we need no more
   reasonings, but faith alone. For to believe on Him that was crucified
   and buried, and to be fully persuaded that this Person Himself both
   rose again and sat down on high; this needeth not wisdom, nor
   reasonings, but faith. For the Apostles themselves came in not by
   wisdom, but by faith, and surpassed the heathen wise men in wisdom and
   loftiness, and that so much the more, as to raise disputings is less
   than to receive by faith the things of God. For this transcends all
   human understanding.

   But how did He ?destroy wisdom?? Being made known to us by Paul and
   others like him, He shewed it to be unprofitable. For towards receiving
   the evangelical proclamation, neither is the wise profited at all by
   wisdom, nor the unlearned injured at all by ignorance. But if one may
   speak somewhat even wonderful, ignorance rather than wisdom is a
   condition suitable for that impression, and more easily dealt with. For
   the shepherd and the rustic will more quickly receive this, once for
   all both repressing all doubting thoughts and delivering himself to the
   Lord. In this way then He destroyed wisdom. For since she first cast
   herself down, she is ever after useful for nothing. Thus when she ought
   to have displayed her proper powers, and by the works to have seen the
   Lord, she would not. Wherefore though she were now willing to introduce
   herself, she is not able. For the matter is not of that kind; this way
   of knowing God being far greater than the other. You see then, faith
   and simplicity are needed, and this we should seek every where, and
   prefer it before the wisdom which is from without. For ?God,? saith he,
   ?hath made wisdom foolish.?

   But what is, ?He hath made foolish?? He hath shewn it foolish in regard
   of receiving the faith. For since they prided themselves on it, He lost
   no time in exposing it. For what sort of wisdom is it, when it cannot
   discover the chief of things that are good? He caused her therefore to
   appear foolish, after she had first convicted herself. For if when
   discoveries might have been made by reasoning, she proved nothing, now
   when things proceed on a larger scale, how will she be able to
   accomplish aught? now when there is need of faith alone, and not of
   acuteness? You see then, God hath shewn her to be foolish.

   It was His good pleasure, too, by the foolishness of the Gospel to
   save; foolishness, I say, not real, but appearing to be such. For that
   which is more wonderful yet is His having prevailed by bringing in, not
   another such wisdom more excellent than the first, but what seemed to
   be foolishness. He cast out Plato for example, not by means of another
   philosopher of more skill, but by an unlearned fisherman. For thus the
   defeat became greater, and the victory more splendid.

   [5.] Ver. 22-24. Next, to shew the power of the Cross, he saith, ?For
   Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ
   crucified, unto Jews a stumbling-block, and unto Greeks foolishness;
   but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power
   of God, and the Wisdom of God.?

   Vast is the import of the things here spoken!  For he means to say how
   by contraries God hath overcome, and how the Gospel is not of man. What
   he saith is something of this sort. When, saith he, we say unto the
   Jews, Believe; they answer, Raise the dead, Heal the demoniacs, Shew
   unto us signs. But instead thereof what say we? That He was crucified,
   and died, who is preached. And this is enough, not only to fail in
   drawing over the unwilling, but even to drive away those even who are
   willing. Nevertheless, it drives not away, but attracts and holds fast
   and overcomes.

   Again; the Greeks demand of us a rhetorical style, and the acuteness of
   sophistry. But preach we to these also the Cross: and that which, in
   the case of the Jews seemed to be weakness, this in the case of the
   Greeks is foolishness. Wherefore, when we not only fail in producing
   what they demand, but also produce the very opposites of their demand;
   (for the Cross has not merely no appearance of being a sign sought out
   by reasoning, but even the very annihilation of a sign;--is not merely
   deemed no proof of power, but a conviction of weakness;--not merely no
   display of wisdom, but a suggestion of foolishness;)--when therefore
   they who seek for signs and wisdom not only receive not the things
   which they ask, but even hear the contrary to what they desire, and
   then by means of contraries are persuaded;--how is not the power of Him
   that is preached unspeakable? As if to some one tempest-tost and
   longing for a haven, you were to shew not a haven but another wilder
   portion of the sea, and so could make him follow with thankfulness? Or
   as if a physician could attract to himself the man that was wounded and
   in need of remedies, by promising to cure him not with drugs, but with
   burning of him again!  For this is a result of great power indeed. So
   also the Apostles prevailed, not simply without a sign, but even by a
   thing which seemed contrary to all the known signs. Which thing also
   Christ did in the case of the blind man. For when He would heal him, He
   took away the blindness by a thing that increased it: i.e. He put on
   clay. (St. John ix. 6.) As then by means of clay He healed the blind
   man, so also by means of the Cross He brought the world to Himself.
   That certainly was adding an offence, not taking an offence away. So
   did He also in creation, working out things by their contraries. With
   sand, for instance, He walled in the sea, having made the weak a bridle
   to the strong. He placed the earth upon water, having taken order that
   the heavy and the dense should be borne on the soft and fluid. By means
   of the prophets again with a small piece of wood He raised up iron from
   the bottom. (2 Kings vi. 5-7.) In like manner also with the Cross He
   hath drawn the world to Himself. For as the water beareth up the earth,
   so also the Cross beareth up the world. You see now, it is proof of
   great power and wisdom, to convince by means of the things which tell
   directly against us. Thus the Cross seems to be matter of offence; and
   yet far from offending, it even attracts.

   [6.] Ver. 25. All these things, therefore, Paul bearing in mind, and
   being struck with astonishment, said that ?the foolishness of God is
   wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men;? in
   relation to the Cross, speaking of a folly and weakness, not real but
   apparent. For he is answering with respect unto the other party's
   opinion. For that which philosophers were not able by means of
   reasoning to accomplish, this, what seemed to be foolishness did
   excellently well. Which then is the wiser, he that persuadeth the many,
   or he that persuadeth few, or rather no one? He who persuadeth
   concerning the greatest points, or about matters which are nothing?
   (meden onton Reg. ms. me deonton Bened.) What great labors did Plato
   endure, and his followers, discoursing to us about a line, and an
   angle, and a point, and about numbers even and odd, and equal unto one
   another and unequal, and such-like spiderwebs; (for indeed those webs
   are not more useless to man's life than were these subjects;) and
   without doing good to any one great or small by their means, so he made
   an end of his life. How greatly did he labor, endeavoring to show that
   the soul was immortal! and even as he came he went away, having spoken
   nothing with certainty, nor persuaded any hearer. But the Cross wrought
   persuasion by means of unlearned men; yea it persuaded even the whole
   world: and not about common things, but in discourse of God, and the
   godliness which is according to truth, and the evangelical way of life,
   and the judgment of the things to come. And of all men it made
   philosophers: the very rustics, the utterly unlearned. Behold how ?the
   foolishness of God is wiser than men,? and ?the weakness stronger?? How
   ?stronger?? Because it overran the whole world, and took all by main
   force, and while men were endeavoring by ten thousands to extinguish
   the name of the Crucified, the contrary came to pass:  that flourished
   and increased more and more, but they perished and wasted away; and the
   living at war with the dead, had no power. So that when the Greek calls
   me foolish, he shows himself above measure foolish: since I who am
   esteemed by him a fool, evidently appear wiser than the wise. When he
   calls me weak, then he shows himself to be weaker. For the noble things
   which publicans and fishermen were able to effect by the grace of God,
   these, philosophers, and rhetoricians, and tyrants, and in short the
   whole world, running ten thousand ways here and there, could not even
   form a notion of. For what did not the Cross introduce? The doctrine
   concerning the Immortality of the Soul; that concerning the
   Resurrection of the Body; that concerning the contempt of things
   present; that concerning the desire of things future. Yea, angels it
   hath made of men, and all, every where, practice self-denial,
   (philosophousi) and show forth all kinds of fortitude.

   [7.] But among them also, it will be said, many have been found
   contemners of death. Tell me who? was it he who drank the hemlock? But
   if thou wilt, I can bring forward ten thousand such from within the
   Church. For had it been lawful when prosecution befel them to drink
   hemlock and depart, all had become more famous than he. And besides, he
   drank when he was not at liberty to drink or not to drink; but willing
   or against his will he must have undergone it: no effect surely of
   fortitude, but of necessity, and nothing more. For even robbers and
   man-slayers, having fallen under the condemnation of their judges, have
   suffered things more grievous. But with us it is all quite the
   contrary. For not against their will did the martyrs endure, but of
   their will, and being at liberty not to suffer; shewing forth fortitude
   harder than all adamant. This then you see is no great wonder, that he
   whom I was mentioning drank hemlock; it being no longer in his power
   not to drink, and also when he had arrived at a very great age. For
   when he despised life he stated himself to be seventy years old; if
   this can be called despising. For I for my part could not affirm it:
   nor, what is more, can anyone else. But show me some one enduring firm
   in torments for godliness' sake, as I shew thee ten thousand every
   where in the world. Who, while his nails were tearing out, nobly
   endured? Who, while his body joints were wrenching (anaskaptomenon)
   asunder? Who, while his body was cut in pieces, (tou somatos kata meros
   porthoumenou; tes kephales;) member by member? or his head? Who, while
   his bones were forced out by levers? (anamochleuomenon)  Who, while
   placed without intermission upon frying-pans? Who, when thrown into a
   caldron? Show me these instances. For to die by hemlock is all as one
   with a man's continuing in a state of sleep. Nay even sweeter than
   sleep is this sort of death, if report say true. But if certain [of
   them] did endure torments, yet of these, too, the praise is gone to
   nothing. For on some disgraceful occasion they perished; some for
   revealing mysteries; some for aspiring to dominion; others detected in
   the foulest crimes; others again rashly, and fruitlessly, and
   foolishly, there being no reason for it, made away with themselves. But
   not so with us. Wherefore of the deeds of those nothing is said; but
   these flourish and daily increase. Which Paul having in mind said, ?The
   weakness of God is stronger than all men.?

   [8.] For that the Gospel is divine, even from hence is evident; namely,
   whence could it have occurred to twelve ignorant men to attempt such
   great things? who sojourned in marshes, in rivers, in deserts; who
   never at any time perhaps had entered into a city nor into a
   forum;--whence did it occur, to set themselves in array against the
   whole world? For that they were timid and unmanly, he shews who wrote
   of them, not apologizing, nor enduring to throw their failings into the
   shade: which indeed of itself is a very great token of the truth. What
   then doth he say about them? That when Christ was apprehended, after
   ten thousand wonders, they fled; and he who remained, being the leader
   of the rest, denied. Whence was it then that they who when Christ was
   alive endured not the attack of the Jews; now that He was dead and
   buried, and as ye say, had not risen again, nor had any talk with them,
   nor infused courage into them--whence did they set themselves in array
   against so great a world? Would they not have said among themselves,
   ?what meaneth this? Himself He was not able to save, and will He
   protect us? Himself He defended not when alive, and will He stretch out
   the hand unto us now that he is dead? Himself, when alive, subdued not
   even one nation; and are we to convince the whole world by uttering His
   Name?? How, I ask, could all this be reasonable, I will not say, as
   something to be done, but even as something to be imagined? From whence
   it is plain that had they not seen Him after He was risen, and received
   most ample proof of his power, they would not have ventured so great a
   cast.

   [9.] For suppose they had possessed friends innumerable; would they not
   presently have made them all enemies, disturbing ancient customs, and
   removing their father's landmarks? (horia Ms. Reg. ethe Ben.) But as it
   was, they had them for enemies, all, both their own countrymen and
   foreigners. For although they had been recommended to veneration by
   everything external, would not all men have abhorred them, introducing
   a new polity? But now they were even destitute of everything; and it
   was likely that even on that account all would hate and scorn them at
   once. For whom will you name? The Jews? Nay, they had against them an
   inexpressible hatred on account of the things which had been done unto
   the Master. The Greeks then? Why, first of all, these had rejected one
   not inferior to them; and no man knew this so well as the Greeks. For
   Plato, who wished to strike out a new form of government, or rather a
   part of government; and that not by changing the customs relating to
   the gods, but merely by substituting one line of conduct for another;
   was cast out of Sicily, and went near to lose his life. [21]   This
   however did not ensue: so that he lost his liberty alone. And had not a
   certain Barbarian been more gentle than the tyrant of Sicily, nothing
   could have rescued the philosopher from slavery throughout life in a
   foreign land. And yet it is not all one to innovate in affairs of the
   kingdom, and in matters of religious worship. For the latter more than
   any thing else causes disturbance and troubles men. For to say, ?let
   such and such an one marry such a woman, and let the guardians [22] [of
   the commonwealth] exercise their guardianship so and so,? is not enough
   to cause any great disturbance: and especially when all this is lodged
   in a book, and no great anxiety on the part of the legislator to carry
   the proposals into practice. On the other hand, to say, ?they be no
   gods which men worship, but demons; He who was crucified is God;? ye
   well know how great wrath it kindled, how severely men must have paid
   for it, what a flame of war it fanned.

   For Protagoras, who was one of them, having dared to say, ?I know of no
   gods,? not going round the world and proclaiming it, but in a single
   city, was in the most imminent peril of his life [23] . And Diagoras
   [24] the Milesian [25] , and Theodorus, who was called Atheist, [26]
   although they had friends, and that influence which comes from
   eloquence, and were held in admiration because of their philosophy; yet
   nevertheless none of these profited them. And the great Socrates, too,
   he who surpassed in philosophy all among them, for this reason drank
   hemlock, because in his discourses concerning the gods he was suspected
   of moving things a little aside. Now if the suspicion alone of
   innovation brought so great danger on philosophers and wise men, and on
   those who had attained boundless popularity; and if they were not only
   unable to do what they wished, but were themselves also driven from
   life and county; how canst thou choose but be in admiration and
   astonishment, when thou seest that the fisherman hath produced such an
   effect upon the world, and accomplished his purposes; hath overcome all
   both Barbarians and Greeks.

   [10.] But they did not, you will say, introduce strange gods as the
   others did. Well, and in that you are naming the very point most to be
   wondered at; that the innovation is twofold, both to pull down those
   which are, and to announce the Crucified. For from whence came it into
   their minds to proclaim such things? whence, to be confident about
   their event? Whom of those before them could they perceive to have
   prospered in any such attempt? Were not all men worshipping demons?
   Were not all used to make gods of the elements? Was not the difference
   [but] in the mode of impiety? But nevertheless they attacked all, and
   overthrew all, and overran in a short time the whole world, like a sort
   of winged beings; making no account of dangers, of deaths, of the
   difficulty of the thing, of their own fewness, of the multitude of the
   opponents, of the authority, the power, the wisdom of those at war with
   them. For they had an ally greater than all these, the power of Him
   that had been crucified and was risen again. It would not have been so
   wondrous, had they chosen to wage war with the world in the literal
   sense, (polemon aistheton) as this which in fact has taken place. For
   according to the law of battle they might have stood over against the
   enemies, and occupying some adverse ground, have arrayed themselves
   accordingly to meet their foes, and have taken their time for attack
   and close conflict. But in this case it is not so. For they had no camp
   of their own, but were mingled with their enemies, and thus overcame
   them. Even in the midst of their enemies as they went about, they
   eluded their grasp, (labas Reg. blabas Bened.) and became superior, and
   achieved a splendid victory; a victory which fulfils the prophecy that
   saith, ?Even in the midst of thine enemies thou shalt have dominion.?
   (Ps. cx. 2.) For this it was, which was full of all astonishment, that
   their enemies having them in their power, and casting them into prison
   and chains not only did not vanquish them, but themselves also
   eventually had to bow down to them: the scourgers to the scourged, the
   binders in chains to those who were bound, the persecutors to the
   fugitives. All these things then we could say unto the Greeks, yea much
   more than these; for the truth has enough and greatly to spare. (polle
   tes aletheias he periousia.) And if ye will follow the argument, we
   will teach you the whole method of fighting against them. In the
   meanwhile let us here hold fast two heads; How did the weak overcome
   the strong? and, From whence came it into their thoughts, being such as
   they were, to form such plans, unless they enjoyed Divine aid?

   [11.] So far then as to what we have to say. But let us shew forth by
   our actions all excellencies of conduct, and kindle abundantly the fire
   of virtue. For ?ye are lights,? saith  he, ?shining in the midst of the
   world.? (Phil. ii. 15.) And unto each of us God hath committed a
   greater function than He hath to the sun: greater than heaven, and
   earth, and sea; by so much greater, as spiritual things be more
   excellent than things sensible. When then we look unto the solar orb,
   and admire the beauty, and the body and the brightness of the luminary,
   let us consider again that greater and better is the light which is in
   us, as indeed the darkness also is more dreadful unless we take heed.
   And in fact a deep night oppresses the whole world. This is what we
   have to dispel and dissolve. It is night not among heretics and among
   Greeks only, but also in the multitude on our side, in respect of
   doctrines and of life. For many entirely disbelieve the resurrection;
   many fortify themselves with their horoscope; (genesin heautois
   epiteichizousi) many adhere to superstitious observances, and to omens,
   and auguries, and presages. And some likewise employ amulets and
   charms. But to these also we will speak afterwards, when we have
   finished what we have to say to the Greeks.

   In the meanwhile hold fast the things which have been said, and be ye
   fellow-helpers with me in the battle; by your way of life attracting
   them to us and changing them. For, as I am always saying, He that
   teaches high morality (peri philosophias) ought first to teach it in
   his own person, and be such as his hearers cannot do without. Let us
   therefore become such, and make the Greeks feel kindly towards us. And
   this will come to pass if we make up our minds not only not to do ill,
   but also to suffer ill. Do we not see when little children being borne
   in their father's arms give him that carries them blows on the cheek,
   how sweetly the father lets the boy have his fill of wrath, and when he
   sees that he has spent his passion, how his countenance brightens up?
   In like manner let us also act; and as fathers with children, so let us
   discourse with the Greeks. For all the Greeks are children. And this,
   some of their own writers have said, that ?that people are children
   always, and no Greek is an old man.? Now children cannot bear to take
   thought for any thing useful; so also the Greeks would be for ever at
   play; and they lie on the ground, grovelling in posture and in
   affections. Moreover, children oftentimes, when we are discoursing
   about important things, give no heed to anything that is said, but will
   even be laughing all the time: such also are the Greeks. When we
   discourse of the Kingdom, they laugh. And as spittle dropping in
   abundance from an infant's mouth, which oftentimes spoils its meat and
   drink, such also are the words flowing from the mouth of the Greeks,
   vain and unclean. Even if thou art giving children their necessary
   food, they keep on vexing those who furnish it with evil speech, and we
   must bear with them all the while. (diabastazesthai). Again, children,
   when they see a robber entering and taking away the furniture, far from
   resisting, even smile on the designing fellow; but shouldest thou take
   away the little basket or the rattle (seistra) or any other of their
   playthings, they take it to heart and fret, tear themselves, and stamp
   on the floor; just so do the Greeks also: when they behold the devil
   pilfering all their patrimony, and even the things which support their
   life, they laugh, and run to him as to a friend: but should any one
   take away any possession, be it wealth or any childish thing whatsoever
   of that kind, they cry, they tear themselves. And as children expose
   their limbs unconsciously and blush not for shame; so the Greeks,
   wallowing in whoredoms and adulteries, and laying bare the laws of
   nature, and introducing unlawful intercourses, are not abashed.

   Ye have given me vehement applause and acclamation [27] , but with all
   your applause have a care lest you be among those of whom these things
   are said. Wherefore I beseech you all to become men:  since, so long as
   we are children, how shall we teach them manliness? How shall we
   restrain them from childish folly? Let us, therefore, become men; that
   we may arrive at the measure of the stature which hath been marked out
   for us by Christ, and may obtain the good things to come: through the
   grace and loving-kindness, etc. etc.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [21] Plutarch, in Dion. t. v. p. 162. ed. Bryan. ?Plato having been
   introduced to Dionysius, they discoursed in general about human virtue;
   when Plato maintained that any thing might be credible rather than for
   tyrants to be truly brave. Then changing the subject, he argued
   concerning Justice, that the life of the just is blessed, of the unjust
   miserable. The tyrant was not well pleased with the discourse,
   understanding it as a reproof: and he was vexed with the bystanders,
   who mightily approved the man, and were taken with his remarks. At
   last, in anger and bitterness, he asked him what was his object in
   coming to Sicily. He said, To look for a good man. By heaven, he
   replied, it is clear you have not found him. Now Dion's friends thought
   this had been the end of his anger, and as Plato was anxious to go,
   they provided him with a passage in a galley, in which Pollis the
   Spartan was sailing to Greece. But Dionysius secretly besought Pollis,
   if possible, to kill him at sea, but at any rate to sell him for a
   slave, for that he would never be the worse for it, but just as happy,
   in that Justice of his, though he became a slave. Upon which it is said
   that Pollis took Plato to AEgina and sold him there, the AEginetae
   being at war with Athens, and having made a decree, that any Athenian
   coming there should be sold.?

   [22] phulakes, Plato's word in the Republic for citizens.

   [23] Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 23. Protagoras of Abdera, a distinguished
   Sophist of his time, having opened a certain treatise with these words,
   ?Concerning the Gods, I cannot speak of them either as being or as not
   being;? the Athenians banished him from Athens and Attica, and burned
   his books in the Assembly. He flourished about B.C. 444. Clinton, Fasti
   Hellenici, i. 53.

   [24] B.C. 466. Clinton, F. H. i. 39. The Scholiast on Aristophanes
   calls him ?a writer of songs, called an Atheist; a bringer in of
   strange gods. Whereupon the Athenians condemned him, voting a talent of
   silver to whoever should kill him, and two talents to any one who
   should bring him alive: and prevailed on the Peloponnesians to join
   with them.? Of Theodorus, Cicero says that he was threatened with death
   by Lysimachus, but he does not say that it was for his ?atheism:? this
   must have been between B.C. 306-281. Clinton, F.H. i. 174, 184.

   [25] ho Melios. Schol. in Aristoph. Ran. 323.

   [26] Cic. de. N. D. i. 23; Tusc. Disp. i. 43.

   [27] This custom is referred to by St. Chrysostom in many places as
   also by St. Augustin and others: the earliest mention of it appears to
   be the censure passed on Paul of Samosata in the synod of Antioch, A.D.
   272, for demanding and encouraging such applause. Vid. Euseb. E. H.
   vii. 30. St. Chrysostom in his 30th Hom. on the Acts says, ?When I am
   applauded in my speaking, for the moment I feel as an infirm human
   being, (for why should not one confess the truth?)....but when I am
   come home, and consider that those who have been applauding are no wise
   profited, but rather by their applause and acclamation have lost what
   good they might have attained, I......feel as if I had said all to no
   purpose.....And often I have thought of making a law to forbid all
   signs of applause, and to enforce listening in silence and with
   becoming order......Yea, if you please, let us even now pass such a
   law......Why do you applaud at the very moment that I am making a rule
   to check that practice? &c.? iv. 784. Ed. Savil. Vid. Bingham Antiquit.
   xiv. 4. 27; Suicer, v. krotos.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily V.

   1 Cor. i. 26, 27

   For behold [28] your calling, brethren, that not many wise men after
   the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called;] but God chose
   the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that
   are wise.

   He hath said that ?the foolishness of God is wiser than men;? he hath
   shewed that human wisdom is cast out, both by the testimony of the
   Scriptures and by the issue of events; by the testimony, where he says,
   ?I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;? by the event, putting his
   argument in the form of a question, and saying, ?Where is the wise?
   Where the Scribe?? Again; he proved at the same time that the thing is
   not new, but ancient, as it was presignified and foretold from the
   beginning. For, ?It is written,? saith he, ?I will destroy the wisdom
   of the wise.? Withal he shews that it was neither inexpedient nor
   unaccountable for things to take this course: (for, ?seeing that in the
   wisdom of God the world,? saith he, ?knew not God, God was well pleased
   through the foolishness of preaching to save them which believe:?)  and
   that the Cross is a demonstration of ineffable power and wisdom, and
   that the foolishness of God is far mightier than the wisdom of man. And
   this again he proves not by means of the teachers, but by means of the
   disciples themselves. For, ?Behold your calling,? saith he: that not
   only teachers of an untrained sort, but disciples also of the like
   class, were objects of His choice; that He chose ?not many wise men?
   (that is his word) ?according to the flesh.? And so that of which he is
   speaking is proved to surpass both in strength and wisdom, in that it
   convinces both the many and the unwise: it being extremely hard to
   convince an ignorant person, especially when the discourse is
   concerning great and necessary things. However, they did work
   conviction. And of this he calls the Corinthians themselves as
   witnesses. For, ?behold your calling, brethren,? saith he: consider;
   examine: for that doctrines so wise, yea, wiser than all, should be
   received by ordinary men, testifies the greatest wisdom in the teacher.

   [2.] But what means, ?according to the flesh?? According to what is in
   sight; according to the life that now is; according to the discipline
   of the Gentiles. Then, lest he should seem to be at variance with
   himself, (for he had convinced both the Proconsul, (Acts xiii. 12.) and
   the Areopagite, (Acts xvii. 34.) and Apollos; (Acts xviii. 26: through
   Aquila and Priscilla) and other wise men, too, we have seen coming over
   to the Gospel;) he said not, No wise man, but, ?Not many wise men.? For
   he did not designedly (apokekleromenos) call the ignorant and pass by
   the wise, but these also he received, yet the others in much larger
   number. And why? Because the wise man according to the flesh is full of
   extreme folly; and it is he who especially answers to the term
   ?foolish,? when he will not cast away his corrupt doctrine. And as in
   the case of a physician who might wish to teach certain persons the
   secrets of his art, those who know a few things, having a bad and
   perverse mode of practicing the art which they make a point of
   retaining, would not endure to learn quietly, but they who knew nothing
   would most readily embrace what was said: even so it was here. The
   unlearned were more open to conviction, for they were free from the
   extreme madness of accounting themselves wise. For indeed the excess of
   folly is in these more than any, these, I say, who commit unto
   reasoning things which cannot be ascertained except by faith. Thus,
   suppose the smith by means of the tongs drawing out the red-hot iron;
   if any one should insist on doing it with his hand, we should vote him
   guilty of extreme folly: so in like manner the philosophers who
   insisted on finding out these things for themselves disparaged the
   faith. And it was owing to this that they found none of the things they
   sought for.

   ?Not many mighty, not many noble;? for these also are filled with
   pride. And nothing is so useless towards an accurate knowledge of God
   as arrogance, and being nailed down (proselosthai) to wealth: for these
   dispose a man to admire things present, and make no account of the
   future; and they stop up the ears through the multitude of cares: but
   ?the foolish things of the world God chose:? which thing is the
   greatest sign of victory, that they were uneducated by whom He
   conquers. For the Greeks feel not so much shame when they are defeated
   by means of the ?wise,? but are then confounded, when they see the
   artisan and the sort of person one meets in the market more of a
   philosopher than themselves. Wherefore also he said himself, ?That He
   might put to shame the wise.? And not in this instance alone hath he
   done this, also in the case of the other advantages of life. For, to
   proceed, ?the weak things of the world He chose that He might put to
   shame the strong.? For not unlearned persons only, but needy also, and
   contemptible and obscure He called, that He might humble those who were
   in high places.

   V. 28. ?And the base things of the world, and the things that are
   despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to naught
   the things that are.? Now what doth He call things ?that are not??
   Those persons who are considered to be nothing because of their great
   insignificance. Thus hath He shown forth His great power, casting down
   the great by those who seem to be nothing. The same elsewhere he thus
   expresses, (2 Cor. xii. 9.) ?For my strength is made perfect in
   weakness.? For a great power it is, to teach outcasts and such as never
   applied themselves to any branch of learning, how all at once to
   discourse wisely on the things which are above the heavens. For suppose
   a physician, an orator, or any one else: we then most admire him, when
   he convinces and instructs those completely uneducated. Now, if to
   instil into an uneducated man the rules of art be a very wonderful
   thing, much more things which pertain to so high philosophy.

   [3.] But not for the wonders sake only, neither to shew His own power,
   hath He done this, but to check also the arrogant. And therefore he
   both said before, ?That he might confound the wise and the strong, that
   He might bring to nought the things which are,? and here again,

   V. 29. ?That no flesh should glory in the presence of God.? For God
   doeth all things to this end, to repress vainglory and pride, to pull
   down boasting.? ?Do you, too,? saith he, ?employ yourselves in that
   work.? He doth all, that we may put nothing to our own account; that we
   may ascribe all unto God. And have ye given yourselves over unto this
   person or to that? And what pardon will ye obtain??

   For God Himself hath shown that it is not possible we should be saved
   only by ourselves: and this He did from the beginning. For neither then
   could men be saved by themselves; but it required their compassing the
   beauty of the heaven, and the extent of the earth, and the mass of
   creation besides; if so they might be led by the hand to the great
   artificer of all the works. And He did this, repressing beforehand the
   self-conceit which was after to arise. Just as if a master who had
   given his scholar charge to follow wheresoever he might lead, when he
   sees him forestalling, and desiring to learn all things of himself,
   should permit him to go quite astray; and when he hath proved him
   incompetent to acquire the knowledge, should thereupon at length
   introduce to him what himself has to teach: so God also commanded in
   the beginning to trace Him by the idea which the creation gives; but
   since they would not, He, after showing by the experiment that they are
   not sufficient for themselves, conducts them again unto Him by another
   way. He gave for a tablet, the world; but the philosophers studied not
   in those things, neither were willing to obey Him, nor to approach unto
   Him by that way which Himself commanded. He introduces another way more
   evident than the former; one that might bring conviction that man is
   not of himself alone sufficient unto himself. For then scruples of
   reasoning might be started, and the Gentile wisdom employed, on their
   part whom He through the creation was leading by the hand; but now,
   unless a man become a fool, that is, unless he dismiss all reasoning
   and all wisdom, and deliver up himself unto the faith, it is impossible
   to be saved. You see that besides making the way easy, he hath rooted
   up hereby no trifling disease, namely, in forbidding to boast, and have
   high thoughts: ?that no flesh should glory:? for hence came the sin,
   that men insisted on being wiser than the laws of God; not willing so
   to obtain knowledge as He had enacted: and therefore they did not
   obtain it at all. So also was it from the beginning. He said unto Adam,
   ?Do such a thing, and such another thou must not do.? He, as thinking
   to find out something more, disobeyed; and even what he had, he lost.
   He spake unto those that came after, ?Rest not in the creature; but by
   means of it contemplate the Creator.? They, forsooth, as if making out
   something wiser than what had been commanded, set in motion windings
   innumerable. Hence they kept dashing against themselves and one
   another, and neither found God, nor concerning the creature had any
   distinct knowledge; nor had any meet and true opinion about it.
   Wherefore again, with a very high hand, (ek pollou tou periontos)
   lowering their conceit. He admitted the uneducated first, showing
   thereby that all men need the wisdom from above. And not only in the
   matter of knowledge, but also in all other things, both men and all
   other creatures He hath constituted so as to be in great need of Him;
   that they might have this also as a most forcible motive of submission
   and attachment, lest turning away they should perish. For this cause He
   did not suffer them to be sufficient unto themselves. For if even now
   many, for all their indigency, despise Him, were the case not so,
   whither would they not have wandered in haughtiness? So that He stayed
   them from boasting as they did, not from any grudge to them, but to
   draw them away from the destruction thence ensuing.

   [4.] V. 30 ?But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us
   wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
   redemption.?

   The expression ?of Him,? I suppose he uses here, not of our
   introduction into being, but with reference to the faith: that is, to
   our having become children of God, ?not of blood, nor of the will of
   the flesh.? (St. John i. 13)  ?Think not then, that having taken away
   our glorying, He left us so: for there is another, a greater glorying,
   His gift. For ye are the children of Him in whose presence it is not
   meet to glory, having become so through Christ.? And since he has said,
   ?The foolish things of the world He chose, and the base,? he signifies
   that they are nobler than all, having God for their Father. And of this
   nobility of ours, not this person or that, but Christ is the cause,
   having made us wise, and righteous, and holy. For so mean the words,
   ?He was made unto us wisdom.?

   Who then is wiser than we are who have not the wisdom of Plato, but
   Christ Himself, God having so willed.

   But what means, ?of God?? Whenever he speaks great things concerning
   the Only-Begotten, he adds mention of the Father, lest any one should
   think that the Son is unbegotten. Since therefore he had affirmed His
   power to be so great, and had referred the whole unto the Son, saying
   that He had ?become wisdom unto us, and righteousness, and
   sanctification and redemption;?--through the Son again referring the
   whole to the Father, he saith, ?of God.?

   But why said he not, He hath made us wise, but ?was made unto us
   wisdom?? To show the copiousness of the gift. As if he had said, He
   gave unto us Himself. And observe how he goes on in order. For first He
   made us wise by delivering from error, and then righteous and holy, by
   giving us the Spirit; and He hath so delivered us from all our evils as
   to be ?of Him,? and this is not meant to express communication of
   being, (ousioseos) but is spoken concerning the faith. Elsewhere we
   find him saying, ?We were made righteousness in Him;? in these words,
   ?Him who knew no sin He made to be sin for us that we might be made the
   righteousness of God in Him;? (2 Cor. v. 21.) but now he saith, ?He
   hath been made righteousness unto us; so that whosoever will may
   partake plentifully.? For it is not this man or that who hath made us
   wise, but Christ. ?He that glorieth,? therefore, ?let him glory in
   Him,? not in such or such an one. From Christ have proceeded all
   things. Wherefore, having said, ?Who was made unto us wisdom, and
   righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,? he added, ?that,
   according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the
   Lord.?

   For this cause also he had vehemently inveighed against the wisdom of
   the Greeks, to teach men this lesson, (touto auto Savile; touto auto
   Bened.) and no other:  that (as indeed is no more than just) they
   should boast themselves in the Lord. For when of ourselves we seek the
   things which are above us, nothing is more foolish, nothing weaker than
   we are. In such case, a tongue well whetted we may have; but stability
   of doctrine we cannot have. Rather, reasonings, being alone, are like
   the webs of spider. For unto such a point of madness have some advanced
   as to say that there is nothing real in the whole of being: yea, they
   maintain positively that all things are contrary to what appears.

   Say not therefore that anything is from thyself, but in all things
   glory in God. Impute unto no man anything at any time. For if unto Paul
   nothing ought to be imputed much less unto any others. For, saith he,
   (ch. iii. 6.) ?I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.?
   He that hath learnt to make his boast in the Lord, will never be
   elated, but will be moderate at all times, and thankful under all
   circumstances. But not such is the mind of the Greeks; they refer all
   to themselves; wherefore even of men they make gods. In so great shame
   hath desperate arrogance plunged them. (exetrachelisen)

   [5.] It is time then, in what remains, to go forth to battle against
   these. Recollect where we left our discourse on the former day. We were
   saying that it was not possible according to human cause and effect
   that fishermen should get the better of philosophers. But nevertheless
   it became possible: from whence it is clear that by grace it became so.
   We were saying that it was not possible for them even to conceive such
   great exploits:  and we shewed that they not only conceived, but
   brought them to a conclusion with great ease. Let us handle, to-day,
   the same head of our argument: viz. From whence did it enter their
   thoughts to expect to overcome the world, unless they had seen Christ
   after He was risen? What? Were they beside themselves, to reckon upon
   any such thing inconsiderately and at random? For it goes even beyond
   all madness, to look, without Divine grace, for success in so great an
   undertaking. How did they succeed in it, if they were insane and
   frenzied? But if they were in their sober senses, as indeed the events
   shewed, how, but on receiving credible pledges from the heavens and
   enjoying the influence which is from above, did they undertake to go
   forth to so great wars, and to make their venture against earth and
   sea, and to strip and stand their ground so nobly, for a change in the
   customs of the whole world which had been so long time fixed, they
   being but twelve men?

   And, what is more, what made them expect to convince their hearers, by
   inviting them to heaven and the mansions above? Even had they been
   brought up in honor, and wealth, and power, and erudition, not even so
   would it have been at all likely that they should be roused to so
   burthensome an undertaking. However, there would have been somewhat
   more of reason in their expectation. But as the case now stands, some
   of them had been occupied about lakes, some about hides [29] , some
   about the customs: than which pursuits nothing is more unprofitable
   towards philosophy, and the persuading men to have high imaginations:
   and especially when one hath no example to shew. Nay, they had not only
   no examples to make their success likely, but they had examples against
   all likelihood of success, and those within their own doors. [30]
   (enaula)  For many for attempting innovations had been utterly
   extinguished, I say not among the Greeks, for all that was nothing, but
   among the Jews themselves at that very time; who not with twelve men,
   but with great numbers had applied themselves to the work. Thus both
   Theudas and Judas, having great bodies of men, perished together with
   their disciples. And the fear arising from their examples was enough to
   control these, had they not been strongly persuaded that victory
   without divine power was out of the question.

   Yea, even if they did expect to prevail, with what sort of hopes
   undertook they such great dangers, except they had an eye to the world
   to come? But let us suppose that they hoped for no less than victory;
   what did they expect to gain from the bringing all men unto Him, ?who
   is not risen again,? as ye say? For if now, men who believe concerning
   the kingdom of heaven and blessings unnumbered with reluctance
   encounter dangers, how could they have undergone so many for nothing,
   yea rather, for evil? For if the things which were done did not take
   place, if Christ did not ascend into heaven; surely in their obstinate
   zeal to invent these things, and convince all the world of them, they
   were offending God, and must expect ten thousand thunderbolts from on
   high.

   [6.] Or, in another point of view; if they had felt this great zeal
   while Christ was living, yet on His death they would have let it go
   out. For He would have seemed to them, had He not risen, as a sort of
   deceiver and pretender. Know ye not that armies while the general and
   king is alive, even though they be weak, keep together; but when those
   in such office have departed, however strong they may be, they are
   broken up?

   Tell me then, what were the enticing arguments whereupon they acted,
   when about to take hold of the Gospel, and to go forth unto all the
   world? Was there any kind of impediment wanting to restrain them? If
   they had been mad, (for I will not cease repeating it,) they could not
   have succeeded at all; for no one follows the advice of madmen. But if
   they succeeded as in truth they did succeed, and the event proves, then
   none so wise as they. Now if none were so wise as they, it is quite
   plain, they would not lightly have entered upon the preaching. Had they
   not seen Him after He was risen, what was there sufficient to draw them
   out unto this war? What which would not have turned them away from it?
   He said unto them, ?After three days I will rise again,? and He made
   promises concerning the kingdom of heaven. He said, they should master
   the whole world, after they had received the Holy Spirit; and ten
   thousand other things besides these, surpassing all nature. So that if
   none of these things had come to pass, although they believed in Him
   while alive, after His death they would not have believed in Him,
   unless they had seen Him after He was risen. For they have said, ?After
   three days,' He said, I will rise again,' and He hath not arisen. He
   promised that He would give the Spirit, and He hath not sent Him. How
   then shall His sayings about the other world find credit with us, when
   His sayings about this are tried and found wanting??

   And why, if He rose not again, did they preach that He was risen?
   ?Because they loved Him,? you will say. But surely, it was likely that
   they would hate Him afterwards, for deceiving and betraying them; and
   because, having lifted them up with innumerable hopes, and divorced
   them from house, and parents, and all things, and set in hostility
   against them the entire nation of Jews, He had betrayed them after all.
   And if indeed the thing were of weakness, they might have pardoned it;
   but now it would be deemed a result of exceeding malice. For He ought
   to have spoken the truth, and not have promised heaven, being a mortal
   man, as ye say. So that the very opposite was the likely line for them
   to take; to proclaim the deception, and declare Him a pretender and
   imposter. Thus again would they have been rid of all their perils; thus
   have put an end to the war. Moreover, seeing that the Jews gave money
   unto the soldiers to say that they stole the body, if the disciples had
   come forward and said, ?We stole Him, He is not risen again,? what
   honor would they not have enjoyed?  Thus it was in their power to be
   honored, nay, crowned. Why then did they for insults and dangers barter
   away these things, if it was not some Divine power which influenced
   them, and proved mightier than all these?

   [7.] But if we do not yet convince, take this also into consideration;
   that had this not been so, though they were ever so well disposed, they
   would not have preached this Gospel in His name, but would have treated
   Him with abhorrence. For ye know that not even the names of those who
   deceive us in this sort are we willing to hear. But for what reason
   preached they also His name? Expecting to gain the mastery through Him?
   Truly the contrary was natural for them to expect; that even if they
   had been on the point of prevailing they were ruining themselves by
   bringing forward the name of a deceiver. But if they wished to throw
   into the shade former events, their line was to be silent; at any rate,
   to contend for them earnestly was to excite more and more both of
   serious hostility and of ridicule. From whence then did it enter their
   thoughts to invent such things? I say, ?invent:? for what they had
   heard, they had forgotten. But if, when there was no fear, they forgot
   many things, and some did not even understand, (as also the Evangelist
   himself saith,) now that so great a danger came upon them, how could it
   be otherwise than that all should fleet away from them? Why speak I of
   words? when even their love towards their Master Himself began
   gradually to fade away, through fear of what was coming: wherewith also
   He upbraided them. For since, before this, they hung upon him, and were
   asking continually, ?Whither goest Thou,? but afterwards on His drawing
   out His discourse to so great length, and declaring the terrors which
   at the very time of the Cross, and after the Cross should befal them,
   they just continued speechless and frozen through fear;--hear how He
   alleges to them this very point saying, ?None of you asketh Me, Whither
   goest Thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath
   filled your heart.? (St. John xvi. 5-6.) Now if the expectation that He
   would die and rise again was such a grief to them, had they failed to
   see Him after He was risen, how could it be less than annihilation?
   Yea, they would have been fain to sink into the depths of the earth,
   what with dejection at being so deceived, and what with dread of the
   future, feeling themselves sorely straightened.

   Again: from whence came their high doctrines? for the higher points, He
   said, they should hear afterwards. For, saith He, (St. John xvi. 12.)
   ?I have many things to speak unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.? So
   that the things not spoken were higher. And one of the disciples was
   not even willing to depart with Him into Judea, when he heard of
   dangers, but said, ?Let us also go that we may die with Him,? (St. John
   xi. 16.) taking it hardly [31] because he expected that he should die.
   Now if that disciple, while he was with Him, expected to die and shrunk
   back on that account, what must he not have expected afterwards, when
   parted from Him and the other disciples, and when the exposure of their
   shameless conduct was so complete?

