Homilies on 2 Thessalonians

[Argument] Having said in the first letter, “We pray night and day to see you,” and “We could not bear it, but were left alone at Athens,” and “I sent Timothy,” by all these he shows the longing he had to come to them. Since then he perhaps had not managed to go and to supply what was lacking in their faith, for this reason he adds the second letter, filling up by writing what was left wanting from his absence. That he did not go one can infer from this; for writing he says, “Now we ask you, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” For in the first letter too he said, “Concerning the times and the seasons you have no need to have anything written to you.” So if he had come, he would have had no need to write; but since the question was put off, for this reason he adds this letter, as he says also in the letter to Timothy, “[They] upset [the faith of some, saying that the resurrection has already happened].” And they did this so that the faithful, no longer hoping for anything great or splendid, might give up in their toils. For since hope sustained them and did not let them give way to their present troubles, the devil, wishing to cut away this as it were an anchor, since he could not persuade them that the things to come were false, came by another road, and setting up certain corrupt men, tried to deceive those who listened to them into thinking that those great and splendid things had come to an end. At that time they said that the resurrection had already happened; but now they said that the judgment and the coming of Christ were at hand, so as to make Christ himself liable to the charge of falsehood, and, persuading them that there is no longer any requital, nor judgment seat, nor punishment and penalty for those who have done evil, to make those men bolder and these more downcast. And what was worst of all, some tried simply to report sayings as spoken by Paul, and others even to forge letters as written by him. Therefore, walling off every approach from them, he says, “Not to be troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us.” “Neither by spirit,” he says, hinting at the false prophets. “How then shall we know?” someone says. By the addition; for this is why he added, “The greeting with my own hand, Paul’s, which is a sign in every letter; this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” He does not say that this is the sign (for others could probably imitate this), but that I write the greeting with my own hand; as is the case with us now too; for from the signature the letters of the senders become known. And he exhorts them, who were deeply pickled in evils, both praising them for the present and from the future; and urging them on by the punishment and the requital of the good things prepared for them, he goes through the subject more clearly, not revealing the time itself, but making plain the sign of the time, the Antichrist. For a weak soul is most fully assured, not if it simply hears, but if it learns something more. And Christ too takes great care about this, when, sitting on the mountain, he discussed everything about the consummation with the disciples in detail. Why? So that those who bring in antichrists and false christs might have no room. And he himself sets down many signs: one, and the greatest, saying, when the gospel has been preached to all the nations; another, so as not to be deceived about his coming: “Like lightning,” he says, “he will come,” not hidden in some corner, but shining everywhere; it needs no one to announce it, so bright is it, just as lightning needs no one to announce it. And somewhere he spoke about the Antichrist too, when he said, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you did not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” And he said that the successive and unspeakable calamities were a proof of this; and that Elijah must come. The Thessalonians, then, were perplexed about these things at that time, but their perplexity has become useful to us; for these things are useful not only to them but to us too, so that we may be rid of childish myths and old wives’ nonsense. Or have you not often heard, when you were children, some saying many things about the name of the Antichrist, and about his bending his knees? For the devil sows these things in our minds while they are still tender, so that the teaching may grow up with us, so that he may be able to deceive us. Paul, then, would not have passed these things over when speaking about the Antichrist, if they had been useful. Let us not then seek these things. For he will not come bending his knees, but “exalting himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God as God, proclaiming himself to be God.” For just as the devil fell through pride, so too the one energised by him is anointed for pride. Let us all then, I beg you, be eager to be far from this passion, so that we may not fall into his condemnation, so that we may not come into the same punishment, so that we may not [incur] his penalty. “Not a recent convert,” he says, “lest, puffed up with conceit, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” So the one who is puffed up pays the same penalty as the devil. “For the beginning of pride,” it says, “is not to know the Lord”; the beginning of sin is pride, the first impulse and movement toward evil; perhaps indeed both root and foundation. For “beginning” signifies either the first impulse toward evil, or its constitution; as one might say, “the beginning of self-control is abstaining from a perverse sight,” that is, the first impulse; and if we say, “the beginning of self-control is fasting,” that is, the foundation and structure. So too pride is the beginning of sin; for every sin begins from it, and is held together by it. For that whatever good things we do, this wickedness does not let them remain and not fall away, but is as it were a root that does not let them stand unshaken, is plain from this: see how much the Pharisee did, but nothing profited him; for he did not cut out the root, but it ruined everything. From pride comes contempt of the poor, desire for money, love of rule, longing for glory; such a man is quick to avenge insult. For the proud man does not bear being insulted even by his superiors, much less by his inferiors; and the one who does not bear being insulted does not bear suffering ill either. See how pride is the beginning of sin. And how is not knowing the Lord the beginning of pride? Naturally; for the one who knows God as one ought to know him, who knows [how far] the Son of God humbled himself, is not exalted; but the one who does not know these things is exalted; for pride anoints for arrogance. For tell me, from what do these who war against the church claim to know God? Is it not from arrogance? See into what a precipice not knowing the Lord has cast them. For if God loves a contrite spirit, on the contrary he opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. No evil then is equal to pride: it makes a man a demon, insolent, a blasphemer, a perjurer; it makes him long for deaths and murders. The proud man always lives with griefs, always is indignant, always is distressed; there is nothing that can satisfy his passion; even if he sees the emperor bowing down and doing obeisance, he is not satisfied, but is inflamed the more. For just as lovers of money, the more they take, the more they need, so too the arrogant, the more honour they enjoy, the more they desire; for the passion grows in them (for it is a passion), and a passion knows no limit, but stops only when it kills the one who has it. Do you not see drunkards, that they are always thirsty? For it is a passion, not a desire of nature, but a perverted disease. Do you not see those they call ravenous, that they are always hungry? For it is a passion, as the sons of physicians say, that has already gone beyond the bounds of nature. So too the busybodies and the curious do not stop at whatever they learn; for it is a passion, and has no limit. Again, those who delight in sexual immorality do not stop either (“For to a man who is a fornicator,” it says, “all bread is sweet; he will not cease until he is swallowed up”); for it is a passion. But these are passions, yet not incurable, but having a cure, and much more than bodily ones; for if we will, we can quench them. How then is it possible to quench arrogance? By coming to know God. For if it arises from not knowing God, if we know him, all arrogance is driven away. Think of Gehenna, think of those far better than you, think of how many penalties you owe God; if you think of these things, you have quickly humbled your mind, quickly bent it. But can you not do these things? Are you weaker? Think of present things, of human nature itself, how man is nothing. When you see a dead man carried through the marketplace, orphan children following, a widow downcast, consider the nothingness of present affairs, and that they differ nothing from shadows and dreams. But you do not wish this? Think of the very rich, of those simply perishing in wars; look around at the houses of the great and famous, now brought down to the ground; think how much power they had, and now not even a memory of them remains. For every day, if you will, you find examples of these things: successions of rulers, confiscations of the rich. “Many tyrants have sat on the ground, and one never suspected has worn a diadem.” Do these things not happen every day? Are not our affairs like a wheel? Read, if you will, both our own writings and those of outsiders (for those too are full of these examples), if you despise ours out of arrogance; if you admire the writings of the philosophers, go to them; they will teach you, narrating ancient calamities, and the poets, and the orators, and the sophists, and all the historians. From every side you find examples, if you will. And if you wish none of these, consider our very nature, from what it is composed and where it ends; consider, when you sleep, of what worth you are: will not even a small creature be able to kill you? For to many something from the roof or some other danger has often been the cause [of death]. And what? Are you not less than all the beasts? But what do you say? That you are master by reason? But see, you do not have reason; for pride is a proof of irrationality. And in what are you proud, tell me? In bodily vigour at all? But the prizes for that are among the irrational animals. This is found among robbers and murderers and grave robbers too. In intelligence, then? But it is not the mark of intelligence to be proud; by this first of all you deprive yourself of becoming intelligent. Let us humble our minds, let us become moderate and lowly and gentle; for Christ blessed such above all, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”; and again he cried, saying, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.” Therefore he washed the feet of the disciples, giving us an example of humility. Let us be eager to gain from all these things, so that we may be able to obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and loving-kindness … [Homily 2] “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Most men do and contrive everything to obtain some favour with rulers and with those greater than themselves, and they count this a great thing, and think themselves blessed if they obtain what they are eager for. And if obtaining favour with men is so great a thing, how great would it be to find favour with God? Therefore he always puts this at the head of his letter, and prays for this, knowing that if this is present, nothing grievous will remain, but whatever is difficult will all be resolved. And so that you may learn: Joseph was a slave, young, inexperienced, unsophisticated, and was suddenly entrusted with the management of a household, and gave account to an Egyptian man. And you know how hot-tempered and unforgiving that nation is; and when rule and authority are added, the anger is greater, lifted up by the authority. And this is plain from what he did afterwards. For when his mistress accused Joseph, he put up with it; and yet using force is not the mark of those who hold the garments, but of the one who has been stripped of them. For he ought to have said: if you raised your voice, he would have fled; and if he had been conscious of guilt, he would not have waited for his master’s arrival. But nevertheless he considered nothing of the kind, but irrationally gave everything over to his anger and threw him into prison; so unreasoning a man was he. And yet it was possible to infer the young man’s goodwill and good sense from other things too; but nevertheless, since he was very irrational, he considered nothing of the kind. The one, then, who had such a wicked master, and was entrusted with the service of a whole household, and was a stranger, alone and inexperienced, since God had poured much favour upon him, passed through everything as if the trials were nothing: his mistress’s false accusation, the danger of death, the prison; and finally he came to the royal throne. This blessed man, then, saw how great is God’s favour; and therefore he prays it for them. And he arranges something else too; for, wishing to make them well disposed toward what comes later in the letter, so that, even if he rebukes, even if he reproves, they may not leap