Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom

I must not end my quotations here, or I shall imperil my argument for want of completeness. Hear what Habakkuk says, as he seems to beat his breast in his distress at the same problem: "O Lord, how long shall I cry, suffering wrongfully, and thou wilt not hear?" He calls the wrongs of his neighbour his own; and in his love for his brethren he adds, "I will cry unto thee, and thou wilt not save. Why didst thou show me iniquity, and that I should look upon labours that lead to hardship and impiety? Judgment is against me, and the judge taketh reward. Therefore is the law perverted, and judgment goeth not forth, unto the end; for the wicked doth oppress the righteous."

In the same spirit Jeremiah, the most sympathetic of the saints, perplexed beyond all other men, cries, "Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I, shall plead with thee; yet will I speak judgments unto thee, O Lord. Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? All they that set at nought are at ease; thou didst plant them, and they took root" (this is instead of saying, "they spend their days in profligacy"); "and they bore fruit" (certainly not of the spirit). "Thou art near their mouth, and far from their reins." The prophet Sophonias the wise has a passage to exactly the same effect. He is reproaching men for slandering their neighbours, finding fault with the providence of God, and calling the saints unhappy. "You," he says in the person of the Lord, "made your words stout against me, saith the Lord. And ye said, Wherein did we speak against thee? Ye said, He is vain who serveth God; and what profit, that we kept his charges, and that we walked as suppliants before the Lord Almighty? And now we call strangers happy, and all that work lawless things are built up, and they resisted God, and are delivered. These things spake they that feared the Lord, each one to his neighbour."

Paul, the preacher of piety, adds his testimony to the same truth: "But evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Then he points out the low esteem in which the saints are held: "For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death; for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. For even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and have no certain dwelling-place, and labour, working with our own hands" (a description of his bodily sufferings); "being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we endure, being defamed, we entreat, we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things even until now." The good and just God spreads the world before us, for certain ineffable reasons, like a racecourse; and has given us free will, that we may deal with circumstances according to our own choice, and pay the just penalty for our deeds. As the law says, "1 have set before thy face, death and life, choose what thou wilt." Why He set it so, it is not for us to say in this present life; the fact remains, that He has so set it. It would not have been wise for us to be created impeccable, with no struggles before us, and minds not established in righteousness. Impeccability is the attribute of the eternal Godhead alone.

Deac. You have met our difficulty admirably and wisely, father; you have given eyes to the souls of our friends here, who have found this matter a continual perplexity, arising partly from their lack of acquaintance with scripture, partly from the very fact that the Church is throughout the ages appointed as a training school. She points to her victors, men and women alike, as not having eaten of the flesh of Christ in times past without paying a price. Yet the disorders among you, and the break-up of the Church, cause us distress.

Bish. You astonish me, most honoured of men. You almost unreservedly admit the beneficial results of suffering, and then turn round and say something to the contrary effect. You call us blessed, as victors, and yet you call us miserable, as banished men, because we have been deprived of our Church buildings. You seem to me to be in the same state of mind as the rustic spectators at the Olympic games, who gape with delight at the prizes, but shed tears of pity at the blows exchanged between the combatants. To my mind, it is better to hasten away to ravines, and thickets, and seas, in company with the truth, than to be burdened with falsehood, while enjoying high honour for what is in this life considered prosperity. For if I possess truth, I shall possess all things, for all things are her servants; if I have made falsehood my own, I do not possess even myself, as I am not hers. But if I possess truth, I do not wish to possess her merely as a mistress, or a servant, or a neighbour, but as a sister; nay, if it be possible, as a bride, whose sweetness I may enjoy and presently inherit as my very own wife. For she is the sister of the absolute truth, whose son-in-law the good man is. For he that bears this seal becomes young a second time, grows not old, and fades not away; he has zeal fiercer than fire, words sharper than swords, life freer than an eagle's; he devotes himself untiringly to meditation upon the scriptures, as to a house-mother; he never ceases to blossom with gladness, he is not overcome by fear, he holds up his head undaunted, he dances in his holy enthusiasm, he hates no man, he pities those who misuse life, he calls blessed those who mind their own business in contentment, he sorrows with the sorrow of the spirit at the careless lives of priests, of whom the apostle said, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." He it is that grieves the Spirit, who turns his back upon Him in carelessness.

