Saving Children

Παντὶ τοίνυν σθένει ὁ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος Παιδαγωγὸς, ὁ Θεοῐς ἡμῶν Λόγος, πάσῃ καταχρώμενος σοφίας μηχανῇ, σώζειν ἐπιβέβληται τοὺς νηπίους, νουθετῶν, ἐπιτιμῶν, ἐπιπλήττων, ἐλέγχων, ἀπειλούμενος, ἰώμενος, ἐπαγγελλόμενος, χαριζόμενος· πολλοῖς τισὶν οἰονεὶ χαλινοῖς τὰς ἀλόγους τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος δεσμεύων ὁρμάς. Συνελόντι γοῦν εἰπεῖν, οὕτως ὁ Κύριος πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς πρὸς τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν. ' Τέκνα σοί ἐστι; παίδευσιν αὐτὰ, ἡ Σοπφία παραινεῖ· καὶ κάμψον αὐτὰ ἐκ νεότητεσ αὐτῶν. Θυγατέρες σοι εἰσι; πρόσεχε τῷ σώματι αὐτῶν, καὶ μὴ ἰλαρώσῃς πρὸς αὐτὰς τὸ πρόσωπιν σου.' Καί τοι τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν, υἱούς τε καὶ θυγατέρας, σφόδρα καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἀγαπῶμεν. Ἐπεὶ δ' οἱ μὲν πρὸς χάριν ὁμιλοῦντες, ὀλίγον ἀγαπῶσιν ὅ μὴ λυνποῡσιν, οἱ δὲ πρὸς ὠφέλειαν ἐπιστύφοντες, εἰ καὶ παραυτίκα λυπηροὶ, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα εὐεργετοῦσιν αἰῶνα· ού τὴν παραυτίκα ἡδονὴν ὁ Κύριος, ἀλλὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐσκόπησε τρυφήν. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Ὁ Παιδαγωγός, Λογὸς Πρῶτος, Κεφ. Θ

With all His power, The Instructor of humanity, the Divine Word, employing all the means of wisdom, attends to the saving of the children, admonishing, upbraiding, blaming, chiding, reproving, threatening, healing, promising, favouring, by many reins, as it were, curbing the irrational impulses of humanity. Indeed to speak concisely, the Lord acts towards us as we do towards our children. 'Do you have children? Correct them,' Wisdom counsels, 'and bend them from their youth. Do you have daughters? Attend to their body, and let not your face brighten towards them,' 1 And this even though we love our children exceedingly, both sons and daughters, above anything else. For they who speak to please have little love for the one they would not pain, but those who prescribe bitter medicines, though they presently cause pain, do good forever. It is not present pleasure, but future happiness, that the Lord would have you look to. Clement of Alexandria, The Teacher, Book 1,Ch 9.  1 Sirach 7:23-24 LXX

Raising a Daughter

Sextus femineus suo jungatur sexui: nesciat, imo timeat cum pueris ludere. Nullum impudicum verbum noverit; et si forte in tumultu familiae discurrentis aliquid audiat, non intelligat. Matris nutum pro verbis ac monitis et pro imperio habeat. Amet ut parentem, subjiciatur ut dominae, timeat ut magistram. Cum autem virgunculam rudem et edentulam, septimus aetatis annus exceperit, et ceperit erubescere, scire quid taceat, dubitare quid dicat: discat memoriter Psalterium, et usque ad annos pubertatis, libros Salomonis: Evangelia, Apostolos, et Prophetas sui cordis thesaurum faciat. Nec liberius procedat ad publicum, nec semper ecclesiarum quaerat celebritatem. In cubiculo suo totas delicias habeat. Nunmquam juvenculos, nunquam cincinnatos videat, vocis dulcedines per aurem animam vulnerantes, puellerumque lacivia repellantur. Quae quanto licentius adeunt, tanto difficilius evitantur: et quod didicerunt, secreto doceat, inclusamque Danaem vulgi sermonibus violant. Sit ei magistra comes, paedagoga custos: non multo vina dedita: non, juxta Apostolum, otiosa atque verbosa; sed sobria, gravis, lanifica, et ea tantum loquens, quae animum puellarem ad virtutem instituant, Ut enim aqua in areola digitum sequitur praecedentem, ita aetas mollis, et tenera in utramque partem flexibilis est, et quocumque duxeris, trahitur. Solent lascivi et comptuli juvenes blandimentis, affabilitate, munusculis, aditum sibi per nutrices aut alumnas quaerere; et cum clementer intraverit, de scintillis incendia concitare, paulatimque peroficere ad impudentiam: et nequaquam posse prohiberi, illo in se versiculo comprobato: 'Aegre reprehendas, quod sinis consuescere.' Pudet dicere: et tamen dicendum est: Nobiles feminae, quae nobiliores habuere neglectui procos, vilissimae conditionis hominibus, et servulis copulantur; ac sub nomine religionis, et umbra continentiae, interdum deserunt viros, Helenae sequuntur Alexandros, nec Menelaos pertimescunt. Videntur haec, plaguntur, et non vindicantur: quia multitudo peccantium peccandi licentiam subministrat. Proh nefas, orbis terrarum ruit, in nobis peccata non ruunt. Sanctus Hieronymus, ex Epistola CXXVIII, Ad Gaudentium

A girl should associate with her own sex, she should not know boys, indeed she should fear to play with them. She should never hear an unclean word, and if amid the bustle of the house she should hear one, she should not understand it. Her mother's nod should suffice for words and warnings and commands. She should love her as a parent, obey her as a mistress, and reverence her as a teacher. She is now a toothless raw little girl, but with seven years passing, she should take to blushing knowing what she should not say and doubtful as to what she should say. Let her learn the Psalter by heart and in the years of adolescence the books of Solomon. The Gospels, the Apostles and the Prophets should be made the treasure of her heart. She should not go out in public too freely, nor always seek out crowded churches. In her own room should be all her pleasure. She must never look at young men, never at fashionable types, and the sweet voices which wound the soul through the ears and loose behaviour of young women must be driven away. The more freedom of access such women possess, so much harder is it to avoid them and what they have learned they will teach in secret, and our secluded Dana will be violated by vulgar talk. Let her have for guardians a companion a mistress and a governess, one not much given to wine, or in the Apostle's words idle and a gossip, but sober, grave, a spinner of wool, one who will establish a girl's soul in virtue. For as water follows a finger drawn through sand, so one of soft and tender years can be bent in two ways, and wherever you lead she is drawn. It is customary for impudent and well groomed young men to seek access for themselves by nurses or dependants with blandishments, friendliness, little gifts, and when they have thus gently effected their approach they blow up fire from the sparks and little by little advance to shamelessness, and it is impossible to stop it then, the verse being proved true: 'It is ill rebuking what you have allowed to become a habit.' I am ashamed to say it and yet it must be said: noble ladies who have rejected more noble suitors join themselves to men of the lowest condition and even with slaves, and sometimes in the name of religion and under the cloak of continence they abandon their husbands, Helen follows Paris without any fear of Menelaus. These things are seen, lamented, and not punished, for the multitude of sinners grants tolerance to it. For shame, the world goes to ruin, but in us sin does not. Saint Jerome, from Letter 128, To Gaudentius

Advice on Seeking

Nobis etsi quaerendum esset adhuc et semper, ubi tamen quaeri oportet? Apud haereticos? Ubi omnia extranea et adversaria nostrae veritatis ad quos vetamur accedere? Quis servus cibaria ab extraneo, ne dicam ab inimico domini sui sperat? Quis miles ab infoederatis, ne dicam ab hostibus regibus donatiuum et stipendium captat nisi plane desertor et transfuga et rebellis?  Etiam anus illa intra tectum suum dragmam requirebat, etiam pulsator ille vicini ianuam tundebat, etiam vidua illa non inimicum licet durum iudicem interpellabat. Nemo inde instrui potest unde destruitur; nemo ab eo inluminatur a quo contenebratur. Quaeramus ergo in nostro et a nostris et de nostro: idque dumtaxat quod salva regula fidei potest in quaestionem devenire. Tertullianus, De Praescriptione Haereticorum

Even if we must still seek, and always, yet where should one seek? Amongst the heretics, where all things are foreign and opposed to our own truth, and to whom we are forbidden to draw near? What servant looks for food from a stranger, or hopes for it from an enemy of his master? What soldier expects to obtain bounty and pay from kings who are unallied, I might  say hostile, unless he be a deserter, and a runaway and a rebel? Even that old woman searched for the drachma beneath her own roof, 1 that knocker kept knocking at his neighbour's door, 2 that widow made appeal to a stern but not a hostile judge. 3 No one is able to be instructed by that by which he is destroyed, no man is illuminated by that which is wrapped in darkness. Let us seek, therefore in that which is ours and from ours and by ours:  only insofar as that which is in question preserves the rule of faith. Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics 1 Lk 15.8 2 Lk 11 5-13 3 Lk 18 1-8