   [8.] Besides, what had they to say when they went forth? For the
   passion indeed all the world knew: for He had been hanged on high, upon
   the frame of wood, (ikriou) and in mid-day, and in a chief city, and at
   a principal feast and that from which it was least permitted that any
   should be absent. But the resurrection no man saw of those who were
   without: which was no small impediment to them in working conviction.
   Again, that He was buried, was the common talk of all: and that His
   disciples stole His body, the soldiers and all the Jews declared: but
   that He had risen again, no one of them who were without knew by sight.
   Upon what ground then did they expect to convince the world? For if,
   while miracles were taking place, certain soldiers were persuaded to
   testify the contrary, upon what ground did these expect without
   miracles to do the work of preachers, and without having a farthing to
   convince land and sea concerning the resurrection? Again, if through
   desire of glory they attempted this, so much the rather would they have
   ascribed doctrines each one to himself, and not to Him that was dead
   and gone. Will it be said, men would not have believed them? And which
   of the two was the likelier, being preached, to win their belief? He
   that was apprehended and crucified, or those who had escaped the hands
   of the Jews?

   [9.] Next, tell me with what view were they to take such a course? They
   did not immediately, leaving Judaea, go into the Gentile cities, but
   went up and down within its limit. But how, unless they worked
   miracles, did they convince? For if such they really wrought, (and work
   them they did,) it was the result of God's power. If on the other hand
   they wrought none and prevailed, much more wonderful was the event.
   Knew they not the Jews--tell me--and their evil practice, and their
   soul full of grudgings? For they stoned even Moses, (Numb. xiv. 10.
   comp. Exod. xvii. 4.) after the sea which they had crossed on foot;
   after the victory, and that marvellous trophy which they raised without
   blood, by means of his hands, over the Egyptians who had enslaved them;
   after the manna; after the rocks, and the fountains of rivers which
   break out thence; after ten thousand miracles in the land of Egypt and
   the Red Sea and the wilderness. Jeremiah they cast into a pit, and many
   of the prophets they slew. Hear, for example, what saith Elias, after
   that fearful famine, and the marvellous rain, and the torch which he
   brought down from heaven, and the strange holocaust; driven, as he was,
   to the very extreme edge of their country: ?Lord, thy prophets they
   have killed, thine altars they have digged down, and I am left alone,
   and they seek my life.? (1 Kings xix. 10.) Yet were not those (who were
   so persecuted) disturbing any of the established rules. Tell me then,
   what ground had men for attending to these of whom we are speaking?
   For, on one hand, they were meaner persons than any of the prophets; on
   the other, they were introducing just such novelties as had caused the
   Jews to nail even their Master to the Cross.

   And in another way, too, it seemed less unaccountable for Christ to
   utter such things than for them; for He, they might suppose, acted thus
   to acquire glory for himself; but these they would have hated even the
   more, as waging war with them in behalf of another.

   [10.] But did the laws of the Romans help them?  Nay, by these they
   were more involved in difficulties. For their language was, (St. John
   xix. 12.) ?Whosoever maketh himself a king is not Caesar's friend.? So
   that this alone was a sufficient impediment to them, that of Him who
   was accounted an usurper they were first disciples, and afterwards
   desirous to strengthen His cause. What in the world then set them upon
   rushing into such great dangers? And by what statements about Him would
   they be likely to gain credit? that He was crucified? That He was born
   of a poor Jewish woman who had been betrothed to a Jewish carpenter?
   That He was of a nation hated by the world? Nay, all these things were
   enough not only to fail of persuading and attracting the hearers, but
   also to disgust every one; and especially when affirmed by the
   tent-maker and the fisherman. Would not the disciples then bear all
   these things in mind? Timid nature can imagine more than the reality,
   and such were their natures. Upon what ground then did they hope to
   succeed? Nay, rather, they had no hope, there being things innumerable
   to draw them aside, if so be that Christ had not risen. Is it not quite
   plain even unto most thoughtless that unless they had enjoyed a copious
   and mighty grace, and had received pledges of the resurrection, they
   would have been unable, I say not, to do and undertake these things,
   but even so much as to have them in their minds? For if when there were
   so great hinderances, in the way of their planning, I say not of their
   succeeding, they yet both planned and brought to effect and
   accomplishing things greater than all expectation, every one, I
   suppose, can see that not by human power but by divine grace they
   wrought things.

   Now these arguments we ought to practice, not by ourselves only, but
   one with another; and thus also the discovery of what remains will be
   easier to us.

   [11.] And do not, because thou art an artisan, suppose that this sort
   of exercise is out of your province; for even Paul was a tent-maker.

   ?Yes,? saith some one, ?but at that time he was also filled with
   abundant grace, and out of that he spake all things? Well; but before
   this grace, he was at the feet of Gamaliel; yea, moreover, and he
   received the grace, because of this, that he shewed a mind worthy of
   the grace; and after these things he again put his hand to his craft.
   Let no one, therefore, of those who have trades be ashamed; but those,
   who are brought up to nothing and are idle, who employ many attendants,
   and are served by an immense retinue. For to be supported by continual
   hard work is a sort of asceticism. (philosophias ?idos comp. Hooker, E.
   P. V. lxxii. 18.) The souls of such men are clearer, and their minds
   better strung. For the man who has nothing to do is apter to say many
   things at random, and do many things at random; and he is busy all day
   long about nothing, a huge lethargy taking him up entirely. But he that
   is employed will not lightly entertain in himself any thing useless, in
   deeds, in words, or in thoughts; for his whole soul is altogether
   intent upon his laborious way of livelihood. Let us not therefore
   despise those who support themselves by the labor of their own hands;
   but let us rather call them happy on this account. For tell me, what
   thanks are due unto thee, when after having received thy portion from
   thy father, thou goest on not in any calling, but lavishing away the
   whole of it at random?  Knowest thou not that we shall not all have to
   render the same account, but those who have enjoyed greater licence
   here a more exact one; those who were afflicted with labor, or poverty,
   or any thing else of this kind, one not so severe? And this is plain
   from Lazarus and the rich man. For as thou, for neglecting the right
   use of the leisure, art justly accused; so the poor man, who having
   full employment hath spent his remnant of time upon right objects,
   great will be the crowns which he shall receive. But dost thou urge
   that a soldier's duties should at least excuse thee; and dost thou
   charge them with thy want of leisure? The excuse cannot be founded in
   reason. For Cornelius was a centurion, yet in no way did the soldier's
   belt impair his strict rule of life. But thou, when thou art keeping
   holiday with dancers and players, and making entire waste of thy life
   upon the stage, never thinkest of excusing thyself from such
   engagements by the necessity of military service or the fear of rulers:
   but when it is the Church to which we call you, then occur these
   endless impediments.

   And what wilt thou say in the day, when thou seest the flame, and the
   rivers of fire, and the chains never to be broken; and shalt hear the
   gnashing of teeth? Who shall stand up for thee in that day, when thou
   shalt see him that hath labored with his own hand and hath lived
   uprightly, enjoying all glory; but thyself, who art now in soft raiment
   and redolent of perfumes, in incurable woe? What good will thy wealth
   and superfluity do thee? And the artisan--what harm will his poverty do
   him?

   Therefore that we may not suffer then, let us fear what is said now,
   and let all our time be spent in employment on things which are really
   indispensable. For so, having propitiated God in regard of our past
   sins, and adding good deeds for the future, we shall be able to attain
   unto the kingdom of heaven:  through the favor and loving-kindness,
   etc., etc.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [28] blepete. He takes it imperatively; see below. So also the Vulgate,
   Videte.

   [29] That is, some were fishers in the sea or lake of Tiberias, some,
   as St. Paul, engaged in making tents out of hides.

   [30] [Dr. Field prefers the reading, and these recent.]

   [31] St. Chrys. Hom. 62. on St. John. ?All feared the violence of the
   Jews, but Thomas more than the rest. Wherefore also he said, Let us
   also &c. Some indeed say that he desired to share our Lord's death: but
   it is not so: for it is the saying rather of a coward. Yet he was not
   reproved. For as yet He went on bearing their weakness. Afterwards,
   however, he (St. Thomas) became stronger than any, and irreproachable:
   This being the great wonder, that one so weak before the time of the
   Cross, after the Cross and faith in the Resurrection should be seen
   more zealous than all. So great is the power of Christ.?
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily VI.

   1 Cor. ii. 1, 2

   And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
   or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined
   not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

   Nothing was ever more prepared for combat than the spirit of Paul; or
   rather, I should say, not his spirit, (for he was not himself the
   inventor of these things,) but, nothing was ever equal to the grace
   working within him, which overcometh all things. For sufficient indeed
   is what had been said before to cast down the pride of the boasters
   about wisdom; nay, even a part of it had been enough. But to enhance
   the splendor of the victory, he contends anew for the points which he
   had been affirming; trampling upon the prostrate foe. Look at it in
   this way. He had brought forward the prophecy which saith, ?I will
   destroy the wisdom of the wise.? He had shewn the wisdom of God, in
   that by means of what seemed to be foolishness, He destroyed the
   philosophy of the Gentiles; he had shewn that the ?foolishness of God
   is wiser than men;? he had shewn that not only did He teach by untaught
   persons, but also chose untaught persons to learn of Him. Now he
   sheweth that both the thing itself which was preached, and the manner
   of preaching it, were enough to stagger people; and yet did not stagger
   them. As thus: ?not only,? saith he, ?are the disciples uneducated, but
   I myself also, who am the preacher.?

   Therefore he saith, ?And I, brethren,? (again he useth the word
   ?brethren,? to smooth down the harshness of the utterance,) ?came not
   with excellency of speech, declaring unto you the testimony of God.?
   ?What then? tell me, hadst thou chosen to come with excellency,'
   wouldest thou have been able?? ?I, indeed, had I chosen, should not
   have been able; but Christ, if He had chosen, was able. But He would
   not, in order that He might render His trophy more brilliant.?
   Wherefore also in a former passage, shewing that it was His work which
   had been done, His will that the word should be preached in an
   unlearned manner, he said, ?For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
   preach the Gospel; not with wisdom of words.? But far greater, yea,
   infinitely greater, than Paul's willing this, is the fact that Christ
   willed it.

   ?Not therefore,? saith he, ?by display of eloquence, neither armed with
   arguments from without, do I declare the testimony of God.? He saith
   not ?the preaching,? but ?the testimony [32] of God;? which word was
   itself sufficient to withhold him. For he went about preaching death:
   and for this reason he added, ?for I determined not to know anything
   among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.? This was the meaning
   he meant to convey, that he is altogether destitute of the wisdom which
   is without; as indeed he was saying above, ?I came not with excellency
   of speech:? for that he might have possessed this also is plain; for he
   whose garments raised the dead and whose shadow expelled diseases, [33]
   much more was his soul capable of receiving eloquence. For this is a
   thing which may be taught: but the former transcendeth all art. He then
   who knows things beyond the reach of art, much more must he have had
   strength for lesser things. But Christ permitted not; for it was not
   expedient. Rightly therefore he saith, ?For I determined not to know
   any thing: ?for I, too, for my part have just the same will as Christ.?

   And to me it seems that he speaks to them in a lower tone even than to
   any others, in order to repress their pride. Thus, the expression, ?I
   determined to know nothing,? was spoken in contradistinction to the
   wisdom which is without. ?For I came not weaving syllogisms nor
   sophisms, nor saying unto you anything else than ?Christ was
   crucified.? They indeed have ten thousand things to say, and concerning
   ten thousand things they speak, winding out long courses of words,
   framing arguments and syllogisms, compounding sophisms without end. But
   I came unto you saying no other thing than ?Christ was crucified,? and
   all of them I out-stripped: which is a sign such as no words can
   express of the power of Him whom I preach.?

   [2.] Ver. 3. ?And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much
   trembling.?

   This again is another topic: for not only are the believers unlearned
   persons; not only is he that speaketh unlearned; not only is the manner
   of the teaching of an unlearned cast throughout; not only was the thing
   preached of itself enough to stagger people; (for the cross and death
   were the message brought;) but together with these there were also
   other hindrances, the dangers, and the plots, and the daily fear, and
   the being hunted about. For the word ?weakness,? with him in many
   places stands for the persecutions: as also elsewhere. ?My weakness
   which I had in my flesh ye did not set at nought:? (Gal. iv. 13, 14.)
   and again, ?If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which
   concern my weakness.? (2 Cor. xi. 30.) What [weakness]?  ?The governor
   under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes, desirous to
   apprehend me.? (2 Cor. v. 32.) And again, ?Wherefore I take pleasure in
   weakness:? (2 Cor. xii. 10.) then, saying in what, he added, ?In
   injuries, in necessities, in distresses.? And here he makes the same
   statement; for having said, ?And I was in weakness,? etc. he did not
   stop at this point, but explaining the word ?weakness? makes mention of
   his dangers. He adds again, ?and in fear, and in much trembling, I was
   with you.?

   ?How sayest thou? Did Paul also fear dangers?? He did fear, and dreaded
   them excessively; for though he was Paul, yet he was a man. But this is
   no charge against Paul, but infirmity of human nature; and it is to the
   praise of his fixed purpose of mind that when he even dreaded death and
   stripes, he did nothing wrong because of this fear. So that they who
   assert that he feared not stripes, not only do not honor him, but
   rather abridge greatly his praises. For if he feared not, what
   endurance or what self-restraint was there in bearing the dangers? I,
   for my part, on this account admire him; because being in fear, and not
   simply in ?fear,? but even in ?trembling? at his perils, he so ran as
   ever to keep his crown; and gave not in for any danger, in his task of
   purging out [34] the world, and everywhere both by sea and land sowing
   the Gospel.

   [3.] Ver. 4. ?And my speech and my preaching was not in persuasive
   words of wisdom:? that is, had not the wisdom from without. Now if the
   doctrine preached had nothing subtle, and they that were called were
   unlearned, and he that preached was of the same description, and
   thereto was added persecution, and trembling and fear; tell me, how did
   they overcome without Divine power? And this is why, having said, ?My
   speech and my preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom,? he
   added, ?but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.?

   Dost thou perceive how ?the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and
   the weakness stronger?? They for their part, being unlearned and
   preaching such a Gospel, in their chains and persecution overcame their
   persecutors. Whereby? was it not by their furnishing that evidence
   which is of the Spirit? For this indeed is confessed demonstration. For
   who, tell me, after he had seen dead men rising to life and devils cast
   out, could have helped admitting it?

   But seeing that there are also deceiving wonders, such as those of
   sorcerers, he removes this suspicion also. For he said not simply ?of
   power,? but first, ?of the Spirit,? and then, ?of power:? signifying
   that the things done were spiritual.

   It is no disparagement, therefore, that the Gospel was not declared by
   means of wisdom; rather it is a very great ornament. For this, it will
   be allowed, is the clearest token of its being divine and having its
   roots from above, out of the heavens. Wherefore he added also,

   Ver. 5. ?That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
   the power of God.?

   Seest thou how clearly in every way he hath set forth the vast gain of
   this ?ignorance,? and the great loss of this ?wisdom?? For the latter
   made void the Cross, but the former proclaimed the power of God: the
   latter, besides their failing to discover any of those things which
   they most needed, set them also upon boasting of themselves; the
   former, besides their receiving the truth, led them also to pride
   themselves in God. Again, wisdom would have persuaded many to suspect
   that the doctrine was of man: this clearly demonstrated it to be
   divine, and to have come down from heaven. Now when demonstration is
   made by wisdom of words, even the worse oftentimes overcome the better,
   having more skill in words; and falsehood outstrips the truth. But in
   this case it is not so: for neither doth the Spirit enter into an
   unclean soul, nor, having entered in, can it ever be subdued; even
   though all possible cleverness of speech assail it. For the
   demonstration by works and signs is far more evident than that by
   words.

   [4.] But some one may say perhaps, ?If the Gospel is to prevail and
   hath no need of words, lest the Cross be made of none effect; for what
   reason are signs withholden now?? For what reason? Speakest thou in
   unbelief and not allowing that they were done even in the times of the
   Apostles, or dost thou truly seek to know? If in unbelief, I will first
   make my stand against this. I say then, If signs were not done at that
   time, how did they, chased, and persecuted, and trembling, and in
   chains, and having become the common enemies of the world, and exposed
   to all as a mark for ill usage, and with nothing of their own to
   allure, neither speech, nor show, nor wealth, nor city, nor nation, nor
   family, nor pursuit (epitedeuma,) nor glory, nor any such like thing;
   but with all things contrary, ignorance, meanness, poverty, hatred,
   enmity, and setting themselves against whole commonwealths, and with
   such a message to declare; how, I say, did they work conviction? For
   both the precepts brought much labor, and the doctrines many dangers.
   And they that heard and were to obey, had been brought up in luxury and
   drunkenness, and in great wickedness. Tell me then, how did they
   convince? Whence had they their credibility? For, as I have just said,
   If without signs they wrought conviction, far greater does the wonder
   appear. Do not then urge the fact that signs are not done now, as a
   proof that they were not done then. For as then they were usefully
   wrought; so now are they no longer so wrought.

   Nor doth it necessarily follow from discourse being the only instrument
   of conviction, that now the ?preaching? is in ?wisdom.? For both they
   who from the beginning sowed the word were unprofessional (idiotai) and
   unlearned, and spake nothing of themselves; but what things they
   received from God, these they distributed to the world: and we
   ourselves at this time introduce no inventions of our own; but the
   things which from them we have received, we speak unto all. And not
   even now persuade we by argumentation; but from the Divine Scriptures
   and from the miracles done at that time we produce the proof of what we
   say. On the other hand, even they at that time persuaded not by signs
   alone, but also by discoursing. And the signs and the testimonies out
   of the Old Scriptures, not the cleverness of the things said, made
   their words appear more powerful.

   [5.] How then, you will say, is it that signs were expedient then, and
   now inexpedient? Let us suppose a case, (for as yet I am contending
   against the Greek, and therefore I speak hypothetically of what must
   certainly come to pass,) let us, I say, suppose a case; and let the
   unbeliever consent to believe our affirmations, though it be only by
   way of concession: (kan kata sundromen) for instance, That Christ will
   come. When then Christ shall come and all the angels with Him, and be
   manifested as God, and all things made subject unto Him; will not even
   the Greek believe? It is quite plain that he will also fall down and
   worship, and confess Him God, though his stubbornness exceed all
   reckoning. For who, at sight of the heavens opened and Him coming upon
   the clouds, and all the congregation of the powers above spread around
   Him, and rivers of fire coming on, and all standing by and trembling,
   will not fall down before Him, and believe Him God? Tell me, then;
   shall that adoration and knowledge be accounted unto the Greek for
   faith? No, on no account. And why not? Because this is not faith. For
   necessity hath done this, and the evidence of the things seen, and it
   is not of choice, but by the vastness of the spectacle the powers of
   the mind are dragged along. It follows that by how much the more
   evident and overpowering the course of events, by so much is the part
   of faith abridged. For this reason miracles are not done now.

   And that this is the truth, hear what He saith unto Thomas (St. John
   xx. 29.) ?Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.?
   Therefore, in proportion to the evidence wherewith the miracle is set
   forth is the reward of faith lessened. So that if now also miracles
   were wrought, the same thing would ensue. For that then we shall no
   longer know Him by faith, Paul hath shewn, saying, ?For now we walk by
   faith, not by sight.? (2 Cor. v. 7. nun not in the received text.) As
   at that time, although thou believe, it shall not be imputed unto thee,
   because the thing is so palpable; so also now, supposing that such
   miracles were done as were formerly. For when we admit things which in
   no degree and in no way can be made out by reasoning, then it is faith.
   It is for this that hell is threatened, but is not shewn: for if it
   were shewn, the same would again ensue.

   [6.] Besides if signs be what thou seekest after, even now thou mayest
   see signs, although not of the same kind; the numberless predictions
   and on an endless variety of subject: the conversion of the world, the
   self-denying (philosophian) course of the Barbarians, the change from
   savage customs, the greater intenseness of piety. ?What predictions??
   you will say. ?For all the things just mentioned were written after the
   present state of things had begun.? When? Where? By whom? Tell me. How
   many years ago? Will you have fifty, or an hundred? They had not then,
   a hundred years ago, anything written at all. How then did the world
   retain the doctrines and all the rest, since memory would not be
   sufficient? How knew they that Peter was crucified? (aneskolopisthe)
   How could it have entered the minds of men who came after the events
   had taken place to foretell, for instance, that the Gospel should be
   preached in every part of the whole world? that the Jewish institutions
   should cease, and never return again? And they who gave up their lives
   for the Gospel, how would they have endured to see the Gospel
   adulterated? And how would the writers have won credit, miracles having
   ceased? And how could the writings have penetrated to the region of
   Barbarians, and of Indians, and unto the very bounds of the ocean, if
   the relators had not been worthy of credit? The writers, too, who were
   they?  When, how, and why, did they write at all? Was it to gain glory
   to themselves? Why then inscribed they the books with other men's
   names? ?Why, from a wish to recommend the doctrine.? As true, or as
   false? For if you say, they stuck to it, as being false; their joining
   it at all was out of all likelihood: but if as being truth, there was
   no need of inventions such as you speak of. And besides, the prophecies
   are of such a kind, as that even until now time has been unable to
   force aside the predicted course of things: (hos me dunasthai
   biazesthai chrono ta eiremena) for the destruction indeed of Jerusalem
   took place many years ago; but there are also other predictions which
   extend along from that time until His coming; which examine as you
   please: for instance, this, ?I am with you alway, even unto the end of
   the world: (St. Matt. xxviii. 20.) and, ?Upon this Rock I will build My
   Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it:? (St. Matt.
   xvi. 18.) and, ?This Gospel shall be preached unto all nations:? (St.
   Matt. xxiv. 14.) and that which the woman which was an harlot did: [35]
     and many others more than these. Whence then the truth of this
   prediction if indeed it were a forgery? How did ?the gates of hell? not
   ?prevail? against ?the Church?? How is Christ always ?with us?? For had
   He not been ?with us,? the Church would not have been victorious. How
   was the Gospel spread abroad in every part of the world? They also who
   have spoken against us are enough to testify the antiquity of the
   books; I mean, such as Celsus [36] and he of Batanea [37] , who came
   after him. For they, I suppose, were not speaking against books
   composed after their time.

   [7] And besides, there is the whole world which with one consent hath
   received the Gospel. Now there could not have been so great agreement
   from one end of the earth to the other, unless it had been the Grace of
   the Spirit; but the authors of the forgery would have been quickly
   found out. Neither could so great excellencies have originated from
   inventions and falsehoods. Dost thou not see the whole world coming in;
   error extinguished; the austere wisdom (philosuphian) of the old monks
   shining brighter than the sun; the choirs of the virgins; the piety
   among Barbarians; all men serving under one yoke? For neither by us
   alone were these things foretold, but also from the beginning, by the
   Prophets. For you will not, I trow, cavil at their predictions also:
   for the books are with their enemies, and through the zeal of certain
   Greeks they have been transferred into the Greek tongue. Many things
   then do these also foretell concerning these matters, shewing that it
   was God who should come among us.

   [8] Why then do not all believe now? Because things have degenerated:
   and for this we are to blame. (For from hence the discourse is
   addressed unto us also.) For surely not even then did they trust to
   signs alone, but by the mode of life also many of the converts were
   attracted. For, ?Let your light so shine before men,? saith He, ?that
   they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
   heaven.? (St. Matt. v. 16.) And, ?They were all of one heart and one
   soul, neither said any man that aught of the things which he possessed
   was his own, but they had all things common; and distribution was made
   unto every man, according as he had need;? (Acts iv. 32, 35.) and they
   lived an angelic life. And if the same were done now, we should convert
   the whole world, even without miracles. But in the meanwhile, let those
   who will be saved attend to the Scriptures; for they shall find there
   both these noble doings, and those which are greater than these. For it
   may be added that the Teachers themselves surpassed the deeds of the
   others; living in hunger, in thirst, and nakedness. But we are desirous
   of enjoying great luxury, and rest, and ease; not so they: they cried
   aloud, ?Even unto the present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are
   naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place. (1 Cor.
   iv. 11.) And some ran from Jerusalem unto Illyricum, (Rom. xv. 19.) and
   another unto the country of the Indians, and another unto that of the
   Moors, and this to one part of the world, that to another. Whereas we
   have not the courage to depart even out of our own country; but seek
   for luxurious living and splendid houses and all other superfluities.
   For which of us ever was famished for the word of God's sake?  Which
   ever abode in a wilderness? Which ever set out on a distant
   peregrination? Which of our teachers lived by the labor of his hands to
   assist others?  Which endured death daily? Hence it is that they also
   who are with us have become slothful. For suppose that one saw soldiers
   and generals struggling with hunger, and thirst, and death, and with
   all dreadful things, and bearing cold and dangers and all like lions,
   and so prospering; then afterwards, relaxing that strictness, and
   becoming enervated, and fond of wealth, and addicted to business and
   bargains, and then overcome by their enemies, it were extreme folly to
   seek for the cause of all this. Now let us reason thus in our own case
   and that of our ancestors; for we too have become weaker than all, and
   are nailed down unto this present life.

   And if one be found having a vestige of the ancient wisdom, leaving the
   cities and the market-places, and the society of the world, and the
   ordering of others, he betakes himself to the mountains: and if one ask
   the reason of that retirement, he invents a plea which cannot meet with
   allowance. For, saith he, ?lest I perish too, and the edge of my
   goodness be taken off, I start aside.? Now how much better were it for
   thee to become less keen, and to gain others, than abiding on high to
   neglect thy perishing brethren?

   When, however, the one sort are careless about virtue, and those who do
   regard it withdraw themselves far from our ranks, how are we to subdue
   our enemies? For even if miracles were wrought now, who would be
   persuaded? Or who of those without would give heed unto us, our
   iniquity being thus prevalent? For so it is, that our upright living
   seems unto the many the more trustworthy argument of the two: miracles
   admitting of a bad construction on the part of obstinate bad men:
   whereas a pure life will have abundant power to stop the mouth of the
   devil himself.

   [9.] These things I say, both to governors and governed; and, before
   all others, unto myself; to the end that the way of life shown forth in
   us may be truly admirable, that taking our appropriate stations, we may
   look down on all things present; may despise wealth, and not despise
   hell; overlook glory, and not overlook salvation; endure toil and labor
   here, lest we fall into punishment there. Thus let us wage war with the
   Greeks; thus let us take them captive with a captivity better than
   liberty.

   But while we say these things without intermission, over and over, they
   occur very seldom. Howbeit, be they done or not, it is right to remind
   you of them continually. For if some are engaged in deceiving by their
   fair speech, so much more is it the duty of those who allure back unto
   the truth, not to grow weary of speaking what is profitable. Again: if
   the deceivers make use of so many contrivances--spending as they do
   money, and applying arguments, and undergoing dangers, and making a
   parade of their patronage--much more should we, who are winning men
   from deceit, endure both dangers and deaths, and all things; that we
   may both gain ourselves and others, and become to our enemies
   irresistible, and so obtain the promised blessings, through the grace
   and loving-kindness, etc.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [32] to marturion, the martyrdom, or testimony by death: see 1 Tim. ii.
   6.

   [33] Here again what is written of St. Peter is taken as if written of
   St. Paul: see Acts xix. 12; v. 5.

   [34] ekkathairon: there seems to be an allusion to the classical fable
   about Hercules, who is represented as ?purging the world? of monsters
   and oppressors; Soph. Trach. 1078. ed. Musgrave.

   [35] Vid. St. Matt. xxvi. 13. and comp. St. Luke vii. 37. which two
   texts St. Chrys. apparently considers as relating to the same person:
   but in his commentary on St. Matthew xxvi. 6. he distinctly says they
   were not the same. The Fathers are divided on this point. Tertullian
   (de Pudic. 11.) and, St. Augustin (de Consensu Evangelist ii. 79.)
   consider them as the same, St. Augustin adding , that she was led to
   repeat the action with circumstances that shewed her increased
   perfection:  Ambrosiaster (in loc.) leaves the matter doubtful.

   [36] Celsus, the Epicurean philosopher, against whom Origen wrote about
   A.D. 170.

   [37] Porphyry; so called also by St. Jerome, in the Preface to his
   Commentary on Galatians where the Editor's conjecture is, that the name
   was that of Porphyry's residence or birth, but that it was also a term
   of reproach, alluding to the fat bulls of Basan, Ps. xxii. 12. He is
   commonly called a Tyrian, but they suppose that Batanea, which is in
   Syria, was a colony of Tyre.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily VII.

   1 Cor. ii. 6, 7

   Howbeit we speak wisdom among the perfect, yet a wisdom not of this
   world, nor of the rulers of this world, which are coming to naught; but
   we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been
   hidden, which God fore-ordained before the worlds unto our glory.

   Darkness seems to be more suitable than light to those that are
   diseased in their eyesight: wherefore they betake themselves by
   preference to some room that is thoroughly shaded over. This also is
   the case with the wisdom which is spiritual. As the wisdom which is of
   God seemed to be foolishness unto those without: so their own wisdom,
   being foolishness indeed, was accounted by them wisdom. The result has
   been just as if a man having skill in navigation were to promise that
   without a ship or sails he would pass over a boundless tract of sea,
   and then endeavor by reasonings to prove that the thing is possible;
   but some other person, ignorant of it all, committing himself to a ship
   and a steersman and sailors, were thus to sail in safety. For the
   seeming ignorance of this man is wiser than the wisdom of the other.
   For excellent is the art of managing a ship; but when it makes too
   great professions it is a kind of folly. And so is every art which is
   not contented with its own proper limits. Just so the wisdom which is
   without [were wisdom indeed [38] ] if it had had the benefit of the
   spirit. But since it trusted all to itself and supposed that it wanted
   none of that help, it became foolishness, although it seemed to be
   wisdom. Wherefore having first exposed it by the facts, then and not
   till then he calls it foolishness; and having first called the wisdom
   of God folly, according to their reckoning, then and not till then he
   shews it to be wisdom. (For after our proofs, not before, we are best
   able to abash the gainsayers.)

   His words then are, ?Howbeit we speak wisdom among the perfect:? for
   when I, accounted foolish and a preacher of follies, get the better of
   the wise, I overcome wisdom, not by foolishness but by a more perfect
   wisdom; a wisdom, too, so ample and so much greater, that the other
   appears foolishness. Wherefore having before called it by a name such
   as they named it at that time, and having both proved his victory from
   the facts, and shewn the extreme foolishness of the other side: he
   thenceforth bestows upon it its right name, saying, ?Howbeit we speak
   wisdom among the perfect.? ?Wisdom? is the name he gives to the Gospel,
   to the method of salvation, the being saved by the Cross. ?The
   perfect,? are those who believe. For indeed they are ?perfect,? who
   know all human things to be utterly helpless, and who overlook them
   from the conviction that by such they are profited nothing: such were
   the true believers.

   ?But not a wisdom of this world.? For where is the use of the wisdom
   which is without, terminating here and proceeding no further, and not
   even here able to profit its possessors?

   Now by the ?rulers of the world,? here, he means not certain demons, as
   some suspect [39] , but those in authority, those in power, those who
   esteem the thing worth contending about, philosophers, rhetoricians and
   writers of speeches (logographous). For these were the dominant sort
   and often became leaders of the people.

   ?Rulers of the world? he calls them, because beyond the present world
   their dominion extends not. Wherefore, he adds further, ?which are
   coming to nought;? disparaging it both on its own account, and from
   those who wield it. For having shewn that it is false, that it is
   foolish, that it can discover nothing, that it is weak, he shews
   moreover that it is but of short duration.

   [2.] ?But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery.? What mystery? For surely
   Christ saith, (St. Matt. x. 27. ekousate rec. text akouete.) ?What ye
   have heard in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.? How then does he
   call it ?a mystery?? Because that neither angel nor archangel, nor any
   other created power knew of it before it actually took place. Wherefore
   he saith, (Ephes. iii. 10) ?That now unto the principalities and powers
   in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of
   God.? And this hath God done in honor to us, so that they not without
   us should hear the mysteries. For we, too, ourselves, whomsoever we
   make our friends, use to speak of this as a sure proof of friendship
   towards them, that we tell our secrets to no one in preference to them.
   Let those hear who expose to shame [40] the secrets of the Gospel, and
   unto all indiscriminately display the ?pearls? and the doctrine, and
   who cast ?the holy things? unto ?dogs,? and ?swine,? and useless
   reasonings. For the Mystery wants no argumentation; but just what it
   is, that only is to be declared. Since it will not be a mystery, divine
   and whole in all its parts, when thou addest any thing to it of thyself
   also.

   And in another sense, too, a mystery is so called; because we do not
   behold the things which we see, but some things we see and others we
   believe. For such is the nature of our Mysteries. I, for instance, feel
   differently upon these subjects from an unbeliever. I hear, ?Christ was
   crucified;? and forthwith I admire His loving-kindness unto men: the
   other hears, and esteems it weakness. I hear, ?He became a servant;?
   and I wonder at his care for us: the other hears, and counts it
   dishonor. I hear, ?He died;? and am astonished at His might, that being
   in death He was not holden, but even broke the bands of death: the
   other hears, and surmises it to be helplessness. He hearing of the
   resurrection, saith, the thing is a legend; I, aware of the facts which
   demonstrate it, fall down and worship the dispensation of God. He
   hearing of a laver, counts it merely as water: but I behold not simply
   the thing which is seen, but the purification of the soul which is by
   the Spirit. He considers only that my body hath been washed; but I have
   believed that the soul also hath become both pure and holy; and I count
   it the sepulchre, the resurrection, the sanctification, the
   righteousness, the redemption, the adoption, the inheritance, the
   kingdom of heaven, the plenary effusion (choregian) of the Spirit. For
   not by the sight do I judge of the things that appear, but by the eyes
   of the mind. I hear of the ?Body of Christ:? in one sense I understand
   the expression, in another sense the unbeliever.

   And just as children, looking on their books, know not the meaning of
   the letters, neither know what they see; yea more, if even a grown man
   be unskilful in letters, the same thing will befall him; but the
   skilful will find much meaning stored up in the letters, even complete
   lives and histories: and an epistle in the hands of one that is
   unskilful will be accounted but paper and ink; but he that knows how to
   read will both hear a voice, and hold converse with the absent, and
   will reply whatsoever he chooses by means of writing: so it is also in
   regard of the Mystery. Unbelievers albeit they hear, seem not to hear:
   but the faithful, having the skill which is by the Spirit, behold the
   meaning of the things stored therein. For instance, it is this very
   thing that Paul signified, when he said that even now the word preached
   is hidden: for ?unto them that perish,? he saith, ?it is hidden.? (2
   Cor. iv. 3.)

   In another point of view, the word indicates also the Gospel's being
   contrary to all expectation. By no other name is Scripture wont to call
   what happens beyond all hope and above all thought of men. Wherefore
   also in another place, ?My mystery is for Me [41] ,? and for Mine. And
   Paul again, (2 Cor. xv. 51.) ?Behold, I shew you a mystery: we shall
   not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.?

   [3.] And though it be everywhere preached, still is it a mystery; for
   as we have been commanded, ?what things we have heard in the ear, to
   speak upon the house tops,? so have we been also charged, ?not to give
   the holy things unto dogs nor yet to cast our pearls before swine.?
   (St. Matt. vii. 9.) For some are carnal and do not understand: others
   have a veil upon their hearts and do not see: wherefore that is above
   all things a mystery, which everywhere is preached, but is not known of
   those who have not a right mind; and is revealed not by wisdom but by
   the Holy Ghost, so far as is possible for us to receive it. And for
   this cause a man would not err, who in this respect also should entitle
   it a mystery, the utterance whereof is forbidden. (aporrheton)  For not
   even unto us, the faithful, hath been committed entire certainty and
   exactness. Wherefore Paul also said, (ch. xiii. 9.) ?We know in part,
   and we prophesy in part: for now we see in a mirror darkly; but then
   face to face.?

   [4.] For this cause he saith, ?We speak wisdom in a mystery, the hidden
   wisdom which God fore-ordained before the worlds unto our glory.
   Hidden:? that is, that no one of the powers above hath learnt it before
   us; neither do the many know it now.

   ?Which he fore-ordained unto our glory? and yet, elsewhere he saith,
   ?unto his own glory,? for he considereth our salvation to be His own
   glory: even as also He calleth it His own riches, (vid. Ephes. iii. 8.)
   though He be Himself rich in good and need nothing in order that He may
   be rich.

   ?Fore-ordained,? he saith, pointing out the care had of us. For so
   those are accounted most both to honor and to love us, whosoever shall
   have laid themselves out to do us good from the very beginning: which
   indeed is what fathers do in the case of children. For although they
   give not their goods until afterwards, yet at first and from the
   beginning they had predetermined this. And this is what Paul is earnest
   to point out now; that God always loved us even from the beginning and
   when as yet we were not. For unless He had loved us, He would not have
   fore-ordained our riches. Consider not then the enmity which hath come
   between; for more ancient than that was the friendship.

   As to the words, ?before the worlds,? (pro ton aionon) they mean
   eternal. For in another place also He saith thus, ?Who is before the
   worlds.? The Son also, if you mark it, will be found to be eternal in
   the same sense. For concerning Him he saith, (Heb. i. 2.) ?By Him He
   made the worlds;? which is equivalent to subsistence before the worlds;
   for it is plain that the maker is before the things which are made.

   [5.] Ver. 8. ?Which none of the rulers of this world knew; for had they
   known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.?

   Now if they knew not, how said He unto them, (St. John vii. 28.) ?Ye
   both know Me, and ye know whence I am?? Indeed, concerning Pilate the
   Scripture saith, he knew not. (vid. St. John xix. 9.) It is likely also
   that neither did Herod know. These, one might say, are called rulers of
   this world: but if a man were to say that this is spoken concerning the
   Jews also and the Priests, he would not err. For to these also He
   saith, (St. John viii. 19.) ?Ye know neither Me nor My Father.? How
   then saith He a little before, ?Ye both know Me, and ye know whence I
   am?? However, the manner of this way of knowledge and of that hath
   already been declared in the Gospel; (Hom. 49. on St. John,) and, not
   to be continually handling the same topic, thither do we refer our
   readers.

   What then? was their sin in the matter of the Cross forgiven them? For
   He surely did say, ?Forgive them.? (Luke xxiii. 34.) If they repented,
   it was forgiven. For even he who set countless assailants on Stephen
   and persecuted the Church, even Paul, became the champion of the
   Church. Just so then, those others also who chose to repent, had
   forgiveness: and this indeed Paul himself meant, when he exclaims,
   (Rom. xi. 11, 1, 2.). ?I say then, have they stumbled that they should
   fall? God forbid.? ?I say then, hath God cast away His people whom He
   foreknew? God forbid.? Then, to shew that their repentance was not
   precluded, he brought forward as a decisive proof his own conversion,
   saying, ?For I also am an Israelite.?

   As to the words, ?They knew not;? they seem to me to be said here not
   concerning Christ's Person, but only concerning the dispensation hidden
   in that event: (peri autes tou pragmatos tes oikonomias) as if he had
   said, what meant ?the death,? and the ?Cross,? they knew not. For in
   that passage also He said not, ?They know not Me,? but, ?They know not
   what they do;? that is, the dispensation which is being accomplished,
   and the mystery, they are ignorant of. For they knew not that the Cross
   is to shine forth so brightly; that it is made the salvation of the
   world, and the reconciliation of God unto men; that their city should
   be taken; and that they should suffer the extreme of wretchedness.

   By the name of ?wisdom,? he calls both Christ, and the Cross and the
   Gospel. Opportunely also he called Him, ?The Lord of glory.? For seeing
   that the Cross is counted a matter of ignominy, he signifies that the
   Cross was great glory:  but that there was need of great wisdom in
   order not only to know God but also to learn this dispensation of God:
   and the wisdom which was without turned out an obstacle, not to the
   former only, but to the latter also.

   [6.] Ver. 9. ?But as it is written, Things which eye saw not and ear
   heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever
   things God prepared for them that love Him.?

   Where are these words written? Why, it is said to have been ?written,?
   then also, when it is set down, not in words, but in actual events, as
   in the historical books [42] ; or when the same meaning is expressed,
   but not in the very same words, as in this place: for the words, ?They
   to whom it was not told about Him shall see, and they who have not
   heard shall understand,? (Is. lii. 15; Sept. Comp. Rom. xv. 21; Is.
   lxiv. 4.) are the same with ?the things which eye hath not seen, nor
   ear heard.? Either then this is his meaning, or probably it was
   actually written in some books, and the copies have perished. For
   indeed many books were destroyed, and few were preserved entire even in
   the first captivity. And this is plain, in those which remain to us.
   [43]   For the Apostle saith (Acts iii. 24.) ?From Samuel and the
   Prophets which follow after they have all spoken concerning Him:? and
   these their words are not entirely extant. Paul, however, as being
   learned in the law and speaking by the Spirit, would of course know all
   with accuracy. And why speak I of the captivity? Even before the
   captivity many books had disappeared; the Jews having rushed headlong
   to the last degree of impiety:  and this is plain from the end of the
   fourth book of Kings, (2 Kings xxii. 8; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 14.) for the
   book of Deuteronomy could hardly be found, having been buried somewhere
   in a dunghill [44] .

   And besides, there are in many places double prophecies, easy to be
   apprehended by the wiser sort; from which we may find out many of the
   things which are obscure.

   [7.] What then, hath ?eye not seen what God prepared?? No. For who
   among men saw the things which were about to be dispensed? Neither then
   hath ?the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man.? How is
   this? For if the Prophets spoke of it, how saith he, ?Ear hath not
   heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man?? It did not
   enter; for not of himself alone is he speaking, but of the whole human
   race. What then? The Prophets, did not they hear? Yes, they heard; but
   the prophetic ear was not the ear ?of man:? for not as men heard they,
   but as Prophets. Wherefore he said, (Is. l. 4. Sept.) ?He hath added
   unto me an ear to hear,? meaning by ?addition? that which was from the
   Spirit. From whence it was plain that before hearing it had not entered
   into the heart of man. For after the gift of the Spirit the heart of
   the Prophets was not the heart of man, but a spiritual heart; as also
   he saith himself, ?We have the mind of Christ? (v. 16.) as if he would
   say, ?Before we had the blessing of the Spirit and learnt the things
   which no man can speak, no one of us nor yet of the Prophets conceived
   them in his mind. How should we? since not even angels know them. For
   what need is there to speak,? saith he, ?concerning the rulers of this
   world,' seeing that no man knew them, nor yet the powers above??

   What kind of things then are these? That by what is esteemed to be the
   foolishness of preaching He shall overcome the world, and the nations
   shall be brought in, and there shall be reconciliation of God with men,
   and so great blessings shall come upon us!  How then have we ?known?
   Unto us,? he saith, ?God hath revealed them by His Spirit;? not by the
   wisdom which is without; for this like some dishonored handmaid hath
   not been permitted to enter in, and stoop down and look into (see St.
   John xx. 5.) the mysteries pertaining to the Lord. Seest thou how great
   is the difference between this wisdom and that? The things which angels
   knew not, these are what she hath taught us: but she that is without,
   hath done the contrary. Not only hath she failed to instruct, but she
   hindered and obstructed, and after the event sought to obscure His
   doings, making the Cross of none effect. Not then simply by our
   receiving the knowledge, does he describe the honor vouchsafed to us,
   nor by our receiving it with angels, but, what is more, by His Spirit
   conveying it to us.

