The Benevolent Spirit And Punishment

Benignus est enim spiritus sapientiae, et non liberabit maledicum a labiis suis; quoniam renum illius testis est Deus, et cordis illius scrutator est verus et linguae ejus auditor. Quoniam spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum; et hoc quod continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis. Propter hoc qui loquitur iniqua non potest latere, nec praeteriet illum corripiens judicium. In cogitationibus enim impii interrogatio erit; sermonum autem illius auditio ad Deum veniet, ad correptionem iniquitatum illius. Quoniam auris zeli audit omnia, et tumultus murmurationum non abscondetur. Custodite ergo vos a murmuratione quae nihil prodest, et a detractione parcite linguae: quoniam sermo obscurus in vacuum non ibit, os autem quod mentitur occidit animam. Benignus enim etc. Hic monet ad iustitiam locutionis, retrahendo a sermonibus malis. Et primo removet ab ipsis male dictis impunitutis confidentiam; secundo praedicit eorum poenam: Propter hoc qui loquitur etc.; tertio monet ad pravarum locutionum cautelam: Custodite etc. In prima primo removet impunitatis confidentiam, quae possit oriri ex iudicis misericordia: Benignus; secundo, ex ejus ignorantia : Quoniam renum etc; tertio, ex eius impotentia: Quoniam spiritus Domini. Dicit ergo: Benignus enim est spiritus etc. Bene dixi , quod corripietur fictus etc; Benignus enim est spiritus sapientiae , scilicet increatae, scilicet Filii, a qua datur Spiritus sanctus; vel creatae, quam ipse dat; infra duodecimo: O quam bonus et quam suavis est, Domine, spiritus tuus in omnibus. Psalmus: Spiritus tuus bonus etc. Et tamen non liberabit maledictum etc, quamvis sit benignus; quia, sicut dicit Gregorius, disciplina et misericordia multum destituitur, si una sine alia teneatur. Vel sic: et quia benignus, non liberabit maledictum etc, quia benignitas malitiae contraria est; ut dicit Glossa: Non liberabit, inquam, maledictum, id est maledicentem, qui maledictus est, quia facit contra Dei mandatum, qui prohibet maledicere; Psalmus: Maledicti, qui declinant a mandatis tuis; ecce , maledictio in praesenti. Item, Matthaei vigesimo quinto: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum etc; ecce, maledictio in futuro. A labiis suis , id est a peccato labiorum suorum, vel a poena, quam meruit peccato labiorum suorum; Matthaei duodecimo: Ex verbis tuis condemnaberis; item in Psalmo: Labor labiorum suorum operiet eos. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Librum Sapientiae, Caput I Source: Here, 361b-d

For the spirit of wisdom is benevolent, and will not acquit the evil speaker from his lips, for God is witness of his soul, and a true searcher of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue. Because the spirit of the Lord fills the whole world and that which contains all things has knowledge of the voice. Therefore he who speaks unjust things cannot be hidden, neither shall the chastising judgment pass him by. Investigation shall be made into the thoughts of the unholy man, and the hearing of his words shall come to God for the chastising of his iniquities. Because the jealous ear hears all things, and the tumult of murmuring shall not be hidden. Therefore keep yourselves from murmuring, which profits not at all, and restrain your tongue from detraction, for obscure speech shall not go for nothing, and the mouth that lies kills the soul. 1 This is warning against unjust speech, and for the drawing away from wicked words. Firstly there is the removal of confidence in impunity in speaking evil, secondly punishment is foretold, 'Therefore he who speaks...' Thirdly there is a warning for caution against depraved speaking. 'Keep yourselves...' Firstly, then, confidence in impunity is removed, which arises from the thought of mercy in judgement, 'Benevolent.' Secondly ignorance is removed, because God is witness to it. Thirdly the thought of inability is removed, 'For the Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world.' Therefore it is said that the Spirit is benevolent, and it is well said that He shall correct a lie, 'For the spirit of wisdom is benevolent,' that is the uncreated Spirit, of the Son, from whom the Holy Sprit is given, or the created spirit, which He gives, as it says below in twelfth chapter, 'O how good and sweet is your Spirit in all things, Lord.' In the Psalm, 'Your spirit is good.' 2 And although the Spirit is benevolent He will not pass over the evil speaker, because as Gregory says, 'Many forsake discipline and mercy if they hold to one without the other.' 3 And so because He is benevolent He does not spare an evil speaker, because benevolence is contrary to wickedness, as the gloss says. 'He shall not acquit the evil speaker,' that is, he who speaks evil, because he is cursed who does something against the commandment of God who prohibits us to speak evil.' In the Psalm, 'Those who forsake your commandments are accursed,' note that they are cursed in the present, and in the twenty fifth chapter of Matthew, 'Be gone from me, accursed ones, into eternal fire,' 4 note that they are cursed in the future. 'From his lips' that is, from the sin of his lips and the punishment which the sin of his lips has merited. In the twelfth chapter of Matthew. 'From your words you shall be condemned.' In the Psalm, 'The work of their lips shall cover them.' 5 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On Wisdom, Chapter 1 1 Wisdom 1.6-10 2 Wisd 12.4, Ps 142.10 3 Greg Moral 20.5.44 4 Ps 118.21, Mt 25.44 5 Mt 12.37, Ps 139.10

Fear And Hope

Ab auditu malo non timebit, paratum est cor ejus sperare in Domino... Illum auditum malum dicit, quem audituri sunt impii: Ite in ignem aeternum, et reliqua. Malus enim illis videtur qui justa serveritate plectendi sunt: quia fas dicit non est, nisi justum Domini semper esse judicum. Et ne solum beatos putares poenas noxias non timere, sequitur, paratum cor ejus sperare in Domino, ut promissa ipsius percipiant, qui saeculi illecebras ejus juvamine calcaverunt; quibus ipse dicturus est: Venite benediti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est ab origine mundi. Cor autem positum est pro rectae mentis affectu, quod sine aliqua cunctatione promissa novit expetere. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXI Source: Migne PL 70.806d

He shall not fear the hearing of evil, his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord... 1 He speaks of that hearing of evil that the wicked will hear: 'Go into eternal fire,' 2 and the rest. For it seems evil to them that they are struck with just severity, because one does not speak rightly unless that the judgement of the Lord is always just. And lest you might think that the blessed lack only that fear of woeful punishments, he continues: 'his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord,' that receiving His promises, with His help, they crush down worldly snares, to whom He shall then say, 'Come blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.' 3 For the heart established in the disposition of a right mind knows how to have hope in the promises without any hesitation. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 111 1 Ps 111.7 2 Mt 25.41 3 Mt 25.34

Good Deeds And Suffering

Melius est enim benefacientes, si velit voluntas Dei, pati, quam malefacientes. Haec sententia illorum stultitiam eleganter arguit, qui cum pro culpis arguuntur a fratribus, vel etiam poenis coercentur, patienter omnino tolerant; at cum absque culpa, vel verborum contumelias, vel damna rerum, vel adversa quaeque patiuntur a proximis, mox ad iracundiam prorumpunt, et qui hactenus videbantur innoxi, per impatientiam se et murmurationem noxios reddunt. Ut autem flagellorum distania in disparibus meritis longe dispar appareat, videmaus una eademque caecetatis molestia Tobiam, Saulum, Elymam fuisse percussos. Sed Tobiam ob hoc, ut virtus patientiae ejus latius in exemplum cunctis claresceret; Saulum ob hoc, ut de Saulo persecutore in Paulum mutaretur apostolum; Elymam vero, ut, dignas suae perfidiae poenas luens, ab eorum quoque qui credituri erant dementatione cessaret. Et mihi si detur optio, malim cum tanto Patre sive divinis seu humanis subjacere justis verberibus, quam ob injustitam verberum vi ad justitia studia trahi. Rursumque malim a culpis flagello retrahi, quam pro insanabili pondere peccatorum aeternae ultioni subjici. Sancta Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Petri, Caput III Source: Migne PL 93.57c-d

