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| To Those Who Had Not Attended the Assembly.
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to those who had not attended the assembly.
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To those who had not attended the assembly; on the
apostolic saying, “If thy enemy hunger feed him,” and
concerning resentment of injuries.
1. I did no good as it
seems by the prolonged discourse which I lately addressed to you
with a view to kindling your zeal for the assemblies here:740
| 740 The date of this Homily cannot be determined, but
the allusions which it contains to the Imperial palace and guard,
and some other points of internal evidence prove that it was
delivered at Constantinople. | for again
our Church is destitute of her children. Wherefore also I am again
compelled to seem vexatious and burdensome, reproving those who are
present, and finding fault with those who have been left behind:
with them because they have not put away their sloth, and with you
because you have not given a helping hand to the salvation of your
brethren. I am compelled to seem burdensome and vexatious, not on
behalf of myself, or my own possessions, but on your behalf and for
your salvation, which is more precious to me than anything else.
Let him who pleases take it in bad part, and call me insolent and
impudent, yet will I not cease continually annoying him for the
same purpose; for nothing is better for me than this kind of
impudence. For it may be, it may be, that this at least if nothing
else, will put you to shame, and that to avoid being perpetually
importuned concerning the same things, ye will take part in the
tender care of your brethren. For what profit is there to me in
praise when I do not see you making advances in virtue? and what
harm is there from the silence of the hearers when I behold your
piety increasing? For the praise of the speaker does not consist in
applause, but in the zeal of the hearers for godliness: not in
noise made just at the time of hearing, but in lasting earnestness.
As soon as applause has issued from the lips it is dispersed in air
and perishes; but the moral improvement of the hearers brings an
imperishable and immortal reward both to him who speaks and to them
who obey. The praise of your cheers makes the speaker illustrious
here, but the piety of your soul affords the teacher much
confidence before the judgment-seat of Christ. Wherefore if any one
loves the speaker, let him not desire the applause but the profit
of the hearers. To neglect our brethren is no ordinary wrong, but
one which brings extreme punishment, and an inexorable penalty. And
the case of the man who buried the talent proves this: he was not
reproached at least on account of his own life: for as regarded the
deposit itself he did not turn out a bad man, since he restored it
intact: nevertheless he did turn out a bad man as regarded his
management of the deposit. For he did not double that which was
entrusted to him; and so was punished. Whence it is manifest that
even if we are earnest and well trained, and have much zeal about
hearing the holy scriptures this does not suffice for our
salvation. For the deposit must be doubled, and it becomes doubled
when together with our own salvation we undertake to make some
provision for the good of others. For the man in the parable said
“Lo! there thou hast that is thine:” but this did not serve him
for a defence: for it was said to him “thou oughtest to have put
the money to the exchangers.”741
And observe I pray how easy the commands of the
Master are: for men indeed make those who lend out capital sums at
interest answerable for
recalling them; “you have made the deposit,” one says, “you
must call it in: I have no concern with the man who has received
it.” But God does not act thus; He only commands us to make the
deposit, and does not render us liable for the recall. For the
speaker has the power of advising, not of persuading. Therefore he
says: “I make thee answerable for depositing only, and not for
the recall.” What can be easier than this? And yet the servant
called the master hard, who was thus gentle and merciful. For such
is the wont of the ungrateful and indolent; they always try to
shift the blame of their offences from themselves to their master.
And therefore the man was thrust out with torture and bonds into
the outer darkness. And lest we should suffer this penalty let us
deposit our teaching with the brethren, whether they be persuaded
by it, or not. For if they be persuaded they will profit both
themselves and us: and if they are not, they involve themselves
indeed in inevitable punishment, but will not be able to do us the
slightest injury. For we have done our part, by giving them advice:
but if they do not listen to it no harm will result to us from
that. For blame would attach to us not for failing to persuade, but
for failing to advise: and after prolonged and continual
exhortation and counsel they and not we, have to reckon henceforth
with God.
I have been anxious at any rate to know clearly,
whether you continue to exhort your brethren, and if they remain
all the time in the same condition of indolence: otherwise I would
never have given you any trouble: as it is, I have fears that they
may remain uncorrected in consequence of your neglect and
indifference. For it is impossible that a man who continually has
the benefit of exhortation and instruction should not become better
and more diligent. The proverb which I am about to cite is
certainly a common one, nevertheless it confirms this very truth.
For “a perpetual dropping of water” it says, “wears a
rock,” yet what is softer than water? and what is harder than a
rock? Nevertheless perpetual action conquers nature: and if it
conquers nature much more will it be able to prevail over the human
will. Christianity is no child’s play, my beloved: no matter of
secondary importance. I am continually saying these things, and yet
I effect nothing.