   [7.] Then to show its greatness, he saith, If the Spirit which knoweth
   the secret things of God had not revealed them, we should not have
   learned them. Such an object of care was this whole subject to God, as
   to be among His secrets. Wherefore we needed also that Teacher who
   knoweth these things perfectly; for ?the Spirit,? (v. 10, 11, 12.)
   saith he, ?searcheth all things, even the deep things of God.? For the
   word ?to search? is here indicative not of ignorance, but of accurate
   knowledge: it is the very same mode of speaking which he used even of
   God, saying, ?He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of
   the Spirit.? (Rom. viii. 27.) Then having spoken with exactness
   concerning the knowledge of the Spirit, and having pointed out that it
   is as fully equal to God's knowledge, as the knowledge of a man itself
   to itself; and also, that we have learned all things from it and
   necessarily from it; he added, ?which things also we speak, not in
   words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
   comparing spiritual things with spiritual.? Seest thou to what point he
   exalted us because of the Teacher's dignity? For so much are we wiser
   than they as there is difference between Plato and the Holy Spirit;
   they having for masters the heathen rhetoricians but we, the Holy
   Spirit.

   [8.] But what is this, ?comparing spiritual things with spiritual??
   When a thing is spiritual and of dubious meaning, we adduce testimonies
   from the things which are spiritual. For instance, I say, Christ rose
   again--was born of a Virgin; I adduce testimonies and types and
   demonstrations; the abode of Jonah in the whale and his deliverance
   afterwards; the child-bearing of the barren, Sarah, Rebecca, and the
   rest; the springing up of the trees which took place in paradise (Gen.
   ii. 5.) when there had been no seeds sown, no rains sent down, no
   furrow drawn along. For the things to come were fashioned out and
   figured forth, as in shadow, by the former things, that these which are
   now might be believed when they came in. And again we shew, how of the
   earth was man, and how of man alone the woman; and this without any
   intercourse whatever; how the earth itself of nothing, the power of the
   Great Artificer being every where sufficient for all things. Thus ?with
   spiritual things? do I ?compare spiritual,? and in no instance have I
   need of the Wisdom which is without--neither its reasonings nor its
   embellishments. For such persons do but agitate the weak understanding
   and confuse it; and are not able to demonstrate clearly any one of the
   things which they affirm, but even have the contrary effect. They
   rather disturb the mind and fill it with darkness and much perplexity.
   Wherefore he saith, ?with spiritual things comparing spiritual.? [45]
   Seest thou how superfluous he sheweth it to be? and not only
   superfluous, but even hostile and injurious: for this is meant by the
   expressions, ?lest the Cross of Christ be made of none effect,? and,
   ?that our (your faith,' rec. text) faith should not stand in the wisdom
   of men.? And he points out here, that it is impossible for those who
   confidently entrust every thing to it, to learn any useful thing: for

   [9.] Ver. 14. ?The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit.?

   It is necessary then to lay it aside first. ?What then,? some man will
   say; ?is the wisdom from without stigmatized? And yet it is the work of
   God.? How is this clear? since He made it not, but it was an invention
   of thine. For in this place he calls by the term ?wisdom? curious
   research and superfluous elegance of words. But should any one say that
   he means the human understanding; even in this sense the fault is
   thine. For thou bringest a bad name upon it, who makest a bad use of
   it; who to the injury and thwarting of God demandest from it things
   which indeed it never had. Since then thou boastest therein and
   fightest with God, He hath exposed its weakness. For strength of body
   also is an excellent thing, but when Cain used it not as he ought, God
   disabled him and made him tremble (Gen. iv. 12, 14. Sept. ?sighing and
   trembling,? rec. ver. ?fugitive and vagabond.?)  Wine also is a good
   thing; but because the Jews indulged in it immoderately, God prohibited
   the priests entirely from the use of the fruit. [46]   And since thou
   also hast abused wisdom unto the rejecting of God, and hast demanded of
   it more than it can do of its own strength; in order to withdraw thee
   from human hope, he hath shewed thee its weakness.

   For (to proceed) he is ?a natural man,? who attributes every thing to
   reasonings of the mind and considers not that he needs help from above;
   which is a mark of sheer folly. For God bestowed it that it might learn
   and receive help from Him, not that it should consider itself
   sufficient unto itself. For eyes are beautiful and useful, but should
   they choose to see without light, their beauty profits them nothing;
   nor yet their natural force, but even doth harm. So if you mark it, any
   soul also, if it choose to see without the Spirit, becomes even an
   impediment unto itself.

   ?How then, before this,? it will be said, ?did she see all things of
   herself?? Never at any time did she this of herself but she had
   creation for a book set before her in open view. But when men having
   left off to walk in the way which God commanded them, and by the beauty
   of visible objects to know the Great Artificer, had entrusted to
   disputations the leading-staff of knowledge; they became weak and sank
   in a sea of ungodliness; for they presently brought in that which was
   the abyss of all evil, asserting that nothing was produced from things
   which were not, but from uncreated matter; and from this source they
   became the parents of ten thousand heresies.

   Moreover, in their extreme absurdities they agreed; but in those things
   wherein they seemed to dream out something wholesome, though it were
   only as in shadows, they fell out with one another; that on both sides
   they might be laughed to scorn. For that out of things which are not
   nothing is produced, nearly all with one accord have asserted and
   written; and this with great zeal. In these absurdities then they were
   urged on by the Devil. But in their profitable sayings, wherein they
   seemed, though it were but darkly, (en ainigmati,) to find some part of
   what they sought, in these they waged war with one another: for
   instance, that the soul is immortal; that virtue needs nothing
   external; and that the being good or the contrary is not of necessity
   nor of fate.

   Dost thou see the craft of the Devil? If any where he saw men speaking
   any thing corrupt, he made all to be of one mind; but if any where
   speaking any thing sound, he raised up others against them; so that the
   absurdities did not fail, being confirmed by the general consent, and
   the profitable parts died away, being variously understood. Observe how
   in every respect the soul is unstrung, (atonos) and is not sufficient
   unto herself. And this fell out as one might expect. For if, being such
   as she is, she aspire to have need of nothing and withdraw herself from
   God; suppose her not fallen into that condition, and into what extreme
   madness would she not have insensibly sunk? If, endowed with a mortal
   body, she expected greater things from the false promise of the
   Devil--(for, ?Ye shall be,? said he, ?as gods? Gen. iii. 4.)--to what
   extent would she not have cast herself away, had she received her body
   also, from the beginning, immortal. For, even after that, she asserted
   herself to be unbegotten and of the essence of God, through the corrupt
   mouth of the Manicheans [47] , and it was this distemperature which
   gave occasion to her invention of the Grecian gods. On this account, as
   it seems to me, God made virtue laborious, with a view to bow down the
   soul and to bring it to moderation. And that thou mayest convince
   thyself that this is true, (as far as from trifles ones may guess at
   any thing great,) let us learn it from the Israelites. They, it is well
   known, when they led not a life of toil but indulged in relaxation, not
   being able to bear prosperity, fell away into ungodliness. What then
   did God upon this? He laid upon them a multitude of laws with a view to
   restrain their licence. And to convince you that these laws contribute
   not to any virtue, but were given to them as a sort of curb, providing
   them with an occasion of perpetual labor; hear what saith the prophet
   concerning them; ?I gave them statutes which were not good.? Ezek. xx.
   25. What means, ?not good?? Such as did not much contribute towards
   virtue. Wherefore he adds also, ?and ordinances whereby they shall not
   live.?

   [10.] ?But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit.?

   For as with these eyes no man could learn the things in the heavens; so
   neither the soul unaided the things of the Spirit. And why speak I of
   the things in heaven? It receives not even those in earth, all of them.
   For beholding afar off a square tower, we think it to be round; but
   such an opinion is mere deception of the eyes: so also we may be sure,
   when a man by means of his understanding alone examines the things
   which are afar off much ridicule will ensue. For not only will he not
   see them such as indeed they are, but will even account them the
   contraries of what they are. Wherefore he added, ?for they are
   foolishness unto him.? But this comes not of the nature of the things,
   but of his infirmity, unable as he is to attain to their greatness
   through the eyes of his soul.

   [11.] Next, pursuing his contrast, he states the cause of this, saying,
   ?he knoweth not because they are spiritually discerned:? i.e. the
   things asserted require faith, and to apprehend them by reasonings is
   not possible, for their magnitude exceeds by a great deal the meanness
   of our understanding. Wherefore he saith, ?but he that is spiritual
   judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.? For he that
   has sight, beholds himself all things that appertain to the man that
   has no sight; but no sightless person discerns what the other is about.
   So also in the case before us, our own matters and those of
   unbelievers, all of them we for our part know; but ours, they know not
   henceforth any more. We know what is the nature of things present, what
   the dignity of things to come; and what some day shall become of the
   world when this state of things shall be no more, and what sinners
   shall suffer, and the righteous shall enjoy. And that things present
   are nothing worth, we both know, and their meanness we expose; (for to
   ?discern? is also to expose;) (anakrinein, elenchein) and that the
   things to come are immortal and immoveable. All these things are known
   to the spiritual man; and what the natural man shall suffer when he is
   departed into that world; and what the faithful shall enjoy when he
   hath fulfilled his journey from this: none of which are known to the
   natural man.

   [12.] Wherefore also, subjoining a plain demonstration of what had been
   affirmed, he saith, ?For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he
   may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.? That is to say, the
   things which are in the mind of Christ, these we know, even the very
   things which He willeth and hath revealed. For since he had said, ?the
   Spirit had revealed them;? lest any one should set aside the Son, he
   subjoins that Christ also shewed us these things. Not meaning this,
   that all the things which He knoweth, we know; but that all the things
   which we know are not human so as to be open to suspicion, but of His
   mind and spiritual.

   For the mind which we have about these things we have of Christ; that
   is, the knowledge which we have concerning the things of the faith is
   spiritual; so that with reason we are ?judged of no man.? For it is not
   possible that a natural man should know divine things. Wherefore also
   he said, ?For who hath known the mind of the Lord?? implying that our
   own mind which we have about these things, is His mind. And this, ?that
   he may instruct Him,? he hath not added without reason, but with
   reference to what he had just now said, ?the spiritual man no one
   discerneth.? For if no man is able to know the mind of God, much less
   can he teach and correct it. For this is the meaning of, ?that he may
   instruct Him.?

   Seest thou how from every quarter he repels the wisdom which is
   without, and shews that the spiritual man knoweth more things and
   greater? For seeing that those reasons, ?That no flesh should glory;?
   and, ?For this cause hath He chosen the foolish things, that He might
   confound the wise men;? and, ?Lest the Cross of Christ should be made
   void:? seemed not to the unbelievers greatly worthy of credit, nor yet
   attractive, or necessary, or useful, he finishes by laying down the
   principal reason; because in this way we most easily see from Whom we
   may have the means of learning even high things, and things secret, and
   things which are above us. For reason was absolutely made of none
   effect by our inability to apprehend through Gentile wisdom the things
   above us.

   You may observe, too, that it was more advantageous to learn in this
   way from the Spirit. For that is the easiest and clearest of all
   teaching.

   ?But we have the mind of Christ.? That is, spiritual, divine, that
   which hath nothing human. For it is not of Plato, nor of Pythagoras,
   but it is Christ Himself, putting His own things into our mind.

   This then, if naught else, let us revere, O beloved, and let our life
   shine forth as most excellent; since He also Himself maketh this a sure
   proof of great friendship, viz. the revealing His secrets unto us:
   where He saith, (St. John xv. 15.) ?Henceforth I call you not servants,
   for all ye are My friends; for all things which I have heard from My
   Father I have told unto you:? that is, I have had confidence towards
   you. Now if this by itself is a proof of friendship, namely, to have
   confidence: when it appears that He has not only confided to us the
   mysteries conveyed by words, (ta dia rhematon musteria) but also
   imparted to us the same conveyed by works, (dia ton ergon, i.e.
   sacramental actions) consider how vast the love of which this is the
   fruit. This, if nothing else, let us revere; even though we will not
   make any such great account of hell, yet let it be more fearful than
   hell to be thankless and ungrateful to such a friend and benefactor.
   And not as hired servants, but as sons and freemen, let us do all
   things for the love of our Father; and let us at last cease from
   adhering to the world that we may put the Greeks also to shame. For
   even now desiring to put out my strength against them, I shrink from so
   doing, lest haply, surpass them as we may by our arguments and the
   truth of what we teach, we bring upon ourselves much derision from the
   comparison of our way of life; seeing that they indeed, cleaving unto
   error and having no such conviction, abide by philosophy, but we do
   just the contrary. However, I will say it. For it may be, it may be
   that in practising how to contend against them, we shall long as rivals
   to become better than they in our mode of life also.

   [14.] I was saying not long ago, that it would not have entered the
   Apostles' thoughts to preach what they did preach, had they not enjoyed
   Divine Grace; and that so far from succeeding, they would not even have
   devised such a thing. Well then, let us also to-day prosecute the same
   subject in our discourse; and let us shew that it was a thing
   impossible so much as to be chosen or thought of by them, if they had
   not had Christ among them: not because they were arrayed, the weak
   against the strong, not because few against many, not because poor
   against rich, not because unlearned against wise, but because the
   strength of their prejudice, too, was great. For ye know that nothing
   is so strong with men as the tyranny of ancient custom. So that
   although they had not been twelve only, and not so contemptible, and
   such as they really were, but another world as large as this, and with
   an equivalent number arrayed on their side, or even much greater; even
   in this case the result would have been hard to achieve. For the other
   party had custom on their side, but to these their novelty was an
   obstacle. For nothing so much disturbs the mind, though it be done for
   some beneficial purpose, as to innovate and introduce strange things,
   and most of all when this is done in matters relating to divine worship
   and the glory of God. And how great force there is in this circumstance
   I will now make plain; first having made the following statement that
   there was added also another difficulty with regard to the Jews. For in
   the case of the Greeks, they destroyed both their gods and their
   doctrines altogether; but not so did they dispute with the Jews, but
   many of their doctrines they abolished, while the God who had enacted
   the same they bade them worship. And affirming that men should honor
   the legislator, they said, ?obey not in all respects the law which is
   of Him;? for instance, in the keeping the Sabbath, or observing
   circumcision, or offering sacrifices, or doing any other like thing. So
   that not only was custom an impediment, but also the fact, that when
   they bade men worship God, they bade them break many of His laws.

   [15.] But in the case of the Greeks great was the tyranny of custom.
   For if it had been a custom of ten years only, I say not of such a
   length of time, and if it had preoccupied but a few men, I say not the
   whole world, when these persons made their approaches; even in this
   case the revolution would have been hard to effect. But now sophists,
   and orators, and fathers, and grandfathers, and many more ancient than
   all these, had been preoccupied by the error: the very earth and sea,
   and mountains and groves, and all nations of Barbarians, and all tribes
   of the Greeks, and wise men and ignorant, rulers and subjects, women
   and men, young and old, masters and slaves, artificers and husbandmen,
   dwellers in cities and in the country; all of them. And those who were
   instructed would naturally say, ?What in the world is this? Have all
   that dwell in the world been deceived? both sophists and orators,
   philosophers and historians, the present generation and they who were
   before this, Pythagoreans, Platonists, generals, consuls, kings, they
   who in all cities from the beginning were citizens and colonists, both
   Barbarians and Greeks? And are the twelve fishermen and tent-makers and
   publicans wiser than all these? Why, who could endure such a
   statement?? However, they spake not so, nor had it in their mind, but
   did endure them, and owned that they were wiser than all. Wherefore
   they overcame even all. And custom was no impediment to this, though
   accounted invincible when she hath acquired her full swing by course of
   time.

   And that thou mayest learn how great is the strength of custom, it hath
   oftentimes prevailed over the commands of God. And why do I say,
   commands? Even over very blessings. For so the Jews when they had
   manna, required garlic; enjoying liberty they were mindful of their
   slavery; and they were continually longing for Egypt, because they were
   accustomed to it. Such a tyrannical thing is custom.

   If thou desire to hear of it from the heathens also; it is said that
   Plato, although well aware that all about the gods was a sort of
   imposture, condescended to all the feasts and all the rest of it, as
   being unable to contend with custom; and as having in fact learnt this
   from his master. For he, too, being suspected of some such innovation,
   was so far from succeeding in what he desired that he even lost his
   life; and this, too, after making his defence. And how many men do we
   see now by prejudice held in idolatry, and having nothing plausible to
   say, when they are charged with being Greeks, but alleging the fathers,
   and grandfathers, and great grandfathers. For no other reason did some
   of the heathens call custom, second nature. But when doctrines are the
   subject-matter of the custom, it becomes yet more deeply rooted. For a
   man would change all things more easily than those pertaining to
   religion. The feeling of shame, too, coupled with custom, was enough to
   raise an obstacle; and the seeming to learn a new lesson in extreme old
   age, and that of those who were not so intelligent. And why wonder,
   should this happen in regard of the soul, seeing that even in the body
   custom hath great force?

   [16.] In the Apostles' case, however, there was yet another obstacle,
   more powerful than these; it was not merely changing custom so ancient
   and primitive, but there were perils also under which the change was
   effected. For they were not simply drawing men from one custom to
   another, but from a custom, wherein was no fear to an undertaking which
   held out threats of danger. For the believer must immediately incur
   confiscation, persecution, exile from his country; must suffer the
   worst ills, be hated of all men, be a common enemy both to his own
   people and to strangers. So that even if they had invited men to a
   customary thing out of novelty, even in this case it would have been a
   difficult matter. But when it was from a custom to an innovation, and
   with all these terrors to boot, consider how vast was the obstacle!

   And again, another thing, not less than those mentioned, was added to
   make the change difficult.  For besides the custom and the dangers,
   these precepts were both more burdensome, and those from which they
   withdrew men were easy and light. For their call was from fornication
   unto chastity; from love of life unto sundry kinds of death; from
   drunkenness unto fasting; from laughter unto tears and compunction;
   from covetousness unto utter indigence; from safety unto dangers: and
   throughout all they required the strictest circumspection. For,
   ?Filthiness,? (Ephes. v. 4.) saith he, ?and foolish talking, and
   jesting, let it not proceed out of your mouth.? And these things they
   spake unto those who knew nothing else than how to be drunken and serve
   their bellies; who celebrated feasts made up of nothing but of
   ?filthiness? and laughter and all manner of revellings (komodias
   hapases.) So that not only from the matter pertaining to severity of
   life were the doctrines burthensome, but also from their being spoken
   unto men who had been brought up in careless ease, and ?filthiness,?
   and ?foolish talking,? and laughter and revellings. For who among those
   who had lived in these things, when he heard, (Matt. x. 38.) ?If a man
   take not up his cross and follow Me, he is not worthy of Me;? and,
   (Ibid. 34) ?I came not to send peace but a sword, and to set a man at
   variance with his father, and the daughter at variance with her
   mother,? would not have felt himself chilled all over (enarkese)? And
   who, when he heard, ?If a man bid not farewell to home and country and
   possessions, he is not worthy of Me,? would not have hesitated, would
   not have refused? And yet there were men, who not only felt no chill,
   neither shrunk away when they heard these things, but ran to meet them
   and rushed upon the hardships, and eagerly caught at the precepts
   enjoined. Again, to be told, ?For every idle word we shall give
   account;? (Matt. xii. 36.) and, ?whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust
   after her, hath committed adultery with her as soon as seen;? (Matt. v.
   28, 25.) and, ?whosoever is angry without cause shall fall into
   hell;?--which of the men of that day would not these things have
   frightened off? And yet all came running in, and many even leaped over
   the boundaries of the course. What then was their attraction? Was it
   not, plainly, the power of Him who was preached? For suppose that the
   case were not as it is, but just contrary [48] , that this side was the
   other, and the other this; would it have been easy, let me ask, to hold
   fast and to drag on those who resisted? We cannot say so. So that in
   every way that power is proved divine which wrought so excellently.
   Else how, tell me, did they prevail with the frivolous and the
   dissolute, urging them toward the severe and rough course of life?

   [17.] Well; such was the nature of the precepts. But let us see whether
   the doctrine was attractive. Nay, in this respect also there was enough
   to frighten away the unbelievers. For what said the preachers? That we
   must worship the crucified, and count Him as God, who was born of a
   Jewish woman. Now who would have been persuaded by these words, unless
   divine power had led the way? That indeed He had been crucified and
   buried, all men knew; but that He had risen again and ascended, no one
   save the Apostles had seen.

   But, you will say, they excited them by promises and deceived them by
   an empty sound of words. Nay, this very topic most particularly shews
   (even apart from all that has been said) that our doctrines are no
   deceit. For all its hardships took place here, but its consolations
   they were to promise after the resurrection. This very thing then, for
   I repeat it, shews that our Gospel is divine. For why did no one of the
   believers say, ?I close not with this, neither do I endure it? Thou
   threatenest me with hardships here, and the good things thou promisest
   after the resurrection. Why, how is it plain that there will be a
   resurrection? Which of the departed hath returned?  Which of those at
   rest hath risen again? Which of these hath said what shall be after our
   departure hence?? But none of these things entered into their minds;
   rather they gave up their very lives for the Crucified. So that this
   bare fact was more than anything a proof of great power; first, their
   working conviction at once, touching matters so important, in persons
   that had never in their lives before heard of any such thing; secondly,
   that they prevailed on them to take the difficulties upon trial, and to
   account the blessings as matter of hope. Now if they had been deceivers
   they would have done the contrary: their good things they would have
   promised as of this world (enteuthen, so St. John xviii. 36.); the
   fearful things they would not have mentioned, whether they related to
   the present life or the future. For so deceivers and flatterers act.
   Nothing harsh, nor galling, nor burdensome, do they hold out, but
   altogether the contrary. For this is the nature of deceit.

   [18.] But ?the folly,? it will be said, ?of the greater part caused
   them to believe what they were told.? How sayest thou? When they were
   under Greeks, they were not foolish; but when they came over to us, did
   their folly then begin? And yet they were not men of another sort nor
   out of another world, that the Apostles took and persuaded: they were
   men too who simply held the opinions of the Greeks, but ours they
   received with the accompaniment of dangers. So that if with better
   reason they had maintained the former, they would not have swerved from
   them, now that they had so long time been educated therein; and
   especially as not without danger was it possible to swerve. But when
   they came to know from the very nature of the things that all on that
   side was mockery and delusion, upon this, even under menaces of sundry
   deaths, they sprang off (apepedesan) from their customary ways, and
   came over voluntarily unto the new; inasmuch as the latter doctrine was
   according to nature, but the other contrary to nature.

   But ?the persons convinced,? it is said, ?were slaves, and woman, and
   nurses, and midwives, and eunuchs.? Now in the first place, not of
   these alone doth our Church consist; and this is plain unto all. But be
   it of these; this is what especially makes the Gospel worthy of
   admiration; that such doctrines as Plato and his followers could not
   apprehend, the fishermen had power on a sudden to persuade the most
   ignorant sort of all to receive. For if they had persuaded wise men
   only, the result would not have been so wonderful; but in advancing
   slaves, and nurses, and eunuchs unto such great severity of life as to
   make them rivals to angels, they offered the greatest proof of their
   divine inspiration. Again; had they enjoined I know not what trifling
   matters, it were reasonable perhaps to bring forward the conviction
   wrought in these persons, to show the trifling nature of the things
   which were spoken: but if things great, and high, and almost
   transcending human nature, and requiring high thoughts, were the matter
   of their lessons of wisdom; the more foolishness thou showest in those
   who were convinced, by so much the more dost thou shew clearly that
   they who wrought the conviction were wise and filled with divine grace.

   But, you will say, they prevailed on them through the excessive
   greatness of the promises. But tell me, is not this very thing a wonder
   to thee, how they persuaded men to expect prizes and recompenses after
   death? For this, were there nothing else, is to me matter of amazement.
   But this, too, it will be said, came of folly. Inform me wherein is the
   folly of these things: that the soul is immortal; that an impartial
   tribunal will receive us after the present life; that we shall render
   an account of our deeds and words and thoughts unto God that knoweth
   all secrets; that we shall see the evil undergoing punishment, and the
   good with crowns on their heads. Nay, these things are not of folly,
   but the highest instruction of wisdom. The folly is in the contrary
   opinions to these.

   [19.] Were this then the only thing, the despising of things present,
   the setting much by virtue, the not seeking rewards here, but advancing
   far beyond in hopes, and the keeping the soul so intent and faithful as
   by no present terror to be hindered in respect of the hope of what
   shall be; tell me, to what high philosophy must this belong? But would
   you also learn the force of the promises and predictions in themselves,
   and the truth of those uttered both before and after this present state
   of things? Behold, I shew you a golden chain, woven cunningly from the
   beginning!  He spake some things to them about Himself, and about the
   churches, and about the things to come; and as He spake, He wrought
   mighty works. By the fulfilment therefore of what He said, it is plain
   that both the wonders wrought were real, and the future and promised
   things also.

   But that my meaning may be yet plainer, let me illustrate it from the
   actual case. He raised up Lazarus by a single word merely, and shewed
   him alive. Again, He said, ?The gates of Hades shall not prevail
   against the Church (St. Matt. xvi. 18.) and, ?He that forsaketh father
   or mother, shall receive an hundred-fold in this life, and shall
   inherit everlasting life.? (ib. 19. 29.) The miracle then is one, the
   raising of Lazarus; but the predictions are two; made evident, the one
   here, the other in the world to come. Consider now, how they are all
   proved by one another. For if a man disbelieve the resurrection of
   Lazarus, from the prophecy uttered about the Church let him learn to
   believe the miracle. For the word spoken so many years before, came to
   pass then, and received accomplishment: for ?the gates of Hades
   prevailed not against the Church.? You see that He who spake truth in
   the prophecy, it is clear that he also wrought the miracle: and He who
   both wrought the miracle and brings to accomplishment the words which
   He spake, it is clear that He speaks the truth also in the predictions
   of things yet to come, when He saith, ?He who despiseth things present
   shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.? For
   the things which have been already done and spoken, He hath given as
   the surest pledges of those which shall hereafter come to pass.

   Of all these things then, and the like to these, collecting them
   together out of the Gospels, let us tell them, and so stop their
   mouths. But if any one say, Why then was not error completely
   extinguished? this may be our answer: Ye yourselves are to blame, who
   rebel against your own salvation. For God hath so ordered this matter
   (okonomesen,) that not even a remnant of the old impiety need be left.

   [20.] Now, briefly to recount what has been said: What is the natural
   course of things? That the weak should be overcome by the strong, or
   the contrary? Those who speak things easy, or things of the harsher
   sort? those who attract men with dangers, or with security? innovators,
   or those who strengthen custom? those who lead into a rough, or into a
   smooth way? those who withdraw men from the institutions of their
   fathers, or those who lay down no strange laws? those who promise all
   their good things after our departure from this world, or those who
   flatter in the present life? the few to overcome the many, or the many
   the few?

   But you, too, saith one, gave promises pertaining to this life. What
   then have we promised in this life? The forgiveness of sins and the
   laver of regeneration. Now in the first place, baptism itself hath its
   chief part in things to come; and Paul exclaims, saying, (Col. iii. 4.)
   ?For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God: when your life
   shall be manifested, then shall ye also with Him be manifested in
   glory.? But if in this life also it hath advantages, as indeed it hath,
   this also is more than all a matter of great wonder, that they had
   power to persuade men who had done innumerable evil deeds, yea such as
   no one else had done, that they should wash themselves clean of all,
   and they should give account of none of their offences. So that on this
   very account it were most of all meet to wonder that they persuaded
   Barbarians to embrace such a faith as this, and to have good hopes
   concerning things to come; and having thrown off the former burden of
   their sins, to apply themselves with the greatest zeal for the time to
   come to those toils which virtue requires, and not to gape after any
   object of sense, but rising to a height above all bodily things, to
   receive gifts purely spiritual: yea, that the Persian, the Sarmatian,
   the Moor, and the Indian should be acquainted with the purification of
   the soul, and the power of God, and His unspeakable mercy to men, and
   the severe discipline of faith, and the visitation of the Holy Spirit,
   and the resurrection of bodies, and the doctrines of life eternal. For
   in all these things, and in whatever is more than these, the fishermen,
   initiating by Baptism divers races of Barbarians, persuaded them
   (philosophein) to live on high principles.

   Of all these things then, having observed them accurately, let us speak
   unto the Gentiles, and again, let us shew them the evidence of our
   lives: that by both means we ourselves may be saved and they drawn over
   by our means unto the glory of God. For unto Him be the glory for ever.
   Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [38] There seems to be a word or two wanting in the text here, which
   has been supplied by conjecture in the translation. [But they are found
   in Codex C. Aretinus].

   [39] e.g. Origen, in Lament. iv. 11; in Ezek. Hom. xiii. S:. 1; Com. in
   St. Matt. S:. 125; St. Athanasius on Ps. cviii. (cix. Heb.) v. 15. t.
   i. 1194. Ed. Bened. The author of the Questions and Answers published
   with St. Justin Martyr's works agrees with St. Chrysostom; see qu.
   cviii, clxx. Why may not both be right?

   [40] ekpompeuontes. vid. Conc. Ant. A.D. 270. ap. E. H. vii. 30.

   [41] This is the rendering, in some old Greek version, though not in
   the LXX, of the clause in Isaiah XXIV. 16, which in our authorized
   version runs, ?My leanness, my leanness; woe unto me!? ?Mystery? stands
   for the Chaldee ?a secret:? which meaning the Targum of Jonathan gives
   to the word in this place:  as do the Vulgate, and the Syriac according
   to Walton. The received reading of the LXX may be explained as a
   paraphrase of this rendering. The words, ?and for mine,? seem added by
   St. Chrysostom.

   [42] Of which, perhaps, He shall be called a Nazarene, St. Matt. ii.
   23. is an instance: although that indeed is not said to be ?written,?
   but spoken by the Prophets.

   [43] [Dr. Field prints the original with a capital letter, making
   it=Paraleipomena, the LXX. name for the books of Chronicles, and refers
   to II Chron. ix. 29, xii. 5, xiii. 22. C.]

   [44] Two circumstances in this account appear to be traditional: that
   the book found was that of Deuteronomy; and that the place where it was
   found was a dunghill.

   [45] [Principal Edwards explains the phrase adopting the A.V., as
   ?combining revealed truths so as to form a consistent and
   well-proportioned system? Com. in lo.]

   [46] i.e. when they were in course of attendance on the tabernacle.
   Levit. x. 8, 9.

   [47] Manes opposed to each other two diverse and adverse principles,
   alike eternal and coeternal: and fancied two natures and substances,
   Good and Bad; in this following elder heretics;? (some of the Gnostics,
   see S. Aug. above S:6, 14, 16, 21, 22)....?Hence they are compelled to
   affirm that good souls are of the same nature with God.? S. Aug. de
   Haeresibus, S:. 46.

   [48] i.e. suppose miracles and the attempt to convert had been the
   other way, from strictness to ease and pleasure.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily VIII.

   1 Cor. iii. 1-3

   And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as
   unto Carnal, as unto babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, and not with
   meat: for ye were not yet able to bear it; nay, not even now are ye
   able. For ye are yet carnal.

   After having overturned the philosophy which is from without, and cast
   down all its arrogance, he comes unto another argument. For it was
   likely that they would say, ?If we were putting forth the opinions of
   Plato, or of Pythagoras, or any other of the philosophers, reason were
   thou shouldest draw out such a long discourse against us. But if we
   announce the things of the Spirit, for what reason dost thou turn and
   toss up and down (ano kai kato strepheis) the wisdom which is from
   without??

   Hear then how he makes his stand against this. ?And I, brethren, could
   not speak unto you as unto spiritual.? Why, in the first place, says
   he, though you had been perfect in spiritual things also, not even so
   ought you to be elated; for what you preach is not your own, nor such
   as yourselves have found from your own means. But now even these things
   ye know not as ye ought to know them, but ye are learners, and the last
   of all. Whether therefore the Gentile wisdom be the occasion of your
   high imaginations; that hath been proved to be nothing, nay, in regard
   to spiritual things to be even contrary unto us: or if it be on account
   of things spiritual, in these, too, ye come short and have your place
   among the hindmost. Wherefore he saith, ?I could not speak unto you as
   unto spiritual.? He said not, ?I did not speak,? lest the thing might
   seem to proceed from his grudging them somewhat; but in two ways he
   brings down their high spirit; first, because they knew not the things
   that are perfect; next, because their ignorance was owing to
   themselves: yea, in a third way besides these, by pointing out that
   ?not even now are they able [to bear it].? For as to their want of
   ability at first, that perhaps arose from the nature of the case. In
   fact, however, he does not leave them even this excuse. For not through
   any inability on their part to receive high doctrines, doth he say they
   received them not, but because they were ?carnal.? However, in the
   beginning this was not so blame-worthy; but that after so long a time,
   they had not yet arrived at the more perfect knowledge, this was a
   symptom of most utter dulness.

   It may be observed, that he brings the same charge against the Hebrews,
   not however, with so much vehemence. For those, he saith, are such,
   partly because of tribulation: but these, because of some appetite for
   wickedness. Now the two things are not the same. He implies too, that
   in the one case he was intending rebuke, in the other rather stirring
   them up, when he spake these words of truth. For to these Corinthians
   he saith, ?Neither yet now are ye able;? but unto the others (Heb. vi.
   1.) ?Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ,
   and press on unto perfection:? and again, (Ib. v. 9.) ?we are persuaded
   better things concerning you, and things which accompany salvation,
   though we thus speak.?

   [2.] And how calleth he those ?carnal,? who had attained so large a
   measure of the Spirit; and into whose praises, at the beginning he had
   entered so much at large?  Because they also were carnal, unto whom the
   Lord saith, (St. Matt. vii. 22, 23.) ?Depart from Me, ye workers of
   iniquity, I know you not;? and yet they both cast out devils, and
   raised the dead, and uttered prophecies. So that it is possible even
   for one who wrought miracles to be carnal. For so God wrought by
   Balaam, and unto Pharaoh He revealed things to come, and unto
   Nebuchadnezzar; and Caiaphas prophesied, not knowing what he said; yea,
   and some others cast out devils in His name, though they were (Luke ix.
   49.) ?not with Him;? since not for the doers' sake are these things
   done, but for others' sake: nor is it seldom, that those who were
   positively unworthy have been made instrumental to them. Now why
   wonder, if in the case of unworthy men these things are done for
   others' sake, seeing that so it is, even when they are wrought by
   saints? For Paul saith, (1 Cor. iii. 22.) ?All things are yours;
   whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death:? and again,
   (Ephes. iv. 11, 12.) ?He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and
   some Pastors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, unto the
   work of ministering.? For if it were not so, there would have been no
   security against universal corruption. For it may be that rulers are
   wicked and polluted, and their subjects good and virtuous; that laymen
   may live in piety, and priests in wickedness; and there could not have
   been either baptism, or the body of Christ, or oblation, through such,
   if in every instance grace required merit. But as it is, God uses to
   work even by unworthy persons, and in no respect is the grace of
   baptism damaged by the conduct of the priest: else would the receiver
   suffer loss. Accordingly, though such things happen rarely, still, it
   must be owned, they do happen. Now these things I say, lest any one of
   the bystanders busying himself about the life of the priest, should be
   offended as concerning the things solemnized (ta teloumena). ?For man
   introduceth nothing into the things which are set before us [49] , but
   the whole is a work of the power of God, and He it is who initiates (ho
   mustagogon) you into the mysteries.?

   [3.] ?And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but
   as unto carnal. I fed you with milk, and not with meat. For ye were not
   able [to bear it.]?

   For lest he should seem to have spoken ambitiously (philotimias heneka,
   to obtain favor) these things which he hath just spoken; ?the spiritual
   man judgeth all things,? and, ?he himself is judged of no man,? and,
   ?we have the mind of Christ;? with a view also to repress their pride:
   observe what he saith. ?Not on this account,? saith he, ?was I silent,
   because I was not able to tell you more, but because ye are carnal:
   neither yet now are ye able.'?

   Why said he not, ?ye are not willing,? but ?ye are not able?? Even
   because he put the latter for the former. For as to the want of
   ability, it arises from the want of will. Which to them indeed is a
   matter of accusation, but to their teacher, of excuse. For if they had
   been unable by nature, one might perhaps have been forgiven them; but
   since it was from choice, they were bereft of all excuse. He then
   speaks of the particular point also which makes them carnal. ?For
   whereas there is among you strife, and jealousy, and division, are ye
   not carnal and walk as men?? Although he had fornications also and
   uncleannesses of theirs to speak of, he sets down rather that offence
   which he had been a good while endeavoring to correct. Now if
   ?jealousy? makes men carnal, it is high time for us to bewail bitterly,
   and to clothe ourselves with sackcloth and lie in ashes. For who is
   pure from this passion? Except indeed I am but conjecturing the case of
   others from myself. If ?jealousy? maketh men ?carnal,? and suffereth
   them not to be ?spiritual,? although they prophesy and show forth other
   wonderful works; now, when not even so much grace is with us, what
   place shall we find for our own doings; when not in this matter alone,
   but also in others of greater moment, we are convicted.

   [4.] From this place we learn that Christ had good reason for saying,
   (St. John iii. 20.) ?He that doeth evil cometh not to light;? and that
   unclean life is an obstacle to high doctrines, not suffering the
   clear-sightedness of the understanding to shew itself. As then it is
   not in any case possible for a person in error, but living uprightly,
   to remain in error; so it is not easy for one brought up in iniquity,
   speedily to look up to the height of the doctrines delivered to us, but
   he must be clean from all the passions who is to hunt after the truth:
   for whoso is freed from these shall be freed also from his error and
   attain unto the truth. For do not, I beseech you, think that abstinence
   merely from covetousness or fornication may suffice thee for this
   purpose. Not so. All must concur in him that seeketh the truth.
   Wherefore saith Peter, (Acts x. 34, 35.) ?Of a truth I perceive that
   God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth
   Him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him:? that is, He
   calls and attracts him unto the truth. Seest thou not Paul, that he was
   more vehement than any one in warring and persecuting? yet because he
   led an irreproachable life, and did these things not through human
   passion, he was both received, and reached a mark beyond all. But if
   any one should say, ?How doth such a one, a Greek, who is kind, and
   good, and humane, continue in error?? this would be my answer: He hath
   some other passion, vainglory, or indolence of mind, or want of
   carefulness about his own salvation, accounting that all things which
   concern him are drifted along loosely and at random. [50] Peter calls
   the man irreproachable in all things one that ?worketh righteousness,?
   [and Paul says] ?touching the righteousness which is in the law found
   blameless.? Again, ?I give thanks to God, whom I serve from my
   forefathers with a pure conscience,? (2 Tim. i. 3.) How then, you will
   say, were unclean persons considered worthy of the Gospel? Because they
   wished and longed for it. Thus the one sort, though in error, are
   attracted by Him, because they are clean from passions; the others, of
   their own accord approaching, are not thrust back. Many also even from
   their ancestors have received the true religion.

   [5.] Ver. 3. ?For whereas there is among you jealousy and strife.?

   At this point he prepares himself to wrestle with those whose part was
   obedience: for in what went before he hath been casting down the rulers
   of the Church, where he said that wisdom of speech is nothing worth.
   But here he strikes at those in subjection, in the words,

   Ver. 4. ?For when one saith, I am Paul, and I of Apollos, are ye not
   carnal??

   And he points out that this, so far from helping them at all or causing
   them to acquire any thing, had even become an obstacle to their
   profiting in the greater things. For this it was which brought forth
   jealousy, and jealousy had made them ?carnal;? and the having become
   ?carnal? left them not at liberty to hear truths of the sublimer sort.

   Ver. 5. ?Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos??

   In this way, after producing and proving his facts, he makes his
   accusation henceforth more openly. Moreover, he employs his own name,
   doing away all harshness and not suffering them to be angry at what it
   is said. For if Paul is nothing and murmur not, much less ought they to
   think themselves ill used. Two ways, you see, he has of soothing them;
   first by bringing forward his own person, then by not robbing them of
   all as if they contributed nothing. Rather he allows them some small
   portion:  small though it be, he does allow it. For having said, ?Who
   is Paul, and who Apollos,? he adds, ?but ministers by whom ye
   believed.? Now this in itself is a great thing, and deserving of great
   rewards:  although in regard of the archetype and the root of all good,
   it is nothing. (For not he that ?ministers? to our blessings, but he
   that provides and gives them, he is our Benefactor.) And he said not,
   ?Evangelists,? but ?Ministers,? which is more. For they had not merely
   preached the Gospel, but had also ministered unto us; the one being a
   matter of word only, while the other hath deed also. And so, if even
   Christ be a minister only of good things, and not the root Himself and
   the fountain, (I mean, of course, in that He is a Son,) observe to what
   an issue this matter is brought. (pou to pragma katagetai. ?how deep
   and high it is made to go.?)  How then, you will ask, doth he say that
   He ?was made a Minister of Circumcision? (Rom. xv. 8.) He is speaking
   in that place of His secret dispensation in the Flesh, and not in the
   same sense which we have now mentioned. For there, by ?Minister,? he
   means ?Fulfiller,? (pleroten, i.e. of types), and not one that of his
   own store gives out the blessings.

   Further, he said not, ?Those who guide you into the Faith,? but ?those
   by whom ye believed;? again attributing the greater share to
   themselves, and indicating by this also the subordinate class of
   ministers (tous diakonous kanteuthen delon). Now if they were
   ministering to another, how come they to seize the authority for
   themselves? But I would have you consider how in no wise he lays the
   blame on them as seizing it for themselves, but on those who endow them
   with it. For the ground-work of the error lay in the multitude; since,
   had the one fallen away, the other would have been broken up. Here are
   two points which he has skilfully provided for: in that first he hath
   prepared, as by mining (huporuxas,) in the quarter where it was
   necessary to overthrow the mischief; and next, on their side, in not
   attracting ill-will, nor yet making them more contentious.

   Ver. 5. ?Even as Christ (ho Kurios, rec. text.) gave to every man.?

   For not even this small thing itself was of themselves, but of God, who
   put it into their hands. For lest they might say, What then? are we not
   to love those that minister unto us? Yea, saith he; but you should know
   to what extent. For not even this thing itself is of them, but of God
   who gave it.

   Ver. 6. ?I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.?

   That is, I first cast the word into the ground; but, in order that the
   seeds might not wither away through temptations, Apollos added his own
   part. But the whole was of God.

