Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom

So they held a gathering, and took steps to bring a suit against John. One of them suggested that they should present petitions to the king, and insist upon his appearing before the synod, however unwilling. This was the course adopted; as with the Jews, so with them, money made everything easy.

We were seated, a company of forty bishops, in the refectory at the bishop's house, with Bishop John, marvelling that a man who had been put on his trial, and ordered to appear at the capital on disgraceful charges, had arrived with such a numerous following of bishops, and that he had suddenly brought about such a change in the minds of the authorities, and perverted the majority of the clergy. While we could see no answer to the question, John was inspired by the Spirit, and said to us all: "Pray for me, brethren, and, if ye love Christ, let none desert the Church of which he is in charge on my account; for like the writer of the words, 'I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.' And I shall endure much persecution, and depart from this life, I see. For I know the cunning of Satan; he can no longer bear the annoyance of my invectives against him. The Lord have mercy upon you. Remember me in your prayers."

So profound was our distress, that some of us began to cry, others left the gathering with tears, and broken hearts. We kissed his eyes, and his sanctified head, and his facile and blessed lips. But he bade us, as we were flying hither and thither, like bees buzzing round a hive, to come back to the gathering, and said: "Be seated, brethren, and do not weep, to give me greater pain. For to me 'to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' It was often said, that I should lose my head for being too outspoken. I think you will remember, if you look into your memories, that I always used to say to you, This present life is a journey, and its joys and sorrows are ever passing away. What is before our eyes is but a fair; we finish our buying and selling, and we move elsewhere. Are we better than the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, that this state of life should abide with us for ever? "

Then one of the company sobbed aloud, saying, "Nay, we lament our orphaned condition, the widowhood of the Church, the confounding of ordinances, the ambition of those who do not fear the Lord, and leap upon high offices in the Church, the defenceless state of the poor, the famine of teaching." The Christ-loving bishop tapped the palm of his left hand with the forefinger of his right, a familiar gesture when he was in deep thought, and said to the speaker: "Say no more, brother, only remember what I said; do not desert your Churches. The teaching office did not begin with me, nor did it come to an end in me. Did not Moses die, and was not Joshua found? Did not Samuel end his days, and was not David anointed? Jeremiah departed this life, but was there not Baruch? Elijah was taken up, but did not Elisha take his place as prophet? Paul was beheaded, but did he not leave behind him Timothy, Titus, Apollos, and countless others?"

Eulysius, Bishop of Apameia in Bithynia, was the next to speak. "It is inevitable," he said, "if we keep our Churches, that we shall be forced to communicate with them and to sign (your sentence of condemnation)." Said the holy John, "Communicate with them, lest you rend the Church; but do not sign. For my conscience is clear of any thought deserving my deposition."

At this moment, messengers from Theophilus were announced. John ordered that they should be admitted; and on their entry, asked to what order they belonged. "We are bishops," they replied. He requested them to be seated, and to state their business. "We only have a letter," they said, "to be read aloud; cause it to be so read." John directed that it should be read, and they ordered Theophilus' young servant to read the communication, which he did. The substance was as follows: "The holy synod assembled at The Oak" (that was the name of the place where they had met—in the suburb of Rufinus, on the other side of the sea), "to John" (they omitted his proper title of bishop; the darkened soul never does see things as they are, but imagines what its evil desires dictate). "We have received certain memorials, containing countless grave charges against you; appear, therefore, bringing with you the priests Serapion and Tigrius; for they are needed." The two bishops who came to John were Dioscorus and Paulus, young men who had recently been consecrated in Libya.

