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
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 see what he enjoins: concerning foods and drinks or concerning refutations and teachings? - saying: "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and persuade them not to teach other doctrines, nor to give heed to fables and endless genealogies," adding also the manner of the refutations: "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." Let the belly-worshippers and table-giants and woman-hawks tell us, those who find fault with the asceticism of John, having roamed through the Old and New Testament, where did they find a banquet in praise, except perhaps with foreigners, and this for the sake of a treaty of peace, with both beasts and barbarians being tamed by the law of the table? And when have banquets not become an occasion for sin? what do I say "of sin," but perhaps 78 also "of the greater idolatry and fratricide"? - 78 as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." And the playing was an offspring of drunkenness. "Come, let us make gods who will go before us." For having undergone a shaking through wine, they sought movable gods, having abandoned the unshakable one who fills all things without walking. What then does the prophet say: "Let the lips of a priest study banquets, because they will seek suppers and lunches from him"? Or, "For the lips of a priest shall keep the law, and they will seek the word from his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord," -and not a cook? And the tower in Calneh, when was it built? Before wine or after wine? Was it not after wine when Noah, having planted the vine, was the first to reap its reproach? If this is so, it was not because of the drinking or the planting, but because of the immoderation. When was Joseph sold by his brothers? when they were occupied shepherding the flocks among them, or when at leisure, slaughtering and eating the best things, they contrived their envy against him at a banquet? Where did they present the head of John the Baptist on a platter to the little harlot? In an assembly of wisdom or in a banquet of lawlessness? Did the blessed Paul, drinking and eating, extend his word until midnight, or while fasting and teaching and leading those ignorant of God to faith? The chief shepherd and chief teacher and chief sophist himself, Jesus Christ, the corrector of human error, where is he found eating in a city except for the Passover? - which was the fulfillment of mysteries. What then is he found saying to his anxious disciples, concerning foods or concerning readings? -"Labor," he says, "not for the food which perishes, but for that which endures." Let the good John therefore say with the Lord: "My banquet is the teaching and distribution of the word, for which I was also chosen for the salvation of the people." "For food does not commend us to God, neither if we eat, nor if we do not eat." For this is the custom of the Gentiles, to deceive with tables those who are enticed by them, since those who say cannot persuade by word: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." to whom the apostle more sharply 79 brings the correction, saying: "Do not be deceived: 'Evil company corrupts good habits'" -saying "evil company" he means the words that revolve around such things. <CHAPTER 13> {THE DEACON} You have spoken what was said genuinely and with great learning, and so it is. "For woe to him who calls the sweet bitter, and the bitter sweet. Woe to him who puts darkness for light, and light for darkness." But someone will say that "Neither do we say that he is given over to such tables. For immoderate ambition is an occasion for love of pleasure, and excessive exclusion is a proof of hesitation and pettiness. For he could have invited at least only bishops, and of these especially the most pious; or if not these, at least his own clergy, imitating the Master eating with the twelve apostles." {THE BISHOP} You have replied most concisely, most truth-loving of men, if indeed the clerics would have endured to dine with John, eating at an unseasonable hour or day; but they, as quickly as possible with much preparation
δόξαν Θεοῦ ποιεῖν <ἐν> τοῖς διωγμοῖς." ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐλέγχοις τῆς πλάνης, μή που τραπέζης μνεία; Τίτῳ δὲ πάλιν τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Κρήτης
ἴδωμεν τί ἐπιστέλλει· περὶ βρωμάτων καὶ πομάτων ἢ περὶ ἐλέγχων καὶ διδασκαλίας; - λέγων· "Τούτου χάριν κατέλιπόν σε ἐν Κρήτῃ,