   [6.] Ver. 7. ?So then, neither is he that planteth any thing, neither
   he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.?

   Do you observe the manner in which he soothes them, so that they should
   not be too much irritated, on hearing, ?Who is this person,? and ?Who
   is that?? ?Nay, both are invidious, namely, both the saying, Who is
   this person? Who the other,'? and the saying, that ?neither he that
   planteth nor he that watereth is any thing.? How then does he soften
   these expressions? First, By attaching the contempt to his own person,
   ?Who is Paul, and who Apollos?? and next, by referring the whole to God
   who gave all things. For after he had said, ?Such a person planted,?
   and added, ?He that planteth is nothing,? he subjoined, ?but God that
   giveth the increase.? Nor does he stop even here, but applies again
   another healing clause, in the words.

   Ver. 8. ?He that planteth and he that watereth, are one.?

   For by means of this he establishes another point also, viz. that they
   should not be exalted one against another. His assertion, that they are
   one, refers to their inability to do any thing without ?God that giveth
   the increase.? And thus saying, he permitted not either those who
   labored much to lift themselves up against those who had contributed
   less; nor these again to envy the former. In the next place, since this
   had a tendency to make men more indolent, I mean, all being esteemed as
   one, whether they have labored much or little; observe how he sets this
   right, saying, ?But each shall receive his own reward according to his
   own labor.? As if he said, ?Fear not, because I said, Ye are one; for,
   compared with the work of God, they are one; howbeit, in regard to
   labors, they are not so, but ?each shall receive his own reward.?

   Then he smooths it still more, having succeeded in what he wished; and
   gratifies them, where it is allowed, with liberality.

   Ver. 9. For we are God's fellow-workers: ?ye are God's husbandry, God's
   building.?

   Seest thou how to them also he hath assigned no small work, having
   before laid it down that the whole is of God?  For since he is always
   persuading them to obey those that have the rule over them, on this
   account he abstains from making very light of their teachers.

   ?Ye are God's husbandry.?

   For because he had said, ?I planted,? he kept to the metaphor. Now if
   ye be God's husbandry, it is right that you should be called not from
   those who cultivate you, but from God. For the field is not called the
   husbandman's, but the householder's.

   ?Ye are God's building.?

   Again, the building is not the workman's, but the master's. Now if ye
   be a building, ye must not be forced asunder: since this were no
   building. If ye be a farm, ye must not be divided, but be walled in
   with a single fence, namely, unanimity.

   Ver. 10. ?According to the Grace of God which was given unto me, as a
   wise master-builder I laid a foundation.?

   In this place he calls himself wise, not exalting himself, but to give
   them an ensample, and to point out that this is a wise man's part, to
   lay a foundation. You may observe as one instance of his modest
   bearing, that in speaking of himself as wise, he allowed not this to
   stand as though it were something of his own; but first attributing
   himself entirely unto God, then and not till then calls himself by that
   name. For, ?according to the Grace of God,? saith he, ?which was given
   unto me.? Thus, at once he signifies both that the whole is of God; and
   that this most of all is Grace, viz. the not being divided, but resting
   on One Foundation.

   [7.] ?Another buildeth thereon; but let each man take heed how he
   buildeth thereon.?

   Here, I think, and in what follows, he puts them upon their trial
   concerning practice, after that he had once for all knit them together
   and made them one.

   Ver. 11. ?For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
   is Jesus Christ.?

   I say, no man can lay it so long as he is a master-builder; but if he
   lay it, (tithe conj. for tethe. Dounaeus ap. Savil. viii. not. p. 261.)
   he ceases to be a master-builder.

   See how even from men's common notions he proves the whole of his
   proposition. His meaning is this: ?I have preached Christ, I have
   delivered unto you the foundation. Take heed how you build thereon,
   lest haply it be in vainglory, lest haply so as to draw away the
   disciples unto men.? Let us not then give heed unto the heresies. ?For
   other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid.? Upon this
   then let us build, and as a foundation let us cleave to it, as a branch
   to a vine; and let there be no interval between us and Christ. For if
   there be any interval, immediately we perish. For the branch by its
   adherence draws in the fatness, and the building stands because it is
   cemented together. Since, if it stand apart it perishes, having nothing
   whereon to support itself. Let us not then merely keep hold of Christ,
   but let us be cemented to Him, for if we stand apart, we perish. ?For
   they who withdraw themselves far from Thee, shall perish;? (Ps. lxxiii.
   27. Sept.) so it is said. Let us cleave then unto Him, and let us
   cleave by our works. ?For he that keepeth my commandments, the same
   abideth in Me? (John xiv. 21. in substance.) And accordingly, there are
   many images whereby He brings us into union. Thus, if you mark it, He
   is ?the Head,? we are ?the body:? can there be any empty interval
   between the head and body? He is ?a Foundation,? we ?a building:? He ?a
   Vine,? we ?branches:? He ?the Bridegroom,? we ?the bride:? He ?the
   Shepherd,? we ?the sheep;? He is ?the Way,? we ?they who walk therein.?
   Again, we are ?a temple,? He ?the Indweller:? He ?the First-Begotten,?
   we ?the brethren:? He ?the Heir,? we ?the heirs together with Him:? He
   ?the Life,? we ?the living:? He ?the Resurrection,? we ?those who rise
   again:? He ?the Light,? we ?the enlightened.? All these things indicate
   unity; and they allow no void interval, not even the smallest. For he
   that removes but to a little distance will go on till he has become
   very far distant. For so the body, receiving though it be but a small
   cut by a sword, perishes: and the building, though there be but a small
   chink, falls to decay: and the branch, though it be but a little while
   cut off from the root, becomes useless. So that this trifle is no
   trifle, but is even almost the whole. Whensoever then we commit some
   little fault or even negligence, let us not overlook that little; since
   this, being disregarded, quickly becomes great. So also when a garment
   hath begun to be torn and is neglected, it is apt to prolong its rent
   all throughout; and a roof, when a few tiles have fallen, being
   disregarded, brings down the whole house.

   [8.] These things then let us bear in mind, and never slight the small
   things, lest we fall into those which are great. But if so be that we
   have slighted them and are come into the abyss of evils, not even when
   we are come there let us despond, lest we fall into recklessness
   (karebarian). For to emerge from thence is hard ever after, for one who
   is not extremely watchful; not because of the distance alone, but of
   the very position, too, wherein we find ourselves. For sin also is a
   deep, and is wont to bear down and crush. And just as those who have
   fallen into a well cannot with ease get out, but will want others to
   draw them up; so also is he that is come into any depth of sins. To
   such then we must lower ropes and draw them up. Nay rather, we need not
   others only, but ourselves also, that we for our part may fasten on
   ourselves and ascend, I say not so much as we have descended, but much
   further, if we be willing: for why? God also helpeth: for He willeth
   not the death of a sinner so much as his conversion. Let no one then
   despair; let no one have the feeling of the ungodly; for to them
   properly belongs this kind of sin:  ?an ungodly man having come into
   any depth of evils, makes light of it [51] .? So that it is not the
   multitude of men's sins which causes their despair, but their ungodly
   mind.

   Shouldest thou then have gone all lengths in wickedness, yet say unto
   thyself, God is loving unto men and he desires our salvation: for
   ?though your sins be as scarlet, I will whiten you as snow,? (Is. i.
   10. Sept.) saith He; and unto the contrary habit I will change you. Let
   us not therefore give up in despair; for to fall is not so grievous, as
   to lie where we have fallen; nor to be wounded so dreadful, as after
   wounds to refuse healing. ?For who shall boast that he has his heart
   chaste? or who shall say confidently that he is pure from sin?? (Prov.
   xx. 9. Sept.) These things I say not to make you more negligent, but to
   prevent your despairing.

   Wouldest thou know how good our Master is? The Publican went up full of
   ten thousand wickednesses, and saying only, ?Be merciful unto me,? went
   down justified. (St. Luke xviii. 13, 14.) Yea, God saith by the
   prophet, ?Because of sin for some little season I grieved him, (Is.
   lvii. 17, 18. Sept.) and I saw that (eidon dti not in Sept.) he was
   grieved and went sorrowful, and I healed his ways? (iasamen auton,
   Sept.) What is there equal to this loving-kindness? On condition (hina
   stugnase. See St. John viii. 56. hina ide ten hemeran) of his ?being
   but sorrowful,? so he speaks, ?I forgave him his sins.? But we do not
   even this:  wherefore we especially provoke God to wrath. (For he, who
   by little things even is made propitious, when He meets not with so
   much as these, is of course indignant and exacts of us the last
   penalty; for this comes of exceeding contempt.) Who is there, for
   instance, that hath ever become melancholy for his sins? Who hath
   bemoaned himself? Who hath beaten his breast? Who hath taken anxious
   thought? Not one, to my thinking. But days without number do men weep
   for dead servants; for the loss of money:  while as to the soul which
   we are ruining day by day, we give it not a thought. How then wilt thou
   be able to render God propitious, when thou knowest not even that thou
   hast sinned?

   ?Yea,? saith some one, ?I have sinned.? ?Yea,? is thy word to me with
   the tongue: say it to me with thy mind, and with the word mourn
   heavily, that thou mayest have continual cheerfulness. Since, if we did
   grieve for our sins, if we mourned heavily over our offences, nothing
   else could give us sorrow, this one pang would expel all kinds of
   dejection. Here then is another thing also which we should gain by our
   thorough confession; namely, the not being overwhelmed (baptizesthai)
   with the pains of the present life, nor puffed up with its splendors.
   And in this way, again, we should more entirely propitiate God; just as
   by our present conduct we provoke Him to anger. For tell me, if thou
   hast a servant, and he, after suffering much evil at the hands of his
   fellow-servants, takes no account of any one of the rest, but is only
   anxious not to provoke his master; is he not able by this alone to do
   away thine anger? But what, if his offenses against thee are no manner
   of care to him, while on those against his fellow-servants he is full
   of thought; wilt thou not lay on him the heavier punishment? So also
   God doeth: when we neglect His wrath, He brings it upon us more
   heavily; but when we regard it, more gently. Yea, rather, He lays it on
   us no more at all. He wills that we should exact vengeance of ourselves
   for our offences, and thenceforth He doth not exact it Himself. For
   this is why He at all threatens punishment; that by fear He may destroy
   contempt; and when the threat alone is sufficient to cause fear in us,
   He doth not suffer us to undergo the actual trial. See, for instance,
   what He saith unto Jeremiah, (Jer. vii. 17, 18. Sept. transposing the
   first and second clauses.) ?Seest thou not what they do? Their fathers
   light a fire, their children gather sticks together, their women knead
   dough.? It is to be feared lest the same kind of thing be said also
   concerning us. ?Seest thou not what they do? No one seeketh the things
   of Christ, but all their own. Their children run into uncleanness,
   their fathers into covetousness and rapine, their wives so far from
   keeping back their husbands from the pomps and vanities of life, do
   rather sharpen their appetites for them.? Just take your stand in the
   market place; question the comers and goers, and not one wilt thou see
   hastening upon a spiritual errand, but all running after carnal things.
   How long ere we awake from our surfeiting? How long are we to keep
   sinking down into deep slumber? Have we not had our fill of evils?

   [9.] And yet one might think that even without words experience itself
   is sufficient to teach you the nothingness of things present, and their
   utter meanness. At all events, there have been men, who, exercising
   mere heathen wisdom and knowing nothing of the future, because they had
   proved the great worthlessness of present things, have left them on
   this account alone. What pardon then canst thou expect to obtain,
   grovelling on the ground and not despising the little things and
   transient for the sake of the great and everlasting: who also hearest
   God Himself declaring and revealing these things unto thee, and hast
   such promises from Him? For that things here have no sufficient power
   to detain a man, those have shewn who even without any promise of
   things greater have kept away from them. For what wealth did they
   expect that they came to poverty? There was none. But it was from their
   knowing full well that such poverty is better than wealth. What sort of
   life did they hope for that they forsook luxury, and gave themselves up
   unto severe discipline? Not any. But they had become aware of the very
   nature of things; and perceived that this of the two is more suitable,
   both for the strict training of the soul, and for the health of the
   body.

   These things then duly estimating, and revolving with ourselves
   continually the future blessings, let us withdraw from this present
   world that we may obtain that other which is to come; through the favor
   and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father
   and the Holy Ghost &c., &c.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [49] ta prokeimena, a liturgical word; the Sacred Elements; vid. St.
   Basil's Liturgy, and St. Chrysostom's.

   [50] [The version of this sentence follows Dr. Field's text. C.]

   [51] [This is an exact quotation from the Sept. version of Prov. xviii.
   3.]
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily IX.

   1 Cor. iii. 12-15

   If any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, costly stones,
   wood, hay, stubble; each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day
   shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire shall
   prove each man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which
   he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be
   burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as
   through fire.

   This is no small subject of enquiry which we propose, but rather about
   things which are of the first necessity and which all men enquire
   about; namely, whether hell fire have any end. For that it hath no end
   Christ indeed declared when he said, ?Their fire shall not be quenched,
   and their worm shall not die.? [Mark viii. 44, 46, 48.]

   Well: I know that a chill comes over you (narkate) on hearing these
   things; but what am I to do? For this is God's own command, continually
   to sound these things in your ears, where He says, ?Charge this people;
   (Fors. Exod. xix. 10, 20. diamarturai, Sept. here diasteilai,) and
   ordained as we have been unto the ministry of the word, we must give
   pain to our hearers, not willingly but on compulsion. Nay rather, if
   you will, we shall avoid giving you pain. For saith He, (Rom. xiii. 3,
   in substance.) ?if thou do that which is good, fear not:? so that it is
   possible for you to hear me not only without ill-will, but even with
   pleasure.

   As I said then; that it hath no end, Christ has declared. Paul also
   saith, in pointing out the eternity of the punishment, that the sinners
   ?shall pay the penalty of destruction, and that for ever? (2 Thess. i.
   9.) And again, (1 Cor. vi. 9.) ?Be not deceived; neither fornicators.
   nor adulterers, nor effeminate, shall inherit the kingdom of God.? And
   also unto the Hebrews he saith, (Heb. xii. 14.) ?Follow peace with all
   men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord.?
   And Christ also, to those who said, ?In thy Name we have done many
   wonderful works,? saith, ?Depart from Me, I know you not, ye workers of
   iniquity? (St. Matt. vii. 22.) And the virgins too who were shut out,
   entered in no more. And also about those who gave Him no food, He
   saith, (St. Matt. xxv. 46.) ?They shall go away into everlasting
   punishment.?

   [2.] And say not unto me, ?where is the rule of justice preserved
   entire, if the punishment hath no end?? Rather, when God doeth any
   thing, obey His decisions and submit not what is said to human
   reasonings. But moreover, how can it be any thing else than just for
   one who hath experienced innumerable blessings from the beginning, and
   then committed deeds worthy of punishment, and neither by threat nor
   benefit improved at all, to suffer punishment? For if thou enquire what
   is absolute justice; it was meet that we should have perished
   immediately from the beginning, according to the definition of strict
   justice. Rather not even then according to the rule of justice only;
   for the result would have had in it kindness too, if we had suffered
   this also. For when any one insults him that hath done him no wrong,
   according to the rule of justice he suffers punishment: but when it is
   his benefactor, who, bound by no previous favor, bestowed innumerable
   kindnesses, who alone is the Author of his being, who is God, who
   breathed his soul into him, who gave ten thousand gifts of grace, whose
   will is to take him up into heaven;--when, I say, such an one, after so
   great blessings, is met by insult, daily insult, in the conduct of the
   other party; how can that other be thought worthy of pardon? Dost thou
   not see how He punished Adam for one single sin?

   ?Yes,? you will say; ?but He had given him Paradise and caused him to
   enjoy much favor.? Nay, surely it is not all as one, for a man to sin
   in the enjoyment of security and ease, and in a state of great
   affliction. In fact, this is the dreadful circumstance that thy sins
   are the sins of one not in any Paradise but amid the innumerable evils
   of this life; that thou art not sobered even by affliction, as though
   one in prison should still practise his crime. However, unto thee He
   hath promised things yet greater than Paradise. But neither hath He
   given them now, least He should unnerve thee in the season of
   conflicts; nor hath He been silent about them, lest He should quite
   cast thee down with thy labors. As for Adam, he committed but one sin
   and brought on himself certain death; whereas we commit ten thousand
   transgressions daily. Now if he by that one act brought on himself so
   great an evil and introduced death; what shall not we suffer who
   continually live in sins, and instead of Paradise, have the expectation
   of heaven?

   The argument is irksome and pains the hearer: were it only by my own
   feelings, I know this. For indeed my heart is troubled and throbs; and
   the more I see the account of hell confirmed, the more do I tremble and
   shrink through fear. But it is necessary to say these things lest we
   fall into hell. What thou didst receive was not paradise, nor trees and
   plants, but heaven and the good things in the heavens. Now if he that
   had received less was condemned, and no consideration exempted him,
   much more shall we who have sinned more abundantly, and have been
   called unto greater things, endure the woes without remedy.

   Consider, for example, how long a time, but for one single sin, our
   race abides in death. Five thousand years [52] and more have passed,
   and death hath not yet been done away, on account of one single sin.
   And we cannot even say that Adam had heard prophets, that he had seen
   others punished for sins, and it was meet that he should have been
   terrified thereby and corrected, were it only by the example. For he
   was at that time first, and alone; but nevertheless he was punished.
   But thou canst not have anything of this sort to advance, who after so
   many examples art become worse; to whom so excellent a Spirit hath been
   vouch-safed, and yet thou drawest upon thyself not one sin, nor two,
   nor three, but sins without number!  For do not, because the sin is
   committed in a small moment, calculate that therefore the punishment
   also must be a matter of a moment. Seest thou not those men, who for a
   single theft or a single act of adultery, committed in a small moment
   of time, oftentimes have spent their whole life in prisons, and in
   mines, struggling with continual hunger and every kind of death?  And
   there was no one to set them at liberty, or to say, ?The offence took
   place in a small moment of time; the punishment too should have its
   time equivalent to that of the sin.?

   [3.] But, ?They are men,? some one will say, ?who do these things; as
   for God, He is loving unto men.? Now, first of all, not even men do
   these things in cruelty, but in humanity. And God Himself, as ?He is
   loving unto men,? in the same character doth He punish sins. (Sirac.
   xvi. 12.) ?For as His mercy is great, so also is His reproof.? When
   therefore thou sayest unto me, ?God is loving unto men,? then thou
   tellest me of so much the greater reason for punishing: namely, our
   sinning against such a Being. Hence also Paul said, (Heb. x. 31.) ?It
   is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.? Endure I
   beseech you, the fiery force of the words, for perhaps--perhaps you
   will have some consolation from hence!  Who among men can punish as God
   has punished? when He caused a deluge and entire destruction of a race
   so numerous; and again, when, a little while after, He rained fire from
   above, and utterly destroyed them all? What punishment from men can be
   like that? Seest thou not that the punishment even in this world is
   almost eternal? Four thousand years have passed away, and the
   punishment of the Sodomites abideth at its height. For as His mercy is
   great, so also is His punishment.

   Again: if He had imposed any burdensome or impossible things, one might
   perhaps have been able to urge difficulty of the laws: but if they be
   extremely easy, what can we say for our not regarding even these?
   Suppose thou art unable to fast or to practice virginity; although thou
   art able if thou wilt, and they who have been able are a condemnation
   to us. But, however, God hath not used this strictness towards us;
   neither hath He enjoined these things nor laid them down as laws, but
   left the choice to be at the discretion of the hearers. Nevertheless,
   thou art able to be chaste in marriage; and thou art able to abstain
   from drunkenness. Art thou unable to empty thyself of all thy goods?
   Nay surely thou art able; and they who have done so prove it. But
   nevertheless He hath not enjoined this, but hath commanded not to be
   rapacious, and of our means to assist those who are in want. But if a
   man say, I cannot even be content with a wife only, he deceiveth
   himself and reasoneth falsely; and they condemn him who without a wife
   lives in chastity. But how, tell me, canst thou help using abusive
   words? canst thou not help cursing? Why, the doing these things is
   irksome, not the refraining from them. What excuse then have we for not
   observing precepts so easy and light? We cannot name any at all. That
   the punishment then is eternal is plain from all that hath been said.

   [4.] But since Paul's saying appears to some to tell the other way,
   come let us bring it forward also and search it out thoroughly. For
   having said, ?If any man's work abide which he hath built thereon, he
   shall receive a reward; and if any man's work shall be burned, he shall
   suffer loss,? he adds, ?but himself shall be saved, yet so as through
   fire.? What shall we say then to this?  Let us consider first what is
   ?the Foundation,? and what ?the gold,? and what ?the precious stones,?
   and what ?the hay,? and what the ?stubble.?

   ?The Foundation,? then, he hath himself plainly signified to be Christ,
   saying, ?For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
   which,? he saith ?is Jesus Christ.?

   Next, the building seems to me to be actions. Although some maintain
   that this also is spoken concerning teachers and disciples and
   concerning corrupt heresies: but the reasoning doth not admit it. For
   if this be it, in what sense, while ?the work is destroyed,? is the
   ?builder? to be ?saved,? though it be ?through fire?? Of right, the
   author ought rather of the two to perish; but now it will be found that
   the severer penalty is assigned to him who hath been built into the
   work. For if the teacher was the cause of the wickedness, he is worthy
   to suffer severer punishment: how then shall he be ?saved?? If, on the
   contrary, he was not the cause but the disciples became such through
   their own perverseness, he is no whit deserving of punishment, no, nor
   yet of sustaining loss: he, I say, who builded so well. In what sense
   then doth he say, ?he shall suffer loss??

   From this it is plain that the discourse is about actions. For since he
   means next in course to put out his strength against the man who had
   committed fornication, he begins high up and long beforehand to lay
   down the preliminaries. For he knew how while discussing one subject,
   in the very discourse about that thing to prepare the grounds of
   another to which he intends to pass on. For so in his rebuke for not
   awaiting one another at their meals, he laid the grounds of his
   discourse concerning the mysteries. And also because now he is
   hastening on towards the fornicator, while speaking about the
   ?Foundation,? he adds, ?Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God? and
   that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man destroy (Phtheire,
   rec. version, ?defile.?) the Temple of God, him will God destroy.? Now
   these things, he said, as beginning now to agitate with fears the soul
   of him that had been unchaste.

   [5.] Ver. 12. ?If any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver,
   costly stones, wood, hay, stubble.? For after the faith there is need
   of edification:  and therefore he saith elsewhere, ?Edify one another
   with these words.? (perhaps 1 Thes. v. 11; iv. 5.)  For both the
   artificer and the learner contribute to the edifying. Wherefore he
   saith, ?But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.? (1 Cor.
   iii. 10.) But if faith had been the subject of these sayings, the thing
   affirmed is not reasonable. For in the faith all ought to be equal,
   since ?there is but one faith;? (Ephes. iv. 5.) but in goodness of life
   it is not possible that all should be the same. Because the faith is
   not in one case less, in another more excellent, but the same in all
   those who truly believe. But in life there is room for some to be more
   diligent, others more slothful; some stricter, and others more
   ordinary; that some should have done well in greater things, others in
   less; that the errors of some should have been more grievous, of others
   less notable. On this account he saith, ?Gold, silver, costly stones,
   wood, hay, stubble,--every man's work shall be made manifest:?--his
   conduct; that is what he speaks of here:--?If any man's work abide
   which he built thereupon, he shall receive a reward; if any man's work
   shall be burned, he shall suffer loss.? Whereas, if the saying related
   to disciples and teachers, he ought not to ?suffer loss? for disciples
   refusing to hear. And therefore he saith, ?Every man shall receive his
   own reward according to his own labor? not according to the result, but
   according to ?the labor.? For what if the hearers gave no heed?
   Wherefore this passage also proves that the saying is about actions.

   Now his meaning is this: If any man have an ill life with a right
   faith, his faith shall not shelter him from punishment, his work being
   burnt up. The phrase, ?shall be burned up,? means, ?shall not endure
   the violence of the fire.? But just as if a man having golden armor on
   were to pass through a river of fire, he comes from crossing it all the
   brighter; but if he were to pass through it with hay, so far from
   profiting, he destroys himself besides; so also is the case in regard
   of men's works. For he doth not say this as if he were discoursing of
   material things being burnt up, but with a view of making their fear
   more intense, and of shewing how naked of all defence he is who abides
   in wickedness. Wherefore he said, ?He shall suffer loss:? lo, here is
   one punishment: ?but he himself shall be saved, but so as by fire;? lo,
   again, here is a second. And his meaning is, ?He himself shall not
   perish in the same way as his works, passing into nought, but he shall
   abide in the fire. [53]

   [6.] ?He calleth it, however, ?Salvation,? you will say; why, that is
   the cause of his adding, ?so as by fire:? since we also used to say,
   ?It is preserved in the fire,? when we speak of those substances which
   do not immediately burn up and become ashes. For do not at sound of the
   word fire imagine that those who are burning pass into annihilation.
   And though he call such punishment Salvation, be not astonished. For
   his custom is in things which have an ill sound to use fair
   expressions, and in good things the contrary. For example, the word
   ?Captivity? seems to be the name of an evil thing, but Paul has applied
   it in a good sense, when he says, ?Bringing into captivity every
   thought to the obedience of Christ.? (2 Cor. x. 5.) And again, to an
   evil thing he hath applied a good word, saying, ?Sin reigned,? (Rom. v.
   21.) here surely the term ?reigning? is rather of auspicious sound. And
   so here in saying, ?he shall be saved,? he hath but darkly hinted at
   the intensity of the penalty: as if he had said, ?But himself shall
   remain forever in punishment.? He then makes an inference, saying,

   [7.] Ver. 16. ?Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God?? For since he
   had discoursed in the section before, concerning those who were
   dividing the Church, he thenceforward attacks him also who had been
   guilty of uncleanness; not indeed as yet in plain terms but in a
   general way; hinting at his corrupt mode of life and enhancing the sin,
   by the Gift which had been already given to him. Then also he puts all
   the rest to shame, arguing from these very blessings which they had
   already:  for this is what he is ever doing, either from the future or
   from the past, whether grievous or encouraging. First, from things
   future; ?For the day shall declare it, because it is revealed by fire.?
   Again, from things already come to pass; ?Know ye not that ye are the
   Temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you??

   Ver. 17. ?If any man destroy the Temple of God, him will God destroy.?
   Dost thou mark the sweeping vehemence of his words? However, so long as
   the person is unknown, what is spoken is not so invidious, all dividing
   among themselves the fear of rebuke.

   ?Him will God destroy,? that is, will cause him to perish. And this is
   not the word of one denouncing a curse, but of one that prophesieth.

   ?For the Temple of God is holy:? but he that hath committed fornication
   is profane.

   Then, in order that he might not seem to spend his earnestness upon
   that one, in saying, ?for the Temple of God is holy,? he addeth, ?which
   ye are.?

   [8.] Ver. 18. ?Let no man deceive himself.? This also is in reference
   to that person, as thinking himself to be somewhat and flattering
   himself on wisdom. But that he might not seem to press on him at great
   length in a mere digression; he first throws him into a kind of agony
   and delivers him over unto fear, and then brings back his discourse to
   the common fault, saying, ?If any man among you seemeth to be wise in
   this world, let him become a fool, that he may become (genetai. rec.
   vers. ?be.?) wise.? And this [54] he doth afterwards with great
   boldness of speech, as having sufficiently beaten them down [55] , and
   shaken with that fear the mind not of that unclean person only, but of
   all the hearers also: so accurately does he measure the reach of what
   he has to say. For what if a man be rich, what if he be noble; he is
   viler than all the vile, when made captive by sin. For as if a man were
   a king and enslaved to barbarians, he is of all men most wretched, so
   also is it in regard to sin: since sin is a barbarian, and the soul
   which hath been once taken captive she knoweth not how to spare, but
   plays the tyrant to the ruin of all those who admit her.

   [9.] For nothing is so inconsiderate as sin: nothing so senseless, so
   utterly foolish and outrageous. All is overturned and confounded and
   destroyed by it, wheresoever it may alight. Unsightly to behold,
   disgusting and grievous. And should a painter draw her picture [56] ,
   he would not, methinks, err in fashioning her after this sort. A woman
   with the form of a beast, savage, breathing flames, hideous, black;
   such as the heathen poets depict their Scyllas. For with ten thousand
   hands she lays hold of our thoughts, and comes on unexpected, and tears
   everything in pieces, like those dogs that bite slily.

   But rather, what need of the painter's art, when we should rather bring
   forward those who are made after sin's likeness?

   Whom then will ye that we should portray first?  The covetous and
   rapacious? And what more shameless than those eyes? What more immodest,
   more like a greedy dog? For no dog keeps his ground with such shameless
   impudence as he when he is grasping at all men's goods. What more
   polluted than those hands? What more audacious than that mouth,
   swallowing all down and not satisfied? Nay, look not on the countenance
   and the eyes as being a man's. For such looks belong not to the eyes of
   men. He seeth not men as men; he seeth not the heaven as heaven. He
   does not even lift up his head unto the Lord; but all is money in his
   account. The eyes of men are wont to look upon poor persons in
   affliction, and to be softened; but these of the rapacious man, at
   sight of the poor, glare like wild beasts'. The eyes of men do not
   behold other men's goods as if they were their own, but rather their
   own as others; and they covet not the things given to others, but
   rather exhaust upon others their own means: but these are not content
   unless they take all men's property. For it is not a man's eye which
   they have, but a wild beast's. The eyes of men endure not to see their
   own body stripped of clothing, (for it is their own, though in person
   it belong to others,) but these, unless they strip every one and lodge
   all men's property in their own home, are never cloyed; yea rather they
   never have enough. Insomuch that one might say that their hands are not
   wild beasts' only, but even far more savage and cruel than these. For
   bears and wolves when they are satiated leave off their kind of
   eating:  but these know not any satiety. And yet for this cause God
   made us hands, to assist others, not to plot against them. And if we
   were to use them for that purpose, better had they been cut off and we
   left without them. But thou, if a wild beast rend a sheep, art grieved;
   but when doing the same unto one of thine own flesh and blood, thinkest
   thou that thy deed is nothing atrocious? How then canst thou be a man?
   Seest thou not that we call a thing humane, when it is full of mercy
   and loving-kindness? But when a man doth any thing cruel or savage,
   inhuman is the title we give to such a one. You see then that the stamp
   of man as we portray him is his showing mercy; of a beast the contrary;
   according to constant saying, ?Why, is a man a wild beast, or a dog??
   (vid. 2 Kings viii. 13.) For men relieve poverty; they do not aggravate
   it. Again these men's mouths are the mouths of wild beasts; yea rather
   these are the fiercer of the two. For the words also, which they utter,
   emit poison, more than the wild beasts' teeth, working slaughter. And
   if one were to go through all particulars, one should then see clearly
   how inhumanity turns those who practise it from men into beasts.

   [10.] But were he to search out the mind also of that sort of people,
   he would no longer call them beasts only, but demons. For first, they
   are full of great cruelty and of hatred against their ?fellow-servant:
   (St. Matt. xviii. 33.) and neither is love of the kingdom there, nor
   fear of hell; no reverence for men, no pity, no sympathy: but
   shamelessness and audacity, and contempt of all things to come. And
   unto them the words of God concerning punishment seem to be a fable,
   and His threats mirth. For such is the mind of the covetous man. Since
   then within they are demons, and without, wild beasts; yea, worse than
   wild beasts; where are we to place such as they are? For that they are
   worse even than wild beasts, is plain from this. The beasts are such as
   they are by nature: but these, endowed by nature with gentleness,
   forcibly strive against nature to train themselves to that which is
   savage. The demons too have the plotters among men to help them, to
   such an extent that if they had no such aid, the greater part of their
   wiles against us would be done away: but these, when such as they have
   spitefully entreated are vying with them, still try to be more spiteful
   then they. Again, the devil wages war with man, not with the demons of
   his own kind: but he of whom we speak is urgent in all ways to do harm
   to his own kindred and family, and doth not even reverence nature.

   I know that many hate us because of these words; but I feel no hatred
   towards them; rather I pity and bewail those who are so disposed. Even
   should they choose to strike, I would gladly endure it, if they would
   but abstain from this their savage mind. For not I alone, but the
   prophet also with me, banisheth all such from the family of men saying,
   (Ps. xlix. 20. Sept. tois anoetois) ?Man being in honor hath no
   understanding, but is like unto the senseless beasts.?

   Let us then become men at last, and let us look up unto heaven; and
   that which is according to His image, (Colos. iii. 10.) let us receive
   and recover: that we may obtain also the blessings to come through the
   grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the
   Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always, and
   unto everlasting ages. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [52] According to the reckoning of the LXX, in Gen. 5. which adding 100
   years to the five first generations, and also to the seventh, and
   making some slight difference in the lives of Methuselah and Lamech,
   brings the date of the flood to A.M. 2242, and that of our Lord's birth
   to 5500.

   [53] [Few accept this singular explanation. The common view of the
   clause is that it means that the man is saved, but as if through the
   very flames, i.e., with the greatest difficulty. 1 Pet. iv. 18. C.]

   [54] i.e. ?reproving them for their common fault.?

   [55] From this to the end of the sentence is not in Benedictine, but in
   Savile's margin, evidently from some ms. It seems to complete the
   connection of the sentences. [But Dr. Field omits it.]

   [56] Compare G. Herbert, Remains, p. 110. ed. 1824.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily X.

   1 Cor. iii. 18, 19

   Let no man deceive himself. If any man (enhumin omitted.) thinketh that
   he is wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become
   wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

   As I said before, having launched out before the proper time into
   accusation of the fornicator, and having half opened it obscurely in a
   few words, and made the man's conscience to quail, he hastens again to
   the battle with heathen wisdom, and to his accusations of those who
   were puffed up there-with, and who were dividing the Church: in order
   that having added what remained and completed the whole topic with
   accuracy, he might thenceforth suffer his tongue to be carried away
   with vehement impulse against the unclean person, having had but a
   preliminary skirmishing with him in what he had said before. For this,
   ?Let no man deceive himself,? is the expression of one aiming chiefly
   at him and quelling him beforehand by fear: and the saying about the
   ?stubble,? suits best with one hinting at him. And so does the phrase,
   ?Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and the Spirit of God
   dwelleth in you?? For these two things are most apt to withdraw us from
   sin; when we have in mind the punishment appointed for the sin; and
   when we reckon up the amount of our true dignity. By bringing forward
   then ?the hay? and ?the stubble,? he terrifies; but by speaking of the
   dignity of that noble birth which was theirs, he puts them to shame; by
   the former striving to amend the more insensible kind, by the latter
   the more considerate.

   [2.] ?Let no man deceive himself; if any man thinketh that he is wise
   in this world, let him become a fool.?

   As he bids one become, as it were, dead unto the world;--and this
   deadness harms not at all, but rather profits, being made a cause of
   life:--so also he bids him become foolish unto this world, introducing
   to us hereby the true wisdom. Now he becomes a fool unto the world, who
   slights the wisdom from without, and is persuaded that it contributes
   nothing towards his comprehension of the faith. As then that poverty
   which is according to God is the cause of wealth, and lowliness, of
   exaltation, and to despise glory is the cause of glory; so also the
   becoming a fool maketh a man wiser than all. For all, with us, goes by
   contraries.

   Further: why said he not, ?Let him put off wisdom,? but, ?Let him
   become a fool?? That he might most exceedingly disparage the heathen
   instruction. For it was not the same thing to say, ?Lay aside thy
   wisdom,? and, ?become a fool.? And besides, he is also training people
   not to be ashamed at the want of refinement among us; for he quite
   laughs to scorn all heathen things. And for the same sort of reason he
   shrinks not from the names, trusting as he does to the power of the
   things [which he speaks of].

   Wherefore, as the Cross, though counted ignominious, became the author
   of innumerable blessings, and the foundation and root of glory
   unspeakable; so also that which was accounted to be foolishness became
   unto us the cause of wisdom. For as he who hath learned anything ill,
   unless he put away the whole, and make his soul level and clear, and so
   offer it to him who is to write on it, will know no wholesome truth for
   certain; so also in regard of the wisdom from without. Unless thou turn
   out the whole and sweep thy mind clear, and like one that is ignorant
   yield up thyself unto the faith, thou wilt know accurately nothing
   excellent. For so those also who see imperfectly if they will not shut
   their eyes and commit themselves unto others, but will be trusting
   their own matters to their own faulty eyesight, they will commit many
   more mistakes than those who see not.

   But how, you will say, are men to put off this wisdom? By not acting on
   its precepts.

   [3.] Then, seeing that he bade men so urgently withdraw themselves from
   it, he adds the cause, saying, ?For the wisdom of this world is
   foolishness with God.? For not only it contributes nothing, but it even
   hinders. We must then withdraw ourselves from it, as doing harm. Dost
   thou mark with what a high hand he carries off the spoils of victory,
   having proved that so far from profiting us at all, it is even an
   opponent?

   And he is not content with his own arguments, but he has also adduced
   testimony again, saying, ?For it is written, (Job v. 13.) He taketh the
   wise in their own craftiness.? By ?craftiness,? i.e. by their own arms
   getting the better of them. For seeing that they made use of their
   wisdom to the doing away of all need of God, by it and no other thing
   He refuted them, shewing that they were specially in need of God. How
   and by what method? Because having by it become fools, by it, as was
   meet, they were taken. For they who supposed that they needed not God,
   were reduced to so great a strait as to appear inferior to fishermen
   and unlettered persons; and from that time forth to be unable to do
   without them. Wherefore he saith, ?In their own craftiness? He took
   them. For the saying ?I will destroy their wisdom,? was spoken in
   regard to its introducing nothing useful; but this, ?who taketh the
   wise in their own craftiness, with a view of shewing the power of God.?

   Next, he declares also the mode in which God took them, adding another
   testimony:

   Ver. 20. ?For the Lord,? saith he, ?knoweth the reasonings of men (Ps.
   xciv. 11. anthropon Sept.) that they are vain.? Now when the Wisdom
   which is boundless pronounces this edict concerning them, and declares
   them to be such, what other proof dost thou seek of their extreme
   folly? For men's judgments, it is true, in many instances fail; but the
   decree of God is unexceptionable and uncorrupt in every case.

   [4.] Thus having set up so splendid a trophy of the judgment from on
   high, he employs in what follows a certain vehemence of style, turning
   it against those who were under his ministry, (archomenous) and
   speaking thus:

   Ver. 21. ?Wherefore let no man glory in men; for all things are yours.?
   He comes again to the former topic, pointing out that not even for
   their spiritual things ought they to be highminded, as having nothing
   of themselves. ?Since then the wisdom from without is hurtful, and the
   spiritual gifts were not given by you, what hast thou wherein to
   boast?? And in regard to the wisdom from without, ?Let no man deceive
   himself,? saith he, because they were conceited about a thing which in
   truth did more harm than good. But here, inasmuch as the thing spoken
   of was really advantageous, ?Let no man glory.? And he orders his
   speech more gently: ?for all things are yours.?

   Ver. 22. ?Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life,
   or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours; and ye
   are Christ's and Christ is God's.? For because he had handled them
   sharply, he refreshes them again. And as above he had said, (1 Cor.
   iii. 9.) ?We are fellow-workers with God;? and by many other
   expressions had soothed them: so here too he saith, ?All things are
   yours;? taking down the pride of the teachers, and signifying that so
   far from bestowing any favor on them, they themselves ought to be
   grateful to the others. Since for their sake they were made such as
   they were, yea, moreover, had received grace. But seeing that these
   also were sure to boast, on this account he cuts out beforehand this
   disease too, saying, ?As God gave to every man,? (Supr. vi. 5. 6.) and,
   ?God gave the increase:? to the end that neither the one party might be
   puffed up as bestowers of good; nor the others, on their hearing a
   second time, ?All things are yours,? be again elated. ?For, indeed,
   though it were for your sakes, yet the whole was God's doing.? And I
   wish you to observe how he hath kept on throughout, making suppositions
   in his own name and that of Peter.

   But what is, ?or death?? That even though they die, for your sakes they
   die, encountering dangers for your salvation. Dost thou mark how he
   again takes down the high spirit of the disciples, and raises the
   spirit of the teachers? In fact, he talks with them as with children of
   high birth, who have preceptors, and who are to be heirs of all.

   We may say also, in another sense, that both the death of Adam was for
   our sakes, that we might be corrected; and the death of Christ, that we
   might be saved.

   ?And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.? In one sense ?we are
   Christ's,? and in another sense ?Christ is God's,? and in a third sense
   is ?the world ours.? For we indeed are Christ's, as his work: ?Christ
   is God's,? as a genuine Offspring, not as a work: in which sense
   neither is the world ours. So that though the saying is the same, yet
   the meaning is different. For ?the world is ours,? as being a thing
   made for our sakes: but ?Christ is God's,? as having Him the Author of
   his being, in that He is Father. And ?we are Christ's,? as having been
   formed by Him. Now ?if they are yours,? saith he, ?why have ye done
   what is just contrary to this, in calling yourselves after their name,
   and not after Christ, and God??

   [5.] C. iv. ver. 1. ?Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of
   Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.? After he had cast down
   their spirit, mark how again he refreshes it, saying, ?as ministers of
   Christ.? Do not thou then, letting go the Master, receive a name from
   the servants and ministers. ?Stewards;? saith he, indicating that we
   ought not to give these things unto all, but unto whom it is due, and
   to whom it is fitting we should minister.

   Ver. 2. ?Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found
   faithful:? that is, that he do not appropriate to himself his master's
   goods, that he do not as a master lay claim for himself but administer
   as a steward. For a steward's part is to administer well the things
   committed to his charge: not to say that his master's things are his
   own; but, on the contrary, that his own are his master's. Let every one
   think on these things, both he that hath power in speech and he that
   possesses wealth, namely, that he hath been entrusted with a master's
   goods and that they are not his own; let him not keep them with
   himself, nor set them down to his own account; but let him impute them
   unto God who gave them all. Wouldest thou see faithful stewards? Hear
   what saith Peter, ?Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own
   power or godliness we had made this man to walk?? (Acts iii. 12.) Unto
   [57] Cornelius also he saith, ?We also are men of like passions with
   you:? and unto Christ Himself, ?Lo, we have left all, and followed
   Thee.? (St. Matt. xix. 27.) And Paul, no less, when he had said, ?I
   labored more abundantly than they all,? (1 Cor. xv. 10.) added, ?yet
   not I, but the grace of God which was with me.? Elsewhere also, setting
   himself strongly against the same persons, he said, ?For what hast thou
   which thou didst not receive?? (C. iv. 7.) ?For thou hast nothing of
   thine own, neither wealth, nor speech, nor life itself; for this also
   is surely the Lord's. Wherefore, when necessity calls, do thou lay down
   this also. But if thou doatest on life, and being ordered to lay it
   down refusest, thou art no longer a faithful steward.?

