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And yet above he was speaking of the Father alone, but since he had now softened them with fear, he introduced also the discourse about Christ; and not this simply, but having mentioned the Father here also, so he introduced Him; and through these he elevates the dignity of the preaching. For this preaching, he says, proclaims beforehand these things which nature had already shown. 2. Do you see how wisely he brought them and bound them both to the Gospel and to Christ, and demonstrated that our affairs do not stop with things here, but proceed 60.430 further? Which he also established above by saying, "You are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath," and here again, "God will judge the secrets of men." Let each one therefore, entering into his own conscience, and considering his transgressions, demand an exact account of himself, so that we may not then be condemned with the world. For that court of judgment is fearful, the tribunal is dreadful, the accountings are full of trembling, a river of fire is drawn forth; A brother does not redeem, shall a man redeem? For remember the things said in the Gospel, of the angels running about, of the bridechamber being shut, of the lamps not being extinguished, of the powers dragging into the furnaces. And consider this, that if some secret deed of one of us were brought to light today in the church alone, how would he have prayed rather to perish and for the earth to open up for him, than to have so many witnesses of his wickedness! What then shall we suffer, when all things are brought to light before the whole world in such a brilliant and conspicuous theater, with all, both known and unknown to us, watching? But alas, from what am I forced to frighten you? from the opinion of men, when I should be doing this from the fear of God and from self-condemnation? For what will become of us, tell me, then, when, bound, gnashing our teeth, we are led away into the outer darkness? Or rather, what shall we do, which is more terrible than all, when we have offended God? For if one has perception and understanding, he has already endured Gehenna when he is out of God's sight; but since this does not cause pain, for this reason he threatened fire. For we ought to feel pain, not when we are being punished, but when we are sinning. Listen then to Paul, lamenting and grieving over sins for which he was not going to pay the penalty. For I am not worthy, he says, to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church. Listen then also to David, though he was freed from punishment, yet since he considered that he had offended God, calling down the penalty upon himself and saying: Let your hand be against me, and against my father's house. For to offend God is harder than to be punished. But now we are in so wretched a state, that if there were no fear of Gehenna, we would not even quickly choose to do anything good. Therefore, even if for no other reason, for this reason at least we would be worthy of Gehenna, for fearing Gehenna more than Christ. But not so the blessed Paul, but the opposite. But since we are otherwise, for this reason we are condemned to Gehenna; for if we loved Christ as we ought to love Him, we would have known that to offend the beloved is harder than Gehenna; but since we do not love, we do not know the greatness of this punishment. And this is what I most lament and bewail. And yet what has God not done, so as to be loved by us? What has He not contrived? What has He omitted? We insulted Him who had done no wrong, but had even bestowed countless and ineffable good things, we turned away from Him when He called and drew us from every side, and not even so did He punish us, but He Himself ran to us, and restrained us as we fled, and we shook Him off and leapt away to the devil; and not even so did He depart, but sent countless messengers to entreat us again, prophets, angels, patriarchs; but we not only did not receive the embassy, but we also insulted those who came. But He did not even for these things spurn us, but like ardent lovers who are despised, He went about, appealing to all, to heaven, to earth, to Jeremiah, to Micah, not in order to