away, he therefore reminds them before everything of the grace of God, smoothing their hearts, so that, even if there is affliction, remembering the grace by which they were saved from greater things, they may not despair in lesser ones, but may have comfort from it; as writing elsewhere too he said, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” “Grace to you,” he says, “and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is fitting.” See the excess of humility: by saying “we ought to give thanks,” he gives them to reason and consider that if others, for your good deeds, do not admire you first but God, much more do we. And besides, he lifts up their spirits too, because they suffer things deserving not tears or laments, but thanksgiving to God. And if Paul gives thanks for others’ good things, what will those suffer who not only do not give thanks, but even waste away with envy? “Because your faith grows abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another increases.” “And how is it possible for faith to grow?” someone says. How? When we suffer something terrible for it. It is a great thing to be established and not be carried away by reasonings; but when winds beat against us, when rains burst down, when a grievous storm rises on every side, when the waves come one upon another, and then we are not shaken, it is a proof of nothing else than of its having grown, and grown abundantly, and become higher. For just as in the flood all the stony and low places were quickly hidden, but whatever was above did not reach them; so too faith that has become lofty is no longer dragged down. Therefore he did not say “grows,” but “your faith grows abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another increases.” Do you see that this too contributes toward afflictions, to be fenced together, to hold to one another? From this too came great encouragement. Afflictions shake weak love and faith, but make the strong stronger. For the soul in pain, when it is weak, would add nothing; but the strong one adds most of all then. And see the love: they did not love one and not another, but it was equal from all; for he hinted at this by saying, “of every one of you for one another,” that it is equally balanced, as of one body. For now too we find love among many, but this love becoming a cause of division. For when we are joined two and three together, and the two, or three or four, are very bound to one another, but draw themselves away from the rest, through having them to flee to and confiding everything to them, this is a division of love, not love. For tell me, if the eye were to transfer the forethought it has for the whole body to the hand, and turning away from the other members attended to it alone, would it not ruin the whole? Naturally. So we too, if we confine to one or two the love that ought to extend to the whole church of God, ruin ourselves and them and the whole. For these things are not of love, but schisms of division, and tears torn apart. For even if I tear away a part from the whole man and take it, the piece is united to itself, and is continuous and joined; but even so it is a piece torn off, since it is not united to the rest of the body. For what is the profit if you love so-and-so vehemently? The love is human; but if it is not human, but you love for God’s sake, love all; for God commanded us to love even our enemies. And if he commanded us to love our enemies, how much more those who have grieved us in nothing? “But I do love,” someone says. But not so; or rather you do not even love; for when you speak evil … “I do none of these things,” he says. But when, hearing someone spoken ill of, you do not stop the mouth of the speaker, do not disbelieve what is said, do not check it, of what friendship is this a proof? “And the love of every one of you for one another increases,” he says, “so that we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God.” In the first letter, at least, he says that all the churches of Macedonia and Achaia resounded, having learned of their faith: “So that,” he says, “we have no need to say anything; for they themselves report concerning you what kind of entrance we had to you”; but here he says, “so that we boast.” What then is the meaning of what is said? There he says that they need no teaching from you; but here he did not say that we teach them, but that we boast and take pride. If then we both give thanks to God for you and boast before men, much more ought you to do this for our good deeds. For if your good deeds are worthy of boasting for others, how are they worthy of laments for us? One cannot say so. “So that we ourselves,” he says, “boast of you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith.” Here he shows that much time has passed; steadfastness appears over much time, not in two or three days. And he does not speak simply of steadfastness; for not yet to enjoy the good things promised is itself a mark of steadfastness; but now he speaks of a greater steadfastness. What is this? That through the persecutions. That he hints at this is plain from what he adds and says: “in all your persecutions and the afflictions that you endure.” For they lived with enemies continually trying to harm them from every side, and they showed a firm and unmoved steadfastness. Let those be ashamed who change their doctrines for the patronage of men. For while the preaching was still at its beginning, poor men living by their daily work took up enmities against men in public life and the first of the city, when there was no emperor or ruler anywhere who was a believer, and [endured] war … “[This is] evidence of the righteous judgment of God.” See how he gathers comfort for them. He said, “We give thanks to God”; he said, “We boast before men.” These things are good; but what the one in pain seeks most is this: deliverance from evils, and punishment of those who treat him ill. For when the soul is weak, it seeks these things most of all; but the philosophic soul does not even seek this. What then is it that he says, “evidence of the righteous judgment of God”? He has already hinted at the requital on both sides, of those who do ill and of those who suffer it; as if he said: so that, when he crowns you and punishes them, God’s justice may be shown. At the same time he comforts them too, showing that they are crowned for their own toils and sweat and by the rule of justice. But he puts their part first. For even if one greatly desires vengeance, yet he reaches for the prizes first. Therefore he adds, saying, “so that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.” So this happens not because those who do wrong are stronger, but because one must enter the kingdom so. “For through many afflictions,” it says, “we must enter the kingdom of God.” “Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power.” “Since indeed” here stands for “since,” which we too use in matters that are thoroughly acknowledged and beyond dispute; in place of “it is entirely just.” If it is just with God, he says, to avenge himself on these, he will certainly avenge himself; as if he said: if God cares about affairs, if God takes thought. So he himself sets down this “since indeed” as about things acknowledged; as if someone said, “if God hates the wicked”; saying it so in order to force them to say that he does hate them; for such verdicts above all are indisputable; as even those men themselves know that it is just. For if this is just among men, much more with God. “To repay with affliction,” he says, “those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, with us.”

What then? Is the requital equal? By no means; but see through what follows how he shows that it is more severe, and the relief much greater. See, here is another encouragement too: he says that those who were partners in the afflictions have them as partners in the requital also (for this is “with us”), joining them in the crowns with those who had accomplished ten thousand greater things. Then he adds the time too, and through the description lifts up their minds, all but opening the heavens with his word already and setting him before their eyes, and he surrounds him with the angelic army, making the picture broader both from the place and from those with him, so that they might breathe again a little. “And relief to you who are afflicted, with us,” he says, “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If those who do not obey the gospel pay a penalty, what will those not suffer who, besides not obeying, afflict you? And see the wisdom: he did not say here “those who afflict you,” but “those who do not obey.” So that, even if not for your sake, he must, he says, punish them for his own sake. This, then, is said for full assurance, that they must certainly be punished; but the former, for their own honour. Full assurance about the punishment makes them believe; but their being pleased comes from the fact that they suffer these things for what was done to them. These things were said to them, but they fit us too. When then we are in afflictions, let us consider these things. Let us not rejoice in others’ punishment as being avenged, but as being ourselves delivered from such punishment and penalty. For what profit is it to us when others are punished? Let us not have such souls, I beg you; let us be urged to virtue by the kingdom. For the very virtuous man is led on neither by fear nor by the kingdom, but for Christ’s own sake, as Paul did. But let us think of the good things in the kingdom, the evils in Gehenna, and even so let us order and train ourselves, so let us lead ourselves to what must be done. When you see anything good and great in the present life, think of the kingdom, and you will think it nothing; when anything fearful, think of Gehenna, and you will laugh at it; when you are held by bodily desire, consider the fire, consider too the pleasure of the sin itself, that it is worth nothing, that it does not even have pleasure. For if the fear of the laws laid down here has such force as even to lead us away from wicked deeds, much more the memory of the things to come, the immortal punishment, the everlasting chastisement; if the fear of the king on earth leads us away from so many evils, how much more that of the eternal king? How then can we have the fear continually? If we continually listen to the Scriptures. For if a dead man merely seen so humbles our mind, how much more Gehenna and the unquenchable fire? How much more the undying worm? If we always consider Gehenna, we shall not quickly fall into it. For this reason God threatened punishment; since if thinking about it had no great gain, God would not have threatened it at all; but since the memory of it has power to accomplish great things, therefore he has implanted the threat of it in our souls like a saving medicine. Let us not then overlook the great gain born from it, but let us turn it over continually, at breakfasts, at dinners. For conversation about pleasant things profits the soul nothing, but makes it more slack; but conversation about grievous and gloomy things cuts away all its looseness and dissipation, and turns it back and braces it when it is relaxed. The one who talks about theatres and mimes has profited it nothing, but has inflamed it more and made it more reckless; the one who busies himself and is curious about others’ affairs has often brought dangers upon it from this curiosity. But the one who talks about Gehenna will have no danger, and makes it more self-controlled. But do you fear the burdensomeness of the words? If you keep silent, have you quenched Gehenna? If you speak, have you kindled it? Whether you speak or do not speak, the fire will boil up. Let it be spoken of continually, so that you may never fall into it. It is not possible for a soul anxious about Gehenna to sin quickly; for hear the excellent advice: “Remember,” it says, “your last things, and you will never sin.” It is not possible for a soul that fears the accounting not to be hesitant about offences; for fear flourishing in the mind lets nothing worldly be in it. For if a word raised about it so humbles and braces, will not a thought dwelling continually in our souls purify the soul more than any fire? Let us not remember the kingdom as much as Gehenna; for fear is stronger than promise; and I know that many would have despised ten thousand good things if they were released from punishment; since even now it is enough for me not to be punished, not to be chastised. None of those who have Gehenna before their eyes will fall into Gehenna; none of those who despise Gehenna will escape Gehenna. For just as among us those who fear the law courts are not the ones who most fall into them, so too there. If the Ninevites had not feared the overthrow, they would have been overthrown; but since they feared, they were not overthrown. If those in Noah’s time had feared the flood, they would not have been flooded; and the Sodomites, if they had feared, would not have been burnt up. It is a great evil to despise a threat; the one who despises a threat will quickly feel its experience in deeds. Nothing is so useful as to talk about Gehenna; it makes our souls purer than any silver. For hear the prophet saying, “Your judgments are before me always.” And Christ too continually speaks about it. For even if it grieves the hearer, it profits him greatly.