   ?And how is it possible, when God calls, to resist?? Well, that is just
   what I say too: and on this account do I chiefly admire the
   loving-kindness of God, that the things which He is able, even against
   thy will, to take from thee, these He willeth not to be paid in
   (eisenechthenai) by thee unwillingly, that thou mayest have a reward
   besides. For instance, He can take away life without thy consent; but
   His will is to do so with thy consent, that thou mayest say with Paul,
   ?I die daily,? (1 Cor. xv. 31.) He can take away thy glory without thy
   consent, and bring thee low: but He will have it from thee with thine
   own goodwill, that thou mayest have a recompense. He can make thee
   poor, though unwilling, but He will have thee willingly become such,
   that He may weave crowns for thee. Seest thou God's mercy to man? Seest
   thou our own brutish stupidity?

   What if thou art come to great dignity, and hast at any time obtained
   some office of Church government? Be not high-minded. Thou hast not
   acquired the glory, but God hath put it on thee. As if it were
   another's, therefore, use it sparingly; neither abusing it nor using it
   upon unsuitable things, nor puffed up, nor appropriating it unto
   thyself; but esteem thyself to be poor and inglorious. For
   never,--hadst thou been entrusted with a king's purple to keep,--never
   would it have become thee to abuse the robe and spoil it, but with the
   more exactness to keep it for the giver. Is utterance given thee? Be
   not puffed up; be not arrogant; for the gracious gift is not thine. Be
   not grudging about thy Master's good, but distribute them among thy
   fellow-servants; and neither be thou elated with these things as if
   they were thine own, nor be sparing as to the distribution of them.
   Again, if thou hast children, they are God's which thou hast. If such
   be thy thought, thou wilt both be thankful for having them, and if
   bereft thou wilt not take it hard. Such was Job when he said, (Job i.
   21) ?The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away.?

   For we have all things from Christ. Both existence itself we have
   through Him, and life, and breath, and light, and air, and earth. And
   if He were to exclude us from any one of these, we are lost and undone.
   For (1 S. Pet. ii. 11.) ?we are sojourners and pilgrims.? And all this
   about ?mine,? and ?thine,? is bare words only, and doth not stand for
   things. For if thou do but say the house is thine, it is a word without
   a reality: since the very air, earth, matter, are the Creator's; and so
   art thou too thyself, who hast framed it; and all other things also.
   But supposing the use to be thine, even this is uncertain, not on
   account of death alone, but also before death, because of the
   instability of things.

   [6.] These things then continually picturing to ourselves, let us lead
   strict lives; and we shall gain two of the greatest advantages. For
   first, we shall be thankful both when we have and when we are bereaved;
   and we shall not be enslaved to things which are fleeting by, and
   things not our own. For whether it be wealth that He taketh, He hath
   taken but His own; or honor, or glory, or the body, or the life itself:
   be it that He taketh away thy son, it is not thy son that He hath
   taken, but His own servant. For thou formedst him not, but He made him.
   Thou didst but minister to his appearing; the whole was God's own work.
   Let us give thanks therefore that we have been counted worthy to be His
   ministers in this matter. But what? Wouldest thou have had him for
   ever? This again proves thee grudging, and ignorant that it was
   another's child which thou hadst, and not thine own. As therefore those
   who part resignedly are but aware that they have what was not theirs;
   so whoever gives way to grief is in fact counting the King's property
   his own. For, if we are not our own, how can they be ours? I say, we:
   for in two ways we are His, both on account of our creation, and also
   on account of the faith. Wherefore David saith, ?My substance is with
   Thee:? (Ps. xxxix. 7. hupostasis Sept. ?hope? rec. vers. of. ver. 6;
   Ps. cxxxix. 14.) and Paul too, ?For in Him we live and move and have
   our being:? (Acts xvii. 28.) and plying the argument about the faith,
   he says, (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.) ?Ye are not your own,? and ?ye were
   bought with a price.? For all things are God's. When then He calls and
   chooses to take, let us not, like grudging servants, fly from the
   reckoning, nor purloin our Master's goods. Thy soul is not thine; and
   how can thy wealth be thine? How is it then that thou spendest on what
   is unnecessary the things which are not thine? Knowest thou not that
   for this we are soon to be put on our trial, that is, if we have used
   them badly? But seeing that they are not our's but our Master's, it
   were right to expend them upon our fellow-servants. It is worth
   considering that the omission of this was the charge brought against
   that rich man: and against those also who had not given food to the
   Lord. (St. Luke xiv. 21. St. Matt. xxv. 42.)

   [7.] Say not then, ?I am but spending mine own, and of mine own I live
   delicately.? It is not of thine own, but of other men's. Other men's, I
   say, because such is thine own choice: for God's will is that those
   things should be thine, which have been entrusted unto thee on behalf
   of thy brethren. Now the things which are not thine own become thine,
   if thou spend them upon others: but if thou spend on thyself
   unsparingly, thine own things become no longer thine. For since thou
   usest them cruelly, and sayest, ?That my own things should be
   altogether spent on my own enjoyment is fair:? therefore I call them
   not thine own. For they are common to thee and thy fellow-servants;
   just as the sun is common, the air, the earth, and all the rest. For as
   in the case of the body, each ministration belongs both to the whole
   body and to each several member; but when it is applied to one single
   member only, it destroys the proper function of that very member: so
   also it comes to pass in the case of wealth. And that what I say may be
   made plainer; the food of the body which is given in common to the
   members, should it pass into one member, even to that it turns out
   alien in the end. For when it cannot be digested nor afford
   nourishment, even to that part, I say, it turns out alien. But if it be
   made common, both that part and all the rest have it as their own.

   So also in regard of wealth. If you enjoy it alone, you too have lost
   it: for you will not reap its reward. But if you possess it jointly
   with the rest, then will it be more your own, and then will you reap
   the benefit of it. Seest thou not that the hands minister, and the
   mouth softens, and the stomach receives? Doth the stomach say, Since I
   have received, I ought to keep it all? Then do not thou I pray, in
   regard to riches, use this language. For it belongs to the receiver to
   impart. As then it is a vice in the stomach to retain the food and not
   to distribute it, (for it is injurious to the whole body,) so it is a
   vice in those that are rich to keep to themselves what they have. For
   this destroys both themselves and others. Again, the eye receives all
   the light: but it doth not itself alone retain it, but enlightens the
   entire body. For it is not its nature to keep it to itself, so long as
   it is an eye. Again, the nostrils are sensible of perfume; but they do
   not keep it all to themselves, but transmit it to the brain, and affect
   the stomach with a sweet savor, and by their means refresh the entire
   man. The feet alone walk; but they move not away themselves only, but
   transfer also the whole body. In like manner do thou, whatsoever thou
   hast been entrusted withal, keep it not to thyself alone, since thou
   art doing harm to the whole and to thyself more than all.

   And not in the case of the limbs only may one see this occuring: for
   the smith also, if he chose to impart of his craft to no one, ruins
   both himself and all other crafts. Likewise the cordwainer, the
   husbandman, the baker, and everyone of those who pursue any necessary
   calling; if he chose not to communicate to anyone of the results of his
   art, will ruin not the others only but himself also with them.

   And why do I say, ?the rich?? For the poor too, if they followed after
   the wickedness of you who are covetous and rich, would injure you very
   greatly and soon make you poor; yea rather, they would quite destroy
   you, were they in your want unwilling to impart of their own: the
   tiller of the ground, (for instance,) of the labor of his hands; the
   sailor, of the gain from his voyages; the soldier, of his distinction
   won in the wars.

   Wherefore if nothing else can, yet let this at least put you to shame,
   and do you imitate their benevolence. Dost thou impart none of thy
   wealth unto any? Then shouldest thou not receive any thing from
   another: in which case, the world will be turned upside down. For in
   every thing to give and receive is the principle of numerous blessings:
   in seeds, in scholars, in arts. For if any one desire to keep his art
   to himself, he subverts both himself and the whole course of things.
   And the husbandman, if he bury and keep the seeds in his house, will
   bring about a grievous famine. So also the rich man, if he act thus in
   regard of his wealth, will destroy himself before the poor, heaping up
   the fire of hell more grievous upon his own head.

   [8.] Therefore as teachers, however many scholars they have, impart
   some of their lore unto each; so let thy possession be, many to whom
   thou hast done good. And let all say, ?such an one he freed from
   poverty, such an one from dangers. Such an one would have perished, had
   he not, next to the grace of God, enjoyed thy patronage. This man's
   disease thou didst cure, another thou didst rid of false accusation,
   another being a stranger you took in, another being naked you clothed.?
   Wealth inexhaustible and many treasures are not so good as such
   sayings. They draw all men's gaze more powerfully than your golden
   vestments, and horses, and slaves. For these make a man appear even
   odious: (phortikon, a conj. of Saville's for phortika) they cause him
   to be hated as a common foe; but the former proclaim him as a common
   father and benefactor. And, what is greatest of all, Favor from God
   waits on thee in every part of thy proceedings. What I mean is, let one
   man say, He helped to portion out my daughter: another, And he afforded
   my son the means of taking his station among men: (eis andras
   emphanenai) another, He made my calamity to cease: another, He
   delivered me from dangers. Better than golden crowns are words such as
   these, that a man should have in his city innumerable persons to
   proclaim his beneficence. Voices such as these are pleasanter far, and
   sweeter than the voices of the heralds marching before the archons; to
   be called saviour, benefactor, defender, (the very names of God;) and
   not, covetous, proud, insatiate, and mean. Let us not, I beseech you,
   let us not have a fancy for any of these titles, but the contrary. For
   if these, spoken on earth, make one so splendid and illustrious; when
   they are written in heaven, and God proclaims them on the day that
   shall come, think what renown, what splendor thou shalt enjoy!  Which
   may it be the lot of us all to obtain, through the grace and
   loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ; with Whom unto the Father and
   the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and unto
   everlasting ages. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [57] These words were addressed by St. Paul and St. Barnabas, to the
   men of Lystra when they were about to offer sacrifices to them. Acts.
   xiv. 15. [The words of Peter which Chrysostom seems to have had in mind
   were ?Stand up, I myself also am a man.? Acts x. 26.--C.]
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily XI.

   1 Cor. iv. 3, 4

   But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or
   of man's judgment: yea I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing
   against myself, yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me
   is the Lord.

   Together with all other ills, I know not how, there hath come upon
   man's nature the disease of restless prying and of unseasonable
   curiosity, which Christ Himself chastised, saying, (St. Matt. vii. 1.)
   ?Judge not, that ye be not judged.? A kind of thing, which hath no
   pleasure as all other sins have, but only punishment and vengeance. For
   though we are ourselves full of ten thousand evils, and bearing the
   ?beams? in our own eyes, we become exact inquisitors of the offences of
   our neighbor which are not at all bigger than ?motes.? And so this
   matter at Corinth was falling out. Religious men and dear to God were
   ridiculed and cast out for their want of learning; while others,
   brimful of evils innumerable, were classed highly because of their
   fluent speech. Then like persons sitting in public to try causes, these
   were the sort of votes they kept rashly passing: ?such an one is
   worthy: such an one is better than such another; this man is inferior
   to that; that, better than this.? And, leaving off to mourn for their
   own bad ways, they were become judges of others; and in this way again
   were kindling grievous warfare.

   Mark then, how wisely Paul corrects them, doing away with this disease.
   For since he had said, ?Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man
   be found faithful,? and it seemed as if he were giving them an opening
   to judge and pry into each man's life, and this was aggravating the
   party feeling; lest such should be the effect on them, he draws them
   away from that kind of petty disputation, saying, ?With me it is a very
   small thing that I should be judged of you;? again in his own person
   carrying on the discourse.

   [2.] But what means, ?With me it is a very small thing that I should be
   judged of you or of man's day?? (hemeras)  ?I judge myself unworthy,?
   saith he, ?of being judged by you.? And why say I, ?by you?? I will
   add, ?by (kai to [tou]) any one else.? Howbeit, let no one condemn Paul
   of arrogance; though he saith that no man is worthy to pass sentence
   concerning him. For first, he saith these things not for his own sake,
   but wishing to rescue others from the odium which they had incurred
   from the Corinthians. And in the next place, he limits not the matter
   to the Corinthians merely, but himself also he deposes from this right
   of judging; saying, that to decree such things was a matter beyond his
   decision. At least he adds, ?I judge not mine own self.?

   But besides what has been said, we must search out the ground upon
   which these expressions were uttered. For he knew well in many cases
   how to speak with high spirit: and that, not of pride or arrogance, but
   of a certain excellent management [oikonomias aristes] seeing that in
   the present case also he saith this, not as lifting up himself, but as
   taking down other men's sails, and earnestly seeking to invest the
   saints with due honor. For in proof that he was one of the very humble,
   hear what he saith, bringing forward the testimony of his enemies on
   this point; ?His bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account;
   (2 Cor. x. 10.) and again, ?Last of all, as to one born out of due
   time, He appeared unto me also.? (2 Cor. xv. 8.) But notwithstanding,
   see this lowly man, when the time called on him, to what a pitch he
   raises the spirit of the disciples, not teaching pride but instilling a
   wholesome courage. For with these same discoursing he saith, ?And if
   the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest
   matters? 1 Cor. vi. 2. For as the Christian ought to be far removed
   from arrogance, so also from flattery and a mean spirit. Thus, if any
   one says, ?I count money as nothing, but all things here are to me as a
   shadow, and a dream, and child's play;? we are not at all to charge him
   as arrogant; since in this way we shall have to accuse Solomon himself
   of arrogance, for speaking austerely (philosophounta) on these things,
   saying ?Vanity of vanities (Eccles. i. 2.) all is vanity.? But God
   forbid that we should call the strict rule of life by the name of
   arrogance. Wherefore to despise these things is not haughtiness, but
   greatness of soul; albeit we see kings, and rulers, and potentates,
   making much of them. But many a poor man, leading a strict life
   despises them; and we are not therefore to call him arrogant but
   highminded: just as, on the other hand, if any be extremely addicted to
   them, we do not call him lowly of heart and moderate, but weak, and
   poor spirited, and ignoble. For so, should a son despise the pursuits
   which become his father and affect slavish ways, we should not commend
   him as lowly of heart, but as base and servile we should reproach him.
   What we should admire in him would be, his despising those meaner
   things and making much account of what came to him from his father. For
   this is arrogance, to think one's self better than one's
   fellow-servants: but to pass the true sentence on things cometh not of
   boasting, but of strictness of life.

   On this account Paul also, not to exalt himself, but to humble others,
   and to keep down those who were rising up out of their places, and to
   persuade them to be modest, said, ?With me it is a very small thing
   that I should be judged of you or of man's day.? Observe how he soothes
   the other party also. For whosoever is told that he looks down on all
   alike, and deigns not to be judged of any one, will not thenceforth any
   more feel pain, as though himself were the only one excluded. For if he
   had said, ?Of you,? only, and so held his peace; this were enough to
   gall them as if treated contemptuously. But now, by introducing, ?nor
   yet of man's day,? he brought alleviation to the blow; giving them
   partners in the contempt. Nay, he even softens this point again,
   saying, ?not even do I judge myself.? Mark the expression, how entirely
   free from arrogance: in that not even he himself, he saith, is capable
   of so great exactness.

   [3.] Then because this saying also seemed to be that of one extolling
   himself greatly, this too he corrects, saying, ?Yet am I not hereby
   justified.? What then? Ought we not to judge ourselves and our own
   misdeeds? Yes surely:  there is great need to do this when we sin. But
   Paul said not this, ?For I know nothing,? saith he, ?against myself.?
   What misdeed then was he to judge, when he ?knew nothing against
   himself?? Yet, saith he, ?he was not justified.? (1 Cor. vi. 3.) We
   then who have our conscience filled with ten thousand wounds, and are
   conscious to ourselves of nothing good, but quite the contrary; what
   can we say?

   And how could it be, if he knew nothing against himself that he was not
   justified? Because it was possible for him to have committed certain
   sins, not however, knowing that they were sins. From this make thine
   estimate how great shall be the strictness of the future judgment. It
   is not, you see, as considering himself unblameable that he saith it is
   so unmeet for him to be judged by them, but to stop the mouths of those
   who were doing so unreasonably. At least in another place, even though
   men's sins be notorious, he permits not judgment unto others, because
   the occasion required it. ?For why dost thou judge thy brother,? saith
   he, (Rom. xiv. 10.) or, ?thou, why dost thou set at nought thy
   brother?? For thou wert not enjoined, O man, to judge others, but to
   test thine own doings. Why then dost thou seize upon the office of the
   Lord? Judgment is His, not thine.

   To which effect, he adds, ?Therefore judge nothing before the time,
   until the Lord come; who will both bring to light the hidden things of
   darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall
   each man have his praise from God.? What then? Is it not right that our
   teachers should do this? It is right in the case of open and confessed
   sins, and that with fitting opportunity, and even then with pain and
   inward vexation: not as these were acting at that time, of vain-glory
   and arrogance. For neither in this instance is he speaking of those
   sins which all own to be such, but about preferring one before another,
   and making comparisons of modes of life. For these things He alone
   knows how to judge with accuracy, who is to judge our secret doings,
   which of these be worthy of greater and which of less punishment and
   honor. But we do all this according to what meets our eye. ?For if in
   mine own errors,? saith he, ?I know nothing clearly, how can I be
   worthy to pass sentence on other men? And how shall I who know not my
   own case with accuracy, be able to judge the state of others?? Now if
   Paul felt this, much more we. For (to proceed) he spake these things,
   not to exhibit himself as faultless, but to shew that even should there
   be among them some such person, free from transgression, not even he
   would be worthy to judge the lives of others: and that if he, though
   conscious to himself of nothing declare himself guilty, much more they
   who have ten thousand sins to be conscious of in themselves.

   [4.] Having thus, you see, stopped the mouths of those who pass such
   sentences, he travails next with strong feeling ready to break out and
   come upon the unclean person. And like as when a storm is coming on,
   some clouds fraught with darkness run before it; afterwards, when the
   crash of the thunders ariseth and works the whole heavens into one
   black cloud, then all at once the rain bursts down upon the earth: so
   also did it then happen. For though he might in deep indignation have
   dealt with the fornicator, he doth not so; but with fearful words he
   first represses the swelling pride of the man, since in truth, what had
   occurred was a twofold sin, fornication, and, that which is worse than
   fornication, the not grieving over the sin committed. For not so much
   does he bewail the sin, as him that committed it and did not as yet
   repent. Thus, ?I shall bewail many of those,? saith he, not simply ?who
   have sinned heretofore,? but he adds, ?who have not repented of the
   uncleanness and impurity which they wrought.? (2 Cor. xii. 21.) For he
   who after sinning hath practised repentance, is a worthy object not of
   grief but of gratulations, having passed over into the choir of the
   righteous. For, (Is. xliii. 26.) ?declare thou thine iniquities first,
   that thou mayest be justified:? but if after sinning one is void of
   shame, he is not so much to be pitied for falling as for lying where he
   is fallen.

   Now if it be a grievous fault not to repent after sins; to be puffed up
   because of sins, what sort of punishment doth it deserve? For if he who
   is elate for his good deeds is unclean, what pardon shall he meet with
   who has that feeling with regard to his sins?

   Since then the fornicator was of this sort, and had rendered his mind
   so headstrong and unyielding through his sin, he of course begins by
   casting down his pride. And he neither puts the charge first, for fear
   of making him hardened, as singled out for accusation before the rest;
   nor yet later, lest he should suppose that what related to him was but
   incidental. But, having first excited great alarm in him by his plain
   speaking towards others, then, and not till then, he goes on to him, in
   the course of his rebuke to others giving the man's wilfulness a share
   beforehand.

   For these same words, viz. ?I know nothing against myself, yet am I not
   hereby justified,? and this, ?He that judgeth me is the Lord, who will
   both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest
   the counsels of the hearts,? glance not lightly both upon that person,
   and upon such as act in concert with him and despise the saints. ?For
   what,? saith he, ?if any outwardly appear to be virtuous and admirable
   persons? He, the Judge, is not a discerner of externals only, but also
   brings to light all secrets.?

   [5.] On two accounts you see, or rather on three, correct judgement
   belongs not to us. One, because, though we be conscious to ourselves of
   nothing, still we need one to reprove our sins with strictness.
   Another, because the most part of the things which are done escape us
   and are concealed. And for a third besides these, because many things
   which are done by others seem to us indeed fair, but they come not of a
   right mind. Why say ye then, that no sin hath been committed by this or
   that person? That such an one is better than such another? Seeing that
   this we are not to pronounce, not even concerning him who knows nothing
   against himself. For He who discerns secrets, He it is who with
   certainty judges.  Behold, for example; I for my part know nothing
   against myself: yet neither so am I justified, that is, I am not quit
   of accounts to be given, nor of charges to be answered. For he doth not
   say this, ?I rank not among the righteous;? but ?I am not pure from
   sin.? For elsewhere he saith also, (Rom. vi. 7, dedikaiotai, toutestin
   apellaktai.) ?He that hath died is justified from sin,? that is, ?is
   liberated.?

   Again, many things we do, good indeed, but not of a right mind. For so
   we commend many, not from a wish to render them conspicuous, but to
   wound others by means of them. And the thing done indeed is right for
   the well-doer is praised; but the intention is corrupt: for it is done
   of a satanical purpose. For this one hath often done, not rejoicing
   with his brother, but desiring to wound the other party.

   Again, a man hath committed a great error; some other person, wishing
   to supplant him, says that he hath done nothing, and comforts him
   forsooth in his error by recurring to the common frailty of nature. But
   oftentimes he doth this from no mind to sympathize, but to make him
   more easy in his faults.

   Again, a man rebukes oftentimes not so much to reprove and admonish, as
   publicly to (ekpompeusai kai ektragodesai) display and exaggerate his
   neighbor's sin. Our counsels however themselves men do not know; but,
   (Rom. viii. 27.) ?He that searcheth the hearts,? knows them perfectly;
   and He will bring all such things into view at that time. Wherefore he
   saith, ?Who will bring to light the secret things of darkness and make
   manifest the counsels of the hearts.?

   [6.] Seeing then that not even where we ?know nothing against
   ourselves,? can we be clean from accusations, and where we do any thing
   good, but do it not of a right mind, we are liable to punishment;
   consider how vastly men are deceived in their judgments. For all these
   matters are not be come at by men, but by the unsleeping Eye alone: and
   though we may deceive men, our sophistry will never avail against Him.
   Say not then, darkness is around me and walls; who seeth me? For He who
   by Himself formed our hearts, Himself knoweth all things. (Ps. cxxxix.
   12.) ?For darkness is no darkness with Him.? And yet he who is
   committing sin, well saith, ?Darkness is around me and walls;? for were
   there not a darkness in his mind he would not have cast out the fear of
   God and acted as he pleased. For unless the ruling principle be first
   darkened, the entrance of sin without fear is a thing impossible. Say
   not then, who seeth me? For there is that (Heb. iv. 12.) ?pierceth even
   unto soul and spirit, joints and marrow;? but thou seest not thyself
   nor canst thou pierce the cloud; but as if thou hadst a wall on all
   sides surrounding thee, thou art without power to look up unto the
   heaven.

   For whatsoever sin thou wilt, first let us examine, and thou shalt see
   that so it is engendered. For as robbers and they who dig through walls
   when they desire to carry off any valuable thing, put out the candle
   and then do their work; so also doth men's perverse reasoning in the
   case of those who are committing sin. Since in us also surely there is
   a light, the light of reason, ever burning. But if the spirit of
   wickedness coming eagerly on with its strong blast quench that flame,
   it straightway darkens the soul and prevails against it, and despoils
   it straightway of all that is laid up therein. For when by unclean
   desire the soul is made captive, even as a cloud and mist the eyes of
   the body, so that desire intercepts the foresight of the mind, and
   suffers it to see nothing at any distance, either precipice, or hell,
   or fear; but thenceforth, having that deceit as a tyrant over him, he
   comes to be easily vanquished by sin; and there is raised up before his
   eyes as it were a wall without windows, which suffers not the ray of
   righteousness to shine in upon the mind, the absurd conceits of lust
   enclosing it as with a rampart on all sides. And from that time forward
   the unchaste woman is everywhere meeting him: standing present before
   his eyes, before his mind, before his thoughts. And as the blind,
   although they stand at high noon beneath the very central point of the
   heaven, receive not the light, their eyes being fast closed up; just so
   these also, though ten thousand doctrines of salvation sound in their
   ears from all quarters, having their soul preoccupied with this passion
   stop their ears against such discourses. And they know it well who have
   made the trial. But God forbid that you should know it from actual
   experience.

   [7.] And not only this sin hath these effects, but every misplaced
   affection as well. For let us transfer, if you please, the argument
   from the unchaste woman unto money, and we shall see here also thick
   and unbroken darkness. For in the former case, inasmuch as the beloved
   object is one and shut up in one place, the feeling is not so violent;
   but in the case of money which sheweth itself every where, in
   silversmiths' shops, in taverns, in foundries for gold, in the houses
   of the wealthy, the passion blows a vehement gale. For when servants
   swaggering in the market place, horses with golden trappings, men
   decked with costly garments, are seen with desire by him who has that
   distemper, the darkness becomes intense which envelopes him. And why
   speak of houses and silversmiths' shops? for my part I think that such
   persons, though it be but in a picture and image that they see the
   wealth, are convulsed, and grow wild, and rave. So that from all
   quarters the darkness gathers around them. And if they chance to behold
   a portraiture of a King, they admire not the beauty of the precious
   stones, nor yet the gold, nor the purple robe, but they pine away. And
   as the wretched lover before mentioned, though he see but the image of
   the woman beloved, cleaveth unto the lifeless thing; so this man also,
   beholding a lifeless image of wealth, is more strongly affected in the
   same way, as being holden of a more tyrannical passion. And he must
   henceforth either abide at home, or if he venture into the Forum,
   return home with innumerable hurts. For many are the objects which
   grieve his eyes. And just as the former seeth nothing else save the
   woman, even so the latter hastens by poor persons, and all things else,
   that he may not obtain so much as a slight alleviation. But upon the
   wealthy he steadily fixeth his eyes; by the sight of them introducing
   the fire into his own soul mightily and vehemently. For it is a fire
   that miserably devours the person that falls into it; and if no hell
   were threatened nor yet punishment, this condition were itself
   punishment; to be continually tormented and never able to find an end
   to the malady.

   [8.] Well: these things alone might suffice to recommend our fleeing
   from this distemper. But there is no greater evil than inconsideration
   which causes men to be rivetted unto things that bring sorrow of heart
   and no advantage. Wherefore I exhort that you cut off the passion at
   its beginning:  for just as a fever on its first attack, does not
   violently burn up the patients with thirst, but on its increase and the
   heightening of its fire causes from that time incurable thirst; and
   though one should let them fill themselves full of drink, it puts not
   out the furnace but makes it burn fiercer: so also it happens in regard
   to this passion; unless when it first invadeth our soul we stop it and
   shut the doors; having got in, from that time it makes the disease of
   those who have admitted it incurable. For so both good things and bad,
   the longer they abide in us, the more powerful they become.

   And in all other things too, any one may see that this cometh to pass.
   For so a plant but lately set in the ground is easily pulled up; but no
   more so when rooted for a long time; it then requires great strength in
   the lever. And a building newly put together is easily thrown down by
   those who push against it; but once well fixed, it gives great trouble
   to those who attempt to pull it down. And a wild beast that hath made
   his accustomed haunt in certain places for a long time is with
   difficulty driven away.

   Those therefore who are not yet possessed by the passion in question, I
   exhort not to be taken captive. For it is more easy to guard against
   falling into it, than having fallen to get away.

   [9.]  But unto those who are seized by it and broken down, if they will
   consent to put themselves into the hands of the Word of healing, I
   promise large hope of salvation, by the Grace of God. For if they will
   consider those who have suffered and fallen into that distemper and
   have recovered, they will have good hopes respecting the removal of the
   disease. Who then ever fell into this disease, and was easily rid of
   it? That well-known Zacchaeus. For who could be more fond of money than
   a publican? But all at once he became a man of strict life,
   (Philosophos) and put out all that blaze. Matthew in like manner: for
   he too was a publican, living in continual rapine. But he likewise all
   at once stripped himself of the mischief, and quenched his thirst, and
   followed after spiritual gain. Considering therefore these, and the
   like to them, despair not even thou. For if thou wilt, quickly thou
   shalt be able to recover. And if you please, according to the rule of
   physicians, we will prescribe accurately what thou shouldest do.

   It is necessary then, before all other things, to be right in this,
   that we never despond, nor despair of our salvation. Next, we must look
   not only upon the examples of those who have done well, but also upon
   the sufferings of those who have persisted in sin. For as we have
   considered Zacchaeus, and Matthew, even so ought we also to take
   account of Judas, and Gehazi, and Ahar, [perhaps Achan, Josh. vii.] and
   Ahab, and Ananias, and Sapphira, in order that by the one, we may cast
   out all despair, and by the other cut off all indolence; and that the
   soul become not reckless of the remedies suggested. And let us teach
   them of themselves to say what the Jews said on that day, approaching
   unto Peter, (Acts ii. 37, cf. xvi. 30.) ?What must we do to be saved??
   And let them hear what they must do.

   [10.] What then must we do? We must know how worthless the things in
   question are, and that wealth is a run-away slave, and heartless, and
   encompasseth its possessors with ills innumerable. And such words, like
   charms, let us sound in their ears continually. And as physicians
   soothe their patients when they ask for cold water, by saying that they
   will give it, making excuses about the spring, and the vessel, and the
   fit time, and many more such, (for should they refuse at once, they
   make them wild with phrensy,) so let us also act towards the lovers of
   money. When they say we desire to be rich, let us not say immediately
   that wealth is an evil thing; but let us assent, and say that we also
   desire it; but in due time; yea, true wealth; yea, that which hath
   undying pleasure: yea, that which is gathered for thyself, and not for
   others, and those often our enemies. And let us produce the lessons of
   true wisdom, and say, we forbid not riches, but ill-gotten riches. For
   it is lawful to be rich, but without covetousness, without rapine and
   violence, and an ill report from all men. With these arguments let us
   first smooth them down, and not as yet discourse of hell. For the sick
   man endures not yet such sayings. Wherefore let us go to this world for
   all our arguments upon these matters; and say, ?Why is it thy choice to
   be rich through covetousness? That the gold and the silver may be laid
   up for others, but for thee, curses and accusations innumerable?  That
   he whom you have defrauded may be stung by want of the very necessaries
   of life, and bewail himself, and draw down upon thee the censure of
   thousands; and may go at fall of evening about the market place,
   encountering every one in the alleys, and in utter perplexity, and not
   knowing what to trust to even for that one night? For how is he to
   sleep after all, with pangs of the belly, restless famine besetting
   him, and that often while it is freezing, and the rain coming down on
   him? And while thou, having washed, returnest home from the bath, in a
   glow with soft raiment, merry of heart and rejoicing, and hastening
   unto a banquet prepared and costly: he, driven every where about the
   market place by cold and hunger, takes his round, stooping low and
   stretching out his hands; nor hath he even spirit without trembling to
   make his suit for his necessary food to one so full fed and so bent on
   taking his ease; nay, often he has to retire with insult. When
   therefore thou hast returned home, when thou liest down on thy couch,
   when the lights round thine house shine bright, when the table is
   prepared and plentiful, at that time call to rememberance that poor
   miserable man wandering about, like the dogs in the alleys, in darkness
   and in mire; except indeed when, as is often the case, he has to depart
   thence, not unto house, nor wife, nor bed, but unto a pallet of straw;
   even as we see the dogs baying all through the night. And thou, if thou
   seest but a little drop falling from the roof, throwest the whole house
   into confusion, calling thy slaves and disturbing every thing: while
   he, laid in rags, and straw, and dirt, has to bear all the cold.

   What wild beast would not be softened by these things? Who is there so
   savage and inhuman that these things should not make him mild? and yet
   there are some who are arrived at such a pitch of cruelty as even to
   say that they deserve what they suffer. Yea, when they ought to pity,
   and weep, and help to alleviate men's calamities, they on the contrary
   visit them with savage and inhuman censures. Of these I should be glad
   to ask, Tell me, why do they deserve what they suffer? Is it because
   they would be fed and not starve?

   No, you will reply; but because they would be fed in idleness. And
   thou, dost not thou wanton in idleness? What say I? Art thou not
   oft-times toiling in an occupation more grievous than any idleness,
   grasping, and oppressing, and coveting? Better were it if thou too wert
   idle after this sort; for it is better to be idle in this way, than to
   be covetous. But now thou even tramplest on the calamities of others,
   not only idling, not only pursuing an occupation worse than idleness,
   but also maligning those who spend their days in misery.

   And let us farther narrate to them the disasters of others; the
   untimely bereavements, the dwellers in prison, those who are torn to
   pieces before tribunals, those who are trembling for life; the unlooked
   for widowhood of women; the sudden reverse of the rich: and with this
   let us soften their minds. For by our narrations concerning others, we
   shall induce them by all means to fear these evils in their own case
   too. For when they hear that the son of such an one who was a covetous
   and grasping man, or (e tou deinos instead of en; tou deinos) the wife
   of such an one who did many tyrannical actions, after the death of her
   husband endured afflictions without end; the injured persons setting
   upon the wife and the children, and a general war being raised from all
   quarters against his house; although a man be the most senseless of
   beings, yet expecting himself also to suffer the same, and fearing for
   his own lest they undergo the same fate, he will become more moderate.
   Now we find life full of many such histories, and we shall not be at a
   loss for correctives of this kind.

   But when we speak these things, let us not speak them as giving advice
   or counsel, lest our discourse become too irksome: but as in the order
   of the narrative and by association with something else, let us proceed
   in each case unto that kind of conversation, and let us be constantly
   putting them upon stories of the kind, permitting them to speak of no
   subject except these which follow: How such an one's splendid and
   famous mansion fell down; How it is so entirely desolate that all
   things that were in it have come into the hands of others; How many
   trials have taken place daily about this same property, what a stir;
   How many of that man's relations (oiketai, probably oikeioi) have died
   either beggars, or inhabitants of a prison.

   All these things let us speak as in pity for the deceased, and as
   depreciating things present; in order that by fear and by pity we may
   soften the cruel mind. And when we see men shrinking into themselves at
   these narrations, then and not till then let us introduce to their
   notice also the doctrine of hell, not as terrifying these, but in
   compassion for others. And let us say, But why speak of things present?
   For far, indeed, will our concern be from ending with these; a yet more
   grievous punishment will await all such persons: even a river of fire,
   and a poisonous worm, and darkness interminable, and undying tortures.
   If with such addresses we succeed in throwing a spell over them, we
   shall correct both ourselves and them, and quickly get the better of
   our infirmity.

   And on that day we shall have God to praise us: as also Paul saith,
   ?And then shall each man have praise from God.?  For that which cometh
   from men, is both fleeting, and sometimes it proceeds from no good
   intentions. But that which cometh from God both abideth continually,
   and shines out clearly. For when He who knew all things before their
   creation, and who is free from all passion, gives praise, then also the
   demonstration of our virtue is even unquestionable.

   Knowing these things therefore, let us act so as to be praised of God,
   and to acquire the greatest blessings; which God grant us all to
   obtain, through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ,
   with Whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now
   and always, and unto all the ages of eternity. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily XII.

   1 Cor. iv. 6

   Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself
   and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to think of
   men above that which is written. [58]

   So long as there was need of expressions as harsh as these, he
   refrained from drawing up the curtain, and went on arguing as if he
   were himself the person to whom they were addressed; in order that the
   dignity of the persons censured tending to counteract the censurers, no
   room might be left for flying out in wrath at the charges. But when the
   time came for a gentler process, then he strips it off, and removes the
   mask, and shows the persons concealed by the appellation of Paul and
   Apollos. And on this account he said, ?These things, brethren, I have
   transferred in a figure unto myself and Apollos.?

   And as in the case of the sick, when the child being out of health
   kicks and turns away from the food offered by the physicians, the
   attendants call the father or the tutor, and bid them take the food
   from the physician's hands and bring it, so that out of fear towards
   them he may take it and be quiet: so also Paul, intending to censure
   them about certain other persons, of whom some, he thought, were
   injured, others honored above measure, did not set down the persons
   themselves, but conducted the argument in his own name and that of
   Apollos, in order that reverencing these they might receive his mode of
   cure. But that once received, he presently makes known in whose behalf
   he was so expressing himself.

   Now this was not hypocrisy, but condescension (sunkatabasis) and tact
   (oikonomia). For if he had said openly, ?As for you, the men whom ye
   are judging are saints, and worthy of all admiration;? they might have
   taken it ill and (kan apepedesan) started back. But now in saying, ?But
   to me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you:? and
   again, ?Who is Paul, and who is Apollos?? he rendered his speech easy
   of reception.

   This, if you mark it, is the reason why he says here, ?These things
   have I transferred in a figure unto myself for your sakes, that in us
   ye may learn not to be wise above what is written,? signifying that if
   he had applied his argument in their persons, they would not have
   learnt all that they needed to learn, nor would have admitted the
   correction, being vexed at what was said. But as it was, revering Paul,
   they bore the rebuke well.

   [2.] But what is the meaning of, ?not to be wise above what is
   written?? It is written, (St. Matt. vii. 3.) ?Why beholdest thou the
   mote that is in thy brothers's eye, but considerest not the beam that
   is in thine own eye?? and ?Judge not, that ye be not judged.? For if we
   are one and are mutually bound together, it behooveth us not to rise up
   against one another. For ?he that humbleth himself shall be exalted,?
   saith he. And (St. Matt. xx. 26, 27; St. Mark x. 43; not verbatim.) ?He
   that will be first of all, let him be the servant of all.? These are
   the things which ?are written.?

   ?That no one of you be puffed up for one against another.? Again,
   having dismissed the teachers, he rebukes the disciples. For it was
   they who caused the former to be elated.

   And besides, the leaders would not quietly receive that kind of speech
   because of their desire of outward glory: for they were even blinded
   with that passion. Whereas the disciples, as not reaping themselves the
   fruits of the glory, but procuring it for others, would both endure the
   chiding with more temper, and had it more in their power than the
   leading men to destroy the disease.

   It seems then, that this also is a symptom of being ?puffed up,? to be
   elated on another's account, even though a man have no such feeling in
   regard of what is his own. For as he who is proud of another's wealth,
   is so out of arrogance; so also in the case of another's glory.

   And he hath well called it ?being puffed up.? For when one particular
   member rises up over the rest, it is nothing else but inflammation and
   disease; since in no other way doth one member become higher than
   another, except when a swelling takes place. (So in English ?proud
   flesh.?)  And so in the body of the Church also; whoever is inflamed
   and puffed up, he must be the diseased one; for he is swollen above the
   proportion of the rest. For this [disproportion] is what we mean by
   ?swelling.? And so comes it to pass in the body, when some spurious and
   evil humor gathers, instead of the wonted nourishment. So also
   arrogance is born; notions to which we have no right coming over us.
   And mark with what literal propriety he saith, be not ?puffed up:? for
   that which is puffed up hath a certain tumor of spirit, from being
   filled with corrupt humor.

   These things, however, he saith, not to preclude all soothing, but such
   soothing as leads to harm. ?Wouldest thou wait upon this or that
   person? I forbid thee not: but do it not to the injury of another.? For
   not that we might array ourselves one against another were teachers
   given us, but that we might all be mutually united. For so the general
   to this end is set over the host, that of those who are separate he may
   make one body. But if he is to break up the army, he stands in the
   place of an enemy rather than of a general.

   [3.] Ver. 7. ?For who maketh thee to differ? For what hast thou which
   thou didst not receive??

   From this point, dismissing the governed, he turns to the governors.
   What he saith comes to this: From whence is evident that thou art
   worthy of being praised? Why, hath any judgment taken place? any
   inquiry proceeded? any essay? any severe testing? Nay, thou canst not
   say it: and if men give their votes, their judgment is not upright. But
   let us suppose that thou really art worthy of praise and hast indeed
   the gracious gift, and that the judgment of men is not corrupt: yet not
   even in this case were it right to be high-minded; for thou hast
   nothing of thyself but from God didst receive it. Why then dost thou
   pretend to have that which thou hast not? Thou wilt say, ?thou hast
   it:? and others have it with thee: well then, thou hast it upon
   receiving it: not merely this thing or that, but all things whatsoever
   thou hast.

   For not to thee belong these excellencies, but to the grace of God.
   Whether you name faith, it came of His calling; or whether it be the
   forgiveness of sins which you speak of, or spiritual gifts, or the word
   of teaching, or the miracles; thou didst receive all from thence. Now
   what hast thou, tell me, which thou hast not received, but hast rather
   achieved of thine own self? Thou hast nothing to say. Well: thou hast
   received; and does that make thee high-minded? Nay, it ought to make
   thee shrink back into thyself. For it is not thine, what hath been
   given, but the giver's. What if thou didst receive it? thou receivedst
   it of him. And if thou receivedst of him, it was not thine which thou
   receivedst: and if thou didst but receive what was not thine own, why
   art thou exalted as if thou hadst something of thine own? Wherefore he
   added also, ?Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if
   thou hadst not received it?

   [4.] Thus having, you see, made good his argument by concession, [59]
   (kata sundromen.) he indicates that they have their deficiencies; and
   those not a few: and saith, ?In the first place, though ye had received
   all things, it were not meet to glory, for nothing is your own; but as
   the case really stands there are many things of which ye are
   destitute.? And in the beginning he did but hint at this, saying, ?I
   could not speak unto you as unto spiritual:? and, ?I determined to know
   nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.? But here he
   doth it in a way to abash them, saying,

   Ver. 8. ?Already ye are filled, already ye are rich:? that is, ye want
   nothing henceforth; ye are become perfect; ye have attained the very
   summit; ye stand, as ye think, in need of no one, either among Apostles
   or teachers.

   ?Already ye are filled.? And well saith he ?already;? pointing out,
   from the time, the incredibility of their statements and their
   unreasonable notion of themselves. It was therefore in mockery that he
   said to them, ?So quickly have ye come to the end;? which thing was
   impossible in the time:  for all the more perfect things wait long in
   futurity: but to be ?full? with a little betokens a feeble soul; and
   from a little to imagine one's self ?rich,? a sick and miserable one.
   For piety is an insatiable thing; and it argues a childish mind to
   imagine from just the beginnings that you have obtained the whole: and
   for men who are not yet even in the prelude of a matter, to be
   high-minded as if they had laid hold of the end.

