John Chrysostom, On the Tempting Devil

of such things, sitting in the theaters, they were watching the procession of the devil; those men 49.264 took part in pornographic songs, you shared in spiritual hearings; those men were eating the diabolical impurity, you were feeding on the spiritual myrrh. Who then beguiled them? who then separated them from the sacred flock? 49.265 Did the devil deceive them too? How then did he not deceive you? You and they are the same human beings, I speak according to nature; you and they have the same soul, you have the same desires that come from nature; how then are you and they not in the same circumstances? Because your moral choices and theirs are not the same; for this reason they are in deceit, while you are outside of deceit. I do not say these things, again, to acquit the devil of the charges, but because I am eager to set you free from sins. The devil is wicked, I too confess, but he is wicked to himself, not to us, if we are watchful; for such is the nature of wickedness; it is destructive only to those who possess it, but virtue is the opposite; it can benefit not only those who possess it, but also their neighbors. And that you may learn that the wicked man is wicked to himself, but the good man is good also to others, I offer you a proverbial testimony. Child, it says, if you become wicked, you alone will bear the evils; but if wise, for yourself and for your neighbor. They were deceived in the theaters, but you were not deceived. This is the greatest proof of the matter, a clear demonstration and an indisputable argument that moral choice is everywhere sovereign. Therefore, use this method of proof yourself; and if you see a man living in wickedness and displaying all evil, then blaming the providence of God and saying that he has given over our nature to the necessity of chance and fate and the tyranny of demons, and from all sides diverting the cause from himself and transferring it to the Creator and Provider of this universe, shut his mouth, not by word, but by deed, by showing another fellow-servant living in virtue and reasonableness. There is no need for long speeches, no need for complex arguments or syllogisms; the proof comes through deeds; say to him: You too are a servant, and he is a servant; you too are a man, and he is a man; you inhabit the same world, under the same sky you are nourished by the same foods; how are you in wickedness, while he is in virtue? For this reason God has also allowed the wicked to be mixed with the good, and He did not give another land to the wicked and settle the good in another world, but He mixed these with those, working much that is useful. For the good appear more approved, when they are in the midst of those who hinder them from living rightly and who draw them towards evil, and yet they take hold of virtue. For there must, it says, also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become manifest among you. Therefore, for this reason also He has allowed the wicked to be in the midst, so that the good may shine more brightly. Do you see how great the gain is? But the gain is not from the wicked, but from the courage of the good. For this reason we also admire Noah, not because he was righteous, nor only because he was perfect, but because in that perverse and wicked generation he preserved virtue, when he had no example of virtue, when all were calling him to wickedness; and he went completely contrary to them, just as some traveler journeys on the opposite road to a great crowd being carried along by a strong current. For this reason it did not simply say, "Noah was righteous, perfect," but it added, "in his generation," in the perverse, in the desperate one, when there was no traffic in virtue. So then, for the good this was the gain from the wicked; thus, indeed, even trees fanned by contrary winds become stronger. And there is 49.266 also a gain for the wicked from their intermingling with the good; they respect them, are ashamed, and blush before them, and even if they do not desist from wickedness, they nevertheless dare what they dare in secret. Not