2. How am I distressed, think you, when I call
to mind that on the festival days the multitudes assembled resemble
the broad expanse of the sea, but now not even the smallest part of
that multitude is gathered together here? Where are they now who
oppress us with their presence on the feast days? I look for them,
and am grieved on their account when I mark what a multitude are
perishing of those who are in the way of salvation,742
| 742 τῶν σωζομ™νων, this
signifies “members of the Church,” merely, who, as such, are
heirs of salvation, or as the English catechism expresses it, are
in a “state of salvation,” although they may forfeit their
inheritance. Comp. Acts
ii. 47. | how large a
loss of brethren I sustain, how few are reached by the things which
concern salvation, and how the greater part of the body of the
Church is like a dead and motionless carcase. “And what concern
is that to us?” you say. The greatest possible concern if you pay
no attention to your brethren, if you do not exhort and advise, if
you put no constraint on them, and do not forcibly drag them
hither, and lead them away out of their deep indolence. For that
one ought not to be useful to himself alone, but also to many
others, Christ declared plainly, when He called us salt,743
and
leaven,744
and light:745
for these
things are useful and profitable to others. For a lamp does not
shine for itself, but for those who are sitting in darkness: and
thou art a lamp not that thou mayest enjoy the light by thyself,
but that thou mayest bring back yonder man who has gone astray. For
what profit is a lamp if it does not give light to him who sits in
darkness? and what profit is a Christian when he benefits no one,
neither leads any one back to virtue? Again salt is not an
astringent to itself but braces up those parts of the body which
have decayed, and prevents them from falling to pieces and
perishing. Even so do thou, since God has appointed thee to be
spiritual salt, bind and brace up the decayed members, that is the
indolent and sordid brethren, and having rescued them from their
indolence as from some form of corruption, unite them to the rest
of the body of the Church. And this is the reason why He called you
leaven: for leaven also does not leaven itself, but, little though
it is, it affects the whole lump however big it may be. So also do
ye: although ye are few in number, yet be ye many and powerful in
faith, and in zeal towards God. As then the leaven is not weak on
account of its littleness, but prevails owing to its inherent heat,
and the force of its natural quality, so ye also will be able to
bring back a far larger number than yourselves, if you will, to the
same degree of zeal as your own. Now if they make the summer season
their excuse: for I hear of their saying things of this kind,
“the present stifling heat is excessive, the scorching sun is
intolerable, we cannot bear being trampled and crushed in the
crowd, and to be steaming all over with perspiration and oppressed
by the heat and confined space:” I am ashamed of them, believe
me: for such excuses are
womanish: indeed even in their case who
have softer bodies, and a weaker nature, such pretexts do not
suffice for justification. Nevertheless, even if it seems a
disgrace to make a reply to a defence of this kind, yet is it
necessary. For if they put forward such excuses as these and do not
blush, much more does it behove us not to be ashamed of replying to
these things. What then am I to say to those who advance these
pretexts? I would remind them of the three children in the furnace
and the flame, who when they saw the fire encircling them on all
sides, enveloping their mouth and their eyes and even their breath,
did not cease singing that sacred and mystical hymn to God, in
company with the universe, but standing in the midst of the pyre
sent up their song of praise to the common Lord of all with greater
cheerfulness than they who abide in some flowery field:746
and together
with these three children I should think it proper to remind them
also of the lions which were in Babylon, and of Daniel and the
den:747
and not of
this one only but also of another den, and the prophet Jeremiah,
and the mire in which he was smothered up to the neck.748
And emerging
from these dens, I would conduct these persons who put forward heat
as an excuse into the prison and exhibit Paul to them there, and
Silas bound fast in the stocks, covered with bruises and wounds
lacerated all over their body with a mass of stripes, yet singing
praises to God at midnight and celebrating their holy vigil. For is
it not a monstrous thing that those holy men, both in the furnace
and the fire, and the den, and amongst wild beasts, and mire, and
in a prison and the stocks, and amidst stripes and gaolers, and
intolerable sufferings, never complained of any of these things,
but were continually uttering prayers and sacred songs with much
energy and fervent zeal, whilst we who have not undergone any of
their innumerable sufferings small or great, neglect our own
salvation on account of a scorching sun and a little short lived
heat and toil, and forsaking the assembly wander away, depraving
ourselves by going to meetings which are thoroughly unwholesome?
When the dew of the divine oracles is so abundant dost thou make
heat thy excuse? “The water which I will give him,” saith
Christ “shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting life;”749
and again; “He that believeth on
me as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water.”750
Tell me; when thou hast spiritual
wells and rivers, art thou afraid of material heat? Now in the
market place where there is so much turmoil and crowding, and
scorching wind, how is it that you do not make suffocation and heat
an excuse for absenting yourself? For it is impossible for you to
say that there you can enjoy a cooler temperature, and that all the
heat is concentrated here with us:—the truth is exactly the
reverse; here indeed owing to the pavement floor, and to the
construction of the building in other respects (for it is carried
up to a vast height), the air is lighter and cooler: whereas there
the sun is strong in every direction, and there is much crowding,
and vapour and dust, and other things which add to discomfort far
more than these. Whence it is plain that these senseless excuses
are the offspring of indolence and of a supine disposition,
destitute of the fire of the Holy Spirit.
