[ORATIO XXXII. DE MODERATIONE IN DISPUTANDO.]
A of the doctrinal disputations, may imitate the gentleness and kindness of the true Shepherd, Christ; and just as "in my Father's house there are many mansions," so let each person walk by the path that is proper and peculiar to himself. He treats learnedly of many other things, which I wish were inscribed on the souls and hearts of all, and especially of those who, as the Theologian says (n. 25), bring into the Church the artifices and apparatus of philosophy, "like the plagues of Egypt." For then contentions, schisms, and heresies would far depart, and pure truth would be handled by all with pure minds.
III. It ought to be considered an unshaken fact that this oration was delivered in Constantinople, in a crowded gathering of people. Scholars agree on this matter. But it is not so clear whether it was in the year 380 or the following one; whether it was in the Anastasia, where Gregory first held preachings, or in the major church of the city of Constantinople, after the churches were returned to the Catholics, as some conjecture. This last opinion, as more likely, has been followed by Hermant (1) and Tillemont (2). Therefore, they judge that this oration should be referred to the year 381. Elias, however, seems to have thought otherwise. For, speaking of this oration, he says: "The heretics held all the churches in Constantinople, where they say Gregory delivered this oration." If we wish to weigh the matter in an even balance, we shall confess that we must readily accede to the opinion of Elias. For the words of this very oration (n. 1) persuade us to this: "I am an insignificant and poor shepherd, and to other shepherds, to speak gently, not yet pleasing and acceptable; whether this is done by a just judgment or by malevolence of spirit, I do not know." Gregory surely would not have said this if, once the heretics had been expelled, the churches had already been handed over to the Catholics by Theodosius the Great. The Theologian's silence in this matter is a major argument. Furthermore, the very same scope is declared in this oration as in the first theological one. For in both, Gregory shows that it is for neither any man nor any time to dispute about God; but in this one, he demonstrates with what moderation this ought to be done, especially by the example and reason of both himself and others. Whence it seems to us more likely that this oration is one of those which we warned in the previous note were "among the theological, spoken and inserted" (3); and therefore we think it was delivered in Constantinople, in the Anastasia, around the middle of the year 380.
ORATION XXXII
A On the moderation to be observed in disputations, and that it is not for every man, nor at every time, to dispute about God.1. Since you have gathered with eagerness, and the festival is one of many people, and for this reason it is especially a time of "business," come, let us offer you some merchandise, though it may not be worthy of your common eagerness, yet of our own ability it is not lacking. For the former demands greater things, while the latter brings forward B moderate ones; and it is better to contribute according to one's ability than to fail entirely. For it is not he who could not who is held responsible, but he who did not wish to, who is at fault, whether in divine or in human matters. I am indeed a small and poor shepherd, and not yet pleasing to other shepherds;—for thus to speak is moderate, whether on account of goodwill and right reason, or on account of pettiness and strife, I do not know—God knows.
A As the divine Apostle says, and as the day of revelation will clearly show, and that final fire, by which all our works shall be judged or purified. I shall try, however, to the best of my ability not to hide the grace, nor to put the lamp under a bushel, nor to bury the talent in the earth (for I have often heard this from you, when you reproached me with inactivity and sloth, and bore our silence with heaviness and an impatient spirit), but rather to instruct you with the doctrines of truth and to render you concordant through the Spirit.
II. Whence, therefore, shall I begin to instruct you, my brothers? And with what words shall I honor the athletes whose present celebration this is? What shall I say first, or what is most important? What is most beneficial to your souls? Or what is most appropriate for the present time? We shall perceive this, however, in this way: What is the most excellent thing in our doctrine? Peace. I will add also, the most useful. On the other hand, what is the most shameful and most harmful? Discord. Since, however, I have proposed this question and answered it, I will ask furthermore regarding the second: What is it B that has especially destroyed that first, and introduced this latter? So that, just as in the diseases of the body, having first cut away the causes and blocked or dried up the springs of the turbulent agitations of the soul, we may in this manner cut off the flowing streams and their effects together. For it is not possible to know anything well regarding the end, if one has not rightly considered the beginning. Do you wish, therefore, to state and declare the cause yourselves? Or do you yield it to me, who perform the office of a physician, both to declare it and to correct it? For I am ready both to speak, if your will so inclines, and more ready to listen to those who speak. But I have no doubt that you will grant the office of speaking to me; for you do not perhaps consider me an entirely unskilled and contemptible physician of such diseases, C or ignorant in the healing of souls—whether you judge this rightly or otherwise. And do not let it seem strange to you if I bring forward a speech that is new and alien to your minds. Although it may diverge from your expectation and opinion, it will not, however, diverge from the truth, as I myself affirm, and you will agree, if you sustain to hear until the very end, and do not let happen to you that which I complain of, namely, that out of fervor of spirit you rise up before the speech has reached its conclusion.
III. Great and fervent natures have stirred up these tumults D in which we are involved, though not simply great and fervent (for we are not the kind to posit the sharpness of spirits as a vice, without which no one can accomplish anything great towards piety or any other virtue), but ones born with lack of reason, and
A with their offspring in wickedness—recklessness; for recklessness is the offspring of ignorance. For the weak and feeble in spirit are equally sluggish and slow toward virtue and toward vice, and do not incline greatly to either side, like the movements of those who are numb. But those of noble nature, if they have reason as their tutor and guide, are a great thing for virtue; but if knowledge and reason fail, they are found to be equally prone to vice. For it is necessary that a horse be spirited and noble if he is to be the victor—whether in war or in racing—yet he would be of no good whatsoever if uninstructed by the bridle and if he had not learned gentleness through more laborious training.
