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"This is the book about the origin of human beings. On the day God made Adam, in God's image he made him; male and female he made them. He gave them the name Adam on the day he made them." ge] ONDERFUL [175] AND BEYOND TELLING , dearly beNS loved, is the treasure in the words read just now. |
G2) yealize that for their part many people take one look at a list of names, pay attention only to the surface of the text, and judge that the words contain nothing more than simply a list of names. For my part, on the contrary, I beg you all not to pass heedlessly by the contents of Holy Scripture. I mean, there is nothing in the writings at this point which does not contain a great wealth of thought; after all, since the blessed authors composed under the inspiration of the divine
Spirit, on that account they hold concealed within them great treasure because written by the Spirit. Don't be surprised if in the list of names I guarantee to show you a great wealth of thought hidden there. You see, there is not even a syllable or even one letter contained in Scripture which does not have great treasure concealed in its depths.2 Hence we must be guided by grace from above and accept the enlightenment of 1. Gen 5.1—2, where the priestly editor of the Hebrew text begins his book of generations, or record of Adam's line. The LXX, which before this point has failed to respect the difference between Hebrew adam with article and without it to distinguish "human being" from "Adam" (as a proper name) and has preferred the proper name, strangely reverses its pattern in 5.1, still against the Hebrew. Chrysostom's own text here also omits the blessing in LPs 2. A classic statement of Chrysostom's principle of the precision, akribeia, of Scripture—a principle he adheres to not just by citing it but by examining carefully miniscule items in the text, even down to syllables and letters as he claims (cf. Homily 39 on Abraham's name). See notes 11 and 13 below, and my article, "Akribeva."
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Dy the Holy Spirit, and only then approach the divine sayings.
That is to say, Sacred Scripture does not call into play human wisdom for the understanding of its writings, but the revelation of the Spirit, so that we may learn the true meaning of its contents and draw from it a great benefit.* After all, if in daily affairs the writings composed by human beings frequently become corrupt through the passage of time, judging by the date mentioned at the beginning of the text, and still contain great significance in even a single syllable, so much the more in the case of the Holy Scriptures composed by the Holy Spirit can we find this, provided we are alert and do not rush heedlessly on but sharpen our responses and consider everything precisely, proving ourselves no worse than people demonstrating a like enthusiasm for material things.
(2) To draw a comparison with people digging for metal ore: they don't stop short at its first appearance; instead, when they get down to great depth and are in a position to collect nuggets of gold, they expend much effort and vigor in separating them from the soil, and despite that great labor they find only some slight consolation for their pains.' Still, even though they know they will gain little return in comparison with their trouble, in many cases despite long hours and much frustration and disappointment of their hopes, they don't give up at this stage: buoyed up by expectation they feel no effect of their efforts. So if they exhibit such zeal in regard to things that are corruptible and passing, to which is attached much uncertainty, much more should we exhibit a like, or even greater, enthusiasm in cases where the wealth is proof against theft and the treasure is not consumed nor is it
3. For Chrysostom not only are the author and text inspired but also the reader, if the inspired text is to be appreciated fully. One effect of such inspiration is that the reader is able to bring a like precision to his study of the precision of the text. See my /nspiration, pp. 108-121.
4. One of the several figures (probably not original, as we have seen from De Lubac's survey of similar patristic figures) Chrysostom employs at this point in. his homilies to recommend Scripture to his congregation. It is perhaps his favorite figure, as it implies the painstaking study and careful search that exegesis was for the school of Antioch, and highlights as well the great rewards of scriptural reading.
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possible for hopes to be disappointed, so that we may be able to have the good fortune to enjoy the object of our zeal, reap much benefit in the process, and in the knowledge of God's ineffable love prove to be grateful to our Lord and also render ourselves immune to the devil's wiles by winning favor from above.
(3) So come now, let us set forth the words read just now and examine each one precisely so as to take advantage of the customary instruction and thus make our way home. "This is the book about the origin of human beings," the text says.
