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
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? Having been created, therefore, for the need of mutual help, why have you treated the grace with contempt, not only not alleviating the labors, but also thrusting away and tearing yourselves away from your own kinship; while the prophet cries out to you; "Have we not all one Father? 142 Has not one God created us?" But you will say to me; "He has sinned against the law." Which? which you have trampled upon, having scattered it by your wickedness? Where then is the law of nature, to correct with kindness? And why, using the law of enemies, do you persecute in what you devise, and act in ways that are contrary and worthy of enmity? How much better it was, living together and dwelling in the same place, to share with each other common and good counsels, for the grace and pleasure of your Father? For the virtue and harmony of children are graces, and most pleasing to their parents, who desire nothing else from their own offspring than this. And know this well, that the bond of friendship and goodwill is nothing other than to be zealous and to do all things pleasingly to the Father and to the cause of one's birth and nurture and continued existence; Whom you have disdained as nonsense, you have kindled wars in the church, according to the prophet who said: "They have established madness in the house of the Lord," instead of urging and encouraging one another; then, contrary to the mind and judgment of the Father, waging irreconcilable wars among yourselves. And I add that both God and all who adhere to him, His sons, and your brothers, it greatly disturbs and moves, and does not allow to be silent (for he is neither neglectful nor unconcerned for the benefit of his children). Therefore, being vexed both at your madness and at the oppression of the wronged, for which reason he does not judge it right for you to go unpunished (as he has begun); for it is neither seemly for him nor safe for you; And your affliction is not tolerable, and not of ordinary care, and because of blows and innumerable welts from discipline he sees you as worse. For much insensibility and utter inflexibility prevails in you, brothers, genuine, and living together, and moreover confederates, sharing the same table and 143 the same bed, having obtained one and the same kinship, you have so turned to a most hostile hatred, as to send them away from their own territories and the common hearth and to drive them far away, cityless and homeless, and moreover exiles, having made them so, as far as it was in your power, and this, not having defined the exile for a certain amount of time, but as much as you were able and for an indefinite time, because of your cruelty and excessive frenzy. which you have held against them and against the blessed John, rekindling resentful enmity and, like a sharpened sword, you let loose your tongue against him to this very day, you embrace wrath instead of beneficial teaching, the