John Chrysostom, On the Second Coming of the Lord

their wives, some roasting, others also spending in other ways; how they were delivered over to incurable famine, and to various and grievous wars, so as to eclipse all former tragedies by the excess of their own calamities. For that Christ wrought these things upon them, hear him foretelling these things, both through parables, and clearly and openly; through parables, as when he says: But those who did not want me to reign over them, bring and slay them; and through the vineyard, and through the marriage feast; but clearly and expressly, as when he says threateningly, that They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and there will be distress of nations upon the earth, with perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men's hearts failing them for fear, and There will be such tribulation as has never been, nor ever will be. And Ananias and Sapphira, for the theft of a few silver pieces, what a penalty they paid, you all know. But do you not see the daily calamities, how many we suffer when we sin? Or have these things not even happened? Do you not see even now those wasting away with famine, those afflicted with elephantiasis and mutilation of the body, those living with continual poverty, those suffering countless incurable and grievous things? How then can it be reasonable for some to be punished, but others not to be punished? For if God is not unjust, as indeed he is not unjust, you too will certainly pay the penalty for sinning; but if, because God is a lover of mankind, he does not punish, then these ought not to have been punished either. But now, because of these cold words of yours, God punishes many even here; so that, when you do not believe the words of the threat, you may at least believe the deeds of the punishment; and since the things of old do not 59.623 so frighten us, by the things that happen in each generation he corrects the negligent of that time.

3. And why, he says, does he not punish all here? So that he may give to others a time for repentance. Why then does he not punish all there? So that many might not disbelieve in his providence. How many robbers were caught, while others went away without paying the penalty? where then is the loving-kindness of God and his righteous judgment? For it is my turn to ask you. For if no one at all were punished, I would have recourse to this; but when some pay the penalty, and others do not, though sinning worse, how could this be reasonable, that for the same offenses there are not the same penalties? And how would those who are punished not seem to be wronged? Why then, he says, are not all punished here? Hear him defending himself to you concerning these things. For when some died after a tower fell, he said to those who were perplexed about them: Do you think that these alone were sinners above all men? No, I tell you; but unless you also repent, you will all likewise perish; exhorting us and teaching us not to be confident, when others pay the penalty, while we, having committed many offenses, do not; for if we do not repent, we will surely pay. And how, he says, are we punished eternally, having sinned for a short time here? Just as here a man, committing one murder in the brief turn of a moment, is condemned to the perpetual hardship of the mines. But God is not so, he says. How then did he keep the paralytic in such punishment for thirty-eight years? For that he punished him for his sins, hear what he says: See, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you. But still he received release, he says. But the things there are not like that. For that those things will never have a release, hear him say, Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched; and, These will go into eternal life, and these into eternal punishment. If therefore life is eternal, so also is the punishment eternal. Do you not see how many things he threatened the Jews? Did the threatened things then come to pass, or were the things spoken mere words? And again, Not one stone shall be left upon another. Did it remain? What of the fact that he also said, There will be tribulation, such as has never been? Did it not then happen? Read the history of Josephus, and you will not even be able to breathe when you hear what they suffered in reality. For he says, that it surpassed all

γυναῖκες αὐτῶν, οἱ μὲν ὀπτῶσαι, αἱ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως δαπανῶσαι· πῶς λιμῷ παρεδόθησαν ἀνηκέστῳ, καὶ πολέμοις ποικίλοις καὶ χαλεποῖς, ὡς πάσας τὰς ἔμπροσθεν τραγῳδίας ἀποκρύψαι τῇ τῶν οἰκείων ὑπερβολῇ συμφορῶν. Ὅτι γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς αὐτοὺς ταῦτα εἰργάσατο, ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ ταῦτα προλέγοντος, καὶ διὰ παραβολῶν, καὶ σαφῶς καὶ ἀνακεκαλυμμένως· διὰ παραβολῶν μὲν, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Τοὺς δὲ μὴ θέλοντάς με βασιλεῦσαι ἐπ' αὐτοὺς, ἀγάγετε καὶ κατασφάξατε· καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος, καὶ διὰ τοῦ γάμου· σαφῶς δὲ καὶ διαῤῥήδην, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ ἀπειλῶν, ὅτι Πεσοῦνται ἐν στόματι μαχαίρας, καὶ ἔσται συνοχὴ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐθνῶν, ἐν ἀπορίᾳ ἠχούσης θαλάσσης καὶ σάλου, ἀποψυχόντων ἀνθρώπων ἀπὸ φόβου, καὶ Ἔσται θλίψις τοιαύτη, οἵα οὐ γέγονε πώποτε, οὐδὲ μὴ γένηται. Καὶ ὁ Ἀνανίας καὶ ἡ Σάπφειρα ὑπὲρ κλοπῆς ὀλίγων ἀργυρίων ὅσην ἔδωκαν δίκην, ἅπαντες ἴστε. Τὰς δὲ καθημερινὰς συμφορὰς οὐχ ὁρᾶτε, ὅσας ὑποφέρομεν ἁμαρτάνοντες; ἢ οὐδὲ ταῦτα γεγένηται; Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε καὶ νῦν τοὺς λιμῷ τηκομένους, τοὺς ἐλέφαντι καὶ λώβῃ σώματος κατεχομένους, τοὺς πενίᾳ διηνεκεῖ συζῶντας, τοὺς μυρία ἀνήκεστα καὶ θλιβερὰ πάσχοντας; Πῶς οὖν ἂν ἔχοι λόγον τοὺς μὲν κολάζεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ μὴ κολάζεσθαι; Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἄδικος ὁ Θεὸς, ὡσπεροῦν οὐδὲ ἄδικος, πάντως καὶ σὺ δίκην δώσεις ἁμαρτάνων· εἰ δὲ, ἐπειδὴ φιλάνθρωπός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, οὐ κολάζει, οὐδὲ τούτους ἔδει κολασθῆναι. Νυνὶ δὲ διὰ ταῦτα ὑμῶν τὰ ψυχρὰ ῥήματα, πολλοὺς καὶ ἐνταῦθα κολάζει ὁ Θεός· ἵνα, ὅταν τοῖς ῥήμασι μὴ πιστεύσητε τῆς ἀπειλῆς, κἂν τοῖς πράγμασι πιστεύσητε τῆς τιμωρίας· καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὰ παλαιὰ οὐχ 59.623 οὕτως ἡμᾶς φοβεῖ, τοῖς ἐφ' ἑκάστης γενεᾶς συμβαίνουσι τοὺς κατὰ καιρὸν διορθοῦται ῥᾳθυμοῦντας.

