John Chrysostom, On Timothy

would you be unclean? He who has a weak soul defiles all things. But if such a reasoning is sown in him, seeking what is clean and what is unclean, he will touch nothing; for not even these things are clean, I mean fish, and the others, according to their reasoning ("Both their mind and conscience," it says, "are defiled"), but all things are polluted. But he did not say it this way, but what? He turned the whole thing back on them. For "nothing is unclean," he says, but they themselves, and their mind and their conscience; of these nothing is more unclean. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good work. But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine. This is uncleanness; they themselves are unclean; but do not be silent on account of them. Even if they do not receive it, he says, you do your own part; even if they are not persuaded, you exhort and advise. Here he denounces them even more. For madmen think that nothing stands still; but this happens not because of the things seen, but because of the seeing eyes. Since they are unsteady and dizzy, they think the earth spins around for them; but it does not spin, but stands firm; for the madness is of their own affliction, not an affliction of the element. So also here; when a soul is unclean, it considers all things unclean. Therefore, purity is not to be scrupulous, but purity is to dare all things; for he who is pure by nature dares all things, but the defiled dare nothing. This may also be said to Marcion. Do you see that he sets as a proof of purity to be superior to all defilement, but to touch nothing as a proof of uncleanness? So also in the case of God; that he took on flesh, this is a mark of purity; but if out of fear he had not taken it on, it would be a mark of defilement. He who does not eat things that seem to be unclean, this one is unclean and weak; but he who eats is no longer so. Let us not, then, call such men clean; these are the unclean; but he who dares all things is clean. This reverence ought to be shown in things that defile the soul; for that is uncleanness, that is defilement; but this is none of those things. Since those who have a corrupted mouth also think that the food brought to them is unclean, but this is from their affliction. It is necessary, therefore, to know very well the nature of clean and unclean things. 62.681 What then is unclean? Sin, evil, greed, wickedness. "Wash yourselves," he says, "make yourselves clean; remove your wickedness from your souls." Create in me a clean heart, O God. "Come out from their midst, and be separate," he says, "and touch no unclean thing"; since those observances were also symbols of purifications. "Do not touch a dead body," he says. For such is sin, dead and stinking. "The leper," he says, "is unclean." For sin is also various and multifaceted. And that it hints at this is clear from what follows. For if the leprosy is continuous and over the whole body, he is clean; but if in part, no longer. Do you see that what is varied and changed is the unclean thing? Again, he who has a discharge is unclean in his soul. Consider the one with a discharge, the one who casts away his seed. He who is not circumcised is again unclean. Do you see how these are not allegories, but types? He who has not cut away, he says, the wickedness of the soul. He who works on the sabbath is stoned; that is, he who is not continually dedicated to God, this one perishes. Have you seen how many types of uncleannesses there are? "She who is from childbed," he says, "is unclean." Why, tell me? Did He not Himself make seed and birth? for what reason then is the woman unclean? unless it hinted at something else. And what is this? It engendered reverence in the soul, it led far away from fornication. For if she who has given birth is unclean, much more she who commits fornication; if approaching one's own wife is not perfectly clean, much more so mixing with another's. "He who comes from a funeral," he says, "is unclean"; much more he who comes from murder and war. And one could find many types of uncleannesses, if indeed it is necessary to recount them all. But we are not now required to do these things,

