On Zeal and Piety, and on the Man Born Blind.
A The Word of God is the source of light, for He is full of light; and pouring forth light, He illuminates the minds of the faithful and encompasses them with splendor. For He shines from Himself, and gives light to those who enjoy Him; and He does not only illuminate the minds of the faithful, but also imparts the name of light. For those who are reared in ignorance and are addicted to infidelity, Scripture rightly calls darkness, inasmuch as they do not receive the lamp of truth, that they might be sons of light. For this reason the divine apostle Paul also says: "We are not sons of the night, nor of darkness, but sons of light and of the day" (1 Thess. 5:5). And in very truth we are sons of light, who are the sons of the evangelical word which was uttered by the mouth of God. "For I," says Christ, "am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). For that Word is of light; and if we place our faith in Him, He causes us to become sons of light. Whence also the Savior says: "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be sons of light" (John 12:36). For as that light which is perceived by the senses acts in relation to bodies, so does the spiritual Word of God toward souls; and what darkness is in the night, this is ignorance in souls led astray. Therefore, even the blessed David writes concerning such people, saying: "They have not known, nor have they understood; they walk in darkness" (Ps. 81:5). Thus, therefore, God calls the synagogue—enveloped in ignorance and unwilling to turn its eyes to the knowledge of spiritual doctrine—"night," on account of the ignorance to which it was addicted. For when God said to the Jews through the prophet: "I have likened your mother to night" (Osee 4:5); explaining what kind of night He called like unto darkness, He added: "My people are become like a people having no knowledge" (Ibid. 4:6). Therefore, "They have not known, nor have they understood; they walk in night." Those people, indeed, are such; but those who have received the light of Christ’s doctrine are made light. For our God is light; and His Word, which was generated from Him before the ages without any passion, is called light; and the holy and consubstantial Spirit, the Giver of life, is called light. Light, and light, and light—yet it is one light; and the soul that has received the Word is called light. But God, indeed, is light naturally, subsisting in three persons; we, however, [are light] by participation in Him. And again, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is light, concerning whom John the Evangelist says: "He was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world" (John 1:9). But since He is light from unutterable light, He transmits a law redundant with light, according to the prophet saying: "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths" (Ps. 118:105). After the soul has received the word of the light of truth, it is also rendered light itself, and hears from Paul: "For you were sometime darkness, but now light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8). And when the mind has received the evangelical light, it is also named light by reason of faith, and in the same way by reason of works. "Let your light," He says, "so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). For it is necessary that he who has received the light of faith should proceed also to the works of light. And it is not enough for the faithful soul merely to be light, but it must also shine before men through works; for this reason the Savior also says: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." And see a wonderful thing: the light proceeding from God is indeed simple; but it has different rays, not by nature, but by operation; and the splendid doctrine of God is sent into every soul, according to that saying: "And let the splendor of the Lord our God be upon us" (Ps. 89:17), B so that our works may be directed by Him. There is one splendor, but upon coming to us, it effects many splendors among us: the splendor of almsgiving, the splendor of chastity, the splendor of hospitality, the splendor of brotherly love. With God, indeed, this splendor is one; but when it has been transmitted to us, it produces various radiances by its operation, while to one it grants the splendor of prophecy, to another the splendor of apostleship, to another the splendor of martyrdom. There, indeed, the splendor is one; but in us they are many, as it is written: "With you is the principle in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints" (Ps. 109:3). Why, therefore, does Paul enumerate them, and say: "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?" (1 Cor. 12:29), but that he encounters suitable souls, not according to his own authority, but according to the confession of faith; not that he gives according to his own pleasure, or according to his whim—for neither is his judgment without justice—but according to the distributions of graces. For just as a royally dyed and properly colored garment receives the solar ray, yet emits different radiances; and such as is the beauty of the dye, such it effects the brightness of the color; and so the grace is transmitted from the underlying dye into gold, or into purple, or into green, or into some other color—not that the ray is divided, but that the garment dispenses the ray of light according to its own condition. With such flowers the beauty of the Church always shines, which is clothed in a royal garment, and adorned with a heavenly and variegated robe, just as the author of the Psalms also says: "The daughters of kings in your honor. The queen stood on your right hand, in vesture of gold, surrounded, variegated" (Ps. 44:10). How is it variegated? With the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as Paul says, "God bearing witness with signs, and wonders, and divers virtues" (Heb. 2:4), and distributions of the Holy Spirit. And what shall I call the Church of Christ? A bride adorned, a queen decked out, a vernal garden, a meadow overflowing with fertility; and if I should say anything else, I would speak less than is due to its dignity. Therefore the prophet Isaias said, taking up its voice from the person of the Church: "Let my soul exult in the Lord, for He has clothed me with the garment of salvation" (Is. 61:10). And because he was using an example, and could not describe the whole beauty of the Church, he distinguishes it by variety, saying: "As a bride, he has adorned me with feminine ornament, and as a bridegroom, he has placed a miter upon me; as the earth bringing forth its fruits, and as a garden its seeds." For the Church of the living God is in very truth a closed garden and a paradise (Cant. 4:12), but one much more sublime