"On the day God made Adam, in God's image he [176] made him; male and female he made them. He gave them the name
Adam on the day he made them." Notice, I ask you, the insight of this remarkable author—or rather, the instruction of the Holy Spirit. I mean, he utters everything to us under the influence of inspiration; he brought his tongue to the task, while the grace of the Spirit teaches everything clearly to us in our human condition by means of him.°® Consider, then, how he took the story back to the beginning, and intends to conduct his narrative all over again, so to say. Why and for what purpose? Well, he knew that those who were already in existence had given evidence of much ingratitude and had not even profited from the fate of the first formed human being but had descended into the very abyss of wickedness; his own son had immediately rushed into fratricide from a motive of envy, and had consequently received that most severe punishment, as we taught your good selves before. Then those after him in their turn, not even profiting from his punishment, involved themselves in worse evil, as you heard Lamech yesterday describing his own sin to his wives and 5. For Chrysostom the teaching of the human author is the teaching of the divine author: to find the latter, study the former. In this Chrysostom is as contemporary in his thinking as Vatican II's Dei Verbum—hence its acknowledgment of him. For details of the process of inspiration, however,
Chrysostom is less helpful; his statement here could be taken to support a mechanical notion of dictation or even possession found among the Fathers, as emerges also from his commentary on Psalm 45 (PG 55, 183—85)—but that is a traditional patristic Jocus treated in the customary manner, so we are none the wiser.
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specifying the penalty imposed on him. Finally, he saw bit by bit their wickedness increasing like an evil current about to wash completely over the body, so he stems the tide of wickedness, and doesn't even consider worthy of mention the succeeding generations from Cain to Lamech; instead, as though making a fresh start and wanting to sooth Adam and Eve's grief which the murderer had presumed to inflict upon them with the death of his brother by raising his hand against Abel, he thus begins his account with these words, "This is the book about the origin of human beings. On the day God made
Adam, in God's image he made them; male and female he made them. He gave them the name Adam on the day he made them."
(4) Notice how he employs the same words as in the beginning to teach us that he did not even rate worth a mention from now on those generations turned reprobate; instead, he begins the genealogy from the recently born child—I mean
Seth—so that from this fact also you may learn how much store God sets by human nature and how he abhors people of murderous intent. You see, he passes over mention of them as if they were people never brought into existence, thus showing us how terrible wickedness is and the fact that those who embrace it do the worst harm to themselves. Behold, in fact, on the one hand, these people are now removed from the list and are judged worthy only of such mention as to have their wickedness immortalized and to become a sober reminder for future generations. On the other hand, he who was unjustly done away with, put to death by a brother's hand, has been a byword on everyone's lips from that time till now, whose memory time has not erased nor has the other brother's accusation been excised; instead, day in day out one is praised to the skies, the other held in everlasting obloquy.
(5) Do you see how much harm is done by wickedness, how much power virtue has, and how one is crushed and dispelled no matter if it goes on the offensive and wages war, while the other, even if attacked and beset with countless insults, shines out the more brightly and resplendently on that account? It would be possible to demonstrate this to your good selves at
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this point from many other examples that have occurred to like effect; [177] but lest we lose track for now of the theme we are developing, come now, let us take up again the words in question: "This is the book about the origin of human beings," the text says. "On the day God made Adam, in God's image he made him; male and female he made them. He gave them the name Adam on the day he made them." See how
Sacred Scripture begins its account all over again to remind us of the extent of the esteem accorded the newly created human being. "On the day God made Adam," the text says,
"in God's image he made him"—that is to say, he appointed him ruler of all visible things. This, after all, is the meaning of "in his image," in respect both of his control and his lordship.® You see, just as the God of all has control of all things both visible and invisible, being Creator of everything as he is, so too after creating this rational being he intended him to have control of all visible things. Hence he accorded him also a spiritual being in his wish that he not see death for ever; but since through indifference he fell and transgressed the command given him, out of fidelity to his own loving kindness he did not turn away at this but while stripping him of immortality he placed this creature he had condemned to death in almost the same position of control. Then when the child born to him fell headlong into such awful wickedness and was the first to provide an example of murder, demonstrating that violent kind of death and displaying deep ingratitude by compounding homicide with guile, he decided to bring him to his senses with unremitting punishment so that he should not simply gain something personally from what happened to him but should also teach those coming later both the extent of his crimes and the excess of the impropriety.
