Apology for His Flight to Pontus

ORATIO II

^A 11 *Apologetic for the same, in which he sets forth the reasons for which, after the dignity of the priesthood was imposed upon him, he fled into Pontus, and returned again to Nazianzus, and what the profession of a priest is.*

I. I have been overcome, and I confess my defeat; I have been subject to the Lord, and I have entreated Him. For let the most blessed David lead the beginning of my discourse; or rather, let Him who spoke in David, and who even now speaks through him, do so. For this is also an excellent order, that he who begins either a discourse or any action, should take his beginning from God, and in God find his rest. ^B But the cause either of my former withdrawal and faintheartedness, for which I prolonged my flight and stayed away from you for a time—not a short one, perhaps, to those who felt my absence—or of my present gentleness and change, for which I have again delivered myself to you, let others conjecture and bring forward whatever they please, according to their own hatred or love for us; the former, to be sure, by no means acquitting me of blame, and the latter, on the contrary, even extolling me with praises. For nothing is so sweet and pleasant to men as to talk about the affairs of others; and especially so, if they are drawn by some benevolence or hatred, by which truth is usually stolen away. But I, fearing nothing, will set the matter forth as it is in the midst, and I will show myself a just judge to both parties, both to those who accuse me and to those who ^C willingly and with a ready mind undertake the defense of my cause, by means of such a method that I may partly accuse myself, and partly clear and defend myself.

Not bearing the city's tumult, O father, You sail to Pontus; but you return again, Bringing us thence wealth not to be despised.

Let us begin from Zeus, and with Zeus make an end, O Muses. I assume that it is fitting for everyone who is beginning any weighty discourse or action to start first from the gods. ^D Since this was fully persuaded among them regarding the imaginary gods, what then must be done by us, to whom the knowledge of the true God has dawned, by that very fact casting upon our mind most clear light in such great darkness?

^B And that our discourse may proceed in a straight course, I shall also discuss the timidity that was mentioned first; for I cannot bear that some of those who diligently examine our affairs, whether they are going well or otherwise, should be offended at me, since by the benign will of God it has fallen to our lot to be among Christians, and I shall heal those who have already received a wound, if there be any, by a defense of my conduct. For it is noble neither to sin nor even to be suspected of it—so long as it is possible and reason allows—by placing an obstacle or stumbling-block before the many; for we know what an unavoidable and most grievous punishment has been ordained by Him who cannot lie for those who stumble even one of the little ones (Matth. xviii, 6).

^C For I have suffered this, O men, not as one untaught and unwise, but rather—that I may boast even a little—nor as one who is contemptuous of divine laws and ordinances. For just as in the body one part is governing and, as it were, presiding, and another is governed and led, so God has ordained in the churches, by the law of equality which considers the merit of each, or rather by the providence by which He has bound all things together (26*), that some should be shepherded and ruled, to whom this is more profitable, being guided toward what is necessary both by word and by deed; and that others should be shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the Church, being those who are above the many in virtue and in intimacy with God, having the relation of soul to body, or of mind to soul (27*). ^D Thus both, being composed and blended together, the lacking and the abounding, as it were in limbs, and being fitted together and bound by the harmony of the Spirit, may be proved a perfect body, and truly worthy of Christ Himself, who is our Head (28*).

IV. Therefore, I consider neither anarchy nor disorder more beneficial to others than order and rule, nor to men themselves; rather to them least of all (29*), inasmuch as

^A their danger is the greater, since for them it is a great and noble thing, if they cannot save the primary point of reason—that of sinning not at all—at least to achieve the secondary point, that of being brought back when they have sinned. Since this appeared good and just, it seems to me equally evil and similarly disorderly for all to wish to rule, and for no one to accept it; for if all were to flee from this, whether one should call it a ministry or a leadership, the body would be lame in its greatest part, and that beautiful complement of the Church would no longer remain beautiful (73). For where and by whom would the mystical and heavenward-bearing rites, which are the greatest and most precious of our possessions, be offered to God for us, if there were no king, no ruler, no priesthood, no sacrifice, and none of those things which, as the greatest remedies for great transgressions, the disobedient of old were condemned to be deprived of as a punishment? ^B

V. Nor is it strange or out of place for many of those who are devoted to the study of divine things to be raised from the rank and order of the governed to authority; nor, indeed, is it remote from the established laws of philosophy or joined with shame and disgrace, just as it is not for a good sailor to become a lookout, or for a lookout, who has observed the winds rightly and with praise, to take over the steering of the helm; or, if you will, for a brave and hardy soldier to command a cohort, and for one who has rightly commanded a cohort to lead an army and be entrusted with the leadership of every aspect of war. Nor further—which perhaps some of those entirely wicked and absurd persons who judge the affairs of others by their own passions might imagine—did I shrink from the rank out of a desire for a greater one (78); not thus am I unversed either in the greatness of the divine or in human lowliness. ^C The sense of Gregory is this: If ministers are lacking, the holy and august mysteries, than which there is nothing more excellent in the Christian religion, will perish. And thus it will happen that, being without a king, without a priesthood, we shall be involved in the same evils as those with which the contumacious Jews of old were punished for their immense crimes, according to the prophecy of Osee III, 4: "Without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice." ^D

^A so as not to consider it a great thing for any created nature to approach, in whatever way, God, who alone is most manifest, most brilliant, and surpasses in purity every nature, both that which consists of matter and that which is immaterial.

VI. What, then, is this that has happened to me? And what is the reason for my disobedience? For I did not seem to the majority to remain then in myself, nor to be as I was known, but to have become one person after another, and to have opposed and been self-willed more than was right. Now, you may hear the causes of this, which you have long been desiring. I was struck, primarily, by the unexpectedness of it, just as those who are stunned by sudden noises, so that I could not keep my composure ^B; and for this reason I cast off the modesty to which I had been accustomed for all my life. Then, a certain love for the good of quiet and seclusion entered into me, a love of which I had been a devotee from the beginning, as I do not know if anyone else among those who have devoted themselves to letters has been, and I had pledged it to God in the greatest and most grievous dangers; and having touched upon it, as much as to say being at the threshold, and having my desire for it more inflamed by the experience, I could not bear being tyrannized and shoved into the midst of the tumults, and as it were, forcibly torn away from this life as from some sacred asylum.

VII. For nothing seemed to me so desirable as to close my senses ^C, and having become outside of flesh and the world, to be turned in upon oneself, ^D touching nothing of human things, except by absolute necessity, conversing with oneself and with God, living above the things that are seen, and holding the divine images always pure within oneself, unmixed with the things below and the wandering forms, truly an unstained mirror of God and of divine things, and…

becoming day by day more luminous, receiving light through light, clearer through a darker one; already anticipating in hope the good things of the age to come, and [sharing] in the life of the angels, while yet upon earth already leaving behind the earth, ^A and being set on high by the Spirit. If any of you is held by this love, he knows what I say, and will forgive me for the passion I then felt; for perhaps I could not even persuade the many by speaking, to whom the matter seems even a subject for laughter, being poorly disposed either through their own folly or through those unworthy of the calling; for they have attached a bad name to a good thing, [calling] philosophy ^B vainglory, having taken as their ally envy, and the malice of the many which is more ready for the worse; so that one of two things must necessarily be committed by them: either the evil is praised, or the good is disbelieved.

VIII. In addition to these things, a matter has befallen me—for I will disclose to you the whole secret—whether it is boorish or free, I do not know, but it happened. I was ashamed for the sake of others, who, being no better than the many—and would that they were not even much worse!—with unwashed hands, as the saying goes, and profane souls, ^C thrust themselves into the most holy mysteries; and before they are worthy to approach the sacred things, they claim the sanctuary for themselves, and they are pressed and crowd around the holy table, as if they thought this order was not an example of virtue, but a means of livelihood, and not a ministry subject to account, but a rule immune to all censure. And they are, in number, almost more than those over whom they rule; wretches because of piety, and miserable because of the splendor; so that to me it seems, as time and evil progress, that they do not even have [the power to know] ^D

those over whom they rule, since all teach instead of being taught by God, as the promise says, and all prophesy, so that even Saul is among the prophets, according to the ancient history and proverb. For nothing is, or ever was, so common or prevalent at any time, with different ones flourishing and ceasing at different times, as these disgraces and sins are now among Christians. And even if it is better to restrain this tide than to be overcome by it, yet to hate and be ashamed of it is no small part of piety.

^B IX. The final and greater cause than those previously mentioned—for I have now arrived at the very colophon of my discourse, and I will not lie; for it is not right for those who speak of such great mysteries to do so—is that I did not think, nor do I now think, that presiding over a flock or a herd is the same as governing the souls of men. For there, it is sufficient to render the sheep and oxen as fat and sturdy as possible; and the shepherd and the herdsman, keeping this in view, will explore well-watered and feeding grounds, will drive ^C them into and out of the pastures, will let them rest, and stir them up, and call them back, sometimes with the staff, but mostly with the pipe. And the shepherd or herdsman has no other duty than to struggle briefly with wolves, and perhaps to visit the sick animal; but for the most part, his care will be for the oak, the shade, the reeds, and to lie down in a fair pasture, and beside cool ^D water.

And they would compose a couch upon the grass under the breezes, and perhaps sing some amorous ditty with their ivy-wood cup ^A, and talk to their cows or their flock, and feast upon these themselves, or sell whatever was fattest. But not one of them has ever cared for the virtue of their herds or flocks. For what is the virtue of these creatures? Or who among them has ever considered what is good for them, rather than his own pleasure?

X. But while it is difficult for a man to know how to be ruled, it seems to me much more difficult to know how to rule men, and especially in this empire of ours, which is ordered by the divine law and leads to God; for the greater its height and dignity, the greater the danger for a man of understanding. For the first duty of such a man must be, like silver or gold, to be tested on every side, and in all times and circumstances; so that he may nowhere ring false or appear alloyed with base metal, and may harbor no material within himself that is of inferior quality and worthy of a more intense fire; or the evil will be all the greater in proportion to the number of those he rules, since the wickedness that creeps into many is greater than that which is fixed in ^B one.

XI. For neither does a garment so easily take a dyed tint, nor does any object so easily contract a foul or sweet odor from what is near it, nor does any deadly vapor so easily spread into the air and, through the air, seize upon living creatures—which is what is known as a pestilence—as the subjects are wont to be quickly filled with the wickedness of their leader, and much more easily so than with his virtue. For this is the point wherein wickedness most greatly excels goodness, and which I, pondering with myself, bear most indignantly and bitterly: that because wickedness is a thing prone and ready for imitation, and there is nothing so easy as to become evil, even if no one offers himself as a leader to us in vice, yet the acquisition of virtue is rare and arduous, however many things there may be that pull and invite us toward it. And this is also what seems to me, and what the most blessed ^C

Haggai observed when he made use of that marvelous and most true image: "Ask the priests," he says, "concerning the law: If a man carries holy meat in his garment and touches some food or drink, or any vessel at all, will it immediately sanctify what has been brought into contact with it?" And when they answered in the negative: "Ask again," he says, "if any of these things, having been brought into contact with something polluted, will it not be contaminated?"—as they undoubtedly were to affirm that it partakes of the uncleanness and, by reason of such contact, loses its purity.

