Letters 260–261

To Optimus the bishop. 1. I am always glad to see the good boys, both for the steadiness of their character beyond their years and for their kinship with your reverence, from which something great may be expected of them; and since I saw them come to me with a letter of yours too, I doubled my affection for them. When I read the letter, and saw in it both the providence of your disposition toward the Churches and your diligence in reading the divine Scriptures, I gave thanks to the Lord, and prayed for blessings on those who brought us such a letter, and before them on him who wrote it to us. 2. You asked about that much-talked-of saying, carried about up and down by everyone, what its solution is: "Whoever kills Cain will release seven vengeances." By this you have, in the first place, commended yourself as one who exactly keeps the charge of Timothy which Paul handed on to him (for you are plainly attending to reading); and then, as for us, old men, numbed now by time and bodily weakness and the multitude of afflictions which, stirred up in great numbers around us now, have weighed down our life, you have nevertheless roused us; and, fervent in spirit, you bring us back, chilled as we were like animals in their winter dens, to a moderate wakefulness and vital activity. The saying, then, can be understood simply, and it also admits a varied explanation. The simpler meaning, which anyone can see at once, is this: that Cain must pay the penalty for his sins sevenfold. For it is not the part of a just judge to fix repayments equal for equal; but the one who began the evil must pay what he owes with an addition, if he himself is to become better through the punishments, and is to make the rest more prudent by his example. Since, then, it has been ordained that Cain is to pay the penalty for his sins seven times, he who kills him, it says, will annul what has been decreed against him by the divine judgment. This is the sense that strikes us here on first reading. 3. But since the mind of the more diligent naturally searches the depths, it asks how justice is fulfilled in the "seven times," and what the "vengeances" are: whether the sins are seven, or the sin is one and the punishments for the one sin are seven. Now Scripture always limits the number of the forgiveness of sins to seven. "How often," it says, "shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?" (it is Peter speaking to the Lord) "As many as seven times?" Then the Lord's answer: "I do not say to you, as many as seven times, but as many as seventy times seven." For the Lord did not pass to another number, but, multiplying seven, set the limit of forgiveness within it. And after seven years the Hebrew was released from slavery; and seven weeks of years made the famous jubilee in former times, in which the land kept sabbath, debts were cut off, slavery ended, and a new life, as it were, began afresh, the old in some way receiving its completion in the number seven. These are types of this age, which circles round through the seven days and passes us by, in which the payment for lesser sins is made, according to the loving care of the good Master, so that we may not be handed over to punishment in the endless age. "Seven times," then, is because of its kinship with this world, since lovers of the world ought above all to be punished by means of the very things for whose sake they chose to do evil. As for the "vengeances": whether you mean the sins committed by Cain, you will find seven; or the punishments inflicted on him by the Judge, in that way too you will not miss the meaning. Among the deeds Cain dared, the first sin is envy at Abel's being preferred; the second, the deceit with which he spoke to his brother, saying, "Let us go out into the plain"; the third, murder, an addition to the evil; the fourth, that it was a brother's murder, a greater intensification; the fifth, that Cain was also the first murderer, leaving an evil example to human life; the sixth wrong, that he caused grief to his parents; the seventh, that he lied to God: for when asked, "Where is Abel your brother?" he said, "I do not know." Seven vengeances, then, would be released by Cain's being killed. For when the Lord said, "Cursed is the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood," and, "Groaning and trembling you shall be on the earth," Cain says: "If you drive me out today from the earth, and I shall be hidden from your face, and I shall be groaning and trembling on the earth, then everyone who finds me will kill me." To this the Lord says: "Not so: whoever kills Cain will release seven vengeances." For since Cain thought that he would be easily caught by anyone, because he had no safety on the earth (for the ground was cursed because of him), and was bereft of help from God, who was angry with him for the murder, so that no help remained to him either from earth or from heaven, "It will be," he says, "that everyone who finds me will kill me." The word refutes his error, saying, "Not so"; that is, you will not be put to death. For death is a gain to those who are being punished, bringing release from their pains. But you will be stretched out in life, so that punishments may be measured out to you in proportion to your sins. But since "vengeance" is understood in two ways, both as the sin on which vengeance is taken and as the manner of punishment by which vengeance is taken, let us see whether seven kinds of torment were brought upon the evildoer. 