than that. For there, indeed, the serpent reigned, but here Christ reigns. C For neither is the paradise to be held in esteem unless the commandment of God be kept therein, nor are vile places ignominious if the law of the reigning God is in them. Which is better? Which is preferable? Paradise, or a dung-heap? Nevertheless, for Adam, on account of his transgression, the paradise was of no profit (Gen. 3:9); but for Job, the dung-heap did no harm on account of his patience (Job 2:8). Adam is affected with ignominy in paradise on account of his disobedience; Job, however, is crowned on the dung-heap on account of his patience. For the dignity of places is nowhere compared, unless a good mind joins in; and the heaven is more sublime than paradise, yet the devil falls from it. Deep is the earth, and the heaven is carried on high (Prov. 25:3); yet the devil falls from heaven, after he has transgressed, according to that: "I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven" (Luke 10:18). He who raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the beggar from the dung-heap (Ps. 112:7). D See how not from the places themselves is given to us our pre-eminence, but everywhere by faith, and patience, and hope is the crown woven: it is worthy. Nothing is more venerable than a dung-heap, nor is any theater more destitute; yet what profit did the incontinent Egyptian woman receive while in a bedchamber? She received the first-born indeed, yet was disgraced in the theater, whereas she who was in the bedchamber is commemorated. She did not sin by being bereft of clothes, nor is the holy woman insulted, but crowned. And what is in the
theater benefited? Or what did the [heathen] idols, and the worship of things that do not exist—I mean the greatness of the temples—benefit [those who worshipped them]? Or what harm did the lowliness of the sepulchers do to the martyrs? Was not the error put to shame in its greatness, and the status of the martyrs exalted in their humiliation?
A In this way, the Church of the living God is a paradise of delight. In that former paradise, the serpent danced and deceived; in this paradise, the Savior says: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall ever hurt you" (Luke 10:19). In [that] paradise, the way of life was closed to Adam because of the transgression; and in order that God might show that the virtuous soul is not hindered, He receives greater things outside paradise than those that were inside paradise. To Adam, paradise is closed, and Peter is entrusted with the keys of heaven; Adam is cast out of paradise, and Paul is snatched up even to the third heaven; the tree of life is fenced off from Adam; for God said, he says, "Lest perhaps Adam should put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life" (cf. Gen. 3:22). There, life was forbidden, and the tree of life was forbidden by him who transgressed; here, the wood of the cross is brought forward, and all who wish may pluck eternal life. In paradise after the transgression, Adam hides from God, being struck [by his own] conscience; He who seeks all things calls him and says, "Adam, where art thou?" (Gen. 3:9). Did He not know where he was? "Adam, where art thou?" Rebuking his transgression, He says, "Where art thou?" instead of, "In what condition art thou?" Did the deceit of the serpent bring you equality with God? See how you have been stripped? "Where art thou?" "I heard thy voice, and I hid myself" (Gen. 3:10). He hides in paradise; the apostles say: "We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed from glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3:18). Do you see boldness outside paradise? Do you see shame inside paradise? In paradise after the transgression, God clothed Adam in coats of skins. Let us see what they are clothed with. B There, he put on a tunic; here, "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). There, when paradise was closed, the Cherubim and the flaming sword guarded the way of paradise; and it was like a wall and a fence for Adam, not allowing him to enter because of the transgression that happened in paradise after the transgression. I do not say this to accuse paradise, but [to show] that that place, worthy of God, did not benefit him who did not wish to conduct himself with a good intent. And there was a wall of fire circling paradise, and not allowing the transgressor to enter; so that God might show that it was not the fire that was hostile to him, but the transgression [that] kept Adam from entering through the wall of fire; and yet, a chariot of fire snatched up Elijah into heaven. The Church of God is not lying when she says: "God clothed me with a garment of salvation, and adorned me as a bride with ornaments, as the earth bringing forth its fruits, and as a great garden of truth." This great paradise is the universal Church. Christ reigns, and is believed in as the Lawgiver, unless someone be found in the Church nursing heretical error, through the instruction of the serpents—I mean the heretical error—and being cast out from thence, as Adam was from paradise. For just as there, he who was persuaded by the serpent's teaching was exiled from paradise, so also in the Church, those who do not obey Paul, who are not instructed by Peter, but who are persuaded by the [serpents'] teachings, are cast out of this paradise. C Whence is this evident? Paul says: "For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, so your minds should be corrupted" (2 Cor. 11:2-3). But the teaching of the serpent has no place here, for the great Shepherd, with the rod of faith, crushes the head of the serpents. For indeed, like a shepherd, our admirable father crushes the heads of the dragons with the evangelical faith and the hope in Christ; and as an excellent horticulturist and gardener, he nourishes the plants of the Church, but uproots whatever is a lawless seed or shoot; he delivers the disease of impiety and the Hellenic error to the fire like thorns; and the heretical error, like a weed, he pulls up and casts out, being clothed with the zeal of God, which many are ignorant of. For some are accustomed to argue sophistically against the Church and the holy shepherds, just as indeed against this admirable father; and many, under the guise of gentleness, introduce laziness, and insult zeal, and try to dull that which is at its height for God. For it is possible to find someone in the guise of gentleness saying, "For what have we in common with the Greeks? Does he wish to be saved? Let him be saved." He who says these things has not yet been wounded by the zeal of piety; he who sees one perishing and does not mourn his perishing, and does not consider it his own loss, does not know the zeal of piety, and has not been wounded by the arrows of truth.
