Barlaam and Ioasaph 1 part 15/18

He receives, moreover, not merely so, but, as to a son returning from a far country, he goes out to meet the one who turns back from the way of lawlessness;

and embracing him he kisses him tenderly, and, taking away the shame of sin, at once clothes him with the garment of salvation, and, wrapping him in a robe of most radiant glory, brings about a mystical joy among the powers above, celebrating the return of the lost sheep.

For the Lord himself said that there is the greatest joy in heaven over one sinner who repents."

And again, 'I came not,' he says, 'to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'

And he says also through the prophet:

'I do not desire the death of the sinner and the ungodly, so much as that he turn from his way and live;

turn back, turn from your evil way;

and why will you die, O house of Israel? For the lawlessness of the lawless shall not harm him;

in whatever day he turns from his lawlessness and does righteousness, and walks in the ordinance of life, he shall surely live and shall not die;

all his sins which he has sinned shall not be remembered;

because he has done a judgment of righteousness, he shall live in it.'

And again, 'Wash yourselves,' he cries through another prophet, 'become clean, remove your wickednesses from before my eyes;

cease from your wickednesses;

and come, and let us reason together;

and though your sins be as crimson, I will make them white as snow, and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool.'

Since, then, such promises from God lie before those who turn back, do not delay, O man, nor put it off;

but come to Christ, our God who loves mankind, and be illumined, and your face shall in no way be put to shame.

For as soon as you sink into the pool of divine baptism, the whole shame of the old man and the whole burden of your many sins is buried in the water and passes into nonexistence, and you rise up from there new and pure of every defilement, bearing no spot or wrinkle of sin; and thereafter it is up to you to preserve for yourself the purification that has thence come to you, through the compassion of the mercy of our God.

So Theudas, having been catechized by these words, went out at once, and, reaching that wicked cave, and taking his own magic books — as the firstfruits of all wickedness, as treasures of demonic rites — burned them with fire.

He reaches the cave of that holy man, to whom Nachor also had gone, and recounts to him all that concerned him, pouring dust upon his head, uttering heavy groans and washing himself with tears, and relating to the elder, one after another, his abominable deeds.

And he, being most skillful in saving a soul and snatching it from the throat of the deceitful dragon, charmed him with words of salvation, guaranteed forgiveness, and promised that the Judge would be merciful.

Then, having catechized him and having commanded him to fast for many days, he cleansed him with divine baptism.

And the man was genuinely repenting all his days for the things in which he had transgressed, propitiating God with tears and groans.

XXXIII. Now the king, these things having thus turned out, being utterly at a loss on every side, was clearly greatly distressed and bore great turmoil in his soul.

And having again convened all who belonged to the senatorial council, he deliberated what he should henceforth do with his own son.

And when many had proposed many counsels, that Arachēs mentioned above, being more eminent in rank and first of the council, said to the king:

'What ought we to have done for your son, O king, that we have not done, to persuade him to follow our doctrines and to worship our gods? But, as I see it, we are attempting impossible things.

For his contentiousness and inflexibility come to him from nature, or perhaps from fortune.

If, then, you should wish to hand him over to tortures and punishments, you will be an enemy of nature and will no longer be called a father, and besides you will lose him, since he stands ready to die for Christ.

It remains, therefore, to do only this:

to divide the kingdom with him, and to permit him to reign over the portion that falls to him.

And if the nature of affairs and the concern for worldly matters should draw him to embrace our aim and way of life, the matter will turn out as we intend;

for habits firmly established in the soul are hard to erase, and are changed by persuasion rather than by force.

But if he remains in the religion of the Christians, this very thing — that you have not lost your son — will be some consolation to you for your despondency.'

When Arachēs had said these things, all bore witness together, accepting the opinion.

The king, then, also agreed that these matters should be so arranged.

And indeed, having summoned him at dawn, he said to his son:

'This, my son, is now my last word to you;

if you do not at once become obedient to it, and at least in this heal my heart, know well that I will no longer spare you.'

And when the son asked what the meaning of the word was, 'Since,' he said, 'having toiled much, I have found you unyielding in everything toward being persuaded by my words, come then now — dividing the kingdom, I will make you exist apart and reign;

and henceforth it will be free for you to go the way you desire.'