For it is better to do good and suffer, if God wills it, than to do evil.1 This sentence elegantly refutes the stupidity of those who patiently suffer when they are corrected by brothers, or even undergo punishment, but when they lack fault and suffer insolent speech, or the loss of things, or anything adverse from their neighbours, they are swift to burst out in anger, and who as far as this goes appear innocent, but by their impatience and muttering they make themselves guilty. That it might be clear that there is a difference in blows for differing merits, let us look at the one and same affliction of blindness that struck Tobit 2 and Saul 3 and Elymas. 4 Now Tobit because of this, by the virtue of his patience, shone most brightly as an example to all, and Saul because of this was changed from Saul the persecutor to Paul the Apostle. But Elymas paid the price worthy of his treachery, so that he would no longer madly obstruct those who would believe. And if the choice were given to me, I would greatly prefer to suffer righteous blows, whether from the Father or any of the Divine, or from men, so that because of my wickedness the violence of blows brought me to a zeal for righteousness. And again I would prefer to be driven out from errors by the whip, rather than by the weight of my sins to incur the eternal punishment that cures not at all. Saint Bede, Commentary on the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 3 1 1 Pet 3.17 2 Tob 2.9-3.17 3 Acts 9.1-9 4 Acts 13.6-12

Three Crosses

Mihi autem absit gloria, nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi... In cruce Christi gloriatio est, in cruce dextri latronis, consolatio; in cruce sinistri latronis, confusio; in cruce Christi, poena sine culpa, et post poena glorificatio; in cruce dextri latroni, poena pro culpa, et post poenam remissio; in cruce sinistri latronis, poena pro culpa, et post poenam damnatio. Dicunt homines, quando peonam sustinet; Si meruissimus non erubesceremus; nunc autem injuste pati et sine culpa ignominiosum nobis est. Oculi qui non vident, imo si pro culpa pateris erubescere; si sine culpa pateris, gloriare. Latro magis vis esse quam Christus; et forte sinister blasphemator, non confessor. Tu enim pro culpa pateris, et culpam non agnoscis, nec judicem veneraris. Si saltem dexter fuisses latro, culpam humiliter agnosceres, poenam patienter sustineres, veniam devote implorares, nec pro poena praesumeres, nec pro culpas desperares, sicut quidam qui de sua sustinentia gloriantur, de poena murmurant, de culpa desperant. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit L, De Tribus Crucibus Source: Migne PL 177.499c-d

May glory not be mine, unless in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...1 In the cross of Christ there is glory, in the cross of the thief on the right, consolation, in the cross of the thief on the left, confusion. In the cross of Christ there is punishment without fault and after punishment glorification, in the cross of the thief on the right, there is punishment for fault and after punishment forgiveness, on the cross of the thief on the left, there is punishment for fault and after punishment damnation. Men when they undergo punishment, say, 'If we have merited it, we shall not be ashamed.' So now to suffer unjustly and without fault is disgraceful for us. Their eyes do not see that if it is for fault you suffer you should blush, if it is without fault, glory. You wish to be a thief more than Christ, and perhaps the left one, the blasphemer, not the confessor. You shall suffer for fault and not know the fault, nor adore the judge. But if you were the thief on the right, you would humbly know fault and patiently undergo punishment, and devotedly implore forgiveness, not being presumptuous in punishment, nor despairing in fault, as certain men do who glory in their own endurance, murmuring against punishment and despairing concerning fault. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 50, On The Three Crosses 1 Galat 6.14

Priests And People And Punishment

Secundum multitudinem eorum, sic peccaverunt mihi: gloriam eorum in ignominiam commutabo, peccata populi mei comedent, et ad iniquitatem eorum sublevabunt animas eorum, et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos, et visitabo super eum vias eius, et cogitationes illius reddam ei. LXX: Secundum multitudinem eorum, sic peccaverunt mihi, gloriam eorum in ignominiam ponam: peccata populi mei comedent, et in iniquitatibus eorum accipient alii animas eorum, et erit sicut populus, sic et sacerdos, et ulciscar super eum vias eius, et cogitationes illius reddam ei. Quot homines habuit Israel, tot aras exstruxit daemonibus, in quorum victimis peccavit mihi. Propterea gloriam eorum, in qua gloriabantur sibi, et Deo idola praeferabant, in ignominiam commutabo, ut et sacerdotes capiantur et populi. Siquidem sacerdotes peccata populi mei comedunt, de quibus scriptum est: Qui devorant plebem meam, sicut escam panis. Et idcirco peccata populi mei comedunt, consentientes sceleribus delinquentium: quia cum eos peccare perspexerint, non solum non arguunt, sed laudant atque sustollunt, et beatos praedicant. De quibus et Isaias loquitur: Populus meus, qui beatos vos dicunt, seducunt vos, et semitas pedum vestrorum supplantant. De his et per Psalmistam clamat: Quoniam laudatur peccator in desideriis animae suae, et iniquus benedicitur. Unde aequaliter populus et sacerdos indignantis Dei sententiam sustinebunt; quia non solum opera eorum visitabit, quae appellantur viae, in quibus ingrediuntur; sed et cogitationes, quibus ut talia facerent, tractaverunt. Non solum enim opus, sed et cogitatio mali operis poenas luet. De haereticis facilis intelligentia est, quod quanto plures fuerint, tanto magis delinquunt Deo, et glorientur in populis: et idcirco decipiant infelices, ut peccata populi comedant, et per dulces sermones devorent domus viduarum. Cum enim viderint aliquos delinquentes aiunt: Nihil aliud quaerit Deus nisi fidei veritatem, quam si custodieritis, non curat quid agatis. Haec enim dicentes, in iniquitatibus eorum sublevant animas eorum, ut non solum non agant poenitentiam, nec humilientur; sed gaudeant in sceleribus suis, et erecta cervice gradiantur. Unde et populus et sacerdos, et hi qui docti sunt, et hi qui docuerunt, pari iudicio constringentur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Osee Prophetam, Liber I Cap IV Source: Migne PL 25.848d-849c