3. He then who sees one perishing and does not show zeal—as Paul says, "Who is weak, and I am not weak?" (2 Cor. 11:29)—is not a disciple of Paul. D Let him compare the conduct of this Father, and he will find him in harmony with the apostolic voices: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" (2 Cor. 11:29). Those who think this way are brothers of the apostles. For a just man is discouraged not only in the things wherein he himself sins, but also in the things wherein he sees others sinning, as David says: "Discouragement took hold of me because of the sinners who forsake thy law" (Ps. 118:53). If anyone is discouraged at the sins of others, he has the zeal of piety. For when the just man corrects his own life, he weeps and mourns to blot out his own sin; and then, having ceased from his own sin, he henceforth mourns the sins of others, just as Paul also says: "Lest, when I come, I will mourn many of those who have sinned before, and have not repented" (2 Cor. 12:21). Paul mourns those who have sinned and have not repented; Samuel mourns Saul, so that God said: "How long dost thou mourn for Saul?" (1 Reg. 16:1). You see a soul perishing, and you do not mourn? If anyone sees a dead body being carried out and does not weep, he is proven to be inhuman and hard and brutish; if you see a soul being baptized in impiety, and being condemned to eternal death, and remaining in unbelief, do you not weep, tell me, and mourn? And is this the mark of a pious soul? Therefore, one who is wise ought to mourn for all other sins, but especially when he sees a soul baptized in the impiety of Hellenism. For such a soul, one should not only mourn, but also burn and be set on fire with zeal, in order that he may become a disciple of Paul. For while Paul was staying in Athens, he says, his spirit was being set on fire, seeing the city given over to idolatry (Acts 17:16). And why do the saints think these things, just as this admirable father also was an avenger of piety? For just as there is a king who rules over the inhabited world under him, and has in every tribunal of the palace those who plead [his cause]; so God has the faithful shepherds as avengers of piety. For many of the Greeks, frequently mocking, say, when they hear Christians saying to them, "Why do you blaspheme? Why are you impious?" they immediately mock: "Look, the avengers of God! Cannot God avenge himself?" But He does not avenge Himself (for He does not insult the Godhead), but through faithful servants He scourges the ungrateful slaves. Does God have need of avengers? Yes; not because He is weak, but in order that He may open to you a door of zeal. For if He did everything by Himself, the way of life would be closed to the zealous man. Did not Pharaoh war against God, and was he not immersed in impiety, and was no scourge applied until Moses the faithful arose? Did not the polytheistic error flourish with the false priests and false prophets, and was there no plague from God until Elijah the zealous arose? "The saints are acknowledgedly the avengers of God. Therefore Paul also says: "Having in readiness to punish all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled" (2 Cor. 10:6). Furthermore, the admirable Deborah among women, having a woman's weakness, and prophesying the courage of virtue, about whom the Scripture says: "And Deborah arose, a mother in Israel" (Judg. 5:7)—she became a mother of the people because of her piety, and she flourished so much that even the generals of war, those around Barak, said to the woman: "If thou wilt not come with us into the war, we will not go" (Judg. 4:8). They did not trust in the woman's bravery, but in the power of the prophecy. Many went forth as co-workers of God's counsel, and cut down the foreigners. Therefore that blessed Deborah, bearing the truth, says: "O Lord, they that love thee are as the rising of the sun; but thy enemies are as a burnt-out lamp."
