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| Homily VII
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Homily VII.
Recapitulation of former exhortations. Sin
brought death and grief into the world, and they tend to its cure.
Grief serviceable only for the destruction of sin. Remarks upon the
passage, Gen. 1.
1. “In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” It is argued
that God’s forethought for man in the work of creation affords
grounds of comfort; and that mercy is shewn even in chastisement,
as in the saying, “Adam, where art thou?” Concluding admonition
on the avoidance of oaths.
1. Yesterday, I
discoursed unto your Charity in many words, and upon many subjects;
and if out of this variety, it be not possible for you to retain
all, I wish more particularly to recall to memory the observation,
that God hath implanted the affection grief in our natures for no
other reason but because of sin, and He hath made this evident from
actual experience. For whilst we are grieved and distressed through
the loss of wealth; or by reason of sickness, and death, and the
other evils that befall us, we not only reap no consolation from
our sorrow, but we also increase the force of these calamities. But
if we are in pain and sorrow1332
| 1332 St. Greg. Nyss. de Beat. iii. t. i.
781. | for our sins, we diminish the
weight of sin; we make that little which is great; and very often
we blot it all out entirely. Ye should continually remember this, I
repeat, in order that ye may mourn for sin only, and for nothing
besides; and the additional fact, that sin, though it brought death
and sadness into our life, is again destroyed1333
| 1333 Or. in funere Pulcheriæ, t. iii.
460. | by both these; which I have
recently made evident. Therefore, let us fear nothing so much as
sin and transgression. Let us not fear punishment, and then we
shall escape1334
punishment. Even as the Three Children were not afraid of the
furnace, and so escaped from the furnace. Such indeed it becomes
the servants of God to be. For if those who were brought up under
the Old dispensation, when death was not yet slain,1335
nor his
“brazen gates broken down,” nor his “iron bars smitten in
sunder;”1336
| 1336 Ps. cvii.
16; Isa. xlv. 2. | so nobly
encountered their end,1337
| 1337 Or, “defied death,”
κατετόλμησαν τῆς τελευτῆς. | how destitute of all defence or
excuse shall we be, if, after having had the benefit of such great
grace, we attain not even to the same measure of virtue as they
did, now when death is only a name, devoid of reality. For death is
nothing more than a sleep, a journey, a migration, a rest, a
tranquil haven; an escape from trouble, and a freedom from the
cares of this present life!
2. But here let us dismiss the subject of
consolation; it is the fifth day we are engaged in speaking words
of comfort to your Charity, and we might now seem to be
troublesome. For what hath been already said is sufficient for those who give heed; but to
those who are pusillanimous it will be no gain, even though we were
to add to what we have said. It is now time to direct our teaching
to the exposition of the Scriptures. For as, if we had said nothing
in reference to the present calamity, one might have condemned us
for cruelty, and a want of humanity; so, were we always discoursing
of this, we might justly be condemned for pusillanimity. Commending
then your hearts to God, who is able to speak1338
into your minds, and to expel all
grief from within, let us now take up our accustomed manner of
instruction; and that especially since every exposition of
Scripture is matter of comfort and relief. So that, although we may
seem to be desisting from the topic of consolation, we shall again
light upon the same subject by means of Scriptural exposition. For
that all Scripture furnishes consolation to those who give
attention to it, I will make manifest to you from its own
evidence.1339
For I
shall not go about among the Scripture narratives to search out
certain arguments consolatory; but in order that I may make the
proof of the matter which I have undertaken plainer, we will take
in hand the book which has to day been read to us; and bringing
forward, if you will, the introduction and commencement of it,
which may especially seem to present no trace of consolation, but
to be altogether foreign to topics of comfort, I will make that
which I affirm evident.
3. What then is this introduction? “In the
beginning God made the heaven and the earth, and the earth was
invisible, and unformed,1340
| 1340 Or, unfurnished, E.V., without
form, and void. This rendering came in with the Genevan Bible.
All the previous translations had void, and empty.
Perhaps by the term void, was meant just the same as the
Septuagint ‡κατασκεύαστος. The word Bohu,
which occurs Deut. xxxii. 10, and Ps. cvii. 40, is in both cases rendered a
waste, or wilderness. See Dr. Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise, c.
2, and notes. | and darkness was upon the face of
the abyss.”1341
Do these
words seem to some of you incapable of affording consolation under
distress? Is it not an historical narrative, and an instruction
about the creation?
