Moral Rules (Moralia) 71–72

The things said in a connected series about bishops and [presbyters]. First to Timothy: “If anyone aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be above reproach,” and so on. First to Timothy: “[Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; younger men as brothers; older women as mothers; younger women as sisters,] in all purity.” Second to Timothy: “Flee youthful desires, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they breed quarrels. The Lord's servant must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all,” and so on. Second to Timothy: “But you have closely followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, [faith, long-suffering, love,] endurance, persecutions, sufferings.” To Titus: “For this reason I left you [in Crete, that you might set in order what remains and] appoint presbyters in every city, as I directed you: if anyone is blameless,” and so on.

Chapter 2. On deacons. Acts: “And they chose [Stephen, a man] full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and the rest, whom they set before the apostles; and they prayed and laid their hands on them.” First to Timothy: “Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for shameful gain,” and so on.

That those hearers who are trained in the Scriptures must test what is said by the teachers, and accept what agrees with the Scriptures but reject what is foreign to them, and turn away from those who persist in such teachings. Matthew: “Woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out”; and likewise about hand and foot. John: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in from elsewhere, that one is a thief and a robber.” And [a little later: “A stranger they will not follow,] but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” To the Galatians: “But even if we or an angel from heaven [should preach a gospel] to you contrary to what you received, let him be anathema.” First to the Thessalonians: “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

That those who do not have much knowledge of the Scriptures must recognize the character of the saints by the fruits of the Spirit, and receive such men, but turn away from those who are otherwise. Matthew: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them.” To [the Philippians]: “[Be imitators] of me, brothers, and observe those who walk so, as you have us for an example.”

That those who rightly handle the word of truth must be received as the Lord, to the glory of him who sent them, Jesus Christ our Lord. Matthew: “He who receives you receives me.” John: “He who receives whomever I send receives me.” Luke: “He who hears you hears me.” To the Galatians: “And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise nor spit out, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ [Jesus].”

That those who disobey those sent by the Lord do not stop their dishonour at them, but carry it up to the one who sent them, and bring upon themselves a judgment worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Matthew: “And whoever does not receive you nor hear your words, as you go out of that city or house, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city.” Luke: “He who rejects you rejects me.” First to the Thessalonians: “Therefore he who rejects this rejects not man but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit [to you].”

That one must receive the teaching of the Lord's commandments as that which wins eternal life and the kingdom of heaven, and put it into practice readily, even if it seems laborious. John: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” Acts: “And when they had preached the gospel to that city [and made many disciples, they returned] to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom [of God].”

That one must receive reproof and rebuke as a medicine that destroys passion and restores health. From this it is clear that those who, in the passion of pleasing men, put on a show of gentleness and do not reprove those who sin, do harm to the whole, and [plot] against the true life itself. Matthew: “If your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” First to the Corinthians: “When you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Second to the Corinthians: “For even if I grieved you with that letter, … now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved unto repentance. For you were grieved according to God, so that you suffered loss from us in nothing. For godly grief produces repentance unto salvation, not to be regretted.” To Titus: “For this reason reprove them sharply, so that they may be sound in the [faith].”