Dialogus de vita Joannis Chrysostomi
honor, but he who is called by God. Thus 5 also Aaron, he says, did not glorify himself to become high priest. For although there were six hundred
the flight of concord, most of us who are active and eager for it have become fugitives from the country, being unable to live safely and without trou
he met with us, he did not share in words, nor in prayer, nor in communion but disembarking from the ship and running past the doors of the church, h
to share in the suffering and to do everything, so as to stop these evils. For he put a stop to none of their lawlessness here, but even after this he
and lamentations and fountains of tears in the marketplaces and the houses and in the desolate places and the whole part of the city was filled with
you are exhorted to contribute zeal from yourselves. For thus you will gratify not only us, 16 but also the community of the churches, and you will re
had fled on account of the threat contained in the imperial decree, that If anyone is not in communion with Theophilus and Arsakius and Porphyry, let
of Bishop John of the Constantinopolitans and, as it seems, it has not been accomplished. Therefore, I wrote again through the bishops and presbyters
savagery. This also the Savior God did, illuminating them with various revelations, so that also to Paul, the deacon of Saint Emilius, a most gentle
He who speaks a lie is not of God, and again from David, Because the mouth of those who speak unjust things was stopped. For he who lies truly wro
by his own choice, he was trained in the discourses for the ministry of the divine oracles. From there, being in the eighteenth year of his physical a
of those who have believed in him will be bound. {THE DEACON} But where did they recognize the presence of the Savior? {THE BISHOP} When they cried ou
of the rich, cutting away the abscesses of the soul, teaching them humility, to be of a humble mind towards other people, obeying the apostolic word,
she gives one thousand gold pieces, having made him swear by the table of the Savior that he would buy clothes and clothe the poorer women of the Alex
with his own hands on his neck, and after inflicting blows on his jaws, with clenched fingers he bloodied his nostrils, shouting 38 with a loud voice:
by an excess of conceit. But those men, driven by great necessity because they were changing places from place to place, arrive at the camp, where Bis
of the church, Dioscorus the bishop, who had grown old in the church but to the bishop John he writes: I think you are not ignorant of the decree of
of John for unlawful offenses, he took advantage of their fickleness and persuades them to submit bills of accusation against John, promising them to
Elijah was taken up did not Elisha prophesy? Paul was beheaded did he not leave behind Timothy, Titus, Apollos and ten thousand others? After these
these of the council but if as accusers, set them up for the trial, so that I may know how I should contend, whether as against adversaries or as jud
(for he is impetuous by nature, and rash and bold and exceedingly contentious—for there is nothing that appears to him by sight, <towards> which he do
brother Acacius and Antiochus whom they put forward as canons of the orthodox, because We are of the faith of those who set them forth, and our doub
reading the oracles, and others baptizing the catechumens, as was fitting because of Easter. These very things the corruptors of minds and deceivers o
a proof of the diligence of teachers, unceasingly setting right the unconquerable quality of their resolve. Theodore said: {THE DEACON} You have spoke
near him to the west), but in the western part, where the gate of the church is, the mule-team, on which he was accustomed to sit, having ordered it t
of a hierophant, a man more silent than a fish and more idle than a frog (for there are times when even action speaks, especially when the good is don
terrifying, just as bogeymen do children? Alas! Those who are clothed in worldly powers and ecclesiastical wealth with authority, with command even of
on the one hand, that he ate alone but I did not wish you, most harmonious Theodore, to ask about the things of gluttonous infants. For being a man,
he says, urging us to imitation Do not forget hospitality, he says, for by this some have entertained angels unawares. But the host must have the
fell from blessing? was it not when he served his belly, deceived by the food? When did Saul fall from the kingdom? was it not when he ate the best of
to eat bread and to put on a garment, all that you give me, I will tithe a tenth of it to you -he did not say, I will consume it at tables. That sp