Grace, Freedom and Sin

Atticus. Constat ergo inter nos, in bonis operibus post propriam voluntatem, Dei nos niti auxilio, in malis diaboli. Critobulus. Constat, et super hoc nulla contentio est. Atticus. Male ergo sentiunt, qui per singulas res quas agimus, Dei auferunt adjutorium, et illud quod Psalmista canit: Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laborant qui aedificant eam. Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam ; et caetera hujuscemodi, perversis interpretationibus, immo risu dignis, ad alios sensus detorquere nituntur. Critobulus. Quid mihi necesse est contra alios dicere, cum meum responsum habeas? Atticus. Tuum responsum cujusmodi? Eos bene sentire, an male? Critobulus. Et quae me cogit necessitas, ut contra alios promam sententiam? Atticus. Disputationis ordo et ratio veritatis. An ignoras omne quod dicitur, aut esse, aut non esse; et aut inter bona, aut mala debere numerari? Hoc ergo de quo interrogo, aut bene dici, aut male, ingratis tibi fatendum est. Critobulus. Si in singulis rebus quas gerimus, Dei utendum est adjutorio, ergo et calamum temperare ad scribendum, et temperatum pumice terere, manumque aptare litteris, tacere, loqui, sedere, stare, ambulare, currere, comedere, jejunare, flere, ridere, et caetera hujuscemodi, nisi Deus juverit, non poterimus? Atticus. Juxta meum sensum non posse perspicuum est. Critobulus. In quo igitur liberum habemus arbitrium, et Dei in nos gratia custoditur, si ne hoc quidem absque Deo possumus facere? Atticus. Non sic donata est liberi arbitrii gratia, ut Dei per singula tollatur adminiculum. Critobulus. Non tollitur Dei adjutorium, cum creaturae ex semel dati liberi arbitrii gratia conserventur. Si enim absque Deo, et nisi per singula ille me juverit, nihil possum agere: nec pro bonis me juste operibus coronabit, nec affliget pro malis; sed in utroque suum vel recipiet, vel damnabit auxilium. Atticus. Dic ergo simpliciter, cur Dei auferas gratiam? Quidquid enim tollis in partibus, necesse est ut et in genere neges. Critobulus. Non nego gratiam, cum ita me a Deo asseram conditum, ut per Dei gratiam meae datum sit voluntati, vel facere quid, vel non facere. Atticus. Dormitat ergo Deus in operibus nostris, semel data liberi arbitrii potestate: nec orandus est, ut in singulis operibus nos juvet, cum voluntatis nostrae sit et proprii arbitrii, vel facere si volumus, vel non facere si nolumus. Critobulus. Quomodo in caeteris creaturis conditionis ordo servatur: sic concessa semel liberi arbitrii potestate, nostrae voluntati omnia derelicta sunt. Atticus. Ergo, ut dixi, non debeo a Deo per singula auxilium deprecari, quod semel meo datum est judicio? Critobulus. Si in omnibus ille cooperatur, non est meum, sed ejus qui adjuvat, immo qui in me cooperatur: praesertim cum absque eo facere nihil possim. Atticus. Oro te, non legisti: Non enim volentis neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei ? Ex quibus intelligimus nostrum quidem esse velle et currere; sed ut voluntas nostra compleatur et cursus, ad Dei misericordiam pertinere, atque ita fieri, ut et in voluntate nostra et in cursu, liberum servetur arbitrium, et in consummatione voluntatis et cursus, Dei cuncta potentiae relinquantur. Scilicet nunc mihi Scripturarum testimonia replicanda sunt, quomodo per singula Dei a sanctis flagitetur auxilium et in singulis operibus suis, illo adjutore et protectore uti desiderent. Lege totum Psalterium, omnes sanctorum voces, nihil erit, nisi ad Deum in cunctis operibus deprecatio. Ex quo perspicue ostenditur, te aut Dei negare gratiam, quam tollis in partibus; aut si in partibus dederis, quod nequaquam te velle manifestum est, in nostram sententiam transire, qui sic liberum homini servamus arbitrium, ut Dei per singula adjutorium non negemus. Critobulus. Captiosa ista est conclusio, et de dialecticorum arte descendens. Mihi autem nullus auferre poterit liberi arbitrii potestatem, ne, si in operibus meis Deus adjutor exstiterit, non mihi debeatur merces, sed ei qui in me operatus est. Atticus. Fruere liberi arbitrii potestate, ut contra Deum armes linguam tuam, et in eo te liberum probes, si tibi liceat blasphemare. Verum super hoc quid sentias, nulli dubium est, et praestigia confessionis tuae apertissima luce claruerunt. Nunc revertamur ad id, unde disserere coepimus. Dic mihi, si tibi videtur, hoc quod cum Dei adjutorio paulo ante dicebas, posse hominem non peccare si velit, in perpetuum dicas, an ad tempus et breve? Critobulus. Superflua interrogatio est. Si enim ad tempus et breve dixero: nihilominus referetur ad perpetuum. Quidquid enim ad breve dederis, hoc concedes et in perpetuum. Atticus. Quid dicas, non satis intelligo. Critobulus. Itane durus es, ut manifesta non sentias? Atticus. Non me pudet nescire quod nescio. Et de quo futura est disputatio, debet inter utrumque convenire quem sensum habeat. Critobulus. Ego hoc assero, qui potest uno die se abstinere a peccato, posse et altero: qui duobus, posse et tribus; qui tribus, posse et tringinta; atque hoc ordine posse et trecentis, et tribus millibus, et quamdiucumque se voluerit abstinere. Atticus. Dic ergo simpliciter posse hominem in perpetuum esse sine peccato si velit. Possumusne omne quod volumus? Critobulus. Nequaquam. Neque enim possum quidquid voluero; sed hoc solum dico, hominem sine peccato posse esse, si velit. Atticus. Quaeso ut mihi respondeas. Hominem me putas, an belluam? Critobulus. Si de te ambigo, utrum homo, an bellua sis, ipse me bellnam confitebor. Atticus. Si ergo, ut dicis, homo sum, quomodo cum velim, et satis cupiam non peccare, delinquo? Critobulus. Quia voluntas imperfecta est. Si enim vere velles, vere utique non peccares. Atticus. Ergo tu qui me arguis non vere cupere, sine peccato es, quia vere cupis? Critobulus. Quasi ego de me dicam, quem peccatorem esse confiteor, et non de paucis et raris, si qui voluerint non peccare. Atticus. Interim ex meo tuoque judicio, et ego qui interrogo, et tu qui respondes, peccatores sumus. Critobulus. Sed possumus non esse si velimus. Atticus. Dixi me velle non peccare, te quoque hoc sentire non dubium est. Quomodo ergo quod uterque volumus, uterque non possumus? Critobulus. Quia plene non volumus. Atticus. Da ergo qui majorum nostrorum plene voluerint et potuerint. Critobulus. Hoc quidem non facile est ostendere. Neque enim quando dico hominem posse esse sine peccato si velit, aliquos fuisse contendo; sed simpliciter posse esse si velit. Aliud namque est esse posse, quod Graece dicitur δύναμις; aliud est esse, quod ipsi appellant ἐνέργεια. Possum esse medicus; sed interim non sum. Possum esse faber; sed necdum didici. Quidquid igitur possum: licet necdum sim, tamen ero si voluero. Atticus. Aliud sunt artes, aliud id quod per artes est. Medicina et fabrica, et artes caeterae inveniuntur in plurimis: sine peccato autem esse perpetuo, divinae solius est potestatis. Itaque aut da exemplum qui absque peccato fuerint in perpetuum: aut si dare non potes, confitere imbecillitatem tuam, et noli ponere in coelum os tuum, ut per esse, et esse posse,stultorum illudas auribus. Quis enim tibi concedet, posse hominem facere quod nullus umquam hominum potuerit? Ne tu dialecticis imbutus quidem es? Si enim potest homo, non posse tollitur. Si autem non potest, posse subvertitur. Aut concede mihi aliquem potuisse, quod fieri posse contendis: aut si nullus hoc potuit, invitus teneberis, nullum posse, quod possibile jactitas. Inter Diodorum et Chrysippum valentissimos dialecticos ista contentio est. Diodorus id solum posse fieri dicit, quod aut sit verum, aut verum futurum sit. Et quidquid futurum sit, id fieri necesse esse. Quidquid autem non sit futurum, id fieri non posse. Chrysippus vero et quae non sunt futura, posse fieri dicit: ut frangi hoc margaritum, etiam si id numquam futurum sit. Qui ergo aiunt hominem posse esse absque peccato si velit, non poterunt hoc verum probare, nisi futurum docuerint. Cum autem futura incerta sint omnia, et maxime ea quae numquam facta sunt,  perspicuum est eos id futurum dicere, quod non sit futurum; Ecclesiaste hanc confirmante sententiam: Omne quod futurum est, jam factum est in priori saeculo. Santus Hieronymus, Dialogus Adversus Pelagianos, Liber I Source: Migne PL 23.499d-503a

