Six Homilies on Fate and Providence: Editorial Notice

ON THE SIX ORATIONS ON FATE AND PROVIDENCE — ADMONITION

Concerning these orations or homilies, Fronto Ducaeus says: "They seem to be 'anthologies' or florilegia of sermons delivered by Chrysostom, rather than complete homilies; however, the areas and locations from which they were gleaned have not yet occurred to us." Henry Savile rightly rejects this conjecture of Fronto: "I do not agree," he says, "with Fronto Ducaeus that these orations on Providence are 'anthologies': for I do not remember having read elsewhere in our author what is brought forward here, expressed in the same manner." And truly, when Chrysostom discourses on fate, he employs a different mode of expression, whence perhaps a certain suspicion arises. It must be admitted, however, that this work, if you consider the force of the reasoning, is not unworthy of Chrysostom, but in style we recognize a certain foreignness: the oration is for the most part tight and concise, and alien to that fluent abundance of Chrysostom; likewise, although it is a matter of lesser import, that concluding formula with which Chrysostom concludes almost all his homilies in honor of the Trinity does not appear in the five previous orations on Fate; instead, another is substituted in its place, which commemorates Christ alone. But since we detect the same diversity of style elsewhere among the genuine works of Chrysostom, we will refrain from delivering a verdict, and the matter shall remain under judgment.

OF OUR HOLY FATHER JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ON FATE AND PROVIDENCE — SIX ORATIONS

ON FATE AND PROVIDENCE. ORATION I

^A Our life is full of much disturbance, and the present life is laden with tumults; but this is not the grievous part, beloved, but rather that we have learned neither how to change these tumults and disturbances into something milder, nor how to bear them without sorrow even while they remain; but we spend the entire time in complaint. One laments poverty, another disease; one is burdened by worries, another by the management of a household, another by the rearing of children, another by the lack of children. And behold the excess of our folly: for we do not lament for the same things, but perhaps we all mourn over their opposites. Yet, if the nature of the things themselves were the cause of our lamentations, we ought not to lament over opposites; but if poverty were an evil and unbearable, he who lives in wealth should never be distressed; and if the lack of children were an evil, he who enjoys a multitude of children should be joyful. Again, if it were desirable to manage the public affairs of the city, and to enjoy honors, and to have many subjects, the life that is free from business and tranquil should be avoided and hated by all men. But now, when you see that the rich and the poor lament equally, and often the wealthy person does this even more than the poor, and the one enjoying power, and the one who is ruled, and the father of many children, and the one who has had none at all—do not let us blame the things themselves for the disorder, but rather those who are not able to use them as they ought, and who do not free themselves from all despondency.

^B For the disturbance and the tumult is not the vicissitude of these things, but it is we ourselves and our own mind; for if this is well-constituted within us, even if myriads of storms should rise up from every side, we shall sleep in peace and in a harbor always; just as, if it is not in a healthy state, even if all things were carried to us under favorable winds, we would be in no better condition than those who are in a shipwreck. This, indeed, can be seen in the case of our bodies. For he who has prepared his own body to be strong, even if it contends with myriads of atmospheric irregularities, not only will suffer nothing terrible, but will even gain an addition of strength from the exercise and the encounter with the harshness of the climate; but if it has a weak and flowing body, even if it enjoys the most excellent state of the seasons, it will receive no advantage from this ease, as its innate weakness is damaged by the healthfulness of the seasons. Thus, also, we see this in the case of food; for when the body of the stomach is strong and robust within us, everything we receive, even if it is hard, even if it is undigested for the stomach, it transforms into pure humor, as the natural temperament overcomes the unwholesomeness in the food; but when its tone is dissolved and flaccid, even if you offer it the most nutritious dish of all, it changes it into the worst.

^A Thus also we, when we see a lack of order in things, let us not blame God, beloved—for that is not to find a remedy for a wound, but to add wound to wound. Let us not attribute the administration of the world to demons; let us not think that the present things come about without providence; let us not offer the tyranny of some origin or fate as an excuse for the provident care of God: for all these things are full of blasphemy. And truly, the disturbance and confusion are not in the flow of things, but in the soul that is so affected; which, even if it were to enjoy a thousand times the good order and arrangement of things, until it has corrected that confusion and perturbation within itself, will not be able to enjoy that tranquility of things; but just as an unhealthy eye, even in the brightness of midday, will see darkness and one thing in place of another, and will not enjoy the rays, while a healthy and sound eye will be able to guide the body with security even in the evening, so too the eye of our mind, as long as it is sound, will rightly see even those things which appear confused; but when it is depraved, even if you lift it up to heaven itself, it will detect much disturbance and confusion there. And that these things are so, I will demonstrate to you with many examples, both ancient and of our own time. How many bear poverty easily, and because of this do not cease to give thanks to God? How many who enjoy wealth and luxuries do not give thanks to God, but curse Him? How many who have suffered nothing grave accuse that universal providence? How many spend all their time living in a prison, and bear this misery more gratefully than those who lead lives in liberty and security? You see the state of the soul, and that the mind of each person is the cause of these and those things, and not the very nature of the things. So if we were to take care of our soul, there would be no perturbation, no confusion, nothing grave, even if the affairs of our life were tossed up and down more violently than any Euripus. For why, I ask, does Paul give thanks? Yet he is of the number of those who have lived best, and pursued virtue for their whole life, and suffered the least of such grave things—no one of all those who have beheld the sun has been either more righteous than he or has suffered harsher things than he. And yet, when he saw many living in wickedness being of a glad heart and enjoying present wealth, he himself gave thanks to God, and exhorted others to do the same. Look to him. And you, when you see the wicked man of glad heart, and lifted up, when you see him casting down his enemies, avenging himself on those who trouble him, subject to no harm, with wealth flowing in from all sides, surrounded by clients and flatterers, while you yourself are in a state entirely the opposite, obsessed by troubles, slanders, and treacheries—do not think that you are of the number of the abject; but seeing Paul faring the same way, lift up your soul, recall your thoughts, lest you fall in your sorrow. Do not judge a friend of God or an enemy of His by prosperous or adverse things; but if you see anyone living rightly and, being free from illness, looking toward piety, consider him blessed and worthy of emulation, even if he should be bound in six hundred shackles, ^B should dwell in perpetual prison, should serve unworthy masters, should be poor, should work in the mines, or suffer any other grave thing. For blessed is he, even if his eyes are gouged out, even if he is burned, even if his body is slowly consumed. But if you see another living in lasciviousness, iniquity, and extreme wickedness, enjoying great honor, ascending the royal throne itself, crowned with a diadem, clothed in purple, ruling over the whole world, weep for him, and consider him wretched for that very reason. For nothing is more wretched than a soul so affected, even if he has the whole world subject to him. For what profit is it to abound in money for one who, as far as virtue is concerned, is the poorest of all? What gain is it to rule over so many men for one who cannot overcome either himself or the diseases of his soul? Truly, if we see a body badly affected, or suffering from fever, or troubled in the feet, or shackled by consumption or some other incurable disease, we weep, even if he is the wealthiest of all—nay, the more so, the wealthier he is. For the sense of evils is acuter when one is engaged in an abundance of necessary things. For he who is kept from their enjoyment because of poverty has the very necessity as a source of consolation; but he who abounds in these things and is prevented by disease from using them is burned all the more. But how will it not be absurd if we see someone detained by a bodily disease and proclaim him wretched, even if he is opulent, but if the soul is badly affected—the soul, I say, than which nothing is equal, than which nothing is more precious—we call him blessed for a mere pittance of money, or for a temporary honor, or for any of those things which remain here indeed, but desert us after this life, or more often before the end of life? Do not, I ask you. These are for us the cause of perturbation and tumult. For this reason many accuse God, for this reason they think the world is governed by no providence. But if they knew that nothing in the present life is good except virtue—not wealth, not money, not health, not power, not any other thing—and that nothing is evil in the present life except wickedness, impropriety, and the perversion of the soul—not poverty or disease, not trouble, not slander, not other things which are thought to be grave—they would never say such things as they now say, they would never live in sorrow, they would not call them blessed whom they ought to proclaim wretched, nor would they proclaim them wretched whom it would be fitting to call blessed; they would not be so affected toward men. For to proclaim men blessed because of a good bodily condition, and the abundance of food, and much sleep, is nothing else than to be affected toward them as toward brute animals. For this is also their happiness; nay, even that is an evil among brutes; for many donkeys and horses have perished from gluttony and voracity. But if for brutes, for whom all virtue is situated in a good condition of the body, that is a hindrance, shall we, in the case of men, whose entire dignity is in the nobility of the soul, place that in the position of virtue, and shall we not reverence heaven and the angels who are kinsmen of our soul? Do you not blush for the very nature and form of the body? For God did not fashion it for us as for the brutes, but as was fitting for that which was to serve a rational and immortal soul. For why does God [make] the eyes of all beasts downcast toward the ground...