ἵνα τὰ λείποντα ἐπανορθώσῃς καὶ πείσῃς αὐτοὺς μὴ ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν, μηδὲ προσέχειν μύθοις καὶ γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις," ἐπιφέρων
καὶ τῶν ἐλέγχων τὸν τρόπον· "Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί." εἰπάτωσαν ἡμῖν οἱ κοιλιολάτραι καὶ τραπε ζογίγαντες
καὶ γυναικοϊέρακες, οἱ τὴν Ἰωάννου ἄσκησιν μεμφό μενοι, ἐμπερινοστήσαντες Παλαιὰν καὶ Καινὴν ∆ιαθήκην, ποῦ εὗρον ἐν ἐπαίνῳ
συμπόσιον, εἰ μή που πρὸς ἀλλοφύλους, καὶ τοῦτο διὰ τὴν τῆς εἰρήνης σπεῖσιν τῷ τῆς τραπέζης νόμῳ θηρίων τε καὶ βαρβάρων τιθασσευομένων;
πότε δὲ τὰ συμπόσια ὑπόθεσις ἁμαρτίας οὐ γέγονεν; τί δὲ λέγω "ἁμαρτίας," τάχα 78 δὲ καὶ "τῆς μείζονος εἰδωλολατρείας καὶ ἀδελφοκτονίας";
- 78 καθὼς γέγραπται· "Ἐκάθισεν ὁ λαὸς φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν, καὶ ἀνέστησαν παίζειν." ἦν δὲ τὸ παίγνιον μέθης ἔκγονον. "∆εῦτε,
ποιήσωμεν θεοὺς οἵτινες προπορεύσονται ἡμῶν." οἱ γὰρ σεισμὸν ὑποστάντες δι' οἴνου κινητοὺς θεοὺς ἐπεζήτουν, τὸν ἄσειστον καὶ
πάντα πληροῦντα ἄνευ τοῦ βαδίζειν ἀφέντες. τί δαὶ λέγει ὁ προφήτης· "Χείλη ἱερέως μελετήσωσι συμπόσια, ὅτι δεῖπνα καὶ ἄριστα
ἐκζητήσουσιν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ"; ἢ "Ὅτι χείλη ἱερέως φυλάξεται νόμον, καὶ λόγον ἐκ στόματος αὐτοῦ ἐκζητήσουσιν, ὅτι ἄγγελος Κυρίου
ἐστί," -καὶ οὐ μάγειρος; καὶ ὁ ἐν Χαλαννῇ δὲ πύργος πότε ᾠκοδομήθη; πρὸ οἴνου ἢ μετὰ οἶνον; οὐ μετὰ οἴνου ἡνίκα Νῶε φυτεύσας
τὸ κλῆμα πρῶτος τὸν ὄνειδον ἐκαρ πώσατο; εἴ γε οὕτως ἔχει, οὐ διὰ τὴν πόσιν ἢ τὴν φυτείαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀμετρίαν. Ἰωσὴφ πότε
ἐπράθη ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν; ὅτε τὰ πρόβατα ἐποίμαινον ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀσχολούμενοι, ἢ ὅτε τὰ κάλλιστα σφάζοντες καὶ ἐσθίοντες ἐπὶ σχολῆς
κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐν συμποσίῳ τὸν φθόνον ἐτεκταίνοντο; τὴν τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ πίνακος ποῦ ἐπέδοσαν τῷ πορνιδίῳ; ἐν
συλλόγῳ σοφίας ἢ ἐν συμποσίῳ ἀνομίας; ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος πίνων καὶ τρώγων παρέτεινεν ἕως μεσονυκτίου τὸν λόγον, ἢ ἀσιτῶν καὶ
διδάσκων καὶ τοὺς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγνοοῦντας εἰς πίστιν ἄγων; αὐτὸς ὁ ἀρχιποίμην καὶ ἀρχιδιδάσκαλος καὶ ἀρχι σοφιστής, Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός,
ὁ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης πλάνης διορ θωτής, ποῦ εὑρίσκεται ἐν πόλει φαγὼν πλὴν τοῦ Πάσχα; - ὃ ἦν μυστηρίων ἐκπλήρωσις. τί δαὶ καὶ
μεριμνῶσι τοῖς μαθη ταῖς εὑρίσκεται λέγων, περὶ βρωμάτων ἢ περὶ ἀναγνωσμά των; -"Ἐργάζεσθε," λέγων, "μὴ τὴν ἀπολλυμένην βρῶσιν,
ἀλλὰ τὴν μένουσαν." λεγέτω τοίνυν μετὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ὁ καλὸς Ἰωάννης· "Ἐμὸν συμπόσιόν ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ λόγου διδασκαλία καὶ διανομή,
εἰς ἣν καὶ ἐξελέχθην εἰς τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ σωτηρίαν." "βρῶμα γὰρ ἡμᾶς οὐ παρίστησι τῷ Θεῷ, οὔτε ἐὰν φάγωμεν, οὔτε ἐὰν μὴ φάγωμεν."
ἐθνικῶν γὰρ ἡ συνήθεια αὕτη, τὸ τραπέζαις ἀπατᾶν τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῶν δελεαζομένους, λόγῳ πείθειν μὴ δυναμένων τῶν λεγόντων· "Φάγωμεν
καὶ πίωμεν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνήσκομεν." πρὸς οὓς ὁ ἀπόστολος πληκτι 79 κώτερον τὴν διόρθωσιν ἐπάγει, λέγων· "Μὴ πλανᾶσθε· "Φθεί
ρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί""· -"ὁμιλίας" λέγων "κακὰς" τὰς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἑλισσομένας λέξεις. <ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΓʹ> {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.}
Γνησίως μὲν καὶ πολυμαθῶς εἴρηκας τὰ εἰρημένα, καὶ οὕτως ἔχει. "οὐαὶ γὰρ τῷ λέγοντι τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν, καὶ τὸ πικρὸν γλυκύ.
οὐαὶ τῷ τιθέντι τὸ σκότος φῶς, καὶ τὸ φῶς σκότος." λέξει δέ τις, ὅτι "Οὔτε ἡμεῖς τοῦτο λέγομεν εἶναι αὐτὸν ἔκδοτον ταῖς τοιαύταις
τραπέζαις. ἡ γὰρ ἄμετρος φιλο τιμία φιληδονίας ὑπόθεσις, καὶ ἡ εἰς ἄγαν ἀπόκλεισις ὄκνου καὶ μικρολογίας ἀπόδειξις. ἐδύνατο
γὰρ κἂν μόνους ἐπισκόπους καλεῖν, καὶ τούτων μάλιστα τοὺς εὐσεβεστέρους· ἢ εἰ μὴ τού τους, κἂν τὸν ἴδιον κλῆρον, μιμούμενος
τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐσθίοντα μετὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων." {Ο ΕΠΙΣΚ.} Συνεκτικώτατα ἀνθυπήνεγκας, φιλαληθέστατε τῶν ἀνδρῶν, εἴ γε ἠνείχοντο
οἱ κληρικοὶ συναριστεῖν τῷ Ἰωάννῃ, παρ' ὥραν ἢ παρ' ἡμέραν ἐσθίοντες· οἱ δὲ ὡς τάχιστα μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς παρασκευῆς