And at last (there is much that I must pass by) in his out-spokenness he dies; he has given pain to none, save to the demons, and to those who are like them. His time has been more than enough; he did not higgle away his days in evil doings. He doubled the money that was given to him, he forwarded interest, of good works, in a short time he fulfilled long years; he makes no will disposing of his property, for by his life and thought he wrestled with it, and gravelled it. Did Death knock at the door of his frail flesh? Before he sees him outside, he cries, Let us go hence, and sings, "Woe is me, that my sojourn has been so long;" and were it not for the Master Who sent him on his mission, he would have, served him with a summons, and sued him at law, for coming too late. Well content is he, when at last he is set free from the frail flesh, with its manifold ailments, as if he were leaving a ruinous hostel, threatening to fall; he pricked up his ears at the voice of Him Who says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," confident of hearing the rest as well. Take this torrent of words as a proof of my contention; "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

But he who dwells with falsehood has a disturbed life; one moment in boundless delight at an addition to his wealth, or to his poor little reputation, or at the friendship of a wretched harlot, or at the misfortunes of his enemies; the next, sick to death with sorrow, dreaming of changes and uncertainties. He passes restless or sleepless nights, he imagines plots made against him by his closest friends, he has no confidence even in himself, and distrusts all men, as liars. Such is he; cowardly as a hare, bold as a pig, deceitful as a chameleon, unreliable as a partridge, pitiless as a wolf, untameable as a mouse; his own enemy, unceasingly jealous, inevitably punishing himself, though he does not know it; for he who is always planning evil against another, first brings evil upon himself.

Did Death prick his skin? He gives away everything, to gain a little respite, so precious is his life to him; the time given him he higgled away to no profit, so far from doubling his penny he did not even keep it safe. He trembles continually, like a leaf, in his dread of the approach of old age; he is troubled with the silly ideas of old men, he fears death as a god; for to him the visible world is God. And what then? He turns pale, he shivers with fright, he is in an agony of distress; he anticipates the judgment of God, and inflicts punishment upon himself. His conscience torments him without mercy, and reminds him of his evil doings one by one, till his sufferings are more terrible than those of criminals under the lash. He grovels like a slave to those in office for the moment, and flatters the world to his disgrace; instead of One Lord he has ten thousand masters, to save himself from being the servant of the truth. He does all he can to get himself feared, yet he himself fears every one.

I will say no more; I have done all I can. If any one can speak more truthfully or elegantly, and put my nothingness right, I will gladly welcome him as a corrector of error and a lover of the brethren, and give thanks to the Saviour for all things. Now do you in return give me an account of the decision of the western synod, and set the seal upon my words, if they commended themselves to you as being of any value. So the narrator ceased, and Theodorus said—Deac. The Lord grant to you who have given us this narrative, to find mercy in that day, for your refusal to hold communion with such people, and for the clear account you have given us. And may the Lord remember every sacrifice of John, because he surrendered not his out-spokenness, even unto death. The decision of the Church of Rome was, under no circumstances to communicate with the eastern bishops, especially with Theophilus, until the Lord grants the opportunity for an ecumenical synod, to heal the putrefied limbs of the men guilty of these crimes. For though the blessed John has fallen asleep, yet the truth is awake, and for the truth search will be made.

As for those that have committed these offences in the Church, gladly would I meet them face to face, and ask them, Where is your priesthood? Where is the holiness required of you? Where is the gentleness and unselfishness of the Christian character? Where are the commandments of the Saviour—" If thou art offering thy gift, and remem-berest that thy brother hath aught against thee, go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and so offer thy gift"? Where is that saying, "If any man smite thce on the right cheek, turn to him the other also "? Where is your meditation upon the scriptures? What of the verse, "Behold, what is beautiful, and what is pleasant, but for brethren to dwell together in unity"? Or, "Let brothers be helpful in times of necessity"? Why have you perverted by your actions the words, "A brother helped by a brother, is as a strong city"? A brother falsely accused, or robbed, by a brother, is like a city distressed and defenceless. Why in the world then did you, who are wretched, nay, wretched to the third degree, try to carry through this project of yours, as if no reconciliation were possible? On what principle did you let your murderous rage against John run its course, as if he were your enemy? And how has it come to you, to be so savage towards one another? Why did you let the world see such an extraordinary change in you, from gentleness to ungentleness and savagery? I am amazed, indeed, I am overwhelmed with amazement at your perversion; as I see everything thrown into this hopeless state of confusion.

And why have you so far exalted yourselves in your daring, as to insult this suckling, nursing mother, this teeming womb, the Church of God, and hack her in pieces? In you is fulfilled the prophet's words, "Because they did pursue their brother with the sword, and brought to destruction the womb upon the earth." With this womb the divine and saving Word combined, to sow and to plant you and John alike, for good and profitable works without number. What has happened to you that instead of helping one another to do your duty, you have made up your mind that you will not keep quiet, and live at peace, even in the future? You were created for mutual service; why did you mishandle the grace of God, and instead of lightening other men's burdens, actually thrust them away from you, and cut them off from their own kindred? while the prophet cries to you, "Have we not all one Father? Did not One God create us?"