a law established by God and by nature from the beginning to examine? Why did He make your body upright, but theirs, on the other hand, bent toward the ground? Was it not for this very same reason, teaching you from your very formation to have nothing in common with the earth, nor to be stuck to present things? Let us not, therefore, squander our nobility, nor slip down into the ignobility of the irrational creatures, lest it be said of us: "Man, being in honor, did not understand" (Ps. 49:21). For to define prosperity by luxury, wealth, glory, and present things is not the mark of those who have examined their own nobility, but of men who have become [no different from] horses and donkeys. But may it never be that any such persons are present here, in this holy gathering, this spiritual theater, and this assembly of God-fearing people! For this reason, we enjoy divine instruction every day, so that, as if with a sickle, by the word we may prune away the overgrown passions of the mind and become trees full of fruit, bringing forth ripe fruit to be stored in the royal granary, bringing glory to the common Master and cultivator of our souls, and for us the life immortal, of which may we all be granted to partake, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, forever and ever. Amen.

ON FATE AND PROVIDENCE.

ORATION II.

"He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die the death" (Exod. 21:17); this law was set in the Old Testament, when there was not great precision regarding the best life, when the instruction regarding the divine was introductory, when the commandments were for children, when there was milk, a schoolmaster, a lamp, a type, and a shadow. What, then, shall we say regarding those who are now in grace, and in the truth of things, and in such great knowledge, not speaking evil of father and mother, but of the God of all Himself? What punishment shall receive such people? What torment will match the measure of such wickedness? What river of fire, what immortal worm, what outer darkness, what chains, what gnashing of teeth, what weeping? All punishments, both those that exist and those that are to come, are less than the state of such a soul, which has been carried down to such wickedness. But there are many and various modes of blasphemy; wherefore it is necessary to set them forth today, so that neither may we willingly fall into such a thing, nor see any of our friends or enemies falling into it. For there is not, there is not any sin worse than this, nor even equal to it; but it is even an addition to evils, and it is that which confuses everything, and it has an unforgivable punishment and an unbearable chastisement. Who are those who speak evil of God? Those who fortify [their position with] the disorder and necessity of fate against the wisdom of His providence. And indeed, that the unbelievers, who gape at and worship wood and stones, should suffer from this disease is nothing wonderful; but that those who have been delivered from this error and slavery, and have been counted worthy to know the God over all, the true and truly God, should, as if from a back-flow, be dragged back into that storm, that madness of reason, this is the most terrible thing, and truly worthy of many tears and laments; when those who say they worship Christ, and have been counted worthy of such mysteries, even of participating in the secret doctrines, and [enjoying] the wisdom brought down to us from the heavens, after such great honor as they have enjoyed from God, willingly cast themselves down, stripping themselves with great recklessness of the freedom which God granted them, and subjecting themselves to a most grievous slavery, and fashioning through their own reasonings a tyranny most tyrannical—one which does not even exist—and cutting off every good hope, and attempting to cut the nerves of those who have been zealous for virtue. Just as in war, someone who sees brave soldiers, ready to give their very souls for their country, and is unable to harm them in any other way, nor to turn them from their zeal for the king, nor to make them cowardly, nor to overcome them by engines of war, does harm to them in another way, attempting to persuade them that they are displaying such great labor in vain, for nothing, so as to slacken their hands, so as to cast down their strength, so as to quench their zeal, so as through all these things to distance them from the struggle of war, and having rendered them naked and unarmed, to take them as bound prisoners; so also does the devil. Since he saw the greater part of the inhabited world mocking the Greek error by the grace of God, and with all their spirit and all their soul acting as advocates for the word of piety—and that from this great zeal for virtue was being born, and great contempt for wickedness—to come forth and say openly, "Depart from Christ, mock the doctrines that come from Him, His words are a myth and an error, He is a wicked and inhumane being," he dares not; he knows that they would flee from his tyranny all the more and hate him all the greater. For this reason he does not introduce the accusation directly, but coming around in a circle, where he secretly sows the venom of ungodly doctrines, appearing to let them remain in the faith, but in truth rooting it out completely, and overturning all the doctrines of truth, and pouring out great calumny upon God before those who are persuaded by him. For this reason this poison of his, and the deadly drugs of fate, have been prepared, so that he might secretly introduce all that I have mentioned, so that he might show our purpose to be empty and our faith empty, so that he might persuade men to hold a wicked opinion concerning God; which is what he did in the beginning regarding Adam, casting suspicion upon God as if He were some jealous and envious being. For he almost spoke in this way through the things he was suggesting: He knew, he says, that your eyes would be opened, he knew that you would be as gods, he envied you, he begrudged you a greater honor. Even if he did not adjoin these words, he gave them something to suspect from the things he was saying. And observe his wickedness: having overturned the judgment of God, and having said that great good things would be theirs if they did not obey Him, such as the opening of their eyes and equality with God, and hidden knowledge, he did not add that the one who keeps these things is wicked, so that he might not appear to be speaking as a certain enemy and foe who is defending himself, but rather, donning the mask of a counselor and protector, he might make the wicked advice acceptable; which is just what happened. Not

by these words did he intend anything other than to make you depart from God who created you. ^A For he is envious, he says, and full of malice; he envies your greatest blessings. But he did not put these words forward openly, for otherwise, suspecting him to be an enemy, you would have fled. By passing over these and veiling them, he introduced this pernicious counsel. In the very same way, he does not now say, "Depart from Christ," as if the divine precepts were to be condemned—for he knows that, were he to lie, he would not be believed—but he subtly appears to let us remain in these things and to agree with the truth, yet in another way he casts us out from this eternal inheritance, just as if someone were to take a noble and free-born boy, though simple and incautious, and not indeed cast him out of his father's house by force, but were to exhort him to do such things that, willingly or unwillingly, he would fall out of all his father's possessions. For it is not possible that he who clings to fate should be able to attain heaven; indeed, it is not possible that he should be able to escape hell and punishment, for fate commands things contrary to the divine precepts. God says: "If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the earth; but if you refuse and will not listen to me, the sword shall devour you." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things (Isai. 1, 19-20). ^B

Whether fate hinders free will.

