John Chrysostom, On the Praises of Saint Paul the Apostle

He himself, having been kindled by the fire of love, became wholly love; and just as he was the common father of the whole world, so he imitated those who had begotten them; or rather he surpassed all fathers, both in concerns for the body and for the spirit, giving up money, and words, and body, and soul, and everything for the sake of those he loved. For this reason he also called it the fulfillment of the law, and the bond of perfection, and the mother of all good things, and the beginning and end of virtue; wherefore he also said: But the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience; and again: For, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 3.10 Since, therefore, love is the beginning and the end and all good things, let us also in this emulate Paul; for he too became such as he was from this. For do not tell me of the dead whom he raised, nor the lepers whom he cleansed; God will seek none of these things from you. Acquire the love of Paul, and you will have the complete crown. Who says these things? He himself, the nurturer of love, who placed it before signs and wonders and countless other things. For since he had achieved it so perfectly, for this reason he also knew its power with precision. From this he also became such as he was, and nothing made him so worthy as the power of love; wherefore he also said: Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way, meaning love, the most beautiful and easy way. Let us, therefore, walk in it continually, that we may see Paul, or rather Paul's Master, and obtain the incorruptible crowns, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

4.t Encomium by the same on the holy apostle Paul, fourth discourse. 4.1 The blessed Paul, who has gathered us together today and has enlightened the world, was once blinded at the time of his calling; but that blinding became the enlightenment of the world. For since he saw badly, God blinded him well, so that he might see again usefully, at once providing him with a proof of His own power, and at the same time prefiguring in the suffering the things to come, and teaching the manner of the preaching, and that one must cast away all these things from oneself, and close one's eyes, and follow Him everywhere. Wherefore he himself cried out, declaring this very thing: If any man among you seemeth to be wise, let him become a fool, that he may be wise; since it is not possible to see again well without first being blinded well, and casting out one's own thoughts that trouble him, and entrusting everything to faith. 4.2 But let no one hearing these things think that this calling was forced; for he was able to return again from whence he had come. At any rate, many who saw other, greater miracles turned back again, both in the New and in the Old Testaments; such as Judas, Nebuchadnezzar, Elymas the sorcerer, Simon, Ananias and Sapphira, the whole people of the Jews; but not Paul. But having looked up to the pure light, he pressed on in his course, and flew toward heaven. But if you ask why he was blinded, hear him saying: For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. Since, therefore, he was so vehement and unapproachable,

αὐτὸς τῷ πυρὶ τῆς ἀγάπης ἀναφθείς, ὅλος γέγονεν ἀγάπη· καὶ ὥσπερ κοινὸς πατὴρ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης ὤν, οὕτω τοὺς γεγεννηκότας αὐτοὺς ἐμιμεῖτο· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πάντας ὑπερηκόντισε πατέρας, καὶ σωματικῶν καὶ πνευματικῶν ἕνεκεν φροντίδων, καὶ χρήματα, καὶ ῥήματα, καὶ σῶμα, καὶ ψυχήν, καὶ πάντα ἐπιδιδοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἠγαπημένων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ πλήρωμα αὐτὴν ἐκάλει νόμου, καὶ σύνδεσμον τελειότητος, καὶ μητέρα τῶν ἀγαθῶν πάντων, καὶ ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος ἀρετῆς· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγε· Τὸ δὲ τέλος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἀγάπη ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας, καὶ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς· καὶ πάλιν· Τὸ γάρ, οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, καὶ εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολή, ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται, ἐν τῷ· Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. 3.10 Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος καὶ πάντα τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἡ ἀγάπη, καὶ ταύτῃ τὸν Παῦλον ζηλώσωμεν· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος ἐντεῦθεν τοιοῦτος ἐγένετο. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοὺς νεκροὺς εἴπῃς οὓς ἀνέστησε, μηδὲ τοὺς λεπροὺς οὓς ἐκάθηρεν· οὐδὲν τούτων ὁ Θεὸς ἐπιζητήσει παρὰ σοῦ. Κτῆσαι τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν Παύλου, καὶ τὸν στέφανον ἕξεις ἀπηρτισμένον. Τίς ταῦτά φησιν; Αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς ἀγάπης τροφεύς, οὗτος ὁ καὶ σημείων καὶ θαυμάτων καὶ μυρίων αὐτὴν ἑτέρων προθείς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σφόδρα αὐτὴν κατωρθώκει, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ μετὰ ἀκριβείας αὐτῆς οἶδε τὴν ἰσχύν. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ αὐτὸς τοιοῦτος ἐγένετο, καὶ οὐδὲν οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐποίησεν ἄξιον, ὡς ἡ τῆς ἀγάπης δύναμις· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγε· Ζηλοῦτε τὰ χαρίσματα τὰ κρείττονα· καὶ ἔτι καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ὁδὸν ὑμῖν δείκνυμι, τὴν ἀγάπην λέγων, τὴν καλλίστην ὁδὸν καὶ ῥᾳδίαν. Ταύτην τοίνυν καὶ ἡμεῖς βαδίζωμεν διηνεκῶς, ἵνα καὶ Παῦλον ἴδωμεν, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸν Παύλου ∆εσπότην, καὶ τῶν ἀκηράτων ἐπιτύχωμεν στεφάνων, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