(6) Since, however, through great indifference those descended from him gradually involved themselves in worse wickedness, he wanted to console Adam, so to say, for finding
6. See Homily 8, note 13 for mention of modern linguistic and archeological confirmation of Chrysostom's surmise as to the meaning of this key phrase.
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himself so desolated not only by his own fall but also by Cain's crime which he saw with his own eyes. Not that they knew what death looked like, even if they had received the sentence: a twofold and threefold grief afflicted him because he saw death introduced into life for the first time, violent death at that, perpetrated by his own son, against his brother, of the same mother and same father as himself, one who had done him no ill. Accordingly, the loving God, wishing to bring him some consolation to compensate him for those griefs, provided him with another son, Seth, and in supplying adequate solace for him by that means he guarantees for the future the beginning of another line from him. Hence the blessed author made that opening remark, "This is the book about the origin of human beings."
(7) Then, notice the way, having promised to outline the origin of human beings, he continues, "Adam was two hundred and thirty years old."' Was I not right in saying at the beginning that you can find nothing written idly or to no purpose in Sacred Scripture? I mean, behold here too how much precision this blessed [178] author employs. "Adam had a son of his own in his very image," he says, "and he named him
Seth." In the case of the previous child—I mean Cain—on the contrary, he made no such comment except to suggest at the beginning his decline into evil. And rightly so: far from bearing the stamp of his father, he lost no time in taking to wickedness. In the present case, however, the text says, "A son of his own in his very image"—in other words, of the same ilk as his parent, preserving the same stamp of virtue, revealing the image of his father in his actions, capable of reversing by his own virtue the crime of his older brother. You see, it is not in reference to bodily features that Scripture is speaking to us here in the words, "A son of his own in his very image'; it is to do with the disposition of his soul, so that 7. Gen 5.3—5, with that notorious divergence by the LXX from the Masoretic Hebrew text in numbers of years typical also of the Samaritan Pentateuch at this place in the text. Strangely, as if shy of the textual discrepancies, Chrysostom omits reference to this matter of age with such promise for moral comment, and fixes on the names instead.
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we may learn that he would not turn out like the other brother.
(8) For this reason, too, his mother in giving her son this name did so with thanks, attributing the birth of a son not to nature or to the process of birth but to the power of God.
This it was, you see, that fertilized nature for giving birth, and so the text says, "She gave him the name Seth, saying,
'God has raised up for me another child in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.'"* See the precision of the expression; she did not say, God has given me, but, "God has raised up for me.'" Notice how in outline a premonition of the resurrection is already being suggested to us through this expression. I mean, she spoke as if to say, He has raised up this child for me in place of the fallen one. Even if that one was laid low at his brother's hand (she is saying), still the power of God has raised up this child in place of the fallen one. You see, since the time for the resurrection had not yet come, he raised up, not the fallen one, but another one in his place; hence she said, "'God has raised up for me another child in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.'" Do you see the woman's gratitude?
Do you see the Lord's loving kindness? how he envisaged speedy consolation for them? Let us all imitate this, and attribute everything to grace from on high. You see, even if nature takes its course, it does so, not by its own power but in response to the direction of the Creator. Let women not be distressed when they have no children; instead, let them give evidence of a thankful disposition and have recourse to the Creator and direct their request to him, the Lord of nature, not attributing childbirth to the intercourse of the partners nor to any other source than the Creator of everything, who also brings our nature from non-being into being and is able to correct anything deficient. This is exemplified in Eve's making the fact of her grief an occasion for praise when she attributes everything to the Lord in the words, "'God has raised up for me another child in the place of Abel, whom
Cain killed.'" Do you see how she was not merely not dis8. Gen 4.25.
