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| Ephesians 4:4-7
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Homily XI.
Ephesians iv. 4–7
“There is one body, and
one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is
over all, and through all, and in all. But unto each one of us was the
grace given according to the measure of the gift of
Christ.”
The love Paul requires of us is no common love, but that which cements
us together, and makes us cleave inseparably to one another, and
effects as great and as perfect a union as though it were between limb
and limb. For this is that love which produces great and glorious
fruits. Hence he saith, there is “one body”; one, both by
sympathy, and by not opposing the good of others, and by sharing their
joy, having expressed all at once by this figure. He then beautifully
adds, “and one Spirit,” showing283
| 283 [“The ἕν σῶμα means the
totality of Christians as the corpus (Christi)
mysticum; comp. Eph. ii. 16; Rom. xii. 5;
1 Cor. x. 17. The ἕν πνεῦμα is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the corpus mysticum;
comp. Eph. ii. 18; 1 Cor. xii. 13. The explanation,
‘one body and one soul,’ is excluded, as at variance with
the context by the specifically Christian character of the other
elements, and rendered impossible by the correct supplying of
ἐστί (and not ‘ye
ought to be’).”—Meyer.—G.A.] |
that from the one body there will be one Spirit: or, that it is
possible that there may be indeed one body, and yet not one Spirit; as,
for instance, if any member of it should be a friend of heretics: or
else he is, by this expression, shaming them into unanimity, saying, as
it were, “Ye who have received one Spirit, and have been made to
drink at one fountain, ought not to be divided in mind”; or else
by spirit here he means their zeal. Then he adds, “Even as ye
were called in one hope of your calling,” that is, God hath
called you all on the same terms. He hath bestowed nothing upon one
more than upon another. To all He hath freely given immortality, to all
eternal life, to all immortal glory, to all brotherhood, to all
inheritance. He is the common Head of all; “He hath raised
all” up, “and made them sit with Him.” (Eph. ii.
6.)
Ye then who in the spiritual world have so great equality of
privileges, whence is it that ye are high-minded? Is it that one is
wealthy and another strong? How ridiculous must this be? For tell me,
if the emperor some day were to take ten persons, and to array them all
in purple, and seat them on the royal throne, and to bestow upon all
the same honor, would any one of these, think ye, venture to reproach
another, as being more wealthy or more illustrious than he? Surely
never. And I have not yet said all; for the difference is not so great
in heaven as here below we differ. There is “one Lord, one faith, one
baptism.”284
| 284 [Note the triad of trinities:—
- one body.
1. The Church: - one
spirit.
- one hope.
- one Lord.
2. Christ: - one
faith.
- one baptism.
- over all.
3. God: - through
all.
- in all.
—Meyer,
substantially.—G.A.] | Behold
“the hope of your calling. One God and Father of all, who is over
all, and through all, and in all.” For can it be, that thou art
called by the name of a greater God, another, of a lesser God? That
thou art saved by faith, and another by works? That thou hast received
remission in baptism, whilst another has not? “There is one God
and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.”
“Who is over all,” that is, the Lord and above all; and
“through all,” that is, providing for, ordering all; and
“in you all,” that is, who dwelleth in you all. Now this
they own to be an attribute of the Son; so that were it an argument of
inferiority, it never would have been said of the Father.
“But285
| 285 [“But (δέ) forms the transition from the summary ‘all,’
‘all,’ ‘all’ to ‘each individual’
among the Christians.”—Meyer.—G.A.] | unto each one of us was the grace
given.”