3. Now these remarks of mine are not so much
directed to them, as to you who do not bring them forward, do not
rouse them from their indolence, and draw them to this table of
salvation. Household slaves indeed when they have to discharge some
service in common, summon their fellow slaves, but you when you are
going to meet for this spiritual ministry suffer your fellow
servants to be deprived of the advantage by your neglect. “But
what if they do not desire it?” you say. Make them desire it by
your continual importunity: for if they see you insisting upon it
they certainly will desire it. Nay these things are a mere excuse
and pretence. How many fathers at any rate are there here who have
not their sons standing with them? Was it so difficult for thee to
bring hither some of thy children? Whence it is clear that the
absence of all the others who remain outside is due not only to
their own indolence, but also to your neglect. But now at least, if
never before, rouse yourselves up, and let each person enter the
Church accompanied by a member of his family: let them incite and
urge one another to the assembly here, the father his son, the son
his father, the husbands their wives, and the wives their husbands,
the master his slave, brother his brother, friend his friend: or
rather let us not summon friends only but also enemies to this
common treasury of good things. If thy enemy sees thy care for his
welfare, he will undoubtedly relinquish his hatred.
Say to him: “art thou not ashamed and dost thou
not blush before the Jews who keep their sabbath with such great
strictness, and from the evening of it abstain from all work? And
if they see the sun verging towards setting on the day of the
Preparation they break off business, and cut short their traffic:
and if any one who has been
making a purchase from them, before the evening, comes in the
evening bringing the price, they do not suffer themselves to take
it, or to accept the money.” And why do I speak of the price of
market wares and transaction of business? Even if it were possible
to receive a treasure they would rather lose the gain than trample
on their law. Are the Jews then so strict, and this when they keep
the law out of due season, and cling to an observance of it which
does not profit them, but rather does them harm: and wilt thou, who
art superior to the shadow, to whom it has been vouchsafed to see
the Sun of Righteousness, who art ranked as a citizen of the
Heavenly commonwealth, wilt thou not display the same zeal as those
who unseasonably cleave to what is wrong, thou who hast been
entrusted with the truth, but although thou art summoned here for
only a short part of the day, canst thou not endure to spend even
this upon the hearing of the divine oracles? and what kind of
indulgence, pray, could you obtain? and what answer will you have
to make which is reasonable and just? It is utterly impossible that
one who is so indifferent and indolent should ever obtain
indulgence, even if he should allege the necessities of worldly
affairs ten thousand times over as an excuse. Do you not know that
if you come and worship God and take part in the work which goes on
here, the business you have on hand is made much easier for you?
Have you worldly anxieties? Come here on that account that by the
time you spend here you may win for yourself the favour of God, and
so depart with a sense of security; that you may have Him for your
ally, that you may become invincible to the dæmons because you are
assisted by the heavenly hand. If you have the benefit of prayers
uttered by the fathers, if you take part in common prayer, if you
listen to the divine oracles, if you win for yourself the aid of
God, if, armed with these weapons, you then go forth, not even the
devil himself will be able henceforth to look you in the face, much
less wicked men who are eager to insult and malign you. But if you
go from your house to the market place, and are found destitute of
these weapons, you will be easily mastered by all who insult you.
This is the reason why both in public and private affairs, many
things occur contrary to our expectation, because we have not been
diligent about spiritual things in the first place, and secondarily
about the secular, but have inverted the order. For this reason
also the proper sequence and right arrangement of things has been
upset, and all our affairs are full of much confusion. Can you
imagine what distress and grief I suffer when I observe, that if a
public holy day and festival is at hand there is a concourse of all
the inhabitants of the city, although there is no one to summon
them; but when the holy day and festival are past, even if we
should crack our voice by continuing to call you all day long there
is no one who pays any heed? For often when turning these things
over in my mind I have groaned heavily, and said to myself: What is
the use of exhortation or advice, when you do everything merely by
the force of habit, and do not become a whit more zealous in
consequence of my teaching? For whereas in the festivals you need
no exhortation from me, but, when they are past you profit nothing
by my teaching, do you not show that my discourse, so far as you
are concerned, is superfluous?
4. Perhaps many of those who hear these things are
grieved. But such is not the sentiment of the indolent: else they
would put away their carelessness, like ourselves, who are daily
anxious about your affairs. And what gain do you make by your
secular transactions in proportion to the damage you sustain? It is
impossible to depart from any other assembly, or gathering, in the
possession of so much gain as you receive from the time spent here,
whether it be the law court, or council-chamber, or even the palace
itself. For we do not commit the administration of nations or
cities nor the command of armies to those who enter here, but
another kind of government more dignified than that of the empire
itself; or rather we do not ourselves commit it, but the grace of
the spirit.