A Since the sun is never extinguished; but thy enemies are as a burnt-out lamp, since a lamp has light that lasts for a time, and is again extinguished. Then he praises the leader of the army, who had served the will of God, and commands him to curse the inhabitants of Meroz, because they did not go forth to the aid of the Lord. Did God, therefore, need aid? It is so. It is necessary that those who offer assistance to religion should display a specimen of their own zeal. And so, this admirable father does not offer aid to God as if He were weak, but being set over this duty, he defends religion; while indeed he seems to bring destruction upon the body, he infuses power into souls. For the arrows of the mighty are sharpened. Nor, indeed, should you marvel if the pastors of Christ and the masters of piety avenge the truth. Nay, even if one is not a doctor, nor has a doctor's chair been committed to him, but he has simply received the word of Christ, and is placed in the rank of a disciple, he ought to have a zeal for God, and to repay this gratitude to his benefactor, so that he may speak freely and make words for the truth, and struggle against impiety, that he may hear from the Holy Scripture said to him: "Son, strive for the truth, and the Lord God shall fight for thee" (Eccli. 4:30, 33). There is nothing wonderful if the saints avenge piety. Often God speaks something for the sake of clemency, as He is good; but the prophets do not allow piety to be harmed because of the clemency of God. God says through Moses: "Say to Pharaoh, Let my people go" (Exod. 8:1, 2). "But if you will not, behold I shall send signs, and I will strike you." Moses was struck by this word, and this thought entered the mind of the pious man, and he said: Do not think that He holds His own people and God's people on a par of honor. And when he was anxiously doubting whether the immense kindness and clemency of God might harm Him, and it seemed that God might be resisted when he had heard, "Thy people" and "My people," he reports the preaching. "Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let my people go" (Ibid. 9:1); "but if you will not, behold I shall send signs, and I will strike you and your servants: that you may learn that the earth and the fullness thereof is the Lord's" (Ps. 23:1). The earth heard of the people and the people, and did not obey the words; nevertheless, it said: "All the earth is the Lord's." For although God behaved in a kindly manner, this Lord did not wish to betray His authority. B For this reason, therefore, God spoke thus, so that the zeal of a pious man might be made manifest. But also the faithful always love to exceed the words of God: for so the Savior says to the disciples: "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" One of the disciples says: "Thou art Christ the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:13, 16). The zeal of the Holy Spirit teaches you also to be emulators, and to suffer for piety, and to contend the good fight for justice. C Be imitators of the master, just as Paul also says: "Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). Do you wish to know how he who is a disciple should have a zeal for piety, as well as he who occupies the place of a disciple? Hear in what manner Christ healed the man blind from birth; or rather, let us hear the history from the beginning. 548 After many things had been said by the evangelist, he began to narrate thus: "Jesus passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying" (John 9:1 et seq.); and the things that follow. And when He had spat and made clay, "He anointed his eyes," and said to him: "Go, wash in the pool of Siloe"; and when he had washed, he saw. The Jews knew him and say: "Is not this he who used to sit and beg, the blind man?" Others said: "It is he"; others, "No, but he is like him." He said: "I am he." The Pharisees and the princes of the Jews, seeing that He could draw many to Christ by the miracle, stimulated by an emulation of impiety, and pricked by the goad of truth, call he who had been blind into their presence. And it was a miserable spectacle to behold, as malice agitated them, wicked judges disputed, a great advocate helped the struggling, and God presided over and watched the contest. They call him who had been blind and had received his sight, the Jews, and set him in the middle of the council, and say to him: "Tell us, how did you receive your sight, and who opened your eyes, and what did He do to you?" (Ibid. v. 10). They said these things, not that they might learn, but that they might strike fear by the very form of the interrogation. For often the form of interrogation warns him whom we interrogate what he should answer, or if he should remain silent: as if one should say to him who is about to bring testimony regarding some matter: "Did you see the thing we are dealing with? Were you present? Whence do you know the thing?" even the form itself teaches him to deny. So also they: "How did you receive your sight? Who opened your eyes?" He, caring less for their threats, adhered more to the truth, and says: "A certain man, who is called Jesus, when He had made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me: Go, wash in Siloe. And when I went, I washed, and I saw" (Ibid. v. 11). He did not know the truth, but he recognized the benefit: he did not yet know the dignity of his benefactor. "A certain man when He had made clay, anointed my eyes, and I see." The Jews did not believe that he had been blind, and had seen, until they called the parents of him who had seen (Ibid. v. 15, 18). The exception of wickedness brought the truth into doubt. They call the parents of the blind man: wickedness gathers testimonies against itself. The parents of the blind man were called. Again, the same form of interrogation is used: "Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" (v. 19). They, since they well knew the custom of wickedness, that they were threatening, say to them: "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind, we know: but how he now sees, or who opened his eyes, we know not: he has age, ask himself: he will speak for himself" (v. 20, 21). Note the wisdom of God. Lest they reject the voice of him who had received his sight