What then? he saith, whence are
those diverse spiritual gifts? For this subject was continually
carrying away both the Ephesians themselves, and the Corinthians, and
many others, some into vain arrogance, and others into despondency or
envy. Hence he everywhere takes along with him this illustration of the
body. Hence it is that now also he has proposed it, inasmuch as he was
about to make mention of diverse gifts. He enters indeed into the
subject more fully in the Epistle to the Corinthians, because it was
among them that this malady most especially reigned: here however he
has only alluded to it. And mark what he says: he does not say,
“according to the faith of each,” lest he should throw
those who have no large attainments into despondency. But what saith
he? “According to the measure of the gift of Christ.” The
chief and principal points of all, he saith,—Baptism, the being
saved by faith, the having God for our Father, our all partaking of the
same Spirit,—these are common to all. If then this or that man
possesses any superiority in any spiritual gift, grieve not at it;
since his labor also is greater. He that had received the five talents,
had five required of him; whilst he that had received the two, brought
only two, and yet received no less a reward than the other. And
therefore the Apostle here also encourages the hearer on the same
ground, showing that gifts are bestowed not for the honor of one above
another, but for the work of the church, even as he says further
on:
“For the perfecting of the
saints unto the work of ministering unto the building up of the body of
Christ.”
Hence it is that even he himself
saith, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel.”
(1
Cor. ix. 16.) For example: he received the grace of Apostleship, but
for this very reason, “woe unto him,” because he received
it: whereas thou art free from the danger.
“According to the
measure.”
What is meant by,
“according to the measure”? It means, “not according
to our merit,” for then would no one have received what he has
received: but of the free gift we have all received. And why then one
more, and another less? There is nothing to cause this, he would say,
but the matter itself is indifferent; for every one contributes towards
“the building.” And by this too he shows, that it is not of
his own intrinsic merit that one has received more and another less,
but that it is for the sake of others, as God Himself hath measured it;
since he saith also elsewhere, “But now hath God set the members
each one of them in the body, even as it pleased Him.”
(1
Cor. xii. 18.) And he mentions not the reason, lest he should deject or
dispirit the hearers.
Ver.
8.
“Wherefore he saith, When He ascended on high, He led captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men.”
As though he had said, Why art
thou high-minded? The whole is of God. The Prophet saith in the Psalm,
“Thou hast received gifts among men” (Ps. lxviii.
18.),
whereas the Apostle saith, “He gave gifts unto men.” The
one is the same as the other. 286
| 286 [“He quotes Ps. lxviii.
18,
with the freedom of a Messianic interpretation of the words, and his
exposition of the Hebrew words yielded essentially the sense expressed
by him. So he took תָּחְקַלָ
in the sense: ‘Thou didst take away gifts to
distribute them among men,’ and then translated this in an
explanatory way, ἔδωκε,
&c.”—Meyer.—G.A.] |
Ver. 9,
10.
“Now this, He ascended, what is it, but that He also descended
into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended, is the same also
that ascended far above all the Heavens, that He might fill all
things.”
When thou hearest these words,
think not of a mere removal from one place to another; for what Paul
establishes in the Epistle to the Philippians (Philip. ii.
5–8.), that very argument287
| 287 [This view of Chrysostom is quite at variance with the context.
Ellicott says: To evince still more clearly the correctness of the
Messianic application of the words just cited, St. Paul urges the
antithesis implied by ἀνέβη,
namely, κατέβη, a
predication applicable to Christ only, the tacit assumption being that
He who is the subject of the citation is one whose seat was heaven.
Compare John iii. 13.—G.A.] | is he also
insisting upon here. In the same way as there, when exhorting them
concerning lowliness, he brings forward Christ as an example,
so does he here
also, saying, “He descended into the lower parts of the
earth.” For were not this so, this expression which he uses,
“He became obedient even unto death” (Philip. ii. 8,
9.),
were superfluous; whereas from His ascending, he implies His descent,
and by “the lower parts of the earth,” he means
“death,” according to the notions of men; as Jacob also
said, “Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the
grave.” (Gen. xxxii. 48.) And again as it is in
the Psalm, “Lest I become like them that go down into the
pit” (Ps. cxliii. 7.), that is like the
dead. Why does he descant upon this region here? And of what captivity
does he speak? Of that of the devil; for He took the tyrant captive,
the devil, I mean, and death, and the curse, and sin. Behold His spoils
and His trophies.