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tressed nor avoided uttering any pained remark (Sacred Scripture, after all, would not have passed it over, if in fact something of the sort had been said by her), but in accepting in noble fashion what had happened she was granted speedy comfort and displayed more intense gratitude by exalting the Lord's kindness?
(9) I mean, take note of the extent of the generosity the Lord gives evidence of on his part: he not only favors her with another son but also predicts at this point that he will be virtuous. "He had a son of his own," the text says, remember,
"in his very image." For an immediate insight into the child's virtue, notice him also in turn demonstrating the piety [178] of his attitude in the name of his child. "A son was born to Seth," the text says; "he gave him the name Enosh. He it was who hoped to invoke the name of the Lord God."® Do you notice his name, more resplendent than any other diadem, more brilliant than a robe of purple? What in fact could be more blessed than this man adorned by God himself with this title and employing it in place of a name?
(10) Do you see how, as I mentioned at the outset, in these mere names a great wealth of thought lies hidden? That is to say, they reveal in this case not simply the piety of the parents but also the great concern they had for their children, and how from the very beginning they instructed the children born to them through the names they gave them to cling to virtue. They didn't give names casually and by chance, like people today, who say, The child is to be called after his grandfather or greatgrandfather. The ancients, on the contrary, didn't act that way; instead, they took great pains to give such names to their children as not merely led to virtue those receiving them but proved instructive in complete wisdom for everybody else and for later generations too. This we will come to realize gradually as the sermon develops. Accordingly, let us neither give our children any old name, nor g. Gen 4.26. As mentioned above at footnote 16 in Homily 20, Chrysostom's lack of Hebrew seems to be encouraging him to read more into the name than is justified, as if presuming the following (puzzling) sentence is etymological in basis.
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bestow on them the names of grandfathers or greatgrandfathers or people of distinguished lineage, but rather of holy men illustrious for their virtue who enjoyed great confidence in their relations with God. To be more exact, they should not trust lightly in those men's names, the parents or the children who have been given these names: a name that is unsupported by virtuous living is of no benefit—instead, it is necessary to rest one's hopes for salvation in the practice of virtue and not to become big-headed over a name or over one's connection with holy men or over anything other than the confidence that arises from one's own good deeds. To be more exact still, we should not become big-headed over this but rather humble and modest in the situation where we are able to amass great wealth of virtue. This, you see, is the way we will personally amass and store up wealth with security, and win favor from God. For this reason, after all, Christ also has said to his disciples, "When you do everything, say, "We are unprofitable servants,'"!° deflating their sense of importance in any respect and persuading them to be humble and not be conceited over their virtuous behavior but realize that the very greatest virtue of all is to be humble in the practice of virtue.
(11) Let us, however, return to the theme of the sermon and see the children born later. It is likely, you see, that as we proceed bit by bit we will find greater treasure, immense wealth beyond all telling. The text says: "Enosh (the son of Seth) was a hundred and ninety years old when he had a son,
Kainan ...!! Kainan had a son, Maleleel .
. .!2 Maleleel had a son, Jared ...'° Jared had a son, Enoch ...
'* Enoch was a hundred and sixty five years old when he had a son Mathu-. sala. Now, Enoch pleased God," the text says; "he lived two hundred years after having Mathusala, and had other sons and daughters; Enoch's lifespan was three hundred and sixty five years. Enoch pleased God, and he was not to be found
10. Luke 17.10.
11.) Gen 5-0:
12. Gen 5.12.
13. Gen 5.15.
14. Gen 5.18.
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because God had taken him away." Wasn't I right in saying that as [180] we proceeded we would find immense spiritual riches beyond all telling in these names? Consider at this point, I ask you, dearly beloved, the just man's virtue, the good God's love exceeding all limits, and the precision of Sacred Scripture. "Enoch was a hundred and sixty five years old," the text says, "when he had a son Mathusala. Now, Enoch pleased God," the text says, "after having Mathusala."
