Homilies on 1 Timothy 8.1–9.2

“I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women ….”

“When you pray,” says Christ, “you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and he will reward you openly.” What then does Paul say? “I desire that the men pray in every place, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.” But this is not opposed to that, God forbid; it is in full harmony with it. How and in what way? First we must say what “Go into your inner room” means, and why he commands this: whether one must pray in every place, and whether one must not pray in church, or in any other part of the house, but only in the inner room. What then does it mean? Christ is here teaching freedom from vainglory: he says not simply “secretly,” but “make your prayers hidden.” Just as when he says, “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” he is not simply speaking about hands but is setting forth the utmost flight from vainglory, so here too he hints at this. He did not, then, confine prayer to a place, but commanded one thing only: freedom from vainglory.

Paul says these things in contrast to Jewish prayer. See what he says: “in every place, lifting holy hands,” which was not lawful for the Jews. They were not permitted to approach God, to sacrifice and perform their worship, anywhere else; those who flocked together from every part of the world had to perform all their sacred rites in one place, in the temple. Against this he brings in his exhortation. Having freed them from that compulsion, our affairs, he says, are not like those of the Jews. Just as he commands that prayers be made for all (for Christ too died for all, and “for all,” he says, “I preach these things”), so it is good to pray everywhere; the care, then, must be not about the place but about the manner of prayer. Pray everywhere, he says, but everywhere lift holy hands: this is what is required. What does “holy” mean? Pure. And what does “pure” mean? Not washed with water, but pure of greed, murders, robbery, and blows.

“Without anger and quarreling.” What does this mean? Who is angry while praying? That is, without bearing grudges. Let the mind of the one who prays be pure, freed from every passion; let no one approach God with enmity, no one with resentment and doubting. What does “without doubting” mean? [Without asking whether] we shall be heard. So one must not doubt at all that we shall be heard. “For whatever you ask,” he says, “believing …; forgive, if you have anything against anyone.” This is “without anger and doubting.” And how, someone says, shall I be able to believe that I shall obtain what I ask? If you ask nothing contrary to what he is ready to give; if nothing unworthy of the King, nothing worldly, if everything is spiritual; if you approach without anger, with pure hands, with holy hands (and holy hands are those that give alms). If you approach so, you will certainly obtain what you ask. “For if you,” he says, “who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father who is in heaven?” By “doubting” (dialogismos) he means hesitation.

“Likewise also the women.” I want them too, he says, to approach God without anger, without doubting, to have holy hands, not to follow their own desires, not to rob, not to be greedy. For what does it matter if she does not rob herself but does it through her husband? But from women Paul asks something more. What is that? “With modesty and self-control,” he says, “to adorn themselves in respectable apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls, but with good works.” What does he mean by “apparel” (katastolē)? That is, the garment wrapped well about on all sides, decently, not elaborately; for that is decent, and this indecent. What do you say? You come to beseech God, and you are hung about with gold and braids? Did you come to dance? To share in a wedding? Did you come to a procession? There gold, braids, and costly garments have their occasion; now none of these is needed. You came to entreat, to beg pardon for sins, to intercede for your offenses, to appease him. Why do you adorn yourself? These are not the trappings of a suppliant. How can you groan? How can you weep? How can you pray earnestly, wearing such attire? Even if you weep, the tears will be laughable to those who see you; a weeping woman ought not to wear gold. Otherwise it is a stage and a pretense. For how is it not a stage, when tears are shed from the very mind that gave birth to such extravagance and ambition? Strip off all that pretense: God is not mocked. These things belong to the mimes and dancers who spend their days on the stage; nothing of this befits a decent woman. “With modesty,” he says, “and self-control.”

Do not, then, imitate the courtesans; for by this kind of attire they draw many lovers. From this many women have often fallen under evil suspicion and gained nothing from their adornment, and by that reputation they have harmed many. Just as a woman who has committed sexual immorality gains nothing from a reputation for chastity, even if she has it, since the one who judges secret things will then bring everything into the open, so neither does a chaste woman gain anything from her chastity if by her attire she contrives to earn a reputation for adultery; for many have been harmed by such a reputation. What am I to do, she says, if someone else suspects me? You give the occasion by your attire, your glance, your movements. That is why Paul has much to say about dress and much about modesty. And if he removed these things, which are only signs of wealth (gold, pearls, costly garments), how much more what belongs to elaborate artifice, such as cosmetics, eye paint, an affected voice, a languishing eye full of all sexual immorality! He hinted at all these by saying “in respectable apparel” and “with modesty”; for these belong to shamelessness and indecency.

