493 EPISTOLA AD EUDOXIAM IMPERATRICEM 494
EDITOR'S ADMONITION
In many works of an older date, more or less, as well as among authors of ambiguous learning from diverse regions, we read daily that it is proclaimed that the old editions of St. Chrysostom, which Erasmus, Savile, and Fronton du Duc brought to light, contain not a few things—especially homilies, whether complete or mutilated—which are not found in the most famous Benedictine edition produced by Montfaucon and his associates. This sort of error, wherever it may have arisen, has been followed by writers of not-very-good discipline from one place to another, treading in each other’s footsteps, who have indeed neglected to seek matters from the source. For it is certain that the Benedictine Fathers had the three aforementioned editions before their eyes while working on the works of St. Chrysostom; and no one would deny that their labor, whatever may finally be desired in it, is by far superior to all the others. Furthermore, in the aforementioned editions, you will not find even one word uttered by St. Chrysostom—everyone admits this—which does not likewise appear in the most recent edition. Those things which are claimed to have been omitted by the Benedictine Fathers, but edited by Erasmus, Savile, and Fronton du Duc, are, in fact, more or less truncated fragments of works, which Montfaucon correctly did not neglect to set forth, just as he did not hesitate to reject several homilies as the non-genuine offshoots of uncertain authors. The result is that if the aforementioned homilies and portions of works—which those men, driven by some show of dubious erudition, boast of as supposedly overlooked—were to be republished, it would be a long series of things already repeated. And I do not regret putting forth this assertion, after having completed, with no small effort, a most accurate collation among themselves of the diverse editions about which the dispute has arisen.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
A I. Chrysostom to the Empress Eudoxia.
God, being the creator of all nature, stands above all power and dominion by His very essence; but all men are equal to one another, even if one seems to excel another. Therefore, He has also delivered the royal scepter to you, not so that you might think you excel others, but so that you might accord each his own due and dispense justice. For glory, and wealth, and worldly pride will not help us at all on the fearful day of judgment, but only the observance of the commandments, which brings with it the preservation of right doctrine. B Make sure that you do not appear forgetful of these, and do not cast the fear of God from your soul, knowing clearly that the breath of us all is in His hands; for He adds years of life to one as He wills, and takes them away from another. For I, He says, will kill, and make to live; and who is there who shall deliver out of my hands? And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We are all but dust and ashes, men, a flower, grass, and dust, a shadow, smoke, and a dream, and we live without truly living. For since that sentence was passed upon our whole nature, Dust you are, and to dust you shall return, mortality...