“Now this, He ascended,
what is it but that He also descended?”
This strikes at Paul of Samosata
and his school.288
| 288 Paul was Bishop of Antioch A.D. 260–269, when he was deposed
for heresy. Very different accounts are given of his particular
doctrines: St. Athanasius may be securely followed, however, who says
that he denied the doctrine of our Lord’s preëxistence,
asserted that He was a mere man, and that the Word of God was in
Him. vid. Orat. i. 25, 38; ii. 13; iii. 51. De decret.
24, &c., &c. [See Schaff’s History of Christian
Ch., Vol. II., pp. 575, 576.—G.A.] |
“He that descended, is the
same also that ascended far above all the Heavens, that He might fill
all things.”
He descended, saith he, into the
lower parts of the earth, beyond which there are none other: and He
ascended up far above all things, to that place, beyond which there is
none other. This is to show His divine energy, and supreme dominion.
For indeed even of old had all things been filled.
Ver. 11,
12.
“And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the
saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body
of Christ.”
What he said elsewhere,
“Wherefore also God hath highly exalted Him” (Philip. ii.
9.),
that saith he also here. “He that descended, is the same also
that ascended.” It did Him no injury that He came down into the
lower parts of the earth, nor was it any hindrance to His becoming far
higher than the Heavens. So that the more a man is humbled, so much the
more is he exalted. For as in the case of water, the more a man presses
it downwards, the more he forces it up; and the further a man retires
to hurl a javelin, the surer his aim; so is it also with humility.
However, when we speak of ascents with reference to God, we must needs
conceive a descent first; but when with reference to man, not at all
so. Then he goes on to show further His providential care, and His
wisdom, for He who hath wrought such things as these, who had such
might, and who refused not to go down even to those lower parts for our
sakes, never would He have made these distributions of spiritual gifts
without a purpose. Now elsewhere he tells us that this was the work of
the Spirit, in the words, “In the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you bishops to feed the Church of God.”289
| 289 [Both here and in Hom. xliv. on Acts (xx. 28) Chrysostom
reads κυρίου instead of θεοῦ. The latter is,
however, the reading of א B., and is adopted by W. & H. and the Rev. Ver. (as well
as the textus receptus).—G.A.] |
And here he saith that it is the Son; and elsewhere that it is God.
“And He gave to the Church some apostles, and some
prophets.” But in the Epistle to the Corinthians, he saith,
“I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”
And again, “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one:
but each shall receive his own reward according to his own
labor.” (1 Cor. iii. 6–8.) So is it also here;
for what if thou bring in but little? Thou hast received so much.
First, he says, “apostles”;290
for
these had all gifts; secondarily, “prophets,” for there
were some who were not indeed apostles, but prophets, as Agabus;
thirdly, “evangelists,” who did not go about everywhere,
but only preached the Gospel, as Priscilla and Aquila; “pastors
and teachers,” those who were entrusted with the charge of a
whole nation. What then? are the pastors and the teachers inferior?
Yes, surely; those who were settled and employed about one spot, as
Timothy and Titus, were inferior to those who went about the world and
preached the Gospel. However, it is not possible from this passage to
frame the subordination and precedence, but from another Epistle.
“He gave,” saith he; thou must not say a word to gainsay
it. Or perhaps by “evangelists” he means those who wrote
the Gospel.
“For the perfecting of the
saints unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body
of Christ.”291
| 291 [The
proper relation of these prepositional phrases is brought out in
Meyer’s translation: He has, with a view to the full furnishing
of the saints, given those teachers for the work of ministering, for
the edification of the body of Christ. So
Ellicott.—G.A.] |
Perceive ye the dignity of the
office? Each one edifies, each one perfects, each one
ministers.
Ver.
13.
“Till we all attain,” he proceeds, “unto the unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ.”
By “stature” here he
means perfect “knowledge”; for as a man will stand firmly,
whereas children are carried about and waver in mind, so is it also with
believers.