For such are all things that profit; and do not wonder; for medicines and foods too first grieve the sick man, and then bring benefit. And if we do not bear the heaviness of words, it is plain that we will not bear the affliction of deeds; if no one bears words about Gehenna, it is plain that, if persecution came upon us, no one would ever stand against fire, against iron. Let us train our hearing not to be soft; for from this we shall come to enduring fearful deeds too; but if we are so dissolute as not even to bear words, when shall we stand against deeds? Do you see how the blessed Paul despises all things here, and successive dangers? Why? Because he had practised despising even Gehenna for the sake of what pleases God. He thought even the experience of Gehenna nothing because of his longing for Christ; we do not bear even words about it for our own advantage. Now you go away having heard a little; but I ask you, if there is any love in you, to turn over the words about these things continually. They will be able to do no harm, even if they do not profit; but they will certainly profit too; for the soul too takes the form of its conversations. “Bad company,” it says, “corrupts good morals.” So good conversations profit; so fearful conversations bring us to our senses. For the soul is like a kind of wax: if you mould it to whatever you wish, [you will stamp on it] the royal image. [Let us then stop up] our ears to idle conversations; the evil is not small; from this come all evils. If our mind had practised attending to the divine words, it would not have attended to others; and not attending to others, it would not have pursued wicked deeds either. For speech is a road to deeds: first we think, then we speak, then we act. Many, often even self-controlled people, have come from shameful words to shameful deeds. For our soul is neither good nor bad by nature, but becomes the one or the other by choice. Just as the sail carries the ship wherever the wind blows, or rather as the rudder steers the ship if the wind is favourable, so too the reasoning: if good words are borne on it favourably, it will sail without danger; but if contrary ones, they will often even sink the reasoning. For what winds are to ships, words are to souls: wherever you will, you lead it and turn it. Therefore someone advises, “Let all your conversation be in the law of the Most High.” Therefore I beg you, taking children from the nurse, let us not accustom them to old wives’ tales, but from their earliest age let them learn that there is a judgment, that there is punishment; let it be fixed in their mind; this fear, rooted in, works great good things. For a soul that has learned from its earliest age to be shaken by this expectation will not quickly shake off this dread; but [it will think] and say useful things, and neither youth, nor wealth, nor orphanhood, nor anything else will be able to harm it, having its reasoning so firm and able to hold out against everything. With these words let us order ourselves, and wives and slaves and children and friends, and if possible enemies too. For with these words we can cut away most of our sins; and it is better to dwell among grievous things than pleasant ones; and this is plain from the following. Tell me, if you go into a house where a wedding is being celebrated, for the moment you are pleased by the sight, but afterwards, going away, you waste yourself with grief that you do not have as much. But if you go into a house of mourners, even if they are very rich, going away you will be more at rest; for you took no envy from there, but encouragement and comfort for your poverty. You have seen through the facts that wealth is nothing good, poverty nothing evil, but they are indifferent things. So now too, if you talk about luxury, you rather wound the soul that perhaps cannot live in luxury; but when you speak against luxury, and throw in the words about Gehenna, the thing gladdens you and will bring forth great pleasure. For when you consider that luxury will be able to protect us in nothing against that fire, you will not seek it; and if you reckon that it is rather accustomed to kindle it, not only will you not seek it, but you will turn away and repel it. Let us not then flee the words about Gehenna, so that we may flee Gehenna; let us not flee the memory of punishment, so that we may not be punished. If that rich man had thought of that fire, he would not have sinned; but since he never remembered it, therefore he fell into it. Tell me, man, when you are to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, do you speak of everything rather than this? And when you have a matter before a judge, often only about words, you speak of nothing else, not by night, not by day, not at any season, not at any hour, but always about that matter; but when you are to give account of your whole life and render an accounting, do you not bear even others reminding you about the trial? Therefore everything is lost and ruined, because, when we are to stand before a human judgment seat about worldly matters, we move everything, ask everyone, are continually anxious about it, do everything for it; but when we are to come before the judgment seat of Christ in a little while, we do nothing either ourselves or through others, we do not entreat the judge. And yet he gives us a long term, and does not snatch us away in the midst of our sins, but lets us strip them off, and that goodness and loving-kindness leaves out nothing that is his to do. But nothing more comes of it; therefore the punishment is greater. But may it not come to that. Therefore, I beg you, let us at least now come to our senses, let us have Gehenna before our eyes, let us think of those inexorable accounts; so that, considering these things, we may both flee wickedness and choose virtue, and may be able to obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and loving-kindness …

“[They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes to be glorified in his saints and to be marvelled at among all who have believed.” There are many men who have their good hopes not in abstaining from sins, but in thinking that Gehenna is not as severe as is said, but milder than what has been threatened, and temporary, not eternal; and they philosophise much about this. I for my part could show from many places, and infer from the very words about Gehenna, not only that it is not milder than what has been threatened, but that it is much more severe. But I raise no argument about these things now; for the fear from the bare words is enough, even if we do not unfold their meaning. But that it is not temporary, hear Paul now saying of those who do not know God nor believe in the gospel that they will pay the penalty, eternal destruction. How then is the eternal temporary? “From the presence,” he says, “of the Lord.” What is this? What ease does he wish to express here? For since they were then much puffed up, being rich, there is no need, he says, of much labour, but it is enough that God only comes and is seen, and all are in punishment and penalty. His coming will be light to some, but punishment to others. “And from the glory of his might,” he says, “when he comes to be glorified in his saints and to be marvelled at among all who have believed.” What do you say? Is God glorified? Yes, “in all his saints,” he says. How? For when those who are much puffed up see those who were scourged by them, despised, laughed at, near him, it becomes his glory; or rather this is the glory both of them and of him: of him, because he did not forsake them but made them illustrious; of them, because they were counted worthy of such honour. For just as it is his wealth that there are believers, so too it is his glory that there are those who are to enjoy his good things. It is the glory of the good to have those to whom he may impart his kindness. “And to be marvelled at,” he says, “among all who have believed”; that is, through those who have believed. See, “in” again stands for “through.” For through them he is shown to be marvellous. For when he brings the pitiable and wretched, who have suffered ten thousand terrible things and have believed, to such splendour, his strength is shown then: that even if here they seem to have been forsaken, yet there they enjoy great glory; then above all the whole glory and strength of God is shown. And how, hear; for he adds, “because our testimony to you was believed, on that day. To this end we also always pray for you.” That is, when those who have suffered ten thousand terrible things to make them stand away from the faith, and have not given way but remained faithful, are brought into the open, God is glorified; then the glory of these too is shown. Since then many feign the faith, “call no one blessed before his end”; for on that day those who have believed are shown. “To this end we also always pray for you,” he says, “that our God may count you worthy of the calling, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith with power.” “That he may count you worthy,” he says, “of the calling,” showing that many were also cast out. Therefore he added, “and may fulfil every good resolve.” For the one clothed in filthy garments too was called, but did not remain in the calling; therefore he was all the more cast out from the calling to the bridal chamber. For the five virgins too were called: “Arise,” it says, “the bridegroom is coming”; and they prepared themselves, but did not go in. Showing then what calling he means, he added, “and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith with power.” This is the calling we seek, he says. See how gently he humbles them. For so that they may not, through the excess of praise, [be puffed up] as having accomplished great things, and become careless, he shows that something is still lacking to them, as long as [they are in this life]; which he also [says] writing to the Hebrews: “You have not yet resisted to the point of blood, striving against sin.” “Every good resolve,” he says; that is, pleasing, persuasion, full assurance; as if he said, so that God’s persuasion may be fulfilled, so that nothing may be lacking to you, so that you may be as he wishes. “And work of faith,” he says, “with power.” What is this? The endurance of persecutions, so that we may not grow faint, he says. “So that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Displaced in the scan from the comment on 2:2:] … about which he writes and says, “Not to be troubled, either by spirit or by word.” What he says is this: even if someone having a spirit of prophecy says this, do not believe it. For when I was with you, I told you these things; so you must not be persuaded away from what you were taught. Or “by spirit”: so he calls the false prophets, speaking by an unclean spirit what they spoke. For these men, wishing to be believed the more, tried to deceive not only by persuasive speech (for he shows this by saying, “or by word”) …