B IV. And this is that which has, for the most part, torn and distracted the members, set brothers at variance, disturbed cities, driven peoples to madness, armed nations, incited kings to mutual destruction, set priests against the people and against one another, the people against themselves and against the priests, parents against children and children against parents, husbands against wives and wives against husbands. It has jumbled and confounded all names of kindness, C making slaves and masters, disciples and teachers, old men and youth—and having shattered and trampled underfoot the law of modesty, than which no greater aid to virtue can be devised—to introduce a law of contumacy and arrogance. And we have become separated, not now tribe from tribe, as was formerly held against Israel; neither Israel and Judah, those two segments of one and the same very narrow nation; but we have been divided by houses and families, and the necessary bonds of association, and, as it were, each person against himself—the whole inhabited world and the entire human race, as much as the Word of God has traversed. And there has come about anarchy, or rather a polyarchy, and our bones have been scattered by the side of Hades. And it was necessary, since we have overcome our outward enemies, D that we should be destroyed by one another and, like madmen, should prey upon our own flesh and not even perceive it, but should rather even rejoice more in the evil than others do in peace and concord, and should make profit of the calamity, and should consider that we offer service to God by our own destruction, and that we are divided and burned—not with the praiseworthy division, but with the shameful and blameworthy one; not with that purifying fire, but with the destructive one. For that sharp word, which is the sword of Christ, does not divide the believers from the unbelievers, nor is that fire cast and ignited—which is faith and the fervor of the Spirit—that consumes and devours what is earthly; but on the contrary, rather than as it was before, we are being consumed and cut asunder.
A This is what has made the one Church many parts, and has divided it—not into one Paul, or Cephas, or Apollos, or some planter, or some waterer—but has exhibited many Pauls, and Apolloses, and Cephases, from whom we are named instead of Christ (the great and new name), and from whom we are said to be. And I would that I had only this much to say! But it has produced many Christs (I shudder to say it) instead of one: the generated, the created, the one beginning from Mary, the one falling back to whence he came into being, the man without a mind, the one who truly exists, and the one who only exists in semblance. And in the same way, it has produced many Spirits: the uncreated, and the creature, and the one of equal honor, and the energy, and the mere name. We ought to acknowledge one God the Father, without beginning and unbegotten; and one Son, begotten of the Father; and one Spirit, having its existence from God, conceding to the Father the property of unbegottenness, and to the Son that of generation; but in all other respects, B of the one same nature, dignity, honor, and glory. These things, I say, we ought to acknowledge, these to confess, and to take our stand here, while delegating the long-winded nonsense and profane novelties of words to those who have leisure. What is it that has stirred all this up? It is a fervor of soul which cannot be restrained because it is without reason and knowledge, and a ship of faith without a pilot.
C Ⅵ. Since we have perceived this, brethren, let us take care not to be sluggish toward the good, but let us be fervent in the Spirit, lest we gradually fall asleep unto death, or, while we are sleeping, the enemy should oversow evil tares; for sloth is akin to sleep. Nor, on the other hand, let us be fierce and fervent with irrationality and self-love, lest we be carried away or fall outside the royal road, inevitably stumbling into one of these two things: either having need of spurs because of our slowness, or plunging into the abyss because of the fervor of our souls. But rather, let us gather from both what is useful and fruitful—from the former, gentleness; from the latter, zeal—and let us flee what is harmful and pernicious in both: the sloth of the former, the rashness of the latter; so that we may not be sterile and unfruitful through deficiency, nor in danger through excess. For equally useless are an inert and supine sluggishness and an untrained fervor: the former, D because it does not even approach the good; the latter, because it overshoots it and tries to do something "more right" than the right itself. This the divine Solomon, knowing and having fully explored, says: "Do not deviate to the right, nor to the left," nor by using the opposites fall into the equal evil of sin. And yet, although he praises what is by nature right—"For God knows the ways on the right"—
"—he A again leads us away from the right; that is, from that which is *apparently* right, but is not so in reality. Looking to this, he says elsewhere: "Be not righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself over-wise." For the same passion—an excess, falling outside of what is good and virtuous—affects justice as much as it does wisdom, whether in action or in speech. B For both deficiency and excess ruin them equally, just as any addition or subtraction does to a straightedge.
VII. Let no one, therefore, be wiser than is fitting, nor more legalistic than the law, nor more brilliant than the light, nor straighter than the rule, nor loftier than the commandment. But how shall this be achieved? By knowing order, by approving the laws of nature, by following reason as our guide, and by not despising discipline. Look up to heaven above and down to the earth below, C and consider how the whole universe is fashioned, and whence it is, and what stood before its arrangement, and by what name the whole is now called. All things have been arranged by order, and by the Word who arranged them. Not that it was impossible for all things to come into being at once—for He who gave existence to things that were not, and gave form and shape to those that were brought forth, was certainly not so powerless as to be unable to bring forth and arrange the whole simultaneously—but for this reason one thing is counted first, another second, another third, D and so on, so that order might immediately enter into the created things along with them.