8vestram fear. For by the grace of God, to those who are grounded in the faith, their arguments appear weaker than spiderwebs; and even if they repeat them to our ears a thousand times, they bring upon themselves so much the more of our laughter, like those who are deranged and have lost their own senses. But we fear for your weakness. I do not say this against all, but against those who are liable to the things mentioned, and against those who believe them. Since even Paul, who was master of all, exhorts us not only to avoid teachings but also to shun the logomachies and empty speech of strangers, demonstrating this to his disciple Timothy. Short is the time of our life, and small the provision for salvation. If, therefore, we waste this short time, which has been given to us for learning useful things, on superfluous, useless, and harmful auditory entertainment, when will we acquire anything else to learn what is necessary and urgent? For although, if it had been long, it would have been our duty to spend it all on useful things; yet when it is short and brief, how is it not the height of folly to spend the scarcity of it on doctrines that corrupt our soul? What need have you of medicine? Do not receive a wound, do not waste time in curing what you take from others; strengthen your health from the divine Scriptures. If someone approaches saying something else, block your ears, leap away immediately, do not linger. And if, when a gathering of kings was held, you would not have dared to participate in the council, since you would risk everything by the communion of the audience, even if you did not give your assent; when something is said against God, and the dogma is full of accusations against Him, will you not turn away from the blaspheming tongue, will you not block the ungodly mouths? And how will you be able to pray to God with boldness, while participating in the slanders against Him? I beseech you, do not do it. These things are not said by me to those present, or rather, they are said also to those present. For even if you are not liable, but you know some who are suffering from this disease, pour out these reproaches upon them and others too, so as to root out the evil entirely. May it happen by the prayers of the saints and the friends of God (for our words do not have as much power as the boldness of their prayer), may it happen that we all, and as many as contribute to the fullness of the Church, having been delivered from these evils, may stand with boldness before the judgment seat of Christ, to whom is the glory. Amen.

ON FATE AND PROVIDENCE. Homily III.

I know that I spoke to your love previously about fate, but nothing prevents our exercising our reason on the same subject today; not because the disease is strong, but because our sloth is profound, which causes even small diseases to become great. Since it is clear even to a blind man naturally, that the believer does not need words or teaching for the flight from this evil. For just as one who inhabits our world, and lives according to our laws, and is subject to our kings, does not need to be persuaded that he should not introduce Persian government into our own—it is not necessary, but only to forbid it—so too here. For of sins, some are in need of reason and teaching, while others are so manifest and clear that they are prevented only by fear and punishment; for instance, murdering, committing adultery, and stealing do not need reason. For this very reason the lawgiver did not compose an instruction for us above these, telling us that the act is wicked—for it had already taken hold of us in our conscience—but only forbade it: *You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder* (Deut. 5:17, 18). But when he discourses to us about the neglect of widows and the villainy of deposits, he also puts forward reasons: *Have mercy on the widow*, he says, *and the stranger; for you also were a stranger in the land of Egypt* (Deut. 10:18). *Honor the Sabbath rest*, he says; then he also adds a reason. Therefore, avoiding fate is not of the things that need a reason, but of those that are clear. For just as it is clear that murdering is wicked and committing adultery is base, so it is clear that paying attention to fate is wicked and forbidden. Do not think, from the fact that it is persuaded by some, that it is among the things not forbidden; for murder is also attempted, and yet it is forbidden by the laws; and adulteries and robberies are among the forbidden things, even though they are practiced by many. For that it is among the forbidden things, just as murder is, according to the laws themselves of the Greeks, is clear. Let someone who has committed adultery with someone’s wife, when accused in a court of law, say that it was not I, but fate; for I indeed wished to be chaste, but it pushed me and threw me. Will he not for this reason give a heavier penalty, as one defending himself with ridiculous arguments? Will he obtain any pardon? In no way. And yet, according to them, he should. For if all things happen by fate and not by choice, there is no greater defense than this. For if choice is mistress and more powerful than fate, fate would not exist; if, even if one contrives a million things, the necessity to fulfill its commands must occur, this man is punished in vain, and will not obtain pardon. But no one will hear him defending himself, nor obtaining pardon; so much has the matter been accused among all, and it is thought to be a fable and a toy. Many of the magistrates (although, if one suffers violence by a man, this very thing is enough for a defense to the one accused, or rather it is not even thought to be a crime), many, at least, of the magistrates, having been accused in cases of unjust murder, have given a penalty; but as for the executioners who serve the murder, and have become the authors of the slaughter, no one even drags them to court, nor does one even inquire, in the first place, with necessity pleading on their behalf, and the dignity of the office, and the fear of subjection. Then, they know how to grant pardon to a man, because he was compelled by a fellow human being; but when it comes to God, they think that the sins committed by them are not their own, but are the result of fate—or rather, they are ashamed to say it openly—and they act as if they are not masters of their own actions.

^A forced by a man who is a fellow-tribesman and of the same race; is it not much more necessary that pardon be granted to a man forced by fate? Yet one should have fled. But the empire of that [fate], as they say, is so impregnable that even if you should flee to a desert, or to the sea, or to any other place you might reach, you would not escape its decrees. How then would it not be absurd that he who is forced by the violence of barbarians should enjoy the greatest leniency, so as not even to be accused, while he who is compelled by a stronger necessity, as they say, should pay the penalty and not be given the opportunity to provide a defense for his conduct? For no one has ever escaped punishment by alleging fate: not the criminal in the courthouse, not the servant at home, not the boy in school, nor the student in the arts, whenever they commit an offense. How, then, do some defend fate and favor it, granting its necessity not even the least bit of leniency? Thus, indeed, convinced by the truth and their own conscience, they believe the matter to be a myth. But when they have fallen into grievous sins, they bring forward another excuse—by which they think they can escape punishment—as if they were not about to give a heavier account ^B for that very reason. For it is not so grave a thing to sin as it is, after sinning, to act impudently and to blame God for one’s own wicked deeds. This is the worst of all sins; and the devil takes care to ensure this, so that he may not only make us sluggish toward virtue and prone to evil and persuade us to attribute everything to God, but also—under the pretext of an apology—may cast both our soul and our tongue into blasphemy, so that we may both accuse God and shift the hatred for our own misdeeds onto [Him], and transfer the blame onto one who is not the cause. And yet, if anyone among men were to dare such a thing, that alone would be enough for his accusation and destruction. For when anyone slanders another, even if he has committed no evil, he is punished as one guilty of a crime. See, therefore, how many evils the devil composes through fate: he destroys the desire for virtue, for he relaxes the soul, however eager it may be to labor for its sake, by persuading it that none of the events that befall us are to be reckoned as vice. For when one has learned that the adulterer, the murderer, and the one who breaks through walls ^C are not worthy of blame, he will not cease—as if acting of his own accord on a precipice—to make others slanderers of providence, and he himself becomes a slanderer of God: and what, I ask, could be more destructive than this? Let us flee, therefore, beloved, from such idolatry: for truly there is death in the pot (4 Kings 4.40), and everyone who has drawn from it even a little of these perverse dogmas must utterly perish, unless he should retreat and enjoy pure health. So that we may not later weep fruitlessly, when the appointed time for repentance after our departure has been cut off for us, let us, as long as it is in our power, as many of us as have been seized by this disease, repent and recover ourselves; and as many of us as are healthy, let us both preserve our own soundness and stretch out a hand to those seized by this disease. For if we display such zeal and care for those who are sick in body, what ought we not to perform when the disease of the soul is upon us? What will we not endure to recover a brother, who is enrolled into the same fellowship of the members, and who belongs to the fullness of the ecclesiastical body? Let us therefore undertake everything, let us do everything for his sake, driving away the dogs and the wolves: nor let us think that our own salvation is sufficient for us. For just as it has been said, *If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and set your portion with adulterers* (Ps. 49.18), so let us also hear this here; when we see any of our brethren stealing through words and whispers, let us hear these same things. The Church is the house of the Lord; the faithful are precious vessels. When, therefore, you see an outsider attempting to snatch away anything from the vessels, even if you are not yourself caught in this vice, being one who is in danger if you neglect it and do not approach those who can correct it, you will be guilty of that soul, because when you saw the thief digging through, you did not prevent him either through yourself or through another. And I do not say this because I think danger hangs over you, but so that I may make you secure, and cause you to care for the salvation of others just as for your own. For thus we shall be able to attain the promised good things, by the grace of Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