When the document had been read, John's fellow-bishops replied with a statement drawn up by three bishops, Luppicianus, Demetrius, and Eulysius, and two priests, Germanus and Severus, all of them saintly and honourable men. "Overthrow not the estate of the Church, and rend not the Church, for whose sake God from above entered into flesh. As it appears that by your disorderly action you are overthrowing the canons of the 318 bishops at Nicaea, and are trying a case beyond your boundaries, do you cross over to us, that we may first hear what you have to say, in this city where good laws prevail, and do not be like Cain, when he invited Abel to come into the field. For we have memorials against you, under seventy counts, alleging palpably criminous actions. Moreover, we, assembled by the grace of God, not for the overthrow of the Church, but in peace, are more in number than your synod. For you number thirty-six, from one province; while we are forty, from various provinces, and among us are seven metropolitans. It is only reason that the smaller body should be judged according to the canons by the larger and the more honourable. Besides this, we hold your letter, in which you press upon our brother-minister John, that he ought not to accept cases from beyond his boundaries. Wherefore do you, in obedience to the laws of the Church, urge your accusers either to desist from their accusations against you, or from their approaches to John."

John was distressed at this answer, and said to his bishops, "Write what seems good to you; I feel bound to make a statement for myself in answer to the allegations." So he sent the following reply to Theophilus and his party: "I hereby declare that if any man has aught to say against me, up to this moment I do not know what it is; but if any one has spoken against me, and you wish me to appear before you, put out of your assemblage my open enemies, who are filled with malice towards me because they think themselves slighted. Further, I raise no question as to the venue of my trial, though the fittest place would be the city. Those to whom I object as judges are Theophilus, whom I call to account for having said both at Alexandria and in Lycia, 'I go to the court to depose John.' I know this to be true, because when he arrived, he did not have any intercourse with me, or communicate with me. If then he behaved as an enemy before the hearing, what would he do after the trial? Similarly, I charge Acacius with saying, 'I am seasoning a pot for him.' As for Severianus and Antiochus, whom the divine sentence will soon overtake, what need to speak of them, when even the secular theatres make songs upon their revolutionary doings? I beg you therefore, if you really desire me to appear, in regard to these four; if they are entered as judges, remove them from the panel; if as accusers, put them into the witness-box, that I may know how to prepare to meet them—whether as opponents or as judges. Then I will appear at all costs, not only before your love, but before any synod in the world. Now, then, I give you notice, that however often you write to me, you will hear no more from me."

So the envoys withdrew, and a notary immediately arrived, bearing a letter from the king, enclosing the petition (of Theophilus' synod) that John should come up for judgment whether he would or no, and bade him hasten to the trial. When the notary had received his answer, two of John's priests appeared; one Eugenius, who was given the bishopric of Heracleia in payment for the part he had played in the plot against Bishop John, and Isaac, the monk under rule of silence—not to call him anything else. These said, "The synod sends you this message; come over to us, and defend yourself against the charges.'"

To this John answered, through other bishops, "How can you judge me with any show of order, when you have not put forth from among you my enemies, and when you send my own clergy to summon me?"

They seized the bishops, and beat one, and stripped another of his robes, and put round the neck of a third the chains which they had in readiness for the saint, intending so to put him on shipboard, and carry him off to some unknown place; the devil had made them as savage as lions. The holy bishop, aware of their shameful intention, took no steps to meet it; but these worthy gentlemen compiled some paltry dockets, more frail than spider's web, for the sake of form, making representations against the blessed bishop, whose face they had never seen and whose voice they had never heard, and in a single day consummated the villainy which they had long been forging. For the onslaught of the devil none can restrain; it waits not for reflection.

So they sent an address to the king setting forth that: "Whereas John is accused of various offences, and in consciousness of his guilt has refused to appear, he is by the laws degraded from his bishopric, and this has been done. The memorials include a charge of treason. Your piety, therefore, will command, that whether he will or no, he be expelled from his office, and pay the penalty for his treason, as we have no powers to inquire into this charge."

You thrice miserable wretches, what thoughts are these? What deeds? They should fill you with shame, if you have any fear or reverence for men, much more any for God. The treason consisted in offensive language against the queen, whom, as they alleged, he had called Jezebel. So this was the allegation of these wonderful people, longing to see John killed with the sword; but God brought to light the malice lurking within them, and softened the hearts of the magistrates, as with Daniel at Babylon. For there, the lions turned gentle, and spared Daniel, while the men turned savage, and did not spare the prophet; but God vanquished the unnatural savagery of man, by the unnatural gentleness of the savage beasts.

