Dialogue on the Life of John Chrysostom 1–2

[Bishop:] Of the gifts of God, most excellent brother Theodore, some, it seems, are common and undivided, others common and divided. A third kind are those that are neither common nor divided [nor undivided], but are given as a special privilege, as their own, to those to whom they are given.

Deacon: Come then, explain to us [the difference] of each kind.

Bishop: The things good by nature, without which life would be wretched, are common and undivided.

Deacon: Such as what, Father?

Bishop: First, the God of the universe, together with his only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, is common and undivided; for anyone who wishes may receive him whole in contemplation, without having to deal with material things. Then, after God, the divine Scriptures and the powers above the world. Besides these, heaven, sun, moon, the whole chorus of the stars, and the air itself: common and undivided, all of them belonging wholly to all. Let the class of undivided things end there for us. Once the earth too was common and undivided, together with the streams of the waters; but from the time the gadfly of greed was roused in the souls of the pleasure-lovers, the heavier elements, earth and water, became divided.

Deacon: What you have said is perfectly clear. Now complete the account of the second class, the divided.

Bishop: I must not leave the web of the argument unfinished. Gold, then, and silver and every kind of metal, and timber besides, and, in a word, all the things in between, are common but nonetheless divided; for they are not wholly at the disposal of everyone who wishes.

Deacon: This account too is plain. But I suspect you may falter over the proofs of the third class, the special gifts, since you promised that there are some things that are neither common nor divided but are the special and peculiar privilege of those worthy of the gift. So put the finishing touch to the argument, and then tell us where you have come from, and the truth about the things we long to learn.

Bishop: If it lies with me, and I have knowledge of the things you wish to learn about, I will not shrink back or hide anything; but the debt of the argument, as I understand it, I will pay as best I can. Of virginity, then, and of the rest of the unmarried life you will find no division; for they do not belong to the class of common or divided things, since not everyone who longs for the thing actually lives as a virgin, but only the one who is able. Many of the married long for it, but do not attain it, because they have already been bound in marriage. Just as at the Olympic games the herald calls whoever wishes, but crowns the one who won, so it is with chastity, as the Gospel says. For when Peter objected to the Saviour, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry,’ the Saviour answered him, ‘Not all can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given.’ Do you see that it is not to all, but to those to whom it is given?

Deacon: I thought you would be at a loss over the proof of the special gifts; but, it seems, you have persuaded us both from Scripture and with force.

Bishop: If this is clear to you, I will enrich the argument with further testimonies, so that those of evil intent may be persuaded by them and stop snatching at what they have not been able to receive. For we find in the divine Scriptures that the priesthood too is neither common nor divided, but the special privilege of the worthy, as the great-souled Paul says when admonishing the Hebrews: ‘For no one takes the honour on himself, but he who is called by God. So too Aaron,’ he says, ‘did not glorify himself to become high priest.’ For though there were six hundred thousand men, and many among them were zealous, Aaron alone was proclaimed, … [persuading] the many that the priest was one chosen by God. But some, [seeking] glory and treating the thing as common or divided, met the end their madness deserved, making the very earth … witness of their own rashness. For Dathan and Abiram, enamoured of the dignity with a lustful eye, perished underground with those who followed them, finding their own congregation a self-chosen grave. After them Uzzah, not remembering those who had gone before, was dragged along by the passion … of the thing; and one day, when the ark was on a cart on the road, he took hold of it with his hand, not allowing the vessel to be overturned. When God saw it, it did not please him, because from this a habit would arise for the rash; and he restrained it by striking Uzzah dead, teaching those who came after to cease from such madness. Long afterwards, after the coming of Christ, Simon Magus, from the village of Gitta, a sophist of doctrines contrary to the truth and a villain in wickedness, … the passion, fearing no doubt the punishment of those of old, lest, having sown the like, he should reap the same. So he approaches the apostles with flattery, hiding the wolf in the fleece, [bringing] gold and money, so as not to seem to seize what he was eager to buy by wicked means, and saying what suited him and all who imitate him: ‘Take this money,’ he says, ‘and give me the authority of your dignity, so that whoever I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.’ He had been baptized in the name of Jesus. The band of the apostles answers him: ‘Away with you, man; the grace of God does not suffer itself to be sold.’ When he kept knocking at the door with words, they said a second time: ‘Why buy what you can find freely by living worthily?’ But when he thought of the labours of that life, and the sluggishness of his own mind, and the uncertainty of the thing, he again bared the gold from his purse, thinking to entice the disciples of the Saviour by deceit. At this he who ‘catches the wise in their craftiness’ was indignant, and spoke through Peter, saying: ‘Your silver perish with you, because you thought to obtain the gift of God with money.’ To this he added the medicine of repentance, anointing him with patience: ‘Repent,’ he said, ‘if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.’ For God, being a lover of souls, does not wish the destruction of those who sin. Now that what I undertook has been proved as best I could, Theodore of great name, deacon of the mysteries of the truth, ask of us what you wish to learn.

