To Those Who Censured Him for the Length of His Homilies

To those who criticized him for the length of what had been said, and to those who were annoyed by the brevity of the oration; on the naming of Saul and Paul, why the first man was called Adam, and on the utility and fruitfulness of this; and to those who had been recently enlightened.

^A I had indeed desired, if I could have begun this prelude today, to approach the beginning of my discourse; but I see a certain sea of ideas thrusting itself upon us from the name alone. For consider what a question it stirs up for us straightaway, that name "Saul," since a different name is found placed upon the Epistles: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle" (Rom. 1:1); "Paul and Sosthenes"; "Paul, called to be an apostle" (1 Cor. 1:1); "Behold, I, Paul, say to you" (Gal. 5:2). And now indeed he is called "Paul," and everywhere he is called "Paul," but he is not called "Saul." Why then was he called "Saul" before, but afterwards "Paul"? ^B And the question is not a simple one; for Peter immediately rushes in, for he too was called Simon before, but afterwards received the name of Cephas; and the sons of Zebedee, James and John, had their names changed and were called "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:16-17). And not only in the New Testament, but also in the Old, we find Abraham called Abram before, afterwards Abraham; and Jacob, first called Jacob, then Israel; and Sarra, first called Sara, then Sarra. And this changing of names begets many questions for us; and I fear that, if I pour out many streams, I may overwhelm and suffocate the discourse of doctrine. For just as in a moist and well-watered field, wherever one digs, sources spring up on all sides: ^C so also in the field of Divine Scripture, wherever you open it, you will see many rivers erupting. For which reason, lest I pour them all out at once today, I am not a little perturbed. Therefore, closing this brook of ours, I shall transmit your charity to the sacred fountain of these leaders and teachers, that clear, potable, and sweet stream which flows from the spiritual rock. Let us prepare, therefore, our mind to receive the doctrine, to draw the spiritual draughts, that there may be in us a fountain of water springing up into eternal life; which may we all attain by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, honor, and power, ^D together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.

Since I see your multitude, I am afraid to prolong my discourse any further. For when the discourse of doctrine proceeds too long, I see you reduced to straits and trampling upon one another, and this affliction from the crowding prevents you from listening with diligence; for unless an auditor is quiet and tranquil, he can by no means attend with zeal to what is being said.

1. When, therefore, I see your multitude, as I said, I am afraid of prolonging my discourse, but when I consider your desire, I am timid about condensing the doctrine. For he who thirsts, unless he sees the cup filled beforehand, does not willingly even bring it to his lips, but although he is not going to exhaust the whole, he desires to see the whole filled. Therefore, I do not know how I ought to conduct myself in this assembly. For I wish both to relieve your toil with the brevity of my speech, and to satisfy your desire with the prolixity of the oration. But both of these I have often done, and not even once have I escaped blame. I know that I have very often, while sparing you, cut off my discourse before the end, and they have clamored against me whose mind can by no means be satisfied, who constantly enjoy the sacred draughts, but are never filled—"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6)—and fearing the opposing clamors of these men, I have again prolonged the discourse of doctrine, and for this reason I have fallen into blame. For those who are pleased by the brevity of the speech, coming to me, prayed that I would spare their weakness and contract the prolixity of the address. Therefore, while I behold you reduced to straits, I study to coerce my speech with silence; but while I see you pressed by straits, not departing, but prepared for a longer course, I desire to sharpen my tongue. "I am in straits on every side" (Dan. 13:22). What shall I do? For he indeed who serves one master, and is forced to obey one opinion, can easily please his master, and not stray from his purpose; but I have many masters, for I am forced to serve such a multitude, whose opinion is diverse. But these things have not been said by me because I bear the servitude with difficulty—far be it—nor because I flee your lordship. For nothing is more honorable to me than this servitude. Not so does an Emperor glory in his diadem and purple, as I consider the servitude of your charity honorable to myself. For to him death succeeds in his reign; but for this servitude, if it has been rightly performed, a heavenly kingdom is prepared. "For blessed is the faithful and prudent servant, whom his lord has placed over his household to give them their measure of wheat in due time. Amen I say to you, he will place him over all his goods" (Luke 12:42-44). You see how great the gain of this servitude is, if it has been performed diligently? He places him over all the master's goods. I do not, therefore, flee the servitude, seeing that I serve with Paul. For he too says: "We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; but we are your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor. 4:5). And what do I say of Paul? If He who was in the form of God emptied himself, taking the form of a servant for the sake of servants (Phil. 2:6-7), what great thing do I do, if I, a servant, myself become a servant to my fellow-servants for my own sake? I have not, therefore, said these things because I reject your servitude, but that I may be granted pardon, if by chance I do not...