But you will tell me that John sinned against the law. What law? The law which you trod underfoot, and shivered into fragments by your wickedness. Where, then, is the law of nature, which bids us to right wrongs with gentleness? Why, pray, do you abuse even the law which holds between enemies, and persecute them, and carry out these schemes which you devise against them, schemes bearing all the marks of hostility? How much better would it have been, to live in harmony with them, and to share their life; to join with one another in counsels for the common good, unto rendering of thanks and well-pleasing of the Father of you all? Harmony in their enjoyment of blessings is one of the virtues of children; and this is specially acceptable to their parents, who look for nothing else from their offspring, save this. And be assured that there is no other bond of friendship and goodwill, but to be in earnest, and to do everything as it is well-pleasing to the Father, to Him Who is the source of our being, of our sustenance, of our preservation.

But you have despised Him as a fool, and kindled wars within the Church, as the prophet said, "They established madness in the Lord's house;" instead of spurring and urging one another forward. More, you have carried on truceless wars among one another, contrary to the mind and purpose of the Father. I will go further, and say, that the thing sorely maddens, and stirs to wrath, even God Himself, and all who draw nigh to Him—His sons, your brethren—and suffers Him not to hold His peace. For He is not neglectful, or unmindful of the welfare of His children.

Therefore is He wroth at your folly, and at your tyrannical oppression of those whom you wrong; and therefore He judges it not right to pass you over without punishing you, as indeed He has begun to do. For this would not be becoming in Him, nor would it be without peril to you; your complaint is intolerable, and needs more than ordinary treatment. He sees you actually the worse for bruises, and weals without number, the result of your chastisement. Yes, a cloud of senseless and most obdurate wrong rests upon you, your brothers, your kinsfolk, and your households, even your allies, those who share with you bed and board, those who are bound to you by the closest ties of blood—all these relationships you have perverted into the bitterest hatred; insomuch that they are expelled from their own countries and from their family hearths, and wander far away, without a city or a home to dwell in. Further yet, you have made them exiles, so far as it was in your power, and that, not with a limit of time fixed for their exile, but for ever, so far as it lay with you; so savage were you, so desperately thrown off your balance.

This is what you have gained by your victory over them, and the blessed John; by fanning your spiteful enmity, and letting your tongue run wild against him, like a sharpened sword. Instead of profitable instruction, you nurse your ill-temper, and pour out upon the Church your false accusations, defiling the cars of those who hear them; accusations against men to whom the Lord in mercy and loving-kindness will give according to their works. But for you, O blessed John, with what words shall I weave you an unfading crown? I need not fear to praise you now, as you have passed from the field of combat, the fiercest waves of struggle breasted. Shall they be the words of the law of Moses, which he used in the blessing of Joseph the strenuous, and Levi the contemplative, the priest? For in you I see both of these. "Blessed of the Lord be his land, and from the mountains of heaven, and dew, and abysses of springs beneath, and in the time of fruits, the turnings of the sun and the comings together of the months, from the heads of the mountains which are from the beginning, and from the heads of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph" (and every man who shall be as Joseph) "and upon the head of the brethren whom he ruled, glorified among his brethren as the first-born. The beauty of a bull are his horns, his horns are the horns of an unicorn; with them he shall push the nation, even unto the end of the earth."

And to Levi he said (and to whosoever imitates him), "Give to Levi his signs, and his truth to the holy man, whom they tried in trial, and reviled at the water of contradiction. Who saith to his father and mother, I have not seen thee, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, he observed thine oracles, and kept thy covenant; he showed thy judgments to Jacob, and thy law to Israel. He shall ever place incense upon thine altar upon thy feast day. Bless, Lord, his strength, and accept the works of his hands; smite the eyebrow of the enemies that rise up against him, and let them that hate him rise not up again." And I would weave with these one word more: "Let them that love him, O Jesus Christ, be not ashamed; for Thine is the power for ever. Amen."

Bish. This is the constant effort of your understanding mind, Theodorus, seeker of noble thoughts, to bring forth from the treasure of your mind, as the Saviour said, "Things new and old;" things old, the lessons of human wisdom; things new, the oracles of the Holy Spirit. From these treasures you have given its due to each side of his character. It was worthy of your sound judgment to express yourself in language so well suited to the offences committed, and to weave from the blessing of Moses the crown John deserves; who served as a priest without thought of self, and in his extraordinary righteousness did indeed know not father or mother, or ties of blood, but only those who love, and practise, the word of God. But those who in our time profess to be bishops, have run their muddy breed aground upon money-getting, and military operations, and high position; transgressing the law which says, "The priests shall not give their sons to be rulers, and them that run beside the king," while they waste the things of the spirit upon plots, and vexations, and imprisonments, and banishments, drinking madness undiluted, thinking by these methods to dishonour the friends of virtue.