Bear with me, I beg you. The discourse brings its reproof more nakedly, not to wound or to grieve, but to remove everything foreign to the flock. … If he forbids these things to married women, to those living in luxury, to the wealthy, much more to those who have embraced virginity. And what virgin, someone says, puts on gold? What virgin wears braids? [I say that] such things are nothing compared with the rest. For it is possible to beautify oneself with cheap garments more than those who wear gold. When the tunic is a deep blue, drawn in by the girdle with great precision about the breast, like those of the dancers on the stage, so as to be neither too loose nor too tight but between the two, and has many folds about the breast, is this not enough to entice more than many silks? And what of when the shoe, very black, gleams through, tapering to a point and imitating the elegance of paintings, so that the instep hardly shows? And what of when you do not beautify your face with cosmetics, but wash it with great care and leisure, and stretch across the forehead a veil much whiter than the face, then put the mantle on top, so that the black may set off the white? What might one say of the countless turnings of the eyes? Of the band, now hidden, now bared, in tying the breast-wrap? For they often bare this too, so that the precision of the girdle may show, while the whole mantle is drawn about the head. And the hands, like tragic actors, they arrange with such precision …. What might one say of the gait and the other contrivances, able more than any gold to capture those who look?

Let us fear, beloved, lest we too hear what the prophet said to the women of the Hebrews who busied themselves with outward adornment: “Instead of a girdle you will be girded with a rope, and instead of the adornment of your head you will have baldness.” So these things are more alluring than gold, since many other things too are contrived for this purpose, to be seen and to take captive those who look. The sin is not small but very great, enough to provoke God, enough to ruin all the labor of virginity.

You have Christ as your bridegroom; why do you draw human lovers? He will then judge you for adultery. Why do you not adorn yourself with the adornment that pleases him, that is dear to him: modesty, self-control, decency, chaste apparel? This other is harlot-like and shameful. We can no longer tell harlots from virgins. See into what indecency they have brought themselves. A virgin should be without artifice, dressed simply and without care; but she contrives countless things for the arrangement that is seen. Stop this madness, woman; transfer such zeal to the soul, to inward beauty. This adornment worn outside does not let the inner one become beautiful. One who is busied with this despises what is within; just as one who despises this shows all zeal for what is within.

Do not say to me: Alas, I wear a worn-out garment, a cheap shoe, a worthless veil; what adornment is this? Do not deceive yourself. It is possible, as I said, to beautify oneself more through these than through those, especially through worn garments, more than through garments well suited to a shameless appearance and gleaming brightly. You say these things to me; but what will you say to God, who knows the mind with which you do them? You do not do it in order to commit sexual immorality? What then? To be admired? And are you not ashamed, do you not blush at wanting to be admired for such things? But I wear them simply, she says, not for that purpose. God knows what you are saying to us. Are you giving account to me? Give it to him who is present at what is done and will then examine these things, to him to whom all things are naked and laid bare. That is why we say these things now, so as not to make you liable to that accounting. Let us fear lest he reproach you too with what he said through the prophet to the women of the Jews: “… to be seen by me, mincing and playing with their feet.”

You have undertaken a great contest, where training is needed, not beautification; one must box, not be soft. Do you not see the boxers? Do they care about appearance? Not at all; leaving all this aside, with a garment soaked in oil they look to one thing only, to strike and not be struck; [the devil] stands by, wishing to bring you down from every side; and do you remain busied with this satanic adornment? I do not want to say anything about the voice, how many cultivate this too, nor about perfumes and the rest of the softness. Because of these things the women of the world laugh at us. The dignity of virginity has perished; no one honors a virgin as one should, for they have made themselves dishonored. Should they not be looked upon in the church of God as if they had come from heaven? Now they are despised because of themselves, not because of the sensible ones. When a woman who has a husband and children and manages a household sees you, who ought to be crucified to the world, pursuing this adornment more than she does, how will she not laugh, how will she not despise you? Do you see how great the zeal, how great the study? Through cheapness you outdo the woman adorned with costly things, making yourself more beautiful than the one wearing gold. What befits you, you do not seek; what does not befit you, that you pursue, when you ought to pursue good works. That is why virgins are less honored than women in the world: they do not show works worthy of virginity.