According to their multitude, so they sinned against me. I shall change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people, and in their wickedness they lift up their souls, and it shall be like people, like priest. I shall punish them for their ways, and requite them for their thoughts. The Septuagint has: According to the multitude of them, so they sinned against me. I shall turn their glory into shame. They ate the sins of my people, and in their wickedness received their souls, and it shall be like people, like priest. I shall be revenged on their ways, and requite them for their thoughts.' 1 As many as Israel had men, so as many were the altars they raised up to demons, with the victims of which they sinned against me. Because of which their glory in which they glory among themselves, and prefer idols to God, I shall change to disgrace, so that both the priests and the people shall be seized. Certainly the priests eat the sins of my people, concerning which it is written: 'They who devour my people like food of bread.' 2 And therefore they eat the sins of my people by consenting to the crimes of the delinquent, because they see them sin and they do not dispute with them, but they praise them and they lift them up, and they declare them happy. Concerning which Isaiah says: 'My people, they who call you blessed, they deceive you, and they confuse the paths of your feet.' 3 Concerning these things the Psalmist cries out: 'Because the sinner is praised in the desires of his own soul, and the wicked man is blessed.' 4 Both people and priest alike shall suffer the sentence of God, because not only their works shall I punish, which are called 'ways', but even their thoughts they have employed, by which they might do such things. Not only the work but even the thought of evil shall receive its punishment. This is readily understood of heretics, that the more there are, so much the more they err against God, and they receive glory among the peoples, and therefore they deceive the unfortunate, that they may eat the sins of the people, and with sweet words they devour the houses of widows. 5 For when they see others erring they say: 'God seeks nothing but the truth of faith, which if you shall guard, you should not care about what you do.' Saying these things they raise up their souls in wickedness, that not only do they not do penance or seek to be humble, but they rejoice in their crimes, and they walk with heads held high. Whence both the people and the priest, those who are taught and those who teach, shall be bound with the same judgement. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Hosea, Book 1, Chap 4 1 Hosea 4.7-9 2 Ps 13.4, 52.5 3 Isaiah 3.12 4 Ps 9.24 5 Lk 20.47

Contemplating Future States

Expedit igitur unicuique, priusquam praesentem finiat vitam, futuri supplicii timore converti, si vere non vult post hujus vitae finem sine fine torqueri. Quapropter inaniter in conspectu Dei malorum hominum permanens iniquitas remittenda creditur, in cujus conspectu inulta esse bonorum operum sterilitas non sinetur. Neque enim dicitur quisquam positus ad sinistram idcirco iturus in ignem aeternum, quia panem comedenti abstulit, sed quia esurienti non dedit; nec quia vestitum exspoliavit, sed quia vestimenta non tribuit; nec quia de domo propria quemquam pepulit, sed quia unum ex Christi minimis hospitio non recepit. Si ergo ibit in combustionem aeternam qui panem suum esurienti non dedit, quid recipiet qui alienum abstulit panem? Et si mittetur in stagnum ignis et sulphuris qui nudum vestimento non tegit, quis passurus est qui vestimeno crudelis expoliat? Et si rerum suarum avarus possessor requiem non habebit, quomodo alienarum rerum insatiabilis raptor, si in hac vita converti noluerit, postmodum sibi de judice justo indulgentiam frustra promittit? Consideremus divitem miserum purpura quondam byssoque vestitum, non ob aluid inexstinguibilibus flammis ardentem, nisi quia Lazaro pauperi continua esurie laboranti nunquam voluit saltem micas convivii sui mortifera praeditus iniquitate largari. Qui cum interminabili cruciamento damnatus, etiam digiti pauperis in aeterna requie laetantis refrigerio remaneret indignus, evidenti responsione Abraham patriarcha monstravit post hanc vitam, nec bonos posse ad iniquos aliquatenus transmeare, nec malos a poenis ad beatorum requiem posse quandoque transire. Sic enim dicit: Fili, recordare quia recepisti bona in vita tua, et Lazarus similiter mala. Nunc autem hic consolatur, tu vero cruciaris. Et in omnibus inter nos et vos chaos magnum firmatum est, ut hinc qui volunt transire ad vos, non possint, neque huc inde transmeare. Sanctus Fulgentius Ruspensis, De Remissione Peccatorum, Lib II Caput XIV Source: Migne 65.565a-c

It thus profits everyone before the end of this present life to contemplate with fear future punishment, if truly after the end of this life one has no wish for endless torment. Whence it is foolish in the sight of God to believe that the remaining inquity of evil men must be forgiven, in that sight in which it is not permitted that a sterility of good works shall go unpunished. For it is not said that whoever is placed on the left side will go into eternal fire because he took bread for eating, but because he did not give to the hungry, not because he stole clothes but because he did not give them, not because he expelled his own from his house, but because he did not receive as a guest one of Christ's little ones. If therefore he shall go to eternal burning who did not give his own bread to the hungry, what shall he receive who takes another man's bread? And if he who does not cover the naked with clothes shall go into the lake of fire and sulphur, shall that cruel man who strips clothing from another be spared? And if an avaricious possessor of his own goods shall have no rest, how shall the insatiable seizer of the goods of another, if in this life he will not be converted, if he is vainly promised that after he shall have forgiveness from the just judge? Consider that wretched wealthy man in his purple and fine linen garments, that nothing availed against the burning and inextinguishable flame, unless the poor man Lazarus, who had ever laboured in want, to whom he never wished to give crumbs from his table, bound in his fatal iniquity. He who when damned to endless torments was indeed unworthy of the finger of the happy poor man in his rest. And the answer of the patriarch Abraham plainly showed that after this life it is impossible for the good to pass over to the wicked, and nor shall the wicked at any time cross over to the rest of the blessed. He says: 'O son, remember that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil. Now he is comforted and you are tormented. In all this, between us and you, a great gulf has been set, that he who wishes to pass from here to you is not able, nor is it possible that anyone pass from there to here.' 1 Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, On the Forgiveness of Sins, Book 2, Chap 14 1 Lk 16.25-26

Leaven And Life

Πᾶς ὃς ἄν φάγῃ ζύμην, ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐξ Ἰσραήλ. Ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἔνεκεν ζύμης· καὶ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ὁ χρηματίζων τοὺς νόμους, ὡς ὁλοθρεύει μοιχὸν, ὡς ὁλοθρεύει πόρνον, ὡς ὁλοθρεύει παιδοφθόρον, οὕτως ὁλοθρεύει τὸν ἔχοντα ζύμην ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀζύμων ἡμέρᾳ. Τοῦτο κατὰ Θεόν ἐστι; τοῦτο κατὰ νόμον τὸν οὐράνιόν ἐστιν; Ἀλλ' εἶποιμι ἂν ὅτι ἐὰν ἔχῃς ζύμην πονηρίας, καὶ μὴ ἐξολοθρεύσῃς πᾶσαν ζύμην κακίας ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ σου· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἀληθινὴ οἰκία σου· ὁ Θεὸς τῶν ὅλων νομοθετεῖ ἐξολοθρευθῆναί σε μὴ ἀποβαλόντα τὴν ζύμην τὴν παλαιὰν ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ. Χρὴ γάρ σε ἐλθόντα εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τῶν νέων, νέον γενόμενον μηδὲν ἔχειν ἀρχαῖον. Τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθε, καὶ τὰ ἐξῆς. Ὄρα πῶς ἔδει ἑορτάζειν ἐν μηνὶ τῶν νέων τὴν ἑορτὴν τῶν ἀζύμων. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Την Ἐξοδον Source: Migne PG 12.284d-285a

Everyone who eats leaven, his soul will be cut off from Israel... 1 A man shall be cut off on account of leaven, and with the God of all who gives His law, as perishes the adulterer and the whore and the corrupter of boys, so perishes the one who has leaven in his house on the day of unleavened bread. Is this worthy of God? Is this consonant with the heavenly laws? But I would say that if you have the leaven of wickedness and you do not cut off every leaven of wickedness from your leading faculty, reason, for this is your true house, the God of all ordains that you be cut off, since you are not rid of the old leaven. 2 For it is necessary for your coming to the new age, that you be made new and have nothing of the old. 'Old things have passed away.' 3 See, then, how it is fitting that the celebration of the feast of Unleavened Bread is in the month of new things. 4 Origen, On Exodus, Fragment 1 Exod 12.15 2 1 Cor 5.7 3 2 Cor 5.17 4 Jewish New Year