CONCERNING PROVIDENCE AND FATE.

Discourse IV.

It is not wearisome for me to say the same things, but for you it is safe. For if it was necessary for Paul to instruct the disciples frequently in the doctrine—Paul, I say, who taught with the grace of the Spirit, and who with an order drove away the enemies, and who removed the ailments of all, Paul so honored, whom all heard as though an angel had descended from heaven, or rather as though it were Christ himself; if, therefore, it was necessary for him to repeat the same things frequently, much more so for us, who are of no account. For indeed, it is safe for you to hear of the same things frequently, and not only of the same things, but the same things about the same things. Let no one therefore be annoyed, nor consider it troublesome, if we retract the same things about the same hypothesis. For if it were permitted to trust that you would lay aside the ailment of your soul once you had heard these things, not even then should one depart from this argument, but one should speak about the same thing, so that the health might be firm and stable, and you might be cautious, so as not to fall back into these same works. Since, however, we suspect that remnants of the disease still remain in the hearers, a frequent exhortation concerning the same matters is necessary and reasonable for us. Today, however, it must be said how we might escape these things. How then shall we escape? First by prayers and discourse with God, second by pious thoughts. For if you should see both what things are future and what are present, and had made a righteous calculation of both, your soul would never...

^A be touched by this evil. When, therefore, you see someone wealthy beyond their merit, do not call them blessed, do not think them to be envied, and do not condemn the providence of God, nor suppose that these present things occur in vain and randomly because so-and-so is wealthy beyond their desert. Remember Lazarus and the rich man, how the one had reached the height of affluence and luxury, being crude, harsh, inhuman, and more savage than the very dogs—for the dogs, indeed, pitied the poor man and tended to him, not hesitating to touch the sores that covered his whole body, whereas the rich man would not even share his crumbs with him. Consider, then, how the one had reached the height of affluence, while that poor man—the truly rich, the truly affluent one—had fallen into the very extreme of poverty, wanting even necessary food, and struggling with disease and constant hunger. The one had even less than he needed, while the other did not even enjoy moderation. Yet, nevertheless, he did not complain, he did not utter an impious word, he did not accuse God, he did not blame providence, he did not attribute what had happened to fate, he did not say to anyone, nor even to himself: “I have done nothing evil specifically, yet I pay such a penalty and endure the extreme punishment, consumed by hunger, wasted by a most grievous disease, fading away little by little and being disgraced; while this man is wealthy and lives in luxury while dwelling in the misfortunes of others, he who mocks my evils.” And the one, the inhuman, merciless, crude, and stony man, God made master of so much wealth, while me, who did not provoke Him even with a mere word, He left to be stretched on such pains. Where is this worthy of righteous judgment? Where is this of the providence and care that is for us? Regarding none of these things did he speak. How then is it not absurd, when those who are suffering evil thus bless the Master in all things, but you, who stand outside these struggles, blaspheme God concerning those things for which others with gratitude remain? The man who is suffering terribly, even if he speaks some heavy and burdensome word, even if it is not such as another’s, yet he participates in a smaller forgiveness; but he who stands outside of these terrible things, and for the sake of others is destroying his own soul—what forgiveness would he be worthy of, blaspheming God for those things for which the one suffering evil gives thanks, and does not cease from praising Him at all times? When you see a righteous person suffering evil, remember this example; for you would not be able to name me anyone more righteous than him now; indeed, it is clear from his patience, clear from his rewards: for he obtained the first place of rest, enjoying honor with the patriarch Abraham; nor can you name one who suffered greater evils, or was so overlooked. For what could you say, when he did not even have the ability to satisfy himself with the crumbs that fell? When, therefore, you see extreme wickedness—for what is more savage than one who passes by another in such misfortune? ^B—what then could be more affluent than that table, and the supreme luxury of his clothing, and prosperity? Again, when you see extreme righteousness—for what could be more dear to God than a soul suffering such things and bearing extreme misery with nobility? For what could be more wretched than hunger and such an incurable disease? What excuse do you have, tell me, when you are scandalized by the others? For does everything stop within the boundaries of this present life? Wait for the end, and then you will see the retribution according to the merit of each one’s life; do not be troubled before the rewards, do not be troubled before the crowns. When, therefore, you see both having entered the tribunal, and having received the verdict, then also you yourself bring forth the judgment concerning each. How many now lie in wait on the roads, how many break through walls, how many break open the tombs of the departed, how many plot against the marriages of others, how many have destroyed many with poisonous drugs? Do we, therefore, accuse the Judge concerning these things? By no means. For if, having taken them as accused, He let them go, and punished the one suffering evil, and honored the one who did the deed, and sent him forth crowned, He would indeed be worthy of accusation and of extreme charges; but when they have not yet been delivered, nor has the time of the verdict arrived, nor does He yet exact payment, do you anticipate and condemn? But, he says, it was necessary for him to pay the penalty for his sins right here and now. Consider the things you have lived through, O man, enter into your own conscience, and you will change your mind; you will not praise this verdict, but you will accept the lover of mankind, God, for His long-suffering. For if each one were to be required to pay the penalty for their wrongs immediately upon committing them, our race would long ago have been snatched away. For who will boast of having a pure heart, or who will be confident of being pure from sins? But when you are pained at the long-suffering of God, consider your own wrongs with accuracy, and you will be grateful for the forbearance, having admired Him for His longsuffering. You are troubled and you wail, and you fill everything with confusion, because so-and-so is wealthy beyond his merit, and enjoys the attention of the many; then do you not hear the Psalmist saying, “Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, because when he dies he will take nothing, nor will his glory follow after him?” Do you not hear the prophet crying with a great voice, “All flesh is grass, and all glory of man as the flower of grass?” Do you not see the truth of reality itself bearing witness to the pronouncements of the prophets? Do you not see experience and the outcome voting in favor of what has been spoken, “Because when he dies he will take nothing?” Hear Job saying this very same thing, “Naked I came out of the womb of my mother, and naked I shall return,” for “when he dies he shall take nothing.” Hear Paul philosophizing the same things, “We brought nothing into the world; it is clear that neither are we able to carry anything out.” But you call a man blessed who is able to carry nothing from here of those things that owe him support on the day of judgment. And what other limit of wretchedness, tell me, and denunciation, than when one who lives in much luxury departs from here more dishonored than all? But if you saw any of these wealthy and arrogant men in the marketplace, enjoying much honor from strangers, having parasites and flatterers, but having returned to his own home, and being permitted to take nothing of those things, but appearing naked, dishonored, and worse and more wretched than beggars—would you think him to be envied, and not rather for this reason pity and lament him?

