Letters 1 part 7/32

While it is still possible, let us raise ourselves up from our fall, and let us not despair of ourselves, if we depart from evils

"Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners"

There is a way of salvation, if we are willing

Death has prevailed and swallowed up, but know well that God will again wipe away every tear from the face of every one who repents

"The Lord is faithful in all his words"

"Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow;"

"and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool." The great physician of souls is ready to heal your affliction

These are his words; that sweet and saving mouth said:

"Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are sick"

"I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance"

The Lord wishes to cleanse you from the pain of your wound and to show you light out of darkness

The Good Shepherd seeks you, having left behind those who have not gone astray

If you give yourself up, the loving one will not hesitate nor think it beneath him to carry you upon his own shoulders, rejoicing that he has found his lost sheep

The Father still stands and awaits your return from your wandering

Only turn back, and while you are still far off, he will run and fall upon your neck, and will embrace with affectionate kisses her who has already been cleansed by repentance

And he will clothe with the robe, the first robe, the soul that has stripped off the old man together with his deeds, and he will put a ring on hands that have washed away the blood of death, and he will put sandals on feet that have turned back from the evil way to the course of the Gospel of peace

And he will proclaim a day of gladness and joy to his own, both to angels and to men, and in every way he will celebrate your salvation

"For truly," he says, "I say to you, there is joy in heaven before God over one sinner who repents." And if any of those who seem to stand accuse you because you were so quickly received back, the good Father himself will answer on your behalf, saying:

"It was fitting to make merry and rejoice, for this my daughter was dead and has come to life again, and was lost and has been found"

TO GREGORY, HIS FRIEND. Who will give me wings like a dove's? Or how shall my old age be renewed, so that I may be able to cross over to your love, and to give rest to the longing I have for you, and to relate the griefs of my soul, and through you to find some consolation for my afflictions? For at the falling asleep of the blessed bishop Eusebius no small fear seized us, lest those who have long been lying in wait for the church of our metropolis, and who wish to fill it with heretical tares, seizing the present opportunity, should root out with their own wicked teachings the piety that has been sown with much labor in the souls of men, and should tear apart its unity — which indeed they have already done in many churches

...of the clergy, entreating that we should not be overlooked at such a time; and looking around on every side, I remembered your love and your right faith and the zeal which you have always held for the churches of God

And for this reason I have sent the beloved Eustathius, the fellow-deacon, to entreat your dignity, and to beseech you, by all your labors on behalf of the churches, to lay hold of the present opportunity, both to give rest to my old age by our meeting together, and to set right for the orthodox church its renowned piety, by giving to it — together with us, if indeed we should be deemed worthy to assist you in this good work — a shepherd according to the will of the Lord, able to guide his people rightly

For we have before our eyes a man whom even you yourselves do not fail to know:

and if we should be deemed worthy to obtain him, I know that we shall gain great boldness before God, and shall confer the greatest benefit upon the people who have called upon us

But I beseech you, again and repeatedly, laying aside all hesitation, to come and to forestall the difficulties arising from the winter

TO EUSEBIUS, BISHOP OF SAMOSATA. It was with difficulty that we succeeded in finding a deacon to carry a letter to your piety, since the people here have been so terrified of the winter that they cannot bear to venture out even the smallest way from their houses

For indeed we have been so snowed under by so great a quantity of snow that, buried houses and all, we have now for two months been lurking in our hollows

You will therefore surely pardon us, knowing both the timidity of Cappadocian character and the sluggishness of our bodies, if we did not write sooner, nor bring to the knowledge of your honor the news from Antioch — news which, as is likely, you must already know is stale and cold, having learned it long ago:

Nevertheless, considering it no great matter to report even what is already known, we have sent the letters that were brought by the reader

And so much for this

And there is a report circulating consistently among all who arrive concerning a certain semblance of rectitude and piety about him, to such an extent that even the divided parties of the city have come together into one, and some of the neighboring bishops have accepted this union

But our own people proved no better than we had feared.

For they arrived immediately on the heels of your departure, said many grievous things, did many things as well, and in the end withdrew, having only confirmed the schism for us.

Whether then anything will turn out better, and whether they will cease from their wickedness, is unclear to everyone except God.

But the rest of the Church remains steadfast by the grace of God, and prays to see you again in our region together with the spring, and to be renewed through your good teaching.

As for me, my body is no better than it usually is.

