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De pythonissa ad Theodosium episcopum

LETTER OF GREGORY BISHOP OF NYSSA CONCERNING THE VENTRILOQUIST, TO THEODOSIUS THE BISHOP

He who said to his own disciples, "Seek and you will find," will surely also give the power to find to those who, with a love of learning according to the command of the Lord, search and seek out the hidden mysteries. For He who promised is true, being lavish beyond our asking in the magnificent gift of His graces. Therefore, "Attend to reading," my child Timothy; for I think it fitting to use the voice of the great Paul toward your goodness and "May the Lord give you understanding in all things," so that you may be enriched "in all speech and in all knowledge." But now concerning the things you commanded; whatever the Lord may suggest, I thought it good to minister in a few words to your eagerness, so that through these things you may learn that we ought to serve one another through love in doing one another's wills.

First, then, since the sought-after meaning concerning Samuel was placed before the other main points, I will set it forth in brief, as far as possible, with God's giving. It pleased some of those before us to think that the conjuring of Samuel by that sorceress was real, and they offered some such argument in defense of this their supposition: that since Samuel was grieving over the rejection of Saul and was always bringing this to the Lord, "as you will, Saul had purged from the people the sorcery performed by the ventriloquists for the deception of men," and because of this the prophet was indignant that the Lord did not wish to be reconciled to the rejected one, they say that God allowed the soul of the prophet to be brought up through such sorcery, so that Samuel might see that he had made false claims to God on his behalf, saying that he was an enemy to the ventriloquists, who at that time, through their sorcery, divined the ascent of his soul. But I, looking to the chasm of the Gospel, which the patriarch says—or rather, the Lord of the patriarch says—is fixed between the evil and the good, so that it is impossible both for the condemned to cross over to the repose of the righteous and for the saints to pass over to the company of the wicked, I do not accept such suppositions to be true, having been taught to believe only the Gospel to be true. Since, therefore, Samuel is great among the saints, and sorcery is an evil possession, I am not persuaded that Samuel, being in such a state of his own repose, crossed that impassable chasm to the impious, neither willingly nor unwillingly. For unwillingly he would not have submitted, because the demon would be unable to cross the chasm and, having come into the company of the holy, to move the saint; and willingly he would not have done this, since he would neither wish to mix with the wicked nor be able to. For to one who is in good things, the transition from where he is to the opposite things is undesirable. And even if one were to grant that he wished it, the nature of the chasm does not permit the passage. What then is it that we reason concerning these things? The common enemy of all is an enemy of human nature, for whom every device and effort is to harm man in vital matters. And what other such vital blow against men is there as to be cast away from the life-giving God and to desert willingly to the destruction of death? Since, therefore, there is a certain zeal in life for those who love the body to have some knowledge of the future, through which they hope either for an escape from evils or for guidance to their desires, for this reason, so that men might not look to God, many ways of knowing the future the deceitful

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De pythonissa ad Theodosium episcopum

ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ∆ΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΓΓΑΣΤΡΙΜΥΘΟΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΘΕΟ∆ΟΣΙΟΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΝ

Ὁ εἰπὼν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς Ζητεῖτε καὶ εὑρήσετε, δώσει πάντως καὶ τὴν

πρὸς τὸ εὑρεῖν δύναμιν τοῖς φιλομαθῶς κατὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ κυρίου διερευνωμένοις καὶ ἀναζητοῦσι τὰ κεκρυμμένα μυστήρια· ἀψευδὴς γὰρ ὁ ἐπαγγειλάμενος, ὑπὲρ τὴν αἴτησιν ἐπιδαψιλευόμενος τῇ μεγαλοδωρεᾷ τῶν χαρισμάτων. οὐκοῦν Πρόσεχε τῇ ἀναγνώσει, τέκνον Τιμόθεε· πρέπειν γὰρ οἶμαι τῇ τοῦ μεγάλου Παύλου φωνῇ πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἀγαθότητα χρήσασθαι καὶ ∆ώῃ σοι κύριος σύνεσιν ἐν πᾶσιν, ὥστε σε πλουτισθῆναι Ἐν παντὶ λόγῳ καὶ πάσῃ γνώσει. νῦν δὲ περὶ ὧν ἐπέταξας· ὅσαπερ ἂν ὁ κύριος ὑποβάλῃ, δι' ὀλίγων ὑπηρετήσασθαί σου τῇ προθυμίᾳ καλῶς ἔχειν ἐδοκίμασα, ὡς ἂν διὰ τούτων μάθοις ὅτι χρὴ δι' ἀγάπης ἀλλήλοις δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ ποιεῖν τὰ ἀλλήλων θελήματα.

