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medication, the wounds are not removed; but if I apply painful ones, you do not endure the pain. I am distressed on all sides, yet it will be worth the effort to restrain my hand henceforth; for what has been said is sufficient for the correction of those who give heed. But so that these things might be useful not only to you, but also to others through you, come, let us recapitulate them again. We spoke about the Seraphim, we showed how great is the dignity to stand near the royal throne, and that it is possible even for humans to acquire this dignity. We spoke about the wings, and the unapproachable power of God, and about the condescension that occurred toward us; we added the cause of the shouting and the perpetual wonder, and how in unceasing contemplation the doxology of the Seraphim is also unceasing; we reminded you into what choir we were initiated, and with whom we hymned the common Master; we added the words concerning repentance; and finally, we demonstrated how great an evil it is to approach the mysteries with an evil conscience, and how it is not possible for one who remains uncorrected to escape. Let these things be learned by a wife from her husband, and by a child from a father, and by a servant from a master, and by a neighbor from a neighbor, and by a friend from a friend; nay rather, let us discuss these things even with our enemies; for we are responsible for their salvation as well. For if we are commanded to raise up their beasts of burden when they have fallen, and to save and lead back those that have strayed, how much more is it necessary to lead back their soul when it has strayed, and to raise it up when it has fallen. If we thus manage our own affairs and those of our neighbors, we shall be able to stand with confidence before the judgment seat of Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, honor, and power, together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. B
ON THE FOLLOWING HOMILY
It is difficult to determine whether Chrysostom delivered this homily at Antioch or at Constantinople. Tillemont conjectures it was spoken at Constantinople, because it is said that Chrysostom preached here after another; but not even Tillemont himself dares to insist on such a slight conjecture.
The Latin translation is by Fronton du Duc.
ON THE PROPHETIC SAYING
Which says: "I the Lord God made light and darkness; making peace, and creating evil" (Isai. 45.7). C1. Few are the things said, but the fountain is sweet with honey—honey that does not cause satiety. For this material honey brings pleasure to the tongue, and passes away into corruption; but the honey of doctrine is instilled in the conscience, providing constant joy, and guiding us toward incorruptibility. And the former is composed of herbs, but the latter is woven from the divine Scriptures. Today, the one who spoke so well has filled you with this, and has carried off the prize of obedience, and has shown the power of love, and the nobility of faith. Come, let us also set before you the customary table with much eagerness; for we rejoice greatly that, although there is a brilliant horse race, such a multitude has arrived here, having shown contempt for the spectacle there. Therefore, we too, with great abundance, let us set the crater—a crater that does not produce drunkenness, but rather produces temperance. For such is the wine of the Scriptures, such are the dishes of this table; they do not fatten the flesh. And we say this not by dishonoring the nature of the flesh, but by preferring the nobility of the soul; nor by casting away its use, but by punishing intemperance. For if we philosophize, we should philosophize in such a way as not to give a handle to the mouths of the heretics. For this body is indeed lesser than the soul, but it is not contrary to the soul; but it is subject to it, and serves the desires of the soul. For the Sovereign Artisan God did not compose this whole out of one, or two, or three substances, but introduced varied and different natures, demonstrating the abundance of His own wisdom in the diversity of created things. For He did not make only the heaven, but also the earth; not only the earth, but also the sun; not only the sun, but also the moon; not only the moon, but also the stars; not only the stars, but also the air; not only the air, but also the clouds; not only the clouds, but also the ether; not only the ether, but also the lakes, and fountains, and rivers, and mountains, and valleys, and hills, and meadows,
A gardens, seeds, plants, various kinds of herbs, and diverse forms, diverse powers, and diverse natures shall one be able to discern, if one has traversed the world everywhere; and if he has traversed the whole inhabited world in his thought, he will exclaim with the Prophet: "How magnified are thy works, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom" (Ps. CIII, 24). Therefore, if you wish to see a theater, come to this spiritual one, having abandoned that satanic one; if you wish to hear a lyre, having dismissed that concert, and having roused the strength of your mind, come to this one, which raises your soul and confirms your mind. See how the diverse sounds and distinct strings send forth one most sweet concert from everywhere to the most high Creator, God. For just as some sound of the Spirit, composed from different sounds, has one concert and glorification by which it celebrates the Creator: and indeed the individual strings sound separately, but they also sound when joined together. And so that