Recognitions 5.35–7.7

“But one who does not believe that the judgment of God is to come does not accept that this is so; and for this reason, bound to the pleasures of the present age, he is shut out from eternal goods. And so we do not neglect to preach to you what we know is necessary for your salvation, and to show what the true worship of God is, so that, believing God, you may through good works become heirs of the age to come together with us. And if it is not yet certain to you that what we say is true, meanwhile you ought not on this account to take it ill and be hostile because we announce to you what we think good, and do not begrudge sharing with you what we believe to be saving for ourselves, laboring, as I said, with every effort to have you as fellow heirs of the goods that we believe will come to us. But whether what we announce to you is certainly true, you can know in no other way than by obeying what is commanded and being taught by the very outcome of things and the most certain end of blessedness.

“And so, even if the serpent lurking within occupies your minds with a thousand arts of corruption and puts a thousand obstacles in the way to turn your hearing aside from saving teaching, you ought all the more to resist him, and, despising his suggestions, to come together more often to hear the word from us and to receive the teaching; for no one can learn anything who is not taught.” When he had said this, he ordered those oppressed by illnesses or demons to be brought to him, laid his hands on them with prayer, and so dismissed the crowds, urging them to come often to hear the word on the days he would be staying there. When the crowd had gone, Peter washed his body in the waters that flowed in the garden, together with the others who wished, and ordered couches to be spread on the ground under a tree that gave much shade, and told us to recline according to the order established at Caesarea. And so, having taken food and given thanks to God after the manner of the Hebrews, since some of the day still remained, he told us to ask about whatever we wished. As there were twenty of us with him in all, he explained to each what he wished to ask about; and each of these things I have already sent to you, set down in books. When evening had come, we went into the lodging with him and rested, each in his own place.

When, as the darkness thinned, the day first began to bring forth the dawn, Peter went into the garden to pray; and coming out and going in, he seemed to be excusing himself to us for having woken later than usual and come to us late. So he said: “When the season of spring has made the day longer, the night must become shorter. If, then, anyone wishes to take some part of the night for study, he ought not to keep the same hours for waking at every season, but should spend the same length of time in sleeping whether the night is shorter or longer, and take great care not to encroach on the hours he usually has for study, adding to his sleep and shortening his time of waking. For this too must be observed: that if sleep is interrupted while the food is not yet digested, the undigested body may weigh down the mind, and, breathing out still-raw vapors, make the inner sense confused and turbid. It is right, then, that this part too be cherished with suitable rest, so that the body, having had sufficiently what is owed to it, may render due service to the mind in everything else.”

When he had said this, since very many had already gathered to hear at the usual place in the garden, Peter went out, greeted the crowds as usual, and began to speak in this way: “As earth neglected by the farmer necessarily produces thorns and thistles, so your mind, through long neglect, has sprouted many harmful opinions about things and notions of false knowledge. There is need now of much diligence to cultivate the field of your mind, so that the word of truth, which is the true and diligent farmer of the heart, may cultivate it with constant discipline. It is your part, then, to give it obedience and to cut off superfluous occupations and anxieties, so that a harmful growth may not choke the good seed of the word. For it can happen that a brief but constant diligence makes up for the neglect of a long time; for the length of each one's life is uncertain, and therefore we must hasten to salvation, lest sudden death overtake one who delays.

“And for this reason we must strive the more keenly, while there is time, to cut away the vices of evil habit that have accumulated. You will not be able to do this otherwise than by being angry in a way with yourselves for what you have done uselessly and shamefully. For this is a just and necessary anger, by which each one is indignant at the things in which he has erred and done wrong, and accuses himself. From this indignation a kind of fire is kindled in us, which, like fire set into a barren field, burns up and roasts the roots of the worst pleasure and prepares a more fertile soil of the heart for the good seed of the word of God. I think you have causes enough for anger, from which this most just fire may grow, if you consider into what great errors the evil of ignorance has led you, what great lapses and precipices of sin it has given you, from what great goods it has drawn you away and into what evils it has hurled you, and—what is heavier than all—that it has made you liable to eternal punishments in the age to come. When the light of truth has shone on you, is not the fire of most just indignation kindled on account of all these things, and does not a blaze of anger pleasing to God rise up within you, by which every shoot of evil desire that may have sprung up within you is consumed and dies at the root?