We have said these things not to all, or rather to all: to those who are guilty, that they may be brought to their senses … But see to it that the rebuke does not have to come to action. We did not speak in order to grieve you, but to correct you, so that we may boast of you. May we all do what pleases God and live for his glory, so as to obtain the promised good things, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Let a woman learn in quietness with all submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and fell into transgression. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.”

Blessed Paul requires great modesty from women, great decency. That is why he goes not only as far as their bearing and dress, but even as far as their voice. And what does he say? “Let a woman learn in quietness.” What does this mean? Let a woman not even speak in church, he says; as he also said when writing the letter to the Corinthians: “For it is shameful for women to speak in church.” Why? Because the law, he says, has placed them in subjection. And again elsewhere: “If they wish to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home.” In those days women kept silent under such teaching; but now there is great noise among them, much shouting, much chatter, nowhere else so much as here. One might see them all talking here more than in the marketplace or the baths, as if they came for this very purpose, that all of them might have some recreation. That is why everything has been turned upside down; and they do not consider that it is impossible to learn anything useful except by keeping quiet. When the discourse presses on with its argument and no one attends to what is said, what is the use? A woman must be so silent, he says, as to speak in church not only about worldly matters but not even about spiritual ones. This is adornment, this is modesty; this will adorn her more than garments. If she wraps herself in this, she will be able to make her prayers with great decorum.

“I do not permit a woman to teach.” “I do not permit,” he says. What is the connection here? A close one. He was discussing quietness, decency, and modesty; he had said, I do not want them to speak. Wishing, then, to cut off from every side their occasion for talking, he says, let them not teach either, but keep the rank of learners; for so by their silence they will also show their submission. The sex is somewhat talkative; that is why he restrains them on every side. “For Adam,” he says, “was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and fell into transgression.” What have these things to do with the present? Much, he says: the male sex enjoyed the greater honor, for it was formed first. Elsewhere he shows its superiority as well, saying, “For man was not created for woman, but woman for man.” Why does he say this? Because he wishes on many grounds that the man should have the first place. First, he says, let him have precedence on these grounds; second, on the grounds of what has already happened. She taught the man once, and overturned everything, and made him liable to the charge of disobedience. That is why God subjected her, since she used her rule, or rather her equality of honor, badly. “Your turning shall be to your husband,” he says. Before this it had not been said.

How was Adam not deceived? Then did he not disobey, if he was not deceived? Pay close attention. The woman says, “The serpent deceived me”; but Adam does not say, “The woman deceived me,” but “She gave me, and I ate.” It is not the same thing to be led astray by one of one’s own race and kin and to be led astray by a beast, a slave, a subject; the latter is deception in the proper sense. So it is in comparison with the woman that he says Adam was not deceived, because she was deceived by the slave and subject, he by a free woman. Again, it is not said of Adam that he saw “that the tree was good for food,” but of the woman, and that she ate and gave also to her husband; so he transgressed not because he was overcome by desire, but simply because he was persuaded by the woman. The woman taught once and overturned everything; that is why he says, Let her not teach. What has this to do with the rest of women, if she suffered this? Very much; for the sex is weak and light-minded. Besides, here he is speaking of the whole nature; for he did not say, “Eve was deceived,” but “the woman,” which is the name of the common sex rather than of her. What then? Did the whole nature fall into transgression through her? Just as he says of Adam, “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a type of the one who was to come,” so here too the female sex transgressed, not the male.

What then? Has it no salvation? Yes, he says. What is that? Salvation through children; for he was not speaking about Eve when he said, “if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.” What faith? What love? What holiness with self-control? As if he said: Do not be downcast, women, because your sex has been reproached. God has given you another occasion of salvation too, the bringing up of children, so that you may be saved not only through yourselves but also through others. See how many questions arise at this one point. “The woman was deceived,” he says, “and fell into transgression.” Who? Eve. Will she, then, be saved through childbearing? He does not say this, but that the female nature will be saved. Did not the female nature fall into transgression? Yes, it did; but Eve transgressed, and the female sex will be saved through childbearing. And why not through its own virtue too? Did Eve shut this way out for the other women? What then of virgins? What of the barren? What of widows who lost their husbands before bearing children? Have they perished? Have they no hope? And yet it is the virgins who are most highly esteemed. What, then, does he mean?