What then is the government, more dignified than
that of the empire, which they who enter here receive? They are
trained to master untoward passions, to rule wicked lusts, to
command anger, to regulate ill-will, to subdue vainglory. The
emperor, seated on the imperial throne, and wearing his diadem, is
not so dignified as the man who has elevated his own inward right
reason to the throne of government over base passions, and by his
dominion over them has bound as it were a glorious diadem upon his
brow. For what profit is there, pray, in purple, and raiment
wrought with gold, and a jewelled crown, when the soul is in
captivity to the passions? What gain is there in outward freedom
when the ruling element within us is reduced to a state of
disgraceful and pitiable servitude. For just as when a fever
penetrates deep, and inflames all the inward parts, there is no
benefit to be got from the outward surface of the body, although it
is not affected in the same way: even so when our soul is violently
carried away by the passion within, no outward government, not
even the imperial throne,
is of any profit, since reason is deposed from the throne of empire
by the violent usurpation of the passions, and bows and trembles
beneath their insurrectionary movements. Now to prevent this taking
place prophets and apostles concur on all sides in helping us,
repressing our passions, and expelling all the ferocity of the
irrational element within us, and committing a mode of government
to us far more dignified than the empire. This is why I said that
they who deprive themselves of this care751
| 751 i.e., the care of their brethren. That this
is the meaning appears from what follows. | receive a blow in the vital parts,
sustaining greater damage than can be inflicted from any other
quarter inasmuch as they who come here get greater gain than they
could derive from any other source: even as Scripture has declared.
The law said “Thou shalt not appear before the Lord empty;”752
that is,
enter not into the temple without sacrifices. Now if it is not
right to go into the house of God without sacrifices, much more
ought we to enter the assembly accompanied by our brethren: for
this sacrifice and offering is better than that, when thou bringest
a soul with thee into the Church. Do you not see doves which have
been trained, how they hunt for others when they are let out? Let
us also do this. For what kind of excuse shall we have, if
irrational creatures are able to hunt for an animal of their own
species, while we who have been honoured with reason and so much
wisdom neglect this kind of pursuit? I exhorted you in my former
discourse with these words: “Go, each of you to the houses of
your neighbours, wait for them to come out, lay hold of them, and
conduct them to their common mother: and imitate those who are mad
upon theatre going, who diligently arrange to meet each other and
so wait at early dawn to see that iniquitous spectacle.” Yet I
have not effected anything by this exhortation. Therefore I speak
again and shall not cease speaking, until I have persuaded you.
Hearing profits nothing unless it is accompanied by practice. It
makes our punishment heavier, if we continually hear the same
things and do none of the things which are spoken. That the
chastisement will be heavier, hear the statement of Christ. “If I
had not come and spoken to them they had not sin: but now they have
no cloke for their sin.”753
And the Apostle says “for not the
hearers of the law shall be justified.”754
These things He says to the
hearers; but when He wishes to instruct the speaker also, that even
he will not gain anything from his teaching unless his behaviour is
in close correspondence with his doctrine, and his manner of life
is in harmony with his speech, hear how the Apostle and the prophet
address themselves to him: for the latter says “but to the sinner
said God, why dost thou preach my laws and takest my covenant in
thy mouth, whereas thou hast hated instruction?”755
And the
Apostle, addressing himself to these same again who thought great
things of their teaching, speaks on this wise: “Thou art
confident that thou thyself art a leader of the blind, a light of
those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher
of babes: thou therefore that teachest another teachest thou not
thyself?”756
Inasmuch
then as it could neither profit me the speaker to speak, nor you
the hearers to hear, unless we comply with the things which are
spoken, but rather would increase our condemnation, let us not
limit the display of our zeal to hearing only, but let us observe
what is said, in our deeds. For it is indeed a good thing to spend
time continually in hearing the divine oracles: but this good thing
becomes useless when the benefit to be derived from hearing is not
linked with it.
Therefore that you may not assemble here in
vain I shall not cease beseeching you with all earnestness, as I
have often besought you before, “conduct your brethren to us,
exhort the wanderers, counsel them not by word only but also by
deed.” This is the more powerful teaching—that which comes
through our manners and behaviour—Even if you do not utter a
word, but yet, after you have gone out of this assembly, by your
mien, and your look, and your voice and all the rest of your
demeanour you exhibit to the men who have been left behind the gain
which you have brought away with you, this is sufficient for
exhortation and advice. For we ought to go out from this place as
it were from some sacred shrine, as men who have descended from
heaven itself, who have become sedate, and philosophical, who do
and say everything in proper measure: and when a wife sees her
husband returning from the assembly, and a father his son, and a
friend his friend, and an enemy his enemy, let them all receive an
impression of the benefit which you have derived from coming here:
and they will receive it, if they perceive that you have become
milder, more philosophical, more devout. Consider what privileges
you enjoy who hast been initiated into the mysteries,757
| 757 i.e., admitted to Holy Communion, which
catechumens were not permitted to witness. | with what
company thou offerest up that mystic hymn, with what company thou
criest aloud the “Ter sanctus.”