But that divine soul, knowing that the king was putting forward even this as a snare to his resolve, nevertheless resolved to comply, so that, escaping his hands, he might travel the road he desired.

Taking up the word, then, he said to the king:

'I indeed desired to seek out that divine man who showed me the way of salvation, and, bidding farewell to all things, to spend the rest of my life with him;

but since you, father, do not permit me to do what is dear to my heart, I obey you in this;

for in matters where manifest destruction and estrangement from God are not set before us, it is good to obey one's father.'

The king, then, being filled with the greatest joy, divides all the country subject to him into two, appoints his son king, adorns him with the diadem, and, having arrayed him in all royal glory, sends him forth with a splendid bodyguard into the kingdom marked out for him.

And he commands the rulers and governors, the generals and satraps — everyone who is willing — to go with his son and king.

And he marks out for him a certain great and populous city for his kingdom, and gives all the...

Then indeed, then, Ioasaph, having received the authority of the kingdom, when he reached the city where the arrangements of the kingdom had been made ready for him, set up on every tower of the city the sign of the Master's passion, the venerable cross of Christ;

and, surrounding the idolatrous temples and altars, he besieged them, shook them down, dug up the ground, laid bare the foundations, leaving no remnant of impiety.

And in the middle of the city he raised up a great and most beautiful temple to Christ the Master.

And he commands the multitude to gather there continually and to render worship to God through the veneration of the cross, he himself going forth into the midst before all and giving himself to most fervent prayer.

And all who came under his hand he admonished, exhorted, and did everything to tear away from superstitious error and to unite to Christ;

and he exposed the deceit of idol-madness, and proclaimed the preaching of the Gospel; he expounded the things concerning the condescension of God the Word, proclaimed the wonders of his coming, made known the passion of the cross through which we have been saved, the power of the resurrection and the ascent to the heavens; and besides these he announced the fearful day of his dread second coming, and the good things laid up for the faithful, and the punishments awaiting sinners.

All these things he expounded with a gracious character and with gentle words.

For he did not wish to be revered and formidable so much from the weight of his authority and royal magnificence, as from humility and gentleness;

by which he drew all the more everyone to himself, being admirable in his works, yet fair and moderate in his disposition.

Whence his authority, having taken moderation and fairness as a great helper, made everyone yield to his words.

Indeed, thus in a short time all the people subject to him, both citizen and native, were initiated by his God-inspired words, so as to renounce the polytheistic error and to break away from idolatrous libations and abominations, and to be joined to the unerring faith, and, being reshaped by his teachings, to be united to Christ.

And all who, because of fear of his father, had been shut up in mountains and caves — priests and monks, and a few of the bishops — coming out of their hiding places, went to him rejoicing.

And he himself went out to meet those who, for Christ's sake, had fallen into such distresses and had suffered so grievously, and received them with honor, and brought them into his own palace, washing their feet, washing their filthy hair, and tending them in every way.

Then he enthrones the church newly built for him, and appoints as high priest in it a certain bishop who had suffered greatly for the faith in Christ and had lost his own episcopal throne — a holy man, skilled in the ecclesiastical canons, and with a soul filled with divine zeal.

And, having immediately fashioned a font, he commands him to baptize those turning to Christ.

And indeed the rulers are baptized first, and those in office, then again those in the army, and the rest of the crowd.

And those being baptized received back not only health of soul, but indeed also those who were oppressed by bodily diseases and disabilities, having laid aside everything, rose up from the divine font pure in soul and whole in body, having reaped healing of souls and bodies together.

Hence, indeed, multitudes flowed together to King Ioasaph from everywhere, seeking to be initiated into piety by him.

And all idolatrous objects of worship were razed to the ground, and all the wealth and the funds laid up for the idol-temples were taken away;

and sacred precincts were built in their place for God.

And that wealth of theirs, and their costly garments, and their treasures, King Ioasaph...

...dedicated, thereby making that dishonoured and superfluous matter thenceforth active and beneficial.

And the foul demons who dwelt about those altars and temples were driven out by a most severe persecution, and cried aloud, in the hearing of many, the calamity that had come upon them.