by an exception, as one who was a youth, and did not know how to speak in public judgments, God provided that his lawful age be first indicated. "He has age," they say, "ask himself": because those who are underage need advocates; but those who have reached perfect age become advocates for themselves. His parents answered and said: "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind." His parents confessed, so that no doubt might remain whether this man had been blind. "He has age, ask himself, he will speak for himself." They call him, he says, a second time, and say to him (v. 24): "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" Then indeed he, clothed in zeal for God, despised the interrogation, and did not deign to address them as those unworthy of an answer; but what does he say to them? "I have told you already, and you have not heard: why will you hear it again? Will you also become His disciples?" (v. 27). And so he imitates the teaching of Christ, although he had not yet heard the teaching of Christ. For when the Jews had surrounded the Savior at the dedication in Solomon's porch, they said to Him: "How long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." He says to them: "I told you, and you have not heard: why will you hear it again?" (Ibid. 10:24). And behold the piety of the advocate. When he had noticed the malice of the Jews, and that they D
A stood firmly, he said: "In this is the marvel, that you do not know from where He is, and He opened my eyes. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing" (Ibid. 9:30, 33). He stood and struggled, with God as the spectator and the judge: many terrible ones against one strong man, an unbelieving cloud against a single drop of faith. "From eternity," he says, "it has not been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one born blind. If He were not from God, He could do nothing." Since you boast, he says, in the teaching of Moses (for he does not mention Moses yet, so as not to irritate them), he says: "From eternity it has not been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one born blind"—that is, what other prophet has opened them? They neither see the excellence, nor do they make a comparison. And as much as he adhered to the truth, so much did they not cease in their shamelessness. Since they were unable to deny it, they hastened finally to cover it up, and they say: "Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner" (Ibid. 9:24). The glory of the Son is the glory of the Father, and the glory is indivisible. He struggles, waging the good contest against the Jews. They say to him: "Give glory to God." To which? To our law? And is it just for one to show mercy, and another to be glorified? "Give glory to God." Another is the benefactor, and to another you give the glory? They confessed that Jesus made clay and anointed his eyes; is the one who opened them confessed, and to another do I attribute the glory? And why indeed "give glory to God"? Because this work is of God. See then, you unwillingly confess that Christ is God. "Give glory to God." For if it is the work of God, and glory is owed to Him, the maker of the work is Himself God. "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." The man who was once blind answered them: "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that while I was blind, I now see" (Ibid. 9:25).
5. Up to this point, as he spoke freely, they ordered him to be cast out. "And they cast him out," says the evangelist (Ibid. 9:34). Blessed is he who has been separated from the synagogue of evildoers. And see what happens. Since he had waged the good contest, and had advocated for the glory of God, and had confessed the Savior gloriously with much boldness; and his theater had been filled with the contests, the athlete was cast out without having received the crown, and the judge met him outside. For "Jesus heard," he says, "that they had cast him out; and having found him, He says to him" (Ibid. 9:35). Oh, the utterance of the one who found him! What error destroys, truth finds. And why did He meet him? The Savior saw a soul full of gratitude; He saw a soul not yet known to speak on behalf of God, but thinking He was some faithful prophet—for he is being questioned concerning Christ. And what does he say concerning Him? That He is a prophet. The Savior said this: If, thinking Him a prophet and suspecting Him to be a man, he struggles in this way, what will he do if he learns the glory of His divinity? If, thinking Him a man and calling Him a prophet, he brought such advocacy on behalf of the truth, and undertook such a struggle without yet having been catechized, but illuminated only from the benefit; consider him, that if, while thinking he was advocating for a man, he did not depart from the truth, if he learns evangelically to say: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1), what will be? Therefore, He finally corrected him into knowledge, accepting the struggle but sealing the faith for him. The Savior meets him; for this man did not know the character. For when He sent him to the pool of Siloam to wash, He sent him blind; but as he returned seeing, he did not see the Savior mingled in the crowd, but immediately, before seeing the Master, having been called to the contest, he struggled. B Yet the Master made clay before he washed, and anointed his eyes, that He might fill what was lacking. When, therefore, they cast him out, Christ having found him, said to him: "Do you believe in the Son of God?" (John 9:35). For it is not fitting for you to believe in Him as a struggling prophet, but as the Son of God. He, not having recognized the face, recognized the voice. "Do you believe," He says, "in the Son of God?" He recognized the voice, and with great joy he cried out: "And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" (Ibid. 9:36). Why do you believe Him who says it to you, who is faithful? "Do you believe in the Son of God?" I know that Your word is true; nevertheless, even if You tell me the knowledge, I do not doubt in believing You. "And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And the One who knows the future said: "You have both seen Him, and He who is speaking with you is He" (Ibid. 9:37). C He