John Chrysostom, To Demetrius on Repentance I

souls, has become incurable by time, so to speak, and we are not even able to grasp the concept of sincere health, but its recovery also seems to us henceforth impossible. And if we hear someone bringing the apostles into the discussion, and speaking of their achievements, though we ought immediately to mourn for ourselves, because we stand so far from them, we do not even think the matter is a sin, but are so disposed as if it were not even possible to reach that height. And if anyone should ask the reason, we immediately put forward this irrational defense 47.407 saying: That one was Paul, and that one was Peter, and that one was John. What is this, "That one was Paul, that one was Peter"? Did not these men also partake of the same nature, tell me? Were they not brought into life by the same way as us, were they not nourished with the same foods? Did they not breathe the same air? Did they not use the same things? Did not some of them have wives and children, and others worldly trades, and still others were brought down into the very pit of wickedness? But they enjoyed, he says, much of the grace of God. But if we were commanded to raise the dead, or to open the eyes of the blind, or to cleanse lepers, or to make the lame walk, or to cast out demons, and to heal other such diseases, this defense of ours would have its place; but if an examination of conduct is now before us, and a demonstration of obedience, what relevance would these things have to that? For you too enjoyed divine grace when you were baptized, and you partook of the Spirit, even if not for the purpose of performing signs, but as much as is sufficient for adopting an upright and exact manner of life; so that our perversion is a matter of our own laziness only. And Christ on that day gives the rewards not simply to those who have worked signs, but to those who have done His commandments. For, `Come,` He says, `you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,` not because you worked miracles, but because `I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.` And in the beatitudes, He nowhere places those who perform miracles, but those who have an upright life.

9. So that even if that grace has now been withdrawn, this will not be able to harm us at all, nor even to make an excuse for us, when we are held to account for our deeds. For we do not admire those blessed men because of their signs; for this was entirely of the power of God; but because they displayed an angelic manner of life; and this is the work of their own zeal along with the impulse from above. And it is not I who says this now, but that imitator of Christ himself. For when he strove against the false apostles, writing to the disciples, and wished to set forth the difference between the approved and counterfeit ministry, he did this not from his signs, but from his achievements, speaking thus: Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in prisons more frequent, in stripes above measure, in deaths often; of the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one, thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in labor, in toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are without, that which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? For these things I admire the 47.408 apostles; whereas those who, without these things, were permitted through some dispensation to show signs, not only were not objects of admiration, but were also disapproved, as Christ also shows, saying:

ψυχὰς, ἀνίατος τῷ χρόνῳ γέγονεν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, καὶ τῆς εἰλικρινοῦς ὑγιείας οὐδὲ ἔννοιαν δυνάμεθα λαβεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀδύνατος εἶναι δοκεῖ ἡμῖν λοιπὸν ἡ ταύτης ἀνάκτησις. Κἂν ἀκούσωμέν τινος τοὺς ἀποστόλους εἰς μέσον ἄγοντος, καὶ τὰ ἐκείνων κατορθώματα λέγοντος, δέον εὐθέως καὶ πενθῆσαι ἑαυτοὺς, ὅτι τοσοῦτον αὐτῶν ἀφεστήκαμεν, οὐδὲ ἁμάρτημα τὸ πρᾶγμα εἶναι νομίζομεν, ἀλλ' ὡς οὐδὲ δυνατὸν πρὸς ἐκεῖνο φθάσαι τὸ ὕψος, οὕτω διακείμεθα. Κἂν ἔρηταί τις τὴν αἰτίαν, εὐθέως τὴν ἄλογον ταύτην ἀπολογίαν προβαλλόμεθα 47.407 λέγοντες· Ἐκεῖνος Παῦλος ἦν, κἀκεῖνος Πέτρος ἦν, κἀκεῖνος Ἰωάννης. Τί ἐστιν, Ἐκεῖνος Παῦλος ἦν, ἐκεῖνος Πέτρος ἦν; οὐ τῆς αὐτῆς φύσεως, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ οὗτοι μετεῖχον; οὐ διὰ τῆς αὐτῆς ὁδοῦ παρήχθησαν εἰς τὸν βίον ἡμῖν, οὐ ταῖς αὐταῖς ἐτράφησαν τροφαῖς; οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀνέπνευσαν ἀέρα; οὐ πράγμασιν ἐχρήσαντο τοῖς αὐτοῖς; οὐχ οἱ μὲν αὐτῶν καὶ γυναῖκας εἶχον καὶ παῖδας, οἱ δὲ καὶ τέχνας βιωτικὰς, ἕτεροι δὲ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τῆς κακίας τὸ βάραθρον κατηνέχθησαν; Ἀλλὰ πολλῆς ἀπήλαυσαν, φησὶ, τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτος. Ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν νεκροὺς ἀναστῆσαι ἐκελευόμεθα, ἢ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνοῖξαι τυφλῶν, ἢ καθαρίσαι λεπροὺς, ἢ χωλοὺς ἀνορθῶσαι, ἢ δαίμονας ἐκβαλεῖν, καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τὰς τοιαύτας ἰᾶσθαι νόσους, καιρὸν ἂν εἶχε τὰ τῆς ἀπολογίας ταύτης ἡμῖν· εἰ δὲ πολιτείας ἐξέτασις πρόκειται νῦν, καὶ ὑπακοῆς ἐπίδειξις, ποῖον ταῦτα πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἂν ἔχοι λόγον; Καὶ γὰρ καὶ σὺ θείας ἀπήλαυσας χάριτος βαπτιζόμενος, καὶ Πνεύματος μετέσχες, εἰ καὶ μὴ πρὸς τὸ τὰ σημεῖα ποιεῖν, ἀλλ' ὅσον ἀρκεῖ πρὸς τὸ πολιτείαν ὀρθὴν καὶ ἠκριβωμένην λαβεῖν· ὥστε ῥᾳθυμίας μόνον τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐστὶν ἡ διαστροφή. Καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην οὐ τοῖς τὰ σημεῖα ἐργασαμένοις ἁπλῶς τὰ ἔπαθλα δίδωσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τὰ προστάγματα πεποιηκόσι τὰ αὐτοῦ. ∆εῦτε γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, οὐχ ὅτι ἐθαυματουργήσατε, ἀλλ' ὅτι Ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· ξένος ἤμην, καὶ συνηγάγετέ με· γυμνὸς, καὶ περιεβάλετέ με· ἠσθένησα, καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με· ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην, καὶ ἤλθετε πρὸς μέ. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς μακαρισμοῖς δὲ οὐδαμοῦ τοὺς τὰ θαύματα ποιοῦντας τίθησιν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς βίον ἔχοντας ὀρθόν.