“To the unity,”
saith he, “of the faith.”
That is, until we shall be shown
to have all one faith: for this is unity of faith, when we all are one,
when we shall all alike acknowledge the common bond. Till then thou
must labor to this end. If for this thou hast received a gift, that
thou mightest edify others, look well that thou overturn not thyself,
by envying another. God hath honored thee, and ordained thee, that thou
shouldest build up another. Yea, for about this was the Apostle also
engaged; and for this was the prophet prophesying and persuading, and
the Evangelist preaching the Gospel, and for this was the pastor and
teacher; all had undertaken one common work. For tell me not of the
difference of the spiritual gifts; but that all had one work. Now when
we shall all believe alike then shall there be unity; for that this is
what he calls “a perfect man,” is plain. And yet he
elsewhere calls us “babes” (1 Cor. xiii.
11.),
even when we are of mature age; but he is there looking to another
comparison, for there it is in comparison with our future knowledge
that he there calls us babes. For having said, “We know in
part” (1 Cor. xiii. 9; 12.), he adds also the
word “darkly,” and the like: whereas here he speaks with
reference to another thing, with reference to changeableness, as he
saith also elsewhere, “But solid food is for full-grown
men.” (Heb. v. 14.) Do you see then also
in what sense he there calls them full-grown? Observe also in what
sense he calls men “perfect” here, by the words next added,
where he says, “that we may be no longer children.” That we
keep, he means to say, that little measure, which we may have received,
with all diligence, with firmness and steadfastness.
Ver.
14.
“That we may be no longer.”—The word, “no
longer,” shows that they had of old been in this case, and he
reckons himself moreover as a subject for correction, and corrects
himself. For this cause, he would say, are there so many workmen, that
the building may not be shaken, may not be “carried about,”
that the stones may be firmly fixed.292
| 292 [“It is not the figure of a building which Paul employs
here, but of a ship abandoned to the breakers, on which figurative
expression of restless passive subjection to influences, compare
Jas. i.
6.”—Meyer.—G.A.] | For this is
the character of children, to be tossed to and fro, to be carried about
and shaken. “That we may be no longer,” saith he,
“children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind
of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of
error.” “And carried about,” saith he, “with
every wind.” He comes to this figure of speech, to point out in
how great peril doubting souls are. “With every wind,”
saith he, “by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles
of error.” The word “sleight”293
means the art of gamesters. Such are the “crafty,” whenever
they lay hold on the simpler sort. For they also change and shift about
everything. He here glances also at human life.
Ver. 15,
16.
“But speaking truth,”294
| 294 [“ἀληθεύοντες: The common meaning, ‘To speak truth,’ is
clearly unsatisfactory here. It means ‘holding the
truth.’”—Ellicott. “Professing the
truth,” Thayer, Lexicon. Rev. Ver. has in margin
“dealing truly.” Meyer says it means here, as always,
“speaking the truth,” and correctly.—G.A.] | saith he,
“in love, may grow up in all things into Him, which is the Head,
even Christ, from whom,” (that is, from Christ,) “all the
body fitly framed and knit together, through that which every joint
supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several
part, maketh increase of the body unto the building up of itself in
love.”
He expresses himself with great
obscurity, from his desire to utter everything at once. What he means,
however, is this. In the same way as the spirit, or vital principle,
which descends from the brain, communicates the sensitive faculty which
is conveyed through the nerves, not simply to all the members, but
according to the proportion of each member, to that which is capable of
receiving more, more, to that which is capable of less, less, (for the
spirit is the root or source;) so also is Christ. For the souls of men
being dependent upon Him as members, His provident care, and supply of
the spiritual gifts according to a due proportion in the measure of
every single member, effects their increase. But what is the meaning of
this, “by the touch of the supply”?295
| 295 ἁφῆς, “joint,” Eng. Tr. Theodoret, too, in
loc. interprets touch, and considers that it stands for all
the senses. S. Austin translates tactus in Psalm x. 7, de
Civ. D. xxii. 18, but in the received meaning. [See
Meyer.—G.A.] |
that is to say, by the sensitive faculty.296
| 296 [“Meyer still retains the interpretation of Chrysostom and
Theodoret that ἁφὴ=αἴσθησις, “feeling,” “perception,” and
connects the clause with αὔξησιν
ποιεῖται: but the parallel passage, Col. ii. 19, leaves it
scarcely doubtful that the meaning usually assigned is correct, and
that the clause is to be connected with the
participles.”—Ellicott. So Thayer, Lex., Rev.