Some say that just as Paul subjected the whole sex from its formation because of what concerned the first woman (since Eve was formed second and was subjected, let the rest of the sex be subject too, he says), so also, since she transgressed, the rest of the sex too has fallen into transgression. But this does not make sense: in the one case the whole came from God’s gift, in the other from the woman’s sin. What he says, then, is this: just as all human beings died through one, since the one sinned, so the whole female sex transgressed, since the woman fell into transgression. Let her not grieve, then: God has given her no small consolation, the bearing of children. But this, someone says, belongs to nature. That other belongs to nature too; for not only what belongs to nature, but also … “in faith,” he says, “and love and holiness with self-control”; that is, if after bearing them they keep them in love and purity. In this they will have no small reward, but a very great one, because they have reared athletes for Christ. By “holiness” he means an upright life, by “self-control” decency.

“The saying is trustworthy.” This is said about the preceding, not about “If anyone aspires to the office of oversight.” Since the preceding was doubted, he says, “The saying is trustworthy,” that fathers will be able to enjoy the fruit of their children’s virtue, and mothers too, when they have brought them up well. What then, if a mother is herself wicked and full of countless evils? Will she be helped by bringing up children? Is it not more likely that she will rear them to be like herself? He says these things about the virtuous woman, not about any woman at all: that she will receive a great reward and recompense for this too. Hear these things, fathers and mothers: the rearing of children will not be without reward for you. That is why he says further on, “well attested for good works, if she has brought up children”; he sets this down along with the rest. It is no small thing to dedicate to God the children given by God. If parents lay the foundation and the groundwork well, they will have a great reward; just as, if they neglect it, they will have punishment. Eli too perished because of his own children; for he ought to have admonished them. He did admonish them, but not as he ought; unwilling to grieve them, he destroyed both them and himself as well.

Hear these things, fathers: bring up your children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord with great attention. Youth is wild, needing many overseers, teachers, tutors, attendants, and nurses; it is much if after all these it is held in check. Like an untamed horse, like a savage beast, such is youth. If, then, from the beginning and from the earliest age we set good boundaries for it, we shall not need much labor afterward; habit will be a law for them from then on. Let us not let them do anything pleasant and harmful, nor indulge them as children; above all let us keep them in self-control, for this more than anything ruins youth. For this we need many struggles and much attention. Let us bring them wives early, so that their bodies may receive the bride pure and untouched. Such love is warmer. One who is self-controlled before marriage is much more so after marriage; but one who has learned to commit sexual immorality before marriage will do the same after marriage. “For to a fornicator,” it says, “all bread is sweet.” That is why crowns are placed on their heads, a symbol of victory, because they come to the marriage bed unconquered, because they were not overcome by pleasure. But if, captured by pleasure, a young man has given himself up to harlots, why does he have a crown on his head afterward, when he has been defeated? Let us urge these things on them, …

We have our children as a great deposit. Let us care for them, then, and do everything so that the evil one may not snatch them from us. But now we do everything the opposite way. That the estate may be good we do everything, and that we may entrust it to a faithful man; we look for … a muleteer, a mule-keeper, a steward, and a most loyal accountant; but what is more precious to us than all, how we may entrust our son to someone able to preserve his self-control, we do not consider. And yet this is the most precious possession of all, and those other things exist for its sake. We care for their possessions, but no longer for them. Do you see the folly? Train your child’s soul, and the rest will follow. If the soul is not good, he has no benefit from money; if it is set right, he has no harm from poverty. Do you want to leave him rich? Teach him to be good. So he will be able to gather possessions, and if he does not acquire them, he will be no worse off than those who have them. But if he is wicked, even if you leave him countless things, you have left him no guardian, and have made him worse off than those who have come to the extreme of poverty. For children who have not been well trained, poverty is better than wealth: poverty keeps them in virtue even against their will, while wealth does not let them be self-controlled even if they wish, but leads them astray, overturns them, and throws them into countless terrible things.

Mothers, take charge of your daughters especially; this guarding is easy for you. Watch that they keep at home; above all teach them to be devout, … decent, to despise money, to remain unadorned. So give them in marriage. If you shape them so, you will save not only them but also the husband who is going to marry her; not only the husband, but also the children; not only the children, but also the grandchildren. When the root is good, the branches will spread out for the better, and you will receive the reward for all of them. Let us do everything, then, as people benefiting not one soul but many through one. A daughter must go out from her father’s house to marriage like an athlete from the wrestling school, having the whole skill exactly, like leaven that is to change the whole lump into its own excellence. And let the sons too be so modest as to be known rather by their decency and self-control, so that they may have much praise from men and from God. Let them learn to master the belly, to keep from extravagance, to be good managers, affectionate; let them learn to obey. So they will be able to procure a great reward for their parents; so all things will be for the glory of God and our salvation, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.