Atticus: Therefore it is settled among us that in our good works, besides our own will, we depend on the help of God, and on the devil in evil acts? Critobulus: It is settled and concerning this there is no argument. Atticus: Therefore they think erroneously who would not have the help of God in every single action that we perform, and to that which the Psalmist sings, 'Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guard the city, vainly he watches who guards it.' 1 and other things like this, they give perverse interpretations, truly worthy of laughter, as they strive to twist it to mean something else. Critobulus: Why is it needed for me to speak against others when you have my answer on this? Atticus: What is your answer? Do they think well or poorly? Critobulus: And what necessity forces me that I should make known my thought against them? Atticus: The order of the argument and care for truth. Do you not know that whatever we say either is or it not, and that it should be classified among the good or the evil? Therefore, concerning what I ask, whether they spoke well or poorly, you must speak despite your unwillingness. Critobulus: If in every single action that we do God must be a helper, will it not then be that, unless God gives aid, we will not be able to fashion a pen for writing, and smooth it with pumice after, and apply our hand to the making of letters, and maintain silence, and talk, and sit, and stand, and walk, and run, and eat, and fast, and cry, and laugh, and do other similar things? Atticus: According to my mind clearly it would not be possible. Critobulus: In what way, then, do we have free will with the grace of God preserved in us, if we without God cannot do these things? Atticus: The grace of the free will was not given that it do away with the assistance of God in everything. Critobulus: The help of God is not taken away when creatures are preserved by the grace of the free will that has been given them once. For if without God, and unless He helps me in every action, I can do nothing, He will neither crown me rightly for good deeds done, nor will He punish for evil deeds, but in both cases He will either admit or condemn His own assistance. Atticus: Simply tell me why you rule out the grace of God. For whatever you take from the parts, you must necessarily refuse to the whole. Critobulus: I do not deny grace when I assert that I was fashioned by God in such a way that through the grace of God the will was given to me either to act or not to act. Atticus: Therefore God rests as far as our works are concerned once the power of free will has been given, nor should there be prayer that He help us in each of our acts when it is of our own will to do what we wish to do or not to do what we do not wish to do. Critobulus: Just as in other creatures the order of creation is preserved, so once the power of free will his been given everything is left to our will. Atticus: Therefore, as I said, do I not need to ask God for help in every act, that which has been given once and for all in my own judgement? Critobulus: If He is a cooperator in everything, the act is not mine but it is of He who helps, or rather to Him who cooperates, especially since without Him I can do nothing. Atticus: I ask you, have you not read, 'For it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of the mercy of God?' 2 From which we understand that ours it is to will and to run, but the accomplishment of our willing and running belongs to the mercy of God, and so it comes about that in our own willing and our running the free will is preserved, and the accomplishment of our willing and our running require the power of God. Now it seems clear to me that at this point the testimony of Scripture should be quoted to show how those who were holy begged God to help them in every act, and they desired Him as helper and protector in every work of theirs. Read the whole Psalter, the words of all those who were holy, nothing will be found but prayer to God in every deed. From which it is easily seen that you either deny the grace of God, which you take away from the parts, or, if you grant it to the parts, which it is obvious you do not wish to do, you cross over into our judgement, who preserve the free will of man while not denying the help of God in every deed. Critobulus: This conclusion is captious and is drawn from the art of the dialecticians. To me, however, no one will be able to deny the power of the free will, lest, if God exists as my helper in my works, the reward not be imputed to me, but to Him who worked in me. Atticus: Delight in the power of free will so that you may arm your tongue against God and so prove yourself free since you are allowed to blaspheme. Of what you think about this there is no doubt and the deceits of your confession shine with brightest light. But now let us return to the place where we began our discussion. Tell me, if it pleases you, when you said a little while ago that it was possible for man with the help of God not to sin if he wished it, did you mean forever, or temporarily and briefly? Critobulus: A superfluous question. For if I were to say temporarily and briefly it will still be taken as forever, for whatever you grant to a brief span of time you also admit forever. Atticus: I do not fully understand what you are saying. Critobulus: Are you so dull that you do not grasp what is obvious? Atticus: I am not ashamed to not know what I do not know. And for the future of this discussion we must both agree on the definition of what we have before us. Critobulus: I assert that he who can abstain from sinning for one day can also do so for another day, and he who can do it for two days can also do it for three days, and he who can do it for three days can also do it for thirty days, and with this understanding he can also abstain from sinning for three hundred days, and as for as long a time as he wants. Atticus: So simply say that man can be without sin forever if he wants to. Are we not able to do everything that we want to? Critobulus: Not at all. For I cannot do everything that I wish. But all I am saying is that man can be without sin if he wants to. Atticus: I ask you to answer me this: do you think me a man or a beast? Critobulus: If I am in doubt as to whether you are a man or a beast I will confess myself a beast. Atticus: If then, as you say, I am a man, how is it that when I wish and truly desire not to sin I go astray? Critobulus: Because your will is imperfect. For if you truly wanted to, certainly you would not sin. Atticus: Therefore you who claim that I do not truly desire to be without sin, are without sin because you truly desire it? Critobulus: As if I were speaking of myself, I who confess that I am a sinner, and not of those few and rare individuals who if they wish do not sin. Atticus: Meanwhile in mine and your judgement, I, who am asking the question, and you, who answer, are sinners? Critobulus: But we are able not to be if we wish. Atticus: I said that I did not wish to sin, and you also doubtless think this. How then is it that what we both want we are not able to do? Critobulus: Because we do not wholly want it. Atticus: Then give me some of those great ones among us who fully wish it and do it. Critobulus: This is certainly not easy to show. For when I say that man can be without sin if he wishes I am not contending that there were some individuals like this, but simply that a man is able to be it if he wants it. For what in Greek is called δύναμις, that is, 'possibility' is one thing and that which they name ἐνέργεια, that is, 'actuality' is another. I can be a physician but in the meantime I am not. I can be a craftsman but I have not yet learnt how. Therefore whatever I can be, although I am not yet that thing, nevertheless, I shall be if I want to. Atticus: The arts are one thing, that which comes into being as the result of the art is something else. Medical skill, craftsmanship, and the other arts, are found in many individuals, but to be without sin forever is of the Divine power alone. Therefore either give example of those who were without sin forever, or if you cannot do so confess your inability and stop placing your mouth in heaven 3and with talk of being and being possible deceiving the ears of the foolish. For who will grant you that a man is able to do what no man has ever been able to do? Have you not any education in dialectics at all? If a man can do something, impossibilty is ruled out. But if a thing is not possible for man, possibility is denied. Either grant me that someone was able to do what you contend is possible, or, if no person was able to do it, you will have to admit, unwillingly, that no man can do what you boast is possible. Between the most capable dialecticians Diodorus and Chrysippus this is the argument. Diodorus says that only that is possible which either is true or will be true. And whatever will be in the future is necessarily possible. But whatever will not be in the future is impossible. Chrysippus, however, says that those things are also possible that will not be, as it is possible for a particular pearl to break, even if it never happens. Therefore they who say that man can be without sin if wishes it are not be able to prove this to be true, unless they teach that it will take place in the future. But since all future things are uncertain, especially those things that never have been done, it is obvious that what they are speaking of in the future will not take happen. Ecclesiastes confirms this view: 'Everything that will be has been done in the ages that were before.' 4 Saint Jerome, Dialogue Against the Pelagians, Book 1 1 Ps 126.1 2 Rom 9.16 3 Ps 72.9 4 Eccles 1.9,10

Virtue and Knowledge

Εἶδον σὺν τὸν περισπασμόν, ὃν ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ περισπᾶσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ. Σὺν τὰ πάντα ἐποίησεν καλὰ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ καί γε σὺν τὸν αἰῶνα ἔδωκεν ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν, ὅπως μὴ εὕρῃ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸ ποίημα, ὃ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς καὶ μέχρι τέλους. Ἔγνων ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀγαθὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς εἰ μὴ τοῦ εὐφρανθῆναι καὶ τοῦ ποιεῖν ἀγαθὸν ἐν ζωῇ αὐτοῦ· καί γε πᾶς ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὃς φάγεται καὶ πίεται καὶ ἴδῃ ἀγαθὸν ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ, δόμα θεοῦ ἐστιν.   Εἶδον, φησί, τὰ αἰσθητὰ πράγματα περισπῶντα, τὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἅπερ ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸ τῆς καθάρσεως τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἵν᾿ἐν αὐτοῖς περισπῶνται. Πρόσκαιρον δὲ αὐτῶν τὴν καλλονὴν λέγει καὶ οὐκ ἀΐδιον· μετὰ γὰρ τὴν κάθαρσιν οὐκ ἔτι ὡς περισπῶντα τὸν νοῦν αὐτοῦ μόνον ὁ καθαρὸς τὰ αἰσθητὰ πράγματα καθορᾷ, ἀλλ᾿ὡς ἐγκείμενα αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν πνευματικὴν θεωρίαν. Ἀλλως γὰρ τυποῦται ὁ νοῦς τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐπιβάλλων αἰσθητῶς, καὶ ἄλλως διατίθεται τοὺς λόγους τοὺς ἐναποκειμένους τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς θεωρῶν· ἀλλ᾿ αὕτη μὲν ἡ γνῶσις καθαροῖς μόνον ἐπισυμβαίνει, ἡ δὲ διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων κατανόησις τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ καθαροῖς καὶ ἀκαθάρτοις. Διὸ καὶ περισπασμὸν πρόσκαιρον εἶπεν αὐτὴν θεοῦ δεδομένην· προνοούμενος γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς ψυχῆς ἔδωκεν αὐτῇ αἰσθήσεις καὶ πράγματα αἰστητά, ὅπως ἐν αὐτοῖς περισπωμένη καὶ νοηματιζομένη ἐκφεύγῃ τοὺς μέλλοντας αὐτῇ παρὰ τῶν ἀντικειμένων ἐμβάλλεσθαι λογισμούς. Ἔδωκε δὲ αὐτοῖς, φησί, καὶ τὸν αἰῶνα, τουτέστι τοὺς λόγους τοῦ αἰῶνος· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἣν ἐντὸς ἔχειν ἡμᾶς εἶπεν ὁ κύριος, ἥτις καλυπτομένη ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν οὐχ εὐρίσκεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Ἔγνων οὖν, φησίν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι τὰ πράγματα ἀγαθά ἀλλ᾿ οἱ λόγοι τῶν πραγμάτων, ἐφ᾿ οἷς καὶ εὐφραίνεσθαι πέφυκεν ἡ φύσις ἡ λογικὴ καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι τὸ ἀγαθόν· οὐδὲν τρέφει καὶ ποτίζει τὸν νοῦν ὡς ἀρετὴ καὶ γνῶσις θεοῦ. Εὐάγριος ὁ Ποντικός, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην

