John Chrysostom, Sermons on Genesis

He brought forward, youths, destitute, having no protection, slaves, captives, without a city. And what does he say? Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, that you do not serve my gods, and do not worship the golden 54.601 image which I set up? What then of them? Behold how virtue made them, though they were captives, more kingly than the king, and showed their spirit to be loftier. For not as conversing with a king, but as though addressing a subject, so they answered with boldness. There is no need, they say, for us to answer the king concerning this matter. Not through words, but through deeds will we make our demonstration. There is a God in heaven able to deliver us. They reminded him of the good deed in the case of Daniel, saying the very words which the prophet said then. For what did he say? It is not for magicians of Gazara, for Chaldeans, this word which the king demands; but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Therefore, they remind him of this saying, so as to make him more reasonable. Then he says: And if not, be it known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, and we do not worship the golden image which you have set up. See the wisdom of those youths. For so that those then present might not condemn God of weakness, if it should happen that they, having fallen into the furnace, should die, they first confessed His power, saying, that There is a God in heaven, who is able to deliver us; but so that, on the other hand, having escaped the flame, they might not be thought to serve God for hire and reward, they added, that And if not, be it known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, and we do not worship the golden image which you have set up; at once proclaiming the power of God, and showing the resolution of their own soul, so that no one might say this about them, which the devil said slanderingly about Job. And what did the devil say about Job? that Job does not fear you for nothing; for you have hedged about his things within and his things without. Therefore, so that no one might be able to say this about them also, they preemptively shut the shameless mouth. But as I was saying, even if one be a captive, or a slave, or a foreigner, or live in a foreign land, and have virtue with him, he will be more kingly than all kings. Have you seen the bondage of women loosed, and that of servants, and that of subjects? Come, I will show you next also the fear of beasts cast out. They cast Daniel into the den in that same Babylon once; but the lions did not dare to touch him. For they saw the ancient and royal image shining in him, they beheld those features which they saw on Adam before the sin. For having come to Adam with the same submission, they received their names then. And not here only, but also in the case of the blessed Paul this happened. For he too, having been cast upon the island of the barbarians, was sitting by a fire warming himself; then a viper, leaping out from the sticks, fastened on his hand. What then happened after this? The beast fell off immediately. For since it found no sin, it did not have the strength to bite; but just as we, whenever we wish to climb some smooth rock, finding no holds anywhere, fall down immediately, whether the sea or an abyss lies below; so also that beast, and that with a fire lying below, not finding the hold of sin, nor where to fasten its 54.602 teeth, fell into the fire, and was destroyed. Do you wish that I tell you also a third manner of defense? One is, that not only the former have sinned, but also those after them; a second, that those who have acted rightly, and these living in the present life, experienced a lighter bondage; or rather, were delivered from it completely, just as in the case of the women, and in the case of the subjects, and in the case of the beasts