you may understand in what manner they sound separately, strike the string of the heavens in your thought, then you will hear it offering praise to God with a great sound uttered. Which when the Prophet had noted, he said: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament annuntiateth the work of his hands" (Ps. XVII, 2). Descend from that string to the string of the day and night, B then you will see that these emit sounds sweeter than any lyre or cithara; especially indeed when there is present one who knows how to strike those strings. But in what manner do they sound? Someone will say. Heaven does not move a mouth, nor a tongue, nor a palate, nor teeth, nor lips: how therefore does a voice arise? And how does the day speak? For these are not vocal instruments, but day is the course of the sun and the moon, and the progress of time. Lest, therefore, someone be moved and disturbed by hearing these things as if they were somewhat thicker, hear how the Prophet strives to add greater things to these which have been said. For when he had said that the heavens declare the glory of God, and that day speaketh the word to day, and night declareth knowledge to night (Ibid., v. 3), he did not stop there, but added: "There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard" (Ibid., v. 4). And this is the sense of these words: Not only do the day and the night and the heaven have a voice, but they have a voice of such a kind that is more significant, clearer, and sharper than a human one. By what way, finally? Hear his very words. "There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard." What then is this? An encomium of the voice, a praise of this sound. For my voice is known to him who speaks the same language as me; but not so to him who speaks a different one. For example, if I speak the Greek language, and someone knows this voice, he will hear me: but the Scythian, the Thracian, the Moor, or the Indian will not; C indeed because the difference of language prevents my speech from being known to him. Conversely, I, if a Scythian or Thracian speaks, shall not be able to hear, nor does one understand the language of the other: but in heaven, in the night and in the day, that does not hold place, but their voice is of such a kind that it can be heard by every language, by every speech, and to him it is clear and perspicuous. Therefore, when he had said that the heavens declare the glory of God, and that day speaketh the word to day, he added: "There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard." Which words have such a meaning: The day, the night, and the heaven, and all creatures, have such a speech and such a voice, that their voice is heard by all speeches, that is, by all languages, by all nations. For there is no speech, he says, that is, there is no nation, there is no voice, where the voice of heaven is not heard: but also the Scythian, and the Thracian, and the Moor, and the Indian, and the Sauromatian, and every speech, and every language and every nation will be able to hear this voice. In what manner, finally? Hear this now, so that you may understand by what reason heaven speaks by being silent. For when you have seen its beauty, magnitude, position, perpetuity, splendor, and gathering all these to yourself, you have glorified the Creator, you have praised the Maker, then heaven has emitted a voice, and through the tongue has brought glory and praise to God. And this is that which he said: "The heavens declare the glory of God." In what manner, finally? While with the beauty of their own splendor they lead the spectator into admiration of the Creator. For when, having beheld so great a work, you have said: Glory to you, O God, what a body you have built, and established in the midst! The heavens have brought that glory, and using your tongue, through the aspect they have shown admiration. Thus, being silent, they defer glory and honor to God, and all hear this voice. For when these things cannot be perceived by hearing, but by aspect and contemplation, the aspect furthermore is one to all, even though the language may be different, and the barbarian, Scythians, Thracians, Moors, and Indians hear that voice, that is, beholding the miracle, being struck D by the beauty, the splendor, the magnitude, and all other things which pertain to the heavens, those who think rightly offer glory and praise to God. The very same thing can also be said concerning the day and the night. For just as this, by beauty, position, magnitude, splendor, by the perpetuity of time, by use, by efficacy, and by all other things, leading the spectator into admiration, causes us to defer glory and honor to the Creator: so too the night and the day. For when you have seen the right order of these times, and how the day, when its own weight has been finished, does not strive to drive the night from its limits, nor does it bear any cupidity for usurping alien things: nor because it itself is more splendid does it attempt to occupy the whole time, but it withdraws: and in the same way again the night, having finished its course, yields to the day: and this has been done for so many years, and no confusion or disturbance has been seen, and neither has that one ejected this, nor did this one defraud that one; even though one is more splendid, and the other more obscure: again, having marveled at the right order, will you not offer glory and honor to God? And just as two sisters affectionately disposed towards each other divide their paternal inheritance by scale and balance, and one does not defraud the other in even the least thing: so indeed even the night and the day, with all time divided between them, while not even the least of it
