Theodore the Studite, Letters

does he not receive it? And who is the lawgiver of a king? And since it is according to the ruler and the ruled, the evangelical laws are not even for the ruled. For if they are for him, they are also for them, so that they may remain obedient and without sedition, being arranged under one law and lawgiver. But if they are not for him, whenever he wishes—and he might wish to keep none of them—but are for them, this means one of two things: either the king is a god (for only the divine is not under law) or there is anarchy and sedition. For where the law is not the same, how can there be peace, when the king wishes one thing, that is, to commit adultery, to embrace heresy, and those under his authority are commanded by law not to cast their lot with an adulterer, nor to join in heresy, nor to transgress in any way what has been handed down by Christ and the apostles? And how from this does it not become apparent that the Antichrist is at the gates? For the Moechians will not dare to say, "4Does not the king do what is lawless, and command the people to obey?"5. And behold, the Antichrist has certainly entered into their argument; for he too, being a king, will seek only this, that what he wills and says should come to pass, and there is no difference from those before him except not to will and desire so much as if he might have willed it even now. The same authority has been pronounced synodically by the hierarchs. And how could someone who understands and is not contentious not confess that it is so? What will be worse than this heresy until the very manifestation of the Antichrist? I do not think there is yet, but that this very heresy, having begun from now on, will reach its end at that time; and whoever falls into it, even if they existed then, would have fallen, and whoever by the power of God stands fighting against it, would be, even in those days, conquering the Antichrist in death with Christ. But oh, the misery of man! How have they turned their backs from this point? How do we show what we shall be? For this reason, few are those who will stand; for this reason, Elijah and Enoch (we do not know if also the Theologian and Evangelist) are helpers of human weakness and champions and prize-winners of the victory for the confession of Christ; for this reason the days of that tribulation will be shortened, being brought to an end by the appearance of Christ. You who understand, stand firm, do not deny Christ from now on; for the present things are the beginnings of those things then. The second point does not need much clarification, being demonstrated by the first. Therefore, having anathematized those who do not accept the adulterous union and the adultery of the king and the transgression of everyone found and taking part in it as a holy economy, what else have they done but anathematize the saints, and first of all the Forerunner? To speak the truth, even if it is fearful, also the very Lord of the saints; for he who forbade these things, it is clear he does not accept or approve of them, but rather threatened with a very inexorable judgment even just to cast one's lot with an adulterer, not this one or that one, but any whatsoever, be he king, ruler, small or great. For there will be one law, he says, and we have received one gospel; and whoever should pervert even the least part of this gospel, even an angel from heaven, the assurance is sufficient for you. Is a king greater than an angel? Is not the ruler of the world in the world greater than all the demons and men who rule in a worldly way, but not in a divine way? And what of the apostle? Let him be anathema. Angels do not dare to pervert, nor, if they pervert, do they remain without being anathematized, like the devil and his apostate host. And how is any man in the flesh, who perverts and innovates, and especially with such innovations, not an alien from God? But he who does not accept what He forbade (for the argument must be taken up from where it digressed into an aside), this one, according to the Moechians, or rather the antichrists, has already been anathematized. But if they treat the Lord thus, just as the Jews called him one who casts out demons by Beelzebul, what about his slaves and servants? For either, as not obeying the Lord's laws in their economies, they have decreed the adulterous union to be of equal weight and equal honor and