We rejoiced exceedingly that you also, taking up a care befitting a Christian, have raised up a house to the glory of the name of Christ, and have truly loved, as it is written, the beauty of the house of the Lord, preparing for yourselves the heavenly dwelling that has been made ready, in that rest, for those who love the name of Christ.

And if we are able to procure some relics of the martyrs, we too pray that we may contribute to your zeal.

For if the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance, we shall clearly be sharers in the good remembrance that shall be given to you by the Holy One.

For you yourself also saw fit to minister to us your spiritual joy, and by your honored letters to lift up our souls, and to embrace, as it were the infancy of children, with your own greatness.

Pray then—we beg this of your good soul—that we may be found worthy both to receive the benefits coming from your great men, and to obtain mouth and wisdom to dare to answer you who are led by the Holy Spirit; for we hear that you are His friend and true glorifier, and we confess our great gratitude for your firm and unswerving love toward God, praying that our portion may be found among the true worshippers, among whom we are persuaded your own perfection also stands; and this we ask of the Lord, the great and true Bishop, who has filled the whole world with his own wonder.

TO BOSPORIUS, BISHOP. How, do you suppose, was my soul pained upon hearing of that calumny which certain men, who do not fear the Judge who will destroy all who speak falsehood, poured out against me? So that, because of the words concerning your charity, I remained almost sleepless the whole night through, so deeply did the grief touch the very midst of my heart.

For truly, according to Solomon, 'Slander humbles a man,' and no one is so devoid of feeling as not to suffer in soul and be bowed down to the ground, when he has fallen victim to mouths ready for falsehood.

But indeed it is necessary to bear all things, to endure all things, casting the vindication of ourselves upon the Lord, who will not overlook us, because 'he who slanders the poor provokes the One who made him.'

Yet those who devised this new drama of blasphemy against us seem altogether to disbelieve the Lord, who declared that we shall give account even for an idle word on the day of judgment.

Where, or when? In whose presence? On what pretext? In bare words, or in writing? Following others, or himself originating and being the author of the deed? Oh, the shamelessness of those who say everything so readily!

Oh, the contempt for the judgments of God!

Unless indeed they should add this too, with tragic exaggeration, to their fabrication—that I once became out of my senses, so as myself to be unaware of my own words.

For being in possession of my own faculties, I know of nothing of the kind that I have done, nor have I ever from the outset chosen such a thing.

But rather this I am conscious of in myself, that from my earliest years I was reared together with an affection for him, and I used to gaze upon the man—how venerable he was to behold, how magnificent, and how much of sacred dignity he bore in his very countenance.

But when at last I too had come to the use of reason, then indeed I came to know him also from the good qualities of his soul, and I rejoiced in his company, taking careful note of the simplicity, nobility, and generosity of his manner, and all the other qualities peculiar to the man—the gentleness of his soul, the greatness of nature joined together with mildness, the seemliness, the freedom from anger, the cheerfulness and approachability tempered with dignity.

So that I counted him among the most illustrious in virtue.

(for I will not conceal the truth) we were grieved over him with grief unbearable, together with many in our homeland who fear the Lord, at the signing of the confession of faith which was brought from Constantinople by the associates of George.

Then, being such a man as, by gentleness of manner and forbearance, satisfied everyone with fatherly compassion, when he had already fallen into the illness from which he also departed this life, he summoned us and told us, calling the Lord to witness, that he had indeed assented to the document from Constantinople, but had chosen nothing that involved a rejection of the faith set forth at Nicaea by the holy Fathers.

And that he held nothing else in his heart than what he had received from the beginning, but rather prayed that he might not be separated from the portion of those blessed bishops, the three hundred and eighteen, who proclaimed the pious teaching to the whole world.

So that we, having dissolved all division of heart, might approach communion once more, and, ceasing our grief, be at peace.

Such, then, is our relation with the man.

But if anyone says that we have connived with him in some blasphemy, let him not mutter in a corner like a slave, but let him stand forth openly and refute us with boldness.

TO THE CANONICAE. As much as a grievous report, resounding in our ears, distressed us earlier, so much did the most God-beloved bishop, our brother Bosporius, gladden us, by relating the more favorable truth concerning your piety.

For he said that, by the grace of God, all those things that had been noised abroad were the fabrications of men who did not accurately know the truth concerning you.

He added, moreover, that he had also found among you unholy slanders against us, of a kind such as would be uttered only by those who do not expect to give account even for an idle word to the Judge on the day of his righteous recompense.

