John Chrysostom, On Lazarus

the rich man looked up, and saw Lazarus; he saw new things. He was at your gate every day; a second and a third time you went in and out, and you did not see him; and when you are in the frying pans, you see from a distance? When you lived in wealth, when it was in your power to see, you did not choose to see him; why are you now so sharp-sighted? Was he not at your gate? How did you not see him? You did not see him when he was near, and now you see from a distance, and with so great a chasm between? And what does he do? He calls Abraham father. Why do you say father, whose hospitality you did not imitate? This one calls father, that one child; the names of kinship, and nowhere the help. But he utters the names, so that you may learn that there is no benefit from lineage. For nobility is not the distinction of ancestors, but virtue of character. Do not say to me: I have a consul for a father. What is that to me? I do not say this. Do not say to me: I have a consul for a father. If you have Paul the apostle for a father, and if you have martyrs for brothers, but you do not imitate their virtue, there is no benefit to you from the kinship, but rather it has harmed and condemned you. My mother, he says, is merciful. And what is that to you, the inhuman one? for her philanthropy is an additional accusation of your wickedness. For what does John the Baptist say to the Jewish people? Produce fruit worthy of repentance, and do not think to say: We have Abraham for our father. Do you have a renowned ancestor? if you emulate him, you have gained; but if you do not emulate him, the renowned one becomes an accuser that from a righteous root a bitter fruit has grown. Never call blessed a man having a righteous kinsman, if he does not imitate his ways. Do you have a holy mother? It is nothing to you. Do you have a wicked mother? It is nothing 48.1037 to you. Just as her virtue does not benefit you who do not emulate her virtue, so also her wickedness does not harm you, if you change your wickedness. But just as the crime is greater there, because, having an example at home, you did not imitate the virtue; so also here the praise is greater, because someone having a wicked mother did not imitate her wickedness, but from a bitter root a fruit has grown; for not the distinction of ancestors, but a virtuous character is sought. I call even a slave noble, and a master wearing a chain, if I learn his character; to me even one in high office is base, if he has an enslaved soul. For who is a slave, if not the one who commits sin? For the other slavery is of circumstance; but this slavery is a difference of will, since indeed slavery originally entered from this. 7. There was no slave in the olden days; for God, when forming man, did not make him a slave, but free. He made Adam and Eve, and both were free; whence then did slavery come to be? The race of men ran aground, and transgressing the measures of desire, they were lifted up into licentiousness; and how, listen: There was a flood, the common shipwreck of the world, the floodgates were opened, and the abysses gushed forth, and all was water, and the things that appeared were resolved into their elements and dissolved, and the earth was not seen, but all was sea, having for its root the wrath of God, and all was waves, and all was seas; mountains raised to a height, but the sea covered them; and there was sea and sky only, and the race of men was lost, and there was the spark of our race, Noah, a spark in the midst of the sea, and not being extinguished, having the firstfruits of our race, wife and children, a dove and a raven, and all the other things. And they were all inside, and the ark was borne upon the water in the midst of the surge, and it was not shipwrecked; for it had as its helmsman the Master of all. For the planks did not save him, but the mighty hand; and behold a wonder: When the earth was also cleansed, when those who worked evil were destroyed, when the storm abated, the peaks of the mountains appeared, the ark came to rest, Noah sent the dove. But the things said were mysteries, and the things that happened a type of things to come; for example, the Church is an ark, Noah is Christ, the