(12) Let both men and women listen and learn about the Just man's virtue, and not consider marriage to be an obstacle to pleasing God. I mean, it was to this effect that in more than one place Sacred Scripture made a point of saying that he had a son Mathusala and then pleased God, and said the same thing over again in the words, "He pleased God after having Mathusala," in case anyone thought it was an obstacle to virtue. You see, as long as we are on our guard, neither marriage nor bringing up children nor anything else will be able to stand in the way of our being pleasing to God. I mean, behold how this man, who as it happens had the same nature as ourselves, without the guidance of any law or the instructive contents of Scripture or any other inducement to wisdom gave evidence from his own resources and by choice of such satisfaction in God's eyes as to live to this day and never experience death even yet. In other words, dearly beloved, had marriage or the raising of children been likely to prove a stumbling block on the way to virtue, the Creator of all would not have introduced marriage into our life lest it prove our undoing in difficult times and through severe problems.
Since, however, family life not only offers us no obstacle to 15. Gen 5.21—24. In this selection of texts—Chrysostom obviously feeling the need to push the pace along and omit many details of ages, at the cost of his habitual principle of the value of Scripture's akribeta—his variant of the LXX generally corresponds to the Hebrew, with two interesting exceptions: in v.22 Chrysostom's text supplies the verb "lived" missing from the Masoretic text and other MSS of LXX (cf. Rahlfs), though he proceeds in his commentary on the verse to draw a moral point based on a reading where the verb does not occur at all nor is even presumed; in v.24 the anthropomorphic "walked with God," so full of theological significance for commentators like Von Rad (cf. his commentary, 71—73), appears much more lamely in the LXX "pleased God."
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wisdom in God's eyes as long as we are prepared to be on our guard, but even brings us much encouragement and calms the tumult of our natural tendencies, not allowing the billows to surge but constantly ensuring that the bark dock safely in the harbor, consequently he granted the human race the consolation that comes from this source.
(13) In fact, this good man demonstrates that what has been said by us is true. After having Mathusala, the text says, remember, "Enoch pleased God," and it was for no short period that he followed this virtuous way but, as the text tells us, he lasted two hundred years. Since, after the fall of the first formed, a human being was found to ascend the very heights of virtue and to revoke the sin of our first parents through his own acceptable way of life, see the exceeding love of the good God. When he found someone capable of revoking Adam's sin, he showed through his very actions that it was not out of a desire to inflict death on our race for transgression of the command that he had condemned the person who had been given the command; he took him away during his lifetime to another place. "Enoch pleased God," the text says, "and he was not to be found because God had taken him away." Do you see the Lord's wisdom? He took him away during his lifetime, he did not grant him immortality, in case this should diminish fear of sinning; instead, he let it remain strong in the human race.
(14) Hence once again obscurely, so to say, and imperceptibly he wants the sentence he had passed [181] on Adam to be revoked. But he doesn't make it obvious, so that fear may have the effect of bringing people to their senses. Consequently, he took away Enoch, who pleased him. If, however, someone were anxious to be meddlesome and ask, Where did he take him? Has he continued to live till the present? let that person learn not to follow human reasoning or to pry into God's doings but to believe what is said. In other words, whenever God reveals anything, we shouldn't question what is said but rather treat with the highest regard the words spoken by God, even if they do not correspond to the things that lie before us plain to see. I mean, the fact that God took
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him away to another place Sacred Scripture has told us, as well as the fact that God took him during his lifetime without his having experienced death; rather, through the personal satisfaction he found in God's eyes he proved superior to the sentence passed on the race of human beings. But where he took him, or what kind of life he lives now, these further details were not given.