παρήγαγε, νέους, ἐρήμους, οὐδεμίαν ἔχοντας προστασίαν, δούλους, αἰχμαλώτους, ἀπόλιδας. Καὶ τί φησιν; Εἰ ἀληθῶς, Σεδρὰκ, Μισὰκ, Ἀβδεναγὼ, τοῖς θεοῖς μου οὐ λατρεύετε, καὶ τῇ εἰκόνι 54.601 τῇ χρυσῇ, ᾗ ἔστησα, οὐ προσκυνεῖτε; Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνοι; Θέασαι πῶς αὐτοὺς ἡ ἀρετὴ αἰχμαλώτους ὄντας βασιλικωτέρους ἐποίησε τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ ὑψηλότερον αὐτῶν ἔδειξε τὸ φρόνημα. Οὐ γὰρ ὡς βασιλεῖ διαλεγόμενοι, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ πρὸς ὑπήκοον τὸν λόγον ἔχοντες, οὕτω μετὰ παῤῥησίας ἀπεκρίνοντο. Οὐ χρεία, φασὶν, ἐστὶν ἡμῖν περὶ τοῦ ῥήματος τούτου ἀποκριθῆναι τῷ βασιλεῖ. Οὐ διὰ ῥημάτων, ἀλλὰ διὰ πραγμάτων ποιησόμεθα τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Ἔστι Θεὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ δυνατὸς ἐξελέσθαι ἡμᾶς. Ἀνέμνησαν αὐτὸν τῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ εὐεργεσίας, αὐτὰ τὰ ῥήματα εἰπόντες, ἅπερ ὁ προφήτης εἶπε τότε. Τί γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγεν; Οὐκ ἔστι μάγων Γαζαρηνῶν, Χαλδαίων τὸ ῥῆμα, ὃ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπαιτεῖ· ἀλλ' ἔστι Θεὸς ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἀποκαλύπτων μυστήρια. Ταύτης οὖν αὐτὸν ἀναμιμνήσκουσι τῆς φωνῆς, ὥστε ποιῆσαι ἐπιεικέστερον. Εἶτά φησι· Καὶ ἐὰν μὴ, γνωστὸν ἔστω σοι, βασιλεῦ, ὅτι τοῖς θεοῖς σου οὐ λατρεύομεν, καὶ τῇ εἰκόνι τῇ χρυσῇ, ᾗ ἔστησας, οὐ προσκυνοῦμεν. Ὅρα σοφίαν τῶν νέων ἐκείνων. Ἵνα μὲν γὰρ μὴ καταγνῶσιν ἀσθένειαν τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ τότε παρόντες, εἰ συμβαίη ἐμπεσόντας αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν κάμινον ἀποθανεῖν, προλαβόντες ὡμολόγησαν αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν, εἰπόντες, ὅτι Ἔστι Θεὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὃς δύναται ἐξελέσθαι ἡμᾶς· ἵνα δὲ μὴ πάλιν διαφυγόντες τὴν φλόγα, νομισθῶσιν ἐπὶ μισθῷ καὶ ἀμοιβῇ τῷ Θεῷ δουλεύειν, ἐπήγαγον, ὅτι Καὶ ἐὰν μὴ, γνωστὸν ἔστω σοι, βασιλεῦ, ὅτι τοῖς θεοῖς σου οὐ λατρεύομεν, καὶ τῇ εἰκόνι τῇ χρυσῇ, ᾗ ἔστησας, οὐ προσκυνοῦμεν· ὁμοῦ καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ἀνακηρύττοντες, καὶ τὸ παράστημα τῆς ἑαυτῶν δεικνύντες ψυχῆς, ἵνα μὴ, ὅπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰὼβ εἶπεν ὁ διάβολος συκοφαντῶν, τοῦτό τις καὶ περὶ τούτων εἴπῃ. Τί δὲ περὶ τοῦ Ἰὼβ εἶπεν ὁ διάβολος; ὅτι Οὐ δωρεὰν σέβεταί σε Ἰώβ· περιέφραξας γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔσω καὶ τὰ ἔξω. Ἵν' οὖν μὴ καὶ περὶ τούτων ἔχῃ τις τοῦτο λέγειν, ἐκεῖνοι προλαβόντες ἐνέφραξαν τὸ ἀναίσχυντον στόμα. Ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἔλεγον, κἂν αἰχμάλωτος ᾖ τις, κἂν δοῦλος, κἂν ξένος, κἂν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀλλοτρίας διατρίβῃ γῆς, καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἔχῃ μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ, πάντων βασιλέων βασιλικώτερος ἔσται. Εἶδες καὶ τὴν τῶν γυναικῶν δουλείαν λυθεῖσαν, καὶ τὴν τῶν οἰκετῶν, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀρχομένων; ∆εῦρό σοι δείξω λοιπὸν καὶ τὸν τῶν θηρίων φόβον ἐκβεβλημένον. Ἐνέβαλον τὸν ∆ανιὴλ εἰς τὸν λάκκον ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς Βαβυλῶνός ποτε· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐτόλμων ἅψασθαι οἱ λέοντες αὐτοῦ. Τὴν ἀρχαίαν γὰρ καὶ βασιλικὴν εἰκόνα διαλάμπουσαν εἶδον ἐν αὐτῷ, ἐκείνους τοὺς χαρακτῆρας ἔβλεπον, οὓς ἑώρων ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ πρὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Καὶ γὰρ μετὰ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποταγῆς ἐλθόντες πρὸς τὸν Ἀδὰμ, τὰ ὀνόματα ἐδέξαντο τότε. Καὶ οὐκ ἐνταῦθα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου τοῦτο γέγονε. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος εἰς τὴν βαρβάρων νῆσον ἐκπεσὼν, παρεκάθητο πυρᾷ θερμαινόμενος· εἶτα ἀπὸ τῶν φρυγάνων ἐκπηδήσασα ἔχις καθίκετο αὐτοῦ τῆς χειρός. Τί οὖν μετὰ ταῦτα ἐγίνετο; Ἐξέπεσε τὸ θηρίον εὐθέως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἁμαρτίαν οὐχ εὗρεν, οὐδὲ δακεῖν ἴσχυσεν· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς, ἐπειδάν τινα σκόπελον λεῖον βουλώμεθα ἀναβῆναι, μηδαμόθεν εὑρίσκοντες ἀντιλαβὰς, καταπίπτομεν εὐθέως, κἂν πέλαγος ὑποκείμενον ᾖ, κἂν βάραθρον· οὕτω καὶ τὸ θηρίον ἐκεῖνο, καὶ ταῦτα πυρᾶς ὑποκειμένης, οὐχ εὑρὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν ἀντιλαβὴν, οὐδὲ ὅπου τοὺς 54.602 ὀδόντας ἀπερείσῃ, κατέπεσεν εἰς τὴν πυρὰν, καὶ διεφθάρη. Βούλει καὶ τρίτον εἴπω σοι τρόπον ἀπολογίας; Εἷς μέν ἐστι, τὸ μὴ τοὺς προτέρους ἡμαρτηκέναι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μετ' ἐκείνους· δεύτερος, τὸ τοὺς κατωρθωκότας, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν τῷ παρόντι διατρίβοντας βίῳ, κουφοτέρας πειραθῆναι τῆς δουλείας· μᾶλλον δὲ ὁλοκλήρου ταύτης ἀπαλλαγῆναι, καθάπερ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν γυναικῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀρχομένων, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θηρίων