John Chrysostom, On Saint Droside Martyr

of wild beasts, to laugh at fire, to trample on every kind of torment and punishment, and to hasten toward the life to come, they will not need our refutations, but will question themselves, and will receive sufficient proof of what is said. For since Christ appeared, there have been unbelieving kings, and there have been believers, but most of the unbelievers led the faithful to pits, and pyres, and cliffs, and seas, and the fury of wild beasts, and various torments and punishments, trying in every way to uproot the faith from their souls, and they accomplished nothing, but departed having been laughed at, while the believers were being cut down in every way, yet the faith grew even greater. But no pious king ever chose to torment and punish an unbelieving man, forcing him to depart from his error. But nevertheless, even so, it collapses and perishes of its own accord, so that you may learn both the strength of the truth and the weakness of falsehood, the one perishing of its own accord and with no one troubling it, while the other grows through those who hinder it and is lifted to an unspeakable height; and the reason is that Christ both lives and works in the souls of the martyrs. When, therefore, they say that He did not rise, let us ask them these things: And who accomplished these things? The dead man, tell me? But there have been so many dead, and no one has done such things. But was He a magician and a sorcerer? But many magicians and sorcerers and deceivers have existed, and all have been silenced, and not a remnant of them is anywhere, but their sorceries were extinguished along with their life; but the things of Christ increase every day, and very reasonably; for the things that happened did not happen by sorcery, but by divine power, for this reason they are not destroyed. Rather, I make the proof of His power not from this alone, that it increases, but also that it is for good, and for the salvation of our life. For after His coming, the inhabitants of the earth have become men from wild beasts, or rather, all who truly attend to Him have become angels from men. But the martyrs were deceived and deluded, he says, and for this reason they despised the present life. Then did the first not persuade the second, nor the second the third, but the more the persecutions proceeded, the more this achievement increased, and no one, in so long a time, perceived the deception. And where could these things have reason? But if they were deceived, how do the demons fear their dust? How do they flee their tombs? For it is not because demons fear the dead that they suffer this. For behold, there are countless dead everywhere on earth, and they lay siege to those, and one might see many demoniacs dwelling in deserts and tombs; but where the bones of the martyrs are buried, they flee as from some fire and unbearable torment, proclaiming with a clear voice the power within that scourges them. 3. But from this it has been shown that the death of the martyrs is a refutation of the weakness of demons; but that the matter is also an accusation of their insensibility is clear from what follows. For when these, I mean the martyrs, being subject to the body and natural necessities, and having a great crowd of pains and sorrows surrounding them, and living a mortal life, and dwelling on earth, are thus seen to despise the present life for the love of God their creator; while those, being freed from the flesh and all this pain and sorrow, are thus seen to be insolent, and have become ungrateful to their benefactor, what defense will they have? What excuse? None from any source, since the virtue of these condemns the wickedness of those by a great margin. For indeed not only men men, the