“Hence also he who sent us, when he had come and seen the whole world turned aside to wickedness, did not at once give it peace while it lay in errors, lest he should confirm it in evils, but opposed the knowledge of truth to the ruin of its ignorance, so that, if they should come to their senses and look on the light of truth, they might rightly grieve that they had been deceived and drawn off into the precipices of error, and might conceive the fire of saving anger against the ignorance that had deceived them. For this reason he said: ‘I have come to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were kindled!’ There is, then, a kind of battle that we must wage in this life. For the word of truth and knowledge necessarily separates men from error and ignorance, as we have often seen putrid and dead flesh of the body separated by the cutting knife from its connection with the living members. Something of this kind is what the knowledge of truth does. For it is necessary, for the sake of salvation, that a son, for example, who has received the word of truth be separated from unbelieving parents, or again that a father be separated from his son, or a daughter from her mother. And in this way, among relatives and kin, believers and unbelievers, there arises a battle of knowledge and ignorance, of truth and error. For this reason, again, he who sent us said: ‘I have not come to send peace on the earth, but a sword.’

“But if anyone says, ‘And how does it seem just to be separated from parents?’, hear how: because if they remain with them in error, they will not help them, and they themselves will perish together with them. It is just, then, and very just, that one who wishes to be saved be separated from one who does not. But notice this too: this separation does not come from those who understand more rightly; for they wish to be with them and to help them and teach them better things. But it is the proper vice of ignorance that it cannot bear to have the light of truth that refutes it close at hand; and so the separation arises from them. For those who receive the knowledge of truth, because it is full of goodness, desire, as a gift from the good God, to have it in common with all if possible, even with those who hate and persecute them; for they know that the cause of their sin is ignorance. For this reason, indeed, the Master himself, when he was being led to the cross by those who did not know him, prayed to the Father for his killers and said: ‘Father, forgive them their sin, for they do not know what they are doing.’ The disciples also, imitating their Master, when they themselves suffered, likewise prayed for their killers. And if it is our discipline to pray even for our killers and persecutors, how ought we not also to bear the persecutions of parents and relatives and pray for their conversion?

“Then let us also consider more carefully what reason we have for loving our parents. ‘Because,’ someone says, ‘they seem to be the authors of our life.’ Parents are not the authors of our life but its ministers; for they do not provide life, but render us the service of entering into this life. The author of life is one and only God. If, then, we wish to love the author of life, let us know that it is he whom we must love. ‘But him we have not been able to know, whereas these we know and hold in affection.’ Granted, you could not know what God is; yet you could very easily have known what God is not. For how could it escape a man that wood or stone or bronze or any other material of this kind is not God? And since you could have grasped this in things ready to hand, but would not apply your mind to examine it, it is certain that you were hindered in the knowledge of God not by impossibility but by the vice of sloth. For if you had wished, you would surely have received from these very useless images a way to understanding.

“For it is certain that images are made by iron, and iron is worked by fire, which fire is quenched by water; and water is moved by spirit, and spirit has its beginning from God. For so says Moses the prophet: ‘In the beginning God made heaven and earth; but the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God was over the waters.’ This Spirit, at God's command, like the very hand of the Maker, separated light from darkness, and after that invisible heaven produced this visible one, so as to make the upper regions a dwelling for angels and the lower ones for men. For your sake, then, at God's command the water that was on the face of the earth withdrew, so that the earth might produce fruits for you; and he secretly put veins of moisture in it, so that springs and rivers might flow from it for you. For your sake it was commanded to bring forth living creatures and everything that would serve your use and will. Or do not the winds blow for your sake, so that the earth, conceiving from them, may bear fruits for you? Do not the rains flow and the seasons change their turns for your sake? Does not the sun rise and set for your sake, and the moon undergo its changes? For your sake the sea offers its service, so that all things may be subject to you, ungrateful as you are. Will there not be a just penalty of vengeance for all these things, because you alone, beyond all others, have not known the giver of all these things, whom you ought to have known and venerated before all things?