   Then also by means of what followeth he puts them yet more out of
   countenance; for having said, ?Already ye are full,? he added, ?ye are
   become rich, ye have reigned without us: yea and I would to God ye did
   reign, that we also might reign with you.? Full of great austerity is
   the speech: which is why it comes last, being introduced by him after
   that abundance of reproof. For then is our admonition respected and
   easily received, when after our accusations we introduce our
   humiliating expressions, (ta eutreptika remata.) For this were enough
   to repress even the shameless soul and strike it more sharply than
   direct accusation, and correct the bitterness and hardened feeling
   likely to arise from the charge brought. It being certain that this
   more than anything else is the admirable quality of those arguments
   which appeal to our sense of shame, that they possess two contrary
   advantages. On the one hand, one cuts deeper than by open invective: on
   the other hand, it causes the person reprimanded to bear that severer
   stab with more entire patience.

   [5.] ?Ye have reigned without us.? Herein there is great force, as
   concerns both the teachers and the disciples: and their ignorance, too,
   of themselves (to asuneideton.) is pointed out, and their great
   inconsideration. For what he saith is this: ?In labors indeed,? saith
   he, ?all things are common both to us and to you, but in the rewards
   and the crowns ye are first. Not that I say this in vexation:?
   wherefore he added also, ?I would indeed that ye did reign:? then, lest
   there should seem to be some irony, he added, ?that we also might reign
   with you;? for, saith he, we also should be in possession
   (epituchoimen, ms. Reg., epituchomen Edd.) of these blessings. Dost
   thou see how he shews in himself all at once his severity and his care
   over them and his self-denying mind? Dost thou see how he takes down
   their pride?

   Ver. 9. ?For I think that God hath set forth us the Apostles last of
   all, as men doomed to death.?

   There is great depth of meaning and severity implied again in his
   saying, ?us:? and not even with this was he satisfied, but added also
   his dignity, hitting them vehemently:  ?us the Apostles;? who are
   enduring such innumerable ills; who are sowing the word of Godliness;
   who are leading you unto this severe rule of life. These ?He hath set
   forth last, as doomed to death,? that is, as condemned. For since he
   had said, ?That we also might reign with you,? and by that expression
   had relaxed his vehemency in order not to dispirit them; he takes it up
   again with greater gravity, and saith, ?For I think that God hath set
   forth us the Apostles last, as men doomed to death.? ?For according to
   what I see,? saith he, ?and from what ye say, the most abject of all
   men and emphatically the condemned, are we who are put forward for
   continual suffering. But ye have already a kingdom and honors and great
   rewards in your fancy.? And wishing to carry out their reasoning to
   still greater absurdity, and to exhibit it as incredible in the highest
   degree, he said not merely, ?We are last,'? but, ?God made us last;?
   nor was he satisfied with saying, ?last,? but he added also, ?doomed to
   death:? to the end that even one quite void of understanding might feel
   the statement to be quite incredible, and his words to be the words of
   one vexed and vehemently abashing them.

   Observe too the good sense of Paul. The topics by which, when it is the
   proper time, he exalts and shews himself honorable and makes himself
   great; by these he now puts them to shame, calling himself ?condemned.?
   Of so great consequence is it to do all things at the befitting season.
   By ?doomed to death,? in this place he means ?condemned,? and deserving
   of ten thousand deaths.

   [6.] ?For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to
   men.?

   What means, ?We are become a spectacle unto the world?? ?Not in a
   single corner nor yet in a small part of the world suffer we these
   things,? saith he; ?but every where and before all.? But what means,
   ?unto angels?? It is possible to ?become a spectacle unto men,? but not
   so unto angels, when the things done are ordinary. But our wrestlings
   are such as to be worthy even of angelic contemplation. Behold from the
   things by which he vilifies himself, how again he shows himself great;
   and from the things about which they are proud, how he displays their
   meanness. For since to be fools was accounted a meaner thing than to
   appear wise; to be weak, than to be made strong; and unhonored, than
   glorious and distinguished; and that he is about to cast on them the
   one set of epithets, while he himself accepted the other; he signifies
   that the latter are better than the former; if at least because of them
   he turned the throng I say not of men only, but also of the very angels
   unto the contemplation of themselves. For not with men only is our
   wrestling but also with incorporeal powers. Therefore also a mighty
   theatre is set (mega theatron kathetai.)

   Ver. 10. ?We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ.?

   Again, this also he spake in a way to abash them; implying that it is
   impossible for these contraries to agree, neither can things so distant
   from one another concur. ?For how can it be,? saith he, ?that you
   should be wise, but we fools in the things relating to Christ?? That
   is: the one sort beaten and despised and dishonored and esteemed as
   nothing; the others enjoying honor and looked up to by many as a wise
   and prudent kind of people; it gives him occasion to speak thus: as if
   he had said, ?How can it be that they who preach such things should be
   looked upon as practically engaged in their contraries??

   ?We are weak, but ye are strong.? That is, we are driven about and
   persecuted; but ye enjoy security and are much waited upon; howbeit the
   nature of the Gospel endureth it not.

   ?We are despised, but ye are honorable.? Here he setteth himself
   against the noble and those who plumed themselves upon external
   advantages.

   ?Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked,
   and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and we toil,
   working with our own hands.? That is, ?It is not an old story that I am
   telling but just what the very time present bears me witness of: that
   of human things we take no account nor yet of any outward pomp; but we
   look unto God only.? Which thing we too have need to practice in every
   place. For not only are angels looking on, but even more than they He
   that presides over the spectacle.

   [7.] Let us not then desire any others to applaud us. For this is to
   insult Him; hastening by Him, as if insufficient to admire us, we make
   the best of our way to our fellow servants. For just as they who
   contend in a small theatre seek a large one, as if this were
   insufficient for their display; so also do they, who contending in the
   sight of God afterwards seek the applause of men; giving up the greater
   praise and eager for the less, they draw upon themselves severe
   punishment. What but this hath turned every thing upside down? this
   puts the whole world into confusion, that we do all things with an eye
   to men, and even for our good things, we esteem it nothing to have God
   as an admirer, but seek the approbation which cometh from our
   fellow-servants:  and for the contrary things again, despising Him we
   fear men. And yet surely they shall stand with us before that tribunal,
   doing us no good. But God whom we despise now shall Himself pass the
   sentence upon us.

   But yet, though we know these things, we still gape after men, which is
   the first of sins. Thus were a man looking on no one would choose to
   commit fornication; but even though he be ten thousand times on fire
   with that plague, the tyranny of the passion is conquered by his
   reverence for men. But in God's sight men not only commit adultery and
   fornication; but other things also much more dreadful many have dared
   and still dare to do. This then alone, is it not enough to bring down
   from above ten thousand thunderbolts? Adulteries, did I say, and
   fornications? Nay, things even far less than these we fear to do before
   men: but in God's sight we fear no longer. From hence, in fact, all the
   world's evils have originated; because in things really bad we
   reverence not God but men.

   On this account, you see, both things which are truly good, not
   accounted such by the generality, become objects of our aversion, we
   not investigating the nature of the things, but having respect unto the
   opinion of the many: and again, in the case of evil things, acting on
   this same principle. Certain things therefore not really good, but
   seeming fair unto the many, we pursue, as goods, through the same
   habit. So that on either side we go to destruction.

   [8.] Perhaps many may find this remark somewhat obscure. Wherefore we
   must express it more clearly. When we commit uncleanness, (for we must
   begin from the instances alleged,) we fear men more than God. When
   therefore we have thus subjected ourselves unto them and made them
   lords over us; there are many other things also which seem unto these
   our lords to be evil, not being such; these also we flee for our part
   in like manner. For instance; To live in poverty, many account
   disgraceful: and we flee poverty, not because it is disgraceful nor
   because we are so persuaded, but because our masters count it
   disgraceful; and we fear them. Again, to be unhonored and contemptible,
   and void of all authority seems likewise unto the most part a matter of
   great shame and vileness. This again we flee; not condemning the thing
   itself, but because of the sentence of our masters.

   Again on the contrary side also we undergo the same mischief. As wealth
   is counted a good thing, and pride, and pomp, and to be conspicuous.
   Accordingly this again we pursue, not either in this case from
   considering the nature of the things as good, but persuaded by the
   opinion of our masters. For the people is our master and the great mob
   (ho polus ochlos); a savage master and a severe tyrant: not so much as
   a command being needed in order to make us listen to him; it is enough
   that we just know what he wills, and without a command we submit: so
   great good will do we bear towards him. Again, God threatening and
   admonishing day by day is not heard; but the common people, full of
   disorder, made up of all manner of dregs, has no occasion for one word
   of command; enough for it only to signify with what it is well pleased,
   and in all things we obey immediately.

   [9.] ?But how,? says some one, ?is a man to flee from these masters??
   By getting a mind greater than their's; by looking into the nature of
   things; by condemning the voice of the multitude; before all, by
   training himself in things really disgraceful to fear not men, but the
   unsleeping Eye; and again, in all good things, to seek the crowns which
   come from Him. For thus neither in other sort of things shall we be
   able to tolerate them. For whoso when he doeth right judges them
   unworthy to know his good deeds, and contents himself with the suffrage
   of God; neither will he take account of them in matters of the contrary
   sort.

   ?And how can this be?? you will say. Consider what man is, what God;
   whom thou desertest, and unto whom thou fliest for refuge; and thou
   wilt soon be right altogether. Man lieth under the same sin as thyself,
   and the same condemnation, and the same punishment. ?Man is like to
   vanity,? (Ps. cxliv. 4. LXX,) and hath not correct judgment, and needs
   the correction from above. ?Man is dust and ashes,? and if he bestow
   praise, he will often bestow it at random, or out of favor, or ill
   will. And if he calumniate and accuse, this again will he do out of the
   same kind of purpose. But God doeth not so: rather irreprovable in His
   sentence, and pure His judgment. Wherefore we must always flee to Him
   for refuge; and not for these reasons alone, but because He both made,
   and more than all spares thee, and loves thee better than thou dost
   thyself.

   Why then, neglecting to have so admirable (thaumaston) an approver,
   betake we ourselves unto man, who is nothing, all rashness, all at
   random?  Doth he call thee wicked and polluted when thou art not so? So
   much the more do thou pity him, and weep because he is corrupt; and
   despise his opinion, because the eyes of his understanding are
   darkened. For even the Apostles were thus evil reported of; and they
   laughed to scorn their calumniators. But doth he call thee good and
   kind? If such indeed thou art, yet be not at all puffed up by the
   opinion: but if thou art not such, despise it the more, and esteem the
   thing to be mockery.

   Wouldest thou know the judgments of the greater part of men, how
   corrupt they are, how useless, and worthy of ridicule; some of them
   coming only from raving and distracted persons, others from children at
   the breast? Hear what hath been from the beginning. I will tell thee of
   judgments, not of the people only, but also of those who passed for the
   wisest, of those who were legislators from the earliest period. For who
   would be counted wiser among the multitude than the person considered
   worthy of legislating for cities and peoples? But yet to these wise men
   fornication seems to be nothing evil nor worthy of punishment. At
   least, no one of the heathen laws makes its penal or brings men to
   trial on account of it. And should any one bring another into court for
   things of that kind, the multitude laughs it to scorn, and the judge
   will not suffer it. Dice-playing, again, is exempt from all their
   punishments: nor did any one among them ever incur penalty for it.
   Drunkenness and gluttony, so far from being a crime, are considered by
   many even as a fine thing. And in military carousals it is a point of
   great emulation; and they who most of all need a sober mind and a
   strong body, these are most of all given over to the tyranny of
   drunkenness; both utterly weakening the body and darkening the soul.
   Yet of the lawgivers not one hath punished this fault. What can be
   worse than this madness?

   Is then the good word of men so disposed an object of desire to thee,
   and dost thou not hide thyself in the earth?  For even though all such
   admired thee, oughtest thou not to feel ashamed and cover thy face, at
   being applauded by men of such corrupt judgment?

   Again, blasphemy by legislators in general is accounted nothing
   terrible. At any rate, no one for having blasphemed God was ever
   brought to trial and punishment. But if a man steal another's garment,
   or cut his purse, his sides are flayed, and he is often given over unto
   death: while he that blasphemeth God hath nothing laid to his charge by
   the heathen legislators. And if a man seduce a female servant when he
   hath a wife, it seems nothing to the heathen laws nor to men in
   general.

   [10.] Wilt thou hear besides of some things of another class which shew
   their folly? For as they punish not these things, so there are others
   which they enforce by law. What then are these? They collect crowds to
   fill theatres, and there they introduce choirs of harlots and
   prostituted children, yea such as trample on nature herself; and they
   make the whole people sit on high, and so they captivate their city; so
   they crown these mighty kings whom they are perpetually admiring for
   their trophies and victories. And yet, what can be more insipid than
   this honor? what more undelightful than this delight? From among these
   then seekest thou judges to applaud thy deeds? And is it in company
   with dancers, and effeminate, and buffoons, and harlots, that thou art
   fain to enjoy the sound of compliment? answer me.

   How can these things be other than proofs of extreme infatuation? For I
   should like to ask them, is it or is it not, a dreadful thing to
   subvert the laws of nature, and introduce unlawful intercourse? They
   will surely [60] say, it is dreadful: at any rate, they make a show of
   inflicting a penalty on that crime. Why then dost thou bring on the
   stage those abused wretches; and not only bring them in, but honor them
   also with honors innumerable, and gifts not to be told? In other places
   thou punishest those who dare such things; but here even as on common
   benefactors of the city, thou spendest money upon them and supportest
   them at the public expense.

   ?However,? thou wilt say, ?they are (atimoi) infamous [61] .? Why then
   train them up? (paidotribeis)  Why choose the infamous to pay honor to
   kings withal? And why ruin our (ektrachelizeis, Plutarch, peri paidon
   agoges, c. 17.) cities [62] ? Or why spend so much upon these persons?
   Since if they be infamous expulsion is properest for the infamous. For
   why didst thou render them infamous? in praise or in condemnation? Of
   course in condemnation. Is the next thing to be, that although as after
   condemnation you make them infamous, yet as if they were honorable you
   run to see them, and admire and praise and applaud? Why need I speak of
   the sort of charm [63] which is found in the horse races? or in the
   contests of the wild beasts? For those places too being full of all
   senseless excitement train the populace to acquire a merciless and
   savage and inhuman kind of temper, and practise them in seeing men torn
   in pieces, and blood flowing, and the ferocity of wild beasts
   confounding all things. Now all these our wise lawgivers from the
   beginning introduced, being so many plagues! and our cities applaud and
   admire.

   [11.] But, if thou wilt, dismissing these things which clearly and
   confessedly are abominable, but seemed (ouk edoxen. perhaps ?were not
   decreed.?) not [so] to the heathen legislators, let us proceed to their
   grave precepts; and thou shalt see these too corrupted through the
   opinion of the multitude. Thus marriage is accounted an honorable thing
   (Heb. xiii. 4) both by us and by those without: and it is honorable.
   But when marriages are solemnized, such ridiculous things [64] take
   place as ye shall hear of immediately: because the most part, possessed
   and beguiled by custom, are not even aware of their absurdity, but need
   others to teach them. For dancing, and cymbals, and flutes, and
   shameful words, and songs, and drunkenness, and revellings, and all the
   Devil's great heap (polus ho tou diabolou phorutos) of garbage is then
   introduced.

   I know indeed that I shall appear ridiculous in finding fault with
   these things; and shall incur the charge of great folly with the
   generality, as disturbing the ancient laws:  for, as I said before,
   great is the deceptive power of custom. But nevertheless, I will not
   cease repeating these things: for there is, there is surely a chance,
   that although not all, yet some few will receive our saying and will
   choose to be laughed to scorn with us, rather than we laugh with them
   such a laughter as deserves tears and overflowing punishment and
   vengeance.

   For how can it be other than worthy of the utmost condemnation that a
   damsel who hath spent her life entirely at home and been schooled in
   modesty from earliest childhood, should be compelled on a sudden to
   cast off all shame, and from the very commencement of her marriage be
   instructed in imprudence; and find herself put forward in the midst of
   wanton and rude men, and unchaste, and effeminate? What evil will not
   be implanted in the bride from that day forth? Immodesty, petulance,
   insolence, the love of vain glory: since they will naturally go on and
   desire to have all their days such as these. Hence our women become
   expensive and profuse; hence are they void of modesty, hence proceed
   their unnumbered evils.

   And tell me not of the custom: for if it be an evil thing, let it not
   be done even once: but if good, let it be done constantly. For tell me,
   is not committing fornication evil? Shall we then allow just once this
   to be done? By no means. Why? Because though it be done only once, it
   is evil all the same. So also that the bride be entertained in this
   way, if it be evil, let it not be done even once; but if it be not
   evil, let it even be done always.

   ?What then,? saith one, ?dost thou find fault with marriage? tell me.?
   That be far from me. I am not so senseless: but the things which are so
   unworthily appended to marriage, the painting the face, the coloring
   the eyebrows, and all the other niceness of that kind. For indeed from
   that day she will receive many lovers even before her destined consort.

   ?But many will admire the woman for her beauty.? And what of that? Even
   if discreet, she will hardly avoid evil suspicion; but if careless, she
   will be quickly overtaken, having got that very day a starting point in
   dissolute behavior.

   Yet though the evils are so great, the omission of these proceedings is
   called an insult, by certain who are no better than brute beasts, and
   they are indignant that the woman is not exhibited to a multitude, that
   she is not set forth as a stage spectacle, common to all beholders:
   whereas most assuredly they should rather count it insult when these
   things do take place; and a laughing stock, and a farce. For even now I
   know that men will condemn me of much folly and make me a laughing
   stock: but the derision I can bear when any gain accrues from it. For I
   should indeed be worthy of derision, if while I was exhorting to
   contempt of the opinion of the many, I myself, of all men, were subdued
   by that feeling.

   Behold then what follows from all this. Not in the day only but also in
   the evening, they provide on purpose men that have well drunk,
   besotted, and inflamed with luxurious fare, to look upon the beauty of
   the damsel's countenance; nor yet in the house only but even through
   the market-place do they lead her in pomp to make an exhibition;
   conducting her with torches late in the evening so as that she may be
   seen of all: by their doings recommending nothing else than that
   henceforth she put off all modesty. And they do not even stop here; but
   with shameful words do they conduct her. And this with the multitude is
   a law. And runaway slaves and convicts, thousands of them and of
   desperate character, go on with impunity uttering whatever they please,
   both against her and against him who is going to take her to his home.
   Nor is there any thing solemn, but all base and full of indecency. Will
   it not be a fine lesson in chastity for the bride to see and hear such
   things? [Savile reads this sentence with a question.] And there is a
   sort of diabolical rivalry among these profligates to outdo one another
   in their zealous use of reproaches and foul words, whereby they put the
   whole company out of countenance, and those go away victorious who have
   found the largest store of railings and the greatest indecencies to
   throw at their neighbors.

   Now I know that I am a troublesome, sort of person and disagreeable,
   and morose, as though I were curtailing life of some of its pleasure.
   Why, this is the very cause of my mourning that things so displeasing
   are esteemed a sort of pleasure. For how, I ask, can it be other than
   displeasing to be insulted and reviled? to be reproached by all,
   together with your bride? If any one in the market place speak ill of
   thy wife, thou makest ado without end and countest life not worth
   living: and can it be that disgracing thyself with thy future consort
   in the presence of the whole city, thou art pleased and lookest gay on
   the matter?  Why, what strange madness is this!

   ?But,? saith one, ?the thing is customary.? Nay, for this very reason
   we ought most to bewail it, because the devil hath hedged in the thing
   with custom. In fact, since marriage is a solemn thing and that which
   recruits our race and the cause of numerous blessings; that evil one,
   inwardly pining and knowing that it was ordained as a barrier against
   uncleanness, by a new device introduces into it all kinds of
   uncleanness. At any rate, in such assemblages many virgins have been
   even corrupted. And if not so in every case, it is because for the time
   the devil is content with those words and those songs, so flagitious;
   with making a show of the bride openly, and leading the bridegroom in
   triumph through the market-place.

   Moreover, because all this takes place in the evening, that not even
   the darkness may be a veil to these evils, many torches are brought in,
   suffering not the disgraceful scene to be concealed. For what means the
   vast throng, and what the wassail, and what the pipes? Most clearly to
   prevent even those who are in their houses and plunged [baptizomenoi]
   in deep sleep from remaining ignorant of these proceedings; that being
   wakened by the pipe and leaning to look out of the lattices, they may
   be witnesses of the comedy such as it is.

   What can one say of the songs themselves, crammed as they are with all
   uncleanness, introducing monstrous amours, and unlawful connections,
   and subversions of houses, and tragic scenes without end; and making
   continual mention of the titles of ?friend and lover,? ?mistress and
   beloved?? And, what is still more grievous, that young women are
   present at these things, having divested themselves of all modesty; in
   honor of the bride, rather I should say to insult her, exposing even
   their own salvation [65] , and in the midst of wanton young men acting
   a shameless part with their disorderly songs, with their foul words,
   with their devilish harmony. Tell me then: dost thou still enquire,
   ?Whence come adulteries? Whence fornications? Whence violations of
   marriage??

   [12.] ?But they are not noble nor decent women,? you will say, ?who do
   these things.? Why then laugh me to scorn for this remonstrance, having
   been thyself aware of this law, before I said any thing. I say, if the
   proceedings are right, allow those well-born women also to enact them.
   For what if these others live in poverty? Are not they also virgins?
   ought not they also to be careful of chastity? But now here is a virgin
   dancing in a public theatre of licentious youths; and, I ask, seems she
   not unto thee more dishonored than a harlot?

   But if you say, ?Female servants do these things;? neither so do I
   acquit thee of my charge: for neither to these ought such things to
   have been permitted. For hence all these evils have their origin, that
   of our household we make no account. But it is enough in the way of
   contempt to say, ?He is a slave,? and, ?They are handmaids.? And yet,
   day after day we hear, (Gal. iii. 28.) ?In Christ Jesus there is
   neither bond nor free.? Again, were it a horse or an ass, thou dost not
   overlook it but takest all pains not to have it of an inferior kind;
   and thy slaves who have souls like thine own dost thou neglect? And why
   do I say slaves, when I might say sons and daughters? What then must
   follow? It cannot be but grief (lupen, qu. lumen, ?mischief.?) must
   immediately enter in, when all these are going to ruin. And often also
   very great losses must ensue, valuable golden ornaments being lost in
   the crowd and the confusion.

   [13.] Then after the marriage if perchance a child is born, in this
   case again we shall see the same folly and many practices [sumbola]
   full of absurdity. For when the time is come for giving the infant a
   name, caring not to call it after the saints as the ancients at first
   did, they light lamps and give them names, and name the child after
   that one which continues burning the longest; from thence conjecturing
   that he will live a long time. After all, should there be many
   instances of the child's untimely death, (and there are many,) great
   laughter on the devil's part will ensue, at his having made sport of
   them as if they were silly children. What shall we say about the
   amulets and the bells which are hung upon the hand, and the scarlet
   woof, and the other things full of such extreme folly; when they ought
   to invest the child with nothing else save the protection of the Cross
   [66] . But now that is despised which hath converted the whole world
   and given the sore wound to the devil and overthrown all his power:
   while the thread, and the woof, and the other amulets of that kind are
   entrusted with the child's safety.

   May I mention another thing yet more ridiculous than this? Only let no
   one tax us with speaking out of season, should our argument proceed
   with that instance also. For he that would cleanse an ulcer will not
   hesitate first to pollute his own hands. What then is this so very
   ridiculous custom? It is counted indeed as nothing; (and this is why I
   grieve;) but it is the beginning of folly and madness in the extreme.
   The women in the bath, nurses and waiting-maids, take up mud and
   smearing it with the finger make a mark on the child's forehead; and if
   one ask, What means the mud, and the clay? the answer is, ?It turneth
   away an evil eye, witchcraft and envy [67] .? Astonishing! what power
   in the mud! what might in the clay! what mighty force is this which it
   has? It averts all the host of the devil. Tell me, can ye help hiding
   yourselves for shame? Will ye never come to understand the snares of
   the devil, how from earliest life he gradually brings in the several
   evils which he hath devised? For if the mud hath this effect, why dost
   thou not thyself also do the same to thine own forehead, when thou art
   a man and thy character is formed; and thou art likelier than the child
   to have such as envy thee? Why dost thou not as well bemire the whole
   body? I say, if on the forehead its virtue be so great, why not anoint
   thyself all over with mud?  All this is mirth and stage-play to Satan,
   not mockery only but hell-fire being the consummation to which these
   deceived ones are tending.

   [14.] Now that among Greeks such things should be done is no wonder:
   but among the worshippers of the Cross, (ton stauron proskunousi) and
   partakers in unspeakable mysteries, and professors of such high
   morality, (tosauta philosophousin) that such unseemliness should
   prevail, this is especially to be deplored again and again. God hath
   honored thee with spiritual anointing; and dost thou defile thy child
   with mud? God hath honored thee, and dost thou dishonor thyself? And
   when thou shouldest inscribe on his forehead the Cross which affords
   invincible security; dost thou forego this, and cast thyself into the
   madness of Satan?

   If any look on these things as trifles, let them know that they are the
   source of great evils; and that not even unto Paul did it seem right to
   overlook the lesser things. For, tell me, what can be less than a man's
   covering his head? Yet observe how great a matter he makes of this and
   with how great earnestness he forbids it; saying, among many things,
   ?He dishonoreth his head.? (1 Cor. xi. 4.) Now if he that covers
   himself ?dishonoreth his head?; he that besmears his child with mud,
   how can it be less than making it abominable? For how, I want to know,
   can he bring it to the hands of the priest?  How canst thou require
   that on that forehead the seal [68] should be placed by the hand of the
   presbyter, where thou hast been smearing the mud? Nay, my brethren, do
   not these things, but from earliest life encompass them with spiritual
   armor and instruct them to seal the forehead with the hand (te cheiri
   paideute sphragizein to metopon): and before they are able to do this
   with their own hand [69] , do you imprint upon them the Cross.

   Why should one speak of the other satanical observances in the case of
   travail-pangs and childbirths, which the midwives introduce with a
   mischief on their own heads? Of the outcries which take place at each
   person's death, and when he is carried to his burial; the irrational
   wailings, the folly enacted at the funerals; the zeal about men's
   monuments; the importunate and ridiculous swarm of the mourning women
   [70] ; the observances of days; the days, I mean, of entrance into the
   world and of departure?

   [15.] Are these then, I beseech you, the persons whose good opinion
   thou followest after? And what can it be but the extreme of folly to
   seek earnestly the praise of men, so corrupt in their ideas, men whose
   conduct is all at random? when we ought always to resort to the
   unsleeping Eye, and look to His sentence in all that we do and speak?
   For these, even if they approve, will have no power to profit us. But
   He, should He accept our doings, will both here make us glorious, and
   in the future day will impart to us of the unspeakable good things:
   which may it be the lot of us all to obtain, through the grace and
   loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ; with Whom to the Father and
   the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always, and unto
   everlasting ages. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [58] [The true text of this clause is well given in the Revised
   Version, ?not to go beyond the things which are written.?]

   [59] [That is, conceding that they had the gifts which they claimed.
   C.]

   [60] (pantes Savile; pantos Bened.) [Dr. Field adopts the former
   reading. C.]

   [61] Bingham (b. xvi. c. 4. S:. 10.) proves that actors and the like
   were debarred from the Sacraments, except they renounced their calling,
   from very early times: from S. Cyprian, Ep. 61, who says, ?I think it
   inconsistent with the majesty of God and the discipline of the Gospel,
   to allow the chastity and glory of the Church to be defiled with so
   base contagion:? from Tertullian; de Spectac. 4; de Cor. Mil. 13; and
   from the Apostolical Constitutions, viii. 32.

   [62] Gibbon, c. 31. from Ammianus, relates, that on occasion of a
   scarcity, when all strangers were expelled from Rome, an exception was
   made in favor of the actors, singers, dancers, &c.

   [63] manganeias. Compare S. Augustin's account in the Confessions of
   the way in which some persons were bewitched by the gladiatorial shows;
   of which his friend Alypius in his youth was a remarkable instance. b.
   vi. S:. 13.

   [64] S. Chrys. on Gen. Hom. 48. near the end, speaking of Rebekah's
   veiling herself at sight of Isaac; ?See the noble breeding of the
   maiden.......and observe here, I pray you, how there is no place here
   for these superfluous and useless things; for a diabolical procession,
   for cymbals and flutes and dances, and those revels, the device of
   Satan, and invectives full of all indecency; but all wisdom, all
   gravity, all thoughtfulness.......Let Rebekah be the pattern of our
   wives, let our husbands emulate Isaac; be it their endeavor thus to
   bring home their brides.? Then complaining, nearly as in the text, of
   the Fescennine verses, as they were called, and other bad customs,
   relics of heathenism, ?Rather,? says he, ?should the maiden be trained
   in all modesty from the beginning, and priests called, and prayers and
   blessings be used to rivet fast the concord of their common habitation,
   that so both the bridegroom's love may increase, and the damsel's
   purity of soul be heightened. So by all ways shall the deeds of virtue
   enter into that house, and all the acts of the devil be far off and
   they shall pass their life with joy, God's Providence bringing them
   together.? So again Hom. 56. of the marriage of Jacob and Leah: in
   which place he complains especially of the introduction of people from
   the stage and orchestra at wedding feasts. See both places in Bingham,
   xxii. iv. 8: as also the 53d Canon of Laodicea: ?It is wrong for
   Christians attending marriages to practice theatrical gestures or
   dances, but to take their part soberly in the morning or evening meal,
   as becometh Christians.?

   [65] tes heauton proteinousai soterias. The Benedictine translates as
   if it were tas heauton: which is here followed. [The true reading as
   given by Field is ten heauton propinousai soterian. C.]

   [66] Compare St. Chrys. on Coloss. Hom. viii. near the end.

   [67] So on Col. ubi supra. ?What is all this folly? Here we have ashes,
   and soot, and salt, and the silly old woman again brought into play.
   Truly it is a mockery and a shame. Nay,' says she, an evil eye has
   caught hold of the child!' How long will you go on with these
   diabolical fancies?? &c.

   [68] i.e. the sign of the cross in baptism, made with consecrated balm
   or ointment, and called sphragis in the Apostolical Constitutions, iii.
   17; vid. Bingham xi. 9. 6. St. Chrysostom, it may be remarked, takes
   for granted, 1. that infants would be brought to baptism; 2. that they
   would be brought to the priest.

   [69] Compare the well-known passages in Tertullian and St. Cyprian: the
   first, ?At all our goings out and comings in, &c. we trace upon the
   forehead the sign of the cross;? de Cor. Mil. 3.: the other, ?Arm your
   foreheads with all boldness, that the sign of the cross may be safe.?
   Ep. 50:  both in Bingham ubi supra.

   [70] About this custom, of hiring heathen women as mourners, he speaks
   very strongly elsewhere; Hom. 32. in Matt., Hom. 4. in Heb., both which
   are quoted in Bingham, xxxiii. 18.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily XIII.

   1 Cor. iv. 10

   ?We are fools for Christ's sake:? (For it is necessary from this point
   to resume our discourse:)  ?but ye are wise in Christ: we are weak, but
   ye are strong: ye have glory, but we have dishonor.?

   Having filled his speech with much severity which conveys a sharper
   blow than any direct charge and having said, ?Ye have reigned without
   us;? and ?God hath set forth us last, as men doomed to death? he shows
   by what comes next how they are ?doomed to death;? saying, We are
   fools, and weak, and despised, and hunger, and thirst, and are naked,
   and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, and toil, working
   with our own hands:? which were very signs of genuine teachers and
   apostles. Whereas the others prided themselves on the things which are
   contrary to these, on wisdom, glory, wealth, consideration.

   Desiring therefore to take down their self-conceit and to point out
   that in respect of these things, so far from taking credit to
   themselves, they ought rather to be ashamed; he first of all mocks
   them, saying, ?Ye have reigned without us.? As if he had said, ?My
   sentence is that the present is not a time of honor nor of glory, which
   kind of things you enjoy, but of persecution and insult, such as we are
   suffering. If however it be not so; if this rather be the time of
   remuneration:  then as far as I see,? (but this he saith in irony,)
   ?ye, the disciples, for your part have become no less than kings: but
   we the teachers and apostles, and before all entitled to receive the
   reward, not only have fallen very far behind you, but even, as persons
   doomed to death, that is, condemned convicts, spend our lives entirely
   in dishonors, and dangers, and hunger: yea insulted as fools, and
   driven about, and enduring all intolerable things.?

   Now these things he said that he might hereby cause them also to
   consider, that they should zealously seek the condition of the
   Apostles; their dangers and their indignities, not their honors and
   glories. For these, not the other, are what the Gospel requires. But to
   this effect he speaks not directly, not to shew himself disagreeable to
   them: rather in a way characteristic of himself he takes in hand this
   rebuke. For if he had introduced his address in a direct manner, he
   would have spoken thus; ?Ye err, and are beguiled, and have swerved far
   from the apostolical mode of instruction. For every apostle and
   minister of Christ ought to be esteemed a fool, ought to live in
   affliction and dishonor; which indeed is our state: whereas you are in
   the contrary case.?

   But thus might his expressions have offended them yet more, as
   containing but praises of the Apostles; and might have made them
   fiercer, censured as they were for indolence and vainglory and
   luxuriousness. Wherefore he conducts not his statement in this way, but
   in another, more striking but less offensive; and this is why he
   proceeds with his address as follows, saying ironically, ?But ye are
   strong and honorable;? since, if he had not used irony, he would have
   spoken to this effect; ?It is not possible that one man should be
   esteemed foolish, and another wise; one strong, and another weak; the
   Gospel requiring both the one and the other. For if it were in the
   nature of things that one should be this, and another that, perchance
   there might be some reason in what you say. But now it is not
   permitted, either to be counted wise, or honorable, or to be free from
   dangers. If otherwise, it follows of necessity that you are preferred
   before us in the sight of God; you the disciples before us the
   teachers, and that after our endless hardships.? If this be too bad for
   anyone to say, it remains for you to make our condition your object.

   [2.] And ?let no one,? saith he, ?think that I speak only of the past:?

   Ver. 11. ?Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are
   naked.? Seest thou that all the life of Christians must be such as
   this; and not merely a day or two? For though the wrestler who is
   victorious in a single contest only, be crowned, he is not crowned
   again if he suffer a fall.

   ?And hunger;? against the luxurious. ?And are buffeted;? against those
   who are puffed up. ?And have no certain dwelling-place;? for we are
   driven about. ?And are naked;? against the rich.

   Ver. 12. ?And labor;? now against the false apostles who endure neither
   toil nor peril, while they themselves receive the fruits. ?But not so
   are we,? saith he: ?but together with our perils from without, we also
   strain ourselves to the utmost with perpetual labor. And what is still
   more, no one can say that we fret at these things, for the contrary is
   our requital to them that so deal with us: this, I say, is the main
   point, not our suffering evil, for that is common to all, but our
   suffering without despondency or vexation. But we so far from
   desponding are full of exultation. And a sure proof of this is our
   requiting with the contrary those who do us wrong.?

   Now as to the fact that so they did, hear what follows.

   [Ver. 12, 13.] ?Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;
   being defamed, we entreat; we are made as the filth of the world.? This
   is the meaning of ?fools for Christ's sake.? For whoso suffers wrong
   and avenges not himself nor is vexed, is reckoned a fool by the
   heathen; and dishonored and weak. And in order that he might not render
   his speech too unpalatable by referring the sufferings he was speaking
   of to their city, what saith he? ?We are made the filth,? not, ?of your
   city,? but, ?of the world.? And again, ?the off-scouring of all men;?
   not of you alone, but of all. As then when he is discoursing of the
   providential care of Christ, letting pass the earth, the heaven, the
   whole creation, the Cross is what he brings forward; so also when he
   desires to attract them to himself hurrying by all his miracles, he
   speaks of his sufferings on their account. So also it is our method
   when we be injured by any and despised, whatsoever we have endured for
   them, to bring the same forward.

   ?The offscouring of all men, even until now.? This is a vigorous blow
   which he gave at the end, ?of all men;? ?not of the persecutors only,?
   saith he, ?but of those also for whom we suffer these things: Oh
   greatly am I obliged to them.? It is the expression of one seriously
   concerned; not in pain himself, but desiring to make them feel,
   (plexai) that he who hath innumerable complaints to make should even
   salute them. And therefore did Christ command us to bear insults meekly
   that we might both exercise ourselves in a high strain of virtue, and
   put the other party to the more shame. For that effect one produces not
   so well by reproach as by silence.

   Ver. 14. [3.] Then since he saw that the blow could not well be borne,
   he speedily heals it; saying, ?I write not these things to shame you,
   but to admonish you as my beloved children.? ?For not as abashing you,?
   saith he, ?do I speak these things.? The very thing which by his words
   he had done, this he says he had not done: rather he allows that he had
   done it, not however with an evil and spiteful mind. Why, this mode of
   soothing is the very best, if we should say what we have to say and add
   the apology from our motive. For not to speak was impossible, since
   they would have remained uncorrected: on the other hand, after he had
   spoken, to leave the wound untended, were hard. Wherefore along with
   his severity he apologizes: for this so far from destroying the effect
   of the knife, rather makes it sink deeper in, while it moderates the
   full pain of the wound. Since when a man is told that not in reproach
   but in love are these things said, he the more readily receives
   correction.

   However, even here also is great severity, and a strong appeal to their
   sense of shame, (entrope) in that he said not, ?As a master? nor yet
   ?as an apostle,? nor yet ?as having you for my disciples;? (which had
   well suited his claims on them;) but, ?as my beloved children I
   admonish you.? And not simply, children; but, ?longed after.? ?Forgive
   me,? saith he. ?If anything disagreeable has been said, it all proceeds
   of love.? And he said not, ?I rebuke,? but ?I admonish.? Now, who would
   not bear with a father in grief, and in the act of giving good advice?
   Wherefore he did not say this before, but after he had given the blow.

   ?What then?? some might say; ?Do not other teachers spare us?? ?I say
   not so, but, they carry not their forbearance so far.? This however he
   spake not out at once, but by their professions and titles gave
   indication of it; ?Tutor? and ?Father? being the terms which he
   employs.

   Ver. 15. [4.] ?For though,? saith he, ?ye have ten thousand tutors in
   Christ, yet have ye not many fathers.? He is not here setting forth his
   dignity, but the exceeding greatness of his love. Thus neither did he
   wound the other teachers: since he adds the clause, ?in Christ:? but
   rather soothed them, designating not as parasites but as tutors those
   among them who were zealous and patient of labor: and also manifested
   his own anxious care of them. On this account he said not, ?Yet not
   many masters,? but, ?not many fathers.? So little was it his object to
   set down any name of dignity, or to argue that of him they had received
   the greater benefit: but granting to the others the great pains they
   had taken for the Corinthians, (for that is the force of the word
   Tutor,) the superiority in love he reserves for his own portion: for
   that again is the force of the word Father.

   And he saith not merely, No one loves you so much; a statement which
   admitted not of being called in question; but he also brings forward a
   real fact. What then is this? ?For in Christ Jesus I begat you through
   the Gospel. In Christ Jesus.? Not unto myself do I impute this. Again,
   he strikes at those who gave their own names to their teaching. For
   ?ye,? saith he, ?are the seal of mine Apostleship.? And again, ?I
   planted:? and in this place, ?I begat.? He said not, ?I preached the
   word,? but, ?I begat;? using the words of natural relationship. (tois
   tes phuseos onomasi)  For his one care at the moment was, to shew forth
   the love which he had for them. ?For they indeed received you from me,
   and led you on; but that you are believers at all came to pass through
   me.? Thus, because he had said, ?as children;? lest you should suppose
   that the expression was flattery he produces also the matter of fact.

   Ver. 16. [5.] ?I beseech you, be ye imitators of me, as I also am of
   Christ.? (kathos kago Christou, omitted in our version: the Vulgate has
   it, see c. xi. 1.) Astonishing!  How great is our teacher's boldness of
   speech!  How highly finished the image, when he can even exhort others
   hereunto!  Not that in self-exaltation he doth so, but implying that
   virtue is an easy thing. As if he had said, ?Tell me not, I am not able
   to imitate thee. Thou art a Teacher, and a great one.' For the
   difference between me and you is not so great as between Christ and me:
   and yet I have imitated Him.?

   On the other hand, writing to the Ephesians, he interposes no mention
   of himself, but leads them all straight to the one point, ?Be ye
   imitators of God,? is his word. (Ephes. v. 1.) But in this place, since
   his discourse was addressed to weak persons, he puts himself in by the
   way.

   And besides, too, he signifies that it is possible even thus to imitate
   Christ. For he who copies the perfect impression of the seal, copies
   the original model.

   Let us see then in what way he followed Christ:  for this imitation
   needs not time and art, but a steady purpose alone. Thus if we go into
   the study of a painter, we shall not be able to copy the portrait,
   though we see it ten thousand times. But to copy him we are enabled by
   hearing alone. Will ye then that we bring the tablet before you and
   sketch out for you Paul's manner of life? Well, let it be produced,
   that picture far brighter than all the images of Emperors: for its
   material is not boards glued together, nor canvass stretched out; but
   the material is the work of God: being as it is a soul and a body: a
   soul, the work of God, not of men; and a body again in like wise.

   Did you utter applause here? Nay, not here is the time for plaudits;
   but in what follows: for applauding, I say, and for imitating too: for
   so far we have but the material which is common to all without
   exception: inasmuch as soul differs not from soul in regard of its
   being a soul: but the purpose of heart shews the difference. For as one
   body differs not from another in so far as it is a body, but Paul's
   body is like every one's else, only dangers make one body more
   brilliant than another:  just so is it in the case of the soul also.

   [6.] Suppose then our tablet to be the soul of Paul: this tablet was
   lately lying covered with soot, full of spider's webs; (for nothing can
   be worse than blasphemy;) but when He came who transformeth all things,
   and saw that not through indolence or sluggishness were his lines so
   drawn but through inexperience and his not having the tints (ta anthe)
   of true piety: (for zeal indeed he had, but the colors were not there;
   for he had not ?the zeal according to knowledge:?)  He gives him the
   tint of the truth, that is, grace: and in a moment he exhibited the
   imperial image. For having got the colors and learnt what he was
   ignorant of, he waited no time, but forthwith appeared a most excellent
   artist. And first he shews the head of the king, preaching Christ; then
   also the remainder of the body; the body of a perfect Christian life.
   Now painters we know shut themselves up and execute all their works
   with great nicety and in quiet; not opening the doors to any one: but
   this man, setting forth his tablet in the view of the world, in the
   midst of universal opposition, clamor, disturbance, did under such
   circumstances work out this Royal Image, and was not hindered. And
   therefore he said, ?We are made a spectacle unto the world;? in the
   midst of earth, and sea, and the heaven, and the whole habitable globe,
   and the world both material and intellectual, he was drawing that
   portrait of his.

