John Chrysostom, Against the Jews

of one dreaming a dream. And what he says is this: if a prophet arises, he says, and performs a sign, or raises a dead man, or cleanses a leper, or heals a lame man, and after performing the sign, calls you to impiety, do not be persuaded because of the outcome of the sign. Why? For the Lord your God is testing you to see if you love him with all your heart 48.855 and with all your soul. From this it is clear that demons do not heal. But if ever by God's permission they should accomplish some healing, like men do, the permission is for your testing, not because God is ignorant, but so that you may be taught, not to tolerate demons even when they heal. And why do I speak of healing the body? If someone threatens you with Gehenna to make you deny Christ, do not consent; if someone should promise a kingdom to make you depart from the only-begotten Son of God, turn away and hate him, and become a disciple of Paul, and emulate those words which that blessed and noble soul cried out. For I am persuaded, he says, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Him neither angels, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature separates from the love of Christ; and does the healing of the body make you depart? and what pardon could we obtain? For Christ ought to be more fearful to us than Gehenna, and more desirable than a kingdom; and if we should fall sick, it is better to remain in sickness than to fall into impiety for the sake of release from weakness; for even if a demon heals, it has harmed more than it has helped. For it helped the body, which will surely die a little later and is destined to decay, but it harmed the immortal soul. And just as kidnappers, by often offering little children sweetmeats and cakes and knucklebones and other such things and enticing them, deprive them of their freedom and of life itself; so also the demons, by promising the healing of a limb, sink the entire salvation of the soul. But let us not tolerate it, beloved, but let us by every means seek release from impiety. For was not Job able, by being persuaded by his wife, to blaspheme God, and be released from the misfortune that beset him? For speak some word, she says, against the Lord, and die. But he chose rather to be in pain and to waste away, and to bear that unbearable plague, than to be released from the evils that beset him by blaspheming. Emulate him also yourself; and if the demon promises you countless releases from the evils that beset you, do not be persuaded, nor tolerate it, just as the righteous man was not persuaded by his wife; but choose rather to persevere in the sickness than to lose the faith and the salvation of your soul. For it is not by abandoning you, but by wishing to make you more glorious, that God often allows you to fall into sicknesses. Remain steadfast, therefore, so that you too may hear, Do you think I have dealt with you otherwise than that you might be shown to be righteous? 9. It was possible, then, to say more than this, but so as not to damage the memory of what has been said, I will end my discourse here, having spoken the words of Moses: I call heaven and earth to witness against you, that if any one of you, either present or absent, goes to the spectacle of the trumpets, or meets in the synagogue, or goes up to the places of Matrona, or participates in the fast, or observes the sabbaths, or performs any other Jewish custom, small or great, I am pure from the blood of you all. These words will stand by me and you on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if you are persuaded, they will provide you much confidence; but if you dis48.856 obey, or hide any of those who dare such things, they will stand against you as fierce accusers. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God, but I also deposited the money with the bankers. It remains for you to increase the