“But even now I lead you to understanding by the same ways. For you see that all things are born from the waters; and water was made in the beginning through the Only-begotten; and the almighty God is the head of the Only-begotten, through whom, in the order we described above, one comes to the Father. And when you have come to the Father, you will recognize that this is his will: that you be born anew through the waters that were first created. For one who has been regenerated through water, when he has fulfilled good works, is made heir of him by whom he has been regenerated in incorruption. Therefore come with ready minds, as sons to a father, so that your sins may be washed away and their cause may be proved before God to have been ignorance alone. For if after learning these things you remain in unbelief, the cause of your perdition will be counted to you, and not to ignorance. And do not think that even if you practice all piety and all justice, but do not receive baptism, you can have hope with God. Rather, he will deserve greater punishment who does good works not well. For merit comes to a man from good deeds, but only if they are done as God commands. And God has commanded everyone who worships him to be sealed with baptism. If you resist, and obey your own will rather than God's, you are without doubt contrary and hostile to his will.

“But perhaps you will say: ‘What does the baptism of water contribute to the worship of God?’ First, that what has pleased God is fulfilled; second, that when you have been regenerated from the waters and born again to God, the frailty of your former birth, which came to you through man, is cut off, and so at last you will be able to reach salvation; otherwise it is impossible. For so the true Prophet has testified to us with an oath, saying: ‘Amen I say to you, unless one is born again of water, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’ And therefore make haste; for there is in these waters a certain power of mercy, which from the beginning was borne over them, and it recognizes those who are baptized under the invocation of the threefold sacrament, and rescues them from future punishments, offering to God as a kind of gift the souls consecrated through baptism. Flee, then, to these waters; for they alone can quench the force of the fire to come. Whoever delays to come to them, it is clear that the idol of unbelief still remains in him and that he is prevented by it from hastening to the waters that confer salvation. For whether you are just or unjust, baptism is in every way necessary for you: for the just, so that perfection may be fulfilled in him and he may be regenerated to God; for the unjust, so that remission may be granted of the sins he committed in ignorance. All, therefore, must hasten without delay to be born again to God, because the end of each one's life is uncertain.

“And when you have been regenerated through water, show in yourself by good works the likeness of him who begot you, the Father. For you have come to know God; honor your father. And his honor is that you live as he wishes. He wishes you to live so that you know nothing of murder or adultery, flee hatred and avarice, reject anger, pride, and boasting, abhor envy, and put all things like these far from you. There is indeed a certain observance proper to our religion, which is not so much imposed on men as it is sought out by each one who worships God, for the sake of purity. I mean for the sake of chastity, of which there are many kinds; but first, that each one take care not to have intercourse with a menstruating woman, for the law of God has held this abominable. Even if the law had given no warning about these things, should we, like dung beetles, gladly roll in filth? We ought to have something more than the animals, being rational men and capable of heavenly perceptions, whose highest concern ought to be to guard the conscience from every defilement of heart.

“It is good also, and fitting for purity, to wash the body with water. I call it good not as though it were the principal thing, in which the mind is purified, but because the washing of the flesh is a consequence of that good. For so our Master rebuked some of the Pharisees and scribes, who seemed to be better than the rest and separated from the common people, calling them hypocrites because they purified only what was seen by men, but left defiled and filthy their hearts, which God alone sees. So to some of them—not to all—he said: ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of filth. Blind Pharisee, first clean what is inside, and what is outside will be clean.’ For truly, if the mind is cleansed by the light of knowledge, when it has become clean and bright, then it necessarily takes care also of the outer man, that is, of its flesh, so that it too may be purified. But where this outward purification of the flesh is neglected, it is certain that no care is taken there for purity of mind and cleanness of heart. So it comes about that he who is clean inwardly is without doubt cleansed outwardly too; but not always is he who is cleansed outwardly also clean inwardly—namely, when he does these things to please everyone.

“That kind of chastity also must be observed, that intercourse with women be not indiscriminate and for the sake of lust alone, but for the sake of continuing posterity. Since this observance is found even in some animals, it is a shame if it is not observed by men who are rational and worship God. Chastity must be kept by those who hold the true worship of God, through the kinds we have mentioned above and others like them, so much the more because it is observed attentively even among those who are still held in errors by the devil; for there is among them some observance of chastity. What then? What you kept while erring, will you not observe now that you have been corrected?

