Homilies on Acts

[Lemma] “The former account I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day on which, after giving commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up.”

To many people this book is not even known to exist, neither the book itself nor the man who wrote and composed it. That is the very reason I have resolved to give myself to this work: to teach those who do not know it, and not to let so great a treasure stay hidden and out of sight. For it will be able to profit us no less than the Gospels themselves, so full is it of philosophy and of correct doctrine and of the display of miracles, above all of those worked by the Spirit. Let us not, then, pass it by any longer, but examine it with care. For the predictions which Christ makes beforehand in the Gospels you may see here come out in deed, and the truth shining out from the facts themselves, and the great change for the better that came about in the disciples from the Spirit. For what they had heard Christ saying, “Everyone who believes in me, the signs that I do he too will do, and greater than these he will do,” and what he foretold to the disciples, that they would be brought before governors and kings, that they would scourge them in their synagogues, that they would suffer terrible things, that they would overcome them all, and that the gospel would be preached in the whole world: all these things you may see in this book come to pass with complete exactness, and many others besides, which he told them while he was with them. Here you will see the apostles themselves running over land and sea as though they had wings; and those men who were once timid and without understanding suddenly become other men in place of what they were: despisers of money and of glory, of anger and of desire, in a word above everything; men with great concord, with no envy anywhere as before, nor the old rivalry over the first places, but with virtue brought to perfection in them, and love shining out in abundance, the love about which he had given them many commands, saying, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Here too one may find doctrines which, if this book did not exist, would not have become so clearly known to anyone; the chief point of our salvation would have stayed hidden and obscure, both as to life and as to doctrine. The greater part of what is set down here is the acts of Paul, who labored more than all. The reason is that the man who composed this book, the blessed Luke, was his disciple. His virtue can be seen from many other places too, but above all from his clinging inseparably to his teacher and following him at all times. When Demas and Hermogenes forsook him, one going off to Galatia and the other to Dalmatia, hear what he says about him: “Luke alone is with me.” And writing to the Corinthians he says of him, “whose praise is in the gospel through all the churches.” And when he says, “He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve,” and “according to the gospel which you received,” he means this man's Gospel …

… so that one would not be wrong in ascribing this work to him. And when I say “to him,” I mean to Christ. If someone should say, “And why did he not write everything down, since he was with him to the end?”, I would say that these things were sufficient for those willing to attend; that they always kept to what was urgent; and that their concern was not with writing books, for they also handed down many things by unwritten tradition. Now everything set down in this book is worthy of wonder, but above all the condescension of the apostles, which the Spirit also suggested to them, preparing them to dwell on the teaching of the dispensation. That is why, though they discoursed so much about Christ, they said little about his Godhead and spoke mostly about his humanity, and his passion, his resurrection and his ascension. For what was needed for the time being was this: that people believe that he rose and ascended into heaven. Just as Christ himself was eager above all to show that he had come from the Father, so too this writer shows that he rose and was taken up, and went away to him and had come from him. For if this had not first been believed, then much more, once the matter of the resurrection and the ascension was added, the whole doctrine would have seemed incredible to the Jews. That is why he leads them up gently and little by little to the higher things. At Athens Paul even calls him simply “a man,” saying nothing more, and with good reason. For if, when Christ himself discoursed about his equality with the Father, they often tried to stone him and called him a blasphemer for it, they would hardly have accepted this teaching from fishermen, and that with the cross having gone before. And why speak of the Jews, when even the disciples themselves often [could not bear] the higher teachings? That is why he said, “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” If they could not, who had been with him so long, had shared so many secrets and seen so many miracles, how could men just then torn away for the first time from altars and idols and sacrifices, from cats and crocodiles (for such were the objects of worship of the Greeks), and from the other evils, all at once receive the lofty words of doctrine? And how could Jews, who every day learned and had sounding in their ears from the law, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord, and besides him there is no other,” having seen him nailed to the wood of the cross, or rather having themselves crucified and buried him, and not even having seen him risen, on hearing that this very man is God and equal to the Father, not have recoiled and broken away above all? That is why they lead them on gently and little by little, and with great … while they enjoy a more abundant grace of the Spirit and work in his name greater things than he himself did, so that from both sides they might raise up those lying on the ground and make the word about the resurrection believed. For this above all is what this book is: a demonstration of the resurrection. Once this was believed, the rest followed in due course. This, then, to sum it up roughly, is the subject and the whole aim of the book.

Let us now hear the opening itself. “The former account I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.” Why does he remind him of the Gospel? To show his own exactness. For at the beginning of that work he says, “It seemed good to me to write to you in order.” And he is not content with his own testimony alone, but refers the whole to the apostles, saying, “just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us.” So, having made his account credible there, he needs no further confirmation here, since he has once been believed and has instructed him through that work in the certainty of the truth. For if the man who wrote what he heard proved credible and was believed, much more would the man who composed what he did not receive from others but saw and heard deserve to be believed. “If you accepted the things of Christ,” he says, “much more those of the apostles.” What then? Is the matter history only, and has the account no share in the Spirit? By no means. How so? Because what those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered to him was of the Spirit. And why did he not say, “just as those who were counted worthy of the Holy Spirit delivered them to us,” but “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses”? Because the thing that most wins belief is to learn from eyewitnesses; the other would even have seemed boasting and conceit to the foolish. That is why John too spoke thus: “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” And Christ too speaks so to Nicodemus: “We speak what we know, and we bear witness to what we have seen, and no one receives our testimony.” And again, showing that one can bear much witness from sight, he said to the disciples, “And you also bear witness about me, because you have been with me from the beginning.” And the apostles themselves speak so in many places: “We are witnesses, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” And afterwards, confirming the resurrection, Peter said, “we who ate and drank with him.” For they more readily received the testimony of men who had been with him, because they were as yet far short in their understanding of the Spirit. That is why John too, in writing his Gospel, says that he himself saw, when he speaks of the blood and the water, putting sight before them as the greatest testimony; and yet what comes from the Spirit is more exact than sight, but not among unbelievers. For that the man shared in the Spirit is clear from many things: from the signs that take place even now, from the fact that even ordinary people received the Spirit in those days, from the testimony of Paul (“whose praise,” he says, “is in the gospel”), and from the vote at his appointment. For having said this, he adds, “And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to travel with us in this grace which is being administered by us.”

And see his freedom from conceit. He does not say, “The first Gospel which I preached,” but “The former account I made,” thinking the name of Gospel too great for himself. And yet the apostle adorns him with it, saying, “whose praise is in the gospel.” But he is modest and says, “The former account I made concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach”; not simply “concerning all,” but from beginning to end: “until the day,” he says, “on which he was taken up.” And yet John shows that it was not possible to write everything. Wishing to make this plain, after saying, “If they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain,” he adds, “the books that would be written.” How then, someone asks, does this writer speak of “all”? But he did not say “all things,” but “concerning all things,” as one might say, in outline and in the main; or he speaks “concerning all” the things that are essential and pressing. Then he shows also what “all” he means: “which Jesus began both to do and to teach,” pointing to the miracles and the teachings. And not only this, but that he also taught by doing. See too his kindly and apostolic mind, that for the sake of a single person he took such pains as to write a whole Gospel: “so that you may have,” he says, “certainty concerning the words in which you were instructed.” For he had heard Christ saying, “It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish.” And why did he not make one book, since he was writing to one man, Theophilus, but divided it into two subjects? For clarity's sake, and to give the hearer a rest; besides, the works are also distinct in subject.

Consider how Christ made his own words credible by his deeds. … He exhorted to meekness and said, “Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” He taught [poverty, and showed it] by his deeds: “For the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head,” he says. Again, he commanded us to love our enemies; he taught this on the cross, praying for those who were crucifying him. He said, “If anyone wishes to go to law with you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well”; and he gave not only his garments but even his blood. So he commanded the disciples to do as well. That is why Paul too said, “just as you have us as a pattern.” For nothing is colder than a teacher who philosophizes only in words: that is the part not of a teacher but of an actor. That is why the apostles taught first by their life, and then by their words; or rather they had no need of words at all, since their deeds cried aloud. And one would not be wrong to call his passion also a deed; for by suffering he did that great and wonderful work: he destroyed death and accomplished all the rest.

“Until the day on which, after giving commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up.” “After giving commands through the Spirit,” that is, after speaking spiritual words to them, nothing human. Either this is what it means, or that he gave them commands through the Spirit. Do you see how humbly he still speaks about him, just as he himself spoke about himself, saying, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God”? For the Holy Spirit too was at work in that temple. And what did he command? “Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Great is the praise of the apostles, when they are entrusted with such things (I mean the salvation of the world), with words full of the Spirit. This, surely, is what he hints at in saying “through the Holy Spirit”; that is, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit.” He says this to lead the hearer on to a desire to learn the commandments, and to make the apostles credible, since they are going to speak the things of the Spirit and the commandments of Christ. “After giving commands,” then, he says, “he was taken up.” He did not say “he ascended,” since he still speaks as of a man. So he taught the disciples also after the resurrection; but no one has told us everything about this period exactly. John lingers on it more than the others, and so does this writer; but no one has reported everything clearly (for they were hastening on to something else). We learned these things through the apostles; for what they heard, they also told. “To whom he also presented himself alive.” Having first spoken of the ascension, he speaks also of the resurrection. For since he had said, “He was taken up,” so that you may not think that he was taken up by others, he added, “To whom he also presented himself alive.” For if he presented himself in the greater thing, much more in the lesser.

Do you see how unobtrusively he sows these great doctrines in? “Appearing to them during forty days.” For he was not with them all the time then, as he had been before the resurrection. See: he did not say “forty days,” but “during forty days.” For he would come and then fly away again. Why so? To lift up their minds, and no longer to let them be disposed toward him as before. And he did not do this idly, but to establish both things with exactness: that the resurrection should be believed, and that from now on he should be thought greater than a man. And yet these were opposed to each other: for the resurrection to be believed, many human things had to happen; for the other, the opposite. Yet both came about, each at the fitting time. And why did he appear not to all, but to the apostles? Because to the many, who did not know the secret of the mystery, he would have seemed a phantom. For if even the disciples themselves disbelieved at first and were troubled, and needed touch with the hand, and a meal, what were the many likely to experience? That is why he makes the proof of the resurrection unquestionable from the signs, so that the resurrection might become plain not only to those then living but also to all who came after. For what the sight of the signs did for them, faith was afterward to do for all. That is why we reason with unbelievers from this too. For if he did not rise, but remains dead, how did the apostles work signs in his name? But they did not work signs? Then how did our nation come into being? For they will not resist this too, nor fight against what is plain to see. So when they say that signs did not happen, they put themselves to greater shame. For this is the greatest sign, that without signs the whole world ran to them, netted by twelve poor and unlettered men. For the fishermen did not prevail by wealth of money, nor by wisdom of words, nor by anything else of the kind; so that even against their will they will confess that there was a divine power in them, for it is impossible that human strength should ever achieve so much. That is why he himself also stayed forty days after the resurrection, giving proof of himself by the long time he was seen, so that they would not think what they saw to be a phantom. And he was not content even with this, but added a meal too, as the writer says further on: “And eating with them.” And the apostles themselves always made this a proof of the resurrection, saying, “we who ate and drank with him.” And what he did when he appeared, he shows by what he adds: “appearing to them, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” For since they were distressed and troubled by what had already happened, and were about to go out to great contests, … [he commanded them] not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.” First he led them out into Galilee, while they were still afraid and trembling, so that they might hear what was said without fear. Then, when they had heard and had spent forty days with him, “he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem.” Why so? Just as no one lets soldiers who are about to fall upon a multitude go out until they are armed, nor lets horses leap from the starting line until they have taken on their charioteer, so he did not let them appear on the battlefield before the descent of the Spirit, so that they would not be easy for the many to overcome and capture. And not only for this reason, but also because there were many there who were going to believe. And besides this, so that some might not say that they left those who knew them and went off to boast among strangers, for this reason they offer the proofs of the resurrection among the very men who had murdered him, among the very men who had crucified him and buried him, in the very city where the lawless deed had been dared, so that all outsiders too would be silenced. For when the very men who crucified him are seen to have believed as well, it is evident both that the cross and the lawlessness of the outrage were shown up, and that the proof of the resurrection was great. Then, so that they might not say, “How then shall we be able to remain, few and of no account, among so many polluted and murderous men?”, see how he dispels their anxiety, saying, “but to wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.” And when, someone asks, did they hear it? When he said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you”; and again, “I will ask the Father, and he will send you another Paraclete, to remain with you.”

And why did the Spirit come neither while he was present nor immediately after he departed, but he himself went up on the fortieth day, while the Spirit came “when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled”? And how, if the Spirit had not yet come, did he say, “Receive the Holy Spirit”? To make them receptive and fit for receiving him. For if Daniel fainted when he was about to see an angel, much more would these men, who were about to receive so great a grace. Either this is what one may say, or that he spoke of what was going to happen as if it had already happened, as when he says, “Tread upon snakes and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy.” And why did the Spirit not come at once then? They had to come to long for the thing, and so receive the grace. That is why the Spirit came when he himself had flown away. If the Spirit had come while he was present, they would not have been in such expectation. That is why he does not come immediately after he went up either, but after eight or nine days. So we too are roused toward God most of all when we come into need. That is why John too sends his disciples to Christ just when they were going to be in need of Jesus, since John himself was living in prison. Besides, our nature had to appear in heaven, and the reconciliation be completed, and then the Spirit come and the joy be unmixed. For if, while he was present, the one had gone away and the other remained, the comfort would not have been so great; for they clung to him and could hardly be torn away from him. That is why he said to comfort them, “It is to your advantage that I go away.” That is why he waits through the days between, so that, having been somewhat disheartened and, as I said, having come into need, they might reap a full and pure joy. If the Spirit were lesser, the consolation would not have been sufficient; how then could he have said, “It is to your advantage”? That is why the greater parts of the teaching were reserved for him, so that they would not think him lesser. Consider what constraint he put on them to be in Jerusalem, by promising that the Spirit would be given there. For so that they would not flee again after his ascension, he holds them all there by this expectation as by a chain. Having said, “to wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me,” he added, “For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Now he shows the difference between himself and John, no longer in veiled terms as before (for he veiled his meaning heavily when he said, “But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”), but now more plainly: “John,” he says, “baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.” He no longer uses John's testimony, but only reminds them of the person, leading them to remember what John had said; and he shows them already become greater than John, since they too were going to baptize in the Spirit. And he did not say, “But I baptize you in the Holy Spirit,” but “you will be baptized,” teaching us humility. For it was already plain from John's testimony that he was the one who baptizes, since John said, “He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire”; that is why he mentioned John alone. The Gospels, then, are a history of what Christ did and said; the Acts, of what the other Paraclete said and did. Then too the Spirit did many things, just as now Christ is at work, as he was then also; but then through the temple, now through the apostles. Then he came into a virgin's womb and fashioned a temple; now into apostolic souls. Then in the form of a dove, now in the form of fire. Why so? There he showed his gentleness, here also his power to punish. And he fittingly reminds them of the judgment as well. For when sins had to be forgiven, much gentleness was needed; but now that we have obtained the gift, it is the time for judgment and examination. And how does he say, “You will be baptized,” when there was no water in the upper room? Because the more essential thing is the Spirit, through whom the water too is effective; just as he himself is said to have been anointed, though he was never anointed with oil, but received the Spirit. Besides, one can find them baptized with water too, and at different times. With us both happen together, but then separately. For at the beginning they were baptized by John; and do not be surprised. For if prostitutes and tax collectors came to that baptism, much more those who were afterward to be baptized by the Spirit. Then, so that they would not say that the thing was always in promises (for he had already said much about it), nor think it an operation without real subsistence, he leads them away from such a notion and says, “not many days from now.” And he did not make plain when, so that they might always be watchful; but he said that it would be near, so that they would not lose heart; when, he did not add, so that they might always be sober. And he assures them not by this alone, I mean the nearness of the time, but also by saying, “the promise which you heard from me.” What he means is this: “I have not told you only now, but I promised it long ago; and what I promise I will certainly do.” Why then are you surprised if he does not tell the day of the consummation, when he would not make known even this day, which was so near? And very reasonably, so that they might always be awake and in expectation …

For it is not possible, it is not possible to enjoy grace without being sober. Or do you not hear what Elijah too says to his disciple? “If you see me being taken up, it shall be so for you”; that is, “what you ask will happen for you.” And Christ too everywhere said to those who came to him, “Do you believe?” For if we are not made ready for what is given, we do not much feel the benefit either. So too in Paul's case grace did not come at once, but three days passed in between, during which he was blind. For just as those who dye purple first prepare with other substances the material that is to take the dye, so that its bloom may not fade, so here too God first makes the soul anxious and prepares it, and then pours out the grace. That is why he did not send the Spirit at once either, but at Pentecost. And if someone says, “Why do we too not baptize at this season [of Pentecost]?”, I would say that the grace is the same then and now, but the mind becomes loftier now, prepared beforehand by fasting. And the season of Pentecost too has a reason that is not unfitting. What is it? The Fathers thought that baptism was a sufficient bridle on evil desire and a great lesson in being self-controlled even in a time of festivity. Since, then, we are, as it were, eating with Christ himself and sharing his table, let us do nothing carelessly, but live in fasting and prayer and great self-control. For if a man who is about to enter on a worldly office arranges his whole life for it, and to obtain some rank spends money and expends time and endures countless toils, what should we deserve, who approach the kingdom of heaven with such indolence, neither eager before we receive it, and careless after receiving it? Indeed the reason we are careless after receiving is that we were not watchful before receiving. That is why many, immediately after receiving it, have gone back to their former vomit and become worse, and have drawn on themselves a heavier punishment: set free from their former sins, they provoked the Judge the more by this very thing, that after being freed from so great a sickness they did not even so become self-controlled, but suffered what Christ threatened to the paralytic, saying, “See, you have been made well; sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you”; and what he foretold about the Jews, that “the last state will be worse than the first.” For “if I had not come and spoken to them,” he says, “they would not have sin.” So the sins committed afterward become double and fourfold. How so? Because after the honor we become ungrateful and wicked. And for this reason the washing no longer helps us toward obtaining a milder punishment. Consider: someone had grievous sins, having murdered, or committed adultery, or done something else more grievous still; these were forgiven through the washing. For there is not, there is not any sin or impiety that does not yield and give way to the gift; for the grace is divine. Again, someone committed adultery and murder: the former adultery is undone, and that murder is forgiven and not recalled (“for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”); but for the sins after baptism we pay as great a penalty as if those too had been recalled, and much worse. For the sin is no longer single, but double and triple. And that the penalty for these sins is greater, hear what Paul says: “Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses; how much worse punishment, do you think, will he deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and regarded as common the blood of the covenant, and outraged the Spirit of grace?”

Perhaps we have now turned many away from receiving baptism. But that is not why we have said these things, but so that those who receive it may remain in self-control and great reasonableness. “But I am afraid,” someone says. If you were afraid, you would have received it and kept it. “But it is for this very reason,” he says, “that I do not receive it: because I am afraid.” And are you not afraid to depart in this state? “God is merciful,” he says. Then receive baptism, for he is merciful and helps. But where you ought to be zealous you do not put forward this mercy; it is when you want to put things off that you remember it. And yet that is when this mercy would have its proper place, and we shall obtain it the more when we also contribute our own part. For the man who has cast everything on God, and after baptism sins, as is likely since he is human, will obtain mercy by repenting; but the man who, as it were, plays the sophist with God's mercy, and departs without a share in grace, will have a punishment from which there is no appeal. Why do you put forward such arguments against your own salvation? For it is impossible, impossible, in my judgment, for one who puts things off on such hopes to achieve anything noble and good. Why do you take on so great a fear, and put forward the uncertainty of the future? Why do you not change this fear into labor and zeal, so that you may become great and admirable? Which is better, to fear or to labor? If someone seated you, idle, in a dilapidated house, saying, “Expect the roof, which is rotten, to fall on your head (perhaps it will fall, perhaps it will not); but if you do not want this, work, and live in the safer room,” which would you choose rather: that idleness with fear, or this work with confidence? Do the same now, then. For the uncertainty of the future is like a rotten house, always threatening to fall; but this work, which involves toil, guarantees safety.

May we never fall into such necessity as to sin after the washing! Yet even if something of the kind should happen, let us not despair even so. God is merciful, and he has given us many ways of forgiveness even after this. But just as those who sin after the washing are punished more than the catechumens for this reason, so those who know that there are remedies of repentance and refuse to use them will suffer worse things. For the more God's mercy is extended, the more the punishment increases, if we do not use the mercy as we ought. What are you saying, man? You were full of so many sins and given up as lost; suddenly you became a friend and were raised to the highest honor, not by your own labors but by God's gift; and then you went back to your former disgrace; and when you ought to have been severely punished, he did not turn away from you even so, but gave you countless occasions of salvation, through which you may become a friend. God does this, and even so you would not labor. What pardon will you deserve after that? And how will the Greeks not rightly laugh at you, as at a drone living idly and in vain? “For if your philosophy is powerful,” they say, “show us: what does the crowd of the uninitiated mean?” The mysteries are good and … For that is not the time for the mysteries, but for wills; the time for the mysteries is soundness of mind and self-control of soul. For tell me: if no one would choose to write a will in such a condition, and if he does write one, he gives a handle to those who come after him (that is just why they put these words at the head, saying, “Living, of sound mind and in good health, I make disposition concerning my property”), how could someone out of his senses be initiated into the mysteries with exactness? For if the laws of those outside would not allow a man who is not fully in health to make dispositions when deliberating about worldly affairs, and that when he is about to make law over his own things, how will you be able to learn everything clearly when you are learning about the kingdom of heaven and those ineffable good things, when sickness has often made you delirious? And when will you say those words to Christ, being buried together with him, when you are about to leap off? For one must show one's good will both by deeds and by words. But you are doing the same as if a soldier wanted to enlist when the war was about to end, or an athlete to strip when the spectacle was already breaking up. For you take up arms for this purpose, not so as to leap away at once, but so as to take them and set up a trophy over the enemy. Let no one think this discourse untimely because it is not now Lent. That is just what stings me: that you watch for a season in such matters. And yet that eunuch, a barbarian, on a journey, in the middle of the highway, did not look for a season; nor did the jailer, though he was among prisoners and saw the teacher scourged and bound, and was going to keep him inside for a while yet. But here many put it off, though they do not live in a prison nor are on the road, and that when they are at their last breath.

If, then, you still doubt that Christ is God, stand outside, and do not even hear the divine words, nor count yourself among the catechumens. But if you are confident and know this clearly, why do you delay? Why do you shrink back and hesitate? “I am afraid I may sin,” he says. And are you not afraid of the worse thing, that you may depart there with such burdens? For it is not the same thing to fail to obtain grace when it is set before you, and to fall short while trying to do right. Tell me, if he charges you, “Why did you not come? Why did you not do right?”, what will you say? For the second, perhaps, you can plead the burdensomeness of the commandments and of virtue; but for the first, nothing of the kind. For it is grace, giving freedom as a free gift. But are you afraid you may sin? Say this after baptism. Then have the fear, so as to keep the deposit. But as it is, before baptism you are cautious, after baptism careless. But are you waiting for the season of Lent? Why? Does that season have anything more? The apostles, at any rate, were not counted worthy of the grace at Pascha, but at another season; and when the three thousand and the five thousand were baptized, it was not the season of Pascha; nor for Cornelius, nor the eunuch, nor many others. Let us not, then, wait for a season, lest by delaying and putting off we depart empty and destitute of such great good things. How do you think I grieve when I hear that someone was carried off from here uninitiated, when I think of those unbearable punishments, that penalty from which there is no appeal? How stung I am again when I see others reaching their last breath and not brought to their senses even by this! That is why many things unworthy of this gift take place. For when one ought to be glad and dance and rejoice and wear a crown when another is being initiated, the sick man's wife, when she hears that the physician has ordered this, beats her breast as at some misfortune and laments, and there are wailings and groanings throughout the house, as over condemned men led away on their last road. And then he too grieves the more; and even if he recovers from the sickness, he is pained the more, as though he had been ill-used. For since he had not prepared himself for virtue, from then on he hesitates and shrinks from the contests that follow. Do you see what devices the devil contrives, how great the shame, how great the laughter? Let us then rid ourselves of this laughter; let us live as Christ commanded. He gave baptism for this purpose, not that we might receive it and depart, but that we might live on and show fruits. How will you say “Bear fruit” to one who is departing, to one who has been cut down? Have you not heard that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace”? How then does the opposite happen? For the wife stands by mourning, when she ought to rejoice; the children weeping, when they ought to share the gladness; the man himself lying there in darkness, full of confusion and trouble, when he ought to be keeping festival, filled with great dejection because of the orphanhood of his children, the widowhood of his wife, the desolation of his house. Is this how one comes to the mysteries? Tell me, is this how one touches the holy table? Are these things to be borne? If a king sends letters releasing those in prison, there is gladness and joy; but God sends down the Spirit from heaven, forgiving not arrears of money but sins entire, and do you all lament and weep? What incongruity is this? I do not yet say that water has even been poured on the dead, and the holy things thrown on the ground; but we are not the cause of these things, but the ungrateful. So I exhort you to leave everything, gather yourselves together, and come to baptism with all eagerness, so that, having shown great zeal in the present life, we may obtain confidence in the life to come. May we all obtain it, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lemma] “So when they had come together, they asked him, saying, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’”

Whenever the disciples are about to ask something, they come to him together. They do this to put pressure on him by their numbers. For they knew that what he had said before, “No one knows the day,” was the word of one who was putting them off, not of one who did not know, but of one deferring his answer; so they come and ask again. They would not have asked if they had really been convinced. For since they had heard that they were going to receive the Spirit, they wanted to learn, as men now worthy, and they were ready for their release. For they did not want to throw themselves into dangers, but to take breath; for what had befallen them was no small matter, but the danger had hung over their very lives. So, saying nothing to him about the Spirit, they ask, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” They did not say, “When?”, but, “Now?” So eager were they to learn the day. That is why they also come with greater respect. To me it seems that it was not even clear to them what the kingdom was, for the Spirit had not yet taught them. And they did not say, “When will these things be?”, but what? “Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”, as though it had already fallen. They inquire in this way because they were still attached to the things of sense, though not as much as before; for they had not yet become better. So now they formed greater ideas about him. Since [their minds were lifted up, he too speaks more loftily]. For he no longer says to them, “Not even the Son knows the day,” but what? “It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has set by his own authority.” “You are asking for things too great,” he says. And yet they had already learned things far greater. So that you may learn this exactly, see how many I can count. What, tell me, is greater than their learning what they learned? They learned that he is the Son of God, and that God has a Son of equal honor; they learned that there will be a resurrection; they learned that he went up and sat at the right hand of the Father; they learned what is more awesome than this, that flesh sits on high and is worshiped by angels; they learned that he will come again to judge the whole world; they learned that they too will then sit as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel; they learned that the Jews are cast out and those from the Gentiles enter in their place. To know that these things will be is a great thing; but to learn that someone will reign, or when, is nothing great. Paul learned things that it is not lawful for a man to speak; he learned all that was before the world. Which is harder to learn, the beginning or the end? Clearly the first. Well, Moses learned this, both when it was and how many ages before, as he shows by counting the years. So did Solomon; that is why he said, “I will recount the things from of old.” That it is near, these men too knew afterward, as Paul did, saying, “The Lord is near; do not be anxious about anything.” But then they did not know, though they had received proofs. And Christ, just as [he said, “not many days from now,”] wishing them [to be watchful], and did not make it plain openly, so he does now too. Besides, here they are asking not about the consummation but about the kingdom; that is why they said, “Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” But he did not reveal even this to them. About the end they had asked before this too; but he did not answer them, as he did there, more sternly, to lead them away from thinking that their release was near, and he cast them into the thought of dangers; so here too, but more gently. For so that they would not seem to have been rebuffed, nor these words to be mere pretexts, hear how he at once promises to give them something at which they rejoiced. He added at any rate, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Then, so that they would not ask him again, he was at once taken up. So just as there he silenced them by fear and by saying “I do not know,” so here too, by being taken up. For they had a great desire for the thing and would not have left off; and it was very necessary that they should not learn it. For tell me: what do the Greeks disbelieve more, when the consummation will be, or that God became man and came forth from a virgin's womb and was seen by men with flesh? Is it not the latter? You too will certainly say so. But I am ashamed to keep speaking about this as though it were an indifferent matter. Then again, so that they might not say, “Why do you make so much of the matter?”, he says, “which the Father has set by his own authority.” And yet the authority of the Father and his own is one, as when he says, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son too gives life to whom he will.” If, where he must act, he acts with the same authority as the Father, where he must know, does he not know with the same authority? And yet raising the dead is much greater than learning the day. If he does the greater with authority, much more the other.

But so that you may understand, I will make this plain by an illustration. When we see a little child crying and continually wanting to get from us something that is not good for him, we hide it, show our empty hands and say, “Look, we do not have it.” So he too did with the apostles. But just as that child, even when we show him, keeps on crying, knowing that he has been tricked, and then we leave him and go off, saying, “So-and-so is calling me,” and give him something else in its place, wanting to draw him away from his … and making much of that thing instead of this, and having given it we run off, so Christ did too. They sought to receive; he said he did not have it. At first he also frightened them; and when they asked again, he said again that he did not have it. But now he does not frighten them; after showing what he had done, he also gives a plausible reason: “which the Father has set by his own authority.” What then? Do you not know the things of the Father? Do you know him, but not his things? You yourself said, “No one knows the Father except the Son,” and, “The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God”; and do you not know this? Far from it. He did not say this so that we would suspect this, but he feigns ignorance, leading them away from untimely inquiry. So they were afraid to ask again, so as not to hear, “Are you also without understanding?” For they feared him much more now than before. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” For just as there he did not answer what they asked (for this is the part of a teacher, to teach not what the disciple wants but what it profits him to learn), so now too he foretells what they needed to learn, so that they would not be troubled. They were still weak, then. But so that they might speak boldly, he lifted up their souls and veiled the burdensome things. For since he was about to leave them shortly, in speaking of these things he says nothing that is simply grievous. What then? He speaks of the grievous things together with praise, all but saying, “Do not be afraid; for you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria.” For he had said, “Do not go on the road of the Gentiles, and do not enter a town of the Samaritans”; but now he wants them to preach in all Judea and Samaria; and what he did not say then he added here, saying, “and to the end of the earth.” And having said what was most fearful of all, so that they would not ask him again, “while they were watching he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.” Do you see that they preached and fulfilled the gospel? Truly he bestowed a great gift on them. “Where you were afraid,” he says, “in Jerusalem, preach there first, and afterward to the end of the earth.” Then again the confirmation of what was said: “While they were watching,” it says, “he was lifted up.” For he did not rise while they were watching, but he was lifted up while they were watching; since here too sight did not achieve everything. For of the resurrection they saw the end but not the beginning; and of the ascension they saw the beginning but not the end. For it was superfluous to see the beginning of the former, since he himself who said these things was present and the tomb showed that he was not there; but what came after this they had to learn by word. For since the eyes are not able to show the height, nor to teach whether he went up into heaven or only as if into heaven, see what happens. That it was Jesus himself they knew from his talking with them (for at a distance it was not possible to recognize him by sight); but that he is being taken up into heaven, the angels themselves then taught them. See how it is arranged that not everything happens by the Spirit, but also by sight. And why did a cloud take him up? This too is a proof that he went up into heaven. Not fire, as with Elijah, nor a chariot of fire; but a cloud took him up, which was a symbol of heaven, as the prophet says, “who makes the clouds his chariot,” though this is said of the Father. That is why it says “on a cloud,” showing that he went in the very symbol of divine power; for no other power is ever seen on a cloud. Hear again what another prophet says: “God sits on …” For this happened when the question was about a necessary matter, and they were attending closely to what was said, awake and not drowsing. On the mountain too there was a cloud because of him, when Moses entered the darkness; but the cloud was not because of Moses. And he did not say only, “I am going,” so that they would not grieve again, but he also said, “The Spirit …” … that he was going away into heaven they learned with their own eyes. Oh, what a sight they were counted worthy of! “And as they were gazing into heaven,” it says, “as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven …’” They used the word “this” to point him out, saying, “This one, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him going into heaven.” Again the appearance is bright. For some angels suddenly appeared, shaped in the form of men, and say, “Men of Galilee.” They seemed credible from their saying, “Men of Galilee.” For what need was there for men who knew their country to learn it, unless this was the point? By their appearance too they turned them, and showed that they were from heaven. Why does he not say these things to them himself, but the angels? He had already told them everything beforehand, so that through the angels he was reminding them of what they had heard. And they did not say, “whom you saw taken up,” but “going into heaven,” showing that the taking up is an ascent; to be taken up belongs to the flesh. That is why they say, “He who has been taken up from you will come in this way”; not “will be sent,” but “will come.” Where then is the lesser expression? In the cloud? For “he who went up is the same one who came down.” But see how they say some things to suit the disciples' understanding, and others worthily of God. The minds of those who saw were now lifted up; he granted them no small token of the second coming. For “He will come in this way” is the word of one making this plain: with the body, it says, which they longed to hear; and that he will come again to judgment in this way, on a cloud. “And behold,” it says, “two men stood by them.” Why in the form of men? So that they would not be terrified. “Who also said, ‘Why do you stand looking into heaven?’” The words were at once those of men soothing them and not letting them expect him to come back at once. These speak of the greater thing, but not of the lesser. That he will come in this way, and that they must look for him from heaven, they say; but when, they keep silent. Then from that sight they turned them back to their own work, so that they would not, because they could no longer see him, think that he had not gone up but would come back while they were talking. For if before this they said, “Where are you going?”, much more would they have said now, “Will you at this time …?” So well did they know his gentleness that even after his passion they ask him, “Will you restore?” And yet earlier he had told them, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet,” nor would Jerusalem yet be taken. But now they are asking about the kingdom, not about the consummation. Besides, he no longer speaks at length to them after the resurrection. So they ask as men who would themselves be held in honor if this happened. But he did not make it plain that he would not restore it. For what need was there for them to learn this? That is why, being afraid, they no longer said, “What is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”, but, “Will you restore the kingdom to Israel?” For they thought it was already at hand. But he had shown in parables too that it was not near; and when they asked, he did not answer the question itself, but said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” See: he said “has come upon,” not “has been sent,” to show the equality of honor. How then, you fighter against the Spirit, do you dare to call him a creature? “And you will be my witnesses.” He hinted at the ascension; or rather, he reminded them again of what they had already heard before. It has already been shown that he went up into heaven: “Cloud and darkness are under his feet,” it says; this is what “a cloud took him” shows; it is speaking of the Master of heaven. For just as a royal chariot points to a king, so the royal chariot was sent for him too, so that they would not utter anything sorrowful, nor suffer what Elisha did when his teacher was taken up, tearing his garment. And what do they say? “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way”; and, “Behold, two men stood by them.” Rightly so; for “on the mouth of two witnesses every word will stand.” And they say these very things. And “in white clothing,” it says. Just as they had already seen an angel at the tomb in white garments, who also foretold their thoughts, so too an angel becomes the herald of his ascension, though the prophets had foretold it in many places, as they had the resurrection too.

Everywhere angels become heralds: at the birth, again to Mary, at the resurrection; so too at the ascension; and moreover at the second coming too angels will appear running before him. Having said, “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you,” so that they would not drive them to utter perplexity, they added, “will come in the same way.” They took breath a little on hearing that he will come again, and in this way, and will not be unapproachable. And “from you” is not added idly either; it displays his love for them and his choice of them, and that he will not abandon those whom he chose. Of the resurrection, then, he himself became the witness (for of all things this was the most wonderful after his birth, or rather even before his birth: that he raised himself. “Destroy this temple,” he says, “and in three days I will raise it up”); of the coming that is to be, the angels, saying, “He will come in the same way.” If anyone, then, longs to see Christ, if anyone grieves that he has not seen him, let him hear this and show a wonderful life, and he will certainly see him and will not be disappointed. For he will come with greater glory; yet in this way, with a cloud, in this way, with a body; and it is far more wonderful to see him coming down from heaven than going up from the earth. That the prophets did not foretell this, do not be surprised; for it was superfluous to say anything separately about it, since it is understood together with the resurrection. … [This] confirms the resurrection. For if he was taken up with a body, much more did he rise with a body. Where are those who disbelieve the resurrection? Who are they, tell me? Greeks or Christians? For I do not know. Or rather, I know exactly: they are Greeks, who also disbelieve the making of the creation. For it belongs to the same people not to allow God to make anything from what does not exist, and to say that he does not raise up what lies in the grave. Then, ashamed that they do not know the power of God, and so as not to be charged with this, they say, “That is not why we say these things, but because there is no need of a body.” Truly it is timely to say, “The fool will speak foolish things.” Are you not ashamed to grant that God makes nothing out of what does not exist? If he makes from things that exist, how does he differ from men? “But where,” he says, “do evils come from?” Because you do not know where from, must you therefore bring in another evil in your knowledge of evils? Two absurdities follow. One is that you dare to say this; for if you do not say that God makes the things that are from things that are not, much less will you know where evils come from. The other is that by saying this you introduce evil as unoriginate. Consider how grievous it is, when wishing to find the source of evils, both to be ignorant of it and to add another source to it. Seek where evils come from, and do not blaspheme God. “And how do I blaspheme?” he says. What are you saying? Do you not blaspheme when you introduce evil as unoriginate? When you allow it to have power equal to God's? When you bring in a power of evils equal in strength? When you call it unoriginate? See what Paul says: “For his invisible attributes are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood through the things that are made.” But the devil said that both were of matter, so that there might be nowhere left from which we could come to know God. For what is harder, tell me: to make what is evil by nature good (if indeed there is any such thing; I am speaking on your terms, for nothing is evil by nature), to make evil a co-worker of good, or to make from what does not exist? Which is easier (I am speaking of quality): to bring in a quality that does not exist, or to change an existing one into its opposite? Which is easier: to make a house that does not exist, or to make a house that has been utterly ruined exist again from the beginning? Clearly the former. So this is impossible. As this, then, is impossible, so that too is impossible: I mean, to make a thing work as its opposite.

Tell me, which is harder: to make perfume, or to force filth to do the work of perfume? Which of these is easier, tell me (since we are subjecting God to our reasonings; no, not we, God forbid, but you): to form eyes, or to make a blind man see while he remains blind, and see more sharply than one who has sight, and to change blindness into sight and deafness into hearing? To me it seems the former. Do you, then, grant God the harder thing, tell me, and not the easier? But why do I say this? They even say that souls are of his substance. But see how many impious and senseless things there are. Wishing to show that evils are from God, [they bring in] another … and they say that God is older than none of them, daring to give them too that great prerogative. Second, they say that evil is also indestructible; for what is unoriginate is not destroyed. Do you see the blasphemy? So that necessarily either nothing is God's, or, if these things are not, God is not either. Third, as I said, in this way they war against themselves and prepare for God to be the more indignant. Fourth, they grant that unstable matter has such great aptitude. Fifth, they say that wickedness became the cause of God's goodness, and that without it the Good would not have been good. Sixth, they shut against us the ways to the knowledge of God. Seventh, they bring God down into men, and plants, and logs. For if our soul is of the substance of God, and its passing into new bodies ends in cucumbers and melons and onions, then the substance of God will be in cucumbers. If we say that the Holy Spirit fashioned a temple in the Virgin, they laugh; if we say that he dwelt in the spiritual temple, again they laugh. Yet they themselves are not ashamed to bring the substance of God down into cucumbers and melons, flies and caterpillars and asses, inventing a new kind of idolatry. “But the onion is not in God; God is in the onion”; for heaven forbid that the onion should be God! Why do you shrink from God's coming into a body? “It is shameful,” he says. Then this is much more shameful. “But it is not shameful.” How not? For whatever happens to us is truly shameful. Do you see the sweepings of their impiety? But why do they not want the body to rise? What will they say? That the body is evil? Then where, tell me, do you know God from? Where do you get your knowledge of the things that exist? And how is the philosopher a philosopher, if the body contributes nothing? Maim the senses, and then learn something of what one needs to know! What would be more foolish than a soul, if its senses had been maimed from the beginning? For if the maiming of a single part, I mean the brain, harms the soul entirely, if the others were maimed too, what use would it be? Show me a soul without a body. Or do you not hear physicians saying, “Disease, when present, terribly darkens the soul”? How long will you not hang yourselves? The body belongs to matter, tell me? Very well. Then you ought to hate it. Why then do you feed it? Why do you cherish it? [Then you ought to kill yourself?] Then you ought to get free of the prison. Besides: “God cannot prevail over matter unless he is entwined with it. For he cannot command it until he has united with it and taken his stand through the whole of it.” Oh, what weakness! A king does everything by giving commands, and God does not, by commanding the wicked? In short, if matter had no share in some good, it would not have held together. For wickedness has no nature to hold together unless it lays hold of something belonging to virtue; so that if before this it had been unmixed with virtue, it would long ago have been destroyed. For this is the way of evils. Suppose a man is licentious and restrains himself in nothing at all: will he live ten days? Suppose someone is a robber with no conscience toward anyone, even toward his fellow robbers: will he live at all? Suppose someone is a shameless thief who does not blush but steals in public: will such a man survive? Evils have no nature to hold together unless they take even a little from the good; so that by their own account God gave them their consistency. Suppose a city of wicked men: will it ever stand? Let them be wicked not only toward the good, but also toward one another. It cannot stand. Truly “claiming to be wise, they became fools.” If the body is evil, then everything visible exists simply in vain: water and earth, sun and air. For air too is a body, though not thick and solid. It is timely, then, to say, “The lawless have told me idle tales.” But let us not put up with them; let us wall off our ears against them. For there is, there is a resurrection of bodies. The tomb in Jerusalem shows it; the post at which he was bound and scourged shows it. “For we ate and drank with him,” it says. Let us believe in the resurrection, then, and do what is worthy of it, so that we may obtain the good things to come, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lemma] “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away.”

“Then,” it says, “they returned.” Then—when? When they had heard. For they would not have borne it otherwise, had he not promised them another coming. It seems to me that these things also happened on a sabbath. For he would not have indicated the distance in this way, saying, “from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away,” unless they were walking a fixed length of road on the sabbath day. “And when they had come in, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying.” So from now on they stayed in Jerusalem after the resurrection. “Both Peter,” it says, “and James and John.” This man is no longer counted with his brother only, but Andrew too is with Peter. “Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.” He did well to mention the disciples. For since one had betrayed, another had denied, another had disbelieved, he shows that, except for that one, all were safe. “All these with one mind were continuing steadfastly in prayer and supplication, with the women.” Rightly so. For this is a great weapon in temptations, and they had been sufficiently trained in it beforehand by the Teacher himself. Besides, the present temptation too led them to it. That is why they go up into the upper room, for they were very much afraid of the Jews. “With the women,” it says; for he had said that they followed him. “And with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” How then does it say that the disciple had taken her to his own home at that time? But when Christ had gathered them together again, so she too was with them again from then on. “And with his brothers.” He means those who earlier had disbelieved in him. “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said.” As one who was ardent, as one entrusted by Christ with the flock, and as first of the band, he always begins to speak first (“and there was a crowd of names,” it says, “together, about a hundred [and twenty]”) … “this Scripture, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand.” Why did he not ask Christ to give someone in place of Judas? And why do they not make the choice by themselves? Peter had now become better than he had been. This, then, is what one may say about this. As for their asking, not simply, but by revelation, for the one who was to fill up the band, we shall give two reasons: one, that they were busy with other things; the second, that this was the greatest proof that Christ was present with them. For as he chose when present, so also when absent. And this was no small comfort. See him doing everything with common consent, nothing on his own authority or as a ruler. And he did not simply say, “We enroll this man in place of Judas”; but, comforting them for what had happened, see how he handles the matter. For what had happened had caused no small perplexity; and do not be surprised. For if many now turn this matter over, what were they likely to say then? “Men, brothers,” he says. If the Lord called them brothers, much more this man; that is why he cries this out with all present. See the dignity of the church, a state like that of the angels. No one there was divided, not male, not female. I wish the churches were such now too. No one was thinking about anything worldly, no one was anxious about his household. Such a good are temptations; such a fine thing are afflictions. “The Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand.” He always comforts them from the prophecy. So Christ too does everywhere. In the same way this man too shows that nothing strange has happened, but what had already been foretold. “The Scripture had to be fulfilled,” he says, “which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David.” He does not say, “David said,” but “the Spirit through him.” See what teaching he uses right at the opening of the book. Do you see that it was not idly that I said, at the beginning of the work, that this book is the way of life of the Spirit? “Which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand,” he says, “by the mouth of David.” Consider how he makes the prophet his own and brings him forward, knowing that it helps them that it was said through David and not through another prophet. “Concerning Judas,” he says, “who became a guide.” See here too the man's philosophy. He does not insult or trample on him, saying, “the polluted and utterly polluted man”; he simply makes plain what happened; nor does he say “the traitor,” but presses to transfer the charge to others, as far as in him lay. And he does not attack even those harshly. “Who became a guide,” he says, “to those who arrested Jesus.” And before saying where David spoke, he tells what Judas had suffered, so as to confirm the future from the present and to show that he had already paid the penalty. “For he was numbered among us and obtained the lot of this ministry. Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness.” He gives the account a moral turn, and unobtrusively reveals the cause, which serves for instruction. For he does not say that the Jews acquired it, but this man. For since the souls of the weak look not so much to the future as to the present, he speaks of the present punishment. “And falling headlong he burst open in the middle.” He rightly lingers not on the sin but on the punishment. “And all his bowels,” it says, “gushed out.” This brought them comfort. “And it became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that that field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.”

The Jews, then, called it by this name, not for this reason but because of Judas; but he has turned the name to this very purpose, bringing in the enemies as witnesses. For by saying that they named it, and by adding “in their own language,” this is what he wishes to show. Then after the narrative he fittingly brings in the prophet, saying, “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it.’” This is about the field and the dwelling. “And let another take his office of oversight”; that is, his office, his priesthood. So this does not depend on my judgment, but on him who foretold these things. For so that he might not seem to be undertaking a great matter, and one such as Christ undertook, he brought in the prophet as witness. “So of the men who have accompanied us all the time,” he says. Why does he share the matter with them? So that it might not become a subject of contention, and they fall into rivalry. For if they themselves had suffered this, much more would those others. And he always avoids this. That is why at the beginning he entrusts the decision to the multitude, both making those chosen worthy of respect and freeing himself from ill will toward the others. For such things always cause great evils. That it must happen, he brings in the prophet as witness; from among whom it must be, he explains himself, saying, “of those who have accompanied us all the time.” For if he had said, “The worthy must be put forward,” he would have insulted the others; but as it is he left the matter to time, saying not simply “who have accompanied,” but “all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, one of these must become with us a witness of his resurrection.” For what purpose? So that the band might not be mutilated. What then? Was it not open to Peter to choose himself? Very much so; but so that he might not seem to be showing favor, he does not do it. Besides, he did not yet have the Spirit. “And they put forward two,” it says, “Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.” He did not put them forward himself; all did. But he introduced the proposal, showing that it too was not his own but from above, according to prophecy; so that he became an interpreter, not a teacher. “Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus.” Perhaps he gave both names because of men of the same name; since among the apostles too there are [James the son of Zebedee] and James the son of Alphaeus, Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James and Judas Iscariot. Besides, the name may perhaps have marked a change of life, and perhaps of purpose too. “They put forward,” it says, “Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the lot of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’” They rightly state his sin, showing that they are asking for a witness, not adding to the number, but not allowing it to be lessened. “And they gave lots for them” (for the Spirit was not yet given), “and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

“Then,” it says, “they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away.” He says this to show that they were not walking a long road, so that no fear should come upon them, trembling and afraid as they still were. “And when they went up into the upper room.” For they did not dare to appear in the city. And they did well to go up into the upper room, so that they could not easily be seized off guard. “And they were continuing steadfastly,” it says, “with one mind in prayer.” Do you see how watchful they were, continuing steadfastly in prayer, and with one mind, as though of one soul? He bears witness to two things in them. Joseph was perhaps dead. For when the brothers believed, he would not have disbelieved, he who believed before all; at any rate he is nowhere seen simply … as having precedence as a man, as his mother said: “Your father and I have been seeking you in distress.” So he knew him before all. But to the brothers Christ said, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me.” And see the reasonableness of James. He received the bishopric in Jerusalem, and yet he says nothing at that time. See too the great humility of the other disciples, how they yield him the throne and no longer dispute with one another. For that church was as it were in heaven, having nothing worldly … shining … “There were about a hundred and twenty,” it says: perhaps the seventy whom he himself chose, and others of the more earnest, such as Joseph and Matthias; and there were many women who followed him. They were together everywhere.

[3] This is the forethought of a teacher. He was the first to appoint a teacher. He did not say, “We are enough.” So far was he from all vainglory, and he looked to one thing only. And yet his own standing was not equal to that of all [the others]; but these things rightly happened because of the man's virtue, and because then authority was not an honor but a care for those governed. This made neither those chosen proud, for they were called to dangers, nor those not chosen grieve as though dishonored. But now it is not so, but entirely the opposite. For see: they were a hundred and twenty, and he asks for one from the whole multitude; rightly. He first takes the lead in the matter, since he himself had been entrusted with all. For to him Christ said, “And you, when once you have turned back, …” “He was numbered,” he says, “among us.” That is why it is fitting to put forward another, to become a witness in his place. And see how he imitates the teacher, everywhere reasoning from the Scriptures, and not yet saying anything about Christ, that he himself had often foretold it. And he does not cite the place where his betrayal is recalled, such as, “The mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful have been opened against me,” but only where his punishment is recalled; for this was what helped them for the time. This above all shows again the loving-kindness of the Master. “For he was numbered,” he says, “among us, and obtained the lot of this ministry.” He everywhere calls it a lot, showing that the whole was of God's grace and election, and reminding them of the old times, that God chose him by lot as he did the Levites. And he dwells on what concerns him: the wages of the betrayal themselves became the herald of his punishment. “For he acquired a field,” he says, “with the reward of his wickedness.” See how what happened was God's dispensation. “Of his wickedness,” he says. Many are the wickednesses, but none more wicked than this was ever done; so that the thing was of wickedness. And what happened became plain not only to those then present but to all who came after, so that they named it unwillingly, not knowing, just as Caiaphas prophesied without knowing. God compelled them thus … the evils that were to come upon the Jews were plain; and he shows for the time the prophecy fulfilled in part, the one that says, “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” And the same may fittingly be said of the Jews. For if the one who became a guide [suffered so], much more these. But for the time he says none of this. Then, showing that “Akeldama” might fittingly be said of him, he brings in the prophet saying, “Let his homestead become desolate.” For what is more desolate than to become a tomb? So the field might fittingly be called his. For the one who paid the price, even if others were the buyers, would justly be reckoned the master of a great desolation. This desolation was a prelude to that of the Jews, if one examines it carefully. For they too destroyed themselves by famine and killed many, and the city became a tomb of strangers, of soldiers; for they would not have allowed even these to be buried, nor were they themselves counted worthy of burial.

“So of the men who have accompanied us,” he says. See how he wants them to be eyewitnesses. And yet the Spirit was to come; but even so there was great care about this. “Of the men who have accompanied us,” he says, “all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.” He shows that they had lived with him, not simply been present as disciples. So many followed him from the beginning then. See, at any rate, how this is shown when it says, “One of the two who heard John and followed Jesus was …” “All the time,” he says, “that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John.” Rightly. For no one knew the things before this by having learned them, but they learned them by the Spirit. “Until the day,” he says, “on which he was taken up from us, one of these must become with us a witness of his resurrection.” He did not say, “a witness of the other things,” but “a witness of the resurrection” alone. For more credible was the man who could say, “He who ate and drank and was crucified, he himself rose.” So there was no need for him to be a witness of the times before this or after it, nor of the signs. For the point in question was this, the resurrection; since those things were plain and acknowledged, but this happened secretly and was plain to these alone. And they do not say, “Angels told us,” but, “We have seen.” How is this clear? From the miracles we work. That is why they especially had to be credible then. “And they put forward two,” it says. Why not many? So that the disappointment might not be greater, and the matter not extend to many. And he does not add Matthias idly, but to show that often the one honored among men is lesser with God. And all pray together, saying, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show.” “You,” they say, “not we.” They fittingly call him the knower of hearts; for the choice had to be made by this, not by outward things. So confident were they that one must certainly be appointed. And they did not say, “Choose,” but, “Show the one chosen”: “whom you have chosen,” knowing that everything had been foreordained by God. “Of these two, one, to take the lot of this ministry and apostleship.” For there was another ministry too. “And they gave lots for them.” For they did not yet think themselves worthy to choose by themselves; that is why they ask to learn by some sign. Besides, if, where there was neither prayer nor men of note, the lot had such force in the case of Jonah, because it was done with a right intent, much more here: it filled up the band and completed the order. And the other was not grieved; for the apostles would not have hidden their own failings, they who did not refrain from saying of the very leaders that they were indignant elsewhere, and not once but twice and often.

Let us too, then, imitate them. My words are no longer to all, but to those who desire office. If you believe that the choice is God's, do not be indignant; for you are indignant at him and provoked against him; he is the one who chose. If he chose, and you dare to be indignant at this, you do the same as Cain. For when he ought to have accepted it, because his brother's sacrifice was preferred he was grieved and indignant, when he ought to have been pricked to the heart. But I do not say this; I say that God knows how to arrange things for our good. For often you are gentler in character, but not suited. Again, you have a blameless life and a generous character, but in the church these alone are not needed. Besides, one man is fit for one thing and another for another. Do you not see how much account the divine Scripture has taken of these things? Shall I tell you why the thing has become fought over? Because we come to it not as to an office and to the care of others, but as to honor and rest. For if you knew that the bishop ought to belong to all, bearing the burdens of all; that others are pardoned when they are angry, but he never; that others have much excuse when they sin, but he none, you would not have hurried to the office, you would not have run after it. For he is exposed to the tongues of all, to the judgments of all, wise and unwise; he is worn down by cares every day and every night; he has many who hate him, many who envy him. Do not speak to me of those who court favor in everything, who want to sleep, who come to the thing as to a rest. My words are not about these, but about those who keep watch over your souls, who put the salvation of those under them before their own. Tell me: if someone who has ten children under his authority, living with him always, is compelled to care for them without ceasing, what ought this man to be, who has so many not under his authority, not living with him, but having their obedience in their own power? “But he is honored,” you say. … [The poor] revile him in the marketplace. “Why then does he not silence them?” Indeed! A fine work for a bishop! Again, if he does not give to everyone, both the idle and the workers, there are countless charges from every side. No one is afraid to accuse and slander; for with magistrates there is fear, but with these none. For the fear of God has no force with them. What can one say of the care about preaching and teaching? Of the difficulty in ordinations? Perhaps I am very weak and wretched and worthless, or the thing really is so. The soul of the priest differs not at all from a ship tossed by the waves: it is buffeted from every side, by friends, by enemies, by its own people, by strangers. Does not the emperor rule the whole world, and this man one city only? But his cares are as much greater as the sea swelling and raging differs from water merely stirred by a river breeze. Why so? Because there many share the burden (for everything is done by law and ordinance); but here there is nothing of the kind, nor can he command by authority. If he is severe, he is called harsh; if not severe, cold. These opposites must come together, so that he is neither despised nor hated. Besides, matters are already taken up beforehand. How many is he compelled to offend, willingly and unwillingly! How many to strike, willingly and unwillingly! I speak no otherwise than as I feel and am disposed: I do not think that there are many among the priests who are saved, but many more who perish; and the reason is that the thing requires a great soul. For it has many necessities that drive one out of one's own character, and it needs countless eyes on every side. Do you not see what the bishop must have? He must be apt to teach, patient under wrong, holding fast to the faithful word that is in accordance with the teaching. How great the difficulty of this! And he bears the blame for the sins of others. I say nothing of the rest: if one person departs uninitiated, has he not overturned his whole salvation? For the loss of one soul brings a damage so great that no word can express it. For if its salvation is worth so much that the Son of God became man and suffered so much, consider what punishment its loss will bring. If the man through whom someone perishes deserves to die in the present life, much more there. Do not tell me, “The presbyter sinned,” or “the deacon”: the blame for all these falls on the head of those who ordained them. Again, let me tell another thing. It happens that someone inherits a clergy of bad men; he is at a loss what to decide about sins committed before. For there are two precipices: he must neither let the man go nor scandalize the others. Must he then cut him off first? But there is no pretext at hand. Then let him be? “Yes,” someone says, “for the blame belongs to the one who ordained him.” What then? Must he not ordain him nor promote him to another rank? But then it will be plain to all that he is a bad man. So again he has scandalized in another way. Then promote him to a higher rank? This is much worse …

So if anyone ran after the episcopate as a charge of protecting others, no one would accept it quickly. But as it is, we pursue this office just as we pursue the offices outside. For so that we may be glorified, so that we may be honored among men, we are lost with God. What is the gain of the honor? How plainly it has been shown to be nothing! When you desire the priesthood, set against it hell, set against it the account to be rendered there, set against it the life free from public business, set against it the measure of punishment: that if you sin on your own account, you will suffer nothing of the kind; but if you sin as a priest, you are lost. Consider how much Moses endured, how much philosophy he showed, how many good deeds he displayed; and because he sinned one sin only, he was bitterly punished, and rightly. For this sin was committed with harm to the others; so that he was punished more bitterly, not because it became public, but also because he was a priest. For we do not pay the same penalty for sins committed openly and for those committed in secret. The sin is the same, but the harm is not the same; or rather not even the sin, for it is not the same thing to sin unnoticed and in hiding and to sin openly. But a bishop cannot sin in secret. It is well enough if he escapes accusations when he does not sin, let alone when he does. If he is angry, if he laughs, if he so much as dreams of relaxation, many are those who mock, many who are scandalized, many who lay down the law, many who remember the former bishops and run down the present one; and they do this not because they want to praise those … “War is sweet to those who have not tried it,” the saying goes. This is fitting to say now too; or rather, we say it before we enter the contest; but after we have entered, we are not even noticed by most. For we have no war now against those who oppress the poor, nor do we bear to fight in defense of the flock … Who shows such care for the flocks of Christ as Jacob showed for the flocks of Laban? Who can count the frosts of the night? Do not speak to me of the night vigils and all that service. Everything is the very opposite. Prefects and governors do not enjoy as much honor as the ruler of the church. If he enters the palace, who is first? If he is among women, or in the houses of the great, no one is honored before him. Everything is lost and corrupted. I do not say this wishing to put you to shame, but to check your desire. For with what conscience, if you become a bishop by canvassing, either yourself or through another, with what eyes will you look at the man who helped you? What defense will you have? For the man who was unwilling and forced, and did not want it, might have some defense, even if he too is wholly deprived of pardon; yet he has some defense on this account. Consider what Simon suffered. What does it matter if you do not give money, but instead of money you flatter, and contrive much, and scheme? “May your silver perish with you.” He said this to that man, and he will say it to these: “May your zeal perish with you, because you thought to acquire the gift of God by human canvassing.” But is there no one such? God forbid there should be. For I do not want anything that is said to apply to you; but now the sequence of the reading has led us into these words. For when we speak against greed, too, we are not speaking to you, nor even to any one person. May the medicines we prepare be prepared in vain! The prayers of physicians are of this kind: they ask nothing else than that, after much labor, the medicines may simply be thrown away. This is what we too pray: that our words may simply be spoken into the air, so that they are words only. I am ready to endure anything so as not to come into need of saying these things. If you wish, we will even be silent; only let the silence be without danger. For I do not think that anyone, however vainglorious, would wish to [speak so] when no need calls for it; for that teaching which is by deeds is the greater. Since even the best physicians, though the disease of the sick brings them their fees, would wish their friends to be in health. And we wish all to be in health. For we do not wish that we should be approved and you unapproved. I wish I could display to your very sight the love I have for you; then no one would blame me for anything, even if my word were very harsh. For what is said by friends, even if it is an insult, is bearable: “More trustworthy are the wounds of a friend than the willing kisses of an enemy.” Nothing is dearer to me than you, not even this light. For I would pray ten thousand times to be blinded myself, if by this I could turn your souls; so much sweeter to me than light itself is your salvation. For what profit are the sun's rays to me, when despondency on your account pours thick darkness over my eyes? For light is beautiful when it shines amid gladness; to a grieving soul it even seems a nuisance. That I am not lying—may you never come to know it by experience! But if it should ever happen that any of you sins, stand by me when I am asleep: may I perish if I am not like the paralyzed, like those out of their senses, and, as the prophetic word says, “And the light of my eyes, it also is not with me.” For what hope have I, if you do not advance? What despondency, if you do well? I seem to have wings when I hear something good about you. “Fill up my joy.” This alone I have brought to my prayer: that I desire your progress. What I contend for with all is this: that I love you, that I am bound up with you, that you are everything to me, father and mother and brothers and children. Do not then think that anything we say is said in hostility, but for your correction. “For a brother helped by a brother,” it says, “is like a strong city.” Do not then disdain it; for neither do I despise a word from you, but I would wish to be corrected by you, I would wish to learn. For we are all brothers, and one is our teacher. Yet among brothers too it happens that one commands and the others obey. Do not then disdain it, but let us do all things to the glory of God; for to him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lemma] “And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all with one mind in the same place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound.”

What is this Pentecost? The time when the sickle had to be put to the harvest, when the fruits had to be gathered in. Do you see the type? See again the reality. When the sickle of the word had to be put in, when the harvest had to be gathered, then the Spirit flies down like a sharpened sickle. For hear Christ saying, “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are already white for harvest”; and again, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” So he himself first put in the sickle. For he himself carried up to heaven the firstfruits, having taken what is ours. That is why he calls this a harvest. “When the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled,” it says; that is, not before Pentecost, but at Pentecost itself, so to speak. For these things had to happen again at a feast, so that those who had been present at Christ's cross might also see these. “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound.” Why did this not happen without signs that the senses could perceive? Because if, even when this happened, they said, “They are filled with new wine,” what would they not have said if it had not happened? And the sound did not simply occur, but “from heaven.” And the suddenness too roused them. “And it filled the whole house.” He means the great force of the Spirit. See: it gathered all there, so that those present also believe and are shown worthy of these things. And not this only, but what is much more awesome than this: “tongues as of fire,” it says. The “as” is always well added, so that you may not think anything sensible about the Spirit. “As of fire,” it says, and “as of a wind.” So it was not simply a wind in the air. For when the Spirit had to be made known to John, he came upon the head of Christ as in the form of a dove; but now, when a whole multitude had to be converted, as of fire. “And it sat upon each one of them”; that is, it remained and rested on them; for sitting signifies firmness and remaining. Did it then come upon the twelve only, and not upon the rest as well? By no means; but upon the hundred and twenty too. For Peter would not have brought forward the testimony of the prophet idly, saying, “And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” And consider: so that it might not only amaze them but also fill them with grace, it was therefore “in the Holy Spirit and fire.” For he adds, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter.” They receive no other sign, but this one first; for it was strange, and there was no need of another sign. “It sat,” he says, “upon each one of them.” So also upon the one left out; that is why he no longer grieves at not having been chosen like Matthias. “And they were all filled,” it says. They did not simply receive the grace of the Spirit, but were filled. “And they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter.” He would not have said “all,” since the apostles were there, unless the others too had shared in it. Besides, having named them separately and by name above, he would not now have joined them together with the rest in the same matter. For if, where it was only to say that they were present, he mentions the apostles separately, [much more would he have done so here]. Consider, I ask you, how, when they continue in supplication, when they have love, then the Spirit comes. And he reminded them of another vision too, saying “as of fire”; for in the bush too he appeared as fire. “As the Spirit gave them to utter.” For what they said were inspired utterances. “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem,” it says; this was a sign of piety. How so? Being from so many nations, and having left their countries, households and kinsmen, they dwelt there. “For there were dwelling in Jerusalem,” it says, “Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and was confounded.” Since what happened took place in a house, they naturally ran together from outside. “The multitude was confounded.” What is “the multitude was confounded”? It was troubled, it marveled. Then, to show that they marveled, he adds, “because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” “And the multitude came together, and they said to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?’” They looked at once to the apostles. “And how,” it says, “do we hear, each of us, in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.” “And they were all amazed, [and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does] this [mean?’]” Do you see them running from east to west? “But others, mocking, said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’”

Oh, the folly! Oh, the great malice! And yet it was not even the season for new wine, for it was Pentecost. And what is worse, when all were confessing, Romans, proselytes, perhaps even those who had crucified him, these men after so many signs say, “They are filled with new wine.”

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “It filled,” it says, “the house.” The wind became like a pool of water. This was a proof of the abundance, as the fire was of the vehemence. Nothing of the kind ever happened with the prophets; it was so then for these men, but otherwise for the prophets. For a roll of a book is given to Ezekiel, and he eats what he was going to say: “For it became,” it says, “in his mouth as sweet honey.” And again the hand of God touches the tongue of another prophet. But here it is the Holy Spirit himself: so equal in honor is he to the Father and the Son. And again elsewhere it is otherwise: “Lamentation, and a song, and woe.” To those men it fittingly came in a book, for they still needed examples; they had to do with one nation only, and with their own people; but these with the whole world, and with people they had never known. Elisha receives the grace through a mantle, another through oil, as David did, and Moses is called through the fire of the bush. But here it is not so: the fire itself sat upon them. And why did the fire not appear filling the house? Because they would have been terrified. But he shows that this is the same as that. For [do not stop at] his saying, “There appeared to them [tongues as] of fire.” Such a fire can kindle countless fuel. And he did well to say “divided”: for they were from one root, so that you may learn that it is an operation sent from the Paraclete. See too how those men were first shown worthy, and then counted worthy of the Spirit; as, for example, David: what he did among the flocks, the same he did after his victory and trophy, so that his faith might be shown bare. See again Moses himself despising the royal palace, and after forty years taking up the leadership of the people; Samuel brought up in the temple; Elisha leaving everything; Ezekiel again. That it happened so is clear from what followed too; for these men too left all that was theirs. That is why they receive the Spirit then, when they had displayed their own virtue. They learned also human weakness through what they suffered; they learned that it was not in vain that they had done these right things. So Saul too was first attested to be good, and then received the Spirit. But no one [received it] in this way. … Moses was greater than the prophets. For when others had to become spiritual, he himself was diminished. But here it is not so; but just as with fire one may light as many lamps as one wishes without diminishing the fire, so it happened with the apostles then. For through the fire not only was the abundance of the grace shown, but each received a spring of the Spirit, just as he himself said that those who believe in him would have a spring of water welling up to eternal life; and very fittingly. For not with Pharaoh [were they going to contend] … And what is more wonderful, when they were sent they made no objection, nor did they say that they were weak in voice and slow of tongue, for Moses had taught them better; they did not say that they were too young, for Jeremiah had brought them to their senses. And yet they heard many fearful things, much greater than those men did; but even so they were afraid to object. From this it is clear that they were angels of light and ministers of the things above. And to those men no one appears from heaven … they still pursue the things on earth; but since a man went up on high, the Spirit too is borne from on high: “as of a violent wind rushing,” it says. By this he makes plain that nothing will be able to withstand them, but they will winnow their opponents like dust. “And it filled the whole house.” The house was a symbol of the world. “And it sat upon each one of them. And the multitude came together and was confounded.” Do you see the piety of these men, and how they do not at once pronounce a verdict, but are in perplexity? But those ungrateful men pronounce one, saying, “They are filled with new wine.” Since the law permitted them to appear in the temple three times a year, therefore devout men from all the nations lived there. See here how the writer does not flatter them. For he did not say that they pronounced a verdict, but what? “And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and was confounded.” Naturally; for they thought that the matter would come to an end for them because of the outrage committed against Christ. Besides, their conscience too shook their souls, since the slaughter was still fresh on their hands, and everything frightened them. “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?” He said this well; for this was acknowledged. The sound so frightened them that the greater part of the world gathered there. And this put strength into the apostles themselves, that they did not know how to speak Parthian, but then learned it from them. And he mentions nations hostile to them, Cretans, Arabs, Egyptians, Persians, showing that … Since the Jews had been in captivity, it was likely that many of the nations were present with them at that time; or else the doctrines had already been sown among the nations too, and for this reason many of them were there in memory of what they had heard. So from every side the testimony is undeniable: from citizens, from strangers, from proselytes. “We hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.” For they were not simply speaking, but saying wonderful things. Naturally, then, they were perplexed; for nothing of the kind had ever happened. See the fairness of the men: “They were amazed and perplexed, saying, ‘What does this mean?’ But others, mocking, said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” Oh, the shamelessness! … and that is why they mocked. And what wonder? When they said that the Master himself, while driving out demons, had a demon. For where there is impudence, it seeks one thing only, to say something, anything; not how to say something reasonable, but how to say anything whatever. “They are filled with new wine.” Indeed! Because men in such dangers, trembling for their very lives, in such dejection, dare to utter such things! And see: since this was unconvincing, misleading the hearers and making out that they were drunk, they put it all down to the quality of the wine. “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and declared to them.” You see there his care, here his courage. For if they marveled, if they were astonished, was it not wonderful even so that an unlettered and ordinary man could raise his voice in the midst of so many? For if a man speaking among his own people is troubled, much more before enemies and men thirsting for blood. That they were not drunk he showed at once by his voice: that they were not out of their senses like soothsayers, that they were not held by compulsion. And what is “with the eleven”? They put forward a common voice, and he was the mouth of all. The eleven stood by bearing witness to what was said. “He lifted up his voice,” it says; that is, he spoke with great boldness. And he does this so that they may learn the grace of the Spirit. For the man who could not bear the question of a mean servant girl, this man, in the midst of crowds all thirsting for blood, speaks with such boldness that this became an undeniable proof of the resurrection; for he speaks boldly among men who laugh and mock at such things. How great a shamelessness do you think it is to reckon the marvel of the tongues the work of drunkenness? But none of this grieved the apostles, nor made them less daring when they heard the mockery. For by the presence of the Spirit they had already been transformed, and were above all bodily things. Wherever the Holy Spirit comes, he makes men of gold out of men of clay. See then Peter, and examine him: the timid one, the one without understanding, as Christ says, “Are you also still without understanding?”; the one who after that wonderful confession was called Satan. And consider also the concord of the apostles: they yield the speaking to him, for not all had to speak. “And he lifted up his voice,” it says, “and declared to them” with great boldness. Such a thing it is to be a spiritual man. Only let us too make ourselves worthy of the grace from above, and everything will be easy. For just as a man of fire who fell into the midst of straw would suffer no harm, but would rather do harm (for he suffers nothing himself, but those who fight with him destroy themselves), so it happened now too. Or rather, it was as if someone holding straw were to box with a man carrying fire: so these men attacked them with great courage. For what harm did so great a multitude do them? Tell me, were they not fighting against poverty and hunger? Against dishonor and ill repute (for they were thought to be deceivers)? Were they not exposed to the laughter and mockery of those present? For both fell upon them: some laughed at them, others mocked … with iron and with wild beasts? Did not a countless war surround them on every side? Were they not disposed as men who saw these terrors in a dream or in a picture? What then? Did they not exhaust their opponents' rage? Did they not turn the perplexity back on them? Were not those men, above all, gripped by rage and fear? Were they not in anguish, afraid and trembling? Hear them saying, “You intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” And the wonder is that with bare bodies they stood in battle against armed men, against rulers who had authority over them; inexperienced, without eloquence, very ordinary men, they stood their ground and fought against sorcerers, against deceivers, against a crowd of sophists, rhetoricians and philosophers grown mouldy in the Academy and the Peripatos. And the man who had been busy about lakes so mastered them as if his contest were with speechless fish; for like a fisherman of fish more dumb than these, so he overcame them. And Plato, after much idle talk, is silent; but this man speaks, not only among his own people, but among Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and in India, and everywhere on earth, and to the ends of the world. Where now is the pride of Greece? Where is the name of Athens? Where is the nonsense of the philosophers? The man from Galilee, the man from … Are you not ashamed, tell me, at the name of the country of the man who conquered you? And if you hear his name too, and that he was called Cephas, you will hide your faces much more. For this is what has destroyed you: that you think this a disgrace, and think eloquence a matter for praise and lack of eloquence a disgrace. You did not come by the road you should have come, but leaving the royal road, easy and smooth, you walked the rough, steep and hard one. That is why you did not reach the kingdom of heaven.

“Why then,” someone says, “did Christ not work upon Plato, nor upon Pythagoras?” Because Peter's soul was much more philosophical than those souls. For they were truly children, turned about everywhere by vainglory; but this man was a philosopher, and receptive of grace. If you laugh on hearing this, it is no wonder; for those men too laughed then and said that the apostles were filled with new wine. But afterward, when they had suffered those bitter things, harsher than any, when they saw their city in ruins, and the fire kindled, and the walls thrown to the ground, and those manifold frenzies which no one can describe in words, they laughed no longer. So you too will not laugh then, when the time of judgment comes, when the fire of hell is kindled. But why do I speak of things to come? Shall I show you who Peter is and who Plato is? Let us examine their characters for the present, if you like, and see what each of them undertook. The one spent his whole time turning about doctrines that were useless and superfluous. For what profit is there in learning that the soul of the philosopher becomes a fly? A fly indeed! Not that it changed into a fly, but a fly came to settle on the soul that dwelt in Plato. What idle talk is this not? Where did he get the idea of talking such nonsense? The man was full of irony and disposed jealously toward everyone. As though he were striving to bring in nothing useful either of his own or from anyone else, he took the transmigration of souls from another, and from himself he brought in the Republic, in which he legislated things full of great shamefulness. “Let the women be common,” he says, “and let the virgins wrestle naked before the eyes of their lovers, and let there be common fathers, and let the children born be common.” What folly do these things not surpass? But such are his teachings. Here, however, it is not nature that makes common fathers, but the philosophy of Peter; whereas that system even abolished fatherhood. For it did nothing else than make the real father all but unknown and bring in one who is not the father. It cast the soul into a kind of drunkenness and filth. “Let all,” he says, “use the women without fear.” That is why I do not examine the doctrines of the poets, so that no one may say that I am examining myths; and yet I am speaking of other myths, much more ridiculous than those. Where did the poets ever invent such a monstrosity? But the chief of the philosophers, as he was thought to be, even puts arms on women, and helmets and greaves, and says that the human race differs in nothing from dogs. “For since the female dog,” he says, “and the male share in the work, let the women share too”; and let everything be turned upside down. For the devil has always been eager through them to show that our race is no more honorable than the irrational animals; so much so that some came to such a pitch of vainglory as to say that the irrational animals too are rational. And see how variously he raved in their souls. Their leaders said that our soul passes into flies and dogs and irrational animals; those after them, ashamed of this, fell into another shame, granting all rational knowledge to the irrational animals and everywhere making out that the creatures made for our sake are more honorable than we. And not only this, but they say that there is foreknowledge and piety among them. “The raven,” they say, “knows God, and so does the crow; and they have gifts of prophecy and foretell the future; and there is justice among them, and a polity, and laws; and among them the dog is jealous,” according to Plato. Perhaps you do not believe what is said; naturally, since you have been brought up on sound doctrines; for if someone were brought up on this food, he would not believe that there is a man who enjoys eating dung. So when we tell them that these are myths and full of folly, “You have not grasped the meaning,” they say. May we never grasp such great laughingstocks of yours! Of course; for no deep mind is needed for us to learn what such great impiety and confusion means. Are you not talking the language of crows, you fools, like children at play? For you are truly children, just like them. But Peter said nothing of the kind; he uttered a voice which, shining out like a great light in darkness, scattered the mist that lay over the world. And his character: how gentle it was, how reasonable, how he stood above all vainglory, how he looked to heaven without conceit, and that while raising the dead! If it had been in the power of one of those fools to do some such thing, even in appearance, would he not at once have sought an altar and a temple, and wished to be thought equal to the gods? When even without any of these things they are forever indulging such fancies. For what do they mean by their Athena, Apollo and Hera? These are kinds of demons among them. And there is a king among them who thought fit to die for this very reason, so that he might be thought equal to the gods. But these men were not so, but the very opposite. Hear them saying at the healing of the lame man, “Men of Israel, why do you look at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” And elsewhere, “We too are men of like nature with you.” But there, great is the conceit, great the boastfulness; everything is for the sake of honors from men, nothing for the sake of philosophy. For when anything is done for glory, everything remains worthless. For even if one has everything but does not master this, he has fallen from all philosophy, through the most tyrannical and shameful passion. Contempt of glory is enough to teach every good thing and to banish from the soul every destructive passion. That is why I exhort you too to make great efforts to pluck this passion out by the roots; for there is no other way to be approved before God and to draw to oneself the favor of that sleepless eye. Let us, then, make every effort to enjoy the help that comes from there, so that we may escape the experience of present sorrows and be counted worthy of the good things to come, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lemma] “Jewish men, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”

Those whom he called strangers above, to them he here directs his speech; and he seems to be addressing them, but he is setting right those who mocked. For it was so arranged that some mocked, so that he might take a starting point for his defense, and in defending himself might teach. So they thought it a great praise to dwell in Jerusalem. “Let this be known to you,” he says, “and give ear to my words.” For the time being he makes them more attentive. Then he also makes his defense: “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose.” Do you see how gentle the defense is? Though he had the greater part of the people with him, he nevertheless speaks to them with restraint; and first he removes the wicked suspicion, and then establishes the other point. That is why he did not say, “not as you mock,” nor, “as you laugh,” but, “as you suppose,” wishing to show that they were not saying it on purpose, and for the time to attach to them a charge of ignorance rather than of malice. “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose; for it is the third hour of the day.” And what does he mean by this? Is it not possible to be drunk at the third hour too? It is; but he does not dwell long on this; for they were not in the state that those who mocked them said. So we learn from this that one should not spend many words on matters that are not necessary. Besides, what follows also establishes this; and from now on the speech is addressed to all in common. “But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord God.’” Nowhere yet is there the name of Christ, nor the promise as his promise, but as the Father's. See his prudence. He did not come forward and at once tell what concerned Christ, that he had promised these things after being crucified; for then he would have upset everything by saying so. “And yet,” someone says, “these things were enough to show his Godhead.” Yes, if they were believed (and what was sought for the time being was that they be believed); but if they were not believed, they would even have caused them to be stoned. “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.” He gives them too good hopes, if they were willing. And he does not allow the advantage to belong to the apostles alone, a thing which was also causing envy; and in this way he cuts off the jealousy. “And your sons,” it says, “shall prophesy.” “This is neither your achievement,” he says, “nor indeed your praise; the grace has passed to your children,” calling the apostles their sons, and those men fathers. “And your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and even upon my menservants and upon my maidservants in those days I will pour out of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” For the time being he shows that the apostles had won approval, since they had been counted worthy of the Spirit, but those men had not, since they had crucified him. So too Christ, wishing to soften their anger, said, “By whom do your sons cast out the demons?” He did not say, “my disciples,” for it would have seemed like flattery. So too Peter did not say, “They are not drunk,” but, “They speak by the Spirit”; and not simply so, but he took refuge in the prophet, and sheltering under him he makes his stand. So he freed them from the charge himself, but brings in the prophet as witness of the grace. “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.” He spoke thus because the grace was poured out on some through dreams, and on others openly. For the prophets too saw through dreams and received revelations. Then he goes on to the part of the prophecy that also has something fearful in it: “And I will give,” it says, “wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below.” In saying these things he hints both at the judgment to come and at the capture of Jerusalem: “blood and fire and vapor of smoke.” See how he described the capture. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” He said this from the state of mind of those who suffer. Yet it is said that many such things also happened in the sky, as Josephus testifies. At the same time he also struck them, reminding them of the darkness that had happened, and making them expect what was to come. “Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.” “Do not be confident,” he says, “because you now sin unpunished. These things are the preludes of a great and terrible day.” Do you see how he shook their soul and stirred it, and turned their laughter into defense? For if these are preludes of that day, the danger must hang over their very lives. What then? Does he dwell on saying fearful things? Not at all. But what? He gives them breath again, and says, “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This is said about Christ, as Paul says; but Peter does not dare to reveal it plainly.

Let us, then, look at what was said from the beginning. He rightly sets about it as addressing men who were laughing and mocking: “Let this be known to all of you, and give ear to my words.” And at the beginning he said, “Jewish men.” By “Jews” he seems to me to mean those who live in Judea. And if you like, let us set beside these words those in the Gospel, so that you may learn what a man Peter had suddenly become. “There came,” it says, “a servant girl, saying, ‘You too were with Jesus the Nazarene.’ And he answered, ‘I do not know the man.’ And …”

But see here his boldness and his great freedom of speech. He did not praise those who said, “We hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God,” but … wishing by his severity toward the mockers to make these too more earnest, and to show that his speech was free of flattery. For it is good to observe this everywhere: how, in the course of condescension, the speech is free of all flattery and all insolence, which is a hard thing. And that these things happened at the third hour was not arranged idly. For it is when the full brightness of the light is shown, when men are not yet busy with breakfast, when the day is bright, when all are in the marketplace. Do you see that the speech is full of freedom too? “And give ear to my words.” Having said this, he added nothing, but went on, “This is what was spoken through the prophet: ‘And it shall be in the last days.’” For he shows that the consummation is now near. So “in the last days” has a certain emphasis. Then, so that he might not seem to confine the matter to the sons only, he adds, “And your old men shall dream dreams.” … First the sons; as David too says, “Instead of your fathers your sons were born”; and Malachi again, “turning the hearts of fathers to the children.” “And upon my menservants and upon my maidservants.” This too is a proof of virtue; for we have become his servants, having been freed from sin. And great is the gift too, when the grace passes over to the other sex as well, and is not confined to one or two as in ancient times, such as Deborah and Huldah. And he did not say, “It is the Holy Spirit,” nor did he interpret the prophet's words; but he brought in the prophecy alone, contending on its own behalf. And he says nothing about Judas for the time, since it was plain to all what penalty he had paid; he keeps silent, knowing that there was nothing stronger than to reason with them from prophecy: this is stronger even than the facts themselves. For when Christ worked signs, they often spoke against him; but when Christ brought before them the prophet saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,” they were so silenced that no one could answer him a word any more. And he himself often refers to the Scriptures, saying, “If he called them gods to whom the word of God came.” Or rather, one could find this everywhere. That is why here too he says, “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh,” that is, the Gentiles. But he does not yet reveal this, nor hint at it; for it was not expedient, since this too was obscure. “I will give wonders in the heaven above.” For it frightened them the more by being obscure. If he had interpreted it, they would rather have recoiled from him. Then too he passes it over as if it were plain, wishing to give that impression. At any rate he interprets it for them afterward, when he discourses about the resurrection, when he had prepared the way by his speech. That is why he passes it by on purpose, since the good things were not enough to draw them [he adds the wonders] … And yet this never happened [before]. For no one escaped then; but now the believers escaped under Vespasian. And this is what he says: “If those days had not been shortened, no flesh would have been saved.” The harsher thing happened first; for first it befell those who dwelt there to be captured, and then … Then he dwells on the metaphor, bringing the destruction and capture near to the hearers' sight: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” What is it for the moon to be turned into blood? He seems to me by this to speak of the excess of slaughter, and to fill his speech on purpose with much perplexity. “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “Everyone,” he says, even if he is a priest (but he does not yet reveal this), whether he is a slave, he says, or free. For “in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female, neither slave nor free.” Rightly so; for these distinctions belong here, where everything is a shadow … For in palaces no one is well born or low born, but each is seen for what he is from his deeds; and in a craft each is shown from his work; much more in that state. “Everyone who calls on.” “Calls on,” not simply (for “not everyone,” he says, “who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’”), but with the right disposition, with the best life, with fitting boldness. For the time he makes his speech inoffensive, bringing in what concerns faith and not hiding what is fearful about punishment. How? By showing that salvation is in calling on him.

What are you saying? Tell me: do you speak of salvation after the cross? Bear with me a little; for great is the loving-kindness [of God. And this, no less than the resurrection,] shows him to be God, and [no less than] the signs: that he calls these men to himself. For to be exceedingly good is above all God's own. That is why he also says, “No one is good except one, God.” But let us not take his goodness as an occasion for indolence; for he also punishes, as God. At any rate it was he himself who brought these very things about, he who said, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” I mean what befell Jerusalem, that unbearable punishment, of which I wish to tell you a few things that are useful to us against the Marcionites and many other heretics. For since they say that Christ is a good God and that other one evil, let us see who did these things. Who, then, brought them about? The evil one, avenging Christ? By no means. How then is he alien to him? Or the good one? But both the Father and the Son are shown to have done it: the Father in many places, as when he says in the parable of the vineyard that he sends his armies; and the Son, when he says, “But bring here those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, and slaughter them before me.” Besides, he himself speaks of the tribulations to come, than which nothing more savage was ever done, and he himself declared them. Do you want, then, to hear what happened? They pierced them through with spits. What could one see more grievous than this? Shall I tell you of the woman's suffering, that tragedy which eclipsed every calamity? Or of the famines and the plagues? I pass over things harsher than these. Among them nature was disregarded, law was disregarded; they outdid wild beasts. All these things happened through the necessities of war, but with God and Christ willing it. These things will serve against the Marcionites and against those who disbelieve in hell; for they are enough to stop the mouths of their shamelessness. Are not these things worse than the evils in Babylon? Are not these far more grievous than those famines? Christ himself declared this about them, saying, “There will be tribulation such as has not been, nor ever will be.” How then do some say that Christ let them off their sin? Perhaps the question seems commonplace; but you are able to solve it. No one anywhere can show a fiction like what happened in reality. And if the man who wrote these things had been a Christian, his account might have been suspect; but if he was a Jew, and a zealous Jew, who came after the Gospel, how are the events not plain to all? For you will see him everywhere extolling things Jewish. So there is a hell, and God is good.

Did you shudder on hearing this? But these things that happen here are nothing compared with those there. Again I am forced to seem unpleasant and burdensome and severe; but what can I do? This is the post I am set in. Just as a strict tutor is set in this post, to be hated by those he tutors, so are we too. For is it not absurd that those appointed by kings to some post do what is commanded even if it is unpleasant, but that we, because of your blame, should fall short in the post to which we were appointed? One man has one work, another another; many of you have the work of showing mercy, of kindness, of being pleasant and gentle to those you benefit. But we appear severe and harsh, burdensome and unpleasant to those we benefit; for we help not by what delights but by what stings. Such too is the physician. But he is not very unpleasant, for he at once provides the benefit of his art; but we provide it in the future. Such too is the judge, painful to those who are sick and quarrelsome; such is the lawgiver, painful to those for whom he legislates. But not the man who invites to luxury, nor the one who gives public festivals and assemblies, nor the one who crowns the people; these are agreeable, feasting the cities with all kinds of shows, contributing, spending. That is why those who have been well treated repay them with acclamations, hangings, a multitude of torches, garlands and branches and splendid clothing. But if the sick see the physician, they become gloomy and downcast; if litigants see the judge, likewise they shrink; they do not relax nor dance, except when he too changes over to that other role. Let us see, then, who benefit the cities most: those who conduct these festivals and banquets, and costly tables, and various delights; or those who put a stop to all that, and bring in the rod and the whip and … full of great trembling, and give charges to those in the marketplace. Let us see, then, where the gain ends. These are unpleasant, those are longed for. What then comes from those who give delight? A cold pleasure lasting till evening and gone the next day, disorderly laughter, unseemly and dissolute words. And what from these? Fear, self-control, a restrained mind, gentleness of soul, the removal of indolence, a bridle on the passions within, a wall against those that attack from without. Because of these we each keep our property, but because of those festivals [we lose it; not through robbers], but through vainglory that robs us while it pleases. Each one sees the robber carrying everything off, and is delighted. New is this way of robbery: it has persuaded …

But there is nothing of the kind there; but God, as a common Father, has walled off everything, both what is seen and what is not seen. “See,” he says, “that you do not do your almsgiving before men.” From this the soul learns to flee injustice. For injustice is not only grasping money, but also giving the belly more than the appointed food, and carrying gladness beyond its proper measure and making it run riot. From the one it learns self-control, from the other licentiousness. For licentiousness is not only to have intercourse with a woman, but also to look with licentious eyes. From the one it learns reasonableness, from the other conceit. “All things are lawful for me,” he says, “but not all things are profitable.” From the one decorum, from the other indecency. For I pass over what happens in the theaters. And that there is not even any pleasure in it, but grief: show me, one day after the festival, both those who spent and those who were feasted with shows, and you will see them all downcast, and the man who spent in greater dejection. And rightly; for the day before he delighted the private citizen; and the private citizen was in good spirits and great pleasure, for the time he rejoiced in his splendid clothing; but not having the use of it, and seeing himself stripped of it, he was grieved and stung. But the man who spent thought his own good fortune small compared with the other's. That is why on the next day they exchange places, and that man receives the greater share of the dejection. If, in the affairs outside, things that delight bring such unpleasantness and things that are bitter bring benefit, much more in spiritual matters. That is why no one is indignant at the laws; all regard the matter as a common benefit. For it was not strangers and enemies of those governed who came from elsewhere and ordained these things, but the citizens themselves, the patrons, the guardians; and they think the making of laws a proof of care for their safety and of good will. And yet the laws are full of punishment, and one cannot find a law without punishment. How then is it not absurd that men call those who expound those laws saviors and benefactors and patrons, but think us severe and harsh if we speak of the laws of God? For when we discourse about hell, we are putting those laws into action; and just as those outside put in motion all laws of that kind, so do we the laws that punish, which no man laid down, but the only-begotten Son of God himself. “Let the unmerciful man be punished,” he says (for this is what the parable means); “let the one who bears malice pay the utmost penalty; let the one who is angry without cause be thrown into the fire; let the reviler pay the penalty in hell.” If you think you are hearing strange laws, do not be disturbed. For if he was not going to lay down new laws, why did Christ come at all? Those other things are plain to us, that the murderer and the adulterer must be punished. If, then, we were going to hear the same things, what need was there of a heavenly teacher? That is why he does not say, “Let the adulterer be punished,” but “the one who looks with licentious eyes.” And where and when he will pay the penalty, he adds. And he did not set his laws on wooden tablets and pillars, as Solon's were, nor set up bronze steles and engrave letters on them; but setting up for us twelve souls, those of the apostles, he wrote these letters in their minds through the Spirit. These things we rightly read out to you. For if this was right for the Jews, so that no one could take refuge in ignorance, much more for us. And if anyone says, “I do not even hear, and so I am not under judgment,” he will be punished most of all for this. For if there were no one teaching, one could take refuge in this; but if there is, no longer. See at any rate how he deprives the Jews of pardon, saying, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin”; and again, “Their voice has gone out into all the earth.” For there is pardon when there is no one speaking; but when the watchman is sitting at his post and has this as his work, there is no longer pardon. Or rather, Christ did not want us only to look at those steles, but to be steles ourselves. But since we have made ourselves unworthy of these letters, let us at least look at those. For just as steles threaten others but are not themselves liable, as neither are the laws, so too with the blessed apostles. And see: this stele does not stand in one place, but the letters are carried about everywhere. Whether you go to the Indians, you will hear them; whether to Spain, or to the very ends of the earth, no one fails to hear them, except through his own indolence. Do not then be vexed, but attend to what is said, so that you may be able to lay hold of the works of virtue and obtain the eternal good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

… The word is not flattery; but since he had touched them severely, he now relaxes them, and fittingly reminds them of David. And again he begins with a preface, so that they may not be disturbed, since he was about to remind them of Jesus. Above, they would not have been disturbed at hearing of the prophet, but the name of Jesus would at once have offended them. And he did not say, “Be persuaded,” but, “Hear,” which gave no offense. And see how he says nothing lofty, but begins from very lowly things. “Jesus,” he says, “the Nazarene.” At once he names his home town, which was thought to be of no account. And for the time he says nothing great about him, not even what one would say about a prophet: “Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested by God to you.” See what a great thing this was, to say that he was sent from God. For this is what he himself, and John, and the apostles were eager to show at every turn. Hear John saying, “He said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is he.’” And Christ himself does this to the utmost, saying, “I did not come of myself; he sent me.” And everywhere in the Scriptures this above all is what is pressed. That is why this holy man too, the leader of the blessed band, the lover of Christ, the ardent disciple, who was entrusted with the keys of heaven, who received the spiritual revelation, having first humbled them with fear, and shown that the apostles had been counted worthy of great things, and made them credible, then speaks about him. Oh, what he dared to say among the murderers: that he rose! And he does not say at once that he rose, but that he came from God to you. And this is plain from what he did. He no longer says that he himself did these things, but that God did them through him, so as to draw them on the more by his moderation; and to this end he calls them as witnesses, saying, “a man attested by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.” Then, coming to that accursed deed of theirs, see how he tries to free them from the charge; for even if it had been determined, they were nevertheless murderers. “This man,” he says, “delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you took …”, all but saying the same words as Joseph said to his brothers: “Do not be afraid that you sold me; it was not you, but God who sent me here.” Then, having said that it was the counsel of God, so that they might not say, “Then we did well to do this,” he takes them to task by what he added: “by lawless hands …”; and at the same time he shows them that it was not of their own strength, had not God himself permitted it and given him up. For this is what “delivered up” means. So he turned the whole charge upon the head of Judas who betrayed him; for he betrayed him with the kiss. Either “by lawless hands” refers to him, or he means the soldiers, showing that you did not simply kill him, but did so through lawless men. And observe how everywhere they are eager first to have the passion acknowledged. The matter of the resurrection, since it was great, he veils for the time, and so he sets it in the middle. For those things were acknowledged, such as the cross and the death, but the resurrection not yet; that is why he speaks of it afterwards, adding, “whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Here he hinted at something great and lofty. For “it was not possible” shows that he himself gave himself to be held, and that death itself was in travail while holding him, and suffered terribly. For Scripture everywhere is accustomed to call danger “the pangs of death.” And it shows that he so rose as never to die again. Or by saying, “because it was not possible for him to be held by it,” he makes plain that his resurrection was not one shared with the others. Then, before their mind could think anything, he set David before them, who removes every human reasoning. “For David,” he says, “says concerning him.” And see how lowly the testimony is again; and for this reason he took it from above, from the lowlier things, to show that death was not among things to be grieved over. “I saw the Lord always before me,” it says, “for he is at my right hand, so that I may not be shaken … because you will not abandon my soul to Hades.” Then, having completed the prophetic testimony, he used this preface, rousing them and making them his own: “It is permitted,” he says, “to speak to you with boldness about the patriarch David.” Great is his humility: where nothing harmed the cause, he condescends. That is why he did not say that these things were said about Christ and not about David; very prudently, shaming them by the great honor he pays the blessed David, and, in a point that was acknowledged but seemed boldly said, appeasing them by gently praising him. That is why he does not simply say “about David,” but “about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried.” He no longer says, “and did not rise,” but establishes the same thing directly in another way, saying, “and his tomb is with us to this day.” Then, having established what he wished, even so he did not come to Christ, but again with praises of David: “Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath …”

He says these things so that, at least out of honor for David and for their race, they may receive the word about the resurrection, since both the prophecy and the honor paid to them would be harmed if this were not so. “And knowing,” he says, “that God had sworn to him with an oath.” He did not simply say “promised,” but what was more, “had sworn with an oath that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne.” See how he again hinted at the lofty matter. For since he had soothed them by his words, he boldly inserted this from the prophet, and discourses about the resurrection: “that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.” This again is wonderful; for it shows that his resurrection was not like that of the others. For death held him, but did not then do its own work. And he spoke of the sin, veiling it, but did not add the punishment; he made plain that they killed him, and then he comes to the sign given by God. When it is shown that the man who was killed was just, and a friend of God, even if you keep silent about the punishment, the sinner will condemn himself more than you would. So he ascribes everything to the Father, so that they may receive what is said. Then he brings in “it was not possible” from the prophecy.

Let us, then, look again at what was said from the beginning. “Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested by God to you”; that is, not disputed, but attested through his works. So Nicodemus too said, “No one can do these signs that you do.” “By mighty works,” he says, “and wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst.” So it was not done in secret, if it was in your midst. He begins first from things known to them, and then comes to things not plain. Next, by saying, “by the counsel of God,” he shows that it was not they who prevailed, and that what happened was something wise, a dispensation, since it was from God. And he passed quickly over what was burdensome. For their concern everywhere is to show that he died. “Even if you deny it,” he says, “those will bear witness.” He who gave trouble to death, much more to those who crucified him … but he says nothing of the kind, that he could destroy you, but only let it be seen. For the time we too learn from what is said what “to be held” means. For one in travail does not hold what is held, nor act on it, but suffers and hastens to cast it off. And he did well to say, “For David says concerning him,” so that you would not draw the saying to the prophet himself. Do you see how he now interprets the prophecy and lays it bare, showing how he sat on his throne? For the kingdom according to the Spirit is in heaven. See how together with the resurrection he showed the kingdom too, in his rising. He shows that the prophet was under necessity; for the prophecy was about him. Why did he not say, “about his kingdom,” but, “about his resurrection”? This was the great thing. And how did he sit on the throne? By reigning over the Jews. And if over the Jews, much more over those who crucified him. “For his flesh did not see corruption,” it says. This seems to be less than the resurrection, but it is the same. “This Jesus God raised up.” See how he calls him by no other name. “Of which we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God.” Again he takes refuge in the Father, though he could have said the former; but he knows how much this means. Here he hinted also at the ascension, and that he is in the heavens; but even this he does not say openly. “And having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit.” See how at the beginning he did not say that Christ himself had sent it down, but the Father; but when he had mentioned his signs and what had been done to him by the Jews, and had discoursed about the resurrection, then he boldly brings in the word about these things too, again calling them as witnesses through both senses; and he mentions the resurrection constantly, but their outrage once, so as not to weigh them down. “And having received the promise of the Holy Spirit.” This again is great. I think that he here means by the promise the one made before the passion. See how he now makes the whole thing his, unobtrusively making it great. For if he poured it out, the prophet spoke about him above: “In the last days I will pour out of my Spirit upon my menservants and upon my maidservants, and I will give wonders in the heaven above.” See what hidden things he inserts. But since it was great, he veils it again by speaking of receiving it from the Father. He spoke of the good things that had happened, the signs; he said that he is king, a thing that concerned them; he said that he himself gives the Spirit. For whatever one says, if it does not end in what is profitable, one says it in vain. So John too does, saying, “He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” And he shows that the cross not only did not diminish him but made him more glorious, since God had long ago promised it to him, but then gave it. “The promise,” he says, “which he promised us.” So he foretold that it would be, and after the cross he granted us greater things. And “he poured out,” he says. Here he shows the dignity, and that it was not given simply, but with abundance. That is why, to make this very thing plain, he adds what follows. For now, confident after the giving of the Spirit, he discourses also about the ascension into heaven; and not simply, but again bringing forward the witness, and reminding them of the one of whom Christ spoke. “For David did not ascend,” he says, “into the heavens.”

[3] Here he no longer addresses them with reserve, since he has confidence from what has been said, nor does he say, “It is permitted to speak,” or anything of the kind; he says openly, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” “Sit at my right hand”: he has put everything here. “Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Here too he set great fear before them, as at the beginning he showed what he does to friends and what to enemies. And again he ascribes the victory to the Father, so that they might believe. Since he had uttered great things, he brings his speech down again to lowly things: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly” (and now in the tone of command) “that God has made him both Lord and Christ.” He took this from David and from the psalm. For when he should have said, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that he sits at the right hand,” which was the great thing, he left this aside and brings out another thing, much lowlier, saying “made,” that is, “appointed.” So there is nothing here about his being, but he says everything about this: “this Jesus whom you crucified.” He did well to end here, shaking their minds. For once he had shown how great he is, then he laid bare their outrage too, to show it the greater and to seize them with fear. For men are not so much drawn by benefits as brought to their senses by fear. But the wonderful and great and friends of God need none of these things, such as Paul was. For he took no account of the kingdom or of hell. This is to love Christ; this is not to be a hireling, nor to think of it as a trade and a retail business, but to be truly virtuous and to do everything because it is dear to God. How many tears, then, do we deserve, when, though we owe so great a measure, we do not even seek the kingdom of heaven as retailers do? He promises us so much, and even so we do not listen? What could equal this enmity? And yet those who are mad for money, if they find enemies, or slaves, or bitterest foes, even if they are wholly bad, if only they expect that they will be able to get money through them, do everything: they flatter, they court them, they become slaves, and think them all more august than themselves, so as to get something from them; for the hope of money allows them to refuse none of these things. But the kingdom has not had the power that money has, or rather not even the smallest fraction of it; and yet the one who promises it is no ordinary person, but one incomparably greater even than the kingdom itself. When what is promised is a kingdom, and God is the one who gives it, it is a great thing in itself to receive from such a one. But as it is, it is as if a king, wishing to make us heirs, and co-heirs with his son, with countless other benefits besides, were despised; while a robber chief, who has done countless wrongs to us and to our parents, who is full of countless evils, who has destroyed our honor and our glory and our safety, were worshiped by us for showing a single obol. God promises a kingdom and is despised; the devil procures hell and is honored. This one is God, that one the devil. But let us see the difference between their commands. For if none of these things were so—if this one were not God and that one the devil, if this one did not offer a kingdom and that one hell—would not the very nature of the commands be enough to persuade us to side with this one? What, then, does each command? That one, things that bring shame; this one, things that make glorious; that one, things that surround with countless calamities and disgraces; this one, things that bring much ease. See: this one says, “Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”; that one says, “Be savage and fierce, quick-tempered and wrathful, a wild beast rather than a man.” Let us see, then, which is more useful, which more profitable. But not only this; consider that the one is the devil; for if that is shown above all, the victory again will be the greater. For it is not the one who commands easy things who cares for us, but the one who commands what is profitable. Since fathers too give burdensome commands, and masters likewise to slaves; but for this reason the ones are fathers and the others masters, while those others are kidnappers and destroyers, and the very opposite in everything. Yet that it also brings pleasure is clear from this. For in what state do you think the quick-tempered man is, and in what state the patient and meek? Is not the soul of the latter like a wilderness full of quiet, and that of the former like a marketplace in uproar, where there is much shouting of attendants, and of camels and mules and asses, as men cry out loudly to those coming near so as not to be trampled? Is not the soul of such a man like the middle of cities again, where now from this side comes the great noise of the silversmiths, now from that side of the coppersmiths, and some do wrong while others suffer it? But the soul of the other is like a mountain peak, with a light breeze, receiving the sun's pure ray, pouring out clear streams from its springs, and putting forth the many charms of flowers, like spring meadows and gardens, luxuriant with plants and flowers and running with waters; and if any sound arises, it is clear and pours much pleasure on those who hear. For songbirds perch on the leaves at the tops of the trees, and cicadas and nightingales and swallows together make one music; or the west wind gently … the leaves … and often imitates swans; or a meadow puts forth roses and lilies leaning on one another, and shows dark blue flowers. Or rather one could find many images. For when one looks at the roses, he will think he sees the rainbow; when at the violets, the sea in waves; when at the lilies, the sky. And such a man would be delighted not only by the sight, by the eyes, but in his very body. For it refreshes him the more and lets him breathe, so that he thinks himself rather in heaven than on earth.