Of them the Saviour said, "The days shall come, in which they who kill you will think that they do God service." I take it that He did not speak of Gentiles, for then He would have said "gods," as they profess not one, but many, gods; when He made mention of the One and Only God, He pointed to those who are now despoiling us, under pretence of benefit to the Church. They hide their own depravity and jealousy, representing themselves in words as concerned for the welfare of the Church which they have ruined by their deeds. But however clever they are, the outcome of events will prove them to have been underlings of him who boasted, "I shall never be shaken from generation to generation, without evil." For the serpent, the deviser of lawlessness and cultivator of the vilest covetousness, as he could devise no more novel form of heresy, goaded those in authority in the Church to mutual destruction, to satisfy their craving for high position, and the highest position of all; for the sake of these they rent the Church in twain.

For if the harmony of God the Spirit had existed among the bishops, and John deserved deprivation from his office, whether for causing wrong-doing, or as being unworthy of the priesthood, or, as Theophilus maintains, as being guilty of pride; the all-powerful wisdom of God was well able to debar him from the exercise of the priesthood by constitutional restraints, or devise means by which he could be expelled without all this confusion and lamentation, whether by death, or by paralysis, or by loss of voice—as we know some of those who have thrown themselves against him have suffered, and others will suffer. But seeing that the steps taken against him were unworthy of the Saviour—he was not deposed, but exiled —it is abundantly clear that it was the work of the devil, whose kingdom was being destroyed by John's teaching. I know that John deservedly deposed from their office six persons, of whom I spoke earlier, for buying the dignity of the priesthood. Who wept then? Whose nose bled? What spider's web was broken? Who left his home? Who was fined a farthing? Who in the whole of Asia—vagabond, mob orator, farm-labourer, cobbler, or plebeian—was not glad at what had been done to vindicate the sacred laws? "How," each cried, "are thy works magnified, O Lord? In wisdom didst thou do them all." For where God is at work, all is done in wisdom; where the malevolent demon, everything is correspondently done in unwisdom. And upon unwisdom follow monstrous evils—envyings, murders, strife, emulations, evil tempers, quarrels, discord, noise, conspiracies of ignorant men, hot-headed actions of men in authority, crucifixions, tortures, burnings, streams of blood, intolerable fines, stakes, breaches of the divine ordinances, contempt of law, rejection of self-control, world-wide schism, watch set upon land and sea, engines employed on shipboard, on horseback, on foot, to hinder those who travel for the truth's sake.

How then can they dare to say, John was expelled in the dispensation of God? I ask those who use such words, Was the all-powerful wisdom of God, as I said, without resource to stop John, if he was unworthy, by unseen power? Or to persuade those who disagreed with him, patiently to bear with his action, without all this exercise of force by the magistrates? For if God is the same God Who worked with Moses for the freedom and obedience of Israel, when Pharaoh openly cried, "I know not God, and I will not let the people go," how, in dealing with John, did He need the help of earthly magistrates? He had grown old, I suppose, or weak, or resource-less. And was He Who brought to light the adulteries of some, the unnatural crimes of others, and again the impostures of others, now without resource to convict John? Or again, He Who made the tongue of a man to swell with constriction, until he had to make his confession in writing, and allowed another to meet with his death from a sudden seizure; He Who tormented another with a brood of worms, as he lay speechless upon his bed for nearly a whole year, or laid upon another unspeakable horrors from chronic gout, or burnt the legs of another, because He so willed; or Who prematurely snatched away another, whom every one knows, by a nauseating death; was He too weak, as you assert, in the case of John, if he was a sacrilegious man, to do any of these things, but was in need of so and so, before He could expel John in disgrace, and thereby add to His glory?

No. They deceive themselves, in their ignorance of the command of the word of God. For he cannot properly be called sacrilegious, who distributed to the poor gold, and silver, and fabrics of silk, the food of moths ; but he who for money and reputation and the pleasures of the table sells the teachings and ordinances of the Saviour; and after him, he who ruins a holy man, adorned by his life and words, through whom, as by a chalice or a piece of plate, the Saviour oft gave the drink of the word, the diet of their salvation, to those who love the word of God. No, let them be called sacrilegious, who have sacrilegiously robbed the apostolic Church, and deprived her of such teachers, and who sell ordinations for money; whom divine justice will pursue, to correct their wickedness. For if those who corrupted the law of Moses were for their wanton heedlessness driven out of the temple by the Saviour with a scourge, a scourge of cords, because they were selling doves within it; what punishment shall they have, who higgle the priesthood of the New Testament, except to be shattered by the Chief Shepherd with His rod of iron? As the apostle says, "A man that hath set at nought Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the spirit of grace? For we know him who saith, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

May God, Who glorified this holy man, this saintly shepherd, this lamp of righteousness, grant to us to find part and lot with him, in His awful day of righteous judgment; to Whom belongs glory, honour, majesty, and magnificence, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto all ages. Amen.