Homilies 10.1–11.8

On the third day in Tripolis Peter rose from sleep earlier than usual and went into the garden, where there was a large water tank into which plenty of water flowed continually. There he bathed and then prayed, and sat down; and seeing us sitting around him and gazing at him as if wanting to hear something, he said:

"There seems to me to be a great difference between those who are ignorant and those who have gone astray. The ignorant man seems to me like a man who does not wish to set out for a prosperous city because he does not know the good things there; but the one who has gone astray is like one who has learned of the good things of the city, but in setting out has turned aside from the path of the road and so has wandered off. So there seems to me to be a great difference between those who worship idols and those who wander within the worship of God. Those who worship idols do not know eternal life, and for that reason they do not even long for it; for what they do not know they cannot love. But those who have chosen to worship the one God and have learned that eternal life is given to the good, if they believe or do anything contrary to what pleases God, are like those who have left the city of punishment to go to the prosperous city and have strayed from the straight road on the way.

While he was discussing this with us, one of our people who had been appointed to make such announcements came in to report to him: "My lord Peter, great crowds are standing before the doors." When he gave permission, a great crowd came in. He rose, stood on the base he had used the day before, greeted them in the manner of the religion, and said: "God created heaven and earth and made all that is in them, as the true Prophet has told us; and man, made after his image and likeness, was appointed to rule and be lord over the creatures of the air, the earth and the waters. This can be seen from the facts themselves: by his intelligence he brings down what is in the air, brings up what is in the deep, and hunts what is on the earth, even creatures much greater than he in strength, I mean elephants, lions, and the like.

"While man was righteous he was above all sufferings, being unable, with his immortal body, to experience pain; but when he sinned, as we showed yesterday and the day before, having become a slave of sin he fell under all sufferings, deprived of every good thing by a just judgment. For it was not reasonable that, when the Giver had been abandoned, the gifts should remain with the ungrateful. So out of his surpassing compassion he sent his Prophet, so that we might enjoy, together with the first goods, the eternal goods to come as well. And the Prophet commanded us to tell you what you must think and do. Choose, then, what lies within your power. What you must think is this: to worship God who made all things. If you take him into your mind, you will receive from him, together with the first good things, the eternal goods to come.

"You will be able to persuade yourselves of what is profitable if, as though charming it, you say to the fearsome serpent lurking in your heart: 'You shall fear the Lord God and serve him alone.' By every reckoning it is profitable to fear him alone, not as unjust but as just. For one fears an unjust being lest one be unjustly destroyed, and a just one lest one be caught in sin and punished. Through fear of him, then, you can be freed from many harmful fears. For if you do not fear the one Lord and Maker of all, you will be slaves of all evils to your own harm, I mean of demons and sufferings and of everything that can harm in any way.

"Take courage, then, and draw near to God, you who were made in the beginning to rule and be lords over all things, who have his image in your body and likewise have in your mind the likeness of his judgment. But since by acting like irrational animals you have lost the human soul out of your soul, you have become like swine and the prey that demons demand. If, then, you accept the law of God, you become human beings. For one cannot say to irrational animals, 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal,' and the rest. Do not, therefore, begrudge yourselves, when you are called back, the entrance into your first nobility. It is possible, if you become like God through good deeds. And being reckoned his sons because of the likeness, you will be able to be restored as masters of all things.

"Begin, then, to strip off the harmful fears of empty idols, so that you may escape an unjust slavery. For those things have become your masters which are useless to you even as slaves. I mean the matter of lifeless images, which are of no use even to serve you. For it does not hear, or see, or feel, nor can it even move. Would any of you wish to see as it sees, to hear as it hears, to feel and to move as it does? Far be it from anyone to insult any human being with such an insult, since he carries about the image of God, even if he has lost the likeness.

