John Chrysostom, On 2 Timothy

another lost a child. He thinks of these things, he imagines these things, he lives with constant fear. Do you not know how much the unjust suffer? Or are these things not bitter? But even if there were nothing of the sort, do not all condemn him? Do not all hate him? Do not all turn away from him? Do not all say he is more senseless than wild beasts, even the unjust themselves? For if they condemn themselves, much more another, calling him a robber, a covetous man, a destroyer. What pleasure, then, does he have? Nothing else, than having more care added for the guarding of those things, to be more careful and anxious. For the more money a man amasses, the 62.629 more intense he makes his own sleeplessness. And what of the curses of those who are wronged, their petitions? And what if sickness also befalls him? For it is not possible, it is not possible for one who is sick, even if he be the most godless of all, not to be anxious and care for those things, when he can do nothing. For as long as we are here, the soul, given to pleasure, does not endure painful things; but when it is about to leap from the body, then a greater fear seizes it, as it has come to the very gates of the judgment hall. For even robbers, while living in the prison, live fearlessly; but when someone brings them and stands them before the curtain, they are dissolved with fear. For when the fear of death comes upon it, like a fire having cut out all those things, it compels the soul to philosophize, and to be anxious about the things there; no longer does desire for money possess it, no longer love of avarice, no longer of bodies. So then, as these things pass by like clouds, they leave the judgment clear, and grief entering softens what is hard. For nothing is so contrary to philosophy as extravagance, just as, on the other hand, affliction is suitable for philosophy. Consider for me what the covetous man will be then; For an hour of affliction, he says, causes forgetfulness of great luxury. What will he be, thinking of those he has robbed, those he has wronged, those he has defrauded? What will he be, seeing others enjoying his avarice, while he himself is about to pay the penalty? For it is not possible, it is not possible for one who has fallen into this not to suspect these things too; often the soul itself turns from below, agonizing, trembling. How great a bitterness is this? tell me. For these things must happen with every sickness. And if he should see men being punished, and if he should see them dying, what will he not suffer? And these things are here; but as for the things there, it is not even possible to say how great the punishment, how many the retributions, how many the torments, how many the instruments of torture. We say these things; He who has ears 62.630 to hear, let him hear. We speak of these things continually, not wishing to speak continually, but being compelled. For we would wish not to have the need for such words in the first place; but if not, then to lead you back to health, having been delivered from the disease by even a little treatment; but while you remain in sickness, it would be the part of a dissolute and base soul to desist from the medical method, and of harshness and cruelty. For if we exhort physicians who have given up on bodies, saying, "Do not be negligent, but altogether, until the last breath, do not cease offering what is in your power"; shall we not much more exhort ourselves? For perhaps after coming to the very gates of Hades, and the very vestibules of vice, he will be able to become sober again and recover and be strengthened, and lay hold of eternal life. How many have received no perception from a tenth hearing, but later were converted from one alone? Or rather, not from one; for even if they were without feeling during the ten, yet they profited, and later showed the fruit all at once. For just as in the case of a tree, that which received ten cuts, and did not fall from the ten, but later, when one more was inflicted, was completely brought down; it was not the work of the one cut, but of the ten is the of the