accusation in the church pouring it out to the defilement of the hearers—and these things are for them, to whom "the Lord" in mercy and loving-kindness "will repay according to their works;" but for you, having woven an "unfading crown" of what words shall I bring it, O blessed John, after the departure from the stadium, not being afraid to praise you (for you have stripped off the tempest)? -Or of those Mosaic laws which he gave when he blessed the practical Joseph and the contemplative Levi the priest (for in you I see both)? -"With the blessing of the Lord is your land, and from the mountains of heaven and the dew, and the springs of the deeps beneath, and according to the season of the produce of the turnings of the sun, and from the gatherings of the months, from the peak of the ancient mountains, and from the peak of the ever-flowing hills, they shall be on the head of Joseph" (if there is a Joseph), "and on the head of him whom he led as brothers, having been glorified among brothers. His beauty is like the firstborn of a bull, his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with them he will gore the nations together to the end of the earth. And to Levi he said" (and if anyone has imitated him); ""Give to Levi his manifestations, and his truth to the holy man, whom they tested at Peira, they reviled him at the water of 144 Contradiction. the one who says
ἀλλήλους, εἰς ἃ καὶ προσῆκεν τί μαθόντες οὐδ' ἡσυχάζειν καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἠρεμεῖν ἐκρίνατε κἂν τοῦ λοιποῦ; εἰς τὴν χρείαν οὖν
τῆς συναντιλήψεως κτισθέντες, τί ἐῤῥᾳδιουργή σατε τὴν χάριν, οὐ μόνον μὴ ἐπικουφίζοντες τοὺς πόνους, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσαπωθούμενοι
καὶ τῆς οἰκείας συγγενείας ἀποσχίζοντες· τοῦ προφήτου πρὸς ὑμᾶς βοῶντος· "Οὐχὶ Πατὴρ εἷς πάντων 142 ἡμῶν; οὐχὶ Θεὸς εἷς ἔκτισεν
ἡμᾶς;" ἀλλ' ἐρεῖτέ μοι· "Ἥμαρτεν εἰς τὸν νόμον." ποῖον; ὃν ὑμεῖς κατεπατήσατε τῇ πονηρίᾳ διασκεδάσαντες; ποῦ οὖν ὁ τῆς φύσεως
νόμος, τὸ μετὰ χρηστό τητος διορθώσασθαι; τί δαὶ καὶ νόμῳ πολεμίων καταχρώμενοι, διώκετε ἐν οἷς βουλεύεσθε, καὶ πράσσετε ἐναντίοις
οὖσιν καὶ ἔχθρας ἀξίοις; πόσῳ δὲ ἦν ἄμεινον συνοικοῦντας καὶ ἐν ταὐτῷ διαιτωμένους, τῶν κοινῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν βουλευμάτων ἀλλήλοις
μεταδιδόναι, εἰς χάριν καὶ ἀρέσκειαν τοῦ ὑμετέρου Πατρός; τέκνων γὰρ ἀρετὴ καὶ συμφωνία χαρίτων, καὶ σφόδρα εὐμενὴς τοῖς τοκεῦσι,
μηδενὸς ἄλλου χρῄζουσιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων ἐγγόνων ἢ τούτου. εὖ ἴστε δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ὅτι φιλίας καὶ εὐνοίας σύνδεσμος οὐδὲν ἕτερόν
ἐστιν ἢ τὸ σπουδάζειν καὶ πάντα πράττειν ἀρεσκόντως τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ τῆς γενέσεως καὶ διατροφῆς καὶ διαμονῆς αἰτίῳ· οὗ ὑπερφρονήσαντες
ὡς λήρου, πολέμους ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐξήψατε, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα προφήτην· "Μανίαν ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου κατέπηξαν," ἀντὶ τοῦ παρορμᾶν