A exceeds the other; this you have learned through experience itself. Let the covetous B listen, and those who push their brothers out of their inheritance: let them respect the orderly arrangement of the seasons, the equality of night and day, and let them put an end to their own disease. Thus, therefore, *day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night declareth knowledge* (Ps. XVIII, 2–3), not by emitting a voice, but by their orderly arrangement, and their rhythm, and their equality, and their unobstructed measures, proclaiming the Creator more clearly than a trumpet, not in one corner of the world, but in as much as the sun surveys the earth. For these voices are carried everywhere in the world, because the heaven is everywhere, and day is everywhere, and night is everywhere, and they extend their teaching both on land and at sea. For this reason the Prophet did not say simply that the heavens utter the glory of God, but, *they declare* (Ps. XVIII, 1), that is, they instruct others too, and have the human race as their disciples, and, as they put the greatest teacher into the midst instead of books and writings, they offer the beauty of their own nature for all to go over, both the unlearned and the wise, as if in a book, the teaching lying within them regarding the wisdom and power of God. Thus also men, not speaking, but even while silent, glorify God through others; therefore Christ also said: *Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven* (Matt. V, 16). Just as, therefore, one seeing a life shining—even with the person living it being silent—brings glory to God, so also seeing the beauty of the heaven, he glorifies the one who made it. For this reason he said: *The heavens declare the glory of God* (Ps. XVIII, 1), through those who behold them; *Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night declareth knowledge*. Knowledge—what kind? That concerning the One who made them. For just as the day leads man out to work, so the night, following it, gives him rest from a myriad of toils, and releases him from cares, and closing the weary pupil and shutting the eyelids, it prepares it with invigorated strength to receive the ray again. So that the usefulness of this too is not small, but very great. For if it did not give the man rest, receiving him from a myriad of toils, the day leading him out to work would be of no benefit: for with nature giving way under continuous toil, the living thing would have decayed and perished, and nothing more would have come to him from the ray. Therefore, that which makes the day useful to man is the very thing that, through its own service, leads the one who enjoys its rhythmic course to the knowledge of God. For when one considers how great is the usefulness of the day, and how great that of the night, and how this follows that, and they in turn, as if in some choir, alternating and succeeding one another, preserve our race—even if one were the most obtuse of all men, he would be able, by stirring up his own reason, to know the wisdom of the most skillful God, which He displayed through day and night, allotting the former to us for work, and the latter for the relaxation of toils.
3. But we have strayed from even the beginning of our discourse to say all this; but since some of the things read today perhaps disturbed many of those who were not paying attention, let us bring them to the prophetic saying. What then is the saying? *I am the Lord*, He says, *that makest light and darkness, making peace, and creating evil* (Isai. XLV, 6–7). Do you see that we did not make our journey to this passage in vain or for no reason, but passing over all other things, we were eager to arrive here? For the thing said brings much disturbance to the one who does not pay attention. Awake, therefore, and stretch your hearing, and casting away every worldly care, pay attention to what is being said. For I wish now to pay you this reward for your presence here, and having filled you with spiritual food, thus send you away, that even those who were left behind may learn in deed what a great loss they sustained; they will know it if you, having received what is said with accuracy, would be able to convey it to them. *I am the Lord God, that makest light and darkness, making peace, and creating evil*. I keep turning it around, so that it may be fixed in your mind, and then to supply the solution. For not he alone says this, but another prophet, speaking in harmony, said: *Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?* (Amos III, 6). What then is the thing said? For all of them must have one solution applied to them. What then is the solution? If we might learn the power of these words. But pay attention with accuracy; for we do not charge you this constantly in vain or for no reason, but because we are now moving toward the depth of the thoughts. Of things, some are good, some are bad, some are intermediate; of which some seem to many to be bad, but are not, but are only said and suspected to be [so]. But that I may make what I am saying clearer, come, let us also exercise the discourse on examples. Poverty seems to many to be an evil, but it is not; but if someone is sober and philosophizes, it is even destructive of evils. C Wealth, on the other hand, seems to be a good, but it is absolutely not; but it depends on the one who uses it. For if wealth were an absolutely good thing, it would be [good] for all.