So that I gave thanks to the Lord, both for being myself healed of the harm concerning you which, as it seems, I had received through the calumny of men, and for hearing that you have laid aside the false suspicions concerning us, from what you heard confirmed by our brother.

For in setting before you what concerned himself, he thereby, in every way, demonstrated also what concerned us.

For one and the same is the disposition of faith in us both, since we are both heirs of the same Fathers who once at Nicaea proclaimed the great message of true piety.

Of that creed, all the other articles may be learned to be free from calumny, but as for the term 'homoousios' (of one substance), having been wrongly understood by some, there are still some who have not yet accepted it.

Such men one might justly blame, and yet, on the other hand, one might also deem them worthy of pardon.

For not to follow the Fathers, and to set one's own private opinion as more authoritative than their word, is worthy of blame, as being full of self-will;

but on the other hand, to hold the term in suspicion because it has been maligned by others—this, in some measure, seems to acquit them of blame.

For indeed, in truth, those who assembled against Paul of Samosata denounced the term as being of ill import.

For those men said that the term 'homoousios' conveyed the notion of a substance and of the things derived from it, so that, the substance having been divided up, it furnishes the appellation 'homoousios' to the things into which it was divided.

Now this notion has some plausibility in the case of bronze and the coins made from it, but in the case of God the Father and God the Son, no substance is to be found that is older than, or lies above, both.

For this exceeds the bounds even of impiety, both to conceive and to utter.

For what could possibly be older than the unbegotten? And by this blasphemy the very faith in the Father and the Son is also overthrown;

for things that subsist from one and the same source are brothers to one another.

For timeless and without interval is the conjunction of the Son with the Father.

For having said 'Light of Light,' and that the Son was begotten of the substance of the Father, not made, they then added to these the term 'homoousios,' thereby demonstrating that whatever account of light one gives concerning the Father, the same will fit also in the case of the Son.

For true light in relation to true light, according to the very concept of light, will admit of no variation.

Since, then, the Father is Light without beginning, and the Son is Light begotten, and each is Light, they rightly said 'homoousios,' in order to demonstrate the equal dignity of the nature.

For it is not things that are brothers to one another that are called 'homoousios,' as some have supposed, but rather, when both the cause and that which derives its existence from the cause are of the same nature, they are called 'homoousios.'

This term also corrects the error of Sabellius;

for it removes the identity of the hypostasis, and introduces the complete notion of the persons;

for a thing is not called 'homoousios' with itself, but rather one thing with another;

so that it stands well and reverently, both marking off the distinctive property of the hypostases and presenting the invariability of the nature.

But when we are taught that the Son is of the substance of the Father, and begotten, not made, let us not fall into corporeal notions of passions.

For the substance was not divided from the Father to the Son, nor did it flow forth and beget, nor did it put forth the Son as plants put forth their fruit; rather, the manner of the divine generation is ineffable and inconceivable to the reasonings of men.

For it is truly the mark of a lowly and carnal mind to liken things eternal to things corruptible and temporary, and to suppose that, just as bodily things beget, so likewise God also begets in the same way; whereas one ought rather to draw one's grounds for piety from the very opposite, namely, that since mortal things beget in this manner, the Immortal does not beget in this manner.

One must therefore neither deny the divine generation, nor defile one's own understanding with corporeal notions.

But the Holy Spirit is numbered together with the Father and the Son, and therefore is above creation, and is ranked as we have been taught in the Gospel, by the Lord who said:

'Go, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.' But whoever places the Spirit before the Son, or calls it older than the Father, this man resists the ordinance of God, and is estranged from sound faith, not keeping the manner of doxology which he received, but devising for himself a novel form of speech to please men.

For if it were higher than God, it would not be of God.

But the Spirit is of God. And if it is of God, how can it be older than that from which it is? And what madness would it be, there being one who is unbegotten, to speak of something else as higher than the unbegotten? But neither is it prior to the Only-begotten,

for there is nothing between the Son and the Father.

But if it is not of God, but is through Christ, then it does not exist at all.

So that the innovation regarding its rank carries with it the negation of its very existence, and amounts to a denial of the whole faith.

It is likewise impious both to bring the Spirit down to the level of creation, and to set it above the Son or the Father, whether in time or in rank.

These, then, are the matters which I heard were being inquired after by your piety.

And if the Lord grants that we should come together with one another, perhaps we might say something more on these matters as well, and we ourselves might also find from you some fuller assurance concerning the things we seek.

TO THE CHOREPISCOPI. The absurdity of the matter about which I write—simply because it was suspected and spoken of at all—filled my soul with anguish; yet for a while it seemed to me incredible.

