John Chrysostom, On Lazarus

of silver, but also of wood and of earthenware. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work. Let us not therefore neglect the acquisition of 48.994 books, so that we may not receive a blow in vital parts, nor let us bury gold, but let us treasure up for ourselves spiritual books. For gold, when it becomes abundant, then most especially plots against its possessors; but books, when laid up, provide great benefit to those who have them. For just as wherever royal arms are stored, even if there is no one using them, they provide great protection to those dwelling within, with neither robbers, nor burglars, nor any other of the evildoers daring to enter the house; so wherever there are spiritual books, every diabolical energy is driven away from there, and great exhortation to virtue comes to the inhabitants. For even the very sight of the books in itself makes us more hesitant towards sin. For if we should dare to do any of the forbidden things, and make ourselves unclean, upon returning home and seeing the books, we condemn our conscience the more, and become more hesitant to fall into the same things; and if again we continue in holiness, we receive a greater benefit from them. For as soon as one has touched a Gospel, he has immediately reformed his mind, and has turned it away from worldly things, and from its mere sight alone. And if careful reading is added, just as the soul is initiated in a holy sanctuary, so it is cleansed and becomes better, as God speaks to it through those letters. What then, if we do not know what is contained in them? he says, Most of all, even if you do not know what is contained in them, from the reading itself much sanctification comes. Besides, it is impossible to be ignorant of everything equally; for because of this the grace of the Spirit ordained that tax collectors and fishermen and tentmakers and shepherds and goatherds and common and unlettered men compose these books, so that none of the common people might have recourse to this excuse, so that what is said might be easy for all to understand, so that the artisan, and the servant, and the widow, and the most unlearned of all men, might gain and be benefited by the hearing. For not for vainglory, like those without, but for the salvation of the hearers did those who from the beginning were deemed worthy of the grace of the Spirit compose all these things. γʹ. For the philosophers and orators and writers from without, not seeking the common good, but only considering how they themselves might be admired, if they said anything useful, even this they concealed, as in a certain darkness, with their customary obscurity. But the apostles and the prophets did entirely the opposite; for they made their own words clear and plain to all, as being the common teachers of the world, so that each person might be able to learn by himself from the reading alone what is said. And proclaiming this beforehand the prophet said: And they shall all be taught of God; and 48.995 they shall not teach every man his neighbour, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them. And Paul says: And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the mystery of God. And again: And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And again: For we speak wisdom, he says, not of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought. For to whom are not all things in the Gospels plain? And who, hearing, "Blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart," and such like, will need a teacher in order to learn something of what is said? But are not the accounts of the signs and wonders and histories known and clear even to the ordinary person? These things are an excuse and a pretext and a cloak for laziness. Do you not understand what is contained in them? For how will you ever be able to understand, when you are not even willing to simply look into it? Take the book in your hands; read the history

ἀργυρᾶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ξύλινα καὶ ὀστράκινα. Ἐάν τις οὖν ἐκκαθάρῃ ἑαυτὸν ἐκ τούτων, ἔσται σκεῦος εἰς τιμὴν ἡγιασμένον, καὶ εὔχρηστον τῷ δεσπότῃ εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἡτοιμασμένον. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀμελῶμεν τῆς κτήσεως τῶν 48.994 βιβλίων, ἵνα μὴ περὶ τὰ καίρια δεξώμεθα τὴν πληγὴν, μηδὲ χρυσίον κατορύττωμεν, ἀλλὰ βιβλία θησαυρίζωμεν ἑαυτοῖς πνευματικά. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ χρυσίον, ὅταν γένηται πλέον, τότε μάλιστα ἐπιβουλεύει τοῖς κεκτημένοις· τὰ δὲ βιβλία ἀποκείμενα πολλὴν παρέχει τοῖς ἔχουσι τὴν ὠφέλειαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἔνθα ἂν ᾖ ἀποκείμενα ὅπλα βασιλικὰ, κἂν μηδεὶς ᾖ ὁ κεχρημένος, πολλὴν παρέχει τοῖς ἔνδον οἰκοῦσι τὴν φυλακὴν, οὔτε λῃστῶν, οὔτε τοιχωρύχων, οὔτε ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν κακουργούντων τολμῶντος ἐπιβῆναι τῆς οἰκίας· οὕτως ἔνθα ἂν ᾖ βιβλία πνευματικὰ, πᾶσα ἐκεῖθεν ἐλαύνεται ἐνέργεια διαβολικὴ, καὶ πολλὴ τοῖς ἐνοικοῦσιν ἀρετῆς παράκλησις γίνεται. Καὶ αὐτὴ γὰρ καθ' ἑαυτὴν τῶν βιβλίων ἡ ὄψις ὀκνηροτέρους ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐργάζεται. Κἄν τε γὰρ τολμήσωμέν τι τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων, καὶ ἀκαθάρτους ἑαυτοὺς ἐργασώμεθα, ἐπανιόντες οἴκαδε, καὶ τὰ βιβλία ὁρῶντες, μᾶλλον ἡμῶν καταδικάζομεν τὸ συνειδὸς, καὶ πρὸς τὸ τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπεσεῖν ὀκνηρότεροι γινόμεθα· ἄν τε πάλιν ἐν ἁγιωσύνῃ διατελῶμεν, πλείονα ἐκεῖθεν λαμβάνομεν τὴν ὠφέλειαν. Ἅμα γὰρ ἥψατό τις Εὐαγγελίου, καὶ μετεῤῥύθμισεν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν εὐθέως, καὶ τῶν βιωτικῶν ἀπέστησε καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως μόνης αὐτῆς. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀνάγνωσις προσγένοιτο ἀκριβὴς, καθάπερ ἐν ἱεροῖς ἀδύτοις ἡ ψυχὴ τελουμένη, οὕτως ἐκκαθαίρεται καὶ βελτίων γίνεται, τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁμιλοῦντος αὐτῇ διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων ἐκείνων. Τί οὖν, ἂν μὴ εἰδῶμεν τὰ ἐγκείμενα; φησί, Μάλιστα μὲν κἂν μὴ εἰδῇς τὰ ἐγκείμενα, ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς ἀναγνώσεως πολὺς ὁ ἁγιασμὸς γίνεται. Ἄλλως δὲ, ἀδύνατον πάντα ἐπ' ἴσης ἀγνοεῖν· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος ᾠκονόμησε χάρις τελώνας καὶ ἁλιέας καὶ σκηνοποιοὺς καὶ ποιμένας καὶ αἰπόλους καὶ ἰδιώτας καὶ ἀγραμμάτους ταῦτα συνθεῖναι τὰ βιβλία, ἵνα μηδεὶς τῶν ἰδιωτῶν εἰς ταύτην ἔχῃ καταφεύγειν τὴν πρόφασιν, ἵνα πᾶσιν εὐσύνοπτα ᾖ τὰ λεγόμενα, ἵνα καὶ ὁ χειροτέχνης, καὶ οἰκέτης, καὶ ἡ χήρα γυνὴ, καὶ ὁ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀμαθέστατος, κερδάνῃ τε καὶ ὠφεληθῇ παρὰ τῆς ἀκροάσεως. Οὐ γὰρ πρὸς κενοδοξίαν, καθάπερ οἱ ἔξωθεν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν τῶν ἀκουόντων ταῦτα πάντα συνέθηκαν οἱ παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν καταξιωθέντες τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτος. γʹ. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἔξωθεν φιλόσοφοι καὶ ῥήτορες καὶ συγγραφεῖς οὐ τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον ζητοῦντες, ἀλλ' ὅπως αὐτοὶ θαυμασθεῖεν μόνον σκοποῦντες, εἴ τι καὶ χρήσιμον εἶπον, καὶ τοῦτο, καθάπερ ἐν ζόφῳ τινὶ, τῇ συνήθει ἀσαφείᾳ κατέκρυψαν. Οἱ δὲ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται τοὐναντίον ἅπαν ἐποίησαν· σαφῆ γὰρ καὶ δῆλα τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν κατέστησαν ἅπασιν, ἅτε κοινοὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὄντες διδάσκαλοι, ἵνα ἕκαστος καὶ δι' ἑαυτοῦ μανθάνειν δύνηται ἐκ τῆς ἀναγνώσεως μόνης τὰ λεγόμενα. Καὶ τοῦτο προαναφωνῶν ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν· Ἔσονται πάντες διδακτοὶ Θεοῦ· καὶ 48.995 οὐ μὴ εἴπῃ ἕκαστος τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ, Γνῶθι τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσί με ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν. Καὶ ὁ Παῦλός φησι· Κἀγὼ, ἀδελφοὶ, ἦλθον πρὸς ὑμᾶς, οὐ καθ' ὑπεροχὴν λόγου ἢ σοφίας, καταγγέλλων ὑμῖν τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ πάλιν· Ὁ λόγος μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμά μου οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας λόγοις, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως. Καὶ πάλιν· Λαλοῦμεν γὰρ σοφίαν, φησὶν, οὐ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, οὐδὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τῶν καταργουμένων. Τίνι γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι δῆλα τὰ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων ἅπαντα; τίς δὲ ἀκούων, ὅτι μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, διδασκάλου δεήσεται, ὥς τι μαθεῖν τῶν λεγομένων; Ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν σημείων καὶ θαυμάτων καὶ ἱστοριῶν οὐχὶ καὶ τῷ τυχόντι γνώριμα καὶ σαφῆ; Σκῆψις ταῦτα καὶ πρόφασις καὶ νωθείας παρακαλύμματα. Οὐ νοεῖς τὰ ἐγκείμενα; πῶς γὰρ δυνήσῃ νοῆσαί ποτε, μηδὲ ἁπλῶς ἐγκύψαι βουλόμενος; Λάβε μετὰ χεῖρας τὸ βιβλίον· ἀνάγνωθι τὴν ἱστορίαν