Teach “them that are without” that thou hast
joined the chorus of the Seraphim, that thou art ranked as a
citizen of the commonwealth above, that thou hast been enrolled in
the choir of Angels, that thou hast conversed with the Lord, that
thou hast been in the company of Christ. If we regulate ourselves
in this way we shall not need to say anything, when we go out to
those who are left behind: but from our advantage they will
perceive their own loss and will hasten hither, so as to enjoy the
same benefits themselves. For when, merely by the use of their
senses, they see the beauty of your soul shining forth, even if
they are the most stupid of men, they will become enamoured of your
goodly appearance. For if corporeal beauty excites those who behold
it, much more will symmetry of soul be able to move the spectator,
and stimulate him to equal zeal. Let us then adorn our inward man,
and let us be mindful of the things which are said here, when we go
out: for there especially is it a proper time to remember them; and
just as an athlete displays in the lists the things which he has
learned in the training school: even so ought we to display in our
transactions in the world without the things which we have heard
here.
5. Bear in mind then the things which are said
here, that when you have gone out and the devil lays hold of you
either by means of anger or vainglory, or any other passion, you
may call to remembrance the teaching which you have received here
and may be able easily to shake off the grasp of the evil one. Do
you not see the wrestling-masters in the practising grounds, who,
after countless contests having obtained exemption from wrestling
on account of their age, sit outside the lines by the side of the
dust and shout to those who are wrestling inside, telling one to
grasp a hand, or drag a leg, or seize upon the back, and by many
other directions of that kind, saying, “if you do so and so you
will easily throw your antagonist,” they are of the greatest
service to their pupils? Even so do thou look to thy training
master, the blessed Paul, who after countless victories is now
sitting outside the boundary, I mean this present life, and cries
aloud to us who are wrestling, shouting out by means of his
Epistles, when he sees us overcome by wrath and resentment of
injuries, and choked by passion; “if thy enemy hunger feed him,
if he thirst give him drink;”758
—a beautiful precept full of
spiritual wisdom, and serviceable both to the doer and the
receiver. But the reminder of the passage causes much perplexity,
and does not seem to correspond to the sentiment of him who uttered
the former words. And what is the nature of this? the saying that
“by so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” For by
these words he does a wrong both to the doer and the receiver: to
the latter by setting his head on fire, and placing coals upon it;
for what good will he get from receiving food and drink in
proportion to the evil he will suffer from the heaping of coals on
his head? Thus then the recipient of the benefit is wronged, having
a greater vengeance inflicted on him, but the benefactor also is
injured in another way. For what can he gain from doing good to his
enemies when he acts in the hope of revenge? For he who gives meat
and drink to his enemy for the purpose of heaping coals of fire on
his head would not become merciful and kind, but cruel and harsh,
having inflicted an enormous punishment by means of a small
benefit. For what could be more unkind than to feed a person for
the purpose of heaping coals of fire on his head? This then is the
contradiction: and now it remains that the solution should be
added, in order that by those very things which seem to do violence
to the letter of the law you may clearly see all the wisdom of the
lawgiver. What then is the solution?
That great and noble-minded man was well aware of
the fact that to be reconciled quickly with an enemy is a grievous
and difficult thing; grievous and difficult, not on account of its
own nature, but of our moral indolence. But he commanded us not
only to be reconciled with our enemy, but also to feed him; which
was far more grievous than the former. For if some are infuriated
by the mere sight of those who have annoyed them, how would they be
willing to feed them when they were hungry? And why do I speak of
the sight infuriating them? If any one makes mention of the
persons, and merely introduces their name in society, it revives
the wound in our imagination, and increases the heat of passion.