XII. By these words, in my judgment, he signifies that the nature of virtue is such that men cannot attain it with ease, just as humid matter is not wont to catch fire easily; whereas for the contracting of vice, men are for the most part ready and prone, being, as I think, like some stubble that is easily ignited and consumed by a spark and the wind on account of its dryness. For a person would sooner receive a small amount of vice in abundance than a profound virtue by little and little. For even a small amount of wormwood most swiftly imparts its bitterness to honey, whereas honey does not impart its sweetness to wormwood, even in double the portion; and a small stone, once removed, might draw a whole river headlong down, whereas even the firmest rampart could scarcely be able to hold back or check the impetus.

XIII. First then ^C among these things we have mentioned, it is worth cautioning ourselves, lest we appear as evil painters of marvelous virtue, or rather—that I may speak more correctly—not perhaps of bad painters, but certainly of many, an evil archetype. For the painter fashions an image after a model, that is to say, an archetype; but you are not images, but the very models themselves, that is to say, the archetypes of evil.

^A Or let us not stray far from the proverb, attempting to heal others while we ourselves are teeming with sores.

XIV. Next, even if someone should keep himself pure from every stain of sin, or as much as possible, I do not know if even this is sufficient for one who prepares to instruct others in virtue. For it is not required only of him who has undertaken this care that he not be evil—for most people, even among the common crowd, consider it most shameful to be evil—but also that he excel in virtue, according to that precept of Scripture which commands us to turn aside from evil and do good. Not only should he erase the vicious marks of the soul, but also inscribe better ones, so that he may excel more in virtue than he surpasses in honor and dignity; nor should he set for himself any limit for living honestly and ascending higher; nor should he count that which he has seized as profit, rather than that which he has escaped as a loss; but he should consider what is before his feet to be a step to what follows next. He should not judge it to be a great and illustrious thing to surpass the common crowd in virtue, but should consider it a loss if he falls short of the dignity of the office he has undertaken. Let him so conduct himself that he weighs whatever he does out of virtue according to the norm of the divine law, and not by others—whether they be evil, or have advanced somewhat in virtue—nor should he weigh on a small scale the virtue which is owed to God, the best and greatest, from whom are all things and for whom are all things.

XV. ^C Nor let him think that the same things fit everyone, just as stature, features of the face, the natures of animals, the qualities of the earth, or the beauty and magnitude of all the stars are not the same for all. Rather, he should consider it the vice of a private person to commit shameful acts worthy of punishment, for whom the law is a hard and severe master; but for a ruler or a prelate, the vice is not to be as good as possible, and not to make constant new additions of virtue, if indeed he intends to draw the multitude toward mediocrity by the excellence of his own virtue, and not to rule by force, but to attract by persuasion. For what is expressed by force and necessity is typical ^D of tyranny, and is neither praiseworthy nor lasting; for that which is forced, like a plant

^A bent by force of hand, returns to itself again as soon as it is released; but that which arises from free choice is the most equitable and stable, as it is bound together by the ties of good will. Wherefore our law and Lawgiver prescribes that the flock should be led willingly, and not by constraint.

XVI. But let there be someone who is not only pure from the contagion of vices, but has attained to the absolute height of virtue; I do not see what knowledge he could have acquired, or upon what power he could rely, that would make him confident enough to undertake this charge. For this seems to me to be truly the art of arts and the science of sciences, to guide man, that most versatile ^B and complex of animals. Anyone might know this by comparing the healing of souls with the treatment of bodies; and by considering how laborious that former work is, but how much more laborious this of ours is, and how much more excellent it is, by the nature of its material, the power of its knowledge, and the goal of its action. For the one is concerned with bodies and with substance that is perishable and flowing downward, which is destined in any case to be dissolved and to submit to its own nature, even if it should now overcome the condition within it ^C by the aid of art; for either disease or time will dissolve it, as it yields to nature and does not transcend its proper limits.

XVII. But the concern and work of this office is oriented toward the soul, which is from God and is divine, and participates in the nobility of the realm above, and is hastening toward it, even though it has been bound to that which is worse; perhaps for other causes, which God alone, who bound it, knows, and whoever has been instructed by God in such mysteries; but as far as I and my peers can understand, it is for two reasons: one, that through the struggle and contest against that which is below, it might inherit the glory above, having been tested here like gold in a fire, and that the things hoped for might be a reward for virtue and not merely a place belonging to God; and this was ^D the mystery of salvation, that it belongs to those who are willing, not those who are tyrannized.

^A And it is also ours, not merely sown in us by nature, but cultivated by the power of choice, and directed by the movements of free will in both directions. Another [end] is that it might draw the worse part toward itself and lift it upward, having little by little loosened its density, in order that what God is to the soul, the soul might be to the body: having trained the servant-matter 59 through itself, and having reconciled to God its fellow-servant.

XVIII. ^B The physician will observe places, times, ages, seasons, and such things; he will administer medicines and prescribe a diet, and will watch for harmful things, so that the desires of the sick may not stand against his art. Sometimes, he will even use fire, the knife, and more severe forms of treatment—things which, though they may seem very laborious and distressing, are yet nothing compared to how difficult and arduous it is to observe and heal characters, passions, lives, moral choices, and whatever else of this kind is in us. It is to drive out from our union everything that is wild and savage 62, and to introduce and establish everything that is gentle and dear to God, and to award justice to both soul and body; for we should not suffer that which is more excellent to be tyrannized by the imperio of the worse—which is the greatest of all injustices—but rather must we make that which is by nature inferior subject to that which holds the command and leadership. This, indeed, is the law of God, and it is most gloriously established in all things created by Him, as much in those that are perceived by sight as in those that escape the sense of the eyes.

XIX. ^C Furthermore, I consider this: that each of those things which I have just enumerated, being observed by the physician as nature has them, remain as they are and do not struggle against him with craft, nor do they use counter-wisdom against the means applied by the art 68. On the contrary, medicine more readily gathers the material 69—unless perhaps some error or rashness on the part of the patient should happen to intervene, which is not difficult to guard against or restrain. But for us, our sagacity, our self-love 70, and our tendency not to know, or even to endure, being easily conquered 71, is the greatest impediment to virtue and is, as it were, a sort of...

army drawn up against those who bring us aid; and how much zeal we ought to have shown in exposing our disease to the physicians, just so much do we exert to escape treatment, being brave to our own destruction and skilled in working against our own health.

XX. ^B For we either steal our sin in a servile manner, concealing it in the depths of our soul like some malignant and festering sore, as if we could escape the great eye of God and His retributive justice if we could only elude men; or we invent excuses for our sins, finding arguments to advocate for our passions; or, having stopped our ears like the deaf adder that closes its ears against the voice of charmers, we stubbornly strive not to hear and not to be treated with the medicines of wisdom by which the disease of the soul is cured. Or, finally, those of us who are bolder and more brazen ^C openly throw off all shame, both toward our sin and toward those who treat it, and, with bare head, as the saying goes, we rush into every kind of lawlessness. O the madness—or if there be a name more appropriate for such a state! Those whom we ought to love as our benefactors, we avenge ourselves upon as enemies, hating those who rebuke us at the gates and abominating the holy word; and we imagine that we shall better fight against those who are well-disposed toward us if we do as much harm to ourselves as possible, just as those who tear their own flesh think they are consuming the flesh of others.

XXI. ^D These are the reasons why I maintain that the medicine we practice is far more difficult than the physical healing art, and for that reason also more precious; for that art looks only at a few of the things that are within, and for the most part occupies itself with what is visible. But for us, all our care and zeal are turned toward the hidden man of the heart, and the battle is against the enemy within who fights and wrestles against us, and who uses our own weapons against us—the most terrible thing of all—and delivers us to the death of sin. Therefore, against these things we require much and complete faith, and even greater assistance from God, and no little resourcefulness of our own (as I am convinced myself...

that it is necessary for us to be ^A treated and cleansed both by word and by deed, and that the most precious thing we possess, our souls, should be held in the highest esteem.)

XXII. Now as to the ends of both kinds of remedy—for this remains for us to examine—the one ^B looks to nothing other than health, or a good condition of the flesh, whether to preserve it if it is present, or to recall it if it has departed; regarding which it is not yet certain whether it will at all profit those who have attained it. For very often the opposites have brought more benefit to their possessors, just as poverty and wealth, fame and obscurity, lowliness and splendor, and whatever things lie in the middle by nature and lean no more to one side than the other, receive the name of virtue or vice according to the use and purpose of those who possess them. The other, however, has for its scope to give the soul wings, ^C to snatch it from the world, and to give it to God, and to preserve the image that is according to Him if it remains, to guide it if it is in danger, or to restore it if it has slipped away; and to cause Christ to dwell in the heart through the Spirit, and, to sum it up, to make it god and the recipient of the upper bliss of the order above.

XXIII. To this does the law, our tutor, direct us; ^D to this the prophets who stand between Christ and the Law; to this Christ himself, the completer and end of the spiritual law. To this the emptied deity; to this the assumed flesh; to this that new mixture, God, I say, and man, one from both, and both through one. For this reason God was joined to flesh through the mediation of the soul, and things that were mutually separated were bound together by the familiarity of the mediator with both.

And all things for all came into one, and for the sake of the one forefather; the soul for the sake of the one who disobeyed, the flesh for the sake of the one who served and was condemned with it—the one for the sake of the soul, the other for the sake of the flesh; and Christ for the sake of Adam, that is, for the sake of him who was made subject to sin, even though He was greater and higher than sin.

24 XXIV. For this reason the new was brought in against the old, and by suffering, He who had suffered was recalled, and for each of our things, each of those things which are above us was given in exchange. And the economy regarding him who fell through disobedience out of philanthropy has become a new mystery. For this reason there is a birth and a Virgin; for this reason a manger and Bethlehem. The birth is for the sake of the formation, the Virgin for the sake of the woman, Bethlehem for the sake of Eden, the manger for the sake of paradise; small and visible things for the sake of the great and hidden things. For this reason angels glorifying the heavenly, and then the earthly; and shepherds seeing glory at the Lamb and Shepherd; and a star leading, and Magi falling down and offering gifts, so that idolatry might be destroyed. For this reason Jesus is baptized, and witnessed from above, and fasts, and is tempted, and overcomes him who had overcome. For this reason demons are driven out, and diseases are healed, and the great proclamation is entrusted to small men and brought to its accomplishment.

25 XXV. For this reason the nations raged, and the peoples meditated vain things; for this reason there is wood against wood, and hands against hand—the hands that were bravely stretched out against that which was unrestrainedly stretched out; the hands that were bound with nails against that which was loose and slack; those hands which gather the ends of the earth against that which cast out Adam. For this reason there is height against the fall; and gall against the taste, and a crown of thorns against the wicked rule, and death against death, and darkness for the sake of the light,

and ^A burial against the return to the earth, and resurrection for the sake of resurrection. All these were a kind of divine discipline for us, and, as it were, a medicine for our infirmity, leading back the old Adam to where he had fallen, and bringing him to that tree of life from which the tree of knowledge, plucked untimely and inopportunely, had alienated us.