4.t Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὸν ἅγιον ἀπόστολον Παῦλον λόγος δʹ 4.1 Ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος, ὁ τήμερον ἡμᾶς συναγαγὼν καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην φωτίσας, οὗτος ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς κλήσεως ἐτυφλώθη ποτέ· ἀλλ' ἡ πήρωσις ἐκείνου φωτισμὸς γέγονε τῆς οἰκουμένης. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔβλεπε κακῶς, ἐπήρωσεν αὐτὸν καλῶς ὁ Θεός, ὥστε ἀναβλέψαι χρησίμως, ὁμοῦ μὲν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως ἀπόδειξιν αὐτῷ παρεχόμενος, ὁμοῦ δὲ ἐν τῷ πάθει τὰ μέλλοντα προδιατυπῶν, καὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος τὸν τρόπον διδάσκων, καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα πάντα οἴκοθεν ἀποβαλόντα, καὶ μύσαντα καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, αὐτῷ πανταχοῦ ἕπεσθαι χρή. ∆ιὸ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐβόα τοῦτο αὐτὸ δηλῶν· Εἴ τις δοκεῖ σοφὸς εἶναι ἐν ὑμῖν, γενέσθω μωρός, ἵνα γένηται σοφός· ὡς οὐκ ἐνὸν ἀναβλέψαι καλῶς, μὴ πρότερον πηρωθέντα καλῶς, καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους καὶ ταράτ τοντας αὐτὸν ἐκβαλόντα λογισμούς, καὶ τῇ πίστει τὸ πᾶν ἐπιτρέψαντα. 4.2 Ἀλλὰ μηδεὶς ταῦτα ἀκούων ἠναγκασμένην νομιζέτω εἶναι ταύτην τὴν κλῆσιν· καὶ γὰρ ἐδύνατο πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν, ὅθεν ἐξέβη. Πολλοὶ γοῦν ἕτερα μείζονα θαύματα ἰδόντες, ὑπέστρεψαν πάλιν, καὶ ἐν τῇ Καινῇ, καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ· οἷον ὁ Ἰούδας, ὁ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, ὁ Ἐλύμας ὁμάγος, ὁ Σίμων, ὁ Ἀνανίας καὶ ἡ Σάπφειρα, ὅλος τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὁ δῆμος· ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ Παῦλος. Ἀλλὰ διαβλέψας πρὸς τὸ ἀκήρατον φῶς τὸν δρόμον ἐπέτεινε, καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἵπτατο. Εἰ δὲ ἐξετάζεις τίνος ἕνεκεν ἐπηρώθη, ἄκουε αὐτοῦ λέγοντος· Ἠκούσατε γὰρ τὴν ἐμὴν ἀναστροφήν ποτε ἐν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ, ὅτι καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἐδίωκον τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν καὶ ἐπόρθουν αὐτήν, καὶ προέκοπτον ἐν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ ὑπὲρ πολλοὺς συνηλικιώτας ἐν τῷ γένει μου, περισσοτέρως ζηλωτὴς ὑπάρχων τῶν πατρικῶν μου παραδόσεων. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὕτω σφοδρὸς ἦν καὶ ἀπρόσιτος,