23

in the days of idleness. You have need of one thing, simple and concise, of which you yourselves are masters. What then is this? Learn to do good. Of which you are now completely disobedient and uninstructed. Since, therefore, the good is teachable, but the law did not teach you (for its teachings have been cast out as not good) it is entirely necessary, then, to take refuge in the school of the Gospel. Understand for me the method of the economy of the word from a clear example. Let there be someone of the luxurious and rich, and the things prepared for him for his diet are various; and let this man be ill-disposed toward the rest, but well-disposed toward only one thing, then as each of the unwanted things is sent away by him, let him bring his servants to the necessity of coming to that thing which is secretly sought according to nature; so also now, with all the things of the law having been cast out in succession, the acceptance of the Gospel is necessarily established. Wash yourselves. And what is the profit? That you may become clean. For what is the need of cleanness? That you may see God. Is it therefore sufficient for me, having been washed and having received forgiveness for my former sins, to be at rest? or is there need of something else also? 1.39 Take away the evils from your souls from before my eyes. For the cleansing through the bath depends on the philanthropy of the Master; but the putting away of evil is the work of our own diligence. But lest, hoping only in the grace from the bath, we remain inactive concerning the Commandments, for this reason he adds the whole collection of life: Take away the evils from your hearts. As it were, uproot from the ruling faculty the evil thoughts, so that neither a word nor any work of wickedness may be born. Before my eyes. Since many things concerning the virtuous life are practiced by those outside the faith (such as abstinence from pleasures in company and foods, and a stable and untroubled character) he was not satisfied with saying: Take away the evils, but added Before my eyes, as no action can be fittingly accomplished, unless it be done with piety toward Christ. Or, since the Father sees in secret, Before my eyes, he says, from the places seen by God; that we may not only remove it from our actions, but also from our thoughts. But this comes about through perfect love; because Love (according to Paul) does not think evil. 1.40 Learn to do good. For the moral discourse is not clear, nor immediately available to all; since the doing of good things is something to be taught. For justly (he says) you shall pursue what is just; that is, with the words concerning justice you shall accomplish the just action. For just as it is possible to do something medicinal, but not medically, so it is possible to do something just, and not justly. For example, the use of the herb itself is medicinal; but medically, is the reasoning that has considered both the power of the herb and the particularity of the disease and the timing and the measure and the manner of its use. For that which is according to knowledge differs from the spontaneous; for he who acts according to art will always do the same things, as long as he has the reason; but he who acts spontaneously will not always have the beneficial things coinciding; but if he saved today, with the same things he once also destroyed. So also the practice of the good, when worked according to knowledge, is rendered evenly, as long as this logos, dwelling within, presides over each of the things that happen. And he shows in other places the necessity of learning what must be done, saying: Everyone who does not learn justice on the earth will not do truth. And David also places the divine fear among the things that can be taught, saying: Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 1.41 Seek out judgment, that is, that of Christ, according to which, judging us, he gives to us what is according to our worth, which if we do not seek out, nor have before our eyes, we are not able to persist in the doing of good things. For a guide to piety is the thought of the things that have been proclaimed, which are fearful for us in the judgment. Or that all