There is also another sound, when water from the mountain height, borne down of its own accord through the ravines and splashing as it goes, so relaxes our limbs with pleasure as quickly to bring limb-loosening sleep upon our eyes. You heard the description with pleasure; perhaps you have even become lovers of the wilderness. But much sweeter than this wilderness is the soul of the long-suffering man. For it was not to describe a meadow, nor to turn our speech into a display, that we took up this image; but so that, seeing from the description how great is the pleasure of the long-suffering, and that one would gain far more by keeping company with a long-suffering man than by frequenting such places, you might pursue such men. For when not even a violent breath comes from such a soul, but gentle and kindly words, truly picturing that calm of the west wind, and exhortations that have nothing harsh in them, but [imitate the singing birds, how is this not much] better? For the breeze of speech does not fall upon a body, but refreshes souls. No physician, with whatever care, could free a feverish man from his fever as quickly as a long-suffering man, taking someone wrathful and burning with anger, cools him by the breath of his own words. And why do I speak of a physician? Not even red-hot iron dipped in water loses its heat so quickly as a wrathful man who has fallen in with a long-suffering soul. But just as, if singing birds came into the marketplace, they would seem mere nonsense, so too our precepts, when they fall on hot-tempered souls. So gentleness is sweeter than bitterness and rashness. And not only this, but the one the devil commanded, the other God. Do you see that it was not idly that I said that even if there were no devil and no God, the commands themselves were enough to turn us away? For the one man is pleasant to himself and [useful] to others, the other unpleasant to himself and harmful to others. … just as there is nothing sweeter than the man who does not know how to be angry. It is better to live with a wild beast than with such a man. For the beast, once tamed, keeps its own law; but this man, however often you tame him, becomes wild again, once he has settled himself into such a habit. For as a white and bright day and a winter full of deep gloom differ from each other, so do the soul of the angry man and that of the gentle. But let us not yet look at the harm that befalls others, but at that which befalls the angry themselves; although this too is no small harm, to do evil to another; but for the time let us consider this. What executioner can so tear the ribs? What madness could so drive a man out of his natural senses as anger and frenzy? I know many who have brought forth diseases from anger; and the worst fevers are above all these. If they so ruin the body, consider the soul. Do not reason that you do not see it; but consider: if what receives the evil is so harmed, how great a harm will that which gives birth to it suffer? Many have lost their eyes, many have fallen into the gravest disease. But the one who bears nobly will endure all things easily. Yet the devil commands such burdensome things, and sets hell before us as their wages. He is the devil and the enemy of our salvation, and we obey him rather than Christ, who is Savior and benefactor, and who says things that are sweeter and more profitable and more useful, and that benefit both us and those who live with us in the greatest way. Nothing is worse than anger, beloved, nothing worse than untimely wrath; it needs no long delay; the passion is swift. Often a man has thrown out a word in wrath whose cure needs a whole lifetime, and has done something that overturned his whole life. For the grievous thing is this: that in a short time, by one deed, by a single word, it has often cast us out of eternal good things and emptied countless labors. So I exhort you to do everything to bridle this wild beast. So much about gentleness and anger; but if one were to take the other things in hand too, such as greed, contempt of money, licentiousness, self-control, envy, kindness, and compare them, he will see the difference further still. Do you see how from the commands alone the one is shown to be God and the other the devil? Let us obey God, then, and not throw ourselves into pits; but while there is time, let us wash away everything that defiles the soul, so that we may obtain the eternal good things, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lemma] “Now when they heard these words, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘What shall we do, brothers?’”

Do you see how great a good gentleness is? It pierces our hearts more than vehemence does, and gives a sharper wound. For just as with hardened bodies the man who strikes them does not make the sensation sharp, but if one [first softens] them, [he cuts] more sharply, so here too one must first soften and then prick. And it is not anger that softens, nor vehement accusation, nor reproaches, but gentleness; for anger even increases the hardness, but gentleness removes it. [If you want to reprove someone,] approach him with great meekness. See, at any rate, what he does here too: he reminded them gently of their own outrages, and added nothing more; he spoke of God's gift, brought in the grace that bore witness to what had happened, and carried his speech further still. They respected Peter's gentleness, that he spoke in the role of a caring father and teacher to those who had crucified his Master and were thirsting for the apostles' blood. They were not simply persuaded, but condemned themselves; they came to a sense of what they had done. For he did not allow their anger to be roused, and, scattering their indignation like a mist, he so showed them the deed they had dared. For so it is: when we say that we have been wronged, the others try to show that they have done no wrong; when we say that we have not been wronged, but rather have done wrong ourselves, they do the opposite. So if you want to bring the man who wronged you to plead against himself, do not accuse him, but plead on his behalf, and he will accuse himself. For the human race is contentious. This is what Peter did. He did not accuse them vehemently, but even tried, as far as possible, to plead for them gently; that is why he reaches their soul. And how is it clear that they were pierced? From their words. For what do they say? “What shall we do, brothers?” Those they used to call deceivers, they now call brothers; not so much making themselves their equals as drawing them on to affection and care. Besides, since the apostles had counted them worthy of this name, they say, “What shall we do?” They did not say at once, “Then let us repent,” but entrusted themselves to them. Just as someone in a shipwreck or in sickness, seeing the pilot or the physician, yields everything to him and obeys him, so these men too confessed that they were in the last extremity and had no hope of salvation. And see: they did not say, “How shall we be saved?”, but, “What shall we do?” What then does Peter do? Again here, though all were asked, he answers: “Repent,” he says, “and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” And he does not yet say, “Believe,” but, “Let each of you be baptized”; for they received this in baptism. Then he shows also the gain: “for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” If you will receive a gift, if baptism brings forgiveness, why do you delay? Then, making his speech persuasive, he added: “For the promise is to you.” He speaks here of the same promise of which he spoke above. “And to your children,” he says. So the gift is greater, when they also have heirs of the good things. “And to all,” he says, “who are far off.” If to those far off, much more to you who are near. “As many as the Lord our God will call.” See when he says, “to those far off”: when he found them humbled and self-condemned; for when a soul condemns itself, it can no longer envy. “And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying.” See him everywhere cutting his words short, not seeking honor nor making a display. “He testified,” it says, “and exhorted them, saying.” This is complete teaching, with fear in part and love in part. “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” He says nothing about things to come, but about the present, by which men are most drawn; and he shows that the preaching frees from both present and future evils. “So those who gladly received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” How much more do you think this refreshed the apostles than the sign did? “And they were continuing steadfastly with one mind in the apostles' teaching and in fellowship.” Two virtues: perseverance and oneness of mind. He says this to show that the apostles taught them for a long time. “And in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” They did everything in common, he says, everything with steadfastness. “And fear came upon every soul of those who believed, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” Naturally; for they did not despise them as ordinary men, nor did they attend only to what was seen, but their mind was set on fire. Since Peter had from the beginning flowed forth abundantly, and shown them the promises and the things to come, they were naturally beside themselves with fear, and the miracles bore witness to what was said. As then with Christ there were first signs, then teaching, then miracles, so now too. “And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” See at once how great the progress was. For the fellowship was not only in prayers, nor in teaching, but also in their way of life. “And they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as anyone had need.” He said this to show their good management: “as anyone had need.” Not idly, like the philosophers among the Greeks, some of whom gave up their land and others threw much gold into the sea, which was not contempt of money but folly and madness. For the devil has everywhere and always been eager to slander God's creatures, as though it were not possible to use money well. “And day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple.” Here he teaches the manner in which …

And consider how the Jews did nothing else, small or great, but [continued] in the temple; for having become more earnest, they also had greater reverence for the place. For the apostles did not yet draw them away from it, so as not to harm them. “And breaking bread from house to house, they partook of food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.” By “bread” he seems to me to signify here both fasting and their hard life; for they partook of food, not of luxury. Learn from this, beloved, that it is not luxury but nourishment that gives enjoyment, and that those who live in luxury are in grief, while those who do not are in joy. Do you see that Peter's words had this effect too, the correction of their life? So there cannot be gladness where there is no simplicity. “And how,” someone says, “did they have favor with all the people?” Through what they did, through almsgiving. Do not look to the fact that the high priests set upon them out of envy and jealousy, but to this, that they had favor with the people. “And the Lord added to the church day by day those who were being saved.” “And all who believed were together.” So good everywhere is concord. “And with other words he testified.” He said this to show that what had been said was not enough; or else those words were said to bring them to faith, and these to tell what the believer must do. And he did not say, “on the cross,” but, “let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” Nor does he keep reminding them of the cross, so as not to seem to reproach them, but simply, “Repent,” he says, “and let each be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.” And yet the law of the courts here is otherwise; but in the preaching, when the sinner confesses, then he is saved. See how Peter did not pass over the greater thing, but having first spoken of the grace, then added that too, saying, “You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The word is credible straightway, from what they themselves had received. For the time he speaks of what is easy and carries a great gift, and then leads them on to the life, knowing that it would be a spur to their zeal to have already tasted such great good things. And since the hearer longed to hear what the sum of the “many other words” was, he adds this too, showing that it was the gift of the Holy Spirit. “So those who received his word” praised what was said, though it was full of fear; and after assenting, then they come to baptism.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “They were continuing steadfastly,” it says, “in the teaching.” From this it is clear that they were taught not for one day, nor two or three, but for many, as men who had passed over to another life. “And fear came upon every soul.” If upon every soul, then also upon those who had not believed. It was likely that they felt this on seeing so great a change all at once; perhaps also because of the signs. He did not say “together,” but “with one mind,” since it is possible for people to be together, and yet not of one mind, being divided in their judgments. “And with words he exhorted them.” Not even here does he give the teaching, cutting his account short; but one may learn that they nourished them like young children with spiritual food. And from then on they suddenly became angels. “And they distributed as anyone had need.” They saw that spiritual things were common, and that no one had more than another, and they quickly came to distributing their own goods to all. “And all who believed were together.” That they were not together in place is clear from what he added: “and had all things in common.” “All,” he says, not one yes and another no. This is an angelic way of life, to call nothing of theirs their own. From this the root of evils was cut out, and by what they did [they showed what they had heard]. So this was what he meant by, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” “And there were added that day about three thousand souls.” When they had become three thousand, they now led them outside, and these, with boldness, since it was now great, went up daily and attended in the temple; for Peter and John too do the same a little later; for they did not yet disturb anything of the Jewish customs. And the honor paid to the place itself passed on to the Master of the temple. Did you see the progress in piety? They threw away money and rejoiced, and great was their gladness; for greater were the good things they received. No one reproached, no one envied, no one was jealous; there was no conceit, no contempt; like children … And why do I speak as in a faint image? If you remember how, when God shook our city, all were subdued: so were those men disposed then; no one was deceitful, no one wicked. Such a thing is fear, such a thing is affliction. There was not that cold word, “mine” and “yours.” That is why there was gladness at the table; no one ate as from his own, no one as from another's; and yet this seems a riddle. They did not think their brothers' goods another's, for they were the Master's; nor their own, but their brothers'. The poor man was not ashamed, nor was the rich man puffed up. This is gladness. The one as being benefited and well treated, the others as being glorified by this, and they were very closely bound to them. For since in distributions of money insults and arrogance and griefs commonly arise, the apostle said, “not out of grief or under compulsion.” See how many things he testifies of them: genuine faith, an upright life, perseverance in hearing, in prayers, in simplicity, in gladness.

[3] Two things were enough to cast them into dejection: fasting and the giving away of money. But they rejoiced in both. For who would not have loved men so disposed, as common fathers? They contrived nothing evil against one another; they entrusted everything to the grace of God. There was no fear, though they had thrown themselves into the midst of dangers. By their simplicity, at any rate, he showed all their virtue, a virtue much greater even than contempt of money, and fasting, and perseverance in prayers. So too they praised God purely; or rather, this is to praise God. See here too how they at once receive their rewards. For “having favor with the people” means that they were beloved and lovable. For who would not admire, who would not marvel at a man simple in character? Or who would not be bound to one who has nothing deceitful in him? To whom else does salvation belong than to these? To whom the great good things? Were not shepherds the first to receive the good news? Was not Joseph a simple man, so that, from suspicion of adultery, he did nothing evil out of fear? Were not [the apostles] rustics, men without guile? “For every simple soul,” it says, “is blessed”; and again, “He who walks simply walks confidently.” “Yes,” someone says, “but there is need of prudence too.” For what else is simplicity but prudence? [When you suspect nothing evil, neither] can you [contrive anything] evil; when you have none of these fears, [neither do you remember wrongs]. Did someone slander you? You suffered nothing. Did he envy you? Even so you suffered nothing. Simplicity is a road to philosophy. No one is so beautiful in soul as the simple man. For just as in the body the gloomy, downcast and brooding man, even if he is handsome, cuts away much of his beauty, while the relaxed one, with a gently smiling face, heightens his beauty, so too with the soul: the brooding man, even if he has countless good deeds, obscures them; the relaxed and simple man, the opposite. And one could safely make such a man a friend, and reconcile him if he became an enemy. For with such a man there is no need of guard and precaution, nor of bonds and ties; but there will be great ease for him, and great ease too for those with him. “What then,” someone says, “if such a man falls among wicked men?” God, who commanded us to be without guile, [will stretch out his] hand. What was more guileless than David? What more wicked than Saul? Who then prevailed? And what of [Joseph with his master's wife? He acted in simplicity], but she with malice. What then, tell me, was he wronged? What was more guileless than Abel? What more villainous than Cain? Again, did not Joseph deal with his brothers without guile? Was he not approved for this very reason, that he said everything without suspicion, while they received it with malice? He told the dreams once, and told them again, and took no precaution; and again he went to them to bring food, and took no precaution, entrusting everything to God; but as much as they were disposed toward him as toward an enemy, so much was he disposed toward them as toward brothers. And God could have not let him fall into their hands, but he let him, so that the wonder might be shown, and that, even if they displayed their own malice, he would be above them. … even if he receives a blow, it is not from himself but from another. But the wicked man strikes himself first, and no one else; so much is he his own enemy. The soul of such a man is always full of dejection, his thoughts always bound up; whether he must hear anything or say anything, he does everything with complaints, everything with … Friendship and concord have pitched their tents far away from such men; but with them are fights and enmities and unpleasantness, and such men suspect even themselves. To them not even sleep is sweet, nor anything else. And if they have a wife, oh! they become enemies and foes to all: countless jealousies, constant fear. “Wicked” (ponēros) is named from “toil” (ponein). So Scripture too always calls wickedness toil, as when it says, “Under his tongue are toil and trouble”; and again elsewhere, “And the most of them is toil and trouble.” And if anyone wonders how they became such men at the beginning, but are not such now, let him learn the cause, affliction, the teacher of philosophy, the mother of piety: when money was done away with, then there was no wickedness either. “Yes,” someone says, “this is the very thing I ask: whence now so much wickedness? How did it come to those three thousand and five thousand at once to choose virtue, and all together they became such philosophers, but now scarcely one is found? And how did they agree so well then? What made them ardent and awakened? What suddenly set them on fire?” Because they came with great piety; because matters of honor were not as they are now; because they moved their minds to the things to come, and expected nothing of the present. This is the mark of a soul on fire, to dwell among terrors; this is what those men thought Christianity to be. But not we; for now we seek our ease here. That is why, even when we need them, we shall not obtain these things. “What shall we do?” those men asked, despairing of themselves. But we say the opposite, “What shall we do?”, making a display before those present and thinking great things of ourselves. Those men did what needed to be done; we the opposite. They condemned themselves, they despaired of their salvation; that is why they became such men. They knew how great a gift they had received.

How then will you become such men, when you do everything contrary to them? They heard and were at once baptized; they did not speak these cold words that we speak now, nor did they contrive delays; and yet they had not heard all the requirements, but only, “Save yourselves from this generation.” This did not make them sluggish; they received the words; and that they received them, they showed by their deeds, and showed what they were. For as soon as they entered the contest, they stripped off their garments; but we, when we enter, want to wrestle with our garments on. That is why our adversary needs no toil, but we, entangled in them, are often thrown down. For we do the same as if someone, seeing an athlete covered with dust, swarthy, stripped, with much mud on him from the sand and the sun, smeared with oil and sweat and mud, should himself, smelling of perfumes, put on silk garments and gold shoes and a robe reaching to his ankles, with gold ornaments around his head, and go in and grapple with him. Such a man will not only be hindered, but, having all his care about not soiling or tearing his tunics, he will fall at the very first onset, and will at once suffer the very thing he fears, receiving damage to those precious things. It is the time of the contest, of the stadium; and are you adorning yourself as for a procession? How then will you prevail? Do not look to me at the outward things, but at the inward. For by cares about these things, as by harsh ropes, the soul is bound on every side, and they make its hands soft and tender. One should be content, even when freed from all things, to be able to overcome that unclean power. That is why Christ too, as though the giving up of money alone were not enough, says—see what he says—“Sell your possessions and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” If even when we have stripped off our money we do not yet stand in safety, but need some further skill and exactness besides, much more while we keep it shall we do nothing great, but shall become a laughingstock both to the spectators and to the evil one himself. For even if there were no devil, even if there were no one wrestling against us, countless roads from every side lead the lover of money to hell. Where now are those who say, “Why was the devil made?” See, here the devil does nothing, but we do everything. And yet those in the mountains are the ones who ought to say this, who after self-control and contempt of money and the despising of all else chose ten thousand times over to leave father and houses and fields and wife and children. But they above all do not say this; and these men say what they should never say. Those men, standing upright and covered with dust, strike blows themselves, since it is with them that the devil wrestles; but into these contests he does not think it worth even coming down. “But the devil [instils] the love of money itself,” he says. [Flee it, then, and do not harbor it], man. But now, if you see someone throwing filth from behind a railing, and the one who sees it standing under it, being drenched and receiving it all on his head, you not only do not pity him, but are indignant and say that he has suffered justly; and everyone says to him, “Don't be a fool”; and you do not blame the thrower so much as the one who receives it. And now you know that the love of money is the devil's; you know that it is the cause of countless evils; you see him throwing it like filth … and receiving his uncleanness on your bare head, do you not understand, when you need only turn aside a little to be free of it all? Just as that man would be free by moving out of the place, so you too, do not admit such thoughts, and you will escape the sin; thrust away the desire. “And how shall I thrust it away?” he says. If you were a Greek and admired only the things of the present, perhaps the matter would be very difficult; and yet those men achieved this. But you, a man who expects heaven and the things in the heavens, say, “How shall I thrust it away?” If I said the opposite, then you might well be at a loss. If I said, “Desire money,” you would say, “How shall I desire money?” Tell me, if, when gold and precious stones were set before you, I said, “Desire lead,” would you not be at a loss? For you would say, “How can I?” But if I said, “Do not desire it,” this would be easier. I do not wonder at those who despise money, but at those who do not despise it; this belongs to a soul full of sluggishness, [no better than] flies. What are you saying? You are going to inherit eternal life, and you say, “How shall I despise the present life for its sake?” Are the two in dispute? You are going to receive a royal robe, and you say, “How shall I despise rags?” You are going to be brought into the king's house, and you say, “How shall I despise the poor house of the present?” Truly we are to blame everywhere, we who are unwilling to be roused; for when they willed it, all achieved it, and achieved it with great vehemence and [ease]. May you too be persuaded by our exhortation and achieve it, and become imitators of those who achieved it, by the grace and loving-kindness of [our Lord Jesus Christ, his only-begotten] Son, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lemma] “Now Peter and John were going up together into the temple at the hour of prayer.”

Everywhere these two are seen to have great concord with each other. Peter makes a sign to this man; they go to the tomb together; about him Peter says to Christ, “And what about this man?” The writer of the book passed over the other signs, but he tells the one that caused great amazement and astonished all. And see again that they did not come to it of set purpose; so pure were they of ambition, and they imitated their teacher. Why did they go up into the temple? Did they still live as Jews? No, but they do this for a useful purpose. For again a sign takes place that both confirms them and draws the others on, and a sign such as they had not yet done. The affliction was from nature, and beyond the art of medicine. Or rather, he had spent forty years in his lameness, as it says further on, and no one had healed him in all that time. You know that afflictions from birth are the hardest of all. So great was his misfortune that he could not even provide himself with necessary food. He was well known both from the place and from his affliction; and how, hear: “And a man lame from his mother's womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms of those going into the temple.” So he was seeking to receive alms, and did not know who the men were. “Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter, fixing his eyes on him, with John, said, ‘Look at us.’” He hears this; but even so he does not get up; he stays, pestering them. Such is poverty: [even when refused, it persists. Let this shame us], who leap away in the middle of our prayers. See how Peter showed his gentleness at once by saying, “Look at us.” So their very appearance showed their character. “And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, this I give you.’” He did not say, “I give you something much better than silver,” but what? “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk. And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up.” So too Christ did. Often he healed by a word, often by a deed, and often he also stretched out his hand, where people were weaker in faith, so that it might not seem to happen of itself. “And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up.” He did this to show the resurrection; for it was an image of resurrection. “And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked about.” Perhaps testing himself and making a fuller trial, lest what had happened be an illusion … his feet were weak, not cut off. Some say that he did not even know how to walk. “And he went into the temple with them, walking.” Truly … They do not bring him along; he himself, by following, shows his benefactors … by praising God after leaping, not admiring those men, but God who had acted through them. So grateful was the man. [Let us look again] at what was said from the beginning. “They were going up,” it says, “at the hour of prayer, the ninth.” Perhaps it was at this time that they carried the lame man and laid him there, when people especially went into the temple. And so that no one might think that they carried him for some other purpose and not to receive alms, see how clearly he sets this out by saying, “They laid him to ask alms of those going into the temple.” That is why he also mentions places, giving proof of what he writes. “And how,” someone says, “did they not bring him to Christ?” Perhaps those who attended in the temple were unbelievers, since they did not bring him even to the apostles, though they saw them going in and having done such miracles. “He asked,” it says, “to receive alms”; perhaps he perceived from their appearance that they were pious men; that is why he also gave heed to them. And see how John everywhere keeps silent, while Peter answers for him too: “Silver,” he says, “and gold I have none.” He did not say, “I do not have it here,” as we say, but simply, “I have none.” What then does the lame man say? “And do you pass me by, your suppliant?” “No,” he says, “but receive from what I have.” Do you see how free from conceit Peter is, and not given to display even toward the man he benefits? The mouth, then, and the hand did everything. Such too were the Jews, lame; and when they should have asked for health, they ask rather for money, lying on the ground; for this reason too they attended the temple, to make money. What then does Peter do? He did not pass him by; he did not seek out some rich man; nor did he say, “Unless the miracle is done on that man, it is nothing great.” He expected no honor from him, nor did he heal him while some were looking on; for the man was at the entrance, not inside where the crowd was. Peter sought none of these things, nor did he proclaim it on going in, but drew the lame man to make his request by his appearance alone. And the wonder is that he quickly believed. For those freed from long afflictions scarcely believe even their own eyes. And having been healed, he was with the apostles from then on, giving thanks to God. “And he went into the temple with them,” it says, “walking and leaping and praising God.”

See how he cannot keep still, partly from pleasure, partly to stop their mouths. To me it seems that he leapt also so that no one might think it a pretense; for this could no longer be pretense. For if before he could not even take a step, and that though hunger was pressing him (for he would not have chosen to share his alms with those who carried him, if he could provide for himself), much less could he have pretended then. And how would he have pretended for men who had not given him alms? But the man was grateful even after his recovery. So he is shown trustworthy on both counts, from his thanksgiving and from what had happened. Yet he was not known to all; so they recognized him only on reflection. “And all the people,” it says, “saw him and recognized him, that this was the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple.” And he did well to say “recognized,” as of one now hard to recognize because of what had happened; for we use this word of those who are recognized with difficulty. So it could well be believed that the name of Christ forgives sins, since it works such things. “And while the man who had been healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's, greatly amazed.” Out of his good will and affection toward them he did not leave them; perhaps also thanking and praising them. “And all the people ran together,” it says. “And when Peter saw it, he answered.” Again he both works and preaches. Then it was the matter of the tongues that roused them to listen; now it is this. Then he took his start from accusations, now from a suspicion. Let us see, then, how this speech differs from that one, and in what it agrees. That one took place in the house, when no one had yet come to them, nor had they done anything; but this one when all were marveling, [and the healed man was standing by, and no one doubted], as some did then, when they said, “They are filled with new wine.” And then he spoke with all the apostles; now with John only; for now he is confident and becomes more vehement. Such is virtue: having made a beginning, it goes forward and nowhere stands still. See too how it was arranged that the sign should take place at the temple, so that others too might take courage. For they do not do it in some corner, or secretly; but not inside the temple either, where the great crowd was. “How then was it believed?” someone says. Because the man who was healed himself proclaimed the benefit. For he would not have lied, nor would he have gone over to others. Either, then, they worked the sign there because it was a spacious place, or because the place was set apart. And see what happened: they went up for one purpose and do another. So too Cornelius was fasting and praying for one thing and sees another. Until then they everywhere name Christ “the Nazarene.” “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,” he says, “rise up and walk.” For the time this was what was sought, that he be believed.

Let us not grow weary at the beginning of the account; but if someone, after achieving some good deed, has left off, let us take up the beginning again. If we get into the habit, we shall quickly reach the end; we shall quickly stand on the summit. “For zeal,” it says, “begets zeal, and indolence indolence.” The man who has achieved some small thing has received encouragement to go on to the greater, and from that to advance further still. And just as fire, the more wood it seizes, the more vehement it becomes, so too eagerness, the more pious thoughts it rouses, the better it is armed against the rest. What I mean is this. There stand in us, like thorns, perjury, lying, hypocrisy, deceit, villainy, reviling, mockery; in another part greed, robbery, injustice, false accusation, plots; again evil desire, uncleanness, licentiousness, sexual immorality, adultery; again envy, jealousy, anger, wrath, bearing malice, retaliation, blasphemy, and countless such things. If we achieve the first, not only are those achieved, but through them also the ones that follow. For the mind becomes stronger from then on for overturning them. For example: if the man who swears much removes this satanic habit, not only is this achieved by him, but another piety too is brought in. For no one, I think, of those who do not swear will readily wish to do anything else evil; but … for the man who wears a fine garment is ashamed to soil himself with filth; so too this man. And from this he will come to not being angry, nor striking, nor insulting. For if he once achieves the small things, the whole is accomplished. But often the opposite happens too: having once achieved something, we fall back through indolence into the same things, so that from this the matter comes to seem impossible. For example, we set ourselves a law not to swear; we kept it three days or four; after those, falling into some necessity, we scattered all the gain we had gathered; then we fall into indolence and despair, so as not to wish to take the same things in hand again; and naturally. For one who has built something for himself, and then sees the building pulled down, will be more slack about building again. But we must not be slack even so, but hold fast to our zeal again.

Let us, then, set ourselves daily laws; let us begin for the time with the easy things. Let us cut off the frequent swearing of our mouth, let us put a bridle on the tongue; let no one swear by God. There is no expense here, no labor here, no long practice needed here; it is enough to will it, and the whole is done; for the matter is one of habit. I exhort and beg you, let us bring such zeal to it. Tell me: if I had ordered you to contribute money, would not each of you eagerly have contributed according to his means? If you saw me in the utmost dangers, would you not have cut off even some of your own flesh, if it were possible? I am in danger now too, and great danger; and if besides this I were living in a prison, or had received countless blows, or had been sent to the mines, I would not have grieved more than this. Stretch out your hand to me, then. [Consider] how great the danger is, not to be able to achieve even this smallest thing (I call it smallest as far as labor is concerned). What shall I say then, when I am accused: “Why did you not reprove them? Why did you not command? Why did you not make a law? Why did you not restrain those who would not obey?” It is not enough for me to say that I admonished. “But a more vehement rebuke was needed,” he says, “since Eli too admonished.” But God forbid that I should compare you with those sons. He too admonished and said, “No, my sons, do not do so; it is an evil report that I hear about you.” But further on the Scripture says that he did not admonish his sons. It says this because he did not do it vehemently or with rebuke. For is it not absurd that in the synagogues of the Jews the laws are so strong, and if the teacher commands, everything is done, but that here we are so despised and cast aside? It is not my own glory I care about (for my glory is your good repute), but your salvation. Every day we shout in your ears, but no one listens; and we show nothing vehement. I fear that we shall render account on the coming day for this untimely and excessive indulgence. So with a great and loud voice I proclaim to all, and testify, that those who commit this transgression, who utter what comes from the evil one (for this is what the oath is), are not to set foot on the thresholds of the church. Let the present month be the time appointed for you to set this right. Do not tell me that [the needs of business compel you to swear, since otherwise people do not believe you]; meanwhile cut off those oaths that come from habit. I know that many will laugh at us; but it is better for us to be laughed at now than to weep then; and those who laugh will be those who are mad. For who, tell me, that has any sense will laugh at the keeping of a commandment? And if they do laugh, such people will laugh not at us but at Christ. Did you shudder at what was said? I too know it. If I had brought in this law, the laughter would be mine; but if the lawgiver is another, the mockery passes over to him. Christ was once spat upon, and struck on the head, and slapped. He bears these things now too, and there is nothing strange in that. That is why hell has been prepared, that is why there is the undying worm. See, again I say it and testify: let whoever wishes laugh, let whoever wishes mock; we are set for this, to be laughed at and mocked, to suffer everything. “We are the refuse of the world,” according to the blessed Paul. If anyone will not keep this command, I forbid him by my word, as with a trumpet, to set foot on the thresholds of the church, whether he is a ruler or the very one who wears the diadem. Either remove me from this office, or, while I remain in it, do not surround me with dangers. I will not bear to go up to this throne without achieving great things; for if this is not possible, it is better to stand below. For nothing is more wretched than a ruler who benefits those he rules in nothing. Exert yourselves still more and pay attention, I beg you; or rather, let us exert ourselves, and there will certainly be some gain. Fast, call upon God, and we with you, so as to root out this destructive habit. It is no great thing [for you] to become teachers of the world; it is no small thing to have it heard everywhere that in this city no one swears. If this happens, you will receive the reward not only of your own good deeds but also of your zeal for your brothers; for what I am to you, you will become to the world. Others will certainly imitate you; you will certainly be a lamp set on a lampstand. “And is this,” someone says, “the whole?” This is not the whole, but it is the beginning of the rest. The man who does not swear will certainly come to further piety too, willing or unwilling, from shame and from fear. “But many,” he says, “will not bear it, but will leap away.” But better one man doing the will of the Lord than ten thousand lawless. It is from this indeed that everything has been overturned, everything turned upside down: that, as in the theaters, we desire a crowd, not an approved crowd. For what can a mob profit, tell me? Do you want to learn that the saints are the multitude, not the many? Lead out to war a million men and one saint; let us see who achieves more. Joshua the son of Nun went out to war, and alone achieved everything, so that the others were of no use. The great crowd, beloved, when it does not do the will of God, differs in no way from those who do not exist. I pray, then, and wish, and would gladly even be cut to pieces, to adorn the church with a multitude, but an approved multitude; if this is not possible, I wish the few themselves to be approved. Do you not see that it is better to have one precious stone than countless obols? Do you not see that it is better to have a healthy eye than to be weighed down by much flesh while the eye is blinded? Do you not see that it is better to have one healthy sheep than countless sheep full of mange? Do you not see that good children, though few, [are better than many diseased ones]? Do you not see that in the kingdom there are few, but in hell many? What have I to do with the multitude? What is the profit? None; rather, it is a harm to the others. For it is the same as if someone, when he could have ten healthy men, should bring in ten thousand sick men to join the ten. The many who achieve nothing will procure for us nothing but punishment then and disgrace in the present. For no one will say in our praise that we are many, but blames us because we are useless. At any rate, this is what they always say to us when we say, “We are many”: “But bad,” they say. See, again I forbid it, and I cry aloud with a loud voice, let no one think it a joke: I will exclude and bar those who do not obey; and as long as I sit on this throne, I will give up none of its rights. If someone brings me down, I am no longer accountable; but as long as I am accountable, I cannot overlook it, not because of my own punishment, but because of your salvation; for I love your salvation exceedingly. For this I am stung and pained. But be persuaded, so that both here and in the time to come you may receive a great reward, and we may enjoy together the eternal good things, by the grace and loving-kindness of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lemma] “But when Peter saw it, he answered the people: Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?”

This address is full of greater boldness than the earlier one. He does this not because he was afraid in the former, but because those men, being scoffers and jesters, would not have borne it. That is why, when he began that one, he also turned their attention by his opening, saying at once, “Let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.” Here he does not need this preparation. For they were not careless: the sign had turned them all, and so they were full of fear and astonishment. That is why he did not need to begin from there, but from another point, the one by which he most won them over: thrusting away the glory they were giving him. For nothing so helps and puts the hearers at ease as for the speaker to say nothing great about himself, and even to remove the suspicion of it. So they glorified themselves the more by despising glory and by showing that what had happened was not human but divine, and that they deserve to wonder along with the people, not to be wondered at. Do you see how, being clean of ambition, he pushes away the glory directed at himself? So too did the men of old, as Daniel said, “And as for me, it is not by the wisdom that is in me”; and again Joseph, “Is not the interpretation of them through God?”; and David, “When the lion and the bear came, in the name of the Lord I tore them apart with my hands.” And these men now: “Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” This is not ours either, he says; for it is not because we are worthy that we drew down God’s favor. “The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers.” See how he continually thrusts himself back upon the forefathers, so as not to seem to be bringing in some new doctrine: there he mentioned the patriarch David, and here Abraham and his house. “Glorified his servant Jesus.” Again he speaks humbly, as in the opening. Then at last he dwells on their crime and magnifies what had been done, and does not, as before, throw a shadow over it. He does this wishing to draw them on the more; for the more he showed them answerable, the more this came about. “Glorified,” he says, “his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.” Two charges: that Pilate wished to release him, and that when he wished it, you did not. “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead; of this we are witnesses.” As if he said, In his place you asked for a robber. He made the matter very grave. For since he had them under his hand, he now strikes hard. “The Author of life,” he says. Here he establishes the belief in the resurrection. “Whom God raised from the dead.” So that no one may say, How is this clear? he no longer takes refuge in the prophets but in himself, since he was now worthy of belief. For then, when he said that he had risen, he brought in David as witness; but now, saying the same thing, he brings in the apostolic band. “Of this,” he says, “we are witnesses.” “And on the basis of faith in his name, his name has made strong this man whom you see and know; and the faith that is through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.” Seeking to state the fact, he adds the sign at once. “In the presence,” he says, “of you all.” Since he had laid hold of them sharply and had shown that the crucified one had risen, he eases off again, giving them room for repentance, and says, “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.” “You acted in ignorance”: that is one excuse; the second, “as did also your rulers.” So Joseph said to his brothers, “God sent me ahead of you.” Or rather, what he said briefly there, “delivered up by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,” he widens here: “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.” At the same time he shows that, if this is shown, the deed is not theirs, and that it happened by God’s plan. By saying “what he foretold” he hints at the words with which they reviled him on the cross, saying, “If he wants him, let him save him; for he said, I am the Son of God. He trusted in him; let him come down now from the cross.” Was this nonsense, then, you fools? Far from it! It had to happen so, and the prophets bear witness. So it was not from weakness of his own that he did not come down, but from power. And he sets it in the form of a defense on behalf of the Jews, so that they may accept it. “He fulfilled it thus,” he says. Do you see … ? “[Repent therefore,]” he says, “and turn.” And he does not say, “from your sins,” but “so that your sins may be blotted out,” meaning the same thing. Then he adds the gain: “so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Here he shows that they had been worn down and had been worked over by many evils. That is why he spoke so, knowing that this word would suit one who suffers and is looking for comfort.

And see how he advances step by step. In the first address he quietly hinted at the resurrection and the session in heaven; here he hints also at the visible coming. “And that he may send the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive”: instead of, “it is necessary”; “until the times of the restoration of all things.” Why he does not come now, the reason is clear. “Of which God spoke,” he says, “by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. Moses said to the fathers, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers, like me; you shall listen to him in everything he tells you.” There he mentioned David, here Moses. “All the things,” he says, “which God spoke.” He does not say, “which Christ said,” but “which God spoke,” still drawing them gently to faith by keeping things in shadow. Then he takes refuge in what commands belief, saying, “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers, like me; you shall listen to him in everything.” Then the punishment too is great. “And it shall be,” he says, “that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from the people. And all the prophets from Samuel and those after him, as many as spoke, also announced these days.” Here he rightly set down the destruction. For whenever he says something great, he takes refuge in the earliest men. And he found a testimony that holds both, just as there he said, “until he puts the enemies under his feet.” For the wonderful thing is that the two are together: both the submission and the disobedience, and the punishment. “Like me,” he says. Why then are you afraid? “You are the sons of the prophets.” So it was to you that they spoke, and for your sake that everything happened. For since they thought that because of their crime they had become estranged (for it made no sense that the same one should at one moment be crucified by them and at another care for them as his own), he shows that both the one and the other came about according to prophecy. “You are,” he says, “the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed. To you first,” he says, “God, having raised up his servant, sent him.” So to others too; but to you first, who crucified him. “Blessing you, in turning each of you from your wicked deeds.”

But let us look more exactly at what was read, from the beginning. For the time being he establishes that they did not work the miracle themselves, by saying, “Why do you wonder?” And he does not allow what is said to be disbelieved. And to make it more credible, he anticipates their judgment: “Why do you stare at us,” he says, “as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” If this troubles and disturbs you, learn who it is that did it, and do not be astonished. And see how everywhere, when he takes refuge in God and says that everything comes from him, he then rebukes them without fear. That is why above too he said, “A man attested to you by God.” And everywhere he reminds them of their crime, so that both the miracle may be shown and the resurrection confirmed. Here he has added something else too: he no longer says “Nazarene,” but what? “The God of our fathers,” he says, “glorified his servant Jesus.” See also the absence of pride. He did not accuse them, nor did he say at once, “And now believe: see, a man who was lame forty years has stood up in the name of Jesus Christ.” He did not speak so, for he would have made them more contentious; but for the time being he praises them because they wondered at what had happened. And again he calls on them from their forefather. And he does not say, “Jesus healed him,” though he himself did heal him; but so that they may not say, “And how does this make sense, if he glorifies the lawbreaker?” he reminds them of the judgment before Pilate, showing that, if they would only pay attention, he is not a lawbreaker; for Pilate would not have wished to release him. And he did not say “when he wished,” but “when he had decided to release him,” showing that the one who was giving life to others you did not want. And again, so that they may not say, “How does he now glorify the one he did not help then?” they bring forward the prophets testifying that it had to happen so. Then, so that they may not think that God’s dispensation is an excuse for them, he first lays hold of them. And to deny him to Pilate’s face, when he wished to release him, was no small thing; and that you cannot deny it, the man who was asked for in his place accuses you. So this too was a great dispensation. Here he shows their shamelessness and their recklessness: that the Greek, who saw him then for the first time only, released him, though he had heard nothing great, while they, who had grown up among the signs, did the opposite. And that he judged justly in deciding to release him, and was not doing it as a favor, hear him say elsewhere: “You have a custom that I release one man for you; do you want me, then, to release this man for you?” “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One.” Naturally; for so they also said, “We have no king but Caesar.” And he did not say, “You did not ask for the blameless one,” nor only, “you denied him,” but “you also killed him.” When they were hardened he said nothing of the kind; when their souls had been most shaken, then he strikes harder, when they could also feel it. For just as we say nothing to those who are drunk, but when they are sober and have come round from drunkenness, then we rebuke them, so too Peter, when they were able to understand what was said, then sharpened his tongue. He counts up many charges: that the one whom God glorified, these delivered up; that the one whom Pilate was releasing, these denied to his face; that they preferred the robber.

See again how covertly he speaks of his power, showing that he raised himself, just as in the former address he said, “Because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” And here, “You killed,” he says, “the Author of life.” So he did not have life from another. Just as the author of wickedness would be the one who gave birth to wickedness, and the author of murder the one who first brought murder in, so too the Author of life is the one who has life from himself. “Whom God raised,” he says. Since he had uttered this, he added: “And on the basis of faith in his name, his name has made strong this man whom you see and know; and the faith that is through him has given him this perfect health.” And yet, if it is faith in him that worked the whole, and the man believed in him, why did he not say “through the name” but “in the name”? Because they did not yet dare to say, “faith in him.” And so that “through him” might not sound lowly, he added, “And his name has made him strong.” And having said this first, he then says, “And the faith that is through him has given him this perfect health.” See how he shows that he said the other thing too in condescension. For one whose name raised up a lame man, who was no different from a corpse, would not have needed another for his own resurrection. Consider how everywhere he draws in their own testimony. For above he said, “as you yourselves know,” and, “in your midst”; and again, “whom you see and know,” “in the presence of you all.” Yet they did not know that it was in his name that the man stood whole; but this they did know, that he had been lame. And those who had done it themselves confessed that it was not by their own power but by Christ’s that he had been made strong. If this were not so, and if they were not truly convinced that he had risen, they would not have wished to establish the glory of a dead man rather than their own, and that while those people were looking at them. Then at once he comforted their frightened souls by calling them brothers, saying, “Brothers.” For there he said nothing about them, but spoke only about Christ, saying, “Let all the house of Israel know for certain”; but here he adds exhortation as well. There he waited for them to speak; here he knew how much the apostles had already achieved, and that these hearers were more favorably disposed. And yet what was said above was no matter of ignorance. For to ask for the robber, to refuse to let the one judged innocent be released, even to want to kill him: what sort of ignorance was that? But nonetheless he gives them room to deny it and to change their minds about what had been done; or rather he even puts together a plausible defense on their behalf, and says: That you were killing an innocent man, you knew; but that it was the Author of life, perhaps you did not know. And by this he clears of the charges not only them but also the master-builders of the evils. For truly he would have made them more contentious if he had turned his speech into an accusation. For one who has done something terrible, when someone accuses him, grows more vehement in trying to defend himself. And he no longer says, “You crucified, you murdered,” but “you acted,” leading them toward pardon. If those acted in ignorance, much more these; if those are forgiven, much more these. The wonderful thing is that, having said both above and here, there, “by the definite plan and foreknowledge,” and here, that God foretold the Christ to all, he nowhere brings forward a testimony, because each of them is spoken with many charges and with the punishment against them. “And I will give,” it says, “the wicked in return for his burial, and the rich in return for his death”; and again, “What he foretold,” he says, “by the mouth of all the prophets, that he should suffer, he thus fulfilled.” He shows that the plan was great, if indeed all of them said this, and not one only. Yet it is not because it happened in ignorance that it happened contrary to what pleased God. See how great is the wisdom of God, when it makes use of the wickedness of others for what is needed. “He fulfilled,” he says. So that they might not think that something was still left over, he added this, showing that whatever he had to suffer he has fulfilled. But do not think that, because the prophets said this and because you acted in ignorance, this is enough for your defense. Yet he does not say it so, but more gently: “Repent therefore.” Why? “So that your sins may be blotted out.” I do not mean what was dared at the cross; perhaps that was done in ignorance; but so that your other sins may be blotted out. Then he adds, “so that times of refreshing may come to you.” Here he speaks dimly of the resurrection. For truly those are times of refreshing, which Paul too longed for, saying, “And we who are in this tent groan, being burdened.” Then, showing that he himself is the cause of the times of refreshing, “And that he may send,” he says, “Jesus Christ, appointed for you.” He did not say, “so that your sin may be blotted out,” but “your sins,” hinting at that one too. “That he may send.” Having said this, he does not go on to say from where, but only adds, “whom heaven must receive.” “Must receive”: still in the future. And why did he not say, “whom heaven received”? He said it as speaking of times long ago: thus, he says, it has been ordered, thus it has been arranged. But about his eternal existence he says nothing yet; he still dwells on the language of the dispensation, and says, “For Moses said to the fathers, The Lord will raise up for you a prophet.” Then, having said above, “until the times of the restoration of all things, which God spoke by the mouth of all his holy prophets from of old,” he now brings in Christ himself. For if the prophets foretold many things, but it is he to whom one must listen, no one would go wrong in saying that the prophets said these things.

Besides, he wishes to show that the prophets too foretold the same things. And if anyone examines it closely, he will find them spoken in the Old Testament as well, dimly, but spoken; so that there is nothing new. “Appointed beforehand,” he says. Here he also frightens them, as though much were still to come. How then did he say, “He fulfilled what he had to suffer”? He said “he fulfilled,” not “it was fulfilled,” showing that what he had to suffer he has fulfilled, but what still remains to happen, not yet. “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers, like me.” He says what would most win them over. Do you see how he sows lowly and lofty things side by side? For it is both lowly and lofty, if the one who is to go up into heaven is like Moses; but for the time being it was a great thing. For “and everyone who does not listen shall be utterly destroyed” is not said of one like Moses. And he said countless other things that show he is not like Moses, so that he took hold of a great testimony. “God will raise him up,” he says, “from among your brothers.” So Moses himself threatened those who do not listen. All these things draw them on. “And all the prophets,” he says, “from Samuel.” He did not want to go through them one by one, so as not to make his speech long; but timely mention … “You are,” he says, “the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made.” “Sons of the covenant,” he says, that is, heirs. For so that they might not think they were receiving these things as a favor from Peter, he shows that they had been owed to them from of old, so that they might the more believe that this is also God’s pleasure. “To you first,” he says, “God, having raised up his servant, sent him.” He did not say simply, “He sent his servant to you,” but also after the resurrection, and when he had been crucified. For so that they might not think that Jesus himself was granting these things but the Father was not, he added, “blessing you.” For if he is your brother and blesses you, the thing is a promise; that is, you are so far from having no share in these things that he wishes you to become their cause and leaders for others too. So do not feel like men cast off or thrown away. “In turning,” he says, “each of you from your wicked deeds.” This is how he blesses you, and not in a general way. And what sort of blessing is this? A great one. For turning a man from his wicked deeds is not in itself enough even to loose them; and if it was not enough even to loose them, how could it bestow a blessing? For the one who has done wrong is not straightaway blessed as well; he is only released from his sins. And “like me,” unless one takes it of the manner of the lawgiving, would make no sense anywhere else. “You shall listen to him,” he says; and not simply that, but “every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from the people.” When he had shown them that they had sinned, and had given them pardon and promised good things, then at last he shows that Moses too says the same. And what sort of sequence is this, to say, “until the times of the restoration,” and to bring in Moses saying that they will listen to everything Christ says, and that not simply, but with a fearful threat? A great one: for he shows that for this reason too they ought to obey him. What is “sons of the prophets and of the covenant”? Heirs, successors. If then you are sons, why do you feel toward what is yours as though it were someone else’s? So you did deeds that deserve accusation; still you will be able to obtain pardon. Then, having said this, he now naturally says, “To you God sent his servant, blessing you.” He did not say “saving,” but what is greater, “blessing,” showing that the one who was crucified blesses those who crucified him.

Let us, then, imitate him too. Let us cast out a murderous and hostile spirit. It is not enough not to retaliate (that was done in the Old Testament too), but let us do everything on behalf of those who have wronged us as for true friends, as for ourselves. We are his imitators, his disciples, who after being crucified set everything in motion on behalf of those who crucified him, and sent out the apostles. And yet we often suffer justly; but he suffered not only unjustly but impiously; for they crucified the benefactor who had done no wrong. Why? For the sake of glory, tell me? And yet he himself made them respected. How? “The scribes and the Pharisees,” he says, “sit on the seat of Moses; so do whatever they tell you to do, but do not act according to their works.” And again elsewhere, “Go, show yourself to the priest.” And though he could … them, … let no one be anyone’s enemy, no one hostile, except to the devil alone.

Not swearing contributes not a little toward this, and so does not being angry. By not being angry we shall not have an enemy either. Cut off a man’s oaths, and you have clipped the wings of his anger and quenched all his wrath. For the oath is like a wind to anger. Lower the sails: there is no use for a sail when there is no wind. If, then, we do not shout and do not swear, we have cut the sinews of wrath. If you do not believe it, put the matter to the test, and then you will know that it is so. Set a law for the angry man never to swear, and you will not need to talk to him about gentleness. So the whole thing is accomplished: you will neither swear falsely nor swear at all. Do you not know into how many absurdities you throw yourselves by this? You bind yourselves with a binding constraint, and strive by every device to drag your soul out of what seems an inescapable evil; then, when you cannot, you live from then on in pain and quarrels and curse your anger; but it all happens idly and in vain. So threaten, lay down your terms, do everything without an oath. It is possible to undo both what has been said and what has been done, if you wish. So today I must speak to you more gently. For since you have listened, the greater part has been achieved by you. Come, then, let us say for what reason the oath came in, and why it was permitted to exist. By describing its origin from the beginning, when it was born and how and from whom, we will repay you with the account for your obedience. For one who has put the thing right should also be taught its philosophy; but one who has not yet done so is not worthy even to hear the account. Abraham and those of his time made many covenants, and slaughtered victims and offered sacrifices, and there was not yet an oath. Where, then, did the oath come in from? When evils increased, when everything was turned upside down, when they turned aside to idolatry: then, then, when they were seen to be untrustworthy, they called God as witness, as though giving a surety worthy of what was said. For this is what an oath is: a surety where characters are distrusted. So this is the first charge … of a great surety; for because of their great distrust they seek not a man as surety but God. Second, the same accusation lies against the one who takes the oath, if in a matter of an agreement … surety, and he says he will not give way unless he gets that one. O excessive insensibility! O insolence! You, a worm and earth and ashes and smoke, drag your Master in as surety, and compel the other man to take him! Tell me, if your servants were quarreling with one another and were distrusted, and a fellow servant said he would not give way until he got their common master as surety, would he not get countless blows, and learn that the master is to be used for other things, not for these? Why do I say a fellow servant? If he had chosen a more respected man, would that man not think the thing an insult? “But I do not want it,” he says. Good; then do not compel that other man either; since even among men this happens: if he says, “I give so-and-so as surety,” you do not put up with it. “What then,” he says, “am I to lose what was given?” I do not say that, but that you put up with insulting God. That is why the one who compels another to swear has a punishment even less to be avoided than the one who swears; and likewise the one who swears when no one asks. And what is worse, each one swears for a single obol, for a small gain, for injustice. And these things are so when there is no perjury; but if perjury follows, both the one who took and the one who gave the oath have turned everything upside down. “But some things are unknown,” he says. Then foresee them and do nothing carelessly; and if you act carelessly, exact the penalty of the loss from yourself. It is better to be penalized this way than the other. For tell me, you drag the man to an oath expecting what? That he will perjure himself? But this is the height of folly; for the punishment will turn on your own head. Better that you lose the money than that he be lost. Why do you do this to your own loss and to the insult of God? This is the soul of a beast and of an impious man. “But I expect that he will not perjure himself.” Then trust him without an oath as well. “But there are many,” he says, “who would choose to defraud without an oath, but after an oath, no longer.” You deceive yourself, man. A man who has learned to steal and wrong his neighbor would often choose to trample on an oath as well; and if he had scruples about swearing, much more about doing wrong. “But he undergoes it unwillingly?” Then he deserves pardon. But why do I speak of these oaths, leaving aside those in the marketplace? For there you have nothing of the kind to say. Oaths are taken for ten obols; and because not everything is overturned, you stand holding God fast. For what? To get vegetables, to get shoes, calling him to witness for a little silver. Let us not think that because we are not punished we do not sin either; this comes from God’s love for humankind, not from our virtue. Swear by your child, swear by yourself; say, “Else may the executioner stand over my ribs.” But you are afraid. Is God, then, less honorable than your ribs? Cheaper than your head? Say, “Else may I be maimed.” But Christ so spares us that he forbids swearing even by one’s own head, while we so little spare the glory of God that we drag him in everywhere. You do not know what God is, and with what sort of mouths he ought to be called on. If we speak of some virtuous man, we say, “Wash out your mouth, and then mention him”; but the precious name, the name above every name, wonderful in all the earth, which demons hear and shudder at, we drag about idly.

O the force of habit! It is from this that the name has become contemptible. Certainly, if you lay on someone the necessity of swearing in a holy house, you feel as though you had made the oath a fearful thing. And yet why does it seem so fearful there, except that we have used the one carelessly but not the other? Ought there not to be a shudder when God is named? Among the Jews his name was so revered that it was written on plates, and no one was allowed to wear the letters except the high priest alone; but now we carry his name about like any chance thing. If it is not reverent to name God idly, how great a daring is it to call him to witness as well? Tell me, how great a madness? For if you had to throw away everything, ought you not to let it go readily? See, I tell you and solemnly charge you: put right these oaths in the marketplace, and bring to me all who will not obey. See, in your presence I charge those appointed to the service of the houses of prayer, and I exhort and command them, that no one be allowed to swear idly, or rather not in any other way either. Let whoever it is be brought to me, since even these things must come up to us, as with little children. Heaven forbid! For it is a shame still to need to learn about some things. Do you not dare to touch the holy table when you are uninitiated? But what is still worse, you who have been initiated dare to touch the holy table, which not even all priests may touch, and so to swear. You would not go and touch your child’s head, but you touch the table, and do not shudder or fear? Bring such people to me; I will judge, and send both away rejoicing. Do what you wish: I lay down a law not to swear at all. What hope of salvation is there, when we make everything empty in this way? Is it for this that there are documents, for this that there are contracts, that you may sacrifice your own soul? … You have destroyed both him and yourself. “But he did not perjure himself?” Even so you have destroyed him, by compelling him to transgress the commandment. Let us drive this disease out of the soul; for the time being let us chase it from the marketplace, from the general stores, from the other workshops; our income will be greater. Do not think that the affairs of life are set right through transgressions of the divine laws. “But he does not believe me,” he says. For I have heard this too from some: “Unless I swear countless oaths, he does not believe me.” You are the cause of this, you who swear so readily; for if this were not so, but it were clear to all that you do not swear, believe me when I tell you that you would be believed with a nod alone more than those who devour countless oaths. Look, tell me, whom do you believe more, me who do not swear, or those who swear? “But you,” he says, “are a ruler and a bishop.” What then, if I show that it is not only this? Answer me truthfully, I beg you: if I swore continually and all the time, would my office have stood me in good stead? Not at all. Do you see that it is not because of this? And what do you gain at all? Tell me. Paul went hungry: you too, choose to go hungry rather than transgress one of God’s commandments. Why are you so faithless? You choose to do and suffer everything so as not to swear, and will he not repay you? He feeds perjurers and constant swearers every day, and will he hand you over to famine because you listened to him? Let all see that among those who gather in this church there is no one who swears. And let us become known by this, not by our faith alone, and let us have this as a mark that sets us apart from the Greeks and from all men. Let us receive a seal from heaven, so that we may appear everywhere as a royal flock. Let us for the time being be recognized by our mouth and tongue, as the barbarians are, as the Greeks … For tell me, the birds called parrots, how are they recognized? Is it not by speaking like a human being? Let us too, then, be recognized by speaking like the apostles, by speaking like the angels. If someone says, “Swear,” let him hear, “Christ has commanded it, and I do not swear.” This is enough to bring in all virtue. It is a door of godliness, a road leading to the philosophy of reverence, a kind of training ground. Let us keep these things, so that we may obtain both the present and the future good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “And while they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple came upon them.”

They had not yet caught their breath from the earlier trials when they stepped straight into others. And see how events are ordered. First they were all mocked together: this is no small trial. Second, the leaders themselves fall into dangers. The two did not come one right after the other, nor at random; but first they gained credit by their speeches, and after this worked a great miracle; and so at last, having taken courage, with God’s permission they take up the contests. But consider, I pray you, how in Christ’s case they looked for someone to betray him, but here they now lay hands on them themselves, [being bolder] after the cross. For sin, while it is still in labor, has a certain shame; but once it is completed, it makes those who commit it more shameless. And why does the captain come upon them as well? “For the priests and the captain of the temple came upon them,” he says. So that again they might give what was happening the look of a public offense, and not seem to be avenging a private one; which is what they everywhere strive to do. “Greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people.” They were annoyed not only because they were teaching, but because they said not only that he had been raised, but also that we rise through him. “Because they were teaching the people,” he says, “and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” So strong had the resurrection become that he became for others too the cause of resurrection. “And they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the next day; for it was already evening.” O the shamelessness! They still had their hands full of the earlier blood, and did not shrink, but laid them on others again, so as to fill them with more blood. Or perhaps they were also afraid of them, since they had already become a multitude, and that is why the captain came upon them with the priests. “For it was already evening,” he says. They, then, did this and kept them in custody wishing to soften them; but the delay made the apostles bolder rather. And see who are seized: the leaders of the apostles, who now became an example to the others, so that they would no longer look for one another nor need to be together … “and the number of the men came to about [five thousand].” What is this? Did they see them in honor? Did they not see them bound? How then did they believe? Do you see the power plainly at work? And indeed those who had already believed should have become weaker; but they did not, for Peter’s address had sown the seeds deep and had touched their minds. And the rulers were angry for this reason, that the people did not fear them at all, that they counted the present dangers as nothing. For if the crucified one, they said, does such things, and raised up the lame man, we are not afraid of these men either. So this too came about by God’s dispensation. As a result those who now believed became more numerous than the first. Afraid of this, they bound the apostles while the people looked on, so as to make them more cowardly too. But the opposite of what they wished happened. That is why they do not examine them in front of the people but in private, so that the hearers might not profit from their boldness. “On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.” Again they gather together. For along with their other evils, the requirements of the law were no longer kept. And again they put the form of a court on the matter, so that the apostles might be made answerable to an unjust judgment. “And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power or by what name did you do this?” And yet they knew; for “greatly annoyed,” he says, “because they were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection.” That is exactly why they had seized them. Why then do they ask? Expecting that because of the crowd they would deny it, and thinking that by this they would have won the whole. See, at any rate, what they say: “By what name did you do this?” “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them.” Remember with me now the words of Christ, and how what he said came true: “When they hand you over to synagogues, do not be anxious how or what you will speak; for it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” So they received great power. And hear what he says: “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel.” See the man’s philosophy: how, full of boldness, he utters nothing insulting, but speaks with respect. “Rulers of the people,” he says, “and elders [of Israel, if we are being examined today] for a good deed done to a sick man, as to how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel.” From the very opening he laid hold of them very nobly and sounded them out; or rather he also reminded them of their earlier deeds, that they put men on trial for a good deed, as if he said: We ought rather to be crowned for these things and proclaimed as benefactors; but now we are even put on trial for a good deed done to a sick man, not to a rich man, not to a powerful one, not to a man of rank; and yet in this who would …

The announcement is full of great weight. It is shown from this that they are piercing themselves through with the evils. “That in the name of Christ the Nazarene.” He adds what grieved them most. So this was what Christ meant when he said to them, “What you heard in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.” “That in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands before you in good health.” Do not think, he says, that we hide his hometown or his passion. “Whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands before you in good health.” Again the passion, again the resurrection. “He is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.” He also reminded them of a saying able to frighten them: “For whoever falls on this stone,” he says, “will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.” “And there is salvation in no one else.” What blows do you think they took from these words? “For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Here he utters lofty things too. For when there is nothing to accomplish but only boldness to display, he does not hold back; for he had no fear of striking them. And he did not say simply, “through another,” but “there is salvation in no one else,” showing that this one is able to save us, and at the same time wishing to frighten them. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlettered and ordinary men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” And how, someone says, did unlettered men out-argue both them and the high priests? Because it was not they who spoke, but the grace of the Spirit through them. “And seeing the man who had been healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say against it.” Great was the man’s boldness; and that is clear from his not leaving them even in the very court. So if they had said, “It is not so,” he would have accused them. “But when they had commanded them to go out of the council, [they said,] What shall we do with these men?” You see them at a loss, and again human fear doing everything. So just as in Christ’s case they could neither overturn nor obscure what had happened, but the more they hindered, the more the faith advanced, so it happens now too. “What shall we do?” O the folly! If they thought that men who had tasted the contests would now be terrified; or rather, if, having had no power at the beginning, after such eloquence they expected to accomplish something. So the more they wished to hinder, the more the cause grew. “For that a notable sign has been done through them is evident to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it may not spread further [among the people, let us warn them] to speak no more in this name to anyone. And they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” See both their shamelessness and the apostles’ philosophy. “But [Peter and John answered] them: Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And when they had threatened them further, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people.” The signs stopped their mouths, and after that they did not even let them finish their speech, but cut them off in the middle very insultingly. “For all were glorifying God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.”

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “What shall we do with these men?” At first, then, they did everything for human glory; but now something else was added: not to seem to be murderers; which they said later: “You want to bring this man’s blood upon us.” “Let us strictly threaten them to speak no more in this name to anyone.” O the folly! Persuaded that he had risen, and having received this proof that he is God, do they think to restrain by threats the one who was not held fast by death? What is equal to this folly? And do not be surprised that again they attempt what cannot be done. For such is wickedness: it sees nothing, but is thrown into confusion everywhere. … For they felt like people who had been deceived, as happens with those who have been taken in, mocked by someone. And indeed, from first to last, the apostles said for this reason that God raised him and that in the name of Jesus this man stands in good health: to show that Jesus had risen. Besides, they themselves believed in a resurrection, a cold and childish one, but still they believed in it; but now they disbelieve and are in confusion, considering what to do to them. Was not this alone, then, enough to persuade them to do nothing to them: that they spoke with such boldness? Why do you disbelieve, tell me, O Jew? You ought to have attended to the sign that was done and to the words, not to the wickedness of the many. And why ever do they not hand them over to the Romans? They had already been discredited with them over the affair of Christ, so that they would rather have brought reproach on themselves; and so they put off exposing the apostles. With Christ it was not so: in the middle of the night they took him away secretly and at once, and did not put it off, because they greatly feared the crowd. About these men they had no such courage, nor do they bring them to Pilate, being wary and suspicious about the earlier events, lest they be accused over those too.

[3] “On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered in Jerusalem.” Again councils in Jerusalem, and there the blood is shed: they had no respect even for the city. “[And Annas the high priest],” he says, “and Caiaphas.” Peter could not bear the questioning of this man’s maidservant; before him he denied, when another was held. But now, coming forward into their midst, see how he speaks: “If we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man, as to how this man has been healed, let it be known to you all.” They say, “By what name did you do this?” Why do you not say the name, but obscure it? “By what name did you do this?” And yet he had said, “We did not do it.” See his good sense: he did not say at once, “We did it in the name of Jesus,” but what? “In his name this man stands before you in good health.” And he does not say, “He was made healthy by us.” And again, “If we are being examined for a good deed done to a sick man.” He strikes them as men who always bring such charges and find fault with good deeds done to people; and he reminds them of their earlier deeds, that they run to murders; and not only that, but they also bring charges over good deeds. Do you see how weighty his words are? For they had been trained in these things and were now not to be terrified. By these words he shows them that it is rather they who proclaim Christ against their will, and that they, the examiners and inquisitors, are the ones who exalt the doctrine. “Whom you crucified.” What boldness! “Whom God raised from the dead.” This again shows still greater freedom of speech. What he says is this: Do not think that we hide what is shameful; we are so far from obscuring it that we speak of it boldly. He says these things all but reproaching them, and not simply in passing, but he even dwells on the word: “This is the stone,” he says, “that was rejected by you, the builders.” Then, showing that they did this to something exceedingly well proven, he adds, “which has become the head of the corner”; that is, the one who is by nature precious and proven was rejected. So great was the boldness they had from the sign. But consider, I pray you, how, when they must teach, they bring forward many prophecies, but when they must speak boldly, they only declare. “For there is no other name,” he says, “under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” That the name was given to all men, and not to them alone. To this too he brings them in as witnesses. For since they said, “By what name did you do it?”: By Christ’s, he says; there is no other name. How then can you ask? So everywhere this is clear. “For there is no other name under heaven,” he says, “by which we must be saved.” These are the words of a soul that has passed sentence on the present life. The great boldness shows this. Here he makes clear that even when he spoke lowly things about Christ, he did so not from fear but in condescension; but since now was the right time, he speaks so loftily as to astonish all the hearers by this very thing. See, here is another sign, no less than the first. “And they recognized them,” he says, “that they had been with Jesus.” The evangelist did not put in this remark idly, but to show where they had been with him: in the passion, he means. For these alone were with him then, when the rulers also saw them lowly and downcast; and this especially amazed them, the sudden change. For Annas and Caiaphas and their party were there, and these men too stood by them; but now their great boldness astonished them. For not only by their words did they show that they did not care about such things, though they were on trial and danger of the worst was hanging over them, but by their bearing too, by their voice, their look, and in short by everything they displayed boldness before the people, by what they said. And they wondered, perhaps, “that they were unlettered and ordinary men”; since it is possible for someone to be unlettered and yet not ordinary, or ordinary but not unlettered. He shows here that the two came together. “Perceiving,” he says. From what? From what they said. He does not stretch out long speeches, but shows their boldness from the very telling and its arrangement; so that the rulers would have laid charges on them, if the man had not been with them. “And they recognized them,” he says, “that they had been with Jesus.” This made them believe that they had learned these things from him and were doing everything as his disciples. And no less than their voice, the miracle and the sign sent out a voice; and this above all stopped their mouths. “Whether it is right,” he says, “in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you judge.” When the fear had been cut down further (for their giving that command was nothing other than letting them go), then they speak more mildly; so far were they from rashness. “That a notable sign has been done, we cannot deny.” So they would have denied it, if this were not so, if there were not the testimony of the many. And indeed it was evident to all. But such is wickedness: bold and reckless. “Let us strictly threaten them.” What are you saying? Do you expect to stop the preaching by a threat? So everywhere beginnings are hard … and to speak boldly … that very sign; and now, if you threaten, do you expect to make us stand aside? Bonds did not persuade us to speak submissively, and will you persuade us? Of course you will: men who count you as nothing, even when you threaten! “Whether it is right,” he says, “in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God.” Here they say “God,” meaning Christ. Did you see how what he had told them now came true: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; do not fear them”?

Then again they confirm the resurrection by what they go on to say: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” So we are witnesses worthy of belief, and you, by threatening further, threaten in vain once more. When they ought to have changed their minds over the things for which the people were glorifying God, they even threaten to kill: such fighters against God they were. “And when they had threatened them further, they let them go.” By this they became more conspicuous and more illustrious. “For my power,” he says, “is made perfect in weakness.” Already these men had borne witness, drawn up in battle against all. What does “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” mean? If what we say is false, he says, refute it; but if it is true, why do you hinder it? Such is philosophy. They were at a loss, these in gladness; they were full of great shame, these did everything with boldness; they were in fear, these in confidence. For who, tell me, were the ones afraid? Those who said, “So that it may not spread further among the people,” or those who said, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard”? These were in pleasure and boldness and a gladness greater than all; those in despondency, in shame, in fear; for they were afraid of the people. These said what they wished; those did not do what they wished. Who were in bonds and dangers? Was it not these above all?

Let us, then, hold fast to virtue; let what is said not stop at delight, nor at a kind of comfort. This, beloved, is not the theater of lyre-singers and tragic actors, where the fruit goes no further than delight, and when the day has run its course the delight has passed. And would that it were delight only, and not harm as well along with the delight! But for all that, each one goes home from there having wiped off on himself, as from some filth, much of what is there. The young man has picked up some tunes of those satanic songs, as many as he could store in his memory, and sings them continually at home; the old man, as being more dignified, does not do this, but remembers all the words spoken there. From here you go away having nothing. And how is that not worthy of shame? We laid down a law; or rather, it was not we who laid it down, heaven forbid! For “do not call anyone teacher on earth,” he says. Christ laid down a law that no one should swear. What has become of this law, tell me? For I will not stop speaking of it, “lest, if I come again,” as the apostle says, “I do not spare.” Did you take thought for the matter? Did you care? Has there been any effort among you, or shall we take up the same words again? Rather, whether there has been or not, we shall take up the same words: if not, so that you may take thought; and if you have taken thought, so that you may do it more firmly and exhort others. Where then shall we begin our speech? Do you want us to begin from the Old Testament? But this is our shame: that the things in the Old Testament which we ought to have gone beyond, we do not even keep. For we ought not to be hearing about these things (for these commandments belong to Jewish meanness), but about those perfect ones: Throw away your money; stand nobly; give your life for the preaching; laugh at everything on earth; have nothing in common with the present life; if someone wrongs you, if he reviles you, honor him; be above all things. These are the things, and things like them, we ought to hear. But now we are discussing the oath; and it is the same as if someone took a man who ought to be studying philosophy away from his teachers and made him read syllables and spell out letters one by one. Think how great a shame it is for a man with a deep beard, carrying a staff and wearing the cloak off one shoulder, to go to school with the children and learn the same lessons as they: is the laughter not great? But ours is greater. For the difference between the Jewish way of life and ours is not as great as that between philosophy and letters, but as great as that between angels and men. If someone, tell me, [made an angel] stand and listen to our words as though he had to be set in order by them, would it not be a shame and a laughingstock? And if it is a laughingstock to be taught anything about these things, how great a condemnation, tell me, how great a shame, not even to heed them? And how is it not shameful that Christians are still being taught that one must not swear? But let us bear it, so that we may not be laughed at more. Come, then, let us speak to you today from the Old Testament. And what does it say? “Do not accustom your mouth to an oath, and do not make a habit of naming the Holy One. Why? For as a servant who is continually examined will not be free of bruises, so neither will the one who swears …”

See the good sense of this wise man. He did not say, “Do not accustom your mind to an oath,” but “your mouth,” because he knows that the whole thing belongs to the mouth, and that it is easily put right. For it is a habit, which in the end happens without our choosing; just as there are many who, going into the baths, sign themselves the moment they step over the threshold. The hand knows how to do this from habit, though no one commands it. Again, when a lamp is lit, often while the mind is thinking of something else, the hand makes the sign. So too the mouth speaks not with the soul but from habit, and the whole thing lies in the tongue. “And do not make a habit,” it says, “of naming the Holy One. For as a servant who is continually examined will not be free of bruises, so neither the one who swears.” Here he cuts off not perjury but the oath itself, and sets the punishment for it. So swearing is a sin. Such truly is that soul: full of so many wounds, so many bruises. But do you not see it? That is the terrible thing; and yet you can see, if you wish, for God has given you eyes. With such eyes the prophet saw, saying, “My bruises have grown foul and festered because of my folly.” We have despised God, we have hated the good name, we have treated Christ with contempt, we have cast off reverence: no one remembers the name of God with honor. And you, if you love someone, are roused at his very name; but God you call on continually as though he were nothing. Call on him for the good of an enemy; call on him for the salvation of your own soul: then he will be present, then you delight him; but now you provoke him. Call on him as Stephen called on him. Saying what? “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Call on him as the wife of Elkanah called on him, with tears, with lamentation, with prayer. That I do not forbid; I urge it strongly. Call on him as Moses called on him, when he cried out pleading for those who had made him flee. And if you mention some respected man idly, the thing is an insult; but when you carry God about in your talk, not only idly but out of season, do you think it nothing? And what punishment would you not deserve? I do not forbid you to have God always in mind (that I both pray for and wish), but not against his pleasure: rather in praising him, rather in honoring him. This would have done us great good, if we called on him only when we should and for what we should. Why, tell me, were there so many mighty works in the time of the apostles, but not in ours? And yet it is the same God, the same name. But the case is not the same. How? Because they called on him only for the things I have mentioned; but we do not call on him for these, but for other things. If the other man does not believe you, and that is why you swear, say, “Believe me”; or, if you wish, swear by yourself. I do not say this to make laws against Christ, heaven forbid! For “let your yes be yes,” he says, “and your no, no.” But I say it condescending to you, so that I may lead you the more toward this, and lead you away from the tyrannical habit. How many who were well thought of in other respects have perished through these things? Do you want to learn why the men of old were allowed to swear? (For swearing falsely was not allowed even to them.) Because they swore by idols. Are you not ashamed to remain under the laws by which those weak men were guided? For now too, if I take on a Greek, I do not at once enjoin this on him, but first urge him to know Christ; but the believer, who has learned him and heard him, if he is to need the same condescension as the Greek, what is the use? What is the gain? “But habit is a hard thing, and I find it hard to tear myself away.” Then, since the tyranny of habit is so great, transfer it to another habit. “And how is it possible?” he says. What I have often said, I say now too: let there be many who keep account of what is said; let there be examiners and correctors. It is no shame to be corrected by others; rather it is a shame to push away those who correct you, and to do this to the harm of your own salvation. If you put on your garment the wrong way round, you let a child put you right, and are not ashamed to learn from him, though there is great shame in this; but here, when you are being harmed in your soul, are you ashamed, tell me, to be taught by another? You put up with a servant who arranges your clothes and puts on your shoes, but one who sets your soul in order you do not put up with? What great folly is this? Let even a servant be the teacher of these things, let a child be, let a wife be, let a friend be, and a relative, and a neighbor. For as a wild beast driven from every side cannot escape, so the one who has so many guards, so many to rebuke him, who is struck from every side, cannot fail to be on his guard. On the first day he will find it hard to bear, and on the second, and on the third; but then it will be very easy, and after the fourth the thing will not even exist. Make the trial, if you do not believe it; take thought, I beg you. It is no chance matter, either the failure or the success, but great on either side, both the evil and the good. May it turn out good, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “And when they had been released, they went to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and [the elders had said to them].”

They do not tell it out of ambition (how could they?), but they display these things as proofs of the grace of Christ. That is why they tell all that those men said; and even if they pass over their own part, still by this too the hearers become more courageous. And consider how again they took refuge in the true help, in the alliance that cannot be fought against, and again with one accord and with zeal; for it is no prayer made carelessly. “And when they heard it, they lifted their voices with one accord to God and said.” See how exact their prayers are. When they were asking that the man worthy of the apostleship be shown to them, they spoke thus: “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all” (for that was what was needed there); but here, since the opponents had to be muzzled, they speak of his sovereignty. That is why they began thus: “Sovereign Lord, God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who said by the mouth of David your servant, Why did the nations rage, and the peoples plot vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Anointed.” As though claiming from God the terms of an agreement, they bring the prophecy forward, at the same time comforting themselves that the enemies plot everything in vain. What they say, then, is this: Bring those words to fulfillment, and show that they plotted vain things. “For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats.” Do you see their philosophy, and how these are not the words of men who curse? They did not set down the threats one by one, but only say that they threatened; for the writer shortens the account. And see: they did not say, “Strike them, cast them down,” but what? “And grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness.” So let us too learn to pray. And yet how full of anger would anyone be, if he fell among men trying to kill him and threatening him? How full of hatred? But not these saints. “While you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” If the mighty works are done in that name, he says, the boldness will be great. “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken.” This was a proof that they had been heard and of God’s visitation. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” What does “were filled” mean? It stands for “were set on fire by the Spirit”; for the gift was kindled in them. “And they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the heart and soul of the multitude of those who believed was one.” Do you see that along with the grace of God they also brought in their own part? For everywhere one must observe this: that along with the grace of God they also show their own part, as Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have.” What he said above, that all were together, he says again here, making the same point: “The heart and soul of the multitude of those who believed was one.” Having said that they were heard, he now tells of their virtue as well. For he is about to come to the story of Sapphira and Ananias. So, wishing to show their foulness, he first speaks of the virtue of the others. Tell me, did love give birth to the renouncing of possessions, or the renouncing of possessions to love? To me it seems that love gave birth to the renouncing, or rather that the renouncing drew love tighter still. And hear what he says: “The heart and soul of all was one.” See: heart and soul, that is what “together” means. “And not one of them said that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ rendered their testimony to the resurrection.” He shows them as men to whom it had been entrusted; or he speaks as of a debt: that is, they rendered the testimony of the kingdom to all with boldness. “And great grace was upon them all; for there was not a needy person among them.” They felt as sons all of equal rank in their father’s house. For one cannot say that they fed the others, but felt as though they were feeding them from their own; the wonderful thing is rather this, that they parted with their possessions and fed them in such a way that they no longer seemed to feed them from their own, but from what was common. “For as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and it was distributed to each as anyone had need.” Great was the honor they paid, if they laid it not in their hands but at the apostles’ feet. “And Joses, who was surnamed Barnabas by the apostles, which means son of encouragement.” This does not seem to be the man who stood with Matthias; for that man was called both Joses and Barsabbas, and later was also surnamed Justus; but this one was named Barnabas, son of encouragement, by the apostles. And it seems to me that he received the name from his virtue, as being able and fit for this. “A Levite, a Cypriot by birth, having a field, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

Here observe, I pray you, how he shows the law being dissolved, and how he says that, being a Levite, he was a Cypriot. For thereafter, even when they lived abroad, they were called Levites. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “When they had been released,” he says, “they went to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.” See the apostles’ freedom from pride and their philosophy … how they had dealt with the priests, nor did they seek honor by the report, but simply came and told what they had heard from them … we learn that they did not throw themselves into trials, but rather bore nobly those that were brought on them. Another man, if there had been such a one, emboldened perhaps by the support of the crowd, would have insulted them and said countless harsh things. But not these philosophers: they did everything gently and mildly. “And when they heard it,” he says, “they lifted their voices with one accord to God.” The cry came from pleasure and great feeling. For such prayers do their work: prayers full of philosophy, prayers made for such things, by such men, at such times, in this manner; whereas the others are abominable and unclean. See how they say nothing superfluous, but speak only of his power. Or rather, just as Christ said to the Jews, “But if I by the Spirit of God …,” so they too say, “through the Holy Spirit.” See, the Savior too speaks in the Spirit. And hear what they say: “Sovereign Lord, God, who said by the mouth of David your servant, Why did the nations rage?” For it is the custom of Scripture to speak of one as of many. What they say, then, is this: It was not they who prevailed, but you did the whole, who permitted it and brought it to completion, you who are full of resource and wise, who used the enemies for your purpose. For here they speak of his resourcefulness and wisdom, showing that the others came together as enemies, with murderous intent, and as opponents; yet they did what you nevertheless willed to be done: “whatever your hand and your plan predestined to take place.” What does “your hand” mean? Here it seems to me that he calls power and plan “hand.” It is enough, he means, that you willed it; for no one predestines by power. So “whatever your hand” means “whatever you ordained.” Either this is what he means, or that he accomplished it by his hand. Just as they then plotted vain things, so now too, they say, make their plotting vain. “And grant to your servants”: that is, let their threats not come to deeds. And they said this not to beg off from suffering anything hard themselves, but for the sake of the preaching. For they did not say, “And deliver us from dangers,” but what? “And grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness.” You, then, who brought those things to completion, bring these too. “Whom you anointed,” he says. See how even in their prayer they set out the passion in detail, and refer the whole to him, and say that he is the cause of their boldness. Did you see how they ask everything for God’s sake, and nothing for their own glory or honor? Their own part they promise, that they will not be terrified; but they ask that signs may happen. “While you stretch out your hand,” he says, “to heal, and signs and wonders are done.” Rightly; for without these, even if they had shown countless eagerness, they would have done everything in vain. He assented to their petition, and made it clear, by shaking the place, that he is present to their prayers. “For when they had prayed,” he says, “the place was shaken.” That it happened for this reason, hear the prophet saying, “He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble”; and again, “At the presence of the Lord the earth was shaken, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” God does this both to inspire greater fear and to lead them to courage after those threats, anointing them for greater boldness. For since it was the beginning, they also needed a sign the senses could perceive, so that they might be believed; but after this it nowhere happens. So great was the comfort they obtained from the prayer. And rightly they also ask for signs; for they had no other means of showing that he had risen than the signs. So they sought not only their own security, but also not to be put to shame, and to speak with boldness. The place was shaken, and that established them all the more. This is sometimes a sign of anger, sometimes of visitation and providence; but now of anger. At the saving passion it happened in a strange way, beyond nature; for then the whole earth was shaken. And the Savior himself said, “Then there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes in various places.” Besides, the anger was against those men; for these he filled with the Spirit. See, the apostles too are filled with the Spirit after the prayer. “And great grace was upon them all,” he says, “for there was not a needy person among them.” Do you see that the power of the thing is great, since even there this was needed? For this is the foundation of good things, which he mentions a second time, urging on everyone contempt for money: above he said, “Not one of them said that any of the things he possessed was his own,” and here, “There was not a needy person among them.”

For that what was happening came not only from the signs but also from their own choice is shown by Sapphira and Ananias. And they displayed their testimony to the resurrection not by word only but by power, as Paul too says, “And my preaching was not in persuasive words, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” And not simply “with power,” but “with great power.” And rightly he said, “Grace was upon them all.” For this was the grace: that no one was needy; that is, because of the great eagerness of those who gave, no one was needy. For they did not give part and store up part; nor did they give all and yet treat it as their own. They removed inequality from their midst and lived in great abundance; and they did this with great honor. For they did not dare to give it into the apostles’ hands, nor did they offer it with pride, but brought it to their feet and let them become its stewards and made them its masters, so that it might be spent from then on as from common funds, and not as from their own. This also helped them not to be vainglorious. If this happened now too, we would live with greater pleasure, rich and poor alike; and it would bring no more pleasure to the poor than to the rich. And if you like, let us for the time being sketch it in words, and in this way enjoy the pleasure, since you are not willing to do it in deeds. Indeed it is clear from what happened then that by selling they did not become needy, but even made the poor rich. But still, let us now sketch it in words. Let everyone sell all he has and bring it into the common stock: in words, I mean; let no one be alarmed, rich or poor. How much gold do you think would be collected? I guess (for it is not possible to say it exactly) that if all, men and women, emptied out their money here, and sold their lands and properties and houses (slaves I would not mention, for there were none then either; perhaps they let them go free), perhaps a million pounds of gold would have been collected, or rather twice and three times as much. For tell me, how great a number of people, all mixed together, does our city now count? How many do you want to say are Christians? Shall we say a hundred thousand, and the rest Greeks and Jews? How many thousands in gold would have been collected? And how many are the poor? I do not think more than fifty thousand. To feed these every day, how great an abundance would there have been? Or rather, if the food were common and they ate together, not even a great outlay would be needed. “What then,” someone says, “were we going to do after it was spent?” Do you think it could ever be spent? Would not the grace of God have become ten-thousandfold? Would not the grace of God have been poured out richly? What then? Would we not have made earth a heaven? If, where there were three thousand and five thousand, this, once done, shone out so brightly, and none of them complained of poverty, how much more in so great a multitude? And who even of those outside would not have contributed? And to show that living apart is costly and the cause of poverty, let there be a house with ten children and a wife and husband: let her work wool, and him bring in income from outside. Tell me, would these spend more eating together and having one house, or living apart? Clearly, living apart. For if the ten children were to live apart, there would be need of ten dwellings, ten tables, ten servants, and all the rest of the outlay in proportion. And what of a house where there is a crowd of slaves? Do they not all have one table for this very reason, so that the expense may not be great? For division always produces diminishing, while concord and agreement produce increase. So those in the monasteries live now, as the faithful once did. Who, then, would have died of hunger? Who would not have been fed in great abundance? Now people fear this more than falling into a vast and boundless sea. But if we made trial of it, then we would boldly venture on the thing. How great a grace do you think there would be? For if then, when no one was a believer but only the three thousand and the five thousand, when everyone in the world was an enemy, when they expected comfort from nowhere, they boldly ventured on the thing, how much more would this happen now, when by the grace of God there are believers everywhere in the world? And who would remain a Greek any longer? Not one, I think: so would we have drawn all and attracted them to us. But still, if we go forward on this road, I trust in God that this too will come about. Only be persuaded by me, and we will set things right in their order; and if God gives life, I trust that we will soon [bring] you to this way of life.

For the time being, set right the law about the oath and make it firm; and let the one who has kept it make known the one who has not, and accuse him, and rebuke him sharply. For the appointed day is near, and I will make an examination of the matter, and the one found guilty I will excommunicate and shut out. But may no such person be found among us; may all keep this spiritual watchword exactly. Just as in war friends and strangers are known by the watchword, so let it be now; for now too we are at war, and so we must recognize our own brothers. How good it is for us to have this as our mark, both here and in a foreign land! What a weapon this is against the devil’s scheming! For a mouth that does not know how to swear will quickly draw God to itself in prayers and strike the devil a mortal blow; a mouth that does not know how to swear will not know how to insult either. Cast this fire out of the tongue as out of a house, and drag it outside. Give the tongue a little room to breathe; make the sore weaker. Yes, I beg you, so that I may give you another lesson too; for while this one is not yet set right, I dare not go on to another. Give me first the sense that this has been achieved, and then I will bring in other laws for you too; or rather not I, but Christ. Plant this good thing in your soul, and little by little you will be a paradise of God, much better than that one; for there is no serpent among us, nor death-bearing tree, nor anything else of the kind. Fix this habit deep. If this happens, not only you who are present will be benefited, but all who are in the world; and not only they, but also those who come after them. For a good custom, once it has come in and is kept by all, will be handed down to long ages, and no time will be able to cut it out. If a man who gathered wood on the sabbath was stoned, the one who does things much worse than that gathering, and gathers a load of sins (for that is what the multitude of oaths is), what will he not undergo? What will he not endure? You will receive great help from God, if this is set right among you. If I say, “Do not insult,” at once you bring your anger forward; if I say, “Do not envy,” you will give another excuse. Here you have nothing of the kind to say. That is why I began with the easy things, since in all the crafts too they do the same. So one comes to the greater things, by first learning the much easier ones. You will know how easy this is when, having succeeded by the grace of God, you receive another law as well. Give me boldness before Greeks and before Jews, and above all before God. Yes, I beg you by love, by the travail with which I travailed for you, “my little children.” What follows I will not add, “with whom I am again in travail”; nor will I say, “until Christ is formed in you.” For I believe that Christ has been formed in you. But I will say other words to you: “My brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown.” For believe me, I do not speak otherwise than I feel. If someone now set countless jeweled royal crowns on my head, I would not rejoice as I rejoice at your progress; or rather, I do not think even the emperor rejoices as I do over you. What am I saying? If he came back having conquered all the nations at war with him, and received many other crowns besides the customary one, and other diadems as tokens of his victory, I do not think he would rejoice over his trophies as I do over your progress. For I exult as though I had countless crowns on my head; and rightly. For if by the grace of God this custom is set right among you, you have won countless wars, and much harder than that one, having wrestled and fought against evil demons, against avenging spirits, not with swords but with the tongue and the will. For see how much is achieved, if indeed you succeed. First, you cut out a hard habit; second, an evil reasoning, from which all evils come: thinking that the thing is indifferent and does no harm; third, anger; fourth, love of money; for the oath gives birth to all these. And from this you will also gain a great starting point toward the other good deeds. For just as children who learn their letters do not learn only those, but through them are trained little by little to read, so you too: the evil reasoning will no longer deceive you, nor will you say, “This is indifferent”; you will no longer speak from habit, but will stand nobly against everything, so that, having accomplished virtue according to God in all things, you may enjoy the eternal good things, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “And Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas by the apostles (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, having a field, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

He is now about to tell the story of Ananias and Sapphira; and wishing to show that the man sinned most grievously, he first mentions the one who did well: that though there was so great a multitude doing these things, though there was so much grace and so many signs, he was set right by none of them, but, blinded once for all by love of money, he drew that destruction down on his own head. “Having a field”: he spoke so to show that this was all he owned. “He sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But a man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price, his wife also knowing it; and he brought a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” The terrible thing is that the sin was committed by agreement, and no one else knew what had been done. Where did the idea of doing this come from to this wretched and miserable man? “But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?” See, here too a great sign takes place, much greater than the earlier one. “While it remained, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, was it not in your power?” That is, was there any necessity or force? Do we drag you in against your will? “Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. And when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.” Do you see why this sign is greater? From the killing, and from knowing what is in the mind and what was done in secret. “And great fear came upon all who heard these things. And the young men rose and wrapped him up, and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” Her he wished to save; for he had been the leader in the sin. And that is why he gives her, perhaps, an opportunity for defense and room for repentance. So he says, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, Yes, for so much. And Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? See, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.” After fear had come upon them, they worked more signs; and hear that they did: “And by the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all together in Solomon’s portico; but of the rest no one dared to join them.” Naturally. For Peter was now formidable, punishing and exposing what was in men’s minds; and they paid him all the more attention because of the sign, and the first address, and the second and the third. For it was he who worked the first sign and the second and the present one, which seems to me to be double, not simply one thing only: one part, exposing what was in the mind; the second, the killing. … “to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and pallets, so that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.” This did not happen with Christ; so that one can now see in deed what he said come to pass. What was that? “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater than these will he do.” “And the multitude from the towns around Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick, and they were all healed.”

But consider, I pray you, how their whole life is woven of opposites. For example: first there was discouragement because of Christ’s ascension, then good cheer because of the descent of the Spirit; again discouragement because of the mockers, then good cheer because of the believers and the sign; again discouragement because of the arrest, then good cheer through the defense. Here again there is both good cheer and discouragement. That they were illustrious and that God made revelations to them was good cheer; that they had to kill their own was discouragement. Again good cheer from their renown; again discouragement from the high priest. And looking through the whole, one can see this; and one would find it so among the men of old as well. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “They sold,” he says, “and brought the prices and laid them at the apostles’ feet.” See, I pray you, beloved, how they did not leave the selling to the apostles, but sold it themselves and gave the prices to them. But not so Ananias: he takes away something from the price of the field he had sold; and that is why he is punished, as one who had not managed the matter rightly and had been caught stealing what was his own. This word touched the priests of today too, and very strongly. And since his wife was privy to what was done, he examines her as well.

But perhaps someone might say that he treated her very harshly. What do you mean? Tell me, what harshness? If [a man was stoned for gathering] wood, [much more for sacrilege]; for the money was now sacred. So the man who chose to sell what was his and give it away, and then took some of it, would be guilty of sacrilege. And if one who takes from his own is guilty of sacrilege, much more one who takes from what belongs to others. For do not think that, because this does not happen now and punishment does not follow on the spot, these things go unpunished. Do you see that he is charged with this: that having made the money sacred, he then secretly took some? Could you not, he says, even after selling it, have used it as your own? Were you prevented? Why do you take it after promising it? See how at once, from the beginning, the devil attacked, while signs and such great wonders were happening; or rather how this man too was hardened by him. Something of this kind happened in the Old Testament too, when Achar was caught having stolen the devoted thing; yet you know with what vengeance the matter was set right there too. For sacrilege, beloved, is a very grievous thing, and full of great contempt. We did not compel you to sell, he says, nor, having sold, to give the money; you chose it of your own free will; why then did you steal from the sacred money? “Why,” he says, “has Satan filled your heart?” And if Satan did this, why is he himself charged? He became guilty by receiving Satan’s working and being filled with it. “But he ought to have set him right,” someone says. But he would not have been set right; for one who saw such things and did not profit would much less have profited in any other way. So what had happened ought not simply to be passed over, but cut out like a gangrene, so that it might not infect the rest of the body. As it is, this man too has been helped, by not going further in wickedness, and the others have become more earnest; but otherwise the opposite would have happened. That is why he first convicts him and shows that what was done had not escaped him, and then condemns him. Why, he says, did you do this? Did you want to keep it? You should have kept it from the beginning and not promised it; but now, by taking it after dedicating it, you have committed a greater sacrilege. For one who takes what belongs to others perhaps takes it because he coveted another’s goods; but you were free to keep your own. Why then did you make it sacred, and then take it? This you did out of great contempt. What was done has no pardon; it is beyond defense. But let no one be scandalized if even now there are some guilty of sacrilege. For if there were such then, much more now, when evils are many. But let us convict them before all, so that the rest too may be afraid. Judas was guilty of sacrilege, but this did not scandalize the disciples. Do you see how many evils the desire for money produces? “And great fear,” he says, “came upon all who heard these things.” He was punished, and others profited. So this was not ordered without a purpose. And though other signs had happened before, there was no such fear. So true is that saying, “The Lord is known by executing judgments.” So it happened with the ark too: Uzzah was punished, and fear came upon the others. But there the king in his fear put the ark away from him; here these men become more attentive. Did you see how Peter did not call her, but waited for her to come in? Nor did any of the others dare to tell what had happened. This is the fear of a teacher, this the honor of disciples, this obedience. “An interval of three hours.” And the woman did not learn of it, nor did anyone present tell her, though it was quite enough for it to get out; but they were afraid. The writer says this in wonder: “not knowing what had happened, she came in.” And yet from this she could have learned that he knows what is hidden. For why does he ask you, when he has asked no one else? Is it not plain that he asks as one who knows? But her great hardness did not let her put off the charge, but she answers with great insolence; for she thought she was speaking to a man. The terrible thing is this, that they came to the sin as if by one counsel, or as if by some agreement. “How is it,” he says, “that you have agreed together to put the Holy Spirit to the test? See, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” First he teaches her the sin, and then shows that she will justly suffer the same as her husband, since she sinned the same sin. And how is it, someone says, that “immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last”? Because she was standing near. So they themselves drew the punishment down on themselves. Who after this would not have been astounded? Who would not have feared the apostle? Who would not have wondered? “And they were all together,” he says, “in Solomon’s portico.” From this it is clear that they spent their time not in a house, but had taken possession of the temple; nor did they any longer take care not to touch what was unclean, but simply touched the dead. And see how severe they are with their own, while with outsiders they do not use their power. “And,” he says, “believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they laid the sick in the streets on beds and pallets, so that as Peter came by at least his shadow …”

[3] Great was the faith of those who came, greater even than in Christ’s time. How did this happen? From Christ’s having declared and said, “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and greater will he do.” For since they stayed there and did not go about, all brought on beds and pallets the sick they had, and from every side the wonder grew for them: from those who believed, from those who were healed, from the one who was punished, from their boldness toward the rulers, from the virtue of those who believed in earnest; for what happened did not come from the signs alone. For even if they themselves, out of modesty, put the whole down to this, saying that they do these things in the name of Christ, yet the life and virtue of the men also brought this about. And consider how he does not give the number of those who believed here, leaving the hearer to reckon it for himself: so far had the faith spread, to a boundless multitude. From this the resurrection too was proclaimed the more. “But none dared to join them, but the people magnified them.” He says this to show that they were no longer contemptible as before, and that in a short time, in a single moment, so much had been done by the fisherman and … So the earth was now heaven, for their way of life, their boldness, their wonders, and everything; and they paid no heed to laughter, to threats, to dangers. And not only for this reason, but because, being very kind and caring, they helped some with money and others with the healing of their bodies. “Why has Satan filled your heart?” Peter all but makes a defense, when he is about to punish him and teach the others. For since what happened was going to seem very harsh, for that reason he makes the trial a fearful one both for the man himself and for his wife. And if, when they had sinned unpardonably, he had not exacted such a penalty from both, how great a contempt of God would have come of it! That this was the reason is clear from his not going straight to punishment, but first showing the sin. That is why no one groaned, no one lamented, but all were afraid. And naturally, as their faith increased, the signs too became more numerous, and among their own the fear was great; since outsiders do not trouble us as much as our own. If, then, we are knit together with one another, no one will make war on us; just as, if we stand apart from one another, all will attack us. From this those men too now took courage, and with boldness went even into the marketplace, and in the midst of their enemies they prevailed; and that saying was fulfilled, “Rule in the midst of your enemies.” And this was proof of still greater power, that while held fast and bound they did such things. If, then, those who only lied suffered such things, what will those not suffer who also perjure themselves? Or rather, if the woman who simply said, “Yes, for so much,” paid such a penalty and did not escape, consider, you who swear and perjure yourselves, what punishment you would deserve. It is timely today to show from the Old Testament too how grievous perjury is. “A sickle,” it says, “flying, ten cubits in breadth.” “Flying” shows the very swift approach of the punishment that follows oaths; the breadth and length of ten cubits signifies the severity and the greatness of the evils; its flying from heaven, that the sentence comes from the court above; its sickle shape, that the punishment cannot be escaped. For as a sickle that has fallen on the neck could not of itself come away, but somehow stays even when the head is being cut off, so too the penalty that comes upon those who swear is something fearful, and would not depart before it had done its work. And if we escape when we swear, let us not take courage: this happens to our harm. For what do you think? How many after Ananias and Sapphira dared the same as they, and did not suffer the same? And how is it, someone says, that they did not suffer it? Not because they were forgiven, but because for a greater punishment …

So those who stumble often and are not punished ought to fear and dread more than those who are punished; for their punishment grows through their going unpunished and through God’s long-suffering. Let us, then, not look at whether we are punished, but at whether we have sinned; and if we sin and are not punished, we ought to tremble the more. Tell me, if you have a slave and only threaten him and do not beat him, when is he more afraid, when does he flee, when does he run away? Is it not when you only threaten? That is why we advise one another not to threaten continually, so as not to shake his soul the more with fear, so as not to tear him more than the blows would. Besides, there the punishment is for a time, but here it is everlasting. So do not look now at whether no one suffers what the sickle brings, but consider whether he does such things. For many things are done now such as were done in the time of the flood, yet no flood has come; for Gehenna has been threatened, and punishment. Many sin as the people of Sodom did, but no rain of fire came; for a river of fire has been prepared. Many have dared what Pharaoh dared, but have not suffered what Pharaoh suffered, nor were they drowned in the Red Sea; for the sea of the abyss awaits them, where the punishment is not without feeling, nor is it possible to be choked, but they are consumed, punished more and more, fried, burned. Many have dared what the Israelites dared, but serpents have not eaten them; for the worm that never dies awaits them. Many have dared what Gehazi dared, but did not become lepers; for instead of leprosy, being cut in two and being put with the hypocrites awaits them. Many have both sworn and perjured themselves; but if they have escaped, let us not take courage; for the gnashing of teeth awaits them. And here too perhaps they will suffer, and will not escape, even if not on the spot, then for other sins, so that the punishment may be heavier; since we too, often taking an occasion from small things, empty out everything over great ones. So when you see something happen to you, remember that sin of yours. This is what happened with the sons of Jacob. Remember the brothers of Joseph: they sold their brother, they tried to kill him, or rather they did kill him as far as it lay with them; they deceived and grieved the old man; they suffered nothing. Yet after many years they were in danger of the worst, and are reminded of this sin. And that what I say is not guesswork, hear what they say: “Yes, for we are in guilt concerning our brother.” So you too, when something happens, say: Yes, we are in guilt, because we did not listen to Christ, because we swore; the many oaths and the perjuries have come upon my head. Then confess; for they too confessed and were saved. For what does it matter if the punishment does not come at once? Ahab, too, over Naboth, did not suffer what he suffered immediately upon the sin. And why does this happen? God gives you a set time to wash yourself; but when you persist, he then brings on the punishment. Did you see what those who lied suffered? Then consider what those who perjure themselves will suffer too; consider it, and stand away from it. It is not possible for one who swears not to perjure himself, willingly or unwillingly; it is not possible for one who perjures himself to be saved. A single perjury is enough to accomplish the whole and bring the full punishment upon us. For this reason let us take heed, I beg you, so that, having escaped the punishment from it, we may be counted worthy of the love for humankind that comes from him, by the grace and compassion of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy, and they laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public prison.”

Nothing is more reckless than wickedness, nothing bolder. Though they had learned the apostles’ courage by experience from what they had attempted before, they nevertheless make the attempt and again combine against them. What does “the high priest rose up, and all who were with him” mean? He was roused, he means, stirred by what had happened. “And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public prison.” Now they attack them more violently. But they did not judge them at once, expecting that they would become meek again. And how is it clear that they attacked them more violently? From their putting them in the public prison. Again they fall into dangers, and again they enjoy the help that comes from God; and how, hear what follows: “But an angel of the Lord by night opened the doors of the prison and brought them out and said, Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” This happened both for their encouragement and for the benefit and instruction of the others. And see the same thing happening now as in Christ’s case. He does not let them see the miracles as they happen, but arranges the things from which they might learn of them. For example, at his resurrection he did not let them see how he rose, for they were unworthy to see it, but he shows it from what he did. Likewise with the wine made from water: those reclining at table do not see it happen, for they were drunk; and he leaves the judging to others. So here too: they do not see the apostles being led out, but they saw the proofs from which they could learn what had happened. And why did he bring them out at night? Because in this way they were believed more than otherwise; besides, the rulers would not otherwise have come to ask; nor would they themselves otherwise have believed. So it was with the men of old too: the king saw the youths in the furnace [praising] God, and then he was struck with amazement. So these men too ought first to have asked, “How did you get out?” But they ask as though nothing had happened, saying, “Did we not charge you not to speak?” And see how they learn everything through others: [they see the prison locked] with all security, and the guards standing before the doors. “And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and taught. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported, saying, We found the prison locked with all security and the guards standing before the doors; but when we opened it we found no one inside.” A double security, as at the tomb: both the seal and the guards. See how they were fighting against God. Tell me, [were they of men,] these things that happened to them? Who [led them out] when the doors were locked? How did they get out with the guards standing before the doors? Truly these are the words of men [out of their minds] and drunk. Those whom neither guards nor bonds nor locked doors held, these they thought they would overcome, … like foolish children. Their officers at any rate … and confess what had happened, so as to shut off every excuse. Do you see signs upon signs, … some done by them, others done to them, and these were more splendid? Rightly it was not reported at once either, but first they were at a loss … having considered … that it was a divine power … “Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, See, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went with the officers and brought them, not by force; for they feared the people, lest they be stoned.” O the folly! “They feared,” he says, “the crowd.” What could the crowd do to them? They ought to have feared God, who time and again snatches them out of their hands; but they fear the crowd rather. “And the high priest questioned them, saying, Did we not strictly charge you not to teach in this name? And see, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you want to bring this man’s blood upon us.” What then do the apostles say? Again they speak with gentleness; and yet they might have said, Who are you, to set yourselves against God? But what? They answer with exhortation and counsel, and with much gentleness. “But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.” Great is their philosophy, and … from this they show that the rulers too are fighting against God. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” “Whom you killed,” he says, “God raised.” And see, again they ascribe the whole to the Father, so that the Son may not seem to be alien to the Father. “Exalted,” he says, “at his right hand.” Not simply the resurrection, but the exaltation too, that is, the ascension, he shows. “To give repentance to Israel …” See again the gain, and teaching made complete in the form of a defense. “And we are his witnesses of these things.” Great is the boldness. Then, to make the word credible, he added: “And so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” Do you see how they use not only their own testimony but also that of the Spirit? And they did not say, “whom he gave to us,” but “to those who obey,” at once speaking modestly and showing how great the gift is, and making clear that the rulers too can receive him. See how they were being instructed both by deeds and by words, and paid no attention, so that their condemnation might be just. For this very reason God allowed the apostles to be brought to court: so that those men might be instructed, if indeed they were willing to learn, and the apostles anointed for boldness. “But [when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and wanted to kill] them.” See the excess of wickedness. When they ought [to have been pricked to the heart] by what they heard, [they wanted] to kill without cause.