Ver.—G.A.] |
For that spirit which is supplied to the members from the head,
“touches,”297
each single
member, and thus actuates it. As though one should say, “the body
receiving the supply according to the proportion of its several
members, thus maketh the increase”; or, in other words,
“the members receiving the supply according to the proportion of
their proper measure, thus make increase”; or otherwise again
thus, “the spirit flowing plenteously from above, and touching298
all the members, and supplying them as
each is capable of “receiving it, thus maketh increase.”
But wherefore doth he add, “in love”? Because in no other
way is it possible for that Spirit to descend. For as, in case a hand
should happen to be torn from the body, the spirit which
proceeds
from the brain seeks the limb, and if it finds it not, does not leap
forth from the body, and fly about and go to the hand, but if it finds
it not in its place, does not touch it; so also will it be here, if we
be not bound together in love. All these expressions he uses as tending
to humility. For what, he seems to say, if this or that man receives
more than another? He has received the same Spirit, sent forth from the
same Head, effectually working in all alike, communicating itself to
all alike.
“Fitly framed and knit
together.”
That is, having great care
bestowed upon it; for the body must not be put together anyhow, but
with exceeding art and nicety, since if it gets out of place, it is no
longer. So that each must not only be united to the body, but also
occupy his proper place, since if thou shalt go beyond this, thou art
not united to it, neither dost thou receive the Spirit. Dost thou not
see, that in those dislocations of the bones which take place in any
accident, when a bone gets out of its proper place and occupies that of
another, how it injures the whole body, and oftentimes will produce
death? So that sometimes it will be found to be no longer worth
preserving. For many in many cases will cut it off, and leave a void in
its place; because everywhere what is in excess is an evil. And so
again with the elements, if they lose their proper proportion and be in
excess, they impair the whole system. This is the meaning of the being
“fitly framed and knit together.” Consider then of how vast
importance it is, that each should remain in his own proper place, and
not encroach on another which in nowise appertains to him. Thou puttest
the members together, He supplieth them from above. For as there are in
the body such recipient organs, as we have seen, so is it also with the
Spirit, the whole root or source being from above. For example, the
heart is the recipient of the breath, the liver of the blood, the
spleen of the bile, and the other organs, some of one thing, others of
another, but all these have their source from the brain. So also hath
God done, highly honoring man, and being unwilling to be far from him,
He hath made Himself indeed the source of his dependence, and hath
constituted them fellow-workers with Himself; and some He hath
appointed to one office, and others to another. For example, the
Apostle is the most vital vessel of the whole body, receiving
everything from Him; so that He maketh eternal life to run through them
to all, as through veins and arteries, I mean through their discourse.
The Prophet foretells things to come, whilst He alone ordereth the
same; Thou puttest the members together,299
| 299 [The
text fluctuates here. We have given that of Field, though neither it
nor any of the other readings yields a satisfactory sense.
Field’s text is, συντιθεῖς
τὰ μέλη,
αὐτὸς αὐτοῖς
ζωὴν
χορηγεῖ.
Another text, attested by three mss.,
has συντιθεὶς
τὰ μέσα,
αὐτὸς αὐτοῖς
ζωὴν
χορηγεῖ.