23

ἐν ταῖς ἀργίαις. Ἑνός σοι χρεία, ἁπλοῦ καὶ συντόμου, οὗ αὐτοὶ ὑμεῖς ἐστε κύριοι. Τί οὖν ἐστι τοῦτο; Μάθετε καλὸν ποιεῖν. Οὗ παν τελῶς νῦν ἀπειθῶς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτως ἔχετε. Ἐπεὶ οὖν διδακτὸν τὸ καλὸν, ὁ δὲ νόμος ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἐδίδαξεν (ἐκβέβληται γὰρ αὐτοῦ, ὡς οὐ καλὰ, τὰ διδάγματα) πᾶσα ἀνάγκη λοιπὸν, ἐπὶ τὸ εὐαγγελικὸν διδασκαλεῖον καταφυγεῖν· Νόησόν μοι τὴν μέθοδον τῆς οἰκονομίας τοῦ λόγου ἀπὸ ὑπο δείγματος ἐναργοῦς. Ἔστω τις τῶν πολυτελῶν καὶ πλουσίων, καὶ τὰ παρασκευασθέντα αὐτῷ ποικίλα τὰ πρὸς τὴν δίαιταν· ἐχέτω δὲ οὗτος πρὸς μὲν τὰ λοιπὰ δυσαρέστως, πρὸς ἓν δὲ μόνον ἐπιτηδείως, εἶτα καθ' ἕκαστον αὐτῷ τῶν ἀβουλήτων ἀποπεμπομένων, εἰς ἀνάγκην ἀγέτω τοὺς θεραπεύοντας εἰς ἐκεῖνο ἐλθεῖν τὸ κατὰ φύσιν λανθανόντως ἐπιζητούμενον· οὕτω καὶ νῦν, πάντων ἐφεξῆς ἐκβεβλημένων τῶν νομικῶν, ἀναγκαίως ἡ παραδοχὴ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου κατασκευάζεται. Λούσασθε. Καὶ τί τὸ κέρδος; Ἵνα καθαροὶ γένησθε. Εἰς τί δὲ χρεία καθαρότητος; Ἵνα τὸν Θεὸν ἴδητε. Ἆρ' οὖν ἐξαρκεῖ λουσάμενόν με καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς προτέροις λαβόντα συγχώρησιν ἡσυχάζειν; ἤ τινος καὶ ἑτέρου χρεία; 1.39 Ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν ἀπ έναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ διὰ λουτροῦ κάθαρσις τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἤρτηται τοῦ ∆εσπότου· ἡ δὲ τῆς πονηρίας ἀπόθεσις, ἔργον τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιμελείας ἐστίν. Ἵνα δὲ μὴ μόνῃ τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ λουτροῦ χάριτι ἐπελπίζοντες, ἄπρακτοι μείνωμεν ἀπὸ τῶν Ἐντολῶν, διὰ τοῦτο ἐπισυνάπτει πᾶσαν τοῦ βίου τὴν συναγωγήν· Ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν καρδιῶν ὑμῶν. Οἱονεὶ ἐκριζώσατε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ τὰς πονηρὰς ἐννοίας, ὡς μήτε λόγον, μήτε τι ἔργον ἀπογεννᾶ σθαι τῶν μοχθηρῶν. Ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου. Ἐπειδὴ πολλὰ τῶν κατὰ τὸν σπουδαῖον βίον παρὰ τῶν ἔξω τῆς πίστεως ἐπιτηδεύεται (οἷον ἀποχὴ τῶν ἐν συνουσίαις καὶ βρωμάτων ἡδοναῖς καὶ τὸ ἐν ἤθει εὐσταθὲς καὶ ἀτάραχον) οὐκ ἠρκέσθη τῷ εἰπεῖν· Ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας, ἀλλὰ προσ έθηκε τὸ Ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου, ὡς οὐδεμιᾶς πρά ξεως καθηκόντως ἐπιτελεῖσθαι δυναμένης, εἰ μὴ μετὰ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν εὐσεβείας γένοιτο. Ἢ ἐπειδὴ ὁ Πατὴρ βλέπει ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, Ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου, ἀπὸ τῶν τό πων λέγει, τῶν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ βλεπομένων· ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἀπὸ τῶν πράξεων αὐτὴν περιέλωμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν δια λογισμῶν. Τοῦτο δὲ διὰ τῆς τελείας ἀγάπης περιγίνεται· διότι Ἡ ἀγάπη (κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον) οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν. 1.40 Μάθετε καλὸν ποιεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ σαφὴς ὁ ἠθικὸς λόγος, οὐδὲ πᾶσιν αὐτόθεν ἐκκεί μενος· εἴπερ διδακτόν ἐστι τὸ ποιεῖν τὰ καλά. ∆ικαίως γὰρ (φησὶ) τὸ δίκαιον διώξεις· τουτέστι μετὰ τῶν περὶ δικαιοσύ νης λόγων τὴν δικαίαν πρᾶξιν ἐπιτελέσεις. Ὡς γάρ ἐστί τι ποιῆσαι ἰατρικὸν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἰατρικῶς, οὕτως ἐστί τι ποιῆσαι δίκαιον, καὶ μὴ δικαίως. Οἷον ἰατρικὸν μὲν, αὐτὴ ἡ τῆς βο τάνης χρῆσις· ἰατρικῶς δὲ, ὁ λόγος καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς βοτά νης καὶ τοῦ πάθους τὴν ἰδιότητα καὶ τὸν καιρὸν καὶ τὸ μέ τρον καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς χρήσεως ἐπεσκεμμένος. ∆ιαφέρει δὲ τὸ κατ' ἐπιστήμην τοῦ αὐτομάτου· ὁ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τὴν τέχνην ποιῶν, ἀεὶ τὰ αὐτὰ ποιήσει, ἕως ἂν ἔχῃ τὸν λόγον· ὁ δὲ αὐτομάτως, οὐκ ἀεὶ συντρέχοντα ἕξει τὰ ὠφελοῦντα· ἀλλ' εἰ σήμερον ἔσωσε, τοῖς αὐτοῖς ποτε καὶ διέφθειρεν. Οὕτω καὶ ἡ τοῦ καλοῦ πραγματεία κατ' ἐπιστήμην ἐνεργουμένη, ὁμαλῶς ἀποδίδοται, ἕως ἂν ἐνοικῶν ὁ λόγος οὗτος ἑκάστῳ τῶν γιγνομένων ἐπιστατῇ. ∆είκνυσι δὲ ἐν ἄλ λοις τὸ ἀναγκαῖον τῆς τῶν ποιητέων μαθήσεως, εἰπών· Πᾶς, ὃς οὐ μὴ μάθῃ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἀλήθειαν οὐ μὴ ποιήσει. ∆αβὶδ δὲ καὶ τὸν φόβον τὸν θεῖον ἐν τοῖς διδακ τοῖς τίθεται, λέγων· ∆εῦτε, τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου· φόβον Κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. 1.41 Ἐκζητήσατε κρίσιν, ἤτοι τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καθ' ἣν κρίνων ἡμᾶς, ἀποδίδωσιν ἡμῖν τὰ κατ' ἀξίαν, ἣν ἐὰν μὴ ἐκζητῶμεν, μηδὲ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχωμεν, ἐπιμένειν τῇ ποιήσει τῶν καλῶν οὐ δυνάμεθα. Παιδαγωγὸς γάρ ἐστι πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ἡ ἔννοια τῶν κεκηρυγμένων, ἡμῖν φοβερῶν ἐν τῇ κρίσει. Ἢ ὅτι πάντα