“But perhaps one of you will say: ‘Must we then keep everything we did while we worshiped idols?’ Not everything; but whatever was done well, this it is fitting to observe now too. For if anything is done rightly by those who are in error, it is certain that it was taken from the truth; and if anything is done wrongly in the true religion, there is no doubt that it was borrowed from error. For good, even if done by those who err, is good; and evil, even if done by those who follow the truth, is evil. Or shall we be so foolish that, if we see an idol worshiper sober, we who worship God refuse to be sober, so as not to seem to do the same as the idol worshiper? It is not so. Rather let our aim be that, if those who err do not commit murder, we do not even become angry; and if they do not commit adultery, we do not even desire another's wife; if they love their neighbors, we love even our enemies; if they lend to those who have the means to repay, we give even to those from whom we do not hope to receive. And in all things we who hope for the inheritance of the eternal age ought to excel those who know only the present age, knowing that if their works, compared with ours on the day of judgment, are found similar and equal, it will be a shame to us that we are found equal in works to those who are condemned for their ignorance and had no hope of the age to come.

“And truly it is a fitting shame when we have done nothing more than those than whom we understood more. And if it will be a shame to us to be found equal to them in good works, what will become of us if the coming examination finds us inferior and worse? Hear, then, how the true Prophet himself taught us about these things. To those who neglect to hear the words of wisdom he says: ‘The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here, and they do not listen.’ And to those who refused to repent of their evil deeds he says: ‘The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.’ You see, then, how he condemns those who were instructed out of the law simply by comparison, bringing forward as examples those who came from Gentile ignorance and showing that they were not even equal to those who seemed to be in error. From all this the point we proposed is proved: that chastity, which is kept to some extent even by those in error, should be held much more purely and attentively in each of its kinds, as we showed above, by us who follow the truth, all the more because with us eternal rewards are set before its observance.”

When he had said these and similar things, he dismissed the crowds, and, having taken food as usual with his intimates, he rested. In this way, after he had taught the word of God for three continuous months and converted very many to the faith, at last he told me to fast, and after the fast he gave me baptism in the springs of perennial water that lie next to the sea. And when we had kept a joyful holiday with the brothers for the grace of regeneration divinely conferred on me, Peter ordered those who had been appointed to go ahead to set out for Antioch and wait there another three months. When they had gone, he himself led those who had fully received the faith of the Lord to the springs next to the sea that we mentioned above and baptized them; and breaking the Eucharist with them, he appointed Maro, who had received him as guest and was now perfected in all things, as their bishop, and ordained twelve presbyters with him, and deacons at the same time. He also instituted the order of widows and arranged all the ministries of the church, and admonished all to obey Maro the bishop in everything he commanded. And so, when everything had been suitably arranged and the period of three months was completed, we bade farewell to those at Tripolis and set out for Antioch.

At last we left Tripolis, a city of Phoenicia, and made our first halt at Orthosias, not far from Tripolis. We stayed there the following day as well, because almost all who had believed in the Lord, unable to tear themselves from Peter, had followed him that far. From there we came to Antaradus. But since many were accompanying us, Peter said to Niceta and Aquila together: “Since a very great crowd of brothers is with us, and as we enter each city we draw no little envy, it seems to me we must take care both that it is not unwelcome to them if they are prevented from following, and that the malignant one does not stir up envy against us on account of a kind of pomp. So I think that you, Niceta and Aquila, should go ahead of us with them, and that you should lead the multitude divided into two parts, so that we may enter each of the cities of the Gentiles travelling in scattered groups rather than in one assembly.

“I know that it seems sad to you to be separated from me even for the space of two days. Believe me, in whatever measure you love me, my affection toward you is ten times greater. But if, for the sake of the affection we bear one another, we do not do what is fitting and honorable, such love will seem irrational. So, without lessening the claim of love in any way, let us see to what seems useful and necessary—especially since no day can pass on which you cannot be present at my discourses. For I have proposed, as you also know, to stay three months for teaching in each of the more notable cities of the provinces. Now, then, go ahead of me to Laodicea, which is the nearest city, and I will follow you after two or three days, as far as my plan is concerned. Wait for me at the inn nearest the gate of the city; and from there again, likewise, when we have spent some days there, you will go ahead of me to the cities farther on. I want you to do this in each city, so far as we can, for the sake of avoiding envy, and so that the brothers who are with us, finding lodgings prepared in each city by your foresight, may seem less like wanderers.”

