John Chrysostom, On the Letter to the Philippians

to descend from one's dignity, when we humble ourselves. For then it is more fitting to be exalted; then most of all to be admired. For that the 62.235 exalted is humble, and the humble is exalted, the declaration of Christ saying this is sufficient; nevertheless, let us also examine the matter itself. What is it to be humbled? Is it not to be blamed, to be accused and slandered? And what is it to be exalted? Is it not to be honored, to be praised, to be glorified? Good. Let us see then how this happens. Satan was an angel, he exalted himself; what then, was he not humbled more than all? Does he not have the earth as his place? Is he not accused and slandered by all? Paul, being a man, humbled himself; what then? Is he not admired? Is he not praised? Is he not eulogized? Is he not a friend of Christ? Did he not work greater things than Christ did? Did he not often command the devil as a slave? Did he not carry him about as an executioner? Did he not play with him? Did he not have his head crushed under his own feet? Did he not also pray this for others with great boldness? Why do I say these things? Absalom exalted himself, David humbled himself; who then became exalted? Who was glorious? For what is more humble than these words which this blessed prophet spoke concerning Shimei, saying: Let him curse me; for the Lord has commanded him? And let us examine the matters themselves, if you please. The tax collector humbled himself, and yet the matter was not even humility, but he said what he said with a certain sense of right-mindedness. The Pharisee exalted himself. But, if you please, leaving aside the persons, let us examine the matters. Let there be two men, both rich, and partaking of much honor, and high-minded because of wisdom and power, and because of the other worldly advantages; then let one of them seek honors from all, and not receiving them be angry, and demand more than is due, and exalt himself; but let the other despise the matter, and be displeased with no one about it, and thrust aside the honor when it is given. Who then is greater? The one who does not receive it and seeks it, or the one who despises it even when it is given? It is clear that it is this one; and rightly so. For there is no other way to attain glory, but by fleeing glory. For as long as we pursue it, it flees from us; but when we flee from it, it pursues us. If you wish to be glorious, do not desire glory; if you wish to be exalted, do not become exalted. And in another way, all honor the one who does not desire honor, but they spit upon the one who seeks it; for the race of men is by nature somehow contentious and contrary. Let us therefore despise glory; for thus we shall be able to become humble, or rather, exalted. Do not exalt yourself, that you may be exalted by another. He who is exalted by himself, is not exalted by others; he who is humbled by himself, is not humbled by others. Arrogance is a great evil; it is better to be a fool, than to be arrogant; for in the former case foolishness is only a lack of sense, but in the latter it is worse; for it is foolishness 62.236 with madness. The foolish man is an evil to himself, but the arrogant man is a plague to others as well. This passion is born from foolishness. It is not possible to be high-minded without being a fool; and he who is full of foolishness, is arrogant. Hear a certain wise man saying: I have seen a man who seems wise in his own eyes; but a fool has more hope than he. Do you see that I was not speaking in vain, that this evil is worse than foolishness? For a fool, he says, has more hope than he. For this reason Paul also said, Do not be wise in your own sight. Concerning bodies, tell me, which do we say are healthy? Those that have great bulk, and are full of much wind and water within, or those that are well-ordered, and have a humble appearance? Clearly, the latter. Therefore also in the case of the soul, the one that is inflamed has a worse disease than dropsy; but the well-ordered one of every

κατέρχεσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀξιώματος, ὅταν ταπεινώσωμεν ἑαυτούς. Τότε γὰρ μᾶλλόν ἐστιν ὑψωθῆναι εἰκότως· τότε μάλιστά ἐστι θαυμασθῆναι. Ὅτι γὰρ ὁ 62.235 ὑψηλὸς ταπεινός ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ ταπεινὸς ὑψηλὸς, ἀρκεῖ μὲν καὶ ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀπόφασις τοῦτο λέγουσα· πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐξετάσωμεν· Τί ἐστι ταπεινωθῆναι; οὐ τὸ ψέγεσθαι, οὐ τὸ κατηγορεῖσθαι καὶ διαβάλλεσθαι; Τί δὲ ὑψωθῆναι; οὐ τὸ τιμᾶσθαι, τὸ ἐπαινεῖσθαι, τὸ δοξάζεσθαι; Καλῶς. Ἴδωμεν οὖν πῶς τοῦτο γίνεται. Ἄγγελος ἦν ὁ Σατανᾶς, ὕψωσεν ἑαυτόν· τί οὖν, οὐχὶ πάντων μᾶλλον ἐταπεινώθη; οὐχὶ χωρίον ἔχει τὴν γῆν; οὐχὶ ὑπὸ πάντων κατηγορεῖται καὶ διαβάλλεται; Ἄνθρωπος ὢν ὁ Παῦλος, ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν· τί οὖν; οὐχὶ θαυμάζεται; οὐχὶ ἐπαινεῖται; οὐχὶ ἐγκωμιάζεται; οὐχὶ φίλος ἐστὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ; οὐχὶ μείζονα εἰργάσατο ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐποίησεν; οὐχ ὡς ἀνδραπόδῳ πολλάκις ἐπέταξε τῷ διαβόλῳ; οὐχὶ ὡς δήμιον περιέφερεν; οὐχὶ ἔπαιξεν ἐν αὐτῷ; οὐχὶ συντετριμμένην αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν εἶχεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας τοὺς αὑτοῦ; οὐχὶ καὶ ἑτέροις μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς παῤῥησίας τοῦτο ἐπηύχετο; Τί λέγω ταῦτα; Ἐπῆρεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ Ἀβεσσαλὼμ, ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ ∆αυΐδ· ποῖος οὖν ὑψηλὸς ἐγένετο; τίς ἐπίδοξος; Τί γὰρ ταπεινότερον τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων ὧν ἐπὶ τοῦ Σεμεεῖ ἐφθέγγετο ὁ μακάριος οὗτος προφήτης, λέγων· Ἄφετε αὐτὸν καταρᾶσθαί με· Κύριος γὰρ ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ; Καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξετάσωμεν, εἰ δοκεῖ· Ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ τελώνης, καίτοι γε οὐδὲ ταπεινοφροσύνη τὸ πρᾶγμα ἦν, ἀλλὰ εὐγνωμόνως πως ἔλεγεν, ἅπερ ἔλεγεν. Ὕψωσεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ Φαρισαῖος. Ἀλλ' εἰ δοκεῖ, ἀφέντες τὰ πρόσωπα, ἐξετάσωμεν τὰ πράγματα· Ἔστωσαν δύο τινὲς, ἀμφότεροι καὶ πλουτοῦντες, καὶ μετέχοντες πολλῆς τιμῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ δυναστείᾳ, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς κοσμικοῖς πλεονεκτήμασι μεγαλοφρονοῦντες· εἶτα ὁ μὲν αὐτῶν ζητείτω τὰς παρὰ πάντων τιμὰς, καὶ μὴ λαμβάνων ὀργιζέσθω, καὶ πλέον ἢ δεῖ ἀπαιτείτω, καὶ ὑψούτω ἑαυτόν· ὁ δὲ καταφρονείτω τοῦ πράγματος, καὶ πρὸς μηδένα ὑπὲρ τούτου δυσχεραινέτω, καὶ διδομένην τὴν τιμὴν διακρουέσθω. Τίς οὖν μείζων; ὁ μὴ λαμβάνων καὶ ζητῶν, ἢ ὁ καὶ διδόντων καταφρονῶν; Εὔδηλον ὅτι οὗτος· εἰκότως. ∆όξης γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἐπιτυχεῖν, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῷ δόξαν φεύγειν. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν διώκωμεν, φεύγει ἡμᾶς· ὅταν δὲ αὐτὴν φεύγωμεν, διώκει ἡμᾶς. Εἰ βούλει ἔνδοξος εἶναι, μὴ ἐπιθύμει δόξης· εἰ βούλει ὑψηλὸς εἶναι, μὴ γίνου ὑψηλός. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ, τὸν μὲν μὴ ἐφιέμενον τιμῆς πάντες τιμῶσι, τὸν δὲ ἐπιζητοῦντα διαπτύουσι· πέφυκε γάρ πως φιλόνεικον εἶναι τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος καὶ ἀντιπαθές. Καταφρονῶμεν τοίνυν δόξης· οὕτω γὰρ δυνησόμεθα γενέσθαι ταπεινοὶ, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑψηλοί. Μὴ ὕψου σαυτὸν, ἵνα παρ' ἑτέρου ὑψωθῇς. Ὁ παρ' ἑαυτοῦ ὑψούμενος, παρ' ἑτέρων οὐχ ὑψοῦται· ὁ παρ' ἑαυτοῦ ταπεινούμενος, παρ' ἑτέρων οὐ ταπεινοῦται. Μέγα ἀπόνοια κακόν· μωρὸν εἶναι κρεῖττον, ἢ ἀπονενοημένον· ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἡ μωρία μόνον παρανοίας ἐστὶν, ἐνταῦθα δὲ χείρων· μωρία γάρ ἐστι 62.236 μετὰ μανίας. Ὁ ἀνόητος ἑαυτῷ κακὸν, ὁ δὲ ἀπονενοημένος καὶ ἑτέροις λύμη. Ἀπὸ ἀνοίας τοῦτο τὸ πάθος τίκτεται. Οὐκ ἔστιν ὑψηλόφρονα εἶναι μὴ ὄντα μωρόν· ὁ δὲ μωρίας ἔμπλεως, ἐστὶν ἀπονενοημένος. Ἄκουε σοφοῦ τινος λέγοντος· Εἶδον ἄνθρωπον δοκοῦντα φρόνιμον εἶναι παρ' ἑαυτῷ· ἐλπίδα δὲ ἔχει μᾶλλον ὁ ἄφρων αὐτοῦ. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι οὐκ εἰκῆ ἔλεγον, ὅτι χεῖρον μωρίας τὸ κακόν; Ἐλπίδα γὰρ, φησὶ, μᾶλλον ἔχει ἄφρων αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἔλεγε, Μὴ γίνεσθε φρόνιμοι παρ' ἑαυτοῖς. Ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων εἰπέ μοι, ποῖά φαμεν ὑγιαίνειν; τὰ ὄγκον ἔχοντα πολὺν, καὶ πολλοῦ πνεύματος ἔνδοθεν γέμοντα καὶ ὕδατος, ἢ τὰ κατεσταλμένα, καὶ τεταπεινωμένην ἔχοντα τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν; ∆ῆλον ὅτι ταῦτα. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, ἡ μὲν φλεγμαίνουσα ὑδέρου χεῖρον ἔχει νόσημα· ἡ δὲ κατεσταλμένη παντὸς