"Restore your gods, then, the ones of gold and silver or made of any other material, to their original nature, I mean into bowls and basins and all the other things that can be useful for your service; and these good things given to you from the beginning will be able to be restored. But perhaps you will say: 'The laws of our rulers do not allow us to do this.' Well said: it is laws, and not the power of the idle objects of worship themselves, which have none. How then have you regarded them as gods, when they are avenged by human laws, watched by dogs, guarded by crowds? And that, if they are of gold, silver or bronze; the ones of stone or clay are guarded by their worthlessness, since no one wants to steal a god of stone or clay. So your gods made of costlier material are exposed to great danger. How can they be gods at all, when they are stolen, melted down, weighed, and kept under guard?

"O the minds of wretched men, who fear things deader than the dead! I cannot even call them dead, since they have never lived, unless they are the tombs of men of old. For sometimes someone who comes to unfamiliar places does not know whether the temples he sees are memorials of dead men or of the so-called gods; but when he asks and hears that they belong to gods, he worships, without shame that, if he had not learned by inquiring, he would have passed by as though it were a dead man's monument, since the resemblance is the same. However, I need not give much proof against such superstition. It is easy for anyone who wishes to see that the idol is nothing, unless someone cannot see. But even now, hear that it does not hear, and understand that it does not understand. For the hands of a man who died made it. And if its maker has died, how will what he made not be destroyed? Why then do you worship the work of a mortal, which is completely senseless? Those who have reason do not worship even living creatures, nor flatter the elements made by God, I mean heaven, sun, moon, lightning, sea and all that is in them, judging rightly that they must not worship even the things he has made, but must revere God, their Maker and Provider. For they themselves rejoice in this, that no one has attached to them the honor due to their Maker.

"For to him alone belongs the honored glory of being alone unbegotten, while all other things are begotten. As it is proper to the unbegotten to be God, so whatever has come into being is not truly God. Before everything, then, you must understand the malicious scheme of the serpent who deceives you from within, who cleverly deceives you with the promise of better reasoning, creeping from your brain into your spinal marrow and counting your deception a great gain.

"For he knows the law from the beginning: if only he brings you to the notion of any so-called gods, so that you sin against the good of the monarchy, your downfall becomes his gain. The reason is this: since he was condemned to eat earth, he has authority to eat the one who through sin has been dissolved into earth and become earth, as your souls pass into the belly of his fire. So, in order that you may suffer these things, he suggests to you every notion against yourselves.

"For from him all the deceptive suppositions against the monarchy are sown in your mind to your harm. First, so that you may not hear the words of true religion and drive out ignorance, the cause of evils, he lies in wait under the pretext of knowledge, first of all making use of one presumption against everyone: the thought, and the bad decision, that if someone does not hear the word of true religion, he is not liable to judgment. So some, deceived in this way, do not want to hear, so that they may remain ignorant, not knowing that ignorance itself is by itself a sufficient deadly poison. For if someone takes a deadly poison unknowingly, does he not die? So by nature sins destroy the sinner, even if he does unknowingly what he ought not.

"And if judgment follows disobedience to words, much more will God destroy those who would not accept his worship. For the one who does not want to learn, so that he may not be liable, is already judged as one who knows; for he knew what it is that he does not want to hear. So no contrivance can serve as a defense before God who knows the heart. Flee, therefore, the serpent's cunning notion put into your mind. And even if someone ends this present life truly ignorant, he will have a charge against him: that having lived so long he did not know who was the benefactor of himself and of the food supplied to him; and as senseless and ungrateful, a very unworthy servant, he will be rejected from the kingdom of God.

"The fearsome serpent also suggests to you another supposition, to think and to say what nearly most of you do say: 'We too know that there is one Lord of all, but these also are gods. For just as there is one Caesar, but he has under him administrators, consuls, prefects, tribunes, centurions, and decurions, in the same way, since there is one great God as there is one Caesar, these too are gods after the manner of subordinate powers, subject to him but governing us.' Listen, then, you who have been smeared by him with this notion as with a fearsome poison (I mean the evil notion of this comparison), so that you may know what is good and what is evil; for you have not yet recovered your sight, since you do not even look into the things you put forward.