When Peter said this, they acquiesced, as they had to, saying: “It does not grieve us much to do this, since we are ordered by you, who have been chosen by the providence of Christ both to do all things well and to give good counsel. Besides, not to see our lord Peter for one day, or at most two, though it is a great deal, is still bearable in all this time. For we consider what those twelve brothers of ours suffer who go ahead of us, and are deprived of so great a good as hearing and seeing you for almost a whole month out of the three months you stay in each city. So we will not delay to do what you order, since all your orders are right.” With these words they went ahead, having received instructions to speak to the brothers travelling with them outside the city, so that they would enter the cities not crowded together and as if in a tumult, but scattered and divided in pairs.

When they had set out, I, Clement, was very glad that he had kept me with him, and I said to him: “I thank God that you did not send me ahead with the others, for I would have died of sadness.” Then Peter said: “And what will happen if necessity requires you to be sent somewhere for the sake of teaching? Separated from me for a useful purpose, will you die? Will you not command yourself to bear patiently what necessity imposes? Or do you not know that friends are always together, and though separated in body, they are joined in memory—just as, on the contrary, some who are placed together in body are divided in soul?”

I answered: “Do not think, my lord, that I feel this irrationally; there is a definite cause and reason for this affection of mine toward you. For I have you alone in place of all my affections: for father, for mother, for brothers. And above all this, you alone are to me the cause of salvation and of knowing the truth. Nor do I count it least that the youthful age that is in me lies open to the snares of desires, and I fear to be without you, whose presence alone makes all luxury blush, though it lacks reason—although I trust in the mercy of God that my mind, from what it has conceived through your teaching, can no longer admit anything else into its thoughts. Besides, I remember you said at Caesarea, ‘Whoever wishes to accompany me with piety unimpaired, let him accompany me.’ By ‘with piety unimpaired’ you meant that he should grieve no one to whom he owes consideration according to God—for example, that he should not leave a believing wife, or parents, or other persons of this kind. From these I am entirely free, and therefore fit to follow you. And I wish you would allow me even to render you the service of a slave.”

Then Peter laughed at this and said: “And what do you think, Clement—will not necessity itself make you my slave? For who else will be able to spread my linen sheets and arrange beautiful coverlets? Who will keep my rings and get ready the clothes that I must change constantly? Who will command the cooks and provide various choice dishes, prepared with the most skilful and varied art, and all those things that are gathered at unjust expense for men brought up softly—or rather for their greed, as for some most savage beast? But perhaps, though you seem to be with me, you have not come to know my life. Bread alone with olives, and rarely even with vegetables, is what I use; and my clothing is what you see, a tunic with a cloak; and having these, I require nothing else. This is enough for me, because my mind looks not to these present things but to those that are eternal, and therefore nothing of present and visible things delights me. So I embrace and admire your good will toward me, and praise you the more because, though you are a man coming from a habit of great abundance, you have so quickly been able to transfer and adapt yourself to this life of ours, which uses only necessities. For from boyhood—I and my own brother Andrew—we grew up not only orphans but very poor, and were accustomed by necessity to be laborers; so now too we easily bear the hardships of journeys. Rather, if you would agree and allow me, I, being more of a working man, could more easily fulfill the service of a slave for you.”

When I heard this I trembled, and tears burst from me at once, that so great a man, to whom the whole world is inferior, should have said such a thing to me. Seeing me weeping, he asked the reason. I answered him: “How have I sinned so much against you that you should burden me with such words?” Peter said: “If what I said, that I should serve you, is wrong, you sinned first by saying it to me.” I said: “It is not the same. It is fitting for me to do this for you; but for you, who have been sent as herald of the most high God to save the souls of men, it is a grievous thing to say this to me.” Peter said: “I would agree with you, if our Lord, who came for the salvation of the whole world and was nobler than all creation, had not submitted to serve, in order to persuade us not to be ashamed to render the service of slaves to our brothers.” Then I said: “If I think I can win against you, I am very foolish. But give thanks to the providence of God that I have been counted worthy to have you in place of parents.”