Would you then that I show the consolation
that is hidden in this saying? Arouse yourselves then, and attend
with earnestness to the things which are about to be spoken. For
when thou hearest that God made the heaven, the earth, the sea, the
air, the waters, the multitude of stars, the two great lights, the
plants, the quadrupeds, the swimming and the flying animals, and
all things without exception which thou seest, for thee, and for
thy safety and honour; dost thou not straightway take comfort and
receive this as the strongest proof of the love of God, when thou
thinkest that He produced such a world as this, so fair, so vast
and wonderful, for such a puny being as thyself! When therefore
thou hearest that, “In the beginning God made the heaven and the
earth,” run not hastily over the declaration; but traverse in thy
mind the breadth of the earth; and reflect how He hath spread out1342
| 1342 ‡νῆκεν, “sent up,” i.e.,
“caused to grow.” | so
sumptuous and exquisite a table for us, and provided us with such
abundant gladness.1343
And this is, indeed, the most
marvellous thing, that He gave us not such a world as this in
payment for services done; or as a recompense for good works; but
at the very time He formed us, He honoured our race with this
kingdom. For He said, “Let us make man after our image, and after
our likeness.”1344
What is the sense of this,
“after our image, and after our likeness?” The image of
government1345
| 1345 This of course does not exclude, but rather
implies, an intrinsic resemblance. See St. Cyr. Cat.
xii. (3), and xiv. (5); St. Aug. De C. D. xi. 26, xii. 23;
Conf. xiii. 12; St. Greg. Nyss. on the text, t. ii. p. 22
sqq. | is that
which is meant; and as there is no one in heaven superior to God,
so let there be none upon earth superior to man. This then is one,
and the first respect, in which He did him honour; by making him
after His own image; and secondly, by providing us with this
principality, not as a payment for services, but making it entirely
the gift of His own love toward man; and thirdly, in that He
conferred it upon us as a thing of nature. For of governments there
are some natural, and others which are elective;—natural as of
the lion over the quadrupeds, or as that of the eagle over the
birds; elective, as that of an Emperor over us; for he doth not
reign over his fellow-servants by any natural authority. Therefore
it is that he oftentimes loses his sovereignty. For such are things
which are not naturally inherent;1346
| 1346 So “nature” was usually understood.
Arist. Eth. ii. 1. “Nothing that is by nature is made otherwise
by habit; e.g., a stone tends downwards by nature, and
cannot be habituated to tend upwards.” | they readily admit of change and
transposition. But not so with the lion; he rules by nature over
the quadrupeds, as the eagle doth over birds. The character of
sovereignty is, therefore, constantly allotted to his race; and no
lion hath ever been seen deprived of it. Such a kind of sovereignty
God bestowed upon us from the beginning, and set us over all
things. And not only in this respect did He confer honour upon our
nature,1347
but also,
by the very eminence of the spot in which we were placed, fixing upon Paradise as
our choice dwelling, and bestowing the gift of reason, and an
immortal soul.
4. But I would not speak of these things: for
I say that such was the abundance of God’s care, that we may know
His goodness, and His love towards man, not only from the way in
which He hath honoured, but also from the way in which He hath
punished us. And this, I especially exhort you to consider with
attention, that God is alike good, not only whilst He is treating
us with honour and beneficence, but also whilst He is punishing and
chastising. And whether we should have to carry on our contest and
combat against the heathen, or against the heretics, respecting the
lovingkindness and goodness of God, we shall make His goodness
evident, not only from the cases in which He bestows honour, but
also from the cases in which He inflicts punishment. For if He is
good only whilst honouring us, and not good whilst punishing us, He
were but half good. But this is not the case. God forbid! Among men
this may probably happen, when they inflict punishments in anger
and passion; but God being free from passion, whether He exercise
kindness, or whether He punish, He is alike good. Nor less does the
threat of hell serve to show His goodness, than the promise of the
kingdom.1348
But how? I
answer. If He had not threatened hell, if He had not prepared
punishment, there are not many who would have attained the
kingdom.1349
| 1349 1 Tim. i.