provide a fitting table. But do this I say now. You who can never be filled, but hunger and thirst after righteousness, and who desire long discourses, endure for the sake of the infirmity of your brethren the usual shortening of the measure of words. Again, you who love brevity and are more infirmly disposed, endure a little labor for the sake of your brethren who are insatiable, bearing one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Do you not see the Olympic athletes standing in the middle of the theater ^A in high noon, just as in a furnace in the stadium, receiving the ray upon their naked body, like certain bronze statues fighting against both the sun and the dust and the stifling heat, in order that they may bind their head, which has suffered such great toil, with laurel leaves? But for you, not a crown of laurel, but a crown of righteousness is proposed as the reward of hearing, and we do not even detain you until high noon, but from the very beginning, on account of your negligence, we dismiss you, while the air is still cooler and not heated by the beams of the sun; not ordering you to receive the ray with head bare, but leading you under this wondrous roof, and providing the solace of the shelter, devising in every way relief for you, so that the hearing of what is said may be lasting. Let us not, then, become more effeminate than our children who go to school; they do not dare to depart home before noon, but, recently weaned from milk, recently parted from the nipple, not yet even having reached the age of five years, in a young and tender body they display every endurance; even if heat, or thirst, or anything else happens to annoy them, they hold out until high noon, and toil while sitting in the school. If no one else, therefore, let us, the men who have reached the measure of age, imitate those children. For if we do not endure to hear words about virtue, who will be able to believe us, that we endure the toils for the sake of virtue? If we are so churlish toward hearing, how is it manifest that we are stirred up toward the deed? If we let slip the easier, how shall we bear the more difficult? But there is much narrowness, much constraint. But hear that the violent take the kingdom of heaven by force, that narrow and hemmed-in is the road leading unto life. Since, therefore, we walk a narrow and hemmed-in road, it behooves us also to constrain and afflict ourselves, so that we may be able to traverse the narrow and hemmed-in road. For he who broadens himself would not so easily run through the narrowed road, but he who keeps himself together, and afflicts, and presses.

^B 2. Nor, indeed, is our inquiry today about matters of chance, but concerning a question that had its beginning yesterday, but did not receive its solution because the matters posed were many. What, then, is this? We were inquiring about the placing of names which God attached to the saints. And this thing seems to be bare, if one were to hear it; but it possesses much treasure, if one were to attend with precision. For indeed, the golden earth which lies in the mines, the ignorant and those who simply see it think it is only bare earth, and that it contains nothing more than the other; but those who study by the eyes of art know the nobility of this earth, and, delivering it to the fire for the test, disclose all its excellence. Thus also in the case of the divine Scriptures, those who simply read the letters think the letters are bare and contain nothing more than others; but those who study them with the eyes of faith, just like those with the tools of art, delivering their examination to the fire of the Spirit, will easily see all their gold. Whence, therefore, has the beginning of the inquiry come? For we did not fall into this subject simply, so that no one should condemn us for inopportuneness; but we desired to speak of the achievements of Paul, the Acts of the Apostles being read aloud to you, and we touched on the beginning of the history; and we found the beginning of the narrative having it thus: "But Saul, still breathing threat and murder against the disciples of the Lord." Immediately the change of name disturbed you; for we find in all the Epistles, and in those beginnings, not him called Saul, but Paul, and this happening not in this case only, but also in the case of many others. For indeed, Peter was also called Simon before this, and the children of Zebedee, James and John, were renamed Sons of Thunder later, and in the Old Testament one might see that this very custom prevailed in the case of some; for indeed, Abraham, being formerly called Abram, was thereafter called Abraham, and Sarai before this Sarai [sic], and after this she was named Sarah, and Jacob was thereafter called Israel. Therefore it seemed absurd to us to pass over such a treasure of names simply. And one might find this happening also in the case of rulers from without; for indeed, for them also there is a double designation of names. And look: "He succeeded," he says, "Felix, Porcius Festus"; and again, "There was [someone] with the proconsul called Sergius Paulus"; and he who delivered Christ to the Jews was called Pontius Pilate. And not for the rulers only, but for the soldiers also oftentimes names are double, and for those who have led a private life, from some cause and reason, a double appellation has come about. But concerning those, there is no profit to us to inquire whence they were so called; but whenever God names, one must display all zeal so as to find the cause. For God is not wont to do or to say anything simply or in vain, but each thing with the wisdom that belongs to it. Why then was he called Saul when he was persecuting, and renamed Paul when he believed? Some say that when he was disturbing and unsettling and confounding all things, and shaking the Church, he was called Saul, for this very act of shaking the Church, having taken the designation from the matter; but since he departed from that madness and laid aside the disturbance, and dissolved the war, and ceased from persecuting, again [he was named] Paul from ceasing.

