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to put all things away; that we may live to the glory of God, and may be delivered from the punishment there, and of the good things promised to those who love Him

we may obtain, by grace and loving-kindness.

HOMILY VIII. Mortify your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry, for which things' sake the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience, in the which you also

walked sometime, when you lived in them. 1. I know that I have made myself hateful to many in the preceding discourse; but what can I do? You have heard what the Lord has commanded. Am I the cause? What shall I do? Do you not see creditors, when the debtors are obstinate, how they put collars on them? Have you heard what Paul cried out today? Mortify, he says, your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. What is worse than such covetousness? This is worse than what I was speaking of, the madness and the folly concerning money. And covetousness, he says, which is idolatry; do you see where the evil ends? Do not be vexed; for I do not willingly or simply wish to have enemies, but I would wish you to have come to this point of virtue, that I might hear what is fitting from you. So it is not a matter of authority or dignity, but of pain and anguish. Forgive me, forgive me; I do not wish to be unseemly in speaking about such things, but I am compelled. I say these things not for the pain of the poor, but for your salvation; for they will perish, they will perish who have not fed Christ. For what if you feed a poor man? But as long as you are thus extravagant and thus luxurious, all is superfluous. For it is not sought to give much, but not less than one's own substance; for this is a matter of jesting. Mortify therefore your members, he says, which are upon the earth. What do you say? Did you not say, that 'You were buried'? that 'You were buried with Him'? that 'You were circumcised'? that 'We have put off the body of the sins of the flesh'? How then do you say again, Mortify? Do not jest; do you speak as if these things were in us? There is no contradiction; but just as if someone having cleaned a soiled statue, or rather, having recast it in bronze, and having shown it bright from above, should say that the rust was consumed and perished, but should then exhort again to be diligent in putting away the rust, he does not contradict himself; for he does not exhort to put away the rust which he cleaned off, but that which arises afterwards; so he does not mean the former mortification, nor those fornications, but those that arise later. But behold, say the heretics, Paul slanders the creation; for he said before, 'Set your mind on things above, 62.352 not on things on the earth'; again he says, 'Mortify your members which are upon the earth.' But the phrase, 'upon the earth,' here is indicative of sin, not a slander of the creation. For he calls the sins themselves 'things on the earth,' either because they are acted from an earthly reasoning and on the earth, or because they show the sinners to be earthly. Fornication, uncleanness, he says. He passed over the things which it is not even good to speak of, and through 'uncleanness' he has indicated them all. Passion, he says, evil desire. Behold, he has spoken of the whole in general; for all evil desire, envy, wrath, grief. And covetousness, he says, which is idolatry. For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Through many things He led them away; through the benefits that have been, through the future things from which we have been delivered from evils, who we are, and for what reason, and all those things,

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πάντα περιστεῖλαι· ἵνα εἰς δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ζήσωμεν, καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖ κολάσεως ἀπαλλαγῶμεν, καὶ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀγαθῶν τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτὸν

ἐπιτύχωμεν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Ηʹ. Νεκρώσατε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, πορ νείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν, πάθος, ἐπιθυμίαν κακὴν, καὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρεία, δι' ἃ ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας, ἐν οἷς καὶ ὑμεῖς