9. St. Greg. Nyss.
on the Beatitudes, Or. 3, t. i. p. 781, explains Blessed
are they that mourn; first, of those whom the fear of hell
causes to mourn for their sins; secondly, of those who mourn for
their present exclusion from the good things they hope for
hereafter. See on Rom. xiv. 13, Hom. XXV. | For the
promise of good things doth not so strongly induce the multitude to
virtue; as doth the threat of evil things compel by fear, and
arouse them to the care of the soul. So that, although hell be the
opposite of the kingdom of heaven, yet each hath respect to the
same end—the salvation of men; the one alluring to itself, the
other driving them towards its opposite, and by the operation of
fear correcting those who are carelessly disposed.
5. I do not enlarge upon this subject without
reason; but because there are many who often, when famines, and
droughts, and wars take place, or when the wrath of an Emperor
overtakes them, or when any other unexpected events of this kind
happen, deceive the simpler class by saying, that these things are
unworthy of the Providence of God.
I am therefore compelled to dwell on this part
of my discourse, that we may not be beguiled by words, but that we
may plainly perceive, that whether He brings upon us a famine, or a
war, or any calamity, whatsoever, He doth it out of His exceeding
great care and kindness. For even those fathers, who especially
love their offspring, will forbid them the table, and inflict
stripes, and punish them by disgrace, and in endless other ways of
this kind correct their children when they are disorderly; yet are
they nevertheless fathers, not only while doing them honour, but
when acting thus; yea, they are preeminently fathers when they act
thus.1350
But if
men, who are frequently carried away beyond what is meet by the
force of angry feelings, are yet held to punish those whom they
love, not from cruelty and inhumanity, but from a kind care and
regard; much rather is it proper to be thus minded concerning God;
who in the exceeding abundance of His goodness, far transcends
every degree of paternal fondness. And that you may not suppose
that what I say is a mere conjecture, let us, I pray you, direct
our discourse to the Scripture itself. When man, then, had been
deceived and beguiled by the wicked demon, let us observe how God
treated him, after his committing so great a sin. Did He then
altogether destroy him? Yet the reason of the thing in justice
demanded this, that one who had displayed nothing that was good,
but, after enjoying so much favour, had waxed wanton even from the
very first, should be made away with, and utterly destroyed; yet
God acted not so; neither did He regard with disgust and aversion
him who had been so ungrateful towards his Benefactor, but He comes
to him as a physician cometh to a sick man.
6. Do not, O beloved, pass over unthinkingly,
what has just been said! but consider what an act it was, not to
send an angel, or archangel, or any other of his fellow-servants,
but that the Lord Himself should have descended to him who had
fallen from the right way, and should have raised him when thus
cast down; and should have approached him, One to one,1351
| 1351 μόνον πρὸς μόνον.
There being no third party present. | as a
friend comes to a friend when he is unfortunate, and is plunged in
great distress! For that He acted thus out of His great kindness,
the very words too which He spake to him evidently show His
ineffable affection. And why do I say, all the words? The
first utterance signifies at once His tenderness. For He said not,
what it was probable a person treated so contemptuously would say,
“O wicked, yea most wicked man! When thou hadst enjoyed so great
favour from Me, and hadst been honoured with such a sovereignty,
being exalted above all the creatures upon the earth for no
merit of thine own; and having received in actual deeds the pledges
of My care, and a true manifestation of My Providence, didst thou
esteem a wicked and pestiferous demon, the enemy of thy salvation,
to be worthy of more credit than thy Lord and Benefactor? What
proof did he give of regard for thee, like that which I have done?
Did I not make for thee the heaven, the earth, the sea, the sun,
the moon, and all the stars? For truly none of the angels needed
this work of creation; but for thee, and for thy recreation, I made
so great and excellent a world; and didst thou esteem mere words
alone, a false engagement, and a promise full of deceit, as more
worthy to be believed than the kindness and providence that was
manifested by deeds; that thou gavest thyself over to him, and
didst trample My laws under foot!” These words, and more of this
kind, one who had been treated contemptuously would probably say.