The Clamour of Sin

Clamor Sodomorum et Gomorrhaeorum multiplicatus est... Ut beatus Gregorius dicit, peccatum cum voce est peccatum in actione: peccatum autem cum clamore est peccatum cum liberatate. Quia ergo Sodomitae libere et inverecunde omnem impudicitiam exercebant, imo in pessimis sceleribus laetabantur et exultabant, ideo clamor eroum dicitur pervenisse ad Deum. Descendam et videbo utrum clamorem qui venit ad me opere compleverint. Clamor quidem ad Deum pervenerat, sed non statim puniuntur, nisi Angelus descendisset et vidisset utrum hoc perpetrassent. Mox autem, ut inventum est, absque dilatione misso caelitus igne consumpti sunt. Ubi docemur non facile auditis quorumdam criminibus credere: statim vero, ut res probata fuerit, continuo ultio subsequitur. Quod autem dicere: descendam et video, more nostro Deus loquitur tanquam dubitans et ignorans, cum tamen ipse santam et ratam habeat scientiam. Non delebo propter quinquaginta. Quinquagenarius numerus dicatus est poenitentiae. Unde et quinquagesimus psalmus in poenitentia cantatus est. Quod ergo dicit: Non delebo propter quinquaginta, ostendit potuisse eos ab imminenti interitu liberari, si ad poenitentiam confugere voluissent. Quod autem paulatim descendendo ad decem pervenit, ostendit neminem posse salvari, nisi eum qui crucem Christi ferre eumque sequi studuerit, et decem legis praecepta impleverit. Denarius enim crucem Christi designat, quia decima littera qua denarius numerus exprimitur figuram habet crucis. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Cap XVIII Source: Migne PL 131.90c-91a

The clamour of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied...1 As the blessed Gregory says, the voice of sin is sin in action, and sin with clamour is sin without restraint. 2 Therefore because the Sodomites were freely and without shame exerting themselves in every sexual perversion, and rejoicing and exulting in the worst evils, so their cry is said to have come to God. I shall descend and I shall see if the clamour which comes to me matches the deed... 3 Certainly the clamour came to God, but punishment was not immediate, until an angel had descended and seen whether they did this. Yet as soon as it was discovered, without the delay of him sent, fire from heaven consumed them. By which we are taught that we should not easily believe what we hear of the wickedness of others, but in the instant the deed is proved, swift punishment follows. And when it is said: 'I shall descend and see,' God speaks in our manner, as hesitant and ignorant, when yet He has unimpaired and certain knowledge. I shall not destroy them for the sake of fifty... 4 The number fifty is spoken for penance. Whence the fiftieth Psalm was sung for penance. That therefore He says: 'I shall not destroy them on account of fifty,' shows that He was able to free them from imminent ruin, if they had chosen to flee to penance. And then proceeding little by little down to ten, He shows that no one can be saved, unless him who shall desire to bear the cross of Christ and follow Him, 5 and who fulfills the the ten commandments of the Law. For a Denarius designates the cross of Christ, since the letter by which the number of the Denarius is expressed is a figure of the cross. 6 Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chap 18 1 Gen 18.20 2 Greg Mag In Septem Psalm Poenit 2.3 3 Gen 18.21 4 Gen 18.26 5 Mt 16.24 6 Roman Number 10 is X and the symbol for the Denarius is X

Knowing And Known

Audite verbum, quod locutus est Dominus super vos, filii Israel; super omni cognatione, quam eduxi de terra Aegypti dicens: tantummodo vos cognovi ex omnibus cognationibus terrae, idcirco visitabo super vos omnes iniquitates vestras. LXX: Audite, verbum hoc quod locutus est Dominus super vos, domus israel, et contra omnem tribum quam eduxi de terra Aegypti, dicens: Verumtamen vos cognovi de universis tribubus terrae, idcirco ulciscar super vos omnes malitias vestras. Ad filios Israel prophetalis sermo dirigitur, et qui sint isti filii Israel sequens versus ostendit: super omni, inquit, cognatione, quam eduxi de terra Aegypti, quod non solum in decem tribubus, sed in omnibus duodecim, addentes Iudam et Beniamin, debemus accipere. Omnes enim de terra Aegypti eduxit, et ait: tantummodo, sive, ut Symmachus interpretatus est: solos, vos cognovi ex omnibus cognationibus terrae. Et quia solos vos cognovi, qui Creator sum omnium, et vos habui peculiarem populum meum, idcirco super solos vos omnia vestra peccata restituam: potentes enim potenter tormenta patientur; qui autem minimus est, dignus est misericordia. Et in Ezechiele legimus: A sanctis meis incipite. Et iudicium Dei de domo eius dicitur habere principium. Hoc interim iuxta historiam dictum sit. Ceterum quia auditus in Scripturis Sanctis, non solum iste accipitur quem auribus carnis excipimus, sed etiam ille, de quo Dominus ait: qui habet aures audiendi audiat. Unde et omnis populus videbat vocem Dei, proprie ad eos sermo fit Domini, qui sensu vident Dominum, quos eduxit de terra Aegypti; et de potestate Pharaonis, ut nequaquam luto et paleis deservirent exstruentes Aegyptias civitates, et quos ex omnibus tribubus terrae cognovit, dicente Apostolo: nunc autem cognoscentes Deum, magis autem cogniti ab eo. et in alio loco: qui ignorat, ignorabitur. Non ergo omnes cognoscit Dominus, sed eos, qui eius cognitione sunt digni, loquens in Evangelio: recedite a me, operarii iniquitatis, nescio vos. In eo enim quod operarii iniquitatis sunt, ignorantur a Domino. Idcirco inquit quia solos vos cognovi, et meos habui, visitabo super vos omnes iniquitates vestras. Quem diligit Dominus, corripit, et castigat omnem filium quem recipit. Et pulchre dixit: visitabo, et non percutiam, quia plaga Dei visitatio est, atque curatio. Et omnes, inquit, iniquitates sive peccata vestra visitabo, ne quid impercussum remaneat, ne quid non recipiat sanitatem. Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Amos Prophetam, Liber I, Cap III Source: Migne PL 25.1013d-1014c

