Speaking The Truth

Quod dico vobis in tenebris, dicite in lumine: et nolite timere eos, qui occidunt corpus. Quo minus dicatis in lumine, quod audistis in tenebris. Vide quoniam non solum ille transgressor est veritatis, qui palam denegat veritatem, sed etiam ille, qui propter timorem eorum, qui possunt occidere corpus, tacet veritatem. Et quid dicam? Quia propter timorem mortis tacent homines veritatem, et propter miserum ventrem, et propter spem vani honoris, in conspectu infidelium tacent homines veritatem. Utputa, eunt homines ad convivium impiorum sacerdotum, et confugiunt ad patrocinium malorum haereticorum; fit sermo de fide: ille sacerdos impius, vel patronus, blasphemat veritatem tuam, quasi mendacium: fidem tuam, quasi perfidiam, ut aut seducat, aut vulneret conscientiam tuam, et faciat eam infirmam, etsi ad plenum capere non potuerit; tu autem etsi non denegaveris palam veritatem, tamen non contendis cum persona ejus, cujus panem inanem manducas, ut non perdas spem patrocinii, aut rapacitatis: veritatem, quam oportebat te libere defendere, tacens, confundis eam in conspectu inimicorum ejus, ut videatur a te tacente falsa quae vera est. Et quomodo non es tu proditor veritatis? Sed forte dicis: Si taceo veritatem ante adversarios, numquid consentio mendacio eorum? Dic mihi, si princeps aliquis imperatoris, videns civitatem Romanam ab hostibus expugnari, cum possit liberare eam, et neglexit defendere: num ipse videbitur tradidisse, quam potuit liberare, si voluisset? Sic et tu videns veritatem ab impiis expugnari, cum eam potuisses defendere, si loqui voluisses, tacens expugnasti, per hoc ipsum quod compassus es expugnari. Et si propter timorem eorum, qui occidunt corpus, tacere veritatem, sicut praesens scriptura testatur, impietas est: quomodo non sit impietas major, tacere veritatem propter miserum ventrem, et spem vani honoris, et meliorem facere gratiam panis et honoris quam gloriam veritatis Dei? Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXV Source: Migne PG 56.762

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light, and do not fear those who kill the body. 1 Do not refrain from speaking in the light what you have heard in the darkness. See that not only is he a transgressor of the truth who denies the truth but even he who on account of the fear of those who can kill the body is silent about the truth. What shall I say? Because of the fear of death men are silent about the truth, and likewise because of the wretched belly, and then they will not speak the truth because of the hope for vain honours in the sight of faithless men. It is as when men go to a meal held by impious priests, or they flee to the protection of wicked heretics, and a speech is made about the faith, and that impious priest or patron blasphemes the truth as a lie, and your faith as perfidy, so that he either seduces you, or wounds your conscience and weakens it, even if he was not able to seize it completely. And even if you do not deny the truth, however since you do not dispute with this person, whose vain bread you eat so that you do not lose the hope of his protection, or because of your rapacity, because you are silent about the truth you should gladly defend, you cast shame on it in the eyes of its enemies, so that on account of your silence it appears that the truth is a lie. How are you not a traitor to the truth? But perhaps you say, 'If I am silent about the truth before my enemies, do I consent to their lies?' Tell me, if a general of the emperor, seeing a Roman city assailed by its enemies, neglects to defend it when he is able to deliver it, shall he not be seen to have betrayed it, when he was able to save it if he wished? So you, seeing the truth attacked by the wicked, when you were able to defend it if you wished to speak, by your silence also attacked it, because you allowed it to be attacked. And if your silence regarding the truth is because of the fear of those who kill the body, so the present Scripture bears witness that it is wicked. And then how is it not more wicked to be silent because of the wretched stomach, or because of hope for vain honours, and to judge thanks for food and honour as better than the glory of the truth of God? Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 25 1 Mt 10.27