I have seen the occupation that God has given to the sons of men by which they are occupied. All the things he has made are beautiful in his time and he has also set the ages in their heart, that man may not discover the work that God has performed from the beginning even until the end. I know that there is no good in them, except to rejoice and to do good in his life.  And every man who eats and drinks  and sees good in all his work, it is a gift of God. 1   I have seen, he says, sensible objects  that occupy the thoughts of men, which God gave to men before their purification in order that they might be occupied by them. He says their beauty is temporal and not eternal, for after purification the mind of the purified is no more distracted by sensible objects, but he is absorbed in spiritual contemplation. It is one thing for the mind to be stamped in a sensible way when intent on the perception of sensible things, and it is a different thing to contemplate by means of sensed things the inner meanings they contain, but this latter knowledge is attained only by the pure, while understanding by sensible objects is of both the pure and the impure. This is why he speaks of this temporal occupation as being given by God, God in his providence towards the sensing soul having given it senses and sensible objects so that occupied by these and thinking upon them, it may escape the thoughts thrown at it by adversaries. It says He has given them even the ages, that is, the meanings of the ages, because it is there that we have the kingdom of heaven within us, as the Lord has said; 2 but being obscured beneath passions it is not found by men. I have seen, he says, that it is not things that are good, but rather the meaning of them, on account of which rational nature has grown to rejoice and to do good. Nothing so feeds and waters the mind as virtue and the knowledge of God.   Evagrius Ponticus, On Ecclesiastes  1 Eccl 3.10-13 2 Lk 17.21

Seeking Causes

Et dedi cor meum ad inquirendum et considerandum in sapientia de omnibus quae fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem malam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.   Verbum Anian Aquila, Septuaginta, et Theodotio περιπασμὸν similiter transtulerunt, quod in distentionem Latinus interpres expressit, eo quod in varias sollicitudines mens hominis distenta lanietur. Symmachus vero ἀσχολίαν, id est, occupationem transtulit. Quia igitur saepius in hoc volumine nominatur, sive occupationem, sive distentionem, sive quid aliud dixerimus, ad superiorem sensum cuncta referantur. Dedit ergo Ecclesiastes primo omnium mentem suam ad sapientuam requirendam, et citra licitum se extendens, voluit causas rationesque cognoscere: quare parvuli corriperentur a daemone, cur naufragia et justos et impios pariter absorberent; utrum haec et his similia casu evenirent, an judicio Dei. Et si casu, ubi provendentia? si judicio, ubi iusitia Dei. Haec, inquit, nosse desiderans, intellexi superfluam curam et sollicitiudinem per diversa cruciantem a Deo hominibus datam, ut scire cupiant, quod scire non licitum est. Pulchre autem causa praemissa, a Deo data distentio est. Quomodo enim in Epistola ad Romanos scribitur: Propter quod tradidit eos Deus in passiones ignominae. Et iterum: Propter quod tradidit eos Deus in reprobum sensum, ut faciant quae non oportet. Ac deinde: Propterea tradidit eos Deus in desideria cordis in immunditiam. Et ad Thessalonicenses: Propterea mittet eis Deus operantionem erroris. Et prius causae ostenduntur, quare vel passionibus ignominae, vel sensui reprobo, vel cordis sui desideriis concedantur, aut quid fecerint, ut operationem erroris accipiant. Ita et in praesentiarum idcirco Deus distentionem malam dedit hominibus, ut distendantur in ea, quia prius sponte sua et propria voluntate haec vel illa fecerunt. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

'And I gave my heart to enquiring and considering in wisdom all the things that are beneath the sun. This evil occupation God has given to the sons of men, that they be occupied by it. 1  The Hebrew word 'Anian' Aquila, the Septuagint and Theodotion translate similarly as περιπασμὸν, which is expressed in our language as pursuit, that is, when by the various cares the mind of man is stretched and torn. Symmachus has ἀσχολίαν, which is translated as occupation. And so what is often named in this book as occupation or pursuit, or some other name, all refer to the meaning given. Ecclesiastes thus first gives his mind to the seeking of wisdom and as far as he may he stretches himself, wishing to know causes and reasons, why little ones are taken by death, why both the righteous and the impious are destroyed in a shipwreck, whether there are similar matters of chance determining these things, or whether it is a matter of the judgement of God. And if it is by chance, then where is providence? And if it is by judgement, then where is the justice of God? These things, he says, desiring to know, I understand as an overwhelming care and anxiety through the different troubles God has given to man, that they long to know what it is not permitted to know. Beautiful is a cause given in advance, God gives the pursuit of it. It is written in the Letter to the Romans, 'On account of which God gave them to disgraceful passions 2 And again 'On account on which God gave them to a depraved mind, that they do what they should not 3 And then 'Thus God gave them to the uncleanliness in the desires of their heart.' 4 And to the Thessalonians it is said: 'Therefore God sent to them the working of error.' 5 And what is said before these lines I have quoted show the causes, that is, why they fall into disgraceful passions, or into depraved minds, or to the desires of their heart, or whatever they may do when they take to the doing of wrong. Thus in this giving God gives men to evil pursuits, that they pursue them, because before man out of his own accord and his own will this or that would do. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 1.13 2. Rom 1.6 3 Rom 1.28  4 Rom 1.24  5 2 Thes 2.10

The Giving of Good and Evil

Ἤλθεν οὖν ἐκζητῆσαι τῇ ἑαυτοῦ σοφίᾳ τί γέγονεν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, τίς ἡ σύγχυσις τῶν τῇδε πραγμάτων, πῶς ἐδουλὼθη τὸ ὄν τῷ μὴ ὄντι· πῶς δυναστεύει κατὰ τοῦ ὄντος τὸ ἀνυπόστατον. Καὶ οἰδεν ὅτι περισπασμὸν πονηρὸν ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς υἱοῖς ἀνθρώπων, τοῦ περισπᾶσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐχ ὡς ἄν τις ἐκ τοῦ προχείρου νοήσειε, εὐσεβές ἐστιν οἴεσθαι, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν πονηρὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις περισπασμόν· ἦ γὰρ ἄν εῑς ἐλεῖνον ἡ τῶν κακῶν αἰτία ἐπαναφέροιτο. Ὁ γὰρ τῇ φύσει ἀγαθὸς, καὶ ἀγαθῶν πάντως παρεκτικὸς γίνεται· διότι πᾰν δένδρον καλὸν καρποὺς καλοὺς ποιεῖ, καὶ οὔτε ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὴ, οὔτε ἐξ ἀμπέλου ἄκανθα φύεται· ὅ οὖν τῇ φύσει ἀγαθὸν, οὐκ ἄν τι πονηρὸν ἐκ τῶν θησαυρῶν αὐτοῦ προχειρίσαιτο. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας κακὰ λαλεῖ, ἀλλὰ κατάλληλα τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φθέγγεται φύσει· πόσῳ οὖν μᾰλλον ἡ τῶν ἀγαθων πηγὴ οὐκ ἄν τι τῶν πονητῶν ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως προχέοι; Ἀλλὰ τουτο νοεῖν ὑποτίθεται ἡ εὑσεβεστέρα διάνοια, ὅτι τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ δόμα. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν, ἡ αὐτεξούσιος κίνησις ἢ τῇ διημαρτημένῃ τῶν ἀνθρώπων χρήσει ὄργανον εἰς ἁμαρτίαν ἐγένετο. Ἀγαθὸν γὰρ τῇ φύσει τὸ αὐτεξούσιον καὶ ἀδούλωτον, τὸ δὲ ὑπεζευγμένον ἀνάγκαις, οὐκ ἄν τις ἐν ἀγαθοῖς ἀριθμήσειεν· ἀλλ' ἠ αὐτεξούσιος αὔτη τῆς διανοίας ὁρμὴ ἀπαιδαγωγήτως πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν τῆς κακίας ἀποῥῥυεῖσα, πειρασμὸς τῆς ψυχῆς ἐγένετο, ἀπὸ τῶν ὑψηλῶν τε καὶ τιμίων, πρὸς τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς τῆς φύσεως κινήσεις κατασπασθείσης. Τοῦτο ἐστιν ὅ σημαίνει τὸ ἔδωκεν, οὐχ ὅτι αὐτὸς τὸ κακὸν τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωῇ ἐνποίησεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι τοῖς παρὰ Θεοῦ δοθεῖσιν ἀγαθοῖς ὁ ἀνθρωπος ὑπὸ ἀβουλίας κακῶν ὑπηρεσίαν ἐχρήσατο. Σύνηθες δέ ἐστι τῇ ἁγιᾳ Γραφῇ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν νοημάτων ταῖς τοιαύταις ἐξαγγέλλειν φωναῖς· ὡς τὸ, Παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς εἰς πὰθη ἀτιμίας· καὶ, Ἔδωκεν αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, και Ἐσκλήρυνε τὴν καρδίαν Φαραὼ· καὶ τὸ, Τί ἐπλάνησας ἡμᾶς, Κύριε, ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου, ἐσκληρυνας τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν τοῦ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι σε; καὶ Ἐπλάνησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀβάτῳ καὶ οὐχ ὁδῷ· καὶ Ἡπάτησας με καὶ ἠπατήθην· καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ἑστὶν ὁμότροπα, ἐφ' ὦν ἡ ἀκριβὴς διάνοια οὐ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ συνίστησι φύσει· ἀλλὰ κατηγορεῖ τῆς ἐξουσίας, ἥ ἀγαθον μέν ἐστι καὶ Θεοῦ δῶρον δεδομένον τῇ φύσει· γέγονε δὲ, διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον ῥοπῆς κακόν. Εἶδεν οὖν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς σύμπαντα τὰ πεποιημένα ἐν τῷ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον βίῳ, ὅτι πάντα ματαιότης, Οὐκ ἧν γὰρ ἀσυνιῶν, οὐκ ἧν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὸν Θεόν· ἐπειδὴ πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἀμα ἠχρειώθησαν. Διὰ τοῠ το εἰπὼν, ὅτι Καὶ ἰδου τὰ πάντα ματαιότης  τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπήγαγεν, ὅτι οὐχ ὁ Θεὸς τούτων αἴτιος, ἀλλὰ ἠ προαίρεσις τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ὁρμῆς, ἥν πνεῦμα ὠνόμασεν. Κατηγορεῖ δὲ τούτου τοῦ πνεύματος, οὐχ ὅτι τοιοῦτον ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἧν· ἧ γὰρ ἄν ἔξω κατηγορίας ἥν, εἰ τοιοῦτον ἐγένετο· ἀλλ' ὅτι διαστραφὲν ἐξηρμόσθη τοῦ κόσμου. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην, Ὁμιλια Β'