XXVI. And we are the ministers and assistants of this medicine, as many of us as are set over others; whose task it is, indeed, to recognize and heal our own passions and infirmities—though this might not yet be considered a great thing, yet the wickedness of many men of this order has made us speak in this way—but it is a much greater and more glorious task to be able to heal the diseases of others and to cleanse them skillfully, in such a way that it is profitable to both: to those who stand in need of ^B healing, and to those who are entrusted with the science of medicine.

XXVII. So then, will the physicians of bodies undergo labors, and vigils, and cares, which no one is ignorant of, and, as one of the sages among them once said, will they reap their own sorrows from the calamities of others? And will they offer to the sick some things which they have investigated and searched out by their own labor, and others which they have gleaned and collected from others? And is there nothing so small among them, whether conceived or omitted—even if it be the least thing—that is not judged to have great weight either for safety or for danger? And for what purpose, pray, is all this? That a man may live more days upon the earth, and ^C that man perhaps not even a virtuous one, but the most wicked and criminal, for whom—being evil—it would perhaps have been more useful to have departed from the living long ago, so that he might be freed from vice, the greatest disease of all. And even if we suppose that he is virtuous and honorable, how long, pray, is he to live? Forever? Or what is the gain from the life here, for one who, ^D while he desires to be released from it, is supposedly text continues next page: the first and most secure...

and the mark of a man who is truly healthy and possesses understanding?

XXVIII. But for us, who are in danger regarding the salvation of the soul—which is blessed and immortal, and will be subjected to immortal punishments or praises on account of vice or virtue—how great must we suppose the contest to be, and with how much skill must we think it necessary to treat others, or to be treated ourselves, and to transform our life, and to surrender the clay to the Spirit? For the same principles and the same impulses do not apply to male and female, to old age and youth, to wealth and poverty, to the cheerful and the despondent, to the sick and the healthy, to rulers and subjects, to the learned and the ignorant, to the cowardly and the bold, to the irascible and the gentle, to those who are succeeding and those who are failing.

XXIX. And if you examine the matter even more closely, what a distance will you find between the married and the unmarried? And among these again, what a difference will there be between the hermits and the cenobites, who live together in community? What a difference between those who have advanced far in contemplation and those who merely keep to the straight path of life? What a difference, again, between those in the city and those in the country, between the simpler and the more cunning, between those involved in public affairs and those who love quiet, between those whose fortunes have changed for the worse and those who are carried along by a prosperous course and have never been buffeted by harsher fortune? For these individuals differ among themselves in their desires and passions ^B even more than in their bodily forms and features; or, if you prefer, in the mixtures and tempering of the elements of which we are composed, and therefore they cannot be easily ruled and governed.

XXX. But rather, just as the same medicine and food are not offered to all bodies—but different ones to different people, depending on whether they are healthy or sick—so too are souls treated by different reason and guidance. And the witnesses to this treatment are the very passions themselves.

are disciplined. Moreover, witnesses to this kind of treatment are those who are vexed by such diseases. Some are led by encouragement; others are composed by example. Some have need of spurs, others of a bridle. For those who are sluggish and are moved with difficulty toward the good, these must be stirred up by the goads of words, whereas those who are more fervent than is moderate in their spirit, and difficult to restrain in their impulses, like noble colts running far from the starting-post, ^A these, the word might make better by checking and restraining them.

XXXI. For some, praise has been useful; for others, censure; both, that is, when applied at the appropriate time. Or, conversely, both have caused harm when applied at an inappropriate time and without reason. Exhortation directs some to their duty, objurgation others; and these again vary, depending on whether they are reproved openly, or admonished in private. For there are those who despise private admonitions, but are recalled to their duty by public rebuke; while there are others, again, who, if reproved too freely, cast off all shame, but who are rendered better by hidden rebukes and, perceiving that those who reprove them feel for their situation, ^B they return the favor of this service by obeying their admonitions.

XXXII. Some must be observed even down to the smallest and most trivial matters—especially those who, because they think their sins are hidden and unknown (since that is exactly how they contrive them), are puffed up in their minds as if they were wiser. But in the case of others, it would be better to overlook certain things, so that we may see without seeing, and hear without hearing, as the saying goes, lest we irritate them toward desperation ^C with too frequent rebukes, overwhelming them like waves, and at last, with their sense of shame dissolved—which is the medicine of persuasion—render them more bold for every kind of wickedness. What is more, with some one must act in such a way that we are not angry while being angry, that we do not despise while showing contempt, and that we do not despair while we are despairing, insofar as their nature requires this. Others are to be healed with mildness ^D and humility, and by sharing the enthusiasm for better hopes.

To win over some, to be won over by others, will often be more useful; and to praise or to deprecate the wealth and power of some, or the poverty and calamity of others.

^A XXXIII. For just as with virtue and vice it is not the case—one being the best and most useful always and for all, the other the worst and most harmful—that the same is true of our medicine, in such a way that one and the same remedy is always shown to be either most healthy or most dangerous for the same people; for example, severity or gentleness, or any of the others I have enumerated. Rather, for some, one thing is good and useful, while for others the opposite is true, depending, I think, on how the occasions and the circumstances coincide, and what kind of treatment the patients themselves can receive. To distinguish all these things by theory, and to perceive them with the utmost accuracy, so as to include the treatment under a single head, is impossible, no matter how much care and wisdom someone may possess; but in the course of the actual experience and the facts themselves, it becomes clear to the healing reason and to the man who is a healer. ^B

XXXIV. In general, however, that fact is known to us: that just as for those walking upon a rope ^C that is high, airy, and suspended, it is not safe to incline either to this side or that, nor does a small inclination bring a small degree of danger, but their salvation resides entirely in equilibrium—so too in these matters, toward whichever side one leans, whether due to wickedness or to ignorance, there is no small risk both to oneself and to those being led, of falling into sin. But one must truly travel by the royal road, and be wary of swerving either to the right or to the left, as the Proverbs say. Such is the nature of our passions, and such is the magnitude of the task for the good shepherd who is to know the souls of his flock knowingly, and is to lead them according to the theory of pastoral care—that which is true, just, and worthy of our true Shepherd. ^D

XXXV. Now, as for the distribution of the Word itself, in order that...

I may state at last that which is the first of our concerns, namely the distribution of the divine and exalted Word—a matter that all in this age profess; if anyone else is confident and thinks that he has grasped it with his whole mind, I marvel at his prudence, not to say his simplicity. For to me, it seems no minor task, nor one requiring little spirit, to give to each at the proper time their measure of the Word, ^A and to dispense the truth of our dogmas with judgment. This involves all those things upon which sacred philosophy has discoursed: about worlds or the world, about matter, about the soul, about the mind and intelligible natures, both the better and the worse, about the providence that binds and governs all things, and as much of these as seem to happen according to reason, and as much as seem to happen beyond the lower, human reason.

XXXVI. Furthermore, there are all those matters regarding our first constitution and our final restoration, concerning types and truth, the testaments, the first and second coming of Christ, ^B his incarnation, sufferings, and return, his resurrection, the end, the judgment, and the retribution, both the more sorrowful and the more glorious; and, what is the chief point, whatever must be believed concerning the primordial and blessed Trinity. This is, in fact, the matter in which the peril is greatest for those who have been entrusted with the office of enlightening others, lest by contracting the discourse into one person ^C for fear of introducing many gods, they leave us with mere, empty names, imagining one and the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; or, by dividing them into three, they fall into natures that are alien, strange, disordered, lacking a beginning, and—if I may so speak—opposed as gods, falling into the same evil by opposite means, just as a distorted plant does when it is bent too far in the other direction.

XXXVII. For since there are three diseases prevalent at this time regarding theology—atheism, Judaism, and polytheism—of which the Libyan Sabellius was the champion of the first, ^D and of the second, Arius the Alexandrian, while of the third some others...

are the advocates. ^A What is my argument? It is that, in avoiding whatever is harmful in these three views, we should remain within the bounds of piety, and neither be drawn into the atheism of Sabellius by this new resolution or composition, defining things such that all are one, or rather, that each individual thing is nothing; for what they are would cease to be if they were to flow into one another and pass through one another; nor, on the other hand, should we fashion and dream up for ourselves a composite and absurd God, like the animals of fable. Nor again, by cutting up the natures according to the madness—well-named as such—of Arius, should we be locked into a Jewish poverty, and introduce envy into the divine nature by circumscribing the Godhead to the Unbegotten alone, as if we feared that God would be corrupted for us if He were believed to be the Father of a true and equal-in-nature God. Nor finally, by opposing or establishing three principles, should we introduce the gentile polyarchy that we have fled. ^B

XXXVIII. Since, on the other hand, we must not be so affected by a love for the Father that we even take away the fact that He is Father—for whose Father would He be if the Son were separated in nature and removed along with created things? For that which is external and alien is not the Son, nor should He be mixed with the Father and confounded, and in like measure confuse the Father—nor again should we be such lovers of Christ that we do not even preserve for Him the name of Son (for whose Son would He be if He were not referred back to the Father as His cause?), nor that the dignity of the principle should not be preserved for the Father, as befits Him as Father and begetter. For it would be a principle of small and unworthy things, or, to speak more correctly, it would be a small and unworthy ^C principle, unless He were the principle of the Divinity and Goodness which is contemplated in the Son and the Spirit—in the former as Son and Word, in the latter as processing and not dissoluble Spirit. Since it is necessary both to preserve the one God, and to confess the three persons, and each with its own property.

^A XXXIX. But to understand these things, and to declare them fittingly and with the dignity that is due, would require a longer discourse than the present purpose, or indeed this life, affords. Nay, rather, both now and always, the work belongs to the Spirit, by whom alone God is understood, explained, and heard. For only the pure may touch that which is pure and ever self-consistent. The reason I have touched upon this briefly now is to make clear that it is difficult, especially when speaking before a multitude composed of people of every age and state of mind—like a multi-stringed instrument requiring various tunings and strokes—to find a discourse capable of harmonizing them all and illuminating them with the light of knowledge. This is not only because the danger fluctuates through these three things—the mind, the speech, and the hearing—making it necessary to stumble on at least one of them, if not all: for either the mind was not illuminated, or the speech was weak, or the unpurified hearing did not take it in, and so the truth necessarily limps from one of these or from all of them; but also because that which in other kinds of teaching makes the discourse easy and acceptable—namely, the piety of the hearers—here becomes a source of damage and danger. ^B

XL. For as those who engage in a struggle concerning God and the greatest of all things, and one’s own salvation and the first hope of all, are by that much the more hostile to the discourse as they are more fervent in faith, they interpret obedience not as piety but as a betrayal of the truth. They would rather cast away everything than the opinions they bring with them from home and the habit of the dogmas in which they have been nurtured. And this disposition of which I am still speaking belongs to the more moderate and not entirely wicked people, who, even if they are seen to flow toward themselves ^C as free from all danger, yet, since they are struggling for their very hope and salvation, consider their own obedience to be a betrayal of the faith; whence it happens that they would sooner betray or spurn anything whatsoever than the opinions they bring with them from home and the habit of the dogmas in which they were raised. In these words of Elias and also of Gregory, the impossibility—if I may use the word—of changing the faith once and for all delivered to the saints is wonderfully manifest; as is the difficulty of emerging from errors with which the mind has once been imbued. ^D

^A If they deviate from the truth, yet because they do so out of a concern for religion, and because they have a zeal indeed, but not according to knowledge, they will perhaps be among those who will be less severely condemned and less beaten than those who, because of their wickedness and malice, have fallen away from the Lord’s will. And these, too, might perhaps be brought to change their minds and be turned by that same religious concern by which they previously resisted, if some word should reach them—either from within or from without—striking them opportunely, even as iron strikes flint, to touch a mind that is pregnant and worthy of the light; in which, perhaps, from a small spark of truth, the flame of truth might most swiftly blaze forth.