(15) Do-you see the Lord's goodness, how on finding the man practicing virtue he did not strip him of the dignity which he had accorded the first formed human being before the transgression of the command? He meant to teach us that, if the latter had not paid greater regard to the devil's deceit than to the command given him, he would have been granted the same reward or even greater. "Mathusala was a hundred and eighty seven years old," the text says, "when he had a son Lamech .. ."!®© Lamech was a hundred and eighty years old when he had a son; he named him Noe, saying,
'This child will surely bring us relief from our labors, from the troubles of our hands, and from the curse the Lord placed on the earth.'"!" See once again in the name of Lamech's newborn child the greatness of the mysteries, the extraordinary nature of the prophecy, and the good God's unspeakable love. I mean, when by his own prescience he foresees the future, and descries the increase in human beings' wickedness, he foretells by means of the child's name the evils that will come upon all the race of human beings, in the hope that, provided they respond to fear, come to their senses and eschew wickedness, they may choose virtue instead. See also the Lord's longsuffering, how long before the event he makes his prophecy so as to demonstrate his characteristic love and deprive of any excuse those destined to suffer the punishment.
(16) Perhaps, however, someone may say, How did Lamech 16. Gen 5.25.
17. Gen 5.28—29. Chrysostom, again despite his profenad interest in the akribeia of the sacred text, selects for comment the verses he finds significant; the ages in his text differ slightly from both the Hebrew and LXX, themselves divergent.
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come to have such a degree of prophetic power? After all, Scripture doesn't record that he was a person of virtue and remarkable powers does it? Don't be surprised at that, dearly beloved: the Lord, in his wisdom and inventiveness, frequently permits great and wonderful events to be foretold by unworthy people, not only in the Old Testament but also in the New. I mean, listen to the evangelist's words about Caiaphas, the highpriest of the Jews: "He did not give this as a personal opinion, but in his capacity of highpriest that year he prophesied that Jesus was destined to die, not for the person alone but to bring together into one also the nations that had been scattered."!* You will find something like it occurring again in the story of Balaam also: when urged to curse the people, he not merely did not curse them but even prophesied great and wonderful things, not merely about the people but also about the coming of the Saviour.' So don't be surprised if in this case also Lamech in naming his child gives him a name of this kind; instead, attribute it all to God, who arranges everything in his [182] inventive wisdom.
(17) "He named him Noe"; his name, you see, means relief.
So he is referring to that destruction that was due to occur so many years later as relief—as Job also says, "Death means relief for man."?° Since wickedness brings with it great distress of deep intensity, he refers to its removal and disappearance which they were about to experience through that deluge as relief. "He named him Noe," the text says; then it interprets for us the sense of the name by adding, "'Now, this child will bring us relief from our labors'"—meaning he will rid us of evil—'" 'and from the troubles of our hands,'" meaning again in similar fashion from evil doings, not meaning by this that our hands are troubled but that through their efforts and evil behavior troubles are multiplied. "'And from the curse the Lord placed on the earth'"; this means he will free us from all the evils encumbering us and from the condition of distress and difficulty affecting the earth by the im18. John 11.51-52, with some slight variations from the present state of the text.
19. Cf. Num 23-24.
20. Job 3.23 LXX.
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position of the curse on account of the fall of the first formed human being. In other words, understand now, I ask you, dearly beloved, how this child proves to be an occasion of instruction for all who see him as he grows up bit by bit: you had only to learn the child's name for the sense of the name to teach you at once the ruin that would fall on people in a future time. You see, had anyone been inspired to make the simple statement that this would happen, the statement would have been consigned to oblivion and not everyone would have known about this intolerable kind of punishment. In this case, on the contrary, this man grew up in the sight of everyone and became a reminder in season and out?! of God's anger.