And the same also applies to the wealthy. But there are some who, when we move them to discussions of this philosophy, being addicted to their bellies like swine and goats, and serving the present circumstances, think that nothing remains after one's departure. Others, indeed, think that something does remain, but they set present things before future ones. To argue against those who think that nothing remains, and that the soul, being extinguished, will render no account, nor submit to any punishment, would perhaps be ridiculous, just as it would be to argue against madmen and those beside themselves. For even if someone were to doubt from day to day whether it is day, and were to raise a question about things that are universally admitted, it would not be opportune to persuade him with words and to bring him to that opinion. Yet, for the sake of your love, we will dispute even with such a person, just as the grace of God gives us. ^A What do you say, man—do you think there is nothing after this? For it is necessary to say this, seeing how, like steps of certain evils, the devil casts him who has once wandered from the path of truth into an ever-worse opinion. For observe: he persuaded them to neglect temperance, fairness, and the other virtues; he made them live wickedly, and henceforth accustomed them to a depraved conscience; and he led them to seek to transfer the punishment for their own misdeeds onto others, when they ought to have turned from their wickedness. But they did not do this; rather, they devised a wicked doctrine, teeming with ten thousand evils: that of fate. Then, being refuted in this and compelled to admit that there is nothing present ^B—for they subvert the future and abolish the argument concerning the resurrection. And if we refute them in this too, they fall into another impious doctrine; but for now, let us dispute what is at hand. Is there nothing after this, O man, and do you fight against these things? The Greeks, though they went astray in so many matters, yet did not resist the truth of this doctrine. But even if you follow them, they granted that there is some life after this, and that there are accounts to be rendered, and tribunals in Hades, and punishments, and honors, and decisions, and judgments. If you were to ask the Jews, or heretics, or any person whatsoever, he will be ashamed to deny the truth of this doctrine; and if they differ in other things, they all agree in this and say that for what is done here, accounts must be rendered there. But you are unwilling to obey any of these, but being once given over to error, you act shamelessly. Therefore, for the sake of those who are still sensible, it is necessary to stir up arguments for them. For he who confesses that there is nothing after this, it is necessary that he also confess that there is no God. Do you see, as I said, how the subsequent opinions are always worse than the former ones which they accept from them? For if there is nothing after this, then there is no God. For if God exists, He is just; if He is just, He renders to each according to his merit. But if there is nothing after this, where will each receive according to his merit? I wish you to observe this: many enjoy goods and honors in this life beyond their merit, as they themselves have already confessed, while others who live in justice are tortured. If, therefore, there is no time afterward, the just will depart having been treated unjustly, and the unjust having fared well beyond their merit. But if things are so, how can justice exist? For it is necessary that there be some time after this in which each is requited according to his merit; for in this life, this is not found. If there is no such time, how will each receive according to his merit? But if no one receives according to his merit, then according to you God is not just; if God is not just, then He is not God. But may this blasphemy be turned back upon the heads of those who compelled us to utter these things. See into what blasphemy the discourse has been driven. But that God exists, the things themselves cry out, and consequently He is just; if He is just, He renders to each according to his merit; if He renders to each according to his merit, it is necessary that there be another time after this, in which each will receive according to his merit, and will either pay the penalty for his deeds, or receive a reward (Gen. 4:7). Let us be sober, beloved: some dwell in ignorance of God, but let us be sober, let us be awake. You have sinned, do not add to it again; you have sinned, keep quiet; you have sinned, do not connect sins to sins. But we connect threefold and fourfold sins, imposing a burden of such doctrines upon our souls. You have sinned, acknowledge the Master who is merciful, kind, good, the physician, the one who forgives, the one easily entreated, the one who is approachable. Have you not heard that when a certain man had devoured ten thousand talents (Matt. 18:24), and had lost and dissipated all of his master’s goods, when he was ready to be sold with his wife and children, as soon as he wept, as soon as he touched the master’s feet, he found the remission of all that debt? And if you say that he was later handed over to the tormentors, those who know the history know the cause; you are telling me of another argument for philanthropy. For even when he had mercy and let him go, and again when he had no mercy and cast him into prison—just as he brought him aid then, so now he was a help to him; the one he received in such a way as to teach him not to be cruel and inhuman, and the other to free him from the violence and brutality of the other. See, beloved: this thought came to me well while speaking: how not only the greed for what is another’s, and the plunder of goods, but even the lack of mercy brings about Gehenna for us. For this man was handed over to the tormentors, not because he had unjustly snatched another's property, but because he inhumanly demanded back his own. For it is said that he was owed; but even if he was owed, you too were owed the same thing, and the same fairness ought to have been observed in both cases. Therefore He forgave you, so that He might show you His own kindness, and make you an emulator of the Master’s gentleness. But because, having been received kindly, you have not become better, He corrects you in another way, namely, by punishment and torture; therefore, even that is a kind of benefit. He handed him over to the tormentors, as the best physician would excise the evil from a soul. You did not yield to mild medicine; henceforth steel and fire are necessary for you. He who forgave the ten thousand talents knew that you were cruel and inhuman; but He waited so that He might clear Himself before you by the outcome of events, which He does for the most part, knowing that He acts justly. After He had cleared Himself before you, He does what He also did regarding the Sodomites: He did not immediately cast fire, nor did He lay waste those cities; but what? The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:20); and not that only, but, I will descend and see (Ib. v. 21). And He did not stop here, but sent the angels who would show you the wickedness of the inhabitants of the city, so that not even the shameless

shameless have cause to blaspheme God, [saying] that those who are inhospitable, or inhuman, or lawless, and those who ignore the dictates of justice, and those who overthrow the common laws of nature, and those filled with wickedness, ought to have perished. What is equal to such a benevolent and gentle God? And yet we, when we punish, do not often deign to give the reasons; but He, if He does not first teach you, if He does not first persuade you, and receive a vote from you that He justly inflicts punishment, does not avenge those who were long since worthy of punishment and vengeance; and He is ready to provide you with an account in many places, and He submits to be judged by you and does not shrink from going to trial. You see the prophets filled with these accounts, everywhere [representing] God’s tribunals with men. And often He calls those who have been wronged to judge their offenders, and often He places creation itself upon the judge’s seat, showing the conspicuousness of His judgments; God does not refuse to call either the adversary himself or insensible things to judgment: which is our custom when we are confident in our own rights. Hear, ^B *ye valleys, foundations of the earth, for judgment is for the Lord* (Mich. 6:2); and again, *Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken* (Is. 1:2). And often He says to them themselves, *My people, what have I done to you, or what have I wronged you?* (Mich. 6:3)? And Jeremiah, *What fault did your fathers find in me?* (Jer. 2:5)? He does not do this only according to cities and nations, but often according to the individual man. He is judged before David through the prophet, and to Jonah who refuses to preach to the Ninevites, He apologizes through the gourd: *If you spared the gourd, shall I not spare Nineveh?* (Jon. 4:10, 11). And you will find the Scriptures full of many such things. Knowing these things, then, let us worship ^C Him, let us admire Him, let us serve Him as far as is possible for us; for as is worthy, it is not possible. Let us attend to the present life, and be persuaded that God is over us, and that providence governs all things, and after these things it is possible for those who have departed to obtain the promised goods; of which may it be granted to us all to attain, by the grace of Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

ON FATE AND PROVIDENCE. ORATION V.