4. The seven sins of Cain, then, the discussion has listed above. Now we ask whether the things brought on him for punishment are seven, and we answer thus. After the Lord's question, "Where is Abel your brother?" (which the loving Master put not because he wished to learn, but to give him an occasion for repentance, as the words themselves show; for when he denied, he quickly convicts him, saying, "The voice of your brother's blood cries to me"; so that "Where is Abel your brother?" gave Cain an occasion to become aware of his sin, and did not serve to instruct God. For if he had not received a visitation from God, he would have had an excuse as one abandoned, having received no occasion for repentance. But now the physician appeared to him, so that the sick man might take refuge in him. But he not only does not hide the wound, but works another besides, adding the lie to the murder: "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"), from this point count the punishments. "Cursed is the ground because of you": one punishment. "You shall till the ground": this is the second. For a certain unspeakable necessity was yoked to him, urging him on to the work of the soil, so that he could not rest even if he wished, but must always toil at the ground that was his enemy, which he had made cursed for himself by defiling it with a brother's blood. "You shall till the ground," then: a terrible punishment, to live with those who hate you, to have an enemy as a housemate, a foe without respite. "You shall till the ground": that is, strained by the labors of husbandry you will not slacken at any time, released from your toils neither by night nor by day, but having that unspeakable necessity, harsher than a cruel master, rousing you to your work. "And it shall not again yield its strength." And yet, even if the ceaselessness of the work had some fruit, the toil itself would be no small torment to one always strained and laboring. But since the work was ceaseless and the drudgery on the land fruitless (for it did not yield its strength), this is the third punishment: the fruitlessness of his toils. "Groaning and trembling you shall be on the earth." He added two to the other three: continual groaning, and trembling of the body, since the limbs no longer had the support that comes from strength. For since he had used the power of his body wickedly, its vigor was taken from him, so that he tottered and shook, unable easily to bring bread to his mouth or to raise a drink to it; the wicked hand, after its unholy deed, no longer being permitted to serve even the body's own necessary needs. Another punishment Cain himself revealed, saying: "If you drive me out now from the earth, and I shall be hidden from your face." What is "If you drive me out from the earth"? That is: if you separate me from the benefit that comes from it. For he was not moved to another place, but was estranged from the good things that come from it. "And I shall be hidden from your face": to those who are wise the heaviest punishment is separation from God. "And it will be," he says, "that everyone who finds me will kill me." He infers this from what has gone before: if I have been driven out from the earth, if I shall be hidden from your face, it remains for me to be killed by everyone. What then does the Lord say? "Not so." But he set a sign on him. This is the seventh punishment: that the punishment should not even be hidden, but proclaimed to all by a clear sign, that this is the author of unholy deeds. For to one who reasons rightly the heaviest of punishments is … 5. A related question follows this: what Lamech said to his wives: "I have killed a man to my wounding, and a young man to my bruising; for if vengeance has been taken seven times for Cain, for Lamech it will be seventy times seven." And some think that Cain was killed by Lamech, as though he had lasted until that generation, so as to pay a heavier penalty. But this is not true. For he appears to have committed two murders, of which he himself tells: "I have killed a man and a young man": the man to my wounding, and the young man to my bruising. A wound is one thing and a bruise another; and a man is one thing and a young man another. "For if vengeance has been taken seven times for Cain, for Lamech it will be seventy times seven": I am liable to undergo four hundred and ninety punishments, if indeed God's judgment on Cain was just, that he should pay seven punishments. For as he did not learn murder from another, so he did not see a murderer undergoing punishment; but I, having before my eyes the man groaning and trembling, and the greatness of God's wrath, was not brought to sobriety by the example. Hence I deserve to pay four hundred and ninety punishments. But some have been led to an interpretation of this kind, not out of tune with the Church's doctrine: that from Cain to the flood seven generations passed, and the punishment was brought on the whole earth because sin had spread so widely. But the sin of Lamech needs not a flood for its healing, but him who takes away the sin of the world himself. Count, then, the generations from Adam to the coming of Christ, and you will find, according to Luke's genealogy, that the Lord was born in the seventy-seventh succession. These things, then, have been examined as far as we could, many other points that might be examined being passed over, so as not to carry the discussion beyond the measure of a letter; and even brief seeds are enough for your understanding. For "give an occasion to the wise," it says, "and he will be wiser"; and, "a wise man, when he receives a word, will praise it, and will add to it." 6. The words of Simeon to Mary have nothing varied or deep. "Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against. And a sword will pierce through your own soul too, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." In this I wondered how