Ecclesiastes has come, then, to seek out by his own wisdom what is done under the sun, that confusion of deeds, why existence is subject to non existence and how that which is insubstantial has power over being. He knew that 'God has given to the sons of men an evil trouble to vex him' 1. And let this be thought as something not easily understood, that a pious man considers that God has given an evil to the sons of men in order to trouble them, for then one may choose to attribute the cause of evil to God. But He who is good by nature is indeed a giver of good things because every good tree bears good fruit and from thorns  grapes do not spring, nor do thorns grow from a vine; 2 therefore the One who is good by nature does not offer some evil from his storehouse. A good man does not speak evil from the abundance of his heart but utters words appropriate to his nature. How then is it that the fountain of good may not be a giver of evils? Let this be considered with a more reverent understanding, since the gifts of God are good. That is, the freedom of will given, man misused it as an instrument for sin, for free will is good in its nature and subject to no one, while anything yoked to necessity should not be accounted among things good, but in liberty, during a soul's testing, an impulse of the mind led to choice of evil, and from high state of honour it was drawn down to the passions. This is what  'He has given' means, not that He has given evil to the life of men, but that the goods God has given men have been used by them to commit mindless evil. Holy Scripture expresses such things as we have been considering, by proclaiming: 'God has handed them over to disgraceful of passions' 3, and 'He has given them over to a base mind.' 4 and 'He has hardened Pharaoh's heart'  5, and 'Why, Lord, have you caused us to wander from your way and why have you hardened our hearts not to fear you?' 6, and 'He make them wander in a desert and not in the way' 7, and 'You have deceived me, and I was deceived', 8 and other remarks similar to these, which being understood correctly does not mean that human nature has something inappropriate from God, but they censure free will which in itself is a good and a gift bestowed by God to our nature, but as a result of error, free will inclines to evil. So Ecclesiastes sees all things done in life under the sun, that they are vain. 'There is not one who understands or seeks after God' 9 since all have turned aside and have become useless. And thus he says 'Behold, all is vanity.'  10 He does not attribute the cause to God but to human choice which he names the wind. He censures this wind, for it is not as it was at the beginning. There it was free of censure and in no need of condemnation, but it turned aside by turning to the world.   Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Ecclesiastes,  Homily 2 1 Eccl 1.13 2 Mt 7.17 3 Rom 1.26 4 Rom. 1.28 5 Ex 9.12 6 Is 63.17 7 Ps 106.40 8 Jer 20.7 9 Rom 3.11 10 Eccl 1.14

Seeing the Light

Πολλῶν γὰρ ὄντων ἡμῖν καὶ μεγάλων, οὐ μὲν οὖν εἴποι τις ἂν ἡλίκων καὶ ὅσων, ὧν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἔχομέν τε καὶ ἕξομεν·  τοῦτο μέγιστον καὶ φιλανθρωπότατον, ἡ πρὸς αὐτὸν νεῦσίς τε καὶ οἰκείωσις.  Ὅπερ γάρ ἐστι τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ἥλιος, τοῦτο τοῖς νοη τοῖς Θεός.  Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὸν ὁρώμενον φωτίζει κόσμον, ὁ δὲ τὸν ἀόρατον·  καὶ ὁ μὲν τὰς σωματικὰς ὄψεις ἡλιοειδεῖς, ὁ δὲ τὰς νοερὰς φύσεις θεοειδεῖς ἀπεργάζεται.  Καὶ ὥσπερ οὗτος τοῖς τε ὁρῶσι καὶ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις, τοῖς μὲν τὴν τοῦ ὁρᾷν, τοῖς δὲ τὴν τοῦ ὁρᾶσθαι παρέχων δύναμιν, αὐτὸς τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐστὶ τὸ κάλλιστον·  οὕτω Θεὸς τοῖς νοοῦσι καὶ τοῖς νοουμένοις, τοῖς μὲν τὸ νοεῖν, τοῖς δὲ τὸ νοεῖσθαι δημιουργῶν, αὐτὸς τῶν νοουμένων ἐστὶ τὸ ἀκρότατον, εἰς ὃν πᾶσα ἔφεσις ἵσταται, καὶ ὑπὲρ ὃν οὐδαμοῦ φέρεται.  Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχει τι ὑψηλότερον, ἢ ὅλως ἕξει, οὐδὲ ὁ φιλοσοφώτατος νοῦς καὶ διαβατικώτατος, ἢ πολυπραγμονέστατος.  Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ τῶν ὀρεκτῶν ἔσχατον, καὶ οὗ γενομένοις πάσης θεωρίας ἀνάπαυσις. Ὧτινι μὲν οὖν ἐξεγένετο, διὰλόγου καὶ θεωρίας διασχόντι τὴν ὕλην καὶ τὸ σαρκικὸν τοῦτο, εἴτε νέφος χρὴ λέγειν, εἴτε προκάλυμμα, Θεῷ συγγενέσθαι, καὶ τῷ ἀκραιφνεστάτῳ φωτὶ κραθῆναι, καθ όσον ἐφικτὸν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει·  μακάριος οὗτος, τῆς τε ἐντεῦθεν ἀναβάσεως, καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖσε θεώσεως, ἣν τὸ γνησίως φιλοσοφῆσαι χαρίζεται, καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ τὴν ὑλικὴν δυάδα γενέσθαι, διὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ Τριάδι νοουμένην ἑνότητα. Ὅστις δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς συζυγίας χείρων ἐγένετο, καὶ τοσοῦτον τῷ πηλῷ συνεσχέθη, ὡς μὴ δυνηθῆναι ἐμβλέψαι πρὸς τὰς τῆς ἀληθείας αὐγὰς, μηδὲ ὑπὲρ τὰ κάτω γενέσθαι, γεγονὼς ἄνωθεν, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἄνω καλούμενος·  ἄθλιος οὗτος ἐμοὶ τῆς τυφλώσεως, κἂν εὐροῇ τοῖς ἐνταῦθα·  καὶ τοσούτῳ πλέον, ὅσῳπερ ἂν μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῆς εὐροίας παίζηται, καὶ πείθηται ἄλλο τι καλὸν εἶναι πρὸ τοῦ ὄντος καλοῦ, πονηρὸν πονηρᾶς δόξης καρπὸν δρεπόμενος, ἢ ζόφον κατακριθῆναι, ἢ ὡς πῦρ ἰδεῖν, ὃν ὡς φῶς οὐκ ἐγνώρισεν.  Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΚΑ'

For as many and great as our blessings are, and none may say how great and how many, which we have and shall have from God, this is the greatest and most benevolent, our inclination and relationship to Him. For as the sun is to things sensible, God is to intelligible things. One gives light to the visible world, the other to the invisible world; one makes our bodily eyes see the sun, the other one makes our intellectual natures see God. And as this which bestows on the things which see and are seen, the power of seeing and being seen, is itself the most beautiful of visible things, so God who creates, for those who think and things thought of, the power of thinking and being thought of, is Himself the highest of things thought of, in Whom every longing ends, and beyond Whom it cannot go. For nothing higher even the most philosophic, the most piercing, the most inquisitive mind can have or will have. For this is the utmost of things desirable, and of it is rest from all seeking. Whoever has been permitted to escape by reason and contemplation from matter and this fleshy cloud or veil, whichever it should be called, and to commune with God, and to be associated with the purest light, insofar as man's nature can attain, blessed is he, both for his ascent from where he was, and for his deification there, which is granted by the authentic philosophy, and by being above the dualism of matter through the unity which is understood in the Trinity. And whosoever has been degraded by being joined to the flesh and so constrained by the clay that he is unable to look at the rays of truth, nor be above things below, though he is born from above and called to things above, this one to me is wretched in his blindness, even if he has an abundance of things here, and all the more so because he is the plaything of his abundance, being persuaded that something else is beautiful for that which is really beautiful, reaping, as the wicked fruit of wicked opinion, the condemnation to darkness, seeing Him to be fire, whom he did not recognize as light. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 21