^B XLI. But what are we to say of those who, because of vainglory or a desire for rule, speak wickedness against the Most High—of the arrogance of the Jannes and Jambres, I mean, who arm themselves not against Moses, but against the truth, and rise up against sound doctrine? And what of that third class, namely those who, through ignorance and its companion, rashness, rush like swine against every word and trample underfoot the beautiful pearls of truth?

^C XLII. Finally, what of those who bring with them no prior opinion, nor any model—whether worse or better—of the divine teachings, but submit themselves to every word and teacher, as if they were going to choose from among all of them something better and more certain, and—entrusting themselves to themselves—as if they were the good judges of truth? Then, being whirled and tossed about by one persuasive argument after another, and being overwhelmed and trampled by every kind of language, after they have changed many teachers and discarded many writings as easily as dust in the wind, they at last become weary in both hearing and mind (O what irrationality!) and grow equally disgusted with every word. They engrave upon themselves a distorted form, mocking and despising our faith itself as unstable and possessing nothing sound, and—foolishly, by those who speak—they move untaught from the speakers to the word itself; just as if someone, should their eyes be diseased or their ears corrupted, were to blame the sun or the sounds […]

voices, the former as dim and not shining, the latter as discordant and feeble.

XLIII. And for this reason, it is less difficult to imprint the truth first upon a soul that is still untaught, like wax not yet stamped, than to write a pious discourse over letters—that is, evil teachings and dogmas—in such a way that the latter are confused and disordered relative to the former. For just as it is better to tread a smooth and beaten path than an untrodden and rugged one, and to till soil which the plow has already often cut and softened, so too it would be more convenient to paint a soul upon which no wicked doctrine has yet been imprinted and upon which evil letters have not been inscribed most deeply. Otherwise, a pious writer must undertake a double labor: to erase the former patterns and to substitute for them others that are more worthy and better suited to remain. So many, indeed, are the evil types and characters—both in regard to other affections and to the word itself—of that evil one; and so great is the task incumbent upon the one to whom this instruction and supervision of souls ^B has been entrusted, that the discourse passed over much besides, lest it should exceed proper measure.

XLIV. Just as, therefore, if someone were to attempt to tame and lead an animal of a certain varied and multiple kind, composed of many beasts, large and small, fierce and tame, for him in governing a nature so perverse and monstrous, a very great labor and struggle would undoubtedly have to be undertaken; since not all the beasts are delighted by the same sounds, nor by the same foods, nor by the allurements of the hands, nor by whistlings, nor by the remaining methods of training, but some find pleasure or offense in different things, according to the nature and habit of each; so that he who has undertaken the care of such a beast must be adorned and instructed with totally varied and multiple knowledge, ^C and must apply to each one the treatment which is suitable for it, if indeed he desires to lead and preserve the beast with credit. In the same way, since this common body of the Church is like a certain composite and uneven beast, and is constituted from many and various characters and reasons, there is every necessity that the one who presides over it should also be simple [in nature] and [at the same time]...

as varied and manifold as possible, in regard to his suitability for each person, and that his manner of discourse toward all should be both fitting and appropriate.

XLV. For some have need of being nurtured with milk, that is, with the simpler and more elementary doctrines, since they are still infants and tender in their understanding, as one might say, and cannot bear the virile food of the Word; if one were to offer this to them beyond their capacity, perhaps they would be overwhelmed and weighed down, ^B their mind not being sufficient—just as their physical constitution would be unable—to draw in and assimilate what has been transmitted, and they would be damaged even in their former strength. Others, however, stand in need of the wisdom spoken among the perfect and of deeper and more solid [D (454)] food, for they have their senses well-exercised for the discernment of true and false; if one were to serve them milk and feed them with herbs—the food of the weak—they would be annoyed, and quite rightly so, seeing that they are not being strengthened according to Christ, nor are they bringing about the praiseworthy increase which the Word produces as it perfects men, and leads those who are well-nurtured to the measure of spiritual maturity ^C as the divine word brings about, leading them until they reach the measure of spiritual age.

XLVI. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not like the many who are able to adulterate the word of truth and mingle wine with water; that is, the Word which gladdens the heart of man, with a great quantity of cheap, lowly, and vanishing stuff, flowing aimlessly so that they themselves might gain some profit from this huckstering, speaking differently to different people and pleasing everyone; they are like ventriloquists and babblers, serving their own pleasures with words ^D uttered from the earth and...

and cast down to the ground, so that we might win praise from the many, while greatly harming them, destroying them, and shedding innocent blood of simpler souls, which shall be required at our hands.

XLVII.

XLVIII.

entrusted even to those who have passed their twenty-fifth year, for these are the things which, under a humble covering, conceal a mystical beauty—the reward of toil and a brilliant life—shining forth and appearing only to those who have purified their minds, since only this age is able to rise above the body and ascend correctly from the letter to the spirit.

XLIX. But for us there is no limit established for teaching and learning, as there was formerly for the tribes living on either side of the Jordan with their stones; nor is there any rule as to whom this or that is to be entrusted; nor is there any standard of habit to which we require conformity. ^B But the matter is cast aside and confused, and we are in such bad condition that most of us—to say nothing of all—before we have cast off our first hair and ceased to lisp like children, before we have entered the divine atria, before we know even the names of the holy books, before we have recognized the character and the authors of the New and Old Testament—for I do not yet even mention the washing away of the mire and the stains of the soul which sin has imprinted upon us—if we have learned two or three pious words, and those drawn not from reading but from hearing alone, or have given a little attention to David, or have neatly gathered up our cloak, or have played the philosopher as far as the belt, painting on ^C a certain appearance and mask of piety for ourselves—O, what a prefecture! O, what an arrogant spirit! Even Samuel is holy from his swaddling clothes; we are straightway wise men and teachers, and sublime in divine things, and the foremost of the scribes and lawyers, and we designate ourselves as heavenly, and we seek to be called Rabbi by men, and nowhere is there the letter, but all things must, it is required, be understood in a spiritual way, and they are mere trifles and dreams, at-

- and we would be indignant if we were not highly praised ^A by these things. If this is the case with the more benign and simpler ones among us, what then of those who are more spiritual and more noble? They condemn and torment us greatly, if it seems good to them, and having nowhere set us ^B or accounted us, they depart, spurning our company as that of impious men.

L. But if we say to any of them, gently and logically leading them on, "Tell me, my wonderful friend, do you call dancing and flute-playing an art?" "Certainly," he would say. "What then of wisdom and being wise, which we define as the knowledge of divine and human things?" That too he would concede. "Come then, do you think those arts are better and more sublime than wisdom, or is wisdom far superior to them?" And I know well that they will all agree, and up to this point they are reasonable. Is there then, for dance ^C and flute-playing, a teaching and a study? And does it require time, and many sweats and labors, and paying fees at times, and needing guides, and undertaking long journeys, and doing and suffering all things through which skill in an art is acquired? Yet wisdom, which presides over all things and holds all good things within its grasp—so that God himself, although he is called by many names, takes more delight in this name than in any other—shall we consider it to be such a light and commonplace thing that, to become wise, only the will is required? ^D This would be a great piece of folly indeed!

If we say these things to them, and gradually purify their error, or if someone else among those who are more learned and prudent does so, this will surely be "sowing upon rocks" and "speaking into the ears of those who do not hear." Thus they are not even wise enough to recognize their own lack of learning. And it seems to me fitting to apply to them that saying of Solomon: "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, a man who appears wise in his own eyes," and what is worse, one who has undertaken to educate others, while not even perceiving his own ignorance.

^A

LI. This evil is truly worthy of tears and lamentations, if any thing is; a condition I have often commiserated, knowing well that the assumption of knowledge takes away from real knowledge, and that the love of vainglory is a great impediment to virtue in men. But to heal and quell such a malady would be the task of a Peter or a Paul—those great disciples of Christ, who, alongside their power of governance, received the grace both in word and in deed, and became all things to all men, that they might win over all. ^B For the rest of us, it is a great and sufficient thing if we are rightly governed and led by those to whom the care of correcting and directing such matters has been entrusted.

LII. But since we have made mention of Paul and those akin to him, let us—if it seems good—leave aside all others who were set over the people for the giving of the law, or the prophetic office, or military command, or any other such administration, such as Moses, the noted Aaron, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, the Judges, Samuel, David, the multitude of the prophets, John, the twelve apostles and those after them who later served in their turn; all of whom, in their own times, discharged the office of leadership with many labors and toils. Passing over all these, let us bring forward Paul alone as the witness of our discourse, and let us consider in him how great and what manner of thing the care of souls is, and whether it requires little trouble and little skill. That we may more easily understand and perceive this, let us hear what Paul himself says concerning Paul.

LIII. I omit the labors, the vigils, the fears, the vexations in famine and thirst, in cold and nakedness, ^C those who laid snares from without, and those who opposed from within, that I may pass over the persecutions, the councils, the prisons, the chains, the accusers, the tribunals, the deaths incurred day by day and hour by hour, the basket, the stonings, the blows of rods, the journeying, the perils on land, the perils at sea, the deep, the shipwrecks, the perils of rivers, the perils of robbers, the perils from my own race, the perils among false brethren, the livelihood sought by the toil of his hands, the Gospel without charge, ^D as he was a spectacle to angels and to men, standing in the midst between God and men; contending for the former, and for the latter, reconciling and joining a peculiar people to Him; besides these things, which externally

^A accidebant. For who could worthily recount his daily supervision, his care for each individual, his concern for all the Churches, his sympathy and brotherly love for everyone? Did someone stumble? Paul was weak. Was another scandalized? Paul was the one who burned ^A.

LIV. And what shall I say of the labor and industry of his teaching? What of the manifold manner of his healing? What of his philanthropy? And what, on the other hand, of his severity? What of the mixing and tempering of both, so that he might neither render men soft and languid through kindness, nor exasperate them through bitterness? He gives laws to slaves and masters, to rulers and those ruled, to men and women, to parents and children, to marriage and celibacy, to self-control and luxury, to wisdom and ignorance, to circumcision and uncircumcision, ^B to Christ and the world, to the flesh and the spirit. For some he gives thanks; others he rebukes. Some he calls his joy and crown; others he accuses of folly. With those who walk uprightly, he keeps company and shows himself a partner in their zeal; others who are going astray, he restrains. Now he excommunicates, now he confirms love; now he mourns, now he rejoices; now he feeds with milk, now he touches upon the mysteries; now he descends, now he lifts himself up with them; now he threatens with a rod, now he offers the spirit of gentleness; now he is exalted for those who are high, now he becomes humble for the humble. One moment he is the least of the apostles, ^C the next he offers proof of Christ speaking in him; one moment he longs for his departure and is poured out as a drink offering, the next he decides it is more necessary to remain in the flesh for their sake; for he does not seek what is his own, but seeks the things of those children whom he has begotten in Christ through the Gospel. This is the boundary of all spiritual oversight: to overlook one's own affairs everywhere in favor of the advantage of others.

