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let us listen, and not be restless and numb, but let us persevere in attendance and in petition. For God works all things for our good. Be angry, and do not sin; what you say in your hearts, be pricked with compunction on your beds. What I said before, this I also say now. For since he is about to lead them to the knowledge of God, he frees the soul from its diseases. For he knows that a corrupt life becomes an obstacle to the precision of sublime doctrines. Which then Paul also, hinting at, said: I could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to carnal. And again: As to infants in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. And again: Of whom we have much to say, and hard to interpret, since you have become dull of hearing. And Isaiah again: This people seeks me, and desires to know my ways, as a people that has done righteousness, and has not forsaken the judgment of God. And Hosea: Sow for yourselves unto righteousness, enlighten with the light of knowledge. And Christ teaching said: Everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light. And again: How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? And again: His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. And again: But many believed in him, and because of the Pharisees did not confess him. And everywhere one might see a corrupt life becoming an impediment to the precision of doctrines. For just as a rheum settling on the transparent pupil of the eyes darkens and clouds the vision, so too a thought seized by wickedness darkens and maims the mind. Wherefore the Prophet, knowing this, also says: Be angry, and do not sin. For he does not abolish anger, for it is useful; nor does he cut out wrath, for it is also beneficial against those who do wrong and against the slothful; but unjust anger, irrational wrath. And just as Moses, entering upon ethical discourse, makes the beginning of legislation from this first, saying, You shall not murder, so too does this one; but this one even more, inasmuch as the things of piety were more known. For the one cuts out murder; but this one restrains also the mother of murder, anger, which is both the root and the spring of the evil. Wherefore also Christ, restraining anger, said: He who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be liable to the hell of fire. You have seen measures everywhere. Be angry, and do not sin. He who is angry 55.51 without a cause; for it is possible also to be angry righteously; since Paul also was angry with Elymas, and Peter with Sapphira. But I would not call this simply anger, but wisdom, and solicitude, and stewardship. A father also is angry with a son, but out of care. He is the one who is angry without cause, the one who avenges himself; but the one who corrects the things of others, this one is gentler than all. Since also God, when he is said to be angry, is not angry defending himself, but correcting us. Let us therefore imitate him. For to proceed thus is divine; but otherwise, human. But God is not distinct from us in this only, that he is angry righteously, but because anger in God is not a passion. Therefore let us not be angry without a cause. For it was for this reason that anger was placed in us, not that we might sin, but that we might restrain others from sinning; not that it might become a passion and a disease, but a medicine for passions. 8. Consider, then, the excess of wickedness, when the medicine becomes a poison, when by that with which one ought to heal the wounds of others, by this we inflict wounds; just as if someone, having taken a scalpel to cut out the gangrenes of others, should cut himself up without cause, making sores all over his body; or being a pilot, should sink the

