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that anything of the divine laws should be hidden, and that teachers are judged 50.656 responsible for murders, when they do not explain all the judgments of God without reserve, I will again present Paul to you as a witness of these things. For on this account I continually take refuge in that holy soul on behalf of all, because the words of Paul are certain useful and divine laws. For it is not Paul who speaks, but Christ who moves his soul; for through him He utters all the things which he said. What then does Paul say? Having called those who dwelt in Ephesus, and having delivered a final address to them, since he was about to depart from them, teaching those who were set over them, that just as those who shed the blood of their disciples, so those who do not speak what is profitable to them, are liable to punishment and vengeance, he says something like this: I am pure from the blood of all men. Why? For I have not shrunk from declaring to you the whole counsel of God; as, if he had shrunk from declaring it, he would not have been pure from their blood, but would have been judged as a murderer, and very rightly so. For the murderer destroys the body only, but he who speaks to please, and makes his hearers more careless, destroys the soul; and the former betrays to the present death, but the latter destroys the soul, and sends it on to the immortal punishments and vengeances. Does Paul then alone say this? By no means, but also before Paul again God through the prophet hints at this very same thing, saying thus: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. What is, A watchman? A watchman is one who, while the camps are sitting below, has taken a high and hilly place and from there watches for the approaching enemy, and signals the attack to those sitting below, and rouses them for the battle line of the war, so that the enemy will not fall upon them while they are unguarded and dispatch them with great ease. Since, then, we who walk on the ground do not see many of the approaching terrors, the grace of God has arranged that the holy prophets, standing as if on the high ground of prophecy, should announce from afar the wrath of God that is about to come upon us, so that by recovering ourselves through repentance, and setting our fallen soul upright, we may from afar ward off the God-sent blow. For this reason He says: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so that you may announce the calamity that is about to come, just as that one announces the enemy. And He imposes no small punishment on the one who does not foretell the wrath of God. What punishment is this? The souls of those who are perishing, He says, I will require from your hand. Who then is so cruel and inhuman and unsympathetic, as to find fault with one who speaks and continually discourses on the wrath of God, when he is about to undergo so great a punishment, if he should keep silent? That it is not profitable for us who say such things to be silent, both the prophet and the apostle have sufficiently taught us; but that it is also not profitable for you who hear, is clear from what follows. For if I, by being silent, concealed sins by my silence, each one would rightly be displeased and justly indignant at my not being silent; but if, even when we are silent now, it is absolutely necessary for our failings 50.657 to be made manifest there, what would be the benefit from silence? But there would be no benefit, but the utmost harm. For if I speak now, I lead to repentance and compunction of mind; but if I am silent, now we will not be reminded of our sins, nor will we repent; but there we will see them naked and exposed before our eyes, and we will lament to no purpose and in vain.

3. Since, then, it is absolutely necessary to be pierced with compunction for our sins, either there or here, it is better here, and not there. From where is this clear? From the prophetic sayings, from the evangelic ones. For the prophet says, In Hades who will confess to you? not that we do not confess, but that we do this in vain. And Christ also taught this very thing through a parable. For a certain Lazarus