^A LV. He glories in weaknesses and afflictions, and takes pleasure in the mortification of Jesus as though it were some other ornament. He is exalted in carnal things, and he exults in spiritual things; he is not unskilled in knowledge, and yet he says he sees through a glass and in a riddle. He trusts in the Spirit, and he buffets his body, chastening it as an adversary. What is he teaching us in these things, and in what is he instructing us? Namely, not to be high-minded regarding earthly things, not to be puffed up with knowledge, and not to stir up the flesh against the spirit. He fights for all, he intercedes for all, he is eager for all, he is inflamed for all—for those outside the law and for those under the law; he is the herald of the Gentiles and the patron of the Jews. He dared something even greater for the sake of his kinsmen according to the flesh, so that I too might dare to say something; he prays that they might be substituted for himself before Christ because of his love. O the greatness of his mind! O the fervor of his spirit! He imitates Christ, who became a curse for us, who took our ^B weaknesses and bore our diseases—or, to speak more moderately, he imitates Him by suffering something for their sake; and like one impious, he accepts it, the first after Christ, if only they might be saved.

^C LVI. But why should I mention each thing individually? For he lived not for himself but for Christ and for the preaching, having crucified the world to himself, and having been crucified to the world and to things visible; he considers all things small and beneath his desire—even if he should fulfill the Gospel from Jerusalem and around as far as Illyricum, even if he should attain to the third heaven by being caught up, even if he should become a spectator of paradise, even if he should be a listener to the ineffable words bestowed upon us. This is Paul, and whoever is like him in spirit. But we are afraid

^A lest, if we are compared with them, we should be some foolish princes of Taneos, or exactors gathering ears of corn, or those who call the people blessed falsely; nay, I will add, even those receiving blessings, while at the same time disturbing the path of your feet; or mockers bearing rule, or youthful prelates and in no way mature in prudence, not even possessing something of bread and clothing so as to be able to preside over anyone; or prophets teaching iniquitous things, or disobedient princes, and worthy, together with their fathers, to have a bad reputation because of the severity of the famine; or priests far removed from speaking to the heart of Jerusalem—all of which things Isaiah, having been purified by the Seraphim and the coal, ^B excellently rebukes and testifies against.

LVII. But perhaps this task is so great, and so burdensome and laborious to a heart that is endowed with feeling and is sorrowful, and truly a worm of the bones to a prudent man. Yet is the danger small, or the fall light and to be despised? But indeed, they strike great terror into me: on the one hand, the blessed Hosea, saying that there is a judgment against us priests and rulers, because we have become a snare at the watchtower, and as a net spread over Itabyrium, which is fixed by those who hunt for human souls; and threatening that he will act to cut off the evil prophets, and will consume their judges with fire, and will refrain a little from anointing king and princes, because they have reigned for themselves, and not through Him.

LVIII. Thence also ^C the divine Micah, not enduring that Sion should be built in blood—whichever blood you may understand—and Jerusalem in injustices, with its rulers judging for bribes, and its priests responding for pay, and its prophets divining for silver; for which things what is to be? Assuredly, that Sion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a lodge for fruit (or a guard-hut for fruit), and the mountain of the house ^D shall be considered as a thicket of a wood; lamenting also the desolation of those who have attained success, as if...

hardly a stalk or a gleaning 53 were left; when even the prince makes requests, and the judge speaks words for the sake of favor, and speaking almost the same things as the great David: Save me, O Lord, he says, because the pious man has failed; from which also good things will abandon them, as 54 consumed by a moth.

^A LIX. Joel, moreover, commands us to mourn 55, and wishes those who minister at the altar to beat their breasts, when famine presses them; so far is he from permitting them to indulge in luxuries while others are in calamity. And in addition to sanctifying 56 a fast, and proclaiming a healing, and gathering elders, infants, and pitiful ages, he even urges them—having seized the temple—to lay themselves down ^B in ashes and sackcloth 57, and, prostrated most humbly upon the ground, because the fields have been afflicted with sterility, and the libation and sacrifice have been removed from the house of the Lord, to draw down mercy through humility.

LX. But what of Habakkuk? 58 He employs even fiercer words, and is impatient with God himself, and as it were cries out against the kind 59 Master because of the injustice of the judges, saying: How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and you will not hear? 60 Shall I cry to you, being wronged, and you will not save? Why have you shown me labors and toils, to look upon 61 misery and impiety? Judgment 62 has become contrary to me, and the judge takes [bribes]. Therefore the law has been scattered, and judgment does not proceed to the end. Then the threat, and the things following it: Behold, you despisers, and look, ^C and marvel at wonders 63, and disappear, because I am working a work. But what need is there to bring forward the whole of the threat? But a little before 64; for this seems to me better to add 65 to what has been said: after he had called upon and lamented over many of those who were in some way wicked and unjust, at the end he calls upon—and calls out 66 with a struggle—even the leaders and teachers of malice, a confused subversion and a drunkenness of the mind

calling error vice, and saying that they are made drunk by their own, so that they may look upon the darkness of their own soul, and the dens of serpents and beasts, that is, the dwellings of wicked thoughts. And such indeed are they, and with such doctrines they hold discourse with us.

^A LXI. But how is it right to overlook Malachi? He who now accuses the priests gravely and bitterly, and rebukes them as despising the name of the Lord, and adds in some places, that in bringing to the altar polluted bread, and offerings that are not first-fruits, and things which they would not offer to any of their rulers—or if they did, they would be covered with ignominy—these they offer to the King of the universe, having vowed a vow: things lame, and sick, and corrupt, and altogether profane and to be rejected. But elsewhere he reminds them of the covenant of God made with the Levites (which was a covenant of life and peace), and to fear the Lord with fear, and to tremble before the face of His name. “The law of truth,” he says, “was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace, and turned many away from iniquity; for the lips of the priest shall preserve knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth.” And the reason is as honorable as it is fearful: For he is the angel of the Lord Almighty. ^B And while I shrink from the blasphemy of the curses that follow thereupon for fear of ill omen, I fear the truth itself even more. But that which is at once more moderate and more profitable to say: “Is it still worthy,” he says, “that I should look upon your sacrifice, or receive an acceptable thing from your hands?”—as if he were offended to the greatest degree, and rejected their ministration because of their wickedness. ^C

LXII. For whenever I make mention of Zechariah, I shudder at the sickle; and likewise at those things which he himself bears witness against the priests—both the things which he indicates concerning Jesus the Great, the high priest, whom, after stripping off in his account the filthy and unworthy garment, he clothes afterwards in priestly and brilliant attire; and also what the angel says to Jesus, and is commanded to perform. ^D

^A These things, indeed, perhaps referring to matters greater and higher than the capacity of many priests permits, should perhaps be consigned to silence; save that the devil also stood at his right hand to resist him ^B: a matter, in my judgment, of no little consequence, nor one undeserving of great fear and caution.

LXIII. But as to what he says, studiously accusing and attacking the remaining pastors—who is so bold and of such an adamant soul that he does not tremble when he hears these things, and become more temperate than he was? The voice, he says, of pastors lamenting, because their magnificence is afflicted; the voice of roaring lions, because they have suffered these things. He almost hears their wailing as though it were already present, and he laments together with those who are suffering. And a little further on ^C, he is yet more stinging and vehement: Feed, he says, the sheep of the slaughter, which their possessors were slaughtering, and felt no repentance; and those who sold them said, Blessed be the Lord, for we have become rich; and their pastors felt no pain for them. Therefore, I will no longer spare those who inhabit the earth, says the Lord Almighty; and again: Sword, awake against the pastors, and strike the pastors, and pull out the sheep; and, I will stretch forth my hand upon the pastors, and my anger was kindled against the pastors, and I will visit the lambs—adding ^D already, to the threat, the leaders of the people. With such intensity does he dwell upon his discourse that he cannot easily be diverted from the threats; so that I fear lest I too, by recounting everything in order, might become hateful. But as for Zechariah, he is thus minded.

LXIV. But that we may pass by those elders in Daniel—for we may well pass them by, and what was beautifully said and predicted of them by the Lord, namely that iniquity went forth from Babylon from the elder judges, who seemed to govern the people—how shall we endure Ezekiel, that seer and interpreter of great mysteries and visions

^A? How he commands the watchmen not to pass over in silence the iniquity and the sword that is coming upon it—as this would be profitable neither to himself nor to those who sin—but that to foresee and to proclaim in advance will bring utility to both, if the former speak and the latter hear; or, at the very least, it will profit those who have given the warning.

LXV. And in what manner, too, is the other attack which he makes upon the shepherds, now in these words: *Woe upon woe shall be, and rumor upon rumor, and a vision shall be sought from the prophet, and the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders* ^B; and now again in these: *Son of man, say to it: Thou art a land not rained upon, and no rain has fallen upon thee in the day of wrath; whose rulers in the midst of it are like roaring lions, snatching prey, devouring souls in power*? And after a few things intervening: *Her priests despised my law, and polluted my holy things: between profane and holy, he says, they made no distinction, but all things were one to them, and they averted their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them*. And he threatens that He will consume both the wall and those who daub it ^C—that is, those who sin and those who cover over the offenses of those who sin—which is the way of evil rulers and priests, who lead the house of Israel astray according to their own hearts, alienated as they are in their own desires.

LXVI. I pass over what he discourses concerning those who feed themselves, and consume the milk, and clothe themselves with the wool, and slaughter the fat, but do not feed the sheep; who do not strengthen the weak, nor bind up what was broken, nor turn back what was wandering, nor seek what was lost, nor guard what was strong ^D, but exhaust them with labor and deliberately destroy them: so that the sheep, because of the destitution of their shepherds, are scattered over every field and mountain, and have become a prey to all the birds and beasts, since there was no one to seek them out and bring them back. What follows then? *As I live, says the Lord, because these things are so, and my sheep have become a prey, behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep from their hands, and I will indeed gather them and claim them for myself; while they*

^A will suffer such things as it is becoming for wicked shepherds to suffer.

LXVII. But so that I do not, by enumerating the voices of all and all the prophets, draw out a long discourse, after I have made mention of one more, Jeremiah—known before he was formed and sanctified from the womb—I shall pass over the rest. He seeks water for his head and a fountain of tears for his eyes, that he might lament Israel as is fitting; yet he laments no less the wickedness of those who are set in authority.