Learning from God

Magnum est et admodum rarum universam creaturam corpoream et incorpoream consideratam compertamque mutabilem intentione mentis excedere atque ad incommutabilem Dei substantiam pervenire et illic discere ex ipso, quod cunctam naturam, quae non est quod ipse, non fecit nisi ipse. Sic enim Deus cum homine non per aliquam creaturam loquitur corporalem, corporalibus instrepens auribus, ut inter sonantem et audientem aeria spatia uerberentur, neque per eius modi spiritalem, quae corporum similitudinibus figuratur, sicut in somnis uel quo alio tali modo, nam et sic uelut corporis auribus loquitur, quia uelut per corpus loquitur et uelut interposito corporalium locorum interuallo; multum enim similia sunt talia uisa corporibus; sed loquitur ipsa ueritate, si quis sit idoneus ad audiendum mente, non corpore. Ad illud enim hominis ita loquitur, quod in homine ceteris, quibus homo constat, est melius, et quo ipse Deus solus est melior. Cum enim homo rectissime intellegatur uel, si hoc non potest, saltem credatur factus ad imaginem Dei: profecto ea sui parte est propinquior superiori Deo, qua superat inferiores suas, quas etiam cum pecoribus communes habet. Sed quia ipsa mens, cui ratio et intellegentia naturaliter inest, vitiis quibusdam tenebrosis et ueteribus invalida est, non solum ad inhaerendum fruendo, uerum etiam ad perferendum incommutabile lumen, donec de die in diem renouata atque sanata fiat tantae felicitatis capax, fide primum fuerat inbuenda atque purganda. In qua ut fidentius ambularet ad ueritatem, ipsa ueritas, Deus. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De Civitate Dei, Lib. XI

It is a great and extremely rare thing after contemplating the whole corporeal and incorporeal creation, and having ascertained its mutability, that by the intent of the mind one passes beyond it to attain to the substance of God and there learn from Him that all nature, that which is not Him, no one has made but Himself. For God speaks not with a man like some corporeal creature, making a noise in his ears of flesh, by the vibrations of the air between speaker and hearer, nor even by means of a spirit which is fashioned with the appearance of a body, as is found in dreams or similar states, for even here He would speak as if to the ears of the body because it is by means of a body He would speak and as if there were an interval of space between bodies, for such visions are very accurate representations of bodily objects, but He speaks by the truth itself, if any one is prepared to listen with the mind rather than with the body. For He speaks to that in man which is better than all else by which he is constituted, and in comparison with which only God is better. For since man is most correctly understood as being made in the image of God, or, if it cannot be understood, then at least let it be believed, certain it is that it is this part of him which is nearer the higher God and by which he rises above those lower parts he has in common with the beasts. But because the mind itself, in which reason and understanding naturally dwell, is weakened by obfuscating and inveterate vices, one must not merely in delight abide in the unchanging light, but even endure it, until from day to day the mind is renewed and healed, and made capable of such happiness, which it had in the first place to be imbued with faith, and so purified. And this that it might walk to truth more confidently, the truth itself, God. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from The City of God, Book 11

Bad and Good Teaching

Πότερον οὐχὶ Κύριός ἐστιν ὁ διδάσκων σύνεσιν καὶ ἐπιστήμην;   Τὰ οἶκονομούμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγιου Πνεύματος ἀναγραφῆς ἀξιωθῆναι χρή. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀναγράφεται ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα ὠφελεῖσθαι ἐκ τῶν ἀναγινωσκομένων. Εἰ μὴ οὖν χρήσιμοι ἧσαν οἱ λόγοι τῶν τριῶν, τῶν παραγενομένων πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ, ὡς τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα λαβεῖν τι ἀπὸ τῶν εἰρημένων ὑπ' αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ· οὐκ ἂν ἡ πρόνοια εἰς τὴν βίβλον τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἐποίησεν ἀναγραφῆναι καὶ τοὺς λόγους τῶν τριῶν. Ἔστιν οὖν ὠφεληθῆναι μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ, ἐνορῶντα τοῖς δόγμασιν· ὁρᾷν δὲ τὸ ἔγκλητον τῶν λόγων περὶ ἔν μόνον, ὅτε αἰτιῶνται τὸν Ἰὼβ, οἰόμενοι αὐτὸν πάσχειν διὰ τὰ ἡμαρτημένα αὐτῳ· οὐχ ὁρῶντες, ὅτι καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ αἴτιά ἐστι τοῦ συμβαίνειν ἀνθρώποις. Τοιαῦτα ἐστι νενομισμένα εἶναι καλὰ ἢ Χαλεπὰ, ἢ ὅπως ποτὲ βούλεται τις αὐτὰ ὀνομάζειν. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Πότερον οὐχὶ Κύριός ἐστιν ὁ διδάσκων σύνεσιν καὶ ἐπιστήμην; Τὸ δόγμα ὑγιές ἐστι· ὅτι ἀληθινὸς διδάσκαλος ἀρετῆς οὐ δύναται εἶναι ἄνθρωπος. Ὁ διδάσκων γὰρ ἀνθρωπον γνῶσιν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς ἀναγέγραπται, ὅτι οὐκ ἄλλος ἐστὶν ἢ Θεός. Καὶ Δίδαξόν με, φησὶν, τὰ δικαιώματα σου, ὁ Προφήτης, εἰδὼς διδάσκαλον εἶναι ἀληθῆ καὶ τέλειον τὸν Θεόν. Διδάσκει δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἐλλάμπων τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ μανθάνοντος ὑπ' αὐτοῠ, καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν φωτίζων τῷ φωτὶ, τῷ ἀληθινῷ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἄνδρες δίκαιοι ἡμᾶς διδάσκουσι διδασκαλικὴν εἰληφότες χάριν.  Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ

Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge? 1 Things overseen by the Holy Spirit are worthy to be described. Therefore they shall be described that the reader may be benefited by what he reads. If the words of the three who had come to Job were not useful, still the reader may be benefited from what they said to Job. Divine Providence, as it is described in the book of Job, did not fashion the words of these three, and so to draw profit from the words one must attend to the teachings, and at least note the fault of the words of the one who blamed Job, thinking that he suffered what he did on account of his sins, not seeing that there are many other causes by which things befall a man. Such things that are so constituted as to be a good or a trouble, or whatever one wishes to give as a name to these things. And then after a little while it is said: ' Is it not the Lord, who teaches understanding and knowledge? The teaching is beneficial because the true teacher of virtue is not able to be a man. 'He who teaches man knowledge,' as the Psalmist writes, 'is no one but God.' 2 And 'Teach me,' says the Prophet, 'your law,' 3 knowing God to be the true and perfect teacher. Truly God teaches, enlightening the learning soul from Himself and illuminating the mind, and without doubt His word is true. So righteous men may teach us, those who have received the grace of teaching. Origen, On Job, Fragment  1 Job 21.22 2 Ps 93.10 3 Ps 118.68

Learning and Faith

Πῶς δὲ οὐχὶ ἀποδοχῆς ἄξιοι οἵ τε μαθεῖν ἐθελοντες, οἵ τε δυνάμενοι, κατὰ τὸν Σολομῶντα, γνῶναι σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν, νοῆσαι τε λόγους φρονήσεως, δέξασθαι τε στροφὰς λόγων, νοῆσαι τε δικαιοσύνην ἀληθῆ; ὡς οὔσης καὶ ἑτέρας τῆς μὴ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν διδασκομένης πρὸς τῶν νομῶν τῶν Ἐλληνικῶν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν φιλοσόφων. Καὶ κρίματα, φησὶν,  εὐθῦναι, οὐ τὰ δικαστικα, ἀλλὰ τὸ κριτήριον τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν, ὑγιὲς καὶ ἀπλανὲς ἔχειν δεῖν μηνυει· Ἵνα δῷ ἀκὰκοις πανουργίαν, παιδὶ δὲ νέῳ αἴσθησιν τε καὶ εὔνοιαν. Τῶνδε γὰρ ἀκούσας σοφὸς ὁ ὑπακούειν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς πεπεισμένος, σοφώτερος ἔσται κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν· ὁ δὲ νοήμων κυβέρνησιν κτήσεται· νοήσει τε παραβολὴν καὶ σκοτεινὸν λόγον, ῥήσεις τε σοφῶν καὶ αἰνιγματα. Οὐ γὰρ κιβδήλους οἱ ἔπιπνοι ἐκ Θεοῦ λόγους προφέρουσιν, οὐδ' οἱ παρὰ τούτων ἐμπορευόμενοι· οὐδὲ μὴν πάγας, αἶς οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν σοφιστῶν τοὺς νέους ἐμπλέκουσι, πρὸς ούδὲν ἀληθὲς σχολάζοντες· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα κεκτημένοι, ἑρευνῶσι τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέστι, τῆς περὶ τὰς προφητείας ἐπικρύψεως ἐπήβολοι γινόμενοι. Τῶν δὲ ἃγίων μεταδιδόναι τοῐς κυσὶν ἀπαγορεύεται, ἔστ' ἄν μἐνῃ θηρία· οὐ γὰρ ποτε ἐγκιρναναι προσήκει φθονεροῖς καὶ τεταραγμένοις, ἀπίστοις τε ἔτι ἤθεσιν, εἰς ὑλακὴν ζητήσεως ἀναιδέσι, τοῦ Θείου καὶ καθαροῦ νάματος τοῦ ζῶντος ὕδατος. 'μὴ δὴ ὑπερεκχείσθω σοι ὑδατα ἔξω πηγῆς σου· εἰς δὲ σὰς πλατεὶας διαπορευέσθω σὰ ὕδατα.' Οὐ γὰρ φρονέουσι τοιαῦτα πολλοὶ, ὀκόσοι ἐγκυρσεύουσιν· οὐδὲ μαθόντες, γινώσκουσιν· ἑαυτοῖσι δὲ δοκέουσι, κατὰ τὸν γενναῖον Ἡράκλειτον. Ἅρ' οὐ δοκεῖ σοι καὶ οὔτος τοὺς μὴ πιστεύοντας ψέγειν; Ὁ δὲ δίκαιος μου ἐκ πὶστεως ζήσεται, ὁ προφήτης εἴρηκε. Λέγει δὲ καὶ ἄλλος προφήτης· Ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσητε, οὐδὲ μὴ συνῆτε. Πῶς γὰρ τούτων ὑπερφυᾶ θεωρίαν χωρήσαι ποτ' ἄν ψυχὴ, διαμαχομένης ἔνδον τῆς περὶ τὴν μάθησιν ἀπιστίας;   Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Δευτερος, Κεφ β'.

