CHAPTER VI Evidence supplied by S. Paul
CHAPTER VI
Evidence supplied by S. Paul
[BASIL.] 413. Why then, said he, was Paul not anxious to excel in this talent? He is not ashamed of his poverty of speech, but openly confesses that he is without skill; and this he addresses to the Corinthians, who were admired for their eloquence, and had high thoughts concerning it.
[CHRYSOSTOM.] 414. It is this very thing, said I, which has ruined many, and has rendered them more careless about true doctrine. For being unable accurately to explore the depth of the minds of the Apostles, and to understand the purport of their words, they have passed their whole time in slumbering and yawning; and they have honoured, not the ignorance with which Paul said he was unlearned, but that which he was farther from than any other man under heaven.
415. But let this subject be deferred for a time; and meanwhile I say this: Let us suppose him to have been without skill in this respect, as they will, what is that to men at the present time?
416. He had a power far greater than that of speech, and one which could accomplish more. For only by making his appearance, and that in silence, he was terrible to demons; but if all the men of our day were to come together with countless prayers and tears, they could not do what the aprons from Paul once effected.
417. Paul, by praying, raised the dead, and wrought other like miracles, so that he was even thought by the strangers to be a god. And before he was removed from this life, he was counted worthy to be caught up to the third heaven, and to receive words which it is not lawful for human nature to hear. But the men of our time, (I would not say anything harsh or offensive, and I say not these things now as blaming them, but because I am surprised,) somehow do not shudder to compare themselves with such a man.
418. For if, leaving out the miracles, we come to the life of that blessed man, and investigate his angelic conduct, you will see that the champion for Christ surpasses in this even more than in miracles. Why should we mention his zeal, his meekness, his constant perils, his thronging cares, his incessant griefs for the churches, his compassion for the rich, his many tribulations, his daily deaths? What place in the world, what continent, what sea, knew not the conflicts of that righteous man? Even the uninhabited land knew him, and often received him when in danger. He endured every form of assault, and attained every kind of victory. He never ceased either to struggle or to triumph.
419. I know not how I have been induced to vilify that man; for his good deeds surpass all description, mine at any rate, as far as skilful orators surpass me. Nevertheless, not even for this reason will I desist, (for the saint will judge not by the result, but by the motive,) until I have said what exceeds all I have said, as much as he excels all men.
420. What then, is that? After so many good deeds, after innumerable laurels, he desired to go to Gehenna, and to be delivered to eternal punishment, in order that the Jews, who had often stoned him, and had slain him as far as they could, might be saved and come to Christ. Who had such affection for Christ, if this ought to be called affection, and not rather something else, more than affection?
421. Shall we then, still compare ourselves with him, after so great grace as he received from above, and after so great virtue as he displayed in private? What would be more presumptuous than this?
422. Nor was he so unskilful in speech, as some think; and this, in fine, I shall try to prove.
423. They not only call him unskilled who is not practised in the arts of secular discourses, but also him who knows not how to contend for the doctrines of truth: and they are right in their opinion. Now, Paul did not say he was unskilled in both, but only in one; and in confirming this, he made a nice distinction, saying that he was unskilled in speech, but not in knowledge.
424. Now, if I required the polish of Isocrates, and the gravity of Demosthenes, the dignity of Thucydides, and the sublimity of Plato, I ought to bring forward this testimony of Paul. But I now dismiss all these, and the laboured embellishment of others, and do not concern myself with diction and enunciation. But let a man be impoverished in style, and simple and lax in the composition of words, only let him not be unskilled in knowledge and accuracy of doctrine; nor let him, to conceal his personal negligence, take away from the saint the greatest of his excellences and the chief of his commendations.