ἀκάθαρτον ἂν εἴης; Ὁ ψυχὴν ἔχων ἀσθενῆ, πάντα ῥυποῖ. Εἰ δὲ ἐνσπαρῇ τοιοῦτος λογισμὸς τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ τὸ ἀκάθαρτον ζητῶν, οὐδενὸς ἅψεται· οὐδὲ γὰρ ταῦτα καθαρὰ, ἰχθῦς λέγω, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα κατὰ τὸν αὐτῶν λογισμὸν (Μεμίανται αὐτῶν, φησὶ, καὶ ὁ νοῦς καὶ ἡ συνείδησις), ἀλλὰ πάντα μιαρά. Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἶπεν οὕτως, ἀλλὰ τί; Περιέτρεψεν εἰς αὐτοὺς τὸ πᾶν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀκάθαρτον, φησὶν, ἀλλ' αὐτοὶ, καὶ ὁ νοῦς καὶ ἡ συνείδησις αὐτῶν· τούτων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀκαθαρτότερον. Θεὸν ὁμολογοῦσιν εἰδέναι, τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις ἀρνοῦνται, βδελυκτοὶ ὄντες καὶ ἀπειθεῖς, καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἀδόκιμοι. Σὺ δὲ λάλει ἃ πρέπει τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ διδασκαλίᾳ. Τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀκαθαρσία· αὐτοί εἰσιν ἀκάθαρτοι· ἀλλὰ μὴ τούτων ἕνεκεν σιγήσῃς. Κἂν μὴ δέχωνται, φησὶ, σὺ τὰ σαυτοῦ πράττε· κἂν μὴ πείθωνται, σὺ παραίνει καὶ συμβούλευε. Ἐνταῦθα πλέον αὐτοὺς διαβάλλει. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ μαινόμενοι οὐδὲν νομίζουσιν ἑστηκέναι· ἀλλ' οὐ παρὰ τὰ ὁρώμενα τοῦτο γίνεται, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοὺς ὁρῶντας ὀφθαλμούς. Ἐπειδὴ ἄστατοί εἰσι καὶ ἰλιγγιῶντες, νομίζουσι περιστρέφεσθαι αὐτοῖς τὴν γῆν· ἀλλ' οὐ περιστρέφεται, ἀλλ' ἕστηκε παγία· τοῦ γὰρ πάθους αὐτῶν ἡ ἀπόνοια, οὐ τοῦ στοιχείου τὸ πάθος. Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα· ὅταν ψυχὴ ἀκάθαρτος ᾖ, πάντα ἀκάθαρτα νομίζει. Ἄρα οὖν οὐ τὸ παρατηρεῖσθαι καθαρότητος, ἀλλὰ καθαρότητος τὸ πάντων κατατολμᾷν· ὁ γὰρ φύσει καθαρὸς, πάντων κατατολμᾷ, οἱ δὲ ἐῤῥυπωμένοι, οὐδενός. Τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς Μαρκίωνα ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι καθαρότητος τεκμήριον τίθεται τὸ παντὸς ῥύπου ἀνώτερον εἶναι, τὸ δὲ μηδενὸς ἅπτεσθαι, ἀκαθαρσίας; Οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ Θεοῦ· ὅτι σάρκα ἀνέλαβε, τοῦτο καθαρότητος· εἰ δεδοικὼς δὲ οὐκ ἀνέλαβε, ῥύπου. Ὁ τὰ δοκοῦντα εἶναι ἀκάθαρτα μὴ ἐσθίων, οὗτός ἐστιν ἀκάθαρτος καὶ ἀσθενής· ὁ δὲ ἐσθίων, οὐκέτι. Μὴ καθαροὺς τοίνυν καλῶμεν τοὺς τοιούτους· οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀκάθαρτοι· ὁ δὲ πάντων κατατολμῶν, καθαρός. Ταύτην τὴν εὐλάβειαν ἐπὶ τῶν ῥυπούντων τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι χρή· ἐκεῖνο γὰρ ἀκαθαρσία, ἐκεῖνο ῥύπος· τοῦτο δὲ οὐδὲν τούτων. Ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ στόμα ἔχοντες διεφθαρμένον νομίζουσι τὰ προσφερόμενα ἀκάθαρτα εἶναι, τοῦτο δὲ τοῦ πάθους ἐστί. Χρὴ τοίνυν τῶν καθαρῶν σφόδρα εἰδέναι καὶ τῶν ἀκαθάρτων τὴν φύσιν. 62.681 Τί οὖν ἐστιν ἀκάθαρτον; Ἁμαρτία, κακία, πλεονεξία, πονηρία. Λούσασθε, φησὶ, καθαροὶ γίνεσθε, ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν. Καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοὶ, ὁ Θεός. Ἐξέλθετε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀφορίσθητε, φησὶ, καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε· ἐπεὶ καὶ αἱ παρατηρήσεις ἐκεῖναι σύμβολα ἦσαν καθαρσιῶν. Νεκροῦ, φησὶ, μὴ ἅψῃ. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ ἁμαρτία, νεκρὸν καὶ ὀδωδός. Ὁ λεπρὸς, φησὶν, ἀκάθαρτός ἐστι. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ ἁμαρτία ποικίλον καὶ πολυειδές. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτο αἰνίττεται, ἐκ τῶν ἑξῆς δῆλον. Ἐὰν γὰρ ᾖ διαπαντὸς ἡ λέπρα καὶ καθ' ὅλου τοῦ σώματος, καθαρός ἐστιν· ἐὰν δὲ ἐν μέρει, οὐκέτι. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι τὸ ποικίλον καὶ ἐνηλλαγμένον ἐστὶ τὸ ἀκάθαρτον; Πάλιν ὁ γονοῤῥυὴς ἀκάθαρτος ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ. Λόγισαι τὸν γονοῤῥυῆ, τὸν τὰ σπέρματα ἀποβάλλοντα. Ὁ μὴ περιτμηθεὶς πάλιν ἀκάθαρτος. Ὁρᾷς πῶς οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα ἀλληγορία, ἀλλὰ τύποι; Ὁ μὴ περιελὼν, φησὶ, τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν κακίαν. Ὁ ἐργαζόμενος ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ, λιθάζεται· τουτέστιν, ὁ μὴ διαπαντὸς ἀνακείμενος τῷ Θεῷ, οὗτος ἀπόλλυται. Εἴδετε πόσοι τρόποι ἀκαθαρσιῶν; Ἡ ἀπὸ λέχους, φησὶν, ἀκάθαρτός ἐστι. ∆ιὰ τί, εἰπέ μοι; Οὐχὶ σπόρον καὶ γέννησιν αὐτὸς ἐποίησε; τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν ἀκάθαρτος ἡ γυνή; εἰ μὴ ἕτερόν τι ᾐνίττετο. Τί δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν; Εὐλάβειαν ἐνέτικτε τῇ ψυχῇ, τῆς πορνείας ἀπήγαγε πόῤῥω. Εἰ γὰρ ἡ τεκοῦσα ἀκάθαρτος, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡ πορνεύουσα· εἰ τὸ τῇ γυναικὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πλησιάζειν οὐ σφόδρα καθαρὸν, τὸ ἀλλοτρίᾳ μίγνυσθαι πολλῷ μᾶλλον. Ὁ ἀπὸ κήδους, φησὶν, ἀκάθαρτος· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ ἀπὸ φόνου καὶ πολέμου. Καὶ πολλοὺς ἂν εὕροι τις τρόπους ἀκαθαρσιῶν, εἴ γε δεῖ πάντας ἀναλέγεσθαι. Ἀλλ' οὐ νῦν ταῦτα ἀπαιτούμεθα,