to give glory to God <in> persecutions. in the refutations of error, is there any mention of a table? But again to Titus, the bishop of Crete, let us
they were seeking luxury. It was absurd to squander the food of the sick or the poor on the intemperance of the healthy. And what sort of law is this,
from seeing evil. For many of the so-called bishops, wishing to cut off the reasonable hatred directed at them on account of their own ways and their
First, that having melted down treasures he fashioned a silver object in the name of his son second, that having taken marbles from the entrance of t
love of money is a source of evils. For he who took bribes against the innocent and thought to sell the distribution of the Holy Spirit for silver,
Antoninus dies, with whom Eusebius had the lawsuit. Again a decree comes from Asia, this one from the clergy of the church of the Ephesians, and this
to buy the priesthood. They say that the ravager and falsely-named patriarch of the Jews changes the rulers of the synagogue every year, or even more
of those who deposed him and concluded the trial. <CHAPTER 19> {THE DEACON.} Forgive me, father, such things surpass drunkenness and madness and sport
ambidextrous (for even his so-called left hand was better than the right hand of others) who at first, having served in letters, was found blameles
slandering their life, waiting to have help from God. To these things Theodore, being astonished, said: {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.} I see the facts as contrary to the n
Or is it proper at all to cast out any disciple, much less a monk? 100 {THE DEACON} Because they provoked him or spoke ill of him. {THE BISHOP} And ou
having led them back from vice to virtue, it will be clear that their persecutor deserves not to be persecuted, but to be pitied, as one who always ab
having provoked the physician and enchanter of souls and removed his interpreter from the workshop of salvation, 105 they were handed over to the phys
imitating him who, having found the one crushed by robbers, half-dead, on the way down to Jericho, placed him on his own beast of burden, having broug
did he give? And when Optimus died in Constantinople, he closed his eyes with his own hands. In addition to these things, he also refreshed in no smal
desiring to chasten the herd of men for their various desires towards the more austere part of life, he became his own judge and lawgiver, being stren
toward the north, and each man's axe in his hand and one man in the midst of them, clothed in a full-length robe, and a sapphire belt on his loins a
in many ways Who will boast that he has a pure heart? Or who will boldly claim to be pure from sin? but yet the blessed John did not know how to us
happen to us anonymously and beneficially? sifting the reasons, not obeying him who said: Eat whatever is sold in the meat-market, asking no question
two? {THE BISHOP} Especially if it is an unprofitable and charlatan crowd such as the one who said to Jesus: Teacher, I will follow you wherever you
an intemperate old man, and an old man who loves learning above an unlearned younger man, and a poor layman above an educated lover of money, and a vi
enjoying his disease nor raging with the same desires. For this is a fitting way of life for a teacher, not to linger with the crowds, but in quiet an
having subjected his body to shameful tortures by the cruelty of judges, to the point of knocking out his teeth, as the story goes, 127 they confined
knocking, they made the two-day journey into one, arriving late in the evening and departing in the dark of dawn, so that the stomach could not even k
and that these things are done and are prolonged and are strong, and that the good are afflicted and plundered, brings me to shudder at his approachin
Why shall I not be angry? looking upon me, marvel, and lay your hand upon your jaw. For if I remember, I am troubled, and pains take hold of my flesh.
when reviled, we bless when persecuted, we endure when slandered, we entreat we have become as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all thi
sleepless or troubled in sleep, he suspects plots even from his own family, not trusting even himself, distrusting everyone as liars. Being such a per
each other, for which it was also fitting, having learned something, did you not decide to be quiet and remain still by yourselves even for the future
to his father and to his mother, I have not seen you, and his brothers he did not acknowledge he guarded your oracles, and kept your covenant. He d