Paul then being aware of all these things and wishing to make what
was hard and difficult of correction smooth and easy, and to
persuade one who could not endure to see his enemy, to be ready to
confer that benefit already mentioned upon him, added the words
about coals of fire, in order that a man prompted by the hope of
vengeance might hasten to do this service to one who had annoyed
him. And just as the fisherman surrounding the hook on all sides
with the bait presents it to the fishes in order that one of them
hastening to its accustomed food may be captured by means of it and
easily held fast: even so Paul also wishing to lead on the man who
has been wronged to bestow a benefit on the man who has wronged him does not present to him
the bare hook of spiritual wisdom, but having covered it as it were
with a kind of bait, I mean the “coals of fire,” invites the
man who has been insulted, in the hope of inflicting punishment, to
confer this benefit on the man who has annoyed him; but when he has
come he holds him fast in future, and does not let him make off,
the very nature of the deed attaching him to his enemy; and he all
but says to him: “if thou art not willing to feed the man who has
wronged thee for piety’s sake: feed him at least from the hope of
punishing him.” For he knows that if the man once sets his hand
to the work of conferring this benefit, a starting-point is made
and a way of reconciliation is opened for him. For certainly no one
would have the heart to regard a man continually as his enemy to
whom he has given meat and drink, even if he originally does this
in the hope of vengeance. For time as it goes on relaxes the
tension of his anger. As then the fisherman, if he presented the
bare hook would never allure the fish, but when he has covered it
gets it unawares into the mouth of the creature who comes up to it:
so also Paul if he had not advanced the expectation of inflicting
punishment would never have persuaded those who were wronged to
undertake to benefit those who had annoyed them. Wishing then to
persuade those who recoiled in disgust, and were paralysed by the
very sight of their enemies, to confer the greatest benefits upon
them, he made mention of the coals of fire, not with a view of
thrusting the persons in question into inexorable punishment, but
in order that when he had persuaded those who were wronged to
benefit their enemies in the expectation of punishing them, he
might afterwards in time persuade them to abandon their anger
altogether.
6. Thus then did he encourage the man who has been
wronged; but observe also how he unites again the man who has done
the wrong to him who has been provoked. First of all by the very
manner of the benefit: (for there is no one so degraded and
unfeeling as to be unwilling, when he receives meat and drink, to
become the servant and friend of him who does this for him): and in
the second place through the dread of vengeance. For the passage,
“by so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” seems
indeed to be addressed to the person who gives the food; but it
more especially touches him who has caused the annoyance, in order
that through fear of this punishment he may be deterred from
remaining continually in a state of enmity, and being aware that
the reception of food and drink might do him the greatest mischief
if he constantly retains his animosity, may suppress his anger. For
thus he will be able to quench the coals of fire. Wherefore the
proposed punishment and vengeance both induces the one who has been
wronged to benefit him who has annoyed him, and it deters and
checks him who has given the provocation, and impels him to
reconciliation with the man who gives him meat and drink. Paul
therefore linked the two persons by a twofold bond, the one
depending on a benefit, the other on an act of vengeance. For the
difficulty is to make a beginning and to find an opening for the
reconciliation: but when that has once been cleared in whatever way
it may be, all which follows will be smooth and easy. For even if
at first the man who has been annoyed feeds his enemy in the hope
of punishing him, yet becoming his friend by the act of giving him
food he will be able to expel the desire of vengeance. For when he
has become a friend he will no longer feed the man who has been
reconciled to him, with an expectation of this kind. Again he who
has given the provocation, when he sees the man who has been
wronged electing to give him meat and drink, casts out all his
animosity, both on account of this deed, and also of his fear of
the punishment which is in store for him, even if he be excessively
hard and harsh and stony hearted, being put to shame by the
benevolence of him who gives him food, and dreading the punishment
reserved for him, if he continues to be an enemy after accepting
the food.
For this reason Paul did not stop even here in his
exhortation, but when he has emptied each side of wrath he proceeds
to correct their disposition, saying, “be not overcome of
evil.” “For if,” he says, “you continue to bear resentment
and to seek revenge you seem indeed to conquer your enemy, but in
reality you are being conquered by evil, that is, by wrath: so that
if you wish to conquer, be reconciled, and do not make an attack
upon your adversary;” for a brilliant victory is that in which by
means of good, that is to say by forbearance, you overcome evil,
expelling wrath and resentment. But the injured man, when inflamed
with passion would not have borne these words. Therefore when he
had satisfied his wrath he proceeded to conduct him to the best
reason for reconciliation, and did not permit him to remain
permanently animated by the wicked hope of vengeance. Dost thou
perceive the wisdom of the lawgiver? And that you may learn that he
introduced this law only on account of the weakness of those who
would not otherwise be content to make terms amongst themselves,
hear how Christ, when He ordained a law on this same subject did
not propose the same
reward, as the Apostle; but, having said “Love your enemies, do
good to them that hate you,” which means give them food and
drink, He did not add “for in so doing ye shall heap coals of
fire on their heads:” but what did He say? “that ye may become
like your Father who is in Heaven.”759
Naturally so, for He was
discoursing to Peter, James, and John and the rest of the apostolic
