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But also the sons of Eli, since they ate before the incense, paid a most harsh penalty with their father. Has no father then been negligent concerning his children, nor wicked children? but no one has paid the penalty; when then will they pay it if there is no Gehenna? And what of Ananias and Sapphira, who, since they stole from what they had dedicated, were punished immediately? has no one since then done this? How then have they not paid the same penalty? Do we persuade you that there is a Gehenna, or shall we need more examples? I myself also wished that there were no punishment, and I most of all. Why indeed? Because each of you fears for his own soul, but I am held accountable for this leadership as well. So that it is impossible for me, most of all, to escape it. Therefore, not only in bestowing benefits, but also in punishing, God is good and loves mankind. For indeed His punishments and His chastisements are a very great part of His beneficence; since a physician is a physician not only when he leads the sick man out to parks and meadows, nor when to baths and pools of water, but also when he orders him to remain without food, when he cuts, when he applies bitter medicines, even then he is likewise a physician, and shows his philanthropy all the more. When therefore you see someone caring for virtue, and enduring countless temptations, call him blessed, emulate him, since all his sins are dissolved here, and many rewards for his endurance are being prepared there. For of men, some are punished only here; others suffer nothing of the sort here, but receive all their punishment there; and others are punished both here and there. Which then of these three do you call blessed? The first, I know well, are those being punished here and putting away their sins; and the second after them, which ones? You perhaps would say those suffering nothing here, but enduring all their punishment there; but I say not these, but those punished both here and there. For he who has paid a penalty here will feel a lighter punishment there; but he who is compelled to endure all the punishment there will have an inexorable penalty. For what reason does God foretell the terrible things he is about to do? So that he may not do what he foretells. For this reason also he has threatened Gehenna, so that he may not lead us into Gehenna. For let the words, he says, frighten you, and not the deeds grieve you. Your promises also are good, O Lord; good also is your expected kingdom, and again Gehenna which is threatened; for the kingdom exhorts well, and Gehenna frightens usefully. For God threatens Gehenna, not that he may cast into Gehenna, but that he may deliver from Gehenna; for if he wished to punish, he would not have threatened beforehand, so that by being on our guard we might escape the things threatened. He threatens the punishment that we might flee the experience of the punishment; He frightens, by 63.751 word, that he may not punish in deed. For he who does not expect to be resurrected, nor to give an account for the things he has done here, but thinks that our affairs stop at the present life, and that there is nothing more beyond, will neither care for virtue, nor refrain from vice, but having given himself over to perverse desires, will run through every form of wickedness; but he who has persuaded himself concerning the coming judgment, and has that fearful tribunal before his eyes, and the inexorable accounts, and the unappealable verdict, will try in every way to hold to moderation and reasonableness and other virtue, and to flee from intemperance and insolence and all other wickedness. For reason cannot accomplish as much as fear accomplishes; for the fear of Gehenna will bring us the crown of the kingdom. I know that many shudder only at Gehenna; but I say that the falling away from the glory of the heavens is a punishment far more bitter than Gehenna. And if it is not possible to represent this in words, it is not surprising; for we do not know the blessedness of those good things. so that we might also see clearly the misery from the loss of them; since Paul, who knew these things clearly, knows that to fall from the glory