καὶ προτρέπειν ἀλλήλους· ἔπειτα παρὰ νοῦν καὶ γνώμην τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς πολέμους ἀσυμβάτους ἐργαζόμενοι ἐν ἀλλήλοις. προστίθημι
δέ, ὅτι καὶ τὸν Θεὸν καὶ πάντας τοὺς προσχωροῦντας αὐτῷ, τοῦ μὲν υἱούς, ὑμῶν δὲ ἀδελφούς, σφόδρα ἐξίστησι καὶ κινεῖ, καὶ σιωπᾶν
οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει (οὐδὲ γὰρ ὀλίγωρος οὐδὲ τῆς τῶν τέκνων ὠφελείας ἄφροντίς ἐστιν). ἀχθόμενος τοιγαροῦν ἐπί τε τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ φρενοβλαβείᾳ
καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἀδικουμένων καταδυναστείᾳ, διὸ καὶ παρελθεῖν ὑμᾶς ἀτιμωρήτους οὐ κρίνει δίκαιον (καθὼς ἐνήρξατο)· οὔτε γὰρ
αὐτῷ εὐπρεπὲς οὔτε ὑμῖν ἀσφαλές· τό τε πάθος ὑμῶν οὐ φορητόν, ἐπιμελείας τε οὐ τῆς τυχούσης, διά τε πληγῶν καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ παιδείας
μωλώπων οὐκ ἀριθμητῶν χείρους ὑμᾶς ὁρᾷ. πολὺ γὰρ τὸ ἀναίσ θητον καὶ ἀκαμπέστατον ὑμῖν ἐπιπολάζει, ἀδελφούς, γνησίους, καὶ
ὁμοδιαίτους, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ὁμοσπόνδους, ὁμοτραπέζους τε καὶ 143 ὁμολέκτους, μιᾶς καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς συγγενείας τετυχηκότας, οὕτως
εἰς μῖσος ἔχθιστον περιετρέψατε, ὡς καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ὅρων καὶ τῆς κοινῆς ἑστίας ἀποδιαπέμπεσθαι καὶ πόῤῥω ἀπελαύνειν, ἀπόλεις
καὶ ἀοίκους, πρὸς δὲ καὶ φυγάδας, ὅσον ἐφ' ὑμῖν ἧκον μέρος, κατασκευάσαντες καὶ ταῦτα οὐ πρὸς ποσόν τινα χρόνον τὴν φυγάδα
ὁρίσαντες, ἀλλ' ὅσον ἐδυνήθητε καὶ ἐπ' ἄπειρον, διὰ τὸ ὠμόθυμον καὶ τὸ λίαν παρακεκινημένον ὑμῶν. ὃ ἐπ' αὐτοῖς καὶ τῷ μακαρίῳ
Ἰωάννῃ κέκτησθε, ἔγκοτον τὸ ἔχθος ἀναζωπυροῦντες καί, ὥσπερ ἠκονημένον ξίφος, μέχρι τῆς δεῦρο κατ' αὐτοῦ χαλῶντες τὴν γλῶτταν,
τὴν μῆνιν ἀσπάζεσθε ἀντὶ διδασκαλίας ἐπωφελοῦς, τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας εἰς μολυσμὸν τῶν ἀκουόντων ἐκχέοντες-καὶ
ταῦτα μὲν ἐκείνοις, οἷς "ὁ Κύριος" ἐν ἐλέει καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ "ἀποδώσει κατὰ τὰ ἔργα·"" σοὶ δὲ ποίων λόγων "ἀμάραντον στέφανον"
πλέξας οἴσω, μακάριε Ἰωάννη, μετὰ ἔξοδον τοῦ σταδίου οὐ φοβούμενος τὸ ἐγκωμιάσαι (ἀπεδύσω γὰρ τὴν τρικυμίαν); -ἦ τῶν Μωσαϊκῶν
ἐκείνων νόμων οὓς δέδωκεν εὐλογήσας τὸν πρακτικὸν Ἰωσὴφ καὶ τὸν θεωρητικὸν Λευῒ τὸν ἱερέα (ἐν σοὶ γὰρ ὁρῶ ἀμφοτέρους); -"Ἐπ'
εὐλογίας Κυρίου ἡ γῆ σου, καὶ ἀπὸ ὀρῶν οὐρανοῦ καὶ δρόσου, καὶ ἀβύσσων πηγῶν κάτωθεν, καὶ καθ' ὥραν γεννημάτων ἡλίου τροπῶν,
καὶ ἀπὸ συνόδων μηνῶν, ἀπὸ κορυφῆς ὀρέων ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἀπὸ κορυφῆς ἀενάων βουνῶν, ἔσονται ἐπὶ κορυφῆς Ἰωσήφ" (εἴ τις Ἰωσήφ),
"καὶ ἐπὶ κορυφῆς ὧν ἡγήσατο ἀδελφῶν, δοξασθεὶς ἐν ἀδελφοῖς. πρωτότοκος ταύρου τὸ κάλλος αὐτοῦ, κέρατα μονοκέρωτος τὰ κέρατα
αὐτοῦ· ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔθνη κερατιεῖ ἅμα ἕως ἐπ' ἄκρου τῆς γῆς. καὶ τῷ Λευῒ εἶπεν" (καὶ εἴ τις αὐτὸν ἐμιμήσατο)· ""∆ότε Λευῒ δήλους
αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ὁσίῳ, ὃν ἐπείρασαν αὐτὸν ἐν Πείρᾳ, ἐλοιδόρησαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ὕδατος 144 Ἀντιλογίας. ὁ λέγων