band: therefore He proposed that reward. But if you say that even
on this understanding the precept is onerous you improve once more
the defence which I am making for Paul, but you deprive yourself of
every plea of indulgence. For I can prove to you that this which
seems to you onerous was accomplished under the Old Dispensation
when the manifestation of spiritual wisdom was not so great as it
is now. For this reason also Paul did not introduce the law in his
own words, but used the very expressions which were employed by him
who originally brought it in, that he might leave no room for
excuse to those who do not observe it: for the precept “if thine
enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst give him drink” is not the
utterance of Paul in the first instance, but of Solomon.760
For this
reason he quoted the words that he might persuade the hearer that
for one who has been advanced to such a high standard of wisdom to
regard an old law as onerous and grievous which was often fulfilled
by the men of old time, is one of the basest things possible. Which
of the ancients, you ask, fulfilled it? There were many, but
amongst others David especially did so more abundantly. He did not
indeed merely give food or drink to his enemy, but also rescued him
several times from death, when he was in jeopardy; and when he had
it in his power to slay him he spared him once, twice, yea many
times. As for Saul he hated and abhorred him so much after the
countless good services which he had done, after his brilliant
triumphs, and the salvation which he had wrought in the matter of
Goliath, that he could not bear to mention him by his own name, but
called him after his father. For once when a festival was at hand,
and Saul, having devised some treachery against him, and contrived
a cruel plot, did not see him arrive—“where,” said he, “is
the son of Jesse?”761
He called him by his father’s
name, both because on account of his hatred he could not endure the
recollection of his proper name, and also because he thought to
damage the distinguished position of that righteous man by a
reference to his low birth;—a miserable and despicable thought:
for certainly, even if he had some accusation to bring against the
father this could in no wise injure David. For each man is
answerable for his own deeds, and by these he can be praised and
accused. But as it was, not having any evil deed to mention, he
brought forward his low birth, expecting by this means to throw his
glory into the shade, which in fact was the height of folly. For
what kind of offence is it to be the child of insignificant and
humble men, “the son of Jesse,” but when David found him
sleeping inside the cave, he did not call him the “son of
Kish,” but by his title of honour: “for I will not lift up my
hand,” he said, “against the Lord’s anointed.”762
So purely
free was he from wrath and resentment of injuries: he calls him the
Lord’s anointed who had done him such great wrongs, who was
thirsting for his blood, who after his countless good services had
many times attempted to destroy him. For he did not consider how
Saul deserved to be treated, but he considered what was becoming
for himself both to do and to say, which is the greatest stretch of
moral wisdom. How so? When thou hast got thy enemy in a prison,
made fast by a twofold, or rather by a triple chain, confinement of
space, dearth of assistance, and necessity of sleep, dost thou not
demand a penalty and punishment of him? “No,” he says; “for I
am not now regarding what he deserves to suffer, but what it
behoves me to do.” He did not look to the facility for slaying,
but to the accurate observance of the moral wisdom which was
becoming to him. And yet which of the existing circumstances was
not sufficient to prompt him to the act of slaughter? Was not the
fact that his enemy was delivered bound into his hands a sufficient
inducement? For you are aware I suppose that we hasten more eagerly
to deeds for which facilities abound, and the hope of success
increases our desire to act, which was just what happened then in
his case.
Well! did the captain who then counselled and
urged him to the deed,763
did the memory of past events
induce him to slay? no one of these things moved him: in fact the
very facility for slaughter averted him from it: for he bethought
him that God had put Saul in his hands for the purpose of
furnishing ample ground and opportunity for the exercise of moral
wisdom. You then perhaps admire him, because he did not cherish the
memory of any of his past evils: but I am much more astonished at
him for another reason. And what is this? that the fear of future
events did not
impel him to lay violent hands on his
enemy. For he knew clearly that if Saul escaped his hands, he would
again be his adversary; yet he preferred exposing himself to danger
by letting go the man who had wronged him, to providing for his own
security by laying violent hands upon his foe. What could equal
then the great and generous spirit of this man, who, when the law
commanded eye to be plucked out for eye, and tooth for tooth, and
retaliation on equal terms,764
not only abstained from doing this,
but exhibited a far greater measure of moral wisdom? At least if he
had slain Saul at that time he would have retained credit for moral
wisdom unimpaired, not merely because he had acted on the
defensive, not being himself the originator of violence, but also
because by his great moderation he was superior to the precept
“an eye for an eye.” For he would not have inflicted one
slaughter in return for one; but, in return for many deaths, which
Saul endeavoured to bring on him, having attempted to slay him not
once or twice but many times, he would have brought only one death
on Saul; and not only this, but if he had proceeded to avenge
himself out of fear of the future, even this, combined with the
things already mentioned, would procure him the reward of
forbearance without any deduction. For he who is angry on account
of the things which have been done to him, and demands satisfaction
would not be able to obtain the praise of forbearance: but when a
man dismisses the consideration of all past evils, although they
are many and painful, but is compelled to take steps for
self-defence from fear of the future, and by way of providing for
his own security, no one would deprive him of the rewards of
moderation.