But how entirely worthy of praise are they who are willing to learn, those able, according to Solomon, 'to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive words of wisdom, to grasp twisting words, and to perceive true righteousness,' there being another righteousness, not according to the truth, but taught by the laws of the Gentiles and the other philosophers. 'And to guide judgments,' it is said, not those of the courts, but he means the critical faculty within us, that we must preserve it sound and free of error. 'That I may give subtlety to the innocent, to the youth sense and good understanding.' 'For having heard these things the wise man who has been persuaded to obey the commandments 'will become wiser by knowledge; and the intelligent man will acquire rule, and will understand a parable and an obscure saying, the words and enigmas of the wise.' 1 For it is not deceitful words those inspired by God bring forth, nor do those who deal with them, nor is it the traps in which many of the sophists entangle the young, that they waste their time on nothing true, but those who possess the Holy Spirit search the deep things of God, 2 that is, they grasp the things hidden in the prophecies. 'To give holy things to dogs' 3 is forbidden, while they remain beasts, for never should those who are envious and perturbed and still faithless in conduct, shameless in howling at investigation, touch the divine and clear stream of the living water. 'Let not the waters of your fountain overflow, your waters spreading over your streets.' 4 For it is not many who understand whatever things they encounter; or having learned them know them, though it seems to them that they do, according to the worthy Heraclitus. Does not even he seem to fault those who do not believe? 'My righteous one shall live by faith,' 5 the Prophet said. And another Prophet says, 'If you do not believe, you will not understand.' 6 For how could the soul admit the transcendental contemplation of such things, while within struggled unbelief of what was to be learned? Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 2, Ch 2.  1 Prov 1:2-6 2 1 Cor 2:10 3 Mt 7.6 4 Prov 5:16 5 Hab 2:4 6 Isa 7:9

A Deacon Chastised

Samuel quondam lugebat Saulem, quia poenituerat Dominum, quod unxisset eum regem super Israel: et Paulus Corinthos, in quibus audiebatur fornicatio, et talis fornicatio, quae ne inter gentes quidem, voce flebili commonebat, dicens,' Ne cum rursus venero, humiliet me Deus apud vos, et lugeam multos ex his qui ante peccaverunt, et non egerunt poenitentiam super immunditiis, quas gesserunt in impudicitia et fornicatione.' Si hoc Propheta et Apostolus nulla ipsi labe maculati, clementi in cunctos mente faciebant, quanto magis ego ipse peccator, in te debeo facere peccatorem, qui non vis erigi post ruinam, nec oculos ad coelum levas; sed prodacta Patris substantia, porcorum siliquis delectaris, et superbiae praerupta conscendens, praeceps laberis in profundum? Deum ventrem vis habere pro Christo: servis libidini, gloriaris in carne et confusione tua, et quasi pinguis hostia in mortem propriam saginaris, imitarisque eorum vitam, quorum tormenta non metuis: ignorans, quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te hortetur. Secundum autem duritiam tuam et cor impoenitens, thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae. An idcirco induratur justa Pharaonem cor tuum, quia non statim percuteris, et differeris ad poenam diu? Et ille dilatus est, et decem plagas non quasi ab irato Deo, sed quasi a patre commonente sustinuit, donec in perversum acta poentitentia, populum quem dimiserat, per deserta sequeretur, et ingredi auderet maria; per quae vel sola doceri potuit, timori habendum eum, cui etiam elementa servirent. Dixerat et ille, 'Non novi Dominum, neque dimitto Israel.' Quem tu imitans loqueris: 'Visio quam hic videt, in dies longos est, et in tempora longa iste prophetat. Propter quod dicit idem Propheta: Haec dicit Adonai Dominus: Non prolongabunter amplius omnes sermones mei, quoscumque loquar; quia loquar verbum, et faciam. Santus David de impiis et de scelestis dicit, quorum tu pars non modica, sed princeps es, quod saeculi felicitate fruerentur et dicerent: Quomodo cognovi Deus, et is est scientia in excelso? Ecce ipsi peccatores et abundantes in saeculo obtinuerunt divitias: pene lapso pede et fluctuanti vestigo causabatur, dicens: 'Ergo sine causa justificavi cor meum, et lavi inter innocentes manus meas. Praemiserat enim, Quia aemulatus sum super iniqua agentes, pacem peccatorum videns: quia non est respectus morti eorum, et solida plaga in flagella eorum. In laboribus hominum non sunt, et cum hominibus non flegellabuntur. Propterea tenuit eos superbia, circumdati sunt inqiuitate et impietate sua. Egredietur sicut ex adipe iniquitas eorum: transierunt in affectum cordis. Cogitaverunt, et locuti sunt mala, iniquitatem in excelso locuti sunt. Posuerunt in coelum os summ et lingua eorum pertansiit super terram. Nonne tibi videtus de te omnis iste Psalmus esse compositus? Vegeto quippe es corpore, et novus Antichristi Apostolus, cum in una notus fueris civitate, transgrederis ad aliam. Non indiges sumptibus; non plaga forti percuteris; et cum hominibus, qui non sunt, ut tu, velut irrationabilia jumenta, corripi non mereris. Propterea elatus es in superbiam, et vestimentum tuum est facta luxuria, et quasi ex arvina pungui et quodam adipe eructans verba mortifera, non te respicis esse moriturum, nec umquam post expletam libidinem, poenitentia remorderis. Transisti in affectum cordis, et ne tibi solus videaris errasse, simulas nefanda de servis Dei, nesciens quod iniquitatem in altum loquaris, et ponas in coelum os tuum. Nec mirum si a te qualescumque servi Dei blasphementur, cum patremfamilias Beelzebub vocaverint patres tui. Non est discipulus supra magistrum, nec servus supra dominum suum. Si illi in viridi ligno tanta fecerunt, tu in me, arido ligno, quid facturus es? Tale quid in Malachia plebs scandalizata credentium, de corde tuo loquitur: 'Dixerunt, vanus est qui servit Deo. Et quid plus? Quia custodivimus mandata ejus, et quoniam ivimus supplicantes ante faciem Domini omnipotentis. Et nunc nos beatos dicimus alienos. Reaedificantur omnes qui faciunt iniqua. Adversati sunt Deo, et slavi facti sunt. Quibus postea diem judicii Dominus comminatur, et quid inter justum et injustum futurum sit, multo ante praenuntians, ait: Et contvertimini: et videbitis quid sit inter justum et injustum: inter servientem Domino, et non servientem. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola CXLVII, Ad Sabinianum Diaconum

Samuel once lamented for Saul because the Lord repented that he had anointed him to be king over Israel, 1 and Paul did so also for the Corinthians when he heard that there was fornication among them and such fornication as was not found among the Gentiles, 2 and with tearful voice he appealed to them saying: 'Lest, when I come again, God will humble me among you and I shall lament many who have sinned and have not made penance for the uncleanness they bear on account of immodesty and fornication.' 3 If an Apostle or Prophet, not themselves with fault stained, could act with mercy toward all, how much more should I, a sinner, act toward you, a sinner, who after ruin does not wish to rise, nor do you  lift your eyes to heaven, but having wasted the substance of the Father you delight in the swill of pigs, 4 and climbing the precipice of pride you fall headlong into the deep? You have your belly for God instead of Christ; you are a slave to lust; you glory in flesh and in your confusion; 5  like a plump sacrificial victim you fatten yourself up for death, and you imitate the lives of those who fear not the torments, because you are ignorant that the goodness of God is calling you to repentance. 'But on account of your hardness and the impenitence of your heart you heap up for yourself wrath for the day of wrath.' 6 Or is it that your heart is hardened just as the Pharaoh's was, because you are not presently struck but your punishment is delayed? He was given time and the ten plagues were not as from an angry God but as a warning from a father, that he repent of perverse deeds, but when he let the people go and then pursued them through the desert and he dared enter the sea , by that alone was he able to be taught that He should be feared whom even the elements serve. He had said: 'I know not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.' 7 He whom you imitate when you say: 'The vision that he sees is formany days far off, and he prophesies about times that are to be.' 8 Yet then the same Prophet says: 'Thus says the Lord God, My words be will not be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be.' 9 The Holy David too says of the godless, of which you are not a slight but prime example, that they rejoice in the happiness of this age and say: 'How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the sinners who prospering in the world have gained their wealth.' 10 Then almost losing his footing and staggering in the way he makes complaint, saying 'Therefore in vain I have cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence.' 11 For he had previously said: 'I envied those acted iniquitously seeing the peace of sinners. For they have no care for death, but firm is the blow of their whip. They do not labour like other men, with whom they are not flogged. Therefore pride has them; they are surrounded by iniquity and impiety. Their evil stands out like fatness: they have passed into the desires of their hearts. They think and speak evil , they speak evil against the High. They have placed their mouths in heaven and their tongues trail along the earth.' 12 Does not this whole Psalm seem to you to be written about yourself? Certainly your body is in good health, and like a new apostle of the Antichrist when you are noted in one city, you pass to another. 13 You do not lack for money, no strong blow assails you, neither are you troubled as other men are who are not like you, mere brute beasts. Therefore you are lifted up into pride, and lust is made your garment, and as from a fat and bloated carcass you belch forth fatal words, not considering that you must die, nor being troubled by any repentance when you have satisfied your lust. You have passed into the desires of your heart; and, lest you seem to be alone in your errors, you create scandals about God's servants, not knowing that it is against the High that you are speaking iniquity and placing your mouth in the heavens. It is no wonder that God's servants are blasphemed by you, when the fathers of those like you called the master of the house Beelzebub. 'The disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his lord.' 14  If they did such things to the green tree, what will you do with me, the dry? 15 In like manner the offended believers in Malachi spoke of your heart, 'They said it is vain to serve God. What do we gain having kept his commandments and having come as supplicants before the Lord Almighty? And now we call strangers blessed. All those who do wickedness are raised up. They who oppose God have been saved.' 16 The Lord threatens them with a later day of judgment, and announcing beforehand the distinction that shall then be made between the righteous and the unrighteous, He says: 'Return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him who does not serve.' Saint Jerome, Letter 147, To The Deacon Sabinianus 1 1 Kings 16 2 1 Cor 5:1 3 2 Cor 12:21 4 Lk 15  5 Philipp 3:19 6 Rom 2:4-5 7 Exod 5:2 8 Ez 12:27-28 9 Ez 12.28 10 Ps 72, 11-12  11 Ps 72, 13  12 Ps 72 3- 9 13 Mt 10:23  14 Mt 10:24-25  15 Luke 23:31  16 Malach 3.14-15 LXX  17 Malach 3.18