LXVIII. For God, when convicting the priests, speaks to him with these words: The priests did not say, Where is the Lord? And those who held to my law knew me not, and the shepherds behaved impiously toward me. And He says again: The shepherds have played the fool, and have not sought the Lord; and for this reason the whole flock has not understood, and they have been scattered. ^B And in another place: Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have defiled my portion, which was desirable, so that it has been given up to an impassable wilderness. Then He turns again to them, the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture. Therefore thus says the Lord against those who feed my people: You have scattered my sheep, and driven them out, and have not visited them. Behold, I will take vengeance upon you according to the evil of your ways. Moreover, He commands the shepherds to howl and the rams of the sheep to be smitten, because their days have been filled for slaughter.

LXIX. But what point is there for me to mention ancient things? Who is there—should he test himself by the canons and rules which Paul established regarding bishops and presbyters, namely, that they be sober, chaste, not given to wine, not strikers, apt to teach, blameless in all things, and untouchable ^C by wicked deeds—who would not find that he falls far short of the rectitude of the canons? And why should I relate the things which Jesus prescribes to his disciples when He sends them out for preaching? The sum of which—so that I do not speak of each detail—is that they should be such in virtue, and so unencumbered and modest, and, to use a single word, heavenly, that the Gospel may run forward no less because of their life and conduct than because of their word and doctrine.

[LXX] As for me, the Pharisees laden with reproaches and the scribes under rebuke inspire me with fear. When we ought to be far superior to them in virtue, just as we have been commanded, if we desire to attain the kingdom of heaven, it would surely be shameful if we were found to be even worse than they. We end up being called the very things they are: serpents and a brood of vipers, blind guides straining out the gnat but swallowing the camel, tombs that are beautiful on the outside but filthy within, and dishes that look clean on the surface—and everything else that they both are and are called.

[LXXI] In these thoughts I dwell day and night; they dissolve my very marrow and consume my flesh, and they do not allow me to be bold or to walk with head held high. These things cast down my soul, contract my mind, and place a bridle upon my tongue. They ensure that I do not think about being in charge, nor about correcting or guiding others—which is a task requiring great abundance of grace—but rather about how I myself might escape the coming wrath and scrape off from myself some small part of the rust of wickedness. ^B It is necessary first to be purified, then to purify; to be instructed in wisdom, and then at last to instruct others in wisdom; to become light, and then to enlighten others; to draw near to God, and then to bring others near; to be sanctified, and then to sanctify; to lead by the hand with one's own hands, and to give counsel with prudence.

[LXXII] "When, then, will these things be?" say those who are quick to everything, but not sufficiently cautious, who build and tear down with facility. "When will the lamp be upon the lampstand? And where is the talent?"—for that is how they refer to grace. Thus speak those who are more fervent in their friendship than in their piety. When will these things be, and what is my reasoning, you ask, most valiant men? Not even the final stage of old age should be considered a long time to allot to this matter. For old age when joined with prudence excels ignorant youth; ^C and calculated slowness excels thoughtless rashness; and a brief reign excels a long tyranny; just as a small portion of something of great value is better than many cheap and dangerous riches, and a little gold better than many pounds of lead, and a little light better than the deepest darkness.

[LXXIII] Otherwise, there is reason to fear that this slippery speed and headlong zeal, if it sows the seeds among them not

similar to those that fell upon the rocks, and which, because they had no depth of earth, sprang up immediately but could not endure even the first heat of the sun, or that which fell on an unperfected foundation ^A that did not resist the rain and the winds even in the slightest degree—if, I say, it sows such seeds, it will have been in vain. "Woe to you, O city, whose king is young," says Solomon; and the voice of the same Solomon says, "Be not hasty in your words," implying that there is something less about speed in speech than there is about fervent haste in action. And who is there who, against all these considerations, would demand speed rather than security and utility? Who is there who fashions a champion of the truth, as it were a statue of mud in a single day—him, I say, who is to stand with angels, to glorify with archangels, to send up sacrifices to the altar above, to join in the priesthood with Christ, ^B to restore the divine handiwork, to present the image, to act as a craftsman for the world above, and, that I may say something still greater, to be a god and to make others gods?

LXXIV. I know whose ministers we are, and where we lie, and whither we are being sent; I know the sublimity of God and, on the other hand, the frailty of man, and again his power. "Heaven is high, and the earth is deep." And who of those who are cast down by sin shall ascend? Who, still wrapped in the nether gloom and the density of the flesh, shall purely contemplate with his whole mind the entire Mind—and shall be mingled with things that are stable and invisible, while he is himself among things that are unstable and visible? For scarcely would anyone here, even of those who have been purified in the highest degree, ^C be able to behold even the image of that supreme Good, just as those who gaze at the sun in the water. "Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and the whole earth with his fist? Who has set the mountains in a balance, and the wooded dales in a scale? What is the place of his rest, and to what shall he be likened from among all things?"

LXXV. Who is he who fashioned all things in the Word, and in his wisdom created man, and brought into one that which was separate, and mingled the dust with the spirit, and composed a creature both visible and invisible, both transient and immortal, ^D both earthly and heavenly, one who touches God yet does not grasp him, one who draws near yet remains far off? "I said, I will be wise," says Solomon, "but it drew yet farther from me, far beyond what it was"—meaning wisdom. And in truth, "he who increases knowledge increases sorrow"; for it does not bring more joy to the

one who has found it, or to the one who is still ascending and it escapes him. This, I think, is wont to happen to those who are still thirsty and are either pulled away from the water, or, when they cannot hold anything, believe they have it, or are blinded—like those upon whom ^A a flash of lightning suddenly shone and then immediately abandoned them.

LXXVI. This kept me in a lower place and rendered me humble, and impelled me to the conviction that it was better to listen to the voice of praise than to profess myself an interpreter of things that surpassed my strength: namely, the majesty, the height, the dignity, and those pure natures that barely sustain the splendor of God, whom the abyss covers, whose hiding-place is darkness—being, as He is, light most pure and inaccessible to the majority; who is in the universe and outside the universe; who is all beauty and above all beauty; who illuminates the mind and yet escapes the swiftness and height of the mind, always withdrawing as much as is comprehended, and by the very fact that He flees and is, as it were, caught, He leads those who love Him onward ^B to things above.

LXXVII. So great and such is that which we seek and which we strive to attain; and such must be the bridesman and mediator of souls. Yet for me there is a danger, lest I be cast out of the bridal chamber, bound hand and foot, as one who is not clothed in a wedding garment, but has impudently intruded myself among those who recline there; although I was called from my very youth—and it is pleasing to tell something unknown to many—and from the very womb was cast upon Him, and was given as a gift from my mother's promise, and afterwards confirmed by perils. And at the same time desire increased, and reason ran alongside, and I gave all things as an offering to Him who took me as His portion and preserved me: wealth, splendor, health, and my very words, from which I have reaped only this fruit: that I have despised them and held ^C certain things to which I preferred Christ. And the oracles of God became sweeter to me than honey and the honeycomb: "and I called upon understanding, and gave my voice to wisdom." And also these other things were added, namely, to moderate anger, to bridle the tongue, to restrain the eye, to govern the belly, and to trample upon the glory that remains on the earth. I speak as one lacking wisdom, yet it shall be said: in these matters I have perhaps become no worse than the many.

LXXVIII. But this philosophizing ^D is greater than what our

own power can provide, namely, to receive the rule and governance of souls, when we do not yet even know how to be pastored rightly, nor have we been purified in soul as much as is meet, and then to be entrusted with governing a flock. And these things in such times as these, wherein he fares well who, seeing others tossed up and down and troubled, flees headlong from the midst and, having retreated under shelter, escapes the storm and the murky darkness of the wicked. For when the members fight against one another and charity is gone, if any remnant of it remained, the name of priest is otherwise empty, contempt having been poured out upon the princes, as it is written.

^B LXXIX. And would that it were empty! But now, may such blasphemy be turned upon the heads of the impious. All fear has been banished from our souls, and impudence has been introduced in its place; knowledge, and the depths of the Spirit, belong to anyone who desires them; and we are all pious from this one thing alone: the condemning of the impiety of others. Furthermore, we use as judges those who have declared war on God, and we cast that which is holy to the dogs, and throw pearls before swine, publishing divine things to profane ears and souls. And we, wretched creatures, diligently fulfill the prayers of our enemies, and we do not blush to play the harlot in our own practices. ^C Moabites and Ammonites, to whom it was not even permitted to enter the Church of the Lord, break into those things among us which are most holy. And we have opened to all not the gates of righteousness, but the doors of reviling and of mutual audacity against one another. And he is held to be the best among us, not he who, possessed by the fear of God, has not uttered even an idle word, but he who happens to have spoken ill of his neighbor the most, whether openly or in enigmas, and who has rolled under his tongue trouble and pain, or, to speak more aptly, the poison of asps.

^D LXXX. To this is added that we observe the sins of others, not that we might mourn, but that we might reproach; not that we might apply medicine, but that we might inflict a new wound, and that we might seek an excuse for our own vices from the wounds of our neighbors. Now, indeed, we characterize the bad and the good, not by their manner of life, but by dissension or friendship; and what is

^A stigmatized by others is by us admired; and everything is willingly conceded to the impious. To such a degree are we magnanimous regarding wickedness!

LXXXI. All things, in fine, were ^B made as they were from the beginning, when as yet there was no world, nor the present order and formation; but all things were confused and unordered, and required a fashioning hand and power. Or, if you prefer, it is as in a night battle, where, by the dim rays of the moon, we cannot distinguish the faces of friends from foes; or as in a naval engagement and tempest, with the collision of winds, and the heat of the roaring surf, and the incursions of waves, and the clashing of ships, and the pushing of poles, and the cries of the boatswains, deafened as we are by the groans of the falling and utterly bewildered, having no time to prove our courage—alas for the disaster!—we fall upon one another, and are consumed by one another.

LXXXII. Nor is the people indeed in this state, and the priest differently; but rather, it seems to me that it is now being clearly fulfilled, which was said in the curse of old: ^C *The priest has become as the people.* Neither is the common herd one way, and the nobles of the people and their rulers otherwise; but these, in fact, openly wage war against the priests, having piety as their pretext for persuasion. And as for those who struggle on this account concerning the faith, and concerning the highest and primary questions, I do not even blame them; but, if one must speak the truth, I even further praise and rejoice with them. Indeed, I would that I might be one of those who struggle for the truth and incur resentment and hatred; nay, I even glory to be in this number. For a praiseworthy war is better than a peace which separates from God; and for this cause ^D the Spirit arms the gentle combatant, as one who is able to wage war rightly.

^A LXXXIII. But now there are some who contend even about small matters, and matters of no utility, and who, most ignorantly and rashly, recruit as many associates in evil as they can. Then, over it all, they drape the name of faith, and even this solemn and venerable title is dragged into their private quarrels. As a result of this, it is only to be expected that we are hated among the nations, and, what is more grievous, we are not able to deny that this is justly and deservedly so. But even among ourselves, we suffer infamy among the more gentle and easy-going; and it is no wonder, if this is the case among the multitude, who could scarcely approve of anything good.

^B LXXXIV. The sinners have built upon our backs, and what we devise against one another, they have against us all; we have become a new spectacle, not to angels and to men, as was the most noble of athletes, Paul, struggling against principalities and powers, but to all the wicked, and at every time and place, in the market-place, at drinking parties, in pleasures, and in mournings. And we have even advanced as far as the stage—I say this almost in tears—and we are laughed at along with the most shameless; nor is there any entertainment or spectacle so delightful as a Christian being mocked in the theater.