(18) To learn with precision how long a time it was that the son continued by means of his name to exhort everyone to shun evil, opt for virtue and thus avoid that awful anger, the text says, "Noe was five hundred years old when he had three sons."*? See once more another good man with wife and family achieving great satisfaction in God's eyes and opting for the way of virtue in the sight of everyone, hindered in no way either by marriage or by family responsibilities. All this time, however, we must marvel at God's unspeakable longsuffering and the exceeding ingratitude of people of the time: see, this good man continued all those five hundred years shouting aloud and testifying by his name to the impending approach of the deluge on the whole world on account of the extremity of wickedness as he advised. Nevertheless, despite such warning and despite that great number of years the loving God does not inflict the punishment; instead, with an increase in his own longsuffering he adds still further a considerable number of years to his own peculiar forebearance. You see, he had not created the human race for the specific purpose of punishing them—quite the contrary, to regale them with the enjoyment of countless good things. Hence you see him hesitating at every opportunity and loath to act in this matter of punishment.
(19) Lest, however, we overwhelm your memory with a pleen Gh 21 1m 4).2:
22. Gen 5.32.
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thora of words, let us close at this point and postpone till next time the remainder. All the same, dearly beloved, let us not listen to these things heedlessly; rather, let us learn to take an interest in virtue, make much of finding satisfaction in God's eyes and not give it second place to management of a house, care of a wife, bringing up [183] children or anything else, thinking that these things suffice to excuse lax and careless living, and putting forward those lifeless and ill-considered words, namely, I am a man of the world, I have a wife,
I devote myself to the care of my children. This is what a lot of people are inclined to say when we exhort them to take pains over a virtuous life or show enthusiasm for the reading of Scripture. This is not for me, the person says: I haven't left the world, have I? I haven't become a monk, have I? What are you saying, human being that you are? Are you leaving it to them alone to find satisfaction before God? He wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth,"* and he wishes no one to neglect virtue. Listen, after all, to what he has to say by means of the inspired author: "I desire not the sinner's death as much as his conversion and life."?4
No hindrance came to this good man, did it, from intercourse with his wife or family cares?
(20) Accordingly, I beseech you, let us not deceive ourselves, but the more we are embroiled in these cares, so much the more should we take the remedies available in the reading of the Holy Scriptures. I mean, surely the people we've been mentioning were of the same nature as ourselves, and yet had fewer inducements to the practice of virtue. So what excuse could we be granted if while enjoying such great instruction, being favored with so much grace, enjoying assistance from on high, and being in receipt of the promise of those ineffable goods, we did not measure up to the standard of virtue set by those men of old? Were we prepared to remain alert, the matters raised today would suffice to prompt us to love virtue, and never consider anything to be an obstacle to its progress. After all, if people living before the Law arrived at 23. Cf. 1 Tim 2.4.
24. Ezek 18.23.
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such heights of virtue on the strength of the instruction innate in their nature, what can we say for ourselves for being found far from virtue despite such assistance, despite the coming of Christ and his countless miracles? Hence, I beseech you, let us not approach the contents of Sacred Scripture idly, but read them with attention so as to gain benefit from them and at least at this late hour be in a position to follow the way of virtue as God would have us do. You see, if we were ready to make this spiritual teaching ring in your ears day in day out, and you were to continue in the same state of indifference, what advantage would come to you from the constant teaching, or what consolation would it be for us to see our effort proving fruitless and no sign of progress stemming from our zeal?
(21) Tell me, after all, are we not composed of two elements—I mean soul and body? So why do we not accord equal attention to both instead of being zealous in treating the body with care, paying money to doctors, ourselves demonstrating much solicitude in its regard, clothing it in rich apparel, supplying it with food beyond what is necessary? We wish it to enjoy constant indulgence and be afflicted with no ailment at all; in the event of some trouble occurring, we apply every means of correcting the problem. This we do in the case of the body—in other words, the lesser element; tell me, after all, what equality is there between soul and body? If, in fact, you want to see the difference, consider how the body comes to be thought of no importance when the soul has left it. Accordingly, you who take such care of the body—for what reason and on what account [184] are you determined to show such disdain for the care of the soul, neither bringing it proper nourishment (I mean the exhortations of the Holy
Scriptures), nor applying appropriate remedies to its wounds and the ulcers that sap its strength and undermine its confidence? Instead, you allow it to be overlooked, to waste away with hunger, to be destroyed with ulcers, and to be set upon, so to say, as though by dogs, by those evil and unseemly thoughts, and so to be torn to pieces and lose all its vigor.