who advocated inside, converses outside: "Do you believe in the Son of God?" And he who was illuminated both in body and mind said: "And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And He, answering, said to him: "You have both seen Him, and He who is speaking with you is He." And he said: "I believe, Lord;" and he worshiped Him. These things have been said by me so that you all might learn to follow a good teacher, and to imitate a good shepherd, and to struggle on behalf of the truth; for your struggle becomes a cooperation of the great Shepherd. You marveled that a blind man became an advocate of the truth having been benefited; you marveled at the thief who advocated for Christ before the benefit. For a divine soul, always zealous for truth, because of its own credibility opens many mouths advocating for the truth. Christ was hanging on the cross, and two thieves, one on the right and one on the left, and the Jews were babbling, the chief priests were blaspheming: "He is the King of the Jews"; and again, "If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe Him"; and again, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save" (Matt. 27:32; Mark 15:32; Luke 23:35). Likewise, the thief crucified with Him also babbled, saying: "If You are the Son of God, save Yourself and us" (Luke 23:39). The other thief did not speak anything, punishing the condemned by his silence. Since, therefore, the chief priests and the scribes, who knew the law, or rather, who were ignorant of it, who ought to have confessed Christ from the prophetic readings, did not confess Him; God opens an unexpected mouth on the cross, advocating for the truth. And see what He does. He does not even first hear the voice of Christ, and this one advocates, and then he is crowned. For "there were crucified," he says, "with Him two thieves, one on the right and one on the left; and the Savior was in the middle as the scale of truth, lightening the one who confesses, but condemning the one who blasphemes. And see the marvel. While the scribes and the chief priests were blaspheming Christ, and saying: "If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross, that we may see, and believe Him"; and the other thief: "If You are the Son of God, save Yourself and us"; the one thief, the grateful one, says nothing. For the two thieves were images of the people of the Jews and of our own. For one blasphemes and is condemned; and the other believes, repents, and is saved. Then the brother of the Jewish robbery—for the ungrateful Jews were a thieving people, as the Savior testifies, saying: "My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves" (Matt. 21:13)—speaks [to the ungrateful ones]; and the disposition of the first is Jewish; but that of the second is Christian, starting from evils, but in repentance seizing salvation. The ungrateful thief, therefore, having also a Jewish disposition, says: "If You are the Son of God, save Yourself and us, having come down from the cross"; but the other is found grateful, D he who was liable in the court, a judge on the cross; but also teaching the fear of God. For the first voice of the thief says to the fellow thief: "Do you not even fear God, seeing that you are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive things worthy of what we have done; but this man has done nothing absurd" (Luke 23:40–41). What are you saying? You who were robbing outside, do you judge here? You who were murdering outside, do you teach fear here? "Do you not even fear God?" Learn of Christ's cross, so that the voice might become for you a teacher of piety. For see the marvel: the thief says to the fellow thief: "Do you not even fear God?" He proclaims Him God who voluntarily
A was crucified with them and suffers patiently for the human race. And understand from what follows that he is speaking about the Savior himself: "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive what is worthy of our deeds: but this man has done nothing wrong." I say these things so that you may learn to labor for piety, and to show zeal both at home and in public, and to contend for Christ, so that you may receive from Him the crown of justice, just as this good thief did. For hear with what words he addresses the thief his companion who is blaspheming: "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive what is worthy of our deeds: but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said to Jesus: "Lord, remember me when You come into B Your kingdom." Do you see true patronage? Do you see how he confessed Christ as the true God? "Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom." He confesses his own evils, and patronizes the Lord. You were so tortured, thief, before the governor, that you might confess your robberies, your murders, and the thefts committed by you, and yet you did not confess them; and now, apart from torments, you say: "We receive what is worthy of our deeds"? When a thousand torments were applied, you barely confessed before the governor; and here, with no one compelling you, do you confess so easily? "It is so," he says; "but there, death receives the confession; here, repentance and life follow the confession. For we receive what is worthy of our deeds: but this man has done nothing wrong." If we, he says, [are here] justly, this man is [here] unjustly. For we killed the living, this man raised the dead: we plundered the property of others, this man has bestowed his own riches upon the whole world. The thief contends with his fellow thief, and says: C "Until this present time, when we were fixed to the cross, we agreed with each other, and made the journey together; but now, from the cross itself, the way is split for me: if you wish to make the journey with me to life, come; if not, go your own ways. Thus far I accompanied you, and went the first way with you; but now the cross has divided this second way into two." Through repentance the way of the thieves is divided. And then the Psalm and the end of the Psalm were fulfilled: "The Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish" (Ps. I, 6). After, therefore, the thief had patronized the truth, he turned to the Lord of glory, and said: "Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom."