CHAPTER IX. INTRIGUES AND VIOLENCE AT CONSTANTINOPLE

Thus was John ejected from the Church; a court official was despatched for the purpose, with a body of soldiers, as if it was an expedition against barbarians. On his expulsion he went first to the country district of Prametum, in Bithynia. But only a single day had passed, when a catastrophe occurred in the royal palace, which caused such alarm, that a few days afterwards they recalled John, through a notary of the household, and restored him to his own throne. So Theophilus, with the Egyptian bishops, secured his own safety by flight; for the populace wished to drown him.

But two months later, recovering from their wound, they again uplifted themselves against John; and as they could not find a promising opening, they sent to the clever man who managed such things at Alexandria, to this effect: Do you either come here again to take the lead in the campaign against John, or, if you will not do this for fear of the people, suggest to us some scheme, so that we may make a beginning.

In answer to this, Theophilus did not go himself, remembering how he had escaped, but sent three miserable bishops, Paul, and Poimen, and another, newly consecrated, and at the same time despatched certain canons, which the Arians had framed against the blessed Athanasius, suggesting that by use of these they might manipulate a suit against John for having on his own initiative re-entered his bishopric after deposition. For Theophilus is naturally an impetuous person, headstrong, bold, and extraordinarily fond of quarrelling; whatever it be that presents itself to his vision, he rushes at it in needless haste, without any restraint, giving himself no time for judgment or consideration. So he proceeded with a mad fury which carried him beyond the bounds of order, to secure John's submission, and in sure confidence in the verdict passed upon him, vigorously opposed all who wished to bring a counter-charge; his one aim, as ever, being to show that his own judgment and decision conquered and prevailed.

Knowing his character, his agents fell in with his scheme. They summoned metropolitans and bishops from Syria, Cappadocia, and the whole province of Phrygia, and Pontus, to a conference at Constantinople. These on their arrival communicated with John in accordance with the canons, so as not to repeat their first mistake. The authorities were annoyed to hear of their act of communion; Theodorus, the respected Bishop of Tyana, aware of the conspiracy from the information which had reached his ears, refused to join in the hasty action of Theophilus, and deserted the main body without further concern, bidding a long farewell to the capital as he retired to his own Church. He fortified his own province with the rampart of his piety, and continued to the end in the communion of the faithful of Rome, to whom Paul bears witness in the words, "Your faith is spoken of in all the world." On the other hand, Pharetrius, Bishop of Caesarea, near Mount Argaeus, alarmed beyond measure, like a little child frightened by a bogey, without even leaving his own city, conferred by letters with John's enemies, although he had not even been invited to take any part in the matter; in his ignorance of episcopacy, he knew no better. Leontius, Bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, joined with Ammonius, Bishop of Burnt Laodicea, in burning the church. These two, yielding to the threats of the authorities, and at the same beguiled by the hope of gifts from the king, at the second session made a vile suggestion to the party of Acacius and Antiochus: namely, that Theophilus' judgment, which was no judgment, should prevail, and that no opportunity should be given to John even to defend himself, appealing to the canons sent by Theophilus, which the forty bishops in communion with Arius had passed, containing the clause, "If any bishop or priest who has been justly or unjustly deposed of his own initiative re-enters his Church, without sanction of a synod; such an one shall thereafter have no opportunity of defence, but shall be absolutely excluded." This canon was rejected, as being illegal and passed by illegal persons, at Sardica, by the bishops of Rome, Italy, Illyria, Macedonia, and Greece, as you know better than I, my famous friend Theodorus, when Liberius, or rather Julius, in the reign of Constans received into communion Athanasius and Marcellus of Galatia, on whose account the canon was laid down.