"For if you say that God has the so-called gods as subordinate powers, as Caesar does, you are not even keeping to your own comparison. If you kept to it, you should know this: as it is not lawful to give the name of Caesar to another, whether consul or prefect or tribune or anyone else (for the one who gives it will not live, and the one who takes it will be put to death), so, by your own comparison, it is not lawful for the name of God to be given to another; for whoever tries either to take it or to give it perishes. And if an insult against a man incurs punishment, much more will those who call others gods be subject to eternal punishment for insulting God. And rightly so, because you have subjected to every insult you could the name handed down to you to honor, for his monarchy. For 'God' is not in fact his own name; but you received it, and insulted what was given you so that, as you might use it, it would be reckoned as honor to his true name. Yet you have subjected it to every insult.

"For instance, the founders of your Egyptians, who boast of their knowledge of the heavens and profess to distinguish the natures of the stars, because of an evil notion lurking in them, subjected the name to every dishonor as far as they could. Some of them handed down the worship of a bull called Apis, others of a goat, others of a cat, others of a snake, and even of a fish, and of onions, and of stomach winds, and of sewers, and of the limbs of irrational animals, and of countless other utterly hateful absurdities.

When Peter said this, the crowd standing by laughed. And Peter said in response to the laughter: "You laugh at their practices, not knowing that you are laughed at much more by them. You laugh at each other's practices, but you do not see your own, having been led into deception by bad custom. That you are indeed right to laugh at the Egyptians I agree, since, being rational, they worship irrational animals, which certainly die. But hear how they in turn laugh at you. 'We,' they say, 'even if we worship things that die, at least worship things that once lived; but you revere things that never lived.' Besides this they say: 'Wishing to honor the form of the one God, and not finding what kind it is, we chose to honor every form.' And yet, saying such things, they think their judgment more correct than yours.

"So you should answer them: 'You lie. You do not revere these things out of honor for the true God, for then you would all worship every form, not as you do. Some of you, who suppose the divine to be an onion, and others who revere stomach winds, fight each other; and so all of you alike, each preferring one thing, find fault with the things of others. With differing judgment one reveres one limb of the same animal and another another.' Yet those of them who still breathe something of right reason, ashamed of the obvious disgrace, try to turn these things into allegories, wishing by a further folly to strengthen the deadly elements of their deception. We would refute the allegories too, if we were there, where so foolish a passion has prevailed as to produce a very great sickness in their thinking. For one should apply the plaster not to the healthy part of the body but to the part that suffers. Since, then, by laughing at the Egyptians you have shown that you are not persuaded by their views, it was reasonable that, being here with you, I should provide the cure for the disease you do suffer from.

"Whoever chooses to worship God must before all else know what alone is proper to God's nature, which cannot belong to another, so that, looking to his distinctive property and not finding it in another, he may never be deceived into granting to another that he is God. It is proper to God that he alone, as the maker of all things, is also greater than all: greater in power, as maker, than all the rest; in greatness, as infinite, than what is bounded; in form, the most beautiful; in happiness, the most blessed; in mind, the most perfect. Likewise in all other things he has a pre-eminence beyond comparison. Since, then, as I said, it is proper to God to be greater than all things, and the world that contains all things was made by him, it must be said that nothing made by him can bear equal comparison with him.

"What does not have the incomparable, the unsurpassable, and what lacks nothing in any way or respect cannot be God, inasmuch as it has come into being. How much less could its parts reasonably be called god! By parts I mean those you call gods, made of gold and silver, bronze and stone, or of any other material, and these fashioned by a mortal hand. Nevertheless, let us see in addition how the fearsome serpent, through a human mouth, poisons with his suggestions those who are deceived.

"For many say: 'In our objects of worship we do not revere the gold or the silver or wood or stone; we too know that these are nothing but lifeless matter and the craft of a mortal man. But the spirit that dwells in them, this we call god.' See the malice of those who say this. Since what is seen is easily refuted as being nothing, they have fled to the invisible, as though they could not be refuted in what is hidden. Yet such people agree with us in part, that half of the images among them is not God but senseless matter. It remains for them to show how we are to believe that it has a divine spirit. But they cannot demonstrate to us that it is so, since it is not; nor do we believe them when they say they have seen it. We, however, will give them proofs that it has nothing divine, so that lovers of truth, hearing the refutation, may turn away from the raving supposition that these things are animated.