Deacon: Where have you come from now, that we have you here?

Bishop: From the East, of course; for I have now seen Rome for the first time.

Deacon: What brought you most of all?

Bishop: Longing for your peace.

Deacon: Is there some other peace besides yours?

Bishop: There is no other; there is only one, which the Saviour gave from heaven when he said to the apostles, ‘My peace I give you.’ And to make the grace firm he repeated it: ‘My peace I leave you,’ setting ‘I give’ with reference to himself and ‘I leave’ with reference to the Holy Spirit, so that in the Spirit, through Christ, they might reveal the knowledge of the Father to the nations. But just as, when limbs are paralysed, the energies of the soul turn back toward the healthier limbs, so has the wretched East fared. For its limbs are paralysed and cannot perform their proper functions because concord has fled; and most of those who are unencumbered and who long for it have become exiles from the country, since we cannot live safely and undisturbed in the land that bred us because of our adherence to the truth, in the hope that, finding you, we may live according to the Gospel these few days that remain of life.

Deacon: It seems, wonderful Father, that you were sent to us by Providence; for I find your grief in tune with our sorrows. For I take it you are of the fellowship of John, the bishop of Constantinople.

Bishop: It is as you say.

Deacon: Then I urge you, with God as witness, to tell us with all truth the things we are eager to learn in detail, knowing this, that if you report anything to us contrary to the truth, you will have God as judge and assessor, and you will also be refuted by us, who have learned otherwise. For it is not one or two or three or ten, or chance comers, who have told us of what happened in Constantinople, but many more, among them bishops and presbyters and members of the order of monks. And if you wish to learn briefly how matters stand in the Church of the Romans, I will give you the knowledge. First of all there came to us a reader from Alexandria with letters of [Theo]philus to the pope, in which he reported [that he had deposed] John. When the blessed pope Innocent read the letter he was somewhat taken aback, condemning Theophilus for rashness and arrogance, because he had written alone and had not sent clear information either of the reason for which he had deposed him or of those with whom he had deposed him. Perplexed by this he waited, unwilling to reply because of the levity of the matter. Meanwhile a certain Eusebius, a deacon of [the church of Constantinople], who was staying in Rome on [its business], came to the pope [and begged] him to wait a little while, and he would see the plot uncovered. And three days later there arrived four bishops of John's party, [Pansophius of Pisidia, Pappus of] Syria, Demetrius of Galatia Secunda, Eugenius of [Phry]gia, delivering three letters, one besides the other two: one from John the bishop, one from forty other bishops in communion with John, and the third from John's clergy. The three agreed, and told of the tumult caused by ignorant men. The letter of Bishop John ran as follows:

To my lord, the most reverend and most holy bishop Innocent, John sends greeting in the Lord.

I think that even before our letter your piety has heard of the lawlessness that has been dared here. For the magnitude of the evils has left no part of the world without hearing of this grievous tragedy; report has carried what happened to the very ends of the earth and has caused great lamentation and mourning everywhere. But since one must not only lament these things but also set them right, and consider how this grievous [storm might be stilled, we thought it necessary] to persuade my most honoured lords [the bishops Demetrius, Pansophius,] Pappus and Eugenius to leave their own churches, to venture on so great a sea, to undertake a long journey abroad, to hasten to your love and to inform you clearly of everything. With them we have also sent our most honoured and beloved deacons Paul and Cyriacus. They too, as though they were a letter, will briefly teach your love what has happened.