θηρίων, καταγελᾷν πυρὸς, καταπατεῖν ἅπαν εἶδος κολάσεως καὶ τιμωρίας, καὶ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐπείγεσθαι ζωὴν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐλέγχων δεήσονται, ἀλλ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐροῦνται, καὶ ἱκανὴν ἀπόδειξιν λήψονται τῶν λεγομένων. Ἐξ οὗ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς παρεγένετο, γεγόνασι μὲν ἄπιστοι βασιλεῖς, γεγόνασι δὲ καὶ πιστοὶ, ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν ἀπίστων οἱ πλείους ἐπὶ βάραθρα, καὶ πυρὰς, καὶ κρημνοὺς, καὶ πελάγη, καὶ θηρίων μανίαν, καὶ πολυτρόπους κολάσεις, καὶ τιμωρίας τοὺς πιστοὺς ἦγον, παντὶ τρόπῳ τὴν πίστιν ἀναμοχλεύοντες τῆς ἐκείνων ψυχῆς, καὶ οὐδὲν ἤνυσαν, ἀλλὰ καταγελασθέντες ἀπῆλθον, τῶν μὲν πιστευόντων παντὶ τρόπῳ κοπτομένων, τῆς πίστεως δὲ αὐξομένης μειζόνως. Εὐσεβὴς δὲ βασιλεὺς οὐδεὶς οὐδέποτε ἄνδρα ἄπιστον κολάσαι καὶ τιμωρήσασθαι εἵλετο, καταναγκάζων ἀποστῆναι τῆς πλάνης. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ οὕτως αὐτομάτως καταῤῥεῖ καὶ ἀπόλλυται, ἵνα μάθῃς καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας τὴν ἰσχὺν, καὶ τοῦ ψεύδους τὴν ἀσθένειαν, τοῦ μὲν αὐτομάτως καὶ μηδενὸς ἐνοχλοῦντος ἀπολλυμένου, τῆς δὲ διὰ τῶν κωλυόντων αὐξομένης καὶ πρὸς ὕψος αἰρομένης ἄφατον· τὸ δὲ αἴτιον, ὅτι καὶ ζῇ καὶ ἐνεργεῖ ταῖς τῶν μαρτύρων ψυχαῖς ὁ Χριστός. Ὅταν οὖν λέγωσιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀνέστη, ταῦτα αὐτοὺς ἐρωτῶμεν· Καὶ τίς ταῦτα κατώρθωσεν; ὁ νεκρὸς, εἰπέ μοι; Ἀλλὰ τοσοῦτοι γεγόνασι νεκροὶ, καὶ οὐδεὶς τοιαῦτα εἰργάσατο. Ἀλλὰ μάγος καὶ γόης ἦν; Ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ καὶ μάγοι καὶ γόητες καὶ πλάνοι γεγένηνται, καὶ πάντες σεσίγηνται, καὶ λείψανον αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδαμοῦ, ἀλλὰ συναπεσβέσθη τῇ ζωῇ καὶ τὰ τῆς μαγγανείας αὐτοῖς· τὰ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καθ' ἑκάστην αὔξεται τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως· οὐ γὰρ γοητείᾳ ἐγίνετο τὰ γινόμενα, ἀλλὰ θείᾳ δυνάμει, διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ καταλύεται. Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ τούτου τῆς δυνάμεως ἀπόδειξιν ποιοῦμαι μόνον ὅτι αὔξεται, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἐπ' ἀγαθῷ, καὶ τῇ τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς σωτηρίᾳ. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐκείνου παρουσίαν ἐκ θηρίων ἄνθρωποι γεγόνασιν οἱ τὴν γῆν οἰκοῦντες, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἄγγελοι πάντες, οἱ μετ' ἀληθείας αὐτῷ προσέχοντες. Ἀλλ' ἠπατήθησαν καὶ παρελογίσθησαν οἱ μάρτυρες, φησὶ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς παρούσης κατεφρόνησαν ζωῆς. Εἶτα οἱ πρότεροι τοὺς δευτέρους οὐκ ἀνέπεισαν, οὐδὲ οἱ δεύτεροι τοὺς τρίτους, ἀλλ' ὅσῳ προῄει τὰ τῶν διωγμῶν, τοσούτῳ καὶ τοῦτο ἐπεδίδου τὸ κατόρθωμα, καὶ οὐδεὶς, ἐν οὕτω μακρῷ χρόνῳ, τὴν ἀπάτην συνεῖδε. Καὶ ποῦ ταῦτα λόγον ἂν ἔχοι; Εἰ δὲ ἠπάτηντο, πῶς τὴν κόνιν αὐτῶν δεδοίκασιν οἱ δαίμονες; πῶς καὶ τοὺς τάφους φεύγουσιν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ νεκροὺς φοβοῦνται δαίμονες, τοῦτο πάσχουσιν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ μυρίοι νεκροὶ πανταχοῦ τῆς γῆς, κἀκείνοις μὲν προσεδρεύουσι, καὶ πολλοὺς ἂν ἴδῃ τις δαιμονῶντας ἐν ἐρημίαις διατρίβοντας καὶ τάφοις· ἔνθα δὲ τῶν μαρτύρων ὀστᾶ κατορώρυκται, ὡς ἀπὸ πυρός τινος καὶ κολάσεως ἀφορήτου φεύγουσι, τὴν ἔνδον μαστίζουσαν αὐτοὺς δύναμιν μετὰ λαμπρᾶς ἀνακηρύττοντες φωνῆς. γʹ. Ἀλλ' ἐντεῦθεν μὲν, ὅτι τῆς ἀσθενείας τῶν δαιμόνων ἔλεγχος ὁ τῶν μαρτύρων ἐστὶ θάνατος, ἀποδέδεικται· ὅτι δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀναισθησίας αὐτῶν ἐστι κατηγορία τὸ πρᾶγμα, δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν. Ὅταν γὰρ οὗτοι μὲν, οἱ μάρτυρες λέγω, σώματι καὶ φυσικαῖς ἀνάγκαις ὑποκείμενοι, καὶ πολὺν ὀδυνῶν ὄχλον καὶ ἀλγηδόνων ἔχοντες περιεστῶτα, καὶ τὸν ἐπίκηρον ζῶντες βίον, καὶ διατρίβοντες ἐπὶ γῆς, οὕτω φαίνωνται τῆς παρούσης ὑπερορῶντες ζωῆς διὰ τὴν περὶ τὸν πεποιηκότα αὐτοῖς Θεὸν ἀγάπην· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ καὶ σαρκὸς ἀπηλλαγμένοι καὶ πάσης ταύτης ὀδύνης καὶ ἀλγηδόνος οὕτω φαίνωνται ἐξυβρικότες, καὶ ἀγνώμονες περὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην γεγενημένοι, ποίαν ἕξουσιν ἀπολογίαν; τίνα συγγνώμην; Οὐδεμίαν οὐδαμόθεν, τῆς τούτων ἀρετῆς τὴν ἐκείνων κακίαν ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος κατακρινούσης. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνον ἀνθρώπους ἄνθρωποι, οἱ