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that they oppose and resist the whole world, those who do not yield. "But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you." He moves on to another charge. And this is it, that when they came together for a common meal, the poor were despised by the rich. This custom existed in the early days, at the time of the three thousand and the five thousand who first believed; but it did not preserve its strictness among those who came later, who are now being accused. Since, therefore, this most excellent custom was broken up (for it was a foundation of love), he uses sharp language, crying out, that I do not approve of you, because you have put me in the position of needing to give advice; nor do I praise you, because you needed a teacher for this. "Because you come together not for the better, but for the worse; for in the first place, when you come together in the Church." That is, not for the increase of virtue. For you ought to have improved, and your generosity to have become greater; you both have shown the already prevailing custom to be void, and have needed instruction from me, that you might return to the former order. "I hear that there are divisions among you." So that he might not seem to say these things only because of the poor, he does not immediately launch into the subject of the tables, so as not to make the rebuke contemptible. Therefore he says: I hear there are divisions among you. And he did not say: I hear that you dine privately, and not with the poor. "And I believe it in part." So that they might not say that the accusers are lying, he neither said, "I believe it," so as not to make them more shameless; nor again, "I do not believe it," so that he might not seem to rebuke in vain; but he said he believes in part, making them anxious, and calling them to return to correction. "For there must also be heresies among you." Heresies here, he says, are not those of doctrines, but those of schisms. And he says this, not imposing any necessity and force on life, but foretelling what would certainly come to be from the evil mind of men, which was going to happen, not because of his prophecy, but because of the mind of those who were incurably disposed. 95.660 For it did not happen because he foretold it, but because it was certainly going to happen, for this reason he foretold it. "So that the approved may become manifest among you." So that they may shine more greatly. But what he means to say is something like this, that this not only does not harm the approved and steadfast at all, but even shows them more, and reveals them to be more illustrious; for the word, so that, is not one of cause, but often, also of the outcome of events; as when Christ says: For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who do not see may be blind. And yet he did not come for this reason, that those who see might become blind, but the opposite, that the blind might see; but this happened. So also here one must understand the phrase, So that the approved may become manifest. "When you come together, therefore, it is not to eat the Lord's supper." He did not say, when you come together, it is not to eat in common, but again in another and much more fearful way he rebukes them, referring them to that evening on which Christ handed down the holy and dreadful mysteries. "For each one takes his own supper beforehand in eating." See how he shows them shaming themselves, when they make the Lord's supper a private one. He says, therefore, that the Lord's supper ought to be common. "And one is hungry, and another is drunk." Having said, "takes beforehand" and gently striking them, he brings in gluttony, and the next thing which is a rebuke, being drunk, both of which were of excess. "For do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God?" See how from the insolence toward the poor he has transferred the charge to the Church, in order to make the argument more forceful. "And you shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you." He says this, showing that the poor are not so much concerned about food, as about the insolence shown to them. "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said: Take, eat, this is my body, which is for