For he who has been entrusted with the presidency of the Church of Alexandria [Theophilus, when certain persons had brought charges to the most pious] emperor against him, was ordered to come alone. But he arrives bringing with him no small crowd of Egyptians, as if wishing to show from the very outset that he was coming to war and battle. Then, having set foot in the great and God-loving city of Constantinople, he did not go to church according to the rule that has prevailed from of old; he did not meet with us, he did not share with us in word, in prayer, in communion; but stepping off the ship and running past the doors of the church, he went off somewhere outside the city and lodged there. And though we earnestly begged both him and those who came with him to stay with us (for everything had been made ready, lodgings and whatever was fitting), neither they nor he would consent. Seeing this we were in great perplexity, unable even to find the cause of this unjust hostility. Nevertheless we did our part, doing what befitted us, and continually urging him to meet with us and to say why he had fanned so great a war from the very outset and had scandalized so great a city. But when even so he would not state the reason, and his accusers were pressing, the most pious emperor summoned us [and ordered us to go across to where he was] and hear the case against him. For they charged him with assault and murders and countless other things. But we, from reverence and honour for the laws of the fathers and for the man, and holding his own letter, which says that cases must not be dragged beyond the borders, but that the affairs of the provinces must be tried within the provinces, would not consent to judge, but declined with great vehemence.

But he, as though trying to outdo his former acts, summoned my archdeacon with great high-handedness, as if the Church were already widowed and had no bishop, and through him drew the whole clergy over to himself. And the churches were thrown into confusion, the clergy of each being drawn away, prepared to give [evidence] against us, and anointed for accusation. Having done this, he sent and summoned us to trial, though he had not yet cleared himself of the charges against him, which was contrary above all to the canons and to all laws. But we, knowing that we were not going before a judge (for then we would have come ten thousand times) but before an enemy and foe, as both his earlier and his later acts have shown, sent to him bishops, [Demetrius of] Pessinus …, and [the presbyters Germanus and] Severus, answering with the moderation that befitted us, and saying that we did not decline judgement, but an enemy and open foe. For a man who has not yet received a single petition, and has done such things from the outset, and has broken himself off from Church and communion and prayer, who anoints accusers, transfers clergy and empties churches, how could he justly mount the judge's throne, which in no way belongs to him? It was not consistent that one from Egypt should judge in Thrace, and one himself under charges at that, and an enemy and foe. Yet he respected none of this, but hastened to accomplish what he wished; and when we declared that we were ready, in the presence of a hundred or a thousand bishops, to clear ourselves of the charges and to show ourselves innocent, as indeed we are, he would not allow it. Instead, in our absence, while we were appealing to a synod, asking for a trial, and shunning not a hearing but open hostility, he received accusers, released those whom I had bound, and, before they had cleared themselves of the charges against them, accepted [their petitions] and drew up minutes, all of which was contrary to rule and canon and order. And (why should I say much?) he did not stop doing and contriving everything until, with all power and high-handedness, he drove us out of both the city and the Church. Late in the evening, while the whole people was thronging after us, I was dragged through the middle of the city by the curiosus of the city and … and by night I sailed away, because I was calling for a synod and a just trial. Who could hear this without tears, even if he had a heart of stone? But since, as I said before, one must not only lament but also set things right, I beg your love to rouse yourself, to share our pain, and to do everything so that these evils may be stopped.