And that whole surrounding region was set free from their gloomy deceit, and was illumined all around with the light of the blameless faith of the Christians.

Indeed the king was also a good example to all, and kindled and inflamed many to the same resolve.

For the subject always conforms itself to this example, and loves to desire the same things, and to practice those things in which it perceives the ruler delighting.

Hence, with God cooperating, piety increased and grew among them.

And the king was altogether dependent upon Christ's commandments and his love, a steward of the word of grace, and a helmsman of many souls, bringing them to anchor in the harbor of God.

For he knew that this, above all things, was the work of a king: to teach men to fear God and to keep justice.

training himself to rule over the passions, and, like an excellent helmsman, holding fast, with precision, the rudders of good order for those under him.

For this is the definition of true kingship: to rule and to master the pleasures.

Yet not at all priding himself on the nobility of his ancestors or the royal glory that surrounded him, knowing that we all have a forefather of clay for our race, and that rich and poor are of the same lump, but ever casting his mind into the abyss of humility, and remembering the blessedness that is there, he reckoned himself a sojourner of the things here, and knew that those things alone were his own of which he should be possessed after his departure hence.

Now since all things went well for him, and, having freed all those under his hand from the ancestral error handed down from their fathers, he made them servants of him who redeemed us from evil slavery by his precious blood, he devised a second task: the virtue of beneficence.

For temperance and righteousness had already been achieved by him, as one who had bound on the crown of temperance and clothed himself in the purple of righteousness.

He considered, then, that the instability of earthly wealth imitates the course of river waters.

There, then, he hastened to lay it up, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

And indeed he began to distribute all his wealth to the poor, sparing none of it at all.

For he knew that he who has laid hold of great authority ought to imitate, according to his ability, the giver of that authority, and that in this above all he would imitate God: in esteeming nothing more preferable than showing mercy.

Above gold, then, and precious stone, he was gathering for himself the wealth of beneficence, which even here gladdens with the hope of future enjoyment, and there sweetens with the experience of the hoped-for blessedness.

Hence prisons were searched out by him, those shut up in the mines, those choked by their creditors—

and, supplying all things to all ungrudgingly, he was a father to all the orphans and widows and poor, an affectionate and good father, thinking that he benefited himself by the benefaction shown to them.

For being rich in soul in giving, and truly most royal, he gave abundantly to all who were in need.

For he hoped to receive rewards infinitely multiplied for these things, when the time should come for the recompense of deeds.

And as such fame of his spread everywhere in a short time, all men, as if moved by the scent of some myrrh, flocked to him daily, laying aside the poverty both of their bodies and of their souls together, and he was on the lips of all.

For it was not fear and tyranny that drew the people, but longing and heartfelt love toward him.

which was planted in the souls of all by God and by his own most excellent conduct.

Then indeed, then also those who were subject to his father attached themselves the more to him, and, laying aside all error, embraced the good news of the truth.

And the house of Ioasaph grew and became strong, while the house of Abenner diminished and grew weak, just as the book of Kings relates concerning David and Saul.

XXXVIII. When King Abenner saw these things, having at last, late and with difficulty, come to a right understanding, he condemned the weakness and empty deceit of his own falsely-named gods.

And having again assembled the leading men of his council, he brought into the light what he had been pondering.

And when all confirmed the same things (for the Dayspring from on high had visited them, the Savior having heard the prayer of his servant Ioasaph), it seemed good to the king to make these things known to his son.

He therefore writes on the following day a letter to Ioasaph, containing as follows:

King Abenner to his most beloved son Ioasaph, greeting.

Many thoughts, entering stealthily into my soul, terribly tyrannize me, dearest son.

For seeing all that is ours failing, in the manner that smoke fails, but the things of your religion shining beyond the sun, and having come to my senses, I have recognized that what you always said to me is true, and that a deep darkness of sins and impiety covered us, so that from this we were not even able to look clearly toward the truth and to learn fully the Creator of all things.

But even though such a far-shining light was thus made manifest to us through you, we shut our eyes and were unwilling to see, showing you many evils, and, pitiably alas, slaying not a few of the Christians also, who, being strengthened by the invincible power cooperating with them, prevailed to the end against our cruelty.

