[That Christ Jesus Our Lord Came to Save Sinners by Repentance.]

XXIV. Take heed, therefore, ye of the laity, lest any one of you fix the reasoning of Amon in his heart, and be suddenly cut off, and perish. In the same manner, let the bishop take all the care he can that those which are yet innocent may not fall into sin; and let him heal and receive those which turn from their sins. But if he is pitiless, and will not receive the repenting sinner, he will sin against the Lord his God, pretending to be more just than God’s justice, and not receiving him whom He has received, through Christ; for whose sake He sent His Son upon earth to men, as a man; for whose sake God was pleased that He, who was the Maker of man and woman, should be born of a woman; for whose sake He did not spare Him from the cross, from death, and burial, but permitted Him to die, who by nature could not suffer, His beloved Son, God the Word, the Angel of His great council, that he might deliver those from death who were obnoxious to death. Him do those provoke to anger who do not receive the penitent. For He was not ashamed of me, Matthew, who had been formerly a publican; and admitted of Peter, when he had through fear denied Him three times, but had appeased Him by repentance, and had wept bitterly; nay, He made him a shepherd to His own lambs. Moreover, He ordained Paul, our fellow-apostle, to be of a persecutor an apostle, and declared him a chosen vessel, even when he had heaped many mischiefs upon us before, and had blasphemed His sacred name. He says also to another, a woman that was a sinner: “Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven, for thou lovest much.”  127  Luke vii. 47. And when the elders had set another woman which had sinned before Him, and had left the sentence to Him, and were gone out, our Lord, the Searcher of the hearts, inquiring of her whether the elders had condemned her, and being answered No, He said unto her: “Go thy way therefore, for neither do I condemn thee.”  128  John viii. 11. This Jesus, O ye bishops, our Saviour, our King, and our God, ought to be set before you as your pattern; and Him you ought to imitate, in being meek, quiet, compassionate, merciful, peaceable, without passion, apt to teach, and diligent to convert, willing to receive and to comfort; no strikers, not soon angry, not injurious, not arrogant, not supercilious, not wine-bibbers, not drunkards, not vainly expensive, not lovers of delicacies, not extravagant, using the gifts of God not as another’s, but as their own, as good stewards appointed over them, as those who will be required by God to give an account of the same.

[Sec. IV.—On the Management of the Resources Collected for the Support of the Clergy, and the Relief of the Poor.]

Let the bishop esteem such food and raiment sufficient as suits necessity and decency. Let him not make use of the Lord’s goods as another’s, but moderately; “for the labourer is worthy of his reward.”  129  Luke x. 7. Let him not be luxurious in diet, or fond of idle furniture, but contented with so much alone as is necessary for his sustenance.

[24] Προσέχετε οὖν, οἱ λαϊκοί, μή τις ἐξ ὑμῶν τὸν λογισμὸν τοῦ Ἀμὼς ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἑαυτοῦ στηρίξῃ, καὶ ἔσται συντόμως ἀπολλύμενος. Ὁμοίως ὁ ἐπίσκοπος συντηρείτω, καθὸ δύναται, τοὺς μὴ ἡμαρτηκότας ἀναμαρτήτους μεῖναι, καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ ἁμαρτιῶν ἐπιστρέφοντας θεραπεύων δεχέσθω. Ἐὰν δὲ μετεγνωκότα ἀνηλεὴς ὢν μὴ προσδέξηται, ἁμαρτήσει εἰς Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν αὐτοῦ, δικαιῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ τὴν ἐκείνου δικαιοσύνην καὶ μὴ προσλαμβανόμενος ὃν προσεδέξατο διὰ Χριστοῦ, δι' ὃν ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὡς ἄνθρωπον, δι' ὃν εὐδόκησεν ἐκ γυναικὸς αὐτὸν γεννηθῆναι τὸν ποιητὴν ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικός: οὗ χάριν, μὴ φεισάμενος σταυρῷ καὶ θανάτῳ καὶ ταφῇ, συνεχώρησεν παθεῖν τὸν τῇ φύσει ἀπαθῆ, τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν ἀγαπητόν, τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον, τὸν τῆς μεγάλης αὐτοῦ βουλῆς ἄγγελον, ὅπως τοὺς ὑποκειμένους θανάτῳ ῥύσηται τοῦ θανάτου. Τοῦτον παροργίζουσιν οἱ μὴ προσδεχόμενοι τοὺς μετανοοῦντας. Οὗτος γὰρ Ματθαῖον ἐμὲ τελώνην ὄντα τὸ πρότερον οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνθη: καὶ Πέτρον, ἀρνησάμενον αὐτὸν διὰ δέος τρίτον καὶ διὰ μετανοίας ἐξιλεωσάμενον καὶ προσκλαύσαντα πικρῶς, προσήκατο καὶ ποιμένα τῶν ἰδίων ἀρνίων κατέστησεν: καὶ Παῦλον δὲ τὸν συναπόστολον ἡμῶν, πολλὰ τὸ πρότερον εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐντριψάμενον κακὰ καὶ βλασφημήσαντα εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον, ἀπόστολον ἀντὶ διώκτου προεχειρίσατο, σκεῦος αὐτὸν ἐκλογῆς ἀναδείξας. Καὶ ἄλλῃ τινὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ γυναικὶ λέγει: »Ἀφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι αἱ πολλαί, ὅτι ἠγάπησας πολύ«. Ἑτέραν δέ τινα ἡμαρτηκυῖαν ἔστησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ θέμενοι τὴν κρίσιν ἐξῆλθον: ὁ δὲ καρδιογνώστης Κύριος, πυθόμενος αὐτῆς, εἰ κατέκριναν αὐτὴν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, καὶ εἰπούσης ὅτι οὔ, εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτήν: »Ὕπαγε, οὐδὲ ἐγώ σε κατακρίνω.« Τοῦτον τὸν σωτῆρα, βασιλέα καὶ Κύριον καὶ Θεὸν ἡμῶν, Ἰησοῦν, ὦ ἐπίσκοποι, σκοπὸν ὑμᾶς ἔχειν δεῖ, τούτου μιμητὰς εἶναι, πραεῖς, ἡσυχίους, εὐσπλάγχνους, ἐλεήμονας, εἰρηνικούς, ἀοργήτους, διδακτικούς, ἐπιστρεπτικούς, εἰσδεκτικούς, παρακλητικούς, μὴ πλήκτας, μὴ ὀργίλους μὴ ὑβριστάς, μὴ ἀλαζόνας, μὴ ὑπεροπτικούς, μὴ οἰνόφλυγας, μὴ μεθύσους, μὴ εἰκαιοδαπάνους, μὴ τρυφητάς, μὴ πολυδαπάνους, μὴ ὡς ἀλλοτρίοις, ἀλλ' ὡς ἰδίοις τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ δόμασιν χρωμένους ὡς καθεστῶτας ἀγαθοὺς οἰκονόμους, ὡς μέλλοντας ἀπαιτεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν λόγον.