But God acted not so; but quite in the contrary manner. For by His
first word He at once raised him up from his dejection, and gave
the fearful and trembling man confidence, by being the first
Himself to call him, or rather, not by merely calling him first,
but by addressing him by his own familiar appellation, and saying,
“Adam, where art thou?” Thus He shewed His tenderness, and the
great regard He had for him. For ye must all know, that this is a
mark of intimate friendship.1352
| 1352 Thus Thetis, Il. i. 361, and
throughout Homer ἐκ τ̓ ὀνόμαζε expresses affection; the
scholiast, however, explains the word of merely speaking at length,
which seems almost absurd. | And thus those who call upon the
dead are wont to do, continually repeating their names. And so, on
the other hand, those who entertain hatred and enmity against any,
cannot bear to mention the very names of those who have aggrieved
them. Saul, for instance, though he had sustained no injury from
David, but had wronged him exceedingly, since he abhorred and hated
him, could not endure to mention his proper name; but when all were
seated together, not seeing David to be present, what said he? He
said not, “Where is David? but, ‘Where is the son of
Jesse?’”1353
calling
him by his father’s name. And again, the Jews did the same with
respect to Christ, for since they abhorred and hated Him, they did
not say, “Where is Christ?”1354
| 1354 From this peculiar illustration it would seem,
that St. Chrysostom supposed the term Christ to have been one of
the familiar names by which our Saviour was known. But the term
Jesus of Nazareth seems to have been His more general and
distinctive appellation; though it by no means follows that He was
not as familiarly known by the title of Christ among His followers,
and addressed as such, especially after Peter’s confession. (See
John iv. 22; Matt. xxvii. 17, contrasted with
verse 63.) | but, “Where is that man?”1355
7. But God, willing to show even by this that
sin had not quenched His tenderness, nor disobedience taken away
His favor toward him, and that He still exercised His Providence
and care for the fallen one, said, “Adam, where art thou?”1356
not being
ignorant of the place where he was, but because the mouth of those
who have sinned is closed up; sin turning the tongue backward, and
conscience taking hold of it; so that such persons remain
speechless, held fast in silence as by a kind of chain. And God
wishing therefore to invite him to freedom of utterance, and to
give him confidence, and to lead him to make an apology for his
offences, in order that he might obtain some forgiveness, was
Himself the first to call; cutting off much of Adam’s distress by
the familiar appellation, and dispelling his fear, and opening by
this address the mouth that was shut. Hence also it was that he
said, “Adam, where art thou?” “I left thee,” saith he,
“in one situation, and I find thee in another. I left thee in
confidence and glory; and I now find thee in disgrace and
silence!” And observe the care of God in this instance. He called
not Eve;—He called not the serpent,—but him who had sinned in
the lightest degree of all, he brings first to the tribunal, in
order that beginning from him who was able to find some degree of
excuse, He might pass a more merciful sentence, even against her
who had sinned the most. And judges, indeed, do not deign to make
inquiry in their own person of their fellow-servants, and those who
are partakers of a common nature with them, but putting forward
some one of their attendants to intervene, they instruct him to
convey their own questions to the criminal; and through him they
say and hear whatever they wish, when they examine the offenders.1357
| 1357 What it was to be brought to the bar in those days
may be seen in Hom. XIII. | But God
had no need of a go-between in dealing with man; but Himself in His
own person at once judges and consoles him. And not only this is
wonderful, but also that he corrects the crimes that had been
committed. For judges in general, when they find thieves and
grave-robbers,1358
do not
consider how they may make them better, but how they may make them
pay the penalty of the offences committed. But God, quite on the
contrary, when He finds a sinner, considers not how He may make him
pay the penalty, but how He may amend him, and make him better, and
invincible1359
| 1359 ‡χείρωτον, i.e., to the adversary.
See Hom. I, and εὐχšίρωτον, Hom.
VIII. (2). | for
the future. So that God
is at the same time a Judge, a Physician, and a Teacher; for as a
Judge He examines, and as a Physician He amends, and as a Teacher
He instructs those who have sinned, directing them unto all
spiritual wisdom.
8. But if one short and simple speech thus
demonstrates the care of God, what if we should read through this
whole judgment, and unfold its entire records? Seest thou how all
Scripture is consolation and comfort? But of these records we will
speak at a befitting season; before that, however, it is necessary
to state at what time this Book was given; for these things were
not written in the beginning, nor at once when Adam was made,1360
| 1360 γενομ™νου. This
seems the usual meaning, as Plut. Mor. p. 109 (cit.
Steph.) ‡λλ̓
οἴει σὺ διαφορὰν εἶναι ἢ μὴ γ™νεσθας ἢ γ™νομενον
‡πογ™νεσθαι; but Luc. ix. 36,
γ™νεσθαι seems to mean the completion of an event. He is
speaking, however, of the whole Bible, or at least the Pentateuch,
not merely of the history of the Fall, as appears from the sequel.
