1

De incomprehensibili dei natura

Of our father among the saints John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, concerning the incomprehensible, in the absence of the bishop, to

the Anomoeans, Sermon 1.

What is this? The shepherd is not present and the flock stands with all good order. This too is the achievement of the shepherd, that the flocks show all diligence not only when he is present, but also when he is absent. For in the case of irrational animals, when the one who leads them out to pasture is not present, the sheep must either remain inside the pens or, having come forth from the fold without the shepherd, they endure much wandering; but here there is nothing of the sort, but even with the shepherd not present, you have come to the accustomed pastures with much good order. Rather, the shepherd is also present, if not in the flesh, yet in disposition, if not by the presence of his body, yet by the good order of the flock. For this reason I am the more astonished at him and call him blessed, because he was able to instill in you such diligence. For we especially admire a general at that time, when his armies are well-ordered even when he is not present. This is also what Paul sought in his disciples, saying: “Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence...” Why, “Much more in my absence”? Because when the shepherd is present, even if a wolf attacks the flock, it is easily driven away from the sheep; but when he is not present, the flocks must be in greater agony, with no one to wall them in. And in addition to this, when he is present he shares with them the rewards for their diligence, but when he is not present he allows their achievement to be seen on its own. These things the teacher, though absent, says to you, and wherever he may be now, he envisions you and your assembly and does not so much see those who are with him there and are present as he now sees you who are absent. I know his love, fervent and fiery and warm and unrestrained, which he has rooted in the great depth of his mind and cultivates with much diligence. For he knows clearly that this is the sum of all good things and the root and source and mother, and if this is not present, the other things are of no benefit to us. For this is the image of the Lord's disciples, the character of God's servants, the mark of the apostles; “For by this,” he says, “all will know that you are my disciples.” In what? Tell me; is it in raising the dead or cleansing lepers or casting out demons? “No,” he says, but having passed over all those things: “By this all will know,” he says, “that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” For those are gifts of grace from above alone, but this is also an achievement of human diligence. And it is not so much the gifts given from above that are accustomed to characterize the noble man as the achievements of his own labors. Therefore Christ says his disciples are to be known not by signs, but by love. For with this present, no part of philosophy is lacking to the one who possesses it, but he has virtue whole and complete and perfect, just as, when it is absent, he is destitute of all good things. For this reason Paul also praises and exalts it in his discourse; or rather, whatever he might say, he does not yet attain to its worth. For what could be equal to this, which contains the prophets and the whole law, and without which neither faith, nor knowledge, nor understanding of mysteries, nor martyrdom itself, nor anything else will be able to save the one who possesses it? For: “If I deliver up my body,” he says, “to be burned, but have not love, I am profited nothing.” And elsewhere again, indicating that it is greater than all things and the crown of good things, he said: “But whether there be prophecies

1

De incomprehensibili dei natura

Τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰω ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου περὶ ἀκαταλήπτου, ἀπόντος τοῦ ἐπισκόπου, πρὸς

Ἀνομοίους λόγος αʹ.