[2] But now we must look at what was read from the beginning. “But an angel of the Lord by night opened the doors of the prison and brought them out and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” “Brought them out”: he does not lead them away himself, but lets them go, so that by this too their fearlessness might be known; which they also showed by going into the temple in the dark and teaching. If the guards had let them out, as those men thought, they would have fled, if indeed they had gone out by persuading them; or rather, if those had let them out, they would not have stood in the temple, but would have run away. But no one is so foolish as not to see this. If, then, they too had been persuaded by you, you are right to call them to account; but if they told you from that time on that they would not be persuaded, the inquiries are superfluous, and so are the charges … folly. Now they want to show that the intentions of the Jews were murderous, as men who did these things not for the sake of truth but because they wished to take revenge. That is why the apostles do not answer them rashly either; for they were teachers. And yet who, with the whole city hanging on him and enjoying so much grace, would not have said and uttered something great? But not these men: for they were not angry, but pitied them and wept, and considered how to free them from their error and their anger. And they no longer say, [“You judge,” but simply declare,] saying, “whom God raised,” showing by this that these things are according to God’s will. They did not say, “Did we not tell you then too, We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard?” for they are not seekers of honor; but again they say the same things, the cross, the resurrection. And they do not say why he was crucified, that it was for us; but they hint at it, though not yet openly, wishing for the time being to frighten them. Tell me, what rhetoric is there here? None. So without artifice did they preach the gospel of life. And having said that he “exalted,” he says also for what: “to give repentance,” adding, “to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” “But these things were unbelievable at that time,” they say. What do you mean? And how were they not rather believable, since neither the rulers nor the crowd had anything to say against them, but the one were silenced and the other were taught? “And we,” he says, “are witnesses of these things.” Of what? That he promised forgiveness, that he promised repentance; for the resurrection was by now acknowledged. And that he gives forgiveness we bear witness, and so does the Holy Spirit, who would not have come if sins had not first [been forgiven]. You hear of forgiveness of sins, wretched man, and that he does not exact a penalty, and you want to kill? What great wickedness is this! And yet they ought either to have refuted them as liars, or, being unable to, to be persuaded; and if they did not wish to be persuaded, at least not to kill them. For what was there that deserved death? But they in their anger did not even perceive what had happened. See how here, having mentioned the crime, they speak of forgiveness, showing that what had been done deserved death, but that what was offered was offered as to men of good will. How else could anyone have persuaded them, except by speaking to them as men of good standing? And see the malice: they set the Sadducees against them, who were most pained over the resurrection. But they gained nothing from their wickedness. But perhaps someone will say, “And what man enjoying such things as the apostles enjoyed would not have become great?” But see, I pray you, before they enjoyed the grace, how they were persevering with one accord in prayer and hoping for the help from above. And you, beloved, hope for the kingdom of heaven, and endure nothing? You too have received the Spirit, but you do not suffer such things, nor are you in danger? But they, before they had caught their breath from the earlier trials, were led off again to others. And this very thing, not being puffed up, not being vainglorious, how great a good it is! To speak with gentleness, how great a gain! For not everything came from grace; there are many proofs of their own zeal too. For that the gifts of grace shone out in them was the work of their own diligence.

See, then, from the very beginning, how careful Peter is, how sober and watchful; how the believers threw away their money. They had nothing of their own, they were at prayer, they showed concord, they lived in fastings. Of what grace, tell me, are these things? That is why he makes the conviction come through the rulers themselves, through their own officers; who, just as the men sent in Christ’s case said, “Never has a man spoken as this man speaks,” came back and reported what they had seen. But consider here, I pray you, both the rulers’ own moderation, how they give way, and the high priest’s feigned purpose. For he speaks to them gently, as it seems, because he is afraid, and he wished rather to stop them than to kill them, since this he could not do. And so as to stir everyone up and hang the danger of the worst over the apostles, “Do you want,” he says, “to bring this man’s blood upon us?” Does he still seem to you a man? He spoke so to show that the order had been forced on them. But see also Peter, what he says: “God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” Here he does not mention the Gentiles, so as not to give them a handle. “And they wanted,” he says, “to kill them.” See again these men at a loss, these in pain; but the apostles in ease and good cheer and delight. They were not simply pained, but “cut to the heart.” This, then, is what it means that to do evil is to suffer evil, as one can see here too. These men were in bonds, they stood before the court, and the judges were at a loss, in great helplessness. For as one who strikes adamant receives the blow himself, so too these men. But they saw not only that the apostles’ boldness was not hindered, but that the preaching grew even more, and that they spoke undaunted and gave them no handle. Let us too, then, imitate these men, beloved, and become undaunted in all terrors. There is nothing terrible for one who fears God; the terrors are among those who do not fear him. For the one who by virtue has risen above the passions, and passes by present things as a shadow, how will he suffer anything terrible from anyone? Whom will he fear? Or … [Let us flee to the rock that cannot be] shaken. If someone built us a city and set a wall around it, or rather if he settled us in a land where there was no one to trouble us and provided every abundance there, not letting us have dealings with anyone, he would not have set us in such security as Christ has now. Suppose, if you like, that the city is of bronze, with a strong and impregnable wall on every side; let no enemy lie against it; let it have abundant and rich land; let there be plenty of everything else too; let the citizens be gentle and kindly, and let no evildoer be seen there, no thief, no clothes-stealer, no informer, no law court, but only contracts; and let us live in this city: not even so would it be possible to live in security. Why? Because one must have differences with servants, with a wife, with children, and there is ground for much discouragement. But here there was nothing of the kind: there was nothing at all to grieve them or cause them any discouragement. But the wonderful thing is that the very things that seemed to bring discouragement became the causes of all joy and gladness. For tell me, for what reason were they to be distressed? For what reason to be vexed? Shall we bring someone into our midst? Let there be a man of consular rank; let him own great wealth, live in the imperial city, have no dealings with anyone, only live in luxury and be busy with that, at the very peak of wealth and honor and power; [and let us set beside him Peter,] in bonds, if you like, a man in countless evils; and we shall find this one living in greater delight. For when there is such an abundance of joy that one takes pleasure in bonds, consider how great the joy is. For just as men in high office do not feel whatever terrible things befall them, but go on in their joy, so these men too rejoiced the more because of these very things. For it is not possible, it is not possible to set out in words the pleasure that those come to have who suffer something terrible for Christ; for they rejoice more in terrible things than in good ones. If anyone has loved Christ, he knows what I mean. But what? For the sake of safety were they to flee hardships? And who, tell me, with countless wealth, could have escaped so many dangers, mixing with so many nations, for the sole purpose of changing their way of life? But these men accomplished everything as by an imperial command, or rather far more easily. For an imperial command did not accomplish as much as their words did; for the imperial command drives men by necessity, but these men brought them willing and choosing and full of gratitude. What imperial command would have persuaded men to give up all their money and their very life, and to despise home, country, relatives, and safety itself? But the voices of fishermen and tentmakers prevailed. So they were both in pleasure and more powerful and stronger than all. “Yes,” someone says, “they were, because they worked the signs.” But tell me, the believers, the three thousand and the five thousand, what signs did they work, who also lived in great exultation? Naturally; for the ground of all discouragement, the possession of money, had been taken away. For that, that was the cause of wars and fighting, of grief and discouragement and all evils; it is that which makes life toilsome and more painful. And one would find more grounds of discouragement among those in wealth than among those in poverty. And if it does not seem so to some, that is not because of the nature of things but because of their opinion. And if those in wealth have some pleasure, it is no wonder; for those covered with the itch are also in great pleasure. That the rich differ in no way from them, but have a soul of that sort, is clear from this: cares vex them, and yet they want to be held fast by them for the sake of a passing pleasure; while those freed from them are in health and beyond discouragement.

Which is more pleasant, tell me? Which is safer: to take thought for one loaf and one set of clothes, or for countless people, slaves and free, while not caring for what concerns oneself? For as this man is afraid for himself, so are you for those who hang upon your head. “And why ever does poverty seem a thing to flee?” he says. Because other good things too are, for many, things to pray to be spared; and they are to be fled not because they are to be prayed against, but because they are hard to achieve. So poverty too is not a thing to pray against, but a thing hard to achieve; so that if someone could bear it, it would not be a thing to pray against. For why did the apostles not pray to be spared it? Why do many even choose it, and not only do not pray against it, but even run to it? For what is truly to be prayed against is not chosen either, except by madmen. And if the philosophic and lofty among men go to it as to a safe and healthy place, it is no wonder if it does not seem so to the others. For the rich man seems to me nothing other than an unwalled city lying in a plain, [open to attack] from many sides; [but poverty is a] safe [fortress], clad all round with much bronze and hard to climb. “And yet,” he says, “it is the opposite: for these are the ones who are often dragged into court; these are the ones who are insulted and ill-treated.” Not the poor simply, but those who are poor and want to be rich. I am not speaking of those, but of those who make it their aim to live in poverty. For tell me, why does no one drag those in the mountains into court? And yet if poverty were easy to overpower, they above all ought to be dragged there, since they are poorer than all. Why does no one drag beggars into court? Why does no one use violence against them or bring false charges against them? Is it not because they dwell in a safer place? How many think the thing even ill-omened, poverty I mean, and begging! What then, tell me, is begging a good thing? It is good, if there is one to comfort and pity, if there is one to give; and so everyone has seen this life to be free of trouble and safe. But I do not urge this, heaven forbid! but only that one should not aim at wealth. For tell me, whom would I rather call blessed, those suited to virtue or those who stand far from it? Clearly those who are suited. Who, then, is suited to learn something useful and to shine in philosophy, this one or that one? It is plain to everyone that it is this one. If you do not believe it, learn. Let one of the beggars be brought from the marketplace, and let him be maimed, lame, crippled; and let another be handsome to look at, strong in body, bursting with vigor on every side, overflowing with money; let him have illustrious birth and great power. Let us bring these into the school of philosophy, and see which of them will more readily receive the teaching. Let the first precept, then, be: Be lowly and moderate; for this is what Christ commanded. Who will be better able to achieve it, this one or that? “Blessed are those who mourn”: who will pay more heed to the saying? “Blessed are the lowly”: who will listen more? “Blessed are the pure in heart; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake”: who will easily accept these? And if you like, let us fit both men to all of them. Is not the one inflamed and swollen on every side, while the other is always humble-minded and wholly restrained? Plainly so. There is indeed a verse of this kind spoken by those outside: “Epictetus, a slave, maimed in body, an Irus in poverty, and a friend of the immortals.” But this is the poor man. The soul of the rich man is full of all evils: of madness, vainglory, countless desires, anger and wrath, greed, injustice, and whatever else there is. So it is plain that this soul is suited to philosophy, rather than that one. Surely you want to learn which is more pleasant; for I see this question asked by many: whether this way of life is the more pleasant. And yet there is no need to doubt about this either; for the one who is near to health is also in great pleasure. And tell me, as regards the matter before us, which we wish to achieve, this law I mean, who is suited to it, the poor man or the rich? Who will swear easily: the one provoked against his servants, the one who has contracts with countless people, or the one who comes asking for bread or a single garment? This man has not even any need of oaths, if he wishes, but always lives free of business. Or rather, the one who is trained not to swear will often despise money too; and one may see the roads of virtue everywhere branching off from this good thing, all leading to gentleness, to contempt of money, to reverence, to a settled soul, to compunction. Let us not, then, be slack, beloved, but again take great pains: those who have succeeded, to keep what they have achieved, so that there may not easily be some slipping away and ebbing back; those still behind, to rouse themselves and strive to fill up what is lacking. And meanwhile let those who have succeeded stretch out their hands to those who have not yet been able, as to men swimming in the sea, and receive them into the harbor of not swearing. For truly not swearing is a safe harbor, a harbor against being sunk by the winds that fall upon us. For even if anger, or insult, or wrath boils over, or anything else, the soul is set in safety, so that it will not throw out anything that ought not to be said; for it has not put itself under necessity or under a law. See what Herod did because of an oath: he cut off the head of the Forerunner. “For because of his oaths,” it says, “and those reclining with him, he did not want to refuse her.” What did the tribes suffer because of an oath in the matter of the tribe of Benjamin? What did Saul suffer because of an oath? The one perjured himself; but Herod did something even worse than perjury: murder. Again, you know what Joshua suffered because of his oath with the Gibeonites. For swearing is truly a satanic snare. Let us, then, break the cords, and we shall set ourselves at ease in all our watchfulness. Let us be freed from the satanic snare; let us fear the Master’s commandment; let us throw ourselves into the best of habits; so that, going forward step by step through this and the other commandments, we may obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “But a Pharisee [named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in honor by all] the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a little while.”

This Gamaliel was Paul’s teacher. And one may well wonder how, though he had sound judgment and was learned in the law, he had not yet believed. But it is not possible that he remained an unbeliever to the end; and this is clear from the words with which he gives his counsel. “For he ordered,” it says, “the men to be put outside for a little while.” See the good sense of the speech, and how he at once threw them into fear. And so as not to be suspected of sharing the apostles’ views, he speaks to them as to men of like mind, and uses no great vehemence, but speaks as to men drunk with anger: “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.” Not lightly, he says, nor at random … “For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.” He brings them to their senses by examples, and puts last, to comfort them, the one who drew away the greater number. Before giving the examples he says, “Take care”; but when he has shown it, he declares his view, saying, “And now I tell you, keep away from these men.” “After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away a good number of people after him; he too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. And now I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it.” As if he said: Be patient; if these men too have arisen of themselves, nothing will prevent them too from being overthrown. “Lest you even be found fighting against God.” He turns them away both by the impossibility and by the inexpedience. He did not say by whom those men were killed, but simply that they were dispersed, perhaps as being beside the point. By what he suggests he teaches: if the work is human, you will need no trouble; but if it is divine, not even with trouble will you be able to prevail. So the speech seemed wise, since they were even persuaded not to kill them, but only to flog them. “For they were persuaded by him,” it says, “and they charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” See after how many miracles they are flogged! And yet again the teaching spread further; for they taught both at home and in the temple. “Then they went away from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for the name of Christ; and every day, in the temple and at home, they did not cease teaching and proclaiming Jesus Christ. Now in these days, when the disciples were increasing, a murmuring arose of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily ministry.” He does not mean those very days, of course; but since it is the custom of Scripture to speak of things that were to happen later as though they followed on in sequence, that is why he spoke so. By “Hellenists” I think he means those who spoke Greek; for these, though they were Hebrews, spoke Greek. See, here is another trial; or rather you too, if you will look closely, will see wars both within and without from the very beginning. “And the twelve,” it says, “called together the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not right that we should leave the word of God to serve tables.” Rightly; for among necessary things, the more necessary are to be preferred. But see how at once they make provision for these matters too, and yet do not neglect the preaching. (The Hebrews were the more respected; that is why they were given preference.) “Therefore, brothers, look out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint over this task; but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” So those whom they chose were also full of faith, so that the same things might not happen as with Judas, as with Ananias and Sapphira … “and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus [a proselyte of Antioch; these they set before] the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of the Lord increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great crowd of the priests became obedient to the faith.” But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Men, take care for yourselves.” See, I pray you, how Gamaliel here speaks with gentleness and goes through matters with them briefly, and does not tell old stories, though he had them, but recent ones, which were the strongest for belief. That is why he hints with some concealment, saying, “For before these days,” all but showing that it was not many days before …

[If he had] said at once, “Let the men go,” he himself would have seemed suspect, and the speech would not have been so strong; but with the examples it took on its proper strength. That is why he mentions not one only, but a second as well, though he could also have mentioned a third: showing abundantly that he was speaking well, and drawing them away from their murderous intent. “Keep away from these men.” See how gentle his manner is. He does not make his speech long, but concise; nor does he mention those men with anger. “And all who followed him were scattered.” In saying this he utters no blasphemy against Christ, yet achieves what he most wants. “If it is of men,” he says, “it will be overthrown.” Here he seems to me also to be reasoning with them and saying: Since, then, it has not been overthrown, it is not human. “Lest you even be found fighting against God.” He said this to restrain them by the impossibility and by the inexpedience. “But if it is of God, you will not be able.” He did not say, “If Christ is God”; for the work showed this; nor did he declare either that it is not human or that it is divine, but left the proof to time to come, so as to persuade them. “And if he persuaded them, why …?” someone says. … they could not; yet they sated their own anger; and besides, they thought they would frighten them again in this way. And by saying these things when the apostles were not present, he drew them over the more; and the sweetness of his words and the justice of what he said persuaded them. For this man too all but preached the gospel; or rather he all but reasons with them in this way: You were persuaded that you had not the strength to overthrow it; why did you not believe? So great is the preaching that the testimony comes even from enemies. There four hundred rose up, and after that a good number of people; here the first were twelve. So do not let the multitude that has been added frighten you. “For if this work is of men, it will be overthrown.” He could also have mentioned another, the Egyptian; but his speech was already more than enough. Did you see how he closed his speech with something fearful? That is why he does not declare himself outright, so as not to seem to be speaking on their behalf, but reasons from the outcome of the matter. He did not dare to declare either that it is not human or that it is of God; since if he had said that it was of God, they would have contradicted him; and if of men, they would again have been ready to rise against them. That is why he tells them to wait for the end, saying, “Keep away.” But they threaten again, knowing that they accomplish nothing, but doing what is their way. For such is wickedness: it often attempts the impossible. “And after him Judas rose up.” You will learn these things more exactly by looking into the books of Josephus; for he, composing the history of these events, tells them exactly. Did you see how great a thing he dared to say, “of God,” now that it had received its proof from the events? Truly great was his boldness, great his freedom from partiality. “And they were persuaded by him,” it says. “And when they had called the apostles …” … the man’s reputation; that is why they give up killing the apostles, but only flog them and let them go. “Then they went away from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for the name of Christ.” How much more wonderful is this than many signs! It never happened among the men of old; for Jeremiah was beaten for the word of God, and they threatened Elijah and the others; but here, by this too, not by the signs only, they showed forth the power of God. He did not say that they felt no pain, but that even in pain they rejoiced. How is this clear? From their boldness afterwards: so firmly did they hold on, preaching even after the blows. That is why, to show this, he says, “In the temple and at home they did not cease teaching and proclaiming Jesus Christ.” “Now in these days.” What days? When these things were happening, when there were scourgings, when there were threats, when the disciples were multiplying, then there is murmuring. And perhaps this came from the multitude; for there cannot be exactness in a multitude. “And a great crowd of the priests became obedient to the faith.” This is the language of one who hints and shows that from those through whom death was contrived against Christ, many believe. … “in the daily ministry their widows.” So there was a daily ministry to the widows. And see how he too calls it a ministry, and not at once almsgiving, exalting by this both the givers and the receivers. This did not come from malice, but perhaps from the carelessness of the multitude. That is why he set it out publicly (for it was no small evil), so that it might be quickly set right. Do you see how even at the beginning the evils came not only from without but also from within? And do not look only at this, that it was set right, but at the fact that it was a great evil. “Look out seven men from among you.” They do not act on their own judgment … so it ought to be done now too. “It is not right,” he says, “that we should leave the word of God to serve tables.” First he sets out the unreasonableness of it, showing that it is not possible to do both with care; just as, when they were about to elect Matthias, they first show the need for the thing, that one was missing and there had to be twelve. Here too they made the need clear; and they neither did it before, but waited until the murmuring arose, nor did they let it go on long. And see, they leave the judgment to them, and put forward those who pleased all and were attested by all. When Matthias was to be put forward, they said, “It must be one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time”; but not so here, for the matter was not of that kind. That is why they did not leave it to the lot either; nor again, though they could have chosen them themselves, moved by the Spirit, do they do so; rather they settle the choice on the testimony of the many. Besides, fixing the number, and ordaining them, and for such a task, was theirs; but the choosing of the men they leave to the people, so that they might not seem to show favor; just as God too leaves it to Moses to choose as elders those whom he knows. For much wisdom is needed in such stewardships. For do not think that because a man has not been entrusted with the word, he has no need of wisdom: he needs it, and much of it. “But we,” he says, “will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” At the beginning and at the end they make their defense. “We will devote ourselves,” they say. For so it had to be: not simply, nor at random, but to persevere in them. “And what they said pleased,” it says, “the whole multitude.” This too is worthy of their wisdom. All praised what was said, so wise was it. “And they chose,” it says (again it is the people who choose), “Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus …” “before the apostles. And they prayed and laid their hands on them.” From this it is clear that the people separated them from the multitude, and themselves bring them forward; the apostles do not lead them. See how the writer says nothing superfluous: he does not say how, but simply that they were ordained through prayer; for this is what ordination is. The man’s hand is laid on, but God does the whole, and it is his hand that touches the head of the one ordained, if he is ordained as he ought to be. “And the word of God,” it says, “increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied.” He did not say this idly, but to show how great the power of almsgiving is, and of good order. And now he is about to tell the story of Stephen; that is why he sets out its causes first. “And,” he says, “a great crowd of the priests became obedient to the faith.” For since they had seen their ruler and teacher declare these things, they now took the proof from the deeds. And it is worth wondering how the multitude was not divided over the choice of the men, how the apostles were not rejected by them. What rank, then, did these men have, and what ordination did they receive? This we must learn. Was it that of deacons? And yet this is not how it is in the churches. Is the administration, then, that of the presbyters? And yet there was not yet any bishop, only the apostles. Hence I think it is clear and plain that the name was neither that of deacons nor that of presbyters, but that for the time being they were ordained for this task. And they were not simply put in charge of it, but they prayed that power might be given them. And see, I pray you, if seven men were needed for this, how much money must have been flowing in, how great a multitude of widows there was. So prayers were not made idly, but with great attention; and this was accomplished just as the preaching was; for most things they accomplished by prayers. So the apostles were free for spiritual things; so they could set off on journeys; so they were entrusted with the word. And he does not speak of them or exalt them, but says that to leave the work that had been given was not right. So they had been taught by Moses not to handle everything themselves. That is why Paul too says, “Only that we should remember the poor.” And how they put these men forward, learn: they fasted, they persevered in prayer. This ought to happen now too. He said not simply spiritual men, but men full of the Spirit and of wisdom, showing that it needed great philosophy to bear the complaints of widows. For what use is it if a man does not steal, but wastes everything? Or if he is rash or easily provoked? In this too Philip was admirable. For it says of him, “And entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.” Do you see nothing managed in a merely human way? “And the number of the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied.” In Jerusalem the multitude grew. The wonderful thing is that where Christ was slain, there the preaching grew. And not only were none of the disciples scandalized, seeing the apostles scourged, some threatening, others putting the Spirit to the test, others murmuring; but the number of believers was added to all the more: so sobered were they by what befell Ananias, and so much greater was their fear. See, I pray you, how the multitude grew: after the trials, then it grew, not before. And consider how great is God’s love for humankind. For from those very high priests who stirred up the crowds to murder, who shouted such things and said, “He saved others; himself he cannot save,” from these, it says, many “became obedient to the faith.”

Let us, then, become his imitators too. He received them and did not cast them out. So let us repay our enemies who have done us countless terrible things. Whatever good we have, let us offer it to them; let us not pass them by in doing good. For if their anger has to be sated by our suffering evil, much more should it be by our doing them good; for this is less than that. For it is not the same thing to do good to an enemy as to be willing to suffer more than he wishes; but from this we shall come to that as well. This is the dignity of Christ’s disciples. They crucified him who came for their benefit; they scourged his disciples; and after this he brings them to the same honor as the disciples, giving them a share of what is his just as he did to them. Let us become imitators of Christ, I beg you: in this it is possible to imitate him; this makes one equal to God; this is more than human. Let us hold fast to almsgiving: it is the tutor and teacher of that philosophy. One who has learned to pity a man in misfortune will learn also not to bear grudges; one who has learned this will be able to do good to enemies too. Let us learn to be broken by the evils of our neighbors, and we shall learn to bear their evils too. Let us ask the very man who ill-treats us whether he does not condemn himself, whether he would not like to be a philosopher, whether he does not say that the whole thing comes from anger, from pettiness, from misery; whether he would not wish to be among those who are insulted and keep silent, rather than among those who insult and rage; whether he does not go away admiring the one who suffered. Do not think that bearing insult makes a man contemptible, as insulting does: nothing makes men so respected as bearing insults. For the one is an insulter, the other a philosopher; the one is worse than a man, the other equal to the angels. For even if he were weaker than the man insulting him, even so he could have retaliated, if he wished. Besides, this man is pitied by all, but that one is hated. What then? Will this man not be far better on this account? For all will treat that one as a madman, and this one as a man of sense. So when someone presses you to speak ill of anyone, say to him: I cannot speak ill of him; for I am afraid that he may not be such a man. Above all, do not say it even in your mind; nor to another. Do not plead with God against him. If you see him spoken ill of, defend him: say, “The words belong to the passion, not to the man”; say, “to the anger, not to the friend; to the madness, not to the soul.” Let us reason so about each of the sins. Do not wait for the fire to be kindled, but hold it back before that; do not provoke the beast, nor even allow it to be provoked; for you are no longer master to hold it back once the flame is kindled. For what did he say? “Fool” and “idiot”? Who, then, is answerable for the word, the hearer or the speaker? The one, even if he is very wise, has got the reputation of a fool; the other, even if he is foolish, that of a wise man and a philosopher. Who is the fool, tell me: the one who casts at another what is not so, or the one who is not moved even by this? For if not to be moved even when someone moves you is philosophy, then to be struck when no one is moving you, how great a folly! I do not yet speak of what place of punishment is laid up for those who cast such reproaches and revile their neighbor. But what? He called you dishonored and of dishonored parents, base and of base parents? Again he has turned the reproach back on himself. For the one will appear honored and respected, and the other truly base; for to bring up such things as a reproach, lowness of birth I mean, belongs to a truly small soul; while the other will be great and admirable, as one who counts such a thing nothing, but is no more affected than if he had been told of some trait of his that differs from other people’s. But he will call you an adulterer and the rest? Here one should even laugh; for when the conscience is not struck, anger has no occasion either. And when we consider what wicked and foul words he brings out, we should not even so be pained. For what each was going to learn afterwards, he has already revealed: he has made himself untrustworthy to all, as one who does not know how to cover his neighbor’s evils; he has shamed himself more than the other; he has silted up every harbor; he has made the accounting at the coming judgment fearful for himself. For all will not turn away from this man as from the one who has stripped bare what ought not to have been uncovered. But you, say nothing of what you know, but keep silent, if you wish to win splendid glory. For you will not only overturn what was said, nor only conceal it, but you will also do another good thing: you will no longer cause the sentence to be brought against yourself. So-and-so speaks ill of you? Say: If he knew everything, he would not have said only so much. Did you wonder and were you astonished at what was said? But you must imitate it. For this is why we tell you all these sayings of those outside: not because the Scriptures do not have countless such things, but because these are better able to shame you; since Scripture too knows how to speak so as to shame, as when it says, “Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” And the prophet Jeremiah brought forward the sons of Rechab, who would not consent to transgress their father’s command. Miriam and those with her spoke ill of Moses, and he at once begged them off from their punishment, and did not even allow some to learn that she had met with vengeance. But we are not so; rather, we especially want everyone to learn that they did not go unpunished. How long shall we breathe of the earth? A fight cannot arise from one side only. If you pull madmen from both sides, you provoke them more; but if only from the right or from the left, you have quenched the anger. The one who strikes, if he meets one who does not give way, is roused the more; but if one who yields, he goes slack, and the blow turns back on himself. For nothing knows how to conquer like a man who is insulted and does not insult in return. For the other goes away ashamed and condemned, first by his own conscience, and second by all who see it. And there is a proverb that the one who honors honors himself. So no one will be able to wrong us, I will say again, unless we wrong ourselves; nor will anyone make me poor unless I make myself so. Come, let us consider it this way. Let my soul be poor, and let everyone empty out his money on me: what does that matter? Until that soul is changed, all is in vain. Let my soul be great, and let everyone take my money: what does that matter? Until you make that soul poor, there is no harm. Let my life be impure, and let everyone say the opposite about me: what does that matter? Even if they say it, they do not vote so in their minds. Again, let my life be pure, and let everyone say the opposite: and what does that matter? In their own conscience they will condemn themselves; for they do not speak from conviction. Just as one must not accept praises, so neither accusations. And why do I say this? No one will ever be able to plot against us, or surround us with any accusation, if we do not wish it. Let us look at it this way too. Let someone drag you into court, bring false charges, if you like, and take your life: and what is that, to suffer these things for a little while undeservedly? “That very thing is the evil,” he says. On the contrary, that very thing is the good: not to suffer deservedly. What? Ought it to have been deserved? Let me tell you something again. A philosopher among those outside, when he heard that a certain man had died, and one of his disciples said to him, “Alas, that it was unjustly,” turned and said, “What, would you have wished it to be justly?” And did not John die unjustly? Whom, then, do you pity more, the one who died justly, or the one who did not? Do you not call the one wretched, and even admire the other? What wrong, then, has a man suffered who gained great things from death itself and was not harmed at all? If someone made an immortal man mortal, perhaps there would be harm; but if, when the man was mortal and was going to receive death from nature a little later, this one hastened to bring it on him with glory, what harm is there? Let our soul be well ordered, and there will be no harm from outside. “But you are not in glory?” And what of that? What holds for money holds for glory too. If I am great of soul, I shall need nothing; but if I am vainglorious, the more I obtain, the more I shall need. And I shall be most splendid and enjoy the greater glory, if I despise glory. Knowing these things, then, let us both give thanks to Christ our God, who has granted us such a life, and pursue it for his glory; for to him belongs glory, with the Father who is without beginning and his Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did wonders and great signs among the people.”

See how even among the seven there was one who was preeminent and held the first place. For even if the ordination was common to all, still he drew down more grace. Before this he did not work signs, but only when he had become known: to show that grace alone is not enough, but ordination is needed too; so there was an addition of the Spirit. For even if they were full of the Spirit before this, it was of the Spirit given from the washing. “But some of those from the synagogue rose up.” Again he calls their provocation and anger a “rising up.” See here too how great the multitude is; or rather how different the form of the accusation is. For since Gamaliel had stopped them from bringing any charge concerning Christ, they bring in another accusation. “But some,” it says, “of those from the synagogue [called that of the Freedmen, and of the Cyrenians,] and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up disputing with Stephen; and they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly put forward men who said, We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God”: so as to make the accusation stand. “Against God,” they say, “and against Moses he speaks.” That is why they also disputed with him, to force him to say something. And he was now speaking more openly, and was perhaps saying only that the law was coming to an end; or he did not say it but hinted at it; since if he had said it openly, there would have been no need of men put forward or of false witnesses. The synagogues were different. The Cyrenians are those beyond Alexandria, who had synagogues there too according to their nations; and perhaps they stayed there so as not to be forced to travel continually. The Freedmen are those so called as freedmen of the Romans. And as many foreigners lived there, so they had synagogues too, where the law was to be read and prayers made. But consider, I pray you, how he too, under compulsion, sets about teaching, and how they in turn are moved to envy not only because of the signs, but also because he prevailed in argument and was not to be borne. [For they did not wish] simply to kill him, but with a vote, so as to damage his reputation too; and leaving the apostles, they come to these men, as if by this to strike terror into those too. And they did not say, “He speaks,” but “He does not cease speaking,” magnifying the charge. “And they stirred up the elders and the scribes, and came upon him and seized him and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses who said, This man does not cease speaking words against this holy place and the law.” “He does not cease,” they say, showing by this that he made it his work. “For we have heard him say that this Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” “Jesus,” they say, “the Nazarene … this place, and will change the customs.” This they said in accusing Christ too: “You who would destroy the temple of God.” For great was their reverence for the temple, as men who did not wish to move away, and for the name of Moses. And see how the accusation is double: “He will destroy the place,” they say, “and change the customs.” Not only full of dangers, but also bitter, and double. “And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw his face as it were the face of an angel.” So it is possible even for those in a lower rank to shine. For what, tell me, did this man have less than the apostles? Did he not work signs? Did he not display great boldness? “They saw his face,” it says, “as it were the face of an angel.” This, then, was the grace; this too was the glory of Moses. It seems to me that God made him gracious because he was about to say something, and so that he might at once strike them with amazement by his appearance. For there are faces full of spiritual grace, lovely to those who long for them, and venerable and fearful to those who hate them. Or he said this also as the reason why they bore with his address. “And the high priest said, Are these things so?” Do you see how mild the question is, and as yet with nothing burdensome in it? That is why he himself begins his words with a respectful address, and says, “Men, brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.” At once, from the opening, he removes their glory by what he says, and establishes without arousing suspicion both that the temple is nothing, nor are the customs, and that they will not prevail over the preaching, and that God always does and arranges everything out of impossibilities. See, then, how the address is woven through these things and shows that, though they had always enjoyed great love for humankind, they repaid their benefactor with the opposite, and that they are attempting impossibilities. “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham and said to him, Go out from your land [and from your kindred], and come into the land that I will show you.”

And there was no temple, and there was no sacrifice, and yet Abraham was counted worthy of divine visions; and he had Persians for forefathers, and was in a foreign land. And why, at the start, did he call God the God of glory? Because he has made the dishonored glorious; and to teach that, if he glorified those men, much more would he glorify these. Do you see how he leads them away from bodily things, and first of all from the place, since the argument was about the place? “The God of glory.” If he is the God of glory, it is clear that he does not need the glory that comes from us, nor that which comes through the temple; for he is himself the source of glory … So do not think that you glorify him in this way. “And from your kindred.” And how, someone says, does Scripture say this about his father, who went out with him? Because it does not waste words on things that are not very necessary. For what was useful to learn, this alone it taught us: that because of his son’s vision he went out with him; the rest it left untold, because he died soon after settling in Haran. “[Go out from your land and from your kindred].” Here he shows that these men are not children of Abraham. How? Because he was obedient, but they are disobedient; or rather, from what he is commanded we learn that he endured the toils, while they reap the fruits, and that all their forefathers lived in hardship. And … he did not need signs, and great … “Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after his father died, God removed him into this land in which you now live; and he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length.” See how he leads them away from the land. For he did not say … but “He did not give,” showing that all things came from God, nothing from them. For he came, leaving kindred and fatherland. Why then did he not give it? Because it was a type … “and he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his offspring after him,” showing that not idly does he take up the word again … “he gave him,” he says. “And he promised … to his offspring after him, though he had no child.” Again the power of God is shown from this, … to make everything out of impossibilities. For the man who was so far from it, him he said he would make lord of Palestine. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Gazing at him,” it says, “they saw his face as it were the face of an angel.” Where did this grace that bloomed on Stephen come from? Was it not from his faith? For above it bore witness of him that he was full of faith. And it is possible to have grace, and not only in healings … the apostle: “To one is given grace,” he says, “to another a word of wisdom.” Here it seems to me he hints that Stephen was gracious, by saying that his face was as it were the face of an angel … or rather those who were full of grace. “Then [they put forward] men who said, We have heard him speaking blasphemous words.” In the apostles’ case they said that they were proclaiming the resurrection, … the crowd flowed in; but here, that he was healing … O the folly! For what they ought to have given thanks for, for this … and they thought that those who prevailed by deeds would be overcome by words (which they did in Christ’s case too), and they always drew them into arguments. For they were ashamed simply to seize them, … to accuse them. And see how they themselves do not bear witness, for they would have been refuted; they hire others, so that the thing might not seem an act of mere spite. One might see the same thing happen in Christ’s case too. Did you see the power of the preaching, how it prevails not only when they are scourged, but also [when they are stoned] … not even when they are brought to court … when they are driven out on every side? From this … not only did they not prevail, but they could not withstand him, though they were very … so mightily did he overpower them, … doing unbelievable things (as in Christ’s case too), and doing everything toward his death, … so that it might be clear to all that the fight was not one of men against men, but of God against men. Consider what the false witnesses say, set up by those who had seized him and dragged him into the council: “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” O shameless men! You act blasphemously against God and do not care, and do you pretend to care for Moses? That is why Moses is added, since they did not care much for the things of God; and from first to last they mention Moses, saying, “This Moses, who led us out,” so stirring up the crowd. And yet how could he … God … have prevailed? And how could one so blasphemous have worked such signs among the people? But such is envy: it makes those it captures senseless, so that they do not even see what they are uttering. “We have heard him,” they say, “[speaking blasphemous words against Moses and] God”; and again, “This man does not cease speaking words against the holy place and the law”; and with an addition, “which Moses handed down to us”: no longer God.

[3] Do you see how they accuse him of overturning the polity and of impiety? But that it was not like such a man to say such things, and rashly, is plain to everyone; so gentle was he, even from his face. Where they were not falsely accused, Scripture says nothing of this kind; but since here the whole thing is false accusation, God rightly sets it right, even through his very appearance. So the apostles were not falsely accused, but hindered; but this man is falsely accused; and that is why, before anything else, his appearance makes his defense. Perhaps this shamed the priest too. Having said, “He promised,” Stephen shows that the promise came before the place, before circumcision, before sacrifice, before the temple; and that these men did not receive circumcision or the law as their due, but that the land was the reward of obedience alone. And not even when circumcision had been given is the promise fulfilled. And that these things were types; and that leaving one’s fatherland at God’s command, and one’s kindred (for that is a fatherland, wherever God leads), and receiving the inheritance here; and that, if one examines it exactly, the Jews are Persians; and that one must obey God when he speaks without signs, even if terrible things happen; since the patriarch too, leaving his father’s tomb and everything, obeyed God. And if his father did not share with him the journey to Palestine because he was faithless, much more will the children not share, even if they come far along the road, if they have not emulated their father’s virtue. “And he promised to give it to him and to his offspring after him.” Great is God’s love for humankind shown here, and Abraham’s faith. For to be persuaded when he had no child shows both obedience and faith; and yet what happened showed the opposite: for example, after he came he had not a foot’s length, he had no child; things that were contrary to faith. Considering these things, let us too accept whatever God promises, even if what happens should somewhere be contrary; and yet in our case it is not contrary, but quite consistent. For where there are promises, when the opposite happens, it is truly contrary; but in our case it is the reverse: here he spoke of affliction, there of rest. Why do we confuse the times? Why do we turn things upside down? Are you afflicted, tell me? … affliction is the cause of rest. “This illness,” he says, “is not unto death.” That affliction is punishment; this is discipline and correction. The present time is a contest: so there is need of boxing; it is war and battle. No one in war seeks rest, no one in war seeks luxury, no one worries about money, no one takes thought for his wife, but he looks to one thing only: how to overcome the enemy. Let us do this too; and if we overcome and come back with trophies, God will give us everything. Let our one concern be how to overcome the devil; or rather the matter does not depend on our zeal, but the whole is of God’s grace. Let our concern be how to draw his grace to ourselves, how to draw that help toward us. “If God is for us,” he says, “who is against us?” Let us be eager for one thing only: that he may not become our enemy, that he may not turn away from us.

Being afflicted is not an evil; sinning is the evil. This is the grievous affliction, even if we live in luxury; I do not mean in the life to come only, but in the present too. For how do you think our conscience is stung? What torment would it not be worse than? I should like to ask closely those who live in wickedness whether they never come to think of their own sins, whether they do not tremble, do not fear, are not in anguish, whether they do not call blessed those who live in fasting, those in the mountains, those who live in philosophy. Do you want to find rest there? Be afflicted here for Christ’s sake: nothing is equal to this rest. The apostles rejoiced when they were scourged. Paul urges this, saying, “Rejoice in the Lord.” “And how,” someone says, “can one rejoice where there are bonds, where there are tortures, where there are law courts?” There above all it is possible. And how it is possible to rejoice where these things are, learn: the man who is conscious of nothing against himself will be delighted beyond measure, so that the more affliction you speak of, the more pleasure you speak of. For tell me, the soldier who has received countless wounds and comes home, will he not come home with great pleasure, having his wounds as the ground of his boldness, of his splendor and renown? And you, if you are able to utter that cry of Paul’s, “I bear the marks of Jesus,” will be able to become great and splendid and renowned. “But there is no persecution.” Take your stand against glory; and if someone says anything against you, do not be afraid to be spoken ill of for Christ’s sake. Take your stand against the tyranny of pride, against the battle of anger, against the torment of desire. These too are marks, these too are torments. For tell me, what is the most terrible thing in torments? Is it not that the soul is in pain and burns? For there the body too has its share; but here the whole belongs to the soul. The pain falls upon it when it is angry, when it envies, when it does anything of the kind, or rather when it suffers it. For to be angry, to be envious, is not doing but suffering; that is why they are called passions of the soul, and wounds, and scars. For it is truly a passion, and worse than a passion. Consider, you who are angry, that you do these things in passion. So the one who is not angry does not suffer. Do you see that it is not the one insulted who suffers, but the one who insults, as I said before? That he suffers is clear both from the fact that such a thing is called a passion and from the body; for these are the ailments that anger produces: dimness of sight, frenzy, and countless others. “But he insulted my boy,” someone says, “my servant.” Do not think it weakness not to do the same thing yourself. For tell me, was it well done? I do not think you will say so: then do not do what is not well done. I know what fits of anger arise in such cases. “What then,” he says, “if he despises me, if he says it again?” Convict him, rebuke him, entreat him: anger is dissolved by gentleness. Go to him and remonstrate. For on behalf of wrongs done to ourselves we ought not even to do this; but on behalf of others it is necessary. Do not think the insult to your boy an insult to yourself; and even if you are pained for him, do not be pained as though you yourself had been insulted. For it is not you who were insulted because your boy was ill-treated, but the man who did it. Put up the sharp sword; let it lie in its sheath. If we keep it bare, we shall often use it even when it is not the time, drawn on by it; but if it is hidden, then even if need arises, the anger will be quenched. Christ does not wish us to be angry on his behalf (for hear what he says to Peter: “Put your sword back into its sheath”); and are you angry on behalf of a servant? Teach your servant too to be a philosopher; tell him of the Master’s sufferings; imitate your Teacher. When they too were about to be dishonored, he did not say, “I will avenge you,” but what? “They persecuted me; they will persecute you too.” So bear it nobly; for you are not better than I. Say these things to your son and your servant too: “You are not better than your Master.” “But the words of philosophy are counted the talk of a widow.” Alas, that it is not possible to show by speech what one can be taught by experience itself! And so that you may learn it: when you stand between two who are fighting, take the side of the wronged and not of the wrongdoers, and see whether you do not see the victory on your side, whether you do not receive bright crowns. See how God is insulted, and how mildly and gently he answers. “Where,” he says, “is Abel your brother?” And what does that man say? “Am I my brother’s keeper?” What could be more insolent than this? Would anyone put up with hearing it even from a son? For if he heard it from a brother, would he not think the thing an insult? But God again answers gently: “The voice of your brother’s blood,” he says, “cries out to me.” “But God is above anger,” someone says. But it is for this that the Son of God came down: to make you god, as far as human power allows. “But I cannot,” he says, “since I am a man.” Then come, let us set men before you. And do not think that I shall speak of Paul or Peter, but of some of the lesser ones, much lower. Eli’s servant insulted Hannah, saying, “Put away your wine.” What could be more insulting than this? What then did she say? “I am a woman of a hard day.” Truly nothing equals affliction: it is the mother of philosophy. And this same woman, though she had her rival, did not insult her; but what? She takes refuge in God, and in her prayer does not even mention her, nor does she say, “Since so-and-so reproaches me, help me.” So philosophic was the woman (let us men be ashamed); and yet you know that nothing equals jealousy.

The tax collector, insulted by the Pharisee, did not insult him back, though he could have if he wished; but he bore it like a philosopher, saying, “Be merciful to me, the sinner.” … [Mephibosheth,] … and though he was slandered, he neither said nor did anything evil against him, not even before the king himself. Do you want to hear the philosophy of a prostitute too? Hear Christ saying, when she wiped his feet with her hair … “The tax collectors and the prostitutes go ahead of you into the kingdom.” Did you see her standing and weeping and washing away her own sins? See how she was not angry with the Pharisee when he reproached her: “If he knew,” he says, “that this woman is a sinner, he would not have let her.” And she did not say to him, “What? Tell me, are you clean of sins?” But she grieved the more, lamented the more, and shed hotter tears. If women, tax collectors, and prostitutes are philosophers, and that before grace, what pardon shall we deserve, if after so great a grace we become more savage than beasts? … Nothing is more shameful than anger, nothing more dishonorable, nothing … I say these things not only so that we may be gentle toward men, but so that, even if your wife is talkative, you may bear it. Let your wife be your wrestling school and gymnasium. For how is it not absurd to take on exercises that bring no gain, where we wear out the body, but not to exercise at home, where it gives us a crown even before the contests? Does your wife insult you? Do not you become a woman: for insulting is a womanish thing; it is a sickness of the soul, a defect. Do not think it beneath you when she insults you. It is beneath you when you insult; but when you are insulted by her and bear it, it is a great display of your strength. I do not say these things to lead wives on to insults, heaven forbid! but so that, if it should ever happen through some trial of Satan’s, you may bear it. It belongs to the strong men to bear the weak. Even if a servant talks back, be a philosopher: do not say or do what he deserves to hear, but what you ought to do and say. Never throw out a shameful word when you insult a maid; never call a servant foul. It was not he who was insulted, but you. It is not possible for the angry man to be himself, any more than for the sea to be calm when it is stormy, or for a spring to stay clean when mud has fallen into it from somewhere: so everything is mixed up, or rather so everything is turned upside down. Even if you beat him, even if you tear his tunic, it is you who have suffered the greater harm; for his blow falls on his body and his clothing, but yours on your soul. You have thrown that soul down from the horses and caused it to be dragged on its back; and it is the same as if a charioteer, angry with someone else, were to choose to be dragged himself. Whether you rebuke, or admonish, or do anything at all, do it without anger and wrath. For if the one who rebukes is the physician of the one who sins, how could he heal another, having first injured himself and not healing himself? Tell me, if a physician went to heal another after first wounding his own hand, after first maiming his own eyes, does he treat the other in that state? “No,” he says. So you too, whether you rebuke or admonish, let your eyes see clearly. Do not muddy your mind; otherwise how will the healing take place? It is not possible to be in the same calm when one is angry as when one is free of anger. Why do you overturn the teacher from his throne, and then talk with one lying on the ground? Do you not see the judges, who, when they are about to judge, sit on the throne and in a fitting bearing? So you too: adorn your soul with the judge’s robe (and this is gentleness), and then sit on the throne as judge. “But he will not be afraid,” he says. He will be more afraid then. … even if you say what is just, the servant will put it down to your anger; but if you speak with gentleness, he will condemn himself; and, what comes first, God will accept you, and so you will be able to obtain the eternal good things, by the grace and compassion and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “And God spoke thus: that his offspring would be sojourners in a foreign land, and they would enslave them and ill-treat them four hundred years; and the nation which they serve I will judge, said God, and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.”

See how many years beforehand the promise was given, and the manner of the promise; and nowhere sacrifice, nowhere circumcision. Here he shows that God himself let them suffer ill, and that these things would not go unpunished. “But the nation which they serve I will judge, said God.” Do you see? The one who promised, who gave the land, first permits the evils. So now too: even if he has promised a kingdom, he lets us be trained by trials. If here freedom came after four hundred years, what wonder if the same happens with the kingdom? Still, he did it, and time could not prove the word false, though they endured no ordinary slavery. Nor did he stop at the punishment of their oppressors, but he promises good things to them too. To me he seems by these words also to remind them of the benefit they had received. “And he gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so he begot Isaac.” Here at last he gives some ground. “And circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs …” “into Egypt.” This happened in Christ’s case too; for Joseph was his type; and that is why, hinting at it, he goes through the whole story. For though they had nothing to charge him with, when he came to bring them food they ill-treated him. And see that here too again the promise is long in coming, and yet it reaches its fulfillment. “And God was with him”: this too was on their account. “And he rescued him out of all his afflictions.” Here he shows that without knowing it they worked together with the prophecy, and that they themselves became its causes, and the evils turned back on themselves. “And he gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt.” He gave him favor, and that before a barbarian, to a slave and captive; the man whom his brothers sold, that king honored. “Now there came a famine over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers found no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers.” They went down to buy, and found themselves in need of him. What then did he do? He did not show his kindness only so far, but also made them known to Pharaoh: “[and Joseph’s family became known] to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his kindred, seventy-five souls. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers; and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose who did not know Joseph.” Again, another hopeless situation: first the famine; second, falling into the hands of their brother; third, the decree given by the king that they be killed; and yet they were brought safely through all these. Then, showing God’s resourcefulness, he says, “At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God.” If that was wonderful, that he was sold by his brothers, this is more wonderful: that the king reared the very one who was to bring down his rule, he himself who was to perish. Do you see the resurrection all but sketched out everywhere, as from the dead? And yet it is not the same thing for God himself to do something and for something to happen through human choice. These things, at any rate, did not come from human choice. “And he was powerful in word and deed.” He said this to show both that Moses was a savior and that these men were ungrateful toward their benefactor. So then, as they were saved then by Joseph, who had been ill-treated, so now too they were saved by one who had been ill-treated, I mean Moses. For what of it, if they did not kill him in fact? In word they killed him, as those others did. And those sold Joseph out of their own land into a foreign and strange one; these drive Moses out as a fugitive from a foreign land into another foreign land; and the one was bringing them food, the other was counseling them how they might be with God. So true, from what was ordered now as well, is that saying of Gamaliel: “If it is of God, you cannot overthrow it.” And you, when you learn that those who were plotted against became the cause of salvation to those who plotted against them, be astonished at God’s resourcefulness and wisdom; for if those men had not been plotted against, these would not have been saved. There was a famine, and it did not consume them; and not only this, but they were saved through the very one they expected to have perished. There was a royal decree, and it did not wipe them out; but the multitude grew most when the king who knew them had died. They wanted to kill their savior, and not even so did they prevail.

Do you see that through the very things by which the devil was trying to overthrow God’s promise, it grew? This it would have suited them to say then too: that God is resourceful and able to bring us up out of this. For God’s resourcefulness lay above all in this, that even in their estrangement the nation grew, while it was enslaved, ill-treated, and killed. This is the greatness of the promise. For if it had grown in their own land, it would not have been so wonderful. And they were not in the foreign land for a short time, but four hundred years. From this we learn how great a philosophy they showed. For the Egyptians did not treat them as masters treat slaves, but as enemies and tyrants. That is why he foretold that they would be in great freedom (for this is what “they will serve me” means), and that they would come back here, and that it would not go unpunished. And see how he seems to grant something to circumcision, but gives it nothing, since the promise came before it, and it came after. “And the patriarchs,” he says, “being jealous.” Where it does no harm, he concedes to them. He calls the forefathers patriarchs, since they prided themselves on these too. And besides, he shows that the saints were not free of affliction, but that even in the midst of afflictions they received help. And the persecutors not only did not undo what God intended, but even helped it along, while they meant rather to cut it short. As, then, those men made Joseph more glorious by selling him, so the king made Moses more glorious by ordering the children to be killed; for if he had not ordered it, this would not have happened. And consider God’s care. That man drives Moses into exile; and God does not prevent it, arranging what was to come, so that there he might obtain the vision, having become worthy of it. So too he makes the slave who was sold a ruler in the very place where he was thought to be a slave. And as Joseph rules there where they sold him, so Christ too shows his power in death. This was a matter not only of honor, but also of confidence in his own power. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “And he made him governor over Egypt and over all his house.” See what he arranges through a famine. “With seventy-five souls,” he says, “Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers; and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.” He shows that they were not masters even so far as a grave. “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose who did not know Joseph.” See that he does not make them grow even in so many years, but only when the end was about to draw near; and yet four hundred years and more had already passed in Egypt. This, then, is the wonderful thing. “This man,” he says, “dealt craftily with our race and ill-treated our fathers, making them expose their infants so that they would not be kept alive.” He said “dealt craftily,” hinting at the secret killing; for he did not wish to kill them openly. That is why he added, making this clear, “making them expose their infants.” “At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God.” This is the wonderful thing: that the one who was to be their leader was born neither after this nor before, but in the very midst of the wrath. “And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house.” He hints at them as not wishing to kill openly: “making them,” he says, “expose their infants.” When, then, human hopes had been given up …, then the dispensation of God was shown, shining out. “And when he had been exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and brought him up as her own son.” Nowhere a temple, nowhere a sacrifice, though so many dispensations had taken place. “And he was brought up in a barbarian house … and was powerful in words and deeds.” It occurs to me to wonder how he was there forty years and was not found out from his circumcision; or rather, how, though they were in the palace, both he and Joseph disregarded their own interests, so as to save others too. “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. And seeing one being wronged, he defended him and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand; but they did not understand.” See how for the time being he does not seem burdensome, though he accuses them of so much, and they bear to hear it: so did he hold them by the grace of his face. “He supposed,” he says, “that his brothers would understand.” And yet the deliverance came through deeds, and there was no need of understanding here; but even so they did not understand. Do you see how he speaks with gentleness, and how, having shown the anger of the one, he shows the mildness of the other? “And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them to peace, saying, Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another? But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” From the same disposition they are evidently saying the same things against Christ: “We have no king but Caesar.” So it is always the custom of the Jews to act, even toward those who benefit them. Did you see the folly? They slander the one who is about to save them, by saying, “as you killed the Egyptian yesterday.” “And Moses fled at this word, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begot two sons.” … and not even the flight quenched the dispensation, just as death did not either. “And when forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of the mountain [Sinai] in a flame of fire in a bush.”

Do you see how the dispensation is not cut short even by time? For when he was a fugitive, when he was a stranger, when he had spent much time in the foreign land, so that he even had children, when he no longer expected to return, then the angel appears to him. He calls the Son of God an angel, just as he also calls him a man. And where does he appear? In a wilderness, not in a temple. Do you see how many wonders take place, and nowhere a temple, nowhere a sacrifice? And not simply in the wilderness, but in the bush. “When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord.” He was counted worthy of the voice as well. “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Here he shows not only that the one who appeared to him was the Angel of Great Counsel, but also how great a love for humankind he shows by his appearing. “And Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. And the Lord said to him, Take off the sandals from your feet; for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Nowhere a temple, and the place is holy by the appearing and working of Christ. This is far more wonderful than what was in the Holy of Holies; for there God nowhere appeared in this way, nowhere did Moses tremble so. Did you see his love for humankind? See next his care as well. “I have surely seen,” he says, “the ill-treatment of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” See how he shows that God was drawing them to himself by benefits, by punishments, and by wonders; but they remained the same. So from this we learn that God is present everywhere. Hearing these things, let us too take refuge in him in our afflictions. “For I have heard their groaning,” he says. He did not say simply, “I have heard,” but because of their calamities. And if anyone should say, “And why did he leave them so long in that state?” let him hear that above all, for every righteous man, ill-treatment becomes the cause of rewards; or else he let them be ill-treated for this reason too: to show his power shining out even from this, and by means of their ill-treatment to train them to be philosophers in everything. See, at any rate, how when they were in the wilderness they not only grew sleek, grew fat, grew broad, but also forsook God. For everywhere ease, beloved, is an evil. That is why from the beginning he said to Adam, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread.” So that they might not grow insolent when they came out of great ill-treatment into ease, he allows them to be afflicted; for affliction is a great good. And that it is good, hear David saying, “It is good for me that you have humbled me.” If affliction is a great thing for great and wonderful men, much more is it for us. And if you like, let us examine affliction itself, on its own. Let there be someone rejoicing greatly, glad and dissipated: what is more unseemly, more foolish than he? Let there be someone in pain and dejected: what is more philosophic than he? That is why the wise man too advises, saying, “It is better to go into a house of mourning than into a house of laughter.” Perhaps you even laugh at what is said. But let us see what Adam was like in paradise and what he was like afterwards; what Cain was before this and what he was afterwards. The soul does not stay in its own seat, but, as if by some wind of pleasure, it is lifted up and made light, having nothing firm. For it is quick to make announcements and ready with promises, and the tossing of its thoughts is great. From this come untimely laughter, cheerfulness without reason, a great deal of idle and superfluous chatter. And why do I speak of the others? Let us take one of the saints and see who he was when he lived in pleasure, and who again in dejection. Shall we look at David, then? When he was in pleasure and joy from his many trophies, from victory, from crowns, from luxury, from confidence, see what he said and did: “But I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.” But when he was in affliction, hear what he says: “And if he says to me, I have no pleasure in you, here I am; let him do to me what is pleasing in his sight.” What is more philosophic than these words? Whatever is dear to God, he says, let it be so. And again he said to Saul, “If the Lord stirs you up against me, may your sacrifice be acceptable.” Then, when he was in affliction, he spared even his enemies; but afterwards he spared not even his friends, not even those who had done him no wrong. Again Jacob, when he was in affliction, said, “If the Lord will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear.” And Noah’s son did nothing of the kind before this; but when he felt secure about his safety, you hear what an insolent man he became. And Hezekiah, when he was in affliction, see what he did for his safety: he put on sackcloth and sat on the ground; but when he came into pleasure, he fell through the haughtiness of his heart. That is why Moses too advises, saying, “When you have eaten and drunk and are full, remember the Lord your God.” For the place of luxury is a precipice, and it produces forgetfulness of God. When the Israelites were afflicted, they became much more numerous; but when he let them be, then they all perished. And why do I give examples from the men of old? Let us look at ourselves, if you like. Most of us, when we are in prosperity, become puffed up, hostile to all, quick to anger while power is in our hands; but when it is taken away, gentle, humble, meek, and we come to think of our own nature. And that it is so David also shows, saying, “Pride has taken hold of them completely; their injustice will come forth as from fat.” I have said these things so that we may not seek joy by every means. “And how,” someone says, “does Paul say, Rejoice always?” He did not say simply, “Rejoice,” but added, “in the Lord.”

This is the greatest joy; this is the joy with which the apostles rejoiced: a joy that brings gain, that has its beginning, its root and its ground in prisons, in scourgings, in persecutions, in being spoken ill of, in painful things of every kind; and so it also comes to a good end. But the joy of the world is the opposite: it begins from pleasant things and ends in painful ones. I too do not forbid rejoicing in the Lord; I urge it strongly. The apostles were scourged [and rejoiced; they were bound and gave thanks; they were stoned,] and they preached. This joy I too want. Such joy has its beginning in nothing bodily, but in spiritual things. It is not possible to rejoice in the world’s way and in God’s way at the same time; for everyone who rejoices in the world’s way rejoices in wealth, in luxury, in glory and power, in boasting; but the one who rejoices in God’s way rejoices in dishonor for his sake, in poverty, in owning nothing, in fasting, in humility. Do you see that the grounds are opposite? Those who are without joy here are also without grief; and those who are without grief here are also without pleasure. And truly these are the things that make true joy, since the others have only the name of joy, while the whole of them lies in grief. How much distress the boaster has! How he is cut to pieces in his very boasting, contriving countless insults for himself, much hatred, great enmity, much envy, much spite! For if he is insulted by those greater than he, he is pained; if he does not rise above everyone, he is stung. But the humble man is in great pleasure, expecting honor from no one: if he is honored, he is pleased; if he is not honored, he is not pained, but is content that he was not honored. So, from not seeking honor, and from being honored, the pleasure is great. There it is the opposite: he seeks honor and is not honored. And the one who seeks honor does not delight in it as the one who does not seek it does. The one, however much he receives, thinks he has received nothing; the other, even if you give him little, receives it as though he had received everything. Again, the man who lives in luxury has countless troubles: even if his revenues flow in easily, as from springs, he fears the evils that come from luxury and the uncertainty of the future; but the other is always in safety and pleasure, having accustomed himself to a plain diet. For he does not so much count himself wretched for having no share in a costly table, as he lives in delight from not fearing the uncertainty of the future. What evils come from luxury no one is ignorant; but it must be said now too. The war is double, I mean that of the body and that of the soul; double the storm, double the diseases; and not only this, but they are incurable as well, and they bring great misfortunes. But plain living is not like this: double is the health, double the goods. “Healthy sleep,” it says, “comes from a moderate stomach.” For everywhere what is in measure is desirable, but what is beyond measure no longer. For see: put a great heap of wood on a small spark, and you will no longer see a shining fire, but very unpleasant smoke. Put on a very strong and big man a burden that exceeds his strength, and you will see him lying on the ground, thrown down with the burden. Throw a great cargo into a ship, and you have caused a grievous shipwreck. Luxury is something of this kind. For as in overloaded ships there is a great commotion of the sailors, throwing some things into the sea from above and others from below, so too here: vomiting from above and from below and ruining themselves, they perish. And what is most shameful of all, the mouth itself takes over the use of the hinder parts and becomes more dishonorable than they. And if there is such indecency in the mouth, consider what there is in the soul. For there everything is gloom, everything storm, everything darkness, great confusion of the thoughts, pressed and afflicted, while the soul itself cries out at the outrage. From this the gluttons themselves blame one another, are vexed, hurry to get rid of the dung within. Yet even after it is got rid of, not even so does the tossing cease; but fevers and diseases come from this. “Yes,” someone says, “they are sick and disgraced: the sermon goes through these things for nothing and lists diseases to us; for it is I who am sick, I who am mocked, I who am disgraced, I who have nothing to eat; but these men rejoice, riding about on horses.” Alas! These words deserve lamentation. But the gouty, carried in litters, bandaged up, where do we see them coming from, tell me? And if they did not think it offensive to say, I would long ago have brought them forward by name. “But there are some,” he says, “who are healthy.” Because they are given not only to luxury but also to labors. Otherwise give me a man always filled, lying idle, doing no work, and let me see him healthy. But you will not find one. For even if a crowd of countless physicians comes together, they will not be able to free him from his diseases while he continually gorges; for the thing is not so by nature. And I will tell you a physicians’ account too. Of what is thrown down into the stomach, not all becomes nourishment; since not even in the nature of the food itself is the whole nourishing, but part of it is separated off for excretion, and part turns into nourishment. If, then, you give it moderate amounts and it is completely digested, this happens, and the food takes its proper course: what is sound and useful runs to its proper place, while what is superfluous and useless withdraws and goes out. But if a great amount comes in, even as much as is nourishing becomes harmful. I will give an example of this sort, so that what I am saying may become clearer to you. Of wheat, part is fine flour, part meal, part bran. If, then, the mill can grind it, it separates all these; but if you put too much on it, everything is confused. Again, if wine receives the proper working and mixing of its parts, at first it is all together; then afterwards part of it settles as lees, part runs up as froth, and part remains, the enjoyment of those who share it; and this is the good part, and it would not quickly turn; but before this there is neither wine nor lees, everything being mixed. One may see this in the sea too, when there is an excess of storm. As, then, we see the fish floating dead which could not get down to the depths because of the cold, so it happens with us too. For if the great flood of gluttony pours in from above and stirs everything up, it makes the thoughts that until then were healthy and lived in us float dead. Since, then, from so many examples the harm has been shown to be great, let us stop calling these men blessed, whom we ought to call wretched, and weeping for those whom we ought to call blessed, and let us love frugality. Or do you not hear physicians saying that want is the mother of health? But I say that want is the mother not of bodily health but of the health of the soul. This Paul too cries aloud, the great physician, saying, “Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” Let us, then, obey him, so that, being healthy, we may do what we ought, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, now and always and to the ages of ages.

“This Moses, whom they denied, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?’ this one God sent as ruler and redeemer with the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.” This fits the present subject very well. “This Moses,” he says. Which Moses? The one who was in danger of perishing, the one despised by them, “whom they denied, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler?’”, just as they also said of Christ, “We have no king but Caesar.” “This one God sent as ruler and redeemer with [the hand] of the angel who said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham.’” Here he shows that the wonders that took place also came about through [Christ]. “This man,” that is, Moses (and see how he shows him illustrious) “led them out, having done wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers, as …’” … Herod wanted to kill this one too, and he was kept safe in Egypt, just as that one also was plotted against when he was a child. “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; who received living oracles to give to us.” Again, nowhere a temple, nowhere a sacrifice. “With the angel,” he says, “he received living oracles to give to us.” Here he shows that he not only did signs but also gave a law, as Christ did. Just as this man first does signs and then gives laws, so too does Christ. But they did not listen to him, having learned always to disobey, after the signs, after the wonders of forty years. And not only this, but they even showed the opposite; and to make this plain he added: “Whom our fathers would not obey, but they turned back in their hearts to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us; for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But God turned and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you offer me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, house [of Israel]? And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the figures that you made in order to worship them. And I will remove you …’ The tent of witness was with our fathers in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen.” And though there was a tent, there were no sacrifices. That there were none the prophet makes plain when he says, “Did you offer me slain beasts and sacrifices?” The tent of witness existed, and it did them no good; they went on perishing. Neither did the signs before this, nor anything after these, do them any good. “Which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought in.” Do you see that the place is holy wherever God is? That is why he also said “in the wilderness,” to set place against place. Then the benefit: “And our fathers, having received it in turn, brought it in with Joshua when they took possession of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.” David asked to build, and the great and wonderful man does not obtain it; but Solomon, the one passed over, builds. That is why he says, “But Solomon built him a house. Yet the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands.” This was shown by what had already been said; it is shown also by a prophetic voice, and how, hear in what follows: “As the prophet also says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet. What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’” “Do not wonder,” he says, “if Christ does good to those who refuse his kingdom, if this happened also in the time of Moses.” For he did not simply deliver them, but did so also while they were living in the wilderness. Do you see that those signs too were for their sake? So the one who conversed with God, who was saved against all expectation, who did so much and had such power, shows that the prophecy must by all means be fulfilled, and he does not contradict himself. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “This is,” he says, “the Moses who said, ‘The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me.’” I think Christ was referring to this when he said, “Salvation is from the Jews,” hinting at himself. “This is the one who was in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him.” See, again he shows that he gave the law, if indeed he was with him in the congregation in the wilderness. Here he also reminds them of a great wonder, the one that took place on the mountain. “Who received living oracles to give to us.” Moses is wonderful everywhere, and more so when he had to give laws. What does “living oracles” mean? Either those whose fulfilment was shown by words, or he means the prophecies. Then the charge, for the present against the patriarchs: after the signs and the wonders, after receiving living oracles, “whom,” he says, “they would not obey.” And he rightly said “living oracles,” to show that there are also ones that are not living, of which Ezekiel too speaks, as when he says, “And I gave you statutes that were not good.” It was in contrast to such, then, that he said “living.” “But they thrust him away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,” where they groaned, where they cried out, from where they called on God. “And they said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us.’”

O the folly! “Make,” he says, “so that they may go before us.” Where? To Egypt. Do you see how hard it was to drag them away from Egyptian customs? What are you saying? You do not wait for the one who led you out, but you deny the benefit and flee from the benefactor? And see how they insult him: “For this Moses,” he says, “who led us out of the land of Egypt.” Nowhere the name of God; they ascribed everything to Moses. Where they ought to have given thanks, they bring Moses forward; but where they ought to obey the law, they no longer refer to Moses. And yet he had told them that he was going up to receive the law; but they did not hold out even forty days. “Make us gods.” They did not say “a god,” but “gods”; so wildly did they rave that they do not even know what they are saying. “And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to the idol.” Did you see the excess of folly? Where God appeared to Moses, there these men make and sacrifice. “And they rejoiced,” he says, “in the works of their hands.” At what should have made them hide their faces, they rejoiced. And what wonder is it if you do not know Christ, when [they did not know] even Moses, and God, who was shown by so many signs? They not only failed to know him, but insulted him in another way too, by making idols. “But God turned and gave them over” … from then on these customs, from then on the sacrifices; they themselves first made sacrifices, to the idols. David too points this out when he says, “And they made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the carved image.” For before this there is nowhere the name of sacrifice, but commandments that are living and oracles that are living; nowhere rites, but wonders and a display of signs. “As it is written in the book of the prophets.” Here he did not bring in the testimony idly, but to show that there was no need of sacrifices. And see what it says: “Did you offer me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness? And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the figures that you made in order to worship them.” He used the word expressively. What he means is this: you cannot say that it was from sacrificing to me that you came to sacrifice to those as well; and this in the wilderness, where above all he watched over them. “And you took up the tent of Moloch.” This is the cause of the sacrifices. “And I will remove you” … an accusation of their wickedness. “And how,” someone says, “was there a tent of witness?” It existed for this purpose, that they might have God as witness. So it existed for this alone. “For according to the pattern,” it says, “that was shown to you on the mountain”; so the design was made on the mountain; and this tent too was carried about in the wilderness, and not set in one place. He calls it a tent of witness for no other reason than the wonders and the commandments. Nevertheless, neither it nor they had a temple. So the angel himself gave the very pattern too. “Until the days,” he says, “of David.” So there was no temple until then, although he had even driven out the nations, of whom he says, “whom God drove out before our fathers.” He said this showing again that there was no temple then. What am I saying? So many wonders, and nowhere a temple? So too the tent came first, and nowhere a temple. “And he asked to find favor before God.” He asked, and did not build; so little was the temple a great thing, even if some thought Solomon great for building the temple, and for that reason even set him above his father. That he was not better than his father, nor even his equal, except in the opinion of the many, he made plain by adding: “Yet the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet.’” For not even these are worthy of God, if indeed they are things made, if indeed they are works of his hand. See how he leads them upward little by little. For he shows through the prophet that not even these may be called worthy of God. “And for what reason,” someone says, “does he use such vehement speech here?” His boldness was great, since he was about to die; for I think he knew this too by revelation. “Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears.” This too is prophetic; nothing of it is his own. “You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” When he did not want there to be sacrifices, you sacrificed; when he wants them, again you do not sacrifice; when he did not want to give you … Again, when the temple stood, you served idols; when he wants to be served without a temple, you do the opposite. See, he did not say, “You resist God,” but “the Spirit”; so little does he know any difference. And the greater thing: “As your fathers did,” he says, “so do you.” So Christ too reproached them, since they always boasted greatly of their fathers. “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One.” And he says “of the Righteous One,” wishing to humble them. “Of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.” He charges them with two things: that they [betrayed], and that they murdered. “You who received the law by ordinances of angels, and did not [keep it].”

What is this? Some say, the [law] ordered by angels. … But it is not so; for where … angel … the law, he says, the one put into his hands through the angel who appeared to him in the bush; for surely not a man … So it is nothing wonderful that these men … did those things … he says, and did these. If you killed those who foretold him, much more him. Here he shows them disobedient both to angels and to the prophets and to the … and to all, just as … Scripture says, “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars.” Those then who lay claim to the law [said], “He blasphemes against Moses.” But he shows that it is they rather who blaspheme, not only against Moses … but also against God; and that they were such from the beginning; and that they themselves abolished the customs, and that … of these from now on; and that while they accused him of opposing Moses, they themselves were opposing the Spirit; and not simply, but also with … they had held their enmity from of old. Do you see that he shows them opposing all … and not keeping the law? And yet Moses said, “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet”; and the … foretold that he would come, and the prophet …, “What house will you build for me?” and again, “… slain beasts and sacrifices did you offer me forty years?” This is the boldness of a man [who has taken up] the cross. Let us too, then, imitate it. … it is not a time of war, but of boldness … “For I spoke,” it says, “of your testimonies before kings, and was not ashamed.” So when we engage with Greeks, let us … silence them in this way, without anger, without harshness. For if we do this with anger, it no longer seems [boldness] but passion; but if gently, … this is boldness. For it is not possible for the same thing at once … to be both an achievement and a failing. Boldness is an achievement; anger, a failing. So if we mean to have boldness, we must be clean [of anger], so that no one may put our words down to it. … if you speak with anger, you have lost everything, even if you …, even if you admonish, whatever you do. See this man speaking without anger; for he did not [revile them], but reminded them of the prophetic word. … That he was not angry he showed when he was being ill-treated, praying for them and saying, “Do not hold this sin against them.” So he was not speaking in anger, but grieving and stung on their behalf; since that is also why it is said of his face, “They saw his face as the face [of an angel],” so that he might draw them. Let us then be clean [of anger]. The Holy Spirit does not dwell where [anger is] … accursed is the man given to anger. Nothing sound can come from where anger comes out. For just as in … one could not have the occasion to philosophize, so neither … But if … is to speak or [hear] anything wise, the soul must first be in harbor. Do you not see how, when we want to discuss some necessary matters, we look for places clear of noise, where there is quiet, where there is calm, so that we are not distracted? And if the noise from outside distracts, much more the turmoil within. Even if such a man prays, he prays in vain, doing it with wrath and anger; if he speaks, he will be laughable; if he is silent, the same again; if he eats, he is harmed in this way too; whether he drinks or does not drink; even in their dreams such people have such fancies. For what about such people is not absurd? Disagreeable eyes, a twisted mouth, [a tongue] that spares no one, a mind beside itself, an unseemly bearing, much ugliness. Tell me, the eyes of the possessed and of the drunk and of madmen, how do they differ from one another? Is not the whole thing madness? For what if it is only for a time? This is worse. For the madman is held under restraint for a time; but what is worse than this one? And they are not ashamed of the excuse: “I did not know,” he says, “what I said.” And why did you not know this, you rational man, who have reason? Why do you do the deeds of irrational animals, like a wild horse carried off by wrath and anger? Indeed the excuse itself deserves a charge. Would that you knew what you say! “The words belong to anger,” he says, “not to me.” How to anger? Anger has no strength unless it takes it from you. It is as if someone were to say, “The wounds belong to my hand, not to me.” What do you think most needs anger? Is it not war and battle? But even there, if anything is done with anger, everything is spoiled and lost. For those who fight least of all ought to be angry; those who are insulted least of all ought to be angry. “And how can one fight?” he says. With reason, with gentleness; for fighting is standing against an opponent. Or do you not see that even these wars are bounded by law and ordinance and set times? For anger is nothing but an irrational impulse, and nothing rational can come from what is irrational. Since this man too said such things, and not [in anger] … Elijah too said, “How long will you limp on both your hams?” and he was not angry. And Phinehas slew, and he was not angry. For anger does not let one see, but, as in a battle at night, binding everything, both eyes and ears, it leads one wherever it wishes. Let us then rid ourselves of this demon; let us put it down when it is beginning; let us put the seal on our breast like a bridle. Anger is a shameless dog; but let it learn to obey the law. If there is a dog in a flock so wild that it does not obey the herdsman's command, nor recognize his voice, everything [is ruined]; but if it gets a taste of the sheep, it is useless and is slaughtered. If it has learned to obey you, keep the dog; it is useful against wolves, against pirates, barking against the robber chief, not against the sheep nor against the household. If it does not obey, it ruins everything; if it learns to despise you, it destroys everything. So let anger not consume the gentleness within you, but guard it and make it fat. And it will guard it and let it graze in great safety, if [it barks at] the foul thoughts and the wicked … In this way gentleness is preserved, when we never think anything bad of our neighbor; in this way we become worthy of respect, when … we do not learn to be shameless. For nothing makes one so shameless as a bad conscience. Why are prostitutes shameless? Why are virgins modest? Is it not from their sin that the former are so? Is it not from their chastity that the latter are? For nothing makes one so shameless as sin. “But on the contrary,” someone says, “it makes one ashamed.” Yes, the one who has condemned himself; but the one who has stopped blushing it makes even more brazen; for the one who has despaired of himself becomes bold. “For the ungodly man,” it says, “when he comes into the depth of evils, despises.” The shameless man will also be brazen, and the brazen man bold. Do you want to learn when gentleness is consumed? When wicked thoughts chew it up. But even if this happens, that the dog does not stand by barking loudly, not even then must one despair. For we have a sling and a stone (you know the saying); we have a spear too, and a fold, and a pen, in which we will keep our thoughts unharmed. If the dog fawns on the sheep but is fierce against those outside and keeps awake, this is a dog's virtue; even if it is hungry, not to taste the sheep; even if it is full, not to spare the wolves. Such too is anger: even if it is bitten, not to depart from gentleness; even if it is at rest, to be roused against the wicked thoughts; not to abandon what is its own even when it strikes, but to know it, and to savage what is foreign even when it fawns. The devil often fawns like the dog; but let everyone know that he is a stranger. So let us too fawn on virtue even if it grieves us, and turn away from vice even if it delights us. Let us not become worse than dogs, who do not leave their masters even when they are whipped and choked. And if a stranger feeds them, will they not harm him all the more? Anger is sometimes useful, but when it barks at strangers. What does “whoever is angry with his brother without cause” mean? In place of: “Do not avenge yourself, nor take revenge”; if you see another perishing, stretch out your hand. That is no longer anger, when you are free of feeling for your own cause. David caught Saul, and was not angry, nor did he drive the spear in when he had his enemy in his hands, but he fought off the devil. Moses, when he saw a foreigner doing wrong, even killed him; but when it was one of his own, no longer; he tried to reconcile his brothers, but the others he even drove off. And yet Scripture testifies that he was the meekest of men; but nevertheless he was also roused. But we are not so; where we ought to show meekness, we are [fiercer] than all the beasts, [and where we ought to be roused,] … and sleepier. Since then we do not use [what is] in us as we ought, for that very reason our life too is spent on nothing that it ought. So too with tools: if one uses one thing for another purpose, he ruins everything. For instance, if someone takes a knife and does not use it where it should be used, but does the work with his hand, he will achieve nothing more; just as the one who, where he should use his hand, [uses] the knife … and a physician, if he does not cut where he must cut, and cuts where he must not, ruins everything. Therefore I urge you, let us use the thing in its season. There is no season for anger when we are defending ourselves; but when we must correct others, then above all we must use it, so that we may snatch others away. In this way we shall be like God, keeping ourselves free from anger everywhere, and we shall attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed their teeth at him.” That they found in what was said no pretext for killing him, but still rage and seek to maltreat him, is worth wondering at. So wrongdoers are always in distress. Just as the high priests in their perplexity said, “What shall we do with these men?”, so these too are cut to the heart. And yet the one who ought to have been angry was he, who had done no wrong but suffered what wrongdoers suffer and was falsely accused. But it is the false accusers who are rather convicted; and in this too the saying I always repeat is true, that to do evil is to suffer evil. And yet he made no false accusation, but gave proof. So, when we are insulted for things of which we are not conscious, we suffer nothing. They wanted to kill him, but they do not do it, wishing to put a plausible pretext on their daring. What then? Was his rebuke not a plausible ground? The rebuke was not his, but the prophet's accusation; and though they had it, they still held back, so as not to seem to kill him because of what was said against them, just as with Christ, but for impiety. But the saying was one of piety. So, trying to harm his reputation along with killing him, they were cut to the heart. For they feared lest something new should happen about him again. Then what they do in Christ's case they do also in Stephen's; and just as there, when he said, “You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,” they called the thing blasphemy and made the crowds witnesses, so too here. There they tore their garments; here they stopped their ears. “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord. And casting him out of the city, they stoned him.” And yet if he was lying, they should have let him go as a madman. But he spoke so because he wished to draw them over. And since, though he had spoken of the death, he had said nothing about the resurrection, he now opportunely adds this doctrine as well. He says that he appeared to him in this way, as he relates, so that they might receive the word at least so; and since to say “seated” was offensive to them, for the present he raises the subject of the resurrection, and says that he stands. From this I conjecture that his face too was glorified. For God, being a lover of humankind, wished to call them by the very things through which they were plotting, even if nothing more came of it. “And casting him out of the city, they stoned him.” Again the death is outside the city, as in Christ's case, and in the very death the confession and the preaching are proclaimed. “And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man …” … and his face had been glorified. For … calling on [God] and saying, “Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.” In this he was at once showing and teaching them that he does not perish. “And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’” As if defending himself, that what he said before was not from anger either; or wishing to draw them by this. For to let go of anger and wrath at his murder and to show his soul clean of passion made his word acceptable. “And Saul was consenting to his death. And on that day there arose a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.” This persecution was not simply a matter of chance, but by dispensation … the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Do you see how God again allows trials to happen? But see from here too how affairs are ordered. They were admired for the signs; when flogged they suffered nothing; they were appointed over the widows; the word was growing; then he allows a great hindrance to arise. And a persecution arises, no ordinary one, so that these too fled at the same time (for they feared them, since they had grown bolder), and it was plain to all that those who feared and fled were men. For lest you say afterwards that they succeeded by grace alone, even when persecuted: they themselves became more timid, and their enemies bolder. “And all were scattered,” he says, “except the apostles.” So I did not say idly that the persecution was a matter of dispensation; for if it had not happened, the disciples would not … “And they made great lamentation over him.” Either they were not yet perfect, or because he was beloved and revered; being men, they felt not fear only, but also grief and lamentation.

For who would not have wept to see that gentle man, that lamb, stoned and lying dead? The evangelist has given a sufficient funeral oration for him in saying “kneeling down” and “crying with a loud voice”. “And they made great lamentation over him.” But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened.’ And they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one accord.” Yet where do these things deserve accusation? Nevertheless, the man who had worked such signs by his word, who prevailed over everyone by his word, who discoursed in this way, they seized as they wished, and so they glutted their anger. “And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” See how exactly he narrates what concerns Paul, to show you the work of God that took place in him afterwards. For the present, he not only does not believe, but even stones him with the countless hands of the murderers; and to make this plain he says, “And Saul was consenting to his death.” Nor does this blessed man pray carelessly, but with attention: “kneeling,” it says. Hence his death too became divine; for only until then had his soul been allowed to remain [in him]. “And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.” Those who had heard, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles,” now mingle freely with Samaria. “Except the apostles,” he says, showing that they did not leave the city, wishing in this way too to win the Jews, or to become a cause of courage to others. “But Saul was ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women he committed them to prison.” Great was the frenzy: that he was even alone, that he even entered the houses; so did he give his soul for the law. “Dragging off,” it says, “men and women.” See the boldness, the insolence, the frenzy. All who fell into his hands he subjected to countless evils, having grown bolder from this slaughter. “Those then who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to a city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ to them. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was said by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs that he did. For of many who had unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, they were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But a certain man named Simon had previously been in the city practicing magic and amazing the nation of Samaria, saying that he himself was someone great, to whom all paid attention, from small to great, saying, ‘This man is the great power of God.’” [See] another trial too, that of Simon. “They paid attention to him,” it says, “because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. And Simon himself also believed, and after being baptized he kept close to Philip; and seeing great miracles and signs taking place, he was amazed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for he had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’” How then, someone says, had these not received the Spirit? They had received the Spirit of forgiveness, but the Spirit of signs they had not yet received. And that this is so, that they had not received the Spirit of signs, see how Simon, when he saw it, came asking for this. And although the persecution was then at its strongest, God nevertheless delivered them again, setting up the signs as a fortress in the enemy's land. Yet Stephen's death did not quench their enemies' anger, but rather increased it; that is why the teachers are scattered, so that the discipleship might grow. But see again good things succeeding for them, and them in joy. “For there was great joy,” it says, “in the city”; and yet there had also been great lamentation. So God always does: he mixes gladdening things with grievous ones, so that he may be the more admired. Simon had had the disease a long time; that is why even so he is not rid of it. How then did he even baptize him? Just as Christ chose Judas. This man, seeing signs taking place, is amazed, but does not dare ask for the grace of the signs, since he knew that the others had not yet received it either. How then did they not slay him, as they did Ananias and Sapphira? Because in old times too, when the man who gathered the sticks was put to death for the correction of others, no one else afterwards suffered the same. So too now Peter: having punished those, he does not punish this one, but says to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought to obtain the gift of God with money.” [3] And why had these, though baptized, not received the Holy Spirit? Either because Philip did not give it to them, perhaps out of honor for the apostles, or because he did not have such a gift (for he was one of the seven); and this is rather what one should say. Hence I think this Philip was one of the seven, the second after Stephen. That is why, though he baptized, he did not give the Spirit to those baptized; for he did not have the authority, since this gift belonged to the Twelve alone. But consider: those did not go out; it was arranged that these should go out, who also fell short of the grace, because they had not yet received [the power to give] the Holy Spirit. For they had received power to do signs, but not also to give the Spirit to others. So this was the special privilege of the apostles; hence one can see the leaders, and no others, doing this. “When Simon saw,” it says, “that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands.” He would not have said this unless something perceptible took place. Paul too did this, when they spoke in tongues. Did you see Simon's foulness? He offered money; and yet he had not seen Peter doing it for money; so the thing did not come from ignorance, but from one who was testing them and wished to entangle them in a charge. That is why he also hears: “You have neither part nor lot in this matter; for your heart is not right before God.” Again he brings into the open what was in his mind, since that man thought he was unnoticed. “Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. And Simon answered and said, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.’” He should have repented from the heart, he should have wept; but he does this only as a formality. “If perhaps it may be forgiven you.” He said this not as if it would not have been pardoned him if he had wept; but it is the custom even of the prophets only to forbid, and not to say, “If you do this, it will be pardoned you,” but rather, “The punishment will certainly come.” And do you, I pray, wonder at this too, how in the time of calamity they are not negligent but hold fast to the preaching; and how, just as in Moses' time the wonders took place by comparison, so too here. It was magic, and nevertheless these signs were manifest. [4] And yet there ought to have been no one possessed there, if indeed he had for a long time amazed them with his magic arts; but since there were many possessed, many paralyzed, those things were not real. But this man drew them not by signs only, but also by word, discoursing about the kingdom and about Christ. “And Simon,” it says, “after being baptized, kept close to Philip.” Not for faith's sake, but in order to become such a one, he kept close to him. “And they came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for he had not yet [fallen upon any of them … they laid their hands] on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” Do you see that it was not done simply, but much power was needed to give the Holy Spirit? For it is not the same to obtain forgiveness and to receive such a power. “Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money.” Did he not see the others doing this? Did he not see Philip? Did he suppose they did not know with what intent he was approaching? So Peter rightly calls the thing a gift too, saying, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought to obtain the gift of God with money.” Do you see them everywhere clean of money? “You have neither part nor lot in this matter; for your heart is not right before God.” So he did everything from wickedness; and yet he ought to have been simple. “Repent therefore. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.” The words are full of indignation. But he does not punish him, so that faith might not from then on be a matter of compulsion, so that the thing might not seem cruel, so that he might bring in what belongs to repentance; or because it was enough for his correction to convict him, to tell what was in his heart, to make him confess that he had been caught. For in saying, “Pray for me,” he is at once confessing and showing it. See how, foul though he was, nevertheless when he was convicted, then he believed, just as he became humble too when he was convicted again. “Seeing signs taking place, he was amazed,” showing that all of his was a lie. He did not say, “He came forward,” but, “He was amazed.” And why ever does he not do that at once? He thought he could escape notice; he thought the thing was an art;

but when he could not escape the apostles' notice, he came forward. “For of many who had unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, they came out.” This is a plain sign of their coming out; but the magicians' doings are the opposite, for they rather bound them. “And many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.” There was no deception here, for they had to walk and act. “And all paid attention to him, saying, ‘This man is the power of God.’” Here what was said by Christ is fulfilled: “Many false christs and false prophets will come in my name.” And why did they not refute him at once? They were content that he condemned himself; for this too was a part of their teaching. But since he could not resist, he plays the hypocrite, just as the magicians did when they said, “This is the finger of God”; and so that he might not be driven away again, for this reason he kept close to Philip and did not leave him.

But consider, I ask you, how much is arranged through the death of Stephen. They are scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria; they preach the gospel …, they proclaim Christ, they perform signs, … these receive the gift. This was a … sign; for both to give to them and to … give was the greatest sign. “So they, having testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.” Rightly so … so that they might not be deceived, so that they might be in safety from then on … lest they be carried away through inexperience. … Jerusalem. Why do they go back there, where … was, where the beginning of the evils was, where the … were? Just as in wars generals … and occupy the part of the war that is hard pressed, so these men do too. See … coming to Samaria first, … the disciples, as also in Christ's case … the apostles to those who believed … “The apostles in Jerusalem,” he says, “[sent] to them Peter and John.” [Why] are they sent? To free [them] from magic … to remind [them] of the teaching which from Christ … they first believed. He ought then, on the contrary, … to receive the Holy Spirit; but he, since he had not … this, asks in order to give to others. And yet … this … so as to give; but he wanted … to become more illustrious, … among the disciples … “May your silver perish with you.” These are not … but the words of one instructing. Since … he did not use it, “Let it be yours,” he says … as one might say, “Let it perish together with your intention,” because you think so little of the gift of [God] … you expected the thing to be altogether human … this is. If at least he had come as he should …, he would have been received, and he would not have been driven out like a pest. See … imagining small things about great ones, double … So he commands him: “Repent and pray … [if perhaps] the intent of your heart may be forgiven you” … he had devised something evil. That is why he also says, “if it may be forgiven you,” because he knew him to be incorrigible … he fears the crowd, and is afraid lest … he was disturbed, he would have said, “I did not know … I did”; but he was struck with amazement, first … at the signs, and second at this, that what was in his [heart] was made manifest. That is why … far off afterwards to Rome, as if the apostle would not overtake him. “And they preached the gospel,” it says, “to many villages of the Samaritans.” See how even their journeys … were; and they did not make them idly. … we ought to make our journeys. And what am I saying? Many have villages and estates, and … take no account of them; but how … may come about, and how the rents …, [how] halls, and how they may put up buildings, … they take great pains over; but how souls …, no longer. And you, if you [see] thorns by the …, you cut them out, you burn them, you destroy them, so that the [land may be rid] of the harm they do; but seeing [your laborers' souls] full of thorns and not cutting them out, do you not shudder, tell me, at the one who will demand an account of you for these too? For ought not each of the faithful to build a church, to take a teacher to help him, and before all else to look to this, that all may be Christians? How, tell me, will the farmer become a Christian, when he sees you so neglectful of his salvation? You cannot work signs and persuade? Persuade by what you have: by kindness, by protection, by gentleness, by courtesy, by everything else. Most people build markets and baths, but not churches; anything rather than this. Therefore I urge and entreat and ask it as a favor, or rather I lay it down as a law, that no one be seen owning an estate without a church. Do not say to me, “There is one nearby, in the neighborhood; the expense is great, the income not great.” If you have anything to spend on the poor, spend it there; better there than here. Support a teacher, support a deacon and a priestly body. Just as if you were bringing home a wife or a bride, or giving away a daughter, so give the church a dowry. In this way your estate will be filled with blessing. For what good thing will not be there? Is it a small thing, tell me, that the winepress is blessed? A small thing that God first receives a share and first-fruits of all your crops? This is useful for the peace of the farmers. The presbyter too will be respected from then on, and this will contribute to the safety of the estate. There will be continual prayers there because of you, hymns and assemblies because of you, an offering every Lord's Day. What greater cause for wonder is there than this: while others build splendid tombs so that those after them may hear, “So-and-so built this,” you raise up churches! Consider that until the coming of Christ you will have the reward, you who raised up an altar of God. [5] For tell me, if a king commanded you to build a house so that he might lodge there, would you not have done everything? Now the building of the church is a palace of Christ. Do not look at the expense, but reckon the fruit. They cultivate the land; you cultivate their souls. They bring you fruits; you bring them up to heaven. The one who made the beginning is the cause of all the rest as well. So you too will be the cause of the catechumens there, and of those in the neighboring estates. And yet baths make the farmers softer, and taverns more given to luxury; but nevertheless you build these for the sake of glory. Markets and festivals again make them brazen; but what is here does quite the opposite. How delightful it is to see a presbyter walking in the image of Abraham, grey-haired, girded, digging and working with his own hands! What is more desirable than that field? There virtue is greater. There is no licentiousness there; it has been driven out. There is no drunkenness and luxury; they have been banished. There is no vainglory; it has been quenched. Good cheer shines out more there because of the simplicity. How fine it is to go out and enter the house of God, and to know that one built it oneself, and to lie down at ease, and after the body's airing to be present at the evening and morning hymns, to have the priest at one's table, to converse with him and enjoy his blessing, to see others coming there! This is a wall, this is the security of an estate. This is the field of which it says, “The smell of a full field which the Lord has blessed.” Even without this the field is fine, because of its quiet and because it is full of freedom from business; but when it has this too, what will it not equal? For a field that has a church resembles the paradise of God. There is no shouting there, no tumult, no quarreling enemies, no heresies; one sees all as friends, sharing the same doctrines. The quiet leads you to philosophy; taking you from this philosophy, the presbyter will easily tend you. For here, whatever we say, the marketplace drives it out; but there, whatever you hear you will keep fixed in your mind; you will be another man in the field through him; and he will watch over them and be their guard, both by being present and by ordering their lives. And how great, tell me, is the expense? For the present make a small house in the form of a temple; the one after you will build a portico, the one after him will add other things, and so the whole will be reckoned to you. You give a little; lay the foundation. Or rather, urge one another on; make the matter a contest. As it is, where chaff and grain and all such things must be stored, they build readily; but where the produce of souls must be gathered, they take no thought at all, and people are forced to walk countless stades and make long journeys in order to go to church. How great a good it is for the priest to be present in the church in great quiet, so that he may approach God and speak every day for the village and for the owner! Is it a small thing, tell me, that your name is always included in the holy offerings, and that prayers are made to God every day for the village? How much this profits you in other things too! It happens that some live nearby and have stewards; not one of them will deign even to come to you, a poor man; but the presbyter he will perhaps even invite and make a sharer of his table. Do you see how many good things will come of this? The village will meanwhile be free of every evil suspicion; no one will bring a charge of murder, no one of theft; no one will suspect any such thing. They have another consolation too, if sickness befalls, or death. The friendships of those who go there together do not arise casually or by chance; and the gatherings will be much pleasanter than those at the festivals. And not only the gatherings, but the leading men themselves will be more respected because of the presbyter. You surely hear that among the ancients Jerusalem was more honored than the other cities; but not without reason, but because of the piety that prevailed then. That is why, where God is honored, there is nothing evil; just as again, where he is not honored, there is nothing good. There will be much security both with God and with men. Yes, I urge you, take up the matter not as a sideline but with eagerness. For if the one who brings forth the precious from the worthless will be as the mouth of God, the one who benefits and wins back so many souls, both those that are and those that will be until the coming of Christ, what favor will he not enjoy from God! Build a fortress against the devil; for this is what the church is. Let the hands set out from there to their toil; let them first lift them up in prayers, and then go off to their work. So they will have strength of body, so the harvest will be plentiful, so all evils will be far away. The pleasure that comes from this cannot be described in words until it happens in deed. Do not look at this, that it brings no income. If you look at things that way, do not build it, unless you think you receive an income greater than the whole estate; if you are not so minded, do not even undertake it, unless you suppose this work to stand above everything you own. What income is greater than this, to bring souls into the threshing floor in heaven? Alas! that you do not know how great a thing it is to gain souls. Hear what Christ says to Peter: “If you love me, tend my sheep.” If, seeing the king's sheep or a herd of horses without a fold, you had built a fold and a stable, or even set a shepherd over them, with what would the king not have repaid you? Now you gather the flock of Christ and set a shepherd over it, and do you not think you are doing something great? What am I saying? If the one who causes even one to stumble is threatened with suffering so great a punishment, will not the one who saves so many, tell me, be saved? Clearly he will. For what sin will he have after that? Or even if he has one, does this not wipe it out? From the punishment of the one who causes stumbling learn the prize of the one who saves. If the salvation even of one soul were not of great concern to God, its loss would not have caused him such wrath. Knowing these things, then, let us take up this spiritual work at once; let each of you call me, and we will help as far as we can. If there are three owners, let them do it by joint contribution; if one, he will persuade his other neighbors as well. Only be eager to accomplish this, I urge you, so that, pleasing God in every way, we may attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages.

“An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, ‘Arise and go toward the south, on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is desert.’ And he arose and went.” It seems to me that these orders were given while he was in Samaria, since from Jerusalem one does not go away south, but north; but from Samaria, south. “This is desert.” He says this so that he would not fear the Jews' attack. And he did not ask why, but arose and went. “And behold,” it says, “an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her [treasure, had come to worship in Jeru]salem. And he was returning, seated in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.” Great are the praises spoken of this man: if indeed, while living in Ethiopia and surrounded by so many affairs, with no feast taking place, and living in a superstitious city, he came to worship in Jerusalem. Great too was his zeal, since even seated in his carriage he was reading. “And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.’ And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How could I, unless someone guides me?’” See again another mark of piety. What is it? That though he did not understand, he was reading; and then, after reading, he inquires. “And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading was this: ‘As a sheep he was led to slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.’ And the eunuch answered Philip and said, ‘I beg you, about whom does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.” Do you see how his affairs are arranged? First he reads and does not understand; then he reads the very passage where the passion was, and the resurrection, and the gift. “And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch says, ‘See, water; what prevents me from being baptized?’” Did you see his eagerness? Did you see his exactness? “And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more; for he went on his way rejoicing.” Why, someone says, did the Spirit of the Lord take him away? Because he was going to pass through other cities too and preach the gospel. This happened, then, so that he might be admired afterwards, so that the eunuch might think what concerned him not human but divine. “But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through he preached the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.” From this too it is plain that he is one of the seven; for later too he is found there, in Caesarea. It was to the eunuch's advantage, then, that the Spirit snatched him away, since he would have asked him to go away with him; and Philip would have grieved him by declining and refusing, since it was not yet the time. Did you see angels assisting the preaching, not preaching themselves, but calling these men? The wonder is shown from this too: what was rare of old and hardly happened, happens here in great abundance. Besides, what happened was also a kind of foretelling that they would prevail over the foreigners. For the trustworthiness of those who believe is enough to persuade those who learn to rise up to equal zeal themselves. That is why he went on rejoicing; so that if he had understood, he would not have been glad. “And what prevented him,” someone says, “from learning everything exactly while he was in the carriage, and especially in the wilderness?” Because the thing was not a display. But let us look at what was read from the beginning. “And behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch,” it says, “a court official of the queen of the Ethiopians, Candace.” From this it is plain that they were ruled by her. For women ruled in old times, and this was a law among them. So Philip did not know for what reason he had come into the wilderness, since it was no longer an angel but the Spirit who snatched him away. The eunuch sees none of these things, being still imperfect, or because these things are not for … nor indeed does he learn what Philip is taught. And why does the angel not appear to him and lead him to Philip? Because perhaps he would not have been persuaded, but rather would have been struck with alarm. See Philip's philosophy: he did not accuse him, he did not say, “You are ignorant; I will teach you”; he did not say, “I know these things exactly”; he did not flatter him and say to him, “You are blessed for reading.” So his word was free from rashness and from flattery, and was rather that of one who cares and is kind. For the eunuch had to ask; he had to long. It is the mark of one who indicates that he saw that the man knew nothing, to say, “Do you understand what you are reading?”, and at the same time of one showing great …

But see how sensibly the eunuch too excuses himself: “How could I,” he says, “unless someone guides me?” He did not look at Philip's appearance, he did not say, “Who are you?”, he did not find fault; he does not boast, he does not say he knows, but confesses that he is ignorant; that is why he also learns. He shows the wound to the physician. He perceived that Philip both knew these things and wished to teach. He saw his lack of pride, for Philip did not wear a splendid dress. So fond of hearing was he, and so attentive to the words, that “He who seeks finds” was fulfilled in his case. “And he invited Philip,” it says, “to come up and sit with him.” Did you see the zeal? Did you see the longing? He invites him to come up and sit with him; so little did he know what Philip was going to tell him, but he expected to hear some prophecy. And this is a greater honor, not simply to take him up, but to invite him. “And Philip ran up and heard him reading.” The running is a sign of one who wished to speak, and the reading a sign of zeal. For he was reading at the time when the sun makes the heat most intense. “The passage was this: ‘As a sheep he was led to slaughter.’” This too is a proof of his love of learning, that he had in hand this prophet, who is loftier than the others. That is why Philip does not speak to him vehemently, but gently; or rather, he does not even speak first, until he was asked, until the other invited him; and as if doing the same again, he says, “I beg you, about whom does the prophet say this?” It seems to me that he did not know that the prophets speak about others; or if not this, he did not know that they speak about themselves in the person of another. Let us be ashamed, both poor and rich, before that treasurer. Then “they came to some water, and he says, ‘See, water.’” Do you see how strongly he desires it? He does not say, “Baptize me,” nor is he silent; but he says something between desire and reverence: “What prevents me from being baptized?” See how complete the doctrines he held were; for the prophet contained everything: the incarnation, the passion, the resurrection, the ascension, the judgment to come; and these above all created great desire in him. Be ashamed, all you who are still unbaptized. “And he commanded,” it says, “the chariot to stop.” At once he spoke and gave the order, before he heard. “And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.” Rightly, so that what happened might be shown to be divine, and so that he might not think Philip was simply a man. “And he went on his way,” it says, “rejoicing.” He said this to show that he would have been grieved if he had understood; so great was his joy that, though he had been counted worthy of the Spirit, he did not even see what was before him. “And he was found,” it says, “at Azotus.” Philip too gained much from this. For what he had heard of the prophets, of Habakkuk, of Ezekiel and the others, he saw happen in his own case; he is shown to have gone a long way in an instant, if indeed he was found at Azotus; and there he stops, where he had to preach the gospel. “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” He fittingly put in the account of Paul's zeal, to show that he was drawn in the very midst of his zeal. For not yet sated with the murder of Stephen, nor filled with the persecution and scattering of the church, he goes to the high priest. Here what was said by Christ to the disciples is fulfilled: “The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.” This man did so, then, not as the Jews did, God forbid. That he acted from zeal is plain from his going even to the cities outside. But they did not care even about those in Jerusalem; they were intent on one thing only, enjoying honor. And why was he going to Damascus? It was a great city, a royal city; he feared lest it too should be taken first. And see the longing and the vehemence, how lawfully … He does not go to a ruler, but to the high priest. He asks letters from him, “so that if he found any belonging to the Way.” He calls the believers “the Way”, as they were then called by everyone, perhaps because they were cutting the way that leads to heaven. And why did he not receive authority to punish them there, but brings them to Jerusalem? So that he might carry out the punishment here with more authority. And see: though he was throwing himself into such danger, he is nevertheless afraid even so of suffering some harm. That is why he takes others with him, perhaps to cut short his fear; or, since he was going against many, he takes many, so as to … more boldly. “Whomever he found, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” Besides, he also wanted, through the journey, to show them all his whole …; so little were they eager about this. And see him casting people into prison even before this. Those could not do it, but this man could, from his eagerness. “And as he went, it happened that he drew near Damascus; and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and falling to the ground … why are you persecuting me?” [3] Why not in Jerusalem, why did it not happen in Damascus? So that others might not be able to tell it in different ways, but he himself, who was going there for this purpose, might be trustworthy when he told it. This at any rate he says when making his defense before Agrippa. He suffers in his eyes too, because the excess of light is wont to strike them; for the eyes have their measures. And an excess of sound is said to make people deaf and stunned. But Christ maimed only this man, and quenched his anger with fear, so that … “why are you persecuting me?” He does not say to him, “Believe,” nor anything else of the kind, but reproaches him. By his reproach he all but says this: “What wrong, great or small, have you suffered from me, that you do these things?” “And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’” For the present he confessed himself a servant. “And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’” As if he said, “Do not think that your war is with men.” “And those who were with him heard Paul's voice, but saw no one to whom he answered.” Fittingly; for he made them hearers of the lesser things. For if they had heard that voice, they might even have disbelieved; but seeing Paul answering, they wondered. “But arise and enter the city, and you will be told what you must do.” See how he does not reveal everything to him at once, but only softens his mind beforehand; and by what he urges him to do, he at once gives him good hopes, and that he will see again. “And the men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. And Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were opened, …” they bring him in, like a city or a capital that has been taken. And the wonderful thing is that his very enemies and foes brought him in, while everyone looked on. “And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.” What could equal this? The bringing over of Paul becomes a consolation that balances the despondency over Stephen; it had comfort in itself too, in that Stephen departed in such a way, and it received this besides; and the villages of the Samaritans that were brought over gave very great consolation. “And why,” someone says, “did this not happen from the beginning, but afterwards?” So that it might be shown that Christ truly rose. For the man who was driving out his followers, who disbelieved his death and resurrection, who persecuted his disciples, from where, tell me, would he have come to believe, unless the power of the Crucified was great? Granted that those men were favoring him; what will you say to this one? Besides, he came over after the resurrection, and not at once, so that his war might be shown more clearly. For the man raging so as even to shed blood and throw people into prison believes all at once. It was not enough that he had not been with Christ; the faithful also had to be fiercely warred against by him. He left no excess of frenzy untried; he was the most vehement of all. But when he had been maimed, then he recognizes the proofs of Christ's lordship and love for humankind; or else so that no one might say that he pretended. For how could he, the man thirsting for blood, the man who went to the priests, who threw himself into dangers, who drove out and punished even those outside? So this man, after all this, confesses the lordship. And why was he not surrounded by the light inside the city, but before it? Because the many would not have believed, but would have mocked; since even there, of old, when they heard a voice from above, they said, “It is thunder.” He was more trustworthy reporting what concerned himself. … he was led in bound, though no chains were around him, … they dragged him, the man who had expected [to drag] others. And for what reason did he not eat or drink? … himself for what had happened; he confessed; he entreated God. And if someone should say, “The thing was compulsion” (for Elymas too suffered the same …): yes, he suffered it, but he remained as he was. How was Paul compelled? And what is more compelling than … at the resurrection, the soldiers reporting it, the other signs, … risen? But these things do not compel; they instruct. Why did the Jews not believe when they heard? That he spoke the truth was plain. For he would not have … if this had not happened; so that all ought … He was no less than those who preached his resurrection, or rather more trustworthy, having been … He was not with any of the faithful … at Damascus he changed, or rather he experienced this before the … I ask the Jew: Whence was Paul changed? He saw so many signs and was not changed; who persuaded him? Or rather, [who] put such eagerness into him as even to pray to become [accursed] for Christ? … the truth of the facts. But, as I said, let us be ashamed before the eunuch, both … being enlightened and … See how he was in power, how in …, and not even on the road was he idle? Who then was he … at home, when not even on the roads did he bear [to be idle]? Who was he at night?