foot-soldiers' machinations for the hindering of those who travel for the truth). How then do they dare to say: By God's economy John has been cast o
of those who have believed in him will be bound. {THE DEACON} But where did they recognize the presence of the Savior? {THE BISHOP} When they cried out: "We know who you are, the Holy One of God; why have you come before the time to torment us?" Do you see that they knew beforehand, not only that he is holy, but also that he is a judge? But what am I saying about demons? The unfortunate courtesans from the state of their 31 eyes recognize temperate men and turn away, just as a diseased eye [turns away from] the brightness of the sun, and a vulture from myrrh. And from where comes the saying, "godliness is an abomination to sinners," if they did not recognize it? So also Theophilus, from the fact that he did not find in John's appearance what was suitable or pleasing to his own eye, conjectured the opposite, not by comprehension. {THE DEACON} You have spoken wonderfully, father. But why did he resist the ordination? {THE BISHOP} It was his custom not to ordain the good and sensible, unless he should make a mistake, wishing to rule over all as if they were foolish; considering it better to rule over the foolish than to listen to the wise. Nevertheless, however, he is overcome by saving providence both willingly and unwillingly. Thus ordained, John begins the care of affairs, beginning with the rational pipe of the testing of the sheep. And using the staff of reproof a few times, he delivers a discourse against the feigned life of brotherhood, or rather, against the unseemly evil life concerning the so-called "spiritual sisters," showing that in a choice of evils, the keepers of prostitutes are better; for the former, dwelling far from the place of healing, keep the disease to themselves for those who want it; but the latter, dwelling inside the workshop of salvation, summon even the healthy to sickness. From this, the godless part of the clergy is afflicted, feverish in its passion. After that discourse, he begins [to speak] against injustice, overthrowing covetousness, the metropolis of evils, for the building up of justice. For this is characteristic of wise master builders, first to overthrow the edifice of falsehood, and then afterwards to lay the foundation of truth, as is said by the prophet: "I have set you over nations and over kingdoms, to root out and to plant, to tear down and to build up"—the one as a farmer, the other as a builder. From this 32 the party of the purse-watchers is again disturbed; after this he takes care of their diet, exhorting them to be content with their own stipends and not to pursue the savory smells of the rich, lest, having smoke as their torch-bearer, they be handed over to the flame of licentiousness, having pursued the life of flatterers and parasites. From this, most of the gluttons are stirred up, being spun together with the sophists of slander. After this he investigates the registers of the church's treasury and finds an expenditure not benefiting the church; he orders that support for these be stopped. He comes to the part of the expenditure of the episcopal residence and finds no ordinary lavishness and commands that their luxury be transferred to the hospital. And with the need being in surplus, he builds more hospitals, having appointed two of the devout presbyters, and moreover also doctors and cooks and good unmarried workers to serve them; so that the visiting strangers and those seized by illness [especially the one called the sacred disease] might receive care, both for the sake of the good itself and for the glory of the Savior. After this he summons the order of widows, going about among them those who were not conducting themselves rightly, and finding some who were lovers of the flesh, he advised them either to undertake a fast, abstaining from baths and elaborate clothes, or to proceed more quickly to a second marriage, so that the law of the Lord might not be dishonored. After this he exhorted the people to persevere in the nightly litanies, and exhorted their wives to remain at home praying during the day, because the men were not at leisure during the day. But all these things grieved the 33 more negligent of the clergy who were accustomed to sleep all night. After this he took up the sword of reproof against the
αὐτῷ πεπιστευκότων δεθήσονται. {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.} Ποῦ δὲ ἐγνώρισαν τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος παρουσίαν; {Ο ΕΠΙΣΚ.} Ἡνίκα ἐβόων· "Οἴδαμέν σε τίς