(22) Why is it that, as we take care of our body, visible as it
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
is, we do not take the very same care of our soul, incorporeal and invisible though it is, especially as attention to it is not only easy and trouble-free but also costs us nothing and requires no effort? In the case of attention to the body, on the one hand, there is need of great expense for bodily ailments, paying something to the doctors and the rest for all other assistance (I mean food and clothing), not to mention the majority of people who over and above what is necessary stop at nothing in their spending. In the case of the soul, on the other hand, none of these things is necessary, unless, just as you daily spend money to give nourishment to the body, you are likewise determined not to neglect the soul and let it die of hunger but to provide it with proper nourishment from the reading of Scripture and the support of spiritual advice:
"Not on bread alone does man live," Scripture says, remember, "but on every word coming from the mouth of God."?°
If so, you would have an excellent attitude to these matters and would be properly mindful of the element more characteristic of us. So, just as you provide a range of garments for the body and give your attention to food for the various seasons and the diversity of clothing, by the same token don't neglect the soul's nakedness and poverty of good works but likewise clothe it in garments becoming it; thus you ought rapidly to improve its condition and restore it to its natural health.
(23) Now, what are its garments? Almsgiving and generosity in regard to the poor—this is the soul's best covering, this its resplendent mantle. But if you want not merely to provide it with clothing but also adorn it as you do the body, provide it also with the assistance of prayer and confession of sins, and do not cease washing its face with a steady flow of tears.
You see, just as you bathe the body's face each day with great care lest any smudge marking its face somewhere should give it an ugly aspect, take the trouble to do the same in the case
25. Matt 4.4; cf. Deut 8.3. The LXX, which is being quoted, here and elsewhere renders the Hebrew imperfect by the future where the appropriate
English tense would be the present; cf. M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek (19604), ET: Rome, 1963.
HOMILY 21
of the soul also, and bathe it daily by shedding hot tears; by this water it removes the smudge and becomes more resplendent. Because most women through their decadence ignore the instruction of the Apostle when he said, "Don't deck yourselves out in braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or expensive attire,"® they go to a lot of expense to do just that—and not women only, but also decadent men drag themselves down to the level of those women's luxury and sport rings on their fingers, as well as decking themselves out with large and heavy jewels, which should make them feel ashamed and want to hide. These men and women, therefore, were they prepared to heed my words, would exchange that gold that brings great harm to both men and women for the adornment [185] of the soul instead and by that means beautify it.
I mean, just as gold adornments on the body, even if it be a shapely one, render it more ugly, so even if the soul is unsightly, they transform it to the utmost attractiveness when they are worn.
(24) How, you ask, can gold adornments be worn by the soul? Once more by the hands of the poor. You see, the poor take them and thus become the cause of the soul's attractiveness. Pass your gold to them and deliver them into their belly, and they will give you in return such beauty of soul that you will win the true spouse himself by means of your beauty and will gain for yourself countless blessings through him. After all, when you win the favor of the Lord through your loveliness, you have an abundance of all good things and enjoy untold prosperity. If therefore we wish to win the satisfaction of the Lord, let us abandon the effort to beautify the body and give our attention to the soul's beauty day by day so as to win the favor of the loving God and have the good fortune to enjoy those unspeakable rewards, thanks to the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power and honor, now and forever, for all ages of ages. Amen.
26. 1 Tim 2.9.