Hear the word the Lord speaks over you, sons of Israel, over all the people whom I led from the land of Egypt, saying: Only you I have known from all the peoples of the earth, therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities. The Septuagint has: 'Hear the word the Lord has spoken over you, house of Israel, and against every tribe which I led up from the land of Egypt, saying: Only you I have known from all the tribes of the earth, therefore I will have vengeance on you for all your wickedness.' 1 The prophetic word is directed to the sons of Israel, and who the sons of Israel are the following verse makes clear: 'Over all the people,' He says, 'which I led from the land of Egypt,' which means that we should understand not only the ten tribes here, but all the twelve, adding Judah and Benjamin. For He led them all from the land of Egypt, and He says, 'Only', or according to Symmachus 'Alone', 'you I have known from all the peoples of the earth.' And because I have known you alone, I who am the Creator of all things, I have you as my special people, therefore against you alone I shall return all your sins. 'The stronger shall suffer stronger torments.' 2 He who is least shall be worthy of mercy. And in Ezekiel we read: 'Begin with my holy ones.' 3 And the judgement of God is said to begin with His house. 4 This, then, was said in the historical sense. But there is another hearing in the Holy Scriptures, not only a receiving which is the taking up with the ears of flesh, but indeed that concerning which the Lord says: 'He who has ears let him hear.' 5 Whence all the people saw the voice of God, 6 but especially those to whom the word of the Lord comes, who see God with understanding, those whom He led from the land of Egypt, and from the power of the Pharaoh, that they no more slave with mud and straw to raise the cities of Egypt, and He knew them from all the tribes of the earth, as the Apostle says: 'Now even knowing God, or rather known by God.' 7 And in another place, 'He who does not know, shall not be known.' 8 Therefore not all know God, but those who are worthy of knowing Him, as it is said in the Gospel: 'Begone from me, you workers of iniquity, I do not know you.' 9 For in that they are workers of iniquity, they do not know God. Therefore He says: 'Because I have known you alone, and I have you as mine, I shall visit on you all your iniquities.' He whom the Lord loves He corrects, and He reproves every son whom he receives. 10 And well it is said, 'I shall visit upon you,' and not 'I shall strike', because the visitation of God is a blow and also a cure. And all your iniquities or sins, He says, I shall visit upon you, lest you remain unpunished, lest you lack all health. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Amos, Book 1, Chap 3 1 Amos 6.1 2 Wisdom 6.7 3 Ezek 9.6 4 1 Pet 4.17 5 Lk 8.8 6 Exod 20.18 7 Galat 4.9 8 1 Cor 14.38 9 Lk 13.27 10 Hebr 12.7-11

The Pharoah And Justice

ΕΡΩΤ Η' Προσειδὼς ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Φαραὼ τὸ δυσπειθὲς, τί δήποτε μὴ ἐξαρχῆς αὐτὸν ἐκόλασεν; Ὅτι προῇδει δεδήλωκεν. Οἴδα γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι οὐ προὴσεται ὑμᾶς Φαραὼ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου, εἰ μὴ μετὰ χειρὸς κραταιᾶς. Καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖτα, πατάξω τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους· Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀγαθὸς ὤν καὶ φιλάνθρωπος κολάζειν ἐκ μόνης προγνώσεως οὐκ ἀνέχεται· ἀλλὰ ἀναμένει τῶν πραγμάτων τὸ τέλος, καὶ δείκνυσιν ἄπασι τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ δίκαιον. Ἄλλως τε καὶ πολλῷ δικαιότερον, τὸ τὴν ἐκείνου γυμνωθῆναι κακίαν καὶ πονηρίαν, τοῦ τὸν Θεὸν ἀπηνῆ νομισθῆμαι. Εἰ γὰρ πρὸ τῶν ἐλέγχων ἐκόλασεν, ἔδοξεν ἂν καὶ ὠμος εἶναι καὶ ἄδικος· νῦν δὲ καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ μακρόθυμον, δέδεκται, κἀκείνου τὸ δυσσεβὲς καὶ θηριῶδες ἐλήλεγκται. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Ἐξοδον Source: Migne PG 80.232a-b

Question 8 Since God foreknew the insolence of Pharaoh, why did He not immediately punish him? That He obviously did foreknow, He says: 'For I know that Pharaoh the king of Egypt will not let you go, unless by a strong hand. And so stretching out my hand, I shall strike the Egyptians.' 1 But as God is good and benevolent He refrains from punishing from foreknowledge alone, but He waits for the end of works, and thus He reveals to all that he punishes justly. Besides, it would be much more just if the wickedness and evil of the Pharaoh were revealed than God be thought cruel. For if he had punished before refutation, He would have seemed cruel and unjust, but now the patience of God is observed and the impiety and savagery of Pharaoh is convicted. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Exodus 1 Exodus 3.19-20

Teaching By Examples

Πολυτρόπως δὲ ὅμως ὠφελῶν ὁ παιδαγωγὸς ὁ φιλάνθρωπος τὰ μὲν παρῄνεσεν, τὰ δὲ καὶ ὠνείδισεν, τὸ δὲ καὶ ἄλλων ἁμαρτανόντων τὸ αἶσχος αὐτῶν ὑπέδειξεν ἡμῖν καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτῳ τιμωρίαν ψυχαγωγῶν τε ἅμα καὶ νουθετῶν ἐφανέρωσε, φιλάνθρωπον ἀποτροπὴν τῆς κακίας μηχανώμενος διὰ τῆς τῶν προπεπονθότων ἐνδείξεως· δι' ὧν εἰκόνων σαφέστατα τοὺς μὲν ἔπαυσεν κακῶς διατεθέντας, τοὺς δὲ τὰ ἴσα τολμῶντας ἐκώλυσεν, ἄλλους εἰς ὑπομονὴν ἐθεμελίωσεν, ἑτέρους ἔπαυσε κακίας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἰάσατο τῇ τοῦ ὁμοίου θεωρίᾳ μεταθεμένους ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον. Τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἄν τι παραφυλάξαιτο, ἑπόμενός τῳ καθ' ὁδόν, εἶτα μέντοι τοῦ προτέρου εἰς βόθρον ἐμπεσόντος, μὴ οὐχὶ ἀποκλῖναι τὸν ἴσον κίνδυνον, τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας φυλαξάμενος; Τίς δὲ αὖθις ἀσκητὴς ὤν, καταμαθὼν τῆς φιλοδοξίας τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ τὸ ἔπαθλον ἰδὼν τὸν πρὸ αὑτοῦ ἀγωνιστὴν εἰληφότα, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸν στέφανον ἵεται καὶ αὐτός, μιμούμενος τὸν πρεσβύτερον; Πολλαὶ τοιαῦται τῆς θεϊκῆς σοφίας αἱ εἰκόνες· ἑνὸς δὲ ὑποδείγματος μνησθήσομαι καὶ διὰ βραχέων παραθήσομαι· τὸ Σοδομιτῶν πάθος κρίσις μὲν ἀδικήσασι, παιδαγωγία δὲ ἀκούσασιν. Οἱ Σοδομῖται ὑπὸ πολλῆς τρυφῆς ἐξοκείλαντες εἰς ἀσέλγειαν, μοιχεύοντες μὲν ἀδεῶς, περὶ δὲ τὰ παιδικὰ ἐκμανῶς ἐπτοημένοι, ἐπεῖδεν αὐτοὺς ὁ παντεπόπτης Λόγος, ὃν οὐκ ἔστι λαθεῖν ἀνόσια δρῶντας, οὐδὲ ἐπηρέμησεν τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ αὐτῶν ὁ ἄγρυπνος τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος φύλαξ· ἀποτρέπων δὲ ἡμᾶς τῆς μιμήσεως τῆς ἐκείνων, πρὸς σωφροσύνην τὴν αὑτοῦ παιδαγωγῶν, τίσιν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ἐπιβαλών, ὡς μὴ τὸ ἀτιμώρητον τῆς ἀκολασίας ἀδείας ἐπιρροὴν προσλάβῃ, καταφλεχθῆναι προσέταξε τὰ Σόδομα, ὀλίγον τι τοῦ φρονίμου πυρὸς ἐκείνου ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκολασίαν ἐκχέων, ὡς μὴ ἀκόλαστον αὐτῶν τὸ λάγνον γενόμενον πλατείας ἀναπετάσῃ κλισιάδας τοῖς εἰς ἡδυπάθειαν φερομένοις. Γέγονεν τοίνυν ἡ Σοδομιτῶν δικαία τιμωρία τῆς εὐλογίστου τοῖς ἀνθρώποις σωτηρίας εἰκών· οἱ γὰρ μὴ τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς κεκολασμένοις ἁμαρτήσαντες οὐ τὴν ὁμοίαν ποτὲ τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ὑπόσχοιεν δίκην τῷ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν τὸ μὴ παθεῖν πεφυλαγμένοι. Εἰδέναι γὰρ ὑμᾶς, φησὶν ὁ Ἰούδας, βούλομαι, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἅπαξ ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου λαὸν σώσας τὸ δεύτερον τοὺς μὴ πιστεύσαντας ἀπώλεσεν, ἀγγέλους τε τοὺς μὴ τηρήσαντας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀρχήν, ἀλλὰ ἀπολιπόντας τὸ ἴδιον οἰκητήριον εἰς κρίσιν μεγάλης ἡμέρας δεσμοῖς ἀιδίοις ὑπὸ ζόφον ἀγρίων ἀγγέλων τετήρηκεν. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Ὁ Παιδαγωγός, Λογὸς Τρίτιος, Κεφ' Η' Source: Migne PG 8.631b-616c