Savile’s text, supported by three mss.,
has καὶ
ἐκεῖνος μὲν
συντιθεῖ τὰ
ὀστᾶ, αὐτὸς
δὲ ζωὴν
χορηγεῖ. It
will be noticed that this same expression occurs a little above,
followed by a clause like that which follows
here.—G.A.] |
but He supplies them with life, “For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry.” Love builds up, and makes
men cleave one to another, and be fastened and fitted
together.
Moral.
If therefore we desire to have the benefit of that Spirit which is from
the Head, let us cleave one to another. For there are two kinds of
separation from the body of the Church; the one, when we wax cold in
love, the other, when we dare commit things unworthy of our belonging
to that body; for in either way we cut ourselves off from the
“fullness of Christ.” But if we are appointed to build up
others also, what shall not be done to them who are first to make
division? Nothing will so avail to divide the Church as love of power.
Nothing so provokes God’s anger as the division of the Church.
Yea, though we have achieved ten thousand glorious acts, yet shall we,
if we cut to pieces the fullness of the Church, suffer punishment no
less sore than they who mangled His body. For that indeed was brought
to pass for the benefit of the world, even though it was done with no
such intention; whereas this produces no advantage in any case, but the
injury is excessive. These remarks I am addressing not to the governors
only, but also to the governed. Now a certain holy man said what might
seem to be a bold thing; yet, nevertheless, he spoke it out. What then
is this? He said, that not even the blood of martyrdom can wash out
this sin.300
| 300 “What sacrifice do they believe they celebrate who are
rivals of the Priests?” “If such men were even killed for
confession of the Christian name, not even by their blood is this stain
washed out.…He cannot be a Martyr, who is not in the
Church.”—St. Cyprian, Treat. v. 12, p.
141. | For tell me for what dost thou suffer
as a martyr? Is it not for the glory of Christ? Thou then that yieldest
up thy life for Christ’s sake, how dost thou lay waste the
Church, for whose sake Christ yielded up His life? Hear what Paul
saith, “I am not meet to be called an Apostle (1 Cor. xv.
9.),
because I persecuted the Church of God and made havoc of it.”
(Gal.
i. 13.) This injury is not less than that received at the hands of
enemies, nay, it is far greater. For that indeed renders her even more
glorious, whereas this, when she is warred upon by her own children,
disgraces her even before her enemies. Because it seems to them a great
mark of hypocrisy, that those who have been born in her, and nurtured
in her bosom, and have learned perfectly her secrets, that these should
of a sudden change, and do her enemies’ work.
I mean these remarks for those
who give themselves up indiscriminately to the men who are dividing the
Church. For if on the one hand those men have doctrines also contrary
to ours, then on that account further it is not right to mix with them:
if, on the other hand, they hold the same opinions, the reason for not
mixing with them is greater still. And why so? Because then the disease
is from lust of authority. Know ye not what was the fate of Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram? (Num. xvi.
1–35.) Of them only did I say? Was it not also of them that were with
them? What wilt thou say? Shall it be said, “Their faith is the
same, they are orthodox as well as we”? If so, why then are they
not with us? There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
If their cause is right, then is ours wrong; if ours is right, then is
theirs wrong. “Children,” saith he, “tossed to and
fro, and carried about with every wind.” Tell me, dost thou think
this is enough, to say that they are orthodox? Is then the ordination301
| 301 [See
Bingham, Ant. Bk. iv. ch. vi. sec. 11.—G.A.] | of clergy302
| 302 χειροτονίας. At this time there were two orthodox successions in
Antioch, that of Paulinus and Evagrius, who were successively
representatives of the old line which the Arians had dispossessed, and
which Western Christendom supported; and that of Meletius and Flavian,
to which St. Chrysostom adhered, and the Eastern Church generally,
being the Arian succession conformed to orthodoxy. The schism was
terminated A.D. 392, on the death of Evagrius, though his party
continued for twenty years longer. | past and done
away? And what is the advantage of other things,303
| 303 [τῶν
ἄλλων, wanting in the
text of Field, is attested by four good authorities, and yields the
only sense that suits the context.—G.A.] | if this be not strictly observed? For as
we must needs contend for the faith; so must we for this also. For if
it is lawful for any one, according to the phrase of them of old,
“to fill his hands,”304
and to become
a priest, let all approach to minister. In vain has this altar been
raised, in vain the fullness of the Church, in vain the number of the
priests. Let us take them away and destroy them. “God
forbid!” ye will say. You are doing these things, and do ye say,
“God forbid”? How say ye, “God forbid,” when
the very things are taking place? I speak and testify, not looking to
my own interest, but to your salvation. But if any one be indifferent,
he must see to it himself: if these things are a care to no one else,
yet are they a care to me. “I planted,” saith he,
“Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” (1 Cor. iii.