you passed over the preceding words as clear and asked about this one alone: "And a sword will pierce through your own soul too." And yet to me it seems no less difficult how the same one is set for falling and rising; and what the sign is that is spoken against; and third, how the sword will pierce Mary's soul. 7. I think, then, that the Lord is for falling and rising not in the sense that some fall and others rise, but that the worse in us falls down and the better rises up. For the manifestation of the Lord destroys the bodily passions and rouses the properties of the soul. As when Paul says, "When I am weak, then I am strong": the same man is both weak and strong; but he is weak in the flesh and strong in the spirit. So too the Lord does not give some occasion to fall and others occasion to rise. For those who fall fall from the standing in which they once were. And it is clear that the unbeliever never stands, being always dragged along the ground with the serpent he follows. He has nothing from which to fall, having been cast down beforehand by unbelief. So the first benefit is that he who stands in sin should fall and die, and then live to righteousness and rise, faith in Christ granting us both. Let the worse fall, so that the better may have opportunity to rise. Unless fornication falls, chastity does not rise; unless unreason is crushed, the rational part in us will not flourish. So, then, "for the fall and rising of many." 8. "And for a sign that is spoken against." We know that in Scripture the cross is properly called a "sign." For "Moses," it says, "set the serpent on a sign," that is, on a cross. Or a sign is something that indicates some strange and hidden thing, seen by the simpler, but understood by those keen of mind. Since, then, people do not cease to quarrel about the Lord's becoming man, some declaring that he assumed a body, others that his coming was bodiless; some that he had a body capable of suffering, others that he fulfilled the dispensation through the body by some kind of appearance; and others that his body was earthly, others heavenly; and some that he existed before the ages, others that he had his beginning from Mary: for this reason, "for a sign that is spoken against." 9. By "sword" he means the testing word, which judges the thoughts, which pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts. Since, then, every soul at the time of the passion was subjected, as it were, to a kind of wavering, according to the word of the Lord, who said, "You will all be made to stumble because of me," Simeon prophesies about Mary herself too, that, standing by the cross, seeing what was done, and hearing the words, after the testimony of Gabriel, after the secret knowledge of the divine conception, after the great display of miracles, there will be, he says, some disturbance about your soul too. For the Lord had to taste death for everyone, and, becoming a propitiation for the world, to justify all by his blood. Some wavering, then, will touch you too, who have been taught from above the things about the Lord. This is the sword. "So that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed": he hints that after the stumbling that took place at the cross of Christ, a swift healing from the Lord will follow for the disciples and for Mary herself, confirming their hearts in faith in him. For so we saw Peter too, after he had stumbled, holding more firmly to faith in Christ. So what was human was shown to be weak, so that the strength of the Lord might be displayed.

To those in Sozopolis. 1. I have read the letter that you sent, most honored brothers, about your affairs. And that you have taken us as partners in your cares, in seeing to what is necessary for you and worthy of zeal, we gave thanks to the Lord. But we groaned on hearing that, besides the disturbance brought upon the Churches by the Arians and the confusion they have caused in the teaching of the faith, still another novelty of language has appeared among you, throwing the brotherhood into great distress, as you wrote to us, since men are introducing things new and unfamiliar to the ears of the faithful, as though from the teaching of the Scriptures. For you wrote that there are some among you who undo the saving dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ, so far as in them lies, and set at nought the grace of the great mystery, which was kept silent from the ages but manifested in its own times, when the Lord, having gone through everything that pertains to the care of the human race, granted us, on top of all, his own coming. For he benefited his creature, first through patriarchs, whose lives were set forth as examples and rules for those who wish to follow in the footsteps of the saints and, with a zeal like theirs, to reach the perfection of good works; then he gave the law as a help, ordaining it through angels by the hand of Moses; then prophets, foretelling the salvation that was to come; judges, kings, righteous men, doing mighty works with a hidden hand. After all these, in the last days he himself was manifested in the flesh, "born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." 