All you who are in high rank, hear, and … home, he did not say to himself, “I am going off to my homeland; there I will receive the washing” … of the many. He did not need signs, he did not need …; from the prophet alone he believed. … Paul mourns himself, saying, “… that in me first Jesus Christ might display all his patience.” Truly this … is worthy of wonder. He did not see Christ, he did not see …; he saw Jerusalem still standing, and he believed Philip. Whence then did he become such a man? … his soul was …, he attended to the Scriptures … readings. And yet the thief too saw signs, the magi saw a star; but this man saw nothing … and believed; so great a thing is the reading of the Scriptures. … What then of Paul? Did he not [study] the law? … It seems to me that he was held back on purpose, for the sake of … the Jews … of Christ. For if they had had sense, … nothing would have benefited them so much as this. For this, and …, and everything, was enough to draw them. … nothing is wont so to offend the … See at any rate, after the scattering of the apostles, … God working the signs. They accused the apostles, they threw them into prison; then God works wonders. And see how: bringing them out of the prison was his sign; leading Philip was his sign; bringing Paul over was his sign; showing himself to Stephen was his sign. And consider how Paul is honored, and how the eunuch. Here Christ himself appears, perhaps because of Paul's harshness, and because he would not have been persuaded otherwise. Let us too dwell on these wonders and make ourselves worthy. Many now, though they come into church, do not know what is said; but the eunuch, both in the marketplace and while riding in a carriage, gave his attention to reading the Scriptures. But not you: none of you has a book in his hands; you have everything rather than the book. And why does he see him not before the events in Jerusalem, but after them? He was not to see the apostles being driven out, because he was still weak; nor was he formerly as well disposed as when the prophet instructed him. So too now, if any of you will attend to the prophets, he will not need signs. And if you like, let us look at the prophecy itself, at what it says: “As a sheep he was led to slaughter; and in his humiliation his judgment was taken away.” From this he learned that he was crucified, that his life is taken from the earth, that he did no sin, that he had power to save others too, that his generation is indescribable, that rocks were split, that the veil was torn, that the dead were raised from the tombs; or rather, Philip told him all these things, taking only his starting point from the prophet. Truly the reading of the Scriptures is a great thing. So that saying of Moses was fulfilled: “Sitting and lying down and rising up and walking, remember the Lord your God.” For roads especially, when they are deserted, give us opportunity for reflection, since there is no one to disturb us. And this man believes on the road, and Paul on the road; but Paul no one draws but Christ. This was greater than anything the apostles did; and the greater thing is that, though the apostles were in Jerusalem and none of them in Damascus, he returned from there persuaded; and those in Damascus knew that he had not come from Jerusalem persuaded, for he was carrying letters in order to bind the believers. Like an excellent physician, while the fever was still at its height, Christ brought him help; for he had to … in the meantime he condemned himself as one who had dared terrible things. But again it is good to resume the discourse with you. For what reason, tell me, are the Scriptures? As far as your part goes, everything is taken away. For what reason is the church? Bury the books; perhaps there is not such a judgment, not such a punishment. If someone were to bury them in dung and not listen to them, he would not insult them so much as now. For what, tell me, is the insult there? That he buried them. And what here? That we do not listen to them. Tell me, when is a man most insulted: when he gets no answer while silent, or while speaking? Surely while speaking. So the insult is greater now, when you do not listen even while he speaks; greater the contempt. “Do not speak to us,” the Jews said of old to the prophets; but you do worse, saying, “Do not speak; we do not do it.” They turned them away so that they would not even utter a sound, as though they took from the voice some occasion for reverence; but you, out of great contempt, do not even do this. Believe me, if you had stopped our mouths, laying your hands on them, the insult would not be so great as it is now. For tell me, does the man who hears and does not obey show more contempt, or the man who does not even hear?

But come, let us examine the matter in the case of an insult. If one man restrains the person insulting him and stops his mouth, as one pained by the insults, while another neither cares nor takes any notice, which shows more contempt? Is it not the latter? For the former shows that he feels the blow, but the latter all but stops the mouth of God. Did you shudder at what was said? But hear how this comes about. The mouth through which God speaks is the mouth of God. For just as this mouth is our soul's mouth, though the soul has no mouth, so too the mouth of the prophets is the mouth of God. Hear and shudder. The deacon, the common minister, stands crying aloud and saying, “Let us attend!”, and this many times. That voice which he sends out is the common voice of the church, and no one attends. After him the reader begins the prophecy of Isaiah, and not even so does anyone attend, although prophecy has nothing human about it. Then he cries out for all to hear, “Thus says the Lord,” and not even so does anyone attend. What am I saying? He recites fearful and terrible things, and not even so is there anyone who attends. But what is the excuse of the many? “The same things,” they say, “are always read.” This above all is what destroys you. Even if you knew them, you ought not on that account to keep away; for in the theaters too the same things always take place, and yet you do not get your fill. What “same things” do you dare to speak of, you who do not even know the names of the prophets? Are you not ashamed to say that you do not listen because the same things are always read, when you do not even know the names of what is read, and that though you always hear the same things? For you yourself have admitted that the same things are said. If I were saying this to bring it as a charge, you ought to have turned to another defense, not to your own accusation. Tell me, do you not admonish your son? If then he says, “Always the same things,” do you not think it an insult? It would be possible not to say the same things only if we both knew them and showed them in our works; or rather, not even then is the reading superfluous. Who is the equal of Timothy? And yet, writing even to him, Paul said, “Attend to reading, to exhortation.” For it is not possible, it is not possible ever to exhaust the sense of the Scriptures; it is a spring that has no end. “I said, ‘I will be wise,’” it says, “‘and then it departed from me.’” Do you want me to show that they are not the same things? How many do you think have spoken on the Gospels? Yet all of them spoke in a fresh and new way. For the more one spends time in them, the more sharply one sees, the more one beholds the light in its purity. See how many things I ask: What is prophecy? Tell me. What are narratives? What is a parable? What is allegory? What is a type? What is a symbol? What are gospels? Just tell me this one plain thing: why are they called Gospels? Surely you have often heard that good news ought to have nothing gloomy in it; but these are full of much gloom. “Their fire will not be quenched,” it says, “and their worm will not die”; then, “He will cut him in two and put his portion with the hypocrites”; then, “He will say, ‘I do not know you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” … to tell us. Or does none of this concern us? You have become deaf, and you stoop down like men struck senseless. Good news ought to contain nothing of things to be done, but only to advise good things; but these contain countless things to be done, such as these: “If anyone does not hate his father and mother, he is not worthy of me”; and, “I did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword”; and, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Fine indeed; for these are not good news. For good news is this: “These good things will be yours”; as people say to one another in ordinary speech, “What good news have you for me?”, “Your father is coming, your mother.” It does not say, “Do this.” Again, tell me, how do these differ from the prophetic writings? Why are those not also called gospels? For they too say the same things, for example, “The lame shall leap like a deer”; “The Lord will give a word to those who preach good news”; “I will give you a new heaven and a new earth.” Why are those not also called gospels? Why is this not also prophecy? But if, without even knowing what gospels are, you so despise the reading of the Scriptures, what shall I say to you? Shall I say another thing too? Why four Gospels? Why not ten? Why not twenty? Why did many undertake to compose Gospels? Why not one? Why disciples? Why some who were not disciples? And why the Scriptures at all? And yet Scripture says the opposite: “I will give you a new covenant.” Where are those who say, “Always the same things”? If you knew these things, that even if a man lives ten thousand years they are not the same things, you would not have said this. Believe me, I will tell you none of these things, neither in private nor in public; but if anyone finds the answer, I will nod; if not, I will let it be. For in this way we have made you useless, always saying everything ready-made, and not refusing when we should. See, you have questions enough: consider them, tell the reason. Why gospels? Why not prophecies? Why are there things to be done in the Gospels? And if this one is at a loss, let another inquire, and bring together to one another what you each have; and from now on we will be silent. For if what has been said has profited you nothing, much less would we add anything more. Truly we are drawing water into a jar full of holes, and from this your punishment too is greater. So for this reason we will be silent. That this may not happen is in your power. For if we see your zeal, perhaps we will speak again, so that you may be more approved and we may rejoice over you, glorifying in all things the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might and the majesty and the honor, with the Father who is without beginning and his Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Rise and go to the street called Straight, and look in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hand on him so that he might regain his sight.’” Why ever did he neither call nor send any of the leading apostles to instruct Paul? Because he was not to be brought in through men, but through Christ himself; since this man too taught him nothing, but only baptized him. At any rate, as soon as he was baptized, he drew on himself much grace of the Spirit by his great zeal and eagerness. That Ananias too was one of the very distinguished is plain from the fact that the Lord appears and speaks to him, and again from what he himself answers, saying, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.” If then he spoke against the Lord, much more would he have done so if he had sent an angel. That is why Philip too, before this, does not hear what is to come, but only sees the angel; and so the Spirit commands him to approach and join the chariot. For the present, here he cuts short his fear, and all but says this by saying, “Behold, he is praying”: he is blind, and you are afraid? So Moses too is afraid; so the words are rather those of a man afraid, not of one who disbelieves. And hear their very words: “Lord, I have heard from many about this man.” What are you saying? God speaks, and you doubt? So far … they did not yet know the power of Christ. “And here he has authority from the high priests to bind all who call on your name.” How was this known? It is likely that, being in fear, they inquired closely. So he says this not as though Christ did not know it, but as one perplexed how, these things being so, it was possible for this to happen. So too elsewhere the disciples say, “Who can be saved?” But see how much is arranged so that he might trust the one who comes. He saw it in a dream; the Lord told him beforehand. “He is praying,” he says; so do not be afraid. And why does he not tell him of the good deed that had been done? Teaching us not to tell of our own good deeds; … and seeing him afraid. Not even so did he say, “You will not be disbelieved,” but what? “Rise and go.” For he has seen in a vision a man laying hands on him. “In a vision” for this reason, since he was blind. And not even the greatness of the wonder won the disciple over, so afraid was he. Nevertheless God made Paul, who was blind, see again by his means. “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for this man is a chosen vessel of mine, to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’” Not only will he be a believer, he says, but also a teacher, and he will use great boldness: “before Gentiles and kings.” So far will his teaching advance, he says, as to prevail over Gentiles and all kings. “And Ananias went away and entered the house, and laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord has sent me (Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came), so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’” At once he makes him his own by the name. “Jesus,” he says, “who appeared to you on the road.” And yet Christ did not tell him this; he learned it from the Spirit. “And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight at once, and he rose and was baptized. And taking food, he was strengthened.” He only laid his hands on him, and immediately the scales fell from his eyes. Some say that these were the cause of his blindness. And why did he not maim his eyes? This was more extraordinary; for though they were open, he did not see; which is what he suffered in regard to the law, until the name of Jesus was laid upon him. “And immediately,” it says, “he was baptized.” … he was [weak] from the journey, from the fear, from the hunger and despondency. Wishing then to deepen his despondency, he let him remain blind until Ananias came. And so that he might not think the blindness an illusion, for this reason there were the scales. So he needed no other teaching, but what happened to him became his teaching. “And he was with the disciples in Damascus for some days. And immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed Christ, that this is the Son of God.” See: at once he was a teacher in the synagogues. He was not ashamed of the change; he did not fear to overthrow the very things in which he had formerly been illustrious. He was not simply a teacher, but even in the synagogues. So, from the very outset, the man had been breathing death and ready for murders. Do you see what a clear sign took place in him? By this very thing he amazed everyone. That is why, to make this plain, he adds, saying: “And all who heard were amazed, and said, ‘Is not this … this name, and has he not come here for this very purpose, to bring them bound to the chief priests?’ … confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that this is the Christ.” Being learned in the law, he silenced them and did not let them speak. They thought they had been rid of disputes of this kind when they were rid of Stephen, and … Stephen. [2] But let us look from the beginning at what concerns Ananias. The Lord did not say to him, “Discourse with him and instruct him.” For if by saying that he is praying, and that he has seen a man laying hands on him, he did not persuade him, much less would he have done so if he had said this. “He has seen,” he says, “in a vision,” so that he will not distrust you either; do not be afraid, then, but go. So too Philip then does not hear everything at once. “For this man is a chosen vessel of mine.” This is the word of one removing fear more than enough and persuading him to take courage, if indeed he was to be so minded on Christ's behalf as even to suffer much. Having said “vessel”, to show that his wickedness was not part of his nature, he added “chosen”, to make clear that he is also approved; for we choose what is approved. Let no one, hearing these things, think that Ananias says this because he disbelieves what was said, or thinks that Christ has been deceived. God forbid! But in fear and trembling he did not even attend to what was said, once he heard the name of Paul; so thoroughly had fear of his name seized his soul beforehand; and yet, hearing that the Lord had blinded him, he ought to have taken courage. “And here he has come for this very purpose,” he says, “to bind all who call on your name.” As if he said, “I am afraid lest he take me off to Jerusalem. Why do you throw me into the lion's mouth? Why do you betray me?” He is afraid and says these things, so that we may learn the virtue of Paul from every side. For that the Jews should say these things is nothing wonderful; but that … in the synagogues, and immediately, from the very outset; … and when he was so feared, this is shown to be the greatest proof of the power of God. “Brother Saul.” Here the fear becomes great, and the obedience after the fear greater. Then, since he said “vessel”, lest you say that the whole was God's doing, he leads you away from this and adds what follows, saying, “to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” Ananias heard what he greatly desired, that Paul would also stand against the Jews; that is why he is filled not only with joy but also with courage. “For I,” he says, “will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” These words are said both to foretell and to shame him: if that man, who raged so, will suffer everything, while he himself is not even willing to baptize him that he may see. “It is well as it is,” he says; “let him remain blind; that is why he is gentle now, because he is blind. Why do you bid me open his eyes? So that he may bind people again?” But do not fear what is to come; he will use the opening of his eyes not against us but for us. To “that he may regain his sight” let this too be added: Do not be afraid; he will do you no harm, but will even suffer much himself. And the wonderful thing is that he will suffer first, and then plunge into the dangers. “Brother Saul, Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me.” He did not say, “He who blinded you,” but “who appeared to you”; so well did he know how to be moderate, and he nowhere utters anything boastful. Just as Peter said in the case of the lame man, “Why do you look at us as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?”, so this man too says, “Jesus who appeared to you.” He spoke these words with his hands laid on him, and a double blindness was undone. By saying, “Taking food he was strengthened,” he made clear that he was exhausted from despondency over his blindness, from fear, and from hunger. For he would not consent to take food before he had been baptized and had at once received the great gifts. And he does not say, “Jesus who was crucified, the Son of God, who works signs,” but what? “Who appeared to you,” speaking from what was known to him; since Christ too added nothing more, nor said, “I am the one who was crucified, the one who was raised,” but, “whom you are persecuting.” He did not say, “the one persecuted,” so as not to seem to exult and mock. “Who appeared to you,” he says, “on the road.” And yet he was not seen; he was seen through what happened. And wishing to soften the harshness of the word, he immediately added, “so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” I have not come to rebuke what happened, he says, but to give the gift. It seems to me that both this man and Cornelius received the Spirit as soon as these words were spoken; and yet the one who gave it was not one of the Twelve. So nothing in all that concerned him was human, nor was it done through a man; but God was present, doing these things. At the same time he also teaches him to be moderate, by not bringing him to the leading apostles, and he shows that nothing here is human. Yet he was not counted worthy of the Spirit that works signs, so that in this way too his faith might be shown; for he did not work wonders. “And immediately,” it says, “in the synagogues he proclaimed Christ, that this is the Son of God.” He did not proclaim that he had risen, nor that he lives; but what? He set out the doctrine very exactly: “that this is the Son of God.” But they, on hearing these things, now turn to unbelief, when they ought not only to believe but also to be astonished. And why ever do they not say simply that he was a persecutor, but that he “destroyed those who call on this name”? By this they show his great frenzy. And they did not say “Jesus”: out of envy they could not bear even to hear the name, so savage had they become. “And he has come here for this purpose.” We cannot say, he says, that he had been with the apostles before. [3] See by how many enemies it is acknowledged what Paul had been. But he not only was not ashamed of these things, but did not let them say anything, “proving that this is the Christ.” Teaching, it means; for he was a teacher at once. “When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him.” Again the Jews resort to the strong syllogism. For they no longer bring slanderers and accusers and false witnesses; they no longer bother with these; but what? From now on they do it themselves, by their own hands. For since they saw the thing increasing, not even a court … they watched the gates day and night in order to kill him. Why? Because this was more unbearable to them than all the signs that had already happened, the five thousand, the three thousand, everything in short. And see him for the present saved not by grace but by human wisdom, so that you may learn the man's virtue, which shines even without signs. “But the disciples took him by night.” Fittingly, so that the matter might arouse no suspicion. What then? Having escaped such danger, does he stay quiet? Not at all; he goes where he would inflame them more. For that he had truly believed was still not credible to the many. That is why this happens after many days. What does this mean? It is likely that for the present he did not wish to leave there, though many perhaps urged him; but when he learned of the plot, then he entrusted himself to his disciples; for he had disciples at once. Hinting at this he said, “The ethnarch of King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes, wishing to seize me.” And see how the evangelist says nothing to win honor for Paul, nor shows him as illustrious, but only that they stirred up the king. They sent him off alone, and no one with him. And this too was expedient, so that he might appear before the apostles in Jerusalem. Or rather, they sent him off so that from then on he might look after his own safety; but he did the opposite, and at once leapt into the midst of the raging. This is to be on fire; this above all is to be fervent. And consider how he follows, keeping from the first day the command that the apostles heard: “If anyone does not take up his cross and follow me.” So his coming later than the others made him more eager. And in deed that saying was fulfilled: “He to whom more is forgiven will love more.” So the later he came, the more he loved. That is why, holding up his former life to public view and often branding himself, he thought nothing enough to cover his former deeds. “Proving,” it says; that is, teaching with gentleness. And see, they do not say to him, “You are the destroyer; why have you changed?” For they were ashamed; but they said it among themselves. He would have said, with much more justice, “This above all ought to teach you”; since he makes his defense in this way before Agrippa too. Let us imitate him, I urge you, and let us too stand ready against all dangers. “And how,” someone says, “does he flee?” The thing was not cowardice; he was preserving himself for the preaching. If he had been cowardly, he would not have come to Jerusalem, he would not at once have taken up teaching; he would have relaxed his vehemence. But he was not cowardly; he was also prudent. He had been taught by the suffering of Stephen. That is why he did not think it a great thing to die for the preaching unless he could do so with much gain, being a man who did not even wish to see Christ, whom he longed to see above all things, since his ministry to men had not yet been completed. Such ought the soul of a Christian to be.

From the very start, from the starting line itself, Paul's character was shown; or rather even before this. For in what he did not according to knowledge, he acted moved by human reasoning. For if after so long a time he did not wish to depart, much less at the beginning of his trading, just out of harbor. Christ does not snatch him out of the danger, but lets it be, since he wishes many things to come about by human prudence too. He lets it be for another reason too, so that we may learn that they also were men, and that grace did not do everything everywhere; since, if this were not so, they would have been thought mere logs. That is why they themselves also arranged many things by practical means. Let us do this too, and so strive for our brothers' salvation. It is no less than martyrdom to refuse no suffering for the salvation of the many. Nothing so gladdens God. Again I will say what I have often said; and I say it because I want it very much. For Christ too did the same, exhorting about forgiveness and saying, “When you pray, forgive, if you have anything against anyone.” Again, speaking with Peter, he says, “I do not say to you, forgive up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven”; and by his deeds he forgave the offenses against himself. So we too, since we know that this is the defining mark of Christianity, speak about it continually. Nothing is colder than a Christian who does not save others. You cannot plead poverty here; for the woman who put in the two mites will accuse you. And Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have.” And Paul was so poor that he often went hungry and lacked necessary food. You cannot plead low birth; for they too were obscure and of obscure parents. You cannot put forward lack of education; for they too were unlettered. Even if you are a slave, even a runaway, you can do your part; for Onesimus too was such a one. But see where Paul calls him, and to what dignity he brings him: “so that he may share with me,” he says, “in my bonds.” You cannot plead illness; for Timothy too was such, having frequent illnesses. That he was sickly, hear: “Use a little wine for your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” Each can benefit his neighbor, if he is willing to do his part. Do you not see the fruitless trees, how strong they are, how fine, tall, smooth and lofty? But if we had a garden, we would much rather have pomegranates and fruitful olives than these; for those are for delight, not for use, and their use is small. Such are those who look only to their own interests; or rather, not even such, for they are fit only for burning, while those trees are useful both for building and for the safety of those within. Such too were those virgins, chaste and seemly and self-controlled, but useful to no one; that is why they are burned. Such are those who did not feed Christ. For see, none of these is charged for his own sins, not that he committed sexual immorality, not that he perjured himself, nothing at all, but that he was not useful to another. Such was the one who buried the talent: he presented a blameless life, but was not useful to another. How is such a man a Christian? Tell me, if leaven mixed with flour does not change the whole into its own state, is such a thing leaven? What then, if perfume does not fill those who come near with its fragrance, would we call it perfume? Do not say, “It is impossible for me to bring others in”; for if you are a Christian, it is impossible for this not to happen. For just as the things of nature cannot be gainsaid, so too these; for the thing lies in the very nature of a Christian. Do not insult God. If you say that the sun cannot shine, you have insulted it; if you say that a Christian cannot benefit others, you have insulted God and called him a liar. For it is easier for the sun not to warm or shine than for a Christian not to give light; easier for light to be darkness than for this to happen. Do not say, then, that it is impossible; for it is the opposite that is impossible. Do not insult God. If we order our own lives well, those things will certainly follow, and follow like something natural. The light of a Christian cannot escape notice; so bright a lamp cannot be hidden. Let us not be negligent, then. For just as from virtue the gain passes both to us and to those who are benefited, so again from vice the loss is double, passing both to us and to those who are harmed. Suppose, if you like, an ordinary man who has suffered countless evils from someone, and let him not avenge himself on him, but even do him good: how much stronger is this than teaching? Than how many words, how many exhortations? What anger is it not enough to quench and soften? Knowing these things, then, let us hold fast to virtue, since it is not possible to be saved otherwise than by spending the present life with these good deeds, so that we may also attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages.

“When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles, and told them how on the road he had seen the Lord.” It is worth raising the question here how in Galatians he says, “I did not go up to Jerusalem, but into Arabia and to Damascus,” and, “After three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter,” and, “I saw none of the apostles”; but here the opposite, that Barnabas brought him to the apostles. Either, then, he means this, that he did not go off in order to be instructed (for there he says, “I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me”); or, if not this, that the plot in Damascus took place after he came from Arabia, and then again the going up after he came from there. At any rate he did not himself go to the apostles, but tried to join the disciples, since he was not a teacher but a disciple. So he did not go up for this purpose, to go to those who were apostles before him; for he learned nothing from them. Or he does not mention this going up, but passes over it, so that the order is this: he went away to Arabia, then came to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, then to Syria. Or, if not this, again thus: he went up to Jerusalem, then was sent off to Damascus, then to Syria, then to Damascus again, then to Caesarea, and then after fourteen years, perhaps when he brought up the brothers with Barnabas. Or, if not this, he speaks of another occasion. For the historian abridges much, and brings many occasions together. See how he is not ambitious, nor does he narrate that vision, but passes over it. And again he begins in this way and says, “When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were afraid of him.” From this again Paul's fervor is shown, not from Ananias only, nor from those who were amazed at him there, but also from those in Jerusalem. For that event was truly beyond human expectation. And see him not going to the apostles, out of modesty, but to the disciples, as being a disciple; for he was not yet thought trustworthy. “But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles, and told them how on the road he had seen the Lord.” This Barnabas was a reasonable and gentle man. His name is interpreted “son of exhortation”; hence he also became a friend to Paul. That he was very kind and approachable is plain both from the matter in hand and from what concerns John. Hence he is not afraid, but relates how on the road he had seen the Lord, and that he spoke to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. For it is likely that he had heard in Damascus too what concerned him. Therefore, making the latter a proof of the former, he confirmed by the deeds what had been said. “And he was with them, going in and out in Jerusalem, and speaking boldly in the name of Jesus. And he spoke and disputed with the Hellenists.” Since the disciples were afraid of him and the apostles did not believe him, for this reason he removes their fear from that quarter. “And he spoke and disputed”: … those who speak Greek, he means; and this very wisely. For the others, the deep-dyed Hebrews, would not even look at him. “But they were seeking to kill him.” This is a proof of his vehemence and of his victory by main force, and of their great vexation at what had happened. “And when the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea.” They do this from fear; fearing now that the same thing might happen as with Stephen, they bring him down to Caesarea. “And they sent him off to Tarsus.” Though it was from fear, they nevertheless send him at once to preach and to be in safety, since he would be in his own homeland. And see, I ask you, how not everything happens by grace, but God permits them to arrange many things by their own wisdom and in human fashion. For if this happened in his case, much more in theirs. He permits it, then, to cut away the excuse of the indolent. “So the churches throughout all Judea and Samaria had peace, being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit they were multiplied.” He is about to speak of Peter, and of how he goes down to the saints. So that no one may think that this was from fear, he first relates how the churches were, showing that when there was persecution, Peter was in Jerusalem; but when the church's affairs were everywhere in safety, then at last he leaves Jerusalem; so fervent and vehement was he at once. For he did not think, because there was peace, that there was no need of his presence. And why, someone says, does he do this, and come when there was peace, and after Paul had left? Because they respected the apostles most, since these had often stood before them and been admired by the multitude; but Paul they despised, and were the more savage against him.

Did you see how peace follows war? Or rather, did you see what that war did? It scattered those who make peace. In Samaria Simon was put to shame; in Judea the affair of Sapphira took place. So it was not that, because there was peace, affairs had grown slack; the peace was such that it also needed encouragement. “Now it happened that Peter, going through all the regions, came down also to the saints who lived in Lydda.” Like a general, he goes round the ranks inspecting which part is closely drawn up, which is in good order, which needs his presence. See him running about everywhere and found first. When the apostle had to be chosen, he was first; when the Jews had to be addressed about not being drunk, when the lame man had to be healed, when a public speech had to be made, he is before the others; when before the rulers, he; when with Ananias, when healings came from his shadow, it was he. Where there was danger, he was there, and where there was management; but where affairs are full of calm, all act in common; so little did he demand greater honor. Again, when a wonder had to be worked, he leaps forward; and here again he labors in person and travels. “There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.’ And immediately he rose.” And why did he not wait for the man's faith, nor ask him whether he wished to be healed? Above all, the wonder took place for the encouragement of many too. Hear at any rate how great the gain was; for he adds: “And all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.” He rightly spoke so; for the man was well known; hence he also gives proof of the sign, the taking up of the bed. For they did not only free people from diseases, but along with health they also gave strength. Besides, at that time they had not yet given proofs of their own power, so it was fitting that faith was not demanded of the man, since they did not demand it of the lame man either. As then Christ, when beginning his signs, did not demand faith, so neither did these. For in Jerusalem their faith was rightly demanded; hence too, through faith, all who were afflicted with sicknesses were laid out in the streets so that, as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one of them. For … many signs there, but here this happens first. For some of the signs took place to bring others over, others for the encouragement of those who believe. “Now in Joppa there was a disciple … full of good works and acts of charity which she did. It happened in those days that she fell sick and died. And having washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him not to delay in coming to them.” Why did they wait until she had died? Why did they not trouble Peter before this? … they thought it [wrong], being philosophic about such things, to trouble the disciples and [draw them away] from the preaching; since that is why he also says that it was near, so that they asked this as a sideline …, but not as a principal matter. “And Peter rose and went with them. When he arrived, they took him up to the upper room.” They do not entreat him, but leave it to him, so that he might grant her life of his own accord. So … is fulfilled the saying, “Almsgiving rescues from death.” “And all the widows stood beside him weeping, showing tunics and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them.” Where … lay, they take Peter up, thinking perhaps that he would grant them something out of kindness. Did you see how great an advance has taken place? … The woman's name is not added idly, but so that we may learn that she lived up to her name, so wakeful and watchful was she, like a gazelle. For many names are given …, as I have often told you. “She was full,” it says, “of good works and acts of charity which she did.” Great is the woman's praise …: she did both, so as to be … in both. It is plain that she first … and took care of this. “Which Dorcas made while she was with them.” Great was the humility; for … not as we do, but they all lived in common, making much account of almsgiving. “But Peter put them all out, knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body he said, ‘Tabitha, arise.’ And she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.” Why ever did he put them all out? So as not to be thrown into confusion by the tears, nor … “And kneeling down he prayed.” This … of intense prayer. “And taking her,” it says, “by the hand.” Here he shows life and power entering little by little, the one through the word, the other through the hand. “And giving her his hand, he raised her up. And calling the saints and the widows, he presented her alive”: to the former for their encouragement, both because they received back their sister and because of the wonder; to the latter for their protection. “And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And it happened that he stayed many days …”

See Peter's freedom from pride and his reasonableness, how he does not stay with her, nor with any other of the people of note, but with a tanner, leading them in every way to humility, and teaching the lowly not to be ashamed and the great not to be lifted up. He decided to pass through for this reason too, since the believers needed his teaching. Let us look, then, at what was said from the beginning. “He tried,” it says, “to join the disciples.” He did not approach shamelessly, but with reserve. He calls “disciples” also those who did not belong to the company of the Twelve, since all were then called disciples, because of their great virtue; for the image of the disciples was plain to see. “And they were all afraid of him,” it says. See how they feared dangers, how their fear was still … to the apostles, and told them.” It seems to me that Barnabas was his friend from of old; that is why he relates everything about him. But Paul himself says none of these things; and I think he would not have brought them out to others later either, had not some necessity arisen for him. “And he was with them, going in and out in Jerusalem, and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus.” This gave the others courage too. Do you see, both there and here, the others taking forethought and contriving that he should depart, and him nowhere enjoying divine help? So his vehemence too is shown. So it seems to me that he did not make the journey by land, but went by sea after that. And this too happens by design, so that he … having preached there. So both the plots were for their sake, and his coming to Jerusalem was by design, so that what concerned him might no longer be disbelieved. “And he spoke and disputed with the Hellenists.” “And they had peace,” it says, “… in the fear of the Lord”; that is, they increased within themselves that peace itself, the true peace. Fittingly; for the war had harmed them badly. “And in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit they were multiplied.” The Spirit encouraged them both through the wonders and through the works; and apart from these, each one individually. “Now it happened that Peter … a man lying …, and he said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you.’” The word is not that of one making a display, but of one confident that it will happen. It seems to me very likely that the sick man believed this word and became well. That Peter was free from pride is plain from what follows too. For he did not say, “In the name of Jesus,” but tells it rather as a sign. “And those who lived in Lydda saw, and turned to the Lord.” So I did not say idly that the wonders were performed to persuade and to encourage. “Now in Joppa there was a disciple,” it says, “named Tabitha. It happened in those days that she fell sick and died.” Do you see the signs happening everywhere? Tabitha did not simply die, but after falling ill. That is why they do not call Peter until she had died. “The disciples, hearing, sent men, urging him not to delay in coming to them.” See, they send and call him through others. And he is persuaded and comes, not thinking the thing an insult …, to be called. So great a good is affliction; it strengthens our souls. Nowhere was there lamentation there, nowhere mourning. “Having washed her,” it says, “they laid her in an upper room”; that is, they did all the things that are done for the dead. “And Peter rose and went with them. And going up into the upper room, he knelt and prayed, and turning to the body he said, ‘Tabitha, arise.’” God does not permit them to work all the signs with the same ease. And this benefited them. For he cared not only for the salvation of others, but also for theirs. At any rate the man who healed so many by his shadow now does so much to raise her up. And there are times when the faith of those who came also helped. This, then, is the first dead person he raises, calling her by name; and she, as if roused from sleep, first opened her eyes, then at once, seeing Peter, sat up, and last is strengthened by the touch of his hand. But consider, I ask you, the gain, and how again the fruit too was not for display. That is why he puts them all outside, imitating the Teacher in this too. For where there are tears, such a mystery should not be performed; or rather, where there are wonders, tears should not be present. Hear, I urge you: even if no such thing happens now, yet in the case of the dead today too a great mystery is performed. Tell me, if, while we were sitting here, the king sent someone to call one of us to the palace, ought we to weep and mourn? Angels are present, sent from heaven and come from there, sent by the King himself to call their fellow servant; and you weep? Do you not know what a mystery it is that is taking place? How awesome and fearful, and truly worthy of hymns and of joy?

Do you want to learn, so that you may know that it is not a time for tears? This is a very great mystery of the wisdom of God. For the soul goes forth as if leaving a house, hastening to its own Master; and you ought to …; for this is a birth better than the first. For it goes forth to another light; it is released as from a prison; it comes out as from a contest. “Yes,” someone says, “you say this rightly of those who were approved.” And what is that to you, man? For you do not act so even in the case of those who were approved. Tell me, what could you find to condemn in the little child? For what reason do you mourn it? What in the newly baptized? For he too has come into the same state. For what reason, then, do you mourn him? Do you not know that, just as the sun rises pure, so too the soul, leaving the body with a pure conscience, shines bright? One cannot see a king entering a city in such stillness as a soul leaving the body and departing with angels. Consider what the soul is, in what amazement it then is, in what wonder, in what delight. Why do you mourn? Tell me; surely you do not do this only for sinners? Would that it were so! I would not have forbidden the mourning; would that such were the aim. This lament is apostolic; this lament is the Master's too; for Jesus also wept over Jerusalem. I wished mourning to be governed by this rule. But when you recall and speak of words and companionship and protection, it is not for this that you mourn; you are making a pretext. Mourn, groan over the sinner, and I too will shed tears; and I more than you, in proportion as such a man is liable to greater punishment; and I will lament with such an aim. Not only you ought to lament such a man, but the whole city and those who meet him, as for those who are being led off to death. For truly this is an evil death, the death of sinners. But things have been turned upside down. This lament belongs to philosophy and contains much teaching; but that one belongs to faintheartedness. If we all lamented with this lament, we would have corrected them while they lived. Just as, if you had the power to apply medicines that would prevent that bodily death, you would have done so, so too now, if you lamented this death, you would have prevented it from happening both in your own case and in his. But as it is, what happens is a riddle: having the power not to let it come, we let it happen, and when it has happened, we mourn. Truly they are worthy of lament: when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ, what words will they hear? What will they suffer? These people lived in vain; or rather, not in vain, but to their harm. And of them it is fitting to say, “It would have been better for them if they had not been born.” For what profit is it, tell me, to spend so much time to the harm of one's own head? If it had only been spent in vain, the loss would not have been as great. Tell me, if someone hired as a laborer wore himself out for twenty years in vain, would he not weep and lament, and seem the most pitiable of all? This man too wore himself out his whole life in vain; he did not live one day for himself, but for luxury, for licentiousness, for greed, for sin, for the devil. Shall we not lament him, then, tell me? Shall we not try to snatch him from the dangers? For it is possible, it is possible, if we will, that his punishment become light. If then we make continual prayers for him, if we give alms, even if he is unworthy, God will be moved by us. If for Paul's sake he saved others, and spares some for the sake of others, how will he not do this same thing for our sake too? From his money, from yours, from wherever you like, help him; drop oil on him, or rather water. Has he no almsgiving of his own to show? Then at least that of his relatives. Has he none done by himself? Then at least those done on his behalf. In this way his wife will then plead for him with boldness, having paid a ransom for him. The more sins he is liable for, the more he needs almsgiving. And not for this reason only, but because it does not now have equal strength, but much less. For it is not the same for a man to do it himself and for another to do it on his behalf. Since then it is less, let us make it very great by its amount. Let us not busy ourselves with monuments and burial clothes. Set widows around him: this is the greatest burial garment. Tell them his name; bid them all make their petitions and supplications for him. This will move God, even if it is not he himself, but another, for his sake, who becomes the cause of the almsgiving. And this is a teaching of God's love for humankind … not from the present death only, but also from the death to come they can snatch them. Many have profited even from alms done by others on their behalf. For even if not perfectly, nevertheless they found some consolation; since, if this is not so, how are little children saved? And yet there they contribute nothing; the parents do everything. And women have often been granted their children, though the children contributed nothing. God has given us many ways of being saved. Only …

“What then,” someone says, “if someone is poor?” Again I will say: … of almsgiving [is measured] not only by what is given, but also by the intention. Only … less than your ability, and you have paid everything. … he says, “if he is alone and a stranger, and has no one.” … Why does he have no one? Tell me. For this very thing he … that he had no friend so … virtuous. This then happens so that, even if we ourselves are not …, we may be eager to have virtuous companions and friends, … wife and son, as reaping some fruit through them too, reaping little, yet reaping … If you are eager … not a rich but a devout wife …, you will enjoy this consolation; … if you are eager to leave behind not a rich son but a devout one, and a modest daughter, so too you will enjoy the consolation. If you are eager for these things, you too will be such a one. And this too is part of …, to choose such friends, and wife, and … Not in vain are offerings made for the departed, not in vain are supplications, not in vain is almsgiving; … the Spirit ordained these things, wishing us to benefit one another. For see: he is benefited because of you, … you because of him; you despised money, … to do something noble; and you have become a cause of salvation to him, and he to you a cause of almsgiving. … that he will reap some good. Not idly does the deacon cry, “For those who have fallen asleep in Christ, and for those who make the commemorations for them.” It is not the deacon who utters this voice, but the Holy Spirit; I mean the gift. What are you saying? The sacrifice is in hand, and all things lie ready; angels, archangels …; the Son of God is present; all stand with such awe … those crying out, while all are silent; and do you think that what is done happens in vain? Then are the other things in vain too, those for the church, those for …, and those for the whole body? God forbid! All is done with faith. What … to be offered for the martyrs, to be named at that …? Even if they are martyrs, even if it is for martyrs, it is a great … to be named while the Master is present, while that … is being performed, the awesome sacrifice, the … mysteries. For just as, while a king is seated, one obtains whatever one wishes, but when he has risen, whatever one says, one says in vain; so too then, as long as the mysteries lie before us, it is the greatest honor for all to be counted worthy of remembrance. For see: the mystery is then proclaimed, that he gave himself for the world …; at that wonder one fittingly calls to mind those who have sinned. For just as when … they shared in it, and those in chains are released for the occasion, but when the occasion has passed, the one who has not … no longer enjoys anything, so too here: this is the occasion. “For as often,” he says, “as you eat this bread, you proclaim the death of the Lord.” Let us not approach carelessly, then, nor think that these things happen … Besides, … of the martyrs, this too serves for faith, that the … did not die, … that death was put to death … Let us bring the departed what consolation we can: instead of tears, instead of laments, instead of tombs, almsgiving, prayers, offerings, so that both they and we may obtain the promised good things, by the grace and love for humankind of the only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of the cohort called the Italian, a devout man who feared God with all his household, … Cornelius.’ And he stared at him in fear and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have gone up as a memorial before God.’” This man is not a Jew, nor living according to the law, but had already anticipated our way of life. And see two believers so far, the eunuch from Gaza and this man, both in high rank, and much zeal shown on their behalf. But do not think that it was because of their rank. Not because of this, God forbid, but because of their piety. That is why their ranks are mentioned, so that their piety might be shown to be greater; for it is more wonderful when someone in wealth and power is such a man. But it is great praise of the eunuch that he undertook so long a journey, and that, though it was not the time for it, he read on the road, and invited Philip up while riding in his carriage, and countless other things; and it is great praise of this man that he gave alms and prayed and was devout while holding such an office. That is why he fittingly identifies the man by it, so that no one may say that the narrative of the Scriptures is false. “Of the cohort,” it says, “called … Devout and fearing God with all his household.” He says these things so that you may not think that his affairs were so ordered because of his rank. When Paul had to be brought over, there was no angel anywhere; the Lord himself appears; nor does he send him to one of the Twelve, but to Ananias. But here the opposite: he brings the leader of the apostles, as he brought Philip to the eunuch, condescending to their weakness, and teaching how one must deal with such people; since Christ too is seen often going himself to those who were suffering and could not come by themselves. And see here again another praise of almsgiving, as there through Tabitha. “A man,” it says, “devout and fearing God with all his household.” Let us hear this, all of us who neglect our households. This man cared even for his soldiers, “and gave alms to all the people.” So both his doctrines and his life had been set right. “He saw clearly in a vision, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’” Why does he see the angel? This too was for Peter's full assurance; or rather not for his, but for that of the others, the weaker ones. At the ninth hour, when he was free of cares and at rest, when he was at prayer and in compunction. “And he stared at him in fear and said.” See the angel not saying at once what he has to say, but first dispelling his fear and lifting up his mind. For from the … Then the words dispelled the fear; or rather the praise in them smoothed away the harshness of the fear. And hear what the words were: “Your prayers and your alms have gone up as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter.” So that they might not go to another man, he points out the man not only by his surname but also by his place: “He is lodging with a certain Simon, whose house is by the sea.” Did you see how the apostles sought out the secluded parts of cities, being lovers of solitude and quiet? What then if there happened to be another Simon who was also a tanner? But he had another sign too, living by the sea. The three could not coincide. And he did not say why, so as not to slacken his eagerness, but left it, so that he might be in desire and longing to hear. “When the angel who spoke to Cornelius had departed, he called two of his household servants …, and having explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.” Do you see that he does not say these things idly, but to show that those who attended him were also such men? “And having explained everything to them,” it says. See his freedom from pride. He did not say, “Call Peter for me,” but, so as to persuade him, he explained everything; so much was it a matter of good management. For he did not think it right to summon him on the strength of his rank; that is why he explains things. So moderate was the man; and yet it would have been no great thing to imagine about a man … “As they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.” See how the Spirit brings the times together, and makes this happen neither sooner nor later. “Peter went up,” it says, “on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour”; that is, privately and in quiet, as in an upper room. “And he became hungry and wished to eat. While they were preparing it, a trance fell upon him, and he sees heaven opened.” What is a trance? A spiritual vision, he means, came to him; the soul, as one might say, stood outside the body. “And he sees heaven opened and a vessel like a great sheet coming down upon him, bound at four corners and let down to the earth, in which were all the four-footed creatures of the earth, and the wild beasts and the reptiles and the birds of heaven. And there came a voice to him, ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’ And the voice came to him again a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, do not call common.’ This happened three times, and the vessel was taken up again into heaven.” The thing happens … The man was uncircumcised and had nothing in common with the Jews. Since then all were going to accuse Peter as a transgressor, and this … it was very offensive to them, it is arranged of necessity that he says, “I have never eaten”; not that he himself was afraid, God forbid, but because he was being directed by the Spirit, as I said, so that he might have a defense against those who accused him, since he had even objected; for they cared very much that the law should be kept. He was being sent to the Gentiles. So that these men too might not accuse him, as I said before, these things are arranged; or also so that it might not seem to be some illusion, he said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” “And a voice came to him, ‘What God has cleansed, do not call common.’” This seems to be said to him, but the whole is said to the Jews. For if the teacher is rebuked, much more these. The sheet, then, is the earth; the wild beasts in it are those from the Gentiles; “kill and eat” means that one must approach them too; and its happening three times signifies baptism. “By no means, Lord, I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And why, someone says, did he object? So that no one might say that God was testing him, as in the case of Abraham, when he was commanded to offer his son as a sacrifice; as in the case of Philip, when he was asked by Christ, “How many loaves do you have?”, not so that Christ might learn, but testing him. And yet in the law Moses distinguished clean and unclean among creatures on land and in the sea; and nevertheless not even so did he know. “While Peter was perplexed in himself as to what the vision he had seen might mean, behold, the men sent by Cornelius, having inquired for Simon's house, stood at the gate, and calling out they asked whether Simon who is called Peter was lodging there.” … while Peter was by himself and perplexed, the men come, resolving the perplexity at the right moment; since he also let Joseph first be troubled, and then sends the archangel. For the soul readily receives the solution when it has first been in perplexity. So the perplexity neither lasts long for him, nor comes before this, but about the time of the meal. “While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Behold, men are seeking you. Rise, go down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.’” And again this is Peter's defense before the disciples, so that they may learn that he both doubted and was taught to doubt nothing. “For I,” he says, “have sent them.” See how great is the Spirit's authority. What God does, this the Spirit is said to do. The angel did not speak so; first he said, “Your prayers and your alms,” and then, “Send,” to show that he had been sent from there; but the Spirit, since he is Lord, says, “I have sent them.” “And Peter went down to the men and said, ‘Behold, I am the one you are seeking. What is the reason for which you have come?’ And they said, ‘Cornelius the centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to his house and to hear words from you.’” They tell his praises, to persuade him that an angel had appeared to him. “So he called them in and lodged them.” Do you see from where the beginning of the Gentiles comes? From a devout man, shown to be worthy by his works. For if, though this happened, they were still offended, what would the Jews not have said if it had not been so? “He called them in,” it says, “and lodged them.” See how great the security. So that … nothing dreadful, he calls them in, and from then on lives with them with boldness. “And the next day Peter rose and went with them, and some of the brothers from … went with him; and the next day … Caesarea.” The man was notable, since he lived in a city. That is why everything concerning him is …, and it takes its beginning from Judea.

… such as his being seen not asleep, but awake, … in the daytime; for it was about the ninth hour; so … he had. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. … the angel: “Your prayers and your alms have gone up as a memorial before God.” … it is plain that the angel called him by voice, … saw him; so that if he had not called, he would not … he was intent on the matter in which … “Send for Simon who is called …” For the present, he says that he will summon him for good things; but what good things, no longer. So neither did he tell Peter everything; but everywhere the narratives are given in part, to rouse the hearers. So too Philip … into the wilderness. “Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour, and a trance fell upon him, and he sees a vessel like a sheet …” … that not even hunger compelled him to run … So that Peter might not be in greater perplexity, … the voice saying, “Rise, Peter, kill …” Perhaps he saw the vision while kneeling … he seems to have seen it because of the preaching. That what happened was divine is plain both from its coming down …, and from his being in a trance …, the voice being borne from there, and its happening three times, and heaven being opened, and the vessel being taken up there again, … that the thing was a great sign.

And why does this happen? Because of those … to whom he was going to explain it; since he himself had already heard … “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles.” And do not wonder … needed circumcision and sacrifice; Paul …, then, at the beginning of the preaching, being weaker … these were needed. “And behold the men,” it says, “… whether Simon who is called Peter was lodging there.” … a humble house, they inquired from below; they did not ask … “While Peter was pondering, … doubting nothing, for I have sent them.” He did not say, “For this is why the vision was shown to you,” but “I have sent them,” showing that one must so … without demanding explanations. For it is enough for full assurance to hear from him, “Do this, … speak,” and to seek nothing further. “He went down and said, ‘Behold, I am the one you are seeking.’” Why … did he not receive them at once, but inquires? … since those who had come were private persons. That is why he did not simply …, but first, having admitted that he was the man, then he inquires the reason for their coming, so that he might not be thought to be inquiring … as if wishing to hide himself. … he asks, so that if the matter pressed, he might go at once, and if not, that he might lodge them. And for what reason does Cornelius send for you to his house? Because the angel commanded them this. And perhaps too, as if apologizing for him, they all but say, “Do not condemn him; he did not send for you out of contempt, but was commanded to do so.” “… having called together his relatives and close friends.” Fittingly; for it was not right not to bring along his relatives and friends too; and besides, being present there, they would listen to Peter all the more. Did you see how great the power of almsgiving is, both in the earlier discourse and here? That almsgiving freed from temporal death; this, from eternal death; this also opened the doors of heaven. And see how much importance was attached to Cornelius's believing, so that an angel was sent, and the Spirit worked, and the leader of the apostles was summoned, and such a vision appeared, and nothing at all was left out. How many centurions there were, and tribunes, and kings, and none of them obtained what this man did? Hear, all you who are in military service, all who stand beside kings. “He was devout,” it says, “and feared God”; and the greater thing, that he was such “with all his household.” So well disposed and prepared was he for this, that he not only ordered his own affairs well, but did the same with his household. For he was not as we are, who do everything so that our servants may fear us, but nothing more so that they may be devout. This man was not so; he feared God with all his house, being as it were a common father, not only of all who were with him, but also of the soldiers under him. Hear what else they say; for “well spoken of by the whole nation” is added of necessity, so that no one may say, “What then, if he was uncircumcised?” “They too,” it says, “bear witness to him.” So nothing equals almsgiving; or rather, so great is the strength of the thing when it is poured out from clean storehouses, as …; but alms from just gains are like a clear and pure stream in a garden, sweet to see, sweet to touch, light and cool when given at midday. Such is almsgiving. Beside this spring there are no poplars and pines, nor cypresses, but other plants, much better than these, and tall: friendship with God, praise from men, glory directed to God, goodwill from all, the blotting out of sins, great boldness, contempt of money; almsgiving, by which the plant of love is nourished. For nothing is so apt to nourish love as being merciful. This makes the branches rise on high; this spring is better than the one in paradise, not divided into four heads, but reaching to heaven itself; this gives birth to that river that springs up to eternal life. Death, falling into it, is consumed like a spark by the spring; so, wherever it drips, it works great good. This quenches the river of fire as if it were a spark; this so chokes the worm that it is nothing. Whoever has this does not gnash his teeth. If a drop of its water falls on chains, it breaks them apart; even if it falls into furnaces, it quenches them all.

Just as, then, the spring in paradise does not pour out streams at one time and dry up at another (since it would then no longer be a spring), but always gushes up, so too let ours always pour out its stream more abundantly on those who most need mercy, so that it may remain a spring. This makes the receiver cheerful; this is almsgiving, that the stream should be not only strong but also continuous. If you wish God's mercy to rain on you as from springs, have a spring yourself too. Nothing equals this. If you open the mouths of this spring, the mouths of God's spring will be such as to surpass every abyss. God seeks only to receive an occasion from us, and his good things pour out from his storehouses. When he spends, when he pays out, then he is rich, then he abounds. Great is the mouth of that spring; its stream is pure and clear. If you do not stop up this one, neither will that one be stopped up. Let no fruitless tree stand beside it, so as not to consume its moisture. Do you have money? Do not plant poplars there; for such is luxury: it consumes much and shows nothing in itself, but destroys the fruit. Do not plant pine or fir, nor anything else of the kind that consumes but is of no use anywhere; for such is luxury in clothing: fine only to look at, but of no use anywhere. Plant tree-vines … in the hands …, whatever you wish. Nothing is richer than this soil; and though the span of a hand is small, yet the tree planted there reaches to heaven itself and stands firm. This is to plant. For what is planted in the earth will perish, if not now, then after a hundred years. Why do you plant trees that you will not enjoy, but before you enjoy them death comes and snatches you away first? This tree, when you have died, then gives you its fruit. If you plant, do not plant in the belly of gluttony, so that the fruit may not go out into the privy; but plant in a pinched belly, so that the fruit may leap up to heaven. … so that you may not cramp your own spacious one. Do you not see that trees watered without measure rot from the root, but those watered in measure grow? So you too, do not water your own belly without measure, so that the root of the tree may not rot; water the one that is thirsty, so that it may bear fruit. What is watered in measure the sun does not rot, but what is watered without measure it rots; for such is the nature of the sun. Everywhere lack of measure is an evil; so let us cut it away, so that we too may obtain what we ask. Springs are said to rise in the highest places. So let us too become lofty in soul, and almsgiving will quickly flow; for it is not possible for the lofty soul not to be merciful, nor for the merciful soul not to be lofty. At any rate the one who despises money is above the root of evils. Springs are mostly in solitary places; let us too lead our soul away from the crowd, and almsgiving will spring up in us. Springs, the more they are cleaned out, the more abundant they become; so too with us: the more we spend, the more good things sprout. The one who has a spring does not fear; so if we too have almsgiving as a spring, we will not fear. For this spring is useful to us for drinking, for irrigation, for building, for everything. Nothing is better than this drink; it does not know how to cause drunkenness. It is better to have such a spring than to have springs of gold flowing in. Better than any gold-bearing land is the soul that bears this gold. For it does not bring us into these palaces, but into those above. This gold becomes an ornament for the church of God; from this gold the sword of the Spirit is made, the sword by which the dragon is beheaded. From this spring come the precious stones that are around the king's head. Let us not neglect such wealth, then, but let us contribute almsgiving abundantly, so that we may be counted worthy of God's love for humankind, by the grace and compassion of his only-begotten Son, to whom be all glory, honor and might, together with the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.

“The next day,” it says, “Peter rose and went with them; and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him to Caesarea. And Cornelius was expecting them, having called together his relatives and close friends.” After lodging the men, he goes out with them; rightly so. First he shows them kindness, since they were weary, and makes them his own, and then goes out with them. “The next day,” it says, “Peter rose and went with them, and some of the brothers.” Not alone; others come with him too; and this by design, so that they might be witnesses afterwards, when Peter would have to make his defense. “And Cornelius was expecting them, having called together his relatives and close friends.” This is the mark of a friend, of a God-fearing man: in such good things to make his close friends sharers before all others. Fittingly he calls those whom he always trusted when considering such matters, …, which it was for the present superfluous to bring out to others. It seems to me that both his friends and his relatives had been formed by him. “When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and worshiped. But Peter raised him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I too am a man.’” He does this to show his humility, and to instruct the others, and in thanksgiving to God, and to make clear that, even though he had been commanded, he had much piety of his own. What then does Peter say? “Stand up; for I too am a man.” Do you see how before anything else they teach them this, not to imagine anything great about themselves? “And talking with him he went in, and found many gathered; and he said to them, ‘You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man …’” … he speaks of God's love for humankind, and shows that he granted them great good things. And here one may wonder not only that he speaks so, but at how he at once speaks great things and is moderate. For he did not say, “Men whom no one deigns to associate with, we have come to you”; but what? “You know” (God commanded this, he means) “that it is unlawful to associate with or approach a foreigner.” Then, so as not to take the credit to himself, he adds, “But God has shown me …” he adds, so as not to seem to flatter him. “So I came without objection when I was sent for.” So that they might not think that, although the thing was unlawful, he obeyed because Cornelius was a ruler, but might reckon the whole to God; since it was not lawful, he says, not only to associate with them, but even to approach them. “So I ask for what reason you sent for me.” He does not ask from ignorance; for Peter knew the whole from the vision, and had heard it from the soldiers too; but he wishes them first to confess it, and to make them answerable to the faith. What then does Cornelius say? He did not say, “Did not the soldiers tell you?” but see how gently and humbly he speaks: “From the fourth day until this hour I was fasting, and at the ninth hour I was praying in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have gone up as a memorial before God.’” “And at the ninth hour,” he says, “praying.” What is this? It seems to me that he had set himself times for a stricter life, and that on certain days. That is why he said, “From the fourth day.” See how great a thing prayer is. When he had advanced in piety, then the angel appears to him. This is one day; and the day on which those who were sent departed, one; and the day on which they came, again one; and on the fourth he appeared, so that it was the second after he had prayed. “And behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing.” He does not say “an angel”; so free from pride is he. “And he says, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea; when he comes he will speak to you.’ So I sent to you at once, and you have done well to come. Now therefore we are all here present before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by God.” That is why Peter said, “For what reason did you send for me?”, so that he might say these words in this way. “And Peter opened his mouth and said, ‘Truly I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation the one who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.’” That is, whether he is uncircumcised or circumcised. Paul too makes this plain when he says, “For there is no partiality with God.” “Now therefore we are all here present,” he says, “before God.” See how great the faith, how great the piety. He knew that Peter said nothing merely human, since he had said, “God has shown me.” That is why he says, “We are present to hear all that has been commanded you by God.” What then? Is the man in Persia acceptable to him? If he is worthy, he will be acceptable in this way, by being counted worthy of the faith. Hence he did not overlook the eunuch from Ethiopia either. And what, someone says, would you say about the … God-fearing. For it is not possible, it is not possible, that any such person should ever be overlooked. “In every nation,” he says, “the one who fears God and works righteousness.” By “righteousness” he means all virtue.

Do you see how he humbles Cornelius's pride by saying, “In every nation the one who fears God is acceptable to him”? As if he said, “He rejects no one; he receives all who believe.” Then, so that they might not seem to be in the rank of the rejected, he adds: “The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ: he is Lord of all.” He says these things because of those present, so as to persuade them too. That is why he also prepares Cornelius to speak. “The word,” he says, “which he sent to the sons of …”: to them he gives the pre-eminence for the present. Then he brings them in as witnesses too, saying, “You know the word that went through all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached.” That this is so he confirms from what follows as well: “Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power.” He did not say, “You know Jesus,” for they did not know him; but he recounts the things done by him: “who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” From this he shows that many maimings and distortions of the body were caused by the devil. “For God was with him.” Again he speaks humbly, not idly, I think, but because of the human nature. “And we are witnesses of all that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.” Both you, he says, and we. “Whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.” Here he proclaims the passion. “God raised him on the third day and granted that he be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” This is the greatest proof of the resurrection. “And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.” This too is a great thing for showing them to be trustworthy. And he brings in testimony as well, saying, “To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” This is a foretelling of what was to happen afterwards; and to confirm it, he fittingly brings in the prophets as witnesses. But let us look from the beginning at what concerns Cornelius. “He sent,” it says, “to Joppa to summon Peter.” He believed that he would certainly come; that is why he sends. “And talking with him,” it says, “he went in.” Talking about what? Saying, I think, what has been told above. “And falling at his feet he worshiped.” See how his speech is everywhere free from flattery and full of humility. From this the eunuch too is shown to be worthy. For he bade Philip come up and sit in the carriage, though he did not know who he was, except from the message of the prophet alone. But this man even fell at his feet. Did you see a character free of pride? But consider, I ask you, how Peter shows that his coming was divine, by saying, “You know how unlawful it is.” And why did he not mention the sheet at once? Because he was very free of vainglory. That he had been sent by God he says; but how, he does not yet say, only when necessity arose. Then he also said, “You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or approach a foreigner”; so far was he from vainglory. “You know.” In saying this he also takes their own judgment as security. What then of Cornelius? “We are present,” he says, “before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by God.” He did not say, “before a man,” but “before God,” showing that this is how one must attend to God's servants. Did you see a mind that was awake? Did you see how worthy he was of all these things? “And Peter,” it says, “opened his mouth and said, ‘Truly I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.’” He said this also as a defense before the Jews present. For since he was going to turn his speech to them, he first sets out a kind of defense. What then? Was God a respecter of persons before this? God forbid; even before this it was so. “Everyone who fears him and works righteousness,” he says, “is acceptable to him.” Paul too says this when he writes, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires.” He introduces both a doctrine and a way of life. For if God did not overlook magi, nor an Ethiopian, nor a thief, nor a prostitute, much more will he surely not overlook those who work righteousness and are willing. What then, someone says, if there are reasonable and gentle men, and they will not believe? See, you have stated the cause yourself: they are not willing. Besides, by “reasonable” here he does not mean the mild man, but the one who works righteousness; that is, the one who is pleasing in all things, who is such only when he has the fear of God as he ought. And such a man God alone knows. See how this man was acceptable: as soon as he heard, he was persuaded. “And now,” someone says, “if an angel came, everyone would be persuaded, whoever he was.” But the signs now are much greater than those, and nevertheless many disbelieve. Then he begins his teaching, and preserves for the Jews their noble rank. “The word,” he says, “which he sent … he is Lord of all.” First he speaks of his lordship, and very loftily, as far as he could, since he had to do with a soul already become lofty and receiving warmly everything he commended to it; then, establishing how he is Lord of all, he adds and says, “which he sent … ”; that is, one who calls to good things, not one who brings judgment.

From this he shows that he was sent from God to the Jews first. Then he demonstrates this as well from what he achieved throughout all Judea, and says, “You know the word that went through all Judea”; and, the wonderful thing, “beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached.” First he told of his achievement, and then he ventures to speak of his homeland: “Jesus of Nazareth.” So well did he know that the homeland was a stumbling block. “How God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power.” Again a proof. For lest anyone say, “And how is this plain?”, he adds, saying, “who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” Then, along with the good he did, he shows his power too, that it was great; for when it overcomes the devil, it is something great and mighty. And the cause: “For God was with him,” he says. That is why the Jews too said, “We know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs unless God is with him.” Then, when he had shown that he had been sent from God, he says that he was killed, so that you might not imagine anything amiss. Do you see them nowhere hiding the cross, but setting out, along with the rest, the manner of it too? “Whom they also killed,” he says, “hanging him on a tree.” “And granted that he be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us.” And yet he himself chose them; but he ascribes this too to God: “chosen beforehand,” he says. See from what he confirms the resurrection: from his eating. And why, after rising, did he do no sign, but ate and drank? Because the resurrection itself was in itself a great sign; and for proving it nothing was so strong as … eating and drinking. “To testify,” he says. Here he spoke fearfully too, so that they might not be able to take refuge in ignorance. And he did not say, “He is the Son of God,” but what most frightened them: “He is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.” Then the principal proof, from the prophets; for they had great repute. “To him all the prophets bear witness.” When he had shaken them with fear, then he brings in the pardon, not as said by himself, but by the prophets: the fearful thing from himself, the gentle from the prophets. All you who have obtained this forgiveness, all who have been counted worthy of the faith, now that you have learned the greatness of the gift, I urge you, be eager not to insult the benefactor. For we obtained forgiveness not so that we might become worse, but so that we might become much better. Let no one then say that God is to blame for our evils because he did not punish or exact a penalty. For tell me, if a ruler catches a murderer and lets him go, is he judged to be the cause of the murders committed afterwards? Not at all. And how is it that we, who by what we dare give godless tongues occasion to insult God, are not afraid and do not shudder? For what will they not say? What will they not utter? “He himself gave them license,” they say; “for he should have punished them, as they deserved, not honored them nor crowned them nor given them a share of the first places, but punished and chastised them. But by doing nothing of the kind to them, and honoring them instead, he makes them such as they are.” Let no one, I beg and entreat you, give occasion for this voice to be raised about us. It would be better to be buried ten thousand times than for God to hear these things because of us. The Jews too said to him, “You who destroy the temple and raise it in three days, save yourself”; and again, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” But these things are worse than those. So that it may not be possible, because of us, for him to be called a teacher of wickedness, nor for us to be liable to punishment for this very blasphemy (“For because of you,” it says, “my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles”), let us cause the opposite to be said, living worthily of him who calls us, and coming to the baptism of adoption. For truly great is the power of baptism: it makes those who share in the gift other than they were; it does not let men remain mere men. Make the Greek believe that the power of the Spirit is great, that it has refashioned you, that it has reformed you. Why do you wait for your last breaths, like a runaway slave, like a criminal, as if you owed God nothing by way of living for him? Why are you so disposed, as if you had a harsh and cruel Master? What is colder, what more wretched than those who receive illumination at that point? God made you a friend, and counted you worthy of all good things, so that you too might show the conduct of a friend. Tell me, if you had wronged someone greatly and insulted him, and heaped countless reproaches on him, and then fell into the hands of the man you had insulted, and he instead honored you and shared all his possessions with you, and before the very friends in whose presence he had been insulted, before them he crowned you and said that he had you as his true son, and then at once died, would you not have thought the thing a loss? Would you not have said, “I wished him to be alive, so that I might be able to repay him, so that I might return his kindness, so that I might not appear wicked toward my benefactor”? So in the case of a man you would feel this way; but in the case of God are you eager to depart, so as not to repay the benefactor of such great gifts? Yet come now, when … you can repay him in equal measure. Why do you flee? … he says, “but I cannot keep it.” So God has commanded impossible things? From this everything has been turned upside down; from this the affairs of the world have been ruined, because no one has the aim of living according to God. The catechumens, eager … take no care for their life; and of those already baptized, some, since they received it …, others in sickness, and …, since they had no desire to live …, these take pains; while those who received it in health show this same …, and having been warm …, afterwards these too … For is it not possible to make use of things? Do I keep you from a wife? I keep you from sexual immorality. From the enjoyment of money? From greed and … Do I compel you to empty out everything? … to give a little of what you have to those in need (“Your abundance,” it says, “for their need”), and not even this … Do I force you to fast? … to get drunk, … which even before hell … to be shunned and hateful, as you yourself agree. Do I forbid you to eat and rejoice? But not shamefully … unworthily.

Why are you afraid? Why do you fear? Why do you tremble? … where there is enjoyment of money, where food in moderation … an occasion of sin? And yet those outside impose … and are obeyed. For they do not demand from …, but they say, “Give so much”; and if you plead poverty, not even so do they desist. But Christ is not so; he says, “Give from what you have, and I will enroll you in the … rank.” Again, those say, “If you wish to be …, attend at the palace and wear yourself out”; but Christ is not so; he says, “Stay at home with your wife, with your children, and order these very things; live a life free of business, and …” “Yes,” someone says, “but that one promises money, …” this one promises a kingdom, or rather money too along with it. “Seek,” he says, “the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.” And … not even by way of addition, but this one even abundantly. “I have been young,” he says, “and now am old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.” Let us begin …, let us make a beginning of virtue; let us only lay hold of it, and you will see what the good things are. For do you succeed in those things, that you grow faint toward these? … “those are without toil, these with toil.” It is not so, it is not so; but if one must say something …, it is rather those that are yoked with toils … are achieved with more toil, but these, if …, easily. Let us not then leap away from the divine mysteries, I urge you. Do not look at this, that the one baptized before you became … and fell from his hope, … become worse than yourself; since among soldiers too we do not emulate those who make no proper use of their service, but those who succeed. … consider how many after baptism have become angels instead of … Fear the uncertainty of the future. “Like a thief in the night,” so death comes; and not simply like a thief, but it attacks us while we sleep, and having caught us off guard, departs. That is why God made the future uncertain, so that because of the uncertainty of the expectation we may always live in virtue. “But he loves humankind,” someone says. How long shall we keep saying this cold and laughable word? I do not only say that God loves humankind and stop there, but that nothing loves humankind more than he, and that he arranges all our affairs for our good. How many do you see living with elephantiasis at every age? How many blind from earliest youth until old age, others maimed later on, others in poverty, others in chains, others in the mines, others buried together, others destroyed in wars? Are these things not of his love for humankind? Tell me: could he not prevent them if he wished? But he lets them be. “Yes,” someone says; “but you tell me, why are some blind from birth?” I will not tell you, until you promise me that you will be baptized, and that once baptized you will live rightly. It is not right for you to have such things solved for you; for the discourse is not for entertainment. For even if I solve this, another question comes in; for Scripture is an abyss of questions. So accustom yourselves not only to seek a solution, but also not to seek; since otherwise we shall never stop seeking. See, if I solve this, I show you countless snowstorms of questions. So let us learn rather to seek this than to solve the questions asked. For even if we solve them, we have not wholly solved them; but for human reasoning the proper solution of such things is faith: to know that God does all things justly and with love for humankind and for our good, and that it is not possible to grasp their reason. This is one solution, and there is no other better than it. For what, tell me, is the work of a solution? Surely, that one no longer seeks what has been solved. If you persuade yourself of this, that all things are governed by God's providence, some by his permitting them for a reason he knows, others by his working them, you are rid of seeking, and you have received the gain of the solution. But let us return to the subject before us. Since, then, you see so many under punishments, and God permits all these things, use the health of the body for the health of the soul. But you will say, “What need have I of toils and hardship, when I can be released from everything without toil?” Above all, this is not even certain. For it happens not only that one is not released without toil, but even that one departs with everything still on him. But even if this were certain, not even so is this word tolerable. He has drawn you into contests; golden arms lie ready. You ought to take them up and wield them; but you want to be saved without glory, and to do nothing good. Tell me, if a war were on and the king were present, and you saw some who had fallen upon the very middle of the enemy's ranks and were cutting them down, and others leaping …, others riding on horses and …, being crowned; and others again thinking it enough if they suffered no harm, keeping to the last rank and sitting still; and then after the end of the war, the former called, welcomed with great gifts, proclaimed, while the names of the others were not even made known, and their reward of good things went no further than their safety: which would you have wished to be? For unless you were made of stone, unless you were duller than senseless and lifeless things, would you not have desired ten thousand times to be one of the former? Yes, I beg and entreat you. For even if one had to fall fighting, should one not choose this eagerly? Do you not see those who fall in these wars, how illustrious they are, how glorious? And yet they die a death after which they cannot be honored by the king. But in that war there is nothing of the kind: you will surely present yourself bearing your wounds; which may it be granted to all of us to show, even without persecutions, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from the circumcision who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles too; for they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God.” See God's dispensation. He did not let the speech be finished, nor the baptism take place at Peter's command; but when they had shown their mind to be admirable, and the beginning of the teaching had been made, and they had believed that baptism is certainly the forgiveness of sins, then the Spirit came. This happens because God was arranging beforehand a great defense for Peter. They do not simply receive the Spirit, but … Why ever is the matter so arranged? Because of the Jews; for they were very hostile to it. That is why everywhere the whole is done by God. And Peter is present almost merely to be taught that they must from now on lay hold of the Gentiles, and that this must be done through them. And do not wonder. For when, after so much, there was dispute both in Caesarea and in Jerusalem, what would not have happened if these things had not accompanied it? That is why these things happen in such excess. And see how Peter too makes his defense once he has an occasion. That he answers after the occasion is given, hear the evangelist narrating and saying: “Then Peter answered, ‘Can anyone forbid water for baptizing these, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’” Did you see where he referred the matter, and how he was in labor to bring this out? So long had he been of this mind. “Can anyone,” he says, “forbid water?” For this is almost the language of one standing up against those who forbid it and say that it ought not to happen. The whole has happened, he says; the more necessary thing has happened, the baptism with which we too were baptized. “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” After he had defended himself, then he commanded them to be baptized, teaching them through the facts; so hostile were the Jews. That is why he first makes his defense, although the facts cried out, and then gave the command. “Then they asked him to stay some days.” From this he fittingly takes courage and stays. “Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had received the word of God. And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision disputed with him, saying, ‘To men …’” After so much! “Those of the circumcision disputed,” not the apostles. What is “disputed”? … not slightly. And see what they put forward. They do not say, “Why did you preach?” but, “Why did you eat with them?” But Peter does not take his stand on this trivial point (for it was truly trivial), but on that great one, saying, “If they too received the Spirit, how could I not share this with them?” How then did this not happen in the case of the Samaritans, but the opposite? For not only did it not happen before baptism, it did not even happen after baptism; and they were not indignant, but rather, on hearing of it, they sent the apostles for this very purpose. But not even here do they make this a charge, for they knew that it was of divine grace; but, “Why,” they say, “did you eat with them?” Besides, the difference between Samaritans and Gentiles is great and boundless. Or the charge against him was also arranged by design, so that these men might learn; for Peter would not have spoken without cause. And see his freedom from pride and from vainglory. “Peter began,” it says, “and set it out to them in order, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying.’” And he does not say why, nor on what occasion. “‘And I saw in a trance a vision, something like a great sheet descending, let down by four corners from heaven, and it came to me. Gazing at it I considered it, and saw the four-footed creatures of the earth, and the wild beasts and the reptiles and the birds of heaven; and I heard a voice saying to me, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.”’” What does he mean to say by these things? Even this was enough to persuade, he says, the sight of the sheet; but a voice too was added. “‘But I said, “By no means, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.”’” Do you see? I did my part, he says; I said that I had never eaten such things. This answers what they said, that “you ate with them.” But he does not say this to Cornelius, for there was no need. “‘But the voice answered me a second time from heaven, “What God has cleansed, do not call common.” This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. And behold, at that very moment three men stood at the house where I was, sent to me from Caesarea.’” He narrates what was necessary, and is silent about the rest; or rather, through these he establishes those too. And see how he defends himself, and does not think fit to use the authority of the teacher; for he knew that the more gently he spoke, the more he would win them over. “Nothing common or unclean,” he says, “has ever entered my mouth.” So the whole defense was a matter of good management. “And behold, at that very moment three men stood at the house where I was. And the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing.”

Do you see that the legislation is the Spirit's? “And these six brothers also went with me.” What could be more humble … Peter, who from this and the brothers … “we entered the man's house. And he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying to him, ‘Send men to Joppa and summon Simon called Peter, who will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’” And he did not … what was said by the angel to Cornelius, “Your prayers and your alms have gone up as a memorial before God,” so that it might not provoke them, but what had nothing great in it: “He will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.” How … what I said before, he hastens on? And he says nothing … of the man's reasonableness. When the Spirit had …, when God had commanded, calling him through the angel, urging him from this side, resolving the … of the matter, what should he have done? But he says nothing of this, but rests his case on what came last, which itself was an indisputable testimony. And why did not this alone happen? God acted more than enough, so that the beginning too might be shown not to have come from Peter. If he had gone of his own accord, …, they would have been very much shocked; so from the start he makes them his own, saying to them, “who received the Holy Spirit just as we did.” And again: “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as on us at the beginning.” And he is not content with this, but also reminds them of a word of the Lord: “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” So nothing new happened, but what he had foretold. But … “I commanded them first to be baptized”; but, “Can anyone forbid water, so that these should not be baptized …?” What we have had, then, they received. “If then,” he says, “God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, who was I that I could withstand God?” To stop their mouths more than enough he added this: “the same gift.” Do you see how he does not allow those who believed … to have less? “God gave them the same gift as us, who believed in the Lord”; so that he himself … them. And he does not say “to you” but “to us”, and in this way … the word. Why then are you indignant … if we call them partners? “When they heard these things, they fell silent, and glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.’” Do you see how from Peter's … the whole has turned out well, … the things that were done? That is why they glorified God, that he gave repentance to them too; so humbled were they by these words. From then on the door was opened to the Gentiles. But let us look, if you will, at what was said from the beginning. He did not say that Peter disputed, but those of the circumcision; for he himself knew what was being prepared. And yet one ought to have wondered at this, how they too … when they heard that they believed, nothing …, but when God granted the Spirit, when Peter was setting out his own trance, saying, “God has shown me to call no man common or unclean.” So he knew this from the beginning. That is why he also prepares the way for the word on behalf of the Gentiles, showing that they were no longer Gentiles once faith had come. Nothing wonderful, then, if they received the Spirit before baptism; this happened in our case too. Here Peter shows that they were not even baptized as the rest were, but in a much better way. That is why it is arranged so abundantly, so that they may have nothing to say, but even so may think them their equals. “And they asked him,” it says, “to stay.” Do you see how they were not kindly disposed to Peter? Did you see the zeal they had for the law? They did not respect Peter's dignity, nor the signs that had taken place, nor the achievement, how great a thing it was that the word had been received; but they disputed on behalf of those dead observances. For if none of these things had been, the achievement would not have sufficed. But Peter does not defend himself in that way; for he was prudent; or rather, the words were not of his prudence, but of the Spirit. And by his defense he shows himself nowhere the cause, but God everywhere. And he all but says this to them: “He made me fall into a trance; I was simply praying. He showed the vessel; I objected; again he spoke, and not even so did I listen; the Spirit … not to disobey; and nevertheless, when I went, I did not run ahead; I said that God had sent me; and after this not even so did I baptize, but again God did the whole.” So God baptized them, not I. And he did not say, “When all these things had happened, was it not necessary to add the water too?” but, as if nothing were lacking, “Who was I,” he says, “to withstand God?” Oh, what a defense! For he did not say, “Knowing these things, then, be quiet”; but what? He receives their attack, and makes his defense to his accusers: “Who was I that I could withstand God?”, using the defense to shame them and with great weight: “I could not withstand.” From then on, afraid, they fell silent, and glorified God. [3] So we too must glorify God for the good things of our neighbors, and not abuse them spitefully, as many of the newly baptized do when they see others baptized and departing at once. One should glorify God, even because he does not let them remain. So you too, if you will, have received a greater gift; I do not mean as regards the illumination (for it is the same for him and for you), but in having received a term of time for winning approval. He put on the robe and was not allowed to parade in it; to you God has given full authority to use the arms as one should, and to make trial of them here. He departs having only the reward of faith; you stand in the stadium of works, able to receive many rewards, and to appear as much more illustrious than he as the sun than the smallest star, as the general than the lowest soldier, or rather as the king. Blame yourself, then; or rather do not blame, but always correct yourself; for blaming is not enough; it is possible to renew the fight. Were you thrown? Did you suffer terribly? Get up, recover yourself; you still stand in the stadium, the theater is still assembled. Do you not see how many who were thrown afterwards renewed the fight? Only do not fall willingly. Do you count blessed the one who has departed? Much rather count yourself blessed. Was he forgiven his sins? But you, if you will, will not only wash away your sins, but will also have good deeds, which is not possible in his case. It is possible for us to recover ourselves. Great are the remedies of repentance; let no one despair of himself. That man is truly worthy of despair who despairs of himself; that man no longer has hopes of salvation. It is not terrible to come into the depth of evils, but to lie there after coming; it is not impious to come into the depth of evils, but to despise after coming. Do you, tell me, rather despise the very thing over which you ought to be anxious? Have you sunk down because you have so many wounds? No wound of the soul is incurable; in the body there are many such, in the soul none; and for those we do not cease toiling, but for these we are indolent. Do you not see the thief, how in a short time he succeeded? Do you not see the martyrs, how in a short time they accomplished the whole? “But now is not a time of martyrdom.” But it is a time of contests, as I have often said, if we will. “For all who wish,” it says, “to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Those who live godly are always persecuted, if not by men, then by demons, which is indeed a harder persecution. And first of all, those who are not sober endure this from ease itself above all. Or do you think it a small persecution to be at ease? This is heavier than all, this is worse even than persecution. For like a stream flowing in, ease slackens the soul; and what summer and winter are, that persecution and ease are. That you may learn more than enough that this persecution is worse, consider this. It pours sleep upon the soul, it produces much yawning and indolence, it rouses the passions on every side, it arms conceit, arms pleasure, arms anger, envy, vainglory, jealousy. But in persecution none of these can trouble us; fear comes in, and, as if striking a loudly barking dog hard with a whip, does not let all these passions so much as growl. Who in persecution can be vainglorious? Who can be in pleasure? No one; but much trembling and fear, producing great calm, preparing a fair-weather harbor, making the soul devout. I once heard our fathers say (may it not happen in our time! for we are commanded not to ask for temptation) that in the old persecution one could see men who were truly Christians. For no one cared for money, no one for wife, no one for children, no one for house, no one for homeland; all had one concern, to save their own souls. Some hid in monuments and tombs, others in deserts. And not only men, but also tender and delicate women hid then, battling continual hunger. Consider, then, whether any desire for extravagance or luxury would ever have come upon a woman hiding beside a coffin and waiting …, lest she be caught, lying in the tomb as in a furnace: would she give a thought that there was ever luxury, that there is a world at all? Do you see that now rather is the persecution, with the passions attacking us on every side like wild beasts? Now is the hard persecution, both for this reason and because it is not even thought to be persecution. For this war has this hardship too, that it is thought to be peace, so that we do not arm ourselves against it nor rouse ourselves; no one fears, no one trembles. If you do not believe me, ask the Greeks, the persecutors, when the Christians' affairs were in stricter order, when all were more approved. Then the multitude was reduced to a few, but it amounted to great wealth of virtue. For what use, tell me, is it for there to be much grass, when it is possible to have precious stones? Abundance lies not in the size of the number but in the proven worth of virtue. Elijah was one, but the world was not worthy of him. And yet the world is countless thousands; but they are not thousands when they do not even balance the one. … one who does the will of the Lord than ten thousand transgressors. A wise man too hints at this, saying somewhere, “Do not desire a multitude of useless children.” These bring even more blasphemy on God than if they were not Christians. What need have I of a multitude? More fuel for the fire. You may learn this from the body too: moderate food with health is better than luxury with harm. This is more food than that; this is food, that is disease. One can see this in war too: ten experienced and brave men are better than ten thousand inexperienced. These, besides doing nothing, also hinder those who are working. One may find this on a ship too: two experienced sailors are better than a countless crowd of inexperienced ones; for these will even sink the ship.

I say these things not out of hostility to your numbers, but because I wish all to be approved, and not to trust in numbers. Those who enter hell are far more; but the kingdom is greater than it, even if it has few. The multitude of the people was as the sand of the sea, but one man saved them. Moses was one, and he prevailed more than all; Joshua was one, and he could do more than the six hundred thousand. Let us not be eager only for this, that there may be many, but before this, that they may be approved; when this is achieved, then that will follow too. No one wants first to make a house spacious, but first strong and sound, and then spacious; no one lays foundations so as to be laughed at. Let us seek this first, and then that. When this exists, that too will be easy; but if that does not exist, then even if this exists, it is of no use. For if there are those who can shine in the church, there will soon be a multitude too; but if these are lacking, the multitude will never be approved. How many do you think there are in our city who are being saved? What I am about to say is painful, but I will say it nonetheless. Among so many thousands it is not possible to find a hundred who are being saved; and I have doubts even about these. For how much wickedness, tell me, is there among the young? How much indolence among the old? No one takes care of his own child as he should; no one, seeing an old man, has the zeal to imitate him. The models have vanished; that is why the young do not become admirable either. Do not tell me, “We are a great crowd.” This is the word of cold men; with men it might fittingly be said, but not with God, who has no need of us. And that the word is cold even there, hear. The man who has many servants, if he has them corrupt, how much will he suffer? In the case of one who has none, the hardship seems to be that he is not served; but one who has wicked servants even destroys himself along with them, and the loss is greater. For it is much harder than serving oneself to have to box with others and take on a war. I say these things so that no one may … the church because of its numbers, but so that we may be eager to make it approved; so that each may provide for his own …, not of his friends, nor of his relatives, as I always say, nor of his neighbors, but even so as … the strangers. For example, prayer is going on; all lie there, the young … and the old; scum rather than young men, laughing, guffawing, chatting (for this too … happens), and mocking one another while … on their knees. You stand by, young or old: rebuke them, if you see it; rebuke them more sharply; if he does not bear it, call the deacon, threaten, do your part; and if he dares do anything against you, you will surely have many to help you. For who is so senseless as, seeing you rebuking on behalf of such things and those men …, not to take your side? … the reward of the prayer. In a master's house we judge those servants more loyal who overlook nothing, not even a vessel lying out of place. Tell me, if you see in a house a silver vessel thrown outside, even if you are not in charge, will you not take it up and carry it into the house? If a garment is simply thrown down, even if the care of it is not yours, even if you are an enemy of the one in charge, will you not, out of goodwill to the master, do this rightly? So too now. These are vessels …; … I do not refuse the trouble; tell me, make it known to me; I cannot see everything; forgive me. You see how much wickedness possesses the … Did I speak idly when I said that it is a multitude of grass, a disorderly sea? I do not say that those men do this, but that such a sleep has been poured on those who come in that they do not even correct these things. Again, … standing and chatting with one another while the prayer is going on; and the more reasonable of them …, not only while the prayer is going on, but even while the priest is blessing. O the …! When will there be salvation? How shall we be able to propitiate God? If you go to a festival, you will see all dancing in good order, and nothing neglected. As in an instrument fully tuned and skillfully made, one symphony is produced from the good order of each of its parts, so here too one harmonious concord ought …; for we have become a church, joined to one head … if whatever part it may be is neglected, the whole is neglected … destroyed. So the disorder of one spoils the good order of the many. And the fearful thing is that you do not come here to a … nor to dance a dance, and you stand laughing. Do you not know that you stand with angels? With them you sing, with them you hymn, and you stand laughing? Is it not a wonder that a thunderbolt is not let loose, not on those only, but on us too? For these things deserve thunderbolts. The king is present, he views the army; and you stand laughing before their eyes, or overlook the one who laughs? But how long shall we accuse? How long shall we blame? Ought not such people, as corrupters, as …, as ruined and depraved and full of countless evils, to be driven out of the church? When will these men refrain from laughter, who laugh at the time of awe? When will they abstain from chatter, who chatter at the time of the blessing? Do they not respect …? Do they not fear God? … not only indolence of mind, nor that while praying we wander elsewhere; but we also bring in laughter and much … Is what happens here a theater? But, I think, it is the theaters that do this, that make the many unruly; … with us … is overturned there; and not only this, but they must also be filled with other uncleanness. And it is the same as if someone wished to clean a field while a spring lying above it sends down mud; for however much you clean, more flows in again. This happens here too. For when we cleanse those who come in from the theaters bringing uncleanness, they go back there and take on greater uncleanness, as if they lived for this very purpose, to give us toil; and they come back carrying much dung, in their manners, in their movements, in their words, in their laughter, in their indolence. Then again we dig from above, as if digging for this very purpose, so that we may send them out clean … I hand you over to God for this. From now on I testify to you who are sound that it will be judgment and condemnation for you if anyone sees someone being disorderly or chatting, especially at that time, and does not report him or turn him back; this is better than prayer. Leave off your prayer and rebuke him; so you will both benefit him and gain yourself. In this way we shall all be able to be saved, and to attain the kingdom of heaven; which may we all enjoy, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages.

“Now those who had been scattered by the affliction that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.” The persecution achieved no small thing for the word. “For all things work together for good,” it says, “for those who love God.” If they had deliberately set out to establish the church, they would have done nothing other than this, I mean, scatter the teachers. And see how far the preaching was extended. “They travelled,” it says, “as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.” Do you see that all that concerned Cornelius took place by design? And this serves both as a defense of Christ and as an accusation of the Jews. For when Stephen had been killed, when Paul had twice been in danger, when the apostles had been flogged, when they had often been driven out, then the Gentiles were received, then the Samaritans. Paul too cries this out, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you; but since you thrust it away and judge yourselves unworthy, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.” So they went about speaking to Gentiles too. “But there were some of them, men of Cyprus …, who spoke to the Hellenists, … the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord Jesus.” See, they preach to Greeks. For it is likely that they knew Greek by then, and that there were many such people in Antioch. “And the hand of the Lord,” it says, “was with them”; that is, they worked signs. Do you see why now too the need of signs arose, so that they might believe? “The report of them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.” Why ever, when such a city was receiving the word, did they not go themselves, but send Barnabas? Because of the Jews. Yet no small thing is arranged in this way too, that Paul came there; and not simply, but very much by design … in Jerusalem the voice of the preaching, the trumpet of heaven. Did you see how everywhere Christ used their wickedness for what was needful, as he had wished from the beginning, and even their hatred of Paul for the building up of the church from the Gentiles? But see this saint too, Barnabas I mean, how he did not look to his own interest, but ran off to Tarsus. “When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and exhorted all to remain with the Lord with purpose of heart; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great crowd was added to the Lord. Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Paul, and having found him he brought him to Antioch.” The man was very kind and simple, and an old acquaintance of Paul. That is why he went to fetch the athlete, the general, the champion, the lion. I do not know what to say; for whatever I say, I shall say less than Paul deserves. He went to fetch the hunting dog that kills lions, the strong bull, the bright lamp, the mouth that suffices for the whole world. Truly it is for this reason that in Antioch they came to be called Christians, because Paul spent so long a time in it. “And it happened that for a whole year they met with the church and taught a great crowd, and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” This is no small praise of the city. It can stand against all others in this, that it enjoyed that mouth for so long a time, first of all the others; hence it was here too that they were first counted worthy of the name. Do you see to what height he raised the city, and how he made it more illustrious? This is Paul's achievement. Where three thousand, where five thousand believed, where there was so great a multitude, nothing of the kind happened, but they were still called only “the Way”; but here they were named Christians. “In these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.” Since the fruit of almsgiving too had to be planted here, it is usefully arranged that the prophets come down. But observe, I ask you, how none of the illustrious becomes the teacher of these people either; for they had men of Cyprus and Cyrene as teachers, and Paul (even if he surpassed them), just as Paul had Barnabas and Ananias; but nothing was lessened by this; and it had Christ besides. “And one of them named Agabus stood up and signified that there would be a great famine over all the world …” … not fearing the war; for how could they, who went off to those who were about to make war? And the war … “which also happened under Claudius Caesar.” … then happens, after the apostles had died, and the end … Of necessity he here signifies that a great famine would come, which indeed happened as had been foretold about it. For so that some might not think that the famine happened because Christianity had come in, because the demons had departed, the Holy Spirit foretells what is going to happen, just as Christ too foretold many things, and … So it was not for this reason (since then it ought to have happened from the beginning), but because of the evils done to the apostles. While these were being done, God was for the time long-suffering; but when they pressed on, a famine comes, indicating to the Jews the evils that would come. But even if it was because of them, it ought to have ceased because of the others. For what wrong had the Greeks done, that, having done no wrong themselves, they should share in the evils? And if not because of the Jews, they ought rather to have prospered, because they were doing their part, because … And see when the famine comes: when the Gentiles too from then on …

“But if it was because of the evils,” someone says, “these ought to have been exempted.” Why, tell me? Did not Christ tell them beforehand, “In the world you will have tribulation”? But you who say this will perhaps say this too, that they ought not even to have been flogged. But see how the famine too became for them a cause of salvation, an occasion of almsgiving, a source of many good things; as it would have become for you too, if you had wished, but you would not. It is foretold so that they might prepare beforehand for almsgiving, since those in Jerusalem were suffering terribly; but before this they were not in famine. And Barnabas and Paul are sent to minister. “And the disciples, each according to his means.” Did you see them at once believing and at once bearing fruit, not only to their own people but also to those far off? It seems to me that he means here what Paul says elsewhere, that “they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, only that we should remember the poor.” So much did the famine profit them. And see them not falling into laments and tears in their affliction, as we do, but giving themselves up to a great and good work; for they preached the word with greater freedom. And they did not say, “Shall we, men of Cyrene and Cyprus, set to work on so splendid and great a city?” But trusting in the grace of God, they undertook the teaching, and the others did not disdain to learn something from them. See everything brought about through small men, the preaching …, and those in Jerusalem caring for all alike, as having the whole world as one house. They heard that Samaria had received the word, and they sent Peter and John; they heard what happened in Antioch, and they send Barnabas. For the distance was great, and the apostles ought not yet to be separated, so that they might not be thought fugitives who had fled from their own people. But they are separated of necessity then, when their affairs seemed from then on to be incurable; when the war at last came upon them, and they had to perish; when the sentence had been pronounced; for until Paul went up to Rome, they were there. … wrath to the end. The more obscure they were, the more grace shone, working great things through small men. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “He exhorted all,” it says, “to remain with the Lord, for he was a good man.” It seems to me that by “good” he means here the simple, unaffected man, the one who greatly desires the salvation of his neighbors. And not only was he a good man, but also full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. That is why he exhorted all “with purpose of heart”; that is, with praise and commendation. And consider how, like rich soil, this city received the word and yielded much fruit. And why did Barnabas take Paul from Tarsus and bring him here? Not idly; but because here the hopes were good, and the city greater, and the multitude large. Did you see grace doing everything, not Paul? And how the thing took its beginning through small men, and when it had become famous, then they send Barnabas? And why did they not send him before this? They took much forethought for their own affairs, and did not wish the Jews to accuse them of receiving the Gentiles; and indeed, because they would unavoidably mix with them, since some dispute was going to arise from the Jews, the affair of Cornelius came first. At any rate they then say, “that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.” And consider how opportunely the necessity of the famine brought in the contribution sent from the Gentiles to those in Jerusalem. For they receive what came from them; and these did not, as we pass our misfortunes in laments, do likewise; they lived with greater freedom, being far from those who hindered them, and among men who were not afraid of the Jews; and this itself contributed not a little. They also came to Cyprus, where there was much freedom from fear, and still more freedom from care. “Speaking the word,” it says, “to no one except Jews.” They did this not from fear of men, which they counted as nothing, but keeping the law, and still bearing with them. “But there were some in Antioch, men of Cyprus and Cyrene.” These especially did not care about the Jews. “Who spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.” Perhaps because they did not know Hebrew, they called them … “When Barnabas came,” it says, “and saw the grace of God” (not the zeal of the men), “he exhorted them to remain with the Lord.” Perhaps by praising and welcoming the crowd he converted more of them. And why did they not … to Paul? They did not yet know his virtue; that is why his coming there is brought about only by God's arrangement. And since there was a multitude and no one to hinder them, faith fittingly sprouted, especially because they underwent no trial here, and because Paul preaches and is no longer forced to flee. Rightly they do not speak about the famine themselves, but the prophets do, so that they might not seem to be burdensome. And it is worth wondering …, but they are content with their teachers; so did all burn for the word. They did not even wait for the famine to come, but sent help beforehand, “each according to his means.” And see that among the apostles others are entrusted with this; but here, Paul and Barnabas. This too was no small dispensation …; besides, it was the beginning, and for the present they ought not to be offended. But now no one does this, though there is a famine worse than that one. For it is not the same to bear a common misfortune, and for the poorer to be in famine while all others are in abundance. Then there was only a famine, and those who gave were poor (“each according to his means,” it says); but now the famine is double, as the abundance is double: a famine, not of hearing the word of the Lord, but of being fed through almsgiving. Then both the poor in Judea benefited and those in Antioch who … the gifts, and these more than those; but now both we and the poor are in famine: they lacking necessary food, we in want of the mercy of God. Nothing could be more necessary than this food. It is not possible to suffer the evils of surfeit; it is not possible for the excess of this food to pass into the privy. Nothing is fairer, nothing healthier …, every famine, every irregularity and bad temper; no one will be able to seize it; but as adamant, which neither iron nor anything else can strike, so too a soul made firm by almsgiving nothing at all will be able to seize. For what, tell me, will overpower it? Poverty? It cannot; for it is stored in the royal treasuries. A robber and a housebreaker? But no one can dig through those walls. The moth? But this treasure is above this ruin too. Envy and jealousy? It is not caught by these either. Slanders and plots? Not this either; for the treasure is safe. But it would be shameful if I showed only these things that belong to almsgiving, and not also the positive ones. For it is not only freed from envy, but also enjoys much praise even from those who have not been benefited. For as the cruel and harsh have as enemies not only those they wronged, but also those who suffered nothing, who grieve with the wronged and accuse them, so those who have done great good have as praisers not only those they benefited, but also those who suffered nothing. Why do I speak of envy? It is freed also from plotters, from robbers and housebreakers. And it has not only this good, but besides not diminishing, it also grows and increases to abundance. What was more lawless than Nebuchadnezzar? The man was ungodly; he saw countless proofs and signs, and would not come round, but threw God's servants into the furnace, even if afterwards he worshiped. What then does the prophet say? “O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: … your sins with mercy to the poor; perhaps there will be forgiveness for your transgressions.” He said this not because he was in doubt (for he was persuaded), but because he wished to cast him into greater fear, and to put him under greater constraint to do these things. For if he had spoken as of something agreed, the king would have become careless. So we too move people most when we say, “Entreat so-and-so,” and do not add that he will certainly listen, but that perhaps he will listen; for fear, grown greater from the uncertainty, presses him harder. That is why he did not make it plain. What are you saying? Will there be forgiveness for such impieties? There is no sin which almsgiving cannot cleanse, which it cannot quench; every sin stands below it; it is a remedy suited to every wound. What is worse than a tax collector? It is an occasion for all injustice; but Zacchaeus washed all this away. See how Christ too shows this, by taking care to have a money box and to carry what was put in. And Paul too says, “Only that we should remember the poor”; and much is said everywhere in the Scriptures about this matter. “The ransom of a man's soul,” it says, “is his own wealth”; and Christ says, “If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” This is rightly called perfection. And almsgiving is done not with money only, but also with deeds. For example, one can protect someone, one can stretch out a hand; often protection given by deeds has saved more than money.