πλούσιος ἀνέβλεψε, καὶ εἶδε τὸν Λάζαρον· εἶδε καινὰ πράγματα. Εἰς τὸν πυλῶνά σου ἦν καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν· δεύτερον καὶ τρίτον εἰσήρχου καὶ ἐξήρχου, καὶ οὐκ ἔβλεπες αὐτόν· καὶ ὅτε εἰς τὰ τήγανα εἶ, ἀπὸ διαστήματος βλέπεις; Ὅτε ἐν τῷ πλούτῳ διῆγες, ὅτε ἐν τῇ βουλῇ σου τὸ ὁρᾷν ἦν, οὐ προέθου τοῦ ἰδεῖν αὐτόν· ἱνατί νῦν ὀξυδερκεῖς; οὐκ ἐν τῷ πυλῶνί σου ἦν; πῶς αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔβλεπες; ἐγγὺς ὄντα οὐκ εἶδες, καὶ νῦν ἀπὸ διαστήματος βλέπεις, καὶ τοσούτου χάους ὄντος; Καὶ τί ποιεῖ; Τὸν Ἀβραὰμ πατέρα καλεῖ. Τί λέγεις πατέρα, οὗ οὐκ ἐμιμήσω τὴν φιλοξενίαν; Πατέρα καλεῖ οὗτος, τέκνον ἐκεῖνος· τὰ ὀνόματα τῆς συγγενείας, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ ἡ ἀντίληψις. Ἀλλὰ προφέρει τὰ ὀνόματα, ἵνα μάθητε, ὅτι γένους ὄφελος οὐδέν. Εὐγένεια γὰρ οὐ προγόνων περιφάνεια, ἀλλὰ τρόπων ἀρετή. Μή μοι λέγε· Πατέρα ἔχω ὕπατον. Τί πρὸς ἐμέ; Οὐ λέγω τοῦτο. Μή μοι λέγε· Πατέρα ἔχω ὕπατον. Παῦλον τὸν ἀπόστολον ἐὰν ἔχῃς πατέρα, καὶ ἀδελφοὺς ἐὰν ἔχῃς μάρτυρας, σὺ δὲ μὴ μιμήσῃ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀρετὴν, οὐδέν σοι ὄφελος τῆς συγγενείας, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἔβλαψε καὶ κατεδίκασεν. Ἡ μήτηρ μου, φησὶν, ἐλεήμων ἐστίν. Καὶ τί πρὸς σὲ τὸν ἀπάνθρωπον; ἡ γὰρ ἐκείνης φιλανθρωπία προσθήκη κατηγορίας τῆς σῆς κακοτροπίας. Τί γὰρ ὁ Βαπτιστὴς Ἰωάννης φησὶ πρὸς τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἰουδαϊκόν; Ποιήσατε καρπὸν ἄξιον τῆς μετανοίας, καὶ μὴ δόξητε λέγειν· Πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν Ἀβραάμ. Εὐδόκιμον ἔχεις πρόγονον; ἐὰν ζηλώσῃς, ἐκέρδανας· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ζηλώσῃς, κατήγορος γίνεται ὁ εὐδόκιμος ὅτι ἀπὸ ῥίζης δικαίας πικρὸς ἔφυς καρπός. Μηδέποτε μακαρίσῃς ἄνθρωπον ἔχοντα συγγενῆ δίκαιον, ἐὰν μὴ μιμῆται αὐτοῦ τοὺς τρόπους. Μητέρα ἔχεις ἁγίαν; Οὐδὲν πρὸς σέ. Μητέρα ἔχεις πονηράν; Οὐδὲν 48.1037 πρὸς σέ. Ὥσπερ ἐκείνης ἡ ἀρετὴ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ σε μὴ ζηλοῦντα αὐτῆς τὴν ἀρετὴν, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἡ κακία αὐτῆς βλάπτει σε, ἐὰν μεταβάλῃς τὴν πονηρίαν. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ μεῖζον τὸ ἔγκλημα, ὅτι, οἴκοθεν ἔχων ὑπόδειγμα, οὐκ ἐμιμήσω τὴν ἀρετήν· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἐγκώμιον μεῖζον, ὅτι μητέρα τις ἔχων πονηρὰν, οὐκ ἐμιμήσατο τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτῆς, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ ῥίζης πικρᾶς ἔφυ καρπός· οὐ γὰρ προγόνων περιφάνεια, ἀλλὰ τρόπος ἀρετῆς ζητεῖται. Ἐγὼ καὶ δοῦλον εὐγενῆ καλῶ, καὶ δεσπότην ἅλυσιν περικείμενον, ἐὰν καταμάθω αὐτοῦ τὸν τρόπον· ἐμοὶ καὶ ὁ ἐν ἀξιώματι δυσγενὴς, ἐὰν δούλην ἔχῃ τὴν ψυχήν. Τίς γάρ ἐστι δοῦλος, εἰ μὴ ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν; Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλη δουλεία περιστάσεως πραγμάτων· αὕτη δὲ ἡ δουλεία διαφορὰ γνώμης, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡ δουλεία ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐντεῦθεν εἰσῆλθεν. ζʹ. Οὐκ ἦν δοῦλος τὸ παλαιόν· ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς πλάττων τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐκ ἐποίησεν αὐτὸν δοῦλον, ἀλλ' ἐλεύθερον. Ἐποίησε τὸν Ἀδὰμ καὶ τὴν Εὔαν, καὶ ἀμφότεροι ἦσαν ἐλεύθεροι· πόθεν οὖν ἡ δουλεία ἐγένετο; Ἐξώκειλε τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τὰ μέτρα τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ὑπερβάντες, εἰς ἀκολασίαν ἐπήρθησαν· καὶ ὅπως, ἄκουε· Ἐγένετο κατακλυσμὸς, τὸ κοινὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης ναυάγιον, καταῤῥάκται ἠνεῴχθησαν, καὶ ἄβυσσοι ἀνεβλύσθησαν, καὶ πάντα ἦν ὕδωρ, καὶ τὰ φαινόμενα ἀνεστοιχειοῦντο καὶ διελύοντο, καὶ γῆ οὐκ ἐφαίνετο, ἀλλ' ἦν ἅπαντα πέλαγος, ῥίζαν ἔχοντα τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ πάντα κύματα ἦν, καὶ πάντα πελάγη· ὄρη πρὸς ὕψος ἀνατεταμένα, ἀλλὰ τὸ πέλαγος αὐτὰ ἐκάλυπτε· καὶ ἦν πέλαγος καὶ οὐρανὸς μόνον, καὶ ἦν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπολωλὸς, καὶ ἦν ὁ σπινθὴρ τοῦ γένους τοῦ ἡμετέρου ὁ Νῶε, σπινθὴρ ἐν μέσῳ πελάγους, καὶ μὴ σβεννύμενος, τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν ἔχων, γυναῖκα καὶ παιδία, περιστερὰν καὶ κόρακα, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα. Καὶ ἦσαν πάντες ἔνδον, καὶ ἐφέρετο ἡ κιβωτὸς ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ κλύδωνος, καὶ οὐκ ἐναυάγει· εἶχε γὰρ κυβερνήτην τὸν τοῦ παντὸς ∆εσπότην. Αἱ γὰρ σανίδες αὐτὸν οὐ διέσωσαν, ἀλλ' ἡ χεὶρ ἡ κραταιά· καὶ ὅρα θαῦμα· Ὅτε καὶ ἐξεκλύσθη ἡ γῆ, ὅτε ἀνῃρέθησαν οἱ τὰ κακὰ ἐργασάμενοι, ὅτε ἐλώφησεν ὁ χειμὼν, ἐφάνησαν αἱ κορυφαὶ τῶν ὀρέων, ἐκάθισεν ἡ κιβωτὸς, ἔπεμψε τὴν περιστερὰν ὁ Νῶε. Μυστήρια δὲ ἦν τὰ λεγόμενα, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων τύπος τὰ γινόμενα· οἷον, ἡ Ἐκκλησία κιβωτὸς, ὁ Νῶε ὁ Χριστὸς, ἡ