But let this argument be ^A discarded, and let us not be deceived by bare interpretations. First, because the parents imposed this name upon him, not because they were certain prophets who foresaw the future. Secondly, if he were called Saul for this reason, because he was shaking and harassing the Church, he ought to have laid aside the name immediately when he ceased from shaking the Church; yet we see that he, when he ceased to raise disturbances against the Church, did not for that reason lay aside the name, but was still called Saul. But that you may not think that I say these things to circumvent you, I will recount the matter to you from the beginning. The Scripture says: They cast out Stephen, and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul (Acts 7, 58); and elsewhere, Saul was laying waste the Church, entering into houses, and dragging away men and women (Acts 8, 3); and again, Saul, yet breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9, 1); and again, He heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me (Acts 9, 4)? Therefore, he ought to have cast off the name of Saul from that time, if indeed he was abstaining from persecution. Did he then cast it off immediately? By no means; and this is clear from what follows; attend, I beseech you. Saul rose from the ground, and with his eyes opened, he saw nothing (Acts 9, 8); and again, The Lord said to Ananias: Go to the street which is called Straight, and you shall find ^B in the house of Judas one named Saul (Acts 9, 11); and again, Ananias entered, and said: Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me, who appeared to you on the way, that you may see (Acts 9, 17). Then he began to preach, and was confounding the Jews, yet not even then did he lay aside the name, but was still called Saul. For notice, it says: A plot was made against Saul by the Jews (Acts 9, 24). Was he therefore only in these places [called so]? By no means, but: A famine took place, it says, and the disciples intended to send to Jerusalem to the saints for their ministry. They sent, therefore, by the hand of Barnabas and Saul (Acts 11, 29, 30). Behold, he is ministering to the saints, and is still called Saul; and afterwards Barnabas went to Antioch, and seeing the grace of God, and that there was a great multitude there, he went out to Tarsus to seek Saul. Behold, he converts many, and is called Saul; and again, There were, it says, in the Church which was at Antioch, prophets and doctors: Symeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manahen, who was the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul (Acts 13, 1). Behold, he had even become a doctor and a prophet, and was still called Saul. And again, As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: Separate for me Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13, 2). Even by the Holy Spirit he is separated, yet he does not yet lay aside the name; but when he comes to Salamis, when he finds the magician, then Luke says of him: Saul, who also is Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, said (Acts 13, 9). ^C Here the beginning of the name change is made. Let us not, therefore, grow weary while we seek this reason for the imposition of names. For the invention of names has no small power even in worldly business. For it happens very often that it causes us to recognize men after much time has elapsed, and the invention of names reveals hidden relationships, and solves doubts that have arisen in judgment, and removes quarrels, and extinguishes war, and often provides an occasion for peace to be entered into. But if in worldly business the invention of names is of so much value, much more so is it in spiritual matters. But first it is necessary that we discern the questions themselves accurately.

Names changed in the Old Testament; two questions concerning the change of names.

