Commandment Eighth.

We Ought to Shun that Which is Evil, and Do that Which is Good.

“I told you,” said he, “that the creatures of God are double,50    [Command. vi. cap. i. p. 24, supra. The idea taken from Ecclus. xxxiii. 15, and Eccles. vii. 14.] for restraint also is double; for in some cases restraint has to be exercised, in others there is no need of restraint.” “Make known to me, sir,” say I, “in what cases restraint has to be exercised, and in what cases it has not.” “Restrain yourself in regard to evil, and do it not; but exercise no restraint in regard to good, but do it. For if you exercise restraint in the doing of good, you will commit a great sin;51    For … sin, omitted in Lips. but if you exercise restraint, so as not to do that which is evil, you are practising great righteousness. Restrain yourself, therefore, from all iniquity, and do that which is good.” “What, sir,” say I, “are the evil deeds from which we must restrain ourselves?” “Hear,” says he: “from adultery and fornication, from unlawful revelling,52    [Gal. v. 10, 21; 1 Pet. iv. 3.] from wicked luxury, from indulgence in many kinds of food and the extravagance of riches, and from boastfulness, and haughtiness, and insolence, and lies, and backbiting, and hypocrisy, from the remembrance of wrong, and from all slander. These are the deeds that are most wicked in the life of men. From all these deeds, therefore, the servant of God must restrain himself. For he who does not restrain himself from these, cannot live to God. Listen, then, to the deeds that accompany these.” “Are there, sir,” said I, “any other evil deeds?” “There are,” says he; “and many of them, too, from which the servant of God must restrain himself—theft, lying, robbery, false witness, overreaching, wicked lust, deceit, vainglory, boastfulness, and all other vices like to these.” “Do you not think that these are really wicked?” “Exceedingly wicked in the servants of God. From all of these the servant of God must restrain himself. Restrain yourself, then, from all these, that you may live to God, and you will be enrolled amongst those who restrain themselves in regard to these matters. These, then, are the things from which you must restrain yourself.”

“But listen,” says he, “to the things in regard to which you have not to exercise self-restraint, but which you ought to do. Restrain not yourself in regard to that which is good, but do it.” “And tell me, sir,” say I, “the nature of the good deeds, that I may walk in them and wait on them, so that doing them I can be saved.” “Listen,” says he, “to the good deeds which you ought to do, and in regard to which there is no self-restraint requisite. First of all53    [First of all, faith, holy fear, love etc. Then, works of mercy. Could evangelical morality be more beautifully illustrated?] there is faith, then fear of the Lord, love, concord, words of righteousness, truth, patience. Than these, nothing is better in the life of men. If any one attend to these, and restrain himself not from them, blessed is he in his life. Then there are the following attendant on these: helping widows, looking after orphans and the needy, rescuing the servants of God from necessities, the being hospitable—for in hospitality good-doing finds a field—never opposing any one, the being quiet, having fewer needs than all men, reverencing the aged, practising righteousness, watching the brotherhood, bearing insolence, being long-suffering, encouraging those who are sick in soul, not casting those who have fallen into sin from the faith, but turning them back and restoring them to peace of mind, admonishing sinners, not oppressing debtors and the needy, and if there are any other actions like these.54    [1 Pet. iv. 9. Who does not feel humbled and instructed by these rules of holy living. No wonder Athanasius, while rejecting it from the canon (Contra Hæresim Arian., p. 380) calls this a “most useful book.” De Incarnatione, p. 38. Paris, 1537.] Do these seem to you good?” says he. “For what, sir,” say I, “is better than these?” “Walk then in them,” says he, “and restrain not yourself from them, and you will live to God.55    From them … all who act thus will live to God, omitted in Vat., which ends thus: If you keep all these commandments, you will live to God, and all who keep these commandments will live to God. Keep, therefore, this commandment. If you do good, and restrain not yourself from it, you will live to God. All who act thus will live to God. And, again, if you refuse to do evil, and restrain yourself from it, you will live to God. And all will live to God who keep these commandments, and walk in them.”

Ἐντολὴ η’.