περιεπατή σατέ ποτε, ὅτε ἐζῆτε ἐν αὐτοῖς. αʹ. Οἶδα πολλοὺς ἀπεχθανομένους ἐν τῇ πρὸ ταύτης διαλέξει· ἀλλὰ τί πάθω; ἠκούσατε τί ἐπέταξεν ὁ ∆εσπότης. Μὴ γὰρ ἐγὼ αἴτιος; τί ποιήσω; Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τοὺς ἀπαιτοῦντας, ὅταν ἀγνωμονῶσιν οἱ ὑπεύθυνοι, πῶς κλοιὰ τούτοις περιτιθέασιν; Ἠκούσατε τί σήμερον ὁ Παῦλος ἐβόα; Νεκρώσατε, φησὶ, τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, πορνείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν, πάθος, ἐπιθυμίαν κακὴν, καὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρεία. Τί τῆς τοιαύτης πλεονεξίας χεῖρον; Τοῦτο βαρύτερον οὗπερ ἔλεγον, ἡ μανία καὶ ἡ βλακεία ἡ περὶ ἄργυρον. Καὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν, φησὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρεία· ὁρᾶτε ποῦ τὸ κακὸν τελευτᾷ; Μὴ δὴ δυσχεράνητε· οὐ γὰρ ἑκὼν οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς ἐχθροὺς ἔχειν θέλω, ἀλλ' ἐβουλόμην ὑμᾶς εἰς τοῦτο ἀρετῆς ἥκειν, ὡς ἐμὲ παρ' ὑμῶν ἀκούειν τὰ δέοντα. Ὥστε οὐκ αὐθεντίας ἐστὶν οὐδὲ ἀξιώματος, ἀλλ' ὀδύνης καὶ ἀλγηδόνος. Σύγγνωτέ μοι, σύγγνωτε· οὐ θέλω ἀσχημονεῖν ὑπὲρ τοιούτων διαλεγόμενος, ἀλλ' ἀναγκάζομαι. Οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν πενήτων ὀδύνης ταῦτα λέγω, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμετέρας σωτηρίας· ἀπολοῦνται γὰρ, ἀπολοῦνται οἱ μὴ θρέψαντες τὸν Χριστόν. Τί γὰρ, εἰ τρέφεις πένητα; ἀλλ' ἕως ἂν οὕτω σπαταλᾷς καὶ οὕτω τρυφᾷς, πάντα περιττά. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ δοῦναι ζητεῖται πολλὰ, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ ἔλαττον τῆς οἰκείας οὐσίας· τοῦτο γὰρ παίζοντός ἐστι. Νεκρώσατε οὖν τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν, φησὶν, τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Τί λέγεις; οὐ σὺ εἶπας, ὅτι Ἐτάφητε; ὅτι Συνετάφητε; ὅτι Περιετμήθητε; ὅτι Ἀπεξεδυσάμεθα τὸ σῶμα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τῆς σαρκός; πῶς οὖν πάλιν λέγεις, Νεκρώσατε; Μὴ παίζῃς· ὡς ὄντων αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμῖν οὕτω διαλέγῃ; Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐναντιολογία· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ εἴ τις ἐῤῥυπωμένον ἀνδριάντα ἀποσμήξας, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀναχαλκεύσας, καὶ λαμπρὸν δείξας ἄνωθεν, λέγοι μὲν ὅτι κατεπόθη ὁ ἰὸς καὶ ἀπώλετο, παραινοῖ δὲ πάλιν σπουδάζειν ἀποτίθεσθαι τὸν ἰὸν, οὐκ ἐναντιολογεῖ· οὐ γὰρ ὃν ἀπέσμηξεν ἰὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐπιγινόμενον μετὰ ταῦτα παραινεῖ ἀποθέσθαι· οὕτως οὐ τὴν προτέραν νέκρωσιν λέγει, οὐδὲ τὰς πορνείας ἐκείνας, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐπιγινομένας ὕστερον. Ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ, φασὶν αἱρετικοὶ, τὴν δημιουργίαν Παῦλος διαβάλλει· εἶπε γὰρ ἔμπροσθεν, Τὰ ἄνω φρο 62.352 νεῖτε, μὴ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς· πάλιν φησὶ, Νεκρώσατε ὑμῶν τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἀλλὰ τὸ, ἐπὶ γῆς, ἐνταῦθα δηλωτικόν ἐστιν ἁμαρτίας, οὐ δημιουργίας διαβολή. Οὕτω γὰρ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς αὐτὰ καλεῖ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἢ τῷ ἀπὸ γεώδους λογισμοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ἐνεργεῖσθαι, ἢ τῷ γηΐνους δεικνύναι τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας. Πορνείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν, φησί. Παρῆκε τὰ πράγματα, ἃ οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν καλὸν, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀκαθαρσίας ἅπαντα ἐνέφηνε. Πάθος, φησὶν, ἐπιθυμίαν κακήν. Ἰδοὺ γενικῶς τὸ πᾶν εἶπε· πάντα γὰρ ἐπιθυμία κακὴ, βασκανία, ὀργὴ, λύπη. Καὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν, φησὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρεία. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα γὰρ ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας. ∆ιὰ πολλῶν ἀπήγαγεν αὐτούς· διὰ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν τῶν ὑπαρξασῶν, διὰ τῶν μελλόντων ἐξ ὧν ἀπηλλάγημεν κακῶν, τίνες ὄντες, καὶ διὰ τί, καὶ ὅλα ἐκεῖνα,