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
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; and they entered and stood beside the bronze altar. And the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherubim, which was upon them, to the threshold of the house. 115 And he called the man who was clothed in the full-length robe, who had the belt on his loins, and the Lord said to him: "'Go through the midst of the city Jerusalem, and set the mark upon the foreheads of the men who are sighing and groaning over all the abominations that are done in their midst.' And to them he said"—that is, to the six who had the axes—"in my hearing: "'Go into the city after him'"—that is, after the one who places the marks on the foreheads—"'and strike, and let not your eyes spare, and do not have pity; old man and young man and virgin and infants and women, slay utterly, but do not come near any upon whom is the mark; and begin from my sanctuary.' And they began from the elder men who were in the house of the Lord." But if anyone thinks these things are prophesied concerning those in Judea, he seems also to be ignorant of the coming of the Savior; for Ezekiel did not serve as priest before the captivity. For, being taken captive as a young boy with the tribe of Levi according to the economy of God, in the thirtieth year he is deemed worthy of the vision of things to come, serving as a priest in captivity, as he himself relates: "'And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month; and I was in the midst of the captivity by the river Chebar'"; and again after a little: "'The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, the priest in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar.'" But if someone, being pressed on this point, should say to us: "'After the Savior came first, who also gave the sign of the cross on the foreheads, it followed that when the Savior was disbelieved, the kingdom of the Romans under Vespasian in the fortieth year struck down the synagogue that had worked lawlessness'"; we accept the one who thinks this, but we beseech him, as a son of the New Testament, to be persuaded by Paul, the mystic of such things, who says concerning all such books: "'Now these things happened to them as a type; but they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.'" But I say these things, not because I wish for an iron sword to come 116 upon the enemies of God—far from it. For the prophet does not speak of an iron sword, but of some other punishing power, about which the same Ezekiel says: "'A land upon which I bring a sword'" (and the word, "I bring," instead of, "I will allow"), "'and the people of the land take one man, and give him to themselves as a watchman, and the watchman sees the sword coming, and blows the trumpet, and warns the people, and the one hearing hears and does not take heed, and the sword coming overtakes someone, his blood I will require from him, because he did not hear the voice of the trumpet''; and again: "'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and does not warn the people, and the sword coming overtakes someone, his blood I will require from the hand of the watchman [of the trumpet], because seeing the sword he did not sound the trumpet.'" Having this danger before his eyes, not sleeping the sleep of unbelief, nor hesitating with the hesitation of the love of pleasure, the blessed John cried out louder than a trumpet, not making an uncertain sound, but giving clear knowledge of the devil's sword, he urged all to flee. And as many as had a pure conscience like a mark on the forehead of the soul, by the grace of God were saved with you, the faithful Romans; but as many as had it defiled, incited the peoples and the priests to contention against one another, so that they might conceal their own matters in the common evils. {THE DEACON} You have spoken wonderfully; but it is confessed that it is an impossible thing for a blameless man to be found perfect in this terrestrial life; as Scripture says
πρὸς βοῤῥᾶν, καὶ ἑκάστου πέλυξ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀνὴρ εἷς ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν, ἐνδεδυκὼς ποδήρη, καὶ ζώνη σαπφείρου ἐπὶ τῆς
ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ· καὶ εἰσῆλθον καὶ ἔστησαν ἐχόμενοι τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ χαλκοῦ. καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἀνέβη ἀπὸ τῶν χερουβίμ,
ἡ οὖσα ἐπ' αὐτῶν, εἰς τὸ αἴθριον τοῦ οἴκου. 115 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν ἐνδεδυμένον τὸν ποδήρη, ὃς εἶχεν ἐπὶ τῆς ὀσφύος
αὐτοῦ τὴν ζώνην, καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος πρὸς αὐτόν· "∆ίελθε μέσην τὴν πόλιν τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ, καὶ δὸς τὸ σημεῖον ἐπὶ τὰ μέτωπα τῶν
ἀνδρῶν τῶν καταστεναζόντων καὶ κατω δυνωμένων ἐπὶ πάσαις ταῖς ἀνομίαις ταῖς γινομέναις ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν." καὶ αὐτοῖς εἶπεν" -δηλαδὴ
τοῖς ἓξ τοῖς ἔχουσι τοὺς πέλυκας-"ἀκούοντός μου· "Πορεύεσθε εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ"" -δηλαδὴ τοῦ τὰ σημεῖα τιθέντος ἐπὶ
τῶν μετώπων- ""καὶ κόπτετε καὶ μὴ φείσησθε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν, καὶ μὴ ἐλεήσητε· πρεσβύτερον καὶ νεανίσκον καὶ παρθένον καὶ
νήπια καὶ γυναῖκας ἀποκτείνατε εἰς ἐξάλειψιν, ἐπὶ δὲ πάντας, ἐφ' οὕς ἐστι τὸ σημεῖον, μὴ ἐγγίσητε· καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μου ἄρξασθε."
