John Chrysostom, Against Theater

The right hand did not grow numb. Who, being present at what was happening, could have borne it? Who would not have turned back? Who would not have fled, becoming more compassionate than the father? For this reason the wise old man does not take the servants with him, but commands them to wait far off, lest, sympathizing with the slaughter of their master's son, they should hinder the deed of a God-loving will. For what thought do you think the servants, being present, would have had about their master, seeing him thus simply rushing toward the slaughter of his beloved child? What words would they have said to themselves? O this terrible and abominable calamity! Our master is perhaps mad, and does not recognize his much-longed-for son, but imagines he holds one of the animals for sacrifice, a calf or a sheep. Let us therefore approach him quickly; for the matter does not brook delay. Let us seize the sword for a time, let us restrain his right hand, lest the blow should come before our exhortation. Is it not dangerous to approach? How will he spare servants, who does not spare his dearest son? But let us risk it anyway. Our death will be glorious, if it should happen; for it will be on behalf of our young master. Let us say something improper, 56.551 let us rebuke him as one who is mad, if he might even perceive it. The master is worthy of honor, but with the reverence of a sound mind, not unto death. Being insulted in his madness, he will be grateful when he comes to his senses, and will reward us as benefactors, as saviors of his child. Saying these things, they would have run up at once, and first they would have snatched the sword from his right hand, and Isaac from death; then they would have used words, some leading to sobriety, others turning the master's rush rather toward themselves, saying: Master, pay attention to your thought; you hold your son in your hands, the beloved, the offspring of the barren woman, the late gift from God, the fruit of hospitality, the calf in place of a calf, for whom alone you have celebrated birthday feasts, and offered sacrifices of salvation to the Most High, whom you raised with hopes as a staff for your old age, for whom you lived gladly, for whom you prayed not to see death, but to leave him as an heir and our master; him you hold in your hands. See the child's form, master, recognize your own image. For such were you too once, when you were young. Isaac, you too say something to your father, so that by your voice he may recognize his offspring. This, master, is not the sacrifice, but the one for whom there are many sacrifices, for whom there are many prayers to God, that he might come to the age of men, and take such a partner in life as his mother is in virtue, without, however, the barrenness. For you longed to see his first fruits, and to delight in them again, as you did with the suckling Isaac. But oh, the abominable calamities, to what days you have brought him! Instead of garlands, bonds; instead of a wife, a knife. And you show fire, not that by which one marries, but that by which one is buried. And the young man stands by, not crowned for a bridal chamber, but bound to an altar, and wearing not a wedding garment, but the guise of death. And no father-in-law of a marriage stood by, joining what was distinct in lineage, but a father stood by, separating with slaughter what was united by nature. May not even Canaanite fathers resolve such things concerning their children. Have you offered such sacrifices to the Most High until now? Have you brought such thank-offerings for the salvation of your child? Did you not cut in two rams and goats, irrational animals, propitiating the Master of both rational and irrational beings? But now, what sort of victim is this? O unbearable evils! The victim is like the priest, the propitiation is kin to the one propitiating; the sacrifice is not from the flock, but from the very nature of the priest. God does not receive such sacrifices; for being a lover of mankind, He does not accept a man for a sacrifice. What shall we call you from now on, O master? A priest on account of the sacrifice, or a child-killer on account of the child? This manner of sacrifice is truly strange, and not even to be spoken of in words. For all sacrifices are performed for salvation, but your son is being destroyed through a sacrifice. And what shall we call what is being done? Murder, or a sacrifice? A curse, or an offering? A conflagration, or a whole burnt offering? For so improper, so unlawful is it, that the... has not even the name of an offering.