LXXXV. This is what our intestine war has brought us: this is what those who fight immoderately for that good and gentle One have brought about; this is what those who love God more than is expedient have caused. And even though it is not permitted to wrestle, or to engage in any other kind of combat, outside of the prescribed rules—or else one will be shouted down by all, covered with ignominy, and will lose the victory, should he wrestle improperly or engage in any other kind of combat not according to the established rules of the contest, however brave or skilled he may otherwise be—yet one will fight on behalf of Christ, but not in a manner pleasing to Christ, and then claim to be a friend of peace, while waging war on its behalf in a way that is not permitted?

^D LXXXVI. And the demons indeed still tremble even now when Christ is named, and the power of this name has not become obsolete or extinguished by our wickedness;

^A but we, we are not ashamed to insult such a venerable reality and name; and though we hear Him almost openly and every day crying out, "My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," we do not cease.

LXXXVII. I do not fear the external war, nor that beast which has now launched an attack against the Churches—that fulfillment of the devil—even if it threatens fire, even if swords, even if wild beasts, even if precipices and chasms, and even if it should surpass in its savagery and cruelty all those who were ever driven by madness, and even if it should devise tortures more bitter than those already invented. I have one remedy against all these things, one path to victory: "I will boast in Christ," ^B namely, that I may meet death for Christ.

LXXXVIII. But as for my own war, I know not whither to turn, what aid to devise, what wise speech, what grace, what armor I should gird myself with against the schemes of that wicked one. Who like Moses will conquer this one by extending his hands upon the mount, so that the cross, being patterned and foreshadowed, might attain the victory? Who like Joshua after him, proceeding into battle together with the commander of the divine armies? Who like David, either singing psalms or fighting with slings, and being girt by God with strength for war and having his fingers trained for battle? Who like Samuel, praying for the people and offering sacrifice, and anointing as king him who was able to gain the victory? Who like Jeremiah will lament these things as they deserve, writing lamentations for Israel?

LXXXIX. Who will cry out: "Spare, O Lord, Thy people, and give not Thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them"? ^C Who will pray for us, Noah, and Job, and Daniel—those, I say, who are prayed and numbered together—that the war may settle down for us a little, that we may return to ourselves, that we may finally recognize one another, so that instead of one Israel, we may no longer be Judah and Israel, no longer Rehoboam and Jeroboam, no longer Jerusalem and Samaria, which in turn are handed over to enemies because of sins, and in turn are mourned?

^A For I confess that I am weaker than this war, and for this reason I have turned my back, covering my face in shame, and have sought to sit alone, because I have been filled with bitterness, and I sought also to be silent, understanding that the time is evil; that the beloved have kicked against the goads, that we have become rebellious children, the vine that produces beautiful branches, the true vine, wholly fruitful, wholly beautiful, sprouting well from the drops from above; that the crown of beauty, the seal of my glory, the wreath of boasting, has been turned into dishonor for me. But if anyone is bold and brave in the face of these things, I consider him blessed for his confidence and courage.

^B XCI. Nor do I yet speak of the internal war, situated within ourselves and our passions, which we fight night and day, partly in secret and partly openly, by the body of humiliation, and by that which tosses and whirls us up and down, both through sense-perception and the other delights that are the rotation of this life, and by the mire of the clay in which we are stuck, and by the law of sin warring against the law of the spirit, and attempting to corrupt the royal image in us, and as much of the divine outflow as has been poured into us. For it is with difficulty that anyone, unless he has mastered himself through long-term philosophy, and gradually tears away the noble and light-looking part of the soul from that which is lowly and yoked to darkness, or has found God to be propitious, or both of these, and has exercised himself as much as possible in the study of looking upward, can overcome the matter that drags him down. But before one has overcome this according to his strength, and has sufficiently purified the mind, and has drawn near to God far more than others, I know that it is not safe to receive the care of souls, or the mediation between God and men (for this, perhaps, is what a priest is).

^C XCII. And whence was I led into this fear? Not, I think, that you should deem me more timid than is fitting, but

^A that you might the more highly praise the providence. I hear from Moses himself that at the time when God was delivering oracles to him, when many had been called to the mountain—among whom was Aaron, accompanied by his two sons, the priests, and seventy elders of the senate—the rest were ordered to worship from afar, while Moses alone was to draw near, and the people were not to ascend with him, as if it were not granted to everyone to draw near to God, but only to such as—in the manner of Moses—were capable of containing the glory of God. And even before this, at the beginning of the giving of the law, ^B trumpets, lightnings, thunders, thick darkness, the whole mountain smoking, and fearsome threats—that even if a beast should touch the mountain, it would be stoned—and other such terrors kept those below; and it was a great thing for them to hear, after having purified themselves thoroughly, even just the voice of God. But Moses, however, ascends, enters into the cloud, is given the law, and receives the tablets: to the many, the tablets of the letter; but to those who rise above the many, the tablets of the Spirit.

XCIII. I hear also of Nadab and Abihu, that by offering incense with strange fire, they were consumed by the same strange fire, being punished by the very thing through which they sinned, and finding the same time and place for their destruction as for their impiety. And not even their father Aaron, who after Moses held the first place before God, could be a savior to them. ^C I know also of Eli the priest, and a little later of Uzzah: the former paid the penalty for the lawlessness of his sons—who were daring enough to take for themselves the first-fruits from the sacrifices before the time of the pots—and this even though he did not approve of their impiety, but had often rebuked them; the latter, because he merely touched the ark when it was jolted by the ox, saved it, but he himself perished, God thus providing for the veneration of His ark.

XCIV. Furthermore, I know that even bodily blemishes in priests or in sacrifices did not escape censure; but it was so ordained by the laws that those who were perfect should offer perfect things, to signify, as I think, the integrity ^D of the soul. Nor was it permitted for anyone to touch the priestly vestment or any of the holy vessels; nor were the sacrifices themselves to be offered by any persons, or at any times, or in any places other than those commanded.

^C nor to imitate the oil of the anointing, nor the incense of the composition; nor even to enter the temple, unless he were pure in both soul and body, even to the smallest details. So far was it from being the case that one might boldly approach the Holy of Holies, which it was permitted for only one man to enter, and that but once a year; so far was it from being the case that anyone had the right even to look upon or touch the veil, or the propitiatory, or the ark, or the cherubim.

^D XCV. Knowing these things, then, and that no man is worthy of the great God, and of the sacrifice, and of the high priesthood, unless he has first offered himself to God as a living, holy sacrifice, and has shown a reasonable service—a service acceptable and pleasing—and has offered to God a sacrifice of praise and a contrite spirit (which is the only sacrifice that He who has given us everything requires from us), ^A how could I presume to offer to Him that external sacrifice, that antitype of the great mysteries? Or how could I assume the habit and name of a priest, before I had purified my hands by holy deeds? Before I had accustomed my eyes to look upon the creation in a healthy way, and only to the wonder of the Creator, and not to the detriment of Him who fashioned it? Before, through the discipline of the Lord, my ears had been sufficiently opened, and there added to me an ear capable of hearing things not wearisome, but an ear attuned—a golden earring bound with a precious sardius, that is, the word of the wise—for those with an ear to hear? Before my mouth, my lips, and my tongue had been opened, and I had drawn in the Spirit, or been expanded and filled by the Spirit ^B for the setting forth of mysteries and dogmas; and—to use the words of Wisdom—these had been tied by divine sense, and I would add, also opportunely loosed; and my tongue had been filled with exultation and had become a plectrum for divine melody, stirred by the glory, rising at dawn, and laboring until it cleaved to the throat itself? Before my feet had been made to stand upon the rock, fashioned like harts, and my steps according to God had been directed, so that they were not poured out or shaken at all? Before every member had become a weapon of righteousness, and I had put off all deadness, having been swallowed up by life and having yielded to the Spirit?

^A XCVI. Who is there, when he has not yet had his heart set on fire by the pure and fiery oracles of God, ^B as the Scriptures are opened to him, nor has inscribed them threefold upon the breadth of his heart, so that he might have the mind of Christ; nor has entered into the treasures hidden to the multitude, those invisible and dark ones, so that he might behold the wealth stored within them, and be able to enrich others, comparing spiritual things with spiritual?

XCVII. Who is there, when he has not yet seen, as is worthy to be seen, the pleasantness of the Lord, and visited His temple, or rather, has not yet become himself a living temple of the living God, and the dwelling-place of Christ in the Spirit? Who is there, who has not yet recognized the relationship and the distinction between the types and the truth, and has not yet withdrawn from the former and attached himself to the latter, in order that, fleeing the oldness of the letter, he might serve the newness of the Spirit, and pass over purely to grace from the law, which is fulfilled spiritually by the evacuation of the body?

XCVIII. Who is there, when he has not yet passed through, both in deed and in contemplation, all the names and powers of Christ, both those that are more sublime and primary, and those that are humbler and ultimate for our sake—namely, God, Son, Image, Word, Wisdom, Truth, Light, Life, Power, Breath, Effluence, Effulgence, Creator, King, Head, Law, Way, Door, Foundation, Rock, Pearl, Peace, Justice, Sanctification, Redemption, Man, Servant, Shepherd, Lamb, High Priest, Victim, First-born before all creation, First-born from the dead, Resurrection—who, I ask, hears these names and realities in vain, and has not yet obtained any communion with the Word, ^C nor has become a participant of Him according to the measure in which each of these is and is called?

XCIX. Who is there, when he has not yet found leisure, and has not yet learned to speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which has been hidden, but is still a little child, still being fed with milk, still one of those who are not numbered among the Israelites, nor counted among the...

^A armies of God, not yet able, like a man, to bear the cross of Christ, nor perhaps ready, as a member of some more precious kind, to be set over the head of the Body of Christ note: the Greek text here implies 'receiving' (δέξεται) the honor of the head, while the Latin reflects the 'suffering' (patietur) of the burden, and to accept it with joy and readiness? Not in my judgment and counsel, surely; but this is the greatest of fears, this is the final danger for anyone who understands both the magnitude of what is being accomplished and the ruin caused by falling short.

C. Another, I used to say to myself, might set sail for the sake of commerce, and traverse the wide seas, and be constantly buffeted by winds and waves, to gain great profits if fortune allows, or to risk dangers, whoever is most skilled in sailing or trading; but to me it is preferable and more desirable, while staying on land, tilling a small and sweet furrow, and greeting gains and the sea from afar, to live, as best I can, on a small and meager portion, and to lead a life safe ^B and unclouded by storms, rather than to stir up long and great danger for the sake of great profits.

CI. For to a man of high stature it is a detriment not to reach for greater things, nor to extend his virtue to many, but to persist in small things—just as if one were to illuminate a small house with a great light, or to cover a child’s body with a man’s armor. Yet for a small man, safety consists in undertaking a small burden, and not in subjecting himself to those things which exceed his strength, at once exciting laughter and adding danger; just as it is proper for no one to build a tower unless he has the things required for its completion, as we have heard.