καὶ ἤρξαντο ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν πρεσβυτέρων οἳ ἦσαν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου." εἰ δέ τις νομίζει περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν προφητεύεσθαι
ταῦτα, οὗτος ἔοικε καὶ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπι δημίαν ἠγνοηκέναι· οὐ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἱεράτευσεν ὁ Ἰεζεκιήλ. παῖς γὰρ ἔτι
νεαρὸς συναιχμαλωτισθεὶς κατὰ οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ τῇ φυλῇ τοῦ Λευΐ, τῷ τριακοστῷ ἔτει τῆς ὁράσεως καταξιοῦται τῶν μελλόντων, ἱερατεύων
ἐν τῇ αἰχμα λωσίᾳ, ὡς αὐτὸς ὑφηγεῖται· "Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ τριακοστῷ ἔτει, ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ μηνί, πέμπτῃ τοῦ μηνός· καὶ ἐγὼ ἤμην
ἐν μέσῳ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Χοβάρ"· καὶ πάλιν μετ' ὀλίγα· "Ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς Ἰεζεκιήλ, υἱὸν Βουζί,
τὸν ἱερέα ἐν γῇ Χαλδαίων ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ Χοβάρ." εἰ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν στενούμενός τις ἐρεῖ ἡμῖν· "Προηγησαμένου τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ὃς
καὶ τὸ σημεῖον δέδωκεν ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἐπηκολουθηκέναι ἀπιστηθέντος τοῦ Σωτῆρος, τὴν βασιλείαν Ῥωμαίων ἐπὶ Οὐεσπασιανοῦ
συγκόψαντος τῷ τεσ σαρακοστῷ ἔτει τὴν τὰ παράνομα ἐργασαμένην συναγωγήν"· ἀποδεχόμεθα μὲν τὸν ταῦτα νοοῦντα, παρακαλοῦμεν
δὲ αὐτόν, ὡς υἱὸν τῆς Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης, πείθεσθαι τῷ τῶν τοιούτων μύστῃ Παύλῳ τῷ λέγοντι περὶ πάντων τῶν τοιούτων βιβλίων,
τό· "Ταῦτα δὲ τυπικῶς συνέβαινεν ἐκείνοις· ἐγράφη δὲ πρὸς νουθεσίαν ἡμῶν, εἰς οὓς τὰ τέλη τῶν αἰώνων κατήντηκεν." ταῦτα δὲ
λέγω, οὐχὶ δι' εὐχῆς ἔχων σιδηρᾶν ῥομφαίαν ἐλθεῖν 116 ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ, -ἄπαγε. οὔτε γὰρ περὶ σιδηρᾶς ὁ προφήτης
σημαίνει, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἑτέρας τινὸς κολαστικῆς δυνάμεως, περὶ ἧς ὁ αὐτὸς Ἰεζεκιὴλ λέγει· "Γῆ ἐφ' ἣν ῥομφαίαν ἐπάγω ἐπ' αὐτήν"
(τὸ δέ, "ἐπάγω," ἀντὶ τοῦ, "συγχωρήσω"), "καὶ λάβῃ ὁ λαὸς τῆς γῆς ἄνδρα ἕνα, καὶ δῶσιν ἑαυτοῖς εἰς σκοπόν, καὶ ἴδῃ ὁ σκοπὸς
τὴν ῥομφαίαν ἐρχομένην, καὶ σαλπίσῃ τῇ σάλπιγγι, καὶ σημάνῃ τῷ λαῷ, καὶ ἀκούσῃ ὁ ἀκούων καὶ μὴ φυλάξηται, ἐπελθοῦσα δὲ ἡ ῥομφαία
καταλάβῃ τινά, τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐκζητήσω, ὅτι οὐκ ἤκουσεν τῆς φωνῆς τῆς σάλ πιγγος"· καὶ πάλιν· "Ἐὰν δὲ ὁ σκοπὸς ἴδῃ
τὴν ῥομφαίαν ἐρχομένην καὶ μὴ σαλπίσῃ τῇ σάλπιγγι, καὶ τῷ λαῷ μὴ σημάνῃ, ἐπελθοῦσα δὲ ἡ ῥομφαία καταλάβῃ τινά, τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ
ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ σκοποῦ [τῆς σάλπιγγος] ἐκζητήσω, ὅτι ἰδὼν τὴν ῥομφαίαν οὐκ ἐσάλπισεν." τοῦτον τὸν κίνδυνον οὐχ ὑπνῶν τὸν
τῆς ἀπιστίας ὕπνον, οὐδὲ ὀκνῶν τὸν τῆς φιλη δονίας ὄκνον ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχων, ὑψη λότερον σάλπιγγος ἐβόα,
οὐκ ἄδηλον φθόγγον σημαίνων, ἀλλ' εὔδηλον γνῶσιν παρέχων τῆς διαβολικῆς ῥομφαίας, παρεκάλει φεύγειν τοὺς πάντας. καὶ ὅσοι
μὲν τὸ συνειδὸς καθαρὸν καθάπερ σημεῖον ἐπὶ τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς μετώπου ἔσχον, χάριτι Θεοῦ σὺν ὑμῖν τοῖς πιστοῖς Ῥωμαίοις διεσώθησαν·
ὅσοι δ' αὖ πάλιν μεμολυμμένον, τοὺς λαοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς εἰς τὴν κατ' ἀλλήλων φιλονεικίαν ἐξέκαυσαν, ἵνα τοῖς κοινοῖς κακοῖς
τὸ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς συσκιάσωσιν. {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.} Θαυμασίως μὲν εἴρηκας· ὡμολόγηται δὲ ὅτι ἀμή χανόν ἐστι πρᾶγμα, ἄνθρωπον ἄμεμπτον ἐν
τῷ περιγείῳ βίῳ τούτῳ εὑρεθῆναι τέλειον· τῆς Γραφῆς λεγούσης