C But since not all rich men are endowed with virtue, it is clear that wealth is not absolutely and per se good, but is a certain matter placed in the middle, capable of being used for virtue. Consider the case this way. There are qualities in the body, which, when possessed by men, lead them to be described by such terms. For illustration: whiteness is not a substance, but a quality, an accident that attaches itself to a substance; therefore, if this is present in someone, we call him a "white" person. Furthermore, sickness itself is also a certain quality and an accident, and if it comes upon someone, we call him a "sick" person. If, then, wealth were virtue, he who possesses wealth would have to be endowed with virtue and be called virtuous. But if the rich man is not altogether endowed with virtue, then wealth is not simply either virtue or a good, but becomes such according to the disposition of the one who uses it. D Again, if poverty were an evil, all who live in poverty would have to be wicked. But if many poor people have attained to heaven, then poverty is certainly not an evil. Why, then, someone might ask, do many blaspheme because of poverty? I say, they do not do so because of poverty, but because of their own foolishness and pusillanimity. And the proof of this is the blessed Job, who, when he had been reduced to extreme poverty and had descended into the very abyss of want, not only did not blaspheme, but did not cease to bless God, saying: *The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever* (Job 1:21). But, you will say, many also plunder and invade the property of others because of their wealth. Truly, this does not happen because of wealth, but because of their own stupidity. As a witness to this, we have this very man himself, who, although he abounded in such great riches, not only did not seize the goods of others, but even gave away his own and created a harbor for strangers, saying: *My door was open to every stranger* (Job 31:32). Abraham, too, although he possessed such great wealth, spent all he had on passers-by; and his wealth did not make either this one or that one a fraud or a miser, just as poverty did not make either him or Lazarus a blasphemer. But although neither of them had the necessary food, they were so illustrious that one was commended by the testimony of God, who clearly knows hidden things, and the other was carried off by the angels who went before him, so that he might become a companion of the patriarch and enjoy the same good things as he. Therefore, these things—poverty and wealth, health and sickness, life and death, glory and honor, slavery and freedom, and whatever things of this kind are similar—are indifferent. For it is not necessary to run through them all, lest the discourse become too long, but from the opportunity given to you from these, one must proceed to those things which press upon us. *Give*, he says, *to a wise man an occasion, and he will be wiser* (Prov. 9:9). Therefore, all these things are indifferent, so that men may use them for good or for evil. A That these things are indeed indifferent, as is wealth, Abraham shows, for he used it as was necessary; the one who lived in the age of Lazarus, who spent his wealth to his own destruction, also shows this. Therefore, wealth is neither absolutely good nor evil. If it were absolutely good, then the rich man who lived in the time of Lazarus would not have been punished with such a heavy penalty; if it were an evil, Abraham, who was rich, would not have been so famous. Such a thing is also sickness. For if sickness were an evil, then the sick man would also have to be evil. Therefore, Timothy, too, who was afflicted with a very serious illness, would have had to be evil. *Use a little wine*, he says, *for thy stomach, and for thy frequent infirmities* (1 Tim. 5:23). But if he was not only not evil for this reason, but also received an increase of many rewards for the patience with which he bore that infirmity, it is manifest that sickness is not an evil. B Another prophet was also perpetually troubled in his eyes; yet he was not evil because of this, but he also prophesied and foresaw the future, nor did his sickness bring any impediment to his virtue. But neither is health absolutely good, unless one uses it as he ought, not for wicked deeds or for useless idleness; for it is not exempt from the reproach of criminality. Wherefore Paul also said: *If any man will not work, neither let him eat* (2 Thess. 3:10). But these things are intermediate and indifferent, and according to the reason of those who use them, they become at one time this, at another time that. But what is the need to commemorate health and sickness, wealth and poverty? For this very thing, which is commonly considered the head of all goods and the end of all evils—I mean death and life—these things are not absolute either, but they too are indifferent, and according to the inclination of those who use them, they become one or the other. For example, to live is a good, if one uses it as he ought; but when it is used for sins or iniquities, it is no longer a good, and it would be much better for one who is such to die. Again, that which many think ought to be avoided brings us countless good things, provided it has a suitable cause attached to it. The martyrs are a proof of this, who are most blessed because of their death. For this reason, Paul did not merely desire to live in Christ, but because this was for him the fruit of his work. *For*, he says, *I know not what I shall choose: but I am constrained between two: having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ; a thing by far the better; but to abide still in the flesh is needful for you* (Phil. 1:22-24). C For this reason also the prophet said: *Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints* (Ps. 115:15): not simply death, but death of this kind. And again elsewhere: *The death of sinners is the worst* (Ps. 33:22). Do you see that this too is intermediate, and neither absolutely good nor entirely evil, but [varies] according to the reason and disposition of those by whom it is received? Therefore, the most wise Solomon, while he commemorates the utility which is placed in the middle of these things and philosophizes about them, showing that this is not absolutely good, and that evil, but that things are made good, though they may seem burdensome, when they occur at the fitting time, [and evil, though they may seem pleasant,] when they occur at an unfitting time, said: *A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to live, and a time to die.* For neither is taking away always good, nor is it [always] harmful.
A Likewise, neither is grieving always good, but there are times when it is also deadly and destructive. And the Apostle Paul, demonstrating this very thing, said: *For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death* (2 Cor. 7:10).