But helping in many ways, the Teacher, the lover of mankind, partly exhorts, partly reproaches, and by the sins of others He shows us their baseness, and the punishment consequent upon it, openly warning and by love striving to turn us from evil, by the exhibition of those who have suffered before, by which examples He openly checked those inclined to wickedness, and hindered those venturing similar things, and others He established in endurance, and others He held from evil, and others He healed by the contemplation of likeness, bringing them over to what is better. For who, when following a man on the way, when the former tumbles into a pit, would not guard against similar danger, by taking care not to follow him in his fall? And again what athlete, who has learned the way to glory, and has seen the competitor before him receiving the prize, does not set himself for the crown by imitation of the elder one? Such images of Divine wisdom given are many, but I will recall one instance, and expound it in a few words. The ruin of the Sodomites is judgment to those who have done wrong, instruction to those who hear. The Sodomites having been by much luxury brought into licentiousness, practicing adultery without shame, and burning with love for boys, the All-seeing Word, from whose notice those who commit impieties cannot be hidden, nor did the sleepless guard of mankind ignore their licentiousness, 1 but dissuading us from the imitation of them to His own temperance, stuck at these sinners, lest lust being unavenged and fearlessness run rampant, so ordered Sodom to be burned, pouring forth a little of the prudent fire of chastisement, lest by lack of chastisement, lust throw wide the gates to those rushing into voluptuousness. So did the just punishment of the Sodomites become an image of the salvation which is well arranged for men. For those who have not sinned like those who are punished, will never receive a like punishment, but guarding against sinning have a guard against suffering. Jude says: 'For I wish you to know, that God, having once saved the people from the land of Egypt, destroyed those who did not believe, and the angels who held not to their original state, but left their own habitation, He has reserved to the judgment of the great day, in everlasting chains under darkness of the savage angels.' 2 Clement of Alexandria, The Teacher, Book 3, Ch 8 1 Gen 18-19 2 cf Jude 5-6

The Curses

In initio transgressionis Adae, sicut enarrat Sciptura, non ipsum maledixit Adam, sed terram in operibus ejus, quemadmodum ex veteribus quidam ait: quoniam quidem transtulit Deus maledictum in terram, ut non perseveraret in homine. Condemnationem autem transgressionis accepit homo taedia et terrenum laborem, et manducare panem in sudore vultus sui, et converti in terram, ex qua assumptus est; similiter autem mulier taedia, et labores, et gemitus, et tristitias partus, et servitium, id est ut serviret viro suo: ut neque maledicti a Deo in totum perirent, neque sine increpatione perseverantes Deum contemnerent. Omnis autem maledictio decurrit in serpentem, qui seduxerat eos. Et dixit, inquit, Deus serpenti: Quoniam fecisti hoc, maledictus tu ab omnibus pecoribus, et ob omnibus bestiis terrae. Hoc idem autem et Dominus in Evangelio his qui a sinistris inveniuntur, ait: Abite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, quem praeparavit Pater meus diabolo et angelis ejus; significans quoniam non homini principaliter praeparatus est aeternus ignis, sed ei qui seduxit, et offendere fecit hominem, et, inquam, qui princeps apostasiae est, principi abscessionis, et his angeis qui apostatae facti sunt cum eo: quem quidem juste percipient etiam hi, qui similiter ut illi, sine poenitentia et sine regressu in malitiae perseverant operibus. Sanctus Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus Haereses, Liber III Caput XXXIII Source: Migne PG 7.961c-b

Immediately after Adam transgressed, as the Scripture relates, God did not curse Adam himself, but the ground in relation to his works, as a certain one of the ancients says: 'God transferred the curse to the earth, that it might not remain in man.' 1 But man received as the punishment of his transgression the wearisome task of working the earth, and to eat bread in the sweat of his face, and to return to the dust from which he was taken. Similarly the woman also received toil, and labour, and groans, and the pangs of birth, and subjection, that is, that she should serve her husband, so that they should neither perish utterly when cursed by God, nor, lacking chastisement, persist in scorning God. But the complete curse fell upon the serpent which had seduced them. 'And God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all the beasts of the earth.' 2 And this same thing the Lord says in the Gospel, to those who are found on the left: 'Depart from me, you accursed ones, into everlasting fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels,' 3 indicating that the eternal fire was not originally prepared for man, but for the one who seduced man, and caused him to sin, for the one, I say, who is the prince of apostasy, who is the prince of division, and for those angels who became apostates along with him; which indeed they shall also justly feel, who, like him, without repentance and without turning back, persevere in works of wickedness Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 33 1 Gen 3.16 2 Gen 3.14 3 Mt 25.41

Knowledge And Deeds

Scienti ergo bonum facere et non facienti, peccatum est illi.   Per totum hujus Epistolae textum beatus Jacobus ostendit quod hi quibus scripsit scientiam boni faciendi habebant, simul et fidem rectam didicerant, ita ut et aliis se magistros fieri posse praesumerent, nec tamen operum prefectionem, neque mentis humiliatatem, neque contitentiam adhuc sermonis erant adepti. Unde illos modo inter alia increpationis et exhortationis verba non minimum terret in eo, quod scientem bona facere, et non facientem quae novit, majus dicitur habere peccatum, quam illum qui ignoranter delinquit. Tametsi nec ille prorsus a reatu liber esse possit qui nesciens erravit, cum ipsa boni ignorantia non parvum sit malum. Hinc etenim Dominus ait: Servus qui cognovit voluntatem domini sui, et non fecit secundum voluntatem ejus, vapulabit multis. Qui autem non cognovit, et fecit digna plagis, vapulabit pacuis. Sanctus Beda, Super Divi Jacobi Epistolam, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 93 35b-c

Knowing, therefore, what is good to do and not doing it, it is a sin to you. 1 Through all the words of his letter the blessed James shows that those to whom he wrote possessed the knowledge of what it is to do good, and at the same time they taught the faith, that thus they were able to set themselves up as teachers before others, yet they did not have that perfection of works, or humility of mind, nor continence, as skill in words. Whence, among other things, with words of reproof and exhortation he strikes great fear into them, that knowing how to do good and not doing what they know, it is said they have greater sin than those who err in ignorance. For it is not that he is able to be absolutely free from guilt who unknowingly strays, when the very ignorance of good is not a small evil. Thus even the Lord says: 'A servant who knows the will of his lord and does not act in accordance with it shall receive a severe beating. He who does not know it, and has done what is worthy of blows, shall receive a lighter beating.' 2 Saint Bede, from the Commentary on the Letter of Saint James, Chapter 4   1 Jam 4.17 2 Lk 12. 47-48