VIII. Order, therefore, has constituted everything. Order contains both the heavenly and earthly things; there is order in things intelligible; there is order in things perceptible; order in the angels; order in the stars, in their motion, their size, their relation to one another, and their brightness. "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory." There is order in the seasons and times, as they advance and retreat in the world, tempering the harshness of the climate through the mean; there is order in the measures and intervals of day and night; there is order in the elements, from which bodies are fashioned. Order guided the heaven into place, spread out the air, set the earth beneath—or rather, above—poured out the humid nature and gathered it into one place, sent forth the winds—but did not send them for the ruin of men—and bound the water in clouds, and did not keep it fixed, but scattered it over the face of all the
earth in an orderly and equal manner. And this not for a short time, nor for one single interval or period, but from the beginning to the end, directing and traversing the same path, both being fixed and moving—the former by the Word, the latter by flux. A *He established them forever and ever; he made a decree, and it shall not pass away (Ps. cxlviii, 6).* This belongs to stability; and if anything has come into being or will be brought forth, this belongs to flux. And while order prevails, the world, that is, the All, and its beauty, is unmoved. But disorder and lack of arrangement—in the air, thunderbolts; in the earth, earthquakes; in the sea, inundations; in cities and houses, wars; in the body, diseases; in the soul, sins—has wrought innovation. All these are names not of order, nor of peace, but of disturbance and disorder. And let us not, brothers, consider the much-bruited and expectation-laden decay and corruption to be anything other than a certain profuse and overflowing confusion of all things; for as order binds, so disorder loosens and dissipates, whenever it pleases Him by whom the whole machine of the universe was joined and constrained as if by bonds, to dissolve it or change it into a more excellent state.
B IX. Order assigned birth, and sustenance, and places fitting and suitable to each and every living creature, and prescribed it as if by a broad law. And no one has seen a dolphin plowing fields, nor an ox traveling a slippery path through the waters; just as no one has seen the sun decreasing or increasing by night, nor again the moon shining upon mortals by day. C *The high mountains are for the harts; the rock is a refuge for the conies (Ps. ciii, 18, 19).* He made the moon for seasons; the sun knew his going down. As soon as night has covered the earth with darkness, man is immediately confined by sleep, but the wild beasts wander freely and seek the food granted by the Creator; as soon as the day has dawned, the beasts are gathered, and man hastens to his work. Thus, by order, and according to the law and reason of nature, we yield to one another. I will add that which is greatest and most proper to us. Order constructed man, a rational animal, out of a mixture partly endowed with reason and partly lacking it; and in a mysterious and ineffable way, it bound the earth to the mind, and the mind to the spirit. D And that He might work something even more wondrous in His own handiwork, the same One both preserved it and dissolved it. For He brought it in, and He brought it out, as if in a current, and through dissolution He transacted immortality for the mortal. This too is what delivers us from the irrational.
A He distinguished, and founded cities, and established laws, and honored virtue, and punished vice, and invented arts, and joined 60 wedlock, and through the affection for offspring softened human life; and, greater than the lower longing and the [60'] carnal one, He implanted in our souls the love pertaining to God.
X. What is the Point of Recounting Each Thing?
Order is the mother and safeguard of all things that exist; and this, the Word alone, the Creator and Architect of all, could rightly state, if He were 61 to receive a voice: "When the All was being brought into being by God and was taking shape, I was beside Him, harmonizing. When He was preparing His own throne upon the winds, and making the clouds above strong; when He was founding the earth, and placing as safe fountains those under heaven [61'], and by the Spirit of His mouth granted all power." But the reason I have recounted all these things, and the point toward which my speech has long since been hastening, is that there is order even in the Churches: He has appointed some to be the flock, others to be shepherds; some to rule, others to be ruled; some to be, as it were, the head, others the feet, others the hands, others the eye, or some other of the B members of the body, for the sake of the harmony and benefit of the whole, whether they be presiding or subordinate. And, just as in the body, the members have not been severed from one another, but the whole is one body composed of different parts; nor is the activity of all the same, even if the need for one another is the same for the sake of the necessity of goodwill and concurrence 65. And neither does the eye walk, but it guides; nor does the foot foresee, but it moves [65'], and changes place; nor does the tongue receive sounds—for that is a matter of hearing; nor does hearing speak—for that is the function C of the tongue; and the nose is the organ of odors 64; but the throat tastes foods, as Job says; and the hand is an instrument for giving and receiving; and the mind is the leader of all, from which the sensation proceeds, and to which all sensation is referred. It is in the same way with us, in the common body of Christ.
XI. On the Members of Christ's Body
D For we all are one body in Christ, while individually we are members of Christ and of one another 36. For one part rules and takes the lead, while another is led and directed; and the two do not perform the same action—since to rule and to be ruled are not the same—and yet both become one in one Christ, being fitted together and composed by the same Spirit. And again, among those who are subordinate, how much there is in the middle that will both instruct, and provide exercise, and... in the unequal, (63) and a similar share of honor in unequal things. That is, in order to preserve equality in those matters which are unequal.
there is found a very great distinction A for even among those who are leading there is a significant difference in the degree of their standing, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, since Paul himself affirms it; there is no cause for you to doubt concerning this matter. And certain ones, he says, God has placed in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, third pastors and teachers B—the first for the sake of the truth, the second for the sake of the shadow, the third for the sake of the measure of utility and of divine illumination. And indeed the Spirit is one, but the graces are not equal, since neither are the vessels of the Spirit equal. For to one, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom and speculation, to another the word of knowledge or of revelation, to another a certain and unwavering faith, to another the operations of powers and of higher miracles, to another gifts of healings, helps—that is, defenses and patronages—governments, that is, the chastisements of the flesh, kinds of tongues, interpretations of tongues; finally, to some more excellent graces, to others inferior ones, according, of course, to the reason and proportion of faith.