No doctrine is truly so wicked, beloved, and so full of incurable corruption, as the doctrine of fate and genesis. For besides the fact that it inserts a blasphemous and impious and destructive opinion into the souls of the deceived, and persuades them to say such things about God as one would not even say about demons, it also confuses our life, [and] ^D fills everything with noise and much disturbance; and all things which have been introduced for instruction and correction by God and by nature, and through prophets and holy men, it overturns and destroys, and shows them to be superfluous. And it does the same as if one, seeing a body sick and needing medicines, while doctors were present and preparing the medicine, were to persuade [him] to use none of these, nor to be delivered from the disease, but through carelessness and sloth to submit to his own [state], and to await the most miserable destruction. Or does not fate say these things? Let no one therefore persuade you [so], if it is truly in the work [of fate] that you might perceive this destructive and harmful teacher of evils. For if it is absolutely necessary that the fated things happen, whether men are diligent or sleeping, let no farmer yoke his oxen, nor draw the plow, nor cut the furrow, nor cast the seeds, nor observe the appropriate time of the year, nor endure cold, and continuous rain, and hardship, and toils for the allotted year, let him not sharpen the sickle, nor reap the harvest, nor thresh the ears of corn, nor plant, nor tend the plants, having utterly thrown away all care of agriculture, let him sit at home, and sleep all the time; for it will surely come to pass if it is fated and spun for him, the goods will come of their own accord into his house; but if Clotho has turned the spindle to the opposite, even if he toils ten thousand times, there will be no end to his toils and sweats.

^A Why then do you apply yourself to tasks, and provide for yourself and another? And why, when you speak of your children, do you not dare to do this even with your servants, but you threaten and terrify them, and move every stone to ensure your servant is good, and you do not trust in the stars? Why, then, if he is bad, do you punish him? For it is not his transgression, but that of the ruling stars. Why, if he is good, do you praise him? For the good work is not his, but that of the stars. Nay, rather, no one will be either good or bad. For if a person does none of these things of his own accord, but is compelled by necessity from elsewhere, he will be neither the one nor the other. Why then do we praise men? Why do we blame them? Why do we curse them? Why do we pray for others? Do you see into what absurdity the doctrine of fate has led us? No one is temperate, no one intemperate, no one covetous, no one just; virtue and wickedness are abolished; and we have been brought into this present life in vain; or rather, not in vain, but to our own detriment. How, I ask, would it not be absurd to be driven into wickedness by the necessity of the stars and, again, by this same necessity to pay the ultimate ^B penalties for wickedness, when we should have been deserving of pity and mercy, yet we are hated and punished where we should have been honored? For he who is treated unjustly and violently should be honored, not punished; but we are treated with both injury and punishment. What could be more irrational than this: that because we suffer evil and are driven into wickedness, we are for that reason to pay the penalty? Fate made the murderer, and punishes him who has obeyed it; what could ever be more pernicious than this dogma? Just as if someone were to push a man into a pit, and having seized him as he fell, were to demand punishment for that very reason; or as if someone were to hand over a man to a barbarian mistress for him to be tortured and subjected to countless evils, and having handed him over, were to punish him because of his servitude and captivity. And could anything, I ask, be more savage or more wretched than such a system? If these things are so, and if enemies and foes know how to grant forgiveness to their enemies when they have committed even the gravest things against them unwillingly and against their will, does Fate not grant forgiveness to its own subjects who are absolutely obedient to it—nay, who are driven by necessity—but instead demands penalties for the very things it forced them to do? What kind of confusion, what kind of labyrinth, what kind of storm, tell me, simulates such a disorder? It was not enough for me ^C that there is one mode of injustice: that I am cast into wickedness though I have committed no sin, and that another who has done nothing good becomes good and enjoys honor; it is not enough that this one injustice has happened, that it has made me evil and him good without reason or cause, but it adds another, nor does it imitate the righteous judgment of men. But men are so humane and kind that they distinguish the involuntary from the voluntary, yet this "Erinnys" and evil demon that governs human affairs confuses all things so. If, therefore, there is no God who looks upon these things, this opinion can be refuted on both sides. For it is impossible that in such a beautiful order of things there should be no providence. But if there is no God, how can these things stand firm? If there is a God, does He despise these things? For if He Himself made them, see the impiety and the magnitude of the blasphemy; if He did not make them, and neglects these works, this accusation will be no less than the former. Do you see how the devil is pressed on every side, while he drives men to rage against the Lord? Do you wish to persuade me that you believe in fate, and suppose it is truly a doctrine? Do not accuse an adulterous wife, do not burn with anger, do not bring a paramour before the judge's tribunal. If you see a wall being dug through, do not seize him who digs through it, nor seek ^D a penalty; for he did not do this of his own will, as you say. Do not care for any of your own affairs: for those things which have been determined by fate will come to pass in any case; throw away whatever gold you have; banish the care of your house, the marketplace, your slaves; your negligence will not be harmed by the negligence of fate. And yet you would not dare to do any of these things, having proof in the reality of the facts that you disapprove of this doctrine. Why then do you bring it forward in the matter of sin, which you condemn everywhere? Do you see that this doctrine is introduced from no other source than laziness, and neglect, and lethargy toward undertaking the labors of virtue? If the stars rule, there is no judgment; if the stars rule, there is no faith; if the stars rule, there is no God; if the stars rule, there is no virtue, there is no wickedness; if the stars rule, we both do and suffer all things in vain, all things at random; there is no praise, no blame, no shame, no modesty, no laws, no courts. Whence, you will ask, is this man rich, whence is that one poor? Certainly, if we were ignorant of the cause of these things, we ought to have remained in ignorance rather than adopt another wicked dogma. For it is better to be ignorant well than to know ill; for the former is free from blame, the latter lacks forgiveness. But now, by the grace of God, it is clear whence this one is rich and that one is poor: for he has either obtained an ancestral inheritance, or has engaged in trade and commerce, or has stolen another's belongings, or has become rich by rapine, or by having married a wealthy wife, or by agriculture, or by some craft, or has been increased by some other similar means. There are many reasons for acquiring wealth, some just, some unjust. The same reason applies to poverty; for one falls into indigence either through calumnies, or through the rapine of others, or through one's own gluttony, or through sloth, or through folly, or in some other way—for there are many paths to poverty. But for what reason, you will say, does he who feeds harlots and parasites and flatterers, and who treats the affairs of others with insolence...