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Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ Ἠλεὶ οἱ υἱοὶ ἐπειδὴ πρὸ τοῦ θυμιάματος ἤσθιον, δίκην ἔδοσαν χαλεπωτάτην μετὰ τοῦ πατρός. Οὐδεὶς οὖν γέγονε πατὴρ ῥᾴθυμος περὶ παῖδας, οὔτε μοχθηροὶ παῖδες; ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ἔδωκε δίκην· πότε οὖν δώσουσιν ἐὰν μὴ γέεννα ᾖ; Τί δὲ ὁ Ἀνανίας καὶ ἡ Σάπφειρα, ἐπειδὴ ἔκλεψαν ἐξ ὧν ἀνέθηκαν, καὶ παραχρῆμα ἐτιμωρήθησαν; οὐδεὶς ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦτο ἐποίησε; πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἔδωκαν τὴν αὐτὴν δίκην; Ἆρά σε πείθομεν γέενναν εἶναι, ἢ πλειόνων δεηθησόμεθα παραδειγμάτων; Ἐβουλόμην καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ μὴ εἶναι κόλασιν, καὶ μάλιστα πάντων ἐγώ. Τί δήποτε; Ὅτι ὑμῶν μὲν ἕκαστος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δέδοικε ψυχῆς, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τῆς προστασίας ταύτης εὐθύνας ὑπέχω. Ὥστε μάλιστα πάντων ἐμὲ ταύτην διαφυγεῖν ἀδύνατον. Οὐ τοίνυν εὐεργετῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κολάζων ἀγαθός ἐστι καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ὁ Θεός. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αἱ κολάσεις αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ τιμωρίαι μέγιστον εὐεργεσίας μέρος εἰσίν· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἰατρὸς οὐχ ὅταν εἰς παραδείσους καὶ λειμῶνας ἐξάγῃ τὸν κάμνοντα μόνον, οὐδ' ὅταν εἰς βαλανεῖα καὶ κολυμβήθρας ὑδάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅταν ἄσιτον κελεύῃ διαμένειν, ὅταν τέμνῃ, ὅταν πικρὰ προσάγῃ φάρμακα, καὶ τότε ἰατρός ἐστιν ὁμοίως, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ἐπιδείκνυσι πλέον. Ὅταν οὖν ἴδῃς τινὰ ἀρετῆς ἐπιμελούμενον, καὶ μυρίους ὑπομένοντα πειρασμοὺς, μακάρισον, ζήλωσον, ὡς καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων αὐτῷ ἐνταῦθα διαλυομένων πάντων, καὶ πολλῶν τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἑτοιμαζομένων ἐκεῖ τῶν μισθῶν. Τῶν γὰρ ἀνθρώπων οἱ μὲν ἐνταῦθα τιμωροῦνται μόνον· οἱ δὲ ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὐδὲν πάσχουσι τοιοῦτον, πᾶσαν δὲ ἐκεῖ τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀπολαμβάνουσιν· οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐκεῖ κολάζονται. Τίνας οὖν ἐκ τῶν τριῶν μακαρίζετε τούτων; Πρώτους μὲν εὖ οἶδ' ὅτι τοὺς ἐνταῦθα κολαζομένους καὶ ἀποτιθεμένους τὰ ἁμαρτήματα· δευτέρους δὲ μετ' ἐκείνους, τίνας; Ὑμεῖς μὲν ἴσως τοὺς οὐδὲν ἐνταῦθα πάσχοντας, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ πᾶσαν ὑπομένοντας τὴν τιμωρίαν· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ τούτους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς καὶ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐκεῖ κολαζομένους. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τιμωρίαν δοὺς, κουφοτέρας αἰσθήσεται ἐκεῖ τῆς κολάσεως· ὁ δὲ πᾶσαν ἀναγκαζόμενος ἐκεῖ τὴν κόλασιν ὑπομεῖναι, ἀπαραίτητον ἕξει τὴν δίκην. Τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκεν ὁ Θεὸς ἃ μέλλει δεινὰ ποιεῖν προλέγει; ἵνα μὴ ποιήσῃ ἃ προλέγει. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ γέενναν ἠπείλησεν, ἵνα μὴ ἀπάγῃ εἰς γέενναν. Φοβείτω γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑμᾶς τὰ ῥήματα, καὶ μὴ λυπείτω τὰ πράγματα. Καλαί σου, ∆έσποτα, καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι· καλή σου καὶ ἡ προσδοκωμένη βασιλεία, καὶ γέεννα πάλιν ἀπειλουμένη· προτρέπεται γὰρ καλῶς ἡ βασιλεία, φοβεῖ δὲ χρησίμως ἡ γέεννα. Ἀπειλεῖ γὰρ γέενναν ὁ Θεὸς, οὐχ ἵνα εἰς γέενναν ἐμβάλῃ, ἀλλ' ἵνα γεέννης ἀπαλλάξῃ· εἰ γὰρ ἐβούλετο κολάσαι, οὐκ ἂν προηπείλησεν, ἵνα ἀσφαλισάμενοι διαφύγωμεν τὰ ἀπειλούμενα. Ἀπειλεῖ τὴν τιμωρίαν ἵνα φύγωμεν τὴν πεῖραν τῆς τιμωρίας· φοβεῖ, τῷ 63.751 λόγῳ, ἵνα μὴ κολάσῃ τῷ ἔργῳ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ μὴ προσδοκῶν ἀναστήσεσθαι, μηδὲ εὐθύνας δώσειν τῶν ἐνταῦθα πεπραγμένων αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὰ ἡμέτερα στήσεσθαι νομίζων, καὶ περαιτέρω μηδὲν εἶναι πλέον, οὔτε ἀρετῆς ἐπιμελήσεται, οὔτε κακίας ἀφέξεται, ἀλλ' ἐπιδοὺς ἑαυτὸν ταῖς ἀτόποις ἐπιθυμίαις, πᾶν εἶδος ἐπελεύσεται πονηρίας· ὁ δὲ περὶ τῆς μελλούσης ἑαυτὸν πεπεικὼς κρίσεως, καὶ τὸ φοβερὸν δικαστήριον ἐκεῖνο πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχων, καὶ τὰς ἀπαραιτήτους εὐθύνας, καὶ τὴν ἀπαραλόγιστον ψῆφον, παντὶ τρόπῳ πειράσεται σωφροσύνης μὲν καὶ ἐπιεικείας ἀντέχεσθαι καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς, ἀκολασίαν δὲ καὶ θρασύτητα καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἅπασαν πονηρίαν ἐκφυγεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ τοσοῦτον ἐργάσασθαι δυνήσεται λόγος, ὅσον ἐργάζεται φόβος· ὁ γὰρ τῆς γεέννης φόβος τὸν τῆς βασιλείας ἡμῖν κομιεῖται στέφανον. Οἶδα ὅτι πολλοὶ τὴν γέενναν μόνον πεφρίκασιν· ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν ἔκπτωσιν τῆς δόξης τῶν οὐρανῶν πολὺ τῆς γεέννης κόλασιν πικροτέραν εἶναί φημι. Εἰ δὲ μὴ δυνατὸν παραστῆσαι τῷ λόγῳ, θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἴσμεν ἐκείνων τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν μακαριότητα. ἵνα καὶ τὴν ἀθλιότητα τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς στερήσεως αὐτῶν σαφῶς ἴδωμεν· ἐπεὶ Παῦλος ὁ ταῦτα σαφῶς εἰδὼς, οἶδεν ὅτι τὸ ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς δόξης