"First of all, if you revere them as animated, you also worship the tombs of men of old, who admittedly never had a divine spirit. So you do not speak the truth on this point either. Besides, if your objects of worship were really animated, they would move of themselves, they would have a voice, they would shake off the spider webs on them, they would drive off those who wish to plot against them and steal them, they would easily catch those who strip off the votive offerings. But as it is, they do none of these things; rather, like condemned prisoners, and especially the more valuable of them, they are kept under guard, as we said at the beginning. Why do the rulers not demand tribute and taxes from you on their account, as if you reaped great profit from what is there? Why have they not often been plundered by enemies, broken up, and shared out? Do not the priests themselves, more than the worshippers outside, having passed judgment on their own useless worship, steal away many of the offerings?

"'Yes,' someone says, 'but the thieves were caught by the gods' providence.' It is false. How many of them were not caught? And if they say that the gods have power because some thieves have been arrested, they are mistaken. For of grave robbers too some are found and some escape notice, and surely those who are arrested are not detected by the power of the dead. We may think something similar about the gods who are stolen and plundered. 'But,' someone says, 'the gods who are in them do not care about their own wooden images.' Why then do you tend them, wiping them, washing them, cleaning them, crowning them, sacrificing to them? From this, then, recognize that you do not act with right reason either. For just as you weep over the dead, so you sacrifice and pour libations to your gods.

"Nor does it agree any longer with the comparison of Caesar and the powers under him to call them administrators, when you take all the care of them, as I said, tending your images in every way. For they, having no power, do nothing. Otherwise tell us: what do they administer? What do they do comparable to what local governors do? What do they accomplish comparable to God's stars? Do they give light like the sun, they for whom you light lamps? Can they, like the clouds that bring rain, bring showers, when they cannot even move themselves unless people lift them? Or do they supply fruits, they for whom you provide sacrifices from the earth by your labors? So they can do nothing.

"And even if they could do something, you would not be right to call them gods, since it is not lawful to name even the elements gods, through which good things are supplied. Only him who ordered them to accomplish all things for our use and commanded them to serve man do we, by right reason, name God. You, not perceiving his kindness, have proclaimed the elements that were assigned to you as servants to be masters over you. And why speak of elements? You have made lifeless images and not only worship them but think fit to be subject to them like slaves in everything. Because of this, through your own folly, you have come under the power of demons. Yet through the knowledge of God himself, by good deeds, you can become masters again, command the demons as slaves, and as sons of God be made heirs of the eternal kingdom."

Having said this, he ordered the demon-possessed and those seized by diseases to be brought to him. When they were brought, he laid his hands on them, prayed, and sent them away healthy, reminding them and the rest of the crowds to attend here for as many days as he stayed and taught. When the others had withdrawn, Peter bathed in the water tank there with those who wished, and ordering a place to be spread on the ground under a thick canopy of trees for the shade, he had each of us recline according to rank; and so we took food. Having blessed and given thanks to God for the enjoyment, according to the customary faith of the Hebrews, since there was still much time left he allowed us to ask about whatever we wished. And though there were twenty of us, he answered each one who asked in turn. When evening came on, we went with him into the most spacious room of the lodging, and there we all slept.

On the fourth day in Tripolis Peter rose, and finding us awake he greeted us and went out to the water tank to bathe and pray; and we did likewise after him. When we had prayed together and sat down before him, he gave a talk on the need to keep pure. And when it was now day, he allowed the crowds to come in. When the crowd had come in, he greeted many as usual and began to speak.

"Since, through the great neglect you have shown to your own harm, your mind has sprouted the many harmful notions of the religions, and you have become like land gone wild for lack of a farmer, you need a long time for cleansing, so that your mind, receiving the true word imparted to you like good seed, may not choke it with evil cares and make it unfruitful in the works that can save. Therefore those who care for their own salvation must listen more constantly, so that the absurdities that have multiplied over long times may be matched, in the short time that remains, by constant effort toward cleansing. Since, then, each of you has the end of his own time hidden from him, hasten to root out the many thorns of your hearts, and not little by little; otherwise you will not be able to be cleansed, for you have lain wild a long time.