5. Do you see how this also belongs to the things that are intermediate? Consequently, its opposite, namely rejoicing, is also intermediate. Therefore, he did not command us to rejoice simply, but to *rejoice in the Lord* (Phil. 4:4). But since the argument concerning intermediate things has been sufficiently clarified by us, provided we have listeners who are attentive, we must move on to things that are not intermediate, but to those that are good, which could never become bad, and to those that are bad, which could never become good. For the aforementioned things become sometimes this and sometimes that; for example, wealth is sometimes bad, when it is spent on covetousness, and sometimes good, when it is consumed for almsgiving; and other things follow this same rule. But there are some things which could never become bad; and, in contrast to these, others are always bad and could never become good: such as impiety, blasphemy, licentiousness, B cruelty, inhumanity, gluttony, and all such things. I do not say that a bad person could never become good, nor that a good person could never become bad, but that the things themselves could never change their nature. For these maintain their own order—those which are good, and those which are bad; but a human being, whenever they choose the former, is good, and whenever they choose the opposites, is bad. Therefore, there are these three categories: for the good things could never become bad, such as temperance, almsgiving, and such like; and the bad things could never become good, such as licentiousness, inhumanity, and cruelty; but there are others which become sometimes this and sometimes that, according to the intention of those who use them. For wealth sometimes serves to further covetousness, and sometimes almsgiving; but this depends upon the intention of the one using it. Poverty sometimes serves to further blasphemy, and sometimes leads to praise and philosophy. Since, therefore, many of the more irrational (for we must proceed to the solution) call not only the bad things, which could never become good, but also some of the intermediate things "bad"—such as poverty, captivity, and slavery, which we have shown are not among things that are bad, but among the intermediate—many, as I said before, label these things as bad though they are not bad; and it is about these that the prophet speaks, of those things called bad in the opinion of the many, not those that are truly bad—namely, captivity, slavery, famine, and such like.
That these are not bad, but are even remedies for evil, let us first bring famine into view, which is thought by all to be fearful and terrible. Learn, then, why it is not a bad thing, and be trained in philosophy. When the Jewish people reached the very extreme of lawlessness, then the great Elijah, worthy of the heavens, wishing to remove the sickness arising from their sloth and to correct it, brought this upon them, saying: *As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, if there shall be rain, except by my mouth* (3 Kings 17:1); C and he who possessed only a sheepskin closed the heavens; such was his boldness before God! Do you see that poverty is not a bad thing? The poorest of all men would not have enjoyed such boldness as to walk upon the earth and display such power by a single word. Having said this, he brought on a famine, like an excellent tutor and corrector of the evils that were being committed; and just as when a violent fever falls upon a body, the very veins of the earth were dried up, the torrents failed, the herbs withered, and the furrows of the earth were henceforth barren. And not trivial was the profit the people reaped at that time, having been turned away from the impulse toward lawlessness, having been brought into order, becoming more moderate, and docile to the prophet. For those who used to run to idols and slaughter their own sons for the demons, they—even with so many priests of Baal being slain—did not resent it, nor were they indignant, but they bore what was happening in silence and fear, having become better through the famine. Do you see the famine as a destroyer of evils, correcting diseases in the manner of a medicine?
If you wish to examine captivity itself and see that it is not among the bad things, consider who the Jews were before the captivity, and who they were in the captivity, so that you may learn that neither is freedom simply a good thing, nor is captivity a bad thing. For when they were in freedom and possessed their own fatherland, they acted in such a way that they were reproached by their prophets every single day, while the laws were trampled, idols were worshipped, and the commandments of God were violated. But once they were led away into a strange land and were living in the country of the barbarians, they were so brought into order and became better, and such keepers of the Law, that this can be learned from the psalm which it is necessary to bring into the middle today, so that you may learn the fruit of captivity. And what is that psalm? *By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept when we remembered Sion. By the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments. For there they that carried us captive asked us for the words of songs, saying: Sing us one of the songs of Sion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?* (Ps. 136:1-4). Do you see how captivity brought them into order? For before it, when the prophets were sounding the alarm not to violate the law, they did not endure; but after it, even with the barbarians pressing upon them and their masters forcing and urging them to violate it, they did not obey, but said: *We will not sing the Lord's song in a strange land*, since the law did not permit this. D See also the three children, not only not harmed by the captivity, but even becoming more radiant because of it; and Daniel likewise. And what of Joseph? What bad thing did he suffer, even becoming a stranger, a slave, and a prisoner? Did he not excel and shine for this reason alone? And what of that barbarian woman who lived in wealth, pride, and liberty—what did she gain from it? Was she not more miserable than all others because she did not wish to use those things for their proper purpose? Thus, these things have been clearly demonstrated to us: which things are bad, which are good, and which are intermediate; and that the prophet speaks about the intermediate things, not about those that are truly bad, but about those that appear so.
For what reason these things were said, it will be worth our while now to teach.