7. Nevertheless David did not act even thus, but
found a novel and strange form of moral wisdom: and neither the
remembrance of things past, nor the fear of things to come, nor the
instigation of the captain, nor the solitude of the place, nor the
facility for slaying, nor anything else incited him to kill; but he
spared the man who was his enemy, and had given him pain just as if
he was some benefactor, and had done him much good. What kind of
indulgence then shall we have, if we are mindful of past
transgressions, and avenge ourselves on those who have given us
pain, whereas that innocent man who had undergone such great
sufferings and expected more and worse evils to befall him in
consequence of saving his enemy, is seen to spare him, so as to
prefer incurring danger himself and to live in fear and trembling,
rather than put to a just death the man who would cause him endless
troubles?
His moral wisdom then we may perceive, not
only from the fact that he did not slay Saul, when there was so
strong a compulsion, but also that he did not utter an irreverent
word against him, although he who was insulted would not have heard
him. Yet we often speak evil of friends when they are absent, he on
the contrary not even of the enemy who had done him such great
wrong. His moral wisdom then we may perceive from these things: but
his lovingkindness and tender care from what he did after these
things. For when he had cut off the fringe of Saul’s garment, and
had taken away the bottle of water he withdrew afar off and stood
and shouted, and exhibited these things to him whose life he had
preserved, doing so not with a view to display and ostentation, but
desiring to convince him by his deeds that he suspected him without
a cause as his enemy, and aiming therefore at winning him into
friendship. Nevertheless when he had even thus failed to persuade
him, and could have laid hands on him, he again chose rather to be
an exile from his country and to sojourn in a strange land, and
suffer distress every day, in procuring necessary food than to
remain at home and vex his adversary. What spirit could be kinder
than his? He was indeed justified in saying “Lord remember David
and all his meekness.”765
| 765 Psalm
cxxxii. 1, the LXX.
translation has not very accurately rendered the original.
“Trouble,” or “anxiety,” as in our English version, is the
meaning of the word here rendered “meekness.” | Let us also imitate him, and let us
neither say nor do evil to our enemies, but benefit them according
to our power: for we shall do more good to ourselves than to them.
“For if ye forgive your enemies,” we are told “ye shall be
forgiven.”766
Forgive base
offences that thou mayest receive a royal pardon for thy offences;
but if any one has done thee great wrongs, the greater the wrongs
you forgive, the greater will be the pardon which you will receive.
Therefore we have been instructed to say “Forgive us, as we
forgive,” that we may learn that the measure of our forgiveness
takes its beginning in the first place from ourselves. Wherefore in
proportion to the severity of the evil which the enemy does to us
is the greatness of the benefit which he bestows. Let us then be
earnest and eager to be reconciled with those who have vexed us,
whether their wrath be just or unjust. For if thou art reconciled
here, thou art delivered from judgment in the other world; but if
in the interval while the hatred is still going on, death
interrupting steps in and carries the enmity away with it, it
follows of necessity that the trial of the case should be
brought forward in the
other world. As then many men when they have a dispute with one
another, if they come to a friendly understanding together outside
the law court save themselves loss, and alarm, and many risks, the
issue of the case turning out in accordance with the sentiment of
each party; but if they severally entrust the affair to the judge
the only result to them will be loss of money, and in many cases a
penalty, and the permanent endurance of their hatred; even so here
if we come to terms during our present life we shall relieve
ourselves from all punishment; but if while remaining enemies we
depart to that terrible tribunal in the other world we shall
certainly pay the utmost penalty at the sentence of the judge
there, and shall both of us undergo inexorable punishment: he who
is unjustly wroth because he is thus unjustly disposed, and he who
is justly wroth, because he has, however justly, cherished
resentment. For even if we have been unjustly ill-treated, we ought
to grant pardon to those who have wronged us. And observe how he
urges and incites those who have unjustly given pain to
reconciliation with those whom they have wronged. “If thou
offerest thy gift before the altar, and there rememberest that thy
brother hath ought against thee, go thy way; first be reconciled to
thy brother.”767
He did not
say, “assemble, and offer thy sacrifice” but “be reconciled
and then offer it.” Let it lie there, he says, in order that the
necessity of making the offering may constrain him who is justly
wroth to come to terms even against his will. See how he again
prompts us to go to the man who has provoked us when he says
“Forgive your debtors in order that your Father may also forgive
your trespasses.” For He did not propose a small reward, but one
which far exceeds the magnitude of the achievement. Considering all
these things then, and counting the recompense which is given in
this case and remembering that to wipe away sins does not entail
much labour and zeal, let us pardon those who have wronged us. For
that which others scarcely accomplish, I mean the blotting out of
their own sins by means of fasting and lamentations, and prayers,
and sackcloth, and ashes, this it is possible for us easily to
effect without sackcloth and ashes and fasting if only we blot out
anger from our heart, and with sincerity forgive those who have
wronged us. May the God of peace and love, having banished from our
soul all wrath and bitterness, and anger, deign to grant that we
being closely knit one to another according to the proper
adjustment of the parts,768
may with one accord, one mouth and
one soul continually offer up our hymns of thanksgiving due to Him:
for to Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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