τοιούτων, ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις καθήμενοι, τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν πομπὴν ἐθεώρουν· ᾀσμά 49.264 των μετεῖχον ἐκεῖνοι πορνικῶν, ὑμεῖς ἀκροαμάτων ἐκοινωνεῖτε πνευματικῶν· ἤσθιον ἐκεῖνοι τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν τὴν διαβολικὴν, ἐσιτεῖσθε ὑμεῖς τὸ μύρον τὸ πνευματικόν. Τίς ἄρα αὐτοὺς ἀπεβουκόλησε; τίς ἄρα αὐτοὺς ἀπέσχισε τῆς ποίμνης τῆς ἱερᾶς; Ἆρα 49.265 κἀκείνους ὁ διάβολος ἠπάτησε; πῶς οὖν ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἠπάτησεν; Οἱ αὐτοὶ ἄνθρωποι ὑμεῖς κἀκεῖνοι, κατὰ τὴν φύσιν λέγω· τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχετε ψυχὴν ὑμεῖς κἀκεῖνοι, τὰς αὐτὰς ἔχετε ἐπιθυμίας τὰς παρὰ τῆς φύσεως· πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὑμεῖς κἀκεῖνοι; Ἐπειδὴ αἱ προαιρέσεις οὐχ αἱ αὐταὶ ὑμῖν κἀκείνοις· διὰ τοῦτο ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἐν ἀπάτῃ, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐκτὸς τῆς ἀπάτης. Οὐ πάλιν τὸν διάβολον ἀπαλλάττων ἐγκλημάτων ταῦτα λέγω, ἀλλ' ὑμᾶς ἁμαρτημάτων ἐλευθερῶσαι σπουδάζων. Πονηρὸς ὁ διάβολος, ὁμολογῶ κἀγὼ, ἀλλ' ἑαυτῷ πονηρὸς, οὐχ ἡμῖν, ἂν νήφωμεν· τοιαύτη γὰρ τῆς κακίας ἡ φύσις· τοῖς κεκτημένοις ἐστὶν ὀλεθρία μόνοις, ἡ δὲ ἀρετὴ τοὐναντίον· οὐχὶ τοὺς κεκτημένους μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πλησίον ὠφελεῖν δύναται. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι ὁ μὲν κακὸς ἑαυτῷ κακὸς, ὁ δὲ ἀγαθὸς, καὶ ἑτέροις ἀγαθὸς, μαρτυρίαν σοι παρέχω παροιμιώδη. Τέκνον, φησὶν, ἐὰν κακὸς γένῃ, μόνος ἀντλήσεις τὰ κακά· ἐὰν δὲ σοφὸς, ἑαυτῷ καὶ τῷ πλησίον. Ἠπατήθησαν ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις, ἀλλ' ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἠπατήθητε. Μεγίστη αὕτη πραγμάτων ἀπόδειξις, ἔλεγχος σαφὴς καὶ λογισμὸς ἀναμφισβήτητος τοῦ πανταχοῦ τὴν προαίρεσιν εἶναι κυρίαν. Τούτῳ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς κέχρησο τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς ἀποδείξεως· κἂν ἴδῃς ἄνθρωπον ἐν πονηρίᾳ ζῶντα καὶ πᾶσαν κακίαν ἐπιδεικνύμενον, εἶτα αἰτιώμενον τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν καὶ λέγοντα, ὅτι τύχης καὶ εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκῃ καὶ δαιμόνων τυραννίδι τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐξέδωκε φύσιν, καὶ πάντοθεν τὴν αἰτίαν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ μὲν ἀπάγοντα, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν δημιουργὸν καὶ τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς προνοοῦντα μεταφέροντα, ἀπόφραξον αὐτοῦ τὸ στόμα, μὴ λόγῳ, ἀλλ' ἔργῳ, ἐπιδείξας σύνδουλον ἕτερον ἐν ἀρετῇ καὶ ἐπιεικείᾳ ζῶντα. Οὐ χρεία λόγων μακρῶν, οὐ χρεία κατασκευῆς συμπεπλεγμένης, οὐδὲ συλλογισμῶν· διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἡ ἀπόδειξις γίνεται· εἰπὲ πρὸς αὐτόν· Καὶ σὺ δοῦλος, κἀκεῖνος δοῦλος· καὶ σὺ ἄνθρωπος, κἀκεῖνος ἄνθρωπος· τὸν αὐτὸν κόσμον οἰκεῖς, ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν οὐρανὸν τὰς αὐτὰς τρέφῃ τροφάς· πῶς σὺ μὲν ἐν πονηρίᾳ, ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἐν ἀρετῇ; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἀφῆκε τοὺς πονηροὺς τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀναμεμίχθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἄλλην μὲν τοῖς πονηροῖς ἔδωκε γῆν, εἰς ἑτέραν δὲ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς οἰκουμένην ἀπῴκισεν, ἀλλὰ ἀνέμιξε τούτους ἐκείνοις, πολὺ τὸ χρήσιμον ἐργαζόμενος. Οἱ γὰρ ἀγαθοὶ δοκιμώτεροι φαίνονται, ἐν μέσῳ τῶν κωλυόντων αὐτοὺς ὀρθῶς ζῇν καὶ πρὸς κακίαν ἑλκόντων ὄντες καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι. ∆εῖ γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ αἱρέσεις εἶναι ἐν ὑμῖν, ἵνα οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται ἐν ὑμῖν. Οὐκοῦν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀφῆκεν εἶναι ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, ἵνα οἱ ἀγαθοὶ διαλάμπωσι μᾶλλον. Ὁρᾷς τὸ κέρδος ὅσον; Ἀλλ' οὐ παρὰ τῶν πονηρῶν τὸ κέρδος, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τῆς ἀνδρείας τῶν ἀγαθῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸν Νῶε θαυμάζομεν, οὐχ ὅτι δίκαιος ἦν, οὐδὲ ὅτι τέλειος ἦν μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ τῇ διεστραμμένῃ καὶ πονηρᾷ διέσωσε τὴν ἀρετὴν, ὅτε οὐκ εἶχε παράδειγμα ἀρετῆς, ὅτε πάντες πρὸς πονηρίαν αὐτὸν παρεκάλουν· καὶ πᾶσαν ἀπ' ἐναντίας ἦλθεν ἐκείνοις, καθάπερ τις ὁδίτης πολλῷ πλήθει ῥύμῃ φερομένῳ τὴν ἐναντίαν ὁδεύων ὁδόν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπε, Νῶε δίκαιος, τέλειος, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκεν, ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῇ διεστραμμένῃ, ἐν τῇ ἀπεγνωσμένῃ, ὅτε οὐδὲν ἐμπόρευμα ἦν ἀρετῆς. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἀγαθοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν πονηρῶν τοῦτο τὸ κέρδος ἦν· οὕτω γοῦν καὶ δένδρα ὑπὸ ἀνέμων ἐναντίων ῥιπιζόμενα ἰσχυρότερα γίνεται. Ἔστι δὲ 49.266 καὶ τοῖς πονηροῖς κέρδος ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιμιξίας τῶν ἀγαθῶν· αἰδοῦνται, αἰσχύνονται, ἐρυθριῶσιν ἐκείνους, κἂν μὴ ἀποστῶσι τῆς κακίας, ἀλλ' ὅμως μετὰ τοῦ λανθάνειν τολμῶσιν ἅπερ τολμῶσιν. Οὐ