6.)
How shall we bear the ridicule of the Greeks? For if they reproach us
on account of our heresies, what will they not say of these things?
“If they have the same doctrines, if the same mysteries,
wherefore does a ruler in one Church invade another? See ye,” say
they, “how all things amongst the Christians are full of
vainglory? And there is an ambition among them, and hypocrisy. Strip
them,” say they, “of their numbers, and they are nothing.
Cut out the disease, the corrupt multitude.” Would ye have me
tell what they say of our city, how they accuse us on the score of our
easy compliances? Any one, say they, that chooses may find followers,
and would never be at a loss for them. Oh, what a sneer is that, what a
disgrace are these things! And yet the sneer is one thing, the disgrace
is another. If any amongst us are convicted of deeds the most
disgraceful, and are about to meet with some penalty, great is the
alarm, great is the fear on all sides, lest he should start away,
people say, and join the other side. Yea, let such an one start away
ten thousand times, and let him join them. And I speak not only of
those who have sinned, but if there be any one free from offense, and
he has a mind to depart, let him depart. I am grieved indeed at it, and
bewail and lament it, and am cut to the very heart, as though I were
being deprived of one of my own limbs; and yet I am not so grieved, as
to be compelled to do anything wrong through such fear as this. We have
“not lordship over your faith” (2 Cor. i. 24.), beloved, nor
command we these things as your lords and masters. We are appointed for
the teaching of the word, not for power, nor for absolute authority. We
hold the place of counselors to advise you. The counselor speaks his
own sentiments, not forcing the hearer, but leaving him full master of
his choice upon what is said; in this case alone is he blameable, if he
fail to utter the things which present themselves. For this cause do we
also say these things, these things do we assert, that it may not be in
your power in that day to say, “No one told us, no one gave us
commandment, we were ignorant, we thought it was no sin at all.”
Therefore I assert and protest, that to make a schism in the Church is
no less an evil than to fall into heresy. Tell me, suppose a subject of
some king, though he did not join himself to another king, nor give
himself to any other, yet should take and keep hold of his king’s
royal purple, and should tear it all from its clasp, and rend it into
many shreds; would he suffer less punishment than those who join
themselves to the service of another? And what, if withal he were to
seize the king himself by the throat and slay him, and tear his body
limb from limb, what punishment could he undergo, that should be equal
to his deserts? Now if in doing this toward a king, his fellow-servant,
he would be committing an act too great for any punishment to reach; of
what hell shall not he be worthy who slays Christ, and plucks Him limb
from limb? of that one which is threatened? No, I think not, but of
another far more dreadful.
Speak, ye women, that are
present,—for this generally is a failing of
women,305
| 305 St.
Chrysostom was eventually banished and brought to his end by the
Empress Eudoxia. Women had taken a strong part with the Arians from the
first, to which perhaps he alludes. When Arius began his heresy, he was
joined by seven hundred single women. Epiphan. Hær. 69, 3;
vid. also Socr. ii. 2, of the Court, Greg. Naz. Or. 48,
of Constantinople, &c., &c. | —relate to them that are absent this
similitude which I have made; startle them. If any think to grieve me
and thus to have their revenge, let them be well aware that they do
these things in vain. For if thou wishest to revenge thyself on me, I
will give thee a method by which thou mayest take vengeance without
injury to thyself; or rather without injury it is not possible to
revenge thyself, but at all events with less injury. Buffet me, woman,
spit upon me, when thou meetest me in the public way, and aim blows at
me. Dost thou shudder at hearing this? When I bid thee buffet me, dost
thou shudder, and dost thou tear thy Lord and Master and not shudder?
