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
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 judges; and in any case I will come not only to your love, but also to any synod of the whole world. Therefore know, that if you send to me ten thousand times, you will hear nothing more from me." When these had departed, a notary at 50 feet with an imperial letter, in which they had requested that he, though unwilling, should come to the trial, was urging him to the judgment. After the response to the notary, two of John's presbyters were announced, a certain Eugenius, who received the presidency of Heraclea as a reward for the conspiracy against the bishop John, and the hesychast Isaac—that I may not say otherwise—saying: "The synod has declared to you: 'Come over to us, to defend yourself against the charges.'" To these things John declared in reply through other bishops: "By what procedure do you judge, you who have neither expelled my enemies, and are summoning me through my own clergy?" But they, having seized the bishops, beat one, and tore the clothes of another, and put irons around the neck of a third, which they had prepared for the holy man, so that thus being thrown onto a ship, he might be sent to an unknown place; the demon having made them savage like lions. And the holy man, knowing their shameless intention, restrained himself. But the noble ones, having composed minutes weaker than a spider's web for a charge of impiety, pronounce against the blessed man, whose face they had not seen, nor whose voice they had heard, accomplishing in a single day the evil woven over a long time (for the demonic impulse is unrestrainable, not waiting for deliberation). And sending a report to the emperor, they set forth: "Since John, having been accused of certain evils and being conscious of his guilt, was unwilling to appear, the laws depose such a one; which indeed he has undergone. And the written accusations also contain a charge of treason. Therefore may your piety command that he, even unwilling, be expelled and pay the penalty 51 for treason, since it is not permitted for us to investigate these things." O thrice-wretched men, what you think and what you do? You are ashamed to do these things, respecting or fearing not God, but men. And the treason was the slander against the empress, as they reported, that he called her Jezebel. And the admirable ones, desiring to see his death by the sword, thus reported; but God revealed their inward-dwelling wickedness, and softened the heart of the rulers, just as happened in the case of Daniel in Babylon. For there the lions were tamed, sparing Daniel, but the men were made savage, not sparing the prophet; and God put to shame those who were made savage contrary to nature, by those who were tamed contrary to nature. <CHAPTER 9> Thus John was expelled from the church, a count having been sent with military aid, as if for a barbarian battle line. And having been cast out, he arrives at the small fields near Praenetus of Bithynia. And when the middle of one day had passed, it happened that a certain crash occurred in the bedchamber. Fearing because of this, they recall John through their own notary after a few days, restoring him to his own throne. Thus Theophilus with the Egyptians procures his safety by flight (for the city was seeking to throw him into the sea). After two months, having recovered again from the blow, they rage a second time against John; and not finding a plausible pretext, they send to the sophist of such things in Alexandria, declaring: "Either come again to lead the campaign against John, or, if you fear this 52 on account of the people, suggest to us some way by which we may make a beginning." To this Theophilus himself did not come, knowing how he had escaped, but he sent three wretched bishops, Paul and Poemen and another newly ordained, sending with them also certain canons, which the Arians had made against the blessed Athanasius, so that using these very canons they might weave lawsuits against John, as one who had re-entered his see on his own authority after deposition
τούτους τοῦ συνεδρίου· εἰ δὲ ὡς κατηγόρους, στήσατε εἰς τὴν κρίσιν, ἵνα γνῶ ὅπως κονίζωμαι, πότερον ὡς πρὸς ἀντιδίκους ἢ ὡς
δικαστάς· καὶ πάντως ἐλεύσομαι οὐ μόνον πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν τῆς οἰκουμένης σύνοδον. ὥστε οὖν γνῶτε,
ἐὰν μυριάκις ἀποστείλητε πρός με, οὐδὲν πλέον ἀκούσεσθε παρ' ἐμοῦ." τούτων ἐξελθόντων, νοτάριος παρὰ 50 πόδας γράμμα ἔχων
βασιλικόν, ἐν ᾧ προεδεήθησαν ἄκοντα αὐτὸν ἀπαντῆσαι εἰς τὴν δίκην, κατήπειγεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν κρίσιν. μετὰ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν τὴν
πρὸς τὸν νοτάριον ἐμηνύθησαν δύο πρεσβύτεροι τοῦ Ἰωάννου, Εὐγένιός τις, ὃς μισθὸν τῆς κατὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου Ἰωάννου συσκευῆς
τὴν προεδρίαν ἔλαβεν Ἡρακλείας, καὶ ὁ ἡσυχαστὴς Ἰσαάκιος-ἵνα μὴ ἄλλως εἴπω- λέγοντες· "Ἐδήλωσέν σοι ἡ σύνοδος· "Πέρασον πρὸς
ἡμᾶς, ἀπολογησόμενος τὰ ἐγκλήματα."" πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Ἰωάννης ἀντε δήλωσεν δι' ἐπισκόπων ἑτέρων· "Ποίᾳ ἀκολουθίᾳ δικάζετε, οἱ
μήτε τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐξώσαντες, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἐμῶν κληρικῶν με μεταστελλόμενοι;" οἱ δὲ λαβόντες τοὺς ἐπισκόπους, τὸν μὲν ἔδειραν,
τὸν δὲ περιέσχισαν, τῷ δὲ σίδηρα τῷ τραχήλῳ περιέθηκαν, ἃ ἦσαν εὐτρεπίσαντες τῷ ἁγίῳ, ἵν' οὕτως βληθεὶς εἰς πλοῖον, εἰς ἄδηλον
ἀποσταλῇ τόπον· τοῦ δαίμονος καθάπερ λέοντας ἀγριώσαντος αὐτούς. καὶ ὁ μὲν ὅσιος, εἰδὼς τὴν ἀναιδῆ αὐτῶν γνώμην, ἑαυτὸν ἐπέσχεν.