ἕτερος παῖδα ἀπέβαλε. Ταῦτα ἐννοεῖ, ταῦτα φαντάζεται, διηνεκεῖ φόβῳ συζῇ. Οὐκ ἴστε ὅσα πάσχουσιν οἱ ἀδικοῦντες; ἢ οὐχὶ πικρὰ ταῦτα; Εἰ δὲ καὶ μηδὲν εἴη τοιοῦτον, οὐχὶ πάντες αὐτοῦ καταγινώσκουσιν; οὐχὶ πάντες μισοῦσιν; οὐχὶ πάντες ἀποστρέφονται; οὐχὶ πάντες τῶν θηρίων ἀλογώτερον εἶναί φασι, καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ ἀδικοῦντες; Εἰ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς καταδικάζουσι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἕτερον, τὸν ἅρπαγα, τὸν πλεονέκτην, τὸν λυμεῶνα ὀνομάζοντες. Τί οὖν ἔχει ἡδύ; Οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἢ τὸ πλείονα προσκεῖσθαι φροντίδα ὑπὲρ τῆς φυλακῆς τῆς ἐκείνων, τὸ μᾶλλον φροντίζειν καὶ μεριμνᾷν. Ὅσῳ γὰρ ἄν τις πλείονα περιβάληται χρήματα, τοσούτῳ 62.629 μᾶλλον ἰσχυροτέραν αὑτῷ τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν ἐργάζεται. Τί δὲ αἱ κατάραι αἱ τῶν ἀδικουμένων, αἱ ἐντυχίαι; τί δὲ, ἂν καὶ νόσος προσπέσῃ; οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν νόσῳ γενόμενον, κἂν ἁπάντων ἀθεώτερος ᾖ, μὴ ἐκεῖνα μεριμνᾷν μηδὲ φροντίζειν, ὅτε οὐδὲν δύναται ἐργάσασθαι. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα ὦμεν, ἡ ψυχὴ ἡδυπαθοῦσα οὐκ ἀνέχεται τῶν λυπηρῶν· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἀποπηδᾷν μέλλῃ τοῦ σώματος, τότε αὐτὴν μείζων φόβος συνέχει, ἅτε εἰς αὐτὰ τοῦ δικαστηρίου τὰ πρόθυρα ἥκουσαν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ λῃσταὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ ζῶντες, ἀδεῶς ζῶσιν· ὅταν δὲ παρὰ τὸ παραπέτασμα ἀγαγών τις στήσῃ αὐτοὺς, διαλύονται τῷ φόβῳ. Ὅταν γὰρ ὁ τοῦ θανάτου φόβος ἐπιστῇ, καθάπερ πῦρ πάντα ἐκεῖνα ἐκκόψας, φιλοσοφεῖν αὐτὴν ἀναγκάζει, καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ μεριμνᾷν· οὐκέτι χρημάτων ἐπιθυμία κατέχει, οὐκέτι πλεονεξίας ἔρως, οὐκέτι σωμάτων. Ὥσπερ οὖν νέφη ταῦτα παρελθόντα ἀφίησι τὸ κριτήριον εἶναι καθαρὸν καὶ τῆς λύπης ἐπεισελθούσης καὶ μαλαττούσης τὸ σκληρόν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ὡς σπατάλη πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ἐναντίον, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον θλῖψις πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ἐπιτήδειον. Ἐννόει μοι τίς ἔσται ὁ πλεονέκτης τότε· Ὥρα γὰρ, φησὶ, κακώσεως, ἐπιλησμονὴν ποιεῖ πολλῆς τρυφῆς. Τίς ἔσται τοὺς ἡρπασμένους ἐννοῶν, τοὺς ἠδικημένους, τοὺς πλεονεκτηθέντας; τίς ἔσται ὁρῶν τῆς πλεονεξίας ἑτέρους ἀπολαύοντας, ἑαυτὸν δὲ μέλλοντα τὴν δίκην τίνειν; Οὐ γὰρ ἔνι, οὐκ ἔνι ἐμπεσόντα μὴ καὶ ταῦτα, ὑποπτεῦσαι· πολλάκις αὐτὴ ἡ ψυχὴ στρέφεται κάτωθεν, ἀγωνιῶσα, τρέμουσα. Πόση τοῦτο πικρία; εἰπέ μοι. Ταῦτα γὰρ καθ' ἑκάστην νόσον ἀνάγκη γίνεσθαι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ κολαζομένους ἴδοι, εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντας, τί οὐ πείσεται; Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐνταῦθα· τὰ δὲ ἐκεῖ, οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν ἔνι, ὅση ἡ κόλασις, ὅσαι αἱ τιμωρίαι, ὅσαι αἱ βάσανοι, ὅσα τὰ στρεβλωτήρια. Ταῦτα λέγομεν ἡμεῖς· Ὁ ἔχων ὦτα 62.630 ἀκούειν, ἀκουέτω. Συνεχῶς περὶ αὐτῶν λέγομεν, οὐ βουλόμενοι λέγειν συνεχῶς, ἀλλὰ ἀναγκαζόμενοι. Ἐβουλόμεθα μὲν γὰρ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἡμῖν ἀνάγκην γίνεσθαι τῶν τοιούτων λόγων· εἰ δὲ μὴ, κἂν ἐξ ὀλίγης ἰατρείας ἀπαλλαγέντας τοῦ νοσήματος, ἐπὶ τὴν ὑγίειαν ὑμᾶς ἐπαναγαγεῖν· μενόντων δὲ ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ, ἐκλύτου καὶ βαναύσου ψυχῆς ἂν εἴη ἀποστῆναι τῆς μεθοδείας τῆς ἰατρικῆς, καὶ ἀπηνείας καὶ ὠμότητος. Εἰ γὰρ τοὺς τὰ σώματα ἀπαγορεύσαντας ἰατροὺς παρακαλοῦμεν, λέγοντες, Μὴ ἀμελήσῃς, ἀλλ' ὅλως μέχρις ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς τὰ παρὰ σεαυτοῦ προσφέρων μὴ ἀνήσῃς· οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοὺς παραινέσομεν; Ἴσως γὰρ μετὰ τὸ ἐλθεῖν εἰς αὐτὰς τοῦ ᾅδου τὰς πύλας, καὶ τῆς κακίας αὐτῆς τὰ πρόθυρα, ἀνανῆψαι δυνήσεται καὶ ἀνακτήσασθαι καὶ ῥωσθῆναι, καὶ ἐπιλαβέσθαι τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς. Πόσοι ἀπὸ μὲν δεκάτης ἀκροάσεως οὐδὲ αἴσθησιν ἔλαβον, ὕστερον δὲ ἀπὸ μιᾶς μόνης ἐπεστράφησαν; μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ μιᾶς· εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἀναισθήτως εἶχον ἐν ταῖς δέκα, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐκέρδαναν, καὶ ὕστερον τὸν καρπὸν ἀθρόον ἔδειξαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ δένδρου, τὸ δέκα λαβὸν τομὰς, καὶ μὴ καταπεσὸν ὑπὸ τῶν δέκα, ὕστερον δὲ μιᾶς ἐπαχθείσης πᾶν κατηνέχθη· οὐ τῆς μιᾶς δὲ γέγονε τομῆς, ἀλλὰ τῶν δέκα ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς