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
reading the oracles, and others baptizing the catechumens, as was fitting because of Easter. These very things the corruptors of minds and deceivers of hearts, those around Antiochus and Severian and Acacius, reported to their own patrons, demanding that the people be hindered from the gathering there. The magister at that time spoke against it, saying: "It is night and the crowds are many; lest some mishap occur." Those around Acacius retorted: "No one has remained in the churches. and we 57 fear lest the emperor, entering the church and finding no one, should perceive the people's goodwill towards John and condemn us as slanderers, especially since we told him that there is absolutely no one who gladly pays attention to him, as to an implacable man." Thus the magister, having protested to them concerning the consequences, gives a certain Lucius, a Greek as they said, a leader of a company of armed men, having instructed him to go and gently call the people into the church. But he went, and not being heard, returns to those around Acacius, having described the intensity and the density of the people. After this they earnestly entreat him, persuading him with golden words and with the promise of greater advancement, that he should hinder the glory of the Lord, having instructed him either to lead them to the church by persuading them with words, or to stop the festival of gathering by throwing them into confusion with anger. He at once took with him clerics of Acacius' party and went out in the second watch of the night for which he was sent (for they keep the people in our parts until the first cockcrow), having four hundred Thracian swordsmen, newly recruited (like Esau), exceedingly shameless, he suddenly fell upon them during the night with the clerics who were showing the way and the soldiers impetuously, like a wolf, cutting through the crowds with gleaming iron. And having advanced inside to the blessed waters to prevent those being initiated from celebrating the resurrection of the Savior, and having fiercely shaken the deacon, he pours out the symbols; and the presbyters, some already of advanced age, he strikes on the head with clubs, mixing the baptismal font with blood. Then one could see that angelic night, in which even demons fall cowering, turned into a labyrinth. For naked women with the men took to flight, in fear of being slain or dishonored, embracing a dishonorable course; another, struck in the hand, went away 58 lamenting; another tore the clothes off and dragged away a virgin; and all, having plundered the valuables, appropriated them. Thus those of the presbyters and deacons who were arrested were thrown into prison; and the dignitaries of the people of the great city were expelled. And successive edicts were posted in the area, containing various threats for the denial of communion with John. But nevertheless these things were happening, and the so-called bishops from outside vied to add more; and the gathering of those who loved teaching, or rather, who loved God, was not stopped, but according to what is said in Exodus, "The more they killed them, the more they became." The next day, at any rate, the emperor went out to exercise in the nearby field and saw the unsown land around the Pempton white with robes, and astounded at the sight of the flower of the newly enlightened (for they were about three thousand), he asked of his bodyguards: "Who is the crowd gathered there?" Lying, they say: "The heretics," in order to provoke the emperor's anger. But at once the mediators of the affair and patrons of envy sent back the more ruthless of their followers for the scattering of the hearers and the arrest of the teachers. And they, having come, again seized a few of the clerics, but more of the laity. And Theodore said: {THE DEACON} O most blessed father, even with so many of them, as there were three thousand newly enlightened alone, how did the few soldiers overpower them and break up the assembly? 59 {THE BISHOP} This is not a sign of small numbers, nor proof of lack of zeal, but an advantage of piety and