θʹ. Ὥστε εἰ καὶ ἐκείνη συνέσταλται νῦν ἡ χάρις, οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς παραβλάψαι τοῦτο δυνήσεται, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἀπολογήσασθαι ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ὅταν τὰς εὐθύνας ὑπέχωμεν τῶν πεπραγμένων. Καὶ γὰρ τοὺς μακαρίους ἐκείνους οὐ διὰ τὰ σημεῖα θαυμάζομεν· τοῦτο γὰρ ὅλον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως ἦν· ἀλλ' ὅτι πολιτείαν ἐπεδείξαντο ἀγγελικήν· τοῦτο δὲ μετὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν ῥοπῆς καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν σπουδῆς ἔργον ἐστί. Καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ τοῦτο λέγω νῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μιμητής. Ὅτε γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς ψευδαποστόλους διετείνετο γράφων τοῖς μαθηταῖς, καὶ τὸ μέσον τῆς δοκίμου τε καὶ κιβδήλου διακονίας παραστῆσαι ἐβούλετο, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν σημείων, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῶν κατορθωμάτων αὐτοῦ τοῦτο ἐποίησεν, οὑτωσὶ λέγων· ∆ιάκονοι Χριστοῦ εἰσι; παραφρονῶν λαλῶ; ὑπὲρ ἐγώ· ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως, ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως, ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως, ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις· ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων πεντάκις τεσσαράκοντα παρὰ μίαν ἔλαβον, τρὶς ἐῤῥαβδίσθην, ἅπαξ ἐλιθάσθην, τρὶς ἐναυάγησα, νυχθήμερον ἐν τῷ βυθῷ πεποίηκα· ὁδοιπορίαις πολλάκις, κινδύνοις ποταμῶν, κινδύνοις λῃστῶν, κινδύνοις ἐκ γένους, κινδύνοις ἐξ ἐθνῶν, κινδύνοις ἐν πόλει, κινδύνοις ἐν ἐρημίᾳ, κινδύνοις ἐν θαλάσσῃ, κινδύνοις ἐν ψευδαδέλφοις, ἐν κόπῳ, ἐν μόχθῳ, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις πολλάκις, ἐν λιμῷ καὶ δίψει, ἐν νηστείαις πολλάκις, ἐν ψύχει καὶ γυμνότητι. Χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτὸς, ἡ ἐπισύστασίς μου ἡ καθ' ἡμέραν, ἡ μέριμνα πασῶν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν. Τίς ἀσθενεῖ, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ; τίς σκανδαλίζεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι; ∆ιὰ ταῦτα θαυμάζω τοὺς 47.408 ἀποστόλους ἐγώ· ὡς οἵ γε τούτων χωρὶς ἐπιδείξασθαι σημεῖα διά τινος οἰκονομίας συγχωρηθέντες οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐγένοντο θαυμαστοὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀδόκιμοι, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς δείκνυσι λέγων·