But now, having removed that thick mist from our eyes, we behold a small ray of the truth, and repentance for our former evils enters in.

But even this ray, another cloud of terrible despair, hovering over it, attempts to darken, putting forward the multitude of my evils, and saying that I am already abominable to Christ and unacceptable, having become an apostate and his enemy.

What then do you yourself say to these things, sweetest child? Make it clear to me most speedily, and teach me, your father, what I must do, and lead me by the hand to the knowledge of what is expedient.

Ioasaph, having received this letter, and having gone through its contents, had his soul filled at once with joy and wonder.

And entering at once into his own chamber and falling on his face before the image of the Lord, he drenched the ground with tears, at once giving thanks to the Master and confessing, and moving lips of exultation to hymnody:

I will exalt you, saying, my God and my King, and I will bless your name forever and ever.

Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised, and of your greatness there is no end.

And who shall speak of your mighty acts, or make known all your praises—you who turned the rock into pools of water, and the flinty rock into springs of water? For behold, this flinty and harder-than-rock heart of my father, by your will, has been softened like wax.

For you are able even out of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

I thank you, loving Master, God of mercy, that you were long-suffering and remain long-suffering with our transgressions, and have allowed us to remain unpunished until now.

For we were long ago worthy to be cast away from your face and to be made an example in this life, like the lawless inhabitants of the Pentapolis, burned up with fire and brimstone.

But your incomparable long-suffering has shown loving-kindness toward us.

I give thanks to you, I who am base and unworthy, even though I am not

adequate for the glorification of your goodness.

And I beseech your immeasurable compassions, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of the invisible Father, who brought forth all things by your word and hold them together by your will, who delivered us your unworthy servants from the slavery of the arch-evil enemy, who was stretched out upon the wood and bound the strong man, and bestowed eternal freedom upon those bound by him:

do you yourself now also stretch forth your invisible and all-working hand, and set free unto the end your servant, my father, from that grievous captivity of the devil;

and show him most clearly that you are the ever-living God who cannot lie, and the only eternal and immortal King.

Look, O Master, upon the contrition of my heart with a gracious and kindly eye;

and according to your unfailing promise, be with me, who know and confess you to be the maker and provider of all creation.

Let your leaping water spring up within me;

and let speech be given me at the opening of my mouth, and a mind well-founded upon you, the chief cornerstone, that I, your worthless servant, may be able to proclaim to my begetter, as is fitting, the mystery of your dispensation, and by your power to remove him from the vain error of the wicked demons, and to bring him to you, God and Master, who do not desire the death of us sinners, but await our turning and repentance, for you are glorified unto the ages.

Having prayed thus, and having received full assurance that he would not fail of what he desired, taking courage in the compassion of Christ, he set out from there with his royal bodyguard, and arrived at the palace of his own father.

And when the arrival of his son was announced to the father, he immediately went out to meet him, embraced him, kissed him tenderly, and made the greatest joy and a public festival at the presence of his son.

And what happened after this? They sat down together alone with one another.

And what could one say of the things which the son then discoursed with the king, and with how much wisdom? What else indeed but the things whispered to him by the divine Spirit, through whom fishermen net the whole world for Christ, and the unlettered are shown to be wiser than the wise?

By this grace, he himself also, made wise, spoke to the king and father, illuminating him with the light of knowledge.

For also before, having labored much to draw his father from superstitious error, saying nothing he did not say, doing nothing he did not do, so as to bring him back, he seemed to be singing in vain, and speaking into the ears of those who did not hear.

But when the Lord looked upon the humility of his servant Ioasaph, and, hearkening to his supplication, opened the closed gates of his father's heart (for, it is said, he will do the will of those who fear him, and will hearken to their supplication), the king easily understood what was said.

So that, having found a fitting time, the son, by the grace of Christ, bore away victory over the evil spirits that had mastered his father's soul, and completely freed him from their error, and clearly made known to him the saving word, and reconciled him to the living God in the heavens.