Scandal Within

Μὴ δὴ σκανδαλιζώμεθα ἐπὶ τοῖς αἱρετικοῖς.  Ὅρα γὰρ ἐν προοιμίοις τοῦ κηρύγματος πόσα σκάνδαλα·  οὐ λέγω τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν·  ταῦτα γὰρ οὐδὲν ἦν·  ἀλλὰ τὰ ἔνδον.  Οἷον πρῶτον, ὁ Ἀνανίας, ἔπειτα ὁ γογγυσμὸς, ἔπειτα Σίμων ὁ Μάγος, ἔπειτα οἱ ἐγκαλοῦντες Πέτρῳ διὰ Κορνήλιον, ἔπειτα ὁ λιμὸς, ἔπειτα αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν κακῶν.  Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔνι καλοῦ τινος γινομένου μὴ συνυφεστάναι καὶ πονηρόν.  Μὴ δὴ θορυβώμεθα, εἴ τινες σκανδαλίζονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτων εὐχαριστῶμεν τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι εὐδοκιμωτέρους ἡμᾶς ποιεῖ.  Οὐ γὰρ δὴ αἱ θλίψεις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ πειρασμοὶ λαμπροτέρους ἡμᾶς ἐργάζονται.  Ὁ μὲν γὰρ, μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ πλανῶντος, τῆς ἀληθείας ἐχόμενος, οὐκ ἂν εἴη σφοδρὸς ἐραστὴς τῆς ἀληθείας·  ὁ δὲ πολλῶν ἀφελκόντων, οὗτος εὐδόκιμος.  Τί οὖν;  διὰ τοῦτο γίνεται τὰ σκάνδαλα;  Οὐ λέγω, ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα ποιοῦντος·  μὴ γένοιτο·  ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκείνων πονηρίας εὐεργετοῦντος ἡμᾶς·  ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς οὐδέποτε ἐβούλετο γενέσθαι.  Δὸς αὐτοῖς, φησὶν, ἵνα ἓν ὦσιν·  ἐπειδὴ δὲ γίνεται τὰ σκάνδαλα, οὐδὲν τούτους βλάπτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὠφελεῖ.  Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τοὺς μάρτυρας ἄκοντες ὠφελοῦσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τὸ μαρτύριον ἕλκοντες, οὐ μὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὠθοῦνται πρὸς τοῦτο·  οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα, μὴ ἴδωμεν ὅτι σκανδαλίζονται. Τοῦτο αὐτὸ τεκμήριον τοῦ σπουδαῖον εἶναι τὸ δόγμα, τὸ πολλοὺς ὑποκρίνεσθαι καὶ μιμεῖσθαι·  οὐ γὰρ ἂν, εἰ μὴ καλὸν ἦν, ὑπεκρίνοντο.  Καὶ τοῦτο ἤδη ποιήσω ὑμῖν φανερόν. Τὰ μύρα τὰ εὐώδη ταῦτα ἔχει τοὺς νοθεύοντας αὐτὰ, οἷον φύλλον ἄμωμον.  Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σπάνιά ἐστι καὶ ἀναγκαῖα, πολλὰ καὶ νόθα γίνεται.  Οὐδεὶς οὖν ἂν ἕλοιτο ἄλλο τι τῶν εὐτελῶν νοθεῦσαι.  Ὁ βίος ὁ καθαρὸς πολλοὺς ἔχει τοὺς νοθεύοντας· οὐδεὶς δὲ ἂν ἕλοιτο ὑποκρίνεσθαι τὸν ἐν φαυλότητι. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὑπομηνα Ἐις Τας Πραξεις Των Αποστολων, Ὀμιλια ΛΓ'

Let us not then be scandalised on account of heretics. For see how many scandals there were at the outset of the preaching. I do not speak about those which were without, for these were nothing, but about things within. For instance, first Ananias, 1 then the murmuring, 2 then Simon the magician, 3 and then they who accused Peter on account of Cornelius, 4 then the famine, 5 then this, the head of evils. 6 For no good thing happens but some evil comes along with it. Let us not then be troubled if some are offended, but let us thank God even on account of this, because it makes us more approved. For it is not tribulations alone but even temptations that render us more illustrious. He is no great lover of the truth for holding to it when there is none to lead him astray, but he is proved when many try to draw him away. What then? Is this why scandals come? I do not say that God is creator of them, let it not be, but that even out of wickedness He works good to us. It was never His wish that they should arise: 'Grant to them,' He says, 'that they may be one'; 7 but since scandals do come, they do no harm to these but even benefit them. It is just as the persecutors unwillingly benefit the martyrs by dragging them away to martyrdom, and yet they are not driven to this by God, and so let us not observe here that men are scandalised. And this is itself a proof of the excellence of the doctrine, that many simulate and mimic it, for they would not do so, if it were not good. And this I will now make plain to you. The fragrant spices of perfumes are they which people counterfeit, like the amomum leaf. Since these are rare and necessary, so many spurious imitations arise. Nobody would care to counterfeit any common thing. The pure life has many counterfeits, but no one would want to counterfeit the vicious man. Saint John Chrysostom, On the Acts of the Apostles, Homily 33 1 Acts 5. 1-6 2 Acts 6.1 3 Acts 8 4 Acts  10-11 5 Acts 11.28 6 Acts 15 1-5 7 Jn 17:21

A Heretical Teacher

Solemus haereticis compendii gratia de posteritate praescribere. In quantum enim ueritatis regula prior, quae etiam haereses futuras renuntiauit, in tantum posteriores quaeque doctrinae haereses praeiudicabuntur, quia sunt quae futurae ueritatis antiquiore regula praenuntiabantur. Hermogenis autem doctrina tam novella est; denique ad hodiernum homo in saeculo, et natura quoque haereticus, etiam turbulentus, qui loquacitatem facundiam existimet et inpudentiam constantiam deputet et maledicere singulis officium bonae conscientiae iudicet. Praeterea pingit in licite, nubit assidue, legem Dei in libidinem defendit, in artem contemnit, bis falsarius, et cauterio et stilo, totus adulter, et praedicationis et carnis, siquidem et nubentium contagio foetet nec ipse apostolicus Hermogenes in regula perseuerauit.  Sed viderit persona, cum doctrina mihi quaestio est. Dominum non alium videtur agnoscere, alium tamen facit quem aliter agnoscit, immo totum quod est deus aufert nolens illum ex nihilo universa fecisse.  A Christianis enim ad philosophos conuersus, de ecclesia in Academiam et Porticum, inde sumpsit  materiam cum domino ponere, quae et ipsa semper fuerit neque nata neque facta nec initium habens omnino nec finem, ex qua dominus omnia postea fecerit. Tertullianus, Adversus Hermogenem

We are accustomed, for the sake of concision, to write against heretics by their lateness. For inasmuch as by rule truth precedes them, which also foretold future heresies, so must later teachings be prejudged as heresies, being those things which the older rule of truth predicted for days to come. Now the teaching of Hermogenes has such novelty. In short, he is a man of the present time, and by his nature a heretic, and turbulent with it, one who regards loquacity as eloquence and thinks impudence to be constancy, and judges that to malign other men is the duty of a good conscience. Besides this he paints what he will, marries continually, affirms the law of God in the promotion of lust, spurns it in his art, falsifies by a double way, with his malice and his pen, is a thorough adulterer, both in doctrine and in the flesh, since he reeks with the disease of many marriages, nor, like the Apostle's Hermogenes 1 has he persevered in the law. But we have gazed only at the character of the man, when it is his teaching I question. He seems not to acknowledge another Lord, though he acknowledges Him in a different way, or rather by this he takes from Him everything which is God, since he will not have it that He made all things from nothing. For, turning from Christians to  philosophers, from the Church to the Academy and the Porch, he learned there how to place matter beside the Lord, as if it had always been, never born, never made, having no beginning at all nor end, from which the Lord afterwards created all things. Tertullian, Against Hermogenes 1 2 Tim 1:15