γʹ. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐ πάντας ἐνταῦθα κολάζει, φησίν; Ἵνα δῷ τοῖς ἄλλοις προθεσμίαν μετανοίας. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν οὐ πάντας τιμωρεῖται ἐκεῖ; Ἵνα μὴ πολλοὶ διαπιστήσωσιν αὐτοῦ τῇ προνοίᾳ. Πόσοι λῃσταὶ οἱ μὲν ἑάλωσαν, οἱ δὲ ἀπῆλθον μὴ δόντες δίκην; ποῦ τοίνυν ἡ φιλανθρωπία τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἡ δικαιοκρισία; ἐμὸν γάρ ἐστιν ἔρεσθαί σε. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ μηδεὶς ὅλως ἐτιμωρεῖτο, εἶχον ἐπὶ τοῦτο καταφυγεῖν· ὅταν δὲ οἱ μὲν δῶσι δίκην, οἱ δὲ μὴ δῶσι, καίτοι χείρονα ἁμαρτάνοντες, πῶς ἂν ἔχοι τοῦτο λόγον μὴ τῶν αὐτῶν πλημμελημάτων τὰς αὐτὰς εἶναι δίκας; πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἂν δόξαιεν ἀδικεῖσθαι οἱ κολασθέντες; Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν, φησὶν, οὐ πάντες ἐνταῦθα κολάζονται; Ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ περὶ τούτων σοι ἀπολογουμένου. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀπέθανόν τινες πύργου κατενεχθέντος, ἔλεγε τοῖς ὑπὲρ τούτων διαποροῦσι· ∆οκεῖτε ὅτι οὗτοι μόνοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ παρὰ πάντας εἰσίν; Οὐχὶ, λέγω ὑμῖν· ἀλλ' ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσητε καὶ ὑμεῖς, πάντες ὡς αὐτοὶ ἀπολεῖσθε· παραινῶν ἡμῖν καὶ διδάσκων μὴ θαῤῥεῖν, ὅταν ἑτέρων δόντων δίκην, ἡμεῖς πολλὰ πλημμελήσαντες μὴ δῶμεν· ἂν γὰρ μὴ μεταμελώμεθα, δώσομεν πάντως. Καὶ πῶς, φησὶν, ἀθάνατα κολαζόμεθα, ἐνταῦθα βραχὺν χρόνον ἁμαρτόντες; Ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθά τις ἄνθρωπος ἐν βραχείᾳ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ ἕνα φόνον ποιῶν, τῇ τῶν μετάλλων διηνεκεῖ καταδικάζεται ταλαιπωρίᾳ. Ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς οὐχ οὕτω, φησί. Πῶς οὖν τριάκοντα ὀκτὼ ἔτη ἐν τοιαύτῃ κολάσει τὸν παράλυτον κατεῖχεν; Ὅτι γὰρ διὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτὸν ἐκόλασεν, ἄκουσον τί φησιν· Ἴδε ὑγιὴς γέγονας· μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν σοί τι γένηται. Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἔλαβε λύσιν, φησίν. Ἀλλ' οὐ τὰ ἐκεῖ τοιαῦτα. Ὅτι γὰρ ἐκεῖνα οὐχ ἕξει λύσιν ποτὲ, ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ λέγοντος, Ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτήσει, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτῶν οὐ σβεσθήσεται· καὶ, Πορεύσονται οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὗτοι εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον. Εἰ τοίνυν ἡ ζωὴ αἰώνιός ἐστι, καὶ ἡ κόλασις αἰώνιος. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς, πόσα ἠπείλησεν Ἰουδαίοις; Ἆρα οὖν ἐξέβη τὰ ἀπειληθέντα, ἢ λόγος ἦν τὰ εἰρημένα; Καὶ πάλιν, Οὐ μὴ μείνῃ λίθος ἐπὶ λίθον. Ἆρα ἔμεινε; Τί δὲ, ὅτι καὶ εἶπεν, Ἔσται θλίψις, οἵα οὐ γέγονε πώποτε; Ἆρα οὖν οὐκ ἐγένετο; Ἀνάγνωθι τὴν ἱστορίαν τοῦ Ἰωσήππου, καὶ οὐδὲ ἀναπνεῦσαι δυνήσῃ ἀκούων, ἅπερ ἔπαθον ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκεῖνοι. Φησὶ γὰρ, ὅτι πᾶσαν ἐνίκησε