Come then, let us for the present set in motion all the kinds of almsgiving. Can you give through money? Do not hesitate. Can you give through protection? Do not say, “Since there is no money, this is nothing.” This too is very great; be disposed as if you were giving gold. Can you give through care for the sick? Do this too. For example, you are a physician … great. Can you give through counsel? This is much greater than all the rest; this almsgiving is better than all, and greater, inasmuch as it brings greater gain; for you are not relieving hunger, but a grievous death. With this the apostles too were filled to overflowing; that is why they entrusted the distribution of money to those after them, while they themselves showed the almsgiving that is given through words. Or do you think it a small almsgiving to be able to free from its disease a soul that is in perplexity, in extreme danger, gripped by fever? For example, you see a friend [burning] with love of money: quench his fire. What then, if he is not persuaded? Do your part, and do not shrink back. Did you see him held in chains? (for money is truly chains.) Go to him, visit him, comfort him, try to free him from his chains. If he is not willing, he will bear the blame himself. Did you see someone naked and a stranger? (for the man who does not care for an upright life is truly naked and a stranger to heaven.) Take him into your lodging, clothe him with the garments of virtue, give him the city in heaven. “What then, if I am naked myself?” someone says. Then clothe yourself first. If you know that you are naked, you surely know too that you ought to be clothed. If only you understand the manner of this nakedness, you will easily be able to know how to put it right as well. How many women wear silk garments, but are truly naked of the garments of virtue? Let the husbands clothe these. “But they do not accept those garments, and want these?” Do this first: put them in desire of those garments, show them that they are naked, speak about the judgment to come, say, “We need other garments there, not these.” If you will bear with me, I too will show the nakedness. The naked man, when it is cold, is frozen and trembles, and stands huddled, with his arms drawn together; but when it is summer, no longer. If then I show the rich men and the rich women to be the more naked the more they are clothed, do not be offended. What then, tell me, when we raise the subject of hell and those torments, do these people not tremble more than those naked ones? Do they not groan bitterly and condemn themselves? What then, when they come to so-and-so and say, “Pray for me,” do they not utter the same words as those beggars? But now, whatever we say, the nakedness is not yet plain; there it will be plain. How, and in what manner? When these silk garments and stones have perished, and all appear in the garments of virtue and of vice alone; when the poor are clothed in great glory, and the rich are dragged naked and disgraced to the places of punishment. What was more luxurious than the rich man who was dressed in purple? What poorer than Lazarus? Who then uttered the words of beggars? And who was in abundance? Tell me, if someone hung his house with many curtains, but himself sat naked inside, what would be the gain? So it is with women. They surround the house of the soul, I mean the body, with many things; but the mistress of the house sits naked within. Lend me the eyes of the soul, and I will show you the nakedness of the soul. For what is the garment of the soul? Virtue. And what is its nakedness? Vice. Just as, if someone stripped one of the free-born, he is ashamed and flees, so too the soul, if we will see it, that does not have these garments blushes … now to be ashamed and … to sink into itself … not hear these words? … Thecla. She, in order to see Paul, gave her own …; but you, in order to see Christ, do not give …, but you admire what happened … but do not emulate it. Do you not hear how the Word … the merciful? “Blessed are the merciful,” it says, “for they will receive mercy.” What is the gain from … garments? How long will you gape at this …? Let us clothe ourselves in the glory of Christ, let us … that beauty, so that both here … and there we may attain the eternal good things, … and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus …, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit … honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Those were the days of Unleavened Bread.” What time does he mean by “that”? Surely the time that followed. Here it is so, but elsewhere otherwise. For when Matthew says, “In those days John comes preaching,” he does not mean the days that followed, but those in which what he relates was to happen. For it is the custom of Scripture to use this manner: sometimes it sets out things that happened in sequence, sometimes it reports as if in sequence things that were to happen later. He rightly says “Herod the king”; for this was not the one in Christ's time. See, another trial. And see, as I said from the beginning, how affairs are interwoven, how everything is woven through ease and affliction. No longer the Jews, nor the Sanhedrin, but the king lays hands on them to harm them. The power is greater, the war harder, in that it was waged to please the Jews. “He killed James the brother of John with the sword.” Simply and at random. And if someone asks why God permitted it, we shall say, for the sake of these very people: first, to persuade them that even when they are killed they prevail, as happened in Stephen's case too; second, to give the Jews the chance, once they had glutted their anger, to recover from their frenzy; and third, to show that this happened by his permission. “And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” O the great foulness! For what were they gratifying them, committing murders simply and at random? “It was the days of Unleavened Bread.” Again the Jews' excessive scrupulosity: they did not prevent killing, but they did such things at such a time. “And having seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers.” … this was a sign of fear too. “He killed,” it says. For so that no one might say that they dared death fearlessly for this reason, because God …, for this reason the leaders above all were put to death, persuading … that not even these things make them stand aside. “So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer was being made by the church to God for him.” The contest was about …; for that one's having been killed made …, and this one's having been thrown into prison. “When Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and guards before the door were keeping the prison. And behold, an angel … stood by, and a light shone in the cell, and … Peter's side he raised him, … ‘Rise quickly.’ And the chains fell from his hands.” See, on that very night … he snatched him away. “And a light shone in the cell,” so that he might not think it an illusion; and the light … For if, even though this happened, he thought it an illusion because it was unexpected, … much more; so ready was he for death. At any rate his being kept there many days produced this. “And why,” someone says, “did he let him fall into Herod's hands …?” Because that served for astonishment, … but this was for their sake. For they would not have seemed to be men if everything … in a godlike way … In Stephen's case what did he not do? Did he not show his face to them …? And why … here at all? “And the angel said to him, ‘… and put on your sandals.’” … shows that it did not happen by any crime; for no one in a hurry and wishing to break out takes such pains as to take even his sandals and even to gird himself. “And he did so. And he says to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ And going out he followed him; and he did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened for them of its own accord.” See, a second sign. When the angel departed, then Peter understood. “And going out they went on through one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. And Peter, coming to himself, said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.’” “Now I know,” he says, not then. Why does this happen, and why is Peter not aware of what is happening, though he had already enjoyed such a deliverance when they were all released? God wishes the deliverance to come to him all at once, and only after he has been delivered to give him awareness of it. The chains falling from his hands is a great proof that he did not escape by flight. “When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John who is called Mark, where many were gathered together and praying. And when Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. And recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate.” See Peter not withdrawing at once, but first bringing the good news to his own people. “But she ran in and announced that Peter was standing before the gate. And they said to her, ‘You are mad.’ But she kept insisting …” See even the servant girls full of piety. “In her joy she did not open the gate”; but those … “and they said, ‘It is his angel.’ But Peter continued knocking. And when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. And motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, ‘Tell these things to James and the brothers.’ And he went out and went to another place.” Let us look, then, from the beginning at the sequence of what was said. “About that time,” it says, “Herod the king laid hands …” … attacked all simply and without reason. This is what Christ said: “The cup that I am to drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized.” “… John with the sword.” “And how,” someone says, “did he not kill Peter at once?” The writer gave the reason: “For it was,” he says, “the days of Unleavened Bread”; and he wished rather to make a show of his slaughter. The Jews themselves, after the advice of Gamaliel, from then on restrained themselves from murders; besides, they found no grounds; but they brought these things about through others. And since there was another James too, the brother of the Lord, he marked this one by saying “the brother of John.” Do you see that the head lay in these three, and above all in Peter and James? This was above all their condemnation. For the preaching was no longer shown to be human, and that word was truly fulfilled, “as sheep for the slaughter.” “And when he saw,” it says, “that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” Murder pleased them, and unjust murder. Great was Herod's folly; he served their absurd desires. For he ought to have done the opposite and cut short their impulse; but he intensified it, like an executioner of the sick, not a physician; though he had countless examples both from his grandfather and from his father Herod, how the one suffered very great evils for the killing of the children, and the other, having killed John, stirred up a hard war. “And having seized him,” it says, “he put him in prison.” He feared that Peter might withdraw because of the murder of James, and wishing to have him securely, he threw him into prison. The stricter the guard, the more wonderful the display. And this was for Peter's sake, who from this became more approved and showed his own courage. … The prayer was a proof of … They all sought a father, a gentle father. “Earnest prayer,” it says, “was being made for him.” Hear how they felt toward their teachers. They did not riot, they were not thrown into confusion, but turned to prayer, the truly invincible alliance; to it they fled for refuge. They did not say, “Shall I, lowly and worthless, pray for him?” For since they acted out of love, they reckoned none of these things. Do you want to learn what these men accomplished even against their will? … those, and these they made more zealous. And see the trials brought on at the feast, so that these might appear more approved. “When Herod was about to bring him out,” it says, “that night Peter was sleeping.” See Peter sleeping, not in anguish nor in fear. On the very night on which he was to be brought out he slept, having cast everything on God. And he did not simply sleep, but between soldiers and bound. “For between two soldiers,” it says, “he was sleeping, bound with two chains.” Do you see how strict the guard was? “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by …” … the guards were …; that is why they perceive nothing of what happens. “A light shone,” so that Peter might both see and hear, and not think it an illusion. And so that he might not be sluggish, he is also struck on the side. And he does not simply hear, “Rise,” but, with an addition, “quickly”; so deeply was he asleep. “He thought,” it says, “he was seeing a vision. He passed the first and the second guard.” Where now are the heretics? Let them tell us how he passed through; but they could not. And yet for this reason the angel bids him gird himself and put on his sandals, persuading him by this too that it is not an apparition, and so that he may shake off sleep and know that it is real. For this reason too the chains at once fell from his hands, and he hears, “Rise quickly.” This is not the word of one alarming him, but of one persuading him not to delay. “And he did not know,” it says, “that what was done through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.” Fittingly, because of the extraordinary nature of what was happening.

Do you see how great the excess of a sign is? How it astonishes the one who sees it? How it does not let itself be believed? For if Peter thought for so long a time that he was seeing a vision, though he himself girded himself and put on his sandals, what would another man not have experienced? “When they had passed,” it says, “the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate … and immediately the angel departed from him.” The things that happened inside were more wonderful; but this was now more human. When there was no hindrance, then the angel departed. For Peter would not have gone out while there were so many hindrances; for truly, truly, he was in astonishment. “Now I know,” he says, “that the Lord has truly sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.” Now, not then, when I was in chains. “When he realized this, he came to the house of Mary the mother …” … where he is. Either, then, he realized this; or that he must not simply go away, but must repay his benefactor; and realizing this he came to the house of Mary. Who is this John? Perhaps the one who was always with them; that is why he also added his distinguishing name. See how great a good affliction is, how much they accomplished by praying at night, how wakeful it made them. Did you see how great the gain of Stephen's murder was? Did you see how great the benefit of this imprisonment was? For God does not show the gospel to be great by punishing those who wrong them; but among the very wrongdoers, while these suffer nothing terrible, he shows the afflictions themselves to be great in themselves, so that we may not seek at all costs to be released from them, nor seek vengeance. And consider how their servant girls too were by now of equal honor with them. “In her joy,” it says, “she did not open.” This too happened well, so that the others might not be astonished at seeing him at once and disbelieve, but their minds might be exercised. And she too was found doing what we are accustomed to do; for she was eager to bring the good news herself; for it was truly good news. “And they said to her, ‘You are mad’; but she kept insisting that it was so; and they said, ‘It is his angel.’” From this it is true that each of us has an angel. And how did it occur to them then to suspect that it was an angel? They suspected this from the time of night. “And as he continued knocking,” it says, “they opened and saw him and were amazed.” And he, motioning with his hand, made a great silence, so that they might hear what he had to say. He was now much dearer to the disciples, not only for having been saved, but also for having come and appeared to them at once. His own people learn everything clearly from then on; outsiders learn too, if they were willing to believe; but they were not willing. This happened in Christ's case too. “Tell these things,” he says, “to James and the brothers.” See how he is not vainglorious. For he did not say, “Make these things known to people everywhere,” but, “to the brothers.” “And he withdrew to another place.” For he did not tempt God, nor throw himself into trials; for when they were commanded to do that too, they did it: “Go,” it says, “and speak in the temple to the people.” They heard and at once obeyed. But the angel did not say this; by departing in silence and bringing him out by night he gave him authority to withdraw. And this happens so that we may learn that many things were managed in a human way too, so that he might not fall into danger again. For so that they might not say that it is his angel after he had gone, he first says this, and then they see him, overturning their opinion … If it had been the angel, he would not have knocked at the door … he withdrew to another place. The fact that it did not happen by day confirms it. Those who were free were at …; but the one who was bound was asleep; if he had thought that what was happening was real, he would have been astonished, he would not have …; but as it was, seeing it as in a dream, he was untroubled. “They came,” it says, “to the iron gate.” See how strong it was. “When they had passed,” it says, “the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate.” And why, someone says, did they not … this by themselves? Why? Because God honors them in this too, by snatching them out through angels. What then? Did it happen so in Paul's case? There rightly, when the jailer had to believe; but here only so that the apostle might be released; besides, God manages all things in different ways. There Paul sings hymns; here Peter was sleeping. Let us not then hide the wonders of God, but let us be eager to make them known, both for our own benefit and for the building up of others. For just as … wonderful … until he had told everything to his own people … he said, it says, “Tell James and the brothers.” Why ever does he bid them tell it? So that they might rejoice, so that they might …, so that through these those might learn, … they themselves through those. So did he care for the lowlier. Nothing, then, is like affliction in due measure. What do you think their soul was then? Was it not full of pleasure? Where now are the women who sleep through the whole night? Where are the men who do not even turn over on their bed …? Do you see a sober soul? With women … and servant girls they hymned God, having become … heaven through the affliction. But now, if there is some small danger …, we fall back. Nothing was more splendid than the church then. Let us imitate these, let us emulate … night was made for this reason, not so that we might always sleep and be idle. Craftsmen bear witness to this, and donkey-drivers, and merchants, and the church of God, which rises at night. Rise you too, and … the dance of the stars, the deep silence, the great calm; be astonished at your Master's … The soul is purer then, lighter, finer, more uplifted and light; … the great silence is able to lead to compunction. And if you see heaven studded with stars as with eyes, you will … all pleasure, and at once take thought of the Creator. If you consider that those who … threatening terrible things, these now … of the dead, you will condemn all human … Sleep has come on and exposed our nature; it is … of death, it is an image of the consummation. If you pass along the lane, you will not hear even a voice; if you look into a house, you will see all lying as in a tomb. All these things are enough to rouse the soul and lead it to thought of the consummation.

This … word is addressed both to men and to women. Bend your knees, groan, entreat your Master …, with night prayers, when you make the time of rest a time of laments. Remember what words the king said: “I am weary with my groaning; every night I will wash my bed, I will drench my couch with my tears.” However luxurious you may be, you are not more luxurious than he; however rich you may be, you are not richer than David. And again: “At midnight I rose to give thanks to you for your righteous judgments.” Then vainglory does not trouble you; for how could it, when all are asleep and see nothing? Then indolence and yawning do not attack you; for how could they, when the soul is roused by so much? After such night vigils come both sweet sleep and wonderful revelations. Do this yourself too, the husband, and not the wife alone. Let the house be a church made up of men and women. Do not think it a hindrance that you alone are the man, or that she alone is the woman. “For where two,” he says, “are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” Where Christ is in the midst, there is a great multitude; where Christ is, there must be angels too, there must be archangels and the other powers. So you are not alone, since you have the Master of all. And again hear the prophet saying, “Better is one who does the will of the Lord than ten thousand transgressors.” Nothing is weaker than many transgressors, nothing stronger than one man who lives according to God's law. If you have children too, rouse the children as well, and let the house become a church through all of them during the night; but if they are young and cannot bear the vigil, let them stay for one prayer or a second, and then let them rest; only rouse yourself, only settle yourself in the habit. Nothing is better than that chamber which receives such prayers … “… you on my bed; at dawn I meditated on you.” “But I have toiled much during the day,” someone says, “and I cannot.” These are excuses and pretexts. For however much you toil, you will not labor like the coppersmith, who brings down so heavy a hammer from a great height onto the sparks and takes the smoke on his whole body; and yet he spends the greater part of the night at this. You know too how women, whenever we have had to go out to the country or to go to an all-night vigil, stay awake the whole night. Let there be a spiritual forge for you too, not to make pots or cauldrons, but your soul, which is much better than the work of the coppersmith or the goldsmith. Put the soul that has grown old with sins into the furnace of confession; bring down the hammer from a great height, that is, the self-condemnation in your words; kindle the fire of the Spirit. You have a much greater art. You do not shape golden vessels, but the soul, more precious than any gold, as the smith shapes a vessel. For you are not shaping a bodily vessel, but freeing the soul from every worldly fancy. Let a lamp be set beside you, not this one that burns, but the one the prophet had when he said, “For your law is a lamp to my feet.” Heat your soul through prayer; when you see that it is sufficiently heated, take it out, shape it into whatever you wish. Believe me, fire is not so apt to clean off rust as night prayer is to clean off the rust of our sins. Let us be ashamed, if of no one else, before the night watchmen. They go round in the cold, shouting loudly, because of a human law, and through the … for your sake and for your safety and the guarding of your goods. That man takes such forethought for your goods; but you take none even for your own soul. And yet I do not compel you to go round in the open air like him, nor to shout loudly and strain yourself; but in your very chamber, in your very bedroom, bend your knees and entreat the Master. Why did Christ himself spend the night on the mountain? Was it not to become a pattern for us? Then the plants breathe, at night, I mean; then the soul too receives dew, even more than they do. What the sun scorched during the day is cooled at night. More than any dew, tears shed at night fall upon the desires and upon every inflammation and burning heat, and do not let one suffer anything grievous. But if the soul does not enjoy that dew, it will be scorched by day. But God forbid that any of you should become fuel for that fire; rather, having been refreshed and having enjoyed God's love for humankind, may we all thus be freed from the burden of our sins, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “… there was no small stir among the soldiers … And Herod, having searched for him and not found him, having examined the guards … from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.” (Acts 12:18–19)

Many are perplexed how God at that time overlooked the children being killed because of him, and now again the soldiers because of Peter; and yet it was possible for him to rescue them too along with Peter. But if the angel had led the soldiers out with Peter, the thing would have been thought to be a flight. Why then, someone says, did he not arrange it otherwise? For what harm has been done now? If we see that those who suffered something unjustly and wickedly were harmed in nothing, we will not ask these questions. For why do you not also speak about James, and ask why he did not rescue him? … Perhaps some are perplexed how God overlooked his champions perishing. It was not yet the time of judgment, so as to assign to each according to his desert. Nor, besides, did Peter throw them into Herod’s hands. What grieved Herod more, then, was being made a fool of, as his grandfather was deceived by the magi; it made him the more furious and …

It is good also to hear the very words of the writer. “Now when it was day,” he says, “there was no small stir among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And Herod, having searched for him and not found him, examined the guards and ordered them to be led away.” And yet he heard from them (for he examined them) both that the chains were let go, and that he took his sandals, and that until that night he was with them. But what did they conceal together? Why then did they not flee too? Surely he ought to have marveled, ought to have been astounded at this. From now on it becomes plain to all, through the death of these men, both the wonder of God and that man’s wickedness. See how this writer does not hide these things, but even mentions the history, so as to teach us. Then he says: “And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. Now Herod was in a furious quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country was fed from the king’s. On an appointed day Herod put on royal apparel, sat on the tribunal, and made a speech to them; and the people shouted, ‘The voice of a god, and not of a man!’ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God; and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God grew and multiplied.”

Nor is this a small thing. Justice overtook him at once, if not on account of Peter, then on account of his boasting. And yet, someone says, if those men shouted, what has that to do with him? That he accepted the cry, that he thought himself worthy of the flattery. By this especially those are taught who flatter rashly. See again: both were worthy of punishment, but this man is punished. For it is not now the time of judgment; but he punishes the one most guilty, letting the others go, so that they may profit from this. “And the word of God,” he says, “grew and multiplied,” that is, when this had happened. Did you see God’s providential ordering?

“And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, bringing with them John whose surname was Mark. Now there were in Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called …, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen … Herod.” He mentions Barnabas first; for Paul was not yet famous, had not yet worked any sign. “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them off.” What is “ministering”? Preaching. “Set apart for me,” he says, “Barnabas and Saul.” What is “Set apart for me”? For the work, for the apostleship. See again by whom he is ordained: by Lucius of Cyrene and Manaen, or rather by the Spirit. For the lesser the persons, the more plainly the grace of God appears. He is ordained, then, to the apostleship, so as to preach with authority. How then does he himself say, “Not from men, nor through men”? He said “Not from men” to show that no man called him or brought him in; and “nor through men” because he was not sent by this man or that, but by the Spirit. That is why he added: “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.”

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Now when it was day,” he says, “there was no small stir” over Peter; “and having examined the guards, he ordered them to be led away.” So he did not perceive that he was even setting about punishing unjustly. Look, I take up the plea on their behalf. The chains were there, the guards inside, the prison shut, nowhere was the wall dug through; all said the same thing: “The man has been snatched away; why do you condemn them? If they had wanted to release him, they would have released him before this, or gone out with him. Did they take money? Where would a man who had nothing to give even a poor man find money to give to these? For neither were the chains broken nor were they unfastened.” He ought to have seen that the thing was divine and not human. Then, since he was now about to mention history, for this reason he also gives the names, so that he may be shown to be truthful in everything. “And having persuaded Blastus,” he says, “the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace.” They do this because there was a famine. “On an appointed day Herod sat on the tribunal and made a speech,” he says. “And immediately an angel struck him”

Josephus too says this, that he fell into a long illness. Most people did not know this, but the apostle sets it down. Yet even their ignorance was of benefit, since they reckoned what befell Herod to the death of James and the slaughter of the soldiers. See: when he slew the apostle, he did nothing of the kind; but when he slew these men, he was then at a loss for words. So, being at a loss and ashamed, he went down from Judea to Caesarea. It seems to me that he came wishing also to bring those people to make their apology; for he was angry with them, while courting these others in this way. See how vainglorious the man is. When he was about to give them the gift, he made a public speech. And Josephus says that he also wore a splendid robe made of silver. See also how those people were flatterers, and how great the spirit of the apostles. For the man whom a whole nation courted, these spat upon. And again there comes great relief for them, and countless good things from his punishment. But if this man, on hearing “The voice of a god and not of a man,” though he himself said nothing of the kind, suffered this, much more would Christ have suffered, if he himself were not God, who always said, “My words are not mine,” and, “My servants would have fought,” and all such things. But that man ended his life shamefully and pitiably, and from then on is not even seen. See him also being persuaded by Blastus, and, wretched as he was, easily angered and again reconciled, everywhere a slave of the crowds, with nothing free about him.

Consider also the authority of the Holy Spirit. “While they were ministering to the Lord,” he says, “and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.’” Who would have dared to say this, not being of the same authority? This happens so that they may no longer be together with one another; he saw that they had greater power and were able to suffice for many. And how did he speak to them? Through prophets, perhaps. That is why he said beforehand that they were prophets and were fasting and ministering, so that you may learn that there was need of much sobriety. He is ordained in Antioch, where he preaches. Why did he not say, “Set apart for the Lord,” but “for me”? He shows that the authority and the power are one. Do you see how great fasting is? He shows that the Spirit did everything. Fasting is a great good; it is not hemmed in by a boundary. When they had to ordain, then they fast; and to them, while fasting, the Spirit spoke. But fasting is not this only; abstaining from luxury is also a kind of fasting. This only I enjoin: not that you fast, but … let us seek food, not occasions of diseases, both of soul and of body; let us seek food that has pleasure, not luxury full of disgust. This is delight, that is ruin; this is pleasure, that is pain; this is according to nature, that is against nature. For tell me, if someone gave you hemlock to drink, would it not be against nature? If someone gave you wood and stones to eat, would you not turn away? Rightly; for it is against nature. Such is luxury too. For as in a city under siege, when the enemy have broken in, there is great uproar and confusion, so it happens in the soul when wine and luxury have broken in. “Who has woe, who has trouble, who has disgust and quarrels, who has judgment? Is it not those who linger over wine?” But in fact, whatever we say, we will not draw away those who are absorbed in luxury, unless we set up another passion against this one.

And first let our word be to the women. Nothing is more shameful than a woman … the bloom of her face …; the calm and gentleness of her eyes is clouded, as when some cloud runs under the sun’s rays. The thing is ignoble and slavish and full of every baseness. How is it that she cannot rise, being redder than she ought, full of yawning and of much fog? But the woman who abstains from luxury is not like this, but dignified, modest and comely. For the state of the soul puts much beauty around the body too. Do not think that this comes from the bodily features alone. Give me a comely girl, but agitated, talkative, abusive, drunken, extravagant: has she not become uglier than any ugly woman? But if she is modest, if she is silent, if she learns to blush, if she learns to speak in measure, if she gives her time to fasting, her beauty is double, her bloom fuller, her face more lovely, full of modesty and good order.

Would you have us next speak about men too? What is more … than … to his enemies, pitiable to his friends, worthy of countless condemnations; he is a beast rather than a man. For to eat much belongs to the leopard, the lion and the bear. Rightly; for those have no rational soul. And yet even they, when fed beyond what is needful and beyond the measure set for them by nature, have ruined their whole body: how much more we? For this reason God has made our belly small; for this reason he set a small measure of food, so that he might teach us to care for the soul. Let us study the very construction within, and we will see that only one part in us has this function. For our mouth and tongue are set apart for hymns, the throat for the voice. This is why necessity too … so that we do not fall into much trouble. For if luxury brought no pain, nor diseases and infirmities, it would be bearable; but as it is he has set you the boundaries of nature, so that you cannot overstep them even if you wish. Is it not pleasure you seek, beloved? You will find it in contentment. Not health? This too. Not freedom from care? This too. Not freedom? Not strength of body? Not good condition? Not sobriety of soul? Not alertness? So all good things are here … but in luxury the opposite: unpleasantness, ill condition, disease, servility, expense.

Why then, someone says, do we all run after it? From disease. For tell me, why does the sick man seek what harms him? Is not this itself a sign of his sickness? Why does the lame man not walk straight? And does not this come from laziness and from not wishing to go to the doctor? For of things, some have a temporary pleasure but everlasting punishment; others the opposite, a temporary endurance but everlasting enjoyment. The man, then, who is so slack and lazy as not to disdain present pleasures for the sake of future ones is quickly caught. Tell me, how was Esau caught? How did he come to prefer the present pleasure to the future honor? From slackness and softness. And this itself, someone says, where does it come from? From ourselves; and this is clear from the following. For when we wish, we rouse ourselves and become steadfast. If necessity ever comes upon us, and often merely when we are spurred by rivalry, (we do) what is useful. So when you are about to indulge yourself, consider how short-lived the pleasure is, the loss (for it is truly a loss to spend so much money to your own ruin), the diseases, the infirmities, and despise luxury.

How many shall I count for you who suffered evils from luxury? Noah got drunk and was stripped naked, and see how many evils came from this. Esau out of gluttony gave away his birthright and rushed into fratricide. “The people of Israel sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” That is why it says, “When you have eaten and drunk, remember the Lord your God.” For those who have fallen into luxury have fallen over a precipice. “The widow,” it says, “who lives in luxury is dead while she lives”; and again, “He grew fat, he grew thick, and the beloved kicked”; and again the apostle, “Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” I do not legislate fasting (for no one would listen) … for like a torrent, luxury overturns everything; nothing stands in its way; it casts men out of a kingdom. What is gained by it? Do you want to live luxuriously? Give to the poor, invite Christ, so that even after the table is taken away you may have your luxury. For now you do not have it; rightly, for the things here do not stand still; but then you will have it. Do you want to live luxuriously? Feed your soul; give it a share of the food it is accustomed to; do not starve it to death. It is a time of war, a time of contest; and do you sit in luxury? Do you not see that even those entrusted with scepters live frugally on campaigns abroad? “Our wrestling is not against blood and flesh”; and do you fatten yourself when about to wrestle? The adversary stands gnashing his teeth, and you are lounging and intent on your table. I know that I say these things in vain, but not to all. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Christ is wasting away with hunger, and you are bursting yourself with gluttony? Two excesses!

For what evil does luxury not do? It is opposed to itself; so I do not know how it even has this name. But just as glory that is dishonor, and wealth that is poverty, are called by those names, so too luxury is in fact unpleasantness. Are we going to be sacrificed, that we fatten ourselves? Why do you lay a splendid table for the worm? Why do you increase the discharges? Why do you store up springs of sweat and foul smells? Why do you make yourself useless for everything? Do you want your eye to become strong? Make your body lean and sinewy. For among strings too, the thick and unrefined one is useless for melodies, but the one scraped smooth all round is taut and perfectly in tune. Why do you bury your soul? Why do you make the wall thicker? Why so much smoke and cloud, when vapors rise on all sides like a fog? If no one else, let the athletes teach you that the leaner body is the stronger. So too the soul that practices the true philosophy is more vigorous; for it is like a charioteer and his horse. And one may see that, as with men given to luxury and fat, so also fat horses are sluggish and give the charioteer much trouble. One is content, with a horse obedient to the rein and nimble of leg, to be able to win the prize. But when the charioteer is forced to drag his horse along, and when it has fallen cannot raise it though he goads it countless times, then, even if he himself is very skilled, he will be robbed of the victory. Let us not, then, overlook our soul being abused on account of the body; but let us make it more clear-sighted, make its wing light, its bonds looser; let us feed it with words, with contentment, giving the body only so much as to be healthy, so much as to be strong, so much as to be glad and not in pain; so that, having thus set our own affairs in good order, we may be able to lay hold of the highest virtue and attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had also …” (Acts 13:4–5)

… As soon as they were ordained they went out and sailed to Cyprus, since there was no plotting there and the word had already been sown. For in Antioch there were enough teachers; and Phoenicia was near Palestine, but Cyprus was not. Do not ask why, from now on, when they are moved by the Spirit; for they were not only ordained by the Spirit, but also sent out by him. “And when they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.” Do you see them making every effort to proclaim the word to the Jews first, so as not to make them more contentious? Those others too spoke to no one but Jews only, and these went into the synagogues. “And having gone through the whole island … a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding, who … to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) opposed them …” the faith. Again a Jewish magician, like Simon. And see this man: when they were preaching to the others, he was not much provoked; but when they approached the proconsul, then he was. The wonderful thing about the proconsul is that, though he had been taken over beforehand by that man’s magic, he wanted to hear the apostles. So the Samaritans also did; and the victory is seen by comparison, when the magic is overcome. Everywhere vainglory and love of power are the causes of the evils …

“… the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.’” Here his name is changed together with his ordination, as happened with Peter too. And see: the thing is not insult but a striking of terror. For the bold and shameless must be struck with terror in this way. “O full of all deceit,” he says, “and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness.” Here he lays bare what was in the man’s mind, as one who under a pretense of salvation was destroying the proconsul. “Will you not stop,” he says, “making crooked the ways of the Lord?” And convincingly: “It is not against us that you war,” he says, “nor us that you fight, but you are making crooked the straight ways of the Lord,” and that with praise of those ways. “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind.” By the sign by which he himself was brought in, by this he wished to bring this man in too. And “for a time” was the word not of one punishing but of one seeking to convert. For if it had been the word of one punishing, he would have made him blind for ever; but as it is, not this, but for a time, so that he might win the proconsul. “And immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, when he saw what had happened, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” Rightly; for one who had been taken over beforehand by magic had to be taught by this punishment. So too the magicians in Egypt were taught long ago by the boils. And see them not lingering there, now that the proconsul had believed, nor softened by flattery and honor, but at once keeping to the work: “And … from Cyprus, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem. But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia; and going into the synagogue on the sabbath day they sat down.” Again they went into the synagogues in the manner of Jews, so as not to be fought against or driven out, and in this way they succeeded in everything. “After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them … of exhortation for the people, speak.” From here on, then, we learn about Paul, having learned not a little about Peter in what was said before.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “And when they arrived,” he says, “at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God”: in the metropolis of Cyprus. They had spent a year in Antioch. They had to go there too, and not sit here all the time; those there needed greater teachers. See how they do not stay in Seleucia either, knowing that from the neighboring city they would have reaped much benefit; but they hasten to what is urgent, there too. For coming to the metropolis of the island, they hastened to set the proconsul right. And that it was not flattery to say, “He was with the proconsul, a man of understanding,” learn from the fact: how he did not need many words, how he wished to hear them. He also lists the names of the cities, showing that since they had received the word so readily, they needed to be strengthened to abide in the faith; that is why they constantly visited them. See that he said nothing to the magician until that man gave him occasion, but only proclaimed the word of the Lord. For since the magician saw the others paying attention, he aimed at this one thing, that the proconsul should not be persuaded. And why did Paul not do another sign? Because there was none equal to this, to overcome the enemy.

[2] And see: first he accuses, and then he punishes. He shows that the man suffered justly by saying, “O full of all deceit,” that is, lacking in nothing, he says. And he said well, “all deceit”; for he was playing the hypocrite. “Son of the devil,” for he was doing the devil’s work. “Enemy of all righteousness,” for this, the gospel, was truly all righteousness. It seems to me that in saying this he also convicts the man’s life. And to show that the words were not of anger, he said beforehand, “of the Holy Spirit,” that is, of his working. “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you.” So it was not punishment but healing. For he was all but saying, “It is not I who do this, but the hand of God.” See his freedom from pride. “You will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” He says this to give him room to repent. For they nowhere wished to make themselves known by the harsher miracles, even when these were done against enemies. With their own people, rightly; but with outsiders not, so that the thing might not be thought to come from compulsion and fear. A proof of the blindness is the seeking of people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul sees the maiming and at once believes; and not simply, but being astonished; for he saw that these things were not words or deceit. See how great a love of teaching he had, though in so high an office. Paul did not say to the magician, “Will you not stop perverting the proconsul?” but, “the ways of the Lord,” which was more, so that he might not seem to flatter.

And why did John leave them and return to Jerusalem? Because he was an attendant, while they bore the danger. Again, coming to Perga, they pass by the other cities; for they were hurrying to the metropolis, Antioch. And see how the writer abridges. “They sat down in the synagogue,” he says, “on the sabbath day,” so as to prepare the way for the word. And they do not speak first, but when permitted, since they had been invited as strangers. If they had not waited, there would have been no speaking. Here Paul preaches for the first time. And see his good judgment: where the word had been sown, he passes by; where there was no one, there he spends his time, as he himself says in writing: “Thus making it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has been named.” This too is a mark of great courage. Truly the man is admirable from the very start: crucified, drawn up for battle, he knew how great a grace he had enjoyed, and brought in a zeal to match it. He was not angry with John; for he did not keep to John, but to the work. He did not lose heart, he was not afraid, though caught in the midst of a multitude. See how it is arranged that Paul should not preach in Jerusalem: it is enough for them to hear this, that he believed; but if he preached they would not have borne it, because of their hatred; and he goes far away, where he was not known. First he exposed the magician, what kind of man he was … and the sign showed that he was such. This was a sign of the blindness in his soul. And he suffers “for a time,” so as to repent. And well did they enter the synagogue on the sabbath, when all were gathered. “And after the reading of the law and the prophets,” he says, “the rulers of the synagogue sent … for the people, speak.” See them doing this ungrudgingly then, but afterwards no longer. If you wished this, you ought rather to have been the ones to exhort.

But oh, love of power! Oh, vainglory! How it overturns and destroys everything! It makes men take their stand against their own salvation and against one another’s; it makes them maimed and blind in this way … would that they had at least sought people to lead them by the hand! But they no longer endure this, but entrust everything to themselves. It lets no one see; it settles on them like a mist and gloom. What defense shall we have, if we master one passion for the sake of another passion, but not for the fear of God? For instance, many who were both licentious and lovers of money have bridled their pleasure through sparing their money; others, the reverse, have despised money for the sake of pleasure. Again, those overcome by vainglory have got the better of both, spending money unsparingly and being chaste to no purpose. Others again, being very vainglorious, have despised that passion, enduring many shameful things both for love affairs and for money. Others again, to satisfy their anger, have chosen to suffer countless losses, and cared for none of these things, if only they might do their own will. And what a passion has the power to do, the fear of God has not had power to do with us. And why do I say a passion? What respect for men has power to do, the fear of God has not. We do many good deeds and commit many sins out of respect for men; but God we have not feared. How many have thrown away money from shame? How many have been ambitious to no purpose, serving their friends to their harm? How many, out of regard for friendship, countless …

If, then, both passion and respect for men can drive us into sins as well as into good deeds, it is idle for us to say that we cannot; for we can, if we will; and all must will. Tell me, why can you not master the love of glory, when others master it, who have the same soul, the same body, the same form, and live the same life? Think of God, think of the glory above; set the present things against it, and you will quickly spring away from this. In short, if you desire glory, desire the true glory. What sort of glory is it, when it brings dishonor? What sort of glory, when it compels you to aim at honor from those who are lesser, and to need that? Honor is to enjoy glory from those who are greater. In short, if you love glory, love rather the glory that comes from God. If, loving that, you despise this, you will see that this is without honor; until you see that, you will not be able to see this either, how shameful it is, how ridiculous. For just as those who have been captivated by some wicked woman, hideous and ugly, cannot see her ugliness as long as they love her, because the passion darkens their judgment, so too here: as long as we are held by the passion, we cannot perceive what an evil it is.

How then, someone says, might we be rid of it? Think of those who spent money and reaped nothing from it; think of the dead, how much glory they enjoyed, and it is nowhere secure, but has perished and decayed; consider that it is only a name and has no reality. For what is glory? Tell me; give some definition. To be admired by all, he says. Justly, or unjustly as well? If unjustly, this would not be admiration but accusation, flattery and slander; if justly, this is not possible; for the crowd does not judge rightly, but admires those who serve its desires. And if you will, look at those who give their goods to harlots, to charioteers, to dancers. But we do not mean these, someone says, but the just and the upright and those able to do great good. Would that they wished it! They would quickly do good things; but as it is, they do none of these. Tell me, who now praises the just and upright man? Quite the contrary. And what is more absurd than a just man, if, while achieving so great a thing, he aims at the glory that comes from the many? He does the same as if a painter, being excellent and painting a portrait …, were to welcome the praises of the unskilled. Besides, a man who looks to human glory will quickly fall away from virtuous deeds. For if he means to gape after praise, he will do whatever they wish, not what he himself wishes.

What, then, would I advise you to do from now on? To attend to God, to be content with the praises that come from him, to do all that seems good to him, and to do what is good, gaping after nothing human. For this spoils fasting and prayer and almsgiving, and empties all our good things. That we may not suffer this, let us flee this passion. Let us look to one thing only, the praise from God, the approval from there, the commendation of our common Master; so that, having passed the present life with virtue, we may attain the promised good things with those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “And Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, ‘… fear God, listen. The God of this people chose our fathers and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out of it.’” (Acts 13:16–17)

See Barnabas yielding to Paul, as John everywhere yielded to Peter. It was Barnabas who brought him from Damascus, and yet he was more venerable than Paul; but they looked to the common good. “And standing up,” he says, “and motioning with his hand.” This was a custom among the Jews; that is why he too addresses them in keeping with it. See how he prepares the way for his speech: having first commended them and shown great concern for them by saying, “You who fear God,” so he begins his speech. And he did not say “proselytes,” which was a name that carried a slight. “The God of this people chose our fathers and the people.” See how he too calls the common God of all men their own God in particular, and shows that his benefits from of old were great, as Stephen also did. They do this to teach them that now too, according to the same custom, he sent his Son; just as Christ too spoke in the parable of the vineyard, so Paul too speaks. “He exalted them during their sojourn … he led them out of it.” And yet the opposite happened; but they grew into a multitude, and the wonders happened for their sake. The prophets too always mention these events in Egypt. And see how he passes over the times of misfortune, and nowhere brings their offenses into the open, but the love of God for humankind, leaving them to reckon up those things themselves. “And for about forty years he bore with them in the wilderness.” Then he speaks of the settlement: “And having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.” And the time was long, four hundred and fifty years: “And after these things, for about four hundred and fifty years, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.” Here he has shown that God managed their affairs in different ways. And after that they asked for a king; and he does not mention their ingratitude, but everywhere the love of God for humankind. “And he gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years; and when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also bore witness and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’” It is no small thing, this, that Christ is from David. Then he brings in John too as a witness, saying: “Of this man’s seed God, according to promise, has raised up for Israel a Savior, Jesus, after John had proclaimed before his coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose me to be? I am not he; but behold, one is coming after me, the sandal of whose feet I am not worthy …’” And John bears witness not simply, but pushing the glory away from himself, though all were bringing it to him. It is not the same thing to refuse this honor when no one offers it and when many press it upon you; and he did so not simply, but with such great humility. “Men, brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, not recognizing him, and the voices of the prophets which every … and though they found no cause for death, they asked Pilate to have him killed.” Everywhere they are eager to show that the good thing is their own, so that they may not shun it as belonging to others, since they had crucified him. “Not recognizing him,” he says; so the sin was one of ignorance. See how he gently makes a defense even for them. And not this only; he adds that it had to happen so. And so that no one may say, Whence …

… and that he rose, he states: “And they are his witnesses.” Then again he makes his case from the Scriptures: “And when they had fulfilled all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that the promise made to the fathers, this God has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’ And as for his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the holy and sure things of David.’ Therefore he also says in another place, ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.” See this man speaking more forcefully; Peter nowhere said this. “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all things from which you could not … believes is justified.” Then also the fearful part: “Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the prophets come upon you: ‘Look, you scoffers, and wonder and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work which you will not believe, if anyone declares it to you.’”

See how he weaves his speech from the present facts, from the prophets, from the seed according to promise. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Men, brothers, sons of the family of Abraham.” He calls them by their forefather too. “To you the word of this salvation has been sent.” Here by “to you” he does not mean the Jews as marked off from others; rather, he gives them leave to separate themselves from those who dared the murder; and this is clear from what follows. “For those who dwell in Jerusalem,” he says, “not recognizing him, and the voices of the prophets, read every …, fulfilled them by condemning him.” Great is the accusation, if hearing them continually they did not pay heed. But it is nothing surprising; for those events he mentioned in Egypt and the wilderness are enough to show their ingratitude. And how did they not recognize him, someone says, when John was saying …? (It is) nothing surprising, since the prophets too were crying out continually. Then there is another accusation: “And though they found no cause for death”; which was not a matter of ignorance. For let us grant that they did not hold him to be the Christ; why did they also kill him? “And they asked,” he says, “Pilate to have him killed. And when they had fulfilled all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.” See how bent on this they were. He told the manner of the death, and brings Pilate into the open, both so that the passion might be made plain from the court, and so that they might be the more accused, for having handed him over to a foreigner. And he did not say, “They petitioned,” but, “They asked, though they found no cause for death, that he be killed,” so as to show that they received it as a favor, though Pilate was unwilling; which Peter says more clearly: “when he had decided to release him.” Paul loved them greatly. And see, he does not dwell on the ingratitude of the fathers, but sets fear before them. Stephen rightly does this, being about to be killed, and not teaching, and showing that the law was already being set aside; but this man does so no longer, but only threatens and alarms. “But God raised him from the dead. He appeared,” he says, “for many days to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem.” For see this man, as one moved by the Spirit himself, proclaiming the passion and the tomb over and over again. “And we bring you the good news,” he says, “of the promise made to the fathers”; that is, the fathers received the promise, but you the deed. Then, having brought in John as a witness, when he said that “From the seed of this man according to promise he brought to Israel a Savior, after John had proclaimed before his coming a baptism of repentance to Israel,” next he brings him in again, saying, “What do you suppose me to be? I am not he.” Then he brings forward the apostles too as witnesses of the resurrection, saying, “who are his witnesses to the people”; then David bearing witness to this very thing, by saying, “You will not let your Holy One see corruption.” For neither did the ancient things seem strong enough on their own, nor these without those; so he confirms his word by both. For since they were held by fear, as having killed him, and their conscience estranged them, the apostles do not speak to them as to Christ-killers, nor as putting into their hands a good that belongs to others, but one that is their own. The name of David was very dear to them; that is why he sets it down, so that even in this way they might receive Christ, as if he were saying that they were ruled by David’s son: so do not throw off his rein. What is “I will give you the holy and sure things of David”? The firm things, he says, those that never perish. And he does not linger on these, since the word was by now believed; but he presses the punishment, and goes after what is dear to them, showing the law being set aside; and he dwells on what is to their advantage, that they will have great good things if they obey, and great evils if they disobey. Then he speaks about David again, and this with praise: “For David,” he says, “after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, was laid with his fathers”; just as Peter too said when he mentioned him: “One may speak freely about the patriarch David.” And he does not say that he died, but, “He was laid with his fathers,” which was more reverent. And see how he nowhere sets down their good deeds, but only what carries an accusation. For “They asked and received” is the greatest accusation against them. Then he recounts the benefits of God … These are praises not of them, but of God. He praises David alone, since Christ is from him. And by “coming,” when he says, “before his coming,” John means the incarnation of Christ, his manifestation in the flesh. So too John, writing the Gospel, constantly has recourse to the Baptist; for he had a great name throughout the whole world. And see: he does not say it of himself, but brings forward the Baptist’s testimony …

Did you see how earnestly he showed that the thing was part of God’s plan? But let us hear by what words the apostles persuaded men that he was crucified. What is more incredible than this: that he was buried by those to whom salvation was promised; that one who was buried forgives sins, and does so more than the law? That is why he did not say, “from which you were not willing,” but, “from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses, by him everyone who believes is justified,” showing the weakness of the law. And well did he add “everyone,” to show that it is whoever believes. For there is no benefit in those proofs unless there is some benefaction. That is why he puts the forgiveness last, drawing the greater thing from this, and showing that what the law was unable to do, this the one who suffered is seen to have accomplished through his death. So rightly he said, “who are his witnesses to the people,” to the people that killed him, he means; they would not have been witnesses unless they had been strengthened by divine power; for they would not have borne such witness before men who thirsted for blood, before the very men who had killed him. And he said, “Today I have begotten you,” knowing that from this the rest follows too. [And why did he not bring a testimony by which they would be persuaded that forgiveness of sins comes through him? Because what he was eager to show for the present was that he rose; and once this was agreed, the other was beyond dispute through it, namely that forgiveness of sins comes from him. Besides, he wished to bring them to long for this great gift.] So his death was not abandonment, but the fulfillment of prophecy. He reminds them of histories, through ignorance of which they suffered countless terrible things. And he hints at this at the end, saying, “Look, you scoffers, and see.” And see how he cuts short what is harsh: “Lest there come upon you,” he says, “what was said to the others, that I am doing a work which you will not believe if anyone declares it to you.” Do not wonder that it seems incredible; this too was foretold long ago.

This might fittingly be said to us too: “Look, you scoffers,” about those who disbelieve the resurrection. For the affairs of the church are in a very bad state, although you think that things are at peace. For this is the terrible thing: that being in many evils, we do not even know that we are in evils. What are you saying? We hold the churches, the properties, everything else; the assemblies take place; every day the people come; and are we to despise all this? But no one would judge a church by this. By what, then, someone says? Whether there is piety; whether we go home each day having gained something, whether we reap something great or small, whether we are not merely fulfilling a custom and discharging a duty. Who has become better by assembling for a whole month? This is what is being asked; since this very thing which seems to be prosperity is adversity, when, though all this takes place, nothing more comes of it. Would that it were only nothing more! But in fact it is for the worse. What fruit do you reap from the assemblies? And yet, if any benefit came to you, all of you ought long ago to have been living the life of true philosophy, with so many prophets speaking to you twice a week, so many apostles and evangelists, all of them setting before you the saving doctrines and … The soldier who goes to the training ground becomes more exact in drill; the athlete … ; the physician who goes to his teacher becomes more exact, and knows more, and learns more: what have you gained? I do not speak to those who have been coming for a year, but to those who have been assembling since their earliest youth. Or is this what assembling means? This is nothing, unless we reap some fruit; unless we gather something, it is better to stay at home. For our forefathers did not build churches for us so that, gathering us out of our own houses, they might display us to one another; for that could happen in the marketplace, in the baths, and in a procession; but so that, gathering learners and teachers together, they might make the former better through the latter. Our religion has become mere custom and the discharge of a duty; it is now a matter of habit. Easter came: much noise, much confusion; I would not say many human beings, for such behavior is not that of human beings. The feast went by: the noise is cut short, but the quiet again bears no fruit. How many all-night vigils, and sacred hymns! And what more came of it? Rather, worse: many do even this for vainglory. How do you think my heart is cut, when I see everything running out as into a cracked jar? But surely you will tell me, “We know the Scriptures.” And what is that? If you display them through your works, this is the gain, this the benefit. The church is a dyer’s shop; if you go away every time without taking any dye, what is the use of coming here continually? Indeed the harm is greater. Who has added anything to the customs he received from his fathers? I mean, for example, so-and-so has the custom of keeping the commemoration of his mother, or his wife, or his child; this he does whether or not he hears of it from us, drawn by custom and conscience. Are you vexed at this, then? someone says. God forbid! I even rejoice greatly. But I wanted him to reap something from our preaching too, and that what custom has done should also be done through us, and another custom be brought in. Otherwise why do I tire myself in vain and talk idly, if you are going to remain as you are, if the assemblies do you no good?

Yes, someone says, we pray. And what is that, if it is without works? Hear Christ saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Often I have decided to keep silent, seeing no increase coming to you from our words; or perhaps it does come, but I, from insatiability and great desire, suffer the same as those who are mad about money. For just as they, however much they have amassed, think they have nothing, so I too, since I greatly long for your salvation, think I have accomplished nothing until I see you advanced, because I so earnestly desire you to reach the very summit. I would wish this to be so, and the fault to lie in my passion and not in your sloth; but I fear that I may be guessing rightly. For you ought to be persuaded that if any benefit had come in so long a time, we ought by now to have stopped speaking. In that case you would have had no need of words, since what has already been said was said so fully that you could even form others, if indeed any benefit came to you … But that we must keep up continual preaching is proof of nothing else than that your affairs are not very sound.

What then should be done? For we must not only accuse. I exhort and beg you not to look only to this, how you may get into church, but how you may go home having taken some medicine for your own passions, having the fitting medicines, if not from us, then from the Scriptures. For example, is someone quick-tempered? Let him attend to the readings of the Scriptures, and he will certainly find help either in a history or in an exhortation: in an exhortation, when it says, “The sway of his anger is his downfall,” and, “A quick-tempered man is not seemly,” and all such sayings; and again Christ, “Whoever is angry with his brother without cause”; and again the prophet, “Be angry, and do not sin”; and, “Cursed be their anger, for it was stubborn”; in histories, as when he hears of Pharaoh full of great wrath, and of the Assyrian, and how on this account they perished. Again, is someone mastered by money? Let him hear that “Nothing is more lawless than a lover of money; for he puts even his own soul up for sale”; and Christ saying, “You cannot serve God and mammon”; and the apostle, that “the love of money is a root of all evils”; and the prophet, “If wealth flows in, do not set your heart on it”; and many other such sayings. And from histories, Gehazi, Judas, the rulers of the scribes, and that “Gifts blind …” Let him hear that “God opposes the proud”; and, “The beginning of pride is sin”; and, “Everyone who is proud of heart is unclean before the Lord.” And in histories, the devil, and all the others. And in short (for one cannot list everything), let each choose from the divine Scriptures the medicines for his own wounds; and if not the whole, at least a part today and a part tomorrow, and then wash the whole away. About repentance, too, and confession, and almsgiving, and gentleness, and chastity, and about everything, he will find many examples. “For all these things were written for our admonition,” it says. If, then, Scripture speaks about everything for our admonition, let us attend as we ought to attend. Why do we deceive ourselves in vain? I fear that someone may say of us too, “Our days failed in vanity, and our years in haste.” Who, on hearing us, has given up the theaters? Who has given up greed? Who has become more eager for almsgiving? I would like to know, not for vainglory, but so as to become more eager myself, seeing the fruit of my labors shining. But as it is, how shall I set my hand to the work, when I see so many showers of teaching falling, while our crops remain at the same height and the produce has grown no taller? Henceforth the time of the threshing floor is at hand, and he who holds the winnowing fan. I fear lest the whole be straw; I fear lest we all be carried off to the furnace. Summer has passed, winter has come; we sit, young and old, captured by our own passions.

Do not tell me, “I do not commit sexual immorality.” What is the use, if you do not commit sexual immorality but are a lover of money? The sparrow, even if it is held not by every part but only by the foot, is lost all the same and stands in the snare, and its wings are of no use when the foot is held. So you too were not caught through sexual immorality, but you were caught through love of money; caught nonetheless. The question is not how you were caught, but that you were caught. Let not the young man say, “I am not a lover of money”; but perhaps you commit sexual immorality. And what, again, is the use? For it is not possible for all the passions to come upon us at one age; they are divided out, and this through the love of God for humankind, so that they may not attack all at once and become unconquerable, and our wrestling against them be made harder. What great sluggishness would it not be, if we cannot master the passions even when divided, but are defeated at every season, and pride ourselves on things that are brought about not by our own effort but by age itself? Do you not see the charioteers, with what exactness and training and toil they treat themselves, their food, and all the rest, so as not to be thrown from their chariots and dragged? See how great a thing skill is. A strong man often could not master even one horse; but a lad by skill often takes on two and drives them easily. And in India the great and fearsome beast, the elephant, is said to obey with great readiness even a boy of fifteen. Why have I said these things? Because if by effort we tame elephants and wild horses, much more the passions within us. Why are we so feeble all through our life? We never practiced this skill; never, in a time of leisure when the contest was not on, did we discuss anything useful with ourselves. One sees us standing on the chariot only when the contest has arrived. That is why we are a laughingstock. Have I not often said, let us train ourselves on our own household before the time of trial? We are often provoked by the servants at home: let us check our anger there, so that we may be seen to handle it easily with our friends. And if we trained ourselves in all other things too, we would not be a laughingstock in the contests. But as it is, there are weapons and training grounds and practice for everything else, for the crafts and for wrestling; but for virtue nowhere. The farmer would not dare to touch a vine without first being well trained in farming; nor would the helmsman sit at the rudder without first having trained well; but we, though wholly unpracticed, want to have the first prizes. We ought to have kept silent, ought to have had no dealings with anyone in deeds or words, until we were able to tame the beast within us. Or do not anger and desire make war on us more cruelly than any beast? Do not plunge into the marketplace with these beasts until you have put the bridle well on them, until you have tamed them. Do you not see those who lead tame lions about the marketplace, how they make a profit and are admired, because they have achieved such tameness in an irrational beast? But if the beast suddenly turns wild, it puts to flight all who are in the marketplace, and the man who leads it about is then in danger himself and has become the cause of the destruction of the others. You too, then, tame the lion first, and then lead it about, not so as to receive money, but so as to gain a gain to which nothing is equal. For nothing is equal to gentleness, which is of great use both to those who possess it and to those who have dealings with them. Let us pursue it, then, so that, having traveled the road of virtue with exactness, we may be able to attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “As they went out, they begged that … the next …” (Acts 13:42)

Did you see Paul’s good judgment? He was not only admired at the time, but he also put into them a desire for a second hearing, by speaking some seeds of truth without explaining them or following the argument through, so as to make them ready, and win them to himself, and not make them slacker by throwing everything into their souls all at once. He said, “Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you through this man,” but how, he did not make clear. After this the writer now mentions Paul first. Do you see how great their eagerness was? “They followed them,” it says. Why did he not baptize them at once? It was not the time; they had first to persuade them, so that they would remain firm. “And when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and contradicted what was spoken by Paul …” … wickedness being struck while it strikes at others. This made the apostles the more illustrious, that those men contradicted them. At first, then, the people invited them of their own accord, for which the Jews ought to have welcomed them; but they contradict. “And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ‘… of God; but since you thrust it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.’” Do you see how, when contended with, they extended the preaching the more, and gave themselves the more to the Gentiles, having made their defense and cleared themselves of blame before their own people? And he did not say, “You are unworthy,” but, “You judged yourselves unworthy,” making the word inoffensive. “Behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation to the end of the earth.’” For so that the Gentiles, on hearing this, might not be grieved, as though they were obtaining the good things only through the others’ obstinacy, he adds the prophecy, saying, “I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation to the end of the earth.” “And when the Gentiles heard.” This made them too the more eager, that they themselves were enjoying what those others ought to have enjoyed on hearing it; and it stung those others the more. “And when the Gentiles heard,” he says, “they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed,” that is, set apart for God. See how he shows the speed of the benefit. “And the word of the Lord spread through the whole region,” that is, was carried abroad. As if he said, They did not stop at zeal, but added deeds too. See again how, while being persecuted, they bring about other great things through the jealousy of their persecutors; for it brought about their speaking boldly and their going to the Gentiles. And hear how: “And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ‘To you,’ he says, ‘it was necessary first …’” …

But see also the boldness exercised with measure; and rightly. For if Peter had to make his defense, much more did these need a defense, since no one had called them there. And by saying “first,” he showed that it was owed to the others too; and by saying “necessary,” he showed that it was necessary for those too. “But since you turn away,” he did not say, “Woe to you,” or, “You will be punished,” but, “We turn to the Gentiles.” Did you see how full of gentleness the boldness is? “But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution … from their district.” Do you see how much those who opposed the preaching achieved? Into what indecency they led those women? “But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.” Here they now did the fearful thing which Christ commanded, saying, “And if anyone does not receive you, as you go out shake off the dust from your feet.” And they did not do this lightly, but when they were driven out by them. Yet not even this harmed the disciples; rather they held the more to the word. To show this he adds, “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” For the teacher’s suffering does not check boldness, but makes the disciple more eager. “Now at Iconium it happened that they went together into the synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed.” Again they go into the synagogues. See how they did not become more timid, though they had said, “We turn to the Gentiles.” Yet, out of great abundance of spirit, they take away the Jews’ excuse. “So that,” he says, “a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed.” For it is likely that they spoke to them as they did to … “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.” From now on in the same way they stirred up the Gentiles as well, not being enough by themselves. Why then did they not leave the place? Because they were not being persecuted, but only fought against. “So they spent a long time there, speaking boldly in the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” This produced their boldness; or rather their own eagerness produced the boldness. That is why for a long time they work no signs at all; but the persuading of the hearers was the work of the signs. The boldness too contributed something. “But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.” The very division is no small ground of accusation. This was what Christ said: “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” “When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers …” … Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding country, and there they were …

Again, as if on purpose, wishing to spread the preaching further after it had grown, they drive them out again. See how everywhere persecutions work great good, showing the persecutors defeated and the persecuted illustrious. For coming to Lystra, he works a great miracle, raising up the lame man, and with a loud voice; and hear how. “And a man in Lystra,” it says, “sat there, unable to use his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said with a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he leaped up and walked.” Why with a loud voice? So that the crowds might … by Paul; for this is the meaning of “heard.” Did you see his true philosophy? Nothing in his lameness hindered his eagerness, “seeing that he had faith to be made well.” He had already healed the man’s will; and yet with the others the opposite happened. For they were first healed in their bodies, and then cured in their souls; but this man not so. It seems to me that Paul looked into his soul. “And he leaped up,” it says, “and walked.” The leaping is proof of perfect health. “And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in Lycaonian, ‘The … ’ And they called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to sacrifice with the crowds.” But this was not yet clear; for they spoke in their own language, saying, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men”; that is why the apostles said nothing to them. But when they saw the garlands, then they went out and tore their garments. “But when the apostles heard … ‘Men, why are you doing this? We too are men of like nature with you.’” See them everywhere pure of glory, not only not seeking it, but even weeping when it is offered; just as Peter too said, “Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” And these say the same. And Joseph said about the dreams, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” and Daniel likewise, “And to me it has been revealed, not through any wisdom that is in me.” And Paul says this everywhere, as when he says, “And who is sufficient for these things?” And again, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to reckon anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. The crowds did not simply attach themselves to them; but how? “They begged that the same things be spoken to them again,” and showed their zeal by deeds. See them everywhere exhorting, not simply receiving the people, nor flattering … “they urged them to continue in the grace of God.” Why did the Jews not contradict before this? Because till then those who were persuading the people were quiet. Do you see that everywhere they were moved by passion? And they not only contradicted, but even blasphemed; for wickedness stops nowhere. But see the boldness. “To you,” he says, “it was necessary that the word be spoken first; but since you thrust it away.” Nothing insulting. This they did with the prophets too: “Do not prophesy to us,” they said. “But since you thrust it away,” he says, not us; for the insult you offer is not against us. For so that no one might think that “You judge yourselves unworthy” came from modesty, he said first, “You thrust it away,” and then, “We turn to the Gentiles.” The word is full of great gentleness. He did not say, “We abandon you,” showing that it is possible to turn back here again; and that this has not happened because of your insult: “for so we have been commanded.” The Gentiles had to hear; but it has come about not through us but through you that what was owed to you first … “For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation,’” that is, for the knowledge that leads to salvation; and not simply of the Gentiles, but of all. For he shows this by saying, “As many as were appointed to eternal life.” And this is a proof that they were taken up according to God’s purpose. And he said “appointed” to show that it was not by necessity. “For those whom he foreknew,” he says, “he also predestined.” The word was spread not only in the city but also in the country round about. For on hearing it the Gentiles too soon came over. “But the Jews incited the devout women, and stirred up persecution.” See: they themselves become the cause even of what the women did. “And they drove them out,” it says, “from their district,” not from the city only, but from the whole country. Then the more fearful thing: “And the disciples,” it says, “were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” The teachers were being persecuted, and the disciples rejoiced. Did you see the nature of the gospel, how great a power it has? “They poisoned,” it says, “the minds … the apostles”: they accused them of countless things, they maliciously set against them men who were guileless.

[3] And see how everywhere he ascribes the whole to God. “They spent a long time,” it says, “speaking boldly in the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace.” Do not think this a lessening of Christ. For when they said, “who bore witness under Pontius Pilate,” then the boldness was shown; but here he speaks about the people. They did not wait, then, but saw the attempt coming: “And they fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding country,” so as nowhere to inflame their enemies’ anger; so they went off even into the countryside, not into the cities only. See also the simplicity of the Gentiles and the villainy of the Jews. The Gentiles showed by deeds that they were worthy to hear; so greatly did they honor them, from signs alone. The one party honored them as gods, the other persecuted them as destroyers; and the one not only took no offense at the preaching, but even said, “The gods,” while the Jews were scandalized. “And they called,” it says, “Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes.” It seems to me that Barnabas was also of dignified appearance. This too was no small temptation, born of great excess; but from it too the virtue of the apostles is shown. And see how everywhere they ascribe all things to God.

Let us too emulate them; let us think that nothing is our own, since even faith itself is not our own, but rather God’s; hear Paul saying, “And this is not from ourselves; it is the gift of God.” Let us not, then, think highly of ourselves or be puffed up, since we are men, earth and ashes, smoke and shadow. For tell me, why do you think highly of yourself? You gave alms and emptied out your money? And what is that? Consider what if God had not been pleased to make you rich; consider those who are poor; or rather consider how many have given even their bodies, and after giving countless things called themselves wretched. You gave for your own sake, Christ gave for yours; you paid back what was owed, Christ owed you nothing. Consider how uncertain the future is, and do not be high-minded, but fear; do not lessen your virtue by boasting. Do you want to do something truly great? Never suspect your good deeds of being great. But are you a virgin? Those women too were virgins, but they gained nothing from their virginity, because of their cruelty and inhumanity. Nothing is equal to humility; it is the mother and root and nurse and foundation and bond of good things; without it we are abominable and defiled and unclean. For suppose, if you will, that someone raises the dead, heals the lame, cleanses lepers, but with arrogance: nothing is more defiled than this, nothing more impious, nothing more accursed. Think yourself to be nothing. Have you eloquence and the gift of teaching? Do not on this account think that you have anything more than others. On this account above all you ought to be humble, because you have been counted worthy of greater gifts. For “he to whom more is forgiven will love more.” So you must be humbled, because God passed over the others and looked with favor on you. Fear on this account; for this often becomes for you a cause of destruction, if you are not sober. Why do you think highly of yourself? That you teach by words? But it is easy to philosophize in words; teach me by your life: this is the best teaching. You say that one must be moderate, and you stretch out a long speech about it, and play the orator, flowing on without a check? But better than you, someone says, is the man who teaches me this by deeds. For lessons are not usually implanted in the soul so much by words as by deeds; since, if you do not have the deed, you not only have not helped by speaking, but have done more harm. It is better to be silent. Why? Because you make the thing seem impossible to me. For I think: if you, who say so much, do not achieve it, much more am I worthy of pardon, who say nothing. That is why the prophet says, “But to the sinner God said, ‘Why do you recount my statutes?’” For the harm is greater when someone who teaches well by words wars against his teaching by his deeds. This has been the cause of many evils in the churches. So forgive me, I beg you, if my discourse lingers on this passion. Many go to great lengths to stand up in public and stretch out a long speech; and if they win applause from the crowd, this is for them equal to a kingdom; but if they end their speech in silence, the dejection at the silence is for them worse than hell. This has overturned the churches, that you too do not seek to hear a speech that pricks the heart, but one that can delight by the sound and arrangement of its words, as if you were listening to singers and lyre-players; and we act coldly and miserably in following your desires, when we ought to cut them out.

And it is the same as if a father, softer than he should be with his child, though it is sick, were to give it cake and cold drinks and whatever merely pleases it, and take no care for what is useful; and then, when the doctors blamed him, were to defend himself, saying, “What am I to do? I cannot bear to see the child crying.” Wretched and miserable man, and traitor! For I would not call such a man a father. How much better to cause a brief pain and deliver the child to health, than to make this passing favor the occasion of lasting grief! This is what we suffer too, laboring over beauties of diction and arrangements and harmony so as to please, not so as to benefit; … so as to be admired, not to teach; so as to go away having won praise, not to … characters. Believe me, I do not speak idly: when I am applauded while I speak, at that very moment I feel something human (for why should one not tell the truth?), and I am delighted and elated; but when I go home and consider that those who applauded have gained nothing, but that whatever benefit they ought to have gained they have lost through the applause and the praises, I am pained and groan and weep, and I feel as one who has said everything in vain, and I say to myself, “What is the use of my sweat, when the hearers will not reap anything from our words?” And often I have thought of making a law forbidding applause, and persuading you to listen in silence and with fitting good order. But bear with me, I beg you, and be persuaded by me; and, if it seems good, let us ratify this law now, that none of the hearers may applaud while anyone is speaking; but if one wishes to admire, let him admire in silence: no one prevents him; but let all the zeal and eagerness be spent on taking in what is said. Why did you applaud? I am laying down a law about this, and you cannot even bear to hear it! This will be the cause of many good things, a school of philosophy. The philosophers outside the church too used to discourse, and no applause followed them anywhere; and the apostles addressed the people, and nowhere is it added that, while they were speaking, the hearers interrupted the speaker with applause. This is a great gain for us. But let us ratify this: let us all listen in quiet, and say everything. For if after the applause we went away holding what we had heard, even so praise would hardly be of use (but I would not have been so exact; let no one charge me with boorishness); but since nothing more comes of it, but even harm, let us remove the hindrance, let us take away the … Christ addressed the people on the mountain; but no one said anything until he had finished his discourse. I do not deprive those who wish to be applauded; rather, I make them more admired. It is much better to listen in silence and then to applaud through remembering, at every time, at home and in the marketplace, than to lose everything and go home empty, not having the very thing that gave cause for the applause. For how will such a hearer not be ridiculous? How will he not rather be thought a flatterer and a dissembler, declaring that the teacher spoke well, but unable to show what he said? This is the mark of flattery. For one who has heard lyre-singers and tragedians might rightly experience this, since he does not know how to deliver the speech in the same way; but where there is no display of melody or of voice, but the power of thoughts and philosophy, and it is easy for anyone to repeat and report it, how is he not worthy of blame who cannot state the reason for which he praised the speaker?

Nothing so befits a church as silence, as good order. Uproar suits theaters and baths and processions and markets; but where the teaching concerns such doctrines, there ought to be calm and quiet and philosophy, and a great harbor of peace. This I beg and implore you all to know. For I myself go about seeking every kind of way by which I may be able to benefit your souls. And this way seems to me no small one; it will benefit not you only, but us too. It will not let us be carried away headlong, nor love praises and glory, nor say what delights rather than what benefits, nor spend the whole weight of our time on arrangements and beauties of diction rather than on the power of the thoughts. Go into a painter’s workshop, and you will see much silence there. So it should be here too; for here too we paint portraits, royal ones and not one of a private person, with the colors of virtue. What is this? You applaud again? The thing does not seem easy, and this not by nature, but because through long habit you have not yet learned to manage it. Our brush, then, is the tongue, and the artist is the Holy Spirit. Tell me, in the mysteries is there any noise? Any confusion? When we are baptized, when we do all the other things, do not quiet and silence hold everything? This beauty is spread through heaven. That is why we are slandered even among the pagans, as doing everything for display and ambition. But if this is stopped, the love of the first seats too will be quenched. It is enough, if anyone loves praise, to obtain it after the hearing, when he gathers the fruits. Yes, I beg you, let us ratify this law, so that, doing everything as is pleasing to God, we may be counted worthy of his love for humankind, by the grace and compassions of his only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “But when the apostles Barnabas and … into the crowd, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We are men of like nature with you, bringing you the good news that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.’” (Acts 14:14–15)

See the apostles doing everything with vehemence. They tore their garments, they sprang forward, they cried out, all from the disposition of their soul, turning away from what was being done and making signs of mourning. For it was cause for mourning … and to bring in idolatry, which they had come to destroy. And this was the devil’s contrivance. But they do not keep quiet; but what? “We too are men of like nature with you,” they say. At once, from the very start, they overturned the evil. They did not simply say, “Men,” but, “Like you.” Then, so that they might not seem to honor … “to turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.” See them nowhere mentioning the prophets, nor saying why, being the Creator of all, he … “who in past generations allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.” That he allowed it, he says; but why he allowed it, he does not go on to say; so firmly does he keep to what is urgent, nowhere setting down the name of Christ. “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, doing good, giving us rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” See, he does not wish to increase the accusation against them, but rather teaches them to come to the … For they had learned that one must take care not so much to say something worthy of God as to say what is useful to the hearers. See how covertly he sets down the accusation. And yet if God did this, they deserved to be punished, enjoying so many good things and not recognizing him even as their provider; but he does not say it openly, but hints at it, saying, “Giving us rains from heaven.” So David too said, “By the fruit of their grain and wine and oil they were multiplied”; and in many places, speaking about creation, he brings these things forward. And Jeremiah too speaks of creation first, then of providence through the rains; so that Paul speaks as one taught from there. “Filling,” he says, “with food and gladness.” The food is lavish, not only enough to suffice, nor only for need. “Even with these words they scarcely restrained the crowds from sacrificing to them.” And for this especially they were admired. Do you see that they took their stand on this, to overturn that madness? “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds …” … children …, not only in their own cities, but outside them too doing these things, and showing as much zeal to pull down the preaching as the apostles showed in hastening to establish it. “And having persuaded,” it says, “the crowds, and …” Here is fulfilled the saying, “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness.” This is greater than raising the lame man. The Gentiles thought them gods, while these spat upon them, having persuaded the crowds; for it was not likely that all admired them. And see: in the very city in which they were so admired, in that very city they suffer terrible things. And this too benefited those who saw it. And that he was allowed to suffer for this reason too, hear him showing this very thing and saying, “So that no one may think of me more than he sees in me or hears from me.” “But when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and entered the city.” Do you see the eagerness? Do you see a desire boiling and on fire? He entered the same city again, to show that if he ever withdrew, it was because he wished to sow the word, and because their anger ought not to be inflamed. These things, no less than the signs, made them more illustrious and caused them to rejoice the more. And nowhere does it say that they went back rejoicing that they had done signs, but that they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for his name. For this too they had been taught by Christ, who said, “Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you.” For this is the true and pure joy, to suffer something for Christ. Then they went to all the cities in which they had been in danger. “And on the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city … strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

This they said; this they showed. “Strengthening,” it says, “the souls of the disciples.” So they had been strengthened; or rather, more were being added. So they foretold the tribulations, so that the disciples might not be scandalized. And the same thing happens as if on purpose, not through the apostles only, but also through the disciples; so that they might learn from the very beginning both the power of the preaching, and that they too must suffer such things, and so that they might stand nobly, gaping not only after the signs, but much more facing the temptations. That is why he himself said, “Engaged in the same struggle which you saw in me and now hear.” Persecutions followed persecutions; everywhere wars, battles, stonings. What sort of encouragement was this? How did they persuade, speaking of tribulations at the very outset? Then too there is another consolation: “… they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Did you see Paul’s warmth? “Having prayed,” it says, “with fasting, they committed them to the Lord.” See: ordinations are accompanied by fasting. Again fasting, the cleanser of our souls. “And passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia; and having spoken …” For so that the minds of the disciples might not sink, because those who had been thought gods suffered such things, they went in to them and talked with them. And see: first he goes out to Derbe, giving them time to recover from their anger, and then again to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, yielding to them while they were angry, but pressing on when they had calmed down. Do you see that they did not manage everything by grace, but also by their own effort? “And from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.” Why do they come again to Antioch? To report what had happened there. Besides, something great is also being arranged from this; for from now on they had to preach to the Gentiles with boldness. So they come reporting these things, so that the church may know. And it is arranged that those who forbade associating with the Gentiles should come down just then, so that henceforth, having received full freedom from Jerusalem, they might go out with boldness. Or else, it shows that their character was not self-willed. For they come showing both their boldness, in that they had preached to the Gentiles even without the apostles, and their obedience, in that they refer the matter to them. For they were not puffed up as having achieved so much, but speak of themselves as “commended,” he says, “to the grace of God.” And yet the Spirit had spoken; but he knows that the things of the Spirit are the Son’s; for there is one authority, as also the nature of the Son and of the Spirit is one. “And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there no little time with the disciples.” Rightly; for the city, being great, needed teachers.

Now let us look at what was said from the beginning. By the very sight they struck them with consternation, tearing their garments. Joshua the son of Nun did this too at the defeat of the people. Do not think, then, that this was unworthy of them and of their steadiness; for in no other way would they have checked so great an impulse, in no other way would they have quenched the fire. So when anything needful must be done, let us not decline it either. If even after this they scarcely persuaded them, what would not have happened if they had not acted so? For if they had not done so, they would have been thought to be somehow high-minded, and rather to desire the honor. And see the speech, measured in its rebuke, full at once of wonder and of rebuke. This especially stopped them, their saying, “We too are men of like nature with you, bringing you the good news that you should turn from these vain things to God.” As if they said: We are men, but greater than these; for these are dead. See them not only overturning, but also teaching, and saying nothing about invisible things. “Who made,” he says, “the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.” He calls the seasons of the year as witnesses. Oh, the madness of the Jews! They dared to go among a people that had so honored the apostles, and to stone Paul. They dragged him outside the city, perhaps from fear of him. “And having prayed,” it says, “with fasting, they committed them to the Lord.” They taught them also to fast in temptations. They did not tell all that they themselves had done, but all that God had done with them. It seems to me that they mean the temptations. They did not come here without purpose, nor to rest, but by design, led by the Spirit, so that the preaching to the Gentiles might be confirmed. And why, someone says, did they not appoint elders in Cyprus, nor in Samaria? Because the one was near the apostles, the other near Antioch, and the word prevailed there; but here they needed much encouragement, especially those from the Gentiles, who had to be taught much. They came teaching that they had rightly been ordained by the Spirit. And see Paul’s warmth. He does not inquire whether he must speak to Gentiles, but at once he speaks; that is why he said, “I did not consult with flesh and blood.”

[3] Affliction is truly a great good, and the achievement of a great and noble soul. How many believed after this, and none shone as he did? So we need eagerness everywhere, much fire, a soul drawn up in battle line against death; for otherwise one cannot obtain the kingdom without being crucified. Let us not deceive ourselves. For if in war one cannot be saved while living in luxury, much less in this war. Or do you not think that there is a war now, the hardest of all wars? “Our wrestling,” he says, “is not against blood and flesh.” The enemy is at hand while men dine, while they walk, while they bathe. For he knows no time of truce except that of sleep alone; and often he makes war even then, casting in unclean thoughts and making men more licentious through dreams. But we, as if the thing he fights for were small, are not sober, do not rouse ourselves, do not look at the multitude of the powers opposed to us; we do not consider that this itself belongs to the greatest misfortune; but, surrounded by so many wars, we live in luxury as if in peace. Believe me, one may suffer now things harder than those Paul suffered. Those men then pelted him with stones; one may be pelted now too with words harder than stones. What then must one do? What he did: he did not hate those who stoned him, but when they had dragged him out he went back into the city … If you too bear with the insulter, the harsh man, the one who does these things to you unjustly, you too have been stoned. Do not say, “I have done no wrong.” For what wrong had Paul done, to be stoned? He proclaimed a kingdom, led men away from error, brought them to God: these things deserved crowns, proclamations, countless good things, not stones; but nevertheless he suffered the opposite. For this is the splendid victory. “And they dragged him,” it says. They often drag you too; but do not be angry, but proclaim the word through gentleness. Has he insulted you? Be silent, and bless him if you can; and in this way you too have proclaimed the word, you have taught gentleness, you have taught meekness. I know many who are not so pained by wounds as by a blow struck with words; for the body receives the one wound, the soul the other. But let us not be pained; or rather, though pained, let us bear it. Do you not see the boxers, who, with their heads gashed, biting their teeth, bear their pains so calmly? But here there is no need to grind the teeth, no need to bite … of your Master, and you have at once applied the medicine by remembering; remember Paul; consider that you who are struck have conquered, and the one who strikes has been defeated, and by this you have healed everything. It is a matter of a moment: do not break out along with him, and you have at once succeeded in everything; do not be moved, and you have quenched everything. It is a great consolation to suffer something for Christ: you are not proclaiming the word of faith, but you are proclaiming the word of the true philosophy.

But the more he sees my gentleness, someone says, the more he attacks. Are you pained, then, because he increases your rewards? But he becomes good for nothing, someone says. This is the pretext of your own pettiness; he becomes good for nothing in another way, if you retaliate. If God knew that the unjust became good for nothing through not being resisted, he would not have commanded this, but would have said, Defend yourself; but he knows that in this way they are rather benefited. Do not legislate against God; obey him. You are not kinder than the one who made us. He said, “When you are insulted, bear it”; you say, “I insult him back, so that he may not become good for nothing.” Do you, then, care for him more than God does? These are words of passion, of harshness, of arrogance, and of legislating against God. For even if he were harmed, ought you not to obey? When God commands something, let us not legislate against it. “A submissive answer,” it says, … did this, but he said, “turns away wrath.” So it does this by submitting, not by opposing. If it benefits you, it benefits him too; but if it harms you, who are going to set him right, much more does it harm him. “Physician, heal yourself.” Speak …, if indeed you care at all for his salvation, and do not wish to avenge your own passion. And yet, someone says, often after enjoying long-suffering he has become worse. This is not your fault, but his. Do you want to learn what God suffered? They tore down his altars, they killed his prophets, and he bore everything. Could he not have brought down a thunderbolt from above? But when he had sent the prophets and they killed them, then he sent the Son; when they committed greater impiety, then he showed greater kindness. You too, if you see a man growing harsh, then yield the more; for this madness needs greater soothing. The more cruelly he insults, the more gentleness he needs; and just as a fever, when it blazes up fiercely, needs a treatment that yields to it, so too the angry man. When a beast is most savage, then we all flee; so too from the angry man. Do not think this is to pay him honor. For do we honor the beast, or madmen, when we turn aside from them? Not at all; this is dishonor and insult; or rather not dishonor and insult, but mercy and love for humankind. Do you not see the sailors, when the wind blows violently, taking down the sails so as not to sink the vessel? And the rider, when the horses bolt with him, giving way with them and not pulling them back, so that they may exhaust their strength of their own accord?

You too do this. Anger is fire, a sharp flame that needs fuel; do not supply food to the fire, and you have quickly quenched the evil. Anger has no strength in itself, unless there is someone else to feed it. You have no excuse. That man is held by madness and does not know what he is doing; but you, seeing him, when you fall into the same things, what pardon do you deserve? If someone at a banquet saw a man in the doorway drunk and behaving indecently, and then fell into the same things himself, would he not, being drunk after seeing that man, be much more beyond pardon? So too here: let us not think it a defense to say, “I did not begin it.” This tells against us, that not even seeing him did we come to our senses; as if someone were to say, “I was not the first to commit murder.” For on this very account you deserve punishment, that even with the example before your eyes you did not restrain yourself. If you saw a drunken man vomiting, convulsed, bursting, his eyes strained, filling the table with filth, and everyone fleeing from him, and then you fell into the same things, would you not be the more hateful? Such too is the angry man. More than the one who vomits he strains his veins, inflames his eyes, rends his inward parts, vomits words far more unclean than that food; he utters everything, nothing digested (for anger does not allow it); but as there an excess of humors often troubles the stomach and empties out everything, so here an excess of heat troubles the soul and does not let it keep in what it is good to keep silent, but it says things fit and unfit to be spoken, shaming not the hearers but itself. As, then, we turn away from those who vomit, so also from those who are angry. What then should we do? Let us throw dust over their vomit; by keeping silent let us call the dogs to eat up what has been vomited. I know you feel sick hearing this; but when you see these things being done, I want you to feel so, and not to take pleasure in the thing. The insulter is more unclean than the dog that returns to its own vomit. For if, having vomited once, he stopped, he would not be like that dog; but if he vomits the same things again, clearly he has eaten the same things. What then is more abominable than such a man? What is more unclean than that mouth which chews such food? And yet the dog’s is a work of nature, but this is not; or rather both this and that are against nature. How? For it is not according to nature to insult at random, but against nature; at any rate he says nothing as a man, but some things as a beast, others as a madman. As, then, the disease of bodies is against nature, so too is this. And that it is against nature is clear: if a man lingers long in it, he will perish little by little; but one who lingers in what is according to nature will not perish. I would rather share a table with a man eating filth than with one uttering such things. Do you not see the swine chewing dung? So too these men. For what smells fouler than the words that insulters utter? Their effort is to say nothing sound, nothing clean, but whatever is shameful, whatever is indecent, this both to do and to say; and, what is worse, while they shame themselves more, they think they are shaming others. That they shame themselves is clear from this. Do not speak to me of those who say false things; but let there be a notorious harlot, or another from the stage, and let him quarrel with someone; then let that one reproach him with these things, and he in turn reproach the other likewise: which is the more insulted by the words? The one heard what was true of him, the other what was not; so that for the former nothing more has accrued by way of shame, but for the latter there is a great addition of disgrace. But again, let there be some deeds that have been done, and let only the insulter know them; then let him, instead of keeping silent, parade the insult: in this way too he has been insulted more. How? Having become a herald of wickedness, he has gained a reputation for faithlessness and want of conscience, and you will see all accusing him, and saying such things everywhere: “If he really knew of a murder,” they say, “he ought to have disclosed it all.” … They turn away from him as not even a man; … they say he is a beast, cruel and harsh; and they … him rather than the other. For we do not so much hate those who have wounds as those who uncover and display them. So too this man has insulted not only … but also himself and the hearers … the common nature of men; he struck the hearer …; he accomplished nothing good. That is why Paul says, “… whatever is good for building up, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Let us acquire a well-spoken tongue, so that we may be … loved and lovely. But in fact everything has come to such a pitch of wickedness that many pride themselves on the things for which they ought to hide their faces. For the threats of many are of this kind: “… cannot bear my …,” he says. These are the words of a woman, of a drunken old woman behaving indecently, of those who are dragged about the marketplace … Nothing is more shameful than these words, nothing more unmanly, nothing more womanish: to have … in the tongue, to pride oneself on reviling, like … in processions, like the mimes and parasites and flatterers. They are swine rather than men, all who pride themselves on this. You ought to bury yourself; if someone else bore such witness about you, you ought to flee the testimony as hostile and as unmanly; but you are a herald of insults … But he cannot harm the one who is ill spoken of … I beg you, considering how great the wickedness is, that it … even madmen, let us remove these things from the city … the gatherings; let us adorn our tongue … and rid it of evil-speaking, so that we may be able … of sins, to draw down the goodwill from above and to be counted worthy of the love for humankind that comes from God, by the grace and compassions of the only-begotten …, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, … honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “And they stayed there,” it says, “no little time with the disciples. And some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” (Acts 14:28–15:1)

See how everywhere it is the Jews who make the beginning of the passing over to the Gentiles necessary. Before this, when Peter was accused, he made his defense, and said everything by way of defense, which made his word acceptable; then, when the Jews turned away, so they came to the Gentiles. Here again, seeing another excess being pressed, he thus settles the rule. For since the apostles, being taught by God, spoke to all without distinction, this roused the jealousy of those from among the Jews. And they did not simply teach circumcision, but that “you cannot even be saved,” when it would have been timely to say the opposite, that if you are circumcised you cannot be saved. Do you see the temptations without a break, within and without? But this is well arranged, with Paul present, so that he might answer them. And Paul did not say, “What? Am I not worthy of belief, after so many signs?” but he yielded for their sake. And see: all now learn of what had been done among the Gentiles, and the Samaritans too, and they rejoiced … “And when no small dissension and debate had arisen between Paul and Barnabas and them, they appointed … others of them to go up to the apostles and … to Jerusalem about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they brought great joy to all the brothers … Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.” See how great a providential ordering takes place. “But some of the party of the Pharisees who had believed rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.’ The apostles and the elders came together to consider … Peter stood up and said to them, ‘Men, brothers, you know that from early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.’” See Peter, who from the first had kept apart from the matter, and up to this time still lived as a Jew. “You know,” he says. Perhaps those were present who had accused him long before over Cornelius, and those who had gone in with him; that is why he brings them forward as witnesses. “From early days God made a choice among you.” What is “among you”? Either in Palestine, he means, or in your presence. “By my mouth.” See how he shows that it was God who spoke through him, and nothing human. “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them.” He leads them up to the spiritual testimony. “By giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.” See how everywhere he puts the Gentiles on an equal footing. “And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” From faith alone, he says, they obtained the same things. These words also served to put those men to shame; or rather, they could teach them too that faith alone is needed, and not works nor circumcision. For they do not say these things only in defense of the Gentiles, but also to teach those men to break away from the law. But for the present they do not yet say this. “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.” What is “putting God to the test”? Why do you distrust God, he says? Why do you test him, as though he were unable to save by faith? So bringing in the law is a mark of unbelief. Then he shows that they themselves were benefited in nothing, and turns the whole charge onto the law, not onto them, and so cuts the accusation short. “Which we and our fathers were not able to bear,” he says; “but through the grace of the Lord Jesus we believe that we will be saved in the same way as they.” How full of power these words are! What Paul said at length in the letter to the Romans, this man says too. “For if Abraham,” he says, “was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” Do you see that this is instruction for those men rather than a defense of the Gentiles? Had he said these things without an occasion, perhaps he would have been regarded with suspicion; but having taken his starting point from this, he now speaks without fear. And see how everywhere what the enemies do works together with the apostles. For if those men had not stirred things up, these things would not have been said, nor what followed. From this they learn that, even if the Jews did not wish the Gentiles to be brought in, they must not neglect them.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Among you,” he says, and “from early days.” He said this to show that it was long ago, not just now. And it is no small thing that this turning took place even while Jews were believing. He confirms what he says by two things, by the time and by the place. And “he made a choice” is well said; as with regard to them he did not say, “he willed,” but, “he made a choice.” Where is this made clear? From the Spirit, he says. Then he shows that this was a testimony to them not simply of grace but of virtue, and that it gave them nothing less. “For he made no distinction,” he says, “between us and them.” So everywhere one must look to the heart. And fittingly he said, “God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them,” as there too: “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show …” For see what he adds, to show that this is what he means: “He made no distinction between us and them.” When he had stated the testimony given them, then he uttered this great saying, which Paul too says: “Neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision”; and, “that he might create the two in himself.” The seeds of all these things lie in Peter’s speech. And he did not say, “Between those of the circumcision,” but, “Between us,” that is, the apostles. Then, so that “no distinction” might not seem an insult, he adds, “having cleansed their hearts by faith”; and by this he removes the suspicion. He first cleared his statement, and then he shows that it is not the law that is evil, but they who were weak.

See how he ended on a fearful note. He argues with them nothing from the prophets, but from present facts, of which they themselves were witnesses. Rightly, then, they too add their testimony, and make the word stronger by what had already happened. And see: he allows the debate to take place in the church first, and then he speaks. Since then he did not say, “those of the circumcision,” but, “the Gentiles” (for this, brought in little by little, became the stronger argument, while the other was the act of one testing whether God could save even with the law), see what he does: he shows that they are in danger, if indeed what the law could not do, faith could; and if they fall away from faith, they must necessarily be in perdition. And he did not say, “You disbelieve,” which would have been more offensive, and that when the thing had already been proved. Now in Jerusalem there were none from the Gentiles, but in Antioch there likely were. That is why they go away and spend no little time there. “But some of the Pharisees rose up,” still sick with love of power and wishing to have those from the Gentiles attached to themselves. And yet Paul too was learned in the law, but he did not suffer this; and when he came back from there, the doctrine too became more exact. For if those in Jerusalem enjoin no such thing, much less these. Do you see how those who do not love power rejoice in the faith? The accounts, then, were not given for ambition or display, but in defense of the preaching to the Gentiles; that is why they say nothing of what had happened among the Jews. Great is the obstinacy of the Pharisees, who still lay down the law even after believing, and do not obey the apostles. But see the apostles, how gently and without a show of authority they speak; for such words are welcome, and fix themselves more firmly. Do you see nowhere a display of words, but only the proof by deeds, the proof by the Spirit? Yet, though they had such proofs, they still speak gently. And see: they do not go about slandering those in Antioch, but take their occasion from there again. So intent were those men on their love of power; and Paul and Barnabas were blamed without the apostles’ knowledge. Yet these brought forward none of this; but when they had proved their case, then they write more forcefully. For gentleness is everywhere a great good; gentleness, I say, not coldness; gentleness, not flattery; for these are far apart from one another. Nothing exasperated Paul, nothing Peter. When you have proofs, why are you angry? Is it so that you may make these too of no effect? One can never persuade an angry man.

Yesterday too we spoke about anger; but nothing prevents our doing so today as well; for the persistence will perhaps achieve something. For even a medicine that has power to remove a wound loses all its effect unless it is applied continually. Do not think, then, that it is a condemnation of you that we keep speaking about the same things; for if we had condemned you, we would not have spoken at all; but as it is, hoping to gain much, we say these things. Would that we always spoke about the same things! Would that there were no other subject or concern of our words than how we might master our passions! For how is it not absurd that kings, who live in luxury and in such honor, have no other talk, neither at table nor at any other time, but only how they must master their enemies, and for this purpose hold councils every day, enlist generals and soldiers, exact tributes, and think these two the necessary aims of public affairs, to master those who make war on them and to establish their own people in peace; while we do not wish even in a dream to discuss such things, but talk every day, and never have our fill, about how we may buy a field, and how slaves, and how we may make our property greater; but about the things within us, the things that are truly ours, we neither wish to speak ourselves nor bear to hear others speak? About what, then, tell me, do you wish to talk? About dinner? But these are cooks’ words. About money? But these belong to shopkeepers and merchants. About buildings? But these belong to carpenters and builders. About land? But these belong to farmers. But we have no other business than how we may gain wealth for the soul. Let not our word, then, become tiresome. For why does no one blame the physician for always speaking about medicine, nor the other craftsmen for speaking about their own crafts? If our passions had been so mastered that there was no need of words, someone might rightly charge us with ambition and display; or rather not even then. For even if they had been mastered, we should still have to speak, so as not to fall back; since physicians too speak not only to the sick but also to the healthy, and they have books of both kinds of treatment, the one to rid men of disease, the other to preserve their health. So even if we are healthy, not even then should we desist, but do everything so that our health may be preserved.

[3] But when we are also sick, the need of words is twofold: first, to be rid of the disease; second, once rid of it, not to fall into it again. So we are speaking now by the method of healing, not by the regimen of health. How then might one cut out this evil passion? How abate the violent fever? Let us see where it was born, and remove the cause. Where is it usually born? From boastfulness and great arrogance. Let us remove this cause, then, and the disease too is removed with it. And what is boastfulness? Where is it born? For perhaps we risk going back again to another beginning. So let us walk whatever road the argument leads us, so that the evil may be pulled up from below and by the roots. Where, then, does boastfulness come from? From not examining our own affairs, but busying ourselves about the nature of the earth, though we are not farmers, and about the nature of plants, and about the nature of gold, though we are not merchants, and about garments, and about everything; but about ourselves and our own nature we do not … bear to do this. And who, someone says, does not know his own nature? Many; perhaps all except a few. And if you will, I will make the proof from this. … tell me, what is man? If someone were asked how he differs from the irrational creatures, how he is akin to the beings in heaven, what he can become from being a man, will he be able … to answer? I for my part think not. As with some material, so also with man: what … is man; but he can become both angel and beast. Does this saying not seem strange? … you have often heard it in the Scriptures. Of some men it was said that he is “an angel of the Lord,” and, “from his lips,” it says, “they will seek …”; and again, “I send my messenger before your face”; but of others, “Snakes, brood of vipers.” So the whole rests with those who use their nature, to become either angel or man. Why do I say angel? Even a child of God: “For I said,” it says, “you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” And what is greater, … to become god and angel and child of God, the power … he has himself been entrusted with. And there is man … But hear Christ saying, “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but … angels”; and again, “He who is able to receive it ….” In short, it is virtue that makes angels; … masters of it; so we can create angels, not by nature but by free choice. For without virtue there is no benefit in being an angel by nature; and the devil shows this, who was an angel before; but when virtue is present, there is no harm in being a man by nature; and … shows this, being a man, and Elijah, taken up into heaven, and all who are going to go there. These were not prevented by the body from dwelling in heaven; but those others, though bodiless, could not remain in heaven. Let no one, then, be pained or indignant at nature as a hindrance, but at the free choice. The devil, from being bodiless, became …: “For behold,” it says, “our adversary prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”; we become angels from being in bodies. For … if someone, not being a craftsman, found precious material and despised it, he would suffer great loss … or pearls, or purple dye, or some other such thing; so we too, if we do not know our own nature, will despise it; but if we know it, we will show great zeal and reap the greatest fruits. For from this material a royal garment is made, from this a royal …, from this all the limbs become royal. Let us not, then, misuse our own nature. “A little lower than the angels” … by death, I mean; but this too we have recovered. Nothing, then, hinders us from becoming angels, if we will. Let us will it, then, let us will it, and … ourselves, let us send up glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “After they had fallen silent, James answered, saying, ‘Men, brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited … And with this the words of the prophets agree.’” (Acts 15:13–15)

He was bishop of the church in Jerusalem; that is why he speaks last. And here the saying is fulfilled, “On the evidence of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” See also this man’s good judgment, confirming the word from both the recent and the ancient prophets. For he had no deed to point to, as Peter had, as Paul had. And it is well arranged that these things should be done through men who were not going to stay in Jerusalem, and that this man, who taught them, should not be open to blame, nor indeed seem to have broken away from their opinion. And what does he say? “Men, brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related.” Some say that this is the one mentioned by Luke; others, another of the same name. Whether it is this one or that, there is no need to inquire precisely; we need only receive as necessary what he related. “Men,” he says, “brothers.” Great is the man’s gentleness; and this speech is the more complete, since it also brings the matter to an end. “How God first visited, to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree.” Since that witness was plain from the time, but lacked authority because he was not ancient, he brings in an ancient prophecy too, saying, as it is written, “After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things.” What then? Was Jerusalem raised up, and not rather torn down? But he did not say these things about that. And what raising up, someone says, does he mean? That after Babylon … “Known to God from of old are all his works.” Then the credibility of the word: that it is nothing new, but these things were foreshadowed from the beginning. And again, the authority: “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from sexual immorality and from what is strangled and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath.” Since they had not heard the law, rightly he enjoins these things from the law, so that he may not seem to set it aside. And see how he does not let them hear these things from the law, but from himself, saying, “I judge,” that is, of myself, not having heard it from the law. Then the decree becomes common. “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, writing by their hand as follows.” See them not simply legislating these things; but to make the decree credible, they send men of their own, and so that Paul and his companions may henceforth be above suspicion. And see how … those men … “and Syria and Cilicia, to the brothers who are from the Gentiles, greetings. Since we have heard that some from among us … you, saying that your children must be circumcised and must keep the law, to whom we gave no instructions.” This accusation of those men’s rashness is enough, and worthy of the apostles’ gentleness, who said nothing further. “… men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To show that they write not tyrannically, that these things seem good to all, that they write after careful consideration, he said, “having chosen men from among us.” Then, so that the sending of those men might not seem a slander on Paul and Barnabas, see the praises given them: “Men,” he says, “who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” So there is nothing human here, if these things seem good to the Spirit. “To lay upon you no greater burden.” Again he calls the law a burden. Then he makes a defense even for these very things: “than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality, and from blood; if you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.” The New Testament did not ordain these things; for nowhere did Christ speak about them; but they take them from the law. “And from what is strangled,” he says. Here he restrains bloodshed. “So when they were sent off, they went to Antioch, and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced at the encouragement.” Then, to show that those men too encouraged them, he added: “And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged the brothers with many words and strengthened them. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to the apostles.”

No more dissensions and fights; that is why, having confirmed them, they went away in peace; for the Judaizers had been more contentiously disposed toward Paul; and from now on Paul teaches. So there was no pride in the church, but great good order. And see: after Peter, Paul speaks, and …; for James had been entrusted with the government of that church. John says nothing here, nor do the other apostles speak, but they are silent and not indignant; so pure of the love of glory was their soul. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “After they had fallen silent,” it says, “James answered, saying, ‘Simeon has related how God first visited.’” At the start Peter spoke more forcefully, this man more mildly. So should one in great authority always act: leave the harsh things to others, and himself speak from the milder side. He said well, “Simeon has related,” implying that he too was stating the opinion of others. See how he shows this to be ancient. “To take from the Gentiles a people,” he says, “for his name.” Not simply “he chose,” but “for his name,” that is, for his glory. His name is not ashamed; he calls the taking of the Gentiles a glory. For this is a greater glory. Here he also hints at something great. What is this? That these, he means, came before all. “After this I will return, and I will rebuild,” he says, “the tent of David that has fallen.” If one examines carefully, one would find the kingdom of David standing now. For since his descendant reigns, it stands everywhere. For what is the use of buildings and of the city, if there are no subjects? And what harm comes from the tearing down of the city, when all are willing to give even their souls? So it not only stands, but has become more splendid than all; for now it is sung everywhere in the world. That came to pass; so this too must come to pass. Having said, “And I will rebuild,” he also adds the reason why, saying, “so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord.” If, then, the city was raised up for this, for the sake of the one who came from them, it is clear that the calling of the Gentiles was the reason for the rebuilding of the city. Who are “the rest”? Those left at that time. But see him also keeping the order, and bringing them in second. “Says the Lord,” he says, “who does all these things.” He not only says but also does; so the calling of the Gentiles is God’s work.

The question at issue was another, which Peter too stated more clearly: that they need not be circumcised. Why then do you make these speeches? For they were not saying that believers must not be received, but that they must be received together with the law. Peter spoke well about this too; but since this disturbed the hearers more than anything, James heals this as well. And see: what had to be legislated, that one need not keep the law, Peter introduced; but this man states what is on our side and was accepted long ago, and dwells on that about which nothing had been written, so that, having soothed their minds with what was conceded, he may bring in the other too at the right moment. “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from the Gentiles who turn,” that is, not overturn them. For if God called them, and these observances overturn them, we are fighting against God. And well did he say, “those from the Gentiles who turn,” showing both God’s providential care for them from above, and their compliance and readiness for the calling. What is “I judge”? Instead of, “I say with authority that this is so.” “But to write to them,” he says, “to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from sexual immorality and from what is strangled and from blood.” For these, though bodily matters, must necessarily be observed, since they worked great evils. And so that no one might object, “Why do we not write the same things to Jews too?” he … saying, “Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him”; that is, Moses speaks to them continually. For this is the meaning of “every …” Where he did no harm, he set a teacher over them, and granted a favor that hindered nothing, allowing the Jews to hear Moses in everything, while leading those from the Gentiles away from him; then, through the very things by which he seemed to honor him and set him over his own people, by these he led the Gentiles away from him. Why then do they not learn from him? … through their own disobedience. From this he shows that these too need keep nothing more. If we do not write to them, it is not as though they were bound to keep something more, but because they have one who speaks to them. And he did not say, “not to scandalize them nor to overturn them,” which Paul says to the Galatians, but, “not to trouble them,” which shows that the thing is no achievement at all, but only a trouble. So he resolved the whole matter. And he seems to keep the law by taking these things from it, but he set it aside by taking only these. And yet he had often spoken to them about these things; but so that he might seem to honor the law too, and might say these things not as from Moses but as from the apostles, and so that he might make the commandments many, he divided the one. This especially gave them rest. The dispute too took place by design, so that after the dispute the decree might be firmer. “Then it seemed good to the apostles,” it says, “to send leading men among the brothers.” They send not ordinary men, but chosen leading men. “To those in Antioch,” it says, “and Syria and Cilicia,” where the disease had been born.

See them saying nothing harsh against those men, but looking only to one thing, to overturn what had been done; for this made even those who were causing dissension there agree. They did not say, “the deceivers, the destroyers,” and things of that kind; and yet where it was needed, Paul does this, as when he says, “O full of all deceit”; but here, since the matter had been set right, there was no longer any need. And see: they do not put, “Some from among us ordered you to keep the law,” but … of the expression; no one said it in this way. “Unsettling,” he says, souls that had already been confirmed, as in a building, pulling down what had been built. “To whom,” he says, “we gave no instructions. It has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, … with our beloved.” If they are beloved, they will not despise them; if they have given up their lives, they too are trustworthy. “We have therefore sent,” he says, “Judas and Silas, who will themselves tell you the same things by word of mouth.” For the letter must not come alone, so that they might not say that Paul and Barnabas had got it by underhand means, or had said one thing in place of another. The praise of Paul stopped their mouths. That is why neither Paul alone nor Barnabas comes, but others from the church too, so that Paul might not be suspected, since he himself was championing the doctrine; nor those from Jerusalem alone. It shows how trustworthy they are. They do not make themselves equal to the Spirit, he means; they are not so mad. That is why he also added, “men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And why did he say, “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,” when it was enough to say, “to the Holy Spirit”? “To the Holy Spirit,” so that they might not think it human; “to us,” so that they might be taught that the apostles too accept it, though they are in circumcision. “To lay upon you,” he says, “no greater burden.” They say this because the word was addressed to men who were still weak, and frightened; that is why this too is added. And he shows that the word was not one of condescension, nor spoken because they were sparing them as weak; but the opposite: for there was great respect for the teachers too; for that other thing was a superfluous burden. See: a short letter with nothing more in it, no elaborate proofs, no syllogisms, but a command; for it was legislation of the Spirit. Again and again they call the law a burden. “And having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.” After the letter they too encourage them by word; for this too was needed, so as to be rid of all suspicion. “And being themselves prophets,” he says, “they encouraged the brothers with many words.” Here he shows their credibility. For Paul too could have done it; but these were needed. “And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace.” No longer dissension, no longer turning away. Here, it seems to me, they received the right hand, as he himself says: “They gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship.” Then he says, “They added nothing to me.” For they ratified his opinion, and admired it too. He shows that even by human reasoning one could see this, not by the Spirit only, that they had committed a sin not easy to correct; for such things do not need the Spirit. He shows that the other things are not necessary but superfluous, if indeed these are the necessary ones. “If you keep yourselves from these,” he says, “you will do well.” He shows that nothing is lacking to them, but that this is enough. They could have done it without a letter, but they write so that it might be a written law. And again, so that they might obey the law, they spoke to them, and they did so, and in peace.

Let us not, then, be scandalized at the heretics. See how many scandals there were at the beginning of the preaching: I do not mean those from outsiders, for these were nothing, but those within. For example, first Ananias, then the murmuring, then Simon the magician, then those who accused Peter on account of Cornelius, then the famine, then this very chief of evils. For it is not possible, when some good is being done, that evil should not spring up along with it. Let us not, then, be troubled if some are scandalized, but let us thank God for these things too, because he makes us more approved. For not only afflictions, but temptations themselves make us more illustrious. For one who holds to the truth when there is no one to lead him astray would not be an ardent lover of the truth; but the one who holds to it when many are drawing him away, he is approved. What then? Is it for this that scandals happen? I do not say that God does these things; God forbid! But I say that he does us good even out of their wickedness; since he himself never wished them to happen. “Grant them,” he says, “that they may be one.” But since scandals do happen, they do not harm these, but even benefit them. As, then, those who drag the martyrs to martyrdom benefit them against their own will, and yet are not pushed to this by God, so too here: let us not look at the fact that some are scandalized. This itself is proof that the doctrine is excellent, that many feign it and imitate it; for they would not feign it if it were not good. And this I will now make clear to you.

[4] Fragrant perfumes have those who adulterate them, such as leaf of amomum. For since they are rare and much needed, many counterfeits are also made. No one would choose to counterfeit any cheap thing. The pure life has many who counterfeit it; but no one would choose to feign the life of a worthless man, but rather that of one in the monastic life. What, then, shall we say to the pagans? A pagan comes and says, “I wish to become a Christian, but I do not know whom to join: there is much fighting and dissension among you, much uproar; which doctrine shall I take? Which shall I choose? Each says, ‘I am right.’ Whom shall I believe, knowing nothing at all of the Scriptures? And the others put forward the same claim.” This is very much in our favor. For if we said that one should be persuaded by reasonings, you would rightly be troubled; but if we say that one must believe the Scriptures, and these are simple and true, the decision is easy for you. If anyone agrees with them, he is a Christian; if anyone fights against them, he is far from this rule. What then, if the other comes and says that the Scripture holds this, and you say something else, and you interpret the Scriptures differently, dragging their meaning about? Tell me, have you then no mind or judgment? And how could I, he says, judge your affairs, when I do not even know them? I wish to become a disciple, and you are already making me a teacher. If he says this, what shall we answer? How shall we persuade him? Let us ask whether these things are not a pretext and an excuse; let us ask whether he has condemned paganism. He will certainly say something; for surely he would not come over to our side without having condemned it. Let us ask the reasons for which he condemned it; for he did not condemn it without reason. Clearly he will say, because its gods are created things, and it has no uncreated God. Good. If, then, he finds this in the other heresies, but the opposite with us, what need is there of argument? We all confess that Christ is God. But let us see who fight against this, and who do not. We, when we say “God,” also say things worthy of God: that he has authority, that he is not a slave, that he is free, that he does all things of himself; but the other says the opposite. Again I ask: if you were going to learn medicine, would you, tell me, accept what is said without examination and as it happened? And yet there are many doctrines among physicians. If, then, you accept whatever you hear without examination, this is not the part of a man; but if you have judgment and mind, you will surely know what is good. We say “Son,” and we mean what we say; they say it, but do not confess it. And to say it more clearly: they have certain men from whom they are named, the name, that is, of the heresiarch himself, and every heresy likewise; but among us no man gave us our name, but the faith itself.