XII. Let us revere this order, O brothers, let us guard and preserve it. Let one be an ear, another a tongue, another a hand, and another something else of these. Let one teach, and another learn; let one work what is good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with one who is in need; let another preside and moderate the flock; let another obtain the praise of righteousness through his ministry. Let him who teaches, teach in modesty. C For let two or three prophets speak, and that in turn, and let one interpret. But if it has been revealed to another, let the first give way. And let him who learns, learn in obedience; and he who gives, in hilarity; and he who ministers, in alacrity. Let us not all use the gift of tongues, which is the most prompt and ready of all; nor let us all be apostles, nor all prophets, nor all interpreters. Is it a great thing to speak about God? But it is greater to purify oneself for God; since wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul. And we are commanded to sow unto justice, and to reap the fruit of life, that we may be enlightened by the light of knowledge. And Paul wishes us to be known by the Lord through our love for the Lord, and through this acknowledgement to be taught; and he considers this path to knowledge to be better than that opinion which puffs up.
XIII. Is it a great and remarkable thing to teach? But to learn is free from danger. D Why do you arrogate to yourself the office of a pastor, when you are a sheep? Why do you become the head, when you are a foot? Why do you undertake to lead the army, when you have been enrolled in the rank of soldiers? Why do you pursue those great, but uncertain and dangerous, gains of the sea, when it is possible to cultivate the land without danger, even if you gain
A less? And if you are a man according to Christ, and your senses are exercised, and the light of knowledge is bright for you, speak the wisdom of God, which is spoken among the perfect, and which is hidden in a mystery; and do this only when you find a convenient time, and have been entrusted with it. For what do you have from yourself, which has not been given, and which you have not received? But if you are still an infant, and base in your understanding, and not capable of advancing to higher things, be a Corinthian, and be B nourished with milk. Why do you seek solid food, which your limbs, due to weakness, cannot process and turn into nourishment? Speak, indeed, if you have something better than silence (for you know that to set an order upon one's lips is praiseworthy); but love silence, where it is better to be silent than to speak; and say some things, but listen to others; and praise some things, but dismiss and reject others, yet not bitterly.
XIV. You do not know, brothers, with what difficulty we are oppressed—we, I mean, who preside here with pomp and pride, and promulgate these things to you, the many, as if by a broad law. And perhaps the majority of us do not even know (which is also C worthy of tears) how every thought, word, and deed is weighed before God as on a balance; and not only before God, but also before most men; for they are slow judges of themselves, but quick investigators of others, and would more easily grant the greatest things to others than the least to us; and even if they are more ignorant, they would sooner convict us of impiety than accuse their own moderate ignorance. You do not know what a great gift from God silence is, and not having the necessity of every word, so that you may, by your own authority, choose one thing and flee another, and be a steward of both speech and silence for yourself. For every word is by nature fragile and easily moved, and, because of the word that opposes it, it has no D freedom; but the word concerning God is so much more so, by how much the subject is greater, and the zeal more abundant, and the danger more severe. And what shall we fear, and in what shall we be confident, when the danger is shaking these three: mind, speech, or hearing? For it is difficult to conceive, impossible to interpret, and more laborious to find a purified hearing.
XV. God is indeed light, and the most sublime light, of which a small trickle, and a reflection downwards
reaching us, is all the light that, however brilliant it may appear, is visible. But you see, He treads upon our darkness A, and made darkness His secret place, placing it between Himself and us, just as Moses formerly placed the veil between himself and the stubborn Israelites, so that our dark nature might not easily behold the hidden beauty—worth little to, and not easily attained by, those who would easily lose it through the facility of possessing it—but that light might commune with light, always drawing it upwards through yearning; and that the mind, purified, might draw near to the most pure Mind; and that one part might appear now, and the other later, bringing the reward of virtue and the inclination—or rather, the assimilation—thereby directed toward Him. "For we see now," he says, "in a glass and in a riddle, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I also have been known." And how humble we are! And how great is the promise! To know God as much as we have been known. These things were spoken by Paul, that great herald of truth, the teacher of the Gentiles in faith, who filled the wide circle of the Gospel, who lived for no one else but Christ, who reached up to the third heaven, the spectator of paradise, desiring departure for the sake of perfection.