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Καίτοι γε ἄνω περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἔλεγε μόνου, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ λοιπὸν αὐτοὺς κατελέανε τῷ φόβῳ, ἐπήγαγε καὶ τὸν περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγον· καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτον ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Πατρὸς μνημονεύσας, οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐπεισήγαγε· καὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος δὲ τὸ ἀξίωμα δι' αὐτῶν ἐπαίρει· τοῦτο γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ κήρυγμα ταῦτα προαναφωνεῖ, ἃ προλαβοῦσα ἡ φύσις ἔδειξεν. ʹ. Εἶδες πῶς συνετῶς καὶ τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ φέρων αὐτοὺς προσέδησε, καὶ ἀπέδειξεν, ὅτι οὐ μέχρι τῶν ἐνταῦθα τὰ ἡμέτερα ἵσταται, ἀλλὰ ὁδεύει περαι 60.430 τέρω; Ὃ καὶ ἄνω κατεσκεύασεν εἰπὼν, Θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς, καὶ ἐνταῦθα πάλιν, Κρινεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἕκαστος τοίνυν εἰς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ συνειδὸς ἐλθὼν, καὶ ἀναλογιζόμενος τὰ πλημμελήματα, ἀπαιτείτω τὰς εὐθύνας ἑαυτὸν ἀκριβῶς, ἵνα τότε μὴ κατακριθῶμεν μετὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης. Φοβερὸν γὰρ ἐκεῖνο τὸ δικαστήριον, φρικτὸν τὸ βῆμα, τρόμου γέμουσιν αἱ εὐθῦναι, πυρὸς ἕλκεται ποταμός· Ἀδελφὸς οὐ λυτροῦται, λυτρώσεται ἄνθρωπος; Ἀναμνήσθητι γὰρ τῶν ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ λεγομένων, τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν περιτρεχόντων, τοῦ νυμφῶνος τοῦ ἀποκλειομένου, τῶν λαμπάδων τῶν μὴ σβεννυμένων, τῶν δυνάμεων τῶν εἰς τὰς καμίνους ἑλκουσῶν. Κἀκεῖνο λόγισαι, ὅτι εἴ τινος ἡμῶν πρᾶγμα κρυπτὸν εἰς μέσον ἐνήχθη τήμερον ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας μόνης, πῶς ἂν ἀπολέσθαι καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτῷ διαστῆναι ηὔξατο μᾶλλον, ἢ τοσούτους μάρτυρας τῆς κακίας σχεῖν! Τί οὖν τότε πεισόμεθα, ὅταν ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης εἰς μέσον ἅπαντα φέρηται ἐν τοιούτῳ θεάτρῳ λαμπρῷ καὶ περιφανεῖ, καὶ τῶν γνωρίμων καὶ τῶν ἀγνώστων ἡμῖν ἅπαντα κατοπτευόντων; Ἀλλ' οἴμοι πόθεν ἀναγκάζομαι φοβεῖν ὑμᾶς; ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπολήψεως, δέον ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ καταγνώσεως τοῦτο ποιεῖν; Τίνες γὰρ ἐσόμεθα, εἰπέ μοι, τότε, ὅταν δεθέντες, τῶν ὀδόντων βρυχόντων, εἰς τὸ ἐξώτερον ἀγώμεθα σκότος; μᾶλλον δὲ τί ποιήσομεν, ὃ πάντων ἐστὶ φοβερώτερον, ὅταν τῷ Θεῷ προσκρούσωμεν; Εἰ γάρ τις αἴσθησιν ἔχει καὶ νοῦν, ἤδη καὶ τὴν γέενναν ὑπέμεινεν, ὅταν ἐξ ὄψεως γένηται τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο οὐκ ὀδυνᾷ, διὰ τοῦτο ἠπείλει πῦρ. Καὶ γὰρ ἐχρῆν, οὐχ ὅταν κολαζώμεθα, ἀλγεῖν, ἀλλ' ὅταν ἁμαρτάνωμεν. Ἄκουσον γοῦν τοῦ Παύλου θρηνοῦντος καὶ ἀποδυρομένου ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτημάτων, ὧν οὐκ ἔμελλε δώσειν δίκην. Οὐ γάρ εἰμι ἱκανὸς, φησὶ, καλεῖσθαι ἀπόστολος, ὅτι ἐδίωξα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Ἄκουσον γοῦν καὶ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ τῆς μὲν κολάσεως ἀπηλλαγμένου, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐνόμισε τῷ Θεῷ προσκεκρουκέναι, τὴν τιμωρίαν καθ' ἑαυτοῦ καλοῦντος καὶ λέγοντος· Γενέσθω ἡ χείρ σου ἐν ἐμοὶ, καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρός μου. Τὸ γὰρ προσκροῦσαι τῷ Θεῷ, τοῦ κολασθῆναι χαλεπώτερον. Νῦν δὲ οὕτως ἀθλίως διακείμεθα, ὡς εἰ μὴ γεέννης φόβος ἦν, μηδὲ ἂν ἑλέσθαι ταχέως ποιῆσαί τι καλόν. ∆ιόπερ εἰ καὶ μηδενὸς ἕνεκεν ἑτέρου, τούτου γε ἕνεκεν γεέννης ἂν ἦμεν ἄξιοι, τὴν γέενναν μᾶλλον τοῦ Χριστοῦ φοβούμενοι. Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος οὕτως, ἀλλ' ἀντιστρόφως. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἡμεῖς ἑτέρως, διὰ τοῦτο τῇ γεέννῃ καταδικαζόμεθα· ὡς εἴ γε τὸν Χριστὸν ἐφιλοῦμεν, ὡς φιλεῖν ἐχρῆν, ἔγνωμεν ἂν, ὅτι γεέννης χαλεπώτερον τὸ προσκροῦσαι τῷ φιλουμένῳ· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐ φιλοῦμεν, οὐκ ἴσμεν τῆς κολάσεως ταύτης τὸ μέγεθος. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὃ μάλιστα ὀδύρομαι καὶ θρηνῶ. Καίτοι τί οὐκ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὥστε φιληθῆναι παρ' ἡμῶν; τί δὲ οὐκ ἐμηχανήσατο; τί δὲ παρέλιπεν; Ὑβρίσαμεν αὐτὸν μηδὲν ἠδικηκότα, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐεργετήσαντα μυρία καὶ ἀπόῤῥητα ἀγαθὰ, ἀπεστράφημεν καλοῦντα καὶ πανταχόθεν ἐφελκόμενον, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἐκόλασεν, ἀλλὰ προσέδραμεν αὐτὸς, καὶ κατέσχε φεύγοντας, καὶ ἀπετιναξάμεθα καὶ πρὸς τὸν διάβολον ἀπεπηδήσαμεν· καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἀπέστη, ἀλλ' ἔπεμψε μυρίους παρακαλοῦντας πάλιν, προφήτας, ἀγγέλους, πατριάρχας· ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐδεξάμεθα τὴν πρεσβείαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑβρίσαμεν τοὺς ἐλθόντας. Ὁ δὲ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἡμᾶς διέπτυσεν, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οἱ σφοδροὶ τῶν ἐραστῶν τῶν καταφρονουμένων, περιῄει πᾶσιν ἐντυγχάνων, τῷ οὐρανῷ, τῇ γῇ, τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ, τῷ Μιχαίᾳ, οὐχ ἵνα