^A prior shall be the more clearly understood; and let us examine those who were named from the beginning, and ascending little by little, let us come to the first man named by God, that the problems may receive their solution from the beginning. Whom, then, did God name first? Whom other than the first one formed? For there was no other man, so that one might impose a name upon him. Whom then did He name? Adam, in the Hebrew tongue; for the name is not Greek, but when it is translated into Greek, it signifies nothing else than the "earthly"; for Edem signifies the "virgin earth." Such was that place in which God planted the paradise. For God planted the paradise, he says, in Edem towards the east (Gen. 2.8); so that you might learn that the paradise was not the work of human hands; for the earth was virgin. And it had neither received a plow, nor had it been opened into a furrow, but being unaccustomed to agricultural hands, it brought forth those trees from a command alone. ^B For this reason He called it Edem, which is virgin earth. This virgin was a type of that Virgin. For just as that earth, not having received seeds, brought forth for us paradise; so also did she, not having received the seed of man, bring forth for us Christ. When, therefore, the Jew says to you, "How did the Virgin give birth?" say to him, "How did the virgin earth bring forth those wondrous trees?" For Edem is called virgin earth in the Hebrew tongue; and if any one disbelieves, let him ask those who are experienced in the Hebrew language, and he shall see this to be the interpretation of the name Edem. For it is not because they are ignorant that we speak, nor do I wish to deceive you on this account, but striving to render the arguments unassailable, as if these very enemies who know these things were present, thus we interpret everything with precision. Since then man was formed from Edem, the virgin earth, he was named Adam, synonymous with his mother. Thus also do men act; they often call their newborn children by the names of their mothers; thus also God called the man formed from the earth by the name of his mother, Adam. She is Edem, he is Adam.

4. But what is the utility? For men call children by the names of their mothers for the sake of the honor of the women who bore them; why did God call him by the name of the mother? What great or small thing was He ordaining from this? For He does nothing simply or in vain, but with reason and great wisdom; for there is no number to His understanding. Edem is the earth; Adam is the earthy, the dust-born, the earth-born. Why then did He so name him? Reminding him through the name of his natural lowliness, and placing—as if on a bronze pillar ^C — the humility of his substance in the appellation, so that the name ^D might be for him a teaching of modesty, so that he might not conceive a thought beyond his own worth. For we know clearly that we are earth, and from the very experience of things; but he had seen no one before him dead, nor resolved into dust, but he possessed great beauty of body, and like a statue of gold just come forth from the furnace, so he shone. That therefore the preeminence of his appearance might not lift him up into madness, He set against him a name having an adequate teaching of humility; for the devil was about to approach him and converse with him concerning madness; he was about to say to him, "You will be as gods." In order that, being mindful of the name that taught him that he is earth, he might never imagine pride, for this reason He forestalls his conscience with the name, depositing in him, through the appellation, an adequate security against the snare about to be brought upon him by the wicked demon, and reminding him of his kinship with the earth, and revealing the whole nobility—or rather, the lack thereof—of his nature, and as it were saying, "If he says to you that you shall be as God, remember the name, and you have received an adequate exhortation, so as not to receive the advice. Remember the mother, recognize the lowliness from the kinship, not that you may learn humility, but that you may never be lifted up into madness." For this reason also Paul said, "The first man Adam, from the earth, earthy" (1 Cor. 15.47). For interpreting for us what Adam is, he said, "From the earth, earthy; the second man, the Lord from heaven." But the heretics jump upon us, saying: "Behold, Christ did not assume flesh. For the second man, he says, is the Lord from heaven." Do you hear that it is the second man, and do you say that He did not assume flesh? And what could be equal to this shamelessness? For who is a man not having flesh? For this reason he called Him both man and the second man, so that you might see His kinship, both from the number and from the nature. "Who then," he says, "is the second man? The Lord from heaven." "But the place," he says, "scandalizes me, and the being spoken of as 'from heaven'." When you hear that "the first man Adam [was] from the earth, earthy," do you think him to be earthly? Do you suspect him to be only dust, and not to have an incorporeal power—I mean the soul—and the nature of that? And who would say this? Just as, therefore, hearing about Adam that he was earthy, you do not suspect the body to be deserted of the soul, so hearing, "The Lord from heaven," do not abolish the economy because of the addition, "from heaven." For the time being, therefore, the first name has received adequate apology; for Adam was named from the name of his mother, so that he might not think more highly than his own power; so that he might become unassailable against the deception of the devil; for he said, "You shall be as gods." Come then, and passing on to another who was named by God before his birth, let us end the discourse. Who then after Adam received a name from God before he came into being? Isaac. For, "Behold," He says, "your wife Sarah will conceive in her womb, and will bear a son, and you shall call his name Isaac." And when she gave birth to him, she called his name Isaac, saying: "God has made laughter for me." Why? "Who," she says, "will announce to Abraham that Sarah is suckling a son?" Attend to me closely here, so that you may see. He did not say, "that she brought forth," but that...