XVI. C And Moses indeed with difficulty saw the back parts of God through the rock (whatever these things are, and whatever the rock is), and this after much entreaty, and having obtained a promise; yet he did not see as much as he longed for, but that which escaped him was greater than what he had imagined; Moses, who was a god to Pharaoh, who led such a great people, who demonstrated such power of wonders. But you, whom have you fed from heaven? What water have you given from a rock? What sea have you cleft with a rod? What people have you led as through dry land out of the wet? What enemies have you drowned? Whom have you guided with a pillar of fire and a cloud? Whom have you defeated, as Amalek was defeated by prayer and the extension of hands, and by the cross mystically prefigured from afar, so that it is a calamity to you not to fully comprehend D God, and that for this reason everything is shaken, and is carried up and down? But since I have remembered Moses, have you not learned from this the succession of graces and the law of order? If you are a Moses, enter also within the cloud, and speak to God, and hear the voice, and receive the law, and legislate
But if you are an Aaron, ascend indeed, but stand near, outside the cloud. If you are some Ithamar, or Eleazar, and third from Moses, or one of the council of the Seventy, still stand further off, even if you have the third place in rank. But if you are one of the people and of the multitude, the mountain does not admit you, where even if a beast touches it, it shall be stoned. Remain below, and listen only to the voice, and this only after you have sanctified and purified yourself, as has been ordained. B
XVII. And that I may instruct you through more examples, who was it that perfected the hands of the priests? Moses. Who was the first of those being perfected? Aaron. And even before these, who was it that dealt with the things pertaining to God? And who was instead of a voice to the people? And who entered into the Holy of Holies, save one? And was it always he? By no means; but once a year, and only when the time permitted. And who carried the tabernacle, save the Levites? And even these, as had been ordained, some carried the more precious parts of it, and others the second, according to the worth of those who carried them. And since this too had to be guarded, who guarded it, and how? Some guarded this side, others that; and nothing was indefinite, nor disorderly, nor of the very least importance. But we, if we happen upon a small bit of reputation, or often not even that, but as it may happen, or if we commit to memory two or three sayings of Scripture, and these in a mangled and senseless way (this is that one-day wisdom, and the tower in Chalane, which well divided the tongues)—and we must needs behave madly against Moses, and become like Dathan and Abiron, the insolent and godless. C But let us flee from such arrogance, and let us neither imitate such madness, nor suffer the end that they did.
XVIII. Do you wish that I also present to you another order, and this one praiseworthy, and worthy of present remembrance and admonition? You see among the disciples of Christ, though all were high and worthy of the election, one is called the Rock, and is entrusted with the foundations of the Church; another is loved more, and rests upon the bosom D of Jesus, and the others yield the preference to them. And when it was necessary to ascend the mountain, so that He might shine forth in form, and demonstrate His divinity, and reveal Him who was hidden in the flesh, who are those who ascend with Him (for not all were spectators of the miracle)? Peter, and James, and John, who already held the first rank before the others and were numbered as such. And to be present with Him as He agonizes and withdraws, those who are the same again. This is that order of the Christ.
A And as for the rest, what beauty and order there is in it! Now it is Peter who asks, now Philip, now Judas, now Thomas, or some other, and not all the same things, nor all things by one, but each in his turn and individually. You might say, "As each had need." But what does this seem to you? Philip desires to say something, but does not dare to do so alone; he even takes Andrew along. Peter needs to ask something, and he prompts John with a nod. Where is the harshness here? Where is the lust for power? How could they have better shown themselves to be disciples of Christ, who is meek and humble of heart, and who became a servant for our sake—His own servants—and who refers all glory in all things to the Father, that He might give us a pattern of good order and moderation? So far are we from honoring this that I would rejoice if we were not more forward than all others, we who display this very quality in the greatest of matters and in the greatest things.
B XIX. Do you not know that humility is not judged so much in small and light matters (for that could be born of display and a feigned and shadowed appearance of virtue), as it is tested in the greater and more serious ones? For me, a humble man is not one who speaks little of himself, and that to few people and rarely, nor one who humbly addresses a person of lower rank, but one who speaks sparingly and moderately about God. He knows how to speak of some things, how to suppress and keep silent about others, how to confess his ignorance of some things, and he yields the word to the one entrusted with it; he accepts that some are more spiritual and have advanced further in contemplation. It is surely shameful, in one’s clothing and manner of life, to choose not the more exalted but the humbler way, to display humility through the callouses on one’s knees, through fountains of tears, and still further by fasts, vigils, sleeping on the ground, toil, and all manner of corporal maceration, and to acknowledge one’s own weakness; but then in divine disputations to claim for oneself a position of primacy and tyranny, to yield to no one at all, and to lift one’s eyebrows higher than any teacher of the law—when in that sphere humility possesses not only glory but also security.
C XX. What then? Shall we be silent about God, and do you command this? (one of the more fervent ones interjected). And of what rather than this shall we speak? Or in what place shall we put the verse, "His praise [shall be] ever in my mouth" (Ps. XXXIII, 2), and, "I will bless the Lord at all
times" (Ps. XXXIII, 2); and, "My throat shall meditate on truth" (Prov. VIII, 7); and, "Behold, I will not restrain my lips" (Ps. XXXIX, 10); and will [Scripture] produce other testimonies meditated upon and defined to the same effect? A To this man it is necessary to respond gently and without bitterness, so that herein also we may teach moderation of spirit. I do not bid you to be silent, O most wise man, but to abstain from stubborn contention; not to hide the truth, but not to teach contrary to the law. For I myself am the first among those who profess to praise wisdom, and who spend time and effort—or at least desire to spend them—upon divine discourses and sacred studies; B and may God grant that I never deem anything to be preferred over this occupation, lest otherwise I be miserably called [one who has fallen] away from Wisdom herself, as one who despises wisdom and learning and counts them as nothing. Meanwhile, however, I avoid excess and restrain insatiable desire; and I would prefer, if it be not granted to me to escape both and attain the mean, to be too slothful rather than too curious; and too timid rather than too bold and rash. But you seem C to me to do exactly the same thing as if, in my forbidding you an immoderate amount of food, you were to accuse me on that account as if I were prescribing that you should abstain from all food entirely; or, when I exhort you to see purely and chastely, you were to accuse me in the same way, as if I were praising blindness.