οἱ δὲ γεννάδες, πράξαντες ὑπομνημάτια ἀράχνης ἀσθενέστερα πρὸς ἀφοσίωσιν, ἀποφαί νονται κατὰ τοῦ μακαρίου, οὗ οὔτε τὸ πρόσωπον
εἶδον, οὔτε φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἤκουσαν, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ τὴν ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ ὑφαι νομένην κακίαν συμπεραιώσαντες (ἀνεπίσχετον γὰρ τὸ δαιμο
νιῶδες ὅρμημα, οὐκ ἀναμένον σκέψιν). καὶ πέμψαντες τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀναφορὰν προέταξαν· "Ἐπειδὴ κατηγορηθεὶς Ἰωάννης ἐπὶ κακοῖς
τισι καὶ συνειδὼς ἑαυτῷ, οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ἀπαντῆσαι, τόνδε τοιοῦτον καθαιροῦσιν οἱ νόμοι· ὃ δὴ καὶ ὑπέστη. περι έχουσι δὲ οἱ λίβελλοι
καὶ καθοσιώσεως ἔγκλημα. κελεύσει οὖν ἡ ὑμῶν εὐσέβεια καὶ ἄκοντα αὐτὸν ἐξωσθῆναι καὶ δίκας δοῦναι 51 ἐπὶ τῇ καθοσιώσει, ἐπειδὴ
ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔξεστι ταῦτα ζητεῖν." ὦ τρισάθλιοι, ἃ φρονεῖτε καὶ ποιεῖτε; αἰσχύνεσθε ταῦτα ποιεῖν, οὐ Θεόν, ἀλλὰ ἀνθρώπους αἰδούμενοι
ἢ φοβούμενοι. ἦν δὲ ἡ καθοσίωσις ἡ εἰς τὴν βασίλισσαν λοιδορία, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι ἀνή νεγκαν, ὅτι εἶπεν αὐτὴν Ἰεζάβελ. καὶ οἱ μὲν
θαυμάσιοι, τὸν διὰ ξίφους θάνατον αὐτοῦ ποθήσαντες ἰδεῖν, οὕτως ἀνήνεγκαν· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς καὶ τούτων ἐφανέρωσεν τὴν ἐνδομυχοῦσαν
κακίαν, καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐμαλάκυνε τὴν καρδίαν, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ συνέβη ἐν Βαβυλῶνι. ἐκεῖ γὰρ οἱ μὲν λέοντες ἡμερώθησαν,
φεισάμενοι τοῦ ∆ανιήλ, οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι ἠγριώθησαν, ἀφειδή σαντες τοῦ προφήτου· καὶ ἐδυσώπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς παρὰ φύσιν ἀγριωθέντας,
τῶν παρὰ φύσιν ἡμερωθέντων. <ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Θʹ> Οὕτως ἐξεώσθη ὁ Ἰωάννης τῆς ἐκκλησίας, κόμητος ἀποστα λέντος σὺν στρατιωτικῇ βοηθείᾳ,
καθάπερ ἐπὶ βαρβαρικῆς παρατάξεως. ἐκβληθεὶς δὲ φθάνει εἰς τὰ κατὰ Πραίνετον τῆς Βιθυνίας ἀγρίδια. μέσης δὲ διαγενομένης ἡμέρας
μιᾶς, συνέβη θραῦσίν τινα γενέσθαι ἐν τῷ κοιτῶνι. φοβηθέντες ἐκ τούτου, δι' οἰκείου νοταρίου ἀνακαλοῦνται τὸν Ἰωάννην μετὰ
ἡμέρας ὀλίγας, ἀποδόντες τῷ οἰκείῳ θρόνῳ. οὕτως ὁ Θεόφιλος σὺν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν πορίζεται (ἐζήτει γὰρ ἡ πόλις
αὐτὸν θαλασσῶσαι). μετὰ δύο μῆνας πάλιν ὑπαναπνεύ σαντες τῆς πληγῆς, φρυάττονται ἐκ δευτέρου κατὰ τοῦ Ἰωάννου· καὶ εὐπρόσωπον
ἀρχὴν οὐχ εὑρίσκοντες, πέμπουσι πρὸς τὸν σοφιστὴν τῶν τοιούτων εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν δηλώσαντες· "Ἢ πάλιν ἀπάντησον στρατηγήσων
κατὰ τοῦ Ἰωάννου, ἤ, εἰ τοῦτο 52 δέδοικας διὰ τοὺς λαούς, τρόπον ἡμῖν ὑπόθου τινά, δι' οὗ τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιήσωμεν." πρὸς τούτοις
ὁ Θεόφιλος αὐτὸς μὲν οὐκ ἀπήντησεν, εἰδὼς ὅπως διέφυγεν, ἀπέστειλεν δὲ τρεῖς ἐλεεινοὺς ἐπισκόπους, Παῦλον καὶ Ποιμένα καὶ
ἕτερον νεοχειροτόνητον, συναποστείλας αὐτοῖς καὶ κανόνας τινάς, οὓς πεποιήκεισαν οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ κατὰ τοῦ μακαρίου Ἀθανασίου,
ἵνα αὐτοῖς τοῖς κανόσι χρησάμενοι δίκας πλέξωσι τῷ Ἰωάννῃ, ὡς μετὰ καθαί ρεσιν ἑαυτῷ ἐπεισελθόντι