"But you will not bear to undertake the great effort needed for your cleansing unless you become angry with yourselves and rebuke yourselves for the things in which, like worthless men, you were ensnared by agreeing with your evil desires, so that you may be able to set your righteous anger upon your mind like fire upon a field gone wild. If you do not have righteous fire (I mean anger against evil desires), learn from what good things you have been lured away, for what punishment you have been made ready, and by whom you have been deceived; and so your mind, becoming sober and kindled like fire into anger by the teaching of him who sent us, may be able to consume the evils of desire. Believe me: if you are willing, you will be able to set everything right.

"You are the image of the invisible God. So let those who wish to be godly not say that idols are God's image and must therefore be worshipped. For the image of God is man. Whoever wishes to be godly toward God does good to man, because the human body bears the image of God. Not all, however, bear the likeness any longer, but only the pure mind of a good soul. Yet since we know that man was made after the image and likeness of God, we tell you to show your godliness toward him, so that the kindness may be credited to God, whose image he is. You must therefore offer honor to the image of God, which is man, in this way: food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, care to the sick, shelter to the stranger, and to him who is in prison, appearing and helping as far as possible. And not to speak case by case: whatever good things a person wishes for himself, let him provide the same to another in need; and then a good reward can be credited to him for his godliness toward the image of God. By the same reasoning, if he will not undertake to do these things, he will be punished for neglecting the image.

"What sort of thing is it, then, to say that you worship every form for the sake of godliness toward God, while in everything you outrage man, who is truly God's image, murdering, committing adultery, stealing, and dishonoring him in many other ways? You ought not to do a single evil thing by which a man is grieved; but as it is, you do everything by which a man is disheartened, for even injustice brings dejection. That is why you murder, take away his goods, and whatever else you know you would not wish to suffer. You, deceived into wickedness by some malicious reptile through the notion of a knowledge of many gods, act impiously toward the true image, which is man, while you think you are godly toward senseless things.

"Some say: 'If he did not wish these things to exist, they would not exist; he would have destroyed them.' I too say that this will certainly happen, when people have shown their choice toward him, and so a change of the present world will come about. But even so, if you want him to act so that none of the objects of worship should exist, tell us: what existing thing have you not worshipped? Do not some of you worship the sun, others the moon, others water, others earth, others mountains, others plants, others seeds, and others even a man, as in Egypt? Then God ought to have allowed nothing to exist, not even you, so that there would be nothing worshipped and nothing worshipping. Truly this is what the fearsome serpent lurking in you wishes to happen, for he does not spare you. But it will not be so. The thing worshipped does no wrong, for it suffers violence from the one who wishes to worship it. Even if an unjust judgment is given by all men, it is not so with God. For it is not just that the one who suffers and the one who contrived it should receive the same punishment, unless the thing itself willingly accepts the honor of the only Most Honored.

"'But,' someone says, 'the worshippers themselves should be destroyed by the true God, so that no one else does this.' But you are not wiser than God, that you should give him advice as one more prudent. He knows what he is doing. He is patient with all who are in ungodliness, as a merciful and kind father, knowing that the ungodly also become godly. And of those very people who worship shameful and senseless things, many have come to their senses and ceased to worship them and to sin, and Greeks too have been saved by their prayers to the true God.

"'But he should have made us from the beginning so that we would not think about such things at all.' Those who say this do not know what free will is, and how it is possible to be truly good: the one who is good by his own choice is truly good, but the one made good by another through necessity is not truly good, because he is not what he is by his own choice. Since, then, each person's freedom brings about what is truly good and shows what is truly evil, God contrived that in each person enmity or friendship should arise through circumstances. 'No,' someone says, 'but everything we think, he himself makes us think.' Stop! Why do you who say this blaspheme further? For if in everything we think we are moved by him, you are saying that he is the cause of sexual immoralities, debaucheries, greed, and every blasphemy. Stop speaking ill of him, you who ought to speak well of him and give him every honor. And do not say, 'God does not claim honor.' For even if he claims nothing, you, looking to what is just, ought to repay with a thankful voice the one who has done you good in everything.