Πρῶτον τοίνυν ἐπειδὴ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἦν κεφαλαίων προ τεταγμένον τὸ περὶ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ ἐπιζητούμενον νόημα, διὰ 102 βραχέων ὡς ἔστι δυνατὸν θεοῦ διδόντος ἐκθήσομαι. ἤρεσέ τισι τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀληθῆ νομίσαι τῆς γοητίδος ἐκείνης τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ ψυχαγωγίαν καί τινα λόγον τοιοῦτον εἰς συν ηγορίαν τῆς ὑπολήψεως αὐτῶν ταύτης παρέσχοντο, ὅτι λυπου μένου τοῦ Σαμουὴλ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ Σαοὺλ καὶ πάντοτε τοῦτο τῷ κυρίῳ προσφέροντος τὸ "ὅ τι θέλεις, τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἐγγαστριμύθων γινομένην γοητείαν ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ τῶν ἀνθρώ πων ἐξεκάθαρεν ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ Σαούλ," καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δυσανασχετοῦντος τοῦ προφήτου ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ θελῆσαι τὸν κύριον διαλλαγῆναι τῷ ἀποβλήτῳ, συγχωρῆσαί φασι τὸν θεὸν ἀναχθῆναι τὴν τοῦ προφήτου ψυχὴν διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης μαγγανείας, ἵνα ἴδῃ ὁ Σαμουήλ, ὅτι ψευδῆ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τῷ θεῷ προετείνετο, λέγων αὐτὸν πολέμιον εἶναι ταῖς ἐγγαστριμύθοις τὸν τηνικαῦτα διὰ τῆς αὐτῶν γοητείας τὴν ἄνοδον τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ μαντεύσαντα. ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τὸ εὐαγ γελικὸν χάσμα βλέπων, ὃ διὰ μέσου τῶν κακῶν τε καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἐστηρίχθαι φησὶν ὁ πατριάρχης, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ τοῦ πατριάρχου κύριος, ὡς ἀμήχανον εἶναι τοῖς τε κατακρίτοις ἐπὶ 103 τὴν τῶν δικαίων ἄνεσιν διαβῆναι καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις πρὸς τὸν τῶν πονηρῶν χορὸν διαπερᾶσαι, οὐ δέχομαι ἀληθεῖς εἶναι τὰς τοιαύτας ὑπολήψεις, διδαχθεὶς μόνον ἀληθὲς εἶναι πιστεύειν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν μέγας ἐν ἁγίοις ὁ Σαμουήλ, πονηρὸν δὲ κτῆμα ἡ γοητεία, οὐ πείθομαι, ὅτι ἐν τοσούτῳ τῆς ἰδίας ἀναπαύσεως ὁ Σαμουὴλ καταστὰς τὸ ἀδιόδευτον ἐκεῖνο χάσμα πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβοῦντας διήρχετο οὔτε ἑκὼν οὔτε ἄκων. ἄκων μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἂν ἔτι ὑπέμεινε τῷ μὴ δύνασθαι τὸ δαιμόνιον διαβῆναι τὸ χάσμα καὶ ἐν τῷ χορῷ τῶν ὁσίων γενόμενον μετακινῆσαι τὸν ἅγιον, ἑκὼν δὲ οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ἐποίησε τῷ μήτε βούλεσθαι ἐπιμιχθῆναι τοῖς κακοῖς μήτε δύνασθαι· τῷ γὰρ ἐν ἀγαθοῖς ὄντι ἀβούλητον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν οἷς ἐστιν ἡ πρὸς τὰ ἐναντία μετάστασις· εἰ δέ τις καὶ βούλεσθαι δοίη, ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ χάσματος φύσις οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει τὴν πάροδον. Τί οὖν ἐστίν, ὃ περὶ τούτων ἡμεῖς λογιζόμεθα; ἐχθρὸς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεώς ἐστιν ὁ κοινὸς πάντων πολέμιος, ᾧ πᾶσά ἐστιν ἐπίνοια καὶ σπουδὴ εἰς αὐτὰ τὰ καίρια βλάπτειν τὸν ἄνθρωπον. τίς δὲ τοιαύτη καιρία κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄλλη πληγὴ ὡς τὸ ἀποβληθῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζωοποιοῦντος καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀπώλειαν τοῦ θανάτου ἑκουσίως αὐτομολῆσαι; ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν σπουδή τίς ἐστι κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῖς φιλο σωμάτοις γνῶσίν τινα τῶν μελλόντων ἔχειν, δι' ἧς ἐλπί ζουσιν ἢ τῶν κακῶν ἀποφυγὴν ἢ πρὸς τὰ καταθύμια χειραγωγίαν, τούτου χάριν, ὡς ἂν μὴ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν οἱ ἄνθρω ποι βλέποιεν, πολλοὺς τρόπους τῆς τοῦ μέλλοντος γνώσεως ἡ ἀπατηλὴ