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ἀκουώμεθα, μηδὲ ἀλύωμεν καὶ ναρκῶμεν, ἀλλ' ἐπιμένωμεν τῇ προσεδρίᾳ καὶ τῇ αἰτήσει. Πάντα γὰρ συμφερόντως ὁ Θεὸς ἐργάζεται. Ὀργίζεσθε, καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε· ἃ λέγετε ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, ἐπὶ ταῖς κοίταις ὑμῶν κατανύγητε. Ὅπερ ἔμπροσθεν εἶπον, τοῦτο καὶ νῦν λέγω. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πρὸς θεογνωσίαν αὐτοὺς μέλλει χειραγωγεῖν, ἀπαλλάττει τὴν ψυχὴν τῶν νοσημάτων. Οἶδε γὰρ, ὅτι βίος διεφθαρμένος κώλυμα τῆς τῶν ὑψηλῶν δογμάτων ἀκριβείας γίνεται. Ὅπερ οὖν καὶ Παῦλος αἰνιττόμενος ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ ἠδυνήθην ὑμῖν λαλῆσαι ὡς πνευματικοῖς, ἀλλ' ὡς σαρκικοῖς. Καὶ πάλιν· Ὡς νηπίοις ἐν Χριστῷ, γάλα ὑμᾶς ἐπότισα, οὐ βρῶμα. Καὶ πάλιν· Περὶ οὗ πολὺς ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος καὶ δυσερμήνευτος, ἐπεὶ νωθροί ἐστε τὴν ἀκοήν. Καὶ ὁ Ἡσαΐας πάλιν· Ζητεῖ με ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, καὶ γνῶναί μου τὰς ὁδοὺς ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, ὡς λαὸς δικαιοσύνην πεποιηκὼς, καὶ κρίσιν Θεοῦ μὴ ἐγκαταλελοιπώς. Καὶ Ὠσηέ· Σπείρατε ἑαυτοῖς εἰς δικαιοσύνην, φωτίσατε φῶς γνώσεως. Καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς διδάσκων ἔλεγε· Πᾶς ὁ φαῦλα πράσσων, μισεῖ τὸ φῶς, καὶ οὐκ ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ φῶς. Καὶ πάλιν· Πῶς δύνασθε πιστεύειν, δόξαν παρ' ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες, καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ οὐ ζητοῦντες; Καὶ πάλιν· Ταῦτα εἶπον οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐφοβοῦντο τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ἵνα μὴ ἀποσυνάγωγοι γένωνται. Καὶ πάλιν· Πολλοὶ δὲ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν, καὶ διὰ τοὺς Φαρισαίους οὐχ ὡμολόγουν. Καὶ πανταχοῦ ἴδοι τις ἂν τὸν διεφθαρμένον βίον πρὸς δογμάτων ἀκρίβειαν ἐμπόδιον γινόμενον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ λήμη τῇ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν διειδεῖ κόρῃ προσιζάνουσα ἐπισκοτεῖ καὶ θολοῖ τὸ φωτίζον, οὕτω δὴ καὶ λογισμὸς ὑπὸ πονηρίας κατειλημμένος σκοτοῖ καὶ πηροῖ τὴν διάνοιαν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Προφήτης τοῦτο εἰδὼς λέγει· Ὀργίζεσθε, καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε. Οὐ γὰρ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀναιρεῖ, χρησίμη γάρ· οὐδὲ τὸν θυμὸν ἐκκόπτει, καὶ γὰρ ὠφέλιμος κατὰ τῶν ἀδικούντων γινόμενος καὶ κατὰ τῶν ῥᾳθύμων· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἄδικον ὀργὴν, τὸν ἄλογον θυμόν. Καὶ καθάπερ ὁ Μωϋσῆς εἰς τὸν ἠθικὸν ἐμπεσὼν λόγον, ἀπὸ τούτου πρῶτον τῆς νομοθεσίας τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιεῖται, λέγων, Οὐ φονεύσεις, οὕτω δὴ καὶ οὗτος· ἀλλὰ καὶ πλεῖον οὗτος, ὅσῳ καὶ μᾶλλον τὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας γνωριμώτερα ἦν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὸν φόνον ἐκκόπτει· οὗτος δὲ καὶ τὴν μητέρα τοῦ φόνου, τὴν ὀργὴν, καὶ τὴν ῥίζαν, καὶ τὴν πηγὴν οὖσαν τοῦ κακοῦ ἀναστέλλει. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς καταστέλλων τὴν ὀργὴν, ἔλεγεν· Ὁ ὀργιζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ εἰκῆ, ἔνοχος ἔσται εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός. Εἶδες πανταχοῦ μέτρα. Ὀργίζεσθε, καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε. Ὁ ὀργι 55.51 ζόμενος εἰκῆ· ἔστι γὰρ καὶ δικαίως ὀργίζεσθαι· ἐπεὶ καὶ Παῦλος ὠργίσθη τῷ Ἐλύμᾳ, καὶ Πέτρος τῇ Σαπφείρᾳ. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμι τοῦτο ὀργὴν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ κηδεμονίαν, καὶ οἰκονομίαν. Ὀργίζεται καὶ πατὴρ υἱῷ, ἀλλὰ κηδόμενος. Ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ ὀργιζόμενος εἰκῆ, ὁ ἑαυτὸν ἐκδικῶν· ὁ δὲ τὰ ἑτέρων διορθῶν, οὗτος πάντων ἐστὶν ἡμερώτερος. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπὰν λέγηται ὀργίζεσθαι, οὐχ ἑαυτῷ ἀμύνων ὀργίζεται, ἀλλ' ἡμᾶς διορθούμενος. Τοῦτον τοίνυν καὶ ἡμεῖς μιμώμεθα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἐπεξιέναι, θεῖον· τὸ δὲ ἑτέρως, ἀνθρώπινον. Ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς οὐ ταύτῃ ἡμῶν διέστηκε μόνον, ᾗ δικαίως ὀργίζεται, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὐδὲ πάθος περὶ Θεόν ἐστιν ἡ ὀργή. Μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ ἡμεῖς ὀργιζώμεθα εἰκῆ. Καὶ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἐνετέθη ἡμῖν ἡ ὀργὴ, οὐχ ἵνα ἁμαρτάνωμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἑτέρους ἁμαρτάνοντας κωλύωμεν· οὐχ ἵνα πάθος καὶ νόσημα γένηται, ἀλλ' ἵνα παθῶν φάρμακον. ηʹ. Ἐννόησον τοίνυν κακίας ὑπερβολὴν, ὅταν τὸ φάρμακον δηλητήριον γίνηται, ὅταν δι' οὗ τὰ ἑτέρων τραύματα διορθοῦν χρὴ, διὰ τούτου τραύματα ἐργαζώμεθα· ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις σίδηρον λαβὼν, ἵνα τὰς ἑτέρων σηπεδόνας ἐκκόπτῃ, ἑαυτὸν εἰκῆ κατακόπτῃ, πανταχῇ τοῦ σώματος ἕλκη ποιῶν· ἢ κυβερνήτης ὢν διὰ τῶν οἰάκων καταδύῃ τὸ