For they did not end their lawlessness even there, but afterwards went on to outdo their former acts. When the most pious emperor had driven out those who had shamelessly and unjustly leapt upon the Church, and many of the bishops, seeing their lawlessness, withdrew to their own sees, fleeing their onslaught like a fire, we were recalled to the city and to the Church from which we had been unjustly expelled, with more than thirty bishops [bringing] us in, and the most God-fearing emperor sending a notary for the purpose. But he at once ran away, why and for what reason we do not know. Having entered, then, we begged the most God-fearing emperor to convene a synod to give redress for what had happened. Conscious [of his guilt], then, he fled; fearing exposure, when [letters] were gathering everyone from everywhere, he secretly threw himself into a small boat in the middle of the night and so ran away, taking all his people with him. But not even then did we desist, trusting in our conscience, and we urged the same requests again on the most pious emperor; and he, acting as befitted his piety, sent to him again, telling him to come up quickly from Egypt with all his people to give an account of what had happened, and not to think that what had been dared so unjustly, by one side alone, in our absence and against so many canons, was enough for his defence. But he would not obey even the imperial letter. He stayed at home, pleading a riot of the people and the untimely zeal of some who were supposedly attached to him; and yet before the imperial letter this same people had washed him with countless insults. But we are not concerning ourselves with this now; we have said it wishing to show that he was caught in wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, not even after this did we keep quiet, but pressed on, asking that a court be held, with trial, [question] and answer; for we were ready to show that we were blameless and that they had committed the worst lawlessness. There were also some Syrians left behind here of those who had been with him at the time, who had staged the whole drama jointly with him. With these too we were ready to stand trial, and very often we pressed for this, asking that either the minutes be given us, or the petitions of the accusers, or that the nature of the charges be made known, or the accusers themselves; and we obtained none of these, but were thrust out of the church again. How could any words present what followed? What ear could receive it without shuddering? For while we were pressing these very requests that I have mentioned, a crowd of soldiers suddenly, on the Great Sabbath itself, as the day was already hastening toward evening, burst into the churches and drove out by force all the clergy who were with us, and surrounded the sanctuary with arms. And women of the houses of prayer, who had undressed for baptism at that very moment, fled naked for fear of this grievous assault, not even [permitted] the decency [fitting to women]; and they were driven out after receiving wounds, and the fonts were filled with blood, and the sacred waters were reddened from such wounds. Nor did the horror stop there: the soldiers came where the holy things were kept (some of whom, as we learned, were not even baptized) and saw everything inside, and the most holy blood of Christ, in such great tumult, was spilled on the clothes of those I have mentioned, and everything was dared as in a barbarian captivity. And the people were driven into the wilderness, and the whole congregation fled outside the city, and on such a feast the churches were emptied of their people; and more than forty bishops in communion with us were driven out with the people for no reason and to no purpose. Wailing everywhere, groans, laments, dirges and fountains of tears filled the market-places and the houses and the deserted places and every part of the city with these calamities. Because of the excess of the lawlessness, not only those who suffered but also those who endured nothing of the kind grieved with us; not only those of our faith, but also heretics and Jews and pagans; and as though the city had been taken by storm, everything was in tumult and confusion and wailing. And these things were dared against the will of the most pious emperor, as night came on, with bishops contriving them, who were not ashamed to have military officers going before them instead of deacons. When day came, the whole city moved outside the walls, under trees and in the glens, … For the rest, consider everything that followed for yourselves; for, as I said before, it is impossible to go through in words everything that happened in detail. And the grievous thing is that such great evils have not yet found an end, nor even a hope of an end, but grow worse every day … the horror, and we have become a laughing-stock to many; or rather no one laughs, even if he has broken the law ten thousand times, but all lament, as I said, this crown of evils, this new lawlessness.

Who could describe the disturbances of the other churches? For the trouble did not stop here, but reached as far as the East. Just as when an evil humour pours down from the head the remaining limbs are corrupted, so now too, the evils having begun as from a source in this great city, … rose up against bishops, and the peoples are some of them split already, others about to be, and everywhere there are birth-pangs of evils and the overturning of the whole world. Having learned all this, then, most honoured and most reverend lords, [show] the [zeal and courage] fitting to you, and we beg you to check [the lawlessness] that has invaded the churches. For if this custom should prevail, and it becomes permissible for anyone who wishes to go into other people's provinces from such distances and expel whomever they please, doing by their own authority whatever they please, know that everything will be ruined and an undeclared war will overrun the whole world, all striking and being struck by all. So, that so great a confusion may not overtake the whole world under the sun, I beg you to write that what has been done so lawlessly, in our absence and by one side, when we did not decline judgement, has no force, as indeed by its own nature it has none; and that those who have acted so lawlessly [are subject to the penalty of the ecclesiastical] law; and grant us, who have not been convicted, not refuted, not shown guilty, to enjoy your letters continually, and your love and everything else, as before. And if even now those who have committed such lawlessness wish to try the charges on which they unjustly expelled us, then, once the minutes have been given us and the petitions of the accusers have been produced and an impartial court has been seated, we will stand trial and make our defence and show ourselves innocent of what is alleged against us, as indeed we are. For what they have now done is outside all order, all law and every ecclesiastical canon. Even in the courts outside the Church such things were never dared; or rather not even in a barbarian court. Not even Scythians and Sarmatians would ever have given judgement after hearing one side only, in the absence of the accused, when he declined not judgement but enmity, called for ten thousand judges, declared himself blameless, and was ready, before the whole world, to clear himself of the charges and to show himself guiltless in everything. Considering all this, then, and having learned everything more clearly from my lords, our most reverend brothers the bishops, be pleased to contribute your own zeal. For so you will do a kindness not only to us but also to the whole body of the churches, and you will receive from God the reward of one who does everything for the peace of the churches. … [The same letter] was also written to Venerius, bishop [of Milan, and to Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia]. Farewell in the Lord.