Considerations Of The End

Εἰ γὰρ θάνατος αἰφνίδιος, ἢ πόλεων σεισμοὶ, καὶ ἀπειλαὶ οὕτω ποιοῦσι τὰς ἡμετέρας ψυχάς· ὅταν τὴν γῆν ἀναῤῥηγνυμένην ἴδωμεν καὶ πεπληρωμένην πάντων ἐκείνων, ὅταν τῶν σαλπίγγων ἀκούσωμεν, ὅταν τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ ἀρχαγγέλου πάσης σάλπιγγος λαμπροτέρας οὔσης, ὅταν τὸν οὐρανὸν συνανελκόμενον, ὅταν αὐτὸν παραγινόμενον τὸν ἁπάντων βασιλέα τὸν Θεὸν, τίς ἄρα ἡμῖν ἔσται ἡ ψυχή; Φρίξωμεν, παρακαλῶ, καὶ φοβηθῶμεν, ὡς ἤδη τούτων γινομένων· μὴ τῇ μελλήσει παραμυθώμεθα ἑαυτούς· ὅταν γὰρ πάντως δέῃ γενέσθαι, οὐδὲν ἡ μέλλησις ὠφελεῖ. Πόσος ὁ τρόμος; πόσος ὁ φόβος τότε; Εἴδετέ ποτε τοὺς ἀπαγομένους τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον; ποίαν νομίζετε αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν, τὴν μέχρι τῆς πύλης ὁδὸν βαδίζουσι; πόσων θανάτων οὐ χείρονα; τί οὐκ ἂν ἕλοιντο καὶ πρᾶξαι καὶ παθεῖν, ὥστε ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς ἀχλύος ἐκείνης τοῦ νέφους; Ἐγὼ πολλῶν ἤκουσα λεγόντων τῶν φιλανθρωπίᾳ βασιλικῇ μετὰ τὴν ἀπαγωγὴν εἰς τοὐπίσω κληθέντων, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἀνθρώπους ἑώρων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τεθορυβημένης τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ἐκπεπληγμένης καὶ ἐξεστηκυίας. Εἰ τοίνυν σωματικὸς θάνατος οὕτως ἡμᾶς φοβεῖ, ὅταν αἰώνιος παραγένηται, τί πεισόμεθα; Καὶ τί λέγω περὶ τῶν ἀπαγομένων; ὄχλος περιέστηκε τότε, οἱ πλείους οὐδὲ εἰδότες αὐτούς. Εἴ τις ἐκείνων τὰς ψυχὰς περιεσκόπησεν, οὐδεὶς οὕτως ὠμὸς, οὐδεὶς οὕτω θρασὺς, οὐδεὶς οὕτω γενναῖος, ὃς οὐ καταπεπτωκυῖαν αὐτὴν ἔχει, παρειμένην ὑπὸ τοῦ φόβου καὶ τῆς ἀθυμίας. Εἰ δὲ ἑτέρων ἀναιρουμένων τὸν θάνατον τοῦτον, τὸν ὕπνου οὐδὲν διαφέροντα, οἱ μηδὲν κοινωνοῦντες οὕτω διατίθενται· ὅταν ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ τοῖς μείζοσι περιπίπτωμεν, τίς ἄρα ἔσται κατάστασις; Οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστι, πιστεύσατε, παραστῆσαι λόγῳ τὸ πάθος. Ναὶ, φησίν· ἀλλὰ φιλάνθρωπος ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ οὐδὲν τούτων ἔσται. Οὐκοῦν εἰκῆ γέγραπται. Οὒ, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἀπειλὴν μόνον, ἵνα σωφρονῶμεν. Ἐὰν οὖν μὴ σωφρονῶμεν, ἀλλὰ μένωμεν κακοὶ, οὐκ ἐπάξει τὴν κόλασιν, εἰπέ μοι; οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀποδώσει τὰς ἀμοιβάς; Ναὶ, φησίν· ἐκεῖνο γὰρ αὐτῷ πρέπον ἐστὶ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀξίαν εὐεργετεῖν. Ὥστε ἐκεῖνα μὲν ἀληθῆ καὶ πάντως ἔσται· τὰ δὲ τῶν κολάσεων οὐ πάντως, ἀλλ' ἀπειλῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ φόβου; Πόθεν ὑμᾶς πείσω, οὐκ οἶδα. Ἂν εἴπω ὅτι ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτήσει, καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβεσθήσεται, ἐὰν εἴπω ὅτι ἀπελεύσονται εἰς πῦρ αἰώνιον, ἂν τὸν πλούσιον παραγάγω ἤδη κολαζόμενον, πάντα ἀπειλῆς εἶναι ἐρεῖτε. Πόθεν οὖν ὑμᾶς πείσω; Σατανικὸς γὰρ οὗτος ὁ λογισμὸς, χάριν ἀνόνητον χαριζόμενος, καὶ ῥᾳθύμους ποιῶν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος,Ὑπομηνα Ἐις Την Προς Θεσσαλονικεις Ἐπιστολην Πρωτην, Ὀμιλια Ηʹ   Source: Migne PG 62.441-442

For if sudden death, or earthquakes in cities, so terrify our souls, when we see the earth breaking up, and full with all these things, when we hear the trumpets, and the voice of the Archangel louder than any trumpet, when we see heaven rolled up, and God the King of all himself coming near, how then will be our souls? Let us shudder, I beseech you, and be fearful, as if these things were now happening. Let us not console ourselves because they are things to come. For when it will certainly be, delay does not profit us. How great then will be the trembling and how great the fear. Have you ever seen men led away to death? What do you think is the state of their souls, as they walk the way to the gate? Is it not worse than many deaths? What would they not choose to do and to suffer, so that they might be delivered from that cloud of darkness? I have heard many say, who the mercy of the Emperor has recalled after having been led away, that they did not even see men as men, their souls being so troubled, so struck with horror, and they beside themselves. If then the death of the body so frightens us, when eternal death approaches, how will we be? And why do I speak of those led away? A crowd then stands around, the greater part not even knowing them. If anyone looked into their souls, no one is so cruel, no one so bold, no one so firm, as not to have his soul dejected, and cast down with fear and despair. And if when others are taken off by this death, which differs nothing from sleep, those who do not share it are so affected, when we fall into greater evils, what then will be our state? It is not, believe me, it is not possible to represent the suffering in words. 'No,' you say, 'for God is merciful to men and none of these things will be.' Then it is written in vain. 'No,' you say, 'but only as a threat, that we may be wise.' If then we are not wise, but persist in evil, do tell me, will He not inflict the punishment? And will He not then give the good their rewards? 'Yes,' you say, 'for it befits Him to do good even beyond what is deserved. So the latter things indeed are true and will certainly be, while the punishments will not be at all, but are only for the purpose of a threat and of terror. How I shall persuade you, I do not know. If I say, that 'the worm will not die and the fire will not be quenched,' 1 if I say, that 'they shall go away into everlasting fire,' 2 if I set before you the rich man already suffering punishment, 3 you will say that it is all a matter of threatening. How then shall I persuade you? For this is a Satanic reasoning, a profitless kindness, making you thoughtless and sluggish. Saint John Chrysostom, from Homily 8 on First Thessalonians 1  Mk 9.44 2 Mt 25.41-46 3 Lk 16.22