What then is it that I am saying? Some say that certain of you take money from those being ordained, and screen this under the name of piety.

For if anyone does evil under the pretext of good, he deserves double punishment, because he both does that which is not good, and makes use of what is good, so to speak, as an accomplice to accomplish the sin.

If these things are so, let them cease from now on, but let them be corrected; for it is necessary to say to the one who receives the money what was said by the Apostles to him who wished to give money, that he might purchase a share in the Holy Spirit.

May your silver perish with you, into destruction.

For he who, through inexperience, wishes to purchase is more excusable than he who sells the gift of God.

For a sale has taken place; and that which you received freely, if you sell it, you will, as one sold to Satan, be deprived of the gift of grace.

For you are introducing petty trading into spiritual things, and into the Church, where we have been entrusted with the body and blood of Christ.

These things ought not to happen thus.

But let me tell you what the device is.

They suppose that they do not sin, since they do not take payment beforehand, but take it after the ordination.

But receiving is receiving, whenever it takes place.

I exhort you, therefore, to set aside this revenue—or rather, this pathway leading to Gehenna—and not, by defiling your hands with such gains, to render yourselves unworthy to perform the holy mysteries.

At first I did not believe it; but now, being persuaded, I give this warning.

If anyone, after this letter of mine, does any such thing, he shall withdraw from the altars here, and shall seek elsewhere where, having bought the gift of God, he may be able to resell it.

For we, and the churches of God, have no such custom.

For the love of money is both the root of all evils, and is called idolatry.

Do not, then, prefer idols to Christ for a little silver, nor again imitate Judas, betraying for gain a second time him who was once crucified for us.

For indeed both the fields and the hands of those who receive such fruits shall be called Akeldama.

TO THE CHOREPISCOPI. It grieves me exceedingly that the canons of the Fathers have now fallen into disuse, and all strictness has been banished from the churches; and I fear that, as this indifference advances little by little along its course, the affairs of the Church will come to utter confusion.

Those who minister to the Church—the custom which of old prevailed in the churches of God—used to admit them only after testing them with all strictness;

and their whole manner of life was closely examined—whether they were not abusive, not drunkards, not quick to quarrel, whether they disciplined their youth so as to be able to attain the sanctification without which no one shall see the Lord.

And this was examined by the presbyters and deacons who lived among them, and they reported it to the chorepiscopi, who, having received the votes of those bearing true witness, and having reminded the bishop, thus enrolled the minister in the order of the clergy.

But now, first, having pushed us aside and not even deigning to report to us, you have turned the whole authority upon yourselves.

Then, growing negligent of the matter, you have permitted the presbyters and deacons to introduce into the Church, out of favoritism, or through kinship, or through some other friendship, whomever they wish, of unexamined life, thus bringing in the unworthy.

...enrolling themselves in the ministry to escape military conscription, I have found it necessary to renew the canons of the Fathers; and I write to instruct you to send me a register of each village's ministers—by whom each was brought in, and what manner of life he leads.

You yourselves also keep the register with you, so that your records may be compared with the documents deposited with us, and no one may be permitted to enroll himself whenever he pleases.

Accordingly, if after the first enumeration any have been brought in by presbyters, let them be cast back among the laity.

Let a fresh examination of them be made by you; and if they are found worthy, let them be admitted by your vote.

Purify the Church by driving out her unworthy members; and henceforth examine those who are worthy and admit them, but do not enroll them before referring the matter to us—otherwise, know that whoever is admitted to the ministry without our judgment shall remain a layman.

TO GREGORY THE PRESBYTER. I read your letter with all patience, and I marveled how, though you could easily and briefly clear yourself by your actions, you choose instead to persist in the very things of which you are accused, and attempt to heal the incurable with lengthy words.

Neither were we the first, O Gregory, nor are we alone in legislating that women should not cohabit with men.

But read the canon issued by our holy Fathers at the Council of Nicaea, which openly forbade the existence of women living in with clergy.

For celibacy has its dignity precisely in this: in being separated from the company of women.

So that if anyone, while professing celibacy in name, in deed does what those who cohabit with women do, it is clear that he pursues the dignity of virginity in title only, while not abstaining from the unseemly pleasure it entails.

You ought, then, all the more readily to yield to our demand, in the measure that you claim to be free of every bodily passion.