See: he spoke of glory there, and he spoke of it here too; he said that they themselves are glorified, so as even to boast; he said, what was much more, that they also glorify God; he said that they will receive that glory; but here too he says it; for when the master is glorified, the servants too are glorified. For those who glorify the master are themselves glorified much more, both by this very thing and apart from it. For affliction for Christ’s sake is glory, and everywhere he calls the thing glory; and the more we suffer something dishonourable, the more illustrious we become. Then again, showing that this too is God’s, he says, “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”; that is, God himself gave us this grace, that he may be glorified in us, and may glorify us in himself. How is he glorified in us? Because we prefer nothing to him. How are we glorified in him? Because we have received power from him, so as not to give way to the terrible things brought on us. For at the same time, [when] temptation comes, both God is glorified and we too: they glorify him, because he so nerved us; and they admire us, because we made ourselves worthy. And all these things come from the grace of God. “[Now we ask you, brothers,] concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your mind.” When the resurrection will be he has not said; but that it will not be now, he has said. “And our gathering together,” he says, “to him.” This too is no small thing. Do you see how the exhortation again comes with praise and encouragement, in that the Lord and all the saints will certainly appear with us? Here he speaks about the coming of Christ and about our gathering together; for these will happen at the same time. He lifts up their minds: “that you not be shaken quickly,” he says, “nor be troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us, as though the day of the Lord has come.” Here he seems to me to hint that some were going about who had forged a letter, supposedly from Paul, and, showing it, said that the day of the Lord was at hand, so as to lead many astray by this. So that they may not be deceived, then, Paul secures them. … [For they] also showed a forged letter as from Paul, making plain this same thing. Therefore, indicating this too, he added, “or by letter as if from us.” Having then secured them on every side, he so sets out his own view, and says: “Let no one deceive you in any way; for [that day will not come] unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God as God, proclaiming himself to be God.” Here he speaks about the Antichrist, and reveals great mysteries. What is “the apostasy”? He calls the Antichrist himself apostasy, as one who will destroy many and make them fall away; “so as to lead astray,” it says, “if possible, even the elect.” And he calls him “the man of sin”; for he will do ten thousand terrible things, and will make others do them. And he calls him “the son of perdition” because he too will be destroyed. And who is he? Satan, then? By no means; but some man who receives his whole working. “And the man is revealed,” he says, “who exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship.” For he will not lead to idolatry, but will be a kind of anti-god, and will abolish all the gods, and will command that he be worshipped instead of God, and will take his seat in the temple of God, not only the one in Jerusalem, but also in the churches everywhere. “Proclaiming himself,” he says, “to be God.” He did not say “saying,” but “trying to show”; for he will do great works and display marvellous signs. “Do you not remember that when I was still with you [I told you these things]?” Do you see that it is necessary to say the same things continually and to go over the same words? For see, they heard him say these things when present, and again needed reminding. For just as, having heard about afflictions (“For when we were with you,” he says, “we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction”), they nevertheless forgot, and he again strengthens them through the letter, so too, having heard about the coming of Christ, they again needed a letter to set them in order. He reminds them, then, and shows that he says nothing strange, but what he always said. For just as with farmers the seeds are cast down once, yet do not remain permanently, but need much tending, and unless they break up the earth with levers and cover them, [they sow for the birds]; so we too, unless we cover over what has been cast down with continual remembrance, have thrown everything into the air. For the devil snatches it away, and our carelessness destroys it, and the sun dries it, [and the rain washes it away, and the thorns choke it]. So it is not enough to cast it down once and go away, but much care and attention is needed by the one who is to gather the fruits: driving off the birds, cutting out the thorns, filling the stony places with much earth, [fencing off] everything [harmful]. But with the earth everything is the farmer’s work; for it lies beneath him lifeless, ready only to be acted on; but with this spiritual earth it is not so at all: not everything is the teachers’, but, if not the greater part, at least half belongs to the disciples too. Ours is to cast down the seed; yours to do what is said, to show the fruits through your works by remembrance, to pull the thorns up by the roots. For wealth is truly a thorn: it has no fruit, it is ugly to see and unpleasant to use, it pains those who touch it, not only itself having no fruit, but [choking] what is sprouting. Such is wealth: not only does it itself bear no eternal fruit, but it hinders those who wish to by holding them back. Thorns are the food of irrational camels; they are the food and fuel of fire, useful for nothing. Such too is wealth: useful for nothing but to heat a furnace, to kindle that day that burns like an oven, to nourish the irrational passions, remembrance of wrongs and anger. For such is the camel that eats thorns too. For it is said by those who know such things that there is nothing among beasts so given to lasting wrath and sullenness and remembrance of wrongs as the camel. Such is wealth: it nourishes the irrational passions of the soul, and pricks and wounds the rational ones, as with thorns. This plant is something hard and rough; it grows of itself. And let us see where it grows, so that we may cut it out: in the precipitous places, in the stony ones, in the dry ones, where there is no moisture. When then someone is rough and precipitous, that is, unmerciful, the thorn grows in him. But when the sons of farmers wish to cut them out, they do not do it with iron, but how? Applying fire, they so draw out all the badness of the earth. For since it is not enough to cut the top away while the root remains below, nor even to take out the root (for some of the badness remains in the earth, and, just as when a plague has fallen on a body, its remnants still remain), the fire, drawing up from above all that moisture of the thorns like a poison, draws it out by its heat from the flanks of the earth. For just as the cupping glass draws all the badness to itself, so too the fire draws up all the badness from the thorns and makes the earth clean. Why have I said these things? Because one must purge away from every side our attachment to wealth. With us too there is a fire that draws this badness from the soul, I mean that of the Spirit; if we apply it, we shall be able to dry up not only the thorns but also the moisture from them; since if they remain fixed, everything becomes vain. For see: has a rich man come in here, or a rich woman? She does not care how she will hear the oracles of God, but how she will display herself, how she will sit with pomp, how with great glory, how she will surpass all the others with the costliness of her garments, and make herself more stately by posture and look and gait; and all her care and anxiety is: Did so-and-so see me? Did she admire me? Am I well adorned? And not about this only does she take thought, but also that the garments may not rot, may not be torn; and all her care is about this. Likewise the rich man comes in to display himself to the poor man, and to put him in fear by the robes he wears, by having many slaves; and they stand by driving people off. And he, from great pride, does not deign to do even this himself, but knows the work to be so unworthy of a free man that, though very puffed up, he does not bear to do it, but entrusts it to the slaves who follow him; for to do this is truly slavish and of bold character. Then, as he sits, the cares of the household come in at once, dragging him about everywhere; the pride that holds his soul swells over; he thinks he is doing a favour to us, and to the people, and perhaps to God too, because he came into the house of God. And one so inflamed, how will he ever be healed?