But this is a pretext and an excuse. For why, tell me, when you are going to buy a garment, though you have no experience of the art of weaving, do you not say these words, “I do not know how to buy; they will cheat me,” but do everything to learn? And if you wish to buy anything else, you do everything, inquiring busily; but here you say these things. So on this reasoning you will accept nothing at all. For suppose someone holds no doctrine at all; if he too says what you say about the Christians: “There is such a multitude of men, and they hold different doctrines: one is a pagan, another a Jew, another a Christian; I must not accept a single doctrine, for they war against one another; I am a disciple, and I do not wish to be a judge, nor will I condemn any one doctrine,” then this excuse no longer has any place for you. For just as you were able to cast out the counterfeit, so you will be able here too, if you come, to test what is profitable. For one who has condemned no doctrine at all will easily say these things; but one who has condemned one, even if he has chosen nothing yet, will be able, going forward on the road, to see what is needful. Let us not, then, make pretexts or excuses …

… for all things are easy. Do you want me to show you that these things are an excuse? Do you know what ought to be done and what ought not? Why then do you not do what ought to be done, but what ought not? Do those things, and seek from God with right reasoning, and he will certainly reveal it to you. “God shows no partiality,” it says, “but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” It is impossible that one who listens without prejudice should not be persuaded. For just as, if there were some rule by which all things had to be made straight, there would be no need of much inquiry, but it would be easy to catch the one who measures falsely, so too now. How is it, then, that they do not see it? Many things cause it, both prejudice and human motives. “This,” someone says, “is what those others say about us too.” How? Have we broken away from the church? Do we have heresiarchs? Are we named after men? Have we some leader, as one has Marcion, another Manichaeus, another Arius, another some other founder of a heresy? And if we too bear someone’s name, it is not that of men who began a heresy, but of those who presided over us and governed the church. We do not have teachers on earth; God forbid! We have one, in heaven. “And they,” someone says, “put forward the same claims.” But the name stands over them, accusing them and stopping their mouths. There were many pagans, and no one asked these questions; and these divisions existed among the philosophers, and no one who had the right school was hindered by them. Why did men not say, when these questions were being stirred up, “Both these and those are Jews: which of them must we believe?” But they were persuaded, as they ought to have been. Let us too, then, obey the laws of God, and do all things according to his pleasure, and live according to his will, while we are still in the present life, so that, having passed the rest of the time of our life in virtue, we may be able to obtain the good things promised to those who love him, and be counted worthy of honor together with those who have pleased him, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son and of the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, the one and true Godhead, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “… the word of the Lord. And after some days … and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, how they are.” (Acts 15:35–36)

See again their humility, how they share the word with others too. And Luke has already described to us the character of the apostles, showing that the one was gentler and more indulgent, the other more exact and severe; for the gifts are different; and that this too is a gift is plain. But the one suits some characters of men, the other suits others; and if they are exchanged, they become useless. And it seems to be a sharp quarrel, but the whole is a providential arrangement. For it happens so that each may receive the places suited to him. Besides, it was necessary that all should not be of equal rank, but that one should lead and another be led; and this too is by design. For the Cypriots had shown nothing of the kind that those in Antioch and the rest had shown; and the former needed the gentler character more, the latter this one. “And Barnabas wanted to take with them also John called Mark; but Paul thought it best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other; … sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and went out, being commended to the grace of God by the brothers.” So too among the prophets we find different minds and different characters: for example, Elijah severe, Moses meek. And here, then, Paul is the more vehement. But see his fairness even so. “He thought it best,” it says, “not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia.” For as a general would not choose to have a good-for-nothing as his armor-bearer for ever, so neither would the apostle. This taught the others too, and set the man himself right. Was Barnabas bad, then, someone says? Not at all; it is quite absurd even to think it. For how is it not absurd to say that he became bad over so small a matter? But see: first, no evil came of it, if men sufficient for whole nations separated from each other, but even a great good; and next, if this had not been so, they would not easily have chosen to leave each other. And admire the writer for not hiding even this. But even if they had to separate, someone says, it should have been without a sharp disagreement. Even from this, above all, it is shown that they were human. For if this had to happen in the case of Christ, much more here. Besides, the sharp disagreement would not be base, when each disputes about such things, and with just reason. If either of them had been provoked in seeking his own interest and his own honor, you would be right; but if each, wishing to train and teach, took one road and the other another, what fault is there in this? They did many things with human understanding too; for they were not stones or logs. And see Paul accusing and giving the reason. For he respected Barnabas out of great humility, since he had shared so much with him and been with him; but he did not respect him so far as to overlook what was needful. Which of them judged better is not for us to declare; but meanwhile, a great providential arrangement took place, since these churches were going to be counted worthy of a second visit, but those not even of one. They did not simply stay in Antioch, but taught. What did they teach? What good news did they bring? Both to those already believers and to those not yet. For since there were countless scandals, their presence was needed. The point is not that they differed in opinion, but that they condescended to each other … So the separation became a greater good, and the matter took its occasion from this. What then? Did they part as enemies? God forbid. For you see that after this Barnabas receives many praises from Paul in the letters. A sharp disagreement, it says, took place, not enmity or contention. The sharp disagreement was strong enough to separate them; and rightly. For what each thought profitable, this afterwards he did not accept because of his fellowship with the other.

[2] It seems to me that the separation also took place by mutual understanding, and that they said to each other, “Since I do not wish it and you wish it, so that we may not fight, let us divide the places.” So they did this quite yielding to each other. For Barnabas wished Paul’s view to stand; that is why he withdrew; and Paul likewise wished Barnabas’s view to stand; that is why he too does the same and withdraws. Would that we too made such separations, so as to go off to preaching! “But Paul,” it says, “chose Silas and went out, being commended to the grace of God by the brothers.” This man is wonderful … and very great. This quarrel greatly benefited Mark. For Paul’s severity turned him round, and Barnabas’s kindness made him no longer be left behind; so they quarrel, but their gain comes to one end. For seeing Paul choosing to part from him, he would have been much afraid and would have condemned himself; and again, seeing Barnabas holding to him so firmly, he would have loved him greatly; and the disciple was set right through the quarrel of the teachers; so far was he from being scandalized. If they had done this for the sake of their own honor, there would be reason for blame; but if they did it for his salvation, and contend about one thing, so as to show that the one who had honored him had judged well, what is wrong in that?

[3] See Paul’s good judgment: he does not go to other cities before visiting those that had received the word. “And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening … and Lystra.” For it is folly to run about at random. Let us too do this: let us train the first ones first, so that they may not become a hindrance to those who come after them. “Let us visit,” he says, “the brothers, how they are.” And he rightly did not know this, so that he might go and visit the brothers. See him always awake, anxious, not bearing to sit still, though he was undergoing countless dangers. Do you see that it was not from cowardice that he went back to Antioch? For like a physician he went to the sick, and showed the necessity of the visit by saying, “in which we proclaimed the word.” Barnabas withdrew and did not go with him any more. “Choosing Silas,” it says, “and being commended to the grace of God.” What is this? They prayed, he means; they besought God. See how everywhere the prayer of the brothers has great power. And henceforth he traveled on foot, wishing to benefit those who saw him by his journey too; and rightly. For when he was in haste, he sailed; but now no longer. “And behold, a disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek; he was well spoken of by the … him because of the Jews who were in those places; for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” One may well be astonished at Paul’s good judgment. He who had fought so hard about circumcision, who had set everything in motion and had not desisted until he succeeded, now, when the decree has been ratified, circumcises the disciple. He not only does not prevent others, but does it himself. Nothing is wiser than Paul; so in everything he looked to what was advantageous; he did nothing simply from a fixed opinion. “Him he wanted,” it says, “to go out with him.” The wonderful thing is that he even took him with him. “Because of the Jews,” it says, “who were in those places.” This is the reason for circumcising him; for they would not have borne to hear the word from an uncircumcised man. And what? See the achievement: he circumcised in order to abolish circumcision; for he was preaching the decrees of the apostles. Do you see a fight, and building up through the fight? Not only being warred against by others, but themselves doing opposite things, in this way they built up the church. “They increased,” it says, “in number daily.” Did you see the gain from the circumcision? Then he does not linger on these, since he had come to visit; but what? He goes on far … “And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decrees decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. And they went through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” — leaving Phrygia and Galatia, they hastened inland — “and when they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit did not allow them.” Why they were forbidden he does not say; but that they were forbidden he did say, teaching us only to obey and not to seek the reasons, and showing that they also did many things in a human way. “… Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing, beseeching him and saying, ‘Come over into Macedonia and help us.’” Why a vision, and not the Holy Spirit commanding? God wished to draw them in this way too; since to the saints too he appeared in dreams; and at the very beginning Paul himself saw a vision, a man coming in and laying his hands on him. Then he draws him there for this reason too, that the preaching may be extended. Besides, he is prevented from lingering in the other cities for this reason, since Christ was urging him on. For those were going to enjoy John for a long time, and perhaps had no great need; but he had to go there. And so, crossing over, he goes out. “And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out into Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them … Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a colony. We remained in this city some days.” So Christ too appears to him and says, “You must stand before Caesar.” Then he also gives the places, as one narrating a history, and showing where he stayed some time; and he shows that it was in the larger cities, while he passed by the others. A colony is a rank of city. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “… let us visit the cities in which we proclaimed the word.” And yet he ought not to have asked Barnabas, since he was going to accuse him afterwards.

This happens also with God and Moses: the one entreats, the other is angry. As when he says, “If her father had spat in her face”; and again, “Let me alone, and in my anger I will blot out this people”; and Samuel, when he mourns for Saul; for through both great good things come about. So too here: the one is angry, the other no longer. This happens with us too. And the sharp disagreement rightly took place, so that Mark might be trained, and the thing might not seem to be play-acting. For he who yielded everywhere would not have refused to yield here: the man who loved Paul so much that before this he sought him out in Tarsus, and brought him to the apostles, and carried out the relief mission together with him, and accepted the matters of the decree together with him. He would not have become angry over such a thing; but they separate from each other in order to train and perfect, through the separation, those who needed their teaching; as he does elsewhere too, saying, “But you, do not grow weary in doing good.” He rebukes others, but commands that good be done to all. This we too do in daily practice. Here it seems to me that others too shared Paul’s indignation. And then, taking them aside privately as well, he does everything, exhorts and admonishes. Concord can do much, love can do much; even if you ask for something great, even if you are unworthy, you will be heard because of your intention; do not fear.

“He went through,” it says, “the cities. And behold, there was a disciple named Timothy, who was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.” Great is Timothy’s faith, that he is well spoken of by all. When Barnabas withdrew, Paul finds another to balance him. Of him he says, “Remembering your tears and your sincere faith, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.” “And taking him,” it says, “he circumcised him.” For what reason, he himself adds, saying, “Because of the Jews who were in those places.” For this reason, then, he is circumcised; or also because of his father, for he had remained a Greek. So Timothy was not circumcised. See the law already being dissolved. Some think that he was born after the preaching; but perhaps this is not so: “From infancy,” he says, “you have known the sacred writings.” That, then, can be said; or, if not that, that Paul was going to make him a bishop, and he must not be uncircumcised. Meanwhile the Gentiles had to keep no such thing. Nor was this a small matter, since even after so long a time this too scandalized them. It was the beginning of the dissolution of the law that the Gentiles did not keep these things, and were in no way harmed, and had nothing less in respect of faith; then the Jews too willingly gave them up. Since, then, he was going to preach, so as not to strike the Jews with a double blow, he circumcised Timothy, though he was only half Jewish; for he was born of a Greek father and a believing mother. Nevertheless, since that achievement among the Gentiles was great, he did not trouble about this; for the word had to be sown; that is why he himself circumcised him. See here too a great good arising from opposition. “And they increased in number,” it says. Do you see that circumcision not only did no harm, but even brought the greatest benefit? “And when he had seen the vision, immediately,” it says, “we sought to go out into Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us.” See: no longer through an angel, as with Philip, as with Cornelius; but how? Through a vision God appears to him, henceforth in a more human way, no longer a more divine one. For where persuasion was easier, he acts in a more human way; but where there was much resistance, in a more divine way. For where he was only eager to preach, a dream appears to him for this; but where he had to refrain from preaching, which he could not bear, the Holy Spirit reveals it. So too there to Peter: “Rise, go down.” For the Spirit did not do the easy things as well; a dream sufficed for him. And to Joseph, who was readily persuaded, a dream appears, but to the others a waking vision. So too to Cornelius, and to Paul himself. “And behold,” it says, “a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching,” that is, on behalf of those who needed healing. What is “concluding”? Inferring, he means. From seeing Paul and no one else, from being prevented by the Spirit, and from being at the borders, from all these they understood this. Besides, the voyage too showed it; for no long time passed, and so they come to the very root of Macedonia. So the sharp disagreement is providentially arranged to happen for their advantage. For otherwise the Holy Spirit would not have acted, Macedonia would not have received the word. Such great progress is a sign that what happened was nothing human. And yet he did not say that Barnabas …, but, “A sharp disagreement arose between them.” If the one was not provoked, neither was the other.

Knowing these things, let us not read them carelessly; let us learn and be trained; for not in vain … It is a great evil not to know the Scriptures; we are harmed by the very things from which we ought to be benefited. So too medicines, though many of them have a healing nature, corrupt and destroy if those who use them do not know how to use them well; and weapons that are able to protect, if no one knows how to wield them, destroy their owner. The cause is that we seek … rather than the benefit of the soul, and look to other things rather than to our own advantage. We often seek the soundness of a house, and would not bear to see it grow old or fall down or be damaged by storms; but for the soul there is no care, but even if we see its foundations giving way, even if its walls and roof, we take no account. Again, if we have animals, we seek their welfare, and … grooms and horse-doctors … we leave no stone unturned; and we look after their stables, and exhort those to whom they are entrusted not to …, nor to drive them carelessly, nor to put a load on them …, nor to take them out at untimely hours of the night, nor to cut short their feed; and among us many rules are laid down for the welfare of animals; but of the soul there is no account. And why do I speak of animals that are useful to us? There are many who keep sparrows that are of no use, but only give pleasure, and there are many rules about them too, so that nothing is neglected or out of order; and we take care of everything rather than of ourselves. So we are held in less honor than all things. And if someone insults us in words, we are pained; but when we insult ourselves, not in word but in deed, and do not give our soul even as much care as we give our dogs, we think we suffer nothing. Do you see how full of darkness everything is? Men take care of their dogs, that they may not be filled more than is needful, so that they may be keen and good at hunting, driven on by hunger and want; but they take no care of themselves, nor do they order themselves not to live in luxury; they teach the irrational animals to practice philosophy, but they themselves … The thing is a riddle. And where do the irrational animals practice philosophy, someone says? Does it not seem to you a mark of great philosophy, when a dog, gnawed by hunger, after running and hunting, abstains from the food at hand, and, seeing the table set before it, though pressed by hunger, waits for its master? Be ashamed of yourselves; train your bellies to be as sparing as this … no account? …

You have no excuse. If you were able to instill so much philosophy into an irrational nature that neither speaks nor reasons, much more will you be able to instill it into yourself. For that this comes from human care and not from nature is clear; otherwise all dogs would have it. Become, then, like the dogs. You force me to bring my examples from there; for I ought to bring them from heavenly things; but since, if I say anything of that kind, you say that those things are great, for this reason I say nothing of heavenly things. And if I mention Paul, you say that he was an apostle; for this reason I do not mention Paul either. If I mention a man, you say that he was able to do it; for this reason I do not mention a man either, but a beast, and a beast that does not have this by nature, so that you may not say that it achieved this by nature and not by choice; and what is wonderful, not by its own choice, but by your care. It does not consider that it was cut, that it was torn in the chase, that it took the prey by its own labors; but casting all this aside, it keeps its master’s command, and rises above its belly. Yes, someone says, for it expects a share from the table. Then say to yourself too: the dog, in hope of a future pleasure, despises the present one; but you will not, in hope of the future good things, despise the present. That dog knows that if it tastes the food untimely and against its master’s will, it will be deprived of that food too and will not have even its allotted portion, receiving blows instead of food; but you cannot see even this, and what the dog learned from habit, you do not achieve through reason. Let us imitate the dogs. Hawks and eagles too are said to do this. What the dogs do with wild animals and gazelles, these do with birds; and these again by human training. These things are enough to condemn us, these to convict us. Let me mention another thing too: wild and untamed horses experienced men train in a short time so well that the rider who sits on them takes delight in the evenness of their gait; but no one takes care of the soul when it walks in disorder, but it leaps and kicks and is dragged on the ground like a child, and behaves indecently in countless ways, and no one puts a curb on it, or hobbles, or a bridle, or sets on it the experienced rider, I mean Christ. That is why everything has been turned upside down. For when you train dogs to master the belly, and tame anger in a lion, and unruliness in horses, and teach articulate speech to birds, how is it not absurd to implant rational achievements in irrational natures, but to bring the passions of irrational animals into rational ones? We have no excuse, we have no pardon. All who have succeeded will accuse us, believers and unbelievers alike; for unbelievers too have succeeded, and beasts and dogs, not men only; and we will accuse ourselves, since we succeed when we wish, but when we are lazy we are dragged down. For many even of those who were deep in wickedness have changed when they willed it. The cause, as I said, is that we go about seeking the advantage of other things, not our own. If you build a splendid house, you have looked to the advantage of the house, not your own; if you get a fine garment, to the body’s advantage, not your own; if a horse, likewise. No one considers how the soul may be beautiful; and yet if it is beautiful, there is need of none of those things; but if it is not, there is no benefit from them. For as with a bride: even if there are bridal chambers hung with golden curtains, even if there are choirs of the most comely and beautiful women, even if there are roses, even if there are garlands, even if the bridegroom is handsome, even if the maids, even if the friends, even if all are comely, but she herself is full of ugliness, there is no benefit; just as, if she is beautiful, no harm would come from the lack of these things, but rather the opposite. For with those things, if she is ugly, she would appear uglier; but without them she would appear more lovely. So too the soul, when it is beautiful, not only needs none of these things, but they even overshadow its beauty. For we shall see the philosopher shining not so much in wealth as in poverty. For there many will put it down to his money and to his not being in want; but when he lives with poverty and shines in everything and is forced into nothing shameful, then no one else any longer shares with him the crown for philosophy. Let us adorn the soul, then, if indeed we wish to be rich. What is the use, when the mules are white and sleek and well fed, but you who sit behind them are thin and mangy and ugly? What is the gain, when the coverings are soft and fine, full of rich embroidery and art, but the soul is ragged and naked and ugly? What is the gain, when the horse steps in good order, more like one dancing than walking, and is decked out for its dance with bridal ornament, while the rider limps more than the lame, and is more twisted in hands and feet than drunkards and madmen? Tell me, if someone gave you a fine horse and twisted your body, what would be the use? Now you have a twisted soul, and you care nothing? Let us at last take care of ourselves, I beg you. Let us not make ourselves held in less honor than all things. If someone insults us in words, we are stung and pained; but when we insult ourselves in deeds, we pay no heed. Let us come to our senses, late as it is, so that, taking great care of the soul and laying hold of virtue, we may be able to attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Lemma] “On the sabbath day we went outside the … to the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. And a certain … named Lydia, … God, heard us; the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:13–14)

See Paul again living as a Jew, both in the time and in the manner. “Where there was thought to be,” it says, “a place of prayer.” For they prayed not only where there was a synagogue, but also outside, as if setting apart some place, since the Jews were more bodily-minded. “On the sabbath day,” when it was likely that a crowd too would gather. “And … of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, heard us; and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” See again the freedom from pride. She was a woman, and a lowly one, as is clear from her trade; but see her true philosophy. For first the writer bears witness of her to this, that she worshiped God; then, that she invited the apostles. “And when she was baptized, she and her household, she urged us, saying, ‘My lords, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us.” “And when she was baptized,” it says, “she and her household.” Consider how she persuaded them all; then see her good sense, how she puts the apostles to shame, how full of humility her words are, how full of wisdom. “If you have judged me,” she says, “to be faithful to the Lord.” Nothing is more persuasive. Whom would these words not have softened? She did not simply ask, did not simply entreat, did not leave them free to choose, but pressed them hard; for this is the meaning of “she prevailed upon us,” that is, by these words. See how at once she bears fruit, and counts the calling a great gain. That you judged me faithful, she means, is clear from your having entrusted me with such mysteries; you would not have entrusted them to me if you had not judged me such. And she did not dare to invite them before this, but only when she had been baptized; making it plain by this that she could not have persuaded them otherwise. And why did Paul and his companions not wish it, but refused, so that they had to be pressed? Either to call her forth to greater eagerness; or because Christ said, “Into whatever city you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there.” So they did everything by design. “And it happened, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a slave girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune-telling. She … ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’” Why did the demon too utter these things, and why did Paul stop it? The one acted maliciously, the other wisely; for he did not wish to make it worthy of belief. For if Paul had accepted its testimony, it would have deceived many even of the believers, as having been accepted by him; that is why it endures saying things against itself, so that it may establish things in its own favor; it too uses condescension, but for destruction. At first, then, Paul did not accept it, but spurned it, not wishing to rush into signs without need; but when it kept doing this for many days, and showed what it was about, saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation,” then he ordered it to come out. “But Paul, being greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of gain had gone out, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers; and bringing them to the magistrates, they said, ‘These men … being …, and they proclaim customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or practice, being Romans.’” Everywhere money is the cause of evils. Oh, the cruelty of the pagans! They wanted the girl to be possessed by a demon, so as to make money. “Having seized,” it says, “Paul and Silas, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city.’” By doing what? Why then did you not drag them off before this? “Being Jews,” they say; so much was the name in bad repute. “And they proclaim customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or practice, being Romans.” They turned the matter into a charge of treason. “And the crowd joined in attacking them.” Oh, the senselessness! They did not examine them, they did not give them a hearing; and yet, when such a miracle had taken place, they ought to have worshiped them, ought to have held them as saviors and benefactors. For if you wanted money, why, when you had found such wealth, did you not run to it? Being able to drive out demons makes them more illustrious than the demons’ obeying them. See: there were signs, and the love of money prevailed over them. “And the magistrates tore off their garments and ordered them to be beaten with rods; and when they had laid many blows on them … to keep them safely.” Paul, then, did everything, both the miracles and the teaching; but Silas too shares in the dangers. What is “Paul, being greatly annoyed”? Seeing, he means, the villainy of the demon, as he himself says elsewhere, “For we are not ignorant of his designs.” Why did they not say, “They drove out the demon,” “They committed impiety against a god,” but turned to treason? That would have been a defeat for them. So too in the case of Christ they said, “We have no king but Caesar,” and, “Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” “And they threw them,” it says, “into prison.” Great was their anger. “Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.” See: he too in turn threw them into the inner prison, and this too by design. For since a great miracle was going to happen … The place outside the city is judged suitable for hearing, free from temptations and dangers. See how the writer of the history is not ashamed to list their trades. Since it was a day of rest, they paid more attention to what was said; and the city of the Philippians was not a large one. Learning these things, let us too be ashamed of no one. Peter stays with a tanner, Paul with a seller of purple: where is pride? So we need God, to open the heart; and God opens the hearts that are willing; for one may also see hearts that are blinded. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “A woman,” it says, “a seller of purple, whose heart the Lord opened to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” The opening, then, was God’s; the paying attention was hers; so that it was both divine and human. “And when she was baptized”: she is baptized, and receives the apostles with such great entreaty, greater than Abraham’s. And she named no other proof than that by which she was saved; she did not say, “If you judged me a great woman,” or “a pious one” …

… but what? “Faithful to the Lord”: if to the Lord, much more to you, unless you dispute it. And she did not say, “With me,” but, “Stay in my house,” to show that she did this with great eagerness. Truly … is the woman. Tell me, what is this demon? A god, it says, a Python; it is called so from the place. Do you see that Apollo is a demon? And since it wished to cast them into temptations, so as to provoke them the more …

O foul and utterly foul one! If, then, you know that they proclaim a way of salvation, why do you not depart of your own accord? But what Simon wanted when he said, “Give me this, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit,” this demon too was doing: since it saw them in high repute, it plays the hypocrite here too; in this way it expected to be left in the body, if it proclaimed the same things. But if from a man “praise is not fitting in the mouth of a sinner,” much less from a demon; if Christ does not receive testimony from men, not even from John, much less from a demon. For preaching belongs not to men but to the Holy Spirit. Since, then, they acted with bluster, shouting, they thought to overawe by the outcry, saying, “These men are disturbing our city.” What do you say? Do you believe the demon? Why not here too? It says, “servants of the Most High God”; you say, “They are disturbing our city.” It says, “They proclaim to us a way of salvation”; you say, “They hand down to us customs which it is not lawful to accept.” See them not even heeding the demon, but looking to one thing, the love of money. “And they dragged them,” it says, “into the marketplace before the rulers; and the crowd joined in attacking them.” See them neither answering nor defending themselves, so that they may become worthy of a greater miracle. “For when I am weak,” he says, “then I am strong.” “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So they ought to have been admired for their gentleness too. The stricter the guard, the more splendid the miracle. Perhaps the magistrates did this wishing to cut short the uprising. When they saw the crowd pressing on, they wished for the moment to check its anger by the beating, and by throwing them into prison and ordering that they be kept safely, they wanted to hear the case later. “And he fastened them,” it says, “in the stocks,” as one might say, “in the nervus.”

How many tears does our present state deserve? They suffered all that they suffered, but we live in luxury, we live in the theaters. That is why we are perishing and being drowned, seeking ease everywhere, and not bearing to be grieved for Christ’s sake even so far as a reproach, not even so far as a word. Let us continually remind ourselves of these things, I beg you: how much they suffered, how much they endured, how they were not troubled, how they were not scandalized. They were doing God’s work, and they suffered these things. They did not say, “Why do we preach this, and God does not stand by us?” But this too benefited them, and, quite apart from God’s help, by its very nature made them more vigorous, stronger, undaunted. “Affliction,” it says, “produces endurance.” Let us not, then, seek the soft and dissolute life. For as here the good is twofold, that men become strong and that the rewards are great, so there the evil is twofold, that they become softer, and that it is for nothing good, but even for evil. For nothing could be more useless than a man who spends all his time in ease and luxury. “For a man untested,” it says, “is also unapproved”; unapproved not in the contests only, but in all other things too. Ease is a useless thing; and even for luxury itself nothing is so unsuitable as luxury; for it cloys. Neither the pleasure of food is so great, nor that of ease, but everything fades and flows away. Let us not, then, seek this. For if we will consider who lives more pleasantly, the one who toils and endures hardship, or the one who lives in luxury, we will find it is the former. For first, the body of the man in luxury is itself enfeebled and flabby; then the senses of the body are not clear or healthy, but slack and soft; and when they are not, not even the pleasure of health is felt. Which horse is useful, the pampered or the exercised? Which ship, the one that sails or the one that lies idle? Which water, the running or the standing? Which iron, that which is in use or that which is not worked? Does not the one shine and look like silver, while the other is rusted, useless everywhere, and losing something of its own substance? Something like this happens to the idle soul too: a kind of rust spreads over it and eats away its brightness and everything else. With what, then, might one scour away this rust? With the whetstone of afflictions; these make the soul useful and fit for everything. For how, tell me, will it be able to cut through the passions, if its edge has been blunted and bends back like lead? How will it wound the devil? And to whom is a man who cultivates fat not disagreeable? I do not say this about those who are so by nature, but about those who have made their bodies such by luxury, those who are lean by nature.

The sun has risen, it has sent out its bright rays everywhere, it has roused each man to his work: the farmer takes his mattock and goes out, the smith his hammer, and each craftsman his proper tool, and you will find each handling his own instruments; the woman her distaff or her weaving; but he, like a pig, goes out at once, from early morning, to the pasture of his belly, seeking how he may prepare a costly table. And yet it belongs to the irrational animals alone to feed from early morning, since they are useful for nothing but to be slaughtered; and even those of them that carry burdens and do work go out to their work while it is still night. But this man rises from his bed when the sun has filled the marketplace and all have had their fill of their own work; he gets up stretching himself, truly like a fattened hog, having spent the best part of the day in darkness. Then he sits a long time on his bed, often not even able to come to himself after the evening’s drunkenness, having spent the greater part of the time in this. Then he adorns himself and goes out, a spectacle of indecency, with nothing of a man about him, but everything of a beast in human form: his eyes moist, his mouth reeking of wine, his wretched soul as if laid out on a couch by the stale wine poured into him without measure, carrying about the bulk of his flesh like an elephant. Then he comes and sits about in public places, and says and does such things that it would be better for him to be still asleep than awake. If bad news comes …; if good, he is more foolish than any child; his face is full of yawning. He lies open to all who wish to do him harm, if not to men, then to the passions; anger easily rouses such a man, and desire, and envy, and everything. All flatter him, all court him, making his soul softer than it is; and every day he goes on, taking on more of the disease. If he falls into some crisis of affairs, he becomes ashes and dust, and his silk garments are of no help to him. These things have been said by us not idly, but so that we may teach that no one should live idly or aimlessly. For idleness and luxury are unfit for work, fit only for vanity, for pleasure. How will not all condemn such a man, his household, his friends and kinsmen? And who will not justly say, “This man is a burden on the earth; such a man has come into the world for nothing”; or rather not for nothing, but to the hurt of his own head, to his own ruin, to the harm of others?

Let us see, then, what is pleasanter to the soul; for this is what is being asked: leisure and doing nothing? And what could be more disagreeable than a man who has nothing to do? What more wretched, what more miserable? Is it not worse than countless chains to yawn and gape all the time, sitting in the marketplace and watching the passers-by? For the soul, having a nature that is always in motion, cannot bear to be still. God made this living being active, and working is according to its nature, being idle against nature. Let us not judge things by those who are sick, but let us make trial of the thing itself. Nothing is more wretched than leisure, nothing than idleness. That is why God put us under the necessity of working. For idleness harms everything; even the very members of the body are harmed somehow by idleness. For the eye too, if it does not do its own work, and the mouth and the stomach and every member one could name, falls into the worst disease; but nothing so much as the soul. And as idleness is an evil, so too is work that is not fitting. For just as one who does not eat harms his teeth, and if he eats what is not fitting sets them on edge, so too here: whether a man does not work, or works at what is not fitting, he loses his own strength. So let us be eager to flee both, idleness and a work that is worse than idleness. And what is this? Greed, anger, envy, the rest of the passions. In these let us pursue idleness, so that we may attain the good things promised us, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and …” What could equal these souls? They had been scourged and had received many blows, they had been insulted, they had been in danger of their lives, they had been fastened in the stocks, in the inner prison; and not even so would they consent to sleep, but kept vigil all night. Do you see how great a good affliction is? But we, though we lie on soft beds and fear no one, sleep the whole night through. Perhaps they kept vigil for this very reason, because they were in these straits. The tyranny of sleep did not seize them, pain did not bend them, fear did not throw them into perplexity; rather, these very things roused them all the more and filled them with great pleasure. “About midnight they were singing hymns to God,” he says, “and the prisoners were listening to them”; for it seemed strange and astonishing. “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” There was an earthquake, so that he might be woken; and the doors were opened, so that he might marvel at what had happened. The prisoners did not see these things; otherwise they would all have fled. “When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, …” “But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.’” He marveled rather at Paul’s love for humankind; he was struck by his courage, that though he could have fled he did not flee, and that he kept him from killing himself. “And calling for lights he rushed in, and trembling he fell down before Paul and Silas; and bringing them outside he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’” Do you see how the miracle won him? “And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.” By speaking to him at once they showed their love toward him. “And he took them that same hour of the night and washed them from their wounds; and he was baptized, he and all his, immediately.” And bringing them into his house, he set a table before them, as though repaying the favor and honoring them by what he did. “When it was day, the magistrates sent the lictors, saying, ‘Release those men.’” The magistrates had probably learned what had happened, and did not dare to release them on their own authority. “And the jailer reported these words to Paul: ‘The magistrates have sent word that you should be released. Now therefore come out and go in peace.’ But Paul said to them, ‘They beat us … do they throw us out secretly? No indeed; let them come themselves and bring us out.’ The lictors reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and pleaded with them, and bringing them out they asked them to leave the city. And coming out of the prison they went to Lydia’s house, and when they had seen the brothers they encouraged them, and …” Even when the magistrates have made it known, Paul does not go out: perhaps because of Lydia and the other brothers; or else fearing for them, lest they be thought to have begged to be released, and so that they might also set the others in boldness. The charge, beloved, was threefold: that they had thrown men who were Romans, uncondemned, and publicly, into prison. You see that they also arranged many things in a human way. Let us examine these nights of ours against that night: nights where there are revels and drunkenness and debauchery, where there is a sleep no different from death, where there are wakings worse than sleep. For some sleep without feeling, while others are awake pitiably and wretchedly, stitching together deceits, anxious about money, eager to avenge themselves on those who have wronged them, nursing enmity, going over the insulting words of the day; so they stir up the fire of anger, doing what is unbearable. Consider how Peter slept. That happened by dispensation: for the angel came, and no one was to see what happened. And this again was well done, so that the jailer might be kept from killing himself. And why did no other sign happen? Because this one was most able to draw him and persuade him, since he himself would have been in danger had it not happened; for miracles do not win us so much as those that bear on our own safety. Lest the earthquake seem to have happened by chance, this too followed, bearing witness to it. And it happens at night; for they did nothing for display, but everything for salvation. The jailer was not wicked: he threw them into the inner prison because he had received such an order, not on his own initiative. And why did Paul not cry out before this? The man was full of confusion and turmoil, and would not have listened. Therefore, when he saw him about to kill himself, he anticipates him and cries out, saying, “We are all here.” Therefore also “calling for lights he rushed in, and fell down before Paul,” it says, “and Silas.” The jailer falls at the feet of the prisoner. And he brings them outside and says, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” What then did they say? See him, not content because he had been saved in this, but struck with amazement at the power.

Do you see what happened there, and what here? There a slave girl was freed from a spirit, and they threw them into prison because they had freed her from the demon; here they only showed him open doors, and he opened the doors of his heart, loosed a double bond, lit that other light; for the light in his heart was shining. And he rushed in and fell down, and he does not ask, “How did this happen? What has happened?” but at once he says, “What must I do to be saved?” What then does Paul say? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,” he says, “you and your household.” This above all draws people: that their household too is saved. “And they spoke the word to him and to all who were in his house.” He washed them, and he was washed: them he washed from their wounds, and he himself was washed from his sins; he fed them and was fed. “And he rejoiced,” it says; and yet there was nothing to see, only words and good hopes. This was a sign that he had believed, that he had been released from everything. What is worse than a jailer? What more savage, what more brutal? Yet he received them with much honor. He was glad not because he had been saved, but “having believed in God.” “Believe,” he says, “in the Lord.” That is why it said, “having believed in God.” … So that he might not seem to be released as a condemned man and as one who had done wrong, that is why they say, “They beat us … into prison,” so that the matter might be not only of grace but also of their own doing. See grace managing things in different ways: how that one went out, and how this one, though both were apostles. “They were afraid,” it says. They are afraid because they were Romans, not because they had thrown them in unjustly. “And they asked them to leave the city.” This was the favor they asked. And they went to Lydia, and when they had strengthened her, they went out; for they must not leave their hostess in struggle and anxiety. And they went out not in obedience to those men, but hastening on to the preaching, since the city had been sufficiently benefited by the miracle; for they ought not to stay any longer. For the miracle appears greater, and cries out more loudly, when those who worked it have gone away; for the jailer’s faith served as a voice. What equals this? He is bound, and though bound he looses; he looses a double bond: by being bound he loosed the one who bound him. Truly these are the works of grace. “Now therefore,” he says, “come out and go in peace”; that is, in safety, fearing nothing. Besides, they also want this man to be out of danger, so that he would not be accused afterward. And they do not say, “They beat us and threw us into prison, though we had worked miracles”; for those men paid no attention to these; but what could most shake their minds: “uncondemned,” he says, “and being Romans.” Let us always remember this prisoner, not the miracle. What will the Greeks say? How did a prisoner persuade the jailer? “And whom,” one says, “should we expect to be persuaded, but a vile and wretched man without sense, full of countless evils and easily led?” They bring this forward too: “Who believed, but a tanner, a eunuch, a jailer, slaves and women?” What then will they be able to say, when we bring forward those in high rank as well: the centurion, the proconsul, those from that time until now, the rulers themselves, the emperors? But I say something greater than this: let us look at the humble themselves. “And where is the wonder?” one says. This indeed is wonderful. For if someone is persuaded about ordinary things, it is no wonder; but when someone speaks with humble men about resurrection, about the kingdom of heaven, about a life of philosophy, and persuades them, it will be more wonderful than if he persuaded the wise. For when there is no danger and someone persuades, they rightly bring folly forward; but when he says to a slave, for example, “If you are persuaded by me, you are in danger, you will have everyone as enemies, you must die, suffer countless evils,” and then even so wins that man’s soul, this is no longer folly. If the doctrines held pleasure, one might reasonably have said this; but if the slave learns what philosophers would not have chosen to learn, the wonder is greater. And if you like, let us bring forward the tanner himself and see what Peter discussed with him; or, if you wish, this very jailer. What then did Paul say to him? “That Christ is risen,” one says, “that there is a resurrection of the dead, that there is a kingdom; and he persuaded him easily, since he was easily led.” What then? Did he say nothing about life, that one must be self-controlled, must master money, must not be cruel, must give one’s own to others? Surely to be persuaded of these things is not folly, but the mark of a great soul. Grant that they accepted the doctrines rather out of folly; but to accept so philosophic a life, what sort of folly was that? So the more foolish the one persuaded, if he is persuaded of things that not even philosophers could persuade philosophers of, the greater the wonder becomes, especially when women and slaves too are persuaded and show by their deeds what the Platos and all those men could persuade no one of. And why do I say “no one”? Not even themselves. For that one must despise money Plato “persuaded” them, after providing himself with so much property, a great mass of money, gold rings and cups. That one must despise the glory that comes from the many, Socrates shows them, though he philosophizes endlessly about it; for he did everything with an eye to glory. And if you were acquainted with that man’s writings, I would have raised much discussion about these things and shown the great irony among them, if one must believe what his disciple says, and how all his writings have vainglory as their theme. But leaving them, let us talk to ourselves. For besides what has been said, this too can be said: that they were persuaded of these things even in the face of dangers. So do not be shameless; but let us think of that night, the stocks, the hymns, and let us too be eager to do this, and we shall open for ourselves not a prison but heaven. If we pray, we shall be able to open even heaven. Elijah both shut and opened heaven by prayer. There is a prison in heaven too: “Whatever you bind on earth,” he says, “will be bound in heaven.” Let us pray at night, and we shall loose these bonds. That prayers loose sins, let the widow persuade us; let that friend persuade us who persisted at the dead of night and kept knocking; let Cornelius persuade us: “Your prayers,” it says, “and your alms have gone up before God”; let Paul persuade us, saying, “She who is truly a widow and left alone has set her hope on God and continues in supplications night and day.” If he says this about a widow, a weak woman, much more about men. I have spoken to you of this already, and I will say it now: let us rouse ourselves at night. Even if you do not make many prayers, make one with sobriety, and it is enough; I demand nothing more. And if not at midnight, then at least at the very break of dawn. Show that the night is not for the body only but also for the soul; do not let it pass idly, but give the Master this return; or rather, it comes round to you. Tell me: if we fell into a hard situation, whom do we not entreat? And if we quickly obtain our request, we breathe again. What a gift it would be, that the one entreated should be ready, and grateful to you for entreating him! What a gift, not to go about looking for someone to entreat, but to find him ready, and not to need others in order to entreat him through them? What is greater than this? For he does it most of all when we do not ask others; just as a true friend reproaches us most of all for not trusting his friendship when we ask others to plead with him for us. So we too do with those who entreat us: we grant them favors most when they come to us themselves and not through others. “What then,” one says, “if I have offended him?” Stop offending, and weep, and so approach, and you will quickly make him gracious toward what is past. Only say, “I have offended”; say it from the soul and with a sincere mind, and all is undone. You do not desire your sins to be forgiven you as much as he himself desires to forgive your sins. For that you do not desire it, consider that you will not consent to keep vigil or to part with money; but he, in order to forgive our sins, did not spare his Only-begotten, his own true Son, who shares his throne. Do you see that he desires more to forgive you your sins? Let us not then hang back or put it off. He loves humankind and is good; only let us give him an occasion, and this so that we may not be useless, since even without this he would have released us. But just as we, in dealing with our servants, invent and contrive countless things, so he too does in the matter of our salvation. “Let us come before his face with confession,” for he is kind and gentle. But if you do not call on him in truth, and will not say from the heart that you have …, but only from the mouth, what will he do? What is it to call on him in truth? With deliberate choice, with eagerness, with a sincere mind; as they say of perfumes, “It is genuine, it has nothing adulterated in it,” so too there. One who truly calls on him and truly entreats him waits on him continually and does not leave until he receives; but one who merely discharges a formality, and fulfills a law in this very act, does not call on him in truth. Whoever you are, do not only say that you … ; do not say it only, but grieve as well. If you grieve, you are earnest; if you are not earnest, you do not grieve; if you do not grieve, you are mocking. Who that says, “I am sick,” does not do everything to be rid of it? Prayer is a great weapon. “If you,” he says, “know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father?” Why will you not approach? He loves you, he is more able than all; he both wills and is able; what hinders? Nothing. So let us approach with faith; let us approach bringing the gifts he wants: the forgiving of injuries, kindness, gentleness. Even if you are a sinner, you will ask him boldly for the pardon of your sins, since you can show that this has been done on your part; but if you are righteous and do not have this, the forgiving of injuries, you have gained nothing. It is not possible for a man who has forgiven his neighbor not to obtain full forgiveness; for God is incomparably more kind than we; this is plain to everyone. What do you say? If you say, “I was wronged, I mastered my anger, I bore the insult of rage for the sake of your command,” will he not forgive too? He will certainly forgive. So let us cleanse the soul of resentment. This is enough for us to be heard; and let us pray with sobriety and great perseverance, so that, enjoying his abundant love for humankind, we may be counted worthy of the good things promised, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen. [Homily 37] “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And as was Paul’s custom, he went in to them, and for three sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and showing that the Christ had to suffer and

“… rise from the dead, and that this is Jesus, whom I proclaim to you.” Again they pass by the small cities and hasten to the larger, so that from there, as from a spring, the word might flow out into the neighboring cities. “And as was Paul’s custom, he went into the synagogue of the Jews.” And yet, though he had said, “We turn to the Gentiles,” he did not let these go; for he had a great longing for them. Hear him saying, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for salvation”; and, “I could wish to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers.” He did this because of God’s promise and glory, and so that this might not be a stumbling block to the Greeks. “And for three sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and showing that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that this is Jesus the Christ, whom I proclaim to you.” You see that before everything he preaches the passion; so far were they from being ashamed of it; they knew it to be saving. “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women.” He has given the sum of the discourse; so free of superfluity is he, not giving his speeches everywhere. “But the Jews who were unpersuaded became jealous, and attacking the house of Jason they sought to bring them out to the people; and not finding them, they dragged Jason … shouting, ‘These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too, and Jason has received them; and they all act against the decrees of … saying that there is … Jesus.’” What an accusation! Again they slandered them with treason, saying, it says, that there is … “… and the city officials, when they heard these things; and when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they released them.” A wonderful man, who gave himself up to danger and sent them away. “And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” “More noble,” he says, that is, more reasonable. And see: not carelessly, but examining the Scriptures with care (for this is what “examining” means), … to receive from them fuller assurance about the passion; for they had already believed. “Many of them therefore believed, and not a few of the Greek women of high standing, and of men. But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, … the brothers … to go as far as to the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there.” See him both giving way and standing his ground, and doing many things in a human way. “And those who conducted Paul brought him … Silas and Timothy, to come to him as soon as possible, and they departed.” Let us look at what was said from the beginning. “On … from the Scriptures”: rightly, at the time when they were free from work. For Christ too did this, reasoning up and down from the Scriptures, and not everywhere from signs. For since they were hostile to him and slandered him as a deceiver and a sorcerer, for this reason he too argues from the Scriptures. For one who tries to persuade from signs alone is reasonably suspected; but one who persuades from the Scriptures does not incur this suspicion. And in many places we find him persuading by teaching; and in Antioch the whole city gathered when he was teaching. So great is this too, and not a small sign, but a very great one. And so that they might not think that they themselves had accomplished everything, God allows them to be driven out. For two things came of this: they were neither proud, as though they had prevailed by themselves, nor again afraid, as though they were answerable; so this calling too was a matter of dispensation. … But how, after saying “that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcision,” did he reason with the Jews? He did this as something beyond what was required. For if he had to reason with Jews, how could he say again, “For he who worked through him for the circumcision worked through me also for the Gentiles”? Just as they too spoke with Gentiles, though set apart for the circumcision, so too did he. The greater part of his work was among the Gentiles; yet he did not neglect the others either, so that …

“And how,” one says, “did he go first into the synagogues?” But he persuaded Greeks through the Jews, by reasoning with Jews. He knew that this, above all, brought Gentiles to faith. That is why he said, “Inasmuch as I am an apostle of the Gentiles.” And his letters too all contend against the Jews. “That the Christ,” he says, “had to suffer.” If he had to suffer, surely he also had to rise; for this is far more wonderful than that. For if God gave up to death one who had done no wrong, much more did he raise him. “But the Jews who were unpersuaded took some men of the marketplace and set the city in an uproar,” it says. So the Greeks were the majority. And the Jews take on some others, since they did not think themselves sufficient for the riot, and since they had no reasonable cause. Such things they always accomplish by uproar and by taking on wicked men. “And not finding them,” it says, “they dragged Jason.” What tyranny! They simply dragged them from their houses. “These all act against the decrees of Caesar, saying,” it says, “that there is another king, Jesus.” Since they were saying nothing contrary to the laws and were not stirring up the city, they bring them on another charge and slander them with treason. And why are you afraid, if he is dead? See how the persecutions everywhere spread the preaching. “These,” it says, “were more noble than those in Thessalonica,” that is, doing nothing wicked; but these were persuaded, while those even do the opposite and stir up trouble against them. “Many of them therefore believed, and of the Greek women,” it says. Here again Greeks believe. But consider with me that they fled by dispensation, not from cowardice; otherwise they would have stopped preaching, and would not rather have provoked them further. But two things came of this: those men’s rage was quenched, and the preaching advanced. And he spoke in a manner worthy of their disorder: that they came there too, “stirring up the crowds,” hinting at their uncontrollable madness. “And then immediately the brothers sent Paul away to go,” it says, “as far as to the sea.” Here at last they send Paul alone; for they feared for him, lest he suffer something, since he was their head. So grace did not work in everything, but let them also act in a human way, rousing them and waking them up and throwing them into care. See, at any rate: as far as Philippi it saved him alone, but from there on no longer. “And receiving a command,” it says, “for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.” And this reasonably; for though he was Paul, still he needed them. So they were rightly being hurried on to Macedonia by God; for Greece too was by now illustrious; since he also did other things beyond what was required. Christ ordained that they should live by the gospel, but he did not do it; Christ did not send him to baptize, but he baptized. See how he was a counterweight to all: Peter to the circumcision, he to the Gentiles, to the greater part. “And when they had taken security,” it says, “from Jason, they released them.” See how Jason, by giving security, sent Paul away, so that he gave his life for him. “These,” it says, “were more noble than those in Thessalonica,” that is, being so in virtue and in faith toward God. “For they received the word with all eagerness,” it says, “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so”; not merely by impulse or zeal. And yet that city was larger, and there were men of the marketplace in it; and no wonder if in a larger city they are worse. Indeed it is likely that in the larger city they are worse, where, when the disease is more severe, it has more fuel and nourishment. So too here: what happened in Iconium happens now as well. And Paul goes out, so that they might also pay the penalty for the ruin of others. That is why Paul too said, “hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles.” “And why,” one says, “did they not stay here? Why did they not work signs? For if there, where he was being stoned, he stayed a considerable time, much more here.” Why? God did not always want them to work signs; for to prevail without signs while persecuted is no less a sign than to work signs. So just as now he prevails without signs, so then too he wanted to prevail in many places. So neither did the apostles run after signs, as he himself says: “But we preach Christ crucified.” To those who seek signs and to those who seek wisdom we give things that cannot persuade even with signs, and we persuade. So this was a great sign. See, at any rate … For from now on those who had believed had to be greater signs to the rest; and that is why such things happen; but they did these things by withdrawing and advancing. “They sent him away,” it says, “as far as to the sea.” Why? So that it might not be easy for them to catch him. For in this way they by themselves would have done something great, and with him they accomplished and achieved much. Meanwhile …

See how much zeal the other disciples too showed toward the leaders. But not as now: we are separated, we are divided into great and small; some of us are puffed up, others envy. That is why they envy, because we are conceited; we cannot bear to be on equal terms … with them. That is why there is harmony in the body, because there is no puffing up; and there is no puffing up because the members have been placed under the necessity of needing one another: the head needs the feet, and the feet the head. God did this for us too, and not even so do we bear it; yet there ought to be love even without this. Or do you not hear even those outside reproaching us when they say, “Needs make friends”? The laity need us, and we in turn exist for them. So too a teacher and a ruler could not exist without those who are taught and those who are ruled, nor could he show what he has; for he would not be able to. Just as the land needs the farmer and the farmer the land, so too here. For what reward does a teacher have, if he cannot show those he has taught? And what reward do those taught have, if they have not enjoyed the best teaching? So we need one another alike: rulers need the ruled, and those who lead need those who obey. For rulers are there for the sake of many. For no one is sufficient to do anything by himself, whether an ordination has to be made or counsels and opinions considered; but they gain greater honor from the assembly and the multitude. Just as the poor need the givers, so the givers need those who receive; … “to provoke to love and good works.” That is why the common body of the church has greater power, and what someone cannot do by himself he is strong enough to do when he is with the others. That is why the prayers made here are especially necessary: for the world, for the church to the ends of the earth, for peace, for those in misfortunes. And Paul shows this when he says, “so that thanks may be given by many on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many”; that is, so that he may grant it to many. And he often asks for their prayers. See also what God says in the case of the Ninevites: “And shall I not spare the city in which more than twelve myriads dwell?” “Where two or three are gathered,” he says, “in my name, there am I in their midst.” If two have great strength, how much more several? Even if you, being one, will prevail, yet not equally. And why are you one? Why do you not make many? Why do you not become a craftsman of love? Why do you not build friendship? You lack the greatest praise of virtue. For just as being wicked by agreement provokes God more, so being good in concord delights him more. “You shall not be with the many for evil,” it says; “They have all turned aside, together they have become useless,” and they became like men singing together in their wickedness. Make friends for yourself, before your relatives, before all others. If the peacemaker is a son of God, how much more one who also makes friends? If one who only reconciles is called a son of God, of what will he not be worthy who makes friends of those he reconciles? Let us carry on this trade: let us make enemies friends to one another; and those who are not enemies, yet not friends either, let us bring them together too; and above all ourselves. For just as one who has enmity in his own house and is at odds with his own wife is not trustworthy when he reconciles others, but will hear, “Physician, heal yourself,” so too here he will hear it. What then is our enmity? That of the soul with the body, of vice with virtue. Let us end this, let us put an end to this war, and then in peace we shall also speak to others with great boldness, without our conscience accusing us. Anger fights against gentleness, love of money fights against contempt of money, envy fights against kindness. Let us end this war, let us bring down these enemies, let us set up these trophies, let us establish peace in our city. For we have a city and a polity, citizens and many foreigners; but let us drive out the foreigners, so that our own people are not corrupted. Let no alien or spurious doctrine come in, no fleshly mind. Do we not see that if one of the enemy is caught in the cities, he is tried as a spy? So let us drive out the foreigners; or rather, not only drive out the foreigners, but expel the enemies too. If we see one, let us hand him over to the ruler, the mind: that thought which is barbarian at heart but dressed in civilian clothes. There are many such thoughts among us, enemies by nature but clothed in sheepskins. Just as the Persians, taking off the tiara and the trousers and the barbarian shoes, slip into the other dress that is native to us, shave their heads close, and speak our ordinary language, and so hide the war under their appearance; but if you at once apply tortures, you have shown what was hidden: so too here, put such a thought to the test ten thousand times, and you will quickly see the barbarian mind. And so that I may show you by an example such spies, whom the devil sends ahead to see what is among us, come, let us strip one, … and examine him carefully before the court; and if you like, let us bring forward some of those whom Paul detected. “These things,” he says, “have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and severity to the body, not in any honor, for the satisfaction of the flesh.” For example, the devil wanted to bring in Judaism; if he had brought it in openly, he would not have persuaded. See then how he dressed it up: “One must not spare the body,” it says; “this is philosophy: not to take food, but to be scrupulous about it”; this is what it is. And now again, in the case of the heretics, he wanted to bring us down to the creature. See how he devised the trick: if he had said, “Worship a creature,” he would have been caught; but what? “God,” he says, “is created.” But let us strip him before the vote of the judges, the sense of the apostolic Scriptures; let us bring him there; they will recognize both his preaching and his speech. Many make gains, unjust gains, so as to have something to give the poor; this too is a dangerous thought. But let us unmask it and convict it, so that we may not be caught, but, escaping all the devices of the devil and holding carefully to the sound doctrines, may pass the present life in safety and obtain the good things promised, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him … So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day.” See: he meets greater trials among the Jews than among the Greeks. At Athens, at any rate, he suffers nothing of the kind; the whole affair went no further than laughter, though he did persuade some; but among the Jews the dangers are many, so much more hostile were they. That is why he says: “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” Naturally he is provoked; for nowhere else could one see so many idols. “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.” See, again he reasons with Jews, stopping on every side the mouths of those who say that he abandoned them by turning to the Gentiles. It is a wonder that the philosophers did not at once laugh him to scorn when he spoke so, nor leap away from the preaching, saying, “This is far from philosophy.” It was because he had no pride; and besides, because they did not understand or grasp anything of what was said. For how could they, when some say that God is a body, and others that blessedness is pleasure? “And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers conversed with him, and some said, ‘What would this babbler wish to say?’ Others, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities,’ because he was preaching the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.” For they thought that the Resurrection too was some god, since they were used to worshiping female deities as well. “And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what … For you bring some strange things to our ears; we wish therefore to know what these things mean.’” They brought him to the Areopagus not to learn but to punish him, where the trials for murder were held. See, at any rate, how even when hoping to learn they charge him everywhere with innovation. Theirs was a city of talkers. “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there spent their time in nothing else but telling or hearing something newer. So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar on which was inscribed: To an unknown god. What therefore you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you.’” As though praising them, he seems to say nothing harsh. “I see that you are very religious,” he says, that is, very devout. “On which was inscribed: To an unknown god.” What is this? The Athenians, since at various times they had received many gods, some even from abroad, such as the temple of Athena, Pan, and others from elsewhere, were afraid that there might be some other god not yet known to them but worshiped elsewhere; so, for greater safety, no doubt, they set up an altar to him too; and since the god was not known, it was inscribed: “To an unknown god.” This one, then, Paul says, is Christ Jesus, or rather the God of all. “What therefore you worship without knowing it,” he says, “this I proclaim to you.” See how he shows that they had already received him beforehand. I bring in nothing foreign, he says, nothing new. For they were saying this up and down: “What is this new teaching that you speak of? For you bring some strange things to our ears.” So at once he removes their suspicion, and says: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth.” Then, so that they might not think him one of the many, he next makes a correction, adding: “does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything.” Do you see how little by little he introduces the philosophy? How he mocks the error of the Greeks? “Since he gives to all life and breath and everything. And he made from one blood every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.” This is proper to God. See then whether these things cannot also be said of the Son. “Being Lord of heaven and earth,” he says: the very things they thought were gods. And he has made known both the creation and humankind. “Having determined appointed times and the boundaries of their dwelling, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might feel after him and find him, though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and are, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’” The poet Aratus said this. See him furnishing proofs both from the things they had done and from the things they had said. “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine is like gold or silver or …” “And yet,” one says, “for this very reason we ought to.” Not at all; for we are not like these, nor are our souls. Why did he not take his stand on philosophy at once and say, “God is by nature incorporeal, invisible, and without form”? Because for the time it seemed superfluous to say these things to people who had not yet learned that there is only one God. That is why he leaves those things unsaid and takes his stand on the point in question, and says: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, having given assurance to all …” … their mind by saying, “He has fixed a day,” and having frightened them, he then fittingly adds this: “having raised him from the dead.” But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens,” it says, “his spirit was provoked within him.” Provocation here signifies not anger or indignation but rousing and zeal, as elsewhere too: “There arose,” it says, “a provocation between them.”

See how it is so arranged that he stays there even against his will, waiting for them. What then is “was provoked”? Instead of “was roused”; for the gift is far from anger and indignation. He could not bear it, but was wasting away. “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews,” it says, “and the devout persons.” See him again reasoning with Jews. By “devout persons” he means the proselytes. For the Jews had been scattered everywhere from the coming of Christ, partly because that law was then being dissolved, partly to teach people godliness. But they gained nothing; they only got witnesses of their own calamities. “And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers,” it says, “conversed with him.” The Athenians no longer used their own laws, since they had already come under the Romans. And why did these men want to converse with him? Since they saw others too reasoning, … and the man held in esteem. And see, at once … “For the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit.” “He seems,” it says, “to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities”; for they called their gods divinities … for the cities were full of idols. “And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying …” Why did they drag him to the Areopagus? To terrify him … “What is this new teaching spoken by you? …” “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there spent their time in nothing else but telling or hearing something newer.” Here he points out that, being always occupied in this, in talking and hearing, they thought strange the things they had never heard. “So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship.’” He did not say “the idols” simply, but prepares the way for his speech. That is why he says, “I see that you are very religious,” because of the … “The God,” he says, “who made the world and everything in it.” He uttered one word, by which he overturned the doctrines of the philosophers. For the Epicureans say that everything is spontaneous and made up of atoms; the Stoics say that God is a body, and speak of a conflagration; but he says that the world and everything in it are the work of God. Do you see the brevity, and in the brevity the clarity? … Consider what seemed strange to them: that God made the world. What even some ordinary people now know, the Athenians did not know, nor the wise among the Athenians. If he made it, clearly he is also Lord. See what he says is the distinguishing mark of God: the power to create, which the Son also has. For the prophets too everywhere say that to create belongs to God; not as the philosophers say, that the maker is one and the lord another, supposing an uncreated matter. Here at last he has stated his own position and established it, and overthrows theirs. “He does not dwell,” he says, “in temples made with hands.” He does dwell in temples, but not in such as these, but in human souls. See, he has done away with bodily worship. What then? Did he dwell in the temple in Jerusalem? Certainly not; he worked there. How then was he served by human hands among the Jews? Not by hands, but by the mind; and those things he did not require as though he needed them. “Shall I eat,” he says, “the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” Then, having said, “nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything” (since even this was not enough, to say that he needs nothing, as he had declared; for the divine is …, but something else must be added as well), he adds: “since he himself gives to all life and breath and everything.” He shows two marks of deity: that he himself needs nothing, and that he supplies everything to all. Bring forward here all that Plato philosophized, all that Epicurus did, and … it is nonsense beside these words. “Giving,” he says, “life and breath.” See, he makes him the creator of the soul as well … See again how he overthrows the doctrine about matter. Having said, “And he made from one blood every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth”: these words are better than theirs, and an indictment both of the atoms and of matter. Here he shows that the divine is not local, nor is the human soul. And what those men say, that is not to be a creator. And in saying that God is not served by human hands, he hints that he is served by thought and mind. “This one,” he says, “is Lord of heaven and earth.” So not the local demons. “The God who made the world and everything in it.” Having first shown how heaven came to be, he then declared that he does not dwell in temples made with hands; as if he said: if he is God, clearly he made everything; and if he did not make it, he is not God. “Gods who did not make the heaven and the earth,” it says, “[let them perish] …” He introduces (though he did not yet say the great things, for it was not yet the time, but he was speaking as to children) creation, lordship, and freedom from need.

And in saying that he made every nation of mankind from one blood, he has made known the cause of all good things. What equals this sublime word? For it is wonderful that he made so many from one; but that he holds them all together is still far more wonderful. “Giving,” it says, “to all breath and life.” What is “having determined appointed times and the boundaries of their dwelling, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might feel after him and find him”? That no one was compelled, he says, to go about and seek God; or, if not this, that he determined that they should seek God. But he did not determine this for all time, but for “appointed times.” He says this to show that not even now did they seek and find him, although he was so plainly there to be found, as though he were something to be felt in their very midst. For heaven was not here and not elsewhere; nor was it at this time and not at another. So it was possible to find him at every time and within every boundary. So he arranged the seeking that it should be hindered neither by place nor by time. And this very thing especially helped them, if they had been willing: that heaven is everywhere, that it has stood at every time. That is why he spoke thus: “though indeed he is not far from each one of us,” but near to all. What he says is this: not only did he give life and breath and everything, but, what is the chief of all, he led us to the knowledge of himself, giving us the things by which we can find him and apprehend him. But we did not want to seek him, though he was before our feet. “Not far,” he says, “from each one of us.” Wonderful! He says he is near to all who are anywhere in the world. What is greater than this? See how he also overthrows the local gods. Why do I say “far”? He is so near that without him we do not live: “For in him we live and move and are.” As by a bodily example he says something like this: just as it is impossible not to know the air, which is poured out everywhere and is not far from each one of us, or rather is even within us, so too with the Creator of all. See how he says that everything is his: his providence, he says, and his holding all together, our being from him, our acting, our not perishing. And he did not say “through him,” as of a body and an example, but what was closer: “in him.” That poet said nothing equal when he said, “For we are also his offspring”; but he said it of Zeus, while this man takes it of the Creator, not meaning the same one as the poet (God forbid!), but fitting to the Creator the words properly said of him; since he also spoke of the altar as his, not as belonging to the one they worshiped. For some things are said and done toward him, but the Greeks do not know that they are toward him, and refer them to another. For tell me, of whom could “To an unknown god” properly be said: of the Creator, or of the demon? Clearly of the Creator, even if they did not know the one and knew the other. Likewise, would “he has made all things” properly fit God, or Zeus, a vile, despicable man and a sorcerer? So Paul did not say “For we are also his offspring” in the same sense as that man (God forbid!), but with another meaning. For he said that we are God’s offspring, that is, his own, very near to him; or, as one might say, his neighbors who dwell beside him. For lest they say again, “You bring strange things to our ears” (for nothing is so repugnant to people), he brings the poet into the middle. And he did not say, “You ought not to think that the divine is like gold or silver, you vile and utterly vile men,” but more humbly: “We ought not,” he says, “to think this,” but something above this. What then is above this? God. But not even this (for it is a name of activity); yet for the time, this. However, we do not say that the divine is like this; for who would say so? See how he introduced the incorporeal; for when the mind suspects a body, it also supposes extension. “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think,” he says, “that the divine is like gold or silver or stone.” But someone might say, “We do not think this; why then does he say these things?” But his word was addressed to the many; he spoke rightly. For if we are not like these things in our soul, much more God. Meanwhile he leads them away from the suspicion. And not only is the divine unlike a thing engraved by art, but it does not fall under any other human supposition either; for either art or the mind invented it. That is why he spoke thus. For if what human art or thought has found is God, then the essence of God is even in stone. How then, if we live in him, do we not find him? The charge is double: that they did not find him, and that they found such gods as these. Nowhere is the mind trustworthy by itself. But when he had shaken their soul by showing them to be without excuse, see what he adds: “The times of ignorance God overlooked; but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” What then? Is none of these punished? None of those willing to repent. He speaks of these, not of those who have departed, but of those to whom he gives the command. He does not demand an account from you, he says. He did not say, “He disregarded it”; he did not say, “He permitted it”; but, “You were ignorant.” “Overlooked”: that is, he does not exact punishment as from those who deserve punishment. “You were ignorant.” And he does not say, “You did wrong willingly”; but he showed this by what went before. In saying “everywhere to repent,” he hints here at the whole world.

See how he leads them away from the local gods. “Because he has fixed a day,” he says, “on which he will judge the world in righteousness.” See, again he said “the world,” meaning human beings by it. “By a man whom he has appointed, having raised him from the dead.” See how he has again made the passion known by mentioning the resurrection. That the judgment is true is clear from the resurrection, for each confirms the other; and that he spoke all things in truth is clear from his having risen. And that they offered this assurance to all, his rising from the dead, this too is now clear. These things were said to the Athenians; but it would be fitting to say them to us as well: that all people everywhere must repent, that he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world. See how he introduces him as judge, as providing for the world, loving humankind, ready to pardon, powerful and wise, and in short having all the marks of the Creator. What has been said gave proof of his rising from the dead. Let us then repent; for we must certainly be judged. If Christ did not rise, we are not judged; but if he rose, we are certainly judged. “For to this end he also died,” it says, “that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living”; and again, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive according to what he has done.” Do not think that these are mere words. See, he has also brought in the doctrine of the resurrection of all; for the world is judged in no other way. And “having raised him from the dead” is said of the body; for this is what was dead, this is what had fallen. Among the Greeks, as the doctrine of creation is rejected, so too is that of judgment. But these are the inventions of children and of drunken men. But let us, who know these things exactly, do something useful, and be eager to become intimate with Christ. How long shall we be at enmity with him? How long shall we be ill-disposed toward him? “God forbid,” someone says; “why do you say this?” I would not wish to say it, if you were not doing these things; but as it is, what is gained by keeping silent in words, when the facts cry out so loudly and with all openness? How then shall we love him? I have said ten thousand things ten thousand times, and I will say them now too. I think I have found one way, very great and wonderful: besides reckoning up the things God has done for all in common, which are so many that no one can count them, and giving him thanks for all of them, let us all also consider the things that have been done for each of us, and reckon them up every day. Since then these things have great power, let each of us reckon up within himself and search out carefully whether he ever fell into dangers and escaped the hands of his adversaries, and let him keep God’s benefits written down as in a book: for example, whether he once set out on a journey at an untimely hour and escaped danger; whether he once fell in with wicked men and got the better of them; whether he once fell into sickness and recovered when everyone had given him up. For this has great power to bring us close to God. For if that Mordecai, when the good deeds he had done came to the king’s remembrance, found them standing him in such good stead that he came back again to that splendor, much more shall we, if we remember, and make an exact examination of these two things: how we have sinned against God, and what good he has done to us. So we shall be thankful, and give up everything. But no one makes any remembrance of any of these things; but just as we say of our sins, “We are sinners,” without examining them one by one, so too of God’s benefits we say, “God has done us good,” without examining them one by one; we do not say where, and how many, and at what time. But from now on let us use great exactness. If anyone can recall even the things of long ago, let him reckon them all up exactly, as one who will find a great treasure. This is useful to us also against despair. For when we see that he has often protected us, we shall not despair, nor think ourselves cast off; but we shall receive a great pledge of his care for us, when we consider that though we sinned we are not punished, but even enjoy his protection.

Let me too tell something that I heard from someone. There was once a boy, and it happened that he was in the country with his mother, not yet fifteen years old. Then, when some unhealthy air set in, a fever fell on both of them; for it was autumn. The mother managed to get back into the city; but the boy, though the physicians there told him to stay, and thinking that he would quench the heat of the fever all the more if he took nothing at all, out of a boy’s untimely obstinacy took nothing. When he reached the city, his tongue was paralyzed, and he was speechless for a long time, uttering nothing articulate; he read, and went to his teachers for a long time, but his sounds were vague and without meaning. So all his hopes were cut off, and his mother was full of grief; the physicians devised many things, and many others many other things, but no one prevailed, until the God who loves humankind healed the bond of his tongue; and then he recovered, and God brought him back to his former fluency and clearness. His mother related too that when he was a very small child he had an affliction of the nose, which they call …, and his mother prayed that he might die, and his father cursed him (for he happened still to be alive), and again everything was in perplexity. But he at once coughed, and with the force of his breath expelled that creature from his nostrils with the mucus, and all the trouble was ended. When this was over, a sharp and sticky discharge constantly flowing down on his eyes produced so much rheum, and so thick, that it became like a partition over the pupil, and, what was terrible, threatened blindness; and everyone said it would happen. But by the grace of God he was quickly freed from this affliction too. These things I heard; but what I know myself I will tell you. Once there arose in our city a suspicion of usurpers (I was then still a youth); and while all the soldiers were posted around the city outside, they were searching, in earnest, for books of sorcery and magic. And the man who had written the book threw it, as it was, into the river, and was caught; and when it was demanded of him he could not hand it over, but was led around the whole city in chains; and when the proofs mounted up, he paid the penalty. Then I, … a martyr’s shrine, … along the river with another person. He, seeing the book floating on the surface, at first thought it was a piece of linen; but coming near, he knew it was a book, and went down and picked it up. And I was arguing that the find should be shared, and we were laughing. “But let us see,” he says, “what it is.” He opens part of the page, and finds … a soldier passing by. Then he took it inside his clothing and went off, and he was frozen with fear. For who would have believed that we had picked it up secretly from the river, when everyone, even those beyond suspicion, was being seized? And we did not dare to throw it away, lest we be seen; and to tear it up was again an equal fear. At any rate God granted it: we threw it away, and so at last we were freed from the dangers of that time. And I could tell ten thousand things, if I wished to list them all. I have told these for your sake, so that if anyone has, if not such things, then others, he may remember them continually: for example, if a stone was ever thrown and was about to come at you, and did not come at you, keep this ever in memory. These things create for us a great friendship with God. For if, remembering men who …, we are pained when we cannot repay them, much more in the case of God. This is useful elsewhere too. When, then, we want not to be distressed, let us say: “If we have received good things from the Lord, shall we not bear evil things?” And Paul for this reason told the things from which he had been delivered, so as to remind them too. See how Jacob also had all these things in mind; that is why he said, “The angel who delivers me from my youth.” And let us consider not only that he delivered us, but also how and in what circumstances. See, at any rate, how he too remembers the benefits one by one: “With my staff,” he says, “I crossed this Jordan.” And the Jews always remember even what happened in the days of their forefathers, turning over the events in Egypt. So much more should we remember our own, and what has happened to us: how many times we have fallen into injuries and calamities, and if God had not held his hand over us, we would long ago have perished. Considering these things, all of us, and reckoning them up each day, let us give thanks to God continually, and let us all together send up glory to him, and not cease glorifying him, so that we may receive a great reward for our gratitude, by the grace and compassion of his only-begotten Son, with whom, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ So Paul went out from their midst.” Why is it that, though he had persuaded them so far that the Athenians said, “We will hear you again about this,” and though there were no dangers, Paul hastens to leave Athens? Perhaps he knew that he would do little good there; and besides, he was being led by the Spirit to Corinth. “But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife (because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome); and he went to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for they were tentmakers by trade.” Naturally, as I said, he was being led by the Spirit to Corinth, where he was to stay. For the Athenians, though lovers of hearing something new, nevertheless paid no attention; for this was not what they were eager for, but always to have something to talk about; and this is what made them hold back. But if this was their custom, how is it that they accuse him, saying, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities”? But these things were very perplexing. Still he persuaded Dionysius the Areopagite and some others. For those who cared about their way of life quickly received the word, but the rest did not. So it seemed enough to Paul for the time to have sown the seeds; for the greater part of his life had by now gone by. For under Nero the war against the Jews was brought to completion, but from Claudius onward it was already being fanned into flame, from afar, it is true, but not without likelihood, so that even so they might come to their senses, and from Rome as pests … That is why it is arranged that he be brought there as a prisoner, so that he would not be driven out as a Jew, but would be kept there as one held under military custody. “And he stayed,” it says, “with them.” Wonderful! What a just reason for living with them he found! For since here above all he must not take anything, as he says, “so that in what they boast of they may be found to be just as we are,” it is arranged that he stays there. “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, … to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.” That is, they abused him, they opposed him. But they acted so; what does Paul do? He withdraws from them, and in a way that inspires great fear. For he no longer says, “It was necessary for the word to be spoken to you”; but he hints at it to them. “But when they opposed and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’ And he left there and went to … God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with his whole household; and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.” See how, though he had said, “From now on,” not even so does he neglect them; so he said this in order to rouse them. And then he went to Justus, whose house was next door to the synagogue. He lived nearby, so that they might also be moved to jealousy by the nearness. “… believed in the Lord with his whole household.” And this above all was enough to draw them. “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you; for I have many people in this city.’” See with how many things he persuades him, and how what most encouraged him he tells him last: “For I have many people in this city.” How then, someone might say, did they attack him? Yet they could do nothing; they only brought him before the proconsul. “And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying, ‘This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.’” Do you see why they always devised their charges in public? See, at any rate: here, when they said that he persuades people to worship God contrary to the law, the proconsul cared nothing for any of this, but rather speaks in Paul’s defense. And hear how he answers: “If it were a matter of some wrongdoing or vicious crime touching the city, O Jews, I would have reason to bear with you.” This man seems to me a reasonable man; and this is clear from his sensible answer. “But when Paul,” it says, “was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘If it were a matter of some wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to bear with you; but if it is a question about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these things.’ And he drove them from the tribunal. And all of them seized … in front of the tribunal; and Gallio cared for none of these things.” Here again the man’s reasonableness is shown. For when he was being beaten, he did not consider it an insult to himself; so reckless were the Jews.

Let us look at what was read from the beginning. “When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, but others said, ‘We will hear you again.’” How many great and lofty things they heard, and paid no attention, but mocked! They mocked at the resurrection; “for the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit.” “And so,” it says, “Paul went out from their midst.” “So”: how? Having persuaded some, but laughed at by others. “After this he left Athens,” it says, “and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy … he stayed with them and worked.” See how the law at last begins to be dissolved. For this man, though a Jew, had his hair cut afterward at Cenchreae and goes off with Paul to Syria. Being from Pontus, he was not eager to go to Jerusalem or near it, but farther away. At any rate he stays with him, and is not ashamed to stay; rather, he stays for this very reason, having found a suitable lodging; for it was much more suitable for him than a palace. And do not laugh when you hear this, beloved. For just as for an athlete the wrestling school is more useful than soft beds, so for the soldier is the iron sword, not the golden one. And he worked while preaching. Let us be ashamed, we who live idly even without preaching. “And he reasoned in the synagogue,” it says, “every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. But when they opposed and blasphemed,” he flew off. By this he expected to draw them more; that is why he withdraws. For why, leaving that house, did he come near the synagogue? Was it not for this reason? For he saw no danger there either. “Testifying to them,” it says. He no longer teaches, but testifies solemnly. “But when they opposed,” it says, “and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said, ‘Your blood be on your heads.’” He does this in order to frighten them not by word only but also by action; and he speaks more vehemently, since he had also persuaded many. “I am clean,” he says; “from now on I will go to the Gentiles.” So we too are answerable for the blood of those entrusted to us, if we neglect them. So too when he says, “From now on let no one cause me trouble,” he says it to frighten them; for punishment did not frighten them so much as this stung them. And he moves house, wanting to convince them that he was hastening on to the Gentiles. “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue,” it says, “believed in the Lord with his whole household.” See how the believers of that time did this together with their whole household. When this had happened, at once many others also believed … about whom he says in writing, “I baptized no one else except Crispus and Gaius.” I think this man is also called Sosthenes, who was so faithful a man that he was even beaten, and was always with Paul. “And the Lord said,” it says, “to Paul by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid; speak.’” That is why he stays there a long time; for the crowd also persuaded him, but Christ’s friendship more. For the danger had by now become greater, since more were believing, and the ruler of the synagogue too. “Do not be afraid,” he says. This was enough to rouse him: either he was shown up as afraid, or he was not shown up, but is encouraged so that he might not even suffer this. For he did not let them suffer ill always, lest they become weaker. For nothing so grieved Paul as those who disobeyed, those who opposed; this was harder for him than the dangers. “And do not be silent,” he says, “for I have many people in this city.” Perhaps it is for this reason that Christ appears to him. “But when Gallio,” it says, “was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul.” See: they attack him after the year and six months, when they were no longer able to use their own laws. This above all emboldened the Corinthians: being fully convinced that the governor would not even stoop to the matter. For it was not the same thing to win by argument as for them to learn that the matter was of no concern to him. And consider how sensible he was. For he did not answer at once, “It is no concern of mine”; but what? “If it were some wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to bear with you; but if it is a question about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these things.” He walled off the court against them. The victory was brilliant. They were beating him in front of the tribunal, and Gallio cared nothing for any of this. What shame they were put to! “And Gallio,” it says, “cared nothing for any of this,” although the whole thing was an insult to himself; but as though they had received authority, they beat him themselves, doing the work of a judge without a trial, because of their shame. And why did he not strike back, though he too had the power? But they were being trained in philosophy. And he does not strike back, so that the judge too might learn which was the more reasonable. This benefited those present not a little; for both the reasonableness of these and the rashness of those taught them that such matters need a judicial verdict. But those men do everything in disorder. And he did not say, “One must not,” lest they keep pestering him, but, “I do not wish.” “For I do not wish,” he says, “to be a judge of these things”: so reasonable was the man. Pilate too said this in the case of Christ: “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” He thought it right that they should judge according to the law, but they were disposed like drunken and raving men. That is why he left Athens: because there were many people there in Corinth. [3] Let us too imitate this man: let us strike back at those who strike us with gentleness, with silence, with long-suffering. These wounds are harder, the blow greater and more painful; for it is not being struck in the body but in the mind that is hard. We strike many people, but when it is in the manner of friendship, they even enjoy it; but if you strike an ordinary person … so we strike their heart more. That this is so we will show as far as possible by argument. The clear proof, indeed, comes from deeds and experience; but if you like, let us make the examination by argument too, although we have often done it already. For in insults nothing stings us so much as the verdict of the onlookers; for to be insulted in public and in private is not the same; but we bear those insults easily when they happen in solitude, when we suffer it with no one present to bear witness, no one to share the knowledge. So it is not the nature of the insult that pains us, but suffering it before everyone; so that if someone honored us before everyone and insulted us in private, we would even be grateful. So the pain is not in the nature of the insult, but in the verdict of the onlookers, lest we seem to be contemptible. What then if this verdict is in our favor? Is not the insulter himself insulted, when they cast their vote for us? Tell me: whom do those present despise, the one who insults, or the one who is insulted and keeps silent? Anger suggests: the one insulted. But let us look while we are clear of the passion, so as not to be forced into a false verdict. Whom then do we all condemn? Clearly the one who insults; and if he is inferior, we shall say he is mad; if an equal, that he is foolish; and if he is greater, not even so shall we approve him. For tell me, who is worthy of praise: the one who is troubled, storm-tossed, turned savage as a beast, so disposed toward our common nature, or the one in calm and harbor and much philosophy? Is not the one like an angel, the other not even like a man? The one cannot even bear his own ills; the other bears those of others too. This one could not bear himself; that one bears another as well. The one is in shipwreck; the other sails in safety, his ship carried along by fair winds; for he did not let the wind of anger fall on his sails and overturn the vessel of his mind; but a light and pleasant breeze of forbearance blows upon him and brings him in great calm into the harbor of philosophy. And just as in a ship that is being wrecked the sailors do not know what they are throwing out, whether they lay hold of their own goods or of others’, but jettison everything aboard alike, both what is precious and what is not; and when the storm is over, they do not even feel the calm because of the loss from the jettison; so too here: when anger blows and the storm rises, they do not know how to throw out in order what should be thrown; and when the anger stops, then, reckoning up what they have thrown out, they realize the loss and do not feel the relief, remembering the words by which they disgraced themselves and suffered the greatest losses, not in money, but in their reputation for reasonableness and gentleness. Truly anger is darkness. “The fool has said in his heart,” it says, “‘There is no God.’” Perhaps it is fitting to say this of the angry man too: the angry man has said, “There is no God.” “For according to the greatness of his wrath,” it says, “he will not seek.” For whatever pious thought enters, it thrusts away and drives back them all, it throws them all aside. If you do not feel more pain than the man you insult, go on insulting, even if there is no one to accuse you except the court of conscience, which will take you aside privately and give you countless lashes. When then you hear that the man you insulted let fall no bitter word, are you not pained the more by this? Tell me, how could you drench a gentle, humble, reasonable man with countless abuses? We say these things continually, but we do not see them shown in deeds. What are you, a man, to insult a man? A slave, to insult your fellow slave? But why do I wonder at this, when many insult even God?

Let this be your consolation, you who are insulted: God too is insulted. You are spat upon: so was our Master. In these things, then, he shares with us; but in the opposite things no longer. For he never insulted anyone unjustly (God forbid!), nor reproached anyone idly, nor wronged anyone. So it is we who share with him, not you. For to bear insult is of God; but to insult idly is of the devil. See the two portions. Christ heard, “You have a demon”; he was struck by the high priest’s servant. Those, then, who insult unjustly stand with those men; and rightly. For if Peter was called “Satan” for one word, much more will these men be called Jews, when they do the deeds of the Jews, just as those too were called children of the devil, because they did the works of the devil. You insult? Who are you, tell me? Or rather, you insult for this very reason, because you are nothing; for no one who is a man insults. So what is said in quarrels, “Who are you?” ought to be said the other way round; one ought to say, “Insult away, for you are nothing.” But as it is, when we say, “Who are you to insult?” one can hear from everyone, “One better than you.” And yet the opposite ought to be said; but since we ask badly, they too answer badly, so that we are to blame. For as though those who insult were great men, we say, “Who are you to insult?” That is why they answer as they do. One ought to say the opposite: “You insult? Insult away; for you are nobody.” But to those who do not insult this ought rather to be said: “Who are you, that you do not insult? You have risen above human nature.” This is nobility, this is freedom: to utter nothing servile, even if someone deserves to hear it. Tell me, how many deserve to be put to death? Yet the judge does not do this himself, but questions them; and not even this himself. And if it is not tolerable for a judge to converse with a wicked man, but he uses a go-between, much more ought we not to insult our equals; for we shall not gain so much advantage over them by insulting as we shall by being shown to have insulted ourselves. So one ought not to insult the wicked for this reason; and the good for another reason as well, that they do not deserve it; and for a third, that one ought not to be an insulter. But as it is, see how much happens: a man is insulted and abused, and the one who abuses is a man, and the onlookers are men. What then? Must the wild beasts come into the middle and settle it? For this is what remains. For when those who delight in injustice are men, reconciliation is left to the beasts; just as when masters are fighting in a house, it remains for the servants to reconcile them (for this is what the nature of the case requires, even if perhaps it does not happen this way); so too here. You insult? Naturally; for you are not even a man. That is why insult seemed something great, and seemed to befit great men; but it befits slaves rather, just as speaking well befits the free. For as doing ill belongs to the one, so suffering ill belongs to the other. What a thieving slave girl is, who secretly purloins her master’s goods, such a thing too is insult; and, as one might say, just as the thief, entering in haste, looks around everywhere, eager to steal something, so this man too looks all around, wishing to throw something out. Perhaps let us sketch him with another example. For just as if someone steals unclean vessels from a house and carries out the stolen things in front of everyone, he disgraces no one so much as himself, who stole them and carried them out; so too one who throws out unclean words in front of everyone disgraces not others but himself through the words, bringing out such things and soiling his own tongue and mind. For the same thing happens when we fight with the wicked as if someone, in order to strike a man lying in rottenness, should defile himself by plunging his hands into the mire. Considering all these things, I beg you, let us flee the harm that comes from this, and let us have a tongue that speaks well, so that we may pass the present life in safety and obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Paul, after staying on a good many days, took leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shaved his head at Cenchreae, for he had a vow.” See how the law has been dissolved; see how they were held fast by conscience. This was a Jewish practice, to shave the head for a vow. But a sacrifice also had to be offered, which did not take place. After Sosthenes had been beaten … he had to go away. That is why he hastens; and when he was begged to stay with them at Ephesus, he would not. Why then does he go to Antioch again? … Antioch. He had a longing for the city, feeling something human toward it; for there the disciples were first called Christians, there he was commended to the grace of God, there he carried through the business of the decree. And he sailed for Syria, but left these two at Ephesus, reasonably, to teach. Having been with him so long, they had learned much; and yet he had not yet drawn them away from the Jewish custom. See, a woman too doing the same as men, and teaching. That is why he had been prevented from coming to Asia, being driven, I think, toward more pressing matters. See, at any rate, how here too he is begged to stay and does not consent, since he was hastening to leave. Yet he did not simply leave them, but with a promise; and how, listen: “… he left them there; but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, ‘I must by all means keep the coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return to you again, God willing.’ … landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch. And after spending some time there, he departed and went through … in order, … the disciples.” And see: he took in those places he had visited before. “Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus, being mighty in the Scriptures.” See, eloquent men too were hastening to preach … the disciples now travel about. Do you see the growth of the preaching? “This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” If this man knew only the baptism of John, how was he fervent in the Spirit? For the Spirit was not given in that way. And if those after him needed the baptism of Christ, much more would this man have needed it. What then is there to say? For the writer did not set these things side by side without purpose. It seems to me that this man was one of the twenty who were baptized with the apostles; or else what happened in the case of Cornelius happened in his case too. But he is not baptized; rather, they explained the way to him more accurately. This seems to me true, that he too ought to have been baptized; since the twelve knew nothing accurately, not even the things about Jesus … he too ought to have been baptized. Yet if even those who had been baptized were baptized again, these too ought to have done so. “And when he wished … to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he powerfully … in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples, he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They said to him, ‘We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.’ And he said to them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ And Paul said, ‘John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,’” that is, in Christ Jesus. “On hearing this they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.” These differ greatly from that man, since they did not even know whether there is a Holy Spirit. These, then, who also explained the way of the Lord to him more accurately … he himself too to go to Achaia; and before the brothers had urged him and given him letters, he does not depart. “When he arrived,” it says, “he greatly helped those who had believed; for he powerfully … in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” From this he shows how mighty Apollos was in the Scriptures. For he vigorously stopped the mouths of the Jews (for this is what “powerfully” means), and made the believers more confident and steadier in the faith. “And it happened,” it says, “that Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus”: that is, the regions of Caesarea and the rest. “And finding some disciples, he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’” That these did not even believe in Christ is clear from his saying, “in the one who was to come after him, that they should believe.” And he did not say, “John’s baptism is nothing,” but that it is incomplete. And he did not add this without purpose, but to teach them and persuade them to be baptized into the name of Jesus; which they do, and they receive the Spirit through the laying on of Paul’s hands. “For when Paul had laid his hands on them,” it says, “the Holy Spirit came upon them.” So those on whom he laid his hands received the Spirit. It was likely, then, that they had the Spirit but that it was not manifest; but from its working, and from their speaking in tongues …

But let us look at what was read from the beginning. “Paul sailed for Syria,” it says, “and with him Priscilla and Aquila; and when he reached Ephesus he left them there.” Either because he did not want to take them around, and therefore left them; or rather, so that they might remain as teachers for those in Ephesus. Afterward they lived in Corinth; he bears them great witness, and greets them when writing to the Romans. So it seems to me that afterward they went away to Rome, being fond of those places from which they had been expelled under Nero. “And having landed,” it says, “at Caesarea, … going through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order.” It seems to me that the believers were still gathering there; for they did not draw them away at once. See how he hastens to them. And he passes through these regions again, to strengthen the disciples by his presence. “Now a Jew named Apollos,” it says, “came to Ephesus, being mighty in the Scriptures.” The man was roused; that is why he sets out on journeys for this very purpose. “When he arrived,” it says, … “in public.” Of this man he wrote: “Now concerning Apollos our brother.” By refuting them in public, his boldness was shown; by “powerfully,” his strength; by showing it from the divine Scriptures, his skill. For neither does boldness achieve anything by itself without strength, nor strength without boldness. So it was not without purpose that he left Aquila at Ephesus; but perhaps the Spirit arranged this because of Apollos, so that he might go to Corinth with greater strength. And why did they do nothing to this man, while they attack Paul? They knew that Paul was the leader; or else because the man’s name was great. “And they took him,” it says, “and … the way of God.” See how everything was done in faith, with no envy anywhere, no jealousy anywhere. Aquila teaches; or rather, this man too is taught. For having been with him so long, they had been so taught that they were able to teach others too. “And when he wished,” it says, “to cross to Achaia, they wrote to the disciples to welcome him.” Why they send letters, he explains: “So that they might welcome him,” he says. And how is it clear that those in Ephesus had John’s baptism? Because when they were asked, “Into what were you baptized?” … to Jerusalem at that time, and went away, and were baptized; but even when baptized, they did not know Jesus. And he does not say to them, “Do you believe in Jesus?” but what? “Did you receive the Holy Spirit?” For he knew that they did not have it. And he wants them to say it, so that, learning what they lacked … “… the hands of Paul, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” … they prophesy from the baptism itself. John’s baptism did not have this; that is why it was incomplete. But it rather prepared them beforehand to be counted worthy of such things. So this is what John wanted in baptizing: that they should believe in the one who was to come after him. From this a great doctrine is shown: that those who are baptized are completely cleansed of their sins. For if they had not been cleansed, these men would not have received the Spirit, nor would they at once have been counted worthy of gifts. And see that the gift was double, both tongues and prophecies. And he rightly called John’s a baptism of repentance, and not of forgiveness, leading them on and convincing them that it was without this; for forgiveness was the work of the baptism given later. And how is it that those who received the Spirit did not teach, but Apollos, who had not yet received the Spirit, did? Because they were not so fervent nor instructed; but he was both instructed and very fervent. It seems to me also that the man’s boldness was great. But though he spoke accurately the things concerning Jesus, he still needed more accurate teaching. So, though he did not know everything, by his eagerness he drew down the Holy Spirit, as Cornelius and his household did. Perhaps many long for John’s baptism, if it existed now too. But many would have neglected a virtuous life; or else each would have been thought to pursue virtue for this reason, and not for the kingdom of heaven. Besides, many would have become false prophets, and the approved would no longer have been clearly manifest, nor would those who simply accepted the faith have been called blessed. Just as “blessed are those who have not seen and have believed,” so are those who believe without signs. Tell me, did not Christ say in reproach of the Jews, “Unless you see signs, you will not believe”? So we have lost nothing, if we are willing to attend to ourselves. We have the chief of good things through baptism: … participation in the Spirit, adoption, eternal life. What more do you want? Signs? But they are done away. You have faith, hope, love, the things that remain: seek these; these are greater than signs. Nothing equals love: “The greatest of all is love,” it says. But now love is in danger: only its name is left, and its work is nowhere, but … [3] What then could one do to unite them? For to accuse is easy, but that is only half. So we must show how friendship might be brought about; for this is what we are striving for: how we may bring the torn members together. For the question is not simply whether we have one church or one doctrine; but the terrible thing is this, that while we share with one another in other things, in the necessary things we do not share; and while at peace with all, we are at odds among ourselves. Do not consider whether we fight battles every day, but that we do not even have a genuine and unwavering love. There is need of bandages and oil. Let us consider that love is the mark of Christ’s disciples, that without it all else avails nothing, that it is an effortless thing, if we are willing. “Yes,” someone says, “we know these things; but how is it to be achieved? What is to be done for it to happen? How shall we love one another?” First let us remove the things that destroy love, and then we shall establish it. Let no one bear grudges, let no one be envious, let no one rejoice at evil; these are the hindrances; the things that produce it are others. It is not enough to remove the hindrances; we must also point out what establishes it. Sirach, indeed, names the things that destroy it, but not those that unite: reproach, he says, and the revealing of a secret, and a treacherous blow. But in their case these were natural, since they were carnal; among us, God forbid! It is not from these that we lead you away, but from the others. Nothing is good for us without friendship. Let there be countless good things: what is the profit? Let there be wealth, let there be luxury without friends: what is the gain? There is no possession finer than this, even in the affairs of this life, just as there is nothing harder than enemies. “Love covers a multitude of sins”; but enmity suspects even what does not exist. It is not enough not to be an enemy; one must also love. Consider that Christ commanded it, and that is enough. Affliction too makes friendships and draws people together. “What then,” someone says, “now, when there is no affliction? Tell me how we are to become friends.” Do you not have other friends? Tell me, how are you their friends? How do you remain so? For the moment, let no one hold anyone as an enemy; this is no small thing. Let no one envy; it is not possible for one who does not envy to accuse. We all inhabit one world; we are fed by the same fruits. But these are small things: we enjoy the same mysteries, the same spiritual food. These surely are just grounds for loving. “How then shall we be warmly disposed?” someone says. What produces love of bodies? Beauty of body. So let us make our souls beautiful too, and we shall be lovable to one another; for one must not only love but also be loved. Let us first achieve this, being loved, and that other will be easy. How then shall it come about that we are loved? Let us become beautiful, and let this be our aim, not so much to acquire money, slaves, houses, as to be loved, to have a good name. “A good name is better than great riches.” For the one remains, the other perishes; and the one can be acquired, but the other …; and the poor man quickly becomes rich from his name. Suppose one man has ten thousand talents, and another a hundred friends: this man is richer than that one. So let us not do this carelessly, but work at it as a kind of wealth. “And how can we?” someone says. “A sweet throat multiplies its friends, and a gracious tongue.” Let us acquire a mouth that speaks well, and pure manners. One who is so disposed cannot pass unnoticed.

See how many ties of friendship those outside have devised: partnership in a trade, neighborhood, kinship. But what we have is greater than all these: this table is more venerable. Yet many of us who come to it do not even know one another. “The multitude is the cause of this,” someone says. Not at all, but our own sluggishness. They were three thousand and five thousand, and all had one soul; but now each does not know his brother, and is not ashamed to blame the multitude. One who has many friends cannot be taken by anyone; he is stronger than any tyrant. Bodyguards do not guard the tyrant as friends guard this man; and he is more illustrious than the tyrant. For the one is guarded by his own slaves, the other by his equals; the one by men who are unwilling and afraid, this one by men who are willing and unafraid. And one can see a wonderful thing: one in many, and many in one. And just as on a lyre the notes are different but the harmony one, and one the musician who handles the lyre, so too here: the lyre is love itself, the sounding notes are the friendly words uttered through love, all giving forth one and the same harmony and concord; and the musician is the power of love; it strikes up the sweet melody. I wish I could lead you into such a city, if it were possible, where there was one soul, and you would see how the concord there is more harmonious than any lyre and any pipe, singing no discordant tune. This melody delights the angels and God, the Master of the angels; this rouses the whole theater in heaven; this charms the rage of demons and soothes the onsets of the passions. This melody not only charms the passions, but does not even let them rise, and creates a great silence. For just as in a theater, when a choir of musicians is singing, all listen in silence and there is no uproar, so too among friends, when love strikes the strings, all the passions are still and are lulled to sleep; where there is enmity, everything is the opposite. But let us say nothing for now about enmity; let us speak only of friendship. If you say something rash, no one seizes on it, but all forgive; if you do something rash, no one suspects you, but there is much pardon; all who stretch out a hand are ready to help; all who want to stand by you are eager. Friendship is truly an unbreakable wall, not to be taken even by the devil, let alone by men. One who has acquired many friends cannot fall into danger; he cannot have occasion for anger, but for cheerfulness; he is always in laughter and delight; he cannot have occasion for envy, nor grounds for resentment. See such a man achieving with ease both spiritual and bodily things. What then could equal this? This man is like a city walled on every side, that one like an unwalled city. It takes great wisdom to be able to be a craftsman of friendship. Take away friendship, and you have taken away everything and thrown everything into confusion. And if the image of friendship has such strength, how great would the reality itself be? So let us make friends for ourselves, I beg you, and let each of you have this craft. “But see,” someone says, “I am eager, and he is not.” Your reward will be greater so. “Yes,” he says, “but the thing is harder.” How, tell me? See, I testify and say that if only ten of you join yourselves together, and make this your work, as the apostles made preaching theirs and the prophets teaching, so we making friends, the reward will be great. Let us make royal images of ourselves: this is the mark of disciples. And how do we not do a greater thing than …? For the purple shows the king, and without it, even if he has golden robes, the king is not yet evident. So now too, produce the mark yourself, and you will make friends for yourself and for others. There is no one who, being loved, will wish to hate. Let us learn the colors by which this image is mixed and composed: let us be easy to approach; let us not wait for our neighbors to greet us first. Do not say, “If I see someone waiting, I become worse than he is”; but rather, when you see it, anticipate him and quench his passion. You see him sick, and do you increase the disease? Above all let us achieve this: to outdo one another in showing honor, to count one another better than ourselves. Do not think that you are diminished. If you outdo him in honor, you have honored yourself more, drawing greater honor to yourself. Let us everywhere yield the first places to others. Let us remember none of the evils done to us, but only whatever good there was. Nothing makes a friend so much as a gracious tongue, a mouth that speaks well, a soul without pride, disdain for vainglory, contempt for honor. If we achieve these things, we shall be able to be unconquerable by the snares of the devil, and, having carried virtue through with exactness, to obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And he entered the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading about the kingdom of God.” See how everywhere he thrusts himself into the synagogues, and only so goes out; for everywhere he wanted to take the occasion from them, as I said. For the Gentiles were by now jealous and received him eagerly, and the Jews, when the Gentiles received him, repented. He wanted to withdraw the disciples from there, and to take the starting point from them, so that they would not assemble there; and he did not do this without reason. That is why he reasoned with them continually, because he was persuading them. So do not, because you have heard of boldness, think of harshness: he was speaking of good things, of the kingdom; who would not have listened? “But when some … the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took the disciples apart, reasoning daily in the school of a certain Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” They rightly called the preaching “the Way”; for this truly was the way leading to the kingdom of heaven. “In the school,” it says, “of a certain Tyrannus he reasoned. And this continued for two years, so that all heard the word, both Jews and Greeks.” Do you see how much his persistence accomplished? Both Jews and Greeks heard. “And God did extraordinary works of power by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.” They did not only touch them while he wore them, but took them and laid them on the sick. That is why Christ did not let him go into Asia, keeping this time in reserve, as I think. “But some … also undertook to name the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.’” So they did everything for the sake of trade. See: they did not want to believe, but they wanted to drive out the demons through the name. Wonderful! How great Paul’s name was! “Seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. But the evil spirit answered and said to them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize; but who are you?’ And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaping on them and overpowering them, prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus.” So they were doing it secretly, and then their weakness is paraded. “And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many of those who had believed came …” For since they had such strength that they did such things even through the demons, naturally these things happen. “And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” Seeing that there was no longer any use in them, they burn the books, when even the demons themselves do these things. So the name does nothing unless it is spoken with faith. Rightly then did he say, “He who believes in me will do greater works,” hinting at this matter of the shadows. See how they used the weapons against themselves. “And he reasoned,” it says, “in the school of a certain Tyrannus for two years.” There were believers there, and very faithful ones. So they thought Jesus nothing great, since they added Paul too, as though they thought him something great by this. Here one may well wonder how that demon did not cooperate with the exorcists’ deception, but exposed them and made their stage-play plain. It seems to me that he was very angry, as when someone who is in danger of his life is exposed by some pitiful and wretched person, and wants to pour out all his anger on him. For so that the name of Jesus might not seem …, he first confessed it, and so took this power. For that the weakness was not the name’s, but the whole thing was their deceit, why did these things not happen in Paul’s case? “And the man,” it says, “leaping on them.” Perhaps he tore their clothes and dashed their heads; for he showed this by saying “leaping on,” that is, springing on them with force, so that it was enough to do this. What is …? He stopped their abuse, it says. And he does this and withdraws, since he did not want to inflame their envy or throw them into greater strife. And he says “he spoke boldly,” showing that he was drawn up for battle against dangers too, and reasoned more openly, not veiling the doctrines. From this we learn not to close in battle with those who speak evil, but to withdraw from them. He did not speak evil when he himself was evil spoken of, but rather reasoned daily, and in this way above all he won over the many: that though evil was spoken of him he did not leap away or separate himself. And consider: when the temptation from those outside had ceased, it began from the demons. Do you see Jewish hardness? Seeing his garments working such things, they paid no attention. What could be greater than this? But for them it turned rather the opposite way. If any of the Greeks disbelieves, let him believe on seeing the shadow do these things. So by his withdrawing from them, those who spoke evil and slandered the doctrine (for this is what he called “the Way”) are defeated; and he withdraws so that neither should the disciples depart, nor should those men be roused to anger, showing that everywhere they were thrusting salvation away. And here at last he does not even make a defense to them, since everywhere the Gentiles had believed. And he reasons, not looking for just any place, but where there was a school, as being more suitable because people gathered there.