XXI. "If thou hast a word of understanding," says he, "answer; and there shall be no one to hinder thee: but if not, let a bond be upon thy lips" (Eccli. V, 14). How much more fittingly can this be applied to those who are prompt and ready for teaching? If you have the time, teach; but if not, bind your tongue and unbind your ears. D Meditate, indeed, upon divine things, but keep yourself within your bounds. Speak the things of the Spirit, and, if it is possible, nothing else; nay, speak more often than you breathe (for it is a beautiful and divine thing to be perpetually stimulated to the love of God through the commemoration of divine things); but do so in such a way that you think upon those things which have been commanded to you. Do not anxiously inquire into the nature of the Father, the generation of the Only-Begotten, the glory and power of the Holy Spirit; into that one and same Godhead and brightness in three persons, that indivisible nature, and confession, and glory, and the hope of those who believe. Hold fast to the familiar words with which you were imbued along with your milk; but commit the care of discourse and disputation to those who are more learned. It is enough and more than enough for you to have the foundation: let the architect build upon it. It is sufficient for you to sustain your heart with bread: leave the delicacies to the wealthy and the rich. No man in his right mind and prudence will accuse you if you splen-
- A didly fail to prepare a banquet; but if you have not set bread before a disciple of Christ or anyone else, or have not offered a cup of water when your means allowed it, then you will rightly and deservedly be condemned. "Be not quick in your words," warns the Wise Man; and, if you are struggling with poverty, do not compare yourself with the wealthy, nor affect to be wiser than the wise. It is also a kind of wisdom to know yourself and not to be immoderately puffed up, and in the same way to let your words be drawn out, which, if they are strained too vehemently, fail utterly on account of their excess. It is better, when you are learned, to yield prudently for the sake of gentleness and equilibrium of soul, than, while lacking education, to be carried higher through insolence and rashness. Let your quickness extend as far as the confession of the faith, if at any time it is required of you, but beyond that, I would have you be more timid. For just as tardiness is dangerous in that case, so is haste dangerous here.
B XXII. But what is the reason that you consider it grave and bitter if you do not dominate in every disputation and hold the primary seat in every problem or question, but others appear to be either more learned or more audacious than you? Thanks be to God, because as He bestows exceptional gifts, so He knows how to take thought for the common salvation of men. And you will discover that this miracle has its place not only in doctrine and disputations, but also in the very creation of the world, if you attend to it. For in created things, the most excellent things are not the property of a few alone, but belong to all, and the common grace of God flows to one and the same kind of creature; nor, in the case of the faith, are those things that bring salvation the property of the more powerful, but of those who are willing. What is more beautiful than air, fire, water, earth, rains, fruits—both cultivated and wild—shelter, and clothing? And yet these things are such that all use them in common; some entirely commonly, others to a certain moderate degree: nor is any man so tyrannical that he alone enjoys a common benefit. For God makes His sun rise equally upon all; He rains upon the rich and the poor alike; the alternation and vicissitude of day and night are common, health is a common gift, the end of life is common, the common measure and grace of the body, the common power and faculty of the senses; and perhaps on this account the poor man is even in a better condition, C because for these benefits he gives greater thanks to God, and enjoys these common things more pleasantly than those who are more powerful enjoy their superfluous things which are by no means necessary for life. And these things indeed are common, and are set forth for all, and attest to the justice of God with a clear argument. But gold, and the pellucid and much-loved stones, and garments that are as soft and overly elaborate as they are, and a table swelling with delicacies and inflaming the passions, and redundant riches that wear out their masters with toil, are the ornaments of only a few men.
XXIII. I perceive this also regarding the faith. They are common: the Law, the prophets, the Testaments, the oracles of the Testaments, grace, the childhood instruction, the perfection, the passions of Christ, the new creation, the apostles, the Gospels, the distribution of the Spirit.
faith, hope, charity toward God and from God; and these are not given by measure, as the gift of manna was once given to the ungrateful and foolish Israel, but according to the will of each one; [there is] ascent, illumination—dim, indeed, that which occurs in this life, but clearer that which we hold by hope—and finally, what is greatest, the knowledge of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and the confession of our primary hope. What is greater than these, or what is more common? Yet those things which are beyond these, even if they are more excellent because of their rarity, still hold [a secondary place]. For those things which cannot be attained and perceived by any, if we look at necessity, are less useful to the Christian than the latter things, which a few at least can attain. B
XXIV. Now, one man is rich in contemplation, and rises above the many, and compares spiritual things with spiritual, and describes them in a threefold manner [-] on the breadth of his heart [-] both the doctrine which instructs all, and that which instructs many, and that which instructs not all, nor even many, but a few only; nor does he endure to be poor, but penetrates into the most high and abstruse things. Let him rise, and let him lead the way, and let him be carried by the mind, and, if he wishes, even unto the third heaven, as happened to Paul [-] only with reason and knowledge, so that he may not fall through pride, nor have his wings melt away through the loftiness of his flight. For what envy is there against a praiseworthy ascent? And what fall is more foul than his, who is transfixed by the pride of mind, and does not understand the humility of the human spirit which is raised toward heavenly things, and how much he who surpasses all mortals in loftiness is still removed from the true height? C
XXV. Another, on the contrary, is of small intelligence, and poor in tongue, and knows not the turns and sophistries of words, nor the sayings and riddles of the wise, nor the questionings of Pyrrhon, or [his] suspensions of judgment, or oppositions, nor the dissolutions of the syllogisms of Chrysippus, or the evil artifice of the arts of Aristotle, or the guile of the eloquence of Plato, which have crept into our Church in an evil way, just like certain Egyptian plagues. Yet this man, too, has that from which he may be saved. And by what words? O marvelous riches of divine grace! There is no need, it says, for you to ascend into heaven, that you may draw down Christ from there; nor to descend into the abyss, that you may thence pull him up from the dead, by D curiously investigating either the first nature of him, or the final dispensation of the flesh assumed. The word, it says, is near you: the mind and the tongue have this treasure; the one believing, and the other confessing.