λόγια ἀναγινώσκοντες, οἱ δὲ βαπτίζοντες τοὺς κατηχηθέντας, ὡς εἰκὸς διὰ τὸ Πάσχα. ταῦτα αὐτὰ προσαναφέρουσιν οἱ γνωμοφθόροι
καὶ φρεναπάται, οἱ περὶ Ἀντίοχον καὶ Σευηριανὸν καὶ Ἀκάκιον, τοῖς ἑαυτῶν προστάταις, ἀξιοῦντες ἐμποδισθῆναι τοὺς λαοὺς ἀπὸ
τῆς ἐκεῖ συνάξεως. ἀντεῖπεν ὁ τότε μάγιστρος, φήσας· "Νύξ ἐστι καὶ ὄχλοι πολλοί· μή τι ἀτόπημα γένηται." ἀνθυποφέρουσιν οἱ
περὶ Ἀκάκιον· "Οὐδεὶς ἔμεινεν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. καὶ δεδοί 57 καμεν μήποτε εἰσελθὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ μὴ εὑρὼν
μηδένα, αἴσθηται τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ εὐνοίας τῆς πρὸς Ἰωάννην καὶ καταγνῷ ἡμῶν ὡς βασκάνων, ἐπειδὴ μάλιστα εἴπομεν αὐτῷ, ὅτι οὐδείς
ἐστιν ὅλως ὁ ἡδέως αὐτῷ προσέχων, ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ ἀσπόνδῳ." οὕτως ὁ μάγιστρος διαμαρτυράμενος αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀποβησομένοις, δίδωσι
Λούκιόν τινα, ὡς ἔλεγον, Ἕλληνα, ἀφη γούμενον τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν ὁπλοφόρων, ἐντειλάμενος ἐπιεικῶς ἀπελθόντα καλέσαι τὸν λαὸν
ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ. ἀπελθὼν δέ, καὶ μὴ ἀκουσθείς, ὑποστρέφει πρὸς τοὺς περὶ Ἀκάκιον, διηγησά μενος τὸν τόνον καὶ τὴν πυκνότητα
τοῦ λαοῦ. μετὰ τοῦτο λιπαρῶς αὐτὸν παρακαλοῦσι χρυσέοις ῥήμασι δυσωποῦντες καὶ ὑποσχέσει μείζονος προκοπῆς, ἵνα ἐμποδίσῃ τῇ
δόξῃ τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου, ἐντειλάμενοι αὐτῷ, ἢ λόγῳ πείσαντα ἀγαγεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἢ ὀργῇ ταράξαντα παῦσαι τὴν ἑορτὴν τοῦ συναγα
γεῖν. ὃς ἐξαυτῆς συμπαραλαβὼν κληρικοὺς τοῦ μέρους Ἀκακίου ἐξ ῆλθεν δευτέρᾳ φυλακῇ τῆς νυκτὸς ἐφ' ᾧ ἀπεστάλη (παρατείνουσι
γὰρ τὸν λαὸν ἐν τοῖς μέρεσιν ἡμῶν ἕως ἀλέκτορος πρώτου), ἔχων Θρᾷκας ξιφήρεις, νεοστρατεύτους (κατὰ τὸν Ἠσαύ) τετρα κοσίους,
ἀναιδεῖς περισσῶς, ἐπεπήδησεν αἰφνίδιον κατὰ τὴν νύκτα σὺν τοῖς ὑποδεικνύουσι κληρικοῖς καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις ἰταμῶς, ὡς ἅτε
λύκος, σιδήρῳ στίλβοντι διασχίσας τοὺς ὄχλους. χωρήσας δ' ἔνδον τῶν μακαρίων ὑδάτων ἐπὶ κωλύσει τῶν μυου μένων τὴν ἀνάστασιν
τοῦ Σωτῆρος, καὶ τῷ μὲν διακόνῳ θρασέως ἐντιναχθείς, τὰ σύμβολα ἐκχέει· τοὺς δὲ πρεσβυτέρους, ἤδη που καὶ ἡλικιώτας, ῥοπάλοις
κατὰ κρανίου παίσας, αἵματι κιρνᾷ τὴν κολυμβήθραν. τότε ἦν ἰδεῖν τὴν ἀγγελικὴν ἐκείνην νύκτα, ἐν ᾗ καὶ δαίμονες πίπτουσιν
ἐπτηχότες, εἰς λαβύρινθον μετα βληθεῖσαν. γυμναὶ γὰρ γυναῖκες σὺν τοῖς ἀνδράσι δρασμῷ ἐχρῶντο, φόβῳ τοῦ σφαγῆναι ἢ ἀσχημονῆσαι,
τὸν ἄσχημον ἀσπαζόμεναι δρόμον· ἕτερος τὴν χεῖρα πληγείς, ὀδυρόμενος 58 ἀπῄει· ἄλλος παρθένον ἔσυρεν περισχίσας· πάντες δὲ
λαφυρα γωγήσαντες τὰ κειμήλια ἐσφετερίζοντο. οὕτως οἱ μὲν συλλη φθέντες τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ διακόνων εἰς τὴν εἱρκτὴν ἐνε βάλλοντο·
οἱ δὲ ἀξιωματικοὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τῆς μεγαλοπόλεως ἐξεβάλλοντο. διατάγματα δὲ ἀλλεπάλληλα κατὰ τόπον προε τίθεντο διαφόρους ἀπειλὰς
περιέχοντα ἐπὶ ἀρνήσει τῆς κοινωνίας Ἰωάννου. πλὴν ὅμως καὶ ταῦτ' ἐγίνετο, καὶ πλείονα ἔξωθεν οἱ λεγόμενοι ἐπίσκοποι προσεφιλοτιμοῦντο·
καὶ ἡ σύναξις τῶν φιλοδιδασκάλων, μᾶλλον δὲ φιλοθέων, οὐ κατηργεῖτο, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ, "Ὅσον ἀπέκτεννον
αὐτούς, τοσούτῳ πλείους ἐγίνοντο." τῇ ἐπαύριον γοῦν ἐξελθὼν ὁ βασι λεὺς τοῦ γυμνασθῆναι ἐν τῷ παρακειμένῳ πεδίῳ εἶδεν τὴν
ἄσπορον γῆν τὴν περὶ τὸ Πέμπτον λευχειμονοῦσαν, καὶ ἐκ πλαγεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ θέᾳ τοῦ ἄνθους τῶν νεοφωτίστων (ἦσαν γὰρ ἀμφὶ τοὺς τρισχιλίους),
ἤρετο παρὰ τῶν δορυφόρων· "Τίς ἡ λογὰς τῶν ἐκεῖ συνηθροισμένων;" διαψευσάμενοι λέγουσι· "Τῶν ἑτεροδόξων," ἵνα παραγάγωσι τὸν
θυμὸν τοῦ βασιλέως. γνόντες δ' ἐξαυτῆς οἱ τοῦ πράγματος μεσῖται καὶ προστάται τοῦ φθόνου πέμπουσιν εἰς τοὐπίσω τοὺς ἀφειδεστέρους
τῶν ἑπομένων ἐπὶ σκορπισμῷ μὲν τῶν ἀκροατῶν, συλλήψει δὲ τῶν διδασκάλων. οἱ δ' ἐλθόντες κατέχουσι πάλιν ὀλίγους μὲν τῶν κληρικῶν,
πλείους δὲ τῶν λαϊκῶν. Καὶ ὁ Θεόδωρος ἔφη· {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.} Ὦ μακαριώτατε πάτερ, καὶ τοσούτων ὄντων αὐτῶν, ὡς τρισχιλίους μόνον εἶναι
τοὺς νεοφωτίστους, πῶς αὐτῶν οἱ βραχεῖς ἐκυρίευσαν στρατιῶται τὸν σύλλογον δια λύσαντες; 59 {Ο ΕΠΙΣΚ.} Τοῦτο οὐκ ὀλιγότητος
δεῖγμα, οὐδὲ τεκμήριον ἀζηλίας, ἀλλὰ πλεονέκτημα εὐλαβείας καὶ