CII. You have our apology for the flight, and perhaps it is more prolix than necessary. ^C These, then, O friends and brothers, are the things which led me away from you—things painful to me and perhaps to you, but yet necessary, as at least they seemed to me at the time. But what brought me back was above all the yearning for you, and the fact that I felt you were held by a mutual yearning for me; for nothing is so strong for love as a mutual affection.

CIII. Secondly, there is my concern, my labor—that is, the gray hairs and infirmity of my holy parents, suffering more on my account than from age—of this patriarch Abraham, honored by me as a head ^D and with the angels, to receive.

numbering [the faithful] among the holy ones, and of Sarah, who ^A in the doctrine of the faith brings us forth spiritually: to be a staff to whose old age, and to support their infirmity by my assistance, was a prayer I had offered, as it was among the first things I had vowed, and indeed fulfilled so far as I had the power—to such an extent that I even despised philosophy itself, a possession and name dearer to me than anything else, or, to speak more truly, I made it my first act of philosophy not to appear to be a philosopher. I could not bear that the fruit of my labor, the sole purpose of my life, should be cut off from me, nor the blessing be extinguished, which a certain saint of old is said to have once stolen, having circumvented his father by means of food and a fabric of hair, and having obtained a good thing not-so-well through guile. These, then, were the two causes of my defeat and my gentleness. And perhaps it is not unreasonable for my thoughts to yield and retreat before those two, since there is a time for being defeated, as I suppose there is for everything; and it is better to be defeated with honor than to conquer dangerously and wickedly.

^B CIV. There has been a further cause, and one of the greatest importance, which, when I have set it forth, I shall pass over all the rest in silence. I remembered the days of old, and having run back to a certain history of the ancients, I drew from thence counsel for my present circumstances. For let it not enter our minds to suppose that those things were committed to written monuments at random, or that they are a vain confusion of words and deeds, composed for the sake of entertaining the minds of the hearers, like a kind of lure for the ears, reaching no further than pleasure. These things, indeed, the fables of the Gentiles offer, who, caring little for truth, cast a kind of deceit over ears and minds by ^C the elegance of their fictions and the allurements of their words.

CV. But we, who trace the diligence of the Spirit down to the slightest apex and stroke, will never concede—for it is not right—that even the most trivial actions have been written down and elaborated at random by those to whom they were handed down, and preserved in memory down to this present time; but rather [we believe they were kept] so that we might have reminders and instructions for our own similar circumstances, should any such ever happen to ^D us, for reflection: so that we may avoid some things and choose others, as by certain canons and rules.

^A

CVI. What, then, is this history, and where does this counsel come from? For it will perhaps not be improper to examine this for the sake of the security of many. Jonah also was fleeing from the presence of God—or rather, he thought he was fleeing—but he was caught by the sea, by the storm, by the lot, by the belly of the sea-monster, and by the three-day burial, which held the image of a greater mystery. But that man, so that he might not proclaim the gloomy and strange message to the Ninevites, and subsequently be found to be a liar once the city was saved by repentance—for he was not annoyed by the salvation of the wicked, but he was ashamed to perform the service of a lie, and he was as it were jealous for the credibility of prophecy, which was in danger of being destroyed in him, because the multitude could not behold the depth of God’s dispensation in these matters. ^B

CVII. But as I have heard from a certain wise man concerning these things, who not absurdly offered assistance to the oddity that the history presented on the surface, and who was capable of grasping the depth of the prophet, these were not the things that made the blessed Jonah a fugitive and brought him to Joppa and from Joppa took him to Tarshish, committing his own theft to the sea. For it is not likely that he, being a prophet, was ignorant of the intent of God: that through the threat, He was working, according to His great wisdom and His inscrutable judgments and the unsearchable and incomprehensible nature of His ways, so that the Ninevites would not suffer the things that the threats portended; ^C nor is it likely that, if he knew this, he would have refused to obey God, who was procuring their salvation in the way He wished. Truly, to think that Jonah had been led into the hope that he would hide himself in the sea and elude the great eye of God is not only entirely absurd and foolish, and unworthy, not to say of a prophet, but even of any other person possessed of a mind and of a [divine]

^A moderate perception of God and of His power which is above all things.

^B CVIII. Jonas, indeed, knew this better than anyone else, says the narrator of these words, and I believe him: he knew [the purpose] to which this preaching toward the Ninevites tended; and that, while devising his flight, he was changing his location but not fleeing from God. For neither any other man, whether by hiding himself in the ends of the earth, or in the depths of the sea, or by being lightened by wings—if such a thing were achievable—and ascending into the air, or by communing with the lowest parts of Hades, or by wrapping himself in the thickness of a cloud, or by devising anything else at all for the safety of his flight, could ever escape Him. For God alone of all things is He who can neither be avoided by flight nor overcome, when He wills to seize someone and bring him under His hand and power. He anticipates the swift, deceives the prudent, overthrows the strong, brings down the lofty, mitigates audacity, and crushes power.

CIX. Jonas, therefore, was not ignorant of the powerful hand of God, which he was threatening to others; nor did he entertain the notion that he could altogether escape the divine power—away with such a belief! But because he foresaw the fall of Israel, and perceived that the prophetic grace was passing over to the Gentiles, he therefore avoided the preaching and delayed the command. Leaving behind the lookout of joy—for such is the meaning of Joppa ^C among the Hebrews—that is, his former height and dignity, he threw himself into the sea of sorrow. And for this reason he is tossed by the tempest, and sleeps, and suffers shipwreck, and is awakened from sleep, and is taken by lot, and confesses his flight, and is cast into the sea, and is swallowed by the sea-monster, yet he is not consumed; but there he implores the help of God, and—strange wonder—at the same time as Christ, he is brought forth on the third day. But let the discourse concerning this wait for now, to be worked out by us more laboriously and at greater length a little later, if God grants it.

CX. But now, that I may return to the intended sermon, this thought came into my mind: that while some pardon might perhaps be granted to him for the reason I have brought forward, in that he declined the prophecy, what speech or what ground of defense could remain for me, if I were to be contumacious toward the rein for any longer, and refused this yoke of the ministry, which is laid upon me—whether it ought to be called light or heavy, I know ^D not?

^A CXI. For if someone might grant this one thing, which is the only firm and valid point that can be made in these matters, that we are situated far too low to serve as priests before God, and that one must first be worthy of the Church, then of the sanctuary, and before this, of the presiding office—perhaps someone else would not release us from the charge of disobedience. For the threat of disobedience is terrible, and its punishments are severe, just as truly they are for the other side: namely, to be in no way hesitant or reluctant, and, like that Saul of old, not to hide oneself among the paternal vessels, even when called for a short time to an administrative office, but to approach readily and easily as if it were a light and trivial matter, a thing which it is not even safe to renounce, nor to attempt to heal a first error with a second.

^B CXII. For this reason I was struggling in my own thoughts, examining what needed to be done and standing in the midst of two fears, the one pressing me down, the other raising me up. And having spent much time in this hesitation, and having balanced myself against both, or having been turned this way and that like a stream by unstable winds, I finally gave way to the stronger one; the fear of disobedience conquered me, and having seized me, it dragged me along. And observe how rightly and justly I act between these fears: neither to lust after an administrative office when it is not offered, nor to reject it when it is offered. For the former is the behavior of the reckless, the latter that of the disobedient, and both are marks of the ignorant. And I am placed, as it were, in the middle between the overly bold and the overly cowardly: more cowardly than those who leap toward all administrative offices, but more courageous than those who flee from all of them. This is my judgment concerning these matters.

^C CXIII. And in order that I may distinguish these things even more clearly, the law of obedience might perhaps bring assistance to the fear of accepting the administrative office, inasmuch as God, in His goodness, rewards faith and...

^A puts all his hope in Him. But as for the danger of disobedience, I know not who will be the helper, or what argument 47 can encourage one in confidence. For we must fear lest we hear 48 regarding those entrusted to us: "I will require their souls at your hands;" and, "As you have rejected me from being leaders and princes of my people, so too will I reject you from being king to you;" and, "As you did not listen to my voice, but turned a hard back and were disobedient, so shall it be when you call upon me: I will not look upon your prayer, nor will I listen." May it never happen that these words come to us from the righteous Judge, to whom, although we sing of mercy, we must also ^B undoubtedly sing of judgment as well.

CXIV. But I am carried back again to history, and as I contemplate the most approved of the ancients—all those whom divine grace has ever chosen for the governing of the people or for the office of prophecy—I find that some obeyed the call with a ready spirit, while others placed a delay in the way of the grace offered. Yet neither the timidity of those who drew back is to be blamed, nor the readiness of those who girded themselves to perform the task imposed upon them to be rebuked. For the former were awed by the magnitude of the ministry, whereas the latter, trusting in Him who called them, followed. Aaron was prompt; but Moses resisted. Isaiah obeyed readily; but Jeremiah feared his youth, and did not dare to undertake the prophecy ^C until he had received from God both the promise and a power superior to his age.

CXV. By these arguments I charm my own soul, and like iron, it gradually yields and softens. I take time as a partner in my reasoning, and the counsels of God as the justifications to which I have entrusted my whole life. For this reason, I do not refuse nor do I contradict, as my Lord says, when He was not called to a position of authority, but was led as a sheep to the slaughter; but I fall down and humble myself under the mighty hand of God, and I ask for pardon for my former sloth and disobedience, if there be any crime in this matter. I have been silent, but I shall not always be silent. I withdrew for a little while, so that I might look ^D into myself and bring some consolation for my grief, but now in the Church of the people, Him...

and upon the chair of the elders, I have learned to offer praise. If those things were worthy of blame, these are surely worthy of pardon.

^A CXVI. What need have we of a longer discourse? You have us, O pastors and colleagues; you have us, O holy flock, and—as is worthy of Christ, the Prince of pastors—you have me, O Father, subdued to your authority in all things, and more so by the laws of Christ than by external ones. You have obedience; render me a blessing. Lead with your prayers, guide with your word, and support with your spirit. For the blessing of a father strengthens the houses of children; and may I be strengthened, as well as this spiritual house which I have chosen, and which I pray may become my resting-place for an age of ages, being transferred from this Church to the one hereafter, and to that celebrated gathering of the firstborn who are inscribed in heaven.

^B CXVII. Such, then, is our prayer, and one so reasonable and just; but may God the God of peace, who made both one, and restored us to one another, who seats kings upon thrones, and raises the poor from the earth, and lifts up the needy from the dunghill; who chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, though he was the least and youngest among the sons of Jesse; who gives the word with great power to those who preach the Gospel for the perfection of the Gospel—may He Himself hold our right hand, and guide us by His will, and receive us with glory, feeding those who feed and guiding those who guide; so that we may feed His flock with knowledge, and not with the vessels of an unskilled shepherd—of which one was placed for blessing and the other for cursing by the ancients ^C —may He Himself give power and strength to His people, and may He present to Himself a shining and spotless flock, worthy of the fold above, in the habitation of those who rejoice, in the brightness of the saints; so that in His temple we may all say "Glory," flock and pastors together, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be all glory for ever and ever. Amen.