   Would you like to see the other parts also thereof from the head
   downwards? Or will ye that from below we carry our description upwards?
   Contemplate then a statue of gold or rather of something more costly
   than gold, and such as might stand in heaven; not fixed with lead nor
   placed in one spot, but hurrying from Jerusalem even unto Illyricum,
   (Rom. xv. 19.) and setting forth into Spain, and borne as it were on
   wings over every part of the world. For what could be more ?beautiful?
   than these ?feet? which visited the whole earth under the sun? This
   same ?beauty? the prophet also from of old proclaimeth, saying, (Is.
   lii. 7.) ?How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of
   peace!? Hast thou seen how fair are the feet? Wilt thou see the bosom
   too? Come, let me shew thee this also, and thou shalt behold it far
   more splendid than these beautiful, yea even than the bosom itself of
   the ancient lawgiver. For Moses indeed carried tablets of stone: but
   this man within him had Christ Himself: it was the very image of the
   King which he bore.

   For this cause he was more awful than the Mercy Seat [71] and the
   Cherubim. For no such voice went out from them as from hence; but from
   them it talked with men chiefly about things of sense, from the tongue
   of Paul on the other hand about the things above the heavens. Again,
   from the Mercy Seat it spake oracles to the Jews alone; but from hence
   to the whole world: and there it was by things without life; but here
   by a soul instinct with virtue.

   This Mercy Seat was brighter even than heaven, not shining forth with
   variety of stars nor with rays from the sun, but the very Sun of
   righteousness was there, and from hence He sent forth His rays. Again,
   from time to time in this our heaven, any cloud coursing over at times
   makes it gloomy; but that bosom never had any such storm sweeping
   across it. Or rather there did sweep over it many storms and oft: but
   the light they darkened not; rather in the midst of the temptation and
   dangers the light shone out. Wherefore also he himself when bound with
   his chain kept exclaiming, (2 Tim. ii. 9.) ?The word of God is not
   bound.? Thus continually by means of that tongue was It sending forth
   its rays. And no fear, no danger made that bosom gloomy. Perhaps the
   bosom seems to outdo the feet; however, both they as feet are
   beautiful, and this as a bosom.

   Wilt thou see also the belly with its proper beauty? Hear what he saith
   about it, (ch. viii. 13.) ?If meat make my brother to stumble, I will
   eat no flesh while the world standeth:  (Rom. xiv. 21.) It is good
   neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy
   brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak: (ch. vi. 13.) Meats
   for the belly and the belly for meats.? What can be more beautiful in
   its kind than this belly thus instructed to be quiet, and taught all
   temperance, and knowing how both to hunger and be famished, and also to
   suffer thirst? For as a well-trained horse with a golden bridle, so
   also did this walk with measured paces, having vanquished the necessity
   of nature. For it was Christ walking in it. Now this being so
   temperate, it is quite plain that the whole body of vice besides was
   done away.

   Wouldst thou see the hands too? those which he now hath? Or wouldest
   thou rather behold first their former wickedness? (Acts viii. 3.)
   ?Entering (this very man) into the houses, he haled,? of late, ?men and
   women,? with the hands not of man, but of some fierce wild beast. But
   as soon as he had received the colors of the Truth and the spiritual
   experience, no longer were these the hands of a man, but spiritual; day
   by day being bound with chains. And they never struck any one, but they
   were stricken times without number. Once even a viper (Acts xxviii. 3,
   5.) reverenced those hands: for they were the hands of a human being no
   longer; and therefore it did not even fasten on them.

   And wilt thou see also the back, resembling as it does the other
   members? Hear what he saith about this also. (2 Cor. xi. 24, 25.) ?Five
   times I received of the Jews forty stripes save one; thrice was I
   beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a
   night and a day I have been in the deep.?

   [7.] But lest we too should fall into an interminable deep, and be
   carried away far and wide, going over each of his members severally;
   come let us quit the body and look at another sort of beauty, that,
   namely, which proceeds from his garments; to which even devils shewed
   reverence; and therefore both they made off, and diseases took flight.
   And wheresoever Paul happened to shew himself, they all retired and got
   out of the way, as if the champion of the whole world had appeared. And
   as they who have been often wounded in war, should they see but some
   part of the armor of him that wounded them feel a shuddering; much in
   the same way the devils also, at sight of ?handkerchiefs? only were
   astonied. Where be now the rich, and they that have high thoughts about
   wealth? Where they who count over their own titles and their costly
   robes? With these things if they compare themselves, it will be clay in
   their sight and dirt, all they have of their own. And why speak I of
   garments and golden ornaments?  Why, if one would grant me the whole
   world in possession, the mere nail of Paul I should esteem more
   powerful than all that dominion: his poverty than all luxury: his
   dishonor, than all glory: his nakedness than all riches: no security
   would I compare with the buffeting of that sacred head: no diadem, with
   the stones to which he was a mark. This crown let us long for, beloved:
   and if persecution be not now, let us mean while prepare ourselves. For
   neither was he of whom we speak glorious by persecutions alone: for he
   said also, (1 Cor. ix. 27. hupopiezo rec. text, hupopiazo) ?I keep
   under my body;? now in this one may attain excellence without
   persecutions. And he exhorted not to (Rom. iii. 14.) ?make provision
   for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.? And again, (1 Tim. vi. 8.)
   ?Having food and covering, let us be therewith content.? For to these
   purposes we have no need of persecutions. And the wealthy too he sought
   to moderate, saying, (Ibid. 9.) ?They that desire to be rich fall into
   temptation.?

   If therefore we also thus exercise ourselves, when we enter into the
   contest we shall be crowned: and though there be no persecution before
   us, we shall receive for these things many rewards. But if we pamper
   the body and live the life of a swine, even in peace we shall often sin
   and bear shame.

   Seest thou not with whom we wrestle? With the incorporeal powers. How
   then, being ourselves flesh, are we to get the better of these? For if
   wrestling with men one have need to be temperate in diet, much more
   with evil spirits. But when together with fulness of flesh we are also
   bound down to wealth, whence are we to overcome our antagonists? For
   wealth is a chain, a grievous chain, to those who know not how to use
   it; a tyrant savage and inhuman, imposing all his commands by way of
   outrage on those who serve him. Howbeit, if we will, this bitter
   tyranny we shall depose from its throne, and make it yield to us,
   instead of commanding. How then shall this be? By distributing our
   wealth unto all. For so long as it stands against us, each single
   handed, like any robber in a wilderness it works all its bad ends: but
   when we bring it forth among others, it will master us no more, holden
   as it will be in chains, on all sides, by all men.

   [8.] And these things I say, not because riches are a sin: the sin is
   in not distributing them to the poor, and in the wrong use of them. For
   God made nothing evil but all things very good; so that riches too are
   good; i.e. if they do not master their owners; if the wants of our
   neighbors be done away by them. For neither is that light good which
   instead of dissipating darkness rather makes it intense: nor should I
   call that wealth, which instead of doing away poverty rather increases
   it. For the rich man seeks not to take from others but to help others:
   but he that seeks to receive from others is no longer rich, but is
   emphatically poor. So that it is not riches that are an evil, but the
   needy mind which turns wealth into poverty. These are more wretched
   than those who ask alms in the narrow streets, carrying a wallet and
   mutilated in body. I say, clothed in rags as they are, not so miserable
   as those in silks and shining garments. Those who strut in the
   market-place are more to be pitied than those who haunt the crossings
   of the streets, and enter into the courts, and cry from their cellars,
   and ask charity. For these for their part do utter praises to God, and
   speak words of mercy and a strict morality. And therefore we pity them,
   and stretch out the hand, and never find fault with them. But those who
   are rich to bad purpose; cruelty and inhumanity, ravening and satanical
   lust, are in the words they belch out. And therefore by all are they
   detested and laughed to scorn. Do but consider; which of the two among
   all men is reckoned disgraceful, to beg of the rich or the poor. Every
   one, I suppose, sees it at once:--of the poor. Now this, if you mark
   it, is what the rich do; for they durst not apply to those who are
   richer than themselves: whereas those who beg do so of the wealthy: for
   one beggar asks not alms of another, but of a rich man; but the rich
   man tears the poor in pieces.

   Again tell me, which is the more dignified, to receive from those who
   are willing and are obliged to you, or when men are unwilling, to
   compel and tease them? Clearly not to trouble those who are unwilling.
   But this also the rich do: for the poor receive from willing hands, and
   such as are obliged to them; but the rich from persons unwilling and
   repugnant, which is an indication of greater poverty. For if no one
   would like so much as to go to a meal, unless the inviter were to feel
   obliged to the guest, how can it be honorable to take one's share of
   any property by compulsion? Do we not on this account get out of the
   way of dogs and fly from their baying, because by their much besetting
   they fairly force us off? This also our rich men do.

   ?But, that fear should accompany the gift, is more dignified.? Nay,
   this is of all most disgraceful. For he who moves heaven and earth
   about his gains, who can be so laughed to scorn as he? For even unto
   dogs, not seldom, through fear, we throw whatever we had hold of. Which
   I ask again, is more disgraceful? that one clothed with rags should
   beg, or one who wears silk? Thus when a rich man pays court to old and
   poor persons, so as to get possession of their property, and this when
   there are children, what pardon can he deserve?

   Further: If you will, let us examine the very words; what the rich
   beggars say, and what the poor. What then saith the poor man? ?That he
   who giveth alms will never have to give by measure (metriasei perhaps
   corrupt:  conj. peinasei, ?will never hunger); that he is giving of
   what is God's: that God is loving unto men, and recompenses more
   abundantly; all which are words of high morality, and exhortation, and
   counsel. For he recommends thee to look unto the Lord, and he takes
   away thy fear of the poverty to come. And one may perceive much
   instruction in the words of those who ask alms: but of what kind are
   those of the rich? Why, of swine, and dogs, and wolves, and all other
   wild beasts. For some of them discourse perpetually on banquets, and
   dishes, and delicacies, and wine of all sorts, and ointments, and
   vestures, and all the rest of that extravagance. And others about the
   interest of money and loans. And making out accounts and increasing the
   mass of debts to an intolerable amount, as if it had begun in the time
   of men's fathers or grandfathers, one they rob of his house, another of
   his field, and another of his slave, and of all that he has. Why should
   one speak of their wills, which are written in blood instead of ink?
   For either by surrounding them with some intolerable danger, or else
   bewitching them with some paltry promises, whomsoever they may see in
   possession of some small property, those they persuade to pass by all
   their relations, and that oftentimes when perishing through poverty,
   and instead of them to enter their own names. Is there any madness and
   ferocity of wild beasts of any sort which these things do not throw
   into the shade?

   [8.] Wherefore I beseech you, all such wealth as this let us flee,
   disgraceful as it is and in deaths abundant; and let us obtain that
   which is spiritual, and let us seek after the treasures in the heavens.
   For whoso possess these, they are the rich, they are the wealthy, both
   here and there enjoying things; even all things. Since whoso will be
   poor, according to the word of God, has all men's houses opened to him.
   For unto him that for God's sake has ceased to possess any thing, every
   one will contribute of his own. But whoso will hold a little with
   injustice, shutteth the doors of all against him. To the end, then,
   that we may attain both to the good things here and to those which are
   there, let us choose the wealth which cannot be removed, that immortal
   abundance: which may God grant us all to obtain, through the grace and
   loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [71] That is, probably, ?of our Lord's Human Nature:? according to
   Theodoret on Rom. iii. 25. ?The true Mercy Seat is the Lord Christ. The
   name suits Him as man, not as God: for as God, He Himself gives oracles
   from the Mercy Seat.? And Theophylact on the same place: ?It meant
   certainly the Human Nature, which was the Sheath of the Deity, covering
   It over.? See Suicer on the word hilasterion. [This note is based upon
   a false reading, which has been corrected according to Field. C.]
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily XIV.

   1 Cor. iv. 17

   For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and
   faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in remembrance of my ways
   which be in Christ Jesus. [72]

   Consider here also, I entreat, the noble soul, the soul more glowing
   and keener than fire: how he was indeed especially desirous to be
   present himself with the Corinthians, thus distempered and broken into
   parties. For he knew well what a help to the disciples his presence was
   and what a mischief his absence. And the former he declared in the
   Epistle to the Philippians, saying, (Phil. ii. 12. kai[] om. in rec.
   text.) ?Not as in my presence only, but also now much more in my
   absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.? The
   latter he signifies in this Epistle, saying, (ver. 18.) ?Now some are
   puffed up, as though I were not coming to you; but I will come.? He was
   urgent, it seems, and desirous to be present himself. But as this was
   not possible for a time, he corrects them by the promise of his
   appearance; and not this only, but also by the sending of his disciple.
   ?For this,? he saith, ?I have sent unto you Timothy.? ?For this cause:?
   how is that? ?Because I care for you as for children, and as having
   begotten you.? And the message is accompanied with a recommendation of
   his person:  ?Who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord.? Now
   this he said, both to shew his love of him, and to prepare them to look
   on him with respect. And not simply ?faithful,? but, ?in the Lord;?
   that is, in the things pertaining to the Lord.  Now if in worldly
   things it is high praise for a man to be faithful, much more in things
   spiritual.

   If then he was his ?beloved child,? consider how great was Paul's love,
   in choosing to be separated from him for the Corinthian's sake, And if
   ?faithful? also, he will be unexceptionable in his ministering to their
   affairs.

   ?Who shall put you in remembrance.? He said not, ?shall teach,? lest
   they should take it ill, as being used to learn from himself. Wherefore
   also towards the end he saith, (1 Cor. xvi. 10, 11.) ?For he worketh
   the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise him.?
   For there was no envy among the Apostles, but they had an eye unto one
   thing, the edification of the Church. And if he that was employed was
   their inferior, they did as it were support (sunekrotoun) him with all
   earnestness. Wherefore neither was he contented with saying, ?He shall
   put you in remembrance;? but purposing to cut out their envy more
   completely,--for Timothy was young,--with this view, I say, he adds,
   ?my ways;? not ?his,? but ?mine;? that is, his methods, (tas
   oikonomias.) his dangers, his customs, his laws, his ordinances, his
   Apostolical Canons, and all the rest. For since he had said, ?We are
   naked, and are buffered, and have no certain dwelling place: all these
   things,? saith he, ?he will remind you of;? and also of the laws of
   Christ; for destroying all heresies. Then, carrying his argument
   higher, he adds, ?which be in Christ;? ascribing all, as was his wont,
   unto the Lord, and on that ground establishing the credibility of what
   is to follow. Wherefore he subjoins, ?Even as I teach every where in
   every church.? ?Nothing new have I spoken unto you: of these my
   proceedings all the other Churches are cognizant as well as you.?
   Further: he calls them ?ways in Christ,? to shew that they have in them
   nothing human, and that with the aid from that source he doth all
   things well.

   [2.] And having said these things and so soothed them, and being just
   about to enter on his charge against the unclean person, he again
   utters words full of anger; not that in himself he felt so but in order
   to correct them: and giving over the fornicator, he directs his
   discourse to the rest, as not deeming him worthy even of words from
   himself; just as we act in regard to our servants when they have given
   us great offence.

   Next, after that he had said, ?I send Timothy, lest they should
   thereupon take things too easily, mark what he saith:

   Ver. 18. ?Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming unto
   you.? For there he glances both at them and at certain others, casting
   down their highmindedness: since the love of preeminence is in fault,
   when men abuse the absence of their teacher for their own self-will.
   For when he addresses himself unto the people, observe how he does it
   by way of appeal to their sense of shame; when unto the originators of
   the mischief, his manner is more vehement. Thus unto the former he
   saith, ?We are the offscouring of all:? and soothing them he saith,
   ?Not to shame you I write these things;? but to the latter, ?Now as
   though I were not coming to you, some are puffed up;? shewing that
   their self-will argued a childish turn of mind. For so boys in the
   absence of their master wax more negligent.

   This then is one thing here indicated; and another is that his presence
   was sufficient for their correction. For as the presence of a lion
   makes all living creatures shrink away, so also does that of Paul the
   corrupters of the Church.

   Ver. 19. And therefore he goes on, ?But I will come to you shortly, if
   the Lord will.? Now to say this only would seem to be mere threatening.
   But to promise himself and demand from them the requisite proof by
   actions also; this was a course for a truly high spirit. Accordingly he
   added this too, saying,

   ?And I will know, not the word of them which are puffed up, but the
   power.? For not from any excellencies of their own but from their
   teacher's absence, this self-will arose. Which again itself was a mark
   of a scornful mind towards him. And this is why, having said, ?I have
   sent Timothy,? he did not at once add, ?I will come;? but waited until
   he had brought his charge against them of being ?puffed up:? after that
   he saith, ?I will come.? Since, had he put it before the charge, it
   would rather have been an apology for himself as not having been
   deficient, instead of a threat; nor even so (houtos so the King's ms.
   outos the rec. text.) would the statement have been convincing. But as
   it is, placing it after the accusation, he rendered himself such as
   they would both believe and fear.

   Mark also how solid and secure he makes his ground: for he saith not
   simply, ?I will come:? but, ?If the Lord will:? and he appoints no set
   time. For since he might perhaps be tardy in coming, by that
   uncertainty he would fain keep them anxiously engaged. And, lest they
   should hereupon fall back again, he added, ?shortly,?

   [3.] ?And I will know, not the word of them that are puffed up, but the
   power.? He said not, ?I will know not the wisdom, nor the signs,? but
   what? ?not the word:? by the term he employs at the same time
   depressing the one and exalting the other. And for a while he is
   setting himself against the generality of them who were countenancing
   the fornicator. For if he were speaking of him, he would not say, ?the
   power;? but, ?the works,? the corrupt works which he did.

   Now why seekest thou not after ?the word?? ?Not because I am wanting in
   word but because all our doings are in power.'? As therefore in war
   success is not for those who talk much but those who effect much; so
   also in this case, not speakers, but doers have the victory. ?Thou,?
   saith he, ?art proud of this fine speaking. Well, if it were a contest
   and a time for orators, thou mightest reasonably be elated thereat: but
   if of Apostles preaching truth, and by signs confirming the same, why
   art thou puffed up for a thing superfluous and unreal, and to the
   present purpose utterly inefficient? For what could a display of words
   avail towards raising the dead, or expelling evil spirits, or working
   any other such deed of wonder?  But these are what we want now, and by
   these our cause stands.? Whereupon also he adds,

   Ver. 20. ?For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.? By
   signs, saith he, not by fine speaking, we have prevailed: and that our
   teaching is divine and really announces the Kingdom of Heaven we give
   the greater proof, namely, our signs which we work by the power of the
   Spirit. If those who are now puffed up desire to be some great ones; as
   soon as I am come, let them shew whether they have any such power. And
   let me not find them sheltering themselves behind a pomp of words: for
   that kind of art is nothing to us.

   [4.] Ver. 21. ?What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in
   love and a spirit of meekness??

   There is much both of terror and of gentleness in this saying. For to
   say, ?I will know,? was the language of one as yet withholding himself:
   but to say, ?What will ye?  Must I come unto you with a rod?? are the
   words of one thenceforth ascending the teacher's seat, and from thence
   holding discourses with them and taking upon him all his authority.

   What means, ?with a rod?? With punishment, with vengeance: that is, I
   will destroy; I will strike with blindness: the kind of thing which
   Peter did in the case of Sapphira, and himself in the case of Elymas
   the sorcerer. For henceforth he no longer speaks as bringing himself
   into a close comparison with the other teachers, but with authority.
   And in the second Epistle too he appears to say the same, when he
   writes, ?Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.?

   ?Shall I come with a rod, or in love?? What then? to come with a rod,
   was it not an instance of love? Of love it was surely [73] . But
   because through his great love he shrinks back in punishing, therefore
   he so expresses himself.

   Further; when he spoke about punishment, he said not, ?in a spirit of
   meekness,? but, [simply,] ?with a rod:? and yet of that too the Spirit
   was author. For there is a spirit of meekness, and a spirit of
   severity. He doth not, however, choose so to call it, but from its
   milder aspect (apo ton chrestoteron.) And for a like reason also, God,
   although avenging Himself, has it often affirmed of Him that He is
   ?gracious and long-suffering, and rich in mercy and pity:? but that He
   is apt to punish, once perhaps or twice, and sparingly, and that upon
   some urgent cause.

   [5.] Consider then the wisdom of Paul; holding the authority in his own
   hands, he leaves both his and that in the power of others, saying,
   ?What will ye?? ?The matter is at your disposal.?

   For we too have depending on us both sides of the alternative; both
   falling into hell, and obtaining the kingdom:  since God hath so willed
   it. For, ?behold,? saith he, ?fire and water: whichever way thou wilt,
   thou mayest stretch forth thine hand? (Ecclus. xv. 16.) And, ?If ye be
   willing, and will hearken unto me, ye shall eat the good of the land;
   (Is. i. 19,) but if ye be not willing, the sword shall devour you.?

   But perhaps one will say, ?I am willing; (and no one is so void of
   understanding as not to be willing;) but to will is not sufficient for
   me.? Nay, but it is sufficient, if thou be duly willing, and do the
   deeds of one that is willing. But as it is, thou art not greatly
   willing.

   And let us try this in other things, if it seem good. For tell me, he
   that would marry a wife, is he content with wishing? By no means; but
   he looks out for women to advance his suit, and request friends to keep
   watch with him, and gets together money. Again, the merchant is not
   content with sitting at home and wishing, but he first hires a vessel,
   then selects sailors and rowers, then takes up money on interest, and
   is inquisitive about a market and the price of merchandise. Is it not
   then strange for men to shew themselves so much in earnest about
   earthly things, but that when they are to make a venture for heaven,
   they should be content with wishing only? rather I should say, not even
   in this do they shew themselves properly in earnest. For he that wills
   a thing as he ought, puts also his hand unto the means which lead to
   the object of his desire. Thus, when hunger compels thee to take
   nourishment, thou waitest not for the viands to come unto thee of their
   own accord, but omittest nothing to gather victuals together. So in
   thirst, and cold and all other such things, thou art industrious and
   duly prepared to take care of the body. Now do this in respect of God's
   kingdom also, and surely thou shalt obtain it.

   For to this end God made thee a free agent, that thou mightest not
   afterwards accuse God, as though some necessity had bound thee: but
   thou, in regard of those very things wherein thou hast been honored,
   dost murmur.

   For in fact I have often heard people say, ?But why did He then make my
   goodness depend on me?? Nay, but how was He to bring thee, slumbering
   and sleeping, and in love with all iniquity, and living delicately, and
   pampering thyself; how was He to bring thee up to heaven? If He had,
   thou wouldest not have abstained from vice. For if now, even in the
   face of threatening, thou dost not turn aside from thy wickedness; had
   he added no less than heaven as the end of thy race, when wouldest thou
   have ceased waxing more careless and worse by far? (cheiron pollo.
   pollon Bened.)

   Neither again wilt thou be able to allege, He hath shewed me indeed
   what things were good but gave no help, for abundant also is His
   promise to thee of aid.

   [6.] ?But,? say you, ?Virtue is burdensome and distasteful; while with
   vice great pleasure is blended; and the one is wide and broad, but the
   other strait and narrow.?

   Tell me then, are they respectively such throughout, or only from the
   beginning? For in fact what thou here sayest, thou sayest, not
   intending it, in behalf of virtue; so potent a thing is truth. For
   suppose there were two roads, the one leading to a furnace, and the
   other to a Paradise; and that the one unto the furnace were broad, the
   other unto Paradise, narrow; which road wouldest thou take in
   preference? For although you may now gainsay for contradiction's sake,
   yet things which are plainly allowed on all hands, however shameless,
   you will not be able to gainsay. Now that that way is rather to be
   chosen which hath its beginning difficult but not its end, I will
   endeavor to teach you from what is quite obvious. And, if you please,
   let us first take in hand the arts. For these have their beginning full
   of toil, but the end gainful. ?But,? say you, ?no one applies himself
   to an art without some one to compel him; for,? you add, ?so long as
   the boy is his own master, he will choose rather to take his ease at
   first, and in the end to endure the evil, how great soever, than to
   live hardly at the outset, and afterwards reap the fruit of those
   labors.? Well then, to make such a choice comes of a mind left to
   itself, (orphanikes dianoias) and of childish idleness: but the
   contrary choice, of sense and manliness. And so it is with us: were we
   not children in mind, we should not be like the child aforesaid,
   forsaken (orphano) as he is and thoughtless, but like him that hath a
   father. We must cast out then our own childish mind, and not find fault
   with the things themselves; and we must set a charioteer over our
   conscience, who will not allow us to indulge our appetite, but make us
   run and strive mightily. For what else but absurdity is it to inure our
   children with pains at first unto pursuits which have laborious
   beginnings, but their end good and pleasant; while we ourselves in
   spiritual things take just the contrary turn?

   And yet even in those earthly things it is not quite plain that the end
   will be good and pleasant: since before now untimely death, or poverty,
   or false accusation, or reverse of fortune, or other such things, of
   which there are many, have caused men after their long toil to be
   deprived of all its fruits. What is more, those who have such pursuits,
   though they succeed, it is no great gain which they will reap. For with
   the present life all those things are dissolved. But here, not for such
   fruitless and perishable things is our race, neither have we fears
   about the end; but greater and more secure is our hope after our
   departure hence. What pardon then can there be, what excuse for those
   who will not strip themselves for the evils to be endured for virtue's
   sake?

   And do they yet ask, ?Wherefore is the way narrow?? Why, thou dost not
   deem it right that any fornicator or lewd or drunken (kai ton
   methuonton inserted from the King's ms.) person should enter into the
   courts of earthly kings; and claimest thou for men to be let into
   heaven itself with licentiousness, and luxury, and drunkenness, and
   covetousness, and all manner of iniquity? And how can these things be
   pardonable?

   [7.]  ?Nay,? you reply, ?I say not that, but why has not virtue a
   ?broad way?? In good truth if we be willing, its way is very easy. For
   whether is easier, tell me; to dig through a wall and take other men's
   goods and so be cast into prison; or to be content with what you have
   and freed from all fear? I have not however said all. For whether is
   easier, tell me; to steal all men's goods and revel in few of them for
   a short time, and then to be racked and scourged eternally; or having
   lived in righteous poverty for a short time, to live ever after in
   delights? (For let us not enquire as yet which is the more profitable,
   but for the present, which is the more easy.) Whether again is it
   pleasanter, to see a good dream and to be punished in reality; or after
   having had a disagreeable dream to be really in enjoyment? Of course
   the latter. Tell me then, In what sense dost thou call virtue harsh? I
   grant, it is harsh, tried by comparison with our carelessness. However,
   that it is really easy and smooth, hear what Christ saith, (St. Matt.
   xi. 30.) ?My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.? But if thou
   perceivest not the lightness, plainly it is for want of courageous
   zeal; since where that is, even heavy things are light; and by the same
   rule where it is not, even light things are heavy. For tell me, what
   could be sweeter and more easily obtained than the banquet of manna?
   Yet the Jews were discontented, though enjoying such delightful fare.
   What more bitter than hunger and all the other hardships which Paul
   endured? Yet he leaped up, and rejoiced, and said, (Col. i. 24.) ?Now I
   rejoice in my sufferings.? What then is the cause? The difference of
   the mind. If then you frame this as it ought to be, you will see the
   easiness of virtue.

   ?What then,? say you, ?does she only become such through the mind of
   those who pursue her?? She is such, not from their mind alone, but by
   nature as well. Which I thus prove: If the one had been throughout a
   thing painful, the other throughout of the contrary sort, then with
   some plausibility might some fallen persons have said that the latter
   was easier than the former. But if they have their beginnings, the one
   in hardship, the other in pleasure, but their respective ends again
   just opposite to these; and if those ends be both infinite, in the one
   the pleasure, in the other the burthen; tell me, which is the more easy
   to choose?

   ?Why then do many not choose that which is easy?? Because some
   disbelieve; and others, who believe, have their judgment corrupt, and
   would prefer pleasure for a season to that which is everlasting. ?Is
   not this then easy?? Not so: but this cometh of a sick soul. And as the
   reason why persons in a fever long after cool drink is not upon
   calculation that the momentary luxury is pleasanter than being burned
   up from beginning to end, but because they cannot restrain their
   inordinate desire; so also these. Since if one brought them to their
   punishment at the very moment of their pleasure, assuredly they never
   would have chosen it. Thus you see in what sense vice is not an easy
   thing.

   [8.] But if you will, let us try this same point over again by an
   example in the proper subject matter. Tell me, for instance, which is
   pleasanter and easier? (only let us not take again the desire of the
   many for our rule in the matter; since one ought to decide, not by the
   sick, but by the whole; just as you might show me ten thousand men in a
   fever, seeking things unwholesome upon choice to suffer for it
   afterwards; but I should not allow such choice;) which, I repeat,
   brings more ease, tell me; to desire much wealth, or to be above that
   desire? For I, for my part, think the latter. If thou disbelieve it,
   let the argument be brought to the facts themselves.

   Let us then suppose one man desiring much, another nothing. Which now
   is the better state, tell me, and which the more respectable? However,
   let that pass. For this is agreed upon, that the latter is a finer
   character than the former. And we are making no enquiry about this at
   present, but which lives the easier and pleasanter life? Well then: the
   lover of money will not enjoy even what he has: for that which he loves
   he cannot choose to spend; but would gladly even carve (katakopseie)
   himself out, and part with his flesh rather than with his gold. But he
   that despises wealth, gains this the while, that he enjoys what he has
   quietly and with great security, and that he values himself more than
   it. Which then is the pleasanter; to enjoy what one has with freedom,
   or to live under a master, namely wealth, and not dare to touch a
   single thing even of one's own? Why, it seemeth to me to be much the
   same as if any two men, having wives and loving them exceedingly, were
   not upon the same terms with them; but the one were allowed the
   presence and intercourse of his wife, the other not even permitted to
   come near his.

   There is another thing which I wish to mention, indicating the pleasure
   of the one and the discomfort of the other. He that is greedy of gain
   will never be stayed in that desire, not only because it is impossible,
   for him to obtain all men's goods, but also because whatever he may
   have compassed, he counts himself to have nothing. But the despiser of
   riches will deem it all superfluous, and will not have to punish his
   soul with endless desires. I say, punish; for nothing so completely
   answers the definition of punishment as desire deprived of
   gratification; a thing too which especially marks his perverse mind.
   Look at it in this way. He that lusts after riches and hath increased
   his store, he is the sort of person to feel as if he had nothing. I ask
   then, what more complicated than this disease? And the strange thing is
   not this only, but that although having, he thinks he has not the very
   things which are in his hold, and as though he had them not he bewails
   himself. If he even get all men's goods, his pain is but greater. And
   should he gain an hundred talents, he is vexed that he hath not
   received a thousand: and if he received a thousand; he is stung to the
   quick that it is not ten thousand: and if he receive ten thousand, he
   utterly bemoans himself (katakoptetai) because it is not ten times as
   much. And the acquisition of more to him becomes so much more poverty;
   for the more he receives so much the more he desires. So then, the more
   he receives, the more he becomes poor: since whoso desires more, is
   more truly poor. When then he hath an hundred talents, is he not very
   poor? [74] for he desires a thousand. When he hath got a thousand, then
   he becomes yet poorer. For it is no longer a thousand as before, but
   ten thousand that he professes himself to want. Now if you say that to
   wish and not to obtain is pleasure, you seem to me to be very ignorant
   of the nature of pleasure.

   [9.] To shew that this sort of thing is not pleasure but punishment,
   take another case, and so let us search it out. When we are thirsty, do
   we not therefore feel pleasure in drinking because we quench our
   thirst; and is it not therefore a pleasure to drink because it relieves
   us from a great torment, the desire, I mean, of drinking? Every one, I
   suppose, can tell. But were we always to remain in such a state of
   desire, we should be as badly off as the rich man in the parable of
   Lazarus for the matter of punishment; for his punishment was just this
   that vehemently desiring one little drop, he obtained it not. And this
   very thing all covetous persons seem to me continually to suffer, and
   to resemble him where he begs that he may obtain that drop, and obtains
   it not. For their soul is more on fire than his.

   Well indeed hath one [75] said, that all lovers of money are in a sort
   of dropsy; for as they, bearing much water in their bodies, are the
   more burnt up: so also the covetous, bearing about with them great
   wealth, are greedy of more. The reason is that neither do the one keep
   the water in the parts of the body where it should be, nor the other
   their desire in the limits of becoming thought.

   Let us then flee this strange and craving (xenen kai kenen: a play on
   the sound of the words,) disease; let us flee the root of all evils;
   let us flee that which is present hell; for it is a hell, the desire of
   these things. Only just lay open the soul of each, of him who despises
   wealth and of him who does not so; and you will see that the one is
   like the distracted, choosing neither to hear nor see any thing: the
   other, like a harbor free from waves:  and he is the friend of all, as
   the other is the enemy. For whether one take any thing of his, it gives
   him no annoyance; or if whether, on the contrary, one give him aught,
   it puffs him not up; but there is a certain freedom about him with
   entire security. The one is forced to flatter and feign before all; the
   other, to no man.

   If now to be fond of money is to be both poor and timid and a
   dissembler and a hypocrite and to be full of fears and great penal
   anguish and chastisement: while he that despises wealth has all the
   contrary enjoyments: is it not quite plain that virtue is the more
   pleasant?

   Now we might have gone through all the other evils also whereby it is
   shewn that there is no vice which hath pleasure in it, had we not
   spoken before so much at large.

   Wherefore knowing these things, let us choose virtue; to the end that
   we may both enjoy such pleasure as is here, and may attain unto the
   blessings which are to come, through the grace and loving-kindness, &c.
   &c.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [72] Iesou om. in rec. text, [but retained it Rev. Vers.]

   [73] St. Augustin, cont. Parmen, iii. 3. ?Are we to suppose that ?the
   rod? at all excludes ?love,? because he has given this turn to his
   sentence, Shall I come unto you with a rod,' or in love?' Nay, the
   following clause, And in a spirit of meekness,' hints what was passing
   in his mind--that the rod also has in it love. But love in severity is
   one thing, love in meekness another thing. The love is the same, but it
   works diversely in divers cases.?

   [74] Savile reads this interrogatively, [as does also Dr. Field. C.]

   [75] Crescit indulgens sibi dirus Hydrops, Nec sitim pellit, nisi causa
   morbi Fugerit venis, et aquosus albo corpore languor. Hor. Carm. ii. 2.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily XV.

   1 Cor. v. 1, 2

   It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such
   fornication as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one of you
   hath his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn,
   that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you.

   When he was discoursing about their divisions, he did not indeed at
   once address them vehemently, but more gently at first; and afterwards,
   he ended in accusation, saying thus, (c. 1. xi.) ?For it hath been
   signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them which are of the
   household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.? But in this
   place, not so; but he lays about him immediately and makes the reproach
   of the accusation as general as possible. For he said not, ?Why did
   such an one commit fornication?? but, ?It is reported that there is
   fornication among you;? that they might as persons altogether aloof
   from his charge take it easily; but might be filled with such anxiety
   as was natural when the whole body was wounded, and the Church had
   incurred reproach. ?For no one,? saith he, ?will state it thus, such an
   one hath committed fornication,' but, in the Church of Corinthians that
   sin hath been committed.'?

   And he said not, ?Fornication is perpetrated,? but, ?Is reported,--such
   as is not even named among the Gentiles.? For so continually he makes
   the Gentiles a topic of reproach to the believers. Thus writing to the
   Thessalonians, he said, (1 Thess. iv. 4, 5, kai time om. ta loipa
   inserted.) ?Let every one possess himself of his own vessel in
   sanctification, not in the passion of lust, even as the rest of the
   Gentiles.? And to the Colossians and Ephesians, (Ephes. iv. 17. cf.
   Col. iii. 6, 7.) ?That you should no longer walk, as the other Gentiles
   walk.? Now if their committing the same sins was unpardonable, when
   they even outdid the Gentiles, what place can we find for them? tell
   me: ?inasmuch as among the Gentiles,? so he speaks, ?not only they dare
   no such thing, but they do not even give it a name. Do you see to what
   point he aggravated his charge? For when they are convicted of
   inventing such modes of uncleanness as the unbelievers, so far from
   venturing on them, do not even know of, the sin must be exceeding
   great, beyond all words. And the clause, ?among you,? is spoken also
   emphatically; that is, ?Among you, the faithful, who have been favored
   with so high mysteries, the partakers of secrets, the guests invited to
   heaven.? Dost thou mark with what indignant feeling his works overflow?
   with what anger against all? For had it not been for the great wrath of
   which he was full, had he not been setting himself against them all, he
   would have spoken thus:  ?Having heard that such and such a person hath
   committed fornication, I charge you to punish him.? But as it is he
   doth not so; he rather challenges all at once. And indeed, if they had
   written first, this is what he probably would have said. Since however
   so far from writing, they had even thrown the fault into the shade, on
   this account he orders his discourse more vehemently.

   [2.] ?That one of you should have his father's wife.? Wherefore said he
   not, ?That he should abuse his father's wife?? The extreme foulness of
   the deed caused him to shrink. He hurries by it accordingly, with a
   sort of scrupulousness as though it had been explicitly mentioned
   before. And hereby again he aggravates the charge, implying that such
   things are ventured on among them as even to speak plainly of was
   intolerable for Paul. Wherefore also, as he goes on, he uses the same
   mode of speech, saying, ?Him who hath so done this thing:? and is again
   ashamed and blushes to speak out; which also we are wont to do in
   regard of matters extremely disgraceful. And he said not, ?his
   step-mother,? but, ?his father's wife;? so as to strike much more
   severely. For when the mere terms are sufficient to convey the charge,
   he proceeds with them simply, adding nothing.

   And ?tell me not,? saith he, ?that the fornicator is but one: the
   charge hath become common to all.? Wherefore at once he added, ?and ye
   are puffed up:? he said not, ?with the sin;? for this would imply want
   of all reason:  but with the doctrine you have heard from that person
   [76] . This however he set not down himself, but left it undetermined,
   that he might inflict a heavier blow.

   And mark the good sense of Paul. Having first overthrown the wisdom
   from without, and signified that it is nothing by itself although no
   sin were associated with it; then and not till then he discourses about
   the sin also. For if by way of comparison with the fornicator who
   perhaps was some wise one, he had maintained the greatness of his own
   spiritual gift; he had done no great thing: but even when unattended
   with sin to take down the heathen wisdom and demonstrate it to be
   nothing, this was indicating its extreme worthlessness indeed.
   Wherefore first, as I said, having made the comparison, he afterwards
   mentions the man's sin also.

   And with him indeed he condescends not to debate, and thereby signifies
   the exceeding greatness of his dishonor. But to the others he saith,
   ?You ought to weep and wail, and cover your faces, but now ye do the
   contrary.? And this is the force of the next clause, ?And ye are puffed
   up, and did not rather mourn.?

   ?And why are we to weep?? some might say. Because the reproach hath
   made its way even unto the whole body of your Church. ?And what good
   are we to get by our weeping?? ?That such an one should be taken away
   from you.? Not even here doth he mention his name; rather, I should
   say, not any where; which in all monstrous things is our usual way.

   And he said not, ?Ye have not rather cast him out,? but, as in the case
   of any disease or pestilence, ?there is need of mourning,? saith he,
   ?and of intense supplication, that he may be taken away.' And you
   should have used prayer for this, and left nothing undone that he
   should be cut off.?

   Nor yet doth he accuse them for not having given him information, but
   for not having mourned so that the man should be taken away; implying
   that even without their Teacher this ought to have been done, because
   of the notoriety of the offence.

   [3.] Ver. 3. ?For I verily being absent in body, but present in
   spirit.?

   Mark his energy. He suffers them not even to wait for his presence, nor
   to receive him first and then pass the sentence of binding: but as if
   on the point of expelling some contagion before that it have spread
   itself into the rest of the body, he hastens to restrain it. And
   therefore he subjoins the clause, ?I have judged already, as though I
   were present.? These things moreover he said, not only to urge them
   unto the declaration of their sentence and to give them no opportunity
   of contriving something else, but also to frighten them, as one who
   knew what was to be done and determined there. For this is the meaning
   of being ?present in spirit:? as Elisha was present with Gehazi, and
   said, ?Went not my heart with thee? (2 Kings v. 26.) Wonderful!  How
   great is the power of the gift, in that it makes all to be together and
   as one; and qualifies them to know the things which are far off. ?I
   have judged already as though I were present.?

   He permits them not to have any other device. ?Now I have uttered my
   decision as if I were present: let there be no delays and puttings off:
   for nothing else must be done.?

   Then lest he should be thought too authoritative and his speech sound
   rather self-willed, mark how he makes them also partners in the
   sentence. For having said, ?I have judged,? he adds, ?concerning him
   that hath so wrought this thing, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
   ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord
   Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan.

   Now what means, ?In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ?? ?According to
   God;? ?not possessed with any human prejudice.?

   Some, however, read thus, ?Him that hath so wrought this thing in the
   name of our Lord Jesus Christ,? and putting a stop there or a break,
   then subjoin what follows, saying, ?When you are gathered together and
   my spirit to deliver such an one unto Satan:? and they assert that the
   sense of this reading is as follows, ?Him that hath done this thing in
   the Name of Christ,? saith St. Paul, ?deliver ye unto Satan;? that is,
   ?him that hath done insult unto the Name of Christ, him that, after he
   had become a believer and was called after that appellation, hath dared
   to do such things, deliver ye unto Satan.? But to me the former
   exposition (ekdosis. It seems to mean ?enunciation.?) appears the
   truer.

   What then is this? ?When ye are gathered together in the Name of the
   Lord.? That is; His Name, in whose behalf ye have met, collecting you
   together.

   ?And my spirit.? Again he sets himself at their head in order that when
   they should pass sentence, they might no otherwise cut off the offender
   than as if he were present; and that no one might dare to judge him
   pardonable, knowing that Paul would be aware of the proceedings.

   [4.] Then making it yet more awful, he saith, ?with the power of our
   Lord Jesus Christ;? that is, either that Christ is able to give you
   such grace as that you should have power to deliver him to the devil;
   or that He is Himself together with you passing that sentence against
   him.

   And he said not, ?Give up? such an one to Satan, but ?deliver;? opening
   unto him the doors of repentance, and delivering up such an one as it
   were to a schoolmaster. And again it is, ?such an one:? he no where can
   endure to make mention of his name.