Hom. VIII. 2, and the general argument of those which follow. | but many
generations afterwards; and it were worth while to enquire for what
reason this delay took place, and why at length they were given to
the Jews only, and not to all men; and why written in the Hebrew
tongue; and why in the wilderness of Sinai? For the Apostle doth
not mention the place merely in a cursory manner; but shews that in
that circumstance too there was a great subject of contemplation
for us, when he saith to us: “For these are two covenants, the
one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage.”1361
9. Other things too besides these it were to
our purpose to enquire into. But I see that the time doth not
permit us to launch our discourse upon so wide a sea; wherefore
prudently reserving these to a fit season, we would again address
you on the subject of abstinence from oaths; and we would entreat
your Charity to use much diligence respecting this matter. For what
is it but an absurdity, that not even a servant dares to call his
master by name, nor to mention him unceremoniously, and casually,
but that he should everywhere bandy about the name of the Lord of
Angels familiarly with much irreverence! And if it be necessary to
take the book of the Gospel, thou receivest it with hands that have
been first washed; and fearfully and tremblingly, with much
reverence and devotion; and dost thou unceremoniously bandy about
upon thy tongue the Lord of the Gospel? Dost thou desire to learn
how the Powers above pronounce that Name; with what awe, with what
terror, with what wonder? “I saw the Lord,” saith the prophet,
“sitting upon a throne, high, and lifted up; around Him stood the
Seraphim; and one cried unto another, and said, Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God of Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of His glory!”1362
Perceivest
thou, with what dread, with what awe, they pronounce that Name,
whilst glorifying and praising Him? But thou, in thy prayers and
supplications, callest upon Him with much listlessness; when it
would become thee to be full of awe, and to be watchful and sober!
But in oaths, where it is wholly unsuitable that this wonderful
Name should be introduced, there thou makest a long string of
divers forms of imprecation! What pardon then, or what excuse shall
we have, howsoever we may plead this “custom”? It is said, that
a certain heathen orator, by a kind of foolish habit, was
continually moving his right shoulder as he went along.1363
| 1363 Demosthenes. Libanius says that it was in
speaking he did this, and that he cured himself by hanging a sword
before his shoulder in his private practice. Life of Dem. in
Orat. Att. t. iv. and so Plutarch. St. Chrys. mentions him also
on St. Matt. Hom. XVII. Ben. p. 232a.,
βαδίζων may possibly be applied to the course of a
speech. | He
conquered this habit, however, by fastening sharp knives on each
side over his shoulders, so that the fear of being cut controlled
the member in its unseasonable movement by fear of the wound! Do
thou too, then, act thus with regard to thy tongue, and instead of
the knife, suspend over it the fear of God’s chastisement, and
thou wilt assuredly get the better! For it seems impossible,
utterly impossible, that those should ever be overcome, who are
solicitous and earnest about this, and really make it their
business.
10. Ye applaud what is now said, but when ye
have amended, ye will applaud in a greater degree not only us, but
also yourselves; and ye will hear with more pleasure what is
spoken; and ye will call upon God with a pure conscience, who is so
sparing of thee, O man! that He saith, “Neither shalt thou swear
by1364
| 1364 κατὰ, “against,” and
so on St. Matt. Hom. XVII., Ben. p. 228e., but Griesbach gives no
reading except ἐν. | thy
head.”1365
But thou
so despisest Him as to swear even by His glory. “But what shall I
do,” saith one, “with those who impose necessity on me?” What
kind of necessity can there be, O man? Let all men understand that
thou wilt choose to suffer anything rather than transgress the law
of God; and they will abstain from compelling thee. For as a proof
that it is not an oath which rendereth a man worthy of credit, but
the testimony of his life, the uprightness of his conversation, and
his good reputation, many have often split their throats with
swearing, and yet have been able to convince no one; whereas others
by a mere expression of assent, have been esteemed more
deserving of belief than
they who swore never so much. Knowing, therefore, all these things,
and placing before our eyes the punishment that is in store for
those who swear, as well as for those who swear falsely, let us
abstain from this evil custom, that advancing from hence to the
correction of what remains, we may enjoy the blessedness of the
life to come, which God grant that we may all be found worthy to
obtain, by the grace and love toward man of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through Whom and with Whom to the Father with the Holy Ghost be
glory, and power, and honour, now and ever, and world without end.
Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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