This wonderful pair, Ammonius and Leontius, formed a league with Acacius and Antiochus, and Cyrinus of Chalcedon, and Severianus, and came before the king, recommending that ten bishops of John's party, which numbered more than forty, should be summoned, to maintain the authority of the canons; as some asserted that they were the work of orthodox persons, while others maintained that they were of Arian origin. However, Elpidius, old in spirit and in the years which had whitened his head, Bishop of Laodicea in Syria, and Tranquilius, with their supporters, came and urged upon the king that John ought not to be unreasonably ejected. "For," they said, "John had not been previously deposed, but was expelled by the civil official; nor did he re-enter it upon his own initiative, but obeyed the order of your piety, conveyed by a notary; moreover, we can prove that the canons to which they appeal are of heretical origin."

John's opponents continued very improperly to press their views, some shouting at the top of their voices, others, wild with excitement, impudently gesticulating, and twitching their chests in the presence of the king. Then Elpidius, a most profound student of Church law, in a moment of silence said meekly to the king: "Your majesty, let us not trouble your gentleness further, but let this be done; let our brothers Acacius and Antiochus subscribe the canons which they put forward as the work of orthodox persons, and declare themselves to be of the same faith as those who issued them. Then the whole dispute is at an end."

The king noted the simplicity of the solution proposed, and said to Antiochus, with a smile, "Nothing could be better." The king was throughout entirely free from blame; it was others who altered his excellent decrees. Severianus and his party reeled, and began to swirl against one another like water that has burst its bounds; they were struck dumb at the bishop's thoughtful observation, and at the opinion expressed by the king. Their faces turned livid, but in the king's audience chamber they had to restrain themselves. So they promised, sorely against their will, to subscribe the canons, and departed. But as they were afraid of being worsted, they did not carry out their promise, on the ground that it was given against their will; and began instead to devise means to secure John's expulsion.

In these various manœuvres and counter-manceuvres nine or ten months passed, John foregathering with his forty-two bishops, while the people enjoyed the benefit of his teaching with much gladness. For the unselfish mind always expresses itself with greater grace and power in times of difficulty.

Such was the state of things when the Lord's fast recurred, like the spring which puts forth its blossoms year by year. Again Antiochus and his party approached the king, in private, and informed him that John had been deposed, begging him to order his expulsion at the approaching Paschal season, and the king, wearied by their importunity, could not but listen to them, seeing that they were bishops. For the true priest or bishop knows not falsehood; these titles belong to the higher sphere, since there is nothing more priestly or more episcopal than God, for it is God Who is the bishop and beholder of all things. The true bishop, then, or the true priest, inasmuch as he bears these titles in fellowship with God, ought also to be in fellowship with Him in His actions. The king accordingly sent word to John, "Leave the Church." "I have received this Church," John sent word back, "from God our Saviour, for the care of the salvation of the people, and I cannot desert it; if, then, this is your will—for the city is yours—thrust me out by force, that I may plead your authority in defence of my desertion of my post."

So they sent men from the palace, with a certain show of respect, and ejected him; but in apprehension of a possible visitation of the wrath of God, bade him stay in the bishop's house for the time being, so that if any misfortune should occur which affected them, they could at once appease the Divinity by restoring him to the Church, while if nothing happened, they could proceed further against him, as Pharaoh did against Moses.

Meanwhile, the Great Sabbath drew near, in which the Saviour spoiled Hades by His crucifixion. Again they sent word to John, "Leave the Church"; to which he sent a suitable reply. So the king, in consideration of the sanctity of the day, and the disturbed state of the city, summoned Acacius and Antiochus, and said to them, "What is to be done? Take care that you are not acting unadvisedly." Then the worthies, high-spirited to a fault, said to the king, "Your majesty, the deposition of John be on our heads." As a last resource, the bishops on John's side, to the number of the days of the holy fast, approached the king and queen in the shrines of the martyrs, and besought them with tears to spare the Church of Christ, remembering especially the Paschal festival, and those already prepared for the sacrament of the new birth to be received on that day, and to restore to her her prelate. The request was unheeded; Paul of Crateia went so far as to say, with fearless out-spokenness, "Eudoxia, fear God, and pity your own children; do not dishonour the festival of Christ by the shedding of blood."