1. Εἶπόν σοι, φησίν, ὅτι κτίσματα τοῦ θεού διπλᾶ ἐστι· καὶ γὰρ ἡ ἐγκράτεια διπλῆ ἐστιν. ἐπί τινων γὰρ δεῖ ἐγκρατεύσεύσθαι, ἐπίτινων δὲ οὐ δεῖ· 2. Γνώρισόν μοι, φημί, κυριε, ἐπὶ τίνων δεῖ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι, ἐπὶ τίνον δὲ οὐ δεῖ. Ἄκουε, φησί, τὸ πονηρὸν ἐγκρατεύου καὶ μὴ ποίει αὐτό· τὸ δὲ ἀγαθὸν μὴ ἐγκρατεύου, ἀλλὰ ποιει αὐτό. ἐὰν γὰρ ἐγκρατεύσῃ τὸ ἀγαθὸν μὴ ποιεῖν, ἁμαρτίαν μεγάλην ἐργάζῃ· ἐὰν δὲ ἐγκρατεύσῃ τὸ πονηρὸν μὴ ποιεῖν, δικαιοσύνην μεγάλην ἐργάζῃ. ἐγκράτευσαι οὖν ἀπὸ πονηρίας πάσης ἐργαζόμενος τὸ ἀγαθόν. 3. Ποταπαί, φημί, κύριε, εἰσὶν αἱ πονηρίαι, ἀφ’ ὧν ἡμᾶς δεῖ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι; Ἄκουε, φησίν· ἀπὸ μοιχείας καὶ πορνείας ἀπὸ μεθύσματος ἀνομίας, ἀπὸ μοιχείας καὶ πορνείας, ἀπό ἐδεσμάτων πολλῶν καὶ ὑψηλοφροσύνης καὶ ὑπερηφανίας καὶ απὸ ψεύματος και καταλαλιᾶς καὶ ὑποκρίσεως, μνησικακίας καὶ πάσης βλασφημίας. 4. ταῦτα τὰ ἔργα πάντων πονηρότατά εἰσιν ἐν τῇ ζωῃ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἀπὸ τούτων οὖν τῶν ἔργων δεῖ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι τὸν δοῦλον τοῦ θεοῦ· ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἐγκρατευόμενος ἀπὸ τούτων οὐ δύναται ζῆσαι τῷ θεῷ. ἄκουε οὖν καὶ τὰ ἀκολουθα τούτων, 5. Ἔτι γάρ, φημί, κύριε, πονηρὰ ἔργα ἐστί; Καί γε πολλά, φησίν, ἔστιν, ἀφ’ ὧν δεῖ τὸν δοῦλον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι· κλέμμα, ψεῦδος, ἀποστρέρησις, ψευδομαρτυρία, πλεονεξία, ἐπιθυμία πονηρά, ἀπάτη, κενοδοξία, ἀλαζονεία καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ὅμοιά εἰσιν. 6. οὐ δοκεῖ σοι ταῦτα πονηρὰ εἶναι; καὶ λίαν πονηρά, φημί, τοῖς δούλοις τοῦ θεοῦ. τούτων πάντων πάντων δεῖ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι τὸ δουλεύοντα τῷ θεῳ. ἐγκράτευσαι οὖν δεῖ σε ἐγκρατευεσθαι, ταῦτά ἐστιν. 7. ἃ δὲ δεῖ σε μὴ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι, φησίν, ἀλλὰ ποίει αὐτό. 8. Καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν μοι, φημί, κύριε, δήλωσον τὴν δύναμιν, ἵινα πορευθῶ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ δουλεύσω αὐτοῖς, ἵνα πορευθῶ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ δουλεύσω αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ἐργασάμενος αὐτὰ δυνηθῶ σωθῆναι. Ἄκουε, φησί, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὰ ἔργα, ἃ σε δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ μὴ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι. 9. πρῶτον πάντων πίστις, φόβος κυρίου, ἀγάπη, ὁμόνοια, ῥήματα δικαιοσύνης, ἀλήθεια, ὑπομονή· τούτων ἀγαθώτερον οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐν τῇ ζωῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ταῦτα ἐὰν τις φυλάσσῃ καὶ μὴ ἐγκρατεύηται ἀπ’ αὐτῶν, μακάριος γίνεται ἐν τῇ ζωῇ αὐτοῦ. 10. εἶτα τοῦτων τὰ ἀκόλουθα ἄκουσον· χήραις ὑπηρετεῖν, ὀρφανοὺς καὶ ὑστερουμένους ἐπισκέτεσθαι, ἐξ ἀναγκῶν λυτροῦσθαι τοὺς δούλους τοῦ θεοῦ, φιλόξενον εἶναι (ἐν γὰρ τῇ φιλοξενίᾳ εὑρίσκεται ἀγαθοποίησίς ποτε), μηδενὶ ἀντιτάσσεσθαι, ἡσύχιον εἶναι, ἐνδεέστερον γίνεσθαι πάντων ἀνθρωπων, πρεσβύτας σέβεσθαι. δικαιοσύνην ἀσκεῖν, ἀδελφότητα συντηρεῖν, ὕβριν ὑποφέειν, μακρόθυμον εἶναι, μνησικακιαν μὴ ἔχειν, κάμνοντας τῇ ψυχῇ παρακαλεῖν, ἐσκανδαλισμένους ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως μὴ ἀποβάλλεσθαι, ἀλλ’ ἐπιστρέφειν καὶ εὐθύμους ποιεῖν, ἁμαρτάνοντας νουθετεῖν, χρεώστας μὴ θλίβειν καὶ ἐνδεεῖς, καὶ εἴ τινα τούτοις ὅμοιά ἐστι. 11. δοκεῖ σοι, φησί, ταῦτα ἀγαθὰ εἶναι; Τί γάρ, φημί, κύριε, τούτων ἀγαθώτερον; Πορεύου οὖν, φησίν, ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ μὴ ἐγκρατεύου ἀπ’ αὐτῶν, καὶ ζήσῃ τῷ θεῷ· 12. φύλασσε οὖν τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην· ἐὰν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ποιῇς καὶ μὴ ἐγκρατεύσῃ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ζήσῃ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ´πάντες ζήσονται τῷ θεῷ οἱ οὕτω ποιοῦντες. καὶ πάλιν ἐὰν τὸ πονηρὸν μὴ ποιῇς καὶ ἐγκρατεύσῃ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ζήσῃ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ πάντες ζήσονται τῷ θεῷ, ὅσοι ἐὰν ταύτας τὰς ἐντολὰς φυλάξωσι καὶ πορευθῶσιν ἐν αὐταῖς.