   ?For the destruction of the flesh.? As was done in the case of the
   blessed Job, but not upon the same ground. For in that case it was for
   brighter crowns, but here for loosing of sins; that he might scourge
   him with a grievous sore or some other disease. True it is that
   elsewhere he saith, ?Of the Lord are we judged, (1 Cor. xi. 32.) when
   we suffer these things.? But here, desirous of making them feel it more
   severely, he ?delivereth up unto Satan.? And so this too which God had
   determined ensued, that the man's flesh was chastised. For because
   inordinate eating and carnal luxuriousness are the parents of desires,
   it is the flesh which he chastises.

   ?That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus;? that is
   the soul. Not as though this were saved alone, but because it was a
   settled point that if that were saved, without all controversy the body
   too would partake in its salvation. For as it became mortal because of
   the soul's sinning: so if this do righteousness, that also on the other
   hand shall enjoy great glory.

   But some maintain, that ?the Spirit? is the Gracious Gift which is
   extinguished when we sin. ?In order then that this may not happen,?
   saith he, ?let him be punished; that thereby becoming better, he may
   draw down to himself God's grace, and be found having it safe in that
   day.? So that all comes as from one exercising a nurse's or a
   physician's office, not merely scourging nor punishing rashly and at
   random. For the gain is greater than the punishment: one being but for
   a season, the other everlasting.

   And he said not simply, ?That the spirit may be saved,? but ?in that
   day.? Well and seasonably doth he remind them of that day in order that
   both they might more readily apply themselves to the cure, and that the
   person censured might the rather receive his words, not as it were of
   anger, but as the forethought of an anxious father. For this cause also
   he said, ?unto the destruction of the flesh:? proceeding to lay down
   regulations for the devil and not suffering him to go a step too far.
   As in the instance of Job, God said, (Job ii. 6.) ?But touch not his
   life.?

   [5.] Then, having ended his sentence, and spoken it in brief without
   dwelling on it, he brings in again a rebuke, directing himself against
   them;

   Ver. 6. ?Your glorying is not good:? signifying that it was they up to
   the present time who had hindered him from repenting, by taking pride
   in him. Next he shews that he is taking this step in order to spare not
   that person only, but also those to whom he writes. To which effect he
   adds,

   ?Know ye not, that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?? ?For,?
   saith he, ?though the offence be his, yet if neglected it hath power to
   waste the rest of the body of the Church also. For when the first
   transgressor escapes punishment, speedily will others also commit the
   same faults.?

    In these words he indicates moreover that their struggle and their
   danger is for the whole Church, not for any one person. For which
   purpose he needeth also the similitude of the leaven. For ?as that,?
   saith he, ?though it be but little, transforms unto its own nature the
   whole lump; so also this man, if he be let go unpunished and this sin
   turn out unavenged, will corrupt likewise all the rest.?

   Ver. 7. ?Purge out the old leaven,? that is, this evil one. Not that he
   speaketh concerning this one only; rather he glances at others with
   him. For, ?the old leaven? is not fornication only, but also sin of
   every kind. And he said not, ?purge,? but ?purge out;? ?cleanse with
   accuracy so that there be not so much as a remnant nor a shadow of that
   sort.? In saying then, ?purge out,? he signifies that there was still
   iniquity among them. But in saying, ?that ye may be a new lump, even as
   ye are unleavened,? he affirms and declares that not over very many was
   the wickedness prevailing. But though he saith, ?as ye are unleavened,?
   he means it not as a fact that all were clean, but as to what sort of
   people you ought to be.

   [6.] ?For our Passover also hath been sacrificed for us, even Christ;
   wherefore let us keep the feast: not with old leaven, nor with the
   leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
   sincerity and truth.? So also Christ called His doctrine Leaven. And
   further he himself dwells upon the metaphor, reminding them of an
   ancient history, and of the Passover and unleavened bread, and of their
   blessings both then and now, and their punishments and their plagues.

    It is festival, therefore, the whole time in which we live. For though
   he said, ?Let us keep the feast,? not with a view to the presence of
   the Passover or of Pentecost did he say it; but as pointing out that
   the whole of time is a festival unto Christians, because of the
   excellency of the good things which have been given. For what hath not
   come to pass that is good?  The Son of God was made man for thee; He
   freed thee from death; and called thee to a kingdom. Thou therefore who
   hast obtained and art still obtaining such things, how can it be less
   than thy duty to ?keep the feast? all thy life? Let no one then be
   downcast about poverty, and disease, and craft of enemies. For it is a
   festival, even the whole of our time. Wherefore saith Paul, (Philip.
   iv. 4.) ?Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice.? Upon the
   festival days no one puts on filthy garments. Neither then let us do
   so. For a marriage hath been made, a spiritual marriage. For, ?the
   kingdom of Heaven,? saith He, ?is likened unto a certain king which
   would make (St. Matt. xxii. 1. ethelese poiesai, rec. text epoiese.) a
   marriage feast for his son.? Now where it is a king making a marriage,
   and a marriage for his son, what can be greater than this feast?  Let
   no one then enter in clad in rags. Not about garments is our discourse
   but about unclean actions. For if where all wore bright apparel one
   alone, being found at the marriage in filthy garments, was cast out
   with dishonor, consider how great strictness and purity the entrance
   into that marriage feast requires.

   [7.] However, not on this account only does he remind them of the
   ?unleavened bread,? but also to point out the affinity of the Old
   Testament with the New; and to point out also that it was impossible,
   after the ?unleavened bread,? again to enter into Egypt; but if any one
   chose to return, he would suffer the same things as did they. For those
   things were a shadow of these; however obstinate the Jew may be.
   Wherefore shouldest thou enquire of him, he will speak, no great thing,
   rather it is great which he will speak of, but nothing like what we
   speak of: because he knows not the truth. For he for his part will say,
   ?the Egyptians who detained us were so changed by the Almighty that
   they themselves urged and drave us out, who before held us forcibly;
   they did not suffer us so much as to leaven our dough.? But if a man
   asketh me, he shall hear not of Egypt nor of Pharaoh; but of our
   deliverance from the deceit of demons and the darkness of the devil:
   not of Moses but of the Son of God; not of a Red Sea but of a Baptism
   overflowing with ten thousand blessings, where the ?old man? is
   drowned.

   Again, shouldest thou ask the Jew why he expels all leaven from all his
   borders; here he will even be silent and will not so much as state any
   reason. And this is because, although some indeed of the circumstances
   were both types of things to come, and also due to things then
   happening; yet others were not so, that the Jews might not deal
   deceitfully; that they might not abide in the shadow. For tell me, what
   is the meaning of the Lamb's being a ?Male,? and ?Unblemished,? and a
   ?year old,? and of, ?a bone shall not be broken?? and what means the
   command to call the neighbors also, (Exod. xii. 4.) and that it should
   be eaten ?standing? and ?in the evening;? or the fortifying the house
   with blood? He will have nothing else to say but over and over all
   about Egypt. But I can tell you the meaning both of the Blood, and of
   the Evening, and the Eating all together, and of the rule that all
   should be standing.

   [8.] But first let us explain why the leaven is cast out of all their
   borders. What then is the hidden meaning? The believer must be freed
   from all iniquity. For as among them he perishes with whomsoever is
   found old leaven, so also with us wheresoever is found iniquity: since
   of course the punishment being so great in that which is a shadow, in
   our case it cannot choose but be much greater. For if they so carefully
   clear their houses of leaven [77] , and pry into mouse-holes; much more
   ought we to search through the soul so as to cast out every unclean
   thought.

   This however was done by them of late [78] ; but now no longer. For
   every where there is leaven, where a Jew is found. For it is in the
   midst of cities that the feast of unleavened bread is kept: a thing
   which is now rather a game at play than a law. For since the Truth is
   come, the Types have no longer any place.

   So that by means of this example also he mightily drives the fornicator
   out of the Church. For, saith he, so far from his presence profiting,
   he even doth harm, injuring the common estate of the body. For one
   knows not whence is the evil savor while the corrupt part is concealed,
   and so one imputes it to the whole. Wherefore he urges upon them
   strongly to ?purge out the leaven, that ye may be,? saith he, ?a new
   lump, even as ye are unleavened.?

   ?For our Passover hath been sacrificed for us even Christ.? He said
   not, hath died, but more in point to the subject in hand, ?hath been
   sacrificed.? Seek not then unleavened bread of this kind, since neither
   hast thou a lamb of the same kind. Seek not leaven of this description,
   seeing that thine unleavened bread is not such as this.

   [9.] Thus, in the case of material leaven, the unleavened might become
   leavened, but never the reverse; whereas here there is a chance of the
   direct contrary occuring. This however he has not plainly declared:
   and observe his good sense. In the former Epistle he gives the
   fornicator no hope of return, but orders that his whole life should be
   spent in repentance, lest he should make him less energetic through the
   promise. For he said not, ?Deliver him up to Satan,? that having
   repented he might be commended again unto the Church. But what saith
   he? ?That he may be saved in the last day.? For he conducts him on unto
   that time in order to make him full of anxiety. And what favors he
   intended him after the repentance, he reveals not, imitating his own
   Master. For as God saith, (Jonah iii. 4. lxx: rec. text, ?forty days.?)
   ?Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,? and added not, ?but
   if she repent she shall be saved:? so also he did not say here, ?But if
   he repent worthily, we will confirm our love towards him.'? (2 Cor. ii.
   8.). But he waits for him to do the work that so he may then receive
   the favor. For if he had said this at the beginning he might have set
   him free from the fear. Wherefore he not only does not so, but by the
   instance of leaven allows him not even a hope of return, but reserves
   him unto that day: ?Purge out (so he says) the old leaven;? and, ?let
   us not keep the feast with old leaven.? But as soon as he had repented,
   he brought him in again with all earnestness.

   [10.] But why does he call it ?old?? Either because our former life was
   of this sort, or because that which is old is ?ready to vanish away,?
   (Heb. viii. 13.) and is unsavory and foul; which is the nature of sin.
   For He neither simply finds fault with the old, nor simply praises the
   new, but with reference to the subject matter. And thus elsewhere He
   saith, (Ecclus. ix. 15.) ?New wine is as a new friend: but if it become
   old, then with pleasure shalt thou drink it:? in the case of friendship
   bestowing his praise rather upon the old than the new. And again, ?The
   Ancient of days sat,? (Dan. vii. 9.) here again, taking the term
   ?ancient? as among those laudatory expressions which confer highest
   glory. Elsewhere the Scripture takes the term ?old? in the sense of
   blame; for seeing that the things are of various aspect as being
   composed of many parts, it uses the same words both in a good and an
   evil import, not according to the same shade of meaning. Of which you
   may see an instance in the blame cast elsewhere on the old: (Ps. xvii.
   46. ap. LXX.) ?They waxed old, and they halted from their paths.? And
   again, (Ps. vi. 7. ap. LXX.) ?I have become old in the midst of all
   mine enemies.? And again, (Dan. xiii. 52. Hist. Susan.) ?O thou that
   art become old in evil days.? So also the ?Leaven? is often taken for
   the kingdom of Heaven, although here found fault with. But in that
   place it is used with one aspect, and in this with another.

   [11.] But I have a strong conviction that the saying about the leaven
   refers also to the priests who suffer a vast deal of the old leaven to
   be within, not purging out from their borders, that is, out of the
   Church, the covetous, the extortioners, and whatsoever would exclude
   from the kingdom of Heaven. For surely covetousness is an ?old leaven;?
   and whenever it lights and into whatsoever house it enters, makes it
   unclean: and though you may gain but little by your injustice, it
   leavens the whole of your substance. Wherefore not seldom the dishonest
   gain being little, hath cast out the stock honestly laid up however
   abundant. For nothing is more rotten than covetousness. You may fasten
   up that man's closet with key, and door, and bolt: you do all in vain,
   whilst you shut up within covetousness, the worst of robbers, and able
   to carry off all.

   ?But what,? say you, ?if there are many covetous who do not experience
   this?? In the first place, they will experience it, though their
   experience come not immediately. And should they now escape, then do
   thou fear it the more: for they are reserved for greater punishment.
   Add to this, that in the event of themselves escaping, yet those who
   inherit their wealth will have the same to endure. ?But how can this be
   just,? you will say? It is quite just. For he that has succeeded to an
   inheritance; full of injustice, though he have committed no rapine
   himself, detains nevertheless the property of others; and is perfectly
   aware of this; and it is fair he should suffer for it. For if this or
   that person had robbed and you received a thing, and then the owner
   came and demanded it back; would it avail you in defence to say that
   you had not seized it?  By no means. For what would be your plea when
   accused! tell me. That it was another who seized it? Well: but you are
   keeping possession. That it was he who robbed? But you are enjoying it.
   Why these rules even the laws of the heathen recognise, which
   acquitting those who have seized and stolen, bid you demand
   satisfaction from those persons in whose possession you happen to find
   your things all laid up.

   If then you know who are the injured, restore and do what Zacchaeus
   did, with much increase. But if you know not, I offer you another way
   yet; I do not preclude you from the remedy. Distribute all these things
   to the poor: and thus you will mitigate the evil.

   But if some have transmitted these things even to children and
   descendants, still in retribution they have suffered other disasters.

   [12.] And why speak I of things in this present life? In that day at
   any rate will none of these things be said, when both appear naked,
   both the spoiled and the spoilers. Or rather not alike naked. Of riches
   indeed both will be equally stripped; but the one will be full of the
   charges to which they gave occasion. What then shall we do on that day,
   when before the dread tribunal he that hath been evil entreated and
   lost his all is brought forward into the midst, and you have no one to
   speak a word for you? What will you say to the Judge? Now indeed you
   may be able even to corrupt the judgment, being but of men; but in that
   court and at that time, it will be no longer so: no, nor yet now will
   you be able. For even at this moment that tribunal is present: since
   God both seeth our doings and is near unto the injured, though not
   invoked: it being certain that whoever suffers wrong, however in
   himself unworthy to obtain any redress, yet nevertheless seeing that
   what is done pleases not God, he hath most assuredly one to avenge him.

   ?How then,? you will say, ?is such an one well off, who is wicked??
   Nay, it will not be so unto the end. Hear what saith the Prophet; (Ps.
   xxxvii. 1, 2.) ?Fret not thyself because of the evil doers, because as
   grass they shall quickly wither away.? For where, tell me, where is he
   who wrought rapine, after his departure hence? Where are his bright
   hopes!  Where his august name? Are they not all passed and gone? Is it
   not a dream and a shadow, all that was his? And this you must expect in
   the case of every such person, both in his own person while living, and
   in that of him who shall come after him. But not such is the state of
   the saints, nor will it be possible for you to say the same things in
   their case also, that it is shadow and a dream and a tale, what belongs
   to them.

   [13.] And if you please, he who spake these things, the tent-maker, the
   Cilician, the man whose very parentage is unknown, let him be the
   example we produce. You will say, ?How is it possible to become such as
   he was?? Do you then thoroughly desire it? Are you thoroughly anxious
   to become such? ?Yes,? you will say. Well then, go the same way as he
   went and they that were with him. Now what way went he? One saith, (2
   Cor. xi. 27.) ?In hunger, and thirst, and nakedness.? Another, (Acts
   iii. 6.) ?Silver and gold I have none.? Thus they ?had nothing and yet
   possessed all things.? (2 Cor. vi. 10.) What can be nobler than this
   saying? what more blessed or more abundant in riches?  Others indeed
   pride themselves on the contrary things, saying, ?I have this or that
   number of talents of gold, and acres of land without end, and houses,
   and slaves;? but this man on his being naked of all things; and he
   shrinks not from poverty, (which is the feeling of the unwise,) nor
   hides his face, but he even wears it as an ornament.

   Where now be the rich men, they who count up their interest simple and
   compound, they who take from all men and are never satisfied? Have ye
   heard the voice of Peter, that voice which sets forth poverty as the
   mother of wealth? That voice which has nothing, yet is wealthier than
   those who wear diadems?  For this is that voice, which having nothing,
   raised the dead, and set upright the lame, and drove away devils, and
   bestowed such gracious gifts, as those who are clad in the purple robe
   and lead the mighty and terrible legions never were able to bestow.
   This is the voice of those who are now removed into heaven, of those
   who have attained unto that height.

   [14.] Thus it is possible that he who hath nothing may possess all
   men's goods. Thus may he who possesses nothing acquire the goods of
   all: whereas, were we to get all men's goods, we are bereft of all.
   Perhaps this saying seems to be a paradox; but it is not. ?But,? you
   will say, ?how does he who hath nothing possess all men's goods? Doth
   he not have much more who hath what belongs to all?? By no means: but
   the contrary. For he who hath nothing commands all, even as they did.
   And throughout the world all houses were open to them, and they who
   offered them took their coming as a favor, and they came to them as to
   friends and kindred.  For so they came to the woman who was a seller of
   purple, (Acts xvi. 14.) and she like a servant set before them what she
   had. And to the keeper of the prison; and he opened to them all his
   house. And to innumerable others. Thus they had all things and had
   nothing: for (Acts iv. 32.) ?they said that none of the things which
   they possessed was their own;? therefore all things were theirs. For he
   that considers all things to be common, will not only use his own, but
   also the things of others as if they belonged to him. But he that parts
   things off and sets himself as master over his own only, will not be
   master even of these. And this is plain from an example. He who
   possesses nothing at all, neither house, nor table, nor garment to
   spare, but for God's sake is bereft of all, uses the things which are
   in common as his own; and he shall receive from all whatsoever he may
   desire, and thus he that hath nothing possesses the things of all. But
   he that hath some things, will not be master even of these. For first,
   no one will give to him that hath possessions; and, secondly, his
   property shall belong to robbers and thieves and informers and changing
   events and be any body's rather than his. Paul, for instance, went up
   and down throughout all the world, carrying nothing with him, though he
   went neither unto friends nor kindred. Nay, at first he was a common
   enemy to all: but nevertheless he had all men's goods after he had made
   good his entrance. But Ananias and Sapphira, hastening to gain a little
   more than their own, lost all together with life itself. Withdraw then
   from thine own, that thou mayest use others' goods as thine own.

   [15.] But I must stop: I know not how I have been carried into such a
   transport in speaking such words as these unto men who think it a great
   thing to impart but ever so little of their own. Wherefore let these my
   words have been spoken to the perfect. But to the more imperfect, this
   is what we may say, Give of what you have unto the needy. Increase your
   substance. For, saith He, (Prov. xix. 17.) ?He that giveth unto the
   poor, lendeth unto God.? But if you are in a hurry and wait not for the
   time of recompense, think of those who lend money to men: for not even
   these desire to get their interest immediately; but they are anxious
   that the principal should remain a good long while in the hands of the
   borrower, provided only the repayment be secure and they have no
   mistrust of the borrower. Let this be done then in the present case
   also. Leave them with God that He may pay thee thy wages manifold. Seek
   not to have the whole here; for if you recover it all here, how will
   you receive it back there? And it is on this account that God stores
   them up there, inasmuch as this present life is full of decay. But He
   gives even here also; for, ?Seek ye,? saith He, ?the kingdom of heaven,
   and all these things shall be added unto you.? (St. Matt. vi. 33.) Well
   then, let us look towards the kingdom, and not be in a hurry for the
   repayment of the whole, lest we diminish our recompense. But let us
   wait for the fit season. For the interest in these cases is not of that
   kind, but is such as is meet to be given to God. This then having
   collected together in great abundance, so let us depart hence, that we
   may obtain both the present and the future blessings; through the grace
   and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom unto the Father
   and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now, henceforth, and for
   evermore. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [76] S. Aug. cont. Parm. iii. 5. gives their ?glorying? a different
   turn; saying, (with especial reference to v. 6.) ?To glory, not for
   their own sins, but over other men's sins, as in comparison with their
   own innocence, may seem but a little leaven;' while to boast even of
   one's iniquities is much leaven: however, this also leaveneth the whole
   lump.'? [Perhaps the phrase refers merely to their general elation at
   their good estate, notwithstanding their toleration of so great an
   offence. C.]

   [77] Lightfoot, Works, i. 953. ?Seven days there shall be no leaven
   found in your houses.' The Jews to meet this command that was so
   exceeding strict, and to make sure for its observance soon enough, did
   on the fourteenth day, while yet there was some light, make search for
   leaven by the light of a candle.'  (Talm. in Pesachim. no. 1.) Thus is
   the Tradition; in which by the light of the fourteenth day their
   glossaries tell us that we must understand the thirteenth day at even,
   when it began to be duskish and candle-light.' The rubric of the
   Passover in the Hebrew and Spanish tongues renders it, At the entrance
   of the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, they searched for leaven in
   all the places where they were wont to use leaven, even in holes and
   crannies; and that not by light of the sun and moon, or torch, but by
   the light of a wax candle,'...because it is the fittest for searching
   holes and corners, and because the Scripture speaketh of searching
   Jerusalem with candles.? See Zeph. i. 12.

   [78] i.e. (as it should seem) it has now become impossible for the Jews
   to keep this command, since they and their false doctrine are
   (spiritually) that very leaven, which is to be put away. Compare St.
   Matt. xvi. 6.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Homily XVI.

   1 Cor. v. 9-11

   I wrote unto you in my epistle to have no company with fornicators: yet
   not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous
   and extortioners, or with idolaters, for then must ye needs go out of
   the world: but now I write unto you not to keep company, if any man
   that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater,
   or a drunkard, or a reviler, or an extortioner; with such an one no not
   to eat.

   For since he had said, ?Ye have not rather mourned, that such an one
   should be taken away;? and, ?Purge out the old leaven;? and it was
   likely that they would surmise it to be their duty to avoid all
   fornicators: for if he that has sinned imparts some of his own mischief
   to those who have not sinned, much more is it meet to keep one's self
   away from those without: (for if one ought not to spare a friend on
   account of such mischief arising from him, much less any others;) and
   under this impression, it was probable that they would separate
   themselves from the fornicators among the Greeks also, and the matter
   thus turning out impossible, they would have taken it more to heart: he
   used this mode of correction, saying, ?I wrote unto you to have no
   company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators of
   this world:? using the word ?altogether,? as if it were an acknowledged
   thing. For that they might not think that he charged not this upon them
   as being rather imperfect, and should attempt to do it under the
   erroneous impression that they were perfect, he shews that this were
   even impossible to be done, though they wished it ever so much. For it
   would be necessary to seek another world. Wherefore he added, ?For ye
   must needs then go out of the world.? Seest thou that he is no hard
   master, and that in his legislation he constantly regards not only what
   may be done, but also what may be easily done. For how is it possible,
   says he, for a man having care of a house and children, and engaged in
   the affairs of the city, or who is an artisan or a soldier, (the
   greater part of mankind being Greeks,) to avoid the unclean who are to
   be found every where? For by ?the fornicators of the world,? he means
   those who are among the Greeks. ?But now I write unto you, If any
   brother? be of this kind, ?with such an one no not to eat.? Here also
   he glances at others who were living in wickedness.

   But how can one ?that is a brother? be an idolater? As was the case
   once in regard to the Samaritans who chose piety but by halves. And
   besides he is laying down his ground beforehand for the discourse
   concerning things offered in sacrifice to idols, which after this he
   intends to handle.

   ?Or covetous.? For with these also he enters into conflict. Wherefore
   he said also, ?Why not rather take wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?
   Nay, ye yourselves do wrong and defraud.?

   ?Or a drunkard.? For this also he lays to their charge further on; as
   when he says, ?One is hungry and another is drunken:? and, ?meats for
   the belly and the belly for meats.?

   ?Or a reviler, or an extortioner:? for these too he had rebuked before.

   [2.] Next he adds also the reason why he forbids them not to mix with
   heathens of that character, implying that it is not only impossible,
   but also superfluous.

   Ver. 12, ?For what have I to do with judging them that are without??
   Calling the Christians and the Greeks, ?those within? and ?those
   without,? as also he says elsewhere, (1 Tim. iii. 7.) ?He must also
   have a good report of them that are without.? And in the Epistle to the
   Thessalonians he speaks the same language, saying, (2 Thess. iii. 14.)
   ?Have no intercourse with him to the end that he may be put to shame.?
   And, ?Count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.? Here,
   however, he does not add the reason. Why? Because in the other case he
   wished to soothe them, but in this, not so. For the fault in this case
   and in that was not the same, but in the Thessalonians it was less. For
   there he is reproving indolence; but here fornication and other most
   grievous sins. And if any one wished to go over to the Greeks, he
   hinders not him from eating with such persons; this too for the same
   reason. So also do we act; for our children and our brethren we leave
   nothing undone, but of strangers we do not make much account. How then?
   Did not Paul care for them that were without as well? Yes, he cared for
   them; but it was not till after they received the Gospel and he had
   made them subject to the doctrine of Christ, that he laid down laws for
   them. But so long as they despised, it was superfluous to speak the
   precepts of Christ to those who knew not Christ Himself.

   ?Do not ye judge them that are within, whereas them that are without,
   God judgeth?? For since he had said, ?What have I to do with judging
   those without;? lest any one should think that these were left
   unpunished, there is another tribunal which he sets over them, and that
   a fearful one. And this he said, both to terrify those, and to console
   these; intimating also that this punishment which is for a season
   snatches them away from that which is undying and perpetual: which also
   he has plainly declared elsewhere, saying, (1 Cor. xi. 32.) ?But now
   being judged, we are chastened, that we should not be condemned with
   the world.?

   [3.] ?Put away from among yourselves the wicked person.? He used an
   expression found in the Old Testament, (Deut. xvii. 7.) partly hinting
   that they too will be very great gainers, in being freed as it were
   from some grievous plague; and partly to shew that this kind of thing
   is no innovation, but even from the beginning it seemed good to the
   legislator that such as these should be cut off. But in that instance
   it was done with more severity, in this with more gentleness. On which
   account one might reasonably question, why in that case he conceded
   that the sinner should be severely punished and stoned, but in the
   present instance not so; rather he leads him to repentance. Why then
   were the lines drawn in the former instance one way and in the latter
   another? For these two causes: one, because these were led into a
   greater trial and needed greater long-suffering; the other and truer
   one, because these by their impunity were more easily to be corrected,
   coming as they might to repentance; but the others were likely to go on
   to greater wickedness. For if when they saw the first undergoing
   punishment they persisted in the same things, had none at all been
   punished, much more would this have been their feeling. For which
   reason in that dispensation death is immediately inflicted upon the
   adulterer and the manslayer; but in this, if through repentance they
   are absolved, they have escaped the punishment. However, both here one
   may see some instances of heavier punishment, and in the Old Testament
   some less severe, in order that it may be signified in every way that
   the covenants are akin to each other, and of one and the same lawgiver:
   and you may see the punishment following immediately both in that
   covenant and in this, and in both often after a long interval. Nay, and
   oftentimes not even after a long interval, repentance alone being taken
   as satisfaction by the Almighty. Thus in the Old Testament, David, who
   had committed adultery and murder, was saved by means of repentance;
   and in the New, Ananias, who withdrew but a small portion of the price
   of the land, perished together with his wife. Now if these instances
   are more frequent in the Old Testament, and those of the contrary kind
   in the New, the difference of the persons produces the difference in
   the treatment adopted in such matters.

   [4.] C. vi. ver. 1. ?Dare any one of you, having a matter against his
   brother, (ton adelphon, rec. text thon heteron.) go to law before the
   unrighteous, and not before the saints??

   Here also he again makes his complaint upon acknowledged grounds; for
   in that other place he says, ?It is actually reported that there is
   fornication among you.? And in this place, ?Dare any one of you?? From
   the very first outset giving signs of his anger, and implying that the
   thing spoken of comes of a daring and lawless spirit.

   Now wherefore did he bring in by the way that discourse about
   covetousness and about the duty of not going to law without the Church?
   In fulfilment of his own rule. For it is a custom with him to set to
   right things as they fall in his way; just as when speaking about the
   tables which they used in common, he launched out into the discourse
   about the mysteries. So here, you see, since he had made mention of
   covetous brethren, burning with anxiety to correct those in sin, he
   brooks not exactly to observe order; but he again corrects the sin
   which had been introduced out of the regular course, and so returns to
   the former subject.

   Let us hear then what he also says about this. ?Dare any of you, having
   a matter, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints??
   For a while, he employs those personal terms to expose, discredit, and
   blame their proceedings: nor does he quite from the beginning subvert
   the custom of seeking judgment before the believers: but when he had
   stricken them down by many words, then he even takes away entirely all
   going to law. ?For in the first place,? says he, ?if one must go to law
   it were wrong to do so before the unrighteous. But you ought not to go
   to law at all.? This however he adds afterwards. For the present he
   thoroughly sifts the former subject, namely, that they should not
   submit matters to external arbitration. ?For,? says he, ?how can it be
   otherwise than absurd that one who is at variance (mikropsuchouta) with
   his friend should take his enemy to be a reconciler between them? And
   how can you avoid feeling shame and blushing when a Greek sits to judge
   a Christian? And if about private matters it is not right to go to law
   before Greeks, how shall we submit to their decisions about other
   things of greater importance??

   Observe, moreover, how he speaks. He says not, ?Before the
   unbelievers,? but, ?Before the unrighteous;? using the expression of
   which he had most particular need for the matter before him, in order
   to deter and keep them away. For see that his discourse was about going
   to law, and those who are engaged in suits seek for nothing so much as
   that the judges should feel great interest about what is just; he takes
   this as a ground of dissuasion, all but saying, ?Where are you going?
   What are you doing, O man, bringing on yourself the contrary to what
   you wish, and in order to obtain justice committing yourself to unjust
   men?? And because it would have been intolerable to be told at once not
   to go to law, he did not immediately add this, but only changed the
   judges, bringing the party engaged in the trial from without into the
   Church.

   [5.] Then, since it seemed easily open to contempt, I mean our being
   judged by those who were within, and especially at that time, (for they
   were not perhaps competent to comprehend a point, nor were they such as
   the heathen judges, well skilled in laws and rhetoric, inasmuch as the
   greater part of them were uneducated men,) mark how he makes them
   worthy of credit, first calling them ?Saints.?

   But seeing that this bore witness to purity of life, and not to
   accuracy in hearing a case, observe how he orderly handles this part
   also, saying thus, ?Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the
   world?? How then canst thou who art in thy day to judge them, endure to
   be judged by them now? They will not indeed judge, taking their seat in
   person and demanding account, yet they shall condemn. This at least he
   plainly said; ?And if the world is judged in you, are ye unworthy to
   judge the smallest matters?? He says not ?by you,? but ?in you:? just
   as when He said, (St. Matt. xii. 42.) ?The queen of the south shall
   rise up and condemn this generation:? and, ?The men of Nineveh shall
   arise and condemn this generation.? For when beholding the same sun and
   sharing all the same things, we shall be found believers but they
   unbelievers, they will not be able to take refuge in ignorance. For we
   shall accuse them, simply by the things which we have done. And many
   such ways of judgment one will find there.

   Then, that no one should think he speaks about other persons, mark how
   he generalizes his speech. ?And if the world is judged in you, are ye
   unworthy to judge the smallest matters??

   The thing is a disgrace to you, he says, and an unspeakable reproach.
   For since it was likely that they would be out of countenance at being
   judged by those that were within; ?nay,? saith he, ?on the contrary,
   the disgrace is when you are judged by those without: for those are the
   very small controversies, not these.?

   Ver. 3. ?Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things
   which pertain to this life??

   Some say that here the priests are hinted at, but away with this. His
   speech is about demons. For had he been speaking about corrupt priests,
   he would have meant them above when he said, ?the world is judged in
   you:? (for the Scripture is wont to call evil men also ?The world:?)
   and he would not have said the same thing twice, nor would he, as if he
   was saying something of greater consequence, have put it down
   afterwards. But he speaks concerning those angels about whom Christ
   saith, ?Depart ye into the fire which is prepared for the devil and his
   angels.? (St. Matt. xxv. 41.) And Paul, ?his angels fashion themselves
   as ministers of righteousness.? (2 Cor. xi. 15.) For when the very
   incorporeal powers shall be found inferior to us who are clothed with
   flesh, they shall suffer heavier punishment.

   But if some should still contend that he speaks of priests, ?What sort
   of priests?? let us ask. Those whose walk in life has been worldly, of
   course. In what sense then does he say, ?We shall judge angels, much
   more things that relate to this life?? He mentions the angels, in
   contradistinction to ?things relating to this life?: likely enough; for
   they are removed from the need of these things, because of the superior
   excellence of their nature.

   [6.] Ver. 4. ?If then ye have to judge things pertaining to this life,
   set them to judge who are of no account in the Church.? [79]

   Wishing to instruct us as forcibly as possible that they ought not to
   commit themselves to those without, whatsoever the matter may be;
   having raised what seemed to be an objection, he answers it in the
   first instance. For what he says is something like this: Perhaps some
   one will say, ?No one among you is wise, nor competent to pass
   sentence; all are contemptible.? Now what follows? ?Even though none be
   wise,? says he, ?I bid you entrust things to those who are of least
   weight.?

   Ver. 5. ?But this I say to move you to shame.? These are the words of
   one exposing their objection as being an idle pretext: and therefore he
   adds, ?Is it so that there is not a wise man among you, no not even
   one?? Is the scarcity, says he, so great? so great the want of sensible
   persons among you? And what he subjoins strikes even still harder. For
   having said, ?Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not
   even one?? he adds, ?who shall be able to judge in the case of his
   brother.? For when brother goes to law with brother, there is never any
   need of understanding and talent in the person who is mediating in the
   cause, the feeling and relationship contributing greatly to the
   settlement of such a quarrel.

   ?But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers.?
   Do you observe with what effect he disparaged the judges at first by
   calling them unrighteous; whereas here, to move shame, he calls them
   Unbelievers? For surely it is extremely disgraceful if the priest could
   not be the author of reconciliation even among brethren, but recourse
   must be had to those without. So that when he said, ?those who are of
   no account,? his chief meaning was not (ou touto eipe proegoumenos )
   that the Church's outcasts should be appointed as judges, but to find
   fault with them. For that it was proper to make reference to those who
   were able to decide, he has shewn by saying, ?Is it so, that there is
   not a wise man among you, not even one?? And with great impressiveness
   he stops their mouths, and says, ?Even though there were not a single
   wise man, the hearing ought to have been left to you who are unwise
   rather than that those without should judge.? For what else can it be
   than absurd, that whereas on a quarrel arising in a house we call in no
   one from without and feel ashamed if news get abroad among strangers of
   what is going on within doors; where the Church is, the treasure of the
   unutterable Mysteries, there all things should be published without?

   Ver. 6. ?But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before
   unbelievers.?

   The charge is twofold; both that he ?goeth to law,? and ?before the
   unbelievers.? For if even the thing by itself, To go to law with a
   brother, be a fault, to do it also before aliens, what pardon does it
   admit of?

   [7.] Ver. 7. ?Nay, already it is altogether a defect in you, that ye
   have lawsuits one with another.?

   Do you see for what place he reserved this point?  And how he has
   cleared the discussion of it in good time? For ?I talk not yet,? saith
   he, ?which injures, or which is injured.? Thus far, the act itself of
   going to law brings each party under his censure, and in that respect
   one is not at all better than another. But whether one go to law justly
   or unjustly, that is quite another subject. Say not then, ?which did
   the wrong?? For on this ground I at once condemn thee, even for the act
   of going to law.

   Now if being unable to bear a wrong-doer be a fault, what accusation
   can come up to the actual wrong? ?Why not rather take wrong? Why not
   rather be defrauded??

   Ver. 8. ?Nay, ye yourselves do wrong, and defraud, and that your
   brethren.?

   Again, it is a twofold crime, perhaps even threefold or fourfold. One,
   not to know how to bear being wronged. Another, actually to do wrong. A
   third, to commit the settlement of these matters even unto the unjust.
   And yet a fourth, that it should be so done to a brother. For men's
   offences are not judged by the same rule, when they are committed
   against any chance person, and towards one's own member. For it must be
   a greater degree of recklessness to venture upon that. In the other
   case, the nature of the thing is alone trampled on; but in this, the
   quality of the person also.

   [8.] Having thus, you see, abashed them from arguments on general
   principles, and before that, from the rewards proposed [80] ; he shuts
   up the exhortation with a threat, making his speech more peremptory,
   and saying thus, (ver. 9.) ?Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
   inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
   idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves
   with men, (ver. 10.) nor covetous, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor
   revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.? What
   sayest thou? When discoursing about covetous persons, have you brought
   in upon us so vast a crowd of lawless men? ?Yes,? says he, ?but in
   doing this, I am not confusing my discourse, but going on in regular
   order.? For as when discoursing about the unclean he made mention of
   all together; so again, on mentioning the covetous he brings forward
   all, thus making his rebukes familiar to those who have such things on
   their conscience. For the continual mention of the punishment laid up
   for others makes the reproof easy to be received, when it comes into
   conflict with our own sins. And so in the present instance he utters
   his threat, not at all as being conscious of their doing such things,
   nor as calling them to account, a thing which has special force to hold
   the hearer and keep him from starting off; namely, the discourse having
   no respect unto him, but being spoken indefinitely and so wounding his
   conscience secretly.

   ?Be not deceived.? Here he glances at certain who maintain (what indeed
   most men assert now) that God being good and kind to man, takes not
   vengeance upon our misdeeds: ?Let us not then be afraid.? For never
   will he exact justice of any one for any thing. And it is on account of
   these that he says, ?Be not deceived.? For it belongs to the extreme of
   error and delusion, after depending on good to meet with the contrary;
   and to surmise such things about God as even in man no one would think
   of. Wherefore saith the Prophet in His person, (Ps. xlix. LXX. 1. Heb.
   ver. 21.) [81] ?Thou hast conceived iniquity, that I shall be like unto
   thee: I will reprove thee and set before thy face thine iniquities.?
   And Paul here, ?Be not deceived; neither fornicators,? (he puts first
   the one that was already condemned,) ?nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
   nor drunkards, nor revilers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.?

   Many have attacked this place as extremely severe, since he places the
   drunkard and the reviler with the adulterer and the abominable and the
   abuser of himself with mankind. And yet the offenses are not equal: how
   then is the award of punishment the same? What shall we say then?
   First, that drunkenness is no small thing nor reviling, seeing that
   Christ Himself delivered over to hell him that called his brother Fool.
   And often that sin has brought forth death. Again, the Jewish people
   too committed the greatest of their sins through drunkenness. In the
   next place, it is not of punishment that he is so far discoursing, but
   of exclusion from the kingdom. Now from the kingdom both one and the
   other are equally thrust out; but whether in hell they will find any
   difference, it belongs not to this present occasion to enquire. For
   that subject is not before us just now.

   [9.] Ver. 11. ?And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye
   were sanctified.?

   In a way to abash them exceedingly, he adds this:  as if he said,
   ?Consider from what evils God delivered us; how great an experiment and
   demonstration of loving-kindness He afforded us!  He did not limit His
   redemption to mere deliverance, but greatly extended the benefit: for
   He also made thee clean. Was this then all? Nay: but He also
   ?sanctified.? Nor even is this all: He also ?justified.? Yet even bare
   deliverance from our sins were a great gift: but now He also filled
   thee with countless blessing. And this He hath done, ?In the Name of
   our Lord Jesus Christ;? not in this name or in that: yea also, ?In the
   Spirit of our God.?

   Knowing therefore these things, beloved, and bearing in mind the
   greatness of the blessing which hath been wrought, let us both continue
   to live soberly, being pure from all things that have been enumerated;
   and let us avoid the tribunals which are in the forums of the Gentiles;
   and the noble birth which God hath freely given us, the same let us
   preserve to the end. For think how full of shame it is that a Greek
   should take his seat and deal out justice to thee.

   But you will say, what if he that is within judge contrary to the law?
   Why should he? tell me. For I would know by what kind of laws the Greek
   administers justice, and by what the Christian? Is it not quite plain
   that the laws of men are the rule of the Greek, but those of God, of
   the Christian? Surely then with the latter there is greater chance of
   justice, seeing that these laws are even sent from heaven. For in
   regard to those without, besides what has been said, there are many
   other things also to suspect; talent in speakers and corruption in
   magistrates and many other things which are the ruin of justice. But
   with us, nothing of this sort.

   ?What then,? you will say, ?if the adversary be one in high place?
   Well, for this reason more than all one ought to go to law in Christian
   courts: for in the courts without he will get the better of you at all
   events. ?But what if he acquiesce not, but both despise those within
   and forcibly drag the course without?? Better were it to submit
   willingly to what you are likely to endure by compulsion, and not go to
   law, that thou mayest have also a reward. For, (St. Matt. v. 40.) ?If
   any one will go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, thou shalt
   let him have thy cloak also:? and, (v. 25.) ?Agree with thine adversary
   quickly, whilst thou art with him in the way.? And why need I speak of
   our rules? For even the pleaders in the heathen courts very often tell
   us this, saying, ?it were better to make up matters out of court.? But,
   O wealth, or rather, O the absurd love of wealth!  It subverts all
   things and casts them down; and all things are to the many an idle tale
   and fables because of money!  Now that those who give trouble to courts
   of laws should be worldly men is no marvel: but that many of those who
   have bid farewell to the world should do the very same, this is a thing
   from which all pardon is cut off. For if you choose to see how far you
   should keep from this sort of need, I mean that of the tribunals, by
   rule of the Scripture, and to learn for whom the laws are appointed,
   hear what Paul saith; (1 Tim. i. 9.) ?For a righteous man law is not
   made, but for the lawless, and unruly.? And if he saith these things
   about the Mosaic Law, much more about the laws of the heathen.

   [10.] Now then, if you commit injustice, it is plain that you cannot be
   righteous: but if you are injured and bear it, (for this is a special
   mark of a righteous man,) you have no need of the laws which are
   without. ?How then,? say you, ?shall I be able to bear it when
   injured?? And yet Christ hath commanded something even more than this.
   For not only hath he commanded you when injured to bear it, but even to
   give abundantly more to the wrong-doer; and in your zeal for suffering
   ill to surpass his eagerness for doing it. For he said not, ?to him
   that will sue thee at law, and take away thy coat, give thy coat,? but,
   ?together with that give also thy cloak.? But I bid you overcome him,
   saith He, by suffering, not by doing, evil:  for this is the certain
   and splendid victory. Wherefore also Paul goes on to say, ?Now then it
   is altogether a defect in (hettema rec. vers. ?a fault.?) you that ye
   have lawsuits one with another.? And, ?Wherefore do ye not rather take
   wrong?? For that the injured person overcomes, rather than he who
   cannot endure being injured, this I will make evident to you. He that
   cannot endure injury, though he force the other into court and gain the
   verdict, yet is he then most of all defeated. For that which he would
   not, he hath suffered; in that the adversary hath compelled him both to
   feel pain and to go to law. For what is it to the point