Wonderful! How great is the power of those who believed, enabling others to do the same things! And how great … of those who even after the proof of the power still … in unbelief! Just as Simon, for the sake of trade, [wanted to buy] the grace of the Spirit, so these too did this for the sake of the same thing. What hardness! Why does Paul not rebuke them? Because the matter would have seemed to be envy. That is why it is so arranged. This happened also in the time of Christ; but then it was not prevented, for it was the beginning of things; since even the thief was not prevented; but Ananias and Sapphira were put to death; and many Jews …, and suffered nothing, while Elymas was blinded. “For I came,” he says, “not to judge the world, but that the world [might be saved].” See the vileness! While still remaining Jews, they wanted to make money from the name; so they did everything for gain and profit. Look how everywhere men turn not … from good things … the church, and they did not dare to join them; so then they came confessing their sins. From the leaping on them, the … of the demons is shown to be great, when it has to do with unbelievers. Why did the evil spirit not say who Jesus is, but rather spoke those useless words? He was afraid that he too might be punished; for he knew that it was the name that had allowed him to take vengeance on those who mocked it. And why did the wretches not say to him, “We believe”? They were afraid of Paul. How much more illustrious would they have been, had they said this and made his lordship their own! … what happened at Philippi … these too. But consider here the writer’s … and how he writes history only, and does not …. This made the apostles admired. … whose sons they were, he gives the name and the number, giving the people of that time a trustworthy proof of what he wrote. And why did they go about? For the sake of trade … proclaiming the word; for how could they? … they ran about, preaching by what they suffered. Showing this, he says, “And it became known to all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus.” Did this not … even those who were hardened, tell me? But it did not convert them. And do not wonder; for nothing persuades wickedness. Come, let us see how great the wickedness of the exorcists’ act is. Why this did not happen in Christ’s time … to seek out the time, and not the present one; yet … this happened here, and usefully. It seems to me that they did this in mockery; hence the punishment, so that from this no one should dare any longer to name the name, even … This led many of those … to confession; this also struck them with fear, and became the greatest proof that God knows everything. Before being exposed by the demons, they accused themselves, fearing to suffer the same things; and rightly. For when the demons who help them are … and not their allies, what confession of deeds is left? But see what evils happen, though such signs had taken place: human nature quickly forgets what has happened. Do you remember that this very thing happened also in what took place among us? For tell me, did not God shake the whole city last year? What then? Did not all run to baptism? Did not fornicators and effeminate men and the corrupt leave their houses and the places in which … But when three days had passed, they went back again to their own wickedness. Where does this come from? From great sluggishness. And what wonder, if this happens when the events have passed, seeing that the same thing happens even when the images remain continually? Tell me, do not the things at Sodom remain continually? What then? Have those who live nearby become better from them? Not at all. And what of Noah’s son? Was he not such a man? Was he not wicked, though he saw with his own eyes such desolation? So let us not wonder how they did not believe when these things happened, when even the healing itself is often turned by them to the opposite, to wickedness; as when they say that the Son of God has a demon. Or do you not see these things happening now too, and many men like vipers, unbelieving and ungrateful, who, like snakes, when they have enjoyed benefits, [bite] their benefactors? These things have been said by us so that no one may wonder how, when such signs took place, not all believed. [3] For see, in our own times there took place the events concerning the blessed Babylas, the events at Jerusalem, the events of the demolition of the temples, and not all were converted. Why speak of the old things? Last year I told you what had happened, and no one paid attention, but again little by little they slipped away and fell. Heaven stands continually crying out that it has a Master, and that all this (I mean the world) belongs to some craftsman, and some say it does not. The things that happened in the matter of that Theodore last year, whom did they not astonish? And yet nothing more came of it; but those who had become devout for a time went back again to where they were before they became devout. This happened then among the Hebrews too; that is why the prophet said, “When he killed them, then they sought him, and turned and came early to God.” And why speak of public things? How many have fallen into sicknesses? How many promised, if they got up, to make a great change, and became the same as before? This above all shows us our free choice and the freedom of our nature: the sudden change. For if evils were natural, this would not have happened; for we cannot be changed from what is by nature and necessity. “And yet we are changed,” someone says. “For do we not see some who by nature are able to see, but are blinded by fear?” Since this too belongs to nature, to be contracted when another nature comes upon it; so that it is natural for us not to see when we are frightened, and natural too that, when a greater fear comes, the other gives way. “What then,” someone says, “if self-control is natural, and fear prevails and drives it out?” What then if I show some who are not brought to self-control even then, but are reckless even in these fears? Is this not natural? Shall I tell the old cases, or the new? How many remained in those very fears laughing and mocking, and suffered nothing of the kind? Tell me, did not Pharaoh change at once, and run back to his former wickedness? But here, in the case of those who had demons, although they were not ignorant, those who spoke simply added, “We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches”; for by the very words with which they excuse themselves it is shown that they knew. And they simply say “Jesus,” when they should have said, “the Savior of the world, the one who rose”; but they did not want to confess his glory. That is why the demon exposes them, leaping on them and saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize”; as if he said: You do not believe, but you say these things by misusing the name. So the temple is empty, the vessel easy to overcome; so you are not heralds, but you are mine, he says. Great is the demon’s rage. The apostles could have done these things to them, but they did not, meanwhile. For those who master the ones who did these things to them are much more masters of them. See how their gentleness is shown: that the demons that were driven out do such things, while those that were served do the opposite. “Jesus I know,” he says: so be ashamed, you who do not know him. “And Paul I recognize”: rightly this too; for he knew him to be God’s herald. Then he leaps on them and tears their garments, by what he did to them all but saying: Do not think that I do these things in contempt of those men. Great is the demon’s fear. And why did he not tear their clothes without these words? For so he would have satisfied his anger and stopped the deceit. He feared, as I said, the unapproachable power, and he would not have prevailed so far, had he not said this. And see how everywhere the demons are more reasonable than the Jews, not daring to contradict or accuse the apostles or Christ. There they say, “We know who you are,” and, “Why have you come here to torment us before the time?” and again, “I know who you are, the Son of God”; and here, “These men are servants of the Most High God”; and again, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize.” For they greatly feared and trembled at those saints. Perhaps one of you, hearing this, longs to have this power, so that demons could not look him in the face, and calls those saints blessed for this reason, that they had such strength. But let him hear Christ saying, “Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you”; since he knew that all people rejoice at this most of all, out of vainglory. For if you seek what pleases God and what is for the common good, there is another, greater way. It is not so great a thing to free someone from a demon as to rescue him from sin. A demon does not hinder one from obtaining the kingdom of heaven, but even helps, unwillingly indeed, but helps, by making the one who has him more self-controlled; but sin casts out.

But perhaps someone will say, “May I never meet with such a correction!” Nor do I wish it for you, but the other kind: doing everything from longing for Christ. But if, which God forbid, it should happen, one must give thanks for this too. If, then, the demon does not cast out, but sin does cast out, to free someone from sin is a greater benefit. So let us be eager to free our neighbors from it, and before our neighbors, ourselves. Let us see whether we have a demon; let us examine ourselves closely. Sin is harder than a demon; for the demon makes people humble. Or do you not see the demon-possessed, when they recover from the illness, how downcast they are, how gloomy, how their faces are full of shame, how they do not even dare to look you in the face? See the absurdity: they are ashamed of what they suffer, but we are not ashamed of what we do; they are abashed when wronged, we are not abashed when we do wrong. And yet their case deserves not shame but pity, kindness and pardon, much admiration and countless praises, when, while wrestling with such a demon, they bear everything with thanksgiving; but ours truly deserves laughter, shame, accusation, punishment, vengeance, the worst evils and hell, and no pardon at all. Do you see that sin is harder than a demon? And they gain a double gain from what they suffer: first, being corrected and becoming more given to philosophy; second, paying here the penalty for their own sins, and so departing pure to the Master. For we have often spoken about this too, and shown that those who are punished here, if they bear it gratefully, are likely to put away many of their sins. But from sins come double evils: first, that we offend; second, that we become worse. Attend to what I say. We are not harmed by sin only in this, that we sin, but in another way too: that the soul takes on a habit, as in the case of the body; for it will be clearer said by an example. For just as one who has had a fever is harmed not only in being ill, but in that after the illness he becomes weaker from then on, even if he returns to health after a long illness; so too with sin: even if we become healthy, we still need much strength. For show me someone who has insulted another and not been punished: one ought to weep, not only because he does not pay the penalty for the insult, but it is worth mourning for another reason as well. What is that? That his soul is now more shameless. For with each of our sins a kind of poison is laid in our soul. Do you not hear some say, when they have recovered from an illness, “I no longer dare to drink water”? And yet they have recovered; but the illness has done this harm too. And they, while suffering ill, give thanks; but we, while doing well, blaspheme God and are discontented; for you would find more people doing this in health and wealth than in poverty and sickness. For the demon stands over them like a truly stern executioner, threatening much, like a tutor holding up the strap, and allowing no slackness anywhere. And if some do not become sober even so, at least they pay no penalty. And this is no small thing; for as fools, as madmen, as … children are not called to account, so neither are those …; for no one is so cruel as ever to exact a penalty for what is done without knowledge. So we who sin are in a far worse state than the demon-possessed. … that we do not foam at the mouth, nor twist our eyes, our hands? Would that we did this in the body, and not in the soul! Do you want me to show you a soul foaming, …, and the twisting of the eyes of the mind? Consider those who are angry and drunk with rage, how they spew out foul spittle as it were. And just as those know none of those present, so neither do these. For when their mind is …, and their eyes are twisted, they see neither friend, nor enemy, nor the honorable, nor the contemptible, but everything simply …. Are they not … and trembling like those? Do they not fall to the ground? But their soul … to the ground and falls gasping; for if it stood upright, it would not have suffered what it suffered. Or does it not seem to you the act of a soul overthrown and stripped of its own sobriety, what they do and say when drunk with rage? There is another kind of madness harder than this. What is that? When they will not even let go of their anger, but nurse within themselves resentment as a domestic executioner. For resentment first of all punishes them themselves, already here, before the things to come. For how great a torment do you think it is for a man wounded in soul to consider every day how he may … his enemy? Such a man first punishes himself, and takes vengeance on himself, swelling up, fighting against himself, …. For he must burn continually with the fire within; and by prolonging the fever so long, you do not let it subside, and you think you are giving him …, but you are wasting yourself away, carrying the fever always at its height, not letting your soul rest, but turning ever more savage, and keeping your mind in turmoil and storm.

What is harder than this madness: to be … continually, and to swell and be inflamed? Such are the souls of the resentful. Wherever they see the one they want to take vengeance on, at once they are struck; if they hear his voice, they collapse, they tremble; if they are in bed, they [imagine] countless [evils for] that enemy; and besides this, if they see him held in honor, what a punishment! Let go of his sin, and free yourself from the torment. You remain continually punished, so as to [punish] him once …? Why do you keep your anger, which wants to be rid of you? “Do not let it remain even until evening,” says the [Apostle]. For like some wasting or moth, it gnaws through the … of our mind. Why do you shut up a wild beast in your bowels? It would be better to have a snake lying in your heart than anger and resentment; for the snake would quickly have released us, but this one stays continually, fixing its teeth, injecting its poison, sending harsh thoughts against us. “But I do these things,” one says, “so that he may not laugh at me, so that he may not despise me.” O wretched and miserable man, you do not want to be laughed at by your fellow slave, but you are willing to be hated by the Master? You do not want to be despised by your fellow slave, but you despise the Master? You cannot bear to be despised by him, and do you not think that God is indignant that you laugh at him, that you despise him, being unwilling to obey him? And that he will not laugh at you either is clear from this: if you take vengeance, the laughter is great, the contempt great, for the thing shows a small soul; but if you let it go, the admiration is great, for this shows a great soul. “But he does not know it,” one says. Let God know it, so that you may have a greater reward. “Lend,” he says, “to those from whom you do not hope to receive.” So let us do good also to those who do not even perceive that they are being done good, so that they may not, by repaying us with praise or anything else, lessen our reward. For when we receive nothing from men, then we shall receive more from God. What is more ridiculous, what is more contemptible, than a soul that is always angry and wants to take vengeance? This disposition is womanish and childish. For just as a child is angry even with lifeless things, and unless it strikes the ground does not let go of its anger, so these too want to take vengeance on those who have grieved them. So they are the ones who deserve laughter; for to be mastered by anger belongs to a childish mind, but to master it belongs to manliness. So it is not we who are laughed at when we practice philosophy, but they. It is not the mark of contemptible people not to be overcome by passion; but it is the mark of contemptible people to fear the laughter of outsiders so much as, on that account, to choose to fall under one’s own passion, to offend God, and to take vengeance on oneself. These things truly deserve laughter. So let us flee these things. Let him say that after doing us countless evils he suffered nothing himself; let him say that even if he should run riot over us again, he will suffer nothing. He could not have proclaimed our virtue otherwise; he would not have looked for other words, if he wanted to praise us, than these which he seems to speak in reproach. Would that all said this of me: “He is a spiritless man, and wretched; everyone insults him, and he bears it; everyone leaps on him, and he does not take vengeance.” Would that they added, “Not even if he wanted to could he,” so that my praise might be from God and not from men. Let him say that we do not take vengeance out of spinelessness. This does us no harm, so long as God knows; rather, he sets our treasure in greater safekeeping. If we look to those men, we shall fall away from everything. Let us not consider what they say, but what befits us. But some say, “Do not let him laugh at me,” and some even boast. What folly! “No one who has wronged me has laughed at me,” one says; that is, “I have taken vengeance.” And yet you ought to be laughed at for this, that you took vengeance. Where did these words come in, which are a disgrace and a destruction, the overturning of our life and our way of living? Is it not from speaking in opposition to God? For what makes one equal to God, not taking vengeance, you think laughable. Do we not deserve to be laughed at for this, both by ourselves and by the Greeks, contradicting God in this way? I want to tell something that happened among the ancients, not about anger but about money. A man had a field that held a treasure hidden in it, without the owner’s knowing; he sold that field. The buyer, digging it up to plant and cultivate it, found the treasure laid up there. When the seller learned this, … for he said that he had sold a field, not a treasure. The other in turn pushed it back on him, saying that he had bought the field with the treasure and took no account of it. Both came into dispute, the one wanting the other to take it, the other contending not to … And they met a certain man and talked with him; then they asked him to whom the treasure ought to go. He gave no verdict, but said he would end their dispute; for he himself would be its owner. And taking the treasure, the others yielding it willingly, he later suffered countless evils, and learned by experience that those men had rightly stood back from it. This is what must happen with anger too: that we contend not to take vengeance, and those who have grieved us contend to pay the penalty. But perhaps these things even seem laughable; for when madness gains the upper hand, the sane are laughed at, and among many madmen the one who is not mad seems mad. So I beg you to recover yourselves and become your own masters, so that, being clean of this destructive passion, we may be counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven, by the grace and compassion of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Now after these things were accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’ And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a time. And about that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way.” Having spent enough time in the city, he wants to move on again. That is why he sends Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, while he himself remains at Ephesus. But how is it that, having chosen at first to go to Syria, he turns back again to Macedonia? Showing that he did not do everything by his own power. Already he prophesies, saying, “I must also see Rome.” And he said this perhaps to comfort them, as one who would not be far away, but would again come nearer to them, and rousing the souls of the disciples by the prophecy. It seems to me that it was from here, from Ephesus, that he wrote to the Corinthians and said, “I do not want you to be ignorant of the affliction we experienced in Asia.” For since he had promised to come to Corinth, he excuses himself for being slow, and speaks of the trial, relating at last the affair of Demetrius. For he hints at this, saying that no small disturbance arose concerning the Way. Again danger, again disturbance. Do you see the success? Double signs had taken place; but these men spoke against them. So in everything the events are woven together. “For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no small business to the craftsmen. These he gathered, together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, ‘Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.’” “Who made,” it says, “silver shrines of Artemis.” And how is it possible for shrines to be of silver? Perhaps like small caskets; for her honor was great in Ephesus, where the burning of their temple so grieved them that they ordered that the man who burned it should not even be named. See how everywhere idolatry arises from money. Those men too acted for money, and this man for money; not as though their religion were in danger, but as though their gain were losing its source. And consider the man’s wickedness. He himself was wealthy, and no great harm was going to come to him from this; but to them it was great, since they were poor and lived on their daily work. And yet they say nothing, but he does; and since they were partners in the trade, he takes them as partners in the uproar too. Then he magnified the danger, adding, “There is danger that this trade of ours may come into disrepute.” For by this he means almost this: that we are in danger of falling into famine from this craft. And yet what was said was enough to bring them to godliness; but … and they do not consider: if this man is so strong as to turn everyone away, and the affairs of the gods are in danger, how great is his God! and that he will give us much more those things for which we fear. He had already won over their souls beforehand, saying, “Gods made by human hands are not gods.” See what the Greeks are indignant about: because he said, “Those made by men are not gods.” Everywhere he pushes the speech toward the trade. Then he puts last what grieved them most, saying, “And not only is this trade of ours in danger”; that is, of the others there is no account; but that “the temple too of the great goddess Artemis” is in danger of being deposed. Then, so that he might not seem to say these things for the sake of gain, see what he adds: “she whom the world worships.” Do you see how he showed Paul’s power to be greater, proving them all wretched and miserable, if a man who was being driven about, and a tentmaker, can do so much? See how the testimonies to the apostles come from enemies. There they said, “See, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching”; here …, “Those who have turned the world upside down”; then they heard, “These men have come here too”; now, “There is danger that this trade of ours may come into disrepute.” So too the Jews said in the case of Christ: “You see that the world has gone after him,” and, “The Romans will come and take away our city.” “When they heard this, they were filled with rage.” When did the rage come? When they heard about Artemis, when they heard about their gain. Such are the manners of the men of the marketplace, … one must do everything with examination. And see how contemptible they were, so as to be exposed to everyone. “When they heard this,” it says, “and were filled with rage, they cried out, …; and the whole city was filled with the confusion; and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians,”

Again they simply seize, as in Jason’s case. The Jews everywhere are put forward by them; so little … they had, nor of glory. “And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not let him. And some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.” They beg him because the people were disorderly, daring everything with an unreasoning rush. And Paul … for he was not vainglorious, nor ambitious. “Some cried one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion.” Such is the multitude: it simply follows, like fire falling on wood. “And most did not know why they had come together. And out of the crowd [they brought forward Alexander, the] Jews [putting him forward].” The Jews put him forward by design, so that they might have nothing to say against it afterward. This man is both put forward and speaks; and what, hear: “And Alexander motioned with his hand and wanted to make a defense to the people. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a voice went up, one from all, crying out for about two hours, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’” Truly childish was the …; they shouted continually. He had sat there two years, and see how many were still Greeks! “And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd,” it says, “he said, ‘Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image that fell from Zeus?’” By this first he [quenched] their rage. “And of the image that fell from Zeus”: he says this as though the thing did not exist. Another sacred object was so called …; or else they called the image of Artemis “fallen from Zeus,” as though that piece of earthenware had fallen from Zeus and had not been made by man; or else something else was so called among them. “‘Since then these things cannot be contradicted, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here, who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of your goddess.’” All a lie; but these things he said to the people, so as … “‘If then Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, … let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything about other matters, … For we are in danger of being charged with riot for today, there being no cause by which we shall be able to give an account of this commotion.’ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.” “The lawful assembly,” he says, because three assemblies were held according to law each month; but this one was unlawful. Then he also frightened them by saying, “We are in danger of being charged with riot.” But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “Now after these things were accomplished,” it says, “Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem.” Here he no longer acts in a human way, but by the Spirit, by whom he also chose to pass through. For this is what “resolved” means, and the word has this sense. Why he sends Timothy and Erastus he does not say; but it seems to me that “in the Spirit” is said about this too. “So when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone.” And see: he sent two of those who ministered to him, both to announce his coming and to make them more eager. He stays in Asia above all; reasonably, for there was the great company of the philosophers. And having come, he reasoned with them again; for there was much superstition there. “For a certain Demetrius,” it says, “a silversmith, having gathered the workmen of like occupation, said, ‘Men, you know, and you see and hear’”: so plain was what was happening. “That this Paul,” he says, “has persuaded and turned away a great many people.” So it was not by force, if he persuaded; this is how one must persuade a city. Then he adds what touched them: “that gods made with hands are not gods.” What is this? He overturns, he says, our craft. And so that they might not consider and say that a man alone has such strength, and if he is so strong, one must obey him, he added, “she whom all Asia and the world worship.” They thought to wall off the divine Spirit with their shouting, being children, Greeks that they were. “From this business,” he says, “we have our wealth.” And if wealth comes to you from this business, how did a mean man persuade? How did he master so great a custom? By doing what, or saying what? It is not Paul’s doing; it is not a man’s. And it was enough for him to say, “They are not gods.” If, then, the worship was so easy to detect, it ought to have been condemned long ago; but if it was strong, it ought not to have been destroyed so quickly. “And not only,” he says, “is this trade of ours in danger.” As though saying something greater, he added this. “When they heard this and were filled with rage, they cried out, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’” For they had gods city by city. And they were so disposed as though by their shouting they were recovering her honor and undoing what had been done. … a disorderly multitude. “And when Paul,” it says, “wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not let him.” Paul, then, wanted to go in and address the people; for he took persecutions as an occasion for teaching; but the disciples would not let him. Consider with what forethought they treat him everywhere. From the beginning too they brought him out, so that he might not receive a blow in a vital part; and yet they had heard that he must also see Rome; still they prevent him. He foretells it by design, so that they might not be troubled by what happened. So they did not want him even to suffer anything. “And some of the Asiarchs too,” it says, “begged him not to venture into the theater.” Knowing his eagerness, they begged him; so much did all the believers love him. “And why,” someone says, “did Alexander want to make a defense? Was he himself accused?” So as to find an occasion, and overturn everything and inflame the people’s rage. Did you see the disorderly rage? Well and reprovingly the town clerk says, “Who is there who does not know the city of the Ephesians?” So he spoke about what they feared; as if he said, Does it not worship her? And he did not say, “Who is there who does not know Artemis?” but, “our city,” soothing them. “Since then these things cannot be contradicted, you ought to be quiet.” He seems to rebuke them for this, all but saying: Why then do you search as though the matter were in doubt? It is plain that the insult to the goddess is a pretext for gain. Then he gently reproaches them, showing that they had gathered without reason. “And do nothing rash,” he says. He said this to show that they had acted rashly. “If then Demetrius and those with him have a complaint”: and showing that it was not right to hold a public assembly for private charges. “For we are in danger,” he says, “of being charged.” By this he greatly perplexed them. “There being no cause,” he says, “by which we shall be able to give an account of this commotion.” See how sensibly, how wisely the unbelievers make their defense. So he quenched the rage. For as it is easily kindled, so too it is easily quenched. “And when he had said these things,” it says, “he dismissed the assembly.” You see God allowing the trials, and by them rousing and waking the disciples with violent shocks; “for he himself will also provide the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it.” Nothing so makes friends and binds them together as affliction; nothing so ties together and fastens the souls of the faithful; nothing is so suited to us teachers for having what we say listened to. For a hearer who is at ease is slack and careless, and thinks the speaker is troubling him; but in affliction and distress he falls into a great desire to listen. For when his soul is distressed, he seeks on every side to find comfort for his affliction; and the word brings no small comfort. “What then,” someone says, “of the Jews? How is it that, being afflicted, they did not listen because of their faintheartedness?” Because they were Jews, who were always weak and wretched; and besides, there the affliction was great, but our talk is of a moderate one. For see: those men expected to be freed from the evils that held them, and fell into countless worse terrors instead; and this perplexes the soul not a little. Afflictions cut us off from attachment to the present world; at any rate we at once ask for death, and are not lovers of the body; which is the greatest part of philosophy: not to gape after the present life nor be tied to it. The afflicted soul does not want to be busy about many things, but longs only for some rest and quiet; it is content to be rid of present things, even if there is nothing else. Just as a body that has toiled and been worn out does not want to make love or to feast, but to rest and lie quiet, so too a soul pickled in countless evils hastens toward rest and quiet. The soul at ease is excited, troubled, unsettled; but this one remains steady; and the one is more manly, the other more childish; the one weightier, the other lighter. And just as something light falling into much water is tossed about, so too a soul falling into much joy. And one may see that our greatest sins have come from much pleasure. And if you like, let us sketch two houses, one of people marrying, the other of people mourning; let us go in to each in our discourse and see which is better. The mourner’s will be found full of philosophy, and the marrying man’s full of indecency. For see: there are shameful words, disorderly laughter, still more disorderly dancing, clothing and gait full of indecency, postures of great folly and foolishness; and in short everything there is nothing but laughter and ridicule. I do not mean marriage, God forbid, but the things that go with marriage. Then nature is driven into Bacchic frenzy; those present become beasts instead of men: some neigh like horses, others kick like asses; there is great dissipation, great looseness, nothing serious, nothing noble; there is great pomp of the devil there, cymbals, pipes, and songs full of sexual immorality and adultery. But not so where there is mourning: everything is orderly; for there is great silence, great quiet, great composure, nothing disorderly, nothing out of measure; if anyone says anything, he speaks words full of philosophy; and the wonderful thing is that at that time not only men but also servants and women practice philosophy. Such is the nature of mourning. And they seem to comfort the mourner, but they utter countless sayings full of philosophy: at once prayers that things may stop there, and those who comfort the sufferer are many, and the enumerations of those who have mourned such losses are countless. “For what is man?” And there is an examination of our nature.

“What then is man?” And there is an indictment of life and of its meanness, a reminder of the things to come, of the judgment. Each one goes home: from a wedding grieved, because he himself is not prospering; from mourning relieved, because he has not suffered such things, and he goes away with all the inflammation quenched. But what? Do you want us to compare prisons and theaters? For the one is a place of affliction, the other of pleasure. Come, then, let us see what results from each. There is much philosophy there; for where there is despondency, there is surely philosophy too. The man who was rich before, who was much puffed up, will even bear with an ordinary person talking to him, since fear and despondency fall on his soul like a fierce fire and soften its hardness; then he becomes humble, then gloomy, then he perceives the changes of life, then he is patient toward everything. But in the theater everything is waste of time and needless expense of days, the preparation of a strange desire, the practice of adultery, the training ground of sexual immorality, the school of licentiousness, an incitement to shamefulness, a cause of laughter, examples of indecency. But the prison is not like this; there is humility, comfort, an incitement to philosophy, contempt for the things of this life; … fear stands over him like a tutor over a child, shaping him to all that he ought to do. But if you like, let us examine the same places again in another way. I would like to meet a man coming down from the theater and another coming out of the prison, and you would see the soul of the one …, and of the other relieved, loosed, given wings. For the one goes away from the theater bound by the sight of the women there, bearing bonds harder than any iron: the places there, the words, the postures; but the other, coming out of the prison, released from everything, will no longer think that he suffers anything terrible, comparing his own lot with that of others. He will be grateful from then on that he is not bound; he will despise human affairs, seeing many rich men in misfortunes, men of great power bound there; and if he suffers something unjustly, he will endure this too; for there are many examples of this too there. He will come to think of the coming judgment, and will shudder seeing the places here. For just as one shut up here in a prison is reasonable toward everyone, so they too, before the judgment, before the coming day, will be more reasonable toward wife, toward children, toward servants. But it is not so with one coming from the theater; he will look on his wife with more distaste, will be harsh to his household, will be irritated with his children, will turn savage toward everyone. Theaters bring great evils on cities, great ones, and we do not even know that they are great. And if you are not weary, let us examine also the places of laughter, I mean the banquets, where there are parasites and flatterers and much luxury, and other places where there are the lame and the maimed. Again, there is drunkenness and luxury and dissipation, but here the opposite. See in the case of the body too: when it is inflamed, when it is in high condition, it most quickly falls into disease; but not so when it is kept low. To make what I say clearer to you, suppose a body with much blood and much flesh, and bursting with vigor: this one will be able to breed a fever even from ordinary food, if it is simply idle. But let another be thinned rather by hunger and affliction: this one is hard to catch and hard to overcome by sickness. Blood, even if it is healthy in us, has often by its abundance produced disease; but if it is little, even if it is not healthy, it can easily be dealt with. So too with the soul: the one at ease and in luxury has impulses quick to tip toward sin; for such a soul stands near to arrogance and pleasure and vainglory and envy and plots and false accusations; but not the one in affliction and self-sufficiency: it is free of all these. See how great a city ours is, this great one. Where then are evils born? Is it not from the rich? Is it not from those who are merry? Who drag people into the courts? Who squander estates? The wretched and the outcast, or those who are puffed up and merry? No evil can come from an afflicted soul. Paul knows its gain; that is why he says, “Affliction produces endurance, and endurance proven character, and proven character hope, and hope does not put to shame.” So let us not lose heart in afflictions, but give thanks in all things, so that we may gain something great, so that we may win approval with God, who allows afflictions. Affliction is a great good; and we learn this from our own children; for without affliction a child would learn nothing useful. And we need affliction more than they. For if those things flourish in them while their passions are quiet, much more in us, especially as we are held by so many passions. We ought rather to have tutors; for the sins of children could not be great, but ours are very great. And affliction is our tutor. So let us not draw it on ourselves, and when it comes let us bear it nobly, since it is always the cause of countless good things, so that we may enjoy the help of God and the good things laid up for those who love him, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“After the uproar had ceased, Paul [sent for] the disciples, and having embraced them, he departed to go into Macedonia.” There was need of much encouragement after that disturbance. This, then, is what he does: to encourage the disciples he comes to Macedonia, then to Greece. And that he encouraged them greatly, hear: “When he had gone through those regions and had encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. He was accompanied by … Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and … and Trophimus. These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas.” Again he is persecuted by the Jews, and comes to Macedonia. But how does he call Timothy a Thessalonian? He does not say this; but, “These,” he says, “went on ahead … and we sailed away after the days of Unleavened Bread from Philippi, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.” For it seems to me that he was eager to keep the feasts in the great cities. He sails from Philippi, where the events of the prison had taken place. And this was the third time [he was among the Macedonians]; that is why he stays there. “On the first day of the week, [when we were gathered to break bread,] Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and he prolonged his speech until midnight.” See how everything was secondary to the preaching. It was then Pentecost, and it was the Lord’s Day; and he prolongs the teaching even until midnight. So eager was he for the disciples’ salvation that not even at night was he silent, but rather he talked then, since it was quiet. See how he talked much, even at the very time of the meal. But the devil threw the feast into confusion; yet he did not prevail, having overwhelmed the hearer with sleep and brought him down. And how it happened he explained, adding: “There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer; and being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and embracing him said, ‘Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.’ And when he had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, and had talked a long while, [until daybreak, he so departed. And they brought] the boy alive, and were not a little comforted.” Look at the audience, how packed it was: “When the disciples were gathered,” it says; and the sign, what a sign! “For he was sitting,” it says, “at the window,” and at the dead of night. So great was the longing to hear. Let us be ashamed, we who do not do this even by day. “But it was Paul,” someone says, “who was talking then.” What do you say? Paul talks now too; or rather, neither then was it Paul, nor now, but Christ, and no one listens. Now there is no window, no hunger, no sleep troubles you, and yet we do not listen; there is no cramped place, nothing else of the kind. And the wonderful thing is that, though he was a young man, he was not careless; and when overcome by sleep he did not leave, nor did he fear the danger of falling. And if he dozed and fell, do not wonder; for he did not doze from carelessness, but from the necessity of nature. But consider with me that they were so on fire with eagerness that they were even in the third story; for there was not yet a church building. “Do not be troubled,” he says, “for his life is in him.” He did not say, “He will rise, for I will raise him,” but what? “Do not be troubled.” See his freedom from pride, and his comforting. “And when he had gone up,” it says, “and had broken bread and eaten.” This interrupted the discourse, but did not harm it. Do you see how plain the meal was? “And having eaten,” it says, “and talked a long while, until daybreak, he so departed.” Do you see how they spent the night? Such were the tables then, that the hearers went away sober again and were fit for listening. In what do we differ from dogs? Do you see how great the difference is? “And they brought the boy alive, and were not a little comforted.” They are greatly comforted, both because they received him alive and because a sign had taken place. “But we went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there; for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, …” Paul separates himself from the disciples. For see, again he goes on foot while they set sail in the ship; he gives the lighter part to them and chooses the more toilsome himself. He went on foot, at the same time arranging many things, and at the same time training them to bear being separated from him. “And sailing from there, on the following day we came opposite …; and the next day [we touched] at Samos; and after staying at Trogyllium, the day after we came to Miletus.” See how, with Paul hastening, they set sail and do not delay, but pass by the islands. “For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.”

What is this haste? Not for the sake of the feast, but for the sake of the multitude. At the same time by this he drew the Jews to him, as one who honored the feasts; and, wishing to win over his enemies, he hastened at the same time to bring down the word among them. See, at any rate, what gain there was, with everyone present. Besides, so that the affairs of Ephesus might not be neglected because of this, he arranged things otherwise. But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “And having embraced the disciples,” it says, “he departed to go into Macedonia; and having encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece.” And by this he restored them again, giving them ample comfort. See how everywhere he achieves everything through words, not through signs. “As he was about to set sail,” it says, “for Syria.” He continually shows him to us hastening toward Syria. The reason was the church, and Jerusalem; so much did he long to set things right there too. And yet Troas is not large; why then do they spend a number of seven days in it? Perhaps it was large in its believers. And having spent seven days there, on the following day he spent the night in teaching; so hard was it for him to tear himself from them, and for them to tear themselves from him. “When we were gathered,” it says, “to break bread.” At the very time when he showed hunger (and it was not untimely), the discourse took its start and was prolonged; so that he did not come down principally to teach, but they had come together to break bread, and when the discourse came up, he prolonged the teaching. See how all shared Paul’s table. It seems to me that he talked even while sitting at table, teaching us to count everything else as secondary. Picture to me that house, where the lamps were, where the crowd was, where Paul stood in the midst and talked, where many even took the windows, so as to hear that trumpet and see that gracious face. What must those being taught have been like, and how much pleasure must they have gathered? And why did he talk at night? Since he was about to leave and would no longer see them; but this he does not say to them, since they were weaker, though he said it to the others. At the same time, the sign that took place made them always remember that evening. Great was the pleasure of the hearers, since even when interrupted it was only heightened; so that the fall turned out to the teacher’s advantage. Besides, that young man would rebuke all the careless, he who died for this, in order to hear Paul. “And why,” someone says, “does he list everything: where they came, where they went away, where he stayed, and what places he sailed past?” To show for the moment that he sailed more slowly, and this in a human way, and sailed past. “For he had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not,” it says, “have to spend time in Asia.” Rightly; for once there, he could not have sailed past, since he did not want to grieve those who would beg him to stay. This, then, is what one can say; and that he was in haste. “For he was hastening,” it says, “if it were possible for him, to keep the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem.” So for this reason too it was not possible to stay. See him moved in a human way too, desiring and hastening and often not succeeding. For this is why these things happen, so that we may not think that he was above human nature. For those holy and great men shared the same nature as we do, but not the same will; that is why they drew down much grace. See, at any rate, how many things they arrange of themselves. That is why he said, “so that we may give no offense to those who want it”; and again, “so that our ministry may not be blamed.” See both a blameless life and great condescension. This is called management: to be at the summit and height of virtue, and of humble condescension. And hear how the one who went beyond Christ’s commands was again the humblest of all: “I have become all things to all,” he says, “that I might win all.” The same man threw himself into dangers, as he says elsewhere: “In much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in prisons.” And great was his longing for Christ. For if this is lacking, everything is superfluous, both the management and the blameless life and the life of danger. “Who is weak,” he says, “and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?” [3] Let us too imitate these words, I beg you, and throw ourselves into dangers for our brothers. Even if there is fire, even if there is the sword, throw yourself in, beloved, to rescue your member; throw yourself in, do not be afraid. You are a disciple of Christ, who laid down his life for his brothers; a fellow disciple of Paul, who chose to suffer countless terrible things for his enemies, for those who were at war with him. Be filled with zeal; imitate Moses. He saw a man being wronged and defended him; he despised royal luxury, and for the sake of the oppressed became an exile, a wanderer, bereft of kinsmen and home. He lived so long a time in a foreign land, and did not complain to himself or say, “What is this? I despised a kingdom, so great an honor and glory; I chose to defend the wronged, and God has overlooked me, and not only has he not restored me to my former honor, but I spend forty years in a foreign land. A fine reward! I have not received my wages.” But he said and thought nothing of this. So you too: even if you suffer some evil for doing good, even if …, God will certainly repay you the reward. The longer the repayment is delayed, the more the interest grows. So let us have a sympathetic soul; let us have a mind that knows how to share pain; let nothing among us be cruel, nothing inhuman. Even if you can contribute nothing, weep, groan, grieve over what happens; not even these things will be in vain for you. If one must share the pain of those justly punished by God, much more of those who suffer unjustly at the hands of men. “The inhabitants of Zaanan,” it says, “did not come out to mourn for the house next to them; they will receive pain for … ,” because they did not share the pain. What are you saying, prophet? God punishes, and shall I share the pain of those being punished? Yes; for this is what the punisher himself wants; for he himself is not pleased in punishing, but rather is grieved. Since, then, not even he who punishes rejoices, do not you rejoice either. “But if they are punished justly,” someone says, “one ought not to grieve.” And yet one ought to grieve for this very reason, that they have proved deserving of punishment. Tell me, when you see your son being cauterized or cut, do you not grieve? Obviously you do; and you do not say to yourself, “What is this? The cutting looks to health; the burning is for his release.” But still, when you hear him wailing, unable to bear the pains, you grieve, and the hope of health is not enough to remove the turmoil of nature. So too in these cases: even if they are punished for their health, let us show toward them a brotherly will and a fatherly disposition. God’s punishments are cuttings and burnings; but we ought to weep for this, that they fell sick, that they needed such treatment. If someone suffers these things for crowns, like Paul, like Peter, then do not grieve; but when he pays the penalty as a punishment, then weep, then groan. Such were the prophets. That is why one of them said, “Alas, O Lord, will you wipe out the remnant of Israel?” We see murderers, vile men, often being punished, and we are stung and grieved. Let us not be philosophers beyond measure; let us become merciful, so that we may obtain mercy. Nothing equals this good; nothing so shows the human character in us as showing mercy, as loving humankind. That is why the laws too entrust everything to the executioners, compelling the judge to punish only as far as the sentence, and bring those men out for the deed. So, even if it is done justly, punishing is not for a philosophic soul, but needs someone else; since God too does not punish by himself, but through the angels. Are the angels executioners, then? God forbid! I do not say that, but they are powers that carry out punishment. When Sodom was overthrown, everything was done through them; when the things in Egypt happened, through them. “He sent,” it says, “a mission of evil angels.” But when he must save, he does it himself; so he sent the Son for the salvation of the race. And again: “Then,” he says, “I will say to the angels, ‘Gather those who do lawlessness, and throw them into the furnace.’” But of the righteous not so, but, “He who receives you receives me”; and again, “Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness.” See there the servants ministering; but when he must do good, he himself does good, he himself calls: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” When he must speak with Abraham, he himself comes; when he must go to Sodom, he sends his servants, like a judge who appoints those who are to punish. And again: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many.” And this one he blesses himself; but that wicked one, not he himself, but servants bind. Knowing these things, let us not rejoice over those who are punished, but grieve as well; let us mourn for them, let us weep for them, so that we may receive the reward for this too. But now many rejoice even over those who suffer ill unjustly. But let us not do so, but let us show every sympathy, so that we too may be counted worthy of the love for humankind that comes from God, by the grace and love for humankind of his Only-begotten, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called [the elders of the church]. And when they came to him, he said to them: ‘You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with you with all humility and with many tears and trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.’” See him, though hastening to sail past, not overlooking them, but arranging everything. He sends for the leaders, and goes through what is said in their presence. And it is worth wondering how, having fallen under the necessity of saying great things about himself, he tries to be moderate. For just as Samuel, about to hand over the rule to Saul, says in their presence, “Have I taken anything from you? You are witnesses, and God”; and David, when disbelieved, says, “I was in the flock, shepherding my father’s sheep, and when the bear came, I drove it off with my hands”; and Paul himself says to the Corinthians, “I have become a fool; you compelled me”; and God too does this very thing, not speaking of himself idly, but when he is disbelieved he brings forward his benefits as well. See then what he does here too: first he brings forward their own testimony, so that you may not think the words a boast, and he calls the hearers themselves as witnesses of what is said, as one who would not lie in their presence. This is a teacher’s excellence, when he has as witnesses of his own achievements those who are being taught. And the wonderful thing is that he kept doing this not for one day or two, but for a great number of years. “For you know,” he says, “how I lived among you the whole time.” He wants, then, to encourage them to bear everything nobly, both his separation from them and the trials that were going to happen, as happened also in the case of Moses and Joshua. And see what he added, saying, “How I lived among you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility.” See what most befits rulers: “hating pride,” it says; which most befits rulers because they are necessarily lifted up toward arrogance. This is the foundation of good things, as Christ too said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” And he did not simply say “with humility,” but “with all humility.” For there are many kinds of humility; and one can see humility in word, in deed, toward rulers, toward the ruled. Do you want me to tell you the ways of humility? There are some who are humble toward the humble, and lofty toward the lofty; this is not humility. And there are others again not like this, but who in the case of both sorts of persons keep both the humble and the lofty for the right occasion; and this above all is humility. Being about to teach them such things, then, so that he might not seem arrogant, he lays a foundation beforehand, removing the suspicion. For if I have lived with all humility, he says, I do not say what I say from arrogance. Then his gentleness: “I lived among you,” he says, “serving the Lord,” showing them to be partners in the achievement. So everywhere partnership is a fine thing. He makes the achievements common, then, and sets nothing of his own apart. “For what?” someone says. “Could he be arrogant against God?” And yet there are many who are arrogant against him; but this man was not arrogant even toward his own disciples. This is a teacher’s achievement: to shape his disciples by his own achievements. Then his courage, which he also cuts short: “With many tears and trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews.” Do you see that he grieves at what happens? But here he seems to show also his compassion; for he suffered for those who were perishing, for those very men who did these things; since for what was done against himself he even rejoiced; for he belonged to that company who rejoiced that they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for his name. And again elsewhere he says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you”; and again, “For the momentary … an eternal weight of glory works for us.” But these things he says in moderation. Here he shows his courage, and not so much his courage as his endurance; as if he said, “I suffered ill, but with you; and the terrible thing is, at the hands of Jews.” Look here at the stamp of his teaching: he sets down both his love and his courage. “How I did not shrink from anything,” he says. By these words he shows at once his freedom from envy and his freedom from sloth. “Anything that was profitable.” Rightly did he speak so; for there were things they ought not to learn. And as hiding something is the mark of envy, so saying everything is the mark of folly. That is why he added “that was profitable,” showing that I not only spoke but also taught; not, he says, as discharging this as a formality. And that this is what he means, hear what follows; for he added, “in public and from house to house,” showing his long toil, his great zeal and his endurance. “Testifying both to Jews and to Greeks.” Not to you only, he says, but also to Greeks. Here is boldness; and that one must speak even if we do no good; for this is what testifying is, when we speak to those who do not attend; for testifying is, for the most part, this. “I call heaven and earth to witness,” says Moses; and now he himself: “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God.”

What do you testify? That they should take care of their life; that they should repent and come to God. For the Jews did not know him either, both because they were ignorant of the Son, and because of their works, and because they did not have faith in the Lord Jesus. Why then do you say these things? Why do you remind us of them? What has happened? Do you have some charge to bring? Having first shaken their mind, he then adds: “And now, see, I am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I make no account of anything, nor do I hold my life precious to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Why does he say these things? Preparing them always to be ready for dangers, both known and unknown, and to obey the Spirit in everything. And he shows that he is being led away for great things. “Except that the Holy Spirit,” he says, “testifies to me in every city, saying.” To show that he goes willingly, and so that you might not think it bonds or necessity, he said “in every city.” Then he adds: “I do not hold my life precious, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus.” Do you see that the words are not those of one lamenting, but of one speaking with moderation and teaching them and sharing their feelings about what was happening? He did not say, “We grieve, but we must bear it”; but not even, “I consider.” This again he says not exalting himself, but teaching them: by the earlier words humility, and by these courage and boldness; as if he said, I do not love my life more than this; I count it more precious to finish the course, to testify. And he did not say, “to preach,” “to teach,” but what? “To testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” He is about to say something more burdensome: “I am clean of the blood of all.” That is why he prepares the way beforehand, and shows that nothing is lacking. Since, then, he was about to lay the whole weight and burden on them, he first softened their mind, saying, “And now, see, I know that you will no longer see my face.” Then he brought out the words, “I am clean of the blood of all.” The grief was then double: that they would no longer see his face, and that this was said to them all. “For you will no longer see my face,” he says, “all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom. Therefore I testify to you” (with reason, since I will no longer be present) “that I am clean of the blood of all. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Do you see how he frightens them, though their souls were worn out and afflicted? Rightly, for it was necessary. “For I did not shrink,” he says, “from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” So the one who does not speak is answerable for the blood, that is, for the slaughter. Nothing is more fearful than this. He shows that they too, if they do not do it, are answerable for the blood. And he seems to be making his own defense, but he is frightening them. “Take heed, then, to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Do you see? He gave two commands. For neither does setting others right alone bring any gain (“For I fear,” he says, “lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified”), nor does taking care of oneself alone. For such a man is a lover of self and seeks only his own, and is like the one who buried the talent. He says this not because our salvation is more precious than the flock’s, but because when we take heed to ourselves, then the flock too gains. “In which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God.” See how many necessities! You have your ordination from the Spirit, he says; for this is what “has made” means. This is one necessity; then, “to shepherd the church of God”: see, a second too; and a third, “which,” he says, “he obtained with his own blood.” By what he said he shows that the matter is very precious, and that the danger is not over small things, if the Master did not spare even his own blood for the church, while we despise the salvation of our brothers. And he poured out his blood to reconcile enemies, while you cannot even hold on to those who have become friends. “For I know this, that after my departure fierce [wolves] will come in among you, not sparing the flock.” Again he turns them from another quarter, from what is to come; as when he says elsewhere, “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh.” “That after my departure,” he says, “fierce wolves will come in among you.” The evil is double: that he himself is not present, and that others will attack. “Why then do you go away, if you foresee this?” The Spirit draws me, he says. [3] And see: he did not simply say “wolves,” but added “fierce,” hinting at their violence and recklessness; and what is worse, he says that these very men will rise up from among them; which is very grievous, when the war is also civil war. And he rightly said, “Take heed,” showing that the matter needs great care (for it is the church), and that the danger is great (for he redeemed it with blood), and that the war is great and double. These things, then, he made plain when he said, “And from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Then, since he had frightened them greatly by speaking of fierce wolves, and of those speaking perverse things arising from among them, as though someone were at a loss and asked, “How then? And what guard will there be?”, he adds, saying, “Be watchful, [remembering that for three years night and day I did not] cease to admonish each one with tears.” See how many superlatives: with tears, and night and day, and each one. For he did not spare himself because he saw many, but knew how to do everything even for one soul. So, at any rate, he knit them together. What he means is this: what I have done is enough; I stayed three years; they have been sufficiently strengthened, sufficiently rooted. “With tears,” he says. Do you see that the tears were for this? Let us too do these things. The wicked man does not grieve: you grieve, and perhaps he too will grieve. Just as when the sick man sees the physician taking food, he too is encouraged; so it will be here: if he sees you lamenting, he will be softened; he will become a good and gentle man. “Not knowing,” he says, “what will happen to me.” What then? Is that why you go? Not at all; but I know very well that bonds and afflictions await me. That trials await me I know, but what kind I do not know; which was harder. So do not think that I say these things lamenting: I do not hold my life precious. He says these things to raise up their mind, and to persuade them not only not to flee, but also to bear things nobly. That is why he calls the matter a course and a ministry: the one showing its brilliance, from the race; the other its obligation, from the ministry. I am a servant, he says; I have nothing more. Having comforted them, so that they might not grieve over his sufferings, and having said that he bears these things with joy, and having shown the fruit, he then brings in what is painful. And he does this so as not to overwhelm their mind. What is this? “And from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things.” “What then,” someone might say, “do you think so much of yourself that, if you go away, we perish?” I do not say, he says, that my absence does this; but what? That some will rise up against you. He did not say, “because of my departure,” but “after my departure,” that is, my going abroad; and yet this had already happened; and if it had happened, much more will it happen afterward. Then the cause too: “to draw away the disciples after them.” So heresies come from nothing else but this. Then comfort as well: “which he obtained,” he says, “with his own blood.” And if he obtained it with his own blood, he will surely protect it. “Night and day,” he says, “I did not cease to admonish with tears.” These things might rightly be said to us; and the word seems to be addressed especially to teachers, but it is common to the disciples as well. For what if I speak and exhort and weep night and day, and the disciple does not obey? For so that no one might think that being a disciple and not yielding is enough for a defense, therefore, having said “I testify,” he added, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you.” So this alone is the teacher’s part: to declare, to preach, to teach, not to shrink back, to exhort night and day; but when, with these things done, nothing more comes of it, you know what remains. Then another defense too: that “I am clean of the blood of all.” Do not think that these things are said to us only; for this word is addressed to you too, that you should attend to what is said, that you should not run away from the hearing … What shall I do? See, every day I split myself shouting: “Keep away from the theaters,” and many laugh at us; “Keep away from swearing, from greed”; we give countless exhortations, and no one listens. But do I not speak at night? I would have liked to do this at night too, and at your tables, if it were possible to be divided into ten thousand pieces and to be present with you and talk with you; but if we call you once a week and you are reluctant, and some of you do not even come, and those who come go away having gained nothing more, what would you not have done if we did this continually? What shall we do? Many, I know, even disparage us because we always talk about the same things … not you, but the hearers themselves. For the one who does right always rejoices to hear the same things, as though praises of himself were being spoken; but the one who does not want to do right thinks himself troubled, and even if he hears a thing only twice, thinks he hears it often. “I am clean of the blood of all,” he says.

It befitted Paul to say this; but we do not dare to say it, being conscious of ten thousand faults. Therefore it befitted that man to say it, who was always watchful and attentive, who did everything for the salvation of those he discipled; but we will say the words of Moses: “The Lord was angry with me because of you,” because … into many sins. … seeing that you do not make progress, does not most of our strength fail? For tell me, what has happened? See, by the grace of God we too now have three years, exhorting not night and day, but often doing this every three days or every seven. What has happened? … we [weep], if not openly, then in the heart. And those tears are much harder than these; for those bring some comfort to the despondent, but these increase and tighten it. So too when someone is in despondency and cannot bring out his pain, so as not to seem vainglorious, he suffers more than if he had brought it out. If no one would judge me guilty of excessive ambition, you would see me every day pouring out fountains of tears; but these are known to my little room and my solitude. For believe me, I have despaired of my own salvation, but in lamenting your affairs I have no leisure even to mourn my own evils; so much are you everything to me. And if I perceive that you are making progress, I do not feel my own evils for pleasure; and if I see that you are not making progress, I pass over my own again for despondency: cheerful at your good things, even if I have countless troubles; gloomy at your sorrows, even if I have countless achievements. For what hope has a teacher when the flock is corrupted? What life, what expectation? With what boldness will he stand before God? What will he say? For let us suppose that he is not even accused, nor pays a penalty, but is clean of the blood of all; even so he will suffer incurable grief; since fathers too, though they will not be accused on behalf of their children, nevertheless grieve and are stung. “And this does not help them at all,” one says, “nor protect them, that they keep watch over our souls?” But they keep watch as those who will give account; and to some this seems fearful, but to me it is of no account after your destruction. For whether I give account or do not, it is no help to me. May it be that you are saved, and that I give account for your sake; that you are saved, and I am accused as not having fulfilled my part. For I am not concerned that you be saved through me, but only that you be saved, through anyone at all. Do you not know the tyranny of spiritual birth pangs, how one in labor with this birth would choose to be cut to pieces ten thousand times rather than see one of those born perishing and corrupted? How shall we persuade you? From nothing else; but by what is done we shall clear ourselves in all that concerns you. We too can say that we have not shrunk back; but still we grieve; and that we grieve is clear from the countless things we contrive and devise. And yet it was possible to say to you yourselves: “What do I care? I have done my part; I am clean of the blood.” But this is not enough for comfort. If it were possible to tear open our heart and show it, you would see all of you within it with much room to spare, women and children and men; for such is the power of love: it makes the soul wider than heaven. “Make room for us,” said Paul; “we have wronged no one; you are not restricted in us.” This is what we too say now: “Make room for us.” That man had all Corinth in his heart, and said, “You too be enlarged; you are not restricted.” But I could not say this myself; for I know well that you too love us and make room for us. But what is the gain of my love or of yours, when what is according to God does not advance for us? It is a cause of greater despondency, an occasion of more harm. I have nothing to accuse you of: “For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.” “We were yearning to share with you not only the gospel but also our own lives.” We are loved and we love; but this is not what is sought. Let us, then, love Christ first; for the first commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God,” and the second is like it, “and your neighbor as yourself.” We have the second; we need the first; both I and you need the first in great abundance. We have it, but not as we ought. Let us love him: you know how great a reward is laid up for those who have loved Christ. Let us love him with warmth of soul, so that, enjoying his goodwill, we may escape the surge of the present life, and be counted worthy to obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And now I commend you, brothers, to God and [to the word of his grace, which is able to build you] up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” What he does when writing letters he does also when giving counsel: from exhortation he ends in prayer. For since he had frightened them greatly by saying that fierce wolves would come in among them, so as not to strike their minds with terror and destroy them, see the comfort. “And now,” he says. He spoke so, showing by this that it was as always. “I commend you, brothers, to God and to the word of his grace,” that is, to his grace. And he rightly spoke so; for he knows that grace saves. He continually reminds them of grace, making them more earnest, as debtors, and persuading them to take courage. “To him who is able to build you up further.” He did not say “to build,” but “to build further,” showing that they had already been built. Then he reminded them of the hope to come, saying, “and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Then exhortation again: “I coveted no one’s silver,” he says, “or gold or clothing.” He removes the root of evils, the love of money. “Silver,” he says, “or gold.” He did not say, “I did not take,” but, “I did not even covet.” This is not yet great; what follows is great: “You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my needs and to those who were with me. In all things [I showed you that by laboring like this one must help] the weak.” See him using work, and not simply working, but toiling. “These hands ministered to my needs and to those who were with me.” This he says to shame them. And see how worthily: for he did not say, “to be above money,” but what? “to help the weak”; not simply all, but the weak. “And to remember the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” So that no one might think it was said to them, and that he was giving them an example, as he says elsewhere, “giving you an example,” he added the declaration of Christ, who says, “It is more blessed to give than [to receive],” … the same by deed too. “And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all”; not simply, but with great compunction. Great is the encouragement; and by saying, “I commend you to the Lord,” he encourages them. “And there was much weeping on the part of all, and they fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, grieving most of all for the word he had spoken, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.” He said, “Fierce wolves will come in”; he said, “I am clean of the blood of all”; both were fearful and enough to grieve them; but what pained them most of all was to hear that they would see him no more; and this made the war hard. “And they accompanied him,” it says, “to the ship.” So much did they love him, so were they disposed toward him. “And when we had torn ourselves from them and set sail, we ran a straight course and came to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. And finding a ship [crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When] we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre.” See: he came to Lycia, and crossing to Phoenicia, leaving Cyprus, he put in at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo. This was the reason for going to Tyre. “And finding the disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.” See, they too prophesy the afflictions. It is arranged that it be said through them too, so that no one might think that Paul says these things idly and boasts. And again there, after praying, they part from one another. “When our days were ended, [we departed and went on our way,] all of them escorting us with wives and children until we were outside the city; and kneeling down on the beach we prayed. And having said farewell to one another, we went on board the ship, and they returned home. When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, [greeted the brothers, and stayed] one day with them. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.” “Coming to Caesarea,” it says, “we stayed with Philip, one of the seven. He had four daughters who prophesied.” But they do not foretell to Paul, although prophesying. “[While] we [were staying] many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea; and coming to us, he took Paul’s belt, and binding his own hands and feet he said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit: So will the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and they will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” He who long ago announced the famine is the one who says, “So will they bind the man who owns this belt.” What the prophets did, sketching events before the eyes, when they spoke of captivity, as Ezekiel did, this man did too. And the hard thing is, “they will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” “When we heard this, we and the people there begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.” And many begged him not to go, and not even so did he obey. “Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying, ‘The will of the Lord be done.’” [2] Do you see? So that you might not, on hearing “I am going bound in the Spirit,” think it a matter of necessity, nor that he fell into it unknowing, these things are foretold. But they wept, and he encouraged them, grieved at their tears. “For what are you doing,” he says, “weeping and breaking my heart?” Nothing is more affectionate than Paul: because he saw them weeping, he who did not suffer over his own trials grieved. You wrong me by doing this, he says; for do I grieve? They stopped then, when he said, “What are you doing, breaking my heart?” I weep over you, he says, not over the sufferings; for for those I am even willing to die. Let us look at what was said from the beginning. “I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing,” he says; “you yourselves know that these hands ministered to my needs and to those who were with me.” So it was not only in Corinth that those who corrupted the disciples did this, but in Asia too. Nowhere does he reproach the Ephesians with this when writing to them. Why? Because he did not fall into the necessity. But he also says to the Corinthians, “This boast of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.” And he did not say, “You did not give to me,” but, “I did not covet silver or gold or clothing,” so that the not giving might not seem to be theirs. And he did not say, “I coveted none of the necessities,” lest again it seem an accusation of them; but he hints at this, that he reasonably took nothing, since he was even feeding others. See how earnestly the man worked, who night and day was reasoning with tears, admonishing each one. “In all things I showed you that by laboring like this one must help the weak.” By saying this he frightened them again. What he means is this: You cannot take refuge in ignorance; I showed you by deeds that one must work, toiling like this. And he did not say that it is bad to take, but that it is better not to take. “And to remember,” he says, “the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” And where did he say it? Perhaps the apostles handed it down unwritten; or it is clear from things from which one might infer it. For he has shown his boldness toward dangers, his compassion toward those he ruled, his teaching with boldness, his humility, his poverty; and this is greater even than poverty. For if there he says, “Sell your possessions, if you wish to be perfect,” when someone, besides receiving nothing, also feeds others, what equals this? One step, then, is to throw away one’s own; a second, to provide for oneself; a third, for others too; a fourth, that one who preaches and has the right to receive should not receive; so that this man was far better than those who have no possessions. And he rightly said, “So one must help the weak.” For this belongs to compassion toward the weak, to give from one’s own labors; but to give from others’ is not only not good, but even risky. “And falling on his neck,” it says, “they wept.” This shows their disposition toward him. They fell on his neck, embracing him for the last time, and having received from the speech great love and affection. For if we groan when we simply part from one another, though we know we shall receive one another back, how could those men then be torn from Paul without feeling? I think Paul too wept. “Having torn ourselves away,” it says. By saying “having torn ourselves from them” he shows also the force used. And rightly; for otherwise they could not have put to sea. What is “we ran a straight course and came to Cos”? Instead of: We did not go around, nor did we stay in other places. “And the next day,” he says, “to Rhodes.” See him hastening. “And finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia.” Perhaps it was staying there; so they board it, not finding another going to Caesarea. “… Cyprus, and leaving it on the left.” This is not said idly, but to show that he did not think it right even to come near it, sailing straight for Syria; so he hastened. Then, “and we landed at Tyre,” it says, “and finding disciples, we stayed with them.” When they were near Jerusalem, they no longer run, but even stay with the brothers seven days. Count the days with me now. After the days of Unleavened Bread they came to Troas in five days; then there seven: twelve in all; then to … and to Miletus: eighteen days in all. Then to Cos, to Rhodes, to Patara: twenty-one; then from there in five days to Tyre: twenty-six; then there seven: thirty-three; then to Ptolemais one: thirty-four; then at Caesarea he stays more days than elsewhere; and then the prophet brings them up from there. So Pentecost is completed, and he keeps it there. See him obeying when the Spirit did not hinder. They said, “Do not venture into the theater,” and he did not; often they brought him out, and he obeyed; through a window again he fled; and now, when, so to speak, ten thousand were begging him, those in Tyre and those in Caesarea, weeping and foretelling countless terrors, he does not give way. And yet they foretold the terrors not idly, but through the Spirit. If, then, the Spirit commanded it, why did they oppose him? Because they did not know what seemed good to the Spirit. And besides, they did not make the exhortation through the Spirit either. For they did not simply foretell the terrors to him, but said that he ought not to go up, sparing him. “But when our days were ended,” it says, that is, completed; and he means the appointed days; “all escorting us with wives and children.”

See how great the encouragement was; and again they part with prayer. And at Ptolemais they stay one day, but at Caesarea more. And when he heard that he was to suffer countless terrors, then he hastens on, not throwing himself into dangers, but thinking that the command was the Spirit’s. “After these days … to Jerusalem,” that is, having taken what was needed for the journey. “And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge. When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.” And see: Agabus did not say, “They will bind Paul,” so that he might not seem to speak by arrangement, but, “the man who owns this belt.” So he even had a belt. Since they could not persuade him, that is why they wept, and then fell silent. Do you see philosophy? Do you see affection? “We fell silent,” it says, “saying, ‘The will of the Lord be done.’” “Bringing us,” it says, “to the house of the one with whom we were to lodge.” So not to the church. For then, when they went up about the decrees, they are lodged in the church; but now with an early disciple. He shows that the preaching had by now gone on a long time; hence it seems to me that this writer cuts short many years in the Acts, telling only what was pressing. What is “The will of the Lord be done”? The Lord himself, he says, will do what is pleasing in his sight. And they fall silent, and do not compel him. Perhaps they perceived that it was God’s will, guessing this from Paul’s eagerness; for Paul would not have been so eager, nor would God, who always snatched him out of dangers, have allowed it. So they did not want to burden the church, since there was another to lodge them. “The brothers received us,” it says. By now affairs among the Jews were full of peace, and there was no war as before. “Bringing us,” it says, “to the house of the one with whom …” Perhaps one of you will say, “If someone had given me Paul to lodge, I would have done it readily and with great eagerness.” See, you may lodge Paul’s Master, and you do not want to: “For he who receives,” he says, “one of the least, receives me.” The more the brother is least, the more Christ comes through him. For one who receives a great man often does it from vainglory too; but one who receives a small one does it purely for Christ’s sake. You may lodge even Christ’s Father, and you do not want to: “For I was a stranger,” he says, “and you took me in”; and again, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.” Even if he is not Paul, but is a believer and a brother, even if he is the least, Christ comes through him. Open your house; take him in. “He who receives a prophet,” he says, “will receive a prophet’s reward.” So too he who receives Christ will receive the reward of one who lodges Christ. Do not disbelieve his words, but be faithful. He himself said, “Through them I come”; and so that you may not disbelieve, he appoints punishments for those who do not receive, and honors for those who receive; he would not have done this unless he himself were the one honored and the one insulted. You received me, he says, into your lodging; I will receive you into the kingdom of my Father. You relieved my hunger; I will release your sins. You saw me bound; I make you seen released. You saw me a stranger; I make you a citizen of heaven. You gave me bread; I give you a whole kingdom, to inherit and possess. “For come,” he says, “inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” He did not say, “Take,” but “Inherit,” which is said of those who own a thing properly, as when we say, “I inherited this.” You did it to me in secret; I will proclaim it openly; and what you did I say was of grace, but what I do is of debt. For since you …, I am not ashamed to confess the benefits done to me, nor from what you freed me: from hunger and nakedness and wandering. You saw me bound; you will not see the fire of hell. You saw me sick; you will not see the torments or the punishments. O hands truly blessed, which serve such ministries, which are counted worthy to minister to Christ! Feet that walk to prisons for Christ’s sake will easily dare the fire; hands that saw him bound will not experience bonds. You clothed him with a garment, and you put on the garment of salvation; you were in prison with him, and you are in the kingdom with him. These things he confesses, not ashamed, but knowing that you visited him. The patriarch did not know that he was lodging angels, and he lodged them. Let us be ashamed, I beg you: he sat at noon, being in a foreign land, where he had not even a foot’s length; he was a stranger, and the stranger lodged strangers; for he was a citizen of heaven. That is why, though he was on earth, he was a stranger. We are more strangers than that stranger, since we do not receive strangers. He had no house, and his lodging was the tent. And see the lavishness: he killed a calf, and does this through his wife. Consider also his freedom from pride: he bows down … For one who lodges strangers must have all these: eagerness, cheerfulness, generosity. For the stranger’s soul blushes and is ashamed; and if one does not show joy in abundance, he goes away as one slighted, and to have been received so has become worse than not to have been received. That is why he bows down, that is why he welcomes them with words, that is why with a seat. For who would have been at a loss, knowing that this was his work? “But are we not in a foreign land?” But if we are willing, we shall be able to imitate him. How many of the brothers are strangers? There is a common house of the church; … at the doors, receive those who come; and if you do not want to receive them into your houses, then supply their needs in another way. “What then?” someone says. “Does the church not have means?” It has; but what is this to you? Can it benefit you that they are fed from the common funds of the church? If another prays, need you not pray? Why do you not say, “What then? Do the priests not pray? Why should I pray?” “But I give,” someone says, “to the one who cannot lodge there.” Give at least to him; for what we strive for is this, that you give at all. Hear what Paul says: “so that it may help those who are truly widows, and the church not be burdened.” Do it as you like; only do it. But I do not say, “so that the church not be burdened,” but, “so that you are not burdened”; for by this reasoning you will do nothing, entrusting everything to it. That is why there is a common house set apart by the church, so that you may not say these things. “But the church has expenses,” someone says; “it has money and revenues.” Tell me, does it not have outlays? Does it not have daily expense? “Yes,” he says. Why then do you not help the moderate means of the church? I am ashamed to say these things; but I compel no one. If anyone thinks that what is said is for the sake of gain, let him make himself a guest room in his own house: set a bed there, set a table there and a lamp. For is it not absurd that, if soldiers come, you should have rooms set apart for them, and take care of them, and supply them everything, because they defend you in this visible war, while strangers have nowhere to stay? … the church. Do you want to shame us? Do this: outdo us in generosity; have a room where Christ comes in; say, “This is Christ’s cell; this house is set apart for him.” Even if it is a lodging and humble, he does not disdain it. Christ goes about naked and a stranger, needing only shelter; give him at least this. Do not be cruel or inhuman; do not be so fervent in worldly things and cold in spiritual ones. Let the most faithful of your servants be entrusted with this, and let him bring in the maimed, the poor, the homeless. I say these things to shame you. For you ought to receive them upstairs in the house; but if you will not, then at least downstairs, at least where the mules are, at least where the servants are: receive Christ. Perhaps you shudder to hear it. What then, when you do not do even this? See, I exhort, see, I say: let this be your eager concern. But you do not want it so? Then do it another way. There are many poor men and poor women; appoint someone to stay there permanently; let the poor man at least be the guard of your house; let him be your wall and fence, your shield and spear. Where there is almsgiving, the devil does not dare to approach, nor any other evil. So let us not neglect so great a gain. But now there is a place set apart for the carriage, and another for the litters; but for Christ wandering about, not one. Abraham received strangers where he himself lived; and his wife stood in the rank of a maidservant, and they in the rank of masters. He did not know that he was receiving Christ; he did not know that they were angels; for if he had known, he would have emptied out everything. But we, though we know that we receive Christ, do not show even as much eagerness as that man who thought he was receiving men. “But many are impostors,” someone says, “and ungrateful.” And for this your reward is greater, when you receive them for the name of Christ. For if you know they are impostors, do not receive them into your house; but if you do not know, why do you accuse them idly? That is why I say, send them to the guest house. But what defense is there when we do not receive even those we know, but shut the doors against all? Let our house be Christ’s inn; let us ask them for a reward, not money, but that they make our house a receptacle of Christ; let us run about everywhere, … do good. I do not tell you to kill a calf: give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, shelter to the stranger. And so that you may not make excuses: there is the common house of the church; put him there, and you have received him; since that man too had the reward of what was done through his servants. So well trained were his servants too; they ran and did not grumble as ours do; for he had made them devout. He took them to war, and they did not grumble; so given to philosophy were they. For he cared for all alike, as for himself; he all but said, with Job, “We were formed alike in the same womb.” So let us too take thought for our own salvation, and take great care of our servants, that they may be good and careful; and let our servant be trained in the things of God. Virtue will no longer be hard for us if we form them. Just as in war, when the soldiers are well ordered, the general fights easily, while the opposite happens when this is not so; and when the sailors are of one mind, the helmsman handles the rudders easily; so too here: if the servants are so trained, you will not be provoked, you will not revile. Sometimes you will even be put to shame by your servants, if they are admirable; and they will help you, and give you good advice. And from all these things everything will be as God wills, and so the whole house will be filled with blessing, and, doing what pleases God, we shall enjoy much help from above, which may all of us obtain, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And on the following day Paul went in with us to … And when he had greeted them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.” This man was the brother of the Lord and bishop of Jerusalem, a great and admirable man. To him Paul goes in, just as before this too he was sent to him. And hear how: “And on the following day,” it says, “Paul went in with us to James.” See the freedom from pride. “And all the elders were present …” “… one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.” Again he relates to them the affairs of the Gentiles, not from vainglory, God forbid, but wishing to display God’s love for humankind and to fill them with great joy. See, at any rate, how when they heard it they glorified God. They did not extol him or admire him, but “glorified God”; for he related it as one who ascribed it to him. “And when they heard it they glorified God, and said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of Jews there are who have believed; and they are all zealous for the law. And they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.’” See with how much reserve they too speak. He does not speak with authority as bishop, but they take Paul as a partner in their judgment, as if from the very start, at the outset, they were excusing themselves: “We did not want this. You see the necessity of the matter.” “You see,” he says, “how many tens of thousands of Jews there are who have believed?” And they did not say, “How many tens of thousands we have instructed,” but “there are.” “And these,” he says, “are all zealous for the law.” Two reasons: the number, and their disposition. For neither, if they had been few, ought they to have been disregarded; nor, if they were many but not all holding to the law, would much account need to be made of them. Then a third reason too: “And they have all been informed,” he says, “about you, that you teach all the Jews among the Gentiles apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.” They did not say, “They have heard,” but “They have been informed,” that is, they have been taught and have believed that you teach apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. Having said this, he went on: “What then is to be done? A crowd will certainly come together, for they will hear that you have come. Do, then, what we tell you.” They say this as giving counsel, not as giving orders. “We have four men who are under a vow. Take these, purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing in what they have been informed about you, but that you yourself also walk in good order, keeping the law.” They advise him to make his defense by deed, not by word. “So that they may shave,” he says, “and all may know that there is nothing in what they have been informed about you.” They did not say, “that you teach,” but “they have been informed,” again showing by this that they had been taught; and “you walk in good order,” that is, you yourself also keep it, over and above. For the concern was not only that he should not teach others so, but that he himself also kept it. “What then? If the Gentiles learn of it, will they not be offended?” he says. How so? when even we, the teachers of the Jews, have sent to them: “But concerning the … that they should observe nothing of the kind, except to keep themselves from what is offered to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.” Here they speak to move him. What he says is this: Just as we gave those people instructions, although we preach to Jews, so you too, although you preach to Gentiles, work together with us. See Paul: he does not say, “But I can bring forward Timothy, whom I circumcised; but I can persuade them by argument”; but he obeyed them and did everything, for so it was expedient. For it was not the same thing to stand up and make a defense as to do these things with no one knowing. The paying of the expenses, too, was beyond suspicion. “Then Paul took the men, and on the next day, having purified himself with them, went into the temple, giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the offering should be presented for each one of them.” “Giving notice,” that is, announcing, so that he himself was the one who made himself known. “And when the seven days were about to be completed.”

See how he lingers with them most of all. “The Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid their hands on him, … ‘This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place; and besides, he has also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’” See their character, turbulent everywhere, and simply shouting in the midst. “For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. And the whole city was stirred up, and the people ran together; and seizing Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.” “Men of Israel, help!” they say. “This is the man who is against the people and the law and this place.” What troubled them most, the temple and the law, these they put forward. And Paul, though he suffered so much, brought no complaint against the apostles that they had been the cause of these things for him; so great-souled was he. “And they dragged him,” it says, “out of the temple, and the doors were shut.” For they wanted to kill him, and that is why they dragged him outside, so as to do it with greater freedom … “… to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. At once he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the tribune came up and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he inquired who he might be and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another.” And why, when he was about to examine him, did he order him to be bound with two chains? To soothe the anger of the people. “And when he could not learn the facts for certain because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. And when he came to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd; for the mass of the people followed, crying out, ‘Away with him!’” What is “Away with him”? It was the custom of the Jews to say this against those whom they condemned, as they are seen doing and saying in Christ’s case too, “Away with him,” that is, make him vanish from among the living. But some say that this “Away with him” is what among us is said, according to the Roman usage, “Throw him among the standards.” “And as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, ‘May I say something to you?’” As he is being carried up the steps, he asks to say something to the tribune. And see how mildly: “May I say something to you?” he says. “And he said, ‘Do you know Greek? Are you not, then, the Egyptian who before these days stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the assassins out into the wilderness?’” This Egyptian was a revolutionary and seditious man. To this Paul makes his defense, and by what he said frees himself from the suspicion.

But let us look at what was read from the beginning. “We have four men,” he says, “who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself with them.” To this Paul does not object, but obeys. From this it is clear that this was not something to be done on principle (which is why they persuade him), but that the matter was a dispensation and a condescension. So it was no hindrance to the preaching, since they themselves had made such rules for those people. Managing things in the same way, he himself later rebukes Peter, and does not simply do so; for what he himself did here, Peter did there, keeping silent and establishing his own teaching. And they did not say, “One must not teach those among the Gentiles,” or “It is enough not to preach it there,” but “One must also do something more, so that they may be persuaded that you keep the law. The thing is a condescension; fear nothing.” And see, they do not persuade him until they have first spoken of the dispensation and the gain. And to do this in Jerusalem was bearable: do this, then, here, so that you may be free to do the other outside. “Then,” it says, “[Paul] took the men on the next day.” He did not put it off, but showing his compliance by deed, he takes those with whom he was to be purified. So fervent a thing is a dispensation. And how, one asks, did the Jews from Asia see him in the temple? It is likely that they were spending some days there. And see how what happened was itself a dispensation: for after the Jews had been persuaded, then these attack him; naturally. “Israelites,” as though someone hard to hunt and hard to catch had fallen into their hands, “help!” they say; “this is the one who teaches everyone everywhere.” Not only here, he says, but “everywhere.” Then the accusation is made greater from the present circumstances: “And besides,” he says, “he has defiled the temple, bringing in Greeks.” Yet in Christ’s time too they came up; but these men speak of those who would not have chosen to worship. “And seizing Paul,” it says, “they dragged him out.” Consider: they cast him out of the temple; for they no longer needed laws or courts; that is why they were beating him. So in everything they show themselves reckless and defiled. He did not make his defense then, but later; naturally, for then they would not even have listened. And why ever did they shout, “Away with him”? They were afraid he would escape. But see with how much reserve Paul speaks to the tribune. For what does he say? “May I say something to you?” So humble was he, since one had to show moderation everywhere. “Are you not, then,” he says, “the Eg-

See the malice of the devil. That Egyptian was a deceiver and a sorcerer, and through him the devil expected to cast a shadow over Christ and the apostles too, and make them partners in the charges that belonged to that man. But he had no power; rather, the truth became still brighter, harmed in nothing by the devil’s threads, but shining out even more. For if there had not been sorcerers, and then these had prevailed, perhaps someone might have seized on that; but when those too appeared and these prevail, that is the wonder. That is why they are not prevented from appearing, so that in this way too these may shine the more; as he himself says elsewhere, “So that those who are approved may become evident.” Something of this kind was what Gamaliel too was saying: “Before these days Theudas rose up.” As for the assassins, some say they were a kind of brigands, so called among the Romans; others, that they belonged to one sect among … For there are among them three principal sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, who are also called “holy ones” (for this is what the name Essenes means) because of the dignity of their life; and the same were also called Sicarii because they were zealots. Let us not, then, be pained that there are heresies, since even false christs wished to attack Christ, both before and after this, so as to cast a shadow over him. But the truth shines and is clear everywhere. This happened with the prophets too: there were false prophets, and by comparison they shone the more. For sickness shows health clearly, and darkness light, and storm calm. The Greeks cannot say that they were deceivers and sorcerers, for those men were exposed. This happened with Moses too: God permitted the magicians, so that Moses might not be thought a magician; he let them teach everyone how far magic can produce illusions; but beyond that they did not deceive, but themselves confessed their defeat. Those who attack us harm us in nothing; rather, they even make us better, if one is willing to pay attention.

“What then,” one says, “when we share their reputation?” Not in our eyes, but in the eyes of those who have no judgment. Let us not care too much for the reputation of the many, nor be anxious about it beyond what is needed. We live to God, not to men; our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth; there the prizes and rewards of our labors are laid up; from there we await the praises, from there the crowns. Let us care for men so far as not to give or offer them a handle. But if, when we offer none, they choose to accuse us idly and at random, let us laugh, not weep. “Take thought for what is honorable before the Lord and before men”; if, while you take thought for what is honorable, that man jeers, care no longer. You have the examples in the Scriptures. “For am I now persuading men, or God?” he says; and again, “We persuade men, but we are made manifest to God.” And Christ said thus: “… they are blind guides of the blind”; and again, “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you”; and again, “Let your works shine, so that men may see them and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” And if elsewhere he says, “Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it is better for him that a donkey’s millstone be hung around his neck and he be drowned in the depth of the sea,” do not be surprised; for these are not contrary, but entirely in harmony. For when it happens through our fault, woe to us; but when not through our fault, no longer. And again: “Woe to you, through whom the name of God is blasphemed.” What then, if I do something of what is right, and another blasphemes? That is nothing to you, but to him; for it was blasphemed through him.

“And how is it possible to do something of what is right and yet give others a handle?” Where do you want me to bring you the examples from: from those now living, or from those of old? So that we may not be easily frightened, would you like us to speak of this very matter now in hand? Paul Judaized in Jerusalem, but in Antioch no longer; he Judaized, and they were offended, but those people were not justly offended. … How many things do you think they said against him because of this? But not justly. For if he had welcomed them for licentiousness or for wicked deeds, it would have been natural; but if for an upright life, on what account? Let me tell you something that happened to one of my acquaintances. The wrath of God once fell, and he, being very young and in the rank of deacon, since the bishop happened to be away at that time and none of the presbyters took any thought, but they simply had many tens of thousands illuminated all at once in one night, and all were being baptized indiscriminately, knowing nothing: he took these aside, a hundred and two hundred together, and talked with them about nothing else, only the mysteries, so as not even to allow the uninitiated to be present. Because he did this, many thought he did it out of a love of office. But he paid no attention to those who thought so; he did not, however, prolong the matter, but stopped at once. What then? Was he the cause of the offense? I do not think so. For if he had done this without there being a reason, they would rightly have laid the blame on him, and also if he had prolonged it. For when any of the things pleasing to God are hindered because of another’s offense, one must disregard it; but one should take care when we are not forced on his account to offend God. For tell me: if, while we are speaking and mocking the drunkards, someone … , am I to stop speaking? Hear Christ saying, “Do you also want to go away?” So one ought neither to disregard the weakness of the many nor to make too much of it. Or do we not see physicians doing this too: when it is allowed, indulging the sick, but when indulging them does harm, sparing them no longer? Everywhere it is good to honor due measure. … and they reviled those who were instructing her. What then? Ought they to have desisted because of this? Not at all; for they were doing nothing wrong, but something very pleasing to God. Let us not look, then, at whether some are offended, but whether justly, and whether not with harm to ourselves. “If food,” he says, “causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat.” Rightly; for not eating did no harm. But if it offends him that I want to renounce the world, one need no longer care. “And whom,” one says, “does this offend?” Many; I know it. When, then, the hindrance concerns a thing indifferent, let it be done; since if we were to look at this alone, we would have to withdraw from many things; just as, conversely, if we were to disregard it, we would destroy many. For Paul too took thought beforehand … ; and how, hear: “So that no one,” he says, “may blame us in this abundance that is being administered by us”; for removing the suspicion did no harm. But when we fall into such a necessity that great evils would come about because of another’s offense, let us disregard him. For he is the cause for himself, and we are no longer answerable; for it was not possible to spare him without harm. Many were offended that some believers reclined at table in temples, since one ought not to recline there; but wrongly; for no harm came from this. They were offended that Peter ate with the Gentiles; but he spared them, while the other no longer did. Everywhere it befits us, following the laws of God, to take great care to give no occasion of offense, so that we ourselves may be blameless and may be counted worthy of God’s love for humankind, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And Paul said, ‘I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city; I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.’ And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying.” See how, when he speaks to those outside, he does not refuse to make use of the help that the laws give. Here he makes the tribune respect him because of his city. So too earlier he said, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and thrown us into prison.” For since the tribune asked, “Are you the Egyptian?” “I am,” he says, “a Jew.” By saying this he at once drew him away from that suspicion. Then, so that “Jew” might not be taken to mean his nation, he speaks of his religion; for elsewhere too he calls himself “under the law of Christ.” What is this? Does Paul lie? Away with the thought! What then? Did he deny? God forbid: for he was a Jew and a Christian, keeping what had to be kept, since he obeyed the law more than anyone, by believing in Christ; and in speaking to Peter he says, “We who are Jews by nature.” “I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” And this is a proof that he does not lie, since he called everyone as witnesses. See him again speaking with mildness. And this again is the greatest proof that he was guilty of nothing: that he was so ready to make a defense, and wished to stand up and give an account to the populace of the Jews. See a man of composure; see the dispensation: if the tribune had not come, if he had not bound him, he would not have asked for a hearing for his defense, he would not have enjoyed such silence. “And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps.” From the place too there was great convenience: that he should address the people from a height, and in chains. What is equal to this sight, to see Paul bound with two chains addressing the people? How was he not troubled, how was he not confounded, seeing so great a populace up in arms against him while the ruler stood by? First he drew them away from their anger, then he speaks; and see how prudently. For what he did in the Epistle to the Hebrews, this he does here too: first he draws them by the kinship of the language, then by his very gentleness; and so, to show this, it goes on: “And when there was a great silence,” it says, “he addressed them in the Hebrew … ‘[Brothers and fa]thers, hear the defense I now make to you.’” See how his speech is free of flattery and has mildness. For he did not say, “Masters,” or “Lords,” but “Brothers,” which is what they most wanted, as if he were saying, “I am not a stranger to you, nor against you.” “Men, brothers and fathers,” he says: the one a mark of honor, the other of kinship. “Hear the defense I now make to you.” He did not say “my teaching” or “my address,” but “my defense”: he puts himself in the position of a suppliant. “And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became all the more quiet.” You see how the common language won them? For they had a certain reverence for that tongue. And see how he prepares the way for his speech, beginning thus and saying: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the strictness of our ancestral law, being zealous for God, as all of you are today.” “I am,” he says, “a Jew,” which is what they most of all wanted to hear. “Born in Tarsus in Cilicia.” So that they might not again think his nation another, he added his religion. “Brought up in this city.” He shows his great zeal for the worship, seeing that he left so great a homeland, so far away, and chose to be brought up here for the sake of the law. See how from the first he was devoted to the law. And he says this not only in defending himself to them, but also showing that it was not by a human purpose that he was brought to the preaching, but by divine power; for, having been educated so, he would not have changed all at once. For if he had been one of the many, it would have been natural to suspect this; but if he was one of those held most of all by the law, it was not likely that he would change his mind casually, with no strong necessity. But perhaps someone might say, “It means nothing that you were brought up here; for what if you came here for trade or some other reason?” So that this might not be thought, then, he added, “At the feet of Gamaliel”; and he did not simply say, “From Gamaliel,” but “At the feet,” showing his perseverance, his constant attendance, his zeal in listening, his great reverence for the man. “Educated according to the strictness of our ancestral law.” Not simply “the law,” but he adds “ancestral,” showing that he was such from the first, and did not merely know the law. These things seem to be said on their behalf, but they were against them, since he knew the law and yet left it. Then, so that no one might again object, “What then, if you know the law accurately, but do not defend it or love it?” he says, “being zealous,” that is, not merely knowing it, but being very zealous for it. Then, since he had spoken great praises of himself, he now makes the statement common to them, adding, “as all of you are today.” For he shows that they act not with a human purpose, but with divine zeal. He says this to please them and to win their minds in advance, and to hold them in matters where there was no harm. Then he also brings forward proofs, saying: “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and handing over to prisons both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders bear me witness.” So that no one may say, “And how is this clear?” he brings forward as witnesses the high priest himself and the elders. And he speaks to soften them: “Being zealous, as you are,” that is, equal to you; but he shows by his deeds that he went beyond them. For “I did not wait to arrest them, but I stirred up the priests and undertook journeys; and I did not go only as far as men, as you do, but to women too; and I bound them all and put them in the prisons of the Jews.” See how many witnesses he brings forward: the council of elders, the high priest, those in the city.

And see that his defense comes not from cowardice, but is rather teaching and instruction. For if his hearers had not been stones, they would have paid attention to what was said. For up to this point he had them as witnesses, but the rest was without witnesses. “From whom I also received letters … to those who were there, to bring them bound to Jerusalem to be punished. And as I was on my way and drawing near to Damascus, about noon, a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying … I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’” These things ought to have been credible most of all from what went before; for he would not have turned round. “What then, if he is boasting?” one says. Not at all. For why, tell me, did he suddenly throw away so great a zeal? Expecting honor? But he endured the opposite. Ease, then? Not that either. Then what else? Nothing can be found by reasoning. Leaving them, then, to draw these conclusions, he narrates the facts. “As I was drawing near to Damascus,” he says, “about noon, a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me, and I fell to the ground.” See how overwhelming the light was. And that I am not boasting, those who were with me bear witness, those who led me by the hand, those who saw the light. “Those who were with me saw the light and were afraid, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.” Do not be surprised that here he says this, and elsewhere it says, “They stood hearing the voice, but seeing no one.” This is not contradictory. For there were two voices, Paul’s and the Lord’s: there, then, it speaks of Paul’s voice; and here he even added, “They did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.” So “seeing no one” does not refer to seeing, but shows that they did not hear; for it did not say that they did not see the light, but “They stood seeing no one,” that is, no one speaking. And this happened fittingly; for he was the one who had to be counted worthy of that voice. For if they too had heard, the wonder would not have been so great. Since, then, the duller sort are persuaded more by sight, for this reason they saw only the light, which was enough to persuade them; that is why they were afraid. Besides, the light did not do as much to them as to him; for it blinded his eyes, while through what happened to him it gave them too the chance to recover their sight, if they wished. It seems to me, at any rate, that it was also by dispensation that they did not believe, so that they might be trustworthy witnesses. “And he said to me,” he says, “‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’” The city is fittingly added, so that they might recognize him. And the apostles spoke thus: “Jesus of Nazareth.” See: he himself too bears witness that he was being persecuted. “Those who were with me saw the light and were afraid, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up, go into Damascus, and there you will be told what you must do.’ And since I could not see because of the glory of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus. And a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews in Damascus, came to me and stood by me and said … at that very hour I looked up and saw him.” “Go into the city,” he says, “and there you will be told what you must do.” See, another witness again. And see how he makes him trustworthy too: “And a certain Ananias,” he says, “a man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews, came to me and stood by me and said to me, ‘Receive your sight.’” So there is nothing foreign here. “And at that very hour I received my sight.” Then comes the witness of the facts. And see it woven of persons and facts, persons both of their own and strangers. Persons: the priests, the elders, his fellow travelers; facts: what he did, what he suffered; and facts bear witness to facts, not only persons. Or otherwise: Ananias is a stranger; then the fact itself, the recovery of sight; then a great prophecy. “And he said,” it says, “‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will and to see the Righteous One.’” He fittingly said, “of our fathers,” to show that they were not Jews but strangers to the law, and that they acted from envy, not from zeal. “To know,” he says, “his will and to see the Righteous One.” So this is his will. See how, in the form of a narrative, it is teaching. “And to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.” “And to see,” he says, “the Righteous One.” For the present he says this; and if he is righteous, these men are guilty. “And to hear a voice from his mouth.” See how he exalts the matter. “For you will be,” he says, “a witness for him.” So for this reason you will not betray the sight and the hearing, “of what you have seen and what you have heard”: by both senses he confirms him. “And now why do you wait? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”

Here he uttered something great. For he did not say, “Be baptized into his name,” but “calling on the name” of Christ. This belongs to one who shows that he is God; for one may not call on anyone else but God. Then he shows that he himself too was not forced into what he says. “And the Lord said to me, ‘Go into Damascus, and there you will be told what you must do.’” Nothing is without witness: he brings forward the testimony of a whole city, which indeed saw him led by the hand. And see the prophecy fulfilled, which he heard, that he would be a witness of the Lord. For he truly became his witness, and a witness as he should be, both by what he did and by what he said. Such witnesses we too must be, and not betray what we have been entrusted with: I do not speak of doctrines only, but also of life. For see: because he saw, because he heard, he bears witness to all people, and nothing hindered him. We too have heard that there is a resurrection and countless good things; so we are bound to bear witness to this to all people. “But we do bear witness,” one says, “and we believe.” How, when you do the opposite? Tell me: if someone called himself a Christian, and then fell away and held Jewish views, would this witness suffice? Not at all; for people would look for the witness of his deeds. So too with us: if we say that there is a resurrection and countless good things, and then despise them and prefer the things here, who will believe us? For everyone pays attention not to what we say but to what we do. “You will be a witness,” he says, “to all people”: not only to your own, but also to unbelievers; for this is what witnesses are: they persuade not those who know, but those who do not. Let us become trustworthy witnesses. And how shall we be trustworthy? By our life. The Jews attacked him; the passions attack us, bidding us forswear our testimony. But let us not obey them: we are witnesses sent by God. God is put on trial among some people, as if he were not God; he has sent us to bear witness for him. Let us bear witness and persuade those who sit in judgment; if we do not bear witness, we too are the cause of their error. And if in a court of law, where the business is of this life, no one would accept a witness full of countless vices, much more here, where the inquiry concerns such matters. We say that we have heard Christ and believe what he promised; they say, “Show this by your deeds; for your life testifies the opposite, that you do not believe. Shall we look at the money-makers, the robbers, the grasping? at those who mourn, who beat their breasts, who build, who busy themselves with everything as though they would never die? If, then, you do not believe that you will die, a thing so plain and evident, how shall we believe you when you bear witness?” For there are, there are many people who are so disposed as if they would never die. For when in long old age they begin to build and to farm, when will they take thought of death? Not small is the punishment for us who were called to bear witness, but were not able to bear witness to what we saw. We too have seen the angels with our eyes, and more clearly than those who have looked on them. So let us bear witness to Christ; for not only those are witnesses, but we too. Those are called martyrs for this reason, that when commanded to forswear, they endure everything in order to speak the truth; and we, when under the passions … says, “Say that Christ is not Christ,” then do not listen to it as to God, but despise its commands. Evil desires say the same; but do not be won over; stand firm nobly, so that it may not be said of us too, “They profess to know God, but deny him by their deeds.” For this is not what witnesses do, but the opposite. And that others deny is nothing surprising; but that we, who were called to bear witness, should become deniers, is grievous and burdensome: this most of all harms our cause. “It will turn out for you as a testimony,” he says; but when we do not leap away, when we stand firm. If we all wished to bear witness to Christ, we would quickly have persuaded most of the Greeks. Life is a great thing, beloved: even if someone is very savage, even if he openly condemns you because of your doctrine, still he accepts you in secret, still he will praise, still he will admire. “And where,” one says, “could the best life come from?” From nowhere but from divine working. “What then, when Greeks too are such?” If anywhere they are such, some are so by nature, others through vainglory. Do you want to learn how great is the brilliance of a life, how great its power to persuade? Many of the heretics … prevailed; and although their doctrines were corrupt, most people, out of reverence for their life, no longer examined the doctrine; and others, though condemning them for their doctrine, respected them for their life; not rightly, but still this is what they felt. This is what has brought the solemn truths of our faith into reproach, this has overturned everything: that no one takes any account of life; this damages the faith. We say that Christ is God; we bring forward countless other things, and among the rest this too, that he persuaded everyone to live rightly; but this is found in few. Wickedness of life damages the doctrine of the resurrection, that of the immortality of the soul, that of the judgment; it draws in many others too: fate, … , as if the soul were trying to devise these as consolations for itself, so as not to be pained in reflecting that there is a judgment and that virtue and vice lie in our own power. Such a life works countless evils: it makes men beasts, and more irrational than beasts; for what is found in each kind of beast, it has often gathered into one man, and has overturned everything. This is why the devil brought in fate, why he said that the world is without providence, why he posits natures good and evil, why he supposes evil without beginning and material, why he does everything: to corrupt our life. For it is not possible for one who lives such a life either to recover from corrupt doctrines or to remain in a sound faith; he must of great necessity accept them. For I do not think that anyone of those who do not live rightly is readily found who is not devising countless satanic things: that there is a birth-fate, that affairs are carried along at random, that everything is managed in confusion and disorder. Therefore, I beg you, let us take care for a good life, so that we may not accept wicked doctrines. Cain received as his punishment to groan and tremble. Such are the wicked: conscious of countless evils, they often leap up out of their sleep; their thoughts are in tumult, their eyes troubled; everything is full of suspicion, everything strikes them with terror; their soul is filled with harsh expectation and cowardice, and, shaken by fear and trembling, it becomes powerless. Nothing could be softer than such a soul, nothing more foolish. As madmen are not in possession of themselves, so neither is such a soul in possession of itself. When, then, will it come to awareness, having such dizziness, so as to … recognize its own nobility? When everything frightens and troubles it, dreams and words and gestures and mere suspicions, when will it be able [to come back] to itself …? … its fear; let us break its bonds. For even if there were no punishment, what punishment is not less bad than this: to live always under fear, never to take courage, never to be at ease? Knowing all this exactly, then, let us keep ourselves in calm and care for virtue, so that, having both sound doctrines and an upright life, we may pass through the present life without stumbling and may be able to attain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father, together with his Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry, and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I used to imprison and beat in the synagogues those who believed in you; and when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving his killing, and guarding the garments of those who were killing him.’” See how he thrusts himself into the dangers. For he goes on: “And when I had returned to Jerusalem,” that is, I came to Jerusalem again after that vision. “And as I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry, and get out quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’” See, not even this is without witness, but the witness comes from the outcome. He said, “They will not accept your testimony,” and they did not accept it. And yet by reasoning one would have expected that they would certainly accept it. “For I was the one who imprisoned and beat them,” he says. So for this reason they ought to have accepted it; and yet they did not. That is why he learns this too in the trance, that it would not be accepted. Here he establishes two things: that they have no excuse, for they were persecuting him neither reasonably nor with cause; and that Christ was God, foretelling what was beyond expectation, and not looking at what had happened, but foreseeing what was to come. How then does he say, “He will carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel”? “He will carry,” he said, not “he will certainly persuade.” Besides, Jews were persuaded elsewhere, but not here. Where they most ought to have been persuaded, knowing his former zeal, there they were not persuaded. “And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving his killing.” See again where the speech ends: at the strongest point. For he shows that he himself was the persecutor, and not only a persecutor, but one who killed Stephen with countless hands. He reminded them of a terrible murder. Then indeed they could bear it least, since this convicted them; and the prophecy was already being fulfilled. So the zeal was great, and the accusation strong, and the witnesses of the truth of Christ spoke with boldness. But the Jews would not bear to hear the rest of the address, but, greatly inflamed with anger, they shouted. “And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ They listened to him up to this word, and then they raised their voices, saying, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he ought not to live.’ And as they were shouting and throwing off their garments and tossing dust into the air, the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.” And the tribune ought to have examined whether these things were so, or examined those men themselves; but he did nothing more, and gives orders to examine him by flogging. “For he ordered him,” it says, “to be brought into the … to find out why they were shouting against him like this.” And yet he ought to have learned from those who were shouting, and asked whether they found fault with anything that had been said; but he simply uses his authority, and acts to please them. For what he sought was not how to act justly, but how to stop their anger, unjust as it was. “But when they had stretched him out with the thongs, he said to the centurion who was standing by, ‘Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?’” Paul did not lie, God forbid, in calling himself a Roman; for he was a Roman; that is why the tribune, too, is afraid when he hears it. “And why,” one says, “was he afraid?” If it had been otherwise, he would have been afraid of being caught and paying a heavier penalty. And see: he does not speak simply, but, “Is it lawful for you?” Two charges: both that it was without cause, and that he was a Roman. Those who were thought worthy of that name had a great privilege at that time; and not all obtained it; for they say that all were named Romans from the time of Hadrian, but of old it was not so. Or he called himself a Roman so as to escape the punishment; for once flogged he would have become contemptible; but now by saying this he throws them into greater fear. If they had flogged him, they would also have perverted the matter, or even killed him; but now it does not turn out so. See how God allows many things to happen in a human way too, both in their case and in that of the rest. “And the tribune answered … [with a large sum I] acquired [this citizenship].” He shows that he suspected Paul’s calling himself a Roman to be a pretext; and perhaps he supposed this from Paul’s evident plainness. “When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and reported it, saying, ‘Watch what you are about to do; for this man is a Roman.’ The tribune came and said to him, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ The tribune answered, ‘I acquired this citizenship for a large sum.’ And Paul said, ‘But I was born one.’ Immediately those who were about to examine him drew back from him; and the tribune too was afraid when he realized that he was a Roman and that he had bound him.” “But I,” he says, “was born one.” So his father too was a Roman. What, then, comes of this? “Having released him, he brought him down before the Jews.” So it was no lie to call himself a Roman, since he even profited from it, being freed from his bonds; and how, hear: “On the next day, wishing to know for certain why he was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council to meet; and he brought Paul down and set him before them. And Paul, looking intently at the council, said.” No longer to the tribune, but to the crowd and the whole people he speaks. And what does he say? “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” What he says is this: I am not conscious of having wronged you in anything, or of doing anything worthy of these bonds. What then does the high priest do? When he ought to have been struck to the heart that Paul had been unjustly bound to please them, he even adds more, and orders him to be struck, as is clear from what he went on to say. “And the high priest Ananias ordered those standing by him to strike him on the mouth.” Fine indeed! A gentle high priest! “Then Paul said to him, ‘God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and in violation of the law you order me to be struck?’ Those who stood by said, ‘Do you revile God’s high priest?’ And Paul said, ‘I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest; for it is written, “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”’”

Some say that he knew and was speaking ironically; but to me it seems that he did not know at all that he was the high priest; for otherwise he would have honored him. That is why he excuses himself as though there were an accusation, and adds, “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.” “What then?” one says. “If he had not been a ruler, ought he simply to have insulted another?” Not at all; rather he ought to have borne it when insulted. But it is worth asking how the same man, who says elsewhere, “When reviled, we bless,” does the opposite here, and not only reviles but even curses. Away with that! He is seen to have done neither of these; but to one who looks closely, the words come from boldness rather than anger. Besides, he did not want to seem contemptible to the tribune. For if the tribune had refrained from flogging him, as one about to be handed over to the Jews, his being struck by the servants would have made the tribune bolder; that is why he does not address the servant, but the one who gave the order, accomplishing this. And “You whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law?” he said, almost saying this to him: “You are guilty yourself and deserve countless blows.” See, at any rate, how the people were astonished at his boldness. For when they ought to have overturned everything, they rather behave outrageously. And he even reads them the law, since he wants to show that he said this not out of fear, nor because he did not deserve to hear …, but obeying the law in this too. And I am fully persuaded that he did not know that he was high priest, since he had come back after a long time, and was not continually in the company of Jews, and saw him in the midst along with many others; for the high priest was no longer conspicuous, there being many and various ones. Thus it seems to me that he addressed this too to them, showing that he obeys the law, and that this is why he excuses himself.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “As I was praying,” he says, “in the temple, I fell into a trance.” To show that it was not simply an illusion, he added, “As I was praying.” “Hurry and get out quickly,” he says, “because they will not accept your testimony.” Here he shows that he fled not from fear of their dangers, but because they did not accept his testimony. And why did he say, “They themselves know that I used to bind”? Not contradicting Christ, God forbid, but wishing to learn the reason for something so unexpected. “Go,” he says, “for I will [send] you far away to the Gentiles.” See: Christ did not teach him what to do, but only told him to go, and he obeys: so ready to be persuaded was he. “And they raised their voices,” it says, “saying, ‘Away with him! For he ought not to live.’” Oh, the effrontery! It is you who ought not to live, not this man who obeys God in everything. Oh, you defiled men and murderers! “And shaking out their garments,” it says, “they threw dust.” They do this to make the riot worse, or wishing to frighten the ruler. And see: they do not state the charge, since they had nothing to say, but they think to overwhelm him with shouting; and yet he ought to have learned it from the accusers. “And the tribune …” Was it a lie, then, for Paul to say that he was a Roman? “And he released him from his bonds,” it says, “and brought him down and set him in the council.” This he ought to have done at the beginning, and neither to bind him nor to want to flog him, but to have let him alone, since he had done nothing of the kind to deserve even being bound. “And he released him,” it says, “and brought him down and set him before them.” At this most of all the Jews were at a loss. “And Paul, looking intently at the council,” it says, “said, ‘Brothers.’” Here it shows his boldness, his fearlessness. But see their recklessness too; for it goes on: “And the high priest Ananias ordered them to strike him on the mouth.” Why do you strike? What insult did he utter? Oh, the shamelessness! Oh, the effrontery! “Then Paul,” it says, “said to him, ‘God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.’” What boldness! He tears him apart for hypocrisy and lawlessness; that is why, indeed, he is checked. And he himself, at a loss, dares to say nothing, but those beside him, unable to bear his boldness. So they saw a man ready to die, and they could not stand it. “I did not know,” he says, “that he is high priest.” So the rebuke was from ignorance; for if this had not been so, he would have taken him and gone off, and not kept silent, and the tribune would have handed him over to them. Here he shows that he suffers willingly what he suffers; and so he makes his defense to them in obedience to the law, not wishing to show them deference; for he had utterly condemned them. So he makes his defense because of the law, not because of the people; rightly; for to kill one who had done no wrong, and an innocent man at that, was against the law. So what he said was not an insult either, unless one would also call Christ’s words an insult, when he says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, for you are like whitewashed walls.” “Yes,” one says, “but if he had said it before being struck, it would have been not anger but boldness.” But we have stated the reason: that he did not want … And indeed Christ in many places insulted the Jews when he himself was insulted, as when he says, “Do not think that I will accuse you.” But this is not an insult, God forbid. See, at any rate, with how much mildness he speaks to them: “I did not know,” he says, “that he is the high priest of God.” He said this, and did not stop; but, showing that he is not speaking ironically, he adds, “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.” Do you see how he still acknowledges him as a ruler?