Tell me, if someone came to a surgery and did not ask the physician for a favour, but thought he was doing him one, and, instead of asking for a medicine for his wound, busied himself with garments, would such a man go away having received any good? I think not. And the cause of all these things, if you wish, I will tell. They think they come in to us, when they come in here; they think they hear from us what they hear; they do not attend, they do not consider that they come in to God, that he himself speaks to them. For when the reader stands up and says, “Thus says the Lord,” and the deacon stands and silences everyone, he says this not to honour the reader, but the one who speaks to all through him. If they knew that it was God who said these things through the prophet, they would have thrown off all their pride. For if, when rulers speak to them, they do not bear to attend to anything else, much more when God does. We are servants, beloved; we do not speak our own things, but God’s; letters that have come from heaven are read every day. Tell me, I beg you, if just now, with all of us present, someone came in wearing a golden belt, and, drawing himself up and driving people off, said he had been sent by the king on earth, and was bringing a letter to the whole city about some necessary matters, would you not all have turned round? Would you not have kept great silence even without the deacon’s bidding? I think so; for I have heard royal letters read here. Then, if someone comes from the king, you all attend; but it comes from God, and the prophet speaks from the heavens, and no one attends? Or do you not believe that these words are from God? These are letters sent from God. Let us come into the churches, then, with fitting honour, and [listen] with [fear] to what is said here. “But what am I to gain,” someone says, “if I do not hear someone preaching?” This has ruined and corrupted everything. For what need is there of a preacher? This need has come from our carelessness. For why is a homily needed? Everything in the divine Scriptures is clear and straight; all that is necessary is plain. But since you are hearers for pleasure, therefore you seek these things too. For tell me, with what pomp of speech did Paul speak? Yet he converted the world. With what did Peter, the unlettered? “But I do not know,” someone says, “what is in the divine Scriptures.” Why do you not know? Is it spoken in Hebrew? In Latin? In some foreign tongue? Is it not spoken in Greek? “But obscurely,” he says. What is obscure, tell me? Are there not histories? For you know the clear things, so as to ask about the obscure ones. There are ten thousand histories in the Scriptures: tell me one of them. But you will not. These are pretexts and words. “[Every] day,” he says, “one hears the same things.” And what, tell me? In the theatres do you not hear the same things? At the horse races do you not see the same things? Are not all things the same? Does not the same sun always rise? Do we not use the same foods? I wanted to ask you, since you say you hear the same things every day: tell me, from which prophet is the passage that was read, and from which apostle, or which letter? But you could not say, but you seem to be hearing strange things. When then you wish to be careless, you say they are the same; but when you are asked, you behave as one who has never heard. If they are the same, you ought to know them; but you do not know. The present state of things deserves laments, laments and wailings, because “in vain the silversmith refines.” You ought to attend most of all for this reason, that they are the same, that we give you no labour, nor say anything strange and altered. What then? Since you say those things are the same, but ours are not the same, but we always say new things, do you attend to these? Not at all; but if we say, “Why do you not retain even these?” “We hear them once,” you say, “and how is it possible to retain them?” If we say, “Why do you not attend?” you say, “The same things are always said”; and on every side the words are of carelessness and pretext. But these things will not go on for ever; there will be a time when we shall lament idly and in vain; which may it not happen; but may we, having repented here, and attending to what is said with understanding and reverence, hasten to the accomplishment of good works, and direct our life with all exactness, so that we may be able to obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and loving-kindness, and so on.

“And you know what is restraining him now, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains [will do so] until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; whose coming is according to the working of Satan.” One might reasonably ask first what “that which restrains” is, and then learn why Paul puts it so obscurely. What then is “what restrains him from being revealed,” that is, what hinders? Some say the grace of the Spirit, others the Roman empire; with these I agree most of all. Why? Because if he had meant the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely, but openly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is, the gifts, restrains him. Besides, he ought to have come already, if he was to come when the gifts failed; for they failed long ago. But since he says this about the Roman empire, he naturally hinted at it, and for the time speaks in a veiled way; for he did not wish to take on superfluous enmities and useless dangers. For if he had said that a little later the empire of the Romans would be dissolved, they would at once have buried him as a pest, and all the faithful as living and fighting for this. Therefore he did not speak so, nor say that it would be soon, although he always says it; but what? “So that he may be revealed in his own time,” he says. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” He means Nero here, as being a type of the Antichrist; for he too wished to be thought a god. And well did he say “the mystery”; for it was not openly, like that one, nor shamelessly. For if before that time, he says, one was found who was not much behind the Antichrist in wickedness, what wonder if he will now come? So he spoke in a veiled way, and did not wish to make it plain, not from cowardice, but teaching us not to take on superfluous enmities when nothing is pressing. So too here he says, “only he who now restrains, until he is taken out of the way”; that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then that one will come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire remains, no one will quickly submit; but when it has been dissolved, he will fall upon the anarchy, and will try to seize the rule both of men and of God. For just as the kingdoms before this were dissolved, that of the Medes by the Babylonians, that of the Babylonians by the Persians, that of the Persians by the Macedonians, that of the Macedonians by the Romans, so this too by the Antichrist, and he by Christ, and he will no longer hold sway. And Daniel delivers these things to us with great clearness. “And then,” he says, “the lawless one will be revealed.” And what after this? The comfort is near; for he adds: “whom the Lord Jesus will consume,” he says, “with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming, whose coming is according to the working of Satan.” For just as fire, merely coming on, makes small creatures numb and consumes them even before its arrival, while they are far off, so too Christ will consume the Antichrist by his command alone and by his coming. It is enough that he is present, and all these things have perished. He will stop the deceit …

… and everything of the deceit will be gone, [when he] only appears. Then, making plain who this is: “whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders”; that is, he will display every power, but nothing true, but all for deceit. He foretold these things so that those living then might not be deceived. “And lying wonders,” he says: either false, or leading to falsehood. “And with all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing.” “Why then,” someone says, “did God permit this to happen, and what is this dispensation? And what is the gain of his coming, when he comes for our ruin?” Do not fear, beloved, but hear him saying: he has strength among those who are perishing, who, even if he had not come, would not have been persuaded. “What then is the gain?” he says. That these very people who are perishing will have their mouths stopped. How? Because even if he had not come, they would not have believed in Christ; he comes, then, to convict them. For so that they may not be able to say, “Since Christ called himself God” (although he nowhere said it openly; but since those after him preached it) “we did not believe; since we had heard that there is one God from whom are all things, for this reason we did not believe,” the Antichrist will take away this excuse of theirs. For when he comes, commanding nothing sound, but everything lawless, and is believed on the strength of false signs alone, he will sew up their mouth. For if you do not believe in Christ, much more ought you not to believe in the Antichrist; for that one said he had been sent by the Father, but this one the opposite. Therefore Christ said, “I have come in the name of my Father, and you did not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” “But we saw signs,” someone says. But in the case of Christ too many great ones took place; so much more ought you to have believed him. And besides, many things were foretold of this one, that he is the lawless one, the son of perdition, that his coming is according to the working of Satan; but of that One the opposite, that he is Saviour, that he will bring ten thousand good things. “Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. Therefore God sends them a working of error, so that they believe the lie, in order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” “In order that they may be judged”: he did not say “in order that they may be punished”; for they would have been punished even without this; but so that they may be without excuse. And who are these? He himself explained, adding, “who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” He calls Christ “the love of the truth”: “because,” he says, “they did not receive the love of the truth”; for he was both, and came for both reasons, both loving men and for the sake of true things. “But took pleasure,” he says, “in unrighteousness”; for that one came for the ruin of men, and to wrong them. For what will he not do then? He will set everything in motion, he will throw everything into confusion, by commands and by fear. He will be fearful from every side: from his authority, from his cruelty, from his lawless [commands]. “Among those who are perishing,” he says, “he will have strength.” For Elijah too will come then, to secure the faithful. And this Christ says: “Elijah is coming and will restore all things.” Therefore it is said of John, “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” For he worked neither signs, as Elijah did, nor wonders: “For John,” it says, “did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” How then “in the spirit and power of Elijah”? That he will take up the same ministry. Just as this one was the forerunner of the first coming, so that one is the forerunner of the second and glorious coming, and is kept for this. Let us not then fear [the Antichrist] … Having shaken the minds of the hearers, he no longer let them think the present things terrible, but worthy of thanksgiving. Therefore he added: “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth.” How did he choose them for salvation? He shows it by saying, “in sanctification of the Spirit”; that is, to sanctify through the Spirit and true faith. For these are what hold our salvation together: nowhere from works, nowhere from good deeds, but through faith in the truth. See, “in” again stands for “through.” “In sanctification of the Spirit,” he says. “To which he called you through our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This too is no small thing, if Christ counts our salvation his own