D Let the Arians then be ashamed, and let them hear what the thief says: "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." The thief sees Him crucified, and confesses Him Lord: the heretic confesses Him as a fellow partaker of the same throne with the Father, and blasphemes Him as a creature. "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." I would like to address the thief myself with certain words: "So that Christ might remember you, what indeed have you done to deserve this? Or is it because you killed, because you plundered? For you say: 'Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.'" But let no one think that the thief was saved by Christ according to grace alone; nay, it was according to a debt that was to be paid to him. What debt, some will say? Is it because he did just things? Gave alms? Distributed his goods? Fasted? Kept vigil? Did a thing which no one else did? Or rather, because he believed in God? And the prophets believed in God, and the patriarchs believed, the writers of hymns believed, the apostles, the preachers, the martyrs: but all these, when they had beheld God in glory, while this one [saw Him] in ignominy. But you, set before me a thousand servants serving their master at a time when he enjoys prosperous fortune and honors: and one servant who does not retreat from his master in a time of temptation, affliction, and exile; but those thousand servants, who deserted their master in a time of temptation and exile; could those servants, who abandoned their master in the time of temptation when prosperous fortune was favoring them, be equal to him who followed the Lord in adverse circumstances? By no means. Peter believed; but it was when he saw Him raising the dead, when he had contemplated His glory that he believed: Paul believed, but when he had seen the light sent from heaven, and Him blinding the eyes of the body, but illuminating the eyes of the soul. Abraham believed; but when he had looked upon the divine vision: Isaiah believed; but when he had seen Him sitting upon a throne exalted (Isai. VI, 1), and the Cherubim round about Him. All saw, but in glory: this man, however, in ignominy; for which reason he also cried out: "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." But, considering the state of my affairs, you are about to say to me: "Why do you say this?" "Indeed, I am a sinner, and a murderous thief up to this hour: my crimes are many, I confess; but in my mind I have hidden a faith which no one knows, except the Lord alone, who suffers with me." The Lord has externally apparent marks of suffering; but I do not attend to the ignominy which appears, but I glorify the hidden majesty. So also say you: "Lord, do not look upon my crimes which appear, but upon the hidden faith: and remember me when You come into Your kingdom." When Christ had spoken nothing at all to anyone, but had kept silent, and had answered neither Pilate, nor any other of the sinful head of the Jews, then He answers; and because the silence was very heavy and inconvenient, He now answers, and says to the thief: "Amen, amen, I say to you, this day you shall be with me in paradise." O exceptional benefit of the bestower! Since you asked for a late benefit, and said: "Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom," you asked late, I confer a pre-prompt benefit: "This day you shall be with me in paradise" (Luc. XXIII, 43). Did you see the salvation of God? Did you see the benefit of the Lord? Did you see the great Judge of truth? "This day you shall be with me in paradise." No one of the Jews, or of the patriarchs, has hitherto heard mention of paradise, since Adam transgressed, and went out from it: and although God promised countless things to the faithful of men, He promised paradise to no one, except to the thief: nowhere does it appear that paradise was promised to a man by the mouth of God, after Adam was cast out, except first to this thief. Why did He not speak of paradise first to any of the patriarchs, to none of the prophets, to none of the apostles? To the ancients He promised: "I will give you a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exod. XIII, 6); to the apostles He says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matth. V, 3): nowhere is there mention of paradise: He reserves paradise in the midst, so that it might be promised first to the thief. For although Paul said, "I was caught up into paradise" (II Cor. XII, 2); yet this happened after the thief. Why therefore did he enter first, he who uttered almost one word? For why? Did he sing psalms often? Did he often contend? Did he often speak words about the divinity? "Once," he says. Truly my God is the just arbiter of salvation. Since indeed He cast the first of men, Adam, out of paradise not for many sins, but for one disobedience; so the scales of justice promised that the thief would enter paradise first, not when he had confessed many things, but when he had offered one confession of faith. I said it was the sin of Adam that he touched the tree contrary to what was commanded. What further was the thief's purification? That because he touched the cross with faith, he entered into paradise. What happens next? The Savior...
the Savior had promised salvation, but the time had not arrived, nor was it permitted for the thief to believe, and to be baptized: for "Unless," says the Savior, "one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven" (John 3:5). But since the thief did not have the opportunity or the permission—for he was already hung upon the cross—the Savior therefore found a way by which, when the obstacle was cleared, he might set him free. For since he had believed in the Savior, it became necessary that he be baptized, so he arranged that the soldier should wound the side of the Lord; and blood and water poured forth: for "his side," says the Evangelist, "blood and water came out" (Ibid. 19:34). That it might be confirmed by the truth of the Passion, and exist as a figure of the sacraments. Nor did the blood and water come out thus simply flowing, but with an impetus, in order to sprinkle the body of the thief; for what is sent with an impetus sprinkles, but what flows gently, flows according to the way it comes. But with an impetus the blood and water came forth from his side, in order that, having sprinkled the thief, he might baptize him, just as the Apostle also says: "We have come to Mount Zion, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than Abel" (Heb. 12:21, 24). Why does the blood of Christ speak better than Abel's? Because the blood of Abel sits upon the head of the murderer, but the blood of Christ cleanses even the murderers if they repent. Learn, therefore, the zeal for the truth, and love the boldness of speech for Christ; follow the true Master who struggles for the truth, so that, having thus heard from the Apostle Paul, "Be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1), you may deserve to obtain also the crowns of righteousness yourself, and the eternal good things which Christ our God has prepared for those who love him; of which may it be granted to us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.
