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 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 the canons of Nicaea, where they ordain 'a bishop from beyond the border is not to judge a case'; but if you are ignorant, having learned, abstain from libels against me. For if I must be judged, it would be by the Egyptians, and not by you who are seventy-five days' journey away." <CHAPTER Ηʹ> John, having taken and read the letter, kept it to himself, but to the ascetics of both parties 43 he spoke things for peace. But both parties, having heard, were hardened, the one as having been tyrannized, the other as not having the authority for peace without Theophilus, because also at his command they had submitted the petitions of slander. Thus John, having given them an answer, dismissed it from his mind. In addition to this, the monks of the wronged party departed and composed petitions of many lines, writing against the monks as slanderers, and against Theophilus the things of Theophilus—that I may not otherwise say as much as each one knows. And having petitioned the Augusti, they approach the empress in the martyrium of Saint John, requesting that the petition against the opposing monks be examined before the prefects, and that Theophilus, having appeared, willing or not, be judged before John. The petition was acted upon, having this decision: "That Theophilus, having appeared through the Magister, both willing and unwilling, should stand trial before John; and the monks of Theophilus should either prove their case regarding the crimes with which they charged the holy old men, or suffer the penalty for slanderers." So then Elaphius, now of the *principes*, was sent to Alexandria to bring Theophilus, and the prefects carried out the rest of the decision. But as the case was being examined and ending in a deadlock, the laws loomed, flashing the sword, and those wretched men, fearing the outcome, lay the blame on Theophilus, as having suborned them and dictated the petitions. Thus the court throws them into prison until the arrival of Theophilus, not tolerating the acceptance of bail in such a case. And of these, some died in prison, having wasted time because of Theophilus's slowness, while others, after the arrival of Theophilus who smoothed over the 44 matter with money, in the final examination were condemned by the laws to live in Proconnesus as slanderers. Thus Theophilus arrived, like a beetle laden with the dung of the finest things from Egypt and India <itself>, pouring out fragrance instead of the stench of envy, he entered Constantinople at the sixth hour, on the fifth day of the week, acclaimed by a naval crowd. carrying off a dishonorable glory, about which the apostle foretold: "Whose glory is in their shame," adding, "who mind earthly things." And he is lodged in the tents of the unrighteous, having fled the church, forgetting that Davidic saying, "I had rather be cast forth in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of sinners"; being kept from the church by his own conscience. And having spent three weeks of days, he neither met with Bishop John according to the custom of bishops, nor did he approach the church at all, but remained striving night and day, having joined the new enmity to the old, so that he might expel Bishop John, not only from the church, but even from life itself; on the one hand by lavishness of gold buying the superstitious among the powerful against the truth, on the other by a costly table enslaving the gluttonous, and on another by flattery and the promise of greater dignity winning over the fellow-impostors among the clergy. Having bound all these without a rope by pleasures, like some people-deceiving demon, having bewitched the judgment of their souls, he sought a demonic character for the service of the drama, which indeed he found. For two deacons having been expelled from the church by the 45 bishop
ἐκκλησίας, ∆ιόσκορον τὸν ἐπίσκοπον, γεγηρακότα ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ· τῷ δ' ἐπισκόπῳ Ἰωάννῃ γράφει· "Οἶμαι μέν σε μὴ ἀγνοεῖν τὸ διάταγμα
τῶν κανόνων τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ, ὅπου θεσπίζουσιν "ἐπίσκοπον ὑπερόριον μὴ κρίνειν δίκην"· εἰ δὲ ἀγνοεῖς, μαθὼν ἀπόσχου τῶν κατ'
ἐμοῦ λιβέλλων. εἰ γὰρ καὶ δέοι με κριθῆναι, παρὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ οὐ παρὰ σοῦ ἀφεστῶτος ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ἡμερῶν ὁδόν."
<ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ηʹ> Λαβὼν τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ὁ Ἰωάννης καὶ ἀναγνούς, ταύτην μὲν ἔσχεν παρ' ἑαυτῷ, τοῖς δὲ ἀσκηταῖς ἀμφοτέρων τῶν μερῶν
43 διελέχθη τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην. ἀκούσαντα δὲ ἀμφότερα τὰ μέρη ἐτραχύνθη, τὸ μὲν ὡς τετυραννημένον, τὸ δὲ ὡς οὐκ ἔχον ἄνευ Θεοφίλου
τὴν τῆς εἰρήνης ἐξουσίαν, διὰ τὸ καὶ κατὰ κέλευσιν αὐτοῦ ἐπιδεδωκέναι τὰς τῆς συκοφαντίας δεήσεις. οὕτως ὁ Ἰωάννης δοὺς αὐτοῖς
ἀπόκρισιν ἀπέλυσεν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διανοίας. πρὸς τούτοις ἀναχωρήσαντες οἱ μοναχοὶ τοῦ μέρους τοῦ ἠδικη μένου, συντάσσουσι πολυστίχους
δεήσεις, ἐγγράψαντες κατὰ μὲν τῶν μοναχῶν ὡς συκοφαντῶν, κατὰ δὲ Θεοφίλου τὰ Θεο φίλου-ἵνα μὴ ἄλλως εἴπω τοσαῦτα ὅσα ἕκαστος
οἶδεν. καὶ ἐντευξάμενοι τοῖς αὐγούστοις προσέρχονται ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τῇ βασιλίσσῃ δεηθέντες, τῶν μὲν ἀντιδίκων
μοναχῶν τὴν δέησιν παρὰ τοῖς ἐπάρχοις γυμνασθῆναι, τὸν δὲ Θεόφιλον παραστάντα καὶ ἄκοντα ἐπὶ Ἰωάννου κριθῆναι. ἐπράχθη ἡ δέησις
ἔχουσα τὴν ἀπόφασιν τήνδε· "Ὥστε τὸν μὲν Θεόφιλον, παραστάντα διὰ τοῦ μαγίστρου καὶ ἕκοντα καὶ ἄκοντα, δοῦναι δίκην ἐπὶ Ἰωάννου·
τοὺς δὲ Θεοφίλου μοναχοὺς ἢ συστῆναι ἑαυτοῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐγκλήμασιν, οἷς κατηγόρησαν τῶν ἁγίων γερόντων, ἢ τὰ τῶν συκοφαντῶν
ὑφίστασθαι." οὕτως οὖν εἰς μὲν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἀπεστάλη Ἐλάφιος, ὁ νῦν ἀπὸ πριγκίπων, διαγαγεῖν τὸν Θεόφιλον, τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν
ἀπόφασιν οἱ ἔπαρχοι ἐξεβίβασαν. γυμναζομένης δὲ τῆς δίκης καὶ εἰς ἄπορον καταληγούσης, οἱ μὲν νόμοι ἐπέκειντο ἀποστίλβοντες
τὸ ξίφος, οἱ δὲ ἄθλιοι ἐκεῖνοι φοβηθέντες τὴν ἔκβασιν ὑπερτί θενται εἰς Θεόφιλον, ὡς αὐτοῦ αὐτοὺς ὑποβαλόντος καὶ τὰς δεήσεις
ὑπαγορεύσαντος. οὕτως ἡ τάξις βάλλει αὐτοὺς εἰς δεσμωτήριον μέχρι τῆς Θεοφίλου παρουσίας, μὴ ἀνασχομένη ἐπὶ τοιαύτῃ ὑποθέσει
δέξασθαι ἐγγύας. καὶ τούτων οἱ μὲν τελευτῶσιν ἐν τῇ εἱρκτῇ χρονοτριβήσαντες διὰ τὴν Θεοφίλου βραδυτῆτα, οἱ δὲ μετὰ τὴν Θεοφίλου
παρουσίαν χρήμασι τὸ 44 πρᾶγμα ἐξευμαρίσαντος, ἐν τελευταίᾳ ἐξετάσει τὴν Προκο νησσὸν οἰκεῖν παρὰ τῶν νόμων κατεκρίθησαν ὡς
συκοφάνται. οὕτως ὁ Θεόφιλος παραστάς, καθάπερ κάνθαρος πεφορτωμένος τῆς κόπρου τῶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καλλίστων καὶ αὐτῆς <τῆς>
Ἰνδίας, ὑπὲρ δυσώδους φθόνου εὐωδίαν ἐκχέων, εἰσῄει εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἕκτην ὥραν, τῇ πέμπτῃ τοῦ σαββάτου, ὑπὸ τοῦ
ναυτικοῦ κατακροτούμενος στίφους. τὴν ἄτιμον ἀπο φερόμενος δόξαν, περὶ ἧς προεῖπεν ὁ ἀπόστολος· "Ὧν ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν,"
ἐπενεγκών, "οἱ τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες." καὶ ξενίζεται ἐν σκηνώμασιν οὐ δικαίων, φυγὼν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἐπιλαθόμενος τὸ ∆αυειδικὸν
ἐκεῖνο, "Ἐξελεξάμην παραῤῥιπτ εῖσθαι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου μᾶλλον ἢ οἰκεῖν με ἐν σκηνώ μασιν ἁμαρτωλῶν"· εἱργόμενος τῆς
ἐκκλησίας ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου συνειδότος. διατρίψας δὲ τρεῖς ἑβδομάδας ἡμερῶν, οὔτε τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Ἰωάννῃ συνέτυχεν κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῶν
ἐπισκόπων, οὔτε ἐπλησίασεν ὅλως τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἔμενεν ἀγωνιζόμενος νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν τὸ νέον ἔχθος τῷ παλαιῷ ἐπι
συνάψας, ὅπως τὸν ἐπίσκοπον Ἰωάννην ἐξώσῃ, οὐ μόνον τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ζῆν· τοῦτο μὲν ἀφειδίᾳ χρυσίου τοὺς
δεισιδαίμονας τῶν κρατούντων ὠνούμενος κατὰ τῆς ἀλη θείας, τοῦτο δὲ πολυτελεῖ τραπέζῃ τοὺς γαστριμάργους δουλού μενος, τοῦτο
δὲ καὶ κολακείᾳ καὶ ὑποσχέσει τῆς μείζονος ἀξίας τοὺς συμφένακας τῶν κληρικῶν ἐπαγόμενος. συνδήσας πάντας τούτους ἄνευ σχοινίου
ταῖς ἡδοναῖς, καθάπερ λαοπλάνος τις δαί μων, τὸ κριτικὸν τῶν ψυχῶν καταγοητεύσας, ἐζήτει πρόσωπον δαιμονιῶδες εἰς τὴν τοῦ
δράματος ὑπηρεσίαν, ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐπέτυχεν. δύο γὰρ διακόνων ἐκβληθέντων τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπι 45 σκόπου