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τῶν θείων ἀποκρύπτεσθαί τι νόμων, καὶ ὅτι φόνων 50.656 ὑπεύθυνοι οἱ διδάσκαλοι κρίνονται, ὅταν μὴ πάντα χωρὶς ὑποστολῆς ἐξηγῶνται τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ δικαιώματα, Παῦλον ὑμῖν τούτων πάλιν παρέξομαι μάρτυρα. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο συνεχῶς ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκείνην καταφεύγω ψυχὴν, ὅτι χρήσιμοί τινές εἰσι καὶ θεῖοι νόμοι τὰ Παύλου ῥήματα. Οὐ γὰρ Παῦλός ἐστιν ὁ λαλῶν, ἀλλ' ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ τὴν ἐκείνου ψυχὴν κινῶν· δι' ἐκείνου γὰρ φθέγγεται πάντα, ἅπερ ἐκεῖνος εἶπε. Τί τοίνυν φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος; Καλέσας τοὺς τὴν Ἔφεσον οἰκοῦντας, καὶ ἐσχάτην πρὸς αὐτοὺς δημηγορίαν εἰπὼν, ἐπειδὴ λοιπὸν αὐτῶν ἀπίστασθαι ἤμελλε, διδάσκων τοὺς ἐφεστηκότας αὐτοῖς, ὅτι καθάπερ οἱ τὸ αἷμα ἐκχέοντες τῶν μαθητῶν, οὕτως οἱ τὰ συμφέροντα μὴ λέγοντες αὐτοῖς, εἰσὶν ὑπεύθυνοι κολάσεως καὶ τιμωρίας, οὕτω πώς φησι· Καθαρός εἰμι ἐγὼ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος πάντων. ∆ιὰ τί; Οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι ὑμῖν πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὡς εἰ ὑπεστείλατο τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι. οὐκ ἦν καθαρὸς ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀνδροφόνος ἐκρίνετο, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀνδροφόνος τὸ σῶμα ἀναιρεῖ μόνον, ὁ δὲ πρὸς χάριν δημηγορῶν, καὶ ῥᾳθυμοτέρους ποιῶν τοὺς ἀκροατὰς, τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπόλλυσι· κἀκεῖνος μὲν τῷ παρόντι προδίδωσι θανάτῳ, οὗτος δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπόλλυσι, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀθανάτους παραπέμπει κολάσεις καὶ τιμωρίας. Ἆρα οὖν Παῦλος μόνος τοῦτό φησιν; Οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ Παύλου πάλιν ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο αἰνίττεται οὕτω λέγων· Σκοπὸν δέδωκά σε τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραήλ. Τί ἐστι, Σκοπόν; Σκοπὸς λέγεται ὁ τῶν στρατοπέδων κάτω καθημένων ὑψηλὸν καὶ γεώλοφον χωρίον καταλαβὼν κἀκεῖθεν ἐπιόντας τοὺς πολεμίους σκοπεύων, καὶ τοῖς κάτω καθημένοις μηνύων τὴν ἔφοδον, καὶ διεγείρων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πολέμου παράταξιν, ὥστε μὴ ἀφυλάκτοις ἐπιπεσόντας, μετὰ πολλῆς διαχειρίσασθαι τῆς εὐκολίας. Ἐπεὶ οὖν πολλὰ τῶν ἐπιόντων δεινῶν οὐχ ὁρῶμεν ἡμεῖς οἱ χαμαὶ βαδίζοντες, ᾠκονόμησεν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις, ὥσπερ ἐφ' ὑψηλοῦ χωρίου τῆς προφητείας τοὺς ἁγίους προφήτας ἑστῶτας, μέλλουσαν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ὀργὴν ἡμῖν ἐπιέναι πόῤῥωθεν προμηνύειν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς μετανοίας ἑαυτοὺς ἀνακτησάμενοι, καὶ πεπτωκυῖαν ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀνορθώσαντες, τὴν θεήλατον πόῤῥωθεν ἀποκρουσώμεθα πληγήν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησι· Σκοπὸν δέδωκά σε τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραήλ· ἵνα μέλλουσαν ἐπιέναι τὴν συμφορὰν προμηνύσῃς, καθάπερ ἐκεῖνος τοὺς πολεμίους. Καὶ τιμωρίαν δὲ οὐ μικρὰν ἐπιτίθησι τῷ μὴ προλέγοντι τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ὀργήν. Ποίαν δὴ ταύτην; Τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀπολλυμένων, φησὶν, ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου ἐκζητήσω. Τίς οὖν οὕτως ὠμὸς καὶ ἀπάνθρωπος καὶ ἀσυμπαθὴς, ὡς ἐγκαλεῖν τῷ λέγοντι καὶ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ διαλεγομένῳ συνεχῶς ὀργῆς, τοσαύτην κόλασιν ὑφίστασθαι μέλλοντι, εἰ σιγήσειεν; Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν οὐ συμφέρει τοῖς λέγουσι τὰ τοιαῦτα σιγᾷν, ἱκανῶς καὶ ὁ προφήτης καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἡμᾶς ἐπαίδευσεν· ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲ ὑμῖν τοῖς ἀκούουσι, δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐγὼ σιγήσας ἀπέκρυπτον τῇ σιγῇ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, καλῶς ἐδυσχέραινεν ἕκαστος καὶ ἠγανάκτει δικαίως, μὴ σιγῶντος ἐμοῦ· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἡμῶν σιγώντων νῦν, ἀνάγκη πάντως ἐκεῖ 50.657 φανῆναι τὰ πλημμελήματα, τί τὸ ὄφελος ἀπὸ τῆς σιγῆς γένοιτ' ἄν; Ἀλλ' ὄφελος μὲν οὐδὲν, βλάβη δὲ ἐσχάτη. Ἂν μὲν γὰρ εἴπω νῦν, εἰς μετάνοιαν ἄγω καὶ κατάνυξιν διανοίας· ἂν δὲ σιγήσω, νῦν μὲν οὐκ ἀναμνησόμεθα τῶν πεπλημμελημένων ἡμῖν, οὐδὲ μετανοήσομεν· ἐκεῖ δὲ αὐτὰ ὀψόμεθα πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν γυμνὰ καὶ τετραχηλισμένα, καὶ θρηνήσομεν εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην.

γʹ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀνάγκη πάντως, ἢ ἐκεῖ, ἢ ἐνταῦθα κατανυγῆναι ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι, βέλτιον ἐνταῦθα, καὶ μὴ ἐκεῖ. Πόθεν τοῦτο δῆλον; Ἀπὸ τῶν προφητικῶν ῥημάτων, ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ προφήτης φησὶν, Ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ τίς ἐξομολογήσεταί σοι; οὐχ ὅτι οὐκ ἐξομολογούμεθα, ἀλλ' ὅτι εἰκῆ τοῦτο ποιοῦμεν. Ὁ δὲ Χριστὸς καὶ διὰ παραβολῆς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐπαίδευσε. Λάζαρος γάρ τις