glory. For it is the glory of one who loves mankind that those saved are many. So great is our Lord, if he so desires our salvation; great too is the Holy Spirit [who gives] us sanctification. Why did he not say faith first, but sanctification? Because even after sanctification we still need much [faith], so as not to be shaken. Do you see how he shows that nothing is theirs, but everything God’s? “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold fast the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by our letter.” From this it is plain that they did not hand down everything by letter, but much also unwritten; and the one and the other are equally trustworthy. So let us think the tradition of the church too trustworthy. It is tradition: seek nothing further. He shows here that there were many who were being shaken. “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave eternal comfort and good hope in grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” Again a prayer after exhortation; for this is truly to help. “Who loved us,” he says, “and gave eternal comfort and good hope in grace.” Where now are those who make the Son lesser, because he is named after the Father in the grace of the washing? For see, here it is the reverse: he says first, “our Lord Jesus Christ,” then, “God our Father.” “Who loved us and gave eternal comfort.” What is this? The hope of the things to come. Do you see how in the form of a prayer he raises up their minds, setting down the pledges and proofs of God’s unspeakable care? “Comfort your hearts,” he says, “in every good work and word”; that is, through every good work and word. For this is the comfort of Christians, not only to wish to do something good, but what pleases God. See how he humbles their pride: “who gave comfort,” he says, “and good hope in grace.” At the same time he makes them hopeful about the future. For if he gave so much by grace, much more the things to come. I indeed have said so, he says; but the whole is God’s. “Establish”: confirm, so that you may not be shaken nor turned aside; for this is both ours and his. So both for doctrines and for deeds. For this is comfort, to be established. For when someone is not carried away, he bears whatever he suffers with great long-suffering; but if the mind is shaken, he will do nothing more of good and noble deeds; but just as a man’s hands grow slack, so too the soul is shaken when it does not believe that it is going toward some good end. “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, as also with you.” He himself prayed for them, that they might be established; and now he asks of them, requesting them to pray for him, not that he may not be in danger (for he was appointed to this), but “that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, as also with you.” And the request comes with praise: “as also with you,” he says. “And that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked men; for not all have faith.” This is the language of one indicating his dangers too; therefore he especially exhorted them. “From perverse,” he says, “and wicked men; for not all have faith.” So he speaks about those who contradict the preaching, about those who resist and fight against the doctrines; for he hinted at this by saying, “For not all have faith.” He does not seem to me to hint at dangers here, but at those who contradict and hinder his word, as Hymenaeus was, as Alexander the coppersmith. As if someone said about an inheritance from a father, that not all are to serve in the palace, so he too says of the wicked from whom he wishes to be delivered: they are such, he says, that to them it is given not to believe. And in saying this he at the same time rouses them. So they were great men, if they had such boldness as to be able even to deliver their teacher from dangers and make the preaching prosper for him. So we too say the same things to you. Let none of you condemn us for arrogance; let none of you, out of excessive humility, deprive us of such help. For we do not speak from the same mind as Paul spoke: he said these things wishing to encourage the disciples; but we, to reap something great and good; and we firmly believe that we shall accomplish everything, if all of you will with one mind stretch out your hands to God for our littleness. So let us war against the enemies, with prayers and supplications. For if the ancients warred so against armed men, much more must one war so against those without arms. So Hezekiah routed the Assyrian, so Moses Amalek, so Samuel the men of Ascalon, so Israel the thirty-two kings. If, where arms and battle line and fighting were needed, they left their arms and fled to prayer, where things must be accomplished by prayers alone, how much more must one pray? “But there,” someone says, “the leaders entreated for the people; and do you ask the people to entreat for the leader?” I know it too. For then those ruled were wretched and of little worth; therefore they were saved by the boldness and virtue of their general alone; but now, when the grace of God has increased, we shall find many among those ruled, or rather most of them, far surpassing the one who rules. Do not then deprive us of this alliance; hold up our hands, so that they may not grow slack; open our mouth, so that it may not be stopped; entreat God, entreat him for this. What happens is for us, but the whole happens for you; for we are appointed for your benefit, and we take care of your affairs. Entreat, each of you, both privately and in common. See Paul saying, “so that the gift given to us through many may be the occasion of thanks by many on our behalf”; that is, so that he may give the grace to many. If, among men, a crowd comes up and begs off men condemned and being led away to death, and the king, put to shame by the multitude, reverses his decision, much more will God be put to shame by you, not by your numbers, but by your virtue. For we have a fierce enemy. Each of you cares and takes thought for his own affairs; but we for those of all at once; we stand at the part of the war that is hard pressed. The devil arms himself more fiercely against us. For in wars too the enemy tries before all else to bring down the general. Therefore there all his fellow soldiers run there; therefore there is a great uproar, each trying to take him out, and they fence him round with their shields on every side, wishing to save his head. Hear what the whole people says to David (I do not say this comparing myself to David; I am not so mad; but wishing to show the affection of a people for its ruler): “You shall not go out,” it says, “to war with us, lest the lamp of Israel be quenched.” See with how much care they kept the old man. I greatly need your prayers; let no one, as I said, out of excessive humility take away this alliance and help from me. If our affairs prosper, yours too will be more splendid; if the stream of teaching flows to us, the wealth will pass on to you. Hear the prophet saying, “Do the shepherds feed themselves?” Do you see Paul continually seeking these prayers? Do you hear that Peter was snatched from prison so, because earnest prayer was being made for him? I firmly believe that your prayer will be able to do much, made with such harmony. How much greater do you think it is than our littleness, to approach God and entreat him for so great a people? For if I have no boldness to make petition for myself, much less for others. For it belongs to those who are approved, who have made God favourable to themselves, to ask him to be gracious to others too; but the one who has himself offended, how will he petition for another? Yet nevertheless, since I embrace you with a father’s heart, since love dares all things, not in the church only, but also at home, before all else I make petition for your health of soul and body. For no other prayer so befits a priest as to approach and intercede with God for the good things of the people before his own. For if Job, rising up at once, did so much for his children according to the flesh, how much more ought we to do this for our spiritual children? Why do I say these things? Because if we make petitions and prayers for all of you, although we are so far from the greatness of the task, much more is it right that you too do this. For one to make petition for many is very bold and needs much confidence; but for many to come together and make petition for one is nothing burdensome. For each does this not trusting in his own virtue, but in the multitude and the concord by which God above all is moved everywhere. “For where two or three are gathered,” he says, “in my name, there am I in their midst.” If where two or three are gathered he is in the midst, much more among you. For what one praying by himself cannot receive, he will receive praying with the multitude. Why? Because even if his own virtue does not, the concord has great power. “Where two or three are gathered,” he says. Why did he say “two”? “If one [is gathered] in your name, why are you not there?” Because I wish all to be together, and not torn apart. [Let us bind] one another then, let us bind ourselves with love, let no one separate us. If anyone has a complaint, if anyone has been grieved, let him not keep it in his mind, whether against his neighbour or against us. This favour I ask of you: to come forward, and to make complaint, and to receive defences from us. “Question,” it says, “perhaps he did not say it; question, perhaps he did not do it; and if he did, so that he may not do it again.” Either we have answered, or we try henceforth not to fall into the same things again. This benefits both you and us. For you, perhaps complaining even unreasonably, will be corrected when you learn the truth of the matter; and we, having sinned unknowingly, are corrected. It does not benefit you to disparage; for punishment is laid up for those who utter every idle word; and we strip off the charges, both the false and the true: the false, by showing that they are false; the true, by no longer doing the same things. For it is quite necessary that one who cares for so many both be ignorant and sin from ignorance. For if each of you, having a house and presiding over wife and children and slaves, one more, another fewer, is nevertheless forced, among so few souls, to sin often, not as he wishes, either through not knowing or through wishing to correct something, much more we, who preside over so great a people. “May the Lord add to you still more, and bless you, the small with the great.” For even if the care becomes great from the multitude, nevertheless we do not cease praying that this care may be increased for us, and that this multitude may grow and become many times larger and boundless. For fathers too, although often worn out by having many children, nevertheless do not wish to lose one. All things are equal for us and you, even the chief of good things. I do not share in the holy table with greater abundance, and you with less; but we both touch it equally. And if I partake first, this is nothing great; for among children too the elder stretches out his hand to the feast first, but nevertheless nothing more comes of this; but all things are equal to us; the saving life that holds our souls together is given to both with the same honour. I do not partake of one Lamb and you of another, but we all partake of the same; we both have the same baptism, we have been counted worthy of one Spirit, we both hasten to the same kingdom, we are alike brothers of Christ; all things are common to us. Where then is my greater share? In the cares, in the toils, in the anxieties, in grieving for you. But nothing is sweeter than this grief; for a mother too, grieving for her child, takes pleasure in the grief; she cares for her offspring, and is gladdened by her cares; and yet care by itself is bitter; but when it is for children, it has great pleasure. I have begotten many of you, but after this come the birth pangs. For with bodily mothers the pangs come first, and then the birth; but here the pangs last to the last breath, lest even after the birth there be some miscarriage. And I long for you. For even if another has often begotten them, yet I