Dost thou pluck asunder the limbs of thy Lord and Master, and not
tremble? The Church is our Father’s house. “There is one
body, and one Spirit.” But dost thou wish to revenge thyself on
me? Yet stop at me. Why dost thou revenge thyself on Christ in my
stead? nay, rather, why kick against the nails? In no case indeed is
revenge good and right, but to assault one when another has done the
wrong is far worse. Is it I that wronged you? Why then inflict pain on
Him who hath not wronged you? This is the very extreme of madness. I
speak not in irony what I am about to say, nor without purpose, but as
I really think and as I feel. I would that every one of those who with
you are exasperated against me, and who by this exasperation are
injuring themselves, and departing elsewhere, would direct his blows at
me in my very face, would strip me and scourge me, be his charge
against me just or unjust, and let loose his wrath upon me, rather than
that they should dare to commit what they now dare. If this were done,
it were nothing; nothing, that a man who is a mere nothing and of no
account whatever, should be so treated. And besides, I, the wronged and
injured person, might call upon God, and He might forgive you your
sins. Not because I have so great confidence; but because when he who
has been wronged, entreats for him who has done the wrong, he gains
great confidence. “If one man sin against another,” it is
said, “then shall they pray for him”306
| 306 [This
is the reading of the Septuagint, as follows: ἂν εἰς
ἄνθρωπόν τις
ἁμάρτῃ,
προσεύξονται
περὶ αὐτοῦ. The Hebrew, however, is different, and reads, “If
one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin
against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?” So the Rev.
Ver.—G.A.] | (1 Sam. ii. 25.); and if I were
unable, I might seek for other holy men, and entreat them, and they
might do it. But now whom shall we even entreat, when God is outraged
by us?
Mark the consistency; for of
those who belong to this Church, some never approach to communicate at
all, or but once in the year, and then without purpose, and just as it
may happen; others more regularly indeed, yet they too carelessly and
without purpose, and while engaged in conversation, and trifling about
nothing: whilst those who, forsooth, seem to be in earnest, these are
the very persons who work this mischief. Yet surely, if it is for these
things ye are in earnest, it were better that ye also were in the ranks
of the indifferent; or rather it were better still, that neither they
should be indifferent, nor you such as ye are. I speak not of you that
are present, but of those who are deserting from us. The act is
adultery. And if ye bear not to hear these things of them, neither
should ye of us. There must be breach of the law either on the one side
or the other. If then thou hast these suspicions concerning me, I am
ready to retire from my office, and resign it to whomsoever ye may
choose. Only let the Church be one. But if I have been lawfully made
and consecrated, entreat those who have contrary to the law mounted the
episcopal throne to resign it.
These things I have said, not as
dictating to you, but only to secure and protect you. Since every one
of you is come to age, and will have to give account of the things
which he has done, I entreat you not to cast the whole matter on us,
and consider yourselves to be irresponsible, that ye may not go on
fruitlessly deceiving yourselves, and at last bewail it. An account
indeed we shall have to give of your souls; but it will be when we have
been wanting on our part, when we fail to exhort, when we fail to
admonish, when we fail to protest. But after these words, allow even me
to say that “I am pure from the blood of all men”
(Acts
xx. 26.); and that “God will deliver my soul.” (Ezek. iii. 19;
21.)
Say what ye will, give a just cause why ye depart, and I will answer
you. But no, ye will not state it. Wherefore I entreat you, endeavor
henceforward both to resist nobly and to bring back those who have
seceded, that we may with one accord lift up thanksgiving to God; for
to Him belongs the glory for ever and ever. Amen. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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