2. If, then, the Lord's coming in the flesh did not take place, the Redeemer did not pay death the price on our behalf, nor did he of himself break death's reign. For if what was reigned over by death was one thing, and what was assumed by the Lord another, death would not have ceased doing its own work, nor would the sufferings of the God-bearing flesh have become our gain; he would not have killed sin in the flesh; we who died in Adam would not have been made alive in Christ; what had fallen to pieces would not have been refashioned; what had been broken down would not have been set upright; what had been estranged through the deceit of the serpent would not have been brought back into kinship with God. For all these things are done away with by those who say that the Lord came having a heavenly body. And what need was there of the holy Virgin, if the God-bearing flesh was not to be taken from the lump of Adam? But who is so daring as to renew now again, by sophistical words and supposed testimony from the Scriptures, the doctrine of Valentinus, long since silenced? For this impiety of the "appearance" is not new, but began long ago with the vain-minded Valentinus, who, tearing off a few phrases of the Apostle, constructed for himself his impious fiction, saying that he took "the form of a servant," and not the servant himself, and that the Lord came to be "in fashion," but that the man himself was not assumed by him. These men, whom one ought to lament, who are bringing these innovating disturbances upon you, seem to utter things akin to these. 3. And to say that the human sufferings passed over to the Godhead itself is the part of men who in no way keep consistency in their thinking, and who do not know that the sufferings of flesh are one thing, those of flesh endowed with a soul another, and those of a soul using a body another. It is proper to flesh to be cut, diminished, and dissolved; and again it is proper to flesh endowed with a soul to be wearied, to feel pain, to hunger, to thirst, to be overcome by sleep; and to a soul using a body belong griefs, distress, anxieties, and the like. Of these, some are natural and necessary to the living creature, while others are brought in by an evil choice, through an undisciplined life untrained for virtue. Hence it is clear that the Lord accepted the natural sufferings to confirm his true, and not imaginary, becoming man; but the sufferings that come from vice, all that stain the purity of our life, he rejected as unworthy of the undefiled Godhead. For this reason he is said to have come "in the likeness of sinful flesh": not in the likeness of flesh, as these men think, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. So he took our flesh with its natural sufferings, but "did no sin." But as the death in the flesh, passed on to us through Adam, was swallowed up by the Godhead, so too sin was consumed by the righteousness that is in Christ Jesus; so that in the resurrection we receive back the flesh neither liable to death nor subject to sin. These, brothers, are the mysteries of the Church; these are the traditions of the Fathers. We solemnly charge every man who fears the Lord and awaits the judgment of God not to be carried away by various teachings. If anyone teaches otherwise, and does not agree with the sound words of the faith, but, thrusting aside the oracles of the Spirit, makes his own teaching weightier than the teachings of the Gospel, guard yourselves against such a man. May the Lord grant that we may one day come together with one another, so that whatever has escaped our words we may fill up by meeting face to face. For we have written you a few things out of many, not wishing to go beyond the measure of a letter, and at the same time persuaded that for those who fear the Lord even a reminder in a few words is enough. [Letter 262] To Urbicius the monk. 1. You did well to write to us; for you showed no small fruit of your love; and do it constantly. But do not think that you need to excuse yourself when you write to us. For we know ourselves, and we know that every man by nature has equality of honor with all; and distinctions among us are not according to family, nor wealth, nor the build of the body, but according to the pre-eminence of the fear of God. So what prevents you, if you fear the Master more, from being greater than we are in this very respect? So write to us constantly, and let us know how the brotherhood around you is, and which of those of the Church among you are sound, so that we may know to whom we ought to write and on whom to rely. But since I hear that there are some who falsify the straight doctrine of the Lord's becoming man with perverted notions, I urge them through your love to keep away from that strange notion, which some are reported to us to hold: that God himself was turned into flesh, and did not take from holy Mary the lump of Adam, but was himself, in his own Godhead, changed into material nature. 2. This absurdity is very easy to refute. But since the blasphemy is self-evident, I think that for one who fears the Lord a mere reminder is enough. For if he was turned, he was also changed. But far be it from us to say or think this, since God said, "I am, and I do not change." Then, how did the benefit of the becoming man pass to us, unless our body, joined to the Godhead, became stronger than the dominion of death? For he did not, by being turned, give substance to a body of his own, one that came into existence when the divine nature was thickened into it. And how was the uncircumscribed Godhead circumscribed in the bulk of a small body, if the whole nature of the Only-begotten was turned? But I do not think that anyone who has sense and possesses the fear of God suffers from this sickness. But since the report has come to me that some of those with your love are in this weakness of thought, I thought it necessary not to make a mere greeting, but that our letter should have something that can also build up the souls of those who fear the Lord. So we urge that these things receive the Church's correction, and that you keep away from communion with the heretics, knowing that indifference in these matters takes away our freedom of speech before Christ.