οὐ λαμβάνει; καὶ τίς ὁ νομοθέτης βασιλέως; καὶ ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὸ ἄρχον καὶ τὸ ἀρχόμενον, οὐδὲ τῶν ἀρχομένων οἱ νόμοι οἱ εὐαγγελικοί. εἰ γὰρ ἐκείνου, κἀκείνων, ἵνα μένωσιν ὡς ὑφ' ἑνὶ ταττόμενοι νόμῳ καὶ νομοθέτῃ εὐπειθεῖς καὶ ἀστασίαστοι. εἰ δὲ ἐκείνου οὔ, ὅτε βούλεται, οὐ βούλοιτο δὲ τυχὸν οὐδένα φυλάττειν, αὐτῶν δὲ ναί, δύο ταῦτα, ἢ θεὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς (μόνον γὰρ τὸ θεῖον οὐχ ὑπὸ νόμον) ἢ ἀναρχία καὶ στάσις· οὗ γὰρ νόμος μὴ ταὐτός, πῶς εἰρήνη, τοῦ βασιλέως ἄλλο θέλοντος, ἤγουν μοιχεύειν, αἱρετίζειν, καὶ τῶν ὑπὸ χεῖρα μὴ συντίθεσθαι τὴν μερίδα μετὰ μοιχοῦ νομοθετουμένων μηδὲ συναιρετίζειν μηδ' ὁτιοῦν παραβαίνειν τὸ ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων παραδεδομένον; καὶ πῶς ἐντεῦθεν οὐ συναναφαίνεται ὁ Ἀντίχριστος ἐπὶ θύραις εἶναι; οὐ γὰρ τολμήσουσι φάναι οἱ μοιχειανοί, "4μὴ οὐχὶ ὃ ἀνομεῖ ὁ βασιλεύς, ποιεῖ τε καὶ κελεύει ὑπείκειν τὸν λαόν"5. καὶ ἴδε εἰσῆλθεν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ αὐτῶν πάντως ὁ Ἀντίχριστος· βασιλεὺς γὰρ ὢν κἀκεῖνος, τοῦτο μόνον ἐπιζητήσει, ὃ θέλει καὶ λέγει γίνεσθαι καὶ οὐδὲν τὸ διάφορον πρὸς τοὺς πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἢ τὸ μὴ τοσοῦτον θέλειν καὶ βούλεσθαι ὡς εἰ καὶ θελήσειεν καὶ ἄρτι. ἡ αὐτὴ ἐξουσία παρὰ τῶν ἱεραρχῶν συνοδικῶς ἐκπεφώνηται. καὶ πῶς συνιῶν τις καὶ οὐκ ὢν δύσερις οὐχ ὁμολογήσειεν οὕτως ἔχειν; τί δὲ ταύτης τῆς αἱρέσεως χεῖρον ἔσται ἕως ἀναδείξεως αὐτῆς τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου; ἐγὼ οὔπω δοκῶ εἶναι, ἀλλ' αὐτὴν ταύτην εἰς πέρας ἀρξαμένην ἐκ τοῦ δεῦρο τῷ τότε καιρῷ ἀπολῆξαι· καὶ ὅσοι ἐν ταύτῃ ὑποπέσωσι, κἂν τότε ὑπῆρχον, ὑπέπεσον ἄν, καὶ ὁπόσοι δυνάμει θεοῦ ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι στῶσιν, εἶεν ἂν κἀν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις νικῶντες τὸν Ἀντίχριστον ἐν θανάτῳ μετὰ Χριστοῦ. Ἀλλ' ὢ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ταλαιπωρίας. πῶς ἀπ' ἐντεῦθεν νῶτα ἔστρεψαν; πῶς ὑποδεικνύομεν τί ἐσόμεθα; διὰ τοῦτο ὀλίγοι οἱ μέλλοντες στῆναι· διὰ τοῦτο Ἠλίας καὶ Ἐνὼχ (οὐκ οἴδαμεν εἰ καὶ ὁ Θεολόγος καὶ εὐαγγελιστὴς) ἀρωγοὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀσθενείας καὶ πρωτοστάται καὶ ἀθλοφόροι τῆς ὑπὲρ ὁμολογίας Χριστοῦ νίκης· διὰ τοῦτο κολοβωθήσονται αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς ἀνάγκης ἐκείνης, τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ Χριστοῦ ἀναιρουμένης. οἱ συνιῶντες στῆτε, μὴ ἀρηνήσησθε Χριστὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ δεῦρο· ἀρκτικὰ γὰρ τὰ παρόντα τῶν τότε. Τὸ δεύτερον οὐ πολλῆς δεῖται σαφηνείας, ἐκ τοῦ προτέρου ἐπιδηλούμενον. ἀναθεματίσαντες οὖν τοὺς μὴ δεχομένους τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν καὶ τὴν μοιχείαν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς εὑρεθέντος καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν μερίδα θεμένου παρανομίαν ὡς ἁγίαν οἰκονομίαν, τί ἄλλο ἢ τοὺς ἁγίους, καὶ πρῶτόν γε τὸν Πρόδρομον, ἀναθεματίκασιν; ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, εἰ καὶ φοβερόν, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν τῶν ἁγίων δεσπότην· ὃς γὰρ ταῦτα ἀπηγόρευσεν, οὐ δέχεται οὐδὲ εὐδοκεῖ δῆλον ὅτι, ἀλλὰ λίαν ἠπείλησεν ἀπαραίτητον τὸ κρίμα καὶ τὸ μόνον μετὰ μοιχοῦ τὴν μερίδα θεῖναι, οὐ τοῦδε ἢ τοῦδε, ἀλλὰ παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν, βασιλέως, δυνάστου, μικροῦ καὶ μεγάλου. εἷς γὰρ νόμος ἔσται, φησί, καὶ ἓν εὐαγγέλιον παρελάβομεν· καὶ ὃς ἐκ τοῦδε τοῦ εὐαγγελίου κἂν τὸ τυχὸν παρασαλεύσοι, κἂν ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ ἀσφάλεια. μὴ βασιλεὺς μείζων ἀγγέλου; μὴ οὐχὶ ὁ κοσμοκράτωρ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ μείζων πάντων τῶν κοσμοκρατορικῶς κρατούντων δαιμόνων καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ θεϊκῶς; καὶ τί ὁ ἀπόστολος; ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. ἄγγελοι οὐ τολμῶσι παρασαλεῦσαι, οὐδὲ σαλεύοντες μένουσι μὴ ἀναθεματιζόμενοι, ὡς ὁ διάβολος καὶ ἡ ἀποστατικὴ αὐτοῦ πληθύς. καὶ πῶς ἄνθρωπος πᾶς ἐν σαρκὶ ὤν, σαλεύων καὶ καινοτομῶν, καὶ μάλιστα τοιαύτας καινοτομίας, οὐκ ἀλλότριος θεοῦ; Ὃς δὲ οὐ δέχεται ἃ ἀπηγόρευσεν (ἀναληπτέος γὰρ ἐξ οὗ εἰς μεταξυλογίαν μετῆλθεν ὁ λόγος), οὗτος κατὰ τοὺς μοιχειανούς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀντιχρίστους, ἤδη ἀναθεμάτισται. εἰ δὲ τὸν δεσπότην οὕτως, ὥσπερ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ ἐκβάλλειν αὐτὸν τὰ δαιμόνια κεκλήκασι, τί περὶ τῶν δούλων καὶ θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ; ἢ γὰρ ὡς οὐ πειθαρχήσαντας τοῖς δεσποτικοῖς νόμοις ἐν ταῖς οἰκονομίαις αὐτῶν ἐδογμάτισαν ἰσόρροπον καὶ ἰσοκλεῆ τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν καὶ