οὐκ ἐνάρκησεν ἡ δεξιά. Τίς ἂν ἤνεγκε παρεστὼς τοῖς γινομένοις; τίς οὐκ ἀνεστράφη; τίς οὐκ ἔφυγε τοῦ πατρὸς γενόμενος συμπαθέστερος; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τοὺς δούλους ὁ σοφὸς γέρων οὐ παραλαμβάνει μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλὰ μακρὰν περιμένειν κελεύει, ἵνα μὴ συμπαθήσαντες τῇ σφαγῇ τοῦ δεσπότου, φιλοθέου γνώμης πρᾶξιν κωλύσωσι. Τίνα γὰρ οἴει παρόντας τοὺς παῖδας λαβεῖν ἔννοιαν περὶ τοῦ δεσπότου, βλέποντας αὐτὸν ἁπλῶς οὕτως ὁρμῶντα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἠγαπημένου παιδὸς σφαγήν; τίνας ἂν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς λόγους εἰπεῖν; Ὢ τῆς δεινῆς ταύτης καὶ ἀπευκταίας συμφορᾶς! Ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν τάχα μαίνεται, καὶ οὐ γνωρίζει τὸν περιπόθητον υἱὸν, ἀλλ' ἕν τι τῶν εἰς θυσίαν κατέχειν φαντάζεται, μόσχον ἢ πρόβατον. Προσέλθωμεν τοίνυν τὸ τάχος αὐτῷ· οὐ γὰρ ἀναμένει τὸ πρᾶγμα βραδυτῆτα· κρατήσωμεν τέως τὸ ξίφος, ἐπισχῶμεν τὴν δεξιὰν, μὴ φθάσῃ τὴν παραίνεσιν ἡ πληγή. Μὴ γὰρ ἀκίνδυνον τὸ προσελθεῖν; πῶς φείσεται δούλων, ὁ υἱοῦ μὴ φειδόμενος φιλτάτου; Παρακινδυνεύσωμεν δὲ ὅμως Εὐκλεὴς ἡμῶν ὁ θάνατος, ἂν τύχῃ· ὑπὲρ γὰρ νέου ἔσται δεσπότου. Φθεγξώμεθά τι παρὰ τὸ προσῆκον, 56.551 ἐπιτιμήσωμεν ὡς μαινομένῳ, εἰ ἄρα καὶ αἴσθοιτο. Τιμῆς ἄξιος ὁ δεσπότης, ἀλλ' ἐν σωφροσύνῃ αἰδοῦς, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς θάνατον. Ὑβρισθεὶς ἐν μανίᾳ, χάριν εἴσεται σωφρονήσας, καὶ ὡς εὐεργέτας ἀμείψεται, ὡς σωτῆρας τοῦ τέκνου. Ταῦτα λέγοντες προσέδραμον ἂν εὐθὺς, καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τῆς δεξιᾶς χειρὸς ἐξείλοντο τὸ ξίφος, καὶ τοῦ θανάτου τὸν Ἰσαάκ· ἔπειτα καὶ λόγοις ἂν ἐχρήσαντο, τοῖς μὲν πρὸς νῆψιν ἄγουσι, τοῖς δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς μᾶλλον τὴν ὁρμὴν τοῦ δεσπότου μετάγουσι, λέγοντες· Ἐπίστησον, δέσποτα, τῇ διανοίᾳ· τὸν υἱὸν ἐν χερσὶν ἔχεις, τὸν ἀγαπητὸν, τὸν τῆς στείρας τόκον, τὸ παρὰ Θεοῦ ὄψιμον δῶρον, τὸν τῆς φιλοξενίας καρπὸν, τὸν ἀντὶ μόσχου μόσχον, δι' ὃν μόνον γενεθλίους ἐτέλεσας ἑορτὰς, καὶ σωτηρίους τῷ Ὑψίστῳ θυσίας προσήνεγκας, ὃν ἐλπίσιν ἀνέθρεψας ὡς βακτηρίαν τοῦ γήρως, δι' ὃν ἔζης ἡδέως, οὗ ὑπερηύχου μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον, ἀλλὰ κληρονόμον