and lives this loose and dissolute life, possess money ^A as if from fountains, while another, living with equity, temperance, justice, and the other virtues, lacks even necessary food? It is because the former is base and chooses the laborious path of virtue, while the latter is wicked and has accepted the flowing and dissolute path of vice. For what reason, then, does the wicked man grow rich while the good man is poor? So that the latter, if he endures and bears his trials with patience, may receive the greater crown, and the former may receive the greater punishment and judgment, unless he changes and becomes better and acknowledges his Master. For those comforts given by God more heavily burden those who remain wicked; and the abundance provided by Him, to those who do not use it for its required purpose, becomes an addition to their indictment. Thus, therefore, are the afflictions and straits of good men an addition to their crowns, even if they should suffer. ^B There is, at any rate, a certain moderate indulgence; for sins are not judged simply, but the rich man is judged in one way, and the poor man in another: the latter with indulgence, the former without indulgence. For instance, suppose a thief who is ambitious, both a rich man and a poor man. The former, even if his excuse be weak, nevertheless has some refuge—the necessity stemming from his poverty—whereas the latter has no decent or reasonable refuge. So, as much as the poor man is diminished in the present life, by so much does he gain in the future in righteous deeds, while the rich man gains in sins. Do not, therefore, think the poor man is treated unjustly, nor that the rich man has the advantage. Just as with regard to the wicked: those who pay the penalty here have either washed off the whole, or they will give a smaller punishment there, since they have undergone the penalty of great suffering here. ^C So also with regard to the good: those who enjoy honor here, while remaining wicked, have that honor as provisions for punishment. See, then, how God everywhere reproaches the wicked for the honors of this life. "I gave you," He says, "all that belonged to your Master" (2 Reg. 12:8); and again to the priests in the time of Eli, speaking of the honor (1 Reg. 2:28); and elsewhere, "I gave from among your young men for prophets, and from among your sons for sanctification" (Amos 2:11); and everywhere in the desert He adds the same. So when you see a rich man acting unjustly, overreaching, and seizing, for this reason especially lament for him, because being rich he does these things; for he is laying up for himself a greater punishment. When you see a poor man taking great thought for righteousness, for this reason especially admire him, because he is such while in poverty. If these things are settled in your mind, you will never be troubled at the things that happen, if you look to the future, if you consider the present as nothing, if you always hope for those things, if you withdraw yourself from these. May we all be able to attain those good things, by the grace of Christ. Amen.

ON FATE, OR AGAINST GLUTTONY. ORATIO VI.

"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (Isai. 22:13): in the time of the prophets, many among the Jews were saying this. But that the Jews should say these things—those whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame (Philipp. 3:19)—is nothing to be wondered at. But that, after grace, after the disdain for present things, and after such perfection and precision, there should still be some even now—if not speaking it with their words, yet shouting this same thing through their deeds—how worthy of indictment would that be? For there are, there truly are, those who think they have been brought into this life for this reason: that having lived in luxury, and having burst their bellies and fattened their bodies, they might thus depart, preparing for the worm a more abundant feast from their own flesh. And would that this were the only evil, that they wasted the present life in vain and without purpose and for no good end—although even this is not without faults or grounds for indictment. For when we consume the money given to us by God for the sustenance of the body and for the assistance of those in need, upon licentiousness and insolence and the ultimate sloth, this ^D worst expenditure will not be unpunishable for us, but we shall entirely give an account; and what was said concerning the five talents and the two and the one (Matt. 25:15) can be applied to money and to all other things. Therefore, as I was saying, although we have arrived in vain and for nothing, such a practice would not be unpunishable for us; but now, apart from this, another judgment will be laid against us. For anyone living in luxury, and practicing drunkenness, and feeding parasites and flatterers, and bursting himself with meat-eating and wine-drinking, is often forced to sin, both whether he will or not, and while in the present time and when he has departed from here. For just as a ship that has taken on a multitude of cargo greater than its own capacity, becoming weighed down by the magnitude of the load, becomes submerged, so also the soul, and the nature of our body, having received more food than its own capacity, becomes flooded; and not enduring the weight of what has been heaped upon it, it is plunged into the sea of destruction, and destroys along with itself the pilot and the sailors and the bow-swain and the passengers—and the very cargo itself. Just as, therefore, in the case of ships so disposed, no tranquility of the sea, no knowledge of the pilot, no multitude of sailors, no readiness of the equipment, no seasonable time, no anything else, benefits the ship so storm-tossed; so too does it happen for those living in luxury. No multitude of reasonings, no instruction and exhortation, no warnings and counsels, no anything else—neither the fear of future things, nor shame, nor the indictment of present things—nothing else can save the soul so storm-tossed; but lack of measure prevails over all, and brings down the one who acts in such ways—whether he will or not—so that he is submerged, and it causes a disastrous shipwreck, from which it is not easy to recover. And such a person becomes useless not only for future things and the account to be given there, but also for the present life, and is fit for nothing, but is everywhere a laughingstock, whether in public or in private affairs; and if there should be need for any urgent matter to be done, he will be found having no forethought, no capacity for management, in all things.