ἐνυπνιαζομένου τὸ ἐνύπνιον. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· ἐάν τις ἀναστῇ προφήτης, φησὶ, καὶ ποιήσῃ σημεῖον, ἢ νεκρὸν ἐγείρῃ, ἢ λεπρὸν καθάρῃ, ἢ πηρὸν ἰάσηται, καὶ μετὰ τὸ ποιῆσαι τὸ σημεῖον, καλέσῃ σε εἰς ἀσέβειαν, μὴ πεισθῇς διὰ τὴν ἔκβασιν τοῦ σημείου. ∆ιὰ τί; Πειράζει γάρ σε Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου ἰδεῖν, εἰ ἀγαπᾷς αὐτὸν ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας 48.855 σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου. Ὅθεν δῆλον, ὅτι δαίμονες οὐ θεραπεύουσιν. Εἰ δέ ποτε καὶ συγχωροῦντος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιτύχοιέν τινος θεραπείας, καθάπερ ἄνθρωποι, εἰς δοκιμὴν τὴν σὴν ἡ συγχώρησις γίνεται, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ Θεὸς ἀγνοεῖ, ἀλλ' ἵνα σὺ παιδευθῇς, μηδὲ θεραπευόντων ἀνέχεσθαι τῶν δαιμόνων. Καὶ τί λέγω θεραπείαν σώματος; Εἴ τίς σοι γέενναν ἀπειλεῖ, ὥστε ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν Χριστὸν, μὴ καταδέξῃ· εἴ τις βασιλείαν ἐπαγγέλλοιτο, ὥστε ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀποστράφηθι καὶ μίσησον, καὶ γενοῦ Παύλου μαθητὴς, καὶ ζήλωσον τὰς φωνὰς ἐκείνας, ἃς ἡ μακαρία καὶ γενναία ἀνεβόησε ψυχή. Πέπεισμαι γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι οὔτε θάνατος, οὔτε ζωὴ, οὔτε ἄγγελοι, οὔτε ἀρχαὶ, οὔτε δυνάμεις, οὔτε ἐνεστῶτα, οὔτε μέλλοντα, οὔτε ὕψωμα, οὔτε βάθος, οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα δυνήσεται ἡμᾶς χωρίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. Ἐκεῖνον οὐκ ἄγγελοι, οὐ δυνάμεις, οὐκ ἐνεστῶτα, οὐ μέλλοντα, οὐ κτίσις ἑτέρα χωρίζει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ· καὶ σὲ σώματος θεραπεία ἀφίστησι; καὶ ποίας ἂν τύχοιμεν συγγνώμης; Καὶ γὰρ καὶ γεέννης φοβερώτερον ἡμῖν τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι δεῖ, καὶ βασιλείας ποθεινότερον· κἂν νοσήσωμεν, βέλτιον ἐν ταῖς ἀῤῥωστίαις μεῖναι, ἢ διὰ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τῆς ἀσθενείας εἰς ἀσέβειαν καταπεσεῖν· κἂν γὰρ θεραπεύσῃ δαίμων, μεῖζον κατέβλαψεν ἢ ὠφέλησεν. Ὠφέλησε μὲν γὰρ τὸ σῶμα, τὸ πάντως ἀποθανούμενον μικρὸν ὕστερον καὶ σήπεσθαι μέλλον, κατέβλαψε δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν ἀθάνατον. Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ ἀνδραποδισταὶ τραγήματα καὶ πλακοῦντας καὶ ἀστραγάλους καὶ ἕτερά τινα τοιαῦτα πολλάκις τοῖς μικροῖς προτεινόμενοι παιδίοις καὶ δελεάζοντες, τῆς ἐλευθερίας αὐτὰ καὶ τῆς ζωῆς ἀποστεροῦσιν αὐτῆς· οὕτω δὴ καὶ οἱ δαίμονες, μέλους ὑπισχνούμενοι θεραπείαν, ὅλην τῆς ψυχῆς καταποντίζουσι τὴν σωτηρίαν. Ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς μὴ ἀνεχώμεθα, ἀγαπητοὶ, ἀλλ' ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου ζητῶμεν ἀσεβείας ἀπαλλαγήν. Μὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἠδύνατο ὁ Ἰὼβ τῇ γυναικὶ πεισθεὶς βλασφημῆσαι εἰς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς ἐπικειμένης συμφορᾶς; Εἰπὲ γάρ τι, φησὶ, ῥῆμα πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ τελεύτα. Ἀλλ' εἵλετο μᾶλλον ὀδυνᾶσθαι καὶ τήκεσθαι, καὶ τὴν ἀφόρητον ἐκείνην πληγὴν ἐνεγκεῖν, ἢ βλασφημήσας ἀπηλλάχθαι τῶν ἐπικειμένων κακῶν. Τοῦτον καὶ σὺ ζήλωσον· κἂν μυρίας ὁ δαίμων ἐπαγγείληται τῶν ἐπικειμένων σοι λύσεις κακῶν, μὴ πεισθῇς, μηδὲ ἀνάσχῃ, καθάπερ ὁ δίκαιος οὐκ ἐπείσθη τῇ γυναικί· ἀλλ' ἑλοῦ μᾶλλον ἐγκαρτερῆσαι τῷ νοσήματι, ἢ τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν σωτηρίαν τῆς σῆς ἀπολέσαι ψυχῆς. Οὐ γὰρ ἐγκαταλιμπάνων σε ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλὰ λαμπρότερον ποιῆσαι βουλόμενος, ἀφίησι ταῖς ἀῤῥωστίαις ἐμπεσεῖν πολλάκις. Μένε τοίνυν καρτερῶν, ἵνα καὶ σὺ ἀκούσῃς, Μὴ ἄλλως με οἴει σοι κεχρηματικέναι, ἢ ἵνα δίκαιος ἀναφανῇς; θʹ. Ἐνῆν μὲν οὖν καὶ τούτων πλείω εἰπεῖν, ἀλλ' ὥστε μὴ τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν μνήμην λυμήνασθαι, ἐνταῦθα καταλύσω τὸν λόγον, τὰ τοῦ Μωσέως ῥήματα εἰπών· ∆ιαμαρτύρομαι ὑμῖν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, ὅτι ἐάν τις ἢ τῶν παρόντων ὑμῶν, ἢ τῶν ἀπόντων, πρὸς τὴν θεωρίαν ἀπέλθῃ τῶν σαλπίγγων, ἢ εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν ἀπαντήσῃ, ἢ εἰς τὰ Ματρώνης ἀνέλθῃ, ἢ νηστείᾳ κοινωνήσῃ, ἢ σαββάτων μετάσχῃ, ἢ ἄλλο τι μικρὸν ἢ μέγα Ἰουδαϊκὸν ἔθος ἐπιτελέσῃ, καθαρὸς ἐγὼ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος ὑμῶν πάντων. Οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι παραστήσονται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐμοὶ καὶ ὑμῖν, κἂν μὲν πεισθῆτε, πολλὴν ὑμῖν παρέξουσι τὴν παῤῥησίαν· ἂν δὲ παρ48.856 ακούσητε, ἤ τινας τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα τολμώντων ἀποκρύψητε, ὥσπερ κατήγοροι σφοδροὶ ἀντικαταστήσονται ὑμῖν. Οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι ὑμῖν πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατέβαλον τὸ ἀργύριον ἐπὶ τοὺς τραπεζίτας. Ὑμῶν ἐστι λοιπὸν πλεονάσαι τὸ