A What could be more compendious than this wealth? What could be more easy and prompt than this gift? Confess Jesus Christ, and believe that He has risen from the dead, and you shall be saved. For while it is righteousness to believe only, yet perfect salvation lies in this: that we also confess, and join boldness of speech to our knowledge. You seek something greater than salvation, namely, the glory and splendor of the life to come; for me, to be saved is the greatest thing, and to avoid the agonies of the future. You tread an untrodden and inaccessible path; I tread the beaten and trampled one, by which many have attained salvation.
XXVI. Nothing in our faith, brethren, could be more unjust if it fell only to the learned and those superior in powers of speech and logical demonstrations; if the common multitude were frustrated of this, just as they are of gold and silver and all other things which are held in esteem here and are greedily sought after by most; and if God held that which is high and exalted and reaches but few to be pleasing and acceptable, while on the contrary, He despised B and rejected that which is closer and does not surpass the grasp of the common people. For not even among more moderate men does this occur, that they do not demand the honors they are capable of receiving, but take pleasure only in the excellent and extraordinary ones—much less with God. For He, appearing to us admirable and awe-inspiring in His many names, has nothing so proper to Himself, however, as the doing of good to all. Do not despise the common, do not hunt after novelty, so that you may be approved C by the majority. Let Solomon instruct you with this counsel: "Better," he says, "is a little portion with security, than a great one with infirmity and uncertainty." And, "Better is the poor man walking in his simplicity"—for this proverb is also remarkably erudite—and he who suffers from a lack of discourse and knowledge, and relies on simple words, and on these, as if on a small and slender raft, attains salvation, than the fool and perverse of lip, who trusts foolishly and unskillfully in disputations and arguments, and empties the cross of Christ—a thing more sublime than any discourse—through the faculty of debate, where the infirmity of proof and argument diminishes and shakes the truth.
XXVII. Why do you fly up to heaven, when you are a pedestrian? D Why do you build a tower, when you lack the things required to complete it? Why do you yourself measure water with your hand, and the heaven with a span, and the whole earth with a fist—things great and such that the Creator alone can measure them? Know yourself first: perceive what is at hand; who you are, and how you were fashioned, and how you were constituted, so that you may be an image of [Him].
of God, and yet you are bound to a lesser thing! And what is it that moved you? What is the wisdom concerning you, and what is the mystery of nature? How is it that you are measured by place, while the mind is not limited 51, but remaining in the same place, it traverses all things? How is the eye so small, and yet reaches so far; and whether it is that it admits the image of what is seen, or that it passes over to it? How does the same thing both move and is moved, being governed by the will? What is the cessation of movement? What is the division of the senses, and how does the mind commune 53 through them with things outside, and receive things from outside? How does it take in forms? And what is the preservation of what has been taken in—memory—and what is the recollection or remembrance of what has departed? How is word [logos] the offspring of the mind, and does it beget a word in another mind, and how is thought distributed by word 54? How is the body nourished through the soul, and how does the soul participate in passion through the body? How does fear congeal, and confidence dissolve 56, and grief contract, and pleasure dilate, and envy wither, and pride inflate, and hope lighten? How does anger madden, and shame redden through the blood—the one when it boils, the other when it withdraws? And how do the characters of the passions appear in the bodies? What is the sovereignty of reason, and how does it preside over all these and tame the movements of the passions? How is the incorporeal held by blood and breath? And how is the departure of these the withdrawal of the soul?
Understand these things, or at least one of them, O man—for I do not yet speak of the nature or movement of the heaven, and the order of the stars, and the intermingling of the elements, and the differences among living creatures, and the descents 57 and ascents of the heavenly powers, and all those things into which the creative 58 word is divided, and the reasons of providence and governance; and even then, I do not yet say: "Be bold." Rather, fear all the more to add to the higher things, and to those that are more than your power.
XXVIII. On moderation in disputing.
Most of all, indeed 59, all contentious and ambitious speech 60 is an exercise in striving for greater things; and just as we fashion children in their first habits, so that they may flee the wickedness of later age, so too must we 61 in speech not appear bold and undisciplined in small matters, lest we abuse our practice in greater ones. For it is easier from the beginning not to yield to wickedness, and to flee it as it approaches, than to beat it back once it has advanced and to appear higher than it; just as it is easier to steady and hold a stone 62 from the beginning, than to push it back when it is already rolling 63. But if you are more insatiable, and to hold...
insatiably ablaze with the desire for disputation, and cannot stop or suppress this malady, meditate on these things, and be in these: pour out that ambition of yours in those matters where there is no risk involved.