Let us too, then, learn mildness, so that we may be complete in both. For great exactness is needed to learn what is the one and what is the other; and exactness is needed because vices stand alongside them: alongside boldness, rashness; alongside mildness, unmanliness. And one must look carefully, lest someone holding the vice should seem to have the virtue, as if someone who thought he was [living with] the mistress should not know that he was with the maidservant. What, then, is mildness, and what unmanliness? When we do not defend others who are wronged, but keep silent ourselves, this is unmanliness; but when we bear it ourselves when we are ill-treated, this is mildness. What is boldness? Again the same, when we contend on behalf of others. And what is rashness? When we want to avenge ourselves. So great-souledness and boldness go together, and again rashness and unmanliness. For one who is not pained on his own account will hardly fail to be pained on behalf of others; and one who does not avenge himself will hardly fail to defend others. For when our character is pure of passion, it receives virtue too. Just as a body free of fever receives strength, so the soul too, if it is not further corrupted by the passions, receives strength. Mildness is the mark of great strength; mildness needs a noble, youthful and very lofty soul. Or do you think it a small thing to be ill-treated and not grow savage? And no one would err in calling care for one’s neighbors courage; for one who has become strong enough to be able to master so great a passion will be strong enough to dare against another too. For example, these are two passions, cowardice and anger: if you master anger, it is plain that you will also master cowardice; and you master anger by being mild; so if you also master cowardice, you will be courageous. Again, if you do not get the better of anger, you have become rash; and not getting the better of this, you cannot get the better of fear either; so you will also be a coward. And it is the same as if a body were so weak and ill-tempered as to hold out against no labor: it is quickly overcome by both cold and heat; for such is the ill-tempered body, while the well-tempered withstands everything. Again, great-souledness is a virtue, and prodigality stands alongside it; economy is a virtue, and being economical; alongside it stand stinginess and pettiness. Come, then, again … So the prodigal is not great-souled. How so? For one who is overcome by countless passions, how could he be great of soul? For this is not despising money, but being commanded by other passions; just as, if someone were commanded by robbers to obey them, he would not be free. For spending does not come from despising money, but from not knowing how to manage it properly; since if it were possible both to keep it and to enjoy it, he would have wanted that. But he who spends his money on what is needed, he is great-souled; for truly great is the soul that is not a slave to passion, that counts money as nothing. Again, economy is a good thing; so too the economical man would be the best, the one who spends on what is needed, and not simply without management. But stinginess is not the same. For the one spends everything on what is needed; but this man does not touch his money even when necessary need demands it. So the economical man would be the brother of the great-souled. Let us, then, put together the great-souled and the economical, and the prodigal and the petty; for both of these suffer this from smallness of soul, just as the others act from greatness of soul. Let us not, then, call great-souled the one who simply spends, but the one who spends on what is needed; nor call the economical man petty and stingy, but the one who spares his money out of season. How much did that rich man spend, dressed in purple and fine linen? But he was not great-souled; for his soul was held by cruelty and countless pleasures; and how could such a soul be great? Abraham was great-souled, spending on the reception of strangers, slaughtering the calf, and, where it was needed, sparing not only his money but not even his own life. If, then, we see someone setting out a costly table, keeping prostitutes and parasites, let us not call him great-souled, but very small-souled. For see how many passions he serves and is subject to: gluttony, unseemly pleasure, flattery; and how could anyone call great-souled one who is held by so many and cannot escape even one of them? So we shall call him small-souled most of all when he spends most; for the more lavishly he spends, the more he shows the tyranny of those passions; for if they did not rule him strongly, … Again, if we see someone giving nothing to any of these, but feeding the poor and supplying those in need, while he himself keeps a cheap table, let us call him very great-souled; for it truly belongs to a great soul to despise its own comfort and to care for that of others. For tell me: if you saw someone despising all the tyrants and counting their commands as nothing, and rescuing those tyrannized by them and those ill-treated, would you not think this something great? Let us reason so here too. The passions are a tyrant: if, then, we despise them, we shall be great; and if we also rescue others, much greater; rightly. For those who are sufficient not only for themselves but for others too are greater than those who are neither. But if someone, commanded by a tyrant, strikes one of his subjects, drags another, insults another, shall we call this great-souledness? Surely not; and the more so, the greater he is. So too with us: the soul is set before us, a noble and free thing; and the prodigal has ordered it to be struck by the passions; shall we, then, call great-souled the one who strikes himself? Not at all. Let us learn, then, what great-souledness is and what prodigality, what economy and what pettiness, what mildness and unmanliness, what boldness and what rashness, so that, distinguishing these from one another, we may be able to pass the present life in a way pleasing to the Lord and attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of … ’ … there arose a dissension between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge both.” Again he speaks in a human way, and does not everywhere enjoy grace, but is allowed to contribute something of his own; which he does, both in this and in what follows when he makes his defense, wishing to divide the crowd that was wickedly of one mind against him. And he does not lie here either in calling himself a Pharisee; for he was a Pharisee by descent. That is why he makes his defense thus: “I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee, and concerning the hope …” Since those men did not want to say why they were judging him, he is now forced to declare it himself. “But the Pharisees,” it says, “acknowledge both.” And yet there are three; how, then, does it say “both”? Either because spirit and angel are one, or because the word is taken not only of two but also of three. So he spoke loosely, not in the strict sense. And see: when he took his stand with them, then they make a defense for him. “For there arose,” it says, “a great clamor; and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended, saying, ‘We find nothing wrong in this man. If a spirit spoke to him, or an angel, let us not fight against God.’” And why did they not make a defense for him before this? Because he had not yet mixed with them, nor was it clear that [he would] make his defense as one who was a Pharisee from the first. Do you see how, when passion gives way, the truth is found? What they say is this: What charge is there, if an angel spoke to him, if a spirit, and, instructed by it, he teaches what concerns the resurrection? So let us let him go, so that we may not be found fighting against him and fighting against God. See them wisely defending him, and Paul giving them no handle. “And when the dissension became great …” “… Paul [be torn to pieces] by them, he ordered the troops to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him [into the barracks].” [He feared that he might] be torn to pieces, since Paul had said that he was a Roman; hence the matter was not without danger. Do you see that he rightly declared himself a Roman? For otherwise the tribune would not have been afraid even now. And so the troops now seize him. But when the defiled men saw that everything was coming to nothing, they do the whole thing by themselves, having wanted to before this too, but having been prevented. So wickedness never stops, though cut off so many times. And yet how much was arranged by dispensation, so that they might both lower their anger and learn from what they could recover themselves. But nonetheless they press on. That defense was enough, at any rate: that the man who was about to be torn apart was snatched away and escaped so many dangers. “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage; for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome too.’ When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.” “They bound themselves under a curse,” it says. Do you see how vehement and how vindictive they are in wickedness? What is “They bound themselves under a curse”? Instead of saying: they declared themselves outside the faith in God unless they did what they had decided against Paul. Then those men are under a curse forever, for they did not kill Paul. And forty come together at once. For such is that nation: when they must agree on something good, not even two run together; but when on something evil, a whole people. And they take the rulers too as partners; and so, to show this, it adds: “They went to the chief priests and the elders [and said, ‘We have bound ourselves under a great curse] to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. Now, therefore, you with the council give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly; and we are ready to kill him before he comes near.’ But the son of Paul’s sister heard of the ambush, and he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. And Paul called one of the [centurions and said, ‘Take this young man] to the tribune, for he has something to report to him.’ So he took him and brought him to the tribune.” Again he is saved by human foresight. And see: Paul lets no one learn of it, not even the centurion, so that the matter might not become known. “And the centurion came and reported to the tribune, saying, ‘The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to tell you.’ The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside privately asked him, ‘What is it that you have to report to me?’ And he said, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more exactly about him. But do not be persuaded by them; for more than forty of their men are lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed Paul; and now they are ready, waiting for your promise.’ So the tribune dismissed the young man, [charging him to tell no one that he had disclosed] these things to me.”

The tribune fittingly orders him to keep it secret, so that it might not become known. And he tells the centurions only when it had to be done; and so Paul is sent to Caesarea, so that … of the hearing; so that the Jews may not be able to say, “If we had seen Paul, if we had heard him teaching, we would have believed.” So this excuse too is cut off from them from here on. “And the Lord stood by him,” it says, “and said to him, ‘Take courage; for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome too.’” See: even after appearing, he again lets him be saved in a human way. And Paul is worth admiring, how he was not disturbed and did not say, “What is this? Have I been deceived by Christ?” He neither thought nor felt anything of the kind, but simply believed; not, however, that because he believed he went to sleep; but he did not neglect to see what was possible by human wisdom. And consider what necessity those men laid on themselves by the curse. See, fasting the mother of murder! Just as Herod laid on himself the necessity of his oath, so did these too. For such are the devil’s snares: he sets his traps under a pretense, forsooth, of piety. And yet they ought to have come forward, to have brought charges, to have convened a court; for these are the deeds not of priests but of robber chiefs, not of rulers but of destroyers. And see the excess of wickedness: not content with corrupting one another, they try to corrupt the ruler along with them; that is why it was arranged that he too should learn of their plot. And they convicted themselves of being nothing, not only from having nothing to say, but also from making their attempt in secret. It is likely, too, that after he had been sent away the chief priests came asking for him, and were put to shame, dismissed with nothing accomplished. And the tribune does this fittingly; for he did not wish either to grant their favor or to consent. “And how,” one says, “did he believe that what the young man reported was true?” He guessed from what had already happened that it was likely they would do this too. And see the villainy: they laid a kind of necessity on the chief priests too. And do not be surprised: for if they themselves chose so much and took the whole danger on themselves, much more was it likely that those would do this. Do you see how by the vote of outsiders Paul is declared innocent, as Christ too was by Pilate? But see also wickedness destroyed by itself. For they handed him over to kill and condemn him; but the opposite happens: he is saved and found innocent. For if not so, he would have been torn apart; if not so, he would have perished, would have been condemned. And the tribune not only rescues him from that attack, but also becomes his servant, so that he is brought safely through with so great an escort; and how, hear; for it goes on: “And calling two of the centurions, he said, ‘Get ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, … [two hun]dred, at the third hour of the night; [and provide mounts, to set Paul on and bring him safely] to Felix the governor’; and he wrote a letter to this effect: ‘Claudius Lysias to … This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And wishing to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. I found that he was accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or bonds. And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man by the Jews, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him. Farewell.’” See: the letter contains a defense on his behalf (“For I found him,” he says, “charged with nothing deserving death”), and an accusation against them rather than against him; so eager were they to kill. And first he says, “He was about to be killed by the Jews and I rescued him”; then he adds, “And I brought him down to them”; and not even so did they find anything to charge; and when they ought to have been struck and ashamed over the first attempt, they try again to kill him, so that the case for him might again become more brilliant. And why does he send the accusers? So that in the court, where … Let us, then, [look at] what was said from the beginning. “I,” he says, “am a Pharisee.” He said this so as to draw them over. Then, so that he might not seem to flatter, he adds: “Concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial.” He commends himself from their own accusation and slander. “For the Sadducees say that there is no angel, nor spirit.” The Sadducees know nothing incorporeal, perhaps not even God, being gross men; hence they will not believe that there is a resurrection either. “And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party,” it says, “stood up and contended, saying, ‘We find nothing wrong in this man.’”

See: the tribune too hears that the Pharisees cleared him of the charges and voted in his favor, and he seizes him with greater confidence. And the very words spoken to Paul were full of wisdom. “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage; for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome too.’” See how great the encouragement is: first he praises him, then he does not let him fear even the uncertainty of the journey to Rome; as if he were saying, “You will not only go there, but you will also enjoy such boldness.” From this it was shown not that he would be saved, but that he would bear witness for great crowns in the great city. And why did he not appear to him before he fell into the danger? Because God always comforts in afflictions (for then he appears more longed for), and exercises us in dangers. Besides, he was then at ease, freed from his bonds, but now terrors were about to succeed. “That we have bound ourselves under a curse,” it says, “neither to eat nor to drink.” Wonderful, how great … “That he may bring him down,” it says, “to you, as though you were going …” What are you saying? Did he not address you a second time? Did he not call himself a Pharisee? What, then, is the need of more … So they feared nothing, not courts, not laws; so nothing was beyond their daring. They both propose the plan and promise the deed. “But the son of Paul’s sister heard of the ambush.” This was, finally, of God’s dispensation, that they did not perceive that he would hear. What then of Paul? He was not disturbed, but perceived that this was God’s work; and casting everything on him, he obtained his safety in fact. And consider how God arranged everything for good. The young man told of the plot … of the cause: why did they send the accusers? So that the examination might be more exact, so that the man might be cleared the more. Such are God’s dispensations: through the things by which we are harmed, through these we are helped. So too Joseph was plotted against by his mistress; and she seemed to be plotting against him, but by plotting she set him in safety; for the prison was much gentler than the house where that beast was kept. For while he was there, even though he was in favor, he was in constant fear that his mistress might set upon him, and the fear that lay on him was harsher than a prison; but after the accusation he was thereafter in freedom from fear and in quiet, released from that beast and from the shame and the plotting; for it was better for him to be with wretched men than with a raging mistress. Here he could comfort himself that he had fallen into this because of chastity; there he was afraid of receiving the wound in his soul; for nothing is more burdensome to an unwilling young man than a woman in love with him, nothing more accursed, nothing heavier: this is harsher than all bonds. So he did not fall into a prison, but was released from a prison. She made his master his enemy, but she reconciled God to him, made him more intimate with the true Master, who truly is; she cast him out of his stewardship in the house, but made him the Master’s own. Again, his brothers sold him, but they freed him from enemies living with him, from envy and much spite, from daily plotting; they set him far from those who hated him. For what is worse than this, when someone is forced to live with envious brothers, when he is under suspicion, when he is plotted against? So they did one thing, and she another, but great things were being arranged for the righteous man. When he was in honor, then he was in danger; when he was in dishonor, then he was in safety. The eunuchs did not remember him; and rightly, so that the occasion of his release might become more brilliant; so that the whole might be ascribed not to human favor but to divine dispensation; so that he might bring him out at the right moment when need arose; so that Pharaoh might bring him out of prison not as a benefactor but as one benefited. The gift was not to become a slave, but the king was to be brought into need; his wisdom had to become manifest. That is why the eunuch forgets, so that Egypt might not overlook him, so that the king might not be ignorant of him. If he had been brought out then, perhaps he would have desired to go off to his own country; that is why he is held by countless necessities: first by the household, second by the prison, third in the kingdom, so that these things might be arranged. Like a noble colt wanting to leap away to its own, God held him there by glorious causes. For that he desired to see his father and to free him from his grief is clear from his calling him there.

Would you like us to look at other plots too, how they turn out for our good, not only by our having a reward, but also by their doing things for us at the very right time? Joseph’s uncle plotted against Joseph’s father and drove him from his homeland. What then? He too set him far from danger; for he too came to be in safety; it made him wiser, it made him see the dream. But he served as a slave in a foreign land? But going to his own people he takes a bride, and appears worthy to his kinsman. But that man too deceived him? But this too turned out for good, so that he became the father of many children. But he wanted to plot against him? But this too was for good, so that he might return to his own country at last; for if he had been prospering, he would not have longed so much for his own. But he took away his wages? But they became more. So everywhere: the more they were plotted against, the more their affairs flourished. If he had not received the elder, he would not quickly have become the father of so many children, but would have dragged on a long time in childlessness, and would have grieved, as his wife did. For she grieved with reason, not having become a mother; but he has a consolation; that is why he even rebuffs her. Again, if he had not deprived him of his wages, he would not have longed to see his own country, the man’s wisdom would not have appeared, they would not have become more devoted to him. For see what they say: “He has quite devoured us and our money.” So this became the cause of their affection. From then on he had the women as his servants rather than as wives, and was loved by them; and no possession could equal this; for nothing, nothing is more precious than to be so loved by a wife and to love. “And a wife,” it says, “who agrees with her husband.” The wise man counts this one thing among the blessings; for when this is present, all wealth, all prosperity is present; just as, when it is absent, nothing else is of any use, but everything is overturned and full of unpleasantness and confusion. Let us too, then, seek this before all things. He who seeks money does not seek this. Let us seek the things that can be lasting. Let us not seek a marriage from the wealthy, so that the excess of property may not breed arrogance in the wife, so that the arrogance may not be the cause of ruin. Do you not see what God did, how he subjected her? Why are you ungrateful? Why insensible? What he gave you as a favor from nature, do not you ruin its help. So one must not seek a wealthy woman, but take one as a partner of life for the bearing of children. It was not so that a wife might bring money that God gave her, but so that she might be a helper. But one who brings money is both a plotter … and a mistress instead of a wife, … perhaps a beast instead of a wife, thinking herself entitled to be proud because of her wealth. Nothing is more shameful than a man who plans to get rich in this way. For if getting rich itself is full of temptations, where shall we put getting rich in this way? For do not look at it if someone, rarely, and against the usual course and against reason, has succeeded; for in other matters too we must not attend to things that some enjoy and obtain unexpectedly; but let us look at what follows reason, whether the thing is not full of countless unpleasantnesses. Not only are you yourself in disrepute, but … you give her many occasions to associate again with a second bridegroom. Or do you not see that for many women this has become the pretext for a second marriage: not to be despised, to look for people to manage their property? Let us not, then, do so many evils for the sake of money; but let us let everything go and seek a good soul, so that we may also obtain love. This is the great wealth, this the great treasure, these the countless good things; may we all enjoy them as we ought, and live according to the laws of God, so that we may be able to attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“So the soldiers, as they had been ordered, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. And on the next day they returned to the barracks, leaving the horsemen to go on with him. When these came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.” Like bodyguards escorting a king, they escorted him with so great a force, and by night, fearing the anger of the people’s attack. So once they had brought him out of the city, then they leave him. And the tribune would not have sent him off with such security unless he himself too had found nothing against him, and saw their murderousness. “On reading it, he asked from what province he was; and learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, ‘I will hear you when your accusers also arrive.’ And he ordered him to be kept in Herod’s praetorium.” Lysias had already made a defense on his behalf; yet still the Jews set upon him, and win over the hearer in advance, and he is put in chains again; and hear how; for it goes on: “And after five … to the governor against Paul.” See how they did not desist even so, but come on, though there were countless hindrances … “And when he had been called, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: ‘Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight reforms are being made for this nation, in every way and everywhere we welcome this, most excellent Felix, with all gratitude. But, so as not to detain you further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly.’” And yet it is you who have done this; what need, then, was there of an orator? See how this man too, straight from the opening, wants to present him as a revolutionary and a rabble-rouser, and wins over the judge in advance with praises. Then, as though he had much to say, he passes over it and says only this: “But, so as not to detain you further.” See how he throws the judge into a desire to punish, if indeed he was going to hold the man who was overturning the world, and as at a great achievement … “For we have found this man a pest, and one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple; and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the tribune Lysias came and took him out of our hands with great violence, ordering his accusers to come before you. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn from him about all these things of which we accuse him.” “Stirring up riots,” he says, “among the Jews throughout the world.” They now slander him as a destroyer and a common enemy of the nation, “and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” This name, “of the Nazarenes,” seemed a reproach; that is why they brought it forward, and slandered him again by it; for Nazareth was a mean place. “And we found him,” he says. See how villainously they slander him as one who had run away and whom they had found with difficulty, although he had spent seven days in the temple. “And we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law.” See how they insult the law too, if indeed it was not the law’s part to beat, to kill, to lay ambushes. Then comes the accusation of Lysias too: “But the tribune Lysias came and took him out of our hands with great violence,” doing a thing, he says, that did not belong to him; yet he did it. “By examining him yourself you will be able to learn about all these things of which we accuse him. And the Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were so.” What then of Paul? Is he silent at this? Not at all; but he speaks boldly again and answers; and this when the governor wished it; it went on: “He beckoned to him to speak.” “‘Knowing that for many years you have been a just judge for this nation, I make my defense the more cheerfully, since you can learn that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem; and they did not find me in the temple disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, neither in the synagogues nor in the city; nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.’” These words are not flattery, to bear witness to the judge’s justice; flattery was rather the other, to say, “Since through you we enjoy peace.” Why, then, do you riot unjustly? But consider: they urged him toward injustice, this man sought what was just; that is why he said, “I make my defense the more cheerfully.” Then he also argues from the length of time: “For knowing that for many years,” he says, “you have been a judge.” And what did this contribute to the proof? Much; for he shows that the governor himself knows that he has done none of the things of which he is accused. For if he had ever stirred up a riot, the governor would have known it, being judge, and such a thing would not have escaped him. Then, since the accuser had nothing to show in Jerusalem, see what he says: “among all the Jews throughout the world,” piling lie on lie. That is why Paul from here … making his defense by this, that “I am so far from stirring up riots”; and he dwells on this just point, which was strong; for he goes on: “And neither in the temple, nor in the city, nor in the synagogue did they find me disputing with anyone.” Which was also true. And the other says, “ringleader,” as of a battle and a conspiracy; but see how mildly this man answers: “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, so I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.” See: those men set him apart; this man brings himself in with them, and by his defense makes himself one with the law. And confirming what he said, he goes on again: “In this I myself also always take pains to have a conscience without offense toward God and toward men. Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings; in doing which they found me purified in the temple, not with a crowd, nor with any uproar.” Why, then, did you go up? Why did you come? To worship; “to bring alms,” he says; so this was not the act of a rioter. Then he also removes their persons, speaking indefinitely: “in doing which some Jews from Asia found me, who ought to be here before you and to accuse me, if they had anything against me. Or let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found in me when I stood before the council, unless it is about this one sentence that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’” This is an abundance of just claims: not to avoid the accusers, but to be ready to give account to all. “It is about the resurrection of the dead,” he says, “that I am on trial today.” And he said none of the things he might reasonably have said: that they plotted, that they held him, that they laid an ambush (for these are said to have been done by them; but from this man, even when there was danger, no longer); but he is silent and only makes his defense, though he had countless things to say. This too made him illustrious in Caesarea, that he came with so great an escort. “In doing which they found me,” he says, “purified in the temple.” How, then, had he profaned it? For it was not for the same man both to purify himself and to worship, and to come for this and profane. Not letting the speech run on long also gives an impression of the justice of his case; and he humors the judge. It seems to me that he humors him by this too, by keeping his defense short.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. Since Tertullus had made long speeches before this, showing that he detains the judge, he did not say, “Hear the case,” but, “So as not to detain you further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us.” Perhaps he constructs his speech thus to court him; or this is truly a proof of fairness, if, when one could say much, one says little so as not to be a nuisance. “For we found this man a pest; who,” he says, “also tried to profane the temple.” So he did not profane it. What then, if he did this elsewhere? Not at all; for otherwise he would have said so; but now he says “tried,” and does not add how. And thus he magnified the things against Paul; but see how he diminishes their own: “Whom we also seized,” he says, “and wanted to judge according to our law. But the tribune Lysias came and took him out of our hands with great violence.” Here he shows that they are even being wronged in having to come to foreign courts, and that they would not have troubled the governor if the tribune had not forced them, and that he snatched the man away though it did not belong to him; for the wrongs were against us, and the trial ought to have taken place among us. That this is what he means, see what follows: “With great violence,” he says; for this is violence. “From whom you can learn.” He does not dare to accuse the tribune (for he was a lenient man), nor does he simply pass it over. Then again, so as not to seem to lie, he sets Paul himself up as his own accuser. “From whom,” he says, “by examining him you will be able to learn about all these things.” Then there are witnesses of what was said too: “And the Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were so.” The accusers themselves are both witnesses and accusers. But Paul answers, “Knowing that for many years you have been a just judge.” So he is no stranger, nor alien, nor revolutionary, if indeed he has known the judge for many years. And he fittingly added “just,” so that the judge might look neither to the high priest, nor to the people, nor to the accuser. See how he was not led into insult, even though there was need. “Believing,” he says, “everything according to the law.” He said this to show that a man who believes there will be a resurrection, which these men themselves also expect, would never do such things. He did not say of them that they believe what is written in the prophets (for they did not believe); but this man believed everything, not they; how so, it would take a long speech to say now. He said so much, and nowhere mentions Christ. But here, by saying “believing,” he brought in what concerns Christ too; but for the present he dwells on the doctrine of the resurrection, which was a doctrine common to them, and removes every suspicion of rioting. Then also the cause of his going up: “To bring alms and offerings to my nation,” he says, “I came, and that after several years.” How, then, could he have troubled those to whom he came so long a way to give alms? “Not with a crowd,” he says, “nor with uproar.” Everywhere he removes the riot. And he fittingly also summons the accusers from Asia, saying, “Who ought to accuse me before you, if they had anything against me.” So confident was he of being clear of what he was accused of, that he even summons them. And it is not only those from Asia that he does not reject as accusers; he does not reject those from Jerusalem either, but summons these too, adding, “Or let these men themselves say.” For this was why they had been troubled from the beginning, because he proclaimed the resurrection. And he does this fittingly; for once this was shown, what concerns Christ, that he rose, could easily be brought in as well. “What wrongdoing,” he says, “did they find in me when I stood before the council?” He said “before the council,” showing that they found nothing, though the examination took place not in private but in the presence of the crowd, and with exactness.

“That I am telling the truth in this, those who bring charges about it bear witness.” That is why he also said, “In this I myself take pains to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” For this is perfect virtue, when we give no handle even to men, and are eager to be without offense before God. “Which I cried out,” he says, “in the council.” And he shows their violence by saying, “I cried out,” as if he were saying: They cannot say, “You did these things under the pretense of almsgiving”; for I was not doing this with a crowd or with uproar; and besides, when an examination was made about it, nothing more was found. Did you see his mildness, though there were dangers? Did you see his well-spoken tongue, and how he seeks only to clear his own case, not to involve them in charges as well, except where he was forced, in making his defense? Just as Christ too said, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.” Let us too imitate this man, since he himself was an imitator of Christ. If he said nothing harsh to those who had gone as far as murder and slaughter, what pardon would we deserve, who rage against our enemies with abuse and insults, calling them defiled and utterly defiled? And what defense shall we have for having enemies at all? Do you not hear that he who honors another honors himself? But we insult ourselves. You complain that you were insulted; why, then, do you fall into the same charge? Why do you inflict a wound on yourself? Remain free of passion, remain unwounded; do not, wanting to strike another, involve yourself in the evil. For the other turmoil of the soul is not enough for us, the one stirred when no one stirs it, such as unseemly desires, griefs and despondencies and the like; but we also … “And how,” one says, “is it possible to bear being insulted?” And how is it not possible, tell me? Is a wound born in us from words? Bruises on our bodies? What harm, then, comes to us? So, if we wish, we can bear it. Let us lay down a law for ourselves not to be pained, and we shall bear it. Let us say to ourselves: it is not from enmity, it is from weakness; for weakness it truly is; since, that it is not from enmity or malice, that man too would have wished to restrain himself, even if he had been wronged countless times. If we only consider this, that it is from weakness, we shall bear it, and we shall pardon him, and try not to fall into it ourselves. For I ask all who are present: if you wished, could you be so wise as to bear those who insult you? I for my part think so. So he insulted you unwillingly and not by choice, but forced by passion; hold back. Do you not see those possessed by demons? Just as that man endures this not so much from enmity as from weakness, so we too are moved not by the nature of the insults so much as by ourselves; since how do we bear madmen who insult us in the same way? Again, if those who insult us are friends or even greater than we, we bear it so too. How, then, is it not absurd, when there are these three, friends and madmen and greater men, to bear it, but not to bear it from equals or inferiors? I have often said: the thing is a sudden lurch and a seizure; let us hold out a little, and we have accomplished everything. The greater the insults one hurls, the weaker one is. Do you know when one should be pained? When, after we have insulted him, he is silent; for then he is strong and we are weak. But if the opposite happens, one should even rejoice: you have been crowned, you have been proclaimed victor; not by being brought down into a contest, nor in sun and heat and dust, but by willing only, sitting or standing, you have received a great crown; and not simply a great one, but much greater than theirs; for it is not the same to throw an enemy opponent and to get the better of the arrows of anger. You have won without even giving a handle; you have thrown down the passion within you, you have slaughtered the beast that had been stirred, and muzzled the raging anger, like an excellent shepherd. The battle was to be civil, the war a domestic one. … from outside, they involve them in civil wars, and then they prevail; so too the one who insults us, unless he rouses the passion within us, will not be able to prevail; unless we set ourselves on fire, he has no power.

Let the spark of anger be kept with us, so as to be kindled at the right time, not against ourselves, nor so as to involve us in countless evils. Do you not see fire kept apart in houses, and not thrown about everywhere, neither in hay nor in clothes nor just anywhere, so that it may not be kindled when the wind blows? But even if a maidservant carries a lamp, or the cook lights a fire, there are strict instructions not to do it against the wind, nor near a plank, nor at night; but when night comes on we put it to sleep, fearing lest, while we sleep and no one is by … Let it be so with anger too: let it not be scattered everywhere through our thoughts, but kept in some depth of the mind, so that the wind from the words of the opponent may not easily reach it, but that it may receive the wind from us, who know how to stir it in due measure and safely. If it receives wind from outside, it does not know measure, but will burn up everything; often this wind will fall on it while we sleep, and burn up everything. Let it be with us, then, only so as to kindle light; for anger kindles light when it arises fittingly; and let us have torches against those who wrong others, against the devil. Let the spark not lie or be thrown everywhere; but let us keep it in the ashes, let us put it to sleep in humble thoughts. We do not always need it, but only when something must be worked and made soft; when hardness must be softened, when the soul must be condemned.

How many terrible things have fits of temper and anger brought about! And the hard thing is that, when we have broken apart, we are no longer masters of coming together again, but we wait for others; each is ashamed and blushes to go back and be reconciled with the other. See: he is not ashamed to separate and be split off, but becomes the author of the evil; but to approach and … as if someone did not hesitate to cut off a limb, but were ashamed to join it again. What are you saying, man? You did a great wrong, and you yourself became the cause of the fight. Then you would be the one rightly to go first and be reconciled, since you yourself provided the cause. “But they wronged me, and he is the cause.” Then for this reason too, so that they may admire you the more, so that besides the first you may also have the first place in the second: just as you were not the cause of the enmity’s arising, so neither of its being prolonged further. Perhaps he too, conscious of countless wrongs, is ashamed and blushes. “But he is mad with pride?” For this reason above all do not hesitate to run to him; for the passion in him is double, pride and anger. You have stated the reason why you ought to go first: you are the healthy one, the one who can see; for he is in darkness; for such are anger and arrogance. You, then, who are free of these and healthy, go to him, the physician to the sick. Does any physician say, “Since he is ill, I am not going”? On the contrary, they go especially when they see that the patient could not come. For they take less thought for those who can come, as not seriously ill, but not so for those who are bedridden. Or does not pride and anger seem to you worse than sickness? Is not the one like a violent fever, the other like an inflamed and swollen body? Consider what it is to have fever and swelling: go, put out the fire; for you can, by the grace of God; calm the inflammation as with water. “What then,” one says, “if he becomes more conceited by this very thing?” It is nothing to you; for you have done your part; let him reckon with himself; only let our conscience not condemn us, that this happens because we have fallen short in something we ought to have done. “Feed your enemy,” he says; “for by doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.” And yet, even so, he commands us to go and be reconciled and to do good, not so that we may heap coals of fire, but so that the other, knowing this, may be restrained, may tremble, may fear the kindnesses of his enemies more [than their hostility], and their friendship rather than their plots. For an enemy who bears a grudge does not harm the one who hates him as much as one who helps and does good. For by bearing a grudge he harmed both himself and the other, perhaps a little; but by doing good he heaped coals of fire on his head. “Then one must not do it,” one says, “so as not to heap coals?” But do you want to heap coals on your own head in another way? For this is what bearing a grudge does. “But to prolong it?” Not at all; for it is not you who do this, but that beast of a man. For if, while you do good and honor and reconcile, he goes on keeping up his hostility, he has kindled the fire for himself, he himself has burned his own head; but you are blameless. Do not be more loving than God, or you will suffer countless terrible things; or rather, you could not, even if you wished, not even a little. For how? “As far as heaven is from earth,” he says, “so far are my counsels from your counsels”; and again, “If you,” he says, “being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give to you?” But these are excuses and pretexts. Let us not play the sophist with God’s commands. “And how do we play the sophist?” one says. He said, “By doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head”; and you say, “I fear for my enemy, because he has wronged me greatly.” Is this not what you say? But how did you come to have an enemy at all? You fear for the one who wronged you, but do you not fear for yourself? Would that you took thought for yourself! Do not act with such an aim; or rather, even with such an aim, do it. But you do not do it. I do not tell you that you will heap coals of fire; I say something more besides: only do it. For Paul says all this to draw you on, by the hope of punishment, to put an end to the enmity. Since we are beastlike, and would not otherwise bring ourselves to love our enemy unless we expected some punishment, he gives this bait as to a wild beast; since to the apostles he does not say this, but what? “So that you may become like your Father who is in heaven.” Besides, it is not possible for one who does good and receives good to remain an enemy. That is why he set these things down. Why do you play the philosopher in words, and in deeds not keep even the measure? “… Feed your enemy,” he says … “Very well, you do not feed him, so as not to heap coals of fire; so you are sparing him? So you love him, and act with this aim?” God knows whether you say it with this aim; and you play the sophist with us and make the word a pretext. You take thought for your enemy and fear that he may be punished? Then you have quenched your anger; for one who loves so much as to overlook his own advantage for the sake of what benefits the other has no enemy. Then you could say this. How long shall we play at things that are no game and admit no pardon? Therefore I exhort our brotherhood, you who are loved by the Lord and God and Savior of us, Jesus Christ, and I beg you and entreat you: cutting away these pretexts, let us not despise the laws of God [nor overlook his commandments], so that we may be able to pass the present life in a way pleasing to the Lord and to attain the good things promised, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“… having more exact knowledge of the Way, saying, ‘When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case’; and he ordered the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to let him have some liberty, and to prevent none of his friends from attending to him or visiting him.” See how great the examination becomes: first by many, then over a long time, so that it might not be said that the trial was rushed. For since the orator, having said that Lysias took him away by force, … he fittingly brought in what concerns Felix, and it says, “having more exact knowledge of the Way,” that is, he deliberately put it off, not needing to learn, but wishing to put the Jews off. He did not want to release him because of them; to punish him, again, was impossible, for it would have been shameless. That is why he says, “… I will decide your case.” “And he ordered the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to let him have some liberty, and to prevent none of his friends from attending to him or visiting him.” “And to let him have some liberty,” it says. So he too cleared him of the charges. Why, then, does he detain him? To please those men, or else expecting … And that it was for this that he summoned him, the writer makes clear to us, going on to say: “After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him concerning faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, [Felix became afraid and answered,] ‘For the present go; when I find an opportunity I will summon you.’ At the same time he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, so that he might release him. So he sent for him rather often and conversed with him.” See how what is written holds to the truth. He sent for him often, not admiring him, nor praising what was said, nor wanting to believe; but why? “Expecting,” it says, “that money would be given him.” Consider how it does not hide the judge’s mind here; and yet if he had condemned him he would not have done this, nor would he have wanted to hear from a condemned and wicked man. And see Paul: though speaking to a ruler, he says none of the things likely to relax his soul, but things by which he is both frightened and shaken in mind. “For as he reasoned,” it says, “about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment,” [Felix] became [afraid]. So great was the power of Paul’s words that he even frightens the ruler. And this man receives a successor and leaves Paul a prisoner, although he ought to have released him, or rather to have brought the case to an end; but to please those men he left him behind. But these men pressed so hard as to appeal again; and yet they did not attack any of the apostles like this, but, having attacked, they desisted again. So by dispensation he leaves Jerusalem, having such beasts to deal with; and yet they ask that he be brought there again to be tried. But here too God arranged things, not leaving it to the ruler; for it was likely that, having just entered on his office, he would want to do them a favor; but God does not allow it. And when they came down, they now made their accusations shamelessly and more vehemently; and being unable to convict him from matters of the law, they again resorted to their usual practice and stirred up the matters concerning Caesar, which they also did in the case of Christ. For this was clear from Paul’s making a defense about offenses against Caesar; hence, explaining this very thing, it goes on: “When two years had passed … And wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix [left Paul in prison]. [Now Festus, having arrived] in the province, after three days went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews laid information before him against Paul, and they urged him, asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem, planning an ambush to kill him on the way. Festus answered that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ‘So,’ he said, ‘let those of you who have authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong in the man, let them accuse him.’ After staying among them not more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against Paul which they could not prove, while Paul said in his defense, ‘Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.’ But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul in answer, ‘Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges there before me?’” See how he too does the Jews a favor, a whole people and a city. That is why Paul in turn frightens him, using a human weapon; and hear how. “But Paul said, ‘I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If then I am a wrongdoer and have done anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if there is nothing in their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.’” But someone might say here: “And why, having heard, ‘You must bear witness about me in Rome too,’ did he do these things, as if he did not believe?” God forbid; rather, he believed strongly. It would rather have been tempting God to rely on that declaration and throw himself into countless dangers, and to say, “Let us see whether God can rescue me even so.” But Paul does not do this; he contributes everything on his own part, entrusting the whole to God. And he gently takes the ruler to task too in making his defense thus; for he almost says this: If I do wrong, well and good; but if I do no wrong, why do you hand me over? “No one,” he says, “can give me up.” He threw him into fear, so that he could not do them the favor even if he wished, but would also have the appeal as his excuse to them. “Then Festus, having conferred with his council, answered, ‘To Cae-

See: he consults with Agrippa, so that others might again become hearers, both the king and the army and Bernice. Then there is a defense again. “After some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to greet Festus. And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, ‘There is a man left a prisoner by Felix; and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid information about him, asking for a sentence against him. I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone to destruction before the accused has met his accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge. So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge of the evils I suspected; but they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul asserted to be alive. Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to [Jerusalem] and be tried there on these matters. But when Paul appealed to be kept for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be kept until I could send him to Caesar.’ And Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I should like to hear the man myself.’ ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘you shall hear him.’” See an accusation of the Jews again, not from Paul but from the ruler. “The chief priests and the elders of the Jews,” he says, “laid information, asking for a sentence against him. I answered them.” See what he answers, to their shame: “It is not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone to destruction,” that is, before giving him a hearing it is impossible simply to give him up. And having acted according to custom, he found no cause; hence he is at a loss about it. And this is clear from what he went on to say: “Being at a loss how to investigate these questions.” He spoke so, to cover up his own fault. And he covers it up, but [Agrip]pa wants to see him. See how the rulers always try to put off the Jews’ importunity, and are often forced to act against justice, and look for pretexts for delay; for he did not put it off out of ignorance, but knowingly. But Agrippa not only does not put it off, but even wants to hear him; which is also worth wondering at: how did he come to want to see a man who was accused, even if unjustly? So this too was of dispensation. That is why his wife too … And he does not simply hear him, but with great honor. So great was his desire; for if he had not desired it, he would not have sought to hear him, nor would he have made his wife a partner in the hearing, unless he had imagined great things about him. And it seems to me that she too longed for this. And see Paul at once discoursing not only about faith or the forgiveness of sins, but also about what must be done.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “For the present go,” he says; “when I find an opportunity I will summon you.” See the hardness: hearing such things, he expected to receive money from him. And this was not the only terrible thing, but after conversing with him he did not release him; but since he was at the end of his term of office, he left him a prisoner, so as to do the Jews a favor; so he was a lover not only of money but also of glory. How, you defiled man, do you seek money from a man who preaches the opposite? And that he did not receive it is clear from his leaving him in bonds; he would have released him if he had received it. This man discoursed about self-control, and that one expected to receive money from him while he discoursed on these things. And he did not dare to ask; for such is wickedness, cowardly and suspicious of everything; but he hoped; so it was fitting that he did them a favor, having ruled there so long. “So Festus, having arrived in the province, … the chief priest and the leading men of the Jews laid information before him against Paul,” it says. At once, at the very beginning, the priests came forward, and would not have hesitated to come to Caesarea too, if he had not gone up first; since … he spends ten days. Perhaps, I think, so as to give an opening to those who wanted to destroy him. Paul was in prison. “And they urged him,” it says, “to summon him to Jerusalem.” And why did they ask a favor, if it was just that he should die? But so the plot became clear to Festus too, so that in speaking he said, “Men who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me.” For by “petitioned” he shows “asking a favor against him.” So they already wanted to bring him to sentence, fearing Paul’s tongue. What do you fear? Why do you hurry? For this is what “that he was being kept” shows. Was he going to run away? “Let those of you who have authority,” he says, “accuse him.” Again accusers in Caesarea, and again Paul is brought out. “And the next day he took his seat,” it says, “on the tribunal.” See: as soon as he arrived he took his seat on the tribunal; so hard did they push him, with such eagerness; so they press on. As long, then, as he had not yet had experience of the Jews and of the honor they paid, he answered rightly; but once he was in Jerusalem, this man too does them a favor; and not simply does them a favor, but does it with deceit; and how, hear; for it goes on: “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges there before me?” As if he were saying: I am not handing you over to them, but I myself will be judge. And he says this and makes him master of the decision, so as to entice him by the honor; since the sentence was his, and it would have seemed quite shameless to want to take him there when nothing had been proved here. But Paul did not say, “I do not want to,” lest he make the judge harsher, but again he speaks boldly and says, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried.” Great boldness. And see how he reasons against them; for by his defense he almost says this: They cast me out once, and they think to condemn me by this, by showing that I sinned against Caesar; I want to be tried before the very one who has been wronged. Having said this, he goes on: “I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.” He now takes him to task as one doing them a favor. Then, having taken him to task, he again softens his speech, adding: “If then I am a wrongdoer, or have done anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die”: I pass sentence on myself, he says. This is not the part of one courting death, but of one very confident in what he was saying; for together with boldness there must also be the plea of justice, so as to move him. “But if there is nothing in their charges against me, no one can give me up to them.” Even if he wants to, he says, he will not be able. He did not say, “I do not deserve to die,” or “to be released,” but “I am ready to be tried before Caesar”; at the same time, remembering the dream, he had more courage to appeal. And he did not say “you,” but “no one”; and he added, “I appeal to Caesar,” so that the insult might not be directed at Festus. “Then Festus, having conferred with his council, answered, ‘You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.’” Did you see how he does them a favor? For this is a favor: to confer with the accusers, which belongs to a corrupt mind and one that confounds due order. See his trial prolonged again, and the plot becoming an occasion for the preaching. For these things are arranged so that he might be carried off [to Rome] easily and under guard, plotted against by no one; for it was not the same to arrive simply, and on such a charge. This also made the Jews gather there. Then again time passes as he lingers in Jerusalem, so that you may learn that, even when time has passed, the plot has no power against him, since God does not permit it. “Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea.” This Agrippa, who is also Herod, seems to me to be another, so that he is the fourth after that one in the time of James. See the enemies working with him against their will. So that the audience might become great, Agrippa fell into a desire for the hearing; and he does not simply hear, but with preparation. And see the defense that the ruler makes: “And since he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to send him; about whom I have nothing definite to write to my lord.” So Festus writes, and the cruelty of the Jews is exposed; for when the ruler says these things he is above suspicion. And he says this so that the Jews might be condemned by him too; and after all had voted against them, then God brings on the punishment. Consider: Lysias condemned them, Felix condemned them, Festus, even while doing them favors, condemned them, Agrippa condemned them. What more? The Pharisees too condemned them. And that he condemned them, hear him saying: “They brought no charge of the evils I suspected.” And yet they did bring charges, but did not prove them; for the plot and the daring gave grounds for suspicion, but the examination found nothing of the kind. “And about a certain Jesus,” he says, “who had died.” He fittingly says “a certain,” as a man in office and not caring about such things. For this reason he also said, “Being at a loss how to investigate these questions.” For truly the inquiry into such things went beyond the hearing of such a judge. And if you are at a loss, why do you drag him to Jerusalem? That is why Paul too, not consenting to be tried by him, appeals to Caesar, saying, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried”; for they were accusing him about this. Do you hear of an appeal? Do you hear of a plot of the Jews, or do you hear of a riot?

All these things stirred Agrippa to a desire as he heard them. And Festus grants the favor, and Paul becomes still more illustrious. Such were the things, as I said, that the plots procured. If these things had not happened, none of these rulers would have deigned to hear him, none with such quiet and silence. And he seems to teach and to make a defense, but he is rather addressing an assembly, with great good order. Let us not, then, think plots a hard thing. As long as we do not plot against ourselves, no one will be able to plot against us; or rather, they do plot, but they do us no harm, but even help us greatly; so that we are masters of ourselves both to suffer ill and not to suffer it. See, I bear witness and say it with a loud voice, clearer than a trumpet, and if it were possible to go up on a height and shout it, I would not refuse: that no one of the people who inhabit the earth will be able to harm the Christian. And why do I say people? Not even the demon himself, the tyrant, the devil, unless the man wrongs himself; and if anyone wishes to do us any evil whatever, he will try in vain. For just as no one could harm an angel, so neither, while he is on earth, can a man harm a man. But neither will he be able to harm another, as long as he is good. What, then, could be equal to this, when one can neither be harmed nor harm another? For this is no less than that, not wanting to harm another. So he is an angel, and like God. For such is God too; but he by nature, this man by choice. So he can neither be harmed nor harm another. And do not think “cannot” a mark of weakness (for the opposite is weakness), but I mean that it is not admitted. For that nature is capable neither of harm nor of wronging another; since this too is another harm. For we harm ourselves in no other way than by harming another; and so the greater of our sins come from the wrong we do to ourselves. So for this reason too the Christian cannot be harmed, because he cannot harm either. How, by harming others, we harm ourselves, come, let us take each matter in turn and exercise our argument on what is said. [Someone has robbed or taken more than his share; whom has] this man [harmed]? Has he not harmed himself first? It is surely plain to everyone. For to the other the loss is in money, but to him it is in his soul; for the soul of such a man is handed over to destruction and punishment. Again, let another envy: whom, then, has such a man wronged? Not himself, tell me? For such is the nature of injustice: it harms the one who gives it birth first in countless ways, but another a little; or rather it does not harm him even a little, but even helps. But I have said nothing persuasive. Let there be, then (for everything turns most of all on such cases), a poor man with a little money, well provided with necessary food, and another, rich and well off and with great power; and let him take the poor man’s goods and strip him and hand him over to hunger, and himself live in luxury on what he took from him unjustly. Such a man has not only done the other no harm, but even helped him; and himself he has not only not helped, but even harmed. How? First, by being scourged by his wicked conscience, and pricked every day, and condemned by everyone; then at the judgment to come. But that this man is harmed has been made clear from this; but how is the other helped, tell me? Because to suffer ill and bear it nobly brings great gain; for suffering ill is a release from sins, it is a training ground of wisdom, it is a school of virtue. Let us see, then, which of the two is in evil case, this man or that? That man, if he is wise, will bear it nobly; but this one will be in trembling and suspicion every day. Who, then, is wronged, this man or that? “You are telling fables,” one says; “for when someone has nothing to eat, or goes to beg and does not receive, does he not lose both soul and body besides?” It is you who tell fables; for I am showing facts. For tell me, does none of the rich lose heart? What then? Is poverty the cause of this? “But he does not go hungry?” And what of that? The penalty is greater when he does this with wealth. For neither does wealth make one noble, nor poverty weak; since otherwise none of those who live in wealth would live a wretched life, nor would any of those in poverty curse himself. That what you say is really fables, I will make plain to you from this. Tell me: was Paul in poverty or in wealth? Did he go hungry or not? You may hear him saying, “In hunger and thirst.” Did the prophets go hungry or not? “They too lost heart.” Again you bring me Paul, again the prophets, ten and twenty men. But from where do you want them? “From the many,” he says, “show me some who bear it nobly.” But the rare is always like this, and the good are few. If you like, let us examine the matter in itself too. Let us see whose care is greater and sharper, and whose is easier to bear. Does not the one worry about necessary food, while the other, letting this go, worries about countless things? The rich man does not fear hunger, but he fears for other things; often for his very life. The poor man does not have freedom from care about food, but he has the other freedom from care: security, quiet, freedom from fear.

Besides, if doing wrong is not an evil but a good thing, why are we ashamed? Why do we hide our faces? Why, when reproached for it, are we indignant and annoyed? If being wronged is not a good thing, why do we pride ourselves and preen ourselves on it, and make our case from it? [Do you want] to learn how this is better than that? Look at those in the one state, look at those in the other. Why laws? Why courts? Why punishments? Is it not because of those men, as sick and ailing? “But the pleasure is great,” one says. Let us not speak of what is to come; let us examine the present. What is worse than a man under such suspicion? What more precarious? What more rotten? Is he not continually in shipwreck? Even if he does something just, he is not believed, being condemned by everyone on account of his power; for he has all who live with him as accusers. He cannot enjoy friendship; for no one would readily choose to become the friend of a man with such a reputation, so as not to share in the suspicion about him. Everyone turns away from the unjust man as from a beast, as from a destroyer and an enemy and a murderer and a foe of nature. If he falls into court, the wrongdoer does not even need an accuser … But the one who is wronged is not so, but has everyone … he stands in safety. If doing wrong is good and safe, let someone confess that he is unjust; but if he does not dare to, why does he pursue it as a good? And let us see too how many evils arise if this happens within ourselves. For tell me: if one of the things within us oversteps its proper measure and aims at what belongs to another, and the spleen, leaving its own place, wants to take what is foreign along with its own, is this not a disease? Again, the moisture within us, the humor, if it fills everything, is this not dropsy? Along with it let the bile in turn seek more room, and the blood spread everywhere. And in the soul, anger, desire, and all the rest, if they overstep the measure, do they not destroy themselves along with it? So too with food: if more is taken than can be digested, it involves the body in diseases. For where do gout and paralysis and trembling of the body come from? Do they not come from immoderate eating? Again, in the body, if the eye wants to take in more, or wishes to see more than is set for it, or takes in too strong a light, what is beyond measure harms rather than helps. And if, where light is a good thing, the eye that wants to see more is ruined when it sees something too bright, think of the case of evil. If the hearing receives a loud voice, the mind is stunned; the intellect, when it reasons about things beyond itself, is overwhelmed; and whatever exceeds what is needed destroys besides. For this is greed: to have more than what is set. So too with money: when we want to lay on more burdens, even if we do not perceive it, we feed a cruel beast within ourselves, having much, needing much, surrounding ourselves with countless cares, giving the devil many handles. That is why with the rich the devil does not even need to toil; for they are ready for him to overthrow, most of all because of their wealth. But not so with those who live with poverty; it is quite the opposite. So their affairs by themselves destroy them. Therefore I exhort you to abstain from the desire for these things, so that we may be able to escape the snares of the evil one, and, laying hold of virtue, attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience hall with the tribunes and the prominent men of the city; and at the command of Festus, [Paul] was brought in.” See what an audience is gathered for Paul. “With the prominent men,” it says, “of the city”: for the ruler and the king, having gathered all the guards, meet him in this way. And with them the tribunes and the leading men of the city were present; for these it calls “prominent.” Then Paul too is brought in; and see how, when he had been brought in, he is proclaimed by Festus; for he not only releases him from the charges, but even makes a defense for him. Saying what? “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had done nothing deserving death; and as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to send him. But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.” Consider how he accuses them and releases him. Oh, the abundance of just claims! The ruler does not find how to condemn him, though countless examinations had been held; but they said he deserved death. That is why he said, “But I found,” he says, “that he had done nothing deserving death”; then he went on, saying, “But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him.” And this too belongs to Paul’s purity, that the judge has nothing to say about him. “Therefore I have brought him,” he says, “before you; for it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.” See into what great perplexities the Jews threw their rulers. What, then, does Agrippa do? Wishing to learn something on these matters, “he said to Paul, ‘You are permitted to speak for yourself.’” In his great desire to hear, the king permits him to speak. And Paul now speaks with boldness, not flattering, but calling himself blessed for this reason, that he is speaking before one who knows everything; and that it is for this reason, hear what he puts forward, saying: “Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: ‘I consider myself blessed, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are an expert in all the customs and questions of the Jews; therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.’” And yet, if he had been conscious of guilt, he ought to have been afraid of being tried before one who knew everything; but it is the mark of a clean conscience not to decline a judge who knows exactly what has happened, but even to rejoice; hence he even counts himself blessed, and says, “I beg you to hear me patiently.” Since he is going to speak at length and say something about himself, he made this request in advance, and says: “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews know, having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.” What he says is this: How could I have become a rioter, I who was such a man in my youth and am attested by all? Then there is also the proof of what he said from the sect; for he goes on: “According to the strictest sect of our religion I lived.” And since again it was likely that some would say, “What then, if the sect is admirable, but you are wicked?”, see how he cures the suspicion lurking beneath: he calls as witnesses all the Jews who knew his life and conduct. “For all the Jews know,” he says, “having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify. And now I stand here on trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, King Agrippa! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?” He puts forward two arguments about the resurrection: one from the prophets (and he does not bring forward a prophet, but the very belief of the Jews), and another, stronger, from facts. What is this? That Christ spoke with him, having risen from the dead. And he establishes this too by reasoning, relating exactly his former madness; then also with praise of the Jews: “As they worship night and day,” he says, “they hope to attain.” So even if I had not been of blameless life, I ought not to have been tried for these things, King Agrippa. Then another argument too: “Why is it thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?” For if there were no such belief, if they had not been brought up in these doctrines, but it were being introduced now, perhaps no one would have accepted the word. Then he tells how he persecuted; and this too serves to establish his point; and he brings forward the chief priests as witnesses, and the foreign cities, and that he heard the one who said to him, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Then he also shows God’s love for humankind, that even while he was being persecuted he appeared, and that “he did good not to me alone, but also sent me as a teacher to others.”

And he also shows the prophecy which he heard: “For this purpose I have appeared to you, … rescuing you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you.” Showing all this, he said: “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this I did in Jerusalem; I shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And in all the synagogues [I punished them often and tried to make them] blaspheme; and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. In this business I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you a servant and a witness both of what you have seen and of those things in which I will appear to you, rescuing you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” Consider how gently he speaks. God, he says, said to me, “I have appeared to you to appoint you a servant and witness of what you have seen and of those things in which I will appear to you, rescuing you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins.” As if he were saying: By these things I was persuaded; by this vision he drew me, and persuaded me so that I did not delay. “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.” So, he says, how could I, who teach others too about the best life, have become a leader of riot and contention? “For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Having obtained help from God, I stand to this day, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer, that, [being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light] both to the people and to the Gentiles.” See how his speech is free of flattery, and he ascribes everything to God. Then the boldness: “But not even now do I desist”; and the security: “For I base my argument on the prophets: that the Christ must suffer, that, being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light”; as if he were saying that Christ, having risen first, dies no more. It is clear from this that he proclaims this to all, and that they should expect it for themselves too. Then Festus, seeing his boldness, since he was speaking to the king and did not turn from looking at him, being somehow put out, says, “You are mad.” That he says this as one affected, hear what follows: “And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, ‘Paul, you are mad; your great learning is turning you mad.’” What then of Paul? Answering with mildness, “I am not mad,” he says, “most excellent Festus.” Then he also teaches the reason why he turned his speech to the king: “For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly; for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” He said this almost tearing into them and saying to them: I know that he knows everything exactly; and you ought to have known these things first (for this is what the next words show: “for this was not done in a corner”), but you would not. “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” “And Agrippa said to Paul, ‘In a short time you would persuade me to become a Christian.’ And Paul said, ‘I would pray to God that, whether in a short time or a long, not only you but also all who hear me today might become such as I am, except for these chains.’” See how he prays, saying, “I would pray to God that, in a short time [not],” that is, nearly. And he does not simply pray, but intensely. “That all,” he says, “might become such; not only you, but also all, such as I am.” Then he also adds, “except for these chains”; not complaining about the chains, nor ashamed that he was bound (for this, if anything, was worthy of glory to him), but looking to their opinion he spoke so. That is why he added, “except for these chains.”

But let us look at what was read from the beginning. “So on the next day, when they had entered the audience hall, at the command of Festus,” it says, “Paul was brought in.” The Jews had now withdrawn, since he had used his appeal, and then the theater becomes brilliant for him; for the king was present with great pomp, and the whole multitude of the Jews, not some and not others. “The whole multitude of the Jews,” he says, “petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.”

See the madness: they shouted that he must die … Caesar. For if they had nothing terrible to say, and those men had gone mad, he rightly goes to Caesar. “So that, after the examination has been made by you, I may have something to write,” he says. Do you see how often the matter is tested? So the Jews were the cause of this defense too, which those in Rome also were to learn. “Concerning all the things of which I am accused, King Agrippa,” he says, “I consider myself blessed, being about to make my defense before you.” See how they become heralds, against their will, both of their own wickedness and of Paul’s virtue, and to the ruler himself; so that Paul was led away more brilliantly than if he had gone without chains; for he was no longer led away as a deceiver and sorcerer, when so many judges had acquitted him. So, having shaken off every charge among those with whom he was born and brought up, not simply, but so clean of suspicion, he arrives in Rome. And he did not say, “What is this? I appealed to Caesar once; I have been tried countless times; how long?” But what? He was ready again to give account, and before the one who best knew the affairs of the Jews. That is why he makes his defense with great boldness, since those who would condemn him were not masters of the case; he who, although they were not masters, and that decision held, “You shall go to Caesar,” nonetheless gives an account, and full account about everything, not about some things and not others. And he almost says this by his answers: They accuse me of riot, they accuse me of heresy, and of having profaned the temple: I make a defense about everything. “My manner of life from my youth all the Jews know”; that it is not my way to make riots, the accusers themselves are witnesses. Which he said before this too, “being zealous for the traditions of my fathers”; this he hints at here too by saying, “my manner of life from my youth.” And when the whole people was present, then he calls on their testimony. And he does this not only at Lysias’s tribunal but also at Festus’s; and again here, when more were present; but there not much defense was needed, since Lysias’s letter acquitted him. “All the Jews know,” he says, “having known me from the first.” And he does not say what his life was like, but leaves it to their conscience, and puts everything in the sect, showing from this that he would not have chosen it if he had been wicked and depraved. “For the sake of this sect, then,” he says, “I stand on trial.” This is honored among them too; for it they prayed, for it they worship, so as to attain it; this I proclaim, and for this hope I am accused. See, is it not the act of madmen to do everything to attain it, and to persecute the one who believes in it? “I myself was convinced,” he says, “that I ought to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth”; that is, I decided to do these things, because I was not one of Christ’s disciples, but one of those who fought against him. Hence he also becomes a credible witness, because, doing countless things and fighting against the believers, and persuading them to blaspheme, and stirring up everything, cities, rulers, and … himself doing these things, he was so suddenly changed. Then again there are the witnesses who were with him; then he shows that he was rightly persuaded, from the light, from the prophets, from the outcomes, and from what has now happened. For he went on: “At midday, on the way, I saw a light shining around me and those who journeyed with me.” See, at any rate, how he convinces them both from the prophets and from these things. For so as not to seem to innovate, though he had great things to say, he again takes refuge in the prophets and sets their words in the midst. This, indeed, was more credible, as something that had happened now; but since he alone saw it, he again confirms it from the prophets. And see him not speaking in the same way in a court and in an assembly: there he says, “You killed him”; but here nothing of the kind, so as not to inflame their anger further; but he shows the same thing by saying, “that the Christ must suffer.” So he releases them from the charges. What I proclaim, then, that he rose first from the dead, I show from the prophets; for the prophets too proclaim this. So accept the word as being that of the prophets. And having told of the vision, he now speaks freely of his achievements too. What are these? “To open their eyes,” he says, “and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. For I have appeared to you for this purpose”; that is, not to punish you, but to make you an apostle. See: he shows the evils that hold unbelievers, Satan, the darkness, just as also the good things of the faithful, the light, God, the inheritance of the saints. And he does not simply exhort them to repent, but also to show an admirable life. And see how everywhere the Gentiles are woven into the speech; for those present were from the Gentiles. “Testifying,” he says, “to both small and great,” that is, both to the distinguished and to the obscure. He said this because of the soldiers. Then, leaving the position of a defendant, he took that of a teacher. That is why Festus says to him, “You are mad.” Then, so as not to seem himself to be a teacher, he brings in the prophets, Moses: “That the Christ,” he says, “must suffer, that, being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.” “Festus said with a loud voice.” So full of anger and wrath was he.

… “For this was not done,” he says, “in a corner.” Here he says this about the cross, about the resurrection, and that the doctrine has spread everywhere in the world. “King Agrippa,” he says, “do you believe?” He did not say, “the resurrection,” but “the prophets.” Then he anticipates him and says, “I know that you believe.” To which Agrippa says, “In a short time you would persuade me to become a Christian.” Paul did not understand what “in a short time” meant, but thought it meant “with little,” that is, with little effort; that is why he answers to this; so untrained was he. And he did not say, “I do not want this,” but “I pray, not only for you, but also for all who hear me.” See his speech free of flattery. “I pray,” he says, “that all may become today such as I am, except for these chains.” See: he who boasts of his chains, who displays them like a golden chain, now prays them away from these men. And do not be surprised; for they were still rather weak, and his speech to them was more condescending. Since, that he thought the chains better, hear how in his letters he always puts them before everything else, saying, “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ”; and again, “For this reason I am bound with this chain, but the word of God is not bound”; and, “to the point of chains as a criminal.” See: not “chains” only, but he added “as a criminal,” increasing the glory from the chains. And the punishment was double: that he was bound, and that he was bound as a criminal. For if he had been bound as for something good, the thing would have brought some consolation; but now it was both as a criminal and as one caught in terrible crimes; and yet he cared for none of these things. Such is a soul given wings by heavenly love. For if those who love this shameful love count nothing either glorious or honorable, but only whatever contributes to their desire is judged both glorious and honorable to them, and the beloved is everything to them, much more do those caught by this love count punishments as nothing. And if we do not understand what is said, it is no wonder; for we are without experience of this wisdom. For if someone is caught by the fire of Christ, he becomes like a man living alone on the earth: so little does he care for glory and dishonor; but just as, if he lived alone, he would care for no one, so then too such a man does not care. And he so despises temptations and scourgings and prisons, as if he were suffering these things in another’s body, or as if he possessed a body of adamant; and he so laughs at the pleasures of life, and is so insensible to them, as we are to dead bodies, or as if we ourselves were dead. He is as far from being caught by any passion as pure gold, fired, would be. For just as flies would not fall into the middle of a flame, but flee, so the passions do not dare even to come near this man. And of these things I would have wished to be able to bring examples from among us; but since we are at a loss, we must take refuge in this very man. See, then, how he was disposed toward the whole world: “The world has been crucified to me,” he says, “and I to the world”; that is, I am dead to the world, and it is dead to me. And again, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This is for Paul alone to say; but we, who fall as far short of him as earth of heaven, should hide our faces, so as not even to dare to open our mouths. And that he was as if in a desert, and so saw present things, hear him saying: “While we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” What are you saying? Surely the opposite of what you say is the case: for we do not see invisible things, but we do see visible ones. Such as the eyes you have, such are those given by Christ; for just as these see what is seen and do not see what is not seen, so those, conversely: no one who sees the invisible sees the visible; no one who sees what is seen sees the invisible. Or does this not happen with us too? For when we turn our mind inward and reason about invisible things, our eyes become suspended from their activity. Let us despise glory; let us rather wish to be laughed at than praised. For the one who is laughed at is harmed in nothing, but the one who is praised, greatly. Let us not pride ourselves on frightening people, but let us treat this as we do with children; for if we see someone frightening children, we do not admire him; for if anyone frightens, he frightens children; a man he could not frighten. And just as those who frighten children do it either by pulling up their eyelids or by distorting their face in some other way, while if they keep their eye healthy and gentle they could not do it, so these men too do this by distorting the insight of the mind. So no one would be afraid of a gentle man, beautiful in soul, but we all respect, honor, and revere him. Do you not see how the frightening man is hateful too, and someone we all pray to be rid of? For which of the things that can only frighten do we not turn away from? Wild beasts, sounds, sights, places, air, such as darkness?

Let us not, then, think it a great thing if people fear us. For in the first place, no man is frightened of us; in the second, even if they are frightened of us, this is no great thing. Virtue is a great good; and see how great. Though we think wretched the things of which it consists, we admire it and call it blessed. For who would not call the wise man blessed, although poverty and the like seem wretched? When, then, it shines through things that seem wretched, see its surpassing greatness. Do you pride yourself on power, man? And what power, tell me, were you elected to? You became powerful from men; [appoint] yourself from within. For the ruler is not the one who is called so, but the one who is so. For just as a king could not make a physician or an orator, so neither a ruler; for letters of appointment do not make a ruler, nor does the name. Since, if you like, let someone build a surgery, let him also have pupils, let him have instruments and drugs, and let him visit the sick: are these enough to make a physician? Not at all; but there is need of the art, and without it not only do these things help nothing, but they even harm; for it is better for one who is not a physician not even to have drugs. The one who does not have them neither saves nor destroys; but the one who has them destroys, not knowing how to use them; since health lies not only in the nature of the drugs, but also in the art of the one who applies them; and without this, everything is ruined. Such is the ruler too: he has instruments: his voice, his anger, the executioners, banishments, honors, gifts, praises; he also has drugs: the laws; he has the sick: the people; he has a surgery: the court; he has pupils: the soldiers; if, then, he does not know the medical science, none of these is of any use. The judge is a physician of souls, not of bodies; and if the healing of bodies needs so much care, much more that of the soul, since the soul is greater than bodies. So to have the name of ruler is not to be a ruler; since others too are called by great names, such as Paul, Peter, James, John; but they are not from their names what they are called, just as I am not either; I am the namesake of that blessed man, but not his equal in fact: I am not John, but I am called so. So too those men are not rulers, but are called so. But others are rulers even without these things, just as a physician, even if he does not practice his science but has it in his soul, is a physician. Those who rule themselves are rulers. For there are these three: soul, household, city, world; and … matters advance step by step. So the one who is to preside over a household and build it up well must first order his own soul; for it is his house; and if he could not order his own, where there is one soul, where he himself is master, where he is always present with himself, how will he build up others? The one who can order his own soul, making one part rule and the other be ruled, will be able to order a household too; and the one who can order a household, a city; and the one who can order a city, the world. But if he could not order a soul, how will he be able to order the world? I have said these things so that we may not be dazzled by offices, so that we may know what office really is; for this is not office, but a laughing-stock and slavery, and countless other things one might call it. Tell me, what is proper to a ruler? Is it not to help and do good to those he rules? What then, if this does not happen? How will one who has not helped himself help others? How will one who has countless tyrannies of the passions in his soul cut out those of others? So too luxury: this is not luxury, but another thing is. For just as the ruler was shown to be not this man but another, so too the one who lives in luxury is another. For luxury seems to be enjoying pleasure and filling the belly; but this is not it, but the opposite: to have an admirable soul and to be in pleasure. For let someone eat, drink, live riotously, and then be anxious and despondent: can this man be in luxury? So eating and drinking is not luxury, but being in pleasure is. Let someone take dry bread and fill himself with good cheer: is this not pleasure? Then it is luxury too. Let us see, then, to whom this comes: to the rich or to those who are not rich? Neither to these simply nor to those, but to those who so prepare their own soul as not to have many occasions of despondency. “And what is this life?” perhaps someone will say; for I see you all agape and wanting to hear what this life is that has no despondency. Then let it first be agreed by you that this is pleasure, this is luxury, when despondency does not trouble, and do not demand of me meat and wine and seasonings and silk clothes and a crowded table. But if I show such a life present without these things, love this pleasure, this life; for many painful things come to us from not reasoning as we should. Who, then, will be more grieved: the one who cares for none of these things, or the one who cares? The one who fears changes of fortune, or the one who does not fear? The one who dreads spite, envy, slander, plots, ruin, or the one who is beyond these? The one who needs more, or the one who needs nothing? The one who is a slave to countless masters, or the one who serves none? The one who needs countless things, or the free man? The one who fears one master, or the one who fears countless? So the greater pleasure is here. Let us pursue this, then, and not be dazzled by present things; but let us laugh at all the pomp of life and keep due measure everywhere, so that we may be able to pass this life without grief and attain the promised good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them; and when they had withdrawn, [they said to one another, ‘This man is doing nothing] deserving death or bonds.’ And Agrippa said to Festus, ‘This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.’” See how again they vote in his favor; and after saying “You are mad,” they acquit him not only of death, but even of bonds; and they would have released him completely if he had not appealed to Caesar. But this happened by dispensation; and not only this, but also his going away in chains. That is why he said, “to the point of chains as a criminal.” For if his Lord was reckoned with the lawless, much more this man; but just as he did not share their reputation, so neither did this man. For then the wonder appears, that one mixed with these is harmed by them in nothing. “And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other … [Aristarchus, a] Macedonian from Thessalonica. The next day we put in at Sidon.” See how far Aristarchus too goes with Paul. Aristarchus is fittingly and usefully present, as he was going to report everything to Macedonia. “[And Julius, treating Paul kindly,] allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. [And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of] Cyprus because the winds were against us.” “Julius allowed him,” it says, “treating Paul kindly.” He does well in allowing this, so that he might go to his acquaintances and receive care; for it is likely that he was in great distress from the chains, the fear, being dragged about. See how he does not hide even this, that he wanted to receive care. Again trials, again contrary winds. See how the life of the saints is woven through everything in this way: they escaped the court, and they meet shipwreck and storm; and to show this, it goes on: “And when we had sailed across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and put us on board.” “He found,” it says, “a ship of Alexandria.” It is found fittingly, so that those too might report Paul’s affairs in Asia, and these in Lycia. See God doing nothing new and changing nothing, but leaving him to sail with unfavorable winds. But even so he works a wonder. For, so that they might sail safely, he did not let them out into the open sea, but they always sailed along the land. “We sailed slowly for a number of days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go on, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. As much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous because the fast had already gone by, Paul advised them, saying, ‘Men, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.’ [But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship] than to what Paul said.” By the fast here I think he means that of the Jews. For they left there long after Pentecost, so that they arrived in the region of Crete almost in winter itself. And this is no small wonder, that those men too were saved because of him. “Men,” he says, “I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” Paul, then, told them to stay, and foretells what was to come; but they, being in a hurry and hindered by the place, wanted to winter at Phoenix …

And consider the dispensation: first they weighed anchor and were setting out; then, when the wind fell on them, they gave way to it and were barely saved. “Since the harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority [advised putting to sea from there, in the hope of reaching Phoenix, a] harbor of Crete looking southwest and northwest, [to winter there]. And when a south wind blew gently, supposing that they had [obtained] their purpose, [they weighed anchor and sailed along] Crete. But not long after, a tempestuous wind, called the Euraquilo, struck down from it; and when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. [Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the boat; and] after hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird [the ship; and fearing that they would run on the Syrtis,] they lowered the gear, and so were driven along. As we were violently storm-tossed, the next day they began to jettison the cargo; and on the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm lay on us, all hope of our being saved was finally abandoned. And when they had been long without food, then Paul stood up among them and said.” See: after so great a storm he does not speak to them by way of trampling on them, but wishing to be believed at least for the future. Hence he takes what has happened as witness to the truth of what he will say. And he foretells two things: that they must run aground on an island, and that the ship will be lost but those on board saved (which was not conjecture but prophecy); and that he must stand before Caesar. And what he said, “God has granted you all,” is not boasting, but the word of one who wants to win over those on board; for he spoke so not so that they might be grateful to him, but so that they might obey what he said. And “God has granted you” was said to Paul; as if saying to him: They deserve to die, since they disobeyed; but this happens as a favor to you. “And when they had been long without food,” it says, “then Paul stood up among them and said, ‘Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete, and so have been spared this injury and loss. And now I urge you to take heart; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, saying, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and see, God has granted you all who sail with you.” So take heart, men; for I believe God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.’ When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. And fearing that we might [run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.] And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.’ Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and let it go.” Here he shows that the sailors were going to flee because they did not believe what was said; but the centurion believes, with the soldiers. That is why he also says, “If these men flee, you cannot be saved”; not saying it for that reason, but so as to keep them back, and so that the prophecy might not fail. See them being taught Paul’s wisdom as in a church, those whom he saves even from the midst of the dangers. And Paul is disbelieved by dispensation, so that he may be believed after the experience of the facts; which indeed happened. And again he urges them to take food, and they obey; and he himself is the first to take some, persuading them not only by word but also by deed that the storm had done no harm, but rather had even helped their souls. “As day was about to dawn, [Paul urged them all to take] food, saying, ‘Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense, continuing without food, having taken nothing. Therefore I urge you to take food; for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from the head of any of you.’ And when he had said these things, he took bread, gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and broke it and began to eat. Then they all took heart and took food themselves. We were in all two hundred and seventy-six persons in the ship. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned, if possible, to run the ship ashore. So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders; then hoisting the foresail [to the wind they made for the beach]. But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.”

Again the devil tries to hinder the prophecy; and they planned to kill some, but the centurion did not allow it, so as to save Paul; so attached to him had he already become. “The soldiers’ plan was [to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and] escape. But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan, [and ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard] first and go to land, and the rest, some on planks and some on pieces of the ship. And so it came about that all were brought safely to land. After we had been brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.” Do you see how much good came from the storm? So the storm was not a sign of being forsaken. “And how,” one says, “did they endure, being without food and taking nothing?” Fear held them, and did not let them fall into a desire for food, since they were about to be in danger of their very lives. What happened, then, was due to the circumstances; but the wonder is greater, that at such a time they were saved from the midst of the dangers, both he himself and the rest because of him. “And hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.” He said this wishing to show the violence they endured in the storm; for often they do not do this. That is why they had lowered the sail, that is, the canvas (for this is done when the wind is violent), cutting off the force of the wind. And they suffer these things in the Adriatic, where it is hard to be saved. “We were in all two hundred and seventy-six persons in the ship.” And how is it clear that there were so many sailing together? It is likely that they asked the reason why they were sailing, and learned everything. And they took nothing, because they had no thought of food, since the danger was not about ordinary things. And see how the delay of the voyage was not without purpose for Paul, nor the voyage untimely, but he makes it a time for teaching. And this is no small thing, if all these believed.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “As much time had passed, and [the voyage] was already [dangerous …], ‘Men, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and loss.’” See the freedom from pride: so as not to seem to prophesy, but to speak as from conjecture, he says, “I perceive”; for they would not have accepted it if he had said this at once. Afterwards, at any rate, he prophesies, and says, “The God whom I worship,” leading them on. How, then, was it not with loss of lives? It would have been, if God had not saved them. For as far as the nature of the thing went, they would have perished; but God prevented it. “But the centurion,” it says, “paid more attention to the pilot than to what Paul said.” To show that he did not say these things from conjecture, the pilot says the opposite, and that though he was experienced; so what was said was not from conjecture. “Since the harbor,” it says, “was not suitable.” See: the place too teaches that it was not from conjecture, being unsuitable; or rather, the majority of them appear to speak from conjecture, who also plan to put to sea from there; but they gain nothing from it; for they fall into a heavy sea, and throw out what they were carrying. And to show this, he went on: “As we were violently storm-tossed, we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.” These things are permitted so that they may have no grounds afterwards to disobey. And a severe storm rises, and great darkness comes; then, so that they may not perish, the wheat too is thrown out, and everything; for this is what “we threw the ship’s tackle overboard” means. “And when they had been long without food, [Paul] said, ‘You should have listened to me and been spared this loss.’” Did you see how the storm and the darkness contributed not a little to the hearing? And see how the centurion is persuaded, so as even to let the boat go and lose it. And if the sailors were not yet persuaded but are persuaded later, do not be surprised; for their class is somehow reckless and hard to persuade. But consider here too Paul’s good sense. For he does not rebuke them and become harsh, but gently: “You should have,” he says. “You should have,” because one who reproaches in a misfortune is not well received; but when most of the misfortune has passed, then he becomes well received. So he sets on them then, when all hope of being saved had been taken away; then he also foretells the good things. “When the fourteenth night had come,” it says, “fearing, they prayed for day to come.” So that no one might say that nothing happened, he added this, showing that everything happened. And that it happened, their fear also bears witness: “For they prayed,” it says, “for day to come, being afraid.” And the place was dangerous; for these things happen in the Adriatic … “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense, continuing without food.” So in every way they were in the midst of death; that is why he goes on: “I urge you to take food; for this is for your safety”; that is, lest perhaps … he says, “he gave thanks to God.”

See: his giving thanks after what had happened not only strengthened them, but also makes them cheerful. “We were,” it says, “in all two hundred [and seventy-six persons in the ship].” … “[There will be no loss of] life among you.” This belongs to a soul fully assured, to say that they will be saved. “And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat.” Do you see? They are persuaded only to take food; but from then on they so cast everything on Paul as even to throw out the wheat. See them doing what human beings must do, and Paul not preventing them. “And when it was day,” it says, “they loosened the ropes.” The ship breaks up in the daytime, so that they may not be undone by fear, so that you may see the prophecy in fact. “The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners.” Do you see that in this too they were granted to Paul? For because of him the centurion did not allow them to be killed. So confessedly wicked do those men seem to me, that they even chose to kill them; but nothing came of it, since the plan was prevented; but some swam out, and others were carried on planks, and so all were saved, and the prophecy reached fulfillment, even if it was not imposing because of its time; for he did not foretell it many years in advance, but followed the nature of the events; for everything was beyond hope, and through their own safety they learned who Paul was. But someone might say: “Why did he not save the ship too?” So that they might learn what danger they had escaped; that the whole was not of human help, but of God’s hand saving them without a ship. So the righteous, even if they are in a storm, at sea, on the open water, suffer nothing terrible, but even save others along with themselves. If a ship in danger and suffering shipwreck, and prisoners, were saved because of Paul, consider what it is to have a holy man in a house. For many are the storms that beset us too, and much harsher than these; but he can obtain grace for us too, if only we obey the saints as those men did, if we do what they command. For they are not saved simply, but they themselves contributed faith. Even if the saint is a prisoner, he does greater things than those who are free. And consider this happening here. The free centurion needed the bound man; the skilled pilot needed the one who was no pilot, or rather, the true pilot. For he [steered] not such a vessel, but the Church of the whole world, having learned from the Master of the sea too, not by human skill but by spiritual wisdom. In this vessel are many shipwrecks, many waves, spirits of wickedness; “fighting within, fears without”; so that he was the true pilot. See, then, how our whole life is like this. Sometimes we enjoy kindness, sometimes storm; sometimes by our own folly and by negligence we fall into countless evils; or rather this happens from not listening to Paul, when we hurry to go somewhere he does not tell us to. For he sails with us now too, though not bound as then; he exhorts now too, and says to those on this sea, “Take heed to yourselves; for after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you”; and again, “In the last days hard times will come, and people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful.” This is harsher than all the winds.

Let us, then, stay where he bids us, in the faith, in the safe harbor; let us listen to him rather than to the pilot within us, that is, our reasoning. Let us not do what this suggests, nor what the shipowner says, but what Paul says; he went through countless such storms. Let us not learn by experience, but before experience let us be spared both injury and loss. Hear what he says: “Those who want to be rich fall into temptation.” Let us obey him, then; since you see what those men suffered when they did not obey. And again elsewhere he says what causes shipwrecks: “Who,” he says, “have made shipwreck of the faith.” “But you, continue in what you have learned and have been assured of.” Let us obey Paul: even if we are in the midst of a storm, we shall certainly be freed from the dangers; even if we go fourteen days without food, even if the hope of safety is gone, even if we are in darkness and gloom, obeying him we shall be freed from the dangers. Let us think the whole world a ship, and in it the criminals and those with countless terrible things, some rulers, some guards, some righteous, like Paul, some prisoners bound by their sins; if, then, we obey Paul, we do not perish in our bonds, but are even loosed; God will grant us too to him. Or do you not think sins and passions a harsh bond? For not only the hands are bound, but the whole man. For tell me, when someone who has acquired much money does not spend or lay it out, but holds it fast, is he not bound [with a bond harsher than any]? And what when someone subjects himself to fate, is not this man again bound with other bonds? And what when he gives himself to observances? What when to omens? Are not these harsher than any bond? And what when to irrational desire and love? Who will break these bonds for you? There is need of God to be loosed. And one of these is enough to create danger; but when there are both bonds and a storm, consider how great the danger is. For what was not enough to destroy them? Was it not the hunger, the storm, the wickedness of those on board, the unsuitable season? But against all these Paul’s brilliance stood firm. So now too: let us keep the saints with us, and there will be no storm; or rather, even if there is a storm, there will be fair weather and great calm and release from dangers; since that widow had the saint as her friend, and the death of her child was undone, and she received her son alive again. Where the feet of saints tread, nothing will be grievous; and if it happens, it is for testing and for the greater glory of God. Accustom the floor of your house to be trodden by such feet, and no demon will tread there; and very rightly. For just as, where there is fragrance, a bad smell will find no room, so too, where the holy ointment is, the demon is stifled; it gladdens those who are present, it opens the soul, it refreshes. Where there are thorns, there are wild beasts; where there is hospitality, there are no thorns; for almsgiving, entering, removes the thorns more sharply than any sickle, more powerfully than any fire. Do not be afraid: they respect the footsteps of the saints, as foxes respect lions. “For the righteous,” it says, “is as confident as a lion.” Let us bring these lions into the house, and all the wild beasts are put to flight, not when they roar loudly, but when they simply speak. For the roaring of a lion does not so put wild beasts to flight as the prayer of a righteous man puts demons to flight; if he only speaks, they cower. “And where are such men now?” one says. Everywhere, if we believe, if we seek, if we take pains. Where have you sought, tell me? When did you make this your work? When did you make this your business? If you do not seek, do not be surprised that you do not find; for “he who seeks finds,” not he who does not seek. Listen to those who are in the deserts; away with gold and silver; they are everywhere in the world. Even if you do not receive one in your house, go yourself to him, spend time with the man, go to his dwelling, so that you may be able to meet him and enjoy his blessing. For great is the blessing from the saints; let us be eager to obtain it, so that, helped by their prayers, we may enjoy the love for humankind of the God who strengthens them, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“The natives showed us no ordinary kindness, [for they kindled a fire and] welcomed us all, because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold. When [Paul] had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.” How did the natives show their kindness? They welcomed us all. Since their rescue would otherwise have been of no use, if the wintry weather was going to destroy them, they light the fire. Then Paul, taking sticks, put them on the fire; and to show this, it goes on, saying … See him at work, and nowhere working wonders for no purpose, but from need: for in the storm too he prophesied when there was cause, but not for nothing; and here again he gathers sticks and puts them on. See him doing nothing proud or superfluous, but so that they might be saved and enjoy some warmth. Then a viper, coming out of the heat, fastens on his hand; and that it fastened on him, it makes clear by what follows, saying: “When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘This man is surely a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.’” This too was fittingly permitted, so that they might both see and say these things, so that when it happened the wonder might not be disbelieved. See the natural judgment … speaking to one another, and not even condemning him outright. So these too first see, so that they may wonder the more. “He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but after they had waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.” Again another excess of honor from them, as with the crowds in Lycaonia. “In the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.” See, again another hospitable man, Publius, both rich and very well off. This man, seeing nothing, but pitying them only because of their misfortune, received and cared for them. “It happened that the father [of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him, and] after praying and laying his hands on him healed him.” So he deserved to be well treated; that is why, repaying him for his hospitality, he healed him. “And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. They also [honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail they put on board what we needed.]” That is, they gave us, when we set sail, what we needed, and to the others too. See: even after being rescued from the storm they are not left uncared for, but their reception was generous because of him; for they were all fed there for three months. And that they spent so long a time, hear how it explains this, going on: “After three months we set sail in a ship of Alexandria that had wintered at the island … [Putting in at Syracuse,] we stayed there three days. From there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium; and after one day … [to Puteoli], where we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as [the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them] Paul thanked God and took courage.” See all these things happening because of Paul, so that the prisoners, the soldiers, the centurion might believe. For even if they had been made of stone, from what they heard when he counseled, from what they saw when he foretold, from what they saw when he worked wonders, from what they enjoyed when he fed them, they would have thought great things of him. See how, when judgment is sound and not preoccupied by some passion, it at once arrives at right judgments and well-considered verdicts. Already the preaching had touched Sicily too … and at Puteoli too, where they find some brothers and stay with them. Then others too come to meet them on hearing the report; so great was the eagerness of the brothers, that Paul’s being in chains did not trouble them, but they went out to meet him. And see him also feeling something human. For “he took courage,” it says, “on seeing the brothers.” Although he had worked so many signs, still he received an addition even from the sight of them. From this we learn that he was comforted in a human way, and the opposite too. “When we came to Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.” Do you see? He was allowed to stay by himself. This too is no small proof that he was greatly admired; for they did not count him with the others. “After three days he called together the leading men of the Jews.” After three days he called the leading men of the Jews, so that their ears might not be filled beforehand. And what had he to do with them? For they were not going to accuse him. But still he did not care about this, but about teaching this, and that what was said might not offend them.

The Jews, then, seeing so many wonders, persecuted and drove him out; but the natives, seeing nothing, were kind merely because of his misfortune. “This man is surely a murderer,” it says. They do not pronounce simply, but say “surely,” that is, as far as one can see. “And Justice,” it says, “has not allowed him to live.” So they had the doctrine of providence too, and these natives were much wiser than the philosophers. For those do not allow the things beneath the moon to enjoy providence; but these think that God is present everywhere, and that, even if someone escapes many things, he will not escape in the end. And see how they do not attack him at all, but for the present respect him because of his misfortune; nor do they make a show of him, but speak to one another; for the chains taught them to suspect this; and yet they were prisoners. Let those be ashamed who say, “Do not do good to those in prison”; let us be ashamed before the natives; for they did not know who these men were, but for the present learned from their misfortune that they were human beings; that is why they thought them worthy of kindness. “After they had waited a long time,” it says, that is, as they expected him to die over a long time. But he both shook off the creature into the fire and showed his hand had suffered nothing. Seeing this, they were both astonished and amazed. And the sign did not happen at once, but the people spent time over it, so that it might not seem an illusion; so there was no deceit, no trickery. “In the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably.” He rightly spoke so; for it belonged to great hospitality to entertain two hundred and seventy-six souls. Consider how great is the gain of hospitality: not as if it were a necessity or unwillingly, but counting it gain, he entertained them for three days. So he fittingly receives a reward for such hospitality, and much greater than he gave; for Paul heals his father, who was suffering badly from dysentery; and not only him, but many who had diseases he counts worthy of the same; and they, repaying him, present him with honors and supplies. And to show this, it goes on: “Who also honored us with many honors, and when we were about to sail they put on board what we needed.” He did not receive a wage, God forbid; but what is written is fulfilled: “The laborer deserves his food.” And those who received them so clearly also received the word of the preaching; for he would not have discoursed so much in three months unless they had believed strongly and shown fruits; so from this one may see a great proof of the number of those who believed. “And we set sail,” it says, “in a ship of Alexandria that had wintered at the island …” … in it; so given to idols were they. See them lingering, and again hurrying. “And Paul was allowed to stay by himself.” Paul was now so respected as even to be allowed to be by himself. And this is nothing strange; for if even before this they treated him kindly, much more now. “And being invited,” it says, “to stay seven days; and so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came out to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius.” See how in so long a voyage they nowhere put in at a city, but at an island, and spent the whole winter sailing, while those who sailed with them, I mean, were being formed in the faith. “He was allowed,” it says, “to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.” Very rightly, so that not even there could he undergo any plot; for it was no longer possible to riot. So the soldier guarded not him, but so that nothing unpleasant might happen; for it was no longer possible, with the city so great, and the emperor there, and the appeal made, for anything to happen against due order. So always, through the things that seem to be against us, everything happens for us; for the soldier was Paul’s guard. And he calls together the leading men of the Jews and speaks with them; and they, contradicting, withdraw, and are rebuked by him, and dare to say nothing; for his affairs were no longer entrusted to their authority. For this is the wonder: that everything happens for us not only through what seems to make for safety, but even through what is contrary. And so that you may learn this, consider from here. Pharaoh ordered the infants to be thrown into the river. If the infants had not been thrown out, if Pharaoh’s command had not been given, Moses would not have been saved, would not have been brought up in the palace. When he was being kept safe, he was not in honor; when he was exposed, then he came to be in honor. And God did this, showing his resourcefulness and skill in contrivance. The Jew threatened him, saying, “Do you want to kill me?” and this too helped him. So it happened by dispensation, so that he might see that vision in the desert, so that the appointed time might be fulfilled, so that he might practice wisdom in the desert and live in safety. And in all the plots of the Jews against him the same thing happens: then he is made more illustrious. So too with Aaron: they rose up against him, and made him more illustrious; for from this the priestly robe is embroidered for him, and the turban is put on him, and the rest of the adornment of the vestment, so that the ordination might be beyond dispute, so that he might be admired thereafter too from the plates of bronze. You surely know the history; that is why I pass over the narrative. And if you like, let us go over the same things again from the beginning. Cain killed his brother, but rather helped him by this; for hear what he says: “The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me”; and again elsewhere, “blood,” it says, “that speaks better than Abel’s.” He freed him from the uncertainty of the future, he increased his reward; we have all learned the love that God had for him. For what wrong did he suffer, receiving his end sooner? None; for what, tell me, do those who die later gain? Nothing; for happiness lies not in living many years or few, but in using life as one should. The three young men were cast into the furnace, and through this became more illustrious; Daniel into the pit, and from this he became more renowned. Do you see trials everywhere bringing forth great goods even here, not to speak of there? And with wickedness the same happens, as if someone holding a reed were to array himself against fire; for such a man seems to strike the fire, but makes it brighter, and consumes himself. For wickedness becomes food and occasion of brilliance for virtue; for, since God uses injustice as he should, our affairs shine the more. Again, when the devil works anything of this kind, he makes those who endure it more illustrious. “What then,” one says, “did this not happen with Adam, but he became more dishonored?” God, indeed, used that too as he should; and if he suffered anything, he wronged himself; for the things done to us by others become causes of great goods for us, but those done by ourselves no longer. For since we are pained when we are wronged by others, but not by ourselves, God shows that the one who suffers unjustly from another is approved, but the one who wrongs himself is harmed; and very rightly, so that we may bear the one nobly, and the other no longer. Besides, there the whole was Adam’s doing. For why did you obey the woman? Why did you not repel her when she advised the opposite? You were certainly the cause; since, if it were the devil, all who are tempted ought to perish because of this; but if they do not perish, the cause is with us. “But,” one says, “all who are tempted ought to succeed; or, if the cause is with us, they ought to perish even without the devil?” This does happen; for many perish even without the devil; for he does not contrive everything, but many things come about from our sloth alone; and if he is the cause anywhere, it is because we give him the beginning. For tell me, when did the devil prevail over Judas? “When Satan entered into him,” it says. But hear the reason: that he was a thief, and took what was put in. He himself gave him room to enter; so it is not the devil who puts in the beginning, but we receive and call him. “But if he did not exist,” one says, “the evils would not have become great.” But our punishment would have been without excuse; for now, beloved, our punishment is milder; but if we did the evils of ourselves, the penalty would be unbearable. For tell me, if Adam had committed the sins he committed without being counseled, who would have snatched him from the dangers? “But he would not have sinned,” one says. Where do you get this from? For one so slack and careless and ready for folly as to accept such counsel would much more have done this even without it. What devil threw Joseph’s brothers into envy? If, then, we are watchful, beloved, the devil even becomes a cause of our approval. For how did all his contrivance harm Job? “Do not say this,” one says, “but the weak man is harmed.” But the weak man is harmed even if there is no devil. “But more,” one says, “with his working.” But when he sins with his working, he is punished less; for not all sins have the same penalties. Let us not deceive ourselves: the devil is not the cause for us if we are watchful; rather he wakes us up, he rouses us. For tell me (let us examine this for the present), suppose there were no wild beasts, no irregularity of the weather, no disease, no griefs, no despondency, nothing else of the kind: what would man not have become? A pig rather than a man, it seems to me, he would have become, filling his belly and getting drunk, and troubled by none of these things. But as it is, cares and anxieties are a training ground of wisdom and a school, and an education of the best kind. And consider it another way: let someone be brought up in a palace without grief, without care, without anxiety, having no occasion for anger or for failure, but let him do everything he desires and obtain it, and have everyone obeying him: will not such a man become more irrational than any beast? But as it is, the difficulties of circumstance, the afflictions, are like a whetstone sharpening us. That is why the poor are for the most part more sensible than the rich, … waves. For the body that is idle and unmoving is sickly and unpleasant, while the one that moves and labors … and one might find [the same] with the soul. And iron lying still is corrupted, but when worked it shines; and the soul likewise when it is moved; and these circumstances are the movement of the soul. And arts are lost when the soul is not moved; and it is moved when not everything is straight; for it is moved by contrary things. If there were no contraries, there would be nothing to move it; for example, if everything were already well made, the art would not find anything to be moved by. So too [if everything were as we wished, the soul would not find anything to be moved by]; if it were carried about everywhere, it would be unpleasant. Do you not see that we also bid nurses not to carry the children all the time, so as not to accustom them to it, nor make them feeble? That is why those brought up under their parents’ eyes are weaker, the untimely and immoderate sparing ruining their health. Grief in due measure is good, and care is good, and want is good; for they make us strong; their opposites are good too; but each of them, when it becomes immoderate, destroys: the one makes slack, the other breaks. Do you not see that Christ too leads his disciples so? And if they needed these things, much more we. And if we need them, let us not be indignant, but rejoice in afflictions; for these are remedies suited to our wounds, some bitter, some sweet; and each of them by itself would be useless. Let us, then, give thanks to God for all these things; for he does not simply permit them to happen, but for the benefit of our souls. Showing our gratitude, then, let us give thanks, let us glorify him, let us hold out nobly, reckoning their temporary nature and stretching our mind toward what is to come, so that we may bear the present lightly and be counted worthy to attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“After three days he called together the leading men of the Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, ‘Brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. [When they had examined me, they wished to release me,] because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any charge to bring against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.’” He does this well and usefully: to free both himself and others from blame, the leading men: himself, so that they might not accuse him and this harm them; them, so that the whole might not seem to be their doing. For it was likely that a report had prevailed that he had been handed over by the Jews; and this was enough to wound them. So he at once takes his stand on this, and makes his own defense in a mild way. And see how he weaves his defense, saying: “Brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.” Then, having said this, since it was likely that some hearers would say, “How is it reasonable that they simply handed you over?”, he went on: “[Who …]” he said. The Roman rulers bear witness, who both examined me and wanted to release me. “Why, then, did they not release you?” “Because the Jews objected,” he says. Do you see how he lessens their charges? For if he had wanted to magnify them, he could have used harsher language. That is why, having said this, he went on: “I was compelled to appeal to Caesar”; so the whole is a matter for pardon. Then, so that no one might say, “What then? Did you do this to accuse them?”, he corrects the suspicion lurking beneath by what he adds, and says, “not that I had any charge to bring against my nation”; that is, I appealed to Caesar not to accuse, but to escape the danger. “For it is for your sake that I am wearing this chain.” So far am I, he says, from being hostile to you, that I even wear this chain. What then of those men? They were so won over by his speech that they made a defense not only for themselves but also for their kinsmen; hence, to show this, it goes on: “And they said to him, ‘We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.’” As if they were saying: neither by letters nor by men have they made known anything evil about you; but we want to hear from you. So they first set down their own opinion, showing it, and say, “For with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” They did not say, “we speak against it,” but “it is spoken against,” freeing themselves from blame. “When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, while others disbelieved.” Did you see how he does not answer at once, but gives them a day to come and hear? And when they came he discoursed with them from the law of Moses and the prophets. “And some were convinced, while others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed, after Paul had made one statement: ‘The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet, “Go to this people, and say, You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”’” When they were withdrawing in opposition, then he sets Isaiah before them, not wishing to insult them, but to strengthen these. Saying what? “You will indeed hear but never understand.” Do you see how he removed every excuse from them? If indeed, having the prophet who had foretold these things long before, they did not turn. And by saying “was right,” he shows that they were also justly cast out. So it has been given to the Gentiles to know this mystery. It is nothing strange, then, that they spoke against it; this was foretold from of old. Then again he stirs up against them the jealousy that comes from the Gentiles, going on to say: “Let it be known to you, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” “And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, having much dispute among themselves. And Paul stayed two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Amen. Here it now shows his freedom; for in Rome he preaches without hindrance, he who was hindered in Judea, and he stayed there two years.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “For this reason, therefore,” he says, “I have asked to see you”; that is, I wished this so that no one might be able to accuse me and say what readily suggests itself, that, having escaped their hands, I came for this. For I came not to bring evils on others, but fleeing evils myself. [The scan here interleaves lines of two columns: “from the law and the prophets”; “not from signs, but from the law and the prophets he stopped their mouths”.] “And they said to him, ‘We desire to hear from you what your views are.’” See them too speaking more gently: “We desire,” he says; and they wish to make a defense for those men too; that is why they came, having appointed a day for him. And this is a proof that they strongly condemned themselves and were not confident. For if they had been confident, they would have done this and come together so as to seize him; but as it was, not being confident, they hesitated even to come; and besides, by attempting it so often they showed that they were not confident. “And some were convinced by what he said,” it says, “while others disbelieved, and disagreeing they departed”; that is, not believing, they withdrew. See how they do not now stitch together plots against him, but they did in Judea, where they were as in a tyranny. Why, then, did he arrange for him to go there, although he had said, “Hurry, get out of Jerusalem”? So that their wickedness might be shown, and Christ’s prophecy proved true, that they do not bear him; and so that all might learn that he is ready to suffer; and so that what was arranged might become a comfort to those in Judea; for there too he suffered many terrible things. And if, preaching Jewish things, he suffered these things, if he had preached the glory of Christ, how would they have borne it? When he was purifying himself he was not bearable; and how would he have been bearable preaching? What do you accuse? What did you hear? He said nothing of the kind at all. He was seen, and he provoked everyone. Rightly, then, was salvation allotted to the Gentiles; rightly was he sent far away, where he was to speak to the Gentiles. And consider: he calls the Jews first, then, having shown them the facts, he comes to the Gentiles. And it is nothing strange that he says, “The Spirit said”; for an angel too is said to say what the Lord says. “The Holy Spirit was right in saying,” he says; but here thus, and there no longer. Besides, when someone recounts what was spoken by an angel, he does not say, “The angel was right in saying,” but, “The Lord was right in saying,” “The Spirit was right in saying”; as if he were saying: It is not me you disbelieve, but the Spirit. So God foresaw this from of old. “Who, [having examined me,] found nothing in me deserving condemnation, and wished to release me.” And when they ought to have rescued him, they handed him over into the hands of the Romans; and such is the abundance of freedom, that not even those could condemn him, but they handed him over a prisoner. “I was compelled,” he says, “to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any charge to bring against my nation”; that is, I did this not to involve others in evils, but to free myself from evils, and not willingly, but compelled. See the friendliness of his words: he does not make them strangers, but makes them his own by saying “my nation.” And again he sows the doctrine. And he did not say, “I do not accuse,” but “I have nothing to accuse,” although he had suffered such terrible things. He says none of these things, so as not to make his speech offensive; nor does he seem to be doing them a favor. And that is why he does not say it, but only hints at it and passes by; for this was for the present the main concern, to show that they handed him over to the Romans as a prisoner. And when they ought to condemn those men, ought to accuse them, they rather make a defense for them; but by the very things by which they show their defense they accuse them. “We know,” he says, “that everywhere it is spoken against.” But even if this happens, still it is believed everywhere. “To whom he expounded,” … them, and doing this everywhere; and yet he could have worked signs too, but the matter was no longer credible; for this is a great sign, to discourse from the law and the prophets. Then, so that you may not think it strange that they remained unpersuaded, he adds the prophecy too that says, “You will indeed hear but never understand”: more now, he says, than then; “and you will see and never perceive”: more now than then. These things were said to those who disbelieved, which was not the act of one who insults, but of one who removes the stumbling block. “Let it be known to you, then,” he says, “that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” “Why, then, do you discourse with us? Did you not know this?” Yes, but I make my defense so that I may be believed and give no one a handle. “And [Paul] stayed two whole years,” it says, “teaching with all boldness and without hindrance.” He fittingly added this; for it is possible to speak with boldness, but under hindrance. So nothing cut short Paul’s boldness, but he spoke without hindrance too. “And Paul stayed two whole years,” it says, “in his own hired dwelling”; so simple was he, or rather, so did he imitate his Teacher in everything, that he even had his dwelling not from others’ labors, but from what he himself earned; for this is what “in his own hired dwelling” signifies. And that the Master too had no house, hear him saying to the one who spoke not rightly, “I will follow you wherever you go”: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” So by his own example he taught us to possess nothing and not to be nailed too closely to the things of this life. “And he welcomed those who came to him,” it says, “proclaiming the kingdom of God.” See him speaking nothing about present things, but everything about the kingdom of God. Do you see God’s dispensation? Here the writer stops his account, and leaves the hearer thirsting, so that he may reason out the rest for himself. The outside writers do this too; for to know everything makes one sluggish and slack. He does this, and does not say what came afterwards, thinking it superfluous for those who read the writings and learn from them to add to the account; for certainly what came after was like what came before. And hear what he says afterwards, writing to the Romans: “When I go to Spain, I will come to you.”

Do you see how he did [not] foresee everything, that holy and divine head, the man higher than the heavens, who had a soul able to grasp everything at once, who holds the first place, Paul? To those who know him even his name alone is enough to rouse the soul to watchfulness, to shake off all sleep. Rome received him bound, coming up from the sea, saved from shipwreck, and was freed from the shipwreck of error. For like a king … that city. About these things he wrote, “I will come and be refreshed together with you in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel”; and again, “I am going to Jerusalem to minister,” that is, what he said: “I came to bring alms to my nation.” He was now nearer to his crown; Rome received him bound, and saw him crowned and proclaimed victor. There he said, “I will be refreshed together with you”; here, “I am going to Jerusalem to minister.” But this was again the beginning of a course, and he joined trophies to trophies, being undaunted. Corinth held him two years, and Asia three, and this city two for the present; so that he went there a second time, when he was also perfected. “At my first defense,” he says, “no one stood by me.” So he escaped then, and having filled the whole world with the preaching, so he ended his life. Why did you want to learn what came after? Those things too are like these: chains, tortures, fights, prisons, plots, slanders, daily deaths. Did you see a small part of him? Think the rest to be like it. Just as with the sky, as much of it as you see, so is the rest; for if you look at one part of the sky, wherever you go you will see the rest like it; or as with the rays of the sun, even if you see them in part, you guess from them what the sun is like; so too with Paul. You saw his deeds in part; all are like them, full of dangers. That man was a heaven having the Sun of righteousness, not such a sun as this; so that the man was even better than heaven. Do you think this a small thing? I do not think so. When you say “the Apostle,” at once everyone thinks of him; when “the Baptist,” at once of John. To what could one compare his words? To the sea, or to the ocean? But nothing is equal. His streams are much more abundant than this, purer and deeper; so that one would not err in calling Paul’s heart both sea and heaven: the one because of its purity, the other because of its depth. It is a sea that carries those who sail on it not from city to city, but from earth to heaven; if anyone sails this sea, he will sail with a fair wind. On this sea there are no winds, but instead of winds the divine Holy Spirit conducts the souls that sail on it; here there are no waves, no rocks, no sea monsters; everything is calm. It is a sea calmer and safer than a harbor, with nothing salty, but a spring [pure and] flowing with sweetest streams, brighter and clearer than the sun; it is a sea that has not precious stones, nor such purple, but possessions far better than these. He who wishes to let himself down into this deep needs no divers, no oil, but much wisdom; he will find in it all the good things in the kingdom of heaven. Such a man will also be able to become a king, and to take the whole world, and to be in the greatest honor; he who sails this sea will never suffer shipwreck, but will know everything well. But just as those inexperienced with this sea are drowned, so here too; which indeed is what heretics suffer, attempting things beyond their strength. One must, then, know the depth, or not venture. If we are going to sail this deep, let us be girded. “I could not speak to you,” he says, “as to spiritual people, but as to people of the flesh.” Let no one without endurance sail this deep. Let us build ships for ourselves, that is, zeal, eagerness, prayers, so as to cross the deep in quiet; for this water is living. Just as if someone took a mouth of fire, so the one who knows Paul has his mouth sharpened; just as if someone had a sharp sword, so such a man in turn becomes irresistible. And to understand Paul’s words one needs a pure life. That is why he said, “You have come to need milk, since you have become dull of hearing.” For there is, there is a weakness of hearing. For just as a stomach, being weak, would not take healthy food that is hard to digest, so too a soul that is swollen, raging, become feeble and slack could not receive the spiritual word. Hear the disciples saying, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But if the soul is strong, everything is very easy, everything is light; it becomes loftier and lighter, it is lifted up more and raised to the height. Knowing these things, then, let us make our soul healthy, and let us emulate Paul and imitate that noble and adamantine soul, so that, walking in the footsteps of his life, we may be able to sail across the deep of the present life, reach the harbor where there are no waves, and attain the good things promised to those who live worthily of Christ, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.