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ὅτι πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ ἀντιπίπτουσι, καὶ ἐναντιοῦνται οἱ μὴ εἴκοντες. «Τοῦτο δὲ παραγγέλλων, οὐκ ἐπαινῶ.» Ἐφ' ἕτερον μεταβαίνει ἔγκλημα. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι, τὸ κοινῇ συνιόντων αὐτῶν εἰς ἑστίασιν, ἐξουθενεῖσθαι παρὰ τῶν πλουσίων τοὺς πένητας. Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἔθος, ἄνω μὲν ἦν, ἐπὶ τῶν τρισχιλίων καὶ πεντακισχιλίων τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πιστευσάντων· οὐ μὴν ἔσωσεν ἐπὶ τῶν ὕστερον τῶν νῦν ἐγκαλουμένων τὴν ἀκρίβειαν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν διεσπάσθη τὸ ἔθος τοῦτο κάλλιστον ὂν (καὶ γὰρ ἀγάπης ὑπόθεσις ἦν), πληκτικῶς κέχρηται τῷ λόγῳ, βοῶν, ὅτι Οὐκ ἀποδέχομαι ὑμᾶς, ὅτι εἰς ἀνάγκην με κατεστήσατε συμβουλῆς· οὐδὲ ἐπαινῶ, ὅτι ἐδεήθητε διδασκάλου εἰς τοῦτο. «Ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τὸ κρεῖσσον, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ ἧττον συνέρχεσθε· πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ συνερχομένων ὑμῶν ἐν Ἐκκλησίᾳ.» Τουτέστιν, ὅτι οὐκ εἰς ἐπίδοσιν ἀρετῆς. ∆έον γὰρ ἐπιδοῦναι, καὶ πλείονα γενέσθαι τὴν φιλοτιμίαν· ὑμεῖς καὶ τὸ ἤδη κρατῆσαν ἔθος ἄκυρον ἐπεδείξατε, καὶ παραγγελίας ἐδεήθητε παρ' ἐμοῦ, ἵνα εἰς τὴν προτέραν ἐπανέλθητε τάξιν. «Ἀκούω σχίσματα ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχειν.» Ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ διὰ τοὺς πένητας μόνον ταῦτα λέγειν, οὐκ εὐθέως εἰς τὸ περὶ τῶν τραπεζῶν ἐμβάλλει λόγον, ὥστε μὴ εὐκαταφρόνητον ποιῆσαι τὴν ἐπίπληξιν. ∆ιό φησιν· Ἀκούω ἐν ὑμῖν σχίσματα ὑπάρχειν. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν· Ἀκούω ὑμᾶς κατ' ἴδια ἑστιάσασθαι, καὶ μὴ μετὰ τῶν πενήτων. «Καὶ μέρος τι πιστεύω.» Ἵνα μὴ λέγωσιν, ὅτι Ψεύδονται οἱ διαβάλλοντες, οὔτε ὅτι Πιστεύω, εἶπεν, ἵνα μὴ ἀναισχυντοτέρους ποιήσῃ· οὔτε πάλιν, ὅτι Ἀπιστῶ, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ μάτην ἐπιτιμᾷν· ἀλλ' ἐκ μέρους εἶπεν πιστεύειν, ἐναγωνίους αὐτοὺς ποιῶν, καὶ εἰς τὴν τῆς διορθώσεως καλῶν ἐπάνοδον. «∆εῖ γὰρ καὶ αἱρέσεις ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι.» Αἱρέσεις ἐνταῦθα, οὐ τὰς τῶν δογμάτων, ἀλλὰ τὰς τῶν σχισμάτων φησί. Τοῦτο δὲ λέγει, οὐκ ἀνάγκην τινὰ καὶ βίαν ἐφιστὰς τῷ βίῳ, ἀλλὰ τὸ πάντως ἐσόμενον ἐκ τῆς πονηρᾶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων γνώμης προλέγων, ὅπερ ἤμελλε γίνεσθαι, οὐ διὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ πρόῤῥησιν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνιάτως ἐχόντων γνώμην. 95.660 Οὐ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ προεῖπεν, ἐγένετο, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πάντως ἔμελλε γενέσθαι, διὰ τοῦτο προεῖπεν. «Ἵνα οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται ἐν ὑμῖν.» Ἵνα λάμψωσι μειζόνως. Ὃ δὲ βούλεται εἰπεῖν, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὅτι Τοὺς δοκίμους καὶ στερεοὺς, οὐ μόνον οὐδὲν τοῦτο παραβλάπτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ δείκνυσι μᾶλλον, καὶ λαμπροτέρους ἀποφαίνει· τὸ γὰρ, ἵνα, οὐκ αἰτιολογίας ἐστὶν, ἀλλὰ πολλαχοῦ, καὶ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάσεως· οἷον ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς λέγῃ· Εἰς κρῖμα ἐγὼ εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἦλθον, ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι, καὶ οἱ μὴ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ ὦσι. Καὶ μὴν οὐ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθεν, ἵνα οἱ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ γένωνται, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐναντίον, ἵνα οἱ τυφλοὶ βλέψωσι· συνέβη δὲ τοῦτο. Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα γνῶναι δεῖ τὸ, Ἵνα οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται. «Συνερχομένων οὖν ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, οὐκ ἔστι Κυριακὸν δεῖπνον φαγεῖν.» Οὐκ εἶπε, συνερχομένων ὑμῶν, οὐκ ἔστι κοινῇ φαγεῖν, ἀλλὰ πάλιν ἑτέρως καὶ πολὺ φοβερῶς αὐτῶν καθάπτεται, εἰς ἐκείνην αὐτοὺς παραπέμπων τὴν ἑσπέραν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ σεπτὰ καὶ φρικτὰ μυστήρια παρέδωκεν ὁ Χριστός. «Ἕκαστος γὰρ τὸ ἴδιον δεῖπνον προλαμβάνει ἐν τῷ φαγεῖν.» Ὅρα πῶς δείκνυσιν αὐτοὺς ἑαυτοὺς καταισχύνοντας, ὅπου γε τὸ Κυριακὸν ἰδιωτικὸν ποιοῦσιν. Λέγει οὖν, ὡς δεῖ τὸ Κυριακὸν δεῖπνον κοινὸν εἶναι. «Καὶ ὃς μὲν πεινᾷ, ὃς δὲ μεθύει.» Εἰρηκὼς, προλαμβάνει καὶ ἠρέμα πλήξας, εἰς λαιμαργίαν ἐπάγει, καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς πληκτικὸν ὂν, τὸ μεθύειν, ἅπερ ἀμφότερα ἀμετρίας ἦν. «Μὴ γὰρ οἰκίας οὐκ ἔχετε εἰς τὸ ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν; ἢ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Θεοῦ καταφρονεῖτε;» Ὅρα πῶς ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν πενήτων ὕβρεως ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν μετήγαγε τὸ ἔγκλημα, ἵνα φορτικώτερον ποιήσῃ τὸν λόγον. «Καὶ καταισχύνετε τοὺς μὴ ἔχοντας; τί εἴπω ὑμῖν; ἐπαινέσω ὑμᾶς; ἐν τούτῳ οὐκ ἐπαινῶ.» Τοῦτό φησι, δεικνὺς, ὡς οὐ τοσοῦτον τοῖς πένησι τροφῆς μέλει, ὅσον τῆς ὕβρεως τῆς εἰς αὐτοὺς γινομένης. «Ἐγὼ γὰρ παρέλαβον ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου, ὃ καὶ παρέδωκα ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ᾗ παρεδίδοτο, ἔλαβεν ἄρτον, καὶ εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασε, καὶ εἶπεν· Λάβετε, φάγετε, τοῦτό μού ἐστι τὸ σῶμα, τὸ ὑπὲρ