XXIX. But if you reject this, and cannot check your tongue with a bridle, nor break and compress the impulse of your mind, but are determined to rave and act insanely, and to yield not at all to the primary authorities—unless, however, there is a limit of knowledge also to them—and to rise up altogether higher than is to your own advantage: at least command yourself this: that you do not condemn your brother, nor give the name of impiety to his timidity, nor go away rashly having judged, or having despaired C of him, you who profess gentleness of mind and sweetness of character. Nay rather, show yourself humble here, while it is permitted; here prefer your brother before yourself, without any detriment to your own self, where to condemn and despise is nothing else than to cast out and drive away from Christ and our only hope, and to root up the hidden wheat—and wheat perhaps more excellent than you—along with the tares. Hold to this rule, that you may correct him, and that gently and humanely, not as an enemy, nor as a harsh and rigid physician, nor as one knowing how to attack the disease only with incisions and cauteries; but acknowledge yourself and your own infirmity. For what if, with bleary eyes, or suffering from some other such malady, you see the sun as dim? What if, seized by nausea or overcome by wine, you think everything is turning and being carried up and down, and you attribute your own ignorance to others? You must turn and suffer many things for a long time, before you judge another of impiety.
XXX. It is not the same thing to root out a plant, or some short-lived and fleeting flower, as it is to root out a man. You are an image of God, and you are addressing an image of God, and you who judge shall yourself be judged D; and you judge another’s servant, and one whom another manages. Thus examine your brother, as though you yourself were to be weighed by the same measure. Therefore, do not quickly and rashly cut off and cast away a limb, since it is uncertain whether, by this means, even the healthy parts might contract some harm. But rebuke, reprove, exhort. You have a rule of medicine. You are a disciple of Christ, the mild and benevolent, who also bore our infirmities. If he struggles against you the first time, wait gently; if the second, do not abandon hope—for the time for healing has not yet passed; if the third, be a benevolent farmer; still beseech the Master not to cut him down, nor to hate the barren and useless fig tree, but to turn and heal.
A And apply the manure—that is, the correction brought about by confession, by public shame, and by a more humble way of life. Who knows if he will change, and bear fruit, and feed Jesus returning from Bethany?
XXXI. You who are anointed with that spiritual ointment, compounded with the perfumer’s art, endure some of your brother’s stench—whether that stench is real or only seems so to you—so that you in turn may impart to him some of your own good fragrance. Malice is not the venom of a viper, B so that as soon as you are struck you should be racked with pains or even perish; and on that account, there is a ready pardon for you when you flee from, or even kill, the beast. But if it is possible for you, heal him as well; if not, you at least have the safety of having participated in no way in his depravity. His ailment is a foul odor, which perhaps your sweet scent will overcome and dispel. You would surely and promptly undertake such a thing for a fellow servant and kinsman, as that zealous and emulous Paul dared not only to think but also to say, out of compassion, that he would wish, if it were possible, C for Israel to be brought to Christ in his own place—whereas you, guided often by mere suspicion, sever your brother. Him whom you might perhaps have won over by kindness, you destroy by your boldness—a member of your own body, for whom Christ died. If, then, you are strong, as Paul says when discussing food, and you are confident in your discourse and in the nobility of your faith, see to it that you also build up your brother. Do not, by your food, destroy him whom Christ honored by His common passion. For even if the matter is different, the principle of counsel and admonition is equally useful.
XXXII. And indeed, there should have been a law established among us, D just as there was among the wise men of the Hebrews of old, that certain of the sacred books should not be accessible to the young—as they are not profitable to souls that are still unsteady and too tender; and in the same way, that not to every person, nor at all times, but only at certain times and to certain people, should the liberty to discuss the faith be granted. I mean, not to those who are altogether listless and sluggish in their understanding, nor to those who are excessively insatiable, and ambitious, and warmer than is necessary regarding piety; and to order those individuals here, where neither...
they themselves nor others might be harmed; and that those who are modest, truly composed, and temperate in their discussions might be granted the free faculty of disputation. But let the promiscuous multitude be led away and turned aside from this path—given the disease of talkativeness that prevails at this time—to another, less dangerous type of virtue, where even negligence is less harmful and insatiability contributes less A of a detriment, and earns the praise of piety.
XXXIII. For if, as there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, the Father of all, and through all, and in all, so also there were but one certain path to salvation through disputation and contemplation, such that those who fell from it would at once wander from everything else and be cast headlong from God and the hope of eternal salvation, then truly nothing would be more dangerous than to give or to follow such advice. But if, as in human affairs there are many and diverse types of lives and paths—some greater, some lesser, some more illustrious, some more obscure—so also in divine matters there is not one single B method of salvation, nor one sole path of virtue, but many; and if there is no other reason for this widely held and universally celebrated saying, that there are many mansions with God, than that there are many paths leading thither—some more dangerous and splendid, others humbler and safer—why do we abandon the safer ones and turn to this one path, so slippery and dangerous, and leading I know not where? C For even while food is not suitable for all alike, but one kind for one, and another for another, according to the difference of ages and constitutions, does the same life or the same discussion profit everyone? I for one would not say this, nor would I agree with those who do. Therefore, if you will listen to me, young and old, rulers of peoples and the ruled, monastics and those living in society, you will bid farewell to superfluous and useless ostentations. And you will be more concerned to approach God through integrity of morals, an honorable way of life, and conversations free from danger, so that you may attain the truth and contemplation of the next age, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. D