^A his enemies he is easy to capture, and to all his friends and those related to him he is useless. And he will not only be easily harmed in dangers and calamities, nor will he be unbearable only in peaceful and tranquil times, but even in difficult times, because of his lack of moderation, he will be useless for everything that happens. For in those times, I mean in distress, cowardice, weakness, excessive fear, and lack of counsel will occupy him; but here, boldness, sloth, intemperance, lack of moderation, pride, and arrogance render him more intractable than what was mentioned before. For not only are the bodies of such men deformed, soft, and running, becoming everywhere filled with foul odor; but the soul also is rendered far more deformed than the body by the diseases it receives from luxury. For as the body does not only release its natural waste, but pours out more of it from every part — for the eyes, the nostrils, and the mouth, burdened by the flood of interior ^B matter, are filled with foulness and corruption, and the very nature of the flesh, becoming softer than fits its natural constitution, and filled like mire and impure filth, becomes both putrid and inert, and inept for every good work. For the earth itself, when oppressed by such an abundance, loses its own innate heat, loses its own power, and is fit neither for cultivation nor for its own fruitfulness. From this, then, those who live perpetually in luxury are seized by grievous and incurable diseases: they become subject to tremors, paralysis, consumption, mucoid head conditions, pains of the feet and hands, and many others which the physicians mention. So that, even if there were no Gehenna, no punishment, no final condemnation from God, no rebuke from men, and no unreasonable expense, nor the ten thousand other things that spring from luxury, but only this were present, would ^C it not be enough to turn everyone away? For such tables are no better than poisonous medicines; nay, even if one must speak the truth, they are far worse. For those medicines quickly remove the one who takes them and lead him to death without pain, so that he who dies is not even pained by this; but luxury brings a life more grievous than ten thousand deaths upon those who value it most highly—a life, I say, not only miserable, but also shameful and ridiculous. For other ailments have many who sympathize with them; but as for those that arise from luxury and drunkenness, even if spectators wish to pity those who are seized by such a malady, they are not allowed to do so; for the magnitude of the evil inclines one to pity, but the occasion of the disease, if it is known, stirs up indignation. Since we are held in a state of conflicted feeling, we neither pity them—for the cause of the disease forbids it—nor are we angry—for the magnitude of the evil does not permit it—but we stand ^D between rebuke and mercy. For they are not tormented by nature, as are others, nor are they beset by the snares of men, but they themselves are the authors of these sicknesses for themselves, and they cast themselves willingly into a pit of evils. Just as, therefore, we do not pity much those who prepare nooses for themselves, and those who throw themselves down precipices, and those who kill themselves by running through the midst of swords—or rather, if pardon is to be granted, we would grant it to the latter rather than the former, even if the former deserve no pardon. For the former flee to the solace of death to escape greater evils, whether by calumnies, or by monetary fines, or by the fear of peril or blows, or by any other fear, and they run to death as to an asylum, or as if to a tranquil harbor when a storm is coming; but these men, while they can claim nothing of the sort, have surrendered themselves to a life more grievous than ten thousand violent deaths. Now here it is opportune to mention that saying of the wise: "Who will pity the charmer if he be bitten by a serpent, and all those who draw near to wild beasts 772 (Eccli. 12. 13)?" For luxury is a wild beast, a grievous and untractable beast; and neither a scorpion nor a serpent, clinging to our own vitals, ravages us in every way as the desire for luxury overturns and consumes everything. For those wild beasts only intrigue against the body; but this one, when it has established its seat, ruins both body and soul. Wherefore, let us flee from it, I speak to those who are prudent. If it has any utility, let us not hear these words, let us not obey; but if the things said are true, and this is the ruin of all, and the most ridiculous thing of all, spare yourselves and the health of your body and the sanity of your soul. I do not say that you should bring yourself to the austerity of diet, unless you wish to do so yourself: let us cut away the superfluous, let us lop off the unnecessary. What kind of pardon shall we be worthy of, when others do not even enjoy needed things, though it is in their power, while we go far beyond what is necessary? Let us set as a limit for our diet what does not harm, what wards off hunger without damage, and let us seek nothing further: nay, if it be permitted to bring forward something miraculous to tell and contrary to the opinion of the vulgar, it is nevertheless true: if we seek even pleasure, we will find it in moderate food rather than in luxury. Hear how this pleasure is greater and more abundant than that. For that one cannot consist steadily, nor does it find a nature of foods suitable to itself; but this one can consist even from its contraries. Who says this? He who most of all enjoyed these things. "For a soul that is sated," he says, "even mocks at honeycombs" (Prov. 27. 7). You see how it is easy for that soul to be supported both by few things and by all things, but this one not in the least? For if we do not even crave a honeycomb, what can be pleasant to us from the rest? If that which is sweetest of all cannot bring pleasure, what will be able to establish us in pleasure? Therefore, if we seek pleasure, we will find it here more. How, then, would it not be of extreme madness to flee the table that has pleasure and health and all good things, and is acceptable to God; and to prepare another, filled with infinite calamities, unpleasant, troublesome, harmful to the health of the body, and, what is most grievous of all, provoking God against us? For if "the widow who is in delicacies is dead while she lives" (1 Tim. 5. 6), what shall we say of a man...]]

^A in such conditions? In the Old Testament ^B this is forbidden with great precision, and the prophet uses heavy censure against those who live in luxury; although he has described a kind of luxury that is not very costly, nor truly delicate: "Those who eat lambs from the flocks and calves from the stalls; who drink strained wine, and anoint themselves with the finest ^C oils; who sleep on ivory beds and lounge on their couches" (Amos 6. 4, 6). If these things are worthy of accusation, when all things were carnal, and there was no account of heaven, when the Jewish institutions were a pedagogy, what shall we say to the present stupidity? If eating lambs and milk-fed calves as a sort of fluid and superfluous thing convicts the living, what might we say about those who search the nooks of the sea, and the remote ends of the earth, and gather up from everywhere hunters of every kind of bird and fish for themselves? If those who drink strained wine are under blame, what couldst thou say to those who arrange overseas journeys for the sake of wine, and move everything so that no kind of vine may escape them, as if they were about to give an account, or to be condemned for the uttermost, if they were not filled with every kind of wine? If it is worthy of blame to use an ivory bed, what pardon could those find who heap much silver upon them, or rather, who fashion not only beds, but already footstools, and cauldrons, and jars, and chamber pots out of silver alone? What small or great thing will they be able to say in those examinations?

I add to these things the hardest of all, that these things are collected even from the calamities of others. And yet the prophet did not set this down, but only censured the luxury. But when a cause graver than the luxury is present, who shall deliver those who do such things from the ultimate punishment? What Noah shall stand by? What Job? What Daniel? There is no one. But concerning these it is possible to say: "There will my anger burn like smoke" (Isa. 65. 5). For it is not, I beseech you, possible for one to be filled with the ultimate anger and wrath, and to be torn apart, when another does not enjoy even the necessary food, and you for no reason and in vain fashion silver for no purpose, not even for show? For neither will it be useful to you for this very thing, but it will be turned into the opposite. For you do this so that you may become conspicuous and illustrious, but the opposite happens. For you are not conspicuous and illustrious, but, because of your cruelty and greed and the ultimate evils, everyone accuses you. For how great is the envy, how great the malice, how great the disgust from all, how great the desire for change in everyone? I let pass the blasphemies against God which such riches produce; and yet this is more grievous than all; and that which precedes this, and whatever else thou mightest say, thou wilt find one thing worse than another. But not so with the balanced and moderate life, which the prophet does not mock, nor man blame, nor God accuse, nor fire punish; nor does anyone turn away from it, nor hate, nor envy it; but God accepts it, and angels share in it, and men praise it, and heaven receives it. These tables even received angels, with these Christ is present, not with those. Such were the tables of the prophets, such those of the apostles, such those of the just. But those of tyrants and of those who are wrongly wealthy on earth, having dancers, and the others who live for the ruin of life, both thieves and sorcerers and tomb-robbers—those are such. When thou providest such a table, an angel flies away, and God is provoked, and the prince of demons rejoices, and those who turn away and hate and pine away are not only the enemies, but also those who seem to have a kindly relation to the man, eating him away with envy more than enjoying the things present. But when one provides that other, the sober and balanced one, which has no inflammation, and is most sweet and pleasant to all friends, and to God, and to angels, and to men: then the Only-Begotten of God is present. For just as He flees from pride, and every haughty person, and turmoil, so He is a friend to the humble, and abides always, and fences and walls them in on every side. When Christ is present, one should search for nothing else. Knowing these things, then, beloved, let us flee those things, let us pursue these, that we may attain both the present and the future good things, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, honor, with the holy Spirit, now and always, and into the ages of the ages. Amen.

ADMONITION

Truly here it is not taught that prayers are to be sent up perpetually, but only assiduously and frequently. And what others, the doctors and masters of the Christian life, preach: wherefore no suspicion can arise from this. But another thing may be objected, because it is busy: it expressly ascribes the book of Ecclesiasticus, or that of Jesus son of Sirach, to Solomon, and I know not whether thou mightest find this elsewhere in Chrysostom. Moved by these reasons, we have placed these two orations among the

AMPHIBALLOMENA (DOUBTFUL)