ON THE PSEUDOPROPHETS AND FALSE TEACHERS
It is evident that the name of Chrysostom in the title is feigned, and pretends that the author is saying his final farewell to the people: *The time of my departure is at hand*, he says. Here he immediately offers all the signs of his imposture. The style is humble and altogether different from Chrysostom’s manner of prayer: the diction is inelegant, the laws of grammar are frequently violated, and insipid epithets are accumulated to the point of nausea. Finally, he mentions Dionysius the Areopagite as a most celebrated writer. However, these writings, which are considered spurious by all scholars, are known to have been put together some time after the death of Chrysostom and published. They are numbered among the heretical Nestorians; and hence one may understand how great the ignorance of this Greek was.
We have prepared a new Latin translation.
ORATION ON THE PSEUDOPROPHETS, AND FALSE TEACHERS, AND IMPIOUS HERETICS, AND ON THE SIGNS OF THE CONSUMMATION OF THIS AGE. SPOKEN WHEN HE WAS ABOUT TO DEPART FROM THE BODY.
A 1. A mournful oration, as it is finished, yet full of great joy: mournful, because I shall no longer speak to you; but full of great joy, because the time for me to depart has arrived, and for me to be with Christ; and as the Lord said, "I will no longer speak with you" (John 14:30). Yet even now I will speak B in pain of heart about the pseudoprophets, and false teachers, and impious heretics, about whom the Apostle said: "Evil men and impostors will grow worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Tim. 3:13); about whom I have often reminded you. For I have made many speeches by the grace of Christ, as you who are lovers of God know; and in almost every speech we have reminded you of these, if you remember what was said yesterday; but I know that you remember, and especially those who are industrious, and lovers of books, and lovers of Christ. For one who is a lover of books would justly be called a lover of Christ, according to that which was said by the Master, that "He who loves me, keeps my words; he who loves me, will be loved by my Father" (John 14:21). He who loves me will meditate in the law day and night; C clearly in the Gospel and in the remaining Scriptures. For such a person keeps the remembrance of God indelible in his heart; awaiting Him from heaven, he always keeps the hour of His coming. Always holding the sacred books in his hands, he will not forget those fearful books, about which it is written: "The judgment sat, and the books were opened" (Dan. 7:10). See how much profit there is in searching the Scriptures, as you have often heard. D And what is it that we say? The divine Scripture left nothing out, nor did it pass over what is beneficial to us, but it cries out everywhere, through the prophets and apostles, proclaiming beforehand and securing each one as a mother who loves her art loves her own children, it bears witness beforehand and reminds us about what has passed, and about the present, and about the future, having overlooked nothing, as has been said, of what is beneficial to us; and this not by speaking in secret, nor by whispering, but everywhere crying out with labor and power through the law, and the prophets, and the apostles, and the Master Himself. For through Isaiah the prophet it says: "Cry out with strength, and do not spare; lift up your voice like a trumpet" (Is. 58:1); and again it says, "Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion" (Ibid. 40:9); and going forward it says, "Lift up, do not fear." And again David says: "I have labored crying out, my throat has become hoarse" (Ps. 68:4). And John the Theologian in his Catholic Epistle says: "Watch yourselves" (2 John 8). And Paul, what? "See how you walk" (Eph. 5:15); and the Lord again: "I have spoken openly to the world, and I have said nothing in secret" (John 18:20). And elsewhere the Evangelist says about Him, that "He stood and cried out, saying: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (Ibid. 7:37). You see how much struggle, how much zeal, how He cries out with boldness, and no one understands! And again the blessed Paul says: "Watch out for dogs, watch out for evil workers, watch out for the concision" (Phil. 3:2). "See how you walk, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16). And John: "Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what you have worked for, because many deceivers have gone out into the world" (2 John 8-7). And there are many such things in the divine Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, shouting and rousing us from our laziness. We, however, do the opposite, as Isaiah the prophet said, that "With their ears they have heard heavily, and they have closed their eyes" (Is. 6:10). How many and how great writings we hear and do not understand! Whence we shall be inexcusable in the day of judgment, when He who brings to light the hidden things of darkness comes, and makes manifest the counsels of our hearts; when the judgment sits, and the books are op-