Τί τοῦτο; ὁ ποιμὴν οὐ πάρεστι καὶ τὰ θρέμματα μετὰ πάσης τῆς εὐταξίας ἕστηκε. Τοῦ ποιμένος καὶ τοῦτο τὸ κατόρθωμα, τὸ μὴ μόνον παρόντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπόντος πᾶσαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι σπουδὴν τὰ ποίμνια. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀλόγων, ὅταν ὁ πρὸς τὴν νομὴν ἐξάγων μὴ παρῇ, μένειν εἴσω τῶν σηκῶν ἀνάγκη τὰ πρόβατα ἢ χωρὶς τοῦ ποιμαίνοντος τῆς μάνδρας προκύψαντα πολλὴν ὑπομένειν τὴν πλάνην· ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μὴ παρόντος τοῦ ποιμένος, πρὸς τὰς συνήθεις νομὰς μετὰ πολλῆς ἀπηντήκατε τῆς εὐταξίας. Μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ὁ ποιμὴν πάρεστιν, εἰ καὶ μὴ τῇ σαρκί, ἀλλὰ τῇ διαθέσει, εἰ καὶ μὴ τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ ταῇ εὐταξίᾳ τοῦ ποιμνίου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο μᾶλλον αὐτὸν ἐκπλήττομαι καὶ μακαρίζω ὅτι τοσαύτην ὑμῖν ἐναποθέσθαι σπουδὴν ἴσχυσεν. Καὶ γὰρ στρατηγὸν τότε μάλιστα θαυμάζομεν, ὅταν καὶ μὴ παρόντος αὐτοῦ τὰ στρατόπεδα εὐτακτῇ. Τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος ἐπὶ τῶν μαθητῶν ἐζήτει λέγων· «Ὥστε, ἀγαπητοί μου, καθὼς πάντοτε ὑπηκούσατε, μὴ ὡς ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ μου μόνον, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ μου ...» ∆ιὰ τί· «Πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ»; Ὅτι παρόντος μὲν τοῦ ποιμαίνοντος, κἂν ἐπέλθῃ λύκος τῇ ποίμνῃ, ῥᾳδίως ἀπελαύνεται τῶν προβάτων· μὴ παρόντος δὲ ἐν μείζονι τὰ ποίμνια ἀγωνίᾳ καθεστάναι ἀνάγκη, μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ τειχίζοντος αὐτά. Καὶ πρὸς τούτοις δὲ παρὼν μὲν μερίζεται μετ' αὐτῶν τοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ σπουδῇ μισθούς, μὴ παρὼν δὲ γυμνὸν ἀφίησιν αὐτῶν φαίνεσθαι τὸ κατόρθωμα. Ταῦτα καὶ ὁ διδάσκαλος ἀπὼν ὑμῖν διαλέγεται καί, ὅπουπερ ἂν ᾖ νῦν, ὑμᾶς καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον φαντάζεται σύλλογον καὶ οὐχ οὕτως τοὺς ἐκεῖ συγγινομένους αὐτῷ καὶ παρόντας ὡς ὑμᾶς τοὺς ἀπόντας ὁρᾷ νῦν. Οἶδα αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν ζέουσαν καὶ πεπυρωμένην καὶ θερμὴν καὶ ἀκάθεκτον, ἣν κατὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ βάθους τῆς διανοίας ἐρριζωμένην ἔχει καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς θεραπεύει τῆς σπουδῆς. Καὶ γὰρ οἶδε σαφῶς ὅτι κεφάλαιον αὕτη πάντων ἐστὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ ῥίζα καὶ πηγὴ καὶ μήτηρ, καὶ ταύτης οὐκ οὔσης τῶν ἄλλων ἡμῖν ὄφελος οὐδέν. αὕτη γάρ ἐστι τῶν μαθητῶν Κυρίου ἡ εἰκών, ὁ χαρακτὴρ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ δούλων, τὸ γνώρισμα τῶν ἀποστόλων· «Ἐν τούτῳ γὰρ γνώσονται πάντες, φησίν, ὅτι μαθηταί μου ἐστέ.» Ἐν τίνι; εἰπέ· ἆρα ἐν τῷ νεκροὺς ἐγείρειν ἢ λεπροὺς καθαίρειν ἢ δαίμονας ἀπελαύνειν; Οὐχί, φησίν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐκεῖνα παραδραμών· «Ἐν τούτῳ γνώσονται πάντες, φησίν, ὅτι μαθηταί μού ἐστε, ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους.» Ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ τῆς ἄνωθεν χάριτός ἐστι δῶρα μόνης, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σπουδῆς ἐστι κατόρθωμα. Τὸν δὲ γενναῖον οὐχ οὕτω τὰ ἄνωθεν διδόμενα δῶρα χαρακτηρίζειν εἴωθεν ὡς τῶν οἰκείων πόνων τὰ κατορθώματα. ∆ιόπερ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν σημείων, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης γνωρίζεσθαί φησι τοὺς αὑτοῦ μαθητὰς ὁ Χριστός. Ταύτης γὰρ παρούσης οὐδὲν μέρος φιλοσοφίας ἐλλείπει τῷ κεκτημένῳ, ἀλλ' ὁλόκληρον ἔχει καὶ παντελῆ καὶ ἀπηρτισμένην τὴν ἀρετήν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἀπούσης ἔρημος πάντων ἐστὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος αὐτὴν ἐπαίρει καὶ ὑψοῖ τῷ λόγῳ· μᾶλλον δὲ ὅσα ἂν εἴπῃ, οὐδέπω τῆς ἀξίας αὐτῆς ἐφικνεῖται. Τί γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο ταύτης ἴσον, ἣ τοὺς προφήτας συνέχει καὶ τὸν νόμον ἅπαντα καὶ ἧς ἄνευ οὐ πίστις, οὐ γνῶσις, οὐ μυστηρίων εἴδησις, οὐκ αὐτὸ τὸ μαρτύριον, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν τὸν κεκτημένον διασῶσαι δυνήσεται; Καὶ γάρ· «Ἐὰν παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μου, φησίν, ἵνα καυθῇ, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι.» Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ πάλιν, ὅτι πάντων μείζων ἐστὶ καὶ κορυφὴ τῶν ἀγαθῶν παραδηλῶν, ἔλεγεν· «Εἴτε δὲ προφητεῖαι