ἀπολιπεῖν καὶ δεσπότην ἡμέτερον· τοῦτον ἐν χερσὶν ἔχεις. Ἰδὲ τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν μορφὴν, δέσποτα, τὴν σὴν γνώρισον εἰκόνα. Τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἦς καὶ σύ ποτε, ὅτε ἦς νέος. Ἰσαὰκ, φθέγξαι τι καὶ σὺ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ὅπως διὰ τῆς φωνῆς γνωρίσῃ τὸ γέννημα. Οὗτός ἐστι, δέσποτα, οὐχ ἡ θυσία, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ οὗ πολλαὶ θυσίαι, ὑπὲρ οὗ πολλαὶ δεήσεις πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, εἰς ἀνδρῶν ἡλικίαν ἐλθεῖν, καὶ τοιαύτην ἀγαγέσθαι κοινωνὸν τοῦ βίου, οἵα κατὰ ἀρετὴν ἡ τούτου τυγχάνει μήτηρ, δίχα μέντοι τῆς στειρώσεως. Ἐπόθεις γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ πρωΐμους ἰδέσθαι καρποὺς, καὶ τούτοις τέρπεσθαι πάλιν, ὡς ἐπὶ θηλάζοντι τῷ Ἰσαάκ. Ἀλλ' ὢ τῶν ἀπευκταίων συμφορῶν, εἰς οἵας αὐτὸν ἤγαγες ἡμέρας! Ἀντὶ στεφάνων δεσμὰ, ἀντὶ γυναικὸς μάχαιρα. Φαίνεις δὲ καὶ πῦρ, οὐχ ᾧ γήμῃ τις, ἀλλ' ᾧ θάπτεται. Παρίσταται δὲ καὶ ὁ νέος, οὐ παστοῖς ἐστεφανομένος, ἀλλὰ βωμῷ δεδεμένος, καὶ φορῶν οὐκ ἐσθῆτα γαμήλιον, ἀλλὰ σχῆμα θανάσιμον. Οὐ παρέστη δὲ κηδεστὴς γάμου, συνάπτων τὰ διωρισμένα τῷ γένει, ἀλλὰ παρέστη πατὴρ, σφαγῇ χωρίζων τὰ ἡνωμένα τῇ φύσει. Οὕτω περὶ τέκνων μηδὲ Χαναναίων πατέρες βουλεύσαιντο. Τοιαῦτα μέχρι νῦν τῷ Ὑψίστῳ προσέφερες θύματα; τοιαῦτα προσῆγες ὑπὲρ τῆς σωτηρίας τοῦ τέκνου χαριστήρια; Οὐχὶ κριοὺς καὶ τράγους ἐδιχοτόμεις, ἄλογα ζῶα, τὸν τῶν λογικῶν καὶ ἀλόγων ∆εσπότην ἱλασκόμενος; τὸ δὲ νῦν σφάγιον ὁποῖον; Ὢ τῶν ἀνυποίστων κακῶν! Ὅμοιον τῷ ἱερεῖ τὸ ἱερεῖον, συγγενὲς τῷ ἱλασκομένῳ τὸ ἵλασμα· οὐκ ἐκ ποίμνης, ἀλλ' ἐκ φύσεως αὐτῆς τοῦ ἱερέως τὸ θῦμα. Τοιαύτας ὁ Θεὸς οὐ λαμβάνει θυσίας· φιλάνθρωπος γὰρ ὢν, ἄνθρωπον εἰς θυσίαν οὐ δέχεται. Τί σε καλέσομεν ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν, ὦ δέσποτα; ἱερέα διὰ τὴν θυσίαν, ἢ τεκνοκτόνον διὰ τὸ τέκνον; Ξένος τις οὗτος ἀληθῶς ὁ τῆς θυσίας τρόπος, καὶ οὐδὲ λόγῳ ῥητός. Πᾶσαι γὰρ αἱ θυσίαι ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας τελοῦνται, ὁ δὲ σὸς υἱὸς διὰ θυσίας ἀπόλλυται. Τί δὲ καὶ καλέσομεν τὸ πραττόμενον; φόνον, ἢ θυσίαν; ἀρὰν, ἢ προσφοράν; ἐμπρησμὸν, ἢ ὁλοκάρπωσιν; Οὕτω γὰρ ἔκθεσμον, οὕτως ἔκνομόν ἐστιν, ὅτι οὐδὲ προσηγορίαν ἔχει προσφορᾶς τὸ