am torn by cares; for we do not beget from ourselves, but the whole is of the grace of God. And if we both give birth through the Spirit, one will not be wrong to call those born through me his, and those born through him mine. Consider all these things, then, and stretch out your hand, so that you may become our boast, and we yours, on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ; which may we all see with boldness, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you [and guard you from the evil one. And we are confident] in the Lord about you, that what we command you, you are doing and will do. Now may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” We must neither entrust everything to the prayers of the saints and ourselves be idle, and run to wickedness, and lay hold of nothing that leads to virtue; nor again, when we do good, despise that alliance. For prayer for us can do great things, great things, but when we too work. Therefore Paul too, praying for them, again sets down what makes it trustworthy, from the promise, and says, “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” For if he chose you for salvation, he will not lie, nor will he let you perish utterly. But so that he may not lead them to carelessness by this, and they, thinking that everything is God’s, may sleep, see how he demands their cooperation too, saying, “And we are confident in the Lord about you, that what we command, you are doing and will do.” God is faithful, he says, and, having promised to save, will certainly save, but as he promised. And how did he promise? If we are willing and listen to him, not simply, nor while we are idle like wood and stones. And well did he put “we are confident in the Lord,” that is, we trust in his loving-kindness. Again he humbles them, hanging everything there. For if he had said, “We trust in you,” the praise would have been great, but he would not have shown them that they hang everything on God; but if he had said, “We are confident in the Lord that he will guard you,” and had not added “about you,” and “what we commanded you are doing and will do,” he would have made them more idle, throwing everything on God’s power. For we must throw everything on him, but while we ourselves are active, engaged in toils and contests. And he shows here that, even if virtue alone is enough to save, yet it must be lasting and be with us until we come to our last breath. … [He commands], “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”; and having said so, he shows the fearfulness of the command. “Now may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” He praises them again, and prays, showing his care. For since he is about to enter on a rebuke, he smooths their hearts beforehand by these things: by saying, “I am confident that you will listen,” and by asking prayers of them, and by again praying ten thousand good things for them. “Now may the Lord direct,” he says, “your hearts to the love of God.” For many are the things that turn us aside from love, and many those that drag us away from it. And first the wickedness of mammon, laying, as it were, shameless hands on our soul, and gripping it tightly, drags and pulls us away from there even against our will; then vainglory; and afflictions and trials too have often overturned us. Therefore we need God’s help as of a wind, so that our sail may be carried, as by some strong wind, to the love of God. For do not tell me, “I love him even more than myself”; these are words; show by deeds whether you love him more than yourself. Love him more than money, and then I believe that you love him more than yourself too; but if you do not despise money for God’s sake, how will you despise yourself? And why do I speak of money? If you do not despise greed, which you ought to do even without God’s commands, how will you despise yourself? “And to the steadfastness,” he says, “of Christ.” What is “to the steadfastness”? That we may endure as he endured; or that we may do those things; or that we may wait for him with steadfastness, that is, that we may be prepared. For since he promised many things, and he himself is coming to judge the living and the dead, let us wait for him and endure. And wherever he speaks of steadfastness, he certainly hints at affliction; for this is to love God, to endure and not be troubled. “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother who walks in a disorderly way, and not according to the tradition which they received from us.” That is, it is not we who say these things, but Christ; for this is “in the name [of our Lord Jesus] Christ,” he says, “we command.” So Christ nowhere commanded idleness. “To keep away,” he says, “from every brother.” Do not tell me of the rich man, do not tell me of the poor man, do not tell me of the holy man: this is disorder. “Walks,” he says, that is, lives. “And not according to the tradition which they received from us.” He means the tradition by deeds; and properly he always calls this tradition. “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying.” And yet even if he had eaten, it would not have been without paying; for “the labourer,” he says, “is worthy of his wages.” “But with labour and toil we worked night and day, so as not to burden any of you; not because we do not have the right, but to give you ourselves as an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

See how in the first letter he speaks somewhat more gently about these things, as when he says, “But we exhort you, brothers, to abound more and to aspire,” and nowhere “we command,” nor “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” which was fearful and carried danger; but he says “to abound” and “to aspire,” which was the language of one urging to virtue; “so that you may walk becomingly,” he says; but here there is nothing of the kind, but: “If anyone is not willing to work,” he says, “let him not eat.” For if Paul, having no necessity, but having the right to be idle, and having taken on so great a work, nevertheless worked, and not simply worked, but night and day, so as to be able to help others too, much more ought the others to do this. “For we hear that some are walking among you in a disorderly way, doing no work, but being busybodies.” This is here; but there, in the first letter: “so that you may walk becomingly,” he says, “toward outsiders.” Why? Perhaps nothing of the kind had yet happened; for elsewhere too he said in exhortation, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” And “walk becomingly” is not about disorder; therefore he added, “so that you may need nothing.” But here he sets down another necessity too, so as to do what is noble and good toward all; for going on he says, “Do not grow weary in doing good.” For the one who is idle, though able to work, must necessarily be a busybody. And almsgiving has been given to those alone who are not able to support themselves by the work of their hands, or to those who teach and are wholly occupied with the word of teaching. For “you shall not muzzle,” it says, “an ox while it is threshing”; and, “the labourer is worthy of his wages.” So neither is this man idle; but he receives the wage of work, and of great work. But praying and fasting while idle is not work of the hands; for here he speaks of work done with the hands. And so that you may suspect nothing of the kind, he added, “doing no work, but being busybodies.” “Now such persons we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Since he had touched them vehemently, wishing to make his word [trustworthy], he added, “through the Lord,” again showing by this what is trustworthy and fearful. “That working with quietness they eat their own bread.” Why did he not say, “If they are not disorderly, let them be fed by you,” but requires both, both being in quiet and working? Because he wishes them to support themselves by working. For this is “that they eat their own bread,” that is, bread from their own toils, not another’s, procured by begging. “But you, [brothers, do not grow weary in doing good].” See how at once the fatherly heart was broken. He could not carry the rebuke further, but again had pity on them; and see with how much wisdom. He did not say, “But forgive them until they correct themselves,” but what? “But you, do not grow weary in doing good.” Keep away from them, he says, and rebuke them, yet do not overlook them perishing with hunger. “What then,” someone says, “if, having abundance from us, he remains idle?” For such a one, he says, I have spoken a gentle medicine: “keep away from him”; that is, do not give him free speech, show that you are angry. And this is no small thing. For such is the rebuke given to a brother, if we really wish to correct him. We are not ignorant of the ways of rebuke. For tell me, if you had a brother in the flesh, would you overlook him wasting away with hunger? I think not; but perhaps you would even [correct] him. “And if anyone does not obey our word through this letter.” See the humility of Paul: he did not say, “the one who disobeys disobeys me,” but gently hints: “note that man.” So he urges them to do this not secretly. “Do not associate with him.” This too is no small discipline. Then again, “so that he may be put to shame,” he says. So he does not allow it to go further. For just as, having said, “if anyone does not work, let him not eat,” fearing lest they perish with hunger, he added, “But you, do not grow weary in doing good,” so having said, “keep away,” and “do not associate with him,” then, fearing lest this very thing cut him off from the brotherhood (for one who despairs of himself quickly perishes if he does not share in free speech), he added, “And do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” By this he shows that he fixed a great punishment against him, in his being deprived of free speech. For if even living with many while receiving is worthy of shame, when they both rebuke as they give and keep away, how great a reproach is this? How able to bite the soul? For if, merely by giving rather reluctantly, or grumbling, they burn up those who receive (do not tell me of shameless beggars, but of the faithful), if they were also to rebuke as they gave, what would they not do? How great a punishment would it not deserve? But we do not do so, but you give as one who has been most greatly wronged. Why do you also grieve him? “Admonish,” he said, “as brothers,” do not insult them as enemies. The one who admonishes his brother does not do it publicly, does not parade the insult, but privately and with great care, grieving and stung, and weeping and lamenting. Let us give, then, from a brotherly mind; let us admonish from a brotherly purpose; not as grieving at giving, but as grieving that he transgresses the commandment. For otherwise what is the gain? For if you insult him even after giving, you spoil the pleasure of the gift; but when you both do not give and insult him, how much harm have you not done to that wretched and miserable man? He came to receive mercy from you; but receiving a mortal blow, he went away, and wept the more. For when he is forced by want to beg, and for begging is insulted, see how great the punishment of those who insult will be. “He who dishonours a poor man,” it says, “provokes the one who made him.” For tell me, did God not leave him to be poor for your sake, so that you might be able to heal yourself, and do you insult the one who is poor for your sake? How great an ingratitude is this! How great a thanklessness is this deed! “Admonish,” he says, “as brothers”: he commanded them to admonish even after giving; but when we insult even without giving, what defence will we have? “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every place.” See how, when he enjoins what must be done, he seals it with prayer, setting the petition and supplication like seals on what has been stored. “May he give you peace,” he says, “in every place.” For since quarrels were likely to arise from these things, those men becoming rougher, and these no longer supplying such people as before, he naturally prayed for this now, saying, “May he give you peace always.” For this is what is sought, to have it always. What is “in every place”? He wishes them to be at peace on every side, so as to have no occasion of contention from anywhere. For peace is good everywhere, even toward outsiders; for hear him saying elsewhere, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with all men.” For nothing is so suitable for accomplishing what we wish as peaceableness and freedom from trouble, as being rid of all enmity and having no enemy. “The Lord be with you all. The greeting with my own hand, Paul’s, which is a sign in every letter; this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” He says that he writes this in every letter, so that no one may be able to counterfeit them, the signature being set as a great proof. And he calls the prayer a greeting, showing that they did everything spiritually then, and even when they had to greet, the thing was with gain, and was a prayer, not simply a token of friendship. He began from this, and with the words on both sides, laying sure foundations, he added a sure end too: “Grace to you,” he says, “and peace”; and again, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” This the Lord too promised, saying to the disciples, “See, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age.” But this happens when we wish it; for he will not in any case be with us, if we make ourselves far off. “I will be with you,” he says, “always.” Let us not then drive away grace. He wishes us to keep away from every brother who walks in a disorderly way. This was a great evil then, to be torn away from the fullness of the brothers. With this, at any rate, he punishes all, as writing elsewhere to the Corinthians he said, “not even to eat with such a one.” But now most people do not think it great, but everything is confused and corrupted: we mix with adulterers, with fornicators, with the greedy, simply and at random. If one had to keep away even from the man who was idly fed, how much more from the others? And so that you may learn how fearful it was to be separated from the gathering of the brothers, and how much gain it brings to those who receive the rebuke with good sense, hear how that man who was puffed up in his sin, who had gone to the extreme of wickedness, who had committed sexual immorality such as is not even named among the Gentiles, who was insensible of his wound (for this is the excess of perversion), this man, such as he was, was so bent and humbled that Paul said, “Sufficient for such a one is this rebuke by the majority; so confirm your love for him.” For he was then like a limb torn from the rest of the body. And the cause, and why this was fearful then: since being with them was thought a great good to them. For just as those who live in one house, and are under one father, and share one table, so they lived then in each church. To fall from so great a love, then, how great an evil was it! But now it does not even seem great to be [among them], because it is not thought anything great when we are with one another. What was then in the rank of punishment now happens through the great coldness of love even without punishment, and we keep away from one another at random and from coldness. For the cause of all evils is that there is no love; this has dissolved and destroyed all the dignified and splendid things of the church in which we ought to exult. Great is a teacher’s boldness when he can rebuke his disciples from his own good deeds. Therefore Paul too said, “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us”; and a teacher ought to be a teacher of life rather than of speech. And let no one think this is boasting; for he said it when placed under necessity, and for the common benefit. “Because we were not disorderly,” he says, “among you.” Do you not see the humility in this, that he calls [being supported] “without paying” and disorder? “We were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying.” He shows here that they too were perhaps poor. And do not tell me, “But not all were poor”; for he speaks of the poor and of those who have their necessary food from no other source than the work of their hands. For he did not say, “so that they may have it from their fathers,” but, “so that working they may eat their own bread.” For if I, the herald, he says, of the word of teaching, feared to burden you, much more the one who benefits you in nothing. For this is truly a burden. And it is a burden when someone does not give with great eagerness. But he does not hint at this, but as of those who do not have [it] easily. For why do you not work? God gave you hands for this, not so that you may receive from others, but so that you may supply others. “And the Lord,” he says, “be with you.” We too may pray this for ourselves, if we do the things of the Lord. For hear Christ saying to the disciples, “Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and see, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age.” These things were said not to them only, but also to us. For that it was not promised to them only is plain from his saying, “until the consummation of the age,” but also to those who walk in their footsteps. “What then does he say to those who are not teachers?” Each of you, if he wishes, is a teacher, if not of another, at least of himself: teach yourself first. If you teach all that he commanded you to keep, through this you will have many imitators. For just as a lamp, when it is itself bright, can kindle ten thousand others, but when quenched will neither give light to itself nor be able to kindle other lamps, so too with a pure life: if the light in us is bright, we shall make ten thousand disciples and teachers, being set before them as a pattern. For my words will not be able to benefit the hearers so much as our life. For suppose, if you will, a man who is a friend of God and shines in virtue, and has a wife (for it is possible, even having a wife, to please God), and children and servants and friends: will not this man, tell me, be able to benefit all of them much more than I? For they will hear me once or twice in the month, or not even once, and whatever they hear, having perhaps kept it as far as the threshold of the church, they at once throw it away; but seeing his life continually, they gain great things. For when, being insulted, [he does not return the insult], does he not [plant] the shame of his gentleness in the soul of the one who insults? Even if he does not confess the benefit at once, from anger or from being ashamed or abashed, yet he at once receives a feeling of it; and it is impossible for an insolent man, even if he is a wild beast, to mix with a forbearing one and not go away having gained greatly. For good things, even if we do not do them, we all nevertheless praise and admire. Again, the wife, if she sees her husband gentle, gains greatly by being always with him, and the child too. It is possible, then, for each to become a teacher. “For build one another up,” he says, “[one by one,] just as you are doing.” For see: has a loss fallen upon the household? The wife is troubled, being weaker and fond of finery; the husband, if he is philosophic and laughs at loss, both comforts her and persuades her to bear it nobly. Tell me, then, will he not benefit her much more than our words? For to speak is easy for everyone, but to do it when we come into need is very difficult. Therefore human nature is accustomed to be ordered rather by deeds; and so great is the excess of virtue that often even a slave has benefited a whole household along with its master.

For it is not idly nor at random that Paul continually enjoins them to practise virtue and to be obedient to their masters, caring not so much for the service of the masters as that the word of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed; and when it is not blasphemed, it will soon be admired too. And I know many households that have gained greatly from the virtue of their slaves. And if a servant, placed under authority, could set his master in order, much more could a master set his servants in order. Share this ministry with me, I beg you. I speak to all in common; you, privately to each, and let each take in hand the salvation of his neighbours. For that one must preside over those of the household in these things, hear where Paul sends wives: “And if they wish to learn anything,” he says, “let them ask their own husbands at home”; and he does not bring them to the teacher. For just as in the schools of letters there are teachers among the pupils too, so also in the church; for he wishes the teacher not to be troubled by everyone. Why? Because great good things will come of this, not only that the labour will be light for the teacher, but also that each of the disciples, taking thought, can quickly become a teacher, having this care. For see how great a service the wife brings in: she keeps the house, and takes thought for everything in the household; she presides over the maidservants; she clothes you with her own hands; she makes you be called father of children; she delivers you from brothels; she helps toward self-control; she stops the goad of nature. But do you too benefit her. How? In spiritual things stretch out your hand: whatever useful things you hear, like the swallows, carry them away in your mouth and put them into the mouth both of the mother and of the nestlings. For how is it not absurd to claim the first place for yourself in other things, and to hold the position of the head, but in teaching to leave your rank? The ruler must surpass those ruled not in honours but in virtues; for this is the ruler’s part. For that belongs to those ruled, but this is the ruler’s own achievement. If you enjoy much honour, this is nothing to you; for you received it from others; if you shine with much virtue, this is wholly yours. You are the head of the wife: let the head, then, set the rest of the body in order. Do you not see that it surpasses the rest of the body not so much by its place as by its forethought, steering it all like a helmsman? For in the head are the eyes both of the body and of the soul; from there flows the power of discernment to these, from there the power of governing. And the rest is appointed to service, but it is set to command. All the senses have their beginning and spring from there; the organs of the voice are sent up from there, sight, smell, the whole of touch; for the root of the nerves and of the bones is established from there. Do you see that it surpasses by forethought rather than by honour? So let us too rule our wives: let us surpass them not by seeking more honour from them, but by their being more benefited by us. I have shown that they benefit us with no small benefits; but if we are willing to give the return in spiritual things, we win; since in bodily things it is not possible to bring in anything equal. For what? Do you bring in much money? But she guards it; and this forethought of hers balances that, and it needs her so. Why? Because many who possessed much, since they did not have a wife to guard it, lost everything. But in the matter of children you both share, and the benefit is equal from each; or rather she has the more laborious service in these things, [carrying] … So you will be able to win in spiritual things alone. Let us not then take thought how we may have money, but how we may present to God with boldness the souls entrusted to us; for in setting them in order we shall benefit ourselves too in the greatest things. For the one who teaches another, if nothing else, is pricked in conscience by speaking, especially when he sees himself liable for the things for which he rebukes others. Since then we benefit both ourselves and them, and through them the household, and this pleases God above all, let us not grow weary in caring both for our own soul and for those of the persons who serve us, so that we may receive the reward for all, and may arrive with much wealth at the holy city, our mother, the Jerusalem above; from which may it never be ours to fall, but, having shone in the best way of life, may we be counted worthy to see with much boldness our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honour, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.