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

(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 does not unrestrainedly rush faster than is necessary, awaiting on it neither judgment nor consideration. and using an unreasoning impulse, he proceeds disorderly to its approval, and firmly relying on the decided resolution, he vigorously disputes with anyone who wishes to declare against it; always striving to show his own judgment and verdict to be victorious and prevailing); which indeed they do, knowing his character. For having summoned all the metropolitans and bishops of Syria and Cappadocia and of the Pontic diocese and Phrygia, they gather them together in Constantinople. And those who arrived, according to the sequence of the canons, communed with John, so that they might not do the same things as the first ones. But those in power, having learned of this, were indignant at their communion. And Theodore, the bishop of Tyana, a man of good bearing, understanding the plot from what came to his ears, so that he might not follow the rashness of Theophilus, leaving everyone without ceremony, took possession of his own church, bidding a long farewell to the court, securing his own province with the wall of piety, remaining until the end in the communion of the faithful Romans, to whom Paul bears witness, saying: "Your faith is proclaimed in all the world." But Pharetrius, of Caesarea near Argaeus, 53 having become exceedingly fearful, just as mere children of bugbears, not even having gone out of his own city, he sides with the opposition through letters, although not even having been called into the midst, behaving unseemly concerning the presidency, through folly for greater things. But Leontius, of Ancyra in Galatia, having been spun together with Ammonius of Laodicea the Burnt, made the church a burnt one. Not only having been defeated by the threats of those in power, but on the contrary, having been deceived by the hope of royal gifts in the second synod, they bring forward a wicked opinion to Acacius and Antiochus, to uphold the unjudged judgment of Theophilus, and not to give any opportunity for a defense to John at all, with the justification of the canons sent by Theophilus, which the forty of the communion of Arius decreed in writing: "If any bishop or presbyter, having been deposed justly or unjustly, should enter into the church on his own authority without a synod, such a one should no longer have an opportunity for a defense but be completely cast out" —and this canon, as unlawful, having been laid down by unlawful men, was ostracized at Sardica by the Romans and Italians and Illyrians and Macedonians and Greeks (as you yourself know better, great-named Theodore), when Liberius or Julius, in the time of emperor Constans, received Athanasius into communion, and Marcellus the Galatian, on account of whom that canon was also established. However, the pair of wonderful men, Ammonius and Leontius, having become entangled with Acacius and Antiochus and Cyrinus of Chalcedon and Severian, went in to the emperor, having instructed him to summon ten bishops from John's party (and there were more than forty) for the establishing of the canons, with some asserting that they were orthodox, and others proving that they were Arian. But having entered, the party of Elpidius, old in both soul and gray hair, of Laodicea 54 in Syria, and Tranquillius, persuaded the emperor that it was not necessary for John to be cast out without reason: "For neither was he deposed before, but he was driven out by the count; nor indeed did he enter on his own authority, but by the command of your piety, a notary having been sent; and now also, the canons which they bring forward, we show them to be of heretics." But as those against John persisted, disorderly contending, some with a louder voice, others, being agitated, shaking themselves impetuously before the emperor with a heaving of their chests; gently the most lawful Elpidius, when a little calm had occurred, said to the emperor: "O Emperor, let us not trouble your clemency at length, but let this be done: let those around the

(ὁρμητικὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἐκ φύσεως, καὶ προπετὴς καὶ θρασὺς καὶ διαφερόντως φιλόνεικος-οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστι τοῦ φανέντος αὐτῷ ὑπὸ τῆς ὄψεως, <πρὸς> ὃ οὐχὶ θᾶττον τοῦ δέοντος ἀκατασχέτως ὁρμᾷ, ἐπ' αὐτῷ μήτε κρίσιν μήτε σκέψιν ἀναμένων. ἀλογίστῳ δὲ φορᾷ χρώμενος ἀτάκτως βαδίζει ἐπὶ τὴν τούτου συγκατάθεσιν, καὶ τῇ ψηφισθείσῃ ἀποφάσει βεβαίως ἐπερειδόμενος εὐτόνως ἀντιφιλονεικεῖ παντὶ τῷ βουλο μένῳ ἀνταποφήνασθαι· σπουδάζων ἀεὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κρίσιν τε καὶ ψῆφον νικῶσάν τε καὶ κρατοῦσαν ἀποφαίνειν)· ὃ δὴ καὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐπιστάμενοι αὐτοῦ τὸ ἦθος. μετακαλεσάμενοι γὰρ τῆς Συρίας καὶ Καππαδοκίας καὶ τῆς Ποντικῆς διοικήσεως καὶ Φρυγίας ὅλους μητροπολίτας καὶ ἐπισκόπους, συναθροίζουσιν εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν. οἱ δὲ παραγενόμενοι κατὰ τὴν τῶν κανόνων ἀκολουθίαν ἐκοινώνησαν τῷ Ἰωάννῃ, ἵνα μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς πρώτοις ἐργάσωνται. γνόντες δὲ οἱ κρατοῦντες ἠγανά κτησαν ἐπὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ αὐτῶν. καὶ Θεόδωρος μὲν ὁ Τυάνων ἐπίσκοπος, ἀνὴρ εὐσχήμων, συνεὶς τὴν σκευωρίαν ἐξ ὧν ἦλθεν εἰς τὰ ὦτα αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ἐξακολουθήσῃ τῇ προπετείᾳ Θεοφίλου, ἀσυντάκτως καταλιπὼν τοὺς πάντας, κατέλαβεν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, μακρὰν χαίρειν εἰπὼν τῷ κομιτάτῳ, ἀσφαλισάμενος ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἐπαρχίαν τῷ τείχει τῆς εὐσεβείας, μέχρι τέλους ἐμμείνας τῇ τῶν πιστῶν Ῥωμαίων κοινωνίᾳ, οἷς μαρτυρεῖ ὁ Παῦλος λέγων· "Ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ καταγγέλλεται." Φαρέτριος δέ, ὁ Καισαρείας τῆς πρὸς τῷ Ἀργαίῳ, 53 ὑπερβολῇ δειλιάσας, καθάπερ οἱ κομιδῇ παῖδες τὰ μορμολυκεῖα, μηδ' ἐξελθὼν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν πόλιν, συντίθεται τοῖς ἐναντίοις διὰ γραμμάτων, καίπερ μηδὲ κληθεὶς εἰς τὸ μέσον, ἀπειροκάλως ἔχων περὶ τὴν προεδρίαν ἀνοίᾳ τῶν κρειττόνων. Λεόντιος δέ, ὁ Ἀγκύρας τῆς Γαλατίας, συγκλωσθεὶς Ἀμμωνίῳ τῷ Λαοδικείας τῆς κεκαυμένης, κεκαυμένην ἐποίησαν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. οὐ μόνον ἡττηθέντες ταῖς τῶν κρατούντων ἀπειλαῖς, ἀλλὰ τοὐν αντίον ἐλπίδι δώρων βασιλικῶν ἀπατηθέντες ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ συνόδῳ, εἰσφέρουσι γνώμην μοχθηρὰν τοῖς περὶ Ἀκάκιον καὶ Ἀντίοχον, κρατῆσαι τὴν Θεοφίλου ἄκριτον κρίσιν, καὶ μηδ' ὅλως δοῦναι τόπον ἀπολογίας τῷ Ἰωάννῃ, δικαιολογίᾳ τῇ τῶν κανόνων τῶν ὑπὸ Θεοφίλου ἀποσταλέντων, οὓς ἐθέσπισαν οἱ τεσσαράκοντα τῶν Ἀρείου κοινωνικῶν γράψαντες· "Εἴ τις ἐπίσκοπος ἢ πρεσβύτερος, ἀδίκως ἢ δικαίως καθαιρεθείς, ἑαυτῷ ἐπεισέλθοι δίχα συνόδου εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, τὸν τοιοῦτον μηκέτι ἔχειν χώραν ἀπολογίας ἀλλὰ τέλεον ἐξωθεῖσθαι" -καὶ οὗτος μὲν ὁ κανών, ὡς παράνομος ὑπὸ παρανόμων τεθείς, ἐξωστρα κίσθη ἐν Σαρδικῇ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Ἰταλῶν καὶ Ἰλλυριῶν καὶ Μακεδόνων καὶ Ἑλλαδικῶν (ὡς μᾶλλον αὐτὸς οἶσθα, μεγαλώνυμε Θεόδωρε), ὁπηνίκα Λιβέριος ἢ Ἰούλιος ἐπὶ Κώνσταντος βασιλέως ἐδέξατο τὸν Ἀθανάσιον εἰς κοινωνίαν καὶ Μάρκελλον τὸν Γαλάτην, δι' οὓς καὶ ὁ κανὼν ἐκεῖνος ἐτέθη. ἡ μέντοι δυὰς τῶν θαυμασίων τῶν περὶ Ἀμμώνιον καὶ Λεόντιον, συμπλα κέντες Ἀκακίῳ καὶ Ἀντιόχῳ καὶ Κυρίνῳ τῷ Χαλκηδόνος καὶ Σευηριανῷ, εἰσῆλθον πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἀναδιδάξαντες εἰσκλη θῆναι τοῦ μέρους τοῦ Ἰωάννου δέκα ἐπισκόπους (ἦσαν δὲ πλείους τῶν τεσσαράκοντα) ἐπὶ συστάσει τῶν κανόνων, τῶν μὲν διϊσχυριζομένων ὀρθοδόξων αὐτοὺς εἶναι, τῶν δὲ ἀπο δεικνυόντων αὐτοὺς Ἀρειανῶν ὑπάρχειν. εἰσελθόντες δὲ οἱ περὶ τὸν γέροντα ψυχῇ τε καὶ πολιᾷ Ἐλπίδιον, τὸν Λαοδικείας 54 τῆς Συρίας, καὶ Τραγκύλλιον, ἔπειθον τὸν βασιλέα μὴ δεῖν ἀλόγως ἐκβάλλεσθαι τὸν Ἰωάννην· "Οὔτε γὰρ τὸ πρότερον καθῄρηται, ἀλλ' ἐξεώσθη ὑπὸ τοῦ κόμητος· οὔτε μὴν ἑαυτῷ ἐπεισῆλθεν, ἀλλὰ προστάγματι τῆς σῆς εὐσεβείας, νοταρίου ἀποσταλέντος· καὶ νῦν δὲ οὓς προφέρουσι κανόνας, αἱρετικῶν αὐτοὺς δείκνυμεν ὄντας." ὡς δ' ἐπέμειναν ἄτακτα ζυγομα χοῦντες οἱ κατὰ Ἰωάννου, οἱ μὲν γεγωνοτέρᾳ φωνῇ, οἱ δὲ σεσοβημένοι στέρνων κινήσει ἀνασειόμενοι ἰταμῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ βασιλέως· πράως ὁ ἐνθεσμότατος Ἐλπίδιος, μικρᾶς παραγενο μένης γαλήνης, ἔφησεν τῷ βασιλεῖ· "Βασιλεῦ, μὴ σκύλλωμεν ἐπὶ πολὺ τὴν σὴν ἡμερότητα, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο γενέσθω· ὑπογραψά τωσαν οἱ περὶ τὸν