For taking up the discourse from the beginning, he announced to him great and wonderful things that he did not know, which he had not heard with the ears of his heart, speaking to him much concerning God and demonstrating piety, that there is no other God in heaven above, nor on earth below, except the one God known in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;

And having made known many mysteries of theology, whereupon he also related the things concerning the invisible and visible creation, how the Creator, having brought forth all things from what did not exist, having fashioned man according to his image and likeness and having honored him with self-determination, made him partake of the good things in paradise, commanding him to abstain only from this, which was the

tree of knowledge; but when he transgressed the commandment of paradise, he banished him;

whence, having slipped from its intimacy with him, the human race fell into these many errors, enslaved by sins and subjected to death through the tyranny of the devil;

who, having once taken men under his hand, made them altogether forget God and Master, and persuaded them to serve him through the abominable worship of idols.

Therefore God, who fashioned us, being moved with compassion, by the good pleasure of the Father and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, was well pleased to be born like us of a holy Virgin, Mary the Theotokos;

and he who is impassible, having partaken of sufferings, and having risen from the dead on the third day, redeemed us from the former penalty, and deemed us worthy of our former glory.

For he raised us up together with himself, ascending into the heavens, from whence he had come down;

whom we also believe will come again, that he may raise up his own creation.

And he will render to each according to his works.

In addition to this he mystically taught of the kingdom awaiting those worthy of the heavens, and the ineffable good things.

He added the torment laid up for the wicked: the unquenchable fire, the outer darkness, the unending worm, and whatever other punishment the slaves of sin have stored up for themselves.

Having gone through all these things with very many words — which abundantly bear witness to the grace of the Spirit dwelling in him — and then also relating the unsearchable sea of God's love for mankind, and how ready he is to receive the repentance of those who turn back to him, and that no sin overcomes his compassion, if only we are willing to repent, having demonstrated this from many examples and scriptural testimonies, he then put an end to his discourse.

Now king Abenner, pierced with compunction at this God-taught wisdom, with a loud voice and a most fervent soul confessed Christ the Savior, having departed from all superstitious error.

And he worships the sign of the life-giving cross before the sight of all, and in the hearing of all proclaims our Lord Jesus Christ as the true God.

And having recounted his former impiety, and having reproved his own cruelty and bloodshed against the Christians, he became a great furtherance to piety.

So that from this, in deed, what was spoken by Paul became known: that where the abundance of impiety was, there also the superabundance of grace came to be.

Then, as the most wise Ioasaph discoursed at length to the generals and satraps and all the people then assembled, concerning God and piety toward him, and, as it were with a fiery tongue, trilled forth something beautiful and song-like, the grace of the Holy Spirit came upon them and moved all to the glorification of God, so that with one voice all the crowds cried out:

'Great is the God of the Christians!'

'There is no other God except our Lord Jesus Christ, glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.'

And having become filled with divine zeal, king Abenner leaps vigorously upon the idols that were in his palace, made of gold and silver, and casts them down to the ground.

Then, having broken them into small pieces, he distributes them to the poor, thus making the useless things useful.

Indeed, together with his son, standing around the temples and altars of the idols, they razed them down even to their foundations.

And in their place they built sacred precincts for God.

And they did these things earnestly not only in the city, but throughout the whole land.

And the evil spirits dwelling in the altars were driven out wailing, and, trembling before the invincible power of our God, they cried out.

And all the surrounding region, and very many of the neighboring nations, were led by the hand to the pious faith.

Then, when the most-divine bishop mentioned above arrived, king Abenner was catechized, and was made perfect by the divine baptism, into the name of the Father, the Son, and the...

And Ioasaph receives him from the divine font, being shown forth — this most novel thing — as begetter of his own father, and having become the procurer of spiritual regeneration for the one who begat him according to the flesh.

For he was a son of the heavenly Father, and truly a most divine fruit of the divine root — of that root which cries out:

'I am the vine, you are the branches.'

Thus king Abenner, having been reborn through water and Spirit, rejoiced with inexpressible joy.

And together with him, the whole city and the surrounding region also were deemed worthy of divine baptism, and those who were formerly darkened were shown forth as sons of light.

And every disease and every demonic assault was driven far from the believers.

And all were sound and healthy in soul and body.

And many other wonders were performed for the confirmation of the faith; churches were rebuilt, and bishops who had been hidden on account of fear were revealed and recovered their own churches, and others from among the priests and monastics were appointed to shepherd the flock of Christ.