εἶ, ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ Θεοῦ· τί ἦλθες πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ἡμᾶς;" ὁρᾷς ὅτι προῄ δεισαν, οὐ μόνον ὅτι ἅγιός ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ κριτής;
τί δὲ λέγω περὶ τῶν δαιμόνων; αἱ κακοδαίμονες τῶν ἑταιρίδων ἐκ τῆς τῶν 31 ὀφθαλμῶν καταστάσεως γνωρίζουσι τοὺς σώφρονας ἄνδρας
καὶ ἀποστρέφονται, ὥσπερ ὁ νοσῶν ὀφθαλμὸς τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου αἴγλην, καὶ ὁ γὺψ τὸ μύρον. πόθεν δὲ τό, "βδέλυγμα ἁμαρτωλοῖς θεο
σέβεια," εἰ μὴ ταύτην ἐγνώριζον; οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεόφιλος, ἐξ ὧν τοῦ ἰδίου ὀφθαλμοῦ τὸ κατάλληλον ἢ τὸ καταθύμιον ἐν τῇ τοῦ Ἰωάννου
ὄψει οὐχ εὗρεν, στοχαστικῶς τὸ ἐναντίον ὑπετόπασεν, οὐ καταληπτικῶς. {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.} Θαυμασίως εἴρηκας, πάτερ. πρὸς τί δὲ ἀντέπιπτεν
τῇ χειροτονίᾳ; {Ο ΕΠΙΣΚ.} Ἔθος αὐτῷ τοιοῦτον ἦν, μὴ χειροτονεῖν τοὺς χρηστοὺς καὶ ἐχέφρονας, εἰ μή τι ἂν ἀστοχήσοι, βουλόμενος
ἁπάντων κρατεῖν ὡς ἀνοήτων· ἄμεινον ἡγούμενος ἀνοήτων κρα τεῖν ἢ φρονίμων ἀκούειν. πλὴν ὅμως νικᾶται ὑπὸ τῆς σωτηρίου προνοίας
καὶ ἑκὼν καὶ ἄκων. οὕτως χειροτονηθεὶς ὁ Ἰωάννης ἄρχεται τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπιμελείας, ἀπὸ τῆς λογικῆς ἀρξά μενος σύριγγος
τῆς τῶν προβάτων δοκιμασίας. ὀλιγάκις δὲ καταχρώμενος καὶ τῇ ἐλεγκτικῇ βακτηρίᾳ, κατατείνει λόγον κατὰ τῆς ἐπιπλάστου ἀδελφοζωΐας,
τὸ δ' ἀληθές, κατὰ τῆς ἀσχήμου κακοζωΐας περὶ τῶν καλουμένων συνεισάκτων, ἀπο δεικνὺς ἐν αἱρέσει κακῶν ἀμείνους εἶναι τοὺς
πορνοτρόφους· ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ πόῤῥω τοῦ ἰατρείου οἰκοῦντες, καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἔχουσι τοῖς βουλομένοις τὴν νόσον· οὗτοι δὲ ἔνδον
τοῦ ἐργα στηρίου οἰκοῦντες τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ τοὺς ὑγιαίνοντας ἐκκα λοῦνται εἰς νόσον. ἐντεῦθεν θλίβεται τὸ ἀφιλόθεον μέρος
τοῦ κλήρου πυρέττον τὸ πάθος. μετ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν λόγον ἄρχεται κατὰ τῆς ἀδικίας, καταστρέφων τὴν μητρόπολιν τῶν κακῶν τὴν πλεονεξίαν
εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τῆς δικαιοσύνης. τοῦτο γὰρ ἴδιον τῶν σοφῶν ἀρχιτεκτόνων, πρότερον καταστρέψαι τὴν οἰκοδο μὴν τοῦ ψεύδους, εἶθ'
ὕστερον θεῖναι τὸν θεμέλιον τῆς ἀληθείας, ὡς λέγεται παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ· "Καθέστακά σε ἐπὶ ἔθνη καὶ βασιλείας, ἐκριζοῦν καὶ καταφυτεύειν,
καὶ κατασκάπτειν καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν" -τὸ μὲν ὡς γεωργῷ, τὸ δὲ ὡς οἰκοδόμῳ. ἐκ τούτου 32 ταράσσεται πάλιν τὸ μέρος τῶν βαλαντιοσκόπων·
μετὰ τοῦτο ἐπιμελεῖται αὐτῶν τῆς διαίτης, παρακαλῶν ἀρκεῖσθαι τοῖς ἰδίοις ὀψωνίοις καὶ μὴ διώκειν τὰς κνίσας τὰς τῶν πλουσίων,
ἵνα μὴ καπνὸν ἔχοντες τὸν δᾳδοῦχον, τῇ φλογὶ τῆς ἀκολασίας παραδοθῶσι, κολάκων καὶ παρασίτων μεταδιώξαντες βίον. ἐντεῦθεν
ἀνορύττονται οἱ πλείους τῶν γαστριμάργων, συγκλω θόμενοι τοῖς σοφισταῖς τῆς κακηγορίας. μετὰ τοῦτο διερευνᾷ τὰ βρέβια τοῦ
οἰκονομείου καὶ εὑρίσκει ἀνάλωμα οὐκ ὠφελοῦν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν· προστάσσει τούτων ἀργεῖν τὴν ἐπικουρίαν. ἔρχεται εἰς τὸ μέρος
τοῦ ἀναλώματος τοῦ ἐπισκοπείου καὶ εὑρίσκει δαψίλειαν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν καὶ κελεύει μετενεχθῆναι τὴν πολυτέλειαν τούτων εἰς
τὸ νοσοκομεῖον. περιττευούσης δὲ τῆς χρείας, κτίζει πλείονα νοσοκομεῖα, προσκαταστήσας δύο τῶν εὐλαβῶν πρεσβυτέρων, ἔτι μὴν
καὶ ἰατροὺς καὶ μαγείρους καὶ χρηστοὺς τῶν ἀγάμων ἐργάτας τούτοις εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν· ὥστε τοὺς ἐπιχωριάζοντας ξένους καὶ ὑπὸ νόσου
ληφθέντας [μάλιστα δὲ τὴν ἱερὰν καλουμένην] τυγχάνειν ἐπιμελείας, καὶ δι' αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν καὶ διὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος δόξαν. μετὰ
τοῦτο προσκαλεῖται τὸ τῶν χηρῶν τάγμα, ἐμπερινοστῶν ἐν αὐταῖς τὰς οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἀναστρεφομένας, καὶ εὑρὼν φιλοσάρκους τινὰς παρῄνει
ἢ νη στείαν ἀναλαβεῖν ἀπεχομένας βαλανείων καὶ περιέργων ἱμα τίων, ἢ θᾶττον χωρεῖν ἐπὶ δεύτερον γάμον, ἵνα μὴ ὑβρίζηται ὁ
νόμος ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου. μετὰ τοῦτο παρεκάλει τοὺς δήμους προσκαρτερεῖν ταῖς νυκτεριναῖς λιτανείαις, τὰς δὲ τούτων γυναῖ κας οἴκοι
μένειν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ προσευχομένας παρακαλῶν, διὰ τὸ μὴ σχολάζειν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τοὺς ἄνδρας. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἐλύπει τοὺς 33 ἀμελεστέρους
τοῦ κλήρου παννύχιον καθεύδειν συνειθισμένους. μετὰ τοῦτο ἥπτετο τοῦ ἐλεγκτικοῦ ξίφους κατὰ τῶν