For I am not persuaded that a man of seventy years lives with a woman out of passion; nor did we make the ruling we made because of some particular unseemly act that had occurred, but because we were taught by the Apostle not to put a stumbling-block or occasion of offense before our brother.

For we know that what is done in soundness by some may become for others an occasion of sin.

For this reason we have ordered, following the ordinance of the holy Fathers, that you be separated from the woman.

Why, then, do you accuse the chorepiscopus and recall an old enmity? And why do you blame us for having ears too ready to admit slanders, rather than blaming yourself for not enduring to separate from your familiarity with the woman? Cast her out, then, from your house, and place her in a monastery.

Let her be among virgins, and be you served by men, so that the name of God may not be blasphemed on our account.

Until you do these things, the myriads of words you compose in your letters will profit you nothing; rather, you will die idle, and you will give the Lord an account of your own idleness.

But if you dare, without correcting yourself, to cling to the priesthood, you shall be anathema to all the people, and those who receive you shall be publicly proclaimed excommunicate in every church.

TO PERGAMIUS. I am by nature prone to forgetfulness, and there has come upon me also a multitude of occupations, which increases this natural weakness.

So that, even if I do not remember having received a letter from your nobility, I am persuaded that you have written to us;

for I could not suppose that you would altogether tell a falsehood.

Now, then, this letter comes to you, both offering an apology for what has passed, and giving a beginning to a second exchange of greeting.

So that, when you write to us, do not consider yourself as beginning a second cycle of letters, but as having, with this present one, repaid what was owed.

For indeed, even if our letters are a repayment following upon yours, yet by exceeding, in the measure of each, more than twice over, it will fulfill the proper order.

Do you see what clever contrivances idleness forces upon us? But do you, most excellent one, cease furnishing, in few words, great causes of complaint—though indeed they contain no excess of malice—

for forgetfulness of friends, and disdain arising from power, together comprise every kind of evil.

For if we do not love according to the commandment of the Lord, we do not bear the very mark set upon us;

and if we have become filled with vain conceit and arrogance, being puffed up, we fall into the inescapable judgment of the devil.

So, if it was with this understanding concerning us that you used these words, pray that we may escape the wickedness which you have discovered in our character;

but if it was through some unexamined habit of speech that your tongue arrived at these words, we shall console ourselves, and we beg your kindness to add the testimony of actual facts.

For be well assured of this: that our present care has become for us an occasion of humility.

So that we shall forget you only when we forget even ourselves.

Do not, then, ever make our occupations a sign of ill character or malice.

For all things here are filled with anguish, and the only refuge we have from these troubles is the thought of your holiness;

which is made more vivid for us by our converse through your letters, filled with all wisdom and grace.

So that, when we take your letter into our hands, we first observe its length, and we love it all the more, the more it abounds in quantity.

Then, as we read through it, we rejoice at each successive part of the discourse we come upon, but as we draw near to the end of the letter, we grow distressed.

Such is the case, because whatever you say in your letters contains what is good.

For out of a good heart, that which overflows is good.

But if, through your prayers, we should be counted worthy, while we are still upon earth, to obtain also a face-to-face meeting, and to receive profitable teachings from your living voice itself—provisions for both the present age and the age to come—we would judge this the greatest of blessings, and we would set it before ourselves as a prelude to the favor of God.

And indeed we were already possessed of this impulse, had not the most genuine and altogether brotherly-loving men held us back—and, so as not to make their purpose public in writing, I have related the particulars to brother Theophrastus, that he may report them individually to your perfection.

...of the bishop, our common uncle, deceiving me—I know not for what reason.

I received it as having been brought by you from the bishop.

For why should I not have? Out of great joy I showed it to many of my friends, and I gave thanks to God.

But the fabrication was exposed, when the bishop himself, with his own voice, denied it.

We were put to shame over that;

we prayed that the earth might open for us, clothed as we were with the reproach of fraud, falsehood, and deceit.

the bishop himself testified solemnly before our most reverend brother Anthimus, as he himself reported to us.

Adamantius came to us again, bringing a third letter.

How ought I to have received the things sent through you and your people? I could have wished to have a heart of stone, so as neither to remember the past, nor to perceive the present, in order to bear every blow bowed down to the ground like cattle.

But what can I do against my own reasoning, which, after one and a second trial, can admit nothing without examination? I have written this, touching upon your simplicity — which, though otherwise fitting for Christians, I see is not suited to the present time — so that at least for the future you may both guard yourself and spare me, since (for I must speak to you with frankness) you are an untrustworthy agent for such matters.