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In epistulam i ad Thessalonicenses (homiliae 111)

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS JOHN, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, CHRYSOSTOM, COMMENTARY ON THE

FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.

HOMILY I. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in our prayers, unceasingly remembering your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope 62.392 of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father. 1. Why then when writing to the Ephesians, though having Timothy with him, did he not join him with himself, although he was known and admired by them (For you know his proof, he says, that as a son with a father he has served with me; and again, 62.393 I have no one like-minded, who will genuinely care for your state); but here he joins him with himself? It seems to me that he was about to send him immediately, and it was superfluous to make a co-sender of the one who was about to deliver the letter; for he says, Him I hope to send at once. But here it was not so, but he had returned, so that he reasonably wrote; For now when Timothy came, he says, to us from you. Why then does he place Silvanus before him, although bearing witness to countless good things about him, and preferring him to all? Perhaps he himself requested this out of great humility, and entreated it. For since he saw the teacher so humble as to join his disciple with himself, much more would he have sought this himself. For Paul, he says, and Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians. He puts nothing here about himself, not "The apostle," not "The servant." It seems to me, because the men were newly catechized, and had not yet had experience of him, he does not put his title; and besides, it was still the beginning of his preaching to them. To the Church, he says, of the Thessalonians. Well done. For since it was likely that they were few and not yet constituted, for this reason he comforts them by the name of the Church; for where much time had passed, and the constitution of the Church was great, he does not put this. But since the name of the Church is, for the most part, a name of multitude, and of a system already established, for this reason he so calls them. In God, he says, the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ. To the Church, he says, of the Thessalonians which is in God. Behold again 'God,' used of the Father, and of the Son. But "in God," he says, since there were many Churches, both Jewish and Greek. Great is the dignity, and there is nothing equal to it, if it is in God. May it be, therefore, that this Church also be so called; but I fear it may be far from this title. For if anyone is a slave of sin, he cannot be said to be in God. Grace to you and peace. Have you seen how the introduction of the epistle is immediately from praises? We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. For to give thanks to God for them, is to bear witness to their great progress, when not only are they praised, but God is also thanked, as having Himself wrought the whole. And he teaches them also

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In epistulam i ad Thessalonicenses (homiliae 111)

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΕΩΣ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜΟΥ ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΠΡΟΣ

ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΕΙΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΝ ΠΡΩΤΗΝ.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Αʹ. Παῦλος καὶ Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων ἐν Θεῷ Πατρὶ καὶ Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ Θεῷ πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν, μνείαν ὑμῶν ποιούμενοι ἐπὶ τῶν προ σευχῶν ἡμῶν, ἀδιαλείπτως μνημονεύοντες ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς πίστεως, καὶ τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης, καὶ τῆς ὑπομονῆς τῆς ἐλπίδος 62.392 τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν. αʹ. Τί δήποτε Ἐφεσίοις μὲν ἐπιστέλλων, καὶ τὸν Τιμόθεον ἔχων μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ, οὐχὶ συνέταξεν ἑαυτῷ, καίτοι γνωριζόμενον παρ' αὐτοῖς καὶ θαυμαζόμενον (Τὴν γὰρ δοκιμὴν αὑτοῦ γινώσκετε, φησὶν, ὅτι ὡς πατρὶ τέκνον σὺν ἐμοὶ ἐδούλευσε· καὶ πάλιν, 62.393 Οὐδένα ἔχω ἰσόψυχον, ὅστις γνησίως τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν μεριμνήσει)· ἐνταῦθα δὲ συντάττει αὐτὸν ἑαυτῷ; Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ ὅτι ἔμελλεν αὐτὸν πέμπειν εὐθέως, καὶ περιττὸν ἦν ἐπιστέλλειν τὸν τὰ γράμματα ὅσον οὔπω καταληψόμενον· φησὶ γὰρ, Τοῦτον μὲν ἐλπίζω πέμψαι ἐξαυτῆς. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ἐπανελθὼν ἦν, ὥστε εἰκότως ἐπέστελλεν· Ἄρτι γὰρ ἐλθόντος Τιμοθέου, φησὶ, πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀφ' ὑμῶν. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ αὐτοῦ προτίθησι τὸν Σιλουανὸν, καίτοι μυρία αὐτῷ μαρτυρῶν ἀγαθὰ, καὶ πάντων αὐτὸν προτιθείς; Ἴσως μὲν ἀξιοῦντος τοῦτο αὐτοῦ κατὰ πολλὴν ταπεινοφροσύνην, καὶ παρακαλοῦντος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸν διδάσκαλον ἑώρα οὕτω ταπεινοφρονοῦντα, ὡς τὸν μαθητὴν ἑαυτῷ συντάττειν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοῦτο αὐτὸς ἐζήτησεν ἄν. Παῦλος γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων. Οὐδὲν ἐνταῦθα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ τίθησιν, οὐχ Ὁ ἀπόστολος, οὐχ Ὁ δοῦλος. Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, διὰ τὸνεοκατηχήτους εἶναι τοὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ μηδέπω αὐτοῦ πεῖραν εἰληφέναι, οὐ τίθησι τὸ ἀξίωμα· ἄλλως δὲ καὶ ἀρχὴ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἔτι ἦν τοῦ πρὸς αὐτούς. Τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, φησὶ, Θεσσαλονικέων. Καλῶς. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν ὀλίγους εἶναι καὶ οὐδέπω συνεστάναι, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὺς παραμυθεῖται διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας· ἔνθα γὰρ πολὺς παρεληλύθει χρόνος, καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σύστημα πολὺ ἦν, οὐ τίθησι τοῦτο. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὄνομα πλήθους ἐστὶν, ὡς τὰ πολλὰ, τὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὄνομα, καὶ συστήματος ἤδη συγκεκροτημένου, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὺς οὕτω καλεῖ. Ἐν Θεῷ, φησὶ, Πατρὶ, καὶ Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ. Τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, φησὶ, Θεσσαλονικέων τῇ ἐν Θεῷ. Ἰδοὺ πάλιν τὸ, Θεός, ἐπὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ. Τὸ δὲ, Ἐν Θεῷ, φησὶν, ἐπειδὴ πολλαὶ Ἐκκλησίαι καὶ Ἰουδαϊκαὶ καὶ Ἑλληνικαὶἦσαν. Μέγα τὸ ἀξίωμα, καὶ οὗ ἴσον οὐδὲν, εἰ ἐν Θεῷ ἐστι. Γένοιτο τοίνυν καὶ ταύτην τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν οὕτω καλεῖσθαι· δέδοικα δὲ μὴ μακρὰν ᾖ τῆς προσηγορίας ταύτης. Εἴ τις γὰρ ἁμαρτίας δοῦλος, οὐ δύναται λέγεσθαι ἐν Θεῷ. Χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη. Εἶδες εὐθὺς ἀπὸ ἐγκωμίων τὸ προοίμιον τῆς ἐπιστολῆς; Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ Θεῷ πάντοτε περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν, μνείαν ὑμῶν ποιούμενοι ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν ἡμῶν. Τὸ γὰρ εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ Θεῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, μαρτυροῦντός ἐστιν αὐτοῖς πολλὴν προκοπὴν, ὅταν μὴ μόνον ἐπαινῶνται αὐτοὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ Θεὸς εὐχαριστῆται, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐργασάμενος τὸ πᾶν. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