A Self Punishing People

Infixae sunt gentes in interitu quem fecerunt. Hoc est, in malis operibus quae fecerunt , ibi infixae sunt, de quibus judicandae sunt. In laqueo isto quem absconderunt, etc. Quia unusquisque laqueum quem alteri parat ad cadendum, ipse prius in eo cadet. Cognescetur Dominus judicia faciens.  Cognoscetur, hoc est, ad judicium.  In operibus manuum suarum comprehensus est peccator.  Quia unusquisque peccator ipse sibi secum portat et funes, et vincula, et tormenta, unde sustineat mala. Nam ab aliis non est necesse praeparari unde torqueatur, cum ipse sibi praeparet quae ad poenam pertinent.  Sanctus Hieronymous, Breviarum In Psalmos, Psalm IX Source: Migne PL 26.842b

The peoples are caught up in the death which they fashioned. 1 That is, in the evil works which they have done, there they are snared, from which comes their judgement.  'In the trap which they left...'  Because he who prepares a trap for another to fall into, he first falls into it. The Lord shall know, making judgement. He shall know, that is, for the making of judgement.  'In the works of his own hands the sinner is caught.'  Because whoever is a sinner bears bonds for himself, and chains and torments, whence he suffers evil. For it is not necessary that others prepare that by which a man shall be tormented when he himself has prepared for himself what pertains to punishment. Saint Jerome, Breviarum on the Psalms, from Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.16

They Who Hate Me Love Death

οἱ δὲ εἰς ἐμὲ ἁμαρτάνοντες ἀσεβοῦσιν τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχάς καὶ οἱ μισοῦντές με ἀγαπῶσιν θάνατον   Ἀσέβεια μέν ἐστιν ἡ εἰς Θεὸν ἁμαρτία· ἀσεβεῖ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ὁ σωρεύων κόλασιν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῇ, τὴν τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ἡτοιμασμένην· ἀκόλουθον δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀγαπᾷν θάνατον τοὺς σοφίαν μισοῦντες, εἴπερ ἡ σοφία ζωή. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογή Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφ Η' Source: Migne PG 17.185a

They who sin against me are impious to their own souls, and they who hate me love death. 1 Impiety is the sin against God. By impiety one is set against one's own soul, heaping up punishment for the soul, with impieties preparing it. Consequently they love death who hate wisdom, since wisdom is life. Origen, On Proverbs,  Chap 8, Fragment 1 Prov 8.36

Light And Fire

Ἵνα ᾗ Θεὸς πάντα ἐν πᾶσι φῶς μὲν τοῖς ἀξίοις τοῦ φωτὸς, πῦρ δὲ κολαστήριον τοῖς ἀξίοις τῆς αἰωνίου κολάσεως. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΜΖ' Δοσιθεῳ Source: Migne PG 79 104c

That God be everything to everyone, He is indeed light to those worthy of light but a punishing fire to those worthy of eternal punishment. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 48 To Dositheus

A Philosopher Warned

Κομπάζεις φιλοσοφίαν ἐχθρὰν τῆς ὄντως σοφίας, καὶ αὐτὸ ἀρνούμενος τὸ τοῦ πράγματος ὄνομα. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἕτερόν ἐστι φιλοσοφία, ἤ τὸ πάντως φιλεῖν τὴν σοφίαν. Εἰ οὖν ὄντως ἐραστὴς εἶναι βούλει σοφίας, τὴν ὄντως ἀγάπα σοφίαν, οὐ τὸν λόγον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν βίον συμνύνουσαν, καὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ θρησκείαν παιδεύουσαν. Ἥν γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐπαγγέλλῃ, καὶ νῦν ὀφλισκάνει γέλωτα, θεότητας καλοῦσα τὰς πηγὰς τῆς αἰσχρότητος, καὶ ἐν τῳ μέλλοντι τιμωρίαν ὠδίνει, ὅπου σοι τοὺς Κωκυτοὺς καὶ Πυριφλεγέθοντας ὁ Πλάτων ἠπείλησεν. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ϟϚ' Μαξιμῳ Φιλοσοφῳ Ἐλληνι Source:  Migne PG 78. 248d-249a

The philosophy of which you boast is an enemy of true wisdom and denies itself the name of the deed. For philosophy is nothing but to love wisdom. If, then, you really wish to be a lover of wisdom, love the real wisdom, which is not only a word but even an adornment of life, and a preparation for the true religion. For what you now proclaim, even incurring laughter when it names the founts of shame divine, births punishment in the future, where Cocytus and Pyriphelgethon will await you, as Plato warned. 1 Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 96, to Maximus the Philosopher   1 1 Phadeo. 113d

Blindness And Sight

Παῦλος διώκτης ὑπάρχων τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίας ἀπετυφλώθη πρῶτον τοῖς κακοῖς, καὶ τῇ ἀφάτῳ ὠμότητι, ὅπως ἀναβλέπει τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ. Εἰκότως τοίνυν ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγεν· Ἐγω ἦλθον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι, καὶ οἱ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ γένωνται. Ἠνίξατο γὰρ τοὺς τοῖς πονηρεύμασιν, καὶ ταῖς ἀτοπίαις προστετηκότας ὀφλαμοὺς ἀποτυφλῶσαι, ἀνοῖξαι δὲ, καὶ ἀκέσασθαι τοὺς νοητοὺς ὀφλαμοὺς, οἶς ἐφοπτεύεται τὸ κάλλος τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ τῆς θεογνωσίας. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΙΕ' Ἰγνατιῳ Ἀνθυπατῳ Source: Migne PG 79 161

When Paul was a persecutor of the Church of Christ, he was first blinded for his evil and unspeakable cruelty that he recover his sight for God and for righteousness. 1 With good reason the Lord said, 'I came into the world that those who do not see might see and that those who see become blind.' 2 For it is as one who for wicked crimes and foolishness has his eyes taken out, but here however it is done for the opening and healing of the spiritual eyes, by which the beauty of virtue and Divine knowledge is seen. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 215, to Ignatius the Proconsul  1 Acts 9.1-9 2 Jn 9.39

Happy In The World

Μάστιξ δὲ παρὰ Κυρίου οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς.   Ἐὰν ἴδῃς ἄνθρωπον τοιαῦτα κατὰ Θεοῦ λαλοῦντα ὑγιαίνοντα τῷ σώματι, βλέποντα, τὰ αἰσθητήρια σώζοντα, καὶ δοκοῦντα ἐνίοτε καὶ ἐν τοῖς κοσμικοῖς εὐτυχεῖν· ὅρα, ὅτι πεπλήρωται ἐπ' αὐτοῦ ἀσεβοῦς ὄντος τό· Μάστιξ δὲ παρὰ Κυρίου οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ, Κεφ ΚΑ'  Source: Migne PG 17 77

The whip of The Lord is not upon them... 1 If you observe that a man who speaks things against God is healthy in his body and endowed with good eyesight and unimpaired in his senses, who it seems that whenever he turns to worldly affairs prospers, understand, that it has been fulfilled concerning this impious one: 'The whip of the Lord is not upon them...' Origen, On Job, Chap 21  1 Job 21.9